But the night wore on, without anything out of the ordinary occurring, and Dick even began to imagine that his fears must have been groundless. Still, he could not regret having taken precautions; for it paid to be on the safe side always. Then he suddenly sat upright. His manner indicated that his quick ears had caught some sound, however trifling, that seemed out of the common, and therefore, under the circumstances, suspicious. It was as if a stone had been dislodged somewhere up on the little ridge, and in rattling down the side, caused a small avalanche. Still, a roving animal might have been the cause. Dick turned his eyes upward. The top of the ridge happened to be devoid of undergrowth, and was sharply outlined against the starry heavens. One of the greatest of the planets was just about to set, and hovered above the ridge, as if on the point of sending out the last flickering gleam before dropping from sight. Even as the boy sat there and looked, he saw something pass before this bright star. It was erect, and on two feet, therefore not an animal; moreover, Dick had seen the flutter of feathers crowning the scalp-lock, and he knew that it must be an Indian brave. Another, and still another flitted past, until the startled lad had counted fully seventeen of the noiseless figures. Then he knew that they were heading toward the very spot where he and Roger had first intended spending the night, proving that the spy, after locating them, had indeed hurried away to summon his red companions. CHAPTER XVII A CLOSE CALL DICK almost held his breath until the last dark figure had flitted past. His greatest fear had been that in some manner the keen ears of the Indians might detect the presence of horses down near the foot of the elevation along which they were making their way. Dick waited a full minute after seeing the party vanish before making a move. He wished to be sure there were no stragglers lingering behind. And when this seemed a certainty he put out his hand, and gently shook his comrade. "'Sh!" Roger, starting up, heard this warning sound, and felt a thrill. He groped around until he had laid hands on his gun, placed close beside him when lying down to sleep. "What is it, Dick?" he whispered, placing his lips close to the other's ear. "Danger! We must get out of this right away," replied the sentry, in an equally low tone. "Indians?" asked Roger, to make sure. "Yes. A party has just passed along the ridge. It was just our luck that they took this place to come over the hogback, Roger." "You saw them, did you?" demanded Roger. "I did that; and counted seventeen," replied Dick, impressively; "all stepping in each other's tracks. One must have started a stone rolling down, for its clatter made me look up. They went past like ghosts, and vanished below the rim, still heading that way."