Rocky Mountain Sam — page 119: what you’re looking at

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

110 ROCKY MOUNTAIN SAM. Toward morning the thunder and electric flashes ceased, and the wind almost died away, but the sky remained as black as ink. Still there was no sign of a fresh attack, until at last the brush fires again began to glitter upon the outer plain, and the sentinels came running in with the report that all the Indians were on the move, and evidently preparing for an assault. ‘It’s an old fool’s dodge of these ere Blackfeet Injins,”’ said Big Horn, ‘‘to build fires to show *em the way to fight, an’ make fust-rate marks of themselves. Let “em come on, cap, we are ready.” The brush-fires began to cast a lurid glow through the gloom, and in addition to this the whole northern heavens began to gleam with a brilliant, rnddy hue from one of those electric causes which occasionally accompany, or 1m- mediately follow, these dry hurricanes in the North West during the spring months. “There they come!” at length shouted one of the men, and they could see the long, dusky lines of the savage war- riors, filing toward the narrow pass, riding about ten or twelve abreast, and their weapons glittering in the ghastly light. 3 Keep cool!” called out the lieutenant; ‘‘they’ll find our barricade a little more troublesome to pass than they did this morning.” | his was quite true, the hunters having spent several hours in felling the fir-trees across the pass, so that even outside of the barricade first built, there was a space of per- haps thirty feet covered with the trunks and branches of trees carefully trimmed in a pointed manner, to repel ap- ‘proach, and through which it was next to impossible for a horseman to press his way. “<l'har’s one leetle mistake we’ve make, I hope they won’t find out,” muttered Big Horn, through his clenched teeth. ‘What is it?” said Dutton, who had overheard him. ‘‘But never mind, I see what you mean,” with a meaning glance from the heaped up fir-boughs to the distant fires. ““That’s it; but don’t let the men know it. Now fur a fust shot.” | Big Horn reared his giant frame above the tree trunks and threw his gun to his shoulder. very one smiled in- credulously, for, besides the garish, uncertain light, the (@) ¢om 900 .S CO nN