"They have tried the blanket, and finding that was not disturbed, they're
going to send down one of their number, thinking that if Mickey does see
it he'll believe it is the same blanket, and won't fire at it, because he
didn't fire at the other."

It looked very venturesome upon the part of the warrior thus to enter the
lion's den. But while, as a rule, the Indians of the Southwest are
treacherous and cowardly, there are occasional instances in which they
show an intrepidity equal to that of the most daring white scouts.

When everything was arranged to the satisfaction of all, three of the most
stalwart Apaches braced themselves, with the lasso grasped between them,
while a fourth carefully piloted the body over the edge of the opening,
and began slowly lowering it to the bottom.

The bravest man, placed in the position of the enwrapped redskin could not
have avoided some tremor, when he knew that he was hanging in midair, in
plain view of the rifleman who had separated the thong which supported the
blanket in the first attempt. The Indian must have experienced strange
emotions; but if he did, he gave no evidence. He remained as passive as a
log, his purpose being to imitate the appearance of the first bundle.

"Now, if Mickey let's that go down without sending a bullet through it, he
hasn't got one half the sense that I think he has."

Fred was hasty and impatient at the seeming success which marked
everything that the red-skins undertook. He looked and listened for some
evidence that the Irishman was "there;" but no dull, subterranean report
told him of the fatal rifle-shot, while the three Apaches continued