After an hour's sleep and a
meal, I jumped into the saddle, and before sunrise was on my way. I
reached Fort Dodge, twenty-five miles further on, between nine and ten
o'clock without having seen a single Indian.
When I had delivered my dispatches, Johnny Austin, an old friend, who
was chief of scouts at the Post, invited me to come to his house for a
nap. When I awoke Austin told me there had been Indians all around the
Post. He was very much surprised that I had seen none of them. They had
run off cattle and horses, and occasionally killed a man. Indians, he
said, were also very thick on the Arkansas River between Fort Dodge and
Fort Larned, and had made considerable trouble. The commanding officer
of Fort Dodge was very anxious to send dispatches to Fort Larned, but
the scouts, like those at Fort Hays, were backward about volunteering.
Fort Larned was my Post, and I wanted to go there anyhow. So I told
Austin I would carry the dispatches, and if any of the boys wanted to
go along I would be glad of their company. This offer was reported to
the commanding officer. He sent for me, and said he would be glad to
have me take the dispatches, if I could stand the trip after what I had
already done.
"All I want is a fresh horse, sir," said I.
"I am sorry we haven't a decent horse," he replied, "but we have a
reliable and honest Government mule, if that will do you.
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