istinct shock-- The Corporal was mildly rebuked later and
it was passed by as part of the duality of character which Mackenzie had
forced me to assume if success was to be assured-- Nothing was
accomplished by our night's work-- At day break, sending the Corporal
back to the bivouac of the command, it was ordered to meet me in town at
once-- Just as we were deliberating what the next move was to be--Sergt.
Miles Varily of Troop "E" with a mounted detachment rode into
town-- He had been to Huntsville, Texas, where he had conveyed Satanta
and Big Tree, the Ki-o-wa Indian Chiefs--who had been in confinement at
Fort R---- under sentence since July 6--to the State Penitentiary where
they were to be confined for life for the massacre of Henry Warren's
teamsters on Salt Creek Prairie-- Varily had met and talked with the
deserters on the Bear Creek Road to Cleburne-- He said they were all
well armed--and had declared that they would not be taken alive--
This--he gave as his reason for not arresting them with his small
force-- He knew all of them and had identified them as men of Troop
"B"-- They were in a two-mule freighter's wagon, with a low canvas top
drawn down tight for concealment-- It was driven by a medium sized, but
stocky built--civilian-- At last there seemed to be a definite clue--
They were evidently heading for Cleburne and Waxahatchie-- I must
overtake and capture them before they reached Cleburne--which was 45
miles distant, an all day ride-- There was no time to lose--placing
Charlton in the road--and the other Corporal with his men on both sides
fanned out or deployed for a mile or more, and combing all of the
ranches and small settlements, the writer pushed and directed the search
all of the way without any further developments-- Occasionally the
detachments were signalled in to the road-- Cleburne was reached at dark
after a terribly hard ride, the storm still continuing, with a lull in
the wind but growing colder-- Securing the services of the Deputy
Sheriff--we made a thorough search up to one o'clock but with no
results.

A Sleepless Night--The Gettysburg "Johnny"

At 3 o'clock A. M. having sent the Corporal to bed and placed the men
in bivouac in the edge of the town, the writer, having secured a small
map of Texas, was seated in front of a log fire diligently studying
the situation-- The deserters must surely be somewhere in the near
vicinity-- They were certainly not in Cleburne-- Where had they
di