I told her not to grieve, that we would protect her and see that she got safely to civilization, and that we would also try to find her sister.  I asked her if she was not very hungry and she said she was, as she had eaten nothing for almost thirty-six hours.  At that Mike said:  “Sure, Captain, it’s meself that has a pairt of me rations lift, and Oi’ll go and get it for the poor crayther, and Oi’ll bring the horses at the same toime,” and he started off muttering to himself, “Ah, them Apaches, the dhirty divils; I’d like to kill ivery wan o’ thim.”

He soon returned with the horses, and handing me his rations, he said:  “Sure, Captain, it’s mesilf that thinks I’d better be afther takin’ a look around here-abouts, as thim durty haythens might be afther playin’ us the same game as they did me last evenin’.”  I told him it was a good scheme, that we might go up to the top of the hill and take a look as it was then most day, and if there were any Indians around they would be astir and that he had better let Jim Davis go with him, but he said no, for Jim to stay with me and the young lady and see that no “bloody blackguard of an Apache got her again,” so I cautioned him to keep his ears and eyes open, and he struck out.

When Mike had gone Miss Gordon turned to me and asked my name.  I told her my name was William F. Drannan, but I was better known on the plains as the Boy Scout.

“Oh, kind sir,” she said, “are you the Boy Scout?  I have often heard my father speak of you, and he said you were liable to put in an appearance when one least expected it.  I thought of you a thousand times yesterday and to-night, but I had no idea that you were in a thousand miles of here.”

I told her that I was at present scouting for Gen. Crook, who was at Fort Yuma, but that Lieut.  Jackson, with three companies of soldiers, was stationed but a few miles west of us.

We had been waiting for Mike Maloney’s return about two hours and were beginning to get uneasy about his delay and speculating as to what caused his absence so long, when we heard two pistol shots.  This was always our signal to call a companion; so telling Jim to look after the young lady, I swung myself into the saddle and was off like the wind in the direction from whence the call, as I supposed it to be, came.  It was now getting daylight, and when I got to the top of the hill I looked down to the south and I could see a fire.  I did not hesitate, but went down that slope through the heavy sagebrush like smoke through the woods.  As soon as I was near enough to distinguish objects around the fire I saw Mike bending over some object, and when I rode up to him, to my great surprise and delight, I saw it was a young girl.  Mike was beside himself with excitement.