The braves who guarded them, in spite of the exciting nature of the fight, stood stolid and calm at the posts assigned to them in front of the girls, for the rear was a wall of solid rock. So far as the expression on their faces went, it seemed as if it mattered nothing to them how the fight went. May would have questioned them if she could have done so, for she thought that their experienced eyes told them which side was so far victorious, but unfortunately she could not speak their language. Suddenly one of the braves turned, and his face showed anxiety. He seemed to have heard something to alarm him, for his eyes ranged back to the rocks in their rear. Almost at the same instant a sharp volley from unseen riflemen came rattling from the back, and the four braves were stretched out dead on the ground. A band of white men, only six in number, with evil, repulsive faces, which indicated that they were ruffians of the worst type, came rushing forward from among the rocks at the point where the stream came trickling from above. “Gals! White gals--and beauties, my boys!” shouted their leader, as he sprang forward. CHAPTER XXIII. UTES AGAINST SNAKES. “The trail is hot now!” cried Buffalo Bill, as the sight of the distant plains met his eyes once more and he saw the stones yet damp where the water had dripped from the Indians’ horses as they had crossed and emerged from a brook. “We’ll soon have the rascals before us, and then we’ll have the girls and teach the redskins a lesson they badly need. We’ll give them a hot time if we can do it without risking the girls’ lives.” “There’s a hot time going on already. Look down there!” said Wild Bill, who was ahead and had halted on the crest of a steep descent. He pointed to the valley, where all who were up to him could now see that a terrible Indian fight was going on. “Good!” cried Buffalo Bill. “It’s dog eat dog. We’ll let them fight it out, and then we’ll settle with the winners.” “But the girls? Where are they?” asked Mainwaring anxiously. “Hidden away, most likely, while the fight is going on. They are not there, so far as I can see.” He had been looking over the scene through his field glasses. “If we had any men we could spare or risk I’d like to take a hand in that fight,” the border king remarked, after a few moments. “Those are Snakes who are fighting the Utes, and they’re getting the worst of it, too--but that’s not our lookout. The Utes have got the girls--that we know quite well--and they have most likely hidden them up here in the hills somewhere under guard.” “Let us look for them!” said Mainwaring eagerly. “Not till we see how the fight ends; then we can be ready to play our own hand,” replied Buffalo Bill quietly. “Look back, pard, and tell me what that means!” exclaimed Wild Bill, whose eyes, ever wandering about, had caught sight of several columns of smoke rising away to the north.