eenbacks.

I then gave him a little friendly advice, and told him that he was
released from custody. He went on his way a wiser and a poorer man, while
the owner of the horse and myself returned to the fort. I pocketed the
twenty dollars, of course. Some people might think it was not a square
way of doing business, but I didn't know any better just then. I had
several little cases of this kind, and I became better posted on law in
the course of time, being assisted by Lieutenant Burr Reilly, of the
Fifth Cavalry, who had been educated for a lawyer.

One evening I was called upon to perform a marriage ceremony. The
bridegroom was one of the sergeants of the post. I had "braced up" for
the occasion by imbibing rather freely of stimulants, and when I arrived
at the house, with a copy of the Statutes of Nebraska, which I had
recently received, I felt somewhat confused. Whether my bewilderment was
owing to the importance of the occasion and the large assembly, or to the
effect of Louis Woodin's "tanglefoot," I cannot now distinctly
remember--but my suspicions have always been that it was due to the
latter cause. I looked carefully through the statutes to find the
marriage ceremony, but my efforts were unsuccessful. Finally the time
came for the knot to be tied. I told the couple to stand up, and then I
said to the bridegroom:

"Do you take this woman to be your lawful wedded wife, to support and
love her through life?"

"I do," was the reply.

Then addressing myself to the bride, I said, "Do you take this man to be
your lawful wedded husband through life, to love, honor and obey him?"

[Illustration: A WEDDING CEREMONY.]

"I do," was her response.

"Then join hands," said I to both of them; "I now pronounce you to be man
and wife, and whomsoever God and Buffalo Bill have joined together let no
man put asunder. May you live long and prosper. Amen."

This concluded the interesting ceremony, which was followed by the usual
festivities on such occasions. I was highly complimented for the elegant
and eloquent manner in which I had tied the matrimonial knot.

During the summer of 1871, Professor Marsh, of Yale College, came out to
McPherson, with a large party of students to have a hunt and to look for
fossils. Professor Marsh had heard of the big bone which had been found
by the Pawnees in the Niobrara country, and he intended to look for that
as well as other bones. He accordingly secured the services of Major
Frank