ome flaw in the wind lifted the smoke and sent it high over the
heads of all. Dick saw Custer, the general with the yellow hair,
still on horseback and apparently unwounded, but the little army
had stopped. It had been riddled already by the rifle fire from
the undergrowth and could not cross the river. The dead and
wounded on the ground had increased greatly in numbers, and the
riderless horses galloped everywhere. Some of them rushed
blindly into the Indian ranks, where they were seized.

Three or four troopers had fallen or plunged into the terrible
quicksand on the other flank, and as Dick looked they were slowly
swallowed up. He shut his eyes, unable to bear the sight, and
when he opened them he did not see the men any more.

The smoke flowed in again and then was driven away once more.
Dick saw that all of Custer's front ranks were now dismounted,
and were replying to the fire from the other side of the river.
Undaunted by the terrible trap into which they had ridden they
came so near to the bank that many of them were slain there, and
their bodies fell into the water, where they floated.

Dick saw the yellow-haired leader wave his hat again, and the
front troopers turned back from the bank. The whole force turned
with them. All who yet lived or could ride now sprang from their
horses, firing at the same time into the horde about them. Their
ranks were terribly thinned, but they still formed a compact
body, despite the rearing and kicking of the horses, many of
which were wounded also.

Dick was soldier enough to know what they wished to do. They
were trying to reach the higher ground, the hills, where they
could make a better defense, and he prayed mutely that they might
do it.

The Sioux saw, too, what was intended, and they gave forth a yell
so full of ferocity and exultation that Dick shuddered from head
to foot. The yell was taken up by the fierce squaws and boys who
hovered in the rear, until it echoed far up and down the banks of
the Little Big Horn.

The white force, still presenting a steady front and firing fast,
made way. The warriors between them and the hill which they
seemed to be seeking were driven back, but the attack on their
rear, and now on both flanks, grew heavier and almost unbearable.
The outer rim of Custer's army was continually being cut off,
and when new men took the places of the others they, too, were
shot down. His numbers and the space on which they stood were