Molly. She was
still more surprised when the Indian suddenly said,--

"She little brave; she come all 'way 'lone to keep promise, so she not
hurt my Wallula. She make me believe more good in white peoples; so I go
to fort,--I keep friends."

"You've been a friend indeed. I sha'n't forget it; we'll none of us
forget it, Washo," said Captain Elliston; and he put out his hand as he
spoke, and grasped the brown hand of the Indian in a warm friendly
clasp.

At the fort everything was literally "up in _arms_,"--that is, set in
order for business, and that meant ready for resistance or attack. Molly
had lived most of her fourteen years at some Western military post, and
she recognized at once this "order" as she rode in.

"What _did_ it mean?" she asked again, as the Colonel himself met her
and hurried her into the dining-room; and the Colonel himself answered
her,--

"It means, my dear, that Major Molly has saved us from being surprised
by the enemy, and that means that she has saved us from a bloody fight."

"I--I--" faltered Molly. Then like a flash her mind cleared, and she
struck her little hand on the table and cried,--

"It was an Indian, an unfriendly Indian, who followed me, and Washo knew
it when I told my story!"

"Yes, Washo knew it, and, more than that, he had known for some days
that those particular Indians had been planning a raid upon us, and he
didn't interfere; he didn't warn us because he had begun to think that
we were all bad white traders, and he wouldn't meddle with these braves
who proposed to punish us, though he wouldn't go on the war-path with
them. But, Major Molly, when he heard your story, when he saw how one of
us could be a little white brave in keeping a promise to an Indian, _for
your sake_ he relented towards the rest of us."

"And when he asked me to tell him where I first heard the lariat--"

"When he asked you that, he was making sure that it was his Sioux
friends,--for he knew they were to send out a scout who would take
exactly that direction."

"But why--why did the scout chase _me_?"

"He was after Tam, no doubt,--for this Sioux band is probably short of
ponies, and Tam, you know, is a famous fellow,--and the moment the scout
caught sight of him he would give chase."

"Did he get Ranger that way? And where, oh, where is poor Barney?"

"The probability is that the scout visited the corral first, and
captured Ranger, who is almost as famous as Tam."

"But, Barney--oh,