62 IN THE OLD WEST 



they approached a clump of bushes about forty 

 yards from tlic spot where the unconscious savages 

 were seated smoking round the fire; and here they 

 awaited, scarcely drawing breath the while, the 

 moment when the moon rose above the mountain 

 into the clear cold sky, and gave them light suffi- 

 cient to make sure their work of bloody retribu- 

 tion. Not a pulsation in the hearts of these stem 

 determined men beat higher than its wont ; not the 

 tremor of a nerve disturbed their frame. They 

 stood with lips compressed and rifles ready, their 

 pistols loosened in their belts, their scalp-knives 

 handy to their grip. The lurid glow of the com- 

 ing moon already shot into the sky above the 

 ridge, which stood out in bold relief against the 

 light ; and the luminary herself just peered over 

 the mountain, illuminating its pine-clad summit, 

 and throwing her beams on an opposite peak, when 

 Killbuck touched his companion's arm, and whis- 

 pered, " Wait for the full light, boy." 



At this moment, however, unseen by the trap- 

 per, the old grizzled mule had gradually ap- 

 proached, as she fed along the plateau ; and, when 

 within a few paces of their retreat, a gleam of 

 moonshine revealed to the animal the erect forms 

 of the two whites. Suddenly she stood still and 

 pricked her ears, and stretching out her neck and 

 nose, snuffed the air. Well she knew her old 

 master. 



Killbuck, with eyes fixed upon the Indians, was 



