“They had to dismount when they went into camp, didn’t they?” asked Carl. “That was the time I counted them. I found three moccasin tracks of different sizes, and that’s the way I found out how many of them there were.”
“Three Indians go into a camp of—how many men did you say you had?”
“About sixty, I reckon.”
“The idea of three Indians going into a camp of sixty soldiers and stealing a dozen horses!” said Parker, in surprise. “They must have been horse-thieves indeed.”
“Oh, I can tell you worse things than that,” said Carl. “Yes; the three savages went into that camp and stole a dozen horses, and now we were close onto them. When I reached a point a little farther on I came to an open space in the gully, and there I saw their camp fire. I took just one look at it, and then turned and went back. Of course the camp was alive after they found that I had located the Indians. Three or four men were left to care for the horses, and the rest of us crept forward to make the attack. The captain would not listen to my advice in regard to surrounding the camp, but when he arrived within sight of it he was going to make a rush, and kill or capture the Indians right there. That settled one thing in my mind. The captain may have been a brave man, but he was going to find an empty camp when they charged upon it; but I said nothing. If he had a mind to ride two hundred miles to turn the Indians loose, it was nothing to me.”
Carl then proceeded with his story. In the course of time they arrived within sight of the fire, and then with a fierce yell the men bounded to their feet and rushed upon the camp. For himself, Carl did nothing. He just waited to find the Comanches, but he did not hear anybody shoot. After a time he walked up and found the soldiers rushing frantically about looking for the redskins; but the last one of them had skipped out.
“Where have they gone?” asked the captain.
“They ran when they heard you getting ready to charge,” said the guide. “You did pretty well during the pursuit, but you are no man to fight Indians. You have got your horses, but you will have to look somewhere else to find the Comanches.”
The captain was astonished and mortified beyond measure, as Carl knew he would be if he attempted to capture the Indians in that way, but he had but little to say. He sent a couple of men down after the horses he had left in the ravine, and ordered the soldiers to go into camp. It was good to feel the fire once more, for the nights were getting cold, and to get some pork that they did not have to devour raw.
“But how did you get the name of The Trailer?” asked Parker, when his companion knocked the ashes from his pipe.