instantly.

Quite a number of Tutt's friends were standing in the vicinity, having
assembled to witness the duel, and Bill, as soon as Tutt fell to the
ground, turned to them and asked if any one of them wanted to take it up
for Tutt; if so, he would accommodate any of them then and there. But
none of them cared to stand in front of Wild Bill to be shot at by him.

Nothing of course was ever done to Bill for the killing of Tutt.

CHAPTER XI.

A SOLDIER.

In the fall of 1861 I made a trip to Fort Larned, Kansas, carrying
military dispatches, and in the winter I accompanied George Long through
the country, and assisted him in buying horses for the government.

The next spring, 1862, an expedition against the Indians was organized,
consisting of a volunteer regiment, the Ninth Kansas, under Colonel
Clark. This expedition, which I had joined in the capacity of guide and
scout, proceeded to the Kiowa and Comanche country, on the Arkansas
river, along which stream we scouted all summer between Fort Lyon and
Fort Larned, on the old Santa Fe trail. We had several engagements with
the Indians, but they were of no great importance.

In the winter of 1862, I became one of the "Red Legged Scouts,"--a
company of scouts commanded by Captain Tuff. Among its members were some
of the most noted Kansas Rangers, such as Red Clark, the St. Clair
brothers, Jack Harvey, an old pony express-rider named Johnny Fry, and
many other well known frontiersmen. Our field of operations was confined
mostly to the Arkansas country and southwestern Missouri. We had many a
lively skirmish with the bushwhackers and Younger brothers, and when we
were not hunting them, we were generally employed in carrying dispatches
between Forts Dodge, Gibson, Leavenworth, and other posts. Whenever we
were in Leavenworth we had a very festive time. We usually attended all
the balls in full force, and "ran things" to suit ourselves. Thus I
passed the winter of 1862 and the spring of 1863.

Subsequently I engaged to conduct a small train to Denver for some
merchants, and on reaching that place in September, I received a letter
stating that my mother was not expected to live. I hastened home, and
found her dangerously ill. She grew gradually worse, and at last, on the
22d of November, 1863, she died. Thus passed away a loving and
affectionate mother and a noble, brave, good and loyal woman. That I
loved her above all other persons, no one who has read these