"Then, perhaps, it will be better for us to be out than in."
"You wouldn't desert the crowd at the fort, would you?"
"You know me better than that, Gorman. We might be able to ride to the next fort and obtain re-enforcements."
"That's so, captain! I didn't think of that."
Leaving the dead Indians in the bushes and the others tied to the trees, the captain and his companions now lost no time in striking out for the fort.
Fortunately, Peck was well acquainted with every foot of the territory to be covered, and he led the way by a route which was fairly easy and as direct as could be expected, considering the wild region to be covered.
As he hurried along, the young captain's thoughts were busy. Where were Joe, Darry, and Benson, and how were things going at the fort?
"The Indians are not so much to be blamed as the desperadoes," he said. "They have some wrongs, although they are more fancied than real. But the desperadoes ought all to be either shot down or placed under arrest."
"Right you are," returned Gorman. "This district will never prosper until the desperadoes are cleaned out."
It was not long before the party began to grow hungry, and they had to halt for an hour, to prepare some birds which one of the number had brought down with a gun.