y for her, and she used, in her merry way, to call him
her scout. Well, one day Black Dog, one of the most powerful chiefs of
the Dacotas, rode into the fort with twenty of his braves. Just as he
came in, Queen May, as we all called her, came galloping up on her
mustang, and leapt like a bird from her saddle at the door of the
commander's house, where her father was standing. I war standing next to
him, and so I saw Black Dog's eye fall on her, and as long as she stood
talking there to her father he never took it off; then he said something
to the brave as was sitting on his horse next to him.

"'Cuss him!' Dick said to me, and I could see his hold on his rifle
tighten, 'what does he look at Queen May like that for? You mark my
words, Abe, trouble will come of this.'

"It was not long before trouble did come, for half an hour later the
Dacota rode out of the fort with his men in great wrath, complaining
that Captain White had not received him as a chief, and that his dignity
was insulted. It war like enough that Captain White was not as
ceremonious as he should have been to a great chief--for, as I told you,
he war short in his ways with the redskins--but I question if harm would
have come of it if it hadn't been that Black Dog's eye fell on that gal.

"I believe that there and then he made up his mind to carry her off. We
didn't see any redskins in camp for some time; and then rumours were
brought in by the scouts that there war going to be trouble with them,
that a council had been held, and that it war decided the hatchet should
be dug up again. Captain White he made light of the affair; but he was
a good soldier, and warn't to be caught napping, so extra sentries were
put on.

"As Rube and me didn't belong to the fort, of course we war independent,
and went away hunting, and would sometimes be away for weeks together.
One day, when we war some forty miles from the fort, we came upon the
trail of a large number of redskins going east. We guessed as there must
be nigh two hundred of them. They might, in course, have been going
hunting, but we didn't think as it were so; sartainly they had no women
with them, and they had been travelling fast. We guessed the trail was
three days old, and we thought we had best push on straight to the fort
to let them know about it.

"When we got thar we found we were too late. On the morning of the day
after we had started a scout had arrived with the news that a strong
war-party