patted, and horses screamed and fell over.

"Into the cave!" shouted Painted-red. "Quick!"

Hustled by old Bluff and Painted-red, into the cave they bolted.
Nobody had been hurt, and the soldiers were afraid to venture in after
them, but right speedily they found themselves badly off.

The soldiers camped along the edge of the well, above, so as to kill
them by thirst and hunger. Only in the darkness might the Kiowas, two
or three at a time, crawl out of the cave, gulp a few swallows from the
pool, maybe slash a strip of horse-meat, and scuttle in again.

While doing this, Dagoi was shot in the leg, so that he could not walk.
In a couple of days the dead horses began to decay, for the sun was
very hot. The smell grew sickening. The flesh was sickening. One or
two of the dead horses lay in the pool, and the water got sickening.
The Mexican soldiers stayed close and watchful, and yelled insults in
Spanish.

But they had with them several Apache scouts; and one of the Apaches
called in Comanche, so that the soldiers would not understand.

"Be of good cheer, brothers," he called. "Be strong and hold out,
until these dogs of Mexicans tire."

The Kiowas had no thought of surrendering. They would rather die where
they were, because if they surrendered, they would be killed anyway.
Old Dohasan and others among them belonged to the society of
Ka-itse-nko or Real Dogs--whose members were under a vow never to
surrender.

Part of them guarded the cave's mouth, and the rest explored back
inside. At the very end there was a hole which let in daylight.
Konate was boosted up; but when he stuck his head through, a soldier
saw it and he had to duck down. Thereupon the soldiers stopped the
hole with a large rock.

When ten days and nine nights had passed, they all decided that they
would either escape or be killed. The horse meat could not be touched;
neither could the water. It was better to die in the open, like men,
than to die in a hole, like gophers.

The soldiers guarded the only trail that led up the side of the cliff
wall, out of the well; but at another side there was a cedar which had
rooted in a crack and almost reached the rim. By hard climbing a man
might manage to scramble up and gain the open.

But what to do with Dagoi, who had only one leg and was weak from pain?

"You will not leave me, my brothers?" implored Dagoi. "It is true I am
wounded, but if you leave me, I shall surely die. Perhaps you