d, jest to run ag'inst a blank wall, an' to find that
we've plum' vanished, flew away, hosses an' mules an' all."

"But won't they find our trail up the cliff?"

"No, they won't dream o' sech a thing, but in case they do dream o' it
we'll all three creep to the edge an' set thar with our repeatin'
rifles. A fine time they'd hev climbin' up thar in the face o' three
sharpshooters armed with sech weapons ez ours."

Will saw at once that their position was well nigh impregnable, at least
against foes in the defile, and he crept with the others to the edge,
not forgetting his invaluable glasses. A lot of the stars had come back
and with the aid of the powerful lenses, he was able to penetrate the
depths of the pass, seeing there at least a score of Sioux in a group,
apparently taking counsel with one another. He could not discern their
faces, and, of course, their words were inaudible at the distance, but
their gestures expressed perplexity. Their savage minds might well
believe that witchcraft had been at work, and he hoped that they had
some such idea. The climbing of the cliff by the animals was an
achievement bordering so closely upon the impossible that even if they
saw traces of the hoofs on the lower slopes they would think the spirits
of the air had come down to help the fugitives.

"What are they doing, young William?" asked the Little Giant.

"Nothing that I can see except to talk as if puzzled."

"I almost wish they would strike our trail and start up the cliff. We
could pick off every one of 'em before they reached the top."

"I'd rather they went back."

"That's what they're likely to do, young William. Even if they saw our
trail going up the cliff, they won't follow it. They've had a taste of
our marksmanship, an' they know it would be certain death. It looks to
me ez if they wuz goin' to drift back down the trail."

"You judge right, Tom. There they go. I wish I could read the expression
on their faces. They must be wild with rage. They're moving a little
faster now, and the sooner they disappear from my sight the better."

He handed the glasses to the Little Giant, who, after taking a look,
passed them to Boyd. The hunter had the last glimpse of them as they
turned a curve and were hidden by the rocky wall.

"That settles 'em, for the time, anyway," he said, "and now I think we'd
better see what kind of a country we've come into. You stay here with
the animals, Will, they like you and it's easy fo