oss it. In the southwest,
or to the right from the outpost hill, there was the Black Hills
wagon-road, from which the cavalry had ridden to the War Bonnet here.

Lieutenant King and Corporal Wilkinson of the guard lay upon the hill
slope, watching the morning brighten upon the war-trail ridge. It was
nearing five o'clock, of July 17. The Cheyennes would be coming soon.

"Look, lieutenant! There they are! The Indians!"

Yes, at last! Five or six mounted figures had appeared atop the
distant ridge. The number increased rapidly. But they did not come
on. They galloped wildly back and forth, dodging the slopes that
opened to the west, and seeming to care not at all that they might be
seen from the north.

Evidently they knew nothing of the cavalry camp. It was concealed from
them, by the outpost hill and by the bluffs along the War Bonnet. Then
why didn't they hasten on, if they were in a hurry to join Crazy Horse
and Sitting Bull, and share in the plunder to be gained from the fights?

At five o'clock they dotted the ridge on a front of three miles. They
were fascinated by something in the west. What? Colonel Merritt and
Lieutenant-Colonel Carr had been notified. They arrived at the hill,
and they also scanned with their field-glasses. And still--

"What ails the rascals?" That was the question.

It took half an hour of waiting and wondering, to solve the problem.
Then--the wagon train! The wagon train under Lieutenant and
Quartermaster William P. Hall had trundled into sight, coming in to
camp by the Black Hills road toward the right, in the southwest,
opposite the ridge.

There it was, a white-topped line, apparently guarded by only a few
cavalry troopers; but two hundred infantry were with it and Lieutenant
Hall had stowed them _in the wagons_. The Cheyennes were waiting,
their mouths watering; it looked like a rich plum; they could not see
inside the wagons; they would meet a double surprise--one from the
cavalry gathered at the War Bonnet, the other from the infantry riding
in the wagons.

"Have the men had their coffee?" General Merritt asked, not a whit
excited.

"Yes, sir," replied Lieutenant and Adjutant William Forbush.

"Then let them saddle up and close in mass under the bluffs."

Buffalo Bill Cody had arrived on the hill, with two other scouts: Tait,
and "Chips" whose real name was Charley White. "Chips" imitated
Buffalo Bill in every way; seemed to think that Bill made the wo