“I’ve revolver ammunition in plenty, but only half a dozen rounds for my rifle.”
“Hold your ammunition for a while, then, and when they get too insistent I’ll entertain them. How far is it to the crest of that ridge, should you say?”
“One thousand yards.”
Wild Bill raised the sights of his rifle.
“Watch me let them know they are discovered,” he said.
Swinging in his saddle, his rifle cracked and dust flew beside one of those round objects that lay so motionless.
Instantly more than a score of warriors leaped to their feet and darted back out of sight down the opposite side of the divide.
“In two shakes of a sandpeep’s tail they’ll be back again, fully mounted and after us,” said Hickok. “Are you prepared for a run?”
“I am, and ready to wager that I can leave those fellows out of sight in an hour.”
“Don’t try it, old man. If you do you may sleep without a scalp to-night. My advice to you is not to push your horse too hard at first. The farther we get ahead of them the farther we’ll be away from the fort when darkness comes on. So long as there is nothing in the way, I move that we stick to the route as though we never intended to come back, and then they won’t be looking for us when we return after dark.”