n's Canon in revenge for death of
Comes Flying, accidentally shot. Captain Tanner and Lieutenant Ray are
out from Camps Sandy and Cameron, with strong commands, and will try to
communicate with Almy. "Nothing has been heard of Lieutenant Harris and
his scouts," said the despatch, "but rumors are rife as to Indian
depredations near you. It is feared that in your advanced position you
may be surrounded, and communication cut off, but no fears are
entertained as to your ability to take care of yourself. If you still
have cavalry scouting in the Tonto basin, warn them of conditions and
report when possible."

"So much for so much," said the general. "Now for Willett," and a mile
farther out he met the ambulance coming in, Willett and the doctor
aboard, the former with a broken collar-bone and a bad headache.
Moreover, Willett was in vicious mood.

"General Archer," said he, "the shot that killed my horse was meant for
me, and the Indian who fired the shot was Harris's paragon, 'Tonio."

CHAPTER XIII.

That was a stirring night at Almy. The general, contrary to habit, was
very grave and quiet, saying little, drinking nothing, even the
customary toddy being declined. The doctor, also contrary to habit, was
drinking a little and thinking a lot, but saying nothing. An abstemious
man, as a rule, and a temperate man at all times, he seemed inclined to
sample his Monongahela more than once before midnight, when, having
gotten his patients to sleep, he tried to do likewise. "They are on an
even keel again," said Bonner, referring to the two casuals, "and I am
not sorry to see it." Evidently there had been comparison of notes
between Strong and Bonner, and an agreement of some kind, for both held
that Willett had exceeded his authority, as well as his discretion, in
conducting a single-handed charge on an outnumbering enemy, secretly
hidden behind rocks and ridges. Strong's men said that Lieutenant
Willett, spurring hard, had called across the stream for them to follow
him, and three of those nearest the bank plunged through the shallows
and were barely three hundred yards behind him when, from their right
front among the rocks at the foot of a bluff, the shot was fired that
wounded the lieutenant's horse, which veered at once and ran away down
among the willows. No, they hadn't charged. They turned, too. For all
they knew, there might have been a thousand Apaches in hiding there,
and when the lieutenant turned they turn