He allowed no man to be forced to ride an inferior horse, or carry a weapon that was not the best, and with each half-dozen redskin soldiers went a pack animal, carrying supplies, blankets, and all to make them comfortable.
Not a thing would he ask of them that he would not do himself, and he was ready to face any danger that they did, and more.
His bearing commanded their respect, his indomitable pluck won their admiration, and his skill as a trailer and fighter made him their idol.
Such were the redskin soldiers under Kit Carey, and he knew that he could depend upon them to a man, and to the death.
Had they had a different captain the result would have been so far different that most of them might have been there in the hostile camp.
It is the perfect officer that makes the perfect soldier, and this is the rule without exception.
A soldier likes thorough discipline and a strict commander, if his comfort is looked to and his heart and spirit appealed to.
The courier who had been sent to the Bernard ranch had handed over the letter of the settler, as though that one was all that he was the bearer of.
Then, when he had seen his captain read it through, he had quietly dragged out another letter.
That of Vance Bernard was written in a bold, masculine hand, showing the writer to be a man of education.