AT BAY AGAINST BIG ODDS.
The pursuing redskins were all of a third of a mile from the ridge,
when the double-weighted horse disappeared over it.
With a delay of a few minutes, and relieved of his double load, Kit
Carey was assured he could force the Indians to give up their chase
after the young girl.
A glance showed him that the animal was running well, and then he
sprang to the shelter of some rocks and laid the two holster revolvers
before him, for they were long range weapons.
"This is for the forlorn hope," he said, grimly as he patted the
smaller revolver in his sword-belt.
On up the trail came the redskins at full speed, yelling like demons,
and feeling confident of their prey.
As the leaders rushed over the ridge they beheld a sight that was
wholly unexpected to them.
There over half a mile away was flying along the trail the horse upon
which Emma Foshay was mounted, and right in their path, to bar their
way, upright, determined, and at bay, a revolver in each hand, and but
his head and shoulders seen above the rocks, stood Kit Carey.
There was a look upon his face that was dangerous--a determination to
fight it out right then and there against all odds.
Kit Carey, a soldier of the Seventh, was at bay, and that meant that
there would be no weakening on his part.
Still he did not fire. He simply stood with revolvers ready, fingers on
trigger, fearless, and not to be beaten back.
The Sioux were unprepared for the fight.
Had one man stopped there to fight them, or were there others ambushed
among the rocks?
So quickly had those in advance drawn up their ponies that several went
down, and those pressing on behind fell over them, until it became a
mass of struggling warriors and mustangs.
Quickly the braves were upon their feet, neither hurt nor bruised by
the fall, and many sprang back to cover over the ridge.
But Kit Carey had not pulled trigger, and by one of those strange
circumstances wholly unaccountable, not a warrior had fired either.
There was a pony with a broken leg lying upon the trail, a feather
head-dress and a Winchester rifle, but that was all.
What the result would have been was hard to tell, had not the young
officer quickly taken advantage of the lull to call out in the Sioux
tongue, which he spoke perfectly:
"Why are my red brothers seeking to kill one who has been their friend
in times of peace, if their foe in times of war?"
His clear ringing voice reached every ear, and there were those now
among the band of pursuers who recognized him, and calling him by the
name he was known in their tribe, Chief Crow Dog answered the question
like a Yankee, by asking another:
"Why did the White War Eagle fly from his red friends?"
"The one with me was not a soldier, but a woman, and the war-cries of
the braves against their friends alarmed her. If they were friends, why
did they fire upon me? Did I kill the great Chief Crow Dog, and his
braves, as I could have done, when they came over the hill?"
"White War Eagle speaks well; but the great medicine chief, Tatanka
Yotanke, is near, and must hear his words. If Tatanka Yotanke[1] says
it is war, then war it will be; but if he says it is peace, the White
War Eagle can go his way."
"I am content, so let the great medicine chief, Sitting Bull, say which
it shall be," was the fearless reply of the young soldier.
Chief Crow Dog then turned to one of his braves, and said something in
a low tone.
Instantly the warrior rode away at a gallop, and Crow Dog stepped
toward Kit Carey, who called out quickly: "Hold! is the Crow Dog a fool
that he comes near me when it may be war, not peace between us?"
The chief sprang back to cover with an alacrity that was ludicrous,
for he had been anxious to get near the young soldier with some of his
braves, so as to spring upon him should Sitting Bull decide that the
officer was to be attacked.
Seeing his advantage gained, by his bold front shown, Lieutenant Carey
said:
"Why does the great chief, Sitting Bull, go on the war-trail away from
his camp, if he is the friend of the pale-faces?"
Crow Dog seemed to feel that he had made a mistake in stating that
Sitting Bull was along with the party, so replied with the quick
cunning and ready lie of the redskins:
"Sitting Bull has been to see a chief who is ill."
"And did Crow Dog with fifty mounted braves, all in war-paint, go with
him?"
"The great chief is here," said Crow Dog, anxious to withdraw from the
questioning to which he had been subjected.
And over the ridge rode Tatanka Yotanke, the greatest chief of his
tribe, a man with intelligence, courage, viciousness, and implacable
hatred toward his foes, the whites.
But his face showed no hatred now, for he dismounted, laid his weapons
upon his blanket, and came straight toward Kit Carey, his hands raised,
while he said in his low, earnest voice:
"The Crow Dog was wrong to fire upon the good friend of Sitting
Bull, the brave War Eagle of the pale-faces. Tatanka Yotanke has not
forgotten that many, many moons ago the White War Eagle found his
redskin foe wounded and in distress, and helped him as one of his own
people. Let the White War Eagle mount one of my braves' ponies and go
on his way, for though red clouds obscure the sun, there must be no
war to kill off my people."
"The great chief has spoken well, and may his words come from his
heart, for a war between his people and mine will but end in death to
his braves, the destruction of their homes, the sorrow of their wives
and children. The words of Sitting Bull shall be told to the great
white chief of my people, and his friendship made known. The great
chief has a good memory, and we are friends. The White War Eagle will
take him at his word, and may it never be broken."
As he spoke Kit Carey stepped out boldly from his cover, his hand
grasped that of the chief, and the brave who had appropriated his
saddle and bridle from his dead horse was ordered to bring them forward
and place them upon the back of a clean-limbed pony that Sitting Bull
pointed to.
And mounting, just as the shadows of night deepened, Lieutenant Carey
rode away, with the muttered words:
"A close call that! but is Sitting Bull in earnest in his professions
of friendship? I very much fear me not."
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 1: Sitting Bull was a chief of the Dakota Sioux, both by his
inheritance and by his deeds, for according to his own statement it was
necessary in his tribe for a brave to "achieve greatness." His father
was a chief named Jumping Bull. Two of his uncles, Four Horns and
Hunting His Lodge, were also chiefs. He was born in 1837, near old Fort
George, on Willow Creek, near the mouth of the Cheyenne River. Before
he was ten years old, he won fame as a hunter of buffalo calves, which
he gave to the poor, his father being a rich man. Until he was fourteen
years old, he was known as Sacred Stand, but at that age, having slain
an enemy, he became known by his later name, Tatanka Yotanke, or
Sitting Bull. This is the man's early history, as outlined by himself
when he was a prisoner after his return from Canada, whither he fled
after the troubles in the Black Hills.
Sitting Bull imagined that the force of which the Custer command was
part, had been sent out to exterminate his people. For eight days he
retreated from the advancing white men, and then, being wearied, he
set up a mock village, left his fires lighted, and arranged a number
of effigy Indians so as to deceive the whites. He then gathered his
braves, and, under cover of the hills to the south of the Rosebud,
marched to intercept Custer's advance. He did not wish to fight, and
so sent out a messenger with a flag of truce, who was shot down. After
seeing this man fall from his horse, he called God to witness that he
was not responsible for the blood that was to be shed. Custer galloped
on toward the empty village and Sitting Bull closed in behind him, and
to the right and left. The white men were exterminated.
When the Indians found they could no longer cope with the power of
the Government, Sitting Bull fled to Canada with his band. There he
remained until 1879, when, starvation staring him in the face, he
and his followers surrendered to General Miles, amnesty having been
guaranteed for all past offenses, conditional upon good behavior.
Sitting Bull has been a disturbing element among the Sioux ever since
his surrender. He was influential in July and August, 1888, in causing
the tribe to refuse to relinquish their lands. Since the campaign of
1876, the Sioux have behaved comparatively well until the "Messiah"
craze started.
For some purpose, Sitting Bull had fomented the craze, and it was his
activity in the exciting movement among the Indians that led to his
arrest with its fatal consequences.
Sitting Bull had two wives living, and one other, who died. He was the
father of nine children, including two pairs of twins. The older of his
living wives is named Was-Seen-by-the-Nations, and the other is called
The-One-That-Had-Four-Robes.]