ff his guard,
but it is doubtful whether such was the case, for there was something in
the grim pose of the youthful hunter which warned them that it was
unsafe to trifle with him.

When the horsemen were opposite each other and on a line with Fred, he
suddenly wheeled with great quickness and held his piece still leveled
so that he could shift it from one to the other the moment needed. On
their part, the Winnebagos watched him with cat-like vigilance, keeping
their heads turned until they came together a hundred feet beyond, and
between him and the wood which he had just left. There they stopped,
their position such that the sides of their animals were turned toward
the lad, whom they continued to view with an interest that it is safe to
say they had never felt in any other of his race.

It was tiresome to hold his heavy rifle leveled, but Fred stuck to it,
for he knew how much depended on the next minute or two.

It looked for a time as though the Winnebagos had decided not to leave
without a demonstration, but finally they moved off with their backs
toward Fred, and their horses on a walk.

"How nicely I could pick one of them off," said he to himself, as the
broad shoulders, with the black hair streaming over them, moved gently
up and down with the motion of the animals, and ranged themselves beside
each other like three dusky targets. "I could hit _him_ or _him_ or
_him_" he added, shifting his aim from one to the other in turn, "and
it's because they know it that they are afraid to risk a shot. If one
of them had made a motion to take aim, I would have let fly, and I
wouldn't have missed either. Then I would have done something with
Terry's gun."

These thoughts had hardly found expression, when the middle Winnebago
suddenly turned on his horse, raised his gun and discharged it at Fred
Linden. The instant he did so, he and his two companions threw
themselves forward on their animals and dashed off on a dead run for the
wood.

Had the warrior been less hurried, it is probable he would have struck
the astonished youth, who plainly heard the _pinge_ of the bullet as it
almost touched his ear. His own arms were beginning to ache because of
their constrained position, but he took as careful aim as possible and
fired at the savage who fired at him.

More than that, he hit him. A screeching yawp broke the stillness, the
warrior half straightened up on his steed, seemed to sway, and would
have fallen had not one