In Barracks and Wigwam — page 166: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

us finish us.’ 156 Lured to Destruction. — back they started into sight, outlined sharply against the gray sky-line. Back behind the troopers—in the direc- tion that led to safety and the main column—the braves were swarming down into the valley from both sides. “This is terrible,” groaned Linn, “but it’s not my fault. 1 took all the precautions I could.”’ “That’s right, corporal,” cried Private Stokes. “You're not to blame.” “Of course not,” echoed Grant. “You sent Reily and me to reconnoitre on both flanks, and the major himself would have done no more with so small a party. But I swear I don’t know where the Sioux came from. They must have been lying low in the little hollows and bushes beyond the ridge to the right.” “And it was the same way over on the left,” cried Reily. ‘The devils let us ride well past before they showed them- selves. It was a cleverly planned trap, and that smoke was meant to lead us into it.” “And we're in sure enough,” said a trooper, while two others long and loudly cursed Captain Norman. “None of that, men,’ Linn sternly commanded. “This is no time for blame or censure. We're in a bad scrape, and | confess I don’t see much show for saving our scalps. But if theré’s any chance at all it’s to make a dash for the ravine, and find a sheltered place where we can stand a siege till help cames. I know I was ordered not to enter, but under the circumstances fs “There may be more of the devils hidden up in there, ~ sir,’ interrupted Dawnay, orie of the oldest of the troop- ers, “and they’d like nothing better than to lure us in ~ among the rocks and timber, where we wouldn’t even be able to fire.a decent shot. They know that if we make ~ a stand nore a lot of them will bite the dust before they % “But in the end every man of | us will Be: ‘comic Be Gi al =