f in the timber; it
sounded as though somebody had run into a branch. We waited. The enemy
was stealing upon our camp. We hid our faces in our coats and our hands
in our sleeves, so that no white should show. It was exciting, sitting
this way, waiting for the attack.

The gang tiptoed up, carefully, and we could just make out two of them
peering in at the beds. Then they all gave a tremendous yell, like
Indians or mountain lions, and rushed us--or what they thought was us.
They stepped on the beds and kicked at the tinware, and expected to
scare us stiff with the noise--but you ought to have seen how quick they
quit when nothing happened! We didn't pop out of the beds, and run! It
was funny--and I almost burst, trying not to laugh out loud, when they
stood, looking about, and feeling of the beds again.

"They aren't here," said Bill Duane. At a nudge from General Ashley we
had deployed, running low and swift, right and left.

"Poke the fire, so we can see," said Bert Hawley.

One of them did, so the fire blazed up--which was just what we wanted.
Now they were inside and we were outside. They began to talk.

"We'll pile up the camp, anyway."

"They're around somewhere."

"Let's take their burros."

"Take their flags."

Then General Ashley spoke up.

"No, you don't!" he said. "You let those things alone."

That voice, coming out of the darkness around, must have made them jump,
and for a minute they didn't know what to do. Then--

"Why?" asked Bill Duane, kind of defiantly.

"Wait a moment and we'll show you," answered General Ashley.

He whistled loud, our Scouts' signal whistle; and off down the trail
Major Henry or Kit Carson whistled back, and added the whistle that
meant "All right." (Note 16.)

"Hear that?" asked General Ashley. "That means we've got your horses!"

Hurrah! So we had. You see, Major Henry and Kit Carson had been sent
back to watch the enemy's camp; and when the gang had left, on foot, to
surprise us, our two scouts had gone in and captured the horses. We
couldn't help but whoop and yell a little, in triumph. But General
Ashley ordered "Silence!" and we quit.

"Aw, we were just fooling," said Tony Matthews. They talked together,
low, for a few moments; and Bill called: "Come on in. We won't hurt
you."

"Of course you won't," said General Ashley. "But _we_ aren't fooling. We
mean business. We'll keep the horses until you've promised to clear out
and let this camp alone."

"We d