' you kin see
everythin' that's to be seen without bein' seen."

Henry took a long and comprehensive look. He saw the thick foliage down
the slope, and the equally thick foliage on the other side. It looked
beautiful in its deep green, still heavy with the rain drops of the
night before, despite a brilliant sun that was rising. The wind had died
down to a gentle murmur.

"Anything stirring, Tom?" he asked.

"Nothin' fur some time. 'Bout an hour ago I caught the shine o' a red
blanket 'mong them trees over thar, four hundred yards or so from us an'
too fur fur a shot."

"Do you think they'll try to rush us?"

Silent Tom shook his head.

"Not 'less they're pushed," he replied. "'Pears to me they'll settle
down to a long siege. They know we're after thar cannon an' they mean to
see that we don't git near 'em. Ef they could keep us holed up here fur
two or three weeks they'd willin' enough spare twenty warriors or so fur
the job."

"But why are such important men as Red Eagle and Blackstaffe left here?"

"Mebbe, they thought they'd git at us an' finish us in a day or two.
Look at that, Henry. What do you make it out to be?"

"It's a spot of white in the foliage, and it's coming nearer. They want
to talk with us. Somebody has hoisted a piece of old cloth on a gun
barrel and is approaching. It's Braxton Wyatt."

"Yes, I see him, an' he's within range now. May I send a bullet squar'ly
through his head, Henry?"

"No, no! You mustn't do that! We'll observe all the rules of war,
whether they do or not. There's Blackstaffe behind Wyatt, and two more
Indians. Let them come within a hundred yards, Tom, then hail 'em. Paul,
you do the talking, but say I'm not here."

The two renegades and the two Indians came on with confidence, until
they were halted by Tom's loud command.

The four stopped and Wyatt called out:

"We want to talk with you and it's better for you to do it."

"It may or may not be better for us," said Paul. "We're the best judges
of that. But what do you want?"

"You know me, Paul Cotter," said Wyatt, who recognized the voice, "and
you know I keep my word. Now, we have you fellows shut up there. All
we've got to do is to wait until your food gives out, which'll be very
soon, and then you'll drop into our hands like an apple from a tree."

"Oh, no," said Paul airily. "We've always had this place in mind for
some such use as the present, and from time to time we've been stocking
it up with food. We