spite of himself. But he found he had made a slight
miscalculation when he was lifted like a child from the ground and
hurled over the heads and among the glowering redskins crowding below.
The momentum of his body was such that a half dozen were forced backward
and almost off their feet. Had the Apaches chosen to do so, it would
have been an easy matter to have shot all three of the fugitives, or
even two of them, and taken the lad; but they had some old score against
Tom and Dick, which could not be wiped out by mere death alone. Now that
such a fine opportunity was presented for securing them and indulging in
all the luxury of torture, they were not the ones to throw away the
chance. Hence, they persistently refused to fire and as persistently
forced their way upward.

This check, which might have been simply temporary, was emphasized and
made more permanent in its character by Dick, who at the critical moment
seized a goodly sized rock, which he drove down among the wretches like
the discharge from a fifty pounder. It made terrible work and the
discomfited Apaches retreated tumultuously to the bottom, while the
hunters hastened away again to the top of the hill. Ned was there
awaiting their coming with the most painful misgiving about their coming
at all. He knew from the uproar that a desperate fight was raging in the
narrow pass, and he feared that the resentful Apaches would overcome the
braver hunters, who were defending themselves so desperately. But there
they were at last, with the announcement that their enemies had fallen
back and a temporary peace was given them.

"Can't expect it to last long, howsomever," added Tom, who breathed
scarcely any faster from his terrific exertions. "Them skunks are bound
to swallow us whole, and we've got to kick hard to prevent it."

As soon as a little breathing time had been gained, the besieged made an
examination of their immediate surroundings, to learn the probable form
in which this business was likely to end. The hunters removed all
superfluous articles from their persons,--in the shape of canteens and a
few appurtenances,--like pugilists who are stripping for a fight.

The surface of Hurricane Hill was generally level, and free from the
boulders and obstructions which one would naturally expect to find
there, which Tom Hardynge explained by saying that they had all been
rolled down upon the Indians below by parties who had been driven to
this _dernier resorte_ y