As yet Major Reno's men had had no suspicion of the awful calamity that had overtaken Custer and his three hundred men. So confident of success had the general been, that he divided what troops he had, so as to inclose the Indian village. When they galloped away, it was the last that had been seen of them. True, some firing had been heard several miles away, long continued, as though an obstinate battle was in progress; but this had died away by evening. Opinions differed, as they always will among many men. Some felt sure that Custer had defeated the Indians, marched on the village, and that any moment they might expect to see a huge bonfire in progress. Others of a more reflective nature looked at the matter in a more serious light, thinking it not improbable that dashing Custer himself had been the sufferer, and that he would find it difficult to join them; but none ever suspected the horrible truth even for a moment. That five companies of the bravest men in the old Seventh should have been completely swept out of existence was something almost preposterous. When Pandy found himself gazing upon this scene, he began pinching himself, uncertain whether to believe his eyes or not. "Lord help us, what's ther world comin' to, I'd like ter know? Wen these hyar reds gobble up ther bravest gineral az ever drew breath wid all his men, and then squat down round ther rest as if ther meal warn't complete, it's time ole Uncle Samuel war wakin' up. Blast my hide, ole Sitting Bull must be extarminated for this. I shall never hev any peace in life till it's done. But looky hyar now, ole man, bizness must be 'tended to. Ye'd like ter be wid Reno an' his men yonder, so az ter share in ther fun. Don't see any other way o' gittin' round it. Needs must wen ther devil drives, az ther feller sez. Now, jest show us wat ye kin do at this advanced period o' life in this line." Communing with himself in his way the ranger began descending the elevation from which he had seen at the same time as much and as little. The valley below looked forbidding, but to a man of Pandy's nature, and who had so recently passed through such a horrible affair, a thing like this did not serve to daunt in the least. Soon he found himself gulfed in the darkness; the shots came from above him, and ten minutes after quitting his post of observation, an eagle's eyrie as it seemed, the trapper was cautiously making his way upward again. There were manifold sources of danger on all sides against which he was compelled to guard himself. In every red warrior (and the hill actually swarmed with them) he had a deadly foe as a white man, and an inveterate one as the only Pandy Ellis. Besides there was a chance that the gallant boys above, deeming every moving object an enemy, would either fire upon him, or use their sabers as he attempted to mount the breastworks. It was a risky business, but one in which Pandy delighted.