or duty with the party. Orders as to destination were
communicated direct to the lieutenant from the post commander, and on
the minute the little column moved, taking the road to the station. The
regiment from which it came had been in active service among the Indians
on the frontier for a long time, and the officers and men were tried and
seasoned fighters. Lieutenant Halsey had been well known at the West
Point balls as the "leader of the german." From the last of these balls
he had gone straight to the field and three years had given him an
enviable reputation for _sang froid_ and determined bravery. He looked
every inch the soldier as he walked along the trail, his cloak thrown
back and his sword tucked under his arm. The doctor, who carried a Modoc
bullet in some inaccessible part of his scarred body, growled
good-naturedly at the need of walking, and the men, enveloped in their
army-blue overcoats, marched easily by fours. Reaching the station, the
lieutenant called the agent aside and with him inspected, on a siding, a
long platform on which benches had been placed and secured. Then he took
his seat in the station and quietly waited, occasionally twisting his
long blond mustache. The doctor took a cigar with the agent, and the men
walked about or sat on the edge of the platform. One of them, who
obtained a surreptitious glance at his silent commander, told his
companions that there was trouble ahead for somebody.

"That's just the way the leftenant looked, boys," said he, "when we was
laying for them Apaches that raided Jones's Ranch and killed the women
and little children."

In a short time the officer looked at his watch, formed his men, and
directed them to take their places on the seats of the car. They had
hardly done so, when the whistle of the approaching train was heard.
When it came up, the conductor, who had his instructions from Sinclair,
had the engine detached and backed on the siding for the soldiers'
which thus came between it and the foremost baggage-car, when the train
was again made up. As arranged, it was announced that the troops were to
be taken a certain distance to join a scouting party, and the curiosity
of the passengers was but slightly excited. The soldiers sat quietly in
their seats, their repeating rifles held between their knees, and the
officer in front. Sinclair joined the latter, and had a few words with
him as the train moved on. A little later, when the stars were shining
brig