ate to the outside is guarded, and they think that we are gone,
having succeeded in getting you."

Having finished their preparations for departure, an old Indian rode
forth on a pony decorated with eagle feathers.

"That is old Flatnose, the head chief," said Ted.

Flatnose was painted for war, and as he rode toward the passage from the
Hole in the Wall he swung his rifle above his head and shouted a
guttural command, at which a war whoop, shrill and terrifying, went up
from the Indians, followed by a hoarse shout from the white renegades.

"Now, we'll see some fun," whispered Ted to Stella, who was lying on the
crest of the hole beside him, watching the proceedings below. "I guess
Bud has got there by this time, and is ready to protect the opening out
to the valley."

Only a few minutes had passed before there came to their ears a volley
of rifle shots, followed by yells of fear, and the whites and Indians
came rushing back into the hole, scrambling and falling over one another
in confusion.

"I thought so," chuckled Ted. "They are trapped and they know it. They
can defend the hole against all comers by that passage, but it didn't
seem to occur to them that they might be made prisoners by the same
means."

The inmates of the hole were in the confusion of terror, but at last
Flatnose and his son, Moonface, succeeded in pacifying them, and a
consultation was under way.

"Where is Shan Rhue?" asked Stella. "I haven't seen him for some time."

"That's so," answered Ted. "I don't see him." He scanned the hole
carefully, but Shan Rhue was not there.

"Is there any secret passage by which he might escape?" asked Ted.

"Do you see that little shelter of canvas over against the wall?" said
Stella.

Ted nodded.

"I believe there is a way out there known only to Shan Rhue. That is
where he slept," she continued.

"Then he has escaped by it. Sol Flatbush is not in evidence, either.
I'll bet a cooky they've skipped."

It was getting light in the east, and the Indians rode once more into
the passage, firing their rifles. Then they charged.

But soon they came rushing back; the boys at the entrance had again
repulsed them.

From far away came the soft but clear call of a bugle.

"The troops!" cried Ted, springing to his feet. "The cavalry is coming
from Fort Sill. This thing will soon be over now."

He and Stella went to the edge of the cliff overlooking the valley, and
far away saw a dark mass, in the midst