They were safe enough now, though, and were held here as hostages.

Some were chiefs, and they were all noted men,--some as murderers, and others in less important ways.

They had been here for some years, and a few of them could speak a little English.
He then took us all over the fort,--up an inclined plane to the top of the ramparts, and into the Indian barracks on one of the wide walls, where we saw a lot of Cheyennes and Kiowas, and Indians from other tribes, sitting around and making bows and arrows, and polishing sea-beans to sell to visitors.

At each corner of the fort was a "lookout tower,"-- a little box of a place, stuck out from the top of the wall, with loopholes and a long, narrow passage leading to it, with a high wall on each side to protect from bullets and arrows the man who went to look out.

One of the towers had been knocked off, probably by a cannon-ball.