30 NEW TEACKS IN NORTH AMERICA, 



sliall I remember discussing with my companion of the watch 

 as we sat together in one of them, whether a light that 

 appeared suddenly oyer the oj)posite bluff was an Indian 

 signal or only a star. The coyotes howled dismally all 

 through the night, and at daybreak joined in a chorus of such 

 unearthly yells, tliat some of the knowing ones in Indian 

 warfare declared that these coyotes had no tails, but faces 

 like red-men, and teeth made of lead. 



l^ex.t day we entered Fort Wallace, and found the little 

 garrison quite worn out by the dangers and anxieties of the 

 last few days. I shall, however, leave it to my Mend, Major 

 Callioun, who had previously arrived with General Hancock 

 and his staff, to recount what had transpired before our 

 arrival, in a fresh chapter. 



The ;Maior and I became s-reat friends at Fort Wallace : 



looked a mi 



ar 



for he had gone through hardships during the civil 

 which few men could have survived. He had been shot 

 through the lungs, had lost a leg, and had been tlirice taken 

 prisoner; worse than all, he had lingered for eighteen months 

 in the dungeons of a Southern prison. Twice he tried to 

 escape across the swamps of the Chickahominy, and twice he 

 was recaptured and brought back to expiate that offence by 

 greater sufferings and more acute stai'vation. At last he 

 succeeded, shoeless and in rags, in breaking through the lines 

 and reaching the IS'orthern piquets in safety, where he learned 

 that he had ah-cady been exchanged. The bracing climate 

 of the Eocky Mountains did wonders for him, and soon he 

 was able to so through as much fatigue as the strongest 

 amongst us. 



{3W L-LLiWLl-oiX t*0 XiiLl^Xi XU:V.XJ3 



