see the troops ride away. Neale heard Colonel Dillon assure his
wife that he did not think there was any danger. But the color failed
to return to her face. The other women, excepting Allie, were plainly
frightened. Neale found new pride in Allie. She showed little fear of
the Sioux.

General Lodge rode beside Colonel Dillon at the head of the troops. They
left camp on a trot, raising a cloud of dust, and quickly disappeared
round the curve of the hill. The troopers who were left behind stacked
their guns and sallied out after railroad ties with which to build
defenses. Anderson, the scout, rode up the slope to a secluded point
from which he was to keep watch. The women were instructed to stay
inside the log cabin that adjoined the flimsy quarters of the engineers.
Baxter, with his assistants, overhauled the guns and ammunition left;
and Neale gathered up all the maps and plans and drawings and put them
in a bag close at hand.

Time passed swiftly, and in another half-hour the graders began to
arrive. They came riding in bareback, sometimes two on one horse,
flourishing their guns--a hundred or more red-faced Irishmen spoiling
for a fight. Their advent eased Neale's dread. Still, a strange feeling
weighed upon him and he could not understand it or shake it. He had no
optimism for the moment. He judged it to be over-emotion, a selfish and
rather exaggerated fear for Allie's safety.

Lieutenant Brady then departed with his soldiers, leaving the noisy
laborers to carry ties and erect bulwarks. The Irish, as ever, growled
and voiced their complaints at finding work instead of fighting.

"Hurry an' fetch on yez dirn Sooz!" was the cry sent after Brady, and
that request voiced the spirit of the gang.

In an hour they had piled a fence of railroad ties, six feet high,
around the engineers' quarters. This task had scarcely been done when
Anderson was discovered riding recklessly down the slope. Baxter threw
up his hands.

"We're going to have it," he said. "Neale, I'm not so young as I was."

Anderson rode in behind the barricade and dismounted. "Sioux!"

The graders greeted this information with loud hurrahs. But when
Anderson pointed out a large band of Sioux filing down from the hilltop
the enthusiasm was somewhat checked. It was the largest hostile force
of Sioux that Neale had ever seen. The sight of the lean, wild figures
stirred Neale's blood, and then again sent that cold chill over him.
The Indians rode down