i ;o 



RECREATION. 



as he tried to dash into the post at 

 the head of a dozen followers. 



"He wants to see that tenderfoot at 

 Lieutenant Vivyan's," said Private 

 Spooner, whose slight knowledge of 

 the Sioux language enabled him, 

 after several attempts, to guess with 

 reasonable certainty the meaning of 

 the old man's cascade of words and 

 frenzied gestures. 



"Well, he can't do it at this time of 

 day," declared the sergeant. The pri- 

 vate was not equal to imparting this 

 information, and his endeavors to do 

 so only complicated matters. The 

 chief, ably supported by White Dove, 

 held to his purpose so energetically 

 that the officer of the guard, who 

 had taken a hand in the affair, sent 

 for the interpreter. Soon after his 

 appearance, Mr. Pyne, to whom a 

 note had been dispatched, walked up, 

 saying genially as he did so, 



"Well, Wolf, what's the row?" 



"You'd better hold his pony's 

 head," advised the interpreter to the 

 sergeant, for Yellow Wolf, his fol- 

 lowers increased to 50 or 60, began to 

 force his way toward Halsey. 



"See here, Pyne, this old chap says 

 you've stolen his daughter and sent 

 her East," said the officer of the 

 guard by way of beginning explana- 

 tions. 



"I've done nothing of the sort. 

 What should I want with his daugh- 

 ter?" indignantly replied the thunder- 

 struck young man. 



"He say you've sent Long Hair to 

 school," spoke up the interpreter. 

 "He say she hasn't been home all 

 night, her bedclothes all gone, that 

 everybody knows you're here to steal 

 kids and send them back East." 



Pyne gasped out a few incoherent 

 words. 



"He say," went on the interpreter, 

 "that if you'd do such a thing of 

 course you'd lie about it." 



"Here, we've had enough of this 

 sort of thing. Sergeant, send this 

 gang about its business," said the of- 

 ficer of the guard. 



But that was a task beyond the ser- 

 geant's power. The gang evidently 

 fancied it was attending to business. 

 By the time the officer of the day, 

 and with him Vivyan, arrived, mat- 

 ters were squally. Pyne, pale but 

 plucky, was standing with a soldier 

 on each side of him. Facing him at 

 2 yards' distance, sat Yellow Wolf, 

 similarly provided ; and 100 or more 

 Indians were moving restlessly about, 

 shouting to one another, ugly and 

 threatening. White Dove, chattering 

 without pause, made every once in a 

 while a dash at Halsey. 



"Great Scott," cried Vivyan when 

 he reached his friend, "have you been 

 monkeying with this old fool's chil- 

 dren?" 



"No," answered the harried young 

 man, "I know no more than you." 



"If that is the case," put in the offi- 

 cer of the day, coming up, "you would 

 best go back to your quarters, Mr. 

 Pyne." 



Halsey, glad to get away legiti- 

 mately, started at the words, but a 

 great uproar arose at once. Yellow 

 Wolf struck his pony a blow that 

 made him jerk the man at his head 

 5 or 6 feet ; several, galloping, placed 

 themselves between Pyne and the 

 post ; the others closed in, brandish- 

 ing their guns and yelling defiantly. 

 White Dove worked her way out of 

 the throng. 



"They say he sha'n't go till he tells 

 where the girl is. They say they will 

 begin shooting first," exclaimed the 

 interpreter breathlessly, as he ran up 

 to the officer of the day. 



"Oh, do they?" he returned sarcas- 

 tically. "Stop a moment, Mr. Pyne. 

 Mr. Stetson,, form the guard." 



The guard, 71 all told, appeared 

 small opposed to the crowd of 

 savages, and the officer of the day 

 decided to keep them in place till the 

 Post Commander, nowise pleased at 

 being called out so early, should come 

 up. 



Poor Pyne went through another 

 course of questions and denials, dur- 



