He could tell no more, the horse he was on having
wheeled round suddenly, and been urged on in retreat by its rider, who
was in the greatest imaginable terror. Had the party halted, and
returned the fire, for they were well armed, in all probability some of
the marauders would have been laid low, or, if the Indians were but few,
they might at least have rescued my poor friend.
We found footmarks of Indians, which we traced; by these it appeared
that they were in small force, and that when H---- fell from his horse
he recovered his feet, and ran from the enemy, in the direction of the
plain, for about two hundred yards--here it was evident he had been
overtaken, and his skull cloven with a tomahawk from behind. We soon
discovered his remains in the sand, denuded of every particle of flesh
and muscle by the vultures and the ravenous wolves. We collected the
bones with reverential care, and placed them in the waggon, for transit
to Fort Andrews.
On the bones of the little finger of the left hand was an emerald ring,
which I had often seen the murdered man wear, and which, being covered
with blood and sand at the time of the catastrophe, no doubt escaped the
attention of the villians who perpetrated the atrocious act.
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