liage were scattered along the level bench on both sides
of the river-bed. Broad wastes of sand extended in places from bank to
bank, and what water there was lay in heated pools. Here and there the
white incrustation on the sand told of the strongly alkaline nature of
the soil and the consequent impurity of the fluid. The little column,
with scouts well out on front and flanks, was moving four abreast up the
south bank along their trail of the previous day. Every now and then
some officer or man would note a new signal-smoke puffing up to the sky
among the hills some distance off the valley, and Wayne was riding in
rather sulky dignity at the head of the command. He had come to the
conclusion that he had done an idiotic thing the morning previous, in
pushing on down the valley after discovering beyond question that so
many Indians were already on the move. He well knew that Ray was the
last man in the regiment to counsel avoiding danger, unless it were
danger which would prove overwhelming and for encountering which there
could be no excuse. He _knew_ he had been idiotic now, for he could see
indications that Indians were closing in on him from every side; but,
worse than that, he knew that he had added to his idiocy a performance
that was simply asinine: he had lost his temper and said an outrageous
thing to Ray, and some of the men had heard it. From earliest dawn the
lieutenant had been out with the pickets eagerly scanning the
surrounding country. Indians, of course, were not to be seen. They kept
out of sight behind the bluffs and ridges, but their signals were
floating skyward from half a dozen different points, and Ray knew it
meant that they were calling in their forces to concentrate on this lone
command. At last he had gone to Wayne, who was sipping his coffee with
as much deliberation as though the troops had nothing on earth to do all
day.

"Captain Wayne. May I ask if anything further has been done towards
getting word back to the regiment?"

Wayne looked curiously at his junior a moment. He had the unpleasant
conviction that whatever his own views might be, the regiment generally
would be more apt to back Ray's opinions as to the chances in Indian
fighting than they would his. He could not complain of the lieutenant's
manner in the least, but all the same he felt certain that Ray had a
higher opinion of his own judgment than he had of his, the squadron
commander's. It was time to take him down.

"Why d