the first grove gathering plums, or that Wise had reached the post and given the alarm, so that help would soon come to them.  Captain Mitchell fired his rifle once or twice, to attract the attention of any persons who might be in the plum grove, but there was no response, and Anderson drove rapidly on.

The Indians now began to close in upon the ambulance from all sides.  They would ride swiftly by a few yards distant, and, swinging themselves behind the neck and shoulders of their ponies, fire arrows or balls into the wagon.  Two of the sick men had already been wounded, and Captain Mitchell, finding it impossible to defend them while the ambulance was in motion, the shaking continually destroying his aim, ordered Anderson to drive to the top of the hill near by, and they would fight it out with the redskins.  Cramer now took the lines, when, either through fear or because he did not believe in the policy of stopping, he kept straight on.  Captain Mitchell twice ordered Cramer to pull up, but, as he paid no attention, he told Anderson to take the lines from him.  In attempting to obey the Captain’s order, Anderson lost his footing and fell out of the wagon.  The Captain now sprang forward, put his foot on the brake to lock the wheels, when a sudden lurch of the wagon caused him to lose his balance, and he fell headlong on the prairie.  Fortunately, he alighted near a deep gully, where the water had cut out the bank, and, rolling himself into it, he looked out and saw Anderson crawling into a bunch of bushes near by.  When these accidents happened, the ambulance had just crossed over the crest of a little hill, and, as the Indians had not come over as yet, they did not see either of the men fall from the wagon.  The Captain had only two revolvers, but Anderson’s gun, a Spencer rifle, had been thrown out with him, and he picked it up and took it into the bushes.

In a few moments the Indians came up, riding very fast, and the main body crossed the ravine near where Captain Mitchell lay.  Some of them jumped their horses directly over the spot where he was concealed, but in a few moments they were gone, and soon had disappeared behind the neighbouring divide, leaving the Captain and Anderson to their own reflections.  What to do was the next question.  That the Indians would overtake the ambulance, kill all its occupants, and return, the Captain had not a doubt.  He determined to go down the ravine, and, calling Anderson to follow, started off.  He had already crawled some distance when, hearing the clatter of horses’ hoofs, he peeped over the edge of his cover, and saw about seventy-five Indians riding directly up to where he was concealed.  Giving himself up for lost, he lay down, drawing his revolvers and preparing them for action, for he was determined not to let the savages have his scalp without making a desperate resistance.  The warriors came up, and, dismounting within thirty yards of him, began a lively conversation.