The troopers fired a broadside. Four of the robbers dropped under the fire, and two more ran away screaming. Cody had picked out Bennett, and intended to wound or kill him; but the wily scoundrel seemed to fear some game just as the dummy was yanked by Danforth from the tree. He leaped away and dodged behind a boulder before the first shot from the party in ambush was fired. As the echoes of the first round from the troopers died away Boyd Bennett raised an ear-splitting yell of defiance. It was a war-whoop that the redskins in the rear evidently understood. They answered from the valley, and, although the soldiers had succeeded in placing so many of the bandits hors de combat at their first fire, Danforth whistled almost instantly for his men to retire. “Did you wing Bennett, Cody?” asked the young lieutenant. “No. The scaly rascal left his men to bear the brunt of the trouble, and he’s under shelter half-way down the hill.” “Can’t we get him?” “With those reds tearing up to his aid?” “Oh, by thunder, Bill! I hoped to either kill the scoundrel or bring him in.” “So did I.” “But we can’t risk staying here longer.” “You’re right there, Dick. Come on. The men have gone.” The scout and the lieutenant followed their men down the hill. And none too soon, for the redskins soon found that their white brethren had been outwitted by the soldiers, and they came tearing along the valley trail to try and head the refugees off. They were not successful in that, however. Every trooper came in, they mounted at the command, and with fresh horses under them soon outdistanced all pursuit. “It’s getting too lively for us,” said Buffalo Bill, in disgust. “We can’t chance it with such a small force. I hate to give it up; but we must.” “We’ll keep on if you say the word, scout,” said Danforth. “You’d ride straight into the jaws of hell if you thought there’d be a fight, Dick,” said Cody. “But discretion is the better part of valor in this case.” “I hate to give Bennett up,” grumbled the younger man. “So do I. But it can’t be helped.” “When I get back to Resistence I’m going to ask Colonel Royal to give me a roving commission to hunt the scoundrel down.” Neither of them realized at the time what the putting of this decision into practise would amount to in the end. CHAPTER XXIV. CHASED BY THE FLAMES. The welcome that greeted the Border King upon his return to Fort Advance was proof of his popularity, and of the admiration the garrison held him in. That his coolness and wisdom had saved the paymaster’s money-box from capture by the bandits, and so made it unnecessary for the boys in blue to endure another long wait for their pay, added not a little to their feeling for the scout.