"From now on," Tom said, "I want you men to be particular to put harness, tools, an' everything under shelter of nights, so that we can find these things when we want 'em, for we're liable to get up 'most any morning now and find a couple of feet of snow on the ground an' this ravine between us an' the stable drifted level full. In that case we'll want the spade an' shovel to clear away a passage to the stable door, so's we can 'tend to the stock; for a blizzard is liable to keep up the howl for several days an' nights; an' during such a spell we won't dare to poke our noses out of the shanty further than to feed the stock. We'll fix Found a comfortable bed in the tent, between the stacks of wolfskins, where he can be of some service as a sentry without being too much exposed, but in case of a very keen spell we'll bring him into the dugout."
Previous to this time Jack and I had explored the country for a distance of ten or twelve miles in every direction—not looking for game particularly, for that was always plenty close around camp, but for signs of the presence of Indians. We had discovered, however, no fresh signs—nothing to indicate that Indians had visited this part of the country more recently than a couple of months past. This fact encouraged us, and we hoped that we would be fortunate enough to finish our winter's work undisturbed. Still, Indians were likely to be moving about occasionally, even at this time of the year, and might yet discover our camp, in which case they might make it unpleasant for us.
This part of the plains was sometimes ranged over by the Cheyennes, Arapahoes, and other tribes, but had been for some time past the special range of the Kiowas, who, under the leadership of Satank, Satanta, and Big Tree, were ever ready to wipe out a small party when the opportunity presented.
While we relied somewhat on our proximity to Fort Larned as a protection from Indian depredations, we felt that our only real security was in not being discovered by the Kiowas until our hunting season was over and we were ready to break camp and return to the settlements.
On Tom's last trip over to the fort he had learned that our old Company K, First Cavalry, together with the other three companies from Fort Wise, under command of Captain Elmer Otis, had passed by Fort Larned a few days before, en route to Fort Leavenworth and the war.
We were all sorry that we had not learned of the passing of our old command in time for one of our party, at least, to meet them at Fort Larned and exchange gossip with them; and Jack was regretting that he had not re-enlisted, instead of going wolf hunting, so that he could now be going to the front with them. He feared that the fighting would be all over and the war brought to a close before he got a chance at it.
"Don't you fret about this war coming to a close before you can get a whack at them rebels," said Tom. "It's just a-getting under good headway now, an' there'll be lots of good fighting yet for you and me; and more'n likely, if we live through it, we'll be longing for peace long before peace comes again."
Our tent was fast becoming filled with bales of wolfskins, and one day I asked:
"Tom, what are we going to do for some place to store our wolfskins? Our tent is nearly full, and we are still taking them, and the season isn't half through."
"I've been thinking about that, too," replied the old man, "and I guess I'll make another trip over to the fort to-morrow to get them buffalo calfskins for my overcoat, an' while I'm over there I'll try to get the use of an empty room there among the old dobes where we can store 'em; an' we can take a wagon-load over from time to time as the tent gets too full."