Page:Boys of the Fort.djvu/195

Rh "Going to tie em up, captain?" asked Peck.

"Yes. There is nothing else to do."

"Better shoot em."

"I can't shoot them in cold blood, Peck. That would not be human."

"The wretches don't deserve to live, captain. The Indians and those desperadoes are plotting to wipe out everybody left at the fort."

"I know that. Still, I cannot bring myself to take their lives—and we can't stop to take them along as prisoners. The sooner we get back to the fort the better."

"If we can get back," put in another soldier.

"I don't believe the fort is surrounded just yet," returned the young officer.

"But if it is?"

"Then, perhaps, it will be better for us to be out than in."

"You wouldn't desert the crowd at the fort, would you?"

"You know me better than that, Gorman. We might be able to ride to the next fort and obtain re-enforcements."

"That's so, captain! I didn't think of that."

Leaving the dead Indians in the bushes and the others tied to the trees, the captain and his companions now lost no time in striking out for the fort.