BILL RETURNS FROM HIS SCOUT 



voucher from the quartermaster for this trip an* 

 get it cashed at Weisselbaum's." 



"So this new quartermaster is short of green- 

 backs and has to pay off in vouchers, hey?" 



"Yes, an* Weisselbaum only discounts 'em 

 twenty-five cents on the dollar. But I won't sell 

 my voucher at any such robbery figures. I don't 

 need the money very bad here, an' so I'll just let 

 it stand till the quartermaster gets the funds, or 

 if he don't get the truck by spring I'll take my 

 vouchers to Fort Leavenworth where I can get 

 all they call for." 



Finding nothing requiring his immediate at- 

 tendance at the post, Bill easily obtained permis- 

 sion to go over to our camp, notifying the quarter- 

 master where he could be found in case he was 

 needed. 



As we rode along he told me about his trip to 

 Satank's village. 



"As I expected, we picked up the Kiowas' trail 

 over on the Smoky Hill, followed it up, an' found 

 'em in a snug-timbered camp over on the Solomon. 

 They'd moved to this camp from another one a 

 few miles up the river since the blizzard, because 

 while that big snow was on the ground they'd had 

 to chop down all the cottonwood-trees about that 

 camp to furnish feed for their ponies and in case of 

 another big snow catching 'em in the same camp, 

 the feed there would have been pretty scarce. An' 

 they'd just about got settled down in the new camp 



207 



