fter we have been a little while in
the mountains."

"You might have strength enough. I do not doubt it," said Bright
Sun softly, "but the Black Hills are claimed by the Sioux. They
do not wish the white men to come there, and the Sioux are a
great and powerful tribe, or rather a nation of several allied
and kindred tribes, the most powerful Indian nation west of the
Mississippi."

Bright Sun's voice rose a little toward the last, and the slight
upward tendency gave emphasis and significance to his words. The
brooding eyes suddenly shot forth a challenging light.

"Are you a Sioux?" asked Dick involuntarily.

Bright Sun bent upon him a look of gentle reproof.

"Since I have taken the ways of your race I have no tribe," he
replied. "But, as I have said, the Sioux claim the Black Hills,
and they have many thousands of warriors, brave, warlike, and
resolved to keep the country."

"The government will see that there is no war," said Dick.

"Governments can do little in a wilderness," replied Bright Sun.

Dick might have made a rejoinder, but at that moment a burly
figure came into the light of the fire. It was Sam Conway, and
he glanced suspiciously at the Indian and the two boys.

"Are you telling 'em, Bright Sun, when we'll reach California?"
he asked.

Bright Sun gave him an oblique glance. The Indian seldom looks
the white man in the face, but it was obvious that Bright Sun was
not afraid of the leader. Conway, as well as the others, knew
it.

"No," he replied briefly.

"It's just as well that you haven't," said Conway briskly,
"'cause we're not going to California at all--at least not this
year. It's the wish and general consensus of this here train
that we turn to the North, go into the Black Hills, and fill our
wagons with gold."

"So it's decided, then, is it?" asked Dick.

"Yes, it's decided," replied Conway, his tone now becoming
positively brutal, "and if you and your brother don't like it,
you know what you can do."

"Keep on alone for the coast, I suppose," said Dick, looking him
steadily in the face.

"If you put it that way."

"But we don't choose," said Dick, "Al and I have an interest in
one wagon and team, and we're going to hold on to it. Besides,
we're quite willing to try our luck in the Black Hills, too.
We're going with you."

Conway frowned, but Dick also was not afraid of him, and knew
that he could not turn the two boys out on the prairie. They had
a full right