Shif'less Sol. "I'd give him somethin' he wouldn't furgit."

"Suppose we move a little to the right," said Henry. "They've noted the
direction from which the sound came, and they may send a bullet into the
bushes here."

They crept quietly to the right, a distance of perhaps ten yards; and
they soon found the precaution to be a wise one, as a crack came from
the forest, and a bullet cut the twigs where they had lately been.
Shif'less Sol sent a return bullet at the flash of the rifle and they
heard a suppressed cry.

"It doesn't do to be too keerless," said the shiftless one in a
contented tone as he reloaded his rifle. "Whoever fired that shot ought
to hev known that something would come back to him."

Several more bullets came from the forest, and now they cut the bushes
close by, but the comrades lay flat upon the ground and all passed over
their heads.

After Shif'less Sol's single shot they did not return the fire for the
present, but continued to move slowly to the right. Thus a full half
hour passed without a sign from either side. Meanwhile a wind, slowly
rising, was blowing so steadily that all the trees and bushes were
drying fast.

Neither Henry nor his comrades could now tell just where their enemies
were, but they believed that the hostile band had also been circling
about the open space in which the ruined village stood. They felt sure
that the Indians and the three white men would not go away. The Indians
were never keener for scalps than they were that year, and with a force
of nearly two to one they would not decline a combat, even if it were
not the surprise that they had expected.

"We may stay here until daylight," whispered Henry. "They are now sure
we're not going to run away, and with the sunrise they may think that
they will have a better chance at us."

"If the daylight finds them here, it will find us too," said Shif'less
Sol. They shifted around a little further, and presently another shot
was fired from a point opposite them in the forest. Henry sent a bullet
in return, but there was nothing to indicate whether it had struck a
foe. Then ensued another long silence which was broken at last by a shot
from the interior of the old Council House. It was sent at random into
the bushes, but the bullet cut the leaves within an inch of Henry's
face, and they grew exceedingly cautious. Another bullet soon whistled
near them, and they recognized the fact that the Indians who had
succeeded in c