KIT CAREY'S RESOLVE.

At first a thrill of joy ran through the heart of Jennie Woodbridge, as she is now known to be, when she saw that Lieutenant Carey was in pursuit.

But when a bend in the trail placed the Sioux in a position to see their pursuers well, she discovered how small was the force the officer had with him, and at once she felt the greatest dread of evil befalling him.

If she could have warned him back she would have done so, and she rode along by the side of the Sioux chief plotting in her mind to suddenly dash away, and by making her escape thus prevent Lieutenant Carey from running into an ambush.

Whether the chief suspected her intention or not, he suddenly leaned forward and took her bridle rein in his firm grasp.

Pretending to misunderstand it, she said, as calmly as she could:

"No, my horse will not fall, Red Hatchet, you need not hold the rein."

"Horse very fast, and if he ran away Indian pony could not catch him," was the significant response.

At last the Sioux chief saw where he could gain his advantage.

There was a ridge ahead, the trail leading through a ravine, and beyond the country was rolling, seamed with canons and ridges, with rocks and a stunted growth of trees visible upon every side.

By letting two of his braves dash on with his captive, after entering the ravine, he could, with the rest of his force, dismount from their ponies and go into an ambush, where he could check the pursuit very suddenly, and if he could only kill the white captain of the redskin soldiers he would feel no dread of his men.

And so the chief planned, while Jennie turned white with dread, and yet could but obey the command of Red Hatchet to ride on.

He had called two of his warriors up, and ordering one to place himself upon either side of her, bade them push on until they reached the shelter of the Bad Lands, when they were to await his coming.

He had no idea of allowing the captive to enter the retreat of the hostiles, unless he was with her to claim his prize.

"I will bring the Snow Flower the scalp of the pale-face captain that caught the Red Hatchet with his death rope," he said, referring to his capture with the lariat by Kit Carey, and speaking in the boastful tone so often used by the Indians.

"The white captain did not kill the Red Hatchet, but let him go. Would the chief kill one who was his friend?" asked Jennie, earnestly.

"Yes," was the reply. "The white captain is the foe of my people. The Red Hatchet saw him capture the mighty Chief Sitting Bull, and kill him, and again he saw him kill the braves of Chief Big Foot in the fight at Wounded Knee. The Red Hatchet has a heart, and his heart bleeds for the dead Sioux, whom the white captain has killed. When his scalp is here, then will the Sioux be happy!" and he patted his belt, where, in anticipation, he already beheld the scalp of Lieutenant Carey. "Now, let the Snow Flower go on with my horses," said the chief a moment after, as they dashed into the ravine.

Jennie could but obey, and as she sped on the Sioux and his braves threw themselves from their ponies, which went on under the lead of four warriors.

The balance of the band quickly sought cover and lay in ambush.

But the minutes went by, and the clatter of prancing hoofs did not break upon the ears of the ambushed savages.

The "white captain" was too old an Indian fighter to be caught in a trap, and so had come to a halt.

Where he had halted, too, was amid a pile of rocks at the crossing of a small creek, susceptible of being well defended, and with water for his men and their horses.

He had not blindly run into the trap set for him by Red Hatchet, for he had seen through it.

Realizing that he could not overtake the chief in the country they had then reached, when half a dozen men in ambush could keep five times their number at bay, he had halted among the rocks, and given his men and horses a rest.

Night was not very far away, and he intended to play a game of cunning, too.

So he halted, and in a position that would give the Sioux the idea that he intended remaining there.

The Cheyennes felt perfect confidence in their leader, and set to work to fortify, or appear to do so, as though they expected an attack from the Sioux as soon as night came on.

Red Hatchet saw that his enemy was too cunning to be caught in his trap, and he gnashed his teeth with rage.

So anxious was he to fulfill his word, and carry in the scalp of the white captain, that he made up his mind to carry the camp soon after nightfall, or, at least, during the night.

If they crept near in different squads, and then made a rush all together, the small force of Kit Carey could never check them, Red Hatchet argued to himself.

He saw the position taken by the officer, marked well its approach, and then reconnoitred its advantage and disadvantage for an attack.

He saw that the Cheyennes were working hard under their white captain to make the place strong against attack that night, and he began to make his preparations to rush in upon them under cover of the darkness.

But Red Hatchet was pitted against a man who had on many an occasion "out-Injuned Injun," as they have it out on the plains, and who had been reared to meet cunning with cunning, knife with knife, and nerve with nerve.

While it was yet light Kit Carey sat down among the rocks, and with the aid of a small glass and two of his Cheyennes as valets, began to make his toilet as an Indian medicine chief.

He had made the firm resolve to go into the Bad Lands, enter the retreat of the hostiles, and solve the mystery of their force and all about them, while as a pretended Sioux he could also better aid the escape of the captive of Red Hatchet.

His toilet was made with a care that proved he knew well how much depended upon it, and when he was ready the robe of a medicine man was thrown over his shoulders to complete his toilet.

Then, when the first shadows of night fell he led his red soldiers away from the little fort they had made, they were given certain orders, and with but two followers he made a flank movement of the position held by Red Hatchet, and moved toward the Bad Lands.