Although the whites and the Crows had been saved from imminent peril, and probably from destruction, by Silverspur’s prompt and decisive action, they were by no means safe from their enraged adversaries. It was to be supposed that Black Horse, indignant at the discovery and defeat of his treacherous scheme, would not be willing to abandon his enterprise without an effort. As the Arapahoes largely outnumbered their opponents, and were stimulated by the desire for plunder as well as revenge, it was reasonable to expect an attack upon them.
Colonel Wilder and Bad Eye, therefore, hastened to make preparations to repel their assailants. The wagons were so placed as to form a corral within which the horses were secured, and around this all were set at work to dig and throw up a breastwork. As the attack might be expected at any moment, they worked with a will, and the camp was soon placed in a fair condition for defense.
It was useless to think of retreating, as they were encumbered with wagons. The Arapahoes could easily overtake them, and might destroy them on the march.
Although the afternoon wore away without an attack, scouts reported that the Arapahoes were still in sight, and Colonel Wilder ordered the work of fortification to continue, until he believed the camp to be strong enough to resist an assault.
“The governor has rushed us pretty hard,” said Silverspur, when the work was pronounced finished, and he threw himself on the ground to rest. “That is always the way with these military men. They want to build a fort at every step they take.”
“He’s right about it this time, sartin,” replied Old Blaze. “The ’Rapahoes are more’n two to our one, and I don’t knowany red-skins that I hadn’t ruther fight. Did ye notice those warriors that came with Black Horse?”
“Yes. They were a fine-looking set of men.”
“No finer anywhere. Every man of ’em nigh onto six feet high, straight as a pine, soople as a painter, and jest built up a-purpose fur fightin’.”
“They are, certainly, the best-formed and the most athletic Indians I have seen on the plains.”
“Kerlectic! I don’t adzackly swaller that word; but, if thar’s any kerlectic red-skins livin’, it’s them. Why, boy, the Crows are puny alongside of them, and the crook-legged Comanches ain’t worth shucks off thar hosses. How clean they all war! and how keerfully they war painted and ’iled!”
“They would be dangerous fellows in a close fight. I should dislike to meet one of them in a hand-to-hand tussle.”
“They’re powerful tough customers in a skrimmage, sartin. We would all have been chawed up afore this, ef thar game hadn’t been bust into jest as it was. Thar’ll be a right sharp tussle, I’ve a notion, afore we’ve done with ’em.”
“I don’t suppose that they mean to give up what they came for.”
“Not a bit of it. They came arter Dove-eye, and they came arter you and me. They hev got a notion of the colonel’s plunder, too, and Crow skelps and white skelps are what they’re allers wantin’. They mean to hev some of those things, boy, or bust thar gizzards a-tryin’! Hullo! What’s the matter now? Are the cusses comin’ at us?”
There had been one lack in the camp. There was enough meat and enough ammunition; but Colonel Wilder, with the forethought of a soldier, saw that it might be necessary to stand a siege, in which event a scarcity of water would be a serious inconvenience. The creek was near at hand; but they would be cut off from it in case of attack, and a supply must be secured before the appearance of the enemy.
He sent a squad of dragoons to the creek, with a guard of Crow Indians, to get water to fill all the vessels that were available for that purpose. Twice they went and returned in safety; but, the third time, while they were filling theirbuckets, a party of Arapahoes, who had been lurking in the timber, rose from their ambush, and poured into them a deadly fire. Three of the soldiers were killed outright, and one was severely wounded. The Crows, after an ineffectual attempt to make a stand, were driven back, with their white companions, toward the camp. The Arapahoes pursued them at once, and, as they were incumbered with their wounded comrade, their progress was slow and difficult.
This was the disturbance that had attracted the attention of Old Blaze. There was a call for volunteers, to go out and bring in the party, and there was no lack of men for the service. Silverspur and Old Blaze headed a number of Crows and white men, who leaped over the breastwork, and hastened to the rescue of their friends. They soon drove back the pursuing party, but found that their work was not half done. The Arapahoes came pouring out of the timber, and in a few minutes the whole plain was swarming with them, closing in upon the little band, and blocking up the path to the fort.
There was nothing for Silverspur and his party to do, but cut their way through their enemies, and they set at work to do so, with the courage of desperation. Facing to front and rear, with the wounded in the center, they fought each way, gradually nearing the fort. But the number of their enemies increased, and the Arapahoes, attacking violently with guns, arrows, lances and war-clubs, gave them no rest, and threatened to exterminate them.
They would be overwhelmed, unless they should receive succor from the camp, and against this the wily chief of the Arapahoes had provided, or thought he had provided, by sending a strong force to attack the camp on the other side. But Colonel Wilder, relying on his intrenchments to repel this assault, detached a party to sally out on the side next the creek, to the assistance of his son. They attacked so vigorously, that the Arapahoes were surprised and scattered, and Silverspur took advantage of the few moments of breathing time that were thus given him, to get his men within the breastwork.
Even then he accomplished his task with difficulty. The Arapahoes quickly rallied, and turned upon their foes withrenewed fury; striving to enter the camp with them. In this they were nearly successful, and the assault upon the other side of the camp received at the same time a fresh impetus.
If the attack had hitherto been desperate, it was now the extreme of desperation. Half the dragoons were killed or wounded, together with a number of the Crows, and the Arapahoes fought with such bravery and fury, that their antagonists, although aided by the breastwork, found it nearly impossible to keep them out of the camp. The contest quickly became one of hand to hand and foot to foot, and Old Blaze’s estimate of the strength and agility of the Arapahoes was fully confirmed. Guns and bows were soon thrown away, and even lances were discarded. The struggle was continued with war-clubs, tomahawks and knives, and even with teeth and nails, while the ground within and without the breastwork became slippery with blood.
Silverspur, by the most arduous exertions, kept his assailants out of the camp; but Colonel Wilder was less successful on his side, his men being gradually beaten back, until the Arapahoes came pouring in over the breastwork. The gallant old officer rallied them for a resolute charge, and dashed into the midst of the enemy, firing his pistols right and left, and opposing his sword to their battle-axes and tomahawks.
The blade of his sword was soon broken against the tough handle of a club, and, while he was thus disarmed, an athletic warrior, no less a personage than Black Horse himself, rushed upon him, seized him by the throat and bore him to the ground.
With tomahawk upraised, the chief was about to dash out the brains of his foe, and the next moment would have been the last of Colonel Wilder, had it not been for the prompt interposition of Dove-eye, who, having picked up a battle-ax, rushed in, and served the chief as he had expected to serve the officer. With the assistance of one of the Crows, she dragged the Colonel out of themélee, while the Arapahoes made a rush for the body of their chief, picked it up, and carried it over the breastwork. At the same time the Crows and white men charged so vigorously, that the camp was soon cleared of enemies.
The yells and wailing cries that followed told the Arapahoes that their chief had fallen, and they soon drew off, to the great relief of the defenders of the camp. As they went, they carried with them their dead and wounded, a proceeding which their foes were unable to prevent, although some of them would have been willing to prevent it.
The Crows and the few remaining white men were so exhausted by the deadly and protracted struggle that they were glad to throw themselves on the ground and rest, even before they could attend to their wounded and count up their losses. When these came to be considered, all was sadness and gloom in the camp; for many had fallen, and scarcely any had escaped wounds or scratches. No one believed that it would be possible to withstand another assault; but it was hoped that the death of Black Horse would prevent their enemies from attempting another.
This hope proved to be well founded; but the Arapahoes were not willing to abandon the scalps and the plunder for which they had fought so desperately, and which they yet hoped to gain. Relying on their superior numbers, they surrounded the camp, guarding all the approaches, and keeping up such a fire that the defenders could not show their heads above the breastwork. The latter, as long as they were not called upon to resist another assault, were contented to keep quiet, to bind up their wounds, and to prepare some food to strengthen their bodies.
Fred Wilder said nothing concerning Dove-eye’s achievement to his father; but it was not long before the latter brought up the subject.
“I had never believed,” said the old officer, “that I would be compelled to praise a woman for the possession of a quality which is supposed to belong specially to men; but it is certain that this—a—young woman has shown remarkable courage and presence of mind. She has saved my life twice this day, and I believe that she saved the lives of all of us who are still living. Those bloodthirsty Arapahoes were pressing us very hard, and I fear that they would have captured the camp, if it had not been for the death of their chief.”
“I hope,” replied Fred, “that she will not again be calledupon to use those qualities during this campaign, as it is too dangerous employment for my intended wife. But there are two other qualities which I am afraid she will be obliged to display, together with the rest of us—patience and endurance.”
Those qualities were, indeed, greatly needed in the camp; for the night wore away, and the next day and the next night, without any relaxation on the part of the Arapahoes of their strict watch and ward about the beleaguered garrison, who were obliged to keep cautiously on the alert. It was evidently their design to accomplish by siege and starvation the object which they had not effected by open assault. To add to the troubles of the besieged, their supply of water began to give out, although it was used as sparingly as possible.
On the morning of the third day it was entirely exhausted, and the pains of thirst began to be seriously felt in the little band. They were thinking of attempting at all hazards, to cut their way through their foes, when the keen eyes of Old Blaze caught sight of some objects at a distance, moving over the plain. Colonel Wilder examined them with his telescope, and pronounced them to be a body of white men. The American flag was hoisted, with the union down, as a signal of distress, and the moving objects soon began to verge toward the camp. The Arapahoes saw them coming, and, after sending scouts to ascertain who they were, speedily and prudently decamped.
The arrivals proved to be a large force of trappers, led by Captain Benning, who rode up to the camp in great glee, joyfully welcomed by the rescued band.