nt of his body in the sand.
A fire was speedily lighted on the summit, and kept burning brightly to
guide the absent troopers to the captured camp. That little beacon
shining through the darkness must have been a welcome sight to their
eyes, for it told of the complete success of their companions and of the
rest and water that were to be found where they were.

When George returned to the camp after nearly half an hour's absence he
found the fire blazing cheerily, and the two rescued boys, who seemed
almost exhausted by their long journey, sleeping soundly beside it,
covered by a quilt which some kind-hearted trooper had thrown over their
shoulders. The troopers were laughing heartily but silently at Carey and
Loring, who seemed to bear their merriment with very bad grace.

"What's the matter now?" inquired George as he distributed the canteens
among them and placed the coffee-pots beside the fire.

"Come here and see for yourself," replied Loring, taking George by the
arm and leading him to the place where the captive Indian lay, all the
troopers following at his heels.

"Me good Injun," grunted the prisoner, who seemed to have recovered his
senses.

"So I perceive," replied George. "Good Indians steal stock and carry off
white boys, don't they?--But I don't see anything about him to laugh
at."

"Why, he's nothing but a kid," exclaimed Phillips, "and yet Carey and
Loring are both willing to confess that it was all they could do to
handle him. They told us a wonderful story about the terrible fight they
had before they could tie him, and so we took a look at him, expecting
to find him a giant; but instead of that--Well, you can see that he's
only a papoose."

George looked down at the boyish face and slender figure of the young
warrior, then at the two grizzly old veterans who had fought so hard to
capture him, and felt more than half inclined to laugh himself. Either
one of them could have strangled him with a finger and a thumb if he
could have got hold of him; but getting a good hold was the trouble. An
Indian makes up in suppleness and activity what he lacks in strength,
and it takes a good man to handle one. Of course the troopers were sorry
for their wounded comrade, but they had "got a joke" on him, and it was
a long time before he heard the last of it.

The men who had been left to take care of the horses arrived in about an
hour, and then George had another disagreeable task to perform, which
was to p