ilot the animals down to the water and find a feeding-ground for
them. Being entirely unacquainted with the gully and surrounding
country, it took him a long time to do this; but he accomplished it at
last, in spite of the darkness, and about one o'clock in the morning he
was at liberty to go to his blanket.

The troopers slept later than usual the next morning, for they were all
tired out; but Bob's loud call of "Catch up!" brought them to their feet
before the sun had risen high enough to send any of his rays into the
camp. As there was a good deal to be done and but little time to do it
in, four details were made, and certain duties assigned to each. The
first, which consisted solely of Loring, was ordered to dish up a cup of
coffee in a little less than no time; George and Phillips were
instructed to follow up the trail of the missing Indian and see where it
led to; Bob and a companion bent their steps toward the sandhill to
ascertain the whereabouts of the main body of the expedition; and the
others brought in the horses and gave them the grain that was left in
the saddle-pockets.

Before ascending the hill Bob and his companion gathered each an armful
of dry grass and weeds. These were deposited upon the highest part of
the hill and lighted by a match which Bob struck on his coat-sleeve. As
soon as the blaze was fairly started, but before the whole pile was
ignited, Bob smothered it by throwing on more grass and weeds; and when
this was done a column of smoke that could be seen at the distance of
fifty miles began to rise in the air.

"Now let me see," said Bob, pulling out the paper which Captain Clinton
had copied from his note-book when he started him on the trail. "I want
to say, 'Where are you, captain?' and how shall I say it?"

He ran his eye down the page and finally found these instructions:

"A detached party desiring to ascertain the position of the main body
will signal as follows: A long smoke of a minute's duration; three short
smokes, followed by half a minute's interval; two short smokes, with
half a minute's interval; one short smoke, followed immediately by a
long one. If the signal is observed, the reply will be the same. If no
reply is received in five minutes, repeat from some other and, if
possible, higher point, and so continue until an answering signal is
seen."

As the reader may not quite understand this, we will tell just how Bob
made the signal. He allowed the column of smoke to a