by G. A. Henty
CHAPTER XIII.
RESCUED.
Steve Rutherford, the settler Owen, and Hugh made their way alongat the foot of the steep rocks, keeping among the fallen boulders,stopping at times, and making a close survey of the plains to be surethat no Indians were in sight, before moving further.
"That is the point," Steve said presently; "from among those rocks wecan get a view of the village. You must keep your head low, Lightning,and not show it above the rocks. They will be keeping a sharp look-out,and like enough they would make out a lizard moving at this distance."
When they reached the point they made their way with extreme careto the highest boulders, and then, lying down, looked through theinterstices between them. Hugh started as he did so, for although theIndian village was nearly half a mile away, the mountain air was soclear that it did not seem a quarter of that distance. Its position waswell chosen; the hill rose almost perpendicularly behind it, defendingit from an attack on that side, while in front and on both sides theground sloped away and was clear of brushwood or inequalities thatwould afford shelter to assailants. Trees stood in and around it,affording shade during the heat of the day. A number of horses weregrazing close to the village, with half a dozen Indian boys round them,in readiness to drive them in at the shortest notice. Smoke was curlingup from the top of the wigwams, and through the trees many figures ofmen and women could be seen moving about.
"How long do you think it will be, Steve, before their scouts get backagain?"
"Another hour, I should guess; I expect they started at daybreak.Anyhow, they had gone before I got here. I reckon they wouldn't travelfast going there; in the first place they would scout about and lookfor signs of an enemy, and in the second they wouldn't want to blowtheir horses, for they might have to ride for their lives any moment.I should give them four hours, a good two and a half to get there,and something over an hour for one of them to get back again. He maybe here in half an hour, he may not be here for an hour; it will besomewhere between one and the other."
Twenty minutes passed, and then Steve exclaimed, "Here he comes!" Theother two caught sight of the Indian at the same moment, as first hishead and shoulders, then the whole rider and horse, appeared on thecrest of a rise some four miles away. He was as yet invisible from thevillage, but in a few minutes they could perceive a stir there, andthree or four warriors ran out from the village, leaped on to theirhorses, and galloped out to meet the returning scout. They saw themjoin him, and, sweeping round without a check, accompany him, and inten minutes they reached the village. A minute later a mournful wailsounded in the air.
"They know it now," Steve said; "they are just about beginning to feelas we do. It is all very well as long as they go out, and murder andburn, and come back with scalps, but they don't like it when the gameis played on them."
"When will they start out again, do you think, Steve?"
"Not yet awhile, they are going to talk; Indians never do anythingwithout that. There, do you see, there ain't a man among the trees;there are some women and children, but nary a warrior. You may be surethat they are gathering for a great council; first of all the scoutwill tell his story, then the chiefs will talk. It will be another hourat least before there is a move made."
"Oh, I do hope our plan won't fail!" Hugh said.
"I don't think that there is much chance of it," Owen put in. "They arebound to do something. Their scout can only report that, so far as hesaw, there was not more than four men, and as they did not chase himhe expects they have no horses. They never can leave it like that. Theyare bound to go out and see about it, otherwise they know they couldn'tgo in twos or threes without the risk of being ambushed, just as thescouts were; besides, they lost the two men they left behind, and maybeone, maybe three, this morning, and they are bound to have vengeance.Oh, they air safe to go!"
An hour later a sudden succession of wild yells were heard.
"Thar's their war-cry," Steve said; "the thing is settled, and theyair going." A few minutes later the Indian boys were seen driving thehorses in towards the village, and then a number of warriors ran out.
"There air a good lot of them," Steve said, in a tone of satisfaction."They was sure to go, the question wur how many of them. It will be astrong party anyhow."
The Indians were soon seen to be mounting. "Now we can count them,"Steve said. "Five-and-thirty."
"I couldn't tell within four or five," Hugh said; "they keep movingabout so, but I should say that was about it."
"Yes, five-and-thirty," Owen agreed. "You have the youngest legs,Lightning, you scoot across as hard as you can run and tell them toget ready; Steve and I will see them fairly off, and then we will comein. Don't let them move out of the hollow till we join you; there ain'tno special hurry, for we mustn't attack till the band have got four orfive miles away. If they heard the guns they would be back agin like atorrent."
Hugh did as he was told. As he ran down over the crest into the dip hegave a shout of satisfaction at seeing Broncho Harry and the three menwho had remained with him; they had arrived a few minutes before.
"Well, Harry, we saw all had gone right, as only one of their scoutscame back."
"Has it drawn them?" Harry asked.
"Yes; a band of five-and-thirty started five minutes ago."
"Bully for us!" Harry said. "Then we have got them all right now. Iexpect there ain't above thirty fighting men left in the village, and,catching them as we shall, they won't have a show against us."
"How did you get on, Harry?"
"It wur just as you reckoned, lad; three of 'em came out. They werevery scarey about coming close; they yelled to their mates, and incourse got no answer; then they galloped round, one at a time, gettingnearer and nearer, but at last they concluded that the place wasdeserted, and rode up. We let them get so close that there wur no fearof our missing, and then we shot two of them; the other rode for it.We fired after him, but took good care not to hit him, and as soon ashe had gone we ran to the wood where we had left our ponies, and cameon here pretty slick. There wur no difficulty in following your trail;we reckoned that we should have to come pretty fast to be here in time,as it wur three or four miles further for us to go than the Injun wouldhave, and he wouldn't spare his horse-flesh. Still we was sure it wouldbe an hour at least before they was ready to start, more likely two.Jim Gattling wur flurried a bit; natural he wouldn't like not to bewith the others when they went in to rescue Rosie. So it seems we airjust in time with nothing to spare. But here comes Steve."
By this time all had been got ready for a start. Horses had beenbrought up, saddles looked to, girths tightened, and blankets strappedon. A hearty greeting was exchanged between Steve and the party justarrived.
"We will give them another ten minutes afore we start," Steve said."Now, we had better settle, Broncho, as to what we should each dowhen we get in, else there may be confusion, and they may tomahawk theprisoners before we find them."
"Yes, that is best," Broncho agreed. "Now, look here; our crowd will dothe fighting, and you and your fellows jump off as soon as you get in,and search the wigwams. You will know just where to go; the prisonersare safe to be in a wigwam close by that of the principal chief; hewill keep them close under his eye, you may bet your life. And mind,boys, let us have no shooting at squaws or kids. We have come out torescue the women they have carried off, and to pay out the men for thework they did, but don't let us be as bad as they are."
There was a general assent from the cow-boys, but two or three of themen who had come with them grumbled, "They have killed our wives andchildren, why shouldn't we pay them back in the same coin?"
"Because we are whites and not Red-skins," Broncho Harry said. "Lookhere, Steve; we have come here to help you, and we are risking ourlives pretty considerable in this business, but afore we ride into thatvillage we are going to have your word that there ain't going to be ashot fired at squaw or child. Those are our terms, and I don't thinkthey are onreasonable."
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p; As a chorus of approval went up from the rest of the cow-boys, andas the others were well aware that what they said they meant, theyunwillingly assented.
"That is right and square," Broncho Harry said. "You have all givenyour promise, and if anyone breaks it, I begin shooting, that is all.Now it's about time to be moving, Steve."
The men swung themselves up into their saddles. "Now, boys, quietlyuntil we get in sight of the village, and then as fast as we can go."
But all were eager for the fight, and the pace gradually quickened tillthey came within sight of the village. Then they charged down upon itat full gallop. They had gone but a short distance when they heard thecry of alarm, the yells of the Indians, shouts and orders, screams ofwomen and children, and the barking of the village dogs. Shots werefired, but to Hugh's surprise these ceased before the cow-boys reachedthe village.
"The skunks are bolting," Broncho Harry exclaimed. "Keep round thetrees, No. 2 outfit, and straight across the plain after them. They mayhave got some of the girls."
It was, however, less than two minutes from the moment the assailantshad been seen to that when they burst into the village. The Indians,taken altogether by surprise at the appearance of a foe from a quarterfrom which no danger had been apprehended, and seeing a band of thedreaded cow-boys dashing down at a gallop, caught up their arms, andthen, in obedience to the orders of the chief left behind in chargeof the village, dashed out to their horses, mounted, and rode off.Their leader had seen at once that there was no hope of resistance.The assailants were nearly equal in number to the fighting men left inthe village, they would be armed with those terrible pistols that werethe dread of the Indians, and they had all the advantage of a surprise.There was nothing to do but to ride off to the main body.
For a moment the thought of killing the prisoners before starting hadcrossed his mind, but there was no time to run to the wigwam in whichthey had been placed, and he saw too that their death would entailthat of the Indian women and children. These had been no less speedy intheir movements than the men, and at the first cry of danger the womenhad seized their infants and, followed by the boys and girls of thevillage, had fled along the foot of the cliff till they reached a spotwhere, although steep, it was accessible. Here a path, winding amongboulders and hidden by bushes, led up to the top of the cliff. This hadbeen constructed by the boys of the village at the time the Indiansfirst established themselves there, for the purpose of enabling itsoccupants to make their escape in case of a sudden attack by superiorforces.
Steve and his party were astonished when, as they dashed into thevillage, they found the place almost deserted. A few old men stoodat the entrances of their wigwams, and four or five aged women wereassembled in front of one standing near the centre of the place; andas the cow-boys and settlers galloped up, five white women ran out fromthe wigwam to meet them, with cries of joy.
"All safe, Rosie?" Steve Rutherford shouted as he rode up.
"All safe, father;" and a cheer burst from the rescuers as they leaptfrom their horses and crowded round the girls. These had all friends orrelations among the party.
"Three of you let off your rifles one after the other," Steve said,the instant he had embraced his daughter. "I told Broncho as he rodeoff that should be the signal that we had got them all. Then some ofyou had better ride as hard as you can after them. You may be wanted,though I don't expect the Indians will stop. Tell Broncho he had bestcome back again, there ain't no time to lose. The rest of you scatterand put a light to these wigwams. There is all the things they stolefrom us scattered among them, and all their skins and things, not worthmuch, perhaps, but a lot to them. Look into the huts and see thereain't no babies left in them. Where are all the women and children,Rosie?" But Rosie was at that moment much too occupied with JimGattling to hear him.
"Never mind that now, gal," Steve said, striding up to them; "therewill be time enough for fooling when we get out of this. Whar are thewomen and children?"
"I don't know, father. We know nothing about it. We were in thewigwam and suddenly heard shouts and screams, and then almost directlyeverything became quiet, and then these old women opened the door andmade signs to us to come out, and as we did we saw you charging inamong the trees."
"ALL SAFE, FATHER," CRIED ROSIE.]
"Where are the squaws and children?" Steve asked one of the old womenin her own language. She looked vacantly at him as if she did notunderstand. "Bah! that's no use," he said; "I might have known that.Scatter about, boys; see if you can't find some of them. They can'thave gone out on to the plain, that is sartin. They can't have got upthis cliff--not here. Perhaps thar's a cave somewhere. Scatter alongand sarch. Go right along some distance each way, thar may be some pathup somewhere."
"What does it matter about them, Steve?" one of the settlers asked. "Weagreed there wurn't to be no killing of squaws or kids."
"I don't want to kill them," Steve said. "I am just so pleased atgetting my girl and the others back that I don't feel like hurtinganything; what Broncho and me reckoned on was to take some of thechiefs' wives and children along with us as hostages. If we had themwith us we reckoned they would not attack us on our way back. I tellyou, boys, it may just make the difference of our scalps to us."
Not another word was needed, and all, with the exception of a few ofthe friends of the rescued women, scattered on the search. It was tenminutes before they found the concealed path. The man who discoveredit ran back to Rutherford. "I have found the place, Steve; it is awaythree or four hundred yards to the left there. Just at the end of theclump of trees there are some bushes against the face of the hill.It didn't look as if there could be any way up, but I pushed throughthem, and, sure enough, there was some steps cut in the rock. I went upthem, and round a sharp angle there was a sort of gap in the cliff. Youcouldn't see it from the plain, and a path went straight up there."
"That air bad news, Owen. They have got a quarter of an hour's start,and it ain't no sort of use our going after them. Waal, there isnothing to do but to ride for it. I wish Broncho's party was back."
"They air just coming back," a man said. "I have been to the edge ofthe wood to look after them. They are galloping back, and will be herein a few minutes."
By the time Broncho Harry and his party rode into the village thewigwams were all in flames. The men who had set fire to them hadbrought out the meat they had found inside. There were several quartersof deer, and a quantity of beef, doubtless the produce of animalsbelonging to the herd they had driven off. They were satisfied that theburning of the wigwams would be a heavy loss to the Indians, for theyhad found many piles of skins and robes stored up to be used in barterfor guns and horses. Indeed, the whole belongings of the tribe, excepttheir cattle, were destroyed, together with, what perhaps would be evenmore severely felt, the scalps taken from their enemies in many a fightand massacre. A few words acquainted the new-comers with what had takenplace, and they were delighted to find that they had arrived in time tosave the women from the fate that awaited them.
"Did you hear the rifle-shots, Broncho?"
"Nary one. We was having a skirmish with the Red-skins. They showedfight at first till they saw the rest of the boys coming out. We chasedthem two miles, and killed six of them. Then we thought it best to comeback, for we could see that a couple of the best mounted had been sentstraight off as hard as they could go after the first lot. We shouldnot have chased them as far as we did, but we wanted to rope five oftheir horses for the women. As soon as we had done that we took theback track. Have you caught some of the squaws, Steve?"
"No, worse luck, they had all cleared out afore we got here. There wasnary a soul in the village except these old men and women."
"But where on earth did they get to?"
"It took us a quarter of an hour to find out, and then one of themen lit on it pretty nigh by accident. Right along the cliff thar issome steps cut in the rock. They are hidden by bushes, and up abovethem is a sort of gap in the rock with a path up it. You can't see itfrom t
he plain at all. No doubt that is the principal reason why theyfixed their village here. It gave them a means of escape if they wereattacked."
"Waal, if you haven't got no hostages, Steve, there ain't anotherminute to waste here. You see we had figured on them hostages. I seeyou have got some meat; that is good. Waal, are you all ready? becauseif so, let's git."
Three minutes later the party rode away from the burning village, thewomen mounted on the Indian horses.
"Thar's our cattle," Steve said, pointing to a herd out on the plain,"but it ain't any use thinking of them now."
"You bet," Broncho Harry replied. "There ain't no thinking about hornsor hides at present. It is our own har we have got to think of."
"You think they will catch us up, Broncho?" said Steve.
"I don't think nothing at all about it. They are just as sure to catchus up as the sun is to rise. We have got every foot of a hundred milesto go, and the horses have been travelling hard for the last threedays. By this time those fellows as have galloped on ahead are prettynigh their main party, if they haven't overtook them before this. Theyhad no call for speed, and would be taking it easy. You can't reckonmuch more than ten miles start. Still, when they catch us they won't bemore than three to one.
"There was thirty-five went out, you said, Steve, and anothertwenty-five in the second lot. That brings them up to sixty, which ispretty nigh three to one.
"Well, three to one ain't such great odds even if they wur to come downand fight us in a body; but I reckon they would not do that. They aremore likely to make a surround of it. They would know that we shouldhave to leave pretty near half our number to guard the women, and therest wouldn't be strong enough to charge them. Besides, it ain't onlysixty we have got to reckon with. Like enough half a dozen of themstarted, as soon as we turned back, to the other villages of the tribe.You may reckon we shall have two or three hundred of them coming alongin our track in an hour or two. Don't you make any mistake about it,Steve; we sha'n't get away, and we have got to fight. Now, you know thecountry, and what you have got to reckon up is, where shall we fight?You can't calkilate on above fifty miles, and if you say forty it willbe safer. A few of the horses might get a bit further than that, buttaking them all round, and reckoning they have been going hard for thelast few days, forty is the longest we can calkilate on afore we hearthe Red-skin yells behind us."
"The Two Brothers are about forty miles from here," Steve Rutherfordsaid.
"Ah! I have heard of them. They are two buttes close together, ain'tthey?"
"Yes. We should be safe enough there if all the Red-skins in creationwas attacking us. They might starve us out, but they could never climbup. One of the Brothers there ain't no climbing up at all. It standsstraight up all round, but the other has got a track up. I have seencattle on the top."
"Do you know the way up, Steve?"
"Yes. I was with a party that came out from the Canadian lookingup cattle that had strayed. We didn't find many of the cattle. TheInjuns had got them, you may be sure; but we stopped at the foot ofthe buttes, and did some hunting for a day or two. Three or four of usclimbed up. It ain't a road you would choose to drive a team down, andI should not have thought that cattle would have climbed it if I hadn'tbeen told they did so. Still it is good enough for us."
There was no attempt to gallop at full speed, the horses being kept ata canter, the pace to which they are most accustomed.
"There," Steve said, pointing to the lower country ahead of them,for they had since starting been gradually descending, "there are theBrothers."
"They don't look far away," Hugh, who was riding beside him, remarked.
"I guess they are near fifteen miles, Lightning."
"I should have said five if I had been asked," Hugh said.
"I wish they was only five. I expect before we get half way to them weshall hear the Injuns behind us."
"Yes, Broncho has been telling me what you think of it. Well, there isone thing, if we get to those buttes first we can keep the whole tribeat bay."
"Yes, lad, as far as fighting goes; but there is one thing agin us."
"Water?" Hugh asked.
"You have hit it. I don't say as there mayn't be some water up there.I reckon there is, for they told me the cattle would stay up therefor some time without coming down. There weren't no cattle when I wasthere, and I didn't see no water, but it may be at times there is some.The top of the place seemed to me lowest in the centre--not a greatdeal, perhaps maybe not more than three or four feet--and if thereis any hole in the middle there may be water there. I wurn't thinkingof it at the time, and didn't look for it. Maybe in the rains it getsfilled up, and there is enough to last the cattle some time. Everythingdepends on that."
"I have been thinking," Hugh said, "that if I were to ride straight onI might get through to the next ranche. My horse is a first-rate one,and I am sure he could do the distance."
"If he had started after a couple of days' rest he could carry you ahundred miles, I don't doubt. There ain't nothing out of the way inthat. I have ridden as much a score of times; but you see, lad, he hasnot had much rest and not much time to eat since we started. You rodehim out from your camp and then on to the first halting place; thatmade eighty or ninety mile. Next day we made sixty, I reckon. Then hewas going all yesterday till we halted before we went up through thepass, and he kept on going till a good bit past midnight. We may nothave done more than fifty or sixty mile, but he got no feeding till wegot into that dip about two o'clock this morning.
"If you only had the horses after you that the Indians rode down toGainsford I should say your horse would carry you as well as theirswould; but it won't be so. You bet your life, that mob we saw outsidethe village was a fresh one. The fust thing they would do when theygot to camp in the afternoon would be to send some of the lads off tothe grazing grounds with the horses they had ridden, and to fetch ina fresh lot. Besides that, as I told you, there will be others of thetribe coming up and jining in the chase. Scores of them. They will allbe on fresh mounts, and they will be just on the best ponies they havegot, for they will guess that we are heading for the Canadian. No, no,lad; it'll never do. They would ride you down sartin.
"Another thing is, whoever goes has got to know every foot of thecountry, to travel at night, and to be able to find his way to thenearest ranche. That job will be mine, I reckon. I know more of theInjun ways than anyone here, and if anyone can do the job I can.Besides, it is my place. You have all gone into this affair to get myRosie out of the hands of the Red-skins, and it is my duty to get youout of the scrape. Listen!"
The whole party checked their horses simultaneously as the air broughtto their ears a long, quavering yell, and looking back they saw againstthe distant sky-line a confused body of horsemen.
"Two miles good, ain't it, Broncho?"
"About that, I should say, Steve; and we have got twelve to ride. Now,then, let the ponies know they have got to do some work."
The shouts of the riders, the tightening of the reins, and a touch ofthe spur told the horses what was required of them, and they sped alongat a very different pace to that at which they had hitherto travelled.
"We are all right, I think," Long Tom said to Hugh. "They have beenriding a good deal faster than we have, and I don't think they willgain on us now--not anything to speak of. We shall be at the butteslong before they catch us, though you see when one party is chasinganother they have got a great advantage."
"How do you mean, Tom? I don't see what advantage they have."
"They have this advantage, Lightning. All horses ain't the same. Somecan go a lot faster than others. Some can keep on ever so much longerthan others. There are some good and some bad."
"Of course there are, Tom, but that is the same with both parties."
"Sartin it is, lad, but you see the party that is chasing go at thespeed of their fastest horses; waal, not of their fastest, but thespeed that the most of them can keep up. Those who are badly mounteddrop in the rear and are left beh
ind; the others don't consarnthemselves about them. Now, it is just the contrairy with the partythat is chased. They have got to go at the pace of the slowest horseamong them. They can't leave one or two of their mates to the marcy ofthe Red-skins: they have got to keep together and to fight together,and, if must be, to die together. There is a lot of difference amongthe horses in this crowd. We just took what we could git when westarted; thar wurn't no picking and choosing. Thar wur one apiece forus good or bad. The pace we are going ain't nothing to that horse ofyours, but you'll soon see that some of the others can't keep it up,and then we shall have to slow down to their pace."
"I didn't think of that, Tom. Yes, I see, a party that pursues has animmense advantage over one that flies, providing, of course, they aregreatly superior in numbers. If not, there will be a time when the bestmounted men could no longer ride at full speed, because if they didthey would be inferior in numbers to those they chased when they cameup to them."
"That is reasonable, lad, and if those Red-skins behind us are only thelot from the village, that will bring them up a bit. They know wellenough they can't lick us, if they ain't pretty nigh three to one,and so they will want their whole crowd up, and they won't be able totravel at the speed of their best horses. That is why I said that weshall beat them easy. It ain't really them, it is the bands from theother villages that we have got to fear. I don't know this kintry, andI don't know where the other villages are; but I shouldn't be surprisedany moment to see bands cutting in from the right or left. Some of theInjuns would ride straight off there, and they will have heard the newsas soon or sooner than the band that went after us to the rocks. Theywill guess the line we should take, and will all be on fresh horses.That is what I am thinking of all the time."
"I suppose Steve knows?" Hugh said.
"He knows. He ain't said much, but he dropt behind an hour ago, andsaid to me, 'Keep a sharp look-out on both sides, Tom; that is wherethe danger comes in.'"
For the next five miles the pursuers did not appear to gain.
"Can't we take it easy, Steve?" Jim Gattling asked. "Some of the horsesare beginning to blow a bit. There ain't more than seven miles nowbetween us and the buttes. We might let them walk for five minutes nowto get their wind again."
Steve turned in his saddle and looked round at the horses. Wiry littleanimals as they were, many of them were showing signs of distress.
"We will go a little bit easier," he said, "just a little. When we getto that brow a mile ahead we shall get a better view. Then we will seeabout it."
The horses were pulled in a little, but still kept at a gallop untilthey got to the top of the ascent. From this point there was a smoothand regular fall right down to the valley from which rose the buttessix miles away.
"Now you have got to ride for it, and no mistake," Steve said sharply."There they come both ways. That is just what I was afeard of."
An exclamation of something like dismay broke from many of the men,for two bands of Indians were seen, one on each hand, riding, likethemselves, for the buttes. The one to the left was perhaps a mileaway, but considerably in advance of them. That on the right wasperhaps twice as far, and was, like themselves, just beginning todescend the long incline.
"We shall pass the crowd to the right," Broncho Harry said, "but theothers will cut us off, sure."
"That is so, Harry," Steve said quietly. "But there is one thing, thereain't above forty or fifty of them, while that crowd to the right aretwice as strong. If they had been first, it would have been all overwith us. Well, don't travel too fast, lads. We can't pass ahead of thatlot to the left, but there is no fear of the crowd to the right. Justgo at the pace we are going now. Look here, what has got to be done isthis: we have got to keep together with the women in the middle of us.We have got to go right through them. Now nine of you have got rifles,you keep next to the gals. The moment we have got through the Injuns,you ride with them straight on to the foot of the butte. I must go withyou, because I know just where the path starts, and no one else does.The moment you get there you jump off the ponies, take post among therocks, and open fire on the Injuns. You, Broncho, with the rest ofthem, directly we are through, you turn again and charge them. Justcheck them for about a minute, that will be enough; then you ride inand we will cover you with our rifles."
"That is about it," Harry replied. "Now, boys, you all hear. You withthe rifles go straight on. And look here, empty your six-shooters intothem as you charge--the more you wipe out the better. Then the rest ofyou with me just give a yell to scare them, and then close with themagain. Don't you empty your six-shooters at first, but keep your firetill we are through them; it is mighty hard if the others, with sixshots apiece, don't clear the way for us. You must bear in mind thatyou will want every shot after we are through, so don't throw away one.Don't you bother about the advance crowd with the women. I will keep myeye on them, and when I see they are ready I will give a yell, and thenwe will ride for it together."
The Indians saw that they had it in their power to cut off the whitesfrom the buttes, and they no longer rode at the headlong speed atwhich they were going when first perceived, but slackened down theirpace. They could, if they had chosen, have brought on the fight at somedistance from the buttes, but they had no motive for doing so. They sawthe large party coming from the other side, and preferred to delay thecontest till the last moment in order that their friends should be nearat hand. Steve remarked with satisfaction that they did not attempt tooutride his party.
"The fools," he said to Broncho Harry, "they won't be there above ahundred yards before us, and won't get above one shot each before weare on them. If they had known their business they would have riddenfit to kill their horses till they got there, and then jumped off andrun up that path and held it. We should have lost half our number atleast fighting our way up. In fact, with the women with us, we couldn'thave done it."
Scarce another word was spoken as the party galloped on. Mile aftermile had been passed, and the buttes were now towering up in front ofthem. When within half a mile of the foot the riders gradually fellin to the places assigned to them. Those with rifles went in front,then the women, then the men with revolvers only. The small party ofIndians kept on until within a hundred and fifty yards of the foot ofthe buttes, then they halted and turned. The whites were at the momentsome two hundred yards behind them. The great party of Indians on theright were about half a mile away. The Indians in front did not awaitthe shock of the whites, knowing that the impetus of the latter wouldgive them an advantage, but raising their war-cry dashed forward tomeet them, discharging their rifles as they came.
Not a shot was fired by the whites until the two lines were withintwenty paces of each other, then the revolvers of the ten men in frontcracked out sharply. Several of the Indians fell. Then there was acrash as the lines met, and then for a moment a confused medley--theIndians fighting with tomahawk and spear, the whites with their deadlyrevolvers. The conditions were too unequal. There was not one amongthe band of whites who could not rely with certainty upon his aim, andas in a close line, boot touching boot, they pressed on, the Indiansmelted like snow before them. It seemed to Hugh but a moment from thetime the fight began till the path before them to the buttes was open.
"Forward!" shouted Steve. "We are through them, boys."
As Hugh dashed on he heard Broncho Harry's shout, the cracking of therevolvers, and the yell of the Indians. The women were riding abreastwith them now.
"Never mind the gals," Steve shouted. "All tumble off together."
It was but a few seconds before the first band threw themselves fromtheir horses and took up their post behind boulders and bushes. As theydismounted Steve gave a loud shout, and almost at the same moment theparty that had fought under the leadership of Broncho Harry wheeledround and rode towards them. Had there been only the Indians that hadtried to bar their way to reckon with, there would have been no needfor them to seek refuge at the buttes. Half their number had fallenunder the bullets of the front line
of the whites as they fell uponthem. The charge of Broncho Harry's detachment had completed the effectof the blow. The whole conflict had only lasted half a minute, but inthat time the deadly six-shooters had wrought terrible havoc with theband of Indians. Less than half of them went galloping back to meettheir advancing friends, and several of these were leaning over theirsaddles evidently badly wounded. Over twenty lay together at the spotwhere the two parties had met. A few of the horses stood quietly besidetheir dead owners, the rest were careering wildly over the plain. Aloud cheer broke from both parties of the whites as Broncho Harry'sband rode in and dismounted.
"That has been a pretty tight race," Long Tom said, "but we beat themhandsome."
"Tom, do you all stow away your horses and ours as snug as you canamong the rocks and trees, then take your places down here. We willget a bit higher up so as to get a wider range for our rifles, but wehaven't time for that now, we must just give this other crowd a hintthat we have got rifles and can use them. Now, boys, take steady aim atthat clump of Red-skins. Don't throw away a shot. There is nothing likestraight shooting for skeering a Red. Here goes;" and Steve, taking asteady aim, fired, while his companions followed his example.
