[Illustration:  HOLDING THE FORT.]

The Indians did not give us a very long rest, for with, another desperate charge, as if to ride over us, they came dashing towards the mule barricade.  We gave them a hot reception from our yagers and revolvers.  They could not stand, or understand, the rapidly repeating fire of the revolvers, and we again checked them.  They circled around us once more and gave us a few parting shots as they rode off, leaving behind them another dead Indian and a horse.

For two hours afterwards they did not seem to be doing anything but holding a council.  We made good use of this time by digging up the ground inside the barricade with our knives and throwing the loose earth around and over the mules, and we soon had a very respectable fortification.  We were not troubled any more that day, but during the night the cunning rascals tried to burn us out by setting fire to the prairie.  The buffalo grass was so short that the fire did not trouble us much, but the smoke concealed the Indians from our view, and they thought that they could approach close to us without being seen.  We were aware of this, and kept a sharp look-out, being prepared all the time to receive them.  They finally abandoned the idea of surprising us.

Next morning, bright and early, they gave us one more grand charge, and again we “stood them off.”  They then rode away half a mile or so, and formed a circle around us.  Each man dismounted and sat down, as if to wait and starve us out.  They had evidently seen the advance train pass on the morning of the previous day, and believed that we belonged to that outfit and were trying to overtake it; they had no idea that another train was on its way after us.

Our hopes of escape from this unpleasant and perilous situation now depended upon the arrival of the rear train, and when we saw that the Indians were going to besiege us instead of renewing their attacks, we felt rather confident of receiving timely assistance.  We had expected that the train would be along late in the afternoon of the previous day, and as the morning wore away we were somewhat anxious and uneasy, at its non-arrival.

At last, about ten o’clock, we began to hear in the distance the loud and sharp reports of the big bull-whips, which were handled with great dexterity by the teamsters, and cracked like rifle shots.  These were as welcome sounds to us as were the notes of the bag-pipes to the beseiged garrison at Lucknow, when the reinforcements were coming up and the pipers were heard playing, “The Campbells are Coming.”  In a few moments we saw the lead or head wagon coming slowly over the ridge, which had concealed the train from our view, and soon the whole outfit made its appearance.  The Indians observed the approaching train, and assembling in a group they held a short consultation.  They then charged upon us once more, for the last time, and as they turned and dashed away over the prairie, we sent our farewell shots