Page:Allan Dunn--Dead Man's Gold.djvu/129

Rh forced him to join the rush across the upslope to the cave. The Indians swept down, the unmounted men leaping for their ponies, the wounded one writhing on the ground, the chief slowly recovering from his jarred nerves. In a swirl of dust the four entered the cave and scrambled over a crumbling wall of masonry back of which they crouched. There was a volley outside. There were only three rifles now among the Indians and these barked, one of the bullets entering the cave and ricochetting harmlessly among three of four arrows that glanced off the rock.

"They ain't liable to rush us," said Harvey. "Cartridges likely to be sca'ce enny way. They ain't stuck on close-quarters. Pony fighters. Figger on starvin' us out, or smokin'. Can't smoke us out in this cave, thet's why I picked it. As for starvin', we'll hev to make a break for it, or sneak out ternight. Meantime, we got to try an' stop them from drivin' our burros out of the cañon. They ain't thought of 'em yet, they're too mad. Nightfall, mebbe we kin pick up our outfit. Let 'em whoop an' shoot. They can't hit us. Angle's wrong. If they try to come inter the cave we'll entertain 'em. Pritty rotten bunch of shots ennyway, I'll say."

Looking out of the cool, shady tunnel to the sunlit cañon they could see the Apaches galloping past in a long string, yelling defiance and firing arrow or bullet as they passed the cave mouth at top speed. But few of the missiles gained the entrance and the elevation rendered them harmless.

"Gittin' worked up over that chap whose hocks I