As I had left the kettle of beans simmering on the fire, I had to return and look after them as the mind of the man from Arkansaw was too much perturbed to be in condition to mind anything so commonplace as beans. When I reached my outfit, I was surprised to find a half dozen Indian police awaiting me. They bore a message from the Indian agent stating that he wished to see me. As I was rather anxious to depart from that locality, I was not long in making the necessary arrangements to do so. When I arrived at the agency, I made inquiries of those who were there as to the whereabouts of the agent. I was directed to the office. I entered and introduced myself and inquired what was wanted of me. The agent, who introduced himself as Boak, a very nice gentleman, told me that the Indians were holding their Messiah Dance and did not care for the presence of white folks, as witnesses. As they had seen me begin to build a teepee they came to the conclusion that I was going to become a permanent fixture there, and they requested the agent to invite me to choose another locality for my habitation. Of course, he informed me that I was welcome to such hospitality as the agency could furnish. I believed him and thanked him for his generosity. I assured him that it had not been my intention to disturb the Indians in their religious proceedings. I did not say anything about my being afraid that I would be disturbed by them. It chanced that our feelings in regard to the matter were mutual. The more we discussed the matter, the more he seemed to insist upon my partaking of his hospitality, which led me to believe that he was rather uneasy on account of the Messiah Dance and wanted not only my company, but whatever assistance I could give in case the Indians became threatening. I did not find any fault with him for having that feeling, and it would take a man better versed in Indian lore to tell what was likely to happen next.
As it was getting along in the forenoon, and I saw there was no further use in prolonging the interview, I left the agency, went and got my belongings and set out on my journey up along the river. I took the bottom trail that wound a zig-zag course through the timber. My progress seemed to be made through a leafy tunnel. The trees on each side of the trail were heavily leaved, and the branches above reached across the trail, forming a beautiful corridor-like passage. When I had gone on my way for a mile or more, I happened to glance behind and saw an Indian on a pony, with a winchester across his saddle, who seemed to be following me. I did not like the looks of things just then. I concluded that if the Indian had any trouble he wanted to settle, the best thing was to have the matter attended to without delay. I drove on until I came to a rather lengthy passage, free from windings, and then stopped the team. I motioned for him to come up to where I was. He did so. When he arrived, I asked him in an uncertain tone of voice what he wanted? He uttered but one word, “tobac.” I had about half a sack of Duke’s Mixture which I handed to him. He took it hastily, turned his horse around and plunged into the brush at the side of the trail, and that was the last that I saw of him. I found it hard to reconcile myself to the belief that it was tobacco alone that he was wanting.
The rain had begun falling in the meantime, and to say that it was merely raining will not convey the proper idea to the mind. It poured in torrents, and continued to do so all day long. About noon we stopped and tried to make some coffee for dinner, but it was no use. We set out again and plodded along in the deluge until late in the afternoon. I was continually on the look-out for some sort of shelter, and my sight was at last gratified by observing at some distance from the river, a stockade building. I set off in the direction of the expected shelter, and when I reached it, found that it had a good dirt-roof, but no windows nor doors. It was what is called a wind-break and I determined to preempt it for the night. I knew it belonged to some Indian, but as he was likely off to the Messiah Dance, he would not return just then, and even if he did, I would try to make him as comfortable as circumstances would permit, divide my chuckaway with him, even go so far as to share my blanket with him, but as for deserting that shelter just then, it was not to be thought of. If he were to become hostile and wanted to fight, I would accommodate his longing as there would be little or no chance to seek safety in flight. I made preparations to cook some supper, and Emmet attended to the horses, hobbled them and turned them loose to graze. In the meanwhile, I must not forget to say that Arkansaw had been following me like a shadow ever since I left the agency. To see him as he was then in his bedraggled condition, with his ramshackle outfit, one would think that the genius of famine and desolation had descended upon the land. I carried the chuck-box, bedding, guns, and utensils into the shelter preparatory to getting things ready for supper and bed. I enlisted the services of Arkansaw to gather some wood to build a fire, and I must say as a hauler of wood he was a dismal failure. However, we finally managed to get a fire started and set in to dry our clothes, bedding, etc., along with getting something to eat. We were all ravenously hungry, and the flap-jacks disappeared with wonderful alacrity. When our appetites had been satisfied, things did not look so bad to us. It was not the most comfortable place to spend the night, but it was far better than the rain soaked ground. To add to our discomfort, it began to turn cold. We crawled under the partially dried blankets in the hope that wearied nature would provide a good sound sleep. As we were not distracted by such howling and yelling as we had endured the night before, things would have been favorable for a good night’s rest. But I cannot say there was much prospect for a refreshing sleep as it is one thing to find repose under dry blankets, and another to seek the same balm for a wearied body under bedding that has been exposed to a downpour of rain for hours. No, it was not going to rest, it was just lying down for want of something else to do. I noticed that the heart of the Arkansaw Traveller did not beat as loudly as on the preceding night, and it was not long until he began to snore with all the variations of a steam calliope. I was glad to know that he at least could find sleep under such conditions, but for me, there was not much comfort. I thought that by this time my fellow traveller was over his scare, but in the midst of his dreams he let a yell out of him and exclaimed, “Let up on that, you can’t scalp me, I’m from Arkansaw.” I reached over and gave him a poke in the side and told him that it made no difference whether he was from Arkansaw or New Jersey, that he would be scalped unless he was ready to put up a pretty stiff fight. When we rolled out shivering in the morning, we found that it had frozen during the night. We welcomed the coming of the dawn, as the night had been one continual toss from one side to the other, and no comfort was found. I arose and shook myself to see if I were all there, and found myself intact. The others followed my example with the same results. I stepped outside to see how the horses were faring and found they had wandered off. I left word for Arkansaw to prepare something to eat and went off in search of the ponies. I had a rather good idea of where they had gone, and after walking about a mile I found them. They were huddled together for warmth. Their hobbles were frozen stiff. I removed the frozen hobble from one of them, mounted him, and drove the others back to camp. When I returned to the shelter, breakfast was ready and soon attended to. I gathered up my belongings once more and we set out again. It was a beautiful morning and the sun seemed to be trying to compensate us for the hardship we had endured during the night. The horses seemed anxious to go, and their speed shortened the time of our journey considerably. We rode on for about ten or twelve miles, when we came to a beautiful grazing ground sheltered by a sand hill. With such a fine location I decided that this was a good opportunity to spread out the bedding to dry, and attend to our other wants. It seemed as if we were always hungry, and when a fine opportunity presented itself for preparing a repast, we simply had to yield to the occasion. I set Emmet and Arkansaw to cooking, while I attended to the horses. I then took a ramble around for I had seen where there was evidence of a flock of wild turkeys in the neighborhood. It was no great difficulty to follow their trail in the soft earth, and I soon happened upon a flock of forty or fifty feeding on the heads of wild rye that was growing in a sort of pocket formed by the hill. I took in my surroundings at a glance, and to my agreeable surprise I saw a deer about two hundred yards away nibbling at the leaves of a shin oak. I determined to take a chance with the deer first. I took careful aim and fired. My shot was not true, but I succeeded in breaking his hind leg. He did not seem to realize where the shot came from, and turned and came straight for me. I will admit that his advance upon me was disconcerting as it was so unusual. I waited until he had come within about twenty yards from me, and fired again. The bullet struck within about six inches of where I was aiming, which showed that I was influenced by what is called “buck fever.” While all this was taking place, the turkeys had flown off over the hill. I followed them, knowing that they would not be far away. I came upon them. They were all huddled together in one dense mass. I sent a bullet into the midst of them and succeeded in killing two of them. The others flew away, and I knew by their flight that more of them had been hit. I gathered up the two that I had brought down and took them back to where the deer was lying. I found that I had carried them about as far as I cared to, and went off to get some dinner, intending to have Emmet saddle up his pony and bring them in later. I accompanied him as he was too young to attend to the matter alone. I hung the turkeys on the saddle horn, and the pony seemed to object as he bucked considerably. He did not take kindly to dragging the deer after him and showed his displeasure by performing such gyrations as only a Texas cow pony can accomplish. However, we succeeded in persuading him to perform the task and set out for camp. When we had returned to our outfit, and I had begun to dress the deer, Arkansaw came to me in an apparent state of trepidation and told me that, during my absence, a band of Indians, seven in number had called at the camp and left word for me to leave the reservation. To be sure that I understood him aright, I asked, ‘how many?’ “Seven” said he. I asked him if they were all on horseback and he said that they were, that one of them wore a war-bonnet. I made no reply to this, but when I had completed the task of dressing the deer and turkeys, I made a circle around the camp, about fifty yards out, and found no traces of any Indians being there. When I returned to the camp, I felt satisfied that Arkansaw was about the most artistic and monumental liar west of the Mississippi. I then knew that he was still frightened and wanted to get as far away from there as he could and that as soon as possible. He was afraid to go alone and originated the tale to induce me to set out at once. I did not tell him what I thought of the originality of design he manifested, but if he had an ounce of judgment he would have seen that I would easily detect his falsehood as my horses were all shod, and I could easily detect the marks of the unshod Indian ponies in the soft earth if they had been in the neighborhood. I did not make any preparations to depart immediately, but left Emmet and Arkansaw to look after the things about the camp, and set out again to secure more game if possible. It was with reluctance that my brave? friend consented to do such a little thing as greasing the buckboard, as he felt there was grave danger in delaying there any longer. Before leaving I informed him that I was thinking of departing next morning, but if any more Indians appeared on the scene while I was gone, to inform them that I was not in a hurry to leave those parts, and, furthermore, if they were looking for trouble, I was there to accommodate them.
The absence of danger is sometimes a great stimulus to a man’s courage, and I felt that there was no peril in store for us as it was most likely that there was not an Indian within fifteen miles of us, and, besides I wanted to scare the Arkansaw Traveller properly.
I took my gun and sauntered off over the hill, enjoying the walk after being cramped up in the buckboard. I could have killed several turkeys, but preferred to get another deer if possible. In my meanderings I came upon an Indian grave. He had been laid to rest upon a platform, rolled in his blanket and wrapped in an outer covering of bark. I must confess that I had an uncanny feeling as I approached the last resting place of that noble red man, but it was a sensation entirely different to the ones I had experienced in meeting some of them in the flesh. However, since he was there and I was close by, I thought it a good opportunity to satisfy my curiosity about their customs of burial. I approached him with about as much alacrity as one would expect under the circumstances. I found the blanket in which he was rolled, incrusted with sand that had blown upon it from the neighborhood. It was rotten from long exposure to the elements and had about the same consistency as paper. I turned back one corner to get a view of the condition of the remains. The flesh had disappeared, the long braided hair was there, but from its appearance I could not tell whether he had been there thirty days, or three years. It had a gloss to it that seemed to indicate that his burial took place recently. I turned back the blanket and left him as I found him. I retraced my steps towards camp, as I was beginning to have another attack of what usually ailed me, hunger. On my way, I discovered another deer near the place where I had killed the first one, and was able to bring him down at the first shot. I left him where he fell and went back to where Emmet and Arkansaw were whiling away the time making ready for the next lap of our journey. I sent the boy back with the pony to bring in the game.
While we were alone, Arkansaw, while watching me get supper, grew confidential. He told me about leaving his native state, and how he had traded coonskins for the gun with the remarkable action. I asked him why he did not use it when an occasion presented itself for bagging a few turkeys. He replied that he was rather afraid to shoot the weapon, as, just before leaving his home, he was short of ammunition and had no opportunity of procuring any. Besides that, one of his neighbors told him that he would be likely to meet some bad men on the way to the Territory, and advised him to put a plow bolt down the barrel to keep the load that was in it from getting damp. He said that he was afraid the bolt had rusted in the barrel and consequently he had not the courage to fire the gun. Just to add to his pleasurable feelings at that moment, I thought I would give him some of his own coin and told him that I had seen an Indian on my travels, who was dressed differently from those we had seen at the Messiah Dance, and that there were likely more in the neighborhood. I warned him to prepare for an emergency by getting that gun into working shape. I advised him to pour bacon grease into the lock and try to get it into working order, for if those Indians he saw would return, there would be some moments of activity around that neck of the woods. As Emmet had by this time arrived with the deer, I set to work to dress it and put things in shape for our departure in the morning. To have some more sport with Arkansaw I tried to get him to stand guard during the night. I told him that now that his gun was in good shape he would be in a position to protect himself, and at the same time warn us of the approach of Indians. He tried for a while, but I could see that he was suffering agony untold on account of his fear of an attack. The rustling of a leaf caused him to tremble, and any louder noise made him jump. It is a wonder that in his excitement he did not turn loose with the old gun, but I suppose he forgot all about it. I took pity on him and told him to lie down, that there was little or no danger. He gladly sought the shelter of the blanket and was soon giving me selections on the calliope. Next morning we still found ourselves in possession of our scalps, and felt much refreshed after the good night’s rest. We gave the usual attention to breakfast, which did not take long. We were about ready to start, except for one thing. I did not like the idea of Arkansaw carrying that old gun around with him, especially since I learned that it was loaded with a plow bolt. I tried to get him to fire it off as the jarring of his old wagon or some other concussion might explode it and kill some person, or injure some of the horses. To rid myself of the danger, I agreed to fire it for him, to which he readily consented. I took the gun and tied it to a tree, fastened a rope to the trigger and when all preparations for our farewell salute were made, I pulled the trigger. The old gun went off in two different directions. The barrel went forward, and the recoil kicked the old stock backwards about five feet and it stuck fast in the sand. Right there my worry about the old gun terminated.
With our game packed on the buckboard and covered with the wagon sheet to keep off the sand which was blowing plentifully at the time, we started for Timms City. The horses were fresh and the trails in good condition, and we advanced rapidly. My only trouble was to keep Arkansaw and his festive steeds out of the way, as he was determined to put as much distance between him and the scene of his fright as possible. At times he had his poor old nags on the gallop. Such a pace they could not maintain, and about noon time they gave out. We stopped for refreshments. When we were ready to set out again, I pointed out the way to Sod Town in No-Man’s Land and left him. When I parted company with him I felt that I had met one of the strangest characters I had ever encountered in all my days. I reached home the same night. In conclusion of this article I wish to say that I have never had another hankering to attend a Messiah Dance.