INDIAN RAIDS--KATE IS MISSING--"BUFFALO BILL'S"
OPINION--"BUFFALO BILL" FINDS HER LITTLE BASKET--THE
SOLDIERS RETURN TO THE FORT WITHOUT FINDING HER--GRIEF
OF THE FAMILY
IT was after dark when Joe returned from his mission to Fort Harker. He
had been very kindly received by the officers, who had heard all about
him from Colonel Keogh. The commanding officer told him that he wanted
him to warn the settlers on the Oxhide that the war had really
commenced; that General Sully had had a great fight on the Arkansas, and
that it could not be considered as a victory. He told him also to tell
the people on the creek that at any moment they might be visited by a
hostile band, notwithstanding that they were in such close proximity to
the post.
"You know yourself, my man, that the Indians have a faculty of going
anywhere they want to go, and all the troops in the army might be
fooled in regard to their movements. They are here to-day, murdering,
and taking young girls captive, and a hundred miles away to-morrow.
"Tell the settlers," continued he, "that they must be on the lookout. I
have not enough troops to put on guard on every creek. I wish I had;
then there would be no danger of any sudden and unexpected raids. Why,
do you know, Joe, that only yesterday, a band of Dog-soldiers made an
attack on Wilson Creek, sixteen miles from here, and killed two men who
were at work in their hayfield?
"It was reported to me about three hours after the affair had occurred,
and I sent a company up there, but as they were only infantry,--I have
no cavalry now at the post,--the Indians were soon out of reach.
"I want you to tell the settlers on the Oxhide to particularly watch
their girls. The Indians will get some of them if they possibly can.
They don't always murder them, but hold them in a terrible slavery in
hopes of getting a heavy money ransom from the Government for their
release."
Joe related to his parents all the conversation he had with the
officers at Fort Harker, and early the next morning he and his father
rode through the settlement, warning the people to be on their guard.
Only ten days afterward, when the family at Errolstrath were just going
to sit down to supper, it was discovered that Kate was missing. Gertrude
went up to her room, supposing she might be reading there, for she was a
great devourer of books, but she did not find her.
The boys hunted for her in all imaginable places on the ranche where
they thought she might possibly be, but could not find her. When Joe and
Rob returned from their fruitless quest, the family were too thoroughly
frightened to think of eating. Mr. Thompson mounted his horse and
started to make the rounds of the nearest neighbors to learn whether she
was visiting any of them.
He returned to the ranche long after dark, but brought no news of her
whereabouts, and found every member of the family in tears, and his wife
nearly crazy. He was told that Kate's pony had come home, riderless, to
the corral while he was absent, and a small sumac bush to which his
reins were tied, had been torn up by the roots and was dragging at his
feet. None of them could conjecture where she could be.
"My God!" exclaimed her mother, "if the Indians have captured her and
carried her off, what shall we do?"
"Something must be done at once," said Mr. Thompson. "Joe, get your pony
quickly, and we will hurry to the fort to learn whether any Indians have
been seen or heard of in this vicinity to-day. If so, we will get the
commanding officer to send out a squad of soldiers immediately. You must
go with them, Joe, and trail the savages if you can find any signs of
them."
Joe and his father rode as rapidly to Fort Harker as their animals could
carry them; went to the commanding officer's private quarters, as the
business offices were closed after night, and reported to him the
terrible anguish which the family were suffering.
They immediately adjourned to the Adjutant's office, and the commander
sent his orderly for the officer of the day. When he made his
appearance, he asked him whether any reports had been received
concerning Indians being in the vicinity. He replied that no such
report had been received by him, and it was his belief that none of the
hostile savages were in the immediate country.
At that moment, Buffalo Bill entered the room. He was chief of scouts at
Fort Harker, and had just returned from some perilous mission to one of
the military posts on the Arkansas, and was coming from the stable, to
report to the Adjutant. He was told of the mysterious disappearance of
Mr. Thompson's daughter Kate, and the opinion of the famous Indian
fighter and courier was asked as to what he thought of the matter, as no
Indians had been reported in the vicinity.
"Well," said Bill, "because you gentlemen have received no report of the
savages, it does not follow that none have been here. _I know that they
have been here, and to-day._ As I crossed Bluff Creek on my way here
this afternoon, about six o'clock, I saw in the distance a band of
Indians, numbering about ten or twelve, riding rapidly south. I hid
myself in a ravine so that they should not discover me, but I got a good
look at 'em with my field-glass. I think they were Comanches, though I
can't be certain of that; they might have been Cheyennes or Kiowas;
they were too far off to be made out exactly. Now, you ask for my
opinion as to what has become of the gentleman's daughter. I believe
those Indians have her; because they were riding so fast toward their
villages, and they are, you know, all south of the Canadian.
"But don't let Mr. Thompson worry too much; the simple fact that she is
a prisoner among them is bad enough. If among the Kiowas, and the chief,
Kicking Bird, is in the village when the band arrives with the girl, he
will not allow her to be harmed. He is a cunning old fellow, and knows
the value of money. He will have good care taken of her, and get a heavy
reward from the Government for ransom. If she should fall into the
village of Sa-tan-ta, God help her! He is the worst demon on the trail;
but anyhow, I don't think they will harm her, as they will want a
ransom."
"Well," said the officer, "I am sorry that I have no cavalry at the
post, but I will send a detachment of the infantry after them in
six-mule wagons. I imagine it will be a useless task to try to catch up
with them if, as Buffalo Bill says, they were going as fast as they
could to their village on the Canadian. Lieutenant Hale," said he,
turning to the Adjutant, "make a detail at once of thirty men, and send
them out under a couple of non-commissioned officers on the trail of the
savages, if it can be found. Anyhow, some sign may be discovered that
will tell us whether the girl is with them."
Then turning to Joe, he said: "I wish that you would go with the
detachment, for you are the best trailer in the whole country, not
excepting our chief scout here, Buffalo Bill, and he's the prince of all
frontiersmen."
"Well," said Buffalo Bill, "I've just come off a pretty hard trip, but I
volunteer to go with the party; if I can do anything in a case of this
kind, fatigue doesn't count."
"Thank you, Bill," said Mr. Thompson. "I will return to Errolstrath and
tell my family what has been done, and your favorable opinion that the
savages won't harm her: that will be a comfort at least. Good night,
gentlemen," said he; and he went out and untied his horse from the
hitching-post, and rode slowly home.
The night was quite dark, though there was a little moonlight, but the
detachment did not get away from the post until long after midnight, as
there was so much delay in hitching up the teams and turning out the
soldiers who had gone to bed. By the time the little train of three
wagons arrived at Bluff Creek, where Buffalo Bill had seen the Indians,
the day was just breaking. They could not travel to that point from the
fort very rapidly on account of the rough nature of the trail. It was
nothing but a series of rocky hills after they had crossed the Smoky
Hill, and was constantly becoming rougher as they approached Bluff
Creek, which was well named on account of its high bluffs.
The party halted at the ford where they supposed the savages had
crossed, and began to look for Indian signs. Pony tracks were plainly
visible in the soft earth where the trail led down to the water, and
Buffalo Bill dismounted and examined them carefully. He then asked Joe
to get off his horse and count the hoof-marks. Joe did so, and both he
and the famous scout agreed that there must have been about a dozen of
the savages.
Crossing the creek, followed by the wagons, Joe and he ascended the hill
on the other side. They had not proceeded a quarter of a mile when
Buffalo Bill picked up from the trail a small par-flèche basket, which
Joe immediately recognized as belonging to his sister.
"Look here, Mr. Cody, there is her name which I carved myself when I
gave it to her. Now we know for a fact that the savages have captured
her. I know why Ginger came home with that little sumac bush fastened to
his bridle. Kate must have tied him to it, and when the Indians swooped
down on her, the pony broke loose and tore up the little tree by the
roots in his fright, for he was always scared out of his wits at the
sight of an Indian."
The little detachment of soldiers rode on for a dozen more miles, when
the mules showed unmistakable signs of fatigue. They could not be made
to travel faster than a walk, notwithstanding the persuasive efforts of
the blacksnake-whips in the hands of their drivers. So both Buffalo Bill
and Joe reluctantly decided that it was no use to follow the Indians any
farther. They knew the habits of the savages so well, that they were now
probably a hundred miles ahead of them, for they always took loose
stock along with them so as to change animals when their own horses
became leg-weary.
Very reluctantly, then, the cavalcade was turned round and headed for
the fort, where the party arrived at about one o'clock. Buffalo Bill, as
chief of scouts, reported the result of the trip to the commanding
officer.
All were depressed at the failure of the expedition, but it was
impossible that it should have turned out differently, and when Joe
arrived at Errolstrath and related the story of the finding of Kate's
basket, the grief of the family knew no bounds. All felt keen anguish at
the absence of their favorite, and at her sad fate.
There was nothing to be done except to wait patiently for some action on
the part of the Government in ransoming her if she was alive. The family
settled themselves into a calm resignation, but the sun did not seem to
shine so brightly, nor the birds to sing so sweetly as when the pet of
the household was there. Even her antelope appeared to partake of the
general gloom; it evidently missed its loving young mistress, and would
wander around the house, disconsolately seeking her.