red north of latitude
34, a trade was closed at once, even the oxen going in at the
phenomenal figures of one hundred and fifty dollars a yoke. We
delivered the herd near Trinidad, going into that town to outfit
before returning. The necessary alterations were made to the wagon,
mules were harnessed in, and we started home in gala spirits. In a
little over thirty days my employers had more than doubled their money
on the Burleson cattle and were naturally jubilant.

The proceeds of the Trinidad sale were carried in the wagon returning,
though we had not as yet collected for the second delivery at Sumner.
The songs of the birds mixed with our own as we traveled homeward, and
the freshness of early summer on the primitive land, as it rolled away
in dips and swells, made the trip a delightful outing. Fort Sumner
was reached within a week, where we halted a day and then started on,
having in the wagon a trifle over fifty thousand dollars in gold and
silver. At Sumner two men made application to accompany us back to
Texas, and as they were well armed and mounted, and numbers were an
advantage, they were made welcome. Our winter camp at Bosque Grande
was passed with but a single glance as we dropped down the Pecos
valley at the rate of forty miles a day. Little or no travel was
encountered en route, nor was there any sign of Indians until the
afternoon of our reaching Horsehead Crossing. While passing Dagger
Bend, four miles above the ford, Goodnight and a number of us boys
were riding several hundred yards in advance of the wagon, telling
stories of old sweethearts. The road made a sudden bend around some
sand-hills, and the advance guard had passed out of sight of the rear,
when a fresh Indian trail was cut; and as we reined in our mounts to
examine the sign, we were fired on. The rifle-shots, followed by a
flight of arrows, passed over us, and we took to shelter like flushed
quail. I was riding a good saddle horse and bolted off on the opposite
side of the road from the shooting; but in the scattering which ensued
a number of mules took down the road. One of the two men picked up at
the post was a German, whose mule stampeded after his mates, and who
received a galling fire from the concealed Indians, the rest of us
turning to the nearest shelter. With the exception of this one man,
all of us circled back through the mesquite brush and reached the
wagon, which had halted. Meanwhile the shooting had attracted the men
behin