There was but little firing--the
defenders nursing their slender stock, the savages biding their time.
When night shut down the latter became bolder, and taunted cruelly
those destined to become so soon their hapless victims. Twice the
maddened men fired recklessly at those dancing devils, and one pitched
forward, emitting a howl of pain that caused his comrades to cower once
again behind their covers. One and all these frontiersmen recognized
the inevitable--before dawn the end must come. No useless words were
spoken; the men merely clinched their teeth and waited.
Hampton crept closer in beside the girl while the shadows deepened, and
ventured to touch her hand. Perhaps the severe strain of their
situation, the intense loneliness of that Indian-haunted twilight, had
somewhat softened her resentment, for she made no effort now to repulse
him.
"Kid," he said at last, "are you game for a try at getting out of this?"
She appeared to hesitate over her answer, and he could feel her
tumultuous breathing. Some portion of her aversion had vanished. His
face was certainly not an unpleasant one to look upon, and there were
others other sex who had discovered in it a covering for a multitude of
sins.
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