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[Transcribers’ notes are placed after the text.]




[Illustration: CARL DISCOVERS THE INDIAN HORSE THIEVES.]




                                 CARL

                              THE TRAILER

                                  BY

                            HARRY CASTLEMON

       AUTHOR OF “THE GUNBOAT SERIES,” “ROCKY MOUNTAIN SERIES,”
                          “WAR SERIES,” ETC.

                       THE JOHN C. WINSTON CO.,

                             PHILADELPHIA,
                           CHICAGO, TORONTO.




                          COPYRIGHT, 1899, BY
                         HENRY T. COATES & CO.




CONTENTS.


 CHAPTER                                                           PAGE
       I. GETTING READY FOR THE HUNT,                                 1
      II. CARL, THE TRAILER,                                         14
     III. THE GHOST DANCE,                                           27
      IV. THE SOLITARY HORSEMAN,                                     40
       V. REINFORCEMENTS,                                            53
      VI. DISPATCHES,                                                65
     VII. GOING IN,                                                  78
    VIII. COMING OUT,                                                91
      IX. STILL IN THE SADDLE,                                      104
       X. THE SQUAWMAN’S PROPOSITION,                               116
      XI. THE INDIAN POLICEMAN,                                     129
     XII. MORE COURIERS,                                            142
    XIII. THE END OF SITTING BULL,                                  155
    XIV. AN INTERVIEW IN THE WOODS,                                 170
     XV. FIVE YEARS BEFORE,                                         182
    XVI. WHAT CLAUDE KNEW,                                          195
   XVII. THE PLAN DISCUSSED,                                        207
  XVIII. “THEY’RE IN THE OFFICE!”                                   220
    XIX. A TALK WITH HIS UNCLE,                                     233
     XX. A NEW PLAN,                                                245
    XXI. THE TRIP TO ST. LOUIS,                                     258
   XXII. A SURPRISE,                                                270
  XXIII. CLAUDE VISITS THE POOL ROOM,                               285
   XXIV. A HARD FIGHT,                                              298
    XXV. A BLOW FOR NOTHING,                                        310
   XXVI. THE NEW SCOUT,                                             323
  XXVII. OFF TO THE FRONT,                                          329
 XXVIII. GETTING READY FOR THE FIGHT,                               342
   XXIX. THE BATTLE OF WOUNDED KNEE,                                354
    XXX. OFF FOR HOME,                                              367
   XXXI. CONCLUSION,                                                381




 List of Illustrations


 Illustration                                                      Page
 Carl discovers the Indian horse thieves.                 _frontispiece_
 Carl captured by the squawman.                                     118
 The Robbers foiled.                                                234
 All their labor for nothing.                                       308




                          CARL, THE TRAILER.




CHAPTER I.

GETTING READY FOR THE HUNT.


“So you are nearly out of fresh meat, are you? Do your men get that way
often?”

“Yes, sir. These Pawnee scouts can’t eat like white men. When they have
any fresh meat on hand they eat all they can, and when it is gone they
look to us for more.”

“Well, I suppose I shall have to send an officer out after some. I
think I will try Lieutenant Parker. He has been a pretty good young
officer since he has been out here, and perhaps it will do him some
good to get a little exercise. Orderly, send Parker here.”

This conversation took place between Col. Dodge, the commander of
a small fort situated on the outskirts of the Standing Rock Agency,
and his commissary, who had come in to report the condition of the
garrison in regard to supplies. There was plenty of everything except
fresh meat, and their Pawnee scouts were already grumbling over their
diminished supply. Their commander must send out and get some more.
Game of all kinds was abundant a short distance back in the mountains,
but it was a little dangerous to send a body of troops out there.
Something out of the usual order of things had happened within a few
miles of Fort Scott, and there was every indication that Sitting
Bull, who had settled down at Standing Rock Agency since he came from
Canada, was trying to set his braves against the whites and drive them
from the country. The thing which started this trouble was the Ghost
Dance—something more of which we shall hear further on.

The orderly disappeared, and presently a quick step sounded in the
hall, the door opened, and Lieutenant Parker entered.

It was no wonder that this young officer had proved himself a good
soldier, for he came from West Point, and it was plain that he could
not be otherwise. To begin with, he was handsome above most men of his
rank, with a well-knit figure, and eyes that looked straight into your
own when he was speaking to you. He stood among the first five in his
class, and upon graduation received his appointment to the —th Cavalry
at Fort Scott. Of course he found army life dull, compared with the
life he had led at the Point, but that made no difference to him. If he
lived he would in process of time become a major-general, and that was
what he was working for. He first saluted the colonel, then removed his
cap and waited for him to speak.

“Well, Parker, you find this army life slow, don’t you?” said he.

“Sometimes, sir,” said the lieutenant with a smile. “One does not get
much chance to stir around.”

“You know the reason for it, I suppose?”

“Yes, sir. Sitting Bull is going to make trouble.”

“He has not made any trouble yet, and I propose to send you out in the
presence of all his warriors.”

“Very good, sir,” replied Parker.

Most young officers would have opened their eyes when they heard this,
but it did not seem to affect Lieutenant Parker one way or the other.
He knew his commander had some good reason for it, and with that he was
satisfied.

“Yes,” continued the colonel, “I propose to give you command of a dozen
men, including a sergeant, two corporals, two wagons and a guide, and
send you into the mountains after some fresh meat. We got some only a
little while ago, but the Pawnee scouts have eaten it all up.”

Lieutenant Parker grew interested at once. He was a pretty fair shot
for a boy of his age, and had brought his Winchester from the States,
together with a fine horse that his father had given him; but he put
his rifle upon some pegs in his room, and there it had remained ever
since he had been at the fort. He looked at it once in a while and said
to his room-mate:

“That Winchester can rust itself out before I will have a chance to use
it. I was in hopes I should have a chance to try it on a buffalo before
this time.”

“It seems to me that you have not read the papers very closely,” said
Lieutenant Randolph, “or you would have found out that the buffalo have
all but disappeared. There is only one small herd left, and they are in
Yellowstone Park, where they are protected by law.”

“But there are antelope on the plains,” said Parker.

“Yes, and maybe you will have a chance at them by the time old Sitting
Bull gets over his antics. It won’t do for a small company of men to go
out on the plains now. The Sioux are too active.”

“Well, the colonel knows best,” said Parker with a sigh. “I have asked
him twice to let me go out but he has always refused me, and now I
shall not ask him again.”

But now the colonel seemed to have thought better of it, and was going
to send him out to try his skill on some of the big game that was
always to be found in the foothills. He was delighted to hear it, and
his delight showed itself in his face.

“Do you think you can get some meat for us?” asked the colonel with a
smile. “You appear to think that you are going to have an easy time of
it.”

“No, sir; I suppose we shall have a hard time in getting what we want;
but if you can give me a guide who will show me where the game is, I
believe I will have some for you when I come back.”

“How will Carl, the Trailer, do you?”

“I don’t know, sir. I have often seen him about the fort, but have
never spoken to him.”

“We will put two boys at the head of the expedition, and see how they
will come out with the captain who went out two weeks ago,” said the
colonel, turning to his commissary. “Sit down, Parker. Orderly, tell
Carl, the Trailer, that I want to see him.”

The orderly opened the door and went out, and Lieutenant Parker took
the chair