Captain Carey or Fighting the Indians at Pine Ridge by Lionel Lounsberry

Author:Lionel Lounsberry [Lounsberry, Lionel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2016-09-06T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER XXI.

A STARTLING DISCOVERY.

The Cheyenne Indians under the command of Lieutenant Carey had come to almost idolize their captain.

They knew his record as a border boy, when he had roamed the country fearlessly in company with the old hermit of the Black Hills, his adopted father, and afterward alone, as a young guide and hunter.

They knew him as a soldier later on, and now that he had them under his command they felt that his word was law, and they could follow him unflinchingly wherever he would lead them.

His manner toward them was gentle, yet firm.

He treated them as human beings, not as machines, and gave them the best of food and clothing.

He allowed no man to be forced to ride an inferior horse, or carry a weapon that was not the best, and with each half-dozen redskin soldiers went a pack animal, carrying supplies, blankets, and all to make them comfortable.

Not a thing would he ask of them that he would not do himself, and he was ready to face any danger that they did, and more.

His bearing commanded their respect, his indomitable pluck won their admiration, and his skill as a trailer and fighter made him their idol.

Such were the redskin soldiers under Kit Carey, and he knew that he could depend upon them to a man, and to the death.

Had they had a different captain the result would have been so far different that most of them might have been there in the hostile camp.

It is the perfect officer that makes the perfect soldier, and this is the rule without exception.

A soldier likes thorough discipline and a strict commander, if his comfort is looked to and his heart and spirit appealed to.

The courier who had been sent to the Bernard ranch had handed over the letter of the settler, as though that one was all that he was the bearer of.

Then, when he had seen his captain read it through, he had quietly dragged out another letter.

That of Vance Bernard was written in a bold, masculine hand, showing the writer to be a man of education.

The second letter was addressed in a refined feminine hand, and it was sealed with wax.

"Where did you get this, Owl Eyes?" asked the officer, in some surprise, referring to the second letter.

"Snow Flower see Owl Eyes, and tell him wait at creek. Snow Flower come to creek, and give that to Owl Eyes."

"Ah! I see," and Kit Carey proceeded to read the missive from Snow Flower, as Jennie Bernard was known far and wide among the redskins, Cheyennes, Sioux, and all who passed her father's house, where an Indian was always a welcome guest, far more so it seemed, than a pale-face.

The letter was dated at "Bernard ranch," and was as follows:

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