“You ought to be ashamed of yourself.  You’re lucky if Professor Zepplin doesn’t give you another dose of hot drops for this.  I suppose these Indians sat down to rob you,” growled Tad.

“No, no, no,” protested Juan.

By this time the Indian gamblers had leaped to their feet, an ugly light in their eyes that boded ill for the Pony Rider Boy who had interrupted them in the process of fleecing the Mexican.

With one accord they barred the way in a solid human wall.  Tad found himself hemmed in on all sides.  It had been easy to gain an entrance to the circle, but getting out of it was another matter.

“This man belongs to me,” he said with as much courage in his tone as he was able to command.  “You will please step aside and let us go.  You’re breaking the law.  If you offer any resistance I’ll have the government officers after you in short order.”

He could not have said a worse thing under the circumstances.  At first they took him for a spy, possibly a Government spy.  Now they were sure of it, for had not the lad told them so himself?

With a growl, one who appeared to be the most important personage in the group drew his sheath knife and sprang straight at the slender figure of Tad Butler.

Tad acted without an instant’s hesitation.

Stepping aside quickly; he cleverly avoided the knife-thrust.  At the same instant, while the Indian was off his balance, not yet having recovered from the lunge, the Pony Rider Boy’s fist and the Indian’s jaw met in sudden collision.

The impact of the blow might have been heard more than a rod away.

The red man’s blanket dropped from his shoulders; he staggered backward, made a supreme effort to pull himself together, then dropped in a heap at the feet of the boy who had felled him.

Without waiting for the astonished red gamblers to recover their wits, Tad grasped an arm of the Mexican and sprang away into the bushes.

He had done a serious thing, even though in self-protection.  He had knocked down an Apache brave with his fist.  The sting of that blow would rest upon the savage jaw until the insult was wiped out by the victim himself.

CHAPTER VI

 The fire dance of the red men

The Indians made a sudden move to pursue the lad who had done so daring a thing.  One of their number restrained them, pointing to the fallen brave, as much as to say, “Revenge is for him!”

With a shrug of their shoulders the Indians sank down and resumed their game as stoically as before.  They gave no further heed to the unconscious Apache, who still lay just outside the circle where he had been knocked out by Tad’s blow.

“Hurry!  Hurry!” commanded the lad, fairly dragging his companion along.  “They’ll be after us in a minute.”

Yet before the minute had elapsed Tad had halted suddenly, his wondering eyes fixed upon the scene that was being enacted before him.