delighted to. Did he desire
that the chief's young men should accompany him? No, indeed. The
soldiers, also, were high-spirited, and they might test the bravery of
the chief's young men by shooting large holes in them. It would be much
better if the scout returned alone.

Satanta agreed with him, and Will recrossed the river without
molestation; but, glancing over his shoulder, he noted a party of ten
or fifteen young braves slowly following him. Satanta was an extremely
cautious chieftain.

Will rode leisurely up the gentle slope of the river's bank, but when
he had put the ridge between him and the Indian camp he pointed his mule
westward, toward Fort Larned, and set it going at its best pace. When
the Indians reached the top of the ridge, from where they could scan the
valley, in which the advancing cattle were supposed to be, there was not
a horn to be seen, and the scout was flying in an opposite direction.

They gave chase, but the mule had a good start, and when it got its
second wind--always necessary in a mule--the Indian ponies gained but
slowly. When Ash Creek, six miles from Larned, was reached, the race
was about even, but two miles farther on, the Indians were uncomfortably
close behind. The sunset gun at the fort boomed a cynical welcome to the
man four miles away, flying toward it for his life.

At Pawnee Fork, two miles from the fort, the Indians had crept up to
within five hundred yards. But here, on the farther bank of the stream,
Will came upon a government wagon containing half a dozen soldiers and
Denver Jim, a well-known scout.

The team was driven among the trees, and the men hid themselves in the
bushes, and when the Indians came along they were warmly received. Two
of the reds were killed; the others wheeled and rode back in safety.

In 1868 General Sheridan had taken command of all the troops in the
field. He arranged what is known as the winter expeditions against the
Kiowas, Comanches, Southern Cheyennes, and Arapahoes. He personally
commanded the expedition which left Fort Dodge, with General Custer as
chief of cavalry. General Penrose started for Fort Lyon, Colorado, and
General Eugene A. Carr was ordered from the Republican River country,
with the Fifth Cavalry, to Fort Wallace, Kansas. Will at this time had
a company of forty scouts with General Carr's command. He was ordered by
General Sheridan, when leaving Fort Lyon, to follow the trail of General
Penrose's command until it was