WHY SATANK KILLED PEACOCK 



''Well, Tom/* I asked as the old man seemed 

 to be at the end of his yarn, "as the Kiowas are 

 now Uving under a treaty, do you think their 

 friendship is to be depended on?'* 



"I wouldn't feel a bit uneasy in the neighbor- 

 hood of ol' To hausen's band, for him an' his fol- 

 lowers has kept faith with the whites right along, 

 through all the late troubles. He's one of the few 

 good Injuns. But his band is a small part of the 

 tribe now though he used to be their head chief. 

 Most of the Kiowas follow the lead of Satank now, 

 an' you know Satank hates a white man as the 

 devil hates holy water, an', although he may keep 

 the peace for a while, it ain't to be depended on. 

 I would never feel perfectly safe in the neighbor- 

 hood of Satank's band. An' then Satanta an' Big 

 Tree run with him, an' they're as bad as Satank." 



"What I was thinking of," I added, "is that the 

 winter camp we're intending to estabhsh, north 

 of Fort Larned, will be right in the range of the 

 Kiowas, and if they should happen to find our 

 layout in the course of the winter they might 

 make trouble for us." 



"Well, we won't borry any trouble on that 

 score. We knew there was a risk to run afore we 

 undertook the expedition. When a man goes into 

 the country of hostile or doubtful Injuns he takes 

 his risk. But at this time of the year the chances 

 are that we won't see any Injuns, 'cause they gen- 

 erally hole up in as snug shelter as they can find 



109 



