Harry Castlemon

“ He was a squawman beyond doubt, and the lieutenant wondered what Carl had been doing to him to incur his enmity.
“Yes,” said the guide, “you go on to the fort; I will have to stay here.”
“Why, how in the world am I to find my way back there unless you go with me?” inquired Parker, who was amazed at the proposition.
“You can see the sun, can’t you? Well, just keep it to your right and go ahead. Trust a little to your horse. He has been that way once, and he can follow his old trail back. Good-by.” ”

“ The old Indians, knowing that this was to be a dance of endurance, barely lifted their feet, while the young braves bounded into the air and tried in various ways to show their enthusiasm. In a short time the dust raised by the feet of the dancers arose in clouds so thick that Carl could hardly see the circle at all. When one showed signs of giving out the others would jerk him around the circle, until at last he sank down from utter exhaustion. ”

“ Those who don’t believe in the Ghost Dance will all be killed by a fire or an earthquake or something, and those who believe enough in it to wear their ghost shirts will be saved.”
“What is that about the ghost shirts?” said Carl; for you must remember that what this squawman said was all news to him.
“Hold on and I will show you one,” said Harding. “You must say nothing to nobody about it, for if you do, the shirt will not be of any use to me.”
“Oh, I will say nothing about it,” said the scout with a laugh. “I shall not get a chance. ”

“ If he had got him within reach of the knife he held in his hand, he would have struck him down without mercy.
“Don’t you think he ought to be killed after that?” inquired Murphy.
“We are not here to make war upon crippled Indians,” said Lieutenant Parker decidedly. “Disarm him and let him go.”
Now, to Carl it seemed as if it was a matter of some importance to take away the Indian’s knife. One of his race, when he becomes frightened and can run, gets as frightened as anybody; but when he is wounded so badly that he is brought to a standstill, he becomes really a dangerous foe. ”

“ Carl did not say anything, but his thoughts were busy. What a pity it was, he thought, that Ainsworth and Tuttle did not have on those ghost shirts when General Miles’ force came up with them.
“You see it is sewed with sinew,” said the squawman, “and that proves that we must not take anything into the dance that the white man has made. We can wear anything that we have made ourselves, but nothing else.” ”

“ The squawman, who stood around listening, heard all that was said about his prisoner, and he was remarkably uneasy over it. If the Indians proved to be so angry at one of their number as to threaten his life, what would they do to him? Those who wanted to surrender would probably take the prisoner along with them and give him up to the agent as a proof of their good will, while those who wanted to go to the Bad Lands and fight it out would no doubt kill him at once. ”

“ It would be well enough, he thought, to wait awhile before getting away from there.
“Carl, do you see anything of the Indians out here?” was his first question.
“Oh, yes; we see them every day,” replied Carl.
“But do you have any trouble with them? I have heard that Indians are always on the warpath, and that they shoot and scalp every white man they see.”
“Well, it is not so. We are on the Sioux reservation, and we know that they have been peaceable ever since their surrender.” ”

“ Carl smiled as he put the saddle on his pony and the conversation he had had with his father came vividly to his mind; but, being an obedient boy, he had stayed at home after that, and listened to the stories the scouts told, although he had no hand in them himself. Some day he hoped to gain his father’s consent to take part in them; but until that consent was gained he would remain there on the ranch, acting as cowboy.
Without taking any weapons with him Carl mounted his pony and set off at a gallop, followed by his pointers, which went with him everywhere. ”

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“And so do you,” returned Carl. “When the colonel sent for me I had made up my mind to do something desperate. I was sure he was going to send me to Fort Yates with dispatches; but when I found that he was going to send me out after game—why, I thought he would send a man with me; that’s all.”
“Then I don’t suppose I shall fill the bill,” said Parker, modestly. “I lack some years yet of being a man. What do you expect me to do while you fellows are hunting?” ”

“ Let us fight!” exclaimed the lieutenant; and in an instant he had thrown his Winchester up to his shoulder and held it in position.
“Put up your gun,” said Carl sternly. “If there is one Indian there, there are a dozen. Besides, the report of your rifle would bring the whole camp on us. Every one of those tepees out yonder has two or three Indians in it, sleeping soundly.” ”

“ The young scout then seated himself and went on with his story, omitting no detail that he thought would be at all interesting to Lieutenant Parker. When he told of the Ghost Dance, he held his excited auditor spellbound.
“It was the queerest thing in the shape of a dance that I ever heard of,” said Carl. “There was literally nothing that was interesting about it. They go round and round until they get tired, and then they drop.” ”

“ They began yelling as soon as he began speaking, and for a few moments a great hubbub arose. In all his life on the plains Carl had never heard such a commotion before. Six or eight hundred Indians could easily drown out three men, and Carl could not hear a word they said. He expected every minute that some excitable young braves would shoot the policemen, but finally the latter gave it up and turned their horses toward the fort. Carl was greatly disappointed. He left the side of the tepee and seated himself on the bed, and a moment later the door opened and the squawman came in. ”

“ The next day they sent a band of warriors to loaf about the fort, and that is what scared the colonel. He was sure they would find you out here and he sent me to look you up.”
“I am sure it was very kind of him,” said Parker. “Are all the Sioux engaged in this Ghost Dance, sir?”
“No, there are probably twenty thousand of them in all, and more than half of them don’t take any stock in the Ghost Dance. They can no doubt raise six hundred or a thousand men, and we have three thousand to oppose them. We are all around them, too. I wish that old Sitting Bull was captured.” ”

“ Carl, the Trailer, was sadly depressed when he saw Lieutenant Parker ride his horse into Grand River—not so much on his own account, but he was thinking of the dispatches which the latter carried in his pocket. Although he spoke encouragingly to him, he did not expect that the young officer would find his way through to the fort alone. The chances were that the horse would fail to follow his own trail, and perhaps take his rider a hundred miles out of his way. But these thoughts had barely passed through his mind when he was recalled to himself by the actions of the squawman. ”

“ A part of the Indians went, and after a long wait they brought out two guns, which they handed to the soldiers.
“That won’t do,” said the colonel in a loud voice. “I want each one of you to bring out the weapons that you use in fighting us. If you don’t do it, my men will go in there and search your houses.”
“Now it is coming,” said Carl in a low tone to his friend, and he got down and buckled up his saddle. “When the soldiers go in there, you can make up your mind to advance.” ”

“ There was one thing that made Claude determine that he would not stay in that country any longer than he could help, and that was the idea of killing him on sight. Another thing that made him angry was the cordial manner in which the foreman and cook, who were not long in finding out why they came there, greeted the newcomers. Thompson told them that they were the very men he needed. Claude waited some time for the men to mount their horses and go away, and then he approached his uncle, who was sitting on the porch enjoying his after-dinner pipe. ”

“ The Battle of Wounded Knee.
“If there is anything I do despise it is to wait on an Indian until he gets ready to do anything,” said Carl, after they had waited three or four days to receive the Sioux who had gone into the Bad Lands. “An Indian has no idea of the value of time, and he thinks that a month or six weeks from now will do the same as though he came in to-morrow. All they want is a dance to make up their minds whether to come in and surrender or not.” ”

“ You’ve got most too much money in there.”
“I declare this beats me! Things have come to a pretty pass when a man cannot keep in his possession what money he needs.”
“I am only just telling you what I believe,” said Thompson. “I have had an eye on that man Claude for a long time. When you pay off the hands he is the last one in your office, and I expect he takes particular notice of where you put the key.”
“Thompson,” said Mr. Preston, suddenly putting his hand into his pocket, “do me the favor to keep this key. I am not as strong as I used to be——”
“I know you are not,” said the foreman sadly. ”

“ Carl had no idea of attempting to escape while the squawman was in the sweat-box. There were too many bucks all around him; and, besides, he had some preparations to make. He wanted to get rid of his boots and borrow a blanket to conceal his moleskin suit. Thus equipped, he believed that when the Ghost Dance was at its height he could slip away, and those who met him on the road, seeing nothing but the moccasins he wore and the blanket wrapped around his head, would surely take him for one of their own number and say nothing to him. He believed that he would try it, anyway. ”

“ It was now Carl’s turn to look in surprise Page 36 toward the lieutenant. There was something in West Point after all, if it taught their young officers such things.
“And when he came to himself I suppose he was all ready for war,” continued Parker.
“No, he wasn’t. The Cutter is a peaceful man; he has never been seen on the warpath; when he came back to this earth he was more for peace than he ever was. He told his people that they must send their children to school and cultivate the ways of the white man as nearly as they could. They must all love one another and stop fighting.” ”

“ The soldiers say they don’t want them to engage in it, and that is enough for them.”
“They will be saved when the world comes to an end as well as those who do believe in it, will they not?” said Carl.
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“Not much, they won’t,” answered the squawman indignantly. “This world is going to be destroyed and a new one made in the place of it; and those men, who are perfectly willing that the whites should come here and steal all their land and drive away the buffalo, will go somewhere, and no one will ever see them again.” ”

“ I was in hopes I should have a chance to try it on a buffalo before this time.”
“It seems to me that you have not read the papers very closely,” said Lieutenant Randolph, “or you would have found out that the buffalo have all but disappeared. There is only one small herd left, and they are in Yellowstone Park, where they are protected by law.”
“But there are antelope on the plains,” said Parker.
“Yes, and maybe you will have a chance at them by the time old Sitting Bull gets over his antics. It won’t do for a small company of men to go out on the plains now. The Sioux are too active.” ”

“ We are not going to see any fight with the Indians. While the colonel was reporting, there was an officer told me that there is a whole body of troops in the Bad Lands; so the best thing they can do is to surrender.”
“This ravine is the only thing that bothers me,” said the colonel, as he rode to his position and gave the necessary orders for preparing camp. “Suppose those Indians come in here and object to giving up their arms. Don’t you see that they can take to the ravine and run out, and we could not stop them? Those guns there would shoot over the ravine and hurt some of us.” ”

“ Of course we soldiers can’t stand by, with our hands in our pockets, and let innocent people suffer because of what the Department at Washington has done to them, and we have to stand between the settlers and Indian barbarities.”
“And the Sioux don’t think much of us any way, do they, sir?”
“Not now they don’t, for they are as well armed as we are. In olden times, when the trappers roamed through this country, the Indians were all armed with bows and arrows, and it was very seldom you heard of a company of men being annihilated. ”