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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9f57f44 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,13 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text +*.htm text +*.html text +*.png binary +*.jpg binary +*.svg text +*.pdf binary +*.bmp binary +*.zip binary +*.midi binary +*.mp3 binary diff --git a/79255-0.txt b/79255-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..94c06a4 --- /dev/null +++ b/79255-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10314 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 79255 *** + + + + + Western BUFFALO BILL + Stories About + + ALL BY COL. PRENTISS INGRAHAM + + 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 Hicock, 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 + + 51—Buffalo Bill, Dead Shot 132—Buffalo Bill’s Tangled Clew + 52—Buffalo Bill’s Buckskin Bravos 133—Buffalo Bill’s Wolf Skin + 53—Buffalo Bill’s Big Four 134—Buffalo Bill’s Twice Four + Puzzle + 54—Buffalo Bill’s One-armed Pard 135—Buffalo Bill and the Devil Bird + 55—Buffalo Bill’s Race for Life 136—Buffalo Bill and the Indian’s + Mascot + 56—Buffalo Bill’s Return 137—Buffalo Bill Entrapped + 57—Buffalo Bill’s Conquest 138—Buffalo Bill’s Totem Trail + 58—Buffalo Bill to the Rescue 139—Buffalo Bill at Fort Challis + 59—Buffalo Bill’s Beautiful Foe 140—Buffalo Bill’s Determination + 60—Buffalo Bill’s Perilous Task 141—Buffalo Bill’s Battle Axe + 61—Buffalo Bill’s Queer Find 142—Buffalo Bill’s Game with Fate + 62—Buffalo Bill’s Blind Lead 143—Buffalo Bill’s Comanche Raid + 63—Buffalo Bill’s Resolution 144—Buffalo Bill’s Aerial Island + 64—Buffalo Bill, the Avenger 145—Buffalo Bill’s Lucky Shot + 65—Buffalo Bill’s Pledged Pard 146—Buffalo Bill’s Sioux Friends + 66—Buffalo Bill’s Weird Warning 147—Buffalo Bill’s Supreme Test + 67—Buffalo Bill’s Wild Ride 148—Buffalo Bill’s Boldest Strike + 68—Buffalo Bill’s Redskin Stampede 149—Buffalo Bill and the Red Hand + 69—Buffalo Bill’s Mine Mystery 150—Buffalo Bill’s Dance with Death + 70—Buffalo Bill’s Gold Hunt 151—Buffalo Bill’s Running Fight + 71—Buffalo Bill’s Daring Dash 152—Buffalo Bill in Harness + 72—Buffalo Bill on Hand 153—Buffalo Bill Corralled + 73—Buffalo Bill’s Alliance 154—Buffalo Bill’s Waif of the West + 74—Buffalo Bill’s Relentless Foe 155—Buffalo Bill’s Wizard Pard + 75—Buffalo Bill’s Midnight Ride 156—Buffalo Bill and Hawkeye + 76—Buffalo Bill’s Chivalry 157—Buffalo Bill and Grizzly Dan + 77—Buffalo Bill’s Girl Pard 158—Buffalo Bill’s Ghost Play + 78—Buffalo Bill’s Private War 159—Buffalo Bill’s Lost Prisoner + 79—Buffalo Bill’s Diamond Mine 160—Buffalo Bill and The Klan of + Kau + 80—Buffalo Bill’s Big Contract 161—Buffalo Bill’s Crow Scouts + 81—Buffalo Bill’s Woman Foe 162—Buffalo Bill’s Lassoed Spectre + 82—Buffalo Bill’s Ruse 163—Buffalo Bill and the Wanderers + 83—Buffalo Bill’s Pursuit 164—Buffalo Bill and the White + Queen + 84—Buffalo Bill’s Hidden Gold 165—Buffalo Bill’s Yellow Guardian + 85—Buffalo Bill in Mid-air 166—Buffalo Bill’s Double “B” Brand + 86—Buffalo Bill’s Queer Mission 167—Buffalo Bill’s Dangerous Duty + 87—Buffalo Bill’s Verdict 168—Buffalo Bill and the Talking + Statue + 88—Buffalo Bill’s Ordeal 169—Buffalo Bill Between Two Fires + 89—Buffalo Bill’s Camp Fires 170—Buffalo Bill and the Giant + Apache + 90—Buffalo Bill’s Iron Nerve 171—Buffalo Bill’s Best Bet + 91—Buffalo Bill’s Rival 172—Buffalo Bill’s Blockhouse Siege + 92—Buffalo Bill’s Lone Hand 173—Buffalo Bill’s Fight for Right + 93—Buffalo Bill’s Sacrifice 174—Buffalo Bill’s Sad Tidings + 94—Buffalo Bill’s Thunderbolt 175—Buffalo Bill and “Lucky” Benson + 95—Buffalo Bill’s Black Fortune 176—Buffalo Bill Among the Sioux + 96—Buffalo Bill’s Wild Work 177—Buffalo Bill’s Mystery Box + 97—Buffalo Bill’s Yellow Trail 178—Buffalo Bill’s Worst Tangle + 98—Buffalo Bill’s Treasure Train 179—Buffalo Bill’s Clean Sweep + 99—Buffalo Bill’s Bowie Duel 180—Buffalo Bill’s Texas Tangle + 100—Buffalo Bill’s Mystery Man 181—Buffalo Bill and the Nihilists + 101—Buffalo Bill’s Bold Play 182—Buffalo Bill’s Emigrant Trail + 102—Buffalo Bill: Peacemaker 183—Buffalo Bill at Close Quarters + 103—Buffalo Bill’s Big Surprise 184—Buffalo Bill and the Cattle + Thieves + 104—Buffalo Bill’s Barricade 185—Buffalo Bill at Cimaroon Bar + 105—Buffalo Bill’s Test 186—Buffalo Bill’s Ingenuity + 106—Buffalo Bill’s Powwow 187—Buffalo Bill on a Cold Trail + 107—Buffalo Bill’s Stern Justice 188—Buffalo Bill’s Red Hot Totem + 108—Buffalo Bill’s Mysterious 189—Buffalo Bill Under a War Cloud + Friend + 109—Buffalo Bill and the Boomers 190—Buffalo Bill and the Prophet + 110—Buffalo Bill’s Panther Fight 191—Buffalo Bill and the Red + Renegade + 111—Buffalo Bill and the Overland 192—Buffalo Bill’s Mailed Fist + Mail + 112—Buffalo Bill on the Deadwood 193—Buffalo Bill’s Round-up + Trail + 113—Buffalo Bill in Apache Land 194—Buffalo Bill’s Death Message + 114—Buffalo Bill’s Blindfold Duel 195—Buffalo Bill’s Redskin Disguise + 115—Buffalo Bill and the Lone 196—Buffalo Bill, the Whirlwind + Camper + 116—Buffalo Bill’s Merry War 197—Buffalo Bill in Death Valley + 117—Buffalo Bill’s Star Play 198—Buffalo Bill and the Magic + Button + 118—Buffalo Bill’s War Cry 199—Buffalo Bill’s Friend in Need + 119—Buffalo Bill on Black Panther’s 200—Buffalo Bill with General + Trail Custer + 120—Buffalo Bill’s Slim Chance 201—Buffalo Bill’s Timely Meeting + 121—Buffalo Bill Besieged 202—Buffalo Bill and the Skeleton + Scout + 122—Buffalo Bill’s Bandit Round-up 203—Buffalo Bill’s Flag of Truce + 123—Buffalo Bill’s Surprise Party 204—Buffalo Bill’s Pacific Power + 124—Buffalo Bill’s Lightning Raid 205—Buffalo Bill’s Impersonator + 125—Buffalo Bill in Mexico 206—Buffalo Bill and the Red + Marauders + 126—Buffalo Bill’s Traitor Foe 207—Buffalo Bill’s Long Run + 127—Buffalo Bill’s Tireless Chase 208—Buffalo Bill and Red Dove + 128—Buffalo Bill’s Boy Bugler 209—Buffalo Bill on the Box + 129—Buffalo Bill’s Sure Guess 210—Buffalo Bill’s Bravo Partner + 130—Buffalo Bill’s Record Jump 211—Buffalo Bill’s Strange Task + 131—Buffalo Bill in the Land of + Dread + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + + + + + TALES OF THE ROLLING PLAINS + + Great Western Library + + By COL. PRENTISS INGRAHAM and W. B. LAWSON + + Thrilling Adventure + + +For many years we have been urged by readers who like Western stories to +publish some tales about the adventures of Diamond Dick. Therefore, we +decided to have a new series of stories based upon the adventures of +this famous Western character, and to put them in a line called GREAT +WESTERN LIBRARY, together with stories about Buffalo Bill, by Col. +Prentiss Ingraham. + +Thus, in this line two of the most famous of all American characters +join hands. The so-called society stories with a kick in them come and +go, but these clean, wholesome tales of the West give a clean-cut +picture of the lives and characters of the men who carried the advance +banners of civilization westward. + +There are Indian stories, cowboy stories, outlaw stories, all sorts of +stories of adventures out West. Each one is clean and decent, even if it +is thrilling. + + ALL TITLES ALWAYS IN PRINT + +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 January, 1927. + 1—Diamond Dick’s Own Brand By W. B. Lawson + 2—Buffalo Bill’s Honor By Col. Prentiss Ingraham + + To be published in February, 1927. + 3—Diamond Dick’s Maverick By W. B. Lawson + 4—Buffalo Bill’s Phantom Hunt By Col. Prentiss Ingraham + + To be published in March, 1927. + 5—Diamond Dick’s Man Hunt By W. B. Lawson + 6—Buffalo Bill’s Fight with Fire By Col. Prentiss Ingraham + + To be published in April, 1927. + 7—Diamond Dick’s Danger Signal By W. B. Lawson + 8—Buffalo Bill’s Danite Trail By Col. Prentiss Ingraham + + To be published in May, 1927. + 9—Diamond Dick’s Prospect By W. B. Lawson + 10—Buffalo Bill’s Ranch Riders By Col. Prentiss Ingraham + + To be published in June, 1927. + 11—Diamond Dick and the Gold Bugs By W. B. Lawson + 12—Buffalo Bill’s Death Trail By Col. Prentiss Ingraham + 13—Diamond Dick at Comet City By W. B. Lawson + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + + + + + NOTE THE NEW TITLES LISTED + + Western Story Library + + ALL BY EDWARD C. TAYLOR + + For Everyone Who Likes Adventure + +Ted Strong and his band of broncho-busters have most exciting adventures +in this line of attractive big books, and furnish the reader with an +almost unlimited number of thrills. + +If you like a really good Western cowboy story, then this line is made +expressly for you. + + ALL TITLES ALWAYS IN PRINT + + 1—Ted Strong, Cowboy 23—Ted Strong’s Justice + 2—Ted Strong Among the Cattlemen 24—Ted Strong’s Treasure + 3—Ted Strong’s Black Mountain Ranch 25—Ted Strong’s Search + 4—Ted Strong With Rifle and Lasso 26—Ted Strong’s Diamond Mine + 5—Ted Strong Lost in the Desert 27—Ted Strong’s Manful Task + 6—Ted Strong Fighting the Rustlers 28—Ted Strong, Manager + 7—Ted Strong and the Rival Miners 29—Ted Strong’s Man Hunt + 8—Ted Strong and the Last of the 30—Ted Strong’s Gold Mine + Herd + 9—Ted Strong on a Mountain Trail 31—Ted Strong’s Broncho Boys + 10—Ted Strong Across the Prairie 32—Ted Strong’s Wild Horse + 11—Ted Strong Out For Big Game 33—Ted Strong’s Tenderfoot + 12—Ted Strong Challenged 34—Ted Strong’s Stowaway + 13—Ted Strong’s Close Call 35—Ted Strong’s Prize Herd + 14—Ted Strong’s Passport 36—Ted Strong’s Trouble + 15—Ted Strong’s Nebraska Ranch 37—Ted Strong’s Mettle + 16—Ted Strong’s Cattle Drive 38—Ted Strong’s Big Business + 17—Ted Strong’s Stampede 39—Ted Strong’s Treasure Cave + 18—Ted Strong’s Prairie Trail 40—Ted Strong’s Vanishing Island + 19—Ted Strong’s Surprise 41—Ted Strong’s Motor Car + 20—Ted Strong’s Wolf Hunters 42—Ted Strong in Montana + 21—Ted Strong’s Crooked Trail 43—Ted Strong’s Contract + 22—Ted Strong in Colorado + + ---------- + +We have arranged with the author, Edward C. Taylor, to continue the +stories, and the following, therefore, are new stories, right up to the +minute. They are going to make a big hit, for we have abundant proof in +the way of letters that readers of paper books are strong for Ted +Strong. + + ---------- + +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 January, 1927. + 44—Ted Strong’s Stolen Pinto 45—Ted Strong’s Saddle Pard + + To be published in February, 1927. + 46—Ted Strong and the Sioux 47—Ted Strong’s Bronchos + Players + + To be published in March, 1927. + 48—Ted Strong’s Ranch War 49—Ted Strong and the Cattle + Raiders + + To be published in April, 1927. + 50—Ted Strong’s Great Round-up 51—Ted Strong’s Big Horn Trail + + To be published in May, 1927. + 52—Ted Strong in Bandit Cañon 53—Ted Strong at Z-Bar Ranch + 54—Ted Strong’s Cattle Feud + + To be published in June, 1927. + 55—Ted Strong’s Border Battle 56—Ted Strong on U. P. Duty + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + + + + + Buffalo Bill’s Death Message + + OR, + + IN THE FACE OF DOOM + + + + + BY + + Colonel Prentiss Ingraham + + Author of the celebrated “Buffalo Bill” stories, published in the + BORDER STORIES. For other titles see catalogue. + + + STREET & SMITH CORPORATION + PUBLISHERS + 79–89 Seventh Avenue, New York + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + + + + + Copyright, 1907 + By STREET & SMITH + + ------- + + Buffalo Bill’s Death Message + + + + + (Printed in the United States of America) + + All rights reserved, including that of translation into foreign + languages, including the Scandinavian. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + + + + + 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. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + + + + + TABLE OF CONTENTS + + + CHAPTER PAGE + I. MYSTERIOUS LETTERS. 9 + II. KLAMATH JOHN’S MESSAGE. 17 + III. BUFFALO BILL DECIDES. 26 + IV. DOWN THE CAÑON. 32 + V. THROUGH THE TUNNEL. 39 + VI. ON THE UNDERGROUND RIVER. 47 + VII. SKULL AND CROSSBONES. 53 + VIII. THE PRISONER. 60 + IX. THE PRISONER’S ESCAPE. 68 + X. DANGER AND DARING. 75 + XI. THE RETREAT. 85 + XII. RED REYNARD’S PLANS. 89 + XIII. SURPRISING DISCOVERIES. 97 + XIV. ASSAULT AND BATTERY. 102 + XV. THE BEWITCHED COMPASS. 114 + XVI. TRACKS IN THE SAND. 123 + XVII. THE SPOTS OF LIGHT. 129 + XVIII. THE PARTY WITH THE HELIOGRAPH. 136 + XIX. A STARTLING ATTACK. 141 + XX. ANOTHER SURPRISE. 147 + XXI. FURTHER SURPRISES. 154 + XXII. MORE DISCOVERIES. 161 + XXIII. AN AMAZING DISCLOSURE. 170 + XXIV. UNSELFISH HEROISM. 178 + XXV. A HEROIC EFFORT. 186 + XXVI. INDIANS AND PRISONERS. 192 + XXVII. THE AZTEC SLAVES. 198 + XXVIII. THE ESCAPE. 206 + XXIX. AN ENIGMATICAL HOST. 216 + XXX. THE GOLDEN DAGGER. 227 + XXXI. AGAIN IN DANGER. 236 + XXXII. THE MYSTERY OF THE DAGGER. 242 + XXXIII. A STRANGE MESSAGE. 249 + XXXIV. FACING DEATH. 256 + XXXV. ENOS SPALDING. 262 + XXXVI. HEMMED IN. 272 + XXXVII. AT THE SAN PAZ HACIENDA. 282 + XXXVIII. THE PRISONER OF THE TOWER. 289 + XXXIX. A PERILOUS CLIMB. 295 + XL. A PERILOUS POSITION. 301 + XLI. MUSIC HATH CHARMS. 312 + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + + + + + BUFFALO BILL’S DEATH MESSAGE. + + --------------------------------------------------------- + + + + + CHAPTER I. + + MYSTERIOUS LETTERS. + + +A singular tapping on the door of his room awoke Buffalo Bill, who was +in the St. Cloud Hotel, in the town of Klamath, which was about as near +to the “jumping-off place” of civilization as one could get without +going over the boundary. + +The wary scout remained quietly in bed when he heard the tapping, his +only movement being to clutch the revolver he had placed under his +pillow on retiring for the night. + +The room was as dark as a “stack of black cats,” and he knew that +complete darkness reigned outside, or a little light would have reached +him through the window. + +The tapping was repeated at intervals for the better part of five +minutes, then there was a resounding thump on the panel of the door. + +Shortly after that the scout heard soft footsteps moving away, and when +the footsteps ceased to sound, he struck a match cautiously, and looked +at his watch. + +“Four o’clock!” he said. “Just the darkest hour before dawn. Daylight +will be here in a little while.” + +He blew out the match, and lay back quietly on his pillow, listening. +Not so much as a rat now stirred. + +“I wonder what that meant?” was his thought. “Well, I’m not anxious +enough to know to run risks in trying to find out. Some rascal might +have wanted to assassinate me. There’s no telling.” + +Klamath was notorious for its desperadoes at that time, and Buffalo Bill +was pretty sure that more than one man in the town would be glad to take +his life. + +“If any one is really anxious to see me,” was his thought, “let him come +to me in broad daylight. This is no hour for an interview, and the thing +didn’t look honest.” + +He was out of bed as soon as the dawn came, and after hastily dressing, +he took his revolver and tiptoed to the door. He more than half expected +to discover that an assassin lurked in the big hall. + +But when he opened the door, he was surprised in another way. + +Pinned to the panel was a folded sheet of paper, held in place by a +slender gold stick pin driven into the wood. The head of the stick pin +was a representation of a skull and crossbones. + +The resounding thump on the door had been made when this singular pin +had been driven in to hold the paper in place. + +Buffalo Bill looked curiously at the pin, and then spread open the +paper, which he saw was a sheet of writing. This he proceeded to read: + + “BUFFALO BILL: I want to have a talk with you about + something very important. I knocked on your door, and you + wasn’t in, or wouldn’t answer. Meet me to-night, at eight + o’clock, at the foot of the big poplar that hangs over the + river at the upper bend, about half a mile from here. The + place is called Poplar Bend. Don’t fail. This is as + important to you as to me, and more so. Your friend, + + “KLAMATH JOHN.” + +While Buffalo Bill was reading this and inspecting the queer gold pin, +he heard himself addressed. His negro servant, Cudjo, was approaching +along the hall, Cudjo having spent the night in the servants’ quarters +below stairs. + +“Marse Cody, you is up ter’ble early dis mawnin’!” Cudjo remarked, +showing his ivories. “How you reckon I’m gwine to git to black yo’ +boots, befo’ you puts ’em on, ef you’s gwine to put ’em on befo’ I done +wakes up? I ’lowed, tired as you was las’ night, dat dis mawnin’ you’d +sleep as sound’s a possum. And heah you is, awake befo’ I is. Hit’s +plum’ reedic’lus an’ scan’lous.” + +Cudjo felt privileged to scold his master now and then, though his +chidings were always so good-natured that they had no sharp edge. He +swung his tongue with so much freedom, perhaps, for the reason that he +owed his life to Buffalo Bill; there seemed to be no other excuse. + +Two months before, he had been a train porter, on a wild mountain route +where holdups were not infrequent. Buffalo Bill had been a passenger on +the train one night when a holdup came. Cudjo did not move quickly +enough to suit the robbers, and one of them knocked him down and would +have shot him, when a bullet from the pistol of the fearless scout put +the outlaw out of business. The next moment Buffalo Bill fell, shot +through the shoulder, in retaliation, by one of the outlaws. + +Cudjo resigned his position and nursed the gallant scout until he +recovered from the effects of the bullet wound, after which he became, +for a time, Buffalo Bill’s personal servant, and was now with him in the +lawless border town of Klamath. + +“See here!” said the scout, and he displayed the letter and the gold +pin. “Take a look at these.” + +Cudjo’s face seemed to become a shade whiter through pallor when he +looked at that queer stick pin. + +“Did you ever see anything like that before?” Buffalo Bill asked. + +“I has, Marse Cody, and I don’t want to see um ag’in. Dat’s des like de +pin de car robber wore what shot you dat time. Des like it!” + +The scout gave Cudjo the note to read. + +“You is a dead man, Marse Cody, if you goes to dat place. Keep away f’m +it. Dis is a trick.” + +Buffalo Bill stayed away from Poplar Bend that evening, and also the +next. + +Because of this, no doubt, at about the hour of four in the morning he +again heard that peculiar tapping on the door of his room. As before, he +listened quietly, clutched his revolver, and said nothing. The singular +thump on the panel sounded again, and again he heard footsteps moving +softly away. + +When he opened the door, at daylight, he found another message pinned to +it, with one of those queer gold pins, a message which again asked him +to meet the writer at Poplar Bend, assuring him that it concerned a +matter of the utmost importance to him, as well as to the one who wrote +the note. + +When this happened the third morning, the gold pin and the pinned paper +were discovered before the scout arose by a young Irishman named Michael +Flynn—called Mike or Mickey—who occupied the room next to him. + +“Begobs!” roared Flynn, hammering on the scout’s door, “the United +States gover’mint has sthruck a quare sthreak in deliverin’ its +letthers, so it has. Will ye obsarve this wan, Misther Cody? Here’s a +letther fer ye, lift by the postman on yer dure, and hammered in wid a +gold pin. It’s that rich the gover’mint is growin’ that it throws in +gold pins widout cost whin it delivers letthers. ’Tis a gr-reat +counthry! Will yez git up and see the letther?” + +Buffalo Bill hurried into his clothing, and opened the door for Flynn. + +“Come in, Mike!” he invited. “That’s the third letter of the kind which +has been stuck on my door. What do you think it means? Read it and then +tell me what you make of it. Remember, I’ve had two others like it.” + +Flynn read the letter, which was identical with the other two received +by the scout. + +“And the pin?” said the scout. “Take a look at it.” + +“It’s a quare wan,” said Flynn, “but I’m guessin’ it’s gold. I’ll l’ave +you to shpake the m’anin’ av it.” + +Cudjo appeared in the hall, and came in, as the door was open. His eyes +rounded with awe and fright when he discovered that a third letter had +been received. + +“I’ve no idea who this fellow is who calls himself Klamath John,” said +the scout, “but I’ve suspected a trap.” + +“Whoosh! A trap, is it? Thin I’d trap _him_.” + +“You would?” + +“Shure, an’ I would. If ye want to thry it, I’m in wid ye.” + +Flynn’s face flushed even redder than was its natural wont, by reason of +the thought that came to him. + +“It’s the iligant chance,” he went on. “An’ it’s like what I’ve been +wantin’, ye see. I towlt yez about it. Whin I left the grane sod, says I +to mesilf, says I, ‘There’s niver a chance anny more fer a man in +Ireland!’ An’ it was the thruth I shpoke. ‘Ameriky, the land av the +free, an’ the home av the br-rave, is the land f’r me,’ says I. ‘There a +man can shtand up f’r his rights,’ says I, ‘an’ can crack a head when he +sees wan,’ I says, ‘an’ it’s the land fer me.’ + +“But here I’ve been six months, and not a shindy comin’ my way. Barrin’ +a fight or two wid pistols, I ain’t sane anny fightin’ at all, an’ they +towlt me this town was filled wid fightin’ min and the rarest fightin’ +undher the sun. But it’s a lie. There ain’t no fightin’. It’s jist pull +a gun, and down yer man goes on his back in the sthrate, dead as a dure +nail. I don’t call that fightin’, I call that murdher. + +“And now here comes the chance f’r me. There’s a brave hint av advinture +in thim letthers, as I can see. I’m wid yez in it. The man is thryin’ to +trap yez, mebbe. Say that he is. So much the betther. Thrap him. And +Mickey Flynn is the b’y that will help ye.” + +Flynn became boisterously enthusiastic, as he thus outlined his +thoughts. But Cudjo failed to share his enthusiasm. + +“What ef _you_ is de man dat’s killed?” he asked. + +“If yez are, hope that it’ll be quick. And if ye’re only wounded, pray +to the saints that ye may have stringth to bear it. But what’s life +widout the ixcitement av danger? It’s a shtale soup, widout anny pepper +in it. None av it f’r me! Yez can have it. But it’s not to be ixpicted +that a nagur would fale the same as an Irishman.” + +Cudjo’s black eyes glittered. “Who’s a nigger?” he said testily. +“Onderstand dat I is a cullud ge’men, suh! I done been a car po’ter, +suh! Ef you has any oncompliments to hand roun’, don’t hand um dis way. +I’m ’bleegd to incline um.” + +Buffalo Bill smiled. “I agree with Mike,” he remarked. “If that man is +trying to draw me into a trap, we may be able to turn the tables on him. +Anyway, I’d like to know the meaning of these letters. My curiosity is +excited. He’s persistent, for this is his third letter.” + +Mike looked curiously at the gold pin. + +“He must be moighty rich,” he observed, “to be flingin’ his gold about +in this way, I’m thinkin’. An’ a quare pin it is. Luk at it.” + +Buffalo Bill took the other gold pins from his pocketbook, and laid all +three in the palm of his hand for inspection. + +“Des like de one what dat car robber wore fo’ a breast pin,” said Cudjo. +“I don’t want to see de man what has um. Dat man is a robber, and mebbe +wuss’n dat. If Marse Cody axes my devices, I’m ‘bleeged to tell him to +stay away f’um de place whar dat man says to come. Stay plum’ away f’um +it. We’se safe heah in dis hotel. What’s de use tuh be runnin’ into +undnecessary danger? Dem’s my sembliments.” + +Nevertheless, Buffalo Bill prepared to “trap the trapper,” if the latter +proved to be playing a treacherous game, and to find out just what those +singular messages meant. + +Flynn’s adventurous blood went to the boiling point when he heard the +decision. + +“You’re a courageous man, Misther Cody!” he said, by way of compliment. + +That was a discovery to Michael Flynn, perhaps, yet the real men of the +West had known for many years that there was not on the whole Western +border a man of more true and genuine courage than Buffalo Bill, the +famous border scout. + + --------------------------------------------------------- + + + + + CHAPTER II. + + KLAMATH JOHN’S MESSAGE. + + +Shortly before eight that evening, Buffalo Bill, accompanied by the +fighting Irishman and by Cudjo, took his way to the river bend above the +town where grew the lone poplar. + +Darkness fell before they reached the spot, and they crept close up to +it and went into hiding. + +Leaving Flynn and Cudjo behind, with instructions as to what they were +to do in the event of a pistol shot or other signal from him, the scout +stole softly away, approaching Poplar Bend from the opposite direction. + +The time was after eight o’clock when he came again within sight of the +high bluff at the bend, and saw in the dim light at the foot of the tree +a human form. No other person seemed near, and when he had determined +that, the scout stood up, revolver in hand. + +“Hello!” he called softly. + +The man sprang to his feet and looked about. + +“Hello!” he answered, after a moment of hesitation. + +“Are you alone?” the scout asked. + +“Yes,” the man answered, looking around, for he not only did not see +Buffalo Bill, but also he was unable to locate his direction. + +This deceptive manner of speaking, so that the voice seemed to come out +of the air rather than from the ground, Buffalo Bill had long practiced +and had found it useful. + +“You are sure no one is with you, or near?” + +The man stared upward, and then, stepping out from the bluff, glanced at +its top. + +“You’re up there, are you?” + +“No, I’m off here!” + +The man turned slowly around, staring. + +“Is there any one with you?” the scout demanded. “A straight and true +answer will save your life, perhaps, while trickery will cause me to +promptly snuff out your candle.” + +“Is that you, Cody?” the man asked. “I can hear you, but can’t locate +you. There’s not another soul here, I swear. If that’s you, show +yourself. I’ve been here three nights, and I was afraid you wouldn’t +come.” + +Buffalo Bill stepped out now and advanced, still closely watching out +for an ambush. But the fellow was alone. + +The scout saw as he came up to the man that he was young, yet he was +rather heavily bearded, for he wore mustache and imperial and side +whiskers that stuck out like Dundreary’s. Long hair hung down on his +shoulders, after the border fashion. His clothing, too, was of border +style, though somewhat exaggerated. His jacket was of buckskin, and he +wore buckskin chaps, and high-heeled boots with spurs that jingled when +he walked. He seemed rather a dude sort of cowboy. + +“You’re Cody?” he asked, peering into the darkness as the scout came up +to him. + +“Yes.” + +“Well, I’m glad to see you, for I feared you wasn’t coming. Sit down. +I’m Klamath John.” + +“That’s not your real name, of course,” said the scout. + +“No, my real name is John Langstrath. But I call myself Klamath John.” + +“Why?” + +“Why do you call yourself Buffalo Bill?” + +“The name was given to me. I did not take it myself. It was given to me +because, when I had a contract to furnish beef to the men who were +building the Union Pacific Railroad, I killed more buffaloes than any +other man of the border ever killed before. It’s not a record I’m +particularly proud of, though the work was necessary at the time. Now, +why are you Klamath John, and what do you want with me?” + +“I took the name because the town here suggested it,” was the man’s +answer. “That’s the only reason. As to what I wanted—you saw the letters +I left sticking on your door?” + +“I saw them, but they didn’t explain anything. I wasn’t sure but they +paved the way for a trap. That’s why I didn’t respond very promptly to +them.” + +This seemed to please Klamath John, for he chuckled. + +“Why didn’t you call on me at my hotel, instead of taking that singular +way to get in communication with me?” Buffalo Bill now demanded. + +“I had my reasons, Cody; I wanted to test you.” + +“In what manner?” + +“Well, the purpose was to see if you could be aroused to a proper +interest in this thing.” + +“I’m in the dark, you know, as to what it is you want of me.” + +“I’ll come to it right off. You remember the gruesome stick pins I +used?” + +“Yes. I have them with me.” + +“They’re not gold, of course, but——” + +“I beg your pardon, they’re pure gold!” + +“What?” + +“Just as I say, they’re pure gold. I had one of them tested.” + +“Gr-reat governor! Is that so?” His astonishment was too natural to be +assumed. “I thought they were just brass, washed over with gold,” he +declared. “So they’re pure gold? Then it becomes even more interesting.” + +“Just remember that I don’t know what you’re talking about.” + +“Well, I’ll come right to it. I found the pins, and there was a letter +lying with them. I’ve got it here, and I’ll show it to you in a minute. +The letter is signed, ‘Red Reynard, the Fox.’” + +“Ah!” + +“That interests you, does it?” + +“Yes, very much.” + +“Just in what way?” + +“I think I’ll hear your story before I say in what way such a letter +interests me.” + +“Well, this Red Reynard is said to be a highwayman and desperado. I’ve +been trailing him. But it was luck got me that letter. It seems to have +been dropped accidentally, and the pins with it.” + +“You are an officer?” the scout asked. + +“No, not at present.” + +“You have been?” + +“No.” + +“Well, go on.” + +“I found out, by that letter, that Red Reynard and a lot more are in the +Golconda Cup, and they’ve found gold there.” + +“But nobody can get into the Golconda Cup!” + +“That’s what everybody thinks. But _they_ got in. And they went by the +way of Lost River. Golconda Cup, you know, is supposed to be a big, wide +valley, or basin, walled in by cliffs so steep and high on all sides +that they can’t be scaled. It’s said that a few men have climbed to the +top of the outer walls, and have looked over into the basin, but no man +has ever been able to get down the inner walls; or, if he did, he was +never able to climb ’em and get back to tell what he’d discovered. +That’s the story.” + +“Yes.” + +“You’ve seen those walls?” + +“I climbed to the top of them, on the south, once, a couple of years +ago.” + +“Jerusalem! You did? Well, I tried it, and quit soon enough. I don’t see +how you did it.” + +“Ropes and patience,” said the scout. + +“But you couldn’t get down on the inside?” + +“No. And I could see no place where any one could get down. The walls +have a thousand feet drop and are as steep as the sides of a house, with +not a crevice showing in them, and not a bush, nor anything that would +give foothold or a place to hang a rope.” + +“Yet this Red Reynard is in there now, and he and his men are taking out +the gold.” + +“Just a fairy story,” said the scout. + +“They went in by the way of Lost River,” Klamath John continued, without +heeding this comment. “It’s said that no man ever descended that river, +that it runs into a black cañon, and then on into a tunnel-like hole, +and then down into the very bowels of the earth. Two men were caught in +it, in a canoe, and they were sucked down into the hole and never were +seen again.” + +“I’ve heard that.” + +“You wouldn’t want to try that route?” + +“I should think twice before trying it.” + +“Well, I’ve been along the top wall of the cañon there, and I believe it +can be done. You see, a thing not generally known is, that after the +stream gets close down under the outer walls of Golconda Cup, it splits +into two parts. One is Lost River, or the continuation of it, the other +simply shoots through a big hole in the walls and flows into the Cup, +where it’s as gentle as a mill pond.” + +“But you’ve no good proof that it does?” + +“I’ll show you a letter. I’ve got a candle here, which I brought for the +purpose, hoping you’d come and would want to see it, and talk this thing +over. Cody, you’re the man to help in this, if I can get you +interested.” + +Klamath John lighted his candle and produced the letter. + +By the light of the candle the scout read it. + +It was as follows: + + “MY DEAR BAT: You can get into Golconda Cup without any + trouble, if you’ve got a little nerve and don’t scare too + easy. Take a canoe at the head of the cañon where Lost River + flows into it. Then when you get well down toward the walls + of the Cup, you’ll find where the stream branches. One of + the branches is Lost River proper, the other shoots through + a dark tunnel, and then out into the Cup, where it flows + along as quiet as you please. There’s plenty of room over + your head when you go through that tunnel, and you needn’t + be afraid. + + “It’s a lucky thing for us that the entrance looks so scary, + for it keeps people out, and makes them believe that + Golconda Cup can’t be got into at all. But it’s dead easy. + Take the right fork where it branches, and you’re safe + enough. + + “We’ve got a cinch down here—gold to talk about. I never saw + the like of it, the river sand is full of it, and there are + slivers to be picked up that are bigger than a toothpick. + Yesterday I got a pure nugget that was worth at least a + thousand dollars. We’re cleaning up more than a thousand + dollars a day, and some days we clean up twice that much. + But this thing wants to be kept on the strict q. t. + + “I’m hiding out here, you know, and so are the other boys, + and the officers are simply up against it. They couldn’t + find us in a thousand years. For everybody believes that the + Golconda Cup can’t be got into. We got into it dead easy; + and we get in and out just as easy as we got in. I’ll show + you if you come. The gold we’re carrying to Frisco, and + stacking it in the banks there. The Frisco bankers think + we’re working in Death Valley, and we let it go at that, and + they don’t know where the gold is coming from. We let Poker + Pete take it in for us. Pete’s a shrewd guy, and they + haven’t got wise to him yet. And they’ll never get wise to + Golconda Cup. The thing is so easy I laugh whenever I think + of it. + + “Crimp up your nerve, and come along. + + “Your old pal, + “RED REYNARD, THE FOX.” + +Buffalo Bill was surprised as much by the fact that he knew the +handwriting as he was by the contents. + +“What do you think of it?” said Klamath John, when he saw that the scout +had finished reading. + +“It’s the handwriting of Red Reynard.” + +“Not a forgery?” + +“No, I know his handwriting too well. I’ve got some of it right here.” + +He dived into his pocket and produced a folded paper. + +When he opened it, Klamath John saw that the handwriting was the same. + +Thus ran the note produced by Buffalo Bill: + + “DEAR BAT: Look out. Buffalo Bill is on our track. He came + near roping me in Glendive yesterday, but I threw sand in + his eyes and got away. I’m off for another and healthier + climate quick as I can go. Keep your eyes open, or you’ll be + into something hard. + + “Your old pal, + “RED REYNARD, THE FOX.” + +The scout spoke, while Klamath John was looking this over. + +“Whoever you are, or are not, I’m willing for you to see that note, to +compare it with the other,” he said. “Red Reynard knows I’ve been +following him, so that it can’t hurt to tell you, or anybody.” + +Klamath John looked up quickly. + +“You think mebbe I’m in with that devil?” + +“I don’t know anything about you, so I’ve no thoughts on the subject at +present; but if you were Red Reynard himself, it would be nothing new +for me to make openly the statement that I’ve been following him. He +knows it already, and he has known it for a long time.” + +“Yes, this note shows that.” + +Klamath John laid the letter and the note side by side on his knee, and +held the candle so that they could be seen and compared. + +“The same handwriting,” he declared. “Cody, this proves to you that I +don’t lie, not about that letter, anyhow. And I haven’t lied about +anything else. I want to go into the Golconda Cup, and I want you to go +with me. There’s gold there, worlds of it, and I want to see it, and +mebbe handle some of it. I thought mebbe if you knowed Red Reynard was +in there, you’d jump at what I’ve told you—I mean at the chance of +getting in there and at him. And if what the letter says is true, and I +believe it is, it will be easy to get in and dead easy to get out +again.” + + --------------------------------------------------------- + + + + + CHAPTER III. + + BUFFALO BILL DECIDES. + + +The scout put his fingers to his lips and blew a signal. + +Instantly there was a cracking of the bushes not far off, and then +Mickey Flynn appeared, running with Cudjo right behind him. + +Klamath John jumped to his feet, pulling a revolver as he did so. + +“Sit down!” said the scout. “One of them is my negro servant, and the +other is a friend.” + +“You had ’em out there watching?” + +“Yes. I didn’t intend to be trapped, you see, without having some one +near to come to my help if I needed it.” + +Klamath John dropped back to his seat by the poplar. + +“Yes, I see,” he said. “That was right and proper. You couldn’t be +expected to do anything else. Only, I didn’t think of it.” + +He looked curiously at the Irishman and the negro when they came up. + +“Mr. John Langstrath,” said the scout, introducing him to Flynn, and +then to Cudjo. + +“An’ there’s to be no fight at all,” said the Irishman, with a humorous +show of regret. “An’ it’s me that’s been gettin’ ready for the fray f’r +the last tin minutes. It’s a disapp’intmint I’m rec’avin’, to be shure.” + +Flynn was shown the letter exhibited by Klamath John. + +“Come up to my hotel, Langstrath,” the scout invited, “and there we’ll +talk this thing over at our leisure. I’ll admit that I’m interested.” + +“Will you make a try for that gold?” said Klamath John. + +“I may, and I may not, but I’d like to get my fingers on Red Reynard. +I’ve been wanting to for a good while.” + +But Klamath John refused to visit the hotel, though he said he would +again meet the scout at any other place outside of the town. + +“I’ve good reasons for not wanting to be seen there,” he declared, and +he refused to explain further. + +Buffalo Bill was permitted to retain the letter which bore the name of +“Red Reynard, the Fox.” He re-examined it in his room at the hotel, +comparing it again with the undoubtedly genuine one he had in his +possession. He submitted it to the tests used by handwriting experts, +which included a close scrutiny with a magnifying glass. In the end he +was sure it had been written by Red Reynard. + +But whether it had really been meant for the eye of Bat Stevens, the man +to whom it was addressed, or whether it had been intended to fall into +the hands of some one like Klamath John, could not be determined. + +And Klamath John himself was proving to be a good deal of an enigma. His +manner had evidenced the proof of the things he told, yet there was +something strange and suspicious in his refusal to show himself in the +town, and the manner in which he had sought to get into communication +with Buffalo Bill seemed queer, if nothing else. + +Buffalo Bill did not again meet Klamath John for two whole days, nor did +he send him any communication. During that time, the scout tried to +verify the statements made in Red Reynard’s letter to Bat Stevens. + +That Stevens, commonly called “Bat,” was one of Red Reynard’s followers, +was a thing he knew. Stevens was an all-round “bad man” of the border. +Two years before the scout had tried to lay him by the heels on a charge +of murder, but Bat had “faded away” at that time, and the scout had not +seen him since. Apparently, he was now in or near Klamath City, a town +peculiarly attractive to men of his class. + +In his pursuit of information, Buffalo Bill climbed to the tops of the +high rocky ridges which overhung the cañon of Lost River, and there, at +much peril, he traced the course of that stream until he saw that in one +respect, at least, the letter spoke truly—Lost River branched as it +neared the frowning walls of the Cup. + +On the second day of his exploration, the scout climbed the walls of the +Cup, where he had climbed them before, a feat so difficult that he was +compelled to use ropes. + +From the tops of the walls he scanned the inside of the Cup with his +powerful binoculars. + +He could discover no signs of occupancy, yet the Cup was of so vast an +extent and was so covered in places with trees, that it might have held +a whole village in its depths without any one discovering it from the +walls. + +There was a stream which flowed through the center of the Cup, thus in a +measure confirming the statement of the letter, and this stream seemed +to issue somewhere under the northern walls, at about the point where +the letter said one of the forks of Lost River broke through. + +The evening of this second day found Buffalo Bill again at Poplar Bend, +talking with Klamath John. + +“I have come to this conclusion,” he said: “If you will go with me and +my company, we’ll get a canoe and descend the cañon of the river +together. If the canoe is wrecked and we go into the river, you’ll go +with us. See?” + +“Which means that you don’t trust me?” + +“As I don’t know anything about you, you can’t expect me to trust you +further than that. I’m willing to speak plainly. I can trust you so long +as you share with me equally the dangers of that trip. We may never come +back alive. But you have made me anxious to get into the Golconda Cup. I +want to find Red Reynard, and I’d like to be able to explore that big +valley, which report says has never been entered by any human being. We +may never get into it, and if we get into it, we may never get out; but +I’ve thought the thing over, and I’ll risk it with you.” + +“Shake, Cody!” the young man cried, with enthusiasm. “I don’t ask +anything else. We’ll get the canoe and we’ll make the trip. I’ve only +one thing to say about it, and that is, if there’s the gold in there, +which that letter says, I want my share of it. That’s all.” + +“We’ll have as much right to it as any one, if gold is there,” the scout +declared. “I’ve no objection to that. I think I shall want some of it +myself.” + +“We’ll be gold hunters,” said Klamath John. “We’ll be gold hunters and +explorers in a new region. The gold is there, and we’ll find it, and +we’ll have some adventures worth talking about.” + +“You speak now like Mike Flynn. He’s been saying that to me all day.” + +“Is that Irishman going?” + +“Yes.” + +“And the negro?” + +“I shall take both of them. We’ll get a canoe that will hold the four of +us, and we’ll try the cañon of Lost River.” + +“When?” + +“To-morrow. I’ll get the canoe this afternoon, and have it hauled to the +upper end of the cañon.” + +“You won’t tell anybody what you want to do with it? Cody, we don’t want +any others in this thing. If there’s gold there, we want to have it to +ourselves. But if Red Reynard’s got a big gang down in there, we might +need a big gang to fight him with. What do you say to that, Cody?” + +“We’ll have a party of four, and none others.” + +“That suits me, then. I’m ready to start this minute. I’ve been waiting +for this thing ever since I found that letter. Cody, we’ll get in there +without trouble! I’m dead sure of it.” + +“Won’t you go into the town with me now?” + +“No. I’ll still camp out here. But I’ll be ready for you when the time +comes.” + + --------------------------------------------------------- + + + + + CHAPTER IV. + + DOWN THE CAÑON. + + +At the upper end of the cañon of Lost River the water is smooth and the +rocky banks are low enough to permit a canoe to be launched without much +trouble. + +The canoe was lowered to the water by means of ropes, and into it, when +it was anchored, was put the arms and ammunition, together with the food +supply, and other things, which the scout had decided to take. He had +provided amply, for he did not know just where he was going, what he +should meet, nor how long he should be gone. + +When the four men were in the canoe it sank low in the water, yet it was +still quite buoyant, and, though a large canoe, easily handled. + +Klamath John took the bow paddle and pushed the canoe away from the +rocky shore. + +The canoe swung lightly along in the quiet current, but soon the water +quickened its pace and the boat began to dance on its way, still with +feathery lightness, yet at a speed that made careful paddle work +necessary. + +Buffalo Bill crouched just behind Klamath John, where he could watch +him. The scout dipped his paddle with ease and skill, his eyes on the +current ahead, where at intervals rocks showed. Behind him was Cudjo, +while Flynn handled a paddle in the stern. + +“Whoosh!” yelled Flynn, as the rocky walls began to shoot past. “An’ +it’s now that we do be goin’ some.” + +“Starboard!” yelled Klamath John. “Put ’er to starboard!” + +He threw his strength on the oar, and was aided by Buffalo Bill. The +canoe veered and whisked by the big rock that had seemed to leap out of +the water to meet it. + +Higher and still higher rose the frowning cañon walls, until the cañon +grew dark as twilight. And still the light canoe sped ever faster, the +walls speeding by at a pace that soon became frightful. The river roared +in its narrow channel, and at times the torn water rose and flashed into +whitecaps. + +The canoe soon plunged into the cañon rapids. Buffalo Bill had looked +down upon those rapids as well as he could from the tops of the walls, +and had decided that, though swift, and even dangerous, the canoe could +navigate them. But they were even swifter and wilder than he had +thought. + +“She gets quieter farther down,” Klamath John shouted, by way of +encouragement. “Just hold her to it, and we’ll go through all right.” + +“Whoosh!” howled Flynn. “But this is an iligant adventure. Gold hunters, +is it? By me sowl, if we git through this, we’ll be airnin’ all the gold +we’ll git.” + +Yet the Irishman was now in his element. Adventure was as the breath of +his nostrils. He had chafed at the dullness of the town of Klamath. This +suited him, and he hoped for even better things beyond. + +But the darky who crouched on the thwart in front of him, though he +clutched his paddle and tried to obey the commands of Buffalo Bill, was +sending up a prayer for safety, while his teeth were chattering and a +grayish shade seemed to have crept into the black of his face. Cudjo was +heartily wishing himself well out of it. + +Yet if the occupants of the canoe had desired to retreat, that was now +impossible. The only thing that could be done was to hold the canoe in +the channel, as near the center as possible, and let it drive, guiding +it as skillfully as possible round rocks and other obstructions. + +A half mile farther down the stream seemed to be sown with rocks. They +were everywhere, and they appeared almost to leap at the bobbing bow of +the canoe, as if bent on splitting it, and dragging it down. + +But Buffalo Bill and Klamath John were practiced canoemen, and they sent +the canoe round every obstruction with such skill and good judgment that +its sides were not even grazed. + +For two miles this terrific pace held. Then before them they saw where +the stream forked, split into two branches by a great rock. + +A surge of green water slipped by on each side of this sharp wedge of +granite and went plunging on, to become lost soon in the mist that +blanketed the surface of the wild river. + +“Which channel?” roared Klamath John, poising his paddle in hesitation. + +“The right!” Buffalo Bill shouted back. “The letter said the right!” + +“Aye! So it did! The right it is!” + +He dipped and pulled, and the scout did the same, their efforts seconded +by the negro and the Irishman. + +The wedge of granite rose right before the canoe, and it seemed the +frail shell would dash against it; then the canoe slipped past, and went +plunging down the right channel, where the waves frothed and roared and +the mist hung heavily. + +The speed of the canoe became even more rapid now. It quivered and +reeled under the impact of waves that slid from one black granite wall +to the other and back again, and there were moments when it seemed that +it would be dashed into splinters against these walls. + +Klamath John began to show evidences of fright, while hitherto he had +been as cool and courageous as the dauntless scout. + +The mist lifted somewhat, and then, straight ahead, was beheld a black +opening, toward which the canoe sped with arrowy swiftness. + +Klamath John appeared to lose his head when he saw that black hole. + +“Cody, we’ve taken the wrong channel!” he yelled, and he half rose to +his feet. “We’re dead men! We made a mistake back there. We’re in Lost +River! Good heavens, we’re in Lost River!” + +He dropped his paddle, which the scout caught, thus keeping it from +going overboard. + +“Sit down!” the scout shouted at him. “Sit down, or you’ll have us all +into the water!” + +Klamath John did not obey. He stood up, swaying about in the plunging +canoe, rendering the task of guiding it difficult, as well as +threatening it with destruction. + +“Sit down!” Buffalo Bill yelled at him. + +The situation was so desperate that when Klamath John did not sit down, +the scout caught him by the coat and hurled him down. + +Klamath John was up again instantly, swaying about and making the canoe +lurch so violently that it was in danger of capsizing. + +But a remarkable revelation had come, for as Klamath John fell the dark +mustache and imperial was torn from his face, revealing youthful and +unbearded features. + +The disclosure was almost paralyzing, for Klamath John’s disguise had +been so exceedingly good and clever that until that minute even the +sharp eyes of Buffalo Bill had been deceived by it. + +“Sit down!” the scout yelled again. + +“We is all dead men!” Cudjo shrieked. He was staring at the beardless +face of Klamath John, the paddle had dropped from his nerveless fingers, +and he acted as if he meant to leap out of the boat. + +“Shoot the divil!” Mickey Flynn yelled. + +But Mickey did not forget his paddle, and for the first minute in which +that stupefying surprise lasted, the strong young Irishman did almost as +much as the scout in keeping the canoe from being hurled to destruction. + +“So, you’re a fraud, eh!” the scout shouted. “Well, if we’re in Lost +River and are going to death, you’ll go with us!” + +Klamath John seemed to lose his head as that black hole of a tunnel was +brought close at hand. He stood up again, balancing himself, as if he +thought of jumping over into the water. He threw down his hat, snatched +from his head a wig of long hair, howled as if he had suddenly become an +insane devil, and refused to obey the orders of the scout. + +Buffalo Bill lifted his paddle, while his other hand stole back as if to +get out his revolver for the purpose of shooting Klamath John. But a +violent lurching of the canoe caused him to grip the paddle again and +thrust it into the boiling stream. + +“Sit down!” he yelled, in desperation. “You lunatic, sit down!” + +The dark hole of the tunnel was right before them now. Into that hole +the river rushed with a roar that was frightful. + +Mickey Flynn and Buffalo Bill were bending to their paddles, straining +until the stout ash blades bent as if they would break, straining to +hold the canoe steady and to keep it in the center of the current. They +had no time to give to Klamath John. Cudjo was but a bit of helpless +lumber. Overcome by terror, he had sunk down in the bottom of the canoe, +where, crouching on his knees, he prayed frantically. + +Klamath John yelled again as the canoe shot for the black hole, which it +did as if it were a race horse rushing to leap an obstruction. + +As Klamath John yelled in that wild way, he sprang straight out into the +air. He clutched something that swung dangling in the mist over the +mouth of the tunnel. + +Buffalo Bill saw that it was a rope, and that Klamath John had seized it +and was drawing himself up hand over hand. He heard Klamath John yell +again, in a different key—a yell that seemed to speak of triumph—and +then the canoe went into the dark hole, rushing to apparent destruction. + +“Hold hard!” Buffalo Bill yelled to Mickey Flynn. + +“Har-rd it is!” Flynn screeched back. “Kape her in the middle! Kape her +in the middle! Pl’ase goodness, if we’re goin’ into the cinter of the +airth we’re goin’ in a hurry.” + + --------------------------------------------------------- + + + + + CHAPTER V. + + THROUGH THE TUNNEL. + + +The roar of the stream was much increased as the canoe shot into the +natural rock tunnel. The walls caught and threw it back with tenfold +power. The darkness was terrifying. + +As the canoe sped on its arrowy way into the darkness, Buffalo Bill +crouched in the bow, trying to penetrate the gloom. Now and then the +white spray that boiled about some half-sunken rock could be seen, and +the canoe steered past it. + +Occasionally he shouted a command to Flynn, but he doubted if in that +mad turmoil of sound the plucky young Irishman heard him. + +The minutes seemed like hours, and how long that terrifying voyage +lasted the scout did not know. + +With a jerk and a thump the canoe scraped over some sunken object. A +small hole had been torn in its bottom, near the prow, and the water +began to come in over the scout’s feet. Apparently the end of the wild +journey was at an end, for it was clear the canoe could not now live +many minutes. + +The scout tried to block the rent partially by thrusting his foot +against it, but still the water came in, and the exertions he put forth +with the paddle made it hard for him to keep his foot over that hole. He +did not try to communicate this ugly fact to the praying darky, nor to +the heroic Irishman. They would know it soon enough. Premature knowledge +would do them no good. He only did his best to keep the water from +rushing in. + +The scout felt the canoe sinking slowly under him, when ahead he dimly +discerned some dark outline, which a minute later proved to be an +island, low and rocky, but with sand round its margin, as he later +discovered. + +With a desperate sweep of the paddle he swung the prow of the canoe +toward this island. + +The light craft struck it with such force that the forward end was +lifted, bouncing up apparently, and then slipped over the wave-worn +rocks, driven on by the waves and by the momentum of the canoe. + +The scout sprang out at once, and, seizing the painter, he began to haul +on it, to bring the canoe still farther out of the water. + +Cudjo aroused when he saw that the canoe had struck and was actually +aground on what seemed to be land. He could see but the dim outline, but +that was enough, and with a howl he sprang out of the water, landing +waist-deep. He would have been swept away, if Michael Flynn, coming +after him, had not caught him and helped him to make a landing. + +Buffalo Bill aided both as they scrambled out of the water. + +Cudjo dropped down on the wet rocks, lifting his voice again in prayer. + +“Help here with the boat, Flynn,” said the scout. + +Together they dragged it clear of the water, placing it well up beyond +the waves. + +The island was but a few yards wide and not over twenty yards long; but +in the center it rose to a secure height above the stream, and there the +rocks were comparatively dry, for the waves and the wash of the current +did not reach them. + +Buffalo Bill did not begin to explore the island until he had made the +painter of the canoe fast to a jutting point of rock. + +“Come, Cudjo!” he said, shouting the words. “Be a man! We’re safe for +the present.” + +The darky stopped praying and got on his feet. + +“Marse Cody, we is dead men!” he urged. “We ain’t drowned, but here we +is, and we can’t git away. I reckon dis is de center of de earf. How we +gwine to git out of it?” + +The scout walked toward the other end of the small island, which lay in +the very middle of the stream. The darkness was too great to see what +was in the river beyond this island; but that they had found a refuge at +a time when matters could not have been worse gave him a renewal of +hope. + +“Pl’ase Heaven, we’re shtill livin’!” said Flynn, standing beside the +scout and looking out in the darkness where the river lost itself. + +“And as long as there’s life there is hope,” was the scout’s answer. + +“Thrue f’r ye! That canoe may yit take us out av this.” + +“It has had a hole knocked in it, at the prow, but I think we can patch +it.” + +“A hole in it! Whoosh! Thin it’s dead lucky we are that this island was +close by. I seen ye throw the head av the canoe into it, and then I +pulled f’r it, and we made it. But how we’re to git aff av it, and what +we’ll find whin we do, I dunnaw.” + +Cudjo came slowly across the rocky island, shivering. + +“Marse Cody,” he cried, “what y’o fink of dat man?” + +“Klamath John?” + +“Yas, sir. What yo’ fink of him, now? I done warn yo’ not to trust ’im. +But you did, and here we is. Did yo’ see dem whiskers and dat hair dat +man was wearin’? Befo’ Gawd, dat beat me!” + +“An’ it’s mesilf will bate him, if iver I see his ugly mug ag’in. False +whiskers and false hair, d’ye mind! It was the iligant make-up that he +had, to be sure. I’m hopin’ that he’s livin’, so that I can hammer his +face in f’r that.” + +When they examined the canoe they decided that they could patch it. Then +they sat down to talk over their situation. + +“Klamath John fooled me,” Buffalo Bill admitted. “But I still think the +letter he showed me was genuine. I’ve got that letter with me now, and +we’ll see if we can take a look at it. I was sure it said take the right +fork of the river.” + +He drew out his waterproof metallic match box, and then from the stores +that were in the canoe he got a candle. Having struck his match and +lighted his candle, he first looked over the island by its light, and +then examined the letter written by Red Reynard, the Fox. + +“‘Take the right fork, where it branches, and you’re safe enough,’” +Buffalo Bill read from this letter. + +All three looked at those words. + +“But here is a thing that we didn’t properly consider. Red Reynard may +have thought of the other branch as the right fork. Perhaps he meant the +one on the right hand looking upstream, instead of the one on the right +hand looking downstream. And that would make all the difference in the +world.” + +“It was quare, the way that rapscallion did, anyhow,” said Flynn. “He +thought we had taken the wrong coorse, and thin he wint that wild he was +clane an idjiot. ’Twas that made him pull aff his whiskers an’ wig.” + +“The whiskers were pulled off when I threw him down in the canoe,” +Buffalo Bill corrected. + +“Ye’re right. It’s a wondher I ricollict annything. The whiskers fell +aff whin ye threw him down. And thin I suppose he got that rickless, +fr’m seein’ that he was rev’aled in his duplicity, that he pulled aff +the wig. He laughed like a young hyena, begorra, whin he did it. The man +was clane cr-razy.” + +“An’ we was crazy for comin’ wid ’im!” expostulated Cudjo. “I’se +wonderin’ dat I’se livin’ dis minute.” + +“Yez seen him git holt av that rope?” said the Irishman. “Did he know +the rope was there, or did he not? In the evint that he did, thin he was +expictin’ it, and was prepared f’r it; and was ready to jump, before we +got to it. Thin, by the same token, he wasn’t cr-razy, but was a +schemin’ divil, bint on l’adin’ us to desthruction.” + +To conclude that Klamath John had deliberately planned to take the great +risk of springing from the canoe to that rope was to credit him with a +daring which bordered on lunacy. Yet that wild laugh, which still rang +in their ears, had been the laugh of a madman, or of a man whose change +from despair to hope had seemed to result temporarily in a sort of +insanity. The whole thing was a mystery. + +“Can we belave that letther now?” said Flynn. “And if we can’t belave +it, what thin? Is there gold layin’ r-round in lumps and sphlinters down +in the Golconda Cup? Is there a Golconda Cup at all. And is that pirut +ye call Red Reynard doon there?” + +“We’ll know better when we get there.” + +“When we git dar?” cried Cudjo. “Marse Cody, you knows we ain’t nebber +gwine git dar!” + +“I’m hoping we shall.” + +“How you ’specs tuh bring dat combobberation about?” Cudjo demanded. + +“We’ll float on down this stream in the canoe, after we get it patched.” + +“If we tries it, we is sho’ dead men!” Cudjo protested. + +“If we stay here we are dead men.” + +“I reckons dat’s so, Marse Cody. We is dead men no matter how yo’ fix +it.” + +“I’m niver dead, so long as I’m livin’!” Flynn declared, with true Irish +hopefulness. “This may be Lost River, and it may be the other fork av +it. I dunnaw. But whatever it is, it shore goes somewhere.” + +“It goes into de groun’, Marse Flynn. Ain’t we in de ground now? An’ if +we goes furder we suttinly will be mo’ deeper into de ground’, won’t we? +Dis Los’ River is a los’ river, which mean dat it run down into de +yea’th and never come up no mo’. And if we goes wid it, how we gwine tuh +come up? You des ’splain to me dat, will yo’?” + +“I ain’t belavin’ it goes down into the earth no great ways, annyhow!” +Flynn protested. “It runs fasht enough here, I know, but that’s no +r’ason it doesn’t come out into the sunlight ag’in. I’m goin’ to stick +to it that it does, begorra! It’s no use to belave anny other way; f’r +if we thried niver so har-rd we couldn’t git back up this sthrame.” + +“That’s to be taken as settled,” said Buffalo Bill. “We can’t get back +up the stream. Therefore, if we leave this island, we’ve got to go +downstream, no matter what happens. I think we’d better see if we can’t +patch the canoe.” + +He wanted to put Flynn and Cudjo to work, knowing it would help to +bolster their spirits. + +It took an hour of close work to patch the hole in the prow. + +The stores were lifted out of the canoe and carried to the highest part +of the island, and the canoe was also carried to that point, before work +on it began. + +The three men down on their knees, in the flickering candlelight, +working at the canoe, on that dark little island set in the blackness of +the underground river, presented a strange sight. The river roared by +close at hand, and the dark walls and roof of the singular natural +tunnel stretched in each direction as far as eye could see. + +“We could live here some time,” said the scout cheerfully. “We’ve got +stores enough, and we have the whole river for our water supply.” + +“But dey’s bats and fings in here, Marse Cody!” the darky objected. “I +hear um go flyin’ by.” + +Yet Cudjo was in no haste to leave the island and trust his precious +self to that wild black torrent. + +When they had patched the canoe they again sat on the rocks and talked +over the situation. + +“It will soon be dark outside,” said the scout, holding his watch so +that the candlelight fell on the dial. “Shall we try it before morning?” + +Cudjo declared his desire to wait for daylight outside. + +“I think, myself, it will be better,” the scout urged, when Flynn did +not express his opinion. “With daylight, we could see when we approached +the end of this stream, where it flows out of the tunnel. For I’m taking +it for granted that it flows out somewhere. And, also, it seems to me +that the light from the outside may get in here to a certain extent, and +so that would help us. We can set candles in the prow of the canoe; but +if we could have a few rays of daylight additional it would be welcome.” + +So they decided to remain in their present position until the scout’s +watch showed that morning had come. + + --------------------------------------------------------- + + + + + CHAPTER VI. + + ON THE UNDERGROUND RIVER. + + +Though there was a good deal of misty vapor in the tunnel, it was +possible to keep reasonably dry and comfortable by wrapping in the +blankets taken from the canoe. + +A generous supper, taken from the canoe supplies, helped much to add to +the cheerfulness which the scout’s hopeful manner created. + +Flynn lighted his pipe when supper was over, and sat on the rocks, +smoking and talking of the outlook. + +“Begorra, the drainage is good, f’r wan thing!” he declared, as he saw +Cudjo heave some of the supper remnants into the river. “A felly might +shtay here a good while, though the mist would damage his health, I’m +thinkin’. There’s many a worse place in the world, no doubt. Shtill, I’m +not wantin’ to shtay longer than I nade to.” + +“I doan’ want tuh stay at all,” said Cudjo. “Marse Cody, didn’t you heah +somepin’?” + +“I heard nothing,” the scout answered. “If you’ll lie down, Cudjo, and +get some rest and sleep, you’ll feel better. Wrap up in that blanket and +lie down a while.” + +“Dis river make so much noise I couldn’t sleep a wink, Marse Cody!” +Cudjo declared. “And I keeps hearin’ fings. You doan’ heah um?” + +“I hear nothing but the roar of the river.” + +“’Twas a kind ob low moanin’ like, Marse Cody. Dar it is ag’in. An’ I +heah’s somepin’ breathin’ hard, too.” + +Cudjo got up and walked uneasily to and fro. At last he sat down on a +log by the shore. That is, he thought it was a log when he sat down on +it; but he knew better soon, for what he supposed to be a log, taking no +notice of him at first, began by and by to squirm under him. He sprang +to his feet with a howl that would have done credit to an Indian. + +“Marse Cody!” he screeched, “dis heah log is alive! Befo’ the Lawd it +is! Yah! Hit’s movin’.” + +Buffalo Bill and Mickey Flynn ran to him, and then they beheld an +astonishing thing. + +A long, dark object, which in the poor light they had from the first +fancied was a wet log, had moved from its bed and was crawling slowly +into the water. + +Cudjo had jumped back, and was screeching again. + +“You see it, Marse Cody?” he yelled. “You see it?” + +Buffalo Bill ran back for the candle, and, bringing it up, flashed its +light down on the moving “log.” + +“An alligator!” he exclaimed, holding the light close to the creature’s +back. “No, not an alligator,” he corrected, “though it resembles one. +What is it?” + +The lizardlike thing drew its length lazily into the water, where it +sank out of sight without a sound, although they were given time to see +it. + +It was not an alligator, though it certainly was a saurian. It resembled +an alligator, or crocodile, but was more sluggish, had a larger head, +and a thicker, shorter body. + +Cudjo’s panicky fright was too pitiable to be laughed at. He was almost +in a state of collapse. + +“Dat’s de fing I heard breathin’,” he declared. “Hit must er been. And +to fink dat I set down on it! Dat sho’ does analyze me! I’se dat trimbly +and skeered dat I cain’t move. Marse Cody, does ye’ reckon any more ob +um is roun’ heah?” + +That he might be sure there were not, Buffalo Bill began to look over +the island with the aid of the candle. Flynn accompanied him, but Cudjo +remained behind, keeping now near the very top of the rocky islet, that +he might be as far as possible from the water. + +“Begorra, there’s another wan av the bloody crathers!” declared Flynn. + +But this was only a log, slimy and wet, looking, in the faint light, +much like the strange saurian sat on by the negro. + +“There are no more here,” said the scout, when he and Flynn had made +their circle of the island. + +“You bet I stays awake dis night!” said Cudjo. “Dat was an alligator, +and an alligator sho’ does love nigger meat. Yo’ couldn’t make me lay +down ag’in if you was to hit me wid a club. No, sir! I keeps my eyes +open dis night. None of dem fings ain’t gwine to swaller me while I’m +sleepin’.” + +While they were talking they heard a roar down the river—a singular +sound, mingling with the noise of the stream. They did not doubt it was +made by the saurian, which they believed had gone in that direction. + +Though Buffalo Bill did not blame Cudjo for having been frightened by +his unpleasant experience, he tried to argue him into a quieter frame of +mind, and again advised him to lie down and try to get some rest, +assuring him that the “alligator” would not return. But Cudjo sat up, +refusing to trust himself in the blanket. + +Buffalo Bill and Flynn talked, while Flynn smoked pipeful after pipeful +of tobacco. + +The scout lay down at last, when his watch showed that the time was +after midnight. Then Flynn rolled in his blanket, and Cudjo, fearing to +stare longer out into the darkness, also wrapped himself up, and tried +to get some rest, if not some sleep. + +All slept soundly before morning. + +When they woke the darkness still held, though the scout fancied it was +not as dense. His watch showed him that it was seven o’clock. + +They had breakfast from the boat’s stores, and again Flynn smoked his +pipe, while they talked of what they should now do. + +Then the canoe was loaded again, and they took their places in it, and +floated off from the island, trusting themselves once more to the swift +stream. It was the only thing they could do. + +A number of candles threw their light on the water, enabling the scout, +who sat in the prow, to see obstructions. + +With the deafening roar of the river about them, the canoe plunging on, +and uncertainty ahead, that was not a pleasant voyage. How long it +continued they hardly knew. + +More than once, by a deft stroke of his paddle, Buffalo Bill saved the +frail craft from destruction. + +The light of the candles showed only seamed, black walls, where the mist +of the river had collected and hung in glistening drops, which resembled +flashing diamonds as the light of the candles touched them. The river +looked as black as the walls. + +After a while Buffalo Bill became sure that the daylight was brightening +in the tunnel. That he might be sure of this, after speaking of it to +his companions, he swept the candles into a heap in the bottom of the +canoe, extinguishing them. + +For a little while the darkness seemed to have been made pitchy black, +but it was only by reason of the contrast. Soon it became clear that the +dark tunnel was really growing brighter ahead. + +“Hooray!” Flynn yelled, unable to restrain his joy. “I’d welcome light +ahead there av it was fr’m the fires of the pit. Whoosh! But we’re fair +flyin’.” + +They could again see the walls flying past them, showing the speed with +which the canoe was going. + +The current was nearly free of rocks, and it was not difficult work to +keep the canoe away from the walls, so that this terrific speed really +harmed nothing now. + +Brighter and still brighter grew the light within the tunnel. + +The brightness came from ahead, showing that some sort of opening was +there which let in the sunlight. + +Cudjo forgot his fears, and clamored for the canoe to go faster, when it +seemed already that it was almost flying. + +Then a white point, like a star, shone dead ahead. + +“The opening!” shouted Buffalo Bill. “There it is!” + +Cudjo chattered his joy, and the Irishman’s lips shot out wild +exclamations. + +Steadily that starlike point of light gained in size, and the brightness +of the tunnel increased. Then they could see that the “star” was a hole +through which light came. + +“Kape her goin’!” yelled Flynn, sweeping the canoe on with his paddle. +“Kape her goin’!” + +The shining aperture enlarged rapidly, and soon the canoe was right in +it, and a blinding flash of daylight was just before. Then the canoe +shot out of the tunnel’s black mouth, and sped along the surface of a +stream that rolled between rocky and sandy banks. Behind towered the +high walls of mountains, steep as upright boards, reaching apparently to +the sky. + +“We’ve passed through the walls,” said the scout, “and are in the +Golconda Cup.” + +“And that letther wasn’t a lie at all, at all!” said Flynn. “Glory be! +It’s praisin’ the saints I am f’r this blissed minute.” + +As they floated on they saw that they were in a vast valley, encircled +by precipitous mountain walls, and that the river flowed through it. +They were in the Golconda Cup, which it was said no man had ever +entered. + + --------------------------------------------------------- + + + + + CHAPTER VII. + + SKULL AND CROSSBONES. + + +The current decreased when they entered this wide valley. The cañon had +disappeared beyond the tunnel, and here were only broken hills and sandy +river banks inclosing the stream. At points along the stream were trees +and bushes. + +When they were nearly a mile out from the tunnel, and the current had +dropped to no more than seven or eight miles an hour, they beheld in +front of them a low, bush-grown island. Then, looking off to the right, +where the stream made a bend beyond the island, they were astonished to +behold houses amid the trees on the river bank. They seemed to be large +cabins, and their presence denoted human occupancy. + +“That letther wasn’t a lie at all!” Flynn repeated, when he saw those +houses. + +“And if what it said is true, that Red Reynard is in here with a lot of +his villains, we’ll be a good deal better off if they don’t see us,” the +scout remarked, as he turned the prow of the canoe toward the shore, +which presented a sandy bluff at that point. + +“We’ll get under that bluff,” he said, “where we’re not so likely to be +sighted by whoever occupies those cabins, and then, I think, we’d better +try to land on that island, and go into hiding there until we see who is +in this valley.” + +The eyes of Cudjo were round and staring. When he turned them from the +cabins to the surface of the river he uttered an ejaculation of fear. + +“Marse Cody, dar it is!” he said in a whisper. “Dar’s dat alligator. He +riz right plum’ up f’um de bottom of de river. Yo’ see ’im, doan’ you?” + +They could not but see the scaly saurian, as it floated on the surface +of the water. Apparently, it had not seen them. At the small bend just +below the saurian turned across the stream, heading as if for the +island. + +“Hit look des lack it’s leadin’ de way, and sayin’ for us to come on!” +whispered Cudjo, his eyes staring. “Marse Cody, I doan’ lack de +appearance ob dat, does you? Looks as if he’s leadin’ us on. I reckon +mebbe he’s livin’ over dar.” + +The canoe, turning at that bend, for the high bluff ended there, was +following in the wake of the big saurian. They saw it reach the low +shore of the island, where it sank from sight, and did not rise again. + +This crossing of the river in the broad light of day was a ticklish +thing, and the scout kept his eyes trained as much as possible on the +river banks below, and on those cabins. He was anxious not to be seen. + +They made their landing at almost the spot where the big saurian had +disappeared. Stepping ashore there, they drew out the canoe, then took +the load out of it, and carried it back into the bushes. They did not +believe they had been observed. + +As for the “alligator,” Cudjo was the only one who feared it, and +because he feared it he kept well back from the water. + +The island consisted of several acres of bush-grown land lying in the +middle of the river, which here widened out into a sluggish stream, so +different from its hitherto known characteristics. + +Having concealed the canoe and their belongings, Buffalo Bill and his +companions made their way quietly through the brushy ground to the other +side of the island. + +They beheld now an astonishing sight. Instead of the few cabins, which +they had supposed were the only ones, they beheld a village. + +The cabins were ranged along the right bank of the river, in the midst +of trees, less than a mile below the flat island. Between the houses ran +a single wide street, which paralleled the course of the river. Men were +seen walking in this street, and down by the river other men were seen +working, as if they searched for gold, or were washing it. + +Buffalo Bill brought out his binoculars and covered the houses and the +men with them. The houses were big log cabins, though some of them +seemed to have additions constructed of mud and stone. + +“That letther wasn’t anny lie at all, at all!” said Mike Flynn, +repeating what he had said so many times before. + +“It looks as if it were true; and if so, then Red Reynard, the Fox, has +his lair right here before us. Take a look, Flynn.” + +Michael surveyed the cabins and the men carefully and long. + +“Begorra, it’s too bad they ain’t honest min!” he said. “We could walk +out and jine thim, av they were. But I’m guessin’ it wouldn’t be wise to +thry it.” + +“Anything but wise, Flynn. We’ve got to find out what all this means, +before we venture to show ourselves.” + +“I’d like to know now, so I would, if Klamath John is dead or livin’, +and what he mint by what he did. Troth, so I would! It’s that quare I +can’t make annything out av it. What do yez think av it, Cody?” + +He returned the glasses, and the scout gave them to Cudjo, asking him to +take a look and report whatever he saw. Cudjo, after a few moments’ +survey, began to search the river with the binoculars. + +“Marse Cody, did dat ’gator go on downstream?” he asked. + +“Yes.” + +“Well, I ’clar to goodness I fink he’s comin’ back! I sho’ seen somepin’ +down dar looked lack his haid stickin’ up.” + +Buffalo Bill and Flynn, not being greatly interested in the “alligator,” +continued to speculate concerning the houses and the men. + +“If dem men finds us heah, Marse Cody, we’s gwine see int’restin’ +times,” Cudjo prophesied. + +“An’ that ain’t anny lie!” said Flynn. + +“Yes,” assented the scout, “we’ll have to be careful. But I don’t think +they come often to this island. There are signs that they’ve been here, +but not for several days.” + +He pointed to some marks on the sandy shore just below, where digging +had been done in the sand. When they looked closely they beheld tracks +of human feet. + +“Marse Cody, how is we gwine tuh git out o’ dis place?” said Cudjo. + +“I don’t know. That’s to be found out. We’re safe for the present. And +we’ve plenty to eat. But we’ll have to eat it without cooking, for the +smoke of a fire would certainly attract attention.” + +For a long time the scout and his companions stared out from the shelter +of the bushes, watching the village, and the men they saw moving about. + +As the scout was making a final survey of the cabins with his +binoculars, he turned them on the open door of a cabin, hoping to see +the interior. What the glasses brought into view above the door was +startling and suggestive. + +“A skull and crossbones, and not a mere representation of them!” was his +thought. “Flynn,” he said, “take the glasses, and tell me what you see +just over the door of that cabin.” + +Flynn took the binoculars and trained them on the cabin door. + +“I hope I’m not dr’amin’,” he said, “but if that ain’t a skull, and if +thim ain’t the thigh bones av a man crossed under it, thin I am dr’amin’ +or cr-razy. What does it mane, begorra?” + +Cudjo clutched the glasses and looked through them. + +“Marse Cody, you ’members dem stick pins? It’s des lack um, ober dat +door.” + +The scout and Flynn had thought of the stick pins even before Cudjo thus +spoke of them. + +“The skull and crossbones!” said Buffalo Bill. “If Klamath John found +the stick pins with that letter written by Red Reynard, the Fox, it’s +easy enough to connect the skull and crossbones on the stick pins with +those over that door.” + +“It begins to luk as though that felly wasn’t lyin’ whin he towlt yez +how he found the letther,” said Flynn seriously. + +“But you mustn’t forget that he went to the very depths of deception +when he disguised himself with that wig and whiskers,” was the scout’s +comment. “There is something very singular about it all.” + +“Shure, it’s too quare f’r words.” + +The discovery of the skull and crossbones above the cabin door threw +Cudjo into a new flutter of fear. He had never been able to forget the +outlaw wearing a stick pin of that kind, who had knocked him down at the +time of the railway holdup. Apparently members of that same band of +desperadoes occupied the cabins here in the Golconda Cup. + +“I wonder if they’re washin’ f’r gold?” said Flynn, once more studying +the figures by the stream. “It’s gold I’m wantin’—gobs av it; an’ it +makes me fingers itch to think that anny man can be takin’ it out that +way, right befure me eyes, wid me here wantin’ my share, and that +hilpless I can’t poke me nose out av the bushes. Musha! But it’s the +loikes av that makes the hear-rt ache.” + +Buffalo Bill brought out the stick pins he had kept in his possession, +and looked at them. Their suggestiveness, in connection with that +gruesome sign over the door of the cabin, and the letter written by Red +Reynard, was impressive. + +“Fr’m the looks av the cabins—the number av thim, I mane—the min huntin’ +gold down here ar-re too manny f’r us,” said Flynn. “It was the gold and +the iligant advinture that brought me. We’ve had the advinture, and I’m +not denyin’ it was thrillin’ enough; and now we want the gold. How we’re +to git it, though, I dunnaw. Thim divils have camped on the claim, and +if we secure anny gold I’m thinkin’ we’ll have to crack heads f’r it.” + + --------------------------------------------------------- + + + + + CHAPTER VIII. + + THE PRISONER. + + +Throughout the remainder of the day the scout and his companions kept +close under cover of the bushes of the island. They needed rest and +sleep, and were not yet ready for any decisive movement. + +Shortly before sunset, while Buffalo Bill was lying down and Flynn was +dozing, Cudjo uttered a cry which brought the two white men to their +feet. + +They saw Cudjo floundering at the edge of the water, as if he had +stepped off and gone beyond his depth, but as they ran to aid him they +noticed the scaly back of an “alligator” rising slowly to the surface. +The back was of a brownish mud color and seemed to be plastered over +with river slime. The next moment the huge head rose in sight, the +piggish eyes could be seen, and then the huge mouth came into view. +Within the jaws of the loathsome creature was a piece of Cudjo’s coat. +Cudjo gave another flounce and splash, like a speared fish, and the +piece of coat, tearing loose, was left in the mouth of the saurian. + +Buffalo Bill seized Cudjo’s hand and helped him to land, and the saurian +disappeared with a slow and sullen movement. Cudjo fell on the shore +under the bushes in almost a fainting condition. + +“Marse Cody,” he said, “I is a dead man! Dat gator bit me, and I know +I’se pizened. I sho is. I can feel de pizen wukkin’ through my +ligerments.” + +He would not believe otherwise until Buffalo Bill had shown him that he +had not even been touched by the teeth of the creature. + +“It caught your coat in its mouth, but its teeth never so much as +touched you!” the scout assured him. + +Thereupon Cudjo sat up. His black face had changed to an ashen brown, +and he was trembling. + +“A ’gator is monst’ous fond ob de meat of a nigger,” he said. “I has +heah’d dat always, and now I knows it; and it’s only by de grace o’ Gawd +dat I’se heah now, ’stead ob in dat ’gator’s stummick. Marse Cody, it +was dis heah way: I was watchin’ de sho’ over yondeh, as yo’ done tole +me to, and I was watchin’ de river fuh de ’gator. But I didn’t see ’im. +My back was to’a’ds de way we come f’um, and I was lookin’ down de river +to’a’ds dem cabins, lack you said. While I was doin’ dat dis ’gator riz +right beside me, an’ I didn’t know he was widin a mile twell he had me. +Den I yelled. Marse Cody, you’d ’a’ yelled, too. You would ’a’ been +’bleeged tuh yell. I ’spect I was head’d at dem cabins, but I can’t help +it, nohow.” + +Mickey Flynn had watched the river while Buffalo Bill made his +examination of the negro, and now Flynn spoke: + +“Cody, there’s a man on t’other shore, right acrass fr’m this island, +and he’s lukin’ at it. I’m bel’avin’ he heard the nagur whin he let out +that screech.” + +“Who’s a nigger?” said Cudjo, bristling with indignation, in spite of +his scare; for, though Cudjo would call himself a “nigger,” he objected +to any one else doing it. + +Buffalo Bill left Cudjo’s side and slipped to the point where the +Irishman was watching. + +The man seen by Flynn stood on the other shore, just abreast of the +island, and stared across the water. He wore rough boots and a +red-flannel shirt, and he carried a pick, while at his hip swung a +revolver. In addition, he had long hair and a heavy red beard. After +staring a while at the island, he went on downstream, but soon he was +seen again, this time in a shallow boat, which he had drawn from under +the bank. + +“He’s comin’ acrass!” said Flynn. “He shure heard the screech av the +nagur, and now we’re in f’r it. I’ll cr-rack the head av him whin he +makes his landin’. It’s a swate headache he’ll be havin’, if he comes in +close by me.” + +He picked from the ground a broken bough that would serve well as a +club. + +“It’s breakin’ heads reminds me of the dear ould dart,” he said grimly. +“It would be Donnybrook Fair, if there was enough av thim. Whurroo! He’s +comin’ sthraight f’r this p’int.” + +Buffalo Bill stepped back and drew his revolver, though he had no +intention of using it except as a club. As a second and better thought, +he went to the heaped-up articles taken from the canoe and selected a +rope, which he looped and put in shape for a lasso cast. + +The man held his way steadily across to the island, but when he +approached it he stopped the canoe, and, sitting quietly in it, looked +through the bushes as well as he could. When he saw and heard nothing, +he dipped his paddle again and came on. He drove the nose of his boat +into the reeds that grew by the water’s edge, and stepped out. + +Mickey Flynn rose from behind a bush and brought his club down on the +man’s head with such force that the fellow pitched forward on his face +without a sound. + +“Whurroo!” said Flynn, dashing on him. “It’s a nate way to do a job av +that kind, betther than a knife or a pistol. He’ll be comin’ r-round in +a minute, but we can have him fast enough befure he does.” + +With the rope which he had meant to use as a lasso, Buffalo Bill tied +the hands and feet of the unconscious man. + +When, five minutes later, the fellow recovered enough to talk, he looked +with quailing eyes into the faces of his captors. + +“Do you belong down there?” said the scout, nodding in the direction of +the cabins. “We know you do, of course. Answer our questions straight, +and we won’t be hard on you.” + +“Why did yez come acrass?” queried Flynn. + +“You laid a trap for me,” said the man, looking at Flynn. “I ought to +’a’ knowed it was a trap, but I didn’t believe that any men could be +over here, not of our crowd. How you got in here I don’t know. That +bellow one of you let out didn’t sound like anything human, and that +helped to fool me; I thought it must be some kind of a beast.” + +“Baste! It was near to bein’ a baste, for it was a nagur.” + +“Mister Flynn, will yo’ quit callin’ me a nigger?” Cudjo protested. “I +ain’t no nigger, I’se a gem’man ob color, and I’se been a car po’ter, +suh. I ain’t a nigger no mo’ dan you is, I’d hab you comperhend.” + +The prisoner turned his staring eyes on Cudjo. + +“Did you ever see one of these?” asked Buffalo Bill, holding before him +one of the stick pins showing a skull and crossbones. + +The prisoner stared at it with unwinking eyes, but it was clear he was +astonished. + +“I’ve seen something like it,” he admitted slowly. + +“There is something like it on the door of the cabin which can be seen +from here!” + +“Yes.” + +“About two years ago a band of masked bandits attacked and robbed a +train on the Cedar Mountain Railroad. They wore stick pins like this. +Were you with that crowd?” + +The prisoner hesitated. “What are you drivin’ at?” he said. “I dunno +what you’re talkin’ about.” + +“The leader of that band was Red Reynard, the Fox, and Red Reynard is in +command of the men in the cabins down there. Am I right in that?” + +“In the fiend’s name, who are you?” said the man, as he lifted himself +on his elbow and stared hard. + +“You are Buffalo Bill!” he added, with sudden comprehension. + +“I admit it.” + +“And you’ve follered Red Reynard? This will be a surprise to the boys.” + +“Then Red Reynard is down there?” + +“So long’s you know all about it, what’s the use of denyin’ it?” + +“He came here through the cañon of the Lost River, by way of the tunnel +through the cliffs; and he’s found gold in the sand of the stream. +You’re taking out a tremendous lot of it, and are sending it to Frisco +by Poker Pete, and stacking it up in the banks there.” + +The prisoner stared as if dazed; the knowledge possessed by Buffalo Bill +struck him as something so uncommon and unaccountable that it was weird. + +“Yes,” he admitted. “If you’ll loosen up these cords a bit I’ll tell +everything I know, though I guess you don’t need me to. You must ’a’ got +in here the same way we did.” + +“Where is Klamath John now?” was Buffalo Bill’s next question, at which +the prisoner’s eyes widened again. + +“Klamath Jack, you mean?” + +“Klamath Jack, or Klamath John, I suppose it’s all the same. Where is +he?” + +“I don’t know. He went to Frisco a couple of weeks ago, and ought to be +back by now.” + +“How did he get out of the Cup? There’s another way besides the river?” + +“Yes, there’s another way.” + +“Tell us about it.” + +“You climb the cliffs with ropes.” + +But a certain change in his manner made the scout sure he was lying. + +“Tell me how Klamath John looks,” was the scout’s next demand. + +“He is smooth-faced, but he disguised himself before he set out for +Frisco.” + +“We met the divil!” cried Flynn. “He wore a false beard and a wig.” + +“Yes, that’s what he wore.” + +“Did he intend to visit the town of Klamath?” said the scout. + +“I understood so; he was to come back by there.” + +“What else do you know about him?” + +“Not much. He’s the lieutenant, and acts as chief here when the chief is +gone.” + +“And the chief is Red Reynard?” + +“Yes.” + +“How long have you fellows been here in the Cup?” + +“The better part of a year.” + +“And you’ve taken out a lot of gold in that time, and sent it to +Frisco?” + +“Yes, that’s right.” + +“You built the cabins?” + +“Yes, we cut the logs above here and floated ’em down. ’Twasn’t any +great job.” + +“How long was it planned for your gang to stay in here?” + +“As long as we liked; there wasn’t no time set. We was suited here; +plenty of game in the Cup here, and fish in the river, and what extrys +we needed could be brought from Frisco, or some place like it. We +thought we’d hit it good here, and we didn’t care to get out in a hurry, +’specially as officers outside was lookin’ for some of us. We calc’lated +to leave by and by, of course, to enjoy the gold we got here, but we +wasn’t hurryin’ it. We was comfortable enough.” + +His manner admitted that he believed the end of that pleasant dream had +come. + + --------------------------------------------------------- + + + + + CHAPTER IX. + + THE PRISONER’S ESCAPE. + + +The red-shirted prisoner, who had confessed to the name of Jim Benton, +lay on the ground, bound hand and foot, and watched with curious eyes +the transformation taking place in the appearance of Buffalo Bill. + +The scout had produced the wig and the beard worn by Klamath John, and +had put them on. He did not need the false imperial and mustache, for +his own resembled them in a marked degree; but the Dundreary side +whiskers made a great change in his looks. + +When Buffalo Bill had effected these alterations, he untied the prisoner +and made him surrender his red shirt and hat, his boots, and his muddy +trousers, giving him in lieu of them a pair of blankets in which to wrap +himself. When the scout had put these on he would not have been +recognized by his most intimate friend. + +“I’m going into your camp,” he said to the prisoner. “Perhaps I can make +the gang there believe I’m one of them, or at least one of their kind. +If Klamath Jack and Red Reynard are away my chances are all the better. +Perhaps you think I look somewhat like Klamath Jack now?” + +“The dead image of him.” + +But again the scout detected the false note. + +“Thanks for the hint that the disguise isn’t as good as I thought it. +Maybe it wouldn’t be healthy for me to try to make them think I am +Klamath Jack. You will be kept close here, and if you do not make +trouble you will have none. My friends will guard you, and they have +orders to shoot you if you try to get away.” + +Buffalo Bill departed in the boat which had brought the prisoner to the +island, dropping down the river in the darkness. He was hardly out of +sight before Benton, under cover of the blankets that had been thrown +over him, was twisting at the cords which held his wrists together +behind his back. As he did so he felt the cold touch of a rock, and +against its jagged edge he began to saw the cords that were around his +wrists. + +The darky was roosting well back from the shore, under the trees, with +his eyes fixed on the dark water, where momentarily he expected to see +the “’gator.” + +Flynn was crouched on the ground but a few paces from the prisoner, +smoking his pipe reflectively. Mickey was following Buffalo Bill in +imagination, wondering what the outcome would be, and he was denouncing, +with Irish vehemence, the fate that kept him on the island when so +daring an adventure was to be carried out. + +For these reasons, and also because he fancied the prisoner was tied +securely, Flynn was giving little attention to aught save his own +thoughts. + +Benton made no noticeable sound as he sawed the cords to and fro against +the jagged edge of the rock. He, too, was thinking of Buffalo Bill, but +he was thinking much more of himself and his chance of escape. + +“Marse Flynn,” he heard the darky say, “if dat fing comes up dar ag’in +hit’s gwine tuh be monst’ous close to yo’ laigs, hit might bite um off. +’Gators is got pow’ful sharp teeth.” + +“I wish it was gnawin’ at these strings, then!” thought the prisoner, +with a grim sense of humor. “I don’t seem to be doin’ anything, and I +reckon that infernal scout will be back here before I cut through ’em.” + +“Divil take the ’gator!” said Flynn, unmoved by the darky’s warning. +“Alligators was niver known to ate annything but nagurs an’ dogs.” + +“Den yo’ ain’t safe dar at all, Marse Flynn!” + +Flynn turned toward Cudjo, who seemed to be showing his ivories in a +grin. + +“Call me a dog, will yez?” he said. “Take that!” + +A stick whistled through the air, aimed at the darky’s head, but Cudjo +dodged it, and laughed. + +The sounds caused by this altercation and the crash of the stick in the +bushes Jim Benton took advantage of. Sawing furiously, he felt one of +the strands of cord fall away. This so encouraged him that he continued +his work, with a hope that became buoyant as he felt the cords loosen +more and more. + +Finally his wrists were free. He rolled over on his side, and stretched +his arms, working his fingers to relieve the stiffness occasioned by the +cords. + +“Now, if I had my feet loose!” was his thought. + +To accomplish that promised not to be so easy. + +Making a pretense of restlessness, he twisted about until he had his +ankles against the rock that had cut through the wrist cords. Slowly he +began to work to cut the ankle cords in the same way. + +“What the divil makes ye squirm ’round so, like a shnake?” said Flynn, +whose attention was at length drawn. + +“Marse Flynn, dat man been doin’ dat fuh mo’ dan ten minutes, I +reckons,” observed Cudjo. + +“An’ ye niver mintioned it to me! Yez ar-re a gr-reat wan to be lift to +watch a prisoner! Don’t yez know that ivery movement that luks +suspicious has to be reported? Yez are not only a nagur, but a fool +nagur!” + +“Misteh Flynn,” protested the darky, “if you keeps on ’sultin’ me in dat +scan’lous manner, I done gwine bus’ yo’ haid open wid a stone. I don’t +stood nuff f’um you already. I ain’t been lef’ to watch dat pris’ner; +you has been placed in discharge ob him yo’self. An’ if he gits away de +faults ob de matter will be laid at yo’ do’. I washes my han’s of you. I +hopes you falls in dat river an’ de ’gator ’vours you! You is de mos’ +contemptuous man I ebber see. I’se a gem’man ob color, unnerstan’, and I +been a car po’ter!” + +Mickey Flynn walked over to the prisoner. The latter had ceased his +struggles to cut those ankle cords, and lay back now, narrowly watching +the Irishman through half-closed eyes. His hands were behind his back, +to give them the appearance of being tied there. + +“What the divil ar-re yez up to, annyway?” Flynn demanded, stooping over +him. Flynn’s temper had been ruffled by the words of the darky. “Ye’re +wrigglin’ round like a wor-rm, begorra! What’s bitin’ ye?” + +“These cords are tied so durn tight that they hurt me, that’s all,” the +prisoner explained, hoping when he said it that Flynn would go away. + +“Oh, they ar-re? Well, the likes av you ought to have a cor-rd round his +nick, begorra, with an ind av it fastened to the limb av a three! Thim’s +my sintimints; and that’s what would be done to yez, av I was havin’ me +own way about it. Cody’s too aisy intirely wid crathers av your class.” + +He stooped over, to inspect the cords that he supposed held the man’s +wrists. + +It was to the prisoner a critical moment; he had no time for hesitation. +Driven to desperation by the discovery that stared him in the face, he +lifted his bound feet, and planted them with such force in the +Irishman’s stomach that Flynn was hurled backward and fell with a crash +in the bushes. + +The next moment the prisoner had staggered up. He tried to run, but +fell, then he began to roll over and over like a cart wheel, on his way +to the water. + +Flynn came out of the bushes, roaring his wrath in no gentle tones. + +Even the darky had leaped up, and was now rushing toward the prisoner. +Flynn drew his revolver, though he knew he dared not fire, lest the +report of its discharge should reach the cabins. + +“Shtop, ye divil!” he commanded, but before he could reach the man, the +latter had flounced over into the river. Flynn reached for him, but he +was gone, for he sank from sight as soon as he touched the water. + +“Now, the divil is to pay!” said Flynn, fingering his revolver and +staring at the spot where the man had disappeared. “He’ll be drowned, +I’m thinkin’, an’ ’twill sarve him right!” + +“’Twas yo’ fault, Marse Flynn!” Cudjo asserted. + +“Say that ag’in,” Flynn roared at him, “and I’ll shtick me fist down +yure black throat! ’Tis a lie, it is! Av he’s drowned, it’s his own +fault.” + +But that the escaping prisoner was not drowned both saw a second or so +later; for he arose to the surface a few yards away, put up his hands, +and began to swim, heading across toward the shore opposite. + +Flynn pointed the revolver at him, then lowered it, fearing to fire. + +“Git the canoe!” he said. “Tumble lively, too! The divil has got his +hands loose, and he’s gittin’ away.” + +He ran for the canoe and dragged it into the water; and, as the darky +moved too slowly to suit him, he sprang in alone. + +Paddling away from the shore, he headed the canoe for the spot where he +had seen the man swimming; but he saw him no longer, for the desperate +fellow had dived, and was out of sight. + +Flynn rowed round and round in a circle, muttering excited ejaculations, +but the man did not reappear. + +“The divil’s drowned, begob!” he said, speaking so that the darky could +hear. “His fate were tied, aven if he had his hands free, and he wint +undher widout comin’ up ag’in.” + +Nevertheless, he widened his circles, still looking for the man’s head +to pop out of the water. Then he heard a splash, and saw that the man +had risen near the other shore and was swimming for it with strong +strokes. + +Flynn sent the canoe flying after him, but again the man dived, going +under like a fish. When the escaping prisoner rose again, in the willows +by the shore, the darkness favored him and Flynn could not see him. + +Flynn paddled slowly past the willows, staring into them; but the +prisoner had only his head sticking above the water, and remained +undiscovered. For nearly an hour the Irishman kept the canoe going up +and down the shore, crisscrossing the stream, and searching with great +persistence. At the end of that time he gave up, and paddled back to the +island. + +“He’s gone!” he said to Cudjo. + +“Marse Flynn, I reckons de ’gator got him!” declared Cudjo solemnly. + +Then both were startled by a report of revolvers coming from the +village. + + --------------------------------------------------------- + + + + + CHAPTER X. + + DANGER AND DARING. + + +When Buffalo Bill departed from the island it was his intention to enter +the village and discover what he could. If observed while doing it, he +fancied that his chances of getting off safely would be increased by the +changes made in his attire and the disguise he had adopted. + +Thanks to the darkness, he had no trouble in bringing his boat to a +landing without discovery at the foot of the rocky bluff just above the +first log cabin. He tied the boat there, then climbed the bluff and +walked boldly into the village. + +Lights were burning in some of the cabins, and he saw here and there a +moving form, but the street and the spaces between the cabins were dark. + +As the scout passed along he saw that a cabin close by the stream and +backed on one side by a high bluff was not only the largest in the +village, but was occupied, and that on one side was a sashless, open +window. He slipped up to this cabin, and, creeping along the dark wall, +gained the open window and looked in. + +Several men were sitting there, talking and smoking. They were +red-shirted fellows, rough-faced and hard looking. The interior of the +room was bare of anything like luxuries. The men sat on stools and logs +of wood. There were two or three doors, in addition to the closed door +at the front. + +Buffalo Bill fixed his eyes on one of the men, who had more of an air of +authority than the others. + +“Red Reynard!” he said to himself. “He is here.” + +The man referred to was younger and smarter looking than his companions. +He had his chair tipped against the wall, and he smoked a big brier-root +pipe. + +“Frisco was lively enough,” he was saying. “Too bad we can’t all pull +our freight out of this and enjoy a little of the life they have down +there. When we’ve raked in a little more gold dust I think we can try +it.” + +For a long time the scout stood by the window, listening and watching. + +It was plain that Red Reynard had but recently returned from a trip to +Frisco, where he had gone with some gold dust, and had brought back a +few sorely desired luxuries, one of them being tobacco. All the men were +smoking as if the witching weed had not been scented by them for many +days. + +As Buffalo Bill thus watched, one of the doors opened into this room, +and there appeared before his eyes a marvelously beautiful young woman. +The thing was so surprising that he fairly gasped. She carried a package +under one arm, and after greeting the men and glancing quickly round, +she went on toward the outer door. + +“Say, there!” Red Reynard shouted at her, bringing the front legs of his +tipped chair to the floor with a thud. “Where you goin’?” + +“Just to the other cabin,” she said timidly. + +“What you got there?” + +Her calmness deserted her, and she showed fright. + +“Only my jacket,” she said, but her voice trembled. + +“I’ll take a look at it!” + +Red Reynard’s red face had flushed to a deeper hue, with suspicion that +seemed mixed with anger. He rose, stretching out his heavy red hand. + +“It’s—just my jacket!” the girl protested, strong agitation now showing +in her face and manner. + +“I’ll look at it!” he said roughly. + +When he came toward her she uttered a suppressed cry, and ran to the +outer door, where she tried to go out. But she was too nervous to open +the door quickly, or it stuck, for before she could escape, Red Reynard +reached her. + +“No tricks!” he cried, with an oath. Then he caught her and threw her +backward with a cruel jerk, and the package she had been carrying +dropped to the floor with a thump. It fell open, and some bags of gold +dust rolled out before the surprised eyes of the men. + +Red Reynard’s face flushed with wrath. + +“That was your game, was it? You sneaked the gold, and then was +intending to sneak yourself out of here. Not much you don’t!” + +The girl screamed when he caught her by the hair with so rough a touch +that he seemed to be dragging it out by the roots. The men in the room +did not interfere. One or two of them were brutes enough to laugh. + +To see an outlaw and brute like Red Reynard abuse a woman in that manner +made the scout’s blood boil. He did not know what relation she bore to +the outlaw, if any; yet it seemed she had planned to leave the house +without his knowledge, and that intention spoke volumes. + +Buffalo Bill dropped his right hand to the revolver that lay in his coat +pocket, when he saw Red Reynard throw the woman to the floor. As the +scout put his hand on the weapon in his pocket, not having yet made up +his mind what to do, the door opened, and Klamath John appeared in it. + +The girl was struggling to get on her feet, and Red Reynard had lifted +his heavy boot, as if to kick her. + +“Get behind me,” said Klamath John, “and I’ll defend you!” + +He caught her by the hand and fairly threw her against the wall, at the +same time whipping out a revolver and stepping in front of her. + +Nothing could have been more surprising to the scout, for he had about +made up his mind that Klamath John had lost his life when he tried to +climb the rope that swung in the dripping mist over the mouth of the +tunnel. But here Klamath John was, appearing at an opportune moment to +defend the girl from the abuse of Red Reynard. + +The daring and defiant manner of Klamath John astonished Red Reynard. He +stopped, and drew his knife. + +“So you’ll interfere, will ye?” he snarled. “Then I’ll make a quick +finish of you!” + +He stooped for an opening, with the naked knife held in his hand, and +Klamath John tried to throw up his revolver. The revolver caught in +Klamath John’s coat, slowing his movement. + +The next moment Red Reynard would have been upon him, and probably would +have sunk the knife to his heart. But a shot came through the open +window, knocking the knife out of Red Reynard’s hand. Following the shot +came Buffalo Bill, who entered the room with a flying leap. + +Red Reynard whirled around, startled and unnerved, his hand stinging +with pain. The other men had already left their stools and seized their +weapons. They stared at Buffalo Bill, who, standing by the window, +seemed the coolest man there, notwithstanding his spectacular entrance. + +The girl might have gone out at this juncture, if Jim Benton, the +prisoner who had escaped from the island, had not appeared, blocking the +door. He was wrapped in a blanket that dripped water as he walked, and +he seemed to have just come out of the river. + +“Down him!” he screamed, indicating the scout. “That man is Buffalo +Bill!” + +The great scout seemed to stand even more erect, while his fine face +flashed defiance. + +“Yes, I am Buffalo Bill!” he declared. “It’s a name I’m not ashamed to +own.” + +With a swift motion he stripped off the disguising beard. Then his hands +came up with lightning quickness, each holding a cocked revolver. One of +them covered Red Reynard and the other swung around toward the group at +the other side of the room. + +“I have you all covered,” he announced coolly. “Stand where you are!” + +Instead of obeying, one of the rascals lifted his revolver, thinking to +use it. + +The weapon in the scout’s right hand cracked, and the villain dropped +his arm with a howl, the revolver falling from his hand to the floor. +The scout’s bullet had broken the arm near the elbow. + +“Hands up!” the scout commanded. “And stand where you are!” + +Klamath John, who had staggered against the wall, seemed dazed by what +had happened. The girl was trying to reach the half-open door. Red +Reynard yelled to her to stop, and in the same breath yelled to his men +to shoot Buffalo Bill. + +“Gimme a pistol, and I’ll down him!” roared Benton, and he picked his +chief’s revolver from the floor. + +But as he rose with it in his hand, Buffalo Bill’s deadly weapon again +spoke, and Benton dropped back against the wall, badly wounded, a bullet +in his shoulder. Unfortunately, in his fall he blocked the door to some +extent. + +Again the scout’s voice rang: + +“Stand where you are! I don’t want to kill anybody, but necessity knows +no law. I’ll do it, if you crowd me. That girl wants to get out of this +room, and she shall go. I expect to follow her, and offer her aid, if I +can. And I’ll shoot the first man who interferes with her.” + +The cool defiance of the great scout was astonishing. He seemed not to +know the meaning of fear, as he thus faced those desperadoes. Several of +them were squirming, and he saw that more than one was willing to take +even desperate chances. If they rushed him in a body, they might +overpower him, or kill him. They knew it, but feared his quick +revolvers. To further impress them, he shot off the neck of a whisky +bottle that stood on a slab table at the end of the room, near one of +them. + +“You see that!” he said. + +The revolver roared again, and the bullet cut through a small hole in +the wall. + +“I can drive nails with these things!” he cried, as if boasting. + +There was a nail by the door, used for a hanger of some kind. His +revolver cracked, and the nail disappeared. He swung the weapon farther +around, causing one of the men to duck his head, and the tin cup on the +wall flew, with a clatter, across the room, hurled by the bullet. + +“This is easy work!” he said. “Do you want a bullet in your eye?” + +His next bullet smashed the oil lamp that lighted the room. It was his +intention to put out the light without warning, in the hope that the +girl and he could escape in the darkness that followed. + +“Through the door!” he yelled to her, as he went across the room with +quick bounds. Then he heard the girl scream, and he believed she ran +outside. + +A man stood before him in the doorway whom he thought to be Klamath +John. The scout gave a push which sent this man reeling before him +through the opening. + +The man was Red Reynard. He had recovered possession of his revolver, +and he now fired at the scout. But the bullet went wild. + +Inside the house pandemonium reigned. The desperadoes were rushing +toward the door and the open window, yet were impeded by the darkness +and by frequent collisions. + +Buffalo Bill took a snapshot at Red Reynard, which dropped the rascal in +his tracks; then he looked round for the girl, but failed to see her. + +Two of the desperadoes came tumbling through the door to the outside. +Both were yelling. + +Buffalo Bill ran along the side of the cabin, away from the river, +thinking the girl had gone in that direction, but he still failed to see +her. Nor did he see Klamath John, whose sudden appearance at the cabin +had been so startling and puzzling. + +A rattle of revolver fire opened up, as the outlaws began to shoot at +imaginary forms by the river. And the scout discovered that men were +running toward the cabin from various directions. + +Nevertheless, he lingered by the corner of the big cabin, and in his +anxiety for the girl he even called to her, though he did not know her +name. + +His call attracted the attention of the men by the door, and some came +in his direction, forcing him to hurry along. + +Soon he had half circled around the house, to find himself again by the +river, with the big bluff that seemed part of the cabin towering over +his head. The darkness was favorable here, and he dropped down close by +the bluff. + +Men passed him at a quick run, and he heard them calling to each other +down by the edge of the water. Then he heard the thump of oars in a +boat. In the midst of this he was sure he caught the voice of Red +Reynard giving orders. + +Two of the men came running back from the river, passing so close to the +scout that he might have touched them with his outstretched hand. They +did not discover him, but his position there was so exposed and perilous +he changed it, sliding away from the bluff, out through the darkness. He +did not try to get the boat which had brought him, as he believed it had +been found by the outlaws. + +“Benton got away from Flynn and Cudjo,” was his thought. “And Klamath +John is still living! That will be news for them. He seems to be one of +Red Reynard’s men, yet he stood up for that girl handsomely, and I +respect him for that. I wonder what became of him, and what became of +the girl? If I stay here, though, trying to find out, I’ll run into a +bullet pretty soon, and that may end things for me.” + +As he thus thought, he was slipping along the ground away from the cabin +and the bluff. + +When he was far enough out to make it safe, he rose to his feet. Then, +after a few minutes of waiting and hesitation, he shaped his course for +the island. + +This was now of paramount importance, for he believed that Cudjo and the +Irishman would be captured there by the desperadoes, guided by Benton, +if warning was not conveyed to them quickly. + + --------------------------------------------------------- + + + + + CHAPTER XI. + + THE RETREAT. + + +Hurrying along at a pace that left the cabin rapidly behind, Buffalo +Bill soon was made aware that some one was in front of him. His thought +on making this discovery was that the desperadoes had got ahead of him +and were trying to cut him off. He stopped, and the noise ceased when he +came to a standstill. + +Having stood without motion for several minutes the scout heard a +sliding sound. + +“Ah! One of the scoundrels is trying to slip on me!” was his thought, +and he stared through the gloom, and finally saw a human form crawling +softly over the grass toward him. + +When it was close up he dropped down on it. There was a smothered +exclamation, which he recognized as coming from Michael Flynn. + +“This you, Flynn?” he said. + +“I dunnaw who I am. L’ave me go! Who’s this that’s shpakin’?” + +“Cody.” Buffalo Bill released the Irishman, who rolled over, puffing and +grunting. + +A timid voice sounded in the darkness. + +“Dat you, Marse Cody?” + +“So you’re here, too, Cudjo? Flynn, I hope I haven’t hurt you. We’ve got +to be moving! Why did you leave the island?” + +“’Twas the nagur’s fault that the prisoner got away, and thin we heard +the shootin’ and thought mebbe you was in nade. So, that’s why we come. +Begorra, I think you’ve cracked me windpipe! But it’s betther yez did it +than anither.” + +The young Irishman sat up, breathing heavily. Cudjo slid into view out +of the gloom. + +“Thank Heaven, Marse Cody, dat you’s livin’! When I heerd dem guns goin’ +I ’lowed dat you was dead sho’ ’nough.” + +“I got into a little scrimmage down there, which I’ll tell you about in +a minute. Just now we’d better hustle along. You are all right, Flynn?” + +“I think me neck is cracked, but it’s shtill hangin’ togither. Wurra! +But ye’ve got fingers of iron! Yis, I’m ready to go an. It’s back to the +island, I suppose? The canoe is right off there undher the bank.” + +“The island will be a dangerous place, since Benton got away, though he +is now wounded. He returned to the village. We’ll have to abandon most +of the goods on the island, I’m afraid. But I’ve got to risk something +to get my clothing. That disguising served me no good turn whatever. +Lead the way to the canoe, Flynn.” + +They were soon in it and paddling quietly up the stream. + +When they gained the island they were sure none of the desperadoes had +been there yet, for everything was undisturbed. + +The scout threw his clothing into the canoe, and they tumbled into it +such things as they did not wish to lose, and then paddled across to the +mainland. + +As they drew the canoe up under the bank there they heard some of the +outlaws coming up the stream in a boat. The boat landed on the island +and the occupants went ashore. It was plain they were under the +leadership of Jim Benton. + +“Now!” whispered the scout. “We’ll get out of here while they’re +crashing round over there.” + +So saying, he turned the nose of the canoe upstream, and they paddled on +close by the bank, screened by the darkness. + +They pulled inshore a mile above. There they drew the canoe out of the +water, and tried to hide it securely under some willows. Then they took +what things they had brought and climbed ashore, where the scout changed +clothing. + +Sitting in the darkness, Buffalo Bill told his story, which drew +wondering comments and exclamations from his hearers. + +All sounds from the village and the island had died away, or were lost +in the distance. + +“We must first find a place to cache these things,” said the scout, when +he had finished his story. “And we want a place in which we can hide. +There’s no good cover along the stream, so I suggest that we strike for +the high cliff wall. As we saw it to-day, it is not far from here; and +my binoculars showed many bushes and trees there.” + +As they pushed on, they talked of Klamath John, whom they had thought +dead; of the girl whom the scout had seen, and of Red Reynard. When they +came close up to the wall which was their objective point, they heard +something moving there. + +“Wan av the divils lukkin’ f’r us here!” whispered Flynn. “Begorra, he’s +thraveled fast!” + +Cudjo’s eyes rolled in the direction of the sound. + +“Marse Cody, dat sounds like de ’gator. Dem creeturs travels on lan’ +sometimes.” + +“Keep quiet a minute, while I see what it is.” + +The scout put down his bundle and stole away. Soon they heard him laugh, +and then heard a quick trampling of heavy feet. + +“I’ve got the ’gator, Cudjo!” he called softly. “Come on, now, I won’t +let it bite you.” + +They discovered that he had captured a horse, that was saddled and +bridled and had apparently but lately escaped from its rider. + +“This is a good find!” he said. “I shall return to that village on his +back. It will get me there quicker.” + +Cody tied the horse with the lariat that was attached to the saddle, and +when he had done that he began to search for a secure hiding place. The +capture of the horse had determined him suddenly to return to the +cabins, leaving Flynn and Cudjo in hiding at this point. + + --------------------------------------------------------- + + + + + CHAPTER XII. + + RED REYNARD’S PLANS. + + +Red Reynard, the Fox, did not lose his craftiness because of his rage. +He had been wounded, but not seriously; he had received a slight scalp +wound, which for the moment had dropped him like an ox in the shambles; +and his right hand and arm still tingled painfully. But he considered +himself as good as whole. + +He had made a desperate effort to capture the daring scout, and in that +had failed. But the girl who had tried to escape had not succeeded, and +that was balm to his sore spirit. Now he gathered his desperadoes around +him in the big cabin, to counsel with them as to what could now be done. + +“Where’s Benton?” he said, when he had looked them over. + +A search outside revealed Jim Benton lying unconscious; so that the +possibility of securing further information from him was eliminated. + +Klamath John had disappeared, and the talk of the outlaws showed they +supposed him to be with Buffalo Bill. + +Red Reynard sat in the lamplight, boldly enough, for he believed the +scout was not near, and before him gathered his men, all desperate and +daring, as he was himself. Red Reynard was not a bad-looking man except +for a few things. He had a low brow and a heavy shock of hair. Beyond +that, his countenance seemed so open and frank it would have deceived +most men. Yet when his gray eyes were studied closely, they revealed the +cunning which had given him the name of the Fox. + +“What’s to be done?” he said. “We’ve got to git that feller. One o’ you +go and fetch up the horses and have ’em ready.” + +One of the men departed hastily. + +“He called himself Buff’lo Bill, and I reckon he was, jedgin’ by the way +he could sling lead,” one of the men began. “And takin’ Buff’lo Bill +won’t be easy. How he got in hyer is what rattles me.” + +“He’s in here,” said Red Reynard, “and that’s the important thing; we’re +going to see now that he don’t git out. Benton said he came down the +river. He must have got some notion that the river was safe, and so +tackled it. And he’s here! But if he came in by the river, he’ll never +git out.” + +He pointed to two men. + +“You, Bill and Jim, take yer guns and cut out for the lower openin’. If +he tries it there, pot him. But it’s my opinion he won’t try to git out. +He’s got some men with him, and he’s here for biz.” + +“What can he do?” was asked. + +“Well, he’s about killed Benton already. And Sutton’s got his arm broke +all into splinters. He can creep up on us and serve us the same, can’t +he, one at a time? He’s here for business. It’s his way. We’ve got to +git him, and them that’s with him.” + +The two men selected to go to the lower opening rose from their seats, +slid through the door, and vanished. Obedience was one of the things +required by Red Reynard. He ruled with an iron hand, though he usually +gloved it with persuasive words. + +“It’s my opinion he’ll be back ag’in,” he said. “He’s one o’ them devils +that never knows when to stop. And he’ll be back to-night, since he’s +seen the girl. That will be our chance. + +“The moon will be up in less’n an hour. Some of us will ride along the +river and out ’round. He’ll see us, no doubt, and he’ll git the idee +we’re out huntin’ for him. Well, we will be, but some of us will be back +here, laying for him. + +“When he sees the gang that’s out, then he’ll come on in ag’in, and then +will be the chance for the men that’s left here. If they post themselves +in the right places, they can’t fail to see him, and if they don’t down +him in the moonlight, I’ll want to know why.” + +They talked for a number of minutes, after which a door was opened, into +what proved to be a closet, and out of the closet Red Reynard brought +some queer-looking garments. + +In the meantime the horses had been brought up and were outside, saddled +and bridled. + +Red Reynard and some of his men donned the queer garments the chief +produced. The effect was rather startling and sinister. They were +clothed and masked in white. There were holes in the head parts of the +garments for eyes, and on the bosom of each was the outline of a skull +and crossbones in red. + +Thus clothed and masked, Red Reynard and his men mounted the horses that +had been brought up to the cabin, and departed from the village, riding +close by the river, and following in the general direction taken by +Buffalo Bill. + +The scout had already set out for the village from the hiding place he +had chosen at the foot of the high cliff wall. He had left behind him a +negro who was perfectly willing to stay in hiding, and an Irishman who +had voiced some strenuous objections. Flynn was not pleased to be left +out of this “advinture.” He declared that in accompanying the scout it +was adventure he sought, and he demanded his full share. But there was +no horse for the Irishman, and the scout did not at that time desire his +genial company. + +Buffalo Bill kept close by the rocky cliffs for a while. He believed the +horse had escaped from one of Red Reynard’s men, and had grazed along +that cliff. When its tracks were seen in the morning, he did not want +them to point too plainly to the hiding place. + +By and by the scout turned the head of the horse toward the river. He +did not think danger awaited him near the cliff. So he rode rapidly, +through the white moonlight, for the moon had risen some time before; +and soon found himself at the edge of the river. Here he drew the horse +down into a walk, and kept a wary watch for Red Reynard’s men. + +Though he was careful, the trees prevented him from seeing far ahead; +and suddenly in the trail appeared those terrible figures—members of the +Clan of the Skull and Crossbones, as the followers of Red Reynard called +themselves. + +“Halt!” they cried, covering Buffalo Bill with their rifles. + +To obey was certain death. + +The scout’s right hand swung up, and his revolver flamed, dropping a man +out of his saddle. + +As the revolver sounded, the scout hurled himself backward off his +horse. Striking behind a rock, he went rolling over and over. + +There was a quick, sputtering fire of revolvers, but the outlaws used +their weapons in such haste that the scout remained untouched. He sprang +to his feet, when screened by some bushes, and began to run toward the +river in zigzag fashion. + +As he gained the water’s edge, with those revolvers cracking behind him +and bullets cutting through the bushes, he seized and hurled a heavy +stone as far out into the water as he could, where it struck with a +splash. + +Just below this bank he had left the canoe, and he now sprang down and +into it, cutting the painter and pushing the canoe along close by the +shore. As he did so, he heard the outlaws reach the bank above him. + +“He jumped into the river,” he heard Red Reynard say. “I heard the +splash. But he’s got to come up. Shoot him as soon as his head shows.” + +He kept the canoe moving slowly along under the bank, and heard the +outlaws talking above as they watched for him to show his head on the +surface of the moonlit river, where it would have been an easy target. + +“There he is!” was yelled suddenly, and revolvers cracked again. + +Looking out in curiosity, the scout saw that the head of a saurian had +been shoved up out of the water; but it went down when the bullets +struck it. + +The outlaws discovered their mistake, and while some cursed, others +laughed. + +The canoe was moving on with the current, and already Buffalo Bill was +several yards from the point where he had set it in motion. + +The outlaws ran along the bluff, staring into the water, but under the +bluff the scout’s canoe kept steadily on its way, unseen by them. + +“I believe he’s drowned!” “Mebbe that critter swallered him!” “No, he’s +bound to come up; keep a sharp watch!” + +These were some of the things Buffalo Bill heard. + +“Perhaps he’s hidin’ under the bank!” + +The scout dipped his paddle and sent the canoe along faster when he +heard that. + +Two of the men came tumbling down the bank to look for him there. These +men saw him, even though under the bank the light was dim, and they +called out their discovery. One of them fired at him. + +The scout’s return shot knocked the fellow into the water. + +Wild cries were heard on the bank above, and more men came tumbling +down. + +The canoe was right against the shore. The scout slid out of it, sending +it on with a push, and then crouched low by the roots of a tree. His +situation was critical, but he had two good revolvers and knew how to +use them. The current drew the boat away from the shore. + +The desperadoes who had leaped down the bank saw it and began to shoot +at it, under the impression that the scout was in it; and those who had +remained above began, also, to fire on the canoe. In addition, there +were excited cries and shouted commands. + +Under cover of the noise and confusion, Buffalo Bill crept back along +the shore, screened by the high bank and by bushes, and gained a point +beyond that where he had entered the canoe. He began to feel safe again, +as the shooting at the canoe continued, and all the desperadoes, chasing +it, were moving downstream. + +Before they discovered that the canoe was empty, and returned, the +daring scout had climbed up the bank, and had concealed himself in a +scanty growth of bushes, where he lay closely hidden, when they came +running back to search along the shore for him. + +The disgust and indignation of the desperadoes passed all bounds, and +they were accusing each other angrily. + +“He must ’a’ got into the river, after all,” said Red Reynard; “and by +this time he may be on the other side. Some o’ you fellows take the +canoe and go over there.” + +The search was continued, and one of the men looked into the very hiding +place where the scout lay, without seeing him. From the other shore to +which they had crossed in the canoe, men shouted that nothing could be +found there. + +Knowing that the desperadoes were so aroused that the peril of venturing +into the village would be too great, Buffalo Bill retreated, as soon as +he could do so safely, and returned to the spot where he had left Flynn +and Cudjo. + + --------------------------------------------------------- + + + + + CHAPTER XIII. + + SURPRISING DISCOVERIES. + + +Throughout the remainder of that night, and all the next day, Buffalo +Bill and his companions remained close in hiding by the high cliff wall +to which they had retreated. + +At intervals they saw men riding by, and once or twice some of these men +came near enough to give them much uneasiness. Yet they were +undiscovered. + +Fortunately, they had brought food from the island, and in the scout’s +drinking flask was some water; so that they did not suffer from hunger +and thirst. + +Though in terror of the outlaws, Cudjo was pleased to be that far from +the river, as, to his mind, it lessened the danger he felt he was in +from the “’gator.” + +When night came, Buffalo Bill was ready to try again to enter the +village. The belief that a great deal of gold was there did not lure +him, nor was he moved at the moment by his desire to capture Red +Reynard, but thoughts of that helpless young woman in the midst of those +conscienceless scoundrels, where she received such inhuman treatment, +stirred him deeply. He resolved to make a determined effort to locate +her and effect her rescue that night, for he was sure she was held +against her will. What he had seen and heard convinced him of that +predicament. + +The scout’s plan of taking the Irishman and Cudjo with him delighted +Flynn, but was not so hilariously received by the darky. Yet Cudjo +prepared to go, for the very good reason that he feared to stay alone. +Whatever the dangers, he felt safer close by the scout’s side. + +They set out before the rising of the moon, that they might reach the +village while darkness held. As they approached it, they crept down to +the river’s edge, and moved along under shelter of the high bluff. + +When the moon rose, they were ensconced in a growth of bushes not far +from the big cabin where the exciting events of the previous night had +occurred. The moonlight flooded the single street of the village, and +shone bright on the surface of the stream. By it men were seen moving +about, though none were quite near. + +When he had watched a while, Buffalo Bill ventured to creep forth and up +to the cabin. Then he lay in the shadows, by the bluff that seemed to +join the cabin and towered high above the water’s edge. + +As he lay there, waiting and watching, a startling thing happened: A +door opened close by him, in what he had thought was solid rock, and two +men came out. They were Red Reynard and another, whom the scout soon +recognized as Bat Stevens, the scoundrel to whom Red Reynard’s letter +had been addressed. They were talking in low tones, and as they passed +close by the concealed scout, they spoke of the girl, showing by what +they said that she was still with them, but had been giving them +trouble. + +“I’ll tame her, or break her neck,” said Red Reynard harshly. “The way +she carries herself, you’d think she was a queen. If Buffalo Bill is +still livin’, and if he comes to-night, we can git him.” + +They passed on, and the sounds of their voices died away. + +The scout stared hard at the wall where the door had opened, though it +was now closed, and at the risk of detection he crawled over to it and +felt along it with his fingers. He found in one of the inequalities of +the surface a hole made for a key, and he knew then that the door was +not of rock, but of boards. Having a bunch of keys on a ring in his +pocket, he took them out and began to try the lock. + +Stooping there in the darkness, for at that point the shadows lay +heavily, he worked long and patiently, twisting and turning the keys in +an effort to find one that would throw the bolt. + +As he thus worked, he heard footsteps approaching. Thrusting the keys +into his pocket, he dropped down. In a moment or two Flynn and Cudjo +came crawling up to him. + +“Dat you, Marse Cody?” Cudjo whispered. “One o’ dem men said you was +daid!” + +“That’s what brought us,” said Flynn. “Whin they wint by us, they was +shpakin’ av yez, and wan av thim said you was dead. I didn’t belave it, +havin’ seen yez so racintly, but we kem to find out.” + +“They were just hoping me dead, no doubt. Keep watch along by the side +of the cabin there, Flynn. There’s a door here, and I’m trying to open +it. If we’re seen, we’ll jump along the bank and get off that way. Keep +your eyes open, Cudjo.” + +Buffalo Bill began again to work at the keyhole, with the darky and +Flynn now standing as sentinels. + +At length a key which fitted but poorly threw the bolt, and the door +swung slowly open, revealing a dark hole. + +“Step inside!” the scout commanded, and when they were in with him, he +locked the door carefully. “I don’t know where we are, but we’ll see.” + +He struck a match and held it aloft. + +They were in a large room that seemed to have been hewn or dug out of +the bluff. It lay behind the big cabin, and he was sure that it +connected with the cabin by an inner door. He recalled that the girl had +come from a door on that side of the cabin, and he wondered if she were +not now held a prisoner somewhere in this place. + +The match went out, but the scout and those with him had got a good look +at the room they were in. They had noticed that, though damp and close +by the river, the room seemed to be filled with stores of various kinds. +Bags and boxes were on the floor, and on the walls saddles and blankets. + +“I wondher if anny of that gold is in this place?” Flynn whispered. + +“I heahs de river down dar somewhars,” Cudjo declared, thinking of the +“’gator.” “Marse Cody, we’d better git out o’ dis. What we gwine tuh do +if dem men come back?” + +“I want to learn if that girl is held anywhere in here.” + +“But if we’s cotched in heah, Marse Cody?” + +“What I’m axin’ mesilf is, can there be anny gold in here?” said Flynn. +“Bedad, the bags we sane on the flure was too big, but I think I’ll thry +wan av thim, to see what they howld.” He stopped and felt about. “Lind +me a match, Cody! Ah! I have wan mesilf! I’ll sthrike it, and luk round +ag’in. Wurra! but this is the iligant adventure! In the cave av the +robbers, wid bags of money layin’ round f’r the takin’. I’ve dr’amed av +such things, Cody, maybe the drame is goin’ to come thrue.” + +He scratched his match, and, seeing a bag lying at the other end of the +room, close by the wall, he went up to it. It lay in an irregular heap. +When he stooped to touch it, the bag seemed to move. He sprang back, +letting the match fall. + +“Cody,” he said, “come here.” + +His voice trembled, but he had courage enough to strike another match. +As the match flamed, he kicked at the bag, and a man rolled from under +it. + +Cudjo uttered a shriek which he tried hard to suppress, and Flynn +tumbled back in amazement. The scout whipped out a revolver. + +But the flaming match was still held by Flynn, and by its light they saw +the beardless face of the man they had known as Klamath John. + +“Hello!” he said, and then the match went out. + + --------------------------------------------------------- + + + + + CHAPTER XIV. + + ASSAULT AND BATTERY. + + +“Hello, it is!” said Flynn, striking another. “An’ it’s you? By the +piper that played before Moses, but this is a quare place to be findin’ +yez in.” + +“No stranger than to find you here,” was the answer. + +“Perhaps not,” said the scout, “but what were you doing here, hiding +under that bag?” + +“That’s explained easily. I came in here to see if I couldn’t help that +girl, and then I heard you come in. Red Reynard and a man had gone out, +and I thought you were them. So I got under that bag, for I didn’t want +to be seen. I heard you talking, but the bag kept me from recognizing +your voices, or else I was too scared to remember how they sounded.” + +As before, he seemed sincere. + +“You came here to help the girl?” said the scout. + +“Yes. I’ve been lying round outside almost ever since last night, to do +that, ever since I saw her and saw you, in the cabin. I’m sure she’s in +here. I heard her last night, after you had gone, and to-night I heard +her again. She’s in here. Just where I don’t know.” + +He kept his voice low, and spoke rapidly, as if he valued time. + +“What do you know about her?” + +“Nothing, except what I heard.” + +“What was that?” + +“That she’s the daughter of a prosperous ranchman named Fernald, who has +a son in the army, and she was carried off by Red Reynard through +revenge for something the ranchman did. He intends to force the girl to +be his wife. Her folks don’t know where she is, nor anything about her; +and, of course, they don’t dream she’s in this place, which everybody +thinks can’t be entered.” + +“How’ does it come that yez wasn’t dhrowned?” said Flynn, mentioning a +subject of which he had talked much since learning that Klamath John was +still alive. + +“I hardly know, myself.” + +“Ye climbed that rope?” + +“Yes. I was hours doing it, it seemed. Then I kept on, after getting +above the mist; and finally I reached the top of the wall there. I +stayed there in a hole all night; and the next day I got down into the +Cup, though I nearly broke my neck doing it.” + +“An’ why did yez lave the canoe? Was it treachery yez was playin’?” + +The scout stopped whatever answer Klamath John might have made. + +The match had burned to Flynn’s fingers and he dropped it, thus plunging +the room into darkness. + +“Sh!” said the scout. + +“What is it?” asked Flynn. + +“I heard something.” + +“Marse Cody,” said Cudjo, his voice trembling, “I heahs dat river, and +maybe it’s de ’gator!” + +But the scout heard it again—a step, and instantly this was followed by +a scream in a woman’s voice, followed by a fall, and a loud oath from a +man. Though intervening walls deadened them, they were enough to +electrify Buffalo Bill’s little party. + +“It sounded over that way,” he said, and he moved in that direction, +striking a match as he went. + +As the light flamed up, he saw a box before him, against the wall. It +was open and showed candles, which had been stored there by the outlaws, +with other things. + +The scout snatched a candle and stuck the flaming match to the wick. +Holding up the lighted candle, he looked about, and all listened again +for those sounds. + +Klamath John stood behind the other men, having followed them. + +“That was the girl,” he said, in a low tone. “I heard something like +that before, and I thought it came from over that way. I was working to +get over there, when you fellows came in.” + +The scout moved on, with the others creeping at his heels. + +The uneven floor of earth and natural stone fell away toward the river, +and became damp, and then oozy; but that was the direction from which +the sounds had come. Where the floor was the lowest, they beheld a dark +line of water. The water of the river rose there through a large hole +which connected with the stream. + +“One might get out that way, by diving,” said the scout, when he +observed it. “It will be well to remember that, if we’re cornered in +here.” + +Cudjo looked at the water with frightened eyes. “Marse Cody,” he said, +in a hollow whisper, “dat ’gator could come in frough dat place!” + +“Kape shtill, an’ the baste won’t know yez aire in here,” was the advice +of the Irishman. + +“But, Marse Flynn, dem creeturs kin smell scan’lous good, dey kin smell +a mile!” + +“Wurra! Kape shtill, will yez?” + +Close by the water, and to be reached over a jumble of slimy stones, the +scout now saw a door. + +“Could those sounds have been beyond that door?” he asked, flashing the +candlelight upon it. + +“Like’s not,” said Klamath John. “It shows, anyway, that there’s a room +beyond this. I’m guessin’ that room is a prison, where the girl is +held.” + +Flynn stared at him. “Begorra, if yez aire wan av Red Reynard’s min,” he +remarked, “ye’d ought to know what’s behind that dure!” + +“One of Red Reynard’s men?” + +“That’s what I’m sayin’! If ye’re wan av thim, ye ought to know this +place. Ar-re yez playin’ a game wid us ag’in? It’s me that will cr-rack +yer nick, av yer ar-re!” + +“I’m playing no game!” + +“No? Thin, be all the powers, what did yez mane by wearin’ thim whiskers +and that wig? And why did yez thry to sind us to death in that river, +afther preparin’ to save yersilf by jumpin’ f’r that rope? Thim +questions have been ’atin’ into me, an’ the answers to thim would be +roight welcome.” + +“I can explain all that, I——” + +“Don’t speak so loud,” the scout ordered. “Cudjo, come on here and hold +this candle. I heard a sound there again. Flynn, back there I saw a +miner’s pick or two. Will you get them and bring them?” + +The scout moved forward, climbing over the rocks till he reached the +door. Cudjo followed him and took the candle, while Buffalo Bill bent +over by the door and put his eye to the keyhole. + +As he did so, he became aware of the fact that beyond this door was a +lighted room. Footsteps were heard in it, and, as he listened, with ear +against the keyhole, he thought he heard a groan. + +“Some one is in there!” he said. + +Flynn and Klamath John came over the slippery rocks, armed with picks +they had found in the stores, and Flynn had also a huge hammer. + +“Whurroo!” he whispered. “We can bate the dure down with these things.” + +“Sh!” warned the scout. Then, all listening, they heard a groan. + +Following this groan, came the sound of an opening door, and footsteps. +Then Red Reynard’s voice reached them. + +“Git up!” he commanded harshly. “I don’t stand no more of this +pretendin’. There’s nothing the matter with you but stubbornness, and I +can cure that with a cowhide.” + +Klamath John pushed close up to the scout. + +“That’s Red Reynard,” he whispered. + +In intense excitement they listened. + +“Git up, I say!” they heard Red Reynard command. Then there was a sound +as if he had seized and was dragging some one; and this was followed by +a scream, which seemed near now coming through that keyhole. + +“In the name of Heaven, can’t we do something?” whispered Klamath John. + +Buffalo Bill began to apply his keys to the keyhole, working quickly. +One of them stuck, and when he tried to get it out, he twisted it, and +it remained fixed, so that he could not move it. + +The woman screamed again, this time as if she were being murdered. + +This was too much for even the calm nerves of Buffalo Bill. He caught +the big hammer from the hand of the Irishman and swung it against the +door, which shook under the terrific blow. + +A curse was heard, and the screams of the girl increased. + +“Stand guard there, you fellows, with your revolvers, while I smash in +this door!” the scout ordered. “We’ll fight these devils to the death, +if we have to.” + +Cudjo was nothing loath to get back from that door, which was too near +the water to suit him. So he set down the candle and retreated. When he +had clambered to the top of the slippery rocks, he drew his revolver and +stood guard, his eyes wandering round into the darkness beyond the +candlelight. + +“If we ain’t all killed in heah, it will be a wonder!” he declared. + +The hammering blows of the scout were making the room resound, and the +door trembled and creaked. Cudjo suddenly uttered a little screech of +fear. + +“What’s the matther wid yez?” Flynn demanded angrily. + +“Marse Flynn, dat candle is walkin’ off all by itself!” Cudjo chattered. +“See it dar!” + +Flynn looked at the candle, and uttered a cry of amazement. “By all the +saints, the nagur’s right, or I’m dr’amin’.” He went climbing across the +slippery rocks toward the candle, as Buffalo Bill swung the hammer again +and brought it down against the door. + +Cudjo was in a panic, but still he poked up his head, to see what was +happening to the candle. + +“One o’ dem ’gators!” he shouted. + +“Yis, but ’tis a little wan. Ye crazy nagur, ye set the candle down on +the crather’s back!” + +A small saurian, no more than a foot or two long, had been lying close +by the water, and the darky had taken it for a rock. In his haste to get +away from the water, he had stuck the candle down on the creature’s +back. It had been too sluggish to move until the melted tallow ran down, +burning it into activity. + +“A movin’ candleshtick!” said Flynn humorously. “Cudjo, yez ought to git +a patent on it. ’Twould pay ye big.” + +He stretched out his hand to take the candle from the back of the +saurian, but he failed, for with a motion so quick that it surprised him +the lizardlike creature slipped into a hole in the wall, taking the +candle with it. + +“Begorra, did ye say that?” said Flynn, in astonishment. “It’s goin’ to +light up the rats, and the other crathers that delight in darkness.” + +The candlelight went glimmering into the hole where the saurian was +disappearing, and the room began to grow dark. Buffalo Bill stopped +swinging the hammer. + +“Get another candle!” he ordered, and Klamath John, nearest to them, +hurried to get candles. + +On the top of the slippery rocks Cudjo was muttering like one demented. + +“De big ’gator will come tuh find what’s ’come o’ de little one,” he +said. “Marse Cody, we’d better git out ob heah befor’ it does!” + +He began to slide down from the rocks, getting as far from the water as +he could. + +“Lave me have a whack at the dure wid the hammer!” Flynn requested, when +candles had been lighted. + +A shot sounded, and they knew it was fired at the door, but the bullet +did not come through. The girl was now apparently trying to get out of +the room where she was held, and Red Reynard had turned the revolver on +the door which the scout was battering. + +Klamath John, at this juncture discovered that the door by which he and +the scout’s party had come in had been opened, and that men were +hurrying in through it. He announced his discovery, and began to shoot +at the men he saw there. + +“Put out the candles!” shouted Buffalo Bill. + +Flynn gave them a kick that hurled them into the water, plunging the +room in darkness. + +Buffalo Bill still swung the hammer, the girl was screaming now as if +attacked with hysteria, and the men who had entered the room where the +scout and his companions were opened with their revolvers. + +“Bedad, but it’s gittin’ war-rm in here!” said Flynn, as he dropped +behind the rocks and answered the pistol fire of the men. + +Klamath John yelled defiantly at the desperadoes, and worked his +revolvers as fast as he could. + +Buffalo Bill discovered the door was yielding to his persistent +hammering. Splinters began to fly from it, and soon a blow sent the head +of the hammer through the wood. + +But more men had come to the help of Red Reynard in that room, and more +men were crowding into the room where stood the gallant scout and his +companions. + +Flynn continued to shoot from behind the slimy rocks, but Klamath John +stood forth boldly, as if he defied death. + +The head of the scout’s hammer again sank through the door. Another blow +broke a hinge, and the door swung sideways, revealing the lighted room +behind. + +Red Reynard was there, and now, with a snapshot at the scout, he +commanded his men to take him. + +The girl, who had apparently been in hysteria, sprang from a corner, +and, clutching Red Reynard, tried to stop him, thus throwing him to the +floor. + +Klamath John, reckless to the last, fell from the top of the rocks, with +a bullet through his body, but continued to work his pistols. + +“Whurroo!” Flynn howled, in wild excitement. “We’re at the ind, Cody, +but we’ll go down like min.” He fired again at the men who were running +across the room. “Wan for ye, ye divils!” + +Buffalo Bill sprang through the broken door and dashed toward Red +Reynard, seemingly as reckless as Klamath John himself. But he did not +reach Red Reynard, nor did that doughty desperado gain the side of the +scout. + +A tremendous explosion sounded. + +When the scout picked himself up, after the explosion, which had hurled +him heavily against the wall, he found that he was alone, except for +Michael Flynn. The girl lay on the floor, some distance away. At the +farther end of the room a fire was raging, and its light revealed all +round him broken and jagged walls. + +“’Twas the alligator, I’m thinkin’, which carried aff the candle, that +done it,” said Flynn. “’Twas an ixplosion of gunpowder, d’ye mind. It +tore the very divil out av this room, and knocked me into the middle of +nixt wake. But I’m shtill livin’.” + +“Marse Cody, I’se livin’, too!” Cudjo came crawling through the +shattered door and over the fallen rocks. “I was hidin’ in a hole dar +when de shootin’ was goin’ on, and when dat upsplosion done come, de +rocks des kivered me as dey fell. But I’se still livin’, Marse Cody.” + +Klamath John was found in a dying condition. + +“I’d like to explain to you,” he whispered. “I was honest in all them +things. I did find the letter and the stick pins, and I was only scared +when I jumped out of the canoe and grabbed that rope. I don’t know who +put the rope there, but I s’pose it was Red Reynard’s men.” + +“But what made yez so mysterious about it?” asked Flynn. “Why wouldn’t +yez come to Cody’s hotel? And why did yez wear the false whiskers and +the like?” + +“I was practicing,” was the unexpected answer. + +“Practicing?” + +“Yes, practicing for detective work. I wanted to be a detective. So I +thought I’d try to fool you—fool Cody, I mean—and I thought if I could, +I could fool anybody. That’s why I disguised myself. And I didn’t want +to come into the town, because it would increase the danger of +recognition.” + +“Cody, what do yez think av that?” the Irishman asked presently. “Did +yez iver hear annything like it?” + +“I never did,” was the scout’s answer. + +“But he was an honist man,” said Flynn. “Klamath John was honist.” + +“Perfectly honest, and perfectly foolish in doing what he did.” + +Red Reynard, Bat Stevens, and others of the leaders of the desperadoes +were killed by the explosion and by the falling stones. The others, who +lingered around and were seen by the scout the next day, were scattered +by him and Flynn. One of them was captured, and he was forced to show +the scout and his party the way out of the Cup. It was a hole in the +eastern wall, hidden by vines, which the desperadoes had found after +they had by chance gained the Cup’s interior by way of the river. + +When the scout and his companions went out through this hole, they took +the gold abandoned by the desperadoes, and they took, also, the young +woman, whom they restored to her father, presenting her at the same time +a considerable quantity of the gold. + +“And it was an iligant advinture!” said Flynn. “It would be har-rd to +bate it!” + +“You’d never git dis chile in dar ag’in,” said Cudjo. + +“Because of the alligators? ’Twas wan av thim that saved us, whin he +carried aff the candle and set fire to the powder magazine. They’re +gr-reat crathers. Av that wan wasn’t kilt, I’d like him for a pet, +begorra!” + +“You can hab him, Marse Flynn,” said Cudjo, his eyes big and round. “Dem +fings is called caymen by de folks heah, but dey’s sho’ nuffin’ but jes’ +common alligators. And ’gators does lub de flesh ob de nigger. You cain’ +never git dis chile in dar ag’in, not if dar was bags o’ gol’ in dar so +heavy I couldn’t tote um.” + +“Ah, but it was the iligant advinture!” said Flynn. “I wish I could have +another wan like it.” + +“I think I should enjoy an experience like that again, myself,” said the +scout. “Perhaps we shall share in further adventures, you and I. What do +you think, Mike?” + +“Begorra, I’m game!” quoth Michael Flynn. + + --------------------------------------------------------- + + + + + CHAPTER XV. + + THE BEWITCHED COMPASS. + + +Nevertheless, “game” as he was, Michael Flynn was destined not to take +part in any more “iligant adventures” with the noted scout; at least, +for several weeks. Buffalo Bill’s next commission took him far afield, +and, when he was returning from its successful conclusion, caused him to +lose his way while out on the Mexican desert near the border. + +Holding his compass in his hand, Buffalo Bill looked at a round hill +before him, which was very high and almost a perfect cone. + +“This is queer!” he said, and, keeping the compass level on the palm of +his hand, he walked slowly to the right for a dozen steps. He saw the +compass needle swing slowly, pointing straight at the hill. + +That there might be no mistake, the scout retraced his steps, studying +the compass, and now he saw the needle swing steadily back. When he +walked farther around, the needle swung still more, always pointing at +the hill. + +The sky was gray, so that the sun could not be seen. The ground under +the scout’s feet, and for a considerable distance around, was hard-baked +clay or stony, so that not a footstep showed in it. His feet had left no +tracks. + +“So it’s that which has made the compass act so strangely!” he said, +looking at the hill. “This is unpleasant, and it might be serious. Here +I’ve been walking hours, trusting to the compass, and find that it has +been pointing to this hill. Now, where is north? The compass can’t tell +me, for that hill has bewitched it. The hill must be full of magnetic +iron.” + +Stowing the compass in his pocket, he took out his knife and set it +upright, with the point of the blade on his thumb nail. + +There are few days so gray and cloudy that a knife so placed will not +throw a shadow on the thumb nail; and opposite that shadow, of course, +is the direction of the sun. When the time of day is known, together +with the direction of the sun, north can be approximately ascertained. + +But the air was filled with a smoky haze, and this, in addition to the +cloudiness and grayness, made the sky so dark that the knife blade +refused to cast its shadow. + +“This is a go!” said the scout. “If I were in a northern forest I might +find north by a study of the moss on the tree trunks, which is heaviest +and reaches to a sharper point on the north side. But I’m in Old Mexico; +there are no trees near me, and I suppose in this dry land moss hasn’t +much chance to grow on tree trunks, or anywhere else.” + +Cody took out the compass again and placed it on the palm of his hand. +As a matter of curiosity, he walked toward the cone-shaped hill, and he +studied the compass as he went. + +“Straight at the heart of that hill it points!” he said, watching the +needle. “And when I walk to one side or the other the needle shifts. I +suppose if I should walk round the hill the compass would make a +complete circle. I’ll try it.” + +Accordingly, he set out along the base of the hill, holding the compass +level. + +As he expected, the needle continued to point at the hill. + +By and by the scout walked up to the hill and inspected it. He saw that +it was almost a solid mass of ore, and the compass showed him that it +was magnetic iron. + +As the scout continued on his way around the treeless hill, he heard +voices. Instantly he sank down behind a screen of cactus, sliding the +compass into his pocket and drawing a revolver. + +“Some one here ahead of me, eh? White men, I think. And possibly +outlaws.” + +Soon he saw two men come in sight round the curve of the hill. The one +who walked in front was tall, thin, and severe looking. He wore a high +hat much out of place in that region, and black, dust-stained clothing. +The man who followed him was short and squat, with a ponderous stomach. +This man was dressed in dirty plaids, and his face had a worried look. +He carried a large hand bag. + +“Brofessor,” the scout heard him say, “uff de gompass tvist its head off +in dot vay, vot ve going to do? Ve can’t neffer fint our feet tracks vat +ve made in coming here yit.” + +The man in front stopped, and the stumpy man behind came near running +into him. + +“Henselman,” said the tall man, “this is a most peculiar mountain. It +is, as you see, of iron—magnetic iron. Truly a wonderful phenomenon!” + +“Unt de grazy gompass dinks it vos de Nort’ Pole, eh?” + +“Just so, Henselman. The compass thinks this is the North Pole. We +shouldn’t blame the compass. We——” + +“Nein? Vot shall I plame? Me? I follow de gompass. It say: ‘Dis is de +nort’!’ It dell me de lie. Am I to plame?” + +Henselman dropped the hand bag and energetically hammered his breast. + +“Dose gompass is a shackass!” he said. “Uff ve foller heem some more, +efery dime we shall come right back to dis hill uff iron. T’ree dimes ve +haf tried it alretty yet. And now we iss back here again. What shall ve +do? Smash de gompass? Dot don’t fint us de vay nort’!” + +“It would do no good to smash the compass. Let us rejoice, rather, that +we have been led to such a phenomenon as this singular hill of magnetic +iron. I observe from here that the top of the hill splits into two parts +that slightly resemble horns. I shall have to add that detail to the +notes I have taken.” + +The tall man brought from an inner pocket of his black coat a +leather-bound book, which held a pencil, and after squinting through his +eyeglasses at the top of the hill, he began to write in the book with +the pencil. Meanwhile, the rotund German stood looking about, with +ill-concealed displeasure. + +“Honest men, I take them to be,” thought the scout. “Like me, they have +been fooled by that magnetic hill, and have lost their way.” + +When the scout rose into view behind the cactus the taller man stared at +him blankly, while the stubby German tumbled backward with a sort of +howl. + +“Mein gracious!” he exclaimed. “Who iss dis?” + +“I observe that the magnetic mountain has fooled you, the same as it did +me,” said the scout, smiling at the German and speaking to the tall man. +“And so we meet here, guided to this hill by the crazy antics of our +compasses.” + +The tall, severe-looking man fitted his eyeglasses to his prominent +nose, and surveyed the scout. + +“Do you belong here, my man?” he questioned. “Yes, we have lost our way. +This is a magnetic hill, and the compass deviates to it and refuses to +point to the magnetic pole. Hence, we were led out of our course, and +now must be far astray, as we think we have been going in a wrong +direction for a long time. If you can help us in our predicament we +shall be greatly obliged, I assure you. I am Professor Felix Bounderby, +and this is my servant. Fritz Henselman, a most estimable German, though +at times a bit excitable. We are here in the interests of scientific +knowledge.” + +Buffalo Bill introduced himself, repressing the smiles he felt inclined +to indulge in. + +“You are an American scout, over here in Mexico, eh?” said Bounderby. +“Or is this still Mexico? We’re not sure on that point. We’re not sure +of anything, having lost our way and wandered we do not know how many +miles.” + +“I happen to be in the same boat,” said the scout, yet cheerily. “We +can, of course, sit down here and wait until we get some sunshine to +guide us, or we can make a guess at the direction we wish to go, and set +out, trusting to luck.” + +Professor Bounderby turned to Fritz Henselman. + +“Henselman,” he said, “just chip off a piece of that ore, will you, and +put it in the bag. I shall wish to use it in illustration of the lecture +I shall give on this mountain, when we return to the university.” + +The German took a hammer from the hand bag and began to beat at one of +the small stones, trying to break it. + +“I think I have heard that name—Buffalo Bill,” said Bounderby, +addressing the scout. + +“Yaw! I heert heem,” said the rotund German, hammering the stone. “Id +vas in Yarmany, vhere I vas pefore I come to Unitet States.” + +“This is a most remarkable hill,” remarked the professor. “I think it +affected our compass many miles away. We were on a dim trail across +there somewhere. We had been told to go north and to leave the trail at +a certain point. We thought we went north, but now I am not sure of the +direction which we followed. And you say that you were misled in like +manner? It is truly wonderful.” + +“Vhat trouples me,” said Henselman, cracking off a piece of the ore and +throwing it into the hand bag, “is how are ve going to ged oudt uff dis? +Vhen ve haf noddings to show de vay nort’ hew can ve fint id?” + +“As I said, we can camp down here until we get a sight of the sun,” said +the scout, “or we can set out and run the risk of not going in the right +direction. Does the light seem a bit brighter, professor, than a while +ago?” + +“No, it seems even darker,” said Bounderby. “The atmosphere is very +peculiar. I shall not be surprised if I learn eventually that there have +been volcanic disturbances in this region, and that the darkness which +we observe is attributed to gases and smoke from some volcano.” + +The scout produced his knife and set the blade on his thumb nail, in the +hope of getting a shadow, but failed again. He explained to Bounderby +and Henselman what he was doing. + +To all appearances, they were just what they claimed to be, and he saw +that they were likely to get into all sorts of difficulties, in an +unfamiliar region. Bounderby was no doubt a highly educated man along +certain lines, but in the ability to meet such an emergency as this he +was helpless as a child. Henselman was no better. + +“If we had left any tracks,” said Bounderby, “we might hope to trace +them back, and get out in that way. But the earth here is of volcanic +formation, you will observe. At one point we crossed a small sand plain, +and if we could find that, we could find the footprints we made in it.” + +“Yaw! I made feet tracks in id more as a foot deep!” said Henselman. + +“But the wind was blowing, you will recollect, Henselman, and those +tracks may be covered over. Besides, I doubt if we could find them, even +if they were not.” + +The professor fitted his glasses to his nose and gazed at the hill, then +took them off and looked round in a helpless sort of manner. + +Henselman held up his hand excitedly. + +“Brofessor, I haf an itea!” + +“Dear me, Henselman, you startled me! You have an idea? That is +remarkable. What is it, Henselman?” + +“Gif me de gompass unt I vill illustration id to you.” + +“It is in the hand bag, Henselman.” + +The fat German extracted the compass from the hand bag, shook it as if +he would make sure it was in working order, and set it on the ground. + +“You vill opserve, brofessor, unt likevise our frient here, dat dose +gompass iss now bointing to dis magnedic iron moundain!” + +“Yes, that is true,” Bounderby assented. + +“Vale! Ton’d you see?” + +“I see the needle pointing to the mountain, if that is what you mean, +Henselman.” + +“But de odder end uff de needle! Vere iss id bointing?” + +“In the opposite direction, of course, Henselman.” + +“Vale! Ven id vas bointing to de moundain ve follered id, unt id prought +us here to dis place. Unt now uff ve foller yoost back again de vay de +odder end uff de needle is bointing, we vill arrife at de blace vere ve +comed from. Dot iss yoost so easy I vhonder I neffer dinks me uff id +till dis minute.” + +“But, see here, Henselman! On the other side of this hill the south pole +of the needle points in a direction the very opposite of what it does +here. Wherever the compass is placed, in going round this hill, the +needle points at the hill. Your plan might do, if we knew just where we +approached the hill, and could likewise be sure that in coming up to it +we had not deviated any from a direct line. But as we can’t do that, +your plan won’t work. We would be going away from the hill, it is true, +but in which direction we should be going we could not know. We might be +going south, when we wish to go north.” + +The fat German dropped back to the ground with so heavy a thump that the +breath was knocked out of him. + +“Dot iss true!” he admitted. “So long as ve don’t know, vichefer vay ve +go ve are sure to go wrong.” + + --------------------------------------------------------- + + + + + CHAPTER XVI. + + TRACKS IN THE SAND. + + +As Buffalo Bill wished to keep moving, he determined to risk a guess at +what was a northerly direction, and also to set out at once; and as +Bounderby and the fat German did not care to remain behind, they +accompanied him. + +It did seem as if there were about three hundred and sixty-five chances +of going wrong to where there was one of going right, as Bounderby +asserted, yet the attempt to do something seemed better than inaction. + +This brought a surprising discovery. + +Within an hour’s time they reached a sandy area, which both Bounderby +and the German declared to be the one they had crossed. + +A search was instituted for the tracks which it was hoped could be +readily found—the tracks they had made in crossing the sand on their way +to the magnetic mountain. + +They did not find the tracks, even though they covered a large area, but +in a depression of the sandy plain Buffalo Bill came upon footprints of +a woman. The thing was almost too surprising for belief, and he at once +called the attention of his companions to his discovery. + +“The tracks of a white woman,” he said, “here in a spot where one would +think no white woman had ever been; and the tracks have not been long +made. The woman was not an Indian, and she was not a Mexican, or, if a +Mexican, she was not of the peon class. You will observe, too, that the +woman walked with an alert, rapid, springy step.” + +Bounderby and his German servant stared at the footprints. + +“All of which,” the scout went on, “convinces me that the woman was an +American, and that she was young. But what a young American woman is +doing here passes my comprehension.” + +“Maype she is fooled yoost de same as ve vas py de iron mountain?” +suggested Henselman. “Unt now she iss trying to git avay from id. Nein?” + +Buffalo Bill looked about, and he let his eyes follow as far as possible +the tracks in the sand. + +“That would not explain what a young American woman is doing here,” he +said. “Come! I’m going to follow these tracks, and see what they mean.” + +“Unt maype ve lost our own vay again!” Henselman protested. + +“We haven’t found it yet, recollect!” + +“Yaw! Go ahead.” + +“The American young woman of fashion,” said the professor, in a learned +tone, “is usually urban in her tastes. She may venture forth out of a +city, but she never gets far from one. Therefore, I am under the +impression, Mr. Cody, that if we continue to follow these steps we shall +arrive sooner or later at or in the neighborhood of a city. That is +scientific reasoning. I have more than once found a bone, and from that +bone alone have been able to reconstruct the animal of which it was a +part. We see these tracks, and——” + +“Look there!” + +The exclamation came from the scout, who had hurried on, unheeding the +professor’s learned lecture. He was fairly trembling, as he pointed to +other tracks, which joined those made by the woman he had declared to be +a young American. + +The low, sandy surface which held the tracks of the woman passed at this +point close to higher ground, and from this higher ground, as from a +leaping board, had sprung the maker of the other footprints. + +What struck the scout more than anything else was the shape and +character of these new tracks. + +They resembled in some essentials the footprints of a man, in other +respects they were like those of a bear, and in still others they looked +like nothing the scout had ever seen in the way of tracks, and his +experience and observation had been large. + +Instead of waiting to find the explanation, he hurried on again, +observing that the larger tracks kept close by those of the woman, as if +the creature making them had been pursuing her. A hundred yards beyond, +near the point where the sandy land ended in volcanic rocks, the tracks +of the woman disappeared. + +Buffalo Bill stared ahead, and drew his revolver. + +“See that?” he said, when he was joined by Bounderby and the German. + +“I see that the woman’s tracks no longer show,” said Bounderby. “And why +not?” + +“She musd haf vings,” said the German. + +“The creature that followed her caught her at this point and carried her +on,” said the scout. “You will see that his feet sank more deeply into +the sand afterward. He carried her, and as there seems to be not much +sign of a struggle, I fancy that he moved so quietly in following her +that he was able to overtake her before she knew he was near.” + +“You think it was a man?” said Bounderby, sticking his eyeglasses on his +nose and bending over to look at the tracks. “Dear me, this is +remarkable!” + +“You are a scientist! What made those tracks? A man? Or were they made +by a beast? A while ago you said that often from a single bone you have +been able to determine the form of the creature of which that bone was a +part. Then, tell me what made those tracks!” + +Bounderby got down on his knees and scrutinized the tracks. A call like +that aroused his professional pride and put him on his mettle. + +“Mr. Cody, that is the track of an orang-utan!” he declared, as he rose +and dropped his eyeglasses from his nose with an air of finality. + +“That is the track of an orang-utan. He sighted the young lady from the +higher ground back there, as she walked through the lower ground. She +had passed him, and he followed so slyly that she did not discover the +fact, and right here he captured her and carried her away.” His voice +trembled. “And that means, Cody, that we must follow at once. For, as +you say, these tracks are not old. This may have been done even while we +were at the iron mountain discussing what we should do.” + +“But this is Mexico!” the scout protested. “Orang-utans are not found in +Mexico.” + +“Cody, no one would have believed that snow existed on the planet Mars, +until astronomers discovered it as a fact. How this orang-utan got here +I don’t know. The creatures may be indigenous to the country. However +that may be, one is here, or has been here; and he has, it seems, seized +a lady, whom you declare to be an American. It calls for an +investigation.” + +The scout started forward, and Bounderby and the German followed him. +But they could not pursue the trail far, as in a short time they reached +the limits of the sand, and after that the ground was of hard volcanic +origin, and left no tracks. + +“They were pointed in that direction when they reached the rocks here,” +said the scout. “It is reasonable to infer that the creature continued +in the direction he was going, though he may really have turned to the +right or left.” + +Buffalo Bill hastened on in the course he thought the creature had +taken. Though urged by unwonted excitement and the drawing power of a +strange mystery, he yet was as calm and careful as ever. + +To know that a civilized woman was in that out-of-the-way place was a +thing marvelously strange, yet it did not equal the stupendous discovery +that an orang-utan was there. + +But was the thing an orang-utan? Buffalo Bill was not yet ready to +believe it, though he admitted that had he seen that footprint in a land +where orang-utans were to be expected he should have guessed that animal +at once. As singular as anything was that the creature had walked on its +hind feet. Orang-utans do that at times, though not by choice; yet this +creature had walked on its hind feet even before it reached and seized +the woman. + +The hills toward which it seemed the beast and its burden had gone were +farther off than either the scout or Bounderby thought, so that the day +was waning by the time they were reached. But neither there, nor in the +ground passed over in reaching them, was any indication found of the +singular thing that had captured the woman. + +While Buffalo Bill still hunted about the base of the hills, loath to +give up, the darkness that came early because of the queer character of +the atmosphere, began to settle down, and they could do nothing further. + +“We’ll try it again in the morning,” said the scout, still undaunted. + + --------------------------------------------------------- + + + + + CHAPTER XVII. + + THE SPOTS OF LIGHT. + + +Professor Felix Bounderby and Fritz Henselman were sitting bolt upright, +their backs against a tall white rock, which at a distance resembled the +white wall of a tent. + +They were asleep and snoring at a terrific rate, in spite of the fact +that the morning was well advanced. + +The reason for their somnolence was that the fatigues of the previous +day had been unusually wearing, and its excitements had kept them up +until a very late hour of the night. + +Buffalo Bill, who had risen early, had walked away some distance, and +was searching again for the tracks he had failed to find the evening +before. + +One thing pleased him. During the night the peculiar condition of the +atmosphere had passed away, so that the sun, which rose red in the +eastern sky, was, an hour afterward, shining with a clear, white light. + +Knowing now which direction was the east, he had a knowledge of the +points of the compass, even though his magnetic needle still pointed +obstinately to the hill of magnetic iron. + +The scout was returning from a vain search for tracks, when he came in +sight of Bounderby and Henselman sitting against the white rock. + +Suddenly Bounderby snorted, twisted uneasily, and opened his eyes; but +he closed them again, and began once more to snore. + +A little later Henselman gave a similar snort, and slapped at his face +as if a mosquito tickled it. A moment afterward he slapped again, so +energetically that he was half aroused from his sleep. Then he tumbled +forward on his knees, and put up his hands in supplication. + +“Yaw!” he gurgled. “Blease, Misder Robber, ton’d shood me! Keep dose +bull’s-eye lighd oudt uff my faces! Keep it oudt! Take my moneys, but +ton’d shood me!” + +Bounderby uttered a little squall, and sat up, and, hearing and seeing +Fritz Henselman making that ridiculous appeal, he stared. + +“Henselman,” he said, with a superior air, “kindly tell me what you are +doing?” + +Henselman opened his eyes, with a gurgling snort, stared around, and +then gazed at Professor Felix Bounderby. His face had a look of blank +foolishness. + +“Yaw!” he gasped. “Dere vos no robber going to shood me, eh?” + +“Of course not, Henselman! What put such a ridiculous notion into your +head?” + +“Unt nopody tidn’t t’row der light uff a pull’s-eye landern in my +faces?” + +“Certainly not, Henselman! Don’t be ridiculous. It was the sun shining +in your face. See, the sun shines! I myself felt that light in my face; +but it was the sunshine, and it awoke me. Thank Heaven for the glorious +sunshine again, Henselman!” + +The German still stared around. “But, brofessor,” he objected, “de sun +iss not shining so dat it can hid us in de faces! De sun shines pehint +dis rock. It coult nod haf peen der sunshine hid me der faces in. Nein!” + +Bounderby stared, too, when he made that discovery. + +“I must have dreamed that the sunshine struck me with blinding force in +the face. It is such a change from yesterday that it had that effect. +Henselman, that is the solution. Always remember that every phenomenon +of nature has a perfectly reasonable and sensible solution.” + +“You mean I treamed dot a man mit a pull’s-eye landern vos shining de +lighd uff id in my faces?” + +“Yes. Certainly. That is the true explanation. We both dreamed——” + +But he stopped with a gurgling snort and tumbled back against the white +rock. + +“Brofessor, vot——” + +Then Henselman uttered a cry, like the squeal of a stuck pig, and also +tumbled back against the rock. He put his hand up to his face. + +“Yiminy Gristmas! I am treaming again, ven I am avake unt my eyes iss +vide open. I am treaming dot de sunshine iss hidding my face in. Yaw!” + +A spot of brilliant white light flickered and wavered over his +hand-covered face, flitted as a white dot on the white rock, and then +smote the professor once more, causing him to howl again and fall back. + +Professor Felix Bounderby rolled to one side to get away from that +blinding spot of light, and Fritz Henselman rolled in the opposite +direction. Both stared at it, as it flickered on the rock. Then it was +gone. + +“I am treaming, brofessor, dot de sunshine is hidding de rock, also, it +iss hidding my face in! Unt id vas hidding you, too, alretty. Vat iss? I +am treaming it mit my eyes vide open!” + +“This is singular! This is very singular!” + +Professor Felix Bounderby uncoiled his long frame and got on his feet, +as he made this admission. He stared at the sky and saw that the sun was +not in a position to throw spots of light on the rock at that point. + +“This is a natural phenomenon which I must investigate, Henselman,” he +said. “I must add it to the notes for that lecture on ‘Peculiar Life in +a Wild Region.’ The sun throws spots of light on the face of a white +rock, when, according to all the known laws of light, it is not able to +do so. This is worthy of special investigation.” + +He took out his eyeglasses, hooked them over his nose, and stared hard +at the rock where he had seen the moving light spots. Nothing of the +kind showed there now. + +The German had risen, or, rather, had rolled, to his feet, and he, too, +was inspecting the white face of rock. + +“By yiminy, id puzzle me alretty!” he admitted. “Maybe dis rock is vat +you call dransparent, so dot de lighd uff de sun can shood t’rough id. +Nein?” + +“Impossible, Henselman. We are here in the presence of one of nature’s +great mysteries. If we can elucidate it, fame may be ours. I shall add +the discovery to those notes on my lecture on——” + +He stopped. Buffalo Bill was coming up briskly, and the professor became +aware of the fact. + +“Welcome!” he said. “Mr. Cody, we have here a strange thing. Though the +sun is behind this rock, yet white spots of light from it strike with a +dancing effect on this side of the rock. I have wondered if there can be +extra brilliant points of light in the sun, the opposite of sun spots in +effect, which would produce anything like that? There would need to be +some reflecting surface, however, and——” + +The dancing spots came again, flickering in a queer and irregular way +over the rock. + +The scout saw them for the first time. He watched them, as they flashed +and flickered for nearly a minute, then they were gone. + +“Every phenomenon of nature has a perfectly natural solution, Cody, if +it can be known,” said the amazed Bounderby. + +“Very true, professor,” the scout answered. “In this instance, the +explanation isn’t far to seek. Those are telegraphic spots of light from +a heliographic instrument.” + +They came again, and the scout stared at them. He was reading them: + +“‘We are at the red bluff. Join us at once. She is still missing and we +need you.’” + +The spots disappeared. + +Buffalo Bill repeated to Bounderby and Henselman what he had read. + +“Over in the hills, there, at a point where its mirrors catch the +sunlight, is a heliograph instrument. By means of it a message was +flashed on that white rock, the flashes representing in their duration +the dots and dashes of the Morse telegraphic code. Fortunately, I +learned the code, and have practiced it enough to be able to read those +flashes.” + +“Yaw! Dot iss a telegraph?” + +“It is a sunlight telegraph. The light of the sun falls on its mirrors, +and is then reflected, or thrown, to this spot.” + +The flashes were reappearing, and again the scout studied them. + +“The same message again,” he said. + +“But who is sending that message?” said Bounderby, who was so puzzled he +took off his tall hat and scratched his bald head. + +“I don’t know,” the scout was forced to admit. “Perhaps they think they +know us. They call for help. And they speak of a missing girl. It must +be the girl whose tracks we followed, and who you thought had been +carried off by an orang-utan.” + +“This—is—remarkable!” said Bounderby. “Remarkable!” + +“The sender of that message and his instrument must be in that +direction!” said the scout. “The light could not well be flashed to this +spot from any other direction. Over there must be the red bluff +mentioned in the message. The way to clear up this mystery is to go +there and find the sender of the message. Perhaps we will in that way +get more speedily on the tracks of the girl and the wild creature that +carried her away.” + +“We supposed, Cody, that we were the only people in this forsaken +country,” said Bounderby, still scratching his bald head. “It appears we +were mistaken. That young lady must have belonged to the party which is +trying to signal us. But why are they trying to signal us? It can’t be +that they know us.” + +“The way to find out is to go over there, and I’m ready to start at +once.” + +“Cody, we are with you! Henselman, get the hand bag. I am feeling a bit +hungry, but we can eat something as we go on. Yes, Cody, this is +important. The spots were not thrown directly from the sun, but by a +heliograph! I must put that in the notes for my lecture. Cody, we are +ready to start at once. This is certainly a remarkable adventure.” + +They had not had breakfast, yet they set out, heading in what the scout +was sure was the right course, Bounderby gnawing at some meat as they +pressed on, and Henselman sweating and puffing under the weight of the +hand bag, which was made heavy by many specimens of rocks and ores. + + --------------------------------------------------------- + + + + + CHAPTER XVIII. + + THE PARTY WITH THE HELIOGRAPH. + + +A hard tramp through the hills over rough ground brought Buffalo Bill +and his companions, after a time, in sight of a tall cliff of red +sandstone, which had at one side a projecting shelf some distance above +the earth. + +Upon this shelf stood a youthful fellow, scarcely more than a boy in +years, and by him was the heliograph. When he sighted Buffalo Bill’s +party he leaped off the shelf and slid rapidly down the side of the +cliff to the ground. In another minute he came running out from the foot +of the cliff, and with him ran a young man dressed in semimilitary +clothing. + +“We saw your heliographic flashes on the side of the white rock off +there, and I was fortunately able to read the message,” said Buffalo +Bill, addressing them. “So we came at once.” + +The scout discovered that these senders of the message had not meant it +for him, but for some missing members of the heliographic party, who had +become separated from them the day before. + +These two—the youth and the young man—were young Tom Lawler, who had +charge of the burro train, and Lieutenant Butler, second in command, of +an expedition which had been recently sent out from Klamath to make +railway surveys. + +“We thought this was the section where we were to do our work,” said +Butler, “but I confess that a week ago, when the hazy atmosphere began, +we got lost. When we followed our compass we were led here; but this +morning I found that our compass is utterly unreliable. It points east, +instead of north. When the sun rose the compass was pointing right at +it. I was wondering if some electrical storm on the sun could have +affected it?” + +Yet the thing that now most concerned Lieutenant Butler and young Tom +Lawler was that the sister of Major Fernald, the commander of the +expedition, was missing, and had been gone for many hours. She had set +out for a little walk through the hills, and had not returned. They had +hunted for her, and Major Fernald and all his men, with the exception of +these two, were out searching for her now. + +“We have a considerable party,” said Butler. “We have surveyors and +chainmen and a hunter or two whose business it is to shoot game for us, +and we have been out two weeks. We haven’t accomplished anything, except +to get lost; and now, since the singular disappearance of Miss Fernald, +the whole expedition is demoralized. When I flashed that message on that +rock we saw you, but at the distance you were we thought you members of +our party. It was a hit-and-miss chance, and couldn’t be done often, yet +it worked this time.” + +Buffalo Bill and his companions made explanations, so that soon both +parties had all needed information. The scout told of the discovery of a +girl’s tracks, and of the strange tracks following hers, and of what had +been inferred. + +“This is important,” said Butler. “Those tracks were no doubt made by +Miss Fernald. She came in this general direction, you say, but you lost +the tracks after they left the sand? We must search for them there +again. I wish Major Fernald were here. He and his party have been gone +all night, and I’ve no idea where they are. We shifted our position +after their departure, and, though we left marks for them to follow, +they may not even find their way back to them. What you say about the +magnetic hill which has made the compasses useless, and worse, is +interesting. Probably they don’t know about that yet. No doubt we are +many miles from the spot where we supposed ourselves to be. Even you +don’t know just where we are?” + +Fritz Henselman had put down the heavy hand bag. + +“Vat iss?” he said. “Vonce I seen a sugar barrel, mit flies yoost flying +to id from efery tirection. Here id iss de same vay. Dot magnedic hill +iss de sugar barrel, unt ve are de flies; it draw us, unt here ve iss. +Uff id keep on drawing beobles, ve vill haf more as a rigimend uff men +in dis blace peety qvick.” + +Professor Bounderby had produced his notebook, and was making notes for +his lecture. + +“Every phenomenon has a perfectly natural and reasonable cause,” he +said, as he scribbled away, speaking as if to his notebook. “We have +seen why our compasses acted, so queerly, and why flashes of light hit +that white rock in so strange a way. If we continue, we shall discover +how it happens that an orang-utan is here in Mexico, and why it chose to +capture the young lady. I will just set down here that her name is Miss +Fernald, that she is the sister of the commander of this surveying +party, which came to make surveys for a railroad, and that she is a +young lady whose love of adventure led her to accompany her brother in +this expedition. Now she is lost, perhaps in great danger, maybe even +dead; and we are to learn as soon as possible the facts.” + +He read over what he had written, tucked away the pencil, and dropped +the book into his pocket. + +“Cody,” he said, taking the eyeglasses from his nose, “my servant and I +are at your disposal. We came to make geological researches, but human +nature and human needs are more interesting and important than cold +stone; hence we stand ready to help you to the extent of our ability.” + +The lieutenant and his companion scrambled up to the rocky shelf and +brought down the heliograph and other things there. + +“We have not a burro left,” said Butler. “When we came here we had a +large burro train, and Mr. Lawler had charge of it. The burros were +scattered a week ago in a violent night storm, and we couldn’t recover +them. Since that time we have been wandering, led astray by our +compasses.” + +Buffalo Bill volunteered to guide Butler and Lawler to the sandy area +where the tracks of the young woman had been found, for they were +certain the footprints were those of Miss Emily Fernald, the sister of +their commander. + +Before departing from the red cliff, Lieutenant Butler wrote out a +statement of what he had done and discovered, and what he now purposed +to do, which he affixed to a stick thrust into a crevice in the cliff, +where it could not fail to reach the eyes of Fernald’s party on their +return. + +Once more the attempt was to be made to find out what had become of the +girl and her captor. + + --------------------------------------------------------- + + + + + CHAPTER XIX. + + A STARTLING ATTACK. + + +Buffalo Bill and his companions camped that night at a distance even +farther in the hills than before. They had made no discovery. The tracks +of the girl and of the strange creature that had followed her could not +be traced beyond the sandy area. + +Yet so persistent had been the search that the night camp was made only +after the light had failed, and the first satisfactory meal of the day +was then eaten. + +Major Fernald and his party had not been sighted, and their present +location could not be guessed. + +The distress of Lieutenant Butler and young Lawler was marked that +evening; they had almost given up hope. + +“It’s a terrible thing,” said Butler. “That a young woman of refinement +and education, a woman of beauty and culture, should meet such a fate is +something almost too horrible to think about. And she was as kind and +good as she was beautiful. You would have said so, Cody, if you had +known her.” + +“I begin to believe that I do know her,” said Buffalo Bill, with a +smile. “Unless I am greatly mistaken, she is the daughter of a ranchman, +a girl whom I recently had the honor of rescuing from the clutches of +Red Reynard. I am much interested in her fate.” + +“This is going to kill her brother, the major.” + +“I haven’t given up yet,” declared the scout. “I shall cling to hope +until we know that we can’t hope any longer. We’ll begin the work again +at daylight.” + +Worn out by fatigue, Buffalo Bill slept rather soundly that night. But +shortly before day he was awakened by a strange feeling of fear, which +impressed him with a danger he could not combat or comprehend. He was +shivering with dread as he opened his eyes. He almost cried aloud when +he saw that he was looking straight up into another pair of eyes. The +darkness was great, and his position was such that he could see nothing +but the eyes, which looked down into his with a strange and +fear-inspiring glare. + +The scout was held by a horrible spell. A weight seemed to be pressing +down on his chest. He struggled with the feeling, and, throwing it off +partly, he tried to turn his body, and reached up to push aside the face +that held those terrible eyes, even though he could not see the face. + +When he did so he felt himself seized about the throat in so strong a +grip that it seemed as if the muscles of his neck had been compressed +suddenly by iron bands. + +As those fingers, or claws, settled on his throat, his head was jammed +backward against the earth. This, together with the quick choking, +almost deprived him of his senses. Then he felt himself jerked to one +side, and dragged over the ground. It was like a horrible nightmare, and +he felt that he must be dreaming. Yet he knew better. + +Struggling fiercely to throw off that awful clutch, which seemed to be +crushing his neck, the scout succeeded in drawing his knife. + +With a swing he plunged the blade into the side of the thing that held +him. That swinging stroke was followed by a sound of some kind. There +was a blow in the scout’s face, and his head fell backward. + +When he returned to consciousness, after having lain without sense or +motion for many minutes, darkness and silence were around and over him. +He put his hand to his throat, which ached with a heavy, dull pain. His +lungs were choked and wheezing, his head throbbed, and his eyes felt as +if they were about to jump out of their sockets. Worse than all was that +horrible fear, still chilling him and seeming to stop the very current +of life in his body. Yet he knew he was alone, that the creature, +whatever it was, had gone. + +Then he heard a voice. It sounded far off at first, but a moment later +it seemed quite near. He recognized it as the voice of Lieutenant +Butler, and he knew then that Butler and the others were hunting for +him. + +The great scout lifted himself on his elbow and looked around in the +gloom. He saw no one. + +“Here!” he called, and to his ears his voice sounded husky and strange. + +They came running to him—Lieutenant Butler, Tom Lawler, Professor +Bounderby, and Fritz Henselman. + +“What has happened to you?” said Butler, when he reached the scout. +“Lawler heard something, and he thought he saw you being dragged away. +Then we knew you were gone, and we aroused the camp, and ever since have +been looking for you.” + +“How long ago was that?” Buffalo Bill asked. + +“Fully ten minutes.” + +“What did you see dragging me, Lawler?” + +“I don’t know, I couldn’t make out. I shouldn’t have known it was you +but for a groan that I thought you made, and then we found you were not +in the camp, and knew it was you. But what attacked you I don’t know.” + +“Yet you really saw me dragged out of the camp?” + +“Yes.” + +Cody tried to sit up, and then to stand. + +“If you will help me, Lieutenant Butler, I’ll try to get back to the +camp. As soon as daylight comes I hope to find the tracks of the thing +that attacked me.” + +Butler and Lawler gave him aid in getting to the camp, while Professor +Bounderby and the German made a pretense of watching for the return of +the “thing,” whatever it was. + +“Tell us just how it looked,” said Bounderby, when the scout was in the +camp and in some condition for talking. + +“I don’t know, I saw only its eyes. I had the most singular feeling of +fear I ever experienced. I think it must have been the kind of fear a +superstitious man has when he thinks he is in the presence of a ghost. +Only this was no ghost, its grip was altogether too solid and material. +Its fingers fairly cracked my neck. When I roused up, the thing was +looking straight down into my eyes, and all I could see were those +terrible eyes staring into mine. I wanted to yell. In my opinion, +professor, we have found the thing that carried off Miss Fernald, or, +rather, it found me. Perhaps it meant to carry me away, and failed. I’m +sure I struck it with my knife, and perhaps that saved me.” + +“The orang-utan is a strange beast,” said Bounderby, with oracular +certainty. “You spoke of its fingers. That is permissible, for an +orang-utan, you know, is a four-handed animal. When we say it walked +upright on its hind feet, we really mean it walked on its hind hands.” + +He produced his notebook and began to scribble in it. + +“If you could describe just the sound it made after you struck it with +your knife, at the moment it released you, I can make a note of it here, +and use it in my lecture.” + +“If that thing captured Miss Fernald, she is dead!” declared Butler, +with much feeling. + +The German had sat through all the talk, quiet, yet quaking. + +“Uff id capture us ve iss all dead!” he declared now. “De young voman +iss gone—kilt. Vy should ve stay here and be kilt alretty, too? I ton’d +vish to investigation any pizness like dot. Brofessor, I t’ink ve petter +pull ower freighd oudt uff dis blace vhen de daylight come, unt I hobe +id vill come qvick.” + +There was no more sleep for any of the party that night. They sat in the +darkness, with loaded weapons, watching for the return of the thing that +had attacked the scout, and they beheld it at various times, in various +forms, by the aid of their excited imaginations, sneaking across the +rocks toward them. + +Yet it did not return. + + --------------------------------------------------------- + + + + + CHAPTER XX. + + ANOTHER SURPRISE. + + +When morning came Buffalo Bill began a search of the camp and of the +ground over which he had been dragged in the darkness. + +At the point where he had thrust the knife into the creature he found +marks of blood on the rocks. His knife had gone home, and it was that +which had caused the thing to drop him. + +Farther on the scout saw pebbles displaced and turned, though the +hardness of the ground kept tracks from showing. He at once informed his +companions of the nature of his discovery. + +Bounderby and Lieutenant Butler joined him, and the others came soon. + +Pursuing the general course shown by the displaced pebbles, they shortly +gained a softer spot, and in the soil there they beheld again +footprints, like those seen the previous day in the sandy area. + +The scout looked at them closely, and pointed them out. + +“There is proof that the thing which attacked me last night is the thing +which carried off the young lady. We are on the right trail.” + +Apparently the scout had recovered from the effects of that assault in +the night, yet there were dark lines on his throat, and he had not been +able to shake off entirely that strange and, for him, unnatural feeling +of fear and horror. Fear in its ordinary sense was a thing unknown to +Buffalo Bill. Yet he almost quaked when he remembered how those strange +eyes had looked down into his in the darkness. + +“I have encountered many terrible things,” he said, “but nothing ever +before like that. Yet I don’t know what form the creature bore, whether +it was like an ape or a man. All I can recall are those terrible, fiery, +haunting eyes.” + +“The eyes of an orang-utan,” said Professor Bounderby sonorously, “would +glow in the darkness like those of an animal, if seen at the right +angle. You didn’t notice a greenish glare, I suppose?” + +“No, the eyes seemed fiery and staring, as near as I can describe it. +They held me spellbound with horror.” + +“It is awful to think of Miss Fernald having fallen into the power of +such a creature,” said Butler. “We’ll believe that she fainted at sight +of the thing, and that if it slew her, the deed was done before she +recovered consciousness.” + +He looked around with a shudder, as if he feared to behold the horrid +shape pictured by his imagination. + +Buffalo Bill led the way now, with cocked revolver. The tracks of the +monster appeared so fresh that he half expected to come upon it at any +moment. At his side strode Lieutenant Butler and Tom Lawler, carrying +the necessary parts of the heliograph. + +The tracks led by a roundabout course which finally drew the pursuers +under some high, natural rock walls, that were set on a sort of plateau. + +From the base of these walls the country which had been passed over was +visible. The white rock, resembling at a distance the wall of a tent, +and the more distant cone-shaped hill that had played such tricks with +the compasses, could be clearly seen. + +When Buffalo Bill led the pursuers up to the natural rock walls, he saw +the ground there was not favorable for trailing, and that again the +tracks of the “beast” had disappeared. He pointed out the last track to +be seen. + +“The orang-utan was moving along the wall,” said Bounderby. “That track +looks very fresh, Cody.” + +“I should say it was made last night, or early this morning.” + +Butler stared along the wall, and ran his eyes here and there, searching +vainly for other tracks. + +Fritz Henselman, who had been groaning under the weight of the heavily +laden hand bag, took this opportunity to set it down. He had kept well +behind. That seemed a safer place, and it was a thing his position as a +servant enabled him to do without question. + +“Brofessor,” he said, panting heavily, “I voult yoost as soon stay here +mit de hant pag as to go furder on. Yaw! Vot iss de use? My arms iss +pulled off alretty yet. I dinks I stay here mit de hant pag. You vill +oxcoose me for nod going any furder along. I am nod afraid uff dot +peast, or vatefer it iss. Ton’d dink id! I am yoost tired oudt by too +much trafeling Yaw!” + +Buffalo Bill smiled, in spite of the weight of uneasiness that burdened +his mind. + +“But, Henselman,” he said, “if we go on and leave you here, that beast +may come on you from the other direction while we are gone; and then +what would you do? We don’t know which way it went, and so we can’t tell +which way it may come back.” + +Henselman jumped to his feet. + +“Iss dot so?” he cried, and he picked up the hand bag, apparently +forgetting that it was not light in weight, and was ready to move on +again. “Uff id vasn’t for dose magnedic needles vich haf peen magnetized +py dose magnedic moundains, ve coult fint our vay oudt uff dis place!” +he groaned. “Brofessor, I dink now dot de sun iss shining maype ve coult +find vich vay ve vish to go. Nein? I am voding dot ve try id. I haf lost +not any apes and monkeys vot I shoult pe hunding. Unt dose vimmins is +dead long ago. Brofessor, shall ve nod try to fint our vay oudt by der +light uff der sunshine?” + +“Henselman, I’m ashamed of this show of cowardice!” declared Bounderby, +putting on his eyeglasses to give severity to the look he cast on his +German servant. “We are engaged in an errand of mercy—the rescue of a +young lady from the jaws and arms of a monster, an orang-utan; and shall +we here hesitate? Perish the thought! Henselman, we remain with this +party, let the result be what it may!” + +But even the professor, though his words were brave enough, was shaking +a little, as he considered the result of a possible encounter with the +thing he had denominated an orang-utan. + +Buffalo Bill was moving on, looking for the vanished tracks. A hundred +yards beyond he found them again, showing that he had been taking the +right course. + +As he saw them thus once more, he stared. The tracks entered into a +queer-looking place in the rocks, which seemed to have been hewn out, +for it was oblong and formed on mathematical lines. Within it was a +framework of wood. + +“What have we here?” said the scout to Butler, who was at the moment by +his side. + +“It looks like a primitive sort of elevator,” said Butler. + +And, indeed, that was just what it did look like. The hewn-out place in +the cliff, together with the wooden framework it contained, resembled an +elevator in a marked degree. + +“Hello!” the scout added. “What more have we here?” Pressing farther in, +his eye had been caught by a stone image. “An Indian idol!” he +exclaimed, in astonishment. “Perhaps this is some old Indian chapel.” + +Lawler was now at his side, peering in, his youthful features working +with excitement and curiosity. + +The scout struck a match, and held it up so that it lighted the rather +gloomy interior of the “elevator” and fell on the stone image. + +The image was apparently an idol, in a recumbent position, with an arm +extended and finger pointing. The chisel work on the face was crudely +done, yet the Indian features were recognizable. + +Bounderby came crowding after Lawler, drawn by the words he had heard. + +“A find?” he said. + +“A queer one, professor,” said the scout. “Take a look! This seems to be +an Indian chapel, and there is the idol. What is it pointing to?” + +He held the light down in the corner toward which the finger pointed, +and saw there a wooden peg set into a hole. + +Bounderby had crowded in, and was staring, with his eyeglasses perched +on his nose. + +“Not too fast, Cody!” he objected. “I must make accurate notes of this.” +He whipped out his notebook. “Here we have what is probably a chapel of +the ancient Aztecs, with one of the idols that race worshiped. It is a +singular discovery.” + +“Did that beast come into this place?” said Lieutenant Butler. “If he +did, he went out again, because he could go no farther. This is +interesting, but we are wasting time here. His tracks are so fresh out +there that if we hasten we may come on him soon. So we oughtn’t to tarry +here.” + +Henselman came in and dropped his hand bag to the floor with a thud. + +“Brofessor,” he said, and his tone had an appeal in it, “I opserve dot +de sun is clouding ofer again, so dot py unt py maype de sky vill pe +yoost like it vas yistertay. Den ve can’t fint ower vay oudt uff dis +blace. I dinks me ve had petter dry id righd now, insteat uff vaiting. +Vot you dink?” + +“This idol sits in a recumbent position,” Bounderby was saying aloud, +jotting down the words in his notebook, “and it has a finger pointed +toward the corner of this singular room. Possibly that may indicate +something.” + +Buffalo Bill was stooping again, with a lighted match, to look at the +wooden plug in the corner, to which that stone finger appeared to point. +It seemed set tightly in a hole in the stone, but when he pulled on it, +the wooden plug came easily away. + +At the same time a startling thing occurred. The wooden framework in +which they stood began to sink downward into the rock, dropping as if +into a well. The thing that had seemed an elevator _was an elevator_. + +This sudden drop downward into that well-like space was too startling +almost for belief. It seemed to the scout a part of what had appeared to +him in the night as a dream—a part of that impression of fiery eyes and +darkness and clutching fingers. + +Bounderby uttered an exclamation of dismay and astonishment, and +Henselman flopped down with a grunt of terrified helplessness. + +“_Mein Gott in himmel!_” he cried. “Vat iss? Brofessor, ve iss all dead +men!” + +Nor were the other members of the party less astounded than Bounderby +and the German. + +After a quick descent the rickety car stopped with a thump that almost +shook Buffalo Bill from his feet. + +Henselman emitted another squawk of fear. + + --------------------------------------------------------- + + + + + CHAPTER XXI. + + FURTHER SURPRISES. + + +As the elevator thus came to a standstill the scout and those with him +dimly saw in the gloom an open door. + +As explained, the elevator was nothing but a framework of decaying wood, +hence it was plain that this door was in the wall of the elevator well. + +Buffalo Bill, unhesitating, struck another match, while his companions +were variously expressing their astonishment. Its light showed that the +door opened into a small, square room, which, except for that light, was +perfectly dark. The only door it had was the one entering from the +elevator. + +Not without some hesitation did the scout step forth into this room. As +the light of the match flamed higher he beheld a sight which called +another exclamation from his lips. + +An Indian sat in a crouched attitude in a corner. + +Lawler saw the Indian at the same instant, and Buffalo Bill heard the +clicking of the boy’s revolver. + +“Don’t shoot!” was the scout’s warning, and he thrust the match down +toward the Indian. “He is dead!” + +The match went out, and it was necessary to ignite another before +further examinations could be made. + +Then they discovered that the Indian was not only dead, but that he was, +in fact, a mummy, but so well preserved that he was not like the +dried-up specimens of Indian mummies usually seen. He had the appearance +of an Indian who had been not long dead. + +In his mouth, projecting from between his teeth, he held a queer-looking +flat stone. The scout flashed upon it the fight of the match, and saw +that the stone held written characters, or what appeared to be written +characters. + +“See here, professor!” he said, and Bounderby came forward, trying hard +to suppress any manifestation of his really great excitement. “There is +something written on this stone, professor; it seems to be a message, or +a letter, or, perhaps, instructions. I should guess instructions. But +it’s in a writing I never saw before.” + +Professor Bounderby gravely produced his eyeglasses, strung them across +his nose, and bent to look at the flat stone projecting from between the +lips of the mummy. + +“It’s only visible in part,” he urged. “I——” + +The scout took hold of the stone, and it came away easily. It was flat +and round and covered on both sides with what seemed to be figures, or +writing in hieroglyphics. + +“Can you make it out, professor? It’s beyond me, I confess.” + +All stared at Bounderby, and at the stone which the scout placed in his +hands. + +“It’s Aztec,” Bounderby declared, when he had looked it over. The +professor was guessing, for he really did not know what it was; but as +his scholarly ability seemed to be at stake, he said “Aztec.” Perhaps he +was correct. + +“It’s certainly Aztec, Cody, Aztec picture-writing; but I can’t read +it.” + +Butler and Lawler were looking around. + +“That image above, you know, pointed to a wooden plug, and that showed +us how to make the elevator descend. There’s another plug like it over +there—somewhat like it, anyhow.” + +It was Butler who spoke. He gave this wooden pin a pull, as the scout +had done the other, with a result as startling. With a jerk and a +wheezing grind, the elevator began to ascend. + +Fritz Henselman, who had lingered in the doorway, gave a squeal of +fright, and came plunging into the room, with a jump such as a bullfrog +might have made; he had come near getting squeezed by the elevator, as +it shot up past the doorway. + +The match that had been flaming in the scout’s fingers went out, +plunging the room into darkness. All stood in silence, hearing that +grinding roar as the elevator ascended. They heard, also, the chugging +sound it made as it stopped. The silence that followed was oppressive. + +It was broken by Henselman. + +“Brofessor, ve are all dead alretty yet! Der elefator has lefd us! Vot +shall ve do?” + +The elevator had left them, they were inclosed in that small room, with +their only apparent avenue of escape the elevator well. + +Lieutenant Butler struck a match with hands that trembled. + +“That was my fault,” he said. “I was too confident—too positive. I +thought if I pulled that plug we might descend again here; in other +words, I foolishly thought this room was also an elevator. Instead of +that, the elevator which brought us here was sent back by my act.” + +The scout likewise struck a match, and Lawler did the same. + +With these matches burning, the room was plainly revealed. The door +opened into the elevator well, but when this was inspected it was seen +how impossible it was to climb out of it without ropes. The elevator +worked up and down in a rough wooden frame, but this frame could not be +ascended. Apparently the party was immured in that room of stone under +the ground. + +“Some one may use the elevator and come down here,” suggested young +Lawler. “If that should happen, we’d make him take us out of this.” + +Lieutenant Butler continued to inspect the well of the elevator, still +hoping it could be ascended, while Buffalo Bill was looking around the +room in which they were imprisoned. Bounderby was beginning to show the +terror he had so long and successfully concealed. His face was white and +drawn, and his form trembled. As for Fritz Henselman, he had never made +any pretense of bravery, and had now given way to a great fright. + +“Brofessor, ve iss all dead men!” he continued to declare, with much +monotony. + +Professor Bounderby began again to study the stone taken from the mouth +of the mummy. He was hoping to guess from the looks of the characters on +it what it said; for he, as well as the scout, was convinced that the +stone held the secret. + +Staring at the stone, and then at the dark face of the mummy, the +professor, perhaps to bolster up his courage, and certainly to make the +others think him courageous, began to apostrophize the mummy. + +“Thou lump of human clay, lifeless these hundreds of years, tell us the +meaning of this! What secret dost thou hold in that heart of dust? What +words of life and freedom are concealed behind those cracking lips? Out +with it! Spell us the message on this page of stone!” + +Buffalo Bill had made a round of the small room, without the discovery +of anything that gave hope. There was no other wooden pin, no suggestive +projection, nothing that hinted of a way out. + +“Yield up thy secret!” the professor adjured the stony-faced mummy. + +“Perhaps there is something hidden in the rags of raiment which clothe +him,” the scout ventured. + +There was a tattered blanket of Indian weave, some coarse-fibered +mummy-cloth, together with a sort of cape of matting laid over the +mummy’s shoulders. + +Buffalo Bill stooped to lift this matting, and, in doing so, +unintentionally drew the mummy toward him. It pitched forward on its +face, and behind it was a hole. + +It will be recalled that it sat in a crouching attitude in a corner of +the room. In that corner was a niche which it had filled, and that +niche, or hole, was undoubtedly a door. + +Bounderby’s mouth dropped open, so great was his astonishment. He was +for the moment so surprised that he had not a word he could say; which +was remarkable, as he usually had altogether too many words for every +occasion. The scout uttered an exclamation of amazement. + +“What is it?” cried Lawler and Lieutenant Butler in a breath. + +“A way out!” said the scout, his voice shaking with the tremendous +significance of his discovery. + +Both Lawler and Butler rushed to see, and stared into that black hole. + +The scout pitched his flaming match down into it. He thought he was to +be forced to regret this, for a flame shot upward, and this flame licked +into the little room, which began to fill with smoke. But the flame +began to die down almost at once. Then the excited discoverers found +that the match had fallen upon some mummy-cloth, which had dropped from +the back of the mummy into the open space that lay behind that little +nichelike door. + +“There is a good draft here,” said the scout, as he watched the smoke. +“And that proves one thing. Air comes through that little hole, feeding +the fire, and goes up the elevator shaft, as up a chimney. That shows +there is a way out, or, at least, a way for the air to get in.” + +Henselman staggered to his feet. + +“Dere iss a vay oudt?” he screeched. + +“I think so; we’re hoping so.” + +Henselman pushed the scout aside, and poked his head into the small +hole. But the fire flamed up again, scorching his face and hair, and he +tumbled back. + + --------------------------------------------------------- + + + + + CHAPTER XXII. + + MORE DISCOVERIES. + + +Buffalo Bill stooped and looked down into the hole, as soon as the fire +had ceased and the smoke no longer rose in a way to suffocate him. He +struck another match, which he held in his hand instead of tossing it +down. Its light showed a narrow, cramped gallery leading off into the +darkness. He announced his discovery to those behind him. + +“Of course,” said Bounderby, in his superior tone, “an elevator +descending can be expected to descend to a place where the passengers +can get out. Strange we did not think of that before!” + +“We thought of it, professor,” Butler corrected, “but we couldn’t find +that way out. But here it is, Cody has found it.” + +Henselman came to his feet again. “Brofessor, de hant pag iss gone!” he +announced, with a wail. + +“It was in your charge, Henselman! What has become of it?” + +“Der elefator took id. Ven der elefator went oop de hant pag also id +went oop. Yaw! Vat iss?” + +Butler and Lawler, not heeding this, were crowding in back of Buffalo +Bill, trying to look into the tunnel he had discovered. Professor +Bounderby took off his hat and scratched his bald head in a puzzled way. + +“Henselman, when we get back to civilization, I shall discharge you for +this bit of carelessness!” he announced with severity. “That hand bag +contains the ore specimens I have labored so hard to get, it represents +the work of nearly three weeks of dangerous toil. And now it is gone!” + +“Yaw! Id iss gone!” The rotund German waddled to the elevator well and +looked up. “But, brofessor,” he said, and his voice changed as the +thought came to him, “uff you hat peen combelled to carry dose hant pag +like me, you voult rechoice dot id is gone alretty yet. Nein?” + +The excited talk of Buffalo Bill and those with him made the professor +forget for the time the loss of that precious hand bag. He turned to +them. + +“Have you found a way out?” he asked. + +“We have found a narrow tunnel, Bounderby, and we’re hoping it will lead +us out. It runs straight through this clayey cliff, and it’s narrow; but +perhaps we can squeeze through.” + +“We’ve _got_ to squeeze through!” said Lieutenant Butler. + +“Follow me!” the scout ordered, and he tore from the mummy some of its +cloth, twisted it into a torch, which he lighted, and then, slipping +into the hole, he began to crawl along, lighting the way with that +gruesome torch, whose flame filled the narrow space with smoke, and soon +set all to coughing. + +After him came Lieutenant Butler, and then Lawler, and, following +behind, the professor and the German. + +The tunnel proved a “Fat Man’s Misery” for Henselman. He was soon in +trouble and squealing for aid. + +“Hellup!” he bellowed. “Brofessor, ton’d leafe me here. I am shtuck!” + +“But I can’t turn around to assist you, Henselman!” the professor +declared testily. “My body and legs are too long; I can’t turn in this +place. Henselman, you’ll have to help yourself!” + +The yells of the German caused Buffalo Bill and those on ahead to stop. + +“Don’t send out such howls as that, Henselman!” the scout protested. +“You’ll have us in trouble.” + +“Id iss me dot iss alretty in trouple,” said Henselman. “I am shtuck in +dis hole. I am too fad in my stummick!” + +“Henselman, squeeze along; you can make it!” the professor urged; and +seeing how difficult it was for him to get help, the fat German began to +“squeeze along,” and, with much grunting and sighing, contrived to +advance a little. + +When the scout had gone on for twenty or thirty yards he saw a faint +light. He announced the discovery to Lieutenant Butler, who was next +behind him. Then he blew out the smoking and cough-producing torch, +being glad to get rid of it. + +“We don’t know what we’ll find out there,” he explained, “and we +wouldn’t wish our light to be seen. Bounderby, tell that German to cease +his noise. We don’t know what we’re coming to now. But there is light +ahead.” + +The knowledge that light had been seen, indicating that the end of the +tunnel was being reached, had an inspiring effect on Henselman. He got +along much better after that, and with much less puffing and panting. + +“Ve vill neffer pe aple to gid back der vay we haf comed from, +brofessor,” he declared. + +“Perhaps, Henselman, we shall not want to. The only reasons I can think +of that would make me want to go back are that hand bag and the hope of +being able to understand a bit more about the mysteries we have beheld. +That stone taken from the mouth of the mummy, Henselman, I have here in +my pocket. I hope to be able to read it some time. When I deliver my +lecture——” + +But Henselman was howling again, declaring that he was stuck fast; and +what more the professor said was not heard by the others. + +The light seen by Buffalo Bill increased. He saw that he was nearing the +end of the tunnel, and that the light was sunshine coming in there. + +But, unfortunately for Henselman, the tunnel contracted still more as it +neared the end, and soon the rotund stomach of the German was having +further and continued trouble. + +When the scout gained the end, he ventured to peer out, before venturing +out himself. What he saw was as surprising as anything that had gone +before. + +A circular valley lay spread beneath him, a valley of great beauty, +embowered here and there in trees, and having in its center a large +village, which was dominated by a shining, domelike structure. + +Where there are houses people may be expected. In this case they would +supposedly be Indians, and, therefore, enemies. Thus thinking, the scout +took a good look, to make sure that no Indians were near the mouth of +the tunnel. Then he spoke to Lieutenant Butler. + +“We’re at the end,” he said. “There’s a valley here, with an Indian +village in it; at least I think it is an Indian village, though it has a +templelike structure that looks anything but Indian. Can you squeeze in +by me here and take a look at it? I fear to try to get out yet.” + +Lieutenant Butler crowded in by the side of the scout, and their bodies +so filled the narrow space that the situation was almost uncomfortable. +But what Butler saw repaid him for the pain and effort. + +“It is amazing!” he said. “I can hardly believe my eyes.” + +“An Indian village?” said the scout. + +“I can hardly think so; Indians are not given to fine architecture, and +if that central house isn’t fine architecture I miss my guess. See that +high dome in its middle, Cody! That must be a temple, and Indians are +not supposed to have temples.” + +“Some kinds of Indians have temples, or once had, and those were the +Aztecs. You recall that stone in the mouth of the mummy? The writing, or +whatever was scratched on that stone, resembled Aztec characters, as I +recall them. Can this be an Aztec city?” + +“But the old Aztecs are all dead, Cody.” + +“Very true. So far as we know, they are all dead, and their descendants +are the miserable Indians and peon class of the Mexico we know to-day. +But there may be some remaining. Remember that we don’t know where we +are. We suppose we’re in Mexico, yet we don’t even know that. Following +our compasses, which had gone crazy, we were led we know not whither, +and we have no correct idea of our location. There are strange Indian +tribes in the interior of Mexico, in some of the inaccessible mountains, +for instance. Lieutenant Butler, we can’t be sure that this is not an +Aztec city.” + +Professor Bounderby heard a portion of that, and he tried to squeeze to +the front, with the result that he and young Lawler were crowded into +space so small that soon Bounderby began to feel as pinched and squeezed +in as the German, who was still snorting his calls for help. + +“We’ll have to risk it,” said the scout to Lieutenant Butler, after a +further look round. “So, here goes!” + +He crawled with difficulty through the opening, which had pinched in +until the hole was no larger than his body, and seemed hardly so large. + +When outside, the scout was gratified to see a screen of bushes. It was +some distance off, by the side of what looked to be a highway. Yet it +pleased him to discover that when he had slipped away from the mouth of +the tunnel this bushy screen interposed between him and the houses of +the village. He drew over to that side, and Lieutenant Butler, coming +after him, did the same. + +Then Tom Lawler came crawling forth, his fine young face shining and +red, his eyes staring about with interest and eager curiosity. + +“I wonder where are we now?” he asked. + +“I’m sure I don’t know,” said Butler. “Perhaps Bounderby can tell us.” + +Bounderby’s head appeared, then his narrow shoulders and long body and +legs came into view. Behind Bounderby the German was laboriously trying +to make progress, as his sighs, groans, and exclamations showed. +Bounderby sat up, straightened his tall hat in place, and flourished a +soiled handkerchief, which he drew out to wipe his heated and now grimy +face. + +“This is—remarkable!” he declared, when he caught sight of the shining +building and the rows of white houses, the houses at that distance, many +of them, resembling cubes of snow, or salt. + +“Re-mark-able!” repeated the professor. + +The familiar notebook and familiar pencil came out, and he began to +scribble with furious haste: + +“Having crawled for a long distance through a small tunnel, we found +ourselves in the outer air again, and before us we beheld a shining +edifice which glittered in the sun as if it were of gold; and beside it, +running by streets and in squares like the houses and business blocks of +a city, were many small houses. Most of the small houses were white, +though some, at this distance, had a general dull-mud color. We could +scarcely believe we had not entered some sort of fairyland.” + +As the professor had the singular habit of reading aloud whatever he +jotted down, and while he was jotting it down, this was heard by Buffalo +Bill, and by Lawler and Lieutenant Butler. + +“A very good description,” said the scout. “Can you tell us what you +think of it, professor? What sort of a city is that? Is it a large +Indian village? And what do you make of that large house in the center? +It seems to be nearly circular, and has a very high dome.” + +“That is a temple,” declared the professor, with much certainty. + +“But Indians, unless they are Aztecs, or of some like tribe, do not +build temples!” + +“These may not be Indians, Cody. That is certainly, to judge from its +appearance, a temple, and its roof seems to be of beaten gold. The +houses are poor enough, most of them, but that temple is magnificent. +These people have put all their wealth into it, and have been content +with the little houses for themselves. That shows they are a religious +people.” + +“What I’m thinking of,” said Tom Lawler, when the professor stopped, “is +that strange beast which we followed. Did that thing get into the +elevator and come down here through this tunnel?” + +“I think it must have done so!” declared the professor. + +“Then it pulled the peg which caused the elevator to descend, and when +it got into that little room back there it toppled the old mummy forward +and crawled down into this tunnel. Is that your idea, professor?” + +Bounderby hesitated to declare that this was so; he began to see where +it would lead him. + +“If it did all those things,” Lawler went on, when Bounderby did not +reply, “then it was a man, and not a beast!” + +“But the orang-utan footprints!” the professor objected. + +“We don’t know that it was an orang-utan, professor! None of us has seen +it.” + +“That is very true,” said Bounderby, with great gravity, “but it is to +be remembered that it is not necessary to see a creature in order to +know of its existence. For instance, we may hear it howl and so judge by +the ear alone. We may discover its hiding place, and get our knowledge +from what we see there. In the present case, we judge by the footprints +which it left, and by its attack on Mr. Cody. Its tracks are those of an +animal.” + +“They are not like the tracks of a man, you mean,” the scout corrected. + +“They are not like the tracks of a man, and the luminous glare of its +eyes as it looked down at you indicated also that it is an animal.” + +“I do not think I said the eyes were luminous, but only that they seemed +fierce and fiery. It’s hard to get a word to describe them, or their +effect on me. They might have been the eyes of a man.” + +“There’s a sort of mist rising over in that direction,” said Lawler. +“It’s beyond what looks to be a road. I wonder what causes it?” + +“We’ll see,” said the scout. “I think there is a waterfall, or swift +stream there.” + + --------------------------------------------------------- + + + + + CHAPTER XXIII. + + AN AMAZING DISCLOSURE. + + +They crawled away from the hole that had given them entrance into the +beautiful and mysterious valley, sheltering their movements from +possible observers by the screen of the trees. + +When they approached the trees they found a broad highway, which seemed +to be much traveled. The trees were on each side of it, and made a +shade. + +Beyond the highway rose the thin mist mentioned by the boy, and as they +came nearer to it they heard the sound of water. They found also that +the tree-fringed highway skirted the edge of a high bluff, this bluff +forming on that side the rim of the valley which held the village and +the shining temple. + +As they drew near this bluff and looked down over its upper rim, they +beheld a fascinating sight. + +The valley more than ever resembled a cup—a cup of emerald, with its rim +represented by low, clifflike walls that ran almost wholly around it. +The center of the valley was occupied by a sparkling lake, and the +stream which they had heard, and which now they saw, flowed into this +lake and apparently flowed out again on the opposite side. As strange as +anything connected with the stream was that it seemed to issue from +under the highway; in fact, they could fancy that they were directly +over it at certain points in their journey thither. + +“I think that stream explains one thing that has puzzled me,” said +Buffalo Bill. + +“And what is that?” asked Bounderby. + +“The elevator. I have wondered what ran it—where the power came from. It +must come from that stream, which seems to flow under the rock walls at +about the point where that elevator stands.” + +“I see! Nevertheless, it was a remarkable piece of work for Indians. Yet +not half so remarkable as the rearing of that temple.” He stared off at +the shining dome of the building they called the temple. “Can it be +possible, Cody, that the people who constructed that are Indians?” + +“I think there is no doubt of it.” + +“I wonder,” said Lieutenant Butler, “if Miss Fernald can be alive and +down in that village?” + +“I’m wondering if the beast that Professor Bounderby says is an +orang-utan can be down there?” remarked Tom Lawler. + +Buffalo Bill’s hand fell on the arm of Lieutenant Butler, to call his +attention. + +“Hark!” + +All listened. Then the silence was broken by the shrill scream of +fifelike instruments, with heavier, reedy notes, and the thump of drums. + +The sounds came from the upper end of the valley, to which, until this +moment, they had not given much attention. Lifting their heads and +craning their necks, they soon saw the front of a strange procession +come into view. + +Just below the rim of the valley on which they rested, and between it +and the waters of the lake, was another highway, even more beaten than +the upper one, and it was on that highway the procession had appeared. + +At the head of the procession were the fifers and drum-beaters and a +group of fantastic figures that danced and leaped, waving their arms +wildly, and now and then shouting singular cries. + +“It is a religious procession of some sort,” said Bounderby. + +Behind the musicians and dancers came other figures as fantastic, some +carrying fluttering banners. And now a great chanting chorus rose on the +air, which changed occasionally to a wailing song that had a peculiarly +heartrending intonation. + +“One would think they are mourning for the dead,” said the scout, when +he heard it. + +More and more Indians came into view, as the procession began to stretch +out along the highway. + +It was observed now that the end of this highway appeared to be at or +near the glittering temple which had attracted so much attention. All +around the temple and within its doors people were gathered. + +Bounderby had his pencil and notebook out and was scribbling furiously. +As usual, he spoke the words aloud as he set them down: + +“Having penetrated to the hidden valley by the strange manner already +recorded, and viewed the shining temple and the snow-white huts, we +heard sounds of strange music, and beheld at the valley’s farther end a +singular procession. It appeared on the road that led by the beautiful, +tree-shaded lakelet which is in the center of the valley. Many of the +villagers were grouped within and close by the great temple. Toward it +the procession was moving, thus declaring to us that what we saw and +heard concerned the temple and had a religious significance. It is well +known that the ancient Aztecs were a highly religious people, and we +concluded that we had here found a remnant of that ancient race, hidden +in these distant hills, still untouched and uncontaminated by +civilization, and practicing all their ancient rites and customs.” + +He held the book and the pencil between his fingers and stared at the +moving body of people, the head of which was now near the lake and +almost in front of their post of observation. + +“Cody,” he said, “this is really the most remarkable thing I ever met in +all my varied experience! We are no doubt watching a religious +ceremonial of the ancient Aztecs, and if we could but penetrate to that +temple and see the people there after this procession has reached it, I +have no doubt we should behold things so strange that they would +astonish us and the world. I wish it were possible to get there.” + +“It would be at the sacrifice of our lives, if we tried it,” was the +declaration of the experienced scout. + +“No doubt it would, but one could almost be willing to die, to witness a +scene such as that.” + +A sort of fervor inspired the words of the professor. When the scout +glanced at him he saw that Bounderby’s face was flushed to a deep red +and that his eyes held a strange and far-away gaze of anxious desire. +The professor was eccentric, loved the sound of his own voice, was quite +boastful, and possessed an unwarranted opinion of himself, yet he was +also learned in his way, and an honest delver after obscure and stray +bits of knowledge lying along the lines of his specialty. + +Again the scout, looking at the procession, touched the arm of +Lieutenant Butler. + +“Yes, I see!” said Butler, in answer. + +A silken pavilion, partly inclosed, had come into view in the center of +that long line of marching men, a pavilion borne on men’s shoulders, and +so constructed that it was hoisted high over their heads and was in full +view of all the people. As the pavilion was thus carried past certain +groups that stood on the sides of the highway these latter lifted their +voices in mighty shouting. + +“Some conquering hero comes!” said Lieutenant Butler. + +“I should say it is the high priest borne thus aloft,” said Professor +Bounderby, whose interest and excitement were constantly growing. He +snatched up his pencil and notebook and began again to set down what he +saw. + +“The chief priest, or the chief of the tribe, or the king,” said the +scout, venturing a guess. “Hear the people shout as he passes them!” + +The watchers were so eager to see all that they nearly forgot the danger +they might be in, as they thrust up their heads and craned their necks, +trying to get good views of everything. They had crawled forth to the +very limit of the trees, so that they were close upon the edge of the +cliff there, and at times, as they thus poked forth their heads, they +might have been seen if any of the people below had chanced to look in +that direction. But the excited inhabitants of the valley were too much +interested in what they were themselves doing to give a thought, +apparently, to anything else. + +That silken pavilion continued to attract attention and comment. As it +came nearer the watchers on the cliff were able to see that the one who +occupied it was in a reclining position. When it swung around at a bend +in the highway, giving a view of its open side, Buffalo Bill turned upon +it his binoculars, which he had already been using, though to small +purpose so far. An involuntary cry was drawn from his lips. + +“What is it?” said Butler. + +Without a word the binoculars were passed to the lieutenant. The scout’s +face had suddenly paled. When Lieutenant Butler took a look through +those powerful glasses he not only echoed the cry of the great scout, +but he let the glasses fall out of his hands, so startled was he by what +he beheld. + +Young Lawler caught up the glasses and trained them on the pavilion. + +“Great heavens!” he said. “It’s Miss Fernald!” + +That was the sight beheld by Buffalo Bill and the lieutenant—Miss Emily +Fernald, the missing girl, in that pavilion, in a reclining position, +and with thick ropes upon her, showing that she was bound. + +The knowledge that the girl whom they had been so long and laboriously +seeking was in the pavilion thrilled the whole party. + +“You say it is Miss Fernald. As soon as the glass revealed her I judged +that.” + +Professor Bounderby snatched the binoculars out of the hands of Tom +Lawler and turned them on the young woman. + +“This is—terrible, Cody—terrible!” he whispered. “She is a prisoner, +without doubt—a helpless prisoner. Ah! now I understand the mystery of +that procession, of that music, of that shouting; the girl is to be +sacrificed in that temple, by those Indians!” + +“We’ve _got_ to rescue her!” said Tom Lawler, almost shouting the words. +“We can’t permit that, you know!” + +Lieutenant Butler seemed too dazed to speak for the moment. But finally +he found his voice. + +“What can we do, Cody?” he asked helplessly. “I don’t doubt she is to be +sacrificed. But what can we do? I’m ready for anything, if a way of +rescuing her can be found.” + +“We are but a small handful,” said Bounderby, “and down there are +hundreds of Indians, who are worked up to a great pitch of religious +enthusiasm. If we should go down there we would but meet the fate that +is to be the portion of the poor girl.” + +“If we had a hundred men,” said Lieutenant Butler; “if we had but fifty, +we could charge into their midst, and perhaps accomplish something. But, +as it is!” + +His face was pale as death, and his eyes, when he turned them helplessly +on the scout, were seen to be bloodshot. His agony was piteous to see. +He had known and admired Emily Fernald, and even some warmer feeling +stirred in his heart of hearts. So that it was like death to him to see +what he now witnessed. + +“But what can we do?” he wailed. + +“I don’t know just what we can do,” said Buffalo Bill, “but we’ve got to +do something.” + +“That’s right!” cried Tom Lawler, his face flaming. “We’ve got to do +something.” + +He clutched his revolver with a feverish grip, and the fire of +recklessness burned in his fine face. + +Yet, truly, they seemed powerless to do anything. + + --------------------------------------------------------- + + + + + CHAPTER XXIV. + + UNSELFISH HEROISM. + + +Buffalo Bill’s heroic determination to save the girl from the terrible +fate awaiting her took shape quickly in action. Indeed, if anything was +to be done, it appeared that it must be done at once, for after she was +in that temple there was no knowing how speedily the bloody purpose of +these people would be accomplished. + +“I am going down there!” was the scout’s simple declaration, when he had +given a moment or two to inquiring of himself whether anything but the +most direct method promised hope. + +“We’ll go with you!” said Tom Lawler. + +Lieutenant Butler was as ready and willing to go as young Lawler. But +Professor Bounderby hesitated, and Fritz Henselman very promptly showed +the white feather. + +“Vat iss?” cried Henselman. “Uff dose Inchuns iss going to ead dot girl, +vy shoult ve led dem ead us also unt likevise?” + +“They are not going to eat her. Henselman!” corrected Bounderby. + +“Nein? Vat iss?” + +“We fear they are going to sacrifice her.” + +“Dot iss nod eading, eh?” + +“Certainly not, Henselman. They will slay her as an offering to their +gods, that is all.” + +“Dot iss all? Dot iss enough, ain’d id? I voult yoost as soon pe cooked +unt eaden as to be saccerivised. Ve petter sday righd here.” + +“I—I think I should prefer to stay, myself,” Bounderby confessed. “We +could remain here and watch this exit, to see that the Indians do not +block it; so that our friends, if they succeed in effecting the rescue +of the young lady, may have a way open to retreat.” + +“Dis exid!” said Henselman. “Vat iss?” + +“That hole back there is what I refer to, it is an exit.” + +“Oh, dot! Yaw! Ve vill sday here und keep dot hole open. Uff an Inchun +goes indo id I vill shood heem.” + +He clawed at his revolver and waved it so nervously that Buffalo +Bill asked him to put it down. The scout was making hurried +preparations—seeing that his revolvers were loaded and that his +cartridges were where he could get at them readily. + +“I am willing to go alone,” he said, “and it may be better that I +should. We haven’t force enough to fight those fellows, and one might +accomplish as much as if all went.” + +Lieutenant Butler looked at him earnestly. + +“I see, Cody, that you rather expect to lose your life down there in a +mad attempt to rescue that girl. It’s fine of you, but if you go, I go +with you, for I am willing to die in an effort to save her.” + +“Here, too!” cried Lawler. “Mr. Cody, we’ll back you in anything you +try.” + +“Ve petter all retread for de exid,” Henselman urged. “Vat iss? Uff ve +are caughd here dis highway in, we shall all be kilt, eenyhow. Id is +dancherous to be lifin’ so close by dis highway, vere beoples vat ve +ton’d vant to see may be coming along at any minute.” + +“You can retreat, Henselman, you and Bounderby, if you choose. And +perhaps it’s as well if you do. You can get outside, and that will make +you safe.” + +“But dose magnedic needles are crazy made by dose magnedic moundains!” +protested Henselman. “Nopody can travel py dem. Vot vill ve do? For de +sky is clouding ofer again.” + +Buffalo Bill had made his preparations. “Now I’m ready,” he said to +Lieutenant Butler. “If you choose to go, lieutenant, I shall be glad to +have you do so, but I shan’t blame you if you stay. The chances, I +confess, are not good, but something must be tried. So, I am going.” + +Butler rose to his feet, and so did young Lawler. + +“We’ll go with you!” cried the latter, showing a courage undaunted. + +“Fortunately,” said the scout, “the attention of those Indians is +attracted to the procession and the temple; not one has even looked in +this direction. We may be able to get to the temple without discovery, +if we’re careful.” + +He walked to the rim of the bluff and looked down, and the next moment, +having clutched some bushes which grew there, he was sliding over. +Butler and young Tom Lawler followed him. + +When they reached lower ground, where bushes again screened them, they +discovered that Professor Bounderby and Fritz Henselman were coming. + +“Just slow up a minute,” called Bounderby. “I think I’d rather take the +risks with you than to stay here. Henselman and I have just sighted a +body of men coming along that highway, and the chances of being seen by +them are good. So we’re going with you. I think those men are seeking +the exit.” + +Buffalo Bill and those with him stood in the bushes at the foot of the +cliff, while Bounderby and Henselman slid down, the latter puffing and +groaning. + +“Py yiminy,” said Henselman, as he struck solid ground, “id is a lucky +ding for me dot dose elefator carried avay dot hant pag; I ton’d had to +carry it any longer! I pidy you vellers vot has to carry dot sunlight +telegraph!” + +“We haven’t been seen, I believe,” said Bounderby, taking courage. + +Buffalo Bill was already moving on, followed by Butler and Lawler. +Henselman and the professor came right after them now, seeming to feel +safer by keeping close at their heels. + +The scout hugged the cliff wall, where a screen of bushes grew, as he +moved hastily in the direction of the temple. The head of the procession +was close up to the shining building now. + +The scout burrowed a way through the bushes with practiced ease, making +at the same time a pathway for those who came after him. + +The sounds of the shrill music and the wild shouting of the Indians +drowned the noise made by the scout and his companions in their hurried +passage. + +At intervals Buffalo Bill and those with him looked out at the Indians. +They saw the head of the procession reach and enter the temple, then, +before they came opposite the building, they saw the silken pavilion +approaching the great shining door. Fortunately for the scout’s purpose, +the trees continued almost up to the temple itself on that side. + +Rapidly as the scout moved, the fact that he could not go straight ahead +hampered his progress, and he saw the pavilion carried through the +golden door of the temple. His fears increased when he beheld that. He +broke into a run, which took him so rapidly on that in a few minutes he +was at the outer limits of the trees. + +At panting pace his companions followed. + +The scout looked out. He had a good view of the big door through which +the pavilion had been carried. All around it Indians were grouped, most +of them shouting. The fifing and the drum-beating rose in a very fury of +sound, mingling with the shouting. The people were in a frenzy. + +“There is just one chance,” said the scout, as he thus looked out. “I +can make a run up to the door, and then fight my way into the temple. If +anything is accomplished it will have to be done as a surprise. If I can +reach the girl’s side perhaps I can get out of the temple with her. I +shall expect you to remain in hiding here, ready to rush forth to my aid +as soon as I appear with her. + +“If I do not come out, you will know that I have been killed or am a +prisoner. After that you will have to make your own plans and govern +yourself by them. Yet, if I fail, I think it will be useless for you to +try to get into the temple, it will be wisdom for you to retreat as fast +as you can, for my effort will have aroused the Indians.” + +Cody drew a revolver and clicked the cylinder around to see that it was +in working order. The fire of heroic resolution was in his face. + +“We’ll go in with you, if you say!” said young Lawler. His chest was +heaving from his quick run, and his eyes were glittering with +excitement. He was a hero, too, youthful as he was. + +Bounderby was trembling with excitement and fear, and Henselman seemed +on the borders of a physical and mental collapse. The scout paid scant +attention to them, however. + +“Cody,” said Bounderby, “I have been trying to explain to myself how a +young lady captured by an orang-utan happens to be here in the power of +these Aztecs. But my logic fails me. My premises are either wrong, or——” + +“Be ready for my reappearance in the temple door,” said the scout, +speaking to Butler and Lawler. “I’m sure I shall need your aid, if I am +fortunate enough to get that far with the young lady.” + +So saying, he stepped boldly forth, for the bushes gave no further +cover, and an instant later he was running with soft footsteps in the +direction of the golden door of the temple. + +Not an Indian turned to look in his direction. All were staring at the +door, beyond which apparently the common people were not permitted to +go. + +Within the doorway were a number of brilliantly dressed figures, whose +feathered headdress and glittering armlets, together with the gold +ornaments on their barbaric clothing, made them conspicuous. But even +these were looking into the temple, and not out, so that they did not +see the approach of the scout. + +A thick fringe of Indians stood between the scout and the door. They +were the spectators, in holiday attire, though in many cases their +clothing consisted of little more than a wonderful application of paint +and feathers. + +Into this fringe the daring scout sprang like a football player going at +a line of opposing players. He knocked over some of the Indians, whom he +could not get around, sprang past the others, and the next moment was +running toward the glittering door. + +A wild bellowing yell broke from the lips of the Indians. Unheeding +this, the daring scout gained the doorway with quick, springy leaps, and +startled the brilliant figures there by dashing past them and going +straight on into the building. + +It was in many respects a gorgeous edifice, barbaric in splendor, which +the scout had thus invaded. He saw that as soon as he had passed through +the doorway. Its walls of stone and mud were painted and carved with +strange scrolls and figures of men and animals, and its pillared +interior was lighted from above by an opening that let in a flood of +sunlight. + +At the side of the room the silken pavilion had been halted. The scout +did not even look at it. It was empty. But his eyes fell on the figure +of the girl he was risking his life to save. She had been laid, bound, +on a sacrificial stone which no doubt had witnessed the death of +thousands of victims. Around her were gathered the priests, some of them +bearing the sacrificial knives. The girl’s face was pale as death, and +her eyes were closed, that she might not see the knives that were ready +to slay her. She had long before lost all hope. + +Buffalo Bill knew as soon as he saw that bound figure on the sacrificial +stone that he had been right in all his surmises concerning the purpose +of the Indians. This was, he saw, really an Aztec temple. Strange as it +seemed, these were Aztecs, worshiping according to their ancient custom, +which demanded human sacrifices. He was to know later that this was the +temple and the town of Zataclin, and that the priests and the people +considered themselves a superior order of beings, far removed from the +common Indians of Mexico, of whom, in truth, however, they had very +little knowledge. + +The cries of the painted and feathered men in the doorway attracted the +attention of the priests gathered around the sacrificial stone. +Something had happened to cause such an outcry, they knew. They turned, +to behold the heroic scout. + +Buffalo Bill caught up the form of the girl from the sacrificial stone +and with defiant attitude faced the bloody priests of Zataclin. + + --------------------------------------------------------- + + + + + CHAPTER XXV. + + A HEROIC EFFORT. + + +If Buffalo Bill had been given time, or had possessed the inclination, +to take note of those priests, he would at least have been interested. +Their faces were unnaturally red, with a coating of red paint, their +clothing, such as they wore, glittered with gold ornaments, on their +arms were shining gold armlets, and on their heads crowns of painted +plumes. + +The girl opened her eyes when she felt herself caught up from the +sacrificial stone, and then, seeing that she was in the arms of a white +man, she screamed. + +Wild yells came from the doorway, which was filling with Indians, yet +the priests fell back before the fiery, defiant eyes of the scout. + +With the girl in his arms, he moved toward the door. The venture was so +desperate that he did not know how it would terminate. To take stock of +the chances against him was to court weakness. + +“Stand back!” he said, speaking in English. + +Though their knives were drawn, the startled priests fell back before +him. They were muttering and crying out. The very daring of the thing +was telling in his favor. They were shocked by the sacrilegiousness of +this singular attempt to rescue from the sacrificial stone a being who +had been devoted to the gods. No doubt they expected that the angry gods +would strike down this intruder. + +Yet the thing which really was working most in the scout’s favor was +that these priests had never seen a white man before, and, until her +capture, they had never seen a white woman. They had heard of them, as +half-mythical creatures, and there were in the village men who claimed +to have seen them, and to have penetrated to a land where white men +swarmed like ants. Yet these priests had never until this minute looked +into the face of a white man. Hidden away in that cuplike valley, ringed +in by mountains, far in an unknown land, they had remained Aztecs in +everything, even as their forefathers were. + +Buffalo Bill guessed something of this, when he saw the terror and +wonder working in the faces of the priests. + +“Stand back!” he shouted, for he trusted they would understand the tone, +if not the words. + +But when he tried to pass out through that shining door he was pressed +upon by Indians who were determined to resist this, by Indians who were +not willing to have the temple invaded and the victim taken from the +stone of sacrifice and from under the very knives of the sacred priests. + +Buffalo Bill whipped out his revolver. + +The girl had fainted, fortunately, and lay as if dead in his arms. + +“Stand back!” cried the scout, and he swung the revolver round. + +But there was a rush, as those in front tried to seize him, while a very +frenzy of clamorous sound arose. + +Then the scout’s revolver spoke, its report booming like thunder within +those temple walls. The man who had sought to stop him uttered a cry of +pain and bewilderment, and fell backward, his arm broken and dropping +helpless at his side. + +The effect of that revolver shot was unexpected even by the scout. + +Wild cries of fright rose within the doorway and beyond it, where the +packed Indians struggled now to gain the open air, and the men close by +the scout, stunned apparently by the concussion of that revolver +explosion, threw themselves face downward on the temple floor. + +The way was open. At a bound the daring scout cleared it, reaching the +outer steps of the temple. As he did this, the girl struggled in his +arms, unconscious that she was hampering him. + +The scout held her on his strong left arm, and clutched with his right +hand his revolver. + +Before him was a mass of Indians falling back out of his way. Behind him +in the temple he heard voices wailing. Nearer at hand were those +prostrate figures that had dropped to the temple floor when the revolver +roared its defiant message. + +The scout was looking beyond the crowd toward the trees where he +expected to behold his friends in waiting, and was surprised that he did +not see them there. He ran down the steps, for delays were dangerous, +determined to fight his way through the compacted mass of Indians. + +In this moment, when it seemed the path was hopelessly blocked, he +recalled how a single soldier of Cortez, pitted against the Aztecs of +his own day, had been equal to hundreds of them. + +“Stand back!” he commanded again, as he passed down the temple steps. + +The Indians near him tried to fall back, but those behind prevented +them, and the result was a wild jumble and scramble of crowding Indians, +that filled up every avenue of escape. + +At this juncture, there was a wild American yell, the packed Indians in +front of the scout were thrown apart, and through the opening thus made +came Lieutenant Butler and Tom Lawler, with Bounderby and the German at +their heels. It was something like a football wedge splitting open an +opposing eleven. + +The four white men had broken the line there by force of the surprise +more than by the mere battering strength with which they had hit it. But +the line closed instantly behind them and seemed to become more tightly +packed than before. + +They gained the side of the scout. Turning, with drawn revolvers, +Lieutenant Butler and young Lawler placed themselves by him. Bounderby +tried to line up with them, but Fritz Henselman made no such heroic +effort. He had only come because he was afraid to stay, and he now ran +behind Butler, and tried to crouch down. When he saw that Indians were +coming from the other direction as well, his plight became pitiable. + +The path of least resistance seemed to lie close along the temple wall +now, and the scout and his daring comrades took it. But no sooner had +they started along the wall than the Indians began to close in upon +them, as if gaining courage. + +“We shall have to fight our way through,” said Butler, flourishing his +revolver. “Just give the word, Cody. We’ll have to down these fellows.” + +“Fire a shot now and then, but do not shoot anybody unless you have to, +and then shoot only to wound,” were the scout’s instructions. “We don’t +want to enrage them. What we want to try to do is to scare them.” + +He shot a bullet into the ground at his feet, and as it tore up the +earth and the sound broke on their ears, the Indians fell back before +him as if in amazement. + +Seeing the effect, Lawler and Lieutenant Butler began to imitate him, +with the same effect. + +The Indians fell back, yet they did not vanish; they merely kept two or +three yards away, as if they feared more than anything else the powder +smoke and the earth that flew about when the bullets struck the ground. + +“We’ll have to fight our way through,” said Lieutenant Butler, and +Buffalo Bill was beginning to think this offered the only hope. + +Then the unexpected happened. + +A bag resembling a huge fishing seine dropped over them with a swishing +sound, and instantly it so entangled them that they were helpless. It +wrapped around their arms and their legs, enveloped their heads and +necks, and closed about their heads and faces in smothering folds. + +Buffalo Bill understood the nature of this trap at once, and he tried to +draw his knife to cut his way through it, but the clinging net so held +his hands that he could not quickly get out his knife. He stumbled and +fell as he tried to walk, and the girl he had been carrying dropped to +the ground. She tried to rise, but, her feet being caught in the net, +she, too, was entangled. + +Henselman was yelling for assistance like a madman, as he clawed and +sputtered and tried to push back the folds of the strange thing that had +fallen upon him. + +The Indians were not idle. They swarmed forward as soon as they saw the +white men caught in the clinging folds of the net, and throwing +themselves boldly upon them, they held them down. + +Hundreds of Indians were all around the net. Escape was impossible. The +white men were trapped. + + --------------------------------------------------------- + + + + + CHAPTER XXVI. + + INDIANS AND PRISONERS. + + +The red priests of Zataclin had not been thrown long into confusion, nor +had they permitted their superstitious fears to keep them from taking +prompt action against the daring invader of the temple. + +Around the upper floor of the temple ran an inside gallery, which at +intervals opened on an outer gallery. + +To the inner gallery they rushed as soon as they discovered that the +white man had escaped from the temple with the captive. They yelled to +the people below, urging them to crowd the white men close up against +the walls, yells which the white men heard without comprehending their +meaning. + +The people obeyed, forcing them along the wall, so that they were +brought under the priests on the gallery. Then at the opportune moment +the priests flung down that big net which enmeshed the white men and +made them prisoners. + +In a very few minutes the entire party of white men and the woman were +captives in the hands of the howling inhabitants of Zataclin. Instead of +being tied, they were simply dragged along enmeshed in the net—dragged +back to the wide door of the temple, and then dragged on inside. The +Indians yelled shrilly, and the priests who superintended this curious +method, shouted loud commands. + +When within the temple, the ends of the net were caught up by scores of +hands, and the net and those within it were lifted bodily and borne up a +broad stairway into a room. Having been pulled into this room, the +prisoners were dropped to the floor, still swathed in the binding folds +of the net. Then a heavy door was closed on them and they were left +alone. Beyond the closed door they heard the Indians yelling fiendishly. + +It was as strange a capture as was ever made; the prisoners were like +snared birds. For a few moments after their rough usage they could do +nothing but lie panting on the floor. At length Buffalo Bill got out his +knife, after prodigious effort, and began to cut the cords of the net. +He called to the other men to do the same, and they, too, got out their +knives and began to slash at the net. + +Not a weapon or other bit of property belonging to the white men had +been touched. Perhaps the Indians feared to touch the things the white +men had in their possession, since the strange fire sticks had the power +to inflict wounds and to make that thunderous roar and spout deadly +smoke. + +It took Buffalo Bill but a moment to free himself, and then he began to +cut the cords that held Miss Fernald. + +The girl had swooned again under her rough treatment, and the scout and +Lieutenant Butler were trying to restore her. She was not long +unconscious. When she was helped to her feet, and Lieutenant Butler led +her to a couch by the wall, the couch being formed of the coats of the +men, she tried to smile her gratitude, yet urged them not to take so +much trouble for her. She looked earnestly at the famous scout, whom she +recognized with intense gratitude, for she was aware that it was he who +had so daringly invaded the temple to release her. + +Within their close prison they listened to the ominous sounds outside. + +“There is one thing,” said the scout, as he fingered his trusty +revolver, “they have favored us greatly by letting us keep our weapons. +We can hold a regiment at bay here.” + +“But they can starve us out without much trouble,” said Lieutenant +Butler. + +Young Lawler was walking slowly round the room, studying its +configuration. + +“There is a hole up there, where the light and air come in,” he said. +“There may be something above it.” + +“If we could get up there we should be only that much farther from the +ground,” suggested Lieutenant Butler, and, acting upon that suggestion, +the scout studied the opening in the roof of the room. + +“We can get up there, if we think it best,” he said. “We can make ropes +out of the cords of this net, and use them to climb with. That part will +be easy enough. I fancy we shall want to see where that hole will lead.” + +Seeing that she had recovered somewhat, Lieutenant Butler began to ask +questions of Miss Fernald. Soon they heard her story. She had wandered +forth for a stroll, and had got turned around, as they had supposed, and +lost herself; after that she had wandered on and on in a vain endeavor +to find the camp. While crossing the sandy area where they had seen her +footprints, she had been pounced upon by a hideous creature. + +“An orang-utan!” said Professor Bounderby, with the accent of positive +knowledge. “It must have frightened you very much.” + +“It frightened me almost to death,” she said, “but he was not an +orang-utan.” + +“No?” he cried. “Not an orang-utan?” He got out his pencil and notebook. +“What was it, then?” + +All were now bending to listen. + +“My dear young lady, if it was not an orang-utan, what kind of beast was +it?” + +“It was a man.” + +“Not a beast, but a man! That is impossible. We saw its footprints, +and——” + +“It was a gnarled, bent man, hump-shouldered, with very large, long +arms, and twisted, naked feet like claws. And he was an Indian, though +he did not wear paint nor feathers, his clothing was simply some skins +sewed loosely together. When he pounced on me, I fainted. But I regained +consciousness by the time we reached the high bluffs that encircle this +valley. + +“In those bluffs was an opening, which held a queer elevator, and down +that elevator and through a black tunnel he took me. When we came out I +saw this valley and this temple, with the houses. + +“I was so frightened that when he ordered me on I did not try to resist. +I was helpless, and I think I was nearly crazy. He brought me to this +temple, and here I was placed in a room somewhat like this. To-day I was +tied, taken out, put in a pavilion that men carried on their shoulders, +and set in the midst of a vast procession. When we got to the temple +again, I discovered that I was to be murdered—killed by the priests as a +sacrifice to their gods.” + +Her face grew paler at the recollection of her experience, and she +closed her eyes as if to shut it out of her mind. She opened them, and +went on with her story. + +“And then this brave man came—this man whom you call Buffalo Bill, the +American scout. The rest you know.” + +Bounderby still held his notebook and pencil. The professor’s thirst for +knowledge seemed to make him forget his position and danger. + +“Tell me,” he urged, “about this queer dwarf who captured you. Did you +particularly observe his feet?” + +“I noticed them—they were gnarled and twisted, as if they had been cut +and subjected to torture. I never saw feet like them.” She closed her +eyes again and shuddered. “But there are others here like him,” she +added. “Another just like him, or nearly like him, brought food to me in +my prison, and when I looked out—there were bars in my prison—I saw +still others.” + +“More dwarfs of that kind!” cried Bounderby, so astonished that he +neglected to use his pencil. “Perhaps we have found here a race of queer +dwarfs.” + +“I should not call them dwarfs,” she corrected. “They were as large as +any of the other Indians, only they were knotted and twisted, and they +walked bent over. And they were clothed differently from the other +Indians.” + +“Re-mark-able!” said Bounderby. “Simply past all belief.” + +“Yet it is but the truth.” + +“My dear young lady, I do not doubt your word; I mean, it is simply so +strange that it staggers the imagination.” Then he began to write +furiously in his notebook, talking out the words as he set them down. +“Remarkable!” he said, as he concluded. “Re-mark-able!” + + --------------------------------------------------------- + + + + + CHAPTER XXVII. + + THE AZTEC SLAVES. + + +While Miss Fernald was still telling her strange story and Professor +Bounderby was indulging in his characteristic comments, there was a +sound of dragging footsteps beyond the closed door. + +“One of those strange men, I believe!” said the girl. + +“Perhaps if he opens that door we can get out!” suggested Tom Lawler, +and in a moment he drew his revolver. + +“No shooting!” said the scout. “The less we do of that, the better, I +think. Our peril is great enough without adding to it.” + +“But you mean to get away if you can?” + +“Certainly, and we may do some shooting, for the purpose of frightening +these Indians.” + +He arose and laid hand on his revolver. + +All watched the door, and saw it fly open. The space beyond was crowded +with feathered and painted Indians, but at the door was a strange +man-beast creature, answering to the girl’s description of the man who +had captured her. He had a skin robe cast loosely about his crooked +shoulders, and he bent and shambled as he walked. The Indians behind him +pushed him on into the room, and immediately closed the door after him. + +The scout looked curiously at the twisted feet as the man shuffled in. +The hands were as twisted and gnarled as the feet, and his face was +seamed and scarred as if it had been touched by fire or hacked with +knives. He cowered, stopping close by the wall, and looking out under +bushy brows at the prisoners in the room. His eyes were crafty and +bloodshot. He spoke, but in words they could not understand. + +Professor Bounderby pushed forward, staring at the man. In his +excitement he had forgotten his pencil and notebook. + +“One of those words sounded like a Maya word, used by certain of the +Indians of Yucatan. I spent a year in Yucatan, studying the ruined +cities, and I learned something of the Mayan language at that time.” + +He began to speak in queer words to the knotted and bowed man before +him. + +The effect was remarkable. The man looked at him, the light of +understanding in his bloodshot eyes, and then he answered. + +The professor was so delighted he could have danced. His face flushed +and his eyes glittered. + +“He understands Maya, in a manner,” he said. “It seems that these +Indians are a branch of the Mayas, or the Mayas are a branch of this +tribe. All are united with the ancient Aztecs.” + +Having stopped long enough to make this explanation, he began again, and +for five minutes he poured out a stream of strange words, receiving +answers. He had set the bowed figure to talking at a great rate. The +professor listened, still forgetful of his precious notebook. + +“Well, if this isn’t remarkable!” he said. “The mystery is unraveled. +This will make my lecture a success—a prodigious success. The name of +Professor Felix Bounderby will be known throughout the whole scientific +world because of this. It will——” + +“Remember, Professor Bounderby, that we are dying with curiosity to know +what he has been telling you,” the scout reminded. + +Bounderby had been fishing for his notebook, but his hand stopped its +fumbling. + +“Very true!” he cried. “Let me tell you his remarkable story; and if you +do not say it is wonderful, I am mistaken. + +“This poor man”—he pointed at the bowed form—“is the victim, I may say, +of the religion of these people. They are Aztecs, who have never been in +touch with white men; here in this valley they have lived century after +century, practicing their ancient religion. They believe that they are +children of the gods, and their priests trace descent from a great god +whose name was Zataclin. They call themselves Zataclins, and Zataclin is +the name of their city here. + +“This poor man, and others here who are like him, are slaves; they are +not of the race of these Aztecs, but belong to a tribe that lives beyond +the mountains, who have had some intercourse with white men. Now and +then that tribe and the Aztecs of this city are at war. Prisoners taken +by these Aztecs are subjected to tortures which transform them into +horrible monsters of the kind you see before you. After that they are +held as slaves, and are treated with great indignity. + +“This miserable man tells me that one of his fellow slaves, being out in +the hills, saw the white girl. He was not as ignorant of the existence +of white men as are the Aztecs; he had seen many of them before he was +made a prisoner and held here. When he beheld this girl, it occurred to +him that by capturing her and taking her to the priests he might gain +their favor, and that is why he did it. He tried to make them think she +had been sent here in some miraculous manner. + +“As it chanced, the day of her capture fell on the day of a great +religious feast, and there had been a prophecy that at some time the +gods would send for a sacrifice on that feast day a creature so +beautiful that her offering up on the sacrificial stone would be more +acceptable than any ever made before. + +“Her capture tallied with that prophecy, and they proceeded to celebrate +it in a manner worthy of so great an event. We chanced to see a part of +that celebration, and fortunately were in time to rescue her.” + +“Vat iss?” groaned Henselman, who sat humped against the wall, up to +this time in disconsolate silence. “She vill pe saccervised, eenyhow, +unt ve vill pe saccervised mit her. Ve are all dead men togedder.” + +“This poor man tells me” Bounderby continued, “that the Aztecs here +feared to enter this room, because of the fire sticks which make so much +noise and strike men down, and so they forced him to enter. He brings a +message. If we will surrender the young lady, so that she may be +sacrificed in accordance with that old prophecy, we will be permitted to +depart unharmed.” + +Henselman rocked eagerly forward. “Bud can ve trusd dem?” he wailed. +“Aber ve do dot voult dey led us go free?” + +“I suppose you’d accept such an offer?” cried young Lawler, in scorn. +“By gad, I never saw such a contemptible coward as you, in all my life!” + +The young woman had started up. + +“It will be best to do as he says,” she declared, her face pale as +death. “You cannot escape from this place. If you do not agree all of +you will be killed, while if you surrender me you can go. My life will +be lost anyway, even if you stay.” + +“Never!” cried the scout, with stern determination. “If we must, we will +all die here together.” + +“Bud I am nod vanting to die alretty yet!” wailed the unhappy German. +“Tell dose mans for me dot I accept.” + +“Tell him,” said the scout, “that we cannot accept the offer. And tell +him that our fire sticks not only make smoke and noise and wound men, +but that they kill them, and that we will fight here to the death, if +they do not let us go. Give him that message.” + +“Aye, give it to him straight!” cried Lieutenant Butler. “Tell him they +can have this Dutch pig here, crammed full of bullets, for a burnt +offering!” + +“But you cannot escape,” the girl urged, “it is folly to send such a +reply.” + +“We will all die here together, before we will do anything of the kind,” +the scout declared. + +Young Lawler swung his hat in a species of mad excitement. + +“We will!” he shouted. “Tell ’em that!” + +Bounderby made the gnarled slave acquainted with the decision of the +prisoners. + +“See if it is possible to bribe him,” Buffalo Bill suggested. “Perhaps +he knows a way out.” + +Bounderby spoke to him again, and they saw the slave shake his head in a +negative. + +“There is no way out, he says,” interrupted Bounderby. “That hole up +there leads only to a gallery that gives access to the shining dome on +the top of the temple, and there is no way to get down, except by some +passages and doors known only to the priests.” + +“We will get up there and hunt for those secret passages,” said the +scout. + +“What shall I try to bribe him with?” said Bounderby, perplexed. + +“Tell him we will give him and some of his comrades fire sticks, and +that with them they can fight their way out to freedom. The thought of +freedom ought to spur him to try anything.” + +Bounderby spoke again to the broken slave. But the latter only shook his +head sadly. Not only had his body been broken, but likewise his spirit. +He had no courage left. + +Beyond the closed and locked door they heard a gathering roar of voices, +showing that the Aztecs out there were growing impatient and were +demanding the return of their messenger. + +The slave cast a frightened look toward the door. + +“He’s got to go,” said Bounderby, “they’re calling for him out there. Is +there any other message we can send by him?” + +“No other!” said the scout. “Tell them that we will slay them all with +the fire sticks if they do not release us, and that we will fight to the +death to protect the young lady.” + +Bounderby delivered the message. + +“Ask him, professor, if the slave who captured the young lady was the +one who attacked me in the night?” + +“He says it was,” said Bounderby, when he had asked the question. “The +slave thought there must be white men where there was a white woman, and +he went forth to see. He thought if he could capture one of the white +men and present him to the priests he would win greater favor.” + +“The scoundrel!” said young Lawler. + +“While you are at it, professor, ask him about the elevator and the +stream which we thought gave it power.” + +These questions were put and answered. + +“He says that the Aztecs are a very wonderful people. They have many +strange things they have made, or that were made by their forefathers. +That elevator run by water power is but one of them.” + +The slave turned about and hammered on the door to summon the +doorkeeper. + +Henselman groaned when he saw the bowed figure pass through the door and +caught a glimpse of the excited Indians packed densely together beyond. + +“Ve iss all dead men togedder!” he declared ominously. + +“Shut up!” retorted Butler. “I wish _you_ were dead!” + + --------------------------------------------------------- + + + + + CHAPTER XXVIII. + + THE ESCAPE. + + +A howl of rage and disappointment arose when the slave delivered his +message. But the attack which was now expected did not come. + +“They intend to starve us out,” was the scout’s conjecture. + +Lieutenant Butler glanced at the hole in the roof. + +“Yes, I think we’d better try that,” assented the scout. “We can be no +worse off than here, if we can get up there, and we may discover +something.” + +“Ve iss all dead togedder!” groaned Henselman, but when he saw the other +members of the party begin to tear up the net for the purpose of +twisting its cords into ropes, the hope of escape caused him to lend a +hand. + +Though the net was large, and therefore presented abundant material, the +work of cutting out the cords in such a manner that they could be used +was not easy. But the ropes, hand-twisted, grew in size and length, +until the scout declared they had enough for their experiment. + +Out of the ropes he fashioned a long lasso, and, standing in the center +of the room, he hurled its noose at a supporting roof beam which +projected just beneath the hole. + +At the second cast he caught the beam with the loop, and when he had +drawn it fast he ascended the rope, hand over hand, with all the +dexterity of a trained acrobat. It did not take the skillful scout long +to reach the opening. There, standing on the end of the beam, with his +head thrust through the opening, he looked about. + +“There is a gallery here, which leads to the dome,” he announced. “In +the other direction it ends at a stone door, which I suppose is +impassable. Just stay here while I look about a minute.” + +He crawled through the opening, and placed his feet in the wide gallery. + +Passing upward, he found that the gallery became a winding stairway +which led into the dome. This was a round cupola, with windows +overlooking the valley and the adjacent hills. He was astonished by the +view to be had from those windows. Far off he could even see the +conelike hill of magnetic iron which had affected the compasses, and +nearer at hand, though quite distant, the white, flat stone standing +upright like the wall of a tent, on which that message of the heliograph +had been flashed. But there was apparently no way of escape from the +dome except by a suicidal leap from one of the windows. + +Below him he saw masses of Indians moving about in apparent excitement. + +“Even if we could get down from here, we should be right in the midst of +them,” was his thought. + +When he had retraced his steps to the stairway and gallery and had gone +downward and in the other direction to the stone door, which he could +not even shake, he returned to the opening in the roof of the room. He +crawled through to the beam, and rested on it, while he spoke to those +below, telling them of his discoveries. + +“I don’t know that we’ll be better off up here, or in the dome, than +down there,” he admitted, “but we’ll at least have a better outlook, and +that’s something.” + +Lawler grasped the rope and began to climb it. + +The scout permitted him to ascend to a seat beside him on the beam. + +“I think now, lieutenant,” he said, “that it would be well to make a +sort of harness, or chair, for the young lady, in that end of the rope, +after which we will hoist her up to this point. Perhaps before she +ascends it will be best for you to come up here and help us to lift +her.” + +“But I can climb,” she protested. + +Nevertheless, Lieutenant Butler, assisted by Bounderby, knotted together +a sort of combined chair and harness, in which she could sit, and which +would support her. They saw she was too weak from her trying experience +to attempt to climb the rope, and they had no thought of permitting her +to try it. + +Having done this, Lieutenant Butler climbed up to the perch occupied by +the scout and Lawler, and all three men then lent a hand in hoisting her +up to that point. + +It was a hard pull, for the footing was not good, but she aided herself +by pushing with her feet against the wall. + +Henselman came next, in the chair she had used, assisting himself all he +could, but groaning prodigiously; and he was followed by Professor +Bounderby. + +When they stepped out into the gallery, they took the rope with them; +they had also brought the remnants of the big net, thinking they might +be of further use. + +Professor Bounderby was delighted with the view from the dome, and at +once began to set down his impressions in his notebook. The others began +to discuss possible ways of escape. + +As he looked out at the white, tentlike rock in the distance, Buffalo +Bill had a happy thought. + +“Lieutenant Butler,” he said, “it would be possible, I suppose, for you +to flash a message from here to the face of that rock. Or is the sun not +just right for it now?” + +The face of the lieutenant lighted up at the suggestion. + +“We can do it,” he said. “Lucky they didn’t take our things from us. Of +course if no one is near the rock the message would be useless, but we +can try it.” + +For the next few minutes Butler and Lawler busied themselves with +getting the heliograph together and in working order, adjusting its +mirrors to the sun, and training them on that white wall. + +“Major Fernald is out there somewhere,” said Butler, his face flushed +with hope. “The chances are not great, but he may happen to be where he +will see the flashes. I’m sure we can strike that rock with them. The +position of the sun in this window is all right for it, and the +heliograph is in working order now.” + +Then he sighted the machine at the rock, and soon began to flash his +message for help. + +“The only thing to do,” he said, “is to keep it up—repeat it over and +over. If they’re not there, or near there now, they may come there some +time this afternoon. And we can try it again to-morrow; keep it going +all day. This is a great idea, Cody. We can hold those bloody Aztecs +back with our revolvers, and stay in here a week, even if we haven’t any +food, and perhaps before we’re actually starved out we can reach the +major.” + +He worked with enthusiasm. + +Buffalo Bill trained his binoculars on the white rock, and could see the +flashes playing and flitting on its surface. + +Hour after hour Lieutenant Butler continued his work, and when he tired, +young Lawler took it up, so that a succession of messages was being sent +continuously. + +Over and over they said the same thing: + + “We are prisoners in the temple in the valley, which you can + see from the cliff walls. We are doomed. Miss Fernald is + with us. Come to our help. + + “BUTLER.” + +While this was going on, the Aztecs were not idle. They discovered soon +that the prisoners had escaped from their prison room and were in the +temple dome. They crowded the gallery and filled the stairway, before +the scout and those with him knew that the escape from the prison room +had been found out. + +Cody saw that the stone door was still closed, though doubtless the +Aztecs had come through it. + +“We’ll charge the rascals by and by, if we have to, and clear them out +of there,” he said, “and perhaps when we do we may be able to get +through that door. It might let us reach the ground.” + +“Bud voult dot hellup us?” said the despairing Henselman. “Ve coult pe +kilt yoost so soon as dey seen us. Id iss no use. Ve iss all dead men +togedder.” + +The talk of reaching Major Fernald with the heliograph had aroused +Henselman’s hope a bit at first, but that hope died utterly as the hours +passed without result. He saw the sun sinking, and knew that night was +coming when no more messages could be sent. + +“Unt maype to-morrow vill be dark like id vas yisterday,” he urged, “unt +ve can’t sent no messaches at all. Id iss no use.” + +Bounderby rebuked him at intervals, even though the professor’s courage +had weakened until it was little better than that of the German. + +“Henselman, I am heartily ashamed of you!” the professor would declare. +“You are in no more danger than the rest of us. Think what fine material +this will make for my lecture, when we escape from here.” + +As the sun sank, and Butler declared no more messages could be sent that +afternoon, a strange commotion was seen near the wall of the valley. + +Indians on the highway there were seen running toward the temple. As +they came nearer and met others, these began to run, too. Then behind +them, in the dust of the highway, the forms of white men were seen, and +reports of rifles sounded, the smoke puffs from the guns leaping now and +then out of the dust cloud. + +Buffalo Bill swung his hat and cheered. + +“Help at last!” he said. “Lieutenant Butler, your messages have been +seen. If I’m not mistaken, there come Major Fernald and his gallant +followers. We are saved!” + +Henselman leaped to his feet. “Vere?” he said, then he, too, swung his +hat, roaring: “Ve are safed! Ve are safed!” + +Miss Fernald leaned from a window of the dome, looking with moist eyes +across the valley. + +“My brother!” she whispered. “My brave brother!” + +In a little while the forms of the men who were driving the Indians +before them could be seen more plainly. They were coming up at a swift +pace, on foot, and were shooting at every Indian they saw, thus carrying +consternation into the midst of the Aztecs, who saw their friends +falling slain by those mysterious fire sticks. + +The Aztecs near the temple were thrown into a panic, as the white men +charged them, shooting at them, and tumbling many of them down, wounded +or dead. + +The Indians who had crowded the gallery and stairway leading to the dome +vanished through that stone door; but before Buffalo Bill and his +companions could get down to it the door was closed and immovable. + +Though they hammered on it, they could not shake it; nor could they find +any means of opening it. It seemed set in a groove, in which it no doubt +slid, but their utmost exertions would not move it. + +Major Fernald had more than twenty men with him, and they conducted +themselves like heroes. + +In spite of the tremendous force which they might have expected would +oppose them, they had climbed the cliff walls into the valley, and then +had charged with sublime heroism upon the Indians between them and the +shining temple mentioned in the heliograph message which they had +fortunately seen flashing on that tentlike stone so far away. + +Right into the temple they came, firing at every Indian seen; and so +great was the scare they created, and so terrible the fear in which the +Indians stood of those death-dealing fire sticks, that the Aztecs fled +pellmell, scattering in every direction. + +Some of the priests opposed them at the altar and before the sacrificial +stone, only to fall dead there. But now that they were in the temple +itself, they did not see the prisoners. They discovered at length, +however, that they were in the high dome, and they found a way to get up +to it. + +They arrived at the door which shut the prisoners in, but from that side +the door was not difficult to move; they had but to throw their weight +against it, and it slipped along in its groove, opening for the +prisoners a way to freedom. + +Emily Fernald fell with hysterical sobbing into the arms of her brother. + +Not many words were spent in telling how Major Fernald’s party, after +long searching, had returned toward the point from which they had +started, and while so doing had passed near the tentlike rock, and there +had seen the heliograph messages; time was too precious to be wasted in +much talk. + +The prisoners and their rescuers hurried down from the dome, and made +haste to get out of the valley of Zataclin while the fright of the +Aztecs lasted. + +They gained the hills beyond the cuplike valley, and by the stars found +a northerly course, which they hoped would take them out of danger +before morning. + +When morning arrived the sky was again gray and cloudy and the compasses +refused to perform their mission. But under the expert guidance of +Buffalo Bill the party held as true a course as possible, so that on the +second day they were far from the valley of the mysterious Aztecs of +Zataclin. It was so bewildering a region that they did not care to seek +it again; but were content to let the bloody-red priests and people live +there undisturbed, as they had done from time immemorial. + +“I think you should be content to go back to the ranch for a while, and +stay with father, Emily,” said her brother, when they all had crossed +the border and were on their way to the town of Bellona. “It seems to me +that you’ve had enough adventures and perils for any foolhardy girl! +Anyway, whatever you think about it, I simply refuse to take you again +with this expedition, if it should be sent out again.” + +Lieutenant Butler, for reasons of his own, heartily agreed with this +counsel; but he maintained a dignified and discreet silence. In his own +mind, however, he resolved to try to persuade the girl whom he loved—if +persuasion were needed—not to expose herself to dangers and hardships in +future. He was greatly relieved when Emily made known her own wishes in +the matter. + +“Already I have decided to return to the ranch,” she said quietly. + +“I’m very glad, dear,” said the major, and then he added in a lighter +tone: “We’re approaching Bellona, a small garrison town. I expect to +find letters from Colonel Garland there, and I may be ordered to proceed +into another section of the district. In that case, Butler and Lawler +will escort you to Klamath.” + + --------------------------------------------------------- + + + + + CHAPTER XXIX. + + AN ENIGMATICAL HOST. + + +On reaching Bellona, the major’s prediction was verified, and his orders +were carried out by the gallant young lieutenant. Meanwhile, after +saying farewell to these friends, Cody—who also received instructions, +as will be seen later—rode forth alone, on the return trail, and thence +across the borders of New Mexico, to a small ranch known as the Porfiero +Hacienda, where he arrived about twilight. + +When he hitched his horse to the post beyond the small, flower-filled +garden of the ranch, he walked to the narrow path that ran between the +flowers, and came thus toward the house. + +It was a large, rambling adobe, built about a little court, or placita, +in the Mexican style, but had a number of attached rooms which formed +winglike additions, these seeming to have been tacked on as an +afterthought, to accommodate the needs of a growing household. + +The style was more common to the New Mexico of a former period than to +that of the present, and that the building was old was shown not only by +its architecture, but by the tumble-down and only partially repaired +condition of certain parts of it, especially the out-thrust wings. + +Such of the windows as were visible to the scout as he passed up the +flower-bordered walk were small, nearly square, and seemed little more +than holes through the thick walls. The flowers, too, while they bloomed +with that profusion which results from a hot sun in a warm climate, +seemed neglected, though there were apparently attempts, recently made, +to remedy this. Everything betokened a house once of a certain +magnificence, long abandoned, or nearly so, and now inhabited, and +renovated with hasty and ineffective attempts to restore it to something +of its pristine glory. + +Over Buffalo Bill’s head was the bright blue sky of New Mexico, +untouched by a cloud, a sky belonging to a land of drought. There was no +water in that sky, and the only water visible was that which trickled +through some half-choked irrigating ditches and fed the plants growing +in the garden through which the scout walked. + +He was almost to the door, when a Mexican servant appeared, stared at +him, and then retreated hastily, without bidding him welcome. The +servant had the air of being surprised and startled. + +In another minute, and just as the scout reached the wide door, which +had been closed, the door opened, and a dark-faced man stood there. He +looked curiously at the scout, then smiled and extended his hand. + +“Welcome, señor,” he said. “In the Southwest, whoever comes is our +guest, so long as he is willing to bestow on us the pleasure of his +company. Ah, señor, you do not know how the sight of an unfamiliar face +cheers us here in this remote region of dust and sand! Welcome again, +señor.” + +Yet the welcome in his face was not as warm as that of his words. In +fact, a shadow of some kind had fallen on it; and, as the scout accepted +the extended hand, the dark-faced man searched his countenance closely, +as if questioning. + +“You are Señor Leon Ruiz?” the scout asked. + +“I am happy to answer to that name, señor.” + +“Permit me, then, to introduce myself as William F. Cody, an American +army scout, sometimes known as Buffalo Bill. You have a handsome place +here, señor.” + +The dark face of the man calling himself Leon Ruiz paled slightly. + +“You honor me with your presence, Señor Cody,” he replied. “I have heard +of you, and it makes me happy to offer you the poor hospitality of the +Porfiero Hacienda. Whatever I have is yours, and I and my servants are +at your distinguished service.” + +He bowed in the courtly, yet self-abasing, Spanish fashion, with his +hand laid on his heart, and his thin lips wreathed in a smile. The +smile, the bow, and the attitude made Buffalo Bill think of +Mephistopheles. + +Leon Ruiz led the way through a wide hall into a large square room. Old +dusty curtains of tapestry hung at the small, narrow, deep windows. The +chairs and couches, while elegant, were very old and worn. The white +walls were ornamented with pictures of saints. Over the one door, and +the only thing which was not in harmony with the room, was the head of +an elk, showing great branching antlers. + +“I have not been here long,” Ruiz explained. “Soon I hope to have things +more in keeping with what this place should be. It is very old, señor—an +old Spanish hacienda, built three hundred years ago, and long neglected, +so that it is falling down and the furniture is in ruins. But your +generous American mind will pardon defects, I am sure.” + +His speech had a hollowness that was not pleasing, and the glance he +bent on the scout, out of the corners of his eyes, would not have been +reassuring, if the scout had seen it. But Buffalo Bill was at that +moment looking around the room. + +“You have not been in possession here long?” said the scout. + +“Barely two months, señor. Perhaps you would like to hear the history of +the old place? It is interesting.” + +“I should be delighted.” + +“As I said, it is very old, and was built by one of the old Spanish +conquistadores—one of the early explorers and conquerors. The Spaniards +who subdued the natives were but a handful in comparison with the +numbers they governed. They conquered the territory, took possession of +it in the name of the King of Spain, and proceeded to rule it. But the +conquered Indians were at times rebellious and troublesome, and were +murderously disposed toward their conquerors. That can scarcely be +wondered at, when it is remembered that the Spaniards subjected them to +slavery and hard toil in the mines. Those mines, producing gold, silver, +and turquoise, had been worked by the Indians for centuries before the +Spaniards came, and it must have seemed a hardship when they who had +regarded themselves as the owners were forced to toil in those mines, to +enrich men who were their enemies and had enslaved them. + +“There were several rebellions, one a very bloody one. To protect +themselves, the Spaniards built houses such as this, of strong adobe +walls, which the Indians, who had only bows and arrows and lances for +weapons, could do nothing to destroy. The walls, you will observe, are +very thick, and the roof, also of adobe, laid on a framework of wood, +could not be burned. + +“In one of the rooms here I can show you a spring of water, or what +seems a spring, bubbling up in the middle of the floor; it is not truly +a spring, but water conducted by hidden underground pipes from the +mountains. Furnished with water and plentiful food supplies, as well as +with ammunition for their fire-arms, the Spaniards were able to defy the +natives, and finally subdued them again, and forever after held them in +subjection. + +“There you have the history, in brief, of this most interesting house, +so far as it relates to those early days and to its builders. + +“Its later history is not so interesting, I fear. It descended to the +Ruiz family, of Spain, but was abandoned at various times, for many +years, as its owners preferred to live in gay Madrid to dwelling in this +desert land of the New World. A year ago my father died, and the place +came to me by inheritance. I had often heard of our great estate in New +Mexico. Things told of it took on the colors of gay romance, in my +childish fancy. + +“Two months ago I arrived here, to find it much as you see it now. I +took possession, and have been here since. I have tried to restore it in +some respects, and the work of restoration still goes on; but, señor, it +was and is far from the place of my childish imaginings. Perchance if +you should come this way in a year from now, I might have something more +worthy to show you and better hospitality to offer you. But what I have, +and such as I have, is at your service.” + +While telling this, Leon Ruiz’s air was furtive, as if he studied his +guest; and Buffalo Bill took note not only of the manner in which the +account was given, but also of the personal appearance and dress of his +host. + +Leon Ruiz was very dark, with sloe-black eyes, and teeth white as milk. +Those teeth gleamed now and then in one of his flickering smiles. + +Ruiz now stepped to the door, and gave an order to a servant. + +“We will have supper in a very short time, señor. And I have ordered +your horse stabled and fed.” + +“You are very kind,” said the scout. “I have no right to demand +hospitality of you.” + +“The room next to this, overlooking the garden, will be your guest +chamber to-night,” said Ruiz. “It is not as good as I would wish it, but +such as it is, señor, it is yours for as long as you are willing to +stay.” + +“I think I shall have to go on, after I have enjoyed your kind +hospitality, Señor Ruiz,” said the scout. “I should like to make a +longer stop in this most interesting place, but the limits of my time +forbid it at present.” + +The Spaniard lifted his brows inquiringly. + +Buffalo Bill had watched the man closely, and now he decided to speak +what was in his mind. + +“You are not a Moor?” he said, asking the question so suddenly that Ruiz +was taken by surprise. + +“I am of Moorish descent,” he acknowledged. “I feel that you have a +reason for asking that question.” + +“I have,” the scout admitted. + +“I shall be pleased to hear it, of course, or so much as you wish to +confide to me.” He was looking straight at the scout now, his sloe-black +eyes half veiled by their heavy black lashes. “The Moors were long in +Spain, you know,” he went on, “and there is a good deal of Moorish blood +still in that land. One of my ancestors was a Moorish king.” + +“My mission here,” said the scout “concerns a Moor. He is, if he is +still living, a native of a little kingdom lying south of Morocco; in +fact, he is the crown prince of that kingdom. He came to this country a +few months ago, and was last heard of somewhere in this region. There +are several reports, none of which may be correct, concerning his +disappearance. My friend Major Fernald, whom I have just left on his way +to Sagetown, not far from here, has been telling me a great deal about +this young man’s disappearance. + +“One report has it that he and his party wandered into the mountains of +Arizona and were killed by Apaches. Another report says that while +crossing from Yuma to some copper mines in New Mexico, he and his party +were set upon by road agents, and he was slain by them. Another report +declares that he was captured by a band of Mexican brigands, and that he +is now held in Old Mexico, the brigands intending, perhaps, to demand +ransom for him by and by, when they feel that it is safe to do so. Still +another account says that he and some others were traveling by stage +from Rincon to San Paz, and that the stage was lost in the quicksands +while crossing Perditas River. Which of these, or whether any of them, +can be believed, I do not know. What is really known is, that he has +dropped out of sight in a mysterious manner, and it may be that all +these stories were set afloat merely to cover up his real fate. + +“The facts so far as known have been submitted to the United States +department of state, and were communicated to the army officer in +command of the military division of the Southwest. Upon Major Fernald’s +advice, I have to-day been detailed to look into the matter and make a +report; with further instructions to aid this Moorish crown prince, if I +find he is in distress. + +“There you have my story, Señor Ruiz, and the explanation of why I am +here.” + +The Spaniard had listened with an intensity that made his black eyes +shine. + +“It is a surprising account,” he admitted. + +“I might not have told it,” said the scout, “but for your declaration of +Moorish descent. Because of that, it occurred to me that the story might +interest you.” + +“It interests me very much, señor. It is marvelous, romantic, like one +of the ancient tales of Spanish brigandage.” He smoothed his thin +mustache with his jeweled right hand. “But is it reliable?” + +“I think so; my government thinks so. Otherwise, I should not have been +dispatched to look into it.” + +“Very true,” said Ruiz, smiling incredulously. “It has the sound of a +fairy story.” + +The scout regarded him attentively. + +“Of course, you have heard nothing of this, yourself?” + +“I? Not until this moment.” + +“It struck me as strange and peculiar that while looking for this lost +Moor, I should find, at the first hacienda I came upon, a man who is of +Moorish descent. It seemed really a remarkable coincidence.” + +“Very true, señor. It does seem so. What was the name of this lost crown +prince?” + +“Raoul Mogador.” Buffalo Bill took a letter from his pocket, as if to +refresh his memory. “Yes, Raoul Mogador. My memory does not always hold +names of that kind as well as I should like. But that is it. His father +is the present king, I understand, and at his death this young Moor will +become king. I suppose the country over which this king rules isn’t much +bigger than a pocket handkerchief; but to be king, even of a small +country, is no doubt considered a very high honor by those who are +fortunate enough to come into the line of succession. And, of course, +the people of this little pocket-handkerchief kingdom are very much +concerned about the strange disappearance of the man they expect will +some day rule over them. Hence, they have asked our government to +discover what has become of him.” + +“Very interesting, I admit,” said Ruiz, “but, indeed, I have heard +nothing at all of this, until you told me. Pray, is there any way in +which I might offer my aid?” + +“I can think of nothing, so long as you have heard nothing. I must push +on to-night.” + +“And your destination?” said Ruiz, his voice showing the interest he +could not conceal. + +“I shall cross the desert below here to San Paz, and shall look there +for some clew. It is nearer than this to the point where, those +conflicting reports say, he vanished. Perhaps I can strike some one who +can set me on the right track to get my information.” + +“Permit me to wish you success,” said Ruiz, but his tone was not +sincere. “And when you return,” he added, “I trust you will again accept +my poor hospitality here, and tell me of your adventures in search of +the Moorish prince. Strange that a prince should be lost in this +republic! Princes are out of place here. Perhaps that is why he became +lost! + +“Permit me to step out and see how our supper is coming on,” he said, +rising. “I have not the most reliable servants in the world, señor, I am +sorry to say. They must be watched, or things go wrong continually. I +will return in a little while.” + +From a shelf he took cigarettes and matches, and placed them on the +small table near which the scout sat. + +“Your pardon for not thinking of these, señor, but you can enjoy a smoke +and the society of your own pleasant thoughts while I am away. + +“Adios!” he said, turning about in the doorway, and bowing. Then he +vanished into the wide hall, and was gone. + + --------------------------------------------------------- + + + + + CHAPTER XXX. + + THE GOLDEN DAGGER. + + +“Cunning as a Spaniard and treacherous as a Moor!” thought Buffalo Bill, +selecting one of the cigarettes and lighting it, after having made sure +by taste and smell that it was not doctored. He looked at the door where +Leon Ruiz had disappeared. “I wonder how much he knows, if anything? +That will be hard to find out. To judge by his looks, he is more Moor +than Spaniard. What a curious room! A good place for a prison. These +walls are wonderfully thick, and if the windows and door were properly +barred, a fellow would have a hard time getting out.” + +Sitting there, he recalled the verbal instructions of the colonel, who +had asked him to undertake this difficult and dangerous commission. +Colonel Garland had written to Major Fernald and to Cody, giving full +instructions: + + “At the old Porfiero Hacienda you will find a man who has + but lately come there and taken possession, making his + appearance from no one knows where. He is said to be a + Spaniard, and claims the estate as his by inheritance. So + far as I know, his claim may be true. I want you to see him, + and have a talk with him. You will be able to judge + something by what he says and does when you tell him that + you are looking for Prince Mogador. He may know nothing, and + he may know a great deal. As to that, you will have to be + the judge, and you can be trusted to find out as much as any + other man could. I am sending you because I trust so + implicitly in your wisdom and discretion.” + +Buffalo Bill smoked his cigarette quietly as he thought over Colonel +Garland’s instructions. + +“I have tried to sound the fellow,” was his thought, “yet the result has +put me very much at sea. I shall have to talk with him further and watch +him closely. I know my story surprised him, and it seemed to startle +him. Why should it startle him, if he knows nothing? And how does it +chance that he came to this place at about the time the prince +disappeared?” + +Ruiz was gone so long that the scout rose and began to walk around the +room, inspecting the pictures of saints and the curtains and tapestry. +As he did so, he came to a set of hanging shelves in a corner. + +At first glance, the shelves seemed to contain only ore specimens, +apparently gathered in the surrounding hills. There were greenish +specimens of copper ore, pyrites, glittering quartz, and one from a +turquoise mine showing the turquoise in its matrix of stone. Buffalo +Bill had seen many similar specimens, and was not interested. But as he +lifted a large slab of green copper ore, there was displayed beneath it +a queer dagger, which at once caught his eye. + +The dagger was large and ponderous, with a handle that seemed to be +gold. It was apparently of Moorish make, and the gold handle was covered +with fine and intricate figures and scrollwork. + +Buffalo Bill lifted it to the light of the window and looked at it with +marked interest. + +“A strange-looking dagger,” was his thought. “I never saw one like it. +It must be rare and valuable.” + +He passed his thumb along the keen edges of the double blade, and felt +of the sharp point. + +“A nasty weapon in a fight, if handled by a fanatical Moor. I judge it +is Moorish.” + +He placed the dagger where he had found it, and, standing by the window, +became lost in thought. + +It struck him as strange that in this house he should find that dagger +of Moorish make. Yet, when he recalled that Leon Ruiz had said he was of +Moorish descent, it did not seem so strange, after all. No doubt, Ruiz +had come legitimately into possession of it, the dagger had been handed +down from some Moorish ancestor. Ruiz had declared the family legends +held that one of his ancestors had been a Moorish king. + +Turning these things over in his mind, Buffalo Bill began to conclude +that it was very natural, after all, to find that dagger in Ruiz’s +house. + +“I suppose he didn’t think to show it to me when he was talking of his +Moorish descent. He may have many Moorish relics. I suppose he has. In +this matter I must not let my imagination run away with sober judgment.” + +He was still standing by the window, pondering, when he heard a light +step. He had observed that the sun had gone down and that night was at +hand. + +When he turned from the window, expecting to see Ruiz in the doorway, he +beheld another man, whose dress proclaimed him to be a Mexican, although +there was something of the bandit type in his appearance, in the slashed +trousers, the short Mexican jacket, and the crimson waist sash, with +knife sticking in it. The face looked more Spanish than Mexican, and +what was intended to be a smile curling the thin-mustached lip was +rather a sneer of cruelty and cunning. + +Even more than Leon Ruiz, the scout distrusted this man at once. + +“Señor Ruiz has been called away,” said the man, speaking with a +peculiar accent, that had been noticeable also in the speech of Ruiz. +“One of the herdsmen was thrown by his horse and has suffered a broken +leg. Señor Ruiz has gone to attend him. But he bade me serve you in his +place, and I have the pleasure to announce that supper is awaiting you. +Permit me to introduce myself as Ramon Periguez, the major-domo here. If +you will kindly follow me, señor.” + +He turned back into the hall, and the scout followed him, after a moment +of hesitation. + +While passing through the hall into the dining room, Buffalo Bill looked +from the doorway and saw only the usual quiet of the place. + +The scout and the major-domo were the only two persons at the supper +table. They were waited on by a light-footed servant, dressed in white, +who came and went about as if he were an automaton speaking never a word +except when directly addressed. The scout noticed that he spoke English +very badly. His face was as dark as the face of Leon Ruiz. + +“Señor Ruiz was telling me something of the interesting story you +bring,” said the major-domo, while the servant was pouring the wine. “I +trust I may be permitted to hear it from your own lips. It is a +remarkable thing, that a Moroccan prince should even be in this country, +not to speak of his getting lost, or disappearing, in that absurd way. +He ought to have felt quite at home in this sand-and-dust region.” + +Buffalo Bill noted that he took the glasses from the hand of the +servant, instead of permitting the servant to place them on the table. + +“You will have an interesting search for this remarkable crown prince, I +doubt not!” + +His hand shook a little as he pushed toward Buffalo Bill one of the +glasses, and the keen-eyed scout saw a wine-colored powder escape from +his fingers into the glass. + +The thing was done so deftly, and the powder dissolved so quickly, that +Buffalo Bill was almost ready to believe his eyes had fooled him. + +Yet he knew now that he faced a dangerous foe, and he believed that a +lie had been told him to account for the absence of Leon Ruiz. His wits +were aroused instantly, and strengthened for a conflict. + +The story of the young prince he told again, not because he now believed +that this man, Ramon Periguez, cared to hear it, but to occupy the time +and give him a chance to watch Periguez. + +Periguez turned his head to speak to the servant, and, with a quickness +that would have done credit to a professional sleight-of-hand performer, +the scout shifted the glasses of wine, drawing Periguez’s to his side +and pushing his own over in place of it. + +The servant saw what Periguez did not, and the napkin resting across his +arm dropped to the floor. He stooped to get it, and said something in a +tongue unknown to the scout. It was like an ejaculation, such as might +be made under the circumstances; but the start which Ramon Periguez gave +told the watchful scout that the servant had informed him of the +shifting of the wine glasses. + +When the major-domo turned about, after saying a word or two in the same +unknown tongue to the servant, his dark face had changed to a sickly +yellow. + +“I observe that you do not speak Spanish to your man here,” said the +scout. “Is he a Moor?” + +“It was the language of the Spanish mountaineers,” said Periguez, +evidently disconcerted and confused. “He is from a little hill town +lying far from any of the recognized routes of travel, and the language +there is difficult for even a Spaniard not well acquainted with it.” + +“Very interesting,” Buffalo Bill observed dryly, toying with the glass +he had taken. + +“There is much Moorish blood in the mountains of Spain,” said the +major-domo, trying to steady his nerves and get control of himself, for +he realized that his manner was betraying him. + +“I have never been in Spain,” said the scout quietly. + +“You should travel in Spain. You would find it a very interesting +country.” + +“You are Spanish, of course?” + +Periguez bowed. “I am from Madrid.” He lifted his wine glass as if to +put it to his lips, but caught the table linen between his fingers as he +did it, and by an apparent accident let the glass fall to the floor, +where it was shivered into atoms. He started up nervously at the crash. + +“How awkward of me!” he exclaimed, and, summoning the servant, he +ordered the broken glass to be removed. He had another glass brought and +filled. + +“Very excellent wine,” said the scout, sipping his. + +“The finest to be procured in Spain,” said Periguez. “It is made by the +monks of San Sebastian, and it has a great reputation in my country. You +were telling me of the Moroccan prince,” he said, smiling with +hypocritical lips. “And I believe you were to tell me your plans for +getting at the real facts in this most interesting mystery?” + +The pallor was going out of his face; he had got rid of the drugged wine +which the scout had so cleverly passed back to him, and, therefore, he +felt better. Yet he was doubtless wondering how it came about that the +scout had suspected him. + +The scout talked of his journey to the Porfiero Hacienda, of the mystery +which had sent him forth, and of his hopes soon to get some tangible +information concerning the missing man. All the while he watched +Periguez closely. + +But, having been caught and foiled once, the latter did not try anything +more; perhaps he was not prepared for anything more. + +“I have been making some chemical studies lately,” Buffalo Bill +remarked, quite casually. “And they brought me one bit of queer +information. A sleeping potion has been discovered which so resembles +wine in color, and dissolves so readily, that it can be administered by +the physician or nurse to the patient without the latter even dreaming +that it is being administered. It is used when, in cases where it ought +to be given, the patient objects to taking anything of the kind.” + +He touched his wine glass, and watched Periguez’s face, and again he saw +that sickly yellow over-spread it. + +“I had not heard of it. You are not a chemist?” + +“A mere dabbler in chemistry, that is all. No man can be everything, +though he may be properly interested in many lines of information. I try +to be a good scout, and I find that is quite enough.” + +“Very true,” said the major-domo. “And from all I hear you have a +distinguished reputation in your line.” + +“Thanks!” said the scout dryly, as he glanced at his watch. “Señor Ruiz +tarries long,” he remarked. + +“He had to go some distance,” Periguez explained. “You will at least +stay until he returns?” + +The scout dropped the watch back into his pocket. + +“I have decided to accept his hospitality and remain overnight at +Porfiero Hacienda.” + +“Good!” said Periguez, and there was undoubted satisfaction in his tone. +“It distressed him to think that you could not accept his hospitality +for a short time, at least. We have very few callers here, and enjoy so +much the few visits we get that we would fain have our guests remain +with us much longer than they are ever willing.” + +They arose from the table. + +“Now you will permit me to show you some of the interesting things of +this queer old house,” said Periguez. + +As they strolled from room to room, the scout deftly led him to the +hanging shelves containing the ore specimens and the dagger of gold. + +“Ah!” he said, standing before the shelves and looking at the specimens, +lifting one as he spoke, and revealing the dagger hidden beneath it. +“This is a strange weapon, Señor Periguez!” + +“It is very old Spanish,” said Periguez. “A magnificent weapon, as you +see!” + +“Not Moorish?” said the scout. + +“The pattern may be Moorish; I don’t know as to that. Much Moorish +ornamentation is still used by the Spanish sword-makers. That scroll +work may very well be Moorish. Why did you ask, señor?” + +“I had no reason, other than curiosity. I simply desired to know.” + +Then they strolled on, and the dagger was not spoken of again. + + --------------------------------------------------------- + + + + + CHAPTER XXXI. + + AGAIN IN DANGER. + + +The hour was late, and Buffalo Bill sat alone in the room to which he +had been shown by Ramon Periguez. The door and window were where he +could see them. There was no lock on the door, but he had set a chair +against it, so that the moving of the chair would attract his attention, +if any one tried to get into the room there. + +The great scout’s suspicions were keenly alive. A sense of peril in the +air made his nerves tingle. He did not know whence the danger was to +come, yet that it would come he was sure. + +The attempt to drug his glass of wine, the strange behavior in other +ways of the major-domo, the singular disappearance of Leon Ruiz, were of +themselves enough to arouse his keenest distrust. To them he added the +fact that Ruiz was a Moor, yet denied it, claiming to be a Spaniard. + +“The distance ridden by Leon Ruiz must be long, as he has not yet +returned,” mused the scout. He had put out his candle and sat alone in +the darkness, but now he struck a match and glanced at his watch. “Past +midnight! I think I’ll lie down a while.” + +Cody looked at the chair against the door, and inspected the window. It +was narrow and held but a loose sash, with small panes of glass. There +was no way to bar it. He lay down on the bed without removing his +clothes, and near his hand he placed his revolver; his face was turned +toward the window. There was no moon, but the stars were bright and gave +a good deal of light. The room was in heavy shadow. + +It was not Buffalo Bill’s intention to fall asleep, but when an hour or +more had passed without any occurrence whatever, he yielded to the +feeling of drowsiness which stole over him. + +As he knew afterward, he slept full three hours. Then he awoke. He heard +nothing and saw nothing, yet some subtle sense told him that enemies had +stolen into the room. The chair was where he had placed it by the door, +and the window seemed not to have been disturbed. This made it certain +that if enemies were in the room, they had gained it by some secret way. + +Buffalo Bill lay quite still, though his hand stole softly to his +revolver and clutched it. + +When he heard nothing, he turned his head slowly to look about. + +By the opposite wall he saw a dim form, whose eyes reflected the light +that came in from the window, and so were made visible. + +“Ramon Periguez!” was the thought of the scout. “He is in here with +assassins, and they will kill me if they can. They do not intend that I +shall go in search of that missing prince—which proves very conclusively +that they have good reasons for wishing to stop such an investigation as +I intend making. Well, we’ll see who wins or loses, Ramon Periguez, +major-domo of the Porfiero Hacienda, or myself.” + +With a quick motion, he threw his arm over and fired at the crouching +figure. The report of the revolver was deafening, but it did not cover +up the sound of the man’s fall. Then, through the thick smoke over the +bed, the scout sprang up and leaped for the window. + +As he did so, two revolvers spoke within the room, one of them chipping +the adobe from the wall right over his head, and the other cutting a +hole through the big hat the scout carried in his left hand. He gained +the little window, hearing confused cries, trampling feet, and a deep +groan, and went through it to the outside like a scudding rat. Then he +dropped quickly to the ground. + +Whoever the would-be assassins were, he had thwarted them, and wounded +one of their number. + +Buffalo Bill was now in the garden. He ran quickly across it, and leaped +the low adobe wall that hedged it in. + +Before him were the stable and the horse corral, and to the stable he +hastened. Behind him, in the hacienda, he heard cries and shouts and +sounds of running feet. + +Dashing into the stable, where his horse should have been, he saw that +it was not there. Apparently it had not been placed in the stable, or +else it had later been removed from it. Nor were there any other horses +in the stable, and none were in the corral. + +“Left afoot!” was his thought. “They have horses, and they think they +can ride me down.” + +He darted out of the stable, having no desire to be caught in it and +hemmed in. + +As he ran along the wall and on around the wire fence of the corral, he +heard footsteps in the flower garden, and then, in the faint starlight, +he saw two men appear. Their voices reached him, and the voice of one he +recognized as that of Ramon Periguez. + +“Some other scoundrel got my bullet, eh? That is bad. I had hoped it was +the major-domo. Bullets are good for a rascal of that stamp.” + +Beyond the corral the scout, to his satisfaction, saw a horse hitched to +a post. It bore a saddle and bridle. But a man was running toward it +from the opposite side of the house. Apparently, the horse had been made +ready and left there for this man’s use. + +“They provided against contingencies that they hardly expected would +arise,” was the scout’s thought. “They were sure they could kill me in +that room. It had a secret entrance by which they came in. But they +ought to have blocked up that window. A little slip like that sometimes +makes all the difference in the world in one’s plans.” + +Cody was running toward the horse, but the man running from the corner +of the house to get to the horse had the advantage in being much nearer +the animal. + +The scout’s revolver came out, and he halted for one brief second. + +“It’s almost discreditable to win even such a race in this manner!” + +The revolver cracked, and the man tumbled to the ground with a broken +leg. + +“Fire upon me, and you get the next bullet through your head!” the scout +shouted to him, as he reached the horse and sprang into the saddle. +Bending forward, he severed the rope that held it to the post. Then he +plunged the spurs into its sides, and the horse started off with great +bounds, being headed straight away from the hacienda. + +There were more cries and shouts in the darkness behind him, followed by +the barking reports of revolvers, as the men there began to fire at the +figure they beheld faintly flying onward through the gloom. + +The bullets went wild, but immediately there sounded a pounding of +hoofs, showing that a pursuit had begun. + +Buffalo Bill bent forward on the neck of his horse, stroked its mane, +and laughed quietly. + +“Old fellow, it was a great favor that they left you there for me, after +taking my horse! They didn’t intend it, of course. I wish you could +talk, for you might be able to make some rare revelation. But I guess +something.” + +A thunder of hoofs dinned behind him, and cries floated to him. He drove +his steed on madly for nearly an hour, and then shifted into the course +he wished to pursue. + +“Too bad to scorn the hospitality of Leon Ruiz and Ramon Periguez in +this way, yet it seems best,” he remarked, as if speaking to the horse, +which was proving itself to be a speedy animal. “And I really hadn’t +concluded my investigations there! However, a few things seem to be +plain. + +“It is plain that Ruiz and his major-domo know much more about the +strange disappearance of Prince Mogador than they would be willing to +admit. It is further plain that Ruiz and that servant are Moors, and +perhaps Periguez is also a Moor. Another thing is clear: My coming +frightened them, and they made sudden plans to put me out of the way. +That can mean nothing else but that they fear me. The wine held +something worse than a sleeping potion; the powder was a poison, and if +I had swallowed it I should no doubt be dead before this time. Ah, well, +I am out of their clutches, and I’ll take care not to fall into them +again!” + +He glanced backward, listening, but he heard no sounds of his pursuers. + + --------------------------------------------------------- + + + + + CHAPTER XXXII. + + THE MYSTERY OF THE DAGGER. + + +Shortly before daybreak Buffalo Bill turned aside again, rode at an easy +gait for a couple of miles, and then sought a resting place. He found it +in a glade watered by a spring. The glade contained grass, as well as +water, for his horse. + +Trusting to the same mysterious faculty which had aroused and warned him +of danger in the hacienda, Buffalo Bill lay down, wrapped in the Mexican +blanket he had found behind the saddle, and gave himself up to deep +sleep. Yet deeply as he slept, he would have been aroused by the +slightest sound of a suspicious nature, though the movements of the +horse did not disturb him in the least. + +Many a night when Indian foes hunted for his life, he had thus lain down +to get a little needed rest, though knowing that he was literally +surrounded; and he had trusted to the security given by that singular +faculty which warned him as certainly of danger as the odor of some +venomous serpent warned him of its presence. Buffalo Bill never +attempted to explain this, but he had found that he could trust to it. + +It was broad day when he awoke. The horse was lying down, after having +eaten the grass to the end of its tether. + +From the edge of the bushes the scout scanned the country in the +direction of Porfiero Hacienda, and then, with his field glasses, from +the other edge of the little grove he surveyed the mountains that loomed +before him. They were an outthrust spur of the Superstition Range, their +sides nearest him being palisaded, barren of trees, and almost as steep +in places as the walls of a house. They seemed to cut him off from the +route he had chosen. He studied them long, searching for a pass that +would lead in the direction of the Perditas River and the little town of +San Paz. + +As he made this search along the base of the mountain, his glasses +caught a brief view of a horseman riding there. The man was far off, and +before the scout could make him out clearly, he had ridden behind some +tall rocks, out of sight. + +But the man’s presence there, combined with the pursuit of the night, +suggested the possibility that some of the hacienda pursuers had passed +and were now ahead of him. + +“And that means that I’ve got to be careful as I go on,” was his +thought. “It wouldn’t be pleasant, or healthy, to be caught by those +rascals in some narrow pass of those mountains.” + +As he had no food, the scout ventured to shoot a sage rabbit. He doubted +if any one was near enough to hear the report of his revolver. Anyway, +as he required food, he was willing to take the risk. + +Over a fire of dry sticks he cooked the rabbit he had killed, and from +the borders of the grove he watched to see if the smoke attracted +attention. It was a light smoke; yet in that clear air it might be seen +a long distance. + +When Buffalo Bill had satisfied his hunger, he mounted and rode forward +again, but he shifted to an indirect course that would screen him and +his horse as they approached the precipitous walls of the Superstition +Mountains. He saw no one now, the rider beheld from the grove had +vanished completely. + +Arriving at a point near where he had seen that rider with his glasses, +the scout dismounted, and after tying the horse, he set out on foot, to +inspect the ground where it seemed the horseman had been. Great was his +surprise, as he thus walked on, to come suddenly face to face with Ramon +Periguez. + +Periguez was at the moment scanning the ground, as if also looking for +tracks, and he was taken by surprise quite as much as the scout. + +“Strange that we meet here!” was Buffalo Bill’s greeting, when Periguez +lifted himself with a start on hearing the scout’s footsteps. + +That sickly yellow came into the Spanish Moor’s face; but it passed +instantly, giving place to a hot flush of anger. For a moment Periguez +did not speak, while his right hand stole stealthily toward his +revolver. + +“I wouldn’t do that, señor,” said the scout coolly. “The risk is too +great.” + +“Do what?” Periguez snarled. + +“Try to draw that revolver. If you should try it seriously, another +revolver might go off, to your hurt.” + +“You mean that you would shoot me?” + +“I should certainly defend myself, señor. How does it come that you are +here?” + +“My horse brought me.” + +“Very good. I presumed as much. I mean why are you here? The hour is +early, and Porfiero Hacienda is some distance off. You were looking for +me.” + +“I was not. Yet, if I was?” + +“You and your rascals tried to assassinate me in my room at the hacienda +last night. You slipped in by some secret passage and were in the room +before I knew it. But I sleep like the weasel, señor, and I awoke in +time, fortunately for me. I was sorry to shoot one of your servants, I +thought the fellow was you.” + +Periguez’s black eyes burned with anger he had tried vainly to suppress. +A sudden reckless defiance flushed his face. + +“Yes!” he shouted. “We followed you, and you shall not escape us now! I +admit that I was looking here for the tracks of your horse. I thought +you had already passed along. But I have men here, and you cannot escape +us this time.” + +Buffalo Bill folded his arms and looked with a mocking smile at the +enraged man. + +“You are overconfident, my good major-domo. I really fear you are +overconfident! Tell me, why did you seek my life last night, and why +have you and your villains chased me to this point?” + +“Do I have to answer the questions of an American dog?” + +“You may feel the bite of the American dog, señor, unless you choose +your words with more care. It isn’t pleasant to be insulted even by a +murderous scoundrel.” + +“You shall rue this!” Periguez panted, his hand again stealing toward +his revolver in spite of the scout’s warning. + +“I think I can tell you. You know what has become of Prince Mogador. His +disappearance is to benefit you, or your employers. Confess it, my dear +Periguez, it will save both of us trouble!” + +Ramon’s revolver came out with a quick motion, and he lifted it to fire +at the scout, a cry of triumph at the same time rising from his lips. +But the cry changed to a groan. + +Something bright shot downward and struck him in the breast as he lifted +the revolver. The weapon dropped from his hand, and he stumbled +backward, with that bright thing protruding from his bosom. It was a +gold-handled dagger! + +Buffalo Bill had not touched the man who threatened him, but the dagger +of gold, dropping from the sky, had struck the villain down in a manner +that was bewildering and mysterious. + +The astounded scout leaped to the rascal’s assistance as he thus tumbled +backward. He bent over him, as he dropped to the ground, and then, +kneeling by him, he lifted Periguez’s head. + +But the man was already dead, the dagger had been driven to his heart. +It was a thing so unexpected and astonishing that Buffalo Bill was +bewildered. + +As soon as he saw that Periguez was beyond help, Buffalo Bill glanced up +at the sky, and at the cliff which rose close by him; but neither in the +sky nor on the cliff did he see anything to elucidate this mystery. He +looked at the dagger. He had already noticed that its handle was of a +dull, golden luster, but now he stared at it in wide-eyed amazement. + +“The dagger of gold!” he whispered, as if he could not trust himself to +voice a thing so unbelievable. “The dagger that I saw in that room at +the hacienda! No, it can’t be! Yet it is. It is the same handle, showing +the same figures and scrollwork.” + +He looked around again, staring. He searched the face of the cliff, and +even the sky. + +“Where did the dagger come from?” + +He took hold of the handle, and with difficulty drew out the weapon. The +keen, double-edged, sharp-pointed blade dripped blood as he held it up. +He looked at the bloody blade, and again studied the lines and +scrollwork of the handle. + +“The identical dagger!” he said. “And it was either hurled from that +cliff, or dropped from the sky, and slew Periguez. It sounds like a +crazy dream.” + +He wiped the dagger on the grass, to remove the blood from the blade. + +Periguez was dead. His revolver, with which he had tried to shoot the +scout, lay, as it had fallen, on the grass. + +The scout looked into the dead man’s face almost with sorrow, though he +had been given no reason for loving this man, who in the night had +sought to assassinate him, and, having followed him with a band of men +on fleet horses, had then tried to shoot him. + +The body of Periguez seemed almost grotesque, as it lay thus, sprawled +on its back, the yellow face upturned to the sky, the black eyes open +and staring. The costume, fantastic in the extreme, with the crimson +scarf holding a keen knife, seemed unbecoming on the dead. + +Having cleaned the blade, the scout again and again inspected the +dagger, reaching each time the conclusion already gained, that it was +none other than the gold-handled dagger which he had seen at the +hacienda. + +How it had come to be in this place, and had dropped apparently out of +the sky, to strike Periguez down, was a mystery that promised to baffle +solution. + + --------------------------------------------------------- + + + + + CHAPTER XXXIII. + + A STRANGE MESSAGE. + + +As Buffalo Bill glanced round again, he began to look for tracks in the +soil. He saw only his own, and those of Periguez, which came from the +opposite direction. + +“In following these I can perhaps find the men who were with him,” was +his thought. “They may be scattered now, but if he had followers, or +companions, he left them at some point, certainly; and by pursuing his +tracks the trail of the other men can be picked up. Yet I should not +care to go on without my horse; and if I rode while following these +tracks the risk of being seen would be great. I should like to know who +was with him, but it may not be worth my while.” + +He was carrying the gold-handled dagger in his hand. It slipped from his +fingers, as he held it carelessly, and struck with a sharp click on a +stone at his feet. He stared down at it with a gasping cry. + +Small wonder that he did so; what he saw was enough to make him gasp and +stare. + +The fall on the stone had released some hidden spring in the dagger’s +handle, and it had opened. Within the cavity a twisted something was +seen resembling paper. + +With a quick motion the scout caught up the dagger, looked at the heavy +handle, which had been so deceptive, and then began to untwist what at +first sight appeared to be a roll of paper. He saw that it really was +not paper, but the fine inner, fibrous bark of a tree. Letters were +traced on it with the leaden end of a bullet or cartridge. The writing +was in Spanish, but he was able to read it: + + “My name is Leon Ruiz. I have been made suddenly a prisoner. + Where I am I do not know, but my prison is a large adobe + house, on a hill, and mountains are all around me. Whoever + finds this——” + +The message broke off abruptly. + +Buffalo Bill read it over and over again, as if he could not convince +himself that he read aright. + +It was in the highest degree mystifying. + +In the first place, it gave the name of the writer as Leon Ruiz, who was +the Moorishlike proprietor of the Porfiero Hacienda, and who, after +welcoming Buffalo Bill, had disappeared so strangely, instead of +returning to take supper with him. + +In the second place, Ruiz had apparently returned to the hacienda in the +night, or certainly after the supper hour, for it was after supper that +Buffalo Bill had the second time seen the dagger of gold among the ore +specimens on the hanging shelves. + +If Ruiz had so returned—and it seemed he must have done so, or he could +not have gained possession of the dagger—why had he not made his +presence known? + +The answer to that might be, the scout suspected, that Ruiz and Periguez +were enemies. If that were true, Ruiz might have fled from the hacienda +to escape sudden vengeance, and might have returned in the darkness to +get certain articles, taking among other things this dagger, yet had +been afraid to try to see the scout. + +According to the writing, he was now a prisoner in a big adobe building +located on a certain hill, with mountains surrounding it. + +Buffalo Bill was fairly familiar with that portion of New Mexico, and he +remembered that the only large adobe building answering to that +description, of which he had knowledge, was the Perditas Hacienda, on a +high hill near the Perditas River. + +That hacienda was mountain girt, but it was distant a number of miles +from the Porfiero Hacienda, so distant that hard riding would have been +required to convey Ruiz to it in the time that had elapsed. Yet it could +have been done. + +“But if he is a prisoner where he says he is, how did the dagger get +here?” the scout asked, looking up as if questioning the air from which +apparently it had come. “And why did Ruiz not finish his letter?” + +Though the letters scrawled on the back with the end of a bullet were +large, there was yet enough space remaining on the bark to have written +several words more. There was no apparent reason why the message should +have been left unfinished. + +The more the scout thought of it, the more puzzled he grew. Finally he +replaced the letter in the handle of the dagger, for safe-keeping, and, +after an examination of the hidden spring, now to be seen, he closed the +handle. + +It shut with a sharp click, and after it had been closed it seemed +perfectly solid, with nothing to show that it was hollow. And its weight +added to that appearance of solidity. + +“Those old Spaniards, or Moors, or whoever made this dagger, were +experts at their trade,” was the scout’s thought, and then he turned to +the body of Ramon Periguez, which still lay just as it had fallen. + +Wondering if there could be anything in the dead man’s pockets that +would throw any light on this mystery, or perhaps the singular +disappearance of Prince Mogador, Buffalo Bill put his hand into the +inner pocket of the man’s jacket. + +Periguez had been his enemy—had sought his life and Periguez’s +scoundrelly companions, the scout believed, were somewhere near. +Therefore, Buffalo Bill felt justified in securing even in this way any +information he could. + +As he thus stooped over the body of Periguez, a rifle cracked some +distance away, and the scout dropped downward with a limp motion, +falling across the body of the dead man. + +Three men in Mexican costume sprang out of some bushes at the point from +which the rifle had been fired, and came running toward the fallen +scout. + +One of them was the servant who, dressed in white, had waited at the +supper table the previous evening at the Porfiero Hacienda. This rascal +carried a rifle from which smoke still curled, and it was plain that he +had fired the murderous shot. + +“He is dead!” said this man, as they reached the scout. + +To all appearance he was right in his conjecture, for Buffalo Bill lay +in a limp heap upon Periguez’s body. Yet his right hand still clutched +the dagger. + +“Shot him in the head! See? There flows the blood!” + +Blood trickled down over the scout’s face, and there was a bullet hole +in his hat. + +One of the other men saw the dagger of gold, and greeted the sight with +an exclamation of astonishment. + +“See?” he fairly screeched. He held up the dagger. “See? The dagger of +Leon Ruiz!” + +They looked at it, with many ejaculations. + +“The very dagger, taken by this American robber from the hacienda. And +with it he killed Ramon Periguez.” + +“Aye, it is so! He stole the dagger from the hacienda, and killed +Periguez with it!” + +“Aye! But he is dead now. Señor Gomez, your eye was true and your bullet +a good one. You sent his cowardly soul to the pit in a quick way, and +may it burn there forever!” + +But at this juncture Buffalo Bill began to stir. + +Though it had hurled him into sudden and complete unconsciousness, the +bullet from the rifle of Gomez had merely scraped along his skull, cut +the skin open, and produced a free flow of blood, yet had made no more +than a superficial wound. It was the concussion which had dropped the +scout in a senseless heap across the body. + +“The rascal still lives!” Gomez ejaculated, and, bending over to look, +he lifted the gold dagger as if he thought of driving it to the scout’s +heart in order to finish him. + +Buffalo Bill’s eyes fluttered open, but closed again, for consciousness +was but returning. + +“Ah, he is rousing!” said another of the three men. “We will question +him about this murder, if he comes back to life for a while.” + +“He may not be mortally hurt,” said the third man. + +“If he is not,” said the other, “I have here a medicine that will finish +him!” + +He touched significantly the protruding handle of his knife. + +Gomez was still bending above the scout, watching his struggling return +from the land of insensibility. + +“Manuel,” he said, without looking round, “bring the lariat from my +horse, that we may bind this devil. He is not so badly hurt, mayhap. We +will tie him.” + +Manuel started off at a run. When he came back he was riding one horse +and leading two others. He approached at a gallop, drew up with a +thunder of hoofs, and leaped down with a spectacular flourish, swinging +the lariat he had procured. Evidently Manuel was a rascal of theatrical +tendencies. He threw the lariat to Gomez, who, with deft loopings and +turns, together with some quickly made knots, soon had the scout bound +hand and foot. + +“Help me to turn him,” he said, “and we will pass the lariat round his +body and arms.” + +“He will think the foul fiend has him sure enough,” declared one of the +men with a laugh, as the rope was wrapped round and round the scout’s +body. + + --------------------------------------------------------- + + + + + CHAPTER XXXIV. + + FACING DEATH. + + +When Buffalo Bill regained consciousness, he found himself a bound +prisoner, with three men, whose dress proclaimed them Mexicans, standing +guard over him. One of them held in his hand the dagger of gold, and the +scout, looking closely at this man’s face, saw that he was the servant +who had waited upon him at the table the evening before at the Porfiero +Hacienda. + +“Ho! You have come back to life, señor!” said this man, called by his +companions Gomez. “We took the liberty of tying you, so that when you +awoke you could not harm yourself.” + +He sat down on a stone before the scout, and behind him crouched his +comrades. + +Buffalo Bill saw that they were armed to the teeth, and he knew by the +way the lariat felt, as its folds girt his body about, that the work of +tying him had been well done. Men of this class were usually as much +masters of ropes and knots as seamen. + +“Fortunate for you, señor, that my aim was not good; my bullet barely +scratched your skull, while I aimed to send it through your head. The +distance was great, or I had done better. But the respite gives you a +chance to talk, and we will listen to anything you desire to say.” + +“I have nothing to say,” was the reply. + +“Over there is the body of Ramon Periguez. You can see it if you will +but turn your head. You slew him.” + +Buffalo Bill did not answer. + +“You slew him with this dagger, which you stole last night from the +Porfiero Hacienda. Is it not true, señor?” + +Gomez held up the dagger. + +The scout not only did not reply, but he hardly heard the words. He was +trying to consider his situation. He felt sure he could expect no mercy +from these men. They had bound him, and sooner or later they would +murder him, if not prevented. Gomez admitted he had aimed the rifle with +the intention of dealing a death wound. + +Buffalo Bill found difficulty in clear thinking. Though he had recovered +consciousness, his ideas were strangely confused. One does not get over +a knock-down blow like that which the bullet delivered, in a few +minutes, and without difficulty, pain or trouble, or haziness of ideas. + +One thing was clear: While these men watched him he could not escape +from his bonds, and he might not be able to escape, even if they should +leave him to himself. + +“I must try to fight for time,” was his conclusion. “Time means +everything. I must be subservient, and not anger them. They may want to +take me before some leader, and that will mean delay. If they decide to +finish me here, I have no chance.” + +Gomez spoke the second time, holding up the dagger, before Buffalo Bill +really heard and comprehended his question. + +“I did not kill him!” the scout now declared. + +The denial was greeted with cries of disbelief. + +“The señor has the tongue of a serpent, as the Indians say,” Gomez +observed. “But it will do him no good to deny that he killed Ramon +Periguez. We found him here, bending over the body, with this dagger in +one hand and his other hand thrust into the pocket of the dead man’s +jacket. It angered us, for even at a distance we recognized the clothing +worn by Periguez. It was then that I fired my bullet.” + +“I did not expect you to believe me.” + +“That is because the señor is not a fool. It is a lie so palpable that +he could not expect us to think it the truth. We saw you bending over +the body, and in your hand this dagger; it was in your hand still when +we reached you. And Periguez had been dead so short a while that his +body was warm and limp. The señor does not deny that?” + +“That is true enough, but I did not kill him.” + +“He died of heart failure, eh? After you struck him with the dagger!” + +The rascals laughed at this. + +“You will not believe me, if I tell just how it came about.” + +“We are listening for the señor’s confession.” + +“The dagger dropped down from the sky and slew him.” + +Then they laughed uproariously. + +“The señor is merry in the face of death!” said Gomez. “I presume he +will tell us that the horse he stole from the hacienda stable and rode +to this point brought him through the air without ever touching hoof to +the ground? Mahomet had a wondrous horse called Alborak that carried him +in such fashion. The American scout is no doubt greater than Mahomet!” + +The villains laughed again at what they conceived the wit of Gomez. + +“I knew you would not believe it,” said the scout. + +“The señor denies that he killed Ramon Periguez, and that he stole the +dagger from the hacienda?” + +“Yes.” + +“Then it is useless to talk with him.” + +“Why did you and Periguez follow me?” the scout asked. + +“We wished to look in your kind face again,” said Gomez. + +“Periguez tried to poison my wine at the supper table, and he smuggled +himself and some assassins into my room to slay me, after the poisoning +attempt had failed. I escaped by the window, and was pursued and shot +at, and you and he followed me even to this place. Why?” + +“Had the señor forgotten the Moroccan prince?” said Gomez, with an +uplifting of his black eyebrows and a shrugging of his shoulders. “That +is the answer. The señor may ponder over it in the few minutes that are +yet left to him.” + +“You mean to kill me?” + +“Horse thieves and murderers are hanged in this country. It is the +unwritten law of the land. We shall but deal out justice to the señor. +His head was too hard for any bullet; but I doubt if his neck is too +strong to break under the jerk of the rope. As to that, we shall see. +The señor may console himself by reflecting that the method is quick and +must be well-nigh painless. I have even been told that men who have been +hanged, yet who were not killed by the hanging, have declared that they +saw enchanting visions while they danced on nothing at the lariat’s end. +May the señor’s dying visions be filled with ravishing delights.” + +Gomez, as well as the rascals who heard him, must have fancied himself a +clever wit. + +One of the horses was brought up, and to its back the scout was lifted. +There he was lashed to the saddle with another lariat, in a most +uncomfortable position. When the horse was led forward the motion gave +him excruciating pain. + +Yet no lamenting moan, no word of complaint, came from the lips of the +heroic scout. And dark as was his outlook, he did not permit himself to +despair; not because he believed there was a chance of escape, but only +for the reason that throughout his life of marvelous adventure he had +always acted on that principle. Hope was a quality so buoyant that he +could not afford to let it slip out of his heart even though death +stared him in the face. + +The scout’s horse, which Gomez and his villains had seen before the +scout was fired upon, was now secured. Then the scout was conducted down +by the high cliff wall, to where a tree offered its wide-spreading +branches for the rope’s end. Under the tree the scout was lifted from +the back of the horse and a lariat was prepared quickly as a hangman’s +noose. + +“If the señor has any messages to send to his friends we will hear +them,” said Gomez, standing before him with a mocking smile. “We can +communicate them to his wonderfully winged horse and instruct that +sagacious and marvelous beast to fly straight to his friends with them. +Now is the señor’s time to speak. In another minute he will be beyond +speaking, or the need of it.” + +The end of the long lariat was thrown over the low limb of the tree, and +two of the rascals pulled it down, fastening it temporarily to the tree +trunk. + +Then Buffalo Bill, still bound and as helpless as a log, was lifted to +his feet and placed beneath the tree, the noose of the rope being drawn +around his neck and pulled tight. + +Seizing the other end of the rope and removing it from around the body +of the tree, the three rascals began to haul upon it. + +The noose clutched round the scout’s neck with a jerk, and he was +dragged from his feet. + +“We have friends in Satan’s kingdom, señor!” Gomez shouted. “When you +meet them give them our kind regards.” + +They swung down on the rope again, and the scout’s body was hoisted +between the earth and the sky. + + --------------------------------------------------------- + + + + + CHAPTER XXXV. + + ENOS SPALDING. + + +A revolver cracked in the thick boughs of the scrubby oak above the +heads of the men who were thus bent on murdering Buffalo Bill, and Gomez +fell back with a cry, clutching frantically at his breast. + +Before he struck the ground the revolver cracked again, and another of +the three men fell. The third dropped the rope and turned to run. + +Buffalo Bill’s feet struck the ground with a thump as the lariat was +thus released, and then he toppled over, falling as heavily as either of +the two men who had been dropped by the revolver. + +A third time the revolver cracked, and the rascal who was running +uttered a cry, but sped on, moving his heels with marvelous speed. + +A chuckling laugh sounded in the top of the oak. Then there was a +rustling of the thick branches, a scraping sound, and a few moments +later a pair of long legs came sliding down the trunk of the tree, +followed by a long, lank, muscular body, and then by a small head that +was covered by a shock of coarse hair and a huge flapping hat. + +When this queer figure struck the ground with its big feet and then +straightened up, a tall, slim man was revealed, a man of elderly aspect, +whose shrewd face was twisting with excitement and whose blue eyes +snapped and burned. He wore a billy-goat beard, and his whole appearance +stamped him unmistakably as a “down-East Reub.” + +So tall was he that he seemed to have squeezed himself into the clothing +of a boy, the sleeves and the tail of his coat and the legs of his +trousers were so short. The short sleeves revealed a pair of red, bony +wrists, while the stump legs of the trousers showed a vista of +bright-red stockings of coarse yarn. The shoes were big and hobnailed. + +“By chaowder!” he grunted, “I reckon I didn’t do that shooting none too +soon. I hate tew pull a deadly weepon on any human critter, but ’twan’t +never in the Spalding blood to allaow what ain’t a square deal ’tween +man and man. And this feller was an American, whilst t’others was yaller +Mexicans, and that’s got tew be caounted in, by gum! An American has got +tew stand up fer another American every time. But, I vum! I dunno but I +was too slow, fer seems ter me he’s stun-dead. One of them Mexicans is +still kickin’, and he’s got a gun, tew! I’ll jes have tew relieve him of +that, fust thing.” + +The wounded man lay on his back, glaring at the Yankee. He had been shot +in the shoulder. It was a stunning sort of wound, which had knocked him +out temporarily, though he was probably not fatally injured. But the +other man was dead, and that man was Gomez. + +Running his long fingers over the clothing of the wounded man, the +Yankee deftly extracted a murderous knife and a revolver. + +“I reckon yeou’re a reg’lar walkin’ ars’nel! What else ye got on ye, in +the way of weepons?” + +He found nothing else, but from one of the pockets he brought up a slip +of paper written in Spanish. + +The Yankee stared at it, and then deliberately bringing from his pocket +a pair of heavy spectacles he set them on his nose and tried to read the +writing. + +“Them hen tracks is tew much fer me!” he admitted, as he tucked the +paper away for future reference. + +When he had satisfied himself that the wounded man was now weaponless, +he turned his attention to Buffalo Bill, who was again unconscious, +because the noose cut so sharply into his neck. The Yankee loosened and +cast off the noose. + +“Looks like I was a bit tew slow with that shootin’!” he said. “I +hesitated tew long, I reckon. But I didn’t want tew do anything unless I +seen I jes’ had to. I ain’t got any stummick fer killin’ men, even if +they aire Mexicans and aire deserving of death.” + +He began to work the scout’s arms up and down, and then, bending over, +he blew into his face. + +“If I had any worter!” As he spoke he noticed Buffalo Bill’s flask lying +on the ground, with his field glasses, which the scoundrels had +appropriated. He picked up the flask, opened it, and took a sniff. + +“Whisky, by heck! And they tuck it frum _him_. I vum, ef this critter +ain’t a drinkin’ man, and he looked tew me like a plum’ straightforward +critter! Looks is deceivin’.” + +He not only sniffed the whisky, but tasted it. + +“Fiery as all git-aout, by gosh! Wonder what the Temperance Society +daown at Spalding’s Corners would say ef they should see me tastin’ and +handlin’ the vile stuff? They’d call me a backslider, by heck! But I +ain’t goin’ tew use it on myself, and I reckon it’s use is allowable, +anyhow, as a medicine. Waal, here goes!” + +He pried the jaws of the scout apart, and poured some of the whisky down +his throat. + +“Makes ye choke, does it? Waal, that’s a sign yeou’re livin’, anyhaow.” + +Again he began to move the arms up and down and breathe into the scout’s +face and nostrils. + +The color returned to the pallid features, the breathing strengthened, +and the scout was again on the road to consciousness. + +The Yankee inspected the cut made by the bullet in the scout’s head. + +“That bullet come darn near gittin’ ye, didn’t it? I reckon yeou’re born +tew be draowned in the sea; fer bullets and ropes don’t finish ye. Ef a +man’s born tew be draowned he can’t be killed by hangin’.” + +When Buffalo Bill opened his eyes he saw the thin face of the Yankee +close by his own, and heard the Yankee’s harsh yet kindly voice: + +“Comin’ raound, be ye? Waal, yeou’ve been a tarnal long time doin’ it. +And every minute we stay here is a resk. One man got away, and it’s my +opinion others like him aire raound here a-plenty. He’ll find ’em, and +come back.” He heard a sound, and glanced around. “Hello! That critter +over there’s movin’!” + +The wounded Mexican was trying to crawl to the body of Gomez, to get the +revolver which the Yankee had not removed. The Yankee swung around and +cocked his own weapon. + +“Don’t dew it!” he warned. “I’ve killed one man a’ready, and I don’t +want tew haf to kill another.” + +The Mexican dropped limply back upon the grass. + +“That’s right, jes’ lay there, will ye! And don’t tempt me tew shoot ye. +I don’t want to.” + +He turned again to Buffalo Bill, but glanced now and then at the wounded +Mexican. + +“I should like to know your name,” said the scout, “you have saved my +life.” + +“Me? Waal, call me Enos Spalding, and you’ll git clost to it. It was jes +luck I was up that tree. Feelin’ better, ain’t ye?” + +“I think so, very much better.” + +“Take another swig o’ this devil’s fire. I don’t believe in whisky, +except as a medicine. It su’prised me tew find yeou had been kerryin’ +this flask. But it come in paowerful handy.” + +“Yes, that’s why I carried it.” + +“Yeou expected to be shot and hung, and tew have need of it?” + +“In this wild land one never knows when he may have need for a +stimulant.” + +“That’s right, I reckon, jedgin’ by what I seen to-day. I don’t reckon +yeou could set on a hoss, could ye?” + +Buffalo Bill tried to lift himself. His head felt dizzy, and a blackness +swam before his eyes when he raised his head. + +“Yes, I can sit on a horse,” he said courageously. + +“I ain’t wantin’ tew hurry ye any, but one o’ them devils got away, and +I reckon there’s more of his kind raound here. He may come back with +’em. So, the sooner we git tew movin’ the better.” + +“You’re right,” said the scout. “Just help me a little.” + +“When they skun aout they left their hosses. Your’n is here, tew, I +think. It’s lucky fer both of us; we can have two hosses apiece, and I +didn’t have even one. Mine got away frum me yistidday, and I’ve been +hossless and afoot ever sense. Jes lay back a minute while I bring ’em +up.” + +Buffalo Bill lay back on the grass, weak and exhausted, and the Yankee +hastened to get the horses. Then he removed Gomez’s jacket and hung it +in the tree so that it could be seen. + +“That will bring ’em to help this critter that’s wounded,” he explained, +and as he helped the scout to the saddle he began to tell his story, +without having been asked to do so. + +“As I said, my name is Enos Spalding. I’m frum Varmount, which, as ye +know, is a good ways frum this place; and it’s a better country than +this land of sand and cactus, ef I do say it. + +“Waal, I come down here on a sing’lar mission. I’ve got a niece, Irene +Nelson, that is a master hand at singin’. She kin sing jes as easy as a +bird kin warble, and a good deal sweeter than any bird I ever heerd open +its mouth. She’s been ejicated in singin’ abroad, over in France and +Italy. That was all foolishness, I tole her, and jes a waste o’ money, +fer ef a body is a natural singer there ain’t no sense, as I can see, in +goin’ across the ocean to practice yer voice. We’ve got singin’ teachers +right here in Ameriky. There was Tod Bunnell, used tew come raound to +Spalding’s Corners every winter and give singin’-skewl lessons, and he +could ’a’ teached her jes as well as them teachers over in Paris, what +charged sech all-fired prices fer it. That’s what I tole her, but she +couldn’t see it the same way as I did. + +“Waal, when she couldn’t, and was baound and determined to be a singer, +I give her the money, though it did cramp me a putty consid’able tew do +it. I paid her way while she was over there with them high-notion +singin’ teachers. + +“I dunno whether she sung any better after that than before, but p’r’aps +she did, fer they tuck her up in them foreign cities, and she begun tew +sing in operys. She sent me clippings aout of the newspapers over there +that told abaout her, but most of it was in sech all-fired queer +langwidges that me ner nobody at Spalding’s Corners could make head ner +tail aout of it. If’t hadn’t been fer her letters explainin’, we +wouldn’t knowed what it was all abaout. + +“But there was some English papers, that she sent from London and +Manchester, and other taowns in England, and they did praise her right +up tew the mark, I tell yew. So, I reckoned mebbe I hadn’t been sech a +fool, arter all, when I furnished the money fer her musical ejication. +Though at the time every critter in Spalding’s Corners said that I was +the dummedest fool that ever went on two legs.” + +Having lifted the scout to the saddle, the Yankee steadied him until he +could put his feet in the big Mexican stirrups. When mounted, the scout +could ride even when he had not strength to walk. + +Spalding tied one of the horses by a lariat to the scout’s saddle and +one to his own, the other he mounted. + +“We’ll make fer a notch I seen over there yistidday,” he said. “I don’t +know ef any enemies aire layin’ round er not; but it’s healthier to +think they be, and tew keep aout of the way of ’em. It looks like a sin +tew leave that wounded critter here, but there ain’t no help fer it. I +reckon he’ll pull through somehaow; I’ll hope so. His friends will be +putty cert’in tew see that jacket flappin’ in the wind.” + +He started the horses. + +“I was tellin’ ye about my niece, but I didn’t git through. Waal, arter +she’d sung in England and in Europe, she went to Australy and sung +there. She sent me some o’ the Melbourne and Sydney papers. Then she sot +aout fer home, comin’ across the Pacific, and stoppin’ at the Sandwich +Islands. She sung in Californy a few times, and then, havin’ promised to +visit with a young woman daown in this section, what was a ranchman’s +daughter, she started aout fer the ranch. + +“Ye see, she and this young woman had been in skewl together, when they +was gals. My niece’s friend’s mother married a cattleman, named Fernald, +and moved daown here. And that’s haow ’twas. + +“You’ll think I’m a long time gittin’ tew it, but naow comes the +queerest part, and the reason fer my bein’ here. She’s disappeared. I’ve +been to that ranch haouse, and I’ve been everywhere, and I can’t find +hoof ner hair of her, tew show what’s happened. + +“Three days ago I struck across in this direction, hossback, intendin’ +to hit the trail frum San Paz, some’eres below these maountains. I got +lost. Then my hoss got away. All day yistidday I walked and walked. +Seemed like I’d never git raound these maountain walls. This mornin’ I +come over in this direction, fer I thought I seen a hoss, and it might +be mine, but I didn’t find it. + +“Then I seen Mexicans ridin’, and I’d heerd so much abaout road agents, +and Mexicans, and cattle like that, I jes hid in that tree. + +“Waal, tew make a long story short, I was in there when them three +fellers brought ye there intendin’ tew hang ye. When I seen that they +meant bisness, I jes had to chip in. + +“That’s all, except that I ain’t found ary trace of my niece or Miss +Fernald, and it begins ter look as ef I ain’t goin’ tew. But mebbe I was +sent here tew give yeou that lift. I dunno. Things works queer at times. +Ef this was a lawabidin’ country I allaow I’d be arrested for killin’ +that Mexican; but sheriffs to arrest a man aire about as skurse here, I +cal’late, as hen’s teeth. Waal, that’s my story, anyhaow.” + +Spalding looked at the scout with inquiring interest. + +“I’ll hear yours, when yeou’re better able tew tell it. It’ll keep, I +guess. Ef you can stand faster ridin’ we’ll move the legs of these +hosses a little. The furder I git frum that dead and wownded Mexican the +better I’ll be feelin’.” + +They rode on, seeking lower ground, leaving the tree which had witnessed +the tragedy quickly behind. + + --------------------------------------------------------- + + + + + CHAPTER XXXVI. + + HEMMED IN. + + +Under the direction of Buffalo Bill, a hiding place was found at length +in a notch of the hills, and in it the scout and the Yankee sought +refuge. Buffalo Bill would not have stopped in the notch but for the +fact of his extreme physical weakness. He needed time in which to +recuperate. + +In addition to the wide opening in front, which was screened by scrubby +bushes and tall cactus, there was a narrow pass leading to the rear, and +the sides of the ravine were jagged and notched, so that, if closed in +on from both ends of the ravine, there would still be a good chance to +escape. + +Before this two of the horses had been abandoned, on Buffalo Bill’s +advice, as he thought they were likely to be an encumbrance. + +The releasing of these horses, really good animals, and their loss with +their accouterments, was a sore grief to the close-fisted Yankee. + +“It sorter seems like throwing away money,” he said, as the horses were +left behind, and, with a backward look, he saw them browsing by the +trail. “I was allus taught never to throw anything away, never to let go +of anything that might be used, and never to be wasteful. The one what +does them things, I was allus told, will never git rich. It seems a sin +and shame to let ’em go. They’d fetch good money, if we had ’em at any +market.” + +Buffalo Bill smiled at the covetous Yankee’s observation. + +“We’ll be better off without them. Yet, if you choose to take them +yourself, and are not going far with me, it’s not my place to object to +your doing what you please with them. But I know that my movements would +be only hampered by them. They’re good horses; but I’m willing that the +Mexicans, to whom they belong, shall have them.” + +“Waal, I’ve got a fine critter under me, in place of the one I lost,” +was Spalding’s consoling answer. + +When they had stowed themselves securely in their retreat, the Yankee +brought forth the writing in Spanish he had taken from the pocket of one +of the Mexicans, explaining at the same time where he had obtained it. + +Buffalo Bill glanced at the paper and his eyes brightened when they took +in the writing, which was as follows: + + “The American scout must be killed. It will never do for him + to find Prince Mogador. Do not hesitate to slay him as if he + were but a wolf. Everything depends on it. When you have + succeeded, ride at once to San Paz Hacienda. + + “LEON RUIZ.” + +The signature of Leon Ruiz was what caught the eye of the scout quite as +much as the nature of the contents. It was the signature attached, also, +to the mysterious note which had been in the handle of the dagger. It +seemed to him that the handwriting was the same, too; but as he had not +possession of the other note he could not be sure of this. He had +replaced that note in the handle of the dagger, and there it had been +when he was shot down and the dagger was taken from him. + +Whether the men who now had the dagger knew of that receptacle in the +handle he could not tell, of course. He hoped they did not, and that +knowledge of it would be kept from them. + +This new note made him anxious to start on for San Paz Hacienda. + +It was the only place which answered to the description given in the +dagger note as that of the prison of the writer, and this second note +hinted that Prince Mogador was held there. + +The first note had been written with the end of a bullet or cartridge, +which tended to prove that the writer was a prisoner, not in possession +of pencil or pen, and the material on which it had been written showed +the same thing. The note produced by the Yankee was written on ordinary +paper, with a lead pencil. + +“What’s it say?” asked the Yankee. He had doubled his long frame up like +a jackknife, and, with his arms on his sharp knees, he had rested his +chin on them, and was thus looking curiously at the scout. “It looks +like hen tracks tew me.” + +Buffalo Bill translated it for him. + +“I want tew know!” he exclaimed. “Where is this San Paz Hacienda?” + +Buffalo Bill told him. + +“I ain’t heerd your story yit, yeou know. You recollect I said I’d wait +till yeou was better able tew tell it. I cal’late it may be +int’restin’.” + +“I’m sure I can trust you.” + +“Yeou’ll hev to, I guess, ef yeou tell it, though trustin’ is mighty +pore bizness. Trustin’ come nigh to bustin’ me onct, up in Varmount; +trustin’ goods aout of my store, I mean. Ef I had all the money owin’ +tew me by the farmers raound Spalding’s Corners I’d be a sight richer’n +I am to-day.” + +“I think I can trust you, I’m sure of it. You risked your life to save +mine, and that’s all the credentials I want, to show me that you’re a +man whose heart is in the right place. I’ll tell you my story.” + +This Cody did, giving Enos Spalding a clear idea of why he was in that +section, and what he had discovered since coming into it. + +“I want tew know!” said Spalding, who throughout the telling had sat +with his mouth dropped open, like the mouth of a fish out of water. “I +reckon that yeou and me aire both on a huntin’ trip daown this way—yeou +huntin’ fur this furrin prince and me huntin’ fur my niece! An’ so yeou +know Miss Fernald, tew! It’s a curious coincidence, I may say, and it +would be funnier than time ef we should find that aour steps p’inted in +the same direction. + +“It begins tew look tew me as if there’s a good deal of abductin’ goin’ +on daown here. That is, jedgin’ by what you think. You don’t believe +this furrin’ prince is dead, and I ain’t willin’ tew believe that my +niece is dead. Suppose we splice teams and hunt together? I’m not much +good at it myself, but I mightn’t be sech bad shakes, ef I had yeou to +lead. I’d try to do my part.” + +His long, lank face looked at the scout solemnly, but in his blue eyes +there was a fire which showed that he had a good deal of courage and +spirit. + +“If I could, I should be glad to help you in this matter of your niece,” +said the scout, wondering how Emily Fernald could have met with dangers +and difficulties again, so soon after being taken home by Lieutenant +Butler. “As soon as I’m able I shall go on to the Hacienda of San Paz. +The letter in that dagger handle described the San Paz Hacienda, and +this note in Spanish, signed also by Leon Ruiz, directs his men to ride +there as soon as they have finished me.” + +The Yankee’s face broke into a dry smile. + +“Ef they dew that, I reckon yeou won’t be goin’ to this hacienda, unless +they kerry yer body there on their hosses.” His face sobered again. “But +ef yeou do go there, I’m guessin’ yeou’ll be runnin’ into whole heaps of +danger and trouble. If them men what aire trying to git ye here find +yeou raound that haciender they’ll try tew kill ye there. I allaow +’twon’t be healthy fer either of us in that vercinity, sense I laid aout +that Mexican and wounded the other one. They’d be wantin’ my hair abaout +as bad as they do yourn.” + +“That’s true, too,” said the scout. “If those men happen to meet you +they’ll try to punish you for what you did. But you’re a man of courage. +I’ve seen that. And you can shoot a revolver.” + +The Yankee grinned solemnly. “My courage was kinder of the shakin’ +order, when I popped intew ’em frum that tree,” he admitted. “Ef it +hadn’t been a needcessity I’d never done it. But when a lot o’ heathen +Mexicans tries tew hang an American citerzen, then I’m under obligations +as an American tew chip in and help him all I kin. ’Twouldn’t be +becomin’ in an American not to. + +“And,” he added, “I learnt haow to shoot a pistol when I was constable +up in aour taown, a good many years ago, and I ain’t furgot it. I used +to practice pistol shootin’ reg’lar, aout behind the woodhouse, in them +days. Zenas Dane was a leetle better shot than me, but sometimes I even +beat Zenas. I’ve noticed that when a man learns anything, whether it’s +pistol shootin’ er something else, he never fergits it intirely. But my +hand was shakin’ a putty considdable when I pulled daown on them +Mexicans. Otherwise, I allaow I’d ’a’ got the third man, tew.” + +“As I said, I’m going to ride to San Paz Hacienda, as soon as I feel +strong enough to undertake the journey. If you will accompany me, I +shall be glad to have you do so,” replied Cody. “If your niece and Emily +Fernald are held prisoners down here anywhere, we might possibly get +some information there; no one can tell. Of course, it seems the merest +chance.” + +“I’ll go ’long with yeou,” said the Yankee, his face brightening. “One +place is as good as another, so long’s I don’t know no more than I dew +now. Yeou’ll cut aout before dark?” + +“Perhaps so.” + +Thus they talked, discussing their plans and their situation. + +Buffalo Bill began to feel much better, and was trying to get some +sleep, when the Yankee aroused him. + +“I swan tew man, somebuddy’s comin’ this way!” he whispered. + +Buffalo Bill was wide awake and alert instantly. Then he discovered that +some of the men the Yankee called Mexicans were already in the little +pocket and were making a search through it. + +“Gosh all hemlock!” whispered the Yankee excitedly. “They struck them +hosses, and naow they’ll find us! It’s fight, I cal’late.” + +So saying, he drew his revolver. + +“Don’t fire, don’t be hasty!” Buffalo Bill caught his arm. “Just slide +back here behind these bushes; there’s a hole that will hide us.” + +“They’ll trap us in there!” said Enos, but he obeyed the scout, +nevertheless, and slid back into the hole. + +The Mexicans had found the two horses, and they were talking of their +discovery in such high whispers that the words reached the men in +concealment. + +“What they sayin’?” the Yankee demanded. + +“They think that we’re near, or the horses wouldn’t be where they are.” + +“Good guessin’! There’ll be some fightin’, ef they nose us aout.” + +He lay flat behind the bushes, clutching his revolver, his breath coming +heavily. + +The hole in which he and the scout sprawled was dark, and bushes were +thick around it. + +“They may find our tracks, if they’re experienced men,” whispered the +scout. “If they do we’re in for trouble.” + +“Let it come!” said the Yankee, his eyes beginning to blaze. “We’ll +fight the hull of ’em.” + +They heard the Mexicans beating about in the bushes, and caught sight of +one of them as he walked through the lower ground, not a dozen yards +off. + +Closer and closer drew the searchers. + +Suddenly the bushes in front of the hole were shaken. Then they were +drawn aside, and a dark face peered in. The face paled to a sickly +tallow color when the man saw that he was looking into the muzzle of a +revolver. Before he could draw back, the scout had caught him by the +leg, thrown him down, and jerked him back into the hole, and, with the +scout’s revolver muzzle pressed against his breast, he feared to cry +out. + +“Too much curiosity often gets men into trouble,” Buffalo Bill said in +Spanish. “Cry out, and you’re a dead man!” + +The threat was sufficient; the man made no sound, but lay trembling, +with a piteous appeal for mercy in his face. + +“How many men are out there?” the scout whispered. + +“More than a dozen, señor.” + +“They think we are in here?” + +“Si, señor.” + +“Watch him,” said the scout, speaking in Spanish for the man’s benefit, +“and if he so much as moves, shoot him dead.” + +Cody repeated it to the Yankee in English. + +“By gosh! I’d jes’ like to send a bullet rippin’ through him!” the +Yankee whispered. To show that he meant “business,” he sat on the +Mexican’s arm, and pressed the muzzle of the big revolver against the +prisoner’s breast. “Ef yeou so much as wink an eye yeou git this +bullet!” he threatened. + +Buffalo Bill crawled along and tried to see out. + +The other men were not far off. + +After hunting round and round a while they began to call to their +missing comrade. + +“Nuncio!” they yelled. + +“What has become of that villain Nuncio?” one of them was heard to ask a +little later. + +“Hast looked behind those bushes, Perez?” said another. + +Perez was heard coming up the slope. He parted the bushes, saw the face +and the revolver of Buffalo Bill, and, with a cry, threw himself +backward before the scout could catch him. His yell as he rolled down +warned his comrades; the next minute he was telling them of his +discovery. + +A crackling fire of revolvers followed instantly, and the bullets came +through the bushes. Nuncio uttered a groan. One of them had struck him +in the breast. + +“Down!” said the scout to the Yankee. + +“Come out of there, you American dogs!” was the shouted command from +below. + +Buffalo Bill answered, in Spanish, without exposing himself: + +“We have captured your friend Nuncio, and have him here, and we are +using him as our shield. Already you have wounded him. If you fire on us +again you are likely to kill him. We will not surrender, and if you try +to take us it will but result in the death of your friend.” + +The men were heard to retreat, and then there sounded, farther off, the +hum of their voices. One of them came back and shouted: + +“We do not believe you. If you have Nuncio, let him speak.” + +Buffalo Bill pointed his revolver at the head of the suffering man. + +“Answer them!” he commanded. “Tell them they shot you, without harming +us, and that if they fire again they’re likely to kill you.” + +Nuncio answered, coughing out the words, for he was in great distress. + +“If you love me, do not fire again!” he begged. “Already I am badly +wounded.” + +Again the hum of voices was heard. + +“Surrender, for you cannot escape,” said the spokesman. “We have you +corralled. We will treat you well, if you surrender without giving us +trouble.” + +“We do not trust you,” said Buffalo Bill, “and we refuse to surrender; +and, if you crowd us, we will kill your friend.” + +“We will starve you out!” was shouted back. “You cannot get away, and we +will starve you out.” + + --------------------------------------------------------- + + + + + CHAPTER XXXVII. + + AT THE SAN PAZ HACIENDA. + + +The day had passed and night had come. Buffalo Bill and the Yankee were +still cooped up in their hiding place. + +Throughout the long hours of the afternoon the men who had them hemmed +in had called to them from time to time, demanding their surrender. +Always they had given the same answer, or its substance. + +Several times, in reply to the demands of his friends, and coerced by +the scout’s threats, Nuncio had spoken. Always he had begged his friends +not to fire again, and they had so far obeyed. But Nuncio was past +speaking now, though as yet the watchers below did not know it; his +death was but a matter of a short time. + +Buffalo Bill had questioned him about the San Paz Hacienda, but the +fellow knew nothing, or, at least, claimed that he did not. And he +claimed, likewise, that he knew nothing of the present whereabouts of +Leon Ruiz. The scout was not sure, however, but the rascal lied on these +points. His manner in giving answers was not satisfactory. But now he +was not able to speak or to understand. + +“We’ve got to get out of this, Spalding,” said the scout, when darkness +had come. “We can climb the cliff behind us. We can reach it by +burrowing under those bushes off at the right.” + +“They’ll shoot us while we’re doin’ it!” + +“We must take the risk. You saw the path which I think we’d better try. +It’s steep, but we can do it.” + +The scout was his old courageous self again. In spite of the excitement +of the afternoon, the rest in that little notch had restored his +strength. + +“I dew hate to lose them hosses!” said Spalding, with genuine regret. +“That will be the second pair of hosses we’ve had to give up this day. +And hosses like them aire wuth two hundred apiece in any hoss market. I +call that a burnin’ shame. And them bridles and saddles is wuth a heap, +tew.” + +“There’s no help for it.” + +“What will we do with this pore critter?” + +“His friends will find him, though perhaps he will be dead when they do. +But we have the satisfaction of knowing it was not our lead that brought +about his end.” + +Buffalo Bill crawled over to the bushes he had indicated, and began to +creep through them in the direction of the cliff he had marked in the +afternoon. The Yankee came slowly after him. + +Their departure from the notch was not discovered at once by the +Mexicans below. But when they began to climb the cliff, which was steep +and very difficult in the darkness, the Yankee slipped and came near +falling. He was supported by the scout until he could regain his +footing. The noise reached the ears of the watchers, who began to call +and shout. Then a sputter of revolvers came from them, and the bullets +raked and scraped over the face of the cliff. + +“Come on!” Buffalo Bill whispered. “Don’t shoot back. They don’t know +just where we are, and they can’t see us.” + +“They’re shootin’ paowerful straight, though,” the Yankee grumbled. “One +of their dummed bullets cut through my hat, and I’ll bet it’s ruined. +Cost me three dollars in Los Angeles, that hat did. I don’t like tew +have it cut up in that way. Hats cost money, by gum!” + +“Keep still, and now come right after me. Hold tight. I’ll help you now +and then, at the worst places.” + +They climbed on. + +The revolvers were still popping, and around and about them the bullets +whistled and scraped. But that shot through the Yankee’s hat was as near +as any of them came to the fugitives. + +When they were still higher on the cliff they heard the Mexicans calling +to Nuncio. + +“They’ll go up and look fer him, I reckon, and then they’ll foller us!” +said the Yankee. + +“Likely. But the darkness is all in our favor, remember.” + +“I’m hungrier’n all git aout!” the Yankee grumbled, when they gained the +top of the cliff. “What’s yer plans naow?” + +“We start now for San Paz Hacienda.” + +They had not only reached the top of the cliff, but the rocky land lay +now rather level before them. Even in the darkness so keen was the +vision of Buffalo Bill that he had no trouble in going forward, +directing the Yankee now and then by a word. Soon they were almost +beyond hearing of the occasional pistol shots which sounded in the +ravine. + +The scout held steadily on his way over the uneven ground. This was a +sort of plateau, lying on the top of one of the lower hills of the +Superstition Range, and it took hours to cross it. When at last they +gained its farther side, they found that the land dropped away into what +seemed a dark ravine. + +Having descended into this, the scout found what he believed to be a +game trail, leading somewhat in the direction he wished now to go; and +this they followed. + +Throughout the night they continued their wearing travel, but they went +into camp at the breaking of day, hiding again under cover of bushes. + +Here Buffalo Bill killed a rabbit, bowling this one over with a stone, +and he ventured to build a fire with which to cook it. No enemies were +in sight, and it seemed safe to believe that the Mexicans who had so +harassed them had been distanced during the night. + +After a rest of two or three hours they pushed or again. It was +midafternoon when they came in sight of the San Paz Hacienda, perched on +the top of its hill, with mountains surrounding it. + +“Naow, what aire we goin’ tew do?” asked the Yankee, dropping down to +rest, for he confessed that he was pretty well tired out. “We don’t know +what’s up there, except that I see some men that look tew me tew be +guards.” + +“They are guards,” said the scout, “and that indicates something.” + +“Indercates that the place is guarded, I reckon.” + +“Yes, and if it’s guarded, there is a reason. Those men up there could +fear no foes unless they were holding some one there and expected a +pursuit. There are no Indians in this section, and I think no outlaws, +except the rascals themselves.” + +The Yankee stared up from his hiding place at the adobe structure on the +hill. It resembled a Spanish castle in its outward appearance, though +the walls were of adobe, or sun-dried bricks, instead of stone. + +“A perfect Gibraltar, in some respects,” said the scout, when he had +studied the house and the hill with his field glasses. “Unless one +climbs those sheer walls on this side, which seem to hang above a sort +of moat, there’s no way to get up there, save by the path which those +sentries are closely watching.” + +“Funny little towers on it!” said the Yankee. + +Buffalo Bill looked at the towers—there was one on each of the four +corners—and he showed a sudden increase of interest. His field glasses +had revealed a handkerchief fluttering from the barred window of the +tower right over the wall above the moat. He studied it closely. His +strong glasses even brought into view the bars at that window. + +“The prisoner is there!” he said. “See! It may be Leon Ruiz, and it may +be some one else.” He gave the glasses to the Yankee. “Turn them on that +tower above the white wall. You will see a handkerchief hanging from the +bars of the window. Another thing you will observe is, that the window +cannot be seen from the other side of the house; nor do I think it would +be visible to any one standing directly below it. Off here it is in +plain view. Does that suggest anything?” + +“It might su’gest that whoever is in there may be tryin’ to signal +abaout it.” + +“It suggests to me that whoever is in that tower, knowing the signal +cannot be seen readily from any point of the building nor from the +ground below that wall, keeps that handkerchief flying from that window +in the hope that it may be seen by some one in this direction; one would +have to be in this direction to see it.” + +“Yes, that’s so.” + +“It’s only a guess that the prisoners are held there, but it’s so good a +guess that I’m going to find out to-night.” + +“Haow?” + +“By climbing that sheer wall to the window.” + +“I want tew know! ’Twon’t be easy tew do.” + +“I shall try it. I’ve got to know who is in that tower. It may be Leon +Ruiz. But I believe I have found the prison of Prince Mogador.” + +“Gosh all Friday! I’m wishin’ we could find the prison of my niece! That +is, ef she’s held anywhere, and ain’t dead. By gum! that might be her +hankcher shakin’ there! Who knows that it ain’t?” + +“No one knows. That’s what we must find out.” + +“Yit I don’t see what any one would want to capter her fur, and hold her +that way, anyhaow. She ain’t got no money to pay a ransom with, and I +ain’t. I’ve spent more naow in this search than I kin afford tew. It’d +be jes’ my luck tew find her in sech a place and have to come daown with +a lot of hard cash tew git her aout. She’s cost me a mint o’ money +already, by gum! I wonder ef she kin be in there?” + +His voice and his hands trembled. + +It was plain that no matter what the cost, nor how near the payment +might come to breaking his old heart, he would pay whatever was +demanded, if a demand was made, and the money could be raised by him. He +might grumble, but he would not hesitate. + + --------------------------------------------------------- + + + + + CHAPTER XXXVIII. + + THE PRISONER OF THE TOWER. + + +Using the immemorial privilege of a teller of tales, I ask the reader to +turn back now and look with me into one of the tower rooms of the San +Paz Hacienda. + +It is not the room at whose barred window Buffalo Bill saw the flutter +of that handkerchief, but is like it, except that the bars are broken, +and a space in the window is open large enough to permit the passage of +the body of a man. + +Yet this is of no use to the pallid prisoner lying on his cot in a +corner of the little room, for below that window are the jagged tops of +trees, projecting sharply upward, ready to impale him like dagger points +if he should venture to try to escape by leaping down. He believes he +has reason on his side, when he thinks it is the wish of his jailers +that he shall leap down upon those treetops and thus meet death. + +Yet his jailers, cruel as they are, have not, so far, tried to take his +life directly, though they have apparently sought to do so indirectly, +for they have subjected him to tortures so inhuman they pass belief. His +body is knotted and bent by reason of these tortures, and the +intolerable torment of continuous pain is his portion. He groans now and +then, covers his eyes with his hands, and wonders if the end his +fiendish captors seem to wish is not near. + +Yet he will do nothing to destroy his own life. He desires to live, and +he feels that he has justification for this desire. His death would mean +much to many people, besides his jailers. + +Night comes, shadowing the little room by slow degrees, and then +plunging it into darkness. Lying on his cot, his cheeks flushed and +feverish, his brain gradually becoming bewildered, he yet listens to the +sounds of the night—to the cry of birds, to the distant yelping of +wolves in the mountains, the occasional ring of a rifle or musket as its +butt is jarred against the earth by the hand of a sentry. + +Feeling that his strength is failing, that his mind is leaving him, he +begins at length to pray for death. He takes from beneath the thin +pillow of his cot a dagger. It has a handle of gold, is ponderous, and +its keen double edge would quickly let out his life. He holds it in his +hand, which shakes under the suggestive temptation; he even lifts it to +drive it into his bosom. But he does not. His hand drops against the +tattered covering of the cot, and he groans aloud. + +“I must live!” he moans. “Yet here I die! Die in this poisonous place, +without friends, without help!” + +The dagger slips from his fingers and he covers his face with his hands, +while tears of weakness trickle down his cheeks. His sobs choke and +stifle him. + +“If I could but get word to them of what I suffer! If they could but +know that I live—that I exist, for I do not live! But they will never +know. I am buried in a place of which I have no knowledge; and how long +I have been here I fail even to remember. For my mind is blank at times, +and days and nights go without leaving any record on my miserable +brain.” + +There is a scratching sound at the window. He hears it, the sobbing and +the tears cease, and he is alert. + +“Is help at hand?” he whispers. “It cannot be!” + +He is so weak that in trying to get out of the bed he almost falls to +the floor, yet with caution he crawls toward the window. + +Something is beating against it, on the outside. + +The darkness is so great he cannot see what it is, but, creeping up to +the window, he puts a hand through, and it touches a frightened bird, +which flutters its wings and makes strange cries as he draws it into the +room. He is bewildered. This was not what he expected. + +He cannot see the bird, but it seems to be some kind of gull, or sea +bird, and he thinks it has wandered from the sea, and, becoming +bewildered, has struck in the darkness against the window ledge and +injured itself. + +Crawling over to the other side of the room, he finds a stub of candle +on a box, and, with trembling fingers, he secures a match and gets a +light. Then he sees the bird, to which he has clung. It is a sea bird, +he is sure, and its head is bruised, showing that he judged truly in +thinking it had struck in the darkness against the tower. It seems as +sadly bewildered as he had been himself a little while before. + +The bird is too weak to be released, it could not fly if he should toss +it through the window, he fears, yet he knows that it will get strong. +It has wings of broad expanse, and it must have been a powerful flyer in +its normal condition. + +He tears from his tattered coat a bit of thread, and ties the legs of +the bird, lest in its weakened state it may flutter to the window and +escape. + +Having done that, he begins to pull with feverish eagerness at the coat, +extracting thread after thread. These threads he separates by +untwisting, and at length succeeds in getting a fine strong cord that he +deems of suitable length for the purpose that has come to him. + +Having done this, he crawls over to his cot, and brings to view again +the dagger with the handle of gold. He tests its weight by swinging it +up and down. + +“Too heavy, I fear, yet I must try it!” he says, and he searches about +the littered floor, which is covered with filthy straw, and from the +straw he at length extracts a cartridge. It had slipped from the belt of +a guard. He had noted its fall, but had thought nothing of it until now. + +He has discovered that the interior of the hard mattress of his cot is +composed of bark. He has had much time in the past to inspect thoroughly +the few belongings of his room, and he has again and again looked +curiously at that bark. He had never seen any just like it, and did not +know the name of the tree which had yielded it, yet he had observed that +it resembled thin sheets of paper. + +Now he crawls weakly to the cot and gets one of the thinnest and +lightest of these bark sheets. None are of very large size, yet he takes +the largest he can find. + +Then, by the light of the dripping candle, he begins to write a message +on the bark, using the lead of the cartridge as a pencil. + +The prisoner has not written the half of what he wishes to say, when he +hears a sound which causes him to cease writing. He crushes the +unfinished message into the handle of the dagger, which opens when he +presses a secret spring. + +Still hastening feverishly, he ties the dagger to the neck of the bird +with the cord he has twisted, and then, crawling to the window, he hurls +the bird out into the darkness. He hears the apparently futile beat of +its wings, as it seems to be drawn downward by the weight of the dagger +tied to its neck; and then, overcome, he falls, half fainting, by the +window. + +“It was useless!” he groans. “The bird cannot carry that weight while it +is weak, and I could not wait for its strength to return. It has fallen, +and it will not rise again.” + +Nearer he hears the steady thump of feet which had hastened and +frightened him. Then the door of his prison is opened, and a man, fierce +whiskered and fierce of eye, looks in. He sees the candle guttering on +its box, and anger blazes in that fierce, bright eye. He strides across +the room. + +“Was it not commanded that no lights should be shown in this room at so +late an hour?” he demands, and he seizes the limp form, drags it over +the floor, and flings it upon the cot in the corner, using as harsh a +hand as if the miserable prisoner had been but a bag of salt. + +The prisoner’s head strikes heavily against the wall, and he drops limp, +with a moan, upon the cot. + +“Scoundrel! Dog!” cries the fierce-whiskered man. “Lie there! You would +send a message to some one with the candle, eh? If thou art dead, well +enough!” + +He blows out the candle, retreats, and locks the door, then his heavy +tread is heard descending the stairs. + +In the morning he comes again, unlocks the door, and steps within. He +sees that the prisoner is lying as when last seen. He bends over the cot +and looks again into the pallid face and closed eyes. + +“Humph!” he mutters. “Dead! He must have had a soft skull, if that +killed him. But he is dead!” + + --------------------------------------------------------- + + + + + CHAPTER XXXIX. + + A PERILOUS CLIMB. + + +Buffalo Bill had retained the lariats that had been on the two horses +abandoned, and had them with him now, and these he meant to use in +scaling the steep wall he had seen before him. + +With them on his arm he approached the wall, after darkness had fallen, +leaving the Yankee in hiding in the midst of some bushes not far from +its base. + +The handkerchief had been seen still fluttering from the barred window +when the last rays of the sunset touched the tower, and the spot had +been carefully marked by the scout. He had no fear of going astray; the +only thing he questioned was his ability to mount the wall. Yet he was a +good climber, and he hoped to have no trouble. + +Enos Spalding, left behind, gnawed his gnarled fingers and grumbled to +himself, for he had gone without food many hours. + +Having reached the moat before the wall, the scout climbed carefully +down into it, finding water not more than ankle deep, with some slimy +ooze and a growth of rank weeds and grasses. + +At the base of the wall he stopped and reconnoitered, then found the +exact spot he had located during the day with his glasses. + +Above this point, he had discovered, was a small projection. He hurled +one of the lariats up through the darkness, hoping to loop its noose +over the projection. More than a dozen times he tried and failed, but +his persistence was at last rewarded. He drew down on the rope to see +that it was really fast and would support him; then he began to climb +it, with feet set against the wall. The second lariat he bore on his +arm. + +When he had gained the projection, he clung there by his eyebrows, as it +were, and hurled the second lariat upward, with an outswing of his arm. + +Time and again the folds of the lariat fell down about him. + +It would have been a difficult feat to noose that second projection even +in the daytime, at night the task was infinitely harder. + +He began to grow tired from swinging the noose upward so many times, +when it caught, as the one had done, before, and held fast. He left the +first lariat in position, and began to climb the second, intending to +leave them in place, to facilitate a quick descent in case of need. + +This noose had caught on the projection of stone just below the barred +window; and in a very short time the scout had his face at that window, +having clutched the ledge and drawn himself up. + +At the scout’s back, tied there, was a strong stick of wood, with which +he had armed himself, in addition to his revolvers and his knife. + +“Hist!” he called, as he clung to the window and tried to look through +the bars. + +The handkerchief was in position; he felt it flutter against his cheek. + +“Hist!” he called, still louder. + +There was a startled stir in the room and after an instant a voice +whispered: “What is it?” The words were in Spanish. + +“If there is a prisoner in here, I have come to aid him,” said the +scout. + +“Thank Heaven!” + +There was a scrambling sound, as if some one slid to the floor, and then +soft footfalls. A face was pressed close against the bars on the inner +side. + +“Who is it?” was asked in Spanish. + +“I am an American scout, and if prisoners are held here, I stand ready +to aid them. Is this Leon Ruiz?” + +“Ruiz is dead; he died in the tower at the other corner, a week ago.” + +“That is impossible,” said the scout, “for I saw and talked with him but +two nights since.” + +There was no answer to this, save the excited breathing of the man +crouched at the tower window. + +“Speak quickly,” said the scout. “I cannot sustain myself here longer; +the strain is too great. I shall have to lower myself. Are you Prince +Mogador?” + +The answer was a joyful cry, and then the words: + +“I am Prince Mogador! You bring me help? You have come to get me out of +the clutches of these foul fiends?” + +“Yes.” + +“But you cannot get in! You cannot get through these bars, unless you +have a saw. I have tried to force them, but failed.” + +“Reach your hand through and clasp mine,” said the scout. “That will +assist me. If you can support me here in that way for a few seconds I +may be able to loosen one of the bars. They are secured on the outside, +I discover.” + +Trembling hands came through the bars and clutched the scout by the +wrist. But those hands had the holding power of steel, the scout found; +hope of escape had filled their owner with renewed strength. + +With one hand thus freed, the scout took the strong stick of wood that +he carried lashed to his back, and thrust an end between the bars of the +window. + +“Hold hard!” he ordered, and threw his weight on the stick. + +The window bars were of iron, fastened on the outside by heavy staples, +yet the force of the wrench thus given tore loose the staples at one +end. + +But for the clinging hands that clutched him the scout would have fallen +when the staples lost their hold and the window bar twisted around. He +caught the projection, and again hoisted himself. + +“That was good!” he said. “One more, and you can come out of that. Your +fingers clung like iron.” + +“Hope makes me strong, señor,” was the trembling answer. + +The scout rested a moment or two. + +“Now, again!” he said, “hold for your life!” + +Again he thrust in the stick and threw his weight upon the outer end. +There was a cracking sound; the stick itself broke; the bar had been +loosened, though the scout had come near falling. Then he crawled up +again, using the rope. + +“Now, you can come through, and before morning we can be far from here. +You may tell me your story after we have got down from this and the +peril is not so great. Hold hard!” + +There was an interruption, the scout heard a suspicious sound. He +whispered his discovery to Prince Mogador. He felt the rope shake by +which he had ascended. Then he heard the voice of the Yankee, who had +climbed the first rope undiscovered and was now mounting the second. + +“By gravy! aire ye up there?” he asked. + +“Yes, what is it? What does this mean?” + +“It means, Cody, that I was crowded aout daown there by some men, and +had tew make a run fur it. I run tew this wall. While I was flaounderin’ +raound in that consarned moat, they come on me ag’in, so clost that I +see the only thing I could do was to climb up here, and so I clumb. +But——” + +His trembling explanation was cut short by words in Spanish shouted from +below. + +Then a revolver cracked, spurting its fire into the darkness. The bullet +shattered itself against the iron of the last bar the scout had torn +away. + +“Wow!” cried the Yankee, as if he had been hit. “That was cuttin’ some +clost, I tell ye!” + +The way below was blocked, for other revolvers popped there, and other +voices were heard. + +The frightened Yankee, swaying on the rope and clutching blindly at the +wall for support, was almost ready to fall headlong. + +“Cody, I can’t hold on here a minute longer!” he appealed. “Can’t ye git +higher, er git somewhere? They’ll shoot us here, sure as guns!” + +Buffalo Bill felt one of the bullets cut through his coat and burn his +arm, so close did it pass to his body. + +The men below did not see who was at the window, but they had +discovered, or suspected, this attempt at a rescue, and they were +popping away in the darkness, sending their lead perilously near. + +“We’ll have to climb into the room,” said the scout, with sudden +decision. He regretted the necessity, but he drew himself up and crawled +between the broken bars and dropped into the room. + +Prince Mogador clasped him enthusiastically round the shoulders, in the +impulsive Spanish fashion. + +“My rescuer! My savior!” he panted. + +“Let me help the other man in,” said the scout, freeing himself. “This +is bad—bad! If we could have had but five minutes longer.” + +Then he dragged the frightened and panting Yankee through the bars into +the little room of the tower. + + --------------------------------------------------------- + + + + + CHAPTER XL. + + A PERILOUS POSITION. + + +When he was safely within the tower, Buffalo Bill drew up the rope last +used, so that the men below could not readily climb to the window. The +tower room was in total darkness, and he could not even see the Moroccan +prince for whom he had taken such risks. + +“We ought to have a light,” he said. “Have you a lamp or a candle?” + +Prince Mogador scuffled across the room, and, by the light of a match, +produced the stub of a candle, which he offered to the scout. The latter +set a match to it, and when the candle was burning well he glanced +about. + +The room was small, and its only furnishings were this candle, a thin +cot, a stool, and a box on which the candle had been sitting. + +The scout looked at the prince, and beheld a hollow-eyed young man, +whose unshaven face was so thin and so sallow that it seemed he must be +the victim of a fever. His clothing hung loosely on his almost fleshless +bones. Seeing this mere wreck and skeleton of a man, the scout marveled +at the strength displayed when the prince rendered assistance at the +window. It had been the false strength lent by sudden and high hope. + +The excitement of his situation still buoyed Prince Mogador. His eyes +were unhealthily bright and staring, and he trembled as if he had a fit +of ague. The scout saw him reel and put his hand against the wall. + +“You are weak,” said the scout. “Sit down.” + +“But we must escape while we can!” + +Prince Mogador was looking at the exhausted Yankee, who had been +thoroughly tired by his hard and unaccustomed climbing. And the Yankee +was returning the look with interest. + +“What’s he sayin’ in that furrin lingo?” asked Spalding. + +“This is Prince Mogador!” + +“I want tew know!” Spalding gasped, his mouth dropping open. “That beats +heck, by gum! So it’s him?” He turned to Buffalo Bill. “Waal, what we +goin’ tew do? They’re still shootin’ daown there. We can’t git aout by +the winder.” + +“There may be another way out,” said the prince, speaking to the +scout—he did not understand Spalding’s twisted English, but understood +his glance at the window. “If that door could be opened!” + +The scout took some keys from his pocket and began to try them on the +lock of the door. He found one that fitted, and threw the bolt. + +The rays of the candle streamed out into a narrow corridor, at the end +of which was another locked door. + +“We’ll see where this leads,” he said, stepping into the corridor. +“Follow me!” + +He found a key which fitted the other door, but, as he was unlocking it, +he was interrupted by a startled cry. Prince Mogador bent forward, +listening. + +“It is the woman!” he said. “I didn’t know she was in there—that she was +imprisoned so close by me! Yes, it is the woman.” + +“What woman?” asked the scout, as he worked the key round in the lock. + +“The señorita with the voice of gold!” + +This was astonishing. + +“There is an American woman held prisoner here?” + +“Yes, señor, two women. One is a beautiful American lady, whose singing +is divine.” + +“Hear that, Spalding? But I forgot that you do not understand Spanish.” + +The bolt slipped back, and the scout pushed the door open, hearing again +that stifled cry. + +When his light flashed into the room he saw at its farther side the +crouching figures of two women, whose attitude was that of terror. + +“Don’t be frightened!” said the scout kindly. “We are your friends. Miss +Fernald, are you—yes, it is you! And, if I’m not mistaken, Miss +Nelson—your uncle is here, having come a long distance to search for +you.” + +Emily Fernald sprang forward with a glad cry, but the other girl stared +at Cody, her face white as ashes; and then, seeing the men behind him, +she advanced with a hesitating step. + +“You are friends?” she cried suddenly. “What do I hear? You are friends, +and my uncle is with you?” + +Her voice broke in a scream of incredulous delight when she beheld the +ungainly form of the Yankee glide into the room. The next moment she had +her arms around his neck, and was weeping hysterically. + +“Gosh all hemlock!” Spalding sputtered. “But this does beat all, don’t +it? I’m as s’prised tew find ye here as if I’d picked up a gold dollar. +I dreamed it might be so, but, b’gosh, I didn’t reely think it could be! +And that’s a fact.” + +He released her clinging hands and held her at arms’ length, looking at +her by the light of the candle. + +The Moroccan prince was uttering sundry Spanish ejaculations. + +“We must go on!” said the scout, in warning. “If we delay we may be +cooped in. I’ll try my key on that other door.” + +It yielded to his manipulations even more easily than the others, and +they found themselves in a wide hall. Following this, they came to +another door at the next corner of the building. The wide hall bent and +ran around this; but now they heard, on some stairs beyond, excited +cries and a trampling of feet, showing that men were coming up there. + +“We’ll see what’s behind this door,” said the scout, observing that it +offered the only avenue of escape. + +When it was opened they were at the foot of a short flight that led to +one of the tower rooms. Into this they rushed, and the scout locked the +door behind them. + +The excited cries and trampling feet drew nearer, and a resounding knock +sounded soon on the door. + +“Open!” was the demand. + +To the scout’s surprise, the voice which shouted this was the voice of +the man he had known at the Porfiero Hacienda as Leon Ruiz. + +Recalling what Prince Mogador had said, he knew now that this man had +assumed the name, to which he had no right, while the real Ruiz lay a +prisoner in this place. + +“What would you?” the scout asked. + +“Surrender to us, Prince Mogador, and you and the others may go free; we +will not molest you.” + +The scout laughed scornfully. + +“Never! You are the scoundrel who falsely called himself Leon Ruiz. Hear +this: I was sent here by my government to aid and succor Prince Mogador, +and I shall do what I can for him, if I lose my life.” + +“You will lose it!” was shouted back. + +They withdrew without shooting into the room, apparently because they +did not wish to risk slaying the prince. + +“Well, we’re in for it now,” said Buffalo Bill, almost ruefully. +“They’ve got us caged, unless we can escape from this window. And we +have no ropes.” + +He struck a match and walked over to the window, which was barred. +Between the bars he thrust the match and tried to look down, and then +threw the match away. It went out quickly, revealing only blackness +below the barred window. + +Soon, in the hall leading to the tower room, they heard a sliding sound +which they did not at that moment understand. + +“We’ve barred you in, and you can stay there until you rot!” was soon +shouted. “When you are ready to surrender, let us know. You cannot +escape.” + +Again it was the voice of the man who had called himself Leon Ruiz. + +It was clear, now, that this man, frightened by the scout’s descent on +the Porfiero Hacienda, had departed from it hurriedly, after learning +his mission, to carry word to this place, and, perhaps, he had been at +this place since. Yet that did not explain the other mysterious things +which so long had puzzled the scout. + +“They have slipped some bars into position beyond the door,” said Prince +Mogador. “With a barred window behind us, and the way barred in front, +the outlook is gloomy. But we will still hope.” + +The scout had struck another match and was looking around for a candle. +He found none. But before the match burned out he saw Prince Mogador +standing with his hand clasping the hand of Irene Nelson, as if he would +protect her. The sight was illuminating. It showed that the two were not +only acquainted, but were lovers. + +The prince caught that inquiring glance as the match went out, and began +to explain in his voluble Spanish. + +“The American señorita has promised to become my wife. We met on the +stage that came from Rincon, which was waylaid and destroyed at the time +we were captured and brought here. But our love had already ripened, and +she had promised to become my wife. I love this woman, and I will marry +her if we escape from here.” + +“What’s he sayin’ in that furrin lingo?” Spalding asked; but Prince +Mogador was hurrying on. + +“You know why they captured me and brought me here, if you came as my +rescuer; but perhaps you do not know all. You have heard that I am heir +apparent to the throne of my father—the throne of the small kingdom of +Ussuli, to the southward of Morocco. The capital is in an oasis of the +great desert. + +“My father cannot live long; two years at the utmost, the physicians +say, and he may be dead even now, for he was seriously ill when I heard +of him. But I have a brother who wishes to be king, but who cannot be +king so long as I am alive, unless I abdicate. + +“My health was not good, and I went to the summer resort of Faezzi, on +the heights of the Atlas Mountains. From the palace there I was +kidnapped, as I walked abroad one day not dreaming of danger. It was by +my brother’s orders. I was placed on a camel, and a long journey to the +seashore began. There I was smuggled aboard a vessel. + +“The voyage was long—it covered months, and then I was landed on a shore +which was barren and which was said to be Mexico. Certain men were still +with me—my captors. But I escaped from them, and by good chance made my +way into California. I was trying to reach some eastern point, or some +railway that would take me east. + +“I took the stage at Rincon, thinking I had thrown my enemies off my +trail. It was there, señor, I met this beautiful American lady and her +friend, who had come to meet her, only two days before. Señor, I won her +promise to become my wife. + +“Then came the attack on the stage. The driver was killed. These women +and I and another were the only passengers. The stage was smashed to +bits and sunk in the river to destroy all traces of it, the horses were +appropriated by the robbers. I discovered that they were the men, with +others, who had abducted me from the palace in the Atlas Mountains. + +“I told them, señor, who these women were, but they refused to believe +me, declaring that they knew Miss Nelson was my wife. With us they took +prisoner Don Leon Ruiz, the Spanish gentleman, who was the only other +passenger in the stage. By chance in my wanderings in California I had +met him. He was a descendant of a noble Spanish family, and he intended +to visit some estate of his ancestors in New Mexico. He had long wished +to do so, and for that purpose had come up from Mexico, where he had +been traveling. + +“When he learned who I was, he joined my fortunes, and so was with me +when the stage was attacked and destroyed. And he was brought as a +prisoner with me to this place. He was confined here, in one of the +towers, but a week ago he died, so one of the guards informed me, when I +asked information from him.” + +“I can add to that,” said the scout. “The ruffian out there who has been +shouting to us to surrender has taken possession of Don Ruiz’s New +Mexican estate, claiming to be the real Leon Ruiz. And if the noble Don +Ruiz died in his prison here, it may be safely guessed that the false +Ruiz was in part, or wholly, responsible for his death. I presume he +believed that if Ruiz was put out of the way he could hold the New +Mexican property without trouble, or sell it soon and get out of the +country with the money.” + +“I have fallen into the hands of a nest of villains!” said Prince +Mogador. + +“There is no doubt about that. And how we are to escape is a thing not +clear to me just now.” + +“I will die defending her, before they harm this woman!” said Prince +Mogador. + +“What’s he sayin’ in that furrin lingo?” Spalding asked again. + +Buffalo Bill informed him briefly, thus also informing Irene, who +understood Spanish but imperfectly. Raoul Mogador could speak English, +but preferred to use Spanish, and so addressed the scout in that tongue, +when he knew that Buffalo Bill spoke Spanish fluently. + +The men under the false Leon Ruiz, who had barred them in, made no +hurried movement against them, and they had time to canvass their +situation thoroughly, and discuss, as well, some of the mysteries which +had so puzzled the scout. He asked Spalding to produce the note in +Spanish which he had taken from the jacket pocket of the Mexican. They +examined it by the light of a match. + +“That is not the signature of Leon Ruiz, though it professes to be; it +is a forgery,” said the prince. + +“Written, of course, by the false Leon Ruiz,” said the scout. “He +intended to use the name at all times, and so did not hesitate to sign +it here.” + +“Very true. He is a scoundrel. I wish I could see his face. He is, of +course, one of the men who brought me here. Ah, Leon Ruiz, my true +friend, your kind friendship for me has cost you dear!” + +Buffalo Bill brought up the subject of the dagger of gold which had +seemingly fallen from the sky and slain Ramon Periguez. + +“Periguez! Ah, he was one of the fiends! So he is dead, struck down by a +dagger that dropped from the sky! I cannot explain it; yet Leon Ruiz had +such a dagger, cleverly concealed on his person; he told me once that he +had so good a way of hiding it that no one could find it.” + +“Describe that dagger to me!” said the scout. + +Prince Mogador complied. + +“I have seen it often,” he said. “I wish I had it here, and, also, the +message I placed in the handle. You knew it had that hidden receptacle +in the handle?” + +“Yes, Ruiz revealed it to me one day when he was showing me the dagger. +It was Moorish, and the spring was cunningly concealed. He said he +defied any one to find the spring.” + +“I have a theory,” said the scout. “He must have written the message, +but, being interrupted, he did not finish it, and then he gave it to +some one he had bribed, instructing him where to take it.” + +“It may be true,” said Mogador, “but how did it drop out of the sky?” + +“The bearer may have hurled it from the cliff,” said the scout. “I +cannot explain it.” + +Irene Nelson listened in wonder to all this, though she followed the +unfamiliar words with difficulty. + +“I don’t like this furrin lingo,” expostulated the Yankee, who felt that +he was being cheated when he could not understand every word said. “Why +don’t you talk United States? It’s well-nigh treason tew talk anything +but United States in this country.” + +But at intervals the scout explained for his benefit what had been said. + +All speculation concerning the manner in which the dagger had killed +Ramon Periguez seemed useless. + +While they still talked, a flare of fire greeted their eyes at the +barred window. + +Looking from the window, they discovered that a great bonfire had been +kindled at the foot of the cliff, among the trees, that it might light +up the hacienda wall on that side, and so reveal to the watchers any +attempt which the prisoners might make to escape by way of the window. + +“That cuts us off in that direction,” said the scout, “but we could not +have got out here, if we had tried, for we had no ropes, and the jump +down in the darkness would be to commit suicide.” + +“Alas! We are doomed!” said the prince. + + --------------------------------------------------------- + + + + + CHAPTER XLI. + + MUSIC HATH CHARMS. + + +“Since I have been held here,” Prince Mogador went on, “attempts have +been made to get me to sign papers relinquishing my rights to the throne +of my country. I refused; I would have died first. I think ultimately I +should have been murdered in this place. Perhaps even now my +false-hearted brother sits on the throne, for my father’s health was +precarious. I have not heard from my native land for months. But +whatever befalls, my beautiful Irene will stand by my side, and if I +should one day mount to the throne of my fathers, she will be with me +even then.” + +But the next moment he was bewailing the fate that held him a prisoner +in the tower and declaring that they would never be able to get out with +their lives. + +While Prince Mogador was still talking, the scout, looking from the +window at the fire below, had an inspiration. + +“You will notice, prince,” he said, “that a good many men are down there +round that fire; it seems to me from the number I see that nearly all +the garrison of this place must be there.” + +“They have guards stationed in the hall, no doubt, and at the door +below,” said Prince Mogador, in a despairing tone. + +The scout turned to the women and Spalding. + +“I have been informed by your uncle, Miss Nelson, that you are a noted +singer.” + +“Singing is my profession,” she admitted. + +“I have hit on a plan, and shall want your coöperation. Will you sing +for me?” + +“Here?” she said, astonished. + +“Yes, here; I want to see what effect it will have on those men below.” + +Irene went to the window and looked out. Then she began to sing in a +voice of marvelous beauty and strength. Old Enos Spalding listened +enraptured. + +“Cody, what’s this singin’ fur here?” + +The scout was watching the men from the window. He advised the girl to +stand back a little, lest some reckless devil down there might send a +bullet at her; and, for the same reason, when he looked forth, he was +careful not to expose his person to their view. + +The singing seemed at first to startle the men below. The scout beheld +the false Leon Ruiz among them, and pointed him out to Prince Mogador. + +“Ah, that man! That is Malvolio Ducraz, my worst enemy of all there. So, +he would take the estate of the noble Don Leon Ruiz? May the curses of +Heaven blast him!” + +The men stood up in the midst of the trees, listening to the singing +from the barred window of the high tower. The woman’s voice floated +clear and birdlike out into the night air. It certainly was a strange +stage for an opera singer. + +The scout walked softly over to the door and listened. + +“Keep on singing!” he said. “It has drawn their attention.” + +He fitted to the lock one of the keys on his key ring, and listened as +he twisted it around. + +When he drew the door open, he saw that the hall beyond was empty of +human beings, but that across it there had been slipped into place, down +some grooves in the walls, a series of iron bars that effectually cut +off escape in that direction. Apparently there was no need for the +keepers of the hacienda to watch that hall; the bars were enough. + +Down the short flight of steps the scout descended to the bars, and +tested them. So far as he could discover there was no one near, though +he heard voices below the farther stairs, which told him guards were +stationed there. + +Soon he heard some of these guards ascending. Thereupon he retreated +quickly into the tower room and relocked the door behind him. + +“If you can continue that singing, I think we may have a chance to get +out of here,” he said to the woman, as he listened for the approach of +the guards from below. + +All heard them as they came up to the door, where for a few moments they +stood to hear the singing. Though it puzzled them when they discovered +that the door was as they had left it, they retreated, closing the +barred exit in the hall as they went. + +“Now, my plan!” said the scout, speaking hurriedly. “I have here, in the +brim of my wide hat, a saw of finely tempered steel, made for the +especial purpose of cutting through iron bars. It will take long work to +cut through out there, as it will be necessary to sever two of the bars; +but if Miss Nelson can hold those men by her singing, and so cover up +the noise I may make, perhaps I can do it. I want to make the trial.” + +All were eager for him to do so, even Irene stopped her singing for a +brief time to discuss this new hope with him. + +“We must do something of the kind,” he declared, “if we are to get out +of here. They think they have us secluded securely, and that we have not +a single chance of getting out. Perhaps we may be able to surprise +them.” + +Irene began again to sing by the window, while the scout and Spalding +crept down the short flight of stairs, after the scout had again +unlocked the door of their prison room. + +“You watch while I work,” was the scout’s orders. “I don’t want them to +surprise me. Your ears are good?” + +“The best ever,” said the Yankee, dropping down on his knees and laying +an ear against the crack under the lower bar. “If they git up them steps +without me hearin’ em, they’ll have tew come paowerful quiet.” + +From the wide rim of his hat the scout, in the darkness, drew out a fine +saw, the texture of which was so superior that he could bend the thin +blade about in his fingers almost as if it were a ribbon. This saw he +applied to one of the bars, and began work. + +For two solid hours Irene Nelson entertained with her singing the +ruffians gathered around the bonfire amid the trees below the barred +window of that high tower. She sang as she had never sung before any +audience in either the New or the Old World. Hitherto she had sung for +fame and money, now she felt that she was singing for liberty and life. + +The Spanish are a music-loving people. Those men knew what good singing +was, and they had seldom heard anything so good as this. They stood as +if enraptured. If they suspected the meaning of it, they gave no sign. +Apparently they believed she was thus singing to lighten the hearts of +her fellow prisoners. Now and then there were cries of “Bravo!” and a +clapping of hands. + +Buffalo Bill worked without stop. At the end of two hours he had cut +away two of the iron bars. + +Before announcing his success even to Spalding, he replaced the precious +saw carefully in the brim of his big hat. + +“There!” he said. “Two bars are off, and that will let us out of here. +We’ll have to fight in the room below, to get past those guards; but by +making a rushing surprise we can go through, I don’t doubt.” + +Spalding wanted to yell, but he restrained this wild desire. + +The man and women in the other room were informed of the success of the +scout’s labors. The singing stopped. + +“Now, follow me!” said the scout. “Take this revolver, Prince Mogador, +and use it. Spalding, I can rely on you. This is to be a desperate break +for freedom, and we must get through.” + +Then they followed him out of the room, through the cut bars in the hall +at the foot of the short stairs, and on down to the guardroom just +below. Into this guardroom they dashed, shooting at the men they saw +there. + +Six men were in the room, all armed, all smoking; they had been +listening to the singing, and were asking themselves why it had +continued so long and then so abruptly had stopped. + +Through the room, still shooting and now yelling, rushed the scout, with +his companions dashing along right behind him; and so sudden did they +come that the guards were overwhelmed, and offered no resistance to +their quick passage. Less than five minutes later they were outside of +the big hacienda. + +Here along the wall the scout led, while the startled men who had been +by the bonfire were coming up at a fast run. + +The fugitives were soon out beyond the trees on the opposite of the big +house, and well under cover of the darkness. + +Straight northward the scout led the way, avoiding all pitfalls with +wonderful skill—the sort of skill that has made Buffalo Bill famous the +world over. The next morning they were far away, and had baffled +pursuit. The scout concealed their trail and hid his little party in the +hills, and for their sustenance he killed game with his revolver. + +The next night they pressed on again. They baffled and distanced their +pursuers, and two days later safely reached some outposts of +civilization. Thence, after resting a day or two, they proceeded to +Klamath, where they were joined by Emily’s anxious lover and her father, +to whom they related their adventures. + +“Emily,” said Mr. Fernald, with mock severity, “you’ve got to do either +one of the only two things that’ll keep you out of danger: stay home +with me at the ranch, or—marry John Butler. Take your choice!” + +“I choose—John,” said the girl. + +“Cody, you’ll have to stay here and be best man at our wedding,” said +Butler, when he found words to speak. + + * * * * * + +It was three months after the wedding when the scout received the +following letter, bearing a queer foreign postmark; it was from Enos +Spalding: + + “MY DEAR CODY: Well, we arrived in this confounded country + all right and O. K. But fer me it was the most seasicky + voyage you ever heard about. The prince was the real thing. + He married Irene in New York, ye know, before we set out fer + this place; and here he married her again, according to the + customs of this country. Two weddin’s ought to make the + nupshal tie plenty good and strong, hadn’t it? + + “Well, you’d ought to be here to see things. They’d surprise + ye. I’m more and more surprised every day I live; and to + think I never ever dreamp that there was sech a country as + this kingdom! + + “Ye see, the old king he died; and the brother what made all + the trouble fur the prince, he cut out when he found that he + was likely to lose his head fur what he’d done to Moggie. I + call the new king Moggie, though Irene she says ’tain’t + befittin’ and proper. Well, you’d ought to see things here! + I jes’ wish you could see some of these heathen when they + drap down and paound their heads on the pavement when I pass + by! ’Twould shore tickle ye. Fur, ye see, I’m the queen’s + uncle, and that means I’m a big man in these parts. Haow’s + that fur old Enos Spalding, of Spalding’s Corners, Vermont? + By heck, at night sometimes I think shore I’m dreamin’ it, + and that I’ll wake up in the mornin’ and find I’m back tew + Spalding’s Corners. + + “Come over, Cody, I’ll give ye the time of yer life. + + “Your old friend, + ENOS SPALDING.” + + * * * * * + +As to how the dagger of gold dropped out of the sky, Buffalo Bill never +knew certainly. We may reasonably believe that the gull carried it for a +time, tied to its neck, and that the hurriedly knotted string at length +gave way. When this occurred, and let the dagger fall, the gull must +have been flying over the steep wall of the Superstition Range; the +bird’s motion must, also, have given a forward impetus to the falling +dagger, and by chance it struck point foremost in the bosom of Ramon +Periguez, killing him. There was certainly more than one dagger, just +alike, which explains the mystery. + + + THE END. + + + No. 195 of the BUFFALO BILL BORDER STORIES, by Colonel Prentiss + Ingraham, is entitled “Buffalo Bill’s Redskin Disguise.” + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + + + + + Round the World Library + + Stories of Jack Harkaway and His Comrades + + +Every reader, young and old, has heard of Jack Harkaway. His remarkable +adventures in out-of-the-way corners of the globe are really classics, +and every one should read them. + +Jack is a splendid, manly character, full of life and strength and +curiosity. He has a number of very interesting companions—Professor +Mole, for instance, who is very funny. He also has some very strange +enemies, who are anything but funny. + +Get interested in Jack. It will pay you. + + + ALL TITLES ALWAYS IN PRINT + + ------- + + By BRACEBRIDGE HEMYNG + + 1—Jack Harkaway’s School Days 23—Jack Harkaway’s Cadet Days + 2—Jack Harkaway’s Friends 24—Jack Harkaway in the Black Hills + 3—Jack Harkaway After School Days 25—Jack Harkaway in the Tolls + 4—Jack Harkaway Afloat and Ashore 26—Jack Harkaway’s Secret of Wealth + 5—Jack Harkaway Among the Pirates 27—Jack Harkaway, Missing + 6—Jack Harkaway at Oxford 28—Jack Harkaway and the Sacred + Serpent + 7—Jack Harkaway’s Struggles 29—The Fool of the Family + 8—Jack Harkaway’s Triumphs 30—Mischievous Matt + 9—Jack Harkaway Among the Brigands 31—Mischievous Matt’s Pranks + 10—Jack Harkaway’s Return 32—Bob Fairplay Adrift + 11—Jack Harkaway Around the World 33—Bob Fairplay at Sea + 12—Jack Harkaway’s Perils 34—The Boys of St. Aldates + 13—Jack Harkaway in China 35—Billy Barlow + 14—Jack Harkaway and the Red Dragon 36—Larry O’Keefe + 15—Jack Harkaway’s Pluck 37—Sam Sawbones + 16—Jack Harkaway in Australia 38—Too Fast to Last + 17—Jack Harkaway and the 39—Home Base + Bushrangers + 18—Jack Harkaway’s Duel 40—Spider and Stump + 19—Jack Harkaway and the Turks 41—Out for Fun + 20—Jack Harkaway in New York 42—Rob Rollalong, Sailor + 21—Jack Harkaway Out West 43—Rob Rollalong in the Wilds + 22—Jack Harkaway Among the Indians + 44—Phil, the Showman By Stanley Norris + 45—Phil’s Rivals By Stanley Norris + 46—Phil’s Pluck By Stanley Norris + 47—Phil’s Triumph By Stanley Norris + 48—From Circus to Fortune By Stanley Norris + 49—A Gentleman Born By Stanley Norris + 50—For His Friend’s Honor By Stanley Norris + 51—True to His Trust By Stanley Norris + 52—Facing the Music By Stanley Norris + +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 January, 1927. + 53—Jungles and Traitors By William Murray Graydon + 54—The Rockspur Eleven By Burt L. Standish + 55—Treasure Island By Robert Louis Stevenson + + To be published in February, 1927. + 56—In Fort and Prison By William Murray Graydon + 57—The Rockspur Rivals By Burt L. Standish + + To be published in March, 1927. + 58—George Arnold’s Pluck By John De Morgan + 59—The Golden Harpoon By Weldon J. Cobb + + To be published in April, 1927. + 60—The Rockspur Nine By Burt L. Standish + 61—Always on Duty By John De Morgan + + To be published in May, 1927. + 62—On the Wing By Weldon J. Cobb + 63—Twenty Thousand Leagues Under By Jules Verne + the Sea + + To be published, in June, 1927. + 64—A Legacy of Peril By William Murray Graydon + 65—Lost in the Ice By John De Morgan + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + + + + + The Dealer + + +who handles the STREET & SMITH NOVELS is a man worth patronizing. The +fact that he does handle our books proves that he has considered the +merits of paper-covered lines, and has decided that the STREET & SMITH +NOVELS are superior to all others. + +He has looked into the question of the morality of the paper-covered +book, for instance, and feels that he is perfectly safe in handing one +of our novels to any one, because he has our assurance that nothing +except clean, wholesome literature finds its way into our lines. + +Therefore, the STREET & SMITH NOVEL dealer is a careful and wise +tradesman, and it is fair to assume selects the other articles he has +for sale with the same degree of intelligence as he does his +paper-covered books. + +Deal with the STREET & SMITH NOVEL dealer. + + + STREET & SMITH CORPORATION + 79 Seventh Avenue New York, N. Y. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + + Transcriber’s Notes + + ▪ Note: Printer’s errors and apparent misspellings have been changed + and are noted below + + ▪ Note: For the reader’s convenience, a Table of Contents has been + created and is released into the public domain + + ▪ Pg. 2: Corrected typo: ‘Buffalo Bill and the Red Maurauders’ to + ‘Marauders’ + + ▪ Pg. 3: Assumed typo fixed: ‘B. W. B. Lawson’ to ‘By W. B. Lawson’ + + ▪ Pg. 6: Missing punctuation at paragraph end: ‘This he proceeded to + read’ to ‘read:’ + + ▪ Pg. 7: Added missing open-quote: ‘Klamath John.”’ to ‘“Klamath + John.”’ + + ▪ Pg. 18: Assumed typo fixed: ‘... into a tunnellike’ to ‘tunnel-like’ + + ▪ Pg. 28: Assumed typo fixed: ‘DOWN THE CANON’ to ‘CAÑON’—CAÑON + elsewhere, assuming the printer didn’t have tildes for capitals + + ▪ Pg. 33: Best guess filling blank in scan: ‘... in that wild way he + sprang’ to ‘in that wild way, he sprang’ + + ▪ Pg. 39: Assumed typo fixed: ‘... Bill read from this letter’ to + ‘letter.’ + + ▪ Pg. 39: Added missing open-quote: ‘... I’se wonderin’ dat I’se livin’ + dis minute.”’ to ‘“I’se’ + + ▪ Pg. 40: Best guess filling blank in scan: ‘... dunnaw. But whatever + it is’ to ‘I dunnaw’ + + ▪ Pg. 54: Added missing close-quote: ‘... crossbones on the stick pins + with those over that door’ to ‘door”’ + + ▪ Pg. 54: Corrected typo: ‘... cabins here in the Colconda Cup.’ to + ‘Golconda’—Golconda elsewhere + + ▪ Pg. 56: Best guess filling blank in scan: ‘... with a slow and sulen’ + to ‘sullen’ + + ▪ Pg. 102: Corrected typo: ‘... they heard Rey Reynard command’ to + ‘Red’—Red elsewhere + + ▪ Pg. 113: Added missing period at end of paragraph: ‘... with + ill-concealed displeasure’ to ‘displeasure.’ + + ▪ Pg. 115: Added missing period at end of paragraph: ‘... Bounderby + turned to Fritz Henselman’ to ‘Henselman.’ + + ▪ Pg. 130: Removed extra period: ‘... and scratched his bald head..’ to + ‘head.’ + + ▪ Pg. 179: Added missing close-quote: ‘will have aroused the Indians.’ + to ‘Indians.”’ + + ▪ Pg. 205: Added missing open-quote: ‘The chances are not great’ to + ‘“The’ + + ▪ Pg. 206: Removed extra close-quote: ‘... flash his message for + help.”’ to ‘help.’ + + ▪ Pg. 226: Corrected typo: ‘Señor Ruis has gone to attend him’ to + ‘Ruiz’—Ruiz elsewhere + + ▪ Pg. 228: Added missing close-quote: ‘“I am from Madrid. He lifted’ to + ‘“I am from Madrid.”’ + + ▪ Pg. 269: Added missing open-quote: ‘Leon Ruiz.”’ to ‘“Leon Ruiz.”’ + + ▪ Pg. 274: Corrected typo: ‘... or the horses would’t be where they + are.’ to ‘wouldn’t’ + + ▪ Pg. 303: Corrected typo: ‘From the palace there I was kidnaped’ to + ‘kidnapped’ + + ▪ Pg. 308: Corrected typo: ‘... Miss Nelson. that you are a’ to ‘... + Miss Nelson, that’ + + ▪ Pg. 318: Best guess filling blank in scan: ‘STREET & SMITH CORPORAT’ + to ‘CORPORATION’ + + ▪ Pg. 318: Best guess filling blank in scan: ‘New York’ to ‘New York, + N. Y.’ + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 79255 *** diff --git a/79255-h/79255-h.htm b/79255-h/79255-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0d2f2ef --- /dev/null +++ b/79255-h/79255-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,13095 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html> +<html lang="en"> + <head> + <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"> + <meta charset="UTF-8"> + <title>Buffalo Bill’s Death Message | Project Gutenberg</title> + <link rel="icon" href="images/cover.jpg" type="image/x-cover"> + <style> + body { margin-left: 8%; margin-right: 10%; } + h1 { text-align: center; font-weight: normal; font-size: 1.4em; } + h2 { text-align: center; font-weight: normal; font-size: 1.2em; } + .pageno { right: 1%; font-size: x-small; background-color: inherit; color: silver; + text-indent: 0em; text-align: right; position: absolute; + border: thin solid silver; padding: .1em .2em; font-style: normal; + font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; } + p { text-indent: 0; margin-top: 0.5em; 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PRENTISS INGRAHAM</div> + <div class='c000'><b>Red-blooded Adventure Stories for Men</b></div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c004'>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 Hicock, General Custer, +and a few other adventurous spirits, laid the foundation of our great +West.</p> + +<p class='c004'>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 class='c004'>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 class='nf-center-c1'> + <div class='nf-center'> + <div><span class='large'><i>ALL TITLES ALWAYS IN PRINT</i></span></div> + </div> +</div> + +<table class='table1'> +<colgroup> +<col class='colwidth50'> +<col class='colwidth50'> +</colgroup> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>51—Buffalo Bill, Dead Shot</td> + <td class='c006'>132—Buffalo Bill’s Tangled Clew</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>52—Buffalo Bill’s Buckskin Bravos</td> + <td class='c006'>133—Buffalo Bill’s Wolf Skin</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>53—Buffalo Bill’s Big Four</td> + <td class='c006'>134—Buffalo Bill’s Twice Four Puzzle</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>54—Buffalo Bill’s One-armed Pard</td> + <td class='c006'>135—Buffalo Bill and the Devil Bird</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>55—Buffalo Bill’s Race for Life</td> + <td class='c006'>136—Buffalo Bill and the Indian’s Mascot</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>56—Buffalo Bill’s Return</td> + <td class='c006'>137—Buffalo Bill Entrapped</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>57—Buffalo Bill’s Conquest</td> + <td class='c006'>138—Buffalo Bill’s Totem Trail</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>58—Buffalo Bill to the Rescue</td> + <td class='c006'>139—Buffalo Bill at Fort Challis</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>59—Buffalo Bill’s Beautiful Foe</td> + <td class='c006'>140—Buffalo Bill’s Determination</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>60—Buffalo Bill’s Perilous Task</td> + <td class='c006'>141—Buffalo Bill’s Battle Axe</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>61—Buffalo Bill’s Queer Find</td> + <td class='c006'>142—Buffalo Bill’s Game with Fate</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>62—Buffalo Bill’s Blind Lead</td> + <td class='c006'>143—Buffalo Bill’s Comanche Raid</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>63—Buffalo Bill’s Resolution</td> + <td class='c006'>144—Buffalo Bill’s Aerial Island</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>64—Buffalo Bill, the Avenger</td> + <td class='c006'>145—Buffalo Bill’s Lucky Shot</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>65—Buffalo Bill’s Pledged Pard</td> + <td class='c006'>146—Buffalo Bill’s Sioux Friends</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>66—Buffalo Bill’s Weird Warning</td> + <td class='c006'>147—Buffalo Bill’s Supreme Test</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>67—Buffalo Bill’s Wild Ride</td> + <td class='c006'>148—Buffalo Bill’s Boldest Strike</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>68—Buffalo Bill’s Redskin Stampede</td> + <td class='c006'>149—Buffalo Bill and the Red Hand</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>69—Buffalo Bill’s Mine Mystery</td> + <td class='c006'>150—Buffalo Bill’s Dance with Death</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>70—Buffalo Bill’s Gold Hunt</td> + <td class='c006'>151—Buffalo Bill’s Running Fight</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>71—Buffalo Bill’s Daring Dash</td> + <td class='c006'>152—Buffalo Bill in Harness</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>72—Buffalo Bill on Hand</td> + <td class='c006'>153—Buffalo Bill Corralled</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>73—Buffalo Bill’s Alliance</td> + <td class='c006'>154—Buffalo Bill’s Waif of the West</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>74—Buffalo Bill’s Relentless Foe</td> + <td class='c006'>155—Buffalo Bill’s Wizard Pard</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>75—Buffalo Bill’s Midnight Ride</td> + <td class='c006'>156—Buffalo Bill and Hawkeye</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>76—Buffalo Bill’s Chivalry</td> + <td class='c006'>157—Buffalo Bill and Grizzly Dan</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>77—Buffalo Bill’s Girl Pard</td> + <td class='c006'>158—Buffalo Bill’s Ghost Play</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>78—Buffalo Bill’s Private War</td> + <td class='c006'>159—Buffalo Bill’s Lost Prisoner</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>79—Buffalo Bill’s Diamond Mine</td> + <td class='c006'>160—Buffalo Bill and The Klan of Kau</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>80—Buffalo Bill’s Big Contract</td> + <td class='c006'>161—Buffalo Bill’s Crow Scouts</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>81—Buffalo Bill’s Woman Foe</td> + <td class='c006'>162—Buffalo Bill’s Lassoed Spectre</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>82—Buffalo Bill’s Ruse</td> + <td class='c006'>163—Buffalo Bill and the Wanderers</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>83—Buffalo Bill’s Pursuit</td> + <td class='c006'>164—Buffalo Bill and the White Queen</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>84—Buffalo Bill’s Hidden Gold</td> + <td class='c006'>165—Buffalo Bill’s Yellow Guardian</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>85—Buffalo Bill in Mid-air</td> + <td class='c006'>166—Buffalo Bill’s Double “B” Brand</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>86—Buffalo Bill’s Queer Mission</td> + <td class='c006'>167—Buffalo Bill’s Dangerous Duty</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>87—Buffalo Bill’s Verdict</td> + <td class='c006'>168—Buffalo Bill and the Talking Statue</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>88—Buffalo Bill’s Ordeal</td> + <td class='c006'>169—Buffalo Bill Between Two Fires</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>89—Buffalo Bill’s Camp Fires</td> + <td class='c006'>170—Buffalo Bill and the Giant Apache</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>90—Buffalo Bill’s Iron Nerve</td> + <td class='c006'>171—Buffalo Bill’s Best Bet</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'><span class='pageno' id='Page_ii'>ii</span>91—Buffalo Bill’s Rival</td> + <td class='c006'>172—Buffalo Bill’s Blockhouse Siege</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>92—Buffalo Bill’s Lone Hand</td> + <td class='c006'>173—Buffalo Bill’s Fight for Right</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>93—Buffalo Bill’s Sacrifice</td> + <td class='c006'>174—Buffalo Bill’s Sad Tidings</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>94—Buffalo Bill’s Thunderbolt</td> + <td class='c006'>175—Buffalo Bill and “Lucky” Benson</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>95—Buffalo Bill’s Black Fortune</td> + <td class='c006'>176—Buffalo Bill Among the Sioux</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>96—Buffalo Bill’s Wild Work</td> + <td class='c006'>177—Buffalo Bill’s Mystery Box</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>97—Buffalo Bill’s Yellow Trail</td> + <td class='c006'>178—Buffalo Bill’s Worst Tangle</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>98—Buffalo Bill’s Treasure Train</td> + <td class='c006'>179—Buffalo Bill’s Clean Sweep</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>99—Buffalo Bill’s Bowie Duel</td> + <td class='c006'>180—Buffalo Bill’s Texas Tangle</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>100—Buffalo Bill’s Mystery Man</td> + <td class='c006'>181—Buffalo Bill and the Nihilists</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>101—Buffalo Bill’s Bold Play</td> + <td class='c006'>182—Buffalo Bill’s Emigrant Trail</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>102—Buffalo Bill: Peacemaker</td> + <td class='c006'>183—Buffalo Bill at Close Quarters</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>103—Buffalo Bill’s Big Surprise</td> + <td class='c006'>184—Buffalo Bill and the Cattle Thieves</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>104—Buffalo Bill’s Barricade</td> + <td class='c006'>185—Buffalo Bill at Cimaroon Bar</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>105—Buffalo Bill’s Test</td> + <td class='c006'>186—Buffalo Bill’s Ingenuity</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>106—Buffalo Bill’s Powwow</td> + <td class='c006'>187—Buffalo Bill on a Cold Trail</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>107—Buffalo Bill’s Stern Justice</td> + <td class='c006'>188—Buffalo Bill’s Red Hot Totem</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>108—Buffalo Bill’s Mysterious Friend</td> + <td class='c006'>189—Buffalo Bill Under a War Cloud</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>109—Buffalo Bill and the Boomers</td> + <td class='c006'>190—Buffalo Bill and the Prophet</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>110—Buffalo Bill’s Panther Fight</td> + <td class='c006'>191—Buffalo Bill and the Red Renegade</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>111—Buffalo Bill and the Overland Mail</td> + <td class='c006'>192—Buffalo Bill’s Mailed Fist</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>112—Buffalo Bill on the Deadwood Trail</td> + <td class='c006'>193—Buffalo Bill’s Round-up</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>113—Buffalo Bill in Apache Land</td> + <td class='c006'>194—Buffalo Bill’s Death Message</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>114—Buffalo Bill’s Blindfold Duel</td> + <td class='c006'>195—Buffalo Bill’s Redskin Disguise</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>115—Buffalo Bill and the Lone Camper</td> + <td class='c006'>196—Buffalo Bill, the Whirlwind</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>116—Buffalo Bill’s Merry War</td> + <td class='c006'>197—Buffalo Bill in Death Valley</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>117—Buffalo Bill’s Star Play</td> + <td class='c006'>198—Buffalo Bill and the Magic Button</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>118—Buffalo Bill’s War Cry</td> + <td class='c006'>199—Buffalo Bill’s Friend in Need</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>119—Buffalo Bill on Black Panther’s Trail</td> + <td class='c006'>200—Buffalo Bill with General Custer</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>120—Buffalo Bill’s Slim Chance</td> + <td class='c006'>201—Buffalo Bill’s Timely Meeting</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>121—Buffalo Bill Besieged</td> + <td class='c006'>202—Buffalo Bill and the Skeleton Scout</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>122—Buffalo Bill’s Bandit Round-up</td> + <td class='c006'>203—Buffalo Bill’s Flag of Truce</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>123—Buffalo Bill’s Surprise Party</td> + <td class='c006'>204—Buffalo Bill’s Pacific Power</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>124—Buffalo Bill’s Lightning Raid</td> + <td class='c006'>205—Buffalo Bill’s Impersonator</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>125—Buffalo Bill in Mexico</td> + <td class='c006'>206—Buffalo Bill and the Red Marauders<a id='tn025'></a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>126—Buffalo Bill’s Traitor Foe</td> + <td class='c006'>207—Buffalo Bill’s Long Run</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>127—Buffalo Bill’s Tireless Chase</td> + <td class='c006'>208—Buffalo Bill and Red Dove</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>128—Buffalo Bill’s Boy Bugler</td> + <td class='c006'>209—Buffalo Bill on the Box</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>129—Buffalo Bill’s Sure Guess</td> + <td class='c006'>210—Buffalo Bill’s Bravo Partner</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>130—Buffalo Bill’s Record Jump</td> + <td class='c006'>211—Buffalo Bill’s Strange Task</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>131—Buffalo Bill in the Land of Dread</td> + <td class='c006'> </td> + </tr> +</table> + +</div> +<div class='pbb'> + <hr class='pb c000'> +</div> + +<div><span class='pageno' id='Page_iii'>iii</span></div> +<div class='adpage'> + +<div class='nf-center-c1'> +<div class='nf-center c007'> + <div><i>TALES OF THE ROLLING PLAINS</i></div> + <div class='c000'><span class='xxlarge'>Great Western Library</span></div> + <div class='c000'>By COL. PRENTISS INGRAHAM and W. B. LAWSON</div> + <div class='c000'>Thrilling Adventure</div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c008'>For many years we have been urged by readers who like Western +stories to publish some tales about the adventures of Diamond Dick. +Therefore, we decided to have a new series of stories based upon +the adventures of this famous Western character, and to put them +in a line called GREAT WESTERN LIBRARY, together with +stories about Buffalo Bill, by Col. Prentiss Ingraham.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Thus, in this line two of the most famous of all American characters +join hands. The so-called society stories with a kick in them +come and go, but these clean, wholesome tales of the West give a +clean-cut picture of the lives and characters of the men who carried +the advance banners of civilization westward.</p> + +<p class='c004'>There are Indian stories, cowboy stories, outlaw stories, all sorts +of stories of adventures out West. Each one is clean and decent, +even if it is thrilling.</p> + +<div class='nf-center-c1'> + <div class='nf-center'> + <div><i>ALL TITLES ALWAYS IN PRINT</i></div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c004'>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> + +<table class='table1'> +<colgroup> +<col class='colwidth49'> +<col class='colwidth50'> +</colgroup> + <tr> + <td class='c002' colspan='2'>To be published in January, 1927.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c009'>1—Diamond Dick’s Own Brand</td> + <td class='c010'>By W. B. Lawson</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c009'>2—Buffalo Bill’s Honor</td> + <td class='c010'>By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c011'> </td> + <td class='c010'> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c002' colspan='2'>To be published in February, 1927.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c009'>3—Diamond Dick’s Maverick</td> + <td class='c010'>By W. B. Lawson</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c009'>4—Buffalo Bill’s Phantom Hunt</td> + <td class='c010'>By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c011'> </td> + <td class='c010'> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c002' colspan='2'>To be published in March, 1927.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c009'>5—Diamond Dick’s Man Hunt</td> + <td class='c010'>By W. B. Lawson</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c009'>6—Buffalo Bill’s Fight with Fire</td> + <td class='c010'>By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c011'> </td> + <td class='c010'> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c002' colspan='2'>To be published in April, 1927.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c009'>7—Diamond Dick’s Danger Signal</td> + <td class='c010'>By W. B. Lawson</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c009'>8—Buffalo Bill’s Danite Trail</td> + <td class='c010'>By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c011'> </td> + <td class='c010'> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c002' colspan='2'>To be published in May, 1927.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c009'>9—Diamond Dick’s Prospect</td> + <td class='c010'>By W. B. Lawson</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c011'>10—Buffalo Bill’s Ranch Riders</td> + <td class='c010'>By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c011'> </td> + <td class='c010'> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c002' colspan='2'>To be published in June, 1927.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c011'>11—Diamond Dick and the Gold Bugs</td> + <td class='c010'>By W. B. Lawson</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c011'>12—Buffalo Bill’s Death Trail</td> + <td class='c010'>By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c011'>13—Diamond Dick at Comet City</td> + <td class='c010'>By W. B. Lawson<a id='tn001'></a></td> + </tr> +</table> + +</div> +<div class='pbb'> + <hr class='pb c000'> +</div> + +<div><span class='pageno' id='Page_iv'>iv</span></div> +<div class='adpage'> + +<div class='nf-center-c1'> +<div class='nf-center c007'> + <div><i>NOTE THE NEW TITLES LISTED</i></div> + <div class='c000'><span class='xxlarge'>Western Story Library</span></div> + <div class='c000'><i>ALL BY EDWARD C. TAYLOR</i></div> + <div class='c000'>For Everyone Who Likes Adventure</div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c004'>Ted Strong and his band of broncho-busters have most exciting adventures +in this line of attractive big books, and furnish the reader +with an almost unlimited number of thrills.</p> + +<p class='c004'>If you like a really good Western cowboy story, then this line is +made expressly for you.</p> + +<div class='nf-center-c1'> + <div class='nf-center'> + <div><i>ALL TITLES ALWAYS IN PRINT</i></div> + </div> +</div> + +<table class='table1'> +<colgroup> +<col class='colwidth50'> +<col class='colwidth50'> +</colgroup> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>1—Ted Strong, Cowboy</td> + <td class='c006'>23—Ted Strong’s Justice</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>2—Ted Strong Among the Cattlemen</td> + <td class='c006'>24—Ted Strong’s Treasure</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>3—Ted Strong’s Black Mountain Ranch</td> + <td class='c006'>25—Ted Strong’s Search</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>4—Ted Strong With Rifle and Lasso</td> + <td class='c006'>26—Ted Strong’s Diamond Mine</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>5—Ted Strong Lost in the Desert</td> + <td class='c006'>27—Ted Strong’s Manful Task</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>6—Ted Strong Fighting the Rustlers</td> + <td class='c006'>28—Ted Strong, Manager</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>7—Ted Strong and the Rival Miners</td> + <td class='c006'>29—Ted Strong’s Man Hunt</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>8—Ted Strong and the Last of the Herd</td> + <td class='c006'>30—Ted Strong’s Gold Mine</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>9—Ted Strong on a Mountain Trail</td> + <td class='c006'>31—Ted Strong’s Broncho Boys</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>10—Ted Strong Across the Prairie</td> + <td class='c006'>32—Ted Strong’s Wild Horse</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>11—Ted Strong Out For Big Game</td> + <td class='c006'>33—Ted Strong’s Tenderfoot</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>12—Ted Strong Challenged</td> + <td class='c006'>34—Ted Strong’s Stowaway</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>13—Ted Strong’s Close Call</td> + <td class='c006'>35—Ted Strong’s Prize Herd</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>14—Ted Strong’s Passport</td> + <td class='c006'>36—Ted Strong’s Trouble</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>15—Ted Strong’s Nebraska Ranch</td> + <td class='c006'>37—Ted Strong’s Mettle</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>16—Ted Strong’s Cattle Drive</td> + <td class='c006'>38—Ted Strong’s Big Business</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>17—Ted Strong’s Stampede</td> + <td class='c006'>39—Ted Strong’s Treasure Cave</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>18—Ted Strong’s Prairie Trail</td> + <td class='c006'>40—Ted Strong’s Vanishing Island</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>19—Ted Strong’s Surprise</td> + <td class='c006'>41—Ted Strong’s Motor Car</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>20—Ted Strong’s Wolf Hunters</td> + <td class='c006'>42—Ted Strong in Montana</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>21—Ted Strong’s Crooked Trail</td> + <td class='c006'>43—Ted Strong’s Contract</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>22—Ted Strong in Colorado</td> + <td class='c006'> </td> + </tr> +</table> +<hr class='c012'> + +<p class='c004'><span class='small'><b>We have arranged with the author, Edward C. Taylor, to continue the stories, and +the following, therefore, are new stories, right up to the minute. They are going to +make a big hit, for we have abundant proof in the way of letters that readers of paper +books are strong for Ted Strong.</b></span></p> +<hr class='c012'> + +<p class='c004'>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> + +<table class='table1'> +<colgroup> +<col class='colwidth49'> +<col class='colwidth50'> +</colgroup> + <tr> + <td class='c002' colspan='2'>To be published in January, 1927.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c011'>44—Ted Strong’s Stolen Pinto</td> + <td class='c010'>45—Ted Strong’s Saddle Pard</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c011'> </td> + <td class='c010'> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c002' colspan='2'>To be published in February, 1927.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c011'>46—Ted Strong and the Sioux Players</td> + <td class='c010'>47—Ted Strong’s Bronchos</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c011'> </td> + <td class='c010'> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c002' colspan='2'>To be published in March, 1927.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c011'>48—Ted Strong’s Ranch War</td> + <td class='c010'>49—Ted Strong and the Cattle Raiders</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c011'> </td> + <td class='c010'> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c002' colspan='2'>To be published in April, 1927.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c011'>50—Ted Strong’s Great Round-up</td> + <td class='c010'>51—Ted Strong’s Big Horn Trail</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c011'> </td> + <td class='c010'> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c002' colspan='2'>To be published in May, 1927.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c011'>52—Ted Strong in Bandit Cañon</td> + <td class='c010'>53—Ted Strong at Z-Bar Ranch</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c013' colspan='2'>54—Ted Strong’s Cattle Feud</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c011'> </td> + <td class='c010'> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c002' colspan='2'>To be published in June, 1927.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c011'>55—Ted Strong’s Border Battle</td> + <td class='c010'>56—Ted Strong on U. P. Duty</td> + </tr> +</table> + +</div> +<div class='pbb'> + <hr class='pb c000'> +</div> + +<div> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_v'>v</span> + <h1 class='c014'>Buffalo Bill’s Death Message<br> <br><span class='large'>OR,</span><br> <br>IN THE FACE OF DOOM</h1> +</div> + +<div class='nf-center-c1'> +<div class='nf-center c015'> + <div><span class='large'>BY</span></div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='nf-center-c1'> + <div class='nf-center'> + <div><span class='xlarge'>Colonel Prentiss Ingraham</span></div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='nf-center-c1'> + <div class='nf-center'> + <div>Author of the celebrated “Buffalo Bill” stories, published in the</div> + <div><span class='sc'>Border Stories</span>. For other titles see catalogue.</div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='c016 figcenter id002'> +<img src='images/logo.jpg' alt='Street & Smith Logo' class='ig001'> +</div> + +<div class='nf-center-c1'> +<div class='nf-center c016'> + <div><span class='xlarge'>STREET & SMITH CORPORATION</span></div> + <div>PUBLISHERS</div> + <div>79–89 Seventh Avenue, New York</div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='pbb'> + <hr class='pb c000'> +</div> + +<div><span class='pageno' id='Page_vi'>vi</span></div> +<div class='decbox'> + +<div class='nf-center-c1'> +<div class='nf-center c015'> + <div>Copyright, 1907</div> + <div>By STREET & SMITH</div> + </div> +</div> + +<hr class='c017'> + +<div class='nf-center-c1'> + <div class='nf-center'> + <div>Buffalo Bill’s Death Message</div> + </div> +</div> + +</div> + +<div class='nf-center-c1'> +<div class='nf-center c015'> + <div>(Printed in the United States of America)</div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='nf-center-c1'> + <div class='nf-center'> + <div>All rights reserved, including that of translation into foreign</div> + <div>languages, including the Scandinavian.</div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='pbb'> + <hr class='pb c000'> +</div> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_1'>1</span> + <h2 class='c018'>IN APPRECIATION OF WILLIAM F. CODY<br> <br>(<span class='fss'>BUFFALO BILL</span>).</h2> +</div> + +<hr class='c019'> + +<p class='c008'>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 <i>New +York Weekly</i>. 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 class='c004'>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 class='c004'>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 class='c004'>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 class='c004'>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 class='c004'>In 1868 and for four years thereafter Colonel Cody +<span class='pageno' 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 class='c004'>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 class='c004'>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 class='c004'>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.</p> + +<p class='c004'>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 class='c004'>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> +<div class='pbb'> + <hr class='pb c000'> +</div> + +<div class='chapter'> + <h2 class='c018'>TABLE OF CONTENTS</h2> +</div> + +<table class='table2'> +<colgroup> +<col class='colwidth15'> +<col class='colwidth68'> +<col class='colwidth15'> +</colgroup> + <tr> + <td class='c020'><span class='fss'>CHAPTER</span></td> + <td class='c011'> </td> + <td class='c010'><span class='fss'>PAGE</span></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c020'>I.</td> + <td class='c011'><span class='fss'>MYSTERIOUS LETTERS.</span></td> + <td class='c010'><a href='#ch_1'>9</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c020'>II.</td> + <td class='c011'><span class='fss'>KLAMATH JOHN’S MESSAGE.</span></td> + <td class='c010'><a href='#ch_2'>17</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c020'>III.</td> + <td class='c011'><span class='fss'>BUFFALO BILL DECIDES.</span></td> + <td class='c010'><a href='#ch_3'>26</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c020'>IV.</td> + <td class='c011'><span class='fss'>DOWN THE CAÑON.</span></td> + <td class='c010'><a href='#ch_4'>32</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c020'>V.</td> + <td class='c011'><span class='fss'>THROUGH THE TUNNEL.</span></td> + <td class='c010'><a href='#ch_5'>39</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c020'>VI.</td> + <td class='c011'><span class='fss'>ON THE UNDERGROUND RIVER.</span></td> + <td class='c010'><a href='#ch_6'>47</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c020'>VII.</td> + <td class='c011'><span class='fss'>SKULL AND CROSSBONES.</span></td> + <td class='c010'><a href='#ch_7'>53</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c020'>VIII.</td> + <td class='c011'><span class='fss'>THE PRISONER.</span></td> + <td class='c010'><a href='#ch_8'>60</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c020'>IX.</td> + <td class='c011'><span class='fss'>THE PRISONER’S ESCAPE.</span></td> + <td class='c010'><a href='#ch_9'>68</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c020'>X.</td> + <td class='c011'><span class='fss'>DANGER AND DARING.</span></td> + <td class='c010'><a href='#ch_10'>75</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c020'>XI.</td> + <td class='c011'><span class='fss'>THE RETREAT.</span></td> + <td class='c010'><a href='#ch_11'>85</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c020'>XII.</td> + <td class='c011'><span class='fss'>RED REYNARD’S PLANS.</span></td> + <td class='c010'><a href='#ch_12'>89</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c020'>XIII.</td> + <td class='c011'><span class='fss'>SURPRISING DISCOVERIES.</span></td> + <td class='c010'><a href='#ch_13'>97</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c020'>XIV.</td> + <td class='c011'><span class='fss'>ASSAULT AND BATTERY.</span></td> + <td class='c010'><a href='#ch_14'>102</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c020'>XV.</td> + <td class='c011'><span class='fss'>THE BEWITCHED COMPASS.</span></td> + <td class='c010'><a href='#ch_15'>114</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c020'>XVI.</td> + <td class='c011'><span class='fss'>TRACKS IN THE SAND.</span></td> + <td class='c010'><a href='#ch_16'>123</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c020'>XVII.</td> + <td class='c011'><span class='fss'>THE SPOTS OF LIGHT.</span></td> + <td class='c010'><a href='#ch_17'>129</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c020'>XVIII.</td> + <td class='c011'><span class='fss'>THE PARTY WITH THE HELIOGRAPH.</span></td> + <td class='c010'><a href='#ch_18'>136</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c020'>XIX.</td> + <td class='c011'><span class='fss'>A STARTLING ATTACK.</span></td> + <td class='c010'><a href='#ch_19'>141</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c020'>XX.</td> + <td class='c011'><span class='fss'>ANOTHER SURPRISE.</span></td> + <td class='c010'><a href='#ch_20'>147</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c020'>XXI.</td> + <td class='c011'><span class='fss'>FURTHER SURPRISES.</span></td> + <td class='c010'><a href='#ch_21'>154</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c020'>XXII.</td> + <td class='c011'><span class='fss'>MORE DISCOVERIES.</span></td> + <td class='c010'><a href='#ch_22'>161</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c020'>XXIII.</td> + <td class='c011'><span class='fss'>AN AMAZING DISCLOSURE.</span></td> + <td class='c010'><a href='#ch_23'>170</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c020'>XXIV.</td> + <td class='c011'><span class='fss'>UNSELFISH HEROISM.</span></td> + <td class='c010'><a href='#ch_24'>178</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c020'>XXV.</td> + <td class='c011'><span class='fss'>A HEROIC EFFORT.</span></td> + <td class='c010'><a href='#ch_25'>186</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c020'>XXVI.</td> + <td class='c011'><span class='fss'>INDIANS AND PRISONERS.</span></td> + <td class='c010'><a href='#ch_26'>192</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c020'>XXVII.</td> + <td class='c011'><span class='fss'>THE AZTEC SLAVES.</span></td> + <td class='c010'><a href='#ch_27'>198</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c020'>XXVIII.</td> + <td class='c011'><span class='fss'>THE ESCAPE.</span></td> + <td class='c010'><a href='#ch_28'>206</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c020'>XXIX.</td> + <td class='c011'><span class='fss'>AN ENIGMATICAL HOST.</span></td> + <td class='c010'><a href='#ch_29'>216</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c020'>XXX.</td> + <td class='c011'><span class='fss'>THE GOLDEN DAGGER.</span></td> + <td class='c010'><a href='#ch_30'>227</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c020'>XXXI.</td> + <td class='c011'><span class='fss'>AGAIN IN DANGER.</span></td> + <td class='c010'><a href='#ch_31'>236</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c020'>XXXII.</td> + <td class='c011'><span class='fss'>THE MYSTERY OF THE DAGGER.</span></td> + <td class='c010'><a href='#ch_32'>242</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c020'>XXXIII.</td> + <td class='c011'><span class='fss'>A STRANGE MESSAGE.</span></td> + <td class='c010'><a href='#ch_33'>249</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c020'>XXXIV.</td> + <td class='c011'><span class='fss'>FACING DEATH.</span></td> + <td class='c010'><a href='#ch_34'>256</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c020'>XXXV.</td> + <td class='c011'><span class='fss'>ENOS SPALDING.</span></td> + <td class='c010'><a href='#ch_35'>262</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c020'>XXXVI.</td> + <td class='c011'><span class='fss'>HEMMED IN.</span></td> + <td class='c010'><a href='#ch_36'>272</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c020'>XXXVII.</td> + <td class='c011'><span class='fss'>AT THE SAN PAZ HACIENDA.</span></td> + <td class='c010'><a href='#ch_37'>282</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c020'>XXXVIII.</td> + <td class='c011'><span class='fss'>THE PRISONER OF THE TOWER.</span></td> + <td class='c010'><a href='#ch_38'>289</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c020'>XXXIX.</td> + <td class='c011'><span class='fss'>A PERILOUS CLIMB.</span></td> + <td class='c010'><a href='#ch_39'>295</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c020'>XL.</td> + <td class='c011'><span class='fss'>A PERILOUS POSITION.</span></td> + <td class='c010'><a href='#ch_40'>301</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c020'>XLI.</td> + <td class='c011'><span class='fss'>MUSIC HATH CHARMS.</span></td> + <td class='c010'><a href='#ch_41'>312</a></td> + </tr> +</table> +<div class='pbb'> + <hr class='pb c000'> +</div> + +<div class='nf-center-c1'> +<div class='nf-center c015'> + <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_5'>5</span><span class='xxlarge'>BUFFALO BILL’S DEATH MESSAGE.</span></div> + </div> +</div> + +<hr class='c021'> +<div class='chapter'> + <h2 id='ch_1' class='c018'>CHAPTER I.<br> <br><span class='fss'>MYSTERIOUS LETTERS.</span></h2> +</div> + +<p class='c008'>A singular tapping on the door of his room awoke +Buffalo Bill, who was in the St. Cloud Hotel, in the +town of Klamath, which was about as near to the +“jumping-off place” of civilization as one could get +without going over the boundary.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The wary scout remained quietly in bed when he +heard the tapping, his only movement being to clutch +the revolver he had placed under his pillow on retiring +for the night.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The room was as dark as a “stack of black cats,” +and he knew that complete darkness reigned outside, +or a little light would have reached him through the +window.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The tapping was repeated at intervals for the better +part of five minutes, then there was a resounding +thump on the panel of the door.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Shortly after that the scout heard soft footsteps +moving away, and when the footsteps ceased to sound, +he struck a match cautiously, and looked at his watch.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Four o’clock!” he said. “Just the darkest hour +before dawn. Daylight will be here in a little while.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>He blew out the match, and lay back quietly on his +pillow, listening. Not so much as a rat now stirred.</p> + +<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_6'>6</span>“I wonder what that meant?” was his thought. +“Well, I’m not anxious enough to know to run risks +in trying to find out. Some rascal might have wanted +to assassinate me. There’s no telling.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Klamath was notorious for its desperadoes at that +time, and Buffalo Bill was pretty sure that more than +one man in the town would be glad to take his life.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“If any one is really anxious to see me,” was his +thought, “let him come to me in broad daylight. This +is no hour for an interview, and the thing didn’t look +honest.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>He was out of bed as soon as the dawn came, and +after hastily dressing, he took his revolver and tiptoed +to the door. He more than half expected to discover +that an assassin lurked in the big hall.</p> + +<p class='c004'>But when he opened the door, he was surprised in +another way.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Pinned to the panel was a folded sheet of paper, +held in place by a slender gold stick pin driven into +the wood. The head of the stick pin was a representation +of a skull and crossbones.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The resounding thump on the door had been made +when this singular pin had been driven in to hold the +paper in place.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill looked curiously at the pin, and then +spread open the paper, which he saw was a sheet of +writing. This he proceeded to read<a id='tn023'></a>:</p> + +<p class='c022'>“<span class='sc'>Buffalo Bill</span>: I want to have a talk with you +about something very important. I knocked on your +door, and you wasn’t in, or wouldn’t answer. Meet me +to-night, at eight o’clock, at the foot of the big poplar +<span class='pageno' id='Page_7'>7</span>that hangs over the river at the upper bend, about half +a mile from here. The place is called Poplar Bend. +Don’t fail. This is as important to you as to me, and +more so. Your friend,</p> + +<div class='c023'>“<a id='tn028'></a><span class='sc'>Klamath John</span>.”</div> + +<p class='c024'>While Buffalo Bill was reading this and inspecting +the queer gold pin, he heard himself addressed. His +negro servant, Cudjo, was approaching along the +hall, Cudjo having spent the night in the servants’ +quarters below stairs.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Marse Cody, you is up ter’ble early dis mawnin’!” +Cudjo remarked, showing his ivories. “How you +reckon I’m gwine to git to black yo’ boots, befo’ you +puts ’em on, ef you’s gwine to put ’em on befo’ I done +wakes up? I ’lowed, tired as you was las’ night, dat +dis mawnin’ you’d sleep as sound’s a possum. And +heah you is, awake befo’ I is. Hit’s plum’ reedic’lus +an’ scan’lous.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Cudjo felt privileged to scold his master now and +then, though his chidings were always so good-natured +that they had no sharp edge. He swung his +tongue with so much freedom, perhaps, for the reason +that he owed his life to Buffalo Bill; there seemed to be +no other excuse.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Two months before, he had been a train porter, on +a wild mountain route where holdups were not infrequent. +Buffalo Bill had been a passenger on the train +one night when a holdup came. Cudjo did not move +quickly enough to suit the robbers, and one of them +knocked him down and would have shot him, when a +bullet from the pistol of the fearless scout put the +outlaw out of business. The next moment Buffalo Bill +<span class='pageno' id='Page_8'>8</span>fell, shot through the shoulder, in retaliation, by one +of the outlaws.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Cudjo resigned his position and nursed the gallant +scout until he recovered from the effects of the bullet +wound, after which he became, for a time, Buffalo +Bill’s personal servant, and was now with him in the +lawless border town of Klamath.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“See here!” said the scout, and he displayed the +letter and the gold pin. “Take a look at these.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Cudjo’s face seemed to become a shade whiter +through pallor when he looked at that queer stick pin.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Did you ever see anything like that before?” Buffalo +Bill asked.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I has, Marse Cody, and I don’t want to see um +ag’in. Dat’s des like de pin de car robber wore what +shot you dat time. Des like it!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>The scout gave Cudjo the note to read.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“You is a dead man, Marse Cody, if you goes to +dat place. Keep away f’m it. Dis is a trick.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill stayed away from Poplar Bend that +evening, and also the next.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Because of this, no doubt, at about the hour of four +in the morning he again heard that peculiar tapping +on the door of his room. As before, he listened +quietly, clutched his revolver, and said nothing. The +singular thump on the panel sounded again, and again +he heard footsteps moving softly away.</p> + +<p class='c004'>When he opened the door, at daylight, he found another +message pinned to it, with one of those queer +gold pins, a message which again asked him to meet +the writer at Poplar Bend, assuring him that it concerned +<span class='pageno' id='Page_9'>9</span>a matter of the utmost importance to him, as +well as to the one who wrote the note.</p> + +<p class='c004'>When this happened the third morning, the gold pin +and the pinned paper were discovered before the scout +arose by a young Irishman named Michael Flynn—called +Mike or Mickey—who occupied the room next +to him.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Begobs!” roared Flynn, hammering on the scout’s +door, “the United States gover’mint has sthruck a +quare sthreak in deliverin’ its letthers, so it has. Will +ye obsarve this wan, Misther Cody? Here’s a letther +fer ye, lift by the postman on yer dure, and hammered +in wid a gold pin. It’s that rich the gover’mint is +growin’ that it throws in gold pins widout cost whin it +delivers letthers. ’Tis a gr-reat counthry! Will yez +git up and see the letther?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill hurried into his clothing, and opened +the door for Flynn.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Come in, Mike!” he invited. “That’s the third letter +of the kind which has been stuck on my door. +What do you think it means? Read it and then tell me +what you make of it. Remember, I’ve had two others +like it.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Flynn read the letter, which was identical with the +other two received by the scout.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“And the pin?” said the scout. “Take a look at it.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“It’s a quare wan,” said Flynn, “but I’m guessin’ +it’s gold. I’ll l’ave you to shpake the m’anin’ av it.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Cudjo appeared in the hall, and came in, as the door +was open. His eyes rounded with awe and fright +<span class='pageno' id='Page_10'>10</span>when he discovered that a third letter had been received.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I’ve no idea who this fellow is who calls himself +Klamath John,” said the scout, “but I’ve suspected a +trap.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Whoosh! A trap, is it? Thin I’d trap <em>him</em>.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“You would?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Shure, an’ I would. If ye want to thry it, I’m in +wid ye.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Flynn’s face flushed even redder than was its natural +wont, by reason of the thought that came to him.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“It’s the iligant chance,” he went on. “An’ it’s like +what I’ve been wantin’, ye see. I towlt yez about it. +Whin I left the grane sod, says I to mesilf, says I, +‘There’s niver a chance anny more fer a man in Ireland!’ +An’ it was the thruth I shpoke. ‘Ameriky, the +land av the free, an’ the home av the br-rave, is the +land f’r me,’ says I. ‘There a man can shtand up f’r +his rights,’ says I, ‘an’ can crack a head when he sees +wan,’ I says, ‘an’ it’s the land fer me.’</p> + +<p class='c004'>“But here I’ve been six months, and not a shindy +comin’ my way. Barrin’ a fight or two wid pistols, I +ain’t sane anny fightin’ at all, an’ they towlt me this +town was filled wid fightin’ min and the rarest fightin’ +undher the sun. But it’s a lie. There ain’t no fightin’. +It’s jist pull a gun, and down yer man goes on his back +in the sthrate, dead as a dure nail. I don’t call that +fightin’, I call that murdher.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“And now here comes the chance f’r me. There’s +a brave hint av advinture in thim letthers, as I can +see. I’m wid yez in it. The man is thryin’ to trap yez, +<span class='pageno' id='Page_11'>11</span>mebbe. Say that he is. So much the betther. Thrap +him. And Mickey Flynn is the b’y that will help ye.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Flynn became boisterously enthusiastic, as he thus +outlined his thoughts. But Cudjo failed to share his +enthusiasm.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“What ef <em>you</em> is de man dat’s killed?” he asked.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“If yez are, hope that it’ll be quick. And if ye’re +only wounded, pray to the saints that ye may have +stringth to bear it. But what’s life widout the ixcitement +av danger? It’s a shtale soup, widout anny +pepper in it. None av it f’r me! Yez can have it. +But it’s not to be ixpicted that a nagur would fale the +same as an Irishman.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Cudjo’s black eyes glittered. “Who’s a nigger?” he +said testily. “Onderstand dat I is a cullud ge’men, +suh! I done been a car po’ter, suh! Ef you has any +oncompliments to hand roun’, don’t hand um dis way. +I’m ’bleegd to incline um.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill smiled. “I agree with Mike,” he remarked. +“If that man is trying to draw me into a +trap, we may be able to turn the tables on him. Anyway, +I’d like to know the meaning of these letters. +My curiosity is excited. He’s persistent, for this is his +third letter.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Mike looked curiously at the gold pin.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“He must be moighty rich,” he observed, “to be +flingin’ his gold about in this way, I’m thinkin’. An’ +a quare pin it is. Luk at it.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill took the other gold pins from his +pocketbook, and laid all three in the palm of his hand +for inspection.</p> + +<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_12'>12</span>“Des like de one what dat car robber wore fo’ a +breast pin,” said Cudjo. “I don’t want to see de man +what has um. Dat man is a robber, and mebbe wuss’n +dat. If Marse Cody axes my devices, I’m ‘bleeged to +tell him to stay away f’um de place whar dat man says +to come. Stay plum’ away f’um it. We’se safe heah +in dis hotel. What’s de use tuh be runnin’ into undnecessary +danger? Dem’s my sembliments.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Nevertheless, Buffalo Bill prepared to “trap the trapper,” +if the latter proved to be playing a treacherous +game, and to find out just what those singular messages +meant.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Flynn’s adventurous blood went to the boiling point +when he heard the decision.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“You’re a courageous man, Misther Cody!” he said, +by way of compliment.</p> + +<p class='c004'>That was a discovery to Michael Flynn, perhaps, +yet the real men of the West had known for many +years that there was not on the whole Western border +a man of more true and genuine courage than Buffalo +Bill, the famous border scout.</p> + +<hr class='c021'> +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_13'>13</span> + <h2 id='ch_2' class='c018'>CHAPTER II.<br> <br><span class='fss'>KLAMATH JOHN’S MESSAGE.</span></h2> +</div> + +<p class='c008'>Shortly before eight that evening, Buffalo Bill, accompanied +by the fighting Irishman and by Cudjo, +took his way to the river bend above the town where +grew the lone poplar.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Darkness fell before they reached the spot, and they +crept close up to it and went into hiding.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Leaving Flynn and Cudjo behind, with instructions +as to what they were to do in the event of a pistol +shot or other signal from him, the scout stole softly +away, approaching Poplar Bend from the opposite direction.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The time was after eight o’clock when he came +again within sight of the high bluff at the bend, and +saw in the dim light at the foot of the tree a human +form. No other person seemed near, and when he +had determined that, the scout stood up, revolver in +hand.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Hello!” he called softly.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The man sprang to his feet and looked about.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Hello!” he answered, after a moment of hesitation.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Are you alone?” the scout asked.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Yes,” the man answered, looking around, for he +not only did not see Buffalo Bill, but also he was unable +to locate his direction.</p> + +<p class='c004'>This deceptive manner of speaking, so that the +<span class='pageno' id='Page_14'>14</span>voice seemed to come out of the air rather than from +the ground, Buffalo Bill had long practiced and had +found it useful.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“You are sure no one is with you, or near?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>The man stared upward, and then, stepping out +from the bluff, glanced at its top.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“You’re up there, are you?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“No, I’m off here!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>The man turned slowly around, staring.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Is there any one with you?” the scout demanded. +“A straight and true answer will save your life, perhaps, +while trickery will cause me to promptly snuff +out your candle.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Is that you, Cody?” the man asked. “I can hear +you, but can’t locate you. There’s not another soul +here, I swear. If that’s you, show yourself. I’ve +been here three nights, and I was afraid you wouldn’t +come.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill stepped out now and advanced, still +closely watching out for an ambush. But the fellow +was alone.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The scout saw as he came up to the man that he +was young, yet he was rather heavily bearded, for he +wore mustache and imperial and side whiskers that +stuck out like Dundreary’s. Long hair hung down on +his shoulders, after the border fashion. His clothing, +too, was of border style, though somewhat exaggerated. +His jacket was of buckskin, and he wore +buckskin chaps, and high-heeled boots with spurs that +jingled when he walked. He seemed rather a dude +sort of cowboy.</p> + +<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_15'>15</span>“You’re Cody?” he asked, peering into the darkness +as the scout came up to him.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Yes.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Well, I’m glad to see you, for I feared you wasn’t +coming. Sit down. I’m Klamath John.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“That’s not your real name, of course,” said the +scout.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“No, my real name is John Langstrath. But I call +myself Klamath John.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Why?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Why do you call yourself Buffalo Bill?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“The name was given to me. I did not take it myself. +It was given to me because, when I had a contract +to furnish beef to the men who were building the +Union Pacific Railroad, I killed more buffaloes than +any other man of the border ever killed before. It’s +not a record I’m particularly proud of, though the +work was necessary at the time. Now, why are you +Klamath John, and what do you want with me?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I took the name because the town here suggested +it,” was the man’s answer. “That’s the only reason. +As to what I wanted—you saw the letters I left sticking +on your door?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I saw them, but they didn’t explain anything. I +wasn’t sure but they paved the way for a trap. That’s +why I didn’t respond very promptly to them.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>This seemed to please Klamath John, for he +chuckled.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Why didn’t you call on me at my hotel, instead of +taking that singular way to get in communication with +me?” Buffalo Bill now demanded.</p> + +<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_16'>16</span>“I had my reasons, Cody; I wanted to test you.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“In what manner?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Well, the purpose was to see if you could be +aroused to a proper interest in this thing.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I’m in the dark, you know, as to what it is you +want of me.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I’ll come to it right off. You remember the gruesome +stick pins I used?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Yes. I have them with me.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“They’re not gold, of course, but——”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I beg your pardon, they’re pure gold!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“What?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Just as I say, they’re pure gold. I had one of +them tested.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Gr-reat governor! Is that so?” His astonishment +was too natural to be assumed. “I thought they +were just brass, washed over with gold,” he declared. +“So they’re pure gold? Then it becomes even more +interesting.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Just remember that I don’t know what you’re talking +about.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Well, I’ll come right to it. I found the pins, and +there was a letter lying with them. I’ve got it here, +and I’ll show it to you in a minute. The letter is +signed, ‘Red Reynard, the Fox.’”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Ah!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“That interests you, does it?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Yes, very much.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Just in what way?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I think I’ll hear your story before I say in what +way such a letter interests me.”</p> + +<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_17'>17</span>“Well, this Red Reynard is said to be a highwayman +and desperado. I’ve been trailing him. But it +was luck got me that letter. It seems to have been +dropped accidentally, and the pins with it.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“You are an officer?” the scout asked.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“No, not at present.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“You have been?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“No.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Well, go on.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I found out, by that letter, that Red Reynard and +a lot more are in the Golconda Cup, and they’ve found +gold there.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“But nobody can get into the Golconda Cup!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“That’s what everybody thinks. But <em>they</em> got in. +And they went by the way of Lost River. Golconda +Cup, you know, is supposed to be a big, wide valley, +or basin, walled in by cliffs so steep and high on all +sides that they can’t be scaled. It’s said that a few +men have climbed to the top of the outer walls, and +have looked over into the basin, but no man has ever +been able to get down the inner walls; or, if he did, he +was never able to climb ’em and get back to tell what +he’d discovered. That’s the story.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Yes.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“You’ve seen those walls?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I climbed to the top of them, on the south, once, +a couple of years ago.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Jerusalem! You did? Well, I tried it, and quit +soon enough. I don’t see how you did it.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Ropes and patience,” said the scout.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“But you couldn’t get down on the inside?”</p> + +<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_18'>18</span>“No. And I could see no place where any one +could get down. The walls have a thousand feet drop +and are as steep as the sides of a house, with not a +crevice showing in them, and not a bush, nor anything +that would give foothold or a place to hang a rope.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Yet this Red Reynard is in there now, and he and +his men are taking out the gold.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Just a fairy story,” said the scout.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“They went in by the way of Lost River,” Klamath +John continued, without heeding this comment. “It’s +said that no man ever descended that river, that it +runs into a black cañon, and then on into a tunnel-like<a id='tn002'></a> +hole, and then down into the very bowels of the earth. +Two men were caught in it, in a canoe, and they were +sucked down into the hole and never were seen again.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I’ve heard that.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“You wouldn’t want to try that route?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I should think twice before trying it.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Well, I’ve been along the top wall of the cañon +there, and I believe it can be done. You see, a thing +not generally known is, that after the stream gets close +down under the outer walls of Golconda Cup, it splits +into two parts. One is Lost River, or the continuation +of it, the other simply shoots through a big hole +in the walls and flows into the Cup, where it’s as gentle +as a mill pond.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“But you’ve no good proof that it does?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I’ll show you a letter. I’ve got a candle here, +which I brought for the purpose, hoping you’d come +and would want to see it, and talk this thing over. +<span class='pageno' id='Page_19'>19</span>Cody, you’re the man to help in this, if I can get you +interested.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Klamath John lighted his candle and produced the +letter.</p> + +<p class='c004'>By the light of the candle the scout read it.</p> + +<p class='c004'>It was as follows:</p> + +<p class='c022'>“<span class='sc'>My Dear Bat</span>: You can get into Golconda Cup +without any trouble, if you’ve got a little nerve and +don’t scare too easy. Take a canoe at the head of +the cañon where Lost River flows into it. Then when +you get well down toward the walls of the Cup, you’ll +find where the stream branches. One of the branches +is Lost River proper, the other shoots through a dark +tunnel, and then out into the Cup, where it flows +along as quiet as you please. There’s plenty of room +over your head when you go through that tunnel, and +you needn’t be afraid.</p> + +<p class='c022'>“It’s a lucky thing for us that the entrance looks so +scary, for it keeps people out, and makes them believe +that Golconda Cup can’t be got into at all. But it’s +dead easy. Take the right fork where it branches, +and you’re safe enough.</p> + +<p class='c022'>“We’ve got a cinch down here—gold to talk about. +I never saw the like of it, the river sand is full of it, +and there are slivers to be picked up that are bigger +than a toothpick. Yesterday I got a pure nugget that +was worth at least a thousand dollars. We’re cleaning +up more than a thousand dollars a day, and some +days we clean up twice that much. But this thing +wants to be kept on the strict q. t.</p> + +<p class='c022'>“I’m hiding out here, you know, and so are the +other boys, and the officers are simply up against it. +They couldn’t find us in a thousand years. For everybody +believes that the Golconda Cup can’t be got into. +We got into it dead easy; and we get in and out just +<span class='pageno' id='Page_20'>20</span>as easy as we got in. I’ll show you if you come. The +gold we’re carrying to Frisco, and stacking it in the +banks there. The Frisco bankers think we’re working +in Death Valley, and we let it go at that, and they +don’t know where the gold is coming from. We let +Poker Pete take it in for us. Pete’s a shrewd guy, +and they haven’t got wise to him yet. And they’ll +never get wise to Golconda Cup. The thing is so easy +I laugh whenever I think of it.</p> + +<p class='c022'>“Crimp up your nerve, and come along.</p> + +<div class='c023'>“Your old pal,</div> +<div class='c023'>“<span class='sc'>Red Reynard, the Fox</span>.”</div> + +<p class='c024'>Buffalo Bill was surprised as much by the fact that +he knew the handwriting as he was by the contents.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“What do you think of it?” said Klamath John, +when he saw that the scout had finished reading.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“It’s the handwriting of Red Reynard.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Not a forgery?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“No, I know his handwriting too well. I’ve got +some of it right here.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>He dived into his pocket and produced a folded +paper.</p> + +<p class='c004'>When he opened it, Klamath John saw that the +handwriting was the same.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Thus ran the note produced by Buffalo Bill:</p> + +<p class='c022'>“<span class='sc'>Dear Bat</span>: Look out. Buffalo Bill is on our +track. He came near roping me in Glendive yesterday, +but I threw sand in his eyes and got away. I’m off +for another and healthier climate quick as I can go. +Keep your eyes open, or you’ll be into something hard.</p> + +<div class='c023'>“Your old pal,</div> +<div class='c023'>“<span class='sc'>Red Reynard, the Fox</span>.”</div> + +<p class='c024'><span class='pageno' id='Page_21'>21</span>The scout spoke, while Klamath John was looking +this over.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Whoever you are, or are not, I’m willing for you +to see that note, to compare it with the other,” he +said. “Red Reynard knows I’ve been following him, +so that it can’t hurt to tell you, or anybody.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Klamath John looked up quickly.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“You think mebbe I’m in with that devil?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I don’t know anything about you, so I’ve no +thoughts on the subject at present; but if you were +Red Reynard himself, it would be nothing new for me +to make openly the statement that I’ve been following +him. He knows it already, and he has known it +for a long time.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Yes, this note shows that.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Klamath John laid the letter and the note side by +side on his knee, and held the candle so that they could +be seen and compared.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“The same handwriting,” he declared. “Cody, this +proves to you that I don’t lie, not about that letter, +anyhow. And I haven’t lied about anything else. I +want to go into the Golconda Cup, and I want you to +go with me. There’s gold there, worlds of it, and I +want to see it, and mebbe handle some of it. I thought +mebbe if you knowed Red Reynard was in there, you’d +jump at what I’ve told you—I mean at the chance of +getting in there and at him. And if what the letter +says is true, and I believe it is, it will be easy to get in +and dead easy to get out again.”</p> + +<hr class='c021'> +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_22'>22</span> + <h2 id='ch_3' class='c018'>CHAPTER III.<br> <br><span class='fss'>BUFFALO BILL DECIDES.</span></h2> +</div> + +<p class='c008'>The scout put his fingers to his lips and blew a signal.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Instantly there was a cracking of the bushes not far +off, and then Mickey Flynn appeared, running with +Cudjo right behind him.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Klamath John jumped to his feet, pulling a revolver +as he did so.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Sit down!” said the scout. “One of them is my +negro servant, and the other is a friend.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“You had ’em out there watching?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Yes. I didn’t intend to be trapped, you see, without +having some one near to come to my help if I +needed it.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Klamath John dropped back to his seat by the +poplar.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Yes, I see,” he said. “That was right and proper. +You couldn’t be expected to do anything else. Only, +I didn’t think of it.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>He looked curiously at the Irishman and the negro +when they came up.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Mr. John Langstrath,” said the scout, introducing +him to Flynn, and then to Cudjo.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“An’ there’s to be no fight at all,” said the Irishman, +with a humorous show of regret. “An’ it’s me that’s +been gettin’ ready for the fray f’r the last tin minutes. +It’s a disapp’intmint I’m rec’avin’, to be shure.”</p> + +<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_23'>23</span>Flynn was shown the letter exhibited by Klamath +John.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Come up to my hotel, Langstrath,” the scout invited, +“and there we’ll talk this thing over at our +leisure. I’ll admit that I’m interested.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Will you make a try for that gold?” said Klamath +John.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I may, and I may not, but I’d like to get my fingers +on Red Reynard. I’ve been wanting to for a good +while.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>But Klamath John refused to visit the hotel, though +he said he would again meet the scout at any other +place outside of the town.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I’ve good reasons for not wanting to be seen there,” +he declared, and he refused to explain further.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill was permitted to retain the letter which +bore the name of “Red Reynard, the Fox.” He re-examined +it in his room at the hotel, comparing it +again with the undoubtedly genuine one he had in +his possession. He submitted it to the tests used by +handwriting experts, which included a close scrutiny +with a magnifying glass. In the end he was sure +it had been written by Red Reynard.</p> + +<p class='c004'>But whether it had really been meant for the eye of +Bat Stevens, the man to whom it was addressed, or +whether it had been intended to fall into the hands +of some one like Klamath John, could not be determined.</p> + +<p class='c004'>And Klamath John himself was proving to be a +good deal of an enigma. His manner had evidenced +the proof of the things he told, yet there was something +<span class='pageno' id='Page_24'>24</span>strange and suspicious in his refusal to show +himself in the town, and the manner in which he had +sought to get into communication with Buffalo Bill +seemed queer, if nothing else.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill did not again meet Klamath John for +two whole days, nor did he send him any communication. +During that time, the scout tried to verify the +statements made in Red Reynard’s letter to Bat +Stevens.</p> + +<p class='c004'>That Stevens, commonly called “Bat,” was one of +Red Reynard’s followers, was a thing he knew. +Stevens was an all-round “bad man” of the border. +Two years before the scout had tried to lay him by +the heels on a charge of murder, but Bat had “faded +away” at that time, and the scout had not seen him +since. Apparently, he was now in or near Klamath +City, a town peculiarly attractive to men of his class.</p> + +<p class='c004'>In his pursuit of information, Buffalo Bill climbed +to the tops of the high rocky ridges which overhung +the cañon of Lost River, and there, at much peril, +he traced the course of that stream until he saw that +in one respect, at least, the letter spoke truly—Lost +River branched as it neared the frowning walls of +the Cup.</p> + +<p class='c004'>On the second day of his exploration, the scout +climbed the walls of the Cup, where he had climbed +them before, a feat so difficult that he was compelled to +use ropes.</p> + +<p class='c004'>From the tops of the walls he scanned the inside +of the Cup with his powerful binoculars.</p> + +<p class='c004'>He could discover no signs of occupancy, yet the +<span class='pageno' id='Page_25'>25</span>Cup was of so vast an extent and was so covered in +places with trees, that it might have held a whole village +in its depths without any one discovering it from +the walls.</p> + +<p class='c004'>There was a stream which flowed through the center +of the Cup, thus in a measure confirming the statement +of the letter, and this stream seemed to issue +somewhere under the northern walls, at about the point +where the letter said one of the forks of Lost River +broke through.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The evening of this second day found Buffalo Bill +again at Poplar Bend, talking with Klamath John.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I have come to this conclusion,” he said: “If you +will go with me and my company, we’ll get a canoe +and descend the cañon of the river together. If the +canoe is wrecked and we go into the river, you’ll go +with us. See?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Which means that you don’t trust me?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“As I don’t know anything about you, you can’t +expect me to trust you further than that. I’m willing +to speak plainly. I can trust you so long as you share +with me equally the dangers of that trip. We may +never come back alive. But you have made me anxious +to get into the Golconda Cup. I want to find +Red Reynard, and I’d like to be able to explore that +big valley, which report says has never been entered +by any human being. We may never get into it, and +if we get into it, we may never get out; but I’ve +thought the thing over, and I’ll risk it with you.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Shake, Cody!” the young man cried, with enthusiasm. +“I don’t ask anything else. We’ll get the +<span class='pageno' id='Page_26'>26</span>canoe and we’ll make the trip. I’ve only one thing to +say about it, and that is, if there’s the gold in there, +which that letter says, I want my share of it. That’s +all.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“We’ll have as much right to it as any one, if gold +is there,” the scout declared. “I’ve no objection to +that. I think I shall want some of it myself.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“We’ll be gold hunters,” said Klamath John. +“We’ll be gold hunters and explorers in a new region. +The gold is there, and we’ll find it, and we’ll have +some adventures worth talking about.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“You speak now like Mike Flynn. He’s been saying +that to me all day.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Is that Irishman going?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Yes.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“And the negro?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I shall take both of them. We’ll get a canoe that +will hold the four of us, and we’ll try the cañon of +Lost River.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“When?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“To-morrow. I’ll get the canoe this afternoon, and +have it hauled to the upper end of the cañon.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“You won’t tell anybody what you want to do with +it? Cody, we don’t want any others in this thing. +If there’s gold there, we want to have it to ourselves. +But if Red Reynard’s got a big gang down in there, +we might need a big gang to fight him with. What +do you say to that, Cody?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“We’ll have a party of four, and none others.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“That suits me, then. I’m ready to start this minute. +I’ve been waiting for this thing ever since I +<span class='pageno' id='Page_27'>27</span>found that letter. Cody, we’ll get in there without +trouble! I’m dead sure of it.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Won’t you go into the town with me now?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“No. I’ll still camp out here. But I’ll be ready for +you when the time comes.”</p> + +<hr class='c021'> +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_28'>28</span> + <h2 id='ch_4' class='c018'>CHAPTER IV.<br> <br><span class='fss'>DOWN THE CAÑON<a id='tn003'></a>.</span></h2> +</div> + +<p class='c008'>At the upper end of the cañon of Lost River the +water is smooth and the rocky banks are low enough to +permit a canoe to be launched without much trouble.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The canoe was lowered to the water by means of +ropes, and into it, when it was anchored, was put the +arms and ammunition, together with the food supply, +and other things, which the scout had decided to +take. He had provided amply, for he did not know +just where he was going, what he should meet, nor +how long he should be gone.</p> + +<p class='c004'>When the four men were in the canoe it sank low in +the water, yet it was still quite buoyant, and, though +a large canoe, easily handled.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Klamath John took the bow paddle and pushed the +canoe away from the rocky shore.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The canoe swung lightly along in the quiet current, +but soon the water quickened its pace and the boat +began to dance on its way, still with feathery lightness, +yet at a speed that made careful paddle work +necessary.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill crouched just behind Klamath John, +where he could watch him. The scout dipped his paddle +with ease and skill, his eyes on the current ahead, +where at intervals rocks showed. Behind him was +Cudjo, while Flynn handled a paddle in the stern.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Whoosh!” yelled Flynn, as the rocky walls began +<span class='pageno' id='Page_29'>29</span>to shoot past. “An’ it’s now that we do be goin’ +some.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Starboard!” yelled Klamath John. “Put ’er to +starboard!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>He threw his strength on the oar, and was aided +by Buffalo Bill. The canoe veered and whisked by the +big rock that had seemed to leap out of the water to +meet it.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Higher and still higher rose the frowning cañon +walls, until the cañon grew dark as twilight. And still +the light canoe sped ever faster, the walls speeding by +at a pace that soon became frightful. The river roared +in its narrow channel, and at times the torn water +rose and flashed into whitecaps.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The canoe soon plunged into the cañon rapids. +Buffalo Bill had looked down upon those rapids as +well as he could from the tops of the walls, and had +decided that, though swift, and even dangerous, the +canoe could navigate them. But they were even +swifter and wilder than he had thought.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“She gets quieter farther down,” Klamath John +shouted, by way of encouragement. “Just hold her to +it, and we’ll go through all right.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Whoosh!” howled Flynn. “But this is an iligant +adventure. Gold hunters, is it? By me sowl, if we +git through this, we’ll be airnin’ all the gold we’ll git.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Yet the Irishman was now in his element. Adventure +was as the breath of his nostrils. He had chafed +at the dullness of the town of Klamath. This suited +him, and he hoped for even better things beyond.</p> + +<p class='c004'>But the darky who crouched on the thwart in front +<span class='pageno' id='Page_30'>30</span>of him, though he clutched his paddle and tried to obey +the commands of Buffalo Bill, was sending up a +prayer for safety, while his teeth were chattering and +a grayish shade seemed to have crept into the black of +his face. Cudjo was heartily wishing himself well +out of it.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Yet if the occupants of the canoe had desired to retreat, +that was now impossible. The only thing that +could be done was to hold the canoe in the channel, +as near the center as possible, and let it drive, guiding +it as skillfully as possible round rocks and other +obstructions.</p> + +<p class='c004'>A half mile farther down the stream seemed to be +sown with rocks. They were everywhere, and they +appeared almost to leap at the bobbing bow of the +canoe, as if bent on splitting it, and dragging it down.</p> + +<p class='c004'>But Buffalo Bill and Klamath John were practiced +canoemen, and they sent the canoe round every obstruction +with such skill and good judgment that its sides +were not even grazed.</p> + +<p class='c004'>For two miles this terrific pace held. Then before +them they saw where the stream forked, split into two +branches by a great rock.</p> + +<p class='c004'>A surge of green water slipped by on each side of +this sharp wedge of granite and went plunging on, to +become lost soon in the mist that blanketed the surface +of the wild river.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Which channel?” roared Klamath John, poising his +paddle in hesitation.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“The right!” Buffalo Bill shouted back. “The letter +said the right!”</p> + +<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_31'>31</span>“Aye! So it did! The right it is!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>He dipped and pulled, and the scout did the same, +their efforts seconded by the negro and the Irishman.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The wedge of granite rose right before the canoe, +and it seemed the frail shell would dash against it; +then the canoe slipped past, and went plunging down +the right channel, where the waves frothed and roared +and the mist hung heavily.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The speed of the canoe became even more rapid +now. It quivered and reeled under the impact of +waves that slid from one black granite wall to the +other and back again, and there were moments when +it seemed that it would be dashed into splinters against +these walls.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Klamath John began to show evidences of fright, +while hitherto he had been as cool and courageous as +the dauntless scout.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The mist lifted somewhat, and then, straight ahead, +was beheld a black opening, toward which the canoe +sped with arrowy swiftness.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Klamath John appeared to lose his head when he +saw that black hole.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Cody, we’ve taken the wrong channel!” he yelled, +and he half rose to his feet. “We’re dead men! We +made a mistake back there. We’re in Lost River! +Good heavens, we’re in Lost River!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>He dropped his paddle, which the scout caught, thus +keeping it from going overboard.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Sit down!” the scout shouted at him. “Sit down, +or you’ll have us all into the water!”</p> + +<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_32'>32</span>Klamath John did not obey. He stood up, swaying +about in the plunging canoe, rendering the task +of guiding it difficult, as well as threatening it with +destruction.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Sit down!” Buffalo Bill yelled at him.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The situation was so desperate that when Klamath +John did not sit down, the scout caught him by the +coat and hurled him down.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Klamath John was up again instantly, swaying about +and making the canoe lurch so violently that it was +in danger of capsizing.</p> + +<p class='c004'>But a remarkable revelation had come, for as Klamath +John fell the dark mustache and imperial was +torn from his face, revealing youthful and unbearded +features.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The disclosure was almost paralyzing, for Klamath +John’s disguise had been so exceedingly good and +clever that until that minute even the sharp eyes of +Buffalo Bill had been deceived by it.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Sit down!” the scout yelled again.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“We is all dead men!” Cudjo shrieked. He was +staring at the beardless face of Klamath John, the +paddle had dropped from his nerveless fingers, and he +acted as if he meant to leap out of the boat.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Shoot the divil!” Mickey Flynn yelled.</p> + +<p class='c004'>But Mickey did not forget his paddle, and for the +first minute in which that stupefying surprise lasted, +the strong young Irishman did almost as much as the +scout in keeping the canoe from being hurled to destruction.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“So, you’re a fraud, eh!” the scout shouted. “Well, +<span class='pageno' id='Page_33'>33</span>if we’re in Lost River and are going to death, you’ll +go with us!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Klamath John seemed to lose his head as that black +hole of a tunnel was brought close at hand. He stood +up again, balancing himself, as if he thought of jumping +over into the water. He threw down his hat, +snatched from his head a wig of long hair, howled as +if he had suddenly become an insane devil, and refused +to obey the orders of the scout.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill lifted his paddle, while his other hand +stole back as if to get out his revolver for the purpose +of shooting Klamath John. But a violent lurching of +the canoe caused him to grip the paddle again and +thrust it into the boiling stream.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Sit down!” he yelled, in desperation. “You lunatic, +sit down!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>The dark hole of the tunnel was right before them +now. Into that hole the river rushed with a roar +that was frightful.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Mickey Flynn and Buffalo Bill were bending to +their paddles, straining until the stout ash blades bent +as if they would break, straining to hold the canoe +steady and to keep it in the center of the current. They +had no time to give to Klamath John. Cudjo was but +a bit of helpless lumber. Overcome by terror, he had +sunk down in the bottom of the canoe, where, crouching +on his knees, he prayed frantically.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Klamath John yelled again as the canoe shot for the +black hole, which it did as if it were a race horse rushing +to leap an obstruction.</p> + +<p class='c004'>As Klamath John yelled in that wild way,<a id='tn004'></a> he sprang +<span class='pageno' id='Page_34'>34</span>straight out into the air. He clutched something that +swung dangling in the mist over the mouth of the tunnel.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill saw that it was a rope, and that Klamath +John had seized it and was drawing himself up hand +over hand. He heard Klamath John yell again, in a +different key—a yell that seemed to speak of triumph—and +then the canoe went into the dark hole, rushing +to apparent destruction.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Hold hard!” Buffalo Bill yelled to Mickey Flynn.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Har-rd it is!” Flynn screeched back. “Kape her +in the middle! Kape her in the middle! Pl’ase goodness, +if we’re goin’ into the cinter of the airth we’re +goin’ in a hurry.”</p> + +<hr class='c021'> +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_35'>35</span> + <h2 id='ch_5' class='c018'>CHAPTER V.<br> <br><span class='fss'>THROUGH THE TUNNEL.</span></h2> +</div> + +<p class='c008'>The roar of the stream was much increased as the +canoe shot into the natural rock tunnel. The walls +caught and threw it back with tenfold power. The +darkness was terrifying.</p> + +<p class='c004'>As the canoe sped on its arrowy way into the darkness, +Buffalo Bill crouched in the bow, trying to penetrate +the gloom. Now and then the white spray that +boiled about some half-sunken rock could be seen, and +the canoe steered past it.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Occasionally he shouted a command to Flynn, but +he doubted if in that mad turmoil of sound the plucky +young Irishman heard him.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The minutes seemed like hours, and how long that +terrifying voyage lasted the scout did not know.</p> + +<p class='c004'>With a jerk and a thump the canoe scraped over +some sunken object. A small hole had been torn in its +bottom, near the prow, and the water began to come +in over the scout’s feet. Apparently the end of the +wild journey was at an end, for it was clear the canoe +could not now live many minutes.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The scout tried to block the rent partially by thrusting +his foot against it, but still the water came in, and +the exertions he put forth with the paddle made it +hard for him to keep his foot over that hole. He did +not try to communicate this ugly fact to the praying +darky, nor to the heroic Irishman. They would know +<span class='pageno' id='Page_36'>36</span>it soon enough. Premature knowledge would do them +no good. He only did his best to keep the water from +rushing in.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The scout felt the canoe sinking slowly under him, +when ahead he dimly discerned some dark outline, +which a minute later proved to be an island, low and +rocky, but with sand round its margin, as he later discovered.</p> + +<p class='c004'>With a desperate sweep of the paddle he swung +the prow of the canoe toward this island.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The light craft struck it with such force that the +forward end was lifted, bouncing up apparently, and +then slipped over the wave-worn rocks, driven on by +the waves and by the momentum of the canoe.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The scout sprang out at once, and, seizing the +painter, he began to haul on it, to bring the canoe still +farther out of the water.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Cudjo aroused when he saw that the canoe had +struck and was actually aground on what seemed to +be land. He could see but the dim outline, but that +was enough, and with a howl he sprang out of the +water, landing waist-deep. He would have been swept +away, if Michael Flynn, coming after him, had not +caught him and helped him to make a landing.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill aided both as they scrambled out of +the water.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Cudjo dropped down on the wet rocks, lifting his +voice again in prayer.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Help here with the boat, Flynn,” said the scout.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Together they dragged it clear of the water, placing +it well up beyond the waves.</p> + +<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_37'>37</span>The island was but a few yards wide and not over +twenty yards long; but in the center it rose to a secure +height above the stream, and there the rocks +were comparatively dry, for the waves and the wash +of the current did not reach them.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill did not begin to explore the island until +he had made the painter of the canoe fast to a jutting +point of rock.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Come, Cudjo!” he said, shouting the words. “Be a +man! We’re safe for the present.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>The darky stopped praying and got on his feet.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Marse Cody, we is dead men!” he urged. “We +ain’t drowned, but here we is, and we can’t git away. +I reckon dis is de center of de earf. How we gwine +to git out of it?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>The scout walked toward the other end of the small +island, which lay in the very middle of the stream. +The darkness was too great to see what was in the river +beyond this island; but that they had found a refuge +at a time when matters could not have been worse +gave him a renewal of hope.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Pl’ase Heaven, we’re shtill livin’!” said Flynn, +standing beside the scout and looking out in the darkness +where the river lost itself.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“And as long as there’s life there is hope,” was +the scout’s answer.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Thrue f’r ye! That canoe may yit take us out av +this.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“It has had a hole knocked in it, at the prow, but +I think we can patch it.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“A hole in it! Whoosh! Thin it’s dead lucky we +<span class='pageno' id='Page_38'>38</span>are that this island was close by. I seen ye throw the +head av the canoe into it, and then I pulled f’r it, and +we made it. But how we’re to git aff av it, and what +we’ll find whin we do, I dunnaw.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Cudjo came slowly across the rocky island, shivering.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Marse Cody,” he cried, “what y’o fink of dat +man?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Klamath John?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Yas, sir. What yo’ fink of him, now? I done warn +yo’ not to trust ’im. But you did, and here we is. +Did yo’ see dem whiskers and dat hair dat man was +wearin’? Befo’ Gawd, dat beat me!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“An’ it’s mesilf will bate him, if iver I see his ugly +mug ag’in. False whiskers and false hair, d’ye mind! +It was the iligant make-up that he had, to be sure. +I’m hopin’ that he’s livin’, so that I can hammer his +face in f’r that.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>When they examined the canoe they decided that +they could patch it. Then they sat down to talk over +their situation.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Klamath John fooled me,” Buffalo Bill admitted. +“But I still think the letter he showed me was genuine. +I’ve got that letter with me now, and we’ll see if we +can take a look at it. I was sure it said take the +right fork of the river.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>He drew out his waterproof metallic match box, and +then from the stores that were in the canoe he got a +candle. Having struck his match and lighted his candle, +he first looked over the island by its light, and then +examined the letter written by Red Reynard, the Fox.</p> + +<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_39'>39</span>“‘Take the right fork, where it branches, and you’re +safe enough,’” Buffalo Bill read from this letter<a id='tn005'></a>.</p> + +<p class='c004'>All three looked at those words.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“But here is a thing that we didn’t properly consider. +Red Reynard may have thought of the other +branch as the right fork. Perhaps he meant the one +on the right hand looking upstream, instead of the +one on the right hand looking downstream. And that +would make all the difference in the world.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“It was quare, the way that rapscallion did, anyhow,” +said Flynn. “He thought we had taken the +wrong coorse, and thin he wint that wild he was clane +an idjiot. ’Twas that made him pull aff his whiskers +an’ wig.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“The whiskers were pulled off when I threw him +down in the canoe,” Buffalo Bill corrected.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Ye’re right. It’s a wondher I ricollict annything. +The whiskers fell aff whin ye threw him down. And +thin I suppose he got that rickless, fr’m seein’ that he +was rev’aled in his duplicity, that he pulled aff the +wig. He laughed like a young hyena, begorra, whin +he did it. The man was clane cr-razy.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“An’ we was crazy for comin’ wid ’im!” expostulated +Cudjo. “<a id='tn006'></a>I’se wonderin’ dat I’se livin’ dis minute.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Yez seen him git holt av that rope?” said the Irishman. +“Did he know the rope was there, or did he +not? In the evint that he did, thin he was expictin’ +it, and was prepared f’r it; and was ready to jump, before +we got to it. Thin, by the same token, he wasn’t +<span class='pageno' id='Page_40'>40</span>cr-razy, but was a schemin’ divil, bint on l’adin’ us +to desthruction.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>To conclude that Klamath John had deliberately +planned to take the great risk of springing from the +canoe to that rope was to credit him with a daring +which bordered on lunacy. Yet that wild laugh, which +still rang in their ears, had been the laugh of a madman, +or of a man whose change from despair to hope +had seemed to result temporarily in a sort of insanity. +The whole thing was a mystery.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Can we belave that letther now?” said Flynn. +“And if we can’t belave it, what thin? Is there gold +layin’ r-round in lumps and sphlinters down in the Golconda +Cup? Is there a Golconda Cup at all. And is +that pirut ye call Red Reynard doon there?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“We’ll know better when we get there.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“When we git dar?” cried Cudjo. “Marse Cody, +you knows we ain’t nebber gwine git dar!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I’m hoping we shall.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“How you ’specs tuh bring dat combobberation +about?” Cudjo demanded.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“We’ll float on down this stream in the canoe, after +we get it patched.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“If we tries it, we is sho’ dead men!” Cudjo protested.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“If we stay here we are dead men.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I reckons dat’s so, Marse Cody. We is dead men +no matter how yo’ fix it.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I’m niver dead, so long as I’m livin’!” Flynn declared, +with true Irish hopefulness. “This may be +Lost River, and it may be the other fork av it. I<a id='tn007'></a> +<span class='pageno' id='Page_41'>41</span>dunnaw. But whatever it is, it shore goes somewhere.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“It goes into de groun’, Marse Flynn. Ain’t we in +de ground now? An’ if we goes furder we suttinly +will be mo’ deeper into de ground’, won’t we? Dis +Los’ River is a los’ river, which mean dat it run down +into de yea’th and never come up no mo’. And if we +goes wid it, how we gwine tuh come up? You des +’splain to me dat, will yo’?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I ain’t belavin’ it goes down into the earth no great +ways, annyhow!” Flynn protested. “It runs fasht +enough here, I know, but that’s no r’ason it doesn’t +come out into the sunlight ag’in. I’m goin’ to stick +to it that it does, begorra! It’s no use to belave anny +other way; f’r if we thried niver so har-rd we couldn’t +git back up this sthrame.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“That’s to be taken as settled,” said Buffalo Bill. +“We can’t get back up the stream. Therefore, if we +leave this island, we’ve got to go downstream, no matter +what happens. I think we’d better see if we can’t +patch the canoe.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>He wanted to put Flynn and Cudjo to work, knowing +it would help to bolster their spirits.</p> + +<p class='c004'>It took an hour of close work to patch the hole +in the prow.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The stores were lifted out of the canoe and carried +to the highest part of the island, and the canoe was +also carried to that point, before work on it began.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The three men down on their knees, in the flickering +candlelight, working at the canoe, on that dark +little island set in the blackness of the underground +<span class='pageno' id='Page_42'>42</span>river, presented a strange sight. The river roared by +close at hand, and the dark walls and roof of the singular +natural tunnel stretched in each direction as far +as eye could see.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“We could live here some time,” said the scout +cheerfully. “We’ve got stores enough, and we have +the whole river for our water supply.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“But dey’s bats and fings in here, Marse Cody!” the +darky objected. “I hear um go flyin’ by.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Yet Cudjo was in no haste to leave the island and +trust his precious self to that wild black torrent.</p> + +<p class='c004'>When they had patched the canoe they again sat +on the rocks and talked over the situation.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“It will soon be dark outside,” said the scout, holding +his watch so that the candlelight fell on the dial. +“Shall we try it before morning?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Cudjo declared his desire to wait for daylight outside.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I think, myself, it will be better,” the scout urged, +when Flynn did not express his opinion. “With daylight, +we could see when we approached the end of +this stream, where it flows out of the tunnel. For +I’m taking it for granted that it flows out somewhere. +And, also, it seems to me that the light from the outside +may get in here to a certain extent, and so that +would help us. We can set candles in the prow of the +canoe; but if we could have a few rays of daylight additional +it would be welcome.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>So they decided to remain in their present position +until the scout’s watch showed that morning had come.</p> + +<hr class='c021'> +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_43'>43</span> + <h2 id='ch_6' class='c018'>CHAPTER VI.<br> <br><span class='fss'>ON THE UNDERGROUND RIVER.</span></h2> +</div> + +<p class='c008'>Though there was a good deal of misty vapor in the +tunnel, it was possible to keep reasonably dry and comfortable +by wrapping in the blankets taken from the +canoe.</p> + +<p class='c004'>A generous supper, taken from the canoe supplies, +helped much to add to the cheerfulness which the +scout’s hopeful manner created.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Flynn lighted his pipe when supper was over, and +sat on the rocks, smoking and talking of the outlook.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Begorra, the drainage is good, f’r wan thing!” he +declared, as he saw Cudjo heave some of the supper +remnants into the river. “A felly might shtay here a +good while, though the mist would damage his health, +I’m thinkin’. There’s many a worse place in the +world, no doubt. Shtill, I’m not wantin’ to shtay +longer than I nade to.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I doan’ want tuh stay at all,” said Cudjo. “Marse +Cody, didn’t you heah somepin’?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I heard nothing,” the scout answered. “If you’ll +lie down, Cudjo, and get some rest and sleep, you’ll +feel better. Wrap up in that blanket and lie down a +while.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Dis river make so much noise I couldn’t sleep a +wink, Marse Cody!” Cudjo declared. “And I keeps +hearin’ fings. You doan’ heah um?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I hear nothing but the roar of the river.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“’Twas a kind ob low moanin’ like, Marse Cody. +<span class='pageno' id='Page_44'>44</span>Dar it is ag’in. An’ I heah’s somepin’ breathin’ hard, +too.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Cudjo got up and walked uneasily to and fro. At +last he sat down on a log by the shore. That is, +he thought it was a log when he sat down on it; but +he knew better soon, for what he supposed to be a log, +taking no notice of him at first, began by and by to +squirm under him. He sprang to his feet with a howl +that would have done credit to an Indian.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Marse Cody!” he screeched, “dis heah log is alive! +Befo’ the Lawd it is! Yah! Hit’s movin’.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill and Mickey Flynn ran to him, and +then they beheld an astonishing thing.</p> + +<p class='c004'>A long, dark object, which in the poor light they +had from the first fancied was a wet log, had moved +from its bed and was crawling slowly into the water.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Cudjo had jumped back, and was screeching again.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“You see it, Marse Cody?” he yelled. “You see +it?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill ran back for the candle, and, bringing +it up, flashed its light down on the moving “log.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“An alligator!” he exclaimed, holding the light close +to the creature’s back. “No, not an alligator,” he corrected, +“though it resembles one. What is it?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>The lizardlike thing drew its length lazily into the +water, where it sank out of sight without a sound, although +they were given time to see it.</p> + +<p class='c004'>It was not an alligator, though it certainly was a +saurian. It resembled an alligator, or crocodile, but +was more sluggish, had a larger head, and a thicker, +shorter body.</p> + +<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_45'>45</span>Cudjo’s panicky fright was too pitiable to be laughed +at. He was almost in a state of collapse.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Dat’s de fing I heard breathin’,” he declared. “Hit +must er been. And to fink dat I set down on it! Dat +sho’ does analyze me! I’se dat trimbly and skeered dat +I cain’t move. Marse Cody, does ye’ reckon any +more ob um is roun’ heah?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>That he might be sure there were not, Buffalo Bill +began to look over the island with the aid of the candle. +Flynn accompanied him, but Cudjo remained behind, +keeping now near the very top of the rocky +islet, that he might be as far as possible from the +water.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Begorra, there’s another wan av the bloody crathers!” +declared Flynn.</p> + +<p class='c004'>But this was only a log, slimy and wet, looking, in +the faint light, much like the strange saurian sat on +by the negro.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“There are no more here,” said the scout, when he +and Flynn had made their circle of the island.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“You bet I stays awake dis night!” said Cudjo. +“Dat was an alligator, and an alligator sho’ does love +nigger meat. Yo’ couldn’t make me lay down ag’in +if you was to hit me wid a club. No, sir! I keeps my +eyes open dis night. None of dem fings ain’t gwine to +swaller me while I’m sleepin’.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>While they were talking they heard a roar down +the river—a singular sound, mingling with the noise +of the stream. They did not doubt it was made by the +saurian, which they believed had gone in that direction.</p> + +<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_46'>46</span>Though Buffalo Bill did not blame Cudjo for having +been frightened by his unpleasant experience, he tried +to argue him into a quieter frame of mind, and again +advised him to lie down and try to get some rest, assuring +him that the “alligator” would not return. But +Cudjo sat up, refusing to trust himself in the blanket.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill and Flynn talked, while Flynn smoked +pipeful after pipeful of tobacco.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The scout lay down at last, when his watch showed +that the time was after midnight. Then Flynn rolled +in his blanket, and Cudjo, fearing to stare longer out +into the darkness, also wrapped himself up, and tried +to get some rest, if not some sleep.</p> + +<p class='c004'>All slept soundly before morning.</p> + +<p class='c004'>When they woke the darkness still held, though the +scout fancied it was not as dense. His watch showed +him that it was seven o’clock.</p> + +<p class='c004'>They had breakfast from the boat’s stores, and +again Flynn smoked his pipe, while they talked of +what they should now do.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Then the canoe was loaded again, and they took +their places in it, and floated off from the island, trusting +themselves once more to the swift stream. It was +the only thing they could do.</p> + +<p class='c004'>A number of candles threw their light on the water, +enabling the scout, who sat in the prow, to see obstructions.</p> + +<p class='c004'>With the deafening roar of the river about them, the +canoe plunging on, and uncertainty ahead, that was not +a pleasant voyage. How long it continued they hardly +knew.</p> + +<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_47'>47</span>More than once, by a deft stroke of his paddle, Buffalo +Bill saved the frail craft from destruction.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The light of the candles showed only seamed, black +walls, where the mist of the river had collected and +hung in glistening drops, which resembled flashing diamonds +as the light of the candles touched them. The +river looked as black as the walls.</p> + +<p class='c004'>After a while Buffalo Bill became sure that the daylight +was brightening in the tunnel. That he might be +sure of this, after speaking of it to his companions, +he swept the candles into a heap in the bottom of the +canoe, extinguishing them.</p> + +<p class='c004'>For a little while the darkness seemed to have been +made pitchy black, but it was only by reason of the +contrast. Soon it became clear that the dark tunnel +was really growing brighter ahead.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Hooray!” Flynn yelled, unable to restrain his joy. +“I’d welcome light ahead there av it was fr’m the +fires of the pit. Whoosh! But we’re fair flyin’.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>They could again see the walls flying past them, +showing the speed with which the canoe was going.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The current was nearly free of rocks, and it was +not difficult work to keep the canoe away from the +walls, so that this terrific speed really harmed nothing +now.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Brighter and still brighter grew the light within the +tunnel.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The brightness came from ahead, showing that +some sort of opening was there which let in the sunlight.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Cudjo forgot his fears, and clamored for the canoe +<span class='pageno' id='Page_48'>48</span>to go faster, when it seemed already that it was almost +flying.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Then a white point, like a star, shone dead ahead.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“The opening!” shouted Buffalo Bill. “There it +is!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Cudjo chattered his joy, and the Irishman’s lips +shot out wild exclamations.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Steadily that starlike point of light gained in size, +and the brightness of the tunnel increased. Then they +could see that the “star” was a hole through which +light came.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Kape her goin’!” yelled Flynn, sweeping the canoe +on with his paddle. “Kape her goin’!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>The shining aperture enlarged rapidly, and soon the +canoe was right in it, and a blinding flash of daylight +was just before. Then the canoe shot out of the tunnel’s +black mouth, and sped along the surface of a +stream that rolled between rocky and sandy banks. Behind +towered the high walls of mountains, steep as +upright boards, reaching apparently to the sky.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“We’ve passed through the walls,” said the scout, +“and are in the Golconda Cup.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“And that letther wasn’t a lie at all, at all!” said +Flynn. “Glory be! It’s praisin’ the saints I am f’r +this blissed minute.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>As they floated on they saw that they were in a +vast valley, encircled by precipitous mountain walls, +and that the river flowed through it. They were in the +Golconda Cup, which it was said no man had ever entered.</p> + +<hr class='c021'> +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_49'>49</span> + <h2 id='ch_7' class='c018'>CHAPTER VII.<br> <br><span class='fss'>SKULL AND CROSSBONES.</span></h2> +</div> + +<p class='c008'>The current decreased when they entered this wide +valley. The cañon had disappeared beyond the tunnel, +and here were only broken hills and sandy river banks +inclosing the stream. At points along the stream were +trees and bushes.</p> + +<p class='c004'>When they were nearly a mile out from the tunnel, +and the current had dropped to no more than seven +or eight miles an hour, they beheld in front of them +a low, bush-grown island. Then, looking off to the +right, where the stream made a bend beyond the island, +they were astonished to behold houses amid the trees +on the river bank. They seemed to be large cabins, +and their presence denoted human occupancy.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“That letther wasn’t a lie at all!” Flynn repeated, +when he saw those houses.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“And if what it said is true, that Red Reynard is +in here with a lot of his villains, we’ll be a good deal +better off if they don’t see us,” the scout remarked, +as he turned the prow of the canoe toward the shore, +which presented a sandy bluff at that point.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“We’ll get under that bluff,” he said, “where we’re +not so likely to be sighted by whoever occupies those +cabins, and then, I think, we’d better try to land on +that island, and go into hiding there until we see who +is in this valley.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>The eyes of Cudjo were round and staring. When +<span class='pageno' id='Page_50'>50</span>he turned them from the cabins to the surface of the +river he uttered an ejaculation of fear.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Marse Cody, dar it is!” he said in a whisper. +“Dar’s dat alligator. He riz right plum’ up f’um de +bottom of de river. Yo’ see ’im, doan’ you?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>They could not but see the scaly saurian, as it floated +on the surface of the water. Apparently, it had not +seen them. At the small bend just below the saurian +turned across the stream, heading as if for the island.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Hit look des lack it’s leadin’ de way, and sayin’ +for us to come on!” whispered Cudjo, his eyes staring. +“Marse Cody, I doan’ lack de appearance ob dat, does +you? Looks as if he’s leadin’ us on. I reckon mebbe +he’s livin’ over dar.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>The canoe, turning at that bend, for the high bluff +ended there, was following in the wake of the big +saurian. They saw it reach the low shore of the island, +where it sank from sight, and did not rise again.</p> + +<p class='c004'>This crossing of the river in the broad light of day +was a ticklish thing, and the scout kept his eyes trained +as much as possible on the river banks below, and on +those cabins. He was anxious not to be seen.</p> + +<p class='c004'>They made their landing at almost the spot where +the big saurian had disappeared. Stepping ashore +there, they drew out the canoe, then took the load out +of it, and carried it back into the bushes. They did not +believe they had been observed.</p> + +<p class='c004'>As for the “alligator,” Cudjo was the only one who +feared it, and because he feared it he kept well back +from the water.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The island consisted of several acres of bush-grown +<span class='pageno' id='Page_51'>51</span>land lying in the middle of the river, which here +widened out into a sluggish stream, so different from +its hitherto known characteristics.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Having concealed the canoe and their belongings, +Buffalo Bill and his companions made their way +quietly through the brushy ground to the other side +of the island.</p> + +<p class='c004'>They beheld now an astonishing sight. Instead of +the few cabins, which they had supposed were the only +ones, they beheld a village.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The cabins were ranged along the right bank of the +river, in the midst of trees, less than a mile below the +flat island. Between the houses ran a single wide +street, which paralleled the course of the river. Men +were seen walking in this street, and down by the river +other men were seen working, as if they searched for +gold, or were washing it.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill brought out his binoculars and covered +the houses and the men with them. The houses were +big log cabins, though some of them seemed to have +additions constructed of mud and stone.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“That letther wasn’t anny lie at all, at all!” said +Mike Flynn, repeating what he had said so many times +before.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“It looks as if it were true; and if so, then Red +Reynard, the Fox, has his lair right here before us. +Take a look, Flynn.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Michael surveyed the cabins and the men carefully +and long.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Begorra, it’s too bad they ain’t honest min!” he +<span class='pageno' id='Page_52'>52</span>said. “We could walk out and jine thim, av they +were. But I’m guessin’ it wouldn’t be wise to thry it.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Anything but wise, Flynn. We’ve got to find out +what all this means, before we venture to show ourselves.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I’d like to know now, so I would, if Klamath John +is dead or livin’, and what he mint by what he did. +Troth, so I would! It’s that quare I can’t make annything +out av it. What do yez think av it, Cody?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>He returned the glasses, and the scout gave them +to Cudjo, asking him to take a look and report whatever +he saw. Cudjo, after a few moments’ survey, began +to search the river with the binoculars.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Marse Cody, did dat ’gator go on downstream?” +he asked.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Yes.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Well, I ’clar to goodness I fink he’s comin’ back! +I sho’ seen somepin’ down dar looked lack his haid +stickin’ up.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill and Flynn, not being greatly interested +in the “alligator,” continued to speculate concerning +the houses and the men.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“If dem men finds us heah, Marse Cody, we’s gwine +see int’restin’ times,” Cudjo prophesied.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“An’ that ain’t anny lie!” said Flynn.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Yes,” assented the scout, “we’ll have to be careful. +But I don’t think they come often to this island. +There are signs that they’ve been here, but not for several +days.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>He pointed to some marks on the sandy shore just +below, where digging had been done in the sand. +<span class='pageno' id='Page_53'>53</span>When they looked closely they beheld tracks of human +feet.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Marse Cody, how is we gwine tuh git out o’ dis +place?” said Cudjo.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I don’t know. That’s to be found out. We’re +safe for the present. And we’ve plenty to eat. But +we’ll have to eat it without cooking, for the smoke of +a fire would certainly attract attention.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>For a long time the scout and his companions stared +out from the shelter of the bushes, watching the village, +and the men they saw moving about.</p> + +<p class='c004'>As the scout was making a final survey of the +cabins with his binoculars, he turned them on the +open door of a cabin, hoping to see the interior. What +the glasses brought into view above the door was +startling and suggestive.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“A skull and crossbones, and not a mere representation +of them!” was his thought. “Flynn,” he said, +“take the glasses, and tell me what you see just over +the door of that cabin.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Flynn took the binoculars and trained them on the +cabin door.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I hope I’m not dr’amin’,” he said, “but if that +ain’t a skull, and if thim ain’t the thigh bones av a man +crossed under it, thin I am dr’amin’ or cr-razy. What +does it mane, begorra?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Cudjo clutched the glasses and looked through them.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Marse Cody, you ’members dem stick pins? It’s +des lack um, ober dat door.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>The scout and Flynn had thought of the stick pins +even before Cudjo thus spoke of them.</p> + +<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_54'>54</span>“The skull and crossbones!” said Buffalo Bill. “If +Klamath John found the stick pins with that letter +written by Red Reynard, the Fox, it’s easy enough to +connect the skull and crossbones on the stick pins with +those over that door.<a id='tn008'></a>”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“It begins to luk as though that felly wasn’t lyin’ +whin he towlt yez how he found the letther,” said +Flynn seriously.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“But you mustn’t forget that he went to the very +depths of deception when he disguised himself with +that wig and whiskers,” was the scout’s comment. +“There is something very singular about it all.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Shure, it’s too quare f’r words.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>The discovery of the skull and crossbones above the +cabin door threw Cudjo into a new flutter of fear. +He had never been able to forget the outlaw wearing +a stick pin of that kind, who had knocked him down +at the time of the railway holdup. Apparently members +of that same band of desperadoes occupied the +cabins here in the Golconda<a id='tn009'></a> Cup.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I wonder if they’re washin’ f’r gold?” said Flynn, +once more studying the figures by the stream. “It’s +gold I’m wantin’—gobs av it; an’ it makes me fingers +itch to think that anny man can be takin’ it out that +way, right befure me eyes, wid me here wantin’ my +share, and that hilpless I can’t poke me nose out av the +bushes. Musha! But it’s the loikes av that makes the +hear-rt ache.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill brought out the stick pins he had kept +in his possession, and looked at them. Their suggestiveness, +in connection with that gruesome sign over +<span class='pageno' id='Page_55'>55</span>the door of the cabin, and the letter written by Red +Reynard, was impressive.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Fr’m the looks av the cabins—the number av thim, +I mane—the min huntin’ gold down here ar-re too +manny f’r us,” said Flynn. “It was the gold and the +iligant advinture that brought me. We’ve had the advinture, +and I’m not denyin’ it was thrillin’ enough; +and now we want the gold. How we’re to git it, +though, I dunnaw. Thim divils have camped on the +claim, and if we secure anny gold I’m thinkin’ we’ll +have to crack heads f’r it.”</p> + +<hr class='c021'> +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_56'>56</span> + <h2 id='ch_8' class='c018'>CHAPTER VIII.<br> <br><span class='fss'>THE PRISONER.</span></h2> +</div> + +<p class='c008'>Throughout the remainder of the day the scout and +his companions kept close under cover of the bushes +of the island. They needed rest and sleep, and were +not yet ready for any decisive movement.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Shortly before sunset, while Buffalo Bill was lying +down and Flynn was dozing, Cudjo uttered a cry +which brought the two white men to their feet.</p> + +<p class='c004'>They saw Cudjo floundering at the edge of the +water, as if he had stepped off and gone beyond his +depth, but as they ran to aid him they noticed the +scaly back of an “alligator” rising slowly to the surface. +The back was of a brownish mud color and +seemed to be plastered over with river slime. The next +moment the huge head rose in sight, the piggish eyes +could be seen, and then the huge mouth came into view. +Within the jaws of the loathsome creature was a piece +of Cudjo’s coat. Cudjo gave another flounce and +splash, like a speared fish, and the piece of coat, tearing +loose, was left in the mouth of the saurian.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill seized Cudjo’s hand and helped him to +land, and the saurian disappeared with a slow and sullen<a id='tn010'></a> +movement. Cudjo fell on the shore under the +bushes in almost a fainting condition.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Marse Cody,” he said, “I is a dead man! Dat +gator bit me, and I know I’se pizened. I sho is. I +can feel de pizen wukkin’ through my ligerments.”</p> + +<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_57'>57</span>He would not believe otherwise until Buffalo Bill +had shown him that he had not even been touched +by the teeth of the creature.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“It caught your coat in its mouth, but its teeth never +so much as touched you!” the scout assured him.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Thereupon Cudjo sat up. His black face had +changed to an ashen brown, and he was trembling.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“A ’gator is monst’ous fond ob de meat of a nigger,” +he said. “I has heah’d dat always, and now I +knows it; and it’s only by de grace o’ Gawd dat I’se +heah now, ’stead ob in dat ’gator’s stummick. Marse +Cody, it was dis heah way: I was watchin’ de sho’ +over yondeh, as yo’ done tole me to, and I was watchin’ +de river fuh de ’gator. But I didn’t see ’im. My +back was to’a’ds de way we come f’um, and I was +lookin’ down de river to’a’ds dem cabins, lack you +said. While I was doin’ dat dis ’gator riz right beside +me, an’ I didn’t know he was widin a mile twell +he had me. Den I yelled. Marse Cody, you’d ’a’ +yelled, too. You would ’a’ been ’bleeged tuh yell. I +’spect I was head’d at dem cabins, but I can’t help it, +nohow.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Mickey Flynn had watched the river while Buffalo +Bill made his examination of the negro, and now Flynn +spoke:</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Cody, there’s a man on t’other shore, right acrass +fr’m this island, and he’s lukin’ at it. I’m bel’avin’ he +heard the nagur whin he let out that screech.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Who’s a nigger?” said Cudjo, bristling with indignation, +in spite of his scare; for, though Cudjo would +<span class='pageno' id='Page_58'>58</span>call himself a “nigger,” he objected to any one else +doing it.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill left Cudjo’s side and slipped to the +point where the Irishman was watching.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The man seen by Flynn stood on the other shore, +just abreast of the island, and stared across the water. +He wore rough boots and a red-flannel shirt, and he +carried a pick, while at his hip swung a revolver. In +addition, he had long hair and a heavy red beard. +After staring a while at the island, he went on downstream, +but soon he was seen again, this time in a +shallow boat, which he had drawn from under the +bank.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“He’s comin’ acrass!” said Flynn. “He shure heard +the screech av the nagur, and now we’re in f’r it. I’ll +cr-rack the head av him whin he makes his landin’. +It’s a swate headache he’ll be havin’, if he comes in +close by me.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>He picked from the ground a broken bough that +would serve well as a club.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“It’s breakin’ heads reminds me of the dear ould +dart,” he said grimly. “It would be Donnybrook +Fair, if there was enough av thim. Whurroo! He’s +comin’ sthraight f’r this p’int.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill stepped back and drew his revolver, +though he had no intention of using it except as a +club. As a second and better thought, he went to the +heaped-up articles taken from the canoe and selected a +rope, which he looped and put in shape for a lasso cast.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The man held his way steadily across to the island, +but when he approached it he stopped the canoe, and, +<span class='pageno' id='Page_59'>59</span>sitting quietly in it, looked through the bushes as well +as he could. When he saw and heard nothing, he +dipped his paddle again and came on. He drove the +nose of his boat into the reeds that grew by the water’s +edge, and stepped out.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Mickey Flynn rose from behind a bush and brought +his club down on the man’s head with such force that +the fellow pitched forward on his face without a +sound.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Whurroo!” said Flynn, dashing on him. “It’s a +nate way to do a job av that kind, betther than a knife +or a pistol. He’ll be comin’ r-round in a minute, but +we can have him fast enough befure he does.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>With the rope which he had meant to use as a lasso, +Buffalo Bill tied the hands and feet of the unconscious +man.</p> + +<p class='c004'>When, five minutes later, the fellow recovered +enough to talk, he looked with quailing eyes into the +faces of his captors.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Do you belong down there?” said the scout, nodding +in the direction of the cabins. “We know you +do, of course. Answer our questions straight, and we +won’t be hard on you.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Why did yez come acrass?” queried Flynn.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“You laid a trap for me,” said the man, looking at +Flynn. “I ought to ’a’ knowed it was a trap, but I +didn’t believe that any men could be over here, not +of our crowd. How you got in here I don’t know. +That bellow one of you let out didn’t sound like anything +human, and that helped to fool me; I thought +it must be some kind of a beast.”</p> + +<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_60'>60</span>“Baste! It was near to bein’ a baste, for it was a +nagur.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Mister Flynn, will yo’ quit callin’ me a nigger?” +Cudjo protested. “I ain’t no nigger, I’se a gem’man +ob color, and I’se been a car po’ter, suh. I ain’t a +nigger no mo’ dan you is, I’d hab you comperhend.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>The prisoner turned his staring eyes on Cudjo.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Did you ever see one of these?” asked Buffalo +Bill, holding before him one of the stick pins showing +a skull and crossbones.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The prisoner stared at it with unwinking eyes, but +it was clear he was astonished.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I’ve seen something like it,” he admitted slowly.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“There is something like it on the door of the cabin +which can be seen from here!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Yes.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“About two years ago a band of masked bandits attacked +and robbed a train on the Cedar Mountain +Railroad. They wore stick pins like this. Were you +with that crowd?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>The prisoner hesitated. “What are you drivin’ at?” +he said. “I dunno what you’re talkin’ about.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“The leader of that band was Red Reynard, the +Fox, and Red Reynard is in command of the men in +the cabins down there. Am I right in that?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“In the fiend’s name, who are you?” said the man, +as he lifted himself on his elbow and stared hard.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“You are Buffalo Bill!” he added, with sudden +comprehension.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I admit it.”</p> + +<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_61'>61</span>“And you’ve follered Red Reynard? This will be +a surprise to the boys.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Then Red Reynard is down there?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“So long’s you know all about it, what’s the use of +denyin’ it?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“He came here through the cañon of the Lost River, +by way of the tunnel through the cliffs; and he’s found +gold in the sand of the stream. You’re taking out a +tremendous lot of it, and are sending it to Frisco by +Poker Pete, and stacking it up in the banks there.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>The prisoner stared as if dazed; the knowledge possessed +by Buffalo Bill struck him as something so uncommon +and unaccountable that it was weird.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Yes,” he admitted. “If you’ll loosen up these cords +a bit I’ll tell everything I know, though I guess you +don’t need me to. You must ’a’ got in here the same +way we did.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Where is Klamath John now?” was Buffalo Bill’s +next question, at which the prisoner’s eyes widened +again.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Klamath Jack, you mean?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Klamath Jack, or Klamath John, I suppose it’s all +the same. Where is he?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I don’t know. He went to Frisco a couple of +weeks ago, and ought to be back by now.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“How did he get out of the Cup? There’s another +way besides the river?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Yes, there’s another way.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Tell us about it.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“You climb the cliffs with ropes.”</p> + +<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_62'>62</span>But a certain change in his manner made the scout +sure he was lying.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Tell me how Klamath John looks,” was the scout’s +next demand.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“He is smooth-faced, but he disguised himself before +he set out for Frisco.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“We met the divil!” cried Flynn. “He wore a +false beard and a wig.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Yes, that’s what he wore.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Did he intend to visit the town of Klamath?” said +the scout.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I understood so; he was to come back by there.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“What else do you know about him?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Not much. He’s the lieutenant, and acts as chief +here when the chief is gone.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“And the chief is Red Reynard?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Yes.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“How long have you fellows been here in the Cup?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“The better part of a year.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“And you’ve taken out a lot of gold in that time, +and sent it to Frisco?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Yes, that’s right.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“You built the cabins?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Yes, we cut the logs above here and floated ’em +down. ’Twasn’t any great job.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“How long was it planned for your gang to stay +in here?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“As long as we liked; there wasn’t no time set. We +was suited here; plenty of game in the Cup here, and +fish in the river, and what extrys we needed could be +brought from Frisco, or some place like it. We +<span class='pageno' id='Page_63'>63</span>thought we’d hit it good here, and we didn’t care to +get out in a hurry, ’specially as officers outside was +lookin’ for some of us. We calc’lated to leave by and +by, of course, to enjoy the gold we got here, but we +wasn’t hurryin’ it. We was comfortable enough.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>His manner admitted that he believed the end of +that pleasant dream had come.</p> + +<hr class='c021'> +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_64'>64</span> + <h2 id='ch_9' class='c018'>CHAPTER IX.<br> <br><span class='fss'>THE PRISONER’S ESCAPE.</span></h2> +</div> + +<p class='c008'>The red-shirted prisoner, who had confessed to the +name of Jim Benton, lay on the ground, bound hand +and foot, and watched with curious eyes the transformation +taking place in the appearance of Buffalo Bill.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The scout had produced the wig and the beard worn +by Klamath John, and had put them on. He did not +need the false imperial and mustache, for his own resembled +them in a marked degree; but the Dundreary +side whiskers made a great change in his looks.</p> + +<p class='c004'>When Buffalo Bill had effected these alterations, he +untied the prisoner and made him surrender his red +shirt and hat, his boots, and his muddy trousers, giving +him in lieu of them a pair of blankets in which to +wrap himself. When the scout had put these on he +would not have been recognized by his most intimate +friend.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I’m going into your camp,” he said to the prisoner. +“Perhaps I can make the gang there believe I’m one +of them, or at least one of their kind. If Klamath +Jack and Red Reynard are away my chances are all +the better. Perhaps you think I look somewhat like +Klamath Jack now?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“The dead image of him.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>But again the scout detected the false note.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Thanks for the hint that the disguise isn’t as good +as I thought it. Maybe it wouldn’t be healthy for me +<span class='pageno' id='Page_65'>65</span>to try to make them think I am Klamath Jack. You +will be kept close here, and if you do not make trouble +you will have none. My friends will guard you, and +they have orders to shoot you if you try to get away.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill departed in the boat which had brought +the prisoner to the island, dropping down the river +in the darkness. He was hardly out of sight before +Benton, under cover of the blankets that had been +thrown over him, was twisting at the cords which held +his wrists together behind his back. As he did so he +felt the cold touch of a rock, and against its jagged +edge he began to saw the cords that were around his +wrists.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The darky was roosting well back from the shore, +under the trees, with his eyes fixed on the dark water, +where momentarily he expected to see the “’gator.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Flynn was crouched on the ground but a few paces +from the prisoner, smoking his pipe reflectively. +Mickey was following Buffalo Bill in imagination, +wondering what the outcome would be, and he was +denouncing, with Irish vehemence, the fate that kept +him on the island when so daring an adventure was +to be carried out.</p> + +<p class='c004'>For these reasons, and also because he fancied the +prisoner was tied securely, Flynn was giving little attention +to aught save his own thoughts.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Benton made no noticeable sound as he sawed the +cords to and fro against the jagged edge of the rock. +He, too, was thinking of Buffalo Bill, but he was +thinking much more of himself and his chance of +escape.</p> + +<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_66'>66</span>“Marse Flynn,” he heard the darky say, “if dat +fing comes up dar ag’in hit’s gwine tuh be monst’ous +close to yo’ laigs, hit might bite um off. ’Gators is got +pow’ful sharp teeth.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I wish it was gnawin’ at these strings, then!” +thought the prisoner, with a grim sense of humor. “I +don’t seem to be doin’ anything, and I reckon that infernal +scout will be back here before I cut through +’em.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Divil take the ’gator!” said Flynn, unmoved by the +darky’s warning. “Alligators was niver known to ate +annything but nagurs an’ dogs.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Den yo’ ain’t safe dar at all, Marse Flynn!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Flynn turned toward Cudjo, who seemed to be showing +his ivories in a grin.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Call me a dog, will yez?” he said. “Take that!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>A stick whistled through the air, aimed at the +darky’s head, but Cudjo dodged it, and laughed.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The sounds caused by this altercation and the crash +of the stick in the bushes Jim Benton took advantage +of. Sawing furiously, he felt one of the strands of +cord fall away. This so encouraged him that he continued +his work, with a hope that became buoyant as +he felt the cords loosen more and more.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Finally his wrists were free. He rolled over on his +side, and stretched his arms, working his fingers to relieve +the stiffness occasioned by the cords.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Now, if I had my feet loose!” was his thought.</p> + +<p class='c004'>To accomplish that promised not to be so easy.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Making a pretense of restlessness, he twisted about +until he had his ankles against the rock that had cut +<span class='pageno' id='Page_67'>67</span>through the wrist cords. Slowly he began to work +to cut the ankle cords in the same way.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“What the divil makes ye squirm ’round so, like a +shnake?” said Flynn, whose attention was at length +drawn.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Marse Flynn, dat man been doin’ dat fuh mo’ dan +ten minutes, I reckons,” observed Cudjo.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“An’ ye niver mintioned it to me! Yez ar-re a +gr-reat wan to be lift to watch a prisoner! Don’t yez +know that ivery movement that luks suspicious has to +be reported? Yez are not only a nagur, but a fool +nagur!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Misteh Flynn,” protested the darky, “if you keeps +on ’sultin’ me in dat scan’lous manner, I done gwine +bus’ yo’ haid open wid a stone. I don’t stood nuff +f’um you already. I ain’t been lef’ to watch dat pris’ner; +you has been placed in discharge ob him yo’self. +An’ if he gits away de faults ob de matter will be +laid at yo’ do’. I washes my han’s of you. I hopes +you falls in dat river an’ de ’gator ’vours you! You +is de mos’ contemptuous man I ebber see. I’se a +gem’man ob color, unnerstan’, and I been a car po’ter!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Mickey Flynn walked over to the prisoner. The +latter had ceased his struggles to cut those ankle cords, +and lay back now, narrowly watching the Irishman +through half-closed eyes. His hands were behind his +back, to give them the appearance of being tied there.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“What the divil ar-re yez up to, annyway?” Flynn +demanded, stooping over him. Flynn’s temper had +been ruffled by the words of the darky. “Ye’re wrigglin’ +round like a wor-rm, begorra! What’s bitin’ ye?”</p> + +<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_68'>68</span>“These cords are tied so durn tight that they hurt +me, that’s all,” the prisoner explained, hoping when +he said it that Flynn would go away.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Oh, they ar-re? Well, the likes av you ought to +have a cor-rd round his nick, begorra, with an ind av +it fastened to the limb av a three! Thim’s my sintimints; +and that’s what would be done to yez, av I was +havin’ me own way about it. Cody’s too aisy intirely +wid crathers av your class.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>He stooped over, to inspect the cords that he supposed +held the man’s wrists.</p> + +<p class='c004'>It was to the prisoner a critical moment; he had no +time for hesitation. Driven to desperation by the discovery +that stared him in the face, he lifted his bound +feet, and planted them with such force in the Irishman’s +stomach that Flynn was hurled backward and +fell with a crash in the bushes.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The next moment the prisoner had staggered up. +He tried to run, but fell, then he began to roll over +and over like a cart wheel, on his way to the water.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Flynn came out of the bushes, roaring his wrath in +no gentle tones.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Even the darky had leaped up, and was now rushing +toward the prisoner. Flynn drew his revolver, though +he knew he dared not fire, lest the report of its discharge +should reach the cabins.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Shtop, ye divil!” he commanded, but before he +could reach the man, the latter had flounced over into +the river. Flynn reached for him, but he was gone, +for he sank from sight as soon as he touched the water.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Now, the divil is to pay!” said Flynn, fingering +<span class='pageno' id='Page_69'>69</span>his revolver and staring at the spot where the man +had disappeared. “He’ll be drowned, I’m thinkin’, an’ +’twill sarve him right!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“’Twas yo’ fault, Marse Flynn!” Cudjo asserted.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Say that ag’in,” Flynn roared at him, “and I’ll +shtick me fist down yure black throat! ’Tis a lie, it is! +Av he’s drowned, it’s his own fault.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>But that the escaping prisoner was not drowned both +saw a second or so later; for he arose to the surface +a few yards away, put up his hands, and began to +swim, heading across toward the shore opposite.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Flynn pointed the revolver at him, then lowered it, +fearing to fire.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Git the canoe!” he said. “Tumble lively, too! The +divil has got his hands loose, and he’s gittin’ away.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>He ran for the canoe and dragged it into the water; +and, as the darky moved too slowly to suit him, he +sprang in alone.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Paddling away from the shore, he headed the canoe +for the spot where he had seen the man swimming; +but he saw him no longer, for the desperate fellow had +dived, and was out of sight.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Flynn rowed round and round in a circle, muttering +excited ejaculations, but the man did not reappear.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“The divil’s drowned, begob!” he said, speaking so +that the darky could hear. “His fate were tied, aven +if he had his hands free, and he wint undher widout +comin’ up ag’in.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Nevertheless, he widened his circles, still looking +for the man’s head to pop out of the water. Then he +<span class='pageno' id='Page_70'>70</span>heard a splash, and saw that the man had risen near +the other shore and was swimming for it with strong +strokes.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Flynn sent the canoe flying after him, but again the +man dived, going under like a fish. When the escaping +prisoner rose again, in the willows by the shore, +the darkness favored him and Flynn could not see +him.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Flynn paddled slowly past the willows, staring into +them; but the prisoner had only his head sticking above +the water, and remained undiscovered. For nearly an +hour the Irishman kept the canoe going up and down +the shore, crisscrossing the stream, and searching with +great persistence. At the end of that time he gave up, +and paddled back to the island.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“He’s gone!” he said to Cudjo.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Marse Flynn, I reckons de ’gator got him!” declared +Cudjo solemnly.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Then both were startled by a report of revolvers +coming from the village.</p> + +<hr class='c021'> +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_71'>71</span> + <h2 id='ch_10' class='c018'>CHAPTER X.<br> <br><span class='fss'>DANGER AND DARING.</span></h2> +</div> + +<p class='c008'>When Buffalo Bill departed from the island it was +his intention to enter the village and discover what he +could. If observed while doing it, he fancied that his +chances of getting off safely would be increased by the +changes made in his attire and the disguise he had +adopted.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Thanks to the darkness, he had no trouble in bringing +his boat to a landing without discovery at the foot +of the rocky bluff just above the first log cabin. He +tied the boat there, then climbed the bluff and walked +boldly into the village.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Lights were burning in some of the cabins, and he +saw here and there a moving form, but the street and +the spaces between the cabins were dark.</p> + +<p class='c004'>As the scout passed along he saw that a cabin close +by the stream and backed on one side by a high bluff +was not only the largest in the village, but was occupied, +and that on one side was a sashless, open window. +He slipped up to this cabin, and, creeping along +the dark wall, gained the open window and looked in.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Several men were sitting there, talking and smoking. +They were red-shirted fellows, rough-faced and +hard looking. The interior of the room was bare of +anything like luxuries. The men sat on stools and +logs of wood. There were two or three doors, in addition +to the closed door at the front.</p> + +<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_72'>72</span>Buffalo Bill fixed his eyes on one of the men, who +had more of an air of authority than the others.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Red Reynard!” he said to himself. “He is here.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>The man referred to was younger and smarter looking +than his companions. He had his chair tipped +against the wall, and he smoked a big brier-root pipe.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Frisco was lively enough,” he was saying. “Too +bad we can’t all pull our freight out of this and enjoy +a little of the life they have down there. When we’ve +raked in a little more gold dust I think we can try it.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>For a long time the scout stood by the window, listening +and watching.</p> + +<p class='c004'>It was plain that Red Reynard had but recently returned +from a trip to Frisco, where he had gone with +some gold dust, and had brought back a few sorely +desired luxuries, one of them being tobacco. All the +men were smoking as if the witching weed had not +been scented by them for many days.</p> + +<p class='c004'>As Buffalo Bill thus watched, one of the doors +opened into this room, and there appeared before his +eyes a marvelously beautiful young woman. The thing +was so surprising that he fairly gasped. She carried a +package under one arm, and after greeting the men +and glancing quickly round, she went on toward the +outer door.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Say, there!” Red Reynard shouted at her, bringing +the front legs of his tipped chair to the floor with a +thud. “Where you goin’?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Just to the other cabin,” she said timidly.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“What you got there?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Her calmness deserted her, and she showed fright.</p> + +<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_73'>73</span>“Only my jacket,” she said, but her voice trembled.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I’ll take a look at it!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Red Reynard’s red face had flushed to a deeper hue, +with suspicion that seemed mixed with anger. He +rose, stretching out his heavy red hand.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“It’s—just my jacket!” the girl protested, strong +agitation now showing in her face and manner.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I’ll look at it!” he said roughly.</p> + +<p class='c004'>When he came toward her she uttered a suppressed +cry, and ran to the outer door, where she tried to go +out. But she was too nervous to open the door quickly, +or it stuck, for before she could escape, Red Reynard +reached her.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“No tricks!” he cried, with an oath. Then he +caught her and threw her backward with a cruel jerk, +and the package she had been carrying dropped to the +floor with a thump. It fell open, and some bags of +gold dust rolled out before the surprised eyes of the +men.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Red Reynard’s face flushed with wrath.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“That was your game, was it? You sneaked the +gold, and then was intending to sneak yourself out of +here. Not much you don’t!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>The girl screamed when he caught her by the hair +with so rough a touch that he seemed to be dragging it +out by the roots. The men in the room did not interfere. +One or two of them were brutes enough to +laugh.</p> + +<p class='c004'>To see an outlaw and brute like Red Reynard abuse +a woman in that manner made the scout’s blood boil. +He did not know what relation she bore to the outlaw, +<span class='pageno' id='Page_74'>74</span>if any; yet it seemed she had planned to leave the +house without his knowledge, and that intention spoke +volumes.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill dropped his right hand to the revolver +that lay in his coat pocket, when he saw Red Reynard +throw the woman to the floor. As the scout put his +hand on the weapon in his pocket, not having yet made +up his mind what to do, the door opened, and Klamath +John appeared in it.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The girl was struggling to get on her feet, and Red +Reynard had lifted his heavy boot, as if to kick her.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Get behind me,” said Klamath John, “and I’ll defend +you!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>He caught her by the hand and fairly threw her +against the wall, at the same time whipping out a revolver +and stepping in front of her.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Nothing could have been more surprising to the +scout, for he had about made up his mind that Klamath +John had lost his life when he tried to climb +the rope that swung in the dripping mist over the +mouth of the tunnel. But here Klamath John was, +appearing at an opportune moment to defend the girl +from the abuse of Red Reynard.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The daring and defiant manner of Klamath John +astonished Red Reynard. He stopped, and drew his +knife.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“So you’ll interfere, will ye?” he snarled. “Then +I’ll make a quick finish of you!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>He stooped for an opening, with the naked knife +held in his hand, and Klamath John tried to throw up +<span class='pageno' id='Page_75'>75</span>his revolver. The revolver caught in Klamath John’s +coat, slowing his movement.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The next moment Red Reynard would have been +upon him, and probably would have sunk the knife +to his heart. But a shot came through the open window, +knocking the knife out of Red Reynard’s hand. +Following the shot came Buffalo Bill, who entered the +room with a flying leap.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Red Reynard whirled around, startled and unnerved, +his hand stinging with pain. The other men had already +left their stools and seized their weapons. They +stared at Buffalo Bill, who, standing by the window, +seemed the coolest man there, notwithstanding his +spectacular entrance.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The girl might have gone out at this juncture, if +Jim Benton, the prisoner who had escaped from the +island, had not appeared, blocking the door. He was +wrapped in a blanket that dripped water as he walked, +and he seemed to have just come out of the river.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Down him!” he screamed, indicating the scout. +“That man is Buffalo Bill!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>The great scout seemed to stand even more erect, +while his fine face flashed defiance.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Yes, I am Buffalo Bill!” he declared. “It’s a name +I’m not ashamed to own.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>With a swift motion he stripped off the disguising +beard. Then his hands came up with lightning quickness, +each holding a cocked revolver. One of them +covered Red Reynard and the other swung around toward +the group at the other side of the room.</p> + +<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_76'>76</span>“I have you all covered,” he announced coolly. +“Stand where you are!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Instead of obeying, one of the rascals lifted his revolver, +thinking to use it.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The weapon in the scout’s right hand cracked, and +the villain dropped his arm with a howl, the revolver +falling from his hand to the floor. The scout’s bullet +had broken the arm near the elbow.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Hands up!” the scout commanded. “And stand +where you are!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Klamath John, who had staggered against the wall, +seemed dazed by what had happened. The girl was +trying to reach the half-open door. Red Reynard +yelled to her to stop, and in the same breath yelled to +his men to shoot Buffalo Bill.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Gimme a pistol, and I’ll down him!” roared Benton, +and he picked his chief’s revolver from the floor.</p> + +<p class='c004'>But as he rose with it in his hand, Buffalo Bill’s +deadly weapon again spoke, and Benton dropped back +against the wall, badly wounded, a bullet in his shoulder. +Unfortunately, in his fall he blocked the door +to some extent.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Again the scout’s voice rang:</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Stand where you are! I don’t want to kill anybody, +but necessity knows no law. I’ll do it, if you +crowd me. That girl wants to get out of this room, +and she shall go. I expect to follow her, and offer +her aid, if I can. And I’ll shoot the first man who +interferes with her.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>The cool defiance of the great scout was astonishing. +<span class='pageno' id='Page_77'>77</span>He seemed not to know the meaning of fear, as +he thus faced those desperadoes. Several of them +were squirming, and he saw that more than one was +willing to take even desperate chances. If they rushed +him in a body, they might overpower him, or kill him. +They knew it, but feared his quick revolvers. To +further impress them, he shot off the neck of a whisky +bottle that stood on a slab table at the end of the +room, near one of them.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“You see that!” he said.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The revolver roared again, and the bullet cut +through a small hole in the wall.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I can drive nails with these things!” he cried, as +if boasting.</p> + +<p class='c004'>There was a nail by the door, used for a hanger of +some kind. His revolver cracked, and the nail disappeared. +He swung the weapon farther around, causing +one of the men to duck his head, and the tin cup +on the wall flew, with a clatter, across the room, hurled +by the bullet.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“This is easy work!” he said. “Do you want a bullet +in your eye?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>His next bullet smashed the oil lamp that lighted +the room. It was his intention to put out the light +without warning, in the hope that the girl and he +could escape in the darkness that followed.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Through the door!” he yelled to her, as he went +across the room with quick bounds. Then he heard +the girl scream, and he believed she ran outside.</p> + +<p class='c004'>A man stood before him in the doorway whom he +<span class='pageno' id='Page_78'>78</span>thought to be Klamath John. The scout gave a push +which sent this man reeling before him through the +opening.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The man was Red Reynard. He had recovered possession +of his revolver, and he now fired at the scout. +But the bullet went wild.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Inside the house pandemonium reigned. The desperadoes +were rushing toward the door and the open +window, yet were impeded by the darkness and by +frequent collisions.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill took a snapshot at Red Reynard, which +dropped the rascal in his tracks; then he looked round +for the girl, but failed to see her.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Two of the desperadoes came tumbling through the +door to the outside. Both were yelling.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill ran along the side of the cabin, away +from the river, thinking the girl had gone in that direction, +but he still failed to see her. Nor did he see +Klamath John, whose sudden appearance at the cabin +had been so startling and puzzling.</p> + +<p class='c004'>A rattle of revolver fire opened up, as the outlaws +began to shoot at imaginary forms by the river. And +the scout discovered that men were running toward +the cabin from various directions.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Nevertheless, he lingered by the corner of the big +cabin, and in his anxiety for the girl he even called +to her, though he did not know her name.</p> + +<p class='c004'>His call attracted the attention of the men by the +door, and some came in his direction, forcing him to +hurry along.</p> + +<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_79'>79</span>Soon he had half circled around the house, to find +himself again by the river, with the big bluff that +seemed part of the cabin towering over his head. The +darkness was favorable here, and he dropped down +close by the bluff.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Men passed him at a quick run, and he heard them +calling to each other down by the edge of the water. +Then he heard the thump of oars in a boat. In the +midst of this he was sure he caught the voice of Red +Reynard giving orders.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Two of the men came running back from the river, +passing so close to the scout that he might have +touched them with his outstretched hand. They did +not discover him, but his position there was so exposed +and perilous he changed it, sliding away from +the bluff, out through the darkness. He did not try +to get the boat which had brought him, as he believed +it had been found by the outlaws.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Benton got away from Flynn and Cudjo,” was his +thought. “And Klamath John is still living! That +will be news for them. He seems to be one of Red +Reynard’s men, yet he stood up for that girl handsomely, +and I respect him for that. I wonder what +became of him, and what became of the girl? If I +stay here, though, trying to find out, I’ll run into a bullet +pretty soon, and that may end things for me.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>As he thus thought, he was slipping along the +ground away from the cabin and the bluff.</p> + +<p class='c004'>When he was far enough out to make it safe, he +rose to his feet. Then, after a few minutes of waiting +<span class='pageno' id='Page_80'>80</span>and hesitation, he shaped his course for the +island.</p> + +<p class='c004'>This was now of paramount importance, for he believed +that Cudjo and the Irishman would be captured +there by the desperadoes, guided by Benton, if +warning was not conveyed to them quickly.</p> + +<hr class='c021'> +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_81'>81</span> + <h2 id='ch_11' class='c018'>CHAPTER XI.<br> <br><span class='fss'>THE RETREAT.</span></h2> +</div> + +<p class='c008'>Hurrying along at a pace that left the cabin rapidly +behind, Buffalo Bill soon was made aware that some +one was in front of him. His thought on making this +discovery was that the desperadoes had got ahead of +him and were trying to cut him off. He stopped, and +the noise ceased when he came to a standstill.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Having stood without motion for several minutes +the scout heard a sliding sound.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Ah! One of the scoundrels is trying to slip on +me!” was his thought, and he stared through the +gloom, and finally saw a human form crawling softly +over the grass toward him.</p> + +<p class='c004'>When it was close up he dropped down on it. There +was a smothered exclamation, which he recognized as +coming from Michael Flynn.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“This you, Flynn?” he said.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I dunnaw who I am. L’ave me go! Who’s this +that’s shpakin’?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Cody.” Buffalo Bill released the Irishman, who +rolled over, puffing and grunting.</p> + +<p class='c004'>A timid voice sounded in the darkness.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Dat you, Marse Cody?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“So you’re here, too, Cudjo? Flynn, I hope I +haven’t hurt you. We’ve got to be moving! Why +did you leave the island?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“’Twas the nagur’s fault that the prisoner got away, +<span class='pageno' id='Page_82'>82</span>and thin we heard the shootin’ and thought mebbe you +was in nade. So, that’s why we come. Begorra, I +think you’ve cracked me windpipe! But it’s betther +yez did it than anither.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>The young Irishman sat up, breathing heavily. +Cudjo slid into view out of the gloom.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Thank Heaven, Marse Cody, dat you’s livin’! +When I heerd dem guns goin’ I ’lowed dat you was +dead sho’ ’nough.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I got into a little scrimmage down there, which I’ll +tell you about in a minute. Just now we’d better hustle +along. You are all right, Flynn?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I think me neck is cracked, but it’s shtill hangin’ +togither. Wurra! But ye’ve got fingers of iron! +Yis, I’m ready to go an. It’s back to the island, I suppose? +The canoe is right off there undher the bank.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“The island will be a dangerous place, since Benton +got away, though he is now wounded. He returned to +the village. We’ll have to abandon most of the goods +on the island, I’m afraid. But I’ve got to risk something +to get my clothing. That disguising served me +no good turn whatever. Lead the way to the canoe, +Flynn.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>They were soon in it and paddling quietly up the +stream.</p> + +<p class='c004'>When they gained the island they were sure none +of the desperadoes had been there yet, for everything +was undisturbed.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The scout threw his clothing into the canoe, and +they tumbled into it such things as they did not wish +to lose, and then paddled across to the mainland.</p> + +<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_83'>83</span>As they drew the canoe up under the bank there +they heard some of the outlaws coming up the stream +in a boat. The boat landed on the island and the occupants +went ashore. It was plain they were under the +leadership of Jim Benton.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Now!” whispered the scout. “We’ll get out of +here while they’re crashing round over there.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>So saying, he turned the nose of the canoe upstream, +and they paddled on close by the bank, screened by the +darkness.</p> + +<p class='c004'>They pulled inshore a mile above. There they drew +the canoe out of the water, and tried to hide it securely +under some willows. Then they took what things they +had brought and climbed ashore, where the scout +changed clothing.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Sitting in the darkness, Buffalo Bill told his story, +which drew wondering comments and exclamations +from his hearers.</p> + +<p class='c004'>All sounds from the village and the island had died +away, or were lost in the distance.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“We must first find a place to cache these things,” +said the scout, when he had finished his story. “And +we want a place in which we can hide. There’s no +good cover along the stream, so I suggest that we +strike for the high cliff wall. As we saw it to-day, +it is not far from here; and my binoculars showed +many bushes and trees there.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>As they pushed on, they talked of Klamath John, +whom they had thought dead; of the girl whom the +scout had seen, and of Red Reynard. When they came +<span class='pageno' id='Page_84'>84</span>close up to the wall which was their objective point, +they heard something moving there.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Wan av the divils lukkin’ f’r us here!” whispered +Flynn. “Begorra, he’s thraveled fast!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Cudjo’s eyes rolled in the direction of the sound.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Marse Cody, dat sounds like de ’gator. Dem creeturs +travels on lan’ sometimes.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Keep quiet a minute, while I see what it is.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>The scout put down his bundle and stole away. +Soon they heard him laugh, and then heard a quick +trampling of heavy feet.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I’ve got the ’gator, Cudjo!” he called softly. +“Come on, now, I won’t let it bite you.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>They discovered that he had captured a horse, that +was saddled and bridled and had apparently but lately +escaped from its rider.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“This is a good find!” he said. “I shall return to +that village on his back. It will get me there quicker.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Cody tied the horse with the lariat that was attached +to the saddle, and when he had done that he began to +search for a secure hiding place. The capture of the +horse had determined him suddenly to return to the +cabins, leaving Flynn and Cudjo in hiding at this +point.</p> + +<hr class='c021'> +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_85'>85</span> + <h2 id='ch_12' class='c018'>CHAPTER XII.<br> <br><span class='fss'>RED REYNARD’S PLANS.</span></h2> +</div> + +<p class='c008'>Red Reynard, the Fox, did not lose his craftiness +because of his rage. He had been wounded, but not +seriously; he had received a slight scalp wound, which +for the moment had dropped him like an ox in the +shambles; and his right hand and arm still tingled +painfully. But he considered himself as good as +whole.</p> + +<p class='c004'>He had made a desperate effort to capture the daring +scout, and in that had failed. But the girl who +had tried to escape had not succeeded, and that was +balm to his sore spirit. Now he gathered his desperadoes +around him in the big cabin, to counsel with them +as to what could now be done.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Where’s Benton?” he said, when he had looked +them over.</p> + +<p class='c004'>A search outside revealed Jim Benton lying unconscious; +so that the possibility of securing further information +from him was eliminated.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Klamath John had disappeared, and the talk of the +outlaws showed they supposed him to be with Buffalo +Bill.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Red Reynard sat in the lamplight, boldly enough, +for he believed the scout was not near, and before him +gathered his men, all desperate and daring, as he was +himself. Red Reynard was not a bad-looking man +except for a few things. He had a low brow and a +<span class='pageno' id='Page_86'>86</span>heavy shock of hair. Beyond that, his countenance +seemed so open and frank it would have deceived most +men. Yet when his gray eyes were studied closely, +they revealed the cunning which had given him the +name of the Fox.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“What’s to be done?” he said. “We’ve got to git +that feller. One o’ you go and fetch up the horses +and have ’em ready.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>One of the men departed hastily.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“He called himself Buff’lo Bill, and I reckon he was, +jedgin’ by the way he could sling lead,” one of the +men began. “And takin’ Buff’lo Bill won’t be easy. +How he got in hyer is what rattles me.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“He’s in here,” said Red Reynard, “and that’s the +important thing; we’re going to see now that he don’t +git out. Benton said he came down the river. He +must have got some notion that the river was safe, and +so tackled it. And he’s here! But if he came in by +the river, he’ll never git out.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>He pointed to two men.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“You, Bill and Jim, take yer guns and cut out for +the lower openin’. If he tries it there, pot him. But +it’s my opinion he won’t try to git out. He’s got some +men with him, and he’s here for biz.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“What can he do?” was asked.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Well, he’s about killed Benton already. And Sutton’s +got his arm broke all into splinters. He can +creep up on us and serve us the same, can’t he, one at +a time? He’s here for business. It’s his way. We’ve +got to git him, and them that’s with him.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>The two men selected to go to the lower opening +<span class='pageno' id='Page_87'>87</span>rose from their seats, slid through the door, and vanished. +Obedience was one of the things required by +Red Reynard. He ruled with an iron hand, though he +usually gloved it with persuasive words.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“It’s my opinion he’ll be back ag’in,” he said. “He’s +one o’ them devils that never knows when to stop. +And he’ll be back to-night, since he’s seen the girl. +That will be our chance.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“The moon will be up in less’n an hour. Some of +us will ride along the river and out ’round. He’ll see +us, no doubt, and he’ll git the idee we’re out huntin’ +for him. Well, we will be, but some of us will be +back here, laying for him.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“When he sees the gang that’s out, then he’ll come +on in ag’in, and then will be the chance for the men +that’s left here. If they post themselves in the right +places, they can’t fail to see him, and if they don’t +down him in the moonlight, I’ll want to know why.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>They talked for a number of minutes, after which +a door was opened, into what proved to be a closet, +and out of the closet Red Reynard brought some queer-looking +garments.</p> + +<p class='c004'>In the meantime the horses had been brought up +and were outside, saddled and bridled.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Red Reynard and some of his men donned the queer +garments the chief produced. The effect was rather +startling and sinister. They were clothed and masked +in white. There were holes in the head parts of the +garments for eyes, and on the bosom of each was the +outline of a skull and crossbones in red.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Thus clothed and masked, Red Reynard and his men +<span class='pageno' id='Page_88'>88</span>mounted the horses that had been brought up to the +cabin, and departed from the village, riding close by +the river, and following in the general direction taken +by Buffalo Bill.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The scout had already set out for the village from +the hiding place he had chosen at the foot of the high +cliff wall. He had left behind him a negro who was +perfectly willing to stay in hiding, and an Irishman +who had voiced some strenuous objections. Flynn +was not pleased to be left out of this “advinture.” He +declared that in accompanying the scout it was adventure +he sought, and he demanded his full share. +But there was no horse for the Irishman, and the +scout did not at that time desire his genial company.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill kept close by the rocky cliffs for a while. +He believed the horse had escaped from one of Red +Reynard’s men, and had grazed along that cliff. When +its tracks were seen in the morning, he did not want +them to point too plainly to the hiding place.</p> + +<p class='c004'>By and by the scout turned the head of the horse +toward the river. He did not think danger awaited +him near the cliff. So he rode rapidly, through the +white moonlight, for the moon had risen some time before; +and soon found himself at the edge of the river. +Here he drew the horse down into a walk, and kept a +wary watch for Red Reynard’s men.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Though he was careful, the trees prevented him +from seeing far ahead; and suddenly in the trail appeared +those terrible figures—members of the Clan +of the Skull and Crossbones, as the followers of Red +Reynard called themselves.</p> + +<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_89'>89</span>“Halt!” they cried, covering Buffalo Bill with their +rifles.</p> + +<p class='c004'>To obey was certain death.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The scout’s right hand swung up, and his revolver +flamed, dropping a man out of his saddle.</p> + +<p class='c004'>As the revolver sounded, the scout hurled himself +backward off his horse. Striking behind a rock, he +went rolling over and over.</p> + +<p class='c004'>There was a quick, sputtering fire of revolvers, but +the outlaws used their weapons in such haste that the +scout remained untouched. He sprang to his feet, +when screened by some bushes, and began to run toward +the river in zigzag fashion.</p> + +<p class='c004'>As he gained the water’s edge, with those revolvers +cracking behind him and bullets cutting through the +bushes, he seized and hurled a heavy stone as far out +into the water as he could, where it struck with a +splash.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Just below this bank he had left the canoe, and he +now sprang down and into it, cutting the painter and +pushing the canoe along close by the shore. As he +did so, he heard the outlaws reach the bank above him.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“He jumped into the river,” he heard Red Reynard +say. “I heard the splash. But he’s got to come +up. Shoot him as soon as his head shows.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>He kept the canoe moving slowly along under the +bank, and heard the outlaws talking above as they +watched for him to show his head on the surface of +the moonlit river, where it would have been an easy +target.</p> + +<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_90'>90</span>“There he is!” was yelled suddenly, and revolvers +cracked again.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Looking out in curiosity, the scout saw that the +head of a saurian had been shoved up out of the water; +but it went down when the bullets struck it.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The outlaws discovered their mistake, and while +some cursed, others laughed.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The canoe was moving on with the current, and already +Buffalo Bill was several yards from the point +where he had set it in motion.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The outlaws ran along the bluff, staring into the +water, but under the bluff the scout’s canoe kept steadily +on its way, unseen by them.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I believe he’s drowned!” “Mebbe that critter swallered +him!” “No, he’s bound to come up; keep a sharp +watch!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>These were some of the things Buffalo Bill heard.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Perhaps he’s hidin’ under the bank!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>The scout dipped his paddle and sent the canoe along +faster when he heard that.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Two of the men came tumbling down the bank to +look for him there. These men saw him, even though +under the bank the light was dim, and they called out +their discovery. One of them fired at him.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The scout’s return shot knocked the fellow into the +water.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Wild cries were heard on the bank above, and more +men came tumbling down.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The canoe was right against the shore. The scout +slid out of it, sending it on with a push, and then +crouched low by the roots of a tree. His situation +<span class='pageno' id='Page_91'>91</span>was critical, but he had two good revolvers and knew +how to use them. The current drew the boat away +from the shore.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The desperadoes who had leaped down the bank saw +it and began to shoot at it, under the impression that +the scout was in it; and those who had remained above +began, also, to fire on the canoe. In addition, there +were excited cries and shouted commands.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Under cover of the noise and confusion, Buffalo Bill +crept back along the shore, screened by the high bank +and by bushes, and gained a point beyond that where +he had entered the canoe. He began to feel safe again, +as the shooting at the canoe continued, and all the desperadoes, +chasing it, were moving downstream.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Before they discovered that the canoe was empty, +and returned, the daring scout had climbed up the +bank, and had concealed himself in a scanty growth of +bushes, where he lay closely hidden, when they came +running back to search along the shore for him.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The disgust and indignation of the desperadoes +passed all bounds, and they were accusing each other +angrily.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“He must ’a’ got into the river, after all,” said Red +Reynard; “and by this time he may be on the other +side. Some o’ you fellows take the canoe and go over +there.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>The search was continued, and one of the men +looked into the very hiding place where the scout lay, +without seeing him. From the other shore to which +they had crossed in the canoe, men shouted that nothing +could be found there.</p> + +<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_92'>92</span>Knowing that the desperadoes were so aroused that +the peril of venturing into the village would be too +great, Buffalo Bill retreated, as soon as he could do so +safely, and returned to the spot where he had left +Flynn and Cudjo.</p> + +<hr class='c021'> +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_93'>93</span> + <h2 id='ch_13' class='c018'>CHAPTER XIII.<br> <br><span class='fss'>SURPRISING DISCOVERIES.</span></h2> +</div> + +<p class='c008'>Throughout the remainder of that night, and all the +next day, Buffalo Bill and his companions remained +close in hiding by the high cliff wall to which they +had retreated.</p> + +<p class='c004'>At intervals they saw men riding by, and once or +twice some of these men came near enough to give +them much uneasiness. Yet they were undiscovered.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Fortunately, they had brought food from the island, +and in the scout’s drinking flask was some water; so +that they did not suffer from hunger and thirst.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Though in terror of the outlaws, Cudjo was pleased +to be that far from the river, as, to his mind, it lessened +the danger he felt he was in from the “’gator.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>When night came, Buffalo Bill was ready to try +again to enter the village. The belief that a great +deal of gold was there did not lure him, nor was he +moved at the moment by his desire to capture Red +Reynard, but thoughts of that helpless young woman +in the midst of those conscienceless scoundrels, where +she received such inhuman treatment, stirred him +deeply. He resolved to make a determined effort to +locate her and effect her rescue that night, for he was +sure she was held against her will. What he had seen +and heard convinced him of that predicament.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The scout’s plan of taking the Irishman and Cudjo +with him delighted Flynn, but was not so hilariously +<span class='pageno' id='Page_94'>94</span>received by the darky. Yet Cudjo prepared to go, for +the very good reason that he feared to stay alone. +Whatever the dangers, he felt safer close by the scout’s +side.</p> + +<p class='c004'>They set out before the rising of the moon, that +they might reach the village while darkness held. As +they approached it, they crept down to the river’s edge, +and moved along under shelter of the high bluff.</p> + +<p class='c004'>When the moon rose, they were ensconced in a +growth of bushes not far from the big cabin where +the exciting events of the previous night had occurred. +The moonlight flooded the single street of the village, +and shone bright on the surface of the stream. By +it men were seen moving about, though none were +quite near.</p> + +<p class='c004'>When he had watched a while, Buffalo Bill ventured +to creep forth and up to the cabin. Then he lay in +the shadows, by the bluff that seemed to join the cabin +and towered high above the water’s edge.</p> + +<p class='c004'>As he lay there, waiting and watching, a startling +thing happened: A door opened close by him, in what +he had thought was solid rock, and two men came out. +They were Red Reynard and another, whom the scout +soon recognized as Bat Stevens, the scoundrel to whom +Red Reynard’s letter had been addressed. They were +talking in low tones, and as they passed close by the +concealed scout, they spoke of the girl, showing by +what they said that she was still with them, but had +been giving them trouble.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I’ll tame her, or break her neck,” said Red Reynard +harshly. “The way she carries herself, you’d +<span class='pageno' id='Page_95'>95</span>think she was a queen. If Buffalo Bill is still livin’, +and if he comes to-night, we can git him.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>They passed on, and the sounds of their voices died +away.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The scout stared hard at the wall where the door +had opened, though it was now closed, and at the risk +of detection he crawled over to it and felt along it +with his fingers. He found in one of the inequalities +of the surface a hole made for a key, and he knew then +that the door was not of rock, but of boards. Having +a bunch of keys on a ring in his pocket, he took +them out and began to try the lock.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Stooping there in the darkness, for at that point the +shadows lay heavily, he worked long and patiently, +twisting and turning the keys in an effort to find one +that would throw the bolt.</p> + +<p class='c004'>As he thus worked, he heard footsteps approaching. +Thrusting the keys into his pocket, he dropped down. +In a moment or two Flynn and Cudjo came crawling +up to him.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Dat you, Marse Cody?” Cudjo whispered. “One +o’ dem men said you was daid!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“That’s what brought us,” said Flynn. “Whin they +wint by us, they was shpakin’ av yez, and wan av +thim said you was dead. I didn’t belave it, havin’ seen +yez so racintly, but we kem to find out.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“They were just hoping me dead, no doubt. Keep +watch along by the side of the cabin there, Flynn. +There’s a door here, and I’m trying to open it. If +we’re seen, we’ll jump along the bank and get off that +way. Keep your eyes open, Cudjo.”</p> + +<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_96'>96</span>Buffalo Bill began again to work at the keyhole, +with the darky and Flynn now standing as sentinels.</p> + +<p class='c004'>At length a key which fitted but poorly threw the +bolt, and the door swung slowly open, revealing a dark +hole.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Step inside!” the scout commanded, and when they +were in with him, he locked the door carefully. “I +don’t know where we are, but we’ll see.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>He struck a match and held it aloft.</p> + +<p class='c004'>They were in a large room that seemed to have been +hewn or dug out of the bluff. It lay behind the big +cabin, and he was sure that it connected with the +cabin by an inner door. He recalled that the girl had +come from a door on that side of the cabin, and he +wondered if she were not now held a prisoner somewhere +in this place.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The match went out, but the scout and those with +him had got a good look at the room they were in. +They had noticed that, though damp and close by the +river, the room seemed to be filled with stores of +various kinds. Bags and boxes were on the floor, and +on the walls saddles and blankets.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I wondher if anny of that gold is in this place?” +Flynn whispered.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I heahs de river down dar somewhars,” Cudjo declared, +thinking of the “’gator.” “Marse Cody, we’d +better git out o’ dis. What we gwine tuh do if dem +men come back?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I want to learn if that girl is held anywhere in +here.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“But if we’s cotched in heah, Marse Cody?”</p> + +<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_97'>97</span>“What I’m axin’ mesilf is, can there be anny gold in +here?” said Flynn. “Bedad, the bags we sane on the +flure was too big, but I think I’ll thry wan av thim, +to see what they howld.” He stopped and felt about. +“Lind me a match, Cody! Ah! I have wan mesilf! +I’ll sthrike it, and luk round ag’in. Wurra! but this is +the iligant adventure! In the cave av the robbers, wid +bags of money layin’ round f’r the takin’. I’ve +dr’amed av such things, Cody, maybe the drame is +goin’ to come thrue.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>He scratched his match, and, seeing a bag lying at +the other end of the room, close by the wall, he went +up to it. It lay in an irregular heap. When he stooped +to touch it, the bag seemed to move. He sprang back, +letting the match fall.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Cody,” he said, “come here.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>His voice trembled, but he had courage enough to +strike another match. As the match flamed, he kicked +at the bag, and a man rolled from under it.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Cudjo uttered a shriek which he tried hard to suppress, +and Flynn tumbled back in amazement. The +scout whipped out a revolver.</p> + +<p class='c004'>But the flaming match was still held by Flynn, and +by its light they saw the beardless face of the man +they had known as Klamath John.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Hello!” he said, and then the match went out.</p> + +<hr class='c021'> +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_98'>98</span> + <h2 id='ch_14' class='c018'>CHAPTER XIV.<br> <br><span class='fss'>ASSAULT AND BATTERY.</span></h2> +</div> + +<p class='c008'>“Hello, it is!” said Flynn, striking another. “An’ +it’s you? By the piper that played before Moses, but +this is a quare place to be findin’ yez in.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“No stranger than to find you here,” was the answer.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Perhaps not,” said the scout, “but what were you +doing here, hiding under that bag?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“That’s explained easily. I came in here to see if I +couldn’t help that girl, and then I heard you come in. +Red Reynard and a man had gone out, and I thought +you were them. So I got under that bag, for I didn’t +want to be seen. I heard you talking, but the bag kept +me from recognizing your voices, or else I was too +scared to remember how they sounded.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>As before, he seemed sincere.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“You came here to help the girl?” said the scout.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Yes. I’ve been lying round outside almost ever +since last night, to do that, ever since I saw her and +saw you, in the cabin. I’m sure she’s in here. I +heard her last night, after you had gone, and to-night +I heard her again. She’s in here. Just where I don’t +know.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>He kept his voice low, and spoke rapidly, as if he +valued time.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“What do you know about her?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Nothing, except what I heard.”</p> + +<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_99'>99</span>“What was that?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“That she’s the daughter of a prosperous ranchman +named Fernald, who has a son in the army, and she +was carried off by Red Reynard through revenge for +something the ranchman did. He intends to force +the girl to be his wife. Her folks don’t know where +she is, nor anything about her; and, of course, they +don’t dream she’s in this place, which everybody +thinks can’t be entered.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“How’ does it come that yez wasn’t dhrowned?” said +Flynn, mentioning a subject of which he had talked +much since learning that Klamath John was still alive.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I hardly know, myself.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Ye climbed that rope?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Yes. I was hours doing it, it seemed. Then I +kept on, after getting above the mist; and finally I +reached the top of the wall there. I stayed there in +a hole all night; and the next day I got down into the +Cup, though I nearly broke my neck doing it.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“An’ why did yez lave the canoe? Was it treachery +yez was playin’?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>The scout stopped whatever answer Klamath John +might have made.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The match had burned to Flynn’s fingers and he +dropped it, thus plunging the room into darkness.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Sh!” said the scout.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“What is it?” asked Flynn.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I heard something.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Marse Cody,” said Cudjo, his voice trembling, “I +heahs dat river, and maybe it’s de ’gator!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>But the scout heard it again—a step, and instantly +<span class='pageno' id='Page_100'>100</span>this was followed by a scream in a woman’s voice, followed +by a fall, and a loud oath from a man. Though +intervening walls deadened them, they were enough to +electrify Buffalo Bill’s little party.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“It sounded over that way,” he said, and he moved +in that direction, striking a match as he went.</p> + +<p class='c004'>As the light flamed up, he saw a box before him, +against the wall. It was open and showed candles, +which had been stored there by the outlaws, with other +things.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The scout snatched a candle and stuck the flaming +match to the wick. Holding up the lighted candle, he +looked about, and all listened again for those sounds.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Klamath John stood behind the other men, having +followed them.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“That was the girl,” he said, in a low tone. “I heard +something like that before, and I thought it came from +over that way. I was working to get over there, when +you fellows came in.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>The scout moved on, with the others creeping at his +heels.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The uneven floor of earth and natural stone fell +away toward the river, and became damp, and then +oozy; but that was the direction from which the sounds +had come. Where the floor was the lowest, they beheld +a dark line of water. The water of the river rose +there through a large hole which connected with the +stream.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“One might get out that way, by diving,” said the +scout, when he observed it. “It will be well to remember +that, if we’re cornered in here.”</p> + +<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_101'>101</span>Cudjo looked at the water with frightened eyes. +“Marse Cody,” he said, in a hollow whisper, “dat +’gator could come in frough dat place!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Kape shtill, an’ the baste won’t know yez aire in +here,” was the advice of the Irishman.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“But, Marse Flynn, dem creeturs kin smell scan’lous +good, dey kin smell a mile!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Wurra! Kape shtill, will yez?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Close by the water, and to be reached over a jumble +of slimy stones, the scout now saw a door.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Could those sounds have been beyond that door?” +he asked, flashing the candlelight upon it.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Like’s not,” said Klamath John. “It shows, anyway, +that there’s a room beyond this. I’m guessin’ +that room is a prison, where the girl is held.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Flynn stared at him. “Begorra, if yez aire wan av +Red Reynard’s min,” he remarked, “ye’d ought to +know what’s behind that dure!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“One of Red Reynard’s men?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“That’s what I’m sayin’! If ye’re wan av thim, ye +ought to know this place. Ar-re yez playin’ a game +wid us ag’in? It’s me that will cr-rack yer nick, av +yer ar-re!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I’m playing no game!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“No? Thin, be all the powers, what did yez mane +by wearin’ thim whiskers and that wig? And why +did yez thry to sind us to death in that river, afther +preparin’ to save yersilf by jumpin’ f’r that rope? +Thim questions have been ’atin’ into me, an’ the answers +to thim would be roight welcome.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I can explain all that, I——”</p> + +<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_102'>102</span>“Don’t speak so loud,” the scout ordered. “Cudjo, +come on here and hold this candle. I heard a sound +there again. Flynn, back there I saw a miner’s pick or +two. Will you get them and bring them?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>The scout moved forward, climbing over the rocks +till he reached the door. Cudjo followed him and took +the candle, while Buffalo Bill bent over by the door +and put his eye to the keyhole.</p> + +<p class='c004'>As he did so, he became aware of the fact that beyond +this door was a lighted room. Footsteps were +heard in it, and, as he listened, with ear against the +keyhole, he thought he heard a groan.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Some one is in there!” he said.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Flynn and Klamath John came over the slippery +rocks, armed with picks they had found in the stores, +and Flynn had also a huge hammer.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Whurroo!” he whispered. “We can bate the dure +down with these things.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Sh!” warned the scout. Then, all listening, they +heard a groan.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Following this groan, came the sound of an opening +door, and footsteps. Then Red Reynard’s voice +reached them.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Git up!” he commanded harshly. “I don’t stand no +more of this pretendin’. There’s nothing the matter +with you but stubbornness, and I can cure that with a +cowhide.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Klamath John pushed close up to the scout.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“That’s Red Reynard,” he whispered.</p> + +<p class='c004'>In intense excitement they listened.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Git up, I say!” they heard Red<a id='tn011'></a> Reynard command. +<span class='pageno' id='Page_103'>103</span>Then there was a sound as if he had seized and +was dragging some one; and this was followed by a +scream, which seemed near now coming through that +keyhole.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“In the name of Heaven, can’t we do something?” +whispered Klamath John.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill began to apply his keys to the keyhole, +working quickly. One of them stuck, and when +he tried to get it out, he twisted it, and it remained +fixed, so that he could not move it.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The woman screamed again, this time as if she were +being murdered.</p> + +<p class='c004'>This was too much for even the calm nerves of +Buffalo Bill. He caught the big hammer from the +hand of the Irishman and swung it against the door, +which shook under the terrific blow.</p> + +<p class='c004'>A curse was heard, and the screams of the girl increased.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Stand guard there, you fellows, with your revolvers, +while I smash in this door!” the scout ordered. +“We’ll fight these devils to the death, if we have to.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Cudjo was nothing loath to get back from that +door, which was too near the water to suit him. So +he set down the candle and retreated. When he had +clambered to the top of the slippery rocks, he drew +his revolver and stood guard, his eyes wandering round +into the darkness beyond the candlelight.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“If we ain’t all killed in heah, it will be a wonder!” +he declared.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The hammering blows of the scout were making the +<span class='pageno' id='Page_104'>104</span>room resound, and the door trembled and creaked. +Cudjo suddenly uttered a little screech of fear.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“What’s the matther wid yez?” Flynn demanded +angrily.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Marse Flynn, dat candle is walkin’ off all by itself!” +Cudjo chattered. “See it dar!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Flynn looked at the candle, and uttered a cry of +amazement. “By all the saints, the nagur’s right, or +I’m dr’amin’.” He went climbing across the slippery +rocks toward the candle, as Buffalo Bill swung the +hammer again and brought it down against the door.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Cudjo was in a panic, but still he poked up his head, +to see what was happening to the candle.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“One o’ dem ’gators!” he shouted.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Yis, but ’tis a little wan. Ye crazy nagur, ye set +the candle down on the crather’s back!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>A small saurian, no more than a foot or two long, +had been lying close by the water, and the darky had +taken it for a rock. In his haste to get away from +the water, he had stuck the candle down on the creature’s +back. It had been too sluggish to move until +the melted tallow ran down, burning it into activity.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“A movin’ candleshtick!” said Flynn humorously. +“Cudjo, yez ought to git a patent on it. ’Twould pay +ye big.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>He stretched out his hand to take the candle from +the back of the saurian, but he failed, for with a motion +so quick that it surprised him the lizardlike creature +slipped into a hole in the wall, taking the candle +with it.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Begorra, did ye say that?” said Flynn, in astonishment. +<span class='pageno' id='Page_105'>105</span>“It’s goin’ to light up the rats, and the other +crathers that delight in darkness.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>The candlelight went glimmering into the hole where +the saurian was disappearing, and the room began to +grow dark. Buffalo Bill stopped swinging the hammer.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Get another candle!” he ordered, and Klamath +John, nearest to them, hurried to get candles.</p> + +<p class='c004'>On the top of the slippery rocks Cudjo was muttering +like one demented.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“De big ’gator will come tuh find what’s ’come o’ +de little one,” he said. “Marse Cody, we’d better git +out ob heah befor’ it does!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>He began to slide down from the rocks, getting as +far from the water as he could.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Lave me have a whack at the dure wid the hammer!” +Flynn requested, when candles had been lighted.</p> + +<p class='c004'>A shot sounded, and they knew it was fired at the +door, but the bullet did not come through. The girl +was now apparently trying to get out of the room +where she was held, and Red Reynard had turned +the revolver on the door which the scout was battering.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Klamath John, at this juncture discovered that the +door by which he and the scout’s party had come in +had been opened, and that men were hurrying in +through it. He announced his discovery, and began to +shoot at the men he saw there.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Put out the candles!” shouted Buffalo Bill.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Flynn gave them a kick that hurled them into the +water, plunging the room in darkness.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill still swung the hammer, the girl was +<span class='pageno' id='Page_106'>106</span>screaming now as if attacked with hysteria, and the +men who had entered the room where the scout and +his companions were opened with their revolvers.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Bedad, but it’s gittin’ war-rm in here!” said Flynn, +as he dropped behind the rocks and answered the pistol +fire of the men.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Klamath John yelled defiantly at the desperadoes, +and worked his revolvers as fast as he could.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill discovered the door was yielding to his +persistent hammering. Splinters began to fly from it, +and soon a blow sent the head of the hammer through +the wood.</p> + +<p class='c004'>But more men had come to the help of Red Reynard +in that room, and more men were crowding into +the room where stood the gallant scout and his companions.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Flynn continued to shoot from behind the slimy +rocks, but Klamath John stood forth boldly, as if he +defied death.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The head of the scout’s hammer again sank through +the door. Another blow broke a hinge, and the door +swung sideways, revealing the lighted room behind.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Red Reynard was there, and now, with a snapshot +at the scout, he commanded his men to take him.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The girl, who had apparently been in hysteria, +sprang from a corner, and, clutching Red Reynard, +tried to stop him, thus throwing him to the floor.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Klamath John, reckless to the last, fell from the +top of the rocks, with a bullet through his body, but +continued to work his pistols.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Whurroo!” Flynn howled, in wild excitement. +<span class='pageno' id='Page_107'>107</span>“We’re at the ind, Cody, but we’ll go down like min.” +He fired again at the men who were running across +the room. “Wan for ye, ye divils!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill sprang through the broken door and +dashed toward Red Reynard, seemingly as reckless +as Klamath John himself. But he did not reach Red +Reynard, nor did that doughty desperado gain the side +of the scout.</p> + +<p class='c004'>A tremendous explosion sounded.</p> + +<p class='c004'>When the scout picked himself up, after the explosion, +which had hurled him heavily against the wall, +he found that he was alone, except for Michael Flynn. +The girl lay on the floor, some distance away. At +the farther end of the room a fire was raging, and its +light revealed all round him broken and jagged walls.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“’Twas the alligator, I’m thinkin’, which carried aff +the candle, that done it,” said Flynn. “’Twas an ixplosion +of gunpowder, d’ye mind. It tore the very +divil out av this room, and knocked me into the middle +of nixt wake. But I’m shtill livin’.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Marse Cody, I’se livin’, too!” Cudjo came crawling +through the shattered door and over the fallen +rocks. “I was hidin’ in a hole dar when de shootin’ +was goin’ on, and when dat upsplosion done come, de +rocks des kivered me as dey fell. But I’se still livin’, +Marse Cody.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Klamath John was found in a dying condition.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I’d like to explain to you,” he whispered. “I was +honest in all them things. I did find the letter and the +stick pins, and I was only scared when I jumped out +of the canoe and grabbed that rope. I don’t know who +<span class='pageno' id='Page_108'>108</span>put the rope there, but I s’pose it was Red Reynard’s +men.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“But what made yez so mysterious about it?” asked +Flynn. “Why wouldn’t yez come to Cody’s hotel? +And why did yez wear the false whiskers and the +like?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I was practicing,” was the unexpected answer.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Practicing?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Yes, practicing for detective work. I wanted to be +a detective. So I thought I’d try to fool you—fool +Cody, I mean—and I thought if I could, I could fool +anybody. That’s why I disguised myself. And I +didn’t want to come into the town, because it would increase +the danger of recognition.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Cody, what do yez think av that?” the Irishman +asked presently. “Did yez iver hear annything like it?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I never did,” was the scout’s answer.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“But he was an honist man,” said Flynn. “Klamath +John was honist.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Perfectly honest, and perfectly foolish in doing +what he did.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Red Reynard, Bat Stevens, and others of the leaders +of the desperadoes were killed by the explosion and +by the falling stones. The others, who lingered around +and were seen by the scout the next day, were scattered +by him and Flynn. One of them was captured, +and he was forced to show the scout and his party the +way out of the Cup. It was a hole in the eastern wall, +hidden by vines, which the desperadoes had found +after they had by chance gained the Cup’s interior +by way of the river.</p> + +<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_109'>109</span>When the scout and his companions went out +through this hole, they took the gold abandoned by the +desperadoes, and they took, also, the young woman, +whom they restored to her father, presenting her at +the same time a considerable quantity of the gold.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“And it was an iligant advinture!” said Flynn. “It +would be har-rd to bate it!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“You’d never git dis chile in dar ag’in,” said Cudjo.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Because of the alligators? ’Twas wan av thim that +saved us, whin he carried aff the candle and set fire +to the powder magazine. They’re gr-reat crathers. +Av that wan wasn’t kilt, I’d like him for a pet, begorra!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“You can hab him, Marse Flynn,” said Cudjo, his +eyes big and round. “Dem fings is called caymen by +de folks heah, but dey’s sho’ nuffin’ but jes’ common +alligators. And ’gators does lub de flesh ob de nigger. +You cain’ never git dis chile in dar ag’in, not if +dar was bags o’ gol’ in dar so heavy I couldn’t tote +um.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Ah, but it was the iligant advinture!” said Flynn. +“I wish I could have another wan like it.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I think I should enjoy an experience like that again, +myself,” said the scout. “Perhaps we shall share in +further adventures, you and I. What do you think, +Mike?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Begorra, I’m game!” quoth Michael Flynn.</p> + +<hr class='c021'> +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_110'>110</span> + <h2 id='ch_15' class='c018'>CHAPTER XV.<br> <br><span class='fss'>THE BEWITCHED COMPASS.</span></h2> +</div> + +<p class='c008'>Nevertheless, “game” as he was, Michael Flynn was +destined not to take part in any more “iligant adventures” +with the noted scout; at least, for several weeks. +Buffalo Bill’s next commission took him far afield, +and, when he was returning from its successful conclusion, +caused him to lose his way while out on the +Mexican desert near the border.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Holding his compass in his hand, Buffalo Bill looked +at a round hill before him, which was very high and +almost a perfect cone.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“This is queer!” he said, and, keeping the compass +level on the palm of his hand, he walked slowly to the +right for a dozen steps. He saw the compass needle +swing slowly, pointing straight at the hill.</p> + +<p class='c004'>That there might be no mistake, the scout retraced +his steps, studying the compass, and now he saw the +needle swing steadily back. When he walked farther +around, the needle swung still more, always pointing +at the hill.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The sky was gray, so that the sun could not be +seen. The ground under the scout’s feet, and for a +considerable distance around, was hard-baked clay +or stony, so that not a footstep showed in it. His feet +had left no tracks.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“So it’s that which has made the compass act so +strangely!” he said, looking at the hill. “This is unpleasant, +<span class='pageno' id='Page_111'>111</span>and it might be serious. Here I’ve been walking +hours, trusting to the compass, and find that it has +been pointing to this hill. Now, where is north? The +compass can’t tell me, for that hill has bewitched it. +The hill must be full of magnetic iron.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Stowing the compass in his pocket, he took out his +knife and set it upright, with the point of the blade +on his thumb nail.</p> + +<p class='c004'>There are few days so gray and cloudy that a knife +so placed will not throw a shadow on the thumb nail; +and opposite that shadow, of course, is the direction +of the sun. When the time of day is known, together +with the direction of the sun, north can be approximately +ascertained.</p> + +<p class='c004'>But the air was filled with a smoky haze, and this, +in addition to the cloudiness and grayness, made the +sky so dark that the knife blade refused to cast its +shadow.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“This is a go!” said the scout. “If I were in a +northern forest I might find north by a study of the +moss on the tree trunks, which is heaviest and reaches +to a sharper point on the north side. But I’m in Old +Mexico; there are no trees near me, and I suppose in +this dry land moss hasn’t much chance to grow on tree +trunks, or anywhere else.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Cody took out the compass again and placed it on +the palm of his hand. As a matter of curiosity, he +walked toward the cone-shaped hill, and he studied the +compass as he went.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Straight at the heart of that hill it points!” he said, +watching the needle. “And when I walk to one side +<span class='pageno' id='Page_112'>112</span>or the other the needle shifts. I suppose if I should +walk round the hill the compass would make a complete +circle. I’ll try it.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Accordingly, he set out along the base of the hill, +holding the compass level.</p> + +<p class='c004'>As he expected, the needle continued to point at +the hill.</p> + +<p class='c004'>By and by the scout walked up to the hill and inspected +it. He saw that it was almost a solid mass of +ore, and the compass showed him that it was magnetic +iron.</p> + +<p class='c004'>As the scout continued on his way around the treeless +hill, he heard voices. Instantly he sank down behind +a screen of cactus, sliding the compass into his +pocket and drawing a revolver.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Some one here ahead of me, eh? White men, I +think. And possibly outlaws.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Soon he saw two men come in sight round the curve +of the hill. The one who walked in front was tall, +thin, and severe looking. He wore a high hat much +out of place in that region, and black, dust-stained +clothing. The man who followed him was short and +squat, with a ponderous stomach. This man was +dressed in dirty plaids, and his face had a worried +look. He carried a large hand bag.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Brofessor,” the scout heard him say, “uff de gompass +tvist its head off in dot vay, vot ve going to do? +Ve can’t neffer fint our feet tracks vat ve made in +coming here yit.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>The man in front stopped, and the stumpy man behind +came near running into him.</p> + +<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_113'>113</span>“Henselman,” said the tall man, “this is a most peculiar +mountain. It is, as you see, of iron—magnetic +iron. Truly a wonderful phenomenon!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Unt de grazy gompass dinks it vos de Nort’ Pole, +eh?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Just so, Henselman. The compass thinks this is +the North Pole. We shouldn’t blame the compass. +We——”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Nein? Vot shall I plame? Me? I follow de gompass. +It say: ‘Dis is de nort’!’ It dell me de lie. +Am I to plame?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Henselman dropped the hand bag and energetically +hammered his breast.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Dose gompass is a shackass!” he said. “Uff ve +foller heem some more, efery dime we shall come right +back to dis hill uff iron. T’ree dimes ve haf tried it +alretty yet. And now we iss back here again. What +shall ve do? Smash de gompass? Dot don’t fint us +de vay nort’!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“It would do no good to smash the compass. Let +us rejoice, rather, that we have been led to such a phenomenon +as this singular hill of magnetic iron. I observe +from here that the top of the hill splits into +two parts that slightly resemble horns. I shall have +to add that detail to the notes I have taken.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>The tall man brought from an inner pocket of his +black coat a leather-bound book, which held a pencil, +and after squinting through his eyeglasses at the top +of the hill, he began to write in the book with the +pencil. Meanwhile, the rotund German stood looking +about, with ill-concealed displeasure.<a id='tn012'></a></p> + +<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_114'>114</span>“Honest men, I take them to be,” thought the scout. +“Like me, they have been fooled by that magnetic hill, +and have lost their way.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>When the scout rose into view behind the cactus the +taller man stared at him blankly, while the stubby +German tumbled backward with a sort of howl.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Mein gracious!” he exclaimed. “Who iss dis?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I observe that the magnetic mountain has fooled +you, the same as it did me,” said the scout, smiling at +the German and speaking to the tall man. “And so we +meet here, guided to this hill by the crazy antics of our +compasses.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>The tall, severe-looking man fitted his eyeglasses to +his prominent nose, and surveyed the scout.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Do you belong here, my man?” he questioned. +“Yes, we have lost our way. This is a magnetic hill, +and the compass deviates to it and refuses to point to +the magnetic pole. Hence, we were led out of our +course, and now must be far astray, as we think we +have been going in a wrong direction for a long time. +If you can help us in our predicament we shall be +greatly obliged, I assure you. I am Professor Felix +Bounderby, and this is my servant. Fritz Henselman, a +most estimable German, though at times a bit excitable. +We are here in the interests of scientific knowledge.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill introduced himself, repressing the +smiles he felt inclined to indulge in.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“You are an American scout, over here in Mexico, +eh?” said Bounderby. “Or is this still Mexico? We’re +not sure on that point. We’re not sure of anything, +<span class='pageno' id='Page_115'>115</span>having lost our way and wandered we do not know +how many miles.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I happen to be in the same boat,” said the scout, +yet cheerily. “We can, of course, sit down here and +wait until we get some sunshine to guide us, or we +can make a guess at the direction we wish to go, and +set out, trusting to luck.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Professor Bounderby turned to Fritz Henselman<a id='tn013'></a>.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Henselman,” he said, “just chip off a piece of that +ore, will you, and put it in the bag. I shall wish to +use it in illustration of the lecture I shall give on this +mountain, when we return to the university.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>The German took a hammer from the hand bag and +began to beat at one of the small stones, trying +to break it.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I think I have heard that name—Buffalo Bill,” +said Bounderby, addressing the scout.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Yaw! I heert heem,” said the rotund German, +hammering the stone. “Id vas in Yarmany, vhere I +vas pefore I come to Unitet States.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“This is a most remarkable hill,” remarked the professor. +“I think it affected our compass many miles +away. We were on a dim trail across there somewhere. +We had been told to go north and to leave the +trail at a certain point. We thought we went north, +but now I am not sure of the direction which we followed. +And you say that you were misled in like +manner? It is truly wonderful.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Vhat trouples me,” said Henselman, cracking off +a piece of the ore and throwing it into the hand bag, +<span class='pageno' id='Page_116'>116</span>“is how are ve going to ged oudt uff dis? Vhen ve +haf noddings to show de vay nort’ hew can ve fint id?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“As I said, we can camp down here until we get a +sight of the sun,” said the scout, “or we can set out +and run the risk of not going in the right direction. +Does the light seem a bit brighter, professor, than a +while ago?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“No, it seems even darker,” said Bounderby. “The +atmosphere is very peculiar. I shall not be surprised +if I learn eventually that there have been volcanic disturbances +in this region, and that the darkness which +we observe is attributed to gases and smoke from +some volcano.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>The scout produced his knife and set the blade on +his thumb nail, in the hope of getting a shadow, but +failed again. He explained to Bounderby and Henselman +what he was doing.</p> + +<p class='c004'>To all appearances, they were just what they +claimed to be, and he saw that they were likely to get +into all sorts of difficulties, in an unfamiliar region. +Bounderby was no doubt a highly educated man along +certain lines, but in the ability to meet such an emergency +as this he was helpless as a child. Henselman +was no better.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“If we had left any tracks,” said Bounderby, “we +might hope to trace them back, and get out in that way. +But the earth here is of volcanic formation, you will +observe. At one point we crossed a small sand plain, +and if we could find that, we could find the footprints +we made in it.”</p> + +<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_117'>117</span>“Yaw! I made feet tracks in id more as a foot +deep!” said Henselman.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“But the wind was blowing, you will recollect, Henselman, +and those tracks may be covered over. Besides, +I doubt if we could find them, even if they were +not.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>The professor fitted his glasses to his nose and gazed +at the hill, then took them off and looked round in a +helpless sort of manner.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Henselman held up his hand excitedly.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Brofessor, I haf an itea!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Dear me, Henselman, you startled me! You have +an idea? That is remarkable. What is it, Henselman?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Gif me de gompass unt I vill illustration id to you.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“It is in the hand bag, Henselman.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>The fat German extracted the compass from the +hand bag, shook it as if he would make sure it was +in working order, and set it on the ground.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“You vill opserve, brofessor, unt likevise our frient +here, dat dose gompass iss now bointing to dis magnedic +iron moundain!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Yes, that is true,” Bounderby assented.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Vale! Ton’d you see?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I see the needle pointing to the mountain, if that +is what you mean, Henselman.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“But de odder end uff de needle! Vere iss id bointing?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“In the opposite direction, of course, Henselman.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Vale! Ven id vas bointing to de moundain ve follered +id, unt id prought us here to dis place. Unt now +<span class='pageno' id='Page_118'>118</span>uff ve foller yoost back again de vay de odder end uff +de needle is bointing, we vill arrife at de blace vere +ve comed from. Dot iss yoost so easy I vhonder I +neffer dinks me uff id till dis minute.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“But, see here, Henselman! On the other side of +this hill the south pole of the needle points in a direction +the very opposite of what it does here. Wherever +the compass is placed, in going round this hill, the +needle points at the hill. Your plan might do, if we +knew just where we approached the hill, and could +likewise be sure that in coming up to it we had not +deviated any from a direct line. But as we can’t do +that, your plan won’t work. We would be going away +from the hill, it is true, but in which direction we +should be going we could not know. We might be +going south, when we wish to go north.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>The fat German dropped back to the ground with so +heavy a thump that the breath was knocked out of +him.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Dot iss true!” he admitted. “So long as ve don’t +know, vichefer vay ve go ve are sure to go wrong.”</p> + +<hr class='c021'> +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_119'>119</span> + <h2 id='ch_16' class='c018'>CHAPTER XVI.<br> <br><span class='fss'>TRACKS IN THE SAND.</span></h2> +</div> + +<p class='c008'>As Buffalo Bill wished to keep moving, he determined +to risk a guess at what was a northerly direction, +and also to set out at once; and as Bounderby and +the fat German did not care to remain behind, they accompanied +him.</p> + +<p class='c004'>It did seem as if there were about three hundred +and sixty-five chances of going wrong to where there +was one of going right, as Bounderby asserted, yet +the attempt to do something seemed better than inaction.</p> + +<p class='c004'>This brought a surprising discovery.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Within an hour’s time they reached a sandy area, +which both Bounderby and the German declared to be +the one they had crossed.</p> + +<p class='c004'>A search was instituted for the tracks which it was +hoped could be readily found—the tracks they had +made in crossing the sand on their way to the magnetic +mountain.</p> + +<p class='c004'>They did not find the tracks, even though they covered +a large area, but in a depression of the sandy +plain Buffalo Bill came upon footprints of a woman. +The thing was almost too surprising for belief, and +he at once called the attention of his companions to +his discovery.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“The tracks of a white woman,” he said, “here in +a spot where one would think no white woman had +<span class='pageno' id='Page_120'>120</span>ever been; and the tracks have not been long made. +The woman was not an Indian, and she was not a +Mexican, or, if a Mexican, she was not of the peon +class. You will observe, too, that the woman walked +with an alert, rapid, springy step.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Bounderby and his German servant stared at the +footprints.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“All of which,” the scout went on, “convinces me +that the woman was an American, and that she was +young. But what a young American woman is doing +here passes my comprehension.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Maype she is fooled yoost de same as ve vas py de +iron mountain?” suggested Henselman. “Unt now +she iss trying to git avay from id. Nein?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill looked about, and he let his eyes follow +as far as possible the tracks in the sand.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“That would not explain what a young American +woman is doing here,” he said. “Come! I’m going +to follow these tracks, and see what they mean.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Unt maype ve lost our own vay again!” Henselman +protested.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“We haven’t found it yet, recollect!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Yaw! Go ahead.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“The American young woman of fashion,” said the +professor, in a learned tone, “is usually urban in her +tastes. She may venture forth out of a city, but she +never gets far from one. Therefore, I am under the +impression, Mr. Cody, that if we continue to follow +these steps we shall arrive sooner or later at or in the +neighborhood of a city. That is scientific reasoning. +I have more than once found a bone, and from that +<span class='pageno' id='Page_121'>121</span>bone alone have been able to reconstruct the animal of +which it was a part. We see these tracks, and——”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Look there!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>The exclamation came from the scout, who had hurried +on, unheeding the professor’s learned lecture. He +was fairly trembling, as he pointed to other tracks, +which joined those made by the woman he had declared +to be a young American.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The low, sandy surface which held the tracks of the +woman passed at this point close to higher ground, +and from this higher ground, as from a leaping board, +had sprung the maker of the other footprints.</p> + +<p class='c004'>What struck the scout more than anything else was +the shape and character of these new tracks.</p> + +<p class='c004'>They resembled in some essentials the footprints of +a man, in other respects they were like those of a +bear, and in still others they looked like nothing the +scout had ever seen in the way of tracks, and his experience +and observation had been large.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Instead of waiting to find the explanation, he hurried +on again, observing that the larger tracks kept +close by those of the woman, as if the creature making +them had been pursuing her. A hundred yards beyond, +near the point where the sandy land ended in +volcanic rocks, the tracks of the woman disappeared.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill stared ahead, and drew his revolver.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“See that?” he said, when he was joined by Bounderby +and the German.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I see that the woman’s tracks no longer show,” +said Bounderby. “And why not?”</p> + +<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_122'>122</span>“She musd haf vings,” said the German.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“The creature that followed her caught her at this +point and carried her on,” said the scout. “You will +see that his feet sank more deeply into the sand afterward. +He carried her, and as there seems to be not +much sign of a struggle, I fancy that he moved so +quietly in following her that he was able to overtake +her before she knew he was near.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“You think it was a man?” said Bounderby, sticking +his eyeglasses on his nose and bending over to look +at the tracks. “Dear me, this is remarkable!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“You are a scientist! What made those tracks? A +man? Or were they made by a beast? A while ago +you said that often from a single bone you have been +able to determine the form of the creature of which +that bone was a part. Then, tell me what made those +tracks!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Bounderby got down on his knees and scrutinized +the tracks. A call like that aroused his professional +pride and put him on his mettle.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Mr. Cody, that is the track of an orang-utan!” he +declared, as he rose and dropped his eyeglasses from +his nose with an air of finality.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“That is the track of an orang-utan. He sighted +the young lady from the higher ground back there, as +she walked through the lower ground. She had passed +him, and he followed so slyly that she did not discover +the fact, and right here he captured her and carried +her away.” His voice trembled. “And that +means, Cody, that we must follow at once. For, as +you say, these tracks are not old. This may have been +<span class='pageno' id='Page_123'>123</span>done even while we were at the iron mountain discussing +what we should do.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“But this is Mexico!” the scout protested. “Orang-utans +are not found in Mexico.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Cody, no one would have believed that snow existed +on the planet Mars, until astronomers discovered +it as a fact. How this orang-utan got here I don’t +know. The creatures may be indigenous to the country. +However that may be, one is here, or has been +here; and he has, it seems, seized a lady, whom you declare +to be an American. It calls for an investigation.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>The scout started forward, and Bounderby and the +German followed him. But they could not pursue the +trail far, as in a short time they reached the limits of +the sand, and after that the ground was of hard volcanic +origin, and left no tracks.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“They were pointed in that direction when they +reached the rocks here,” said the scout. “It is reasonable +to infer that the creature continued in the direction +he was going, though he may really have turned +to the right or left.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill hastened on in the course he thought +the creature had taken. Though urged by unwonted +excitement and the drawing power of a strange mystery, +he yet was as calm and careful as ever.</p> + +<p class='c004'>To know that a civilized woman was in that out-of-the-way +place was a thing marvelously strange, yet +it did not equal the stupendous discovery that an +orang-utan was there.</p> + +<p class='c004'>But was the thing an orang-utan? Buffalo Bill was +<span class='pageno' id='Page_124'>124</span>not yet ready to believe it, though he admitted that +had he seen that footprint in a land where orang-utans +were to be expected he should have guessed that animal +at once. As singular as anything was that the +creature had walked on its hind feet. Orang-utans do +that at times, though not by choice; yet this creature +had walked on its hind feet even before it reached +and seized the woman.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The hills toward which it seemed the beast and its +burden had gone were farther off than either the scout +or Bounderby thought, so that the day was waning +by the time they were reached. But neither there, nor +in the ground passed over in reaching them, was any +indication found of the singular thing that had captured +the woman.</p> + +<p class='c004'>While Buffalo Bill still hunted about the base of +the hills, loath to give up, the darkness that came early +because of the queer character of the atmosphere, began +to settle down, and they could do nothing further.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“We’ll try it again in the morning,” said the scout, +still undaunted.</p> + +<hr class='c021'> +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_125'>125</span> + <h2 id='ch_17' class='c018'>CHAPTER XVII.<br> <br><span class='fss'>THE SPOTS OF LIGHT.</span></h2> +</div> + +<p class='c008'>Professor Felix Bounderby and Fritz Henselman +were sitting bolt upright, their backs against a tall +white rock, which at a distance resembled the white +wall of a tent.</p> + +<p class='c004'>They were asleep and snoring at a terrific rate, in +spite of the fact that the morning was well advanced.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The reason for their somnolence was that the fatigues +of the previous day had been unusually wearing, +and its excitements had kept them up until a +very late hour of the night.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill, who had risen early, had walked away +some distance, and was searching again for the tracks +he had failed to find the evening before.</p> + +<p class='c004'>One thing pleased him. During the night the peculiar +condition of the atmosphere had passed away, +so that the sun, which rose red in the eastern sky, was, +an hour afterward, shining with a clear, white light.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Knowing now which direction was the east, he had +a knowledge of the points of the compass, even though +his magnetic needle still pointed obstinately to the hill +of magnetic iron.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The scout was returning from a vain search for +tracks, when he came in sight of Bounderby and Henselman +sitting against the white rock.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Suddenly Bounderby snorted, twisted uneasily, and +opened his eyes; but he closed them again, and began +once more to snore.</p> + +<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_126'>126</span>A little later Henselman gave a similar snort, and +slapped at his face as if a mosquito tickled it. A moment +afterward he slapped again, so energetically that +he was half aroused from his sleep. Then he tumbled +forward on his knees, and put up his hands in supplication.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Yaw!” he gurgled. “Blease, Misder Robber, ton’d +shood me! Keep dose bull’s-eye lighd oudt uff my +faces! Keep it oudt! Take my moneys, but ton’d +shood me!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Bounderby uttered a little squall, and sat up, and, +hearing and seeing Fritz Henselman making that +ridiculous appeal, he stared.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Henselman,” he said, with a superior air, “kindly +tell me what you are doing?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Henselman opened his eyes, with a gurgling snort, +stared around, and then gazed at Professor Felix +Bounderby. His face had a look of blank foolishness.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Yaw!” he gasped. “Dere vos no robber going to +shood me, eh?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Of course not, Henselman! What put such a +ridiculous notion into your head?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Unt nopody tidn’t t’row der light uff a pull’s-eye +landern in my faces?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Certainly not, Henselman! Don’t be ridiculous. +It was the sun shining in your face. See, the sun +shines! I myself felt that light in my face; but it was +the sunshine, and it awoke me. Thank Heaven for the +glorious sunshine again, Henselman!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>The German still stared around. “But, brofessor,” +<span class='pageno' id='Page_127'>127</span>he objected, “de sun iss not shining so dat it can hid +us in de faces! De sun shines pehint dis rock. It +coult nod haf peen der sunshine hid me der faces +in. Nein!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Bounderby stared, too, when he made that discovery.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I must have dreamed that the sunshine struck me +with blinding force in the face. It is such a change +from yesterday that it had that effect. Henselman, +that is the solution. Always remember that every phenomenon +of nature has a perfectly reasonable and sensible +solution.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“You mean I treamed dot a man mit a pull’s-eye +landern vos shining de lighd uff id in my faces?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Yes. Certainly. That is the true explanation. +We both dreamed——”</p> + +<p class='c004'>But he stopped with a gurgling snort and tumbled +back against the white rock.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Brofessor, vot——”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Then Henselman uttered a cry, like the squeal of a +stuck pig, and also tumbled back against the rock. He +put his hand up to his face.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Yiminy Gristmas! I am treaming again, ven I +am avake unt my eyes iss vide open. I am treaming +dot de sunshine iss hidding my face in. Yaw!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>A spot of brilliant white light flickered and wavered +over his hand-covered face, flitted as a white dot on +the white rock, and then smote the professor once +more, causing him to howl again and fall back.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Professor Felix Bounderby rolled to one side to get +away from that blinding spot of light, and Fritz Henselman +<span class='pageno' id='Page_128'>128</span>rolled in the opposite direction. Both stared +at it, as it flickered on the rock. Then it was gone.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I am treaming, brofessor, dot de sunshine is hidding +de rock, also, it iss hidding my face in! Unt +id vas hidding you, too, alretty. Vat iss? I am +treaming it mit my eyes vide open!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“This is singular! This is very singular!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Professor Felix Bounderby uncoiled his long frame +and got on his feet, as he made this admission. He +stared at the sky and saw that the sun was not in a +position to throw spots of light on the rock at that +point.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“This is a natural phenomenon which I must investigate, +Henselman,” he said. “I must add it to the +notes for that lecture on ‘Peculiar Life in a Wild +Region.’ The sun throws spots of light on the face +of a white rock, when, according to all the known +laws of light, it is not able to do so. This is worthy +of special investigation.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>He took out his eyeglasses, hooked them over his +nose, and stared hard at the rock where he had seen +the moving light spots. Nothing of the kind showed +there now.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The German had risen, or, rather, had rolled, to his +feet, and he, too, was inspecting the white face of +rock.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“By yiminy, id puzzle me alretty!” he admitted. +“Maybe dis rock is vat you call dransparent, so dot de +lighd uff de sun can shood t’rough id. Nein?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Impossible, Henselman. We are here in the presence +of one of nature’s great mysteries. If we can +<span class='pageno' id='Page_129'>129</span>elucidate it, fame may be ours. I shall add the discovery +to those notes on my lecture on——”</p> + +<p class='c004'>He stopped. Buffalo Bill was coming up briskly, +and the professor became aware of the fact.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Welcome!” he said. “Mr. Cody, we have here a +strange thing. Though the sun is behind this rock, +yet white spots of light from it strike with a dancing +effect on this side of the rock. I have wondered if +there can be extra brilliant points of light in the sun, +the opposite of sun spots in effect, which would produce +anything like that? There would need to be +some reflecting surface, however, and——”</p> + +<p class='c004'>The dancing spots came again, flickering in a queer +and irregular way over the rock.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The scout saw them for the first time. He watched +them, as they flashed and flickered for nearly a minute, +then they were gone.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Every phenomenon of nature has a perfectly natural +solution, Cody, if it can be known,” said the +amazed Bounderby.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Very true, professor,” the scout answered. “In +this instance, the explanation isn’t far to seek. Those +are telegraphic spots of light from a heliographic instrument.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>They came again, and the scout stared at them. He +was reading them:</p> + +<p class='c004'>“‘We are at the red bluff. Join us at once. She +is still missing and we need you.’”</p> + +<p class='c004'>The spots disappeared.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill repeated to Bounderby and Henselman +what he had read.</p> + +<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_130'>130</span>“Over in the hills, there, at a point where its mirrors +catch the sunlight, is a heliograph instrument. +By means of it a message was flashed on that white +rock, the flashes representing in their duration the dots +and dashes of the Morse telegraphic code. Fortunately, +I learned the code, and have practiced it enough +to be able to read those flashes.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Yaw! Dot iss a telegraph?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“It is a sunlight telegraph. The light of the sun +falls on its mirrors, and is then reflected, or thrown, +to this spot.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>The flashes were reappearing, and again the scout +studied them.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“The same message again,” he said.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“But who is sending that message?” said Bounderby, +who was so puzzled he took off his tall hat +and scratched his bald head<a id='tn014'></a>.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I don’t know,” the scout was forced to admit. +“Perhaps they think they know us. They call for +help. And they speak of a missing girl. It must be +the girl whose tracks we followed, and who you +thought had been carried off by an orang-utan.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“This—is—remarkable!” said Bounderby. “Remarkable!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“The sender of that message and his instrument +must be in that direction!” said the scout. “The light +could not well be flashed to this spot from any other +direction. Over there must be the red bluff mentioned +in the message. The way to clear up this mystery +is to go there and find the sender of the message. +Perhaps we will in that way get more speedily +<span class='pageno' id='Page_131'>131</span>on the tracks of the girl and the wild creature that carried +her away.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“We supposed, Cody, that we were the only people +in this forsaken country,” said Bounderby, still +scratching his bald head. “It appears we were mistaken. +That young lady must have belonged to the +party which is trying to signal us. But why are they +trying to signal us? It can’t be that they know us.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“The way to find out is to go over there, and I’m +ready to start at once.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Cody, we are with you! Henselman, get the hand +bag. I am feeling a bit hungry, but we can eat something +as we go on. Yes, Cody, this is important. +The spots were not thrown directly from the sun, but +by a heliograph! I must put that in the notes for my +lecture. Cody, we are ready to start at once. This +is certainly a remarkable adventure.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>They had not had breakfast, yet they set out, heading +in what the scout was sure was the right course, +Bounderby gnawing at some meat as they pressed on, +and Henselman sweating and puffing under the weight +of the hand bag, which was made heavy by many specimens +of rocks and ores.</p> + +<hr class='c021'> +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_132'>132</span> + <h2 id='ch_18' class='c018'>CHAPTER XVIII.<br> <br><span class='fss'>THE PARTY WITH THE HELIOGRAPH.</span></h2> +</div> + +<p class='c008'>A hard tramp through the hills over rough ground +brought Buffalo Bill and his companions, after a time, +in sight of a tall cliff of red sandstone, which had at +one side a projecting shelf some distance above the +earth.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Upon this shelf stood a youthful fellow, scarcely +more than a boy in years, and by him was the heliograph. +When he sighted Buffalo Bill’s party he leaped +off the shelf and slid rapidly down the side of the cliff +to the ground. In another minute he came running +out from the foot of the cliff, and with him ran a +young man dressed in semimilitary clothing.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“We saw your heliographic flashes on the side of +the white rock off there, and I was fortunately able to +read the message,” said Buffalo Bill, addressing them. +“So we came at once.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>The scout discovered that these senders of the message +had not meant it for him, but for some missing +members of the heliographic party, who had become +separated from them the day before.</p> + +<p class='c004'>These two—the youth and the young man—were +young Tom Lawler, who had charge of the burro +train, and Lieutenant Butler, second in command, of +an expedition which had been recently sent out from +Klamath to make railway surveys.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“We thought this was the section where we were to +<span class='pageno' id='Page_133'>133</span>do our work,” said Butler, “but I confess that a week +ago, when the hazy atmosphere began, we got lost. +When we followed our compass we were led here; but +this morning I found that our compass is utterly unreliable. +It points east, instead of north. When the +sun rose the compass was pointing right at it. I was +wondering if some electrical storm on the sun could +have affected it?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Yet the thing that now most concerned Lieutenant +Butler and young Tom Lawler was that the sister of +Major Fernald, the commander of the expedition, was +missing, and had been gone for many hours. She had +set out for a little walk through the hills, and had not +returned. They had hunted for her, and Major Fernald +and all his men, with the exception of these two, +were out searching for her now.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“We have a considerable party,” said Butler. “We +have surveyors and chainmen and a hunter or two +whose business it is to shoot game for us, and we +have been out two weeks. We haven’t accomplished +anything, except to get lost; and now, since the singular +disappearance of Miss Fernald, the whole expedition +is demoralized. When I flashed that message on +that rock we saw you, but at the distance you were we +thought you members of our party. It was a hit-and-miss +chance, and couldn’t be done often, yet it worked +this time.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill and his companions made explanations, +so that soon both parties had all needed information. +The scout told of the discovery of a girl’s tracks, and +<span class='pageno' id='Page_134'>134</span>of the strange tracks following hers, and of what had +been inferred.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“This is important,” said Butler. “Those tracks +were no doubt made by Miss Fernald. She came in +this general direction, you say, but you lost the tracks +after they left the sand? We must search for them +there again. I wish Major Fernald were here. He +and his party have been gone all night, and I’ve no +idea where they are. We shifted our position after +their departure, and, though we left marks for them +to follow, they may not even find their way back to +them. What you say about the magnetic hill which +has made the compasses useless, and worse, is interesting. +Probably they don’t know about that yet. No +doubt we are many miles from the spot where we supposed +ourselves to be. Even you don’t know just +where we are?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Fritz Henselman had put down the heavy hand bag.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Vat iss?” he said. “Vonce I seen a sugar barrel, +mit flies yoost flying to id from efery tirection. Here +id iss de same vay. Dot magnedic hill iss de sugar +barrel, unt ve are de flies; it draw us, unt here ve iss. +Uff id keep on drawing beobles, ve vill haf more as +a rigimend uff men in dis blace peety qvick.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Professor Bounderby had produced his notebook, +and was making notes for his lecture.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Every phenomenon has a perfectly natural and reasonable +cause,” he said, as he scribbled away, speaking +as if to his notebook. “We have seen why our compasses +acted, so queerly, and why flashes of light hit +that white rock in so strange a way. If we continue, +<span class='pageno' id='Page_135'>135</span>we shall discover how it happens that an orang-utan +is here in Mexico, and why it chose to capture the +young lady. I will just set down here that her name +is Miss Fernald, that she is the sister of the commander +of this surveying party, which came to make +surveys for a railroad, and that she is a young lady +whose love of adventure led her to accompany her +brother in this expedition. Now she is lost, perhaps +in great danger, maybe even dead; and we are to learn +as soon as possible the facts.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>He read over what he had written, tucked away the +pencil, and dropped the book into his pocket.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Cody,” he said, taking the eyeglasses from his +nose, “my servant and I are at your disposal. We +came to make geological researches, but human nature +and human needs are more interesting and important +than cold stone; hence we stand ready to help you to +the extent of our ability.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>The lieutenant and his companion scrambled up to +the rocky shelf and brought down the heliograph and +other things there.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“We have not a burro left,” said Butler. “When +we came here we had a large burro train, and Mr. +Lawler had charge of it. The burros were scattered +a week ago in a violent night storm, and we couldn’t +recover them. Since that time we have been wandering, +led astray by our compasses.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill volunteered to guide Butler and Lawler +to the sandy area where the tracks of the young woman +had been found, for they were certain the footprints +<span class='pageno' id='Page_136'>136</span>were those of Miss Emily Fernald, the sister of their +commander.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Before departing from the red cliff, Lieutenant Butler +wrote out a statement of what he had done and discovered, +and what he now purposed to do, which he +affixed to a stick thrust into a crevice in the cliff, +where it could not fail to reach the eyes of Fernald’s +party on their return.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Once more the attempt was to be made to find out +what had become of the girl and her captor.</p> + +<hr class='c021'> +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_137'>137</span> + <h2 id='ch_19' class='c018'>CHAPTER XIX.<br> <br><span class='fss'>A STARTLING ATTACK.</span></h2> +</div> + +<p class='c008'>Buffalo Bill and his companions camped that night +at a distance even farther in the hills than before. +They had made no discovery. The tracks of the girl +and of the strange creature that had followed her could +not be traced beyond the sandy area.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Yet so persistent had been the search that the night +camp was made only after the light had failed, and +the first satisfactory meal of the day was then eaten.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Major Fernald and his party had not been sighted, +and their present location could not be guessed.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The distress of Lieutenant Butler and young Lawler +was marked that evening; they had almost given +up hope.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“It’s a terrible thing,” said Butler. “That a young +woman of refinement and education, a woman of +beauty and culture, should meet such a fate is something +almost too horrible to think about. And she +was as kind and good as she was beautiful. You would +have said so, Cody, if you had known her.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I begin to believe that I do know her,” said Buffalo +Bill, with a smile. “Unless I am greatly mistaken, +she is the daughter of a ranchman, a girl whom +I recently had the honor of rescuing from the clutches +of Red Reynard. I am much interested in her fate.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“This is going to kill her brother, the major.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I haven’t given up yet,” declared the scout. “I +<span class='pageno' id='Page_138'>138</span>shall cling to hope until we know that we can’t hope +any longer. We’ll begin the work again at daylight.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Worn out by fatigue, Buffalo Bill slept rather +soundly that night. But shortly before day he was +awakened by a strange feeling of fear, which impressed +him with a danger he could not combat or +comprehend. He was shivering with dread as he +opened his eyes. He almost cried aloud when he saw +that he was looking straight up into another pair of +eyes. The darkness was great, and his position was +such that he could see nothing but the eyes, which +looked down into his with a strange and fear-inspiring +glare.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The scout was held by a horrible spell. A weight +seemed to be pressing down on his chest. He struggled +with the feeling, and, throwing it off partly, he +tried to turn his body, and reached up to push aside +the face that held those terrible eyes, even though he +could not see the face.</p> + +<p class='c004'>When he did so he felt himself seized about the +throat in so strong a grip that it seemed as if the muscles +of his neck had been compressed suddenly by iron +bands.</p> + +<p class='c004'>As those fingers, or claws, settled on his throat, his +head was jammed backward against the earth. This, +together with the quick choking, almost deprived him +of his senses. Then he felt himself jerked to one side, +and dragged over the ground. It was like a horrible +nightmare, and he felt that he must be dreaming. Yet +he knew better.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Struggling fiercely to throw off that awful clutch, +<span class='pageno' id='Page_139'>139</span>which seemed to be crushing his neck, the scout succeeded +in drawing his knife.</p> + +<p class='c004'>With a swing he plunged the blade into the side of +the thing that held him. That swinging stroke was +followed by a sound of some kind. There was a blow +in the scout’s face, and his head fell backward.</p> + +<p class='c004'>When he returned to consciousness, after having +lain without sense or motion for many minutes, darkness +and silence were around and over him. He put +his hand to his throat, which ached with a heavy, dull +pain. His lungs were choked and wheezing, his head +throbbed, and his eyes felt as if they were about to +jump out of their sockets. Worse than all was that +horrible fear, still chilling him and seeming to stop +the very current of life in his body. Yet he knew he +was alone, that the creature, whatever it was, had +gone.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Then he heard a voice. It sounded far off at first, +but a moment later it seemed quite near. He recognized +it as the voice of Lieutenant Butler, and he knew +then that Butler and the others were hunting for him.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The great scout lifted himself on his elbow and +looked around in the gloom. He saw no one.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Here!” he called, and to his ears his voice sounded +husky and strange.</p> + +<p class='c004'>They came running to him—Lieutenant Butler, Tom +Lawler, Professor Bounderby, and Fritz Henselman.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“What has happened to you?” said Butler, when +he reached the scout. “Lawler heard something, and +he thought he saw you being dragged away. Then +<span class='pageno' id='Page_140'>140</span>we knew you were gone, and we aroused the camp, and +ever since have been looking for you.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“How long ago was that?” Buffalo Bill asked.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Fully ten minutes.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“What did you see dragging me, Lawler?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I don’t know, I couldn’t make out. I shouldn’t +have known it was you but for a groan that I thought +you made, and then we found you were not in the +camp, and knew it was you. But what attacked you I +don’t know.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Yet you really saw me dragged out of the camp?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Yes.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Cody tried to sit up, and then to stand.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“If you will help me, Lieutenant Butler, I’ll try to +get back to the camp. As soon as daylight comes I +hope to find the tracks of the thing that attacked me.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Butler and Lawler gave him aid in getting to the +camp, while Professor Bounderby and the German +made a pretense of watching for the return of the +“thing,” whatever it was.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Tell us just how it looked,” said Bounderby, when +the scout was in the camp and in some condition for +talking.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I don’t know, I saw only its eyes. I had the most +singular feeling of fear I ever experienced. I think +it must have been the kind of fear a superstitious man +has when he thinks he is in the presence of a ghost. +Only this was no ghost, its grip was altogether too +solid and material. Its fingers fairly cracked my neck. +When I roused up, the thing was looking straight down +<span class='pageno' id='Page_141'>141</span>into my eyes, and all I could see were those terrible +eyes staring into mine. I wanted to yell. In my opinion, +professor, we have found the thing that carried +off Miss Fernald, or, rather, it found me. Perhaps +it meant to carry me away, and failed. I’m sure +I struck it with my knife, and perhaps that saved me.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“The orang-utan is a strange beast,” said Bounderby, +with oracular certainty. “You spoke of its fingers. +That is permissible, for an orang-utan, you +know, is a four-handed animal. When we say it +walked upright on its hind feet, we really mean it +walked on its hind hands.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>He produced his notebook and began to scribble +in it.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“If you could describe just the sound it made after +you struck it with your knife, at the moment it released +you, I can make a note of it here, and use it +in my lecture.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“If that thing captured Miss Fernald, she is dead!” +declared Butler, with much feeling.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The German had sat through all the talk, quiet, yet +quaking.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Uff id capture us ve iss all dead!” he declared now. +“De young voman iss gone—kilt. Vy should ve stay +here and be kilt alretty, too? I ton’d vish to investigation +any pizness like dot. Brofessor, I t’ink ve petter +pull ower freighd oudt uff dis blace vhen de daylight +come, unt I hobe id vill come qvick.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>There was no more sleep for any of the party that +night. They sat in the darkness, with loaded weapons, +<span class='pageno' id='Page_142'>142</span>watching for the return of the thing that had attacked +the scout, and they beheld it at various times, in various +forms, by the aid of their excited imaginations, +sneaking across the rocks toward them.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Yet it did not return.</p> + +<hr class='c021'> +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_143'>143</span> + <h2 id='ch_20' class='c018'>CHAPTER XX.<br> <br><span class='fss'>ANOTHER SURPRISE.</span></h2> +</div> + +<p class='c008'>When morning came Buffalo Bill began a search of +the camp and of the ground over which he had been +dragged in the darkness.</p> + +<p class='c004'>At the point where he had thrust the knife into +the creature he found marks of blood on the rocks. +His knife had gone home, and it was that which had +caused the thing to drop him.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Farther on the scout saw pebbles displaced and +turned, though the hardness of the ground kept tracks +from showing. He at once informed his companions +of the nature of his discovery.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Bounderby and Lieutenant Butler joined him, and +the others came soon.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Pursuing the general course shown by the displaced +pebbles, they shortly gained a softer spot, and in the +soil there they beheld again footprints, like those +seen the previous day in the sandy area.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The scout looked at them closely, and pointed them +out.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“There is proof that the thing which attacked me +last night is the thing which carried off the young +lady. We are on the right trail.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Apparently the scout had recovered from the effects +of that assault in the night, yet there were dark +lines on his throat, and he had not been able to shake +off entirely that strange and, for him, unnatural feeling +<span class='pageno' id='Page_144'>144</span>of fear and horror. Fear in its ordinary sense +was a thing unknown to Buffalo Bill. Yet he almost +quaked when he remembered how those strange eyes +had looked down into his in the darkness.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I have encountered many terrible things,” he said, +“but nothing ever before like that. Yet I don’t know +what form the creature bore, whether it was like an +ape or a man. All I can recall are those terrible, fiery, +haunting eyes.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“The eyes of an orang-utan,” said Professor Bounderby +sonorously, “would glow in the darkness like +those of an animal, if seen at the right angle. You +didn’t notice a greenish glare, I suppose?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“No, the eyes seemed fiery and staring, as near as +I can describe it. They held me spellbound with horror.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“It is awful to think of Miss Fernald having fallen +into the power of such a creature,” said Butler. “We’ll +believe that she fainted at sight of the thing, and that +if it slew her, the deed was done before she recovered +consciousness.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>He looked around with a shudder, as if he feared to +behold the horrid shape pictured by his imagination.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill led the way now, with cocked revolver. +The tracks of the monster appeared so fresh that he +half expected to come upon it at any moment. At +his side strode Lieutenant Butler and Tom Lawler, +carrying the necessary parts of the heliograph.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The tracks led by a roundabout course which finally +drew the pursuers under some high, natural rock walls, +that were set on a sort of plateau.</p> + +<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_145'>145</span>From the base of these walls the country which had +been passed over was visible. The white rock, resembling +at a distance the wall of a tent, and the more +distant cone-shaped hill that had played such tricks +with the compasses, could be clearly seen.</p> + +<p class='c004'>When Buffalo Bill led the pursuers up to the natural +rock walls, he saw the ground there was not favorable +for trailing, and that again the tracks of the “beast” +had disappeared. He pointed out the last track to be +seen.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“The orang-utan was moving along the wall,” said +Bounderby. “That track looks very fresh, Cody.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I should say it was made last night, or early this +morning.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Butler stared along the wall, and ran his eyes here +and there, searching vainly for other tracks.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Fritz Henselman, who had been groaning under the +weight of the heavily laden hand bag, took this opportunity +to set it down. He had kept well behind. +That seemed a safer place, and it was a thing his position +as a servant enabled him to do without question.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Brofessor,” he said, panting heavily, “I voult yoost +as soon stay here mit de hant pag as to go furder on. +Yaw! Vot iss de use? My arms iss pulled off alretty +yet. I dinks I stay here mit de hant pag. You vill +oxcoose me for nod going any furder along. I am +nod afraid uff dot peast, or vatefer it iss. Ton’d dink +id! I am yoost tired oudt by too much trafeling +Yaw!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill smiled, in spite of the weight of uneasiness +that burdened his mind.</p> + +<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_146'>146</span>“But, Henselman,” he said, “if we go on and leave +you here, that beast may come on you from the other +direction while we are gone; and then what would +you do? We don’t know which way it went, and so +we can’t tell which way it may come back.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Henselman jumped to his feet.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Iss dot so?” he cried, and he picked up the hand +bag, apparently forgetting that it was not light in +weight, and was ready to move on again. “Uff id +vasn’t for dose magnedic needles vich haf peen magnetized +py dose magnedic moundains, ve coult fint our +vay oudt uff dis place!” he groaned. “Brofessor, I +dink now dot de sun iss shining maype ve coult find +vich vay ve vish to go. Nein? I am voding dot ve +try id. I haf lost not any apes and monkeys vot I +shoult pe hunding. Unt dose vimmins is dead long +ago. Brofessor, shall ve nod try to fint our vay oudt +by der light uff der sunshine?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Henselman, I’m ashamed of this show of cowardice!” +declared Bounderby, putting on his eyeglasses +to give severity to the look he cast on his German +servant. “We are engaged in an errand of mercy—the +rescue of a young lady from the jaws and arms of +a monster, an orang-utan; and shall we here hesitate? +Perish the thought! Henselman, we remain +with this party, let the result be what it may!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>But even the professor, though his words were brave +enough, was shaking a little, as he considered the result +of a possible encounter with the thing he had +denominated an orang-utan.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill was moving on, looking for the vanished +<span class='pageno' id='Page_147'>147</span>tracks. A hundred yards beyond he found them +again, showing that he had been taking the right +course.</p> + +<p class='c004'>As he saw them thus once more, he stared. The +tracks entered into a queer-looking place in the rocks, +which seemed to have been hewn out, for it was +oblong and formed on mathematical lines. Within it +was a framework of wood.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“What have we here?” said the scout to Butler, who +was at the moment by his side.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“It looks like a primitive sort of elevator,” said +Butler.</p> + +<p class='c004'>And, indeed, that was just what it did look like. +The hewn-out place in the cliff, together with the +wooden framework it contained, resembled an elevator +in a marked degree.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Hello!” the scout added. “What more have we +here?” Pressing farther in, his eye had been caught +by a stone image. “An Indian idol!” he exclaimed, in +astonishment. “Perhaps this is some old Indian +chapel.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Lawler was now at his side, peering in, his youthful +features working with excitement and curiosity.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The scout struck a match, and held it up so that it +lighted the rather gloomy interior of the “elevator” +and fell on the stone image.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The image was apparently an idol, in a recumbent +position, with an arm extended and finger pointing. +The chisel work on the face was crudely done, yet +the Indian features were recognizable.</p> + +<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_148'>148</span>Bounderby came crowding after Lawler, drawn by +the words he had heard.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“A find?” he said.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“A queer one, professor,” said the scout. “Take a +look! This seems to be an Indian chapel, and there +is the idol. What is it pointing to?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>He held the light down in the corner toward which +the finger pointed, and saw there a wooden peg set +into a hole.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Bounderby had crowded in, and was staring, with +his eyeglasses perched on his nose.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Not too fast, Cody!” he objected. “I must make +accurate notes of this.” He whipped out his notebook. +“Here we have what is probably a chapel of the ancient +Aztecs, with one of the idols that race worshiped. +It is a singular discovery.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Did that beast come into this place?” said Lieutenant +Butler. “If he did, he went out again, because +he could go no farther. This is interesting, but we are +wasting time here. His tracks are so fresh out there +that if we hasten we may come on him soon. So we +oughtn’t to tarry here.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Henselman came in and dropped his hand bag to +the floor with a thud.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Brofessor,” he said, and his tone had an appeal in +it, “I opserve dot de sun is clouding ofer again, so +dot py unt py maype de sky vill pe yoost like it vas +yistertay. Den ve can’t fint ower vay oudt uff dis +blace. I dinks me ve had petter dry id righd now, insteat +uff vaiting. Vot you dink?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“This idol sits in a recumbent position,” Bounderby +<span class='pageno' id='Page_149'>149</span>was saying aloud, jotting down the words in his notebook, +“and it has a finger pointed toward the corner +of this singular room. Possibly that may indicate +something.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill was stooping again, with a lighted +match, to look at the wooden plug in the corner, to +which that stone finger appeared to point. It seemed +set tightly in a hole in the stone, but when he pulled +on it, the wooden plug came easily away.</p> + +<p class='c004'>At the same time a startling thing occurred. The +wooden framework in which they stood began to sink +downward into the rock, dropping as if into a well. +The thing that had seemed an elevator <em>was an elevator</em>.</p> + +<p class='c004'>This sudden drop downward into that well-like +space was too startling almost for belief. It seemed +to the scout a part of what had appeared to him in +the night as a dream—a part of that impression of +fiery eyes and darkness and clutching fingers.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Bounderby uttered an exclamation of dismay and +astonishment, and Henselman flopped down with a +grunt of terrified helplessness.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“<i><span lang="de">Mein Gott in himmel!</span></i>” he cried. “Vat iss? Brofessor, +ve iss all dead men!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Nor were the other members of the party less astounded +than Bounderby and the German.</p> + +<p class='c004'>After a quick descent the rickety car stopped with +a thump that almost shook Buffalo Bill from his feet.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Henselman emitted another squawk of fear.</p> + +<hr class='c021'> +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_150'>150</span> + <h2 id='ch_21' class='c018'>CHAPTER XXI.<br> <br><span class='fss'>FURTHER SURPRISES.</span></h2> +</div> + +<p class='c008'>As the elevator thus came to a standstill the scout +and those with him dimly saw in the gloom an open +door.</p> + +<p class='c004'>As explained, the elevator was nothing but a framework +of decaying wood, hence it was plain that this +door was in the wall of the elevator well.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill, unhesitating, struck another match, +while his companions were variously expressing their +astonishment. Its light showed that the door opened +into a small, square room, which, except for that +light, was perfectly dark. The only door it had was +the one entering from the elevator.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Not without some hesitation did the scout step forth +into this room. As the light of the match flamed +higher he beheld a sight which called another exclamation +from his lips.</p> + +<p class='c004'>An Indian sat in a crouched attitude in a corner.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Lawler saw the Indian at the same instant, and Buffalo +Bill heard the clicking of the boy’s revolver.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Don’t shoot!” was the scout’s warning, and he +thrust the match down toward the Indian. “He is +dead!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>The match went out, and it was necessary to ignite +another before further examinations could be made.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Then they discovered that the Indian was not only +dead, but that he was, in fact, a mummy, but so well +<span class='pageno' id='Page_151'>151</span>preserved that he was not like the dried-up specimens +of Indian mummies usually seen. He had the +appearance of an Indian who had been not long dead.</p> + +<p class='c004'>In his mouth, projecting from between his teeth, he +held a queer-looking flat stone. The scout flashed +upon it the fight of the match, and saw that the stone +held written characters, or what appeared to be written +characters.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“See here, professor!” he said, and Bounderby came +forward, trying hard to suppress any manifestation +of his really great excitement. “There is something +written on this stone, professor; it seems to be a message, +or a letter, or, perhaps, instructions. I should +guess instructions. But it’s in a writing I never saw +before.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Professor Bounderby gravely produced his eyeglasses, +strung them across his nose, and bent to look +at the flat stone projecting from between the lips of +the mummy.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“It’s only visible in part,” he urged. “I——”</p> + +<p class='c004'>The scout took hold of the stone, and it came away +easily. It was flat and round and covered on both sides +with what seemed to be figures, or writing in hieroglyphics.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Can you make it out, professor? It’s beyond me, +I confess.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>All stared at Bounderby, and at the stone which +the scout placed in his hands.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“It’s Aztec,” Bounderby declared, when he had +looked it over. The professor was guessing, for he +really did not know what it was; but as his scholarly +<span class='pageno' id='Page_152'>152</span>ability seemed to be at stake, he said “Aztec.” Perhaps +he was correct.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“It’s certainly Aztec, Cody, Aztec picture-writing; +but I can’t read it.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Butler and Lawler were looking around.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“That image above, you know, pointed to a wooden +plug, and that showed us how to make the elevator +descend. There’s another plug like it over there—somewhat +like it, anyhow.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>It was Butler who spoke. He gave this wooden pin +a pull, as the scout had done the other, with a result +as startling. With a jerk and a wheezing grind, the +elevator began to ascend.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Fritz Henselman, who had lingered in the doorway, +gave a squeal of fright, and came plunging into +the room, with a jump such as a bullfrog might have +made; he had come near getting squeezed by the elevator, +as it shot up past the doorway.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The match that had been flaming in the scout’s fingers +went out, plunging the room into darkness. All +stood in silence, hearing that grinding roar as the elevator +ascended. They heard, also, the chugging sound +it made as it stopped. The silence that followed was +oppressive.</p> + +<p class='c004'>It was broken by Henselman.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Brofessor, ve are all dead alretty yet! Der elefator +has lefd us! Vot shall ve do?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>The elevator had left them, they were inclosed in +that small room, with their only apparent avenue of +escape the elevator well.</p> + +<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_153'>153</span>Lieutenant Butler struck a match with hands that +trembled.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“That was my fault,” he said. “I was too confident—too +positive. I thought if I pulled that plug we +might descend again here; in other words, I foolishly +thought this room was also an elevator. Instead of +that, the elevator which brought us here was sent back +by my act.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>The scout likewise struck a match, and Lawler did +the same.</p> + +<p class='c004'>With these matches burning, the room was plainly +revealed. The door opened into the elevator well, but +when this was inspected it was seen how impossible +it was to climb out of it without ropes. The elevator +worked up and down in a rough wooden frame, but +this frame could not be ascended. Apparently the +party was immured in that room of stone under the +ground.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Some one may use the elevator and come down +here,” suggested young Lawler. “If that should happen, +we’d make him take us out of this.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Lieutenant Butler continued to inspect the well of +the elevator, still hoping it could be ascended, while +Buffalo Bill was looking around the room in which +they were imprisoned. Bounderby was beginning to +show the terror he had so long and successfully concealed. +His face was white and drawn, and his form +trembled. As for Fritz Henselman, he had never +made any pretense of bravery, and had now given way +to a great fright.</p> + +<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_154'>154</span>“Brofessor, ve iss all dead men!” he continued to +declare, with much monotony.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Professor Bounderby began again to study the stone +taken from the mouth of the mummy. He was hoping +to guess from the looks of the characters on it +what it said; for he, as well as the scout, was convinced +that the stone held the secret.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Staring at the stone, and then at the dark face of +the mummy, the professor, perhaps to bolster up his +courage, and certainly to make the others think him +courageous, began to apostrophize the mummy.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Thou lump of human clay, lifeless these hundreds +of years, tell us the meaning of this! What secret +dost thou hold in that heart of dust? What words +of life and freedom are concealed behind those cracking +lips? Out with it! Spell us the message on this +page of stone!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill had made a round of the small room, +without the discovery of anything that gave hope. +There was no other wooden pin, no suggestive projection, +nothing that hinted of a way out.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Yield up thy secret!” the professor adjured the +stony-faced mummy.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Perhaps there is something hidden in the rags of +raiment which clothe him,” the scout ventured.</p> + +<p class='c004'>There was a tattered blanket of Indian weave, some +coarse-fibered mummy-cloth, together with a sort of +cape of matting laid over the mummy’s shoulders.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill stooped to lift this matting, and, in +doing so, unintentionally drew the mummy toward +<span class='pageno' id='Page_155'>155</span>him. It pitched forward on its face, and behind it was +a hole.</p> + +<p class='c004'>It will be recalled that it sat in a crouching attitude +in a corner of the room. In that corner was a niche +which it had filled, and that niche, or hole, was undoubtedly +a door.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Bounderby’s mouth dropped open, so great was his +astonishment. He was for the moment so surprised +that he had not a word he could say; which was remarkable, +as he usually had altogether too many words +for every occasion. The scout uttered an exclamation +of amazement.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“What is it?” cried Lawler and Lieutenant Butler in +a breath.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“A way out!” said the scout, his voice shaking with +the tremendous significance of his discovery.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Both Lawler and Butler rushed to see, and stared +into that black hole.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The scout pitched his flaming match down into it. +He thought he was to be forced to regret this, for a +flame shot upward, and this flame licked into the little +room, which began to fill with smoke. But the flame +began to die down almost at once. Then the excited +discoverers found that the match had fallen upon some +mummy-cloth, which had dropped from the back of +the mummy into the open space that lay behind that +little nichelike door.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“There is a good draft here,” said the scout, as he +watched the smoke. “And that proves one thing. Air +comes through that little hole, feeding the fire, and +goes up the elevator shaft, as up a chimney. That +<span class='pageno' id='Page_156'>156</span>shows there is a way out, or, at least, a way for the +air to get in.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Henselman staggered to his feet.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Dere iss a vay oudt?” he screeched.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I think so; we’re hoping so.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Henselman pushed the scout aside, and poked his +head into the small hole. But the fire flamed up +again, scorching his face and hair, and he tumbled +back.</p> + +<hr class='c021'> +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_157'>157</span> + <h2 id='ch_22' class='c018'>CHAPTER XXII.<br> <br><span class='fss'>MORE DISCOVERIES.</span></h2> +</div> + +<p class='c008'>Buffalo Bill stooped and looked down into the hole, +as soon as the fire had ceased and the smoke no longer +rose in a way to suffocate him. He struck another +match, which he held in his hand instead of tossing it +down. Its light showed a narrow, cramped gallery +leading off into the darkness. He announced his discovery +to those behind him.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Of course,” said Bounderby, in his superior tone, +“an elevator descending can be expected to descend +to a place where the passengers can get out. Strange +we did not think of that before!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“We thought of it, professor,” Butler corrected, +“but we couldn’t find that way out. But here it is, +Cody has found it.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Henselman came to his feet again. “Brofessor, de +hant pag iss gone!” he announced, with a wail.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“It was in your charge, Henselman! What has become +of it?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Der elefator took id. Ven der elefator went oop +de hant pag also id went oop. Yaw! Vat iss?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Butler and Lawler, not heeding this, were crowding +in back of Buffalo Bill, trying to look into the tunnel +he had discovered. Professor Bounderby took off his +hat and scratched his bald head in a puzzled way.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Henselman, when we get back to civilization, I +shall discharge you for this bit of carelessness!” he +<span class='pageno' id='Page_158'>158</span>announced with severity. “That hand bag contains +the ore specimens I have labored so hard to get, it +represents the work of nearly three weeks of dangerous +toil. And now it is gone!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Yaw! Id iss gone!” The rotund German waddled +to the elevator well and looked up. “But, brofessor,” +he said, and his voice changed as the thought +came to him, “uff you hat peen combelled to carry dose +hant pag like me, you voult rechoice dot id is gone +alretty yet. Nein?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>The excited talk of Buffalo Bill and those with him +made the professor forget for the time the loss of +that precious hand bag. He turned to them.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Have you found a way out?” he asked.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“We have found a narrow tunnel, Bounderby, and +we’re hoping it will lead us out. It runs straight +through this clayey cliff, and it’s narrow; but perhaps +we can squeeze through.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“We’ve <em>got</em> to squeeze through!” said Lieutenant +Butler.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Follow me!” the scout ordered, and he tore from +the mummy some of its cloth, twisted it into a torch, +which he lighted, and then, slipping into the hole, he +began to crawl along, lighting the way with that gruesome +torch, whose flame filled the narrow space with +smoke, and soon set all to coughing.</p> + +<p class='c004'>After him came Lieutenant Butler, and then Lawler, +and, following behind, the professor and the German.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The tunnel proved a “Fat Man’s Misery” for Henselman. +He was soon in trouble and squealing for aid.</p> + +<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_159'>159</span>“Hellup!” he bellowed. “Brofessor, ton’d leafe me +here. I am shtuck!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“But I can’t turn around to assist you, Henselman!” +the professor declared testily. “My body and legs are +too long; I can’t turn in this place. Henselman, you’ll +have to help yourself!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>The yells of the German caused Buffalo Bill and +those on ahead to stop.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Don’t send out such howls as that, Henselman!” +the scout protested. “You’ll have us in trouble.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Id iss me dot iss alretty in trouple,” said Henselman. +“I am shtuck in dis hole. I am too fad in my +stummick!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Henselman, squeeze along; you can make it!” the +professor urged; and seeing how difficult it was for +him to get help, the fat German began to “squeeze +along,” and, with much grunting and sighing, contrived +to advance a little.</p> + +<p class='c004'>When the scout had gone on for twenty or thirty +yards he saw a faint light. He announced the discovery +to Lieutenant Butler, who was next behind him. +Then he blew out the smoking and cough-producing +torch, being glad to get rid of it.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“We don’t know what we’ll find out there,” he explained, +“and we wouldn’t wish our light to be seen. +Bounderby, tell that German to cease his noise. We +don’t know what we’re coming to now. But there is +light ahead.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>The knowledge that light had been seen, indicating +that the end of the tunnel was being reached, had an +inspiring effect on Henselman. He got along much +<span class='pageno' id='Page_160'>160</span>better after that, and with much less puffing and panting.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Ve vill neffer pe aple to gid back der vay we haf +comed from, brofessor,” he declared.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Perhaps, Henselman, we shall not want to. The +only reasons I can think of that would make me want +to go back are that hand bag and the hope of being +able to understand a bit more about the mysteries we +have beheld. That stone taken from the mouth of the +mummy, Henselman, I have here in my pocket. I +hope to be able to read it some time. When I deliver +my lecture——”</p> + +<p class='c004'>But Henselman was howling again, declaring that +he was stuck fast; and what more the professor said +was not heard by the others.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The light seen by Buffalo Bill increased. He saw +that he was nearing the end of the tunnel, and that +the light was sunshine coming in there.</p> + +<p class='c004'>But, unfortunately for Henselman, the tunnel contracted +still more as it neared the end, and soon the +rotund stomach of the German was having further +and continued trouble.</p> + +<p class='c004'>When the scout gained the end, he ventured to peer +out, before venturing out himself. What he saw was +as surprising as anything that had gone before.</p> + +<p class='c004'>A circular valley lay spread beneath him, a valley +of great beauty, embowered here and there in trees, +and having in its center a large village, which was +dominated by a shining, domelike structure.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Where there are houses people may be expected. In +this case they would supposedly be Indians, and, therefore, +<span class='pageno' id='Page_161'>161</span>enemies. Thus thinking, the scout took a good +look, to make sure that no Indians were near the mouth +of the tunnel. Then he spoke to Lieutenant Butler.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“We’re at the end,” he said. “There’s a valley here, +with an Indian village in it; at least I think it is an +Indian village, though it has a templelike structure that +looks anything but Indian. Can you squeeze in by +me here and take a look at it? I fear to try to get +out yet.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Lieutenant Butler crowded in by the side of the +scout, and their bodies so filled the narrow space that +the situation was almost uncomfortable. But what +Butler saw repaid him for the pain and effort.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“It is amazing!” he said. “I can hardly believe my +eyes.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“An Indian village?” said the scout.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I can hardly think so; Indians are not given to +fine architecture, and if that central house isn’t fine +architecture I miss my guess. See that high dome in +its middle, Cody! That must be a temple, and Indians +are not supposed to have temples.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Some kinds of Indians have temples, or once had, +and those were the Aztecs. You recall that stone in +the mouth of the mummy? The writing, or whatever +was scratched on that stone, resembled Aztec characters, +as I recall them. Can this be an Aztec city?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“But the old Aztecs are all dead, Cody.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Very true. So far as we know, they are all dead, +and their descendants are the miserable Indians and +peon class of the Mexico we know to-day. But there +may be some remaining. Remember that we don’t +<span class='pageno' id='Page_162'>162</span>know where we are. We suppose we’re in Mexico, yet +we don’t even know that. Following our compasses, +which had gone crazy, we were led we know not +whither, and we have no correct idea of our location. +There are strange Indian tribes in the interior of +Mexico, in some of the inaccessible mountains, for instance. +Lieutenant Butler, we can’t be sure that this +is not an Aztec city.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Professor Bounderby heard a portion of that, and +he tried to squeeze to the front, with the result that +he and young Lawler were crowded into space so small +that soon Bounderby began to feel as pinched and +squeezed in as the German, who was still snorting his +calls for help.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“We’ll have to risk it,” said the scout to Lieutenant +Butler, after a further look round. “So, here goes!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>He crawled with difficulty through the opening, +which had pinched in until the hole was no larger than +his body, and seemed hardly so large.</p> + +<p class='c004'>When outside, the scout was gratified to see a screen +of bushes. It was some distance off, by the side of +what looked to be a highway. Yet it pleased him to +discover that when he had slipped away from the +mouth of the tunnel this bushy screen interposed between +him and the houses of the village. He drew +over to that side, and Lieutenant Butler, coming after +him, did the same.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Then Tom Lawler came crawling forth, his fine +young face shining and red, his eyes staring about +with interest and eager curiosity.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I wonder where are we now?” he asked.</p> + +<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_163'>163</span>“I’m sure I don’t know,” said Butler. “Perhaps +Bounderby can tell us.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Bounderby’s head appeared, then his narrow shoulders +and long body and legs came into view. Behind +Bounderby the German was laboriously trying to make +progress, as his sighs, groans, and exclamations +showed. Bounderby sat up, straightened his tall hat in +place, and flourished a soiled handkerchief, which he +drew out to wipe his heated and now grimy face.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“This is—remarkable!” he declared, when he caught +sight of the shining building and the rows of white +houses, the houses at that distance, many of them, resembling +cubes of snow, or salt.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Re-mark-able!” repeated the professor.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The familiar notebook and familiar pencil came out, +and he began to scribble with furious haste:</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Having crawled for a long distance through a small +tunnel, we found ourselves in the outer air again, and +before us we beheld a shining edifice which glittered +in the sun as if it were of gold; and beside it, running +by streets and in squares like the houses and business +blocks of a city, were many small houses. Most of the +small houses were white, though some, at this distance, +had a general dull-mud color. We could scarcely believe +we had not entered some sort of fairyland.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>As the professor had the singular habit of reading +aloud whatever he jotted down, and while he was +jotting it down, this was heard by Buffalo Bill, and by +Lawler and Lieutenant Butler.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“A very good description,” said the scout. “Can +you tell us what you think of it, professor? What sort +<span class='pageno' id='Page_164'>164</span>of a city is that? Is it a large Indian village? And +what do you make of that large house in the center? +It seems to be nearly circular, and has a very high +dome.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“That is a temple,” declared the professor, with +much certainty.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“But Indians, unless they are Aztecs, or of some +like tribe, do not build temples!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“These may not be Indians, Cody. That is certainly, +to judge from its appearance, a temple, and its +roof seems to be of beaten gold. The houses are poor +enough, most of them, but that temple is magnificent. +These people have put all their wealth into it, and have +been content with the little houses for themselves. +That shows they are a religious people.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“What I’m thinking of,” said Tom Lawler, when +the professor stopped, “is that strange beast which we +followed. Did that thing get into the elevator and +come down here through this tunnel?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I think it must have done so!” declared the professor.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Then it pulled the peg which caused the elevator +to descend, and when it got into that little room back +there it toppled the old mummy forward and crawled +down into this tunnel. Is that your idea, professor?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Bounderby hesitated to declare that this was so; +he began to see where it would lead him.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“If it did all those things,” Lawler went on, when +Bounderby did not reply, “then it was a man, and +not a beast!”</p> + +<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_165'>165</span>“But the orang-utan footprints!” the professor objected.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“We don’t know that it was an orang-utan, professor! +None of us has seen it.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“That is very true,” said Bounderby, with great +gravity, “but it is to be remembered that it is not +necessary to see a creature in order to know of its existence. +For instance, we may hear it howl and so +judge by the ear alone. We may discover its hiding +place, and get our knowledge from what we see there. +In the present case, we judge by the footprints which +it left, and by its attack on Mr. Cody. Its tracks are +those of an animal.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“They are not like the tracks of a man, you mean,” +the scout corrected.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“They are not like the tracks of a man, and the +luminous glare of its eyes as it looked down at you +indicated also that it is an animal.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I do not think I said the eyes were luminous, but +only that they seemed fierce and fiery. It’s hard to +get a word to describe them, or their effect on me. +They might have been the eyes of a man.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“There’s a sort of mist rising over in that direction,” +said Lawler. “It’s beyond what looks to be a road. +I wonder what causes it?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“We’ll see,” said the scout. “I think there is a +waterfall, or swift stream there.”</p> + +<hr class='c021'> +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_166'>166</span> + <h2 id='ch_23' class='c018'>CHAPTER XXIII.<br> <br><span class='fss'>AN AMAZING DISCLOSURE.</span></h2> +</div> + +<p class='c008'>They crawled away from the hole that had given +them entrance into the beautiful and mysterious valley, +sheltering their movements from possible observers by +the screen of the trees.</p> + +<p class='c004'>When they approached the trees they found a broad +highway, which seemed to be much traveled. The +trees were on each side of it, and made a shade.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Beyond the highway rose the thin mist mentioned +by the boy, and as they came nearer to it they heard +the sound of water. They found also that the tree-fringed +highway skirted the edge of a high bluff, this +bluff forming on that side the rim of the valley which +held the village and the shining temple.</p> + +<p class='c004'>As they drew near this bluff and looked down over +its upper rim, they beheld a fascinating sight.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The valley more than ever resembled a cup—a cup +of emerald, with its rim represented by low, clifflike +walls that ran almost wholly around it. The center of +the valley was occupied by a sparkling lake, and the +stream which they had heard, and which now they saw, +flowed into this lake and apparently flowed out again +on the opposite side. As strange as anything connected +with the stream was that it seemed to issue from under +the highway; in fact, they could fancy that they were +directly over it at certain points in their journey +thither.</p> + +<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_167'>167</span>“I think that stream explains one thing that has +puzzled me,” said Buffalo Bill.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“And what is that?” asked Bounderby.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“The elevator. I have wondered what ran it—where +the power came from. It must come from that stream, +which seems to flow under the rock walls at about the +point where that elevator stands.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I see! Nevertheless, it was a remarkable piece of +work for Indians. Yet not half so remarkable as the +rearing of that temple.” He stared off at the shining +dome of the building they called the temple. “Can it +be possible, Cody, that the people who constructed that +are Indians?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I think there is no doubt of it.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I wonder,” said Lieutenant Butler, “if Miss Fernald +can be alive and down in that village?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I’m wondering if the beast that Professor Bounderby +says is an orang-utan can be down there?” remarked +Tom Lawler.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill’s hand fell on the arm of Lieutenant +Butler, to call his attention.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Hark!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>All listened. Then the silence was broken by the +shrill scream of fifelike instruments, with heavier, +reedy notes, and the thump of drums.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The sounds came from the upper end of the valley, +to which, until this moment, they had not given much +attention. Lifting their heads and craning their necks, +they soon saw the front of a strange procession come +into view.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Just below the rim of the valley on which they +<span class='pageno' id='Page_168'>168</span>rested, and between it and the waters of the lake, was +another highway, even more beaten than the upper +one, and it was on that highway the procession had +appeared.</p> + +<p class='c004'>At the head of the procession were the fifers and +drum-beaters and a group of fantastic figures that +danced and leaped, waving their arms wildly, and now +and then shouting singular cries.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“It is a religious procession of some sort,” said +Bounderby.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Behind the musicians and dancers came other figures +as fantastic, some carrying fluttering banners. And +now a great chanting chorus rose on the air, which +changed occasionally to a wailing song that had a peculiarly +heartrending intonation.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“One would think they are mourning for the dead,” +said the scout, when he heard it.</p> + +<p class='c004'>More and more Indians came into view, as the procession +began to stretch out along the highway.</p> + +<p class='c004'>It was observed now that the end of this highway +appeared to be at or near the glittering temple which +had attracted so much attention. All around the temple +and within its doors people were gathered.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Bounderby had his pencil and notebook out and was +scribbling furiously. As usual, he spoke the words +aloud as he set them down:</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Having penetrated to the hidden valley by the +strange manner already recorded, and viewed the shining +temple and the snow-white huts, we heard sounds +of strange music, and beheld at the valley’s farther end +a singular procession. It appeared on the road that +<span class='pageno' id='Page_169'>169</span>led by the beautiful, tree-shaded lakelet which is in the +center of the valley. Many of the villagers were +grouped within and close by the great temple. Toward +it the procession was moving, thus declaring to +us that what we saw and heard concerned the temple +and had a religious significance. It is well known that +the ancient Aztecs were a highly religious people, and +we concluded that we had here found a remnant of +that ancient race, hidden in these distant hills, still untouched +and uncontaminated by civilization, and practicing +all their ancient rites and customs.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>He held the book and the pencil between his fingers +and stared at the moving body of people, the head of +which was now near the lake and almost in front of +their post of observation.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Cody,” he said, “this is really the most remarkable +thing I ever met in all my varied experience! We +are no doubt watching a religious ceremonial of the +ancient Aztecs, and if we could but penetrate to that +temple and see the people there after this procession +has reached it, I have no doubt we should behold things +so strange that they would astonish us and the world. +I wish it were possible to get there.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“It would be at the sacrifice of our lives, if we +tried it,” was the declaration of the experienced scout.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“No doubt it would, but one could almost be willing +to die, to witness a scene such as that.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>A sort of fervor inspired the words of the professor. +When the scout glanced at him he saw that +Bounderby’s face was flushed to a deep red and that +his eyes held a strange and far-away gaze of anxious +<span class='pageno' id='Page_170'>170</span>desire. The professor was eccentric, loved the sound +of his own voice, was quite boastful, and possessed +an unwarranted opinion of himself, yet he was also +learned in his way, and an honest delver after obscure +and stray bits of knowledge lying along the lines of his +specialty.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Again the scout, looking at the procession, touched +the arm of Lieutenant Butler.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Yes, I see!” said Butler, in answer.</p> + +<p class='c004'>A silken pavilion, partly inclosed, had come into +view in the center of that long line of marching men, +a pavilion borne on men’s shoulders, and so constructed +that it was hoisted high over their heads +and was in full view of all the people. As the pavilion +was thus carried past certain groups that stood on the +sides of the highway these latter lifted their voices +in mighty shouting.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Some conquering hero comes!” said Lieutenant +Butler.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I should say it is the high priest borne thus aloft,” +said Professor Bounderby, whose interest and excitement +were constantly growing. He snatched up his +pencil and notebook and began again to set down what +he saw.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“The chief priest, or the chief of the tribe, or the +king,” said the scout, venturing a guess. “Hear the +people shout as he passes them!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>The watchers were so eager to see all that they +nearly forgot the danger they might be in, as they +thrust up their heads and craned their necks, trying to +get good views of everything. They had crawled forth +<span class='pageno' id='Page_171'>171</span>to the very limit of the trees, so that they were close +upon the edge of the cliff there, and at times, as they +thus poked forth their heads, they might have been +seen if any of the people below had chanced to look in +that direction. But the excited inhabitants of the valley +were too much interested in what they were themselves +doing to give a thought, apparently, to anything +else.</p> + +<p class='c004'>That silken pavilion continued to attract attention +and comment. As it came nearer the watchers on the +cliff were able to see that the one who occupied it was +in a reclining position. When it swung around at a +bend in the highway, giving a view of its open side, +Buffalo Bill turned upon it his binoculars, which he +had already been using, though to small purpose so +far. An involuntary cry was drawn from his lips.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“What is it?” said Butler.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Without a word the binoculars were passed to the +lieutenant. The scout’s face had suddenly paled. +When Lieutenant Butler took a look through those +powerful glasses he not only echoed the cry of the +great scout, but he let the glasses fall out of his hands, +so startled was he by what he beheld.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Young Lawler caught up the glasses and trained +them on the pavilion.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Great heavens!” he said. “It’s Miss Fernald!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>That was the sight beheld by Buffalo Bill and the +lieutenant—Miss Emily Fernald, the missing girl, in +that pavilion, in a reclining position, and with thick +ropes upon her, showing that she was bound.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The knowledge that the girl whom they had been +<span class='pageno' id='Page_172'>172</span>so long and laboriously seeking was in the pavilion +thrilled the whole party.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“You say it is Miss Fernald. As soon as the glass +revealed her I judged that.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Professor Bounderby snatched the binoculars out of +the hands of Tom Lawler and turned them on the +young woman.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“This is—terrible, Cody—terrible!” he whispered. +“She is a prisoner, without doubt—a helpless prisoner. +Ah! now I understand the mystery of that procession, +of that music, of that shouting; the girl is +to be sacrificed in that temple, by those Indians!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“We’ve <em>got</em> to rescue her!” said Tom Lawler, almost +shouting the words. “We can’t permit that, you +know!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Lieutenant Butler seemed too dazed to speak for +the moment. But finally he found his voice.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“What can we do, Cody?” he asked helplessly. “I +don’t doubt she is to be sacrificed. But what can we +do? I’m ready for anything, if a way of rescuing her +can be found.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“We are but a small handful,” said Bounderby, “and +down there are hundreds of Indians, who are worked +up to a great pitch of religious enthusiasm. If we +should go down there we would but meet the fate +that is to be the portion of the poor girl.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“If we had a hundred men,” said Lieutenant Butler; +“if we had but fifty, we could charge into their +midst, and perhaps accomplish something. But, as +it is!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>His face was pale as death, and his eyes, when he +<span class='pageno' id='Page_173'>173</span>turned them helplessly on the scout, were seen to be +bloodshot. His agony was piteous to see. He had +known and admired Emily Fernald, and even some +warmer feeling stirred in his heart of hearts. So that +it was like death to him to see what he now witnessed.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“But what can we do?” he wailed.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I don’t know just what we can do,” said Buffalo +Bill, “but we’ve got to do something.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“That’s right!” cried Tom Lawler, his face flaming. +“We’ve got to do something.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>He clutched his revolver with a feverish grip, and +the fire of recklessness burned in his fine face.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Yet, truly, they seemed powerless to do anything.</p> + +<hr class='c021'> +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_174'>174</span> + <h2 id='ch_24' class='c018'>CHAPTER XXIV.<br> <br><span class='fss'>UNSELFISH HEROISM.</span></h2> +</div> + +<p class='c008'>Buffalo Bill’s heroic determination to save the girl +from the terrible fate awaiting her took shape quickly +in action. Indeed, if anything was to be done, it appeared +that it must be done at once, for after she was +in that temple there was no knowing how speedily +the bloody purpose of these people would be accomplished.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I am going down there!” was the scout’s simple +declaration, when he had given a moment or two to +inquiring of himself whether anything but the most +direct method promised hope.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“We’ll go with you!” said Tom Lawler.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Lieutenant Butler was as ready and willing to go +as young Lawler. But Professor Bounderby hesitated, +and Fritz Henselman very promptly showed the +white feather.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Vat iss?” cried Henselman. “Uff dose Inchuns +iss going to ead dot girl, vy shoult ve led dem ead +us also unt likevise?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“They are not going to eat her. Henselman!” corrected +Bounderby.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Nein? Vat iss?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“We fear they are going to sacrifice her.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Dot iss nod eading, eh?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Certainly not, Henselman. They will slay her as +an offering to their gods, that is all.”</p> + +<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_175'>175</span>“Dot iss all? Dot iss enough, ain’d id? I voult +yoost as soon pe cooked unt eaden as to be saccerivised. +Ve petter sday righd here.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I—I think I should prefer to stay, myself,” Bounderby +confessed. “We could remain here and watch +this exit, to see that the Indians do not block it; so +that our friends, if they succeed in effecting the rescue +of the young lady, may have a way open to retreat.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Dis exid!” said Henselman. “Vat iss?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“That hole back there is what I refer to, it is an +exit.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Oh, dot! Yaw! Ve vill sday here und keep dot +hole open. Uff an Inchun goes indo id I vill shood +heem.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>He clawed at his revolver and waved it so nervously +that Buffalo Bill asked him to put it down. The scout +was making hurried preparations—seeing that his revolvers +were loaded and that his cartridges were where +he could get at them readily.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I am willing to go alone,” he said, “and it may be +better that I should. We haven’t force enough to fight +those fellows, and one might accomplish as much as if +all went.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Lieutenant Butler looked at him earnestly.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I see, Cody, that you rather expect to lose your +life down there in a mad attempt to rescue that girl. +It’s fine of you, but if you go, I go with you, for I +am willing to die in an effort to save her.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Here, too!” cried Lawler. “Mr. Cody, we’ll back +you in anything you try.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Ve petter all retread for de exid,” Henselman +<span class='pageno' id='Page_176'>176</span>urged. “Vat iss? Uff ve are caughd here dis highway +in, we shall all be kilt, eenyhow. Id is dancherous +to be lifin’ so close by dis highway, vere beoples vat +ve ton’d vant to see may be coming along at any minute.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“You can retreat, Henselman, you and Bounderby, +if you choose. And perhaps it’s as well if you do. +You can get outside, and that will make you safe.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“But dose magnedic needles are crazy made by dose +magnedic moundains!” protested Henselman. “Nopody +can travel py dem. Vot vill ve do? For de sky +is clouding ofer again.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill had made his preparations. “Now I’m +ready,” he said to Lieutenant Butler. “If you choose +to go, lieutenant, I shall be glad to have you do so, but +I shan’t blame you if you stay. The chances, I confess, +are not good, but something must be tried. So, +I am going.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Butler rose to his feet, and so did young Lawler.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“We’ll go with you!” cried the latter, showing a +courage undaunted.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Fortunately,” said the scout, “the attention of those +Indians is attracted to the procession and the temple; +not one has even looked in this direction. We may +be able to get to the temple without discovery, if we’re +careful.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>He walked to the rim of the bluff and looked down, +and the next moment, having clutched some bushes +which grew there, he was sliding over. Butler and +young Tom Lawler followed him.</p> + +<p class='c004'>When they reached lower ground, where bushes +<span class='pageno' id='Page_177'>177</span>again screened them, they discovered that Professor +Bounderby and Fritz Henselman were coming.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Just slow up a minute,” called Bounderby. “I +think I’d rather take the risks with you than to stay +here. Henselman and I have just sighted a body of +men coming along that highway, and the chances of +being seen by them are good. So we’re going with +you. I think those men are seeking the exit.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill and those with him stood in the bushes +at the foot of the cliff, while Bounderby and Henselman +slid down, the latter puffing and groaning.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Py yiminy,” said Henselman, as he struck solid +ground, “id is a lucky ding for me dot dose elefator +carried avay dot hant pag; I ton’d had to carry it any +longer! I pidy you vellers vot has to carry dot sunlight +telegraph!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“We haven’t been seen, I believe,” said Bounderby, +taking courage.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill was already moving on, followed by +Butler and Lawler. Henselman and the professor +came right after them now, seeming to feel safer by +keeping close at their heels.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The scout hugged the cliff wall, where a screen of +bushes grew, as he moved hastily in the direction of +the temple. The head of the procession was close up +to the shining building now.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The scout burrowed a way through the bushes with +practiced ease, making at the same time a pathway +for those who came after him.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The sounds of the shrill music and the wild shouting +<span class='pageno' id='Page_178'>178</span>of the Indians drowned the noise made by the +scout and his companions in their hurried passage.</p> + +<p class='c004'>At intervals Buffalo Bill and those with him looked +out at the Indians. They saw the head of the procession +reach and enter the temple, then, before they +came opposite the building, they saw the silken pavilion +approaching the great shining door. Fortunately for +the scout’s purpose, the trees continued almost up to +the temple itself on that side.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Rapidly as the scout moved, the fact that he could +not go straight ahead hampered his progress, and he +saw the pavilion carried through the golden door of +the temple. His fears increased when he beheld that. +He broke into a run, which took him so rapidly on that +in a few minutes he was at the outer limits of the +trees.</p> + +<p class='c004'>At panting pace his companions followed.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The scout looked out. He had a good view of the +big door through which the pavilion had been carried. +All around it Indians were grouped, most of +them shouting. The fifing and the drum-beating rose +in a very fury of sound, mingling with the shouting. +The people were in a frenzy.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“There is just one chance,” said the scout, as he +thus looked out. “I can make a run up to the door, +and then fight my way into the temple. If anything +is accomplished it will have to be done as a surprise. +If I can reach the girl’s side perhaps I can get out of +the temple with her. I shall expect you to remain in +hiding here, ready to rush forth to my aid as soon +as I appear with her.</p> + +<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_179'>179</span>“If I do not come out, you will know that I have +been killed or am a prisoner. After that you will +have to make your own plans and govern yourself by +them. Yet, if I fail, I think it will be useless for +you to try to get into the temple, it will be wisdom +for you to retreat as fast as you can, for my effort will +have aroused the Indians.<a id='tn015'></a>”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Cody drew a revolver and clicked the cylinder +around to see that it was in working order. The fire +of heroic resolution was in his face.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“We’ll go in with you, if you say!” said young +Lawler. His chest was heaving from his quick run, +and his eyes were glittering with excitement. He was +a hero, too, youthful as he was.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Bounderby was trembling with excitement and fear, +and Henselman seemed on the borders of a physical +and mental collapse. The scout paid scant attention to +them, however.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Cody,” said Bounderby, “I have been trying to explain +to myself how a young lady captured by an +orang-utan happens to be here in the power of these +Aztecs. But my logic fails me. My premises are +either wrong, or——”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Be ready for my reappearance in the temple door,” +said the scout, speaking to Butler and Lawler. “I’m +sure I shall need your aid, if I am fortunate enough to +get that far with the young lady.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>So saying, he stepped boldly forth, for the bushes +gave no further cover, and an instant later he was running +with soft footsteps in the direction of the golden +door of the temple.</p> + +<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_180'>180</span>Not an Indian turned to look in his direction. All +were staring at the door, beyond which apparently the +common people were not permitted to go.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Within the doorway were a number of brilliantly +dressed figures, whose feathered headdress and glittering +armlets, together with the gold ornaments on +their barbaric clothing, made them conspicuous. But +even these were looking into the temple, and not out, +so that they did not see the approach of the scout.</p> + +<p class='c004'>A thick fringe of Indians stood between the scout +and the door. They were the spectators, in holiday +attire, though in many cases their clothing consisted +of little more than a wonderful application of paint +and feathers.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Into this fringe the daring scout sprang like a football +player going at a line of opposing players. He +knocked over some of the Indians, whom he could not +get around, sprang past the others, and the next moment +was running toward the glittering door.</p> + +<p class='c004'>A wild bellowing yell broke from the lips of the +Indians. Unheeding this, the daring scout gained the +doorway with quick, springy leaps, and startled the +brilliant figures there by dashing past them and going +straight on into the building.</p> + +<p class='c004'>It was in many respects a gorgeous edifice, barbaric +in splendor, which the scout had thus invaded. +He saw that as soon as he had passed through the +doorway. Its walls of stone and mud were painted +and carved with strange scrolls and figures of men +and animals, and its pillared interior was lighted from +above by an opening that let in a flood of sunlight.</p> + +<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_181'>181</span>At the side of the room the silken pavilion had +been halted. The scout did not even look at it. It +was empty. But his eyes fell on the figure of the girl +he was risking his life to save. She had been laid, +bound, on a sacrificial stone which no doubt had witnessed +the death of thousands of victims. Around her +were gathered the priests, some of them bearing the +sacrificial knives. The girl’s face was pale as death, +and her eyes were closed, that she might not see the +knives that were ready to slay her. She had long +before lost all hope.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill knew as soon as he saw that bound +figure on the sacrificial stone that he had been right +in all his surmises concerning the purpose of the Indians. +This was, he saw, really an Aztec temple. +Strange as it seemed, these were Aztecs, worshiping +according to their ancient custom, which demanded +human sacrifices. He was to know later that this was +the temple and the town of Zataclin, and that the +priests and the people considered themselves a superior +order of beings, far removed from the common Indians +of Mexico, of whom, in truth, however, they +had very little knowledge.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The cries of the painted and feathered men in the +doorway attracted the attention of the priests gathered +around the sacrificial stone. Something had happened +to cause such an outcry, they knew. They +turned, to behold the heroic scout.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill caught up the form of the girl from +the sacrificial stone and with defiant attitude faced the +bloody priests of Zataclin.</p> + +<hr class='c021'> +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_182'>182</span> + <h2 id='ch_25' class='c018'>CHAPTER XXV.<br> <br><span class='fss'>A HEROIC EFFORT.</span></h2> +</div> + +<p class='c008'>If Buffalo Bill had been given time, or had possessed +the inclination, to take note of those priests, he would +at least have been interested. Their faces were unnaturally +red, with a coating of red paint, their clothing, +such as they wore, glittered with gold ornaments, +on their arms were shining gold armlets, and on their +heads crowns of painted plumes.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The girl opened her eyes when she felt herself +caught up from the sacrificial stone, and then, seeing +that she was in the arms of a white man, she screamed.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Wild yells came from the doorway, which was filling +with Indians, yet the priests fell back before the fiery, +defiant eyes of the scout.</p> + +<p class='c004'>With the girl in his arms, he moved toward the +door. The venture was so desperate that he did not +know how it would terminate. To take stock of the +chances against him was to court weakness.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Stand back!” he said, speaking in English.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Though their knives were drawn, the startled priests +fell back before him. They were muttering and crying +out. The very daring of the thing was telling in +his favor. They were shocked by the sacrilegiousness +of this singular attempt to rescue from the sacrificial +stone a being who had been devoted to the gods. No +doubt they expected that the angry gods would strike +down this intruder.</p> + +<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_183'>183</span>Yet the thing which really was working most in the +scout’s favor was that these priests had never seen a +white man before, and, until her capture, they had +never seen a white woman. They had heard of them, +as half-mythical creatures, and there were in the village +men who claimed to have seen them, and to have +penetrated to a land where white men swarmed like +ants. Yet these priests had never until this minute +looked into the face of a white man. Hidden away in +that cuplike valley, ringed in by mountains, far in an +unknown land, they had remained Aztecs in everything, +even as their forefathers were.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill guessed something of this, when he saw +the terror and wonder working in the faces of the +priests.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Stand back!” he shouted, for he trusted they would +understand the tone, if not the words.</p> + +<p class='c004'>But when he tried to pass out through that shining +door he was pressed upon by Indians who were determined +to resist this, by Indians who were not willing +to have the temple invaded and the victim taken from +the stone of sacrifice and from under the very knives +of the sacred priests.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill whipped out his revolver.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The girl had fainted, fortunately, and lay as if dead +in his arms.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Stand back!” cried the scout, and he swung the +revolver round.</p> + +<p class='c004'>But there was a rush, as those in front tried to +seize him, while a very frenzy of clamorous sound +arose.</p> + +<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_184'>184</span>Then the scout’s revolver spoke, its report booming +like thunder within those temple walls. The man who +had sought to stop him uttered a cry of pain and bewilderment, +and fell backward, his arm broken and +dropping helpless at his side.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The effect of that revolver shot was unexpected even +by the scout.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Wild cries of fright rose within the doorway and +beyond it, where the packed Indians struggled now to +gain the open air, and the men close by the scout, +stunned apparently by the concussion of that revolver +explosion, threw themselves face downward on the +temple floor.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The way was open. At a bound the daring scout +cleared it, reaching the outer steps of the temple. As +he did this, the girl struggled in his arms, unconscious +that she was hampering him.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The scout held her on his strong left arm, and +clutched with his right hand his revolver.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Before him was a mass of Indians falling back out +of his way. Behind him in the temple he heard voices +wailing. Nearer at hand were those prostrate figures +that had dropped to the temple floor when the revolver +roared its defiant message.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The scout was looking beyond the crowd toward +the trees where he expected to behold his friends in +waiting, and was surprised that he did not see them +there. He ran down the steps, for delays were dangerous, +determined to fight his way through the compacted +mass of Indians.</p> + +<p class='c004'>In this moment, when it seemed the path was hopelessly +<span class='pageno' id='Page_185'>185</span>blocked, he recalled how a single soldier of Cortez, +pitted against the Aztecs of his own day, had been +equal to hundreds of them.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Stand back!” he commanded again, as he passed +down the temple steps.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The Indians near him tried to fall back, but those +behind prevented them, and the result was a wild jumble +and scramble of crowding Indians, that filled up +every avenue of escape.</p> + +<p class='c004'>At this juncture, there was a wild American yell, +the packed Indians in front of the scout were thrown +apart, and through the opening thus made came Lieutenant +Butler and Tom Lawler, with Bounderby and +the German at their heels. It was something like a +football wedge splitting open an opposing eleven.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The four white men had broken the line there by +force of the surprise more than by the mere battering +strength with which they had hit it. But the line +closed instantly behind them and seemed to become +more tightly packed than before.</p> + +<p class='c004'>They gained the side of the scout. Turning, with +drawn revolvers, Lieutenant Butler and young Lawler +placed themselves by him. Bounderby tried to line +up with them, but Fritz Henselman made no such +heroic effort. He had only come because he was afraid +to stay, and he now ran behind Butler, and tried to +crouch down. When he saw that Indians were coming +from the other direction as well, his plight became +pitiable.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The path of least resistance seemed to lie close along +the temple wall now, and the scout and his daring comrades +<span class='pageno' id='Page_186'>186</span>took it. But no sooner had they started along +the wall than the Indians began to close in upon them, +as if gaining courage.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“We shall have to fight our way through,” said Butler, +flourishing his revolver. “Just give the word, +Cody. We’ll have to down these fellows.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Fire a shot now and then, but do not shoot anybody +unless you have to, and then shoot only to +wound,” were the scout’s instructions. “We don’t +want to enrage them. What we want to try to do is +to scare them.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>He shot a bullet into the ground at his feet, and as +it tore up the earth and the sound broke on their ears, +the Indians fell back before him as if in amazement.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Seeing the effect, Lawler and Lieutenant Butler began +to imitate him, with the same effect.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The Indians fell back, yet they did not vanish; they +merely kept two or three yards away, as if they feared +more than anything else the powder smoke and the +earth that flew about when the bullets struck the +ground.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“We’ll have to fight our way through,” said Lieutenant +Butler, and Buffalo Bill was beginning to think +this offered the only hope.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Then the unexpected happened.</p> + +<p class='c004'>A bag resembling a huge fishing seine dropped over +them with a swishing sound, and instantly it so entangled +them that they were helpless. It wrapped +around their arms and their legs, enveloped their heads +and necks, and closed about their heads and faces in +smothering folds.</p> + +<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_187'>187</span>Buffalo Bill understood the nature of this trap at +once, and he tried to draw his knife to cut his way +through it, but the clinging net so held his hands that +he could not quickly get out his knife. He stumbled +and fell as he tried to walk, and the girl he had been +carrying dropped to the ground. She tried to rise, +but, her feet being caught in the net, she, too, was +entangled.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Henselman was yelling for assistance like a madman, +as he clawed and sputtered and tried to push +back the folds of the strange thing that had fallen upon +him.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The Indians were not idle. They swarmed forward +as soon as they saw the white men caught in the +clinging folds of the net, and throwing themselves +boldly upon them, they held them down.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Hundreds of Indians were all around the net. +Escape was impossible. The white men were trapped.</p> + +<hr class='c021'> +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_188'>188</span> + <h2 id='ch_26' class='c018'>CHAPTER XXVI.<br> <br><span class='fss'>INDIANS AND PRISONERS.</span></h2> +</div> + +<p class='c008'>The red priests of Zataclin had not been thrown +long into confusion, nor had they permitted their +superstitious fears to keep them from taking prompt +action against the daring invader of the temple.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Around the upper floor of the temple ran an inside +gallery, which at intervals opened on an outer gallery.</p> + +<p class='c004'>To the inner gallery they rushed as soon as they +discovered that the white man had escaped from the +temple with the captive. They yelled to the people below, +urging them to crowd the white men close up +against the walls, yells which the white men heard +without comprehending their meaning.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The people obeyed, forcing them along the wall, so +that they were brought under the priests on the gallery. +Then at the opportune moment the priests flung down +that big net which enmeshed the white men and made +them prisoners.</p> + +<p class='c004'>In a very few minutes the entire party of white men +and the woman were captives in the hands of the howling +inhabitants of Zataclin. Instead of being tied, +they were simply dragged along enmeshed in the net—dragged +back to the wide door of the temple, and then +dragged on inside. The Indians yelled shrilly, and the +priests who superintended this curious method, shouted +loud commands.</p> + +<p class='c004'>When within the temple, the ends of the net were +<span class='pageno' id='Page_189'>189</span>caught up by scores of hands, and the net and those +within it were lifted bodily and borne up a broad stairway +into a room. Having been pulled into this room, +the prisoners were dropped to the floor, still swathed +in the binding folds of the net. Then a heavy door +was closed on them and they were left alone. Beyond +the closed door they heard the Indians yelling fiendishly.</p> + +<p class='c004'>It was as strange a capture as was ever made; the +prisoners were like snared birds. For a few moments +after their rough usage they could do nothing but lie +panting on the floor. At length Buffalo Bill got out +his knife, after prodigious effort, and began to cut +the cords of the net. He called to the other men to do +the same, and they, too, got out their knives and began +to slash at the net.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Not a weapon or other bit of property belonging to +the white men had been touched. Perhaps the Indians +feared to touch the things the white men had in their +possession, since the strange fire sticks had the power +to inflict wounds and to make that thunderous roar +and spout deadly smoke.</p> + +<p class='c004'>It took Buffalo Bill but a moment to free himself, +and then he began to cut the cords that held Miss Fernald.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The girl had swooned again under her rough treatment, +and the scout and Lieutenant Butler were trying +to restore her. She was not long unconscious. When +she was helped to her feet, and Lieutenant Butler led +her to a couch by the wall, the couch being formed +of the coats of the men, she tried to smile her gratitude, +<span class='pageno' id='Page_190'>190</span>yet urged them not to take so much trouble for +her. She looked earnestly at the famous scout, whom +she recognized with intense gratitude, for she was +aware that it was he who had so daringly invaded the +temple to release her.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Within their close prison they listened to the ominous +sounds outside.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“There is one thing,” said the scout, as he fingered +his trusty revolver, “they have favored us greatly by +letting us keep our weapons. We can hold a regiment +at bay here.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“But they can starve us out without much trouble,” +said Lieutenant Butler.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Young Lawler was walking slowly round the room, +studying its configuration.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“There is a hole up there, where the light and air +come in,” he said. “There may be something above it.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“If we could get up there we should be only that +much farther from the ground,” suggested Lieutenant +Butler, and, acting upon that suggestion, the scout +studied the opening in the roof of the room.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“We can get up there, if we think it best,” he said. +“We can make ropes out of the cords of this net, and +use them to climb with. That part will be easy enough. +I fancy we shall want to see where that hole will lead.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Seeing that she had recovered somewhat, Lieutenant +Butler began to ask questions of Miss Fernald. Soon +they heard her story. She had wandered forth for a +stroll, and had got turned around, as they had supposed, +and lost herself; after that she had wandered +on and on in a vain endeavor to find the camp. While +<span class='pageno' id='Page_191'>191</span>crossing the sandy area where they had seen her footprints, +she had been pounced upon by a hideous creature.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“An orang-utan!” said Professor Bounderby, with +the accent of positive knowledge. “It must have +frightened you very much.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“It frightened me almost to death,” she said, “but +he was not an orang-utan.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“No?” he cried. “Not an orang-utan?” He got +out his pencil and notebook. “What was it, then?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>All were now bending to listen.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“My dear young lady, if it was not an orang-utan, +what kind of beast was it?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“It was a man.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Not a beast, but a man! That is impossible. We +saw its footprints, and——”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“It was a gnarled, bent man, hump-shouldered, with +very large, long arms, and twisted, naked feet like +claws. And he was an Indian, though he did not wear +paint nor feathers, his clothing was simply some skins +sewed loosely together. When he pounced on me, I +fainted. But I regained consciousness by the time we +reached the high bluffs that encircle this valley.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“In those bluffs was an opening, which held a queer +elevator, and down that elevator and through a black +tunnel he took me. When we came out I saw this +valley and this temple, with the houses.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I was so frightened that when he ordered me on +I did not try to resist. I was helpless, and I think I +was nearly crazy. He brought me to this temple, and +here I was placed in a room somewhat like this. To-day +<span class='pageno' id='Page_192'>192</span>I was tied, taken out, put in a pavilion that men +carried on their shoulders, and set in the midst of a +vast procession. When we got to the temple again, +I discovered that I was to be murdered—killed by the +priests as a sacrifice to their gods.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Her face grew paler at the recollection of her experience, +and she closed her eyes as if to shut it out of +her mind. She opened them, and went on with her +story.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“And then this brave man came—this man whom +you call Buffalo Bill, the American scout. The rest +you know.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Bounderby still held his notebook and pencil. The +professor’s thirst for knowledge seemed to make him +forget his position and danger.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Tell me,” he urged, “about this queer dwarf who +captured you. Did you particularly observe his feet?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I noticed them—they were gnarled and twisted, as +if they had been cut and subjected to torture. I never +saw feet like them.” She closed her eyes again and +shuddered. “But there are others here like him,” she +added. “Another just like him, or nearly like him, +brought food to me in my prison, and when I looked +out—there were bars in my prison—I saw still others.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“More dwarfs of that kind!” cried Bounderby, so +astonished that he neglected to use his pencil. “Perhaps +we have found here a race of queer dwarfs.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I should not call them dwarfs,” she corrected. +“They were as large as any of the other Indians, only +they were knotted and twisted, and they walked bent +<span class='pageno' id='Page_193'>193</span>over. And they were clothed differently from the +other Indians.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Re-mark-able!” said Bounderby. “Simply past all +belief.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Yet it is but the truth.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“My dear young lady, I do not doubt your word; +I mean, it is simply so strange that it staggers the imagination.” +Then he began to write furiously in his +notebook, talking out the words as he set them down. +“Remarkable!” he said, as he concluded. “Re-mark-able!”</p> + +<hr class='c021'> +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_194'>194</span> + <h2 id='ch_27' class='c018'>CHAPTER XXVII.<br> <br><span class='fss'>THE AZTEC SLAVES.</span></h2> +</div> + +<p class='c008'>While Miss Fernald was still telling her strange +story and Professor Bounderby was indulging in his +characteristic comments, there was a sound of dragging +footsteps beyond the closed door.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“One of those strange men, I believe!” said the +girl.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Perhaps if he opens that door we can get out!” +suggested Tom Lawler, and in a moment he drew his +revolver.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“No shooting!” said the scout. “The less we do of +that, the better, I think. Our peril is great enough +without adding to it.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“But you mean to get away if you can?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Certainly, and we may do some shooting, for the +purpose of frightening these Indians.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>He arose and laid hand on his revolver.</p> + +<p class='c004'>All watched the door, and saw it fly open. The +space beyond was crowded with feathered and painted +Indians, but at the door was a strange man-beast creature, +answering to the girl’s description of the man +who had captured her. He had a skin robe cast loosely +about his crooked shoulders, and he bent and shambled +as he walked. The Indians behind him pushed him on +into the room, and immediately closed the door after +him.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The scout looked curiously at the twisted feet as +<span class='pageno' id='Page_195'>195</span>the man shuffled in. The hands were as twisted and +gnarled as the feet, and his face was seamed and +scarred as if it had been touched by fire or hacked with +knives. He cowered, stopping close by the wall, and +looking out under bushy brows at the prisoners in the +room. His eyes were crafty and bloodshot. He spoke, +but in words they could not understand.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Professor Bounderby pushed forward, staring at the +man. In his excitement he had forgotten his pencil +and notebook.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“One of those words sounded like a Maya word, +used by certain of the Indians of Yucatan. I spent +a year in Yucatan, studying the ruined cities, and I +learned something of the Mayan language at that +time.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>He began to speak in queer words to the knotted +and bowed man before him.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The effect was remarkable. The man looked at him, +the light of understanding in his bloodshot eyes, and +then he answered.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The professor was so delighted he could have +danced. His face flushed and his eyes glittered.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“He understands Maya, in a manner,” he said. “It +seems that these Indians are a branch of the Mayas, +or the Mayas are a branch of this tribe. All are +united with the ancient Aztecs.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Having stopped long enough to make this explanation, +he began again, and for five minutes he poured +out a stream of strange words, receiving answers. He +had set the bowed figure to talking at a great rate. +<span class='pageno' id='Page_196'>196</span>The professor listened, still forgetful of his precious +notebook.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Well, if this isn’t remarkable!” he said. “The +mystery is unraveled. This will make my lecture a +success—a prodigious success. The name of Professor +Felix Bounderby will be known throughout the whole +scientific world because of this. It will——”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Remember, Professor Bounderby, that we are dying +with curiosity to know what he has been telling +you,” the scout reminded.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Bounderby had been fishing for his notebook, but +his hand stopped its fumbling.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Very true!” he cried. “Let me tell you his remarkable +story; and if you do not say it is wonderful, +I am mistaken.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“This poor man”—he pointed at the bowed form—“is +the victim, I may say, of the religion of these people. +They are Aztecs, who have never been in touch +with white men; here in this valley they have lived +century after century, practicing their ancient religion. +They believe that they are children of the gods, and +their priests trace descent from a great god whose +name was Zataclin. They call themselves Zataclins, +and Zataclin is the name of their city here.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“This poor man, and others here who are like him, +are slaves; they are not of the race of these Aztecs, +but belong to a tribe that lives beyond the mountains, +who have had some intercourse with white men. Now +and then that tribe and the Aztecs of this city are at +war. Prisoners taken by these Aztecs are subjected +to tortures which transform them into horrible monsters +<span class='pageno' id='Page_197'>197</span>of the kind you see before you. After that they +are held as slaves, and are treated with great indignity.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“This miserable man tells me that one of his fellow +slaves, being out in the hills, saw the white girl. +He was not as ignorant of the existence of white men +as are the Aztecs; he had seen many of them before +he was made a prisoner and held here. When he beheld +this girl, it occurred to him that by capturing her +and taking her to the priests he might gain their favor, +and that is why he did it. He tried to make them +think she had been sent here in some miraculous manner.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“As it chanced, the day of her capture fell on the +day of a great religious feast, and there had been a +prophecy that at some time the gods would send for a +sacrifice on that feast day a creature so beautiful that +her offering up on the sacrificial stone would be more +acceptable than any ever made before.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Her capture tallied with that prophecy, and they +proceeded to celebrate it in a manner worthy of so +great an event. We chanced to see a part of that celebration, +and fortunately were in time to rescue her.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Vat iss?” groaned Henselman, who sat humped +against the wall, up to this time in disconsolate silence. +“She vill pe saccervised, eenyhow, unt ve vill pe saccervised +mit her. Ve are all dead men togedder.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“This poor man tells me” Bounderby continued, +“that the Aztecs here feared to enter this room, because +of the fire sticks which make so much noise and +strike men down, and so they forced him to enter. He +<span class='pageno' id='Page_198'>198</span>brings a message. If we will surrender the young +lady, so that she may be sacrificed in accordance with +that old prophecy, we will be permitted to depart unharmed.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Henselman rocked eagerly forward. “Bud can ve +trusd dem?” he wailed. “Aber ve do dot voult dey +led us go free?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I suppose you’d accept such an offer?” cried young +Lawler, in scorn. “By gad, I never saw such a contemptible +coward as you, in all my life!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>The young woman had started up.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“It will be best to do as he says,” she declared, her +face pale as death. “You cannot escape from this +place. If you do not agree all of you will be killed, +while if you surrender me you can go. My life will +be lost anyway, even if you stay.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Never!” cried the scout, with stern determination. +“If we must, we will all die here together.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Bud I am nod vanting to die alretty yet!” wailed +the unhappy German. “Tell dose mans for me dot I +accept.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Tell him,” said the scout, “that we cannot accept +the offer. And tell him that our fire sticks not only +make smoke and noise and wound men, but that they +kill them, and that we will fight here to the death, if +they do not let us go. Give him that message.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Aye, give it to him straight!” cried Lieutenant +Butler. “Tell him they can have this Dutch pig here, +crammed full of bullets, for a burnt offering!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“But you cannot escape,” the girl urged, “it is folly +to send such a reply.”</p> + +<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_199'>199</span>“We will all die here together, before we will do +anything of the kind,” the scout declared.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Young Lawler swung his hat in a species of mad +excitement.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“We will!” he shouted. “Tell ’em that!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Bounderby made the gnarled slave acquainted with +the decision of the prisoners.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“See if it is possible to bribe him,” Buffalo Bill suggested. +“Perhaps he knows a way out.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Bounderby spoke to him again, and they saw the +slave shake his head in a negative.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“There is no way out, he says,” interrupted Bounderby. +“That hole up there leads only to a gallery +that gives access to the shining dome on the top of +the temple, and there is no way to get down, except +by some passages and doors known only to the +priests.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“We will get up there and hunt for those secret +passages,” said the scout.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“What shall I try to bribe him with?” said Bounderby, +perplexed.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Tell him we will give him and some of his comrades +fire sticks, and that with them they can fight +their way out to freedom. The thought of freedom +ought to spur him to try anything.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Bounderby spoke again to the broken slave. But +the latter only shook his head sadly. Not only had +his body been broken, but likewise his spirit. He +had no courage left.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Beyond the closed and locked door they heard a +gathering roar of voices, showing that the Aztecs out +<span class='pageno' id='Page_200'>200</span>there were growing impatient and were demanding the +return of their messenger.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The slave cast a frightened look toward the door.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“He’s got to go,” said Bounderby, “they’re calling +for him out there. Is there any other message we can +send by him?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“No other!” said the scout. “Tell them that we will +slay them all with the fire sticks if they do not release +us, and that we will fight to the death to protect the +young lady.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Bounderby delivered the message.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Ask him, professor, if the slave who captured the +young lady was the one who attacked me in the night?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“He says it was,” said Bounderby, when he had +asked the question. “The slave thought there must be +white men where there was a white woman, and he +went forth to see. He thought if he could capture one +of the white men and present him to the priests he +would win greater favor.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“The scoundrel!” said young Lawler.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“While you are at it, professor, ask him about the +elevator and the stream which we thought gave it +power.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>These questions were put and answered.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“He says that the Aztecs are a very wonderful people. +They have many strange things they have made, +or that were made by their forefathers. That elevator +run by water power is but one of them.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>The slave turned about and hammered on the door +to summon the doorkeeper.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Henselman groaned when he saw the bowed figure +<span class='pageno' id='Page_201'>201</span>pass through the door and caught a glimpse of the +excited Indians packed densely together beyond.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Ve iss all dead men togedder!” he declared ominously.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Shut up!” retorted Butler. “I wish <em>you</em> were +dead!”</p> + +<hr class='c021'> +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_202'>202</span> + <h2 id='ch_28' class='c018'>CHAPTER XXVIII.<br> <br><span class='fss'>THE ESCAPE.</span></h2> +</div> + +<p class='c008'>A howl of rage and disappointment arose when +the slave delivered his message. But the attack which +was now expected did not come.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“They intend to starve us out,” was the scout’s conjecture.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Lieutenant Butler glanced at the hole in the roof.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Yes, I think we’d better try that,” assented the +scout. “We can be no worse off than here, if we can +get up there, and we may discover something.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Ve iss all dead togedder!” groaned Henselman, +but when he saw the other members of the party begin +to tear up the net for the purpose of twisting its cords +into ropes, the hope of escape caused him to lend a +hand.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Though the net was large, and therefore presented +abundant material, the work of cutting out the cords +in such a manner that they could be used was not +easy. But the ropes, hand-twisted, grew in size and +length, until the scout declared they had enough for +their experiment.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Out of the ropes he fashioned a long lasso, and, +standing in the center of the room, he hurled its noose +at a supporting roof beam which projected just beneath +the hole.</p> + +<p class='c004'>At the second cast he caught the beam with the loop, +and when he had drawn it fast he ascended the rope, +<span class='pageno' id='Page_203'>203</span>hand over hand, with all the dexterity of a trained +acrobat. It did not take the skillful scout long to +reach the opening. There, standing on the end of the +beam, with his head thrust through the opening, he +looked about.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“There is a gallery here, which leads to the dome,” +he announced. “In the other direction it ends at a +stone door, which I suppose is impassable. Just stay +here while I look about a minute.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>He crawled through the opening, and placed his +feet in the wide gallery.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Passing upward, he found that the gallery became a +winding stairway which led into the dome. This was +a round cupola, with windows overlooking the valley +and the adjacent hills. He was astonished by the view +to be had from those windows. Far off he could even +see the conelike hill of magnetic iron which had affected +the compasses, and nearer at hand, though quite +distant, the white, flat stone standing upright like +the wall of a tent, on which that message of the heliograph +had been flashed. But there was apparently +no way of escape from the dome except by a suicidal +leap from one of the windows.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Below him he saw masses of Indians moving about +in apparent excitement.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Even if we could get down from here, we should +be right in the midst of them,” was his thought.</p> + +<p class='c004'>When he had retraced his steps to the stairway and +gallery and had gone downward and in the other direction +to the stone door, which he could not even shake, +he returned to the opening in the roof of the room. +<span class='pageno' id='Page_204'>204</span>He crawled through to the beam, and rested on it, +while he spoke to those below, telling them of his +discoveries.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I don’t know that we’ll be better off up here, or in +the dome, than down there,” he admitted, “but we’ll +at least have a better outlook, and that’s something.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Lawler grasped the rope and began to climb it.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The scout permitted him to ascend to a seat beside +him on the beam.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I think now, lieutenant,” he said, “that it would be +well to make a sort of harness, or chair, for the young +lady, in that end of the rope, after which we will hoist +her up to this point. Perhaps before she ascends it +will be best for you to come up here and help us to +lift her.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“But I can climb,” she protested.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Nevertheless, Lieutenant Butler, assisted by Bounderby, +knotted together a sort of combined chair and +harness, in which she could sit, and which would support +her. They saw she was too weak from her trying +experience to attempt to climb the rope, and they +had no thought of permitting her to try it.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Having done this, Lieutenant Butler climbed up to +the perch occupied by the scout and Lawler, and all +three men then lent a hand in hoisting her up to that +point.</p> + +<p class='c004'>It was a hard pull, for the footing was not good, +but she aided herself by pushing with her feet against +the wall.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Henselman came next, in the chair she had used, assisting +<span class='pageno' id='Page_205'>205</span>himself all he could, but groaning prodigiously; +and he was followed by Professor Bounderby.</p> + +<p class='c004'>When they stepped out into the gallery, they took +the rope with them; they had also brought the remnants +of the big net, thinking they might be of further +use.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Professor Bounderby was delighted with the view +from the dome, and at once began to set down his impressions +in his notebook. The others began to discuss +possible ways of escape.</p> + +<p class='c004'>As he looked out at the white, tentlike rock in the +distance, Buffalo Bill had a happy thought.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Lieutenant Butler,” he said, “it would be possible, +I suppose, for you to flash a message from here to +the face of that rock. Or is the sun not just right +for it now?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>The face of the lieutenant lighted up at the suggestion.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“We can do it,” he said. “Lucky they didn’t take +our things from us. Of course if no one is near the +rock the message would be useless, but we can try it.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>For the next few minutes Butler and Lawler busied +themselves with getting the heliograph together and +in working order, adjusting its mirrors to the sun, +and training them on that white wall.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Major Fernald is out there somewhere,” said Butler, +his face flushed with hope. “<a id='tn016'></a>The chances are not +great, but he may happen to be where he will see the +flashes. I’m sure we can strike that rock with them. +The position of the sun in this window is all right for +it, and the heliograph is in working order now.”</p> + +<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_206'>206</span>Then he sighted the machine at the rock, and soon +began to flash his message for help<a id='tn017'></a>.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“The only thing to do,” he said, “is to keep it up—repeat +it over and over. If they’re not there, or near +there now, they may come there some time this afternoon. +And we can try it again to-morrow; keep it +going all day. This is a great idea, Cody. We can +hold those bloody Aztecs back with our revolvers, and +stay in here a week, even if we haven’t any food, and +perhaps before we’re actually starved out we can reach +the major.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>He worked with enthusiasm.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill trained his binoculars on the white rock, +and could see the flashes playing and flitting on its surface.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Hour after hour Lieutenant Butler continued his +work, and when he tired, young Lawler took it up, so +that a succession of messages was being sent continuously.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Over and over they said the same thing:</p> + +<p class='c022'>“We are prisoners in the temple in the valley, which +you can see from the cliff walls. We are doomed. +Miss Fernald is with us. Come to our help.</p> + +<div class='c023'>“<span class='sc'>Butler.</span>”</div> + +<p class='c024'>While this was going on, the Aztecs were not idle. +They discovered soon that the prisoners had escaped +from their prison room and were in the temple dome. +They crowded the gallery and filled the stairway, before +the scout and those with him knew that the +escape from the prison room had been found out.</p> + +<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_207'>207</span>Cody saw that the stone door was still closed, though +doubtless the Aztecs had come through it.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“We’ll charge the rascals by and by, if we have to, +and clear them out of there,” he said, “and perhaps +when we do we may be able to get through that door. +It might let us reach the ground.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Bud voult dot hellup us?” said the despairing Henselman. +“Ve coult pe kilt yoost so soon as dey seen +us. Id iss no use. Ve iss all dead men togedder.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>The talk of reaching Major Fernald with the heliograph +had aroused Henselman’s hope a bit at first, but +that hope died utterly as the hours passed without result. +He saw the sun sinking, and knew that night +was coming when no more messages could be sent.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Unt maype to-morrow vill be dark like id vas yisterday,” +he urged, “unt ve can’t sent no messaches at +all. Id iss no use.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Bounderby rebuked him at intervals, even though +the professor’s courage had weakened until it was little +better than that of the German.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Henselman, I am heartily ashamed of you!” the +professor would declare. “You are in no more danger +than the rest of us. Think what fine material this +will make for my lecture, when we escape from here.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>As the sun sank, and Butler declared no more messages +could be sent that afternoon, a strange commotion +was seen near the wall of the valley.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Indians on the highway there were seen running +toward the temple. As they came nearer and met +others, these began to run, too. Then behind them, in +the dust of the highway, the forms of white men were +<span class='pageno' id='Page_208'>208</span>seen, and reports of rifles sounded, the smoke puffs +from the guns leaping now and then out of the dust +cloud.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill swung his hat and cheered.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Help at last!” he said. “Lieutenant Butler, your +messages have been seen. If I’m not mistaken, there +come Major Fernald and his gallant followers. We +are saved!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Henselman leaped to his feet. “Vere?” he said, +then he, too, swung his hat, roaring: “Ve are safed! +Ve are safed!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Miss Fernald leaned from a window of the dome, +looking with moist eyes across the valley.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“My brother!” she whispered. “My brave brother!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>In a little while the forms of the men who were driving +the Indians before them could be seen more plainly. +They were coming up at a swift pace, on foot, and +were shooting at every Indian they saw, thus carrying +consternation into the midst of the Aztecs, who +saw their friends falling slain by those mysterious fire +sticks.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The Aztecs near the temple were thrown into a +panic, as the white men charged them, shooting at +them, and tumbling many of them down, wounded or +dead.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The Indians who had crowded the gallery and stairway +leading to the dome vanished through that stone +door; but before Buffalo Bill and his companions +could get down to it the door was closed and immovable.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Though they hammered on it, they could not shake +<span class='pageno' id='Page_209'>209</span>it; nor could they find any means of opening it. It +seemed set in a groove, in which it no doubt slid, but +their utmost exertions would not move it.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Major Fernald had more than twenty men with him, +and they conducted themselves like heroes.</p> + +<p class='c004'>In spite of the tremendous force which they might +have expected would oppose them, they had climbed +the cliff walls into the valley, and then had charged +with sublime heroism upon the Indians between them +and the shining temple mentioned in the heliograph +message which they had fortunately seen flashing on +that tentlike stone so far away.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Right into the temple they came, firing at every Indian +seen; and so great was the scare they created, and +so terrible the fear in which the Indians stood of those +death-dealing fire sticks, that the Aztecs fled pellmell, +scattering in every direction.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Some of the priests opposed them at the altar and +before the sacrificial stone, only to fall dead there. +But now that they were in the temple itself, they did +not see the prisoners. They discovered at length, however, +that they were in the high dome, and they found +a way to get up to it.</p> + +<p class='c004'>They arrived at the door which shut the prisoners +in, but from that side the door was not difficult to +move; they had but to throw their weight against it, +and it slipped along in its groove, opening for the prisoners +a way to freedom.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Emily Fernald fell with hysterical sobbing into the +arms of her brother.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Not many words were spent in telling how Major +<span class='pageno' id='Page_210'>210</span>Fernald’s party, after long searching, had returned +toward the point from which they had started, and +while so doing had passed near the tentlike rock, and +there had seen the heliograph messages; time was too +precious to be wasted in much talk.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The prisoners and their rescuers hurried down from +the dome, and made haste to get out of the valley of +Zataclin while the fright of the Aztecs lasted.</p> + +<p class='c004'>They gained the hills beyond the cuplike valley, and +by the stars found a northerly course, which they +hoped would take them out of danger before morning.</p> + +<p class='c004'>When morning arrived the sky was again gray and +cloudy and the compasses refused to perform their +mission. But under the expert guidance of Buffalo +Bill the party held as true a course as possible, so that +on the second day they were far from the valley of +the mysterious Aztecs of Zataclin. It was so bewildering +a region that they did not care to seek it again; but +were content to let the bloody-red priests and people +live there undisturbed, as they had done from time +immemorial.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I think you should be content to go back to the +ranch for a while, and stay with father, Emily,” said +her brother, when they all had crossed the border and +were on their way to the town of Bellona. “It seems +to me that you’ve had enough adventures and perils +for any foolhardy girl! Anyway, whatever you think +about it, I simply refuse to take you again with this +expedition, if it should be sent out again.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Lieutenant Butler, for reasons of his own, heartily +<span class='pageno' id='Page_211'>211</span>agreed with this counsel; but he maintained a dignified +and discreet silence. In his own mind, however, +he resolved to try to persuade the girl whom he +loved—if persuasion were needed—not to expose herself +to dangers and hardships in future. He was +greatly relieved when Emily made known her own +wishes in the matter.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Already I have decided to return to the ranch,” she +said quietly.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I’m very glad, dear,” said the major, and then he +added in a lighter tone: “We’re approaching Bellona, +a small garrison town. I expect to find letters from +Colonel Garland there, and I may be ordered to proceed +into another section of the district. In that case, +Butler and Lawler will escort you to Klamath.”</p> + +<hr class='c021'> +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_212'>212</span> + <h2 id='ch_29' class='c018'>CHAPTER XXIX.<br> <br><span class='fss'>AN ENIGMATICAL HOST.</span></h2> +</div> + +<p class='c008'>On reaching Bellona, the major’s prediction was +verified, and his orders were carried out by the gallant +young lieutenant. Meanwhile, after saying farewell +to these friends, Cody—who also received instructions, +as will be seen later—rode forth alone, on the return +trail, and thence across the borders of New Mexico, +to a small ranch known as the Porfiero Hacienda, +where he arrived about twilight.</p> + +<p class='c004'>When he hitched his horse to the post beyond the +small, flower-filled garden of the ranch, he walked +to the narrow path that ran between the flowers, and +came thus toward the house.</p> + +<p class='c004'>It was a large, rambling adobe, built about a little +court, or placita, in the Mexican style, but had a number +of attached rooms which formed winglike additions, +these seeming to have been tacked on as an afterthought, +to accommodate the needs of a growing +household.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The style was more common to the New Mexico of +a former period than to that of the present, and that +the building was old was shown not only by its architecture, +but by the tumble-down and only partially +repaired condition of certain parts of it, especially the +out-thrust wings.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Such of the windows as were visible to the scout as +he passed up the flower-bordered walk were small, +<span class='pageno' id='Page_213'>213</span>nearly square, and seemed little more than holes +through the thick walls. The flowers, too, while they +bloomed with that profusion which results from a hot +sun in a warm climate, seemed neglected, though there +were apparently attempts, recently made, to remedy +this. Everything betokened a house once of a certain +magnificence, long abandoned, or nearly so, and now +inhabited, and renovated with hasty and ineffective attempts +to restore it to something of its pristine glory.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Over Buffalo Bill’s head was the bright blue sky of +New Mexico, untouched by a cloud, a sky belonging +to a land of drought. There was no water in that sky, +and the only water visible was that which trickled +through some half-choked irrigating ditches and fed +the plants growing in the garden through which the +scout walked.</p> + +<p class='c004'>He was almost to the door, when a Mexican servant +appeared, stared at him, and then retreated hastily, +without bidding him welcome. The servant had the +air of being surprised and startled.</p> + +<p class='c004'>In another minute, and just as the scout reached the +wide door, which had been closed, the door opened, +and a dark-faced man stood there. He looked curiously +at the scout, then smiled and extended his hand.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Welcome, señor,” he said. “In the Southwest, +whoever comes is our guest, so long as he is willing +to bestow on us the pleasure of his company. Ah, +señor, you do not know how the sight of an unfamiliar +face cheers us here in this remote region of +dust and sand! Welcome again, señor.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Yet the welcome in his face was not as warm as that +<span class='pageno' id='Page_214'>214</span>of his words. In fact, a shadow of some kind had +fallen on it; and, as the scout accepted the extended +hand, the dark-faced man searched his countenance +closely, as if questioning.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“You are Señor Leon Ruiz?” the scout asked.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I am happy to answer to that name, señor.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Permit me, then, to introduce myself as William F. +Cody, an American army scout, sometimes known as +Buffalo Bill. You have a handsome place here, señor.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>The dark face of the man calling himself Leon +Ruiz paled slightly.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“You honor me with your presence, Señor Cody,” +he replied. “I have heard of you, and it makes me +happy to offer you the poor hospitality of the Porfiero +Hacienda. Whatever I have is yours, and I and my +servants are at your distinguished service.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>He bowed in the courtly, yet self-abasing, Spanish +fashion, with his hand laid on his heart, and his thin +lips wreathed in a smile. The smile, the bow, and the +attitude made Buffalo Bill think of Mephistopheles.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Leon Ruiz led the way through a wide hall into a +large square room. Old dusty curtains of tapestry +hung at the small, narrow, deep windows. The chairs +and couches, while elegant, were very old and worn. +The white walls were ornamented with pictures of +saints. Over the one door, and the only thing which +was not in harmony with the room, was the head of an +elk, showing great branching antlers.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I have not been here long,” Ruiz explained. “Soon +I hope to have things more in keeping with what this +place should be. It is very old, señor—an old Spanish +<span class='pageno' id='Page_215'>215</span>hacienda, built three hundred years ago, and long neglected, +so that it is falling down and the furniture is +in ruins. But your generous American mind will pardon +defects, I am sure.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>His speech had a hollowness that was not pleasing, +and the glance he bent on the scout, out of the corners +of his eyes, would not have been reassuring, if the +scout had seen it. But Buffalo Bill was at that moment +looking around the room.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“You have not been in possession here long?” said +the scout.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Barely two months, señor. Perhaps you would +like to hear the history of the old place? It is interesting.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I should be delighted.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“As I said, it is very old, and was built by one of +the old Spanish conquistadores—one of the early explorers +and conquerors. The Spaniards who subdued +the natives were but a handful in comparison with the +numbers they governed. They conquered the territory, +took possession of it in the name of the King of +Spain, and proceeded to rule it. But the conquered +Indians were at times rebellious and troublesome, and +were murderously disposed toward their conquerors. +That can scarcely be wondered at, when it is remembered +that the Spaniards subjected them to slavery and +hard toil in the mines. Those mines, producing gold, +silver, and turquoise, had been worked by the Indians +for centuries before the Spaniards came, and it must +have seemed a hardship when they who had regarded +themselves as the owners were forced to toil in those +<span class='pageno' id='Page_216'>216</span>mines, to enrich men who were their enemies and had +enslaved them.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“There were several rebellions, one a very bloody +one. To protect themselves, the Spaniards built houses +such as this, of strong adobe walls, which the Indians, +who had only bows and arrows and lances for weapons, +could do nothing to destroy. The walls, you will observe, +are very thick, and the roof, also of adobe, laid +on a framework of wood, could not be burned.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“In one of the rooms here I can show you a spring +of water, or what seems a spring, bubbling up in the +middle of the floor; it is not truly a spring, but water +conducted by hidden underground pipes from the +mountains. Furnished with water and plentiful food +supplies, as well as with ammunition for their fire-arms, +the Spaniards were able to defy the natives, and +finally subdued them again, and forever after held +them in subjection.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“There you have the history, in brief, of this most +interesting house, so far as it relates to those early +days and to its builders.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Its later history is not so interesting, I fear. It +descended to the Ruiz family, of Spain, but was +abandoned at various times, for many years, as its +owners preferred to live in gay Madrid to dwelling in +this desert land of the New World. A year ago my +father died, and the place came to me by inheritance. +I had often heard of our great estate in New Mexico. +Things told of it took on the colors of gay romance, +in my childish fancy.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Two months ago I arrived here, to find it much as +<span class='pageno' id='Page_217'>217</span>you see it now. I took possession, and have been here +since. I have tried to restore it in some respects, and +the work of restoration still goes on; but, señor, it +was and is far from the place of my childish imaginings. +Perchance if you should come this way in a +year from now, I might have something more worthy +to show you and better hospitality to offer you. But +what I have, and such as I have, is at your service.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>While telling this, Leon Ruiz’s air was furtive, as +if he studied his guest; and Buffalo Bill took note not +only of the manner in which the account was given, but +also of the personal appearance and dress of his host.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Leon Ruiz was very dark, with sloe-black eyes, and +teeth white as milk. Those teeth gleamed now and +then in one of his flickering smiles.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Ruiz now stepped to the door, and gave an order +to a servant.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“We will have supper in a very short time, señor. +And I have ordered your horse stabled and fed.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“You are very kind,” said the scout. “I have no +right to demand hospitality of you.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“The room next to this, overlooking the garden, +will be your guest chamber to-night,” said Ruiz. “It +is not as good as I would wish it, but such as it is, +señor, it is yours for as long as you are willing to +stay.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I think I shall have to go on, after I have enjoyed +your kind hospitality, Señor Ruiz,” said the scout. “I +should like to make a longer stop in this most interesting +place, but the limits of my time forbid it at present.”</p> + +<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_218'>218</span>The Spaniard lifted his brows inquiringly.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill had watched the man closely, and now +he decided to speak what was in his mind.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“You are not a Moor?” he said, asking the question +so suddenly that Ruiz was taken by surprise.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I am of Moorish descent,” he acknowledged. “I +feel that you have a reason for asking that question.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I have,” the scout admitted.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I shall be pleased to hear it, of course, or so much +as you wish to confide to me.” He was looking +straight at the scout now, his sloe-black eyes half +veiled by their heavy black lashes. “The Moors were +long in Spain, you know,” he went on, “and there is +a good deal of Moorish blood still in that land. One +of my ancestors was a Moorish king.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“My mission here,” said the scout “concerns a Moor. +He is, if he is still living, a native of a little kingdom +lying south of Morocco; in fact, he is the crown +prince of that kingdom. He came to this country a +few months ago, and was last heard of somewhere in +this region. There are several reports, none of which +may be correct, concerning his disappearance. My +friend Major Fernald, whom I have just left on his +way to Sagetown, not far from here, has been telling +me a great deal about this young man’s disappearance.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“One report has it that he and his party wandered +into the mountains of Arizona and were killed by +Apaches. Another report says that while crossing +from Yuma to some copper mines in New Mexico, he +and his party were set upon by road agents, and he +<span class='pageno' id='Page_219'>219</span>was slain by them. Another report declares that he +was captured by a band of Mexican brigands, and +that he is now held in Old Mexico, the brigands intending, +perhaps, to demand ransom for him by and +by, when they feel that it is safe to do so. Still another +account says that he and some others were traveling +by stage from Rincon to San Paz, and that the +stage was lost in the quicksands while crossing Perditas +River. Which of these, or whether any of them, +can be believed, I do not know. What is really known +is, that he has dropped out of sight in a mysterious +manner, and it may be that all these stories were set +afloat merely to cover up his real fate.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“The facts so far as known have been submitted to +the United States department of state, and were +communicated to the army officer in command of the +military division of the Southwest. Upon Major Fernald’s +advice, I have to-day been detailed to look into +the matter and make a report; with further instructions +to aid this Moorish crown prince, if I find he is +in distress.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“There you have my story, Señor Ruiz, and the explanation +of why I am here.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>The Spaniard had listened with an intensity that +made his black eyes shine.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“It is a surprising account,” he admitted.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I might not have told it,” said the scout, “but for +your declaration of Moorish descent. Because of that, +it occurred to me that the story might interest you.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“It interests me very much, señor. It is marvelous, +romantic, like one of the ancient tales of Spanish +<span class='pageno' id='Page_220'>220</span>brigandage.” He smoothed his thin mustache with his +jeweled right hand. “But is it reliable?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I think so; my government thinks so. Otherwise, +I should not have been dispatched to look into it.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Very true,” said Ruiz, smiling incredulously. “It +has the sound of a fairy story.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>The scout regarded him attentively.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Of course, you have heard nothing of this, yourself?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I? Not until this moment.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“It struck me as strange and peculiar that while +looking for this lost Moor, I should find, at the first +hacienda I came upon, a man who is of Moorish descent. +It seemed really a remarkable coincidence.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Very true, señor. It does seem so. What was +the name of this lost crown prince?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Raoul Mogador.” Buffalo Bill took a letter from +his pocket, as if to refresh his memory. “Yes, Raoul +Mogador. My memory does not always hold names +of that kind as well as I should like. But that is it. +His father is the present king, I understand, and at +his death this young Moor will become king. I suppose +the country over which this king rules isn’t +much bigger than a pocket handkerchief; but to be +king, even of a small country, is no doubt considered +a very high honor by those who are fortunate enough +to come into the line of succession. And, of course, +the people of this little pocket-handkerchief kingdom +are very much concerned about the strange disappearance +of the man they expect will some day rule over +<span class='pageno' id='Page_221'>221</span>them. Hence, they have asked our government to discover +what has become of him.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Very interesting, I admit,” said Ruiz, “but, indeed, +I have heard nothing at all of this, until you told me. +Pray, is there any way in which I might offer my +aid?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I can think of nothing, so long as you have heard +nothing. I must push on to-night.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“And your destination?” said Ruiz, his voice showing +the interest he could not conceal.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I shall cross the desert below here to San Paz, and +shall look there for some clew. It is nearer than this +to the point where, those conflicting reports say, he +vanished. Perhaps I can strike some one who can set +me on the right track to get my information.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Permit me to wish you success,” said Ruiz, but his +tone was not sincere. “And when you return,” he +added, “I trust you will again accept my poor hospitality +here, and tell me of your adventures in search +of the Moorish prince. Strange that a prince should +be lost in this republic! Princes are out of place here. +Perhaps that is why he became lost!</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Permit me to step out and see how our supper is +coming on,” he said, rising. “I have not the most reliable +servants in the world, señor, I am sorry to say. +They must be watched, or things go wrong continually. +I will return in a little while.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>From a shelf he took cigarettes and matches, and +placed them on the small table near which the scout +sat.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Your pardon for not thinking of these, señor, but +<span class='pageno' id='Page_222'>222</span>you can enjoy a smoke and the society of your own +pleasant thoughts while I am away.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Adios!” he said, turning about in the doorway, and +bowing. Then he vanished into the wide hall, and was +gone.</p> + +<hr class='c021'> +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_223'>223</span> + <h2 id='ch_30' class='c018'>CHAPTER XXX.<br> <br><span class='fss'>THE GOLDEN DAGGER.</span></h2> +</div> + +<p class='c008'>“Cunning as a Spaniard and treacherous as a +Moor!” thought Buffalo Bill, selecting one of the +cigarettes and lighting it, after having made sure by +taste and smell that it was not doctored. He looked +at the door where Leon Ruiz had disappeared. “I +wonder how much he knows, if anything? That will +be hard to find out. To judge by his looks, he is more +Moor than Spaniard. What a curious room! A +good place for a prison. These walls are wonderfully +thick, and if the windows and door were properly +barred, a fellow would have a hard time getting out.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Sitting there, he recalled the verbal instructions of +the colonel, who had asked him to undertake this difficult +and dangerous commission. Colonel Garland had +written to Major Fernald and to Cody, giving full instructions:</p> + +<p class='c022'>“At the old Porfiero Hacienda you will find a man +who has but lately come there and taken possession, +making his appearance from no one knows where. +He is said to be a Spaniard, and claims the estate as +his by inheritance. So far as I know, his claim may +be true. I want you to see him, and have a talk with +him. You will be able to judge something by what +he says and does when you tell him that you are looking +for Prince Mogador. He may know nothing, +and he may know a great deal. As to that, you will +have to be the judge, and you can be trusted to find +<span class='pageno' id='Page_224'>224</span>out as much as any other man could. I am sending +you because I trust so implicitly in your wisdom and +discretion.”</p> + +<p class='c024'>Buffalo Bill smoked his cigarette quietly as he +thought over Colonel Garland’s instructions.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I have tried to sound the fellow,” was his thought, +“yet the result has put me very much at sea. I shall +have to talk with him further and watch him closely. +I know my story surprised him, and it seemed to startle +him. Why should it startle him, if he knows nothing? +And how does it chance that he came to this +place at about the time the prince disappeared?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Ruiz was gone so long that the scout rose and began +to walk around the room, inspecting the pictures +of saints and the curtains and tapestry. As he did so, +he came to a set of hanging shelves in a corner.</p> + +<p class='c004'>At first glance, the shelves seemed to contain only +ore specimens, apparently gathered in the surrounding +hills. There were greenish specimens of copper ore, +pyrites, glittering quartz, and one from a turquoise +mine showing the turquoise in its matrix of stone. +Buffalo Bill had seen many similar specimens, and was +not interested. But as he lifted a large slab of green +copper ore, there was displayed beneath it a queer dagger, +which at once caught his eye.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The dagger was large and ponderous, with a handle +that seemed to be gold. It was apparently of Moorish +make, and the gold handle was covered with fine and +intricate figures and scrollwork.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill lifted it to the light of the window and +looked at it with marked interest.</p> + +<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_225'>225</span>“A strange-looking dagger,” was his thought. “I +never saw one like it. It must be rare and valuable.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>He passed his thumb along the keen edges of the +double blade, and felt of the sharp point.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“A nasty weapon in a fight, if handled by a fanatical +Moor. I judge it is Moorish.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>He placed the dagger where he had found it, and, +standing by the window, became lost in thought.</p> + +<p class='c004'>It struck him as strange that in this house he should +find that dagger of Moorish make. Yet, when he +recalled that Leon Ruiz had said he was of Moorish +descent, it did not seem so strange, after all. No +doubt, Ruiz had come legitimately into possession of +it, the dagger had been handed down from some Moorish +ancestor. Ruiz had declared the family legends +held that one of his ancestors had been a Moorish +king.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Turning these things over in his mind, Buffalo Bill +began to conclude that it was very natural, after all, +to find that dagger in Ruiz’s house.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I suppose he didn’t think to show it to me when +he was talking of his Moorish descent. He may have +many Moorish relics. I suppose he has. In this matter +I must not let my imagination run away with sober +judgment.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>He was still standing by the window, pondering, +when he heard a light step. He had observed that +the sun had gone down and that night was at hand.</p> + +<p class='c004'>When he turned from the window, expecting to see +Ruiz in the doorway, he beheld another man, whose +dress proclaimed him to be a Mexican, although there +<span class='pageno' id='Page_226'>226</span>was something of the bandit type in his appearance, in +the slashed trousers, the short Mexican jacket, and +the crimson waist sash, with knife sticking in it. The +face looked more Spanish than Mexican, and what +was intended to be a smile curling the thin-mustached +lip was rather a sneer of cruelty and cunning.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Even more than Leon Ruiz, the scout distrusted +this man at once.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Señor Ruiz has been called away,” said the man, +speaking with a peculiar accent, that had been noticeable +also in the speech of Ruiz. “One of the herdsmen +was thrown by his horse and has suffered a broken +leg. Señor Ruiz<a id='tn018'></a> has gone to attend him. But he bade +me serve you in his place, and I have the pleasure to +announce that supper is awaiting you. Permit me to +introduce myself as Ramon Periguez, the major-domo +here. If you will kindly follow me, señor.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>He turned back into the hall, and the scout followed +him, after a moment of hesitation.</p> + +<p class='c004'>While passing through the hall into the dining +room, Buffalo Bill looked from the doorway and saw +only the usual quiet of the place.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The scout and the major-domo were the only two +persons at the supper table. They were waited on by +a light-footed servant, dressed in white, who came +and went about as if he were an automaton speaking +never a word except when directly addressed. The +scout noticed that he spoke English very badly. His +face was as dark as the face of Leon Ruiz.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Señor Ruiz was telling me something of the interesting +story you bring,” said the major-domo, while +<span class='pageno' id='Page_227'>227</span>the servant was pouring the wine. “I trust I may be +permitted to hear it from your own lips. It is a remarkable +thing, that a Moroccan prince should even +be in this country, not to speak of his getting lost, or +disappearing, in that absurd way. He ought to have +felt quite at home in this sand-and-dust region.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill noted that he took the glasses from the +hand of the servant, instead of permitting the servant +to place them on the table.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“You will have an interesting search for this remarkable +crown prince, I doubt not!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>His hand shook a little as he pushed toward Buffalo +Bill one of the glasses, and the keen-eyed scout +saw a wine-colored powder escape from his fingers into +the glass.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The thing was done so deftly, and the powder dissolved +so quickly, that Buffalo Bill was almost ready +to believe his eyes had fooled him.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Yet he knew now that he faced a dangerous foe, +and he believed that a lie had been told him to account +for the absence of Leon Ruiz. His wits were aroused +instantly, and strengthened for a conflict.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The story of the young prince he told again, not +because he now believed that this man, Ramon Periguez, +cared to hear it, but to occupy the time and give +him a chance to watch Periguez.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Periguez turned his head to speak to the servant, +and, with a quickness that would have done credit to +a professional sleight-of-hand performer, the scout +shifted the glasses of wine, drawing Periguez’s to his +side and pushing his own over in place of it.</p> + +<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_228'>228</span>The servant saw what Periguez did not, and the +napkin resting across his arm dropped to the floor. +He stooped to get it, and said something in a tongue +unknown to the scout. It was like an ejaculation, +such as might be made under the circumstances; but +the start which Ramon Periguez gave told the watchful +scout that the servant had informed him of the +shifting of the wine glasses.</p> + +<p class='c004'>When the major-domo turned about, after saying a +word or two in the same unknown tongue to the +servant, his dark face had changed to a sickly yellow.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I observe that you do not speak Spanish to your +man here,” said the scout. “Is he a Moor?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“It was the language of the Spanish mountaineers,” +said Periguez, evidently disconcerted and confused. +“He is from a little hill town lying far from any of +the recognized routes of travel, and the language there +is difficult for even a Spaniard not well acquainted +with it.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Very interesting,” Buffalo Bill observed dryly, toying +with the glass he had taken.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“There is much Moorish blood in the mountains of +Spain,” said the major-domo, trying to steady his +nerves and get control of himself, for he realized that +his manner was betraying him.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I have never been in Spain,” said the scout quietly.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“You should travel in Spain. You would find it a +very interesting country.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“You are Spanish, of course?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Periguez bowed. “I am from Madrid.<a id='tn026'></a>” He lifted +his wine glass as if to put it to his lips, but caught the +<span class='pageno' id='Page_229'>229</span>table linen between his fingers as he did it, and by an +apparent accident let the glass fall to the floor, where +it was shivered into atoms. He started up nervously +at the crash.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“How awkward of me!” he exclaimed, and, summoning +the servant, he ordered the broken glass to be +removed. He had another glass brought and filled.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Very excellent wine,” said the scout, sipping his.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“The finest to be procured in Spain,” said Periguez. +“It is made by the monks of San Sebastian, and it +has a great reputation in my country. You were telling +me of the Moroccan prince,” he said, smiling +with hypocritical lips. “And I believe you were to tell +me your plans for getting at the real facts in this most +interesting mystery?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>The pallor was going out of his face; he had got +rid of the drugged wine which the scout had so cleverly +passed back to him, and, therefore, he felt better. +Yet he was doubtless wondering how it came about +that the scout had suspected him.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The scout talked of his journey to the Porfiero Hacienda, +of the mystery which had sent him forth, and of +his hopes soon to get some tangible information concerning +the missing man. All the while he watched +Periguez closely.</p> + +<p class='c004'>But, having been caught and foiled once, the latter +did not try anything more; perhaps he was not prepared +for anything more.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I have been making some chemical studies lately,” +Buffalo Bill remarked, quite casually. “And they +brought me one bit of queer information. A sleeping +<span class='pageno' id='Page_230'>230</span>potion has been discovered which so resembles wine in +color, and dissolves so readily, that it can be administered +by the physician or nurse to the patient without +the latter even dreaming that it is being administered. +It is used when, in cases where it ought to be given, the +patient objects to taking anything of the kind.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>He touched his wine glass, and watched Periguez’s +face, and again he saw that sickly yellow over-spread +it.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I had not heard of it. You are not a chemist?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“A mere dabbler in chemistry, that is all. No man +can be everything, though he may be properly interested +in many lines of information. I try to be a good +scout, and I find that is quite enough.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Very true,” said the major-domo. “And from all +I hear you have a distinguished reputation in your +line.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Thanks!” said the scout dryly, as he glanced at +his watch. “Señor Ruiz tarries long,” he remarked.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“He had to go some distance,” Periguez explained. +“You will at least stay until he returns?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>The scout dropped the watch back into his pocket.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I have decided to accept his hospitality and remain +overnight at Porfiero Hacienda.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Good!” said Periguez, and there was undoubted +satisfaction in his tone. “It distressed him to think +that you could not accept his hospitality for a short +time, at least. We have very few callers here, and enjoy +so much the few visits we get that we would fain +have our guests remain with us much longer than they +are ever willing.”</p> + +<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_231'>231</span>They arose from the table.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Now you will permit me to show you some of the +interesting things of this queer old house,” said Periguez.</p> + +<p class='c004'>As they strolled from room to room, the scout deftly +led him to the hanging shelves containing the ore +specimens and the dagger of gold.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Ah!” he said, standing before the shelves and looking +at the specimens, lifting one as he spoke, and revealing +the dagger hidden beneath it. “This is a +strange weapon, Señor Periguez!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“It is very old Spanish,” said Periguez. “A magnificent +weapon, as you see!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Not Moorish?” said the scout.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“The pattern may be Moorish; I don’t know as to +that. Much Moorish ornamentation is still used by +the Spanish sword-makers. That scroll work may +very well be Moorish. Why did you ask, señor?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I had no reason, other than curiosity. I simply +desired to know.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Then they strolled on, and the dagger was not +spoken of again.</p> + +<hr class='c021'> +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_232'>232</span> + <h2 id='ch_31' class='c018'>CHAPTER XXXI.<br> <br><span class='fss'>AGAIN IN DANGER.</span></h2> +</div> + +<p class='c008'>The hour was late, and Buffalo Bill sat alone in the +room to which he had been shown by Ramon Periguez. +The door and window were where he could see them. +There was no lock on the door, but he had set a chair +against it, so that the moving of the chair would attract +his attention, if any one tried to get into the +room there.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The great scout’s suspicions were keenly alive. A +sense of peril in the air made his nerves tingle. He +did not know whence the danger was to come, yet that +it would come he was sure.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The attempt to drug his glass of wine, the strange +behavior in other ways of the major-domo, the singular +disappearance of Leon Ruiz, were of themselves +enough to arouse his keenest distrust. To them he +added the fact that Ruiz was a Moor, yet denied it, +claiming to be a Spaniard.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“The distance ridden by Leon Ruiz must be long, +as he has not yet returned,” mused the scout. He had +put out his candle and sat alone in the darkness, but +now he struck a match and glanced at his watch. “Past +midnight! I think I’ll lie down a while.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Cody looked at the chair against the door, and inspected +the window. It was narrow and held but a +loose sash, with small panes of glass. There was no +way to bar it. He lay down on the bed without removing +<span class='pageno' id='Page_233'>233</span>his clothes, and near his hand he placed his revolver; +his face was turned toward the window. There +was no moon, but the stars were bright and gave a +good deal of light. The room was in heavy shadow.</p> + +<p class='c004'>It was not Buffalo Bill’s intention to fall asleep, but +when an hour or more had passed without any occurrence +whatever, he yielded to the feeling of drowsiness +which stole over him.</p> + +<p class='c004'>As he knew afterward, he slept full three hours. +Then he awoke. He heard nothing and saw nothing, +yet some subtle sense told him that enemies had stolen +into the room. The chair was where he had placed it +by the door, and the window seemed not to have been +disturbed. This made it certain that if enemies were +in the room, they had gained it by some secret way.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill lay quite still, though his hand stole +softly to his revolver and clutched it.</p> + +<p class='c004'>When he heard nothing, he turned his head slowly +to look about.</p> + +<p class='c004'>By the opposite wall he saw a dim form, whose eyes +reflected the light that came in from the window, and +so were made visible.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Ramon Periguez!” was the thought of the scout. +“He is in here with assassins, and they will kill me if +they can. They do not intend that I shall go in +search of that missing prince—which proves very conclusively +that they have good reasons for wishing to +stop such an investigation as I intend making. Well, +we’ll see who wins or loses, Ramon Periguez, major-domo +of the Porfiero Hacienda, or myself.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>With a quick motion, he threw his arm over and +<span class='pageno' id='Page_234'>234</span>fired at the crouching figure. The report of the revolver +was deafening, but it did not cover up the +sound of the man’s fall. Then, through the thick +smoke over the bed, the scout sprang up and leaped +for the window.</p> + +<p class='c004'>As he did so, two revolvers spoke within the room, +one of them chipping the adobe from the wall right +over his head, and the other cutting a hole through the +big hat the scout carried in his left hand. He gained +the little window, hearing confused cries, trampling +feet, and a deep groan, and went through it to the outside +like a scudding rat. Then he dropped quickly to +the ground.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Whoever the would-be assassins were, he had +thwarted them, and wounded one of their number.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill was now in the garden. He ran quickly +across it, and leaped the low adobe wall that hedged +it in.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Before him were the stable and the horse corral, and +to the stable he hastened. Behind him, in the hacienda, +he heard cries and shouts and sounds of running +feet.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Dashing into the stable, where his horse should +have been, he saw that it was not there. Apparently it +had not been placed in the stable, or else it had later +been removed from it. Nor were there any other +horses in the stable, and none were in the corral.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Left afoot!” was his thought. “They have horses, +and they think they can ride me down.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>He darted out of the stable, having no desire to be +caught in it and hemmed in.</p> + +<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_235'>235</span>As he ran along the wall and on around the wire +fence of the corral, he heard footsteps in the flower +garden, and then, in the faint starlight, he saw two +men appear. Their voices reached him, and the voice +of one he recognized as that of Ramon Periguez.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Some other scoundrel got my bullet, eh? That is +bad. I had hoped it was the major-domo. Bullets are +good for a rascal of that stamp.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Beyond the corral the scout, to his satisfaction, saw +a horse hitched to a post. It bore a saddle and bridle. +But a man was running toward it from the opposite +side of the house. Apparently, the horse had been +made ready and left there for this man’s use.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“They provided against contingencies that they +hardly expected would arise,” was the scout’s thought. +“They were sure they could kill me in that room. It +had a secret entrance by which they came in. But they +ought to have blocked up that window. A little slip +like that sometimes makes all the difference in the +world in one’s plans.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Cody was running toward the horse, but the man +running from the corner of the house to get to the +horse had the advantage in being much nearer the +animal.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The scout’s revolver came out, and he halted for one +brief second.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“It’s almost discreditable to win even such a race +in this manner!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>The revolver cracked, and the man tumbled to the +ground with a broken leg.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Fire upon me, and you get the next bullet through +<span class='pageno' id='Page_236'>236</span>your head!” the scout shouted to him, as he reached +the horse and sprang into the saddle. Bending forward, +he severed the rope that held it to the post. +Then he plunged the spurs into its sides, and the horse +started off with great bounds, being headed straight +away from the hacienda.</p> + +<p class='c004'>There were more cries and shouts in the darkness +behind him, followed by the barking reports of revolvers, +as the men there began to fire at the figure +they beheld faintly flying onward through the gloom.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The bullets went wild, but immediately there +sounded a pounding of hoofs, showing that a pursuit +had begun.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill bent forward on the neck of his horse, +stroked its mane, and laughed quietly.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Old fellow, it was a great favor that they left you +there for me, after taking my horse! They didn’t intend +it, of course. I wish you could talk, for you +might be able to make some rare revelation. But I +guess something.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>A thunder of hoofs dinned behind him, and cries +floated to him. He drove his steed on madly for +nearly an hour, and then shifted into the course he +wished to pursue.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Too bad to scorn the hospitality of Leon Ruiz and +Ramon Periguez in this way, yet it seems best,” he +remarked, as if speaking to the horse, which was proving +itself to be a speedy animal. “And I really hadn’t +concluded my investigations there! However, a few +things seem to be plain.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“It is plain that Ruiz and his major-domo know +<span class='pageno' id='Page_237'>237</span>much more about the strange disappearance of Prince +Mogador than they would be willing to admit. It is +further plain that Ruiz and that servant are Moors, +and perhaps Periguez is also a Moor. Another thing +is clear: My coming frightened them, and they made +sudden plans to put me out of the way. That can +mean nothing else but that they fear me. The wine +held something worse than a sleeping potion; the powder +was a poison, and if I had swallowed it I should no +doubt be dead before this time. Ah, well, I am out +of their clutches, and I’ll take care not to fall into +them again!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>He glanced backward, listening, but he heard no +sounds of his pursuers.</p> + +<hr class='c021'> +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_238'>238</span> + <h2 id='ch_32' class='c018'>CHAPTER XXXII.<br> <br><span class='fss'>THE MYSTERY OF THE DAGGER.</span></h2> +</div> + +<p class='c008'>Shortly before daybreak Buffalo Bill turned aside +again, rode at an easy gait for a couple of miles, and +then sought a resting place. He found it in a glade +watered by a spring. The glade contained grass, as +well as water, for his horse.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Trusting to the same mysterious faculty which had +aroused and warned him of danger in the hacienda, +Buffalo Bill lay down, wrapped in the Mexican blanket +he had found behind the saddle, and gave himself up +to deep sleep. Yet deeply as he slept, he would have +been aroused by the slightest sound of a suspicious +nature, though the movements of the horse did not disturb +him in the least.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Many a night when Indian foes hunted for his life, +he had thus lain down to get a little needed rest, though +knowing that he was literally surrounded; and he had +trusted to the security given by that singular faculty +which warned him as certainly of danger as the odor +of some venomous serpent warned him of its presence. +Buffalo Bill never attempted to explain this, but he +had found that he could trust to it.</p> + +<p class='c004'>It was broad day when he awoke. The horse was +lying down, after having eaten the grass to the end +of its tether.</p> + +<p class='c004'>From the edge of the bushes the scout scanned the +country in the direction of Porfiero Hacienda, and +<span class='pageno' id='Page_239'>239</span>then, with his field glasses, from the other edge of the +little grove he surveyed the mountains that loomed before +him. They were an outthrust spur of the Superstition +Range, their sides nearest him being palisaded, +barren of trees, and almost as steep in places as the +walls of a house. They seemed to cut him off from +the route he had chosen. He studied them long, +searching for a pass that would lead in the direction +of the Perditas River and the little town of San Paz.</p> + +<p class='c004'>As he made this search along the base of the mountain, +his glasses caught a brief view of a horseman +riding there. The man was far off, and before the +scout could make him out clearly, he had ridden behind +some tall rocks, out of sight.</p> + +<p class='c004'>But the man’s presence there, combined with the +pursuit of the night, suggested the possibility that some +of the hacienda pursuers had passed and were now +ahead of him.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“And that means that I’ve got to be careful as I +go on,” was his thought. “It wouldn’t be pleasant, or +healthy, to be caught by those rascals in some narrow +pass of those mountains.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>As he had no food, the scout ventured to shoot a +sage rabbit. He doubted if any one was near enough +to hear the report of his revolver. Anyway, as he required +food, he was willing to take the risk.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Over a fire of dry sticks he cooked the rabbit he had +killed, and from the borders of the grove he watched +to see if the smoke attracted attention. It was a light +smoke; yet in that clear air it might be seen a long +distance.</p> + +<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_240'>240</span>When Buffalo Bill had satisfied his hunger, he +mounted and rode forward again, but he shifted to +an indirect course that would screen him and his horse +as they approached the precipitous walls of the Superstition +Mountains. He saw no one now, the rider beheld +from the grove had vanished completely.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Arriving at a point near where he had seen that rider +with his glasses, the scout dismounted, and after tying +the horse, he set out on foot, to inspect the ground +where it seemed the horseman had been. Great was +his surprise, as he thus walked on, to come suddenly +face to face with Ramon Periguez.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Periguez was at the moment scanning the ground, +as if also looking for tracks, and he was taken by surprise +quite as much as the scout.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Strange that we meet here!” was Buffalo Bill’s +greeting, when Periguez lifted himself with a start on +hearing the scout’s footsteps.</p> + +<p class='c004'>That sickly yellow came into the Spanish Moor’s +face; but it passed instantly, giving place to a hot flush +of anger. For a moment Periguez did not speak, while +his right hand stole stealthily toward his revolver.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I wouldn’t do that, señor,” said the scout coolly. +“The risk is too great.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Do what?” Periguez snarled.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Try to draw that revolver. If you should try +it seriously, another revolver might go off, to your +hurt.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“You mean that you would shoot me?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I should certainly defend myself, señor. How does +it come that you are here?”</p> + +<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_241'>241</span>“My horse brought me.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Very good. I presumed as much. I mean why +are you here? The hour is early, and Porfiero Hacienda +is some distance off. You were looking for +me.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I was not. Yet, if I was?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“You and your rascals tried to assassinate me in +my room at the hacienda last night. You slipped in +by some secret passage and were in the room before I +knew it. But I sleep like the weasel, señor, and I +awoke in time, fortunately for me. I was sorry to +shoot one of your servants, I thought the fellow was +you.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Periguez’s black eyes burned with anger he had tried +vainly to suppress. A sudden reckless defiance flushed +his face.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Yes!” he shouted. “We followed you, and you +shall not escape us now! I admit that I was looking +here for the tracks of your horse. I thought you had +already passed along. But I have men here, and you +cannot escape us this time.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill folded his arms and looked with a +mocking smile at the enraged man.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“You are overconfident, my good major-domo. I +really fear you are overconfident! Tell me, why did +you seek my life last night, and why have you and +your villains chased me to this point?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Do I have to answer the questions of an American +dog?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“You may feel the bite of the American dog, señor, +unless you choose your words with more care. It +<span class='pageno' id='Page_242'>242</span>isn’t pleasant to be insulted even by a murderous scoundrel.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“You shall rue this!” Periguez panted, his hand +again stealing toward his revolver in spite of the +scout’s warning.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I think I can tell you. You know what has become +of Prince Mogador. His disappearance is to benefit +you, or your employers. Confess it, my dear Periguez, +it will save both of us trouble!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Ramon’s revolver came out with a quick motion, +and he lifted it to fire at the scout, a cry of triumph +at the same time rising from his lips. But the cry +changed to a groan.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Something bright shot downward and struck him +in the breast as he lifted the revolver. The weapon +dropped from his hand, and he stumbled backward, +with that bright thing protruding from his bosom. It +was a gold-handled dagger!</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill had not touched the man who threatened +him, but the dagger of gold, dropping from the sky, +had struck the villain down in a manner that was bewildering +and mysterious.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The astounded scout leaped to the rascal’s assistance +as he thus tumbled backward. He bent over him, as he +dropped to the ground, and then, kneeling by him, he +lifted Periguez’s head.</p> + +<p class='c004'>But the man was already dead, the dagger had been +driven to his heart. It was a thing so unexpected and +astonishing that Buffalo Bill was bewildered.</p> + +<p class='c004'>As soon as he saw that Periguez was beyond help, +Buffalo Bill glanced up at the sky, and at the cliff +<span class='pageno' id='Page_243'>243</span>which rose close by him; but neither in the sky nor on +the cliff did he see anything to elucidate this mystery. +He looked at the dagger. He had already noticed that +its handle was of a dull, golden luster, but now he +stared at it in wide-eyed amazement.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“The dagger of gold!” he whispered, as if he could +not trust himself to voice a thing so unbelievable. +“The dagger that I saw in that room at the hacienda! +No, it can’t be! Yet it is. It is the same handle, showing +the same figures and scrollwork.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>He looked around again, staring. He searched the +face of the cliff, and even the sky.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Where did the dagger come from?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>He took hold of the handle, and with difficulty drew +out the weapon. The keen, double-edged, sharp-pointed +blade dripped blood as he held it up. He +looked at the bloody blade, and again studied the +lines and scrollwork of the handle.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“The identical dagger!” he said. “And it was either +hurled from that cliff, or dropped from the sky, and +slew Periguez. It sounds like a crazy dream.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>He wiped the dagger on the grass, to remove the +blood from the blade.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Periguez was dead. His revolver, with which he +had tried to shoot the scout, lay, as it had fallen, on +the grass.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The scout looked into the dead man’s face almost +with sorrow, though he had been given no reason for +loving this man, who in the night had sought to assassinate +him, and, having followed him with a band of +men on fleet horses, had then tried to shoot him.</p> + +<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_244'>244</span>The body of Periguez seemed almost grotesque, as +it lay thus, sprawled on its back, the yellow face upturned +to the sky, the black eyes open and staring. The +costume, fantastic in the extreme, with the crimson +scarf holding a keen knife, seemed unbecoming on the +dead.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Having cleaned the blade, the scout again and again +inspected the dagger, reaching each time the conclusion +already gained, that it was none other than the +gold-handled dagger which he had seen at the hacienda.</p> + +<p class='c004'>How it had come to be in this place, and had +dropped apparently out of the sky, to strike Periguez +down, was a mystery that promised to baffle solution.</p> + +<hr class='c021'> +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_245'>245</span> + <h2 id='ch_33' class='c018'>CHAPTER XXXIII.<br> <br><span class='fss'>A STRANGE MESSAGE.</span></h2> +</div> + +<p class='c008'>As Buffalo Bill glanced round again, he began to +look for tracks in the soil. He saw only his own, and +those of Periguez, which came from the opposite direction.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“In following these I can perhaps find the men who +were with him,” was his thought. “They may be +scattered now, but if he had followers, or companions, +he left them at some point, certainly; and by pursuing +his tracks the trail of the other men can be picked +up. Yet I should not care to go on without my +horse; and if I rode while following these tracks the +risk of being seen would be great. I should like to +know who was with him, but it may not be worth my +while.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>He was carrying the gold-handled dagger in his +hand. It slipped from his fingers, as he held it carelessly, +and struck with a sharp click on a stone at his +feet. He stared down at it with a gasping cry.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Small wonder that he did so; what he saw was +enough to make him gasp and stare.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The fall on the stone had released some hidden +spring in the dagger’s handle, and it had opened. +Within the cavity a twisted something was seen resembling +paper.</p> + +<p class='c004'>With a quick motion the scout caught up the dagger, +looked at the heavy handle, which had been so deceptive, +<span class='pageno' id='Page_246'>246</span>and then began to untwist what at first sight appeared +to be a roll of paper. He saw that it really +was not paper, but the fine inner, fibrous bark of a tree. +Letters were traced on it with the leaden end of a bullet +or cartridge. The writing was in Spanish, but +he was able to read it:</p> + +<p class='c022'>“My name is Leon Ruiz. I have been made suddenly +a prisoner. Where I am I do not know, but +my prison is a large adobe house, on a hill, and mountains +are all around me. Whoever finds this——”</p> + +<p class='c024'>The message broke off abruptly.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill read it over and over again, as if he +could not convince himself that he read aright.</p> + +<p class='c004'>It was in the highest degree mystifying.</p> + +<p class='c004'>In the first place, it gave the name of the writer as +Leon Ruiz, who was the Moorishlike proprietor of the +Porfiero Hacienda, and who, after welcoming Buffalo +Bill, had disappeared so strangely, instead of returning +to take supper with him.</p> + +<p class='c004'>In the second place, Ruiz had apparently returned +to the hacienda in the night, or certainly after the supper +hour, for it was after supper that Buffalo Bill had +the second time seen the dagger of gold among the ore +specimens on the hanging shelves.</p> + +<p class='c004'>If Ruiz had so returned—and it seemed he must +have done so, or he could not have gained possession +of the dagger—why had he not made his presence +known?</p> + +<p class='c004'>The answer to that might be, the scout suspected, +that Ruiz and Periguez were enemies. If that were +<span class='pageno' id='Page_247'>247</span>true, Ruiz might have fled from the hacienda to escape +sudden vengeance, and might have returned in the +darkness to get certain articles, taking among other +things this dagger, yet had been afraid to try to see the +scout.</p> + +<p class='c004'>According to the writing, he was now a prisoner +in a big adobe building located on a certain hill, with +mountains surrounding it.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill was fairly familiar with that portion of +New Mexico, and he remembered that the only large +adobe building answering to that description, of which +he had knowledge, was the Perditas Hacienda, on a +high hill near the Perditas River.</p> + +<p class='c004'>That hacienda was mountain girt, but it was distant +a number of miles from the Porfiero Hacienda, so distant +that hard riding would have been required to convey +Ruiz to it in the time that had elapsed. Yet it +could have been done.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“But if he is a prisoner where he says he is, how did +the dagger get here?” the scout asked, looking up as +if questioning the air from which apparently it had +come. “And why did Ruiz not finish his letter?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Though the letters scrawled on the back with the +end of a bullet were large, there was yet enough space +remaining on the bark to have written several words +more. There was no apparent reason why the message +should have been left unfinished.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The more the scout thought of it, the more puzzled +he grew. Finally he replaced the letter in the handle +of the dagger, for safe-keeping, and, after an examination +<span class='pageno' id='Page_248'>248</span>of the hidden spring, now to be seen, he closed +the handle.</p> + +<p class='c004'>It shut with a sharp click, and after it had been +closed it seemed perfectly solid, with nothing to show +that it was hollow. And its weight added to that appearance +of solidity.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Those old Spaniards, or Moors, or whoever made +this dagger, were experts at their trade,” was the +scout’s thought, and then he turned to the body of +Ramon Periguez, which still lay just as it had fallen.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Wondering if there could be anything in the dead +man’s pockets that would throw any light on this +mystery, or perhaps the singular disappearance of +Prince Mogador, Buffalo Bill put his hand into the +inner pocket of the man’s jacket.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Periguez had been his enemy—had sought his life +and Periguez’s scoundrelly companions, the scout believed, +were somewhere near. Therefore, Buffalo Bill +felt justified in securing even in this way any information +he could.</p> + +<p class='c004'>As he thus stooped over the body of Periguez, a +rifle cracked some distance away, and the scout +dropped downward with a limp motion, falling across +the body of the dead man.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Three men in Mexican costume sprang out of some +bushes at the point from which the rifle had been fired, +and came running toward the fallen scout.</p> + +<p class='c004'>One of them was the servant who, dressed in white, +had waited at the supper table the previous evening at +the Porfiero Hacienda. This rascal carried a rifle +<span class='pageno' id='Page_249'>249</span>from which smoke still curled, and it was plain that he +had fired the murderous shot.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“He is dead!” said this man, as they reached the +scout.</p> + +<p class='c004'>To all appearance he was right in his conjecture, +for Buffalo Bill lay in a limp heap upon Periguez’s +body. Yet his right hand still clutched the dagger.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Shot him in the head! See? There flows the +blood!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Blood trickled down over the scout’s face, and +there was a bullet hole in his hat.</p> + +<p class='c004'>One of the other men saw the dagger of gold, and +greeted the sight with an exclamation of astonishment.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“See?” he fairly screeched. He held up the dagger. +“See? The dagger of Leon Ruiz!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>They looked at it, with many ejaculations.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“The very dagger, taken by this American robber +from the hacienda. And with it he killed Ramon +Periguez.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Aye, it is so! He stole the dagger from the hacienda, +and killed Periguez with it!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Aye! But he is dead now. Señor Gomez, your +eye was true and your bullet a good one. You sent his +cowardly soul to the pit in a quick way, and may it +burn there forever!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>But at this juncture Buffalo Bill began to stir.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Though it had hurled him into sudden and complete +unconsciousness, the bullet from the rifle of +Gomez had merely scraped along his skull, cut the +skin open, and produced a free flow of blood, yet had +made no more than a superficial wound. It was the +<span class='pageno' id='Page_250'>250</span>concussion which had dropped the scout in a senseless +heap across the body.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“The rascal still lives!” Gomez ejaculated, and, +bending over to look, he lifted the gold dagger as +if he thought of driving it to the scout’s heart in order +to finish him.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill’s eyes fluttered open, but closed again, +for consciousness was but returning.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Ah, he is rousing!” said another of the three men. +“We will question him about this murder, if he comes +back to life for a while.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“He may not be mortally hurt,” said the third man.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“If he is not,” said the other, “I have here a medicine +that will finish him!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>He touched significantly the protruding handle of +his knife.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Gomez was still bending above the scout, watching +his struggling return from the land of insensibility.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Manuel,” he said, without looking round, “bring +the lariat from my horse, that we may bind this devil. +He is not so badly hurt, mayhap. We will tie him.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Manuel started off at a run. When he came back he +was riding one horse and leading two others. He approached +at a gallop, drew up with a thunder of hoofs, +and leaped down with a spectacular flourish, swinging +the lariat he had procured. Evidently Manuel was a +rascal of theatrical tendencies. He threw the lariat to +Gomez, who, with deft loopings and turns, together +with some quickly made knots, soon had the scout +bound hand and foot.</p> + +<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_251'>251</span>“Help me to turn him,” he said, “and we will pass +the lariat round his body and arms.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“He will think the foul fiend has him sure enough,” +declared one of the men with a laugh, as the rope was +wrapped round and round the scout’s body.</p> + +<hr class='c021'> +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_252'>252</span> + <h2 id='ch_34' class='c018'>CHAPTER XXXIV.<br> <br><span class='fss'>FACING DEATH.</span></h2> +</div> + +<p class='c008'>When Buffalo Bill regained consciousness, he found +himself a bound prisoner, with three men, whose dress +proclaimed them Mexicans, standing guard over him. +One of them held in his hand the dagger of gold, and +the scout, looking closely at this man’s face, saw that +he was the servant who had waited upon him at the +table the evening before at the Porfiero Hacienda.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Ho! You have come back to life, señor!” said this +man, called by his companions Gomez. “We took +the liberty of tying you, so that when you awoke you +could not harm yourself.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>He sat down on a stone before the scout, and behind +him crouched his comrades.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill saw that they were armed to the teeth, +and he knew by the way the lariat felt, as its folds +girt his body about, that the work of tying him had +been well done. Men of this class were usually as +much masters of ropes and knots as seamen.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Fortunate for you, señor, that my aim was not +good; my bullet barely scratched your skull, while I +aimed to send it through your head. The distance was +great, or I had done better. But the respite gives you +a chance to talk, and we will listen to anything you +desire to say.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I have nothing to say,” was the reply.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Over there is the body of Ramon Periguez. You +<span class='pageno' id='Page_253'>253</span>can see it if you will but turn your head. You slew +him.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill did not answer.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“You slew him with this dagger, which you stole +last night from the Porfiero Hacienda. Is it not true, +señor?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Gomez held up the dagger.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The scout not only did not reply, but he hardly +heard the words. He was trying to consider his situation. +He felt sure he could expect no mercy from +these men. They had bound him, and sooner or later +they would murder him, if not prevented. Gomez admitted +he had aimed the rifle with the intention of +dealing a death wound.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill found difficulty in clear thinking. +Though he had recovered consciousness, his ideas were +strangely confused. One does not get over a knock-down +blow like that which the bullet delivered, in a +few minutes, and without difficulty, pain or trouble, or +haziness of ideas.</p> + +<p class='c004'>One thing was clear: While these men watched +him he could not escape from his bonds, and he might +not be able to escape, even if they should leave him +to himself.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I must try to fight for time,” was his conclusion. +“Time means everything. I must be subservient, and +not anger them. They may want to take me before +some leader, and that will mean delay. If they decide +to finish me here, I have no chance.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Gomez spoke the second time, holding up the dagger, +<span class='pageno' id='Page_254'>254</span>before Buffalo Bill really heard and comprehended +his question.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I did not kill him!” the scout now declared.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The denial was greeted with cries of disbelief.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“The señor has the tongue of a serpent, as the Indians +say,” Gomez observed. “But it will do him no +good to deny that he killed Ramon Periguez. We +found him here, bending over the body, with this dagger +in one hand and his other hand thrust into the +pocket of the dead man’s jacket. It angered us, for +even at a distance we recognized the clothing worn by +Periguez. It was then that I fired my bullet.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I did not expect you to believe me.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“That is because the señor is not a fool. It is a +lie so palpable that he could not expect us to think it +the truth. We saw you bending over the body, and in +your hand this dagger; it was in your hand still when +we reached you. And Periguez had been dead so +short a while that his body was warm and limp. The +señor does not deny that?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“That is true enough, but I did not kill him.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“He died of heart failure, eh? After you struck +him with the dagger!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>The rascals laughed at this.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“You will not believe me, if I tell just how it came +about.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“We are listening for the señor’s confession.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“The dagger dropped down from the sky and slew +him.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Then they laughed uproariously.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“The señor is merry in the face of death!” said +<span class='pageno' id='Page_255'>255</span>Gomez. “I presume he will tell us that the horse he +stole from the hacienda stable and rode to this point +brought him through the air without ever touching +hoof to the ground? Mahomet had a wondrous horse +called Alborak that carried him in such fashion. The +American scout is no doubt greater than Mahomet!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>The villains laughed again at what they conceived +the wit of Gomez.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I knew you would not believe it,” said the scout.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“The señor denies that he killed Ramon Periguez, +and that he stole the dagger from the hacienda?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Yes.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Then it is useless to talk with him.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Why did you and Periguez follow me?” the scout +asked.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“We wished to look in your kind face again,” said +Gomez.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Periguez tried to poison my wine at the supper +table, and he smuggled himself and some assassins into +my room to slay me, after the poisoning attempt had +failed. I escaped by the window, and was pursued and +shot at, and you and he followed me even to this +place. Why?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Had the señor forgotten the Moroccan prince?” +said Gomez, with an uplifting of his black eyebrows +and a shrugging of his shoulders. “That is the answer. +The señor may ponder over it in the few minutes +that are yet left to him.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“You mean to kill me?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Horse thieves and murderers are hanged in this +country. It is the unwritten law of the land. We +<span class='pageno' id='Page_256'>256</span>shall but deal out justice to the señor. His head was +too hard for any bullet; but I doubt if his neck is +too strong to break under the jerk of the rope. As +to that, we shall see. The señor may console himself +by reflecting that the method is quick and must +be well-nigh painless. I have even been told that men +who have been hanged, yet who were not killed by +the hanging, have declared that they saw enchanting +visions while they danced on nothing at the lariat’s +end. May the señor’s dying visions be filled with +ravishing delights.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Gomez, as well as the rascals who heard him, must +have fancied himself a clever wit.</p> + +<p class='c004'>One of the horses was brought up, and to its back +the scout was lifted. There he was lashed to the saddle +with another lariat, in a most uncomfortable position. +When the horse was led forward the motion +gave him excruciating pain.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Yet no lamenting moan, no word of complaint, +came from the lips of the heroic scout. And dark as +was his outlook, he did not permit himself to despair; +not because he believed there was a chance of escape, +but only for the reason that throughout his life of +marvelous adventure he had always acted on that +principle. Hope was a quality so buoyant that he +could not afford to let it slip out of his heart even +though death stared him in the face.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The scout’s horse, which Gomez and his villains had +seen before the scout was fired upon, was now secured. +Then the scout was conducted down by the +high cliff wall, to where a tree offered its wide-spreading +<span class='pageno' id='Page_257'>257</span>branches for the rope’s end. Under the tree the +scout was lifted from the back of the horse and a +lariat was prepared quickly as a hangman’s noose.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“If the señor has any messages to send to his friends +we will hear them,” said Gomez, standing before him +with a mocking smile. “We can communicate them +to his wonderfully winged horse and instruct that +sagacious and marvelous beast to fly straight to his +friends with them. Now is the señor’s time to speak. +In another minute he will be beyond speaking, or the +need of it.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>The end of the long lariat was thrown over the low +limb of the tree, and two of the rascals pulled it down, +fastening it temporarily to the tree trunk.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Then Buffalo Bill, still bound and as helpless as a +log, was lifted to his feet and placed beneath the tree, +the noose of the rope being drawn around his neck and +pulled tight.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Seizing the other end of the rope and removing it +from around the body of the tree, the three rascals +began to haul upon it.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The noose clutched round the scout’s neck with a +jerk, and he was dragged from his feet.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“We have friends in Satan’s kingdom, señor!” +Gomez shouted. “When you meet them give them our +kind regards.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>They swung down on the rope again, and the scout’s +body was hoisted between the earth and the sky.</p> + +<hr class='c021'> +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_258'>258</span> + <h2 id='ch_35' class='c018'>CHAPTER XXXV.<br> <br><span class='fss'>ENOS SPALDING.</span></h2> +</div> + +<p class='c008'>A revolver cracked in the thick boughs of the +scrubby oak above the heads of the men who were thus +bent on murdering Buffalo Bill, and Gomez fell back +with a cry, clutching frantically at his breast.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Before he struck the ground the revolver cracked +again, and another of the three men fell. The third +dropped the rope and turned to run.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill’s feet struck the ground with a thump +as the lariat was thus released, and then he toppled +over, falling as heavily as either of the two men who +had been dropped by the revolver.</p> + +<p class='c004'>A third time the revolver cracked, and the rascal +who was running uttered a cry, but sped on, moving +his heels with marvelous speed.</p> + +<p class='c004'>A chuckling laugh sounded in the top of the oak. +Then there was a rustling of the thick branches, a +scraping sound, and a few moments later a pair of +long legs came sliding down the trunk of the tree, +followed by a long, lank, muscular body, and then by +a small head that was covered by a shock of coarse hair +and a huge flapping hat.</p> + +<p class='c004'>When this queer figure struck the ground with its +big feet and then straightened up, a tall, slim man was +revealed, a man of elderly aspect, whose shrewd face +was twisting with excitement and whose blue eyes +snapped and burned. He wore a billy-goat beard, and +<span class='pageno' id='Page_259'>259</span>his whole appearance stamped him unmistakably as a +“down-East Reub.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>So tall was he that he seemed to have squeezed himself +into the clothing of a boy, the sleeves and the tail +of his coat and the legs of his trousers were so short. +The short sleeves revealed a pair of red, bony wrists, +while the stump legs of the trousers showed a vista of +bright-red stockings of coarse yarn. The shoes were +big and hobnailed.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“By chaowder!” he grunted, “I reckon I didn’t do +that shooting none too soon. I hate tew pull a deadly +weepon on any human critter, but ’twan’t never in the +Spalding blood to allaow what ain’t a square deal +’tween man and man. And this feller was an American, +whilst t’others was yaller Mexicans, and that’s +got tew be caounted in, by gum! An American has +got tew stand up fer another American every time. +But, I vum! I dunno but I was too slow, fer seems +ter me he’s stun-dead. One of them Mexicans is still +kickin’, and he’s got a gun, tew! I’ll jes have tew relieve +him of that, fust thing.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>The wounded man lay on his back, glaring at the +Yankee. He had been shot in the shoulder. It was +a stunning sort of wound, which had knocked him out +temporarily, though he was probably not fatally injured. +But the other man was dead, and that man +was Gomez.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Running his long fingers over the clothing of the +wounded man, the Yankee deftly extracted a murderous +knife and a revolver.</p> + +<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_260'>260</span>“I reckon yeou’re a reg’lar walkin’ ars’nel! What +else ye got on ye, in the way of weepons?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>He found nothing else, but from one of the pockets +he brought up a slip of paper written in Spanish.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The Yankee stared at it, and then deliberately bringing +from his pocket a pair of heavy spectacles he set +them on his nose and tried to read the writing.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Them hen tracks is tew much fer me!” he admitted, +as he tucked the paper away for future reference.</p> + +<p class='c004'>When he had satisfied himself that the wounded +man was now weaponless, he turned his attention to +Buffalo Bill, who was again unconscious, because the +noose cut so sharply into his neck. The Yankee loosened +and cast off the noose.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Looks like I was a bit tew slow with that shootin’!” +he said. “I hesitated tew long, I reckon. But I didn’t +want tew do anything unless I seen I jes’ had to. I +ain’t got any stummick fer killin’ men, even if they +aire Mexicans and aire deserving of death.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>He began to work the scout’s arms up and down, +and then, bending over, he blew into his face.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“If I had any worter!” As he spoke he noticed +Buffalo Bill’s flask lying on the ground, with his field +glasses, which the scoundrels had appropriated. He +picked up the flask, opened it, and took a sniff.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Whisky, by heck! And they tuck it frum <em>him</em>. +I vum, ef this critter ain’t a drinkin’ man, and he +looked tew me like a plum’ straightforward critter! +Looks is deceivin’.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>He not only sniffed the whisky, but tasted it.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Fiery as all git-aout, by gosh! Wonder what the +<span class='pageno' id='Page_261'>261</span>Temperance Society daown at Spalding’s Corners +would say ef they should see me tastin’ and handlin’ +the vile stuff? They’d call me a backslider, by heck! +But I ain’t goin’ tew use it on myself, and I reckon it’s +use is allowable, anyhow, as a medicine. Waal, here +goes!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>He pried the jaws of the scout apart, and poured +some of the whisky down his throat.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Makes ye choke, does it? Waal, that’s a sign +yeou’re livin’, anyhaow.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Again he began to move the arms up and down and +breathe into the scout’s face and nostrils.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The color returned to the pallid features, the breathing +strengthened, and the scout was again on the road +to consciousness.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The Yankee inspected the cut made by the bullet in +the scout’s head.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“That bullet come darn near gittin’ ye, didn’t it? I +reckon yeou’re born tew be draowned in the sea; fer +bullets and ropes don’t finish ye. Ef a man’s born tew +be draowned he can’t be killed by hangin’.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>When Buffalo Bill opened his eyes he saw the thin +face of the Yankee close by his own, and heard the +Yankee’s harsh yet kindly voice:</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Comin’ raound, be ye? Waal, yeou’ve been a tarnal +long time doin’ it. And every minute we stay here +is a resk. One man got away, and it’s my opinion +others like him aire raound here a-plenty. He’ll find +’em, and come back.” He heard a sound, and glanced +around. “Hello! That critter over there’s movin’!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>The wounded Mexican was trying to crawl to the +<span class='pageno' id='Page_262'>262</span>body of Gomez, to get the revolver which the Yankee +had not removed. The Yankee swung around and +cocked his own weapon.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Don’t dew it!” he warned. “I’ve killed one man +a’ready, and I don’t want tew haf to kill another.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>The Mexican dropped limply back upon the grass.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“That’s right, jes’ lay there, will ye! And don’t +tempt me tew shoot ye. I don’t want to.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>He turned again to Buffalo Bill, but glanced now +and then at the wounded Mexican.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I should like to know your name,” said the scout, +“you have saved my life.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Me? Waal, call me Enos Spalding, and you’ll git +clost to it. It was jes luck I was up that tree. Feelin’ +better, ain’t ye?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I think so, very much better.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Take another swig o’ this devil’s fire. I don’t believe +in whisky, except as a medicine. It su’prised +me tew find yeou had been kerryin’ this flask. But it +come in paowerful handy.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Yes, that’s why I carried it.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Yeou expected to be shot and hung, and tew have +need of it?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“In this wild land one never knows when he may +have need for a stimulant.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“That’s right, I reckon, jedgin’ by what I seen to-day. +I don’t reckon yeou could set on a hoss, could +ye?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill tried to lift himself. His head felt +dizzy, and a blackness swam before his eyes when he +raised his head.</p> + +<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_263'>263</span>“Yes, I can sit on a horse,” he said courageously.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I ain’t wantin’ tew hurry ye any, but one o’ them +devils got away, and I reckon there’s more of his +kind raound here. He may come back with ’em. So, +the sooner we git tew movin’ the better.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“You’re right,” said the scout. “Just help me a +little.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“When they skun aout they left their hosses. +Your’n is here, tew, I think. It’s lucky fer both of +us; we can have two hosses apiece, and I didn’t have +even one. Mine got away frum me yistidday, and +I’ve been hossless and afoot ever sense. Jes lay back +a minute while I bring ’em up.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill lay back on the grass, weak and exhausted, +and the Yankee hastened to get the horses. +Then he removed Gomez’s jacket and hung it in the +tree so that it could be seen.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“That will bring ’em to help this critter that’s +wounded,” he explained, and as he helped the scout +to the saddle he began to tell his story, without having +been asked to do so.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“As I said, my name is Enos Spalding. I’m frum +Varmount, which, as ye know, is a good ways frum +this place; and it’s a better country than this land of +sand and cactus, ef I do say it.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Waal, I come down here on a sing’lar mission. +I’ve got a niece, Irene Nelson, that is a master hand at +singin’. She kin sing jes as easy as a bird kin warble, +and a good deal sweeter than any bird I ever heerd +open its mouth. She’s been ejicated in singin’ abroad, +<span class='pageno' id='Page_264'>264</span>over in France and Italy. That was all foolishness, I +tole her, and jes a waste o’ money, fer ef a body is a +natural singer there ain’t no sense, as I can see, in +goin’ across the ocean to practice yer voice. We’ve +got singin’ teachers right here in Ameriky. There was +Tod Bunnell, used tew come raound to Spalding’s Corners +every winter and give singin’-skewl lessons, and +he could ’a’ teached her jes as well as them teachers +over in Paris, what charged sech all-fired prices fer it. +That’s what I tole her, but she couldn’t see it the same +way as I did.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Waal, when she couldn’t, and was baound and determined +to be a singer, I give her the money, though +it did cramp me a putty consid’able tew do it. I paid +her way while she was over there with them high-notion +singin’ teachers.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I dunno whether she sung any better after that than +before, but p’r’aps she did, fer they tuck her up in +them foreign cities, and she begun tew sing in operys. +She sent me clippings aout of the newspapers over +there that told abaout her, but most of it was in sech +all-fired queer langwidges that me ner nobody at Spalding’s +Corners could make head ner tail aout of it. If’t +hadn’t been fer her letters explainin’, we wouldn’t +knowed what it was all abaout.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“But there was some English papers, that she sent +from London and Manchester, and other taowns in +England, and they did praise her right up tew the +mark, I tell yew. So, I reckoned mebbe I hadn’t been +sech a fool, arter all, when I furnished the money fer +her musical ejication. Though at the time every +<span class='pageno' id='Page_265'>265</span>critter in Spalding’s Corners said that I was the +dummedest fool that ever went on two legs.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Having lifted the scout to the saddle, the Yankee +steadied him until he could put his feet in the big +Mexican stirrups. When mounted, the scout could +ride even when he had not strength to walk.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Spalding tied one of the horses by a lariat to the +scout’s saddle and one to his own, the other he +mounted.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“We’ll make fer a notch I seen over there yistidday,” +he said. “I don’t know ef any enemies aire +layin’ round er not; but it’s healthier to think they be, +and tew keep aout of the way of ’em. It looks like a +sin tew leave that wounded critter here, but there +ain’t no help fer it. I reckon he’ll pull through somehaow; +I’ll hope so. His friends will be putty cert’in +tew see that jacket flappin’ in the wind.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>He started the horses.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I was tellin’ ye about my niece, but I didn’t git +through. Waal, arter she’d sung in England and in +Europe, she went to Australy and sung there. She +sent me some o’ the Melbourne and Sydney papers. +Then she sot aout fer home, comin’ across the Pacific, +and stoppin’ at the Sandwich Islands. She sung in +Californy a few times, and then, havin’ promised to +visit with a young woman daown in this section, what +was a ranchman’s daughter, she started aout fer the +ranch.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Ye see, she and this young woman had been in +skewl together, when they was gals. My niece’s +<span class='pageno' id='Page_266'>266</span>friend’s mother married a cattleman, named Fernald, +and moved daown here. And that’s haow ’twas.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“You’ll think I’m a long time gittin’ tew it, but naow +comes the queerest part, and the reason fer my bein’ +here. She’s disappeared. I’ve been to that ranch +haouse, and I’ve been everywhere, and I can’t find +hoof ner hair of her, tew show what’s happened.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Three days ago I struck across in this direction, +hossback, intendin’ to hit the trail frum San Paz, +some’eres below these maountains. I got lost. Then +my hoss got away. All day yistidday I walked and +walked. Seemed like I’d never git raound these +maountain walls. This mornin’ I come over in this +direction, fer I thought I seen a hoss, and it might be +mine, but I didn’t find it.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Then I seen Mexicans ridin’, and I’d heerd so +much abaout road agents, and Mexicans, and cattle +like that, I jes hid in that tree.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Waal, tew make a long story short, I was in there +when them three fellers brought ye there intendin’ tew +hang ye. When I seen that they meant bisness, I jes +had to chip in.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“That’s all, except that I ain’t found ary trace of +my niece or Miss Fernald, and it begins ter look as +ef I ain’t goin’ tew. But mebbe I was sent here tew +give yeou that lift. I dunno. Things works queer at +times. Ef this was a lawabidin’ country I allaow I’d +be arrested for killin’ that Mexican; but sheriffs to +arrest a man aire about as skurse here, I cal’late, as +hen’s teeth. Waal, that’s my story, anyhaow.”</p> + +<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_267'>267</span>Spalding looked at the scout with inquiring interest.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I’ll hear yours, when yeou’re better able tew tell +it. It’ll keep, I guess. Ef you can stand faster ridin’ +we’ll move the legs of these hosses a little. The furder +I git frum that dead and wownded Mexican the better +I’ll be feelin’.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>They rode on, seeking lower ground, leaving the +tree which had witnessed the tragedy quickly behind.</p> + +<hr class='c021'> +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_268'>268</span> + <h2 id='ch_36' class='c018'>CHAPTER XXXVI.<br> <br><span class='fss'>HEMMED IN.</span></h2> +</div> + +<p class='c008'>Under the direction of Buffalo Bill, a hiding place +was found at length in a notch of the hills, and in it +the scout and the Yankee sought refuge. Buffalo Bill +would not have stopped in the notch but for the fact +of his extreme physical weakness. He needed time +in which to recuperate.</p> + +<p class='c004'>In addition to the wide opening in front, which was +screened by scrubby bushes and tall cactus, there was a +narrow pass leading to the rear, and the sides of the +ravine were jagged and notched, so that, if closed in +on from both ends of the ravine, there would still be +a good chance to escape.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Before this two of the horses had been abandoned, +on Buffalo Bill’s advice, as he thought they were likely +to be an encumbrance.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The releasing of these horses, really good animals, +and their loss with their accouterments, was a sore +grief to the close-fisted Yankee.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“It sorter seems like throwing away money,” he +said, as the horses were left behind, and, with a backward +look, he saw them browsing by the trail. “I was +allus taught never to throw anything away, never to +let go of anything that might be used, and never to be +wasteful. The one what does them things, I was allus +told, will never git rich. It seems a sin and shame to +let ’em go. They’d fetch good money, if we had ’em +at any market.”</p> + +<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_269'>269</span>Buffalo Bill smiled at the covetous Yankee’s observation.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“We’ll be better off without them. Yet, if you +choose to take them yourself, and are not going far +with me, it’s not my place to object to your doing +what you please with them. But I know that my movements +would be only hampered by them. They’re +good horses; but I’m willing that the Mexicans, to +whom they belong, shall have them.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Waal, I’ve got a fine critter under me, in place +of the one I lost,” was Spalding’s consoling answer.</p> + +<p class='c004'>When they had stowed themselves securely in their +retreat, the Yankee brought forth the writing in Spanish +he had taken from the pocket of one of the Mexicans, +explaining at the same time where he had obtained +it.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill glanced at the paper and his eyes brightened +when they took in the writing, which was as follows:</p> + +<p class='c022'>“The American scout must be killed. It will never +do for him to find Prince Mogador. Do not hesitate +to slay him as if he were but a wolf. Everything depends +on it. When you have succeeded, ride at once +to San Paz Hacienda.</p> + +<div class='c023'>“<a id='tn027'></a><span class='sc'>Leon Ruiz.</span>”</div> + +<p class='c024'>The signature of Leon Ruiz was what caught the +eye of the scout quite as much as the nature of the contents. +It was the signature attached, also, to the mysterious +note which had been in the handle of the dagger. +It seemed to him that the handwriting was the +same, too; but as he had not possession of the other +<span class='pageno' id='Page_270'>270</span>note he could not be sure of this. He had replaced +that note in the handle of the dagger, and there it +had been when he was shot down and the dagger was +taken from him.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Whether the men who now had the dagger knew of +that receptacle in the handle he could not tell, of +course. He hoped they did not, and that knowledge of +it would be kept from them.</p> + +<p class='c004'>This new note made him anxious to start on for +San Paz Hacienda.</p> + +<p class='c004'>It was the only place which answered to the description +given in the dagger note as that of the prison of +the writer, and this second note hinted that Prince +Mogador was held there.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The first note had been written with the end of a +bullet or cartridge, which tended to prove that the +writer was a prisoner, not in possession of pencil or +pen, and the material on which it had been written +showed the same thing. The note produced by the +Yankee was written on ordinary paper, with a lead +pencil.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“What’s it say?” asked the Yankee. He had doubled +his long frame up like a jackknife, and, with his +arms on his sharp knees, he had rested his chin on +them, and was thus looking curiously at the scout. +“It looks like hen tracks tew me.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill translated it for him.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I want tew know!” he exclaimed. “Where is this +San Paz Hacienda?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill told him.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I ain’t heerd your story yit, yeou know. You recollect +<span class='pageno' id='Page_271'>271</span>I said I’d wait till yeou was better able tew tell +it. I cal’late it may be int’restin’.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I’m sure I can trust you.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Yeou’ll hev to, I guess, ef yeou tell it, though +trustin’ is mighty pore bizness. Trustin’ come nigh +to bustin’ me onct, up in Varmount; trustin’ goods +aout of my store, I mean. Ef I had all the money +owin’ tew me by the farmers raound Spalding’s Corners +I’d be a sight richer’n I am to-day.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I think I can trust you, I’m sure of it. You risked +your life to save mine, and that’s all the credentials I +want, to show me that you’re a man whose heart is +in the right place. I’ll tell you my story.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>This Cody did, giving Enos Spalding a clear idea of +why he was in that section, and what he had discovered +since coming into it.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I want tew know!” said Spalding, who throughout +the telling had sat with his mouth dropped open, like +the mouth of a fish out of water. “I reckon that yeou +and me aire both on a huntin’ trip daown this way—yeou +huntin’ fur this furrin prince and me huntin’ fur +my niece! An’ so yeou know Miss Fernald, tew! It’s +a curious coincidence, I may say, and it would be funnier +than time ef we should find that aour steps +p’inted in the same direction.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“It begins tew look tew me as if there’s a good deal +of abductin’ goin’ on daown here. That is, jedgin’ by +what you think. You don’t believe this furrin’ prince +is dead, and I ain’t willin’ tew believe that my niece is +dead. Suppose we splice teams and hunt together? +I’m not much good at it myself, but I mightn’t be sech +<span class='pageno' id='Page_272'>272</span>bad shakes, ef I had yeou to lead. I’d try to do my +part.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>His long, lank face looked at the scout solemnly, but +in his blue eyes there was a fire which showed that he +had a good deal of courage and spirit.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“If I could, I should be glad to help you in this matter +of your niece,” said the scout, wondering how +Emily Fernald could have met with dangers and difficulties +again, so soon after being taken home by Lieutenant +Butler. “As soon as I’m able I shall go on to +the Hacienda of San Paz. The letter in that dagger +handle described the San Paz Hacienda, and this note +in Spanish, signed also by Leon Ruiz, directs his men +to ride there as soon as they have finished me.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>The Yankee’s face broke into a dry smile.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Ef they dew that, I reckon yeou won’t be goin’ to +this hacienda, unless they kerry yer body there on their +hosses.” His face sobered again. “But ef yeou do go +there, I’m guessin’ yeou’ll be runnin’ into whole heaps +of danger and trouble. If them men what aire trying +to git ye here find yeou raound that haciender +they’ll try tew kill ye there. I allaow ’twon’t be +healthy fer either of us in that vercinity, sense I laid +aout that Mexican and wounded the other one. They’d +be wantin’ my hair abaout as bad as they do yourn.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“That’s true, too,” said the scout. “If those men +happen to meet you they’ll try to punish you for what +you did. But you’re a man of courage. I’ve seen +that. And you can shoot a revolver.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>The Yankee grinned solemnly. “My courage was +kinder of the shakin’ order, when I popped intew ’em +<span class='pageno' id='Page_273'>273</span>frum that tree,” he admitted. “Ef it hadn’t been a +needcessity I’d never done it. But when a lot o’ +heathen Mexicans tries tew hang an American citerzen, +then I’m under obligations as an American tew chip +in and help him all I kin. ’Twouldn’t be becomin’ +in an American not to.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“And,” he added, “I learnt haow to shoot a pistol +when I was constable up in aour taown, a good many +years ago, and I ain’t furgot it. I used to practice +pistol shootin’ reg’lar, aout behind the woodhouse, in +them days. Zenas Dane was a leetle better shot than +me, but sometimes I even beat Zenas. I’ve noticed +that when a man learns anything, whether it’s pistol +shootin’ er something else, he never fergits it intirely. +But my hand was shakin’ a putty considdable when I +pulled daown on them Mexicans. Otherwise, I allaow +I’d ’a’ got the third man, tew.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“As I said, I’m going to ride to San Paz Hacienda, +as soon as I feel strong enough to undertake the journey. +If you will accompany me, I shall be glad to +have you do so,” replied Cody. “If your niece and +Emily Fernald are held prisoners down here anywhere, +we might possibly get some information there; no +one can tell. Of course, it seems the merest chance.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I’ll go ’long with yeou,” said the Yankee, his face +brightening. “One place is as good as another, so +long’s I don’t know no more than I dew now. Yeou’ll +cut aout before dark?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Perhaps so.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Thus they talked, discussing their plans and their +situation.</p> + +<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_274'>274</span>Buffalo Bill began to feel much better, and was trying +to get some sleep, when the Yankee aroused him.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I swan tew man, somebuddy’s comin’ this way!” +he whispered.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill was wide awake and alert instantly. +Then he discovered that some of the men the Yankee +called Mexicans were already in the little pocket and +were making a search through it.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Gosh all hemlock!” whispered the Yankee excitedly. +“They struck them hosses, and naow they’ll +find us! It’s fight, I cal’late.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>So saying, he drew his revolver.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Don’t fire, don’t be hasty!” Buffalo Bill caught +his arm. “Just slide back here behind these bushes; +there’s a hole that will hide us.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“They’ll trap us in there!” said Enos, but he obeyed +the scout, nevertheless, and slid back into the hole.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The Mexicans had found the two horses, and they +were talking of their discovery in such high whispers +that the words reached the men in concealment.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“What they sayin’?” the Yankee demanded.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“They think that we’re near, or the horses wouldn’t<a id='tn019'></a> +be where they are.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Good guessin’! There’ll be some fightin’, ef they +nose us aout.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>He lay flat behind the bushes, clutching his revolver, +his breath coming heavily.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The hole in which he and the scout sprawled was +dark, and bushes were thick around it.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“They may find our tracks, if they’re experienced +<span class='pageno' id='Page_275'>275</span>men,” whispered the scout. “If they do we’re in for +trouble.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Let it come!” said the Yankee, his eyes beginning +to blaze. “We’ll fight the hull of ’em.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>They heard the Mexicans beating about in the +bushes, and caught sight of one of them as he walked +through the lower ground, not a dozen yards off.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Closer and closer drew the searchers.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Suddenly the bushes in front of the hole were +shaken. Then they were drawn aside, and a dark +face peered in. The face paled to a sickly tallow color +when the man saw that he was looking into the muzzle +of a revolver. Before he could draw back, the scout +had caught him by the leg, thrown him down, and +jerked him back into the hole, and, with the scout’s +revolver muzzle pressed against his breast, he feared +to cry out.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Too much curiosity often gets men into trouble,” +Buffalo Bill said in Spanish. “Cry out, and you’re a +dead man!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>The threat was sufficient; the man made no sound, +but lay trembling, with a piteous appeal for mercy in +his face.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“How many men are out there?” the scout whispered.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“More than a dozen, señor.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“They think we are in here?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Si, señor.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Watch him,” said the scout, speaking in Spanish +for the man’s benefit, “and if he so much as moves, +shoot him dead.”</p> + +<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_276'>276</span>Cody repeated it to the Yankee in English.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“By gosh! I’d jes’ like to send a bullet rippin’ +through him!” the Yankee whispered. To show that +he meant “business,” he sat on the Mexican’s arm, +and pressed the muzzle of the big revolver against the +prisoner’s breast. “Ef yeou so much as wink an eye +yeou git this bullet!” he threatened.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill crawled along and tried to see out.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The other men were not far off.</p> + +<p class='c004'>After hunting round and round a while they began +to call to their missing comrade.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Nuncio!” they yelled.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“What has become of that villain Nuncio?” one of +them was heard to ask a little later.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Hast looked behind those bushes, Perez?” said another.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Perez was heard coming up the slope. He parted +the bushes, saw the face and the revolver of Buffalo +Bill, and, with a cry, threw himself backward before +the scout could catch him. His yell as he rolled down +warned his comrades; the next minute he was telling +them of his discovery.</p> + +<p class='c004'>A crackling fire of revolvers followed instantly, and +the bullets came through the bushes. Nuncio uttered +a groan. One of them had struck him in the breast.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Down!” said the scout to the Yankee.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Come out of there, you American dogs!” was the +shouted command from below.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill answered, in Spanish, without exposing +himself:</p> + +<p class='c004'>“We have captured your friend Nuncio, and have +<span class='pageno' id='Page_277'>277</span>him here, and we are using him as our shield. Already +you have wounded him. If you fire on us again +you are likely to kill him. We will not surrender, +and if you try to take us it will but result in the death +of your friend.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>The men were heard to retreat, and then there +sounded, farther off, the hum of their voices. One of +them came back and shouted:</p> + +<p class='c004'>“We do not believe you. If you have Nuncio, let +him speak.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill pointed his revolver at the head of +the suffering man.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Answer them!” he commanded. “Tell them they +shot you, without harming us, and that if they fire +again they’re likely to kill you.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Nuncio answered, coughing out the words, for he +was in great distress.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“If you love me, do not fire again!” he begged. +“Already I am badly wounded.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Again the hum of voices was heard.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Surrender, for you cannot escape,” said the spokesman. +“We have you corralled. We will treat you +well, if you surrender without giving us trouble.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“We do not trust you,” said Buffalo Bill, “and we +refuse to surrender; and, if you crowd us, we will +kill your friend.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“We will starve you out!” was shouted back. “You +cannot get away, and we will starve you out.”</p> + +<hr class='c021'> +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_278'>278</span> + <h2 id='ch_37' class='c018'>CHAPTER XXXVII.<br> <br><span class='fss'>AT THE SAN PAZ HACIENDA.</span></h2> +</div> + +<p class='c008'>The day had passed and night had come. Buffalo +Bill and the Yankee were still cooped up in their hiding +place.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Throughout the long hours of the afternoon the +men who had them hemmed in had called to them from +time to time, demanding their surrender. Always +they had given the same answer, or its substance.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Several times, in reply to the demands of his friends, +and coerced by the scout’s threats, Nuncio had spoken. +Always he had begged his friends not to fire again, and +they had so far obeyed. But Nuncio was past speaking +now, though as yet the watchers below did not +know it; his death was but a matter of a short time.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill had questioned him about the San Paz +Hacienda, but the fellow knew nothing, or, at least, +claimed that he did not. And he claimed, likewise, +that he knew nothing of the present whereabouts of +Leon Ruiz. The scout was not sure, however, but the +rascal lied on these points. His manner in giving answers +was not satisfactory. But now he was not able +to speak or to understand.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“We’ve got to get out of this, Spalding,” said the +scout, when darkness had come. “We can climb the +cliff behind us. We can reach it by burrowing under +those bushes off at the right.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“They’ll shoot us while we’re doin’ it!”</p> + +<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_279'>279</span>“We must take the risk. You saw the path which +I think we’d better try. It’s steep, but we can do it.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>The scout was his old courageous self again. In +spite of the excitement of the afternoon, the rest in +that little notch had restored his strength.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I dew hate to lose them hosses!” said Spalding, +with genuine regret. “That will be the second pair +of hosses we’ve had to give up this day. And hosses +like them aire wuth two hundred apiece in any hoss +market. I call that a burnin’ shame. And them +bridles and saddles is wuth a heap, tew.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“There’s no help for it.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“What will we do with this pore critter?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“His friends will find him, though perhaps he will +be dead when they do. But we have the satisfaction +of knowing it was not our lead that brought about his +end.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill crawled over to the bushes he had indicated, +and began to creep through them in the direction +of the cliff he had marked in the afternoon. The +Yankee came slowly after him.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Their departure from the notch was not discovered +at once by the Mexicans below. But when they +began to climb the cliff, which was steep and very difficult +in the darkness, the Yankee slipped and came +near falling. He was supported by the scout until +he could regain his footing. The noise reached the +ears of the watchers, who began to call and shout. +Then a sputter of revolvers came from them, and the +bullets raked and scraped over the face of the cliff.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Come on!” Buffalo Bill whispered. “Don’t shoot +<span class='pageno' id='Page_280'>280</span>back. They don’t know just where we are, and they +can’t see us.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“They’re shootin’ paowerful straight, though,” the +Yankee grumbled. “One of their dummed bullets cut +through my hat, and I’ll bet it’s ruined. Cost me +three dollars in Los Angeles, that hat did. I don’t like +tew have it cut up in that way. Hats cost money, by +gum!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Keep still, and now come right after me. Hold +tight. I’ll help you now and then, at the worst +places.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>They climbed on.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The revolvers were still popping, and around and +about them the bullets whistled and scraped. But that +shot through the Yankee’s hat was as near as any of +them came to the fugitives.</p> + +<p class='c004'>When they were still higher on the cliff they heard +the Mexicans calling to Nuncio.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“They’ll go up and look fer him, I reckon, and then +they’ll foller us!” said the Yankee.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Likely. But the darkness is all in our favor, remember.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I’m hungrier’n all git aout!” the Yankee grumbled, +when they gained the top of the cliff. “What’s +yer plans naow?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“We start now for San Paz Hacienda.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>They had not only reached the top of the cliff, +but the rocky land lay now rather level before them. +Even in the darkness so keen was the vision of Buffalo +Bill that he had no trouble in going forward, +directing the Yankee now and then by a word. Soon +<span class='pageno' id='Page_281'>281</span>they were almost beyond hearing of the occasional +pistol shots which sounded in the ravine.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The scout held steadily on his way over the uneven +ground. This was a sort of plateau, lying on the top +of one of the lower hills of the Superstition Range, +and it took hours to cross it. When at last they +gained its farther side, they found that the land +dropped away into what seemed a dark ravine.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Having descended into this, the scout found what +he believed to be a game trail, leading somewhat in +the direction he wished now to go; and this they followed.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Throughout the night they continued their wearing +travel, but they went into camp at the breaking of +day, hiding again under cover of bushes.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Here Buffalo Bill killed a rabbit, bowling this one +over with a stone, and he ventured to build a fire with +which to cook it. No enemies were in sight, and it +seemed safe to believe that the Mexicans who had so +harassed them had been distanced during the night.</p> + +<p class='c004'>After a rest of two or three hours they pushed or +again. It was midafternoon when they came in sight +of the San Paz Hacienda, perched on the top of its +hill, with mountains surrounding it.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Naow, what aire we goin’ tew do?” asked the +Yankee, dropping down to rest, for he confessed that +he was pretty well tired out. “We don’t know what’s +up there, except that I see some men that look tew me +tew be guards.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“They are guards,” said the scout, “and that indicates +something.”</p> + +<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_282'>282</span>“Indercates that the place is guarded, I reckon.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Yes, and if it’s guarded, there is a reason. Those +men up there could fear no foes unless they were +holding some one there and expected a pursuit. There +are no Indians in this section, and I think no outlaws, +except the rascals themselves.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>The Yankee stared up from his hiding place at the +adobe structure on the hill. It resembled a Spanish +castle in its outward appearance, though the walls were +of adobe, or sun-dried bricks, instead of stone.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“A perfect Gibraltar, in some respects,” said the +scout, when he had studied the house and the hill with +his field glasses. “Unless one climbs those sheer walls +on this side, which seem to hang above a sort of moat, +there’s no way to get up there, save by the path which +those sentries are closely watching.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Funny little towers on it!” said the Yankee.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill looked at the towers—there was one +on each of the four corners—and he showed a sudden +increase of interest. His field glasses had revealed a +handkerchief fluttering from the barred window of +the tower right over the wall above the moat. He +studied it closely. His strong glasses even brought +into view the bars at that window.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“The prisoner is there!” he said. “See! It may be +Leon Ruiz, and it may be some one else.” He gave +the glasses to the Yankee. “Turn them on that tower +above the white wall. You will see a handkerchief +hanging from the bars of the window. Another +thing you will observe is, that the window cannot be +seen from the other side of the house; nor do I think +<span class='pageno' id='Page_283'>283</span>it would be visible to any one standing directly below +it. Off here it is in plain view. Does that suggest +anything?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“It might su’gest that whoever is in there may be +tryin’ to signal abaout it.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“It suggests to me that whoever is in that tower, +knowing the signal cannot be seen readily from any +point of the building nor from the ground below that +wall, keeps that handkerchief flying from that window +in the hope that it may be seen by some one in this +direction; one would have to be in this direction to +see it.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Yes, that’s so.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“It’s only a guess that the prisoners are held there, +but it’s so good a guess that I’m going to find out to-night.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Haow?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“By climbing that sheer wall to the window.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I want tew know! ’Twon’t be easy tew do.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I shall try it. I’ve got to know who is in that +tower. It may be Leon Ruiz. But I believe I have +found the prison of Prince Mogador.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Gosh all Friday! I’m wishin’ we could find the +prison of my niece! That is, ef she’s held anywhere, +and ain’t dead. By gum! that might be her hankcher +shakin’ there! Who knows that it ain’t?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“No one knows. That’s what we must find out.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Yit I don’t see what any one would want to capter +her fur, and hold her that way, anyhaow. She ain’t +got no money to pay a ransom with, and I ain’t. I’ve +spent more naow in this search than I kin afford tew. +<span class='pageno' id='Page_284'>284</span>It’d be jes’ my luck tew find her in sech a place and +have to come daown with a lot of hard cash tew git +her aout. She’s cost me a mint o’ money already, by +gum! I wonder ef she kin be in there?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>His voice and his hands trembled.</p> + +<p class='c004'>It was plain that no matter what the cost, nor how +near the payment might come to breaking his old heart, +he would pay whatever was demanded, if a demand +was made, and the money could be raised by him. +He might grumble, but he would not hesitate.</p> + +<hr class='c021'> +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_285'>285</span> + <h2 id='ch_38' class='c018'>CHAPTER XXXVIII.<br> <br><span class='fss'>THE PRISONER OF THE TOWER.</span></h2> +</div> + +<p class='c008'>Using the immemorial privilege of a teller of tales, +I ask the reader to turn back now and look with me +into one of the tower rooms of the San Paz Hacienda.</p> + +<p class='c004'>It is not the room at whose barred window Buffalo +Bill saw the flutter of that handkerchief, but is like +it, except that the bars are broken, and a space in the +window is open large enough to permit the passage +of the body of a man.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Yet this is of no use to the pallid prisoner lying on +his cot in a corner of the little room, for below that +window are the jagged tops of trees, projecting +sharply upward, ready to impale him like dagger points +if he should venture to try to escape by leaping down. +He believes he has reason on his side, when he thinks +it is the wish of his jailers that he shall leap down +upon those treetops and thus meet death.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Yet his jailers, cruel as they are, have not, so far, +tried to take his life directly, though they have apparently +sought to do so indirectly, for they have subjected +him to tortures so inhuman they pass belief. +His body is knotted and bent by reason of these tortures, +and the intolerable torment of continuous pain +is his portion. He groans now and then, covers his +eyes with his hands, and wonders if the end his fiendish +captors seem to wish is not near.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Yet he will do nothing to destroy his own life. He +<span class='pageno' id='Page_286'>286</span>desires to live, and he feels that he has justification +for this desire. His death would mean much to many +people, besides his jailers.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Night comes, shadowing the little room by slow +degrees, and then plunging it into darkness. Lying on +his cot, his cheeks flushed and feverish, his brain +gradually becoming bewildered, he yet listens to the +sounds of the night—to the cry of birds, to the distant +yelping of wolves in the mountains, the occasional ring +of a rifle or musket as its butt is jarred against the +earth by the hand of a sentry.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Feeling that his strength is failing, that his mind +is leaving him, he begins at length to pray for death. +He takes from beneath the thin pillow of his cot a +dagger. It has a handle of gold, is ponderous, and its +keen double edge would quickly let out his life. He +holds it in his hand, which shakes under the suggestive +temptation; he even lifts it to drive it into his bosom. +But he does not. His hand drops against the tattered +covering of the cot, and he groans aloud.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I must live!” he moans. “Yet here I die! Die in +this poisonous place, without friends, without help!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>The dagger slips from his fingers and he covers his +face with his hands, while tears of weakness trickle +down his cheeks. His sobs choke and stifle him.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“If I could but get word to them of what I suffer! +If they could but know that I live—that I exist, for I +do not live! But they will never know. I am buried +in a place of which I have no knowledge; and how +long I have been here I fail even to remember. For +<span class='pageno' id='Page_287'>287</span>my mind is blank at times, and days and nights go +without leaving any record on my miserable brain.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>There is a scratching sound at the window. He +hears it, the sobbing and the tears cease, and he is alert.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Is help at hand?” he whispers. “It cannot be!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>He is so weak that in trying to get out of the bed +he almost falls to the floor, yet with caution he crawls +toward the window.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Something is beating against it, on the outside.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The darkness is so great he cannot see what it is, +but, creeping up to the window, he puts a hand +through, and it touches a frightened bird, which flutters +its wings and makes strange cries as he draws it +into the room. He is bewildered. This was not what +he expected.</p> + +<p class='c004'>He cannot see the bird, but it seems to be some kind +of gull, or sea bird, and he thinks it has wandered +from the sea, and, becoming bewildered, has struck +in the darkness against the window ledge and injured +itself.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Crawling over to the other side of the room, he finds +a stub of candle on a box, and, with trembling fingers, +he secures a match and gets a light. Then he sees +the bird, to which he has clung. It is a sea bird, he is +sure, and its head is bruised, showing that he judged +truly in thinking it had struck in the darkness against +the tower. It seems as sadly bewildered as he had +been himself a little while before.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The bird is too weak to be released, it could not +fly if he should toss it through the window, he fears, +yet he knows that it will get strong. It has wings of +<span class='pageno' id='Page_288'>288</span>broad expanse, and it must have been a powerful flyer +in its normal condition.</p> + +<p class='c004'>He tears from his tattered coat a bit of thread, and +ties the legs of the bird, lest in its weakened state it +may flutter to the window and escape.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Having done that, he begins to pull with feverish +eagerness at the coat, extracting thread after thread. +These threads he separates by untwisting, and at +length succeeds in getting a fine strong cord that he +deems of suitable length for the purpose that has +come to him.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Having done this, he crawls over to his cot, and +brings to view again the dagger with the handle of +gold. He tests its weight by swinging it up and down.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Too heavy, I fear, yet I must try it!” he says, and +he searches about the littered floor, which is covered +with filthy straw, and from the straw he at length +extracts a cartridge. It had slipped from the belt of +a guard. He had noted its fall, but had thought nothing +of it until now.</p> + +<p class='c004'>He has discovered that the interior of the hard mattress +of his cot is composed of bark. He has had +much time in the past to inspect thoroughly the few +belongings of his room, and he has again and again +looked curiously at that bark. He had never seen any +just like it, and did not know the name of the tree +which had yielded it, yet he had observed that it resembled +thin sheets of paper.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Now he crawls weakly to the cot and gets one of +the thinnest and lightest of these bark sheets. None +<span class='pageno' id='Page_289'>289</span>are of very large size, yet he takes the largest he can +find.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Then, by the light of the dripping candle, he begins +to write a message on the bark, using the lead +of the cartridge as a pencil.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The prisoner has not written the half of what he +wishes to say, when he hears a sound which causes +him to cease writing. He crushes the unfinished message +into the handle of the dagger, which opens when +he presses a secret spring.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Still hastening feverishly, he ties the dagger to the +neck of the bird with the cord he has twisted, and then, +crawling to the window, he hurls the bird out into +the darkness. He hears the apparently futile beat of +its wings, as it seems to be drawn downward by the +weight of the dagger tied to its neck; and then, overcome, +he falls, half fainting, by the window.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“It was useless!” he groans. “The bird cannot +carry that weight while it is weak, and I could not +wait for its strength to return. It has fallen, and it +will not rise again.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Nearer he hears the steady thump of feet which +had hastened and frightened him. Then the door of +his prison is opened, and a man, fierce whiskered and +fierce of eye, looks in. He sees the candle guttering +on its box, and anger blazes in that fierce, bright eye. +He strides across the room.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Was it not commanded that no lights should be +shown in this room at so late an hour?” he demands, +and he seizes the limp form, drags it over the floor, +and flings it upon the cot in the corner, using as +<span class='pageno' id='Page_290'>290</span>harsh a hand as if the miserable prisoner had been +but a bag of salt.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The prisoner’s head strikes heavily against the wall, +and he drops limp, with a moan, upon the cot.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Scoundrel! Dog!” cries the fierce-whiskered man. +“Lie there! You would send a message to some one +with the candle, eh? If thou art dead, well enough!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>He blows out the candle, retreats, and locks the +door, then his heavy tread is heard descending the +stairs.</p> + +<p class='c004'>In the morning he comes again, unlocks the door, +and steps within. He sees that the prisoner is lying +as when last seen. He bends over the cot and looks +again into the pallid face and closed eyes.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Humph!” he mutters. “Dead! He must have had +a soft skull, if that killed him. But he is dead!”</p> + +<hr class='c021'> +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_291'>291</span> + <h2 id='ch_39' class='c018'>CHAPTER XXXIX.<br> <br><span class='fss'>A PERILOUS CLIMB.</span></h2> +</div> + +<p class='c008'>Buffalo Bill had retained the lariats that had been +on the two horses abandoned, and had them with him +now, and these he meant to use in scaling the steep +wall he had seen before him.</p> + +<p class='c004'>With them on his arm he approached the wall, after +darkness had fallen, leaving the Yankee in hiding in +the midst of some bushes not far from its base.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The handkerchief had been seen still fluttering from +the barred window when the last rays of the sunset +touched the tower, and the spot had been carefully +marked by the scout. He had no fear of going astray; +the only thing he questioned was his ability to mount +the wall. Yet he was a good climber, and he hoped +to have no trouble.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Enos Spalding, left behind, gnawed his gnarled fingers +and grumbled to himself, for he had gone without +food many hours.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Having reached the moat before the wall, the scout +climbed carefully down into it, finding water not more +than ankle deep, with some slimy ooze and a growth +of rank weeds and grasses.</p> + +<p class='c004'>At the base of the wall he stopped and reconnoitered, +then found the exact spot he had located +during the day with his glasses.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Above this point, he had discovered, was a small +projection. He hurled one of the lariats up through +<span class='pageno' id='Page_292'>292</span>the darkness, hoping to loop its noose over the projection. +More than a dozen times he tried and failed, +but his persistence was at last rewarded. He drew +down on the rope to see that it was really fast and +would support him; then he began to climb it, with +feet set against the wall. The second lariat he bore +on his arm.</p> + +<p class='c004'>When he had gained the projection, he clung there +by his eyebrows, as it were, and hurled the second +lariat upward, with an outswing of his arm.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Time and again the folds of the lariat fell down +about him.</p> + +<p class='c004'>It would have been a difficult feat to noose that second +projection even in the daytime, at night the task +was infinitely harder.</p> + +<p class='c004'>He began to grow tired from swinging the noose +upward so many times, when it caught, as the one +had done, before, and held fast. He left the first +lariat in position, and began to climb the second, intending +to leave them in place, to facilitate a quick +descent in case of need.</p> + +<p class='c004'>This noose had caught on the projection of stone +just below the barred window; and in a very short +time the scout had his face at that window, having +clutched the ledge and drawn himself up.</p> + +<p class='c004'>At the scout’s back, tied there, was a strong stick +of wood, with which he had armed himself, in addition +to his revolvers and his knife.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Hist!” he called, as he clung to the window and +tried to look through the bars.</p> + +<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_293'>293</span>The handkerchief was in position; he felt it flutter +against his cheek.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Hist!” he called, still louder.</p> + +<p class='c004'>There was a startled stir in the room and after an +instant a voice whispered: “What is it?” The words +were in Spanish.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“If there is a prisoner in here, I have come to aid +him,” said the scout.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Thank Heaven!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>There was a scrambling sound, as if some one slid +to the floor, and then soft footfalls. A face was +pressed close against the bars on the inner side.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Who is it?” was asked in Spanish.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I am an American scout, and if prisoners are held +here, I stand ready to aid them. Is this Leon Ruiz?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Ruiz is dead; he died in the tower at the other +corner, a week ago.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“That is impossible,” said the scout, “for I saw +and talked with him but two nights since.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>There was no answer to this, save the excited +breathing of the man crouched at the tower window.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Speak quickly,” said the scout. “I cannot sustain +myself here longer; the strain is too great. I shall +have to lower myself. Are you Prince Mogador?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>The answer was a joyful cry, and then the words:</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I am Prince Mogador! You bring me help? You +have come to get me out of the clutches of these foul +fiends?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Yes.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“But you cannot get in! You cannot get through +<span class='pageno' id='Page_294'>294</span>these bars, unless you have a saw. I have tried to +force them, but failed.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Reach your hand through and clasp mine,” said the +scout. “That will assist me. If you can support me +here in that way for a few seconds I may be able +to loosen one of the bars. They are secured on the +outside, I discover.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Trembling hands came through the bars and +clutched the scout by the wrist. But those hands had +the holding power of steel, the scout found; hope of +escape had filled their owner with renewed strength.</p> + +<p class='c004'>With one hand thus freed, the scout took the strong +stick of wood that he carried lashed to his back, and +thrust an end between the bars of the window.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Hold hard!” he ordered, and threw his weight on +the stick.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The window bars were of iron, fastened on the +outside by heavy staples, yet the force of the wrench +thus given tore loose the staples at one end.</p> + +<p class='c004'>But for the clinging hands that clutched him the +scout would have fallen when the staples lost their +hold and the window bar twisted around. He caught +the projection, and again hoisted himself.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“That was good!” he said. “One more, and you +can come out of that. Your fingers clung like iron.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Hope makes me strong, señor,” was the trembling +answer.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The scout rested a moment or two.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Now, again!” he said, “hold for your life!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Again he thrust in the stick and threw his weight +upon the outer end. There was a cracking sound; the +<span class='pageno' id='Page_295'>295</span>stick itself broke; the bar had been loosened, though +the scout had come near falling. Then he crawled +up again, using the rope.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Now, you can come through, and before morning +we can be far from here. You may tell me your story +after we have got down from this and the peril is +not so great. Hold hard!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>There was an interruption, the scout heard a suspicious +sound. He whispered his discovery to Prince +Mogador. He felt the rope shake by which he had +ascended. Then he heard the voice of the Yankee, +who had climbed the first rope undiscovered and was +now mounting the second.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“By gravy! aire ye up there?” he asked.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Yes, what is it? What does this mean?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“It means, Cody, that I was crowded aout daown +there by some men, and had tew make a run fur it. I +run tew this wall. While I was flaounderin’ raound +in that consarned moat, they come on me ag’in, so +clost that I see the only thing I could do was to climb +up here, and so I clumb. But——”</p> + +<p class='c004'>His trembling explanation was cut short by words +in Spanish shouted from below.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Then a revolver cracked, spurting its fire into the +darkness. The bullet shattered itself against the iron +of the last bar the scout had torn away.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Wow!” cried the Yankee, as if he had been hit. +“That was cuttin’ some clost, I tell ye!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>The way below was blocked, for other revolvers +popped there, and other voices were heard.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The frightened Yankee, swaying on the rope and +<span class='pageno' id='Page_296'>296</span>clutching blindly at the wall for support, was almost +ready to fall headlong.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Cody, I can’t hold on here a minute longer!” he appealed. +“Can’t ye git higher, er git somewhere? +They’ll shoot us here, sure as guns!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill felt one of the bullets cut through his +coat and burn his arm, so close did it pass to his body.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The men below did not see who was at the window, +but they had discovered, or suspected, this attempt +at a rescue, and they were popping away in +the darkness, sending their lead perilously near.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“We’ll have to climb into the room,” said the scout, +with sudden decision. He regretted the necessity, but +he drew himself up and crawled between the broken +bars and dropped into the room.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Prince Mogador clasped him enthusiastically round +the shoulders, in the impulsive Spanish fashion.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“My rescuer! My savior!” he panted.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Let me help the other man in,” said the scout, freeing +himself. “This is bad—bad! If we could have +had but five minutes longer.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Then he dragged the frightened and panting Yankee +through the bars into the little room of the tower.</p> + +<hr class='c021'> +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_297'>297</span> + <h2 id='ch_40' class='c018'>CHAPTER XL.<br> <br><span class='fss'>A PERILOUS POSITION.</span></h2> +</div> + +<p class='c008'>When he was safely within the tower, Buffalo Bill +drew up the rope last used, so that the men below could +not readily climb to the window. The tower room +was in total darkness, and he could not even see the +Moroccan prince for whom he had taken such risks.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“We ought to have a light,” he said. “Have you a +lamp or a candle?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Prince Mogador scuffled across the room, and, by +the light of a match, produced the stub of a candle, +which he offered to the scout. The latter set a match +to it, and when the candle was burning well he glanced +about.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The room was small, and its only furnishings were +this candle, a thin cot, a stool, and a box on which the +candle had been sitting.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The scout looked at the prince, and beheld a hollow-eyed +young man, whose unshaven face was so thin +and so sallow that it seemed he must be the victim +of a fever. His clothing hung loosely on his almost +fleshless bones. Seeing this mere wreck and skeleton +of a man, the scout marveled at the strength displayed +when the prince rendered assistance at the window. +It had been the false strength lent by sudden and high +hope.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The excitement of his situation still buoyed Prince +Mogador. His eyes were unhealthily bright and staring, +<span class='pageno' id='Page_298'>298</span>and he trembled as if he had a fit of ague. The +scout saw him reel and put his hand against the wall.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“You are weak,” said the scout. “Sit down.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“But we must escape while we can!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Prince Mogador was looking at the exhausted +Yankee, who had been thoroughly tired by his hard +and unaccustomed climbing. And the Yankee was returning +the look with interest.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“What’s he sayin’ in that furrin lingo?” asked +Spalding.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“This is Prince Mogador!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I want tew know!” Spalding gasped, his mouth +dropping open. “That beats heck, by gum! So it’s +him?” He turned to Buffalo Bill. “Waal, what we +goin’ tew do? They’re still shootin’ daown there. We +can’t git aout by the winder.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“There may be another way out,” said the prince, +speaking to the scout—he did not understand Spalding’s +twisted English, but understood his glance at +the window. “If that door could be opened!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>The scout took some keys from his pocket and began +to try them on the lock of the door. He found +one that fitted, and threw the bolt.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The rays of the candle streamed out into a narrow +corridor, at the end of which was another locked door.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“We’ll see where this leads,” he said, stepping into +the corridor. “Follow me!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>He found a key which fitted the other door, but, as +he was unlocking it, he was interrupted by a startled +cry. Prince Mogador bent forward, listening.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“It is the woman!” he said. “I didn’t know she was +<span class='pageno' id='Page_299'>299</span>in there—that she was imprisoned so close by me! +Yes, it is the woman.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“What woman?” asked the scout, as he worked the +key round in the lock.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“The señorita with the voice of gold!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>This was astonishing.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“There is an American woman held prisoner here?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Yes, señor, two women. One is a beautiful American +lady, whose singing is divine.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Hear that, Spalding? But I forgot that you do +not understand Spanish.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>The bolt slipped back, and the scout pushed the door +open, hearing again that stifled cry.</p> + +<p class='c004'>When his light flashed into the room he saw at its +farther side the crouching figures of two women, +whose attitude was that of terror.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Don’t be frightened!” said the scout kindly. “We +are your friends. Miss Fernald, are you—yes, it is +you! And, if I’m not mistaken, Miss Nelson—your +uncle is here, having come a long distance to search +for you.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Emily Fernald sprang forward with a glad cry, but +the other girl stared at Cody, her face white as ashes; +and then, seeing the men behind him, she advanced +with a hesitating step.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“You are friends?” she cried suddenly. “What do +I hear? You are friends, and my uncle is with you?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Her voice broke in a scream of incredulous delight +when she beheld the ungainly form of the Yankee +glide into the room. The next moment she had her +arms around his neck, and was weeping hysterically.</p> + +<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_300'>300</span>“Gosh all hemlock!” Spalding sputtered. “But this +does beat all, don’t it? I’m as s’prised tew find ye +here as if I’d picked up a gold dollar. I dreamed it +might be so, but, b’gosh, I didn’t reely think it could +be! And that’s a fact.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>He released her clinging hands and held her at +arms’ length, looking at her by the light of the candle.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The Moroccan prince was uttering sundry Spanish +ejaculations.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“We must go on!” said the scout, in warning. “If +we delay we may be cooped in. I’ll try my key on +that other door.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>It yielded to his manipulations even more easily than +the others, and they found themselves in a wide hall. +Following this, they came to another door at the next +corner of the building. The wide hall bent and ran +around this; but now they heard, on some stairs beyond, +excited cries and a trampling of feet, showing +that men were coming up there.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“We’ll see what’s behind this door,” said the scout, +observing that it offered the only avenue of escape.</p> + +<p class='c004'>When it was opened they were at the foot of a +short flight that led to one of the tower rooms. Into +this they rushed, and the scout locked the door behind +them.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The excited cries and trampling feet drew nearer, +and a resounding knock sounded soon on the door.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Open!” was the demand.</p> + +<p class='c004'>To the scout’s surprise, the voice which shouted this +was the voice of the man he had known at the Porfiero +Hacienda as Leon Ruiz.</p> + +<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_301'>301</span>Recalling what Prince Mogador had said, he knew +now that this man had assumed the name, to which +he had no right, while the real Ruiz lay a prisoner +in this place.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“What would you?” the scout asked.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Surrender to us, Prince Mogador, and you and the +others may go free; we will not molest you.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>The scout laughed scornfully.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Never! You are the scoundrel who falsely called +himself Leon Ruiz. Hear this: I was sent here by +my government to aid and succor Prince Mogador, and +I shall do what I can for him, if I lose my life.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“You will lose it!” was shouted back.</p> + +<p class='c004'>They withdrew without shooting into the room, apparently +because they did not wish to risk slaying the +prince.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Well, we’re in for it now,” said Buffalo Bill, almost +ruefully. “They’ve got us caged, unless we can escape +from this window. And we have no ropes.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>He struck a match and walked over to the window, +which was barred. Between the bars he thrust the +match and tried to look down, and then threw the +match away. It went out quickly, revealing only +blackness below the barred window.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Soon, in the hall leading to the tower room, they +heard a sliding sound which they did not at that moment +understand.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“We’ve barred you in, and you can stay there until +you rot!” was soon shouted. “When you are ready +to surrender, let us know. You cannot escape.”</p> + +<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_302'>302</span>Again it was the voice of the man who had called +himself Leon Ruiz.</p> + +<p class='c004'>It was clear, now, that this man, frightened by the +scout’s descent on the Porfiero Hacienda, had departed +from it hurriedly, after learning his mission, +to carry word to this place, and, perhaps, he had been +at this place since. Yet that did not explain the other +mysterious things which so long had puzzled the scout.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“They have slipped some bars into position beyond +the door,” said Prince Mogador. “With a barred window +behind us, and the way barred in front, the outlook +is gloomy. But we will still hope.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>The scout had struck another match and was looking +around for a candle. He found none. But before +the match burned out he saw Prince Mogador +standing with his hand clasping the hand of Irene +Nelson, as if he would protect her. The sight was +illuminating. It showed that the two were not only +acquainted, but were lovers.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The prince caught that inquiring glance as the +match went out, and began to explain in his voluble +Spanish.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“The American señorita has promised to become my +wife. We met on the stage that came from Rincon, +which was waylaid and destroyed at the time we were +captured and brought here. But our love had already +ripened, and she had promised to become my wife. I +love this woman, and I will marry her if we escape +from here.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“What’s he sayin’ in that furrin lingo?” Spalding +asked; but Prince Mogador was hurrying on.</p> + +<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_303'>303</span>“You know why they captured me and brought me +here, if you came as my rescuer; but perhaps you do +not know all. You have heard that I am heir apparent +to the throne of my father—the throne of the small +kingdom of Ussuli, to the southward of Morocco. +The capital is in an oasis of the great desert.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“My father cannot live long; two years at the utmost, +the physicians say, and he may be dead even +now, for he was seriously ill when I heard of him. +But I have a brother who wishes to be king, but who +cannot be king so long as I am alive, unless I abdicate.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“My health was not good, and I went to the summer +resort of Faezzi, on the heights of the Atlas +Mountains. From the palace there I was kidnapped<a id='tn020'></a>, as +I walked abroad one day not dreaming of danger. It +was by my brother’s orders. I was placed on a camel, +and a long journey to the seashore began. There I +was smuggled aboard a vessel.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“The voyage was long—it covered months, and then +I was landed on a shore which was barren and which +was said to be Mexico. Certain men were still with +me—my captors. But I escaped from them, and by +good chance made my way into California. I was trying +to reach some eastern point, or some railway that +would take me east.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I took the stage at Rincon, thinking I had thrown +my enemies off my trail. It was there, señor, I met +this beautiful American lady and her friend, who had +come to meet her, only two days before. Señor, I +won her promise to become my wife.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Then came the attack on the stage. The driver +<span class='pageno' id='Page_304'>304</span>was killed. These women and I and another were +the only passengers. The stage was smashed to bits +and sunk in the river to destroy all traces of it, the +horses were appropriated by the robbers. I discovered +that they were the men, with others, who had abducted +me from the palace in the Atlas Mountains.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I told them, señor, who these women were, but +they refused to believe me, declaring that they knew +Miss Nelson was my wife. With us they took prisoner +Don Leon Ruiz, the Spanish gentleman, who was +the only other passenger in the stage. By chance in +my wanderings in California I had met him. He was +a descendant of a noble Spanish family, and he intended +to visit some estate of his ancestors in New +Mexico. He had long wished to do so, and for that +purpose had come up from Mexico, where he had been +traveling.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“When he learned who I was, he joined my +fortunes, and so was with me when the stage was +attacked and destroyed. And he was brought as a +prisoner with me to this place. He was confined here, +in one of the towers, but a week ago he died, so one +of the guards informed me, when I asked information +from him.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I can add to that,” said the scout. “The ruffian +out there who has been shouting to us to surrender +has taken possession of Don Ruiz’s New Mexican estate, +claiming to be the real Leon Ruiz. And if the +noble Don Ruiz died in his prison here, it may be +safely guessed that the false Ruiz was in part, or +wholly, responsible for his death. I presume he believed +<span class='pageno' id='Page_305'>305</span>that if Ruiz was put out of the way he could +hold the New Mexican property without trouble, or +sell it soon and get out of the country with the money.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I have fallen into the hands of a nest of villains!” +said Prince Mogador.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“There is no doubt about that. And how we are +to escape is a thing not clear to me just now.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I will die defending her, before they harm this +woman!” said Prince Mogador.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“What’s he sayin’ in that furrin lingo?” Spalding +asked again.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill informed him briefly, thus also informing +Irene, who understood Spanish but imperfectly. +Raoul Mogador could speak English, but preferred to +use Spanish, and so addressed the scout in that tongue, +when he knew that Buffalo Bill spoke Spanish fluently.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The men under the false Leon Ruiz, who had barred +them in, made no hurried movement against them, and +they had time to canvass their situation thoroughly, +and discuss, as well, some of the mysteries which had +so puzzled the scout. He asked Spalding to produce +the note in Spanish which he had taken from the +jacket pocket of the Mexican. They examined it by +the light of a match.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“That is not the signature of Leon Ruiz, though it +professes to be; it is a forgery,” said the prince.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Written, of course, by the false Leon Ruiz,” said +the scout. “He intended to use the name at all times, +and so did not hesitate to sign it here.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Very true. He is a scoundrel. I wish I could see +his face. He is, of course, one of the men who +<span class='pageno' id='Page_306'>306</span>brought me here. Ah, Leon Ruiz, my true friend, +your kind friendship for me has cost you dear!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill brought up the subject of the dagger +of gold which had seemingly fallen from the sky and +slain Ramon Periguez.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Periguez! Ah, he was one of the fiends! So he +is dead, struck down by a dagger that dropped from +the sky! I cannot explain it; yet Leon Ruiz had such +a dagger, cleverly concealed on his person; he told me +once that he had so good a way of hiding it that no +one could find it.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Describe that dagger to me!” said the scout.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Prince Mogador complied.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I have seen it often,” he said. “I wish I had it +here, and, also, the message I placed in the handle. +You knew it had that hidden receptacle in the handle?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Yes, Ruiz revealed it to me one day when he was +showing me the dagger. It was Moorish, and the +spring was cunningly concealed. He said he defied +any one to find the spring.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I have a theory,” said the scout. “He must have +written the message, but, being interrupted, he did +not finish it, and then he gave it to some one he had +bribed, instructing him where to take it.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“It may be true,” said Mogador, “but how did it +drop out of the sky?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“The bearer may have hurled it from the cliff,” +said the scout. “I cannot explain it.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Irene Nelson listened in wonder to all this, though +she followed the unfamiliar words with difficulty.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I don’t like this furrin lingo,” expostulated the +<span class='pageno' id='Page_307'>307</span>Yankee, who felt that he was being cheated when he +could not understand every word said. “Why don’t +you talk United States? It’s well-nigh treason tew +talk anything but United States in this country.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>But at intervals the scout explained for his benefit +what had been said.</p> + +<p class='c004'>All speculation concerning the manner in which the +dagger had killed Ramon Periguez seemed useless.</p> + +<p class='c004'>While they still talked, a flare of fire greeted their +eyes at the barred window.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Looking from the window, they discovered that a +great bonfire had been kindled at the foot of the cliff, +among the trees, that it might light up the hacienda +wall on that side, and so reveal to the watchers any +attempt which the prisoners might make to escape by +way of the window.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“That cuts us off in that direction,” said the scout, +“but we could not have got out here, if we had tried, +for we had no ropes, and the jump down in the darkness +would be to commit suicide.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Alas! We are doomed!” said the prince.</p> + +<hr class='c021'> +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_308'>308</span> + <h2 id='ch_41' class='c018'>CHAPTER XLI.<br> <br><span class='fss'>MUSIC HATH CHARMS.</span></h2> +</div> + +<p class='c008'>“Since I have been held here,” Prince Mogador went +on, “attempts have been made to get me to sign papers +relinquishing my rights to the throne of my country. +I refused; I would have died first. I think ultimately +I should have been murdered in this place. Perhaps +even now my false-hearted brother sits on the throne, +for my father’s health was precarious. I have not +heard from my native land for months. But whatever +befalls, my beautiful Irene will stand by my side, +and if I should one day mount to the throne of my +fathers, she will be with me even then.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>But the next moment he was bewailing the fate that +held him a prisoner in the tower and declaring that +they would never be able to get out with their lives.</p> + +<p class='c004'>While Prince Mogador was still talking, the scout, +looking from the window at the fire below, had an +inspiration.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“You will notice, prince,” he said, “that a good many +men are down there round that fire; it seems to me +from the number I see that nearly all the garrison of +this place must be there.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“They have guards stationed in the hall, no doubt, +and at the door below,” said Prince Mogador, in a +despairing tone.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The scout turned to the women and Spalding.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I have been informed by your uncle, Miss Nelson<a id='tn024'></a>, +that you are a noted singer.”</p> + +<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_309'>309</span>“Singing is my profession,” she admitted.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I have hit on a plan, and shall want your coöperation. +Will you sing for me?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Here?” she said, astonished.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Yes, here; I want to see what effect it will have on +those men below.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Irene went to the window and looked out. Then +she began to sing in a voice of marvelous beauty and +strength. Old Enos Spalding listened enraptured.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Cody, what’s this singin’ fur here?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>The scout was watching the men from the window. +He advised the girl to stand back a little, lest some +reckless devil down there might send a bullet at her; +and, for the same reason, when he looked forth, he +was careful not to expose his person to their view.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The singing seemed at first to startle the men below. +The scout beheld the false Leon Ruiz among +them, and pointed him out to Prince Mogador.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Ah, that man! That is Malvolio Ducraz, my +worst enemy of all there. So, he would take the estate +of the noble Don Leon Ruiz? May the curses +of Heaven blast him!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>The men stood up in the midst of the trees, listening +to the singing from the barred window of the +high tower. The woman’s voice floated clear and +birdlike out into the night air. It certainly was a +strange stage for an opera singer.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The scout walked softly over to the door and listened.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Keep on singing!” he said. “It has drawn their +attention.”</p> + +<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_310'>310</span>He fitted to the lock one of the keys on his key +ring, and listened as he twisted it around.</p> + +<p class='c004'>When he drew the door open, he saw that the hall +beyond was empty of human beings, but that across it +there had been slipped into place, down some grooves +in the walls, a series of iron bars that effectually cut off +escape in that direction. Apparently there was no +need for the keepers of the hacienda to watch that +hall; the bars were enough.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Down the short flight of steps the scout descended +to the bars, and tested them. So far as he could discover +there was no one near, though he heard voices +below the farther stairs, which told him guards were +stationed there.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Soon he heard some of these guards ascending. +Thereupon he retreated quickly into the tower room +and relocked the door behind him.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“If you can continue that singing, I think we may +have a chance to get out of here,” he said to the +woman, as he listened for the approach of the guards +from below.</p> + +<p class='c004'>All heard them as they came up to the door, where +for a few moments they stood to hear the singing. +Though it puzzled them when they discovered that +the door was as they had left it, they retreated, closing +the barred exit in the hall as they went.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Now, my plan!” said the scout, speaking hurriedly. +“I have here, in the brim of my wide hat, a saw of +finely tempered steel, made for the especial purpose of +cutting through iron bars. It will take long work +to cut through out there, as it will be necessary to +<span class='pageno' id='Page_311'>311</span>sever two of the bars; but if Miss Nelson can hold +those men by her singing, and so cover up the noise +I may make, perhaps I can do it. I want to make +the trial.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>All were eager for him to do so, even Irene stopped +her singing for a brief time to discuss this new hope +with him.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“We must do something of the kind,” he declared, +“if we are to get out of here. They think they have +us secluded securely, and that we have not a single +chance of getting out. Perhaps we may be able to +surprise them.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Irene began again to sing by the window, while +the scout and Spalding crept down the short flight of +stairs, after the scout had again unlocked the door of +their prison room.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“You watch while I work,” was the scout’s orders. +“I don’t want them to surprise me. Your ears are +good?”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“The best ever,” said the Yankee, dropping down +on his knees and laying an ear against the crack under +the lower bar. “If they git up them steps without +me hearin’ em, they’ll have tew come paowerful quiet.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>From the wide rim of his hat the scout, in the darkness, +drew out a fine saw, the texture of which was so +superior that he could bend the thin blade about in +his fingers almost as if it were a ribbon. This saw +he applied to one of the bars, and began work.</p> + +<p class='c004'>For two solid hours Irene Nelson entertained with +her singing the ruffians gathered around the bonfire +amid the trees below the barred window of that high +<span class='pageno' id='Page_312'>312</span>tower. She sang as she had never sung before any +audience in either the New or the Old World. Hitherto +she had sung for fame and money, now she felt +that she was singing for liberty and life.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The Spanish are a music-loving people. Those +men knew what good singing was, and they had seldom +heard anything so good as this. They stood as +if enraptured. If they suspected the meaning of it, +they gave no sign. Apparently they believed she was +thus singing to lighten the hearts of her fellow prisoners. +Now and then there were cries of “Bravo!” +and a clapping of hands.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Buffalo Bill worked without stop. At the end of +two hours he had cut away two of the iron bars.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Before announcing his success even to Spalding, he +replaced the precious saw carefully in the brim of his +big hat.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“There!” he said. “Two bars are off, and that will +let us out of here. We’ll have to fight in the room +below, to get past those guards; but by making a rushing +surprise we can go through, I don’t doubt.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Spalding wanted to yell, but he restrained this wild +desire.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The man and women in the other room were informed +of the success of the scout’s labors. The singing +stopped.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Now, follow me!” said the scout. “Take this revolver, +Prince Mogador, and use it. Spalding, I can +rely on you. This is to be a desperate break for +freedom, and we must get through.”</p> + +<p class='c004'>Then they followed him out of the room, through +<span class='pageno' id='Page_313'>313</span>the cut bars in the hall at the foot of the short stairs, +and on down to the guardroom just below. Into this +guardroom they dashed, shooting at the men they saw +there.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Six men were in the room, all armed, all smoking; +they had been listening to the singing, and were asking +themselves why it had continued so long and then +so abruptly had stopped.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Through the room, still shooting and now yelling, +rushed the scout, with his companions dashing along +right behind him; and so sudden did they come that +the guards were overwhelmed, and offered no resistance +to their quick passage. Less than five minutes +later they were outside of the big hacienda.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Here along the wall the scout led, while the startled +men who had been by the bonfire were coming up at +a fast run.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The fugitives were soon out beyond the trees on +the opposite of the big house, and well under cover +of the darkness.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Straight northward the scout led the way, avoiding +all pitfalls with wonderful skill—the sort of skill that +has made Buffalo Bill famous the world over. The +next morning they were far away, and had baffled pursuit. +The scout concealed their trail and hid his little +party in the hills, and for their sustenance he killed +game with his revolver.</p> + +<p class='c004'>The next night they pressed on again. They baffled +and distanced their pursuers, and two days later safely +reached some outposts of civilization. Thence, after +resting a day or two, they proceeded to Klamath, +<span class='pageno' id='Page_314'>314</span>where they were joined by Emily’s anxious lover and +her father, to whom they related their adventures.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Emily,” said Mr. Fernald, with mock severity, +“you’ve got to do either one of the only two things +that’ll keep you out of danger: stay home with me +at the ranch, or—marry John Butler. Take your +choice!”</p> + +<p class='c004'>“I choose—John,” said the girl.</p> + +<p class='c004'>“Cody, you’ll have to stay here and be best man +at our wedding,” said Butler, when he found words +to speak.</p> + +<hr class='c025'> + +<p class='c004'>It was three months after the wedding when the +scout received the following letter, bearing a queer +foreign postmark; it was from Enos Spalding:</p> + +<p class='c022'>“<span class='sc'>My Dear Cody</span>: Well, we arrived in this confounded +country all right and O. K. But fer me it +was the most seasicky voyage you ever heard about. +The prince was the real thing. He married Irene in +New York, ye know, before we set out fer this place; +and here he married her again, according to the customs +of this country. Two weddin’s ought to make +the nupshal tie plenty good and strong, hadn’t it?</p> + +<p class='c022'>“Well, you’d ought to be here to see things. They’d +surprise ye. I’m more and more surprised every day +I live; and to think I never ever dreamp that there +was sech a country as this kingdom!</p> + +<p class='c022'>“Ye see, the old king he died; and the brother +what made all the trouble fur the prince, he cut out +when he found that he was likely to lose his head fur +what he’d done to Moggie. I call the new king Moggie, +though Irene she says ’tain’t befittin’ and proper. +<span class='pageno' id='Page_315'>315</span>Well, you’d ought to see things here! I jes’ wish +you could see some of these heathen when they drap +down and paound their heads on the pavement when +I pass by! ’Twould shore tickle ye. Fur, ye see, I’m +the queen’s uncle, and that means I’m a big man in +these parts. Haow’s that fur old Enos Spalding, of +Spalding’s Corners, Vermont? By heck, at night sometimes +I think shore I’m dreamin’ it, and that I’ll wake +up in the mornin’ and find I’m back tew Spalding’s +Corners.</p> + +<p class='c022'>“Come over, Cody, I’ll give ye the time of yer life.</p> + +<div class='c023'>“Your old friend,</div> +<div class='c023'><span class='sc'>Enos Spalding</span>.”</div> + +<hr class='c026'> + +<p class='c004'>As to how the dagger of gold dropped out of the +sky, Buffalo Bill never knew certainly. We may reasonably +believe that the gull carried it for a time, tied +to its neck, and that the hurriedly knotted string at +length gave way. When this occurred, and let the +dagger fall, the gull must have been flying over the +steep wall of the Superstition Range; the bird’s motion +must, also, have given a forward impetus to the +falling dagger, and by chance it struck point foremost +in the bosom of Ramon Periguez, killing him. There +was certainly more than one dagger, just alike, which +explains the mystery.</p> + +<div class='nf-center-c1'> +<div class='nf-center c016'> + <div><span class='fss'>THE END.</span></div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c027'>No. 195 of the <span class='sc'>Buffalo Bill Border Stories</span>, by +Colonel Prentiss Ingraham, is entitled “Buffalo Bill’s +Redskin Disguise.”</p> +<div class='pbb'> + <hr class='pb c000'> +</div> + +<div><span class='pageno' id='Page_316'>316</span></div> +<div class='adpage c028'> + +<div class='nf-center-c1'> +<div class='nf-center c015'> + <div><span class='xlarge'>Round the World Library</span></div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='nf-center-c1'> + <div class='nf-center'> + <div>Stories of Jack Harkaway and His Comrades</div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c029'>Every reader, young and old, has heard of Jack Harkaway. His remarkable +adventures in out-of-the-way corners of the globe are really classics, and every one +should read them.</p> + +<p class='c030'>Jack is a splendid, manly character, full of life and strength and curiosity. He +has a number of very interesting companions—Professor Mole, for instance, who is +very funny. He also has some very strange enemies, who are anything but funny.</p> + +<p class='c030'>Get interested in Jack. It will pay you.</p> + +<div class='nf-center-c1'> +<div class='nf-center c031'> + <div><i>ALL TITLES ALWAYS IN PRINT</i></div> + </div> +</div> + +<hr class='c017'> + +<div class='nf-center-c1'> +<div class='nf-center c032'> + <div><span class='large'><b>By BRACEBRIDGE HEMYNG</b></span></div> + </div> +</div> + +<table class='table1'> +<colgroup> +<col class='colwidth50'> +<col class='colwidth50'> +</colgroup> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>1—Jack Harkaway’s School Days</td> + <td class='c006'>23—Jack Harkaway’s Cadet Days</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>2—Jack Harkaway’s Friends</td> + <td class='c006'>24—Jack Harkaway in the Black Hills</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>3—Jack Harkaway After School Days</td> + <td class='c006'>25—Jack Harkaway in the Tolls</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>4—Jack Harkaway Afloat and Ashore</td> + <td class='c006'>26—Jack Harkaway’s Secret of Wealth</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>5—Jack Harkaway Among the Pirates</td> + <td class='c006'>27—Jack Harkaway, Missing</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>6—Jack Harkaway at Oxford</td> + <td class='c006'>28—Jack Harkaway and the Sacred Serpent</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>7—Jack Harkaway’s Struggles</td> + <td class='c006'>29—The Fool of the Family</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>8—Jack Harkaway’s Triumphs</td> + <td class='c006'>30—Mischievous Matt</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>9—Jack Harkaway Among the Brigands</td> + <td class='c006'>31—Mischievous Matt’s Pranks</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>10—Jack Harkaway’s Return</td> + <td class='c006'>32—Bob Fairplay Adrift</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>11—Jack Harkaway Around the World</td> + <td class='c006'>33—Bob Fairplay at Sea</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>12—Jack Harkaway’s Perils</td> + <td class='c006'>34—The Boys of St. Aldates</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>13—Jack Harkaway in China</td> + <td class='c006'>35—Billy Barlow</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>14—Jack Harkaway and the Red Dragon</td> + <td class='c006'>36—Larry O’Keefe</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>15—Jack Harkaway’s Pluck</td> + <td class='c006'>37—Sam Sawbones</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>16—Jack Harkaway in Australia</td> + <td class='c006'>38—Too Fast to Last</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>17—Jack Harkaway and the Bushrangers</td> + <td class='c006'>39—Home Base</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>18—Jack Harkaway’s Duel</td> + <td class='c006'>40—Spider and Stump</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>19—Jack Harkaway and the Turks</td> + <td class='c006'>41—Out for Fun</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>20—Jack Harkaway in New York</td> + <td class='c006'>42—Rob Rollalong, Sailor</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>21—Jack Harkaway Out West</td> + <td class='c006'>43—Rob Rollalong in the Wilds</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>22—Jack Harkaway Among the Indians</td> + <td class='c006'> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>44—Phil, the Showman</td> + <td class='c006'>By Stanley Norris</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>45—Phil’s Rivals</td> + <td class='c006'>By Stanley Norris</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>46—Phil’s Pluck</td> + <td class='c006'>By Stanley Norris</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>47—Phil’s Triumph</td> + <td class='c006'>By Stanley Norris</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>48—From Circus to Fortune</td> + <td class='c006'>By Stanley Norris</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>49—A Gentleman Born</td> + <td class='c006'>By Stanley Norris</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>50—For His Friend’s Honor</td> + <td class='c006'>By Stanley Norris</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>51—True to His Trust</td> + <td class='c006'>By Stanley Norris</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c005'>52—Facing the Music</td> + <td class='c006'>By Stanley Norris</td> + </tr> +</table> + +<p class='c030'>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> + +<table class='table1'> +<colgroup> +<col class='colwidth49'> +<col class='colwidth50'> +</colgroup> + <tr><td class='c033' colspan='2'>To be published in January, 1927.</td></tr> + <tr> + <td class='c011'>53—Jungles and Traitors</td> + <td class='c010'>By William Murray Graydon</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c011'>54—The Rockspur Eleven</td> + <td class='c010'>By Burt L. Standish</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c011'>55—Treasure Island</td> + <td class='c010'>By Robert Louis Stevenson</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c011'> </td> + <td class='c010'> </td> + </tr> + <tr><td class='c033' colspan='2'>To be published in February, 1927.</td></tr> + <tr> + <td class='c011'>56—In Fort and Prison</td> + <td class='c010'>By William Murray Graydon</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c011'>57—The Rockspur Rivals</td> + <td class='c010'>By Burt L. Standish</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c011'> </td> + <td class='c010'> </td> + </tr> + <tr><td class='c033' colspan='2'>To be published in March, 1927.</td></tr> + <tr> + <td class='c011'>58—George Arnold’s Pluck</td> + <td class='c010'>By John De Morgan</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c011'>59—The Golden Harpoon</td> + <td class='c010'>By Weldon J. Cobb</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c011'> </td> + <td class='c010'> </td> + </tr> + <tr><td class='c033' colspan='2'>To be published in April, 1927.</td></tr> + <tr> + <td class='c011'>60—The Rockspur Nine</td> + <td class='c010'>By Burt L. Standish</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c011'>61—Always on Duty</td> + <td class='c010'>By John De Morgan</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c011'> </td> + <td class='c010'> </td> + </tr> + <tr><td class='c033' colspan='2'>To be published in May, 1927.</td></tr> + <tr> + <td class='c011'>62—On the Wing</td> + <td class='c010'>By Weldon J. Cobb</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c011'>63—Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea</td> + <td class='c010'>By Jules Verne</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c011'> </td> + <td class='c010'> </td> + </tr> + <tr><td class='c033' colspan='2'>To be published, in June, 1927.</td></tr> + <tr> + <td class='c011'>64—A Legacy of Peril</td> + <td class='c010'>By William Murray Graydon</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c011'>65—Lost in the Ice</td> + <td class='c010'>By John De Morgan</td> + </tr> +</table> + +</div> +<div class='pbb'> + <hr class='pb c000'> +</div> + +<div><span class='pageno' id='Page_318'>318</span></div> +<div class='adpage2 c028'> + +<div class='nf-center-c1'> +<div class='nf-center c034'> + <div><b>The Dealer</b></div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c008'>who handles the STREET & SMITH NOVELS +is a man worth patronizing. The fact that he +does handle our books proves that he has considered +the merits of paper-covered lines, and +has decided that the STREET & SMITH +NOVELS are superior to all others.</p> + +<p class='c004'>He has looked into the question of the morality +of the paper-covered book, for instance, and +feels that he is perfectly safe in handing one of +our novels to any one, because he has our assurance +that nothing except clean, wholesome +literature finds its way into our lines.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Therefore, the STREET & SMITH NOVEL +dealer is a careful and wise tradesman, and it +is fair to assume selects the other articles he +has for sale with the same degree of intelligence +as he does his paper-covered books.</p> + +<p class='c004'>Deal with the STREET & SMITH NOVEL +dealer.</p> + +<div class='nf-center-c1'> +<div class='nf-center c016'> + <div><b>STREET   &   SMITH   CORPORATION<a id='tn021'></a></b></div> + <div><b>79 Seventh Avenue        New York, N. Y.<a id='tn022'></a></b></div> + </div> +</div> + +</div> +<div class='pbb'> + <hr class='pb c000'> +</div> + +<div class='tnote c028'> + +<div class='nf-center-c1'> + <div class='nf-center'> + <div><span class='large'>Transcriber’s Notes</span></div> + </div> +</div> + + <ul class='ul_1'> + <li>Note: Printer’s errors and apparent misspellings have been changed and are noted below + </li> + <li class='c000'>Note: For the reader’s convenience, a Table of Contents has + been created and is released into the public domain + </li> + <li class='c000'><a href='#tn025'>Pg. 2</a>: Corrected typo: ‘Buffalo Bill and the Red + Maurauders’ to ‘Marauders’ + </li> + <li class='c000'><a href='#tn001'>Pg. 3</a>: Assumed typo fixed: ‘B. W. B. Lawson’ to ‘By + W. B. Lawson’ + </li> + <li class='c000'><a href='#tn023'>Pg. 6</a>: Missing punctuation at paragraph end: ‘This + he proceeded to read’ to ‘read:’ + </li> + <li class='c000'><a href='#tn028'>Pg. 7</a>: Added missing open-quote: ‘Klamath John.”’ + to ‘“Klamath John.”’ + </li> + <li class='c000'><a href='#tn002'>Pg. 18</a>: Assumed typo fixed: ‘... into a tunnellike’ + to ‘tunnel-like’ + </li> + <li class='c000'><a href='#tn003'>Pg. 28</a>: Assumed typo fixed: ‘DOWN THE CANON’ to + ‘CAÑON’—CAÑON elsewhere, assuming the printer didn’t have tildes for capitals + </li> + <li class='c000'><a href='#tn004'>Pg. 33</a>: Best guess filling blank in scan: ‘... in + that wild way he sprang’ to ‘in that wild way, he sprang’ + </li> + <li class='c000'><a href='#tn005'>Pg. 39</a>: Assumed typo fixed: ‘... Bill read from + this letter’ to ‘letter.’ + </li> + <li class='c000'><a href='#tn006'>Pg. 39</a>: Added missing open-quote: ‘... I’se + wonderin’ dat I’se livin’ dis minute.”’ to ‘“I’se’ + </li> + <li class='c000'><a href='#tn007'>Pg. 40</a>: Best guess filling blank in scan: ‘... + dunnaw. But whatever it is’ to ‘I dunnaw’ + </li> + <li class='c000'><a href='#tn008'>Pg. 54</a>: Added missing close-quote: ‘... crossbones + on the stick pins with those over that door’ to ‘door”’ + </li> + <li class='c000'><a href='#tn009'>Pg. 54</a>: Corrected typo: ‘... cabins here in the + Colconda Cup.’ to ‘Golconda’—Golconda elsewhere + </li> + <li class='c000'><a href='#tn010'>Pg. 56</a>: Best guess filling blank in scan: ‘... with + a slow and sulen’ to ‘sullen’ + </li> + <li class='c000'><a href='#tn011'>Pg. 102</a>: Corrected typo: ‘... they heard Rey + Reynard command’ to ‘Red’—Red elsewhere + </li> + <li class='c000'><a href='#tn012'>Pg. 113</a>: Added missing period at end of paragraph: + ‘... with ill-concealed displeasure’ to ‘displeasure.’ + </li> + <li class='c000'><a href='#tn013'>Pg. 115</a>: Added missing period at end of paragraph: + ‘... Bounderby turned to Fritz Henselman’ to ‘Henselman.’ + </li> + <li class='c000'><a href='#tn014'>Pg. 130</a>: Removed extra period: ‘... and scratched + his bald head..’ to ‘head.’ + </li> + <li class='c000'><a href='#tn015'>Pg. 179</a>: Added missing close-quote: ‘will have + aroused the Indians.’ to ‘Indians.”’ + </li> + <li class='c000'><a href='#tn016'>Pg. 205</a>: Added missing open-quote: ‘The chances are + not great’ to ‘“The’ + </li> + <li class='c000'><a href='#tn017'>Pg. 206</a>: Removed extra close-quote: ‘... flash his + message for help.”’ to ‘help.’ + </li> + <li class='c000'><a href='#tn018'>Pg. 226</a>: Corrected typo: ‘Señor Ruis has gone to + attend him’ to ‘Ruiz’—Ruiz elsewhere + </li> + <li class='c000'><a href='#tn026'>Pg. 228</a>: Added missing close-quote: ‘“I am from + Madrid. He lifted’ to ‘“I am from Madrid.”’ + </li> + <li class='c000'><a href='#tn027'>Pg. 269</a>: Added missing open-quote: ‘Leon Ruiz.”’ to + ‘“Leon Ruiz.”’ + </li> + <li class='c000'><a href='#tn019'>Pg. 274</a>: Corrected typo: ‘... or the horses would’t + be where they are.’ to ‘wouldn’t’ + </li> + <li class='c000'><a href='#tn020'>Pg. 303</a>: Corrected typo: ‘From the palace there I + was kidnaped’ to ‘kidnapped’ + </li> + <li class='c000'><a href='#tn024'>Pg. 308</a>: Corrected typo: ‘... Miss Nelson. that you + are a’ to ‘... Miss Nelson, that’ + </li> + <li class='c000'><a href='#tn021'>Pg. 318</a>: Best guess filling blank in scan: ‘STREET + & SMITH CORPORAT’ to ‘CORPORATION’ + </li> + <li class='c000'><a href='#tn022'>Pg. 318</a>: Best guess filling blank in scan: ‘New + York’ to ‘New York, N. Y.’ + </li> + </ul> + +</div> +<div style='text-align:center'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 79255 ***</div> +</body> +<!-- created with ppgen.py 3.57i on 2026-08-02 01:45:59 GMT --> +</html> diff --git a/79255-h/images/cover.jpg b/79255-h/images/cover.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..54cca41 --- /dev/null +++ b/79255-h/images/cover.jpg diff --git a/79255-h/images/logo.jpg b/79255-h/images/logo.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..8aa126d --- /dev/null +++ b/79255-h/images/logo.jpg diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6c72794 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This book, 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. 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