on him in
five minutes. He was about to run, but his figure would
certainly be exposed upon the crest of one of the swells, as
theirs had been, and he dropped instead into one of a number of
little gullies that intersected the plain.

It was an abrupt little gully, and Dick was well hidden from any
eyes not within ten yards of him. He lay at first so he could
not see, but soon he began to hear shots and the trampling of
mighty hoofs. He knew now that the Sioux were in among the
buffaloes, dealing out death, and he began to have a fear of
being trodden upon either by horsemen or huge hoofs. He could
not bear to lie there and he warned only by sound, so he turned a
little further on one side and peeped over the edge of the gully.

The hunters and hunter were not as near as he thought; he
had been deceived by sound, the earth being such a good
conductor. Yet they were near enough for him to see that
he was in great danger and should remain well hidden. He
could observe, however, that the hunt was attended with
great success. Over a dozen buffaloes had fallen and the
others were running about singly or in little groups, closely
pursued by the exultant Sioux. Some were on one side of him
and some on the other. There was no chance for him, no matter
how careful he might be, to rise from the gully and sneak away
over the plain. Instead, he crouched more closely and contracted
himself into the narrowest possible space, while the hunt wheeled
and thundered about him.

It is not to be denied that Dick felt many tremors. He had seen
what the Sioux could do. He knew that they were the most
merciless of all the northwestern Indians, and he expected only
torture and death if he fell into their hands, and there was his
brother alone now in the valley. Once the hunt swung away to the
westward and the sounds of it grew faint. Dick hoped it would
continue in that direction, but by and by it came back again and
he crouched down anew in his narrow quarters. He felt that every
bone in him was stiffening with cramp and needlelike pains shot
through his nerves. Yet he dared not move. And upon top of his
painful position came the knowledge that the Sioux would stay
there to cut up the slain buffaloes. He was tempted more than
once to jump up, run for it and take his chances.

He noticed presently a gray quality in the air, and as he glanced
off toward the west, he saw that the red sun was burning very
low. Dick's hea