Page:B M Bower - Heritage of the Sioux.djvu/223

ONE PUT OVER ON THE BUNCH grimly. "An old Navvy trick, that is—don't let 'em fool ye, boys! You jest wait, 'n' I'll tell ye when t' shoot, er whether t' shoot at all. They can't fool me—now I'm tellin' yuh!"

After that they were silent, listening strainedly to the growing sounds of approach. There was the dull, unmistakable click of a hoof striking against a rock, the softer sound of treading on yielding soil. Then a blur of dark objects became visible, moving slowly and steadily toward the camp.

"Aw, it's just horses," Happy Jack muttered disgustedly.

Applehead stretched a lean leg in his direction and gave Happy Jack a kick. "They're cunnin'," he hissed warningly. "Don't yuh be fooled—"

"That's Johnny in the lead," Pink whispered excitedly. "I'd know the way he walks—"

N' you thought yuh knowed how he jingled his dang bell," Applehead retorted unkindly. "Sh-sh-sh—"

Reminded by the taunt of the clever trick that had been played upon them the night before, the Happy Family stiffened again into strained, 211