d of gaining, had come to a halt.

"They've given it up! they've given it up!" he cried, sending a
messenger forward to Captain Chichester to slacken the speed of the
column.

It was now almost sundown, and the men in the column, choked and
thirsty, weary beyond expression, could hardly believe the news was
true. They were soon satisfied, though, that it was; but it was not for
an hour yet, when twilight was beginning to gather, that they learned
the real cause of their present safety.

The Indians would have been upon them before night set in, had they not
first discovered the nature of the dust cloud to the south-west, or
rather who it was raised by. The field-glass of the Texan, even miles
and miles away, had detected the flutter of cavalry guidons amid the
dust, and showed that mounted troops were near enough to come to the aid
of the Black Hill men before they could be crushed and their scalps
taken.

So, much against his will, Persimmon Bill was obliged to slacken his
pace, and soon to turn his course, so, as by a night march, to put his
warriors beyond the reach of those who might turn on them.

When night fell, Chichester, joined by two companies of cavalry, bound
for the Hills, under orders to join forces already on the way by another
route, moved slowly to a camping-ground in the timber, for which he had
been heading hours back.

The horses of the troops were weak from scant forage, and the commanding
officer did not feel it his duty to wear them out chasing Indians,
though he held himself ready to protect the mining party as long as they
remained with him.

And they were just too willing to go on with such an escort, even with
the loss of all the pack animals left on their trail; and had Persimmon
Bill only halted, instead of falling back, he would have found that
there was no danger of pursuit.

Chichester and Crawford, when they compared notes, and found not a man
of their party lost, though half its property was gone, felt satisfied
that it was no worse, for at one time it seemed to both that nothing was
left to them but to sell their lives as dearly as they could.

In a well-guarded camp all were settled before the moon rose, and never
was rest more needed by animals and men.

CHAPTER XVIII.
ON THE DEATH-TRAIL.

Bivouacked on the treeless plain, so far from the old trail and from the
timber ahead that they could see no sign of the Black Hillers or the
troops, the next morning's sun rose o