Each officer had a horse to ride if he
chose. If he preferred to ride in the ambulance his orderly was on hand
to lead his horse for him.
We traveled steadily till ten o'clock in the morning, through herds of
buffalo whose numbers were past counting. I remember that General
Sherman estimated that the number of buffalo on the Plains at that time
must have been more than eleven million. It required all the energy of
the soldiers and scouts to keep a road cleared through the herds so
that the ambulance might pass.
We breakfasted during the morning stop and rested the horses. For the
men there was plenty of water, which we had brought along in canteens
and camp kettles. There was also a little for the animals, enough to
keep them from suffering on the way.
Two o'clock found us still making our way through the buffalo herds,
but with no Council Springs in sight. Curtis was on ahead, and one of
the lieutenants, feeling a little nervous, rode up to another of the
scouts.
"How far are we from the Springs?" he inquired.
"I don't know," said the guide uneasily. "I never was over here before,
but if any one knows where the Springs are that young fellow over there
does." He pointed to me.
"When will we get to the Springs?" asked the officer, turning in my
direction.
"Never--if we keep on going the way we are now," I said.
"Why don't you tell the General that?" he demanded.
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