At any rate, he dismounted his men the instant they were at long range. A select number fell back with the horses, which they brought up close and kept in good order - a measure I envied at once. The Pawnees then came steadily on at a jog trot, and many men in motion seem to have thrice the velocity of a few. Though each man was only jogging easily, the whole mass of the Pawnees seemed to be rushing upon us at great speed. I had ordered the Sioux to hold their fire and to remain lying down. But, when they saw their enemies coming at them, it was too much for their control. A rifle exploded at the right of the first line. A scattering fire then ran along, and every man discharged his piece. I groaned when I saw the effect of that random volley. The Pawnees were still too far away, and the skill I had drilled into the Sioux seemed to have been wiped away from them. Only a very few of Bald Eagle’s men dropped from the line, not enough by any means to answer the number of bullets that had gone whirring toward them. I saw Bald Eagle wave a hand above his head and laugh.
He was instantly conspicuous. While I remained to the rear, that bold chieftain advanced to the very head of his men, brandishing a long rifle like a feather in his hands. He looked more than human in his stature. His hair was not trimmed to form the scalp lock but blew about his shoulders in long black streams. His height was made greater by a cluster of feathers plaited into his hair, and it waved above his head.
After our first fire he set his men the example of rushing forward at full speed. They swept suddenly upon us, yet I was not afraid of the consequences, for I knew that the Sioux had time to load before they received the charge. What maddened me was to see them rise almost en masse to meet the rush of the Pawnees. But no headlong charge was in the mind of the great chief. Some thirty paces from our line a thundering shout left his lips, and his men dropped instantly to the ground. How marvelously he had brought those wild Pawnees into the hollow hand of his discipline. They fell flat, couched their rifles, and at another word from him they loosed a solid volley.
I have heard men talk of the days of wooden ships and the effect of the first close-delivered broadside - how it keeled the vessel over and filled it with the thunder of crashing, splintering, falling timbers. Like a broadside was that volley of the Pawnees. The imbecile Sioux, who had stood up almost to a man, were perfect targets. And I saw my first line literally blown to pieces. As a fighting machine that section of my army was broken to bits. They ran here and there, yelling, lamenting. Some started for the rear. Others stood still and screamed an hysterical defiance at the Pawnees. And the Pawnees were still lying fiat on the ground!
Vastly tempting as that confusion in our ranks must have been to those savages, they obeyed the discipline they had learned and remained in their places, loading their rifles as rapidly as they could. The instant that was done, they lunged to their feet and leaped in at us.
We were in a frightful condition. Our first line, as I have said, was hopelessly disintegrated. Our second line could hardly fire effectively because of the confusion of the first. Only the onrush of the Pawnees forced the broken first line to squeeze through the second. Standing Bear, in the meantime, had forced that second line to kneel, and from that kneeling position, with the Pawnees straight before them, they poured in their fire. The effect was ghastly, of course. But Bald Eagle’s men were already very close. Some, in their death agonies, leaped in to deliver their dying strokes. The others, with the immense voice of Bald Eagle flooding their ears, halted for a single instant and then poured in from their recharged guns a fire almost as effective as that of my kneeling second line. Then they closed.
I had not the slightest doubt what the outcome would be. I had, altogether, about eight hundred men in those two lines, and there were a few less than seven hundred Pawnees, but the impact of their charge was irresistible. I saw them drop their rifles and begin to swing their hatchets. Here, there, and again they burst through the line. I saw Bald Eagle, transformed into a giant fiend, catch up a Sioux warrior and swing him before him like a club. I have never seen such a show of sheer might of hand and arm. He himself scorned to use a hatchet. He was armed, a moment later, with a heavy clubbed rifle, which was a toy in his hand, and every blow crushed a skull like an eggshell.
The Sioux were beaten, but still they did not fly. I cannot say how my heart rose as I saw, at last, the magic result of my patient work. Their line was shattered, but, as their leaders yelled the gathering signal, group by group and clan by clan garnered to itself, and, forming in rough circles, kinsman at the side of kinsman, they kept a formidable face to the raging wolves of Bald Eagle.
Where were the horsemen of my reserve? All of this had occurred in a single rush, but, as I saw the Pawnees break through the line, I felt that I could not wait to gather the hundred men who were now extricating themselves from the mass of the horses and beginning to form behind me. I took the fifty who were immediately at my side and headed straight for Bald Eagle. To this moment it seems incredible. He had around him only wild savages, who were on the point of gaining a great victory, who were maddened by the lust for blood and scalps. Yet at the thunder of his call a full hundred of the braves banded together and faced my charge - faced it, loading their rifles with a wonderful rapidity.
Even before we were on them, I knew what would happen - exactly what I had proved to my own men - that cavalry cannot withstand a calmly delivered infantry fire. And these Pawnees were calm. Their faith in Bald Eagle was like the faith of the prophet in the Lord. Here he stood among them, thundering forth his commands. With the greatest coolness they loaded, took aim, and, as we dashed at them, they met us with a sheet of flame. Half the saddles were instantly emptied, and the rest of us were thrown into confusion. The charge lost impetus, but still I had to strike home if I could - I had to strike, even if I were almost despairing.
I stood up in the stirrups and shouted my own cry. It was fiercely answered by my men, and I knew that, few as they were, they had the heart to follow me. Then we struck the Pawnees. Bald Eagle was my goal. I drove straight at him, for I knew that, if he fell, the field was ours. White Smoke needed no reins. The grip of my knees and the sway of my body were enough to drive him forward or stop him at my pleasure. I had a revolver in each hand, and, as they spoke, the Pawnees fell. Between me and my target was a writhing mass of those devoted Indians. The bullets I intended for Bald Eagle struck their bodies. I emptied my guns, and still the thunder of that great voice held the Pawnees firm. I clubbed a rifle and made play with that in a frenzy, but I saw that all was lost. The Pawnees were at us like tigers now. The impetus of the charge had been crushed against that human mass. Now they surged in, screaming like veritable demons, and my poor Sioux went down on every side.
Two brawny villains made at me with hatchets. I dropped one with the butt of the rifle. But my blow missed the second and merely knocked the weapon from his hands. Then, with a leap, he grappled with me. I had him by the throat in a trice, but others of his friends were at his heels, grinning with a thirsty joy as they saw Black Bear already in their hands. Then it was that I heard the sweetest sound that ever met my ears - the battle yell of a band of Sioux, rushing to the fight. I looked aside and saw a wild and joyous picture, indeed. Yonder came the last hundred of my mounted men, sweeping in on the flank of the Pawnees. At their head, the organizer of this final stroke, rode none other than young Sitting Wolf, naked to the waist, painted hideously and swinging a club.
When they struck, the shock sent the entire battle reeling. My throttled Pawnee dropped senseless to the ground. Around me there was only a terrible confusion. They no longer thought of butchering me. They were intent on meeting the new danger. But they turned too late. That hidden reserve had dropped upon them like a bolt from the blue. In an instant the Pawnees were torn from the bleeding remnants of my footmen and dashed into hopeless confusion. Now each unit of my clansmen turned from defense to aggression. In that melee they retained an efficient order. They still fought shoulder to shoulder while the Pawnees struck at random, hardly knowing friend from foe. And still the horsemen were lunging among them, making every blow tell.