118
XII. Cross Purposes 127
XIII. The Devotion of Wanaha 135
XIV. The Warning 144
XV. The Movements of Little Black Fox 154
XVI. General Distinguishes Himself 162
XVII. The Letter from England 173
XVIII. Seth's Duty Accomplished 184
XIX. Seth Plays a Strong Hand 197
XX. Seth Pays 207
XXI. Two Heads in Conspiracy 217
XXII. Rosebud's Answer 227
XXIII. Love's Progress 239
XXIV. Rosebud's Fortune 254
XXV. In Which the Undercurrent Belies the Superficial Calm 267
XXVI. The Sun-Dance 283
XXVII. In Desperate Plight 294
XXVIII. A Last Adventure 304
XXIX. Hard Pressed 315
XXX. The Last Stand 327
XXXI. The Sentence 337
XXXII. Wanaha the Indian 346
XXXIII. The Capitulation 359

THE WATCHERS OF THE PLAINS

CHAPTER I

A LETTER

A solitary hut, dismal, rectangular, stands on the north bank of the White
River. Decay has long been at work upon it, yet it is still weather-proof.
It was built long before planks were used in the Bad Lands of Dakota. It
was built by hands that aimed only at strength and durability, caring
nothing for appearances. Thus it has survived where a lighter construction
must long since have been demolished.

And it still affords habitation for man. The windows have no glass; the
door is a crazy affair; there is an unevenness in the setting of the
lateral logs which compose its walls; the reed thatching has been patched
where the weather has rotted it; and here and there small spreads of
tarpaulin lend their aid in keeping out the snows of winter and the storms
of summer. It occupies its place, a queer, squat sentry, standing midway
between