“Have to guess the distance,” he muttered in explanation, and pulled the trigger.

There was a lightning flash, a sharp ringing report, a yell in the distance, followed by the sound of scrambling.  Hamlin laughed, as he lowered his gun.

“Made him hump, anyway,” he commented cheerfully.  “Now what comes next?”

“I—­I do not know,” she answered, as though the question had been asked her, “do you?”

Somehow she was not as frightened as she had been.  The calm steady coolness of the man was having its natural effect, was helping to control her own nerves.  She felt his strength, his confidence, and was beginning to lean upon him—­he seemed to know exactly what he was about.

“Well, no, honestly I don’t; not yet,” he returned, hesitating slightly.  “There is no use denying we are in a mighty bad hole.  If Moylan had n’t got shot we might have held out till help arrived; I ’ve got about twenty cartridges left; but you and I alone never could do it.  I ’ve got to think it out, I reckon; this has been a blind fight so far; nothing to it but blazing away as fast as I could pull trigger.  Now, maybe, I can use my brains a bit.”

She could not see him, but some instinct led her to put out her hand and touch the rough sleeve of his shirt.  It made her sure of his presence, his protection.  The man felt the movement, and understood its meaning, his heart throbbing strangely.

“You are going to trust me?”

“Of—­of course; how could you doubt that?”

“Well,” still half questioning, “you see I ’m only an enlisted man, and sometimes officers’ ladies think we are mostly pretty poor stuff, just food for powder.”

She tightened her grip on his sleeve, drawing a quick breath of surprise.

“Oh, but I am not like that; truly I am not.  I—­I saw your face this afternoon, and—­and I liked you then.  I will do whatever you say.”

“Thank you,” he said simply.  “To know that makes everything so much easier for me.  We shall have to work together from now on.  You keep sharp watch at the window there, while I think a bit—­there ’s ordinarily a chance somewhere, you know, if one is only bright enough to uncover it.”

How still the night was, and dark; although the sky was cloudless, the stars shone clearly away up in the black vault.  Not even the howl of a distant coyote broke the silence.  To the left, seemingly a full half-mile distant, was the red flicker of a fire, barely visible behind a projection of bank.  But in front not even the keen eyes of the Sergeant could distinguish any sign of movement.  Apparently the Indians had abandoned their attempt to recover the bodies of their dead.

CHAPTER VII

PLANS FOR ESCAPE