THE OLD SANTA FE TRAIL, COLONEL HENRY INMAN [well read books .txt] 📗
- Author: COLONEL HENRY INMAN
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The March In a Circle, With The Village In the Centre,
The Commanding Officer Of Each Rear Troop Halting His
Command At The Proper Point, And Deploying His Men Similarly
To A Line Of Skirmishers--The Entire Circle, When Thus Formed,
Facing Toward The Village, And, Distant From It Perhaps A
Few Hundred yards. No Sooner Was Our Line Completely Formed
Than The Moon, As If Deeming Darkness No Longer Essential
To Our Success, Appeared from Behind Her Screen And Lighted
Up The Entire Scene. And Beautiful It Was! The Great
Circle Of Troops, Each Individual Of Which Sat On His Steed
Silent As A Statue, The Dense Foliage Of The Cotton Trees
Sheltering The Bleached, Skin-Clad Lodges Of The Red men,
The Little Stream In the Midst Murmuring Undisturbedly In
Its Channel, All Combined to Produce An Artistic Effect,
As Striking as It Was Interesting. But We Were Not There
To Study Artistic Effects. The Next Step Was To Determine
Whether We Had Captured an Inhabited village, Involving
Almost Necessarily A Severe Conflict With Its Savage
Occupants, Or Whether The Red man Had Again Proven Too
Wily And Crafty For His More Civilized brothers.
Directing The Entire Line Of Troopers To Remain Mounted
With Carbines Held At The "Advance," I Dismounted, And
Taking With Me Gurrier, The Half-Breed, Dr. Coates, One Of
Our Medical Staff, And Lieutenant Moylan, The Adjutant,
We Proceeded on Our Hands And Knees Toward The Village.
The Prevailing Opinion Was That The Indians Were Still
Asleep. I Desired to Approach Near Enough To The Lodges
To Enable The Half-Breed to Hail The Village In the Indian
Tongue, And If Possible Establish Friendly Relations At Once.
It Became A Question Of Prudence With Us, Which We Discussed
In whispers As We Proceeded on Our "Tramp, Tramp, Tramp,
The Boys Are Creeping," How Far From Our Horses And How
Near To The Village We Dared to Go. If So Few Of Us Were
Discovered entering The Village In this Questionable Manner,
It Was More Than Probable That, Like The Returners Of Stolen
Property, We Should Be Suitably Rewarded and No Questions
Asked. The Opinion Of Gurrier, The Half-Breed, Was Eagerly
Sought For And Generally Deferred to. His Wife,
A Full-Blooded cheyenne, Was A Resident Of The Village.
This With Him Was An Additional Reason For Wishing a Peaceful
Termination To Our Efforts. When We Had Passed over
Two-Thirds Of The Distance Between Our Horses And The
Village, It Was Thought Best To Make Our Presence Known.
Thus Far Not A Sound Had Been Heard To Disturb The Stillness
Of The Night. Gurrier Called out At The Top Of His Voice
In the Cheyenne Tongue. The Only Response Came From The
Throats Of A Score Or More Of Indian Dogs Which Set Up A
Fierce Barking. At The Same Time One Or Two Of Our Party
Asserted that They Saw Figure Moving Beneath The Trees.
Gurrier Repeated his Summons, But With No Better Results
Than Before.
A Hurried consultation Ensued. The Presence Of So Many Dogs
In the Village Was Regarded by The Half-Breed as Almost
Positive Assurance That The Indians Were Still There.
Yet It Was Difficult To Account For Their Silence. Gurrier
In a Loud Tone Repeated who He Was, And That Our Mission Was
Friendly. Still No Answer. He Then Gave It As His Opinion
That The Indians Were On The Alert, And Were Probably
Waiting In the Shadow Of The Trees For Us To Approach Nearer,
When They Would Pounce Upon Us. This Comforting Opinion
Induced another Conference. We Must Ascertain The Truth Of
The Matter; Our Party Could Do This As Well As A Larger
Number, And To Go Back And Send Another Party In our Stead
Could Not Be Thought Of.
Forward! Was The Verdict. Each One Grasped his Revolver,
Resolved to Do His Best, Whether It Was In running Or
Fighting. I Think Most Of Us Would Have Preferred to Take
Our Own Chances At Running. We Had Approached near Enough
To See That Some Of The Lodges Were Detached some Distance
From The Main Encampment. Selecting The Nearest Of These,
We Directed our Advance On It. While All Of Us Were Full
Of The Spirit Of Adventure, And Were Further Encouraged
With The Idea That We Were In the Discharge Of Our Duty,
There Was Scarcely One Of Us Who Would Not Have Felt More
Comfortable If We Could Have Got Back To Our Horses Without
Loss Of Pride. Yet Nothing, Under The Circumstances, But
A Positive Order Would Have Induced any One To Withdraw.
Cautiously Approaching, On All Fours, To Within A Few Yards
Of The Nearest Lodge, Occasionally Halting and Listening To
Discover Whether The Village Was Deserted or Not, We Finally
Decided that The Indians Had Fled before The Arrival Of The
Cavalry, And That None But Empty Lodges Were Before Us.
This Conclusion Somewhat Emboldened as Well As Accelerated
Our Progress. Arriving at The First Lodge, One Of Our Party
Raised the Curtain Or Mat Which Served as A Door, And The
Doctor And Myself Entered. The Interior Of The Lodge Was
Dimly Lighted by The Dying Embers Of A Small Fire Built In
The Centre. All Around Us Were To Be Seen The Usual
Adornments And Articles Which Constitute The Household
Effects Of An Indian Family. Buffalo-Robes Were Spread Like
Carpets Over The Floor; Head-Mats, Used to Recline On, Were
Arranged as If For The Comfort Of Their Owners; Parfleches,
A Sort Of Indian Band-Box, With Their Contents Apparently
Undisturbed, Were Carefully Stowed away Under The Edges Or
Borders Of The Lodge. These, With The Door-Mats, Paint-Bags,
Rawhide Ropes, And Other Articles Of Indian Equipment,
Were Left As If The Owners Had Only Absented themselves For
A Brief Period. To Complete The Picture Of An Indian Lodge,
Over The Fire Hung A Camp-Kettle, In which, By Means Of The
Dim Light Of The Fire, We Could See What Had Been Intended
For The Supper Of The Late Occupants Of The Lodge.
The Doctor, Ever On The Alert To Discover Additional Items
Of Knowledge, Whether Pertaining To History Or Science,
Snuffed the Savoury Odours Which Arose From The Dark
Recesses Of The Mysterious Kettle. Casting about The Lodge
For Some Instrument To Aid Him In his Pursuit Of Knowledge,
He Found A Horn Spoon, With Which He Began His Investigation
Of The Contents, Finally Succeeding In getting Possession
Of A Fragment Which Might Have Been The Half Of A Duck Or
Rabbit, Judging From Its Size Merely. "Ah!" Said The Doctor,
In his Most Complacent Manner, "Here Is The Opportunity I
Have Long Been Waiting For. I Have Often Desired to Test
The Indian Mode Of Cooking. What Do You Suppose This Is?"
Holding Up The Dripping Morsel. Unable To Obtain The
Desired information, The Doctor, Whose Naturally Good
Appetite Had Been Sensibly Sharpened by His Recent Exercise,
Set To With A Will And Ate Heartily Of The Mysterious
Contents Of The Kettle. He Was Only Satisfied on One Point,
That It Was Delicious--A Dish Fit For A King. Just Then
Gurrier, The Half-Breed, Entered the Lodge. He Could Solve
The Mystery, Having Spent Years Among The Indians. To Him
The Doctor Appealed for Information. Fishing Out A Huge
Piece, And Attacking It With The Voracity Of A Hungry Wolf,
He Was Not Long In determining What The Doctor Had Supped
Heartily Upon. His First Words Settled the Mystery: "Why,
This Is Dog." I Will Not Attempt To Repeat The Few But
Emphatic Words Uttered by The Heartily Disgusted member Of
The Medical Fraternity As He Rushed from The Lodge.
Other Members Of Our Small Party Had Entered other Lodges,
Only To Find Them, Like The First, Deserted. But Little Of
The Furniture Belonging To The Lodges Had Been Taken,
Showing How Urgent And Hasty Had Been The Flight Of The
Owners. To Aid In the Examination Of The Village,
Reinforcements Were Added to Our Party, And An Exploration
Of Each Lodge Was Determined upon. At The Same Time A
Messenger Was Despatched to General Hancock, Informing Him
Of The Flight Of The Indians. Some Of The Lodges Were
Closed by Having Brush Or Timber Piled up Against The
Entrance, As If To Preserve The Contents. Others Had Huge
Pieces Cut From Their Sides, These Pieces Evidently Being
Carried away To Furnish Temporary Shelter For The Fugitives.
In most Of The Lodges The Fires Were Still Burning. I Had
Entered several Without Discovering anything Important.
Finally, In company With The Doctor, I Arrived at One The
Interior Of Which Was Quite Dark, The Fire Having almost
Died out. Procuring a Lighted fagot, I Prepared to Explore It,
As I Had Done The Others; But No Sooner Had I Entered the
Lodge Than My Fagot Failed me, Leaving Me In total Darkness.
Handing It To The Doctor To Be Relighted, I Began To Feel
My Way About The Interior Of The Lodge. I Had Almost Made
The Circuit When My Hand Came In contact With A Human Foot;
At The Same Time A Voice Unmistakably Indian, And Which
Evidently Came From The Owner Of The Foot, Convinced me That
I Was Not Alone. My First Impressions Were That In their
Hasty Flight The Indians Had Gone Off, Leaving This One
Asleep. My Next, Very Naturally, Related to Myself.
I Would Gladly Have Placed myself On The Outside Of The
Lodge, And There Matured plans For Interviewing Its Occupant;
But Unfortunately To Reach The Entrance Of The Lodge, I Must
Either Pass Over Or Around The Owner Of The Before-Mentioned
Foot And Voice. Could I Have Been Convinced that Among
Its Other Possessions There Was Neither Tomahawk Nor
Scalping-Knife, Pistol Nor War-Club, Or Any Similar Article
Of The Noble Red-Man'S Toilet, I Would Have Risked an Attempt
To Escape Through The Low Narrow Opening Of The Lodge;
But Who Ever Saw An Indian Without One Or All Of These
Interesting Trinkets? Had I Made The Attempt, I Should
Have Expected to Encounter Either The Keen Edge Of The
Scalping-Knife Or The Blow Of The Tomahawk, And To Have
Engaged in a Questionable Struggle For Life. This Would
Not Do. I Crouched in silence For A Few Moments, Hoping
The Doctor Would Return With The Lighted fagot. I Need not
Say That Each Succeeding Moment Spent In the Darkness Of
That Lodge Seemed an Age. I Could Hear A Slight Movement
On The Part Of My Unknown Neighbour, Which Did Not Add To
My Comfort. Why Does Not The Doctor Return? At Last I
Discovered the Approach Of A Light On The Outside. When It
Neared the Entrance, I Called the Doctor And Informed him
That An Indian Was In the Lodge, And That He Had Better
Have His Weapons Ready For A Conflict. I Had, Upon
Discovering The Foot, Drawn My Hunting-Knife From Its
Scabbard, And Now Stood Waiting The Denouement. With His
Lighted fagot In one Hand And Cocked revolver In the Other,
The Doctor Cautiously Entered the Lodge. And There Directly
Between Us, Wrapped in a Buffalo-Robe, Lay The Cause Of My
Anxiety--A Little Indian Girl, Probably Ten Years Old;
Not A Full-Blood, But A Half-Breed. She Was Terribly
Frightened at Finding Herself In our Hands, With None Of
Her People Near. Other Parties In exploring The Deserted
Village Found An Old, Decrepit Indian Of The Sioux Tribe,
Who Had Also Been Deserted, Owing To His Infirmities And
Inability To Travel With The Tribe. Nothing Was Gleaned
From Our Search Of The Village Which Might Indicate The
Direction Of The Flight. General Hancock, On Learning The
Situation Of Affairs, Despatched some Companies Of Infantry
With Orders To Replace The Cavalry And Protect The Village
And Its Contents From Disturbance Until Its Final Disposition
Could Be Determined upon, And It Was Decided that With Eight
Troops Of Cavalry I Should Start In pursuit Of The Indians
At Early Dawn On The Following Morning.
The Indians,
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