or it
would be a waste of time for them to prowl around here among these
sandhills, where they couldn't find even a rabbit to eat. The moment
they caught our wind they would scamper off, and then 'Good-bye,
prisoners.' I wish I knew where those Indians have staked out their
ponies, for I stand more in fear of them than I do of that sentry. If we
should get to windward of them, they would kick up a rumpus directly."

The longer Bob talked with George the more clearly the difficulties
attending his undertaking seemed to stand but before him, and the
greater grew his anxiety and impatience. If his attempt to surprise the
Indian camp failed, there was no telling when Mr. Wentworth's boys
would be heard of again. If it suited their captors to spare their
lives, they would doubtless be sold to some band who lived at a great
distance from the agency, and who would take the greatest pains to keep
their existence a profound secret. If they were ever given up at all, it
would only be after that particular band had been soundly thrashed for
some outrage, and then they would be brought forward as an element in
the "peace negotiations," their captors demanding a heavy ransom and
taking great credit to themselves for surrendering them. But this might
not happen for years, and during that time a great many things might
happen to the boys. They might become so completely broken down by cruel
treatment that their death would be a blessing, or else so thoroughly
infatuated with the Indian mode of life that, if left to themselves,
they would choose to go back to the wigwams of their savage masters
rather than return to the home of their father.

"It's now or never," said Bob to himself after he had thought the matter
over. "I don't wonder that Mr. Wentworth feels so spiteful, for if these
Indians are not killed during this scout, they will never be punished
for what they have done to him. The government is too tender-hearted to
touch them, and if Mr. Wentworth takes the law into his own hands, he
will be sure to suffer for it. They will go back to their agency to grow
fat on government grub and be kept warm in winter by government
blankets; and their agent, in order to prevent an investigation that
might take a few dollars out of his pocket, will be ready to swear that
they have never been off their reservation. I wonder how he would feel
if he saw his own children carried into captivity?"

For two long hours the weary troopers continue