The Young Scout: The Story of a West Point Lieutenant

by Edward Sylvester Ellis

It cannot be said that Lieutenant Decker felt comfortable. He knew the cunning of these terrible red men, and would much rather fight them in the open or on ground where the chances of each were the same. This savage had been trained in the cunning and woodcraft of his people, and knew things which could not have come as yet to the white man. But the latter was quick of perception and was learning fast in the crucial school of experience.

In one sense, the two were on the same footing. They were within striking distance, with the rock between them, and he who was the first to discover the other, even for an instant, must win in the desperate game. It was, in fact, the question of which could “get the drop” on the other.

The Apache might come around the corner of the rock in front, or at the rear, or possibly he would try to steal over the top, so as to fire down on his enemy. If he could forestall the white man, by a moment, it would inevitably be fatal to the latter.

There is a stratagem as old as the hills and one with which doubtless every reader of these pages is familiar. Lieutenant Decker gently removed his hat and placed it on the muzzle of his rifle. Then creeping slightly forward, he extended the weapon, intending to make the hat show around the edge of the boulder. It will be understood that the idea was to represent himself as peering beyond the edge, so as to draw the shot of the Apache, and then let fly at him before he could recover from the blunder.

The young man had almost reached the corner with the extended Winchester, when he withdrew it and replaced the hat on his head.

“If there were a law against persons making fools of themselves, I would violate it about every hour of the day,” was his thought. “I’m glad no one saw me.”

For, while reaching forward with one arm, he awakened to the fact that even if the stratagem was successful, it would not help him. Suppose the Apache sent a bullet through the hat, how could that aid the officer? The Indian would discover his mistake before Decker could bring his body to the same spot and fire—an act which would place him in exactly the same peril that the hat had encountered. Furthermore, more than likely the warrior owned a repeating Winchester. If so, the true course for him was to fire at the hat the instant it showed and give the impression that he had been tricked. That would encourage the white man to rush to the attack and bring to his foe the exact chance for which he was maneuvering and waiting. Consequently, this time-honored and once brilliant strategy would prove a boomerang that would recoil with disastrous effect upon the originator.

The momentous question remained as to the Apache’s method of attack, for, whatever it was, it must be forestalled. The officer was obliged to watch the front and the rear, and make sure that his enemy did not glide over the top of the rock like a rattlesnake, and strike down from above.

Decker leaned his rifle against the face of the boulder and drew his revolver. The former weapon was too awkward to be used in the impending encounter. The smaller was equally effective and tenfold more handy.