Part 35 (1/2)

The suspicion in his look deepened, but d.i.c.k met him with unwavering eye.

”It was on the other side of the town,” he replied. ”Another army was there. It was surrounded by thousands of Sioux, but it perished to the last man. I saw them gallop into the valley, led by a general with long yellow hair.”

”Custer!” exclaimed some one, and a deep groan came from the men in the dusk.

”What nonsense is this!” exclaimed the officer. ”Do you dare tell me that Custer and his entire command have perished?”

d.i.c.k felt his resentment rising.

”I tell you only the truth,” he said. ”There was a great battle, and our troops, led by a general with long yellow hair, perished utterly. The last one of them is dead. I saw it all with my own eyes.”

Again that deep groan came from the men in the dusk.

”I can't believe it!” exclaimed the lieutenant. ”Custer and whole force dead! Where were you? How did you see all this?”

”The Sioux had tied me to a tree in order that the Indian boys might amuse themselves by grazing me with arrows--my brother and I had been captured when we were on the plains--but they were interrupted by the appearance of troops in the valley. Then the battle began. It lasted a long time, and I was forgotten. About twilight I managed to break loose, and I escaped by hiding in the undergrowth. My brother, who was on the other side of town, escaped in much the same way.”

”Sounds improbable, very improbable!” muttered the lieutenant.

Suddenly an old sergeant, who had been standing near, listening attentively, exclaimed:

”Look at the boy's wrists, lieutenant! They've got just the marks than an Indian rawhide would make!”

d.i.c.k impulsively held up his wrists, from which the bandages had fallen without his notice. A deep red ring encircled each, and it was obvious from their faces that others believed, even if the lieutenant did not. But he, too, dropped at least a part of his disbelief.

”I cannot deny your story of being captives among the Sioux,” he said, ”because you are white and the look of your eyes is honest.

But you must be mistaken about Custer. They cannot all have fallen; it was your excitement that made you think it.”

d.i.c.k did not insist. He was the bearer of bad news, but he would not seek to make others believe it if they did not wish to do so. The dreadful confirmation would come soon enough.

”Take them away, Williams,” said the lieutenant to the sergeant, ”and give them food and drink. They look as if they needed it.”

The sergeant was kindly, and he asked d.i.c.k and Albert many questions as he led them to a point farther back on the bluff beyond the rifle shots of the Sioux, who were now firing heavily in the darkness upon Reno's command, the troops driven off from the far side of the town, and the commands of Benteen and McDougall, which had formed a junction with Reno. It was evident that he believed all d.i.c.k told him, and his eyes became heavy with sorrow.

”Poor lads!” he murmured. ”And so many of them gone!”

He took them to a fire, and here both of them collapsed completely. But with stimulants, good food, and water they recovered in an hour, and then d.i.c.k was asked to tell again what he had seen to the chief officers. They listened attentively, but d.i.c.k knew that they, too, went away incredulous.

Throughout the talk d.i.c.k and Albert heard the sound of pick and spade as the men continued to throw up the earthworks, and there was an incessant patter of rifle fire as the Sioux crept forward in the darkness, firing from every tree, or rock, or hillock, and keeping up a frightful yelling, half of menace and half of triumph. But their bullets whistled mostly overhead, and once, when they made a great rush, they were quickly driven back with great loss. Troops on a bluff behind earthworks were a hard nut even for an overwhelming force to crack.

d.i.c.k and Albert fell asleep on the ground from sheer exhaustion, but d.i.c.k did not sleep long. He was awakened by a fresh burst of firing, and saw that it was still dark. He did not sleep again that night, although Albert failed to awake, and, asking for a rifle, bore a part in the defense.

The troops, having made a forced march with scant supplies, suffered greatly from thirst, but volunteers, taking buckets, slipped down to the river, at the imminent risk of torture and death, and brought them back filled for their comrades. It was done more than a dozen times, and d.i.c.k himself was one of the heroes, which pleased Sergeant Williams greatly.

”You're the right stuff, my boy,” he said, clapping him on the shoulder, ”though you ought to be asleep and resting.”

”I couldn't sleep long,” replied d.i.c.k. ”I think my nerves have been upset so much that I won't feel just right again for months.”

Nevertheless he bore a valiant part in the defense, besides risking his life to obtain the water, and won high praise from many besides his stanch friend, Sergeant Williams. It was well that the troops had thrown up the earthwork, as the Sioux, flushed with their great victory in the afternoon, hung on the flanks of the bluffs and kept up a continuous rifle fire. There was light enough for sharpshooting, and more than one soldier who incautiously raised his head above the earthwork was slain.

Toward morning the Sioux made another great rush. There had been a lull in the firing just when the night was darker than usual and many little black clouds were floating up from the southwest. d.i.c.k was oppressed by the silence. He remembered the phases of the battle in the afternoon, and he felt that it portended some great effort by the Sioux. He peeped carefully over the earthwork and studied the trees, bushes, and hillocks below. He saw nothing there, but it seemed to him that he could actually feel the presence of the Sioux.