more or less during the past day and night,
or ever since we had crossed the Salt Fork. The weather had thrown the
outfit into such a gloomy mood that they would scarcely speak to or
answer each other. This gloomy feeling had been growing on us for
several days, and it was even believed secretly that our foreman
didn't know where he was; that the outfit was drifting and as good as
lost. About noon of the third day, the weather continuing wet with
cold nights, and with no abatement of the general gloom, our men on
point noticed smoke arising directly ahead on our course, in a little
valley through which ran a nice stream of water. When Flood's
attention was directed to the smoke, he rode forward to ascertain the
cause, and returned worse baffled than I ever saw him.

It was an Indian camp, and had evidently been abandoned only that
morning, for the fires were still smouldering. Ordering the wagon to
camp on the creek and the cattle to graze forward till noon, Flood
returned to the Indian camp, taking two of the boys and myself with
him. It had not been a permanent camp, yet showed evidence of having
been occupied several days at least, and had contained nearly a
hundred lean-tos, wickyups, and tepees--altogether too large an
encampment to suit our tastes. The foreman had us hunt up the trail
leaving, and once we had found it, all four of us ran it out five or
six miles, when, from the freshness of it, fearing that we might be
seen, we turned back. The Indians had many ponies and possibly some
cattle, though the sign of the latter was hard to distinguish from
buffalo. Before quitting their trail, we concluded they were from one
of the reservations, and were heading for their old stamping ground,
the Pan-handle country,--peaceable probably; but whether peaceable or
not, we had no desire to meet with them. We lost little time, then, in
returning to the herd and making late and early drives until we were
out of that section.

But one cannot foresee impending trouble on the cattle trail, any more
than elsewhere, and although we encamped that night a long distance to
the north of the abandoned Indian camp, the next morning we came near
having a stampede. It happened just at dawn. Flood had called the cook
an hour before daybreak, and he had started out with Honeyman to drive
in the _remuda_, which had scattered badly the morning before. They
had the horses rounded up and were driving them towards camp when,
about half a mil