emme take gun,
Half Hand take it anyhow, and then white boy no git a thing for it."

This was quite enough to startle Frank, and he sharply declared:

"If you attempt to take this rifle, you will get a pill out of it in
advance! That is straight business, Mr. Half Hand."

"Hurro!" cried Barney, his fighting blood beginning to rise. "Av it's
foight ye want, ye red nagurs, jist wade roight inter us! We'll give ye
all th' foight ye want, begobs!"

The Blackfeet jabbered among themselves a minute, and it was plain that
they were not all of one mind. Some seemed to be for attacking the boys,
while others opposed it. Half Hand hotly urged them on.

"Fall back," said Frank, speaking softly to the Irish lad. "Be ready for
a rush. If they come, give it to them. I will take Half Hand myself. You
take the fellow with the red feather. If they kill us, we'll have the
satisfaction of getting two or three of them in advance."

The boy's voice was cool and steady, and his nerves seemed of iron. He
glanced over his shoulder in search of some place of shelter, but could
discover none near by, much to his disappointment.

Barney was also cool enough, although the hot blood was rushing swiftly
through his veins. He was holding himself in check, in imitation of his
friend and comrade.

In truth, the two lads were in a tight corner. It was plain that the
Indian poachers were made up of rebellious Blackfeet, who could not be
kept on the reservation, and their faces showed they were the very worst
sort. Having been caught almost in the act of killing game within the
park, and believing the two lads had no friends near by, the dusky
villains might not hesitate at outright murder spurred on by their greed
for plunder, lust for blood, and a desire to keep the boys from
notifying the soldiers of the presence of Indians on forbidden ground.

Frank fully understood their peril, and he felt that they would be lucky
indeed if they escaped with their lives.

He blamed himself for running into the trap in such a blind manner, and
still he felt that he was not to blame. He had seen moving figures at a
distance, and, as the Indians were keeping under cover, in order to
creep upon the buffalo, he had no more than caught a glimpse of them.
They were dressed in clothes they had obtained by trade or plunder from
white men, and so, at a distance and under such circumstances, it was
not remarkable that Frank had not noted they were savages.

In a fe