We would have liked to make a smoke signal, to let Major Henry and Jed Smith and Kit Carson know where we were, but there seemed no way. They would be starting out after us, according to instructions, and we didn't want them to be captured. We knew that they would be coming, because they were Scouts and Scouts obey orders. They can be depended upon.
I guess it was ten o'clock before we were through the messy breakfast, and then most of the gang went off fishing and fooling around.
"Aren't you going to untie our feet?" asked the general.
"Do you give us your promise not to skip?" answered Bill.
"We'll give our parole till twelve o'clock."
We knew what the general was planning. By twelve o'clock something might happen—the other Scouts might be near, then, and we wanted to be free to help them.—
"Will you give us your parole if we tie your feet, loose, instead of your hands?"
"Yes," said the general; and Fitzpatrick and I nodded. Jiminy, we didn't want our hands tied, on this hot day.
So they hobbled our feet, and tethered us to a tree. They tied the knots tight—knot after knot; and then they went off laughing, but they left Walt and Bat to watch us! That wasn't fair. It broke our parole for us, really, for they hadn't accepted it under the conditions we had offered it. (Note 36.)
"Don't you fellows get to monkeying, now," warned Bat, "or we'll tie you tighter. If you skip we've got your burros and your flags."