"You've saved my life, sure enough," said he, earnestly. "I hope I can do as much for you sometime."
"I hope there won't be any need," answered Al, smiling, "but I'm very glad I saw him in time."
"It's lucky for Charlie that you did," cried Sergeant English, "it looks so mighty suspicious to be shot in the back."
Wright, laughing, wheeled like lightning on the joker and made a clutch at him; but the Sergeant sprang out of the way and raced off, with Wright close on his heels, shouting,
"Here, come back, while I thrash you for that!"
With their sabres catching between their legs, the two brave fellows, playing like boys, looked comical enough; and the rest of the men, all of them in high spirits over their success, yelled and applauded loudly as they dodged about over the prairie until so completely out of breath that they sunk to the ground, still laughing, and lay there panting.
As soon as they had caught their breath they arose again and returned to the buffalo wallow. Captain Miner was standing thoughtfully beside it, looking down at the dead Indians.
"I don't see what we are going to do with these fellows," he said, doubtfully, glancing around at his men. "The General ordered me to bring them to him, dead or alive, and of course we've got to do it. But we must be fifteen miles from the column and they'll be kind of awkward to take that far."
"Strip off some of their ornaments," suggested somebody, "and take them to the General."