4 a band of one hundred youngsters, no more than twenty years old. to serve as police, he would uni form, arm. and equip them, and would make Sword chief of the band. "But, mind." explained the agent to Sword, ""if any of your own nearest rela tions do wrong, and I send you out to arrest them. you must bring them in, dead or aKve!" All this was nuts for Sword; for it not only gave an impor tant command to a man then only a warrior, but gave him. as executor of the agent's orders, general authority • vei even the elders and chiefs of the And little did the tribe like it, i Id or young: for it was not long until the police, aided materially i v Inspector Conley, made important recoveries 01 stolen stock and interfered seriously with their predatory pleasures and profits. Jealousy at the Agency BUT ; ;-- .- 1 began to feel that I could see a safe solution of the Indian end of our problem, trouble loomed up from an unexpected quarter. Both Doctor McGillicuddy and Inspector ( onley v t n men - f a hair trigger temper, the f< •rmer wedded to and the latter divorced from everything that stood lor punctilious formalities. So it was not l« ng until they fell foul of each other Presently one day early in June, the same mail i rought metwo brief letters.— one from the doctor, El iting that it" I did not recall my inspector imme diately, he would have him run otf the reservation by the Indian police; the other from Conley, say ing that unless I gave him authority to leave the agency pretty quick, he reckoned he'd have to kill the ag« nt. , . . , . Neither gave any explanation; from which l in ferred that the difficulty was purely personal and temperamental, of a sort possible oi patching. So that evening I forked a bronco and hit the trail for the agency, sixty miles away, where 1 arrived early the next morning. \v<\ 1 found myself come none too soon. Ihe agent was about ready to order the inspectors ex pulsion by the police, and the inspector was quite ready to kill the agent it" he attempted anything d the son and then take his chances oi shooting his way through the police to escape,— in the carrying out of which uncomplicated strategy the odds would have been ten thousand to one against Conley; for the entire tribe would have welcomed a chance to pot him. However, about a little matter of odds men of Conley s breed never worried, where the stakes were no more than one's < wn life. And this highly tense, really deadly situation had its origin in what"' In the fact that Conley had developed the friendly habit oi coming unbidden to the doctor's « ffice, rolling and smoking cigarettes unasked, and roosting his feet com fortably on the doctor's desk, pre ferably on a corner of his writing The differences were not hard to adjust. Secretly each respected the other, knew the other was doing good work and a man all through. Conley was sorry he had "mussed the dorter's humany frills"; the doctor, that he had resented Con ley's notion of sociability. So by the second day 1 had them at hand shakes and the best of friend i Getting Ready for the Dance THAT evening three army offia rs arrive. l. Major [ohnG. Bourk* of the Third Cavalry, and Lieuten ants Waite and Goldman oi th< Fifth Cavalry. Major Bourke was well chosen for the task that broughi him. viz., a. study of the sui dance, due to begin the next morn ing; for his previous studies and writingson M<'ki snake dancing, Zuni fire worship, and Apache medicine men remain the most valuabl« contributions to the literature oi thes< subjects. On a bench above ami t" the east of the narrow valley of White Clay t reek stood the agency. Within a low wall, topped by a picket fern < and nearest the creek, stood Doctoi McGillicuddy's office; a hundred teei east, tvs residence; beyond that, the great Wakan-pomani building, — the "Mysterious Give Away House," the warehouse or storehouse thai held the supplii by the Government for distribution h\ the agent, probably firsi called Wakan (nij teriou by the >!ou\ because to them it musi have been .i matter ort..i M« Cullu udd> V. office, by his invitation, to arrange t>> g" to the dame. Major Bourke, Lieutenants Waite and Goldman, Mr. Blanchard, Charlie Conley, and myself. Mr. Lord, the doctor's clerk, and Louis Changro, his half breed interpreter, were alsi in the office. SUNDAY MAGAZINE FOR JULY 5 1908 Sword, chief of police, had been about wivh sev eral of his men; but at the moment was outside. His men. and usually he himself, were unifcimed neatly in blue jackets and trousers and soft hats. But this morning Sword was a sartorial wonder. Above beautifully beaded moccasins of golden yellow buckskin rose the graceful lines of weß fitting dark blue broadcloth trousers, circled at the waist by a beaded belt carrying two six-shooters and a knife, topped by a white shirt, standing collar, and black bow- tie, "and by a perfectly made vest and cutaway coat matching the trousers, the vest dec orated -with a metal watch chain yellow as the moccasins. He was crested by a well brushed silk top hat : while from beneath the hat defiantly swung Sword's scalp lock, a standing challenge to whom soever dared try to take it. And Vtt. despite this opera boufife rig, S with the bronze of his handsome features nt by the flash of piercing black eyes, supple oi nw vein li nl soft of tread, dignified in bearing, stood a serious and even a heroic figure, — the man that dared court the most bitter tribal opposition and enmity by undertaking the enforcement of white men's law as administered by Agent BfcGdHcuddy. On the 'Warpath "W7IIILE we were quietly chatting, the rest ■ f OS "^ pumping Bourke and the doctor for what they had of sun dance lore, suddenly we were interrupted by the startlingly quick entry of Sword, who slipped in softly and swiftly as a shadow, and began a low spoken, hurried statement to Changro. Presently Changro turned and interpreted, "Sword he say heap Injun come down White Clay. Ride war ponies. All Brules. Sword he no like looks." And after a glance out of the door. I am sure none of us liked the looks of tilings —of the things most actively animate in our immediate landscape any more than Sword did. A band of between three hundred and four hundred bucks sat <>n their war ponies about three hundred yards from the gate. A thick cloud of dust behind and south of them showed that they had approached at top speed, and had just stopped, evidently for a conference. Presently ten advanced slowly toward the office "It You Dont tiivc Us Grub. 11l Kilt Every White Man tin This Reservation ! " ui.iV the rest ol the band withdrew the way they had come, ultimately stopping about eight hundred yards awa) By Doctor McGillicuddy's advice, .ill oi '.is re sumed our i Acting almost in unison, curiously, evidently i!i>'\v the hammer chamber <>t cur pistol cylinders, usually carried empt> for purposes ot better safety »gfti"sl accidental discharge lam sure 1 should have beea glad to have a pistol iri t> • which 1 could have emp tied the entire contents of my full belt; for the odds against us looked rather long. The Brules, two thousand oi wh«>m had come ovei from Rosebud to attend the son dance, wen well known for an ugly, desperate lot. Indeed, they had been spoiled by an agent that lacked most of the good qualities McGflHcnddy possessed Honest enough in his administration, he was afraid of his charges, and they knew it ar. our **"£**! came by magic about a dozen of Sword- yyUJS*** policemen, each fingering rirs-t the trigger an< *^J the hammer of his rifle, like a guitar player tru~> ming for the key to a tune. . . "Reckon the ball's plumb open novr. an ~j 'swing partners.'" drawled Charlie C ■'>'•"" only remark made by anyone I can now recall. The Dread Wasting COR a few minutes it was touch and g<' ! ' ' :s -. • A single shot, and it would have Wen aB over fl' very few minutes. Escape was quite as "'ipos^ as help, Indeed, the one troop of caValry at re.» Sheridan, eighteen miles away, and the two trcCr* at Fort Robinson* sixty miles distant, ii F re^** would not have lasted an hour, if the ball esce opened. It was therefore a great if onlv=a tem porary relief when presently the chief and r.:s «"- e sullenly withdrew through the gate and retcM toward his band. y "Mama! but won't hades pop good and ?'*-•£ in about half an hour, when th.tt old coffee «**• gits back with his bunch to finish the ball! V~\ we'll sure make 'em think we can dance some M**, the music stops!" expressed Conley's v. holly «•' perienced view of the situation. v "Major Bourke." said the doctor. ' yot: are If, senior officer present. Will yon assume O ::.Tnanu "No. doctor." answered Bourke, ">• ■ -ff ' * supreme authority here. lam on duty det.u hedo my arm of the service; and." with a'grirn ? t *?~ ( g approval, "yon seem to me to be doing quite enough. Command me as your aide.' ..%-•>- Without a word. Sword and his men had cBS^: peared toward th« camp below the Muff. ' ih " n g yards distant, as boon as the Brtiles '■<■;'■'■ -, withdrawal was no small source of anxiety; notwithstanding their apparently excellent through the crisis just past, nevertheless this «asw' first really serious test of the loyalty of his Pf v *%. However we were not long left in douK. J~^ deed, our doubt was most gratefully relieveii--«»J we got over the violent attack of heart ai*r induced by the manner of their return. $ We had been watching the Brule chie t ar.a » band like hawks. Apparently none had ****£a tached, and they were still in conference se« hundred yards away. . .^ 3 Mrs. McGillicuddy and Mrs Blanchard had brought to the office. fi>r whatever poor protecw we could give them. . fl( j Suddenly out of the hidden valley beneath a^ west of us rose %l thunder of hoofs that seetne Comttaned en pap 17