CAPTURED BY INDIANS. 487 



started northward at a brisk trot. No real attempt to 

 escape had thus far been made and the watch became 

 somewhat relaxed, the attention of tlie Indians being 

 devoted chiefly to foraging. When opportunity seemed 

 favorable for the capture of horses or cattle, a halt 

 was called by the leader, and three or four of the 

 party were detailed for this purpose. These foragers 

 were expected to keep themselves and their prisoners 

 supplied with meat and such other rations as could be 

 found in the straggling cabins of frontiersmen, but, as 

 their raids often proved fruitless, w^e were, at best, 

 scantily provided for, and many times entirely without 

 food. 



We were now skirting the Black Hills, and I had 

 discovered by this time that our captors were making 

 their way to the Arrapahoe rendezvous, about one hun- 

 dred miles from Dead wood. 



At the end of the second dav the routine of the 

 previous night was repeated : the Indians built a fire, 

 cooked and ate some antelope meat, which had been 

 brought in by the foragers during the afternoon, and 

 then lay down around the fire for the night, their two 

 prisoners being again bound together, with a guard on 

 each side. Notwithstanding these precautions, how- 

 ever, on the part of the Arrapahoes, I was quietly on 

 the alert, and, although feigning sleep, was wide awake 

 and prepared to take advantage of any circumstance 

 which might prove favorable to an escape. I passed 

 the fingers of my right hand over the cord that bound 

 the left to my fellow-prisoner and felt sure that with 

 patience and persistence the knot could be untied and 

 our liberty regained. 



While the guards dozed and slept, as on the pre- 



