WHY SATANK KILLED PEACOCK 



of the snake that Nesbit was something more than 

 a 'bump on a log/ an' so he give the man a hft 

 to start him, an' in a little while he was made ser- 

 geant; an' then, when the ol' orderly sergeant's 

 time was out an' he was discharged, Nesbit was 

 made first sergeant right over the heads of us old 

 hands who'd been in the service a heap longer. 

 But he deserved it, an' I never begrudged him the 

 promotion, for he made one of the best orderly ser- 

 geants I ever knew — always the same quiet, cool, 

 nervy Nesbit." 



"I always told you," remarked Jack, "that it 

 won't do to set a man down for a fool 'cause his 

 clo's don't fit him. 



''Changin' the subject," said Jack, "it's about 

 five miles from here up to Charley Rath's ranch, 

 at the mouth of Walnut Creek; ain't it, Tom?" 



"Yes; five miles to Walnut Creek, sixteen from 

 there to Pawnee Rock, eight miles from the 

 Rock to the crossin' of Ash Creek, six from Ash 

 Creek to Pawnee Fork, an' three miles, after 

 crossing Pawnee Fork, on up the creek will bring 

 us to Fort Larned, which is two miles and a half 

 ofF the Santa Fe road, but in plain sight of it." 



"I was thinkin'," continued Jack, "about the 

 Walnut Creek ranch an' some o' the lively times 

 it's seen since I first know'd it. In '57, when we 

 come out here on the Cheyenne expedition, Allison 

 owned it. Many's the time the Injuns made life 

 a burden to AlHson, but still he saved his scalp 



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