The Indians did not give us a very long rest, for with another desperate
charge, as if to ride over us, they came dashing toward the mule
barricade. We gave them a hot reception from our yagers and revolvers.
They could not stand or understand the rapidly repeating fire of the
revolver, and we checked them again. They circled around us once more, and
gave us a few parting shots as they rode off, leaving behind them another
dead Indian and a horse.
For two hours afterward they did not seem to be doing anything but holding
a council. We made good use of this time by digging up the ground inside
the barricade with our knives, and throwing the loose earth around and
over the mules, and we soon had a very respectable fortification. We were
not troubled any more that day, but during the night the cunning rascals
tried to burn us out by setting fire to the prairie. The buffalo grass
was so short that the fire did not trouble us much, but the smoke
concealed the Indians from our view, and they thought they could approach
to us without being seen. We were aware of this, and kept a sharp lookout,
being prepared all the time to receive them. They finally abandoned the
idea of surprising us.
Next morning, bright and early, they gave us one more grand charge, and
again we "stood them off." They then rode away half a mile or so, and
formed a circle around us. Each man dismounted and sat down, as if to wait
and starve us out. They had evidently seen the advance train pass on the
morning of the previous day, and believed that we belonged to that outfit,
and were trying to overtake it. They had no idea that another train was on
its way after us.
Our hopes of escape from this unpleasant and perilous situation now
depended upon the arrival of the rear train, and when we saw that the
Indians were going to besiege us instead of renewing their attacks, we
felt rather confident of receiving timely assistance. We had expected that
the train would be along late in the afternoon of the previous day, and
as the morning wore away we were somewhat anxious and uneasy at its
nonarrival.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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