Presently they spied me, and seeing that I was running away, they struck out in swift pursuit, and in a few minutes it became painfully evident that they were gaining on me.  They kept up the chase as far as Ash Creek, six miles from Fort Larned.  I still led them half a mile, as their horses had not gained much during the last half of the race.  My mule seemed to have gotten his second wind, and as I was on the old road I had played the whip and spurs on him without much cessation.  The Indians likewise had urged their steeds to the utmost.

Finally, upon reaching the dividing ridge between Ash Greek and Pawnee Fork, I saw Fort Larned only four miles away.  It was now sundown, and I heard the evening gun at the fort.  The troops of the garrison little dreamed that there was a man flying for his life from the Indians and trying to reach the post.  The Indians were once more gaining on me, and when I crossed the Pawnee Fork, two miles from the post, two or three of them were only a quarter of a mile behind me.  Just as I had gained the opposite bank of the stream I was overjoyed to see some soldiers in a government wagon, only a short distance off.  I yelled at the top of my voice, and riding up to them, told them that the Indians were after me.

[Illustration:  AMBUSHING THE INDIANS.]

Denver Jim, a well-known scout, asked how many there were, and upon my informing him that there were about a dozen, he said:  “Let’s drive the wagon into the trees, and we’ll lay for ’em.”  The team was hurriedly driven in among the trees and low box-elder bushes, and there secreted.

We did not have to wait long for the Indians, who came dashing up, lashing their horses, which were panting and blowing.  We let two of them pass by, but we opened a lively fire on the next three or four, killing two at the first crack.  The others following, discovered that they had run into an ambush, and whirling off into the brush they turned and ran back in the direction whence they had come.  The two who had passed heard the firing and made their escape.  We scalped the two that we had killed, and appropriated their arms and equipments; and then catching their horses, we made our way into the post.  The soldiers had heard us firing, and as we were approaching the fort the drums were being beaten, and the buglers were sounding the call to fall in.  The officers had thought that Satanta and his Indians were coming in to capture the fort.

It seems that on the morning of that day, two hours after General Hazen had taken his departure, old Satanta drove into the post in an ambulance, which he had received some months before as a present from the government.  He appeared to be angry and bent on mischief.  In an interview with Captain Parker, the commanding officer, he asked why General Hazen had left the post without supplying the beef cattle which had been promised to him.  The Captain told him that the cattle were surely on the road, but he could not explain why they were detained.