in one direction that spoke louder than words.

Then he drew slowly back and down. Reaching the bottom, he came quickly
towards me; there was a smile on his face that I knew well enough.

"Indians?" I said, breathlessly.

"Yes," he replied, "there is a hunting party coming out of a small
canyon above the ravine we are in."

"How many?" I asked.

"Twenty or more," he replied.

"What shall we do?" I inquired, anxiously.

"That depends on them," he replied, coolly. "We will stay where we are
for the present."

"Perhaps they will pass to the north of us," I said, "and thus miss our
trail."

"Maybe," he replied. "I am going to take another look."

"Me too," I said.

With extreme caution we climbed to the edge of the gully and looked
over. They were still some distance off, and so far were riding parallel
to the ravine we had come down.

It was the first time that I had had a good view of mounted Indians and
I could not help feeling impressed. From the wild and stormy background
of the thunder clad mountains they rode out upon the shadowed plains.

The ponies seemed small compared with the tall, gaunt forms of the
Indians that rode them. The leader, a gigantic brave, was gesticulating
freely with his long snaky arms.

I have noticed that Indians are apt to be much less stolid when mounted
than on foot. With his feathered crest he seemed like a great bird of
prey as he scanned the plains. There was something uncannily cruel and
treacherous about them that sent a chill all over me. It was the first
time that I had seen the dread Apaches, the most to be feared among all
the tribes of the plains or mountains. If only the dead settlers and
their families, those whom the Apaches had murdered, could speak, their
stories would recall to memory horrors innumerable.

"Had we not better fight them here?" I asked, "where we have cover?"

Jim shook his head.

"No," he replied, "we might stand them off, but the country hereabouts
is alive with Indians."

"Yes, I see," I replied, "and I suppose if they did not overwhelm us,
they would starve us out."

"There is nothing for us to do but to make a running fight of it," said
Jim, "if they should cut our trail."

"We will stand no show on the plains," I said, "it is too open."

"I believe that we can outrun them," he said, "our ponies are apt to be
in better condition than theirs and then too we are light riders. We
will make for the mountains and when we reach them w