“No,” said he, “those Comanche gentlemen are completely scared. That was a trick they’d not thought about; and as they hadn’t time to work it out, they thought, very like, it was some kind of ‘bad medicine.’”
However, they made up their minds not to trust to appearances; and mounting their horses they rode away toward the southwest, going at a long, slow lope.
Night fell, and still they continued.
“It’s best to put all the distance between ourselves and that party of reds that we can,” said Crockett. “They’re the kind of varmints you can never count on to do anything.”
When they went into camp an hour or so after dark, they lighted no fires, but ate food that required no cooking.
“It makes hard chewing,” grumbled old Dolph. “But then it can’t be helped. Better a tough bite of grub than an Injun arrow that’d make me bite the dust.”
The night was cool, but they made beds of grass, wrapped themselves in their blankets, and with their saddles for pillows, they slept soundly. For the first time since they started from the Mississippi River, however, they had a guard for the camp, Jed Curley, Ned Chandler and old Dolph taking turns until sunrise and breakfast.
They pushed on rapidly that day, keeping a sharp lookout for the savages. But none came in sight; and so, to rest their ponies, which had been severely tried, they halted a good two hours before sundown and went into camp upon the banks of a small creek whose margin was thick with trees.
Walter Jordan and Ned Chandler had, during the day, tried their marksmanship upon some flocks of prairie chickens; and though these were difficult game to bring down with a rifle, they had bagged a couple of brace. The chickens were now stripped of their feathers and dressed; each was skewered with a ramrod, and put to roast over the red coals. Flour was mixed and baked into flap-jacks; and so they ate a meal such as was enjoyed by the riders of the plains.
A guard was kept that night, also; but there were no signs of Comanches, and they slept undisturbed. After breakfast next morning they mounted once more and started upon their journey.