ying to the troop, for the wounded needed aid,
more men were hit, and there was no chance whatever to hit back. Moving
from point to point, Ray carried cheer and courage on every side, yet
was so constantly exposed as to cause his men fresh anxiety. Even as he
was bending over Field a bullet had nipped the right shoulderstrap, and
later another had torn through the crown of his campaign hat. In all the
years of their frontier fighting they had never known a hotter fire; but
Ray's voice rang out through the drifting vapor with the same old cheer
and confidence. "They can't charge again till the ground cools off," he
cried. "By that time they'll have their hands full. See how they're
scudding away at the southward even now. Just keep covered and you're
all right." And, barring a growl or two from favored old hands who
sought to make the captain take his own medicine and himself keep
covered, the answer was full of cheer.

And so they waited through the hot smoke and sunshine of the autumn
afternoon, and, even while comforting the wounded with assurance of
coming relief, kept vigilant watch on every hostile move, and at last,
toward three o'clock, the sharp fire about them slackened away, the
smouldering roots of the bunch grass had burned themselves out. The
smoke drifted away from the prairie, and, as the landscape cleared to
the south and west, a cheer of delight went up from the cottonwoods, for
the slopes three miles away were dotted here and there and everywhere
with circling, scurrying war ponies--they and their wild riders steadily
falling back before a long rank of disciplined horsemen, the extended
skirmish line of Webb's squadron, backed by supports at regular
intervals, and all heading straight on for the broad lowlands of the
Elk.

"Send six of your men over to the south front, sergeant," were Ray's
orders to Winsor, as he hurried over to join Clayton again. "They may
try one final charge from that side, and give us a chance to empty a few
more saddles." Creeping and crouching through the timber the chosen men
obeyed, and were assigned to stations under Clayton's eye. The
precaution was wise indeed, for, just as the captain foresaw, a rally in
force began far out over the southward slopes, the Indians gathering in
great numbers about some chieftain midway between the coming force and
the still beleaguered defenders of the grove. Then, brandishing lance
and shield and rifle, as before, they began spreading out