ears before. The position of the three,
therefore, was very much as if they were upon the extensive top of a
tower which was reached by a narrow stairway, their province being to
defend it against all comers.

For some time after the repulse of the Apaches, all remained quiet. Of
course, they took charge of the two mustangs that the fugitives had been
compelled to leave behind in their flight and then disposed themselves
around the refuge, like those who had made up their minds to wait until
the fruit dropped into their hands.

The afternoon was drawing to a close, and Ned naturally viewed the
coming night with distrust. Darkness seemed to be the appropriate time
for the fiends to work, and more than once he shuddered as he pictured
in his imagination the merciless wretches swarming up the narrow path
and spreading over the top, like the rush of waters when bursting up
from some hidden fountain.

"All we've got to do is to keep our eyes open," said Dick, with a most
reassuring manner. "If I could have plenty to eat and drink, with the
privilege of sleeping a little now and then, I wouldn't want any better
fun than to stay up here for a few months and crack their heads as they
come up."

"Shall I do the watching to-night?"

"Not much," grinned Dick. "Tom takes the first half, me the last, and
that's as good a way as we can fix it."

"And what shall I do to help?"

"Go to sleep as soon as it is dark, and don't wake up for three or four
days--and even then you must not be dry or hungry."

CHAPTER XXXV.

THE SENTINEL.

Ned then understood why the two scouts had taken pains to fill their
canteens at the brook during the day, and why, also, they so religiously
preserved the little lunch still remaining in their possession. It was
to guard against just such a contingency.

As the sun approached the horizon, the lad seated himself upon a rocky
protuberance and looked off over the surrounding country. To the west,
the blue, misty outlines of a moderately high range of mountains shut
off all further view.

"Just beyond that," he said to himself, as he fixed his eyes upon the
elevation, "Tom tells me is Fort Havens, where father is waiting for me.
If he only knew we were here, he might come to our relief. Wouldn't he
scatter the redskins down there? But I don't know how he will find it
out. Oh! if we were only among those mountains, it wouldn't take us long
to go the rest of the way. I suppose the fort can