ever before done as much real
thinking in one hour as he did between his first glimpse of that redskin
and the rising of the dark, threatening line of that rifle-barrel.

He had thought of the men at the mine, and of their need of warning, and
therefore of the necessity that he should protect himself and get to
them alive. He had thought of his father and his mother, and of some
other people, and he had also thought what a dreadful thing it was to
shoot straight at a man, and perhaps to kill him. He had just said to
himself,

"I might just kill his horse, and then I could get away from him."

At that very instant the two rifles came to a level, whether he would or
not. He felt no symptoms of "buck ague" this time, for every nerve and
muscle of his body was stiffening, while his tired horse stood as still
as a stone. That was where he had a priceless advantage. The spirited
animal ridden by his enemy was a trifle restive for some reason, and
caused a shade of delay that was just enough to give Sile his only
remaining chance.

"If I hit his horse in the head," he was thinking as he pulled the
trigger: but that would have been close shooting at a hundred yards, and
just beyond the head of the horse was the naked breast of the warrior.

There were two reports close together, and Sile felt something prick him
sharply on the left arm near the shoulder. At the same moment he saw the
red man reel to and fro upon his horse, and then pitch off head foremost
into the grass.

"Oh, dear me, I've shot him!" he exclaimed, and his first impulse was to
ride away as fast as he could.

Then came a suggestion that the brave might be only wounded, and that it
was his duty to go and see if he could do anything for him. With that,
too, there came a great gush of curiosity and a fierce and feverish
sense of triumph. He had fought a duel on horseback with an Indian
warrior, with rifles, and there were no other white boys who could say
that they had done that. He sat still upon his horse for a moment, and
his breath came and went very quickly, and then he somewhat cautiously
rode forward. The Indian's horse had bounded away for a little distance
when his master fell, but was now standing and looking at him, as if in
doubt as to what he ought to do next. Not another human being of any
kind was to be seen, but Sile looked around him anxiously enough to make
sure that he was alone. Not one sound disturbed the peaceful silence of
the valley