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The Life and Adventures of Kit Carson, the Nestor of the Rocky Mountains, from Facts Narrated by Himself by de Witt C. Peters
page 293 of 487 (60%)
truth of the Chinese adage, that "the tongue may deceive, but the eye
can never play the rogue."

[Footnote 20: This expression of "father," with these Indians, means
their agent.]

But to return to the narrative. The commanding officer of the party
sent out against these Indians, on arriving again at Taos, reported to
Col. Beall that the reason he had returned was because, at the present
time, it was impracticable to cross the mountains. That brave
and experienced officer replied, "that there was no such word as
impracticable in the soldier's vocabulary, and that nothing ought
to be impossible for the 1st regiment of United States dragoons to
accomplish." Suiting his actions to his words, Col. Beall reorganized
the command, took charge of it himself, and employed Kit Carson as his
guide. When everything was in proper trim, this expedition set
out, and after surmounting many obstacles and privations, finally
accomplished the feat of crossing the snow-clad mountains, and after
a long and fruitless search for the Indians, the men were obliged to
turn about, because their stock of provisions was running low. As
the command emerged through the "_Sangre de Christo Pass_," on their
return route, they came suddenly into view of a village of Apaches.
As soon as the Indians were discovered the charge was sounded, but the
animals of the dragoons were too much jaded to obey the summons with
the celerity wished for by their riders; the result was that, besides
a considerable amount of plunder, only two persons were taken, but
they, fortunately, proved to be no less than two important chiefs. In
order to impress these Indians with the fairness and liberality which
his government wished to show to the red men, after a long talk,
in which the colonel exacted promises of good behavior, he let the
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