RELIEF AT LAST. 375 



Our mouths were all full of ther little needles, and it 

 wer mighty hard keepin' a stiff upper lip. We were 

 eatin' away on our forty-eight horses, and watchin' 

 and hopin'. We could n't move, and leave our 

 wounded, or the Injuns would be on 'em right off. 

 The poor- fellows had no surgeon, and were sufferin' 

 terrible, as 't was. 



" Ther mornin' of ther ninth day broke with a cry 

 t>f 'Injuns!' Now, human natur' can't stand fitin* 

 allers. To carry out my shipwreck idee, fellers on a 

 raft kin cling an' swaller water fur awhile, but they 

 can't fight a hull grist o' hurricanes. Hoss meat an' 

 prickly pears ain't jest ther thing, either, to slap grit 

 inter a man. Ther were a big crowd comin', sure 

 enough, way off on ther hills. We were kinder be- 

 ginnin' ter despqnd, when a familiar sort o' motion 

 on the fur dark line spelt in air the word, ' Friend ! ' 

 It wer the advanced guard o' relief, approachin' on 

 ther jump. Why, boy" and the old scout seized 

 hold of Semi, and shook him in excitement " talk 

 of Lucknow and ther camels a comin', they war n't 

 nowhar. The blessed old blue cloth ! If yer want 

 ter love a color, jest get saved by it once. When I 

 get holed in ther earth, I '11 take back ter dust on a 

 blue blanket, an' if I get married afore, gal an' I '11 

 wear blue, an' the preacher '11 hev ter swar a blue 

 streak in jinin' us ! " 



We afterward met others of the scouts intelli- 

 gent, clear-headed fellows, with much more of culti- 

 vation than our rough friend possessed and they 

 corroborated his story in every particular. I have 

 let him tell it in his own way, not only because 



