were that number and only two men wounded, and all the
Indians killed, it will be a wonderful story to tell.
"After we have had our breakfast, we will look around and find and count
all the dead Indians and see if the number tallies with the number of
horses they had."
In a few minutes the boys that were cooking called out that breakfast
was ready, and I was one of the crowd that was ready to eat it.
While we were eating I was amused at one of the boys who was telling of
the shines an Indian cut up after he had shot him.
He said he thought he had given the Indian a dead shot, but after he was
hit, the Indian rolled over just like a dog that had been whipped, and
that he did not think the Indian stopped rolling as long as the breath
was in him.
As soon as we had eaten our breakfast the Capt. and I and four others
started out to search for and count the dead Indians. We looked around
about an hour and a half, and we found forty-two Indian bodies, and they
were nearly all armed with bows and arrows, only a few having knives.
Capt. McKee said he thought that we were the luckiest men that ever
hunted Indians.
"Just think," said he, "what we have done in the last month, and we have
not lost a man. If we keep this kind of warfare up all summer, there
will be no Apache Indians left to bother the settlers. Besides, when
these warriors do not return, the rest of the tribe will think that
something is wrong, and they will take the hint, and we will be rid of
them in two or three months."
We now went back to camp, and we all turned in for a day's sleep. As we
were laying down, Capt. McKee said, "The first of you that is awake go
out and kill some deer, for we want some fresh meat to eat."
When I awoke it was near night, and the boys were cooking venison around
the fire. I inquired who had been hunting. They said no one, that the
deer came and hunted them, that when they awoke they saw a band of deer
out feeding near the horses, and they got four deer out of the band.
I went and found the Capt. fast asleep. I woke him, and we had supper.
I asked him what course we would take next. He said, "There are some
settlements up on the Colorado river that we have not heard from in
quite a while, and we will go and look after them."
I asked, "On what part of the Colorado river?" and he said, "At Austin."
We had a good night's sleep, and we were astir very early in the morning
and pulled out in the direction of Austi
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