My nerves were, by this time, always on the alert.
I glanced through the large door opening out into the hall, and saw a group of Indian scouts; they laid a coffee-sack down by the corner fire-place, near the front door.

The commanding officer left the table hastily; the portiere was drawn.
I had heard tales of atrocious cruelties committed by a band of Indians who had escaped from the reservation and were ravaging the country around.

I had heard how they maimed poor sheep and cut off the legs of cattle at the first joint, leaving them to die; how they tortured women, and burned their husbands and children before their eyes; I had heard also that the Indian scouts were out after them, with orders to bring them in, dead or alive.
The next day I learned that the ringleader's head was in the bag that I had seen, and that the others had surrendered and returned.

The scouts were Apaches in the pay of the Government, and I always heard that, as long as they were serving as scouts, they showed themselves loyal and would hunt down their nearest relative.
Major Worth got tired of the monotony of a bachelor's life at Camp Apache and decided to give a dance in his quarters, and invite the chiefs.

I think the other officers did not wholly approve of it, although they felt friendly enough towards them, as long as they were not causing disturbances.