About a mile out upon the plain was a small herd of cattle, and a solitary horseman watching them. Perhaps half a mile up the valley could be seen a rude hut, and about the door a woman and several small children.
Even as they looked, a party of horsemen appeared on the plain to the southward, coming out from a gash in the foothills. It took Buffalo Bill less than half a minute to decide that they were Indians and that they had seen the herd of the lone rancher and were bent on mischief.
The scout wondered if the herdsman would see them in time to take measures for the defense of himself and his family. The herd was probably as good as lost.
There were about ten of the red riders, and they rode straight for the cattle, boldly and without attempt to conceal their presence. They were scarcely three miles away.
Yes, the herder saw his prospective visitors and began hustling his stock toward the cabin, which sat at the base of a little round-topped hill where the creek made a sharp turn around it.
At first the scout was puzzled. He could not imagine what safety there would be to the herd in closer proximity to the building unless the settler hoped to shoot from behind his cabin walls and keep the reds away from the herd. But presently he made out a narrow passage between the hut and the creek which seemed to be an entrance to a natural amphitheatre on the river side of the hill.
It was an anxious time for the watching scout, for the Indians were gaining rapidly and the cattle would run here and there and pause to grasp a mouthful or two of grass.
Then, when they were nearer, the brave wife, in spite of the oncoming terror, whose yells could now be heard, ran out and assisted in rounding the stock into the little inclosure.
Before it was done the Indians were firing rapidly and bullets must have sprinkled closely about the plucky herdsman and his helpmeet.
The settler slipped from the saddle, sending his mount in with the stock, and while the woman darted into the cabin, he dropped upon one knee and took deliberate aim at the oncoming, yelling, shooting horsemen.