l chief, who had darted forth
alone on a solitary scouting expedition. Others depicted the enemy,
representing his detection and his capture. A third band arose, and
trailing the hero spy, swiftly, silently, discovered the captors,
attacked and defeated them and with triumphant shouts released the
captive and brought him to camp--all in perfect unison with the singers
at the drum whose varying rhythm set the pace for each especial episode,
almost as precisely as a Chinese orchestra augments or diminishes the
action on the stage.

To me this was a thrilling glimpse into prehistoric America, for these
young men, stripped of their tainted white-man rags, were wholly
admirable, painted lithe-limbed warriors, rejoicing once again in the
light of their ancestral moons. On every face was a look like that of a
captive leopard, dreaming of far-seen, familiar sands. The present was
forgot, the past was momentarily restored. At midnight we went away but
the strangely-moving beat of that barbaric drum was still throbbing in
my ears as I fell asleep.

* * * * *

Early the following morning, eager to reach the scene of the Cheyenne
outbreak we hired saddle horses and rode away directly across the Custer
battle field on our way toward Lame Deer, where we were told the troops
were still in camp to protect the agency.

What a ride that was! Our trail led us beyond the plow and the wagon
wheel, far into the midst of hills where herds of cattle were feeding as
the bison had fed for countless ages. Every valley had its story, for
here the last battles of the Cheyennes had taken place. I had overtaken
the passing world of the red nomad.

We stopped that night at a ranch about half way across the range, and in
its cabin I listened while the cattlemen expressed their hatred of the
Cheyenne. The violence of their antagonism, their shameless greed for
the red man's land revealed to me once and for all the fomenting spirit
of each of the Indian Wars which had accompanied the exterminating,
century-long march of our invading race. In a single sentence these men
expressed the ruthless creed of the land-seeker. "We intend to wipe
these red sons-of-dogs from the face of the earth." Here was displayed
shamelessly the seamy side of western settlement.

At about ten o'clock next morning we topped the scantily-timbered ridge
which walls in the Lame Deer Agency, and looked down upon the tents of
the troops. A company