"The command has arrived!" shouted one of the boys.
I proposed that we give the Captain a surprise. We all dismounted,
and each fastened a scalp to the browband of his bridle, and when
the Captain saw us coming and saw that each had a scalp, he said:
"Boys, let's give them three cheers." At that the valley rang out
with the yells.
This pleased the new recruits that had been engaged in the battle,
and I can truthfully say that I never saw the same number of green
men equal them in the first engagement, for every one of them
fought like heroes.
We dismounted, turned our horses over to the herder and called for
supper. This was the first square meal that it had been our
pleasure to sit down to for four days, and this was where none of
us shrunk from duty, in the least.
By this time the wound in my leg was beginning to pain me, and
gave me more trouble than I anticipated. The next morning it was
badly swollen, and I was not able to ride horseback for several
days.
That morning we pulled for Steen's Mountain, which we supposed to
be about forty miles from where we were camped.
Not being able to ride horseback, I rode in one of the ambulances.
From here we kept guards out on each side of the trail, with
orders to keep from five to six miles from the train, and if any
Indians were seen to report at once.
The second day in the afternoon Capt.
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