He judged it to be
over-emotion, a selfish and rather exaggerated fear for Allie's
safety.
Lieutenant Brady then departed with his soldiers, leaving the noisy
laborers to carry ties and erect bulwarks. The Irish, as ever,
growled and voiced their complaints at finding work instead of
fighting.
"Hurry an' fetch on yez dirn Sooz!" was the cry sent after Brady,
and that request voiced the spirit of the gang.
In an hour they had piled a fence of railroad ties, six feet high,
around the engineers' quarters. This task had scarcely been done
when Anderson was discovered riding recklessly down the slope.
Baxter threw up his hands.
"We're going to have it," he said. "Neale, I'm not so young as I
was."
Anderson rode in behind the barricade and dismounted. "Sioux!"
The graders greeted this information with loud hurrahs. But when
Anderson pointed out a large band of Sioux filing down from the
hilltop the enthusiasm was somewhat checked. It was the largest
hostile force of Sioux that Neale had ever seen. The sight of the
lean, wild figures stirred Neale's blood, and then again sent that
cold chill over him. The Indians rode down the higher slope and
turned off at the edge of the timber out of rifle-range. Here they
got off their mustangs and apparently held a council.
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