they had suffered so severely, they
would come back to revenge themselves," ventured the little woman, still
busily plying her needle.

"But you see the damage was done, not by you and Dinah, though you did
your part, but by the men, and _them's_ the ones they'll go for,"
observed Ballyhoo.

"That is not the invariable rule with Indians," was the truthful remark
of Mrs. Shirril. "It makes little difference to them whether the
innocent or guilty suffer."

"But," said the husband, "the prime object of the redskins is cattle,
with perhaps horses thrown in. You know they have been hanging round for
a number of days, waiting for a chance before we started north; they
will make an effort to run off those stampeded cattle to-night, and
likely enough will follow us into the Indian Nation, on the watch for a
chance to gather in several hundred hoofs."

"I think there's one thing that's encouraging," said Avon, addressing
all his friends; "you know how dry the roof of the house is. If Dinah
hadn't put her foot down when she did, there would have been no cabin at
this moment. The Comanches tried to fire the sides, and failing in that,
gave their attention to the roof, where they came so near succeeding."

"What do you refer to as encouraging, Avon?" asked his uncle.

"There's a storm in the air; we are going to have a regular driving
rain, that will soak the roof until a ton of live-coals on the top
wouldn't set fire to the planking."

"Baby is right," said Ballyhoo, with a nod of his head; "rain will fall
within twelve hours."

"That _is_ good news," said the wife, with a pleased look; "I shall now
see the captain and the rest of you leave without a misgiving as
concerns ourselves."

"You wouldn't feel frightened, Edna, if old Wygwind and his gang of
imps should come whooping down upon you?" asked the captain, looking
sideways, with an expression of admiration and love glowing from his
shaggy face.

"I don't pretend to say we would not be frightened, but Dinah and I
would feel secure inside, so long as there was no danger of the building
being burned. I wonder whether Wygwind led this party."

"I shouldn't be surprised if he did; he's one of the worst scamps that
ever lived."

"You're right," assented Ballyhoo. "I believe he led this gang, though a
chap couldn't tell in the darkness. You know what a thief he is."

The allusion was to the notorious Comanche Wygwind, one of the many
leaders belonging to that tribe