This peak lay north of the trail, and the trail ran east and west.
As soon as it was dark I mounted my horse and rode to the peak and
tied him to a sagebrush in a sinkhole, that looked as though it
might have been put there on purpose, for my horse was hidden from
every direction.
I now went to the top of the hill, and there being a dense growth
of sagebrush, I was perfectly safe from discovery when daylight
should come.
I did not have to wait long after daylight, for just as the sun
was creeping up over the hill and shedding its rays on the little
valley where the two hundred braves had had such a pleasant
night's rest, dreaming, perhaps, of emigrants, horses, provisions
and other stuff that they would probably capture the following
day, I looked up the Humboldt and saw the two companies of cavalry
coming.
The Indians seemed in no hurry to leave, and were perhaps waiting
for the five scouts to return and report, never thinking that they
had been killed and scalped, and that the same paleface who did
the deed was then watching their every movement and laying plans
for their destruction.
I got my horse in about a minute, mounted and rode across the
country to meet the cavalry, taking a route so that I would not be
seen by the Indians.
I met the soldiers--who were commanded by Capt. Mills and Lieut.
Harding--about four miles from the Indian camp, and they came to a
halt.
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