t disturbance might cause him to loose his footing. The
horse knew what was required of him and would do it better by being
left wholly to himself.

It was because of this concentration of his mind upon the one thing
that the captain failed to perceive that the mule in his front had
stopped walking, until the rim of his slouched hat touched the tail of
the motionless animal.

"Helloa, Vose, what's the matter?"

The guide said something, but kept his face turned away, and his
words, instead of being in the nature of an answer, were addressed to
some one who confronted him. Adams was of slight stature, so that,
although he stood erect, it was easy for the captain to look over his
head and see what was beyond. That which was thus revealed was another
horseman leading his animal and coming toward them. He was advancing
in the same manner as the miners, that is by leading his horse, and,
meeting our friends thus face to face, it was impossible for either
party to pass: one or the other must give way and retreat.

A startling feature of this meeting was that the individual who thus
confronted them was an Indian of gigantic stature. He was more than
six feet in height and of massive proportions. He belonged to what
were known as the "mountain Indians," who were brave and of
irrestrainable ferocity. They were the most dangerous people met by
the miners in the early days on the Pacific slope.

Equity demanded that this particular specimen should back his horse
over the few yards to the point where the trail broadened, for the
task was possible of accomplishment, while the white men were unable
to force their animals in safety for one-half of the distance behind
them. Moreover, it was evident that this Indian had deliberately
started over the trail, with the knowledge of the four white men
approaching, so that a meeting was inevitable. He courted an encounter
with them and was in a murderous mood.

Vose Adams knew all this and recognized the warrior as one of the
dreaded Indians, with whom he was better acquainted than were his
friends. He had had several scrimmages with them on his trips through
the mountains, and held them in such wholesome fear that he contrived
to avoid a direct conflict. The diminutive miner overflowed with
pluck, but in a hand to hand encounter, must be only a child in the
grasp of the aboriginal giant. The present situation, however, was
peculiar.

There can be no doubt that this savage sought the