284 WALL STREET AND THE WILDS 



ished. You say that some of our young men are 

 in Texas now. They shall be given up. Our 

 warriors will go with your soldiers and find them, 

 and they shall be punished as the Great Father 

 wishes." 



Toshaway's speech was that of a statesman. 

 It quieted the passions of his people. It gave the 

 Commissioner a chance to save his face. The 

 offer was at once accepted. The terrible tensity 

 relaxed and again we breathed freely. The 

 storm cloud passed from the faces of the Indians, 

 the council quietly dispersed. Thus was a mas- 

 sacre averted by the masterly tact of Toshaway. 



A few days later a detachment of soldiers and 

 officers in command of Colonel Lawson, accom- 

 panied by a band of Comanches, started for Red 

 River and beyond. It was a purely junketing 

 trip, for the thought of finding a raiding red- 

 skin never entered the mind of the most san- 

 guine. 



For forty years my own thought of the Indians 

 has been colored by my memory of Iron Moun- 

 tain's band of Comanches, who in loyalty to our 



