He watched for possibly five minutes, when of a sudden another figure arose between him and the shadowy guard. There was a swift movement of the two shadows; they swayed violently, then the guard fell and the other stooped over him. Then both disappeared in the dark underbrush.
Dick held his breath. Toma had attacked the guard and knocked him down. In a flash Dick saw Toma’s plan—the young Indian would change clothes with the warrior and creep into the camp, casually joining the others.
Gripping his rifle, Dick awaited developments. What would happen in the next hour he did not know, but he hoped for the best.
CHAPTER XXII
A SKIRMISH IN THE NIGHT
Dick waited what seemed to him several hours, though it could not have been more than thirty minutes, before he saw a sign of Toma. Then, in almost the exact position the guard had held, he saw a figure rise up which he was almost certain was Toma, though the firelight revealed that the young guide now wore the clothes and head-dress of the sentinel.
“Good for you, Toma,” Dick whispered. “Now if you can only get in among them without them recognizing that you’re not really a member of their band.”
Toma did not enter the camp from that side, however. Once more he disappeared.
A patch of brush to the left caught Dick’s roving eyes, and this he watched, believing Toma would take this means of getting into the camp without attracting attention, since the bushes led up to a point very near one of the tepees.
Dick was right. A few minutes later the bush tops waved a little at the passage of a creeping body. Presently in the shadow of the tepee nearest the bushes, Toma rose and walked slowly toward one of the campfires, where he joined a group. Dick feared Toma might see the scar faced Indian, and that the guide’s desire for revenge might cause him to destroy all his chances for the rescue of Sandy. But as time passed and all went well, Dick felt that Toma must be making good progress in the dangerous mission he had set out on.
A little later Dick saw a figure, which he took to be Toma, break away from a group of natives and saunter toward one of the tepees. Evidently the guide now was either looking for Sandy, or had learned the captive’s exact position from the conversation of the warriors.