This was the band the chief before leaving the village had ordered to follow after him. They brought spare horses with them, and the chief, who did not feel sure that the fire had done the work he had intended it to do, resolved that, after the ground became perfectly cool, he would set out for the river. He knew that if his enemies had escaped they would be somewhere in this vicinity, and even if he did not find them he could find their trail. The Indians had come in sight of the fire, and had they not had spare horses they would have tried to sneak up onto their enemies. As it was they knew that they could catch up with them anyhow, and so they resolved to have a race.
Away they went over the treeless plain.
Not a rock, nor a tree, nor a mound was in sight; all was one boundless open plain.
The Indians were now in their glory, and they rode along yelling and howling in their fiendish glee. They felt sure of their foes now, and could afford to yell a little.
As to the chief, he rode along in silence, although he was even more rejoiced than any of his warriors. Was not his sworn enemy, the Hunter Hercules, in front of him, and was there not every chance of his being captured or killed? The chief knew the hunter well, and he was well aware that in the hand-to-hand fight that must occur, many would go down beneath the iron arm of the hunter before he was rubbed out.
CHAPTER XVIII.
RED BUFFALO MEETS HIS FATE.
The fugitives were slowly but surely losing ground, and so they urged their horses to the utmost. For the next mile they managed to keep up the distance between them and their pursuers.
At a word from Red Buffalo the Comanches slid onto their spare horses, and then the gain was plainly seen by both parties.
And now, away ahead the old hunter spies trees, and his object is to reach these if possible. There a stand can be made with a little chance of success, whereas, out on the open plain, they would be sure in the end to go under, though there would be a terrible struggle made before that could happen.
Again and again the three who rode mustangs kicked their heels into the sides of their small but game steeds, and the latter exerted every muscle and sinew to increase their speed.