THE WOLF HUNTERS 



to their main village, some miles down the creek, 

 a little the loser in the long run, for, although they 

 had killed the three white men an' destroyed 

 their outfit, it had cost 'em five warriors. 



**The wiping out of these wolf hunters," Tom 

 went on, *^ corroborates what Tve often told you, 

 an' what your own experience ought to teach 

 you, that it's never safe to depend on the friend- 

 ship of Injuns — 'specially Kiowas. Whenever they 

 can get a good chance at a white man, or a small 

 party of whites, they don't hesitate to murder 'em 

 — an' 'specially a party of hunters, for that class 

 they consider their natural enemies on account of 

 the hunters kilhng what the Injuns claim to be the 

 red man's game. 



"I left them bones with the adjutant over to 

 the fort," continued Tom, **as he thought maybe 

 somebody might come along who could throw more 

 light on the mystery. Then I called on Weissel- 

 baum an' told him we were just a-gettin' under 

 good headway poisoning wolves, trapping beaver, 

 an' so forth, an' he offered to buy all our catch 

 — wanted to make a bargain with me right then — 

 but I stood him off, for I think maybe we can do 

 better to take our skins into Leavenworth. Some 

 of the officers wanted to know if we couldn't bring 

 'em over a saddle of antelope for their mess when- 

 ever one of us goes over there for our mail. I 

 guess we can do it just as well as not an' make a 

 little spending money on the side; an', besides, it's 



164 



