valley. We no longer observed the
slightest caution. The caravan was before our eyes; and there could be
no doubt that, in a couple of hours, we should be able to come up with
it. As to danger, we no longer thought of such a thing. Indians would
scarcely be so daring as to assail us within sight of the train? Had it
been night, we might have reasoned differently; but, under the broad
light of day, we could not imagine there was the slightest prospect of
danger. We resolved, therefore, to ride direct for the waggons, without
making halt.

Yes--one halt was to be made. I had promised the _ci-devant_ soldiers
to make _civilians_ of them before bringing them face to face with the
escort; and this was to be accomplished by means of some spare wardrobe
which Wingrove and I chanced to have among our packs. The place fixed
upon as the scene of the metamorphosis was the butte--which lay directly
on our route. As we rode forward, I was gratified at perceiving that
the waggon still remained in sight. If it was moving on, it had not yet
reached the head of the valley. Perhaps it had stopped to receive some
repairs? So much the better: we should the sooner overtake it.

On arriving at the butte, the white canvas was still visible; though
from our low position on the plain, only the top of the tilt could be
seen. While Wingrove was unpacking our spare garments, I dismounted,
and climbed to the summit of the mound--in order to obtain a better
view. I had no difficulty in getting up--for, strange to say, a trail
runs over the Orphan Butte, from south-east to north-west, regularly
aligned with Pike's Peak in the latter direction, and with _Spanish
Peaks_ in the former! But this alignment was not the circumstance that
struck me as singular. A far more curious phenomenon came under my
observation. The path leading to the summit was entirely clear of the
granite blocks that everywhere else covered the declivities of the
mound. Between these it passed like a narrow lane, the huge prisms
rising on each side of it, piled up in a regular trap-like formation, as
if placed there by the hand of man! The latter hypothesis was out of
the question. Many of the blocks were a dozen feet in diameter, and
tons in weight. Titans alone could have lifted them! The summit itself
was a table of some twenty by forty feet in superficial extent, and
seamed by several fissures. Only by following the path could the summit
be reached withou