Some signal was then made, and then one of these bowlders rolled down
in the ravine. Even this scarcely made any perceptible noise, the
yielding ground receiving it like a cushion, as it came to a halt near
the center of the valley.
When this was done a second followed suit, being so guided that it did
not grate against its companion, but came to rest very near it.
Then another followed, and then another and another, in the same
stealthy manner, until over a dozen were in the valley below.
This completed, the phantom-like figures descended like so many
shadows, and began tugging again at the bowlders.
Not a word was exchanged, for each knew what was required of him.
Fully an hour more was occupied, by which time the labor was finished.
The bowlders were arranged in the form of an impassable wall across
the narrow valley, and the steam man was so thoroughly imprisoned that
no human aid could ever extricate him.
CHAPTER XX. THE CONCLUDING CATASTROPHE.
BALDY BICKNELL, the trapper, was the first to discover the peril of
himself and party.
When the Indians had completed their work it lacked only an hour of
daylight. Having done all that was necessary, the savages took their
stations behind the wall, lying flat upon the ground, where they were
invisible to the whites, but where every motion of theirs could be
watched and checkmated.
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