to Tame a Land (1955) by Louis L'amour Page B

hands in all, seventeen with Bennett, the cook, an d me.
    We crossed the Red at Red River Station and pushe d on into the Indian Territory, heading for Wichita.
    Twice groups of Indians came down and each time w e gave them a beef. Each time they wanted more, but the y settled without argument.
    After crossing the North Canadian we lost a hand in a stampede. We buried him there, high on a hill where h e could listen to the coyotes and hear the night singing o f the herders. He was seventeen the day he was killed.
    The Osage drums were beating, and we held the her d . C lose. We weren't looking for trouble, but we knew i t could come. Nighttime we slept away from the fire, an d we kept two men on watch near camp. We missed a lo t of sleep, them days. But we were getting on toward th e Kansas line, and things looked good.
    When the first cows were coming up to the Cimarro n we were attacked by a party of Osages. They came sweeping down on us from a wide-mouthed draw, a bunch o f young bucks with more nerve than sense. And they hit u s at the wrong time.
    Me, the boss, and a tough hand called Mustang Robert s were riding drag. As though by command, we swun g around, dropped to the ground, knelt, and took stead y aim. Then we waited.
    They came on fast, very fast, riding low down on thei r horses' sides. On signal, we fired.
    An Indian fell, his horse catching him in the head wit h a hoof as he went over him. A horse went down, throwin g his rider wide where a bullet from Kid Beaton's Sharp s nailed him.
    They lost three men and two horses in a matter of seconds, and drew off, deciding they'd had it.
    Two days later Mustang, went out after antelope an d didn't come in. I was in the saddle, so I swung aroun d and picked up his trail. When I'd followed him maybe fiv e miles I heard the boom of a rifle.
    It was far off in a bottom somewhere. Taking it fast , I headed toward the sound with that fine new Wincheste r of mine ready for action.
    There were six of them, all Kiowas, and they had Mustang pinned down in a buffalo wallow with his horse dea d and a bullet through his leg.
    There was no chance for surprise. They would hav e heard my horse's hoofs drumming on the sod, and the y would be ready for me. So I went in fast, the reins loope d on the pommel and shooting as I came. I wasn't hittin g anything, but I was dusting them some, and they didn' t like it.
    Maybe I did burn one of them, because he jumped an d yelled. Then I went down into that buffalo wallow, ridin g fast, Mustang covering me. He nailed one of them just a s I swung down to the wallow, and then he came up an d I slid an arm around his waist as he put a boot in m y stirrup.
    Surprising thing was, we got away with it. We got clea n out of there, with Mustang shooting back at them. Five o f us came back later and picked up his saddle. We scoute d some, and found a lot of blood on the grass at one point , a little at a couple of others.
    "Killed one," Kid Beaton said. "Killed one sure."
    And then there were days of dust and driving, and th e grass thinning out a little. So we swung wide, taking a longer route, ducking the main trail, finding richer gras s to keep the stock up. Twice we stopped and let them loa f and graze two days at a time. Bennett knew cattle, an d he knew the markets.
    We moved on. Crossing the Kansas line we found a long, shallow valley with good grass and a creek. W e moved the herd into the valley and made camp near th e creek, upstream from the herd in a bunch of willows an d some cottonwoods, big old trees.
    We were just finishing chuck when we heard the bea t of horses' hoofs and four men rode up.
    Mustang put his plate down and glanced over at me.
    "Watch yourself," he said.
    Three of them got down. The leader was a small ma n with a thin face and quick, shifty eyes. The two backin g him were tough, dirty men, one of them a breed.
    "My name's Leet Bowers," the leader said. "Come daylight we're cutting your herd."
    " 'Fraid you might have