ll-mounted as I was, and one of
their horses in particular--a spotted animal--was gaining on me all the
time. Nearly all the other horses were strung out behind for a distance
of two miles, but still chasing after me.

[Illustration: DOWN WENT HIS HORSE.]

The Indian who was riding the spotted horse was armed with a rifle, and
would occasionally send a bullet whistling along, sometimes striking the
ground ahead of me. I saw that this fellow must be checked, or a stray
bullet from his gun might hit me or my horse; so, suddenly stopping
Brigham, and quickly wheeling him around, I raised old "Lucretia" to my
shoulder, took deliberate aim at the Indian and his horse, hoping to hit
one or the other, and fired. He was not over eighty yards from me at this
time, and at the crack of my rifle down went his horse. Not waiting to
see if he recovered, I turned Brigham, and in a moment we were again
fairly flying towards our destination; we had urgent business about that
time, and were in a hurry to get there.

The other Indians had gained on us while I was engaged in shooting at
their leader, and they sent several shots whizzing past me, but
fortunately none of them hit the intended mark. To return their
compliment I occasionally wheeled myself in the saddle and fired back at
them, and one of my shots broke the leg of one of their horses, which
left its rider _hors(e) de combat_, as the French would say.

Only seven or eight Indians now remained in dangerous proximity to me,
and as their horses were beginning to lag somewhat, I checked my faithful
old steed a little, to allow him an opportunity to draw an extra breath
or two. I had determined, if it should come to the worst, to drop into a
buffalo wallow, where I could stand the Indians off for a while; but I
was not compelled to do this, as Brigham carried me through most nobly.

The chase was kept up until we came within three miles of the end of the
railroad track, where two companies of soldiers were stationed for the
purpose of protecting the workmen from the Indians. One of the outposts
saw the Indians chasing me across the prairie, and gave the alarm. In a
few minutes I saw, greatly to my delight, men coming on foot, and
cavalrymen, too, came galloping to our rescue as soon as they could mount
their horses. When the Indians observed this, they turned and ran in the
direction from which they had come. In a very few minutes I was met by
some of the infantrymen and trackmen