KIT CAREY'S RESOLVE.
At first a thrill of joy ran through the heart of Jennie Woodbridge,
as she is now known to be, when she saw that Lieutenant Carey was in
pursuit.
But when a bend in the trail placed the Sioux in a position to see
their pursuers well, she discovered how small was the force the officer
had with him, and at once she felt the greatest dread of evil befalling
him.
If she could have warned him back she would have done so, and she rode
along by the side of the Sioux chief plotting in her mind to suddenly
dash away, and by making her escape thus prevent Lieutenant Carey from
running into an ambush.
Whether the chief suspected her intention or not, he suddenly leaned
forward and took her bridle rein in his firm grasp.
Pretending to misunderstand it, she said, as calmly as she could:
"No, my horse will not fall, Red Hatchet, you need not hold the rein."
"Horse very fast, and if he ran away Indian pony could not catch him,"
was the significant response.
At last the Sioux chief saw where he could gain his advantage.
There was a ridge ahead, the trail leading through a ravine, and beyond
the country was rolling, seamed with canons and ridges, with rocks and
a stunted growth of trees visible upon every side.
By letting two of his braves dash on with his captive, after entering
the ravine, he could, with the rest of his force, dismount from their
ponies and go into an ambush, where he could check the pursuit very
suddenly, and if he could only kill the white captain of the redskin
soldiers he would feel no dread of his men.
And so the chief planned, while Jennie turned white with dread, and yet
could but obey the command of Red Hatchet to ride on.
He had called two of his warriors up, and ordering one to place himself
upon either side of her, bade them push on until they reached the
shelter of the Bad Lands, when they were to await his coming.
He had no idea of allowing the captive to enter the retreat of the
hostiles, unless he was with her to claim his prize.
"I will bring the Snow Flower the scalp of the pale-face captain that
caught the Red Hatchet with his death rope," he said, referring to his
capture with the lariat by Kit Carey, and speaking in the boastful tone
so often used by the Indians.
"The white captain did not kill the Red Hatchet, but let him go. Would
the chief kill one who was his friend?" asked Jennie, earnestly.
"Yes," was the reply. "The white captain is the foe of my people. The
Red Hatchet saw him capture the mighty Chief Sitting Bull, and kill
him, and again he saw him kill the braves of Chief Big Foot in the
fight at Wounded Knee. The Red Hatchet has a heart, and his heart
bleeds for the dead Sioux, whom the white captain has killed. When
his scalp is here, then will the Sioux be happy!" and he patted his
belt, where, in anticipation, he already beheld the scalp of Lieutenant
Carey. "Now, let the Snow Flower go on with my horses," said the chief
a moment after, as they dashed into the ravine.
Jennie could but obey, and as she sped on the Sioux and his braves
threw themselves from their ponies, which went on under the lead of
four warriors.
The balance of the band quickly sought cover and lay in ambush.
But the minutes went by, and the clatter of prancing hoofs did not
break upon the ears of the ambushed savages.
The "white captain" was too old an Indian fighter to be caught in a
trap, and so had come to a halt.
Where he had halted, too, was amid a pile of rocks at the crossing of a
small creek, susceptible of being well defended, and with water for his
men and their horses.
He had not blindly run into the trap set for him by Red Hatchet, for he
had seen through it.
Realizing that he could not overtake the chief in the country they had
then reached, when half a dozen men in ambush could keep five times
their number at bay, he had halted among the rocks, and given his men
and horses a rest.
Night was not very far away, and he intended to play a game of cunning,
too.
So he halted, and in a position that would give the Sioux the idea that
he intended remaining there.
The Cheyennes felt perfect confidence in their leader, and set to work
to fortify, or appear to do so, as though they expected an attack from
the Sioux as soon as night came on.
Red Hatchet saw that his enemy was too cunning to be caught in his
trap, and he gnashed his teeth with rage.
So anxious was he to fulfill his word, and carry in the scalp of the
white captain, that he made up his mind to carry the camp soon after
nightfall, or, at least, during the night.
If they crept near in different squads, and then made a rush all
together, the small force of Kit Carey could never check them, Red
Hatchet argued to himself.
He saw the position taken by the officer, marked well its approach, and
then reconnoitred its advantage and disadvantage for an attack.
He saw that the Cheyennes were working hard under their white captain
to make the place strong against attack that night, and he began to
make his preparations to rush in upon them under cover of the darkness.
But Red Hatchet was pitted against a man who had on many an occasion
"out-Injuned Injun," as they have it out on the plains, and who had
been reared to meet cunning with cunning, knife with knife, and nerve
with nerve.
While it was yet light Kit Carey sat down among the rocks, and with the
aid of a small glass and two of his Cheyennes as valets, began to make
his toilet as an Indian medicine chief.
He had made the firm resolve to go into the Bad Lands, enter the
retreat of the hostiles, and solve the mystery of their force and all
about them, while as a pretended Sioux he could also better aid the
escape of the captive of Red Hatchet.
His toilet was made with a care that proved he knew well how much
depended upon it, and when he was ready the robe of a medicine man was
thrown over his shoulders to complete his toilet.
Then, when the first shadows of night fell he led his red soldiers away
from the little fort they had made, they were given certain orders, and
with but two followers he made a flank movement of the position held by
Red Hatchet, and moved toward the Bad Lands.