THE WOLF HUNTERS 



an' died on the square. In '58 he left his hired 

 man, Peacock, in charge of the ranch while he 

 took his teams an' went in to Westport, Missouri, 

 after goods. On that trip Allison died suddenly 

 at Westport, an', as he had no kinsfolk at the 

 ranch an' none ever come out to claim it, Peacock 

 jumped the claim an' held it as his own. He, too, 

 had some lively times with the Injuns an' was 

 finally killed by ol' Satank, in the summer of 1860. 

 An' then Charley Rath jumped the claim an' still 

 holds it, but more'n likely he, too, will lose his 

 napper to some o' the Indians yet. It was near 

 the ranch, when Peacock had it, that Pawnee, the 

 Kiowa chief, was killed by Lieutenant Bayard; 

 wasn't it?" 



"Yes," I replied, "I was in at the death and 

 had an opportunity to have done the killing my- 

 self that day, but Lieutenant Bayard came up and 

 took the job off my hands. You see, I was one of 

 the first to mount and start in chase of the Indian 

 after he'd escaped from the ranch, mounted his 

 horse, and was racing across the level prairie north 

 of the ranch. I was riding that speedy little bay 

 horse that we called ' Greased Lightning,' that the 

 officers used in making races. I'd got the start of 

 Bayard and the rest, overtook the Indian in about 

 a mile and was right alongside of him, with Lieu- 

 tenant Bayard coming up just behind me, and 

 when I called back to the lieutenant to ask whether 

 I should shoot the Kiowa he replied, 'No, let me 



100 



