by. "You-all forgit this is a self-supportin'
community. We got to work for our living, as well as for gold."

"The hunters might go out less," suggested McNally.

"The miners might eat less, then," replied Bagsby grimly. "This ain't
what you'd call the best sort of a game country."

We came to it, of course, though with much grumbling. It seemed an
almost excuseless waste of good energy; a heavy price in economic
efficiency to pay for insurance against what seemed a very remote peril.
But we did not know, and our uncertainty gave way.

"But hang it!" cried Johnny, "here's more gold than a hundred men could
begin to handle, and we're wasting more than half our resources."

"It do seem so," agreed Yank with his accustomed slow philosophy. "But
we can put in longer hours because we rest oftener."

A week passed, and we had almost forgotten our chance visitors. One day
the two Spaniards, Buck Barry and I were at the cradle; Bagsby, Yank,
and McNally were the hunters for the day. Johnny and Missouri Jones kept
camp.

We had had a most successful morning, and were just stacking our tools
preparatory to returning to camp for dinner. Buck Barry was standing
near some small sage bushes at the upper end of the diggings. He was
just in the act of lighting a freshly filled pipe, when he stopped as
though petrified, the burning match suspended above the bowl of his
pipe. Then he turned quickly toward the sage brush; and as he did so a
bow twanged and an arrow sang past his head so close as actually to draw
blood from the lobe of his ear. With a roar of anger Buck Barry raised
his pickaxe and charged into the bush. We saw a figure rise from the
ground, dash away, stumble flat. Before the man could get up again Buck
Barry was upon him, and the pickaxe descended. At the same instant we
heard a series of whoops and two shots in rapid succession from the
direction of camp. Buck Barry came bounding out of the sage brush, and
seized his rifle from under the bush where we had kept them.

"Come on!" he panted. "Let's get out of this!"

We ran as hard as we could go for a hundred yards, or until we had
reached the flat of the river bottom. Then we paused, uncertain as to
just what next to do.

"Wait a minute," said I. "I'll just take a look," and hurried up a
little spur-knoll to the right. From that elevation I instantly caught
sight of a crowd of Indians coming up the valley at full speed. Most of
them were on horseback, but a n