He left me as silently as he had come, and I waited, hardly breathing, till I saw his form outlined among the shadows, as the full moon flickered through the branches of the trees.

As soon as the Capt. reached the Indians, every man sprang for the nearest one, and it was a lively little fight for me at least.  The first two Indians I struck never gave a grunt, for I nearly severed their head from their bodies.  The third one, as I made for him, shouted, “Woughe,” and sprang to his feet.  I hit him on the back of the neck, but I gave him the third blow before he went down.  Just as he doubled up, I saw another coming directly for me, running at full speed.  I jerked my pistol, and when he was in a few feet of me I fired, and he fell, and now I could hear the pistols firing thick, and fast, but no more Indians came near me, and the fight lasted but a few minutes longer.  One of our men had a hand-to-hand fight with an Indian.  They both fought with knives.  I did not see the fight, although they must have been near me, and he was the only man that was wounded in the fight, and he was only slightly wounded.  He told me that the first he saw of the Indian he was right before him brandishing his long knife, and he said, “I had to work lively for a little bit, you may rest assured, but I finally got a lick at his short ribs, and then I gave him another on the back of the neck and that got him.”

As soon as the pistols ceased firing, Capt.  McKee came to me and said, “I think we have got them all.”

I said, “Now Capt., call the boys together and see if any are wounded.”

He stepped out a little ways and called to the men.  “If anyone is hurt, report to me at once, so we can attend to you.”

No one came to us but the one I have spoken about.  He was cut on one arm and had a slight cut on one shoulder.  The Capt. said, “Now boys, go around to every dead Indian and take every knife and anything else that you can find that is of any value and bring them here and lay them in a pile,” and then he gave me a title when he said, “The scout and I will go and see about the horses.”

Capt.  McKee gave me this title in fun that night, but he little thought that years after that night I would win the right to not only be called a scout but would have the honor conferred on me of “Capt., Chief of scouts.”

We went to where the horses were feeding, but they were so mixed that we could not count them.  After we had looked at some of them, the Capt., said, “I wonder where the Indians stole them.  Such fine horses are not found every where.  Perhaps after daylight we may discover some brand that will show whom they belong to.”

We went back to the Indians’ camp and saw that the boys had gathered up all that belonged to them.  Each one of them had had a nice blanket and nearly all of them had butcher knives.  The Capt., said, “Now we will get our horses and stake them out so they can feed, and we will get to our blankets and try to get a few hours rest, for I am dead tired, and I reckon the rest of you boys don’t feel any better.”