our train, and that
night pitched camp slightly apart from our circle of wagons.

Some of our men visited them during the evening, eager to hear their
tales of adventure; and listened, open-mouthed, to descriptions of
life among savage associations, in the mountain wilds, jungles and the
desert plains.

The visitors dwelt with emphasis on the threatening attitude of the
Shoshone Indians towards the emigrants; warning us that our position
was hazardous, with caution that there was special risk incurred by
individuals who wandered away from the train, thus inviting a chance
of being shot by Redskins, ambushed among the bunches of sagebrush.
They were especially earnest as they assured us of the peril there
would be in loitering away from the body of the company, as they had
noticed some of our boys doing, that day, while hunting for sage
fowls.

After awhile, he of the big hat inquired--and seemed almost to tremble
with solicitude as he spoke:

"Are you prepared to defend yourselves, in case of an attack?"

Here unpleasant surmises gave place to distinct suspicions in the
minds of some of our older men. They regarded that question as a
"Give-away." All the day, since these three joined us, we had felt
that they might be spies, and in league with the Indians. So now not a
few of us were giving closest attention, both with ears and eyes.

An answer was ready: That we were prepared, and waiting for the
encounter; with a hundred and twenty-five shots for the first round;
that we could reload as rapidly as could the Indians; and had
ammunition in store for a long siege.

The actual fact was that, although every man of us had some sort of a
"shooting-iron," they were not formidable. In kind, these varied well
through the entire range of infantry, from a four-inch six-shooter to
a four-foot muzzle-loader, and from a single-barreled shotgun on up to
a Sharp's repeating rifle. The weapon last mentioned carried a
rotating cylinder, for five shells, and was the latest thing in
quick-fire repeating arms of that time: but there was only one of that
class in the train. Had we been seen on muster, standing at "present
arms," the array would have been less terrifying than comical.

Just how our visitors received our bluff with reference to
preparedness for battle we could not know. The next morning these
mysterious strangers took position in the rear of our train once more,
carrying a small white flag, mounted on a pole fasten