ting flight. In the valley
around us there was no timbered tract--nothing that deserved the name of
a wood: only copses and groves, the largest of which would not have
sheltered us for an hour.

I had a reflection. Happy am I now, and proud, that I had the virtue to
stifle it. For myself, escape by flight might not have been so
problematical. A steed stood near that could have carried me beyond all
danger. It only needed to fling myself into the saddle, and ply the
spur. Even without that impulsion, my Arab would, and could, have
carried me clear of the pursuit. Death was preferable to the thought.
I could only indulge it as a last resort--after all else had failed and
fallen. Three men were my companions, true and tried. To all of them,
I owed some service--to one little less than my life--for the bullet of
the eccentric ranger had once saved me from an enemy. It was I who had
brought on the impending attack. It was but just I should share its
danger; and the thought of shunning it vanished on the instant of its
conception. Escape by flight appeared hopeless. On the shortest survey
of the circumstances I perceived that our only chance lay in defending
ourselves. The chance was not much worth; but there was no alternative.
We must stand and tight, or fall without resisting. From such a foe as
that coming down upon us, we need expect no grace--not a modicum of
mercy. Where was our defence to be made? On the summit of the butte?
There was no better place in sight--no other that could be reached,
offering so many advantages. Had we chosen it for a point of defence,
it could not have promised better for the purpose. As already stated,
the cone was slightly truncated--its top ending in a _mesa_. The table
was large enough to hold four of us. By crouching low, or lying flat
upon it, we should be screened from the arrows of the Indians, or such
other weapons as they might use. On the other hand, the muzzles of four
guns pointed at _them_, would deter them from approaching the base of
the butte. Scarcely a minute was I in maturing a plan; and I lost less
time in communicating it to my companions. Returning to them, as fast
as I could make the descent, I announced the approach of the Indians.

The announcement produced a surprise sufficiently unpleasant, but no
confusion. The old soldiers had been too often under fire to be
frightened out of their senses at the approach of an enemy; and the
young hunter