Hopkins
through a back window, and a moment later Mr. Hudson looked out of a
back door and raised his hat. I was glad to see that his college
career was still a possibility.
Hurrying back to the ambulance, I caused the animals to be grouped in
charge of the driver and two soldiers, and with the rest of the detail
moved in the direction of the ranch buildings.
It had become so dark that we might possibly have passed over the open
space without being seen, but, for fear of accidents, we covered it,
as Frank had done, on all fours. The first persons I met when I rose
to a vertical position were Hudson and Frank, who took me to Mr.
Hopkins. The ranchman greeted me with the assurance that the arrival
of my party was a godsend, and had probably saved their scalps.
I learned that the men at Date Creek, including the mail-carrier,
numbered seven; that three were in the stable and four in the house.
These buildings were the same distance from the stream, and fifty feet
apart. The bank of the creek was perpendicular for a mile either way,
standing fully twelve feet above the surface of the water; but there
was a notch with a sloping descent, midway between the buildings, down
which the live-stock was driven to water.
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