t
back, out of the park, and by a big circuit so as not to run into the
gang they circled the fire and tried to strike the back trail somewhere
so as to meet Major Henry and Carson and Smith, who might be on it. But
they came out upon this plateau, and sighted us, and then we all met at
the edge of the gulch.

That was the report of Fitzpatrick the Bad Hand. He and the general
certainly had been through a great deal.

During the story the Red Fox Scouts and I had been making the smoke
signal over and over again. "Come to council," I sent up, while they
helped to keep the smudge thick. "Come to council," "Come to council,"
for Major Henry and Kit and Jed, wherever they might be. But we were so
interested in Fitz's story, how he and the general got away from the
gang and from the fire, that sometimes we omitted to scan the horizon.
The general didn't, though. He is a fine Scout.

"There's the answer!" he said suddenly. "They've seen! The fire didn't
get them. Hurrah!"

And "Hurrah!" we cheered.

CHAPTER XIII

ORDERS FROM THE PRESIDENT

(THE ADVENTURES OF THE MAJOR HENRY PARTY)

I am Tom Scott, or Major Andrew Henry, second in command of the Elk
Patrol Scouts which set out to take that message over the range. So now
I will make a report upon what happened to our detail after General
Ashley and Fitzpatrick and Bridger left, upon the trail of the two boys
who had stolen our flags and burros.

We waited as directed all day and all night, and as they did not come
back or make any signal, in the morning we prepared to follow them.
First we sent up another smoke for half an hour, and watched for an
answer; but nothing happened. Then we cached the camp stuff by rolling
in the bedding, with the tarpaulins on the outside, what we couldn't
carry, and stowing it under a red spruce. The branches came down clear
to the ground, in a circle around, and when we had crawled in and had
covered the bundle with other boughs and needles, it couldn't be seen
unless you looked mighty close.

We erased our tracks to the tree, and made two blazes, on other trees,
so that our cache was in the middle of a line from blaze to blaze. Then
we took sights, and wrote them down on paper, so that none of us would
forget how to find the place. (Note 50.)

We each had a blanket, rolled and slung in army style, with a string run
through and tied at the ends. I carried the twenty-two rifle, and we
stuffed away in our clothes what rations