"Men should not be afraid of anything," said Guy very bravely, "and at any rate not of guns and powder, for with them they can guard their lives and property from the Indians."
"The Indians!" cried Aggie opening her eyes very wide with fright and surprise. "Are there Indians on the Plains?"
"Yes. But don't be frightened," replied Guy. "They shall not harm you, and perhaps we may not see any."
"Oh, I hope we shan't. Let us go back to mother, it is getting dark, and I'm so frightened. Oh, dear! Oh, dear!"
Aggie's alarm rather amused Guy, but he soothed her very kindly and told her he would take her to her mother, and they had just left the wagon, when a terrible figure, wrapped in a buffalo robe, and brandishing in his hand a small hatchet, jumped with an awful yell into the path before them.
Poor Aggie caught Guy's arm and screaming with terror begged him to save her from the Indian. For a moment Guy himself was startled, then as the monster came nearer he jumped forward, wrested the hatchet from its grasp, and with hands neither slow nor gentle, tore the buffalo robe aside and administered some hearty cuffs to the crest-fallen George Harwood.
"Let me go," he said piteously. "Don't you see who I am? I'll tell my father, so I will."
"You are a fine Indian," said Guy, contemptuously, "just able to frighten little girls."
"I can whip you," exclaimed George, as he saw Guy was preparing to lead Aggie to her mother. "Just come on!"
"No," said Guy, who had already proved the cowardice of his opponent, "I am quite willing always to protect my master's daughter from Indians, but not to fight his sons."