“And what am I to do all that time?”
“Wait; that’ll be easy enough, arter such a rough tramp as I’ve given yer.”
“But suppose some of the Indians come here; I haven’t got any gun or pistol, so what shall I do?”
“The hoss thar will let you know when any of the varmints come sneaking round, and he’ll do it, too, afore they know whar yer be, so you’ll have time to dig out. I ain’t much in the way of using a knife,” added the scout. “I depends on me gun for a long range, and when I gets into close quarters, I throw this yer (tapping the handle of his knife), round careless like; but I’ve got a little plaything yer that has stood me well, once or twice, and if it’s any help to yer, why, yer are welcome to it. It was give to me by an officer down at Fort Massachusetts.”
As he spoke, the scout drew a small revolver, beautifully mounted and ornamented with silver, which he handed to the lad, who, as may be supposed, was delighted with the weapon.
“Just the thing, exactly,” he said, as he turned it over in his hand. “There are five barrels.”
“And every one is loaded,” added the scout. “The pill which it gives a redskin ain’t very big, but it’s sure, and it’ll hunt for him a good ways off; so the dog is apt to bite better than you expect.”
Sut told him that he expected to return by nightfall, and possible before, but they might be kept away until morning. Under any circumstances, whether successful or not, they would be back within twenty-four hours, for they could better afford to wait and repeat the attempt than to stay away longer than that. The reason for this decision was that if any of the Apaches should attempt to trail them, and there was every reason to believe that they would, they would not need more than twenty-four hours to track them to this hiding place. It was especially necessary that a collision with them should be avoided as long as possible, for the whites had everything to gain by such a course. As time was valuable, Sut did not delay the departure, and, as he and Mickey gave the lad a cheery good-by, they turned off to the right, and a minute later disappeared from view.
“Here I am alone again,” he said to himself, “excepting the horse, and I’ve got a loaded revolver. Sut don’t think those Apaches can get here before to-morrow morning, and he knows more than I do about it, so I hope he’s right. We’ve got thus far on our way home, and it would be a pity if we should fail.”
As he looked around, he saw nothing in the place or surroundings which would have commended it to him. There was water in the shape of a trickling stream, and that was plenty everywhere, but there was scarcely a spear of grass visible. The vegetation was stunted and unthrifty in appearance. There were stones and rocks everywhere, with nothing that could serve as a shelter in case of storm. He searched for a considerable distance around, but was unable to find even a shelving rock, beneath which he might creep and gather himself up if one of those terrific tempests peculiar to this region should happen to strike him. Nor did there seem to be any suitable refuge if the Apaches should attack him before he could retreat.