Snake Killer

Mid-morning of the seventh day the stagecoach encountered the remnants of a large buffalo herd. The miner was riding on top with the driver and guard at the time. After a brief discussion the driver and guard agreed to stop and invite Kelly to join them with his Spencer rifle. They felt sure a hunting party or two would be chasing the herd and could decide to attack. Gary, the miner, moved back into the coach. The driver warned the passengers of an impending attack and asked the men to keep their guns ready and the women to lie down on the floor if Indians did appear. Kelly grabbed an extra box of ammunition and scrambled up to join them. The driver rested the horses for a half hour before starting again. He then put them to a gallop to make up for lost time and to get them past the buffalo as soon as possible. The Indians appeared off to the south of their trail about a mile away, running on an interception course. The driver whipped up the horses to a full out run. “Looks like a couple dozen or more, men. We got trouble!” The driver, Old Bill, then leaned over to holler to the passengers below. “Indians coming. You got about five or ten minutes!” Kelly broke open a box of cartridges and filled his right pocket and took up a position looking backward, moving the baggage to give him a good field of fire. He took a sip of water from his canteen and waited. As the Indians drew closer, it become obvious that they had misjudged and would come in behind the stagecoach instead of in front and beside. Their ponies were speedy, though and quickly overtook the coach.