He answered, “Well, if you will take the lead and do the scout work, we will strike the trail of the Red devils at once.”

I said, “All right, Capt., you pick out two good men to assist me, and we will be off at once, for the sooner we are after them the quicker we may overhaul the Red murdering thieves.”

In a few minutes the Capt. came to me, and with him were two men.  He said, “These men say they are willing to do all they can to help.”  I said, “I will take the lead, and don’t you pay any attention to my movements.  You take the trail and follow it as long as you can see it, and when it is too dark to see, go into camp, and if I locate the Indians, whether they are in camp or on the move, I will inform you at once.”

It was in the middle of the afternoon when we pulled out on the trail of the Indians.  After following them eight or ten miles, I decided in my mind that there were not more than forty Indians in the band we were after.

I said, “Now boys, if we catch these Indians in camp, we can wipe them out and not leave one of them to tell the tale.  We have a bright moon tonight, and their trail is so fresh and plain there will be no trouble in following it.”

One man asked if I thought we could overtake the Indians in their first camp.  I answered, “I think we can, for the Indians will have no fear of being followed and will not be in a hurry and will be off their guard.”

We pushed on until about eleven o’clock in the night when we rode up on a little ridge, and, on looking down in the valley beyond, we saw several camp fires, but they were burning very dimly.

I said, “Boys, there are your Indians, and I want one of you to stay here and hold the horses, and the other to go with me, and we will investigate the matter,” and said to the man that we left with the horses, “If you hear the report of a gun, mount your horse and lead ours to us at once, for the gun shot will be a signal that we are in trouble and want you to assist us.”

My companion and I crawled down near the camp fires, and we saw that all the Indians were lying around the fires asleep, but they were scattered about so that I could not count them.

I whispered to my companion, “Now let us find the stock.”

We crept down a little further and found the horses and cattle all feeding quietly, and they were all bunched up together.  We went back to the man who had the horses.  I told him to mount his horse and take the trail back until he met Capt.  McKee and to tell him what we had found, and if it was possible for him to get here by daybreak to do so, “for if we can all be together before daylight, I think we can capture the whole outfit without losing a man.”

He mounted his horse and was off at once.  He had been gone perhaps an hour, and my comrade and I were sitting talking, when he raised his hand and said, “Hush, I hear something.”

“What did it sound like?” I said.