RESCUED.
Steve Rutherford, the settler Owen, and Hugh made their way along
at the foot of the steep rocks, keeping among the fallen boulders,
stopping at times, and making a close survey of the plains to be sure
that no Indians were in sight, before moving further.
"That is the point," Steve said presently; "from among those rocks we
can 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 care
to the highest boulders, and then, lying down, looked through the
interstices between them. Hugh started as he did so, for although the
Indian village was nearly half a mile away, the mountain air was so
clear that it did not seem a quarter of that distance. Its position was
well chosen; the hill rose almost perpendicularly behind it, defending
it from an attack on that side, while in front and on both sides the
ground sloped away and was clear of brushwood or inequalities that
would afford shelter to assailants. Trees stood in and around it,
affording shade during the heat of the day. A number of horses were
grazing close to the village, with half a dozen Indian boys round them,
in readiness to drive them in at the shortest notice. Smoke was curling
up from the top of the wigwams, and through the trees many figures of
men and women could be seen moving about.
"How long do you think it will be, Steve, before their scouts get back
again?"
"Another hour, I should guess; I expect they started at daybreak.
Anyhow, they had gone before I got here. I reckon they wouldn't travel
fast going there; in the first place they would scout about and look
for signs of an enemy, and in the second they wouldn't want to blow
their 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 may
be here in half an hour, he may not be here for an hour; it will be
somewhere between one and the other."
Twenty minutes passed, and then Steve exclaimed, "Here he comes!" The
other two caught sight of the Indian at the same moment, as first his
head and shoulders, then the whole rider and horse, appeared on the
crest of a rise some four miles away. He was as yet invisible from the
village, but in a few minutes they could perceive a stir there, and
three or four warriors ran out from the village, leaped on to their
horses, and galloped out to meet the returning scout. They saw them
join him, and, sweeping round without a check, accompany him, and in
ten minutes they reached the village. A minute later a mournful wail
sounded in the air.
"They know it now," Steve said; "they are just about beginning to feel
as we do. It is all very well as long as they go out, and murder and
burn, and come back with scalps, but they don't like it when the game
is played on them."
"When will they start out again, do you think, Steve?"
"Not yet awhile, they are going to talk; Indians never do anything
without 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 sure
that they are gathering for a great council; first of all the scout
will tell his story, then the chiefs will talk. It will be another hour
at 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 are
bound to do something. Their scout can only report that, so far as he
saw, there was not more than four men, and as they did not chase him
he expects they have no horses. They never can leave it like that. They
are bound to go out and see about it, otherwise they know they couldn't
go in twos or threes without the risk of being ambushed, just as the
scouts were; besides, they lost the two men they left behind, and maybe
one, 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 they
air going." A few minutes later the Indian boys were seen driving the
horses 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 a
strong 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 moving
about 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 to
get ready; Steve and I will see them fairly off, and then we will come
in. Don't let them move out of the hollow till we join you; there ain't
no special hurry, for we mustn't attack till the band have got four or
five miles away. If they heard the guns they would be back agin like a
torrent."
Hugh did as he was told. As he ran down over the crest into the dip he
gave a shout of satisfaction at seeing Broncho Harry and the three men
who had remained with him; they had arrived a few minutes before.
"Well, Harry, we saw all had gone right, as only one of their scouts
came 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. I
expect 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 were
very scarey about coming close; they yelled to their mates, and in
course got no answer; then they galloped round, one at a time, getting
nearer and nearer, but at last they concluded that the place was
deserted, and rode up. We let them get so close that there wur no fear
of 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 as
he had gone we ran to the wood where we had left our ponies, and came
on 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 would
have, and he wouldn't spare his horse-flesh. Still we was sure it would
be 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 be
with the others when they went in to rescue Rosie. So it seems we air
just in time with nothing to spare. But here comes Steve."
By this time all had been got ready for a start. Horses had been
brought up, saddles looked to, girths tightened, and blankets strapped
on. A hearty greeting was exchanged between Steve and the party just
arrived.
"We will give them another ten minutes afore we start," Steve said.
"Now, we had better settle, Broncho, as to what we should each do
when we get in, else there may be confusion, and they may tomahawk the
prisoners before we find them."
"Yes, that is best," Broncho agreed. "Now, look here; our crowd will do
the 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 prisoners
are safe to be in a wigwam close by that of the principal chief; he
will 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 to
rescue the women they have carried off, and to pay out the men for the
work 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 the
men who had come with them grumbled, "They have killed our wives and
children, why shouldn't we pay them back in the same coin?"
"Because we are whites and not Red-skins," Broncho Harry said. "Look
here, Steve; we have come here to help you, and we are risking our
lives pretty considerable in this business, but afore we ride into that
village we are going to have your word that there ain't going to be a
shot fired at squaw or child. Those are our terms, and I don't think
they are onreasonable."
As a chorus of approval went up from the rest of the cow-boys, and
as the others were well aware that what they said they meant, they
unwillingly assented.
"That is right and square," Broncho Harry said. "You have all given
your 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, quietly
until 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 till
they came within sight of the village. Then they charged down upon it
at full gallop. They had gone but a short distance when they heard the
cry of alarm, the yells of the Indians, shouts and orders, screams of
women and children, and the barking of the village dogs. Shots were
fired, but to Hugh's surprise these ceased before the cow-boys reached
the village.
"The skunks are bolting," Broncho Harry exclaimed. "Keep round the
trees, No. 2 outfit, and straight across the plain after them. They may
have got some of the girls."
It was, however, less than two minutes from the moment the assailants
had been seen to that when they burst into the village. The Indians,
taken altogether by surprise at the appearance of a foe from a quarter
from which no danger had been apprehended, and seeing a band of the
dreaded cow-boys dashing down at a gallop, caught up their arms, and
then, in obedience to the orders of the chief left behind in charge
of 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 in
the village, they would be armed with those terrible pistols that were
the 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 had
crossed his mind, but there was no time to run to the wigwam in which
they had been placed, and he saw too that their death would entail
that of the Indian women and children. These had been no less speedy in
their movements than the men, and at the first cry of danger the women
had seized their infants and, followed by the boys and girls of the
village, had fled along the foot of the cliff till they reached a spot
where, although steep, it was accessible. Here a path, winding among
boulders and hidden by bushes, led up to the top of the cliff. This had
been constructed by the boys of the village at the time the Indians
first established themselves there, for the purpose of enabling its
occupants to make their escape in case of a sudden attack by superior
forces.
Steve and his party were astonished when, as they dashed into the
village, they found the place almost deserted. A few old men stood
at the entrances of their wigwams, and four or five aged women were
assembled in front of one standing near the centre of the place; and
as the cow-boys and settlers galloped up, five white women ran out from
the 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 leapt
from their horses and crowded round the girls. These had all friends or
relations 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 rode
off that should be the signal that we had got them all. Then some of
you 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 best
come back again, there ain't no time to lose. The rest of you scatter
and put a light to these wigwams. There is all the things they stole
from us scattered among them, and all their skins and things, not worth
much, perhaps, but a lot to them. Look into the huts and see there
ain't no babies left in them. Where are all the women and children,
Rosie?" But Rosie was at that moment much too occupied with Jim
Gattling to hear him.
"Never mind that now, gal," Steve said, striding up to them; "there
will be time enough for fooling when we get out of this. Whar are the
women and children?"
"I don't know, father. We know nothing about it. We were in the
wigwam and suddenly heard shouts and screams, and then almost directly
everything became quiet, and then these old women opened the door and
made signs to us to come out, and as we did we saw you charging in
among the trees."
[Illustration: "ALL SAFE, FATHER," CRIED ROSIE.]
"Where are the squaws and children?" Steve asked one of the old women
in her own language. She looked vacantly at him as if she did not
understand. "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't
have gone out on to the plain, that is sartin. They can't have got up
this cliff--not here. Perhaps thar's a cave somewhere. Scatter along
and sarch. Go right along some distance each way, thar may be some path
up somewhere."
"What does it matter about them, Steve?" one of the settlers asked. "We
agreed 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 at
getting my girl and the others back that I don't feel like hurting
anything; what Broncho and me reckoned on was to take some of the
chiefs' wives and children along with us as hostages. If we had them
with us we reckoned they would not attack us on our way back. I tell
you, 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 of
the friends of the rescued women, scattered on the search. It was ten
minutes before they found the concealed path. The man who discovered
it ran back to Rutherford. "I have found the place, Steve; it is away
three or four hundred yards to the left there. Just at the end of the
clump 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 through
them, and, sure enough, there was some steps cut in the rock. I went up
them, and round a sharp angle there was a sort of gap in the cliff. You
couldn'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 is
nothing 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 of
the wood to look after them. They are galloping back, and will be here
in a few minutes."
By the time Broncho Harry and his party rode into the village the
wigwams were all in flames. The men who had set fire to them had
brought out the meat they had found inside. There were several quarters
of deer, and a quantity of beef, doubtless the produce of animals
belonging to the herd they had driven off. They were satisfied that the
burning of the wigwams would be a heavy loss to the Indians, for they
had found many piles of skins and robes stored up to be used in barter
for guns and horses. Indeed, the whole belongings of the tribe, except
their cattle, were destroyed, together with, what perhaps would be even
more severely felt, the scalps taken from their enemies in many a fight
and massacre. A few words acquainted the new-comers with what had taken
place, and they were delighted to find that they had arrived in time to
save 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 showed
fight at first till they saw the rest of the boys coming out. We chased
them two miles, and killed six of them. Then we thought it best to come
back, for we could see that a couple of the best mounted had been sent
straight off as hard as they could go after the first lot. We should
not have chased them as far as we did, but we wanted to rope five of
their horses for the women. As soon as we had done that we took the
back track. Have you caught some of the squaws, Steve?"
"No, worse luck, they had all cleared out afore we got here. There was
nary 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 the
men lit on it pretty nigh by accident. Right along the cliff thar is
some steps cut in the rock. They are hidden by bushes, and up above
them is a sort of gap in the rock with a path up it. You can't see it
from the plain at all. No doubt that is the principal reason why they
fixed their village here. It gave them a means of escape if they were
attacked."
"Waal, if you haven't got no hostages, Steve, there ain't another
minute to waste here. You see we had figured on them hostages. I see
you have got some meat; that is good. Waal, are you all ready? because
if so, let's git."
Three minutes later the party rode away from the burning village, the
women 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 horns
or 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 catch
us up as the sun is to rise. We have got every foot of a hundred miles
to go, and the horses have been travelling hard for the last three
days. By this time those fellows as have galloped on ahead are pretty
nigh their main party, if they haven't overtook them before this. They
had no call for speed, and would be taking it easy. You can't reckon
much more than ten miles start. Still, when they catch us they won't be
more than three to one.
"There was thirty-five went out, you said, Steve, and another
twenty-five in the second lot. That brings them up to sixty, which is
pretty nigh three to one.
"Well, three to one ain't such great odds even if they wur to come down
and fight us in a body; but I reckon they would not do that. They are
more likely to make a surround of it. They would know that we should
have to leave pretty near half our number to guard the women, and the
rest wouldn't be strong enough to charge them. Besides, it ain't only
sixty we have got to reckon with. Like enough half a dozen of them
started, 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 along
in 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 the
country, 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 will
be safer. A few of the horses might get a bit further than that, but
taking them all round, and reckoning they have been going hard for the
last few days, forty is the longest we can calkilate on afore we hear
the Red-skin yells behind us."
"The Two Brothers are about forty miles from here," Steve Rutherford
said.
"Ah! I have heard of them. They are two buttes close together, ain't
they?"
"Yes. We should be safe enough there if all the Red-skins in creation
was attacking us. They might starve us out, but they could never climb
up. One of the Brothers there ain't no climbing up at all. It stands
straight up all round, but the other has got a track up. I have seen
cattle on the top."
"Do you know the way up, Steve?"
"Yes. I was with a party that came out from the Canadian looking
up cattle that had strayed. We didn't find many of the cattle. The
Injuns had got them, you may be sure; but we stopped at the foot of
the buttes, and did some hunting for a day or two. Three or four of us
climbed up. It ain't a road you would choose to drive a team down, and
I should not have thought that cattle would have climbed it if I hadn't
been told they did so. Still it is good enough for us."
There was no attempt to gallop at full speed, the horses being kept at
a 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 the
Brothers."
"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 we
shall hear the Injuns behind us."
"Yes, Broncho has been telling me what you think of it. Well, there is
one thing, if we get to those buttes first we can keep the whole tribe
at 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 there
for some time without coming down. There weren't no cattle when I was
there, 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 great
deal, perhaps maybe not more than three or four feet--and if there
is any hole in the middle there may be water there. I wurn't thinking
of it at the time, and didn't look for it. Maybe in the rains it gets
filled up, and there is enough to last the cattle some time. Everything
depends on that."
"I have been thinking," Hugh said, "that if I were to ride straight on
I 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 a
hundred miles, I don't doubt. There ain't nothing out of the way in
that. I have ridden as much a score of times; but you see, lad, he has
not had much rest and not much time to eat since we started. You rode
him out from your camp and then on to the first halting place; that
made eighty or ninety mile. Next day we made sixty, I reckon. Then he
was going all yesterday till we halted before we went up through the
pass, and he kept on going till a good bit past midnight. We may not
have done more than fifty or sixty mile, but he got no feeding till we
got into that dip about two o'clock this morning.
"If you only had the horses after you that the Indians rode down to
Gainsford I should say your horse would carry you as well as theirs
would; but it won't be so. You bet your life, that mob we saw outside
the village was a fresh one. The fust thing they would do when they
got to camp in the afternoon would be to send some of the lads off to
the grazing grounds with the horses they had ridden, and to fetch in
a fresh lot. Besides that, as I told you, there will be others of the
tribe coming up and jining in the chase. Scores of them. They will all
be on fresh mounts, and they will be just on the best ponies they have
got, 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 the
country, to travel at night, and to be able to find his way to the
nearest ranche. That job will be mine, I reckon. I know more of the
Injun 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 my
Rosie out of the hands of the Red-skins, and it is my duty to get you
out of the scrape. Listen!"
The whole party checked their horses simultaneously as the air brought
to their ears a long, quavering yell, and looking back they saw against
the 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 of
the spur told the horses what was required of them, and they sped along
at 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 been
riding a good deal faster than we have, and I don't think they will
gain on us now--not anything to speak of. We shall be at the buttes
long before they catch us, though you see when one party is chasing
another 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. Some
can go a lot faster than others. Some can keep on ever so much longer
than 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 the
speed of their fastest horses; waal, not of their fastest, but the
speed that the most of them can keep up. Those who are badly mounted
drop in the rear and are left behind; the others don't consarn
themselves about them. Now, it is just the contrairy with the party
that is chased. They have got to go at the pace of the slowest horse
among them. They can't leave one or two of their mates to the marcy of
the 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 among
the horses in this crowd. We just took what we could git when we
started; thar wurn't no picking and choosing. Thar wur one apiece for
us good or bad. The pace we are going ain't nothing to that horse of
yours, 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 an
immense advantage over one that flies, providing, of course, they are
greatly superior in numbers. If not, there will be a time when the best
mounted men could no longer ride at full speed, because if they did
they would be inferior in numbers to those they chased when they came
up to them."
"That is reasonable, lad, and if those Red-skins behind us are only the
lot from the village, that will bring them up a bit. They know well
enough 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 to
travel at the speed of their best horses. That is why I said that we
shall beat them easy. It ain't really them, it is the bands from the
other villages that we have got to fear. I don't know this kintry, and
I don't know where the other villages are; but I shouldn't be surprised
any moment to see bands cutting in from the right or left. Some of the
Injuns would ride straight off there, and they will have heard the news
as soon or sooner than the band that went after us to the rocks. They
will 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, and
said to me, 'Keep a sharp look-out on both sides, Tom; that is where
the 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 horses
are beginning to blow a bit. There ain't more than seven miles now
between us and the buttes. We might let them walk for five minutes now
to get their wind again."
Steve turned in his saddle and looked round at the horses. Wiry little
animals 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 get
to that brow a mile ahead we shall get a better view. Then we will see
about it."
The horses were pulled in a little, but still kept at a gallop until
they got to the top of the ascent. From this point there was a smooth
and regular fall right down to the valley from which rose the buttes
six 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, like
themselves, for the buttes. The one to the left was perhaps a mile
away, but considerably in advance of them. That on the right was
perhaps twice as far, and was, like themselves, just beginning to
descend the long incline.
"We shall pass the crowd to the right," Broncho Harry said, "but the
others will cut us off, sure."
"That is so, Harry," Steve said quietly. "But there is one thing, there
ain't above forty or fifty of them, while that crowd to the right are
twice as strong. If they had been first, it would have been all over
with us. Well, don't travel too fast, lads. We can't pass ahead of that
lot to the left, but there is no fear of the crowd to the right. Just
go at the pace we are going now. Look here, what has got to be done is
this: 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 with
you, 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 the
rocks, and open fire on the Injuns. You, Broncho, with the rest of
them, directly we are through, you turn again and charge them. Just
check them for about a minute, that will be enough; then you ride in
and we will cover you with our rifles."
"That is about it," Harry replied. "Now, boys, you all hear. You with
the rifles go straight on. And look here, empty your six-shooters into
them as you charge--the more you wipe out the better. Then the rest of
you with me just give a yell to scare them, and then close with them
again. Don't you empty your six-shooters at first, but keep your fire
till we are through them; it is mighty hard if the others, with six
shots apiece, don't clear the way for us. You must bear in mind that
you 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 my
eye on them, and when I see they are ready I will give a yell, and then
we will ride for it together."
The Indians saw that they had it in their power to cut off the whites
from the buttes, and they no longer rode at the headlong speed at
which they were going when first perceived, but slackened down their
pace. They could, if they had chosen, have brought on the fight at some
distance from the buttes, but they had no motive for doing so. They saw
the large party coming from the other side, and preferred to delay the
contest till the last moment in order that their friends should be near
at hand. Steve remarked with satisfaction that they did not attempt to
outride his party.
"The fools," he said to Broncho Harry, "they won't be there above a
hundred yards before us, and won't get above one shot each before we
are on them. If they had known their business they would have ridden
fit to kill their horses till they got there, and then jumped off and
run up that path and held it. We should have lost half our number at
least fighting our way up. In fact, with the women with us, we couldn't
have done it."
Scarce another word was spoken as the party galloped on. Mile after
mile had been passed, and the buttes were now towering up in front of
them. When within half a mile of the foot the riders gradually fell
in to the places assigned to them. Those with rifles went in front,
then the women, then the men with revolvers only. The small party of
Indians kept on until within a hundred and fifty yards of the foot of
the buttes, then they halted and turned. The whites were at the moment
some two hundred yards behind them. The great party of Indians on the
right were about half a mile away. The Indians in front did not await
the shock of the whites, knowing that the impetus of the latter would
give them an advantage, but raising their war-cry dashed forward to
meet them, discharging their rifles as they came.
Not a shot was fired by the whites until the two lines were within
twenty paces of each other, then the revolvers of the ten men in front
cracked out sharply. Several of the Indians fell. Then there was a
crash as the lines met, and then for a moment a confused medley--the
Indians fighting with tomahawk and spear, the whites with their deadly
revolvers. The conditions were too unequal. There was not one among
the band of whites who could not rely with certainty upon his aim, and
as in a close line, boot touching boot, they pressed on, the Indians
melted like snow before them. It seemed to Hugh but a moment from the
time 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 the
revolvers, and the yell of the Indians. The women were riding abreast
with them now.
"Never mind the gals," Steve shouted. "All tumble off together."
It was but a few seconds before the first band threw themselves from
their horses and took up their post behind boulders and bushes. As they
dismounted Steve gave a loud shout, and almost at the same moment the
party that had fought under the leadership of Broncho Harry wheeled
round and rode towards them. Had there been only the Indians that had
tried to bar their way to reckon with, there would have been no need
for them to seek refuge at the buttes. Half their number had fallen
under the bullets of the front line of the whites as they fell upon
them. The charge of Broncho Harry's detachment had completed the effect
of the blow. The whole conflict had only lasted half a minute, but in
that time the deadly six-shooters had wrought terrible havoc with the
band of Indians. Less than half of them went galloping back to meet
their advancing friends, and several of these were leaning over their
saddles evidently badly wounded. Over twenty lay together at the spot
where the two parties had met. A few of the horses stood quietly beside
their dead owners, the rest were careering wildly over the plain. A
loud cheer broke from both parties of the whites as Broncho Harry's
band rode in and dismounted.
"That has been a pretty tight race," Long Tom said, "but we beat them
handsome."
"Tom, do you all stow away your horses and ours as snug as you can
among the rocks and trees, then take your places down here. We will
get a bit higher up so as to get a wider range for our rifles, but we
haven't time for that now, we must just give this other crowd a hint
that we have got rifles and can use them. Now, boys, take steady aim at
that clump of Red-skins. Don't throw away a shot. There is nothing like
straight shooting for skeering a Red. Here goes;" and Steve, taking a
steady aim, fired, while his companions followed his example.
[Illustration]