The Last of the Chiefs: A Story of the Great Sioux War

by Joseph A. Altsheler

  Chapter XVIIIThe Circle of Death

  The quiver in Dick's blood did not cease now. He forgot for thetime being that he was bound, and stood there staring at the hillwhere three horsemen had been for a few vivid moments. These menmust be proof that a white army was near; but would this armyknow what an immense Sioux force was waiting for it in the valleyof the Little Big Horn?

  He tried to take his eyes away from the hill, but he could not.He seemed to know every tree and shrub on it. There at the base,in that slight depression, the three horsemen had stood, but nonecame to take their place. In the Indian village an immenseactivity was going on, both on Dick's side of the river and theother. A multitude of warriors plunged into the undergrowth onthe far bank of the stream, where they lay hidden, while anothermultitude was gathering on this side in front of the lodges. Thegullies and ravines were lined with hordes. The time was abouttwo in the afternoon.

  A chief appeared on the slope not far from Dick. It was BrightSun in all the glory of battle array, and he glanced at thetethered youth. Dick's glance met his, and he saw the shadow ofa faint, superior smile on the face of the chief. Bright Sun startedto say something to a warrior, but checked himself. He seemed tothink that Dick was secured well enough, and he did not look at himagain. Instead, he gazed at the base of the hill where the horsemenhad been, and while he stood there he was joined by the chiefsRain-in-the-Face and Young-Man-Afraid-of-His-Horses.

  Dick never knew how long a time passed while they all waited.The rattle of arms, the shouts, and the tread of feet in thevillage ceased. There was an intense, ominous silence brokenonly, whether in fact or fancy Dick could not tell, by the heavybreathing of thousands. The sun came out more brightly andpoured its light over the town and the river, but it did notreveal the army of the Sioux swallowed up in the undergrowth onthe far bank. So well were they hidden that their arms gave backno gleam.

  Dick forgot where he was, forgot that he was bound, so tense werethe moments and so eagerly did he watch the base of the hill.When a long time--at least, Dick thought it so--had passed, amurmur came from the village below. The men were but scoutsand had gone away, and no white army was near. That was Dick'sown thought, too.

  As the murmur sank, Dick suddenly straightened up. The blackspeck appeared again before his eyes. New horsemen stood wherethe three had been, and behind them was a moving mass, black inthe sun. The white army had come!

  Bright Sun suddenly turned upon Dick a glance so full ofmalignant triumph that the boy shuddered. Then, clear and fullover the valley rose the battle cry of the trumpets, a joyousinspiring sound calling men on to glory or death. Out from thehill came the moving mass of white horsemen, rank after rank, andDick saw one in front, a man with long yellow hair, snatch offhis hat, wave it around his head, and come on at a gallop.Behind him thundered the whole army, stirrup to stirrup.

  Bright Sun, Rain-in-the-Face, and Young-Man-Afraid-of-His-Horsesdarted away, and then Dick thought of the freedom that he wantedso much. They were his people coming so gallantly down thevalley, and he should be there. He pulled at the rawhide, but itwould not break; he tried to slip his wrists loose, but theywould not come; and, although unnoticed now, he was compelledto stand there, still a prisoner, and merely see.

  The horsemen came on swiftly, a splendid force ridingwell--trained soldiers, compact of body and ready of hand. Theslope thundered with their hoofbeats as they came straight towardthe river. Dick drew one long, deep breath of admiration, andthen a terrible fear assailed him. Did these men who rode so wellknow unto what they were riding?

  The stillness prevailed yet a little longer in the Indianvillage. The women and children were again running up the river,but they were too far away for Dick to hear them, and he waswatching his own army. Straight on toward the river rode thehorsemen, with the yellow-haired general at their head, stillwaving his hat. Strong and mellow, the song of the trumpet againsang over the valley, but the terrible fear at Dick's heard grew.

  It was obvious to the boy that the army of Custer intended tocross the river, here not more than two feet deep, but on theirflank was the deadly quicksand and on the opposite shore facingthem the hidden warriors lay in the hundreds. Dick pulled againat his bonds and began to shout: "Not there! Not there! Turnaway!" But his voice was lost in the pealing of the trumpets andthe hoof beats of many horses.

  They were nearing the river and the warriors were swarming ontheir flank, still held in leash by Bright Sun, while the greatmedicine man, Sitting Bull, the sweat pouring from his face, wasmaking the most powerful medicine of his life. Nearer and nearerthey rode, the undergrowth still waving gently and harmlessly inthe light wind.

  Dick stopped shouting. All at once he was conscious of itsfutility. Nobody heard him. Nobody heeded him. He was only anunnoticed spectator of a great event. He stood still now, backto the tree, gazing toward the river and the advancing force.Something wet dropped into his eye and he winked it away. It wasthe sweat from his own brow.

  The mellow notes of the trumpet sang once more, echoing far overthe valley, and the hoofs beat with rhythmic tread. The splendidarray of blue-clad men was still unbroken. They still rode heelto heel and toe to toe, and across the river the denseundergrowth moved a little in the gentle wind, but disclosednothing.

  A few yards more and they would be at the water. Then Dick saw along line of flame burst from the bushes, so vivid, so intensethat it was like a blazing bar of lightening, and a thousandrifles seemed to crash as one. Hard on the echo of the greatvolley came the fierce war cry of the ambushed Sioux, taken up inturn by the larger force on the flank and swelled by themultitude of women and children farther back. It was to Dicklike the howl of wolves about to leap on their prey, but manytimes stronger and fiercer.

  The white army shivered under the impact of the blow, when athousand unexpected bullets were sent into its ranks. All thefront line was blown away, the men were shot from their saddles,and many of the horses went down with them. Others, riderless,galloped about screaming with pain and fright.

  Although the little army shivered and reeled for a moment, itclosed up again and went on toward the water. Once more thedeadly rifle fire burst from the undergrowth, not a single volleynow, but continuous, rising and falling a little perhaps, butalways heavy, filling the air with singing metal and litteringthe ground with the wounded and the dead. The far side of theriver was a sheet of fire, and in the red blaze the Sioux couldbe seen plainly springing about in the undergrowth.

  The cavalrymen began to fire also, sending their bullets acrossthe river as fast as they could pull the trigger, but they wereattacked on the flank, too, by the vast horde of warriors,directed by the bravest of the Sioux chiefs, the famous Pizi(Gall), one of the most skillful and daring fighters the red raceever produced, a man of uncommon appearance, of great height,and with the legendary head of a Caesar. He now led on thehorde with voice and gesture, and hurled it against Custer'sforce, which was reeling again under the deadly fire from theother shore of the Little Big Horn.

  The shouting of the warriors and of the thousands of womenand children who watched the battle was soon lost to Dickin the steady crash of the rifle fire which filled the wholevalley--sharp, incessant, like the drum of thunder in the ear.A great cloud of smoke arose and drifted over the combatants,white and red, but this smoke was pierced by innumerable flashesof fire as the red swarms pressed closer and the white replied.

  Some flaw in the wind lifted the smoke and sent it high over theheads of all. Dick saw Custer, the general with the yellow hair,still on horseback and apparently unwounded, but the little armyhad stopped. It had been riddled already by the rifle fire fromthe undergrowth and could not cross the river. The dead andwounded on the ground had increased greatly in numbers, and theriderless horses galloped everywhere. Some of them rushedblindly into the Indian ranks, where they were seized.

  Three or four troopers had fallen or plunged into the terriblequicksand on the other flank, and a
s Dick looked they were slowlyswallowed up. He shut his eyes, unable to bear the sight, andwhen he opened them he did not see the men any more.

  The smoke flowed in again and then was driven away once more.Dick saw that all of Custer's front ranks were now dismounted,and were replying to the fire from the other side of the river.Undaunted by the terrible trap into which they had ridden theycame so near to the bank that many of them were slain there, andtheir bodies fell into the water, where they floated.

  Dick saw the yellow-haired leader wave his hat again, and thefront troopers turned back from the bank. The whole force turnedwith them. All who yet lived or could ride now sprang from theirhorses, firing at the same time into the horde about them. Theirranks were terribly thinned, but they still formed a compactbody, despite the rearing and kicking of the horses, many ofwhich were wounded also.

  Dick was soldier enough to know what they wished to do. Theywere trying to reach the higher ground, the hills, where theycould make a better defense, and he prayed mutely that they mightdo it.

  The Sioux saw, too, what was intended, and they gave forth a yellso full of ferocity and exultation that Dick shuddered from headto foot. The yell was taken up by the fierce squaws and boys whohovered in the rear, until it echoed far up and down the banks ofthe Little Big Horn.

  The white force, still presenting a steady front and firing fast,made way. The warriors between them and the hill which theyseemed to be seeking were driven back, but the attack on theirrear, and now on both flanks, grew heavier and almost unbearable.The outer rim of Custer's army was continually being cut off,and when new men took the places of the others they, too, wereshot down. His numbers and the space on which they stood werereduced steadily, yet they did not cease to go on, although thepace became slower. It was like a wounded beast creeping alongand fighting with tooth and claw, while the hunters swarmedabout him in numbers always increasing.

  Custer bore diagonally to the left, going, in the main,downstream, but a fresh force was now thrown against him. Thegreat body of warriors who had been hidden in the undergrowth onthe other side of the Little Big Horn crossed the stream when hefell back and flung themselves upon his flank and front. He wascompelled now to stop, although he had not gone more than fourhundred yards, and Dick, from his hill, saw the actions of thetroops.

  They stood there for perhaps five minutes firing into the Sioux,who were now on every side. They formed a kind of hollow squarewith some of the men in the center holding the horses, which werekicking and struggling and adding to the terrible confusion. Theleader with the yellow hair was yet alive. Dick saw him plainly,and knew by his gestures that he was still cheering on his men.

  A movement now took place. Dick saw the white force divided. Aportion of it deployed in a circular manner to the left, and theremainder turned in a similar fashion to the right, although theydid not lose touch. The square was now turned into a rude circlewith the horses still in the center. They stood on a low hill,and so far as Dick could see they would not try to go anyfarther. The fire of the defenders had sunk somewhat, but he sawthe men rushing to the horses for the extra ammunition--that waswhy they hung to the horses--and then the fire rose again inintensity and volume.

  Confident in their numbers and the success that they had alreadywon, the Sioux pressed forward from every side in overwhelmingmasses. All the great chiefs led them--Gall, Crazy Horse,Young-Man-Afraid-of-His-Horses, Grass, and the others. BrightSun continually passed like a flame, inciting the hordes torenewed attacks, while the redoubtable Sitting Bull never ceasedto make triumphant medicine. But it was Gall, of the magnificenthead and figure, the very model of a great savage warrior, wholed at the battle front. Reckless of death, but alwaysunwounded, he led the Sioux up to the very muzzles of the whiterifles, and when they were driven back he would lead them upagain. Dick had heard all his life that Indians would not chargewhite troops in the open field, but here they did it, not onetime, but many.

  Dick believed that if he were to die that moment the picture ofthat terrible scene would be found photographed upon hiseyeballs. It had now but little form or feature for him. All hecould see was the ring of his own blue-clad people in the centerand everywhere around them the howling thousands, men mostlynaked to the breechclout, their bodies wet with the sweat oftheir toiling, and their eyes filled with the fury of the savagein victorious battle--details that he could not see, althoughthey were there. Alike over the small circle and the vast oneinclosing it the smoke drifted in great clouds, but beneath itthe field was lit up by the continuous red flash of the rifles.Dick wondered that anybody could live where so many bullets wereflying in the air; yet there was Custer's force, cut down muchmore, but the core of it still alive and fighting, while theSioux were so numerous that they did not miss their own warriorswho had fallen, although there were many.

  The unbroken crash of the rifle fire had gone on so long now thatDick scarcely noticed it, nor did he heed the great howling ofthe squaws farther up the stream. He was held by what his eyessaw, and he did not take them from the field for an instant. Hesaw one charge, a second and third hurled back, and although hewas not conscious of it he shouted aloud in joy.

  "They'll drive them off! They'll drive them off for good!" heexclaimed, although in his heart he never believed it.

  The wind after a while took another change, and the dense cloudsof smoke hung low over the field, hiding for the time the littlewhite army that yet fought. Although Dick could see nothing now,he still gazed into the heart of the smoke bank. He did not knowthen that a second battle was in progress on the other side ofthe town. Custer before advancing had divided his force, givinga little more than half of it to Reno, who, unconscious ofCuster's deadly peril, was now being beaten off. Dick had nothought for anything but Custer, not even of his own fate. Wouldthey drive the Sioux away? He ran his tongue over his parchedlips and tugged at the bonds that held his wrists.

  The wind rose again and blew the smoke to one side. Thebattlefield came back into the light, and Dick saw that the whiteforce still fought. But many of the men were on their knees now,using their revolvers, and Dick feared the terrible event thatreally happened--their ammunition was giving out, and the savagehorde, rimming them on all sides, was very near.

  He did not know how long the battle had lasted, but it seemedmany hours to him. The sun was far down in the west, gilding theplains and hills with tawny gold, but the fire and smoke ofconflict filled the whole valley of the Little Big Horn."Perhaps night will save those who yet live," thought Dick. Butthe fire of the savages rose. Fresh ammunition was brought tothem, and after every repulse they returned to the attack,pressing closer at every renewal.

  Dick saw the leader at the edge of the circle almost facing hishill. His hat was gone, and his long yellow hair flew wildly,but he still made gestures to his men and bade them fight on.Then Dick lost him in the turmoil, but he saw some of the horsespull loose from the detaining hands, burst through the circle,and plunge among the Sioux.

  Now came a pause in the firing, a sudden sinking, as if bycommand, and the smoke thinned. The circle which had beensprouting flame on every side also grew silent for a moment,whether because the enemy had ceased or the cartridges were allgone Dick never knew. But it was the silence of only aninstant. There was a tremendous shout, a burst of firing greaterthan any that had gone before, and the whole Sioux horde pouredforward.

  The warriors, charging in irresistible masses from side to side,met in the center, and when the smoke lifted from the last greatstruggle Dick saw only Sioux.

  Of all the gallant little army that had charged into the valleynot a soul was now living, save a Crow Indian scout, who, whenall was lost, let down his hair after the fashion of a Sioux, andescaped in the turmoil as one of their own people.