For once he, too, had been caught, if not napping, at a disadvantage.
He had not looked for a foe from the rear.
Had he come from the front he would have come in sight in ample time to give them a chance to be prepared for him.
But along the very trail he was guarding, and from the Bernard ranch direction, came Red Hatchet and his band.
"And that lovely girl is his captive. I feared it," cried Kit Carey, as he recognized in the captive of the chief the settler's daughter.
Hastily he took in the numbers of the Indians, and then glanced over his own party.
"I can leave two scouts here, and take fourteen men with me. Just half his force, and little less than half; but I will make the attempt to rescue the girl and get my captaincy, too."
His Cheyenne scouts were soon about him, mounted and armed for the chase, and with a few orders to the two left behind to still guard the trail and await any courier that might arrive, the officer sprang into his saddle and darted away in hot pursuit.
The Sioux had now all of a mile the start, but Kit Carey knew that their ponies must be well worn after the ride they had had, and his animals were comparatively fresh.
At a sweeping gallop they went along, the Sioux in full sight, and the pursuers steadily gaining upon them.