Before eight o'clock, Buffalo Bill and Colonel Keogh came over from the fort, as they had heard from some one from Oxhide that Kate had come home, and they wanted to see her. They were both surprised at her excellent condition, and Bill ventured the remark that the Indians had certainly used her much better than they would have used him had he been in her place. "I've no doubt of that," said Mr. Tucker; "they would have had a roasting frolic if they had caught you instead of our little friend Kate!" "Well," said Colonel Keogh, "the war is ended, and I guess we have had the last trouble in Kansas that we shall ever have. The Indians are going peacefully to their reservations, where the Government will feed them, which is cheaper than fighting them, at anyrate! General Custer is at the fort, and he has heard so much of Joe that he wants to see him, and take him on a wolf hunt in a day or two." "I'll go, Colonel, for sure, for they are carrying off calves and hogs every night from some of the ranches on this creek," said Joe. "Talking about wolves," said Colonel Keogh, "I never saw so many together in all my life as I did after the battle of the Washita. We found the bunch of ponies belonging to the Indians, numbering about twelve hundred, and General Custer ordered them all to be killed, as a necessity, to prevent other savages from getting them. A Plains Indian without a horse to ride is as helpless as a child. He won't walk, and it was thought that by killing all the ponies we found, it would cripple the savages as effectually as if we killed the same number of warriors. The bunch was driven into a narrow cañon near their camp, and as they huddled against the high rocky wall, a detachment of the cavalry was detailed to shoot them. We camped near there for a few days, and at night the wolves would congregate there to feed upon the dead bodies of the ponies. I suppose they came from a distance of a hundred miles, for you know a wolf thinks nothing of going that far for a good meal. It happened to be the time of the full moon, and just after nightfall a lot of us used to go and ride on top of the bluff to watch the wolves come to the feast. I think it is no exaggeration to say that five thousand of the hungry creatures gathered there every evening, as long as any flesh remained on the bones of the slaughtered ponies. Such snapping, snarling, growling, and fighting was never heard before. You could hear them for two miles easily. Some of them were so pugnacious and ravenous that they actually killed and devoured each other! I do not believe such a scene was ever witnessed before or will be again."