SURROUNDED BY KIOWAS 



little way down the ravine I saw something like a 

 wolf. It seemed to change its position a little sev- 

 eral times, but remained too long in one place to 

 be a wolf. 



I was considering going into the dugout to get 

 the field-glasses but had not yet moved when 

 suddenly a streak of fire, rocket-Hke, shot up from 

 the object I had been looking at, described a 

 graceful curve, and struck in the hay a few feet 

 from me. It was a fire-arrow shot by an Indian, 

 to set fire to the haystack. The Indian could not 

 have known that I was lying in the hay but 

 thought that by firing it he would draw me out of 

 the dugout and in the light of the fire would get 

 a good shot at me. 



I knew it would be folly to try to extinguish the 

 blaze that at once sprang up. I jumped up, gath- 

 ing blankets and buffalo robes in my arms, to run 

 across to the dugout, and as I rose and showed up 

 against the blaze I heard the crack of a rifle, and 

 felt the shock of a bullet in the bundle in my arms. 

 I was not hurt and dashed for the cabin door, and 

 as I entered on a run I heard the report of another 

 rifle from up the ravine and the spat of the bullet 

 on the door-frame. The hay was now burning 

 briskly, but I felt no anxiety for our horses in the 

 stable almost under the fire, for the thick dirt roof 

 protected them. 



I closed and barred the door and then scrambled 

 through the tunnel up into the tent and looked out 



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