Rocky Mountain Sam — page 121: what you’re looking at

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

119-5+= * ROCKY MOUNTAIN SAM. : ee range, but not without considerable demoralization and the loss of many of the flower of the tribe. The hunters gave a tremendous cheer—Big Horn alone was silent, ‘‘Wait an’ see,” said he, in answer to the questioning wonder his comrades cast upon him. Then turning to Dutton: ‘Have all the blankets of the command got to- gether, ” said he; ‘‘soak em in the river, and lay “em over the barricade.” Dutton was guick to catch his meaning, and gave the necessary order at once. ‘There was a good supply of blank- ets in the band, for they also had those of such of their companions who would never need them again, and the order was soon carried out, the blankets being thoroughly soaked, and then spread ont and fastened down as securely as the brief time would admit over the sharp branches of the barricade. They had scarcely completed the work before they were made to recognize the shrewdness and foresight that had suggested it, for the Indians again advanced, this time more warily and fewer abreast than before, each manin the front rank carryinga blazing brand gathered from the brush fires, The scene was a wild and weird one, neverto be forgot- ten by the beholder—the savage array, the hideous cries and.gestures, the flickering torches lighting up the grim and painted faces and forms with aghastly gleam. Butthe little band, nothing daunted, continued to pour in their deadly volleys, while the brands which the Indians man- aged to throw upon the barricade soon smoked themselves out upon the wet blankets, harmlessly enough, though the steam and smoke that were blown into the defenders’ faces were far from pleasant. But a portion of the Indians in the van, exasperated at being foiled a second time, gathered themselves together and made a rush upon the defenses with some success, for the blankets which had protected the works from confla- gration served also to blunt the sharp points of the jagged boughs, and enable the ponies to leap forward in and among them. ‘Upon them! Give ’em no time to breathe!” shouted their leader, suiting the action tothe word, by leaping half (eco) GEomicbooks