20 LIFE IN THE FAR WEST. 



" White Wolf, maybe, will lose his hair if he and his band 

 knock round here too often. That Injun put me afoot when we 

 was out on ' Sandy' that fall. This niggur owes hira one, any 

 how." 



" H — 's full of White Wolves : go ahead, and roll out some of 

 your doins across the plains that time." 



" You seed sights that spree, eh, boy ?" 



" Well, we did. Some of em got their flints fixed this side of 

 Pawnee Fork, and a heap of mule-meat went wolfing. Just by 

 Little Arkansa we saw the first Injun. Me and young Somes 

 was ahead for meat, and I had hobbled the old mule and was 

 * approaching' some goats, =^ when I see the critturs turn back their 

 heads and jump right away for me. ' Hurra w, Dick I' I shouts, 

 'hyars brown-skin a-comin,' and ofi' I makes for the mule. The 

 young, greenhorn sees the goats runnin up to him, and not bemg 

 up to Injun ways, blazes at the first and knocks him over. Jest 

 then seven darned red heads top the blufi^, and seven Pawnees 

 come a-screechin upon us. I cuts the hobbles and jumps on the 

 mule, and, when I looks back, there was Dick Somes ramming a 

 ball down his gun like mad, and the Injuns flinging their arrows 

 at him pretty smart, I tell you. ' Hurraw, Dick, mind your hair,' 

 and I ups old Greaser and let one Injun ' have it,' as was going 

 plum into the boy with his lance. He turned on his back hand- 

 some, and Dick gets the ball down at last, blazes away, and drops 

 another. Then we charged on em, and they clears off' like runnin 

 cows ; and I takes the hair off" the heads of the two we made 

 meat of; and I do b'lieve thar's some of them scalps on my old 

 leggings yet. 



" Well, Dick was as full of arrows as a porkypine : one was 

 sticking right through his cheek, one in his meat-bag, and two 

 more, bout his hump-ribs. I tuk 'em all out slick, and away we 



* Antelope are frequently called " goats" by the mountaineers. 



