Every morning at eight o'clock, the sound of the train whistle is heard throughout the Cumberland woods, after which the women of the various gangs carry large and small basins of dirty laundry to the Dakota River to the north of the wooded area. The men, who are the main members of the gang, will scatter around the camp with guns and use their bodies to draw lines for the gang.

The Cumberland Woods is home to most of the small gangs in the nearby states, most of which struggle to make a living by the police, even if they have different beliefs, so there is a precedent of joint resistance to the police and bounty hunters, which is also a point that law enforcement forces are afraid to approach here.

On this day, John climbed the fir slope to the south of the wooded area to smoke and have a good view, and on the opposite hillside several children from the neighborhood gang were chasing and playing, and he was ready to spend the morning watching the children play.

"Miller and I have changed the guard, so I can rest a little more."

Stridge came up to John at some point, asked him for a cigarette, and smoked it.

The bleak autumn breeze blows in the east, and the pajamas are casually laid out on Strich's flesh to set off her extremely graceful figure, one can imagine how the men of the other gangs will cast surprised and admiring glances when she stands guard for the gang.

John stopped his boundless reverie from coming back to reality, smacking his lips and reminding the woman next to him, "Wear a little more so you won't catch a cold in this weather." ”

On the other hand, Streich's face was full of disapproval: "I think it's much warmer to be naked here than to be wrapped in a heavy cotton suit in Coulter Village." ”

"One of the reasons we got out of there was to keep people out of the cold."

"Of course it is—just as deadly as the cold is the constant tension of your nerves, and I notice you've been flipping through the map all night lately, you really need to relax."

"I'm resting like a hibernating bear, haven't you noticed? After leaving the Coulter Village, we had less purposeful conversation. ”

"I guess everyone is used to being idle, and it's too addictive to talk about everyday things."

"No, it's an integration." John said word for word.

Strichie's eyes lit up, she longed for the person John was referring to as herself, and even though two years had passed, she still wanted him to accept her verbally.

John could almost guess what Stridge was thinking, "Of course it's not just you, it's everyone else, even myself, and we can't wait to turn ourselves into a grain of sand in the wilderness, swaying with the dust storm...... Let me do the math, starting with Strawberry Town, with Mr. Fowler, Mrs. McLiver, Berquette Long, and William Kingson, their integration has made the gang bigger and bigger. ”

"Remember when we first withdrew from St. Denis? It's embarrassing to think about it now. ”

"It's not much better at the moment." John said with a wry smile.

There was silence for several minutes as John continued to observe the children's game. Ten minutes later, one of the boys seemed to notice something unusual and ran back screaming, while the other children hesitated for a moment to realize something, and reacted in the same way as the boys.

Suddenly, a dense burst of gunfire accompanied by the sound of horses' hooves rolled over the hill, and a cloud of dust rose from the horses' hooves on this side of the hill, and a caravan of about one or twenty men galloped out of the smoke, but it seemed that they were not galloping heroically, but ...... Flee. Soon, some dense blue dots appeared behind the group, which were the conspicuous uniforms of the St. Denis police.

"What are the police from St. Denis doing here?" After many years of ups and downs in St. Denis, Streich naturally recognized it.

"Bullets are coming, be careful!" Countless stray bullets flew suddenly, and John couldn't dodge, "Look at them like this, they're coming for the woods, we have to go back and protect the others." ”

"John, those mounted policemen are from St. Denis, have you forgotten what we did there? We can't lure the wolves in, we have to keep them on the outskirts of Cumberland woods. ”

"That's a great idea, but how do we do it?"

"John, did you bring a gun?"

"Only one pistol to carry with you."

"I don't have a weapon on me, damn it."

"So, Lady Manstar—you go back and get your gun, and I'll stay and stop the enemy."

"It's too risky, and I don't know where the first people came from, and if they misunderstand you, you'll be attacked by two types of people."

"I think they'll be sensible. Go back, ma'am, time is precious! ”

Pressed for time, John pulled out his pistol and crouched down behind a rock, only to see Stridge enter the depths of the jungle that he breathed a sigh of relief and poked his head out to take in the situation.

The leader seemed to be the leader, with a gray beard, a felt hat with a conspicuous feather attached to his head, and the others wore tunics made of linen, which as far as he knew about the primitive tribes of the land, the clothing of the Indians.

John kept shooting at the ground in front of the horse's front hooves, sending mud flying to warn them not to get any closer.

Hopefully, the barbarians would take revenge, and rudeness was John's first impression of the Indians.

John poked his head out to clear the threat before him, when he ran into several Indians jumping over the rocks, one of whom sat next to him and glanced at him with small eyes.

"Sir, I'm sorry, but we have to run these people away first, will you help me?" The Indian leaders did not mean to blame John in the slightest.

John nodded slightly......

The Indian leader let out a long sigh as he watched the last of his enemies fall in a waze of bullets, then clinged John's right hand tightly to his wrinkled hands.

"I am Papiti Virga, an Indian chief of a solitary tribe. Sir, can I know your name? ”

John thought about it for a moment and gave him his real name, and the chief frowned slightly when he heard the name.

"Sir, you're not popular in this state, and many people are asking about your whereabouts, but don't worry, we have no plans to do that. We were on our way from Wapiti to a new reservation when some ill-intentioned passers-by followed us and the police appeared. ”

Papiti glanced at John and the others and bowed and said, "I am very grateful for your efforts, you have chosen to help us without knowing it, this is a rare trust in this wilderness, and please allow me to introduce my child, the only gluttonous lion in the tribe - Sylosy Verga" After some praise, Papiti pointed to a young Indian with a beast on his face.

"I don't know when the land did not accept Indians, and everyone crowded our living space and drove our people to a dead end in every possible way. After this time, the military and the government will definitely continue to find ways to pin the bad things on our Indians. Papiti said, her eyes revealing resentment and even a hint of sadness.

"Yes...... Dad, the Anruber brothers are still having a relationship with some white people from Rhodes and Van Horn, and you should put an end to that. Said the Indian with the title of Gluttonous Lion.

"Oh...... Gentlemen, Anluber is my second child, and he did not travel with the horse team today. The kid was a few years younger than Luoxi, and he liked to be in contact with people and sociable, even if he was sometimes stupid enough to make mistakes. I am sure that in a few years he will grow into a good diplomat and make a small contribution to the broken situation of us natives. ”

"Hey...... I didn't want him to go down this path, my son deserves a better life. The hateful white people have broken up the families of the major tribes, and their wives have been separated. Sylosy glanced at his father, and Papiti noticed that his words were biased, "Of course not you, Mr. Coster, for there are good people like you in every color. ”

"In return of gratitude, I would like to invite your gang to accompany us, you have helped us repel the police, and this place will certainly not be able to stay, and the reservation is enough for you."

"I think so, we don't plan to stay in this place permanently." John said.

"So the reservation is the perfect place for you, and trust me, we can protect each other,"

After much thought, John decided to accept the offer, and for the past few days he had been searching for shelter for the gang on the map, and it seemed that a reservation protected by racial laws was the best option.