Here Kut-le stepped between the two.

“Hello, Mr. Porter,” he said.

Billy stepped back and a look of loathing and anger took the place of the joy that had been in his eyes before.

“You Apache devil!” he growled.  “You ain’t as smart as you thought you were!”

Rhoda ran forward and would have taken Porter’s hand but Kut-le restrained her with his hand on her shoulder.

“Where did you come from, Billy?” cried Rhoda.  “Where are the others?”

Billy’s face cleared a little at the sound of the girl’s voice.

“They are right handy, Miss Rhoda.”

“I’ll give you a few details, Rhoda,” said Kut-le coolly.  “You see he is without water and his mouth is black with thirst.  He started to trail Injun Tom but got lost and stumbled on us.”

Rhoda gave a little cry of pity and running into the cave she brought Billy a brimming cup of water.

“Is that true, Billy?” she asked.  “Are the others near here?”

Billy nodded then drained the cup and held it out for more.

“They are just around the corner!” with a glance at Kut-le, who smiled skeptically.

“Oh!” exclaimed Rhoda.  “What terrible trouble I have made you all!”

“You made!” said Porter.  “Well that’s good!  Still, that Apache devil doesn’t seem to have harmed you.  Just the same, he’ll get his!  If I shot him now, the other Injuns would get me and God knows what would happen to you!”

“Whom do you call an Apache devil?” asked Kut-le.  Rhoda never had seen him show such evident anger.

“You, by Judas!” replied Porter, looking into the young Indian’s face.

For a strained moment the two eyed each other, hatred glaring at hatred, until Rhoda put a hand on Kut-le’s arm.  His face cleared at once.

“So that’s my reputation now, is it?” he said lightly.

“That’s your reputation!” sneered Billy.  “Do you think that’s all?  Why, don’t you realize that you can’t live in your own country again?  Don’t you know that the whites will hunt you out like you was a rat?  Don’t you realize that the folks that believed in you and was fond of you has had to give up their faith in you?  Don’t you understand that you’ve lost all your white friends?  But I suppose that don’t mean anything to an Injun!”

A look of sadness passed over Kut-le’s face.

“Porter,” he said very gently, “I counted on all of that before I did this thing.  I thought that the sacrifice was worth while, and I still think so.  I’m sorry, for your sake, that you stumbled on us here.  We are going to start on the trail shortly and I must send you out to be lost again.  I’ll let Alchise help you in the job.  As you say, I have sacrificed everything else in life; I can’t afford to let anything spoil this now.  You can rest for an hour.  Eat and drink and fill your canteen.  Take a good pack of meat and tortillas.  You are welcome to it all.”