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The noise of their struggle h that soleht be bands of

prowling savages Yet no sound caht wind through the trees, and the rustling of

grass beneath the tread of the horses With the quick decision of one

long accustoencies, Hampton unbuckled the lariat from

one of the led animals, and bound Murphy's hands and liht rapidly He comprehended the extreme

desperation of their present situation While the revolver blow ree of sanity, it was far more probable

that he would awaken violent Yet he could not deliberately leave this

man to meet a fate of horror in the wilderness Which way should they

turn? Enough food, if used sparingly, ht remain to permit of a

hasty retreat to Cheyenne, and there would be cons indicated that the

scattered Indian bands were rapidly consolidating to the northward,

closing in on those troops scouting the Yellowstone, with deter that the streaue, then the direct route tohere Custer was

supposed to be would be northwest, leading ever deeper into the lonely

wilderness, and toward more imminent peril Then, at the end of that