“And they started to capture you?”
“Three of ’em did capture me, but I knocked one of ’em over and broke away. They fired on me, and one shot passed through my hair.” The hunter pointed to where several locks had been cut away. “It was a close hair-cut, Colonel.”
“But how did you get hit in the leg?”
“That came later. I got away, as I said, and hid in a hollow log. But the redskins followed my trail, and I had to leave the log and take to the woods. When I came out on the cliff one of ’em took a long shot at me with a rifle, and hit me as you see. I fell off the cliff, and nearly broke my other leg doing it. Then I crawled into the bushes and laid low. They tramped all around the spot, but good luck was with me, and they passed me by. They might have remained around here only, I reckon, they knew you were on the trail,” concluded Brinker.
“We’ll have to send you back to the fort,” said Colonel Boone. “You are not fit to go forward with us.”
“Can you send me back?”
“I think so. There are two others going back. They can take you.”
Brinker was then questioned concerning the Indians he had encountered. He said they were part of Long Knife’s warriors, but that the chief had not been with them.
“They had two captives with them,” he continued.
“Two captives!” exclaimed Joe. “Who were they?”