ubt no longer. My suspicion was a certainty; but with the
next throb of my heart rose another, a thousand times more painful--a
suspicion of--

With an effort, I stifled my emotions; a movement was perceptible among
the guerrilleros; the moment of action had arrived!

CHAPTER THIRTY THREE.

A RUNNING-SHOT.

Though our enemies were once more in motion, we no longer anticipated a
direct attack; the time for that had passed. The fate of their comrade
had evidently checked their ardour, and too much shouting and bravado
had cooled, rather than heightened, their enthusiasm.

We could tell by their manoeuvring that some new mode of assault had
been planned, and was about to be practised.

"Cowardly skunks!" muttered Rube; "they hain't the pluck to charge us!
Who ever heerd o' fair fight in a Mexikin? Damn 'em, thur arter some
trick," he continued, in a more serious tone. "What do 'ee think it be,
Billee?"

"I'm thinkin', old boy," replied Garey, whose keen grey eye had been for
some time fixed on the movements of the guerrilla--"I'm thinkin' thar
a-goin to gallup roun, an try a shot at us Injun fashion."

"Yur right," assented Rube; "thet's thur game! Scalp me ef 'taint!
Look yanner!--thur they go!"

The horsemen were no longer in line, nor formed in any fashion.
Irregularly grouped, they exhibited a "clump" upon the prairie, some
standing still, others in motion.

As Rube uttered the last words, one of them was seen to shoot out from
the main body, spurring his steed into a gallop as he parted from the
crowd.

One might have fancied he was about to ride off from the ground: but no;
that was not his intention. When he had made half-a-dozen stretches
over the plain, he guided his horse into a curve, evidently with the
design of riding around us.

As soon as he had gained some score of yards from the troop, a second
horseman followed, repeating the manoeuvre; and then another and
another, until five of the band, thus deployed, galloped round us in
circles. The remaining six kept their ground.

We observed that the five had left their lances behind them, and carried
only their carbines.

We were not astonished at this: we divined the intention of our enemies.
They were about to practise an old prairie-tactic--a stratagem of the
horse-Indians--with which all three of us were familiar.

We might have been more apprehensive about the result had it been really
Indians who were going to practise the man