By this time Ned Chadmund was pretty well frightened. Corporal Hugg had said enough to convince him that they were in the greatest danger of the whole journey. The lieutenant¹ drew his men close together, and two of the most experienced scouts² rode a short distance in advance of the others, glancing from side to side, and on the watch for the first signs of the approach of Indians.  
The sides of the pass as already shown, were high and precipitous, so that there was no possibility of escape except by going backward or forward. Furthermore, the canyon⁴, as it must have been at some distant day, wound in and out in such a fashion that there were many places where it was impossible to see more than a hundred yards in front or rear. There was no conversation between the soldiers, and even the corporal spoke⁵ in a lower tone to his young friend.
 
"If anything does happen," he said, looking down in the handsome upturned face, "I want you to behave yourself, Ned."
 
"Don't I always do it?"
 
"I should say not!" was the emphatic⁶ response. "Haven't I ordered you to stay in the wagon⁷, and then looked round to see you slipping out while I was talking to you? But things are different now. If you see anything unusual, or hear rifle balls whizzing about you, don't go to poking⁸ your head out to see what the matter is."
 
"What shall I do, then?" asked the boy, who was really desirous of following the directions of his friend.
 
"Just lie down in the bottom of the ambulance and wait till I tell you to get up again. The sides are bullet-proof, and there ain't any danger of your getting hurt there."
 
The afternoon was drawing to a close, and the high walls, rising up on each side, so shut out the rays of the sun, that a somber⁹ twilight¹⁰ gloom filled Devil's Pass; a deep, oppressive heaviness was in the atmosphere, that seemed in keeping with the place which had been the scene of so many tragedies, which was now entered with more or less misgiving¹¹ upon the part of the entire company.
 
"I'd make a journey of two hundred miles extra if there was any way of gitting around this infernal place," said the lieutenant; "but as there isn't, all we can do is to push ahead."
 
It was about half an hour after the warning words of the corporal to the lad, and the eyes of the entire company were fixed¹² upon the lieutenant and his comrade, who were riding a short distance in advance. All at once they were seen to rein¹⁴ up their horses simultaneously¹⁵, as if something in front had caught their attention. As by a common impulse, the others did the same, and breathlessly awaited the next signal. It came in a dozen seconds. While the hunter and his mustang remained motionless, the lieutenant wheeled his horse about, and rode back and the others noticed that his face was pale and expressive¹⁶ of great alarm.
 
"I knew we shouldn't get through here without a fight. There's a whole pack of Indians ahead of us. Jake, take a turn back a short distance and see whether they have fixed it so as to shut us in."
 
The man addressed turned to do as ordered, while the others anxiously awaited his report. He was another Indian fighter, who knew precisely¹⁷ what to do, and he was gone but a short time when he came thundering back, calling out the instant he came in view around a curve in the pass:
 
"We're in for the biggest scrimmage of our lives! There's five hundred Apaches coming up the pass, and they'll be here inside of ten minutes."
 
The man who made this terrifying announcement was not one given to exaggeration, and, although he might have overestimated¹⁸ the number in this case, every one of his hearers knew that an overwhelming force was in their rear, and, whatever they did to save themselves, the last thing to be thought of was to turn back.
 
Scarcely had the news been announced when the scout³ from the other direction galloped²⁰ back.
 
"Well, what is it?" asked the lieutenant.
 
"Some of the redskins are ahead of us, that's certain."
 
"What tribe?"
 
"The Jiccarilla Apaches, I think; the worst set of scamps this side of the Llano Estacado."
 
"How many?"
 
"I can't make out more than a dozen, and there may be less."
 
A hasty consultation²¹ was held, and all agreed that the appearance of these few Indians in front was for the purpose of turning the party back upon the main force in the rear. Consequently, the proper course was to charge ahead, fighting their way, if necessary, through those before them, and keeping all the distance possible between themselves and the war party coming down from the opposite direction. Only a few seconds were necessary to form............