Page:Edward Ellis--Alden the Pony Express Rider.djvu/255

 use his bow. In that event, the youth would fire to kill.

He held himself ready to anticipate hostile action. He was so close to the fleeing warrior and the air was so clear, that every trifle about the fugitive was noticed. He observed that the sole of his right moccasin was partly gone and flapped as he ran. Most of the ragged fringe at the bottom of his shirt had been torn off, but a piece kept fluttering about and hitting against his hip. The red men of the West generally wore different clothing from the one described, but the fugitive suggested a descent from those of his race who lived east of the Alleghanies.

Alden noted the play of the muscles between the shoulders, where they were not hidden by the bouncing quiver. The American Indian as a rule is deficient in muscular development, but this one showed several moderate ridges that doubled and shifted in response to the rhythmic swinging of his arms. Each was bent at the elbow with the hand close to the chest, like a professional runner, but the right hand was empty, while the fingers of the left were closed about the huge bow which he was obliged to hold diagonally before him, to