ould be madness, Mr. Beeson. We'd stand no show at all in the open;
not on these poor mules." She murmured to herself. "Yes, they're Sioux.
That's not so bad. Were they Cheyennes--dog-soldiers---- Let me think. I
must talk with them."

"But they're coming," I rasped. "They're getting in range. We've the gun,
and twenty cartridges. Maybe if I kill the chief----"

She spoke, positive, under breath.

"Don't shoot! Don't! They know we're here--know it perfectly well. I shall
talk with them."

"You? How? Why? Can you persuade them? Would they let us go?"

"I'll do what I can. I have a few words of Sioux; and there's the sign
language. See," she said. "They've discovered our mules. They know we're
only two."

The scouts on either flanks had galloped outward and onward, in swift
circle, peering at our defenses. Lying low they scoured at full speed;
with mutual whoop they crisscrossed beyond and turned back for the main
body halted two hundred yards out upon the flat plain.

There was a consultation; on a sudden a great chorus of exultant cries
rang, the force scattered, shaking fists and weapons, preparing for a
tentative charge; and ere I could stop her My Lady had sprung upright, to
mount upon a rock and all in view to hold open hand above her head. The
sunshine glinted upon her hair; a fugitive little breeze bound her shabby
gown closer about her slim figure.

They had seen her instantly. Another chorus burst, this time in
astonishment; a dozen guns were leveled, covering her and our nest while
every visage stared. But no shot belched; thank God, no shot, with me
powerless to prevent, just as I was powerless to intercept her. The chief
rode forward, at a walk, his hand likewise lifted.

[Illustration: The Scouts Galloped Onward]

"Keep down! Keep down, please," she directed to me, while she stood
motionless. "Let me try."

The chief neared until we might see his every lineament--every item of his
trappings, even to the black-tipped eagle feather erect at the part in his
braids. And he rode carelessly, fearlessly, to halt within easy speaking
distance; sat a moment, rifle across his leggined thighs and the folds of
his scarlet blanket--a splendid man, naked from the waist up, his coppery
chest pigment-daubed, his slender arms braceleted with metal, his eyes
devouring her so covetously that I felt the gloating thoughts behind
them.

He called inquiringly: a greeting and a demand in one, it sounded. She
replied.