whistled mostly overhead, and once,
when they made a great rush, they were quickly driven back with
great loss. Troops on a bluff behind earthworks were a hard nut
even for an overwhelming force to crack.

Dick and Albert fell asleep on the ground from sheer exhaustion,
but Dick did not sleep long. He was awakened by a fresh burst of
firing, and saw that it was still dark. He did not sleep again
that night, although Albert failed to awake, and, asking for a
rifle, bore a part in the defense.

The troops, having made a forced march with scant supplies,
suffered greatly from thirst, but volunteers, taking buckets,
slipped down to the river, at the imminent risk of torture and
death, and brought them back filled for their comrades. It was
done more than a dozen times, and Dick himself was one of the
heroes, which pleased Sergeant Williams greatly.

"You're the right stuff, my boy," he said, clapping him on the
shoulder, "though you ought to be asleep and resting."

"I couldn't sleep long," replied Dick. "I think my nerves have
been upset so much that I won't feel just right again for
months."

Nevertheless he bore a valiant part in the defense, besides
risking his life to obtain the water, and won high praise from
many besides his stanch friend, Sergeant Williams. It was well
that the troops had thrown up the earthwork, as the Sioux,
flushed with their great victory in the afternoon, hung on the
flanks of the bluffs and kept up a continuous rifle fire. There
was light enough for sharpshooting, and more than one soldier who
incautiously raised his head above the earthwork was slain.

Toward morning the Sioux made another great rush. There had
been a lull in the firing just when the night was darker than
usual and many little black clouds were floating up from the
southwest. Dick was oppressed by the silence. He remembered
the phases of the battle in the afternoon, and he felt that it
portended some great effort by the Sioux. He peeped carefully
over the earthwork and studied the trees, bushes, and hillocks
below. He saw nothing there, but it seemed to him that he could
actually feel the presence of the Sioux.

"Look out for 'em," he said to Sergeant Williams. "I think
they're going to make a rush."

"I think it, too," replied the veteran. "I've learnt something
of their cunnin' since I've been out here on the plains."

Five minutes later the Sioux sprang from their ambush and rushed
forward, hop