, which was a tributary of
the Pecos, had passed through a small canyon, and were encamped near its
mouth. I ordered him to send in all the spies except three, and direct
these to keep a sharp look-out.

"I then determined to follow them down the canyon, and attack them at its
mouth, thus cutting off all chance of their retreating into the canyon;
but a spy now brought me word that they had moved further down and
encamped on the edge of the timber, with the evident intention of
remaining there. I then made a wide circuit, and crossed the ridge lower
down with the largest division of my party but left about twenty
warriors ambushed in the canyon.

"From the summit of the hill I had an excellent view of the enemy's
position, and my plans were quickly formed and executed with almost
equal rapidity. Under cover of the timber I led my party until we gained
the rear of the encampment. Then spreading out widely, we advanced to
the edge of the timber, and shouting our savage war-whoop, rushed upon
the Lipans. They were so completely surprised that we were among the
lodges before they could make scarcely a semblance of defense, and many
of them were cut down as they emerged from the lodges.

"Those who escaped the first attack retreated towards the canyon, but on
attempting to enter it were met by my detached party and repulsed with
considerable loss. They then retreated to the west and gained the
shelter of the woods, while we hastily collected our plunder and
prisoners and retraced our steps towards our village, our spoils
consisting of thirty-nine scalps, forty-eight captives, women and
children, and over two hundred horses; and this notable victory was
gained without the loss of a warrior, although we had twenty-three
wounded.

"The Lipans gathered reinforcements from other bands, and followed our
trail, but did not succeed in overtaking us before we reached our
village; and here we are too strong to be attacked. Great was the
rejoicing upon our return; the scalp-dance was performed, feasts
prepared in our honor, and I found myself looked upon as a greater brave
than ever.

"This expedition was but the prelude to a series of similar ones, and as
my luck did not desert me, I soon found that more than half the tribe
were anxious to accompany the war parties which I led. It suited me
better, however, to operate with comparatively small parties, say of
fifty or sixty men, and to take only those who would render
unquestion