CHAPTER IX.

BLOODY JIM'S ADVANTAGES--THE FAINTING CAPTIVE--THE TRAGIC
QUARREL--OUTWITTED AT LAST--THE REFUGE.

His intimate acquaintance with the wild region of country, over which
he directed his course, gave Bloody Jim an immense advantage over his
pursuers.

While they were floundering in treacherous sloughs, or climbing
unknown heights, he was riding safely and swiftly along in company
with his prisoner and the two villians, whom Sorrel Top described as
having assisted in kidnapping her mistress.

Little Wolf was so narrowly watched by the trio that escape seemed
impossible. As each hour bore her farther from civilization, and
nearer to the Red River country, her heart sank within her.

She was compelled to pursue her journey a large portion of each night,
and when her captors stopped for rest and refreshment, she was either
lashed to a tree, or bound, so as to be unable to rest with the
slightest ease or comfort.

Under such rigorous treatment her strength rapidly declined, and, at
the close of the third day, entirely failed. They had reached the foot
of a beautiful wooded bluff at a bend in the Mississippi, where the
town of St. Cloud has since been located. Here they were suddenly
brought to a stand; the poor jaded captive had fainted.

Bloody Jim saw her reeling in her saddle and instantly threw his
brawny arm around her frail form. Dismounting, and laying his
unconscious burden on a bed of dry leaves, which the wind had gathered
under a huge oak, he produced from his knapsack a bottle of brandy,
and proceeded to wet her face, and force a few drops into her mouth.

At the sight of the long-concealed bottle, his men chuckled with
delight, and as soon as Little Wolf exhibited signs of returning life,
they requested a "treat."

Bloody Jim, now deeming himself beyond pursuit for one night at least,
acceded to their wishes, and also himself indulged in his favorite
beverage.

Little Wolf gathered from their conversation and movements that they
designed to camp for the night at their present station, and their
occasional rude allusions to herself filled her with terror. She
struggled to throw off the oppressive faintness which she felt a
second time stealing upon her, but, when she saw Bloody Jim
approaching her, the horrors of her situation completely overcame her,
and she again swooned.

"Ugh!" grunted the disappointed savage, giving her inanimate form a
rude kick.

"She wake before