“Dey no want me to go,” he said, “but I say I fight as well as dey.”
I said I was very glad he had come, and inquired for my horse, which, to my satisfaction, he informed me was still alive, and that the doctor thought it would recover. I was thankful to have Dio with us, for he was as brave as man could be, and I could rely on him in any emergency. We thus formed a party of twelve, and the troopers considered themselves capable of coping with any Indians we were likely to encounter. The sergeant in command of the party was a cautious man, and, afraid of knocking up the horses, would not move as fast as I in my impatience desired. We had, however, made good about four or five miles when day dawned. As we moved on, we kept a look-out for Indians on both sides, not knowing in what direction they might appear; but even should they have crossed our course, we could not in the darkness discover their trail. As the light increased, our guide searched diligently for it, but he declared that he could perceive no signs of Indians having recently passed that way, though he observed the trail which we had made on the previous evening. At length I saw some way ahead the wings of several large birds flapping just above the ground. As we drew nearer, six or seven turkey buzzards rose into the air, and circling round flew to a short distance, where they remained watching us. They had been feeding on the body of Dio’s horse, utterly indifferent to the venom with which the flesh was impregnated. We kept to windward of it, and directly we had passed the foul birds flew back to their banquet. This showed us that the guide had led us aright, and that we could trust him. Losing patience, I entreated the sergeant to move on faster, reminding him that even should our friends not be attacked by the Indians, they were certainly suffering from want of water. He inquired how far off I calculated we should find the train.
“From fourteen to twenty miles,” I answered, “though, as I hope that they may have been able to move on, perhaps they may be still nearer.”
He still hesitated, but Mr Tidey joining his entreaties to mine, he put his horse into a gallop, ordering his men to advance. We now moved forward at as fast a rate as I could desire, the guide keeping his eye on the ground. Mile after mile of the level prairie was quickly covered, we in the mean time looking out for the plumed heads of any redskins which might show themselves above the horizon. Noon was approaching. I saw the guide attentively examining the ground.
“Indians have passed this way, but they have swept round again, off to the southward. It would take us much out of our way to follow up their trail, and I think it likely that we shall fall in with it again.”
“I hope not,” I remarked; “for if so, they may discover our train.”
He shrugged his shoulders and said nothing. The ground had now become more uneven than heretofore. Before us rose an undulating hill of no great elevation, but of sufficient height to prevent us from seeing any distance to the eastward, and we had to rein in our horses as we mounted it. On reaching the top, the sergeant gave the order to halt, unslung his telescope, and swept the horizon from north to south.
“There’s the train,” he exclaimed, “coming this way, about three miles off.” Directly afterwards he added, “and there to the southward I see a troop of mounted Indians; there must be a hundred or more of them. They have discovered the train, and are galloping towards it as fast as their horses can go, hoping, I doubt not, to gain an easy victory.”
Borrowing the Dominie’s glass, I took a look through it, when to my dismay I perceived that the Indians were much nearer the train than we were, and might have time to swoop down upon it and be off again before we could arrive. My father apparently had not discovered them. While, however, I was still looking through the telescope, I saw the leading waggons stop and the others move up. I had no doubt that my father, having discovered the approaching foe, as preparing to meet them by forming a square. Just then the sergeant cried out—
“We must ride direct for the train, as we shall not be in time to cut off the redskins before they reach it. Forward!”