CHAPTER XXVII.
THE TWO STRONGHOLDS.
Somewhat alarmed, in spite of himself, by the words of Buffalo Bill, Captain Ramsey began to feel that he had allowed his enthusiasm to go perhaps too far in leading an expedition into the Black Hills when the lives of the whole party might be the forfeit for their foolhardiness.
But, having at length entered the promised land, it was not in the nature of the old soldier to turn back, and he contented himself with a determination to so fortify his camp as to make it impregnable to the attacks of the redskins.
His energetic example, as soon as the train reached the designated spot for encampment, soon set all the men to work at the log fort. Having conducted the train to this site, which was advantageous both for gold hunting and defense from the Indians, Buffalo Bill left for his own camp, accompanied by Lone Dick and Tom Sun, the latter going with his brother scout to learn the locality of the miners’ camp.
As the three men rode along they conversed over the future prospects of the country which they had so boldly invaded. They did not doubt but that their example would be followed by others as soon as it became known that white men were living in the Black Hills, which had always before been considered the rightful land of the redskin.
Arriving at his own camp, Buffalo Bill found that his comrades had made rapid progress with their work, and that the walls of the stockade fort were already assuming shape. The site selected by the scout was certainly a most advantageous position, being under the shelter of a huge hill of rock, inaccessible to the foot of man, and fronting on the bank of a mountain stream.
The stockade fence encircled a portion of rich, grassy land, where the horses could luxuriate and where a garden plot for vegetables was laid out. The only approaches were across the stream, and around the base of the cliff by a narrow pathway that half a dozen men could defend against a hundred.
The miners were delighted with the natural defense of their stronghold, while Tom Sun returned to his own encampment determined to take pattern after the example of Buffalo Bill and prepare for trouble ahead. Thus several weeks passed away and the two settlements in the Black Hills were made ready against every emergency.