up it,
one of the pack horses lost its balance and fell fifty feet, crippling
it so badly we had to kill it. The cliff face, about three hundred
yards in width, and flanked to right and left by the walls of the
canon, was entirely bare of trees, but thickly strewn with boulders.
From an enemy on the top of the two flanking walls, climbers up the
cliff face could get no shelter whatever. Thus it was important that
our advance should reach the summit as quickly as possible. So, up the
three of us scrambled, about thirty yards apart, disregarding the trail.

When we were nearly half-way up, and just as we had paused to catch our
breath, several rifle shots rang out in quick succession, which, from
some peculiar echo of the canon, sounded as if they had been fired
beneath us. Upon turning, we could see nothing of our three mates or
the horses--they were hidden from our view by the timber. Fancying
they were attacked from the rear, I was about to call a return to their
relief, when I saw Thornton run to the near edge of the timber, drop on
one knee behind a tree, and open fire on the cliff-crest directly above
our heads.

Whirling and looking up, I was just in time to see eight or ten men bob
up on the crest and take quick snap shots at the three of us in the
lead, and then duck to cover. We were so nearly straight under them,
however, that they overshot us, although they were barely one hundred
yards from us. Dropping behind boulders we peppered back at the
flashes of their rifles, which was all we three in the lead thereafter
saw of them; for after the first volley most of them lay close and
directed their fire at the men in the edge of the timber, but
occasionally a rifle was tipped over the edge of a boulder and fired at
random in our direction. And all the time they were yelling at us,
"_Que vienen, puercos! Que vienen!_" (Come on, pigs! Come on!)

I was puzzled. Both Cress and I thought they were Mexicans, but Tomas
insisted they were Lipans. And sure enough it was the Lipans all spoke
Spanish and dressed like Mexican peons. Whoever they might be, we
could not stay where we were. By the firing and voices there were at
least a dozen of them, and obviously it was only a matter of moments
before they would occupy the two flanking walls and have us openly
exposed.

It was a bad dilemma. Retreat was impossible, down a gorge commanded
at short range from both sides. If we took shelter in it, they could