ow--it being the practice of those nimble warriors to
get far from the scene of their deviltries without needless delay, and
the rule of the powers that were, until General Crook taught them wiser
methods, to promptly order cavalry to the spot where the Indians had
been, instead of where they had presumably gone. A buckboard _en route_
to Date Creek, with two of the array that had sat in judgment on Nevins,
had been "held up" at night by a gang of half a dozen desperadoes and
the three passengers relieved of their valuables, consisting of one
gold watch and two of silver, one seal ring, three revolvers, three
extra-sized canteens, a two-gallon demijohn, and in the aggregate three
gallons of whisky. The victims had submitted to the inevitable so far as
their gold and silver were concerned, but pathetically pointed out to
the robber chief the hardship of being bereft at one fell swoop of the
expensive and only consolation the country afforded, and despite his
wrath and disappointment at finding that the gentlemen had already been
robbed, two of them having spent four nights hand-running at the post
poker-room--the leader was not so destitute of fellow-feeling as to
condemn the hapless trio to the loss of even the necessaries of life,
and mercifully handed back half a gallon.

"We hope to catch some of you gentlemen when you haven't been playing
poker," said he, striving to stifle his chagrin. "Who got it all,
anyhow?" he asked, with an eye to future business. "Ah, yes--might have
known it," he continued in response to the rueful admission of one of
the party. "Wonderfully smart outfit that at Cooke, wonderfully--most as
smart as some of our people at Sancho's. Well, so long, gentlemen. 'F
any of your friends are coming this way recommend our place, won't you?
We've treated you as well as we knew how. Drive on, Johnny. Nobody else
will stop you this side of Date. They know we got here first."

Arizona was an interesting region in those days of development that
followed close on the heels of the war. Hundreds of experienced hands
had been thrown out of employment by the return of peace, and the
territories overflowed with outlaws, red and white, male and female. It
was taking one's life in one's hands to venture pistol shot beyond the
confines of a military post. It was impossible for paymasters to carry
funds without a strong escort of cavalry. The only currency in the
territory was that put in circulation by the troops or