The remainder of that day, as well as much of the gloomy night
following, composed a silent, lingering horror. The fierce pangs of
hunger no longer gnawed, but a dull apathy now held the helpless
defenders. One of the wounded died, a mere lad, sobbing pitifully for
his mother; an infantryman, peering forth from his covert, had been
shot in the face, and his scream echoed among the rocks in multiplied
accents of agony; while Wyman lay tossing and moaning, mercifully
unconscious. The others rested in their places, scarcely venturing to
stir a limb, their roving, wolfish eyes the only visible evidence of
remaining life, every hope vanished, yet each man clinging to his
assigned post of duty in desperation. There was but little firing--the
defenders nursing their slender stock, the savages biding their time.
When night shut down the latter became bolder, and taunted cruelly
those destined to become so soon their hapless victims. Twice the
maddened men fired recklessly at those dancing devils, and one pitched
forward, emitting a howl of pain that caused his comrades to cower once
again behind their covers. One and all these frontiersmen recognized
the inevitable--before dawn the end must come. No useless words were
spoken; the men merely clinched their teeth and waited.
Hampton crept closer in beside the girl while the shadows deepened, and
ventured to touch her hand. Perhaps the severe strain of their
situation, the intense loneliness of that Indian-haunted twilight, had
somewhat softened her resentment, for she made no effort now to repulse
him.
"Kid," he said at last, "are you game for a try at getting out of this?"
She appeared to hesitate over her answer, and he could feel her
tumultuous breathing. Some portion of her aversion had vanished. His
face was certainly not an unpleasant one to look upon, and there were
others other sex who had discovered in it a covering for a multitude of
sins. Hampton smiled slightly while he waited; he possessed some
knowledge of the nature feminine.
"Come, Kid," he ventured finally, yet with new assurance vibrating in
his low voice; "this is surely a poor time and place for any indulgence
in tantrums, and you 've got more sense. I 'm going to try to climb up
the face of that cliff yonder,--it's the only possible way out from
here,--and I propose to take you along with me."
She snatched her hand roughly away, yet remained facing him. "Who gave
you any right to decide what I should do?"
The man clasped his fingers tightly about her slender arm, advancing
his face until he could look squarely into hers. She read in the lines
of that determined countenance an inflexible resolve which overmastered
her.