Only a few succeeded in reaching the other shore, and most of that number were bleeding from wounds received. Among those few was Red Dick.
The rising moon showed upon his face a look of fiendish hatred and a thirst for revenge, a revenge which he intended to devote his life to accomplish, for at last he fully understood the deep treachery of his evil ally.
“Come, braves; we are outcasts now, and must go back to our village; but the day of retribution shall come for Ricardo and his band of robbers. They have slain our young men, robbed us of the spoils of battle, betrayed us to ruin and death, and brought wailing and sorrow into our wigwams. Come, warriors of the Sioux nation; we will go to our village.”
No word in reply was uttered, but silently, like grim specters, the remnant of Red Dick’s band of Dog Soldiers stole away across the moonlit prairie.
CHAPTER XLVII.
IN THE CAMP.
Let us go back a little to see how the settlers had fared.
When night had settled down upon the emigrant encampment, there were a number of gloomy faces around the impromptu fortifications, and many, both men and women, were sorry that they had ever left their old homes in the Eastern country to seek new ones on the frontier.
Yet, though gloomy, and dreading evil, they were none the less determined to defend their lives and families unto the bitter end, and Major Conrad was glad to see that he could depend upon his command as brave men.