Finally, however, he heard a noise and as he peered out from his hiding place he discovered a band of ten Indians approaching. They trotted along in a careless manner, evidently confident that no danger was lurking near at hand. That this was the case was fully realized by Joseph who wondered what would befall him if he should shoot at any one of the band. From his station in the ravine he could easily have selected his man and found no difficulty in bringing him down. He might even kill two or possibly three of his foes, but he was largely outnumbered and it would only be a question of time before he must either be killed or taken prisoner.
“They’ll never capture me alive,” thought Joseph decidedly. He knew that in such a case his doom would be surely sealed and undoubtedly preceded by tortures that made his blood run cold even to think about. It was hard for him to restrain himself, however, as he watched his enemies jog past the place where he lay hidden. He fingered his rifle nervously and once or twice even raised it to his shoulder.
At length the Indians passed beyond his sight and Joseph settled himself to wait for the remaining eight. He was not kept in suspense long, for in a few moments six more rode by. They talked freely among themselves and were apparently discussing their victory. Gestures were frequently used in the course of their conversation, and everyone seemed to be trying to outdo the others in boasting of his conquest.
“Only two more,” thought Joseph as this party disappeared. “I wish they’d hurry up and come, too.” The young pioneer was greatly puzzled to know what could have happened to the remainder of Black Hawk’s band. He had been sure that the volunteers were attacked by at least several hundred warriors. Little by little, however, he began to change his ideas as he saw the few that had followed in pursuit of the white men. “Could it be possible,” he thought, “that over three hundred white men had been put to flight by a mere handful of Indians?” He had counted twenty-five in all and he doubted if more than twice that number could have attacked them in the first place.
“What a disgrace,” he thought. “We ran like a lot of cowards. The first shout scared us away and we didn’t even stop to see how many there were against us.” He became still more angry as he thought of the rout and when he recalled the look of fear on Walt’s face a snort of disgust and contempt expressed his feelings in the matter.