In Cowboy Land 277 



entirely concealed, the Indians of course had 

 to move from cover to cover in order to ap- 

 proach, and so had at times to expose them- 

 selves. When the whites fired at all they fired 

 at a man, whether moving or motionless, whom 

 they could clearly see, while the Indians could 

 only shoot at the smoke, which imperfectly 

 marked the position of their unseen foes. In 

 consequence the assailants speedily found that 

 it was a task of hopeless danger to try in such 

 a manner to close in on three plains veterans, 

 men of iron nerve and skilled in the use of 

 the rifle. Yet some of the more daring crept 

 up very close to the patch of brush, and one 

 actually got inside of it, and was killed among 

 the bedding that lay by the smoldering camp- 

 fire. The wounded and such of the dead as 

 did not lie in too exposed positions were 

 promptly taken away by their comrades; but 

 seven bodies fell into the hands of the three 

 hunters. I asked Woody how many he him- 

 self had killed. He said he could only be sure 

 of two that he got; one he shot in the head as 

 he peeped over a bush, and the other he shot 

 through the smoke as he attempted to rush in. 

 "My, how that Indian did yell," said Woody 

 retrospectively, ''he was no great of a stoic." 

 After two or three hours of this deadly skir- 



