voice, raised in
seeming protest, guided him unerringly.

As he neared the animal he saw that two mounted Indians had laid hold of
it, and were trying to induce it to follow them; but the mule, true to
tradition and its master, stubbornly refused to budge a foot.

It was a comical tableau, but Will realized that it was but a step from
farce to tragedy. A rifle-shot dropped one of the Indians, and the other
darted off into the darkness.

Another bray from the mule, this time a paean of triumph, as Will
jumped into the saddle, with an arrow from the bow of the wounded Indian
through his coat-sleeve. He declined to return the fire of the wounded
wretch, and rode away into the timber, while all around the sound of
Indians in pursuit came to his ears.

"Now, my mouse-colored friend," said Will, "if you win this race your
name is Custer."

The mule seemed to understand; at all events, it settled down to work
that combined the speed of a racer with the endurance of a buffalo. The
Indians shortly abandoned the pursuit, as they could not see their game.

Will reached Fort Hayes in the early morning, to report the safe arrival
of Custer at Larned and the discovery of the Indian band, which he
estimated at two hundred braves. The mule received "honorable mention"
in his report, and was brevetted a thoroughbred.

The colonel prepared to dispatch troops against the Indians, and
requested Will to guide the expedition, if he were sufficiently rested,
adding, with a smile:

"You may ride your mule if you like."

"No, thank you," laughed Will. "It isn't safe, sir, to hunt Indians with
an animal that carries a brass-band attachment."

Captain George A. Armes, of the Tenth Cavalry, was to command the
expedition, which comprised a troop of colored cavalry and a howitzer.
As the command lined up for the start, a courier on a foam-splashed
horse rode up with the news that the workmen on the Kansas Pacific
Railroad had been attacked by Indians, six of them killed, and over a
hundred horses and mules and a quantity of stores stolen.

The troops rode away, the colored boys panting for a chance at the
redskins, and Captain Armes more than willing to gratify them.

At nightfall the command made camp near the Saline River, at which point
it was expected to find the Indians. Before dawn they were in the saddle
again, riding straight across country, regardless of trails, until the
river was come up with.

Will's judgment was again v