e can't stand here and see
them all cut down!"

He forgot in his generous heart, at that moment, that he disliked
Conway and all his men, and that he and Albert had scarcely a
friend in the train. He thought only of doing what he could to
beat back the Indian attack, and Albert felt the same impulse.
Both had their rifles--fine, breech-loading, repeating weapons,
and with these the two might do much. No one ever parted with
his arms after entering the Indian country.

"Come on, Albert!" exclaimed Dick, and the two ran toward the
pass. But before they had gone a hundred yards they stopped as
if by the same impulse. That terrible whining note was now
rising higher and higher. It was not merely a war whoop, it had
become also a song of triumph. There was a certain silvery
quality in the night air, a quality that made for illumination,
and Dick thought he saw dusky forms flitting here and there in
the mouth of the pass behind the train. It was only fancy,
because he was too far away for such perception, but in this case
fancy and truth were the same.

"Hurry, Dick! Let's hurry!" exclaimed the impulsive and generous
Albert. "If we don't, we'll be too late to do anything!"

They started again, running as fast as they could toward that
space in the dark well where the flashes of red and blue came and
went. Dick was so intent that he did not hear the short, quick
gasps of Albert, but he did hear a sudden fall beside him and
stopped short. Albert was lying on his back unconscious. A
faint tinge of abnormal red showed on his lips.

"Oh, I forgot! I forgot!" groaned Dick.

Such sudden and violent exertion, allied with the excitement of
the terrible moment, had overpowered the weak boy. Dick bent
down in grief. At first he thought his brother was dead, but the
breath still came.

Dick did not know what to do. In the pass, under the shadow of
night, the pines, and the mountain wall, the battle still flared
and crackled, but its volume was dying. Louder rose the fierce,
whining yell, and its note was full of ferocity and triumph,
while the hoarser cries of the white men became fewer and lower.
Now Dick really saw dusky figures leaping about between him and
the train. Something uttering a shrill, unearthly cry of pain
crashed heavily through the bushes near him and quickly passed
on. It was a wounded horse, running away.

Dick shuddered. Then he lifted Albert in his arms, and he had
the forethought, ev