relief of Major Pendelton. After we had gotten straightened out and on
the road' once more, Joe Cummins thought that the fun had tamed down too
much, so he winked at me, then asked me, "Billy, where do those Texas
rangers hold out along this road, do ye know?" "Yes," I told him, "they
generally hold out right across the river in the hills, which afford
them such good hiding places where they can ambush without being
discovered." At this, Major Pendelton suddenly woke up, "what's that,
you fellers are talking about?" Joe, casually remarked that they were
discussing that band of robbers that lived on the route across the river
from us. He kept on until Major Pendelton was feeling "blue." When we
camped for breakfast--dinner as the Lieutenant called it. Cummings told
the paymaster many a bloody tale of the lawlessness of that trail, and
ended by telling him and his clerk that while I was getting breakfast
ready that they had better practice up on their marksmanship. The clerk
had a four-barreled little short pistol. The first time he shot at the
mark he struck the ground about four feet from it. The four barrels all
exploded at once. The paymaster jumped about six feet in the air,
thinking that we were surely attacked from the rear. Cummings was
tickled to death. He handed the paymaster his revolver, which was a
12-inch Colts, and told him to shoot toward the board. The paymaster
fired and missed the mark. "Well," Cummings said, "Billy, it's up to you
and me, if we are held up by the Texas rangers on this trip." "But,"
Cummings said, "the Major here is a first-class shot, but a little weak
in the knees." After we again resumed the road, the paymaster began to
feel a little easier, and a little like I should think a "donkey" would
feel. He knew now that Joe Cummins had been "prodding fun at him" and
had no defense. At Ft. Larned the next day, I accommodated the paymaster
by waiting four hours for him to pay off the troops. He asked me if we
had better take an escort, but I told him I was sure we had no use for
an escort since it was only a five hour trip to Ft. Zara, where Larned