156 



R EC RE A riON. 



during the remainder of the night ; 

 but, in some way, while thinking it 

 over, at the very next halt, I again fell 

 asleep, sitting upright on a stone. In 

 the darkness I was again overlooked, 

 when the column moved on, and was 

 left all alone to finish my nap, with 

 most excellent prospects for awakening 

 in another world, as the Indians were 

 supposed to be following us. How long 

 I slept thus I never will know. I was 

 finally awakened by a curious cayote 

 that had approached to almost within 

 reach of my arm. Instantly I thought 

 of the great danger I had exposed my- 

 self to, and sprang to my feet. The 

 cayote scampered off, and I found my- 

 self alone. Of course, I thought that 

 the Indians were just ready to pounce 

 upon me, and I could almost feel that 

 rifles were leveled at me. My feelings 

 at that moment can never be imagined, 

 save by such as have been in a similar 

 situation. I dropped on " all fours " to 

 avoid being too conspicuous, listened 

 awhile, and, hearing no sound, began 

 creeping about in a large circle, to find 

 which w r av the trail led. There were 

 plenty of tracks, but those made dur- 

 ing the halt pointed in all directions, 

 and in my excited state of mind it 

 took me some time to find the trail 

 made by the men marching off, after 

 the halt, and to determine wmich way 

 the toes had pointed. The snowfall 

 had been light, and where the men had 

 walked the snow had entirely vanished, 

 leaving a black trail. Having satisfied 

 myself as to the direction taken by 

 the column, I crouched beside a large 

 rock for awhile to consider what I 

 should do. 



I still thought that the enemy must 

 be watching the retreat of the troops, 

 and wondered how they had failed to 

 discover me. Perhaps they were now 

 between me and my friends. If so it 

 would be dangerous to follow the trail. 

 I thought of leaving it and starting off 

 on my own account ; but there was 

 that little bit of snow in which I must 

 leave a trail. I was not sure of the 

 right direction to take to reach camp, 

 and might even get turned back to- 

 ward the camp of the Modocs. At 

 any rate I could have but little hope 

 of reaching our camp before daybreak, 

 after which it would be rather risky to 

 be out in the rocks, at the end of a 



plain trail of my own making. 'No, I 

 must not leave the trail of the column ; 

 but must follow it rapidly and endeavor 

 to overtake my friends before daylight 

 — which, for all I knew, having no 

 timepiece, might be upon me at any 

 time. Having reached this decision, 

 I took my pistol from its holster and 

 slipped the barrel of it under my belt, 

 in front of my body, where it could be 

 easily reached ; saw that my carbine 

 was ready for action ; arose and started 

 on a run along the trail — that is, I ran 

 where the roughness of the trail did 

 not prevent it, being frequently re- 

 minded of the necessity for reducing 

 my speed by receiving hard falls. 



I was not keeping a record of time, 

 so will never know how long I pursued 

 that precious column. The chase did 

 end, however, very abruptly, and in a 

 way that raised my hair. Just in front 

 of me, and not more than ten yards 

 distant, I saw several dark forms 

 springing to the right and left of the 

 trail. There was no mistaking those 

 noiseless movements ; they were In- 

 dians. I needed no command to halt. 

 Then I saw a head and a pair of 

 shoulders appear above a rock, bring- 

 ing a rifle to bear upon me. "I must 

 not be taken alive," I thought ; " I 

 must make him shoot me." It was a 

 dismal choice, but was quickly made, 

 as I threw my carbine to my shoulder, 

 intending to " pot " the gentleman who 

 was covering me. Just then I heard 

 the words, " Soger man," and several 

 Indians sprang up in my immediate 

 front. Through rare good luck I 

 managed to grasp the situation before 

 I fired. I was in contact with our 

 rear guard, which was composed of 

 Warm Spring Indians, in the service 

 of the United States ! I lowered my 

 carbine, and, at the same instant, felt 

 a hand on my shoulder. Turning 

 quickly about I saw that four or five 

 of the Indians were within reach of 

 me, while others were approaching 

 from all sides. My scheme to make 

 them shoot me would not have suc- 

 ceeded in any case. They had heard 

 the approach of what they supposed 

 to be a Modoc, and had planned to 

 catch him alive. So the greater part 

 of the band had ambushed themselves 

 at once, leaving a few to move on and 

 spring to cover only when sure of 



