Page:Thirty-One Years on the Plains and in the Mountains.djvu/572

442 discovered as the Indians had no dogs along to give the alarm.

Previous to this I had told the boys that I could crawl all over an Indian and not wake him up, and I came near demonstrating it that night. They were apparently asleep and badly scattered, two in a place.

I had told the boys not to strike until they saw that I was just in the act of striking; that when they saw me raise up for each man to spring to his feet and get his Indian the first lick if possible, and not to let up as long as they could see one kick.

It being bright moonlight we could see each other very plainly, and we crawled right in among them, there being no order whatever in their camp. When I came to where there were two lying with their backs together, I made up my mind that that was too good a chance for me to let pass; so I looked around to see if the boys had their men selected, and seeing that they had, and that they were all watching me and the Indians also, I raised to my feet, and placing my right foot between the two Indians, I aimed to sever the first one's head from his body, which I came near doing, for he only just quivered after I struck him. At that they all began the work of blood and death.

The second one I attacked I had to deal the second blow, as I also did the third one. Up to this time I had not heard a word from any one of my companions, but there had been a continual ringing of sabres all around me. Just as I had done up my last Indian George sprang to my side and said: "Cap, we have got every one of them." We counted them and found that we