ensues after which the Indians wait in the rocks above while the stranded travelers begin to feel the effects of thirst. With each Indian attack Amy berates Blakeley for his support of the "savages," but he continues to find excuses for their actions. When Hamilton and Johnny decide to try to steal one of the Indians' horses and get help, Hamilton is injured and Johnny shoots the attacking Indian saving Hamilton, but the horses get away. When the two arrive back in the gully, they find Blakeley making a play for Amy. Although Amy rejects Blakeley by calling him "father," Johnny becomes jealous. As the group continues to suffer from heat and thirst, Minstrel sees a mirage and insists on going to it, with Hamilton, in his own state of delirium, holding a gun on Johnny believing that he lied about the lack of water. Minstrel is shot by the Indians, and a distraught Amy once again chides Blakeley. He decides to prove his pacifist methods by talking peace to the Indians. He goes out with open arms and his words of brotherhood echo back loudly from the rocks, but the Indians shoot him. As he dies, he concedes to Amy, who feels responsible for his death, that indeed words may not be enough, but that, perhaps, the Indians just did not understand. Soon Hamilton, too, is near death and Johnny decides to risk his own life to save him and Amy by retrieving a canteen that the Indians planted as a lure. He takes the canteen but finds it dry. He begins to taunt the Indians. Just then the gully begins to fill up with water from rains higher up, and Amy, bringing a drink to Hamilton, discovers him dead. After an Indian - the only survivor of the attackers, and without ammunition for his rifle - attacks Johnny with a knife, Johnny almost drowns him, but decides to spare his life instead, telling him to return to his people and report that a white man gave him back his life. The Indian understands and speaks halting English. Johnny tells Amy that he will keep his promise to the dying Hamilton to clear his name and return the money to the bank. She says that she no longer cares about her former sweetheart, and the two embrace just as the Indians return. The Indian whose life was spared brings