EELIEF AT LAST. 375 



Our mouths were all full of ther little needles, and it 

 wer mighty hard keepin' a stiff upper lip. We were 

 eatin' away on our forty-eight horses, and watchin' 

 and hopin'. We could n't move, and leave our 

 wounded, or the Injuns would be on 'em right off. 

 The poor fellows had no surgeon, and were suiferin' 

 terrible^ as 't was. 



" Ther mornin' of ther ninth day broke with a cry 

 of 'Injuns!' Now, human natur' can't stand fitin* 

 allers. To carry out my shipwreck idee, fellers on a 

 raft kin cling an' swaller water fur awhile, but they 

 can't fight a hull grist o' hurricanes. Hoss meat an' 

 prickly pears ain't jest ther thing, either, to slap grit 

 inter a man. Ther were a big crowd comin', sure 

 enough, way off on ther hills. We were kinder be- 

 ginnin' ter despond, wdien a familiar sort o' motion 

 on the fur dark line spelt in air the w^ord, ' Friend ! ' 

 It wer the advanced guard o' relief, approachin' on 

 ther jump. Why, boy" — and the old scout seized 

 hold of Semi, and shook him in excitement — " talk 

 of Lucknow and ther camels a comin', they war n't 

 nowhar. The blessed old blue cloth ! If yer want 

 ter love a color, jest get saved by it once. When I 

 get holed in ther earth, I '11 take back ter dust on a 

 blue blanket, an' if I get married afore, gal an' I '11 

 wear blue, an' the preacher '11 hev ter swar a blue 

 streak in jinin' us ! " 



We afterward met others of the scouts — intelli- 

 gent, clear-headed fellows, with much more of culti- 

 vation than our rough friend possessed — aiul they 

 corroborated his story in every particular. I have 

 let him tell it in his own way, not only because 



