One of my companions cried out, as he caught hold of his right shoulder; one pack horse fell dead with a bullet behind his ear.

We quickly tumbled out of our saddles, lay down behind the rocks and began to study the situation.

We were separated from a parallel spur of the mountain by a small valley about one thousand paces across.

There we made out about thirty riders already dismounted and firing at us.

I had never allowed any fighting to be done until the initiative had been taken by the other side.