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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c627c56 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #64613 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/64613) diff --git a/old/64613-0.txt b/old/64613-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index cf3158d..0000000 --- a/old/64613-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,11772 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of Buffalo Bill's Weird Warning, by Colonel -Prentiss Ingraham - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: Buffalo Bill's Weird Warning - Dauntless Dell's Rival - -Author: Colonel Prentiss Ingraham - -Release Date: February 23, 2021 [eBook #64613] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -Produced by: David Edwards, Susan Carr and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BUFFALO BILL'S WEIRD WARNING *** - - - - - Buffalo Bill’s Weird Warning - - OR, - - Dauntless Dell’s Rival - - - BY - Colonel Prentiss Ingraham - - Author of the celebrated “Buffalo Bill” stories published in the - BORDER STORIES. For other titles see catalogue. - - - [Illustration: Colophon] - - - STREET & SMITH CORPORATION - PUBLISHERS - 79-89 Seventh Avenue, New York - - - - - +----------------------------------+ - | | - | Copyright, 1908 | - | By STREET & SMITH | - | ----- | - | Buffalo Bill’s Weird Warning | - | | - +----------------------------------+ - - - (Printed in the United States of America) - - All rights reserved, including that of translation into foreign - languages, including the Scandinavian. - - - - - CONTENTS - - PAGE - IN APPRECIATION OF WILLIAM F. CODY 1 - I. MYSTERIOUS DOINGS. 5 - II. ANOTHER STRANGER IN CAMP. 18 - III. CAPTAIN LAWLESS. 30 - IV. THE INDIAN GIRL. 37 - V. WAH-COO-TAH AGAIN. 50 - VI. AT THE FORTY THIEVES MINE. 63 - VII. LAYING THE “GHOST.” 78 - VIII. THE FIGHT AT THE ORE-DUMP. 89 - IX. DELL AND CAYUSE ALSO DELAYED. 95 - X. THE STRANGER AND THE STEER. 107 - XI. A GIFT WITH A STRING TO IT. 119 - XII. THE “FORTY THIEVES MINE.” 131 - XIII. DELL AND WAH-COO-TAH. 144 - XIV. LITTLE CAYUSE ON GUARD. 163 - XV. THE RESCUE OF NOMAD AND WILD BILL. 176 - XVI. THE CURTAIN-ROCK. 183 - XVII. THE TURN OF FORTUNE’S WHEEL. 195 - XVIII. THE ROUND-UP AT SPANGLER’S. 202 - XIX. THE STAGE FROM MONTEGORDO. 209 - XX. DOUBLE-CROSSED. 222 - XXI. BUFFALO BILL AND GENTLEMAN JIM. 234 - XXII. LETTER, RING, AND LOCKET. 241 - XXIII. PICTURE-WRITING. 253 - XXIV. ON THE WAY TO MEDICINE BLUFF. 260 - XXV. A COWED OUTLAW. 273 - XXVI. CHAVORTA GORGE AND PIMA. 280 - XXVII. A BUSY TIME FOR CAYUSE. 293 - XXVIII. A HAPPY REUNION. 300 - XXIX. CONCLUSION. 309 - - - - - IN APPRECIATION OF WILLIAM F. CODY - - (BUFFALO BILL). - - -It is now some generations since Josh Billings, Ned Buntline, and -Colonel Prentiss Ingraham, intimate friends of Colonel William F. -Cody, used to forgather in the office of Francis S. Smith, then -proprietor of the _New York Weekly_. It was a dingy little office on -Rose Street, New York, but the breath of the great outdoors stirred -there when these old-timers got together. As a result of these -conversations, Colonel Ingraham and Ned Buntline began to write of -the adventures of Buffalo Bill for Street & Smith. - -Colonel Cody was born in Scott County, Iowa, February 26, 1846. -Before he had reached his teens, his father, Isaac Cody, with his -mother and two sisters, migrated to Kansas, which at that time was -little more than a wilderness. - -When the elder Cody was killed shortly afterward in the Kansas -“Border War,” young Bill assumed the difficult rôle of family -breadwinner. During 1860, and until the outbreak of the Civil War, -Cody lived the arduous life of a pony-express rider. Cody volunteered -his services as government scout and guide and served throughout -the Civil War with Generals McNeil and A. J. Smith. He was a -distinguished member of the Seventh Kansas Cavalry. - -During the Civil War, while riding through the streets of St. Louis, -Cody rescued a frightened schoolgirl from a band of annoyers. In true -romantic style, Cody and Louisa Federci, the girl, were married March -6, 1866. - -In 1867 Cody was employed to furnish a specified amount of buffalo -meat to the construction men at work on the Kansas Pacific Railroad. -It was in this period that he received the sobriquet “Buffalo Bill.” - -In 1868 and for four years thereafter Colonel Cody served as scout -and guide in campaigns against the Sioux and Cheyenne Indians. It was -General Sheridan who conferred on Cody the honor of chief of scouts -of the command. - -After completing a period of service in the Nebraska legislature, -Cody joined the Fifth Cavalry in 1876, and was again appointed chief -of scouts. - -Colonel Cody’s fame had reached the East long before, and a great -many New Yorkers went out to see him and join in his buffalo hunts, -including such men as August Belmont, James Gordon Bennett, Anson -Stager, and J. G. Heckscher. In entertaining these visitors at Fort -McPherson, Cody was accustomed to arrange wild-West exhibitions. In -return his friends invited him to visit New York. It was upon seeing -his first play in the metropolis that Cody conceived the idea of -going into the show business. - -Assisted by Ned Buntline, novelist, and Colonel Ingraham, he started -his “Wild West” show, which later developed and expanded into “A -Congress of the Rough Riders of the World,” first presented at Omaha, -Nebraska. In time it became a familiar yearly entertainment in the -great cities of this country and Europe. Many famous personages -attended the performances, and became his warm friends, including Mr. -Gladstone, the Marquis of Lorne, King Edward, Queen Victoria, and the -Prince of Wales, now King of England. - -At the outbreak of the Sioux, in 1890 and 1891, Colonel Cody served -at the head of the Nebraska National Guard. In 1895 Cody took up the -development of Wyoming Valley by introducing irrigation. Not long -afterward he became judge advocate general of the Wyoming National -Guard. - -Colonel Cody (Buffalo Bill) died in Denver, Colorado, on January -10, 1917. His legacy to a grateful world was a large share in -the development of the West, and a multitude of achievements in -horsemanship, marksmanship, and endurance that will live for ages. -His life will continue to be a leading example of the manliness, -courage, and devotion to duty that belonged to a picturesque phase -of American life now passed, like the great patriot whose career it -typified, into the Great Beyond. - - - - - BUFFALO BILL’S WEIRD WARNING. - - - - - CHAPTER I. - - MYSTERIOUS DOINGS. - - -“What was that, Crawling Bear?” - -“Ugh! Fire-gun make um big ‘boom.’” - -“It was a fire-gun, all right, but where did the report come from? -That’s what I’m trying to figure out.” - -Two horsemen were riding along a bleak, desolate-looking cañon, on -route to the mining-camp known as Sun Dance. One was a white man, and -the other an Indian. The white rider was William Hickok, of Laramie, -better known as “Wild Bill,” and his companion was a Ponca warrior. - -Both Wild Bill and Crawling Bear had keen ears, and the muffled -report of the rifle came to them distinctly--not from right or left, -from ahead or behind, or above, but seemingly from the ground under -their horses’ hoofs. - -Another report reached them, coming from the same place as the first, -and Wild Bill, with a puzzled look, drew rein and rubbed his hand -over his forehead. - -“Am I locoed, or what?” he muttered. “It’s a trick of the echoes, I -reckon. Somebody is having a little gun-play in this vicinity, and -the bottom of the gulch picks up the sound and throws it back to us.” - -The Indian made no response, although from his actions it seemed -quite clear that he did not accept the white man’s explanation. - -Wild Bill rode on, and a sharp turn in the cañon brought him upon -something which led to a revision of his theory concerning the -rifle-shots. - -What he saw was an ore-dump, off at one side of the cañon. The mound -of broken rocks was surmounted by a plank platform. Five horses were -hitched to bushes, not far from the ore-dump, but their riders were -not in evidence. - -Wild Bill halted his horse, once more, and looked from the ore-dump -to the horses, and then around the cañon. While his eyes were busy, -there came a third rifle-shot. - -“By gorry!” he exclaimed, and gave a low laugh. “This thing begins to -clear up a little, Crawling Bear. There’s a _mine_ here, and probably -the mine has a drift running down the gulch. The shots we heard -really came from under us, but they came from the bottom of the mine.” - -“Ugh!” grunted the Ponca. “Why Yellow Eyes make um shoot in mine? No -got um game in mine.” - -“Now you’re shouting, my redskin friend. What there is to shoot at, -in that mine, is a conundrum that your Uncle William is going to work -out. Maybe there’s no game to shoot at down there, but there’s a game -being pulled off that needs looking into.” - -Wild Bill tossed his bridle-reins to the Ponca and slipped down from -the saddle. - -“You go down in mine, huh?” queried Crawling Bear. - -“That’s my intention,” was the answer. - -“Five ponies, five Yellow Eyes down in mine. Mebbyso Crawling Bear -better go with Wild Bill.” - -A smile curled about Wild Bill’s lips. - -“Any old day the odds of five to one make me take a back seat,” said -he, “I hope some friend will hand me a good one and tell me to wake -up. I’m going to hide my hand, Crawling Bear. This is a case of find -out what’s doing, and then make a get-away on the q. t.--in case I -can’t help some unfortunate in distress. You look out for the horses; -and, if I can’t take care of myself, then I’m ready to be planted, -for it will be high time.” - -With that, Wild Bill stepped to the foot of the ore-dump and climbed -carefully to the plank platform. - -An empty ox-hide bucket stood on the platform, off to one side, but -there was no windlass for hoisting the bucket, and there did not -seem to be any ladders for getting down into the shaft. All this -contributed still further to Wild Bill’s perplexity, and at the same -time increased his determination to investigate. - -But, if there were no ladders for getting into the mine, there was -a rope. The upper end of the rope was made fast to the edge of the -opening in the middle of the platform. - -The Laramie man peered down into the shaft. The blackness was -intense, and he could see nothing, not even the gleam of a candle. - -“Can’t tell whether the shaft is fifty feet deep or five hundred,” -he muttered, “but it’s a cinch that none of the men who came here on -those five horses are anywheres around the foot of the shaft. If they -were, they’d jump a piece of lead at me. With my head over the hole, -like this, I’m a good target. Now to go down.” - -For an instant Wild Bill sat on the platform, his feet dangling over -the abyss; then, slowly letting himself down, he grabbed the rope and -began to slide. - -The shooting continued, the echoes booming louder in Wild Bill’s ears -and increasing his curiosity. Wild Bill was down fifty feet before he -touched bottom. The shaft was not so deep, after all. - -Leaving the lower end of the rope, he groped his way around the shaft -wall until he found the opening of the level. In traversing the -level, he dropped to his hands and knees, and crawled. - -The level crooked to right and left, and, after Wild Bill had covered -something like fifty feet of it, he began to hear voices, and to see -a glow of light in the distance. - -Pushing his head and shoulders around a turn, he suddenly beheld a -queer scene, right at the end of the level. - -Five men were there, and four of them carried lighted candles. The -fifth man had no candle, but was armed with a shotgun. - -The men had all the earmarks of scoundrels, and each was heeled with -a brace of six-shooters. The fellow with the shotgun had a belt about -his waist, above his revolver-belt, filled with brass shells. - -Just as Wild Bill came within sight of the group, the man with the -shotgun was “breaking” the piece at the breach, ejecting an empty -shell and replacing it with one that was loaded. Having finished the -loading, the man threw the gun to his shoulder and shot the charge -into the breast of the level. - -“We’re blowin’ a hull lot o’ good stuff inter this bloomin’ country -rock, Clancy,” growled a man with a candle. “Ain’t ye done enough?” - -“I started in with fifteen shells,” replied Clancy, the rascal with -the gun, “an’ thar’s five left. We might jest as well close up the -rock with what we’ve still got.” - -“How do ye know ther feller’ll take his samples from the place ye’re -puttin’ them loads?” - -“He’ll git his samples from the breast o’ the level, won’t he?” -struck in another man with a candle. “By the time we’re done, thar -won’t be a patchin’ he kin pick at but’ll hev its salt. Cap’n -Lawless’ll land him, an’ thar’ll be a hundred thousand ter pass -around. The ‘Forty Thieves’ Mine is a played-out propersition, but -the Easterner won’t find that out until arter us fellers git our -hooks on ther money. Then we’ll hike.” - -Clancy banged another load into the rocks. - -“Why in thunder ain’t Lawless hyer?” asked another of the -candle-bearers. “He ort ter be helpin’ us, seems like.” - -“Don’t you fret none erbout Lawless, Tex,” replied Clancy. “He’ll be -around afore long, ready ter do the fine work an’ land the lobster. -We don’t need him fer this, an’ it’s a heap better fer him not ter -show up in ther cañon while this job o’ salt is bein’ pulled off. If -Lawless ain’t seen around hyer, he won’t be suspected o’ any crooked -work.” - -“What’s Lawless doin’, anyways?” queried the man who had spoken first. - -“I dunno, but I reckon he’s watchin’ thet ole flash-light warrior, -Buffler Bill. Ye see, Andy, Lawless ain’t anyways eager ter tangle -up with Buffler Bill an’ his pards; not but what Lawless could put -ther scout an’ his friends down an’ out--fer head-work, I backs Cap’n -Lawless, o’ ther Forty Thieves, ag’inst all comers, bar none--but -Lawless is jest startin’ inter this hyer profitable field, an’ he -don’t want ter hev no interruptions.” - -“Buffler Bill is workin’ fer ther gov’ment,” said Tex. “He won’t -bother none with the cap’n.” - -“Ye never kin tell about him, Tex,” averred Clancy. “Wharever Buffler -scents any unlawful doin’s, he’s li’ble ter butt in; an’ we don’t -want ter give him no chance ter git fracasin’ round with _us_.” - -“But if he does,” said Tex, “we’re goin’ ter do him up?” - -“We are,” declared Clancy; “him an’ his pards--Nomad an’ ther Injun -kid, Leetle Cayuse. I’m close ter the last ca’tridge, Tex, an’ you -an’ Andy better go up an’ have ther hosses ready. We won’t linger -around ther ore-dump none, arter we come out.” - -Wild Bill, screened by the corner of rock, had heard every word of -this talk. The mysterious doings, in the light of the conversation -among the scoundrels, was now clearly explained. - -The five men were “salting” the worthless mine; that is, they had -loaded the shotgun-shells with fine gold, and were blowing the gold -into the breast of the level. When the intended victim came to take -his samples of the vein, he would chip off pieces of the doctored -rock, and when the rock was assayed, it would show the mine to be a -heavy “gold-producer.” On this showing, unless the intended victim -was warned, a hundred thousand dollars would change hands, and -Captain Lawless, of the Forty Thieves, whoever he was, would be that -much richer. - -“I’ll nip this little scheme in the bud,” thought Wild Bill, as he -drew back and crouched against the wall for Tex and Andy to pass. - -The passing of the men, with their candles, was filled with -considerable danger for Wild Bill. If the two ruffians saw him, there -was bound to be a fight, for it would not do to let Wild Bill get -away with the information he had discovered. - -Wild Bill drew his revolvers and made himself as small as possible. -Had there been time, he would have hastened back to the shaft, along -the level, and climbed the rope. But he knew he could not have gotten -half-way up before Tex and Andy would have located him. It was better -for Wild Bill to stay right where he was, and hope for the best. - -The whole affair, as Wild Bill had planned it, was reckless in the -extreme; but he was daring by nature, and rarely counted the cost -before making a leap in the dark. - -This must have been his evil day, and the beginning of a series of -evil days, as will soon appear. Tex and Andy were stumbling past him, -when the former, tripping on a stone that lay on the bottom of the -level, fell sideways, dropping his candle and falling full on the man -from Laramie. - -The candle was extinguished, but Tex, encountering the intruder, gave -vent to a wild yell of alarm. Wild Bill’s fist shot out, and Tex -crumpled flat along the floor of the level; the blow was followed -by another, which landed on the point of Andy’s jaw, and threw him -against the hanging wall. His candle also dropped, and Wild Bill set -his foot on the sputtering flame. - -By then Clancy and the other three had started at a run to see what -was the trouble. Wild Bill, berating his hard luck, rushed toward the -shaft, but he was running in the dark--a circumstance which brought -him many a bruise and bump. Behind him came three men with two -candles, but Tex and Andy were temporarily out of the race. - -From time to time, as he stumbled onward, Wild Bill looked backward -over his shoulder. Suddenly he saw Clancy halt, lift the shotgun, and -shoot along the level. - -Quick as a flash, Wild Bill dropped flat. He had no desire to stop a -charge from a brass shell, even though it was of gold. - -The fine yellow metal whistled over his head. As the echo of the shot -clamored in the level, Wild Bill sprang up and forged onward with a -reckless laugh. - -“They can’t salt _me_,” he muttered, “but I may be able to salt one -of them with lead.” - -He paused long enough to chance a shot from his six-shooter. A yell -of pain came from Clancy. The shotgun clattered to the rocks, and he -grabbed at his right arm. - -The other two men thereupon began using their revolvers, accompanying -their shooting with savage yells. - -Wild Bill, pushing flat against the foot wall, deliberately snuffed -the two candles that remained alight. His wrist had been grazed by -one of the ruffians’ bullets, but it was a small injury, and he gave -it scant attention. - -As soon as the level was entirely plunged in darkness, he ran on to -the shaft which, by then, was only a few feet away. - -The time had passed for fighting. It was up to him to retreat, and to -see how quick he could get to the top of the shaft, and out of it. - -Jabbing his revolver back into his belt, he laid hold of the rope and -started aloft, hand over hand. - -Clancy and the rest, meanwhile, had not remained inactive. They -must have been considerably in the dark as to the identity of their -enemy, but they realized that he had caught them red-handed, and that -the success of their whole plot might hang on their capturing him. -Therefore they pushed forward desperately, Clancy in a rage because -of his wound. Tex and Andy, having revived sufficiently from the -sledge-hammer blows they had received, had joined the others. - -“Don’t strike any matches,” Wild Bill heard Clancy yell, “and don’t -light no candles. We don’t want the whelp ter make targets o’ us. -Ketch him, thet’s all! Consarn his picter! he’s given me a game arm. -I want ter play even fer thet, anyhow.” - -Above him, Wild Bill could see a square patch of daylight as he -climbed. His progress was slow, however, and he knew that when Clancy -and the rest got to the shaft, they would see him swinging in mid-air -between them and the lighted background. - -As Wild Bill looked up, he saw the head of Crawling Bear leaning over -the opening and looking down. - -“Cover that hole, Crawling Bear!” roared Wild Bill. “They’re after -me, the whole five of ’em. Look alive, now.” - -The Ponca was quick-witted, and must have realized the situation. His -head vanished from the patch of light the instant Wild Bill ceased -speaking. - -Climbing hand over hand was slow work. Wild Bill’s arms were strong, -and he did his best, but his best did not carry him upward nearly so -swiftly as he could have wished. - -Sounds of scrambling feet came from below him, followed by the voice -of Tex. - -“Thar he is! See him squirm, will ye? Pepper him! Turn loose at him!” - -Just then the hole above suddenly darkened. Wild Bill was still a -target, but not so plain. - -The shaft echoed with a patter of reports. A sharp, stinging blow -struck the heel of Wild Bill’s boot, the broad brim of his hat shook, -and he was raked along one side as by a red-hot iron. - -“Wow!” he muttered; “if they put a piece of lead into one of my -arms----” - -And just then that is exactly what they did. It was Wild Bill’s left -arm. The strength went out of the arm in a flash, and Wild Bill only -saved himself from dropping back to the bottom of the shaft by a -fierce grip on the rope with his right hand. - -How could he climb now? The outlook was anything but reassuring. - -All this time the Laramie man felt a movement of the rope, as though -Crawling Bear, at the top of the shaft, was tinkering with it under -the cover he had placed over the opening. - -“I reckon he ain’t climbin’ no more,” roared the voice of Clancy, -from the depths. “Lay holt, thar, Tex, an’ see if ye kain’t crawl up -an’ haul ther whelp back. He’s winged, mebby, an’ kain’t climb.” - -This, as we know, was Wild Bill’s condition. He had twisted the rope -about one of his legs, and was able to maintain his place, but, if he -did not drop downward, neither could he move upward an inch. - -Tex, evidently, had grabbed the rope, for it tightened cruelly around -Wild Bill’s leg. - -The Laramie man’s arm did not seem to have been very seriously -injured. So far as he could judge, what the arm was suffering from, -more than anything else, was the shock of the bullet. - -Twisting the arm about the rope, he drew his knife from its scabbard -at his belt, and bent downward. A quick slash severed the rope in -twain, and a heavy fall and a chorus of oaths came from the shaft’s -bottom. Tex had dropped upon some of his companions, for the moment -demoralizing them. - -This move of Wild Bill’s, while necessary for his safety, almost -proved disastrous to him as well as to Tex. - -Wild Bill’s left arm was not to be depended upon. At the critical -moment it gave with him; and, had he not dropped the knife and -gripped the rope with his right hand, he would have followed Tex onto -the heads of Clancy and the others. - -Before the disorder at the bottom of the shaft could be righted, -and the scoundrels again begin their revolver-work, Wild Bill felt -himself started upward with a jerk. - -Crawling Bear was taking a hand! Just what he had done Wild Bill did -not know, but that his means, whatever they were, were effectual, -was proved by the swiftness with which Wild Bill was hauled to the -platform. - -In less than half a minute after Wild Bill started upward, his head -struck against a blanket covering the mouth of the shaft, and he was -snaked out onto the planks, and lay blinking in the sun. - -At the foot of the ore-dump stood the Ponca with a hand on the bridle -of Wild Bill’s horse. The Laramie man saw in an instant what his red -companion had done. - -After covering the mouth of the shaft with his blanket, he had -secured the picket-rope from Wild Bill’s saddle and had tied one end -to the horn; the other end he had secured to the rope leading down -into the shaft, and had then cut the shaft-rope. By leading Wild -Bill’s horse across the cañon from the foot of the ore-dump, the -Ponca had been able to get his white companion to the surface by -horse-power. - -“You’re all to the good, Crawling Bear!” declared Wild Bill, sitting -up at the edge of the ore-dump and pulling off his coat. “I had a -close call, down there, and I reckon those yaps would have got me if -it hadn’t been for you.” - -Crawling Bear untied the rope from the saddle-horn and began coiling -it in. When he had removed the rope spliced to the end of the -picket-rope, he hung the coil in its proper place at Wild Bill’s -saddle. - -“Wild Bill hurt, huh?” he asked, mounting the side of the dump. - -“A gouge through the fleshy part of the arm, that’s all,” the Laramie -man answered, examining the injury. “The bullet flickered along the -muscles and went on about its business.” - -Wild Bill had cut away the sleeve of his flannel shirt in order to -examine the injury. Out of the bottom of the sleeve he improvised a -bandage, and Crawling Bear helped him put it in place. - -When the arm was roughly bandaged, Wild Bill thrust his hand into the -breast of his shirt. - -“I’m worth a dozen dead men yet,” he went on, “but that outfit sure -had it in for me. Don’t know as I can blame them, though, as they’ve -got a hundred thousand at stake. I’m going to fool them out of that -hundred thousand--watch my smoke.” - -He looked at the bullet-hole through the brim of his hat, then at his -left boot, from which the heel was missing, and finally at the place -where a bullet had raked along the side of his clothes, after which -he laughed grimly. - -“They had a good many chances at me, Crawling Bear,” he proceeded, -“but they didn’t make good. We’ve got ’em bottled up in that mine -now, and we’ll keep ’em there until I can get Pard Cody to Sun Dance. -I’ve got a notion he’ll enjoy meeting that gang of trouble-makers.” - -The Ponca picked up his blanket from the platform and threw it over -his shoulders. - -“Yellow Eyes?” he queried. - -“You bet! They’re white tinhorns, every last man of them. It’s up to -you and me to call their little game. It’s a salting proposition, -with a tenderfoot standing to lose a hundred thousand in good, hard -money. Let’s ride for Sun Dance and get there as quick as we can.” - -“What about um five _caballos_?” asked the Ponca, his small, beady -eyes gloating over the five horses belonging to Clancy and his outfit. - -“Oh, we’ll leave them. Haven’t time to bother with ’em, anyhow.” - -Wild Bill descended the slope lamely and climbed into his saddle. -A few moments later, he and the Ponca were continuing on along the -cañon toward Sun Dance. - - - - - CHAPTER II. - - ANOTHER STRANGER IN CAMP. - - -Sun Dance was a very small mining-camp, perched on a shelf up the -side of Sun Dance Cañon. “Six ’dobies stuck on a side hill,” was the -trite and not very elegant way the camp was often described. - -The sort of mining indulged in was both quartz and -placer--placer-mining in the gulch and quartz-mining in the -neighboring hills. Only the placer-miners lived in the camp; the -quartz-miners had camps of their own, and only came to Sun Dance for -supplies. - -The camp could be reached in two ways: From the bottom of the cañon -by a steep climb, and from the top by a stiff descent. - -The stage from Montegordo reached camp by way of the cañon’s rim, -which was its only feasible route; but Wild Bill and Crawling Bear -came from below, and gained the settlement by spurring their horses -up the slope. - -Just where the trail crawled over the edge of the flat, there was a -sign-board with the rudely lettered words: “No Shootin’ Aloud in Sun -Dance.” As an indication of how seriously the sign was taken, it may -be mentioned that the lettering could hardly be read for bullet-holes. - -By day the camp was practically dead, all the miners being at work on -their placers, and only storekeepers, gamblers, resort proprietors, -and the man who “ran” the hotel being visible. For the most part, -these worthies smoked their pipes and cigarettes during the day, or -played cards among themselves merely to pass the time. - -With night everything changed. The camp became a boisterous, -rollicking place. - -Miners flocked in, bet their yellow dust on the turn of a card or -a whirl of the wheel, sampled the camp’s “red-eye,” and very often -forgot the warning of the sign, and indulged in shooting that was -very _loud_ and occasionally fatal. - -The name of the one hotel in the camp was the “Lucky Strike.” The -proprietor was one Abijah Spangler, a leviathan measuring six foot -ten, up and down, and ten foot six--or so it was said--east and west -at his girth-line. Anyway, Abijah Spangler weighed 300 pounds, and -when he sat down it took two chairs to hold him. - -When Wild Bill and Crawling Bear halted in front of the Lucky Strike, -Bije Spangler was sitting down, dripping with perspiration and -agitating the air with a ragged palm-leaf fan. - -“You the boss of this hangout?” inquired Wild Bill, surveying -Spangler’s huge bulk with much interest. - -“I run it, you bet,” answered Spangler, ruffling his double-chin and -wondering at the red handkerchief about Wild Bill’s arm. - -“Got accommodations for two?” queried the Laramie man. - -“Fer two _whites_, yes--meals, four bits, and a bed, a dollar. -But”--and here Bije Spangler cast a disapproving eye on the Ponca--“I -don’t feed or house Injuns fer no money. Not meanin’ any disrespect -fer yerself, neighbor,” added Spangler hastily, noting the glint -that rose in Wild Bill’s eye, “but I couldn’t keep open house fer -reds without sp’ilin’ the repertation o’ my hotel.” - -The Ponca sat up stiff and straight on his horse. - -“Where I stay, he stays,” averred Wild Bill; “what’s good enough for -him is good enough for me. He’s plum white, all but his skin.” - -“So’s a Greaser,” grunted Spangler, “or a Chink. Sorry to appear -disobligin’, ’specially as you-all seems to have run inter trouble -somewheres. You’re welcome to stop, but the Injun’ll have ter camp -out in the chaparral.” - -Wild Bill was in no mood for arguing the case, and he was about to -ride on, when the Ponca leaned forward and stopped him. - -“You want um Ponca take paper-talk to Pa-e-has-ka, hey?” he asked. - -“Sure I do, Crawling Bear,” replied Wild Bill, “but I don’t want you -to start for Sill until you have rested yourself and your horse.” - -“Ugh! no want um rest. Feel plenty fine. Me take um paper-talk now.” - -Wild Bill saw that Crawling Bear meant what he said. The camp not -appearing to be a very safe place for a red man, anyhow, the Laramie -man decided to let his companion have his way. - -“Got a place where I can write?” inquired Wild Bill. - -“Go through the office an’ inter the bar,” replied Spangler. “You can -write on one of the tables, an’ I reckon the barkeep can skeer up a -patchin’ o’ paper and a lead-pencil.” - -Leaving his horse with the Ponca, Wild Bill went into the barroom, -and had soon written a few words to Buffalo Bill, asking him to come -to Sun Dance as soon as possible. Returning to Crawling Bear, Wild -Bill handed him the folded note and a dozen silver dollars. - -“Why you give um Ponca dinero?” asked the Indian. - -“That’s for carrying the message to Buffalo Bill,” said the Laramie -man. - -“Buffalo Bill?” wheezed Spangler, stirring a little in his chair. -“You a friend of Buffalo Bill’s?” - -“Yes,” answered Wild Bill, whirling on the fat man. “My name’s -Hickok.” - -“Wild Bill!” muttered Spangler. “Say, that’s different. Any Injun -friend o’ Wild Bill’s can stop with me. I’ll break my rules for you, -and----” - -Hoofs clattered. Crawling Bear, not waiting further, was off for the -edge of the “flat” on his return journey to Sill. - -“You’re too late,” said Wild Bill curtly. “What’s your label.” - -“Spangler is my handle.” - -“Any strangers in town, Spangler?” - -“Only you.” - -“When’s the next stage due from Montegordo?” - -“To-morrow afternoon.” - -“Well, I’m going to stay with you until to-morrow afternoon, anyhow. -Call some one to take care of my horse; and if I can have a room all -to myself, I want it.” - -“That’ll cost extry,” said Spangler. “If ye’re goin’ to throw on -style with a private room, you’ll have to bleed ten dollars’ worth.” - -“That’s the size of my stack. Hustle, now. I’m fagged, and want to -lie down.” - -Spangler lifted his voice and gave a husky yell. In answer to the -signal, a Mexican showed himself around the corner of the house, who -took Wild Bill’s horse. Then once more Spangler indulged in a wheezy -shout. This was the signal for a Chinaman to present himself. After a -few words with Spangler, the Chinaman led Wild Bill into the house, -through the office and the drinking-part of the establishment, and -into a small, corner room, with a window looking out upon the street. - -There was a cot in the room, and Wild Bill flung himself down wearily -upon it. In a few minutes he was fast asleep. - -He awoke in time for supper, put a fresh bandage around his arm, -and went out into the hotel dining-room. Everything about the Lucky -Strike was exceedingly primitive, and the table, the service, and the -food were about what one would expect in a pioneer mining-camp. Wild -Bill, however, was used to such accommodations and fare. - -Following the meal, he smoked a couple of pipes in front of the -hotel, saying nothing to anybody, but keeping up a lot of thinking. - -The Forty Thieves--so ran the current of his thoughts--was a -played-out mine. Those five men, under orders from one Captain -Lawless, were salting it. The name of the mine was suggestive, and so -was the name of the man who was engineering the salting operations. - -“Captain Lawless, of the Forty Thieves!” said Wild Bill to himself. -“That has sure got a regular rough-house sound. When Pard Cody hears -it, I’ll bet money it will ruffle his hair the wrong way. Crawling -Bear will get that paper-talk through some time to-night, and Cody -will be here to-morrow afternoon. When he arrives, we’ll prance out -to the Forty Thieves and snake those five trouble-makers out of that -hole in the ground; then, if Captain Lawless wants to take a whack at -us, he’s welcome.” - -Wild Bill took no part in the hilarious doings of the camp that -night. By 10 o’clock he had locked himself in his room and got into -bed. His arm was a bit painful, so that he was an hour or more in -getting to sleep. When he was once asleep, however, he did not wake -until morning. - -His arm felt better. He could use his hand as well as usual. There -was some pain in the arm, but it was not severe. - -Following breakfast, he went to one of the general stores and bought -a new flannel shirt, a pair of boots, and a bowie, to take the place -of the one he had lost in the mine. - -After that, he sat in front of the Lucky Strike and smoked until -dinner-time; and, after dinner, he smoked until four-thirty, when the -stage pulled over the rim of the cañon and slid down the slope with -the hind wheels tied. - -The stage drew up in front of the hotel, and a mail-bag was thrown -off. There was one passenger, a man in a linen duster, and clearly a -stranger. - -“He’s the one,” said Wild Bill to himself, knocking the ashes out of -his pipe and getting out of his chair. “The chap doesn’t look much -like an easy mark, though. I wonder if he has any notion he’s taking -long chances with that hundred thousand of his?” - -Just then Wild Bill experienced something like a jolt. A man rode -up along the trail that led from the cañon bottom, drew rein in -front of the hotel, dismounted, dropped his bridle-reins over a -hitching-post, and followed the stranger into the Lucky Strike. - -The man had his right arm in a sling, and it didn’t take two looks -to inform Wild Bill that the fellow was none other than Clancy! -Clancy, the man who had been blowing gold into the Forty Thieves with -a shotgun! Clancy, the man Wild Bill had left, with four others, -bottled up in the Forty Thieves’ shaft! - -Clancy did not pay any attention to Wild Bill. It seemed very -probable that neither Clancy, nor any of those with him in the mine, -had been able to see Wild Bill distinctly enough to recognize him in -another place and in broad day. - -Then, too, the Laramie man had a new shirt of a different color -from the blue one he had worn in the mine, and he showed no sign of -injury. All this would help to keep Clancy from recognizing him, even -if he had got a tolerably good look at him in the Forty Thieves. - -Reassured on this point, Wild Bill fell to canvassing another. How -had Clancy managed to escape from the shaft? - -Clancy and the rest must have had help. Some other member of the gang -must have been abroad in the cañon, and no doubt happened along and -gave his aid. - -Wild Bill was disappointed. He had hoped the five would be kept in -the Forty Thieves until Buffalo Bill reached Sun Dance. - -Strolling into the office of the hotel, Wild Bill saw Clancy in close -conversation with the man in the linen duster. They were off by -themselves in one corner, and were conversing in low, animated tones. - -“Clancy is going to hold the man until this Captain Lawless shows -up,” thought Wild Bill. “I must have a word with that tenderfoot and -show him how he is going to be gold-bricked. I’d hate myself to death -if I ever allowed that gang of robbers to get away with his hundred -thousand.” - -Wild Bill, having settled the situation in his mind, strolled out to -the front of the hotel, filled his pipe again, and seated himself in -the chair he had occupied for most of the day. - -He was waiting for the stranger, and he had not long to wait. Clancy -came out, unhitched his horse, climbed into the saddle, and clattered -back toward the bottom of the cañon. A few minutes later the stranger -followed, pulled up a chair a few feet from Wild Bill’s, and seated -himself. - -“Howdy,” said Wild Bill, with a friendly nod, by way of breaking the -ice. - -“How do you do, sir?” answered the stranger, with all the elaborate -courtesy of an Easterner. “Will you try one of these?” - -He offered Wild Bill a cigar, and the latter accepted it amiably. - -“Stranger, I take it?” pursued Wild Bill. - -“Well, yes,” answered the other. “I came in on the afternoon stage -from Montegordo.” - -“Looking up the mines?” - -A suspicious look crossed the stranger’s face. - -“Figuring on examining the Forty Thieves,” pursued Wild Bill, “with -the intention of handing out one hundred thousand cold plunks for the -same?” - -The stranger laughed. - -“You seem to be pretty well informed,” he remarked. “I haven’t told a -soul about my business here, but you reel it right off, first clatter -out of the box.” - -“Steer wide of the Forty Thieves, pilgrim,” said Wild Bill earnestly. -“That proposition is a trap for the unwary. I know. It cost me some -trouble to find out what I’m telling you, but you take my word for -it, and let the property alone.” - -“Who are you?” inquired the stranger, with sudden interest. - -“My name’s Hickok, William Hickok.” - -The stranger hitched restlessly in his chair. - -“The man I’ve heard so much about under the sobriquet of Wild Bill?” -he asked. - -“Tally! That’s the time you got your bean on the right number.” - -The stranger fell silent for a space. - -“My name is Smith,” said he finally; “J. Algernon Smith, of Chicago, -and what you tell me is mighty surprising.” He drew his chair closer. -“Would you mind telling me just what you have found out?” - -“Sure I wouldn’t mind. I’m hungry to cut into this game, and even up -with the pack of tinhorns that gave me a hot half-hour yesterday.” - -And thereupon Wild Bill began telling what he had seen and heard in -the level of the Forty Thieves. When he had finished, J. Algernon -Smith was wide-eyed and staring. - -“Really,” he managed to gasp, “this is most astounding.” - -“I reckon it’s all that,” mildly answered Wild Bill. “The very name -of that mine, though, is enough to make a man think some. Who’s the -fellow you’re going to deal with?” - -“His name, I believe, is James Lawless.” - -“That’s another name that’s bad medicine.” - -“I’d never thought of the names in that light.” - -“That fellow that was talking with you, right after you got out of -the stage, was Clancy, the scoundrel that was blowing gold into the -rock with a shotgun. What did he want?” - -“Why, he was telling me that Lawless hadn’t got here yet, and he was -warning me not to say anything to anybody about my business in Sun -Dance.” - -“You couldn’t blame him for that,” remarked Wild Bill dryly. - -“He asked me to meet him at the foot of the slope, in the bottom of -the cañon, immediately after supper,” went on the stranger, “so we -could have a quiet talk.” - -“You can see how they’re working it, can’t you?” returned Wild Bill. -“They’re trying to keep this business dark until Lawless shows up, -and meanwhile Clancy is going to keep your interest at fever-heat by -all kinds of stringing. Any objection to my going along with you when -you meet Clancy?” - -“No, indeed, Wild Bill. I was about to suggest that myself. I am sure -I’m very much obliged to you for your interest in me, and----” - -“Stow that,” interrupted Wild Bill. “It isn’t my interest in you, -particularly, that leads me to take a hand, but it’s more a desire to -see every man get what’s coming to him. _Sabe?_” - -At that moment the Chinaman came out in front of the hotel and -pounded on a gong. - -“Suppa leddy!” he announced. - -The stranger did not remove his linen duster. It covered him from -his neck to his heels, and Wild Bill thought he kept it on so as not -to soil his Eastern clothes. He and the Laramie man sat at the same -table, and next to each other. - -When the meal was over, J. Algernon Smith excused himself for a -minute, and said he would rejoin Wild Bill in front of the hotel, and -they would at once take their way down the slope to the bottom of the -cañon. - -Wild Bill waited for five minutes before J. Algernon Smith rejoined -him, and they started across the “flat” toward the top of the slope. - -“A tenderfoot has got to keep his eyes skinned,” said Wild Bill, “or -he’ll collide with more trouble, in this western country, than he -ever dreamed was turned loose.” - -“I presume you are right,” said J. Algernon Smith. “Only fancy -blowing gold into a mine with a shotgun!” He laughed a little. “If -they knew that, back in Chicago, they’d make game of me,” he added. -“You haven’t told any one about this, have you?” - -“Not a soul but you.” - -“I’m glad of that, I can tell you. I’d hate to have the business get -out. Of course, I hadn’t bought the mine yet. I was going to take -samples, you know, and have them assayed; then, if the assays showed -up well, the deal would have been made.” - -It was very dark, at that hour, on the slope leading down into the -cañon. Bushes fringed the horse-trail, in places, and there was quite -a patch of chaparral at the foot of the slope. - -Here Wild Bill and J. Algernon Smith came to a halt. - -“Clancy doesn’t seem to be around,” said Wild Bill. “Maybe you’d -better tune up with a whistle, or a yell, so that he’ll know where -you are.” - -J. Algernon Smith stared into the depths of a thicket. - -“It looks to me as though there was a man in there,” said he. “Can -you see any one, Mr. Hickok?” - -Wild Bill took a step forward. His back was to his companion, and, -while he was peering into the bushes, he heard a hasty step behind -him. - -He started to turn; and, at that precise instant, a heavy blow, dealt -with some hard instrument, landed on the back of his head. - -He staggered, but, with a fierce effort, rallied all his strength, -and turned around. In the darkness he saw the yellow duster pressing -upon him. It was Smith, and Smith was about to land another -treacherous blow. - -Wild Bill’s head was reeling, but he had sense enough left to -understand that he had made some sort of a mistake, and that Smith -was other than he had seemed. - -Evading the blow aimed at him, the Laramie man gripped Smith by the -throat. Ultimately, in spite of his unsteady condition, Wild Bill -might have got the best of his antagonist had not Clancy taken a part -in the struggle. - -The latter plunged through the bushes and assaulted Wild Bill from -behind. - -At Clancy’s second blow, Wild Bill’s reason fled, and he dropped -helplessly on the rocks. - - - - - CHAPTER III. - - CAPTAIN LAWLESS. - - -How long Wild Bill remained unconscious he never knew, but it must -have been a considerable time. He had been struck down at the foot -of the rocky slope, and when he opened his eyes he was lying in the -level of the Forty Thieves. - -Wild Bill had no difficulty in recognizing the level, for three or -four candles were burning in niches of the rock, and lighted the -place sufficiently for him to make observations. - -The Laramie man’s unconsciousness had lasted long enough for his -captors to remove him from the slope four or five miles down the -cañon and lower him into the mine. - -His hands and feet were bound, and a savage pain from his left arm, -cramped around behind him, in no wise mitigated the discomforts of -his situation. His head, too, was aching, and his brain was still -dizzy. - -He was surrounded by seven men, all but one of whom he recognized. -Clancy was one, Tex was another, and Andy was a third. The faces of -two more he remembered to have seen in the level with Clancy the day -before. - -Another of the men, of course, was J. Algernon Smith, in his linen -duster. - -The seventh of the outfit was the fellow whose face was strange to -Wild Bill. - -The prisoner lay snugly against the hanging wall of the level. He -had made no stir when he opened his eyes, and his captors did not -know that he had recovered his senses. They were talking, and Wild -Bill was content to lie quietly and listen. - -“He got away from you,” Smith was saying, “and when he went he took -the rope with him. How did you get out?” - -“We was in hyer all night, cap’n,” replied Clancy; “me with this game -arm, an’ all the rest more er less knocked about an’ stove up. We -didn’t hev no water, er grub, er nothin’, an’ I had about calculated -that we’d starve ter death; then, jest as things were lookin’ mighty -dark fer us, Seth, thar, happened erlong, and we heerd him hollerin’ -down the shaft.” - -“I was left in Sun Dance,” spoke up Seth, who was the fellow Wild -Bill had failed to recognize, “ter watch the stage an’ see if you, er -Bingham, come in on it. Nothin’ came that arternoon, but the mail----” - -“It will be two or three days before Bingham arrives here,” -interjected Smith. “Go on, Seth.” - -“As the night passed,” proceeded Seth, “an’ Clancy an’ the rest -didn’t come back ter Sun Dance, I began ter feel anxious about ’em. -Arter breakfast in the mornin’, I couldn’t stand the unsartinty any -longer, so I saddled up an’ rode down the cañon. Seen the five hosses -bunched tergether in the scrub, so I knowed the boys must be in the -mine. When I climbed the ore-dump, I seen the rope layin’ on the -platform, an’ I couldn’t savvy the layout, not noways. I got down on -my knees, stuck my head inter the shaft, an’ let off a yell. The yell -was answered, an’ it wasn’t long afore I knowed what had happened. -I drapped a riata down, an’ spliced on the rope layin’ on the -platform, an’ purty soon the boys was on top o’ ground.” - -“We all thort the game was up,” said Clancy, when Seth had finished. -“The feller that had came nosin’ inter the mine had drapped his -bowie, an’ we found the name, ‘Wild Bill,’ burned inter the handle. -‘Thunder!’ I says ter the boys; ‘if thet was Wild Bill we had down -here, I ain’t wonderin’ none he got away. He’s a reg’lar tornader! -The wonder is,’ I says, ‘thet some o’ us didn’t git killed.’ In the -arternoon I rode ter Sun Dance ter meet the stage myself, an’ thet’s -how I come ter meet ye, cap’n, an’ ter tell ye a leetle o’ what took -place. But I reckon us fellers ain’t got any kick comin’ _now_.” -Clancy gave a husky laugh. “Wild Bill drapped inter yore hands, -cap’n, like er reg’lar tenderfoot. It was a slick play, yere bringin’ -him along when ye come ter meet me at the foot o’ thet slope. The -minit ye jumped at him I knowed somethin’ was up, an’ I wasn’t more’n -a brace o’ shakes in takin’ a hand.” - -“It was a tight squeak,” said Smith. “We came within a hair’s breadth -of having this whole story get out. If it had ever reached Bingham’s -ears it would have cost this gang a cool hundred thousand.” - -“Ye’re sure Wild Bill didn’t do any talkin’?” - -“He says he didn’t, and I believe he told the truth.” - -“But thar was some ’un with him. He didn’t git out o’ the shaft -without help.” - -“That man was a Ponca Indian. He didn’t stop in Sun Dance long, but -was sent out of camp by Wild Bill, with a paper-talk for Buffalo -Bill, at Fort Sill.” - -“Consarn it!” grunted Tex moodily. “Ain’t we goin’ ter work through -this trick without hevin’ Buffler Bill mixed up in it?” - -A muttered oath escaped the lips of Smith. - -“If Buffler Bill mixes up in this,” said he, “we’ll take care of him, -just as we’re going to take care of Wild Bill. There’s seven of us, -and I’ve got the nerve to think I’m as good a man as Buffalo Bill.” - -“You’ve got nerve enough for anything, Smith,” spoke up Wild Bill, -“but when you compare yourself with Cody, you’re a little bit wide of -your trail.” - -A sudden silence fell over the gang. All of them turned their eyes on -the prisoner, and Smith got up and stepped toward him. - -“Got your wits back, have you?” Smith demanded, with a scowl. - -“I didn’t have much sense when I started in to do you a friendly -turn,” said Wild Bill. “That’s where I went lame. Who are you, -anyhow?” - -A hoarse laugh broke from the man’s lips. The next moment he had -stripped away the linen duster, revealing a tall, supple form clad -in gaudy costume. About the shoulders was a short jacket of black -velvet, strung with silver-dollar buttons that flashed in the -candlelight; about the waist was a silken sash of red, supporting a -brace of silver-mounted derringers. Boots made of fancy leather arose -to the knee, and a black sombrero capped the flashy apparel. - -“In the first place,” said the man, with a fiendish grin, “my name is -not Smith, but Lawless.” - -“Well, I’ll be hanged!” muttered Wild Bill. “You’re Lawless, and I -jumped right at you, in the Lucky Strike Hotel, supposing you were -the tenderfoot who’s coming here to drop into your game! That’s a big -one on me, and I reckon that fool play makes me deserve all I’ve -got coming. Well, well! This would be plumb comical if it wasn’t so -blamed serious.” - -“It _is_ serious--for you,” said Captain Lawless. “What you know -stands between me and my men and one hundred thousand dollars. Why -did you mix up in this thing, in the first place?” - -“I heard shooting down in this mine, and was curious to find out what -it meant.” - -“You found out--and that’s what’s going to make you trouble.” - -Lawless turned away. - -“Is everything ready, Clancy?” he asked. - -“The fuses are all ready ter light.” - -“Then snake him off down the level and we’ll finish this right up. -See that you make a good job of it.” - -Obeying a gesture from Clancy, Andy and Tex caught Wild Bill by the -shoulders and dragged him some ten feet toward the shaft of the mine. -Seth followed with a candle. - -A stub crosscut opened off the level at this point, and Wild Bill was -dragged into this and along it for fifteen feet, as he judged. That -brought him to the end of the crosscut, which proved to be a blind -wall. - -“We’re going to put you in a pocket, Wild Bill,” said Lawless, who -had followed, “and leave you there. You’ll not be able to bother -anybody; and, of course, you’ll never live to get out, even if you’re -not killed by the blast.” - -“I’m not following you very clearly,” said Wild Bill. “Is it your -intention to send me across the divide?” - -“That’s it. You know too much, and we can’t take any chances with -you. Look here.” - -Lawless passed to the entrance of the crosscut and waved the candle -back and forth. In the candlelight. Wild Bill saw the ends of three -fuses, placed on a line. - -“At the end of each fuse,” explained Lawless calmly, “there’s a heavy -charge of powder. Clancy loaded the holes, and he knows just what a -charge will do when it’s put down in any given place. He has set this -blast so as to wall up the crosscut and leave you in a rock cell. -Clancy says that you won’t be hurt by the flying rock when the blast -goes off, but that you’ll be walled in so you can’t get out. You’ll -not have any water or food, and you’ll not have much air. That can’t -be helped.” - -“You’re a fiend!” gritted Wild Bill, glaring at the calm face of -Lawless. - -“This job of salt is going to win out. Bingham will find less gold in -the Forty Thieves than he imagined; but, if he digs away the barrier -we’re going to throw up, he’ll find something else here that will -surprise him.” - -“Why can’t you use a bullet or a knife, if you’re bound to put me out -of the way?” called Wild Bill. “What do you want to go to all this -trouble for?” - -“This will look like an accident, if you’re ever found.” - -“Look like an accident!” answered Wild Bill ironically. “How do you -figure that, if I’m ever found with my hands and feet tied?” - -“If Clancy is right, and you’re not hit by flying rock, or smothered -before an hour or two, you’ll get rid of the ropes.” - -“And you’re _white_!” muttered Wild Bill, as though it was hard for -him to couple such a murderous act with a man of that color. “Why, -you inhuman scoundrel, you ought to be black as the ace of spades, -and to wear horns! This may be the end of me, but it won’t be the -end of this business for you. My pard, Bill Cody, is coming to Sun -Dance Cañon to meet me. If he doesn’t meet me, he’ll know something -is wrong, and when he runs out the trail, you’ll owe him something. -_And whatever you owe Cody, you’ll pay!_” - -“If I ever owe Cody anything,” scowled Lawless, “I’ll pay him just as -I’m paying you. I didn’t pip my shell yesterday. You’re wide of your -trail, Hickok, if you think I’m not able to take care of myself.” - -Lawless disappeared from the mouth of the crosscut. - -“Touch off the blasts,” Wild Bill heard him say to Clancy; “all the -rest of you,” he added, “go on to the shaft. We’ve got to make a -quick getaway as soon as the fuses are fired.” - -Then, with staring eyes, Wild Bill saw Clancy take a candle and bend -down. From one fuse to another went the candle gleam, leaving a -sputtering blue flame at the end of each fuse. - -Having finished his work, Clancy whirled and raced after Lawless and -the rest, who had already started for the shaft. - -Turning on his side, with his face against the rocks, Wild Bill -waited for the deafening detonation which was to throw a barrier of -rock across the mouth of the crosscut and wall him up in a living -tomb. - - - - - CHAPTER IV. - - THE INDIAN GIRL. - - -“Whatever d’ye think Wild Bill wants us fur, Buffler?” - -“I haven’t any idea, Nick, but he’ll think we’re a long time getting -to Sun Dance.” - -“That paper-tork o’ his had a hard time reachin’ us, an’ we’ve had er -hard time gittin’ through ter Sun Dance--leastways, you an’ Dell hev -had. But we kain’t be so pizen fur from ther camp now.” - -“This short cut we’re taking through the hills will bring us into the -cañon above the camp. Dell and Cayuse will come in below. We ought to -get to the place we’re going a good two hours ahead of them.” - -The king of scouts, and his old trapper pard, Nick Nomad, were riding -through the rough country on their way to Sun Dance. - -It was early morning, and the trapper and his pards had been in the -saddle all night. - -A number of things had conspired to delay them in taking the trail in -answer to Wild Bill’s “paper-talk.” Among other things, Crawling Bear -had been slain by hostile Cheyennes, and Hickok’s note had come into -the scout’s hands by another messenger. - -Some distance back on the Sun Dance trail, the scout and Nomad had -separated from Dell Dauntless, Buffalo Bill’s girl pard, and the -Piute boy, Little Cayuse, the scout and the trapper to travel “’cross -lots,” and Dell and Cayuse to follow the regular trail. - -This would bring Buffalo Bill and Nomad into Sun Dance a little -earlier than if they had kept to the trail, and they were already so -late that they were anxious to save even an hour or two. - -The course they took was a rugged one, and they had to climb steep -hills and ridges, and urge their mounts over ground that would have -tried the strongest nerves. - -But it was all for Pard Hickok, and no loyal pard ever called on -Buffalo Bill in vain. - -The scout, however, was vastly puzzled to account for the business -that had led to the call. In his note, Wild Bill had not written a -word about that. - -“Wild Bill must hev tangled up with somethin’ purty fierce,” remarked -Nomad, “or he’d never hev sent in a hurry-up call like thet.” - -“It may not be anything that concerns Wild Bill, Nick, but something -that concerns _us_,” the scout returned. “Hickok may not be in -trouble; on the contrary, he may know something we’ve got to know in -order to avoid trouble ourselves.” - -“Kerect, Buffler. I hadn’t thort o’ ther thing in thet light afore. -We ain’t neither of us very much in ther habit o’ side-steppin’ when -trouble hits ther pike an’ p’ints fer us. This hyar trouble is er -quare thing, pard; plumb quare. Some o’ the people has trouble all -ther time, an’ all ther people has trouble some o’ the time, but all -ther people kain’t hev trouble all ther time.” - -The scout laughed. - -“What of it, anyhow, Nick?” he asked. - -“Nothin’. I was jest torkin’ ter give my bazoo exercise. No man -knows jest when trouble is goin’ ter hit him. Sometimes he kin see -et a good ways off, like er choo-choo train. He kin hyer ther bell -an’ ther whistle, an’ ef he’s a-walkin’ on ther track, he’s er ijut -ef he don’t step off, an’ let et go by. An’ then, ag’in, trouble -comes on ye around a sharp curve. The despatcher mixes orders, -er somethin’, an’ afore ye know et ye’re tangled up in a head-on -collision. Now, thet’s what I call----” - -Nomad was interrupted. As if to illustrate his rambling remarks, the -crack of a rifle was heard in the distance, followed by a shrill -scream. - -The two pards, at that moment, were on the crest of a rocky ridge. -Instinctively they stopped their horses and shot their glances in the -direction from which the report and the scream reached them. What -they saw set their pulses to a swifter beat. - -Speeding toward them along the foot of the ridge was an Indian girl. -She was mounted on a sorrel cayuse, and the pony was getting over -the ground like a streak. The girl was bending forward, her blanket -flying in the wind behind, and her quirt was dropping on the pony’s -withers with lightninglike rapidity. - -She was being pursued by an Indian buck, armed with a rifle. The buck -seemed savagely determined to overtake the girl. He was mounted on a -larger, and evidently a fleeter, horse, for at every stride he came a -shade closer. - -“Is thet ther ceremony o’ ther fastest hoss, Buffler?” queried the -startled Nomad. “Ef ther buck ketches ther gal, will she marry him? -Hey?” - -“That isn’t the ceremony of the fastest horse, Nick,” answered the -scout. “The buck wouldn’t be shooting at the girl if it was.” - -“Mebbyso he was jest shootin’ ter skeer her.” - -“It’s not the right way to win a bride--or a Cheyenne bride. As near -as I can make out, those two are Cheyennes.” - -“Ther gal’s a Cheyenne, but at this distance I take ther buck fer a -Ponca.” - -“I reckon you’re right, Nick. The buck is a Ponca and the girl a -Cheyenne. There’s a good deal of bad blood between the Cheyennes and -the Poncas just now, and we can’t overlook the fact that the under -dog, in this case, is a squaw. We’ll save her.” - -“Shore we’ll save her!” averred Nomad. “I knowed ye’d be fer doin’ -thet all along. We’re jest fixed right ter slide down this hill and -sashay in between ther two.” - -“That Ponca is getting ready to shoot again!” exclaimed Buffalo Bill, -as he started his horse, Bear Paw, down the descent. “The next bullet -may not go as wide as the first, and I reckon we’d better give the -buck something to think about, so he’ll let the girl alone.” - -As he charged down the slope, Buffalo Bill pulled his forty-five out -of his belt and shook a load in the Ponca’s direction. - -The range was too great for pistol-work, but the scout succeeded in -his design of giving the buck “something to think about.” - -The crack of the revolver and the “sing” of the bullet caused the -buck to lower the rifle he had half-raised, and to turn his eyes in -the direction of the white men. The girl also, for the first time, -saw that help was near. She flung up one hand in a mute appeal. - -“Don’t ye fret none, gal!” roared Nomad. “We’ll look out fer _you_!” - -The girl, apparently taking courage from the shot fired in the buck’s -direction, and from the reassuring tone of Nomad’s voice, slowed down -her pony. - -A few moments later the pards reached the foot of the ridge and laid -their horses across the Ponca’s path. The Ponca, without speaking, -tried to go around them. This was the girl’s signal to turn her pony -and circle back until she was under the lee of Bear Paw. - -“No, ye don’t, Injun!” cried the trapper, kicking in with his spurred -heels and getting in front of the Ponca at a jump. “Mebbyso ye kin -git eround me, but ye kain’t git eround _this_!” and Nomad leveled a -revolver. - -The Indian sat back on his horse and glared angrily at Nomad, at the -scout, and at the girl. - -“Me take um squaw,” grunted the Ponca. “Her b’long to Ponca.” - -“She’s a Cheyenne,” said the scout. “How can a Cheyenne belong to a -Ponca?” - -“Me buy um squaw with ponies,” asserted the Indian. “Me take her from -Cheyenne village, and she make um run. Ugh! Give Big Thunder squaw.” - -“You bought this girl of the Cheyennes?” demanded the scout. - -“Wuh! Pay um all same so many ponies.” - -The Ponca held up five fingers. - -Buffalo Bill looked at the girl attentively. He had never seen a -prettier Indian girl. Her features were regular, and her large, -liquid-black eyes gave her countenance almost a Spanish cast. Her -garments were of buckskin, beaded and fringed, and her blanket was -of a subdued color, clean and new. Broad silver bands encircled -her forearms and her shapely wrists, and her hands were small and -delicately formed. - -The buck, on the other hand, was a rough-looking specimen of a Ponca. - -“Speakin’ free an’ free, as between men an’ feller sports,” observed -Nomad, “I kain’t blame ther gal none fer runnin’ erway.” - -“Me know um Pa-c-has-ka,” said Big Thunder calmly. “Him friend of -Poncas, and him got good heart. Him no let squaw get away from Ponca -brave.” - -“What is your name?” asked the scout of the girl. - -“Wah-coo-tah,” was the answer. - -“That’s a Sioux name.” - -“Me Cheyenne, no Sioux. Name Wah-coo-tah.” - -The girl had a rippling, musical voice, very different from the -usually hard, strident voices of Indian women. - -“Very well, Wah-coo-tah,” said the scout, “I’ll take your word for -it. Why was the Ponca chasing you?” - -“Me no like um.” - -“Did your father sell you to the Ponca?” - -“Ai. Me no like um, me run ’way. Him ketch Wah-coo-tah, then -Wah-coo-tah kill herself.” - -Here was a knotty point for the scout. Having bought the girl, by the -girl’s own admission, the Ponca certainly had a right to take her for -his squaw. But the scout could not justify himself in his own mind if -he allowed the vicious-looking Ponca to take the fair Cheyenne. - -“Where will you go, Wah-coo-tah, if you get away from the Ponca?” - -“Me go where me be safe,” she said. - -“How much time do you want to get away?” - -The girl turned on her pony’s back and pointed to the top of a -distant hill. - -“So far,” she answered. - -“All right. We’ll hang onto the Ponca until you get there.” - -Before the scout could stop her, Wah-coo-tah caught his hand and -pressed it to her lips. Then she turned her pony and galloped off. - -Big Thunder sat silently on his horse for a space, his eyes -glittering fiendishly. Suddenly he jerked his rifle to his shoulder. -Nomad, watching him like a cat, struck up the barrel, and the bullet -plunged skyward. - -Quick as a catamount the Ponca dropped the weapon and hurled himself -from his horse’s back--not at Nomad, but at Buffalo Bill. He had a -drawn knife in his hand, and, as he landed on the scout’s horse, he -made a venomous, whole-arm stab with it. - -But if the Ponca was quick, the scout was a shade quicker. Twisting -about in his saddle, Buffalo Bill clutched the Ponca’s knife-wrist -with his right hand, and, with his left, took a firm grip of the -Ponca’s throat. - -A second later and the struggle carried them both to the ground. - -Big Thunder was a powerful Indian, and the nude, upper-half of his -wiry body was liberally besmeared with bear’s grease. The grease made -him as slippery as an eel. Nevertheless, the scout knew how to deal -with him. - -A crushing pressure at the wrist caused the knife to drop. With the -Ponca practically disarmed, the fight became one of mere wrestling -and fisticuffs. - -Big Thunder slipped his oily throat clear of the scout’s fingers, but -the scout’s hand, leaping upward from the throat, took a firm grip of -the scalp-lock. Holding the Ponca’s head to the ground, Buffalo Bill -released his wrist, and got his right hand about the throat in such a -manner that it could not slip; then, kneeling on the ground, he held -the Ponca in that position until he was half-throttled. - -“Waugh!” jubilated Nomad. “Jest see how Pard Buffler tames ther red -savage. I’m darned ef et ain’t as good as a show. Goin’ ter strangle -him, Buffler? Better do et. Ef ye don’t, he’ll camp on yore trail -an’, sooner er later, ye’ll hev ter kill him ter prevent his takin’ -yer scalp.” - -The scout saw that the Indian had been punished enough for his -attack, and suddenly sprang away from him. - -“Don’t worry, pard,” sang out Nomad; “I’ve got him kivered.” - -For a second or two the Ponca lay on the ground, gasping for breath; -then, as he struggled to his feet, the point of the trapper’s -revolver lifted with him, the trapper’s menacing eye gleaming along -the barrel. - -“Easy, thar, Ponk!” warned Nomad; “make er single hosstyle move, an’ -ye’ll be er good Injun afore ye kin say Jack Robinson.” - -Big Thunder, seeing how he was corralled, grunted savagely, drew -himself to his full height, and folded his arms. - -“Injun thought Pa-e-has-ka friend of Poncas!” he exclaimed scathingly. - -“I’m the friend of the Poncas, all right, Big Thunder,” answered the -scout, “but the girl did not want to go with you.” - -“Ponca buy her, make um go!” - -“Not while I’m around. Keep your hands off that girl, understand?” - -“Ponca no keep hands off Pa-e-has-ka. Bymby, Pa-e-has-ka’s scalp dry -in Big Thunder’s lodge; Big Thunder make um Cheyenne girl tie um -scalp on hoop, hang um up.” - -“Hyer ther pizen red!” snarled the trapper. “Hadn’t I better rattle -this hyar pepper-box o’ mine at ther threatenin’ varmint?” - -“No.” The scout looked in the direction taken by the girl. She had -got far beyond the point to which she had drawn his attention, and -had vanished. “I reckon Wah-coo-tah’s all right, Nick. Put up your -gun and we’ll ride on to Sun Dance.” - -Unconcernedly, the scout walked to Bear Paw and mounted. - -Big Thunder, still erect and with his arms folded, followed the -scout’s movements with eyes of hate. - -“Come on, pard,” said the scout, starting for the next “rise.” - -“Mebbyso he’ll open up on ye with thet rifle o’ his, Buffler,” -demurred Nomad. - -“He’ll not do that,” was Buffalo Bill’s confident reply, as he -spurred on. - -Nomad lowered his revolver, but kept his vigilant gaze on the Ponca -as he followed his pard. When they crossed the next hill, the last -they saw of Big Thunder he was still glaring after them. - -“Ye’ve made er enemy out o’ thet red, Buffler,” observed the trapper, -pushing his revolver back into its holster. - -“I suppose so,” said the scout thoughtfully. “The worst of it is, -Nick, I can’t blame the Indian. According to the laws and customs of -the red man he is in the right. I had no business interfering between -him and Wah-coo-tah.” - -“Any white man would hev done et!” asserted the trapper. - -“Any white man who had the right kind of a heart,” qualified the -scout. - -“Wah-coo-tah ain’t er common Injun squaw.” - -“That’s why I helped her.” - -“All this hyar,” commented Nomad, “on’y illustrates what I was er -sayin’ erbout trouble. This excitement come around ther curve, -full-tilt, an’ hit us squar’ in ther face. Thar wasn’t no dodgin’ et.” - -Half an hour later the pards descended into Sun Dance Cañon, and an -hour’s ride down the cañon brought them to the foot of the slope -leading to the “flat,” and the mining-camp. - -“We’re a good two hours ahead o’ Dell an’ Cayuse,” asserted Nomad, -while they were climbing the slope. - -“I hope we’re in time for Hickok’s business, whatever it is,” -answered the scout. - -Bije Spangler, as usual, was occupying a couple of chairs in front of -the Lucky Strike. The ragged, palm-leaf fan was working slowly, and -he watched the pards approach with a speculative eye. Spangler had no -difficulty in detecting that they were persons of consequence. - -“‘Lucky Strike Hotel,’” said the scout, reading from the sign. “Are -you the proprietor?” he went on, dropping his eyes to the huge bulk -of humanity in the two chairs. - -“I run this joint,” wheezed Spangler, “but I ain’t high-toned enough -ter call myself a proprietor.” - -“Can we stop here?” - -“Can if ye got the price.” - -“We want a room by ourselves.” - -“Only got one private room, an’ that was took by a feller that -vamosed last night without settlin’ up. Reckon ye kin hev that, -seein’ as I don’t know whether the feller’s ever comin’ back er not. -J. Algernon Smith sorter opined he’d like a room by hisself, too, so -I reckon he’d think he had fust claim on the room, on’y he vamosed as -myster’ously as Wild Bill.” - -“What’s that?” demanded the scout, pulling himself together with a -jerk, and peering sharply into the flabby face of Spangler. “Was Wild -Bill Hickok staying here?” - -“He was.” - -“And you say he left last night?” - -“Him an’ J. Algernon went away tergether. That was right after supper -last night, an’ neither of ’em has come back yet.” - -“How long has Wild Bill been here?” - -“He come day before yesterday, on hossback, with er Injun. J. -Algernon come yesterday arternoon, on the Montegordo stage. Both of -’em’s skedaddled. Who might you be, neighbor?” - -“Cody’s my name----” - -Spangler tried to express his surprise and delight, but only -succeeded in emitting a throaty gurgle; he likewise tried to get up -and grab the scout’s hand, but his sudden flop displaced one of the -chairs, and he slumped to the ground in a quivering heap. - -Nomad got behind him and boosted him up. - -“This hyar camp must be er healthy place,” remarked Nomad, “ef et -grows many ombrays o’ yore size.” - -“It ain’t as healthy as it looks,” said Spangler. “Buffalo Bill, I’m -glad ter meet ye. Ye kin have this hull hotel if ye want it. I’ll -call a man ter take keer o’ yer hosses.” - -“I take care of my horse myself,” replied Buffalo Bill. “Show me the -stable, Spangler.” - -Spangler waddled to the corner of the house and pointed to a brush -shelter in the rear. - -“What d’ye think o’ this, Buffler?” asked the trapper perplexedly, as -he and his pard led their mounts to the stable. - -“I don’t know what to think of it _yet_,” answered the scout, with a -troubled frown. - -“Wild Bill was hyar, an’ vanished last night.” - -“He vanished with a man called J. Algernon Smith. If we’re to believe -Spangler, both Smith and Hickok departed unexpectedly. It looks bad, -on the face of it, but----” - -The rear of the stable was open. As the scout looked in, he saw and -recognized Wild Bill’s horse. - -“Et’s Wild Bill’s animile, shore enough,” muttered Nomad, following -the scout’s eyes with his own. “Hickok wouldn’t pull out ter go any -great distance without his hoss.” - -“It wouldn’t seem so,” the scout answered, leading Bear Paw into an -empty stall. - -Removing the saddle, he rubbed Bear Paw down carefully with the -saddle-blanket, then tore off a layer of hay from a bale, and -loosened it out in the manger. - -Nomad, deeply thoughtful, had been caring for his own horse in the -same way. - -Presently the pards left the stable and walked back to the front of -the hotel. - -Spangler was again seated on his chairs, plying the fan. He was -talking with a man in a long linen duster. - -“Buffalo Bill,” called Spangler, “shake hands with J. Algernon Smith, -of Chicago. Smith,” went on Spangler, blowing like a porpoise, “this -here is the Buffalo Bill ye read so much about.” - -The scout’s eyes instantly engaged the face of J. Algernon Smith. -Smith, after a moment’s hesitation, stretched out his hand. - -The scout was an expert in character-reading, and, inasmuch as Smith -was the last man seen with Wild Bill, he gave him keen attention. - -“Well!” exclaimed Smith, “you’re the gentleman Wild Bill has been -expecting. He told me about you.” - - - - - CHAPTER V. - - WAH-COO-TAH AGAIN. - - -“Oh, he did, eh?” queried the scout. “Do you happen to know, Mr. -Smith, where Wild Bill is now?” - -“Why,” fluttered Smith, “isn’t he here?” - -“No. He left here last night, right after supper, and hasn’t been -back since.” - -“Say, but that’s odd!” - -“Spangler, here, says that you went with him.” - -“I did go with him, as far as the slope leading down into the -cañon. I have a friend living above here--a man I used to know in -Chicago--and I called on him. He insisted that I should stay all -night in his cabin, and I did so.” - -“What is your friend’s name, Mr. Smith?” - -“Seth Coomby.” - -“Do you know such a man, Spangler?” asked the scout, turning to the -hotel proprietor. - -“Sure I know him,” answered Spangler. “He has a little, -three-dollar-a-day placer up the gulch.” - -“You say,” went on Buffalo Bill, once more facing Smith, “that you -left Wild Bill on the slope leading into the cañon?” - -“Yes.” - -“And you haven’t seen him since?” - -“Why, no. I supposed he was here. You don’t think he met with foul -play, do you? I took a big liking to Wild Bill.” - -“You didn’t have him very long, did you?” asked the scout keenly. “I -understand you only arrived in camp yesterday afternoon, and that you -and Wild Bill started for the slope right after supper. Not much time -to take a liking to a man. Did you know Wild Bill before you came to -Sun Dance?” - -“No; never saw him before I got here. We got acquainted with each -other before supper, and had a little talk over our cigars. Then we -ate supper together, and then I started for Coomby’s, and Wild Bill -walked with me as far as the slope. Say, I’m all broke up about this.” - -“Wasn’t you talkin’ with a feller in the office afore ye got ter -talkin’ with Wild Bill?” put in Spangler. - -“That was Clancy,” said Smith. - -“Yep,” returned Spangler, with a shake of his fat sides, “I know -him, all right; and”--here Spangler gave the scout a significant -glance--“Clancy ain’t got none too good a repertation in this camp.” - -“You surprise me!” exclaimed J. Algernon Smith. - -The fellow’s actions were ingenuous. He talked and acted like an -Easterner, but he _looked_ like a Westerner, for all that. - -“You understand, Mr. Smith,” pursued the scout, with the glint in -his eyes that had taken the nerve of many a wily schemer, “that Wild -Bill is my friend, and that I am anxious about him. If he has met -with foul play, as you just suggested, I shall have something to say -to the scoundrels back of it--later. Just now, though, I want all -the information I can get. You will pardon me if I ask you what this -Clancy had to say to you.” - -Smith stiffened. - -“What Clancy had to say, Buffalo Bill,” he replied, “is, of course, -my own business. Nevertheless, under the circumstances, I recognize -your right to press inquiries. If you will step aside with me, I will -explain.” - -Buffalo Bill walked apart with Smith. - -“In order to figure this matter down to where you will have a -thorough understanding of it, Buffalo Bill,” went on Smith, in a tone -that seemed perfectly frank and open, “I shall have to tell you my -business in this camp--and that business is one I was told to keep -dark. I have come here from Chicago to examine a mine with the view -of purchasing it. Clancy came to me from the owner of the mine, who -is shortly expected in this camp. What Clancy told me was that the -owner would be here to-morrow or next day, and Clancy advised me -not to tell any one why I was here. That is all. It is news to me -if Clancy does not bear a good reputation. But I don’t suppose that -affects the mine, anyway. I shall not purchase the property until I -take my ore-samples and have them assayed. Then----” - -“What is the name of the mine?” broke in the scout. - -“It is called the Forty Thieves.” - -“Queer name for an honest mine,” said the scout. - -“That’s right; but they have queer names for mines--some of them -almost laughable. For instance, I have heard of the Pauper’s Dream, -the P. D. Q., the----” - -“Who owns this mine, Mr. Smith?” - -“A man by the name of Lawless; Captain Lawless he calls himself.” - -The scout started. - -“Have you heard of the fellow?” asked Smith eagerly. - -“I have heard of a squawman who calls himself by that name, but whom -the Indians call ‘Fire-hand.’ He is said to be an out-and-out rascal.” - -“Great glory!” cried Smith. “It looks as though I had landed right -in the hands of the Philistines. Have you ever seen this Captain -Lawless, Buffalo Bill?” - -“Never. One of my pards, Little Cayuse, has seen him, but I have not.” - -“When will your pard, Little Cayuse, be here?” - -The scout’s eyes narrowed. - -“What is that to you, Mr. Smith?” he demanded. - -“Why, merely that I should like to have Lawless pointed out to me -before I talk with him. If I don’t like his looks, I’ll get away from -here without examining the Forty Thieves.” - -These words were the only ones spoken by Smith that struck the scout -as peculiar. On the whole, however, Smith had stood the scout’s -questioning well. - -Buffalo Bill turned away and walked back to Spangler. Smith went on -into the hotel. - -“What do you know about the Forty Thieves Mine, Spangler?” asked -Buffalo Bill. - -“I know it’s no good, Buffalo Bill,” said Spangler, with a choppy -laugh. - -“Where is it?” - -“Five miles down the gulch.” - -“Who owns it?” - -“Give it up. It’s changed hands so many times there ain’t no keepin’ -track o’ the owners.” - -“Do you know a man who calls himself Captain Lawless?” - -“I’ve heerd tell o’ such a chap, but I ain’t never seen him.” - -“Well,” said the scout thoughtfully, “show me into the room Wild Bill -occupied. I and my pard will stay in it till Wild Bill gets back. Go -for the saddles, Nick,” the scout added. “We’ll keep them in the room -with us.” - -Spangler yelled for the Chinaman, and the latter showed the scout -to the room recently occupied by Wild Bill. When left alone in the -place, the scout looked over it carefully. - -The first objects to strike his attention were a pair of boots. He -picked them up and looked at them. The heel of one was missing--the -reason, no doubt, the boots had been discarded. - -On a chair lay a blue-flannel shirt. Wild Bill had worn such a shirt, -but it might also have belonged to any number of men. The left sleeve -was cut away close to the shoulder, and around the edge of the -abbreviated sleeve were evidences of dried blood. - -Deeply puzzled, the scout laid the shirt aside. Wild Bill’s saddle -lay on the floor, and near it his war-bag. There was a box of -cartridges in the bag, and a few other odds and ends, but nothing -that would give the remotest clue to Wild Bill’s whereabouts. - -While the scout was examining the bag, Nomad came in with the -riding-gear. There was an odd look upon the old trapper’s face. - -“Found out anythin’, Buffler?” he asked. - -“No.” - -“Didn’t J. Algernon enlighten ye none?” - -“Not to speak of. I’ve a sneaking idea, though”--and here the scout -dropped his voice guardedly--“that Smith has put me next to a -pay-streak.” - -“Pay-streak? Whar?” - -“Why, in an old, played-out mine five miles down the gulch--a mine -called the Forty Thieves.” - -“Forty Thieves! What fool ever tacked sich er label onter a mine?” - -“Pass the ante, Nick. If what Smith says is true, though, a man by -the name of Captain Lawless is mixed up with the Forty Thieves.” - -Nomad stared. - -“Meanin’ thet whelp of er squawman ther Cheyennes calls Fire-hand, -Buffler?” he asked. - -“The same.” - -“Things are heatin’ up some, eh? Ye don’t reckon Wild Bill hes got -tangled up any with Lawless, do ye?” - -“I don’t know what to think--just yet.” - -“Waal, while ye’re fiddlin’ eround fer a start, I’m goin’ ter give ye -a surprise.” - -“What sort of a surprise?” - -Nomad drew close to the scout, and whispered in his ear. - -“Thet Injun gal, Wah-coo-tah, is out ter the barn, an’ wants ter see -ye immejiate.” - -That was a surprise, certainly. How was it that the girl, whom the -pards had left in the hills, had reached Sun Dance so soon after -their arrival? And what was her business with the scout? - -Buffalo Bill started for the door, but Nomad caught his arm. - -“Ef thar’s anythin’ crooked goin’ on in this camp, Buffler,” said the -trapper, “like as not ye’re bein’ watched. What excuse ye got fer -goin’ ter ther barn, arter ther hosses hev been attended to, an’ ther -ridin’-gear brought in? Ye ort ter hev one, ye know. Hyar! I’ll fix -ye out.” - -Nomad dipped into his war-bag and brought out a bottle of -horse-liniment. - -“Take this, Buffler,” he whispered, “an’ purtend ye’re goin’ ter rub -thet stuff on Bear Paw’s off hind leg. Thet gal, Wah-coo-tah, is -chuck full o’ important news o’ some kind, but she wouldn’t say er -word ter me, ’ceptin’ I was ter send Pa-e-has-ka ter see her.” - -Buffalo Bill took the bottle of liniment and left the room. Out in -front he halted for a word with Spangler. - -“My horse strained a tendon coming from Sill,” said he, showing the -bottle, “and I’ve got to take care of him.” - -“I got a Mexican that kin do it fer ye, Buffalo Bill,” said Spangler. - -“I never let any one take care of Bear Paw but myself,” the scout -answered, as he started for the stable. - -So far as the scout could discover he was not watched by any one. The -camp, as usual during the day, was quiet, and he could not see any -one in the vicinity of the hotel. - -When he got into the stable he stood for a moment looking around. -Wah-coo-tah was not in evidence, and he turned to go out again. -Before he could leave, however, the low, musical voice of the girl -floated to his ear: - -“Pa-e-has-ka no go. Wah-coo-tah make talk with him.” - -The voice came from overhead. Buffalo Bill looked up and saw -Wah-coo-tah gazing down at him through the brushy thatch that covered -the stable’s roof. - -“Why don’t you come down here, Wah-coo-tah?” asked the scout. - -“Wah-coo-tah ’fraid. No can take chances. Me stay here; when me -through talk, me crawl back through bushes to bottom of cañon.” - -“Have you seen anything of Big Thunder? Has he bothered you any since -you got away from him?” - -“Ponca no bother Wah-coo-tah. Him bother Pa-e-has-ka, because -Pa-e-has-ka save Wah-coo-tah. Big Thunder him in Sun Dance Cañon. Me -watch um come; so me come, tell Pa-e-has-ka look out.” - -“Is that why you brought me out here, Wah-coo-tah?” asked the scout, -disappointed. “I’m not afraid of Big Thunder.” - -“Big Thunder all same snake, but him no rattle. Him strike, but him -no rattle first.” - -“He won’t bother me, Wah-coo-tah, so don’t fret about that. Where are -you going, now that you have left Big Thunder? You won’t dare go back -to your people, because they would give you to Big Thunder again.” - -“My mudder no give me up to Big Thunder. My fadder he do that. Me -stay in hills till me git good chance, kill Big Thunder.” - -“No, no, Wah-coo-tah,” said the scout earnestly, “you must not do -that.” - -“Me no like um. Him try kill Wah-coo-tah.” - -“Well, even at that, you don’t want the Ponca’s blood upon your -hands. Why are you afraid to show yourself here in this camp?” - -“Mebbyso my fadder see me.” - -“Is your father in Sun Dance?” - -“Him Fire-hand, Cap’n Lawless.” - -This was a big surprise for Buffalo Bill. He began now to understand -why Wah-coo-tah was so much more comely than the usual Indian girl. -Her father was an American, her mother a Cheyenne. - -And it was the girl’s father who had sold her, for five ponies, to -Big Thunder! That proved to Buffalo Bill, more than anything he had -yet heard against Lawless, what a thorough scoundrel the man was. - -“I will protect you against Lawless, Wah-coo-tah,” said the scout. - -“Him got plenty Yellow Eyes to help um,” returned the girl. - -“Well, he hasn’t reached the camp yet. I have been told he won’t be -here until to-morrow, or next day.” - -“Him all same in camp now, Pa-e-has-ka.” - -“Where?” - -“Him stay in hotel. Me see you talk with um in front of hotel.” - -The scout was even more startled than he had been before. - -“Who is he, Wah-coo-tah?” he demanded. - -“Him man long yellow coat.” - -“Smith!” muttered the scout, a glitter coming into his eyes. - -Then it flashed through Buffalo Bill’s mind that if Lawless would -play the rôle of Smith, he must be doing it for some underhanded -purpose. Quite possibly that purpose had something to do with Wild -Bill, and his mysterious disappearance from the camp. - -“Wah-coo-tah,” went on the scout, speaking in a low voice and -hurriedly, “I came to Sun Dance looking for a friend of mine by the -name of Wild Bill. I was delayed in getting to Sun Dance. When I -reached here, though, I discovered that Wild Bill had disappeared -last night. Immediately after supper he was last seen with the man -who calls himself Smith, but who you tell me is your father, Captain -Lawless. The two walked down the slope into the cañon. Lawless says -he left Wild Bill and went to stay the night with a friend named Seth -Coomby, and that he didn’t see where Wild Bill went, and doesn’t know -anything about where he is now. If you can find out anything about -him, I’d like to have you do it.” - -The girl’s eyes sparkled at the thought of being able to render -Pa-e-has-ka a service, and so, in a measure, pay him back for what he -had done for her. - -“Me find out ’bout Wild Bill,” said she. “Listen, Pa-e-has-ka. Bymby, -in two, three hour, you go to top of road that leads down into cañon. -Look down cañon. You see um Wah-coo-tah’s blanket wave in wind, you -git um horse and come. _Sabe?_” - -“I understand. Have you had anything to eat, Wah-coo-tah?” - -“Me got plenty ‘jerked’ venison. Me all right. You watch heap sharp -for blanket; and you watch heap sharp for Big Thunder. Wah-coo-tah go -now. Good-by.” - -The girl disappeared from the roof, and the scout, amazed by what he -had overheard, left the stable and walked back to the hotel. - -J. Algernon Smith was none other than Captain Lawless, and Captain -Lawless was none other than Wah-coo-tah’s father! - -Why should Lawless be impersonating Smith, unless he had some ax to -grind? What that ax was, Buffalo Bill was determined to find out. - -He went to the apartment taken by Nomad and himself, and expected to -find Nomad there; but the trapper was not in the room. - -Having replaced the bottle of liniment in his pard’s war-bag, the -scout returned to the front of the hotel. Just then he was more -particularly interested in finding Smith than in locating Nomad, but -neither one nor the other was in evidence. - -The Chinaman came out and pounded the dinner-gong. Buffalo Bill -waited for a few minutes, hoping Nomad would present himself, but he -did not. Thereupon the scout hung his hat on a peg in the office and -went into the dining-room. - -He took his time over the meal, keeping his eyes on the alert for a -glimpse of Nomad or Lawless. His watchfulness, however, was without -result. - -Puzzled and uneasy, he finished his meal and went out to where -Spangler was holding down his chairs in the shade of the hotel. - -“How far up the gulch does Seth Coomby live, Spangler?” he asked. - -“’Bout two mile,” replied Spangler. - -“What’s become of Smith? Do you know?” - -“Not me. He’s harder ter keep track of than the Irishman’s flea. But, -with all his comin’s an’ goin’s, I kin tell him he’s goin’ ter pay -fer the meals he misses, an’ the bunks he hires an’ don’t sleep in.” - -“Have you seen my pard recently?” - -“I hevn’t seen him, nuther. Mebby he went off with Smith? Your pards -hev a great habit of walkin’ off with Smith and not comin’ back -ag’in. Wild Bill did it last night, an’ mebby Nomad did it while you -was rubbin’ liniment on yer hoss.” - -“Did you see Nomad going off with Smith?” - -“Nary. I ain’t seen either one of ’em since they was here in front o’ -my place an’ you was talkin’ with Smith.” - -“I’m going away for a little while,” said the scout, “and if Nomad -returns while I am gone, tell him to stay here and wait for me.” - -“Sure I will.” - -The scout took to the horse-trail and moved off toward the slope -leading down into the cañon. - -What he wanted just now was to locate Smith. Had the fellow, fearing -discovery at the scout’s hands, skipped out? - -Nomad had not suspected Smith of being other than he seemed any more -than had the scout. Had Smith taken advantage of this and lured Nomad -away, just as he might have lured Wild Bill? - -The scout was going to Seth Coomby’s with the rather vague hope of -finding Lawless there. It was only two miles, and the scout had made -up his mind that he would walk the distance, for a change. - -As he halted at the top of the slope, his eyes instinctively scanned -the cañon, up and down. - -Down the cañon, against the right-hand wall, he saw something -fluttering from the rocks. At once he thought of Wah-coo-tah, and -of her promise to flaunt her blanket so he could see it in case she -found out anything and needed him. - -All thought of visiting Seth Coomby’s in search of Lawless passed at -once from Buffalo Bill’s mind. - -He had looked down the cañon in the hope of seeing something of Dell -Dauntless and Little Cayuse, who were already long overdue at Sun -Dance. Dell and Cayuse were not in sight, and the glimpse of that -fluttering blanket, with its call to immediate action, gave the scout -plenty to think of aside from his missing pards. - -Whirling on his track, he returned to the hotel and went to his room -after his riding-gear. - -“Reckoned ye wouldn’t go ter Coomby’s, eh, Buffalo Bill?” spoke up -Spangler. - -“I reckoned I’d ride instead of walk,” the scout answered. “I’m -expecting two other pards of mine to show up in Sun Dance before -long. One of them is a young lady. She is to have the room which -Nomad and I are occupying. If they, or Nomad, come before I get -back, don’t fail to tell them to stay here and wait for me.” - -“Ye kin gamble on it that I will,” Spangler answered. - -The scout was not long in getting the gear onto Bear Paw and striking -a swift gait for the bottom of the gulch. - - - - - CHAPTER VI. - - AT THE FORTY THIEVES MINE. - - -The blanket was fluttering from the top of a big pile of boulders -lying at the foot of the cañon wall. As the scout left the bottom of -the slope and emerged from the chaparral on his way down the cañon, -the blanket suddenly disappeared. - -“Wah-coo-tah has seen me coming,” he thought, “and has taken away the -blanket.” - -In this he was correct, for when he had drawn up Bear Paw abreast -of the pile of boulders, Wah-coo-tah rode out into the trail. She -scanned the trail carefully in both directions, and then urged her -cayuse alongside of Bear Paw. - -“What have you discovered, Wah-coo-tah?” asked Buffalo Bill. - -“Wild Bill ride to Forty Thieves Mine last night with Lawless,” said -the girl. - -“Did he go there of his own free will, or was he taken by force?” - -“No _sabe_ Pa-e-has-ka.” - -“Did Wild Bill leave the mine?” - -“No _sabe_. Mebbyso him no leave mine. If him leave, then him come -back Sun Dance--and him no come back.” - -“Where did you discover this?” - -“Me ride down trail, see two Yellow Eyes, Coomby and Clancy, riding -up trail. Me hide in bushes while Yellow Eyes pass. When they pass, -they talk. Me hear um. From what they say me know Wild Bill ride to -Forty Thieves Mine last night with Fire-hand.” - -This information of Wah-coo-tah’s was of immense importance. It was a -lucky bit of gossip that had come the girl’s way while she was hiding -in the bushes to let Coomby and Clancy pass. - -If Wild Bill had gone to the mine with Lawless of his own free will, -he would have taken his horse. Force had been used to compel Hickok -to go to the mine, Buffalo Bill was sure of it. - -“Are Seth Coomby and Clancy friends of Fire-hand?” asked the scout. - -“Ai. They come many times to Fire-hand’s lodge among the Cheyennes. -Me know um. Pa-e-has-ka see um Big Thunder?” inquired the girl, an -anxious light coming into her eyes. - -“No,” answered the scout. “That Ponca is the least of my worries.” - -“Him ride up gulch while Wah-coo-tah wait behind rocks. Me take down -blanket while he go. Me sure he go to Sun Dance, find Pa-e-has-ka.” - -“He wasn’t in Sun Dance. Will you go with me to the mine, -Wah-coo-tah?” - -“Me stay here, watch for Ponca.” - -“That is useless, Wah-coo-tah. I don’t like to leave you here alone, -with the Ponca and your father both loose in the gulch.” - -“Me keep away from um,” said the girl, a soft light creeping into her -large eyes as she looked at the scout. - -“I will see you again?” - -“Ai. Me help um Pa-e-has-ka find Wild Bill.” - -“Have you seen anything of Fire-hand, or my pard, Nomad, since you -left Sun Dance following my talk with you this afternoon?” - -“No see um. Me see only Coomby and Clancy, and Big Thunder.” - -“Well, if you’re determined to stay here, Wah-coo-tah,” said the -scout, “we’ll have to separate. My pard, Nomad, is missing now, as -well as Wild Bill. This Forty Thieves Mine looks like a good place to -go to hunt for them--for Wild Bill, at least. Take care of yourself, -girl. Pa-e-has-ka is your friend, and will stand by you, don’t forget -that.” - -Again the soft light came into the girl’s eyes. The scout, with a -rattle of his spurs, darted down the cañon. Looking back as he rode, -he saw Wah-coo-tah taking up her station behind the rocks. - -Buffalo Bill, who had a calculating eye for distance, measured the -miles as he rode. One, two, three, four, five he counted. As a proof -of the accuracy of his count, the word “five” had hardly dropped from -his lips before he saw, a little way ahead of him, the ore-dump of -the Forty Thieves. - -Drawing down to a more cautious pace, he swept his eyes over the -surroundings. There was no sign of any living thing in that part of -the cañon. - -He went bushwhacking in the scrub, and found places where horses had -been recently tethered, but there were no horses in the vicinity -of the ore-dump now aside from Bear Paw. If there were no horses -around, it seemed to follow, naturally, that there could be no one -in the mine. The scout, however, was determined to find that out by -observation. He would pay a visit to the workings and see for himself. - -Securing Bear Paw in the depths of a thicket, where he could not be -easily seen by any chance passer along the trail, the scout left the -bushes warily and made his way to the ore-dump. - -The ox-hide bucket was on the platform at the top of the dump, and on -the slope of the little elevation lay a pick. - -The Forty Thieves may have been a played-out proposition, but some -sort of work had been prosecuted there very recently. - -Making as little noise as possible, the scout climbed the ore-dump to -the platform and knelt down on the planks. - -He looked into the cavernous depths of the shaft, and listened -intently. He could neither see nor hear anything. - -Buffalo Bill had been perhaps half an hour looking about through the -thickets for signs of men and horses, so that, from the time he had -separated from Wah-coo-tah farther up the cañon, until he reached the -top of the ore-dump, something like an hour and a half had passed. - -At least one of the scout’s enemies had been making the most of this -hour and a half. - -As the scout slowly climbed the side of the ore-dump, his every -movement was watched by a pair of glittering eyes in the bushes. The -owner of the eyes had not been in the thicket when the scout had done -his bushwhacking, but had glided to the copse when the scout left his -horse and pushed into the open. - -As the scout knelt on the platform, his back was toward the gleaming, -malevolent eyes. - -Big Thunder--for the man in the thicket was the Ponca--thought that -the hour for his revenge had struck. Slowly his rifle arose to his -shoulder, he drew a bead on the form that topped the ore-dump, and -one long finger caressed the rifle’s trigger. - -The finger, however, did not press the trigger. At the critical -moment, Big Thunder lowered the rifle, and laid it carefully down -beside him. - -There might be other white men in the vicinity, and the sound of -the rifle-shot would be heard. In that case, Big Thunder would have -difficulty in escaping after he had secured his revenge. - -Starting to a crouching posture, the Ponca rested his right hand -on the hilt of his skinning-knife. He would use the knife, coming -upon the kneeling form of the scout before he was aware that danger -threatened. - -With the noiseless tread of a puma the savage left his concealment. -The shadow of a cloud does not cross the ground more silently than -did the moccasined feet of the vengeful Ponca. Like a specter of -ill omen he gained the foot of the ore-dump, and began climbing it -without displacing a stone, or a thimbleful of sand. - -Yet, as it happened, the Ponca was not unseen, even though the scout -was oblivious of his presence. Another Indian, with a tread as -silent, emerged from the bushes. - -It was Wah-coo-tah. - -She looked about her quickly, saw the Ponca mounting the ore-dump, -taking up the pick as he went, and hastened breathlessly toward the -shaft. - -Wah-coo-tah was unarmed. Big Thunder had seen to that when he took -the girl from the lodge of her people. - -So, as Wah-coo-tah glided toward the shaft, she armed herself with a -stone. - -Big Thunder, coming close to the scout, suddenly swung the pick high -in air. The scout, intent on probing whatever mystery lay at the -bottom of the Forty Thieves shaft, seemed unconscious of everything -that was going forward at the surface. - -“Pa-e-has-ka!” screamed the Indian girl, as she flung the stone. - -That wild cry of Wah-coo-tah’s broke the thrall of silence that had -hovered over the tragic scene. The scout looked upward, saw the -Ponca’s gleaming eyes and the raised pick, and saw the stone strike -the Ponca’s uplifted arm. - -The pick fell, but was deflected by the stone, and its point bit -murderously into the stout planks of the platform. - -Another instant and the scout had come to hand-grips with his red -foe. Cody had had no time to draw knife or revolver, but the Ponca -had succeeded in getting his own blade half-out of its scabbard -before the white man closed with him. - -A look into Big Thunder’s eyes convinced the scout that he would -fight to the death, that he had come there either to kill or be -killed. - -The struggle was, at the beginning, for the possession of the Ponca’s -half-drawn knife. - -The oiled body of the savage slipped and wriggled in the scout’s -hands, now pressing him closer, now dragging away, and every instant -the redskin’s hand plucked steadily and resolutely at the knife. - -Wah-coo-tah, excited and apprehensive, came to the top of the -ore-dump, dodging this way and that to keep out of the way of the -combatants, and seeking to be of service to Pa-e-has-ka. - -With a magnificent effort, in which his greased arm and head slipped -through the scout’s gripping fingers, Big Thunder managed to get the -knife from its sheath. - -“Get away, Wah-coo-tah!” panted the scout. - -The girl drew back a pace, stooping to pick up another stone, and, if -she got a chance to hurl it without striking the scout. - -Once, twice, three times the murderous weapon rose in the air, but -the scout evaded each blow by hurling himself to the right and left -at the critical moment when the blade fell. - -Wonderful indeed was it to note the agility of the white man, -bending, twisting, side-stepping with all the grace and swiftness of -a panther. - -The scout sought to draw a revolver, but the Ponca watched his hands -and pressed him closely whenever his fingers came close to the -hand-grip of one of the Colts. - -Suddenly the combatants broke apart, seemingly by tacit agreement. -Quick as a dart, Big Thunder whirled sideways, and launched a -sweeping blow at Wah-coo-tah. - -Buffalo Bill detected the movement at his beginning. The moment’s -grace afforded him would have been sufficient to allow him to draw -the revolver he had been trying to get hold of, but he would not have -had time to draw the revolver and shoot before the girl would have -stopped the swinging knife. - -Without making a try at his revolver, he reached out with both hands, -caught the girl’s arm, and jerked her roughly from her feet. - -Wah-coo-tah fell on the edge of the ore-dump and rolled down its -steep side, while the Ponca’s knife flashed through the sunlight over -the spot where she had stood a second before. - -The scout leaped to the farther edge of the platform, his right hand -flying to his belt. - -Undaunted by his failure to strike the girl, Big Thunder was alert on -the instant and ready to balk the scout’s attempt to get his revolver. - -Between him and the scout yawned the hole in the platform. The Ponca -sprang across it, but his moccasined feet tripped on the ox-hide -bucket, and his leap fell short. - -The toes of his moccasins caught the edge of the opening, he reeled -there for a fraction of a second, seeking to recover his balance, -then lurched backward, striking his spine and head against the -opposite side of the opening. - -For the space of a breath the scout saw him, doubled up in the square -hole, every muscle gone limp, and arms and hands helpless to save -him; then the form disappeared downward, and could be heard striking -and bounding against the rocky walls of the shaft. Finally there came -a sudden crash from far below, then death-like silence. - -Buffalo Bill sank down on the platform, limp and breathless. -Wah-coo-tah stole upward to him, knelt at his side, and peered -curiously down into the shaft. - -“Him dead,” she breathed; “Ponca him killed. Pa-e-has-ka save -Wah-coo-tah again.” - -“It’s about a stand-off, Wah-coo-tah,” said the scout. “If it hadn’t -been for you the Ponca would have sunk that pick into my back. But I -hadn’t much to do with his falling into that hole. That was more of a -happenchance than anything else. He stumbled against the bucket.” - -“Him bad Ponca,” said the girl, with visible satisfaction. “Heap -good thing he fall into hole. He no fall into hole, then he ketch -Wah-coo-tah, mebbyso, and some time kill Pa-e-has-ka. Me heap glad.” - -“You saw him riding up the cañon?” - -“Ai. Me know he come. Him pass rocks trailing Pa-e-has-ka’s horse. -Then me follow.” - -“He was mighty quiet about it,” muttered the scout. “I reckon that’s -the first time a redskin ever caught me napping, but I was so wrapped -up in that shaft that I hadn’t sense for anything else. The Ponca -left his horse down the gulch, I suppose, and stole up on me?” - -“All same,” said the girl. “When he leave um cayuse, me leave um -cayuse, too. When he crawl through chaparral, me crawl through -chaparral, too. Then me come out, watch um Ponca while he lift -pick. Right off, me throw um rock and give yell. Pa-e-has-ka great -warrior!” finished the girl, admiration in her eyes. - -“That fight was nothing to brag about, Wah-coo-tah,” answered the -scout deprecatingly. “I think I should have got the red in the end, -but, as it turned out, an accident brought the fight to a close. -There was more reason in your hiding out and watching for the Ponca -than I had imagined.” - -“Me know um Ponca,” said the girl. - -The scout, having regained his breath, again knelt by the opening, -and looked and listened. All was silent as before. - -He pushed one hand into the opening and felt for a ladder, or a rope, -but he could find neither. Wah-coo-tah, divining what he was looking -for, hurried down the side of the ore-dump and returned with some -twenty feet of rope which she had seen lying there. Silently she -offered it to the scout. - -“That may help, Wah-coo-tah,” said Buffalo Bill, “but I hardly think -it is long enough. I’ll go for my riata.” - -Having gone into the thicket and secured the riata from his saddle, -the scout spliced it to the twenty feet of rope found by the girl, -then lowered the spliced ropes down into the shaft, and made the -upper end fast to the platform. - -“Ponca dead,” said the girl. “Why Pa-e-has-ka go down and look?” - -“I’m not going down to look at the Ponca, Wah-coo-tah, but to look -for Wild Bill,” the scout answered. “You say you overheard talk -between Seth Coomby and Clancy which led you to believe Wild Bill had -come out to this mine with Lawless. Lawless returned to Sun Dance, -and it may be he left Wild Bill here. I’m going down to find out.” - -“Wah-coo-tah go, too?” the girl asked. - -“Wah-coo-tah stay here,” the scout answered, throwing off his -coat and hat. “Keep watch. If you see any one coming, fire two -revolver-shots so that I may know, and climb back to the ore-dump. -_Sabe?_” - -“Me _sabe_, but me no got gun.” - -“Take this one,” and the scout laid one of his forty-fives in the -girl’s hand. - -“Me watch,” said the girl. “Pa-e-has-ka trust Wah-coo-tah.” - -After a precautionary glance around, the scout lowered himself -through the opening and slid rapidly down the rope. At the lower end -of it, his foot touched against something soft and yielding. Stepping -over the object, he took a match from his pocket, and struck it -against the wall of the shaft. - -The object on the shaft’s bottom was what he had supposed it to -be--the body of the Ponca. The Indian was dead. - -Paying no further heed to the Ponca, the scout started along the -level, lighting his way with matches. He had not proceeded far before -he picked up a half-burned candle, and was able to continue his -investigations to better purpose. - -As he continued on along the crooked drift, the gleam of the candle -sparkled on another object at his feet. He bent and picked it up, -finding it to be an empty brass shell. - -“Queer place for a shell,” he muttered, “particularly for a -shotgun-shell. Who has been using a shotgun down here, and why?” - -That old mine Buffalo Bill had conceived to hold a “pay-streak” for -him, but as he proceeded onward without finding any trace of Wild -Bill, he began to think that there was not so much of a pay-streak as -he had imagined. - -Then, the next minute, as he drew close to the end of the level, one -of those surprises which occasionally drop across a person’s path -with results undreamed of presented itself. - -Ahead of him, in the flickering glow of the candle, he saw a form -stretched out at the side of the level. - -“Hickok!” he cried, running forward. - -The form gave out an incoherent gurgle, and the scout fell to -his knees and flashed the candle in front of the man’s face. An -exclamation of astonishment escaped his lips. - -The man was not Wild Bill, but Nomad! - -The old trapper was securely roped and gagged. Although he could not -talk, his eyes, wide open and peering upward into his pard’s face, -spoke volumes. - -Wedging the candle in between two stones of the hanging wall, the -scout proceeded to strip the ropes from his old pard. - -The trapper’s first words were surprising. - -“Let’s git out o’ hyar!” he gasped, floundering to his feet and -grabbing his pard’s arm. - -“Wait a minute, Nick,” demurred the scout, “and don’t be in such a -rush. What are you afraid of?” - -“This hyar is ther Forty Thieves Mine, an’ it’s ha’nted. I been -layin’ hyar in er cold sweat fer ther last two hours. Waugh! I kin -stand flesh-an’-blood enemies, but when ye come down ter ghosts an’ -whiskizoos, I’m shy my ante. Let’s hustle, Buffler!” - -“Nick,” said the scout sternly, “pull yourself together and try -and corral a little common sense. I came down here looking for -Wild Bill, and I find you. Sit down, and tell me how you got here. -What happened, anyway? You needn’t worry about those who captured -you coming along and taking us by surprise. Wah-coo-tah is on the -ore-dump, keeping watch for us. She’ll fire a couple of shots if -anything goes wrong.” - -Nomad, after casting a wild look around him, into the dark, hunched -up on the floor of the level, close to Buffalo Bill. - -“Et ain’t nothin’ human I’m afeared of, Buffler,” he declared, -“but spooks an’ whiskizoos sartinly gits onter my narves. Waugh! I -wouldn’t stay alone in this hyar pizen mine ef ye was ter pay me fer -et. When ye found me I was tied up an’ couldn’t git erway, an’ I’m -tellin’ ye I come mighty nigh kickin’ ther bucket jest on account o’ -bein’ skeered. Br-r-r! Keep right alongside er me, Buffler.” - -“What happened to you?” demanded the scout curtly. - -Nomad rubbed his eyes, took another look around, and then replied. - -“I come out o’ our room when ye went ter tork with Wah-coo-tah, and -thet feller Smith was sneakin’ off inter ther bresh alongside the -hotel. I hadn’t no idee what he was up ter, but his actions was -mighty suspicious, so I made up my mind I’d foller him and see what -was ther matter with him. He----” - -Nomad gave another gasp and grabbed at his pard’s arm. - -“D’ye hyer anythin,’ Buffler?” he demanded. - -“Not a thing,” returned the scout. “Why, Nick, I never saw your -nerves in such shape before. Forget about the spooks; at least, until -you tell me what I want to know.” - -The old trapper gulped, calmed himself with an effort, and went on. - -“Waal, as I was er sayin’, Smith acted mighty quare. He slid through -ther bushes ter ther slope leadin’ down inter ther cañon, an’ then -he went down ther cañon, keepin’ in ther bushes all ther way. I was -right arter him all ther time, kase I’d made up my mind ter keep ter -ther trailin’ so long as he acted suspicious thet away. - -“I reckon we must hev tramped two er three miles, hanging ter ther -scrub all ther way, an’ never once showin’ ourselves in ther trail. -Then”--and Nomad’s voice dropped wonderingly--“somethin’ happened -ter me. Et come from behind, an’ I ain’t yet shore in my mind as ter -what et was. Everythin’ got black in front er my eyes, an’ I didn’t -remember nothin’ more till I come to in this place, roped an’ gagged -like ye found me. - -“Thar was two er three men around me, an’ one of ’em was Smith, ther -feller I was trailin’. Thet feller ain’t no Easterner, Buffler, ye -kin take my word fer thet.” - -“Wah-coo-tah opened my eyes regarding J. Algernon Smith, Nick,” -returned the scout. “The fellow’s a fake. His name is not Smith, but -Lawless.” - -“What!” cried Nomad. “Cap’n Lawless?” - -“The same; and he is supposed to own this mine. Captain Lawless, too, -is Wah-coo-tah’s father.” - -“Wuss an’ wuss!” muttered Nomad, falling back against the wall. “This -hyar is sartinly a day fer surprises. Ther gang, with Lawless at -ther head, is workin’ some game. When they left me, Lawless told the -fellers with him thet Bingham was expected on this arternoon’s stage -from Montegordo, although who Bingham is, or why they’re expectin’ -him, is too many fer me. Lawless said Bingham wouldn’t come ter -ther Forty Thieves ontil ter-morrer, even ef he did git in on this -arternoon’s stage, an’ thet they could come back hyar an’ take keer -o’ me ter-night. Then they hiked out, an’, I reckon, pulled up ther -ladders arter ’em.” - -The scout mused for a moment. - -“You were trailing Lawless,” said he, “and some one of Lawless’ men -must have been trailing you. When the fellow behind you got the -opportunity, he let drive at the back of your head.” - -“Thet’s ther way o’ et. But how did ye know I was hyar, Buffler?” - -“I didn’t know. I came here looking for Wild Bill, for I was told -that he had come here, yesterday afternoon, with Lawless.” - -“Who told ye thet?” - -“Wah-coo-tah.” - -Thereupon the scout, as hurriedly as he could, without neglecting any -of the important details, informed his old pard of events that had -recently taken place. - -Just as the scout finished his recital, Nomad gave a smothered yell, -and leaped as though he had been thrown from a catapult. - -“Thar et is ergin,” he gasped huskily. “Hyer et, Buffler?” - -The scout listened. - -What he heard was a muffled sound, as of a groan, echoing dully along -the underground passage. - - - - - CHAPTER VII. - - LAYING THE “GHOST.” - - -“Waugh!” chattered Nomad. “I been er layin’ hyar in mortil agony fer -two long hours, hyerin’ thet sound. Ther Forty Thieves Mine is bad -medicine; thar’s been crooked bizness o’ some kind hyar, an’ et’s -ha’nted. Let’s skin out, Buffler! Br-r-r, but I got er bad attack o’ -ther shakes.” - -“Nonsense!” exclaimed the scout impatiently. “I don’t believe in -ghosts. That sound, whatever it is, has a very human note, it seems -to me.” - -“Human?” whooped Nomad; “_human_? Et’s a whiskizoo, warnin’ us ter -make ourselves plumb absent, er take ther consequences.” - -“Listen!” commanded the scout. - -The groaning noise was repeated, and there was certainly something -unearthly about it, there in that ill-omened place. This time, -however, it was followed by a tapping as of one stone against another. - -“Ain’t this orful, Buffler?” muttered the old trapper, brushing his -sleeve across his dripping forehead. “I don’t reckon we’re ever goin’ -ter live ter git out o’ hyar.” - -The scout gave no further attention to Nomad, but took the candle -down from the wall and started slowly along the level in the -direction of the shaft. - -“Hello!” he shouted, at the top of his voice. - -The voice answered with another groan--less a groan, perhaps, than -spoken words, jumbled together by distance and a muffling barrier. - -The scout called again, and again; apparently, he was answered. -Groping along, the wall, calling and trying to locate the place from -which the answers came, he halted suddenly at what seemed to be a -break in the side of the level. - -The break was of broken rocks and not, like the rest of the walls, of -a single mass of stone. Picking up a splintered fragment, the scout -tapped with it on the débris. The tapping was returned, clearly from -the opposite side. - -Nomad’s fears had been giving way to curiosity, and he followed the -scout’s movements with deep interest. - -“Is that you, Wild Bill?” yelled the scout, his lips close to the -break in the wall. - -Something was returned--a single monosyllable, which sounded very -much like “Yes.” - -“Snarlin’ catermounts!” exclaimed old Nomad. “Ye don’t mean ter say, -pard, thet Wild Bill has been makin’ them noises?” - -“It seems likely,” replied the scout, starting for the shaft. - -“Whar is he? An’ what’s he doin’ in er solid wall?” - -“It isn’t a solid wall. He’s somewhere back of that broken stone, and -it’s up to us to get him out as quick as possible.” - -Reaching the shaft, Buffalo Bill lifted his face. “Wah-coo-tah!” he -called. - -The girl’s head appeared over the opening. - -“Haul up the rope,” instructed the scout, “and then tie the pick to -it and let it down.” - -The girl obeyed the order. While she was doing it, the scout told -Nomad to take the candle and go through the drift hunting for any -tools he could find. - -By the time Buffalo Bill had returned to the break in the wall -with the pick, Nomad was waiting for him with two more half-burned -candles, and with a shovel. - -“Ther shovel is all I could find, Buffler,” said the trapper. - -“That’s enough, Nick. We have a pick and shovel, and there are only -two of us to work. Light all the candles, and wedge them into the -wall in places where they will give us the most light. We’ve got -to hurry. There’s no telling how much air Wild Bill has in there, -nor how long he can hold out. What’s more, Lawless and his gang may -return at any moment and interrupt our work.” - -While he was talking, the scout began driving the pick into the mass -of débris, throwing the broken stones to right and left. - -After lighting and placing the candles where they would best serve -the scout’s purpose, Nomad fell to with the shovel. - -The efforts of the two pards were concentrated upon a limited space, -well toward the top of the barrier. It was only necessary to make a -hole large enough for Wild Bill to crawl through, and that is what -they strove to do. As they continued digging, however, the loosened -stones fell from above, so that it was necessary to force an opening -from about the middle of the barrier upward to the roof of the level. - -The scout and the trapper worked like galley-slaves. By degrees the -voice on the other side of the wall became clearer as the barrier -diminished; then, suddenly, the voice ceased altogether. - -“What does thet mean?” panted Nomad, pausing a second to peer at his -pard. - -“Hickok!” shouted the scout, likewise pausing. - -No answer came back. - -“It means,” went on Buffalo Bill, “that we’ve got to work faster than -ever. Wild Bill has succumbed to the foul air, and he’ll die if we -don’t get him out before many minutes.” - -They jumped at the barrier like madmen, and to such good purpose did -they ply pick and shovel, that, a few moments after Wild Bill had -ceased to call to them, the scout’s pick went through the wall, and a -mass of broken stones tumbled outward, leaving a good-sized opening. - -Without waiting an instant, Buffalo Bill seized a candle and forced -himself through the breach. - -When he let himself down on the other side, he found that he was in -a chamber, about as wide as the main level and twice as deep. On the -floor Wild Bill lay sprawled, a heap of knotted rope beside him. - -“Is he thar, Buffler?” called Nomad from the level. - -“Yes.” - -“Alive?” - -“I think so. The foul air got the best of him. Stand by to take him -as I push him through.” - -“Send him erlong,” answered the old trapper. “I’m blamed ef this -ain’t ther strangest thing We, Us an’ Comp’ny ever went up ag’inst.” - -Buffalo Bill put down his candle and lifted the limp form from -the rocky floor. Nomad reached through and caught the form by the -shoulders, dragging it to the other side and laying it down on the -bottom of the level. - -The next moment the scout had clambered clear of the breach and -rejoined his pard. - -“Hadn’t we better take him ter ther surface, Buffler?” asked Nomad. -“Mebbyso a leetle water ’u’d help ter bring him ’round.” - -“Pure air is all he needs,” the scout replied, “although, I suppose, -if he has been shut up there long, both water and food would be -acceptable.” - -“This hyar must be ther work o’ thet skunk, Lawless,” growled Nomad. - -“No doubt of it.” - -“But whyever did he treat Wild Bill like thet?” - -“We’ll know in a few minutes. Ah!” the scout added, noticing Wild -Bill’s breast expand convulsively, “he’s coming to himself.” - -The scout took off his hat and fanned the air in front of Wild Bill’s -face. Then, presently, Wild Bill’s eyelids flickered open, and his -dazed eyes stared upward at the scout. - -“By gorry!” were Wild Bill’s first words, “you were a deuce of a long -time getting to Sun Dance, Cody.” - -“We were, that,” answered the scout, considerably relieved, “but we -got here at last.” - -“And right in the nick,” added Wild Bill, floundering to a sitting -posture; “another ten minutes and it would have been all day with me. -Got anything to eat or drink?” - -“Nick,” said the scout, “go to the shaft and tell Wah-coo-tah that we -have found Wild Bill, and that he is hungry and thirsty. See what she -can do.” - -“On ther jump,” returned Nomad, taking one of the candles and -scrambling for the shaft. - -“You’ve evidently had a rough time of it, Hickok,” observed the scout. - -“Rough? That’s too mild a word. What day is this?” - -“Wednesday afternoon.” - -“And I was walled up in that stub-end of a crosscut Monday night. -It seemed like a year instead of two nights and going on two days. -Woosh! Of all the tortures that have ever been tried on me, that was -the worst.” - -“Are you hurt any?” - -“Not to speak of. Limp as a rag, that’s all. The air wasn’t any too -good, and, of course, it kept getting worse and worse.” - -Just then Nomad came back from the shaft. He had a piece of jerked -beef and a square cloth, soaked in water. - -Wild Bill took the cloth and wrung it out against his lips, then ate -a little of the jerked beef. - -“I’m not as hungry or thirsty as I thought I was,” said he. “I’m used -to going without water or food for days at a stretch.” - -“Who holed you up in that way?” asked the scout. - -“A man in a linen duster. He blew into Sun Dance Tuesday afternoon, -on the Montegordo stage, and said his name was J. Algernon Smith, of -Chicago. That tinhorn, pards, is sure the original two-tongue man. -His right name is Lawless, and he’s a thirty-second degree confidence -man and desperado.” - -“We have already had dealings with J. Algernon,” said the scout -grimly. “We walked into his trap, I reckon, about as easily as you -did. But go on, Hickok. If you feel able, give us the whole of it.” - -“I’m able, all right--getting stronger every minute. Pure air was the -main thing, and I’m making the most of it.” - -Then, at considerable length, Wild Bill set forth his experiences, -beginning with his ride to Sun Dance with Crawling Bear, and his -investigation of the shooting in the mine. - -“A job of salt!” muttered Buffalo Bill. “The atmosphere is beginning -to clear.” - -“Lawless,” proceeded Wild Bill, “is expecting a man here to take -ore-samples from the mine. If the mine pans out, according to -schedule, a hundred thousand is to change hands. That would be quite -a plum to fall into the hands of a squawman like Lawless.” - -“It will never fall into the hands of Lawless _now_.” - -“I should say not,” said Hickok; “and let us emphasize the ‘now.’ -Seeing the stranger get off the Montegordo stage, I thought he was -the come-on, and, always being ready to stretch out a helping hand -to the unfortunate, I stretched out a hand to Lawless--and Lawless -played me to a fare-you-well. He acted the part of the Eastern -come-on to the life.” - -“The Easterner’s name is Bingham, not Smith,” said the scout. - -“It was all one to me, at that stage of the game,” and Wild Bill -proceeded with his account. - -The way he had been lured to the slope, ostensibly to meet Clancy, -and the way Clancy had unexpectedly met him from behind with a club, -was told; then followed a description of what took place in the mine, -the setting off of the three blasts, and the retreat of Lawless and -his men. - -“I closed my eyes,” said Wild Bill, “when the charges went off. -Lawless had told me that Clancy was a master hand at setting off -giant powder, and that he had drilled the holes in such a way that I -wouldn’t be touched by flying rock, but would be neatly and securely -walled into a rocky chamber. I wasn’t taking Lawless’ word for -anything, and expected as much as could be that I would be hit by a -splinter of rock, and wiped out. I wasn’t much caring, between the -three of us. Death seemed certain, anyway, and I was rather hoping it -would be quick, rather than long-drawn out. - -“But Clancy must have known his business. After my ears had recovered -from the jar, I opened my eyes, and discovered several things. But -I didn’t discover them by sight, for I was in the blackest kind of -night. - -“The first of my discoveries was this, that I wasn’t hurt by the -explosion. The next discovery was that the powder-fumes had not -entered my chamber as thickly as I supposed they would do. Most of -the fumes must have passed into the level, from some cause that -I can’t exactly figure out. However that may be, the absence of -powder-smoke left the little air I had just that much clearer and -purer. - -“I was bound hand and foot, and I made it my first business to get -loose. The sharp corner of a stone helped me, for I sat up and chafed -my bonds over it, and soon had my hands free. To get the rope off my -ankles, after that, was mere child’s play. - -“As soon as I was able to move around, I sounded the barrier between -me and the drift. It seemed thick enough, and I reached for a new -knife I had bought in Sun Dance, with the idea of using it to dig -with. But Lawless had stripped me of knife and guns. Not having the -knife, I worked with my hands. - -“It was a slow job, Cody, but I wonder if you’ve ever noticed how -a man will work when his life is at stake? Well, that was me, just -then. I sailed into that wall with my hands and finger-nails, and -I would have gone at it with my teeth if I hadn’t had the use of my -hands. - -“After about fifty years--that’s what it seemed like, anyhow--I -noticed that I was getting weak, and that I wasn’t making much of a -hole in the barrier. The air was getting bad, too, and I thought I’d -better give up my plan as a bad job. If I got out, I thought, the -chances were I’d fall right back into the hands of Lawless and his -men again. - -“So I quit work on the barrier and laid down and went to sleep. When -I woke up and realized where I was, the old hope of making my escape -took hold of me. I hadn’t the strength to work, so I began to yell, -and to tap on the wall. - -“I hadn’t much of an idea that any one would hear me but Lawless and -his gang, but I was that desperate I felt I must do something.” - -Wild Bill fell silent for a space, studying the flickering candles on -the wall of the level. - -“I wonder,” he resumed finally, “if you fellows know what it means to -feel that you are in the last ditch, with a lot of buckaroos throwing -in the sand, when, all at once, something snakes you out of what -was meant to be your grave, and lands you in safety, with ground to -spare? Well, if you’ve ever experienced that, you’ll understand how I -felt when I heard an answer to one of my yells, and, a little later, -heard blows of a pick. - -“I didn’t know who it was out here in the level, but a sneaking idea -took possession of me that it was Bingham, the fellow who had come to -the Forty Thieves to chip ore-samples. I had that idea when the foul -air became too much for me, and I dozed off. So it was something of -a surprise when I opened my eyes and saw Pard Cody. - -“Well, when all’s said and done, here I am, alive and kicking, and -able to tote my guns and face trouble just as I’ve done in the past. -All that bothers me now is playing even with Lawless. I’d like mighty -well, though, to hear how you fellows came to be in the mine.” - -“Nomad brought me here,” said the scout. “He was trapped by J. -Algernon Smith in a similar way to what you were, and he was brought -here and left in the level, bound and gagged. I came to find you, and -found him. He was in a sorry fix, Nick was, Hickok. He told me he had -heard ghosts, and he was for leaving the mine on the run.” - -The old trapper wore a sheepish look. - -“Waal,” he grunted, “them noises I heerd shore sounded like they mout -be ghosts. No human bein’ ever made sich sounds, accordin’ ter my -thinkin’.” - -“It’s blamed lucky for me,” observed Wild Bill, “that Cody isn’t -superstitious. If he had been, Bill Hickok would have been company -front with his finish. But tell me everything. I’m like a man that -has been in solitary confinement for so long that the mere sound of -a human voice is refreshing. Talk to me, you fellows, and I’ll lean -back against the wall and listen.” - -Hickok was fully informed of preceding events by the scout and the -trapper, Wah-coo-tah being brought into the recital, since she alone -had furnished the scout the tip that had led him to the mine. - -“From what you say of the girl,” remarked Wild Bill, “she seems to be -of a different caliber from that of her tinhorn father.” - -“She is,” averred the scout, “if I’m any judge of character.” - -“It’s a good thing for her the Ponca slipped into the shaft. But for -that, he’d have caught her, sooner or later. An Injun isn’t giving up -five good ponies just to let himself be beaten out of his bargain.” - -Wild Bill got to his feet and gave himself a shake. - -“Feel like climbing fifty feet of rope, Hickok?” asked the scout. - -“I feel like trying,” was the reply, “but whether I could get to the -top or not is a horse of another color.” - -“We kin rig a tackle an’ snake ye up,” said Nomad; “all ye got ter do -is ter hang in er noose, an’----” - -Nomad stopped short. From a distance came the reports of two -revolver-shots, fired in quick succession. - -“Trouble!” shouted the scout, snatching a candle from the wall and -leaping away in the direction of the shaft. “That’s the signal -Wah-coo-tah was to give us if any of that gang of scoundrels came -this way.” - -“I’m hopin’ ther trouble won’t reach ther gal afore we kin shin up -ther rope an’ jine her,” cried the trapper. - -“We’ll not be of much account in a gun-fight, Nomad,” said Wild Bill. -“You’re not heeled, and neither am I.” - -When Nomad and Wild Bill reached the bottom of the shaft, Buffalo -Bill was already on his way up the rope. A rattle of revolver-firing -came from the ore-dump, and the king of scouts climbed toward it with -frantic haste. - - - - - CHAPTER VIII. - - THE FIGHT AT THE ORE-DUMP. - - -When Buffalo Bill raised his head and shoulders above the edge of the -platform, bullets flew about his ears like a swarm of angry bees. He -could not see the Indian girl, and he could not see any enemies, but -a shout from the girl called his attention as soon as he had pulled -himself out on the planks. - -“Here, Pa-e-has-ka!” the girl called. - -Her voice came from the side of the cañon, and the scout saw her head -lifted over a heap of boulders. - -Bullets continued to sweep the ore-platform, but, before the scout -hurried to join Wah-coo-tah, he knelt, picked up his hat and coat, -and called to his pards. - -“Stay where you are!” he ordered. “You haven’t any guns, and you’d -only be in the way.” - -Having delivered these instructions, he whirled and leaped down the -side of the ore-dump. Bullets from behind boulders across the cañon -followed him as he ran, yet he managed to gain the barrier, behind -which Wah-coo-tah had taken refuge, without injury. - -“Who are the men?” were the scout’s first words. - -“My fadder and the other Yellow Eyes,” replied the girl. - -“How many, Wah-coo-tah?” - -“Seven.” - -“That means the whole gang is here,” observed the scout, thinking -dejectedly of his brace of Colts, which were all the firearms he and -his pards had. “Where are the gang’s horses, Wah-coo-tah?” - -“No _sabe_,” answered the girl. “Mebbyso cayuses left up the gulch. -When they come they walk, creep ’long behind rocks. Me no see um till -they come close. Then me shoot, and they begin to shoot, too. No like -um. Heap bad Yellow Eyes.” - -“Have they got rifles?” - -“No got um rifles; got revolvers.” - -“If there are seven of them, and they have each a brace of -six-shooters, then they have fourteen revolvers to our two. Unless -something unexpected happens, they’re going to give us a run for our -money.” - -Very cautiously Buffalo Bill looked over the top of the boulders and -sized up the enemy’s position. Lawless and his men appeared to be -scattered up and down the opposite side of the cañon, every one of -them back of a boulder. - -The firing was not so brisk as it had been, and it was quite probable -that Lawless was himself taking stock of the situation before -allowing matters to go any further. As a point to this conclusion -of the scout’s, the head of Lawless, capped with its black sombrero -showed above the top of a boulder almost directly opposite where the -scout was standing. - -Quick as lightning, Buffalo Bill let fly a bullet at the black hat. -Lawless ducked down just in time to save himself; and, the next -moment, Buffalo Bill himself was obliged to drop, for bullets began -to fly thick and fast. - -“Stop your shooting!” - -It was the voice of Lawless, and went ringing down the cañon. -Instantly the fusillade ceased. - -“Buffalo Bill!” called Lawless. - -“What do you want?” asked the scout, keeping under cover. - -“You have my girl over there, and if you’ll give her up, we’ll let -you and your pards go, providing you agree to return to Fort Sill and -not go back to Sun Dance.” - -Wah-coo-tah, crouching behind the stones, put out her hands and -caught the scout’s arm imploringly. - -“No, no!” she breathed. - -“You want to sell the girl to some other buck for five ponies, eh?” -called Buffalo Bill, in a tone of contempt. - -“It’s none of your business what I want to do. She’s a fiery jade, -and there’s no living in the same lodge with her. Will you give her -up?” - -“Certainly not. She doesn’t want to go back to you.” - -“I can make you give her up,” stormed Lawless. “The officers at Fort -Sill, if I laid the case before them, would force you to turn the -girl over to her people.” - -“You’ll not lay the case before the officers at Sill,” taunted -the scout; “they’d like mighty well to have you come there and -try it. You’re a pretty sort of man to have charge of a girl like -Wah-coo-tah!” - -“For the last time”--and Lawless’ voice shook with rage--“are you -going to let me have my daughter?” - -“And for the last time. No!” roared the scout. - -“Then you’ll never leave this cañon alive. Go on with your shooting, -boys!” - -The last words were a command to the members of the gang, and the -crack of weapons again resounded. All the shooting, however, was -a waste of good ammunition. The bullets hissed through the air or -patted harmlessly against the rocks. So long as the fighters kept -themselves hidden there was no danger of casualties. - -Changing his position, Buffalo Bill threw himself down at full -length, and looked out around the end of the boulder breastwork that -shielded him and Wah-coo-tah. - -What he saw filled him with consternation. While he had been -parleying with Lawless, two of Lawless’ men had left their boulders -and stolen up on the ore-dump. Under the protection of the rock pile, -the two rascals were making for the platform. - -Was it their intention to cut the rope that was hanging in the -shaft? the scout asked himself. If it was, and if Nomad or Wild Bill -happened at the moment to be climbing upward, cutting the rope would -drop them downward, and perhaps cause them to meet the doom that had -overtaken the Ponca. - -In the hope of keeping the two men from the platform, the scout -concentrated his fire upon the ore-dump. The men on the other side -of it were carrying out their plans warily, and the scout was given -little chance at them. - -When they reached the top of the ore-dump, the scoundrels pushed two -boulders onto the platform to shield their bodies from the scout’s -bullets; then, pushing the stones in front of them, they crawled, -snakelike, toward the shaft opening. - -The scout’s bullets slapped and hissed against the moving stones, but -without doing any damage to the men behind them. All the scoundrels -laughed. They seemed to understand the scout’s fears and the laugh -was a taunt because they considered that they had baffled him. - -Buffalo Bill was just planning a rush back to the ore-dump--a -daredevil charge across the open with every outlaw’s weapon firing at -him--when something happened which he had not looked for. - -The stones on the platform were close to the opening, when, with -startling suddenness, old Nomad popped through the hole like a -Jack-in-the-box. He took in the situation at a glance, and dropped -down on the two desperadoes. - -One of the men started to jump up and run, but Nomad’s fist shot out -like a battering-ram, and the villain pitched head first down the -rocky side of the dump. - -The men across the cañon did not dare shoot at the trapper for fear -of wounding their friends. Nomad understood this, and took full -benefit of the grace allowed him. - -The scoundrel who still remained on the dump chanced to be Seth -Coomby. Nomad dropped a heavy knee on Coomby’s chest, and ripped the -revolvers out of his hands. Shoving one revolver into the breast of -his shirt, he picked Coomby up by the scruff of the neck, held him in -front as a breastwork, and started down the slope, firing as he went, -and forcing Coomby ahead of him. - -But Nomad was not making for the boulders where the scout had taken -refuge, but for the other side of the cañon, where Lawless and the -rest of his men were doing their fighting. - -It was a reckless piece of work on Nomad’s part. The old trapper, -however, was filled with rage at the way Lawless and his men had -treated him. He wanted to play “even,” and was willing to take -chances to do so. - -Hardly had Nomad reached the bottom of the ore-dump, when Wild Bill -showed himself on the platform. Whether the outlaws were too much -occupied watching Nomad’s work with Coomby, or whether they were -paralyzed at Wild Bill’s appearance, yet the fact remains that they -did not fire at him. - -Coomby’s companion on the ore-dump--none other than the man who has -figured as “Andy”--had dropped one of his revolvers at the time he -was overturned by the old trapper’s fist. - -Wild Bill’s quick eye caught sight of the weapon, and he picked it -up, flourished it in the air with a yell, and leaped after Nomad -toward the opposite side of the cañon. - -The scout, witnessing the trend of affairs, decided that he ought to -take part in the charge of his pards. Unless the attack was hotly -pressed, neither Nomad nor Wild Bill would come out of the skirmish -alive. - -At the very moment when Buffalo Bill threw himself across the -boulders, a thump of horses’ feet came from down the cañon. - -“We’re coming, pard!” whooped a shrill, feminine voice. - -The scout looked down the gulch and saw Dauntless Dell and Little -Cayuse plying quirt and spur, and hurrying to take part in the combat. - -“Hyar comes our other two pards!” jubilated Nomad. “Now, ye varmints, -will ye hunt yer holes?” - - - - - CHAPTER IX. - - DELL AND CAYUSE ALSO DELAYED. - - -From the moment Dauntless Dell’s shrill cry echoed through the cañon, -panic struck at the hearts of Captain Lawless and his men. The -villainous crew saw five determined foes bearing down on them. - -“Scatter!” yelled Captain Lawless, and immediately suited his actions -to the word. - -Keeping themselves under cover of the rocks, the stampeded scoundrels -finally gained the shelter of the scrub, and could be heard thrashing -about in a mad endeavor to get to their horses and away. - -At this point, Nomad’s ardor got the better of him, and caused him to -lose his prisoner, Coomby. - -Pushing fiercely toward the bushes, and shoving Coomby ahead of him, -Nomad was making a wild effort to keep up the fight. - -Coomby, unable to stand up under the pressure exerted on him from -behind, stumbled over a stone. Nomad, who could not stop his headlong -rush, went sprawling over Coomby, and both lay for an instant in a -tangle on the ground. - -Fear did for Coomby what the lust for battle could not do for Nomad; -and the outlaw succeeded in beating the trapper in getting up, and -was off and away before he could be caught. - -Dell and Cayuse shot on along the cañon in pursuit. Buffalo Bill got -astride Bear Paw, Nomad found Wah-coo-tah’s pony, and Wild Bill -picked up the cayuse belonging to the dead Ponca. - -Lawless and his men had torn their horses loose from the bushes where -they had been secured, and had lost themselves in the chaparral. - -The scout and his pards hunted the cañon through, up and down and -from side to side, but without result. Lawless and his gang had made -their escape. - -“Whar ther bloomin’ blazes did they go, anyways?” demanded Nomad, his -voice heavy with chagrin and disappointment, when he and the rest -of the scout’s party rounded up once more in the vicinity of the -ore-dump. - -“They know the country better than we do, Nick,” said Buffalo Bill, -“and they have made a clean get-away.” - -“Waugh, but et shore glooms me up!” growled the trapper. “I got er -bone ter pick with thet outfit.” - -“So have I,” put in Wild Bill, with a soothing grin, “but I reckon -the bone can wait. What’s the use of being in a rush, Nomad?” - -“We kin afford ter wait, as fur as thet goes, but I like ter make a -clean up as I purceed.” - -“We’ve had enough of this for a while,” put in the scout. “Hickok has -been pretty active for a man who has been so long without anything to -eat or drink, and it will be close to supper-time when we get back -to Spangler’s. We’ll ride for Sun Dance, and leave Lawless and his -men to be dealt with later. Ah!” the scout added, facing about in his -saddle. “Come here, Wah-coo-tah. I was just wondering what had become -of you.” - -During the flight and pursuit, the scout had lost track of the Indian -girl. She now came around the base of the ore-dump and hurried toward -him. - -Dell Dauntless and Cayuse scrutinized the girl curiously. - -“Who is she, Buffalo Bill?” asked Dell. - -“Wah-coo-tah is her name,” the scout answered. “She is the daughter -of Fire-hand, otherwise Captain Lawless.” - -“Ugh!” muttered Little Cayuse. - -“His daughter!” echoed Dell. - -“She’s a friend of ours, though, for all that,” said the scout, -taking in a kindly grip the hand Wah-coo-tah held out to him. - -With a swing, he landed the girl on Bear Paw’s back at the -saddle-cantle. - -“You see,” explained the scout, “Nomad and I saved Wah-coo-tah from -a Ponca warrior who had bought her from Lawless for five ponies. -Wah-coo-tah was not pleased with her father’s arrangement, and -broke away from the Ponca. Nomad and I happened to be near enough -to interfere in her behalf. She did not forget what we had done for -her, but has rendered us good service in this affair of Wild Bill’s. -In fact, if it hadn’t been for Wah-coo-tah, it is probable Wild Bill -would have lost his life, and perhaps Nomad, too.” - -Dell Dauntless spurred her white cayuse, Silver Heels, alongside of -Bear Paw, and took Wah-coo-tah’s hand. - -“If you have done all this,” smiled Dell engagingly, “you’re -entitled to the friendship of all of us. You must be a brave girl, -Wah-coo-tah.” - -The Cheyenne maiden studied Dell for a few moments, then turned away -rather curtly. - -“What’s the matter with her?” whispered Dell to Wild Bill. - -“Well, she thinks she’s got first lien on the scout,” laughed Wild -Bill, “and you look to her like a claimant for first honors.” - -At that Dell laughed, too. - -“You can’t tell about these Injuns,” went on Wild Bill, “especially -when they happen to be breeds. Wah-coo-tah is mighty pretty, though.” - -“Do you think so?” asked Dell. - -“I do, for a fact. What’s more, I’ll never forget what she has done -for me.” - -After Buffalo Bill had dismounted and got his riata from the shaft, -he climbed into his saddle again and gave the word that started the -party for Sun Dance. - -“You and Cayuse are several hours behind schedule, Dell,” said the -scout. “Did you meet with trouble on the way?” - -“We lost the trail,” said Dell, “and it took us several hours to find -it.” - -“Rather queer that Cayuse should have gone astray like that,” -commented the scout, with a look at the Piute. - -Cayuse seemed very much abashed. - -“It wasn’t his fault, pard,” went on Dell. “I thought we could take a -short cut, just as you and Nomad did, and maybe save an hour. That, -as I figured it, would bring us into Sun Dance not more than an hour -behind you. Cayuse said we couldn’t do it, and that the country was -so hard to travel even jack-rabbits couldn’t get over it. I had my -way, though, and the upshot of it was that we had to give up and go -back to the trail. But the trail was hard to find, and that’s where -we lost our time. You seem to have been having plenty of excitement -on this part of the range,” Dell added, with a questioning look -around at the scout and his pards, “and Cayuse and I have missed all -of it.” - -“Ye had er taste o’ ther excitement, Dell, when ye rode inter thet -leetle shoot-fiesta o’ our’n,” spoke up Nomad. - -“Umph!” grunted Cayuse. “That no fight. Him all over before Yellow -Hair and Cayuse come.” - -“How did it happen, Buffalo Bill?” asked Dell. - -“There’s a whole lot of it, pard,” the scout answered, “and to get -at it from all sides would take a heap of time. Over our supper, at -Spangler’s, is where we can hold our powwow. Wild Bill there hasn’t -had anything to eat for two days.” - -“Don’t keep reminding me of it, Cody,” said Wild Bill. “Just because -you mentioned the fact, I’ve got to pull my belt up another hole. If -that starvation-act of mine is referred to many times more, I’ll be -cut in two.” - -Dell laughed at the grimace which accompanied the words. - -“What sort of business did you want Buffalo Bill for, Wild Bill?” she -asked. - -“I had a bunch of rascals holed up in that mine back there, and -wanted Pard Cody to come on and help me run them in. By the time Cody -got here, the rascals had got out and had run _me_ in.” - -“But what was the work?” - -“A job of salt, Miss Dauntless. Lawless and his gang were blowing -fine gold into a played-out mine with a shotgun. I saw some of the -performance. While I was looking on, two of the gang saw me. I -managed to get away, but it was a close call; then, the next day, my -charitable and amiable disposition steered me right into the bunch of -trouble-makers once more, and they had me so I couldn’t move. That -paper-talk I sent to Buffalo Bill went astray, I understand, and -Crawling Bear was killed by Cheyennes. Too bad, too bad! I think -Crawling Bear stacked up closer to a white man than many other -Indians I’ve known. By the way, Cody, what are you going to do with -Wah-coo-tah?” - -“There’s nothing for me to do, I reckon, but to send her back to the -Cheyennes.” - -“No, no!” cried Wah-coo-tah. “Me no go back to Cheyennes.” - -“It’s like this, Wah-coo-tah,” explained the scout. “The Ponca who -gave up the five ponies for you is dead, and your father won’t dare -show himself among the Cheyennes after what has happened here in Sun -Dance Cañon. You’ll be perfectly safe with your people.” - -“Me want to stay with Pa-e-has-ka!” averred Wah-coo-tah. “Pa-e-has-ka -good friend of Wah-coo-tah. No like to go back to Cheyennes.” - -“What did I tell you?” Wild Bill whispered in Dell’s ear. - -“Of course,” flared Dell, “Wah-coo-tah couldn’t travel with the scout -and his pards.” - -“Of course not!” agreed Wild Bill. “Petticoat pards are all right, -but they make a heap of trouble, now and then. You’ll be going back -to your ranch in Arizona, one of these days, I suppose----” - -“Just as soon as I can,” snapped Dell, and Wild Bill wondered what it -was that had put an edge to her temper. - -The shadows were lengthening across the flat in Sun Dance Cañon when -Buffalo Bill and his pards rode up to the door of the Lucky Strike -Hotel. - -The bulky proprietor was sitting in front, as usual, but his ragged -palm-leaf fan lay beside him. The cool of the evening was always -grateful to Bije Spangler. - -“Whoof!” sputtered Spangler, as the cavalcade of riders drew to a -halt in front of his establishment. “What’s this, Buffalo Bill? You -escortin’ a band o’ Injuns ter a new reserve, or what?” - -“We’re here to stay with you for a while, Spangler,” said the scout. - -“It’s agin’ my rules ter take in any reds,” averred Spangler. - -“You’ll have to take these in,” said the scout. “The boy is my Piute -pard, Little Cayuse, and the girl is the daughter of Captain Lawless. -Miss Dauntless, my girl pard, will share the room Wild Bill occupied, -and which Nomad and I later put up in, with Wah-coo-tah. The rest of -us will bunk where we can. And a word to you, Spangler,” the scout -added, dropping down from his saddle, “anything you say against one -of my pards, white or red, you say against me. Just remember that.” - -The tone in which the scout spoke sent a shiver through Spangler. - -“No harm meant, no harm meant,” he sputtered. “O’ course, Buffalo -Bill, whatever you say goes.” - -“It’s an honor to your one-horse hangout for a boy like Little -Cayuse, or a girl like Wah-coo-tah, to stay in it. Is supper ready?” - -“The Chink jest come out an’ hammered the gong,” said Spangler. “Walk -right in an’ set down whenever ye’re ready.” - -The party dismounted and went into the hotel office. Cayuse led away -the horses, and saw that they were properly cared for. - -Buffalo Bill, Nomad, Wild Bill, Cayuse, Dell Dauntless, Wah-coo-tah, -and one other, had a table all to themselves. The “one other” was a -slender little man in a neat black suit, which spoke relentlessly of -the East. - -The little man was painfully pale, and seemed dismayed to find -himself surrounded by such an assortment of white men and Indians. - -His first “break” was to ask the Chinaman who waited on their table -for a napkin. The Chinaman went back and exchanged some heated words -with the other Chinaman in the kitchen; then both Chinamen went out -in front of the hotel and held a low conversation with Spangler. As -a result, Spangler waddled into the dining-room, and walked to where -the little man in black was sitting. - -“Looky here, you!” rumbled Spangler, his great body shaking all over -with suppressed wrath, “was you the one as asked the Chink fer a -napkin?” - -“I--I have always been accustomed to eating with napkins,” answered -the little man, with a frightened, upward glance. - -“Mebby you take this here eatin’-joint fer the Palmer House, hey? Or -mebby it’s the Delmonico restaurant ye think it is? I’ve run this -feedin’-place fer two years, an’ this here’s the first time any one -who has ever fed here has insulted me!” - -“I had no intention of insulting you, sir, I assure you,” said the -little man. “I--I--why, it is customary to have napkins at meals -in--in Chicago, where I come from.” - -“Out here ye kin use the back o’ yer hand fer a napkin,” growled -Spangler, “an’ if ye’re afeared o’ gittin’ anythin’ on yer clothes, -why, don’t wear clothes that’s so easy sp’iled. Do ye _sabe_ my -pidgin? If ye don’t, an’ if what I say don’t set well, ye kin take -yer ole carpet bag an’ hike.” - -Under this wheezy torrent of words the little man wilted. When -Spangler turned around and waddled off, the stranger was ready to -throw aside his knife and fork and eat with his fingers if any one -had suggested it. - -“My friend,” said the scout, smothering a laugh and leaning toward -the stranger, “does your name happen to be Bingham?” - -The little man jumped. - -“It is,” said he; “Alonzo Bingham.” - -“And you hail from Chicago.” - -“I do, yes, sir.” - -“You have come here to look over the Forty Thieves Mine with a view -to buying it of Captain Lawless?” - -“Why, my gracious!” cried Alonzo Bingham, “how did you ever find out -about that?” - -“Isn’t it a fact?” asked Buffalo Bill. - -“Yes, it is a fact, although I’m troubled to know where you got your -information.” - -“We troubled some ter git et, Mr. Bingham,” put in Nomad, with a wink -at Wild Bill. - -“Exactly,” said Wild Bill, “and I hope I’ll never be troubled so much -in the same way again. I don’t believe I could stand it.” - -“As I understand, Mr. Bingham,” proceeded the scout, “if the rock you -took from the Forty Thieves assayed properly, you were to pay Lawless -a hundred thousand for the mine?” - -“I and some friends were going to form a syndicate and buy the mine, -if it proved as represented,” said Mr. Bingham. - -“Ther comp’ny you an’ yer friends hev formed,” announced Nomad -gravely, “ain’t a marker ter ther skindicate thet was formed at this -end o’ ther line.” - -“I--I am at a loss to understand you, gentlemen,” said Mr. Bingham, -wrinkling his brows. - -“Lawless and some friends of his,” explained Buffalo Bill, “have -salted the mine.” - -“Salted the mine? Really, what does that mean? I never heard of such -a thing.” - -Nomad sank back in his chair with a groan. - -“Draw er diagram o’ et fer him, somebody. He’s got ter hev et -pictered out.” - -“It’s this way, Mr. Bingham,” proceeded the scout. “Lawless and his -friends went to the mine and filled the rocks in the end of the level -with gold. Understand? When you go there to get your samples, you -will find rock that has been doctored. It will assay way up, but the -assays will fool you. It’s a case of plain robbery, and nothing more.” - -“Dear me!” said Alonzo Bingham, looking worried. - -“Look here, Cody,” said Wild Bill, dropping his voice and taking -something out of his pocket. “You’re telling friend Bingham the truth -about the salting, but you’re wide of your trail when you say the -Forty Thieves is worthless. Cast your eyes over that.” - -Wild Bill rolled upon the table a piece of ore as big as an egg. It -was the sort of ore occasionally described as “gold with some quartz -in it.” - -Little wires of yellow metal covered it all over, encasing it like a -spider-web. - -“Jumpin’ cougars!” breathed Nomad. - -“What in the world!” piped Alonzo Bingham. - -“Great Scott!” exclaimed Buffalo Bill, picking up the ore-sample. -“Where did you get that, Hickok?” - -“I found the pay-streak that the original owners of the Forty Thieves -must have lost,” chuckled Wild Bill. “That bit of ore almost cost me -my life, Cody. It came from that walled-off end of the stub-drift. -The explosion at the entrance jarred down some rock and uncovered -the pay-streak. I struck a match, when I first found myself with -hands and feet free, and that pay-streak was the first thing I saw. -When I realized that burning matches consumed oxygen, and that oxygen -was the only thing to keep me alive, I quit striking lights, and, -almost mechanically, dropped that bit of ore into my pocket.” - -“Mr. Bingham,” said the scout, “I beg your pardon. The Forty Thieves, -from this showing made by my friend, Mr. Hickok, looks like a good -purchase. But Lawless doesn’t know anything about that pay-streak. In -negotiating for the mine, if I were you I wouldn’t say anything about -it.” - -“When he goes out to find Lawless and close up the deal,” said -Wild Bill, “Mr. Bingham, I’m afraid, will have to do a good deal -of hunting. In his efforts to beat somebody, Lawless has salted -a bonanza onto Mr. Bingham and his Chicago syndicate. All I ask, -Mr. Bingham, for this friendly tip I have given you, is that you -communicate with me as soon as you find Captain Lawless, of the Forty -Thieves.” - -“I shall be glad to do so,” returned Mr. Bingham. - -During the rest of that meal the scout and his pards discussed their -adventures, pro and con, all more or less for the benefit of Dell and -Little Cayuse. - -Mr. Bingham, sitting by, heard everything. He learned, as the story -fell graphically from Wild Bill’s lips, how the Laramie man had been -knocked down, tied hand and foot, carried to the Forty Thieves, -placed in the end of the crosscut, and then walled into a living tomb -by a neatly placed blast. - -Mr. Bingham also heard of the adventures that had befallen old Nomad, -and of the manner in which he had been bowled over, carried to the -mine, and subsequently released by the scout. - -The talk ended in a description of the battle that had taken place in -the cañon, when there was so much shooting and no casualties--plenty -of noise and excitement, but no one “gouged er skelped,” as Nomad put -it. - -For some time Mr. Bingham had been growing even more pale than usual. -Long before the scout and his pards were done with their talk, the -Chicago man had excused himself, and tottered feebly from the room. - -Next morning, when the scout and his friends met at the -breakfast-table, there were two less at the board than at supper the -evening before. - -Mr. Bingham especially was noticeable by his absence. Spangler -explained that he had said he wouldn’t buy a mine in such a country -if some one would offer him a second Comstock lode for the price of -a square meal. Not daring to remain longer in such a lawless region, -Mr. Bingham had hired Spangler’s Mexican to take him to Montegordo in -Spangler’s buckboard during the night. - -Wah-coo-tah had likewise disappeared from the hotel during the night, -and her cayuse had vanished from the stable. So quietly had the girl -left, that Dell, in whose room and with whom she was lodging, had not -been aware of her going. - -“I presume,” said Buffalo Bill, “that Wah-coo-tah has gone back to -her people.” - -“That’s the best place for her, pard,” said Dell. - -“No doubt about that,” returned the scout. - - - - - CHAPTER X. - - THE STRANGER AND THE STEER. - - -“Whoop-ya! Looket thar, will ye? By the great horn spoon! Cut fer the -kitchen, Wing Hi, an’ fetch me the rope that’s hangin’ thar. D’ye -hear, yeh goggle-eyed yaller mug? Wake up an’ move--quick, afore -I kick yer half-way thar. Wow! Never seen sich er thing as thet -afore--an’ comin’ right down on ther camp, lickity larrup.” - -The mining settlement of Sun Dance, baking in the mid-day heat -half-way up the wall of Sun Dance Cañon, stirred languidly with the -whooping words that clattered among its adobes. - -There was not much life in Sun Dance during the day--night was its -period of excitement and activity--but what little life there was -began to show itself. - -Gentleman Jim, the gambler, was dozing in a hammock stretched between -two posts in the shade of the “Alcazar.” He heard the wild yell, -located it as coming from the vicinity of the Lucky Strike Hotel, got -out of the hammock, and went to investigate. - -In the street he met Hoppy Smith, barkeeper at the Dew Drop; One-eye -Perkins, postmaster and proprietor of the general store; Stump -Hathaway, boss of the Spread Eagle honkatonk, and Lonesome Pete, -who had ridden in from up the gulch to get a supply of tobacco and -cigarette-paper. - -“What’s the trouble?” asked Gentleman Jim. - -“I’m by,” replied Hoppy Smith, halting in his wild rush down -the street and resting his game leg. “Somebody dropped a remark, -seemedlike, over around the Lucky Strike.” - -“Dropped a remark?” echoed One-eye Perkins. “The feller’s mouth went -off like a string of bombs!” - -“All o’ that,” averred Stump Hathaway. “The noise jumped me out of a -sound sleep.” - -“I thort, fer a brace o’ shakes,” struck in Pete, “thet Injuns was -up, an’ raidin’ ther camp. My skin began walkin’ all over me with -cold feet.” - -The party had paused for only a few moments. During most of the -talking a rapid movement was being made in the direction of the Lucky -Strike. - -Spangler sat in the shade, in front, taking a comfortable catnap on -his two chairs. - -“Wake up, Spang!” cried Gentleman Jim, giving Spangler a shake that -made him quiver like a bowl of jelly. - -Spangler opened his eyes, wheezed, and made a convulsive gesture with -his ragged palm-leaf fan. - -“What’s ter pay, Jim?” he demanded. - -“Didn’t ye hear that yell, a minit ago?” inquired Hoppy Smith. - -“Didn’t hear nothin’.” - -“It come from this a-way,” said Lonesome Pete. “Reckon nothin’ short -of er cannon kin wake you, Spang, arter ye once drop off.” - -“It ain’t often that anythin’ happens in camp durin’ the day,” -returned Spangler. “If you fellers got business anywheres else, don’t -let me detain ye a minit.” - -Spangler settled the broad of his back against the wall behind him -once more, apparently bent on continuing his nap. Just then, however, -Hank Tenny, a “digger” from up the gulch, plunged around the corner -of the hotel, wild-eyed and full of excitement. - -He carried a riata, and was making it ready for action when he hove -in sight. - -Behind Tenny came Wing Hi, the dining-room boy, and right at Wing -Hi’s heels came Wong Looey, the hotel cook. - -“Was that you, Tenny, that let off that yell?” shouted Gentleman Jim. - -“Well, I reckon,” answered Tenny. - -“What’s the rip?” - -“Cast yer eyes up at the rim o’ the cañon.” - -What the men saw was startling in the extreme. - -A red steer was flickering along the rim of the cañon, head down, and -flecks of foam covering its dusty hide. To the steer’s back a man -was tied. Both steer and man could be plainly seen, and the unusual -spectacle brought exclamations of astonishment from every onlooker. - -The man was stretched out along the steer’s back, and securely roped -in that position. Whether he was alive or not it was impossible for -those on the “flat” to tell. The unfortunate man did not move--but -the ropes alone would have prevented that. - -“Great glee-ory!” gasped Hoppy Smith. - -“Wust thing o’ the kind I ever seen!” averred Lonesome Pete. - -“Must be Injuns are playin’ didoes some’rs around here!” chimed in -Stump Hathaway. - -“You’re shy, Stump,” said Gentleman Jim. “Whoever knew Injuns to -treat a white like that? So far as I can see, the man on the steer -still has his scalp. What’re you going to do, Hank?” he added to the -man with the rope. - -“It’s dollars ter doughnuts,” said Tenny, “thet the steer’ll foller -the stage-trail right down inter camp. If thet’s the case, I’m goin’ -to drop a rope over them horns.” - -For quite a long distance the stage-trail followed the rim of the -cañon. Hank Tenny had sighted the steer and the man when they rushed -into sight. Wing Hi had got the rope for him, and immediately -afterward Tenny had rushed for the front of the hotel. - -“I had jest put my cabyo in the stable,” said Tenny, while he and all -the rest continued to watch the rim of the gulch, “an’ was walkin’ -fer the front o’ the hotel, when I fust seen the critter. Nacherly I -let off er yell, an’ follered it up by tellin’ ther Chink ter git a -rope fer me. Jest as soon’s I got my hands on the rope, I started for -the front o’ the----” - -“By George!” exclaimed Gentleman Jim. “The steer has taken the turn, -and is sashaying right down on us!” - -Tenny’s forecast had proved correct. The maverick, whirling from the -rim to the down-grade, could be seen charging down the steep slope. - -Without a word, Hank Tenny made a rush along the street toward the -point where the trail entered it. There he went into hiding around -the corner of the Alcazar. - -“Keep away, you fellers!” he yelled. “Don’t show yerselves, kase if -ye do ye’ll skeer the critter off. Jest hang around the background, -an’ watch how I rope ’im.” - -Clustered about the front of the Lucky Strike, Gentleman Jim, -Spangler, Hoppy Smith, and the rest watched succeeding events with -intense interest. - -They saw the steer charge into the street, saw Tenny’s right arm -shoot out, and the noose settle over the steer’s horns, and then they -saw Tenny make a frantic effort and take a half-hitch with the end -of the rope around a hitching-post. - -A long breath escaped the onlookers. For an instant they experienced -a feeling of relief; then, the next instant, the relief gave way to -wildest anxiety. - -The hitching-post, loosened by long use, had been torn from the -ground the tremendous strain placed upon it by the steer. Tenny, -hanging to the extreme end of the rope, had turned a somersault in -the air and landed on his head. The steer, with its helpless burden, -dashed on across the road and vanished behind the walls of the Spread -Eagle honkatonk. - -“The animile is chasin’ straight fer the precipice!” bawled Lonesome -Pete, beginning to run. “It’ll go over the precipice an’ the man’ll -be done fer!” - -This dread dénouement seemed very likely to happen. At the edge of -the “flat” there was a steep bank, dropping sheer downward to the bed -of the cañon. In one place, the trail from below followed a steep -slope--but the steer was not headed toward the slope, but toward the -precipice. - -Maddened by the unsuccessful attempt made to stop its flight, and -still further frenzied by the yells of the men, there was small doubt -but that the steer would hurl itself over the edge of the high bank, -break its own neck, and crush out the life of the man on its back--in -case the man happened to be still alive. - -“Who’s got a gun?” shouted Gentleman Jim, as all hands plunged along -after the steer. “Get a rifle, somebody!” - -“We’d be as li’ble ter hit the man as ter hit the steer,” puffed -Hoppy Smith. - -“It’s a chance we’ll have to take,” averred Gentleman Jim -breathlessly. - -“But there ain’t a rifle among the lot o’ us,” said Stump Hathaway, -“an’ no time ter git one.” - -At the rear of the Spread Eagle the men came to a halt. A level -stretch lay between them and the top of the bank. The steer was -almost across the stretch, and pounding onward without lessening its -speed in the least. - -“The fellow is as good as done for,” said Gentleman Jim, leaning -against the wall of the Spread Eagle and drawing his sleeve across -his dripping forehead. - -“He’ll go over in spite o’ fate,” muttered Hank Tenny, joining the -group at the rear of the honkatonk. “Who’d hev thought thet rotten -post would hev let go like it did? If it hadn’t been for that, I’d -hev stopped the maverick.” - -“When a man’s time comes,” said Gentleman Jim, “he’ll get his due, -whether by bullet, or water, or six feet of rope--or a red maverick -steer. Too bad, too bad! Ah, the steer sees the break in the ground -ahead, and is getting ready to go over. If we only had a rifle----” - -Gentleman Jim was interrupted by an abrupt _crang_, and a puff of -white smoke arising from a thicket of scrub off toward the edge of -the “flat.” Astonishment filled all beholders. While the echoes of -the rifle-shot were dancing musically up and down the gulch, the -steer was seen to leap into the air and to come down in a heap at the -very brink of the high bank. - -A second later a lithe form sprang out from among the bushes and -started hastily for the fallen animal. It was the form of a girl in a -natty brown sombrero, buckskin blouse, and short skirt, and tan shoes -and leggings. In her right hand, as she hurried, she swung a rifle. - -“Dell Dauntless!” shouted Gentleman Jim; “Buffalo Bill’s girl pard -has turned the trick. Bravo! A neater shot was never fired in Sun -Dance Cañon!” - -And “bravo! bravo!” jubilated the others as they followed Gentleman -Jim toward the steer and the stranger--a stranger who might be in -luck, and who might not, according as to whether he had come through -that Mazeppalike ride alive or dead. - -When Gentleman Jim and the others came close to the steer, Dell -Dauntless had already cut away the ropes, freed the stranger, and -dragged him to one side. The girl’s shot had sped true, and the steer -lay dead, with a bullet through its heart. - -“Miss Dauntless,” said Gentleman Jim, removing his sombrero, “I take -off my hat to you. Your rifle got in its work in the very nick of -time. Half a minute more, and the steer would have been over the -bank. You’re a wonderful hand with a rifle.” - -“Well,” smiled the girl, with a deprecating shake of the head, “that -steer was a good-sized target, and what excuse could I have made if I -had missed?” - -“The steer was on the run, Miss Dauntless,” said Gentleman Jim, “and -you had to put a bit of lead into a vital place.” - -“I happened to be in a favorable position,” said Dell. “Any one of -you, who happened to be placed as I was, and with a rifle in your -hands, could have done the same thing. While waiting for Buffalo -Bill and the rest of my pards to come back from down the gulch, I -was taking a stroll to the edge of the ‘flat’ to see if they were -in sight. I heard the yells from the camp, saw the steer coming, -and went down on one knee and bided my time. That was all,” she -finished, turning away. “Instead of talking, we’d better be giving -our attention to the stranger.” - -“Correct,” returned Gentleman Jim, stepping to the stranger’s side -and sinking to his knees. - -The stranger was young--evidently well under thirty--and had every -appearance of being a placer-miner. He wore a flannel shirt, blue -overalls, and rubber boots, all earth and water-stained. His hat was -gone, as might be expected, and there was no revolver-belt at his -waist, and no sign of weapons elsewhere about him. - -“Any of you boys ever seen the man before?” asked Gentleman Jim. - -None of the men could remember the stranger’s face. - -Gentleman Jim laid one hand on his breast. - -“His ticker’s going,” said he. “Hand me a flask, one of you.” - -Lonesome Pete dug into his hip pocket and brought up a pint-flask. -Unscrewing the top, he handed the flask to the gambler. The latter -lifted the stranger’s head and allowed some of the liquor to trickle -into the throat of the unconscious man. - -The effect was well-nigh magical. A minute afterward, and while -Pete was in the act of transferring the flask to his pocket, the -stranger’s eyes opened. - -For a space, the eyes were blank and void of realization. The -man’s glance passed vacantly about from one face to another; then, -suddenly, he sat up and began rubbing his hands and arms where the -rope had chafed them. - -“How do you feel, pilgrim?” asked Gentleman Jim. - -“Feel like I’d been tangled up with a cyclone,” answered the man. -“Where am I?” - -“You’re in Sun Dance Cañon.” - -“This is where I was bound fer, but I wasn’t expectin’ ter git here -on a maverick longhorn. You fellows roped the critter?” - -“I tried ter,” spoke up Hank Tenny, “but the animile yanked a -snub-post up by the roots an’ got away from me. He was headin’ fer -the edge o’ thet precipice, thar, with the idee o’ jumpin’ over an’ -takin’ you with him, when this young lady, who happened ter be handy -by with a gun, let drive with a bullet. It’s the bullet thet saved -ye, pilgrim.” - -The stranger swerved his eyes to Dell. - -“I’m obliged to ye, miss,” said he. “What might yer name be?” - -“Dell Dauntless,” said the girl. - -“Buffalo Bill’s girl pard!” exclaimed the stranger, his dull eyes -lighting a little. “I won’t forget this, Dell Dauntless.” - -“It’s nothing--nothing at all,” deprecated Dell. “Any one else would -have done the same thing, had they been situated as I was.” - -“Some one else,” said the stranger grimly, “might have put a bullet -inter me instead o’ the steer. Howsumever, we’ll let that pass, fer -now. My name’s Blake, Henry Blake,” he went on, addressing generally -the men who were grouped about him. “I left Pass Dure Cañon yesterday -mornin’ with a bag o’ dust, calculatin’ ter come ter Sun Dance an’ -take ther stage fer Montegordo. Just under the lee of Medicine -Bluff I was stopped by Cap’n Lawless and some o’ his murderous -scoundrels----” - -“Captain Lawless!” exclaimed Gentleman Jim, astonished, and the words -were taken up and echoed by all the other bystanders--Dell Dauntless -being particularly interested. - -“That’s right,” pursued Blake, a savage frown gathering about his -brows, “it was Cap’n Lawless, of the Forty Thieves, an’ no one else. -I know the whelp by sight, but, if I hadn’t known him, he’d have -settled my doubts, fer he told me himself who he was.” - -“I thought Lawless and his gang had been chased out of the country -for good,” said Gentleman Jim. “Buffalo Bill and his pards gave him -the worst of it, and we had all made up our minds, here in Sun Dance, -that Lawless would profit by the lesson.” - -“Well, he didn’t,” continued Blake. “He’s on deck like always, an’ -up ter his old tricks. He lifted my bag o’ dust, my guns, what stuff -I had in my clothes, and my horse. I was held a pris’ner all last -night, in the outlaws’ camp by Medicine Bluff. This morning that -maverick steer was roped and thrown, and I was tied to the brute’s -back. Lawless told me I was going to Sun Dance, and that I was to -carry a message to some enemies of his. It was a written message, and -consequently it wouldn’t make much difference whether I reached Sun -Dance alive or dead.” - -A fierce scowl returned to Blake’s face. - -“I’m hopin’,” he went on, “that I’ll live to play even with that -whelp an’ cutthroat. He’s as cold-blooded as a channel catfish, an’ -as murderous as a Sioux Injun. If I ever git a chance at him----” -Blake finished with a vengeful glare and a tense gripping of his big, -sinewy hands. - -“You say the message is written?” queried Gentleman Jim. - -“Yes,” answered Blake. “If I got here alive I was ter ask fer a -gambler called Gentleman Jim.” - -“Which is me,” said the gambler. “So far as I know, Lawless hasn’t -ever crossed my trail. Why he makes himself my enemy is more than I -can tell.” - -“The message ain’t fer you, Gentleman Jim,” said Blake. - -“But you just said----” - -“Wait till I tell ye the whole of it. Lawless said I was to ask for -you, and that I was ter tell ye Lawless believed ye was that rare -thing, a square gambler. This message fer Buffalo Bill----” - -“Ah!” murmured Dell, her interest growing. “Then the message is for -the king of scouts?” - -“That’s the way I sense it,” answered Blake. “It’s fer the king of -scouts, but it’s ter be given ter Gentleman Jim.” - -“Talk about yer puzzles!” cut in Lonesome Pete. “This takes the -banner an’ leads the percession, I reckon. Lawless sends a message -ter one man an’ tells ye ter give it ter another.” - -“How do you explain that, Blake?” asked Gentleman Jim. - -“I don’t explain it,” continued Blake, “an’ I’ve told ye all I know.” - -He dipped into the breast of his shirt and removed a long envelope, -soiled by much handling. - -“There it is,” said he, handing the envelope to Gentleman Jim. “If -I’d petered out before the steer got here, ye might have found that -on me, an’ ye might not. It was Lawless’ roundabout way o’ doin’ the -thing.” - -“He and his gang,” remarked Gentleman Jim, “must have chased the -steer toward Sun Dance, and have drawn off only when sure the brute -would come peltering down into the camp.” - -“That must be the way of it, although I lost my senses some time -ago. I’m purty husky, but what I went through on that steer’s back is -somethin’ I never want ter go through ag’in.” - -Dell looked over Gentleman Jim’s shoulder while he read the writing -on the envelope. - -“A message for Buffalo Bill,” read the writing; “to be delivered to -Gentleman Jim, in Sun Dance, and by him opened in the presence of the -scout.” - -“That’s plain enough; eh, Miss Dauntless?” said the gambler. - -“It’s plain enough,” agreed the girl, “but a brain-twisting puzzle, -nevertheless. If the scout----” - -At that instant a fall of hoofs struck on the ears of each member of -the group. All eyes turned in the direction of the trail leading up -and out of the cañon. - -Four riders were approaching that particular part of the “flat.” -Buffalo Bill, on his big black horse, Bear Paw, was in the lead. -Behind the scout came Wild Bill, Nick Nomad, and Little Cayuse. - -“Well, well!” exclaimed Gentleman Jim, “this couldn’t have happened -better.” - -Putting their horses to the gallop, Buffalo Bill and his pards were -soon drawing rein close to the group near the dead steer. - -“What’s been going on here, friends?” queried the king of scouts, -sweeping a curious eye over the scene before him. - - - - - CHAPTER XI. - - A GIFT WITH A STRING TO IT. - - -Dell Dauntless pushed forward and explained the situation to the -scout and his pards. - -“Waugh!” tuned up old Nomad in customary fashion, “what sort of er -pizen deal is Lawless tryin’ ter pull off? Me no like um; hey, Wild -Bill?” - -“It’s sure a queer layout,” pondered Hickok. “The fact that Lawless -is behind it makes it a cinch that it doesn’t mean any good to We, Us -& Co. Whatever you do, Cody, remember that.” - -“Where can we see you in half an hour, Gentleman Jim?” the scout -inquired, turning to the gambler. - -“In my private room at the Alcazar,” answered the gambler. - -“We’ll be there,” said the scout. “That’s your steer, Dell,” he -added. “You’d better turn the carcass over to Tenny for the use of -Spangler, at the Lucky Strike. We haven’t had any fresh meat there -for a couple of days, and I think we’d all appreciate it.” - -“Pete an’ me’ll take keer o’ the brute, Buffalo Bill,” said Tenny. -“Tell Spangler to send his Chinks over here and get the beef.” - -Dell accompanied her pards to the hotel, and waited while they put -up their horses. Meantime, Spangler, delighted with the prospect -of securing a supply of fresh beef, had despatched his Chinamen -to the place where Tenny and Pete were making the carcass ready. -Henry Blake, worn out by his rough experience, went to the general -bunk-room and turned in. - -Half an hour after the scout and his pards had got back to the camp -they were all in Gentleman Jim’s private room at the Alcazar. Dell -formed one of the party. - -The gambler closed the door securely, so that no one not interested -could hear anything that went on in the room. To say that all were -curious would state their feelings mildly. - -“Open up ther paper-talk, Gentleman Jim,” urged the old trapper, the -moment the door was closed, “an’ let’s git next ter what’s doin’. I’m -bracin’ myself fer somethin’ onexpected ter happen.” - -“I hope,” said Wild Bill, “that what we’re going to hear will give us -a chance to lay Lawless by the heels.” - -“What makes it seem mighty queer that this letter should be entrusted -to me,” remarked Gentleman Jim, tearing an end off the envelope, “is -that I never met Lawless in my life, so far as I know.” - -Leaning back in his chair, the gambler drew from the envelope a -folded, legal-looking document, and two separate sheets of paper, -likewise folded. - -“What sort of a document is that, Gentleman Jim?” asked the scout, -nodding toward the legal-looking paper. - -The gambler examined the document and gave a low whistle. - -“It’s a quit-claim deed to the Forty Thieves,” said he. - -A chorus of surprised exclamations greeted the words. - -“In whose name is the deed made out?” the scout queried. - -“Buffalo Bill.” - -This was even more astounding. Nomad tried to say something, but was -held speechless by his amazement. All the others were in like case. -A strange silence fell over the room, broken only by the rustling of -paper as Gentleman Jim examined the deed. - -“Amazing as this may appear,” said the gambler presently, “yet the -deed has seemingly been executed in proper form. It is signed by -Lawless, witnessed by Seth Coomby and Andy Streibel, and bears the -seal and acknowledgment of a notary in Montegordo. It is dated three -days ago.” - -“I’m clear over my head,” muttered the scout. “Lawless and I are -enemies. Why should he make me a gift like that?” - -“Come to simmer the thing down, Buffalo Bill,” said the gambler, “it -isn’t much of a gift, after all. The mine is worthless. Lawless knows -that, or he wouldn’t have tried to ‘salt’ it and sell it to that -Chicago man.” - -“Lawless undoubtedly _thinks_ the mine is worthless,” mused the scout. - -“Well, isn’t it?” - -“Not by a hull row of ’dobies!” put in old Nomad. “Buffler, ye’re in -luck! Lawless laid out ter hand ye a mine thet was no good; he’ll -feel like kickin’ himself when he diskivers ther Forty Thieves is er -bonanza--er reg’lar whale of er good thing. Why, et’s got er reef on -et that makes ther Comstock Lode look like er limestone stringer.” - -“Is that right?” demanded Gentleman Jim. - -“It is,” went on Buffalo Bill. “Wild Bill made the discovery first. -We have just come in from an exhaustive examination of the property, -and we found that the Forty Thieves has an exceedingly rich vein. -Lawless, in presenting me with the mine, has over-reached himself. -He didn’t know of this rich vein--no one but myself and my pards -knew of it. Back of all this, however, the puzzle still remains: Why -should Lawless wish to present me with even a worthless mine? I’m -still over my head.” - -Gentleman Jim picked up the folded papers which he had drawn from the -envelope with the deed. - -“One of these is addressed to you, Buffalo Bill,” said he, “and the -other is addressed to me. Perhaps they will shed a little light on -the situation.” - -Buffalo Bill took the paper the gambler handed to him, opened it, -read it through, and then laughed. - -“What’s et erbout, pard?” asked Nomad. - -“Listen,” said the scout, and read aloud: “‘You may think you’ve -downed me, Buffalo Bill, but you have another guess coming. I am -giving you a deed to the Forty Thieves Mine. The mine is no good. We -both know that. So the deed is not given to you from any desire on -my part to tender you a token of my esteem. _The gift is a dare._ -Gentleman Jim is to hold the deed, and give it to you only after you -have passed three consecutive days and nights in the Forty Thieves -Mine. Gentleman Jim, I know by report, is a square gambler. He will -see to it that my conditions are faithfully executed. After you have -passed three consecutive days and nights in the mine, you are to -go to Gentleman Jim and get the deed, making the transfer legal by -filing the deed for record in Montegordo--that is, if you consider a -worthless mine worth bothering with to that extent. Take your pards, -or as many more men as you wish, with you into the mine--_but you -must stay there for three consecutive days and nights_. That will be -all. If you live to claim the deed you are welcome to it. Where’s -your nerve?’” - -Buffalo Bill, with a queer smile playing about the corners of his -mouth, refolded the paper and stowed it carefully away in his pocket. - -“Of course,” he remarked, “Lawless thinks he has a trap laid for me -in the Forty Thieves.” - -“He’s got something up his sleeve, all right,” agreed Wild Bill, “but -if he thinks you haven’t got the nerve to hang out in that mine for -three days and nights, why, he’s wide of his trail, that’s all.” - -“Ther mine’s wuth ther risk,” said Nomad. - -“I’m not thinking so much about the mine, Nick,” went on the scout, -“as I am about the chance this fool proposition of Lawless’ gives -me to lay alongside of him. That villain ought to have his claws -clipped, and I reckon I and my pards are the ones to do it.” - -A vociferous affirmative came from Nomad, Wild Bill, Little Cayuse, -and Dell. - -“He’s a deep one,” remarked Gentleman Jim. “The mine is evidently -a trap, and he’s luring you into it. It is also perfectly evident -that he knows you will not fulfil his terms for the mine itself, but -simply because he gives you a dare.” - -“Buffler Bill an’ pards never takes a dare,” said Nomad. - -“We’ll meet Lawless half-way in this one,” said the scout resolutely. -“By doing so, we can, not only get the mine, but likewise capture -Lawless.” - -“Sure!” cried Wild Bill. “Are your pards in with you on the deal, -Cody?” - -“On one consideration only,” was the answer. - -“What’s that?” - -“Why, that if we stay out the three consecutive days and nights -successfully, we are all to be joint owners of the mine.” - -Silence followed the words. - -“If all of you share the risk,” smiled the scout, “you ought also to -share the profits.” - -That brought an agreement. - -“Of course,” the scout went on, “I am not dropping into Lawless’ -plans because I want to dare him to do his worst, or because the -mine lures me to it, but simply and solely because this promises an -opportunity for capturing one of the worst trouble-makers in the -country. If the mine comes to us, it will be incidental to our main -purpose. What is there in your letter, Gentleman Jim?” - -“Nothing, except that I am to keep the deed and hand it over to -you after you have passed the three days and nights in the mine, -providing you are alive and able to claim it.” An apprehensive look -crossed the gambler’s face. “It’s a gift with a string to it--and I’d -give a hundred, this minute, if I knew exactly what the string was.” - -“Well, Gentleman Jim,” said the scout, rising. “I give notice that -to-night, at six o’clock, I and some of my pards will go down into -the Forty Thieves. This is Monday, and I shall not come to the -surface until Thursday afternoon, unless the capture of Captain -Lawless makes it necessary.” - -Silence followed the scout’s words. It was broken by a long-drawn-out -and mournful cry, coming from no one knew where: - -“_Wa-hoo-ha-a-a! Pa-e-has-ka go to Forty Thieves, Pa-e-has-ka die! -Nuzhee Mona! Nuzhee Mona!_” - -It was a soft voice, as it might have been the voice of a sighing -spirit, and the echoes breathed sobbingly through the room. - -While Buffalo Bill, Dell Dauntless and the others stared at each -other in bewilderment, Little Cayuse flung himself into the center of -the room. Crouching there, and peering about him with eyes in which -there was an unearthly light, the boy breathed huskily: - -“_Geegoho! Geegoho!_” Then he listened, rapt, entranced erect, and -rigid as a statue. - -“_Nuzhee Mona! Nuzhee Mona!_” breathed the voice, the last word dying -away in a whisper. - -Little Cayuse flung his hands to his face, groaned aloud, then rushed -to the door, tore it open--and vanished. - -It would be hard to describe the effect which this bit of by-play -had on those in the room. As a matter of fact, the effect of it on -each one was different. All were surprised, and more or less puzzled, -but each, according to his nature, gave the event a different -construction. - -Nomad, superstitious and imaginative, read in the sighing voice an -instrumentality that was not human. It was a warning from a class of -spirits to whom the old trapper referred as the “whiskizoos.” - -Dell was astounded and apprehensive, Wild Bill frankly puzzled, -Gentleman Jim grimly incredulous, and the scout began looking about -him in a matter-of-fact way to locate the place from which the voice -emanated. - -“Waugh!” growled Nomad; “me no like um. All same whiskizoo. Better -think et over, Buffler. Et won’t do ter go agin’ a warnin’ from ther -spirit-land.” - -“_Where_ did it come from?” murmured Dell. “What was it?” - -“There was flesh and blood back of it,” averred the scout. “Spirits -have never mixed up in my affairs, and they’re not going to begin it -now.” - -He strode to a door in one corner of the room, and threw it open. The -door led into a closet, but the closet was empty. - -“I wouldn’t put it past Lawless any to set some one on to do a thing -like that,” remarked Wild Bill, with a low laugh. “He’s trying your -nerve, Cody.” - -“What’s under the floor, Gentleman Jim?” inquired the scout, striking -the floor with his heel. - -“A basement,” answered the gambler, “where the proprietor of the -Alcazar stores his ‘wet’ goods.” - -“And what’s above?” went on the scout, lifting his eyes. - -“Cedar rafters and a mud roof.” - -“Let’s go down to the basement.” - -The scout and the gambler left the room, descended into the cellar by -a narrow flight of stairs leading from the main part of the Alcazar, -and found nothing but kegs and casks. - -“Whoever spoke,” said Buffalo Bill, “spoke from here. Mere clap-trap -for the sake of scaring me out.” - -“Lawless never had it done,” said Gentleman Jim. “Your pard, Wild -Bill, is wide of his trail if he thinks that.” - -“No,” mused the scout, “Lawless wasn’t back of it. He seems too -anxious to get me into the Forty Thieves to try to make me turn back.” - -“It was a woman’s voice.” - -“I’m thinking of that.” - -When the scout and the gambler returned to the latter’s room, it was -unnecessary for them to repeat to Wild Bill, Nomad, and Dell the -result of their investigations. Every word spoken by Buffalo Bill -and Gentleman Jim while in the basement had been distinctly heard by -those overhead. - -“That proves,” declared the scout, “that the speaker was in the -basement.” - -“What did the speaker mean by those words, _Nuzhee Mona_?” asked Dell. - -“Give it up, Dell,” replied Buffalo Bill. “Mere gibberish, perhaps, -although they suggest the Omaha tongue, to me.” - -“To me, too,” put in Wild Bill. - -“And what was that Little Cayuse said? And why did he groan and run -away?” - -“The boy’s an Indian,” said the scout, “and his blood crops out in -queer ways, now and then. I don’t know what he said, nor why he ran -away. But he won’t stay away for long, we may be sure of that.” - -“He knows,” said Nomad, “thet Injun spooks was speakin’. Et skeered -him, an’ he lit out.” - -“Then it’s the first time,” said the scout derisively, “we ever saw -the boy scared. But we can’t lose time here, pards. We must cut for -the Lucky Strike and get our share of that red maverick that came -so near proving the death of Blake. After dinner there will be some -preparations to make, and by six o’clock, sharp, we must be down in -the shaft and level of the Forty Thieves.” - -“Buffalo Bill’s mine!” laughed Wild Bill. “Come on, Cody. That three -days’ stunt looks easy to me, in spite of our ‘spirit-warning’ and -the evil intentions of Captain Lawless.” - -“I try to be square,” said Gentleman Jim, as he followed the scout -and his pards to the front of the Alcazar, “and if you stay in the -Forty Thieves for three consecutive days and nights you get the deed. -If you don’t, Buffalo Bill, I shall have to burn it up.” - -“Don’t be too quick with your burning, that’s all,” returned the -scout grimly. - -“I’ll give you plenty of time to come and claim the property.” - -“Dollars to doughnuts,” remarked Hickok lightly, “the scout will -exchange Lawless for the deed. I’ve a feeling that that whelp is due -for a kibosh, and that Cody is going to give it to him.” - -“I hope so, with all my heart,” said Gentleman Jim fervently. - -As the scout, the trapper, Wild Bill, and Dell passed along the -camp-street toward the Lucky Strike Hotel, Little Cayuse hastened -around the rear of the Dew Drop resort and joined them. - -The boy’s face was heavy with foreboding. - -“Where have you been, Cayuse?” asked the scout sharply. - -“Try find um spirit,” answered Cayuse gravely. “Find out, mebbyso, -how we save um Pa-e-has-ka.” - -Wild Bill gave a scoffing laugh, and Cayuse stared at him rebukingly. - -“We no find out how to save um Pa-e-has-ka,” said the boy, with great -gravity, “then Pa-e-has-ka die.” - -He whirled on the scout. - -“You still think you go to mine, stay there for three sleeps?” he -demanded. - -“Certainly I’m going.” - -A look of woeful resignation crossed the boy’s face. - -“Pa-e-has-ka die,” said he, “then Little Cayuse die, too--but not -till Little Cayuse take Lawless’ scalp.” - -All this talk of the Piute’s rendered Nick Nomad mighty uneasy. - -“What was et thet ther spirit said, Cayuse?” asked the trapper. - -Cayuse shook his head and did not answer. - -“What was et ye said ter ther spirit?” - -Still Cayuse kept a still tongue. - -“I don’t like ther outlook, Buffler,” said Nomad, with a gruesome -shake of his shaggy head. “Ther kid ’u’d tork, only he hates ter -gloom us up.” - -“There are times, old pard,” said the scout, “when you seem to be shy -even an average amount of horse-sense. If you continue to talk and -act as though you were locoed, I won’t take you to the mine at all, -but will leave you in Sun Dance.” - -Nomad, at that, pulled himself together and tried to look as though -he wasn’t in the least apprehensive. - -“And the same with Little Cayuse,” continued the scout, turning to -the Piute. “You’ve got to stop this foolishness. Buffalo Bill’s pards -ought to be level-headed, and not go off the jump every time they -hear or see something they can’t understand. We’re out after Lawless, -just remember that, and certainly we’re sharp enough to match our -wits against his. If we’re not, then Lawless and his gang may win out -against us, and welcome.” - -Cayuse shut his teeth hard and walked on ahead. Nomad, in a feeble -attempt to dispel his fears, began to whistle softly. - -As they came within sight of the Lucky Strike Hotel, they saw three -men grouped about the door. One of the men was the fat proprietor, -Spangler, and the other two were Hank Tenny and Lonesome Pete. - -“What’s that outfit looking at?” queried Wild Bill. - -“Something on the door,” returned Dauntless Dell. “They appear to be -excited.” - -“Must be somethin’ mighty important,” put in Nomad, “ter drag thet -fat boy out o’ his two chairs. Spang never moves from them chairs -except ter foller ther shade, er eat his meals, er go ter bed. But -somethin’s got him goin’ now, thet’s shore.” - -“What’s the matter?” called the scout, when he and his pards came -close to the front of the hotel. - -“We’re tryin’ ter figger it out, Buffalo Bill,” wheezed Spangler. -“Jest take a look at this an’ tell me what it means--if ye kin.” - -Spangler, Pete, and Tenny moved away from the door. Pinned to the -wood by a crude dagger was a ragged square of birch bark. On the -bark, where the words had evidently been traced with the dagger’s -point, was this, in printed characters: - -_Nuzhee Mona._ - -Just that, and nothing more. Nomad and Little Cayuse stared, then -turned away. Buffalo Bill and Wild Bill laughed, and the former -tore away the piece of bark and cast it from him with a gesture of -contempt; then, jerking the dagger from the wood, he carried it on -into the hotel. Hickok followed, a jesting remark on his lips. Dell -trailed after Hickok, but it was plain she could not dismiss the -matter in the same offhand way that he had done. - - - - - CHAPTER XII. - - THE “FORTY THIEVES MINE.” - - -“Got any idee why that thing was skewered inter my door, Buffalo -Bill?” asked Spangler, waddling into the room of the hotel, which -served as an “office.” - -“Don’t fret about that, Spangler,” said the scout; “it was meant for -me.” - -“Queer kind of a visitin’-card,” said Tenny, sticking his head in at -the door. “‘Nuzhee Mona,’ hey? Queer name fer a man, too.” - -“How did it come there?” queried the scout. - -“That’s what we don’t know,” puffed Spangler. “Half an hour ago it -wasn’t there--I kin take my affidavy on _that_. I had my eyes on the -door jest after the Chinks had come with the meat, an’ it was as bare -as the pa’m o’ my hand. Right arter that I settled down in front an’ -went ter sleep. Tenny an’ Pete woke me up an’ pointed out the thing -ter me.” - -“Then it must have been put up there while you were asleep?” - -“I reckon that was the way of it.” - -“Well, forget it. It’s my business, anyway, and nothing for you to -bother with.” - -At that moment Wing Hi came out of the dining-room and went to the -front of the hotel with his brass gong. While he was pounding his -summons for dinner--a meal which had been delayed on account of the -extra work that had fallen to the two Chinamen--the scout and his -pards went into the dining-room and took their accustomed places at -one of the tables. - -“Nick,” said the scout to his trapper pard, “here’s something for you -and Cayuse to think about: Did either of you ever hear of a spook -that was able to take a piece of birch bark and scratch words on it?” - -The idea rather startled Nomad, but Cayuse kept on quietly with his -eating. - -“Or,” proceeded the scout, with a wink at Wild Bill, “did you ever -hear of a spook that could take an old file and make a dagger out of -it?” - -He laid the blade, with which the birch bark had been fastened to the -door, on the table. - -All eyes turned on it curiously. There was no doubt about its having -been ground down from a file to a double edge and a point. - -“Or,” went on the scout, “who ever knew of a spook stealing to the -front of a hotel and fastening a piece of birch bark to the door, -and using wit enough to do it so quietly that the proprietor of the -hotel, who was asleep in front and not ten feet away, failed to hear -a sound?” - -“I reckon ye tally, pard,” said Nomad. “What ye say must er been ther -work of er human bein’, like ourselves.” - -“Sure,” grinned Wild Bill. “The dagger and the piece of bark prove -that; and the words on the bark prove that the same person who -fastened it to the door was the one who talked at us from the -basement of the Alcazar. Flesh and blood, no doubt of it; and I’ve -got a hunch Lawless is back of the whole layout.” - -The scout was not of Wild Bill’s opinion regarding the question of -Lawless having anything to do with the matter, but recent events were -so obscure that the scout did not attempt to deny something which -_might_ prove to be true. - -As people began to come into the dining-room, the matter was dropped, -and the scout and his pards fell to talking on other topics. - -Directly after dinner preparations were made for a stay of three days -and nights in the Forty Thieves. A lot of canteens were secured, and -Spangler’s culinary-department was drawn upon for a supply of rations. - -By four o’clock Buffalo Bill, Nomad, Wild Bill, Dell, and Cayuse -mounted and rode off down the cañon. Blake, the miner who had been -robbed of his dust and almost killed, was still resting his bruised -limbs on a cot in the general bunk-room. The scout would have -liked to talk further with Blake, but did not esteem the matter of -sufficient importance to wake him for the purpose. - -The romance of mining is full of Fortune’s strange freaks. How the -Forty Thieves had come into the hands of Captain Lawless, Buffalo -Bill did not know. Yet, undoubtedly Lawless had prospected the -property and had settled it, in his own mind, that it was worthless. -Had he not thought it of no value, he would hardly have turned it -over to the scout as a gift, even with “a string to it.” - -Lawless had fooled himself. The rich vein had been lost--it had not -petered out--and, by an accident, Wild Bill had discovered it again. - -A small stream ran through the cañon. The stream was little more than -a rill, flowing for most of the cañon’s length under the sand and -rocks, and appearing on the surface only occasionally, where bed-rock -forced the water upward into pools. - -At one of these pools, close to the ore-dump of the mine, the scout -and his pards halted and dismounted. The canteens were filled, and -two riatas were spliced together and dropped into the shaft with one -end secured to the platform on the top of the dump. - -When everything was ready for the descent, the scout placed to one -side a bag of the rations brought from Sun Dance. - -“Now, pards,” said he, addressing his friends, “we are not to forget -for an instant that, by going down into the Forty Thieves, we are -playing directly into the hands of Lawless and his gang. Lawless -has something up his sleeve, and we’re going to try and beat him at -his own game. To do this successfully, we can’t _all_ go down the -shaft. The surface must be watched as well as the mine workings; and -our horses have got to be taken care of. This party will have to be -divided, and I have chosen Dell and Cayuse to look after the mounts -and keep keen eyes on the vicinity of the ore-dump.” - -Dell’s face fell at this, and the Piute looked his disappointment. -But whenever Buffalo Bill gave an order, there was no setting it -aside. - -“Hickok, Nomad, and I,” pursued the scout, “will go into the mine. -As soon as we are down there, Dell and Cayuse will proceed to lower -our canteens and rations--all but the bag which I have set aside for -their use. Then, when the water and grub are lowered, Dell and Cayuse -will pull up the rope and take the horses along the cañon. A quarter -of a mile below the mine a gully breaks into the cañon wall. The -gully is full of scrub, and it will be a good place to hide the live -stock. While one of them watches the stock, the other will watch the -ore-dump.” - -“But why pull up the rope, Buffalo Bill?” asked Dell. “If anything -goes wrong, you wouldn’t have any way of getting out of the shaft.” - -“If anything goes wrong, Dell,” returned the scout, “it will be up -here. If you and Cayuse keep careful watch, you will be able to -notify Nomad, Wild Bill, and me, and drop the rope for us. If, on -the other hand, any of Lawless’ gang should escape your eyes and try -to come down the shaft, they won’t have our rope to use. Understand? -The three of us are going down there to stay for three days. Your -instructions are simple enough, and I reckon you understand them. -Eternal vigilance is the price of success in this undertaking.” - -With that, Buffalo Bill sat down on the edge of the planks and slowly -lowered himself into the black maw of the shaft. - -“All right, pards!” came his muffled voice from the darkness, a few -moments later. - -Wild Bill descended next, and Nomad next. When they reached the -bottom of the shaft, the scout had secured one of the candles left in -the mine during their recent visit, and had lighted it. - -“Everything looks like it did when we was hyar last,” said Nomad, -peering about him in the flickering gleam of the candle. - -“Nothing is changed,” returned Buffalo Bill, “and there’s no one here -besides ourselves. I have been to the end of the level, and I am -positive of it. Haul up the rope, Dell,” he shouted, “and lower the -grub and the water.” - -Dell and Cayuse, their forms silhouetted against the background of -sky overhead, could be seen bending over the mouth of the shaft and -pulling up the rope. - -In a little while the provision-bags and the canteens were lowered, -untied from the end of the rope and carried by Nomad and Wild Bill -into the level. - -“Now,” cried the scout, “haul up the rope, Dell, and go off to the -gully with the horses.” - -“You’re sure there’s no one down there besides yourselves?” called -the girl anxiously. - -The scout’s reassuring laugh bounded upward between the rocky walls. - -“We’re absolutely sure, Dell. We’re safe enough down here. If there’s -any trouble, the chances are that you and Cayuse will see the most of -it. Don’t do any worrying about us.” - -“I don’t know,” answered Dell, “but I’ve got a feeling that there are -some--some disagreeable surprises in store for all of us.” - -“Let ’em come!” whooped Wild Bill. “We’re not looking for trouble, -but you can bet your spurs we’re not going to dodge any.” - -Slowly the rope was drawn upward, untied from the plank platform, and -Dell and Cayuse vanished from the mouth of the shaft. - -Wild Bill, having carried his load of water and food into the level, -had returned to the scout in the shaft; but Nomad had pushed along -toward the end of the level. - -The surprises began at once, and almost at the very moment Dell and -Cayuse left the ore-dump. This, the first of the strange events, was -ushered in by a wild yell from the old trapper. - -“By gorry!” exclaimed Wild Bill, dashing into the level, “Nomad’s -struck a snag, first crack out of the box.” - -The trapper had secured a candle when he and Wild Bill began carrying -the canteens and provision-bags into the level. The scout likewise -had a candle, and made haste to follow Hickok into the pitch-dark -passage. - -Cody could not imagine what it was that had brought that yell from -his old pard. It wasn’t a shout of fear, but rather of surprise and -consternation. Apart from his superstitious vagaries, the old trapper -did not know the meaning of the word “fear.” - -Wild Bill, stumbling along somewhat in the lead of the scout, kept -watching for the glimmer of Nomad’s candle. The tunnel was full of -angles, and Wild Bill went clear to the breast of it, and whirled -around with his back to the rocks. He had not found a trace of the -trapper in the entire length of the level! - -“Well!” exclaimed Wild Bill, looking blankly into the scout’s face. -“What sort of a hocus-pocus do you call this, Cody? Disagreeable -surprises! By gorry, Dell was right. We no more than get into the -mine before they’re sprung on us.” - -Without speaking, Buffalo Bill turned and picked his way back to the -shaft, sweeping the candlelight about him and examining every nook -and cranny as he went. - -He saw nothing of Nomad. - -Midway between the breast of the level and the shaft was the opening -into the short “drift.” - -Still keeping his thoughts to himself, the scout whirled away from -the shaft and went into the “drift.” The cross-section dimensions -of the “drift” were the same as those of the main level, but it was -scarcely more than fifteen feet long. - -A débris of broken stone littered the floor of the “drift,” but the -scout was not long in discovering that his old pard was not there. - -Setting the candle down on a rock, he made a trumpet of his hands. - -“Nomad!” he roared, at the top of his voice. - -The echoes boomed through the underground galleries, but echoes alone -answered the scout’s call. - -“I’ll give it up,” said Buffalo Bill, dropping down on the stone -beside the candle. “Nick isn’t in the mine, that’s sure.” - -“And he didn’t get out of the mine through the shaft,” observed -Wild Bill. “There may be an air-shaft somewhere that we don’t know -anything about. If Nomad found such a shaft, it would be easy for him -to give us the slip.” - -“There isn’t such a shaft!” declared the scout. “Even if there was, -Hickok, why should Nick give us the slip?” - -“He wouldn’t want to, of course; but he was in the mine one minute, -and out of it the next. He met with foul play, and it was of the -mighty sudden kind. Lawless is back of it--that goes without saying.” - -“I presume you are right,” said the scout, “and if you _are_ right, -Hickok, there’s more to this mine than we have yet begun to discover.” - -“There must be old workings, Cody, which have been closed up.” - -“Nick’s disappearance can’t be explained in any other way. I suppose -Nick saw Lawless or one of his men, and was struck down before he -could do anything more than give that one yell; then he was dragged -through some hole that we haven’t been able to find.” - -Buffalo Bill got up and took the candle. - -“I didn’t come here to lose any of my pards, Hickok,” he went on, -“and I don’t intend to. We’ve got to find the route Nick traveled -when he left, and follow it.” - -“We’ll get him back,” averred Wild Bill, with a resolute snap of the -jaws, “no matter how much of a ‘plant’ Lawless has down here.” - -Thereupon the two stepped back into the main level. Holding his -candle in one hand and a stone in the other, each proceeded toward -the breast of the passage, tapping on the walls as they went. - -This maneuver proved fruitless. The stone walls gave back no hollow -sound, and, for all their ears could detect, they might as well have -been tapping against a mountain of granite. - -Never before had the king of scouts been so deeply perplexed. An -outlet from the mine seemed such a simple thing to find, and yet it -had baffled him. The whole mystery, in a less matter-of-fact mind -than the scout’s, or Wild Bill’s, would have taken on a supernatural -aspect. - -“I’m up the biggest kind of a stump, Cody,” admitted Wild Bill, “and -the more we try to solve the riddle, the higher up I get. The stone -in the wall seems to be as solid as Gibraltar, and if there was a -hole--even a masked opening--leading to another passage, there would -certainly be some kind of a ‘break’ in the side of the level. But -there isn’t any break--the walls are continuous.” - -“About where, in this level,” said the scout, “would you say Nomad -was when he gave that yell?” - -“He could not have been far from the place where we left the canteens -and the provisions--perhaps about half-way between there and the end -of the level.” - -Buffalo Bill went back to the spot indicated by Wild Bill. Flashing -the candle about side walls and roof, something met his eyes. He -examined it for a moment, and then called Hickok. - -What the latter saw, when he gained the scout’s side, were words, -written with candle-smoke, on the light-colored stone of the roof: - -“_Nuzhee Mona!_” - -“What in Sam Hill do those words mean?” cried Wild Bill. - -“I wish I knew,” said the scout. “If we knew the meaning of the words -we might get a clue to this tangle. Possibly a friend traced the -words.” - -“And perhaps an enemy--Lawless, for instance. If he put those words -there, Cody, they mean a threat of some kind.” - -“The voice we heard in the Alcazar was the voice of a friend; the -voice used those two words; it was the hand of that same speaker that -pinned that piece of bark to the door of the hotel; and, it naturally -follows, the same hand must have put the words on the roof of this -tunnel.” - -“You make out a good case, Cody, but why all this secrecy? Why -doesn’t the person, if really a friend, come out face to face with -you and tell you what to expect, instead of dodging around cellars, -visiting hotel doors mysteriously, and then sneaking into the Forty -Thieves, and leaving those two words?” - -“We don’t know what the woman has to work against, or how she is -hampered in her attempts to warn us.” - -“Woman?” echoed Wild Bill. - -“Certainly. That voice we heard in the Alcazar was a woman’s voice.” - -“An Indian, too, by gorry! Have you any idea who it could be?” - -The scout was thoughtful for a moment. - -“Who could this mysterious friend be, if not Wah-coo-tah?” he said -finally. - -“By gorry, you’ve hit it!” exclaimed Wild Bill. “I hadn’t thought of -Wah-coo-tah. She is very friendly toward you, but she doesn’t like -Dell a little bit. Say, I’ll bet a hundred against a last year’s -bird’s nest that Wah-coo-tah’s the girl who was trying to steer us -away from this trap.” - -“The more I think about it,” said the scout, “the more reasonable it -seems. The girl, when she left the hotel, went back to her father. -While with him she found out about his plans concerning us. No doubt -she is watched, and finds it impossible to show herself openly to us -and tell what she knows. But all this isn’t helping us to find Nick.” - -“Lawless has got him, Cody, and probably he will try the same means -for getting us. We’ll have to be on our guard every minute, or----” - -At that instant Buffalo Bill flung down his own candle and knocked -the candle out of Hickok’s hand; then, hurling himself against his -companion, he bore him to the floor of the level, and dropped beside -him. - -Before the astounded Wild Bill could ask a question as to the reason -for such an unexpected action, a spurt of flame lit up the passage, -and a rattle of revolver-shots echoed deafeningly between the narrow -walls. - -“Lie still!” whispered the scout in Wild Bill’s ear. Then, with a -groan, he cried huskily: “I’m hit! They’ve got us, Hickok.” - -A fall of swift feet resounded in the passage, coming rapidly nearer -the two pards; but all was dark, and the scout, scarcely breathing, -lay silently where he was, and waited. - -Wild Bill understood the ruse he was playing, and immediately assumed -his own part. - -The feet came close, and, from the sound of them, the scout tried to -estimate the number of men in the party. Three, four, five--there -were five, at least, and where had they come from? They were running -from the direction of the breast of the level, so they must have -entered the passage by the same way Nomad had been taken out of it. - -“Now, Hickok!” the scout suddenly cried, when he thought the men had -come close enough. - -As one man the two pards leaped erect, and flung themselves through -the pitchy darkness at their unseen foes. - -The scout caught one burly form in his hands, felt the point of a -knife dig into his sleeve, and struck out with his fist. The man went -down. Another took his place, and, in the narrow confines of the -level, a fierce hand-to-hand fight was soon in progress. - -Not a word was spoken by the combatants. Only the sound of their -labored breathing, the shuffling of their feet on the rocky floor, -and the thump of fists, broke the tomblike stillness of the mine. - -Neither the scout nor Wild Bill dared use a revolver. Unable, as they -were, to see a hand before their eyes, they might have hurt each -other by promiscuous shooting. - -Both the pards were putting up a gallant fight against odds; and, -just when it seemed as though they were to win out, Buffalo Bill was -caught by a random blow, whirled half-around; and sent stumbling -over a stone on the floor of the passage. - -He tried desperately to regain his balance, failed, and plunged -headlong into the rocky wall. The next instant his senses left him, -and he knew no more. - - - - - CHAPTER XIII. - - DELL AND WAH-COO-TAH. - - -When the scout opened his eyes, the exciting events which he had -recently passed through seemed more like a dream than anything else. -As his brain slowly cleared, and he was able to pick up the broken -thread of occurrences more firmly, he began to wonder at what he saw. - -He was lying in the level, and a lighted candle stood on a rock near -his head. Beside him knelt Dell Dauntless, bending over and allowing -a trickle of water to fall upon his face from one of the canteens. - -“How are you now, Buffalo Bill?” the girl asked. - -“Nothing worth mentioning has happened to me, Dell,” he answered, -pushing aside the canteen and sitting up. “I took a tumble over that -rock where you’ve put the candle, and struck my head against the wall -of the passage. It was a small thing to knock a man out.” - -“It must have been a harder blow than you supposed.” - -“No discount on that, pard; still, it isn’t anything to make a fuss -over.” - -He picked up his hat and put it on, then gave the girl an inquiring -look. - -“How is it I find you here?” - -“Cayuse was in the gully with the horses,” Dell explained, “and I -was reconnoitering around the ore-dump. Everything had been pretty -quiet, up above, and Cayuse and I hadn’t seen a soul. I was close -to the mouth of the shaft when I heard something like a volley of -revolver-shots. I wasn’t sure there had been firing down here, -though, until I had crept to the mouth of the shaft and sniffed -burned powder. Cayuse and I had left the spliced riatas hidden in the -bushes near the ore-dump, and I ran for the ropes, dropped one end -down and made the other fast to the platform. Then I lowered myself -into the mine.” - -“You took a lot of chances, Dell,” muttered the scout, brushing a -hand across his eyes. “You found me lying here, eh?” - -“Yes.” - -“And you didn’t see any one else?” - -“No. What’s become of Nomad and Wild Bill?” - -The scout couldn’t understand why Lawless and his gang hadn’t -finished him, nor why he hadn’t been dragged away to the same -mysterious place to which Nomad had been taken; but he didn’t stop -to debate these matters just then. Getting quickly to his feet, he -snatched up the candle and went along the level, looking for Wild -Bill, just as he and Wild Bill had gone hunting for Nomad a little -while before. - -The smell of burned powder was strong, and a slight fog of it was -drifting toward the shaft. - -Buffalo Bill, followed by Dell, went to the end of the tunnel and -back again without finding any trace of Wild Bill. The scout sat down -on a rock and took his aching head between his hands. - -“This is a brain-twister, if there ever was one,” he muttered. - -“What do you mean by that, pard?” Dell inquired. - -“Well,” he answered, looking up, “we hadn’t been down here fifteen -minutes until Nomad had disappeared.” - -“Disappeared?” - -“Yes. Wild Bill and I heard him give a yell, but when we went to look -for him he had vanished.” - -“There must be a secret passage leading into another part of the -mine, and----” - -“Hickok and I made up our minds to that, but if there is a secret -passage we failed to locate it. While we were talking the matter -over, I heard a sound of stealthy movements between us and the breast -of the level, and I had just time to throw down my candle and knock -the light out of Wild Bill’s hand, and then to drag Wild Bill flat -down on the floor of the level, when a volley was fired. We had a -hand-to-hand fight, and right in the middle of it I stumbled over -that stone and rammed my head into the wall. And now Hickok has -followed Nomad--where? And why is it I wasn’t taken away with Hickok? -I can’t make head or tail to this thing, Dell, and it’s getting onto -my nerves. Nothing happens as you would expect it to happen. The mine -seems bewitched.” - -“We’d better get out of here,” Dell suggested. - -“I came here to stay three days and nights,” said the scout doggedly, -“and----” - -“But with Nomad and Wild Bill gone, what could you and I do against -men who have a secret retreat in the mine? They have every advantage, -pard. They can make an attack when they want to, and can get away in -a hurry and without leaving a clue as to where they go. Of course, -these men are Lawless and his gang, and they not only have the -advantage in the point of numbers, but they have also a knowledge of -these underground workings.” - -“Lawless prepared the mine as a trap for us,” said the scout, -“and, while I was expecting underhand work and surprises when we -came down here, I was not counting upon hidden passages and secret -levels. I won’t abandon Nomad and Hickok to their fate, but I’ll go -up to the surface and take a look around. There may be a concealed -shaft somewhere in the vicinity of the ore-dump. After I make an -examination of the surface, I’ll come back down here.” - -“Will it be wise,” asked Dell, “for us to come back down here alone? -Hadn’t we better send Cayuse to Sun Dance for more men? Pete, and -Tenny, and Blake would probably be glad to come down here and help.” - -“Dell,” said the scout earnestly, “I’ve got just pride enough about -me to want to wind this up without any outside aid. I’ll be an hour -on the surface, not longer; then I’ll come down here again and leave -you at the top of the shaft.” - -“You’ll be taking your life in your hands,” said Dell. - -“I don’t think so. Lawless and his men could have killed me, or have -snaked me out of the tunnel with Hickok. They didn’t do it; and that -proves that they have some reason for sparing me and leaving me in -the level. I can’t leave here without doing something for Wild Bill -and Nomad.” - -The scout started toward the shaft with the candle. As Dell followed, -she kicked against something on the floor. Picking the object up, she -found it to be a pine knot, soaked in kerosene. - -“That gang that attacked Wild Bill and me,” said the scout, “probably -brought that along with them. They didn’t have time to light it, and -it was lost in the scuffle. We’ll make use of it ourselves,” and he -held the candle to the oil-soaked knot. - -The torch blazed up on the instant, and the scout blew out his candle -and put it in his pocket. - -They went on to the shaft, and, when they got there, another one of -Dell’s “disagreeable surprises” awaited them. The rope which Dell had -left swinging from the plank platform was gone! - -The girl recoiled with a cry of dismay. - -“I’m getting used to this sort of thing, Dell,” said the scout -grimly. “The unexpected is sure to happen in this mine--you meet it -at every turn.” - -“Could Cayuse have pulled up the rope?” - -“Hardly. It’s a safe guess he wouldn’t leave the horses.” - -“Then it must have been Lawless and his men?” - -“That’s the way I figure it.” - -“If that’s the case, it naturally follows that the outlaws have some -way of getting to the surface, aside from using this shaft?” - -“That’s right, pard. Lawless and his men appear to have everything -their own way. They can come and go as they please, and they can -dodge in on us and dodge away again without leaving any clue. If you -were on the surface, the loss of the rope wouldn’t bother me very -much. I have just found out what I was going up to discover. There -_is_ a concealed shaft, and the outlaws had to make use of it in -order to get to the top of the ore-dump and pull up that rope.” - -“You think they knew I was down here?” - -“It’s an easy guess. Now that we’re likely to have to stay down here -for a while, we had better make ourselves as secure as possible. The -safest place in the mine, it strikes me, is that ‘drift’ where Wild -Bill found the gold. We’ll carry our grub-sacks and water-cans in -there, then put out the light, lay low, and wait for developments. -We’ll have plenty of them, if I’m any prophet. I never saw such a -place for things to happen.” - -While Dell held the torch, Buffalo Bill picked up some of the -canteens and provision-bags and carried them into the “drift.” A few -canteens were left in the level, and Dell went back for them. - -The scout, in the dark end of the short passage, was stowing away the -bags and canteens, when he heard an unusual sound just beyond the -opening leading into the “drift.” He glanced up and stared toward the -place where Dell was standing with the torch. - -The unexpected had happened, just as the scout had surmised it would, -but nevertheless he was mightily taken aback by what he saw. - -An Indian girl was standing in front of Dell. The newcomer had a -catamount skin over her back and a knife in the uplifted hand. Dell, -it was plain, had been startled by the Indian girl’s appearance--as -well she might be; and no less by her appearance than by the fierce -hostility that gleamed in her black eyes. - -In three leaps the scout gained the level and had grasped the Indian -girl’s uplifted arm. - -“Wah-coo-tah!” thundered Buffalo Bill; “what does this mean?” - -The Indian girl stared into the scout’s face, and her upraised arm -slowly dropped. As the scout’s grip relaxed, she drew away a step, -and a soft look came into her eyes. - -“Pa-e-has-ka,” she murmured, “why you come here? You no want um -mine--know um no good. You want um Lawless, but you no ketch um. -Lawless kill Pa-e-has-ka, all same.” - -“Wah-coo-tah,” asked the scout, “where are my pards, Nomad and Wild -Bill?” - -“Lawless got um.” - -“That’s what I supposed; but where has Lawless taken them?” - -“All same secret level.” - -“Are they in any immediate danger?” - -“Lawless no kill um _yet_. Him wait till he kill um Pa-e-has-ka.” - -“Why didn’t he kill me a while ago, when he had the chance?” - -“Him wait to kill you another way. _Nuzhee Mona!_” - -Here were the same words that had already aroused the curiosity of -the scout and his pards. Wah-coo-tah, it was now proved, had spoken -them in the basement of the Alcazar, pinned them to the hotel door -with the dagger, and written them in smoke on the roof of the level. - -“How did you get here, Wah-coo-tah?” asked the scout. - -“Come by secret door in rocks,” answered the girl. - -“Have you been trying to warn me, and keep me away?” - -“Ai, but Pa-e-has-ka no stay away. Him here now, and him die.” - -“Why did you leave the hotel like you did?” - -Wah-coo-tah glared over the scout’s shoulder at Dell Dauntless. - -“No like um yellow hair squaw,” she said savagely. - -“What harm have I ever done you, Wah-coo-tah?” asked Dell. - -“Huh!” said the Indian girl scornfully, hunching up her shoulders and -folding her arms. “Me like um Pa-e-has-ka; you like um.” - -At that a light dawned on the scout. He could scarcely believe the -evidence of his senses. As soon as he became certain there was no -mistake, an amused laugh broke from his lips. He would have laughed -had his situation been ten times as perilous as it was. - -A faint smile curved around Dell’s red lips. Wah-coo-tah, watching -and listening with catlike vigilance, lashed herself into another -burst of temper. - -“Me come here to kill Yellow Hair!” she cried. “Me watch up top o’ -ground; me see her come down shaft; then me pull up rope, come by -secret door into tunnel.” - -Like a panther, Wah-coo-tah flung herself toward Dell. - -With a quick move, the scout placed himself in Wah-coo-tah’s way. -Her lifted knife dropped until the point touched his breast, and she -stood in front of him with flashing eyes and heaving bosom, a living -picture of murderous hate. - -“There, there, Wah-coo-tah,” said the scout, reaching up his hands -and unclasping her fingers from the knife. “You’re making a big -mistake.” He took the weapon from her resisting grasp and slid it -into his pocket. “You don’t understand the situation at all. Yellow -Hair Pa-e-has-ka’s pard, all same Nomad, Wild Bill, and Little -Cayuse. Wah-coo-tah Pa-e-has-ka’s pard, too. _Sabe?_” - -The girl was only half-convinced, only half-placated. - -“Ugh!” she muttered, “me no like um Yellow Hair.” - -“If you want to be friends with Pa-e-has-ka, Wah-coo-tah,” proceeded -the scout earnestly, “you must also be friends with Yellow Hair.” - -“No!” Wah-coo-tah screamed in sudden frenzy; “mebbyso, bymby, me kill -um Yellow Hair.” - -“That’s the Indian of it,” muttered the scout. “When you’re dealing -with a redskin you never can tell which way the cat is going to jump.” - -Looking Wah-coo-tah in the eyes, he addressed her directly. - -“If you wanted to warn me,” said he, “why didn’t you come out, face -to face?” - -“Lawless watch Sun Dance Camp,” answered Wah-coo-tah. “Mebbyso he see -Wah-coo-tah make talk with Pa-e-has-ka, he kill Wah-coo-tah.” - -“Ah! so that’s the way of it? You came to the Alcazar when we were -talking with the gambler?” - -“All same under floor; try make Pa-e-has-ka stay ’way from mine. -Pa-e-has-ka no stay. Me get into Alcazar by window in cellar; get out -same way.” - -“Can you write, Wah-coo-tah?” - -“My father he teach me how to make letters.” - -“And you made letters on a piece of bark and pinned them to the hotel -door with a dagger?” - -“All same. When me come from Alcazar me watch. See um Pa-e-has-ka, -Yellow Hair, and rest Pa-e-has-ka’s pards come from Alcazar, meet -Piute, hold powwow; then me put birch bark on hotel door. Hope -mebbyso Pa-e-has-ka see um--no go to mine.” - -“You came back to the Forty Thieves from Sun Dance?” - -“Ai.” - -“And you came into this level, took a candle, and wrote those words -on the wall with the candle-smoke?” - -“Ai. Me no like to think Pa-e-has-ka die. Pa-e-has-ka big brave. -Wah-coo-tah like um.” - -“Don’t be foolish, Wah-coo-tah,” said the scout. “Such talk is for -_zinga zingas_ (children).” - -“Mebbyso Yellow Hair talk like that,” said Wah-coo-tah angrily, “you -no say she talk like _zinga zinga_.” - -“Yellow Hair has too much sense to talk in that way.” - -“Huh!” exclaimed the Indian girl contemptuously. - -“How is Lawless planning to get even with me, Wah-coo-tah?” went on -the scout. “Why didn’t he take me out of this level at the time he -dragged Wild Bill away?” - -“Him got better way to kill Pa-e-has-ka. No want to use um knife or -bullet. Pa-e-has-ka die in Forty Thieves Mine.” - -“How?” - -“_Nuzhee Mona!_” - -“What does that mean?” - -The girl shook her head, and shivered as though struck by a draft of -icy air. - -“Tell me what the words mean!” insisted the scout. - -“_Nuzhee Mona_ all same god of Injun; god slay Pa-e-has-ka.” - -“I reckon I’m able to defend myself against any of these heathen -gods,” said the scout. - -“Pa-e-has-ka no save himself from _Nuzhee Mona_.” - -“We’ll see. How many men has Lawless with him?” - -“So many,” and Wah-coo-tah held up seven fingers. “Clancy, Seth -Coomby, Tex, Andy, all same three Injun--Cheyennes.” - -“Lawless fixed up this mine for a trap, eh?” - -“Mine been fixed for many moons. Lawless got bad heart, do bad things -white man no like. Him fix mine so he get away when white pony -soldiers come to ketch um.” - -“This ‘plant’ of his was originally devised for his own safety, -then? Well, I reckon he thinks he is putting it to good use now. If -you had come to me in Sun Dance, Wah-coo-tah, and had told me about -the layout here, I would have taken extra measures looking to the -safety of my pards and myself.” - -“Pa-e-has-ka great brave, but him no can fight Lawless. Lawless -Wah-coo-tah’s father, but Wah-coo-tah no like um. Wah-coo-tah know, -when Lawless driven by Pa-e-has-ka from gulch, that Lawless make try -kill Pa-e-has-ka. So Wah-coo-tah go to Lawless, learn what he try -to do, then warn Pa-e-has-ka. Pa-e-has-ka no pay any ’tention,” and -rebuke and sadness lurked in the last words. - -“Had I known more, Wah-coo-tah,” said the scout, “I should have paid -more attention. Are Wild Bill and Nomad bound?” - -“Ai. Lawless no let um get ’way.” - -“Are all of the outlaws watching them?” - -“Plenty men watch um.” - -“Won’t it be possible for Dell and me to go through the secret door -you speak about, and rescue my pards? I can’t leave them in the hands -of Lawless.” - -“Pa-e-has-ka want to die, _quick_? Him go through secret door, him be -shot down, _pronto_. Door watched all time.” - -“How did you get through it to come here?” - -“Cheyenne watch um door. Cheyenne like um Wah-coo-tah, let -Wah-coo-tah come.” - -“See here, Wah-coo-tah,” went on the scout, “can’t you contrive to -set Nomad and Wild Bill free, then get them past the Cheyenne at the -secret door?” - -“What good, huh? Then you all die here by _Nuzhee Mona_.” - -“We’ll take our chances with _Nuzhee Mona_ if you’ll help my pards.” - -Wah-coo-tah bowed her head in thought for a moment; then, drawing -herself erect, she took a swift step toward the scout. - -“Mebbyso Pa-e-has-ka send Yellow Hair away, huh? Then Wah-coo-tah -save um pards Pa-e-has-ka.” - -“Why is she so bitter against me?” breathed Dell. “As she puts -it now, I am standing between Nomad and Wild Bill and safety.” -She whirled on Wah-coo-tah. “How can Pa-e-has-ka send me away, -Wah-coo-tah? We are in the mine--there is no way out, for you have -taken away the rope.” - -“Mebbyso me go back, let down rope, then Pa-e-has-ka and his pards -get ’way, huh? Injun girl more able to do things than white squaw. -Wah-coo-tah save Pa-e-has-ka, Nomad, and Wild Bill, you promise go -’way never see Pa-e-has-ka again?” - -Wah-coo-tah bent her hard, stony eyes on the white face of Dell. - -The Indian girl must have understood the struggle that was taking -place in Dell’s breast, for a gloating exultation overspread her -face. Dell was her enemy, and she exulted in the torture she had -caused. - -“Yes,” said Dell slowly: “if you will save Nomad and Wild Bill, and -then let down the rope so that we may all get out of this mine, I--I -will leave Buffalo Bill and never see him again.” - -At that instant, Wah-coo-tah’s keen ear detected something that led -her to snatch the torch from Dell’s hand and crush out the flame -under her moccasins. - -“Good!” she muttered, in reply to Dell’s promise. “Me save um. Just -now Lawless come; get in here, _quick_.” - -With her hands, Wah-coo-tah pushed the scout and Dell through the -mouth of the “drift.” - -While they crouched there, the scout fingering his revolvers, they -heard stealthy movements along the tunnel in their direction. - -“Pa-e-has-ka make parley with Lawless,” whispered Wah-coo-tah to the -scout. “Pa-e-has-ka tell um Lawless Pa-e-has-ka kill um Wah-coo-tah -if Lawless no get back through secret door. _Sabe?_” - -The scout understood. The stealthy sounds were coming nearer and -nearer along the tunnel, and the scout would rather have met his -enemies with bullets than with words, but just then Wah-coo-tah’s -plan seemed best. - -“Lawless!” the scout cried. - -The movements stopped, and a low, mocking laugh came out of the heavy -gloom. - -“Who speaks?” demanded a voice. - -“Buffalo Bill.” - -“What do you want, Buffalo Bill?” - -“I want you to stand where you are, and not come another step this -way.” - -“What you want, and what you’ll get,” was the taunting reply, “are -two different things. I have the upper hand here. You came to the -Forty Thieves thinking you would trap the trappers; and you thought I -did not know Wild Bill had discovered that rich vein in the ‘drift.’ -I knew about that when I made out that deed, and I knew very well the -rich vein would tempt you to come here. However, I let you suppose I -thought the Forty Thieves worthless, and that I was summoning you -here to pit my strength against yours.” - -Captain Lawless gave another laugh--a laugh that held a ringing note -of triumph. - -“I am not the fool you think me,” he went on. “The Forty Thieves is -a bonanza, but it will never belong to you. You and your pards are -on my trail, and when you are out of the way, I can take possession -of the mine and work it myself. There is a method in my plans. -Your greed to get possession of the mine, which you knew to be -valuable, and which you believed I thought worthless, has placed you -in the jaws of death. Two of your pards are already in my hands. -By to-morrow noon their scalps will swing from the girdles of my -Cheyennes; but you--well, yours is to be a different fate. That is -why I left you here when I could have had you dragged away with -Hickok; that is why I did not let a Cheyenne knife do its work with -you; and so sure was I that I would ‘get’ you, that I did not even -trouble to remove your weapons.” - -Silence followed Lawless’ words. - -“How did you learn about the rich vein?” asked the scout. - -“When you thought you chased me and my men out of the cañon, some -days ago,” replied Lawless, still in his high, mocking voice, “we -took refuge in the secret workings of the mine. We were here when -you rode off; and it was then we examined the drift and saw the vein -of gold. More than that, I was lurking close at hand when you and -your pards came here on your last visit and looked over the vein for -yourselves. I am obliged to you, Buffalo Bill, for spoiling that deal -of mine with Bingham. Thinking the mine worthless, I was on the -point of handing him a bonanza. Now, as soon as you and your pards -are out of the way, I shall have the bonanza for myself--and not -a man in Sun Dance Cañon will lift a hand to interfere with me in -working the mine.” - -“What fate have you selected for me, Lawless?” - -“In two hours it will be sunrise. Listen, then, and you will hear -your doom rushing upon you. _Nuzhee Mona!_” and a diabolical laugh -came with the last words. - -“I have heard scoundrels of your stamp make their threats before,” -flung back the scout defiantly. “Talk is cheap.” - -“You will find that I am not making empty threats. You will be caught -like a rat in a trap.” - -“If my fate is not to overtake me before sunrise, why have you come -into this part of the mine now?” - -“I am looking for that girl of mine.” - -“Then you need look no farther. She came spying upon me, and I have -her here, a prisoner.” - -An exclamation of anger escaped Lawless. - -“Turn her loose, at once!” he commanded. - -“I shall keep her as a hostage for my own safety,” said the scout. -“Whatever fate comes to me, will come to her; and if you do not -instantly leave this level, she shall suffer.” - -Lawless called out something in the Cheyenne tongue. Wah-coo-tah -answered, and her words were like the screech of an enraged panther. - -“Wah-coo-tah,” went on Lawless, “is ready to die to help her father, -if need be. Your fate will come to you at sunrise, Buffalo Bill, and -I will have my revenge, even if it is necessary to sacrifice the -girl. That ought to show you I mean business.” - -“It shows me that you are a more contemptible scoundrel than I had -supposed,” answered the scout calmly. “Are you going to get out of -this level?” - -“At once. Farewell, Buffalo Bill, king of scouts! The government -will look far before another man is found to take your place. When -you crossed the path of Captain Lawless, of the Forty Thieves, you -tackled a bigger job than you had imagined.” - -Sounds of retreating steps came along the level, fading abruptly into -silence. - -“He doesn’t think much of Wah-coo-tah,” said Dell, “from the way he -talks.” - -“He doesn’t think much of any one but himself,” replied the scout. -“What did he say to you, Wah-coo-tah?” - -“Him want to know if Pa-e-has-ka speak true when he say he ketch um -Wah-coo-tah,” answered the girl. “Me tell um me here, but that me no -tell Pa-e-has-ka way into secret passage, and that mebbyso me get -’way before _Nuzhee Mona_ come.” She gave a low, sibilant laugh. “Me -fool Lawless,” she added. “Bymby me get back, fool um some more. -Me hate um! Him my father, but me hate um. He try sell me to Ponca -warrior for five ponies.” - -“Wah-coo-tah,” spoke up Dell, “will have to get away from here and -liberate Nomad and Wild Bill and ourselves before sunrise. If she -waits beyond that time it will be too late.” - -“Mebbyso Lawless no let _Nuzhee Mona_ go till Wah-coo-tah get through -secret door. We got plenty time. Lawless give Wah-coo-tah chance to -save herself.” - -Silence fell for a space, and then the scout took the candle from his -pocket, lighted it, and opened one of the provision-bags. - -They all felt the need of food and water, and began a leisurely meal, -relying on Wah-coo-tah’s confidence that _Nuzhee Mona_--whatever that -mystical name represented--would not be released until she had had a -chance to effect her escape. - -In the midst of their meal, they were all three startled by a -perceptible quivering of the rocks about them, followed by a muffled -explosion that rolled like distant thunder. - -A cry fell from Wah-coo-tah’s lips, and she leaped to her feet -excitedly. - -Loosened stones could be heard crashing from the roof of the level to -the floor. - -“What is it?” exclaimed Dell, in consternation. - -“Wah-coo-tah!” cried Buffalo Bill, springing up and catching the -Indian girl by the arm. “Is this Lawless’ work? What is he doing?” - -The girl started for the level, but halted and turned back. - -“Yellow Hair make um promise to leave Buffalo Bill, huh, if I save -um?” she said quickly. - -“Yes, yes,” returned Dell. “Only be quick!” - -Wah-coo-tah raced into the level and along it toward the breast. The -stones had stopped falling by that time, and the scout and Dell, with -the candle, hastened to follow the Indian girl. - -Suddenly, as they ran around a sharp angle of the corridor, they saw -Wah-coo-tah. She stood in a blaze of light that poured over her from -a square opening in the wall. She cried out something, and tried -to push into the opening, but she was met by a clattering volley of -shots, and reeled backward with a groan. Then, silently, the door -closed over the glare, and only the gleam of the scout’s candle -lighted the level. - -“They’ve shot her!” murmured Dell; “Lawless has shot his own -daughter!” - -“Perhaps not Lawless, but some of his men!” returned the scout. “Oh, -the fiends! the dastards! They thought she was helping us, and that -is the way they took to stop it.” - -Running to the girl’s side, the scout knelt down. A trickle of red -was running over the girl’s breast. The catamount skin, which she had -worn over her back, had fallen off. - -“Wah-coo-tah,” said the scout gently, “are you hurt?” - -“Me live to fool um yet!” answered Wah-coo-tah spasmodically. “You -help me, Pa-e-has-ka! Quick! Take me to shaft.” - -“You can’t move----” - -“Ai, all same you help.” - -She struggled fiercely, and Buffalo Bill, seeing her determination, -helped her up. Dell took the candle and tried to be of some -assistance, but Wah-coo-tah, with all her waning strength, repulsed -her. Even in that tragic moment, she would have none of Dell. - -Supporting the girl, the scout led her, reeling, back along the level -and toward the shaft. - -Before they had covered much more than half the distance, a low -roaring broke on their ears. Wah-coo-tah, flinging her hands to her -breast, gave a convulsive spring. - -“_Nuzhee Mona!_” she wailed, and sank limply in the scout’s arms. - -“Water, Dell!” cried the scout. “Hurry.” - -As Dell darted into the “drift,” the scout listened, while the -roaring grew louder and louder. - - - - - CHAPTER XIV. - - LITTLE CAYUSE ON GUARD. - - -The gully, which the scout had selected as a fitting place to hide -the horses, was admirably adapted to the purpose. - -The mouth broke into the wall of the cañon some fifteen feet above -the cañon’s bed, and a slope, formed of ancient washings from the -gully, led upward to the entrance of it. - -It was narrow, filled with a growth of scrub, and its bed sloped -upward from the point where it entered the cañon. - -Besides, it was a _blind_ gully, running into the hills for a few -hundred feet and terminating in a sheer wall. All the other walls -were equally steep and unscalable. There was no getting into the -gully in any way except from the cañon. - -Little Cayuse took due account of all these advantages, and gave a -grunt of satisfaction. The horses he tethered among the bushes, and -then returned to the gully’s mouth, and sat down to watch and wait. - -Hours passed, and the boy, through all that time, sat like a bronze -statue, wonderfully alert, but neither hearing nor seeing anything -that claimed his attention. Perhaps he would not have been so calm -and passive could he have known what was taking place in the depths -of the Forty Thieves! - -The sun went down, daylight faded out of the west, and one by one -the stars stole over the sky. Cayuse watched them as they brightened -overhead. - -At last he began wondering about Dell. She had been a long time on -watch at the shaft, and it had been agreed between them that she -should come to the gully, in three hours, and look out for the horses -while Cayuse watched the shaft. More than three hours had passed, and -Dell had not come. - -The boy stepped out into the cañon and cast his eyes in the direction -of the mine. The defile was plunged in gloom, and Cayuse could see -nothing. - -He threw back his head and gave the bark of a timber-wolf. No answer -came. He tried again, but still without securing a response. - -It was a signal well known among the scout’s pards, and if Dell had -heard it she would surely have signified that she had by a similar -answer. - -Why had she not heard? - -A thrill of alarm ran through the boy. He feared something had -happened to the girl, and he stole cautiously forward to investigate. - -As he neared the ore-dump, he saw a figure on the platform, over the -shaft. It was the form of a woman--he could tell that much--and he -supposed it was Dell. - -“Yellow Hair!” he called. - -The figure started up, holding something, and darted down the side of -the dump and out of sight among the dusky bushes. - -Cayuse glided after the form, and before it had disappeared he -discovered that it was the form of an Indian girl, and made up his -mind that it was Wah-coo-tah. - -Knowing Wah-coo-tah was a friend of Buffalo Bill’s, the boy called -her name, and darted into the bushes after her. When he got into the -chaparral, however, Wah-coo-tah had disappeared. - -Puzzled by Wah-coo-tah’s actions, Little Cayuse climbed to the top of -the ore-dump and peered into the black shaft. - -At that time, the scout and Dell were talking in the main level, and -the boy could not see or hear anything of them. He felt under the rim -of the platform. Not finding a rope, he naturally concluded that Dell -was not in the mine. Ignorant of the fact that Wah-coo-tah herself -had removed the rope, the boy naturally supposed that Dell had fallen -into the hands of Lawless and his men. - -Skulking about in the chaparral, he hunted for some traces of the -white scoundrels. He was unsuccessful. Knowing that much might depend -upon the horses, he could not leave the animals unwatched, and so, -with a heavy heart, he made his way back to the gully. - -For hour after hour the boy continued his lonely vigil, imagining all -sorts of things, but unable to do anything to settle his misgivings. -In the east he saw a gray streak of dawn hovering above the rim of -the cañon, and realized with a start that the night had passed, and -that day was at hand. - -Perhaps, he reasoned, as daylight gathered and brightened the -surroundings, he might be able to discover what had become of Dell. -Meantime, the horses must not be neglected. - -There was a pool in front of the gully’s mouth, and Cayuse led the -animals down, one at a time, and let them drink. - -By the time he had finished this duty, the morning was well advanced -toward sunrise. As he picked his way out of the scrub in the -direction of the cañon, casting about in his mind as to the best -course for him to follow in looking for Dell, he came to a sudden and -astounded halt. - -Looking out through the narrow opening into the cañon, he had -abruptly caught sight of three mounted men, and of another on foot. - -The man on foot he recognized as Captain Lawless, Buffalo Bill’s -enemy; those on the horses Cayuse also knew, and they were Clancy, -Seth Coomby, and the scoundrel called “Tex,” all three members of -Lawless’ gang. - -Dropping instantly to his knees, Cayuse crept closer to the mouth of -the gully. There, crouching behind a boulder, he watched and listened -with sharp eyes and ears. - -The men were talking, and from his present position the boy could -hear them distinctly. - -“I want you, Clancy,” Lawless was saying, “to set off those blasts as -soon as you can fire the fuses. The time to wipe out Buffalo Bill and -his pards has come. Quick work will do the trick.” - -“An’ what’s ter become o’ us, arterwards?” asked Tex moodily. -“Pickin’ off a lot of fellers like Buffler Bill and his pards is -li’ble ter mean somethin’ ter _us_.” - -“If you’re getting cold feet, Tex,” snapped Lawless, “now’s your time -to quit. Ride out of this cañon, if you want to, and go where you -please. If you do that, however, you’ll not come in for anything we -get out of the Forty Thieves. There’ll be just so much more for the -rest of us, and I’m figuring the mine will make us rich.” - -“Don’t be a fool, Tex,” growled Seth Coomby. “Who’s goin’ ter -know thet we done fer the scout an’ his pards? It’ll look like er -accident.” - -“Accident, nothin’,” scoffed Tex. “Didn’t the cap’n send the deed -ter Gentleman Jim, an’ along with ther deed didn’t he send a line -_darin’_ the scout ter stay three days an’ nights in the mine? Shore -he did! An’ thet means, when Buffler Bill an’ his pards aire done up, -thet the hull bloomin’ job is tacked onter us.” - -“Are you going with Clancy and Coomby, Tex,” demanded Lawless -angrily, “or are you going to cut yourself out of this herd? Make up -your mind, for we haven’t any time to spare.” - -“I’m game ter go on,” returned Tex. “I’m in so fur, now, thet it -don’t make much diff’rence, anyways.” - -“That’s the way ter talk!” approved Clancy. - -“Sure you’ve placed those loads right, Clancy?” asked Lawless, -turning to the other man, now that the business with Tex was settled. - -“You bet! Them blasts’ll do the trick. Meanwhile, cap’n, you see to -it that no one gits on top o’ the dump an’ lets down a rope.” - -“If any one tries to do that,” scowled Lawless, “he’ll be shot off -the dump. One of the Cheyennes is watching, and has his orders. But -who is there to help Buffalo Bill out of the hole? We’ve captured -the only two men he had with him, and he’s now bottled up in the -level and shaft, powerless to do anything to help himself. But ride -on, ride on. You boys understand what’s wanted, and there’s no use -wasting time in further parley.” - -At that, the party separated, Clancy, Seth Coomby, and Tex riding -down the cañon, and Lawless retreating toward the cañon wall. - -The alarm of Little Cayuse had increased almost to a panic. What he -had heard had struck him like a blow between the eyes. - -Nomad and Wild Bill captured! Buffalo Bill helpless in the depths of -the mine, and a horrible doom of some kind about to be released and -sent down upon him! - -What should he do? - -That was the question that ran through Little Cayuse’s brain like a -searing-iron. - -If he went back to the ore-dump, and tried to let down a rope to -the scout, the Cheyenne would kill him; if he followed Lawless--but -Lawless had already vanished; at least, Little Cayuse concluded, he -could follow the three basemen down the cañon, and perhaps might find -a way to interfere with their nefarious designs. - -Rushing back up the gully, Cayuse untied Navi, twisted the buckskin -thong into a hackamore, and bounded upon the pinto’s bare back; then, -riding cautiously out into the cañon, he made after Clancy, Coomby, -and Tex. - -Never had the faithful Piute boy felt that more was required of him, -and never had he felt so doubtful of his own powers. - -Following three men in broad daylight, and at the same time keeping -out of their sight, was a difficult piece of work. What helped Cayuse -most, however, was the fact that the three white men were utterly -unsuspicious. They seemed to feel that they had no enemies at large -in the cañon, and they did no watching along the back track. - -For the rest of it, the Piute took advantage of every patch of brush -and every convenient boulder that lay along his course. - -Two miles down the defile, as Cayuse judged, the three horsemen -turned their mounts and set them directly at the high wall. In this -place the wall was a steep slope, yet the horses scaled it and -vanished over the rim with their riders. - -For Cayuse to take Navi up the slope might mean discovery, and yet -the boy knew that he himself must climb to the top of the wall if he -was to learn what work the three men were to do. - -Hitching Navi in a convenient thicket, at the foot of the wall, -Cayuse took his small repeating rifle and started on foot up the -ascent. - -He climbed the steep slope swiftly and so carefully that he did not -displace a single stone. Where he gained the cañon’s rim there was a -fringe of hazels, and he was able to crawl over into the bushes and -peer through them, thus keeping out of sight. - -In front of him was a lake, its surface almost level with the top of -the cañon wall, and a comparatively thin barrier of stone keeping its -waters out of the cañon. - -The three white men had taken their horses well around the edge of -the lake, and were dismounting. There was little talk among them. -Clancy and Coomby had thrown off their coats and Tex was holding the -three horses. - -Presently Clancy and Coomby returned around the edge of the lake and -halted for a space at the cañon’s rim. Cayuse, scarcely breathing, -crouched lower among the hazels and watched with staring eyes. - -“Thar’ll be a reg’lar tidal wave goin’ along ther cañon in a couple -o’ shakes,” said Clancy, with an evil laugh. - -“It’ll rush down on ther mine,” said Coomby, “purvidin’ the cap’n is -right in his calkerlations.” - -“He’s gin’rally right.” - -“Seems ter me, though, the water’ll flow directly a_way_ from the -mine.” - -“From hyer ter the mine, Coomby, the bed o’ the cañon pitches -down-hill, in spite o’ the fact thet, taken by an’ large, this Sun -Dance deefile pitches to’ther way. The lake is down-cañon from the -mine, but the bed o’ the cañon is down-grade all the way from hyer -ter the Forty Thieves.” - -“Waal, we’ll see. Let’s git down ter the fuses.” - -Thereupon the two men lowered themselves over the top of the wall. - -Cayuse, craning his neck, was able to see them applying a match to -the ends of the fuses. The men climbed quickly to the top of the -wall, and stood there, peering downward at the sputtering flames. - -By that time the horror of the situation, so far as Buffalo Bill was -concerned, had flashed over the boy. - -It was Lawless’ plan to blow away the stone barrier separating the -waters of the lake from the cañon! The waters, thus released, would -rush over the cañon wall, down the cañon, and flood the shaft and -level of the Forty Thieves! If Buffalo Bill was in the mine, he would -be drowned--there was no possible way for him to escape. - -With every nerve tense, Cayuse pulled himself to one knee and lifted -his rifle to his shoulder. If he could shoot down the two men and -extinguish the blazing fuses---- - -This was the boy’s thought, and he would have executed the plan, or -tried to, had not fate played against him. The slight noise he made -in shifting to his knee and lifting the rifle had been heard. - -“What’s thet, thar in the bresh?” yelled Coomby. - -“I heerd er noise, too,” began Clancy, “an’----” - -Just then the Piute’s repeater spit forth a bullet. The piece of lead -was aimed at Clancy, but the instant the trigger was pulled Clancy -jumped forward to investigate the bushes. - -The bullet, therefore, missed Clancy by an inch. - -That shot was enough for the two scoundrels. Jerking out their -revolvers, they sent a volley into the hazels. That Cayuse was not -killed out of hand was due to the quickness with which he rolled over -the edge of the wall. - -He shot down the slope head over heels, and was half-way to the place -where he had left Navi before he could regain his footing. He was -bruised, but that was no time to take account of bruises. His life -had been saved, although Clancy and Coomby were dancing around like -madmen on the top of the wall and still taking potshots at him. - -Muttering anathemas on his hard luck, the boy raced in a zigzag line -toward the thicket where his horse was waiting, tore the animal loose, -leaped to his back, and sped off up the cañon. - -He looked back over his shoulder as he raced and saw that Clancy -and Coomby had beat a retreat from the vicinity of the blasts; and, -while he looked, the boy saw a veritable geyser of broken stones leap -upward and outward from the cañon wall. - -A great gap had been torn through the barrier, and the boy saw a -Niagaralike flood leap through the opening and roll, foaming and -roaring, down the cañon. - -Could he beat that flood to the gully? Cayuse’s life depended on it, -and Navi was fleet and well in the lead. - -Two miles lay between Cayuse and safety, but the miles were -down-grade--Clancy had said so, and he had got his information from -Lawless. Lawless probably knew, for the vengeful and murderous leader -had so far laid his plans cunningly and well. - -Navi seemed to understand what depended upon him. The roar from -behind filled his ears and frightened him. In a perfect frenzy, he -stretched himself out in a race that was to save his rider from death. - -And what of Buffalo Bill, in the level of the Forty Thieves? - -Something like a sob rushed through the lips of Little Cayuse. He -shook one clenched hand behind him, toward a wall of water that -filled the cañon from side to side, tossing and churning itself to -foam and throwing arms of spray high into the air. - -The roar was deafening. Water continued to pour through the break -in the cañon wall and to push forward the flood that raced down the -defile. - -How Navi ever covered those two miles Little Cayuse never knew. He -realized, after what seemed like a thousand years of torment but -which in reality was less than a thousand seconds, that he was caught -by the rushing waters half-way up the slope leading from the cañon’s -bed to the mouth of the gully. - -With Navi almost swept from his feet, and a greater flood following -the first on-rush of water, Cayuse was only saved from being drowned -by a riata that dropped over his shoulders just as he was being torn -from Navi’s back. - -Hanging to the rope with one hand while the noose tightened about his -body, and with the other hand clinging to the end of the hackamore, -Cayuse and the pinto were brought, wet and floundering, into the -mouth of the gully. - -Utterly exhausted, the boy straightened out on the rocks, while Navi, -with drooping head and lathered hide, puffed and panted beside him. - -“Blamed if it ain’t Buffler Bill’s Injun pard!” cried a voice, above -the rush and swirl of water. - -“How the blazes does he happen ter be hyer? He got out o’ that -cloud-burst by the skin o’ his teeth, an’ no more.” - -This was from a second speaker, and yet a third chimed in with: - -“Where’s Buffalo Bill an’ the rest o’ his pards? That’s what gits me. -D’ye think they was caught by the flood?” - -Little Cayuse turned over on his back and looked up. - -Hank Tenny, Lonesome Pete, and Henry Blake were beside him, each with -an arm hooked through the loop of his bridle. - -Cayuse rose to his knees and struck one hand fiercely against his -forehead. His eyes were on the tumbling waters which, by then, had -filled the valley from wall to wall and were creeping slowly up -toward the gully. - -“Whar’d ye come from, kid?” asked Hank Tenny. - -“Whar’s Buffler Bill?” inquired Lonesome Pete. - -“What’s the matter with ye?” demanded Blake. “Have ye gone plumb -daft?” - -Staggering to his feet, the boy made his way to the side of the -gully’s mouth and began to climb. - -“What ails the kid?” muttered Tenny. “’Pears like he didn’t hev no -sense at all.” - -“Whar ye goin’?” Pete roared after Cayuse. - -Cayuse called back something which was drowned by the rush of the -water, and beckoned with his hand. - -“Kain’t hear what he says,” said Blake, “but he wants us ter foller. -We’d better go, I reckon. The hosses will be safe enough here.” - -Dropping their bridle-reins, the three men proceeded to follow the -boy. - -It was a stiff climb to the top of the gully wall, but when the men -pulled themselves over and got alongside Cayuse, they had a good view -of the ore-dump of the Forty Thieves--or, rather, of the place where -the ore-dump ought to be. - -The dump, some seven or eight feet high, together with the entire -flat on which it had been piled, _was covered with water_! - -The boy, his eyes fixed on the swirling, seething flood, dropped to -his knees and began a weird, monotonous chant. The rush of air along -the troubled waves caught up the boy’s voice and tossed it back and -forth in uncanny cadences. Now high, now low, swelled the chant, as -the Piute words burst from the Indian’s lips. - -“Thunder!” Blake shouted in Tenny’s ears, “it’s a death-song.” - -“Whose death is he croonin’ erbout?” returned Tenny; “Buffler Bill’s?” - -“It’s hard ter tell who he’s----” - -Blake broke off with a wild yell. At that instant the morning sun -struck fire from a blade which Cayuse had plucked from his belt and -lifted above his bare breast, point down. - -The boy’s hand dropped, but Pete was quick to catch the descending -arm, hang to it, and wrench the knife from the hand. - -“Darn!” whooped Pete, “the leetle red was goin’ ter knife hisself! It -was his own death-song he was singin’. He thinks his pard, Buffler -Bill, has hit the long trail, an’ he’s pinin’ ter foller. Whoever -heerd o’ sich doin’s? Stop yer squirmin’, Cayuse,” Pete added to the -boy, who was fighting to free himself. “We ain’t goin’ ter let ye -kick the bucket, now thet we went ter all thet trouble ter snake ye -in out o’ the wet.” - -With a tremendous effort, Cayuse jerked free of Pete’s hands, whirled -about, and suddenly grew calm. Pete, Tenny, and Blake started toward -him. - -Cayuse turned on them, his eyes glittering like a catamount’s in the -dark, laid a finger on his lips, and pointed. - -The eyes of the white men, following the boy’s finger, rested on a -point of the cañon wall, fifty feet below, and to the right of them. - -At this place there was a sort of shelf on the wall, a small level, -covered with an undergrowth of bushes. Horsemen were riding out of -the bushes, and striking into a path that mounted upward toward the -top of the wall. - -Lawless, a look of gloating triumph on his face, was in the lead. At -his heels rode three Cheyenne bucks, and two of the bucks carried -each a white prisoner, bound hand and foot, across his pony behind -him. - -One of the prisoners, as those above could see, was old Nomad. - -And the other was Wild Bill! - - - - - CHAPTER XV. - - THE RESCUE OF NOMAD AND WILD BILL. - - -Following the two Cheyennes, behind whom were the prisoners, rode -another white man. This white man Cayuse recognized as Andy. Andy -brought up the rear of the little procession. - -“Hyer’s a how-de-do!” exclaimed Hank Tenny. “Is thet Lawless an’ his -gang, kid?” - -“All same,” said Cayuse. “White men git um guns, _muy pronto_; then -we make run to top of cañon, ketch um Lawless, save Nomad and Wild -Bill.” - -“All the guns we got,” answered Lonesome Pete, “are strapped on us. -Them fellers has rifles.” - -“At close quarters,” put in Blake, “our six-shooters are better than -rifles. I’m plumb anxious ter try out these new barkers o’ mine. -Then, too,” he added darkly, “I owe Lawless somethin’, an’ here’s -my chance ter even up. Couldn’t let it slip, nohow. Follow me, you -fellows!” - -Blake took to the rocks, with which the country contiguous to the top -of the cañon was covered, and worked his way swiftly toward the point -where the path Lawless and his men were following came over the edge -of the wall. - -Pete, Tenny, and Little Cayuse leaped briskly after Blake. The -lust for combat was running hot in the veins of all, and this, in -particular, was true of the Piute boy. - -The latter’s grief over the fate of Buffalo Bill had given place to -a feeling of hope. Nomad and Wild Bill were alive, and there was a -possibility that the scout was equally well off. - -The hope was slight enough, for Cayuse remembered the talk he had -overheard between Lawless, Clancy, Coomby, and Tex, and from that he -had gathered that the flood was to do the work for the scout. But, in -spite of appearances, it might be that the flood had failed. - -The thought was enough to take Cayuse out of his gloom and dejection -and to send him eagerly into a pitched battle with the outlaws. -Whatever else befell, at least Nomad and Wild Bill could be rescued. - -Before Blake and the others reached the top of the path, Lawless -had ridden over the edge of the wall and laid his course among the -boulders. Blake’s account was with Lawless himself, and the miner -drew one of his brand-new revolvers and ran after the leader of the -outlaws. - -Pete, Tenny, and Cayuse, on the other hand, were thinking only of -rescuing Nomad and Wild Bill; so, crouching among the rocks, they -waited for the first Cheyenne to climb off the slope, and then gave -their attention to the two Indians behind him. - -Pete selected one of the two Indians, and Tenny the other. As they -rose from behind the rocks to use their weapons, they were seen by -the Cheyennes. - -A furious yell from the savages spread the alarm. The Cheyenne ahead -turned back, but Lawless already had his hands full with Blake and -could give no help to the rest of his gang. - -The crack of six-shooters began instantly, while the yell of alarm -was still on the lips of the Cheyennes. Of the two with the -prisoners, one fell at the first fire; the pony gave a frightened -jump, and Nomad, who was laid across the pony’s back, tumbled to the -ground. - -Cayuse had lost his rifle at the time he had had his encounter with -Clancy and Coomby. Pete had given him back his knife, but a knife was -of little account in such a combat. - -The instant the Cheyenne dropped from his pony, Cayuse leaped to the -side of the savage and drew a couple of six-shooters from the belt at -his waist. - -Meanwhile, the other Cheyenne with Wild Bill behind him, had dug his -heels into the sides of his cayuse and was making a terrific effort -to get away. He used a revolver, by way of holding his white foes -in check, but his shooting, owing to the plunging of his horse, was -anything but accurate. - -The Indian who was not hampered with a prisoner had whirled his pony -about, thrown his rifle to his shoulder, and was drawing a bead on -Tenny. - -As Cayuse straightened up, after securing the revolvers from the -slain Cheyenne, he saw the leveled rifle and realized Tenny’s peril. -The only thing that would save Tenny was a quick shot. - -Without taking aim, Cayuse let fly a bullet. As fortune would -have it, the bullet struck the Cheyenne in the arm. The rifle was -discharged, but, its aim being deflected at the moment the trigger -was pulled, Tenny was saved by the fraction of an inch. - -The Cheyenne, with one arm useless, decided he had had enough of the -fight, and headed his horse the other way. - -Wild Bill, on the back of the other Cheyenne’s horse, had taken -account of what was going on, and managed to twist himself around -and drop. As he fell, Andy, who was galloping past, sent a bullet at -him; but Andy was riding too fast, and had fired in too much of a -hurry. Wild Bill escaped the bullet, and the long strides of Andy’s -horse had carried the outlaw too far for another shot. - -Meanwhile, Blake had been doing his utmost to shoot Lawless. He -succeeded in putting a bullet into the scoundrel’s shoulder, and, in -exchange, got one through the wrist himself. It was Blake’s right -wrist, and his six-shooter dropped. - -As Blake bent down to recover the weapon, Andy and the Cheyennes -galloped past. Lawless was reeling in his saddle, and he would have -fallen had not Andy spurred alongside and steadied him with one arm. - -Thus the two white men and the two Indians, having lost their -prisoners, plunged away among the rocks, leaving the field to Cayuse, -Pete, Tenny, and Blake. - -When Blake, with a handkerchief bound about his injured wrist, got -back to the top of the path, he found his jubilant companions just -freeing Nomad and Wild Bill. - -“What luck, Blake?” cried Pete. - -“He stopped one o’ my bullets,” Blake answered, “an’ one o’ his men -had ter help him get away.” - -“Was ye hurt?” asked Tenny. - -“Winged,” was Blake’s sententious response, “but I don’t reckon it -amounts to much. Anyway, I’d have been glad to get a bullet through -both wrists fer the chance o’ hittin’ Lawless. Mebby I haven’t paid -him all up fer the ride he give me on that steer, but I’ve gone a -long ways to’rds settlin’ the account.” - -Nomad and Wild Bill, having been freed of their ropes, sat up and -began rubbing their benumbed limbs. - -“Whar’s Buffler?” asked Nomad. - -“Thet’s more’n we knows, _amigos_,” replied Pete. “We ain’t seen him -sense yesterday, when you all tripped anchor an’ sailed out o’ Sun -Dance.” - -“Waal, Pete,” went on Nomad, “ef ye kain’t tell me whar Buffler is, -mebbyso ye kin ease my mind some as ter how you an’ Tenny an’ Blake -happened ter be eround hyar ter lend Leetle Cayuse a helpin’ hand?” - -“We was ridin’ down ther gulch, this mornin’,” went on Pete, “jest -ter see what was goin’ on at ther Forty Thieves. Blake allowed he -was some cur’ous, an’ I knowed Tenny an’ I was. Jest as we got clost -ter ther ore-dump, we seen a slather o’ water, high as the wall of -a ’dobie, makin’ a dead-set at us. We climbed out o’ the way, and -stood thar ter watch ther flood slam past. While we was lookin’, we -seen Cayuse tryin’ ter git out o’ the cañon. Tenny is some punkins -at riata-throwin’, so he uncoils his rope an’ draps it over Cayuse’s -head; then we hauls Cayuse in, bronk an’ all. We crawled up on the -gully wall, a little arter that, an’ seen Lawless an’ his outfit -climbin’ up the side o’ the cañon, so we all made a _pasear_ around -among the rocks with the intention o’ headin’ the gang off, an’ -gittin’ you fellers out o’ their hands. I reckon we done it, hey?” - -“I reckon you did, old sport,” said Wild Bill, “and you’ve got our -gratitude. They were after our scalps, those fellows, and they’d have -taken them before they had carried us far from the cañon. That’s the -sort of a duck Lawless is. I’ve been mixed up with him enough so that -I know his caliber. Whoosh!” and Wild Bill got up and stretched his -arms. “I’m feeling like a back number this trip, Nomad. The way the -pair of us was snaked out of that level, leaving pard Cody to take -care of himself, is something I’m going to remember with regret as -long as I live. I say, Cayuse!” - -The boy, who had been standing at the edge of the cañon, turned -around. - -“Where did all that water come from, do you know?” went on Wild Bill. - -“From down-gulch,” said Cayuse. - -“And flowed up-hill, eh?” - -“Thet’s what bothered me,” said Pete, “whar it all come from an’ why -it was flowin’ contrary ter natur’.” - -“It wasn’t flowin’ contrary ter natur’,” said Tenny. “Jest below hyer -the gulch bottom pitches this way, an’ thar’s quite a sink a mile -farther to’rds Sun Dance. I’ve noticed thet lots o’ times while I was -goin’ an’ comin’. But whar the water come from is a mystery. Thar -ain’t been no cloud-burst, as fur as I’ve seen.” - -Cayuse, in a very few words, explained where the water had come from. - -As Lawless’ diabolical plot to wipe out the scout was borne in upon -the mind of old Nomad, his rage became tremendous. - -“Confound ther pizen, no-’count whelp!” he shouted, shaking his fists -in the direction the outlaws had taken. “Instid o’ snakin’ Buffler -out o’ thet level, he left him thar ter drown! Did ther water come up -over ther top o’ thet ore-dump?” he asked suddenly, turning to Pete -and the others. - -“The water buried thet ore-dump clean out o’ sight!” declared Pete. - -Nomad stood for an instant as though stricken, then rushed for the -rim of the cañon and looked down. - -The waters were receding as quickly as they had risen. The ore-dump -of the Forty Thieves was already shouldering aside the waves. - -Nomad stared, realized what must have happened, then flung himself -down and covered his face with his hands. - -Wild Bill scowled, his eyes glittered, and he whirled away from the -cañon. - -“If Captain Lawless has wiped out Cody, the best and truest pard a -man ever had,” said he, between his clenched teeth, “Nomad and I will -run out his trail--and, at the end of it, we’ll take all the pay the -murderous whelp can give us.” - -“Ye speak true, Hickok,” growled Nomad, looking up; “Lawless owes us -er heap, an’ he’ll hev ter settle.” - - - - - CHAPTER XVI. - - THE CURTAIN-ROCK. - - -The scout, his girl pard, and Wah-coo-tah, it will be recalled, were -left in the level of the Forty Thieves, hurrying, as fast as the -Indian girl’s wound would permit, toward the shaft. - -Dell, returning from the drift with a flask of water, was about to -hand the flask to Buffalo Bill when Wah-coo-tah started forward with -a sudden access of strength. - -“_Pronto, pronto_,” breathed the girl; “mebbyso I live to fool -Lawless and save um Pa-e-has-ka--mebbyso.” - -“What is it?” asked Dell wildly, following the scout and Wah-coo-tah -and listening to the seething roar. - -“_Nuzhee Mona, Nuzhee Mona!_” wailed Wah-coo-tah; “him Rain Walker, -Big Water, Flood!” - -“Ah!” muttered the scout: “there has been a cloud-burst in the cañon, -and the water is coming down on us!” - -“No cloud-burst, Pa-e-has-ka,” said Wah-coo-tah huskily; “_Nuzhee -Mona_ all same lake, close to cañon, high up. Lawless him use -giant-powder, blow away rock, let _Nuzhee Mona_ down into the -cañon----” - -The girl broke off abruptly. They had reached the shaft, and -Wah-coo-tah, throwing herself down, tried to pull a boulder away from -the foot of the wall. The task was too much for her strength. - -“Quick, Pa-e-has-ka!” she panted. - -The scout laid hold of the stone, Dell holding the candle for him to -see, and threw the stone to one side. - -“See um iron?” gasped Wah-coo-tah. “My eyes all same go blind, no can -see.” - -Dell, her hands shaking under the menace of weird, unknown perils, -held the candle lower. - -“Here’s an iron bar, Wah-coo-tah!” cried the scout. - -The roar from the cañon was now so great that it was necessary for -him to raise his voice in order to be heard. - -“Pull um bar, Pa-e-has-ka,” screamed Wah-coo-tah, “_pronto, pronto_!” - -Seizing the bar with both hands, Buffalo Bill gave a long, steady -pull. A screech of rusted machinery followed, and the bar gave -slowly; and slowly, high up toward the top of the shaft, a curtain of -rock obtruded itself across the well, and by degrees closed out the -daylight. - -Then, when the bar would yield no more, and not a ray of light -came from above, Buffalo Bill took his hands from the lever and -straightened up. - -A swishing roar passed over their heads, and drops of water trickled -down on them. - -“Saved!” murmured Dell, leaning nervelessly against the side of the -shaft. - -“Aye,” said the scout, as the baffled waters thrashed and tossed -about the ore-dump, “saved in the nick of time, and by a method I had -not dreamed of. That bar, Dell, works a rock curtain near the mouth -of the shaft. By pulling the bar, the curtain is shoved across the -opening, below the platform. When I first saw this mine, I wondered -if it was not in danger of being flooded by a cloud-burst. In order -to avoid the danger, it must be that Lawless contrived the rock -curtain. Was that the way of it, Wah-coo-tah?” - -There was no answer from the Indian girl, and the scout looked down, -to discover that she had fallen in a limp heap on the shaft bottom. - -“We have neglected her wound too long, Dell,” said the scout. “She -has fainted, I suppose, as she came so near doing while we were on -our way to the shaft. We will get her back to the ‘drift’ and do what -we can for her.” - -Picking Wah-coo-tah up in his arms, Buffalo Bill carried her back -along the level and into the “drift.” There she was laid down on the -rocky floor, the scout’s rolled-up coat serving as a pillow for her -head. - -While Dell bathed the Indian girl’s face with water, and chafed her -temples, the scout was examining her wound. - -“What do you think, Buffalo Bill?” Dell asked, as the scout -straightened up on his knees. - -“It’s a bad wound,” he answered, shaking his head. “What the girl -needs is a doctor, and there is not much time to lose. And to think,” -he added, in a fierce undertone, “that it was her own father’s men -who did this! I always knew a squawman was pretty low down, but I -never thought him as mean as that.” - -With handkerchiefs and torn cloths they made shift to get a bandage -about Wah-coo-tah’s wound; then they sat beside her and waited for -her to recover consciousness. - -“She saved us,” said Dell tremulously, “and it may be that she has -given her life to do it.” - -“The girl has a good heart,” returned the scout, “and you might -wonder at that, considering what sort of a father she had.” - -“This _Nuzhee Mona_ is a lake, then?” asked Dell. - -“I believe, now, that I have heard of such a lake, but this is the -first time I have connected that name with it.” - -“I thought Wah-coo-tah said it was the name of an Indian deity.” - -“All same,” came softly from the lips of Wah-coo-tah, and the scout -and Dell looked, to see that her eyes had opened. “_Nuzhee Mona_ all -same god, Rain Walker, Flood. You _sabe_?” - -“The god of the waters, Wah-coo-tah?” returned the scout. - -“Ai,” she answered; “him god of waters and name of lake, ’way up, -alongside cañon. Lawless blow out um rock, and let water come. Him -think Pa-e-has-ka no understand about rock door at top of shaft, and -that _Nuzhee Mona_ come into mine, fill it, strangle scout. Ai, ai! -but we fool um. Lawless shoot Wah-coo-tah so she no tell Pa-e-has-ka.” - -“Was it Lawless himself who fired that shot?” demanded Buffalo Bill. - -“Ai. Me speak to um first.” - -“What did you say to him, Wah-coo-tah?” - -“Me say, let Pa-e-has-ka out through secret door with Wah-coo-tah. If -you no let us out, me say, Wah-coo-tah show Pa-e-has-ka how to slide -door across shaft. That make Lawless heap mad, and he shoot. But we -fool um,” she crooned; “Pa-e-has-ka live, and we fool um Lawless. Ah, -ah!” - -“How do you feel, Wah-coo-tah?” the scout asked, in a kindly tone. - -“Like pretty soon me go to better place, to the hunting-grounds of -all good Cheyennes.” - -“No, no, Wah-coo-tah,” whispered Dell, bending down and taking one -of the girl’s hands; “you are going to get well. We shall take you to -a doctor, at Sun Dance, and he will cure you.” - -“You like Wah-coo-tah to get well?” the Indian girl asked. - -“Yes, yes,” breathed Dell tearfully; “I want you to live so I can -prove to you that I am your friend, always your friend.” - -“Mebbyso Yellow Hair talk with two tongues?” - -“No, Wah-coo-tah,” said Dell earnestly, “I never talk with two -tongues.” - -“Mebbyso; but Wah-coo-tah Injun. If she get well, go back to -Cheyennes, mebbyso her sold again to some Injun she no like. Better -Wah-coo-tah die, better Yellow Hair stay with Pa-e-has-ka, be -Pa-e-has-ka’s pard.” - -“Wah-coo-tah,” interposed the scout, “will Lawless and his men stay -in the other part of the mine?” - -“No; him leave when him think flood come. Him think _Nuzhee Mona_ -come into other part of mine, too, you _sabe_?” - -“Then we can get out through that secret door?” - -“Ai.” - -“The quicker we get out the quicker we can take you to Sun Dance; and -the quicker you get into the doctor’s hands, the more chance there is -of saving your life.” - -Wah-coo-tah smiled a little at that. - -“You like to save Wah-coo-tah, but Wah-coo-tah no care. Ou, di! Take -me to secret door, Pa-e-has-ka. Me show you how to get through.” - -Cody looked at Dell, and nodded. Thereupon Dell picked up the candle, -and the scout gathered the Indian girl in his arms. With the coat -under her arm, Dell led the way along the level to the place where -she and Buffalo Bill had seen the glare breaking through the wall. - -Here the scout laid Wah-coo-tah down, took the candle, and hunted -over the wall for the crevice that would mark the edge of the stone -door. So cleverly was the door fitted into the rock that it defied -detection. - -“See um big black stone, Pa-e-has-ka?” Wah-coo-tah asked, turning her -head toward the wall. - -The scout saw the stone, and laid his hand on it. - -“Push,” said the girl. - -Cody made ready to use considerable strength, but found that it -was not necessary, for the big stone was so nicely balanced that -it yielded at a touch. The entire stone swung outward, leaving a -ragged gap two feel wide by three feet in height. Beyond the gap was -darkness. - -“Lawless gone,” said Wah-coo-tah weakly; “all safe, Pa-e-has-ka. We -go on now. Go on till you see um daylight.” - -“That’s our cue, Dell,” said the scout. “The outlaws must all be -gone. If water had come into the mine, the flood would surely have -forced the stone door and let it into the secret level. Lawless and -his men would not dare to remain here. Take the candle, pard, and -lead the way.” - -After the scout had again taken Wah-coo-tah in his arms, Dell picked -up the coat and the candle and forced her way through the secret door. - -The passage in which the scout and Dell found themselves ran at right -angles with the main level. It was no larger than the passage they -had left, but presently it opened out and formed a sort of chamber. - -In this chamber there were evidences that both men and horses had -recently made the place a rendezvous. - -“Horses in a mine!” exclaimed the scout. “I wonder how Lawless got -the animals down here?” - -“Plenty soon you find um out, Pa-e-has-ka,” murmured Wah-coo-tah. - -After leaving the wide part of the passage, the bore narrowed to its -original dimensions, and the floor took the form of a slope. - -“We’re climbing!” exclaimed Dell. - -“This secret shaft is an incline,” returned the scout. “It’s clear, -now, how the horses got down here. I’m beginning to understand, too, -how it was that Lawless and his men disappeared so mysteriously that -time we thought we had chased them out of the cañon. All they did, -then, was to ride to the top of this incline and hide themselves away -in the underground workings of the Forty Thieves.” - -It was a long climb they had to the top of the subterranean slope; -but after a while they saw a glow of daylight ahead of them. The glow -brightened and brightened, until they came out of the inclined shaft -and stood upon a brush-grown shelf jutting out from the cañon wall. -Here the scout put down his burden, and all of them rested and filled -their lungs with the pure outdoor air. - -“I never expected to get out of that hole alive,” said the scout. “If -I had known more about the mine than I did, I should not have been so -brash about going into it; but who’d ever have expected to find such -a layout of secret passages and inclined shafts? Lawless did a good -deal of dead work hunting for that lost vein.” - -“If we only knew where Nomad and Wild Bill were,” said Dell, “I -should feel easier in my mind.” - -The scout’s brow clouded. - -“Of course Lawless and his men took them along when they left the -mine.” The scout turned to Wah-coo-tah. “Where would Lawless be apt -to go from here, Wah-coo-tah?” he asked. - -“Mebbyso to Medicine Bluff,” the girl answered. - -“Then, as soon as I get you to Sun Dance, I’m going to pick up a -few men and ride post-haste for Medicine Bluff. I can’t believe -that Lawless would put Nomad and Wild Bill out of the way; still, -a scoundrel who would shoot his own daughter would be capable of -anything.” - -“He would!” averred Dell fervently. “I’m worried about Nomad and Wild -Bill, and we must ride for Medicine Bluff as soon as we can.” - -“I wonder just where we are?” said the scout, getting to his feet and -pushing through the bushes to the edge of the shelf. - -Dell did not follow but remained beside Wah-coo-tah. - -“You tell Wah-coo-tah,” said the Indian girl, as soon as they were -alone, “that you leave Pa-e-has-ka as soon as Wah-coo-tah get you out -of mine; and you say,” the girl added sharply, “that you no talk with -the double tongue.” - -“If you insist that I leave the scout and his pards,” said Dell, “I -will. I have a ranch in Arizona, and my mother is there. I intended -to leave my pards very soon, anyway, but I should like to stay with -them until Lawless is captured and forced to pay the penalty of his -crimes.” - -“You go then?” - -“Yes.” - -“Then Wah-coo-tah glad you stay. Mebbyso Yellow Hair got good heart, -and Wah-coo-tah got bad heart? _Quien sabe?_” - -“No, no, Wah-coo-tah,” whispered Dell, “you’ve got a good heart, and -you’re a brave girl; only there are some things you don’t understand.” - -She took the girl’s hand, bent over, and touched her lips to her -forehead. Wah-coo-tah’s eyes softened under the caress. - -“Me no hate you any more,” the Indian girl whispered. “Wah-coo-tah -all same Yellow Hair’s friend.” - -Just then the scout came back from the edge of the shelf and noticed, -with much satisfaction, the friendliness of the two girls toward each -other. - -“We’re on a little ledge, half-way up the cañon wall,” he announced. -“From the edge of the shelf I could look down on the ore-dump and -shaft of the Forty Thieves. The flood has been ’way over the top of -the dump, for the platform, and the stones are dripping wet, but the -water is receding rapidly.” - -“How are we to get away from here?” asked Dell. - -“There’s a bridle-path to the top of the cañon and another one to the -bottom, but I think we had better get out by the top of the cañon -and take that route to Sun Dance. There’s no telling how much water -we would find between here and the camp if we tried to follow the -bottom of the gulch. Our first move must be to get the horses from -the gully. I suppose it will be best to leave you here, Dell, to stay -with Wah-coo-tah, while I go for the horses.” - -“I will take care of Wah-coo-tah, pard,” returned Dell, pressing the -Indian girl’s hand affectionately as she spoke. “You ought to find -Cayuse in the gully.” - -“Wherever the horses are, I think I am pretty certain to find the -boy. Whenever he is told to do a thing, he generally does it, so I -feel confident he has stayed with the live stock. I won’t be gone -long,” the scout added, as he took to the bridle-path and began the -ascent. - -In mounting to the top of the cañon the scout was able to observe -below him the extent of the flood which had been turned into the -defile by the blasting operations of Captain Lawless. - -A line on the opposite wall of the gulch showed him the height the -water had reached, and indicated how quickly the Forty Thieves would -have been flooded had not the curtain of rock been thrown across the -top of the shaft. - -He shivered as his imagination pictured the plight of Dell and -Wah-coo-tah and himself, down in the level, with the water pouring in -upon them, and Lawless and his men keeping them back from the secret -door with their rifles. - -“It’s a long road that has no turning,” thought the scout grimly, -“and Lawless has run up a score which I shall call upon him to -settle. When I am done with him, I shall come back to the Forty -Thieves and stay out the three consecutive days and nights; then, -when I have earned the deed, I shall turn the property over to -Wah-coo-tah--if she lives; and if she does not live, then it shall go -to Wah-coo-tah’s mother, the Cheyenne woman.” - -This procedure was strictly in line with the scout’s generous nature. -As for staying in Sun Dance Cañon and developing the Forty Thieves, -the very thought of it brought a smile to his lips. - -He could not imagine himself turning from the free life of the plains -and mountains to the narrow confines of a mine and the life of a -miner. - -First, however, he must trail down Captain Lawless and rescue old -Nomad and Wild Bill. He would not allow himself to suppose that -Lawless would deal cold-bloodedly with his pards, and thought only of -pursuing the outlaw to Medicine Bluff and effecting a rescue. - -While he was climbing upward, and turning these matters over in his -mind, he little dreamed that within a few minutes Chance was to -strike one more unexpected note in the odd tune she had recently been -playing for his benefit. - -Yet so it fell out when, presently, Buffalo Bill stepped from the -path he had been following onto level ground at the brink of the -cañon. - -What he saw first was a dead Cheyenne; beyond the Cheyenne was a -group consisting of five men and a boy. The men were in close and -animated conversation, and did not see the scout. - -To his amazement, the scout discovered that two of the men were Nomad -and Wild Bill; the other three were Lonesome Pete, Hank Tenny, and -Henry Blake. The boy, of course, was Cayuse. - -“Buffler has been my pard fer many a year,” old Nomad was saying, in -a husky voice, “an’ I was hopin’, when he cashed in, thet fate might -let the pair o’ us be standin’ shoulder ter shoulder, so thet we both -mout begin ther long trail tergether. I’ve never felt wuss in my life -than what I does this minit, Buffler!” and the old trapper lifted -his face skyward, “whyever didn’t ye wait fer yer old pard Nick?” - -“How long do you want me to wait, Nick?” called the scout. - -For an instant the entire group seemed paralyzed; then Nomad turned -slowly around, stared for a moment, let off a cry that was half-joy -and half-consternation, and galloped toward the scout with both hands -outstretched. - - - - - CHAPTER XVII. - - THE TURN OF FORTUNE’S WHEEL. - - -“Kin I believe my eyes?” roared Nomad, as, gripping both the scout’s -hands, he stood staring into his face. “Is et shorely my pard, -Buffler, as I had given up as drowned like er rat in er trap down -thar in ther Forty Thieves? Howlin’ hyeners! Why, his clothes ain’t -even wet! Say, what new brand o’ Cody-luck was flashed on ye at this -hyer turn o’ fortune’s wheel? Tell me, pard!” - -“Tell us all,” chimed in Wild Bill, as he and the rest crowded around -the scout; “we want to know, Cody.” - -“Fortune’s wheel has turned queerly for all of us,” answered the -scout, “but I think we’d better put off our explanations until some -more favorable time--over some more of that maverick steer at the -Lucky Strike, for instance. Eh, Blake?” - -“I’m eating that steer with a good deal o’ relish,” grinned Blake. -“If you say so, Buffalo Bill, we’ll wait till then.” - -“Where Yellow Hair, Pa-e-has-ka?” asked Little Cayuse. - -“She’s safe, boy,” answered the scout. “What have you done with the -horses?” - -“They’re safe, too, Buffler,” spoke up Lonesome Pete. - -“Everybody seems to be safe,” smiled the scout, “with the exception -of Blake. What ails your wrist?” he added to the miner. - -“Exchanged tokens of esteem with Lawless,” explained Blake; “I put -a bullet inter his shoulder, an’ he recippercated by puttin’ another -across my wrist. Not much more’n a scratch, howsumever, but I’m -almost willing to bet I’ve put Lawless down an’ out.” - -“Too good ter be true,” muttered Nomad. - -“Talking about bein’ safe,” said Hank Tenny, “ye come within one o’ -losin’ yer Piute pard, Buffler Bill.” - -“How’s that? Did Lawless have a try at him?” - -“Nary. Cayuse, thinkin’ you was wiped out, sung a leetle death-song -all fer himself. Ef Pete, thar, hadn’t been quick, Cayuse would have -put a knife into his own breast.” - -The scout turned and looked at the boy. Their eyes met, and what -passed between them will never be known, but the scout reached out a -kindly hand, drew the boy toward him and patted him on the shoulder. - -“Cayuse would do a lot for Pa-e-has-ka,” said he, “and he knows -Pa-e-has-ka would do a lot for him; but when Pa-e-has-ka takes the -long trail, as some time he must, he does not want to think that -Cayuse will sing his death-song and follow. This life was made to -live as long as we can; then, when our time comes to quit it, to pass -out like brave men who have fought well and are willing to go. - -“But,” and here the scout turned briskly away, “enough of this. -Wah-coo-tah is on the shelf, below the brink of the cañon, and Dell -is with her----” - -“Wah-coo-tah?” exclaimed Nomad. - -“Yes--she was the ‘spirit,’ Nick, who spoke to us from the cellar of -the Alcazar, and she may become a spirit in reality if something is -not done for her very soon. She was shot, by Lawless himself, in the -level of the Forty Thieves.” - -“By Lawless!” echoed Wild Bill angrily. “There’s a hound for you. His -own daughter, _amigos_.” - -“Lawless is capable of anything,” went on the scout; “but just now -that is neither here nor there. Dell and I were in the level and it -was Wah-coo-tah who saved our lives. She must be taken as soon as -possible to Sun Dance. Is there a doctor there, or shall we have to -take her to Montegordo?” - -“Gentleman Jim,” said Hank Tenny, “is a better man with the surgeon’s -knife and with medicine than he is with the keerds. He ampertated -Gusty Williams’ leg, thet time a blast went off an’ smashed it, an’ -he----” - -“Gentleman Jim will do, anyhow, until we can get another doctor from -Montegordo. But we need the horses. Is it possible to get them up -here from the gully?” - -“Wuh!” said Little Cayuse. - -“He means,” said Pete, “thet we kin git the critters up the same way -us fellers come. But it’ll be a scramble.” - -“We’ll do it, though,” declared Hank Tenny. “Leave the scout with his -pards, boys, an’ we’ll go arter the hosses.” - -Blake, Tenny, Pete, and Cayuse started off among the boulders toward -the point where the gully entered the cañon. Blake assured Cayuse it -wouldn’t be necessary for him to go along, but Cayuse would let no -one besides himself do anything with Navi. - -“While the horses are coming, pards,” said the scout to Nomad and -Wild Bill, “we might go down to the shelf and bring up Wah-coo-tah. -Two of us can carry her up easier than she could ride.” - -“Thet’s the tork,” seconded Nomad. - -They descended to the shelf and broke through the brush before the -astounded eyes of Dell Dauntless. - -“Why--why----” the girl faltered, “is that really you, Nomad? And -Wild Bill, too! Oh, what luck! Where did you find them, pard?” and -she shifted her gaze to the scout. - -“I found them on top of the cañon wall,” answered the scout, “and -Nick, there, was in a complaining mood.” - -“Shucks, Buffler,” muttered Nomad. - -“He was complaining because I had crossed the divide without taking -him along,” smiled the scout. “How is Wah-coo-tah?” - -“Me all right,” spoke up Wah-coo-tah for herself. - -“She’s far from all right, Buffalo Bill,” said Dell. “I’m anxious to -get her where she can receive medical aid.” - -“It won’t be long now until we have her in Sun Dance,” returned the -scout. “Cayuse, Lonesome Pete, Hank Tenny, and Henry Blake have gone -to bring the horses from the gully.” - -“Cayuse is all right, too?” cried Dell. - -“Chipper as a cricket,” said Wild Bill. “All he needed to make him -a happy Indian was a glimpse of the scout, alive and hearty. Cayuse -has had it, and he’s feeling fine, thank you. And we hope,” he added, -turning a sympathetic glance upon Wah-coo-tah, “that you will soon be -feeling fine, too. You’ve done a heap for the scout and Dell--Cody -has told us about it--and the whole possé of us feel like we couldn’t -do enough for you. We’re going to carry you up the hill, Nomad and -me, so you’ll be able to travel just as soon as the horses come -along.” - -“You plenty good to Injun girl,” said Wah-coo-tah. - -Never before in her whole life, perhaps, had she been treated with -such consideration. The lot of an Indian woman is a hard one, from -the very time she begins it, on a papoose-board, until she leaves it, -and is wrapped in her best blanket and hoisted into some tree, or -buried deep under a pile of rocks. - -Lifting Wah-coo-tah gently, old Nomad and Wild Bill carried her up -the steep path, taking care to make the journey as comfortable for -her as possible. - -When they reached the top of the wall, Cayuse, Pete, Tenny, and -Blake were coming with the horses. Bear Paw threw up his head and -whinnied at the sight of the scout, and Navi, Cayuse’s pinto, and -Silver Heels, Dell’s white cayuse, likewise seemed to recognize their -owners; but Hide-rack, Nomad’s mount, didn’t seem to care a particle -whether his owner was around or not. - -“Pizen old critter, anyway,” said Nomad. “Honest, he’s so plumb full -o’ pizen ye kin scrape strychnin off’n his neck with er shingle. But -he’s so blame indiff’rent ter me thet I like him fer et. Et shows -character; an’ I ain’t got no tender feelin’s when I gives him er -wallopin’. Whoa, ye onnery, knock-kneed, gangle-legged ole speciment, -you! Ye’ll never know how nigh ye come ter losin’ me, an’ I reckon ye -don’t keer. But hyar I am, big as life, so don’t ye git sassy.” - -As soon as Buffalo Bill was astride Bear Paw, he took Wah-coo-tah up -in front of him. - -The return to Sun Dance was then begun. - -For a time the riders picked their way along the rim of the cañon -among the boulders; then, striking the Montegordo trail, they had a -better course, and rode faster. - -From time to time the trail gave them glimpses of the bottom of the -cañon. The flood had almost entirely subsided, save in one place -where the down-grade struck the rise that continued to the foot of -the “flat” on which the mining-camp was perched. In the low place a -lake had formed, extending for a mile up and down the gulch. - -“Lucky thar wasn’t any placer-miners at work in this part o’ ther -gulch,” remarked Blake. “Ef thar had been, they’d hev had little -chance o’ escapin’ with their lives.” - -“The flood never got very clost ter Sun Dance,” observed Tenny. “The -old gulch is too much up an’ down; thar ain’t no decent river as -would run through it.” - -“I reckon _Nuzhee Mona_ Lake is down some,” said Pete. “It couldn’t -lose all thet water without feelin’ it. I’ve thought, fer a long -time, thar’d be doin’s if anythin’ ever happened ter thet wedge o’ -stone thet kept it out o’ the cañon. I don’t reckon all the wedge was -blowed out, kase if the hull lake had spilled over it would make more -of a showin’.” - -“It made a big enough showin’ ter suit me,” said Tenny. “When I seen -thet wall o’ water rushin’ at me, I went over my ‘Now I lay mes’ -for’ard, back’ard, an’ sideways.” - -“An’ scramble!” cried Pete; “gee, man, how us huskies scrambled fer -thet gully. Oh, I reckon, arter all, thar was water enough.” - -Half an hour later the horsemen filed down the cañon top toward the -camp of Sun Dance. - -“Last time I traveled this hyer road,” said Blake, “I didn’t know a -thing about it.” - -“An’ ye wouldn’t never hev knowed a thing about it if it hadn’t ’a’ -been fer Dell Dauntless,” spoke up Tenny. - -“As I said afore, an’ now say ag’in,” said Blake, turning in his -saddle and removing his sombrero--a new one, recently purchased at -the place where he had secured his six-shooters--“I take off my hat -to Dell Dauntless.” - -“We all do that,” added Wild Bill, “and likewise to Wah-coo-tah.” - - - - - CHAPTER XVIII. - - THE ROUND-UP AT SPANGLER’S. - - -Wah-coo-tah was taken to the Lucky Strike Hotel and placed in Dell’s -room; the room from which, one night not long before, she had taken -French leave. Nomad stopped at the Alcazar and summoned Gentleman Jim. - -Cayuse, Pete, Blake, and Tenny took care of the horses, and Buffalo -Bill, Wild Bill, and Dell sat in Dell’s room and waited anxiously for -Gentleman Jim to come. - -When he arrived, which he did in a very few moments, he carried a -professional-looking grip. - -“Your three days are not up yet, Buffalo Bill,” said Gentleman Jim, -with a smile. - -“I’m going back to the Forty Thieves to-morrow,” returned the scout, -“to finish them up. I didn’t know you were a doctor, Gentleman Jim.” - -Something of a sad expression crossed the gambler’s face. - -“I used to be a doctor back East,” he answered, and turned to the cot -where Wah-coo-tah was lying. - -The scout knew, as did every one else in Sun Dance Cañon, that -Gentleman Jim’s past held a story--and not a particularly pleasant -story, either. But just what that story was no living man had ever -heard from the gambler’s lips. - -Gentleman Jim’s soft, white hands moved about Wah-coo-tah with almost -womanly tenderness. After he had made a brief examination, he opened -the satchel and took out an instrument-case. - -“I shall hurt you a little, Wah-coo-tah,” said he, “but it can’t be -helped. You can bear it without taking anything to smother the pain?” - -“Ai,” said the girl; “me used to pain; me stand um, all right.” - -For two or three minutes the probe was deep in the wound, and all the -time Dell held Wah-coo-tah’s hands and soothed her with gentle words. -At last Gentleman Jim straightened up and dropped a small piece of -lead on the table. - -“That is what did the harm,” said he. “Now we will dress and bandage -the wound, and I think Wah-coo-tah will get along well enough.” - -“There is no danger?” asked Dell. - -“There is always danger of blood-poisoning in a case like this, but I -think in Wah-coo-tah’s case the danger is quite remote.” - -Wing Hi was pounding his supper-gong when Gentleman Jim finally -finished his work, and left the Lucky Strike. - -“She’ll get well, Buffalo Bill,” he said to the scout, as he passed -through the office. - -“I’m glad of that,” answered the scout. “I’m going to get a deed to -that mine, Jim, and turn it over to Wah-coo-tah.” - -“That would be like you, Cody,” the gambler said. - -This favorable news concerning Wah-coo-tah put the scout and his -pards into an agreeable mood, and when they “sat in” at their table, -in the dining-room, that evening, they were in the best of spirits. -Dell was not with them, as she preferred to take her supper in her -room, where she could be with Wah-coo-tah; but Lonesome Pete, Hank -Tenny, and Henry Blake were of the supper-party, and the fresh meat -was heartily enjoyed. - -As on another occasion when the scout and his pards had returned from -a conflict with Captain Lawless and his followers, the meal was made -the occasion for an exchange of experiences, to the end that the -tangled skein of events might be set right in everybody’s mind, and -thoroughly understood. - -Buffalo Bill led off with the contents of the envelope Blake had -brought into camp in such an unusual manner, following it up with the -talk in the Alcazar, and the voice of warning that had come from the -cellar; then he followed the recital down to where he and his pards -had reached the mine, and he and Wild Bill and Nomad had gone into -the shaft, leaving Cayuse and Dell to take care of the horses. - -“You were the first one to disappear, Nick,” the scout said, at this -point, “so you had better tell us what happened to you.” - -“Waal, et happened so pesky quick thet what I recomember is sort o’ -hazy,” said the old trapper. “You had jest been through ther level, -Buffler, an’ ye said thar wasn’t any one down thar but us. When I -drapped ther truck I had kerried from ther shaft, I moseyed off -toward ther breast o’ ther level with my candle. I hadn’t gone fur, -afore a hole opened up in ther wall alongside o’ me, an’ a light -shot out thet made my candle look like er glow-worm alongside of er -locomotive head-light. Nacherly I let off er yell; then I was grabbed -afore I could use my fists er guns, an’ snaked inter another part o’ -ther mine. - -“Mebby I wasn’t surprised when Lawless looked down at me an’ told er -couple o’ Cheyennes how ter tie me so’st I couldn’t move. Arter I was -in thet condition I was snaked off ter a place whar the level was -wider, and whar thar was some hosses, an’ left thar ter commune with -myself. - -“Next thing I knowed Wild Bill was dragged alongside er me ter keep -me comp’ny. He told o’ the fight you an’ him had had, an’ how he -didn’t know but mebby you mout be killed, Buffler. While he was -sayin’ thet, Lawless yelps out from somewhere thet ye wasn’t killed, -but thet ye was goin’ ter be some time along erbout sunrise. - -“Arter thet not er bloomin’ thing happened ter Wild Bill an’ me till -we was loaded onter cayuses behind them Cheyenne bucks, an’ kerried -up ter ther top o’ ther gulch wall. I knowed them onnery outlaws had -er mortgage on my skelp, an’ I was expectin’ ’em ter foreclose any -ole minit, so ye kin imagine how surprised I was when Pete, Tenny, -Blake, an’ Cayuse leaped out from behind the rocks an’ purceeded ter -make things interestin’. I reckon thet’s all o’ et, so fur’s I’m -mixed in ther scrimmage.” - -“And you’ve told my part of it, Nick,” said Wild Bill. “Knocked down -in that fight Buffalo Bill and I was having, my wits took a vacation. -When they got back again I was alongside of you, in the other part of -the mine.” - -“Now it’s up to you, Cayuse,” said the scout. “We’ll get all these -fag-ends bunched together, and then I’ll finish off with what -happened to Dell and me.” - -Cayuse was more gifted with the hand-talk than he was with English. -He was extremely brief, but his information--concerning, as it did, -the letting loose of the waters of the lake--was most valuable. - -“He don’t star hisself none,” commented Hank Tenny, “but I bet ye he -was a hull lot of a hero, all the same.” - -“He always is,” said the scout. - -“Me lose um gun,” mourned Little Cayuse. - -“I’ll get you another, boy, silver-mounted,” said the scout, and -Cayuse’s eyes sparkled. - -The scout now plunged into the run of events, and wound up the -recital. - -“Ain’t et astonishin’ what things kin happen ter a feller?” remarked -Nomad, who had been neglecting his meal to listen, open-mouthed, -to his pard’s yarn; “an’ ain’t Buffler ther boy ter git things ter -comin’ his way, right in ther nick? Jest s’posin’, now, anythin’ had -gone wrong with thet thar stone curtain at ther top o’ ther shaft. -Why, ef thar had, us fellers could hev gone fishin’ in ther Forty -Thieves.” - -“Fishing for _me_,” added the scout grimly. - -“By gorry, yes!” exclaimed Wild Bill. “But the rock curtain worked -like a charm, the flood covered the ore-dump, and rippled over the -top of the curtain, and Buffalo Bill, Dell, and Wah-coo-tah were as -dry as if they had been here in the Lucky Strike. A little thing now -and then makes a heap of difference in the run of events.” - -“It was a lucky thing for Cayuse,” spoke up the scout, “that Tenny, -Blake, and Pete took it into their heads to ride down the gulch. -If they hadn’t---- Well, I don’t like to think of what might have -happened if Tenny’s rope hadn’t helped Cayuse into the mouth of the -gully. I don’t know how Buffalo Bill & Company could get along and -do a successful business without their Piute pard.” - -“Ugh,” grunted Cayuse; “Pa-e-has-ka make Piute boy feel like squaw -with string of glass beads.” - -“Ye’re a desarvin’ little feller,” said Hank Tenny, “an’ I’d be -tickled ter death ef I had ye fer a pard o’ mine. But you must like -the scout er heap er ye wouldn’t hev tried ter tag arter him on the -long trail.” - -Cayuse bent his head and made no reply to this. Nor did the scout -make any comment. What each felt was locked in his own breast. - - * * * * * - -True to his word, on the following day the scout, Wild Bill, and -Nomad returned to the mine and hived themselves up in it for three -days and nights. They beguiled the time with “seven-up.” - -Nothing went wrong with them at all, and Dell rode out every day to -report how Wah-coo-tah was getting along. The Indian girl continued -steadily to improve. - -While at the mine the mechanism that worked the “rock curtain” was -examined by the pards and found to be very cleverly contrived. They -all decided that it had been placed in the shaft for the purpose the -scout had already supposed, viz: to keep out of the mine any floods -that might come down from above. - -When the scout and his pards returned to Sun Dance, the scout took -his deed, made out another in the name of Wah-coo-tah Lawless, and -sent both to Montegordo to be recorded. He did this with the entire -approval of all his pards. - -“And now,” said Wild Bill, when the deed had been duly executed, -recorded, and delivered, “we still have Lawless to find and lay by -the heels.” - -“We can’t make any plans about that,” answered the scout, “until we -learn whether Lawless got over the effects of Blake’s bullet or not.” - -“That’s so,” agreed Wild Bill, “but I’m hoping for the best.” - -Just what he meant by “the best” he did not explain. - - - - - CHAPTER XIX. - - THE STAGE FROM MONTEGORDO. - - -“What’s yer name, anyhow?” asked Lonesome Pete. - -The man in the “boiled” shirt, the red vest, and the tight trousers -coughed and looked embarrassed. - -“I almost hate to tell you,” said he. - -“Whoa-up, thar, yeh gangle-legged Piute!” yelled Chick Billings, -the stage-driver, reaching for the off-leader with his whip-lash. -“Calls hisself a hoss, that critter does,” he added to Pete and the -stranger; “but he acts more like a blame’ coyote.” - -“Thar’s a hull lot o’ folks out hyer as kinder fergits what their -names useter be,” went on Pete, addressing the stranger. “A feller’s -got a right ter change his name when he crosses the Missoury, comin’ -West, if so be he thinks proper.” - -“Not me--not on your life!” exclaimed the stranger hastily. “My -record is clear----” - -“Every ole hardshell in these parts, some on ’em with half a dozen -notches, ’ll say that,” cut in Pete, with considerable sarcasm. - -The stranger laughed. He had a pink-and-white complexion, and his -laugh was mixed up with a vivid blush. - -“Sakes alive!” muttered Pete dismally. “If ye had on a sunbunnit, -ye’d look like er schoolgal.” - -“You see,” and the stranger’s laugh became a trifle more masculine, -“my name is Reginald----” - -“Wow!” grunted Pete. - -“De Bray, Reginald de Bray,” finished the speaker. “I don’t think -there’s much in a name, you know, but everybody out in this country -sort of pokes fun at mine.” - -Lonesome Pete threw back his head, filled his lungs with air, and -released his voice with a roaring “He-haw, he-haw!” after the fashion -of a restive mule. - -Chick Billings laughed. - -Reginald de Bray pulled a little note-book from his pocket and made a -mark in it with a lead-pencil. - -“What’s that fur?” asked Chick Billings. - -“I’m just keeping track,” answered the young man softly, as he put -away the pencil and the book. - -“Keepin’ track o’ what?” asked Lonesome Pete distrustfully. - -“Why, of the number of times that ‘he-haw’ racket has been worked -on me when I’ve told my name. Your performance was the thirty-sixth -time.” - -Reginald de Bray heaved a long breath of patient resignation. - -The Montegordo stage--which was nothing more than a mountain-wagon -drawn by four horses--was well on the road to Sun Dance. - -Pete and De Bray were riding with the driver. On the seat behind was -a woman--a slender figure of a woman she was, with her face closely -veiled. The woman’s seatmate was a rough-and-ready miner named -Hotchkiss. - -The seat behind the woman and Hotchkiss was occupied by Little Cayuse. - -These six--the driver, Pete, De Bray, the woman, Hotchkiss, and -the Indian boy--comprised the load. Around the Indian was heaped a -carpetbag, two grips, and a mail-pouch. - -The woman had not spoken a word since leaving Montegordo. Hotchkiss -was almost as silent, being thoughtful and busying himself with his -pipe. The Indian was like a graven image, so far as talking was -concerned; but, unlike an image, nothing in his vicinity escaped his -keen eyes and ears. - -Conversation was confined entirely to the three on the driver’s seat. - -“Ho-hum!” yawned Lonesome Pete, stretching his long arms. “This hyer -ride is plumb tiresome. _Mister_ De Bray,” he added, with elaborate -politeness, “the sight o’ such a gent as yerself, in these parts, is -almost as uncommon as the sight of a lady,” and his eyes shifted over -his shoulder significantly. “Mind tellin’ what yer bizness is in this -section?” - -“Just looking around the West, that’s all,” replied Reginald de Bray -buoyantly. - -“Ain’t seen much of it yit, hev ye?” - -“Just started.” - -“So I reckoned,” muttered Lonesome Pete. “Them clothes o’ your’n is -a danger-signal. A real collar an’ a b’iled shirt, say nothin’ of a -red vest, is purty nigh a death-warrant fer a man in these parts. The -cimiroons what inhabit this hyer waste don’t like sich displays. As -soon as we git ter Sun Dance, I’d advise ye ter duck inter a store -an’ git inter a rig less noticeable.” - -“Why--why,” fluttered De Bray, “I hadn’t any idea that--that----” - -“Course ye didn’t,” interrupted Lonesome Pete soothingly. “Ye’re -plumb tender in the feet, an’ yer clothes give ye away. Arter takin’ -yer sizin’, the hull camp would want ter hev fun with ye, an’ ye kin -bank on it that it ’u’d be rough fun.” - -“I heard that Mr. Buffalo Bill was in Sun Dance,” said De Bray, “and -I have long wanted to meet him. That’s principally why I came this -way from Montegordo.” - -“He’s thar, all right,” said Pete. “That’s one o’ his pards on the -back seat--Leetle Cayuse, they calls him.” - -“By Jove!” muttered De Bray, turning squarely around and staring in -awe at the Piute boy. “I’ve heard of that Indian,” he went on, facing -about. “He don’t look very dangerous, though, does he?” - -“He’s retirin’, an’ about the size of a minner, when thar’s nothin’ -doin’, but when he digs up the hatchet an’ hits the war-path, he -looks like er whale.” - -“Is Dauntless Dell in Sun Dance, too?” - -“Big as life! An’ Nick Nomad is thar, an’ likewise Wild Bill.” - -“Oh, oh!” murmured Reginald de Bray, in a spasm of excitement. “I -wonder if the king of scouts would take my little hand in his and -lead me off to where the reds and the white outlaws are thickest? Do -you think he would?” - -There was something in the words that brought Pete’s eyes with a -start to the tenderfoot’s face. - -“Give it up,” said Pete gruffly. “’Pears ter me, _Mister_ De Bray, -that the best place fer you is behind a bomb-proof shelter some’r’s. -S’posin’, now, we was ter meet up with a lot o’ highwaymen? S’posin’ -they was ter come out from behind the rocks, reg’lar fire-eatin’ -handy-boys that ye dassen’t say ‘No’ to. How’d ye like _that_?” - -“Br-r-r!” shivered Reginald de Bray. “You--you don’t think there’s -any chance of that happening, do you?” - -“As long as that pirate, Cap’n Lawless, is loose in the country, -anything’s li’ble ter happen.” - -The woman on the seat behind leaned forward, and asked, with some -apprehension: - -“Robbers? Is it possible, sir, that we shall meet with any?” - -“I don’t want to alarm ye none, madam,” answered Lonesome Pete, who -was merely talking for the effect his words would have on De Bray, -“so don’t take what I say too much ter heart.” - -“I have a hundred dollars with me,” faltered the woman, “and--and -if I do not find the--the person I am looking for in Sun Dance, I -shall have to use the money to take me to some other place. It would -be hard for a woman to find herself without funds in this dreary -country!” - -“That’s so!” averred Lonesome Pete sympathetically. - -“Pete, thar, is only gassin’,” struck in Hotchkiss, knocking the -ashes from his pipe and slowly filling it again, “He’s tryin’ ter -string the Easterner, mum, so don’t be in a takin’.” - -“But my money!” murmured the woman. “I believe I will hide it, just -to be on the safe side.” - -“I’ve got a hundred dollars, too,” said Reginald de Bray. “When I get -through looking around in Sun Dance, and travel back to Montegordo, -there’ll be a draft there for me; but it would be mighty awkward to -lose that hundred.” - -The woman, taking a handkerchief from the bosom of her dress, had -untied one corner and removed a roll of crumpled bills. For a few -moments she sat thoughtfully, the bills in her hand. At last she -lifted her hands, removed her hat--at the same time being very -careful not to displace the veil that covered her face--and took -the hat on her lap. The hat was covered with millinery folderols, -none too new and all very dusty. In among the feathers and artificial -flowers she stowed her hundred dollars, and Hotchkiss chuckled as he -watched. - -“Good place, mum,” averred Hotchkiss. “Purvidin’ thar was really -goin’ ter be a hold-up, ye couldn’t find a better.” - -“How would you like to put my money with yours, madam?” asked -Reginald de Bray. - -“I shall be glad to oblige you, sir,” answered the woman. - -Hotchkiss glared at De Bray, and Lonesome Pete shifted disquietly. -The woman had a soft, low voice, and it looked rather brutal for the -tenderfoot to unload the responsibility of caring for his own money -upon such a person. - -However, De Bray’s hundred was passed over, and the woman tucked it -into the foliage and replaced the hat on her head. - -“Now,” she said, with a relieved sigh, “if the worst should happen, I -have done what little I could to save my money.” - -“I don’t think ye need ter worry none,” said Hotchkiss, glaring at -Pete for having started the talk about road-agents. - -After this there was silence in the mountain-wagon for a good -half-hour. De Bray lighted a cigarette. He also tried to talk, but -his attempts were met with chilling silence. Pete, Chick Billings, -and Hotchkiss had marked him down in their minds as about the poorest -specimen of a tenderfoot they had ever met, and they wanted nothing -more to do with him. - -At the end of a half-hour a surprise was sprung. The stage-trail, -winding along toward the rim of Sun Dance Cañon, entered a stretch -where great heaps of boulders massed themselves along each side. - -Suddenly a shout, grimly menacing, rang from behind one of the -boulders. - -“Halt!” - -Everybody in the stage gave a startled jump. The unexpected had -happened. - -Over the tops of the boulders, on each side of the trail, appeared -masked faces and leveled rifles. - -Chick Billings, recovering from the first shock of surprise, seized -his lines in a firmer grip and raised his whip. - -“Don’t be a fool, driver!” went on the voice of the unseen speaker. -“The leaders are covered, and you and every one in the stage are -under our muzzles. You can’t fight, and you can’t run away. Throw up -your hands, all of you!” - -Lonesome Pete swore under his breath; Hotchkiss muttered angrily; -Chick Billings, with a resigned oath, dropped the lines and shoved -his hands into the air; De Bray was queerly quiet--considering the -fact that he was a recent importation, and the woman, collapsing back -in her seat, made not a sound. - -As for Little Cayuse, he had vanished from the rear seat, but in the -general excitement this fact had not been noticed. - -Immediately following his last command, the leader of the road-agents -presented himself, riding around a barricade of boulders. - -He was well mounted, and, taken altogether, was a striking figure of -a man. - -His face was concealed by a silk handkerchief, tied just under his -eyes. He wore a black sombrero, short, black velvet jacket, with -silver-dollar buttons, dark corduroy trousers, and knee-boots of -patent leather, with silver spurs at the heels. A gaudy sash about -his waist supported a pair of revolvers. - -With the guns on each side of the trail drawing a bead on the leaders -of the team, and on those in the wagon, the chief of the highwaymen -did not find it necessary to draw his own weapons. - -Pulling his horse to a halt at one side of the wagon, opposite the -front seat, the leader’s black eyes calmly surveyed those whom the -rest of his gang held at his mercy. - -“Cap’n Lawless!” muttered Lonesome Pete. - -With a low laugh, the leader of the robbers pulled the silk -handkerchief from his face and thrust it into his pocket. - -“I see that I am recognized,” said he coolly. “Very well. It will -neither help nor harm matters, as I should probably be suspected of -this hold-up, anyway. Throw your property out here in front of me, -beside the trail.” - -“You ought to know bloomin’ well,” said Chick Billings, “that the -driver of this ’ere stage hasn’t any _dinero_ about his clothes. I -got a bar o’ chewin’, but----” - -“I wasn’t referring to you,” cut in Lawless, “but to the others. The -man on your left, who seems to have met me before--I’d like to hear -from him first.” - -“Shucks!” returned Pete; “I’m just comin’ back from Montegordo, whar -I’ve been ter see the sights. How kin ye expect me ter hev any money?” - -Lawless pulled out a watch and studied its face. - -“I’ve got just three minutes to make a clean-up,” he scowled; “and if -I’m not done by that time, my men will open up on the lot of you. You -ought to have some consideration for the lady, seems to me.” - -“See how much consideration _you’ve_ got fer her!” snapped Hotchkiss, -throwing a well-worn wallet on the ground, in front of Lawless. - -“Any jewelry?” asked the robber. - -“Do I look like a feller that kerried it?” sneered the miner. - -Pete pulled a handful of silver money out of his pocket, and threw it -after Hotchkiss’ pocketbook. - -“Now, you,” went on Lawless, nodding to De Bray. - -“Honest,” quavered De Bray, “I haven’t got more’n a couple of dollars -about me!” - -“What the blazes is a man dressed like you doing in this country with -no more than that? That won’t do. If you don’t want to be sent back -East in a box, you’ll strip yourself, and be quick about it. It looks -to me as though you thought I didn’t mean business.” Lawless’ passive -face twisted itself into a demoniacal expression, and he jerked one -of his six-shooters from his sash and leveled it. “I’ll give you just -a minute, my friend,” he added, “before I shoot you off that seat!” - -“Don’t be too quick with your shooting,” begged De Bray, and -immediately began pulling his pockets inside-out. - -One of the pockets contained two silver dollars. De Bray flung them -down at the trailside. - -“I told you!” he exclaimed. - -“You’ve got more than that!” snapped Lawless. “Fork over, or I’ll -shake a load out of this gun!” - -De Bray’s eyes grew glassy, and he shivered. - -“I--I did have a little more,” he answered; “but--but----” - -“But what?” roared Lawless. “Do you think I’m going to stay here all -day, palavering with you?” - -He made a threatening gesture with his six-shooter. - -“I gave it to the lady behind me,” said De Bray desperately. “She hid -it among the flowers in her hat, along with----” - -Hotchkiss swore a great oath. - -“Kill him, Lawless! He ain’t fit ter live!” - -Lonesome Pete reached over with a clenched fist, and Chick Billings -turned half-around in the seat, with the evident intention of hurling -De Bray into the trail. - -“Steady, there, all of you!” ordered Lawless. “Keep your places, and -hold up your hands. Who’s bossing this game, anyhow? I don’t care a -rap what you do with the tenderfoot after I get away from here, but -just now it’s my innings. The Easterner has saved his life--you can’t -blame him for that.” He spurred his horse a step forward. “Madam,” he -added, to the trembling woman, “I’ll trouble you to take your money -from the hat and throw it into the road. Did this tenderfoot speak -the truth?” - -“Y-y-yes!” gasped the woman. - -“Then give me the money.” - -“Oh, sir,” pleaded the woman, stretching out her hands -supplicatingly, “let me keep what’s mine, and----” - -“I’m a man of business, and not of sentiment,” said Lawless harshly, -“and I may add that I’m not in this dangerous business for my health. -The money, quick!” - -With a sob, the woman lifted her shaking hands to her hat, tore away -the roll of bills, and dropped it beside the rest of the plunder on -the ground. - -“The meanest coyote thet ever skulked around these hyer hills,” cried -the indignant Hotchkiss, “stacks up purty high alongside o’ _you_, -Cap’n Lawless!” - -“Another yaup like that,” said Lawless savagely, “and I’ll give you -your ticket!” - -Life is dear to every man, and Hotchkiss, knowing that another word -from him would spell his doom and not result in any benefit to the -woman, or any one else, smothered his righteous wrath and glared at -the man on the horse. - -Hot words had also been on Pete’s lips, but he held them back. - -“Lawless,” he said, “the rest o’ us aire men, an’ what we got we kin -lose, but this hyer happens ter be a woman, an’----” - -“Cork!” interrupted Lawless sententiously. Then, again facing the -woman, he went on: “Any rings?” - -“One,” she whispered; “just one!” - -“Throw it after the money!” - -“Have you no heart?” wailed the woman. “Spare me the ring!” - -“Throw it on the ground!” - -Lawless, when he so willed, could be fair-spoken and act the -gentleman; but at heart he was a demon, and Hotchkiss’ taunt had -driven him to do his worst. - -The ring, a plain gold band and plainly a wedding-ring, was dropped -on the ground. - -“There’s a locket at your neck,” pursued Lawless relentlessly, -flashing his fiercely mocking eyes at the scowling Hotchkiss, “and I -must have that.” - -The woman tore away her veil, revealing a middle-aged face that must -once have been very beautiful, and was even now comely withal the -lines of sorrow and suffering that crossed it. - -A pair of hazel eyes pleaded for the locket, pleaded even more than -lips could have done, but fruitlessly. - -Slowly the woman unclasped the golden chain, half-stretched the -round locket toward Lawless, then drew back the hand and pressed the -trinket to her bosom. - -“No, no!” she gasped; “I would rather you took my life!” - -Leaning suddenly forward in his saddle, Lawless caught the locket -away with brutal force. - -“This is no time to go against my orders,” he snapped, as the woman, -utterly unnerved, sank back in her seat and covered her face with her -hands. “Drive on, you!” he added to the driver of the stage. “Don’t -stop until you have gone two miles, and don’t one of you dare to look -back while you are within gunshot of this place. You’ll be covered as -long as you’re within range--mark that!” - -Chick Billings stooped down and picked up his lines. - -“G’lang, ye pack o’ buzzards!” he spat out at the horses. “Git us out -o’ hyer in a hurry, or I’ll be cuttin’ loose an’ makin’ a fool o’ -myself.” - -Snap, snap went the whip about the leaders’ ears, and the four-horse -team bounded away. - -Agreeably to orders, no one looked backward; but the final words of -the scoundrelly Lawless followed them: - -“Buffalo Bill is in Sun Dance. Tell him how Captain Lawless made his -clean-up; and tell him that if he wants to follow me and my men, and -make a clean-up of his own, we’re only too anxious for him to try!” - -What those in the wagon thought was not made known. Hotchkiss, -Lonesome Pete, and Chick Billings were furious; Reginald de Bray was -quiet and filled with a strange calm; the woman was crying softly in -her hands. - -The trail made a curve at that point, to avoid a shallow offset of -Sun Dance Cañon. When the stage had got well around this curve, two -miles from the scene of the hold-up, and almost opposite it, Billings -jerked back on the bits, and brought his team to a stop. - -“Why,” cried De Bray, starting up from his seat and looking backward, -“what’s become of the little Indian, Buffalo Bill’s pard?” - -But Chick Billings was not thinking of Little Cayuse just then; nor -was Lonesome Pete, nor Hotchkiss. - -“You ornery whelp!” breathed Billings, gripping De Bray about the -shoulders, “hyer’s whar ye gits yours, an’ git it plenty! Thar’s a -rope under the seat, Pete. Lay holt o’ it, an’ reave a noose in the -end. We ain’t fur from a tree hyer, an’ I reckons we know what ter -do!” - -Without a word, the irate Pete reached under the seat. - - - - - CHAPTER XX. - - DOUBLE-CROSSED. - - -“What’s the matter with you fellows, anyhow?” asked De Bray. - -“Ye ain’t fit ter live,” said Lonesome Pete. - -“That’s right,” cut in Hotchkiss. “Ye didn’t hev the nerve ter call -Lawless’ bluff, but had ter rough things up fer the little woman back -hyer.” - -“You don’t understand the layout, my friends,” said De Bray, his eyes -twinkling and the shadow of a smile hovering about the corners of his -mouth. - -His manner was one of cool unconcern. Billings, Pete, and Hotchkiss -could not understand him, but this did not in the least tend to -placate them. There had been a mysterious note in the tenderfoot’s -manner ever since the stage had left Montegordo. Billings, Pete, and -Hotchkiss, however, were in no mood to figure out a conundrum. Taking -De Bray as they found him, he was a pretty low-down proposition. - -Pete, having brought out the rope, was engaged in making a slip-noose -in the end of it. Hotchkiss was pushing back his sleeves in a -businesslike way. Billings had firm hold of De Bray’s arm. - -At this point, the woman leaned forward and dropped a trembling hand -on Billings’ shoulder. - -“You are not going to hurt him?” she pleaded, in her soft, gentle -voice. - -“It’ll be about as painless, mum, as sich things usually aire,” said -Hotchkiss. - -“I am the cause of this,” she went on, “and I could not bear to think -that a human life has been sacrificed on my account.” - -“He sure looks human,” said Lonesome Pete, trying the slip-knot with -his hands, “although he didn’t act it, not noways.” - -“Anyhow,” spoke up De Bray, “you might put this off until we get to -Sun Dance--out of consideration for the lady’s feelings, if not for -mine.” - -“The lady won’t see a thing,” said Billings. “The tree I referred to -is out o’ sight around them rocks.” - -“I can tell you something,” pursued De Bray, “that will open your -eyes, but I don’t think it’s safe to let the secret out before we -reach Sun Dance.” - -“Thet’s a play ter gain time,” averred Hotchkiss, “an’ it won’t go -down with _us_.” - -“Your temper is hot just now,” said De Bray, “and all of you will -feel different when you give it a chance to cool.” - -“I hopes,” growled Pete, “that when I see a real lady imposed on I’ll -allers have the sand ter take her part, whether I’m in temper or out -o’ it.” - -Hotchkiss jumped from the wagon. - -“Throw him out ter me, Chick,” said he. - -“Please, please do not let this go any further,” said the woman, -stretching out her hands earnestly. “He did only what any one would -have done to save his life. What are a ring, and a locket, and two -hundred dollars compared with a human life? What you intend doing -would be a terrible thing--so terrible that I can hardly believe -you’re in earnest. For _my_ sake, spare him!” - -Hotchkiss drew his sleeve over his forehead. - -“Pussonly,” said he, “if the whelp ain’t hung, he ort ter be tarred -an’ feathered.” - -“I ain’t never goin’ ter let it be said,” ground out Chick Billings, -who noted that Hotchkiss was wavering, “that anythin’ like what jest -happened took place on a stage o’ mine an’ me never doin’ nothin’ ter -play even.” - -“I’d hate ter hev it said in Sun Dance,” said Pete, “that us fellers -allowed sich a whelp as this Easterner ter pollute the camp with his -presence--knowin’ the things about him that we do.” - -“The hangin’,” finished Billings, “will purceed. Hotchkiss, ye kin -help er not, jest as ye please.” - -“I’ll help, o’ course,” said Hotchkiss; “but it’s my natur’ allers -ter oblige er lady, when it’s possible. Sorry, mum,” he finished, -turning to the woman, “but ye see how it is.” - -Reginald de Bray threw back his head and laughed. The mirth seemed -untimely. - -“Quit it!” snorted Chick Billings. “Ye ort ter be sayin’ yer prayers, -’stead o’ laffin’.” - -“You fellows force my hand,” answered De Bray. “Take your hands off -me for a minute, Billings, so I can show you something.” - -“An’ when I let go my hands,” jeered Billings, “ye’ll make er break.” - -“Hold a gun on me, one of you,” suggested De Bray. - -Hotchkiss drew a revolver. As he leveled it, Billings released De -Bray. The latter, bending down, pulled up his trousers and drew -something from the top of his shoe. The object proved to be a roll of -bills. De Bray opened out the roll on his knee, and the eyes of those -about him began to widen. - -The bill on top of the pile was of the $1,000 variety. As De Bray -thumbed over the rest of the bills, it was seen that they were all of -the same denomination. - -“Waal, I’ll be jiggered!” muttered Billings. - -“Wouldn’t thet rattle yer spurs?” gasped Pete. - -“Thar’s money enough ter start a Fust National Bank,” commented the -astounded Hotchkiss. - -“I was told in Montegordo,” explained De Bray, “that it was a little -bit reckless for a man to carry twenty thousand dollars in cash over -the trail between there and Sun Dance. But I’ve got to get to the -camp and see Buffalo Bill, and, inasmuch as I’ve usually been able to -take care of myself, I thought I’d risk it. - -“I don’t think any of us expected to meet highwaymen. When Lonesome -Pete mentioned the subject, though, I thought it a good chance to -take time by the forelock, as the saying is, and make myself secure -against a possible surprise. So I asked the lady”--here he turned -with one of his rosy smiles toward the woman in the back seat--“to -hide my hundred in her bonnet, along with her own. - -“I don’t think there’s the least doubt,” he went on, “but that the -little trick saved my twenty thousand for me. As soon as we get to -Sun Dance I shall reimburse the lady for the money and jewelry she -lost. All I can say at the present time is that----” - -De Bray stopped suddenly. The attention of every one in the -mountain-wagon was focused upon De Bray and his pile of bills. -Abruptly a movement of swift feet was heard, followed by a frightened -jump on the part of the leaders of the team. - -On the instant all eyes were lifted. A masked man, with a rifle slung -from his shoulders by a strap, was holding the leaders by the bits. -Beside the masked man stood Captain Lawless, he having reappeared on -that part of the trail as if by magic. Six masked men, with rifles at -their shoulders, had sprung up around the stage as though out of the -very ground. - -“Sorry to bother you again,” said Lawless, “but I changed my plans -somewhat when I saw that gold locket, and I and my men have scrambled -across the arm of the cañon. If you hadn’t stopped here so long, -we shouldn’t have been able to overtake you. Lucky thing we did, -as twenty thousand is something of a haul. Right here is where you -fellows are going to get the double-cross.” - -This second surprise was even more telling than the first had been. -Billings and the rest had not dreamed of encountering Lawless and his -gang a second time. It is popularly supposed that lightning never -strikes twice in the same place, yet here was proof to the contrary. - -What was there about the woman’s locket to bring the road-agent and -his rascally followers across the arm of the cañon? Whatever it was, -the change in Lawless’ plan had worked out badly for De Bray. De Bray -had his $20,000 on his knee, and no subterfuge could now avail to -save the funds. - -Billings, Pete, and Hotchkiss realized that they themselves were to -blame. If they had not halted so long on the road for the purpose -of palavering with De Bray, and if they had not forced him to an -explanation, his money might have been saved. - -Hotchkiss had his revolver in his hand. The hand had dropped at his -side, and he was pondering the advisability of resistance. There were -eight of the road-agents--eight against three, and if resistance was -offered, the fight which followed would surely imperil the woman. -Hotchkiss, brave though he was, hesitated to do anything that would -endanger one of the gentler sex. - -Lawless came closer to De Bray. - -“For a tenderfoot,” said Lawless, “you’re a fine specimen of a fox; -but here’s where I call you. Fork over!” - -He held out his hand. - -“Bound to take what I’ve got, are you?” queried De Bray. - -His tone was noticeably cool and his manner steady. - -“The pickings were slim before,” flung back Lawless. “This will be a -raise worth while, and----” - -At that instant something happened. Dropping the money into the -bottom of the stage, like lightning De Bray flung himself across the -forward wheel, gripped Lawless by the throat, and bore him to the -ground. - -For an Easterner, inexperienced in Western ways, Reginald de Bray -showed an abnormal amount of pluck and rough-and-ready incentive. - -Pete, Billings, and Hotchkiss were not slow in following up his -attack. - -Hotchkiss, already on the ground, sprang to the side of the wagon and -pushed the woman into the bottom of the box. - -“Down!” he cried, and no sooner had he placed the woman in -comparative safety than the rifles of the road-agents began to talk. - -Bullets slapped into the side of the wagon, sang through the air, and -in other ways made their presence disagreeably apparent. - -Lonesome Pete fired his six-shooter, and one of the masked men -dropped his rifle and fell face-downward; before he could fire again, -a piece of lead caught him in the shoulder and flung him down -against the dashboard, dazed, helpless, and out of the fight. - -Billings, plying his whip frantically, tried to drive the leaders -over the man at their heads. The robber, although lifted from his -feet with every jump of the frightened horses, managed to keep his -hold. - -One of the robbers rushed to the spot where De Bray was struggling -with the leader of the gang, and fetched the Easterner a blow with -the stock of his gun. De Bray pitched forward to the ground, and lay -silent. - -Lawless jumped to his feet. A bullet from Hotchkiss’ revolver whipped -past his ear and struck the man at the horses’ heads. The man let go -his hold with a wild yell, and the four-horse team would have sped -onward but for Lawless. - -The leader of the gang in no uncertain way demonstrated his prowess. -A bullet from one of his weapons tore its way through Hotchkiss’ arm, -and sent the miner reeling backward against the mountain-wagon. - -The wagon was already leaping over the ground, and Hotchkiss slid -from the revolving rear wheel and sprawled full length across the -trail. - -Quick as thought, Lawless made a flying jump for the driver’s seat, -and, as luck would have it, gained a position at Billings’ side. - -A blow from the butt of his revolver sent Billings down on the -crouching form of Lonesome Pete, and Lawless caught the lines as they -were flickering over the dashboard. - -Throwing himself back on the bits with all his strength, the leader -of the robbers brought the frantic horses to a halt. - -The short, sharp battle was practically over. Numbers had won. De -Bray was still lying unconscious on the ground; Hotchkiss was lifting -himself on his uninjured arm, and staring at his revolver, which lay -at a distance from him; Pete and Billings were huddled against the -dashboard, and four masked men had their rifles leveled to prevent -any further act of resistance. - -“Take the horses’ heads, one of you!” yelled Lawless. “No more -shooting; we’ve got this little game right where we want it. -The woman has fainted. Two of you take her and carry her to the -horses--one of you is enough to keep track of this bunch.” - -While two of the scoundrels, swinging their rifles over their -shoulders, advanced and lifted the woman from the place where -Hotchkiss had put her, another went to the heads of the plunging -leaders. - -The minute the man had the leaders well in hand, Lawless bent down, -collected the scattered bills, and stuffed them into his pocket. - -The woman, limp and unconscious, was carried out of sight. - -Lawless, grabbing Billings by the collar and jerking him upright, -stared venomously into his eyes. - -“See what’s happened!” growled Lawless, “and you have only yourselves -to blame. Here’s something else for you to tell Buffalo Bill--and -it’s something more to make him take my trail and try for a clean-up. -That’s what I want. I’m ready for the king of scouts, and we’ll see -how he comes out. Meanwhile, here’s something for you to deliver to -Gentleman Jim, in Sun Dance--a locket, a ring, and a note. He’ll -understand. Tell him that Lawless never forgets his debts.” - -By then, the two men who had carried away the woman reappeared. They -picked up the fallen desperado and likewise bore him out of sight -among the boulders. - -Leaping down from the wagon, Lawless walked quickly to the man who -had been wounded by Hotchkiss. The fellow was sitting up at the -trailside. Lawless helped him to his feet and supported him toward -the rocks. - -“That will do,” he called to the man with the gun and to the man who -was holding the horses. “Now for a quick getaway.” - -By then, Chick Billings was able to take the lines. When the horses -were released, he held them where they were, and watched the robbers -vanish. - -Following this, Chick Billings swore, easing his pent-up feelings -after the manner of stage-drivers generally. - -“Pete!” he called. - -“Hyer,” answered Pete. - -“Bad hurt?” - -“Nicked in the shoulder.” - -“Waal, brace up, pard. We got ter git out o’ this. The quicker we git -ter Sun Dance an’ set a possé on the track o’ these hyer scoundrels, -the more show o’ success the possé’ll hev. I say, Hotchkiss!” - -“Coming,” replied the miner, getting to his feet and picking up his -revolver. “Thet was brisk, while it lasted,” he said grimly, walking -toward De Bray. - -“If thar’d been one or two more o’ us,” mourned Pete, “we might hev -had a diff’rent story ter tell in Sun Dance. How’s De Bray?” - -“I’ll do,” De Bray himself answered, climbing slowly to his feet and -picking up his hat. “I--I never thought the butt of a musket was so -hard,” and he put both hands to the back of his head. - -“Yer money is gone, De Bray,” announced Billings. - -“So I supposed,” was the calm rejoinder. - -“Look hyer,” cried Lonesome Pete, wincing with the pain of his wound, -but unable to repress his curiosity, “ye’re no tenderfoot. That dodge -ye worked, an’ the way ye went fer Lawless, proves thet.” - -“Maybe I’m not a tenderfoot,” answered De Bray; “but that’s all you -lads need to know. How did Lawless and his gang manage to overhaul us -here?” - -“They come across the arm o’ the gulch,” explained Billings. “The -stage-trail winds around the arm, an’ they made a short cut.” - -“But why? My brain isn’t just as clear as it might be, and I can’t -figure it out.” - -“None o’ the rest o’ us kin figger it out, either,” said Hotchkiss. -“Somethin’ about thet locket sent Lawless arter us ag’in--an’ arter -the woman.” - -“The woman?” queried De Bray, startled. - -“Yep; the villains took her away.” - -“It’s a big mystery,” put in Billings. “Lawless left a note, the -ring, an’ the locket fer me ter take ter Gentleman Jim.” - -“Who’s Gentleman Jim?” asked De Bray. - -“He’s erbout the only squar’ gambler I knows anythin’ erbout. He -hangs out in Sun Dance, an’ is a friend o’ Buffler Bill’s.” - -“They came back to get the woman,” mused De Bray, “and they got here -just in time to see me showing you fellows all that money.” - -“We’re some ter blame, I reckon,” said Hotchkiss. “If we hadn’t -stopped hyer as long as we did, roughin’ things up with you, this -wouldn’t hev happened. It give Lawless an’ his outfit a chance ter -come up with us ag’in.” - -“I can’t blame you,” answered De Bray; “it certainly seemed pretty -low-down, the way I acted. The thing looked wrong, but needed an -explanation to set it right. The quicker we get to Sun Dance, the -better.” - -“Right ye aire,” seconded Pete. “Climb in, you two, an’ we’ll vamose.” - -De Bray and Hotchkiss got into the wagon and took the second seat. - -“I don’t reckon it ’u’d do us any good ter try ter see whar thet gang -went with ther woman, hey?” said Pete. - -“Thar ain’t any o’ us in shape ter foller the whelps,” answered -Hotchkiss. “We’ll git ter Sun Dance an’ lay the hull play before -Buffler Bill. He’ll know what ter do if any one will.” - -“You _bet_!” emphasized Pete. - -“Besides,” struck in Billings, as he set the horses to a gallop, “one -o’ Buffler Bill’s pards is somehow mixed up in this.” - -“Meanin’ Little Cayuse?” asked Pete. - -“Who else?” returned Billings. - -“Blame’ queer whar thet kid went ter, all of a sudden. He must hev -got out o’ the wagon before Lawless an’ his gang come down on us, -thet fust time. Anyways, it seems sure Lawless didn’t see him.” - -“Maybe he was scared,” hazarded De Bray. - -“Him? Scared?” Pete threw back his head and laughed huskily. “Why, -De Bray, thet leetle Piute is skeer-proof. More’n likely he got an -idee in his heathen mind, an’ laid out ter kerry it through. He’ll be -heerd of, if I’m any prophet.” - -“Well,” muttered De Bray, “I’m out twenty thousand, but I’d say -good-by to the money with pleasure if we could only have that little -lady back in this wagon with us.” - -“I’d have stopped a bullet with my other arm for that,” put in -Hotchkiss. - -“Too bloomin’ bad!” growled Pete, trying to tie up his shoulder with -a handkerchief. “Whyever did he want ter take the woman away with -him, this hyer whelp of a Lawless? He wasn’t figgerin’ on thet the -fust time.” - -“Thet locket had everythin’ ter do with it,” said Billings. - -“That letter you’re to take to Gentleman Jim may give us a clue to -the scoundrel’s actions,” suggested De Bray. - -“Thet’s what I’m hopin’,” remarked Hotchkiss. - -“You say this Gentleman Jim is a square gambler, and a friend of the -scout’s?” - -“Yes. He got mixed up with ther scout in the matter o’ the Forty -Thieves Mine, an’ it was Lawless as done the mixin’. At fust, it -seems, Lawless trusted Gentleman Jim; an’ then, bekase Gentleman Jim -did ther squar’ thing, Lawless got a grudge at him. Runnin’ off ther -woman has somethin’ ter do with thet grudge, an’ I’ll bet money on -it.” - -“We’ll know more,” spoke up De Bray, through his clenched teeth, -“before we’re many hours older.” - -And in this De Bray was right. - - - - - CHAPTER XXI. - - BUFFALO BILL AND GENTLEMAN JIM. - - -Unaware of the exciting events transpiring on the Montegordo trail, -the little adobe camp of Sun Dance lay sweltering in peaceful quiet -on its “flat” half-way up the wall of Sun Dance Cañon. - -In front of the Lucky Strike Hotel Spangler was dozing in the shade, -wondering, whenever he opened his drowsy eyes and had a lucid -thought, why in Sam Hill the stage did not show up. - -Old Nomad and Wild Bill were playing a game of seven-up in the room -of the Lucky Strike, which was called, by virtue of its function, the -“office.” - -Dell Dauntless was in a room off the office, reading a book to -Wah-coo-tah, who was sitting up in a chair, blanketed and pillowed. - -In Gentleman Jim’s private room in the Alcazar the scout and the -gambler were talking. - -As a rule, the king of scouts had no more use for a gambler than he -had for any other robber, but there was something about the quiet, -polished Gentleman Jim, and his reputation for “squareness,” that -attracted the scout. Then, too, Gentleman Jim was a good deal of a -mystery, and there is always something attractive about a mystery. - -Gentleman Jim had a “past,” but, up to that moment, he had never -spoken to any one about it. The scout, it may be observed, was with -the other at the gambler’s own request. Evidently, Jim had something -on his mind of which he wished to relieve himself. - -The two men had lighted cigars, and were smoking as they talked. - -“It’s history now, Buffalo Bill,” the gambler was saying, “how -Lawless sent to me a deed for the Forty Thieves Mine, executed in -your name, with the understanding that the mine was to be yours if -you went out to it and remained for three consecutive days and nights -in its shaft and underground workings; it’s history, too, how you -went there, fell into a trap Lawless had set for you, and were only -saved from death by Wah-coo-tah; and it’s history how Lawless and his -men escaped, and are now at large, still laying their traps to get -the best of you--and me.” - -“Laying their traps to get the best of _you_?” repeated the scout, -puzzled. “I don’t understand it that way. What has Lawless got -against you? Didn’t he send that deed to you, trusting you with it, -and telling you to turn it over to me as soon as I had remained in -the mine for the three days and nights?” - -“That is why he has taken a grudge against me--for giving you the -deed.” - -“You only carried out his instructions.” - -“I know that; but there is something you do not know, Buffalo Bill, -and I have brought you here to tell you about it. You thought Lawless -had been seriously, perhaps mortally, wounded, at the time you and -your pards escaped from the mine?” - -The scout nodded. - -“Well, I don’t think he was even severely wounded. At any rate, -while you were in the mine, staying out the three days and nights, I -received a letter from Lawless.” - -“A letter?” echoed the scout. “Why didn’t you tell me about that -before, Gentleman Jim?” - -“It was a threatening letter, and I didn’t want to bother you with -it. Lawless, it appears, had gigged back on his proposition. He said -you had gone to the mine, and you had not stayed there for the length -of time he had specified. That it had not been his intention to give -you two trials, and that, consequently, when you went back to the -mine the second time, and stayed out the required three days, you -were not fulfilling your part of the contract. Of course, it was only -a quibble. Lawless had seen that he had failed to play even with you, -and that he was going to lose the mine. In his letter to me, he said -that if I did not leave the deed on a black boulder at the foot of -Medicine Bluff on the night the letter reached my hands, he would put -me on his blacklist along with you, and deal with me accordingly.” A -slight smile curled the gambler’s lips. “I was not intimidated. When -you had stayed in the mine the length of time agreed on, I gave you -the deed; you made out another deed to Wah-coo-tah Lawless, and the -Forty Thieves now stands, in the recorder’s office at Montegordo, in -the name of Wah-coo-tah. It is out of Lawless’ hands.” - -“The mine should belong to Wah-coo-tah,” said the scout, “and you did -exactly right, Gentleman Jim. Lawless is a contemptible scoundrel, -with no more heart in him than a timber-wolf. In losing the mine, he -got his come-up-with for that part of his trickery.” - -“I am not afraid of Lawless. But what is Wah-coo-tah going to do with -the mine, Buffalo Bill? She knows no more about mining than a babe in -arms.” - -“I have foreseen that part of the difficulty,” the scout returned. -“A friend of mine in Denver, by the name of Reginald de Bray----” - -“Reginald de Bray!” laughed Gentleman Jim. “That sounds as though -there wasn’t much of a man back of it.” - -“Exactly; and the name has fooled more people than I know how to tell -about. De Bray looks the part, too. He is a mining-man, however, -and one in a thousand. I have interested him in the Forty Thieves, -and have advised Wah-coo-tah to sell him a half-interest for twenty -thousand dollars, and then to let De Bray go ahead and develop the -property. He’ll do it, and give Wah-coo-tah every cent that is coming -to her. My last advices from De Bray assured me that he would be here -on the afternoon stage. I sent Little Cayuse to Montegordo to see if -he reached there, and, if he did not, to forward a telegram to him, -telling him to hurry. Little Cayuse will also come in on the stage. - -“Whenever De Bray travels, he takes it upon himself to act as -guileless as he looks, and as his name suggests him to be. This is a -whim of his, but he turns it to good account, now and again. He’ll -be here, I’m sure, and then the matter of the Forty Thieves Mine can -be wound up, and I and my pards can take to the trail and finish our -affair with Lawless.” - -“You’re going to run Lawless to earth?” - -“I am; and I shall not leave this part of the country until I have -done so.” - -Gentleman Jim got up and took a thoughtful turn about the room. The -scout watched him curiously. Suddenly the gambler came to a halt in -front of the scout. - -“Buffalo Bill,” said he, “I presume you are aware that all gamblers -are more or less superstitious and given to premonitions. I have a -premonition that there is something on the cards for me, important -if not vital. What it is I do not know, but events are forming which -will make or mar me. If the worst happens, I have ten thousand -dollars in the First National at Montegordo--honest money, not even -won by the cards in honest games--and this I want you to hold in -trust. I have drawn a check for the amount in your name; if need -arise, you will find the check here.” - -Gentleman Jim stepped to his desk, and pulled out a concealed drawer. -The scout nodded, and the gambler closed the drawer. - -“I am to hold the money in trust--for whom?” Buffalo Bill asked. - -A sad look crossed the gambler’s face. - -“For the only woman I ever loved,” he answered, sinking into a chair; -“for my wife, Alice Brisco, if she is living.” - -“How am I to find her?” - -“We must leave that to fate,” Gentleman Jim answered, with a -foreboding shake of the head. “All I know about Alice you will find -in that drawer, with the check. If the money is never claimed, it is -to be yours.” - -“You’re gloomy to-day, old man,” said Buffalo Bill. “This talk of -premonitions is all foolishness.” - -“Not in this case,” asserted the gambler, with vehemence. “Something, -for good or ill, is going to happen to me and make a decided change -in my affairs. If the worst comes, you are the one man I know whom I -can trust.” - -Seeing that Gentleman Jim was deeply impressed by his forebodings, -the scout remained silent. For a long time they sat, smoking and -gazing thoughtfully into the wreathes of vapor that floated about -them. - -“What a fool a man can sometimes make of himself!” the gambler -exclaimed abruptly. “Five years ago I was a physician, in an Eastern -city, with a large practise, a loving wife, a happy home--everything -a man could need to have comfort and make life a success. The -gambling fever took hold of me--perhaps it was in my blood, and had -to come out. Be that as it may, I neglected my practise for the -cards, losing--losing all the time--money, friends, reputation. My -wife’s people heard how I was going, and took Alice away from me. I -promised to do better, and she came back. Once more I went to the -dogs, and she left me for good. Getting together the remnants of my -fortune, I sent the pitiable sum to Alice, then I came West and made -gambling my profession. I have tried to be square, and have been -fairly successful. But what is it all worth, Buffalo Bill, compared -to the love and companionship of a woman? There is no happiness for -me, and never has been since I cut away from every tie that made life -worth living.” - -The gambler, stirred by some slumbering impulse, got up and once more -began pacing the room. - -“This,” he went on, “is what the cards have done for me. They have -robbed me of everything that made existence worth while, and here -I am in Sun Dance, an outcast, a pariah, a human bird of prey that -wrings the wherewithal to live from the honest toil of others. -I--I----” - -He stopped, one clenched hand lifted in air. The hand dropped -nervelessly, and he broke off with a bitter laugh. - -“What’s the use of crying over spilled milk?” he added. “I have made -my game, and I must play it through. What I have said, Buffalo Bill, -is between ourselves. No other man has ever heard it from my lips -before--and I speak now because I trust you.” - -“Your trust, Gentleman Jim,” returned the scout, with feeling, “shall -not be betrayed.” - -The gambler started to say something more, then suddenly wheeled -about and peered through a window. - -“By Jove!” he exclaimed, startled. “The stage is coming into camp, -and it looks as though they had had trouble of some kind.” - -“Is there a stranger aboard?” inquired the scout, starting up. - -“Yes.” - -“Ah! That will be De Bray. And Little Cayuse?” - -“I can’t see him.” - -The scout’s brow clouded. - -“His orders were to come in with to-day’s stage,” said he, “and -Little Cayuse never disobeys orders. You’re right, Jim, something -surely has gone wrong.” - -With that, the scout hurried from the room, through the deserted -Alcazar and out into the street, Gentleman Jim following curiously. - - - - - CHAPTER XXII. - - LETTER, RING, AND LOCKET. - - -The sides of the mountain-wagon were splintered in several places, -and the only one of the wagon’s four passengers who did not show any -visible signs of wear and tear was the mild-faced stranger who sat in -front with Chick Billings. - -Billings had bound a handkerchief around his head, over the bruise -made by the butt of Lawless’ revolver, and Hotchkiss wore a bandage -around his arm, while Pete was similarly decorated at the shoulder. - -Buffalo Bill and Gentleman Jim appeared to be the only two who had -glimpsed the stage. Spangler dozed in front of the hotel, and Wild -Bill and Nomad shuffled, and dealt and played, oblivious of the fact -that the stage was coming, and that it had met with any trouble. - -“Buffler Bill, by hokey!” cried Chick Billings. - -“Ye’re the feller we’re lookin’ fer!” chimed in Lonesome Pete. - -“You bet y’u!” added Hotchkiss. - -The moment Billings drew to a halt, De Bray tumbled over the wheel -and grabbed the scout’s welcoming hand. - -“Hello, Cody!” cried the Denver man. “You’re looking husky as ever.” - -“Feeling that way,” answered the scout, with a smile. “You appear to -stack up pretty well, De Bray.” - -“Then I stack up a whole lot better than I feel. I’ve got a lump on -the back of my head as big as your fist, and a hole in my pocket as -big as a tunnel.” - -“A hole in your pocket?” - -“It was big enough for twenty thousand to slip through.” - -“Why--why, I thought ye didn’t know Buffler Bill?” gasped Lonesome -Pete. - -“He was sayin’,” added Hotchkiss, “that he wanted Buffler Bill ter -take his little hand an’ show him the sights. Woof! Darned if he -ain’t deceived us all around.” - -“What happened to you fellows, anyhow?” asked the scout. “It’s a -clear case that something went wrong. Did the stage slip over the rim -of the cañon?” - -“Worse’n thet,” said Chick Billings. “We met Lawless an’ his gang -twicet.” - -“Fust time wasn’t so bad,” added Pete, one hand wandering to his -injured shoulder; “but the second time--wow! Say, thar was fireworks, -ground-an’-lofty tumblin’, an’ a hull lot o’ other trimmin’s.” - -“Do you mean to say you’ve been through a hold-up?” demanded Buffalo -Bill, his brow clouding, “and that Lawless was back of it?” - -“He wasn’t back o’ it, Buffler Bill,” said Pete, “not as any one -could notice. He was right up front, mighty conspickerous.” - -“Did he appear to be injured in any way?” - -“Injured? Him? Waal, not so’s ter interfere with his moving about. He -was mighty soople; an’ the way he got around was a caution. I know -what ye’re thinkin’, Buffler Bill. Ye’re thinkin’ how Hank Blake, -from Pass Dure Cañon, allowed he’d notched Lawless, mebby fer keeps. -But the whelp didn’t show any signs. He seemed as well as ever, an’ -about twicet as active.” - -“This is a pretty layout,” muttered Buffalo Bill. “How many men were -with Lawless?” - -“Seven; but thar ain’t so many, by one,” came from Hotchkiss. “Pete -dropped one of ’em, an’ I put another on the retired list.” - -“An’ he sent word ter you, Buffler,” spoke up Pete; “Lawless did. He -said ye was ter be told he’d made er clean-up, an’ thet he was achin’ -ter hev you trail arter him an’ his gang an’ try ter make a clean-up -o’ yer own.” - -“Then he’ll get what he wants,” said the scout grimly. - -“Ain’t got so many passengers as we left Montegordo with by two,” -mourned Billings. - -“How’s that?” the scout asked quickly. “I was expecting Cayuse back -on this stage, and----” - -“Waal, he left ’Gordo with the stage, all right, an’ he was roostin’ -on ther back seat with the mail an’ ther luggage up to jest afore -we hit Lawless fer the fust time. About then ther leetle Piute -disappeared.” - -“Did Lawless or his men see him, do you know?” - -“I reckon not; Cayuse was gone when ther gang come down on us.” - -The scout’s face cleared. - -“The boy’s all right,” said he; “he scented trouble, and ten to one -he’s trailing the gang. We’ll hear from him. But you spoke of two -passengers. Who was the other?” - -“T’other was a woman----” - -“A woman!” exclaimed both the scout and Gentleman Jim, becoming -mightily interested. - -“Exactly,” said Billings. - -“Did the woman disappear with Little Cayuse?” asked the scout. - -“Nary, she didn’t. I wisht it had been thet away, but it wasn’t. -Lawless had her kerried off, second time he come down on us.” - -“The scoundrel!” muttered the scout between his teeth, his eyes -flashing. “What was the woman’s name?” - -“She didn’t say what her name was.” - -“Why was she coming to Sun Dance?” - -“Lookin’ fer a man, I think, jedgin’ from somethin’ she said; an’ I -reckon, also, jedgin’ from somethin’ else she said, thet she wasn’t -more’n half-expectin’ ter find the man.” - -“Well,” said the scout briskly, “tell us the whole of this, and tell -it quick. You, Hotchkiss. Time is scarce, and we want the important -points.” - -Hotchkiss jumped into the recital, and carried it through quickly. -What made the greatest impression on the scout and the gambler was -that part of the story which had to do with the ring and the locket. - -“I’ll take them, and the letter,” said Gentleman Jim, stretching out -his hand. - -Billings handed him the locket. At the mere sight of it Gentleman -Jim’s face went pallid. Opening it quickly, he stared with glassy -eyes at two pictures the locket revealed, a low groan dropped from -his lips, and he staggered back. - -“What is it, Jim?” asked the scout, stepping toward the gambler. - -Gentleman Jim did not reply. Apparently beside himself, he did not -wait for the note and the ring, but turned about unsteadily and -reeled into the Alcazar. - -Those in the buckboard, and around it, stared after him. - -“I never seen Gentleman Jim in sich a takin’ as thet afore,” mumbled -Chick Billings. - -“What ails him, anyways?” asked Pete. - -“Mebby the woman was some kin o’ his,” suggested Hotchkiss. - -“Possibly,” answered the scout shortly. “Give me the ring and the -note; and I’ll take them to him in a few moments.” - -Billings tendered the remaining two articles to the scout, and he -dropped them into his pocket. - -“Drive on to the post-office and the hotel, Billings,” went on the -scout. “Wild Bill and Nomad are at the hotel--tell them just what you -have told me, and say that I want them to get our horses ready for -the trail. It’s the war-path for us, and _muy pronto_. First, though, -I must have a talk with Gentleman Jim. This note may contain clues of -some value. De Bray,” he added, to the Denver man, “you’re playing in -hard luck----” - -“That wasn’t all of my pile, though,” cut in De Bray; “remember, I’m -still in on the deal as soon as I can get more dinero from home.” - -“We’ll talk of that later. Go on to the hotel and introduce yourself -to my pards there. I’ll see you in a few minutes.” - -The stage trundled on. De Bray walking beside it, and the scout -hurried into the Alcazar, through the big, deserted gambling-hall to -the door of Gentleman Jim’s private room. - -The door was open. Through it he could see the gambler, seated at -his desk. His head was bowed in his arms, and the locket lay open in -front of him. - -It was hardly a time to intrude on a man, unnerved by grief as the -gambler was at that moment, but other matters connected with Lawless -were pressing. - -The scout entered the room and passed to the gambler’s side. - -“Jim!” - -The gambler locked up with a start. - -“I’m glad you came, Cody,” said he, in a hoarse voice. “See, here.” -He picked up the locket. It contained two pictures, one of a -fair-faced woman and the other plainly that of Gentleman Jim himself. -“This--this,” faltered the gambler, “belonged to Alice! It was she -whom those scoundrels stole away--and to play even with me on account -of that mine!” - -“We’ll talk of that later, Jim,” said the scout, laying the ring -on the table and dropping the note beside it. “There are the other -two things Billings brought. Let’s read the note. It may contain -something of importance.” - -Although the note was the main thing in Buffalo Bill’s mind, and -the contents of it what he wanted to get at as quickly as possible, -yet he could not show impatience when Gentleman Jim picked up the -wedding-ring first. - -“This was Alice’s,” said he, in a low voice. “I gave it to her--it -seems as though that was in another life and in another world. -Look!”--and he held up the gold band and indicated some tiny -lettering on the inside--“there’s my name and hers--‘James to Alice,’ -and the date. Sad memories, Buffalo Bill,” said he, with a long sigh, -dropping the ring beside the locket. - -“She must have been coming here to you,” said the scout. - -“Yes--coming to me!” Gentleman Jim’s eyes flashed murderously. “And -now to have Lawless strike such a blow at my happiness, to---- But -I’ll find her! By Heaven, I’ll follow that scoundrel to the ends of -earth, if necessary, and get Alice away from him. Then I’ll make him -pay--pay to the uttermost.” - -“That’s the way to talk, Gentleman Jim,” approved the scout. “I -intend to take the trail just as soon as we can get our plans into -working shape. The note may guide us. Read it.” - -Gentleman Jim picked up the note and read it aloud. - - “‘GENTLEMAN JIM, Sun Dance. - - “‘You have probably heard, by now, how I held up the stage. I took - from your wife what money she had, and all her jewelry--which - didn’t amount to much. Of course, until I saw your picture in - the locket, I hadn’t any idea the woman was your wife. Having - discovered this, my scheme is laid to take her away from the stage - and hold her until a deed, properly executed to me by Wah-coo-tah - Lawless, for the Forty Thieves Mine, is left on the black boulder - at Medicine Bluff. The girl, under care of Buffalo Bill’s girl - pard, I understand is getting well, there in Sun Dance. You can - have the deed executed at once, and leave it for me at midnight, - to-night, at the place stated. On the day following, your wife will - be given a horse and sent into camp. If you do not leave the deed, - as stated, you will never see your wife again. This is the last - call. - - “‘CAPTAIN LAWLESS.’” - -“The inhuman brute!” broke from the scout’s lips. - -“You understand the situation, Buffalo Bill?” asked the gambler. “I -am so overcome by what has happened that I am hardly able to think or -plan. But your head is clear. Put yourself in my place, then do for -me as you would do for yourself.” - -“In the first place,” said the scout, after a few moments’ thought, -“Lawless is not a man to be trusted, anyway we plan.” - -“I know that,” breathed Gentleman Jim. - -“Even if you allowed him to intimidate you, and even if Wah-coo-tah -would give a deed, if the document was taken to Medicine Bluff -to-night, you have no assurance that you could trust Lawless to send -your wife here to-morrow.” - -“I understand.” - -“It seems to me, then,” pursued the scout, “that the one thing to do -is to take Lawless’ trail at the earliest possible moment.” - -“Where shall we pick it up?” - -“At the place where the trail curves around the arm of the gulch.” - -“But how shall we follow the trail when we once find it? Lawless is -cunning. He will blind his course.” - -“Little Cayuse will help us.” - -“Ah! I had forgotten Little Cayuse. You think the boy is on the track -of the gang?” - -“I am as sure of that as I am that I stand here this minute. It is -just like Cayuse. He scented trouble before the first hold-up, and he -got out of the stage before the thieves saw him. It’s a safe bet that -he’s on the track of Lawless right now.” - -“I believe you are right,” mused the gambler. “Cayuse is our one -hope. If he cannot help us find Lawless, no one and nothing else can. -The scoundrel has laid other plans to get even with you, Buffalo -Bill, and he will be wary in carrying them out. He will profit -by past experience, and will make sure he has you safe before he -strikes.” - -“He is not counting on Little Cayuse,” said the scout grimly, “and we -are. The boy has never yet failed me.” - -“Lawless is eager for you to follow him,” pursued the gambler; “that -was the word he sent by Billings.” - -“That was only bluster,” said the scout lightly. “Lawless’ weak point -is bluster. He lays clever plans, but he usually overreaches himself. -Offering to give me the Forty Thieves Mine if I would stay in it for -three days and nights is only a sample of his harebrained schemes.” - -“What a cur the scoundrel must be,” growled Gentleman Jim, “to take -such trinkets from a woman!” - -“He was no more of a cur then than he was when he shot his own -daughter,” said the scout. - -“I suppose not, but what has happened to-day hits me nearer home. If -I can get Alice back----” - -“You can,” said the scout, with quiet confidence. - -“Well, when I do, I shall change my whole course of life. I shall -never touch another card as long as I live. Alice and I will go back -East, and I will return to my old profession and make another name -for myself. I am only forty-five----” - -“Just in your prime, Gentleman Jim!” interposed the scout heartily. - -“Not too old to carve out another place for myself, do you think?” - -“Certainly not!” and the scout reached over and caught his friend’s -hand in a hearty grip. “You have too good stuff in you to waste your -talents on cards and the green table.” - -“Well, let us think for a little.” The gambler settled back in his -chair. “The first hold-up gave Lawless the ring and the locket. He -saw my picture in the locket, and my first name in the ring. From -that it was easy for him to figure out that Alice was my wife, and -that she was going to me at Sun Dance. By cutting across the arm -of the gulch, he and his men could overtake the stage. On the way, -Lawless wrote that note. When he came up with the stage, he found -those aboard wrangling over what they were going to do to your -friend, De Bray.” - -“They had got over wrangling, I reckon,” said the scout. “De Bray had -shown them twenty one-thousand-dollar bills, and had explained his -actions. De Bray’s intentions were all right, and he would have won -out, and nothing would have happened, if Billings hadn’t insisted on -stopping the stage. As it is, Mrs. Brisco is missing, and so is De -Bray’s twenty thousand, along with a little more money belonging to -Pete and Hotchkiss. This ‘clean-up’ of mine, as Lawless has referred -to it, is going to be comprehensive.” The scout’s eyes flashed -resolutely. “We are not only going to rescue Mrs. Brisco, but we are -also going to get back De Bray’s money, and wind up the career of -Lawless into the bargain.” - -Gentleman Jim, suddenly alert and feverishly eager, bounded to his -feet. - -“When do we start?” he asked. - -“As soon as we can get ready. I believe my old pard must be getting -the horses under saddle now.” - -“I’ll be ready by the time you are,” said the gambler. - -Opening the secret drawer, he started to put the locket and the ring -into it; then, changing his mind, he put only the ring into the -drawer, and placed the locket in an inside pocket of his coat. - -“Great events,” said Buffalo Bill, “sometimes hang upon trifling -incidents.” - -He had reference to Lawless’ getting the locket, looking at the -pictures inside, and suddenly making up his mind to overhaul the -stage and spirit away the gambler’s wife. - -At the same time, the placing of the locket in his breast pocket by -Gentleman Jim, though a trifling incident, was destined to have a -vital bearing on the trend of the gambler’s affairs. - -Leaving Gentleman Jim to make his preparations, the scout hurried out -of the Alcazar and off down the street toward the Lucky Strike Hotel. - -Spangler was wabbling excitedly about in front of his hostelry, -spluttering his ideas and opinions regarding the double hold-up to -Dell Dauntless. At sight of the scout, the girl ran toward him, her -eyes sparkling. - -“At last, pard,” she cried, “your chance has come to bring things to -a finish in this matter of Captain Lawless.” - -“Right you are, Dell,” he answered: “and the chance has come somewhat -before I had expected it.” - -“Of course I’m going with you,” said Dell. - -“Who will stay with Wah-coo-tah?” - -“She says she can take care of herself now, and wants me to go.” - -“You understand don’t you, Dell, that Lawless expects us to follow -him, and that he has probably prepared another of his ingenious traps -for us?” - -“I understand; but this trap, whatever it is, will fail, just as that -other one did at the mine.” - -“Of course! But I think I would rather you stayed here. We have men -enough, you know.” - -“This is the last time I shall ever ride with you, pard,” said -Dell. “I am going back to Arizona, you know, as soon as Lawless is -captured. You’re going to let me go, aren’t you? For the last time?” - -Dell’s intention of returning to Arizona had been talked over among -the pards for several days. Dell’s ranch, the “Double D,” was needing -her, and she and the rest of the pards were near the time when their -trails forked. Under those conditions, the scout could not deny the -girl her wish. - -“All right, Dell,” said Buffalo Bill, “but I hope this ride will not -be the last we have together.” - -“I thought it would be all right,” said Dell, “so I asked Nomad and -Wild Bill to bring up Silver Heels with the rest of the horses.” - -Dell ran into the hotel to make ready, and just as the scout was -turning away he saw a fog of dust down the street. Two riders soon -broke out of the fog, and had evidently ridden into camp from the -upper rim of the cañon. - -One of the riders was Hank Tenny, and the other was a Cheyenne Indian. - -Both horsemen drew to a halt in front of Buffalo Bill. - -“What’s to pay, Hank?” queried Buffalo Bill, staring at Tenny’s face -keenly. “Got something up your sleeve?” - -“Not me, Buffler,” replied Tenny, “but the red has.” He turned to the -Cheyenne. “Out with it, Hawk,” said he. “Here’s the scout, the feller -ye was wantin’ ter find.” - -The Indian leaned forward from the back of his horse, jerked a strip -of birch-bark from his girdle, and thrust it into the scout’s hand. - -“Little Cayuse send um,” said he. “Me heap good Cheyenne, all same -friend Little Cayuse, Buff’ Bill. Me bring um.” - - - - - CHAPTER XXIII. - - PICTURE-WRITING. - - -As renegade Cheyennes had been helping Lawless in his criminal work, -Buffalo Bill was not taking offhand this Indian’s word that he was a -friend. - -“You know Little Cayuse?” queried the scout. - -“Wuh!” answered the Cheyenne; “me know um for long time.” - -“When did he give you this?” The scout held up the piece of -birch-bark. - -The Indian pointed to the sky, indicating the place of the sun an -hour before. - -“Where?” went on the scout. - -“On trail to Pass Dure.” - -“I reckon I know what ye’re gittin’ at, pard,” said Hank Tenny. “Some -Cheyennes hev been helpin’ Lawless, an’ ye think mebby thet the Hawk -ain’t straight. But I know him, an’ ye kin take my word fer it thet -he’s straight goods. What’s the matter, anyways? ’Pears like thar was -somethin’ unusual goin’ on hyer.” - -At that moment, Wild Bill and Nomad came galloping around the hotel -from the direction of the stable. They rode their own horses, and -were leading the scout’s big black, Bear Paw, and Dell’s cayuse, -Silver Heels. - -“My pards will tell you what’s up, Tenny,” said the scout, and turned -and went into the hotel office. - -Dell was just coming out of her room, spurred, “heeled,” and ready -for her ride with her pards. - -“Here’s something, Dell,” called the scout, dropping into a chair -by a table and laying the piece of birch-bark in front of him. “A -Cheyenne just rode in with this and said Little Cayuse gave it to -him.” - -“Some of Cayuse’s picture-writing!” exclaimed Dell, drawing near and -leaning on the table beside the scout. “It must be a clue to the -course taken by Lawless and his gang--that is, if it isn’t a trick -Lawless is trying to play on you.” - -“I don’t think it’s a trick,” the scout answered. “Unless I’m wide -of my trail, Lawless doesn’t know Cayuse is following him, so he -wouldn’t have any reason to send in a treacherous red with a piece of -birch-bark and say the same came from the boy. Besides, Tenny rode -into camp with the Indian, and says he is straight goods.” - -“Good!” murmured Dell exultantly. “That means, pard, we’ve got a -clue, first clatter out of the box.” - -She studied the picture for a space. - -“That looks like Cayuse’s work,” she said finally, “and that little -horse, down in the right-hand corner, is the way he always signs his -name. But I can’t make anything out of it. Can you?” - -It took a keen mind to decipher the Piute boy’s communications. -Having a keen mind himself, he credited everybody else with the same -shrewdness, and drew his symbols with a free hand. - -The strip of bark was comparatively fresh, and the picture was -drawn with a knife-point on the soft surface that had lain next the -tree. Wherever the steel point had traveled it had left a plainly -perceptible line. - -“Off to the right here,” mused the scout, “is an odd-looking hill.” - -“It looks about as much like an adobe house as it does like a hill,” -countered Dell. - -“Trees don’t grow on adobe houses, Dell. That thing on top of the -hill is a tree.” - -“Right you are,” assented the girl. “What are those two figures -at the top? They seem to be drawn on the margin, and are merely a -suggestion of something, it strikes me, and have nothing to do with -the main picture.” - -The figures to which Dell referred were drawn close to the edge of -the piece of bark, and were exactly alike. Evidently they represented -one and the same man; but over one was drawn a pair of mule’s ears. - -“By George!” exclaimed the scout. “Those figures represent a white -man, with a mustache and a sash. Who but Lawless wears a sash? A belt -is good enough for every one else in these parts.” - -“It’s Lawless,” agreed Dell, “but why are there two of him? And what -do those mule’s ears mean over one of the figures?” - -“Give it up; that’s something for us to puzzle out later. That part -of it is only what you might call a marginal note, anyway. The main -picture shows Lawless again, with a figure that is plainly intended -to represent a white woman. The woman is Mrs. Brisco, whom Lawless -and his gang carried away.” - -“Mrs. Brisco?” queried Dell. “I thought no one on the stage knew her -name?” - -“Some facts,” answered the scout vaguely, “were brought out by that -note Billings brought to Gentleman Jim from Lawless.” - -The scout did not intend, as yet, to reveal Gentleman Jim’s secret -even to Dell. In his own good time, Gentleman Jim himself could tell -the people of Sun Dance about his wife. - -“Those six marks,” went on the scout, indicating the marks as he -spoke, “represent six followers, showing the gang to be composed of -seven members, all told.” - -“I understood from Billings that there were eight, all told.” - -“One was killed by Pete, during the fight that took place at the -time of the second hold-up,” explained the scout. Then, proceeding -to decipher the picture, he went on: “Back of the marks is an Indian -with an eagle-feather. That, of course, is Cayuse, trailing. Over -there, in the upper left-hand corner, is a cross representing the -four cardinal points of the compass. The hill appears to be northwest -of us.” - -While this conversation had been going on in the office, the -horses had clattered up, and Tenny had been engaged in an excited -conversation with Nomad and Wild Bill. Presently some one else joined -them, and they all came into the hotel. - -“Got any clues from thet pictur’, Buffler?” - -The scout looked up and saw the old trapper, Wild Bill, Gentleman -Jim, and Hank Tenny. - -“It’s from Cayuse, all right,” answered the scout. - -“Good enough!” exclaimed the gambler, pressing closer to the table. -“It’s a clue, is it, Cody?” - -“Yes. Little Cayuse is following the gang, which consists of seven, -including Lawless. They have a white woman prisoner along.” - -A tremor ran through Gentleman Jim’s lithe form at mention of the -woman prisoner; but he quickly pulled himself together, and bent his -eager eyes upon the crude drawing. - -“There’s a hill there,” pursued the scout, laying one finger on the -queer-shaped elevation. “Dell thought it might be a house, but I -claim it’s a hill because that thing on top of it is a tree. It lies -northwest of here, and the gang with their prisoner are apparently -headed toward the hill.” - -Gentleman Jim gave a start. - -“Look here, Tenny,” he called. The cowboy miner leaned over beside -him. “Doesn’t that look like Medicine Bluff?” asked the gambler. - -“It shore does!” declared Tenny. “Thar’s a lone tree on the Bluff, -too.” - -Gentleman Jim turned his eyes on the scout. - -“Did Little Cayuse know anything about Medicine Bluff, Buffalo Bill? -Had he ever seen it?” - -“Sure he’d seen it!” struck in Wild Bill. “The boy used to be a -bugler with one of the companies at Fort Sill. He has traveled all -over this part of the country with the doughboys.” - -“Hickok is right,” agreed the scout. “If Cayuse ever saw that hill -once, he’d be able to draw it a hundred years from now. He never -forgets anything.” - -“Then,” murmured Gentleman Jim, “Lawless and his gang are headed for -Medicine Bluff with my--with their prisoner, and our clue is a hot -one. There’ll be no need to go to the arm of the gulch, to pick up -the trail on the scene of the second hold-up, for, if this is really -from Cayuse, we can mount and ride straight for the Bluff, thereby -saving time.” - -“Thet’s our cue!” exulted Nomad. “Ye kin trust Leetle Cayuse ter do -a thing like this up proper, ev’ry time. Thet kid ain’t got his ekal -anywhar in ther West. I’ll back him agin’ all comers, white er red, -bar none o’ ther same size an’ y’ars.” - -“Are you ready for the trail, Gentleman Jim?” inquired the scout. - -“I will be, as soon as I look after Hotchkiss and Pete,” the gambler -answered. “It will only take a few moments to take care of their -injuries.” - -While he was with Hotchkiss and Pete, the scout and the rest of his -pards went out in front. Wing Hi was just depositing four war-bags on -the ground near the horses. Wild Bill had had the bags filled with -rations. - -All swung to the backs of their horses, and the war-bags were -strapped at the saddle-cantles. Presently Gentleman Jim issued -hurriedly from the hotel and climbed into his saddle. - -“Hotchkiss and Pete are all right,” he announced. “The only thing -that worries them is that they can’t take part in this expedition. -If they were to try that, however, I wouldn’t answer for the -consequences.” - -“They have done their part,” said the scout. “Spurs and quirts, boys!” - -Spurs rattled, quirts swished, and the party rode off at a gallop, -heading for the rim of the gulch. - -There were six of them--Buffalo Bill, Wild Bill, Nomad, Dell -Dauntless, Gentleman Jim, and Hank Tenny. Before they had reached the -slope leading to the gulch, a yell was heard behind them, and out of -a cloud of dust broke De Bray, mounted on a sorrel cayuse, and with -a rifle across the saddle in front of him. He was still wearing his -“boiled” shirt, collar, red vest, and white trousers, making, all -together, a somewhat unusual figure for a foray such as the scout and -his pards were then starting upon. - -The scout turned in his saddle and looked back; then with a laugh, he -remarked: - -“It’s a safe bet, pards, we couldn’t lose De Bray.” - -“Is he going along with us, in _that_ rig?” queried Wild Bill. - -“I presume he didn’t have time to change, Hickok; but he’ll give a -good account of himself in any rig.” - - - - - CHAPTER XXIV. - - ON THE WAY TO MEDICINE BLUFF. - - -“What do you fellows mean by trying to cut me out like this?” cried -Reginald de Bray, as he spurred alongside the scout and his pards. -There was more of jest than rebuke in his voice, however, as became -apparent when he added: “You know, I’m in on this deal to the tune of -twenty thousand.” - -“Well, De Bray,” laughed the scout, “I had supposed that maybe that -lump on the back of your head was giving you trouble, and that you -were willing to trust me to look after your twenty thousand and stay -in Sun Dance along with Hotchkiss and Pete.” - -“It was a stiff blow I got on the back of my head, but it wasn’t hard -enough to knock me out of a picnic like this.” - -“This won’t be much of a picnic,” said Wild Bill, with a sarcastic -look at the Denver man’s clothes. “You look like you were got up for -a hoe down.” - -“Bother the clothes!” exclaimed De Bray; “the time was short, and I -couldn’t change them. I bought this gun and forty rounds”--he slapped -his new rifle and the ammunition-belt at his waist--“and then went -with a man to buy this horse. All that was necessary, of course, and -while I was about it you fellows came within one of giving me the -slip. Here I am, though, with one eye out for trouble and the other -scanning the hazy distance for my lost dinero. Lawless overlooked my -watch during that double mix-up we had with him, and I had to pledge -it for the gun, the ammunition, the horse, and the riding-gear.” - -“You needn’t have done that, De Bray,” said the scout. “You could -have had the outfit charged to me.” - -“Didn’t have time to think of that,” caroled the Denver man blithely. - -“You act,” said Wild Bill, somewhat mystified by the way the Denver -man carried himself, “as though losing twenty thousand was an -every-day affair with you.” - -“If I do, then I’m acting a whole lot different from what I feel. -Twenty thousand is quite a bunch of money, but if I never saw it -again it wouldn’t break me.” - -When they had climbed to the rim of the cañon, Buffalo Bill resigned -the lead to Gentleman Jim and Tenny, who were both perfectly familiar -with the country and competent to lay a straight course for Medicine -Bluff. - -These two rode in the lead: behind them came Dell and the scout, then -Nomad, and lastly Wild Bill and De Bray, the two latter hobnobbing -as they rode and getting better acquainted. Wild Bill found, as did -every one else with whom the Denver man came in contact, that his -stirrup companion improved upon acquaintance. - -“I wish I could understand the whole of that picture Little Cayuse -drew for us,” remarked Dell, as they galloped across the level -country that stretched northwesterly from Sun Dance Cañon. - -“What bothers you, pard?” queried the scout. - -“That ‘marginal note,’ as you called it,” replied Dell. “What do -those mule’s ears mean?” - -“If it comes to that,” laughed the scout, “they may not be mule’s -ears.” - -“If they’re anything else, then the mystery is only deepened.” - -“Let’s forget the mystery, for now. The main part of the diagram is -clear enough, and Medicine Bluff lies ahead of us.” - -“I suppose, Buffler,” sang out the old trapper from behind, “thet -ther nub o’ this pizen bizness is gittin’ ther woman back.” - -“That’s the main point, Nick,” answered the scout. “After that, we -can think of the money lost by those on the stage. The woman must be -safely rescued.” - -“I wish ter thunder, pard,” went on Nomad, “thet ye’d sent me ter -Montegordo along with Cayuse. Ef ye had, ’stead o’ settin’ in ther -Lucky Strike Hotel, watchin’ Hickok put et all over me at this game -they calls seven-up, I’d er been mixed in with things wuth while. -Seems like excitement has been side-steppin’ from in front er me ever -sence thet fracas at ther Forty Thieves.” - -“Which was as many as seven days ago,” returned the scout. “Can’t you -stand a week’s lull, Nick?” - -“I dunno, pard. I’m so used ter things happenin’ thet ef a day comes -in an’ slides out without somethin’ doin’, I begins ter think trouble -hes took er vacation. So fur Leetle Cayuse appears ter be hevin’ all -ther fun.” - -“You may have all the ‘fun’ you want, and more, too, before we have -run out this trail.” - -“Here’s hopin’,” said the old warrior. - -The sun had set about the time the party left the top of Sun Dance -Cañon; the darkness deepened, the stars lighted up in the vault, and -a crescent moon began to brighten. Night was no bar to the ready -knowledge of Gentleman Jim and Hank Tenny, however, and they led the -scout and his pards along a bee-line as near as the nature of the -country would permit. - -Three hours of saddle-work brought the riders into rough country; -low hills, bare and sterile, but steep-sided, surrounded them--hills -where time was saved by going around rather than by seeking to climb -over. - -At last, four hours out of Sun Dance, Tenny and Gentleman Jim drew -rein in a shallow valley, and waited for those behind to catch up. - -“We’re close to Medicine Bluff,” announced Gentleman Jim. “It is no -more than a mile from here, and this valley divides into two branches -just ahead of us. The right-hand fork will bring us out at the -western foot of the Bluff, and the left-hand fork will land us on the -eastern side. There’s a slope on the eastern side by which the top of -the Bluff can be reached, but it seems to me that the western side -would be the one where the outlaws are most likely to be found. Which -course shall we take, Buffalo Bill? It’s up to you.” - -“We’ll take both forks of the valley,” answered the scout promptly. - -“You mean-----” - -“I mean that we’ll divide into two parties. If the scoundrels we -seek are hiding around the Bluff, and if they have laid any sort -of a trap, we can bother them by riding into their game in two -detachments. Tenny and you, Gentleman Jim, are familiar with the -country, so you’ll have to be separated. Tenny, Dell, and I will -travel the left-hand fork; that will leave you, Nomad, Wild Bill, and -De Bray to go to the right. Your force will be a little stronger than -ours, but it may be that you are going into more dangerous ground. We -can come together again at the Bluff.” - -“Correct!” exclaimed Gentleman Jim. “This clean-up, Buffalo Bill, -must be finished to-night. The--the prisoner must not be left in -the hands of that gang a minute longer than necessary. I have ten -thousand dollars for the man who brings her to me before sunrise----” - -“Jim,” interrupted the scout, “not one of us would take your money. -We’ll work just as hard for you as though there was a million dollars -at stake.” - -“That’s like you, Buffalo Bill,” said Gentleman Jim; “and right here -I want you all to know that the prisoner is my wife.” - -Startled exclamations came from those not in the secret, and in the -midst of the surprise Gentleman Jim used his spurs and started along -the valley. - -“Come on,” he flung back over his shoulder, “all those who are to -travel with me.” - -Nomad, Wild Bill, and De Bray detached themselves from the party -and galloped after the gambler. Tenny, Buffalo Bill, and the girl -watched them vanish into the darkness that lay like a pall over the -right-hand fork, then themselves spurred into the left-hand branch of -the valley. - -“His wife!” whispered Dell, in amazement. “Didn’t you say the woman’s -name was Mrs. Brisco, Buffalo Bill?” - -“Yes. Gentleman Jim’s name is Brisco; James Brisco, although Sun -Dance Cañon has never known him by any other name than that of -Gentleman Jim.” - -“Right ye aire, Buffler Bill!” exclaimed Tenny. “Gentleman Jim has -allers been a queer fish--generous, squar’, an’ a man o’ nerve -whenever nerve was needed. But everybody knows thar was somethin’ in -his past life which he was keepin’ close. However, thet’s ther case -with purty nigh every one in the gulch, an’ no one has ever showed a -pryin’ dispersition so fur as Gentleman Jim is consarned.” - -“But--well, he’s a gambler,” said Dell. “Even a ‘square’ gambler -might be in better business.” - -“Gentleman Jim _will_ be in better business before many days,” said -the scout. “His wife was coming to Sun Dance to find him, and Jim is -eager to meet her, and then to turn his back on the gambling-table, -return East and pick up his medical profession where he broke it off. -When he leaves Sun Dance, mark my words, he’ll be a credit to any -community that has the luck to get him.” - -“I hope we shall find Mrs. Brisco,” said Dell softly. - -“That’s what we’re here for,” said the scout briskly. - -The walls of the left-hand fork began to narrow, and the ground under -the horses’ hoofs to become rugged and difficult. - -“We’ll do more travelin’ ter cover ther mile thet separates us from -the Bluff,” averred Tenny, “than Jim an’ his party will. T’other fork -o’ ther valley is tollable easy, compared ter this ’un. They’ll be at -the Bluff afore we aire, too, an’ if they meet up with any trouble, -it’ll be some leetle time afore we come close enough ter help. If I -was ter choose trails, I’d shore hev picked out----” - -Tenny was interrupted by a spurt of fire from overhead, followed by -the _sping_ of a rifle. His horse jumped, and his hat was whipped off -as effectively as though some hand had reached out of the gloom and -torn it from his head. - -“Outlaws!” cried the scout, his quick wit instantly busying itself -with the situation; “press close to the right wall--quick!” - -The horses were swerved in the direction indicated, and a jab of -the spurs carried them into the heavy shadow of the wall at a dozen -jumps. - -There, in the screen of thick darkness, the scout and his two -companions awaited further developments. - -If Lawless and his men were back of that rifle-shot, they were slow -in following up the attack. The one shot was all that was fired, and -ominous silence followed it. Not a sound was heard by the scout and -his friends aside from the heavy breathing of their horses. - -“Thet was blame’ sudden,” muttered Hank Tenny, “an’ blame’ near bein’ -a bull’s-eye, too. I felt ther wind o’ thet bullet, an’ ther way it -snatched off my head-gear made it look as though it wanted ter take -my head with it.” - -“A miss is as good as a mile, Hank,” said the scout, in a low tone. - -While he spoke, his eyes were searching the darkness in the direction -from which the shot had come. - -“I ain’t grumblin’ none,” continued Tenny. - -“The bullet came from the top of the wall,” put in Dell. - -“Yes; the men, whoever they may be, are up there.” - -“’Course they’re the gang we’re arter,” remarked Tenny, “but they’re -showin’ their hands consider’ble this side o’ the Bluff. I reckon,” -he finished grimly, “thet ye picked the likeliest fork, Buffler Bill, -when ye come ter ther left. We’ve cut out this bunch o’ trouble for -our own.” - -“Why don’t they follow up the surprise?” queried Dell restively. -“A surprise like that doesn’t amount to much unless it is followed -up--and followed up quick.” - -“I can’t understand why the scoundrels are holding their fire,” mused -Buffalo Bill, “unless it is because they can’t locate us, and don’t -want to waste their ammunition. Hold my horse, Dell.” - -The scout flung the girl his reins and slipped quietly down from his -saddle. - -“What are you going to do, pard?” whispered the girl anxiously. - -“A little scouting,” he replied, “in order to determine what we’re up -against. That shot came from the wall, across the valley. Can I climb -the wall over there, Tenny?” - -“It’ll be a hard scramble,” was the reply, “but I reckon Buffler Bill -kin do whatever he sets out ter try. Leastways, thet’s how it seems -from the fashion ye’ve been doin’ things sence ye hit Sun Dance.” - -“Wait for me here,” said the scout, moving slowly away through the -gloom. “If you hear me whistle, Tenny, leave your horse with Dell and -come over, for it’s barely possible I shall need you.” - -Emerging cautiously from the heavy shadow of the bank, the scout -dropped to his knees and crawled across the valley. The bottom of the -valley was fairly light, and had the scout not taken advantage of -the boulders and depressions, he could easily have been seen by the -marksman on the wall, and almost as easily have been snuffed out by a -bullet. - -But he was a master of the sort of work that now engaged his -attention, and he gained the opposite wall without being seen. - -The wall was steep and covered with sharp rocks. The rocks, while -making the scout’s climb more difficult, at the same time served to -shield him from the view of any one above. - -To make such a hard ascent without loosening a stone, or sending a -spurt of sand down the wall, was the task the scout had set for -himself; and that he accomplished it, in the semidarkness, was an -added proof of the powers that had made him what he was--king of -scouts and prince of Indian-fighters. - -And, strange as it may seem, this feat was performed almost under the -very nose of a watchful outlaw. The scout, of course, knew nothing -about the outlaw’s location while he was making the climb. The -discovery came as a surprise when he had crawled over the brink of -the wall. - -The first object he beheld was a horse, standing about a hundred feet -from the rim of the valley. The horse had an empty saddle, and there -were no other horses in its vicinity. - -The scout immediately drew the conclusion that a lone outlaw -had fired the shot at Tenny--perhaps an outpost, placed at that -particular point to watch the approach to the Bluff. - -Then, just as he had settled this question to his satisfaction, he -crawled, snakelike, around a boulder, and saw the man himself. - -The man was lying flat down on the other side of the boulder, a rifle -in his hands and his eyes scanning the valley. It was plain enough -that he was waiting for some sight or sound that would locate the -party which had already been a target for him. - -Still crawling, although with redoubled vigilance, the scout -attempted to come close enough to take the man at unawares and effect -a capture. In this he was not successful. The scraping sounds of his -forward movement, indistinct almost as the tread of a puma, suddenly -struck on the ears of the man with the gun. - -He started up, and, just as he rose, the scout sprang erect, and came -to hand-grips with him. - -“Buffler Bill!” gasped the outlaw. - -“Tex!” exclaimed the scout, with a short laugh. “You’re not much of a -sniper, Tex. What are you doing with your ears?” - -The outlaw swore heartily, and began to fight. - -Buffalo Bill had seen this man, whom Lawless and his gang called -‘Tex,’ and it was easy to recognize the fellow’s huge bulk, in spite -of the screening darkness. - -A powerful man was Tex, and he marshaled all his strength for what he -must have believed to be a fight for life. - -At close quarters Tex could not use his rifle--in fact, that weapon -had dropped the instant the scout had grabbed him--so he sought to -break away and draw one of his revolvers. - -Buffalo Bill understood perfectly well what Tex’s intentions were, -and hung to him with a grip of iron. - -Finding himself unable to get clear of the scout’s hands, Tex -attempted to draw a bowie that swung in front of him from his belt. - -In a mix-up like that a knife was far and away more dangerous than a -revolver. - -Back and forth, and around and around the two men strained, and the -scout was not long in discovering that he had never met a man more -worthy of his strength and prowess than was Tex. - -Time and again Tex got a hand on the knife-hilt, and time and again -the scout caught the hand and wrenched it away, always with the -blade still in its scabbard, although once or twice the blade was -half-drawn. - -For either combatant to gain an advantage seemed out of the question. -The contest, the scout early made up his mind, was to be one of -endurance. - -After the first exchange of words neither of the men spoke. Breath -was valuable, and could not be wasted. - -But steadily the giant frame of Tex was worn down, and his hard -breathing and husky gasps told of the effort he was making to keep -the battle at even odds. - -The scout, on the contrary, was a man of iron endurance. After ten -minutes of nerve-wracking struggle, he was apparently as fresh as -when he had begun the fight. - -“Yield!” panted the scout. - -“Give up an’ stretch a rope, hey?” wheezed Tex; “not me!” - -For certain reasons, later to be explained, the scout wanted to -capture Tex uninjured, or practically so. But some rough work was -necessary, and the chance for it came as Tex finished his defiance. - -Several times the pair had weaved about on the brink of the wall. As -the final word left the ruffian’s lips, he and the scout were again -in that position. - -Calling upon all his strength, the scout lifted the outlaw bodily -and flung him backward. Tex’s hands were torn away from the scout’s -buckskin shirt, and he keeled over backward, down the slope. - -The big fellow fell heavily, and began rolling and bounding down the -steep descent. The gloom swallowed up his rolling figure, and then -the rattle of rocks and loosened débris suddenly ceased. - -The scout stood for a second, breathing hard and looking downward -into the darkness; then, giving vent to a sharp whistle, he started -down the bank. - -The whistle was returned from close at hand--from part way up the -slope, in fact--and was followed by the voice of Tenny. - -“What d’ye want, Buffler Bill?” - -“There’s a man down there somewhere: see if you can find him.” - -“Did ye hev a fracas with the feller?” - -“Yes, and he went over the bank. It’s Tex, one of Lawless’ men. I -want to capture him alive, if I can.” - -“I heerd a scramble over hyer,” went on Tenny, floundering about -on the slope, “an’ reckoned ye might be needin’ me, so I started -acrost without waitin’ fer ye ter whistle. I didn’t know but thet---- -Woof!” Tenny broke off his remarks abruptly. “Hyer he is, Buffler--I -stumbled right over him. He’s wrapped around a big stone, an’ as limp -as a rag. Reckon he busted his neck--an’ good enough fer him, if he -did.” - -Lowering himself carefully downward, the scout presently reached the -place where Tex had been halted in his rough descent of the slope. - -“He’s all right,” said the scout, after a moment’s examination. -“Stunned, that’s all. We’ll get a rope on him before he comes to his -senses.” - -“I’ll hev ter go acrost the valley ter my hoss ter git a rope,” said -Tenny. - -“Tex’s horse is just over the brink of the wall. Bring the animal. -The chances are you’ll find a riata coiled at the saddle-horn, and -there’ll be a heap of satisfaction in tying Tex with his own rope.” - -“Thar’d be more satisfaction in hangin’ him with it,” growled Tenny, -as he scrambled to the top of the wall and disappeared. - -While Tenny was gone, the scout stripped the outlaw of his knife and -six-shooters. - -The capture of Tex was an unexpected stroke of luck, but just how -much luck there was in it the scout could not tell until later. - - - - - CHAPTER XXV. - - A COWED OUTLAW. - - -Tex was bound and half-dragged and half-carried down the slope -to the bottom of the valley. Bringing his horse down was a hard -proposition, but Tenny managed to accomplish it by throwing a couple -of somersaults and barking his shins on the rocks. - -It was very evident that Tex was the only one of Lawless’ men in that -immediate vicinity, and the scout and his pards considered themselves -fairly secure. Dell rode out from under the sheltering bank leading -Bear Paw and Tenny’s mount. She had heard enough of the conversation -between the scout and Tenny to understand what had happened. - -“He’s a good fighter, Dell,” said the scout, when she and Tenny had -both reached his side and they were grouped about Tex and waiting for -him to recover his wits. “If he had been as good with his rifle as he -is with his hands, Tenny would have been out of the reckoning by now.” - -“Did you catch him napping, pard?” - -“I blundered right onto him. If his ears had been sharp, he would -have heard me climbing up the bank, for I reached the top only a few -yards from where he was lying, waiting for a chance to take a shot -across the valley.” - -“Whyever did ye want ter ketch him alive?” asked Tenny. - -“He’s a weak sister, Tenny, in the sense that his allegiance to -Lawless’ gang is none too hard and fast. I know that from things I -have heard. I think we can use Tex; at any rate, I intend to see what -I can do with him.” - -Just then Tex gave a gurgle and sat up, straining at the rope around -his hands. - -“Don’t break loose,” taunted Tenny. “It’s yer own rope we’ve put on -ye, an’ you ort ter know how strong it is.” - -“No one but Buffler Bill could hev ketched me like that,” growled -Tex. “I’ve allers said he was a powerful sort of er man--too powerful -for us fellers ter buck ag’inst with any show o’ winnin’ out. He’s -beat Lawless twicet at his own game, an’ I reckon he’ll beat him -agin.” - -“I reckon I will, Tex,” said the scout. “Do you want us to take you -to Fort Sill and turn you over to the soldiers?” - -“Might as well go ter Fort Sill as ter any other place,” said Tex, -with resignation. “I’m up a stump, anyways. It don’t make any -diff’rence whether I’m shot er strung up; they both mean the same -thing in the end. Thunder! I allers reckoned if I hung onter Lawless -long enough this is what ’u’d happen. I didn’t want ter be took -alive! Why didn’t ye use a gun on me, Buffler Bill?” - -“Because I had other plans,” said the scout briefly. “Where’s -Lawless?” - -Tex was silent. - -“Where has he taken Mrs. Brisco?” - -Still Tex would not find his tongue. - -“Why don’t you answer me?” asked the scout. - -“Ye want ter know a heap,” answered Tex, after a brief period of -reflection. “What good is it goin’ ter do me ter tell ye all that?” - -“That depends on whether you tell the truth or not.” - -“Git down ter brass tacks,” said Tex. “Jest what d’ye mean by sayin’ -that?” - -“I mean that if you will answer my questions truthfully, just as soon -as Lawless is down and out, I’ll set you at liberty--providing you’ll -agree to leave the country.” - -“I don’t reckon thar’s anythin’ ter be gained by buckin’ you further -than what I hev,” mused Tex. “I’ve had plenty of it lately, an’ it -ain’t never amounted ter nothin’, ’cept ter git us fellers deeper -an’ deeper in the hole. I begun as an honest miner, over thar in Sun -Dance Cañon, but Coomby talked me over ter helpin’ Lawless, sayin’ as -how we’d all git a slice o’ the Forty Thieves if we hung on. Now the -mine has been deeded ter Wah-coo-tah Lawless, an’ us fellers won’t -git none o’ it onless Wah-coo-tah Lawless makes out a deed ter Cap’n -Lawless, an’ ther deed is left at ther black rock at Medicine Bluff -ter-night. Is that deed goin’ ter be left?” - -“Not that anybody knows of,” said the scout. - -“Thet’s what I told Lawless; but when he gits the bit in his teeth, -thar ain’t no doin’ anythin’ with him.” - -“I have just begun my clean-up,” said the scout, “and Lawless and his -men will be down and out before I’m through. You’re down and out now, -Tex, and this is the beginning. You can save yourself, however, if -you want to answer my questions. We shall wipe out the gang with or -without your information, but you may be able to tell us something -that will make the job a trifle easier. What’s the word?” - -“How do I know ye’ll turn me loose if I tell ye what I know?” - -“You have my word,” said the scout shortly. “If that isn’t good -enough for you, we’ll stop negotiations right here, and I’ll send you -over to Sill.” - -“Waal, I’d a heap rather take chances with you than ter take ’em at -Sill,” answered the cowed desperado. “What d’ye want ter know?” - -“First off, how did you happen to be on the top of the bank?” - -“I was watchin’ fer you, er some o’ the others from Sun Dance. -Lawless knowed he’d be follered arter the news o’ the hold-up got ter -the camp. I was watchin’ this road ter Medicine Bluff, an’ Coomby was -watchin’ the other.” - -“Why did you fire at us?” - -“Bekase I’d feel a heap safer in my mind if I knowed Buffler Bill had -been picked off.” - -“You tried to pick off Tenny here, and not me.” - -“I was waitin’ for a chance at you when ye jumped me up behind thet -boulder,” was the rueful answer. - -“How did you know I wasn’t coming to Medicine Bluff to leave the -deed?” - -“How does a feller know thet water won’t run up-hill? Thet wasn’t -ther kind of er play ter ketch you, an’ thet’s what I told Lawless. I -ain’t felt easy a minit sence you was in Sun Dance Cañon.” - -“Well, we’ll let that pass. Where is Mrs. Brisco?” - -“Some’r’s around Medicine Bluff, at last accounts. I don’t know jest -whar. I come away ter watch this fork afore Lawless decided jest whar -he’d take her.” - -“Is she being well treated?” - -“She gits the best ther camp affords.” - -“Is Lawless with her?” - -“By now, I reckon, he’s on his way ter Pima Camp, in Chavorta Gorge.” - -“Why is he going to Pima Camp?” - -“He’s made up his mind he ain’t got men enough. Andy was put out o’ -bizness at ther time o’ ther hold-up, an’ sence then he’s passed out -o’ ther game fer keeps. Lonesome Pete kin cut a notch, too, fer Eph -Singer--we left him under a pile o’ rocks on ther way ter Medicine -Bluff. Thet leaves on’y six in ther gang, countin’ Lawless hisself. -Now I’m out, thar’s on’y five.” - -“Coomby’s watching the other fork of the valley?” - -“Yes.” - -“And Lawless has gone to Pima?” - -“I jest told ye thet.” - -“Did he go alone?” - -“He did. He wants ter pick up some men at Pima, if he kin.” - -“Then there are only three outlaws at Medicine Bluff with the woman?” - -“Yes, purvidin’ she’s at the Bluff. I ain’t a-sayin’ whar she is, -kase I don’t know.” - -“Where are the renegade Cheyennes who used to help Lawless in his -villainy?” - -“Stampeded. They was all afeared o’ Buffler Bill. I ain’t blamin’ ’em -none, either. I reckon Lawless’ll hev the time o’ his life gittin’ -handy boys at Pima, when they hear it’s Buffler Bill they’re ter -fight.” - -The scout turned to Tenny. - -“How far is it to Pima from here, Hank?” he asked. - -“Ten mile,” replied Tenny. - -“How must a man travel to get there?” - -“Waal, if I was goin’ thar from hyer, I’d git up on the top o’ thet -bank an’ head due south, keepin Medicine Bluff allers ter the right. -When I’d gone five mile, I could see the ridge thet holds Chavorta -Gorge. Kain’t miss the gorge. Once inter it, ye foller up ter Pima. -But what ye thinkin’ o’ doin’, Buffler Bill?” - -“Dell and I are going to Pima,” said the scout, “and overhaul Lawless -before he can enlist any more miscreants to carry out his nefarious -plans. The iron is hot, and Pima is the place to strike. Not only can -we capture Lawless,” added the scout, “but we can prevent him from -adding to his force of trouble-makers.” - -“You an’ Miss Dauntless aire goin’ ter Pima, ye say?” - -“Yes.” - -“An’ what am I ter do?” - -“You’re to tie Tex to his horse and travel on to Medicine Bluff, -effecting a juncture with Nomad’s party. Tell them what has happened; -then the lot of you can ride on to Pima. Remember my promise to Tex, -Tenny. If his information pans out, he’s going to be a free man. Tell -Nomad and Wild Bill what I have promised.” - -“I don’t want ter go ter Medicine Bluff,” demurred Tex unexpectedly. - -“Why not?” answered the scout. “You’ll not suffer any harm from my -pards.” - -“Waal, I jest don’t want ter go thar, thet’s all. It ain’t yore pards -I’m fearin’, but Coomby an’ the rest.” - -“Nomad and Wild Bill have men enough with them to protect you, and -that is where you’re going.” - -“Jest remember what ye said, Buffler Bill,” went on Tex; “ye said -thet ther minit Lawless was down an’ out, I was ter be turned loose.” - -“Yes.” - -“All right then. I jest want it understood.” - -“You’re keeping something back, Tex,” said the scout, studying the -ruffian’s face as keenly as he could in the faint light. - -“I’m bankin’ my life on the result, ain’t I?” returned Tex. “What I’m -keepin’ ter myself ain’t goin’ ter interfere none with yore affairs, -an’ it’s li’ble ter mean a hull lot ter me.” - -“Well, have it your way. As you say, it is very likely your life -swings in the balance.” - -The scout and Tenny, between them, swung Tex to the back of his horse -and tied him there. Immediately afterward, the rest mounted, and -Tenny took the bridle of Tex’s horse, to lead the animal on toward -Medicine Bluff. - -“Pima is a tough camp, Buffler,” observed Tenny, “an’ thet’s why -Lawless went thar ter git fresh men. Every whelp in Pima is of ther -same caliber as Tex thar, an’ I’m afeared you an’ Miss Dauntless aire -goin’ ter hev yer hands full.” - -“Not so full but that we can handle the work, all right,” answered -the scout confidently. “A bold stroke, just now, will settle Lawless -for good and all. The risk is worth taking. Come on, Dell,” he added -to his girl pard; “we’re for Chavorta Gorge and Pima.” - -Tenny rode slowly on along the valley in the direction of Medicine -Bluff, while the scout and Dell pushed their horses at the wall up -which the scout had climbed a little while before. - -The scout understood that his suddenly conceived plan for capturing -Lawless was a desperate one; but, had he realized just how desperate -it was, he would have waited, before carrying it out, to get some -more of his pards to go with him. - - - - - CHAPTER XXVI. - - CHAVORTA GORGE AND PIMA. - - -Buffalo Bill and Dell found it a long ten miles to Chavorta Gorge and -Pima, mainly because the night mixed up their landmarks, and they -went astray in the barren hills. - -Early daylight found them on the crest of an eminence scanning the -country to the west and south. Away to the west they discerned a -distant uplift, which they took to be Medicine Bluff. To the south -stretched a ridge, but there was no sign of a gap in the ridge -leading to Chavorta Gorge. - -“We’re too far to the east, Dell,” hazarded the scout, “and have been -following down the ridge. If we turn west, and keep our eyes on the -ridge as we ride, I believe we shall find the gorge.” - -“By the time we find it, and get to Pima,” returned Dell, “we may -discover that Lawless has secured his new men and gone back to -Medicine Bluff. If it turns out that way, Nomad, Wild Bill and the -rest may have more on their hands than they can take care of.” - -“Tenny will warn them. It is true we have lost a lot of time, but I -don’t want to turn back from Pima now, when there’s still a chance of -accomplishing our work there.” - -They pointed their horses westward, and rode as swiftly as the nature -of the ground would permit. - -“If Lawless has a permanent headquarters near Medicine Bluff,” -suggested Dell, “it may be that Nomad, Wild Bill, Gentleman Jim, and -De Bray have already found Mrs. Brisco.” - -“I’m hoping for the best,” returned the scout. “If that has happened, -Dell, it is up to you and me to give as good an account of ourselves -at Pima, as the rest of our pards have done, or will do, at the -bluff.” - -Half an hour’s riding in a westerly direction proved the truth of -the scout’s theory regarding the location of Chavorta Gorge. From a -hilltop a look toward the ridge showed them a rent in its buttressed -side. - -“There’s the gorge!” exclaimed Dell. - -“Good!” cried the scout. “Now to get into it, and make the best time -possible to Pima.” - -The sun was mounting as they entered the gorge, but the gash was so -deep and narrow that even at midday a spectral twilight reigned in -its depths. - -It was a bleak and dismal defile, walled in by gray masses of -granite, and with hardly any silt in its bed. The river that had once -flowed through the gorge had long since found other channels, and -what gold the place yielded had to be dug from the rock crevices with -iron hooks and rods. - -The scout had heard all about Chavorta Gorge, although this was the -first time he had ever inspected it, and as he and Dell clattered -along through the gloom, he explained the method of mining in vogue -in the place. - -“The outcasts of respectable mining-camps flock to the gorge,” the -scout added, “and prod and gouge at these granite walls for the -nuggets once brought down the defile by the vanished stream. The -place has a hard name, and rightly so, for an outcast miner is about -as hard a citizen as one can find anywhere in the West.” - -“Are there many people at Pima?” asked the girl. - -“I suppose the camp is about the size of Sun Dance, although my -information is rather limited on that point.” - -“What can we do against even a small camp?” - -“The miners, I reckon, have heard of Buffalo Bill,” said the scout, -with a flash of the eyes; “they know he is in Uncle Sam’s service, -and they’ll think twice before they invite a company of regulars over -here to drive them out and wind up their layout.” - -“The very name of Buffalo Bill,” said Dell, her face lighting with -admiration, “has a power everywhere. See how it stampeded the -Cheyennes and caused them to break away from Lawless! And see, too, -how fearful Tex was, and how ready to save his own neck when he found -you had captured him.” - -“It isn’t so much the name, pard,” laughed the scout, “as the fact -that the United States army is behind it.” - -A few miles of twilight brought the scout and the girl to a point -where the walls of the gorge began to open out. More daylight entered -the depths and dispelled the gloom. The walls were as high and as -rugged as ever, but they continued to swerve away from each other. - -An abrupt turn in the gorge brought the riders suddenly within sight -of the camp. - -Knowing that there was no flood to be feared, the founders of Pima -had built the camp in the very bottom of the defile. Timber was -plentiful on the ridge, and logs had been lowered from the top of the -walls and used in the construction of cabins. - -Perhaps there were a dozen buildings, all told, in the camp. They -were disreputable structures, entirely in keeping with the character -of those who occupied them. - -The scout halted Bear Paw while he scanned the camp critically. A few -horses were feeding out behind one of the buildings, but there was -not a human being in sight. Among the feeding horses was one that was -equipped with riding-gear. - -“Where are the miners?” queried Dell. “Are they up the gorge -somewhere, prying their nuggets out of the rocks? This camp is even -quieter than Sun Dance during the day.” - -“Listen!” said the scout. “There seems to be plenty of life in one of -the buildings.” - -A roar of voices broke fitfully from a large log structure in the -midst of the huddled cabins. The roar died away in silence, and then -rose again, proving that there was excitement of some sort going on -in the place. - -“If Lawless is in this camp,” observed Buffalo Bill, “that’s where I -shall find him. I want you to stay with the horses, Dell,” he added, -as he dismounted, “and, if I need you, ride at once to that cabin. We -may have to get out of the gorge in a hurry.” - -“Look well to yourself, pard,” adjured Dell, reaching forward and -taking hold of Bear Paw’s bridle-reins. - -“I always do that,” said he. “The crack of a revolver will be your -cue to gallop into the camp.” - -Sitting anxiously in her saddle, Dell watched Buffalo Bill stride -rapidly in among the log cabins. - -No one appeared to ask the scout questions or to dispute his -progress, and it was quite evident that every miner who was not at -work in the gorge was at that moment in the structure toward which -the scout was laying his course. - -This fact, of itself, held a portentous significance. Had Lawless -gathered the men of the camp in that building in order to harangue -them and take his pick of those willing to join his gang? - -As the scout came nearer the structure, he noted the massive logs -used in its walls; the wide, high door, the gaping loopholes, cut at -intervals at shoulder height, and the strong oaken shutters swinging -at the windows. - -“It has the appearance of a fort,” he said to himself. “I wonder if -the people of Pima take refuge there when the Indians are up, or if -they fear the military more than they do the reds?” - -A rude sign, on the front wall of the building, near the door, bore -the words: “The Taim Tiger.” - -The scout chuckled over the sign, for the “Taim” appealed to him -humorously. - -“That’s about the way to spell it,” he muttered. “I don’t think the -sort of tiger they keep here is overly tame. Perhaps, though, I shall -be able to clip its claws--we’ll see.” - -At the side of the door he halted and looked back to where he had -left Dell. The girl was sitting like a statue on her white cayuse. - -Buffalo Bill waved his hat to her reassuringly, and then stepped -through the wide door of The Tame Tiger. - -There were not so many men inside the resort as Buffalo Bill had -expected to find. The swift glance he cast around him showed him -seven or eight, including a heavy-set person behind a rough board -bar, and a supple individual clad in black, with shiny knee-boots and -a gaudy sash about his waist. - -The man in black, naturally, the scout was overjoyed to find. The -scout was not unacquainted with the appearance of Lawless, and this -man, even at a rear view, answered the outlaw’s description. - -The man behind the bar turned half-around as the scout entered, -and stared at him suspiciously. The others in the room, including -the man in black, were too much occupied with their own particular -business to pay the scout any attention. - -Buffalo Bill moved slowly over to the bar and leaned against it. - -“There are good pickings everywhere in these parts,” the man in black -was saying, “and, with a little nerve, they’re easily got at. How -did I pull off that deal on the Sun Dance trail yesterday? How did I -take down over twenty thousand dollars at one clip for myself and the -boys who were in on the game with me? It was because I know how! I -want more men, and if any of you are game enough to ride to Medicine -Bluff with me this morning, you’ve got a chance. It’s not often that -Captain Lawless has to go drumming for men, and the chance won’t come -your way again.” - -It was plain that Lawless had been spending money freely for liquor. -The men who listened to him were in an amiable and receptive mood. -While he indulged in his particularly bold talk, roars of approval, -such as the scout and Dell had heard at the edge of camp, went up -again and again. - -A roar, louder than any of the rest, greeted the finish of Lawless’ -remarks. It was this noise, more like Bedlam turned loose than -anything else, that drowned the warning shout of the man behind the -bar. The barkeeper realized that Lawless was going too far in the -presence of a stranger. It was not the barkeeper’s shout that drew -the outlaw’s attention to Buffalo Bill, but the sudden quiet that -fell over the rowdies to whom he had been talking. - -These men, all of them with vicious faces, had suddenly become aware -of the scout’s presence. Lawless, observing the direction of their -glances, whirled about. - -At sight of the scout, leaning unconcernedly back against the bar, -the outlaw’s face went blank. He recoiled a step, staring as though -he could scarcely believe his eyes. - -The next moment, apparently assuring himself that he was not -dreaming, he cried out an oath and jerked a revolver from his sash. - -Silence had fallen over the room. The ruffians spread out, some of -them, it seemed likely, for the purpose of helping Captain Lawless, -and others with the intention of bolting, or dodging under the -tables, in case bullets began to fly. - -“Don’t shoot,” said the scout, transfixing Lawless with a steady -glance. - -He made no move to draw his own revolvers. When he got ready to draw, -he would do it so quickly that the movement would be imperceptible. - -Lawless, bent on making a show of himself for the benefit of possible -recruits, did not make an attempt to use the revolver he had drawn. - -“Well, now,” said he, “if here isn’t Buffalo Bill, the great and -only W. F. Cody, flash-light warrior and so-called king of scouts! -Why”--and Lawless turned a mocking glance into the faces of the men -behind him--“he blows right into Pima as though he belonged here. I -wonder if he knows he’s off his beat?” - -“I wonder!” said the scout, with a jeering undernote. “You’re off -your beat, too, just a little. Drumming up recruits, eh?” The scout -turned his eyes on the men who had spread themselves out behind -Lawless. “This scoundrel”--and the scout indicated the man in black -with a contemptuous nod--“is a murderous outlaw. He lost two men -at the time of the hold-up he has just been bragging about, and he -finds it necessary to get more men in order to fight the force I have -brought against him. That’s what he wants you for--to help fight me -and my pards and save the twenty thousand dollars he took from the -man on the Sun Dance stage. His chestnuts are still in the fire, and -he wants you to help him rake them out.” - -“That’ll do you!” shouted Lawless, waving his revolver. “You came -into this honkatonk on your feet, Buffalo Bill, but you’ll be -_carried_ out. I’ve had enough of your meddling, and here and now is -the place for me to settle the score I have run up against you.” - -“You’ll settle no scores, Captain Lawless,” said the scout; “on the -contrary, the law you have so long defied has reached out after you, -and inside of two days you will be turned over to the authorities at -Fort Sill.” - -“I will, eh?” sneered the bandit. “By whom?” - -“By me.” - -“You talk as though you were a whole company of doughboys! But that’s -your style--all talk and nothing doing. Now you’re up against me and -these men, all of whom are going to join my band of free-lances. -We’re eight against you.” - -Buffalo Bill did not reply to Lawless at once. There was a bit of -work for him to do, and before he answered the outlaw he had to do -it, or find himself completely at the mercy of those in The Tame -Tiger. - -His back was to the bar, and he was facing Lawless and the ruffians -in the room; but, although his face was turned from the barkeeper, he -did not allow the actions of that worthy to escape his notice. - -Out of the tails of his eyes the scout saw the barkeeper duck down -and pick up a heavy wooden mallet. As soon as he had the mallet in -his hands, the barkeeper began a stealthy movement in the scout’s -direction, along the inside of the bar. - -A heavy bottle stood on the bar conveniently to the scout’s -hand. Just as the barkeeper had raised the mallet to deal the -scout a treacherous blow from behind, the intended victim made a -lightninglike move. - -It was difficult for those who were looking on to see exactly what -had happened. The scout did something, there was a crash of broken -glass, and the barkeeper wilted down behind the rough boards. The -bottle had vanished from the scout’s elbow. - -“You say you are eight against me,” said Buffalo Bill as calmly as -though nothing had happened, “but what are eight criminals against -the authority of the United States government? Lawless, you are my -prisoner!” - -This calm statement was astounding, not only to Lawless himself, -but to the others in the room as well. The quietly effective way in -which Buffalo Bill had back-capped the barkeeper had made a profound -impression upon the rascals whom Lawless was trying to interest in -his criminal operations. Now to have the scout call Lawless his -prisoner hinted of more power than he visibly possessed. How could -one man stand up against eight and appear so confident? - -Anxious eyes wandered to the door, but no force was in evidence in -that direction. - -“He’s bluffing!” cried Lawless. “He knows that all we’ve got to do in -order to nail him is to make a surround, and his only hope is to make -us think he’s got friends outside.” - -Lawless realized that he could not dally with the situation any -longer. If he would save himself, and get the better of Buffalo Bill, -he must act now, or never. - -“Say, you fellows!” Lawless cried to the ruffians, “are you going to -stand there like a lot of dummies, and let one man come into this -camp and run it? Are you going to let Buffalo Bill knock down the -barkeeper of this joint, and never lift a hand to interfere? Buffalo -Bill! Pah! He’s no more of a man than any of the rest of you. He’s -the government’s hired man, that’s all----” - -Lawless’ remarks glided into the crack of a revolver and the snarl of -a bullet. Under cover of his talk, the outlaw had fired from his hip; -but his haste, and the unusual position of the weapon, had militated -against the accuracy of his aim. - -The scout’s hat-brim was seen to twitch, but the scout still stood -leaning back against the bar, as calm and unruffled as before. - -“Your hand isn’t as steady as it ought to be, Lawless,” remarked the -scout. “I repeat, you are my prisoner. I want to take you out of -Chavorta Gorge alive, but, if you make another attempt on me with -that revolver, you’ll leave the gorge feet first.” - -Then, keeping his steely gaze fixed on Lawless, the scout stepped -toward him. - -“Keep away from me!” shouted the outlaw, backing toward the door. -“One or the other of us will never leave this place alive, and that -shot goes as it lays.” He turned partly toward the rest of the men, -addressing them, but keeping his eyes on the scout. “What are you -hanging back for?” he demanded fiercely. “What sort of fighters are -you, anyhow? If you want to join my gang, show me what you can do. -I’m holding my hand, just to give you the chance.” - -This was a sure-enough bluff, and it brought a laugh from the scout; -then, suddenly, Dell Dauntless, on her white cayuse, appeared in the -wide, high doorway. The girl’s face was white and determined, and she -held her riata ready for a throw. - -What had brought such a plan into the girl’s head the scout could not -guess, but it was plain that she had a set purpose in mind, and was -there with the determination to carry it through at all hazards. - -If Lawless had heard the hoof-falls of Silver Heels, he gave them -no heed. He dared not. To turn his face from the scout even for an -instant would have spelled inevitable disaster for him. And yet -the outlaw was not entirely ignorant of the danger behind him. The -startled exclamations of the others in the resort apprised him of the -fact that something unusual was taking place at the door. - -In order to cut short the tension of the moment, Lawless started to -lift his revolver for another and a better shot at Buffalo Bill. -Before his arm was half-raised, a noose dropped over his head and -tightened about his body at the elbows. - -It was an easy throw for Dell, and she at once set Silver Heels to -backing, drawing the rope taut and preventing the astounded bandit -from struggling clear of the noose. - -“Bravo, Dell!” shouted Buffalo Bill, as the girl backed slowly -through the doorway, dragging the squirming Captain Lawless at the -end of the rope. - -The instant the outlaw had vanished from the room, the scout faced -the gaping and amazed men he had left behind. - -“I don’t know whether any of you really intended to join Lawless’ -gang or not,” said he sternly; “but, if you did, I have kept you from -making a bad mistake. The reputation of this camp of yours is none -too good, and if you want to stay in the gorge and dig your gold out -of the rocks, I’d advise you to be a little less ready to take up -with such scoundrels as Lawless. That will be all!” - -And the scout, with the final word, went out of The Tame Tiger and -closed the door after him. - -Dell was still backing Silver Heels over the ground outside, not -daring to let the riata grow slack between her and Lawless, for fear -the latter would be able to widen the noose and free himself. - -Running up to the helpless bandit, the scout threw him to the ground -and held him there. - -“Cast off the rope, Dell,” he shouted, “and bring Bear Paw! Hurry up, -pard. We’ve got this camp paralyzed, for the moment, but there’s no -telling what will happen if we don’t make a quick getaway.” - -Dell flung the end of her rope from the saddle-horn, and, while the -scout made the struggling Lawless secure, wrist and ankle, she rode -around the side of The Tame Tiger, and brought Bear Paw from the -place where she had left him. - -By the time Bear Paw had been led to the place where the scout was -waiting, the door of The Tame Tiger had been thrown open, and those -inside were piling out. The men were shouting angrily and waving -their revolvers. - -“Back!” cried Dell, drawing her six-shooters and leveling them. “The -first of you that pulls a trigger will never live to try it a second -time!” - -Lifting Lawless in his arms, the scout flung him across Bear Paw and -then leaped into the saddle. - -“All ready, Dell!” he called. - -Silver Heels spun around on his hind feet, and the scout and the girl -shot out of the camp, the former holding Lawless at the saddle-cantle -as he galloped. - -Bullets were fired after the pards, but it was a harmless and -half-hearted volley. - -Buffalo Bill and Dell Dauntless were safe--and they had captured -Captain Lawless! - - - - - CHAPTER XXVII. - - A BUSY TIME FOR CAYUSE. - - -Little Cayuse did not like the white man’s villages. There was -nothing about them that attracted him in the least. While in -Montegordo, whither he had been sent by the scout, he attached -himself to a seat in the railroad-station, spent the night there, and -watched, the next morning, while a man wearing a red vest got off the -west-bound train. - -That red vest captured the boy’s fancy, and he decided that some -time, when the chance offered, he would buy one for himself. - -With his doting eyes on the vest, he had gone up to the man wearing -it, and asked: - -“You De Bray, mebbyso?” - -“Why, yes,” answered the stranger, “that’s my name. Who are you, and -what of it?” - -“You take um stage for Sun Dance, huh?” - -“The first one I can get. But, say! Look here a minute----” - -Cayuse did not stop for anything further. Whirling about, he made -off, tearing up the telegram the scout had given to him to send in -case De Bray did not arrive. - -Cayuse, a couple of hours later, was in the Sun Dance stage when De -Bray climbed onto the front seat with Pete and Chick Billings. - -During the entire journey, up to the point where the first hold-up -had been planned to occur, Cayuse had kept strictly to himself on the -back seat. But he was all eyes and ears, even if he did not use his -tongue, and among the rocks that hemmed in the stage-trail ahead he -had caught a strange glimmer, as of the sun on steel. - -That was his signal to drop out at the rear of the mountain-wagon, -and flicker from sight among the rocks like a scared coyote. But -Cayuse wasn’t scared--he was only curious. - -He had seen rifles sparkle in the sun before, and he was pretty sure -he had caught a gleam of gun-barrels. - -From a safe place among the rocks he witnessed the first hold-up. -When the stage pulled out, and the outlaws grouped together to take -stock of their spoil, Cayuse saw Lawless--whom he knew by sight--open -the locket and stare at the pictures inside. - -Then he overheard Lawless plan to cross the arm of the gulch and -overhaul the stage again. Cayuse, much to his disappointment, was -powerless to warn those in the stage. He was afoot, and the driver of -the stage was going fast toward Sun Dance. The boy might have raced -across the arm of the gulch, but he could not have beaten the mounted -thieves. He followed the thieves, however, picking his cautious way -among the rocks and carefully keeping himself out of sight. - -By the time he had reached the scene of the second hold-up, the -fighting was over and the stage was once more bounding along toward -Sun Dance. - -Hidden safely only a few yards from where the outlaws had left their -horses, Cayuse saw the white woman, and heard her plead for release -as soon as she had recovered from her swoon. He heard, also, a number -of other things which he considered of more importance. - -“We’ll go to Medicine Bluff,” said Lawless to one of his men, “and -make sure whether Lawless is going to get well of his wound, or cash -in.” - -This remark puzzled the boy. Captain Lawless was speaking, and yet he -was speaking of another Captain Lawless! What did it mean? He cocked -up his ears to hear something more that would throw some light on the -mystery. - -“Ye’ll find him deader’n a smelt,” remarked one of the robbers. -“What’s the use o’ botherin’ with him any longer? Rigged out in his -clothes, ye look enough like him ter be twins. Nobody’ll ever know -the difference between the two o’ ye, an’ if the deed is left at the -black rock, ye kin take over the mine without any one ever bein’ the -wiser.” - -“Keno,” said the bogus Captain Lawless; “I’ll try it on.” - -Thus a light dawned on Cayuse’s brain. The real Lawless was dead, -or dying, and a counterfeit Lawless had taken his clothes and was -playing the rôle in order to get the Forty Thieves Mine! - -Some of Buffalo Bill’s pards might have made post-haste for Sun Dance -with this news, but that wasn’t the little Piute’s way. The outfit of -robbers might go to Medicine Bluff, and they might not. Cayuse would -follow them and make sure just where they did go. - -Naturally, they outdistanced him, but when they had vanished, he -continued to follow their trail. Close to Pass Dure Cañon luck -struck across the boy’s path, for he met Hawk, the Cheyenne. Hawk -was trailing a cayuse behind him, and the cayuse was burdened with a -couple of white-tail deer. - -After making sure that Hawk was a friend, and willing to do a service -for pay, the Piute made a deal with him. For a ten-dollar gold -piece, which Cayuse extracted from his medicine-bag, the Cheyenne -agreed to carry a message to Buffalo Bill, at Sun Dance, and to lend -Cayuse the led horse. - -The two deer were unshipped and hung to the limb of a tree where they -would be safe from coyotes, wolves, and other “varmints.” While the -Cheyenne was taking care of the deer, Cayuse was skinning his piece -of bark from a tree and drawing his diagram. - -He proceeded fairly well until he got to the point where he wished to -tell the scout that there were two men posing as Captain Lawless. The -communication of this fact seemed beyond the art of picture-writing; -but the boy attempted it by drawing two figures to represent Lawless, -and placing a pair of mule’s ears over one, to signify that there was -something wrong with that particular figure. - -When the Cheyenne and the Piute parted, the Cheyenne had the gold -piece and Cayuse had the led horse. They went in different directions. - -It was dusk when Cayuse reached Medicine Bluff, hitched his borrowed -horse in the brush, and went scouting to see what he could find. - -His principal discovery was a gully running away from the foot of the -Bluff on its western side. The robbers were coming and going at the -mouth of the gully, and the boy made up his mind that there was a -rendezvous somewhere in the defile. - -In order to settle his suspicions, he watched his chance and got into -the gully. The place was thickly grown with bushes, and for an Indian -to dodge enemies in such a chaparral was an easy matter. - -About a hundred yards from the mouth of the gully Cayuse found an -overhanging ledge of rock where the outlaws had made their camp. - -Three of the outlaws sat in front of the dark opening under the -ledge, talking together in low voices. Captain Lawless--that is, -the counterfeit Captain Lawless--was not one of the three. What had -become of him? Cayuse asked himself; and what had become of the -captive white woman who had been taken from the stage? - -At first the boy was tempted to think that the supposed Lawless had -taken the white captive away somewhere; and then, a little later, he -began to think those three robbers might be guarding her, and that -she was under the ledge. - -He resolved to find out whether the woman was there, and, in order to -do this, began a risky advance upon the three white men. - -The bushes ran almost to the edge of the overhanging rock, and Cayuse -was able to creep through them until he was within a few feet of -the nearest of the three men. In order to pass the men, it would be -necessary to cross a narrow open space. Could he do it? Capture was -probable, and capture, in Cayuse’s case, would mean death. However, -that was not the first time the boy had faced death in what he -believed to be the line of duty. - -Flinging himself at full length on the ground, he undulated his way -clear of the bushes, like a crawling snake. The backs of the three -men were toward him. - -When he was half-way between the edge of the dusky covert and the -pitchy blackness of the opening under the ledge, one of the men -started and turned around. - -Cayuse flattened out and, scarcely breathing, lay like a stone. -The shadows of the gully deceived the man, and he turned away again -without seeing Cayuse. - -A minute later the boy was under the ledge and safe in the deep -gloom. On hands and knees he crawled about, groping to find a bound -form. If the white woman was there, he reasoned, she would, no doubt, -be bound and gagged, so that she could not move or speak. - -In his blind search, his fingers encountered a form, but the -flesh was cold and lifeless, and the boy recoiled. Dead! Had the -scoundrels, then, slain the white squaw? Cayuse believed so, for -palefaces, like the supposed Lawless and his gang have evil hearts -and are equal to anything. - -Grievously disappointed, the boy crawled from under the ledge, and -attempted to pass the white men once more. The luck that had been -with him the first time, however, failed him now. In the midst of -his reckless work, one of the men got up and started to go under the -ledge. As fate would have it, the man stumbled over Cayuse, who was -lying squarely in his path. - -“A spy!” yelped the man. - -The other two bounded to their feet. Revolvers exploded, and one of -the weapons was Cayuse’s. One of the three men dropped to his knees, -and the Piute, with a flying leap, sprang clear over his head and -dropped into the bushes. - -Cayuse did not lift himself erect, but flattened along the ground. -Bullets spattered above him, among the bushes, and, while he listened -to them, the echoes were suddenly taken up by a crashing of the -undergrowth toward the mouth of the gully. - -“Whoop-ya! This way, fellers, ter ther scene o’ trouble! Ef them -pizen outlaws hev anythin’ ter do with et, we’ll rout ’em out in -reg’lar Buffler Bill style. Straight up ther gully, Hickok! Ef ye see -er bullet comin’ to’ard ye in ther night, jest dodge, an’ keep on -goin’.” - -A quiver of excitement ran pulsing through Cayuse’s body. It was the -voice of Nomad! - -The next moment there was a change in the situation. The outlaws were -now resisting attack, and the fight was at close quarters. - -Cayuse started up to take a part in the fight, rushed out toward the -scene of the scrimmage, and was grabbed by a quick hand and flung to -the ground. A knee dropped on his chest, and a hand with a knife was -lifted above him. - -“Wild Bill!” the boy gasped breathlessly. - -“Well, what do you think of that!” exclaimed Wild Bill. “Blamed if it -ain’t Cayuse, and I came within a hair of giving him his send-off! -How do you happen to be right in the thick of this gang o’ thieves, -boy?” - - - - - CHAPTER XXVIII. - - A HAPPY REUNION. - - -The fight between the three outlaws and those who had just come into -the gully was brief but decisive. The newcomers were piloted by -Gentleman Jim, and consisted of the gambler, De Bray, Nomad, and Wild -Bill. - -This party had kept their uninterrupted way along the right-hand fork -of the valley. Coomby had seen them, and had hastened toward the -gully to give the alarm. Before he had rounded the base of the bluff -he encountered Hank Tenny. Tenny had come, on orders from Buffalo -Bill, looking for the rest of the scout’s pards. Having a prisoner -along, Tenny was anxious to avoid trouble; but when he saw one lone -outlaw coming in his direction through the moon and starlight, he -dismounted, bided his time, and was having it nip and tuck with the -outlaw when Gentleman Jim and the others reached the scene. - -The outlaw was captured, and Tenny had time to explain where and why -the scout and Dell had left for Chavorta Gorge and Pima before the -attack on Cayuse carried the pards into the gully. - -So, while the fight in the gully was going on, Tenny remained at the -foot of the bluff, with two prisoners to watch, instead of one. - -“Me follow stage-robbers,” Little Cayuse explained, in answer to Wild -Bill’s demand for information. - -“Cayuse, hey?” cried Nomad, coming to the spot where the boy and -Wild Bill were standing. “Ye’re a reg’lar brick, son!” he went on, -dropping an approving hand on the Piute’s shoulder. “Ye kin tell us -how ye come ter be hyar later, but jest now we’re anxious ter find -the white woman thet was taken from ther stage. Hev ye seen her, -Cayuse?” - -“White squaw all same dead,” said Cayuse. - -A husky groan came from the dark, and Gentleman Jim staggered through -the bushes and caught the boy’s arm in a convulsive grip. - -“Where, where?” he asked. - -“Under stone,” said Cayuse. “You go there you find um.” - -“De Bray! Wild Bill!” groaned Gentleman Jim, sinking down on the -ground and covering his face with his hands. “You go--I--I can’t! To -think,” muttered the stricken gambler, “that I should be too late, -after all! Too late, too late! Where’s Lawless?” he cried, looking -up as the word, pulsing with murderous hate, came through his lips. -“Where is the scoundrel who----” - -“Thar, thar, Jim,” interposed Nomad soothingly, “don’t be in sich er -takin’ till we make sure. Et’s darker’n a stack o’ black cats in this -gully, an’ mebbyso Cayuse has made er mistake.” - -“He hasn’t made a mistake,” returned the gambler. “I have felt in my -bones, for the past week, that something was on the cards to make or -mar me. This is it! Allie, my wife, was to come to me, and--and we -were not destined to meet.” - -Forgetting about Lawless, in his great sorrow, Gentleman Jim once -more flung his hands over his face and crouched on the ground. - -“You watch him, De Bray,” whispered Wild Bill to the Denver man. -“Nomad and I will take a look into this cave under the rock.” - -All three outlaws were badly wounded and beyond stirring up any more -trouble. Little Cayuse made it his business to watch them, while De -Bray kept a solicitous eye on Gentleman Jim. - -Under the ledge, Wild Bill struck a match and peered about him. His -eyes, almost immediately, fell on the form of Mrs. Brisco. She was -bound hand and foot, and a handkerchief was tied over her lips; but -her eyes were wide open and staring appealingly up into Wild Bill’s -face. - -“Nomad--here!” called Hickok. - -The trapper hurried to the side of his pard. - -“Waugh!” muttered Nomad, mystified. “Thet’s erbout ther wust mistake -I ever knowed Cayuse ter make. Mrs. Brisco is alive! However did -Cayuse git ther notion she wasn’t?” - -Kneeling down, the old trapper, with quick but gentle hands, removed -the cords from Mrs. Brisco’s wrists and ankles. - -“My husband!” whispered the woman, tearing the handkerchief from her -face. “I heard his voice a moment ago. Where is he?” - -“He thinks ye’re dead, mum,” said Nomad softly. “Go out ter him. -Et’ll be the happiest surprise o’ his life ter see ye well and -hearty. Et ain’t often things turns out like this in rale life, -Hickok,” the trapper added, watching Mrs. Brisco hurry out into the -gully and approach her husband. - -“Only in books, old pard,” returned Wild Bill, “do you run across -such a happenchance in the workings of fate. But I’m mighty glad this -thing has happened to Gentleman Jim.” - -“Same here,” said Nomad. - -The two watched while the woman fluttered to the side of her grieving -husband. - -“Jim!” they heard her call brokenly. - -The gambler leaped erect, stared for a second like one in a trance, -and then opened his arms. - -“Allie! Allie! Thank heaven for this!” - -Wild Bill and Nomad turned away. - -“Blame’ funny,” growled the old trapper, “how the smoke from them -pesky sulfur matches blurrs a feller’s eyes.” - -“That’s right,” said Wild Bill, drawing the back of his hand across -his face, “although I never noticed it before.” - -“Whatever do ye reckon give Cayuse ther idee thet Mrs. Brisco was -dead?” - -“I pass. The idea, however the boy got it, gave a powerful wrench to -Gentleman Jim’s nerves, and----” - -Mechanically, Wild Bill had struck another match and moved off toward -the back of the cavernlike room under the ledge. He halted suddenly, -staring at a form on the ground in front of him. - -“Thunder!” he exclaimed. “Why, here’s Lawless, now.” - -“Shore et is!” added Nomad, dropping down. “Lawless ain’t wearin’ -ther same clothes he useter, but et’s him, an’, somehow, he’s saved -ther hangman a job. He’s cashed in, Hickok.” - -“What killed him?” - -“A bullet. Thar’s er wound in his side.” - -“Nick,” said Wild Bill, with a sudden thought, “do you remember the -shot Henry Blake fired at Lawless?” - -“Shore I remember et.” - -“Well, that is what did the work for him.” - -“I ain’t thinkin’ thet way, Wild Bill. Thet shot o’ Blake’s was fired -a week ago, an’ et wasn’t no later’n this arternoon thet Lawless took -his men agin’ ther stage a couple o’ times.” - -“That’s a fact!” murmured Wild Bill, puzzled. “And we’re overlooking -what Hank Tenny said about Buffalo Bill and Dell going to Chavorta -Gorge after Lawless. How can----” - -“No use of me watching Gentleman Jim any more,” said De Bray, coming -in under the ledge just then. “Seen anything of my twenty thousand, -any of you fellows?” - -“There’s the man that maybe took it, De Bray,” said Wild Bill, -striking another match and indicating the body of Lawless, “and,” he -added enigmatically, “maybe didn’t.” - -“He looks like the fellow, all right,” said De Bray, bending down and -pushing his hands into the dead man’s pockets, “but he isn’t wearing -the same clothes.” - -“Him Lawless, all same,” spoke up the voice of Cayuse; “paleface that -rob stage him not Lawless, only look like um and wear um clothes.” - -“Hey?” cried the startled Nomad, whirling on the boy. “Come ag’in -with thet, Cayuse.” - -Cayuse repeated his words, adding: “Me crawl in here, try find white -woman. No find white woman, find um Lawless, instead. You _sabe_? -Think um Lawless white woman, all same dead. Ugh! Him plenty dark, -Little Cayuse in heap big hurry, make um mistake.” - -“It’s all right, the way it has turned out, Cayuse,” said Wild Bill. -“Under the circumstances, the mistake was only a natural one to make, -but it gave Gentleman Jim quite a jolt. How about the outlaws?” - -“Two of um gone to happy place,” said the boy; “other one him live, -mebbyso.” - -“‘Happy place,’” grunted Nomad. “Thet ain’t what I’d call et’, hey, -Wild Bill?” - -“Not exactly,” said Wild Bill. “Suppose we use up our matches trying -to help De Bray locate his money?” - -They searched for an hour, but fruitlessly. - -“They’ve buried it, or something,” said De Bray, when the search was -given up. “In the morning it might be a good thing to ride to this -Chavorta Gorge place, and see what’s going on over there.” - -“Good idea,” approved Wild Bill. - -At that moment Gentleman Jim called Nomad and the rest, and they went -out, to find the gambler and his wife standing side by side, the -gambler’s arm about his wife’s waist. - -“Boys,” said Gentleman Jim, in a voice resonant with feeling, “they -say it’s always darkest just before dawn. It has seemed to have been -that way with me. This little woman, dearer to me than any one else -in the world, has been hunting the West over for a year, trying to -locate me. It was in Montegordo that she got the clue that brought -her toward Sun Dance. What do you think that clue was?” - -None of the others could guess. - -“Why,” exclaimed Gentleman Jim happily, “it was a published account -of Buffalo Bill’s exploits, that time he went to Forty Thieves Mine, -to stay for three days and nights. My name--or, rather, my sobriquet -of ‘Gentleman Jim’--was mixed up in the account, and Allie took a -chance on that sobriquet belonging to me. You have all seen how it -turned out. She and I are going back to Sun Dance now. I’ll leave you -to wind up the rest of this affair, for I’m too happy myself to be of -much use to anybody. If you ride to Chavorta Gorge in the morning, -don’t fail to tell Buffalo Bill what has happened.” - -Three horses belonging to the outlaws were found, farther along the -gully. One of these horses was tendered to Mrs. Brisco for her use, -and she and her husband started for Sun Dance without further delay. - -A little later Hank Tenny, with three prisoners, all on led horses, -was started in the same direction. Two horses carried the prisoners. -One was the man who had been wounded in the gully, and he was given a -horse to himself: the other two men--Coomby and Tex--were secured to -the remaining Cayuse. - -It was sunrise before Little Cayuse, on his borrowed Cheyenne pony, -Wild Bill, Nomad, and De Bray mounted and started for Chavorta Gorge. - -They had Gentleman Jim’s instructions as to the course they should -take, but these instructions were unnecessary, now that Cayuse -was one of the party. The boy, in his soldiering days, had become -familiar with the country, and proved an excellent guide. - -But Nomad and his pards never reached Chavorta Gorge. Half a dozen -miles from the gap, and about midway between the ridge and Medicine -Bluff, the party met the scout and Dell. - -Behind the scout, and securely roped to Bear Paw, was the leader of -the men who had held up the stage--the bogus Captain Lawless. - -As the two parties approached each other, Buffalo Bill thrust a hand -into his pocket and held up a roll of bills. - -“How does this look to you, De Bray?” the scout cried, as he galloped -forward. - -“What is it, Buffalo Bill?” asked De Bray. “Money?” - -“I should say so! Twenty one-thousand-dollar bills.” - -“Then all I can say is that it looks good to me; but I think I feel -better over the fact that Mrs. Brisco has been found, alive and well, -than I do over the recovery of my money.” - -“Then she has been found?” asked Dell, her eyes dancing. - -“Thet’s what,” said Nomad; “she was over by Medicine Bluff. Lawless -was there, too----” - -The scout had halted, his horse to shake hands with his pards and -congratulate them; but, at these words from Nomad, he turned a -startled look in his old pard’s direction. - -“What are you talking about, Nick?” Buffalo Bill demanded. “How -could you find Lawless at Medicine Bluff, when he was at Pima?” - -“Let Cayuse tell yer erbout thet,” grinned Nomad. - -“Me send um picture-writing,” spoke up Cayuse. “Make um two pictures, -all same, burro’s ears over one. You no _sabe_? One Captain Lawless, -other no Captain Lawless. Both look all same.” - -Dell laughed. - -“But I can’t understand, Cayuse,” said she, “how you’d expect Buffalo -Bill to guess that from a pair of burro’s ears.” - -“Him hard thing to tell on birch-bark,” said Little Cayuse. - - - - - CHAPTER XXIX. - - CONCLUSION. - - -In the evening of the day he and Dell had visited Chavorta Gorge, -Buffalo Bill and his pards reached Sun Dance. There was a pleasant -reunion of friends at the supper-table in the Lucky Strike Hotel. -Wah-coo-tah formed one of the party, and Mr. and Mrs. Brisco were -also there. Hank Tenny, Lonesome Pete, and Hotchkiss had started for -Fort Sill in a buckboard, taking the bogus Captain Lawless and the -other three prisoners with them. This departure of the prisoners was -the opening topic discussed at the table that evening. - -The departure of the prisoners led up to the other matters connected -with the double stage-robbery, and a general discussion was indulged -in, whereby every point that was at all obscured was cleared up to -the satisfaction of all. - -Mrs. Brisco, it developed, had been taken direct from the scene of -the second hold-up to the gully near Medicine Bluff. While she was -there, guarded by the three outlaws, Lawless had breathed his last. -The terrible experiences Mrs. Brisco had gone through had seemed to -her, just as a later event had seemed to her husband, the darkest -hour of the night that was to herald the dawn. - -“You said, Buffalo Bill,” remarked Gentleman Jim, during the course -of the conversation, “that great events sometimes hang on trifling -circumstances. Please look at this.” - -He drew the memorable locket from his pocket. The trinket had been -knocked out of shape, and there was a deep dent in the center. - -“When I left here to go to Medicine Bluff with you, Buffalo Bill,” -pursued Gentleman Jim, “I put that locket in the breast pocket of -my coat. During our fight with the outlaws in the gully, one of the -scoundrels fired his revolver at me, pointblank. I felt a shock at -my breast, but thought little of it until, when I went to return the -locket to Allie, I discovered it in that condition. There was also,” -he added, touching the breast of his coat, “this bullet-hole over -my heart. Undoubtedly, that locket, which got Allie into so much -trouble, squared the account by saving my life.” - -“Things turn out thet way sometimes, Gentleman Jim,” said Nomad, -“purvidin’ ye hev what we call Cody-luck.” - -“Cody-luck has been with us all through our work at Medicine Bluff,” -averred James Brisco. - -“And in Chavorta Gorge,” supplemented Dell, with a soft look at the -scout. - -“Especially in Chavorta Gorge,” spoke up De Bray, thinking of his -twenty thousand. - -“And here’s hoping that Cody-luck will be with the king of scouts and -his pards, and with some of the rest of us, as long as we live!” said -Brisco. - -“Amen to that!” were the words that ran round the board. - - * * * * * - -But little more remains to be told concerning the work of the king of -scouts in and near Sun Dance Cañon. - -De Bray looked over the Forty Thieves Mine, pronounced it a bonanza, -bought his half-interest and forthwith began making the property a -heavy producer of the yellow metal. Not only did he enrich himself -out of the mine, but he likewise made Wah-coo-tah wealthy. The Indian -girl and her Cheyenne mother went to live in a “white man’s town”; -Wah-coo-tah was educated, and ultimately married a man of good family. - -The man who posed as Captain Lawless and carried out the -stage-robberies, it afterward developed, was swayed originally by a -desire to get his hands on the Forty Thieves Mine. He and Lawless, it -was stated by Tex, had often exchanged parts, finding it easy to do -so because of their close resemblance to each other. Who the bogus -Lawless was was never discovered. Under his assumed name he was sent -to a military prison, along with the other prisoners. Tex, of course, -was given his freedom, according to the scout’s promise. - -Hawk, the Cheyenne, remained in Sun Dance until Cayuse returned the -borrowed pony, then left the camp to pick up his deer-meat and go on -to the village of his people. - -Dell Dauntless, owing to force of unforeseen circumstances, did not -at once return to her Arizona ranch, as she had intended. Fate linked -her destiny with that of the scout and his pards for a time longer. - -Mr. and Mrs. James Brisco left Sun Dance, and Jim gave up the cards, -just as he had told Buffalo Bill he intended doing. They went East, -and, as the scout had prophesied, Brisco gave attention to his -medical practise, and ultimately became a credit to the community in -which he cast his lot. - -Forty-five is not an advanced age, and no man is really ever too old -to begin retrieving an evil past. - -Lonesome Pete and Hank Tenny continued to live and mine in Sun Dance -Cañon. Always firm friends, their chief delight, for years after -the exciting events herein described, was to meet and live over the -doings of Buffalo Bill and his pards, when they had sojourned in -the gulch and had run out the trail of Captain Lawless of the Forty -Thieves. - - - THE END. - - - No. 67 of the BORDER STORIES, entitled “Buffalo Bill’s Wild Ride,” - is a thriller that takes us right over the plains, and makes us - feel the wind rushing through our hair, as we ride with the great - scout up hill and down dale. - - - - - BOOKS FOR YOUNG MEN - - MERRIWELL SERIES - - Stories of Frank and Dick Merriwell - - PRICE, FIFTEEN CENTS - - _Fascinating Stories of Athletics_ - - - A half million enthusiastic followers of the Merriwell brothers - will attest the unfailing interest and wholesomeness of these - adventures of two lads of high ideals, who play fair with - themselves, as well as with the rest of the world. - - These stories are rich in fun and thrills in all branches of sports - and athletics. They are extremely high in moral tone, and cannot - fail to be of immense benefit to every boy who reads them. - - They have the splendid quality of firing a boy’s ambition to - become a good athlete, in order that he may develop into a strong, - vigorous right-thinking man. - - - _ALL TITLES ALWAYS IN PRINT_ - - 1--Frank Merriwell’s School Days By Burt L. Standish - 2--Frank Merriwell’s Chums By Burt L. Standish - 3--Frank Merriwell’s Foes By Burt L. Standish - 4--Frank Merriwell’s Trip West By Burt L. Standish - 5--Frank Merriwell Down South By Burt L. Standish - 6--Frank Merriwell’s Bravery By Burt L. Standish - 7--Frank Merriwell’s Hunting Tour By Burt L. Standish - 8--Frank Merriwell in Europe. By Burt L. Standish - 9--Frank Merriwell at Yale By Burt L. Standish - 10--Frank Merriwell’s Sports Afield By Burt L. Standish - 11--Frank Merriwell’s Races By Burt L. Standish - 12--Frank Merriwell’s Party. By Burt L. Standish - 13--Frank Merriwell’s Bicycle Tour By Burt L. Standish - 14--Frank Merriwell’s Courage By Burt L. Standish - 15--Frank Merriwell’s Daring By Burt L. Standish - 16--Frank Merriwell’s Alarm By Burt L. Standish - 17--Frank Merriwell’s Athletes By Burt L. Standish - 18--Frank Merriwell’s Skill By Burt L. Standish - 19--Frank Merriwell’s Champions By Burt L. Standish - 20--Frank Merriwell’s Return to Yale By Burt L. Standish - 21--Frank Merriwell’s Secret By Burt L. Standish - 22--Frank Merriwell’s Danger By Burt L. Standish - 23--Frank Merriwell’s Loyalty By Burt L. Standish - 24--Frank Merriwell in Camp By Burt L. Standish - 25--Frank Merriwell’s Vacation By Burt L. Standish - 26--Frank Merriwell’s Cruise By Burt L. Standish - 27--Frank Merriwell’s Chase By Burt L. Standish - 28--Frank Merriwell in Maine By Burt L. Standish - 29--Frank Merriwell’s Struggle By Burt L. Standish - 30--Frank Merriwell’s First Job By Burt L. Standish - 31--Frank Merriwell’s Opportunity By Burt L. Standish - 32--Frank Merriwell’s Hard Luck By Burt L. Standish - 33--Frank Merriwell’s Protégé By Burt L. Standish - 34--Frank Merriwell on the Road By Burt L. Standish - 35--Frank Merriwell’s Own Company By Burt L. Standish - 36--Frank Merriwell’s Fame By Burt L. Standish - 37--Frank Merriwell’s College Chums By Burt L. Standish - 38--Frank Merriwell’s Problem By Burt L. Standish - 39--Frank Merriwell’s Fortune By Burt L. Standish - 40--Frank Merriwell’s New Comedian By Burt L. Standish - 41--Frank Merriwell’s Prosperity By Burt L. Standish - 42--Frank Merriwell’s Stage Hit By Burt L. Standish - 43--Frank Merriwell’s Great Scheme By Burt L. Standish - 44--Frank Merriwell in England By Burt L. Standish - 45--Frank Merriwell on the Boulevards By Burt L. Standish - 46--Frank Merriwell’s Duel By Burt L. Standish - 47--Frank Merriwell’s Double Shot By Burt L. Standish - 48--Frank Merriwell’s Baseball Victories By Burt L. Standish - 49--Frank Merriwell’s Confidence By Burt L. Standish - 50--Frank Merriwell’s Auto By Burt L. Standish - 51--Frank Merriwell’s Fun By Burt L. Standish - 52--Frank Merriwell’s Generosity By Burt L. Standish - 53--Frank Merriwell’s Tricks By Burt L. Standish - 54--Frank Merriwell’s Temptation By Burt L. Standish - 55--Frank Merriwell on Top. By Burt L. Standish - 56--Frank Merriwell’s Luck By Burt L. Standish - 57--Frank Merriwell’s Mascot By Burt L. Standish - 58--Frank Merriwell’s Reward By Burt L. Standish - 59--Frank Merriwell’s Phantom By Burt L. Standish - 60--Frank Merriwell’s Faith By Burt L. Standish - 61--Frank Merriwell’s Victories By Burt L. Standish - 62--Frank Merriwell’s Iron Nerve By Burt L. Standish - 63--Frank Merriwell in Kentucky By Burt L. Standish - 64--Frank Merriwell’s Power By Burt L. Standish - 65--Frank Merriwell’s Shrewdness By Burt L. Standish - - In order that there may be no confusion, we desire to say that the - books listed below will be issued during the respective months in - New York City and vicinity. They may not reach the readers at a - distance promptly, on account of delays in transportation. - - - To Be Published in July, 1923. - - 66--Frank Merriwell’s Set Back By Burt L. Standish - 67--Frank Merriwell’s Search By Burt L. Standish - - - To Be Published in August, 1923. - - 68--Frank Merriwell’s Club By Burt L. Standish - 69--Frank Merriwell’s Trust By Burt L. Standish - - - To Be Published in September, 1923. - - 70--Frank Merriwell’s False Friend By Burt L. Standish - 71--Frank Merriwell’s Strong Arm By Burt L. Standish - - - To Be Published in October, 1923. - - 72--Frank Merriwell As Coach By Burt L. Standish - 73--Frank Merriwell’s Brother By Burt L. Standish - 74--Frank Merriwell’s Marvel By Burt L. Standish - - - To Be Published in November, 1923. - - 75--Frank Merriwell’s Support By Burt L. Standish - 76--Dick Merriwell At Fardale By Burt L. Standish - - - To Be Published in December, 1923. - - 77--Dick Merriwell’s Glory By Burt L. Standish - 78--Dick Merriwell’s Promise By Burt L. Standish - - - +--------------------------------------------------------------+ - | Read _and_ Learn | - | | - | There is a world of knowledge and instruction in the | - | stories of the adventures of Frank Merriwell and his | - | brother Dick, published in the Merriwell series. These | - | justly popular stories of sports, both indoors and out, | - | are what every athletic American boy not only wants but | - | actually needs for his physical and mental development. | - +--------------------------------------------------------------+ - - - - - +--------------------------------------------------------------+ - | 15c | - | | - | is the right price--the fair price under present conditions. | - | | - | Therefore, the | - | | - | S. & S. Novels | - | | - | sell at fifteen cents, no more, no less. | - | | - | We have an established reputation for fair dealing | - | acquired during sixty years of active publishing. | - | | - | The reduction in the price of our novels means that | - | we are living up to our reputation. | - | | - | | - | STREET & SMITH CORPORATION | - | 79 Seventh Avenue New York City | - +--------------------------------------------------------------+ - - - - - WESTERN STORIES ABOUT - - BUFFALO BILL - - Price, Fifteen Cents - - Red-blooded Adventure Stories for Men - - - There is no more romantic character in American history than - William F. Cody, or as he was internationally known, Buffalo Bill. - He, with Colonel Prentiss Ingraham, Wild Bill Hickok, General - Custer, and a few other adventurous spirits, laid the foundation of - our great West. - - There is no more brilliant page in American history than the - winning of the West. Never did pioneers live more thrilling - lives, so rife with adventure and brave deeds as the old scouts - and plainsmen. Foremost among these stands the imposing figure of - Buffalo Bill. - - All of the books in this list are intensely interesting. They were - written by the close friend and companion of Buffalo Bill--Colonel - Prentiss Ingraham. They depict actual adventures which this pair - of hard-hitting comrades experienced, while the story of these - adventures is interwoven with fiction; historically the books are - correct. - - - _ALL TITLES ALWAYS IN PRINT_ - - 1--Buffalo Bill, the Border King By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 2--Buffalo Bill’s Raid By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 3--Buffalo Bill’s Bravery By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 4--Buffalo Bill’s Trump Card By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 5--Buffalo Bill’s Pledge By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 6--Buffalo Bill’s Vengeance By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 7--Buffalo Bill’s Iron Grip By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 8--Buffalo Bill’s Capture By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 9--Buffalo Bill’s Danger Line By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 10--Buffalo Bill’s Comrades By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 11--Buffalo Bill’s Reckoning By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 12--Buffalo Bill’s Warning By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 13--Buffalo Bill at Bay By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 14--Buffalo Bill’s Buckskin Pards By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 15--Buffalo Bill’s Brand By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 16--Buffalo Bill’s Honor By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 17--Buffalo Bill’s Phantom Hunt By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 18--Buffalo Bill’s Fight With Fire By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 19--Buffalo Bill’s Danite Trail By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 20--Buffalo Bill’s Ranch Riders By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 21--Buffalo Bill’s Death Trail By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 22--Buffalo Bill’s Trackers By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 23--Buffalo Bill’s Mid-air Flight By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 24--Buffalo Bill, Ambassador By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 25--Buffalo Bill’s Air Voyage By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 26--Buffalo Bill’s Secret Mission By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 27--Buffalo Bill’s Long Trail By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 28--Buffalo Bill Against Odds By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 29--Buffalo Bill’s Hot Chase By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 30--Buffalo Bill’s Redskin Ally By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 31--Buffalo Bill’s Treasure Trove By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 32--Buffalo Bill’s Hidden Foes By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 33--Buffalo Bill’s Crack Shot By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 34--Buffalo Bill’s Close Call By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 35--Buffalo Bill’s Double Surprise By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 36--Buffalo Bill’s Ambush By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 37--Buffalo Bill’s Outlaw Hunt By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 38--Buffalo Bill’s Border Duel By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 39--Buffalo Bill’s Bid for Fame By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 40--Buffalo Bill’s Triumph By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 41--Buffalo Bill’s Spy Trailer By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 42--Buffalo Bill’s Death Call By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 43--Buffalo Bill’s Body Guard By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 44--Buffalo Bill’s Still Hunt By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 45--Buffalo Bill and the Doomed Dozen By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 46--Buffalo Bill’s Prairie Scout By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 47--Buffalo Bill’s Traitor Guide By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 48--Buffalo Bill’s Bonanza By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 49--Buffalo Bill’s Swoop By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 50--Buffalo Bill and the Gold King By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 51--Buffalo Bill, Deadshot By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 52--Buffalo Bill’s Buckskin Bravos By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 53--Buffalo Bill’s Big Four By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 54--Buffalo Bill’s One-armed Pard By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 55--Buffalo Bill’s Race for Life By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 56--Buffalo Bill’s Return By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 57--Buffalo Bill’s Conquest By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 58--Buffalo Bill to the Rescue By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 59--Buffalo Bill’s Beautiful Foe By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 60--Buffalo Bill’s Perilous Task By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 61--Buffalo Bill’s Queer Find By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 62--Buffalo Bill’s Blind Lead By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 63--Buffalo Bill’s Resolution By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 64--Buffalo Bill, the Avenger By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 65--Buffalo Bill’s Pledged Pard By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 66--Buffalo Bill’s Weird Warning By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 67--Buffalo Bill’s Wild Ride By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 68--Buffalo Bill’s Redskin Stampede By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 69--Buffalo Bill’s Mine Mystery By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 70--Buffalo Bill’s Gold Hunt By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 71--Buffalo Bill’s Daring Dash By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 72--Buffalo Bill on Hand By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 73--Buffalo Bill’s Alliance By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 74--Buffalo Bill’s Relentless Foe By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 75--Buffalo Bill’s Midnight Ride By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 76--Buffalo Bill’s Chivalry By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 77--Buffalo Bill’s Girl Pard By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 78--Buffalo Bill’s Private War By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 79--Buffalo Bill’s Diamond Mine By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 80--Buffalo Bill’s Big Contract By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 81--Buffalo Bill’s Woman Foe By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 82--Buffalo Bill’s Ruse By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 83--Buffalo Bill’s Pursuit By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 84--Buffalo Bill’s Hidden Gold By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 85--Buffalo Bill in Mid-air By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 86--Buffalo Bill’s Queer Mission By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 87--Buffalo Bill’s Verdict By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 88--Buffalo Bill’s Ordeal By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 89--Buffalo Bill’s Camp Fires By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 90--Buffalo Bill’s Iron Nerve By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 91--Buffalo Bill’s Rival By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 92--Buffalo Bill’s Lone Hand By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 93--Buffalo Bill’s Sacrifice By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 94--Buffalo Bill’s Thunderbolt By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 95--Buffalo Bill’s Black Fortune By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 96--Buffalo Bill’s Wild Work By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 97--Buffalo Bill’s Yellow Trail By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 98--Buffalo Bill’s Treasure Train By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 99--Buffalo Bill’s Bowie Duel By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 100--Buffalo Bill’s Mystery Man By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 101--Buffalo Bill’s Bold Play By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 102--Buffalo Bill: Peacemaker By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 103--Buffalo Bill’s Big Surprise By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 104--Buffalo Bill’s Barricade By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 105--Buffalo Bill’s Test By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 106--Buffalo Bill’s Powwow By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 107--Buffalo Bill’s Stern Justice By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 108--Buffalo Bill’s Mysterious Friend By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 109--Buffalo Bill and the Boomers By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 110--Buffalo Bill’s Panther Fight By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 111--Buffalo Bill and the Overland Mail By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 112--Buffalo Bill on the Deadwood Trail By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 113--Buffalo Bill in Apache Land By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 114--Buffalo Bill’s Blindfold Duel By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 115--Buffalo Bill and the Lone Camper By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 116--Buffalo Bill’s Merry War By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 117--Buffalo Bill’s Star Play By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 118--Buffalo Bill’s War Cry By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 119--Buffalo Bill on Black Panther’s Trail By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 120--Buffalo Bill’s Slim Chance By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 121--Buffalo Bill Besieged By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 122--Buffalo Bill’s Bandit Round-up By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 123--Buffalo Bill’s Surprise Party By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 124--Buffalo Bill’s Lightning Raid By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 125--Buffalo Bill in Mexico By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 126--Buffalo Bill’s Traitor Foe By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 127--Buffalo Bill’s Tireless Chase By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 128--Buffalo Bill’s Boy Bugler By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 129--Buffalo Bill’s Sure Guess By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 130--Buffalo Bill’s Record Jump By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 131--Buffalo Bill in the Land of Dread By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 132--Buffalo Bill’s Tangled Clue By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - 133--Buffalo Bill’s Wolf Skin By Col. Prentiss Ingraham - - - - - _Adventure Stories_ - - _Detective Stories_ - - _Western Stories_ - - _Love Stories_ - - _Sea Stories_ - - - All classes of fiction are to be found among the Street & - Smith novels. Our line contains reading matter for every one, - irrespective of age or preference. - - The person who has only a moderate sum to spend on reading matter - will find this line a veritable gold mine. - - - STREET & SMITH CORPORATION, - 79 Seventh Avenue, - New York, N. Y. - - - - - Transcriber’s Notes - - The Table of Contents at the beginning of the book was created by - the transcriber. - - Inconsistencies in hyphenation such as “get-away”/“getaway” - have been maintained. - - Minor punctuation and spelling errors have been silently corrected - and, except for those changes noted below, all misspellings in the - text, especially in dialogue, and inconsistent or archaic usage, - have been retained. - - Page 2: “A Congress of the Rough-riders” changed to “A Congress of - the Rough Riders”. - - Page 11: “Wild Bill set his foot on the supttering” changed to - “Wild Bill set his foot on the sputtering”. - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BUFFALO BILL'S WEIRD WARNING *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the -United States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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- max-width: 100%;} - - -/* Transcriber's notes */ -.transnote {background-color: #E6E6FA; - color: black; - font-size:smaller; - padding:0.5em; - margin-bottom:5em; - font-family:sans-serif, serif; } - -.transnote p {text-indent: 0em;} -.illowp52 {width: 52%;} -.illowe5_8125 {width: 5.8125em;} - - </style> - </head> - -<body> - -<div style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Buffalo Bill's Weird Warning, by Colonel Prentiss Ingraham</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online -at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> - -<table style='min-width:0; padding:0; margin-left:0; border-collapse:collapse'> - <tr><td>Title:</td><td>Buffalo Bill's Weird Warning</td></tr> - <tr><td></td><td>Dauntless Dell's Rival</td></tr> -</table> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Colonel Prentiss Ingraham</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: February 23, 2021 [eBook #64613]</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Character set encoding: UTF-8</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: David Edwards, Susan Carr and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net</div> - -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BUFFALO BILL'S WEIRD WARNING ***</div> - -<div class="figcenter illowp52" id="cover" style="max-width: 60.3125em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/cover.jpg" alt="" /> -</div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<h1 class="pg-brk">Buffalo Bill’s Weird Warning<br /> - -<span class="fs50">OR,</span><br /> - -<span class="fs70">Dauntless Dell’s Rival</span></h1> - -<p class="pfs80 p6">BY</p> - -<p class="pfs135">Colonel Prentiss Ingraham</p> - -<p class="pfs90">Author of the celebrated “Buffalo Bill” stories published in the<br /> -<span class="smcap">Border Stories</span>. For other titles see catalogue.</p> - -<div class="figcenter illowe5_8125" id="colophon"> - <img class="w100 p3" src="images/colophon.jpg" alt="Colophon" /> -</div> - -<p class="pfs120 p4">STREET & SMITH CORPORATION</p> -<p class="pfs90 bold">PUBLISHERS</p> -<p class="pfs120">79-89 Seventh Avenue, New York</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="bbox pg-brk"> -<p class="p2 pfs100">Copyright 1908</p> -<p class="pfs100">By STREET & SMITH</p> -<hr class="r10" /> -<p class="pfs100 pb2">Buffalo Bill’s Weird Warning</p> -</div> - -<p class="pfs80">(Printed in the United States of America)</p> - -<p class="pfs90">All rights reserved, including that of translation into foreign<br /> -languages, including the Scandinavian.</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CONTENTS">CONTENTS</h2> -</div> - -<table class="autotable fs90" width="85%" summary=""> -<tr> -<td class="tdr"></td> -<td class="tdlx"></td> -<td class="tdr fs80">PAGE</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr"></td> -<td class="tdlx">IN APPRECIATION OF WILLIAM F. CODY</td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">I.</td> -<td class="tdlx">MYSTERIOUS DOINGS.</td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">5</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">II.</td> -<td class="tdlx">ANOTHER STRANGER IN CAMP.</td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_18">18</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">III.</td> -<td class="tdlx">CAPTAIN LAWLESS.</td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_30">30</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">IV.</td> -<td class="tdlx">THE INDIAN GIRL.</td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_37">37</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">V.</td> -<td class="tdlx">WAH-COO-TAH AGAIN.</td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_50">50</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">VI.</td> -<td class="tdlx">AT THE FORTY THIEVES MINE.</td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_63">63</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">VII.</td> -<td class="tdlx">LAYING THE “GHOST.”</td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_78">78</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">VIII.</td> -<td class="tdlx">THE FIGHT AT THE ORE-DUMP.</td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_89">89</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">IX.</td> -<td class="tdlx">DELL AND CAYUSE ALSO DELAYED.</td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_95">95</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">X.</td> -<td class="tdlx">THE STRANGER AND THE STEER.</td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_107">107</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">XI.</td> -<td class="tdlx">A GIFT WITH A STRING TO IT.</td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_119">119</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">XII.</td> -<td class="tdlx">THE “FORTY THIEVES MINE.”</td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_131">131</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">XIII.</td> -<td class="tdlx">DELL AND WAH-COO-TAH.</td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_144">144</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">XIV.</td> -<td class="tdlx">LITTLE CAYUSE ON GUARD.</td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_163">163</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">XV.</td> -<td class="tdlx">THE RESCUE OF NOMAD AND WILD BILL.</td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_176">176</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">XVI.</td> -<td class="tdlx">THE CURTAIN-ROCK.</td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_183">183</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">XVII.</td> -<td class="tdlx">THE TURN OF FORTUNE’S WHEEL.</td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_195">195</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">XVIII.</td> -<td class="tdlx">THE ROUND-UP AT SPANGLER’S.</td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_202">202</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">XIX.</td> -<td class="tdlx">THE STAGE FROM MONTEGORDO.</td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_209">209</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">XX.</td> -<td class="tdlx">DOUBLE-CROSSED.</td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_222">222</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">XXI.</td> -<td class="tdlx">BUFFALO BILL AND GENTLEMAN JIM.</td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_234">234</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">XXII.</td> -<td class="tdlx">LETTER, RING, AND LOCKET.</td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_241">241</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">XXIII.</td> -<td class="tdlx">PICTURE-WRITING.</td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_253">253</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">XXIV.</td> -<td class="tdlx">ON THE WAY TO MEDICINE BLUFF.</td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_260">260</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">XXV.</td> -<td class="tdlx">A COWED OUTLAW.</td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_273">273</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">XXVI.</td> -<td class="tdlx">CHAVORTA GORGE AND PIMA.</td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_280">280</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">XXVII.</td> -<td class="tdlx">A BUSY TIME FOR CAYUSE.</td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_293">293</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">XXVIII.</td> -<td class="tdlx">A HAPPY REUNION.</td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_300">300</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">XXIX.</td> -<td class="tdlx">CONCLUSION.</td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_309">309</a></td> -</tr> -</table> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="IN_APPRECIATION_OF_WILLIAM_F_CODY">IN APPRECIATION OF WILLIAM F. CODY<br /> -<span class="fs70">(BUFFALO BILL).</span></h2> -</div> - -<p>It is now some generations since Josh Billings, Ned -Buntline, and Colonel Prentiss Ingraham, intimate friends -of Colonel William F. Cody, used to forgather in the -office of Francis S. Smith, then proprietor of the <cite>New -York Weekly</cite>. It was a dingy little office on Rose Street, -New York, but the breath of the great outdoors stirred -there when these old-timers got together. As a result of -these conversations, Colonel Ingraham and Ned Buntline -began to write of the adventures of Buffalo Bill -for Street & Smith.</p> - -<p>Colonel Cody was born in Scott County, Iowa, February -26, 1846. Before he had reached his teens, his -father, Isaac Cody, with his mother and two sisters, -migrated to Kansas, which at that time was little more -than a wilderness.</p> - -<p>When the elder Cody was killed shortly afterward in -the Kansas “Border War,” young Bill assumed the difficult -rôle of family breadwinner. During 1860, and until -the outbreak of the Civil War, Cody lived the arduous -life of a pony-express rider. Cody volunteered his services -as government scout and guide and served throughout -the Civil War with Generals McNeil and A. J. -Smith. He was a distinguished member of the Seventh -Kansas Cavalry.</p> - -<p>During the Civil War, while riding through the streets -of St. Louis, Cody rescued a frightened schoolgirl from -a band of annoyers. In true romantic style, Cody and -Louisa Federci, the girl, were married March 6, 1866.</p> - -<p>In 1867 Cody was employed to furnish a specified -amount of buffalo meat to the construction men at work -on the Kansas Pacific Railroad. It was in this period -that he received the sobriquet “Buffalo Bill.”</p> - -<p>In 1868 and for four years thereafter Colonel Cody<span class="pagenum" id="Page_2">[2]</span> -served as scout and guide in campaigns against the Sioux -and Cheyenne Indians. It was General Sheridan who -conferred on Cody the honor of chief of scouts of the -command.</p> - -<p>After completing a period of service in the Nebraska -legislature, Cody joined the Fifth Cavalry in 1876, and -was again appointed chief of scouts.</p> - -<p>Colonel Cody’s fame had reached the East long before, -and a great many New Yorkers went out to see -him and join in his buffalo hunts, including such men -as August Belmont, James Gordon Bennett, Anson -Stager, and J. G. Heckscher. In entertaining these -visitors at Fort McPherson, Cody was accustomed to -arrange wild-West exhibitions. In return his friends -invited him to visit New York. It was upon seeing his -first play in the metropolis that Cody conceived the idea -of going into the show business.</p> - -<p>Assisted by Ned Buntline, novelist, and Colonel Ingraham, -he started his “Wild West” show, which later -developed and expanded into “<ins class="corr" id="tn2" title="Transcriber’s Note—“A Congress of the Rough-riders” changed to “A Congress of the Rough Riders”.">A Congress of the Rough Riders</ins> -of the World,” first presented at Omaha, Nebraska. -In time it became a familiar yearly entertainment -in the great cities of this country and Europe. -Many famous personages attended the performances, and -became his warm friends, including Mr. Gladstone, the -Marquis of Lorne, King Edward, Queen Victoria, and -the Prince of Wales, now King of England.</p> - -<p>At the outbreak of the Sioux, in 1890 and 1891, -Colonel Cody served at the head of the Nebraska National -Guard. In 1895 Cody took up the development -of Wyoming Valley by introducing irrigation. Not long -afterward he became judge advocate general of the -Wyoming National Guard.</p> - -<p>Colonel Cody (Buffalo Bill) died in Denver, Colorado, -on January 10, 1917. His legacy to a grateful world was -a large share in the development of the West, and a -multitude of achievements in horsemanship, marksmanship, -and endurance that will live for ages. His life -will continue to be a leading example of the manliness, -courage, and devotion to duty that belonged to a picturesque -phase of American life now passed, like the great -patriot whose career it typified, into the Great Beyond.</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_5">[5]</span></p> - -<p class="pfs180">BUFFALO BILL’S WEIRD WARNING.</p> - -<hr class="r10" /> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I.<br /> -<span class="fs70">MYSTERIOUS DOINGS.</span></h2> -</div> - - -<p>“What was that, Crawling Bear?”</p> - -<p>“Ugh! Fire-gun make um big ‘boom.’”</p> - -<p>“It was a fire-gun, all right, but where did the report -come from? That’s what I’m trying to figure out.”</p> - -<p>Two horsemen were riding along a bleak, desolate-looking -cañon, on route to the mining-camp known as -Sun Dance. One was a white man, and the other an -Indian. The white rider was William Hickok, of Laramie, -better known as “Wild Bill,” and his companion -was a Ponca warrior.</p> - -<p>Both Wild Bill and Crawling Bear had keen ears, and -the muffled report of the rifle came to them distinctly—not -from right or left, from ahead or behind, or above, -but seemingly from the ground under their horses’ -hoofs.</p> - -<p>Another report reached them, coming from the same -place as the first, and Wild Bill, with a puzzled look, -drew rein and rubbed his hand over his forehead.</p> - -<p>“Am I locoed, or what?” he muttered. “It’s a trick -of the echoes, I reckon. Somebody is having a little -gun-play in this vicinity, and the bottom of the gulch -picks up the sound and throws it back to us.”</p> - -<p>The Indian made no response, although from his actions<span class="pagenum" id="Page_6">[6]</span> -it seemed quite clear that he did not accept the -white man’s explanation.</p> - -<p>Wild Bill rode on, and a sharp turn in the cañon -brought him upon something which led to a revision of -his theory concerning the rifle-shots.</p> - -<p>What he saw was an ore-dump, off at one side of the -cañon. The mound of broken rocks was surmounted -by a plank platform. Five horses were hitched to bushes, -not far from the ore-dump, but their riders were not in -evidence.</p> - -<p>Wild Bill halted his horse, once more, and looked from -the ore-dump to the horses, and then around the cañon. -While his eyes were busy, there came a third rifle-shot.</p> - -<p>“By gorry!” he exclaimed, and gave a low laugh. -“This thing begins to clear up a little, Crawling Bear. -There’s a <em>mine</em> here, and probably the mine has a drift -running down the gulch. The shots we heard really -came from under us, but they came from the bottom of -the mine.”</p> - -<p>“Ugh!” grunted the Ponca. “Why Yellow Eyes make -um shoot in mine? No got um game in mine.”</p> - -<p>“Now you’re shouting, my redskin friend. What -there is to shoot at, in that mine, is a conundrum that -your Uncle William is going to work out. Maybe -there’s no game to shoot at down there, but there’s a -game being pulled off that needs looking into.”</p> - -<p>Wild Bill tossed his bridle-reins to the Ponca and -slipped down from the saddle.</p> - -<p>“You go down in mine, huh?” queried Crawling -Bear.</p> - -<p>“That’s my intention,” was the answer.</p> - -<p>“Five ponies, five Yellow Eyes down in mine. Mebbyso -Crawling Bear better go with Wild Bill.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_7">[7]</span></p> - -<p>A smile curled about Wild Bill’s lips.</p> - -<p>“Any old day the odds of five to one make me take -a back seat,” said he, “I hope some friend will hand -me a good one and tell me to wake up. I’m going to -hide my hand, Crawling Bear. This is a case of find out -what’s doing, and then make a get-away on the q. t.—in -case I can’t help some unfortunate in distress. You -look out for the horses; and, if I can’t take care of myself, -then I’m ready to be planted, for it will be high -time.”</p> - -<p>With that, Wild Bill stepped to the foot of the ore-dump -and climbed carefully to the plank platform.</p> - -<p>An empty ox-hide bucket stood on the platform, off -to one side, but there was no windlass for hoisting the -bucket, and there did not seem to be any ladders for getting -down into the shaft. All this contributed still -further to Wild Bill’s perplexity, and at the same time -increased his determination to investigate.</p> - -<p>But, if there were no ladders for getting into the mine, -there was a rope. The upper end of the rope was made -fast to the edge of the opening in the middle of the -platform.</p> - -<p>The Laramie man peered down into the shaft. The -blackness was intense, and he could see nothing, not -even the gleam of a candle.</p> - -<p>“Can’t tell whether the shaft is fifty feet deep or five -hundred,” he muttered, “but it’s a cinch that none of the -men who came here on those five horses are anywheres -around the foot of the shaft. If they were, they’d jump -a piece of lead at me. With my head over the hole, -like this, I’m a good target. Now to go down.”</p> - -<p>For an instant Wild Bill sat on the platform, his feet<span class="pagenum" id="Page_8">[8]</span> -dangling over the abyss; then, slowly letting himself -down, he grabbed the rope and began to slide.</p> - -<p>The shooting continued, the echoes booming louder -in Wild Bill’s ears and increasing his curiosity. Wild -Bill was down fifty feet before he touched bottom. The -shaft was not so deep, after all.</p> - -<p>Leaving the lower end of the rope, he groped his way -around the shaft wall until he found the opening of the -level. In traversing the level, he dropped to his hands -and knees, and crawled.</p> - -<p>The level crooked to right and left, and, after Wild -Bill had covered something like fifty feet of it, he began -to hear voices, and to see a glow of light in the distance.</p> - -<p>Pushing his head and shoulders around a turn, he suddenly -beheld a queer scene, right at the end of the level.</p> - -<p>Five men were there, and four of them carried lighted -candles. The fifth man had no candle, but was armed -with a shotgun.</p> - -<p>The men had all the earmarks of scoundrels, and each -was heeled with a brace of six-shooters. The fellow -with the shotgun had a belt about his waist, above his -revolver-belt, filled with brass shells.</p> - -<p>Just as Wild Bill came within sight of the group, the -man with the shotgun was “breaking” the piece at the -breach, ejecting an empty shell and replacing it with -one that was loaded. Having finished the loading, the -man threw the gun to his shoulder and shot the charge -into the breast of the level.</p> - -<p>“We’re blowin’ a hull lot o’ good stuff inter this bloomin’ -country rock, Clancy,” growled a man with a candle. -“Ain’t ye done enough?”</p> - -<p>“I started in with fifteen shells,” replied Clancy, the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_9">[9]</span> -rascal with the gun, “an’ thar’s five left. We might jest -as well close up the rock with what we’ve still got.”</p> - -<p>“How do ye know ther feller’ll take his samples from -the place ye’re puttin’ them loads?”</p> - -<p>“He’ll git his samples from the breast o’ the level, -won’t he?” struck in another man with a candle. “By -the time we’re done, thar won’t be a patchin’ he kin pick -at but’ll hev its salt. Cap’n Lawless’ll land him, an’ -thar’ll be a hundred thousand ter pass around. The -‘Forty Thieves’ Mine is a played-out propersition, but -the Easterner won’t find that out until arter us fellers -git our hooks on ther money. Then we’ll hike.”</p> - -<p>Clancy banged another load into the rocks.</p> - -<p>“Why in thunder ain’t Lawless hyer?” asked another -of the candle-bearers. “He ort ter be helpin’ us, seems -like.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t you fret none erbout Lawless, Tex,” replied -Clancy. “He’ll be around afore long, ready ter do the -fine work an’ land the lobster. We don’t need him fer -this, an’ it’s a heap better fer him not ter show up in ther -cañon while this job o’ salt is bein’ pulled off. If Lawless -ain’t seen around hyer, he won’t be suspected o’ any -crooked work.”</p> - -<p>“What’s Lawless doin’, anyways?” queried the man -who had spoken first.</p> - -<p>“I dunno, but I reckon he’s watchin’ thet ole flash-light -warrior, Buffler Bill. Ye see, Andy, Lawless ain’t -anyways eager ter tangle up with Buffler Bill an’ his -pards; not but what Lawless could put ther scout an’ his -friends down an’ out—fer head-work, I backs Cap’n -Lawless, o’ ther Forty Thieves, ag’inst all comers, bar -none—but Lawless is jest startin’ inter this hyer profitable -field, an’ he don’t want ter hev no interruptions.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_10">[10]</span></p> - -<p>“Buffler Bill is workin’ fer ther gov’ment,” said Tex. -“He won’t bother none with the cap’n.”</p> - -<p>“Ye never kin tell about him, Tex,” averred Clancy. -“Wharever Buffler scents any unlawful doin’s, he’s li’ble -ter butt in; an’ we don’t want ter give him no chance -ter git fracasin’ round with <em>us</em>.”</p> - -<p>“But if he does,” said Tex, “we’re goin’ ter do him -up?”</p> - -<p>“We are,” declared Clancy; “him an’ his pards—Nomad -an’ ther Injun kid, Leetle Cayuse. I’m close ter -the last ca’tridge, Tex, an’ you an’ Andy better go up -an’ have ther hosses ready. We won’t linger around -ther ore-dump none, arter we come out.”</p> - -<p>Wild Bill, screened by the corner of rock, had heard -every word of this talk. The mysterious doings, in the -light of the conversation among the scoundrels, was now -clearly explained.</p> - -<p>The five men were “salting” the worthless mine; that -is, they had loaded the shotgun-shells with fine gold, and -were blowing the gold into the breast of the level. When -the intended victim came to take his samples of the vein, -he would chip off pieces of the doctored rock, and when -the rock was assayed, it would show the mine to be a -heavy “gold-producer.” On this showing, unless the intended -victim was warned, a hundred thousand dollars -would change hands, and Captain Lawless, of the Forty -Thieves, whoever he was, would be that much richer.</p> - -<p>“I’ll nip this little scheme in the bud,” thought Wild -Bill, as he drew back and crouched against the wall for -Tex and Andy to pass.</p> - -<p>The passing of the men, with their candles, was filled -with considerable danger for Wild Bill. If the two ruffians -saw him, there was bound to be a fight, for it would<span class="pagenum" id="Page_11">[11]</span> -not do to let Wild Bill get away with the information he -had discovered.</p> - -<p>Wild Bill drew his revolvers and made himself as -small as possible. Had there been time, he would have -hastened back to the shaft, along the level, and climbed -the rope. But he knew he could not have gotten half-way -up before Tex and Andy would have located him. -It was better for Wild Bill to stay right where he was, -and hope for the best.</p> - -<p>The whole affair, as Wild Bill had planned it, was -reckless in the extreme; but he was daring by nature, -and rarely counted the cost before making a leap in the -dark.</p> - -<p>This must have been his evil day, and the beginning -of a series of evil days, as will soon appear. Tex and -Andy were stumbling past him, when the former, tripping -on a stone that lay on the bottom of the level, fell -sideways, dropping his candle and falling full on the -man from Laramie.</p> - -<p>The candle was extinguished, but Tex, encountering -the intruder, gave vent to a wild yell of alarm. Wild -Bill’s fist shot out, and Tex crumpled flat along the floor -of the level; the blow was followed by another, which -landed on the point of Andy’s jaw, and threw him -against the hanging wall. His candle also dropped, and -<ins class="corr" id="tn11" title="Transcriber’s Note—“Wild Bill set his foot on the supttering” changed to “Wild Bill set his foot on the sputtering”.">Wild Bill set his foot on the sputtering</ins> -flame.</p> - -<p>By then Clancy and the other three had started at a -run to see what was the trouble. Wild Bill, berating his -hard luck, rushed toward the shaft, but he was running -in the dark—a circumstance which brought him many a -bruise and bump. Behind him came three men with two -candles, but Tex and Andy were temporarily out of the -race.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_12">[12]</span></p> - -<p>From time to time, as he stumbled onward, Wild Bill -looked backward over his shoulder. Suddenly he saw -Clancy halt, lift the shotgun, and shoot along the level.</p> - -<p>Quick as a flash, Wild Bill dropped flat. He had no -desire to stop a charge from a brass shell, even though -it was of gold.</p> - -<p>The fine yellow metal whistled over his head. As the -echo of the shot clamored in the level, Wild Bill sprang -up and forged onward with a reckless laugh.</p> - -<p>“They can’t salt <em>me</em>,” he muttered, “but I may be able -to salt one of them with lead.”</p> - -<p>He paused long enough to chance a shot from his six-shooter. -A yell of pain came from Clancy. The shotgun -clattered to the rocks, and he grabbed at his right -arm.</p> - -<p>The other two men thereupon began using their revolvers, -accompanying their shooting with savage yells.</p> - -<p>Wild Bill, pushing flat against the foot wall, deliberately -snuffed the two candles that remained alight. His -wrist had been grazed by one of the ruffians’ bullets, but -it was a small injury, and he gave it scant attention.</p> - -<p>As soon as the level was entirely plunged in darkness, -he ran on to the shaft which, by then, was only a few -feet away.</p> - -<p>The time had passed for fighting. It was up to him to -retreat, and to see how quick he could get to the top of -the shaft, and out of it.</p> - -<p>Jabbing his revolver back into his belt, he laid hold -of the rope and started aloft, hand over hand.</p> - -<p>Clancy and the rest, meanwhile, had not remained inactive. -They must have been considerably in the dark -as to the identity of their enemy, but they realized that -he had caught them red-handed, and that the success<span class="pagenum" id="Page_13">[13]</span> -of their whole plot might hang on their capturing him. -Therefore they pushed forward desperately, Clancy in -a rage because of his wound. Tex and Andy, having -revived sufficiently from the sledge-hammer blows they -had received, had joined the others.</p> - -<p>“Don’t strike any matches,” Wild Bill heard Clancy -yell, “and don’t light no candles. We don’t want the -whelp ter make targets o’ us. Ketch him, thet’s all! -Consarn his picter! he’s given me a game arm. I want -ter play even fer thet, anyhow.”</p> - -<p>Above him, Wild Bill could see a square patch of daylight -as he climbed. His progress was slow, however, -and he knew that when Clancy and the rest got to the -shaft, they would see him swinging in mid-air between -them and the lighted background.</p> - -<p>As Wild Bill looked up, he saw the head of Crawling -Bear leaning over the opening and looking down.</p> - -<p>“Cover that hole, Crawling Bear!” roared Wild Bill. -“They’re after me, the whole five of ’em. Look alive, -now.”</p> - -<p>The Ponca was quick-witted, and must have realized -the situation. His head vanished from the patch of light -the instant Wild Bill ceased speaking.</p> - -<p>Climbing hand over hand was slow work. Wild Bill’s -arms were strong, and he did his best, but his best did -not carry him upward nearly so swiftly as he could have -wished.</p> - -<p>Sounds of scrambling feet came from below him, followed -by the voice of Tex.</p> - -<p>“Thar he is! See him squirm, will ye? Pepper him! -Turn loose at him!”</p> - -<p>Just then the hole above suddenly darkened. Wild -Bill was still a target, but not so plain.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_14">[14]</span></p> - -<p>The shaft echoed with a patter of reports. A sharp, -stinging blow struck the heel of Wild Bill’s boot, the -broad brim of his hat shook, and he was raked along -one side as by a red-hot iron.</p> - -<p>“Wow!” he muttered; “if they put a piece of lead into -one of my arms——”</p> - -<p>And just then that is exactly what they did. It was -Wild Bill’s left arm. The strength went out of the arm -in a flash, and Wild Bill only saved himself from dropping -back to the bottom of the shaft by a fierce grip on -the rope with his right hand.</p> - -<p>How could he climb now? The outlook was anything -but reassuring.</p> - -<p>All this time the Laramie man felt a movement of the -rope, as though Crawling Bear, at the top of the shaft, -was tinkering with it under the cover he had placed over -the opening.</p> - -<p>“I reckon he ain’t climbin’ no more,” roared the voice -of Clancy, from the depths. “Lay holt, thar, Tex, an’ -see if ye kain’t crawl up an’ haul ther whelp back. He’s -winged, mebby, an’ kain’t climb.”</p> - -<p>This, as we know, was Wild Bill’s condition. He had -twisted the rope about one of his legs, and was able -to maintain his place, but, if he did not drop downward, -neither could he move upward an inch.</p> - -<p>Tex, evidently, had grabbed the rope, for it tightened -cruelly around Wild Bill’s leg.</p> - -<p>The Laramie man’s arm did not seem to have been -very seriously injured. So far as he could judge, what -the arm was suffering from, more than anything else, was -the shock of the bullet.</p> - -<p>Twisting the arm about the rope, he drew his knife -from its scabbard at his belt, and bent downward. A<span class="pagenum" id="Page_15">[15]</span> -quick slash severed the rope in twain, and a heavy fall -and a chorus of oaths came from the shaft’s bottom. -Tex had dropped upon some of his companions, for the -moment demoralizing them.</p> - -<p>This move of Wild Bill’s, while necessary for his -safety, almost proved disastrous to him as well as to -Tex.</p> - -<p>Wild Bill’s left arm was not to be depended upon. At -the critical moment it gave with him; and, had he not -dropped the knife and gripped the rope with his right -hand, he would have followed Tex onto the heads of -Clancy and the others.</p> - -<p>Before the disorder at the bottom of the shaft could -be righted, and the scoundrels again begin their revolver-work, -Wild Bill felt himself started upward with a jerk.</p> - -<p>Crawling Bear was taking a hand! Just what he had -done Wild Bill did not know, but that his means, whatever -they were, were effectual, was proved by the swiftness -with which Wild Bill was hauled to the platform.</p> - -<p>In less than half a minute after Wild Bill started upward, -his head struck against a blanket covering the -mouth of the shaft, and he was snaked out onto the -planks, and lay blinking in the sun.</p> - -<p>At the foot of the ore-dump stood the Ponca with a -hand on the bridle of Wild Bill’s horse. The Laramie -man saw in an instant what his red companion had done.</p> - -<p>After covering the mouth of the shaft with his blanket, -he had secured the picket-rope from Wild Bill’s saddle -and had tied one end to the horn; the other end he had -secured to the rope leading down into the shaft, and -had then cut the shaft-rope. By leading Wild Bill’s -horse across the cañon from the foot of the ore-dump,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_16">[16]</span> -the Ponca had been able to get his white companion to -the surface by horse-power.</p> - -<p>“You’re all to the good, Crawling Bear!” declared -Wild Bill, sitting up at the edge of the ore-dump and -pulling off his coat. “I had a close call, down there, and -I reckon those yaps would have got me if it hadn’t been -for you.”</p> - -<p>Crawling Bear untied the rope from the saddle-horn -and began coiling it in. When he had removed the rope -spliced to the end of the picket-rope, he hung the coil -in its proper place at Wild Bill’s saddle.</p> - -<p>“Wild Bill hurt, huh?” he asked, mounting the side of -the dump.</p> - -<p>“A gouge through the fleshy part of the arm, that’s -all,” the Laramie man answered, examining the injury. -“The bullet flickered along the muscles and went on -about its business.”</p> - -<p>Wild Bill had cut away the sleeve of his flannel shirt -in order to examine the injury. Out of the bottom of -the sleeve he improvised a bandage, and Crawling Bear -helped him put it in place.</p> - -<p>When the arm was roughly bandaged, Wild Bill thrust -his hand into the breast of his shirt.</p> - -<p>“I’m worth a dozen dead men yet,” he went on, “but -that outfit sure had it in for me. Don’t know as I can -blame them, though, as they’ve got a hundred thousand -at stake. I’m going to fool them out of that hundred -thousand—watch my smoke.”</p> - -<p>He looked at the bullet-hole through the brim of his -hat, then at his left boot, from which the heel was missing, -and finally at the place where a bullet had raked -along the side of his clothes, after which he laughed -grimly.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_17">[17]</span></p> - -<p>“They had a good many chances at me, Crawling -Bear,” he proceeded, “but they didn’t make good. We’ve -got ’em bottled up in that mine now, and we’ll keep ’em -there until I can get Pard Cody to Sun Dance. I’ve got -a notion he’ll enjoy meeting that gang of trouble-makers.”</p> - -<p>The Ponca picked up his blanket from the platform -and threw it over his shoulders.</p> - -<p>“Yellow Eyes?” he queried.</p> - -<p>“You bet! They’re white tinhorns, every last man of -them. It’s up to you and me to call their little game. -It’s a salting proposition, with a tenderfoot standing to -lose a hundred thousand in good, hard money. Let’s -ride for Sun Dance and get there as quick as we can.”</p> - -<p>“What about um five <i lang="es" xml:lang="es">caballos</i>?” asked the Ponca, his -small, beady eyes gloating over the five horses belonging -to Clancy and his outfit.</p> - -<p>“Oh, we’ll leave them. Haven’t time to bother with -’em, anyhow.”</p> - -<p>Wild Bill descended the slope lamely and climbed into -his saddle. A few moments later, he and the Ponca -were continuing on along the cañon toward Sun Dance.</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_18">[18]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II.<br /> -<span class="fs70">ANOTHER STRANGER IN CAMP.</span></h2> -</div> - - -<p>Sun Dance was a very small mining-camp, perched -on a shelf up the side of Sun Dance Cañon. “Six -’dobies stuck on a side hill,” was the trite and not very -elegant way the camp was often described.</p> - -<p>The sort of mining indulged in was both quartz and -placer—placer-mining in the gulch and quartz-mining in -the neighboring hills. Only the placer-miners lived in -the camp; the quartz-miners had camps of their own, -and only came to Sun Dance for supplies.</p> - -<p>The camp could be reached in two ways: From the -bottom of the cañon by a steep climb, and from the top -by a stiff descent.</p> - -<p>The stage from Montegordo reached camp by way of -the cañon’s rim, which was its only feasible route; but -Wild Bill and Crawling Bear came from below, and -gained the settlement by spurring their horses up the -slope.</p> - -<p>Just where the trail crawled over the edge of the flat, -there was a sign-board with the rudely lettered words: -“No Shootin’ Aloud in Sun Dance.” As an indication -of how seriously the sign was taken, it may be mentioned -that the lettering could hardly be read for bullet-holes.</p> - -<p>By day the camp was practically dead, all the miners -being at work on their placers, and only storekeepers, -gamblers, resort proprietors, and the man who “ran” -the hotel being visible. For the most part, these worthies<span class="pagenum" id="Page_19">[19]</span> -smoked their pipes and cigarettes during the day, or -played cards among themselves merely to pass the time.</p> - -<p>With night everything changed. The camp became a -boisterous, rollicking place.</p> - -<p>Miners flocked in, bet their yellow dust on the turn of -a card or a whirl of the wheel, sampled the camp’s “red-eye,” -and very often forgot the warning of the sign, and -indulged in shooting that was very <em>loud</em> and occasionally -fatal.</p> - -<p>The name of the one hotel in the camp was the -“Lucky Strike.” The proprietor was one Abijah Spangler, -a leviathan measuring six foot ten, up and down, and -ten foot six—or so it was said—east and west at his -girth-line. Anyway, Abijah Spangler weighed 300 -pounds, and when he sat down it took two chairs to hold -him.</p> - -<p>When Wild Bill and Crawling Bear halted in front -of the Lucky Strike, Bije Spangler was sitting down, -dripping with perspiration and agitating the air with a -ragged palm-leaf fan.</p> - -<p>“You the boss of this hangout?” inquired Wild Bill, -surveying Spangler’s huge bulk with much interest.</p> - -<p>“I run it, you bet,” answered Spangler, ruffling his -double-chin and wondering at the red handkerchief about -Wild Bill’s arm.</p> - -<p>“Got accommodations for two?” queried the Laramie -man.</p> - -<p>“Fer two <em>whites</em>, yes—meals, four bits, and a bed, a -dollar. But”—and here Bije Spangler cast a disapproving -eye on the Ponca—“I don’t feed or house Injuns fer -no money. Not meanin’ any disrespect fer yerself, -neighbor,” added Spangler hastily, noting the glint that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_20">[20]</span> -rose in Wild Bill’s eye, “but I couldn’t keep open house -fer reds without sp’ilin’ the repertation o’ my hotel.”</p> - -<p>The Ponca sat up stiff and straight on his horse.</p> - -<p>“Where I stay, he stays,” averred Wild Bill; “what’s -good enough for him is good enough for me. He’s -plum white, all but his skin.”</p> - -<p>“So’s a Greaser,” grunted Spangler, “or a Chink. -Sorry to appear disobligin’, ’specially as you-all seems -to have run inter trouble somewheres. You’re welcome -to stop, but the Injun’ll have ter camp out in the chaparral.”</p> - -<p>Wild Bill was in no mood for arguing the case, and -he was about to ride on, when the Ponca leaned forward -and stopped him.</p> - -<p>“You want um Ponca take paper-talk to Pa-e-has-ka, -hey?” he asked.</p> - -<p>“Sure I do, Crawling Bear,” replied Wild Bill, “but I -don’t want you to start for Sill until you have rested -yourself and your horse.”</p> - -<p>“Ugh! no want um rest. Feel plenty fine. Me take -um paper-talk now.”</p> - -<p>Wild Bill saw that Crawling Bear meant what he said. -The camp not appearing to be a very safe place for a red -man, anyhow, the Laramie man decided to let his companion -have his way.</p> - -<p>“Got a place where I can write?” inquired Wild Bill.</p> - -<p>“Go through the office an’ inter the bar,” replied -Spangler. “You can write on one of the tables, an’ I -reckon the barkeep can skeer up a patchin’ o’ paper and -a lead-pencil.”</p> - -<p>Leaving his horse with the Ponca, Wild Bill went -into the barroom, and had soon written a few words to -Buffalo Bill, asking him to come to Sun Dance as soon<span class="pagenum" id="Page_21">[21]</span> -as possible. Returning to Crawling Bear, Wild Bill -handed him the folded note and a dozen silver dollars.</p> - -<p>“Why you give um Ponca dinero?” asked the Indian.</p> - -<p>“That’s for carrying the message to Buffalo Bill,” -said the Laramie man.</p> - -<p>“Buffalo Bill?” wheezed Spangler, stirring a little in -his chair. “You a friend of Buffalo Bill’s?”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” answered Wild Bill, whirling on the fat man. -“My name’s Hickok.”</p> - -<p>“Wild Bill!” muttered Spangler. “Say, that’s different. -Any Injun friend o’ Wild Bill’s can stop with me. -I’ll break my rules for you, and——”</p> - -<p>Hoofs clattered. Crawling Bear, not waiting further, -was off for the edge of the “flat” on his return journey -to Sill.</p> - -<p>“You’re too late,” said Wild Bill curtly. “What’s -your label.”</p> - -<p>“Spangler is my handle.”</p> - -<p>“Any strangers in town, Spangler?”</p> - -<p>“Only you.”</p> - -<p>“When’s the next stage due from Montegordo?”</p> - -<p>“To-morrow afternoon.”</p> - -<p>“Well, I’m going to stay with you until to-morrow -afternoon, anyhow. Call some one to take care of my -horse; and if I can have a room all to myself, I want -it.”</p> - -<p>“That’ll cost extry,” said Spangler. “If ye’re goin’ to -throw on style with a private room, you’ll have to bleed -ten dollars’ worth.”</p> - -<p>“That’s the size of my stack. Hustle, now. I’m -fagged, and want to lie down.”</p> - -<p>Spangler lifted his voice and gave a husky yell. In -answer to the signal, a Mexican showed himself around<span class="pagenum" id="Page_22">[22]</span> -the corner of the house, who took Wild Bill’s horse. -Then once more Spangler indulged in a wheezy shout. -This was the signal for a Chinaman to present himself. -After a few words with Spangler, the Chinaman led -Wild Bill into the house, through the office and the -drinking-part of the establishment, and into a small, corner -room, with a window looking out upon the street.</p> - -<p>There was a cot in the room, and Wild Bill flung himself -down wearily upon it. In a few minutes he was -fast asleep.</p> - -<p>He awoke in time for supper, put a fresh bandage -around his arm, and went out into the hotel dining-room. -Everything about the Lucky Strike was exceedingly -primitive, and the table, the service, and the food -were about what one would expect in a pioneer mining-camp. -Wild Bill, however, was used to such accommodations -and fare.</p> - -<p>Following the meal, he smoked a couple of pipes in -front of the hotel, saying nothing to anybody, but keeping -up a lot of thinking.</p> - -<p>The Forty Thieves—so ran the current of his -thoughts—was a played-out mine. Those five men, under -orders from one Captain Lawless, were salting it. -The name of the mine was suggestive, and so was the -name of the man who was engineering the salting operations.</p> - -<p>“Captain Lawless, of the Forty Thieves!” said Wild -Bill to himself. “That has sure got a regular rough-house -sound. When Pard Cody hears it, I’ll bet money -it will ruffle his hair the wrong way. Crawling Bear -will get that paper-talk through some time to-night, and -Cody will be here to-morrow afternoon. When he arrives, -we’ll prance out to the Forty Thieves and snake<span class="pagenum" id="Page_23">[23]</span> -those five trouble-makers out of that hole in the ground; -then, if Captain Lawless wants to take a whack at us, -he’s welcome.”</p> - -<p>Wild Bill took no part in the hilarious doings of the -camp that night. By 10 o’clock he had locked himself -in his room and got into bed. His arm was a bit painful, -so that he was an hour or more in getting to sleep. -When he was once asleep, however, he did not wake -until morning.</p> - -<p>His arm felt better. He could use his hand as well as -usual. There was some pain in the arm, but it was -not severe.</p> - -<p>Following breakfast, he went to one of the general -stores and bought a new flannel shirt, a pair of boots, -and a bowie, to take the place of the one he had lost in -the mine.</p> - -<p>After that, he sat in front of the Lucky Strike and -smoked until dinner-time; and, after dinner, he smoked -until four-thirty, when the stage pulled over the rim of -the cañon and slid down the slope with the hind wheels -tied.</p> - -<p>The stage drew up in front of the hotel, and a mail-bag -was thrown off. There was one passenger, a man -in a linen duster, and clearly a stranger.</p> - -<p>“He’s the one,” said Wild Bill to himself, knocking -the ashes out of his pipe and getting out of his chair. -“The chap doesn’t look much like an easy mark, though. -I wonder if he has any notion he’s taking long chances -with that hundred thousand of his?”</p> - -<p>Just then Wild Bill experienced something like a jolt. -A man rode up along the trail that led from the cañon -bottom, drew rein in front of the hotel, dismounted,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_24">[24]</span> -dropped his bridle-reins over a hitching-post, and followed -the stranger into the Lucky Strike.</p> - -<p>The man had his right arm in a sling, and it didn’t -take two looks to inform Wild Bill that the fellow was -none other than Clancy! Clancy, the man who had been -blowing gold into the Forty Thieves with a shotgun! -Clancy, the man Wild Bill had left, with four others, -bottled up in the Forty Thieves’ shaft!</p> - -<p>Clancy did not pay any attention to Wild Bill. It -seemed very probable that neither Clancy, nor any of -those with him in the mine, had been able to see Wild -Bill distinctly enough to recognize him in another place -and in broad day.</p> - -<p>Then, too, the Laramie man had a new shirt of a different -color from the blue one he had worn in the mine, -and he showed no sign of injury. All this would help -to keep Clancy from recognizing him, even if he had got -a tolerably good look at him in the Forty Thieves.</p> - -<p>Reassured on this point, Wild Bill fell to canvassing -another. How had Clancy managed to escape from the -shaft?</p> - -<p>Clancy and the rest must have had help. Some other -member of the gang must have been abroad in the -cañon, and no doubt happened along and gave his aid.</p> - -<p>Wild Bill was disappointed. He had hoped the five -would be kept in the Forty Thieves until Buffalo Bill -reached Sun Dance.</p> - -<p>Strolling into the office of the hotel, Wild Bill saw -Clancy in close conversation with the man in the linen -duster. They were off by themselves in one corner, and -were conversing in low, animated tones.</p> - -<p>“Clancy is going to hold the man until this Captain -Lawless shows up,” thought Wild Bill. “I must have a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_25">[25]</span> -word with that tenderfoot and show him how he is going -to be gold-bricked. I’d hate myself to death if I ever -allowed that gang of robbers to get away with his hundred -thousand.”</p> - -<p>Wild Bill, having settled the situation in his mind, -strolled out to the front of the hotel, filled his pipe again, -and seated himself in the chair he had occupied for most -of the day.</p> - -<p>He was waiting for the stranger, and he had not long -to wait. Clancy came out, unhitched his horse, climbed -into the saddle, and clattered back toward the bottom -of the cañon. A few minutes later the stranger followed, -pulled up a chair a few feet from Wild Bill’s, and -seated himself.</p> - -<p>“Howdy,” said Wild Bill, with a friendly nod, by way -of breaking the ice.</p> - -<p>“How do you do, sir?” answered the stranger, with all -the elaborate courtesy of an Easterner. “Will you try -one of these?”</p> - -<p>He offered Wild Bill a cigar, and the latter accepted -it amiably.</p> - -<p>“Stranger, I take it?” pursued Wild Bill.</p> - -<p>“Well, yes,” answered the other. “I came in on the -afternoon stage from Montegordo.”</p> - -<p>“Looking up the mines?”</p> - -<p>A suspicious look crossed the stranger’s face.</p> - -<p>“Figuring on examining the Forty Thieves,” pursued -Wild Bill, “with the intention of handing out one -hundred thousand cold plunks for the same?”</p> - -<p>The stranger laughed.</p> - -<p>“You seem to be pretty well informed,” he remarked. -“I haven’t told a soul about my business here, but you -reel it right off, first clatter out of the box.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_26">[26]</span></p> - -<p>“Steer wide of the Forty Thieves, pilgrim,” said Wild -Bill earnestly. “That proposition is a trap for the unwary. -I know. It cost me some trouble to find out -what I’m telling you, but you take my word for it, and -let the property alone.”</p> - -<p>“Who are you?” inquired the stranger, with sudden -interest.</p> - -<p>“My name’s Hickok, William Hickok.”</p> - -<p>The stranger hitched restlessly in his chair.</p> - -<p>“The man I’ve heard so much about under the sobriquet -of Wild Bill?” he asked.</p> - -<p>“Tally! That’s the time you got your bean on the -right number.”</p> - -<p>The stranger fell silent for a space.</p> - -<p>“My name is Smith,” said he finally; “J. Algernon -Smith, of Chicago, and what you tell me is mighty surprising.” -He drew his chair closer. “Would you mind -telling me just what you have found out?”</p> - -<p>“Sure I wouldn’t mind. I’m hungry to cut into this -game, and even up with the pack of tinhorns that gave -me a hot half-hour yesterday.”</p> - -<p>And thereupon Wild Bill began telling what he had -seen and heard in the level of the Forty Thieves. When -he had finished, J. Algernon Smith was wide-eyed and -staring.</p> - -<p>“Really,” he managed to gasp, “this is most astounding.”</p> - -<p>“I reckon it’s all that,” mildly answered Wild Bill. -“The very name of that mine, though, is enough to make -a man think some. Who’s the fellow you’re going to -deal with?”</p> - -<p>“His name, I believe, is James Lawless.”</p> - -<p>“That’s another name that’s bad medicine.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_27">[27]</span></p> - -<p>“I’d never thought of the names in that light.”</p> - -<p>“That fellow that was talking with you, right after -you got out of the stage, was Clancy, the scoundrel that -was blowing gold into the rock with a shotgun. What -did he want?”</p> - -<p>“Why, he was telling me that Lawless hadn’t got here -yet, and he was warning me not to say anything to anybody -about my business in Sun Dance.”</p> - -<p>“You couldn’t blame him for that,” remarked Wild -Bill dryly.</p> - -<p>“He asked me to meet him at the foot of the slope, -in the bottom of the cañon, immediately after supper,” -went on the stranger, “so we could have a quiet talk.”</p> - -<p>“You can see how they’re working it, can’t you?” returned -Wild Bill. “They’re trying to keep this business -dark until Lawless shows up, and meanwhile Clancy is -going to keep your interest at fever-heat by all kinds of -stringing. Any objection to my going along with you -when you meet Clancy?”</p> - -<p>“No, indeed, Wild Bill. I was about to suggest that -myself. I am sure I’m very much obliged to you for -your interest in me, and——”</p> - -<p>“Stow that,” interrupted Wild Bill. “It isn’t my interest -in you, particularly, that leads me to take a hand, but -it’s more a desire to see every man get what’s coming -to him. <i lang="es" xml:lang="es">Sabe?</i>”</p> - -<p>At that moment the Chinaman came out in front of the -hotel and pounded on a gong.</p> - -<p>“Suppa leddy!” he announced.</p> - -<p>The stranger did not remove his linen duster. It covered -him from his neck to his heels, and Wild Bill -thought he kept it on so as not to soil his Eastern<span class="pagenum" id="Page_28">[28]</span> -clothes. He and the Laramie man sat at the same table, -and next to each other.</p> - -<p>When the meal was over, J. Algernon Smith excused -himself for a minute, and said he would rejoin Wild Bill -in front of the hotel, and they would at once take their -way down the slope to the bottom of the cañon.</p> - -<p>Wild Bill waited for five minutes before J. Algernon -Smith rejoined him, and they started across the “flat” -toward the top of the slope.</p> - -<p>“A tenderfoot has got to keep his eyes skinned,” said -Wild Bill, “or he’ll collide with more trouble, in this -western country, than he ever dreamed was turned -loose.”</p> - -<p>“I presume you are right,” said J. Algernon Smith. -“Only fancy blowing gold into a mine with a shotgun!” -He laughed a little. “If they knew that, back in Chicago, -they’d make game of me,” he added. “You haven’t told -any one about this, have you?”</p> - -<p>“Not a soul but you.”</p> - -<p>“I’m glad of that, I can tell you. I’d hate to have -the business get out. Of course, I hadn’t bought the -mine yet. I was going to take samples, you know, and -have them assayed; then, if the assays showed up well, -the deal would have been made.”</p> - -<p>It was very dark, at that hour, on the slope leading -down into the cañon. Bushes fringed the horse-trail, in -places, and there was quite a patch of chaparral at the -foot of the slope.</p> - -<p>Here Wild Bill and J. Algernon Smith came to a halt.</p> - -<p>“Clancy doesn’t seem to be around,” said Wild Bill. -“Maybe you’d better tune up with a whistle, or a yell, -so that he’ll know where you are.”</p> - -<p>J. Algernon Smith stared into the depths of a thicket.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_29">[29]</span></p> - -<p>“It looks to me as though there was a man in there,” -said he. “Can you see any one, Mr. Hickok?”</p> - -<p>Wild Bill took a step forward. His back was to his -companion, and, while he was peering into the bushes, he -heard a hasty step behind him.</p> - -<p>He started to turn; and, at that precise instant, a heavy -blow, dealt with some hard instrument, landed on the -back of his head.</p> - -<p>He staggered, but, with a fierce effort, rallied all his -strength, and turned around. In the darkness he saw -the yellow duster pressing upon him. It was Smith, and -Smith was about to land another treacherous blow.</p> - -<p>Wild Bill’s head was reeling, but he had sense enough -left to understand that he had made some sort of a mistake, -and that Smith was other than he had seemed.</p> - -<p>Evading the blow aimed at him, the Laramie man -gripped Smith by the throat. Ultimately, in spite of his -unsteady condition, Wild Bill might have got the best -of his antagonist had not Clancy taken a part in the -struggle.</p> - -<p>The latter plunged through the bushes and assaulted -Wild Bill from behind.</p> - -<p>At Clancy’s second blow, Wild Bill’s reason fled, and -he dropped helplessly on the rocks.</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_30">[30]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III.<br /> -<span class="fs70">CAPTAIN LAWLESS.</span></h2> -</div> - -<p>How long Wild Bill remained unconscious he never -knew, but it must have been a considerable time. He -had been struck down at the foot of the rocky slope, and -when he opened his eyes he was lying in the level of the -Forty Thieves.</p> - -<p>Wild Bill had no difficulty in recognizing the level, -for three or four candles were burning in niches of the -rock, and lighted the place sufficiently for him to make -observations.</p> - -<p>The Laramie man’s unconsciousness had lasted long -enough for his captors to remove him from the slope -four or five miles down the cañon and lower him into the -mine.</p> - -<p>His hands and feet were bound, and a savage pain -from his left arm, cramped around behind him, in no -wise mitigated the discomforts of his situation. His -head, too, was aching, and his brain was still dizzy.</p> - -<p>He was surrounded by seven men, all but one of whom -he recognized. Clancy was one, Tex was another, and -Andy was a third. The faces of two more he remembered -to have seen in the level with Clancy the day -before.</p> - -<p>Another of the men, of course, was J. Algernon Smith, -in his linen duster.</p> - -<p>The seventh of the outfit was the fellow whose face -was strange to Wild Bill.</p> - -<p>The prisoner lay snugly against the hanging wall of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_31">[31]</span> -the level. He had made no stir when he opened his -eyes, and his captors did not know that he had recovered -his senses. They were talking, and Wild Bill was content -to lie quietly and listen.</p> - -<p>“He got away from you,” Smith was saying, “and -when he went he took the rope with him. How did you -get out?”</p> - -<p>“We was in hyer all night, cap’n,” replied Clancy; -“me with this game arm, an’ all the rest more er less -knocked about an’ stove up. We didn’t hev no water, -er grub, er nothin’, an’ I had about calculated that we’d -starve ter death; then, jest as things were lookin’ -mighty dark fer us, Seth, thar, happened erlong, and -we heerd him hollerin’ down the shaft.”</p> - -<p>“I was left in Sun Dance,” spoke up Seth, who was -the fellow Wild Bill had failed to recognize, “ter watch -the stage an’ see if you, er Bingham, come in on it. -Nothin’ came that arternoon, but the mail——”</p> - -<p>“It will be two or three days before Bingham arrives -here,” interjected Smith. “Go on, Seth.”</p> - -<p>“As the night passed,” proceeded Seth, “an’ Clancy -an’ the rest didn’t come back ter Sun Dance, I began -ter feel anxious about ’em. Arter breakfast in the mornin’, -I couldn’t stand the unsartinty any longer, so I saddled -up an’ rode down the cañon. Seen the five hosses -bunched tergether in the scrub, so I knowed the boys -must be in the mine. When I climbed the ore-dump, I -seen the rope layin’ on the platform, an’ I couldn’t savvy -the layout, not noways. I got down on my knees, stuck -my head inter the shaft, an’ let off a yell. The yell was -answered, an’ it wasn’t long afore I knowed what had -happened. I drapped a riata down, an’ spliced on the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_32">[32]</span> -rope layin’ on the platform, an’ purty soon the boys was -on top o’ ground.”</p> - -<p>“We all thort the game was up,” said Clancy, when -Seth had finished. “The feller that had came nosin’ inter -the mine had drapped his bowie, an’ we found the name, -‘Wild Bill,’ burned inter the handle. ‘Thunder!’ I says -ter the boys; ‘if thet was Wild Bill we had down here, -I ain’t wonderin’ none he got away. He’s a reg’lar tornader! -The wonder is,’ I says, ‘thet some o’ us didn’t -git killed.’ In the arternoon I rode ter Sun Dance ter -meet the stage myself, an’ thet’s how I come ter meet -ye, cap’n, an’ ter tell ye a leetle o’ what took place. But -I reckon us fellers ain’t got any kick comin’ <em>now</em>.” -Clancy gave a husky laugh. “Wild Bill drapped inter -yore hands, cap’n, like er reg’lar tenderfoot. It was a -slick play, yere bringin’ him along when ye come ter -meet me at the foot o’ thet slope. The minit ye jumped -at him I knowed somethin’ was up, an’ I wasn’t more’n -a brace o’ shakes in takin’ a hand.”</p> - -<p>“It was a tight squeak,” said Smith. “We came within -a hair’s breadth of having this whole story get out. -If it had ever reached Bingham’s ears it would have cost -this gang a cool hundred thousand.”</p> - -<p>“Ye’re sure Wild Bill didn’t do any talkin’?”</p> - -<p>“He says he didn’t, and I believe he told the truth.”</p> - -<p>“But thar was some ’un with him. He didn’t git out -o’ the shaft without help.”</p> - -<p>“That man was a Ponca Indian. He didn’t stop in -Sun Dance long, but was sent out of camp by Wild Bill, -with a paper-talk for Buffalo Bill, at Fort Sill.”</p> - -<p>“Consarn it!” grunted Tex moodily. “Ain’t we goin’ -ter work through this trick without hevin’ Buffler Bill -mixed up in it?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_33">[33]</span></p> - -<p>A muttered oath escaped the lips of Smith.</p> - -<p>“If Buffler Bill mixes up in this,” said he, “we’ll take -care of him, just as we’re going to take care of Wild -Bill. There’s seven of us, and I’ve got the nerve to -think I’m as good a man as Buffalo Bill.”</p> - -<p>“You’ve got nerve enough for anything, Smith,” spoke -up Wild Bill, “but when you compare yourself with -Cody, you’re a little bit wide of your trail.”</p> - -<p>A sudden silence fell over the gang. All of them -turned their eyes on the prisoner, and Smith got up and -stepped toward him.</p> - -<p>“Got your wits back, have you?” Smith demanded, -with a scowl.</p> - -<p>“I didn’t have much sense when I started in to do -you a friendly turn,” said Wild Bill. “That’s where I -went lame. Who are you, anyhow?”</p> - -<p>A hoarse laugh broke from the man’s lips. The next -moment he had stripped away the linen duster, revealing -a tall, supple form clad in gaudy costume. About the -shoulders was a short jacket of black velvet, strung with -silver-dollar buttons that flashed in the candlelight; -about the waist was a silken sash of red, supporting a -brace of silver-mounted derringers. Boots made of fancy -leather arose to the knee, and a black sombrero capped -the flashy apparel.</p> - -<p>“In the first place,” said the man, with a fiendish grin, -“my name is not Smith, but Lawless.”</p> - -<p>“Well, I’ll be hanged!” muttered Wild Bill. “You’re -Lawless, and I jumped right at you, in the Lucky Strike -Hotel, supposing you were the tenderfoot who’s coming -here to drop into your game! That’s a big one on me, -and I reckon that fool play makes me deserve all I’ve<span class="pagenum" id="Page_34">[34]</span> -got coming. Well, well! This would be plumb comical -if it wasn’t so blamed serious.”</p> - -<p>“It <em>is</em> serious—for you,” said Captain Lawless. “What -you know stands between me and my men and one hundred -thousand dollars. Why did you mix up in this -thing, in the first place?”</p> - -<p>“I heard shooting down in this mine, and was curious -to find out what it meant.”</p> - -<p>“You found out—and that’s what’s going to make you -trouble.”</p> - -<p>Lawless turned away.</p> - -<p>“Is everything ready, Clancy?” he asked.</p> - -<p>“The fuses are all ready ter light.”</p> - -<p>“Then snake him off down the level and we’ll finish -this right up. See that you make a good job of it.”</p> - -<p>Obeying a gesture from Clancy, Andy and Tex caught -Wild Bill by the shoulders and dragged him some ten -feet toward the shaft of the mine. Seth followed with a -candle.</p> - -<p>A stub crosscut opened off the level at this point, and -Wild Bill was dragged into this and along it for fifteen -feet, as he judged. That brought him to the end of the -crosscut, which proved to be a blind wall.</p> - -<p>“We’re going to put you in a pocket, Wild Bill,” said -Lawless, who had followed, “and leave you there. You’ll -not be able to bother anybody; and, of course, you’ll -never live to get out, even if you’re not killed by the -blast.”</p> - -<p>“I’m not following you very clearly,” said Wild Bill. -“Is it your intention to send me across the divide?”</p> - -<p>“That’s it. You know too much, and we can’t take -any chances with you. Look here.”</p> - -<p>Lawless passed to the entrance of the crosscut and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_35">[35]</span> -waved the candle back and forth. In the candlelight. -Wild Bill saw the ends of three fuses, placed on a line.</p> - -<p>“At the end of each fuse,” explained Lawless calmly, -“there’s a heavy charge of powder. Clancy loaded the -holes, and he knows just what a charge will do when -it’s put down in any given place. He has set this blast -so as to wall up the crosscut and leave you in a rock -cell. Clancy says that you won’t be hurt by the flying -rock when the blast goes off, but that you’ll be walled -in so you can’t get out. You’ll not have any water or -food, and you’ll not have much air. That can’t be -helped.”</p> - -<p>“You’re a fiend!” gritted Wild Bill, glaring at the -calm face of Lawless.</p> - -<p>“This job of salt is going to win out. Bingham -will find less gold in the Forty Thieves than he imagined; -but, if he digs away the barrier we’re going to -throw up, he’ll find something else here that will surprise -him.”</p> - -<p>“Why can’t you use a bullet or a knife, if you’re bound -to put me out of the way?” called Wild Bill. “What do -you want to go to all this trouble for?”</p> - -<p>“This will look like an accident, if you’re ever found.”</p> - -<p>“Look like an accident!” answered Wild Bill ironically. -“How do you figure that, if I’m ever found with -my hands and feet tied?”</p> - -<p>“If Clancy is right, and you’re not hit by flying rock, -or smothered before an hour or two, you’ll get rid of the -ropes.”</p> - -<p>“And you’re <em>white</em>!” muttered Wild Bill, as though it -was hard for him to couple such a murderous act with -a man of that color. “Why, you inhuman scoundrel, -you ought to be black as the ace of spades, and to wear<span class="pagenum" id="Page_36">[36]</span> -horns! This may be the end of me, but it won’t be the -end of this business for you. My pard, Bill Cody, is -coming to Sun Dance Cañon to meet me. If he doesn’t -meet me, he’ll know something is wrong, and when he -runs out the trail, you’ll owe him something. <em>And whatever -you owe Cody, you’ll pay!</em>”</p> - -<p>“If I ever owe Cody anything,” scowled Lawless, “I’ll -pay him just as I’m paying you. I didn’t pip my shell -yesterday. You’re wide of your trail, Hickok, if you -think I’m not able to take care of myself.”</p> - -<p>Lawless disappeared from the mouth of the crosscut.</p> - -<p>“Touch off the blasts,” Wild Bill heard him say to -Clancy; “all the rest of you,” he added, “go on to the -shaft. We’ve got to make a quick getaway as soon as -the fuses are fired.”</p> - -<p>Then, with staring eyes, Wild Bill saw Clancy take a -candle and bend down. From one fuse to another went -the candle gleam, leaving a sputtering blue flame at the -end of each fuse.</p> - -<p>Having finished his work, Clancy whirled and raced -after Lawless and the rest, who had already started for -the shaft.</p> - -<p>Turning on his side, with his face against the rocks, -Wild Bill waited for the deafening detonation which was -to throw a barrier of rock across the mouth of the crosscut -and wall him up in a living tomb.</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_37">[37]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV.<br /> -<span class="fs70">THE INDIAN GIRL.</span></h2> -</div> - -<p>“Whatever d’ye think Wild Bill wants us fur, Buffler?”</p> - -<p>“I haven’t any idea, Nick, but he’ll think we’re a long -time getting to Sun Dance.”</p> - -<p>“That paper-tork o’ his had a hard time reachin’ us, -an’ we’ve had er hard time gittin’ through ter Sun Dance—leastways, -you an’ Dell hev had. But we kain’t be so -pizen fur from ther camp now.”</p> - -<p>“This short cut we’re taking through the hills will -bring us into the cañon above the camp. Dell and Cayuse -will come in below. We ought to get to the place -we’re going a good two hours ahead of them.”</p> - -<p>The king of scouts, and his old trapper pard, Nick -Nomad, were riding through the rough country on their -way to Sun Dance.</p> - -<p>It was early morning, and the trapper and his pards -had been in the saddle all night.</p> - -<p>A number of things had conspired to delay them in -taking the trail in answer to Wild Bill’s “paper-talk.” -Among other things, Crawling Bear had been slain by -hostile Cheyennes, and Hickok’s note had come into the -scout’s hands by another messenger.</p> - -<p>Some distance back on the Sun Dance trail, the scout -and Nomad had separated from Dell Dauntless, Buffalo -Bill’s girl pard, and the Piute boy, Little Cayuse, the scout -and the trapper to travel “’cross lots,” and Dell and Cayuse -to follow the regular trail.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_38">[38]</span></p> - -<p>This would bring Buffalo Bill and Nomad into Sun -Dance a little earlier than if they had kept to the trail, -and they were already so late that they were anxious to -save even an hour or two.</p> - -<p>The course they took was a rugged one, and they had -to climb steep hills and ridges, and urge their mounts -over ground that would have tried the strongest nerves.</p> - -<p>But it was all for Pard Hickok, and no loyal pard -ever called on Buffalo Bill in vain.</p> - -<p>The scout, however, was vastly puzzled to account for -the business that had led to the call. In his note, Wild -Bill had not written a word about that.</p> - -<p>“Wild Bill must hev tangled up with somethin’ purty -fierce,” remarked Nomad, “or he’d never hev sent in a -hurry-up call like thet.”</p> - -<p>“It may not be anything that concerns Wild Bill, Nick, -but something that concerns <em>us</em>,” the scout returned. -“Hickok may not be in trouble; on the contrary, he may -know something we’ve got to know in order to avoid -trouble ourselves.”</p> - -<p>“Kerect, Buffler. I hadn’t thort o’ ther thing in thet -light afore. We ain’t neither of us very much in ther -habit o’ side-steppin’ when trouble hits ther pike an’ -p’ints fer us. This hyar trouble is er quare thing, pard; -plumb quare. Some o’ the people has trouble all ther -time, an’ all ther people has trouble some o’ the time, but -all ther people kain’t hev trouble all ther time.”</p> - -<p>The scout laughed.</p> - -<p>“What of it, anyhow, Nick?” he asked.</p> - -<p>“Nothin’. I was jest torkin’ ter give my bazoo exercise. -No man knows jest when trouble is goin’ ter hit -him. Sometimes he kin see et a good ways off, like er -choo-choo train. He kin hyer ther bell an’ ther whistle,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_39">[39]</span> -an’ ef he’s a-walkin’ on ther track, he’s er ijut ef he -don’t step off, an’ let et go by. An’ then, ag’in, trouble -comes on ye around a sharp curve. The despatcher -mixes orders, er somethin’, an’ afore ye know et ye’re -tangled up in a head-on collision. Now, thet’s what I -call——”</p> - -<p>Nomad was interrupted. As if to illustrate his rambling -remarks, the crack of a rifle was heard in the distance, -followed by a shrill scream.</p> - -<p>The two pards, at that moment, were on the crest of -a rocky ridge. Instinctively they stopped their horses -and shot their glances in the direction from which the -report and the scream reached them. What they saw -set their pulses to a swifter beat.</p> - -<p>Speeding toward them along the foot of the ridge was -an Indian girl. She was mounted on a sorrel cayuse, -and the pony was getting over the ground like a streak. -The girl was bending forward, her blanket flying in the -wind behind, and her quirt was dropping on the pony’s -withers with lightninglike rapidity.</p> - -<p>She was being pursued by an Indian buck, armed with -a rifle. The buck seemed savagely determined to overtake -the girl. He was mounted on a larger, and evidently -a fleeter, horse, for at every stride he came a shade -closer.</p> - -<p>“Is thet ther ceremony o’ ther fastest hoss, Buffler?” -queried the startled Nomad. “Ef ther buck ketches ther -gal, will she marry him? Hey?”</p> - -<p>“That isn’t the ceremony of the fastest horse, Nick,” -answered the scout. “The buck wouldn’t be shooting at -the girl if it was.”</p> - -<p>“Mebbyso he was jest shootin’ ter skeer her.”</p> - -<p>“It’s not the right way to win a bride—or a Cheyenne<span class="pagenum" id="Page_40">[40]</span> -bride. As near as I can make out, those two are -Cheyennes.”</p> - -<p>“Ther gal’s a Cheyenne, but at this distance I take ther -buck fer a Ponca.”</p> - -<p>“I reckon you’re right, Nick. The buck is a Ponca and -the girl a Cheyenne. There’s a good deal of bad blood -between the Cheyennes and the Poncas just now, and we -can’t overlook the fact that the under dog, in this case, -is a squaw. We’ll save her.”</p> - -<p>“Shore we’ll save her!” averred Nomad. “I knowed -ye’d be fer doin’ thet all along. We’re jest fixed right -ter slide down this hill and sashay in between ther two.”</p> - -<p>“That Ponca is getting ready to shoot again!” exclaimed -Buffalo Bill, as he started his horse, Bear Paw, -down the descent. “The next bullet may not go as wide -as the first, and I reckon we’d better give the buck something -to think about, so he’ll let the girl alone.”</p> - -<p>As he charged down the slope, Buffalo Bill pulled his -forty-five out of his belt and shook a load in the Ponca’s -direction.</p> - -<p>The range was too great for pistol-work, but the -scout succeeded in his design of giving the buck “something -to think about.”</p> - -<p>The crack of the revolver and the “sing” of the bullet -caused the buck to lower the rifle he had half-raised, and -to turn his eyes in the direction of the white men. The -girl also, for the first time, saw that help was near. She -flung up one hand in a mute appeal.</p> - -<p>“Don’t ye fret none, gal!” roared Nomad. “We’ll -look out fer <em>you</em>!”</p> - -<p>The girl, apparently taking courage from the shot -fired in the buck’s direction, and from the reassuring -tone of Nomad’s voice, slowed down her pony.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_41">[41]</span></p> - -<p>A few moments later the pards reached the foot of the -ridge and laid their horses across the Ponca’s path. -The Ponca, without speaking, tried to go around them. -This was the girl’s signal to turn her pony and circle -back until she was under the lee of Bear Paw.</p> - -<p>“No, ye don’t, Injun!” cried the trapper, kicking in -with his spurred heels and getting in front of the Ponca -at a jump. “Mebbyso ye kin git eround me, but ye -kain’t git eround <em>this</em>!” and Nomad leveled a revolver.</p> - -<p>The Indian sat back on his horse and glared angrily at -Nomad, at the scout, and at the girl.</p> - -<p>“Me take um squaw,” grunted the Ponca. “Her b’long -to Ponca.”</p> - -<p>“She’s a Cheyenne,” said the scout. “How can a -Cheyenne belong to a Ponca?”</p> - -<p>“Me buy um squaw with ponies,” asserted the Indian. -“Me take her from Cheyenne village, and she make um -run. Ugh! Give Big Thunder squaw.”</p> - -<p>“You bought this girl of the Cheyennes?” demanded -the scout.</p> - -<p>“Wuh! Pay um all same so many ponies.”</p> - -<p>The Ponca held up five fingers.</p> - -<p>Buffalo Bill looked at the girl attentively. He had -never seen a prettier Indian girl. Her features were -regular, and her large, liquid-black eyes gave her countenance -almost a Spanish cast. Her garments were of -buckskin, beaded and fringed, and her blanket was of a -subdued color, clean and new. Broad silver bands encircled -her forearms and her shapely wrists, and her -hands were small and delicately formed.</p> - -<p>The buck, on the other hand, was a rough-looking -specimen of a Ponca.</p> - -<p>“Speakin’ free an’ free, as between men an’ feller<span class="pagenum" id="Page_42">[42]</span> -sports,” observed Nomad, “I kain’t blame ther gal none -fer runnin’ erway.”</p> - -<p>“Me know um Pa-c-has-ka,” said Big Thunder calmly. -“Him friend of Poncas, and him got good heart. Him -no let squaw get away from Ponca brave.”</p> - -<p>“What is your name?” asked the scout of the girl.</p> - -<p>“Wah-coo-tah,” was the answer.</p> - -<p>“That’s a Sioux name.”</p> - -<p>“Me Cheyenne, no Sioux. Name Wah-coo-tah.”</p> - -<p>The girl had a rippling, musical voice, very different -from the usually hard, strident voices of Indian women.</p> - -<p>“Very well, Wah-coo-tah,” said the scout, “I’ll take -your word for it. Why was the Ponca chasing you?”</p> - -<p>“Me no like um.”</p> - -<p>“Did your father sell you to the Ponca?”</p> - -<p>“Ai. Me no like um, me run ’way. Him ketch Wah-coo-tah, -then Wah-coo-tah kill herself.”</p> - -<p>Here was a knotty point for the scout. Having -bought the girl, by the girl’s own admission, the Ponca -certainly had a right to take her for his squaw. But the -scout could not justify himself in his own mind if he -allowed the vicious-looking Ponca to take the fair Cheyenne.</p> - -<p>“Where will you go, Wah-coo-tah, if you get away -from the Ponca?”</p> - -<p>“Me go where me be safe,” she said.</p> - -<p>“How much time do you want to get away?”</p> - -<p>The girl turned on her pony’s back and pointed to the -top of a distant hill.</p> - -<p>“So far,” she answered.</p> - -<p>“All right. We’ll hang onto the Ponca until you get -there.”</p> - -<p>Before the scout could stop her, Wah-coo-tah caught<span class="pagenum" id="Page_43">[43]</span> -his hand and pressed it to her lips. Then she turned her -pony and galloped off.</p> - -<p>Big Thunder sat silently on his horse for a space, his -eyes glittering fiendishly. Suddenly he jerked his rifle -to his shoulder. Nomad, watching him like a cat, struck -up the barrel, and the bullet plunged skyward.</p> - -<p>Quick as a catamount the Ponca dropped the weapon -and hurled himself from his horse’s back—not at Nomad, -but at Buffalo Bill. He had a drawn knife in his -hand, and, as he landed on the scout’s horse, he made a -venomous, whole-arm stab with it.</p> - -<p>But if the Ponca was quick, the scout was a shade -quicker. Twisting about in his saddle, Buffalo Bill -clutched the Ponca’s knife-wrist with his right hand, -and, with his left, took a firm grip of the Ponca’s throat.</p> - -<p>A second later and the struggle carried them both to -the ground.</p> - -<p>Big Thunder was a powerful Indian, and the nude, -upper-half of his wiry body was liberally besmeared with -bear’s grease. The grease made him as slippery as an -eel. Nevertheless, the scout knew how to deal with him.</p> - -<p>A crushing pressure at the wrist caused the knife to -drop. With the Ponca practically disarmed, the fight -became one of mere wrestling and fisticuffs.</p> - -<p>Big Thunder slipped his oily throat clear of the -scout’s fingers, but the scout’s hand, leaping upward -from the throat, took a firm grip of the scalp-lock. Holding -the Ponca’s head to the ground, Buffalo Bill released -his wrist, and got his right hand about the throat in such -a manner that it could not slip; then, kneeling on the -ground, he held the Ponca in that position until he was -half-throttled.</p> - -<p>“Waugh!” jubilated Nomad. “Jest see how Pard<span class="pagenum" id="Page_44">[44]</span> -Buffler tames ther red savage. I’m darned ef et -ain’t as good as a show. Goin’ ter strangle him, Buffler? -Better do et. Ef ye don’t, he’ll camp on yore trail -an’, sooner er later, ye’ll hev ter kill him ter prevent his -takin’ yer scalp.”</p> - -<p>The scout saw that the Indian had been punished -enough for his attack, and suddenly sprang away from -him.</p> - -<p>“Don’t worry, pard,” sang out Nomad; “I’ve got him -kivered.”</p> - -<p>For a second or two the Ponca lay on the ground, -gasping for breath; then, as he struggled to his feet, the -point of the trapper’s revolver lifted with him, the trapper’s -menacing eye gleaming along the barrel.</p> - -<p>“Easy, thar, Ponk!” warned Nomad; “make er single -hosstyle move, an’ ye’ll be er good Injun afore ye kin -say Jack Robinson.”</p> - -<p>Big Thunder, seeing how he was corralled, grunted -savagely, drew himself to his full height, and folded his -arms.</p> - -<p>“Injun thought Pa-e-has-ka friend of Poncas!” he exclaimed -scathingly.</p> - -<p>“I’m the friend of the Poncas, all right, Big Thunder,” -answered the scout, “but the girl did not want to go with -you.”</p> - -<p>“Ponca buy her, make um go!”</p> - -<p>“Not while I’m around. Keep your hands off that girl, -understand?”</p> - -<p>“Ponca no keep hands off Pa-e-has-ka. Bymby, Pa-e-has-ka’s -scalp dry in Big Thunder’s lodge; Big Thunder -make um Cheyenne girl tie um scalp on hoop, hang um -up.”</p> - -<p>“Hyer ther pizen red!” snarled the trapper. “Hadn’t<span class="pagenum" id="Page_45">[45]</span> -I better rattle this hyar pepper-box o’ mine at ther -threatenin’ varmint?”</p> - -<p>“No.” The scout looked in the direction taken by the -girl. She had got far beyond the point to which she had -drawn his attention, and had vanished. “I reckon Wah-coo-tah’s -all right, Nick. Put up your gun and we’ll -ride on to Sun Dance.”</p> - -<p>Unconcernedly, the scout walked to Bear Paw and -mounted.</p> - -<p>Big Thunder, still erect and with his arms folded, followed -the scout’s movements with eyes of hate.</p> - -<p>“Come on, pard,” said the scout, starting for the -next “rise.”</p> - -<p>“Mebbyso he’ll open up on ye with thet rifle o’ his, -Buffler,” demurred Nomad.</p> - -<p>“He’ll not do that,” was Buffalo Bill’s confident reply, -as he spurred on.</p> - -<p>Nomad lowered his revolver, but kept his vigilant gaze -on the Ponca as he followed his pard. When they -crossed the next hill, the last they saw of Big Thunder -he was still glaring after them.</p> - -<p>“Ye’ve made er enemy out o’ thet red, Buffler,” observed -the trapper, pushing his revolver back into its -holster.</p> - -<p>“I suppose so,” said the scout thoughtfully. “The -worst of it is, Nick, I can’t blame the Indian. According -to the laws and customs of the red man he is in the -right. I had no business interfering between him and -Wah-coo-tah.”</p> - -<p>“Any white man would hev done et!” asserted the -trapper.</p> - -<p>“Any white man who had the right kind of a heart,” -qualified the scout.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_46">[46]</span></p> - -<p>“Wah-coo-tah ain’t er common Injun squaw.”</p> - -<p>“That’s why I helped her.”</p> - -<p>“All this hyar,” commented Nomad, “on’y illustrates -what I was er sayin’ erbout trouble. This excitement -come around ther curve, full-tilt, an’ hit us squar’ in -ther face. Thar wasn’t no dodgin’ et.”</p> - -<p>Half an hour later the pards descended into Sun Dance -Cañon, and an hour’s ride down the cañon brought them -to the foot of the slope leading to the “flat,” and the mining-camp.</p> - -<p>“We’re a good two hours ahead o’ Dell an’ Cayuse,” -asserted Nomad, while they were climbing the slope.</p> - -<p>“I hope we’re in time for Hickok’s business, whatever -it is,” answered the scout.</p> - -<p>Bije Spangler, as usual, was occupying a couple of -chairs in front of the Lucky Strike. The ragged, palm-leaf -fan was working slowly, and he watched the pards -approach with a speculative eye. Spangler had no difficulty -in detecting that they were persons of consequence.</p> - -<p>“‘Lucky Strike Hotel,’” said the scout, reading from -the sign. “Are you the proprietor?” he went on, dropping -his eyes to the huge bulk of humanity in the two -chairs.</p> - -<p>“I run this joint,” wheezed Spangler, “but I ain’t -high-toned enough ter call myself a proprietor.”</p> - -<p>“Can we stop here?”</p> - -<p>“Can if ye got the price.”</p> - -<p>“We want a room by ourselves.”</p> - -<p>“Only got one private room, an’ that was took by a -feller that vamosed last night without settlin’ up. -Reckon ye kin hev that, seein’ as I don’t know whether -the feller’s ever comin’ back er not. J. Algernon Smith<span class="pagenum" id="Page_47">[47]</span> -sorter opined he’d like a room by hisself, too, so I reckon -he’d think he had fust claim on the room, on’y he vamosed -as myster’ously as Wild Bill.”</p> - -<p>“What’s that?” demanded the scout, pulling himself -together with a jerk, and peering sharply into the flabby -face of Spangler. “Was Wild Bill Hickok staying -here?”</p> - -<p>“He was.”</p> - -<p>“And you say he left last night?”</p> - -<p>“Him an’ J. Algernon went away tergether. That was -right after supper last night, an’ neither of ’em has -come back yet.”</p> - -<p>“How long has Wild Bill been here?”</p> - -<p>“He come day before yesterday, on hossback, with er -Injun. J. Algernon come yesterday arternoon, on the -Montegordo stage. Both of ’em’s skedaddled. Who -might you be, neighbor?”</p> - -<p>“Cody’s my name——”</p> - -<p>Spangler tried to express his surprise and delight, but -only succeeded in emitting a throaty gurgle; he likewise -tried to get up and grab the scout’s hand, but his sudden -flop displaced one of the chairs, and he slumped to the -ground in a quivering heap.</p> - -<p>Nomad got behind him and boosted him up.</p> - -<p>“This hyar camp must be er healthy place,” remarked -Nomad, “ef et grows many ombrays o’ yore size.”</p> - -<p>“It ain’t as healthy as it looks,” said Spangler. “Buffalo -Bill, I’m glad ter meet ye. Ye kin have this hull -hotel if ye want it. I’ll call a man ter take keer o’ yer -hosses.”</p> - -<p>“I take care of my horse myself,” replied Buffalo Bill. -“Show me the stable, Spangler.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_48">[48]</span></p> - -<p>Spangler waddled to the corner of the house and -pointed to a brush shelter in the rear.</p> - -<p>“What d’ye think o’ this, Buffler?” asked the trapper -perplexedly, as he and his pard led their mounts to the -stable.</p> - -<p>“I don’t know what to think of it <em>yet</em>,” answered the -scout, with a troubled frown.</p> - -<p>“Wild Bill was hyar, an’ vanished last night.”</p> - -<p>“He vanished with a man called J. Algernon Smith. -If we’re to believe Spangler, both Smith and Hickok -departed unexpectedly. It looks bad, on the face of it, -but——”</p> - -<p>The rear of the stable was open. As the scout looked -in, he saw and recognized Wild Bill’s horse.</p> - -<p>“Et’s Wild Bill’s animile, shore enough,” muttered -Nomad, following the scout’s eyes with his own. -“Hickok wouldn’t pull out ter go any great distance -without his hoss.”</p> - -<p>“It wouldn’t seem so,” the scout answered, leading -Bear Paw into an empty stall.</p> - -<p>Removing the saddle, he rubbed Bear Paw down carefully -with the saddle-blanket, then tore off a layer of hay -from a bale, and loosened it out in the manger.</p> - -<p>Nomad, deeply thoughtful, had been caring for his -own horse in the same way.</p> - -<p>Presently the pards left the stable and walked back -to the front of the hotel.</p> - -<p>Spangler was again seated on his chairs, plying the -fan. He was talking with a man in a long linen duster.</p> - -<p>“Buffalo Bill,” called Spangler, “shake hands with -J. Algernon Smith, of Chicago. Smith,” went on -Spangler, blowing like a porpoise, “this here is the Buffalo -Bill ye read so much about.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_49">[49]</span></p> - -<p>The scout’s eyes instantly engaged the face of J. -Algernon Smith. Smith, after a moment’s hesitation, -stretched out his hand.</p> - -<p>The scout was an expert in character-reading, and, inasmuch -as Smith was the last man seen with Wild Bill, -he gave him keen attention.</p> - -<p>“Well!” exclaimed Smith, “you’re the gentleman Wild -Bill has been expecting. He told me about you.”</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_50">[50]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V.<br /> -<span class="fs70">WAH-COO-TAH AGAIN.</span></h2> -</div> - -<p>“Oh, he did, eh?” queried the scout. “Do you happen -to know, Mr. Smith, where Wild Bill is now?”</p> - -<p>“Why,” fluttered Smith, “isn’t he here?”</p> - -<p>“No. He left here last night, right after supper, and -hasn’t been back since.”</p> - -<p>“Say, but that’s odd!”</p> - -<p>“Spangler, here, says that you went with him.”</p> - -<p>“I did go with him, as far as the slope leading down -into the cañon. I have a friend living above here—a man -I used to know in Chicago—and I called on him. He -insisted that I should stay all night in his cabin, and I -did so.”</p> - -<p>“What is your friend’s name, Mr. Smith?”</p> - -<p>“Seth Coomby.”</p> - -<p>“Do you know such a man, Spangler?” asked the -scout, turning to the hotel proprietor.</p> - -<p>“Sure I know him,” answered Spangler. “He has a -little, three-dollar-a-day placer up the gulch.”</p> - -<p>“You say,” went on Buffalo Bill, once more facing -Smith, “that you left Wild Bill on the slope leading -into the cañon?”</p> - -<p>“Yes.”</p> - -<p>“And you haven’t seen him since?”</p> - -<p>“Why, no. I supposed he was here. You don’t think -he met with foul play, do you? I took a big liking to -Wild Bill.”</p> - -<p>“You didn’t have him very long, did you?” asked the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_51">[51]</span> -scout keenly. “I understand you only arrived in camp -yesterday afternoon, and that you and Wild Bill started -for the slope right after supper. Not much time to take -a liking to a man. Did you know Wild Bill before you -came to Sun Dance?”</p> - -<p>“No; never saw him before I got here. We got acquainted -with each other before supper, and had a little -talk over our cigars. Then we ate supper together, and -then I started for Coomby’s, and Wild Bill walked with -me as far as the slope. Say, I’m all broke up about -this.”</p> - -<p>“Wasn’t you talkin’ with a feller in the office afore ye -got ter talkin’ with Wild Bill?” put in Spangler.</p> - -<p>“That was Clancy,” said Smith.</p> - -<p>“Yep,” returned Spangler, with a shake of his fat -sides, “I know him, all right; and”—here Spangler gave -the scout a significant glance—“Clancy ain’t got none too -good a repertation in this camp.”</p> - -<p>“You surprise me!” exclaimed J. Algernon Smith.</p> - -<p>The fellow’s actions were ingenuous. He talked and -acted like an Easterner, but he <em>looked</em> like a Westerner, -for all that.</p> - -<p>“You understand, Mr. Smith,” pursued the scout, with -the glint in his eyes that had taken the nerve of many a -wily schemer, “that Wild Bill is my friend, and that I -am anxious about him. If he has met with foul play, as -you just suggested, I shall have something to say to the -scoundrels back of it—later. Just now, though, I want -all the information I can get. You will pardon me if I -ask you what this Clancy had to say to you.”</p> - -<p>Smith stiffened.</p> - -<p>“What Clancy had to say, Buffalo Bill,” he replied, “is, -of course, my own business. Nevertheless, under the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_52">[52]</span> -circumstances, I recognize your right to press inquiries. -If you will step aside with me, I will explain.”</p> - -<p>Buffalo Bill walked apart with Smith.</p> - -<p>“In order to figure this matter down to where you will -have a thorough understanding of it, Buffalo Bill,” went -on Smith, in a tone that seemed perfectly frank and -open, “I shall have to tell you my business in this camp—and -that business is one I was told to keep dark. I -have come here from Chicago to examine a mine with -the view of purchasing it. Clancy came to me from the -owner of the mine, who is shortly expected in this camp. -What Clancy told me was that the owner would be here -to-morrow or next day, and Clancy advised me not to -tell any one why I was here. That is all. It is news -to me if Clancy does not bear a good reputation. But -I don’t suppose that affects the mine, anyway. I shall -not purchase the property until I take my ore-samples -and have them assayed. Then——”</p> - -<p>“What is the name of the mine?” broke in the scout.</p> - -<p>“It is called the Forty Thieves.”</p> - -<p>“Queer name for an honest mine,” said the scout.</p> - -<p>“That’s right; but they have queer names for mines—some -of them almost laughable. For instance, I have -heard of the Pauper’s Dream, the P. D. Q., the——”</p> - -<p>“Who owns this mine, Mr. Smith?”</p> - -<p>“A man by the name of Lawless; Captain Lawless he -calls himself.”</p> - -<p>The scout started.</p> - -<p>“Have you heard of the fellow?” asked Smith eagerly.</p> - -<p>“I have heard of a squawman who calls himself by -that name, but whom the Indians call ‘Fire-hand.’ He -is said to be an out-and-out rascal.”</p> - -<p>“Great glory!” cried Smith. “It looks as though I<span class="pagenum" id="Page_53">[53]</span> -had landed right in the hands of the Philistines. Have -you ever seen this Captain Lawless, Buffalo Bill?”</p> - -<p>“Never. One of my pards, Little Cayuse, has seen -him, but I have not.”</p> - -<p>“When will your pard, Little Cayuse, be here?”</p> - -<p>The scout’s eyes narrowed.</p> - -<p>“What is that to you, Mr. Smith?” he demanded.</p> - -<p>“Why, merely that I should like to have Lawless -pointed out to me before I talk with him. If I don’t like -his looks, I’ll get away from here without examining the -Forty Thieves.”</p> - -<p>These words were the only ones spoken by Smith that -struck the scout as peculiar. On the whole, however, -Smith had stood the scout’s questioning well.</p> - -<p>Buffalo Bill turned away and walked back to Spangler. -Smith went on into the hotel.</p> - -<p>“What do you know about the Forty Thieves Mine, -Spangler?” asked Buffalo Bill.</p> - -<p>“I know it’s no good, Buffalo Bill,” said Spangler, -with a choppy laugh.</p> - -<p>“Where is it?”</p> - -<p>“Five miles down the gulch.”</p> - -<p>“Who owns it?”</p> - -<p>“Give it up. It’s changed hands so many times there -ain’t no keepin’ track o’ the owners.”</p> - -<p>“Do you know a man who calls himself Captain Lawless?”</p> - -<p>“I’ve heerd tell o’ such a chap, but I ain’t never seen -him.”</p> - -<p>“Well,” said the scout thoughtfully, “show me into the -room Wild Bill occupied. I and my pard will stay in it -till Wild Bill gets back. Go for the saddles, Nick,” the -scout added. “We’ll keep them in the room with us.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_54">[54]</span></p> - -<p>Spangler yelled for the Chinaman, and the latter -showed the scout to the room recently occupied by Wild -Bill. When left alone in the place, the scout looked over -it carefully.</p> - -<p>The first objects to strike his attention were a pair of -boots. He picked them up and looked at them. The heel -of one was missing—the reason, no doubt, the boots had -been discarded.</p> - -<p>On a chair lay a blue-flannel shirt. Wild Bill had -worn such a shirt, but it might also have belonged to -any number of men. The left sleeve was cut away close -to the shoulder, and around the edge of the abbreviated -sleeve were evidences of dried blood.</p> - -<p>Deeply puzzled, the scout laid the shirt aside. Wild -Bill’s saddle lay on the floor, and near it his war-bag. -There was a box of cartridges in the bag, and a few -other odds and ends, but nothing that would give the remotest -clue to Wild Bill’s whereabouts.</p> - -<p>While the scout was examining the bag, Nomad came -in with the riding-gear. There was an odd look upon -the old trapper’s face.</p> - -<p>“Found out anythin’, Buffler?” he asked.</p> - -<p>“No.”</p> - -<p>“Didn’t J. Algernon enlighten ye none?”</p> - -<p>“Not to speak of. I’ve a sneaking idea, though”—and -here the scout dropped his voice guardedly—“that -Smith has put me next to a pay-streak.”</p> - -<p>“Pay-streak? Whar?”</p> - -<p>“Why, in an old, played-out mine five miles down the -gulch—a mine called the Forty Thieves.”</p> - -<p>“Forty Thieves! What fool ever tacked sich er label -onter a mine?”</p> - -<p>“Pass the ante, Nick. If what Smith says is true,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_55">[55]</span> -though, a man by the name of Captain Lawless is mixed -up with the Forty Thieves.”</p> - -<p>Nomad stared.</p> - -<p>“Meanin’ thet whelp of er squawman ther Cheyennes -calls Fire-hand, Buffler?” he asked.</p> - -<p>“The same.”</p> - -<p>“Things are heatin’ up some, eh? Ye don’t reckon -Wild Bill hes got tangled up any with Lawless, do ye?”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know what to think—just yet.”</p> - -<p>“Waal, while ye’re fiddlin’ eround fer a start, I’m -goin’ ter give ye a surprise.”</p> - -<p>“What sort of a surprise?”</p> - -<p>Nomad drew close to the scout, and whispered in his -ear.</p> - -<p>“Thet Injun gal, Wah-coo-tah, is out ter the barn, an’ -wants ter see ye immejiate.”</p> - -<p>That was a surprise, certainly. How was it that the -girl, whom the pards had left in the hills, had reached -Sun Dance so soon after their arrival? And what was -her business with the scout?</p> - -<p>Buffalo Bill started for the door, but Nomad caught -his arm.</p> - -<p>“Ef thar’s anythin’ crooked goin’ on in this camp, -Buffler,” said the trapper, “like as not ye’re bein’ -watched. What excuse ye got fer goin’ ter ther barn, -arter ther hosses hev been attended to, an’ ther ridin’-gear -brought in? Ye ort ter hev one, ye know. Hyar! -I’ll fix ye out.”</p> - -<p>Nomad dipped into his war-bag and brought out a bottle -of horse-liniment.</p> - -<p>“Take this, Buffler,” he whispered, “an’ purtend ye’re -goin’ ter rub thet stuff on Bear Paw’s off hind leg. Thet -gal, Wah-coo-tah, is chuck full o’ important news o’<span class="pagenum" id="Page_56">[56]</span> -some kind, but she wouldn’t say er word ter me, ’ceptin’ -I was ter send Pa-e-has-ka ter see her.”</p> - -<p>Buffalo Bill took the bottle of liniment and left the -room. Out in front he halted for a word with Spangler.</p> - -<p>“My horse strained a tendon coming from Sill,” said -he, showing the bottle, “and I’ve got to take care of -him.”</p> - -<p>“I got a Mexican that kin do it fer ye, Buffalo Bill,” -said Spangler.</p> - -<p>“I never let any one take care of Bear Paw but myself,” -the scout answered, as he started for the stable.</p> - -<p>So far as the scout could discover he was not watched -by any one. The camp, as usual during the day, was -quiet, and he could not see any one in the vicinity of the -hotel.</p> - -<p>When he got into the stable he stood for a moment -looking around. Wah-coo-tah was not in evidence, and he -turned to go out again. Before he could leave, however, -the low, musical voice of the girl floated to his ear:</p> - -<p>“Pa-e-has-ka no go. Wah-coo-tah make talk with -him.”</p> - -<p>The voice came from overhead. Buffalo Bill looked -up and saw Wah-coo-tah gazing down at him through -the brushy thatch that covered the stable’s roof.</p> - -<p>“Why don’t you come down here, Wah-coo-tah?” -asked the scout.</p> - -<p>“Wah-coo-tah ’fraid. No can take chances. Me stay -here; when me through talk, me crawl back through -bushes to bottom of cañon.”</p> - -<p>“Have you seen anything of Big Thunder? Has he -bothered you any since you got away from him?”</p> - -<p>“Ponca no bother Wah-coo-tah. Him bother Pa-e-has-ka, -because Pa-e-has-ka save Wah-coo-tah. Big<span class="pagenum" id="Page_57">[57]</span> -Thunder him in Sun Dance Cañon. Me watch um come; -so me come, tell Pa-e-has-ka look out.”</p> - -<p>“Is that why you brought me out here, Wah-coo-tah?” -asked the scout, disappointed. “I’m not afraid of Big -Thunder.”</p> - -<p>“Big Thunder all same snake, but him no rattle. Him -strike, but him no rattle first.”</p> - -<p>“He won’t bother me, Wah-coo-tah, so don’t fret about -that. Where are you going, now that you have left Big -Thunder? You won’t dare go back to your people, because -they would give you to Big Thunder again.”</p> - -<p>“My mudder no give me up to Big Thunder. My -fadder he do that. Me stay in hills till me git good -chance, kill Big Thunder.”</p> - -<p>“No, no, Wah-coo-tah,” said the scout earnestly, “you -must not do that.”</p> - -<p>“Me no like um. Him try kill Wah-coo-tah.”</p> - -<p>“Well, even at that, you don’t want the Ponca’s blood -upon your hands. Why are you afraid to show yourself -here in this camp?”</p> - -<p>“Mebbyso my fadder see me.”</p> - -<p>“Is your father in Sun Dance?”</p> - -<p>“Him Fire-hand, Cap’n Lawless.”</p> - -<p>This was a big surprise for Buffalo Bill. He began -now to understand why Wah-coo-tah was so much more -comely than the usual Indian girl. Her father was an -American, her mother a Cheyenne.</p> - -<p>And it was the girl’s father who had sold her, for -five ponies, to Big Thunder! That proved to Buffalo -Bill, more than anything he had yet heard against Lawless, -what a thorough scoundrel the man was.</p> - -<p>“I will protect you against Lawless, Wah-coo-tah,” -said the scout.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_58">[58]</span></p> - -<p>“Him got plenty Yellow Eyes to help um,” returned -the girl.</p> - -<p>“Well, he hasn’t reached the camp yet. I have been -told he won’t be here until to-morrow, or next day.”</p> - -<p>“Him all same in camp now, Pa-e-has-ka.”</p> - -<p>“Where?”</p> - -<p>“Him stay in hotel. Me see you talk with um in front -of hotel.”</p> - -<p>The scout was even more startled than he had been -before.</p> - -<p>“Who is he, Wah-coo-tah?” he demanded.</p> - -<p>“Him man long yellow coat.”</p> - -<p>“Smith!” muttered the scout, a glitter coming into his -eyes.</p> - -<p>Then it flashed through Buffalo Bill’s mind that if -Lawless would play the rôle of Smith, he must be doing -it for some underhanded purpose. Quite possibly that -purpose had something to do with Wild Bill, and his -mysterious disappearance from the camp.</p> - -<p>“Wah-coo-tah,” went on the scout, speaking in a low -voice and hurriedly, “I came to Sun Dance looking for -a friend of mine by the name of Wild Bill. I was delayed -in getting to Sun Dance. When I reached here, -though, I discovered that Wild Bill had disappeared -last night. Immediately after supper he was last seen -with the man who calls himself Smith, but who you tell -me is your father, Captain Lawless. The two walked -down the slope into the cañon. Lawless says he left Wild -Bill and went to stay the night with a friend named -Seth Coomby, and that he didn’t see where Wild Bill -went, and doesn’t know anything about where he is now. -If you can find out anything about him, I’d like to have -you do it.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_59">[59]</span></p> - -<p>The girl’s eyes sparkled at the thought of being able -to render Pa-e-has-ka a service, and so, in a measure, pay -him back for what he had done for her.</p> - -<p>“Me find out ’bout Wild Bill,” said she. “Listen, Pa-e-has-ka. -Bymby, in two, three hour, you go to top of -road that leads down into cañon. Look down cañon. -You see um Wah-coo-tah’s blanket wave in wind, you -git um horse and come. <i lang="es" xml:lang="es">Sabe?</i>”</p> - -<p>“I understand. Have you had anything to eat, Wah-coo-tah?”</p> - -<p>“Me got plenty ‘jerked’ venison. Me all right. You -watch heap sharp for blanket; and you watch heap sharp -for Big Thunder. Wah-coo-tah go now. Good-by.”</p> - -<p>The girl disappeared from the roof, and the scout, -amazed by what he had overheard, left the stable and -walked back to the hotel.</p> - -<p>J. Algernon Smith was none other than Captain Lawless, -and Captain Lawless was none other than Wah-coo-tah’s -father!</p> - -<p>Why should Lawless be impersonating Smith, unless -he had some ax to grind? What that ax was, Buffalo -Bill was determined to find out.</p> - -<p>He went to the apartment taken by Nomad and himself, -and expected to find Nomad there; but the trapper -was not in the room.</p> - -<p>Having replaced the bottle of liniment in his pard’s -war-bag, the scout returned to the front of the hotel. -Just then he was more particularly interested in finding -Smith than in locating Nomad, but neither one nor the -other was in evidence.</p> - -<p>The Chinaman came out and pounded the dinner-gong. -Buffalo Bill waited for a few minutes, hoping Nomad -would present himself, but he did not. Thereupon the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_60">[60]</span> -scout hung his hat on a peg in the office and went into -the dining-room.</p> - -<p>He took his time over the meal, keeping his eyes on -the alert for a glimpse of Nomad or Lawless. His -watchfulness, however, was without result.</p> - -<p>Puzzled and uneasy, he finished his meal and went -out to where Spangler was holding down his chairs in -the shade of the hotel.</p> - -<p>“How far up the gulch does Seth Coomby live, Spangler?” -he asked.</p> - -<p>“’Bout two mile,” replied Spangler.</p> - -<p>“What’s become of Smith? Do you know?”</p> - -<p>“Not me. He’s harder ter keep track of than the -Irishman’s flea. But, with all his comin’s an’ goin’s, I -kin tell him he’s goin’ ter pay fer the meals he misses, -an’ the bunks he hires an’ don’t sleep in.”</p> - -<p>“Have you seen my pard recently?”</p> - -<p>“I hevn’t seen him, nuther. Mebby he went off with -Smith? Your pards hev a great habit of walkin’ off -with Smith and not comin’ back ag’in. Wild Bill did -it last night, an’ mebby Nomad did it while you was -rubbin’ liniment on yer hoss.”</p> - -<p>“Did you see Nomad going off with Smith?”</p> - -<p>“Nary. I ain’t seen either one of ’em since they was -here in front o’ my place an’ you was talkin’ with -Smith.”</p> - -<p>“I’m going away for a little while,” said the scout, -“and if Nomad returns while I am gone, tell him to stay -here and wait for me.”</p> - -<p>“Sure I will.”</p> - -<p>The scout took to the horse-trail and moved off toward -the slope leading down into the cañon.</p> - -<p>What he wanted just now was to locate Smith. Had<span class="pagenum" id="Page_61">[61]</span> -the fellow, fearing discovery at the scout’s hands, skipped -out?</p> - -<p>Nomad had not suspected Smith of being other than -he seemed any more than had the scout. Had Smith -taken advantage of this and lured Nomad away, just as -he might have lured Wild Bill?</p> - -<p>The scout was going to Seth Coomby’s with the rather -vague hope of finding Lawless there. It was only two -miles, and the scout had made up his mind that he -would walk the distance, for a change.</p> - -<p>As he halted at the top of the slope, his eyes instinctively -scanned the cañon, up and down.</p> - -<p>Down the cañon, against the right-hand wall, he saw -something fluttering from the rocks. At once he thought -of Wah-coo-tah, and of her promise to flaunt her blanket -so he could see it in case she found out anything and -needed him.</p> - -<p>All thought of visiting Seth Coomby’s in search of -Lawless passed at once from Buffalo Bill’s mind.</p> - -<p>He had looked down the cañon in the hope of seeing -something of Dell Dauntless and Little Cayuse, who -were already long overdue at Sun Dance. Dell and -Cayuse were not in sight, and the glimpse of that fluttering -blanket, with its call to immediate action, gave the -scout plenty to think of aside from his missing pards.</p> - -<p>Whirling on his track, he returned to the hotel and went -to his room after his riding-gear.</p> - -<p>“Reckoned ye wouldn’t go ter Coomby’s, eh, Buffalo -Bill?” spoke up Spangler.</p> - -<p>“I reckoned I’d ride instead of walk,” the scout answered. -“I’m expecting two other pards of mine to -show up in Sun Dance before long. One of them is a -young lady. She is to have the room which Nomad and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_62">[62]</span> -I are occupying. If they, or Nomad, come before I get -back, don’t fail to tell them to stay here and wait for -me.”</p> - -<p>“Ye kin gamble on it that I will,” Spangler answered.</p> - -<p>The scout was not long in getting the gear onto Bear -Paw and striking a swift gait for the bottom of the -gulch.</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_63">[63]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI.<br /> -<span class="fs70">AT THE FORTY THIEVES MINE.</span></h2> -</div> - -<p>The blanket was fluttering from the top of a big pile -of boulders lying at the foot of the cañon wall. As the -scout left the bottom of the slope and emerged from the -chaparral on his way down the cañon, the blanket suddenly -disappeared.</p> - -<p>“Wah-coo-tah has seen me coming,” he thought, “and -has taken away the blanket.”</p> - -<p>In this he was correct, for when he had drawn up -Bear Paw abreast of the pile of boulders, Wah-coo-tah -rode out into the trail. She scanned the trail carefully -in both directions, and then urged her cayuse alongside -of Bear Paw.</p> - -<p>“What have you discovered, Wah-coo-tah?” asked -Buffalo Bill.</p> - -<p>“Wild Bill ride to Forty Thieves Mine last night with -Lawless,” said the girl.</p> - -<p>“Did he go there of his own free will, or was he taken -by force?”</p> - -<p>“No <i lang="es" xml:lang="es">sabe</i> Pa-e-has-ka.”</p> - -<p>“Did Wild Bill leave the mine?”</p> - -<p>“No <i lang="es" xml:lang="es">sabe</i>. Mebbyso him no leave mine. If him leave, -then him come back Sun Dance—and him no come back.”</p> - -<p>“Where did you discover this?”</p> - -<p>“Me ride down trail, see two Yellow Eyes, Coomby -and Clancy, riding up trail. Me hide in bushes while -Yellow Eyes pass. When they pass, they talk. Me<span class="pagenum" id="Page_64">[64]</span> -hear um. From what they say me know Wild Bill ride -to Forty Thieves Mine last night with Fire-hand.”</p> - -<p>This information of Wah-coo-tah’s was of immense -importance. It was a lucky bit of gossip that had come -the girl’s way while she was hiding in the bushes to let -Coomby and Clancy pass.</p> - -<p>If Wild Bill had gone to the mine with Lawless of his -own free will, he would have taken his horse. Force -had been used to compel Hickok to go to the mine, Buffalo -Bill was sure of it.</p> - -<p>“Are Seth Coomby and Clancy friends of Fire-hand?” -asked the scout.</p> - -<p>“Ai. They come many times to Fire-hand’s lodge -among the Cheyennes. Me know um. Pa-e-has-ka see -um Big Thunder?” inquired the girl, an anxious light -coming into her eyes.</p> - -<p>“No,” answered the scout. “That Ponca is the least -of my worries.”</p> - -<p>“Him ride up gulch while Wah-coo-tah wait behind -rocks. Me take down blanket while he go. Me sure he -go to Sun Dance, find Pa-e-has-ka.”</p> - -<p>“He wasn’t in Sun Dance. Will you go with me to -the mine, Wah-coo-tah?”</p> - -<p>“Me stay here, watch for Ponca.”</p> - -<p>“That is useless, Wah-coo-tah. I don’t like to leave -you here alone, with the Ponca and your father both -loose in the gulch.”</p> - -<p>“Me keep away from um,” said the girl, a soft light -creeping into her large eyes as she looked at the scout.</p> - -<p>“I will see you again?”</p> - -<p>“Ai. Me help um Pa-e-has-ka find Wild Bill.”</p> - -<p>“Have you seen anything of Fire-hand, or my pard,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_65">[65]</span> -Nomad, since you left Sun Dance following my talk with -you this afternoon?”</p> - -<p>“No see um. Me see only Coomby and Clancy, and -Big Thunder.”</p> - -<p>“Well, if you’re determined to stay here, Wah-coo-tah,” -said the scout, “we’ll have to separate. My pard, -Nomad, is missing now, as well as Wild Bill. This Forty -Thieves Mine looks like a good place to go to hunt for -them—for Wild Bill, at least. Take care of yourself, -girl. Pa-e-has-ka is your friend, and will stand by you, -don’t forget that.”</p> - -<p>Again the soft light came into the girl’s eyes. The -scout, with a rattle of his spurs, darted down the cañon. -Looking back as he rode, he saw Wah-coo-tah taking -up her station behind the rocks.</p> - -<p>Buffalo Bill, who had a calculating eye for distance, -measured the miles as he rode. One, two, three, four, -five he counted. As a proof of the accuracy of his count, -the word “five” had hardly dropped from his lips before -he saw, a little way ahead of him, the ore-dump of the -Forty Thieves.</p> - -<p>Drawing down to a more cautious pace, he swept his -eyes over the surroundings. There was no sign of any -living thing in that part of the cañon.</p> - -<p>He went bushwhacking in the scrub, and found places -where horses had been recently tethered, but there were -no horses in the vicinity of the ore-dump now aside from -Bear Paw. If there were no horses around, it seemed -to follow, naturally, that there could be no one in the -mine. The scout, however, was determined to find that -out by observation. He would pay a visit to the workings -and see for himself.</p> - -<p>Securing Bear Paw in the depths of a thicket, where<span class="pagenum" id="Page_66">[66]</span> -he could not be easily seen by any chance passer along -the trail, the scout left the bushes warily and made his -way to the ore-dump.</p> - -<p>The ox-hide bucket was on the platform at the -top of the dump, and on the slope of the little elevation -lay a pick.</p> - -<p>The Forty Thieves may have been a played-out proposition, -but some sort of work had been prosecuted there -very recently.</p> - -<p>Making as little noise as possible, the scout climbed -the ore-dump to the platform and knelt down on the -planks.</p> - -<p>He looked into the cavernous depths of the shaft, and -listened intently. He could neither see nor hear anything.</p> - -<p>Buffalo Bill had been perhaps half an hour looking -about through the thickets for signs of men and horses, -so that, from the time he had separated from Wah-coo-tah -farther up the cañon, until he reached the top of the -ore-dump, something like an hour and a half had passed.</p> - -<p>At least one of the scout’s enemies had been making -the most of this hour and a half.</p> - -<p>As the scout slowly climbed the side of the ore-dump, -his every movement was watched by a pair of glittering -eyes in the bushes. The owner of the eyes had not been -in the thicket when the scout had done his bushwhacking, -but had glided to the copse when the scout left his -horse and pushed into the open.</p> - -<p>As the scout knelt on the platform, his back was toward -the gleaming, malevolent eyes.</p> - -<p>Big Thunder—for the man in the thicket was the -Ponca—thought that the hour for his revenge had struck. -Slowly his rifle arose to his shoulder, he drew a bead on<span class="pagenum" id="Page_67">[67]</span> -the form that topped the ore-dump, and one long finger -caressed the rifle’s trigger.</p> - -<p>The finger, however, did not press the trigger. At -the critical moment, Big Thunder lowered the rifle, and -laid it carefully down beside him.</p> - -<p>There might be other white men in the vicinity, and -the sound of the rifle-shot would be heard. In that case, -Big Thunder would have difficulty in escaping after he -had secured his revenge.</p> - -<p>Starting to a crouching posture, the Ponca rested his -right hand on the hilt of his skinning-knife. He would -use the knife, coming upon the kneeling form of the -scout before he was aware that danger threatened.</p> - -<p>With the noiseless tread of a puma the savage left -his concealment. The shadow of a cloud does not cross -the ground more silently than did the moccasined feet of -the vengeful Ponca. Like a specter of ill omen he gained -the foot of the ore-dump, and began climbing it without -displacing a stone, or a thimbleful of sand.</p> - -<p>Yet, as it happened, the Ponca was not unseen, even -though the scout was oblivious of his presence. Another -Indian, with a tread as silent, emerged from the -bushes.</p> - -<p>It was Wah-coo-tah.</p> - -<p>She looked about her quickly, saw the Ponca mounting -the ore-dump, taking up the pick as he went, and hastened -breathlessly toward the shaft.</p> - -<p>Wah-coo-tah was unarmed. Big Thunder had seen -to that when he took the girl from the lodge of her people.</p> - -<p>So, as Wah-coo-tah glided toward the shaft, she armed -herself with a stone.</p> - -<p>Big Thunder, coming close to the scout, suddenly<span class="pagenum" id="Page_68">[68]</span> -swung the pick high in air. The scout, intent on probing -whatever mystery lay at the bottom of the Forty Thieves -shaft, seemed unconscious of everything that was going -forward at the surface.</p> - -<p>“Pa-e-has-ka!” screamed the Indian girl, as she flung -the stone.</p> - -<p>That wild cry of Wah-coo-tah’s broke the thrall of -silence that had hovered over the tragic scene. The -scout looked upward, saw the Ponca’s gleaming eyes and -the raised pick, and saw the stone strike the Ponca’s uplifted -arm.</p> - -<p>The pick fell, but was deflected by the stone, and its -point bit murderously into the stout planks of the platform.</p> - -<p>Another instant and the scout had come to hand-grips -with his red foe. Cody had had no time to draw -knife or revolver, but the Ponca had succeeded in getting -his own blade half-out of its scabbard before the -white man closed with him.</p> - -<p>A look into Big Thunder’s eyes convinced the scout -that he would fight to the death, that he had come there -either to kill or be killed.</p> - -<p>The struggle was, at the beginning, for the possession -of the Ponca’s half-drawn knife.</p> - -<p>The oiled body of the savage slipped and wriggled -in the scout’s hands, now pressing him closer, now dragging -away, and every instant the redskin’s hand plucked -steadily and resolutely at the knife.</p> - -<p>Wah-coo-tah, excited and apprehensive, came to the -top of the ore-dump, dodging this way and that to keep -out of the way of the combatants, and seeking to be of -service to Pa-e-has-ka.</p> - -<p>With a magnificent effort, in which his greased arm<span class="pagenum" id="Page_69">[69]</span> -and head slipped through the scout’s gripping fingers, -Big Thunder managed to get the knife from its sheath.</p> - -<p>“Get away, Wah-coo-tah!” panted the scout.</p> - -<p>The girl drew back a pace, stooping to pick up another -stone, and, if she got a chance to hurl it without -striking the scout.</p> - -<p>Once, twice, three times the murderous weapon rose -in the air, but the scout evaded each blow by hurling -himself to the right and left at the critical moment when -the blade fell.</p> - -<p>Wonderful indeed was it to note the agility of the -white man, bending, twisting, side-stepping with all the -grace and swiftness of a panther.</p> - -<p>The scout sought to draw a revolver, but the Ponca -watched his hands and pressed him closely whenever -his fingers came close to the hand-grip of one of the -Colts.</p> - -<p>Suddenly the combatants broke apart, seemingly by -tacit agreement. Quick as a dart, Big Thunder whirled -sideways, and launched a sweeping blow at Wah-coo-tah.</p> - -<p>Buffalo Bill detected the movement at his beginning. -The moment’s grace afforded him would have been sufficient -to allow him to draw the revolver he had been -trying to get hold of, but he would not have had time to -draw the revolver and shoot before the girl would have -stopped the swinging knife.</p> - -<p>Without making a try at his revolver, he reached out -with both hands, caught the girl’s arm, and jerked her -roughly from her feet.</p> - -<p>Wah-coo-tah fell on the edge of the ore-dump and -rolled down its steep side, while the Ponca’s knife flashed -through the sunlight over the spot where she had stood -a second before.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_70">[70]</span></p> - -<p>The scout leaped to the farther edge of the platform, -his right hand flying to his belt.</p> - -<p>Undaunted by his failure to strike the girl, Big Thunder -was alert on the instant and ready to balk the scout’s -attempt to get his revolver.</p> - -<p>Between him and the scout yawned the hole in the -platform. The Ponca sprang across it, but his moccasined -feet tripped on the ox-hide bucket, and his leap fell -short.</p> - -<p>The toes of his moccasins caught the edge of the -opening, he reeled there for a fraction of a second, seeking -to recover his balance, then lurched backward, striking -his spine and head against the opposite side of the -opening.</p> - -<p>For the space of a breath the scout saw him, doubled -up in the square hole, every muscle gone limp, and arms -and hands helpless to save him; then the form disappeared -downward, and could be heard striking and -bounding against the rocky walls of the shaft. Finally -there came a sudden crash from far below, then death-like -silence.</p> - -<p>Buffalo Bill sank down on the platform, limp and -breathless. Wah-coo-tah stole upward to him, knelt at -his side, and peered curiously down into the shaft.</p> - -<p>“Him dead,” she breathed; “Ponca him killed. Pa-e-has-ka -save Wah-coo-tah again.”</p> - -<p>“It’s about a stand-off, Wah-coo-tah,” said the scout. -“If it hadn’t been for you the Ponca would have sunk -that pick into my back. But I hadn’t much to do with -his falling into that hole. That was more of a happenchance -than anything else. He stumbled against the -bucket.”</p> - -<p>“Him bad Ponca,” said the girl, with visible satisfaction.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_71">[71]</span> -“Heap good thing he fall into hole. He no fall -into hole, then he ketch Wah-coo-tah, mebbyso, and -some time kill Pa-e-has-ka. Me heap glad.”</p> - -<p>“You saw him riding up the cañon?”</p> - -<p>“Ai. Me know he come. Him pass rocks trailing -Pa-e-has-ka’s horse. Then me follow.”</p> - -<p>“He was mighty quiet about it,” muttered the scout. -“I reckon that’s the first time a redskin ever caught me -napping, but I was so wrapped up in that shaft that I -hadn’t sense for anything else. The Ponca left his -horse down the gulch, I suppose, and stole up on me?”</p> - -<p>“All same,” said the girl. “When he leave um cayuse, -me leave um cayuse, too. When he crawl through -chaparral, me crawl through chaparral, too. Then me -come out, watch um Ponca while he lift pick. Right -off, me throw um rock and give yell. Pa-e-has-ka great -warrior!” finished the girl, admiration in her eyes.</p> - -<p>“That fight was nothing to brag about, Wah-coo-tah,” -answered the scout deprecatingly. “I think I should have -got the red in the end, but, as it turned out, an accident -brought the fight to a close. There was more reason -in your hiding out and watching for the Ponca than -I had imagined.”</p> - -<p>“Me know um Ponca,” said the girl.</p> - -<p>The scout, having regained his breath, again knelt by -the opening, and looked and listened. All was silent as -before.</p> - -<p>He pushed one hand into the opening and felt for a -ladder, or a rope, but he could find neither. Wah-coo-tah, -divining what he was looking for, hurried down the -side of the ore-dump and returned with some twenty feet -of rope which she had seen lying there. Silently she -offered it to the scout.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_72">[72]</span></p> - -<p>“That may help, Wah-coo-tah,” said Buffalo Bill, “but -I hardly think it is long enough. I’ll go for my riata.”</p> - -<p>Having gone into the thicket and secured the riata -from his saddle, the scout spliced it to the twenty feet -of rope found by the girl, then lowered the spliced ropes -down into the shaft, and made the upper end fast to the -platform.</p> - -<p>“Ponca dead,” said the girl. “Why Pa-e-has-ka go -down and look?”</p> - -<p>“I’m not going down to look at the Ponca, Wah-coo-tah, -but to look for Wild Bill,” the scout answered. -“You say you overheard talk between Seth Coomby and -Clancy which led you to believe Wild Bill had come out -to this mine with Lawless. Lawless returned to Sun -Dance, and it may be he left Wild Bill here. I’m going -down to find out.”</p> - -<p>“Wah-coo-tah go, too?” the girl asked.</p> - -<p>“Wah-coo-tah stay here,” the scout answered, throwing -off his coat and hat. “Keep watch. If you see any -one coming, fire two revolver-shots so that I may know, -and climb back to the ore-dump. <i lang="es" xml:lang="es">Sabe?</i>”</p> - -<p>“Me <i lang="es" xml:lang="es">sabe</i>, but me no got gun.”</p> - -<p>“Take this one,” and the scout laid one of his forty-fives -in the girl’s hand.</p> - -<p>“Me watch,” said the girl. “Pa-e-has-ka trust Wah-coo-tah.”</p> - -<p>After a precautionary glance around, the scout lowered -himself through the opening and slid rapidly down -the rope. At the lower end of it, his foot touched against -something soft and yielding. Stepping over the object, -he took a match from his pocket, and struck it against -the wall of the shaft.</p> - -<p>The object on the shaft’s bottom was what he had<span class="pagenum" id="Page_73">[73]</span> -supposed it to be—the body of the Ponca. The Indian -was dead.</p> - -<p>Paying no further heed to the Ponca, the scout started -along the level, lighting his way with matches. He had -not proceeded far before he picked up a half-burned -candle, and was able to continue his investigations to -better purpose.</p> - -<p>As he continued on along the crooked drift, the gleam -of the candle sparkled on another object at his feet. He -bent and picked it up, finding it to be an empty brass -shell.</p> - -<p>“Queer place for a shell,” he muttered, “particularly -for a shotgun-shell. Who has been using a shotgun -down here, and why?”</p> - -<p>That old mine Buffalo Bill had conceived to hold a -“pay-streak” for him, but as he proceeded onward without -finding any trace of Wild Bill, he began to think -that there was not so much of a pay-streak as he had -imagined.</p> - -<p>Then, the next minute, as he drew close to the end -of the level, one of those surprises which occasionally -drop across a person’s path with results undreamed of -presented itself.</p> - -<p>Ahead of him, in the flickering glow of the candle, he -saw a form stretched out at the side of the level.</p> - -<p>“Hickok!” he cried, running forward.</p> - -<p>The form gave out an incoherent gurgle, and the scout -fell to his knees and flashed the candle in front of the -man’s face. An exclamation of astonishment escaped -his lips.</p> - -<p>The man was not Wild Bill, but Nomad!</p> - -<p>The old trapper was securely roped and gagged. Although<span class="pagenum" id="Page_74">[74]</span> -he could not talk, his eyes, wide open and peering -upward into his pard’s face, spoke volumes.</p> - -<p>Wedging the candle in between two stones of the -hanging wall, the scout proceeded to strip the ropes from -his old pard.</p> - -<p>The trapper’s first words were surprising.</p> - -<p>“Let’s git out o’ hyar!” he gasped, floundering to his -feet and grabbing his pard’s arm.</p> - -<p>“Wait a minute, Nick,” demurred the scout, “and don’t -be in such a rush. What are you afraid of?”</p> - -<p>“This hyar is ther Forty Thieves Mine, an’ it’s ha’nted. -I been layin’ hyar in er cold sweat fer ther last two -hours. Waugh! I kin stand flesh-an’-blood enemies, but -when ye come down ter ghosts an’ whiskizoos, I’m shy -my ante. Let’s hustle, Buffler!”</p> - -<p>“Nick,” said the scout sternly, “pull yourself together -and try and corral a little common sense. I came down -here looking for Wild Bill, and I find you. Sit down, -and tell me how you got here. What happened, anyway? -You needn’t worry about those who captured you -coming along and taking us by surprise. Wah-coo-tah -is on the ore-dump, keeping watch for us. She’ll fire a -couple of shots if anything goes wrong.”</p> - -<p>Nomad, after casting a wild look around him, into the -dark, hunched up on the floor of the level, close to Buffalo -Bill.</p> - -<p>“Et ain’t nothin’ human I’m afeared of, Buffler,” he -declared, “but spooks an’ whiskizoos sartinly gits onter -my narves. Waugh! I wouldn’t stay alone in this hyar -pizen mine ef ye was ter pay me fer et. When ye found -me I was tied up an’ couldn’t git erway, an’ I’m tellin’ -ye I come mighty nigh kickin’ ther bucket jest on account<span class="pagenum" id="Page_75">[75]</span> -o’ bein’ skeered. Br-r-r! Keep right alongside -er me, Buffler.”</p> - -<p>“What happened to you?” demanded the scout curtly.</p> - -<p>Nomad rubbed his eyes, took another look around, and -then replied.</p> - -<p>“I come out o’ our room when ye went ter tork with -Wah-coo-tah, and thet feller Smith was sneakin’ off inter -ther bresh alongside the hotel. I hadn’t no idee what -he was up ter, but his actions was mighty suspicious, so -I made up my mind I’d foller him and see what was -ther matter with him. He——”</p> - -<p>Nomad gave another gasp and grabbed at his pard’s -arm.</p> - -<p>“D’ye hyer anythin,’ Buffler?” he demanded.</p> - -<p>“Not a thing,” returned the scout. “Why, Nick, I -never saw your nerves in such shape before. Forget -about the spooks; at least, until you tell me what I want -to know.”</p> - -<p>The old trapper gulped, calmed himself with an effort, -and went on.</p> - -<p>“Waal, as I was er sayin’, Smith acted mighty quare. -He slid through ther bushes ter ther slope leadin’ down -inter ther cañon, an’ then he went down ther cañon, -keepin’ in ther bushes all ther way. I was right arter -him all ther time, kase I’d made up my mind ter keep -ter ther trailin’ so long as he acted suspicious thet away.</p> - -<p>“I reckon we must hev tramped two er three miles, -hanging ter ther scrub all ther way, an’ never once showin’ -ourselves in ther trail. Then”—and Nomad’s voice -dropped wonderingly—“somethin’ happened ter me. Et -come from behind, an’ I ain’t yet shore in my mind as -ter what et was. Everythin’ got black in front er my<span class="pagenum" id="Page_76">[76]</span> -eyes, an’ I didn’t remember nothin’ more till I come to -in this place, roped an’ gagged like ye found me.</p> - -<p>“Thar was two er three men around me, an’ one of -’em was Smith, ther feller I was trailin’. Thet feller ain’t -no Easterner, Buffler, ye kin take my word fer thet.”</p> - -<p>“Wah-coo-tah opened my eyes regarding J. Algernon -Smith, Nick,” returned the scout. “The fellow’s a fake. -His name is not Smith, but Lawless.”</p> - -<p>“What!” cried Nomad. “Cap’n Lawless?”</p> - -<p>“The same; and he is supposed to own this mine. -Captain Lawless, too, is Wah-coo-tah’s father.”</p> - -<p>“Wuss an’ wuss!” muttered Nomad, falling back -against the wall. “This hyar is sartinly a day fer surprises. -Ther gang, with Lawless at ther head, is workin’ -some game. When they left me, Lawless told the fellers -with him thet Bingham was expected on this arternoon’s -stage from Montegordo, although who Bingham is, or -why they’re expectin’ him, is too many fer me. Lawless -said Bingham wouldn’t come ter ther Forty Thieves ontil -ter-morrer, even ef he did git in on this arternoon’s -stage, an’ thet they could come back hyar an’ take keer -o’ me ter-night. Then they hiked out, an’, I reckon, -pulled up ther ladders arter ’em.”</p> - -<p>The scout mused for a moment.</p> - -<p>“You were trailing Lawless,” said he, “and some one -of Lawless’ men must have been trailing you. When the -fellow behind you got the opportunity, he let drive at the -back of your head.”</p> - -<p>“Thet’s ther way o’ et. But how did ye know I was -hyar, Buffler?”</p> - -<p>“I didn’t know. I came here looking for Wild Bill, -for I was told that he had come here, yesterday afternoon, -with Lawless.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_77">[77]</span></p> - -<p>“Who told ye thet?”</p> - -<p>“Wah-coo-tah.”</p> - -<p>Thereupon the scout, as hurriedly as he could, without -neglecting any of the important details, informed his -old pard of events that had recently taken place.</p> - -<p>Just as the scout finished his recital, Nomad gave a -smothered yell, and leaped as though he had been thrown -from a catapult.</p> - -<p>“Thar et is ergin,” he gasped huskily. “Hyer et, -Buffler?”</p> - -<p>The scout listened.</p> - -<p>What he heard was a muffled sound, as of a groan, -echoing dully along the underground passage.</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_78">[78]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII.<br /> -<span class="fs70">LAYING THE “GHOST.”</span></h2> -</div> - -<p>“Waugh!” chattered Nomad. “I been er layin’ hyar -in mortil agony fer two long hours, hyerin’ thet sound. -Ther Forty Thieves Mine is bad medicine; thar’s been -crooked bizness o’ some kind hyar, an’ et’s ha’nted. Let’s -skin out, Buffler! Br-r-r, but I got er bad attack o’ ther -shakes.”</p> - -<p>“Nonsense!” exclaimed the scout impatiently. “I -don’t believe in ghosts. That sound, whatever it is, has -a very human note, it seems to me.”</p> - -<p>“Human?” whooped Nomad; “<em>human</em>? Et’s a whiskizoo, -warnin’ us ter make ourselves plumb absent, er take -ther consequences.”</p> - -<p>“Listen!” commanded the scout.</p> - -<p>The groaning noise was repeated, and there was certainly -something unearthly about it, there in that ill-omened -place. This time, however, it was followed by a -tapping as of one stone against another.</p> - -<p>“Ain’t this orful, Buffler?” muttered the old trapper, -brushing his sleeve across his dripping forehead. “I -don’t reckon we’re ever goin’ ter live ter git out o’ -hyar.”</p> - -<p>The scout gave no further attention to Nomad, but -took the candle down from the wall and started slowly -along the level in the direction of the shaft.</p> - -<p>“Hello!” he shouted, at the top of his voice.</p> - -<p>The voice answered with another groan—less a groan,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_79">[79]</span> -perhaps, than spoken words, jumbled together by distance -and a muffling barrier.</p> - -<p>The scout called again, and again; apparently, he was -answered. Groping along, the wall, calling and trying -to locate the place from which the answers came, he -halted suddenly at what seemed to be a break in the side -of the level.</p> - -<p>The break was of broken rocks and not, like the rest -of the walls, of a single mass of stone. Picking up a -splintered fragment, the scout tapped with it on the -débris. The tapping was returned, clearly from the opposite -side.</p> - -<p>Nomad’s fears had been giving way to curiosity, and -he followed the scout’s movements with deep interest.</p> - -<p>“Is that you, Wild Bill?” yelled the scout, his lips close -to the break in the wall.</p> - -<p>Something was returned—a single monosyllable, which -sounded very much like “Yes.”</p> - -<p>“Snarlin’ catermounts!” exclaimed old Nomad. “Ye -don’t mean ter say, pard, thet Wild Bill has been makin’ -them noises?”</p> - -<p>“It seems likely,” replied the scout, starting for the -shaft.</p> - -<p>“Whar is he? An’ what’s he doin’ in er solid wall?”</p> - -<p>“It isn’t a solid wall. He’s somewhere back of that -broken stone, and it’s up to us to get him out as quick -as possible.”</p> - -<p>Reaching the shaft, Buffalo Bill lifted his face. “Wah-coo-tah!” -he called.</p> - -<p>The girl’s head appeared over the opening.</p> - -<p>“Haul up the rope,” instructed the scout, “and then -tie the pick to it and let it down.”</p> - -<p>The girl obeyed the order. While she was doing it,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_80">[80]</span> -the scout told Nomad to take the candle and go through -the drift hunting for any tools he could find.</p> - -<p>By the time Buffalo Bill had returned to the break in -the wall with the pick, Nomad was waiting for him with -two more half-burned candles, and with a shovel.</p> - -<p>“Ther shovel is all I could find, Buffler,” said the -trapper.</p> - -<p>“That’s enough, Nick. We have a pick and shovel, -and there are only two of us to work. Light all the -candles, and wedge them into the wall in places where -they will give us the most light. We’ve got to hurry. -There’s no telling how much air Wild Bill has in there, -nor how long he can hold out. What’s more, Lawless -and his gang may return at any moment and interrupt -our work.”</p> - -<p>While he was talking, the scout began driving the -pick into the mass of débris, throwing the broken stones -to right and left.</p> - -<p>After lighting and placing the candles where they -would best serve the scout’s purpose, Nomad fell to with -the shovel.</p> - -<p>The efforts of the two pards were concentrated upon -a limited space, well toward the top of the barrier. It -was only necessary to make a hole large enough for Wild -Bill to crawl through, and that is what they strove to do. -As they continued digging, however, the loosened stones -fell from above, so that it was necessary to force an -opening from about the middle of the barrier upward to -the roof of the level.</p> - -<p>The scout and the trapper worked like galley-slaves. -By degrees the voice on the other side of the wall became -clearer as the barrier diminished; then, suddenly, -the voice ceased altogether.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_81">[81]</span></p> - -<p>“What does thet mean?” panted Nomad, pausing a -second to peer at his pard.</p> - -<p>“Hickok!” shouted the scout, likewise pausing.</p> - -<p>No answer came back.</p> - -<p>“It means,” went on Buffalo Bill, “that we’ve got to -work faster than ever. Wild Bill has succumbed to the -foul air, and he’ll die if we don’t get him out before -many minutes.”</p> - -<p>They jumped at the barrier like madmen, and to such -good purpose did they ply pick and shovel, that, a few -moments after Wild Bill had ceased to call to them, the -scout’s pick went through the wall, and a mass of broken -stones tumbled outward, leaving a good-sized opening.</p> - -<p>Without waiting an instant, Buffalo Bill seized a candle -and forced himself through the breach.</p> - -<p>When he let himself down on the other side, he found -that he was in a chamber, about as wide as the main -level and twice as deep. On the floor Wild Bill lay -sprawled, a heap of knotted rope beside him.</p> - -<p>“Is he thar, Buffler?” called Nomad from the level.</p> - -<p>“Yes.”</p> - -<p>“Alive?”</p> - -<p>“I think so. The foul air got the best of him. Stand -by to take him as I push him through.”</p> - -<p>“Send him erlong,” answered the old trapper. “I’m -blamed ef this ain’t ther strangest thing We, Us an’ Comp’ny -ever went up ag’inst.”</p> - -<p>Buffalo Bill put down his candle and lifted the limp -form from the rocky floor. Nomad reached through and -caught the form by the shoulders, dragging it to the -other side and laying it down on the bottom of the level.</p> - -<p>The next moment the scout had clambered clear of -the breach and rejoined his pard.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_82">[82]</span></p> - -<p>“Hadn’t we better take him ter ther surface, Buffler?” -asked Nomad. “Mebbyso a leetle water ’u’d help -ter bring him ’round.”</p> - -<p>“Pure air is all he needs,” the scout replied, “although, -I suppose, if he has been shut up there long, both water -and food would be acceptable.”</p> - -<p>“This hyar must be ther work o’ thet skunk, Lawless,” -growled Nomad.</p> - -<p>“No doubt of it.”</p> - -<p>“But whyever did he treat Wild Bill like thet?”</p> - -<p>“We’ll know in a few minutes. Ah!” the scout added, -noticing Wild Bill’s breast expand convulsively, “he’s -coming to himself.”</p> - -<p>The scout took off his hat and fanned the air in front -of Wild Bill’s face. Then, presently, Wild Bill’s eyelids -flickered open, and his dazed eyes stared upward at the -scout.</p> - -<p>“By gorry!” were Wild Bill’s first words, “you were a -deuce of a long time getting to Sun Dance, Cody.”</p> - -<p>“We were, that,” answered the scout, considerably -relieved, “but we got here at last.”</p> - -<p>“And right in the nick,” added Wild Bill, floundering -to a sitting posture; “another ten minutes and it would -have been all day with me. Got anything to eat or -drink?”</p> - -<p>“Nick,” said the scout, “go to the shaft and tell Wah-coo-tah -that we have found Wild Bill, and that he is -hungry and thirsty. See what she can do.”</p> - -<p>“On ther jump,” returned Nomad, taking one of the -candles and scrambling for the shaft.</p> - -<p>“You’ve evidently had a rough time of it, Hickok,” -observed the scout.</p> - -<p>“Rough? That’s too mild a word. What day is this?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_83">[83]</span></p> - -<p>“Wednesday afternoon.”</p> - -<p>“And I was walled up in that stub-end of a crosscut -Monday night. It seemed like a year instead of two -nights and going on two days. Woosh! Of all the tortures -that have ever been tried on me, that was the -worst.”</p> - -<p>“Are you hurt any?”</p> - -<p>“Not to speak of. Limp as a rag, that’s all. The -air wasn’t any too good, and, of course, it kept getting -worse and worse.”</p> - -<p>Just then Nomad came back from the shaft. He had -a piece of jerked beef and a square cloth, soaked in -water.</p> - -<p>Wild Bill took the cloth and wrung it out against his -lips, then ate a little of the jerked beef.</p> - -<p>“I’m not as hungry or thirsty as I thought I was,” -said he. “I’m used to going without water or food for -days at a stretch.”</p> - -<p>“Who holed you up in that way?” asked the scout.</p> - -<p>“A man in a linen duster. He blew into Sun Dance -Tuesday afternoon, on the Montegordo stage, and said -his name was J. Algernon Smith, of Chicago. That -tinhorn, pards, is sure the original two-tongue man. His -right name is Lawless, and he’s a thirty-second degree -confidence man and desperado.”</p> - -<p>“We have already had dealings with J. Algernon,” -said the scout grimly. “We walked into his trap, I -reckon, about as easily as you did. But go on, Hickok. -If you feel able, give us the whole of it.”</p> - -<p>“I’m able, all right—getting stronger every minute. -Pure air was the main thing, and I’m making the most -of it.”</p> - -<p>Then, at considerable length, Wild Bill set forth his<span class="pagenum" id="Page_84">[84]</span> -experiences, beginning with his ride to Sun Dance with -Crawling Bear, and his investigation of the shooting in -the mine.</p> - -<p>“A job of salt!” muttered Buffalo Bill. “The atmosphere -is beginning to clear.”</p> - -<p>“Lawless,” proceeded Wild Bill, “is expecting a man -here to take ore-samples from the mine. If the mine -pans out, according to schedule, a hundred thousand is -to change hands. That would be quite a plum to fall into -the hands of a squawman like Lawless.”</p> - -<p>“It will never fall into the hands of Lawless <em>now</em>.”</p> - -<p>“I should say not,” said Hickok; “and let us emphasize -the ‘now.’ Seeing the stranger get off the Montegordo -stage, I thought he was the come-on, and, always -being ready to stretch out a helping hand to the unfortunate, -I stretched out a hand to Lawless—and Lawless -played me to a fare-you-well. He acted the part of the -Eastern come-on to the life.”</p> - -<p>“The Easterner’s name is Bingham, not Smith,” said -the scout.</p> - -<p>“It was all one to me, at that stage of the game,” and -Wild Bill proceeded with his account.</p> - -<p>The way he had been lured to the slope, ostensibly to -meet Clancy, and the way Clancy had unexpectedly met -him from behind with a club, was told; then followed a -description of what took place in the mine, the setting off -of the three blasts, and the retreat of Lawless and his -men.</p> - -<p>“I closed my eyes,” said Wild Bill, “when the charges -went off. Lawless had told me that Clancy was a master -hand at setting off giant powder, and that he had drilled -the holes in such a way that I wouldn’t be touched by -flying rock, but would be neatly and securely walled into<span class="pagenum" id="Page_85">[85]</span> -a rocky chamber. I wasn’t taking Lawless’ word for -anything, and expected as much as could be that I would -be hit by a splinter of rock, and wiped out. I wasn’t -much caring, between the three of us. Death seemed -certain, anyway, and I was rather hoping it would be -quick, rather than long-drawn out.</p> - -<p>“But Clancy must have known his business. After my -ears had recovered from the jar, I opened my eyes, and -discovered several things. But I didn’t discover them by -sight, for I was in the blackest kind of night.</p> - -<p>“The first of my discoveries was this, that I wasn’t -hurt by the explosion. The next discovery was that the -powder-fumes had not entered my chamber as thickly as -I supposed they would do. Most of the fumes must have -passed into the level, from some cause that I can’t exactly -figure out. However that may be, the absence of -powder-smoke left the little air I had just that much -clearer and purer.</p> - -<p>“I was bound hand and foot, and I made it my first -business to get loose. The sharp corner of a stone -helped me, for I sat up and chafed my bonds over it, -and soon had my hands free. To get the rope off my -ankles, after that, was mere child’s play.</p> - -<p>“As soon as I was able to move around, I sounded -the barrier between me and the drift. It seemed thick -enough, and I reached for a new knife I had bought in -Sun Dance, with the idea of using it to dig with. But -Lawless had stripped me of knife and guns. Not having -the knife, I worked with my hands.</p> - -<p>“It was a slow job, Cody, but I wonder if you’ve ever -noticed how a man will work when his life is at stake? -Well, that was me, just then. I sailed into that wall with<span class="pagenum" id="Page_86">[86]</span> -my hands and finger-nails, and I would have gone at it -with my teeth if I hadn’t had the use of my hands.</p> - -<p>“After about fifty years—that’s what it seemed like, -anyhow—I noticed that I was getting weak, and that I -wasn’t making much of a hole in the barrier. The air -was getting bad, too, and I thought I’d better give up -my plan as a bad job. If I got out, I thought, the -chances were I’d fall right back into the hands of Lawless -and his men again.</p> - -<p>“So I quit work on the barrier and laid down and went -to sleep. When I woke up and realized where I was, the -old hope of making my escape took hold of me. I hadn’t -the strength to work, so I began to yell, and to tap on -the wall.</p> - -<p>“I hadn’t much of an idea that any one would hear me -but Lawless and his gang, but I was that desperate I felt -I must do something.”</p> - -<p>Wild Bill fell silent for a space, studying the flickering -candles on the wall of the level.</p> - -<p>“I wonder,” he resumed finally, “if you fellows know -what it means to feel that you are in the last ditch, with -a lot of buckaroos throwing in the sand, when, all at -once, something snakes you out of what was meant to -be your grave, and lands you in safety, with ground to -spare? Well, if you’ve ever experienced that, you’ll -understand how I felt when I heard an answer to one -of my yells, and, a little later, heard blows of a pick.</p> - -<p>“I didn’t know who it was out here in the level, but a -sneaking idea took possession of me that it was Bingham, -the fellow who had come to the Forty Thieves to -chip ore-samples. I had that idea when the foul air -became too much for me, and I dozed off. So it was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_87">[87]</span> -something of a surprise when I opened my eyes and saw -Pard Cody.</p> - -<p>“Well, when all’s said and done, here I am, alive and -kicking, and able to tote my guns and face trouble just -as I’ve done in the past. All that bothers me now is -playing even with Lawless. I’d like mighty well, though, -to hear how you fellows came to be in the mine.”</p> - -<p>“Nomad brought me here,” said the scout. “He was -trapped by J. Algernon Smith in a similar way to what -you were, and he was brought here and left in the level, -bound and gagged. I came to find you, and found him. -He was in a sorry fix, Nick was, Hickok. He told me -he had heard ghosts, and he was for leaving the mine -on the run.”</p> - -<p>The old trapper wore a sheepish look.</p> - -<p>“Waal,” he grunted, “them noises I heerd shore -sounded like they mout be ghosts. No human bein’ ever -made sich sounds, accordin’ ter my thinkin’.”</p> - -<p>“It’s blamed lucky for me,” observed Wild Bill, “that -Cody isn’t superstitious. If he had been, Bill Hickok -would have been company front with his finish. But tell -me everything. I’m like a man that has been in solitary -confinement for so long that the mere sound of a human -voice is refreshing. Talk to me, you fellows, and I’ll -lean back against the wall and listen.”</p> - -<p>Hickok was fully informed of preceding events by -the scout and the trapper, Wah-coo-tah being brought -into the recital, since she alone had furnished the scout -the tip that had led him to the mine.</p> - -<p>“From what you say of the girl,” remarked Wild Bill, -“she seems to be of a different caliber from that of her -tinhorn father.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_88">[88]</span></p> - -<p>“She is,” averred the scout, “if I’m any judge of character.”</p> - -<p>“It’s a good thing for her the Ponca slipped into the -shaft. But for that, he’d have caught her, sooner or later. -An Injun isn’t giving up five good ponies just to let -himself be beaten out of his bargain.”</p> - -<p>Wild Bill got to his feet and gave himself a shake.</p> - -<p>“Feel like climbing fifty feet of rope, Hickok?” asked -the scout.</p> - -<p>“I feel like trying,” was the reply, “but whether I -could get to the top or not is a horse of another color.”</p> - -<p>“We kin rig a tackle an’ snake ye up,” said Nomad; -“all ye got ter do is ter hang in er noose, an’——”</p> - -<p>Nomad stopped short. From a distance came the reports -of two revolver-shots, fired in quick succession.</p> - -<p>“Trouble!” shouted the scout, snatching a candle from -the wall and leaping away in the direction of the shaft. -“That’s the signal Wah-coo-tah was to give us if any of -that gang of scoundrels came this way.”</p> - -<p>“I’m hopin’ ther trouble won’t reach ther gal afore -we kin shin up ther rope an’ jine her,” cried the trapper.</p> - -<p>“We’ll not be of much account in a gun-fight, Nomad,” -said Wild Bill. “You’re not heeled, and neither am I.”</p> - -<p>When Nomad and Wild Bill reached the bottom of the -shaft, Buffalo Bill was already on his way up the rope. -A rattle of revolver-firing came from the ore-dump, and -the king of scouts climbed toward it with frantic haste.</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_89">[89]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII.<br /> -<span class="fs70">THE FIGHT AT THE ORE-DUMP.</span></h2> -</div> - -<p>When Buffalo Bill raised his head and shoulders above -the edge of the platform, bullets flew about his ears like -a swarm of angry bees. He could not see the Indian -girl, and he could not see any enemies, but a shout from -the girl called his attention as soon as he had pulled -himself out on the planks.</p> - -<p>“Here, Pa-e-has-ka!” the girl called.</p> - -<p>Her voice came from the side of the cañon, and the -scout saw her head lifted over a heap of boulders.</p> - -<p>Bullets continued to sweep the ore-platform, but, before -the scout hurried to join Wah-coo-tah, he knelt, -picked up his hat and coat, and called to his pards.</p> - -<p>“Stay where you are!” he ordered. “You haven’t any -guns, and you’d only be in the way.”</p> - -<p>Having delivered these instructions, he whirled and -leaped down the side of the ore-dump. Bullets from behind -boulders across the cañon followed him as he ran, -yet he managed to gain the barrier, behind which Wah-coo-tah -had taken refuge, without injury.</p> - -<p>“Who are the men?” were the scout’s first words.</p> - -<p>“My fadder and the other Yellow Eyes,” replied the -girl.</p> - -<p>“How many, Wah-coo-tah?”</p> - -<p>“Seven.”</p> - -<p>“That means the whole gang is here,” observed the -scout, thinking dejectedly of his brace of Colts, which<span class="pagenum" id="Page_90">[90]</span> -were all the firearms he and his pards had. “Where are -the gang’s horses, Wah-coo-tah?”</p> - -<p>“No <i lang="es" xml:lang="es">sabe</i>,” answered the girl. “Mebbyso cayuses left -up the gulch. When they come they walk, creep ’long -behind rocks. Me no see um till they come close. Then -me shoot, and they begin to shoot, too. No like um. -Heap bad Yellow Eyes.”</p> - -<p>“Have they got rifles?”</p> - -<p>“No got um rifles; got revolvers.”</p> - -<p>“If there are seven of them, and they have each a -brace of six-shooters, then they have fourteen revolvers -to our two. Unless something unexpected happens, -they’re going to give us a run for our money.”</p> - -<p>Very cautiously Buffalo Bill looked over the top of -the boulders and sized up the enemy’s position. Lawless -and his men appeared to be scattered up and down the -opposite side of the cañon, every one of them back of a -boulder.</p> - -<p>The firing was not so brisk as it had been, and it was -quite probable that Lawless was himself taking stock of -the situation before allowing matters to go any further. -As a point to this conclusion of the scout’s, the head -of Lawless, capped with its black sombrero showed above -the top of a boulder almost directly opposite where the -scout was standing.</p> - -<p>Quick as lightning, Buffalo Bill let fly a bullet at the -black hat. Lawless ducked down just in time to save -himself; and, the next moment, Buffalo Bill himself was -obliged to drop, for bullets began to fly thick and fast.</p> - -<p>“Stop your shooting!”</p> - -<p>It was the voice of Lawless, and went ringing down -the cañon. Instantly the fusillade ceased.</p> - -<p>“Buffalo Bill!” called Lawless.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_91">[91]</span></p> - -<p>“What do you want?” asked the scout, keeping under -cover.</p> - -<p>“You have my girl over there, and if you’ll give her -up, we’ll let you and your pards go, providing you agree -to return to Fort Sill and not go back to Sun Dance.”</p> - -<p>Wah-coo-tah, crouching behind the stones, put out her -hands and caught the scout’s arm imploringly.</p> - -<p>“No, no!” she breathed.</p> - -<p>“You want to sell the girl to some other buck for five -ponies, eh?” called Buffalo Bill, in a tone of contempt.</p> - -<p>“It’s none of your business what I want to do. She’s -a fiery jade, and there’s no living in the same lodge with -her. Will you give her up?”</p> - -<p>“Certainly not. She doesn’t want to go back to you.”</p> - -<p>“I can make you give her up,” stormed Lawless. “The -officers at Fort Sill, if I laid the case before them, would -force you to turn the girl over to her people.”</p> - -<p>“You’ll not lay the case before the officers at Sill,” -taunted the scout; “they’d like mighty well to have you -come there and try it. You’re a pretty sort of man to -have charge of a girl like Wah-coo-tah!”</p> - -<p>“For the last time”—and Lawless’ voice shook with -rage—“are you going to let me have my daughter?”</p> - -<p>“And for the last time. No!” roared the scout.</p> - -<p>“Then you’ll never leave this cañon alive. Go on with -your shooting, boys!”</p> - -<p>The last words were a command to the members of -the gang, and the crack of weapons again resounded. -All the shooting, however, was a waste of good ammunition. -The bullets hissed through the air or patted -harmlessly against the rocks. So long as the fighters kept -themselves hidden there was no danger of casualties.</p> - -<p>Changing his position, Buffalo Bill threw himself down<span class="pagenum" id="Page_92">[92]</span> -at full length, and looked out around the end of the boulder -breastwork that shielded him and Wah-coo-tah.</p> - -<p>What he saw filled him with consternation. While he -had been parleying with Lawless, two of Lawless’ men -had left their boulders and stolen up on the ore-dump. -Under the protection of the rock pile, the two rascals -were making for the platform.</p> - -<p>Was it their intention to cut the rope that was hanging -in the shaft? the scout asked himself. If it was, and if -Nomad or Wild Bill happened at the moment to be -climbing upward, cutting the rope would drop them -downward, and perhaps cause them to meet the doom that -had overtaken the Ponca.</p> - -<p>In the hope of keeping the two men from the platform, -the scout concentrated his fire upon the ore-dump. -The men on the other side of it were carrying out their -plans warily, and the scout was given little chance at -them.</p> - -<p>When they reached the top of the ore-dump, the -scoundrels pushed two boulders onto the platform to -shield their bodies from the scout’s bullets; then, pushing -the stones in front of them, they crawled, snakelike, -toward the shaft opening.</p> - -<p>The scout’s bullets slapped and hissed against the -moving stones, but without doing any damage to the -men behind them. All the scoundrels laughed. They -seemed to understand the scout’s fears and the laugh was -a taunt because they considered that they had baffled -him.</p> - -<p>Buffalo Bill was just planning a rush back to the ore-dump—a -daredevil charge across the open with every -outlaw’s weapon firing at him—when something happened -which he had not looked for.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_93">[93]</span></p> - -<p>The stones on the platform were close to the opening, -when, with startling suddenness, old Nomad popped -through the hole like a Jack-in-the-box. He took in the -situation at a glance, and dropped down on the two desperadoes.</p> - -<p>One of the men started to jump up and run, but Nomad’s -fist shot out like a battering-ram, and the villain -pitched head first down the rocky side of the dump.</p> - -<p>The men across the cañon did not dare shoot at the -trapper for fear of wounding their friends. Nomad understood -this, and took full benefit of the grace allowed -him.</p> - -<p>The scoundrel who still remained on the dump chanced -to be Seth Coomby. Nomad dropped a heavy knee on -Coomby’s chest, and ripped the revolvers out of his -hands. Shoving one revolver into the breast of his shirt, -he picked Coomby up by the scruff of the neck, held him -in front as a breastwork, and started down the slope, -firing as he went, and forcing Coomby ahead of him.</p> - -<p>But Nomad was not making for the boulders where -the scout had taken refuge, but for the other side of the -cañon, where Lawless and the rest of his men were doing -their fighting.</p> - -<p>It was a reckless piece of work on Nomad’s part. The -old trapper, however, was filled with rage at the way -Lawless and his men had treated him. He wanted to -play “even,” and was willing to take chances to do so.</p> - -<p>Hardly had Nomad reached the bottom of the ore-dump, -when Wild Bill showed himself on the platform. -Whether the outlaws were too much occupied watching -Nomad’s work with Coomby, or whether they were paralyzed -at Wild Bill’s appearance, yet the fact remains -that they did not fire at him.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_94">[94]</span></p> - -<p>Coomby’s companion on the ore-dump—none other -than the man who has figured as “Andy”—had dropped -one of his revolvers at the time he was overturned by the -old trapper’s fist.</p> - -<p>Wild Bill’s quick eye caught sight of the weapon, and -he picked it up, flourished it in the air with a yell, and -leaped after Nomad toward the opposite side of the -cañon.</p> - -<p>The scout, witnessing the trend of affairs, decided that -he ought to take part in the charge of his pards. Unless -the attack was hotly pressed, neither Nomad nor -Wild Bill would come out of the skirmish alive.</p> - -<p>At the very moment when Buffalo Bill threw himself -across the boulders, a thump of horses’ feet came from -down the cañon.</p> - -<p>“We’re coming, pard!” whooped a shrill, feminine -voice.</p> - -<p>The scout looked down the gulch and saw Dauntless -Dell and Little Cayuse plying quirt and spur, and hurrying -to take part in the combat.</p> - -<p>“Hyar comes our other two pards!” jubilated Nomad. -“Now, ye varmints, will ye hunt yer holes?”</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_95">[95]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX.<br /> -<span class="fs70">DELL AND CAYUSE ALSO DELAYED.</span></h2> -</div> - -<p>From the moment Dauntless Dell’s shrill cry echoed -through the cañon, panic struck at the hearts of Captain -Lawless and his men. The villainous crew saw five determined -foes bearing down on them.</p> - -<p>“Scatter!” yelled Captain Lawless, and immediately -suited his actions to the word.</p> - -<p>Keeping themselves under cover of the rocks, the -stampeded scoundrels finally gained the shelter of the -scrub, and could be heard thrashing about in a mad endeavor -to get to their horses and away.</p> - -<p>At this point, Nomad’s ardor got the better of him, -and caused him to lose his prisoner, Coomby.</p> - -<p>Pushing fiercely toward the bushes, and shoving Coomby -ahead of him, Nomad was making a wild effort to -keep up the fight.</p> - -<p>Coomby, unable to stand up under the pressure exerted -on him from behind, stumbled over a stone. Nomad, -who could not stop his headlong rush, went -sprawling over Coomby, and both lay for an instant in -a tangle on the ground.</p> - -<p>Fear did for Coomby what the lust for battle could -not do for Nomad; and the outlaw succeeded in beating -the trapper in getting up, and was off and away before he -could be caught.</p> - -<p>Dell and Cayuse shot on along the cañon in pursuit. -Buffalo Bill got astride Bear Paw, Nomad found Wah-coo-tah’s<span class="pagenum" id="Page_96">[96]</span> -pony, and Wild Bill picked up the cayuse belonging -to the dead Ponca.</p> - -<p>Lawless and his men had torn their horses loose from -the bushes where they had been secured, and had lost -themselves in the chaparral.</p> - -<p>The scout and his pards hunted the cañon through, -up and down and from side to side, but without result. -Lawless and his gang had made their escape.</p> - -<p>“Whar ther bloomin’ blazes did they go, anyways?” -demanded Nomad, his voice heavy with chagrin and disappointment, -when he and the rest of the scout’s party -rounded up once more in the vicinity of the ore-dump.</p> - -<p>“They know the country better than we do, Nick,” -said Buffalo Bill, “and they have made a clean get-away.”</p> - -<p>“Waugh, but et shore glooms me up!” growled the -trapper. “I got er bone ter pick with thet outfit.”</p> - -<p>“So have I,” put in Wild Bill, with a soothing grin, -“but I reckon the bone can wait. What’s the use of being -in a rush, Nomad?”</p> - -<p>“We kin afford ter wait, as fur as thet goes, but I -like ter make a clean up as I purceed.”</p> - -<p>“We’ve had enough of this for a while,” put in the -scout. “Hickok has been pretty active for a man who -has been so long without anything to eat or drink, and it -will be close to supper-time when we get back to Spangler’s. -We’ll ride for Sun Dance, and leave Lawless and -his men to be dealt with later. Ah!” the scout added, -facing about in his saddle. “Come here, Wah-coo-tah. -I was just wondering what had become of you.”</p> - -<p>During the flight and pursuit, the scout had lost track -of the Indian girl. She now came around the base of -the ore-dump and hurried toward him.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_97">[97]</span></p> - -<p>Dell Dauntless and Cayuse scrutinized the girl curiously.</p> - -<p>“Who is she, Buffalo Bill?” asked Dell.</p> - -<p>“Wah-coo-tah is her name,” the scout answered. “She -is the daughter of Fire-hand, otherwise Captain Lawless.”</p> - -<p>“Ugh!” muttered Little Cayuse.</p> - -<p>“His daughter!” echoed Dell.</p> - -<p>“She’s a friend of ours, though, for all that,” said the -scout, taking in a kindly grip the hand Wah-coo-tah held -out to him.</p> - -<p>With a swing, he landed the girl on Bear Paw’s back -at the saddle-cantle.</p> - -<p>“You see,” explained the scout, “Nomad and I saved -Wah-coo-tah from a Ponca warrior who had bought her -from Lawless for five ponies. Wah-coo-tah was not -pleased with her father’s arrangement, and broke away -from the Ponca. Nomad and I happened to be near -enough to interfere in her behalf. She did not forget -what we had done for her, but has rendered us good -service in this affair of Wild Bill’s. In fact, if it hadn’t -been for Wah-coo-tah, it is probable Wild Bill would -have lost his life, and perhaps Nomad, too.”</p> - -<p>Dell Dauntless spurred her white cayuse, Silver Heels, -alongside of Bear Paw, and took Wah-coo-tah’s hand.</p> - -<p>“If you have done all this,” smiled Dell engagingly, -“you’re entitled to the friendship of all of us. You must -be a brave girl, Wah-coo-tah.”</p> - -<p>The Cheyenne maiden studied Dell for a few moments, -then turned away rather curtly.</p> - -<p>“What’s the matter with her?” whispered Dell to Wild -Bill.</p> - -<p>“Well, she thinks she’s got first lien on the scout,”<span class="pagenum" id="Page_98">[98]</span> -laughed Wild Bill, “and you look to her like a claimant -for first honors.”</p> - -<p>At that Dell laughed, too.</p> - -<p>“You can’t tell about these Injuns,” went on Wild Bill, -“especially when they happen to be breeds. Wah-coo-tah -is mighty pretty, though.”</p> - -<p>“Do you think so?” asked Dell.</p> - -<p>“I do, for a fact. What’s more, I’ll never forget what -she has done for me.”</p> - -<p>After Buffalo Bill had dismounted and got his riata -from the shaft, he climbed into his saddle again and -gave the word that started the party for Sun Dance.</p> - -<p>“You and Cayuse are several hours behind schedule, -Dell,” said the scout. “Did you meet with trouble on the -way?”</p> - -<p>“We lost the trail,” said Dell, “and it took us several -hours to find it.”</p> - -<p>“Rather queer that Cayuse should have gone astray -like that,” commented the scout, with a look at the Piute.</p> - -<p>Cayuse seemed very much abashed.</p> - -<p>“It wasn’t his fault, pard,” went on Dell. “I thought -we could take a short cut, just as you and Nomad did, -and maybe save an hour. That, as I figured it, would -bring us into Sun Dance not more than an hour behind -you. Cayuse said we couldn’t do it, and that the country -was so hard to travel even jack-rabbits couldn’t get -over it. I had my way, though, and the upshot of it was -that we had to give up and go back to the trail. But -the trail was hard to find, and that’s where we lost our -time. You seem to have been having plenty of excitement -on this part of the range,” Dell added, with a questioning -look around at the scout and his pards, “and Cayuse -and I have missed all of it.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_99">[99]</span></p> - -<p>“Ye had er taste o’ ther excitement, Dell, when ye rode -inter thet leetle shoot-fiesta o’ our’n,” spoke up Nomad.</p> - -<p>“Umph!” grunted Cayuse. “That no fight. Him all -over before Yellow Hair and Cayuse come.”</p> - -<p>“How did it happen, Buffalo Bill?” asked Dell.</p> - -<p>“There’s a whole lot of it, pard,” the scout answered, -“and to get at it from all sides would take a heap of -time. Over our supper, at Spangler’s, is where we can -hold our powwow. Wild Bill there hasn’t had anything -to eat for two days.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t keep reminding me of it, Cody,” said Wild Bill. -“Just because you mentioned the fact, I’ve got to pull -my belt up another hole. If that starvation-act of mine -is referred to many times more, I’ll be cut in two.”</p> - -<p>Dell laughed at the grimace which accompanied the -words.</p> - -<p>“What sort of business did you want Buffalo Bill for, -Wild Bill?” she asked.</p> - -<p>“I had a bunch of rascals holed up in that mine back -there, and wanted Pard Cody to come on and help me -run them in. By the time Cody got here, the rascals -had got out and had run <em>me</em> in.”</p> - -<p>“But what was the work?”</p> - -<p>“A job of salt, Miss Dauntless. Lawless and his gang -were blowing fine gold into a played-out mine with a -shotgun. I saw some of the performance. While I was -looking on, two of the gang saw me. I managed to get -away, but it was a close call; then, the next day, my -charitable and amiable disposition steered me right into -the bunch of trouble-makers once more, and they had -me so I couldn’t move. That paper-talk I sent to Buffalo -Bill went astray, I understand, and Crawling Bear -was killed by Cheyennes. Too bad, too bad! I think<span class="pagenum" id="Page_100">[100]</span> -Crawling Bear stacked up closer to a white man than -many other Indians I’ve known. By the way, Cody, -what are you going to do with Wah-coo-tah?”</p> - -<p>“There’s nothing for me to do, I reckon, but to send -her back to the Cheyennes.”</p> - -<p>“No, no!” cried Wah-coo-tah. “Me no go back to -Cheyennes.”</p> - -<p>“It’s like this, Wah-coo-tah,” explained the scout. -“The Ponca who gave up the five ponies for you is dead, -and your father won’t dare show himself among the -Cheyennes after what has happened here in Sun Dance -Cañon. You’ll be perfectly safe with your people.”</p> - -<p>“Me want to stay with Pa-e-has-ka!” averred Wah-coo-tah. -“Pa-e-has-ka good friend of Wah-coo-tah. No -like to go back to Cheyennes.”</p> - -<p>“What did I tell you?” Wild Bill whispered in Dell’s -ear.</p> - -<p>“Of course,” flared Dell, “Wah-coo-tah couldn’t travel -with the scout and his pards.”</p> - -<p>“Of course not!” agreed Wild Bill. “Petticoat pards -are all right, but they make a heap of trouble, now and -then. You’ll be going back to your ranch in Arizona, -one of these days, I suppose——”</p> - -<p>“Just as soon as I can,” snapped Dell, and Wild Bill -wondered what it was that had put an edge to her -temper.</p> - -<p>The shadows were lengthening across the flat in Sun -Dance Cañon when Buffalo Bill and his pards rode up -to the door of the Lucky Strike Hotel.</p> - -<p>The bulky proprietor was sitting in front, as usual, but -his ragged palm-leaf fan lay beside him. The cool of -the evening was always grateful to Bije Spangler.</p> - -<p>“Whoof!” sputtered Spangler, as the cavalcade of riders<span class="pagenum" id="Page_101">[101]</span> -drew to a halt in front of his establishment. -“What’s this, Buffalo Bill? You escortin’ a band o’ Injuns -ter a new reserve, or what?”</p> - -<p>“We’re here to stay with you for a while, Spangler,” -said the scout.</p> - -<p>“It’s agin’ my rules ter take in any reds,” averred -Spangler.</p> - -<p>“You’ll have to take these in,” said the scout. “The -boy is my Piute pard, Little Cayuse, and the girl is the -daughter of Captain Lawless. Miss Dauntless, my girl -pard, will share the room Wild Bill occupied, and which -Nomad and I later put up in, with Wah-coo-tah. The -rest of us will bunk where we can. And a word to you, -Spangler,” the scout added, dropping down from his -saddle, “anything you say against one of my pards, white -or red, you say against me. Just remember that.”</p> - -<p>The tone in which the scout spoke sent a shiver -through Spangler.</p> - -<p>“No harm meant, no harm meant,” he sputtered. “O’ -course, Buffalo Bill, whatever you say goes.”</p> - -<p>“It’s an honor to your one-horse hangout for a boy -like Little Cayuse, or a girl like Wah-coo-tah, to stay in -it. Is supper ready?”</p> - -<p>“The Chink jest come out an’ hammered the gong,” -said Spangler. “Walk right in an’ set down whenever -ye’re ready.”</p> - -<p>The party dismounted and went into the hotel office. -Cayuse led away the horses, and saw that they were -properly cared for.</p> - -<p>Buffalo Bill, Nomad, Wild Bill, Cayuse, Dell Dauntless, -Wah-coo-tah, and one other, had a table all to -themselves. The “one other” was a slender little man in -a neat black suit, which spoke relentlessly of the East.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_102">[102]</span></p> - -<p>The little man was painfully pale, and seemed dismayed -to find himself surrounded by such an assortment -of white men and Indians.</p> - -<p>His first “break” was to ask the Chinaman who -waited on their table for a napkin. The Chinaman went -back and exchanged some heated words with the other -Chinaman in the kitchen; then both Chinamen went out -in front of the hotel and held a low conversation with -Spangler. As a result, Spangler waddled into the dining-room, -and walked to where the little man in black -was sitting.</p> - -<p>“Looky here, you!” rumbled Spangler, his great body -shaking all over with suppressed wrath, “was you the -one as asked the Chink fer a napkin?”</p> - -<p>“I—I have always been accustomed to eating with napkins,” -answered the little man, with a frightened, upward -glance.</p> - -<p>“Mebby you take this here eatin’-joint fer the Palmer -House, hey? Or mebby it’s the Delmonico restaurant -ye think it is? I’ve run this feedin’-place fer two years, -an’ this here’s the first time any one who has ever fed -here has insulted me!”</p> - -<p>“I had no intention of insulting you, sir, I assure you,” -said the little man. “I—I—why, it is customary to have -napkins at meals in—in Chicago, where I come from.”</p> - -<p>“Out here ye kin use the back o’ yer hand fer a napkin,” -growled Spangler, “an’ if ye’re afeared o’ gittin’ -anythin’ on yer clothes, why, don’t wear clothes that’s -so easy sp’iled. Do ye <i lang="es" xml:lang="es">sabe</i> my pidgin? If ye don’t, an’ -if what I say don’t set well, ye kin take yer ole carpet -bag an’ hike.”</p> - -<p>Under this wheezy torrent of words the little man -wilted. When Spangler turned around and waddled<span class="pagenum" id="Page_103">[103]</span> -off, the stranger was ready to throw aside his knife and -fork and eat with his fingers if any one had suggested it.</p> - -<p>“My friend,” said the scout, smothering a laugh and -leaning toward the stranger, “does your name happen to -be Bingham?”</p> - -<p>The little man jumped.</p> - -<p>“It is,” said he; “Alonzo Bingham.”</p> - -<p>“And you hail from Chicago.”</p> - -<p>“I do, yes, sir.”</p> - -<p>“You have come here to look over the Forty Thieves -Mine with a view to buying it of Captain Lawless?”</p> - -<p>“Why, my gracious!” cried Alonzo Bingham, “how did -you ever find out about that?”</p> - -<p>“Isn’t it a fact?” asked Buffalo Bill.</p> - -<p>“Yes, it is a fact, although I’m troubled to know -where you got your information.”</p> - -<p>“We troubled some ter git et, Mr. Bingham,” put in -Nomad, with a wink at Wild Bill.</p> - -<p>“Exactly,” said Wild Bill, “and I hope I’ll never be -troubled so much in the same way again. I don’t believe -I could stand it.”</p> - -<p>“As I understand, Mr. Bingham,” proceeded the scout, -“if the rock you took from the Forty Thieves assayed -properly, you were to pay Lawless a hundred thousand -for the mine?”</p> - -<p>“I and some friends were going to form a syndicate -and buy the mine, if it proved as represented,” said Mr. -Bingham.</p> - -<p>“Ther comp’ny you an’ yer friends hev formed,” announced -Nomad gravely, “ain’t a marker ter ther skindicate -thet was formed at this end o’ ther line.”</p> - -<p>“I—I am at a loss to understand you, gentlemen,” -said Mr. Bingham, wrinkling his brows.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_104">[104]</span></p> - -<p>“Lawless and some friends of his,” explained Buffalo -Bill, “have salted the mine.”</p> - -<p>“Salted the mine? Really, what does that mean? I -never heard of such a thing.”</p> - -<p>Nomad sank back in his chair with a groan.</p> - -<p>“Draw er diagram o’ et fer him, somebody. He’s got -ter hev et pictered out.”</p> - -<p>“It’s this way, Mr. Bingham,” proceeded the scout. -“Lawless and his friends went to the mine and filled the -rocks in the end of the level with gold. Understand? -When you go there to get your samples, you will find -rock that has been doctored. It will assay way up, but -the assays will fool you. It’s a case of plain robbery, -and nothing more.”</p> - -<p>“Dear me!” said Alonzo Bingham, looking worried.</p> - -<p>“Look here, Cody,” said Wild Bill, dropping his voice -and taking something out of his pocket. “You’re telling -friend Bingham the truth about the salting, but you’re -wide of your trail when you say the Forty Thieves is -worthless. Cast your eyes over that.”</p> - -<p>Wild Bill rolled upon the table a piece of ore as big -as an egg. It was the sort of ore occasionally described -as “gold with some quartz in it.”</p> - -<p>Little wires of yellow metal covered it all over, encasing -it like a spider-web.</p> - -<p>“Jumpin’ cougars!” breathed Nomad.</p> - -<p>“What in the world!” piped Alonzo Bingham.</p> - -<p>“Great Scott!” exclaimed Buffalo Bill, picking up the -ore-sample. “Where did you get that, Hickok?”</p> - -<p>“I found the pay-streak that the original owners of -the Forty Thieves must have lost,” chuckled Wild Bill. -“That bit of ore almost cost me my life, Cody. It came -from that walled-off end of the stub-drift. The explosion<span class="pagenum" id="Page_105">[105]</span> -at the entrance jarred down some rock and uncovered -the pay-streak. I struck a match, when I first found -myself with hands and feet free, and that pay-streak was -the first thing I saw. When I realized that burning -matches consumed oxygen, and that oxygen was the only -thing to keep me alive, I quit striking lights, and, almost -mechanically, dropped that bit of ore into my pocket.”</p> - -<p>“Mr. Bingham,” said the scout, “I beg your pardon. -The Forty Thieves, from this showing made by my -friend, Mr. Hickok, looks like a good purchase. But -Lawless doesn’t know anything about that pay-streak. -In negotiating for the mine, if I were you I wouldn’t say -anything about it.”</p> - -<p>“When he goes out to find Lawless and close up the -deal,” said Wild Bill, “Mr. Bingham, I’m afraid, will -have to do a good deal of hunting. In his efforts to -beat somebody, Lawless has salted a bonanza onto Mr. -Bingham and his Chicago syndicate. All I ask, Mr. -Bingham, for this friendly tip I have given you, is that -you communicate with me as soon as you find Captain -Lawless, of the Forty Thieves.”</p> - -<p>“I shall be glad to do so,” returned Mr. Bingham.</p> - -<p>During the rest of that meal the scout and his pards -discussed their adventures, pro and con, all more or less -for the benefit of Dell and Little Cayuse.</p> - -<p>Mr. Bingham, sitting by, heard everything. He -learned, as the story fell graphically from Wild Bill’s -lips, how the Laramie man had been knocked down, tied -hand and foot, carried to the Forty Thieves, placed in -the end of the crosscut, and then walled into a living -tomb by a neatly placed blast.</p> - -<p>Mr. Bingham also heard of the adventures that had -befallen old Nomad, and of the manner in which he had<span class="pagenum" id="Page_106">[106]</span> -been bowled over, carried to the mine, and subsequently -released by the scout.</p> - -<p>The talk ended in a description of the battle that had -taken place in the cañon, when there was so much shooting -and no casualties—plenty of noise and excitement, -but no one “gouged er skelped,” as Nomad put it.</p> - -<p>For some time Mr. Bingham had been growing even -more pale than usual. Long before the scout and his -pards were done with their talk, the Chicago man had -excused himself, and tottered feebly from the room.</p> - -<p>Next morning, when the scout and his friends met at -the breakfast-table, there were two less at the board than -at supper the evening before.</p> - -<p>Mr. Bingham especially was noticeable by his absence. -Spangler explained that he had said he wouldn’t buy a -mine in such a country if some one would offer him a -second Comstock lode for the price of a square meal. -Not daring to remain longer in such a lawless region, -Mr. Bingham had hired Spangler’s Mexican to take him -to Montegordo in Spangler’s buckboard during the night.</p> - -<p>Wah-coo-tah had likewise disappeared from the hotel -during the night, and her cayuse had vanished from the -stable. So quietly had the girl left, that Dell, in whose -room and with whom she was lodging, had not been -aware of her going.</p> - -<p>“I presume,” said Buffalo Bill, “that Wah-coo-tah has -gone back to her people.”</p> - -<p>“That’s the best place for her, pard,” said Dell.</p> - -<p>“No doubt about that,” returned the scout.</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_107">[107]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X.<br /> -<span class="fs70">THE STRANGER AND THE STEER.</span></h2> -</div> - -<p>“Whoop-ya! Looket thar, will ye? By the great -horn spoon! Cut fer the kitchen, Wing Hi, an’ fetch -me the rope that’s hangin’ thar. D’ye hear, yeh goggle-eyed -yaller mug? Wake up an’ move—quick, afore I -kick yer half-way thar. Wow! Never seen sich er thing -as thet afore—an’ comin’ right down on ther camp, lickity -larrup.”</p> - -<p>The mining settlement of Sun Dance, baking in the -mid-day heat half-way up the wall of Sun Dance Cañon, -stirred languidly with the whooping words that clattered -among its adobes.</p> - -<p>There was not much life in Sun Dance during the -day—night was its period of excitement and activity—but -what little life there was began to show itself.</p> - -<p>Gentleman Jim, the gambler, was dozing in a hammock -stretched between two posts in the shade of the -“Alcazar.” He heard the wild yell, located it as coming -from the vicinity of the Lucky Strike Hotel, got out -of the hammock, and went to investigate.</p> - -<p>In the street he met Hoppy Smith, barkeeper at the -Dew Drop; One-eye Perkins, postmaster and proprietor -of the general store; Stump Hathaway, boss of the -Spread Eagle honkatonk, and Lonesome Pete, who had -ridden in from up the gulch to get a supply of tobacco -and cigarette-paper.</p> - -<p>“What’s the trouble?” asked Gentleman Jim.</p> - -<p>“I’m by,” replied Hoppy Smith, halting in his wild<span class="pagenum" id="Page_108">[108]</span> -rush down the street and resting his game leg. “Somebody -dropped a remark, seemedlike, over around the -Lucky Strike.”</p> - -<p>“Dropped a remark?” echoed One-eye Perkins. “The -feller’s mouth went off like a string of bombs!”</p> - -<p>“All o’ that,” averred Stump Hathaway. “The noise -jumped me out of a sound sleep.”</p> - -<p>“I thort, fer a brace o’ shakes,” struck in Pete, “thet -Injuns was up, an’ raidin’ ther camp. My skin began -walkin’ all over me with cold feet.”</p> - -<p>The party had paused for only a few moments. During -most of the talking a rapid movement was being -made in the direction of the Lucky Strike.</p> - -<p>Spangler sat in the shade, in front, taking a comfortable -catnap on his two chairs.</p> - -<p>“Wake up, Spang!” cried Gentleman Jim, giving -Spangler a shake that made him quiver like a bowl of -jelly.</p> - -<p>Spangler opened his eyes, wheezed, and made a convulsive -gesture with his ragged palm-leaf fan.</p> - -<p>“What’s ter pay, Jim?” he demanded.</p> - -<p>“Didn’t ye hear that yell, a minit ago?” inquired -Hoppy Smith.</p> - -<p>“Didn’t hear nothin’.”</p> - -<p>“It come from this a-way,” said Lonesome Pete. -“Reckon nothin’ short of er cannon kin wake you, Spang, -arter ye once drop off.”</p> - -<p>“It ain’t often that anythin’ happens in camp durin’ -the day,” returned Spangler. “If you fellers got business -anywheres else, don’t let me detain ye a minit.”</p> - -<p>Spangler settled the broad of his back against the wall -behind him once more, apparently bent on continuing -his nap. Just then, however, Hank Tenny, a “digger”<span class="pagenum" id="Page_109">[109]</span> -from up the gulch, plunged around the corner of the -hotel, wild-eyed and full of excitement.</p> - -<p>He carried a riata, and was making it ready for action -when he hove in sight.</p> - -<p>Behind Tenny came Wing Hi, the dining-room boy, -and right at Wing Hi’s heels came Wong Looey, the -hotel cook.</p> - -<p>“Was that you, Tenny, that let off that yell?” shouted -Gentleman Jim.</p> - -<p>“Well, I reckon,” answered Tenny.</p> - -<p>“What’s the rip?”</p> - -<p>“Cast yer eyes up at the rim o’ the cañon.”</p> - -<p>What the men saw was startling in the extreme.</p> - -<p>A red steer was flickering along the rim of the cañon, -head down, and flecks of foam covering its dusty hide. -To the steer’s back a man was tied. Both steer and man -could be plainly seen, and the unusual spectacle brought -exclamations of astonishment from every onlooker.</p> - -<p>The man was stretched out along the steer’s back, and -securely roped in that position. Whether he was alive -or not it was impossible for those on the “flat” to tell. -The unfortunate man did not move—but the ropes alone -would have prevented that.</p> - -<p>“Great glee-ory!” gasped Hoppy Smith.</p> - -<p>“Wust thing o’ the kind I ever seen!” averred Lonesome -Pete.</p> - -<p>“Must be Injuns are playin’ didoes some’rs around -here!” chimed in Stump Hathaway.</p> - -<p>“You’re shy, Stump,” said Gentleman Jim. “Whoever -knew Injuns to treat a white like that? So far as -I can see, the man on the steer still has his scalp. -What’re you going to do, Hank?” he added to the man -with the rope.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_110">[110]</span></p> - -<p>“It’s dollars ter doughnuts,” said Tenny, “thet the -steer’ll foller the stage-trail right down inter camp. If -thet’s the case, I’m goin’ to drop a rope over them -horns.”</p> - -<p>For quite a long distance the stage-trail followed the -rim of the cañon. Hank Tenny had sighted the steer -and the man when they rushed into sight. Wing Hi had -got the rope for him, and immediately afterward Tenny -had rushed for the front of the hotel.</p> - -<p>“I had jest put my cabyo in the stable,” said Tenny, -while he and all the rest continued to watch the rim of -the gulch, “an’ was walkin’ fer the front o’ the hotel, -when I fust seen the critter. Nacherly I let off er yell, -an’ follered it up by tellin’ ther Chink ter git a rope fer -me. Jest as soon’s I got my hands on the rope, I started -for the front o’ the——”</p> - -<p>“By George!” exclaimed Gentleman Jim. “The steer -has taken the turn, and is sashaying right down on us!”</p> - -<p>Tenny’s forecast had proved correct. The maverick, -whirling from the rim to the down-grade, could be seen -charging down the steep slope.</p> - -<p>Without a word, Hank Tenny made a rush along the -street toward the point where the trail entered it. There -he went into hiding around the corner of the Alcazar.</p> - -<p>“Keep away, you fellers!” he yelled. “Don’t show yerselves, -kase if ye do ye’ll skeer the critter off. Jest hang -around the background, an’ watch how I rope ’im.”</p> - -<p>Clustered about the front of the Lucky Strike, Gentleman -Jim, Spangler, Hoppy Smith, and the rest -watched succeeding events with intense interest.</p> - -<p>They saw the steer charge into the street, saw Tenny’s -right arm shoot out, and the noose settle over the steer’s -horns, and then they saw Tenny make a frantic effort<span class="pagenum" id="Page_111">[111]</span> -and take a half-hitch with the end of the rope around a -hitching-post.</p> - -<p>A long breath escaped the onlookers. For an instant -they experienced a feeling of relief; then, the next instant, -the relief gave way to wildest anxiety.</p> - -<p>The hitching-post, loosened by long use, had been torn -from the ground the tremendous strain placed upon it by -the steer. Tenny, hanging to the extreme end of the rope, -had turned a somersault in the air and landed on his -head. The steer, with its helpless burden, dashed on -across the road and vanished behind the walls of the -Spread Eagle honkatonk.</p> - -<p>“The animile is chasin’ straight fer the precipice!” -bawled Lonesome Pete, beginning to run. “It’ll go over -the precipice an’ the man’ll be done fer!”</p> - -<p>This dread dénouement seemed very likely to happen. -At the edge of the “flat” there was a steep bank, dropping -sheer downward to the bed of the cañon. In one -place, the trail from below followed a steep slope—but -the steer was not headed toward the slope, but toward -the precipice.</p> - -<p>Maddened by the unsuccessful attempt made to stop -its flight, and still further frenzied by the yells of the -men, there was small doubt but that the steer would hurl -itself over the edge of the high bank, break its own neck, -and crush out the life of the man on its back—in case -the man happened to be still alive.</p> - -<p>“Who’s got a gun?” shouted Gentleman Jim, as all -hands plunged along after the steer. “Get a rifle, somebody!”</p> - -<p>“We’d be as li’ble ter hit the man as ter hit the steer,” -puffed Hoppy Smith.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_112">[112]</span></p> - -<p>“It’s a chance we’ll have to take,” averred Gentleman -Jim breathlessly.</p> - -<p>“But there ain’t a rifle among the lot o’ us,” said -Stump Hathaway, “an’ no time ter git one.”</p> - -<p>At the rear of the Spread Eagle the men came to a -halt. A level stretch lay between them and the top of -the bank. The steer was almost across the stretch, and -pounding onward without lessening its speed in the least.</p> - -<p>“The fellow is as good as done for,” said Gentleman -Jim, leaning against the wall of the Spread Eagle and -drawing his sleeve across his dripping forehead.</p> - -<p>“He’ll go over in spite o’ fate,” muttered Hank Tenny, -joining the group at the rear of the honkatonk. “Who’d -hev thought thet rotten post would hev let go like it -did? If it hadn’t been for that, I’d hev stopped the -maverick.”</p> - -<p>“When a man’s time comes,” said Gentleman Jim, -“he’ll get his due, whether by bullet, or water, or six feet -of rope—or a red maverick steer. Too bad, too bad! -Ah, the steer sees the break in the ground ahead, and is -getting ready to go over. If we only had a rifle——”</p> - -<p>Gentleman Jim was interrupted by an abrupt <em>crang</em>, -and a puff of white smoke arising from a thicket of -scrub off toward the edge of the “flat.” Astonishment -filled all beholders. While the echoes of the rifle-shot -were dancing musically up and down the gulch, the steer -was seen to leap into the air and to come down in a heap -at the very brink of the high bank.</p> - -<p>A second later a lithe form sprang out from among -the bushes and started hastily for the fallen animal. It -was the form of a girl in a natty brown sombrero, buckskin -blouse, and short skirt, and tan shoes and leggings. -In her right hand, as she hurried, she swung a rifle.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_113">[113]</span></p> - -<p>“Dell Dauntless!” shouted Gentleman Jim; “Buffalo -Bill’s girl pard has turned the trick. Bravo! A neater -shot was never fired in Sun Dance Cañon!”</p> - -<p>And “bravo! bravo!” jubilated the others as they followed -Gentleman Jim toward the steer and the stranger—a -stranger who might be in luck, and who might not, -according as to whether he had come through that -Mazeppalike ride alive or dead.</p> - -<p>When Gentleman Jim and the others came close to the -steer, Dell Dauntless had already cut away the ropes, -freed the stranger, and dragged him to one side. The -girl’s shot had sped true, and the steer lay dead, with -a bullet through its heart.</p> - -<p>“Miss Dauntless,” said Gentleman Jim, removing his -sombrero, “I take off my hat to you. Your rifle got in -its work in the very nick of time. Half a minute more, -and the steer would have been over the bank. You’re -a wonderful hand with a rifle.”</p> - -<p>“Well,” smiled the girl, with a deprecating shake of -the head, “that steer was a good-sized target, and what -excuse could I have made if I had missed?”</p> - -<p>“The steer was on the run, Miss Dauntless,” said Gentleman -Jim, “and you had to put a bit of lead into a vital -place.”</p> - -<p>“I happened to be in a favorable position,” said Dell. -“Any one of you, who happened to be placed as I was, -and with a rifle in your hands, could have done the same -thing. While waiting for Buffalo Bill and the rest of -my pards to come back from down the gulch, I was -taking a stroll to the edge of the ‘flat’ to see if they were -in sight. I heard the yells from the camp, saw the steer -coming, and went down on one knee and bided my -time. That was all,” she finished, turning away. “Instead<span class="pagenum" id="Page_114">[114]</span> -of talking, we’d better be giving our attention to -the stranger.”</p> - -<p>“Correct,” returned Gentleman Jim, stepping to the -stranger’s side and sinking to his knees.</p> - -<p>The stranger was young—evidently well under thirty—and -had every appearance of being a placer-miner. -He wore a flannel shirt, blue overalls, and rubber boots, -all earth and water-stained. His hat was gone, as might -be expected, and there was no revolver-belt at his waist, -and no sign of weapons elsewhere about him.</p> - -<p>“Any of you boys ever seen the man before?” asked -Gentleman Jim.</p> - -<p>None of the men could remember the stranger’s face.</p> - -<p>Gentleman Jim laid one hand on his breast.</p> - -<p>“His ticker’s going,” said he. “Hand me a flask, one -of you.”</p> - -<p>Lonesome Pete dug into his hip pocket and brought -up a pint-flask. Unscrewing the top, he handed the flask -to the gambler. The latter lifted the stranger’s head -and allowed some of the liquor to trickle into the throat -of the unconscious man.</p> - -<p>The effect was well-nigh magical. A minute afterward, -and while Pete was in the act of transferring the -flask to his pocket, the stranger’s eyes opened.</p> - -<p>For a space, the eyes were blank and void of realization. -The man’s glance passed vacantly about from one -face to another; then, suddenly, he sat up and began -rubbing his hands and arms where the rope had chafed -them.</p> - -<p>“How do you feel, pilgrim?” asked Gentleman Jim.</p> - -<p>“Feel like I’d been tangled up with a cyclone,” answered -the man. “Where am I?”</p> - -<p>“You’re in Sun Dance Cañon.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_115">[115]</span></p> - -<p>“This is where I was bound fer, but I wasn’t expectin’ -ter git here on a maverick longhorn. You fellows roped -the critter?”</p> - -<p>“I tried ter,” spoke up Hank Tenny, “but the animile -yanked a snub-post up by the roots an’ got away from -me. He was headin’ fer the edge o’ thet precipice, thar, -with the idee o’ jumpin’ over an’ takin’ you with him, -when this young lady, who happened ter be handy by -with a gun, let drive with a bullet. It’s the bullet thet -saved ye, pilgrim.”</p> - -<p>The stranger swerved his eyes to Dell.</p> - -<p>“I’m obliged to ye, miss,” said he. “What might yer -name be?”</p> - -<p>“Dell Dauntless,” said the girl.</p> - -<p>“Buffalo Bill’s girl pard!” exclaimed the stranger, his -dull eyes lighting a little. “I won’t forget this, Dell -Dauntless.”</p> - -<p>“It’s nothing—nothing at all,” deprecated Dell. “Any -one else would have done the same thing, had they been -situated as I was.”</p> - -<p>“Some one else,” said the stranger grimly, “might -have put a bullet inter me instead o’ the steer. Howsumever, -we’ll let that pass, fer now. My name’s Blake, -Henry Blake,” he went on, addressing generally the men -who were grouped about him. “I left Pass Dure Cañon -yesterday mornin’ with a bag o’ dust, calculatin’ ter come -ter Sun Dance an’ take ther stage fer Montegordo. Just -under the lee of Medicine Bluff I was stopped by Cap’n -Lawless and some o’ his murderous scoundrels——”</p> - -<p>“Captain Lawless!” exclaimed Gentleman Jim, astonished, -and the words were taken up and echoed by all the -other bystanders—Dell Dauntless being particularly interested.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_116">[116]</span></p> - -<p>“That’s right,” pursued Blake, a savage frown gathering -about his brows, “it was Cap’n Lawless, of the -Forty Thieves, an’ no one else. I know the whelp by -sight, but, if I hadn’t known him, he’d have settled my -doubts, fer he told me himself who he was.”</p> - -<p>“I thought Lawless and his gang had been chased out -of the country for good,” said Gentleman Jim. “Buffalo -Bill and his pards gave him the worst of it, and we -had all made up our minds, here in Sun Dance, that Lawless -would profit by the lesson.”</p> - -<p>“Well, he didn’t,” continued Blake. “He’s on deck -like always, an’ up ter his old tricks. He lifted my bag -o’ dust, my guns, what stuff I had in my clothes, and -my horse. I was held a pris’ner all last night, in the outlaws’ -camp by Medicine Bluff. This morning that maverick -steer was roped and thrown, and I was tied to the -brute’s back. Lawless told me I was going to Sun -Dance, and that I was to carry a message to some enemies -of his. It was a written message, and consequently -it wouldn’t make much difference whether I reached -Sun Dance alive or dead.”</p> - -<p>A fierce scowl returned to Blake’s face.</p> - -<p>“I’m hopin’,” he went on, “that I’ll live to play even -with that whelp an’ cutthroat. He’s as cold-blooded as -a channel catfish, an’ as murderous as a Sioux Injun. If -I ever git a chance at him——” Blake finished with a -vengeful glare and a tense gripping of his big, sinewy -hands.</p> - -<p>“You say the message is written?” queried Gentleman -Jim.</p> - -<p>“Yes,” answered Blake. “If I got here alive I was -ter ask fer a gambler called Gentleman Jim.”</p> - -<p>“Which is me,” said the gambler. “So far as I know,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_117">[117]</span> -Lawless hasn’t ever crossed my trail. Why he makes -himself my enemy is more than I can tell.”</p> - -<p>“The message ain’t fer you, Gentleman Jim,” said -Blake.</p> - -<p>“But you just said——”</p> - -<p>“Wait till I tell ye the whole of it. Lawless said I -was to ask for you, and that I was ter tell ye Lawless -believed ye was that rare thing, a square gambler. This -message fer Buffalo Bill——”</p> - -<p>“Ah!” murmured Dell, her interest growing. “Then -the message is for the king of scouts?”</p> - -<p>“That’s the way I sense it,” answered Blake. “It’s -fer the king of scouts, but it’s ter be given ter Gentleman -Jim.”</p> - -<p>“Talk about yer puzzles!” cut in Lonesome Pete. -“This takes the banner an’ leads the percession, I reckon. -Lawless sends a message ter one man an’ tells ye ter give -it ter another.”</p> - -<p>“How do you explain that, Blake?” asked Gentleman -Jim.</p> - -<p>“I don’t explain it,” continued Blake, “an’ I’ve told -ye all I know.”</p> - -<p>He dipped into the breast of his shirt and removed a -long envelope, soiled by much handling.</p> - -<p>“There it is,” said he, handing the envelope to Gentleman -Jim. “If I’d petered out before the steer got here, -ye might have found that on me, an’ ye might not. It -was Lawless’ roundabout way o’ doin’ the thing.”</p> - -<p>“He and his gang,” remarked Gentleman Jim, “must -have chased the steer toward Sun Dance, and have drawn -off only when sure the brute would come peltering -down into the camp.”</p> - -<p>“That must be the way of it, although I lost my senses<span class="pagenum" id="Page_118">[118]</span> -some time ago. I’m purty husky, but what I went -through on that steer’s back is somethin’ I never want -ter go through ag’in.”</p> - -<p>Dell looked over Gentleman Jim’s shoulder while he -read the writing on the envelope.</p> - -<p>“A message for Buffalo Bill,” read the writing; “to be -delivered to Gentleman Jim, in Sun Dance, and by him -opened in the presence of the scout.”</p> - -<p>“That’s plain enough; eh, Miss Dauntless?” said the -gambler.</p> - -<p>“It’s plain enough,” agreed the girl, “but a brain-twisting -puzzle, nevertheless. If the scout——”</p> - -<p>At that instant a fall of hoofs struck on the ears of -each member of the group. All eyes turned in the direction -of the trail leading up and out of the cañon.</p> - -<p>Four riders were approaching that particular part of -the “flat.” Buffalo Bill, on his big black horse, Bear -Paw, was in the lead. Behind the scout came Wild -Bill, Nick Nomad, and Little Cayuse.</p> - -<p>“Well, well!” exclaimed Gentleman Jim, “this couldn’t -have happened better.”</p> - -<p>Putting their horses to the gallop, Buffalo Bill and -his pards were soon drawing rein close to the group -near the dead steer.</p> - -<p>“What’s been going on here, friends?” queried the -king of scouts, sweeping a curious eye over the scene -before him.</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_119">[119]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI.<br /> -<span class="fs70">A GIFT WITH A STRING TO IT.</span></h2> -</div> - -<p>Dell Dauntless pushed forward and explained the situation -to the scout and his pards.</p> - -<p>“Waugh!” tuned up old Nomad in customary fashion, -“what sort of er pizen deal is Lawless tryin’ ter pull -off? Me no like um; hey, Wild Bill?”</p> - -<p>“It’s sure a queer layout,” pondered Hickok. “The -fact that Lawless is behind it makes it a cinch that it -doesn’t mean any good to We, Us & Co. Whatever you -do, Cody, remember that.”</p> - -<p>“Where can we see you in half an hour, Gentleman -Jim?” the scout inquired, turning to the gambler.</p> - -<p>“In my private room at the Alcazar,” answered the -gambler.</p> - -<p>“We’ll be there,” said the scout. “That’s your steer, -Dell,” he added. “You’d better turn the carcass over -to Tenny for the use of Spangler, at the Lucky Strike. -We haven’t had any fresh meat there for a couple of -days, and I think we’d all appreciate it.”</p> - -<p>“Pete an’ me’ll take keer o’ the brute, Buffalo Bill,” -said Tenny. “Tell Spangler to send his Chinks over -here and get the beef.”</p> - -<p>Dell accompanied her pards to the hotel, and waited -while they put up their horses. Meantime, Spangler, delighted -with the prospect of securing a supply of fresh -beef, had despatched his Chinamen to the place where -Tenny and Pete were making the carcass ready. Henry<span class="pagenum" id="Page_120">[120]</span> -Blake, worn out by his rough experience, went to the -general bunk-room and turned in.</p> - -<p>Half an hour after the scout and his pards had got -back to the camp they were all in Gentleman Jim’s private -room at the Alcazar. Dell formed one of the party.</p> - -<p>The gambler closed the door securely, so that no one -not interested could hear anything that went on in the -room. To say that all were curious would state their -feelings mildly.</p> - -<p>“Open up ther paper-talk, Gentleman Jim,” urged the -old trapper, the moment the door was closed, “an’ let’s -git next ter what’s doin’. I’m bracin’ myself fer somethin’ -onexpected ter happen.”</p> - -<p>“I hope,” said Wild Bill, “that what we’re going to -hear will give us a chance to lay Lawless by the heels.”</p> - -<p>“What makes it seem mighty queer that this letter -should be entrusted to me,” remarked Gentleman Jim, -tearing an end off the envelope, “is that I never met -Lawless in my life, so far as I know.”</p> - -<p>Leaning back in his chair, the gambler drew from the -envelope a folded, legal-looking document, and two separate -sheets of paper, likewise folded.</p> - -<p>“What sort of a document is that, Gentleman Jim?” -asked the scout, nodding toward the legal-looking paper.</p> - -<p>The gambler examined the document and gave a low -whistle.</p> - -<p>“It’s a quit-claim deed to the Forty Thieves,” said he.</p> - -<p>A chorus of surprised exclamations greeted the words.</p> - -<p>“In whose name is the deed made out?” the scout -queried.</p> - -<p>“Buffalo Bill.”</p> - -<p>This was even more astounding. Nomad tried to say -something, but was held speechless by his amazement.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_121">[121]</span> -All the others were in like case. A strange silence fell -over the room, broken only by the rustling of paper as -Gentleman Jim examined the deed.</p> - -<p>“Amazing as this may appear,” said the gambler presently, -“yet the deed has seemingly been executed in -proper form. It is signed by Lawless, witnessed by Seth -Coomby and Andy Streibel, and bears the seal and acknowledgment -of a notary in Montegordo. It is dated -three days ago.”</p> - -<p>“I’m clear over my head,” muttered the scout. “Lawless -and I are enemies. Why should he make me a gift -like that?”</p> - -<p>“Come to simmer the thing down, Buffalo Bill,” said -the gambler, “it isn’t much of a gift, after all. The -mine is worthless. Lawless knows that, or he wouldn’t -have tried to ‘salt’ it and sell it to that Chicago man.”</p> - -<p>“Lawless undoubtedly <em>thinks</em> the mine is worthless,” -mused the scout.</p> - -<p>“Well, isn’t it?”</p> - -<p>“Not by a hull row of ’dobies!” put in old Nomad. -“Buffler, ye’re in luck! Lawless laid out ter hand ye a -mine thet was no good; he’ll feel like kickin’ himself -when he diskivers ther Forty Thieves is er bonanza—er -reg’lar whale of er good thing. Why, et’s got er reef -on et that makes ther Comstock Lode look like er limestone -stringer.”</p> - -<p>“Is that right?” demanded Gentleman Jim.</p> - -<p>“It is,” went on Buffalo Bill. “Wild Bill made the -discovery first. We have just come in from an exhaustive -examination of the property, and we found -that the Forty Thieves has an exceedingly rich vein. -Lawless, in presenting me with the mine, has over-reached -himself. He didn’t know of this rich vein—no<span class="pagenum" id="Page_122">[122]</span> -one but myself and my pards knew of it. Back of all -this, however, the puzzle still remains: Why should -Lawless wish to present me with even a worthless mine? -I’m still over my head.”</p> - -<p>Gentleman Jim picked up the folded papers which -he had drawn from the envelope with the deed.</p> - -<p>“One of these is addressed to you, Buffalo Bill,” said -he, “and the other is addressed to me. Perhaps they will -shed a little light on the situation.”</p> - -<p>Buffalo Bill took the paper the gambler handed to him, -opened it, read it through, and then laughed.</p> - -<p>“What’s et erbout, pard?” asked Nomad.</p> - -<p>“Listen,” said the scout, and read aloud: “‘You may -think you’ve downed me, Buffalo Bill, but you have another -guess coming. I am giving you a deed to the Forty -Thieves Mine. The mine is no good. We both know -that. So the deed is not given to you from any desire -on my part to tender you a token of my esteem. <em>The -gift is a dare.</em> Gentleman Jim is to hold the deed, and -give it to you only after you have passed three consecutive -days and nights in the Forty Thieves Mine. Gentleman -Jim, I know by report, is a square gambler. He -will see to it that my conditions are faithfully executed. -After you have passed three consecutive days and nights -in the mine, you are to go to Gentleman Jim and get the -deed, making the transfer legal by filing the deed for -record in Montegordo—that is, if you consider a worthless -mine worth bothering with to that extent. Take -your pards, or as many more men as you wish, with -you into the mine—<em>but you must stay there for three -consecutive days and nights</em>. That will be all. If you -live to claim the deed you are welcome to it. Where’s -your nerve?’”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_123">[123]</span></p> - -<p>Buffalo Bill, with a queer smile playing about the corners -of his mouth, refolded the paper and stowed it -carefully away in his pocket.</p> - -<p>“Of course,” he remarked, “Lawless thinks he has a -trap laid for me in the Forty Thieves.”</p> - -<p>“He’s got something up his sleeve, all right,” agreed -Wild Bill, “but if he thinks you haven’t got the nerve -to hang out in that mine for three days and nights, why, -he’s wide of his trail, that’s all.”</p> - -<p>“Ther mine’s wuth ther risk,” said Nomad.</p> - -<p>“I’m not thinking so much about the mine, Nick,” -went on the scout, “as I am about the chance this fool -proposition of Lawless’ gives me to lay alongside of him. -That villain ought to have his claws clipped, and I -reckon I and my pards are the ones to do it.”</p> - -<p>A vociferous affirmative came from Nomad, Wild -Bill, Little Cayuse, and Dell.</p> - -<p>“He’s a deep one,” remarked Gentleman Jim. “The -mine is evidently a trap, and he’s luring you into it. It -is also perfectly evident that he knows you will not fulfil -his terms for the mine itself, but simply because he -gives you a dare.”</p> - -<p>“Buffler Bill an’ pards never takes a dare,” said -Nomad.</p> - -<p>“We’ll meet Lawless half-way in this one,” said the -scout resolutely. “By doing so, we can not only get the -mine, but likewise capture Lawless.”</p> - -<p>“Sure!” cried Wild Bill. “Are your pards in with -you on the deal, Cody?”</p> - -<p>“On one consideration only,” was the answer.</p> - -<p>“What’s that?”</p> - -<p>“Why, that if we stay out the three consecutive days<span class="pagenum" id="Page_124">[124]</span> -and nights successfully, we are all to be joint owners of -the mine.”</p> - -<p>Silence followed the words.</p> - -<p>“If all of you share the risk,” smiled the scout, “you -ought also to share the profits.”</p> - -<p>That brought an agreement.</p> - -<p>“Of course,” the scout went on, “I am not dropping -into Lawless’ plans because I want to dare him to do his -worst, or because the mine lures me to it, but simply -and solely because this promises an opportunity for capturing -one of the worst trouble-makers in the country. -If the mine comes to us, it will be incidental to our main -purpose. What is there in your letter, Gentleman Jim?”</p> - -<p>“Nothing, except that I am to keep the deed and hand -it over to you after you have passed the three days and -nights in the mine, providing you are alive and able to -claim it.” An apprehensive look crossed the gambler’s -face. “It’s a gift with a string to it—and I’d give a hundred, -this minute, if I knew exactly what the string -was.”</p> - -<p>“Well, Gentleman Jim,” said the scout, rising. “I give -notice that to-night, at six o’clock, I and some of my -pards will go down into the Forty Thieves. This is -Monday, and I shall not come to the surface until -Thursday afternoon, unless the capture of Captain Lawless -makes it necessary.”</p> - -<p>Silence followed the scout’s words. It was broken by -a long-drawn-out and mournful cry, coming from no -one knew where:</p> - -<p>“<em>Wa-hoo-ha-a-a! Pa-e-has-ka go to Forty Thieves, -Pa-e-has-ka die! Nuzhee Mona! Nuzhee Mona!</em>”</p> - -<p>It was a soft voice, as it might have been the voice<span class="pagenum" id="Page_125">[125]</span> -of a sighing spirit, and the echoes breathed sobbingly -through the room.</p> - -<p>While Buffalo Bill, Dell Dauntless and the others -stared at each other in bewilderment, Little Cayuse flung -himself into the center of the room. Crouching there, -and peering about him with eyes in which there was an -unearthly light, the boy breathed huskily:</p> - -<p>“<em>Geegoho! Geegoho!</em>” Then he listened, rapt, entranced -erect, and rigid as a statue.</p> - -<p>“<em>Nuzhee Mona! Nuzhee Mona!</em>” breathed the voice, -the last word dying away in a whisper.</p> - -<p>Little Cayuse flung his hands to his face, groaned -aloud, then rushed to the door, tore it open—and vanished.</p> - -<p>It would be hard to describe the effect which this bit -of by-play had on those in the room. As a matter of -fact, the effect of it on each one was different. All -were surprised, and more or less puzzled, but each, according -to his nature, gave the event a different construction.</p> - -<p>Nomad, superstitious and imaginative, read in the -sighing voice an instrumentality that was not human. It -was a warning from a class of spirits to whom the old -trapper referred as the “whiskizoos.”</p> - -<p>Dell was astounded and apprehensive, Wild Bill frankly -puzzled, Gentleman Jim grimly incredulous, and the -scout began looking about him in a matter-of-fact way -to locate the place from which the voice emanated.</p> - -<p>“Waugh!” growled Nomad; “me no like um. All -same whiskizoo. Better think et over, Buffler. Et won’t -do ter go agin’ a warnin’ from ther spirit-land.”</p> - -<p>“<em>Where</em> did it come from?” murmured Dell. “What -was it?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_126">[126]</span></p> - -<p>“There was flesh and blood back of it,” averred the -scout. “Spirits have never mixed up in my affairs, and -they’re not going to begin it now.”</p> - -<p>He strode to a door in one corner of the room, and -threw it open. The door led into a closet, but the closet -was empty.</p> - -<p>“I wouldn’t put it past Lawless any to set some one -on to do a thing like that,” remarked Wild Bill, with a -low laugh. “He’s trying your nerve, Cody.”</p> - -<p>“What’s under the floor, Gentleman Jim?” inquired -the scout, striking the floor with his heel.</p> - -<p>“A basement,” answered the gambler, “where the proprietor -of the Alcazar stores his ‘wet’ goods.”</p> - -<p>“And what’s above?” went on the scout, lifting his -eyes.</p> - -<p>“Cedar rafters and a mud roof.”</p> - -<p>“Let’s go down to the basement.”</p> - -<p>The scout and the gambler left the room, descended -into the cellar by a narrow flight of stairs leading from -the main part of the Alcazar, and found nothing but -kegs and casks.</p> - -<p>“Whoever spoke,” said Buffalo Bill, “spoke from here. -Mere clap-trap for the sake of scaring me out.”</p> - -<p>“Lawless never had it done,” said Gentleman Jim. -“Your pard, Wild Bill, is wide of his trail if he thinks -that.”</p> - -<p>“No,” mused the scout, “Lawless wasn’t back of it. -He seems too anxious to get me into the Forty Thieves -to try to make me turn back.”</p> - -<p>“It was a woman’s voice.”</p> - -<p>“I’m thinking of that.”</p> - -<p>When the scout and the gambler returned to the latter’s -room, it was unnecessary for them to repeat to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_127">[127]</span> -Wild Bill, Nomad, and Dell the result of their investigations. -Every word spoken by Buffalo Bill and Gentleman -Jim while in the basement had been distinctly heard by -those overhead.</p> - -<p>“That proves,” declared the scout, “that the speaker -was in the basement.”</p> - -<p>“What did the speaker mean by those words, <em>Nuzhee -Mona</em>?” asked Dell.</p> - -<p>“Give it up, Dell,” replied Buffalo Bill. “Mere gibberish, -perhaps, although they suggest the Omaha tongue, -to me.”</p> - -<p>“To me, too,” put in Wild Bill.</p> - -<p>“And what was that Little Cayuse said? And why -did he groan and run away?”</p> - -<p>“The boy’s an Indian,” said the scout, “and his blood -crops out in queer ways, now and then. I don’t know -what he said, nor why he ran away. But he won’t stay -away for long, we may be sure of that.”</p> - -<p>“He knows,” said Nomad, “thet Injun spooks was -speakin’. Et skeered him, an’ he lit out.”</p> - -<p>“Then it’s the first time,” said the scout derisively, -“we ever saw the boy scared. But we can’t lose time -here, pards. We must cut for the Lucky Strike and get -our share of that red maverick that came so near proving -the death of Blake. After dinner there will be some -preparations to make, and by six o’clock, sharp, we must -be down in the shaft and level of the Forty Thieves.”</p> - -<p>“Buffalo Bill’s mine!” laughed Wild Bill. “Come on, -Cody. That three days’ stunt looks easy to me, in spite -of our ‘spirit-warning’ and the evil intentions of Captain -Lawless.”</p> - -<p>“I try to be square,” said Gentleman Jim, as he followed -the scout and his pards to the front of the Alcazar,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_128">[128]</span> -“and if you stay in the Forty Thieves for three -consecutive days and nights you get the deed. If you -don’t, Buffalo Bill, I shall have to burn it up.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t be too quick with your burning, that’s all,” -returned the scout grimly.</p> - -<p>“I’ll give you plenty of time to come and claim the -property.”</p> - -<p>“Dollars to doughnuts,” remarked Hickok lightly, “the -scout will exchange Lawless for the deed. I’ve a feeling -that that whelp is due for a kibosh, and that Cody -is going to give it to him.”</p> - -<p>“I hope so, with all my heart,” said Gentleman Jim -fervently.</p> - -<p>As the scout, the trapper, Wild Bill, and Dell passed -along the camp-street toward the Lucky Strike Hotel, -Little Cayuse hastened around the rear of the Dew Drop -resort and joined them.</p> - -<p>The boy’s face was heavy with foreboding.</p> - -<p>“Where have you been, Cayuse?” asked the scout -sharply.</p> - -<p>“Try find um spirit,” answered Cayuse gravely. -“Find out, mebbyso, how we save um Pa-e-has-ka.”</p> - -<p>Wild Bill gave a scoffing laugh, and Cayuse stared at -him rebukingly.</p> - -<p>“We no find out how to save um Pa-e-has-ka,” said -the boy, with great gravity, “then Pa-e-has-ka die.”</p> - -<p>He whirled on the scout.</p> - -<p>“You still think you go to mine, stay there for three -sleeps?” he demanded.</p> - -<p>“Certainly I’m going.”</p> - -<p>A look of woeful resignation crossed the boy’s face.</p> - -<p>“Pa-e-has-ka die,” said he, “then Little Cayuse die, too—but -not till Little Cayuse take Lawless’ scalp.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_129">[129]</span></p> - -<p>All this talk of the Piute’s rendered Nick Nomad -mighty uneasy.</p> - -<p>“What was et thet ther spirit said, Cayuse?” asked the -trapper.</p> - -<p>Cayuse shook his head and did not answer.</p> - -<p>“What was et ye said ter ther spirit?”</p> - -<p>Still Cayuse kept a still tongue.</p> - -<p>“I don’t like ther outlook, Buffler,” said Nomad, with -a gruesome shake of his shaggy head. “Ther kid ’u’d -tork, only he hates ter gloom us up.”</p> - -<p>“There are times, old pard,” said the scout, “when you -seem to be shy even an average amount of horse-sense. -If you continue to talk and act as though you were locoed, -I won’t take you to the mine at all, but will leave -you in Sun Dance.”</p> - -<p>Nomad, at that, pulled himself together and tried to -look as though he wasn’t in the least apprehensive.</p> - -<p>“And the same with Little Cayuse,” continued the -scout, turning to the Piute. “You’ve got to stop this -foolishness. Buffalo Bill’s pards ought to be level-headed, -and not go off the jump every time they hear -or see something they can’t understand. We’re out after -Lawless, just remember that, and certainly we’re sharp -enough to match our wits against his. If we’re not, -then Lawless and his gang may win out against us, and -welcome.”</p> - -<p>Cayuse shut his teeth hard and walked on ahead. -Nomad, in a feeble attempt to dispel his fears, began to -whistle softly.</p> - -<p>As they came within sight of the Lucky Strike Hotel, -they saw three men grouped about the door. One of the -men was the fat proprietor, Spangler, and the other two -were Hank Tenny and Lonesome Pete.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_130">[130]</span></p> - -<p>“What’s that outfit looking at?” queried Wild Bill.</p> - -<p>“Something on the door,” returned Dauntless Dell. -“They appear to be excited.”</p> - -<p>“Must be somethin’ mighty important,” put in Nomad, -“ter drag thet fat boy out o’ his two chairs. Spang -never moves from them chairs except ter foller ther -shade, er eat his meals, er go ter bed. But somethin’s -got him goin’ now, thet’s shore.”</p> - -<p>“What’s the matter?” called the scout, when he and -his pards came close to the front of the hotel.</p> - -<p>“We’re tryin’ ter figger it out, Buffalo Bill,” wheezed -Spangler. “Jest take a look at this an’ tell me what it -means—if ye kin.”</p> - -<p>Spangler, Pete, and Tenny moved away from the -door. Pinned to the wood by a crude dagger was a -ragged square of birch bark. On the bark, where the -words had evidently been traced with the dagger’s point, -was this, in printed characters:</p> - -<p><em>Nuzhee Mona.</em></p> - -<p>Just that, and nothing more. Nomad and Little Cayuse -stared, then turned away. Buffalo Bill and Wild -Bill laughed, and the former tore away the piece of bark -and cast it from him with a gesture of contempt; then, -jerking the dagger from the wood, he carried it on into -the hotel. Hickok followed, a jesting remark on his lips. -Dell trailed after Hickok, but it was plain she could not -dismiss the matter in the same offhand way that he -had done.</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_131">[131]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII.<br /> -<span class="fs70">THE “FORTY THIEVES MINE.”</span></h2> -</div> - -<p>“Got any idee why that thing was skewered inter my -door, Buffalo Bill?” asked Spangler, waddling into the -room of the hotel, which served as an “office.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t fret about that, Spangler,” said the scout; “it -was meant for me.”</p> - -<p>“Queer kind of a visitin’-card,” said Tenny, sticking -his head in at the door. “‘Nuzhee Mona,’ hey? Queer -name fer a man, too.”</p> - -<p>“How did it come there?” queried the scout.</p> - -<p>“That’s what we don’t know,” puffed Spangler. “Half -an hour ago it wasn’t there—I kin take my affidavy on -<em>that</em>. I had my eyes on the door jest after the Chinks -had come with the meat, an’ it was as bare as the pa’m -o’ my hand. Right arter that I settled down in front -an’ went ter sleep. Tenny an’ Pete woke me up an’ -pointed out the thing ter me.”</p> - -<p>“Then it must have been put up there while you were -asleep?”</p> - -<p>“I reckon that was the way of it.”</p> - -<p>“Well, forget it. It’s my business, anyway, and nothing -for you to bother with.”</p> - -<p>At that moment Wing Hi came out of the dining-room -and went to the front of the hotel with his brass -gong. While he was pounding his summons for dinner—a -meal which had been delayed on account of the extra -work that had fallen to the two Chinamen—the scout<span class="pagenum" id="Page_132">[132]</span> -and his pards went into the dining-room and took their -accustomed places at one of the tables.</p> - -<p>“Nick,” said the scout to his trapper pard, “here’s -something for you and Cayuse to think about: Did -either of you ever hear of a spook that was able to take -a piece of birch bark and scratch words on it?”</p> - -<p>The idea rather startled Nomad, but Cayuse kept on -quietly with his eating.</p> - -<p>“Or,” proceeded the scout, with a wink at Wild Bill, -“did you ever hear of a spook that could take an old -file and make a dagger out of it?”</p> - -<p>He laid the blade, with which the birch bark had been -fastened to the door, on the table.</p> - -<p>All eyes turned on it curiously. There was no doubt -about its having been ground down from a file to a -double edge and a point.</p> - -<p>“Or,” went on the scout, “who ever knew of a spook -stealing to the front of a hotel and fastening a piece of -birch bark to the door, and using wit enough to do it -so quietly that the proprietor of the hotel, who was asleep -in front and not ten feet away, failed to hear a sound?”</p> - -<p>“I reckon ye tally, pard,” said Nomad. “What ye say -must er been ther work of er human bein’, like ourselves.”</p> - -<p>“Sure,” grinned Wild Bill. “The dagger and the piece -of bark prove that; and the words on the bark prove that -the same person who fastened it to the door was the one -who talked at us from the basement of the Alcazar. -Flesh and blood, no doubt of it; and I’ve got a hunch -Lawless is back of the whole layout.”</p> - -<p>The scout was not of Wild Bill’s opinion regarding -the question of Lawless having anything to do with the -matter, but recent events were so obscure that the scout<span class="pagenum" id="Page_133">[133]</span> -did not attempt to deny something which <em>might</em> prove to -be true.</p> - -<p>As people began to come into the dining-room, the -matter was dropped, and the scout and his pards fell to -talking on other topics.</p> - -<p>Directly after dinner preparations were made for a -stay of three days and nights in the Forty Thieves. A -lot of canteens were secured, and Spangler’s culinary-department -was drawn upon for a supply of rations.</p> - -<p>By four o’clock Buffalo Bill, Nomad, Wild Bill, Dell, -and Cayuse mounted and rode off down the cañon. -Blake, the miner who had been robbed of his dust and -almost killed, was still resting his bruised limbs on a -cot in the general bunk-room. The scout would have -liked to talk further with Blake, but did not esteem the -matter of sufficient importance to wake him for the purpose.</p> - -<p>The romance of mining is full of Fortune’s strange -freaks. How the Forty Thieves had come into the hands -of Captain Lawless, Buffalo Bill did not know. Yet, -undoubtedly Lawless had prospected the property and -had settled it, in his own mind, that it was worthless. -Had he not thought it of no value, he would hardly -have turned it over to the scout as a gift, even with “a -string to it.”</p> - -<p>Lawless had fooled himself. The rich vein had been -lost—it had not petered out—and, by an accident, Wild -Bill had discovered it again.</p> - -<p>A small stream ran through the cañon. The stream -was little more than a rill, flowing for most of the -cañon’s length under the sand and rocks, and appearing -on the surface only occasionally, where bed-rock forced -the water upward into pools.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_134">[134]</span></p> - -<p>At one of these pools, close to the ore-dump of the -mine, the scout and his pards halted and dismounted. -The canteens were filled, and two riatas were spliced -together and dropped into the shaft with one end secured -to the platform on the top of the dump.</p> - -<p>When everything was ready for the descent, the scout -placed to one side a bag of the rations brought from -Sun Dance.</p> - -<p>“Now, pards,” said he, addressing his friends, “we -are not to forget for an instant that, by going down into -the Forty Thieves, we are playing directly into the hands -of Lawless and his gang. Lawless has something up his -sleeve, and we’re going to try and beat him at his own -game. To do this successfully, we can’t <em>all</em> go down the -shaft. The surface must be watched as well as the mine -workings; and our horses have got to be taken care of. -This party will have to be divided, and I have chosen -Dell and Cayuse to look after the mounts and keep keen -eyes on the vicinity of the ore-dump.”</p> - -<p>Dell’s face fell at this, and the Piute looked his disappointment. -But whenever Buffalo Bill gave an order, -there was no setting it aside.</p> - -<p>“Hickok, Nomad, and I,” pursued the scout, “will go -into the mine. As soon as we are down there, Dell and -Cayuse will proceed to lower our canteens and rations—all -but the bag which I have set aside for their use. -Then, when the water and grub are lowered, Dell and -Cayuse will pull up the rope and take the horses along -the cañon. A quarter of a mile below the mine a gully -breaks into the cañon wall. The gully is full of scrub, -and it will be a good place to hide the live stock. While -one of them watches the stock, the other will watch the -ore-dump.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_135">[135]</span></p> - -<p>“But why pull up the rope, Buffalo Bill?” asked Dell. -“If anything goes wrong, you wouldn’t have any way of -getting out of the shaft.”</p> - -<p>“If anything goes wrong, Dell,” returned the scout, -“it will be up here. If you and Cayuse keep careful -watch, you will be able to notify Nomad, Wild Bill, and -me, and drop the rope for us. If, on the other hand, any -of Lawless’ gang should escape your eyes and try to -come down the shaft, they won’t have our rope to use. -Understand? The three of us are going down there to -stay for three days. Your instructions are simple enough, -and I reckon you understand them. Eternal vigilance is -the price of success in this undertaking.”</p> - -<p>With that, Buffalo Bill sat down on the edge of the -planks and slowly lowered himself into the black maw -of the shaft.</p> - -<p>“All right, pards!” came his muffled voice from the -darkness, a few moments later.</p> - -<p>Wild Bill descended next, and Nomad next. When -they reached the bottom of the shaft, the scout had secured -one of the candles left in the mine during their -recent visit, and had lighted it.</p> - -<p>“Everything looks like it did when we was hyar last,” -said Nomad, peering about him in the flickering gleam -of the candle.</p> - -<p>“Nothing is changed,” returned Buffalo Bill, “and -there’s no one here besides ourselves. I have been to -the end of the level, and I am positive of it. Haul up -the rope, Dell,” he shouted, “and lower the grub and the -water.”</p> - -<p>Dell and Cayuse, their forms silhouetted against the -background of sky overhead, could be seen bending over -the mouth of the shaft and pulling up the rope.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_136">[136]</span></p> - -<p>In a little while the provision-bags and the canteens -were lowered, untied from the end of the rope and carried -by Nomad and Wild Bill into the level.</p> - -<p>“Now,” cried the scout, “haul up the rope, Dell, and -go off to the gully with the horses.”</p> - -<p>“You’re sure there’s no one down there besides yourselves?” -called the girl anxiously.</p> - -<p>The scout’s reassuring laugh bounded upward between -the rocky walls.</p> - -<p>“We’re absolutely sure, Dell. We’re safe enough -down here. If there’s any trouble, the chances are that -you and Cayuse will see the most of it. Don’t do any -worrying about us.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know,” answered Dell, “but I’ve got a feeling -that there are some—some disagreeable surprises in store -for all of us.”</p> - -<p>“Let ’em come!” whooped Wild Bill. “We’re not -looking for trouble, but you can bet your spurs we’re not -going to dodge any.”</p> - -<p>Slowly the rope was drawn upward, untied from the -plank platform, and Dell and Cayuse vanished from the -mouth of the shaft.</p> - -<p>Wild Bill, having carried his load of water and food -into the level, had returned to the scout in the shaft; -but Nomad had pushed along toward the end of the -level.</p> - -<p>The surprises began at once, and almost at the very -moment Dell and Cayuse left the ore-dump. This, the -first of the strange events, was ushered in by a wild yell -from the old trapper.</p> - -<p>“By gorry!” exclaimed Wild Bill, dashing into the -level, “Nomad’s struck a snag, first crack out of the -box.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_137">[137]</span></p> - -<p>The trapper had secured a candle when he and Wild -Bill began carrying the canteens and provision-bags into -the level. The scout likewise had a candle, and made -haste to follow Hickok into the pitch-dark passage.</p> - -<p>Cody could not imagine what it was that had brought -that yell from his old pard. It wasn’t a shout of fear, -but rather of surprise and consternation. Apart from -his superstitious vagaries, the old trapper did not know -the meaning of the word “fear.”</p> - -<p>Wild Bill, stumbling along somewhat in the lead of -the scout, kept watching for the glimmer of Nomad’s -candle. The tunnel was full of angles, and Wild Bill -went clear to the breast of it, and whirled around with -his back to the rocks. He had not found a trace of the -trapper in the entire length of the level!</p> - -<p>“Well!” exclaimed Wild Bill, looking blankly into the -scout’s face. “What sort of a hocus-pocus do you call -this, Cody? Disagreeable surprises! By gorry, Dell -was right. We no more than get into the mine before -they’re sprung on us.”</p> - -<p>Without speaking, Buffalo Bill turned and picked his -way back to the shaft, sweeping the candlelight about -him and examining every nook and cranny as he went.</p> - -<p>He saw nothing of Nomad.</p> - -<p>Midway between the breast of the level and the shaft -was the opening into the short “drift.”</p> - -<p>Still keeping his thoughts to himself, the scout whirled -away from the shaft and went into the “drift.” The -cross-section dimensions of the “drift” were the same -as those of the main level, but it was scarcely more than -fifteen feet long.</p> - -<p>A débris of broken stone littered the floor of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_138">[138]</span> -“drift,” but the scout was not long in discovering that his -old pard was not there.</p> - -<p>Setting the candle down on a rock, he made a trumpet -of his hands.</p> - -<p>“Nomad!” he roared, at the top of his voice.</p> - -<p>The echoes boomed through the underground galleries, -but echoes alone answered the scout’s call.</p> - -<p>“I’ll give it up,” said Buffalo Bill, dropping down on -the stone beside the candle. “Nick isn’t in the mine, -that’s sure.”</p> - -<p>“And he didn’t get out of the mine through the shaft,” -observed Wild Bill. “There may be an air-shaft somewhere -that we don’t know anything about. If Nomad -found such a shaft, it would be easy for him to give us -the slip.”</p> - -<p>“There isn’t such a shaft!” declared the scout. “Even -if there was, Hickok, why should Nick give us the slip?”</p> - -<p>“He wouldn’t want to, of course; but he was in the -mine one minute, and out of it the next. He met with -foul play, and it was of the mighty sudden kind. Lawless -is back of it—that goes without saying.”</p> - -<p>“I presume you are right,” said the scout, “and if you -<em>are</em> right, Hickok, there’s more to this mine than we have -yet begun to discover.”</p> - -<p>“There must be old workings, Cody, which have been -closed up.”</p> - -<p>“Nick’s disappearance can’t be explained in any other -way. I suppose Nick saw Lawless or one of his men, and -was struck down before he could do anything more than -give that one yell; then he was dragged through some -hole that we haven’t been able to find.”</p> - -<p>Buffalo Bill got up and took the candle.</p> - -<p>“I didn’t come here to lose any of my pards, Hickok,”<span class="pagenum" id="Page_139">[139]</span> -he went on, “and I don’t intend to. We’ve got to find -the route Nick traveled when he left, and follow it.”</p> - -<p>“We’ll get him back,” averred Wild Bill, with a resolute -snap of the jaws, “no matter how much of a ‘plant’ -Lawless has down here.”</p> - -<p>Thereupon the two stepped back into the main level. -Holding his candle in one hand and a stone in the other, -each proceeded toward the breast of the passage, tapping -on the walls as they went.</p> - -<p>This maneuver proved fruitless. The stone walls gave -back no hollow sound, and, for all their ears could detect, -they might as well have been tapping against a -mountain of granite.</p> - -<p>Never before had the king of scouts been so deeply -perplexed. An outlet from the mine seemed such a -simple thing to find, and yet it had baffled him. The -whole mystery, in a less matter-of-fact mind than the -scout’s, or Wild Bill’s, would have taken on a supernatural -aspect.</p> - -<p>“I’m up the biggest kind of a stump, Cody,” admitted -Wild Bill, “and the more we try to solve the riddle, the -higher up I get. The stone in the wall seems to be as -solid as Gibraltar, and if there was a hole—even a masked -opening—leading to another passage, there would certainly -be some kind of a ‘break’ in the side of the level. -But there isn’t any break—the walls are continuous.”</p> - -<p>“About where, in this level,” said the scout, “would -you say Nomad was when he gave that yell?”</p> - -<p>“He could not have been far from the place where we -left the canteens and the provisions—perhaps about half-way -between there and the end of the level.”</p> - -<p>Buffalo Bill went back to the spot indicated by Wild -Bill. Flashing the candle about side walls and roof,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_140">[140]</span> -something met his eyes. He examined it for a moment, -and then called Hickok.</p> - -<p>What the latter saw, when he gained the scout’s side, -were words, written with candle-smoke, on the light-colored -stone of the roof:</p> - -<p>“<em>Nuzhee Mona!</em>”</p> - -<p>“What in Sam Hill do those words mean?” cried -Wild Bill.</p> - -<p>“I wish I knew,” said the scout. “If we knew the -meaning of the words we might get a clue to this tangle. -Possibly a friend traced the words.”</p> - -<p>“And perhaps an enemy—Lawless, for instance. If he -put those words there, Cody, they mean a threat of some -kind.”</p> - -<p>“The voice we heard in the Alcazar was the voice of -a friend; the voice used those two words; it was the -hand of that same speaker that pinned that piece of bark -to the door of the hotel; and, it naturally follows, the -same hand must have put the words on the roof of this -tunnel.”</p> - -<p>“You make out a good case, Cody, but why all this -secrecy? Why doesn’t the person, if really a friend, -come out face to face with you and tell you what to expect, -instead of dodging around cellars, visiting hotel -doors mysteriously, and then sneaking into the Forty -Thieves, and leaving those two words?”</p> - -<p>“We don’t know what the woman has to work against, -or how she is hampered in her attempts to warn us.”</p> - -<p>“Woman?” echoed Wild Bill.</p> - -<p>“Certainly. That voice we heard in the Alcazar was -a woman’s voice.”</p> - -<p>“An Indian, too, by gorry! Have you any idea who -it could be?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_141">[141]</span></p> - -<p>The scout was thoughtful for a moment.</p> - -<p>“Who could this mysterious friend be, if not Wah-coo-tah?” -he said finally.</p> - -<p>“By gorry, you’ve hit it!” exclaimed Wild Bill. “I -hadn’t thought of Wah-coo-tah. She is very friendly -toward you, but she doesn’t like Dell a little bit. Say, -I’ll bet a hundred against a last year’s bird’s nest that -Wah-coo-tah’s the girl who was trying to steer us away -from this trap.”</p> - -<p>“The more I think about it,” said the scout, “the more -reasonable it seems. The girl, when she left the hotel, -went back to her father. While with him she found out -about his plans concerning us. No doubt she is watched, -and finds it impossible to show herself openly to us and -tell what she knows. But all this isn’t helping us to find -Nick.”</p> - -<p>“Lawless has got him, Cody, and probably he will try -the same means for getting us. We’ll have to be on our -guard every minute, or——”</p> - -<p>At that instant Buffalo Bill flung down his own candle -and knocked the candle out of Hickok’s hand; then, -hurling himself against his companion, he bore him to -the floor of the level, and dropped beside him.</p> - -<p>Before the astounded Wild Bill could ask a question -as to the reason for such an unexpected action, a spurt -of flame lit up the passage, and a rattle of revolver-shots -echoed deafeningly between the narrow walls.</p> - -<p>“Lie still!” whispered the scout in Wild Bill’s ear. -Then, with a groan, he cried huskily: “I’m hit! They’ve -got us, Hickok.”</p> - -<p>A fall of swift feet resounded in the passage, coming -rapidly nearer the two pards; but all was dark, and the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_142">[142]</span> -scout, scarcely breathing, lay silently where he was, and -waited.</p> - -<p>Wild Bill understood the ruse he was playing, and immediately -assumed his own part.</p> - -<p>The feet came close, and, from the sound of them, the -scout tried to estimate the number of men in the party. -Three, four, five—there were five, at least, and where had -they come from? They were running from the direction -of the breast of the level, so they must have entered the -passage by the same way Nomad had been taken out -of it.</p> - -<p>“Now, Hickok!” the scout suddenly cried, when he -thought the men had come close enough.</p> - -<p>As one man the two pards leaped erect, and flung -themselves through the pitchy darkness at their unseen -foes.</p> - -<p>The scout caught one burly form in his hands, felt the -point of a knife dig into his sleeve, and struck out with -his fist. The man went down. Another took his place, -and, in the narrow confines of the level, a fierce hand-to-hand -fight was soon in progress.</p> - -<p>Not a word was spoken by the combatants. Only the -sound of their labored breathing, the shuffling of their -feet on the rocky floor, and the thump of fists, broke the -tomblike stillness of the mine.</p> - -<p>Neither the scout nor Wild Bill dared use a revolver. -Unable, as they were, to see a hand before their eyes, -they might have hurt each other by promiscuous shooting.</p> - -<p>Both the pards were putting up a gallant fight against -odds; and, just when it seemed as though they were to -win out, Buffalo Bill was caught by a random blow,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_143">[143]</span> -whirled half-around; and sent stumbling over a stone on -the floor of the passage.</p> - -<p>He tried desperately to regain his balance, failed, and -plunged headlong into the rocky wall. The next instant -his senses left him, and he knew no more.</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_144">[144]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII.<br /> -<span class="fs70">DELL AND WAH-COO-TAH.</span></h2> -</div> - -<p>When the scout opened his eyes, the exciting events -which he had recently passed through seemed more like -a dream than anything else. As his brain slowly cleared, -and he was able to pick up the broken thread of occurrences -more firmly, he began to wonder at what he saw.</p> - -<p>He was lying in the level, and a lighted candle stood -on a rock near his head. Beside him knelt Dell Dauntless, -bending over and allowing a trickle of water to fall -upon his face from one of the canteens.</p> - -<p>“How are you now, Buffalo Bill?” the girl asked.</p> - -<p>“Nothing worth mentioning has happened to me, Dell,” -he answered, pushing aside the canteen and sitting up. -“I took a tumble over that rock where you’ve put the -candle, and struck my head against the wall of the passage. -It was a small thing to knock a man out.”</p> - -<p>“It must have been a harder blow than you supposed.”</p> - -<p>“No discount on that, pard; still, it isn’t anything to -make a fuss over.”</p> - -<p>He picked up his hat and put it on, then gave the girl -an inquiring look.</p> - -<p>“How is it I find you here?”</p> - -<p>“Cayuse was in the gully with the horses,” Dell explained, -“and I was reconnoitering around the ore-dump. -Everything had been pretty quiet, up above, and Cayuse -and I hadn’t seen a soul. I was close to the mouth of -the shaft when I heard something like a volley of revolver-shots.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_145">[145]</span> -I wasn’t sure there had been firing down -here, though, until I had crept to the mouth of the shaft -and sniffed burned powder. Cayuse and I had left the -spliced riatas hidden in the bushes near the ore-dump, -and I ran for the ropes, dropped one end down and made -the other fast to the platform. Then I lowered myself -into the mine.”</p> - -<p>“You took a lot of chances, Dell,” muttered the scout, -brushing a hand across his eyes. “You found me lying -here, eh?”</p> - -<p>“Yes.”</p> - -<p>“And you didn’t see any one else?”</p> - -<p>“No. What’s become of Nomad and Wild Bill?”</p> - -<p>The scout couldn’t understand why Lawless and his -gang hadn’t finished him, nor why he hadn’t been -dragged away to the same mysterious place to which -Nomad had been taken; but he didn’t stop to debate -these matters just then. Getting quickly to his feet, he -snatched up the candle and went along the level, looking -for Wild Bill, just as he and Wild Bill had gone -hunting for Nomad a little while before.</p> - -<p>The smell of burned powder was strong, and a slight -fog of it was drifting toward the shaft.</p> - -<p>Buffalo Bill, followed by Dell, went to the end of the -tunnel and back again without finding any trace of Wild -Bill. The scout sat down on a rock and took his aching -head between his hands.</p> - -<p>“This is a brain-twister, if there ever was one,” he -muttered.</p> - -<p>“What do you mean by that, pard?” Dell inquired.</p> - -<p>“Well,” he answered, looking up, “we hadn’t been -down here fifteen minutes until Nomad had disappeared.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_146">[146]</span></p> - -<p>“Disappeared?”</p> - -<p>“Yes. Wild Bill and I heard him give a yell, but when -we went to look for him he had vanished.”</p> - -<p>“There must be a secret passage leading into another -part of the mine, and——”</p> - -<p>“Hickok and I made up our minds to that, but if there -is a secret passage we failed to locate it. While we were -talking the matter over, I heard a sound of stealthy -movements between us and the breast of the level, and I -had just time to throw down my candle and knock the -light out of Wild Bill’s hand, and then to drag Wild -Bill flat down on the floor of the level, when a volley -was fired. We had a hand-to-hand fight, and right in -the middle of it I stumbled over that stone and rammed -my head into the wall. And now Hickok has followed -Nomad—where? And why is it I wasn’t taken away -with Hickok? I can’t make head or tail to this thing, -Dell, and it’s getting onto my nerves. Nothing happens -as you would expect it to happen. The mine seems bewitched.”</p> - -<p>“We’d better get out of here,” Dell suggested.</p> - -<p>“I came here to stay three days and nights,” said the -scout doggedly, “and——”</p> - -<p>“But with Nomad and Wild Bill gone, what could you -and I do against men who have a secret retreat in the -mine? They have every advantage, pard. They can -make an attack when they want to, and can get away in -a hurry and without leaving a clue as to where they go. -Of course, these men are Lawless and his gang, and they -not only have the advantage in the point of numbers, -but they have also a knowledge of these underground -workings.”</p> - -<p>“Lawless prepared the mine as a trap for us,” said the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_147">[147]</span> -scout, “and, while I was expecting underhand work and -surprises when we came down here, I was not counting -upon hidden passages and secret levels. I won’t abandon -Nomad and Hickok to their fate, but I’ll go up to the -surface and take a look around. There may be a concealed -shaft somewhere in the vicinity of the ore-dump. -After I make an examination of the surface, I’ll come -back down here.”</p> - -<p>“Will it be wise,” asked Dell, “for us to come back -down here alone? Hadn’t we better send Cayuse to -Sun Dance for more men? Pete, and Tenny, and Blake -would probably be glad to come down here and help.”</p> - -<p>“Dell,” said the scout earnestly, “I’ve got just pride -enough about me to want to wind this up without any -outside aid. I’ll be an hour on the surface, not longer; -then I’ll come down here again and leave you at the top -of the shaft.”</p> - -<p>“You’ll be taking your life in your hands,” said Dell.</p> - -<p>“I don’t think so. Lawless and his men could have -killed me, or have snaked me out of the tunnel with -Hickok. They didn’t do it; and that proves that they -have some reason for sparing me and leaving me in the -level. I can’t leave here without doing something for -Wild Bill and Nomad.”</p> - -<p>The scout started toward the shaft with the candle. -As Dell followed, she kicked against something on the -floor. Picking the object up, she found it to be a pine -knot, soaked in kerosene.</p> - -<p>“That gang that attacked Wild Bill and me,” said the -scout, “probably brought that along with them. They -didn’t have time to light it, and it was lost in the scuffle. -We’ll make use of it ourselves,” and he held the candle -to the oil-soaked knot.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_148">[148]</span></p> - -<p>The torch blazed up on the instant, and the scout blew -out his candle and put it in his pocket.</p> - -<p>They went on to the shaft, and, when they got there, -another one of Dell’s “disagreeable surprises” awaited -them. The rope which Dell had left swinging from the -plank platform was gone!</p> - -<p>The girl recoiled with a cry of dismay.</p> - -<p>“I’m getting used to this sort of thing, Dell,” said the -scout grimly. “The unexpected is sure to happen in this -mine—you meet it at every turn.”</p> - -<p>“Could Cayuse have pulled up the rope?”</p> - -<p>“Hardly. It’s a safe guess he wouldn’t leave the -horses.”</p> - -<p>“Then it must have been Lawless and his men?”</p> - -<p>“That’s the way I figure it.”</p> - -<p>“If that’s the case, it naturally follows that the outlaws -have some way of getting to the surface, aside from -using this shaft?”</p> - -<p>“That’s right, pard. Lawless and his men appear to -have everything their own way. They can come and go -as they please, and they can dodge in on us and dodge -away again without leaving any clue. If you were on -the surface, the loss of the rope wouldn’t bother me very -much. I have just found out what I was going up to -discover. There <em>is</em> a concealed shaft, and the outlaws -had to make use of it in order to get to the top of the -ore-dump and pull up that rope.”</p> - -<p>“You think they knew I was down here?”</p> - -<p>“It’s an easy guess. Now that we’re likely to have to -stay down here for a while, we had better make ourselves -as secure as possible. The safest place in the -mine, it strikes me, is that ‘drift’ where Wild Bill found -the gold. We’ll carry our grub-sacks and water-cans<span class="pagenum" id="Page_149">[149]</span> -in there, then put out the light, lay low, and wait for developments. -We’ll have plenty of them, if I’m any -prophet. I never saw such a place for things to happen.”</p> - -<p>While Dell held the torch, Buffalo Bill picked up some -of the canteens and provision-bags and carried them into -the “drift.” A few canteens were left in the level, and -Dell went back for them.</p> - -<p>The scout, in the dark end of the short passage, was -stowing away the bags and canteens, when he heard an -unusual sound just beyond the opening leading into the -“drift.” He glanced up and stared toward the place -where Dell was standing with the torch.</p> - -<p>The unexpected had happened, just as the scout had -surmised it would, but nevertheless he was mightily taken -aback by what he saw.</p> - -<p>An Indian girl was standing in front of Dell. The -newcomer had a catamount skin over her back and a -knife in the uplifted hand. Dell, it was plain, had been -startled by the Indian girl’s appearance—as well she -might be; and no less by her appearance than by the -fierce hostility that gleamed in her black eyes.</p> - -<p>In three leaps the scout gained the level and had -grasped the Indian girl’s uplifted arm.</p> - -<p>“Wah-coo-tah!” thundered Buffalo Bill; “what does -this mean?”</p> - -<p>The Indian girl stared into the scout’s face, and her -upraised arm slowly dropped. As the scout’s grip relaxed, -she drew away a step, and a soft look came into -her eyes.</p> - -<p>“Pa-e-has-ka,” she murmured, “why you come here? -You no want um mine—know um no good. You want<span class="pagenum" id="Page_150">[150]</span> -um Lawless, but you no ketch um. Lawless kill Pa-e-has-ka, -all same.”</p> - -<p>“Wah-coo-tah,” asked the scout, “where are my pards, -Nomad and Wild Bill?”</p> - -<p>“Lawless got um.”</p> - -<p>“That’s what I supposed; but where has Lawless taken -them?”</p> - -<p>“All same secret level.”</p> - -<p>“Are they in any immediate danger?”</p> - -<p>“Lawless no kill um <em>yet</em>. Him wait till he kill um -Pa-e-has-ka.”</p> - -<p>“Why didn’t he kill me a while ago, when he had the -chance?”</p> - -<p>“Him wait to kill you another way. <em>Nuzhee Mona!</em>”</p> - -<p>Here were the same words that had already aroused -the curiosity of the scout and his pards. Wah-coo-tah, -it was now proved, had spoken them in the basement of -the Alcazar, pinned them to the hotel door with the -dagger, and written them in smoke on the roof of the -level.</p> - -<p>“How did you get here, Wah-coo-tah?” asked the -scout.</p> - -<p>“Come by secret door in rocks,” answered the girl.</p> - -<p>“Have you been trying to warn me, and keep me -away?”</p> - -<p>“Ai, but Pa-e-has-ka no stay away. Him here now, -and him die.”</p> - -<p>“Why did you leave the hotel like you did?”</p> - -<p>Wah-coo-tah glared over the scout’s shoulder at Dell -Dauntless.</p> - -<p>“No like um yellow hair squaw,” she said savagely.</p> - -<p>“What harm have I ever done you, Wah-coo-tah?” -asked Dell.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_151">[151]</span></p> - -<p>“Huh!” said the Indian girl scornfully, hunching up -her shoulders and folding her arms. “Me like um Pa-e-has-ka; -you like um.”</p> - -<p>At that a light dawned on the scout. He could scarcely -believe the evidence of his senses. As soon as he became -certain there was no mistake, an amused laugh -broke from his lips. He would have laughed had his situation -been ten times as perilous as it was.</p> - -<p>A faint smile curved around Dell’s red lips. Wah-coo-tah, -watching and listening with catlike vigilance, lashed -herself into another burst of temper.</p> - -<p>“Me come here to kill Yellow Hair!” she cried. “Me -watch up top o’ ground; me see her come down shaft; -then me pull up rope, come by secret door into tunnel.”</p> - -<p>Like a panther, Wah-coo-tah flung herself toward -Dell.</p> - -<p>With a quick move, the scout placed himself in Wah-coo-tah’s -way. Her lifted knife dropped until the point -touched his breast, and she stood in front of him with -flashing eyes and heaving bosom, a living picture of murderous -hate.</p> - -<p>“There, there, Wah-coo-tah,” said the scout, reaching -up his hands and unclasping her fingers from the knife. -“You’re making a big mistake.” He took the weapon -from her resisting grasp and slid it into his pocket. -“You don’t understand the situation at all. Yellow Hair -Pa-e-has-ka’s pard, all same Nomad, Wild Bill, and Little -Cayuse. Wah-coo-tah Pa-e-has-ka’s pard, too. <i lang="es" xml:lang="es">Sabe?</i>”</p> - -<p>The girl was only half-convinced, only half-placated.</p> - -<p>“Ugh!” she muttered, “me no like um Yellow Hair.”</p> - -<p>“If you want to be friends with Pa-e-has-ka, Wah-coo-tah,” -proceeded the scout earnestly, “you must also be -friends with Yellow Hair.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_152">[152]</span></p> - -<p>“No!” Wah-coo-tah screamed in sudden frenzy; “mebbyso, -bymby, me kill um Yellow Hair.”</p> - -<p>“That’s the Indian of it,” muttered the scout. “When -you’re dealing with a redskin you never can tell which -way the cat is going to jump.”</p> - -<p>Looking Wah-coo-tah in the eyes, he addressed her -directly.</p> - -<p>“If you wanted to warn me,” said he, “why didn’t you -come out, face to face?”</p> - -<p>“Lawless watch Sun Dance Camp,” answered Wah-coo-tah. -“Mebbyso he see Wah-coo-tah make talk with -Pa-e-has-ka, he kill Wah-coo-tah.”</p> - -<p>“Ah! so that’s the way of it? You came to the Alcazar -when we were talking with the gambler?”</p> - -<p>“All same under floor; try make Pa-e-has-ka stay ’way -from mine. Pa-e-has-ka no stay. Me get into Alcazar -by window in cellar; get out same way.”</p> - -<p>“Can you write, Wah-coo-tah?”</p> - -<p>“My father he teach me how to make letters.”</p> - -<p>“And you made letters on a piece of bark and pinned -them to the hotel door with a dagger?”</p> - -<p>“All same. When me come from Alcazar me watch. -See um Pa-e-has-ka, Yellow Hair, and rest Pa-e-has-ka’s -pards come from Alcazar, meet Piute, hold powwow; -then me put birch bark on hotel door. Hope mebbyso -Pa-e-has-ka see um—no go to mine.”</p> - -<p>“You came back to the Forty Thieves from Sun -Dance?”</p> - -<p>“Ai.”</p> - -<p>“And you came into this level, took a candle, and wrote -those words on the wall with the candle-smoke?”</p> - -<p>“Ai. Me no like to think Pa-e-has-ka die. Pa-e-has-ka -big brave. Wah-coo-tah like um.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_153">[153]</span></p> - -<p>“Don’t be foolish, Wah-coo-tah,” said the scout. “Such -talk is for <em>zinga zingas</em> (children).”</p> - -<p>“Mebbyso Yellow Hair talk like that,” said Wah-coo-tah -angrily, “you no say she talk like <em>zinga zinga</em>.”</p> - -<p>“Yellow Hair has too much sense to talk in that way.”</p> - -<p>“Huh!” exclaimed the Indian girl contemptuously.</p> - -<p>“How is Lawless planning to get even with me, Wah-coo-tah?” -went on the scout. “Why didn’t he take me -out of this level at the time he dragged Wild Bill away?”</p> - -<p>“Him got better way to kill Pa-e-has-ka. No want to -use um knife or bullet. Pa-e-has-ka die in Forty Thieves -Mine.”</p> - -<p>“How?”</p> - -<p>“<em>Nuzhee Mona!</em>”</p> - -<p>“What does that mean?”</p> - -<p>The girl shook her head, and shivered as though struck -by a draft of icy air.</p> - -<p>“Tell me what the words mean!” insisted the scout.</p> - -<p>“<em>Nuzhee Mona</em> all same god of Injun; god slay Pa-e-has-ka.”</p> - -<p>“I reckon I’m able to defend myself against any of -these heathen gods,” said the scout.</p> - -<p>“Pa-e-has-ka no save himself from <em>Nuzhee Mona</em>.”</p> - -<p>“We’ll see. How many men has Lawless with him?”</p> - -<p>“So many,” and Wah-coo-tah held up seven fingers. -“Clancy, Seth Coomby, Tex, Andy, all same three Injun—Cheyennes.”</p> - -<p>“Lawless fixed up this mine for a trap, eh?”</p> - -<p>“Mine been fixed for many moons. Lawless got bad -heart, do bad things white man no like. Him fix mine -so he get away when white pony soldiers come to ketch -um.”</p> - -<p>“This ‘plant’ of his was originally devised for his own<span class="pagenum" id="Page_154">[154]</span> -safety, then? Well, I reckon he thinks he is putting it -to good use now. If you had come to me in Sun Dance, -Wah-coo-tah, and had told me about the layout here, I -would have taken extra measures looking to the safety -of my pards and myself.”</p> - -<p>“Pa-e-has-ka great brave, but him no can fight Lawless. -Lawless Wah-coo-tah’s father, but Wah-coo-tah no like -um. Wah-coo-tah know, when Lawless driven by Pa-e-has-ka -from gulch, that Lawless make try kill Pa-e-has-ka. -So Wah-coo-tah go to Lawless, learn what he try to -do, then warn Pa-e-has-ka. Pa-e-has-ka no pay any ’tention,” -and rebuke and sadness lurked in the last words.</p> - -<p>“Had I known more, Wah-coo-tah,” said the scout, “I -should have paid more attention. Are Wild Bill and -Nomad bound?”</p> - -<p>“Ai. Lawless no let um get ’way.”</p> - -<p>“Are all of the outlaws watching them?”</p> - -<p>“Plenty men watch um.”</p> - -<p>“Won’t it be possible for Dell and me to go through -the secret door you speak about, and rescue my pards? -I can’t leave them in the hands of Lawless.”</p> - -<p>“Pa-e-has-ka want to die, <em>quick</em>? Him go through secret -door, him be shot down, <em>pronto</em>. Door watched all -time.”</p> - -<p>“How did you get through it to come here?”</p> - -<p>“Cheyenne watch um door. Cheyenne like um Wah-coo-tah, -let Wah-coo-tah come.”</p> - -<p>“See here, Wah-coo-tah,” went on the scout, “can’t -you contrive to set Nomad and Wild Bill free, then get -them past the Cheyenne at the secret door?”</p> - -<p>“What good, huh? Then you all die here by <em>Nuzhee -Mona</em>.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_155">[155]</span></p> - -<p>“We’ll take our chances with <em>Nuzhee Mona</em> if you’ll -help my pards.”</p> - -<p>Wah-coo-tah bowed her head in thought for a moment; -then, drawing herself erect, she took a swift step -toward the scout.</p> - -<p>“Mebbyso Pa-e-has-ka send Yellow Hair away, huh? -Then Wah-coo-tah save um pards Pa-e-has-ka.”</p> - -<p>“Why is she so bitter against me?” breathed Dell. “As -she puts it now, I am standing between Nomad and Wild -Bill and safety.” She whirled on Wah-coo-tah. “How -can Pa-e-has-ka send me away, Wah-coo-tah? We are in -the mine—there is no way out, for you have taken away -the rope.”</p> - -<p>“Mebbyso me go back, let down rope, then Pa-e-has-ka -and his pards get ’way, huh? Injun girl more able to -do things than white squaw. Wah-coo-tah save Pa-e-has-ka, -Nomad, and Wild Bill, you promise go ’way never -see Pa-e-has-ka again?”</p> - -<p>Wah-coo-tah bent her hard, stony eyes on the white -face of Dell.</p> - -<p>The Indian girl must have understood the struggle -that was taking place in Dell’s breast, for a gloating exultation -overspread her face. Dell was her enemy, and -she exulted in the torture she had caused.</p> - -<p>“Yes,” said Dell slowly: “if you will save Nomad and -Wild Bill, and then let down the rope so that we may -all get out of this mine, I—I will leave Buffalo Bill and -never see him again.”</p> - -<p>At that instant, Wah-coo-tah’s keen ear detected something -that led her to snatch the torch from Dell’s hand -and crush out the flame under her moccasins.</p> - -<p>“Good!” she muttered, in reply to Dell’s promise.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_156">[156]</span> -“Me save um. Just now Lawless come; get in here, -<em>quick</em>.”</p> - -<p>With her hands, Wah-coo-tah pushed the scout and -Dell through the mouth of the “drift.”</p> - -<p>While they crouched there, the scout fingering his revolvers, -they heard stealthy movements along the tunnel -in their direction.</p> - -<p>“Pa-e-has-ka make parley with Lawless,” whispered -Wah-coo-tah to the scout. “Pa-e-has-ka tell um Lawless -Pa-e-has-ka kill um Wah-coo-tah if Lawless no get back -through secret door. <i lang="es" xml:lang="es">Sabe?</i>”</p> - -<p>The scout understood. The stealthy sounds were coming -nearer and nearer along the tunnel, and the scout -would rather have met his enemies with bullets than -with words, but just then Wah-coo-tah’s plan seemed -best.</p> - -<p>“Lawless!” the scout cried.</p> - -<p>The movements stopped, and a low, mocking laugh -came out of the heavy gloom.</p> - -<p>“Who speaks?” demanded a voice.</p> - -<p>“Buffalo Bill.”</p> - -<p>“What do you want, Buffalo Bill?”</p> - -<p>“I want you to stand where you are, and not come another -step this way.”</p> - -<p>“What you want, and what you’ll get,” was the taunting -reply, “are two different things. I have the upper -hand here. You came to the Forty Thieves thinking -you would trap the trappers; and you thought I did not -know Wild Bill had discovered that rich vein in the -‘drift.’ I knew about that when I made out that deed, -and I knew very well the rich vein would tempt you to -come here. However, I let you suppose I thought the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_157">[157]</span> -Forty Thieves worthless, and that I was summoning you -here to pit my strength against yours.”</p> - -<p>Captain Lawless gave another laugh—a laugh that -held a ringing note of triumph.</p> - -<p>“I am not the fool you think me,” he went on. “The -Forty Thieves is a bonanza, but it will never belong to -you. You and your pards are on my trail, and when you -are out of the way, I can take possession of the mine and -work it myself. There is a method in my plans. Your -greed to get possession of the mine, which you knew to -be valuable, and which you believed I thought worthless, -has placed you in the jaws of death. Two of your pards -are already in my hands. By to-morrow noon their -scalps will swing from the girdles of my Cheyennes; -but you—well, yours is to be a different fate. That is -why I left you here when I could have had you dragged -away with Hickok; that is why I did not let a Cheyenne -knife do its work with you; and so sure was I that -I would ‘get’ you, that I did not even trouble to remove -your weapons.”</p> - -<p>Silence followed Lawless’ words.</p> - -<p>“How did you learn about the rich vein?” asked the -scout.</p> - -<p>“When you thought you chased me and my men out of -the cañon, some days ago,” replied Lawless, still in his -high, mocking voice, “we took refuge in the secret -workings of the mine. We were here when you rode -off; and it was then we examined the drift and saw the -vein of gold. More than that, I was lurking close at -hand when you and your pards came here on your last -visit and looked over the vein for yourselves. I am -obliged to you, Buffalo Bill, for spoiling that deal of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_158">[158]</span> -mine with Bingham. Thinking the mine worthless, I -was on the point of handing him a bonanza. Now, as -soon as you and your pards are out of the way, I shall -have the bonanza for myself—and not a man in Sun -Dance Cañon will lift a hand to interfere with me in -working the mine.”</p> - -<p>“What fate have you selected for me, Lawless?”</p> - -<p>“In two hours it will be sunrise. Listen, then, and you -will hear your doom rushing upon you. <em>Nuzhee Mona!</em>” -and a diabolical laugh came with the last words.</p> - -<p>“I have heard scoundrels of your stamp make their -threats before,” flung back the scout defiantly. “Talk -is cheap.”</p> - -<p>“You will find that I am not making empty threats. -You will be caught like a rat in a trap.”</p> - -<p>“If my fate is not to overtake me before sunrise, why -have you come into this part of the mine now?”</p> - -<p>“I am looking for that girl of mine.”</p> - -<p>“Then you need look no farther. She came spying -upon me, and I have her here, a prisoner.”</p> - -<p>An exclamation of anger escaped Lawless.</p> - -<p>“Turn her loose, at once!” he commanded.</p> - -<p>“I shall keep her as a hostage for my own safety,” -said the scout. “Whatever fate comes to me, will come -to her; and if you do not instantly leave this level, she -shall suffer.”</p> - -<p>Lawless called out something in the Cheyenne tongue. -Wah-coo-tah answered, and her words were like the -screech of an enraged panther.</p> - -<p>“Wah-coo-tah,” went on Lawless, “is ready to die to -help her father, if need be. Your fate will come to you -at sunrise, Buffalo Bill, and I will have my revenge, even<span class="pagenum" id="Page_159">[159]</span> -if it is necessary to sacrifice the girl. That ought to -show you I mean business.”</p> - -<p>“It shows me that you are a more contemptible scoundrel -than I had supposed,” answered the scout calmly. -“Are you going to get out of this level?”</p> - -<p>“At once. Farewell, Buffalo Bill, king of scouts! -The government will look far before another man is -found to take your place. When you crossed the path -of Captain Lawless, of the Forty Thieves, you tackled a -bigger job than you had imagined.”</p> - -<p>Sounds of retreating steps came along the level, fading -abruptly into silence.</p> - -<p>“He doesn’t think much of Wah-coo-tah,” said Dell, -“from the way he talks.”</p> - -<p>“He doesn’t think much of any one but himself,” replied -the scout. “What did he say to you, Wah-coo-tah?”</p> - -<p>“Him want to know if Pa-e-has-ka speak true when he -say he ketch um Wah-coo-tah,” answered the girl. “Me -tell um me here, but that me no tell Pa-e-has-ka way into -secret passage, and that mebbyso me get ’way before -<em>Nuzhee Mona</em> come.” She gave a low, sibilant laugh. -“Me fool Lawless,” she added. “Bymby me get back, -fool um some more. Me hate um! Him my father, but -me hate um. He try sell me to Ponca warrior for five -ponies.”</p> - -<p>“Wah-coo-tah,” spoke up Dell, “will have to get away -from here and liberate Nomad and Wild Bill and ourselves -before sunrise. If she waits beyond that time it -will be too late.”</p> - -<p>“Mebbyso Lawless no let <em>Nuzhee Mona</em> go till Wah-coo-tah -get through secret door. We got plenty time. -Lawless give Wah-coo-tah chance to save herself.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_160">[160]</span></p> - -<p>Silence fell for a space, and then the scout took the -candle from his pocket, lighted it, and opened one of the -provision-bags.</p> - -<p>They all felt the need of food and water, and began -a leisurely meal, relying on Wah-coo-tah’s confidence -that <em>Nuzhee Mona</em>—whatever that mystical name represented—would -not be released until she had had a chance -to effect her escape.</p> - -<p>In the midst of their meal, they were all three startled -by a perceptible quivering of the rocks about them, followed -by a muffled explosion that rolled like distant -thunder.</p> - -<p>A cry fell from Wah-coo-tah’s lips, and she leaped to -her feet excitedly.</p> - -<p>Loosened stones could be heard crashing from the roof -of the level to the floor.</p> - -<p>“What is it?” exclaimed Dell, in consternation.</p> - -<p>“Wah-coo-tah!” cried Buffalo Bill, springing up and -catching the Indian girl by the arm. “Is this Lawless’ -work? What is he doing?”</p> - -<p>The girl started for the level, but halted and turned -back.</p> - -<p>“Yellow Hair make um promise to leave Buffalo Bill, -huh, if I save um?” she said quickly.</p> - -<p>“Yes, yes,” returned Dell. “Only be quick!”</p> - -<p>Wah-coo-tah raced into the level and along it toward -the breast. The stones had stopped falling by that time, -and the scout and Dell, with the candle, hastened to follow -the Indian girl.</p> - -<p>Suddenly, as they ran around a sharp angle of the -corridor, they saw Wah-coo-tah. She stood in a blaze -of light that poured over her from a square opening in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_161">[161]</span> -the wall. She cried out something, and tried to push into -the opening, but she was met by a clattering volley of -shots, and reeled backward with a groan. Then, silently, -the door closed over the glare, and only the gleam of the -scout’s candle lighted the level.</p> - -<p>“They’ve shot her!” murmured Dell; “Lawless has -shot his own daughter!”</p> - -<p>“Perhaps not Lawless, but some of his men!” returned -the scout. “Oh, the fiends! the dastards! They -thought she was helping us, and that is the way they -took to stop it.”</p> - -<p>Running to the girl’s side, the scout knelt down. A -trickle of red was running over the girl’s breast. The -catamount skin, which she had worn over her back, -had fallen off.</p> - -<p>“Wah-coo-tah,” said the scout gently, “are you hurt?”</p> - -<p>“Me live to fool um yet!” answered Wah-coo-tah spasmodically. -“You help me, Pa-e-has-ka! Quick! Take -me to shaft.”</p> - -<p>“You can’t move——”</p> - -<p>“Ai, all same you help.”</p> - -<p>She struggled fiercely, and Buffalo Bill, seeing her determination, -helped her up. Dell took the candle and -tried to be of some assistance, but Wah-coo-tah, with all -her waning strength, repulsed her. Even in that tragic -moment, she would have none of Dell.</p> - -<p>Supporting the girl, the scout led her, reeling, back -along the level and toward the shaft.</p> - -<p>Before they had covered much more than half the -distance, a low roaring broke on their ears. Wah-coo-tah, -flinging her hands to her breast, gave a convulsive -spring.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_162">[162]</span></p> - -<p>“<em>Nuzhee Mona!</em>” she wailed, and sank limply in the -scout’s arms.</p> - -<p>“Water, Dell!” cried the scout. “Hurry.”</p> - -<p>As Dell darted into the “drift,” the scout listened, -while the roaring grew louder and louder.</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_163">[163]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV.<br /> -<span class="fs70">LITTLE CAYUSE ON GUARD.</span></h2> -</div> - -<p>The gully, which the scout had selected as a fitting -place to hide the horses, was admirably adapted to the -purpose.</p> - -<p>The mouth broke into the wall of the cañon some fifteen -feet above the cañon’s bed, and a slope, formed of -ancient washings from the gully, led upward to the entrance -of it.</p> - -<p>It was narrow, filled with a growth of scrub, and its -bed sloped upward from the point where it entered the -cañon.</p> - -<p>Besides, it was a <em>blind</em> gully, running into the hills for -a few hundred feet and terminating in a sheer wall. All -the other walls were equally steep and unscalable. There -was no getting into the gully in any way except from the -cañon.</p> - -<p>Little Cayuse took due account of all these advantages, -and gave a grunt of satisfaction. The horses he tethered -among the bushes, and then returned to the gully’s -mouth, and sat down to watch and wait.</p> - -<p>Hours passed, and the boy, through all that time, sat -like a bronze statue, wonderfully alert, but neither hearing -nor seeing anything that claimed his attention. Perhaps -he would not have been so calm and passive could -he have known what was taking place in the depths of -the Forty Thieves!</p> - -<p>The sun went down, daylight faded out of the west,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_164">[164]</span> -and one by one the stars stole over the sky. Cayuse -watched them as they brightened overhead.</p> - -<p>At last he began wondering about Dell. She had been -a long time on watch at the shaft, and it had been agreed -between them that she should come to the gully, in three -hours, and look out for the horses while Cayuse watched -the shaft. More than three hours had passed, and Dell -had not come.</p> - -<p>The boy stepped out into the cañon and cast his eyes in -the direction of the mine. The defile was plunged in -gloom, and Cayuse could see nothing.</p> - -<p>He threw back his head and gave the bark of a timber-wolf. -No answer came. He tried again, but still -without securing a response.</p> - -<p>It was a signal well known among the scout’s pards, -and if Dell had heard it she would surely have signified -that she had by a similar answer.</p> - -<p>Why had she not heard?</p> - -<p>A thrill of alarm ran through the boy. He feared -something had happened to the girl, and he stole cautiously -forward to investigate.</p> - -<p>As he neared the ore-dump, he saw a figure on the -platform, over the shaft. It was the form of a woman—he -could tell that much—and he supposed it was Dell.</p> - -<p>“Yellow Hair!” he called.</p> - -<p>The figure started up, holding something, and darted -down the side of the dump and out of sight among the -dusky bushes.</p> - -<p>Cayuse glided after the form, and before it had disappeared -he discovered that it was the form of an Indian -girl, and made up his mind that it was Wah-coo-tah.</p> - -<p>Knowing Wah-coo-tah was a friend of Buffalo Bill’s, -the boy called her name, and darted into the bushes after<span class="pagenum" id="Page_165">[165]</span> -her. When he got into the chaparral, however, Wah-coo-tah -had disappeared.</p> - -<p>Puzzled by Wah-coo-tah’s actions, Little Cayuse -climbed to the top of the ore-dump and peered into the -black shaft.</p> - -<p>At that time, the scout and Dell were talking in the -main level, and the boy could not see or hear anything -of them. He felt under the rim of the platform. Not -finding a rope, he naturally concluded that Dell was not -in the mine. Ignorant of the fact that Wah-coo-tah herself -had removed the rope, the boy naturally supposed -that Dell had fallen into the hands of Lawless and his -men.</p> - -<p>Skulking about in the chaparral, he hunted for some -traces of the white scoundrels. He was unsuccessful. -Knowing that much might depend upon the horses, he -could not leave the animals unwatched, and so, with a -heavy heart, he made his way back to the gully.</p> - -<p>For hour after hour the boy continued his lonely vigil, -imagining all sorts of things, but unable to do anything -to settle his misgivings. In the east he saw a gray -streak of dawn hovering above the rim of the cañon, -and realized with a start that the night had passed, and -that day was at hand.</p> - -<p>Perhaps, he reasoned, as daylight gathered and brightened -the surroundings, he might be able to discover what -had become of Dell. Meantime, the horses must not be -neglected.</p> - -<p>There was a pool in front of the gully’s mouth, and -Cayuse led the animals down, one at a time, and let -them drink.</p> - -<p>By the time he had finished this duty, the morning -was well advanced toward sunrise. As he picked his<span class="pagenum" id="Page_166">[166]</span> -way out of the scrub in the direction of the cañon, casting -about in his mind as to the best course for him to -follow in looking for Dell, he came to a sudden and astounded -halt.</p> - -<p>Looking out through the narrow opening into the -cañon, he had abruptly caught sight of three mounted -men, and of another on foot.</p> - -<p>The man on foot he recognized as Captain Lawless, -Buffalo Bill’s enemy; those on the horses Cayuse also -knew, and they were Clancy, Seth Coomby, and the -scoundrel called “Tex,” all three members of Lawless’ -gang.</p> - -<p>Dropping instantly to his knees, Cayuse crept closer -to the mouth of the gully. There, crouching behind a -boulder, he watched and listened with sharp eyes and -ears.</p> - -<p>The men were talking, and from his present position -the boy could hear them distinctly.</p> - -<p>“I want you, Clancy,” Lawless was saying, “to set -off those blasts as soon as you can fire the fuses. The -time to wipe out Buffalo Bill and his pards has come. -Quick work will do the trick.”</p> - -<p>“An’ what’s ter become o’ us, arterwards?” asked -Tex moodily. “Pickin’ off a lot of fellers like Buffler -Bill and his pards is li’ble ter mean somethin’ ter <em>us</em>.”</p> - -<p>“If you’re getting cold feet, Tex,” snapped Lawless, -“now’s your time to quit. Ride out of this cañon, if -you want to, and go where you please. If you do that, -however, you’ll not come in for anything we get out of -the Forty Thieves. There’ll be just so much more for -the rest of us, and I’m figuring the mine will make us -rich.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t be a fool, Tex,” growled Seth Coomby. “Who’s<span class="pagenum" id="Page_167">[167]</span> -goin’ ter know thet we done fer the scout an’ his pards? -It’ll look like er accident.”</p> - -<p>“Accident, nothin’,” scoffed Tex. “Didn’t the cap’n -send the deed ter Gentleman Jim, an’ along with ther -deed didn’t he send a line <em>darin’</em> the scout ter stay three -days an’ nights in the mine? Shore he did! An’ thet -means, when Buffler Bill an’ his pards aire done up, thet -the hull bloomin’ job is tacked onter us.”</p> - -<p>“Are you going with Clancy and Coomby, Tex,” demanded -Lawless angrily, “or are you going to cut yourself -out of this herd? Make up your mind, for we -haven’t any time to spare.”</p> - -<p>“I’m game ter go on,” returned Tex. “I’m in so fur, -now, thet it don’t make much diff’rence, anyways.”</p> - -<p>“That’s the way ter talk!” approved Clancy.</p> - -<p>“Sure you’ve placed those loads right, Clancy?” asked -Lawless, turning to the other man, now that the business -with Tex was settled.</p> - -<p>“You bet! Them blasts’ll do the trick. Meanwhile, -cap’n, you see to it that no one gits on top o’ the dump -an’ lets down a rope.”</p> - -<p>“If any one tries to do that,” scowled Lawless, “he’ll -be shot off the dump. One of the Cheyennes is watching, -and has his orders. But who is there to help -Buffalo Bill out of the hole? We’ve captured the only -two men he had with him, and he’s now bottled up in the -level and shaft, powerless to do anything to help himself. -But ride on, ride on. You boys understand what’s -wanted, and there’s no use wasting time in further -parley.”</p> - -<p>At that, the party separated, Clancy, Seth Coomby, -and Tex riding down the cañon, and Lawless retreating -toward the cañon wall.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_168">[168]</span></p> - -<p>The alarm of Little Cayuse had increased almost to a -panic. What he had heard had struck him like a blow -between the eyes.</p> - -<p>Nomad and Wild Bill captured! Buffalo Bill helpless -in the depths of the mine, and a horrible doom of some -kind about to be released and sent down upon him!</p> - -<p>What should he do?</p> - -<p>That was the question that ran through Little Cayuse’s -brain like a searing-iron.</p> - -<p>If he went back to the ore-dump, and tried to let -down a rope to the scout, the Cheyenne would kill him; -if he followed Lawless—but Lawless had already vanished; -at least, Little Cayuse concluded, he could follow -the three basemen down the cañon, and perhaps might -find a way to interfere with their nefarious designs.</p> - -<p>Rushing back up the gully, Cayuse untied Navi, -twisted the buckskin thong into a hackamore, and bounded -upon the pinto’s bare back; then, riding cautiously out -into the cañon, he made after Clancy, Coomby, and -Tex.</p> - -<p>Never had the faithful Piute boy felt that more was -required of him, and never had he felt so doubtful of his -own powers.</p> - -<p>Following three men in broad daylight, and at the -same time keeping out of their sight, was a difficult -piece of work. What helped Cayuse most, however, -was the fact that the three white men were utterly unsuspicious. -They seemed to feel that they had no enemies -at large in the cañon, and they did no watching -along the back track.</p> - -<p>For the rest of it, the Piute took advantage of every -patch of brush and every convenient boulder that lay -along his course.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_169">[169]</span></p> - -<p>Two miles down the defile, as Cayuse judged, the three -horsemen turned their mounts and set them directly at -the high wall. In this place the wall was a steep slope, -yet the horses scaled it and vanished over the rim with -their riders.</p> - -<p>For Cayuse to take Navi up the slope might mean -discovery, and yet the boy knew that he himself must -climb to the top of the wall if he was to learn what work -the three men were to do.</p> - -<p>Hitching Navi in a convenient thicket, at the foot of -the wall, Cayuse took his small repeating rifle and started -on foot up the ascent.</p> - -<p>He climbed the steep slope swiftly and so carefully -that he did not displace a single stone. Where he -gained the cañon’s rim there was a fringe of hazels, and -he was able to crawl over into the bushes and peer -through them, thus keeping out of sight.</p> - -<p>In front of him was a lake, its surface almost level -with the top of the cañon wall, and a comparatively -thin barrier of stone keeping its waters out of the cañon.</p> - -<p>The three white men had taken their horses well -around the edge of the lake, and were dismounting. -There was little talk among them. Clancy and Coomby -had thrown off their coats and Tex was holding the -three horses.</p> - -<p>Presently Clancy and Coomby returned around the -edge of the lake and halted for a space at the cañon’s -rim. Cayuse, scarcely breathing, crouched lower among -the hazels and watched with staring eyes.</p> - -<p>“Thar’ll be a reg’lar tidal wave goin’ along ther -cañon in a couple o’ shakes,” said Clancy, with an evil -laugh.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_170">[170]</span></p> - -<p>“It’ll rush down on ther mine,” said Coomby, “purvidin’ -the cap’n is right in his calkerlations.”</p> - -<p>“He’s gin’rally right.”</p> - -<p>“Seems ter me, though, the water’ll flow directly -a<em>way</em> from the mine.”</p> - -<p>“From hyer ter the mine, Coomby, the bed o’ the -cañon pitches down-hill, in spite o’ the fact thet, taken -by an’ large, this Sun Dance deefile pitches to’ther way. -The lake is down-cañon from the mine, but the bed o’ -the cañon is down-grade all the way from hyer ter the -Forty Thieves.”</p> - -<p>“Waal, we’ll see. Let’s git down ter the fuses.”</p> - -<p>Thereupon the two men lowered themselves over the -top of the wall.</p> - -<p>Cayuse, craning his neck, was able to see them applying -a match to the ends of the fuses. The men climbed -quickly to the top of the wall, and stood there, peering -downward at the sputtering flames.</p> - -<p>By that time the horror of the situation, so far as -Buffalo Bill was concerned, had flashed over the boy.</p> - -<p>It was Lawless’ plan to blow away the stone barrier -separating the waters of the lake from the cañon! The -waters, thus released, would rush over the cañon wall, -down the cañon, and flood the shaft and level of the -Forty Thieves! If Buffalo Bill was in the mine, he -would be drowned—there was no possible way for him to -escape.</p> - -<p>With every nerve tense, Cayuse pulled himself to one -knee and lifted his rifle to his shoulder. If he could -shoot down the two men and extinguish the blazing -fuses——</p> - -<p>This was the boy’s thought, and he would have executed -the plan, or tried to, had not fate played against<span class="pagenum" id="Page_171">[171]</span> -him. The slight noise he made in shifting to his knee -and lifting the rifle had been heard.</p> - -<p>“What’s thet, thar in the bresh?” yelled Coomby.</p> - -<p>“I heerd er noise, too,” began Clancy, “an’——”</p> - -<p>Just then the Piute’s repeater spit forth a bullet. The -piece of lead was aimed at Clancy, but the instant the -trigger was pulled Clancy jumped forward to investigate -the bushes.</p> - -<p>The bullet, therefore, missed Clancy by an inch.</p> - -<p>That shot was enough for the two scoundrels. Jerking -out their revolvers, they sent a volley into the hazels. -That Cayuse was not killed out of hand was due to the -quickness with which he rolled over the edge of the -wall.</p> - -<p>He shot down the slope head over heels, and was half-way -to the place where he had left Navi before he could -regain his footing. He was bruised, but that was no -time to take account of bruises. His life had been saved, -although Clancy and Coomby were dancing around like -madmen on the top of the wall and still taking potshots -at him.</p> - -<p>Muttering anathemas on his hard luck, the boy raced -in a zigzag line toward the thicket where his horse was -waiting, tore the animal loose, leaped to his back, and -sped off up the cañon.</p> - -<p>He looked back over his shoulder as he raced and -saw that Clancy and Coomby had beat a retreat from the -vicinity of the blasts; and, while he looked, the boy saw -a veritable geyser of broken stones leap upward and outward -from the cañon wall.</p> - -<p>A great gap had been torn through the barrier, and -the boy saw a Niagaralike flood leap through the opening -and roll, foaming and roaring, down the cañon.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_172">[172]</span></p> - -<p>Could he beat that flood to the gully? Cayuse’s life -depended on it, and Navi was fleet and well in the -lead.</p> - -<p>Two miles lay between Cayuse and safety, but the -miles were down-grade—Clancy had said so, and he had -got his information from Lawless. Lawless probably -knew, for the vengeful and murderous leader had so far -laid his plans cunningly and well.</p> - -<p>Navi seemed to understand what depended upon him. -The roar from behind filled his ears and frightened him. -In a perfect frenzy, he stretched himself out in a race -that was to save his rider from death.</p> - -<p>And what of Buffalo Bill, in the level of the Forty -Thieves?</p> - -<p>Something like a sob rushed through the lips of Little -Cayuse. He shook one clenched hand behind him, toward -a wall of water that filled the cañon from side to -side, tossing and churning itself to foam and throwing -arms of spray high into the air.</p> - -<p>The roar was deafening. Water continued to pour -through the break in the cañon wall and to push forward -the flood that raced down the defile.</p> - -<p>How Navi ever covered those two miles Little Cayuse -never knew. He realized, after what seemed like a -thousand years of torment but which in reality was less -than a thousand seconds, that he was caught by the -rushing waters half-way up the slope leading from the -cañon’s bed to the mouth of the gully.</p> - -<p>With Navi almost swept from his feet, and a greater -flood following the first on-rush of water, Cayuse was -only saved from being drowned by a riata that dropped -over his shoulders just as he was being torn from Navi’s -back.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_173">[173]</span></p> - -<p>Hanging to the rope with one hand while the noose -tightened about his body, and with the other hand clinging -to the end of the hackamore, Cayuse and the pinto -were brought, wet and floundering, into the mouth of the -gully.</p> - -<p>Utterly exhausted, the boy straightened out on the -rocks, while Navi, with drooping head and lathered -hide, puffed and panted beside him.</p> - -<p>“Blamed if it ain’t Buffler Bill’s Injun pard!” cried -a voice, above the rush and swirl of water.</p> - -<p>“How the blazes does he happen ter be hyer? He got -out o’ that cloud-burst by the skin o’ his teeth, an’ no -more.”</p> - -<p>This was from a second speaker, and yet a third -chimed in with:</p> - -<p>“Where’s Buffalo Bill an’ the rest o’ his pards? That’s -what gits me. D’ye think they was caught by the -flood?”</p> - -<p>Little Cayuse turned over on his back and looked up.</p> - -<p>Hank Tenny, Lonesome Pete, and Henry Blake were -beside him, each with an arm hooked through the loop of -his bridle.</p> - -<p>Cayuse rose to his knees and struck one hand fiercely -against his forehead. His eyes were on the tumbling -waters which, by then, had filled the valley from wall -to wall and were creeping slowly up toward the gully.</p> - -<p>“Whar’d ye come from, kid?” asked Hank Tenny.</p> - -<p>“Whar’s Buffler Bill?” inquired Lonesome Pete.</p> - -<p>“What’s the matter with ye?” demanded Blake. “Have -ye gone plumb daft?”</p> - -<p>Staggering to his feet, the boy made his way to the -side of the gully’s mouth and began to climb.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_174">[174]</span></p> - -<p>“What ails the kid?” muttered Tenny. “’Pears like -he didn’t hev no sense at all.”</p> - -<p>“Whar ye goin’?” Pete roared after Cayuse.</p> - -<p>Cayuse called back something which was drowned by -the rush of the water, and beckoned with his hand.</p> - -<p>“Kain’t hear what he says,” said Blake, “but he wants -us ter foller. We’d better go, I reckon. The hosses -will be safe enough here.”</p> - -<p>Dropping their bridle-reins, the three men proceeded -to follow the boy.</p> - -<p>It was a stiff climb to the top of the gully wall, but -when the men pulled themselves over and got alongside -Cayuse, they had a good view of the ore-dump of the -Forty Thieves—or, rather, of the place where the -ore-dump ought to be.</p> - -<p>The dump, some seven or eight feet high, together -with the entire flat on which it had been piled, <em>was covered -with water</em>!</p> - -<p>The boy, his eyes fixed on the swirling, seething flood, -dropped to his knees and began a weird, monotonous -chant. The rush of air along the troubled waves caught -up the boy’s voice and tossed it back and forth in uncanny -cadences. Now high, now low, swelled the chant, -as the Piute words burst from the Indian’s lips.</p> - -<p>“Thunder!” Blake shouted in Tenny’s ears, “it’s a -death-song.”</p> - -<p>“Whose death is he croonin’ erbout?” returned Tenny; -“Buffler Bill’s?”</p> - -<p>“It’s hard ter tell who he’s——”</p> - -<p>Blake broke off with a wild yell. At that instant the -morning sun struck fire from a blade which Cayuse had -plucked from his belt and lifted above his bare breast, -point down.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_175">[175]</span></p> - -<p>The boy’s hand dropped, but Pete was quick to catch -the descending arm, hang to it, and wrench the knife -from the hand.</p> - -<p>“Darn!” whooped Pete, “the leetle red was goin’ ter -knife hisself! It was his own death-song he was singin’. -He thinks his pard, Buffler Bill, has hit the long -trail, an’ he’s pinin’ ter foller. Whoever heerd o’ sich -doin’s? Stop yer squirmin’, Cayuse,” Pete added to the -boy, who was fighting to free himself. “We ain’t goin’ -ter let ye kick the bucket, now thet we went ter all -thet trouble ter snake ye in out o’ the wet.”</p> - -<p>With a tremendous effort, Cayuse jerked free of Pete’s -hands, whirled about, and suddenly grew calm. Pete, -Tenny, and Blake started toward him.</p> - -<p>Cayuse turned on them, his eyes glittering like a -catamount’s in the dark, laid a finger on his lips, and -pointed.</p> - -<p>The eyes of the white men, following the boy’s finger, -rested on a point of the cañon wall, fifty feet below, -and to the right of them.</p> - -<p>At this place there was a sort of shelf on the wall, a -small level, covered with an undergrowth of bushes. -Horsemen were riding out of the bushes, and striking -into a path that mounted upward toward the top of the -wall.</p> - -<p>Lawless, a look of gloating triumph on his face, was -in the lead. At his heels rode three Cheyenne bucks, -and two of the bucks carried each a white prisoner, -bound hand and foot, across his pony behind him.</p> - -<p>One of the prisoners, as those above could see, was -old Nomad.</p> - -<p>And the other was Wild Bill!</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_176">[176]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XV">CHAPTER XV.<br /> -<span class="fs70">THE RESCUE OF NOMAD AND WILD BILL.</span></h2> -</div> - -<p>Following the two Cheyennes, behind whom were -the prisoners, rode another white man. This white -man Cayuse recognized as Andy. Andy brought up the -rear of the little procession.</p> - -<p>“Hyer’s a how-de-do!” exclaimed Hank Tenny. “Is -thet Lawless an’ his gang, kid?”</p> - -<p>“All same,” said Cayuse. “White men git um guns, -<i lang="es" xml:lang="es">muy pronto</i>; then we make run to top of cañon, ketch -um Lawless, save Nomad and Wild Bill.”</p> - -<p>“All the guns we got,” answered Lonesome Pete, “are -strapped on us. Them fellers has rifles.”</p> - -<p>“At close quarters,” put in Blake, “our six-shooters -are better than rifles. I’m plumb anxious ter try out -these new barkers o’ mine. Then, too,” he added darkly, -“I owe Lawless somethin’, an’ here’s my chance ter even -up. Couldn’t let it slip, nohow. Follow me, you fellows!”</p> - -<p>Blake took to the rocks, with which the country contiguous -to the top of the cañon was covered, and worked -his way swiftly toward the point where the path Lawless -and his men were following came over the edge of -the wall.</p> - -<p>Pete, Tenny, and Little Cayuse leaped briskly after -Blake. The lust for combat was running hot in the -veins of all, and this, in particular, was true of the Piute -boy.</p> - -<p>The latter’s grief over the fate of Buffalo Bill had<span class="pagenum" id="Page_177">[177]</span> -given place to a feeling of hope. Nomad and Wild -Bill were alive, and there was a possibility that the scout -was equally well off.</p> - -<p>The hope was slight enough, for Cayuse remembered -the talk he had overheard between Lawless, Clancy, -Coomby, and Tex, and from that he had gathered that -the flood was to do the work for the scout. But, in -spite of appearances, it might be that the flood had -failed.</p> - -<p>The thought was enough to take Cayuse out of his -gloom and dejection and to send him eagerly into a -pitched battle with the outlaws. Whatever else befell, -at least Nomad and Wild Bill could be rescued.</p> - -<p>Before Blake and the others reached the top of the -path, Lawless had ridden over the edge of the wall -and laid his course among the boulders. Blake’s account -was with Lawless himself, and the miner drew -one of his brand-new revolvers and ran after the leader -of the outlaws.</p> - -<p>Pete, Tenny, and Cayuse, on the other hand, were -thinking only of rescuing Nomad and Wild Bill; so, -crouching among the rocks, they waited for the first -Cheyenne to climb off the slope, and then gave their attention -to the two Indians behind him.</p> - -<p>Pete selected one of the two Indians, and Tenny the -other. As they rose from behind the rocks to use their -weapons, they were seen by the Cheyennes.</p> - -<p>A furious yell from the savages spread the alarm. The -Cheyenne ahead turned back, but Lawless already had -his hands full with Blake and could give no help to the -rest of his gang.</p> - -<p>The crack of six-shooters began instantly, while the -yell of alarm was still on the lips of the Cheyennes. Of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_178">[178]</span> -the two with the prisoners, one fell at the first fire; -the pony gave a frightened jump, and Nomad, who -was laid across the pony’s back, tumbled to the ground.</p> - -<p>Cayuse had lost his rifle at the time he had had his -encounter with Clancy and Coomby. Pete had given -him back his knife, but a knife was of little account in -such a combat.</p> - -<p>The instant the Cheyenne dropped from his pony, -Cayuse leaped to the side of the savage and drew a -couple of six-shooters from the belt at his waist.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile, the other Cheyenne with Wild Bill behind -him, had dug his heels into the sides of his cayuse and -was making a terrific effort to get away. He used a revolver, -by way of holding his white foes in check, but -his shooting, owing to the plunging of his horse, was -anything but accurate.</p> - -<p>The Indian who was not hampered with a prisoner -had whirled his pony about, thrown his rifle to his shoulder, -and was drawing a bead on Tenny.</p> - -<p>As Cayuse straightened up, after securing the revolvers -from the slain Cheyenne, he saw the leveled rifle -and realized Tenny’s peril. The only thing that would -save Tenny was a quick shot.</p> - -<p>Without taking aim, Cayuse let fly a bullet. As fortune -would have it, the bullet struck the Cheyenne in -the arm. The rifle was discharged, but, its aim being -deflected at the moment the trigger was pulled, Tenny -was saved by the fraction of an inch.</p> - -<p>The Cheyenne, with one arm useless, decided he had -had enough of the fight, and headed his horse the other -way.</p> - -<p>Wild Bill, on the back of the other Cheyenne’s horse, -had taken account of what was going on, and managed<span class="pagenum" id="Page_179">[179]</span> -to twist himself around and drop. As he fell, Andy, -who was galloping past, sent a bullet at him; but Andy -was riding too fast, and had fired in too much of a -hurry. Wild Bill escaped the bullet, and the long strides -of Andy’s horse had carried the outlaw too far for another -shot.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile, Blake had been doing his utmost to shoot -Lawless. He succeeded in putting a bullet into the -scoundrel’s shoulder, and, in exchange, got one through -the wrist himself. It was Blake’s right wrist, and his -six-shooter dropped.</p> - -<p>As Blake bent down to recover the weapon, Andy and -the Cheyennes galloped past. Lawless was reeling in -his saddle, and he would have fallen had not Andy -spurred alongside and steadied him with one arm.</p> - -<p>Thus the two white men and the two Indians, having -lost their prisoners, plunged away among the rocks, -leaving the field to Cayuse, Pete, Tenny, and Blake.</p> - -<p>When Blake, with a handkerchief bound about his -injured wrist, got back to the top of the path, he found -his jubilant companions just freeing Nomad and Wild -Bill.</p> - -<p>“What luck, Blake?” cried Pete.</p> - -<p>“He stopped one o’ my bullets,” Blake answered, “an’ -one o’ his men had ter help him get away.”</p> - -<p>“Was ye hurt?” asked Tenny.</p> - -<p>“Winged,” was Blake’s sententious response, “but I -don’t reckon it amounts to much. Anyway, I’d have -been glad to get a bullet through both wrists fer the -chance o’ hittin’ Lawless. Mebby I haven’t paid him -all up fer the ride he give me on that steer, but I’ve -gone a long ways to’rds settlin’ the account.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_180">[180]</span></p> - -<p>Nomad and Wild Bill, having been freed of their -ropes, sat up and began rubbing their benumbed limbs.</p> - -<p>“Whar’s Buffler?” asked Nomad.</p> - -<p>“Thet’s more’n we knows, <i lang="es" xml:lang="es">amigos</i>,” replied Pete. “We -ain’t seen him sense yesterday, when you all tripped anchor -an’ sailed out o’ Sun Dance.”</p> - -<p>“Waal, Pete,” went on Nomad, “ef ye kain’t tell me -whar Buffler is, mebbyso ye kin ease my mind some as -ter how you an’ Tenny an’ Blake happened ter be eround -hyar ter lend Leetle Cayuse a helpin’ hand?”</p> - -<p>“We was ridin’ down ther gulch, this mornin’,” went -on Pete, “jest ter see what was goin’ on at ther Forty -Thieves. Blake allowed he was some cur’ous, an’ I -knowed Tenny an’ I was. Jest as we got clost ter -ther ore-dump, we seen a slather o’ water, high as the -wall of a ’dobie, makin’ a dead-set at us. We climbed -out o’ the way, and stood thar ter watch ther flood -slam past. While we was lookin’, we seen Cayuse tryin’ -ter git out o’ the cañon. Tenny is some punkins at -riata-throwin’, so he uncoils his rope an’ draps it over -Cayuse’s head; then we hauls Cayuse in, bronk an’ all. -We crawled up on the gully wall, a little arter that, an’ -seen Lawless an’ his outfit climbin’ up the side o’ the -cañon, so we all made a <i lang="es" xml:lang="es">pasear</i> around among the rocks -with the intention o’ headin’ the gang off, an’ gittin’ -you fellers out o’ their hands. I reckon we done it, -hey?”</p> - -<p>“I reckon you did, old sport,” said Wild Bill, “and -you’ve got our gratitude. They were after our scalps, -those fellows, and they’d have taken them before they -had carried us far from the cañon. That’s the sort of a -duck Lawless is. I’ve been mixed up with him enough -so that I know his caliber. Whoosh!” and Wild Bill<span class="pagenum" id="Page_181">[181]</span> -got up and stretched his arms. “I’m feeling like a -back number this trip, Nomad. The way the pair of -us was snaked out of that level, leaving pard Cody to -take care of himself, is something I’m going to remember -with regret as long as I live. I say, Cayuse!”</p> - -<p>The boy, who had been standing at the edge of the -cañon, turned around.</p> - -<p>“Where did all that water come from, do you know?” -went on Wild Bill.</p> - -<p>“From down-gulch,” said Cayuse.</p> - -<p>“And flowed up-hill, eh?”</p> - -<p>“Thet’s what bothered me,” said Pete, “whar it all -come from an’ why it was flowin’ contrary ter natur’.”</p> - -<p>“It wasn’t flowin’ contrary ter natur’,” said Tenny. -“Jest below hyer the gulch bottom pitches this way, an’ -thar’s quite a sink a mile farther to’rds Sun Dance. I’ve -noticed thet lots o’ times while I was goin’ an’ comin’. -But whar the water come from is a mystery. Thar ain’t -been no cloud-burst, as fur as I’ve seen.”</p> - -<p>Cayuse, in a very few words, explained where the -water had come from.</p> - -<p>As Lawless’ diabolical plot to wipe out the scout was -borne in upon the mind of old Nomad, his rage became -tremendous.</p> - -<p>“Confound ther pizen, no-’count whelp!” he shouted, -shaking his fists in the direction the outlaws had taken. -“Instid o’ snakin’ Buffler out o’ thet level, he left him -thar ter drown! Did ther water come up over ther -top o’ thet ore-dump?” he asked suddenly, turning to -Pete and the others.</p> - -<p>“The water buried thet ore-dump clean out o’ sight!” -declared Pete.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_182">[182]</span></p> - -<p>Nomad stood for an instant as though stricken, then -rushed for the rim of the cañon and looked down.</p> - -<p>The waters were receding as quickly as they had -risen. The ore-dump of the Forty Thieves was already -shouldering aside the waves.</p> - -<p>Nomad stared, realized what must have happened, -then flung himself down and covered his face with his -hands.</p> - -<p>Wild Bill scowled, his eyes glittered, and he whirled -away from the cañon.</p> - -<p>“If Captain Lawless has wiped out Cody, the best -and truest pard a man ever had,” said he, between his -clenched teeth, “Nomad and I will run out his trail—and, -at the end of it, we’ll take all the pay the murderous -whelp can give us.”</p> - -<p>“Ye speak true, Hickok,” growled Nomad, looking -up; “Lawless owes us er heap, an’ he’ll hev ter settle.”</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_183">[183]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XVI">CHAPTER XVI.<br /> -<span class="fs70">THE CURTAIN-ROCK.</span></h2> -</div> - -<p>The scout, his girl pard, and Wah-coo-tah, it will be -recalled, were left in the level of the Forty Thieves, -hurrying, as fast as the Indian girl’s wound would permit, -toward the shaft.</p> - -<p>Dell, returning from the drift with a flask of water, -was about to hand the flask to Buffalo Bill when Wah-coo-tah -started forward with a sudden access of strength.</p> - -<p>“<i lang="es" xml:lang="es">Pronto, pronto</i>,” breathed the girl; “mebbyso I live -to fool Lawless and save um Pa-e-has-ka—mebbyso.”</p> - -<p>“What is it?” asked Dell wildly, following the scout -and Wah-coo-tah and listening to the seething roar.</p> - -<p>“<em>Nuzhee Mona, Nuzhee Mona!</em>” wailed Wah-coo-tah; -“him Rain Walker, Big Water, Flood!”</p> - -<p>“Ah!” muttered the scout: “there has been a cloud-burst -in the cañon, and the water is coming down on -us!”</p> - -<p>“No cloud-burst, Pa-e-has-ka,” said Wah-coo-tah huskily; -“<em>Nuzhee Mona</em> all same lake, close to cañon, high -up. Lawless him use giant-powder, blow away rock, let -<em>Nuzhee Mona</em> down into the cañon——”</p> - -<p>The girl broke off abruptly. They had reached the -shaft, and Wah-coo-tah, throwing herself down, tried to -pull a boulder away from the foot of the wall. The -task was too much for her strength.</p> - -<p>“Quick, Pa-e-has-ka!” she panted.</p> - -<p>The scout laid hold of the stone, Dell holding the -candle for him to see, and threw the stone to one side.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_184">[184]</span></p> - -<p>“See um iron?” gasped Wah-coo-tah. “My eyes all -same go blind, no can see.”</p> - -<p>Dell, her hands shaking under the menace of weird, -unknown perils, held the candle lower.</p> - -<p>“Here’s an iron bar, Wah-coo-tah!” cried the scout.</p> - -<p>The roar from the cañon was now so great that it -was necessary for him to raise his voice in order to be -heard.</p> - -<p>“Pull um bar, Pa-e-has-ka,” screamed Wah-coo-tah, -“<i lang="es" xml:lang="es">pronto, pronto</i>!”</p> - -<p>Seizing the bar with both hands, Buffalo Bill gave a -long, steady pull. A screech of rusted machinery followed, -and the bar gave slowly; and slowly, high up -toward the top of the shaft, a curtain of rock obtruded -itself across the well, and by degrees closed out the daylight.</p> - -<p>Then, when the bar would yield no more, and not a -ray of light came from above, Buffalo Bill took his -hands from the lever and straightened up.</p> - -<p>A swishing roar passed over their heads, and drops of -water trickled down on them.</p> - -<p>“Saved!” murmured Dell, leaning nervelessly against -the side of the shaft.</p> - -<p>“Aye,” said the scout, as the baffled waters thrashed -and tossed about the ore-dump, “saved in the nick of -time, and by a method I had not dreamed of. That -bar, Dell, works a rock curtain near the mouth of the -shaft. By pulling the bar, the curtain is shoved across -the opening, below the platform. When I first saw this -mine, I wondered if it was not in danger of being flooded -by a cloud-burst. In order to avoid the danger, it must -be that Lawless contrived the rock curtain. Was that -the way of it, Wah-coo-tah?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_185">[185]</span></p> - -<p>There was no answer from the Indian girl, and the -scout looked down, to discover that she had fallen in a -limp heap on the shaft bottom.</p> - -<p>“We have neglected her wound too long, Dell,” said -the scout. “She has fainted, I suppose, as she came so -near doing while we were on our way to the shaft. We -will get her back to the ‘drift’ and do what we can -for her.”</p> - -<p>Picking Wah-coo-tah up in his arms, Buffalo Bill carried -her back along the level and into the “drift.” -There she was laid down on the rocky floor, the scout’s -rolled-up coat serving as a pillow for her head.</p> - -<p>While Dell bathed the Indian girl’s face with water, -and chafed her temples, the scout was examining her -wound.</p> - -<p>“What do you think, Buffalo Bill?” Dell asked, as the -scout straightened up on his knees.</p> - -<p>“It’s a bad wound,” he answered, shaking his head. -“What the girl needs is a doctor, and there is not much -time to lose. And to think,” he added, in a fierce undertone, -“that it was her own father’s men who did this! -I always knew a squawman was pretty low down, but I -never thought him as mean as that.”</p> - -<p>With handkerchiefs and torn cloths they made shift -to get a bandage about Wah-coo-tah’s wound; then they -sat beside her and waited for her to recover consciousness.</p> - -<p>“She saved us,” said Dell tremulously, “and it may be -that she has given her life to do it.”</p> - -<p>“The girl has a good heart,” returned the scout, “and -you might wonder at that, considering what sort of a -father she had.”</p> - -<p>“This <em>Nuzhee Mona</em> is a lake, then?” asked Dell.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_186">[186]</span></p> - -<p>“I believe, now, that I have heard of such a lake, -but this is the first time I have connected that name -with it.”</p> - -<p>“I thought Wah-coo-tah said it was the name of an -Indian deity.”</p> - -<p>“All same,” came softly from the lips of Wah-coo-tah, -and the scout and Dell looked, to see that her eyes had -opened. “<em>Nuzhee Mona</em> all same god, Rain Walker, -Flood. You <i lang="es" xml:lang="es">sabe</i>?”</p> - -<p>“The god of the waters, Wah-coo-tah?” returned the -scout.</p> - -<p>“Ai,” she answered; “him god of waters and name -of lake, ’way up, alongside cañon. Lawless blow out -um rock, and let water come. Him think Pa-e-has-ka -no understand about rock door at top of shaft, and that -<em>Nuzhee Mona</em> come into mine, fill it, strangle scout. Ai, -ai! but we fool um. Lawless shoot Wah-coo-tah so she -no tell Pa-e-has-ka.”</p> - -<p>“Was it Lawless himself who fired that shot?” demanded -Buffalo Bill.</p> - -<p>“Ai. Me speak to um first.”</p> - -<p>“What did you say to him, Wah-coo-tah?”</p> - -<p>“Me say, let Pa-e-has-ka out through secret door with -Wah-coo-tah. If you no let us out, me say, Wah-coo-tah -show Pa-e-has-ka how to slide door across shaft. -That make Lawless heap mad, and he shoot. But we fool -um,” she crooned; “Pa-e-has-ka live, and we fool um -Lawless. Ah, ah!”</p> - -<p>“How do you feel, Wah-coo-tah?” the scout asked, -in a kindly tone.</p> - -<p>“Like pretty soon me go to better place, to the hunting-grounds -of all good Cheyennes.”</p> - -<p>“No, no, Wah-coo-tah,” whispered Dell, bending down<span class="pagenum" id="Page_187">[187]</span> -and taking one of the girl’s hands; “you are going to -get well. We shall take you to a doctor, at Sun Dance, -and he will cure you.”</p> - -<p>“You like Wah-coo-tah to get well?” the Indian girl -asked.</p> - -<p>“Yes, yes,” breathed Dell tearfully; “I want you to -live so I can prove to you that I am your friend, always -your friend.”</p> - -<p>“Mebbyso Yellow Hair talk with two tongues?”</p> - -<p>“No, Wah-coo-tah,” said Dell earnestly, “I never talk -with two tongues.”</p> - -<p>“Mebbyso; but Wah-coo-tah Injun. If she get well, -go back to Cheyennes, mebbyso her sold again to some -Injun she no like. Better Wah-coo-tah die, better Yellow -Hair stay with Pa-e-has-ka, be Pa-e-has-ka’s pard.”</p> - -<p>“Wah-coo-tah,” interposed the scout, “will Lawless -and his men stay in the other part of the mine?”</p> - -<p>“No; him leave when him think flood come. Him -think <em>Nuzhee Mona</em> come into other part of mine, too, -you <i lang="es" xml:lang="es">sabe</i>?”</p> - -<p>“Then we can get out through that secret door?”</p> - -<p>“Ai.”</p> - -<p>“The quicker we get out the quicker we can take -you to Sun Dance; and the quicker you get into the doctor’s -hands, the more chance there is of saving your -life.”</p> - -<p>Wah-coo-tah smiled a little at that.</p> - -<p>“You like to save Wah-coo-tah, but Wah-coo-tah no -care. Ou, di! Take me to secret door, Pa-e-has-ka. -Me show you how to get through.”</p> - -<p>Cody looked at Dell, and nodded. Thereupon Dell -picked up the candle, and the scout gathered the Indian -girl in his arms. With the coat under her arm, Dell led<span class="pagenum" id="Page_188">[188]</span> -the way along the level to the place where she and Buffalo -Bill had seen the glare breaking through the wall.</p> - -<p>Here the scout laid Wah-coo-tah down, took the -candle, and hunted over the wall for the crevice that -would mark the edge of the stone door. So cleverly -was the door fitted into the rock that it defied detection.</p> - -<p>“See um big black stone, Pa-e-has-ka?” Wah-coo-tah -asked, turning her head toward the wall.</p> - -<p>The scout saw the stone, and laid his hand on it.</p> - -<p>“Push,” said the girl.</p> - -<p>Cody made ready to use considerable strength, but -found that it was not necessary, for the big stone was -so nicely balanced that it yielded at a touch. The entire -stone swung outward, leaving a ragged gap two -feel wide by three feet in height. Beyond the gap was -darkness.</p> - -<p>“Lawless gone,” said Wah-coo-tah weakly; “all safe, -Pa-e-has-ka. We go on now. Go on till you see um -daylight.”</p> - -<p>“That’s our cue, Dell,” said the scout. “The outlaws -must all be gone. If water had come into the mine, the -flood would surely have forced the stone door and let -it into the secret level. Lawless and his men would -not dare to remain here. Take the candle, pard, and -lead the way.”</p> - -<p>After the scout had again taken Wah-coo-tah in his -arms, Dell picked up the coat and the candle and forced -her way through the secret door.</p> - -<p>The passage in which the scout and Dell found themselves -ran at right angles with the main level. It was -no larger than the passage they had left, but presently -it opened out and formed a sort of chamber.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_189">[189]</span></p> - -<p>In this chamber there were evidences that both men -and horses had recently made the place a rendezvous.</p> - -<p>“Horses in a mine!” exclaimed the scout. “I wonder -how Lawless got the animals down here?”</p> - -<p>“Plenty soon you find um out, Pa-e-has-ka,” murmured -Wah-coo-tah.</p> - -<p>After leaving the wide part of the passage, the bore -narrowed to its original dimensions, and the floor took -the form of a slope.</p> - -<p>“We’re climbing!” exclaimed Dell.</p> - -<p>“This secret shaft is an incline,” returned the scout. -“It’s clear, now, how the horses got down here. I’m -beginning to understand, too, how it was that Lawless -and his men disappeared so mysteriously that time we -thought we had chased them out of the cañon. All -they did, then, was to ride to the top of this incline and -hide themselves away in the underground workings of -the Forty Thieves.”</p> - -<p>It was a long climb they had to the top of the subterranean -slope; but after a while they saw a glow of -daylight ahead of them. The glow brightened and -brightened, until they came out of the inclined shaft and -stood upon a brush-grown shelf jutting out from the -cañon wall. Here the scout put down his burden, and -all of them rested and filled their lungs with the pure -outdoor air.</p> - -<p>“I never expected to get out of that hole alive,” said -the scout. “If I had known more about the mine than -I did, I should not have been so brash about going into -it; but who’d ever have expected to find such a layout of -secret passages and inclined shafts? Lawless did a good -deal of dead work hunting for that lost vein.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_190">[190]</span></p> - -<p>“If we only knew where Nomad and Wild Bill were,” -said Dell, “I should feel easier in my mind.”</p> - -<p>The scout’s brow clouded.</p> - -<p>“Of course Lawless and his men took them along -when they left the mine.” The scout turned to Wah-coo-tah. -“Where would Lawless be apt to go from here, -Wah-coo-tah?” he asked.</p> - -<p>“Mebbyso to Medicine Bluff,” the girl answered.</p> - -<p>“Then, as soon as I get you to Sun Dance, I’m going -to pick up a few men and ride post-haste for Medicine -Bluff. I can’t believe that Lawless would put -Nomad and Wild Bill out of the way; still, a scoundrel -who would shoot his own daughter would be capable -of anything.”</p> - -<p>“He would!” averred Dell fervently. “I’m worried -about Nomad and Wild Bill, and we must ride for -Medicine Bluff as soon as we can.”</p> - -<p>“I wonder just where we are?” said the scout, getting -to his feet and pushing through the bushes to the edge -of the shelf.</p> - -<p>Dell did not follow but remained beside Wah-coo-tah.</p> - -<p>“You tell Wah-coo-tah,” said the Indian girl, as soon -as they were alone, “that you leave Pa-e-has-ka as soon -as Wah-coo-tah get you out of mine; and you say,” the -girl added sharply, “that you no talk with the double -tongue.”</p> - -<p>“If you insist that I leave the scout and his pards,” -said Dell, “I will. I have a ranch in Arizona, and my -mother is there. I intended to leave my pards very -soon, anyway, but I should like to stay with them until -Lawless is captured and forced to pay the penalty of his -crimes.”</p> - -<p>“You go then?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_191">[191]</span></p> - -<p>“Yes.”</p> - -<p>“Then Wah-coo-tah glad you stay. Mebbyso Yellow -Hair got good heart, and Wah-coo-tah got bad heart? -<i lang="es" xml:lang="es">Quien sabe?</i>”</p> - -<p>“No, no, Wah-coo-tah,” whispered Dell, “you’ve got -a good heart, and you’re a brave girl; only there are -some things you don’t understand.”</p> - -<p>She took the girl’s hand, bent over, and touched her -lips to her forehead. Wah-coo-tah’s eyes softened under -the caress.</p> - -<p>“Me no hate you any more,” the Indian girl whispered. -“Wah-coo-tah all same Yellow Hair’s friend.”</p> - -<p>Just then the scout came back from the edge of the -shelf and noticed, with much satisfaction, the friendliness -of the two girls toward each other.</p> - -<p>“We’re on a little ledge, half-way up the cañon wall,” -he announced. “From the edge of the shelf I could look -down on the ore-dump and shaft of the Forty Thieves. -The flood has been ’way over the top of the dump, for -the platform, and the stones are dripping wet, but the -water is receding rapidly.”</p> - -<p>“How are we to get away from here?” asked Dell.</p> - -<p>“There’s a bridle-path to the top of the cañon and -another one to the bottom, but I think we had better get -out by the top of the cañon and take that route to Sun -Dance. There’s no telling how much water we would -find between here and the camp if we tried to follow the -bottom of the gulch. Our first move must be to get the -horses from the gully. I suppose it will be best to -leave you here, Dell, to stay with Wah-coo-tah, while -I go for the horses.”</p> - -<p>“I will take care of Wah-coo-tah, pard,” returned<span class="pagenum" id="Page_192">[192]</span> -Dell, pressing the Indian girl’s hand affectionately as -she spoke. “You ought to find Cayuse in the gully.”</p> - -<p>“Wherever the horses are, I think I am pretty certain -to find the boy. Whenever he is told to do a thing, -he generally does it, so I feel confident he has stayed -with the live stock. I won’t be gone long,” the scout -added, as he took to the bridle-path and began the -ascent.</p> - -<p>In mounting to the top of the cañon the scout was -able to observe below him the extent of the flood which -had been turned into the defile by the blasting operations -of Captain Lawless.</p> - -<p>A line on the opposite wall of the gulch showed him -the height the water had reached, and indicated how -quickly the Forty Thieves would have been flooded had -not the curtain of rock been thrown across the top of -the shaft.</p> - -<p>He shivered as his imagination pictured the plight of -Dell and Wah-coo-tah and himself, down in the level, -with the water pouring in upon them, and Lawless and -his men keeping them back from the secret door with -their rifles.</p> - -<p>“It’s a long road that has no turning,” thought the -scout grimly, “and Lawless has run up a score which I -shall call upon him to settle. When I am done with -him, I shall come back to the Forty Thieves and stay -out the three consecutive days and nights; then, when I -have earned the deed, I shall turn the property over to -Wah-coo-tah—if she lives; and if she does not live, -then it shall go to Wah-coo-tah’s mother, the Cheyenne -woman.”</p> - -<p>This procedure was strictly in line with the scout’s -generous nature. As for staying in Sun Dance Cañon<span class="pagenum" id="Page_193">[193]</span> -and developing the Forty Thieves, the very thought of it -brought a smile to his lips.</p> - -<p>He could not imagine himself turning from the free -life of the plains and mountains to the narrow confines -of a mine and the life of a miner.</p> - -<p>First, however, he must trail down Captain Lawless -and rescue old Nomad and Wild Bill. He would not -allow himself to suppose that Lawless would deal cold-bloodedly -with his pards, and thought only of pursuing -the outlaw to Medicine Bluff and effecting a rescue.</p> - -<p>While he was climbing upward, and turning these matters -over in his mind, he little dreamed that within a few -minutes Chance was to strike one more unexpected note -in the odd tune she had recently been playing for his -benefit.</p> - -<p>Yet so it fell out when, presently, Buffalo Bill stepped -from the path he had been following onto level ground at -the brink of the cañon.</p> - -<p>What he saw first was a dead Cheyenne; beyond the -Cheyenne was a group consisting of five men and a boy. -The men were in close and animated conversation, and -did not see the scout.</p> - -<p>To his amazement, the scout discovered that two of -the men were Nomad and Wild Bill; the other three were -Lonesome Pete, Hank Tenny, and Henry Blake. The -boy, of course, was Cayuse.</p> - -<p>“Buffler has been my pard fer many a year,” old Nomad -was saying, in a husky voice, “an’ I was hopin’, -when he cashed in, thet fate might let the pair o’ us be -standin’ shoulder ter shoulder, so thet we both mout -begin ther long trail tergether. I’ve never felt wuss in -my life than what I does this minit, Buffler!” and the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_194">[194]</span> -old trapper lifted his face skyward, “whyever didn’t ye -wait fer yer old pard Nick?”</p> - -<p>“How long do you want me to wait, Nick?” called the -scout.</p> - -<p>For an instant the entire group seemed paralyzed; then -Nomad turned slowly around, stared for a moment, let off -a cry that was half-joy and half-consternation, and -galloped toward the scout with both hands outstretched.</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_195">[195]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XVII">CHAPTER XVII.<br /> -<span class="fs70">THE TURN OF FORTUNE’S WHEEL.</span></h2> -</div> - -<p>“Kin I believe my eyes?” roared Nomad, as, gripping -both the scout’s hands, he stood staring into his -face. “Is et shorely my pard, Buffler, as I had given up -as drowned like er rat in er trap down thar in ther -Forty Thieves? Howlin’ hyeners! Why, his clothes -ain’t even wet! Say, what new brand o’ Cody-luck was -flashed on ye at this hyer turn o’ fortune’s wheel? Tell -me, pard!”</p> - -<p>“Tell us all,” chimed in Wild Bill, as he and the rest -crowded around the scout; “we want to know, Cody.”</p> - -<p>“Fortune’s wheel has turned queerly for all of us,” -answered the scout, “but I think we’d better put off our -explanations until some more favorable time—over some -more of that maverick steer at the Lucky Strike, for instance. -Eh, Blake?”</p> - -<p>“I’m eating that steer with a good deal o’ relish,” -grinned Blake. “If you say so, Buffalo Bill, we’ll wait -till then.”</p> - -<p>“Where Yellow Hair, Pa-e-has-ka?” asked Little -Cayuse.</p> - -<p>“She’s safe, boy,” answered the scout. “What have -you done with the horses?”</p> - -<p>“They’re safe, too, Buffler,” spoke up Lonesome Pete.</p> - -<p>“Everybody seems to be safe,” smiled the scout, “with -the exception of Blake. What ails your wrist?” he -added to the miner.</p> - -<p>“Exchanged tokens of esteem with Lawless,” explained<span class="pagenum" id="Page_196">[196]</span> -Blake; “I put a bullet inter his shoulder, an’ he -recippercated by puttin’ another across my wrist. Not -much more’n a scratch, howsumever, but I’m almost -willing to bet I’ve put Lawless down an’ out.”</p> - -<p>“Too good ter be true,” muttered Nomad.</p> - -<p>“Talking about bein’ safe,” said Hank Tenny, “ye -come within one o’ losin’ yer Piute pard, Buffler Bill.”</p> - -<p>“How’s that? Did Lawless have a try at him?”</p> - -<p>“Nary. Cayuse, thinkin’ you was wiped out, sung a -leetle death-song all fer himself. Ef Pete, thar, hadn’t -been quick, Cayuse would have put a knife into his own -breast.”</p> - -<p>The scout turned and looked at the boy. Their eyes -met, and what passed between them will never be known, -but the scout reached out a kindly hand, drew the boy -toward him and patted him on the shoulder.</p> - -<p>“Cayuse would do a lot for Pa-e-has-ka,” said he, “and -he knows Pa-e-has-ka would do a lot for him; but when -Pa-e-has-ka takes the long trail, as some time he must, he -does not want to think that Cayuse will sing his death-song -and follow. This life was made to live as long -as we can; then, when our time comes to quit it, to pass -out like brave men who have fought well and are willing -to go.</p> - -<p>“But,” and here the scout turned briskly away, -“enough of this. Wah-coo-tah is on the shelf, below the -brink of the cañon, and Dell is with her——”</p> - -<p>“Wah-coo-tah?” exclaimed Nomad.</p> - -<p>“Yes—she was the ‘spirit,’ Nick, who spoke to us from -the cellar of the Alcazar, and she may become a spirit -in reality if something is not done for her very soon. -She was shot, by Lawless himself, in the level of the -Forty Thieves.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_197">[197]</span></p> - -<p>“By Lawless!” echoed Wild Bill angrily. “There’s a -hound for you. His own daughter, <i lang="es" xml:lang="es">amigos</i>.”</p> - -<p>“Lawless is capable of anything,” went on the scout; -“but just now that is neither here nor there. Dell and -I were in the level and it was Wah-coo-tah who saved -our lives. She must be taken as soon as possible to Sun -Dance. Is there a doctor there, or shall we have to take -her to Montegordo?”</p> - -<p>“Gentleman Jim,” said Hank Tenny, “is a better man -with the surgeon’s knife and with medicine than he is -with the keerds. He ampertated Gusty Williams’ leg, -thet time a blast went off an’ smashed it, an’ he——”</p> - -<p>“Gentleman Jim will do, anyhow, until we can get -another doctor from Montegordo. But we need the -horses. Is it possible to get them up here from the -gully?”</p> - -<p>“Wuh!” said Little Cayuse.</p> - -<p>“He means,” said Pete, “thet we kin git the critters -up the same way us fellers come. But it’ll be a scramble.”</p> - -<p>“We’ll do it, though,” declared Hank Tenny. “Leave -the scout with his pards, boys, an’ we’ll go arter the -hosses.”</p> - -<p>Blake, Tenny, Pete, and Cayuse started off among the -boulders toward the point where the gully entered the -cañon. Blake assured Cayuse it wouldn’t be necessary -for him to go along, but Cayuse would let no one besides -himself do anything with Navi.</p> - -<p>“While the horses are coming, pards,” said the scout -to Nomad and Wild Bill, “we might go down to the -shelf and bring up Wah-coo-tah. Two of us can carry -her up easier than she could ride.”</p> - -<p>“Thet’s the tork,” seconded Nomad.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_198">[198]</span></p> - -<p>They descended to the shelf and broke through the -brush before the astounded eyes of Dell Dauntless.</p> - -<p>“Why—why——” the girl faltered, “is that really you, -Nomad? And Wild Bill, too! Oh, what luck! Where -did you find them, pard?” and she shifted her gaze to -the scout.</p> - -<p>“I found them on top of the cañon wall,” answered -the scout, “and Nick, there, was in a complaining -mood.”</p> - -<p>“Shucks, Buffler,” muttered Nomad.</p> - -<p>“He was complaining because I had crossed the divide -without taking him along,” smiled the scout. “How is -Wah-coo-tah?”</p> - -<p>“Me all right,” spoke up Wah-coo-tah for herself.</p> - -<p>“She’s far from all right, Buffalo Bill,” said Dell. -“I’m anxious to get her where she can receive medical -aid.”</p> - -<p>“It won’t be long now until we have her in Sun -Dance,” returned the scout. “Cayuse, Lonesome Pete, -Hank Tenny, and Henry Blake have gone to bring the -horses from the gully.”</p> - -<p>“Cayuse is all right, too?” cried Dell.</p> - -<p>“Chipper as a cricket,” said Wild Bill. “All he needed -to make him a happy Indian was a glimpse of the scout, -alive and hearty. Cayuse has had it, and he’s feeling -fine, thank you. And we hope,” he added, turning a -sympathetic glance upon Wah-coo-tah, “that you will -soon be feeling fine, too. You’ve done a heap for the -scout and Dell—Cody has told us about it—and the whole -possé of us feel like we couldn’t do enough for you. -We’re going to carry you up the hill, Nomad and me, -so you’ll be able to travel just as soon as the horses -come along.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_199">[199]</span></p> - -<p>“You plenty good to Injun girl,” said Wah-coo-tah.</p> - -<p>Never before in her whole life, perhaps, had she -been treated with such consideration. The lot of an -Indian woman is a hard one, from the very time she begins -it, on a papoose-board, until she leaves it, and is -wrapped in her best blanket and hoisted into some tree, -or buried deep under a pile of rocks.</p> - -<p>Lifting Wah-coo-tah gently, old Nomad and Wild Bill -carried her up the steep path, taking care to make the -journey as comfortable for her as possible.</p> - -<p>When they reached the top of the wall, Cayuse, Pete, -Tenny, and Blake were coming with the horses. Bear -Paw threw up his head and whinnied at the sight of the -scout, and Navi, Cayuse’s pinto, and Silver Heels, Dell’s -white cayuse, likewise seemed to recognize their owners; -but Hide-rack, Nomad’s mount, didn’t seem to care -a particle whether his owner was around or not.</p> - -<p>“Pizen old critter, anyway,” said Nomad. “Honest, -he’s so plumb full o’ pizen ye kin scrape strychnin off’n -his neck with er shingle. But he’s so blame indiff’rent -ter me thet I like him fer et. Et shows character; an’ I -ain’t got no tender feelin’s when I gives him er wallopin’. -Whoa, ye onnery, knock-kneed, gangle-legged -ole speciment, you! Ye’ll never know how nigh ye come -ter losin’ me, an’ I reckon ye don’t keer. But hyar I -am, big as life, so don’t ye git sassy.”</p> - -<p>As soon as Buffalo Bill was astride Bear Paw, he took -Wah-coo-tah up in front of him.</p> - -<p>The return to Sun Dance was then begun.</p> - -<p>For a time the riders picked their way along the rim -of the cañon among the boulders; then, striking the -Montegordo trail, they had a better course, and rode -faster.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_200">[200]</span></p> - -<p>From time to time the trail gave them glimpses of the -bottom of the cañon. The flood had almost entirely -subsided, save in one place where the down-grade struck -the rise that continued to the foot of the “flat” on which -the mining-camp was perched. In the low place a lake -had formed, extending for a mile up and down the -gulch.</p> - -<p>“Lucky thar wasn’t any placer-miners at work in -this part o’ ther gulch,” remarked Blake. “Ef thar had -been, they’d hev had little chance o’ escapin’ with their -lives.”</p> - -<p>“The flood never got very clost ter Sun Dance,” observed -Tenny. “The old gulch is too much up an’ -down; thar ain’t no decent river as would run through -it.”</p> - -<p>“I reckon <em>Nuzhee Mona</em> Lake is down some,” said -Pete. “It couldn’t lose all thet water without feelin’ it. -I’ve thought, fer a long time, thar’d be doin’s if anythin’ -ever happened ter thet wedge o’ stone thet kept -it out o’ the cañon. I don’t reckon all the wedge was -blowed out, kase if the hull lake had spilled over it -would make more of a showin’.”</p> - -<p>“It made a big enough showin’ ter suit me,” said -Tenny. “When I seen thet wall o’ water rushin’ at -me, I went over my ‘Now I lay mes’ for’ard, back’ard, -an’ sideways.”</p> - -<p>“An’ scramble!” cried Pete; “gee, man, how us huskies -scrambled fer thet gully. Oh, I reckon, arter all, thar -was water enough.”</p> - -<p>Half an hour later the horsemen filed down the cañon -top toward the camp of Sun Dance.</p> - -<p>“Last time I traveled this hyer road,” said Blake, “I -didn’t know a thing about it.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_201">[201]</span></p> - -<p>“An’ ye wouldn’t never hev knowed a thing about it -if it hadn’t ’a’ been fer Dell Dauntless,” spoke up Tenny.</p> - -<p>“As I said afore, an’ now say ag’in,” said Blake, turning -in his saddle and removing his sombrero—a new one, -recently purchased at the place where he had secured his -six-shooters—“I take off my hat to Dell Dauntless.”</p> - -<p>“We all do that,” added Wild Bill, “and likewise to -Wah-coo-tah.”</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_202">[202]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XVIII">CHAPTER XVIII.<br /> -<span class="fs70">THE ROUND-UP AT SPANGLER’S.</span></h2> -</div> - -<p>Wah-coo-tah was taken to the Lucky Strike Hotel -and placed in Dell’s room; the room from which, one -night not long before, she had taken French leave. Nomad -stopped at the Alcazar and summoned Gentleman -Jim.</p> - -<p>Cayuse, Pete, Blake, and Tenny took care of the -horses, and Buffalo Bill, Wild Bill, and Dell sat in Dell’s -room and waited anxiously for Gentleman Jim to come.</p> - -<p>When he arrived, which he did in a very few moments, -he carried a professional-looking grip.</p> - -<p>“Your three days are not up yet, Buffalo Bill,” said -Gentleman Jim, with a smile.</p> - -<p>“I’m going back to the Forty Thieves to-morrow,” -returned the scout, “to finish them up. I didn’t know you -were a doctor, Gentleman Jim.”</p> - -<p>Something of a sad expression crossed the gambler’s -face.</p> - -<p>“I used to be a doctor back East,” he answered, and -turned to the cot where Wah-coo-tah was lying.</p> - -<p>The scout knew, as did every one else in Sun Dance -Cañon, that Gentleman Jim’s past held a story—and not -a particularly pleasant story, either. But just what that -story was no living man had ever heard from the gambler’s -lips.</p> - -<p>Gentleman Jim’s soft, white hands moved about Wah-coo-tah -with almost womanly tenderness. After he had<span class="pagenum" id="Page_203">[203]</span> -made a brief examination, he opened the satchel and took -out an instrument-case.</p> - -<p>“I shall hurt you a little, Wah-coo-tah,” said he, “but -it can’t be helped. You can bear it without taking anything -to smother the pain?”</p> - -<p>“Ai,” said the girl; “me used to pain; me stand um, -all right.”</p> - -<p>For two or three minutes the probe was deep in the -wound, and all the time Dell held Wah-coo-tah’s hands -and soothed her with gentle words. At last Gentleman -Jim straightened up and dropped a small piece of lead -on the table.</p> - -<p>“That is what did the harm,” said he. “Now we will -dress and bandage the wound, and I think Wah-coo-tah -will get along well enough.”</p> - -<p>“There is no danger?” asked Dell.</p> - -<p>“There is always danger of blood-poisoning in a case -like this, but I think in Wah-coo-tah’s case the danger is -quite remote.”</p> - -<p>Wing Hi was pounding his supper-gong when Gentleman -Jim finally finished his work, and left the Lucky -Strike.</p> - -<p>“She’ll get well, Buffalo Bill,” he said to the scout, -as he passed through the office.</p> - -<p>“I’m glad of that,” answered the scout. “I’m going -to get a deed to that mine, Jim, and turn it over to -Wah-coo-tah.”</p> - -<p>“That would be like you, Cody,” the gambler said.</p> - -<p>This favorable news concerning Wah-coo-tah put the -scout and his pards into an agreeable mood, and when -they “sat in” at their table, in the dining-room, that -evening, they were in the best of spirits. Dell was not -with them, as she preferred to take her supper in her<span class="pagenum" id="Page_204">[204]</span> -room, where she could be with Wah-coo-tah; but Lonesome -Pete, Hank Tenny, and Henry Blake were of -the supper-party, and the fresh meat was heartily enjoyed.</p> - -<p>As on another occasion when the scout and his pards -had returned from a conflict with Captain Lawless and -his followers, the meal was made the occasion for an -exchange of experiences, to the end that the tangled -skein of events might be set right in everybody’s mind, -and thoroughly understood.</p> - -<p>Buffalo Bill led off with the contents of the envelope -Blake had brought into camp in such an unusual manner, -following it up with the talk in the Alcazar, and the -voice of warning that had come from the cellar; then -he followed the recital down to where he and his pards -had reached the mine, and he and Wild Bill and Nomad -had gone into the shaft, leaving Cayuse and Dell to take -care of the horses.</p> - -<p>“You were the first one to disappear, Nick,” the scout -said, at this point, “so you had better tell us what happened -to you.”</p> - -<p>“Waal, et happened so pesky quick thet what I recomember -is sort o’ hazy,” said the old trapper. “You had -jest been through ther level, Buffler, an’ ye said thar -wasn’t any one down thar but us. When I drapped ther -truck I had kerried from ther shaft, I moseyed off toward -ther breast o’ ther level with my candle. I hadn’t gone -fur, afore a hole opened up in ther wall alongside o’ me, -an’ a light shot out thet made my candle look like er glow-worm -alongside of er locomotive head-light. Nacherly -I let off er yell; then I was grabbed afore I could use -my fists er guns, an’ snaked inter another part o’ ther -mine.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_205">[205]</span></p> - -<p>“Mebby I wasn’t surprised when Lawless looked down -at me an’ told er couple o’ Cheyennes how ter tie me -so’st I couldn’t move. Arter I was in thet condition -I was snaked off ter a place whar the level was wider, -and whar thar was some hosses, an’ left thar ter commune -with myself.</p> - -<p>“Next thing I knowed Wild Bill was dragged alongside -er me ter keep me comp’ny. He told o’ the fight -you an’ him had had, an’ how he didn’t know but mebby -you mout be killed, Buffler. While he was sayin’ thet, -Lawless yelps out from somewhere thet ye wasn’t killed, -but thet ye was goin’ ter be some time along erbout sunrise.</p> - -<p>“Arter thet not er bloomin’ thing happened ter Wild -Bill an’ me till we was loaded onter cayuses behind -them Cheyenne bucks, an’ kerried up ter ther top o’ ther -gulch wall. I knowed them onnery outlaws had er mortgage -on my skelp, an’ I was expectin’ ’em ter foreclose -any ole minit, so ye kin imagine how surprised I was -when Pete, Tenny, Blake, an’ Cayuse leaped out from -behind the rocks an’ purceeded ter make things interestin’. -I reckon thet’s all o’ et, so fur’s I’m mixed in -ther scrimmage.”</p> - -<p>“And you’ve told my part of it, Nick,” said Wild Bill. -“Knocked down in that fight Buffalo Bill and I was -having, my wits took a vacation. When they got back -again I was alongside of you, in the other part of the -mine.”</p> - -<p>“Now it’s up to you, Cayuse,” said the scout. “We’ll -get all these fag-ends bunched together, and then I’ll finish -off with what happened to Dell and me.”</p> - -<p>Cayuse was more gifted with the hand-talk than he -was with English. He was extremely brief, but his information—concerning,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_206">[206]</span> -as it did, the letting loose of the -waters of the lake—was most valuable.</p> - -<p>“He don’t star hisself none,” commented Hank Tenny, -“but I bet ye he was a hull lot of a hero, all the same.”</p> - -<p>“He always is,” said the scout.</p> - -<p>“Me lose um gun,” mourned Little Cayuse.</p> - -<p>“I’ll get you another, boy, silver-mounted,” said the -scout, and Cayuse’s eyes sparkled.</p> - -<p>The scout now plunged into the run of events, and -wound up the recital.</p> - -<p>“Ain’t et astonishin’ what things kin happen ter a -feller?” remarked Nomad, who had been neglecting his -meal to listen, open-mouthed, to his pard’s yarn; “an’ -ain’t Buffler ther boy ter git things ter comin’ his way, -right in ther nick? Jest s’posin’, now, anythin’ had gone -wrong with thet thar stone curtain at ther top o’ ther -shaft. Why, ef thar had, us fellers could hev gone -fishin’ in ther Forty Thieves.”</p> - -<p>“Fishing for <em>me</em>,” added the scout grimly.</p> - -<p>“By gorry, yes!” exclaimed Wild Bill. “But the rock -curtain worked like a charm, the flood covered the ore-dump, -and rippled over the top of the curtain, and Buffalo -Bill, Dell, and Wah-coo-tah were as dry as if they -had been here in the Lucky Strike. A little thing now -and then makes a heap of difference in the run of -events.”</p> - -<p>“It was a lucky thing for Cayuse,” spoke up the scout, -“that Tenny, Blake, and Pete took it into their heads to -ride down the gulch. If they hadn’t—— Well, I don’t -like to think of what might have happened if Tenny’s -rope hadn’t helped Cayuse into the mouth of the gully. -I don’t know how Buffalo Bill & Company could get<span class="pagenum" id="Page_207">[207]</span> -along and do a successful business without their Piute -pard.”</p> - -<p>“Ugh,” grunted Cayuse; “Pa-e-has-ka make Piute boy -feel like squaw with string of glass beads.”</p> - -<p>“Ye’re a desarvin’ little feller,” said Hank Tenny, -“an’ I’d be tickled ter death ef I had ye fer a pard o’ -mine. But you must like the scout er heap er ye -wouldn’t hev tried ter tag arter him on the long trail.”</p> - -<p>Cayuse bent his head and made no reply to this. Nor -did the scout make any comment. What each felt was -locked in his own breast.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>True to his word, on the following day the scout, Wild -Bill, and Nomad returned to the mine and hived themselves -up in it for three days and nights. They beguiled -the time with “seven-up.”</p> - -<p>Nothing went wrong with them at all, and Dell rode -out every day to report how Wah-coo-tah was getting -along. The Indian girl continued steadily to improve.</p> - -<p>While at the mine the mechanism that worked the -“rock curtain” was examined by the pards and found to -be very cleverly contrived. They all decided that it had -been placed in the shaft for the purpose the scout had -already supposed, viz: to keep out of the mine any floods -that might come down from above.</p> - -<p>When the scout and his pards returned to Sun Dance, -the scout took his deed, made out another in the name -of Wah-coo-tah Lawless, and sent both to Montegordo -to be recorded. He did this with the entire approval of -all his pards.</p> - -<p>“And now,” said Wild Bill, when the deed had been -duly executed, recorded, and delivered, “we still have -Lawless to find and lay by the heels.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_208">[208]</span></p> - -<p>“We can’t make any plans about that,” answered the -scout, “until we learn whether Lawless got over the effects -of Blake’s bullet or not.”</p> - -<p>“That’s so,” agreed Wild Bill, “but I’m hoping for the -best.”</p> - -<p>Just what he meant by “the best” he did not explain.</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_209">[209]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XIX">CHAPTER XIX.<br /> -<span class="fs70">THE STAGE FROM MONTEGORDO.</span></h2> -</div> - -<p>“What’s yer name, anyhow?” asked Lonesome Pete.</p> - -<p>The man in the “boiled” shirt, the red vest, and the -tight trousers coughed and looked embarrassed.</p> - -<p>“I almost hate to tell you,” said he.</p> - -<p>“Whoa-up, thar, yeh gangle-legged Piute!” yelled -Chick Billings, the stage-driver, reaching for the off-leader -with his whip-lash. “Calls hisself a hoss, that -critter does,” he added to Pete and the stranger; “but -he acts more like a blame’ coyote.”</p> - -<p>“Thar’s a hull lot o’ folks out hyer as kinder fergits -what their names useter be,” went on Pete, addressing -the stranger. “A feller’s got a right ter change his -name when he crosses the Missoury, comin’ West, if so -be he thinks proper.”</p> - -<p>“Not me—not on your life!” exclaimed the stranger -hastily. “My record is clear——”</p> - -<p>“Every ole hardshell in these parts, some on ’em with -half a dozen notches, ’ll say that,” cut in Pete, with -considerable sarcasm.</p> - -<p>The stranger laughed. He had a pink-and-white complexion, -and his laugh was mixed up with a vivid blush.</p> - -<p>“Sakes alive!” muttered Pete dismally. “If ye had -on a sunbunnit, ye’d look like er schoolgal.”</p> - -<p>“You see,” and the stranger’s laugh became a trifle -more masculine, “my name is Reginald——”</p> - -<p>“Wow!” grunted Pete.</p> - -<p>“De Bray, Reginald de Bray,” finished the speaker.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_210">[210]</span> -“I don’t think there’s much in a name, you know, but -everybody out in this country sort of pokes fun at mine.”</p> - -<p>Lonesome Pete threw back his head, filled his lungs -with air, and released his voice with a roaring “He-haw, -he-haw!” after the fashion of a restive mule.</p> - -<p>Chick Billings laughed.</p> - -<p>Reginald de Bray pulled a little note-book from his -pocket and made a mark in it with a lead-pencil.</p> - -<p>“What’s that fur?” asked Chick Billings.</p> - -<p>“I’m just keeping track,” answered the young man -softly, as he put away the pencil and the book.</p> - -<p>“Keepin’ track o’ what?” asked Lonesome Pete distrustfully.</p> - -<p>“Why, of the number of times that ‘he-haw’ racket -has been worked on me when I’ve told my name. Your -performance was the thirty-sixth time.”</p> - -<p>Reginald de Bray heaved a long breath of patient -resignation.</p> - -<p>The Montegordo stage—which was nothing more than -a mountain-wagon drawn by four horses—was well on -the road to Sun Dance.</p> - -<p>Pete and De Bray were riding with the driver. On -the seat behind was a woman—a slender figure of a -woman she was, with her face closely veiled. The -woman’s seatmate was a rough-and-ready miner named -Hotchkiss.</p> - -<p>The seat behind the woman and Hotchkiss was occupied -by Little Cayuse.</p> - -<p>These six—the driver, Pete, De Bray, the woman, -Hotchkiss, and the Indian boy—comprised the load. -Around the Indian was heaped a carpetbag, two grips, -and a mail-pouch.</p> - -<p>The woman had not spoken a word since leaving<span class="pagenum" id="Page_211">[211]</span> -Montegordo. Hotchkiss was almost as silent, being -thoughtful and busying himself with his pipe. The Indian -was like a graven image, so far as talking was -concerned; but, unlike an image, nothing in his vicinity -escaped his keen eyes and ears.</p> - -<p>Conversation was confined entirely to the three on the -driver’s seat.</p> - -<p>“Ho-hum!” yawned Lonesome Pete, stretching his -long arms. “This hyer ride is plumb tiresome. <em>Mister</em> -De Bray,” he added, with elaborate politeness, “the sight -o’ such a gent as yerself, in these parts, is almost as -uncommon as the sight of a lady,” and his eyes shifted -over his shoulder significantly. “Mind tellin’ what yer -bizness is in this section?”</p> - -<p>“Just looking around the West, that’s all,” replied -Reginald de Bray buoyantly.</p> - -<p>“Ain’t seen much of it yit, hev ye?”</p> - -<p>“Just started.”</p> - -<p>“So I reckoned,” muttered Lonesome Pete. “Them -clothes o’ your’n is a danger-signal. A real collar an’ a -b’iled shirt, say nothin’ of a red vest, is purty nigh a -death-warrant fer a man in these parts. The cimiroons -what inhabit this hyer waste don’t like sich displays. As -soon as we git ter Sun Dance, I’d advise ye ter duck -inter a store an’ git inter a rig less noticeable.”</p> - -<p>“Why—why,” fluttered De Bray, “I hadn’t any idea -that—that——”</p> - -<p>“Course ye didn’t,” interrupted Lonesome Pete soothingly. -“Ye’re plumb tender in the feet, an’ yer clothes -give ye away. Arter takin’ yer sizin’, the hull camp -would want ter hev fun with ye, an’ ye kin bank on it -that it ’u’d be rough fun.”</p> - -<p>“I heard that Mr. Buffalo Bill was in Sun Dance,”<span class="pagenum" id="Page_212">[212]</span> -said De Bray, “and I have long wanted to meet him. -That’s principally why I came this way from Montegordo.”</p> - -<p>“He’s thar, all right,” said Pete. “That’s one o’ his -pards on the back seat—Leetle Cayuse, they calls him.”</p> - -<p>“By Jove!” muttered De Bray, turning squarely around -and staring in awe at the Piute boy. “I’ve heard of -that Indian,” he went on, facing about. “He don’t look -very dangerous, though, does he?”</p> - -<p>“He’s retirin’, an’ about the size of a minner, when -thar’s nothin’ doin’, but when he digs up the hatchet an’ -hits the war-path, he looks like er whale.”</p> - -<p>“Is Dauntless Dell in Sun Dance, too?”</p> - -<p>“Big as life! An’ Nick Nomad is thar, an’ likewise -Wild Bill.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, oh!” murmured Reginald de Bray, in a spasm of -excitement. “I wonder if the king of scouts would take -my little hand in his and lead me off to where the reds -and the white outlaws are thickest? Do you think he -would?”</p> - -<p>There was something in the words that brought Pete’s -eyes with a start to the tenderfoot’s face.</p> - -<p>“Give it up,” said Pete gruffly. “’Pears ter me, <em>Mister</em> -De Bray, that the best place fer you is behind a -bomb-proof shelter some’r’s. S’posin’, now, we was ter -meet up with a lot o’ highwaymen? S’posin’ they was -ter come out from behind the rocks, reg’lar fire-eatin’ -handy-boys that ye dassen’t say ‘No’ to. How’d ye like -<em>that</em>?”</p> - -<p>“Br-r-r!” shivered Reginald de Bray. “You—you -don’t think there’s any chance of that happening, do -you?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_213">[213]</span></p> - -<p>“As long as that pirate, Cap’n Lawless, is loose in the -country, anything’s li’ble ter happen.”</p> - -<p>The woman on the seat behind leaned forward, and -asked, with some apprehension:</p> - -<p>“Robbers? Is it possible, sir, that we shall meet with -any?”</p> - -<p>“I don’t want to alarm ye none, madam,” answered -Lonesome Pete, who was merely talking for the effect -his words would have on De Bray, “so don’t take what -I say too much ter heart.”</p> - -<p>“I have a hundred dollars with me,” faltered the -woman, “and—and if I do not find the—the person I -am looking for in Sun Dance, I shall have to use the -money to take me to some other place. It would be -hard for a woman to find herself without funds in this -dreary country!”</p> - -<p>“That’s so!” averred Lonesome Pete sympathetically.</p> - -<p>“Pete, thar, is only gassin’,” struck in Hotchkiss, -knocking the ashes from his pipe and slowly filling it -again, “He’s tryin’ ter string the Easterner, mum, so -don’t be in a takin’.”</p> - -<p>“But my money!” murmured the woman. “I believe -I will hide it, just to be on the safe side.”</p> - -<p>“I’ve got a hundred dollars, too,” said Reginald de -Bray. “When I get through looking around in Sun -Dance, and travel back to Montegordo, there’ll be a draft -there for me; but it would be mighty awkward to lose -that hundred.”</p> - -<p>The woman, taking a handkerchief from the bosom -of her dress, had untied one corner and removed a roll -of crumpled bills. For a few moments she sat thoughtfully, -the bills in her hand. At last she lifted her hands, -removed her hat—at the same time being very careful not<span class="pagenum" id="Page_214">[214]</span> -to displace the veil that covered her face—and took the -hat on her lap. The hat was covered with millinery -folderols, none too new and all very dusty. In among -the feathers and artificial flowers she stowed her hundred -dollars, and Hotchkiss chuckled as he watched.</p> - -<p>“Good place, mum,” averred Hotchkiss. “Purvidin’ -thar was really goin’ ter be a hold-up, ye couldn’t find -a better.”</p> - -<p>“How would you like to put my money with yours, -madam?” asked Reginald de Bray.</p> - -<p>“I shall be glad to oblige you, sir,” answered the -woman.</p> - -<p>Hotchkiss glared at De Bray, and Lonesome Pete -shifted disquietly. The woman had a soft, low voice, -and it looked rather brutal for the tenderfoot to unload -the responsibility of caring for his own money upon -such a person.</p> - -<p>However, De Bray’s hundred was passed over, and the -woman tucked it into the foliage and replaced the hat -on her head.</p> - -<p>“Now,” she said, with a relieved sigh, “if the worst -should happen, I have done what little I could to save -my money.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t think ye need ter worry none,” said Hotchkiss, -glaring at Pete for having started the talk about -road-agents.</p> - -<p>After this there was silence in the mountain-wagon -for a good half-hour. De Bray lighted a cigarette. He -also tried to talk, but his attempts were met with chilling -silence. Pete, Chick Billings, and Hotchkiss had marked -him down in their minds as about the poorest specimen -of a tenderfoot they had ever met, and they wanted -nothing more to do with him.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_215">[215]</span></p> - -<p>At the end of a half-hour a surprise was sprung. The -stage-trail, winding along toward the rim of Sun Dance -Cañon, entered a stretch where great heaps of boulders -massed themselves along each side.</p> - -<p>Suddenly a shout, grimly menacing, rang from behind -one of the boulders.</p> - -<p>“Halt!”</p> - -<p>Everybody in the stage gave a startled jump. The -unexpected had happened.</p> - -<p>Over the tops of the boulders, on each side of the -trail, appeared masked faces and leveled rifles.</p> - -<p>Chick Billings, recovering from the first shock of surprise, -seized his lines in a firmer grip and raised his -whip.</p> - -<p>“Don’t be a fool, driver!” went on the voice of the -unseen speaker. “The leaders are covered, and you and -every one in the stage are under our muzzles. You can’t -fight, and you can’t run away. Throw up your hands, -all of you!”</p> - -<p>Lonesome Pete swore under his breath; Hotchkiss muttered -angrily; Chick Billings, with a resigned oath, -dropped the lines and shoved his hands into the air; De -Bray was queerly quiet—considering the fact that he -was a recent importation, and the woman, collapsing -back in her seat, made not a sound.</p> - -<p>As for Little Cayuse, he had vanished from the rear -seat, but in the general excitement this fact had not -been noticed.</p> - -<p>Immediately following his last command, the leader -of the road-agents presented himself, riding around a -barricade of boulders.</p> - -<p>He was well mounted, and, taken altogether, was a -striking figure of a man.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_216">[216]</span></p> - -<p>His face was concealed by a silk handkerchief, tied -just under his eyes. He wore a black sombrero, short, -black velvet jacket, with silver-dollar buttons, dark corduroy -trousers, and knee-boots of patent leather, with -silver spurs at the heels. A gaudy sash about his waist -supported a pair of revolvers.</p> - -<p>With the guns on each side of the trail drawing a -bead on the leaders of the team, and on those in the -wagon, the chief of the highwaymen did not find it -necessary to draw his own weapons.</p> - -<p>Pulling his horse to a halt at one side of the wagon, -opposite the front seat, the leader’s black eyes calmly -surveyed those whom the rest of his gang held at his -mercy.</p> - -<p>“Cap’n Lawless!” muttered Lonesome Pete.</p> - -<p>With a low laugh, the leader of the robbers pulled -the silk handkerchief from his face and thrust it into -his pocket.</p> - -<p>“I see that I am recognized,” said he coolly. “Very -well. It will neither help nor harm matters, as I should -probably be suspected of this hold-up, anyway. Throw -your property out here in front of me, beside the trail.”</p> - -<p>“You ought to know bloomin’ well,” said Chick Billings, -“that the driver of this ’ere stage hasn’t any -<i lang="es" xml:lang="es">dinero</i> about his clothes. I got a bar o’ chewin’, -but——”</p> - -<p>“I wasn’t referring to you,” cut in Lawless, “but to -the others. The man on your left, who seems to have -met me before—I’d like to hear from him first.”</p> - -<p>“Shucks!” returned Pete; “I’m just comin’ back from -Montegordo, whar I’ve been ter see the sights. How -kin ye expect me ter hev any money?”</p> - -<p>Lawless pulled out a watch and studied its face.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_217">[217]</span></p> - -<p>“I’ve got just three minutes to make a clean-up,” he -scowled; “and if I’m not done by that time, my men will -open up on the lot of you. You ought to have some -consideration for the lady, seems to me.”</p> - -<p>“See how much consideration <em>you’ve</em> got fer her!” -snapped Hotchkiss, throwing a well-worn wallet on the -ground, in front of Lawless.</p> - -<p>“Any jewelry?” asked the robber.</p> - -<p>“Do I look like a feller that kerried it?” sneered the -miner.</p> - -<p>Pete pulled a handful of silver money out of his -pocket, and threw it after Hotchkiss’ pocketbook.</p> - -<p>“Now, you,” went on Lawless, nodding to De Bray.</p> - -<p>“Honest,” quavered De Bray, “I haven’t got more’n a -couple of dollars about me!”</p> - -<p>“What the blazes is a man dressed like you doing in -this country with no more than that? That won’t do. -If you don’t want to be sent back East in a box, you’ll -strip yourself, and be quick about it. It looks to me as -though you thought I didn’t mean business.” Lawless’ -passive face twisted itself into a demoniacal expression, -and he jerked one of his six-shooters from his sash and -leveled it. “I’ll give you just a minute, my friend,” he -added, “before I shoot you off that seat!”</p> - -<p>“Don’t be too quick with your shooting,” begged De -Bray, and immediately began pulling his pockets inside-out.</p> - -<p>One of the pockets contained two silver dollars. De -Bray flung them down at the trailside.</p> - -<p>“I told you!” he exclaimed.</p> - -<p>“You’ve got more than that!” snapped Lawless. -“Fork over, or I’ll shake a load out of this gun!”</p> - -<p>De Bray’s eyes grew glassy, and he shivered.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_218">[218]</span></p> - -<p>“I—I did have a little more,” he answered; “but—but——”</p> - -<p>“But what?” roared Lawless. “Do you think I’m -going to stay here all day, palavering with you?”</p> - -<p>He made a threatening gesture with his six-shooter.</p> - -<p>“I gave it to the lady behind me,” said De Bray desperately. -“She hid it among the flowers in her hat, -along with——”</p> - -<p>Hotchkiss swore a great oath.</p> - -<p>“Kill him, Lawless! He ain’t fit ter live!”</p> - -<p>Lonesome Pete reached over with a clenched fist, and -Chick Billings turned half-around in the seat, with the -evident intention of hurling De Bray into the trail.</p> - -<p>“Steady, there, all of you!” ordered Lawless. “Keep -your places, and hold up your hands. Who’s bossing -this game, anyhow? I don’t care a rap what you do -with the tenderfoot after I get away from here, but just -now it’s my innings. The Easterner has saved his life—you -can’t blame him for that.” He spurred his horse -a step forward. “Madam,” he added, to the trembling -woman, “I’ll trouble you to take your money from the -hat and throw it into the road. Did this tenderfoot speak -the truth?”</p> - -<p>“Y-y-yes!” gasped the woman.</p> - -<p>“Then give me the money.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, sir,” pleaded the woman, stretching out her -hands supplicatingly, “let me keep what’s mine, and——”</p> - -<p>“I’m a man of business, and not of sentiment,” said -Lawless harshly, “and I may add that I’m not in this -dangerous business for my health. The money, quick!”</p> - -<p>With a sob, the woman lifted her shaking hands to -her hat, tore away the roll of bills, and dropped it beside -the rest of the plunder on the ground.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_219">[219]</span></p> - -<p>“The meanest coyote thet ever skulked around these -hyer hills,” cried the indignant Hotchkiss, “stacks up -purty high alongside o’ <em>you</em>, Cap’n Lawless!”</p> - -<p>“Another yaup like that,” said Lawless savagely, “and -I’ll give you your ticket!”</p> - -<p>Life is dear to every man, and Hotchkiss, knowing -that another word from him would spell his doom and -not result in any benefit to the woman, or any one else, -smothered his righteous wrath and glared at the man -on the horse.</p> - -<p>Hot words had also been on Pete’s lips, but he held -them back.</p> - -<p>“Lawless,” he said, “the rest o’ us aire men, an’ what -we got we kin lose, but this hyer happens ter be a -woman, an’——”</p> - -<p>“Cork!” interrupted Lawless sententiously. Then, -again facing the woman, he went on: “Any rings?”</p> - -<p>“One,” she whispered; “just one!”</p> - -<p>“Throw it after the money!”</p> - -<p>“Have you no heart?” wailed the woman. “Spare me -the ring!”</p> - -<p>“Throw it on the ground!”</p> - -<p>Lawless, when he so willed, could be fair-spoken and -act the gentleman; but at heart he was a demon, and -Hotchkiss’ taunt had driven him to do his worst.</p> - -<p>The ring, a plain gold band and plainly a wedding-ring, -was dropped on the ground.</p> - -<p>“There’s a locket at your neck,” pursued Lawless relentlessly, -flashing his fiercely mocking eyes at the scowling -Hotchkiss, “and I must have that.”</p> - -<p>The woman tore away her veil, revealing a middle-aged -face that must once have been very beautiful, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_220">[220]</span> -was even now comely withal the lines of sorrow and -suffering that crossed it.</p> - -<p>A pair of hazel eyes pleaded for the locket, pleaded -even more than lips could have done, but fruitlessly.</p> - -<p>Slowly the woman unclasped the golden chain, half-stretched -the round locket toward Lawless, then drew -back the hand and pressed the trinket to her bosom.</p> - -<p>“No, no!” she gasped; “I would rather you took my -life!”</p> - -<p>Leaning suddenly forward in his saddle, Lawless -caught the locket away with brutal force.</p> - -<p>“This is no time to go against my orders,” he snapped, -as the woman, utterly unnerved, sank back in her seat -and covered her face with her hands. “Drive on, you!” -he added to the driver of the stage. “Don’t stop until -you have gone two miles, and don’t one of you dare -to look back while you are within gunshot of this place. -You’ll be covered as long as you’re within range—mark -that!”</p> - -<p>Chick Billings stooped down and picked up his lines.</p> - -<p>“G’lang, ye pack o’ buzzards!” he spat out at the -horses. “Git us out o’ hyer in a hurry, or I’ll be cuttin’ -loose an’ makin’ a fool o’ myself.”</p> - -<p>Snap, snap went the whip about the leaders’ ears, and -the four-horse team bounded away.</p> - -<p>Agreeably to orders, no one looked backward; but the -final words of the scoundrelly Lawless followed them:</p> - -<p>“Buffalo Bill is in Sun Dance. Tell him how Captain -Lawless made his clean-up; and tell him that if he wants -to follow me and my men, and make a clean-up of his -own, we’re only too anxious for him to try!”</p> - -<p>What those in the wagon thought was not made -known. Hotchkiss, Lonesome Pete, and Chick Billings<span class="pagenum" id="Page_221">[221]</span> -were furious; Reginald de Bray was quiet and filled with -a strange calm; the woman was crying softly in her -hands.</p> - -<p>The trail made a curve at that point, to avoid a shallow -offset of Sun Dance Cañon. When the stage had -got well around this curve, two miles from the scene -of the hold-up, and almost opposite it, Billings jerked -back on the bits, and brought his team to a stop.</p> - -<p>“Why,” cried De Bray, starting up from his seat and -looking backward, “what’s become of the little Indian, -Buffalo Bill’s pard?”</p> - -<p>But Chick Billings was not thinking of Little Cayuse -just then; nor was Lonesome Pete, nor Hotchkiss.</p> - -<p>“You ornery whelp!” breathed Billings, gripping De -Bray about the shoulders, “hyer’s whar ye gits yours, -an’ git it plenty! Thar’s a rope under the seat, Pete. -Lay holt o’ it, an’ reave a noose in the end. We ain’t -fur from a tree hyer, an’ I reckons we know what ter -do!”</p> - -<p>Without a word, the irate Pete reached under the -seat.</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_222">[222]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XX">CHAPTER XX.<br /> -<span class="fs70">DOUBLE-CROSSED.</span></h2> -</div> - -<p>“What’s the matter with you fellows, anyhow?” asked -De Bray.</p> - -<p>“Ye ain’t fit ter live,” said Lonesome Pete.</p> - -<p>“That’s right,” cut in Hotchkiss. “Ye didn’t hev the -nerve ter call Lawless’ bluff, but had ter rough things -up fer the little woman back hyer.”</p> - -<p>“You don’t understand the layout, my friends,” said -De Bray, his eyes twinkling and the shadow of a smile -hovering about the corners of his mouth.</p> - -<p>His manner was one of cool unconcern. Billings, -Pete, and Hotchkiss could not understand him, but this -did not in the least tend to placate them. There had -been a mysterious note in the tenderfoot’s manner ever -since the stage had left Montegordo. Billings, Pete, -and Hotchkiss, however, were in no mood to figure out -a conundrum. Taking De Bray as they found him, he -was a pretty low-down proposition.</p> - -<p>Pete, having brought out the rope, was engaged in -making a slip-noose in the end of it. Hotchkiss was -pushing back his sleeves in a businesslike way. Billings -had firm hold of De Bray’s arm.</p> - -<p>At this point, the woman leaned forward and dropped -a trembling hand on Billings’ shoulder.</p> - -<p>“You are not going to hurt him?” she pleaded, in her -soft, gentle voice.</p> - -<p>“It’ll be about as painless, mum, as sich things usually -aire,” said Hotchkiss.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_223">[223]</span></p> - -<p>“I am the cause of this,” she went on, “and I could -not bear to think that a human life has been sacrificed on -my account.”</p> - -<p>“He sure looks human,” said Lonesome Pete, trying -the slip-knot with his hands, “although he didn’t act it, -not noways.”</p> - -<p>“Anyhow,” spoke up De Bray, “you might put this -off until we get to Sun Dance—out of consideration for -the lady’s feelings, if not for mine.”</p> - -<p>“The lady won’t see a thing,” said Billings. “The -tree I referred to is out o’ sight around them rocks.”</p> - -<p>“I can tell you something,” pursued De Bray, “that -will open your eyes, but I don’t think it’s safe to let -the secret out before we reach Sun Dance.”</p> - -<p>“Thet’s a play ter gain time,” averred Hotchkiss, “an’ -it won’t go down with <em>us</em>.”</p> - -<p>“Your temper is hot just now,” said De Bray, “and all -of you will feel different when you give it a chance to -cool.”</p> - -<p>“I hopes,” growled Pete, “that when I see a real lady -imposed on I’ll allers have the sand ter take her part, -whether I’m in temper or out o’ it.”</p> - -<p>Hotchkiss jumped from the wagon.</p> - -<p>“Throw him out ter me, Chick,” said he.</p> - -<p>“Please, please do not let this go any further,” said -the woman, stretching out her hands earnestly. “He -did only what any one would have done to save his life. -What are a ring, and a locket, and two hundred dollars -compared with a human life? What you intend doing -would be a terrible thing—so terrible that I can hardly -believe you’re in earnest. For <em>my</em> sake, spare him!”</p> - -<p>Hotchkiss drew his sleeve over his forehead.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_224">[224]</span></p> - -<p>“Pussonly,” said he, “if the whelp ain’t hung, he ort -ter be tarred an’ feathered.”</p> - -<p>“I ain’t never goin’ ter let it be said,” ground out -Chick Billings, who noted that Hotchkiss was wavering, -“that anythin’ like what jest happened took place on a -stage o’ mine an’ me never doin’ nothin’ ter play even.”</p> - -<p>“I’d hate ter hev it said in Sun Dance,” said Pete, -“that us fellers allowed sich a whelp as this Easterner -ter pollute the camp with his presence—knowin’ the -things about him that we do.”</p> - -<p>“The hangin’,” finished Billings, “will purceed. Hotchkiss, -ye kin help er not, jest as ye please.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll help, o’ course,” said Hotchkiss; “but it’s my -natur’ allers ter oblige er lady, when it’s possible. Sorry, -mum,” he finished, turning to the woman, “but ye see -how it is.”</p> - -<p>Reginald de Bray threw back his head and laughed. -The mirth seemed untimely.</p> - -<p>“Quit it!” snorted Chick Billings. “Ye ort ter be -sayin’ yer prayers, ’stead o’ laffin’.”</p> - -<p>“You fellows force my hand,” answered De Bray. -“Take your hands off me for a minute, Billings, so I -can show you something.”</p> - -<p>“An’ when I let go my hands,” jeered Billings, “ye’ll -make er break.”</p> - -<p>“Hold a gun on me, one of you,” suggested De Bray.</p> - -<p>Hotchkiss drew a revolver. As he leveled it, Billings -released De Bray. The latter, bending down, pulled up -his trousers and drew something from the top of his -shoe. The object proved to be a roll of bills. De Bray -opened out the roll on his knee, and the eyes of those -about him began to widen.</p> - -<p>The bill on top of the pile was of the $1,000 variety.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_225">[225]</span> -As De Bray thumbed over the rest of the bills, it was -seen that they were all of the same denomination.</p> - -<p>“Waal, I’ll be jiggered!” muttered Billings.</p> - -<p>“Wouldn’t thet rattle yer spurs?” gasped Pete.</p> - -<p>“Thar’s money enough ter start a Fust National Bank,” -commented the astounded Hotchkiss.</p> - -<p>“I was told in Montegordo,” explained De Bray, “that -it was a little bit reckless for a man to carry twenty thousand -dollars in cash over the trail between there and Sun -Dance. But I’ve got to get to the camp and see Buffalo -Bill, and, inasmuch as I’ve usually been able to take care -of myself, I thought I’d risk it.</p> - -<p>“I don’t think any of us expected to meet highwaymen. -When Lonesome Pete mentioned the subject, -though, I thought it a good chance to take time by the -forelock, as the saying is, and make myself secure against -a possible surprise. So I asked the lady”—here he -turned with one of his rosy smiles toward the woman -in the back seat—“to hide my hundred in her bonnet, -along with her own.</p> - -<p>“I don’t think there’s the least doubt,” he went on, -“but that the little trick saved my twenty thousand for -me. As soon as we get to Sun Dance I shall reimburse -the lady for the money and jewelry she lost. All I can -say at the present time is that——”</p> - -<p>De Bray stopped suddenly. The attention of every -one in the mountain-wagon was focused upon De Bray -and his pile of bills. Abruptly a movement of swift -feet was heard, followed by a frightened jump on the -part of the leaders of the team.</p> - -<p>On the instant all eyes were lifted. A masked man, -with a rifle slung from his shoulders by a strap, was -holding the leaders by the bits. Beside the masked man<span class="pagenum" id="Page_226">[226]</span> -stood Captain Lawless, he having reappeared on that -part of the trail as if by magic. Six masked men, with -rifles at their shoulders, had sprung up around the stage -as though out of the very ground.</p> - -<p>“Sorry to bother you again,” said Lawless, “but I -changed my plans somewhat when I saw that gold locket, -and I and my men have scrambled across the arm of the -cañon. If you hadn’t stopped here so long, we shouldn’t -have been able to overtake you. Lucky thing we did, as -twenty thousand is something of a haul. Right here is -where you fellows are going to get the double-cross.”</p> - -<p>This second surprise was even more telling than the -first had been. Billings and the rest had not dreamed -of encountering Lawless and his gang a second time. -It is popularly supposed that lightning never strikes twice -in the same place, yet here was proof to the contrary.</p> - -<p>What was there about the woman’s locket to bring the -road-agent and his rascally followers across the arm of -the cañon? Whatever it was, the change in Lawless’ -plan had worked out badly for De Bray. De Bray had -his $20,000 on his knee, and no subterfuge could now -avail to save the funds.</p> - -<p>Billings, Pete, and Hotchkiss realized that they themselves -were to blame. If they had not halted so long -on the road for the purpose of palavering with De Bray, -and if they had not forced him to an explanation, his -money might have been saved.</p> - -<p>Hotchkiss had his revolver in his hand. The hand -had dropped at his side, and he was pondering the advisability -of resistance. There were eight of the road-agents—eight -against three, and if resistance was offered, -the fight which followed would surely imperil the woman.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_227">[227]</span> -Hotchkiss, brave though he was, hesitated to do anything -that would endanger one of the gentler sex.</p> - -<p>Lawless came closer to De Bray.</p> - -<p>“For a tenderfoot,” said Lawless, “you’re a fine specimen -of a fox; but here’s where I call you. Fork over!”</p> - -<p>He held out his hand.</p> - -<p>“Bound to take what I’ve got, are you?” queried De -Bray.</p> - -<p>His tone was noticeably cool and his manner steady.</p> - -<p>“The pickings were slim before,” flung back Lawless. -“This will be a raise worth while, and——”</p> - -<p>At that instant something happened. Dropping the -money into the bottom of the stage, like lightning De -Bray flung himself across the forward wheel, gripped -Lawless by the throat, and bore him to the ground.</p> - -<p>For an Easterner, inexperienced in Western ways, -Reginald de Bray showed an abnormal amount of pluck -and rough-and-ready incentive.</p> - -<p>Pete, Billings, and Hotchkiss were not slow in following -up his attack.</p> - -<p>Hotchkiss, already on the ground, sprang to the side -of the wagon and pushed the woman into the bottom -of the box.</p> - -<p>“Down!” he cried, and no sooner had he placed the -woman in comparative safety than the rifles of the road-agents -began to talk.</p> - -<p>Bullets slapped into the side of the wagon, sang -through the air, and in other ways made their presence -disagreeably apparent.</p> - -<p>Lonesome Pete fired his six-shooter, and one of the -masked men dropped his rifle and fell face-downward; -before he could fire again, a piece of lead caught him in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_228">[228]</span> -the shoulder and flung him down against the dashboard, -dazed, helpless, and out of the fight.</p> - -<p>Billings, plying his whip frantically, tried to drive the -leaders over the man at their heads. The robber, although -lifted from his feet with every jump of the frightened -horses, managed to keep his hold.</p> - -<p>One of the robbers rushed to the spot where De Bray -was struggling with the leader of the gang, and fetched -the Easterner a blow with the stock of his gun. De -Bray pitched forward to the ground, and lay silent.</p> - -<p>Lawless jumped to his feet. A bullet from Hotchkiss’ -revolver whipped past his ear and struck the man -at the horses’ heads. The man let go his hold with a -wild yell, and the four-horse team would have sped onward -but for Lawless.</p> - -<p>The leader of the gang in no uncertain way demonstrated -his prowess. A bullet from one of his weapons -tore its way through Hotchkiss’ arm, and sent the miner -reeling backward against the mountain-wagon.</p> - -<p>The wagon was already leaping over the ground, and -Hotchkiss slid from the revolving rear wheel and -sprawled full length across the trail.</p> - -<p>Quick as thought, Lawless made a flying jump for -the driver’s seat, and, as luck would have it, gained a -position at Billings’ side.</p> - -<p>A blow from the butt of his revolver sent Billings down -on the crouching form of Lonesome Pete, and Lawless -caught the lines as they were flickering over the dashboard.</p> - -<p>Throwing himself back on the bits with all his -strength, the leader of the robbers brought the frantic -horses to a halt.</p> - -<p>The short, sharp battle was practically over. Numbers<span class="pagenum" id="Page_229">[229]</span> -had won. De Bray was still lying unconscious on the -ground; Hotchkiss was lifting himself on his uninjured -arm, and staring at his revolver, which lay at a distance -from him; Pete and Billings were huddled against the -dashboard, and four masked men had their rifles leveled -to prevent any further act of resistance.</p> - -<p>“Take the horses’ heads, one of you!” yelled Lawless. -“No more shooting; we’ve got this little game right -where we want it. The woman has fainted. Two of -you take her and carry her to the horses—one of you -is enough to keep track of this bunch.”</p> - -<p>While two of the scoundrels, swinging their rifles over -their shoulders, advanced and lifted the woman from -the place where Hotchkiss had put her, another went -to the heads of the plunging leaders.</p> - -<p>The minute the man had the leaders well in hand, -Lawless bent down, collected the scattered bills, and -stuffed them into his pocket.</p> - -<p>The woman, limp and unconscious, was carried out of -sight.</p> - -<p>Lawless, grabbing Billings by the collar and jerking -him upright, stared venomously into his eyes.</p> - -<p>“See what’s happened!” growled Lawless, “and you -have only yourselves to blame. Here’s something else -for you to tell Buffalo Bill—and it’s something more to -make him take my trail and try for a clean-up. That’s -what I want. I’m ready for the king of scouts, and we’ll -see how he comes out. Meanwhile, here’s something for -you to deliver to Gentleman Jim, in Sun Dance—a locket, -a ring, and a note. He’ll understand. Tell him that -Lawless never forgets his debts.”</p> - -<p>By then, the two men who had carried away the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_230">[230]</span> -woman reappeared. They picked up the fallen desperado -and likewise bore him out of sight among the boulders.</p> - -<p>Leaping down from the wagon, Lawless walked -quickly to the man who had been wounded by Hotchkiss. -The fellow was sitting up at the trailside. Lawless -helped him to his feet and supported him toward the -rocks.</p> - -<p>“That will do,” he called to the man with the gun and -to the man who was holding the horses. “Now for a -quick getaway.”</p> - -<p>By then, Chick Billings was able to take the lines. -When the horses were released, he held them where -they were, and watched the robbers vanish.</p> - -<p>Following this, Chick Billings swore, easing his pent-up -feelings after the manner of stage-drivers generally.</p> - -<p>“Pete!” he called.</p> - -<p>“Hyer,” answered Pete.</p> - -<p>“Bad hurt?”</p> - -<p>“Nicked in the shoulder.”</p> - -<p>“Waal, brace up, pard. We got ter git out o’ this. -The quicker we git ter Sun Dance an’ set a possé on -the track o’ these hyer scoundrels, the more show o’ -success the possé’ll hev. I say, Hotchkiss!”</p> - -<p>“Coming,” replied the miner, getting to his feet and -picking up his revolver. “Thet was brisk, while it lasted,” -he said grimly, walking toward De Bray.</p> - -<p>“If thar’d been one or two more o’ us,” mourned -Pete, “we might hev had a diff’rent story ter tell in Sun -Dance. How’s De Bray?”</p> - -<p>“I’ll do,” De Bray himself answered, climbing slowly -to his feet and picking up his hat. “I—I never thought -the butt of a musket was so hard,” and he put both hands -to the back of his head.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_231">[231]</span></p> - -<p>“Yer money is gone, De Bray,” announced Billings.</p> - -<p>“So I supposed,” was the calm rejoinder.</p> - -<p>“Look hyer,” cried Lonesome Pete, wincing with the -pain of his wound, but unable to repress his curiosity, -“ye’re no tenderfoot. That dodge ye worked, an’ the -way ye went fer Lawless, proves thet.”</p> - -<p>“Maybe I’m not a tenderfoot,” answered De Bray; -“but that’s all you lads need to know. How did Lawless -and his gang manage to overhaul us here?”</p> - -<p>“They come across the arm o’ the gulch,” explained -Billings. “The stage-trail winds around the arm, an’ -they made a short cut.”</p> - -<p>“But why? My brain isn’t just as clear as it might be, -and I can’t figure it out.”</p> - -<p>“None o’ the rest o’ us kin figger it out, either,” said -Hotchkiss. “Somethin’ about thet locket sent Lawless -arter us ag’in—an’ arter the woman.”</p> - -<p>“The woman?” queried De Bray, startled.</p> - -<p>“Yep; the villains took her away.”</p> - -<p>“It’s a big mystery,” put in Billings. “Lawless left a -note, the ring, an’ the locket fer me ter take ter Gentleman -Jim.”</p> - -<p>“Who’s Gentleman Jim?” asked De Bray.</p> - -<p>“He’s erbout the only squar’ gambler I knows anythin’ -erbout. He hangs out in Sun Dance, an’ is a friend o’ -Buffler Bill’s.”</p> - -<p>“They came back to get the woman,” mused De Bray, -“and they got here just in time to see me showing you -fellows all that money.”</p> - -<p>“We’re some ter blame, I reckon,” said Hotchkiss. -“If we hadn’t stopped hyer as long as we did, roughin’ -things up with you, this wouldn’t hev happened. It give<span class="pagenum" id="Page_232">[232]</span> -Lawless an’ his outfit a chance ter come up with us -ag’in.”</p> - -<p>“I can’t blame you,” answered De Bray; “it certainly -seemed pretty low-down, the way I acted. The thing -looked wrong, but needed an explanation to set it right. -The quicker we get to Sun Dance, the better.”</p> - -<p>“Right ye aire,” seconded Pete. “Climb in, you two, -an’ we’ll vamose.”</p> - -<p>De Bray and Hotchkiss got into the wagon and took -the second seat.</p> - -<p>“I don’t reckon it ’u’d do us any good ter try ter see -whar thet gang went with ther woman, hey?” said Pete.</p> - -<p>“Thar ain’t any o’ us in shape ter foller the whelps,” -answered Hotchkiss. “We’ll git ter Sun Dance an’ lay -the hull play before Buffler Bill. He’ll know what ter -do if any one will.”</p> - -<p>“You <em>bet</em>!” emphasized Pete.</p> - -<p>“Besides,” struck in Billings, as he set the horses to a -gallop, “one o’ Buffler Bill’s pards is somehow mixed up -in this.”</p> - -<p>“Meanin’ Little Cayuse?” asked Pete.</p> - -<p>“Who else?” returned Billings.</p> - -<p>“Blame’ queer whar thet kid went ter, all of a sudden. -He must hev got out o’ the wagon before Lawless an’ his -gang come down on us, thet fust time. Anyways, it -seems sure Lawless didn’t see him.”</p> - -<p>“Maybe he was scared,” hazarded De Bray.</p> - -<p>“Him? Scared?” Pete threw back his head and -laughed huskily. “Why, De Bray, thet leetle Piute is -skeer-proof. More’n likely he got an idee in his heathen -mind, an’ laid out ter kerry it through. He’ll be heerd -of, if I’m any prophet.”</p> - -<p>“Well,” muttered De Bray, “I’m out twenty thousand,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_233">[233]</span> -but I’d say good-by to the money with pleasure if we -could only have that little lady back in this wagon with -us.”</p> - -<p>“I’d have stopped a bullet with my other arm for -that,” put in Hotchkiss.</p> - -<p>“Too bloomin’ bad!” growled Pete, trying to tie up his -shoulder with a handkerchief. “Whyever did he want -ter take the woman away with him, this hyer whelp of a -Lawless? He wasn’t figgerin’ on thet the fust time.”</p> - -<p>“Thet locket had everythin’ ter do with it,” said Billings.</p> - -<p>“That letter you’re to take to Gentleman Jim may give -us a clue to the scoundrel’s actions,” suggested De Bray.</p> - -<p>“Thet’s what I’m hopin’,” remarked Hotchkiss.</p> - -<p>“You say this Gentleman Jim is a square gambler, and -a friend of the scout’s?”</p> - -<p>“Yes. He got mixed up with ther scout in the matter -o’ the Forty Thieves Mine, an’ it was Lawless as done -the mixin’. At fust, it seems, Lawless trusted Gentleman -Jim; an’ then, bekase Gentleman Jim did ther squar’ -thing, Lawless got a grudge at him. Runnin’ off ther -woman has somethin’ ter do with thet grudge, an’ I’ll -bet money on it.”</p> - -<p>“We’ll know more,” spoke up De Bray, through his -clenched teeth, “before we’re many hours older.”</p> - -<p>And in this De Bray was right.</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_234">[234]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXI">CHAPTER XXI.<br /> -<span class="fs70">BUFFALO BILL AND GENTLEMAN JIM.</span></h2> -</div> - -<p>Unaware of the exciting events transpiring on the -Montegordo trail, the little adobe camp of Sun Dance -lay sweltering in peaceful quiet on its “flat” half-way up -the wall of Sun Dance Cañon.</p> - -<p>In front of the Lucky Strike Hotel Spangler was -dozing in the shade, wondering, whenever he opened his -drowsy eyes and had a lucid thought, why in Sam Hill -the stage did not show up.</p> - -<p>Old Nomad and Wild Bill were playing a game of -seven-up in the room of the Lucky Strike, which was -called, by virtue of its function, the “office.”</p> - -<p>Dell Dauntless was in a room off the office, reading a -book to Wah-coo-tah, who was sitting up in a chair, -blanketed and pillowed.</p> - -<p>In Gentleman Jim’s private room in the Alcazar the -scout and the gambler were talking.</p> - -<p>As a rule, the king of scouts had no more use for a -gambler than he had for any other robber, but there was -something about the quiet, polished Gentleman Jim, and -his reputation for “squareness,” that attracted the scout. -Then, too, Gentleman Jim was a good deal of a mystery, -and there is always something attractive about a -mystery.</p> - -<p>Gentleman Jim had a “past,” but, up to that moment, -he had never spoken to any one about it. The scout, it -may be observed, was with the other at the gambler’s<span class="pagenum" id="Page_235">[235]</span> -own request. Evidently, Jim had something on his mind -of which he wished to relieve himself.</p> - -<p>The two men had lighted cigars, and were smoking -as they talked.</p> - -<p>“It’s history now, Buffalo Bill,” the gambler was saying, -“how Lawless sent to me a deed for the Forty -Thieves Mine, executed in your name, with the understanding -that the mine was to be yours if you went out -to it and remained for three consecutive days and nights -in its shaft and underground workings; it’s history, too, -how you went there, fell into a trap Lawless had set for -you, and were only saved from death by Wah-coo-tah; -and it’s history how Lawless and his men escaped, and -are now at large, still laying their traps to get the best -of you—and me.”</p> - -<p>“Laying their traps to get the best of <em>you</em>?” repeated -the scout, puzzled. “I don’t understand it that way. -What has Lawless got against you? Didn’t he send that -deed to you, trusting you with it, and telling you to turn -it over to me as soon as I had remained in the mine for -the three days and nights?”</p> - -<p>“That is why he has taken a grudge against me—for -giving you the deed.”</p> - -<p>“You only carried out his instructions.”</p> - -<p>“I know that; but there is something you do not know, -Buffalo Bill, and I have brought you here to tell you -about it. You thought Lawless had been seriously, perhaps -mortally, wounded, at the time you and your pards -escaped from the mine?”</p> - -<p>The scout nodded.</p> - -<p>“Well, I don’t think he was even severely wounded. -At any rate, while you were in the mine, staying out the -three days and nights, I received a letter from Lawless.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_236">[236]</span></p> - -<p>“A letter?” echoed the scout. “Why didn’t you tell -me about that before, Gentleman Jim?”</p> - -<p>“It was a threatening letter, and I didn’t want to -bother you with it. Lawless, it appears, had gigged back -on his proposition. He said you had gone to the mine, -and you had not stayed there for the length of time he -had specified. That it had not been his intention to give -you two trials, and that, consequently, when you went -back to the mine the second time, and stayed out the required -three days, you were not fulfilling your part of the -contract. Of course, it was only a quibble. Lawless had -seen that he had failed to play even with you, and that he -was going to lose the mine. In his letter to me, he said -that if I did not leave the deed on a black boulder at the -foot of Medicine Bluff on the night the letter reached my -hands, he would put me on his blacklist along with you, -and deal with me accordingly.” A slight smile curled the -gambler’s lips. “I was not intimidated. When you had -stayed in the mine the length of time agreed on, I gave -you the deed; you made out another deed to Wah-coo-tah -Lawless, and the Forty Thieves now stands, in the recorder’s -office at Montegordo, in the name of Wah-coo-tah. -It is out of Lawless’ hands.”</p> - -<p>“The mine should belong to Wah-coo-tah,” said the -scout, “and you did exactly right, Gentleman Jim. Lawless -is a contemptible scoundrel, with no more heart in -him than a timber-wolf. In losing the mine, he got his -come-up-with for that part of his trickery.”</p> - -<p>“I am not afraid of Lawless. But what is Wah-coo-tah -going to do with the mine, Buffalo Bill? She knows -no more about mining than a babe in arms.”</p> - -<p>“I have foreseen that part of the difficulty,” the scout<span class="pagenum" id="Page_237">[237]</span> -returned. “A friend of mine in Denver, by the name -of Reginald de Bray——”</p> - -<p>“Reginald de Bray!” laughed Gentleman Jim. “That -sounds as though there wasn’t much of a man back of -it.”</p> - -<p>“Exactly; and the name has fooled more people than I -know how to tell about. De Bray looks the part, too. -He is a mining-man, however, and one in a thousand. I -have interested him in the Forty Thieves, and have advised -Wah-coo-tah to sell him a half-interest for twenty -thousand dollars, and then to let De Bray go ahead and -develop the property. He’ll do it, and give Wah-coo-tah -every cent that is coming to her. My last advices from -De Bray assured me that he would be here on the -afternoon stage. I sent Little Cayuse to Montegordo to -see if he reached there, and, if he did not, to forward -a telegram to him, telling him to hurry. Little Cayuse -will also come in on the stage.</p> - -<p>“Whenever De Bray travels, he takes it upon himself -to act as guileless as he looks, and as his name suggests -him to be. This is a whim of his, but he turns it to good -account, now and again. He’ll be here, I’m sure, and -then the matter of the Forty Thieves Mine can be wound -up, and I and my pards can take to the trail and finish -our affair with Lawless.”</p> - -<p>“You’re going to run Lawless to earth?”</p> - -<p>“I am; and I shall not leave this part of the country -until I have done so.”</p> - -<p>Gentleman Jim got up and took a thoughtful turn -about the room. The scout watched him curiously. Suddenly -the gambler came to a halt in front of the scout.</p> - -<p>“Buffalo Bill,” said he, “I presume you are aware that -all gamblers are more or less superstitious and given to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_238">[238]</span> -premonitions. I have a premonition that there is something -on the cards for me, important if not vital. What -it is I do not know, but events are forming which will -make or mar me. If the worst happens, I have ten thousand -dollars in the First National at Montegordo—honest -money, not even won by the cards in honest games—and -this I want you to hold in trust. I have drawn a -check for the amount in your name; if need arise, you -will find the check here.”</p> - -<p>Gentleman Jim stepped to his desk, and pulled out a -concealed drawer. The scout nodded, and the gambler -closed the drawer.</p> - -<p>“I am to hold the money in trust—for whom?” Buffalo -Bill asked.</p> - -<p>A sad look crossed the gambler’s face.</p> - -<p>“For the only woman I ever loved,” he answered, -sinking into a chair; “for my wife, Alice Brisco, if she -is living.”</p> - -<p>“How am I to find her?”</p> - -<p>“We must leave that to fate,” Gentleman Jim answered, -with a foreboding shake of the head. “All I -know about Alice you will find in that drawer, with the -check. If the money is never claimed, it is to be yours.”</p> - -<p>“You’re gloomy to-day, old man,” said Buffalo Bill. -“This talk of premonitions is all foolishness.”</p> - -<p>“Not in this case,” asserted the gambler, with -vehemence. “Something, for good or ill, is going to -happen to me and make a decided change in my affairs. -If the worst comes, you are the one man I know whom -I can trust.”</p> - -<p>Seeing that Gentleman Jim was deeply impressed by -his forebodings, the scout remained silent. For a long<span class="pagenum" id="Page_239">[239]</span> -time they sat, smoking and gazing thoughtfully into the -wreathes of vapor that floated about them.</p> - -<p>“What a fool a man can sometimes make of himself!” -the gambler exclaimed abruptly. “Five years ago I was -a physician, in an Eastern city, with a large practise, a -loving wife, a happy home—everything a man could need -to have comfort and make life a success. The gambling -fever took hold of me—perhaps it was in my blood, and -had to come out. Be that as it may, I neglected my practise -for the cards, losing—losing all the time—money, -friends, reputation. My wife’s people heard how I was -going, and took Alice away from me. I promised to do -better, and she came back. Once more I went to the -dogs, and she left me for good. Getting together the -remnants of my fortune, I sent the pitiable sum to Alice, -then I came West and made gambling my profession. -I have tried to be square, and have been fairly successful. -But what is it all worth, Buffalo Bill, compared -to the love and companionship of a woman? There is no -happiness for me, and never has been since I cut away -from every tie that made life worth living.”</p> - -<p>The gambler, stirred by some slumbering impulse, got -up and once more began pacing the room.</p> - -<p>“This,” he went on, “is what the cards have done for -me. They have robbed me of everything that made existence -worth while, and here I am in Sun Dance, an -outcast, a pariah, a human bird of prey that wrings the -wherewithal to live from the honest toil of others. I—I——”</p> - -<p>He stopped, one clenched hand lifted in air. The hand -dropped nervelessly, and he broke off with a bitter laugh.</p> - -<p>“What’s the use of crying over spilled milk?” he -added. “I have made my game, and I must play it<span class="pagenum" id="Page_240">[240]</span> -through. What I have said, Buffalo Bill, is between ourselves. -No other man has ever heard it from my lips before—and -I speak now because I trust you.”</p> - -<p>“Your trust, Gentleman Jim,” returned the scout, with -feeling, “shall not be betrayed.”</p> - -<p>The gambler started to say something more, then suddenly -wheeled about and peered through a window.</p> - -<p>“By Jove!” he exclaimed, startled. “The stage is coming -into camp, and it looks as though they had had -trouble of some kind.”</p> - -<p>“Is there a stranger aboard?” inquired the scout, starting -up.</p> - -<p>“Yes.”</p> - -<p>“Ah! That will be De Bray. And Little Cayuse?”</p> - -<p>“I can’t see him.”</p> - -<p>The scout’s brow clouded.</p> - -<p>“His orders were to come in with to-day’s stage,” said -he, “and Little Cayuse never disobeys orders. You’re -right, Jim, something surely has gone wrong.”</p> - -<p>With that, the scout hurried from the room, through -the deserted Alcazar and out into the street, Gentleman -Jim following curiously.</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_241">[241]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXII">CHAPTER XXII.<br /> -<span class="fs70">LETTER, RING, AND LOCKET.</span></h2> -</div> - -<p>The sides of the mountain-wagon were splintered in -several places, and the only one of the wagon’s four passengers -who did not show any visible signs of wear and -tear was the mild-faced stranger who sat in front with -Chick Billings.</p> - -<p>Billings had bound a handkerchief around his head, -over the bruise made by the butt of Lawless’ revolver, -and Hotchkiss wore a bandage around his arm, while -Pete was similarly decorated at the shoulder.</p> - -<p>Buffalo Bill and Gentleman Jim appeared to be the -only two who had glimpsed the stage. Spangler dozed -in front of the hotel, and Wild Bill and Nomad shuffled, -and dealt and played, oblivious of the fact that the stage -was coming, and that it had met with any trouble.</p> - -<p>“Buffler Bill, by hokey!” cried Chick Billings.</p> - -<p>“Ye’re the feller we’re lookin’ fer!” chimed in Lonesome -Pete.</p> - -<p>“You bet y’u!” added Hotchkiss.</p> - -<p>The moment Billings drew to a halt, De Bray tumbled -over the wheel and grabbed the scout’s welcoming hand.</p> - -<p>“Hello, Cody!” cried the Denver man. “You’re looking -husky as ever.”</p> - -<p>“Feeling that way,” answered the scout, with a smile. -“You appear to stack up pretty well, De Bray.”</p> - -<p>“Then I stack up a whole lot better than I feel. I’ve -got a lump on the back of my head as big as your fist, -and a hole in my pocket as big as a tunnel.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_242">[242]</span></p> - -<p>“A hole in your pocket?”</p> - -<p>“It was big enough for twenty thousand to slip -through.”</p> - -<p>“Why—why, I thought ye didn’t know Buffler Bill?” -gasped Lonesome Pete.</p> - -<p>“He was sayin’,” added Hotchkiss, “that he wanted -Buffler Bill ter take his little hand an’ show him the -sights. Woof! Darned if he ain’t deceived us all -around.”</p> - -<p>“What happened to you fellows, anyhow?” asked the -scout. “It’s a clear case that something went wrong. -Did the stage slip over the rim of the cañon?”</p> - -<p>“Worse’n thet,” said Chick Billings. “We met Lawless -an’ his gang twicet.”</p> - -<p>“Fust time wasn’t so bad,” added Pete, one hand wandering -to his injured shoulder; “but the second time—wow! -Say, thar was fireworks, ground-an’-lofty tumblin’, -an’ a hull lot o’ other trimmin’s.”</p> - -<p>“Do you mean to say you’ve been through a hold-up?” -demanded Buffalo Bill, his brow clouding, “and that -Lawless was back of it?”</p> - -<p>“He wasn’t back o’ it, Buffler Bill,” said Pete, “not -as any one could notice. He was right up front, mighty -conspickerous.”</p> - -<p>“Did he appear to be injured in any way?”</p> - -<p>“Injured? Him? Waal, not so’s ter interfere with his -moving about. He was mighty soople; an’ the way he -got around was a caution. I know what ye’re thinkin’, -Buffler Bill. Ye’re thinkin’ how Hank Blake, from Pass -Dure Cañon, allowed he’d notched Lawless, mebby fer -keeps. But the whelp didn’t show any signs. He seemed -as well as ever, an’ about twicet as active.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_243">[243]</span></p> - -<p>“This is a pretty layout,” muttered Buffalo Bill. “How -many men were with Lawless?”</p> - -<p>“Seven; but thar ain’t so many, by one,” came from -Hotchkiss. “Pete dropped one of ’em, an’ I put another -on the retired list.”</p> - -<p>“An’ he sent word ter you, Buffler,” spoke up Pete; -“Lawless did. He said ye was ter be told he’d made er -clean-up, an’ thet he was achin’ ter hev you trail arter -him an’ his gang an’ try ter make a clean-up o’ yer -own.”</p> - -<p>“Then he’ll get what he wants,” said the scout grimly.</p> - -<p>“Ain’t got so many passengers as we left Montegordo -with by two,” mourned Billings.</p> - -<p>“How’s that?” the scout asked quickly. “I was expecting -Cayuse back on this stage, and——”</p> - -<p>“Waal, he left ’Gordo with the stage, all right, an’ he -was roostin’ on ther back seat with the mail an’ ther -luggage up to jest afore we hit Lawless fer the fust -time. About then ther leetle Piute disappeared.”</p> - -<p>“Did Lawless or his men see him, do you know?”</p> - -<p>“I reckon not; Cayuse was gone when ther gang come -down on us.”</p> - -<p>The scout’s face cleared.</p> - -<p>“The boy’s all right,” said he; “he scented trouble, and -ten to one he’s trailing the gang. We’ll hear from him. -But you spoke of two passengers. Who was the other?”</p> - -<p>“T’other was a woman——”</p> - -<p>“A woman!” exclaimed both the scout and Gentleman -Jim, becoming mightily interested.</p> - -<p>“Exactly,” said Billings.</p> - -<p>“Did the woman disappear with Little Cayuse?” asked -the scout.</p> - -<p>“Nary, she didn’t. I wisht it had been thet away, but<span class="pagenum" id="Page_244">[244]</span> -it wasn’t. Lawless had her kerried off, second time he -come down on us.”</p> - -<p>“The scoundrel!” muttered the scout between his teeth, -his eyes flashing. “What was the woman’s name?”</p> - -<p>“She didn’t say what her name was.”</p> - -<p>“Why was she coming to Sun Dance?”</p> - -<p>“Lookin’ fer a man, I think, jedgin’ from somethin’ -she said; an’ I reckon, also, jedgin’ from somethin’ else -she said, thet she wasn’t more’n half-expectin’ ter find -the man.”</p> - -<p>“Well,” said the scout briskly, “tell us the whole of this, -and tell it quick. You, Hotchkiss. Time is scarce, and -we want the important points.”</p> - -<p>Hotchkiss jumped into the recital, and carried it -through quickly. What made the greatest impression on -the scout and the gambler was that part of the story -which had to do with the ring and the locket.</p> - -<p>“I’ll take them, and the letter,” said Gentleman Jim, -stretching out his hand.</p> - -<p>Billings handed him the locket. At the mere sight of -it Gentleman Jim’s face went pallid. Opening it quickly, -he stared with glassy eyes at two pictures the locket revealed, -a low groan dropped from his lips, and he staggered -back.</p> - -<p>“What is it, Jim?” asked the scout, stepping toward -the gambler.</p> - -<p>Gentleman Jim did not reply. Apparently beside himself, -he did not wait for the note and the ring, but turned -about unsteadily and reeled into the Alcazar.</p> - -<p>Those in the buckboard, and around it, stared after -him.</p> - -<p>“I never seen Gentleman Jim in sich a takin’ as thet -afore,” mumbled Chick Billings.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_245">[245]</span></p> - -<p>“What ails him, anyways?” asked Pete.</p> - -<p>“Mebby the woman was some kin o’ his,” suggested -Hotchkiss.</p> - -<p>“Possibly,” answered the scout shortly. “Give me the -ring and the note; and I’ll take them to him in a few -moments.”</p> - -<p>Billings tendered the remaining two articles to the -scout, and he dropped them into his pocket.</p> - -<p>“Drive on to the post-office and the hotel, Billings,” -went on the scout. “Wild Bill and Nomad are at the -hotel—tell them just what you have told me, and say that -I want them to get our horses ready for the trail. It’s -the war-path for us, and <i lang="es" xml:lang="es">muy pronto</i>. First, though, I -must have a talk with Gentleman Jim. This note may -contain clues of some value. De Bray,” he added, to the -Denver man, “you’re playing in hard luck——”</p> - -<p>“That wasn’t all of my pile, though,” cut in De Bray; -“remember, I’m still in on the deal as soon as I can get -more dinero from home.”</p> - -<p>“We’ll talk of that later. Go on to the hotel and introduce -yourself to my pards there. I’ll see you in a -few minutes.”</p> - -<p>The stage trundled on. De Bray walking beside it, and -the scout hurried into the Alcazar, through the big, deserted -gambling-hall to the door of Gentleman Jim’s private -room.</p> - -<p>The door was open. Through it he could see the gambler, -seated at his desk. His head was bowed in his -arms, and the locket lay open in front of him.</p> - -<p>It was hardly a time to intrude on a man, unnerved -by grief as the gambler was at that moment, but other -matters connected with Lawless were pressing.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_246">[246]</span></p> - -<p>The scout entered the room and passed to the gambler’s -side.</p> - -<p>“Jim!”</p> - -<p>The gambler locked up with a start.</p> - -<p>“I’m glad you came, Cody,” said he, in a hoarse voice. -“See, here.” He picked up the locket. It contained two -pictures, one of a fair-faced woman and the other plainly -that of Gentleman Jim himself. “This—this,” faltered -the gambler, “belonged to Alice! It was she whom those -scoundrels stole away—and to play even with me on account -of that mine!”</p> - -<p>“We’ll talk of that later, Jim,” said the scout, laying -the ring on the table and dropping the note beside it. -“There are the other two things Billings brought. Let’s -read the note. It may contain something of importance.”</p> - -<p>Although the note was the main thing in Buffalo -Bill’s mind, and the contents of it what he wanted to get -at as quickly as possible, yet he could not show impatience -when Gentleman Jim picked up the wedding-ring -first.</p> - -<p>“This was Alice’s,” said he, in a low voice. “I gave -it to her—it seems as though that was in another life and -in another world. Look!”—and he held up the gold band -and indicated some tiny lettering on the inside—“there’s -my name and hers—‘James to Alice,’ and the date. Sad -memories, Buffalo Bill,” said he, with a long sigh, dropping -the ring beside the locket.</p> - -<p>“She must have been coming here to you,” said the -scout.</p> - -<p>“Yes—coming to me!” Gentleman Jim’s eyes flashed -murderously. “And now to have Lawless strike such a -blow at my happiness, to—— But I’ll find her! By<span class="pagenum" id="Page_247">[247]</span> -Heaven, I’ll follow that scoundrel to the ends of earth, -if necessary, and get Alice away from him. Then I’ll -make him pay—pay to the uttermost.”</p> - -<p>“That’s the way to talk, Gentleman Jim,” approved -the scout. “I intend to take the trail just as soon as we -can get our plans into working shape. The note may -guide us. Read it.”</p> - -<p>Gentleman Jim picked up the note and read it aloud.</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p> -“‘<span class="smcap">Gentleman Jim</span>, Sun Dance.<br /> -</p> - -<p>“‘You have probably heard, by now, how I held up -the stage. I took from your wife what money she had, -and all her jewelry—which didn’t amount to much. Of -course, until I saw your picture in the locket, I hadn’t -any idea the woman was your wife. Having discovered -this, my scheme is laid to take her away from the stage -and hold her until a deed, properly executed to me by -Wah-coo-tah Lawless, for the Forty Thieves Mine, is -left on the black boulder at Medicine Bluff. The girl, -under care of Buffalo Bill’s girl pard, I understand is -getting well, there in Sun Dance. You can have the deed -executed at once, and leave it for me at midnight, to-night, -at the place stated. On the day following, your -wife will be given a horse and sent into camp. If you do -not leave the deed, as stated, you will never see your -wife again. This is the last call.</p> - -<p class="pad40pc">“‘<span class="smcap">Captain Lawless.</span>’”</p> -</div> - -<p>“The inhuman brute!” broke from the scout’s lips.</p> - -<p>“You understand the situation, Buffalo Bill?” asked -the gambler. “I am so overcome by what has happened -that I am hardly able to think or plan. But your head -is clear. Put yourself in my place, then do for me as -you would do for yourself.”</p> - -<p>“In the first place,” said the scout, after a few moments’<span class="pagenum" id="Page_248">[248]</span> -thought, “Lawless is not a man to be trusted, -anyway we plan.”</p> - -<p>“I know that,” breathed Gentleman Jim.</p> - -<p>“Even if you allowed him to intimidate you, and even -if Wah-coo-tah would give a deed, if the document was -taken to Medicine Bluff to-night, you have no assurance -that you could trust Lawless to send your wife here to-morrow.”</p> - -<p>“I understand.”</p> - -<p>“It seems to me, then,” pursued the scout, “that the one -thing to do is to take Lawless’ trail at the earliest possible -moment.”</p> - -<p>“Where shall we pick it up?”</p> - -<p>“At the place where the trail curves around the arm -of the gulch.”</p> - -<p>“But how shall we follow the trail when we once find -it? Lawless is cunning. He will blind his course.”</p> - -<p>“Little Cayuse will help us.”</p> - -<p>“Ah! I had forgotten Little Cayuse. You think the -boy is on the track of the gang?”</p> - -<p>“I am as sure of that as I am that I stand here this -minute. It is just like Cayuse. He scented trouble before -the first hold-up, and he got out of the stage before -the thieves saw him. It’s a safe bet that he’s on the track -of Lawless right now.”</p> - -<p>“I believe you are right,” mused the gambler. “Cayuse -is our one hope. If he cannot help us find Lawless, -no one and nothing else can. The scoundrel has laid -other plans to get even with you, Buffalo Bill, and he -will be wary in carrying them out. He will profit by -past experience, and will make sure he has you safe before -he strikes.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_249">[249]</span></p> - -<p>“He is not counting on Little Cayuse,” said the scout -grimly, “and we are. The boy has never yet failed me.”</p> - -<p>“Lawless is eager for you to follow him,” pursued the -gambler; “that was the word he sent by Billings.”</p> - -<p>“That was only bluster,” said the scout lightly. “Lawless’ -weak point is bluster. He lays clever plans, but he -usually overreaches himself. Offering to give me the -Forty Thieves Mine if I would stay in it for three days -and nights is only a sample of his harebrained schemes.”</p> - -<p>“What a cur the scoundrel must be,” growled Gentleman -Jim, “to take such trinkets from a woman!”</p> - -<p>“He was no more of a cur then than he was when he -shot his own daughter,” said the scout.</p> - -<p>“I suppose not, but what has happened to-day hits me -nearer home. If I can get Alice back——”</p> - -<p>“You can,” said the scout, with quiet confidence.</p> - -<p>“Well, when I do, I shall change my whole course of -life. I shall never touch another card as long as I live. -Alice and I will go back East, and I will return to my -old profession and make another name for myself. I am -only forty-five——”</p> - -<p>“Just in your prime, Gentleman Jim!” interposed the -scout heartily.</p> - -<p>“Not too old to carve out another place for myself, -do you think?”</p> - -<p>“Certainly not!” and the scout reached over and caught -his friend’s hand in a hearty grip. “You have too good -stuff in you to waste your talents on cards and the green -table.”</p> - -<p>“Well, let us think for a little.” The gambler settled -back in his chair. “The first hold-up gave Lawless the -ring and the locket. He saw my picture in the locket, -and my first name in the ring. From that it was easy<span class="pagenum" id="Page_250">[250]</span> -for him to figure out that Alice was my wife, and that -she was going to me at Sun Dance. By cutting across -the arm of the gulch, he and his men could overtake the -stage. On the way, Lawless wrote that note. When he -came up with the stage, he found those aboard wrangling -over what they were going to do to your friend, De -Bray.”</p> - -<p>“They had got over wrangling, I reckon,” said the -scout. “De Bray had shown them twenty one-thousand-dollar -bills, and had explained his actions. De Bray’s -intentions were all right, and he would have won out, -and nothing would have happened, if Billings hadn’t -insisted on stopping the stage. As it is, Mrs. Brisco is -missing, and so is De Bray’s twenty thousand, along with -a little more money belonging to Pete and Hotchkiss. -This ‘clean-up’ of mine, as Lawless has referred to it, is -going to be comprehensive.” The scout’s eyes flashed -resolutely. “We are not only going to rescue Mrs. -Brisco, but we are also going to get back De Bray’s -money, and wind up the career of Lawless into the bargain.”</p> - -<p>Gentleman Jim, suddenly alert and feverishly eager, -bounded to his feet.</p> - -<p>“When do we start?” he asked.</p> - -<p>“As soon as we can get ready. I believe my old pard -must be getting the horses under saddle now.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll be ready by the time you are,” said the gambler.</p> - -<p>Opening the secret drawer, he started to put the locket -and the ring into it; then, changing his mind, he put only -the ring into the drawer, and placed the locket in an inside -pocket of his coat.</p> - -<p>“Great events,” said Buffalo Bill, “sometimes hang -upon trifling incidents.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_251">[251]</span></p> - -<p>He had reference to Lawless’ getting the locket, looking -at the pictures inside, and suddenly making up his -mind to overhaul the stage and spirit away the gambler’s -wife.</p> - -<p>At the same time, the placing of the locket in his breast -pocket by Gentleman Jim, though a trifling incident, was -destined to have a vital bearing on the trend of the gambler’s -affairs.</p> - -<p>Leaving Gentleman Jim to make his preparations, the -scout hurried out of the Alcazar and off down the street -toward the Lucky Strike Hotel.</p> - -<p>Spangler was wabbling excitedly about in front of his -hostelry, spluttering his ideas and opinions regarding -the double hold-up to Dell Dauntless. At sight of the -scout, the girl ran toward him, her eyes sparkling.</p> - -<p>“At last, pard,” she cried, “your chance has come to -bring things to a finish in this matter of Captain Lawless.”</p> - -<p>“Right you are, Dell,” he answered: “and the chance -has come somewhat before I had expected it.”</p> - -<p>“Of course I’m going with you,” said Dell.</p> - -<p>“Who will stay with Wah-coo-tah?”</p> - -<p>“She says she can take care of herself now, and wants -me to go.”</p> - -<p>“You understand don’t you, Dell, that Lawless expects -us to follow him, and that he has probably prepared -another of his ingenious traps for us?”</p> - -<p>“I understand; but this trap, whatever it is, will fail, -just as that other one did at the mine.”</p> - -<p>“Of course! But I think I would rather you stayed -here. We have men enough, you know.”</p> - -<p>“This is the last time I shall ever ride with you, pard,” -said Dell. “I am going back to Arizona, you know, as<span class="pagenum" id="Page_252">[252]</span> -soon as Lawless is captured. You’re going to let me go, -aren’t you? For the last time?”</p> - -<p>Dell’s intention of returning to Arizona had been -talked over among the pards for several days. Dell’s -ranch, the “Double D,” was needing her, and she and -the rest of the pards were near the time when their trails -forked. Under those conditions, the scout could not deny -the girl her wish.</p> - -<p>“All right, Dell,” said Buffalo Bill, “but I hope this -ride will not be the last we have together.”</p> - -<p>“I thought it would be all right,” said Dell, “so I -asked Nomad and Wild Bill to bring up Silver Heels -with the rest of the horses.”</p> - -<p>Dell ran into the hotel to make ready, and just as the -scout was turning away he saw a fog of dust down the -street. Two riders soon broke out of the fog, and had -evidently ridden into camp from the upper rim of the -cañon.</p> - -<p>One of the riders was Hank Tenny, and the other was -a Cheyenne Indian.</p> - -<p>Both horsemen drew to a halt in front of Buffalo Bill.</p> - -<p>“What’s to pay, Hank?” queried Buffalo Bill, staring -at Tenny’s face keenly. “Got something up your sleeve?”</p> - -<p>“Not me, Buffler,” replied Tenny, “but the red has.” -He turned to the Cheyenne. “Out with it, Hawk,” said -he. “Here’s the scout, the feller ye was wantin’ ter -find.”</p> - -<p>The Indian leaned forward from the back of his horse, -jerked a strip of birch-bark from his girdle, and thrust it -into the scout’s hand.</p> - -<p>“Little Cayuse send um,” said he. “Me heap good -Cheyenne, all same friend Little Cayuse, Buff’ Bill. Me -bring um.”</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_253">[253]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXIII">CHAPTER XXIII.<br /> -<span class="fs70">PICTURE-WRITING.</span></h2> -</div> - -<p>As renegade Cheyennes had been helping Lawless in -his criminal work, Buffalo Bill was not taking offhand -this Indian’s word that he was a friend.</p> - -<p>“You know Little Cayuse?” queried the scout.</p> - -<p>“Wuh!” answered the Cheyenne; “me know um for -long time.”</p> - -<p>“When did he give you this?” The scout held up the -piece of birch-bark.</p> - -<p>The Indian pointed to the sky, indicating the place -of the sun an hour before.</p> - -<p>“Where?” went on the scout.</p> - -<p>“On trail to Pass Dure.”</p> - -<p>“I reckon I know what ye’re gittin’ at, pard,” said -Hank Tenny. “Some Cheyennes hev been helpin’ Lawless, -an’ ye think mebby thet the Hawk ain’t straight. -But I know him, an’ ye kin take my word fer it thet he’s -straight goods. What’s the matter, anyways? ’Pears -like thar was somethin’ unusual goin’ on hyer.”</p> - -<p>At that moment, Wild Bill and Nomad came galloping -around the hotel from the direction of the stable. -They rode their own horses, and were leading the scout’s -big black, Bear Paw, and Dell’s cayuse, Silver Heels.</p> - -<p>“My pards will tell you what’s up, Tenny,” said the -scout, and turned and went into the hotel office.</p> - -<p>Dell was just coming out of her room, spurred, -“heeled,” and ready for her ride with her pards.</p> - -<p>“Here’s something, Dell,” called the scout, dropping<span class="pagenum" id="Page_254">[254]</span> -into a chair by a table and laying the piece of birch-bark -in front of him. “A Cheyenne just rode in with -this and said Little Cayuse gave it to him.”</p> - -<p>“Some of Cayuse’s picture-writing!” exclaimed Dell, -drawing near and leaning on the table beside the scout. -“It must be a clue to the course taken by Lawless and his -gang—that is, if it isn’t a trick Lawless is trying to play -on you.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t think it’s a trick,” the scout answered. “Unless -I’m wide of my trail, Lawless doesn’t know Cayuse -is following him, so he wouldn’t have any reason to send -in a treacherous red with a piece of birch-bark and say -the same came from the boy. Besides, Tenny rode into -camp with the Indian, and says he is straight goods.”</p> - -<p>“Good!” murmured Dell exultantly. “That means, -pard, we’ve got a clue, first clatter out of the box.”</p> - -<p>She studied the picture for a space.</p> - -<p>“That looks like Cayuse’s work,” she said finally, “and -that little horse, down in the right-hand corner, is the -way he always signs his name. But I can’t make anything -out of it. Can you?”</p> - -<p>It took a keen mind to decipher the Piute boy’s communications. -Having a keen mind himself, he credited -everybody else with the same shrewdness, and drew his -symbols with a free hand.</p> - -<p>The strip of bark was comparatively fresh, and the -picture was drawn with a knife-point on the soft surface -that had lain next the tree. Wherever the steel point -had traveled it had left a plainly perceptible line.</p> - -<p>“Off to the right here,” mused the scout, “is an odd-looking -hill.”</p> - -<p>“It looks about as much like an adobe house as it does -like a hill,” countered Dell.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_255">[255]</span></p> - -<p>“Trees don’t grow on adobe houses, Dell. That thing -on top of the hill is a tree.”</p> - -<p>“Right you are,” assented the girl. “What are those -two figures at the top? They seem to be drawn on the -margin, and are merely a suggestion of something, it -strikes me, and have nothing to do with the main picture.”</p> - -<p>The figures to which Dell referred were drawn close -to the edge of the piece of bark, and were exactly alike. -Evidently they represented one and the same man; but -over one was drawn a pair of mule’s ears.</p> - -<p>“By George!” exclaimed the scout. “Those figures -represent a white man, with a mustache and a sash. Who -but Lawless wears a sash? A belt is good enough for -every one else in these parts.”</p> - -<p>“It’s Lawless,” agreed Dell, “but why are there two of -him? And what do those mule’s ears mean over one of -the figures?”</p> - -<p>“Give it up; that’s something for us to puzzle out -later. That part of it is only what you might call a -marginal note, anyway. The main picture shows Lawless -again, with a figure that is plainly intended to represent -a white woman. The woman is Mrs. Brisco, -whom Lawless and his gang carried away.”</p> - -<p>“Mrs. Brisco?” queried Dell. “I thought no one on -the stage knew her name?”</p> - -<p>“Some facts,” answered the scout vaguely, “were -brought out by that note Billings brought to Gentleman -Jim from Lawless.”</p> - -<p>The scout did not intend, as yet, to reveal Gentleman -Jim’s secret even to Dell. In his own good time, Gentleman -Jim himself could tell the people of Sun Dance -about his wife.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_256">[256]</span></p> - -<p>“Those six marks,” went on the scout, indicating the -marks as he spoke, “represent six followers, showing the -gang to be composed of seven members, all told.”</p> - -<p>“I understood from Billings that there were eight, all -told.”</p> - -<p>“One was killed by Pete, during the fight that took -place at the time of the second hold-up,” explained the -scout. Then, proceeding to decipher the picture, he went -on: “Back of the marks is an Indian with an eagle-feather. -That, of course, is Cayuse, trailing. Over -there, in the upper left-hand corner, is a cross representing -the four cardinal points of the compass. The hill -appears to be northwest of us.”</p> - -<p>While this conversation had been going on in the office, -the horses had clattered up, and Tenny had been -engaged in an excited conversation with Nomad and -Wild Bill. Presently some one else joined them, and -they all came into the hotel.</p> - -<p>“Got any clues from thet pictur’, Buffler?”</p> - -<p>The scout looked up and saw the old trapper, Wild -Bill, Gentleman Jim, and Hank Tenny.</p> - -<p>“It’s from Cayuse, all right,” answered the scout.</p> - -<p>“Good enough!” exclaimed the gambler, pressing -closer to the table. “It’s a clue, is it, Cody?”</p> - -<p>“Yes. Little Cayuse is following the gang, which consists -of seven, including Lawless. They have a white -woman prisoner along.”</p> - -<p>A tremor ran through Gentleman Jim’s lithe form at -mention of the woman prisoner; but he quickly pulled -himself together, and bent his eager eyes upon the crude -drawing.</p> - -<p>“There’s a hill there,” pursued the scout, laying one -finger on the queer-shaped elevation. “Dell thought it<span class="pagenum" id="Page_257">[257]</span> -might be a house, but I claim it’s a hill because that thing -on top of it is a tree. It lies northwest of here, and the -gang with their prisoner are apparently headed toward -the hill.”</p> - -<p>Gentleman Jim gave a start.</p> - -<p>“Look here, Tenny,” he called. The cowboy miner -leaned over beside him. “Doesn’t that look like Medicine -Bluff?” asked the gambler.</p> - -<p>“It shore does!” declared Tenny. “Thar’s a lone tree -on the Bluff, too.”</p> - -<p>Gentleman Jim turned his eyes on the scout.</p> - -<p>“Did Little Cayuse know anything about Medicine -Bluff, Buffalo Bill? Had he ever seen it?”</p> - -<p>“Sure he’d seen it!” struck in Wild Bill. “The boy -used to be a bugler with one of the companies at Fort -Sill. He has traveled all over this part of the country -with the doughboys.”</p> - -<p>“Hickok is right,” agreed the scout. “If Cayuse ever -saw that hill once, he’d be able to draw it a hundred years -from now. He never forgets anything.”</p> - -<p>“Then,” murmured Gentleman Jim, “Lawless and his -gang are headed for Medicine Bluff with my—with their -prisoner, and our clue is a hot one. There’ll be no need -to go to the arm of the gulch, to pick up the trail on the -scene of the second hold-up, for, if this is really from -Cayuse, we can mount and ride straight for the Bluff, -thereby saving time.”</p> - -<p>“Thet’s our cue!” exulted Nomad. “Ye kin trust -Leetle Cayuse ter do a thing like this up proper, ev’ry -time. Thet kid ain’t got his ekal anywhar in ther West. -I’ll back him agin’ all comers, white er red, bar none o’ -ther same size an’ y’ars.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_258">[258]</span></p> - -<p>“Are you ready for the trail, Gentleman Jim?” inquired -the scout.</p> - -<p>“I will be, as soon as I look after Hotchkiss and -Pete,” the gambler answered. “It will only take a few -moments to take care of their injuries.”</p> - -<p>While he was with Hotchkiss and Pete, the scout and -the rest of his pards went out in front. Wing Hi was -just depositing four war-bags on the ground near the -horses. Wild Bill had had the bags filled with rations.</p> - -<p>All swung to the backs of their horses, and the war-bags -were strapped at the saddle-cantles. Presently Gentleman -Jim issued hurriedly from the hotel and climbed -into his saddle.</p> - -<p>“Hotchkiss and Pete are all right,” he announced. -“The only thing that worries them is that they can’t -take part in this expedition. If they were to try that, -however, I wouldn’t answer for the consequences.”</p> - -<p>“They have done their part,” said the scout. “Spurs -and quirts, boys!”</p> - -<p>Spurs rattled, quirts swished, and the party rode off -at a gallop, heading for the rim of the gulch.</p> - -<p>There were six of them—Buffalo Bill, Wild Bill, Nomad, -Dell Dauntless, Gentleman Jim, and Hank Tenny. -Before they had reached the slope leading to the gulch, -a yell was heard behind them, and out of a cloud of dust -broke De Bray, mounted on a sorrel cayuse, and with a -rifle across the saddle in front of him. He was still wearing -his “boiled” shirt, collar, red vest, and white trousers, -making, all together, a somewhat unusual figure for a -foray such as the scout and his pards were then starting -upon.</p> - -<p>The scout turned in his saddle and looked back; then -with a laugh, he remarked:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_259">[259]</span></p> - -<p>“It’s a safe bet, pards, we couldn’t lose De Bray.”</p> - -<p>“Is he going along with us, in <em>that</em> rig?” queried Wild -Bill.</p> - -<p>“I presume he didn’t have time to change, Hickok; -but he’ll give a good account of himself in any rig.”</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_260">[260]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXIV">CHAPTER XXIV.<br /> -<span class="fs70">ON THE WAY TO MEDICINE BLUFF.</span></h2> -</div> - -<p>“What do you fellows mean by trying to cut me out -like this?” cried Reginald de Bray, as he spurred alongside -the scout and his pards. There was more of jest -than rebuke in his voice, however, as became apparent -when he added: “You know, I’m in on this deal to the -tune of twenty thousand.”</p> - -<p>“Well, De Bray,” laughed the scout, “I had supposed -that maybe that lump on the back of your head was giving -you trouble, and that you were willing to trust me to -look after your twenty thousand and stay in Sun Dance -along with Hotchkiss and Pete.”</p> - -<p>“It was a stiff blow I got on the back of my head, but -it wasn’t hard enough to knock me out of a picnic like -this.”</p> - -<p>“This won’t be much of a picnic,” said Wild Bill, with -a sarcastic look at the Denver man’s clothes. “You look -like you were got up for a hoe down.”</p> - -<p>“Bother the clothes!” exclaimed De Bray; “the time -was short, and I couldn’t change them. I bought this -gun and forty rounds”—he slapped his new rifle and the -ammunition-belt at his waist—“and then went with a -man to buy this horse. All that was necessary, of course, -and while I was about it you fellows came within one -of giving me the slip. Here I am, though, with one eye -out for trouble and the other scanning the hazy distance -for my lost dinero. Lawless overlooked my watch during -that double mix-up we had with him, and I had to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_261">[261]</span> -pledge it for the gun, the ammunition, the horse, and the -riding-gear.”</p> - -<p>“You needn’t have done that, De Bray,” said the scout. -“You could have had the outfit charged to me.”</p> - -<p>“Didn’t have time to think of that,” caroled the Denver -man blithely.</p> - -<p>“You act,” said Wild Bill, somewhat mystified by the -way the Denver man carried himself, “as though losing -twenty thousand was an every-day affair with you.”</p> - -<p>“If I do, then I’m acting a whole lot different from -what I feel. Twenty thousand is quite a bunch of -money, but if I never saw it again it wouldn’t break me.”</p> - -<p>When they had climbed to the rim of the cañon, Buffalo -Bill resigned the lead to Gentleman Jim and Tenny, -who were both perfectly familiar with the country and -competent to lay a straight course for Medicine Bluff.</p> - -<p>These two rode in the lead: behind them came Dell and -the scout, then Nomad, and lastly Wild Bill and De Bray, -the two latter hobnobbing as they rode and getting better -acquainted. Wild Bill found, as did every one else with -whom the Denver man came in contact, that his stirrup -companion improved upon acquaintance.</p> - -<p>“I wish I could understand the whole of that picture -Little Cayuse drew for us,” remarked Dell, as they galloped -across the level country that stretched northwesterly -from Sun Dance Cañon.</p> - -<p>“What bothers you, pard?” queried the scout.</p> - -<p>“That ‘marginal note,’ as you called it,” replied Dell. -“What do those mule’s ears mean?”</p> - -<p>“If it comes to that,” laughed the scout, “they may not -be mule’s ears.”</p> - -<p>“If they’re anything else, then the mystery is only -deepened.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_262">[262]</span></p> - -<p>“Let’s forget the mystery, for now. The main part of -the diagram is clear enough, and Medicine Bluff lies -ahead of us.”</p> - -<p>“I suppose, Buffler,” sang out the old trapper from -behind, “thet ther nub o’ this pizen bizness is gittin’ ther -woman back.”</p> - -<p>“That’s the main point, Nick,” answered the scout. -“After that, we can think of the money lost by those on -the stage. The woman must be safely rescued.”</p> - -<p>“I wish ter thunder, pard,” went on Nomad, “thet ye’d -sent me ter Montegordo along with Cayuse. Ef ye had, -’stead o’ settin’ in ther Lucky Strike Hotel, watchin’ -Hickok put et all over me at this game they calls seven-up, -I’d er been mixed in with things wuth while. Seems -like excitement has been side-steppin’ from in front er -me ever sence thet fracas at ther Forty Thieves.”</p> - -<p>“Which was as many as seven days ago,” returned -the scout. “Can’t you stand a week’s lull, Nick?”</p> - -<p>“I dunno, pard. I’m so used ter things happenin’ thet -ef a day comes in an’ slides out without somethin’ doin’, -I begins ter think trouble hes took er vacation. So fur -Leetle Cayuse appears ter be hevin’ all ther fun.”</p> - -<p>“You may have all the ‘fun’ you want, and more, too, -before we have run out this trail.”</p> - -<p>“Here’s hopin’,” said the old warrior.</p> - -<p>The sun had set about the time the party left the top -of Sun Dance Cañon; the darkness deepened, the stars -lighted up in the vault, and a crescent moon began to -brighten. Night was no bar to the ready knowledge of -Gentleman Jim and Hank Tenny, however, and they led -the scout and his pards along a bee-line as near as the -nature of the country would permit.</p> - -<p>Three hours of saddle-work brought the riders into<span class="pagenum" id="Page_263">[263]</span> -rough country; low hills, bare and sterile, but steep-sided, -surrounded them—hills where time was saved by -going around rather than by seeking to climb over.</p> - -<p>At last, four hours out of Sun Dance, Tenny and -Gentleman Jim drew rein in a shallow valley, and waited -for those behind to catch up.</p> - -<p>“We’re close to Medicine Bluff,” announced Gentleman -Jim. “It is no more than a mile from here, and this -valley divides into two branches just ahead of us. The -right-hand fork will bring us out at the western foot of -the Bluff, and the left-hand fork will land us on the -eastern side. There’s a slope on the eastern side by -which the top of the Bluff can be reached, but it seems -to me that the western side would be the one where the -outlaws are most likely to be found. Which course shall -we take, Buffalo Bill? It’s up to you.”</p> - -<p>“We’ll take both forks of the valley,” answered the -scout promptly.</p> - -<p>“You mean——-”</p> - -<p>“I mean that we’ll divide into two parties. If the -scoundrels we seek are hiding around the Bluff, and if -they have laid any sort of a trap, we can bother them by -riding into their game in two detachments. Tenny and -you, Gentleman Jim, are familiar with the country, so -you’ll have to be separated. Tenny, Dell, and I will -travel the left-hand fork; that will leave you, Nomad, -Wild Bill, and De Bray to go to the right. Your force -will be a little stronger than ours, but it may be that -you are going into more dangerous ground. We can -come together again at the Bluff.”</p> - -<p>“Correct!” exclaimed Gentleman Jim. “This clean-up, -Buffalo Bill, must be finished to-night. The—the -prisoner must not be left in the hands of that gang a minute<span class="pagenum" id="Page_264">[264]</span> -longer than necessary. I have ten thousand dollars -for the man who brings her to me before sunrise——”</p> - -<p>“Jim,” interrupted the scout, “not one of us would -take your money. We’ll work just as hard for you as -though there was a million dollars at stake.”</p> - -<p>“That’s like you, Buffalo Bill,” said Gentleman Jim; -“and right here I want you all to know that the prisoner -is my wife.”</p> - -<p>Startled exclamations came from those not in the secret, -and in the midst of the surprise Gentleman Jim -used his spurs and started along the valley.</p> - -<p>“Come on,” he flung back over his shoulder, “all those -who are to travel with me.”</p> - -<p>Nomad, Wild Bill, and De Bray detached themselves -from the party and galloped after the gambler. Tenny, -Buffalo Bill, and the girl watched them vanish into the -darkness that lay like a pall over the right-hand fork, -then themselves spurred into the left-hand branch of the -valley.</p> - -<p>“His wife!” whispered Dell, in amazement. “Didn’t -you say the woman’s name was Mrs. Brisco, Buffalo -Bill?”</p> - -<p>“Yes. Gentleman Jim’s name is Brisco; James Brisco, -although Sun Dance Cañon has never known him by any -other name than that of Gentleman Jim.”</p> - -<p>“Right ye aire, Buffler Bill!” exclaimed Tenny. “Gentleman -Jim has allers been a queer fish—generous, squar’, -an’ a man o’ nerve whenever nerve was needed. But -everybody knows thar was somethin’ in his past life -which he was keepin’ close. However, thet’s ther case -with purty nigh every one in the gulch, an’ no one has -ever showed a pryin’ dispersition so fur as Gentleman -Jim is consarned.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_265">[265]</span></p> - -<p>“But—well, he’s a gambler,” said Dell. “Even a -‘square’ gambler might be in better business.”</p> - -<p>“Gentleman Jim <em>will</em> be in better business before many -days,” said the scout. “His wife was coming to Sun -Dance to find him, and Jim is eager to meet her, and -then to turn his back on the gambling-table, return East -and pick up his medical profession where he broke it off. -When he leaves Sun Dance, mark my words, he’ll be a -credit to any community that has the luck to get him.”</p> - -<p>“I hope we shall find Mrs. Brisco,” said Dell softly.</p> - -<p>“That’s what we’re here for,” said the scout briskly.</p> - -<p>The walls of the left-hand fork began to narrow, and -the ground under the horses’ hoofs to become rugged -and difficult.</p> - -<p>“We’ll do more travelin’ ter cover ther mile thet separates -us from the Bluff,” averred Tenny, “than Jim an’ -his party will. T’other fork o’ ther valley is tollable -easy, compared ter this ’un. They’ll be at the Bluff afore -we aire, too, an’ if they meet up with any trouble, it’ll -be some leetle time afore we come close enough ter help. -If I was ter choose trails, I’d shore hev picked out——”</p> - -<p>Tenny was interrupted by a spurt of fire from overhead, -followed by the <em>sping</em> of a rifle. His horse jumped, -and his hat was whipped off as effectively as though some -hand had reached out of the gloom and torn it from his -head.</p> - -<p>“Outlaws!” cried the scout, his quick wit instantly -busying itself with the situation; “press close to the right -wall—quick!”</p> - -<p>The horses were swerved in the direction indicated, -and a jab of the spurs carried them into the heavy shadow -of the wall at a dozen jumps.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_266">[266]</span></p> - -<p>There, in the screen of thick darkness, the scout and -his two companions awaited further developments.</p> - -<p>If Lawless and his men were back of that rifle-shot, -they were slow in following up the attack. The one shot -was all that was fired, and ominous silence followed it. -Not a sound was heard by the scout and his friends aside -from the heavy breathing of their horses.</p> - -<p>“Thet was blame’ sudden,” muttered Hank Tenny, “an’ -blame’ near bein’ a bull’s-eye, too. I felt ther wind o’ -thet bullet, an’ ther way it snatched off my head-gear -made it look as though it wanted ter take my head with -it.”</p> - -<p>“A miss is as good as a mile, Hank,” said the scout, -in a low tone.</p> - -<p>While he spoke, his eyes were searching the darkness -in the direction from which the shot had come.</p> - -<p>“I ain’t grumblin’ none,” continued Tenny.</p> - -<p>“The bullet came from the top of the wall,” put in -Dell.</p> - -<p>“Yes; the men, whoever they may be, are up there.”</p> - -<p>“’Course they’re the gang we’re arter,” remarked -Tenny, “but they’re showin’ their hands consider’ble this -side o’ the Bluff. I reckon,” he finished grimly, “thet -ye picked the likeliest fork, Buffler Bill, when ye come ter -ther left. We’ve cut out this bunch o’ trouble for our -own.”</p> - -<p>“Why don’t they follow up the surprise?” queried -Dell restively. “A surprise like that doesn’t amount to -much unless it is followed up—and followed up quick.”</p> - -<p>“I can’t understand why the scoundrels are holding -their fire,” mused Buffalo Bill, “unless it is because they -can’t locate us, and don’t want to waste their ammunition. -Hold my horse, Dell.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_267">[267]</span></p> - -<p>The scout flung the girl his reins and slipped quietly -down from his saddle.</p> - -<p>“What are you going to do, pard?” whispered the girl -anxiously.</p> - -<p>“A little scouting,” he replied, “in order to determine -what we’re up against. That shot came from the wall, -across the valley. Can I climb the wall over there, -Tenny?”</p> - -<p>“It’ll be a hard scramble,” was the reply, “but I reckon -Buffler Bill kin do whatever he sets out ter try. Leastways, -thet’s how it seems from the fashion ye’ve been -doin’ things sence ye hit Sun Dance.”</p> - -<p>“Wait for me here,” said the scout, moving slowly -away through the gloom. “If you hear me whistle, -Tenny, leave your horse with Dell and come over, for it’s -barely possible I shall need you.”</p> - -<p>Emerging cautiously from the heavy shadow of the -bank, the scout dropped to his knees and crawled across -the valley. The bottom of the valley was fairly light, -and had the scout not taken advantage of the boulders -and depressions, he could easily have been seen by the -marksman on the wall, and almost as easily have been -snuffed out by a bullet.</p> - -<p>But he was a master of the sort of work that now engaged -his attention, and he gained the opposite wall without -being seen.</p> - -<p>The wall was steep and covered with sharp rocks. The -rocks, while making the scout’s climb more difficult, at -the same time served to shield him from the view of any -one above.</p> - -<p>To make such a hard ascent without loosening a stone, -or sending a spurt of sand down the wall, was the task<span class="pagenum" id="Page_268">[268]</span> -the scout had set for himself; and that he accomplished -it, in the semidarkness, was an added proof of the powers -that had made him what he was—king of scouts and -prince of Indian-fighters.</p> - -<p>And, strange as it may seem, this feat was performed -almost under the very nose of a watchful outlaw. The -scout, of course, knew nothing about the outlaw’s location -while he was making the climb. The discovery came as -a surprise when he had crawled over the brink of the -wall.</p> - -<p>The first object he beheld was a horse, standing about -a hundred feet from the rim of the valley. The horse -had an empty saddle, and there were no other horses in -its vicinity.</p> - -<p>The scout immediately drew the conclusion that a lone -outlaw had fired the shot at Tenny—perhaps an outpost, -placed at that particular point to watch the approach to -the Bluff.</p> - -<p>Then, just as he had settled this question to his satisfaction, -he crawled, snakelike, around a boulder, and saw -the man himself.</p> - -<p>The man was lying flat down on the other side of the -boulder, a rifle in his hands and his eyes scanning the -valley. It was plain enough that he was waiting for -some sight or sound that would locate the party which -had already been a target for him.</p> - -<p>Still crawling, although with redoubled vigilance, the -scout attempted to come close enough to take the man -at unawares and effect a capture. In this he was not -successful. The scraping sounds of his forward movement, -indistinct almost as the tread of a puma, suddenly -struck on the ears of the man with the gun.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_269">[269]</span></p> - -<p>He started up, and, just as he rose, the scout sprang -erect, and came to hand-grips with him.</p> - -<p>“Buffler Bill!” gasped the outlaw.</p> - -<p>“Tex!” exclaimed the scout, with a short laugh. -“You’re not much of a sniper, Tex. What are you doing -with your ears?”</p> - -<p>The outlaw swore heartily, and began to fight.</p> - -<p>Buffalo Bill had seen this man, whom Lawless and his -gang called ‘Tex,’ and it was easy to recognize the fellow’s -huge bulk, in spite of the screening darkness.</p> - -<p>A powerful man was Tex, and he marshaled all his -strength for what he must have believed to be a fight for -life.</p> - -<p>At close quarters Tex could not use his rifle—in fact, -that weapon had dropped the instant the scout had -grabbed him—so he sought to break away and draw one -of his revolvers.</p> - -<p>Buffalo Bill understood perfectly well what Tex’s -intentions were, and hung to him with a grip of iron.</p> - -<p>Finding himself unable to get clear of the scout’s -hands, Tex attempted to draw a bowie that swung in -front of him from his belt.</p> - -<p>In a mix-up like that a knife was far and away more -dangerous than a revolver.</p> - -<p>Back and forth, and around and around the two men -strained, and the scout was not long in discovering that -he had never met a man more worthy of his strength and -prowess than was Tex.</p> - -<p>Time and again Tex got a hand on the knife-hilt, and -time and again the scout caught the hand and wrenched -it away, always with the blade still in its scabbard, although -once or twice the blade was half-drawn.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_270">[270]</span></p> - -<p>For either combatant to gain an advantage seemed out -of the question. The contest, the scout early made up -his mind, was to be one of endurance.</p> - -<p>After the first exchange of words neither of the men -spoke. Breath was valuable, and could not be wasted.</p> - -<p>But steadily the giant frame of Tex was worn down, -and his hard breathing and husky gasps told of the effort -he was making to keep the battle at even odds.</p> - -<p>The scout, on the contrary, was a man of iron endurance. -After ten minutes of nerve-wracking struggle, he -was apparently as fresh as when he had begun the fight.</p> - -<p>“Yield!” panted the scout.</p> - -<p>“Give up an’ stretch a rope, hey?” wheezed Tex; “not -me!”</p> - -<p>For certain reasons, later to be explained, the scout -wanted to capture Tex uninjured, or practically so. But -some rough work was necessary, and the chance for it -came as Tex finished his defiance.</p> - -<p>Several times the pair had weaved about on the brink -of the wall. As the final word left the ruffian’s lips, he -and the scout were again in that position.</p> - -<p>Calling upon all his strength, the scout lifted the outlaw -bodily and flung him backward. Tex’s hands were -torn away from the scout’s buckskin shirt, and he keeled -over backward, down the slope.</p> - -<p>The big fellow fell heavily, and began rolling and -bounding down the steep descent. The gloom swallowed -up his rolling figure, and then the rattle of rocks and -loosened débris suddenly ceased.</p> - -<p>The scout stood for a second, breathing hard and looking -downward into the darkness; then, giving vent to a -sharp whistle, he started down the bank.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_271">[271]</span></p> - -<p>The whistle was returned from close at hand—from -part way up the slope, in fact—and was followed by the -voice of Tenny.</p> - -<p>“What d’ye want, Buffler Bill?”</p> - -<p>“There’s a man down there somewhere: see if you can -find him.”</p> - -<p>“Did ye hev a fracas with the feller?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, and he went over the bank. It’s Tex, one of -Lawless’ men. I want to capture him alive, if I can.”</p> - -<p>“I heerd a scramble over hyer,” went on Tenny, floundering -about on the slope, “an’ reckoned ye might be -needin’ me, so I started acrost without waitin’ fer ye ter -whistle. I didn’t know but thet—— Woof!” Tenny -broke off his remarks abruptly. “Hyer he is, Buffler—I -stumbled right over him. He’s wrapped around a big -stone, an’ as limp as a rag. Reckon he busted his neck—an’ -good enough fer him, if he did.”</p> - -<p>Lowering himself carefully downward, the scout presently -reached the place where Tex had been halted in his -rough descent of the slope.</p> - -<p>“He’s all right,” said the scout, after a moment’s examination. -“Stunned, that’s all. We’ll get a rope on -him before he comes to his senses.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll hev ter go acrost the valley ter my hoss ter git -a rope,” said Tenny.</p> - -<p>“Tex’s horse is just over the brink of the wall. Bring -the animal. The chances are you’ll find a riata coiled at -the saddle-horn, and there’ll be a heap of satisfaction in -tying Tex with his own rope.”</p> - -<p>“Thar’d be more satisfaction in hangin’ him with it,” -growled Tenny, as he scrambled to the top of the wall -and disappeared.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_272">[272]</span></p> - -<p>While Tenny was gone, the scout stripped the outlaw -of his knife and six-shooters.</p> - -<p>The capture of Tex was an unexpected stroke of luck, -but just how much luck there was in it the scout could -not tell until later.</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_273">[273]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXV">CHAPTER XXV.<br /> -<span class="fs70">A COWED OUTLAW.</span></h2> -</div> - -<p>Tex was bound and half-dragged and half-carried -down the slope to the bottom of the valley. Bringing -his horse down was a hard proposition, but Tenny managed -to accomplish it by throwing a couple of somersaults -and barking his shins on the rocks.</p> - -<p>It was very evident that Tex was the only one of -Lawless’ men in that immediate vicinity, and the scout -and his pards considered themselves fairly secure. Dell -rode out from under the sheltering bank leading Bear -Paw and Tenny’s mount. She had heard enough of the -conversation between the scout and Tenny to understand -what had happened.</p> - -<p>“He’s a good fighter, Dell,” said the scout, when she -and Tenny had both reached his side and they were -grouped about Tex and waiting for him to recover his -wits. “If he had been as good with his rifle as he is with -his hands, Tenny would have been out of the reckoning -by now.”</p> - -<p>“Did you catch him napping, pard?”</p> - -<p>“I blundered right onto him. If his ears had been -sharp, he would have heard me climbing up the bank, for -I reached the top only a few yards from where he was -lying, waiting for a chance to take a shot across the valley.”</p> - -<p>“Whyever did ye want ter ketch him alive?” asked -Tenny.</p> - -<p>“He’s a weak sister, Tenny, in the sense that his allegiance<span class="pagenum" id="Page_274">[274]</span> -to Lawless’ gang is none too hard and fast. I -know that from things I have heard. I think we can -use Tex; at any rate, I intend to see what I can do with -him.”</p> - -<p>Just then Tex gave a gurgle and sat up, straining at -the rope around his hands.</p> - -<p>“Don’t break loose,” taunted Tenny. “It’s yer own -rope we’ve put on ye, an’ you ort ter know how strong -it is.”</p> - -<p>“No one but Buffler Bill could hev ketched me like -that,” growled Tex. “I’ve allers said he was a powerful -sort of er man—too powerful for us fellers ter buck -ag’inst with any show o’ winnin’ out. He’s beat Lawless -twicet at his own game, an’ I reckon he’ll beat him -agin.”</p> - -<p>“I reckon I will, Tex,” said the scout. “Do you want -us to take you to Fort Sill and turn you over to the soldiers?”</p> - -<p>“Might as well go ter Fort Sill as ter any other place,” -said Tex, with resignation. “I’m up a stump, anyways. -It don’t make any diff’rence whether I’m shot er strung -up; they both mean the same thing in the end. Thunder! -I allers reckoned if I hung onter Lawless long enough -this is what ’u’d happen. I didn’t want ter be took alive! -Why didn’t ye use a gun on me, Buffler Bill?”</p> - -<p>“Because I had other plans,” said the scout briefly. -“Where’s Lawless?”</p> - -<p>Tex was silent.</p> - -<p>“Where has he taken Mrs. Brisco?”</p> - -<p>Still Tex would not find his tongue.</p> - -<p>“Why don’t you answer me?” asked the scout.</p> - -<p>“Ye want ter know a heap,” answered Tex, after a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_275">[275]</span> -brief period of reflection. “What good is it goin’ ter -do me ter tell ye all that?”</p> - -<p>“That depends on whether you tell the truth or not.”</p> - -<p>“Git down ter brass tacks,” said Tex. “Jest what d’ye -mean by sayin’ that?”</p> - -<p>“I mean that if you will answer my questions truthfully, -just as soon as Lawless is down and out, I’ll set -you at liberty—providing you’ll agree to leave the country.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t reckon thar’s anythin’ ter be gained by buckin’ -you further than what I hev,” mused Tex. “I’ve had -plenty of it lately, an’ it ain’t never amounted ter nothin’, -’cept ter git us fellers deeper an’ deeper in the hole. -I begun as an honest miner, over thar in Sun Dance -Cañon, but Coomby talked me over ter helpin’ Lawless, -sayin’ as how we’d all git a slice o’ the Forty Thieves if -we hung on. Now the mine has been deeded ter Wah-coo-tah -Lawless, an’ us fellers won’t git none o’ it onless -Wah-coo-tah Lawless makes out a deed ter Cap’n Lawless, -an’ ther deed is left at ther black rock at Medicine -Bluff ter-night. Is that deed goin’ ter be left?”</p> - -<p>“Not that anybody knows of,” said the scout.</p> - -<p>“Thet’s what I told Lawless; but when he gits the bit -in his teeth, thar ain’t no doin’ anythin’ with him.”</p> - -<p>“I have just begun my clean-up,” said the scout, “and -Lawless and his men will be down and out before I’m -through. You’re down and out now, Tex, and this is -the beginning. You can save yourself, however, if you -want to answer my questions. We shall wipe out the -gang with or without your information, but you may be -able to tell us something that will make the job a trifle -easier. What’s the word?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_276">[276]</span></p> - -<p>“How do I know ye’ll turn me loose if I tell ye what -I know?”</p> - -<p>“You have my word,” said the scout shortly. “If that -isn’t good enough for you, we’ll stop negotiations right -here, and I’ll send you over to Sill.”</p> - -<p>“Waal, I’d a heap rather take chances with you than -ter take ’em at Sill,” answered the cowed desperado. -“What d’ye want ter know?”</p> - -<p>“First off, how did you happen to be on the top of the -bank?”</p> - -<p>“I was watchin’ fer you, er some o’ the others from -Sun Dance. Lawless knowed he’d be follered arter the -news o’ the hold-up got ter the camp. I was watchin’ this -road ter Medicine Bluff, an’ Coomby was watchin’ the -other.”</p> - -<p>“Why did you fire at us?”</p> - -<p>“Bekase I’d feel a heap safer in my mind if I knowed -Buffler Bill had been picked off.”</p> - -<p>“You tried to pick off Tenny here, and not me.”</p> - -<p>“I was waitin’ for a chance at you when ye jumped -me up behind thet boulder,” was the rueful answer.</p> - -<p>“How did you know I wasn’t coming to Medicine Bluff -to leave the deed?”</p> - -<p>“How does a feller know thet water won’t run up-hill? -Thet wasn’t ther kind of er play ter ketch you, an’ -thet’s what I told Lawless. I ain’t felt easy a minit sence -you was in Sun Dance Cañon.”</p> - -<p>“Well, we’ll let that pass. Where is Mrs. Brisco?”</p> - -<p>“Some’r’s around Medicine Bluff, at last accounts. I -don’t know jest whar. I come away ter watch this fork -afore Lawless decided jest whar he’d take her.”</p> - -<p>“Is she being well treated?”</p> - -<p>“She gits the best ther camp affords.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_277">[277]</span></p> - -<p>“Is Lawless with her?”</p> - -<p>“By now, I reckon, he’s on his way ter Pima Camp, -in Chavorta Gorge.”</p> - -<p>“Why is he going to Pima Camp?”</p> - -<p>“He’s made up his mind he ain’t got men enough. -Andy was put out o’ bizness at ther time o’ ther hold-up, -an’ sence then he’s passed out o’ ther game fer keeps. -Lonesome Pete kin cut a notch, too, fer Eph Singer—we -left him under a pile o’ rocks on ther way ter Medicine -Bluff. Thet leaves on’y six in ther gang, countin’ Lawless -hisself. Now I’m out, thar’s on’y five.”</p> - -<p>“Coomby’s watching the other fork of the valley?”</p> - -<p>“Yes.”</p> - -<p>“And Lawless has gone to Pima?”</p> - -<p>“I jest told ye thet.”</p> - -<p>“Did he go alone?”</p> - -<p>“He did. He wants ter pick up some men at Pima, if -he kin.”</p> - -<p>“Then there are only three outlaws at Medicine Bluff -with the woman?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, purvidin’ she’s at the Bluff. I ain’t a-sayin’ -whar she is, kase I don’t know.”</p> - -<p>“Where are the renegade Cheyennes who used to help -Lawless in his villainy?”</p> - -<p>“Stampeded. They was all afeared o’ Buffler Bill. I -ain’t blamin’ ’em none, either. I reckon Lawless’ll hev -the time o’ his life gittin’ handy boys at Pima, when they -hear it’s Buffler Bill they’re ter fight.”</p> - -<p>The scout turned to Tenny.</p> - -<p>“How far is it to Pima from here, Hank?” he asked.</p> - -<p>“Ten mile,” replied Tenny.</p> - -<p>“How must a man travel to get there?”</p> - -<p>“Waal, if I was goin’ thar from hyer, I’d git up on<span class="pagenum" id="Page_278">[278]</span> -the top o’ thet bank an’ head due south, keepin Medicine -Bluff allers ter the right. When I’d gone five mile, -I could see the ridge thet holds Chavorta Gorge. Kain’t -miss the gorge. Once inter it, ye foller up ter Pima. -But what ye thinkin’ o’ doin’, Buffler Bill?”</p> - -<p>“Dell and I are going to Pima,” said the scout, “and -overhaul Lawless before he can enlist any more miscreants -to carry out his nefarious plans. The iron is -hot, and Pima is the place to strike. Not only can we -capture Lawless,” added the scout, “but we can prevent -him from adding to his force of trouble-makers.”</p> - -<p>“You an’ Miss Dauntless aire goin’ ter Pima, ye say?”</p> - -<p>“Yes.”</p> - -<p>“An’ what am I ter do?”</p> - -<p>“You’re to tie Tex to his horse and travel on to Medicine -Bluff, effecting a juncture with Nomad’s party. Tell -them what has happened; then the lot of you can ride on -to Pima. Remember my promise to Tex, Tenny. If his -information pans out, he’s going to be a free man. Tell -Nomad and Wild Bill what I have promised.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t want ter go ter Medicine Bluff,” demurred -Tex unexpectedly.</p> - -<p>“Why not?” answered the scout. “You’ll not suffer -any harm from my pards.”</p> - -<p>“Waal, I jest don’t want ter go thar, thet’s all. It -ain’t yore pards I’m fearin’, but Coomby an’ the rest.”</p> - -<p>“Nomad and Wild Bill have men enough with them to -protect you, and that is where you’re going.”</p> - -<p>“Jest remember what ye said, Buffler Bill,” went on -Tex; “ye said thet ther minit Lawless was down an’ out, -I was ter be turned loose.”</p> - -<p>“Yes.”</p> - -<p>“All right then. I jest want it understood.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_279">[279]</span></p> - -<p>“You’re keeping something back, Tex,” said the scout, -studying the ruffian’s face as keenly as he could in the -faint light.</p> - -<p>“I’m bankin’ my life on the result, ain’t I?” returned -Tex. “What I’m keepin’ ter myself ain’t goin’ ter interfere -none with yore affairs, an’ it’s li’ble ter mean a hull -lot ter me.”</p> - -<p>“Well, have it your way. As you say, it is very likely -your life swings in the balance.”</p> - -<p>The scout and Tenny, between them, swung Tex to the -back of his horse and tied him there. Immediately afterward, -the rest mounted, and Tenny took the bridle of -Tex’s horse, to lead the animal on toward Medicine -Bluff.</p> - -<p>“Pima is a tough camp, Buffler,” observed Tenny, “an’ -thet’s why Lawless went thar ter git fresh men. Every -whelp in Pima is of ther same caliber as Tex thar, an’ -I’m afeared you an’ Miss Dauntless aire goin’ ter hev -yer hands full.”</p> - -<p>“Not so full but that we can handle the work, all -right,” answered the scout confidently. “A bold stroke, -just now, will settle Lawless for good and all. The risk -is worth taking. Come on, Dell,” he added to his girl -pard; “we’re for Chavorta Gorge and Pima.”</p> - -<p>Tenny rode slowly on along the valley in the direction -of Medicine Bluff, while the scout and Dell pushed their -horses at the wall up which the scout had climbed a little -while before.</p> - -<p>The scout understood that his suddenly conceived plan -for capturing Lawless was a desperate one; but, had he -realized just how desperate it was, he would have waited, -before carrying it out, to get some more of his pards to -go with him.</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_280">[280]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXVI">CHAPTER XXVI.<br /> -<span class="fs70">CHAVORTA GORGE AND PIMA.</span></h2> -</div> - -<p>Buffalo Bill and Dell found it a long ten miles to -Chavorta Gorge and Pima, mainly because the night -mixed up their landmarks, and they went astray in the -barren hills.</p> - -<p>Early daylight found them on the crest of an eminence -scanning the country to the west and south. Away to the -west they discerned a distant uplift, which they took to -be Medicine Bluff. To the south stretched a ridge, but -there was no sign of a gap in the ridge leading to Chavorta -Gorge.</p> - -<p>“We’re too far to the east, Dell,” hazarded the scout, -“and have been following down the ridge. If we turn -west, and keep our eyes on the ridge as we ride, I believe -we shall find the gorge.”</p> - -<p>“By the time we find it, and get to Pima,” returned -Dell, “we may discover that Lawless has secured his new -men and gone back to Medicine Bluff. If it turns out -that way, Nomad, Wild Bill and the rest may have more -on their hands than they can take care of.”</p> - -<p>“Tenny will warn them. It is true we have lost a lot -of time, but I don’t want to turn back from Pima now, -when there’s still a chance of accomplishing our work -there.”</p> - -<p>They pointed their horses westward, and rode as swiftly -as the nature of the ground would permit.</p> - -<p>“If Lawless has a permanent headquarters near Medicine -Bluff,” suggested Dell, “it may be that Nomad,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_281">[281]</span> -Wild Bill, Gentleman Jim, and De Bray have already -found Mrs. Brisco.”</p> - -<p>“I’m hoping for the best,” returned the scout. “If that -has happened, Dell, it is up to you and me to give as -good an account of ourselves at Pima, as the rest of our -pards have done, or will do, at the bluff.”</p> - -<p>Half an hour’s riding in a westerly direction proved -the truth of the scout’s theory regarding the location of -Chavorta Gorge. From a hilltop a look toward the -ridge showed them a rent in its buttressed side.</p> - -<p>“There’s the gorge!” exclaimed Dell.</p> - -<p>“Good!” cried the scout. “Now to get into it, and -make the best time possible to Pima.”</p> - -<p>The sun was mounting as they entered the gorge, but -the gash was so deep and narrow that even at midday -a spectral twilight reigned in its depths.</p> - -<p>It was a bleak and dismal defile, walled in by gray -masses of granite, and with hardly any silt in its bed. -The river that had once flowed through the gorge had -long since found other channels, and what gold the place -yielded had to be dug from the rock crevices with iron -hooks and rods.</p> - -<p>The scout had heard all about Chavorta Gorge, although -this was the first time he had ever inspected it, -and as he and Dell clattered along through the gloom, he -explained the method of mining in vogue in the place.</p> - -<p>“The outcasts of respectable mining-camps flock to the -gorge,” the scout added, “and prod and gouge at these -granite walls for the nuggets once brought down the -defile by the vanished stream. The place has a hard -name, and rightly so, for an outcast miner is about as -hard a citizen as one can find anywhere in the West.”</p> - -<p>“Are there many people at Pima?” asked the girl.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_282">[282]</span></p> - -<p>“I suppose the camp is about the size of Sun Dance, -although my information is rather limited on that point.”</p> - -<p>“What can we do against even a small camp?”</p> - -<p>“The miners, I reckon, have heard of Buffalo Bill,” -said the scout, with a flash of the eyes; “they know he is -in Uncle Sam’s service, and they’ll think twice before -they invite a company of regulars over here to drive -them out and wind up their layout.”</p> - -<p>“The very name of Buffalo Bill,” said Dell, her face -lighting with admiration, “has a power everywhere. See -how it stampeded the Cheyennes and caused them to -break away from Lawless! And see, too, how fearful -Tex was, and how ready to save his own neck when he -found you had captured him.”</p> - -<p>“It isn’t so much the name, pard,” laughed the scout, -“as the fact that the United States army is behind it.”</p> - -<p>A few miles of twilight brought the scout and the girl -to a point where the walls of the gorge began to open -out. More daylight entered the depths and dispelled the -gloom. The walls were as high and as rugged as ever, -but they continued to swerve away from each other.</p> - -<p>An abrupt turn in the gorge brought the riders suddenly -within sight of the camp.</p> - -<p>Knowing that there was no flood to be feared, the -founders of Pima had built the camp in the very bottom -of the defile. Timber was plentiful on the ridge, and logs -had been lowered from the top of the walls and used in -the construction of cabins.</p> - -<p>Perhaps there were a dozen buildings, all told, in the -camp. They were disreputable structures, entirely in -keeping with the character of those who occupied them.</p> - -<p>The scout halted Bear Paw while he scanned the camp -critically. A few horses were feeding out behind one of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_283">[283]</span> -the buildings, but there was not a human being in sight. -Among the feeding horses was one that was equipped -with riding-gear.</p> - -<p>“Where are the miners?” queried Dell. “Are they up -the gorge somewhere, prying their nuggets out of the -rocks? This camp is even quieter than Sun Dance during -the day.”</p> - -<p>“Listen!” said the scout. “There seems to be plenty of -life in one of the buildings.”</p> - -<p>A roar of voices broke fitfully from a large log -structure in the midst of the huddled cabins. The roar -died away in silence, and then rose again, proving that -there was excitement of some sort going on in the place.</p> - -<p>“If Lawless is in this camp,” observed Buffalo Bill, -“that’s where I shall find him. I want you to stay with -the horses, Dell,” he added, as he dismounted, “and, if I -need you, ride at once to that cabin. We may have to get -out of the gorge in a hurry.”</p> - -<p>“Look well to yourself, pard,” adjured Dell, reaching -forward and taking hold of Bear Paw’s bridle-reins.</p> - -<p>“I always do that,” said he. “The crack of a revolver -will be your cue to gallop into the camp.”</p> - -<p>Sitting anxiously in her saddle, Dell watched Buffalo -Bill stride rapidly in among the log cabins.</p> - -<p>No one appeared to ask the scout questions or to dispute -his progress, and it was quite evident that every -miner who was not at work in the gorge was at that moment -in the structure toward which the scout was laying -his course.</p> - -<p>This fact, of itself, held a portentous significance. -Had Lawless gathered the men of the camp in that building -in order to harangue them and take his pick of those -willing to join his gang?</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_284">[284]</span></p> - -<p>As the scout came nearer the structure, he noted the -massive logs used in its walls; the wide, high door, the -gaping loopholes, cut at intervals at shoulder height, and -the strong oaken shutters swinging at the windows.</p> - -<p>“It has the appearance of a fort,” he said to himself. -“I wonder if the people of Pima take refuge there when -the Indians are up, or if they fear the military more than -they do the reds?”</p> - -<p>A rude sign, on the front wall of the building, near the -door, bore the words: “The Taim Tiger.”</p> - -<p>The scout chuckled over the sign, for the “Taim” appealed -to him humorously.</p> - -<p>“That’s about the way to spell it,” he muttered. “I -don’t think the sort of tiger they keep here is overly tame. -Perhaps, though, I shall be able to clip its claws—we’ll -see.”</p> - -<p>At the side of the door he halted and looked back to -where he had left Dell. The girl was sitting like a statue -on her white cayuse.</p> - -<p>Buffalo Bill waved his hat to her reassuringly, and -then stepped through the wide door of The Tame Tiger.</p> - -<p>There were not so many men inside the resort as Buffalo -Bill had expected to find. The swift glance he cast -around him showed him seven or eight, including a -heavy-set person behind a rough board bar, and a supple -individual clad in black, with shiny knee-boots and a -gaudy sash about his waist.</p> - -<p>The man in black, naturally, the scout was overjoyed -to find. The scout was not unacquainted with the appearance -of Lawless, and this man, even at a rear view, -answered the outlaw’s description.</p> - -<p>The man behind the bar turned half-around as the -scout entered, and stared at him suspiciously. The others<span class="pagenum" id="Page_285">[285]</span> -in the room, including the man in black, were too -much occupied with their own particular business to pay -the scout any attention.</p> - -<p>Buffalo Bill moved slowly over to the bar and leaned -against it.</p> - -<p>“There are good pickings everywhere in these parts,” -the man in black was saying, “and, with a little nerve, -they’re easily got at. How did I pull off that deal on -the Sun Dance trail yesterday? How did I take down -over twenty thousand dollars at one clip for myself and -the boys who were in on the game with me? It was -because I know how! I want more men, and if any of -you are game enough to ride to Medicine Bluff with me -this morning, you’ve got a chance. It’s not often that -Captain Lawless has to go drumming for men, and the -chance won’t come your way again.”</p> - -<p>It was plain that Lawless had been spending money -freely for liquor. The men who listened to him were in -an amiable and receptive mood. While he indulged in -his particularly bold talk, roars of approval, such as the -scout and Dell had heard at the edge of camp, went up -again and again.</p> - -<p>A roar, louder than any of the rest, greeted the finish -of Lawless’ remarks. It was this noise, more like Bedlam -turned loose than anything else, that drowned the warning -shout of the man behind the bar. The barkeeper -realized that Lawless was going too far in the presence -of a stranger. It was not the barkeeper’s shout that drew -the outlaw’s attention to Buffalo Bill, but the sudden -quiet that fell over the rowdies to whom he had been -talking.</p> - -<p>These men, all of them with vicious faces, had suddenly<span class="pagenum" id="Page_286">[286]</span> -become aware of the scout’s presence. Lawless, observing -the direction of their glances, whirled about.</p> - -<p>At sight of the scout, leaning unconcernedly back -against the bar, the outlaw’s face went blank. He recoiled -a step, staring as though he could scarcely believe -his eyes.</p> - -<p>The next moment, apparently assuring himself that he -was not dreaming, he cried out an oath and jerked a revolver -from his sash.</p> - -<p>Silence had fallen over the room. The ruffians spread -out, some of them, it seemed likely, for the purpose of -helping Captain Lawless, and others with the intention -of bolting, or dodging under the tables, in case bullets -began to fly.</p> - -<p>“Don’t shoot,” said the scout, transfixing Lawless with -a steady glance.</p> - -<p>He made no move to draw his own revolvers. When -he got ready to draw, he would do it so quickly that the -movement would be imperceptible.</p> - -<p>Lawless, bent on making a show of himself for the -benefit of possible recruits, did not make an attempt to -use the revolver he had drawn.</p> - -<p>“Well, now,” said he, “if here isn’t Buffalo Bill, the -great and only W. F. Cody, flash-light warrior and so-called -king of scouts! Why”—and Lawless turned a -mocking glance into the faces of the men behind him—“he -blows right into Pima as though he belonged here. -I wonder if he knows he’s off his beat?”</p> - -<p>“I wonder!” said the scout, with a jeering undernote. -“You’re off your beat, too, just a little. Drumming up -recruits, eh?” The scout turned his eyes on the men -who had spread themselves out behind Lawless. “This -scoundrel”—and the scout indicated the man in black<span class="pagenum" id="Page_287">[287]</span> -with a contemptuous nod—“is a murderous outlaw. He -lost two men at the time of the hold-up he has just been -bragging about, and he finds it necessary to get more -men in order to fight the force I have brought against -him. That’s what he wants you for—to help fight me -and my pards and save the twenty thousand dollars he -took from the man on the Sun Dance stage. His chestnuts -are still in the fire, and he wants you to help him -rake them out.”</p> - -<p>“That’ll do you!” shouted Lawless, waving his revolver. -“You came into this honkatonk on your feet, -Buffalo Bill, but you’ll be <em>carried</em> out. I’ve had enough -of your meddling, and here and now is the place for -me to settle the score I have run up against you.”</p> - -<p>“You’ll settle no scores, Captain Lawless,” said the -scout; “on the contrary, the law you have so long defied -has reached out after you, and inside of two days you -will be turned over to the authorities at Fort Sill.”</p> - -<p>“I will, eh?” sneered the bandit. “By whom?”</p> - -<p>“By me.”</p> - -<p>“You talk as though you were a whole company of -doughboys! But that’s your style—all talk and nothing -doing. Now you’re up against me and these men, all -of whom are going to join my band of free-lances. We’re -eight against you.”</p> - -<p>Buffalo Bill did not reply to Lawless at once. There -was a bit of work for him to do, and before he answered -the outlaw he had to do it, or find himself completely -at the mercy of those in The Tame Tiger.</p> - -<p>His back was to the bar, and he was facing Lawless -and the ruffians in the room; but, although his face -was turned from the barkeeper, he did not allow the -actions of that worthy to escape his notice.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_288">[288]</span></p> - -<p>Out of the tails of his eyes the scout saw the barkeeper -duck down and pick up a heavy wooden mallet. -As soon as he had the mallet in his hands, the barkeeper -began a stealthy movement in the scout’s direction, along -the inside of the bar.</p> - -<p>A heavy bottle stood on the bar conveniently to the -scout’s hand. Just as the barkeeper had raised the mallet -to deal the scout a treacherous blow from behind, -the intended victim made a lightninglike move.</p> - -<p>It was difficult for those who were looking on to see -exactly what had happened. The scout did something, -there was a crash of broken glass, and the barkeeper -wilted down behind the rough boards. The bottle had -vanished from the scout’s elbow.</p> - -<p>“You say you are eight against me,” said Buffalo Bill -as calmly as though nothing had happened, “but what -are eight criminals against the authority of the United -States government? Lawless, you are my prisoner!”</p> - -<p>This calm statement was astounding, not only to Lawless -himself, but to the others in the room as well. The -quietly effective way in which Buffalo Bill had back-capped -the barkeeper had made a profound impression -upon the rascals whom Lawless was trying to interest -in his criminal operations. Now to have the scout call -Lawless his prisoner hinted of more power than he -visibly possessed. How could one man stand up against -eight and appear so confident?</p> - -<p>Anxious eyes wandered to the door, but no force was -in evidence in that direction.</p> - -<p>“He’s bluffing!” cried Lawless. “He knows that all -we’ve got to do in order to nail him is to make a surround, -and his only hope is to make us think he’s got -friends outside.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_289">[289]</span></p> - -<p>Lawless realized that he could not dally with the -situation any longer. If he would save himself, and get -the better of Buffalo Bill, he must act now, or never.</p> - -<p>“Say, you fellows!” Lawless cried to the ruffians, -“are you going to stand there like a lot of dummies, and -let one man come into this camp and run it? Are you -going to let Buffalo Bill knock down the barkeeper of -this joint, and never lift a hand to interfere? Buffalo -Bill! Pah! He’s no more of a man than any of the -rest of you. He’s the government’s hired man, that’s -all——”</p> - -<p>Lawless’ remarks glided into the crack of a revolver -and the snarl of a bullet. Under cover of his talk, the -outlaw had fired from his hip; but his haste, and the -unusual position of the weapon, had militated against the -accuracy of his aim.</p> - -<p>The scout’s hat-brim was seen to twitch, but the scout -still stood leaning back against the bar, as calm and unruffled -as before.</p> - -<p>“Your hand isn’t as steady as it ought to be, Lawless,” -remarked the scout. “I repeat, you are my prisoner. -I want to take you out of Chavorta Gorge alive, -but, if you make another attempt on me with that revolver, -you’ll leave the gorge feet first.”</p> - -<p>Then, keeping his steely gaze fixed on Lawless, the -scout stepped toward him.</p> - -<p>“Keep away from me!” shouted the outlaw, backing -toward the door. “One or the other of us will never -leave this place alive, and that shot goes as it lays.” -He turned partly toward the rest of the men, addressing -them, but keeping his eyes on the scout. “What are you -hanging back for?” he demanded fiercely. “What sort -of fighters are you, anyhow? If you want to join my<span class="pagenum" id="Page_290">[290]</span> -gang, show me what you can do. I’m holding my hand, -just to give you the chance.”</p> - -<p>This was a sure-enough bluff, and it brought a laugh -from the scout; then, suddenly, Dell Dauntless, on her -white cayuse, appeared in the wide, high doorway. The -girl’s face was white and determined, and she held her -riata ready for a throw.</p> - -<p>What had brought such a plan into the girl’s head -the scout could not guess, but it was plain that she had -a set purpose in mind, and was there with the determination -to carry it through at all hazards.</p> - -<p>If Lawless had heard the hoof-falls of Silver Heels, he -gave them no heed. He dared not. To turn his face -from the scout even for an instant would have spelled -inevitable disaster for him. And yet the outlaw was not -entirely ignorant of the danger behind him. The startled -exclamations of the others in the resort apprised him of -the fact that something unusual was taking place at the -door.</p> - -<p>In order to cut short the tension of the moment, Lawless -started to lift his revolver for another and a better -shot at Buffalo Bill. Before his arm was half-raised, a -noose dropped over his head and tightened about his -body at the elbows.</p> - -<p>It was an easy throw for Dell, and she at once set -Silver Heels to backing, drawing the rope taut and preventing -the astounded bandit from struggling clear of -the noose.</p> - -<p>“Bravo, Dell!” shouted Buffalo Bill, as the girl backed -slowly through the doorway, dragging the squirming -Captain Lawless at the end of the rope.</p> - -<p>The instant the outlaw had vanished from the room,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_291">[291]</span> -the scout faced the gaping and amazed men he had left -behind.</p> - -<p>“I don’t know whether any of you really intended to -join Lawless’ gang or not,” said he sternly; “but, if you -did, I have kept you from making a bad mistake. The -reputation of this camp of yours is none too good, and -if you want to stay in the gorge and dig your gold out -of the rocks, I’d advise you to be a little less ready to -take up with such scoundrels as Lawless. That will be -all!”</p> - -<p>And the scout, with the final word, went out of The -Tame Tiger and closed the door after him.</p> - -<p>Dell was still backing Silver Heels over the ground -outside, not daring to let the riata grow slack between -her and Lawless, for fear the latter would be able to -widen the noose and free himself.</p> - -<p>Running up to the helpless bandit, the scout threw -him to the ground and held him there.</p> - -<p>“Cast off the rope, Dell,” he shouted, “and bring Bear -Paw! Hurry up, pard. We’ve got this camp paralyzed, -for the moment, but there’s no telling what will happen -if we don’t make a quick getaway.”</p> - -<p>Dell flung the end of her rope from the saddle-horn, -and, while the scout made the struggling Lawless secure, -wrist and ankle, she rode around the side of The Tame -Tiger, and brought Bear Paw from the place where -she had left him.</p> - -<p>By the time Bear Paw had been led to the place where -the scout was waiting, the door of The Tame Tiger had -been thrown open, and those inside were piling out. -The men were shouting angrily and waving their revolvers.</p> - -<p>“Back!” cried Dell, drawing her six-shooters and leveling<span class="pagenum" id="Page_292">[292]</span> -them. “The first of you that pulls a trigger will -never live to try it a second time!”</p> - -<p>Lifting Lawless in his arms, the scout flung him -across Bear Paw and then leaped into the saddle.</p> - -<p>“All ready, Dell!” he called.</p> - -<p>Silver Heels spun around on his hind feet, and the -scout and the girl shot out of the camp, the former -holding Lawless at the saddle-cantle as he galloped.</p> - -<p>Bullets were fired after the pards, but it was a harmless -and half-hearted volley.</p> - -<p>Buffalo Bill and Dell Dauntless were safe—and they -had captured Captain Lawless!</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_293">[293]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXVII">CHAPTER XXVII.<br /> -<span class="fs70">A BUSY TIME FOR CAYUSE.</span></h2> -</div> - -<p>Little Cayuse did not like the white man’s villages. -There was nothing about them that attracted him in the -least. While in Montegordo, whither he had been sent -by the scout, he attached himself to a seat in the railroad-station, -spent the night there, and watched, the next -morning, while a man wearing a red vest got off the -west-bound train.</p> - -<p>That red vest captured the boy’s fancy, and he decided -that some time, when the chance offered, he -would buy one for himself.</p> - -<p>With his doting eyes on the vest, he had gone up to -the man wearing it, and asked:</p> - -<p>“You De Bray, mebbyso?”</p> - -<p>“Why, yes,” answered the stranger, “that’s my name. -Who are you, and what of it?”</p> - -<p>“You take um stage for Sun Dance, huh?”</p> - -<p>“The first one I can get. But, say! Look here a -minute——”</p> - -<p>Cayuse did not stop for anything further. Whirling -about, he made off, tearing up the telegram the scout -had given to him to send in case De Bray did not arrive.</p> - -<p>Cayuse, a couple of hours later, was in the Sun Dance -stage when De Bray climbed onto the front seat with -Pete and Chick Billings.</p> - -<p>During the entire journey, up to the point where the -first hold-up had been planned to occur, Cayuse had kept -strictly to himself on the back seat. But he was all eyes<span class="pagenum" id="Page_294">[294]</span> -and ears, even if he did not use his tongue, and among -the rocks that hemmed in the stage-trail ahead he had -caught a strange glimmer, as of the sun on steel.</p> - -<p>That was his signal to drop out at the rear of the -mountain-wagon, and flicker from sight among the rocks -like a scared coyote. But Cayuse wasn’t scared—he was -only curious.</p> - -<p>He had seen rifles sparkle in the sun before, and he -was pretty sure he had caught a gleam of gun-barrels.</p> - -<p>From a safe place among the rocks he witnessed the -first hold-up. When the stage pulled out, and the outlaws -grouped together to take stock of their spoil, Cayuse -saw Lawless—whom he knew by sight—open the locket -and stare at the pictures inside.</p> - -<p>Then he overheard Lawless plan to cross the arm of -the gulch and overhaul the stage again. Cayuse, much -to his disappointment, was powerless to warn those in -the stage. He was afoot, and the driver of the stage -was going fast toward Sun Dance. The boy might have -raced across the arm of the gulch, but he could not have -beaten the mounted thieves. He followed the thieves, -however, picking his cautious way among the rocks and -carefully keeping himself out of sight.</p> - -<p>By the time he had reached the scene of the second -hold-up, the fighting was over and the stage was once -more bounding along toward Sun Dance.</p> - -<p>Hidden safely only a few yards from where the outlaws -had left their horses, Cayuse saw the white woman, -and heard her plead for release as soon as she had recovered -from her swoon. He heard, also, a number of -other things which he considered of more importance.</p> - -<p>“We’ll go to Medicine Bluff,” said Lawless to one of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_295">[295]</span> -his men, “and make sure whether Lawless is going to -get well of his wound, or cash in.”</p> - -<p>This remark puzzled the boy. Captain Lawless was -speaking, and yet he was speaking of another Captain -Lawless! What did it mean? He cocked up his ears -to hear something more that would throw some light on -the mystery.</p> - -<p>“Ye’ll find him deader’n a smelt,” remarked one of the -robbers. “What’s the use o’ botherin’ with him any -longer? Rigged out in his clothes, ye look enough like -him ter be twins. Nobody’ll ever know the difference -between the two o’ ye, an’ if the deed is left at the black -rock, ye kin take over the mine without any one ever -bein’ the wiser.”</p> - -<p>“Keno,” said the bogus Captain Lawless; “I’ll try it -on.”</p> - -<p>Thus a light dawned on Cayuse’s brain. The real -Lawless was dead, or dying, and a counterfeit Lawless -had taken his clothes and was playing the rôle in order -to get the Forty Thieves Mine!</p> - -<p>Some of Buffalo Bill’s pards might have made post-haste -for Sun Dance with this news, but that wasn’t the -little Piute’s way. The outfit of robbers might go to -Medicine Bluff, and they might not. Cayuse would follow -them and make sure just where they did go.</p> - -<p>Naturally, they outdistanced him, but when they had -vanished, he continued to follow their trail. Close to -Pass Dure Cañon luck struck across the boy’s path, for -he met Hawk, the Cheyenne. Hawk was trailing a -cayuse behind him, and the cayuse was burdened with -a couple of white-tail deer.</p> - -<p>After making sure that Hawk was a friend, and willing -to do a service for pay, the Piute made a deal with<span class="pagenum" id="Page_296">[296]</span> -him. For a ten-dollar gold piece, which Cayuse extracted -from his medicine-bag, the Cheyenne agreed to -carry a message to Buffalo Bill, at Sun Dance, and to -lend Cayuse the led horse.</p> - -<p>The two deer were unshipped and hung to the limb -of a tree where they would be safe from coyotes, wolves, -and other “varmints.” While the Cheyenne was taking -care of the deer, Cayuse was skinning his piece of bark -from a tree and drawing his diagram.</p> - -<p>He proceeded fairly well until he got to the point -where he wished to tell the scout that there were two -men posing as Captain Lawless. The communication of -this fact seemed beyond the art of picture-writing; but -the boy attempted it by drawing two figures to represent -Lawless, and placing a pair of mule’s ears over one, -to signify that there was something wrong with that -particular figure.</p> - -<p>When the Cheyenne and the Piute parted, the Cheyenne -had the gold piece and Cayuse had the led horse. -They went in different directions.</p> - -<p>It was dusk when Cayuse reached Medicine Bluff, -hitched his borrowed horse in the brush, and went scouting -to see what he could find.</p> - -<p>His principal discovery was a gully running away -from the foot of the Bluff on its western side. The -robbers were coming and going at the mouth of the -gully, and the boy made up his mind that there was a -rendezvous somewhere in the defile.</p> - -<p>In order to settle his suspicions, he watched his -chance and got into the gully. The place was thickly -grown with bushes, and for an Indian to dodge enemies -in such a chaparral was an easy matter.</p> - -<p>About a hundred yards from the mouth of the gully<span class="pagenum" id="Page_297">[297]</span> -Cayuse found an overhanging ledge of rock where the -outlaws had made their camp.</p> - -<p>Three of the outlaws sat in front of the dark opening -under the ledge, talking together in low voices. Captain -Lawless—that is, the counterfeit Captain Lawless—was -not one of the three. What had become of him? -Cayuse asked himself; and what had become of the -captive white woman who had been taken from the -stage?</p> - -<p>At first the boy was tempted to think that the supposed -Lawless had taken the white captive away somewhere; -and then, a little later, he began to think those -three robbers might be guarding her, and that she was -under the ledge.</p> - -<p>He resolved to find out whether the woman was there, -and, in order to do this, began a risky advance upon the -three white men.</p> - -<p>The bushes ran almost to the edge of the overhanging -rock, and Cayuse was able to creep through them until -he was within a few feet of the nearest of the three -men. In order to pass the men, it would be necessary -to cross a narrow open space. Could he do it? Capture -was probable, and capture, in Cayuse’s case, would -mean death. However, that was not the first time the -boy had faced death in what he believed to be the line -of duty.</p> - -<p>Flinging himself at full length on the ground, he undulated -his way clear of the bushes, like a crawling -snake. The backs of the three men were toward him.</p> - -<p>When he was half-way between the edge of the dusky -covert and the pitchy blackness of the opening under -the ledge, one of the men started and turned around.</p> - -<p>Cayuse flattened out and, scarcely breathing, lay like<span class="pagenum" id="Page_298">[298]</span> -a stone. The shadows of the gully deceived the man, -and he turned away again without seeing Cayuse.</p> - -<p>A minute later the boy was under the ledge and safe -in the deep gloom. On hands and knees he crawled -about, groping to find a bound form. If the white -woman was there, he reasoned, she would, no doubt, be -bound and gagged, so that she could not move or speak.</p> - -<p>In his blind search, his fingers encountered a form, but -the flesh was cold and lifeless, and the boy recoiled. -Dead! Had the scoundrels, then, slain the white squaw? -Cayuse believed so, for palefaces, like the supposed Lawless -and his gang have evil hearts and are equal to anything.</p> - -<p>Grievously disappointed, the boy crawled from under -the ledge, and attempted to pass the white men once -more. The luck that had been with him the first time, -however, failed him now. In the midst of his reckless -work, one of the men got up and started to go under -the ledge. As fate would have it, the man stumbled -over Cayuse, who was lying squarely in his path.</p> - -<p>“A spy!” yelped the man.</p> - -<p>The other two bounded to their feet. Revolvers exploded, -and one of the weapons was Cayuse’s. One of -the three men dropped to his knees, and the Piute, with -a flying leap, sprang clear over his head and dropped -into the bushes.</p> - -<p>Cayuse did not lift himself erect, but flattened along -the ground. Bullets spattered above him, among the -bushes, and, while he listened to them, the echoes were -suddenly taken up by a crashing of the undergrowth toward -the mouth of the gully.</p> - -<p>“Whoop-ya! This way, fellers, ter ther scene o’ -trouble! Ef them pizen outlaws hev anythin’ ter do with<span class="pagenum" id="Page_299">[299]</span> -et, we’ll rout ’em out in reg’lar Buffler Bill style. -Straight up ther gully, Hickok! Ef ye see er bullet -comin’ to’ard ye in ther night, jest dodge, an’ keep on -goin’.”</p> - -<p>A quiver of excitement ran pulsing through Cayuse’s -body. It was the voice of Nomad!</p> - -<p>The next moment there was a change in the situation. -The outlaws were now resisting attack, and the fight -was at close quarters.</p> - -<p>Cayuse started up to take a part in the fight, rushed -out toward the scene of the scrimmage, and was grabbed -by a quick hand and flung to the ground. A knee -dropped on his chest, and a hand with a knife was lifted -above him.</p> - -<p>“Wild Bill!” the boy gasped breathlessly.</p> - -<p>“Well, what do you think of that!” exclaimed Wild -Bill. “Blamed if it ain’t Cayuse, and I came within -a hair of giving him his send-off! How do you happen -to be right in the thick of this gang o’ thieves, -boy?”</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_300">[300]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXVIII">CHAPTER XXVIII.<br /> -<span class="fs70">A HAPPY REUNION.</span></h2> -</div> - -<p>The fight between the three outlaws and those who -had just come into the gully was brief but decisive. -The newcomers were piloted by Gentleman Jim, and -consisted of the gambler, De Bray, Nomad, and Wild -Bill.</p> - -<p>This party had kept their uninterrupted way along -the right-hand fork of the valley. Coomby had seen -them, and had hastened toward the gully to give the -alarm. Before he had rounded the base of the bluff he -encountered Hank Tenny. Tenny had come, on orders -from Buffalo Bill, looking for the rest of the scout’s -pards. Having a prisoner along, Tenny was anxious to -avoid trouble; but when he saw one lone outlaw coming -in his direction through the moon and starlight, he dismounted, -bided his time, and was having it nip and tuck -with the outlaw when Gentleman Jim and the others -reached the scene.</p> - -<p>The outlaw was captured, and Tenny had time to explain -where and why the scout and Dell had left for -Chavorta Gorge and Pima before the attack on Cayuse -carried the pards into the gully.</p> - -<p>So, while the fight in the gully was going on, Tenny -remained at the foot of the bluff, with two prisoners to -watch, instead of one.</p> - -<p>“Me follow stage-robbers,” Little Cayuse explained, in -answer to Wild Bill’s demand for information.</p> - -<p>“Cayuse, hey?” cried Nomad, coming to the spot<span class="pagenum" id="Page_301">[301]</span> -where the boy and Wild Bill were standing. “Ye’re a -reg’lar brick, son!” he went on, dropping an approving -hand on the Piute’s shoulder. “Ye kin tell us how ye -come ter be hyar later, but jest now we’re anxious ter -find the white woman thet was taken from ther stage. -Hev ye seen her, Cayuse?”</p> - -<p>“White squaw all same dead,” said Cayuse.</p> - -<p>A husky groan came from the dark, and Gentleman -Jim staggered through the bushes and caught the boy’s -arm in a convulsive grip.</p> - -<p>“Where, where?” he asked.</p> - -<p>“Under stone,” said Cayuse. “You go there you find -um.”</p> - -<p>“De Bray! Wild Bill!” groaned Gentleman Jim, sinking -down on the ground and covering his face with his -hands. “You go—I—I can’t! To think,” muttered the -stricken gambler, “that I should be too late, after all! -Too late, too late! Where’s Lawless?” he cried, looking -up as the word, pulsing with murderous hate, came -through his lips. “Where is the scoundrel who——”</p> - -<p>“Thar, thar, Jim,” interposed Nomad soothingly, -“don’t be in sich er takin’ till we make sure. Et’s -darker’n a stack o’ black cats in this gully, an’ mebbyso -Cayuse has made er mistake.”</p> - -<p>“He hasn’t made a mistake,” returned the gambler. -“I have felt in my bones, for the past week, that something -was on the cards to make or mar me. This is it! -Allie, my wife, was to come to me, and—and we were -not destined to meet.”</p> - -<p>Forgetting about Lawless, in his great sorrow, Gentleman -Jim once more flung his hands over his face and -crouched on the ground.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_302">[302]</span></p> - -<p>“You watch him, De Bray,” whispered Wild Bill to -the Denver man. “Nomad and I will take a look into -this cave under the rock.”</p> - -<p>All three outlaws were badly wounded and beyond -stirring up any more trouble. Little Cayuse made it -his business to watch them, while De Bray kept a solicitous -eye on Gentleman Jim.</p> - -<p>Under the ledge, Wild Bill struck a match and peered -about him. His eyes, almost immediately, fell on the -form of Mrs. Brisco. She was bound hand and foot, -and a handkerchief was tied over her lips; but her eyes -were wide open and staring appealingly up into Wild -Bill’s face.</p> - -<p>“Nomad—here!” called Hickok.</p> - -<p>The trapper hurried to the side of his pard.</p> - -<p>“Waugh!” muttered Nomad, mystified. “Thet’s erbout -ther wust mistake I ever knowed Cayuse ter make. -Mrs. Brisco is alive! However did Cayuse git ther notion -she wasn’t?”</p> - -<p>Kneeling down, the old trapper, with quick but gentle -hands, removed the cords from Mrs. Brisco’s wrists and -ankles.</p> - -<p>“My husband!” whispered the woman, tearing the -handkerchief from her face. “I heard his voice a moment -ago. Where is he?”</p> - -<p>“He thinks ye’re dead, mum,” said Nomad softly. -“Go out ter him. Et’ll be the happiest surprise o’ his -life ter see ye well and hearty. Et ain’t often things -turns out like this in rale life, Hickok,” the trapper added, -watching Mrs. Brisco hurry out into the gully and approach -her husband.</p> - -<p>“Only in books, old pard,” returned Wild Bill, “do<span class="pagenum" id="Page_303">[303]</span> -you run across such a happenchance in the workings of -fate. But I’m mighty glad this thing has happened to -Gentleman Jim.”</p> - -<p>“Same here,” said Nomad.</p> - -<p>The two watched while the woman fluttered to the side -of her grieving husband.</p> - -<p>“Jim!” they heard her call brokenly.</p> - -<p>The gambler leaped erect, stared for a second like -one in a trance, and then opened his arms.</p> - -<p>“Allie! Allie! Thank heaven for this!”</p> - -<p>Wild Bill and Nomad turned away.</p> - -<p>“Blame’ funny,” growled the old trapper, “how the -smoke from them pesky sulfur matches blurrs a feller’s -eyes.”</p> - -<p>“That’s right,” said Wild Bill, drawing the back of -his hand across his face, “although I never noticed it -before.”</p> - -<p>“Whatever do ye reckon give Cayuse ther idee thet -Mrs. Brisco was dead?”</p> - -<p>“I pass. The idea, however the boy got it, gave a -powerful wrench to Gentleman Jim’s nerves, and——”</p> - -<p>Mechanically, Wild Bill had struck another match -and moved off toward the back of the cavernlike room -under the ledge. He halted suddenly, staring at a form -on the ground in front of him.</p> - -<p>“Thunder!” he exclaimed. “Why, here’s Lawless, -now.”</p> - -<p>“Shore et is!” added Nomad, dropping down. “Lawless -ain’t wearin’ ther same clothes he useter, but et’s -him, an’, somehow, he’s saved ther hangman a job. He’s -cashed in, Hickok.”</p> - -<p>“What killed him?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_304">[304]</span></p> - -<p>“A bullet. Thar’s er wound in his side.”</p> - -<p>“Nick,” said Wild Bill, with a sudden thought, “do -you remember the shot Henry Blake fired at Lawless?”</p> - -<p>“Shore I remember et.”</p> - -<p>“Well, that is what did the work for him.”</p> - -<p>“I ain’t thinkin’ thet way, Wild Bill. Thet shot o’ -Blake’s was fired a week ago, an’ et wasn’t no later’n -this arternoon thet Lawless took his men agin’ ther stage -a couple o’ times.”</p> - -<p>“That’s a fact!” murmured Wild Bill, puzzled. “And -we’re overlooking what Hank Tenny said about Buffalo -Bill and Dell going to Chavorta Gorge after Lawless. -How can——”</p> - -<p>“No use of me watching Gentleman Jim any more,” -said De Bray, coming in under the ledge just then. -“Seen anything of my twenty thousand, any of you fellows?”</p> - -<p>“There’s the man that maybe took it, De Bray,” said -Wild Bill, striking another match and indicating the -body of Lawless, “and,” he added enigmatically, “maybe -didn’t.”</p> - -<p>“He looks like the fellow, all right,” said De Bray, -bending down and pushing his hands into the dead man’s -pockets, “but he isn’t wearing the same clothes.”</p> - -<p>“Him Lawless, all same,” spoke up the voice of -Cayuse; “paleface that rob stage him not Lawless, only -look like um and wear um clothes.”</p> - -<p>“Hey?” cried the startled Nomad, whirling on the -boy. “Come ag’in with thet, Cayuse.”</p> - -<p>Cayuse repeated his words, adding: “Me crawl in -here, try find white woman. No find white woman, find -um Lawless, instead. You <i lang="es" xml:lang="es">sabe</i>? Think um Lawless<span class="pagenum" id="Page_305">[305]</span> -white woman, all same dead. Ugh! Him plenty dark, -Little Cayuse in heap big hurry, make um mistake.”</p> - -<p>“It’s all right, the way it has turned out, Cayuse,” said -Wild Bill. “Under the circumstances, the mistake was -only a natural one to make, but it gave Gentleman Jim -quite a jolt. How about the outlaws?”</p> - -<p>“Two of um gone to happy place,” said the boy; -“other one him live, mebbyso.”</p> - -<p>“‘Happy place,’” grunted Nomad. “Thet ain’t what -I’d call et’, hey, Wild Bill?”</p> - -<p>“Not exactly,” said Wild Bill. “Suppose we use up -our matches trying to help De Bray locate his money?”</p> - -<p>They searched for an hour, but fruitlessly.</p> - -<p>“They’ve buried it, or something,” said De Bray, when -the search was given up. “In the morning it might be -a good thing to ride to this Chavorta Gorge place, and -see what’s going on over there.”</p> - -<p>“Good idea,” approved Wild Bill.</p> - -<p>At that moment Gentleman Jim called Nomad and -the rest, and they went out, to find the gambler and his -wife standing side by side, the gambler’s arm about his -wife’s waist.</p> - -<p>“Boys,” said Gentleman Jim, in a voice resonant with -feeling, “they say it’s always darkest just before dawn. -It has seemed to have been that way with me. This -little woman, dearer to me than any one else in the world, -has been hunting the West over for a year, trying to -locate me. It was in Montegordo that she got the clue -that brought her toward Sun Dance. What do you -think that clue was?”</p> - -<p>None of the others could guess.</p> - -<p>“Why,” exclaimed Gentleman Jim happily, “it was a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_306">[306]</span> -published account of Buffalo Bill’s exploits, that time he -went to Forty Thieves Mine, to stay for three days and -nights. My name—or, rather, my sobriquet of ‘Gentleman -Jim’—was mixed up in the account, and Allie took -a chance on that sobriquet belonging to me. You have -all seen how it turned out. She and I are going back -to Sun Dance now. I’ll leave you to wind up the rest -of this affair, for I’m too happy myself to be of much -use to anybody. If you ride to Chavorta Gorge in the -morning, don’t fail to tell Buffalo Bill what has happened.”</p> - -<p>Three horses belonging to the outlaws were found, -farther along the gully. One of these horses was -tendered to Mrs. Brisco for her use, and she and her -husband started for Sun Dance without further delay.</p> - -<p>A little later Hank Tenny, with three prisoners, all on -led horses, was started in the same direction. Two -horses carried the prisoners. One was the man who -had been wounded in the gully, and he was given a horse -to himself: the other two men—Coomby and Tex—were -secured to the remaining Cayuse.</p> - -<p>It was sunrise before Little Cayuse, on his borrowed -Cheyenne pony, Wild Bill, Nomad, and De Bray -mounted and started for Chavorta Gorge.</p> - -<p>They had Gentleman Jim’s instructions as to the course -they should take, but these instructions were unnecessary, -now that Cayuse was one of the party. The boy, -in his soldiering days, had become familiar with the -country, and proved an excellent guide.</p> - -<p>But Nomad and his pards never reached Chavorta -Gorge. Half a dozen miles from the gap, and about midway<span class="pagenum" id="Page_307">[307]</span> -between the ridge and Medicine Bluff, the party -met the scout and Dell.</p> - -<p>Behind the scout, and securely roped to Bear Paw, -was the leader of the men who had held up the stage—the -bogus Captain Lawless.</p> - -<p>As the two parties approached each other, Buffalo -Bill thrust a hand into his pocket and held up a roll -of bills.</p> - -<p>“How does this look to you, De Bray?” the scout -cried, as he galloped forward.</p> - -<p>“What is it, Buffalo Bill?” asked De Bray. “Money?”</p> - -<p>“I should say so! Twenty one-thousand-dollar bills.”</p> - -<p>“Then all I can say is that it looks good to me; but -I think I feel better over the fact that Mrs. Brisco has -been found, alive and well, than I do over the recovery -of my money.”</p> - -<p>“Then she has been found?” asked Dell, her eyes -dancing.</p> - -<p>“Thet’s what,” said Nomad; “she was over by Medicine -Bluff. Lawless was there, too——”</p> - -<p>The scout had halted, his horse to shake hands with -his pards and congratulate them; but, at these words -from Nomad, he turned a startled look in his old pard’s -direction.</p> - -<p>“What are you talking about, Nick?” Buffalo Bill demanded. -“How could you find Lawless at Medicine -Bluff, when he was at Pima?”</p> - -<p>“Let Cayuse tell yer erbout thet,” grinned Nomad.</p> - -<p>“Me send um picture-writing,” spoke up Cayuse. -“Make um two pictures, all same, burro’s ears over one. -You no <i lang="es" xml:lang="es">sabe</i>? One Captain Lawless, other no Captain -Lawless. Both look all same.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_308">[308]</span></p> - -<p>Dell laughed.</p> - -<p>“But I can’t understand, Cayuse,” said she, “how -you’d expect Buffalo Bill to guess that from a pair of -burro’s ears.”</p> - -<p>“Him hard thing to tell on birch-bark,” said Little -Cayuse.</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_309">[309]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXIX">CHAPTER XXIX.<br /> -<span class="fs70">CONCLUSION.</span></h2> -</div> - -<p>In the evening of the day he and Dell had visited -Chavorta Gorge, Buffalo Bill and his pards reached Sun -Dance. There was a pleasant reunion of friends at the -supper-table in the Lucky Strike Hotel. Wah-coo-tah -formed one of the party, and Mr. and Mrs. Brisco were -also there. Hank Tenny, Lonesome Pete, and Hotchkiss -had started for Fort Sill in a buckboard, taking the -bogus Captain Lawless and the other three prisoners -with them. This departure of the prisoners was the -opening topic discussed at the table that evening.</p> - -<p>The departure of the prisoners led up to the other -matters connected with the double stage-robbery, and a -general discussion was indulged in, whereby every point -that was at all obscured was cleared up to the satisfaction -of all.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Brisco, it developed, had been taken direct from -the scene of the second hold-up to the gully near Medicine -Bluff. While she was there, guarded by the three -outlaws, Lawless had breathed his last. The terrible -experiences Mrs. Brisco had gone through had seemed -to her, just as a later event had seemed to her husband, -the darkest hour of the night that was to herald the -dawn.</p> - -<p>“You said, Buffalo Bill,” remarked Gentleman Jim, -during the course of the conversation, “that great events -sometimes hang on trifling circumstances. Please look -at this.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_310">[310]</span></p> - -<p>He drew the memorable locket from his pocket. The -trinket had been knocked out of shape, and there was a -deep dent in the center.</p> - -<p>“When I left here to go to Medicine Bluff with you, -Buffalo Bill,” pursued Gentleman Jim, “I put that locket -in the breast pocket of my coat. During our fight with -the outlaws in the gully, one of the scoundrels fired his -revolver at me, pointblank. I felt a shock at my breast, -but thought little of it until, when I went to return the -locket to Allie, I discovered it in that condition. There -was also,” he added, touching the breast of his coat, -“this bullet-hole over my heart. Undoubtedly, that -locket, which got Allie into so much trouble, squared the -account by saving my life.”</p> - -<p>“Things turn out thet way sometimes, Gentleman -Jim,” said Nomad, “purvidin’ ye hev what we call Cody-luck.”</p> - -<p>“Cody-luck has been with us all through our work -at Medicine Bluff,” averred James Brisco.</p> - -<p>“And in Chavorta Gorge,” supplemented Dell, with a -soft look at the scout.</p> - -<p>“Especially in Chavorta Gorge,” spoke up De Bray, -thinking of his twenty thousand.</p> - -<p>“And here’s hoping that Cody-luck will be with the -king of scouts and his pards, and with some of the rest -of us, as long as we live!” said Brisco.</p> - -<p>“Amen to that!” were the words that ran round the -board.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>But little more remains to be told concerning the -work of the king of scouts in and near Sun Dance Cañon.</p> - -<p>De Bray looked over the Forty Thieves Mine, pronounced -it a bonanza, bought his half-interest and forthwith<span class="pagenum" id="Page_311">[311]</span> -began making the property a heavy producer of the -yellow metal. Not only did he enrich himself out of the -mine, but he likewise made Wah-coo-tah wealthy. The -Indian girl and her Cheyenne mother went to live in a -“white man’s town”; Wah-coo-tah was educated, and ultimately -married a man of good family.</p> - -<p>The man who posed as Captain Lawless and carried -out the stage-robberies, it afterward developed, was -swayed originally by a desire to get his hands on the -Forty Thieves Mine. He and Lawless, it was stated by -Tex, had often exchanged parts, finding it easy to do so -because of their close resemblance to each other. Who -the bogus Lawless was was never discovered. Under -his assumed name he was sent to a military prison, along -with the other prisoners. Tex, of course, was given his -freedom, according to the scout’s promise.</p> - -<p>Hawk, the Cheyenne, remained in Sun Dance until -Cayuse returned the borrowed pony, then left the camp -to pick up his deer-meat and go on to the village of his -people.</p> - -<p>Dell Dauntless, owing to force of unforeseen circumstances, -did not at once return to her Arizona ranch, as -she had intended. Fate linked her destiny with that of -the scout and his pards for a time longer.</p> - -<p>Mr. and Mrs. James Brisco left Sun Dance, and Jim -gave up the cards, just as he had told Buffalo Bill he -intended doing. They went East, and, as the scout had -prophesied, Brisco gave attention to his medical practise, -and ultimately became a credit to the community in which -he cast his lot.</p> - -<p>Forty-five is not an advanced age, and no man is really -ever too old to begin retrieving an evil past.</p> - -<p>Lonesome Pete and Hank Tenny continued to live and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_312">[312]</span> -mine in Sun Dance Cañon. Always firm friends, their -chief delight, for years after the exciting events herein -described, was to meet and live over the doings of Buffalo -Bill and his pards, when they had sojourned in the -gulch and had run out the trail of Captain Lawless of -the Forty Thieves.</p> - - -<p class="pfs90 p2 pb2">THE END.</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>No. 67 of the <span class="smcap">Border Stories</span>, entitled “Buffalo Bill’s -Wild Ride,” is a thriller that takes us right over the -plains, and makes us feel the wind rushing through our -hair, as we ride with the great scout up hill and down -dale.</p> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="pfs150 bold">BOOKS FOR YOUNG MEN</p> -</div> - -<p class="pfs240 bold">MERRIWELL SERIES</p> - -<p class="pfs120 bold">Stories of Frank and Dick Merriwell</p> - -<p class="pfs180 bold">PRICE, FIFTEEN CENTS</p> - -<p class="pfs135 bold"><em>Fascinating Stories of Athletics</em></p> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>A half million enthusiastic followers of the Merriwell brothers -will attest the unfailing interest and wholesomeness of these -adventures of two lads of high ideals, who play fair with themselves, -as well as with the rest of the world.</p> - -<p>These stories are rich in fun and thrills in all branches of -sports and athletics. They are extremely high in moral tone, -and cannot fail to be of immense benefit to every boy who reads -them.</p> - -<p>They have the splendid quality of firing a boy’s ambition to -become a good athlete, in order that he may develop into a -strong, vigorous right-thinking man.</p> -</div> - - -<p class="pfs90 bold"><em>ALL TITLES ALWAYS IN PRINT</em></p> - -<hr class="fulld" /> - -<table class="autotable fs90" width="85%" summary=""> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">1</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Frank Merriwell’s School Days</td> -<td class="tdl">By Burt L. Standish</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">2</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Frank Merriwell’s Chums</td> -<td class="tdl">By Burt L. Standish</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">3</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Frank Merriwell’s Foes</td> -<td class="tdl">By Burt L. Standish</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">4</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Frank Merriwell’s Trip West</td> -<td class="tdl">By Burt L. Standish</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">5</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Frank Merriwell Down South</td> -<td class="tdl">By Burt L. Standish</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">6</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Frank Merriwell’s Bravery</td> -<td class="tdl">By Burt L. Standish</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">7</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Frank Merriwell’s Hunting Tour</td> -<td class="tdl">By Burt L. Standish</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">8</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Frank Merriwell in Europe.</td> -<td class="tdl">By Burt L. Standish</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">9</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Frank Merriwell at Yale</td> -<td class="tdl">By Burt L. Standish</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">10</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Frank Merriwell’s Sports Afield</td> -<td class="tdl">By Burt L. Standish</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">11</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Frank Merriwell’s Races</td> -<td class="tdl">By Burt L. Standish</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">12</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Frank Merriwell’s Party.</td> -<td class="tdl">By Burt L. Standish</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">13</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Frank Merriwell’s Bicycle Tour</td> -<td class="tdl">By Burt L. Standish</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">14</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Frank Merriwell’s Courage</td> -<td class="tdl">By Burt L. Standish</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">15</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Frank Merriwell’s Daring</td> -<td class="tdl">By Burt L. Standish</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">16</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Frank Merriwell’s Alarm</td> -<td class="tdl">By Burt L. Standish</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">17</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Frank Merriwell’s Athletes</td> -<td class="tdl">By Burt L. Standish</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">18</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Frank Merriwell’s Skill</td> -<td class="tdl">By Burt L. Standish</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">19</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Frank Merriwell’s Champions</td> -<td class="tdl">By Burt L. Standish</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">20</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Frank Merriwell’s Return to Yale</td> -<td class="tdl">By Burt L. Standish</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">21</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Frank Merriwell’s Secret</td> -<td class="tdl">By Burt L. Standish</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">22</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Frank Merriwell’s Danger</td> -<td class="tdl">By Burt L. Standish</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">23</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Frank Merriwell’s Loyalty</td> -<td class="tdl">By Burt L. Standish</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">24</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Frank Merriwell in Camp</td> -<td class="tdl">By Burt L. Standish</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">25</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Frank Merriwell’s Vacation</td> -<td class="tdl">By Burt L. Standish</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">26</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Frank Merriwell’s Cruise</td> -<td class="tdl">By Burt L. Standish</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">27</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Frank Merriwell’s Chase</td> -<td class="tdl">By Burt L. Standish</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">28</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Frank Merriwell in Maine</td> -<td class="tdl">By Burt L. Standish</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">29</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Frank Merriwell’s Struggle</td> -<td class="tdl">By Burt L. Standish</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">30</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Frank Merriwell’s First Job</td> -<td class="tdl">By Burt L. Standish</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">31</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Frank Merriwell’s Opportunity</td> -<td class="tdl">By Burt L. Standish</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">32</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Frank Merriwell’s Hard Luck</td> -<td class="tdl">By Burt L. Standish</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">33</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Frank Merriwell’s Protégé</td> -<td class="tdl">By Burt L. Standish</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">34</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Frank Merriwell on the Road</td> -<td class="tdl">By Burt L. Standish</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">35</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Frank Merriwell’s Own Company</td> -<td class="tdl">By Burt L. Standish</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">36</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Frank Merriwell’s Fame</td> -<td class="tdl">By Burt L. Standish</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">37</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Frank Merriwell’s College Chums</td> -<td class="tdl">By Burt L. Standish</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">38</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Frank Merriwell’s Problem</td> -<td class="tdl">By Burt L. Standish</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">39</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Frank Merriwell’s Fortune</td> -<td class="tdl">By Burt L. Standish</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">40</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Frank Merriwell’s New Comedian</td> -<td class="tdl">By Burt L. Standish</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">41</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Frank Merriwell’s Prosperity</td> -<td class="tdl">By Burt L. Standish</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">42</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Frank Merriwell’s Stage Hit</td> -<td class="tdl">By Burt L. Standish</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">43</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Frank Merriwell’s Great Scheme</td> -<td class="tdl">By Burt L. Standish</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">44</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Frank Merriwell in England</td> -<td class="tdl">By Burt L. Standish</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">45</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Frank Merriwell on the Boulevards</td> -<td class="tdl">By Burt L. Standish</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">46</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Frank Merriwell’s Duel</td> -<td class="tdl">By Burt L. Standish</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">47</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Frank Merriwell’s Double Shot</td> -<td class="tdl">By Burt L. Standish</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">48</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Frank Merriwell’s Baseball Victories</td> -<td class="tdl">By Burt L. Standish</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">49</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Frank Merriwell’s Confidence</td> -<td class="tdl">By Burt L. Standish</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">50</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Frank Merriwell’s Auto</td> -<td class="tdl">By Burt L. Standish</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">51</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Frank Merriwell’s Fun</td> -<td class="tdl">By Burt L. Standish</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">52</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Frank Merriwell’s Generosity</td> -<td class="tdl">By Burt L. Standish</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">53</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Frank Merriwell’s Tricks</td> -<td class="tdl">By Burt L. Standish</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">54</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Frank Merriwell’s Temptation</td> -<td class="tdl">By Burt L. Standish</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">55</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Frank Merriwell on Top.</td> -<td class="tdl">By Burt L. Standish</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">56</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Frank Merriwell’s Luck</td> -<td class="tdl">By Burt L. Standish</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">57</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Frank Merriwell’s Mascot</td> -<td class="tdl">By Burt L. Standish</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">58</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Frank Merriwell’s Reward</td> -<td class="tdl">By Burt L. Standish</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">59</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Frank Merriwell’s Phantom</td> -<td class="tdl">By Burt L. Standish</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">60</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Frank Merriwell’s Faith</td> -<td class="tdl">By Burt L. Standish</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">61</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Frank Merriwell’s Victories</td> -<td class="tdl">By Burt L. Standish</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">62</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Frank Merriwell’s Iron Nerve</td> -<td class="tdl">By Burt L. Standish</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">63</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Frank Merriwell in Kentucky</td> -<td class="tdl">By Burt L. Standish</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">64</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Frank Merriwell’s Power</td> -<td class="tdl">By Burt L. Standish</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">65</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Frank Merriwell’s Shrewdness</td> -<td class="tdl">By Burt L. Standish</td> -</tr> -</table> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>In order that there may be no confusion, we desire to say -that the books listed below will be issued during the respective -months in New York City and vicinity. They may not reach -the readers at a distance promptly, on account of delays in -transportation.</p> -</div> - - -<table class="autotable fs90" width="85%" summary=""> -<tr> -<td class="tdc" colspan="4">To Be Published in July, 1923.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">66</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Frank Merriwell’s Set Back</td> -<td class="tdl">By Burt L. Standish</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">67</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Frank Merriwell’s Search</td> -<td class="tdl">By Burt L. Standish</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdcx" colspan="4">To Be Published in August, 1923.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">68</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Frank Merriwell’s Club</td> -<td class="tdl">By Burt L. Standish</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">69</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Frank Merriwell’s Trust</td> -<td class="tdl">By Burt L. Standish</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdcx" colspan="4">To Be Published in September, 1923.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">70</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Frank Merriwell’s False Friend</td> -<td class="tdl">By Burt L. Standish</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">71</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Frank Merriwell’s Strong Arm</td> -<td class="tdl">By Burt L. Standish</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdcx" colspan="4">To Be Published in October, 1923.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">72</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Frank Merriwell As Coach</td> -<td class="tdl">By Burt L. Standish</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">73</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Frank Merriwell’s Brother</td> -<td class="tdl">By Burt L. Standish</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">74</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Frank Merriwell’s Marvel</td> -<td class="tdl">By Burt L. Standish</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdcx" colspan="4">To Be Published in November, 1923.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">75</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Frank Merriwell’s Support</td> -<td class="tdl">By Burt L. Standish</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">76</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Dick Merriwell At Fardale</td> -<td class="tdl">By Burt L. Standish</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdcx" colspan="4">To Be Published in December, 1923.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">77</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Dick Merriwell’s Glory</td> -<td class="tdl">By Burt L. Standish</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">78</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Dick Merriwell’s Promise</td> -<td class="tdl">By Burt L. Standish</td> -</tr> -</table> - -<div class="bboxb"> -<p class="pfs150 bold">Read <em>and</em> Learn</p> - -<hr class="r15d" /> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>There is a world of knowledge and instruction -in the stories of the adventures of Frank -Merriwell and his brother Dick, published in -the Merriwell series. These justly popular -stories of sports, both indoors and out, are what -every athletic American boy not only wants -but actually needs for his physical and mental -development.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter" /> - -<div class="bboxb"> -<p class="pfs240 bold">15c</p> - -<p class="pfs135">is the right price—the fair price under -present conditions.</p> - -<hr class="r65d" /> - -<p class="fs135">Therefore, the</p> - -<p class="pfs180 bold">S. & S. Novels</p> - -<p class="fs135 noindent">sell at fifteen cents, no more, no less.</p> - -<p class="fs135">We have an established reputation -for fair dealing acquired during sixty -years of active publishing.</p> - -<p class="fs135">The reduction in the price of our -novels means that we are living up to -our reputation.</p> - -<hr class="r65d" /> - -<p class="pfs120 bold">STREET & SMITH CORPORATION<br /> -79 Seventh Avenue <span class="pad2">New York City</span><br /> -</p> -</div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="pfs150">WESTERN STORIES ABOUT</p> -</div> - -<p class="pfs240 bold">BUFFALO BILL</p> - -<p class="pfs180 bold">Price, Fifteen Cents</p> - -<p class="pfs135">Red-blooded Adventure Stories for Men</p> - -<hr class="r15d" /> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>There is no more romantic character in American history than -William F. Cody, or as he was internationally known, Buffalo -Bill. He, with Colonel Prentiss Ingraham, Wild Bill Hickok, -General Custer, and a few other adventurous spirits, laid the -foundation of our great West.</p> - -<p>There is no more brilliant page in American history than the -winning of the West. Never did pioneers live more thrilling -lives, so rife with adventure and brave deeds as the old scouts -and plainsmen. Foremost among these stands the imposing -figure of Buffalo Bill.</p> - -<p>All of the books in this list are intensely interesting. They -were written by the close friend and companion of Buffalo Bill—Colonel -Prentiss Ingraham. They depict actual adventures -which this pair of hard-hitting comrades experienced, while the -story of these adventures is interwoven with fiction; historically -the books are correct.</p> -</div> - -<p class="pfs90 bold"><em>ALL TITLES ALWAYS IN PRINT</em></p> - -<hr class="fulld" /> - -<table class="autotable fs90" width="85%" summary=""> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">1</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill, the Border King</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">2</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Raid</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">3</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Bravery</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">4</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Trump Card</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">5</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Pledge</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">6</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Vengeance</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">7</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Iron Grip</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">8</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Capture</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">9</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Danger Line</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">10</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Comrades</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">11</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Reckoning</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">12</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Warning</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">13</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill at Bay</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">14</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Buckskin Pards</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">15</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Brand</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">16</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Honor</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">17</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Phantom Hunt</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">18</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Fight With Fire</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">19</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Danite Trail</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">20</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Ranch Riders</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">21</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Death Trail</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">22</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Trackers</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">23</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Mid-air Flight</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">24</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill, Ambassador</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">25</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Air Voyage</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">26</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Secret Mission</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">27</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Long Trail</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">28</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill Against Odds</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">29</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Hot Chase</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">30</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Redskin Ally</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">31</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Treasure Trove</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">32</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Hidden Foes</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">33</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Crack Shot</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">34</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Close Call</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">35</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Double Surprise</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">36</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Ambush</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">37</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Outlaw Hunt</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">38</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Border Duel</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">39</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Bid for Fame</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">40</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Triumph</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">41</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Spy Trailer</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">42</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Death Call</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">43</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Body Guard</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">44</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Still Hunt</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">45</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill and the Doomed Dozen</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">46</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Prairie Scout</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">47</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Traitor Guide</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">48</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Bonanza</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">49</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Swoop</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">50</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill and the Gold King</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">51</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill, Deadshot</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">52</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Buckskin Bravos</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">53</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Big Four</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">54</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s One-armed Pard</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">55</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Race for Life</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">56</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Return</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">57</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Conquest</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">58</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill to the Rescue</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">59</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Beautiful Foe</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">60</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Perilous Task</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">61</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Queer Find</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">62</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Blind Lead</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">63</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Resolution</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">64</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill, the Avenger</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">65</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Pledged Pard</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">66</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Weird Warning</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">67</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Wild Ride</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">68</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Redskin Stampede</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">69</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Mine Mystery</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">70</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Gold Hunt</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">71</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Daring Dash</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">72</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill on Hand</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">73</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Alliance</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">74</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Relentless Foe</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">75</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Midnight Ride</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">76</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Chivalry</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">77</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Girl Pard</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">78</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Private War</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">79</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Diamond Mine</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">80</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Big Contract</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">81</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Woman Foe</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">82</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Ruse</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">83</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Pursuit</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">84</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Hidden Gold</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">85</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill in Mid-air</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">86</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Queer Mission</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">87</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Verdict</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">88</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Ordeal</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">89</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Camp Fires</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">90</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Iron Nerve</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">91</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Rival</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">92</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Lone Hand</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">93</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Sacrifice</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">94</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Thunderbolt</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">95</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Black Fortune</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">96</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Wild Work</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">97</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Yellow Trail</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">98</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Treasure Train</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">99</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Bowie Duel</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">100</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Mystery Man</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">101</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Bold Play</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">102</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill: Peacemaker</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">103</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Big Surprise</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">104</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Barricade</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">105</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Test</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">106</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Powwow</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">107</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Stern Justice</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">108</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Mysterious Friend</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">109</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill and the Boomers</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">110</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Panther Fight</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">111</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill and the Overland Mail</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">112</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill on the Deadwood Trail</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">113</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill in Apache Land</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">114</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Blindfold Duel</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">115</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill and the Lone Camper</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">116</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Merry War</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">117</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Star Play</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">118</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s War Cry</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">119</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill on Black Panther’s Trail</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">120</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Slim Chance</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">121</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill Besieged</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">122</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Bandit Round-up</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">123</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Surprise Party</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">124</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Lightning Raid</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">125</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill in Mexico</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">126</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Traitor Foe</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">127</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Tireless Chase</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">128</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Boy Bugler</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">129</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Sure Guess</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">130</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Record Jump</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">131</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill in the Land of Dread</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">132</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Tangled Clue</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">133</td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -<td class="tdl">Buffalo Bill’s Wolf Skin</td> -<td class="tdl">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> -</tr> -</table> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"></div> - -<div class="bboxc bbtxt"> -<p>Adventure Stories</p> -<p>Detective Stories</p> -<p>Western Stories</p> -<p>Love Stories</p> -<p>Sea Stories</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockquotx"> -<p>All classes of fiction are to be found among -the Street & Smith novels. 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