Tell me what has happened."
The cowboys crowded around, and listened eagerly while Bert gave an
account of the attack by the Indians and its result. When he had
finished, but before anybody had time to say anything, the corporal, who
commanded the escort, broke in: "From the way he tells it," he said, "you
might imagine that it had been a good deal less of a fight than it was.
But we counted over twenty dead redskins, besides a lot that were more
or less badly wounded. It must have been _some_ shindy, take it from me."
"I'm sure proud of you boys," exclaimed Mr. Melton, with glistening eyes;
"but I'm not so much surprised, after all. I always knew you were grit
clear through, anyhow."
"Oh, there was nothing very wonderful about it," disclaimed Bert. "We had
to fight, whether we wanted to or not. It wasn't a matter of choice."
"Well, we won't argue the matter," smiled Mr. Melton; "what you need now
is food and rest and a little nursing. We'll ride back home just as soon
as we can, where you'll get plenty of all three. I guess we won't need to
trouble you any more," he continued, addressing the corporal commanding
the detachment; "there's enough of us here to hold our own in case of an
attack, I think.
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