thigh. He fell, but rose immediately and ran. The foremost Indian, now
certain of his prey, loaded again, and with the other two pressed on.
They overtook him. He fell again, and as he rose the whole three fired,
and he received all their balls. He now fell and rose a third time, and
the Indians, throwing away their guns, advanced upon him with spears and
knives. As he presented his gun at one or another, each fell back. At
last the largest Indian, supposing his gun to be empty, from his fire
having been thus reserved, advanced boldly to the charge. Higgins fired
and the savage fell.

"He had now four bullets in his body, an empty gun in his hand, two
Indians unharmed as yet before him, and a whole tribe but a few yards
distant. Any other man would have despaired. Not so with him. He had
slain the most dangerous of the three, and having but little to fear
from the others, began to load his rifle. They raised a savage whoop and
rushed to the encounter. A bloody conflict now ensued. The Indians
stabbed him in several places. Their spears, however, were but thin
poles, hastily prepared, and which bent whenever they struck a rib or a
muscle. The wounds they made were not therefore deep, though numerous.

"At last one of them threw his tomahawk. It struck him upon the cheek,
severed his ear, laid bare his skull to the back of his head, and
stretched him upon the prairie. The Indians again rushed on, but
Higgins, recovering his self-possession, kept them off with his feet
and hands. Grasping at length one of their spears, the Indian, in
attempting to pull it from him, raised Higgins up, who, taking his
rifle, dashed out the brains of the nearest savage. In doing this,
however, it broke, the barrel only remaining in his hand. The other
Indian, who had heretofore fought with caution, came now manfully into
the battle. His character as a warrior was in jeopardy. To have fled
from a man thus wounded and disarmed, or to have suffered his victim to
escape, would have tarnished his fame for ever. Uttering, therefore, a
terrific yell, he rushed on and attempted to stab the exhausted ranger.
But the latter warded off his blow with one hand and brandished his
rifle barrel with the other. The Indian was as yet unharmed, and, under
existing circumstances, by far the most powerful man. Higgins' courage,
however, was unexhausted and inexhaustible.

"The savage at last began to retreat from the glare of his untamed eye
to the spot where