They had feasted
together, these comrade troopers and chargers, ere the sun went
down,--the men on abundant rations of agency bacon, flour and brown
sugar, found with black tailed deer and mountain sheep in abundance in
the captured village, and eked out by supplies from the pack train,--the
horses on big "blankets" of oats set before them by sympathetic friends
and masters. Then, when the skies were fairly dark, Webb had ordered
little fires lighted all along the bank of the stream, leaving the men
of Ray's and Billings' troops to keep them blazing through the long
night watches to create the impression among the lurking Sioux that the
whole force was still there, guarding the big village it had captured in
the early afternoon, and then, in silence, the troopers had saddled and
jogged away into the heart of the hills, close on the heels of their
guides.
There had been little time to look over the captures. The main interest
of both officers and men, of course, centred in Mr. Hay, who was found
in one of the tepees, prostrate from illness and half frantic from fever
and strong mental excitement. He had later tidings from Frayne, it
seems, than had his rescuers. He could assure them of the health and
safety of their wives and little ones, but would not tell them what was
amiss in his own household.
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