A CHASE. 343 



he imperatively ordered them back, a command they com- 

 plied with in the most sulky manner possible. 



The attacking party, diverging as they ran, took the water 

 about thirty yards apart, and plunging into the cover on 

 the other side, were instantly lost to view. They could 

 only conjecture each other's whereabouts by the firing, but 

 that was so fast as to be almost continuous. The pursuit 

 was pushed on with the utmost rapidity that the nature of 

 the ground admitted; the assailants firing whenever they 

 obtained the slightest glimpse of an Indian, or, from the 

 crashing and swaying of the brush, knew where one of them 

 was plunging through it. Though there were only four 

 guns at work they were magazine ones, in the hands of old 

 bush-fighters and expert shots, men well acquainted with 

 their weapons, and the brush appeared to be actually alive 

 with sharpshooters. 



The holder of the horses had a good view of what was 

 going on. He was in an elevated position, that looked 

 over and on the broken ground where the fight was pro- 

 gressing. He could see the flying Indians and their pur- 

 suers, as they darted across or ran up tjie different glades 

 and openings in the cover. And he stood an interested 

 spectator, with his cocked revolver in his hand, ready to 

 fire the recall signal as a warning sign, should any of the 

 Indians sufficiently recover their confidence to get together 

 and make a stand in force, or halt in ambush to shoot his 

 comrades. But the savages seemed too scattered and de- 

 moralised to make any such attempt occasionally to turn 

 half round as they ran, and discharge arrows in the 

 direction of their pursuers, being about the extent of their 



