passed
the ground where the waggon had been captured. Part of its load--
barrels and heavy boxes--were lying upon the sward. They were all
broken, and rifled of their contents. The plunder had been carried to
the butte. The dead bodies were still there--only those of the white
men. I even halted to examine them. They were all stripped of their
clothing--all scalped, and otherwise mutilated. The faces of all were
blood-bedaubed. Under the red mask I could not have recognised them--
even had they been the faces of old friends! There were six of them.
Divested of their garments, I could form no conjecture as to who or what
they had been--whether teamsters or emigrants, gold-seekers or soldiers.
The Mormon could not have been among them: the bodies were all too
stout for his; while, on the other hand, there was none of them that
could have been mistaken for that of the squatter, Holt. I turned away
from the sickening sight, and continued my gallop.

My pursuers were a good mile behind me. The sun had already sunk over
the crest of the cliffs, and I could just see the mounted savages
through the darkling gloom--still fallowing as fast as their horses
could gallop. In five minutes after, I had entered the gorge. The
twilight continued no longer: in the canon it was night. I followed the
stream upwards, keeping along near the bank. Thick darkness was over
and around me; but the gleam of the water and its rippling sound served
to guide me on the path. I could not see any track--either of horses or
waggons--but I knew they had passed over the ground. There was a narrow
strip of bottom land thickly timbered; and an opening through the trees
indicated the road that the waggons must have taken. I trusted the
trail to my horse. In addition to his keen instinct, he had been
trained to tracking; and with his muzzle projected forward and
downward--so that his lips almost touched the earth--he lifted the scent
like a hound. We could only make progress at a quick walk; but I
consoled myself with the thought that my pursuers could go no faster.
Seeing how easily I had ridden away from them, they might determine to
abandon the pursuit--returning to revenge themselves upon my
fellow-captives.

About these my mind was filled with, bitter reflections; and strange
enough, my strongest sympathies were with. Sure-shot! I could not help
thinking that he had sacrificed himself to save me. There could be no
doubt of his ha