per time.

He was diligently studying the country before him with his
field-glasses. When he thought the Indians were as close to the
unsuspecting scouts as was safe, he sang out:

"Go on now, Cody, and be quick about it. They are going to charge on
the couriers."

The two soldiers were not more than a hundred yards from us. The
Indians, now making ready to swoop down, were a hundred yards further
on.

We tore over the bluffs and advanced at a gallop. They saw us and gave
battle. A running fight lasted for several minutes, during which we
drove them back a fairly safe distance and killed three of their
number.

The main body of the Cheyennes had now come into plain sight, and the
men who escaped from us rode back toward it. The main force halted when
its leaders beheld the skirmish, and seemed for a time at a loss as to
what was best to do.

We turned toward General Merritt, and when we had made about half the
distance the Indians we had been chasing suddenly turned toward us and
another lively skirmish took place.

One of the Indians, who was elaborately decorated with all the
ornaments usually worn by a great chief when he engaged in a fight, saw
me and sang out:

"I know you, Pa-ho-has-ka! Come and fight with me!"

The name he used was one by which I had long been known by the Indians.
It meant Long-Yellow-Hair.

The chief was riding his horse to and fro in front of his men, in order
to banter me. I concluded to accept his challenge. I turned and
galloped toward him for fifty yards, and he rode toward me about the
same distance. Both of us rode at full speed. When we were only thirty
yards apart I raised my rifle and fired. His horse dropped dead under
him, and he rolled over on the ground to clear himself of the carcass.

Almost at the same instant my own horse stepped into a hole and fell
heavily. The fall hurt me but little, and almost instantly I was on my
feet. This was no time to lie down and nurse slight injuries. The chief
and I were now both on our feet, not twenty paces apart. We fired at
each other at the same instant. My usual luck held. His bullet whizzed
harmlessly past my head, while mine struck him full in the breast.

He reeled and fell, but I took no chances. He had barely touched the
ground, when I was upon him, knife in hand, and to make sure of him
drove the steel into his heart.

This whole affair, from beginning to end, occupied but little time. The
Indians, seeing that I was