Sword-Bearer started to repeat
his former ride, to the intense irritation of the soldiers. Luckily,
however, this time some of his young men could not be restrained. They
too began to ride near the troops, and one of them was unable to refrain
from firing on Captain Edwards' troop, which was in the van. This gave
the soldiers their chance. They instantly responded with a volley, and
Captain Edwards' troop charged. The fight lasted but a minute or two,
for Sword-Bearer was struck by a bullet and fell, and as he had
boasted himself invulnerable, and promised that his warriors should be
invulnerable also if they would follow him, the hearts of the latter
became as water and they broke in every direction. One of the amusing,
though irritating, incidents of the affair was to see the plumed and
painted warriors race headlong for the camp, plunge into the stream,
wash off their war paint, and remove their feathers; in another moment
they would be stolidly sitting on the ground, with their blankets over
their shoulders, rising to greet the pursuing cavalry with unmoved
composure and calm assurance that they had always been friendly and
had much disapproved the conduct of the young bucks who had just
been scattered on the field outside.
Pages:
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314