To Cuba 67 



of tribes, and again and again had owed his life 

 to his own cool judgment and extraordinary per- 

 sonal prowess. He knew the sign language, famil- 

 iar to all the Indians of the mountains and the 

 plains; and it was curious to find that the signs for 

 different animals, for water, for sleep and death, 

 which he knew from holding intercourse with the 

 tribes of the Southeast, were exactly like those 

 which I had picked up on my occasional hunting 

 or trading trips among the Sioux and Mandans of 

 the North. He was a great rifle shot and wolf 

 hunter, and had many tales to tell of the deeds of 

 gallant hounds and the feats of famous horses. He 

 had handled his Indian scouts and dealt with the 

 "bronco" Indians, the renegades from the tribes, 

 in circumstances of extreme peril; for he had seen 

 the sullen, moody Apaches when they suddenly went 

 crazy with wolfish blood-lust, and in their madness 

 wished to kill whomever was nearest. He knew, so 

 far as white man could know, their ways of thought, 

 and how to humor and divert them when on the 

 brink of some dangerous outbreak. Capron's train- 

 ing and temper fitted him to do great work in war ; 

 and he looked forward with eager confidence to what 

 the future held, for he was sure that for him it held 

 either triumph or death. Death was the prize he 

 drew. 



Most of the men had simple souls. They could 



