y-glass had given him; Long Bear said "Ugh!" with a deep and
expressive intonation; the logs were removed from the entrance; and then
Na-tee-kah's heart beat terribly, for she saw her hero brother dash
forth all alone, she could not guess why nor whither. Then there was
another sudden commotion, for Yellow Pine shouted, and Long Bear echoed
it in his own tongue,

"Mount, men! Mount and be ready, every mother's son of ye! I'm jest
going to back that there young catamount if it costs me my hair!"

There was the swiftest kind of saddling and mounting, and not a Nez
Perce boy old enough to draw a bow was willing to be left behind. When,
therefore, the whole force rode out upon the slope in front of the
notch, it looked a good deal stronger than it really was. All that work
required many minutes, and during all of these the daring young
messenger had been doing capitally.

Leaving the gap, he wheeled his fleet mustang to the right and dashed
away until he deemed himself within reach of a small grove of trees,
around which he could sweep back into the right course to reach the
cavalry. It was an acute enough calculation, but out of that very bit of
bushy timber came first a brace of rifle-bullets and then a pair of
mounted Apaches, as soon as these believed that they had let him go far
enough. That is, they rode out to cut off his return, and they both
failed to do him or his horse any harm. It was a race now, with the
chances against the pursuers, and Two Arrows sent back a derisive whoop
as he struck out straight for what he believed to be his mark. He
understood in an instant that he had escaped the main body of his
enemies, but there was no telling when he might meet one of their
smaller squads. He felt in every fibre of his body that he was now armed
as a warrior, and was doing the work of a warrior and of an uncommonly
daring brave. His heart beat with fierce delight and hope, and his very
mustang seemed to feel the excitement, and went forward with long, eager
bounds. The wind was in his face, and now it brought him something. It
was a faint sound, and far away, but it was the bugle-note which bade
Captain Grover's men to change their trot to a gallop.

The little force of cavalry had taken upon them no small risk in dashing
forward, now that they had a better knowledge of the strength of their
opponents. It was almost rashness, but it was such a facing of odds as
our gallant soldiers are all the while doing. There