438 The Wilderness Hunter. 



more fully realized the power of the whites, still hung 

 back. When the troops next appeared they came upon 

 the entire Crow force, the women and children with their 

 tepees being off to one side beyond a little stream while 

 almost all the warriors of the tribe were gathered in front. 

 Sword-Bearer started to repeat his former ride, to the 

 intense irritation of the soldiers. Luckily, however, this 

 time some of his young men could not be restrained. 

 They too began to ride near the troops, and one of them 

 was unable to refrain from firing on Captain Edwards' 

 troop, which was in the van. This gave the soldiers their 

 chance. They instantly responded with a volley, and 

 Captain Edwards' troop charged. The fight lasted but a 

 minute or two, for Sword-Bearer was struck by a bullet 

 and fell, and as he had boasted himself invulnerable, and 

 promised that his warriors should be invulnerable also 

 if they would follow him, the hearts of the latter became 

 as water and they broke in every direction. One of the 

 amusing, though irritating, incidents of the affair was to 

 see the plumed and painted warriors race headlong for 

 the camp, plunge into the stream, wash off their war paint, 

 and remove their feathers ; in another moment they would 

 be stolidly sitting on the ground, with their blankets over 

 their shoulders, rising to greet the pursuing cavalry with 

 unmoved composure and calm assurances that they had 

 always been friendly and had much disapproved the con- 

 duct of the young bucks who had just been scattered on 

 the field outside. It was much to the credit of the dis- 

 cipline of the army that no bloodshed followed the fight 

 proper. The loss to the whites was small. 



