mber of the party will be constantly on the watch."

The first thing to be done was to decide upon a plan of operations, and
this took a good deal of hard thinking, for there was a good deal
depending upon it. George made the most of the suggestions, and Bob
accepted every one of them without argument. The camp was to be attacked
as soon as they could get within reach of it: both were agreed upon
that. Bob advised a surround, in order to prevent the escape of any of
the Indians; but George objected, urging as a reason for his objections
that no one but an Indian could work his way through those thick bushes
and trees without making a good deal of noise, and that would knock the
whole thing in the head.

"Don't be too ambitious," said he. "Don't try to grab too big a handful,
and so run the risk of losing everything. Keep your men near you, so
that you can have an eye on every one of them. Look out for the boys;
and if by so doing you give the Indians a chance to escape, as you will
most likely, let them go and welcome."

An immediate advance having been resolved upon, and the part that each
man was to play in the coming fight (provided the Indians decided to
make a fight of it) having been thoroughly discussed, Bob and his
companion returned to the place where they had left the troopers. The
former issued his orders in a few brief words, and in a very short space
of time eight barefooted men, armed only with their carbines and
revolvers, were drawn up in line ready to do his further bidding; while
the four troopers who were to be left behind to hold the horses and to
take care of the sabres, shoes and stockings which their lucky comrades
had thrown upon the ground, listened with as good grace as they could to
a few parting words from their corporal.

"Now, boys," said the latter, "keep quiet and don't smoke. We have been
following the trail of only five Indians, but we don't know how many may
have joined them since they went into camp; so you must hold yourselves
in readiness for any emergency. Keep a good lookout for the signal, and
if you don't see it by the time the moon rises, which will be about
midnight, take care of yourselves. Draw as straight a course for the
column as you can, and tell the boys, when you find them, that the reds
got the best of us while we were trying to do our duty. Good-bye.--Lead
on, George."

Although our hero had passed his life amid scenes of danger, and more
than once listened to t