He had thanked his host and hostess for their kind hospitality, and urged upon Mrs. Bernard to appeal to her husband to at once leave their home for a place of safety. "Many have done so who could not afford it by any means, for they left their all to destruction, and Mr. Bernard should not risk the lives of those he loves to stay here," said the officer. And from Mrs. Bernard came the calm rejoinder that they did not care to desert their home, for then all would be destroyed, while they held not the slightest dread of the Sioux. "Blind fools!" came from between the teeth of the soldier, and in saying farewell to Jennie he again urged the necessity of getting her parents to depart. "Father is determined to remain, and his word is my mother's law," was the reply. "Has your brother no influence with your father?" "He, too, urges that we remain, for he has perfect confidence in the Indians," was the reply, and Kit Carey could not but observe the look of sadness that came over the lovely face of this young girl, hidden away upon the frontier, almost within the very camps of the Indians. It was with a feeling of deep regret and a foreboding of evil that he bade her good-by, and rode away from the cabin home. "Well, that is the strangest household I ever saw," he mused, as he rode along. "That man Bernard is a mystery, for he has seen better days, and he's educated and well informed. He has money, and yet is willing to remain here, hiding his wife, child, and son in a wilderness. His wife is a lady, yet blindly follows his will. His son is of a morose nature, and better suited to this wild life than any of them. But the girl? There's the rub, for she has it in her to reign as a belle in a New York salon. She has been well educated by her parents I cannot but admit. Yet, she is as wild as a deer, too, for she goes about the country like an Indian, ropes cattle as only a cowboy can, runs like a Comanche, and is not only armed, but can use her weapons. I am so glad to find I was all wrong about my belief that she loved that Red Hatchet; but her protection of him deceived me. But must this beautiful girl be left to the mercy of these red fiends, for between the Bernard home and the Bad Lands, where lie thousands of Indians, there is no barrier. No, I will do all I can to protect them, as the stubbornness of Bernard will not allow him to save himself and family." The night's rest and good food had refreshed both himself and horse, and he soon went at a more rapid pace, until he reached a position about on a line with his encircling Indian scouts. Then he branched off to the left, and kept up the same pace for miles. At last he came to a secure hiding-place, and here he found one of his squads of Indian cavalry.[2] They were seven in number, had kept themselves thoroughly in hiding, except that by night two of their number had been off on a scout to the Bad Lands.