shadow in which the tepees were lesser shadows
that stood up gaunt and black. Dusty Star was not afraid of the shadows.
What he dreaded were eyes. You could see the shadows, but the eyes that
might lurk in them you could not see. And the eyes you did not see might
watch you as you went. He was very anxious. Why of all nights should
Kiopo have chosen this one to be out? If they were to escape, it must be
to-night. To-morrow it might be too late. Ah! What was that? Surely it
was a man's form, black against the glimmer of the prairies! And it
moved! It was coming nearer! To his horror Dusty Star saw another form,
and then another, moving the direction of the tepee. He cast a fearful
glance behind him. Again he distinguished moving figures. There was no
mistaking it. A ring of Indians was closing in upon the tepee. He crept
to the back of it, in the hope that he might not be seen, for a time, at
least, till there was an opportunity to make a dash for freedom. As he
crouched on the ground behind the tepee, a cold nose was thrust against
his face. Kiopo!... Unknown to him, the wolf had returned after the
tepee had been secured for the night, and had lain down to sleep against
it.

Dusty Star shivered in an agony of fear. If they were discovered it
seemed as if some terrible fate had ordered that Kiopo should return
just when he had. The one lucky thing was that they were not inside the
tepee. Yet even so, the chances of escape were small indeed with that
ring of pitiless enemies steadily closing in.

Kiopo saw them too. More than that, his unfailing instinct warned him
what the danger was. He gave a low, rumbling growl. Dusty Star, with his
arm tightly about him, whispered to him to keep still. As he looked up,
he could see the heads of the approaching Indians black against the
stars. They were terribly close now.

Then he heard a slight noise at the front of the tepee, and knew that
some one was trying to unfasten the calf-skin flap. He held his breath,
dreading from moment to moment that they would be discovered. Kiopo had
ceased to growl, because he had realized that absolute silence was
necessary for their safety; but Dusty Star could feel how the wolf's
heart was throbbing, while his whole body shivered as if ready to spring
upon his foes at the slightest hint.

Suddenly it seemed to Dusty Star as if one of the nearer Indians bent
forward to look more closely at the back of the tepee. If that were
indeed so, they we