first; and I have kept my
oath, though I've seen the time mighty often sence I could a killed 'em
with my quirt, when all I had to chaw on for four days was the soles of
a greasy pair of old moccasins.

"Well, boys, it's a good many years ago--in June, if I don't
disremember, 1847. We was a coming in from way up in Cache le Poudre and
from Yellowstone Lake, whar we'd been a trapping for two seasons. We was
a working our way slowly back to Independence, Missouri, where we was
a going to get a new outfit. Let's see, there was me, and a man by the
name of Boyd, and Lew Thorp--Lew was a working for Colonel Boone at
the time--and two more men, whose names I disremember now, and a nigger
wench we had for a cook. We had mighty good luck, and had a big pile
of skins; and the Indians never troubled us till we got down on Pawnee
Bottom, this side of Pawnee Rock. We all of us had mighty good ponies,
but Thorp had a team and wagon, which he was driving for Colonel Boone.

"We had went into camp on Pawnee Bottom airly in the afternoon, and I
told the boys to look out for Ingins--for I knowed ef we was to have any
trouble with them it would be somewhere in that vicinity. But we didn't
see a darned redskin that night, nor the sign of one.

"The wolves howled considerable, and come pretty close to the fire for
the bacon rinds we'd throwed away after supper.

"You see the buffalo was scurse right thar then--it was the wrong time
o' year. They generally don't get down on to the Arkansas till about
September, and when they're scurse the wolves and coyotes are mighty
sassy, and will steal a piece of bacon rind right out of the pan, if
you don't watch 'em. So we picketed our ponies a little closer before we
turned in, and we all went to sleep except one, who sort o' kept watch
on the stock.

"I was out o' my blankets mighty airly next morning, for I was kind o'
suspicious. I could always tell when Ingins was prowling around, and I
had a sort of present'ment something was going to happen--I didn't like
the way the coyotes kept yelling--so I rested kind o' oneasy like, and
was out among the ponies by the first streak o' daylight.

"About the time I could see things, I discovered three or four buffalo
grazing off on the creek bottom, about a half-mile away, and I started
for my rifle, thinking I would examine her.

"Pretty soon I seed Thorp and Boyd crawl out o' their blankets, too,
and I called their attention to the buffalo, which was