Those were days of delight and happiness to young Ned Chadmund. The
weather was not oppressively warm, and the ever-changing scenery was
like the most entrancing panorama passing before his eyes. Sometimes he
rode upon one of the horses with the lieutenant or one of the soldiers.
Then again he ran along-side the ambulance until he was tired, when he
climbed within, and seated himself beside Corporal Hugg, and listened to
his tales of battle and adventures.
On the second day the Indians began to show themselves. A party of
horsemen would be seen upon the top of some hill or bluff, apparently
contemplating the little cavalcade, or they would circle around at a
distance upon the prairie, whooping and indulging in all sorts of
tantalizing gestures, in the hope of drawing out a portion of the party
in pursuit. Their hearts' delight would have been to get them into some
exposed position, where they could be cut off to a man--and had the
cavalry been unaccustomed to border life, the artifice would have
succeeded; but they were not to be seduced to their ruin by any such
transparent stratagem.
Now and then these redskins, a number of Comanches, sent in a rifle ball
or two by way of reminding the cavalry that they were accustomed to that
business. The lieutenant commanding permitted his men to reply
occasionally, but no thought of pursuit was entertained. None of the
soldiers were injured by these shots, although a number passed
uncomfortably close, and the ambulance was pierced several times.
At one time Corporal Hugg checked his horse, and pointing his gun out of
the stage, took deliberate aim at the nearest redskin, who was
displaying his horsemanship by shooting from beneath the neck and belly
of his mustang, and then, as the latter wheeled, flopping upon the other
side of the animal, and firing as before. The corporal held his fire
until he attempted one of these turn-overs, when he pulled the trigger
and "took him on the wing." The result was a whoop, a beating of the air
with a pair of moccasined feet, and the mustang galloped away without a
rider.
This skillful shot was a good thing for the party, as it taught the
Comanches the very lesson they needed. They instantly retreated to a
further point upon the prairie, and finally vanished from view
altogether.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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