"You see, the captain saw from that little affair of the snake that Nesbit was something more than a 'bump on a log,' an' so he give the man a lift to start him, an' in a little while he was made sergeant; an' then, when the ol' orderly sergeant's time was out an' he was discharged, Nesbit was made first sergeant right over the heads of us old hands who'd been in the service a heap longer. But he deserved it, an' I never begrudged him the promotion, for he made one of the best orderly sergeants I ever knew--always the same quiet, cool, nervy Nesbit." "I always told you," remarked Jack, "that it won't do to set a man down for a fool 'cause his clo's don't fit him. "Changin' the subject," said Jack, "it's about five miles from here up to Charley Rath's ranch, at the mouth of Walnut Creek; ain't it, Tom?" "Yes; five miles to Walnut Creek, sixteen from there to Pawnee Rock, eight miles from the Rock to the crossin' of Ash Creek, six from Ash Creek to Pawnee Fork, an' three miles, after crossing Pawnee Fork, on up the creek will bring us to Fort Larned, which is two miles and a half off the Santa Fé road, but in plain sight of it." "I was thinkin'," continued Jack, "about the Walnut Creek ranch an' some o' the lively times it's seen since I first know'd it. In '57, when we come out here on the Cheyenne expedition, Allison owned it. Many's the time the Injuns made life a burden to Allison, but still he saved his scalp an' died on the square. In '58 he left his hired man, Peacock, in charge of the ranch while he took his teams an' went in to Westport, Missouri, after goods. On that trip Allison died suddenly at Westport, an', as he had no kinsfolk at the ranch an' none ever come out to claim it, Peacock jumped the claim an' held it as his own. He, too, had some lively times with the Injuns an' was finally killed by ol' Satank, in the summer of 1860. An' then Charley Rath jumped the claim an' still holds it, but more'n likely he, too, will lose his napper to some o' the Indians yet. It was near the ranch, when Peacock had it, that Pawnee, the Kiowa chief, was killed by Lieutenant Bayard; wasn't it?"