No signs of pursuit had been discovered, and the quiet declaration of Carson that the redskins would not attempt to follow them was accepted by all the men as correct. The loss of so many of the warriors—for eight had fallen at the first fire—doubtless had alarmed the Indians, who in their flight were not fully aware of the numbers in the attacking party.
On the fourth day the band, with the horses which they had retaken from the Indians, re-entered the camp. Kit Carson and Reuben at the time formed the rear guard, so that they were unable to hear the words of welcome which were given the returning men when first their presence was discovered. In a brief time, however, the shouts were redoubled when the stolen horses were all made secure and the leader and Reuben rejoined their companions.
“How did you do it, Kit?” called Jake.
“We just kept at it.”
“How far did you go?”
“Better than one hundred miles.”
Jake whistled and said: “We never believed you would keep up. When you didn’t come back at the end of the first day we began to think something must have happened to you and we were going to send a party out to rescue you.”
“That was mighty good of you,” replied Kit Carson demurely, “but I’m not in the habit of giving up when I start.”
“So it seems,” laughed Jake. “I begin to understand why it is that the men are all willing to follow you.”
“Why should we give up?” inquired the scout simply. “We started out to get the horses, didn’t we?”