n. The natives darted among the
teepees like ants when their hill is broken into.

Watusk appeared, buckling on his belts. The women that were left in
camp started to scuttle toward the river, dragging their children after
them.

Ambrose's heart bounded at the prospect of a diversion. Whatever
happened, his lot could be no worse. At the first alarm three of his
jailers had run down to the teepees. They came back in a hurry.

The door of the shack was thrown open, and the whole six rushed in and
seized him. Ambrose, seeking to delay them, struggled hard. They
finally got his hands and feet tied, cursing him heartily in their own
tongue. They hustled him down to the riverside.

All the people left on this side were already gathered there. They
continually looked over their shoulders with faces ashen with terror.
The men who had horses drove them into the river and swam across with a
hand upon the saddle.

The women and children were ferried in the dugout. So great was their
haste they came empty-handed. The teepees were left as they stood with
fires burning and flaps up.

Watusk passed near Ambrose, his yellow face livid with agitation.

"What's the matter?" cried the white man.

The chief was afflicted with a sudden deafness. Ambrose was cast in a
dugout. The indefatigable Job hopped in after and made himself small
at his master's feet.

The mad excitement of the whole crowd inspired Ambrose with a strong
desire to laugh. The water flew in cascades from the frantic paddles
of the boat-men.

Arriving on the other side, Ambrose was secured on a horse, as on his
first journey, and instantly despatched inland with his usual guard.
As he was carried away they were dragging up the dugouts and concealing
them under the willows. Watusk was sending men to watch from the
cemetery on top of the bold hill.

Ambrose's guards led his horse at a smart lope around a spur of the
hill and along beside a wasted stream almost lost in its stony bed. A
dense forest bordered either bank. The trail was broken and spread by
the recent passage of a large number of travelers; these would be the
main body of the Kakisas a week before. Ambrose guessed that they were
following the bed of a coulee.

Through the tree-tops on either hand he had occasional glimpses of
steep, high banks.

After a dozen miles or so of this they suddenly debouched into a
verdant little valley without a tree. The stream meandered through i