"It's Chunky. He's giving the alarm! We're attacked!" cried the lads.

Bang! Bang!

They saw the flash of the fat boy's weapon before the report reached their ears.

A moment later the other boys caught sight of Stacy dashing into camp, hatless, waving his rifle and yelling as if bereft of his senses.

"What is it? What is it?" cried the boys with one voice.

"Indians! Indians! The prairie's full of them!"

CHAPTER X

MEETING THE ATTACK

Instantly the camp was thrown into confusion. The lads ran here and there, not knowing what to do.

"Get behind the ponies! That's the only cover we can find here. Run for it!"

And run they did, the Professor outdistancing all the rest in his attempt to secrete himself where the enemy's weapons would not be likely to reach him.

In a moment more, the camp of the Pony Rider Boys was deserted, and behind each sleeping pony lay a boy, with rifle barrel poked over the animal's back, ready to shoot at the first sign of the redskins.

Stacy, in his excitement, had forgotten that not a cartridge was left in his magazine, and the others were too fully occupied to remember to tell him.

For all of half an hour did the party lie protected. The boys began to grow restive. Tad's suspicions were being slowly aroused.

"I'm going to do a little scouting," he told them, slipping from behind the pony and skulking along back of the tents. The moon was shining brightly now. He could see a long distance. Not a human being was in sight.

"I thought so," he muttered, retracing his steps. "See here, Stacy Brown, what did you see--what did you shoot at?" he demanded sternly.

"I--I shot the chute--I--I mean I chuted the shot--I mean--"

"Say, what do you mean?"

"I--I mean--say, leggo my neck, will you?" roared Chunky.

"Fellows, he doesn't know what he means."

"Guess he's been feeding on crazy gra.s.s out on the prairie," was Ned's conclusion.

"There isn't an Indian anywhere around here. I know it. They would have been after us long before this, if there had been."

One by one the boys came from their hiding places, the lazy Mexican last. Disapproving eyes were turned on Stacy.

"Chunky, you come along and show us where you were when you shot--did you shoot at an Indian?" asked Tad.

"Yes, and I--I--I shot him."

"Show us. We're all from Chillicothe," demanded Ned.

Stacy, with a show of importance, led the way, keeping a wary eye out for the enemy. It was noticed, however, that each of the lads held his rifle ready for business in case there should be an enemy about.

"There! I was standing right over there--I guess."

"You guess! Don't you know?" questioned the Professor.

"Yes; that's the place."

The lad walked over to the identical spot from which he had first fired his rifle.

"He was over there and I shot at him, so," said Stacy, leveling the weapon. "Ye-ow! There he is, now!" shrieked the boy.

Every weapon flashed up to a level with the eyes.

"There is something over there on the ground," decided the Professor.

"Put down your guns so you don't shoot me," said Tad. "I'm going to find out what it is."

Keeping his own weapon held at "ready," the lad walked boldly over to where a heap of some sort lay on the plain. It surely had not been there during the afternoon--Tad knew that.

He reached it, stooped, peered, then uttered a yell.

"What is it?" they cried, hurrying up.

"You've done it now, Chunky Brown. You certainly have gone and done it."

"What--what is it?" cried the others in alarm.

"You've shot the lazy Mexican's burro. That's your Indian, Stacy Brown."

Juan, who had followed them out on the plain, uttered a wail and threw himself upon the body of his prostrate burro. The animal, it seemed, had recovered consciousness during the night, and in a half-dazed condition had wandered out on the plain. Stacy, while crouching down on the ground, had seen the head and long ears of the burro. He thought the ears were part of the head dress of a savage and let fly a volley of bullets at it.

"He--he isn't dead," shouted the fat boy. "See, I just pinked him in the ears."

And, surely enough, an examination revealed a hole through each ear.

The holes were so close to the animal's head that it was reasonable to suppose the shot had stunned him, being already in a weakened condition from the sleepy gra.s.s.

The boys set to work to rouse the burro, which they succeeded in doing in a short time. Juan, with arm around the lazy beast's neck, led it back to camp, petting and soothing it with a chattering that they could not understand.

There was no more sleep in camp that night, though the boys turned in at the Professor's suggestion. Every little while, laughter would sound in one of the tents, as the others fell to discussing Stacy's Indian attack.

The next morning they were overjoyed to find that the ponies had awakened and were trying to get up.

"Lead them out of that gra.s.s, fellows," shouted Tad, the moment he saw the ponies were coming around. "We don't want them to make another meal of that stuff."