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-The Project Gutenberg EBook of Buffalo Bill, the Border King, by 

-Colonel Prentiss Ingraham

-

-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most

-other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions

-whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of

-the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at

-www.gutenberg.org.  If you are not located in the United States, you'll have

-to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook.

-

-Title: Buffalo Bill, the Border King

-       Redskin and Cowboy

-

-Author: Colonel Prentiss Ingraham

-

-Release Date: July 14, 2020 [EBook #62638]

-

-Language: English

-

-Character set encoding: UTF-8

-

-*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BUFFALO BILL, THE BORDER KING ***

-

-

-

-

-Produced by David Edwards, Craig Kirkwood, and the Online

-Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net

-

-

-

-

-

-

-Transcriber’s Notes:

-

-Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_).

-

-Additional Transcriber’s Notes are at the end.

-

-       *       *       *       *       *

-

-

-

-

-Buffalo Bill, the Border King

-

-

-  OR, REDSKIN AND COWBOY

-

-  BY Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-

-  Author of “Buffalo Bill”

-

-  [Illustration]

-

-  STREET & SMITH CORPORATION

-  PUBLISHERS

-  79-89 Seventh Avenue, New York

-

-       *       *       *       *       *

-

-Copyright, 1907 By STREET & SMITH

-

-Buffalo Bill, the Border King

-

-(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 role 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 Roughriders of the World,” first presented at Omaha,

-Nebraska. In time it became a familiar yearly entertainment in the

-great cities of this country and Europe. Many famous personages

-attended the performances, and became his warm friends, including Mr.

-Gladstone, the Marquis of Lorne, King Edward, Queen Victoria, and the

-Prince of Wales, now King of England.

-

-At the outbreak of the Sioux, in 1890 and 1891, Colonel Cody served

-at the head of the Nebraska National Guard. In 1895 Cody took up the

-development of Wyoming Valley by introducing irrigation. Not long

-afterward he became judge advocate general of the Wyoming National

-Guard.

-

-Colonel Cody (Buffalo Bill) died in Denver, Colorado, on January

-10, 1917. His legacy to a grateful world was a large share in

-the development of the West, and a multitude of achievements in

-horsemanship, marksmanship, and endurance that will live for ages. His

-life will continue to be a leading example of the manliness, courage,

-and devotion to duty that belonged to a picturesque phase of American

-life now passed, like the great patriot whose career it typified, into

-the Great Beyond.

-

-       *       *       *       *       *

-

-BUFFALO BILL, THE BORDER KING.

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER I. RUNNING THE DEATH-GANTLET.

-

-

-Fort Advance, a structure built of heavy, squared timbers and some

-masonry, with towers at the four corners, commanding the deep ditches

-which had been dug around the walls, stood in the heart of the then

-untracked Territory of Utah. It was the central figure of a beautiful

-valley--when in repose--and commanded one of the important passes and

-wagon trails of the Rockies.

-

-A mountain torrent flowed through the valley, and a supply of pure

-water from this stream had been diverted into the armed square which,

-commanded by Major Frank Baldwin, was a veritable City of Refuge to all

-the whites who chanced to be in the country at this time.

-

-For the valley of Fort Advance offered no peaceful scene. The savage

-denizens of the mountain and plain had risen, and, in a raging,

-vengeful flood, had poured into the valley and besieged the unfortunate

-occupants of the fort. These were a branch of the great Sioux tribe,

-and, under their leading chief, Oak Heart, fought with the desperation

-and blind fanaticism of Berserkers.

-

-A belt of red warriors surrounded Fort Advance, cutting off all

-escape, or the approach of any assistance to the inmates of the

-stockade, outnumbering the able-bodied men under Major Baldwin’s

-command five to one! Among them rode the famous Oak Heart, inspiring

-his children to greater deeds of daring. By his side rode a graceful,

-beautiful girl of some seventeen years, whose face bore the

-unmistakable stamp of having other than Indian blood flowing in her

-veins. Long, luxurious hair, every strand of golden hue, contrasted

-strangely with her bronze complexion, while her eyes were sloe-black,

-and brilliant with every changing expression.

-

-This was White Antelope, a daughter of Oak Heart, and she held almost

-as much influence in the tribe as the grim old chief himself. Because

-of her beauty, indeed, she was almost worshiped as a goddess. At least,

-there was not a young buck in all the Utah Sioux who would not have

-attempted any deed of daring for the sake of calling the White Antelope

-his squaw.

-

-But while the red warriors were so inspired without the walls of the

-fortress, within was a much different scene. Major Baldwin’s resources

-were at an end. Many of his men were wounded, or ill; food was low; the

-wily redskins had cut off their water-supply; and there were but a few

-rounds of ammunition remaining. Fort Advance and its people were at a

-desperate pass, indeed!

-

-After a conference with his subordinate officers, Major Baldwin stood

-up in the midst of his haggard, powder-begrimed men. They were faithful

-fellows--many of them bore the scars of old Indian fights. But human

-endurance has its limit, and there is an end to man’s courage.

-

-“Will no man in this fort dare run the death-gantlet and bring aid to

-us?” cried the major.

-

-It was an appeal from the lips of a fearless man, one who had won a

-record as a soldier in the Civil War, and had made it good later upon

-the field as an Indian fighter. The demand was for one who would risk

-almost certain death to save a couple of hundred of his fellow beings,

-among them a score of women and children.

-

-The nearest military post where help might be obtained was forty

-miles away. Several brave men had already attempted to run the deadly

-gantlet, and had died before the horrified eyes of the fort’s inmates.

-It seemed like flinging one’s life away to venture into the open where,

-just beyond rifle-shot, the red warriors ringed the fort about.

-

-Such was the situation, and another attack was about due. The riding of

-the big chief and his daughter through the mass of Indians, was for the

-purpose of giving instructions regarding the coming charge. Ammunition

-in the fort might run out this time. Then over the barrier would swarm

-the redskins, and the thought of the massacre that would follow made

-even Major Baldwin’s cheek blanch.

-

-So the gallant commander’s appeal had been made--and had it been made

-in vain? So it would seem, for not a man spoke for several moments.

-They shifted their guns, or changed weight from one foot to the other,

-or adjusted a bandage which already marked the redskin’s devilish work.

-

-They were brave men; but death seemed too sure a result of the attempt

-called for; it meant--to their minds--but another life flung away!

-

-“Was it not better that all should die here together, fighting

-desperately till the last man fell?” That was the question these old

-scarred veterans asked in their own minds. The venture would be utterly

-and completely hopeless.

-

-“_Look there!_”

-

-The trumpet-call was uttered by an officer on one of the towers

-of the stockade. His arm pointed westward, toward a ridge of rock

-which--barren and forbidding--sloped down into the valley facing the

-main gateway of Fort Advance.

-

-At the officer’s cry a score of men leaped to positions from which

-could be seen the object that occasioned it. Even Major Baldwin,

-knowing that the cry had been uttered because of some momentous

-happening, hurriedly mounted to the platform above the gate. He feared

-that already his demand for another volunteer was too late. He believed

-the redskins were massing for another charge.

-

-All eyes were strained in the direction the officer on the watch-tower

-pointed. A gasp of amazement was chorused by those who saw and

-understood the meaning of the cry.

-

-A horseman was seen riding like the wind toward the fort--and he was a

-white man!

-

-The Indians who had already beheld this rash adventurer were dumb with

-amazement. They were as much surprised by his appearance as were the

-inmates of the fort.

-

-The unknown rider was leading a packhorse. The horse he bestrode was a

-magnificent animal, and the packhorse flying along by its side was a

-racer as well, for both came on, down the long tongue of barren rock,

-at a spanking pace.

-

-From whence had the man come? Who was he? How had he gotten almost

-through the Indian lines undiscovered?

-

-He certainly had all but run the gantlet of the red warriors, for no

-shot, or no arrow, had been fired at him until he was discovered by the

-officer on the watch-tower of the fort.

-

-Then it was that he spurred forward like the wind, and floating to the

-ears of the whites who watched him so fearfully came the long, tremolo

-yell of the Sioux warriors as they started in pursuit of the daredevil

-rider. He was heading directly for the large gates of the fort.

-

-That he had chosen well his place to break through the Indian

-death-circle was evident, for there were few braves near him as he fled

-along the sloping ridge into the valley. His rifle he turned to right,

-or to left, firing with the same ease from either shoulder, while his

-mount, and the packhorse tied to its bridle, guided their own feet over

-the rocky way.

-

-When he pulled trigger the bullet did not miss its mark. The rifle rang

-out a death-knell, or sent a wounded brave out of action.

-

-The ponies of the Indians were feeding in the valley, with only a guard

-here and there, and there were no mounted warriors near to close in on

-the reckless rider, or to head him off. Hark! Their vengeful yells, as

-they observed the possibility of the daring man’s escape, were awful

-to hear. They were in a frenzy of rage at the desperate act of the

-horseman.

-

-Rifles and bows sent bullets and shafts at him, but at long range. If

-he was hit he did not show it. The horses still thundered on, down into

-the valley, as recklessly as frenzied buffalo.

-

-Oak Heart, the great war chief, heard the commotion and saw the

-speeding white man. The chief was mounted, and he lashed his horse into

-a dead run for the point where the reckless paleface was descending

-into the valley. With him rode the White Antelope, and their coming

-spurred the braves to more strenuous attempts to reach, or capture, or

-kill, the daredevil rider.

-

-The occupants of the fort--those who beheld this wonderful race--were

-on the qui vive. Their exclamations displayed the anxiety and

-uncertainty they felt.

-

-“He can never make it!”

-

-“The Indian guard are driving in the ponies to bar his way!”

-

-“Who is he?”

-

-“How he rides!”

-

-“God guard the brave fellow!” cried a woman’s voice.

-

-One of the gentler sex had climbed to the platform over the gate, and

-this was her prayer.

-

-Other women had dropped to their knees, and were fervently praying God

-to spare the splendid fellow who was daring the gantlet of death. A

-cheer rose from the soldiery. This unknown was showing them the way

-that they had not dared to go.

-

-“That packhorse is wounded. Why doesn’t he leave it?” cried one of the

-officers. “It is delaying him--can’t the fellow see it?”

-

-At that moment the commander shouted:

-

-“Captain Keyes, take your troop to the rescue of that brave fellow!”

-

-“With pleasure, sir! I was about to ask your permission to do just

-that,” declared the junior officer.

-

-The bugle sounded, but its notes were drowned in a sudden wild shout

-of joy that rose from the two hundred inmates of the fort. Another

-officer, with a field-glass at his eye, had suddenly turned and shouted:

-

-“It is Buffalo Bill, the Border King!”

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER II. THE BORDER KING.

-

-

-The wild cheers that greeted the recognition of the daring gantlet

-runner came in frenzied roars, the piping voices of children, the

-treble notes of women, and the deep bass of the men mingling in a

-swelling chorus that rose higher and higher.

-

-The Border King, as he had been called, heard the sound. He understood

-that it was in his welcome, and he fairly stood up in his stirrups and

-waved his sombrero, while the horses dashed on at the same mad pace.

-

-Buffalo Bill, or William F. Cody, as was his real name, was the chief

-of scouts at this very fort, and he was a hero--almost a god--in the

-eyes of the soldiers and his brother scouts.

-

-A week before he had started for Denver with important despatches, but

-had returned in a few hours to report signs of a large band of Indians

-on the move. He had warned Major Baldwin that Oak Heart and his braves

-might be intending a concerted attack upon Fort Advance; but duty

-called Buffalo Bill to the trail again, and he had hurried away on his

-Denver mission.

-

-That the danger he had dreaded was real, the surrounding of the fort

-several days later by the Sioux proved. Scouts had been sent for aid,

-but too late. None had gotten through the belt of redskins, and that

-belt was tightening each hour. The ammunition was low, and the awful

-end was not far off if help from some quarter did not appear.

-

-Even the appearance of Buffalo Bill inspired the beleaguered whites

-with hope. It seemed an almost hopeless attempt to reach the fort, for

-the red warriors were closing in upon him. Yet he rode on unshakenly.

-

-Down the ridge he sped, and out upon the plain. He was seemingly coming

-from the sunshine of life into the valley of death’s shadow!

-

-Why did he do it? Why did he risk his life so recklessly when only

-forty miles away he could have obtained help from the military post?

-There was some reason behind his daring act, and some cause for his

-delaying his effort by dragging the packhorse, now wounded, with him.

-

-All in the fort knew what this hero of the border had done to win fame

-among the mighty men of the frontier. He was chief and king among them.

-Yet what could he do now to help the besieged in the fortress, even

-did he reach the gate? That was the question!

-

-But hope revived, nevertheless, in every heart. Even the commandant,

-Major Frank Baldwin, began to look more hopeful as the scout drew

-closer to the fort. He had known Buffalo Bill long and well, and he

-knew of what marvels he was capable!

-

-Buffalo Bill had been born in a cabin home on the banks of the

-Mississippi River in the State of Iowa, and from his eighth year he

-had been a pioneer--an advance agent of civilization. At that age

-his father had removed to Kansas, and as a boy Billie Cody saw and

-took part in the bloody struggles in Kansas between the supporters

-of slavery and those who believed that the soil of Kansas should be

-unsmirched by that terrible traffic in human lives.

-

-Cody’s father, indeed, lost his life because of his belief in freedom,

-and the boy was obliged to help support the family at a tender age. He

-went to Leavenworth, and there hired out to Alex Majors, who of that

-day was the chief of the overland freighters into the far West.

-

-The boy was eleven years old--an age when most youngsters think only of

-their play and of their stomachs. But Billie Cody had seen his father

-shot down; he had nursed him and hidden him from his foes, and from

-the dying pioneer had received a sacred charge. That was the care of

-his mother and sister. It was necessary for him to earn a man’s wage,

-not a boy’s. And to get it he must do a man’s work. He was a splendid

-rider, even then--one of those horsemen who seem a part of the animal

-he bestrode, like the Centaurs of which Greek mythology tells us.

-Alex Majors needed a messenger to ride from train to train along the

-wagon-trail, and he entrusted young Cody with the job.

-

-It was one that might have put to the test the bravery of a seasoned

-plainsman. Indians and wild beasts were both very plentiful. There

-were hundreds of dangers to threaten the lone boy as he rode swiftly

-over the trails. Yet even then he began to make his mark. He had

-several encounters with the Indians during his first season. As he says

-himself, the first redskin he ever saw stole from him, and he had to

-force the scoundrel--boy though he was--to give up the property at the

-point of the rifle. This incident, perhaps, gave the youth a certain

-daring in approaching the reds which often stood him well in after

-adventures. And the reds learned to respect and fear Billie Cody. He

-allowed his hair to grow long, to show the Indians that he was not

-afraid to wear a “scalp-lock”--practically daring any of his red foes

-to come and take it!

-

-So from that early day he had been active on the border. All knew

-him--red as well as white. He had been an Indian fighter from his

-eleventh year, the hero of hundreds of daring deeds, thrilling

-adventures, and narrow escapes. He was as gentle as a woman with the

-weak, the feeble, or with those who claimed his protection; but he was

-as savage in battle as a mountain lion, and had well earned the title

-bestowed upon him by his admiring friends--the Border King. His coming

-to the fort now--if he could make it safely--was worth in itself a

-company of reenforcements, for it put heart into all the besieged.

-

-“Never mind, Keyes! it is Cody, and he will get through,” called out

-Major Baldwin to Captain Keyes, as the men were mounting.

-

-Captain Edward L. Keyes was a splendid type of cavalry officer, and

-he was anxious for another brush with the redskins at close quarters.

-He was disappointed, but as the man making the attempt to reach Fort

-Advance was Buffalo Bill, the captain agreed with Major Baldwin that

-“he would get through.”

-

-The Border King had turned his rifle now upon the Indian guards who

-were trying to head him off by blocking his way with the large herd of

-half-wild ponies which had been feeding in the valley. Indian ponies

-are not broken like those used by white men. They are pretty nearly

-wild all their days. The red man merely teaches his mount to answer to

-the pressure of his knees, and to the jerk of the single rawhide thong

-that is slipped around the brute’s lower jaw. And these lessons are

-further enforced by cruelty.

-

-The odor of a white person is offensive to an Indian pony. A white man

-has been known frequently to stampede a band of Indian mounts; and not

-infrequently the mob of wild creatures has turned upon the unfortunate

-paleface and trampled him to death under their unshod feet.

-

-Therefore, this opposition of the ponies was no small matter. They were

-a formidable barrier to Buffalo Bill’s successful arrival at the gate

-of the stockade fort.

-

-His rifle rattled forth lively, yet deadly, music, and his aim was

-wonderfully true for that of a man riding at full speed. Emptying the

-gun, he swung it quickly over his shoulder, and drawing the big cavalry

-pistols from their holsters the daring scout began to fairly mow a

-path through the herd of ponies. The slugs carried by the large-caliber

-pistols were as effective as the balls from his rifle. The mob of

-squealing, kicking, biting ponies broke before his charge, and swept on

-ahead of him. Another cheer from the watchers in the fort signaled this

-fact. The ponies were stampeding directly toward Fort Advance.

-

-“Out and line ’em up!”

-

-“We’ll corral the ponies if we kyan’t th’ Injuns!”

-

-“Throw open the gates!” commanded Major Baldwin, his voice heard above

-the tumult.

-

-The command was obeyed, and Captain Keyes and his men galloped out to

-meet the mob.

-

-In vain did the Indian guards try to head off the stampede. By having

-left their ponies in the valley where the grass was sweet and long,

-they had been caught in this trap. Instead of capturing Buffalo Bill it

-looked as though he and the other whites would capture the bulk of the

-Indian ponies!

-

-Oak Heart and the White Antelope, with a few mounted reds at their

-back, thundered across the level plain and up the rise toward the fort.

-But the pony herd and Buffalo Bill were well in the lead.

-

-The king of the border turned in his saddle, and waved his sombrero in

-mockery at the Indian chief. Then the ponies dashed into the gateway

-and were corraled, while the scout, still leading his packhorse, swept

-in behind them.

-

-“On guard, all! The redskins will charge on foot to try and get their

-ponies!” shouted the scout, as he came through the gate.

-

-His voice rose above the turmoil and brought the delighted men to their

-duty. Major Baldwin echoed Buffalo Bill’s advice, ordering everybody to

-their posts.

-

-“Be careful of the expenditure of powder and lead, men!” warned the

-major, from his stand on the platform. “Remember we are running short.”

-

-“Don’t you believe it, major!” cried the voice of the scout, as he

-dismounted in the middle of the enthusiastic throng.

-

-“What’s that, Cody?”

-

-“Strip the packhorse. I have brought you a-plenty of ammunition until

-reenforcements can be had.”

-

-“God bless you, Cody, for those words! You have saved us,” cried Major

-Baldwin, and there was a tremor in his voice as he glanced toward the

-group of women and children.

-

-He came down from the platform, and wrung the scout’s hand, as he asked:

-

-“In the name of Heaven, Cody, where did you get ammunition? Surely, you

-did not bring it all the way from Denver?”

-

-“No, indeed. I cached this over a year ago, major,” the scout replied

-cheerfully. “It will hold those red devils off until help arrives.

-You’ve sent to Fort Resistence, I presume?”

-

-“Sent, alas! But five men have died in the attempt.”

-

-“And not one got through?” cried Buffalo Bill.

-

-“Not one, Cody.”

-

-Buffalo Bill’s face assumed a look of anxiety--an expression not often

-seen there.

-

-“I had called for another volunteer when you were discovered coming.

-It was a splendid dash you made, Cody, and a desperate one as well.”

-

-“Aye,” said the scout gravely. “Desperate it was, indeed. But it

-must be made again. This ammunition I have brought you may last till

-morning; but the reds must be taken on the flank or they’ll hold you

-here till kingdom come!

-

-“I’ll try to get through again, Major Baldwin. You must have help,”

-declared the Border King sternly.

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER III. THE KING OF THE SIOUX.

-

-

-Scarcely had Buffalo Bill uttered these cheering words when a babble of

-cries arose from the watchers on the towers and the platform over the

-gate. The redskins were gathering for a concerted charge, maddened by

-his escape and the loss of their ponies.

-

-Saving a few chiefs, beside Oak Heart and the White Antelope none of

-the reds were mounted. However, they were so enraged now that they

-ignored the whites’ accuracy of aim and came on within rifle-shot of

-the stockade.

-

-The ammunition brought on the packhorse led by the scout was hastily

-distributed among the defendants of the fort, with orders to throw no

-shot away. They were to shoot to kill, and Major Baldwin advised as

-did “Old Put” at the first great battle in United States history--the

-Battle of Bunker Hill--“to wait till they saw the whites of the

-enemies’ eyes!”

-

-Powder was as precious to that devoted band as gold-dust, and bullets

-were as valuable as diamonds.

-

-Major Baldwin took his position on the observation platform above

-the gate, Buffalo Bill by his side, repeating rifle in hand, and

-near them stood a couple of young officers as aids, and the bugler.

-All were armed with rifles, and every weapon for which there was no

-immediate need in the fort was loaded and ready. The women were in two

-groups--one ready to reload the weapons tossed them by the men, and the

-other to assist the surgeon with the wounded.

-

-The Indians came swarming across the valley in a red tidal wave. They

-were decreasing their circle, and expected to rush the stockade walls

-in a cyclonic charge.

-

-They quickened their pace as they came, and the weird war-whoop

-deafened the beleaguered garrison. They came with a rush at last,

-showering the walls with arrows and bullets, some of which found their

-way into the loopholes.

-

-It was a grand charge to look upon; it was a desperate one to check.

-

-The whites had their orders and obeyed them. Not a rifle cracked

-until the Indians were under the stockade walls, scrambling through

-the ditch. Then the four six-pounders roared from the block-towers,

-their scattering lead and iron mowing down the yelling redskins in the

-ditches.

-

-Then volley upon volley of carbines, repeating rifles, and muskets

-echoed the rolling thunder of the big guns.

-

-Not a few of the bullets and arrows entered the loopholes, and many

-dead and wounded were numbered among the whites; but the carnage among

-the redskins was awful to contemplate.

-

-The thunder of the big guns, the popping of the smaller firearms, the

-screaming of the wild ponies corraled in the fort, and the demoralized

-shrieks of the Indians themselves made a veritable hell upon earth!

-

-Above all rose the notes of the bugle sending forth orders at Major

-Baldwin’s command. Now and then that piercing, weird war-cry of

-the Border King was heard--a sound well known and feared by the

-Indians. They recognized it as the voice of he whom they called

-Pa-e-has-ka--“The Long Hair.”

-

-Indian nature was not equal to facing the deadly hail of iron and lead,

-and the red wave broke against the stockade and receded, leaving many

-still and writhing bodies in the ditches which surrounded the fort, and

-scattered upon the plain. Slowly at first the redskins surged backward

-under the galling fire of the whites but finally the retreat became a

-stampede.

-

-The rout was complete. All but the dead and badly wounded escaped

-swiftly out of rifle-shot, save one mounted chief. He was left alone,

-struggling with his mount, trying to force the animal to leave the

-vicinity of the fort gate.

-

-This was Oak Heart himself, the king of the Sioux, and his mount was a

-great white cavalry charger that he had captured months before. This

-was no half-wild Indian pony; yet the Indian chief, without spurs and

-a proper bridle, could not control the beast. The horse had heard the

-bugle to which he had been so long used. He was determined in his

-equine mind to rejoin the white men who had been his friends, instead

-of these cruel red masters, and he made a dash for the gate of the

-fortress.

-

-In vain did Chief Oak Heart try to check him. He would have flung

-himself from the horse’s back, but the creature was so swift of foot

-and the ground was so broken here, that such an act would have assured

-Oak Heart’s instant death. Besides, being the great chief of his

-tribe, Oak Heart had bound himself to the horse that, if wounded or

-killed, he would not be lost to his people which--according to Indian

-belief--would be shame.

-

-Oak Heart had lost his scalping-knife, and could not cut the rawhide

-lariat that held him fast. He writhed, yelling maledictions in Sioux

-upon the horse; but he could neither check the brute nor unfasten the

-lariat.

-

-His warriors soon saw Chief Oak Heart’s predicament, and they charged

-back to his rescue. The White Antelope led them on, for she was as

-brave as her father.

-

-Buffalo Bill had been first to see the difficulty into which the chief

-had gotten himself, and springing down from the platform he threw

-himself into the saddle, shouted for the gates to be opened, and

-spurred his horse out of the fort.

-

-“Don’t shoot the girl!” the scout yelled to the soldiers lining the

-walls above him. “Have a care for the girl!”

-

-But there was scarcely chance for the whites to fire at all at the

-oncoming White Antelope and her party, before Buffalo Bill was beside

-the big white charger and the struggling king of the Sioux.

-

-Out flashed the scout’s pistol, and he presented it to the red man’s

-head.

-

-“Oak Heart, you are my prisoner! Yield yourself!” he cried, in the

-Sioux tongue.

-

-At the same moment he seized the thong by which the Indian was

-wrenching at the jaw of the white horse, snatched it from Oak Heart’s

-grasp, and gave the big charger his head. The white horse sprang

-forward for the open gate of the fort, and Buffalo Bill’s mount kept

-abreast of him. The redskins dared not fire at the scout for fear of

-killing Oak Heart.

-

-A volley from the soldiery sent the would-be rescuers of the chief back

-to cover. Only the beautiful girl, White Antelope, was left boldly in

-the open, shaking her befeathered spear and trying to rally her people

-to the charge. The white men honored Buffalo Bill’s request and did

-not shoot at her, or the Sioux would have lost their mascot as well as

-their great chieftain.

-

-In a moment the scout with his prisoner dashed through the open gates,

-which were slammed shut and barred amid the deafening acclamations of

-the garrison. Major Baldwin was on hand to grasp Buffalo Bill’s hand

-again, and as he wrung it he cried:

-

-“Another brave deed to your credit, Cody! It was cleverly done.”

-

-He turned to the chief whom the scout was freeing from the lariat that

-had been the cause of his capture. The redskin king had accepted his

-fate philosophically. His look and bearing was of fearlessness and

-savage dignity. He had been captured by the palefaces, and so humbled

-in the eyes of a thousand braves; but he was defiant still, and his

-features would not reveal his heart-anguish to those foes that now

-surrounded him with flushed faces.

-

-The stoical traits of the Indian character cannot but arouse admiration

-in the white man’s breast. From babyhood the redskin is taught--both

-by precept and instinct--to utter no cry of pain, to reveal no emotion

-which should cause a foe pleasure. When captured by other savages, the

-Indian will go to the fire, or stand to be hacked to pieces by his

-enemies, with no sound issuing from his lips but the death-chant.

-

-And this Spartan fortitude is present in the very papooses themselves.

-A traveler once told how, in walking through an Indian village, he came

-upon a little baby tied in the Indian fashion to a board, the board

-leaning against the outside of a wigwam. The mother had left it there

-and the white man came upon it suddenly. Undoubtedly his appearance,

-and his standing to look at the small savage, frightened it as such

-an experience would a white child. But his voice was not raised. Not

-a sound did the poor little savage utter; but the tears formed in his

-beady eyes and ran down his fat cheeks. Infant that he was, and filled

-with fright of the white man, he would not weep aloud.

-

-Oak Heart, the savage king, looked abroad upon his enemies, and his

-haughty face gave no expression of fear. He was a captive, but his

-spirit was unconquered.

-

-“This is a good job, Cody,” whispered Baldwin, glancing again at the

-chieftain. “We can make use of him, eh?”

-

-“We can, indeed, major,” returned the scout.

-

-“But that crowd out yonder will be watching us all the closer now. How

-under the sun anybody can get through them after this----”

-

-“Leave it to me, major,” interrupted Buffalo Bill firmly. “I am ready

-to make the trial--and make it now!”

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER IV. BUFFALO BILL’S PLOT.

-

-

-There was a look on Buffalo Bill’s face as he spoke that informed Major

-Baldwin that the scout had already formed some plan which he wished to

-make known to him. So the officer said:

-

-“Come to my quarters, Cody, and we will talk it over. Captain Keyes,

-kindly take charge of the chief and see that he is neither ill-treated

-or disturbed. Some of these boys feel pretty ugly, I am sure. We

-have lost a number of good men, and two of the children have been

-frightfully wounded by arrows coming through the lower loopholes.”

-

-When the major and the scout reached the former’s office, Baldwin said:

-

-“Are you in earnest in this attempt, Cody?”

-

-“Never more so, Major Baldwin. Help we _must_ have.”

-

-“No man knows the danger better than you do. I need not warn you.”

-

-“Quite needless, sir. I know the game from A to Z.”

-

-“Very true. But there are great odds against you.”

-

-“No man, I believe, sir, stands a better chance of getting through than

-myself.”

-

-“That is so; yet, while many good men might be spared to make the

-attempt, you are the one who cannot be replaced.”

-

-“Thank you, sir; but my life is no more to me than another man’s is to

-him. If I’d been thinking of the chances of getting shot up all these

-years, I reckon I’d turned up my toes long ago. I never think of death

-if I can help it.”

-

-“It’s true, Cody!” exclaimed the major. “You act as though the bullet

-wasn’t molded that could kill you.”

-

-“So the redskins say, I believe,” responded the scout grimly.

-

-“Yet your place cannot easily be filled,” the major said again. “If you

-can get some other volunteer I wish you would. I don’t want to lose

-you, Bill.”

-

-“Captain Keyes is anxious to go, sir, but----”

-

-“Oh, yes; Keyes is a daredevil whom nothing will daunt; but I refused

-his request and those of my few other officers.”

-

-“Then I must go, sir.”

-

-“First, tell me about your mission,” said the major abruptly.

-

-“I delivered your despatches, sir,” said Cody, “and here are others for

-you. On coming within a few miles of the fort I saw that several large

-parties of Indians had passed, all seemingly making in this direction.

-I knew what was up at once. I suspected that unless you had been lucky

-enough to get a supply of ammunition before the reds closed in on you,

-you’d run short; but there was that horse load we had to bury last year

-when I was on the expedition with Captain Ames. So I went over there

-and found it all in good shape.

-

-“I came mighty near losing it all, however,” added the scout, smiling,

-“for in the very act of uncovering the stuff I was come upon by a

-redskin on a good horse. It was kill or be killed, and before he could

-either shoot me or knife me I had laid him out.

-

-“His war-bonnet and rigging made a pretty good disguise for me. And

-certainly his horse came in handy. The animal was not a wild pony, but

-had Uncle Sam’s brand on him. Where the red got him, Heaven only knows.

-Some poor white man probably lost his life before he lost his horse.

-

-“However, I dressed up as near like an Injun as I could, and packed the

-ammunition on the dead man’s mount. I made a détour so as to come up

-from the west, and be opposite the main gate; for I knew about how the

-red devils would swarm about you here. And I was not interfered with

-until, coming out on that ridge, I had to throw aside my disguise, or

-run the risk of being made a target of by some of your fellows in the

-stockade here. I knew they could shoot better than the redskins,” and

-Cody laughed.

-

-“So here I am,” the scout added, “little the worse for wear, major.”

-

-“And a more gallant ride I never saw. You have done nobly, Cody. The

-ammunition will keep us going for some hours.”

-

-“Unless the redskins rush you too hard.”

-

-“You think they will try to charge again--and without their horses?”

-

-“Sure thing. Our capture of Oak Heart will stir ’em up worse than ever.”

-

-“They won’t wait until dark, then?”

-

-“I don’t believe so. That half-wild girl, White Antelope, will give

-them no peace until they try to rescue her father.”

-

-“But you warned my men not to shoot her.”

-

-“That’s right. She’s Injun now,” said Buffalo Bill sadly. “But her

-mother wasn’t a redskin, and perhaps some day, when old Oak Heart

-passes in his chips, she may be gotten away from the savages.”

-

-“You knew her mother, then, Cody?”

-

-“Yes. And a noble woman she was.”

-

-“Yet she went to the wigwam of a dirty redskin?”

-

-“Ah! you don’t know the circumstances. It is a sad story, Major

-Baldwin, and some day I’ll tell it to you. But don’t blame the

-mother--or the unfortunate child of this strange union. _She_ would

-make a beautiful woman if she were civilized, cross-blood though she

-be.”

-

-“Well, well! It’s a sad case, as you say. I’ll pass the word to the

-officers to instruct their men to spare the White Antelope wherever

-they may meet her.”

-

-“Thank you,” said Buffalo Bill simply. “My scouts already know my

-wishes on the subject. And now, major, I must get ready for my dash

-through that mob again.”

-

-“It seems a wicked shame to let you go, Cody! Yet--we can’t beat off

-many more charges even with this access of ammunition.”

-

-“You surely can’t. I must go.”

-

-“You have devised a plan, I can see.”

-

-“I have, sir.”

-

-“Well, sit here and tell me. The mess cook is preparing a hearty meal

-for you. You can talk while you eat, Cody.”

-

-“Thanks for your thoughtfulness, major. I _am_ a little slim-waisted,

-not daring to build a fire since yesterday.”

-

-“Just like you to neglect your own needs when others demand your

-services.”

-

-“Ha, ha!” laughed the scout. “I had some desire to keep my scalp, as

-well. The reds are too thick hereabout to make fire-building a safe

-occupation.”

-

-“Well, sir, your plan?” queried the officer.

-

-“Why, it came to me when I saw old Oak Heart mixed up with that blessed

-old white horse, you know. That old fellow is an ancient friend of

-mine. I recognized him at once. And he never did love an Injun. I

-wonder how Oak Heart managed to ride him at all.”

-

-“The horse, you mean?”

-

-“Sure. Well, as for the chief, we have him; but we never can make terms

-with his tribe for his release.”

-

-“You think not?”

-

-“I _know_ so. The chief is a true Sioux. He would never allow his

-people to make terms for his life. You could hack him to pieces on that

-scaffolding yonder, where all the reds could see, and it would not

-change the attitude of the crew a mite, excepting to make them more

-bloodthirsty.”

-

-“Yes?”

-

-“So we can’t make terms with him.”

-

-“What do you advise, then?”

-

-“That you have a talk with Oak Heart. He understands English very well,

-and what he doesn’t understand I’ll interpret for him.”

-

-“Go ahead, Cody,” said the major, laughing. “What are my further

-instructions?”

-

-“Why, sir----”

-

-“You know very well, scout, that you are bossing your superior

-officer. But it isn’t the first time. What shall I say to this red

-rascal?”

-

-Cody’s smile widened and his eyes twinkled.

-

-“Just tell him that he has proved himself too brave an enemy to be

-either kept in captivity, or punished.”

-

-“And set him free!”

-

-“Sure.”

-

-“But why?”

-

-“Because I can use him in just that way, sir.”

-

-“How?”

-

-“Let me explain. I’ll mount his horse--or the one he rode. I know the

-splendid fellow well, as I told you. He belonged to Colonel Miles, and

-a faster or better enduring animal is not now on the frontier.

-

-“I’ll put Oak Heart on my old black. The poor fellow is foundered and

-will never again be of much value. We will ride out side by side.”

-

-“You will!”

-

-“Somebody must return Oak Heart to his people, you know. And I crave

-permission to do that.”

-

-“All very well, Cody; but I don’t see your plan.”

-

-Cody laughed again.

-

-“I’ll make it plainer then, sir, by saying that I propose to paint and

-rig up as old Oak Heart himself, and put _him_ in my togs.”

-

-“Jove, scout! That is a perilous scheme.”

-

-“It’s a good one.”

-

-“But you’ll be shot when they find you out.”

-

-“_When_ they do I’ll be a mile away. I’m going to ride on ahead toward

-the mouth of the cañon. It’s the nearest road to Fort Resistence. I’ll

-wave back the tribe as I advance, and they’ll think it is Oak Heart

-ordering them. They’ll obey him, all right. _Then_ I’ll make a break

-for it, and you can wager I’ll get through all right, and with that

-white hoss under me nothing in that outfit can head me off or catch me!”

-

-“And the chief?”

-

-“Hold him back a bit at the stockade. When my horse begins to run,

-let him go. If the beggars shoot him, it will serve the old scoundrel

-right. At least, it will confuse the reds.”

-

-“A good idea!” exclaimed Baldwin. “And I really believe it is feasible.”

-

-“Sure it is.”

-

-“There doesn’t seem any better way to break through their lines.”

-

-“That’s right! Strategy must aid pluck in this game.”

-

-“Aye, and you’re the one to make the effort. But may I suggest an

-amendment, scout?”

-

-“Just put it up to me, Major Baldwin. You haven’t been chasing Injuns

-all this time without having learned a trick or two yourself.”

-

-“Thank you, Cody. Here’s my idea: Oak Heart will see through your

-scheme and possibly signal his people the truth before you can reach

-the cañon.”

-

-“I’ll have to run that risk.”

-

-“No use running any more risk than necessary. Why not take a second man

-with you?”

-

-“Ah!”

-

-“Yes. One of you represent Oak Heart and the other be yourself. We’ll

-hold the real chief back until you and your mate get to the cañon.

-Then, by turning Oak Heart loose, we will add to the reds’ confusion,

-as you say.”

-

-“Glorious! Fine, major! And I’ll take Texas Jack with me and let

-_him_ play Oak Heart’s part. He makes a better Injun than I should.

-And then--I know Jack. One of us will be sure to get through and reach

-Resistence.”

-

-“Jack has been on duty night and day, Cody,” objected Major Baldwin.

-“He volunteered to make the attempt before, but I vetoed it. I needed

-his presence and advice. To let you both go is like putting all my eggs

-in one basket and sending them to a dangerous market.”

-

-“He’s the man I want,” said Buffalo Bill firmly.

-

-“All right! Let Omohondreau be sent for,” the major said, turning to an

-orderly.

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER V. THE DESPERATE VENTURE.

-

-

-Texas Jack’s real name was Jean Omohondreau, and he came of a wealthy

-and noble French family, although he was born in America. It is said

-that he had refused the title of “Marquis of Omohondreau,” although

-later he was known as “The White King of the Pawnees,” having been

-adopted into that tribe and completely winning the confidence of the

-red men.

-

-At this time Jack was smooth shaven, and with his deeply bronzed

-features and piercing eyes and black hair he did not look unlike an

-Indian. Besides, he had lived among the savages even more than Buffalo

-Bill himself, and had that imitative faculty so general in French

-people. He could “take off” the savage to the life.

-

-When Texas Jack came sleepily enough from his bunk, it took but a few

-words from Cody to wake his old pard up. The moment Jack understood

-what was wanted of him, he was in for the plan, heart and soul.

-

-Oak Heart, who had been entertained--possibly to his great surprise,

-although he had not shown such emotion in his hard old face--by the

-younger officers with food and drink, and some of the paleface’s

-real tobacco, instead of dried willow bark, was now given a uniform

-and slouch hat in place of his war-bonnet and beaded and befeathered

-buckskin suit and gay blanket.

-

-The natural acquisitiveness of the Indian character, and the childish

-joy they have in new finery, possibly made the chief ignore what was

-done with his old garments. Texas Jack made himself look the Indian

-brave to the life, put on Chief Oak Heart’s abandoned finery, and,

-mounting the splendid white cavalry charger--but with saddle hidden by

-his blanket--was ready to accompany Buffalo Bill.

-

-The latter sprang into the saddle of his claybank--“Buckskin”--and led

-the way through the open gate. Behind them was the surprised Oak Heart

-upon Buffalo Bill’s old black, and the soldiers were ready to set him

-free the moment the two scouts had crossed the danger zone.

-

-The Indians had retired sullenly after Oak Heart’s capture, and White

-Antelope had as yet been unable to rally them to another charge upon

-the stockade. Their last charge had been disastrous, and they had not

-only lost their principal chief, but had been unable to bring back to

-their camping lines many of the dead and injured. But the belt of red

-humanity still encircled the fort, and it was plain that they proposed

-to abide there until such time arrived as could compass their revenge.

-

-Those of the less seriously wounded had dragged themselves back toward

-their companions; but the others had been removed inside the fort and

-were being cared for by the surgeon, after he had ministered to the

-wounded whites. The dead redskins were let lie where they had fallen

-for the time being.

-

-Oak Heart had noted the care taken of his wounded braves by the white

-medicine-man. If this charity impressed him his immobile face showed no

-emotion. He sat the horse that had been given him like a graven image.

-

-Now the moment had arrived for the departure of the two scouts from

-the fort. As the pair dashed through the open gateway many good wishes

-followed them. But the troops had been warned not to cheer. That might

-apprise the redskins that some desperate venture was about to be made.

-

-“Good-by, Bill, and may God guard you!” cried Major Baldwin. “And you,

-too, Texas Jack! I hope to see you both again.”

-

-Cody turned and waved his hand to him; but Jack, in the character of

-the captured chief, looked straight ahead over his horse’s ears, and he

-made no gesture.

-

-“We’ll bear toward the left, Jack, for our best plan is to strike for

-the cañon,” said Buffalo Bill.

-

-“Right you are, pard. But don’t let’s make a dash till we hafter. We’ll

-gain everything by keeping them red devils guessing.”

-

-“Sure’s you live, Jack! The moment the reds make a move for us, you

-sign for them to go back. Keep ’em at a distance if you can.”

-

-“I will,” assured Texas Jack.

-

-“Sit up stiff, old man, and play the part right,” admonished Buffalo

-Bill with a laugh.

-

-These courageous men could laugh in the face of almost certain death!

-

-“What d’ye suppose they think of it, Bill?” asked Jack. “They’re awake,

-all right. I wonder what they think at seeing you bringing their

-supposed chief back to them?”

-

-“I’d give a good deal to know just what they are _going_ to think,”

-said Cody, more gravely. “But we’ll soon know.”

-

-“Betcher we will!”

-

-“It’s unnecessary to ask you, Jack, if you’ve got your shooting irons

-ready?”

-

-“Ready and loaded, Bill.”

-

-The two scouts were as watchful as antelopes, and as cautious. But they

-appeared to ride along at an easy lope, and in a most careless fashion.

-This is the coolness born of long familiarity with peril; they could

-meet death itself without the quiver of a nerve.

-

-They progressed but slowly, and the eyes of most of the red men were

-fixed upon them. It was plain that the savages did not understand just

-what was going forward when they saw he who appeared to be their king

-riding thus quietly, and armed and caparisoned, with Long Hair, the

-white scout. They could not understand why he was coming back to them

-in company with Pa-e-has-ka.

-

-Soon they began to move forward in a body to meet the coming “chief”

-and his comrade.

-

-“Give ’em the sign language, Jack. It’s time,” muttered Buffalo Bill.

-

-Omohondreau was an adept at this wonderful means of communication,

-which was really a general language understood by the members of all

-the red tribes. He raised first one hand, palm outward, and then the

-other, and motioned the red men back. The warriors hesitated--then

-obeyed.

-

-But a mounted figure came dashing from another part of the field, and

-this silent sign manual did not retard it.

-

-“Face of a pig!” ejaculated Texas Jack, in the patois of the French

-Canadian, and which he sometimes lapsed into in moments of excitement.

-“Here comes that gal, Bill!”

-

-“The White Antelope!” exclaimed Cody. “I had forgotten her.”

-

-“Shall I warn her away?”

-

-“I’m afraid if you turned to face her she would see that you are not

-Oak Heart.”

-

-“Quicker, then, Pard Cody!”

-

-“No. They might suspect.”

-

-“Heavens, Bill! What will you do when the girl overtakes us?”

-

-“Whatever comes handiest.”

-

-“I could put a bullet through her without turning,” muttered Jack.

-

-“You wouldn’t be so cruel, old man.”

-

-“Hang it, man!” exclaimed Jack in disgust. “She’s only a ’breed.”

-

-“No. You’ll not injure her. I have your promise, Jack,” said Cody

-confidently.

-

-“But she’ll finish us if she suspects. I think she has a pistol,” said

-Jack.

-

-“We’ll see.”

-

-“Hang it, Bill Cody! You’re the coldest proposition I ever came

-across. I’ll eat this old war-bonnet--and it’s about as digestible as a

-wreath of prickly pear--if we don’t have trouble with that gal.”

-

-Evidently White Antelope was much amazed by the fact that her father

-did not even look in her direction, for she called some welcome to him

-in Sioux. Neither of the scouts made reply, but both kept watch of her

-out of the corners of their eyes. The girl, puzzled by the mystery,

-half drew in her pony.

-

-The mob of Indians waited. That they were puzzled was evident; but as

-long as they remained inactive the scouts’ chances were increased.

-

-“Can we make it, Pard Cody?” muttered Texas Jack.

-

-“If the girl doesn’t suspect too quick.”

-

-“She’ll queer us--sure!”

-

-“I hope not,” and Buffalo Bill looked grave.

-

-“If she comes nearer we’ll have to do something, Bill--as sure as

-thunder she’s coming!”

-

-It was true. White Antelope had again spoken to her pony, and the

-animal leaped forward. She came from the left, and Texas Jack rode

-nearest her.

-

-“Keep on, Jack!” exclaimed Bill under his breath.

-

-He pulled back Buckskin and got around so as to ride between the

-supposed Indian chief and the girl. Instantly White Antelope seemed to

-suspect that all was not right. She raised her voice, crying in her

-native tongue:

-

-“Why does the great chief not speak to his child? Oak Heart, my father,

-it is I, your daughter, White Antelope, who calls you!”

-

-She was all the time riding nearer. There seemed no way to stop her,

-and she must soon be near enough to observe that the supposed Oak

-Heart was a false Indian.

-

-Fortunately the tribesmen were some hundreds of yards away from the two

-scouts. But they heard something of what White Antelope said, and they

-began to move forward, murmuring among themselves. They did not for a

-moment suspect that this was not their great chief, but they believed

-that something was wrong with him, and that Pa-e-has-ka had Oak Heart

-in his power.

-

-“They’re coming, Cody!” whispered Texas Jack. “They’ll make a rush in a

-moment.”

-

-“Sign them again!” commanded Buffalo Bill. “It’s our only chance.”

-

-“Think it will work?”

-

-“It _must_ work. We need a few moments more before we make a dash for

-the cañon.”

-

-“But that gal----”

-

-“I’ll ’tend to her,” exclaimed Buffalo Bill. “Signal the reds to keep

-back.”

-

-Again Texas Jack raised his hands and made the well understood sign.

-But the Indians hesitated. They saw White Antelope still riding toward

-the supposed chief and the scout, crying to her father to answer her.

-

-“Keep on for the cañon, Jack!” muttered Buffalo Bill beneath his breath.

-

-He jerked his horse to one side, turning to meet the Indian maiden. As

-she rode down toward the scouts, her golden hair flying in the wind,

-her lips parted, her eyes shining, she was indeed a beautiful creature.

-Her beauty alone would have made any old Indian hunter withhold his

-hand. And Buffalo Bill had a deeper reason for wishing no harm to

-befall the half-breed daughter of Oak Heart.

-

-“What is the white chief, Pa-e-has-ka, doing with Oak Heart?” the girl

-cried in Sioux, urging her pony toward the scouts.

-

-Buffalo Bill was riding with the rein of the claybank horse lying upon

-its neck, and guiding him with his knees. His rifle lay across his

-saddle, the muzzle pointing in the direction of White Antelope as she

-rode near. He did not raise his voice, nor change the expression of his

-face, for the scout knew that he was being closely watched by the crowd

-of redskins in the background. But into his voice as he spoke he threw

-all the threatening, venimous tone of a madman thirsting for blood.

-

-“The White Antelope, like her father, Chief Oak Heart, is in my power.

-Do not make a single motion to show that you are startled, White

-Antelope, for if you do my first bullet shall be driven through your

-heart, and my second shall cleave the heart of your father!”

-

-These words, spoken with such wicked emphasis, seemed to come from a

-veritable fiend instead of the placid-looking white scout. The White

-Antelope’s great eyes opened wider, and she half stopped her pony.

-

-“None of that!” snapped Buffalo Bill in English, which he knew the girl

-understood quite well. “Make a false move at your peril--and at your

-father’s!”

-

-“My father----” began the startled maiden gaspingly.

-

-“Ride closer. Keep beside me, Oak Heart! I forbid you speaking to your

-child!”

-

-Buffalo Bill’s commanding tone was most brutal. His eyes flashed into

-the Indian maiden’s own as though he meant every word of his recent

-threat. But the supposed Oak Heart’s shoulders shook. However, he kept

-his head turned religiously away from his “daughter.”

-

-The seconds were slipping by, and the scouts were approaching very near

-to the place where they would be obliged to turn sharply and make their

-dash for the cañon. Despite their bearing off so far toward the left,

-their course had been apparently toward the Indian lines.

-

-White Antelope, all the rich color receded from her cheeks, rode

-beside Buffalo Bill on his left hand. She was not only frightened by

-the scout’s threat, which he seemed to be able to fulfil, but she was

-puzzled at her father’s inaction and seeming helplessness. She tried

-to force her pony forward slyly so as to obtain a look at Oak Heart’s

-features.

-

-“None o’ that!” commanded Buffalo Bill in quite as brutal and

-threatening a tone as before.

-

-At the moment a wild yell rose from their rear--from the direction

-of the fort. The girl turned swiftly to look. And so surprised were

-the scouts to hear a disturbance in that direction, that they glanced

-around, too.

-

-Out of the gateway appeared a black horse, and on its back a figure in

-uniform and wide-brimmed hat. But as the horse dashed on the figure

-snatched off the uniform hat, displaying the long, flying hair of an

-Indian, and he broke into a shrill and terrible Indian war-whoop!

-

-On the heels of this another roar burst from the fort, and out of the

-gateway piled a troop of mounted men--those soldiers that were first

-to get upon their horses to pursue the wily Oak Heart. The latter saw

-his daughter and knew her danger. Following his war-whoop, he shrieked

-a warning to White Antelope. She understood the words he uttered,

-although the scouts could not.

-

-The girl turned swiftly and saw Texas Jack’s painted face.

-

-“False paleface!” she cried. “You are not Oak Heart. The great chief is

-_there_!” and she pointed back at the flying figure on the black horse.

-

-“It’s all up, Cody!” cried Texas Jack.

-

-Buffalo Bill leaned suddenly from his saddle and snatched from the

-maiden’s belt the revolver which she cherished above most of her

-possessions. He feared her ability to use this.

-

-“Off with you, Jack!” he cried. “Now’s our time!” and setting spurs to

-his claybank he raced after Texas Jack toward the opening of the defile

-which they had been so gradually and cautiously approaching.

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER VI. THE DASH OF THE SCOUTS.

-

-

-So interested had the officers and garrison of Fort Advance become

-in the attempt of the courageous scouts to reach the cañon entrance,

-that they had quite neglected to watch the king of the Sioux. That

-he understood fully the trick that Buffalo Bill and Texas Jack were

-attempting to play upon his people was proven by the outcome.

-

-The savage chief sat his black horse in motionless gloom, and as though

-his eyes saw nothing. Captain Edward Keyes had kept his file of men

-in the saddle ready to make a break from the fort should the scouts

-fall in need of some attempt at rescue. Otherwise, everybody was

-crowding forward to look out of the gate, or, from the platform and

-watch-towers, to view the work of the brave men who had gone from them.

-

-The black horse, on which Buffalo Bill had ridden so many times, but

-which he had now been obliged to abandon because of its age and the

-fact that he had been ridden too hard on one or two occasions, missed

-its master. It had seen Buffalo Bill and his companion ride out of the

-fort, and it desired to follow. Perhaps the horse did not approve of

-the Indian that now backed him.

-

-However it was, it danced about a good deal, and champed at the bit,

-and seemed to give the stoical chief considerable trouble. Twice it

-started for the gate, and the soldiers headed it off. Likewise Oak

-Heart drew it in hard with his hand on the bridle. It seemed as though

-the chief had no expectation of leaving the fort until his white

-captors were ready.

-

-But that was all the savage cunning of the chief. It was his cunning,

-too, perhaps, that made the horse so nervous. He doubtless slyly

-spurred him with his toe or heel, and kept the animal on the qui vive

-all the time.

-

-Oak Heart could follow Buffalo Bill and Texas Jack with his eyes, and

-he doubtless understood--now, at least--just what they were about.

-Suddenly the White Antelope came into view, riding like the wind down

-upon the two scouts. Oak Heart’s face did not change a muscle, but

-just then his mount made a sidelong leap, and when he became manageable

-again the black charger was just within the open gateway.

-

-Several moments passed. The white men’s attention was strained upon

-the little comedy being enacted by the two scouts and the Indian

-maiden. They could not hear, of course, but they could imagine that the

-situation had become mighty “ticklish” for the scouts, knowing Buffalo

-Bill’s objection to injuring the Sioux maiden.

-

-It was at this minute that the black horse made a final charge through

-the gateway. Two men were knocked down, and Oak Heart threw himself

-over to one side of the galloping horse, shielding himself with its

-body from the guns of the surprised white men in the stockade.

-

-His wild yells had already apprised White Antelope of the deception.

-Buffalo Bill had disarmed her, and the two scouts spurred on toward the

-cañon.

-

-The hearts of the watching people at the fort were in their throats. A

-general cry of dread burst from them as they saw the Border King and

-Texas Jack turn abruptly toward the cañon. The Indians saw the act,

-too, but for a few seconds did not comprehend it. They were slower

-than White Antelope in understanding that the supposed warrior with

-Pa-e-has-ka was a white man in disguise, and that the person careering

-across the plain on the black charger was the real Oak Heart.

-

-The signals of Texas Jack in his character of Oak Heart had drawn many

-of the Indians away from the cañon’s mouth toward the place for which

-the supposed chief and Buffalo Bill seemed to be aiming. There were

-very few left in the path of the reckless scouts. Yet those few must be

-settled with.

-

-There were no mounted warriors near the cañon entrance. The great

-scout had chosen his place of attack wisely. And there were few ponies

-in the vicinity, anyway--not over two dozen at the most. The earlier

-stampeding of the ponies had almost entirely dismounted Oak Heart’s

-braves. The ponies that might follow, should the scouts get through

-safely, neither of them feared, mounted as they were on such splendid

-animals.

-

-“Let ’em out, Jack!” cried Buffalo Bill, as they made directly for the

-cañon.

-

-“I hear you!” returned Texas Jack, smiling recklessly, and settling

-himself more firmly in his saddle.

-

-The two were off like frightened deer. For some moments the Indians

-were almost dumb with amazement. Then the war-whoop of Oak Heart was

-answered by wild cries from all about the field. The reds knew that the

-Border King had outwitted them, and as one man the mob of redskins made

-for the entrance to the cañon, firing as they ran.

-

-The scouts did not return the fire. They kept their bullets for

-targets nearer the path their horses followed. The nearer Indians were

-converging swiftly at the mouth of the cañon.

-

-Behind, and nearest to the scouts, came Oak Heart and White Antelope,

-who had waited to join her father. But neither of them were armed. When

-Buffalo Bill snatched the revolver from the girl’s belt he had made a

-good point in the game, for she was an excellent shot with the small

-gun--for an Indian.

-

-Suddenly The Border King raised his rifle, and shot after shot rang

-out. He fired at the Indians directly in front of him, gathering to bar

-the way. There were now a score of them near enough to be dangerous.

-

-The repeating rifle sang deadly music, for several of the braves fell.

-With the last shot from Buffalo Bill’s weapon, Texas Jack’s gun took up

-the tune and rattled forth the death notes. They were now close to the

-group of reds, and the shots forced the Indians to scatter.

-

-Instantly the scouts slung their guns over their shoulders and drew the

-big pistols from the saddle-holsters. With one of these in each hand,

-the scouts rode on.

-

-Theirs was indeed a desperate charge, and, although now hidden by the

-nature of the ground from the bulk of the Indians, the encounter was

-visible from the fort.

-

-The chorus of wild yells, the rattle of revolvers, the heavier

-discharges of the old muzzle-loaders of the redskins, and the resonant

-war-cries of the scouts themselves, were heard by the besieged. The

-Border King and Texas Jack were having the running fight of their

-lives. Would they get through alive?

-

-Suddenly a chorused groan arose from the white onlookers, while a

-shriek of exultation came from those Indians who saw the incident.

-Buffalo Bill’s horse gave a sudden convulsive leap ahead, then fell

-to his knees. The scout loosened his feet in the stirrups, and, as

-the brave Buckskin rolled over upon its side, dead, the scout stood

-upright, turning his revolvers on his foes. Texas Jack, on the white

-charger, tore on into the mouth of the cañon.

-

-Buffalo Bill had emptied the pistols which he had carried in his

-saddle-holsters. Now, he stood beside his dead horse, with the pistols

-drawn from his belt in either hand. He stood boldly at bay, and the

-redskins went down before his deadly aim.

-

-The redskins’ triumph was short-lived. Texas Jack, seeing his partner’s

-peril, turned his great white charger as quickly as might be. Back he

-rushed to Cody’s side.

-

-“Up with yuh, pard!” he shouted.

-

-He whirled the big horse again. With a leap, Buffalo Bill sprang up

-behind Texas Jack, his back to that of his partner, and again the horse

-was headed for the cañon’s mouth. The four revolvers of the scouts spit

-death into their foes at every jump of the horse.

-

-Those redskins who opposed the way either crumpled up and fell to the

-rocks or dodged behind the boulders for safety. It seemed as though

-their numbers were sufficient to make the scouts’ escape impossible;

-the odds against the white men were all of ten to one!

-

-But the redskins’ shooting was wild, while the accuracy of the white

-men’s aim was phenomenal. Many a red, just as he had drawn bead upon

-the scouts, was struck by a pistol ball, and either knocked over

-completely or his own shot diverted.

-

-The cheering of the garrison as they saw Texas Jack return for his

-partner inspired the scouts. The last Indian went down before them and

-was trampled under the hoofs of the charger that bore them both, and as

-they shot out of sight into the gloom of the cañon’s mouth Buffalo Bill

-removed his sombrero and waved it to the watchers on the fort stockade,

-while his well-known war-cry rang over the field of battle!

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER VII. THE ACE OF CLUBS.

-

-

-“We’ve got through, Jack!”

-

-“We sure have, Pard Cody.”

-

-“Anybody hurt?”

-

-“I got a couple of nicks from the pesky arrows,” said Omohondreau.

-“But, shucks! them Injuns can’t shoot with a white man’s gun worth a

-hoot in a rainwater barrel.... Yuh lost Buckskin, Cody.”

-

-“And sorry enough I am to lose the poor creature. He’s been a good nag.”

-

-“How about you, Pard Cody?”

-

-“A scratch from a bullet in my left shoulder. It’s bleeding a little,

-but I won’t stop to fool with it now. And I got four arrows through my

-clothes. Oh, we were lucky!”

-

-“Betcher life! We’ve been favored mightily.”

-

-“Thank God for it,” said Buffalo Bill devoutly. “I don’t expect often

-to come through two such circuses in one day--and have nothing worse to

-show for it.”

-

-“Right. Now, old man, what’s the program?”

-

-“Keep on. I don’t feel safe as long as we’re at the bottom of this hole

-in the hills.”

-

-“That’s all right. But we haven’t got but one horse----”

-

-“I was thinking of that.”

-

-“And your thoughts?”

-

-“We can’t both ride this horse, good as he is, all the way to Fort

-Resistence.”

-

-“Right again!”

-

-“One of us must push on for help about as fast as the horse can go.”

-

-“Sure.”

-

-“There isn’t much danger of the reds following us far, for their ponies

-aren’t to be compared with this fellow--and they all know what he can

-do.”

-

-“Well?”

-

-“Then you’d better let me go on, as soon as we come to the creek ahead

-and shape ourselves up a bit, and you can scout around until I return

-with help from Fort Resistence.”

-

-“Pard Bill!”

-

-“Yes?”

-

-“They need every rifle they can git in the fort, yuh know.”

-

-“They certainly do.”

-

-“Scouting around yere all night, I can’t do much good, and that’s a

-fact.”

-

-“Very true, Jack! Very true.”

-

-“And I’ve got nothing to eat, while the maje and the folks at Advance

-will be mighty anxious tuh know if yuh got through all right--ain’t

-that so?”

-

-“Reckon you’re right, Jack.”

-

-“Then I’m goin’ to take a sneak back and try to git through the lines

-after dark.”

-

-“No, you won’t, Jack Omohondreau. I veto that.”

-

-“Put the kibosh on it, do yuh?” asked Jack, leering back at his partner

-over his shoulder.

-

-“I certainly do!”

-

-“Why, pard?”

-

-“There’s no danger going on now for help, so I’ll return to the fort

-myself, while you strike out for Resistence and help. I got you into

-this. I’m not going to shoulder the heavy part of the job off onto you.”

-

-“That’s like you, Cody! Always lookin’ for trouble to git into

-yourself. But I’m going back.”

-

-“I say no,” replied Buffalo Bill firmly.

-

-“Now, see here!” exclaimed Jack, in some heat. “It’s my idea to go

-back, and I’m going.”

-

-“Well, you needn’t stop here,” laughed Cody, as Jack, in his

-excitement, brought the horse down to a walk.

-

-“You listen to reason!” exclaimed Texas Jack. “I speak the lingo all O.

-K.”

-

-“I admit that.”

-

-“And I’m already playing Injun.”

-

-“Pshaw! That may be, but I can soon change my colors.”

-

-“You’re as obstinate as a mule, Cody!”

-

-“See here, Jack, I admit that the folks need us back there at the fort,

-and one had better return, but I should be the one.”

-

-“Tell you what, pard!” exclaimed Jack, smitten with a sudden thought.

-

-“Well?”

-

-“We’ll draw lots to see who goes.”

-

-“I’ll beat you at that game, Jack!” cried Cody, with a laugh.

-

-“Don’t yuh crow too loud, old man,” said Texas Jack gaily. “When we git

-to the creek we’ll see who’s who!”

-

-“I’ll go you, for my luck is good.”

-

-“I’m sure a child of fortune myself,” laughed Jack.

-

-They soon reached the creek, which cut across the cañon at its widest

-part, spurting from under a ledge on one side, and disappearing with

-a tinkle of falling water through a crack on the other--one of those

-underground streams often found in the Rockies, which only by chance

-ever come to the light of day.

-

-The scouts dismounted, making sure that all pursuit had been abandoned

-by their mounted foes, at least, and washed and dressed their slight

-wounds. In each man’s pouch was Indian salve, certain valuable herbs,

-dried, and bandages rolled for them by the women of Fort Advance. Your

-old frontiersman was no mean surgeon, and many a man to-day, whose

-early years were spent on the border, owes his life to some rough but

-prompt bit of surgery on the part of a pard with powder-stained fingers.

-

-“Now, we’ll draw lots to see who goes back,” said Cody. “Wish we had a

-pack of cards.”

-

-“I got what th’ boys call a Sing Sing Bible,” observed Texas Jack,

-drawing the pack from his pouch.

-

-“Good! We can’t take the time to play any game, but I’ll shuffle, you

-cut, and the one who holds the ace of clubs goes back to Advance.”

-

-“Agreed. Shuffle ’em good, old man--though I feel I’m going to win

-right now.”

-

-“You’re too cock-sure,” laughed Buffalo Bill.

-

-The scouts spoke in a light-hearted way, but each realized the terrible

-ordeal that might fall to the one who attempted to return to Fort

-Advance. Major Baldwin needed one of them as an adviser--and his rifle

-would be an acquisition as well, for both Buffalo Bill and Texas Jack

-were dead shots.

-

-The uncertainty and impatience of the entire garrison would be

-relieved, too, if they were informed that one of the scouts had gone on

-to Resistence and would surely bring help the next day. This knowledge

-would put heart in the defenders of Fort Advance when the Indians

-attacked, as they surely would after nightfall.

-

-The cards were shuffled by the chief scout, and then he held them in

-his open palm. Texas Jack cut at a point about half-way down the pack.

-One after another the pasteboards were discarded, and Buffalo Bill had

-already displayed two aces, when suddenly his partner chuckled and

-slammed down another card, face up. It was the fatal card--the ace of

-clubs.

-

-“Got yuh that time, Pard Cody!” exclaimed Texas Jack in delight.

-

-Buffalo Bill looked regretful, while his partner was triumphant.

-

-“I told yuh I was a child of fortune,” laughed Texas Jack.

-

-“I yield, old man,” said Cody. “May your luck carry you through in

-safety.”

-

-“I’ll git there--or the reds will know I tried,” said Jack with

-emphasis.

-

-“Aye, that they will. Now I must be off, Jack. The horse is rested, and

-he’s got a hard road to travel this night. I’ll be back with help as

-soon as possible.”

-

-“You ought to make it by morning with any kind of luck.”

-

-“I’ll do my best,” declared Buffalo Bill. “And now good-by, old pard!

-If you go under I’ll see that there are plenty of those red devils on

-the trail to the happy hunting grounds to make up for your loss.”

-

-They wrung each other’s hands, and, although the spoken word was

-light, the look in each man’s eyes showed a deeper feeling. Buffalo

-Bill walked quickly to where the great white horse was feeding, and,

-vaulting into the saddle, the horse, without urging, started into his

-easy lope.

-

-Once the mounted scout looked back. Texas Jack stood in the middle of

-the trail looking more like an Indian chief than ever, he was so silent

-and stern of feature.

-

-They waved their hands briefly--a last farewell. Then the Border King

-disappeared around a turn in the trail, and Texas Jack prepared for his

-attempt, night now being not far away.

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER VIII. FACING DEATH.

-

-

-Texas Jack had been a ranchman in Texas since early boyhood. His

-sentiments and affiliations were Southern, and when the war broke out

-he joined the Confederate Army as a scout. He was a reckless, daredevil

-fellow, yet high-minded, honorable to foe as well as friend. The noble

-blood of the Omohondreaus showed through the rough manner of the hardy

-frontiersman.

-

-It was Jack Omohondreau who came so near dealing an irreparable blow

-to the Northern cause by capturing President Lincoln and taking him

-South as a prisoner. How near the daring scout came to accomplishing

-this very thing nobody but those few Confederates in the secret--and

-possibly Lincoln himself--ever knew.

-

-However, when the Civil War was ended, Buffalo Bill, who had scouted

-for the other side, found Jack in Kansas, and it was through his

-influence that the young French-American was enlisted in the Federal

-Army.

-

-He was of cheery nature, fearless to recklessness, strong as a grizzly,

-and possessed of a handsome presence. Such was the man who had

-determined to return through the ring of enraged Sioux to give comfort

-and help to the besieged garrison of Fort Advance.

-

-He knew all that he had to risk, but, in his Indian disguise, and under

-cover of the early darkness, he hoped to accomplish his purpose. If

-captured by the redskins he well knew that death by the most frightful

-torture would be his portion. The Sioux hated him almost as fiercely as

-they hated Buffalo Bill.

-

-That he could speak their language was in Jack’s favor. And he knew

-that if he chanced upon any bunch of the reds a word or two might

-pass him through all right. Oak Heart had gathered several different

-branches of the tribe together, and many of the braves must be

-strangers to each other.

-

-The scout had already formed his plan of return to the fort. He had

-reloaded his rifle and revolvers, seen that his knife was still in its

-scabbard, and, after another long swig at the clear, running water and

-a tightening of his belt, Texas Jack climbed one side of the cañon with

-infinite caution. He could not return through the gorge itself, for he

-did not know how near pursuit might be. And he wormed his way up the

-steep ascent like a serpent, that he might not be observed from below.

-

-Night came upon him as he arrived on the summit of the timbered ridge.

-The forest was a tangled wilderness, but he knew how to pass through it

-without making the slightest disturbance, and, as he might come upon

-the Indians at any moment, he was glad of the darkness and the thicket.

-A few miles along this ridge and he would come out upon a bluff that

-overlooked the valley in which Fort Advance was situated.

-

-He strode on lightly, yet swiftly--threading his way through the

-trackless forest with a confidence which brought him straight to his

-destination. And as yet he had not passed an Indian.

-

-The dash of the scouts into the cañon had drawn all the outposts from

-the hills, and the redskins were either guarding the lower passes,

-ringing the fort, or gathered about the camp-fires where the main

-encampment had been established.

-

-When Texas Jack came out upon the bluff he could see these camp-fires

-twinkling on the other side of the valley, although it was still light

-enough for him to see all who moved below him. The encampment was at

-the base of the southern hills, some two miles from the fort. Some

-half-hundred ponies were feeding in the valley, with the guards about

-them doubled. The loss of the bulk of the herd had been a severe blow

-to the redskins, and Texas Jack knew that the Indians would put forth

-every effort to retake them, should opportunity arise.

-

-Jack decided that Chief Oak Heart was probably at the encampment,

-counseling with his old men and the other chiefs regarding the next

-blow to be struck at Fort Advance. That plans of deviltry and cunning

-were being hatched the scout was certain.

-

-Then he thought of the Border King flying along the trail to Resistence

-for help, and he regained his courage.

-

-Awaiting with the stolid patience of a redskin for the night to deepen,

-the scout finally pursued his march into the valley. He had carefully

-weighed all chances for and against his success. Now he was ready to

-take them.

-

-Night spread its wings over the valley. It hid its scars and wounds

-and the stark bodies of the dead, lying under the fortress walls. In

-the gloaming it might have been the most peaceful valley in all the

-Rockies. One coming upon it suddenly, and unwarned, would never have

-suspected the blood so recently spilled there and the threatening

-aspect of the situation at that very moment!

-

-Texas Jack stole down the declivity with a step as light as the fall of

-a leaf. The savage whom he imitated could have moved no more lightly,

-and as he came into the valley itself he crouched and crept along like

-a shadow.

-

-He knew that the red men would be moving about, passing and repassing

-each other, and keeping up a tightening circle about the fort. They

-would afford the opportunity for no other white man to escape from the

-fort if they could help it. But they moved about as silently as the

-scout himself, and as the redskin is notoriously silent, Texas Jack’s

-ears were of little good to him in this emergency.

-

-An Indian is not troubled by military accouterments to rattle as he

-walks; his moccasins are soundless, and he has schooled himself to

-endure all those little discomforts of body or environment that cause

-the white man to betray himself by either sound or movement. If a red

-warrior lay in wait for an enemy the flies and other insects might half

-eat him up without his betraying himself by a movement. He seldom has

-catarrhal affections of the throat, or if he does stifles the desire

-to cough or sneeze. He has, indeed, his whole body and mind under

-perfect control.

-

-Therefore Texas Jack knew that the red men might be near--upon each

-side of him--in his very path, perhaps, yet they passed and repassed,

-silent as so many ghosts.

-

-Texas Jack crept but a short way from the base of the hill before he

-lay flat down in the weeds and brush. There was a big rock on his right

-hand, and he believed that that obstacle, looming up as it did in the

-gloom, would keep anybody from walking over him.

-

-His reason for lying there was easily understood. From the dark ground

-he could look upward and see any form passing between him and the

-lighter sky-line. He wished to get a line on the pacing to and fro of

-the sentinels. If there was any regularity regarding their beats, the

-scout might be able to time his passage so as not to be seen at all.

-

-For if his presence was discovered, although his dress and appearance

-might carry him through, still there was a grave danger that they would

-not. There might be some password, for the redskins were shrewd, or he

-might run against some chief going the rounds of his men to see that

-all were properly placed.

-

-Suddenly a form seemed to rise out of the ground before the advancing

-scout. It stood a moment directly between him and the lighter sky-line.

-Then it passed on--silently as the wind over the grass.

-

-He heard a muffled grunt--a guttural Indian word--dropped by some

-invisible redskin in the direction the figure had disappeared. Then

-that, or another, sentinel returned and passed slowly across the line

-of Texas Jack’s vision. He was quite near the lines of sentinels, and

-he determined to lie there and, if possible, time their coming and

-going before trying himself to get through.

-

-Once more the figure crossed the line of the scout’s vision. Texas

-Jack lay, scarcely moving in the grass, and with fingers on wrist

-counted his pulse while the Indian was in sight. In this way he learned

-something of the time it took for the sentinel to pace from end to end

-of his beat. He lay for some time and timed him back and forth to make

-sure that there was some regularity in the redskin’s actions.

-

-Then, at the right moment--as the sentinel passed out of view in one

-direction, Texas Jack darted forward like a serpent through the tall

-weeds. Although he ran on his feet and touched but one hand now and

-then to help retain his balance, the scout’s body could never have been

-seen above the waving tops of the grass and weeds.

-

-For several rods he ran in this way and then dropped down again,

-panting, hugging the earth, flattening his body upon it, and waiting

-with every nerve on the qui vive to discover if his actions had been

-noted.

-

-And well he knew that, if the sentinel had seen him, no shout--no

-sound--would be raised. The red would sneak up behind him, and his

-first audible sound would be the cry of triumph when the scalping-knife

-was plunged into the scout’s back!

-

-Jack twisted his neck to see back over his shoulder. After a moment the

-Indian sentinel appeared again. He walked upright. Jack could see his

-nodding topknot of feathers, and that he carried a gun of some kind. He

-passed on without even glancing in the scout’s direction.

-

-“Thanks be for that!” thought the scout. “Now, what’s ahead?”

-

-That the Sioux had but one ring of sentinels around the fort he knew

-was not the fact. There were two lines at least--possibly three. He

-raised his head like a turtle stretching from its shell and tried to

-pierce the gloom of the valley.

-

-And then it was that he suddenly beheld a tall figure standing

-motionless not far ahead of him and almost in his path. It was a chief

-of some importance from his war-bonnet, and he had perhaps been going

-the rounds of his sentinels. Now he stood motionless, his back to the

-scout, looking toward the fort, one elbow leaning upon a broken stub

-of a tree, the other hand holding his rifle, hanging idly by his side.

-The chief was evidently in a reverie--or was he listening? Had he heard

-the scout’s breathing--or some other sound that warned him of the white

-man’s presence?

-

-The question seared Texas Jack’s brain. It startled him to action. This

-was no moment for taking chances.

-

-He rose up like a shadow, and, with great, catlike strides, stole

-upon the statuelike Indian. It went against the grain for the scout

-to strike even a redskin from behind. Man to man and face to face in

-a fair struggle would have pleased Texas Jack better. But the entire

-success of his attempt to reach the fort depended upon the action of

-the next few seconds.

-

-Suddenly the chief began to turn--with a jerking motion which showed

-that he was startled. Some instinct told him that there was an enemy at

-hand. Perhaps his lips were already opened to give a warning call.

-

-Like a stone from the sling the scout leaped forward--as the panther

-leaps! His knee found the small of the Indian’s back; his left had

-clutched his throat like a vise; his right drove his keen blade

-downward--_and home_!

-

-The redskin crumpled and fell without a sound upon the earth. Not even

-a cough or death-rattle proclaimed the passing of his spirit. And the

-number of seconds occupied in the killing were infinitesimal. One

-moment the red chief stood there leaning on the broken tree; the next

-Texas Jack, in his Indian garb, had taken his place and assumed his

-attitude!

-

-Unless some member of the tribe had been near enough to watch the chief

-continuously, this action of the scout’s was inspired. The chief had

-gone down and lay dead under his feet; the white man had taken his

-place, and for several moments, while he recovered his breath, he stood

-there in the exact attitude the real Indian had assumed in life.

-

-Carefully he scrutinized his surroundings as closely as might be for

-the gloom. He became aware at length that a warrior was stalking toward

-him from the left--undoubtedly one of the sentinels. This man came on,

-saw the supposed chief standing by the tree stub, and made a gesture as

-though he were saluting his superior.

-

-“Ugh!” muttered Texas Jack in an excellent imitation of an Indian

-guttural. He did not care to risk his Sioux intonation if he could help

-it.

-

-The sentinel went on. Texas Jack was about to change his position

-and make for the fort when he saw the sentinel who had just passed

-and another, returning. They would pass him very closely. Did they

-suspect? Had the first brave become suspicious, and was he bringing

-the second to help him attack the supposed chief?

-

-The thought sent a chill to the heart of the courageous scout.

-It seemed to him that, thus early in the game, he had come to a

-death-struggle with the redskins!

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER IX. BREAKING THROUGH THE RED CIRCLE.

-

-

-Slowly the two braves approached Texas Jack’s position. The scout dared

-not change his attitude--he could not afford to put the men on guard if

-they _were_ still unsuspicious of him.

-

-His rifle-butt rested on the ground; his elbows leaned upon the tree

-stub; he stared straight across the valley to where the camp-fires

-twinkled, and to where two or three points of light, and the gloomy

-outline of the tall stockade, proclaimed the presence of the fort.

-

-Would the two warriors speak to him?--or would they respect his

-apparent reverie and pass on?

-

-Out of the corner of his eye Texas Jack watched the coming sentinels.

-Every muscle and nerve in his body was strained for a spring. He had

-made up his mind already what action he should take did the reds show

-that they meant to accost him.

-

-He did not wish to fire his gun and so call every Indian in that part

-of the valley to the spot. He gripped instead his rifle by the muzzle,

-and the instant one of those savages came within reach he would whirl

-up the gun and bring its stock with crushing force down upon the man’s

-head!

-

-Then the knife for the second brave! That was all he could do. If he

-were not shot or tomahawked first, he could finish both of the reds

-without making much disturbance. The main difficulty would be to stifle

-their death-yells, as he had that of the chief at his feet.

-

-So he waited, his body sweating, although it was a chill night,

-uncertain as to what the warriors would do. They were talking in low

-tones; this in itself gave the scout some hope. Had they intended

-attacking him their plans would have been made before they came so

-near, and there would be no need of conversation.

-

-The seconds numbered as the warriors came on seemed centuries long to

-the scout. But at length he saw that they were passing him quietly.

-They glanced at him, but he stood haughtily aloof, and the braves were

-not encouraged by his manner to speak. He saw them go with a relief

-that almost unnerved him!

-

-He could not risk their coming back. The instant they were out of sight

-the scout stooped, stripped the dead man of his gun, bow and arrows,

-and knife, and in a crouching position ran agilely forward to where

-a clump of young trees loomed up in the path, a hundred yards to the

-front.

-

-There he dropped down and lay a moment, listening. Not a sound from

-those behind; not a sound from any redskins before him. Had he at last

-gotten through the lines completely?

-

-He could not really believe this good fortune was his so easily. He

-stood up at last and peered all about. And suddenly, just as he was

-about to move forward once more toward the fort, he heard the stamp of

-a pony’s hoof on the other side of the clump of trees!

-

-The sound dropped Texas Jack to the ground like a rifle-shot. Had he

-been seen by the rider of the pony? Or did the pony have a rider? It

-might be one escaped from the herd and roaming at will about the valley.

-

-The pony stamped again. There was no other sound.

-

-“I’ve got tuh find out what’s doin’ there before I make another break,”

-muttered the scout. “And here goes!”

-

-The thicket was a closely woven one. Did he try to pass through it with

-his guns and other accouterments he might make some disturbance. So

-he left everything but his pistols, knife, and the bow and arrows he

-had taken from the dead chief on the ground, and began to worm his way

-through the brush-clump.

-

-Once he made some little noise by catching a part of his clothing on a

-brittle branch. Instantly he halted and made the squeaking grunt of the

-porcupine. His imitation of animals was perfect, and a porcupine might

-easily be on the still hunt in the thicket-patch.

-

-The pony did not change its position. Jack knew. So, after a moment of

-waiting, the scout risked moving on. He came finally to the edge of the

-brush, and there the horse stood--not three yards away from him!

-

-And from where he crouched the scout could see more than the bulk of

-the pony’s body against the sky-line. It was bestrode by an Indian in

-head-dress and blanket. It was doubtless one of the chiefs who had

-started to ride around the fort. Would he ride on and not suspect the

-presence of the white man in the bushes?

-

-But perhaps, in his nervousness, Texas Jack had not imitated the

-porcupine true enough to satisfy the keen ear of the Indian. Or else

-the porcupine’s grunt was a private signal between this chief and his

-own men.

-

-However, Texas Jack saw the redskin force his pony nearer the thicket,

-and he heard its rider twitter like a bird disturbed at night in its

-nest.

-

-“Old man, you’ve got the best of me!” thought the scout. “I can’t

-answer that signal, for I don’t know what the answer _is_. It’s a bad

-thing for you!”

-

-There was no time for hesitation. Again the scout had to take life or

-be killed himself. The scout was a good shot with the bow and arrows as

-he was with rifle or pistol. And he must use a silent weapon to get rid

-of this foe.

-

-It was too far to leap with his knife. The bow and arrows of the dead

-chief came in handy. In a flash the crouching scout fitted an arrow to

-the bowstring and drew the shaft to its head. There he waited, still as

-a graven image, until the horse and rider were almost upon him.

-

-Then he let drive the arrow. It sped with fearful force, aimed at the

-throat of the red chieftain that all death-cry might be stilled.

-

-True was the aim and fatal the shot. The arrow penetrated the Indian’s

-throat, and its head stuck out a hand’s breadth at the back of his

-neck. Without a sound the Indian toppled from the pony’s back.

-

-The horse snorted and sprang forward. His escape might have been as

-dire a calamity for the scout as the death-yell of the chieftain. If

-the pony dashed away across the valley, the sentinels would surely be

-aroused.

-

-But the animal made but one leap. Like a shadow Texas Jack leaped up

-and caught the rawhide bridle which had been snatched from the dead

-man’s hand. He brought the pony to an abrupt halt. Instantly he swung

-himself upon the bare back of the animal, well used to riding Indian

-fashion, and guided him to the other side of the thicket, leaving the

-chief where he had fallen. He did not stop to strip him of his arms; he

-had quite all he could carry, and he wanted his own rifle.

-

-All seemed to have gone well, and it looked to the scout at that moment

-as though the way before him to the fort was clear sailing. But just as

-he was congratulating himself on this belief a wild and ear-splitting

-yell arose on the night, and from a spot not far in his rear. First one

-voice and then another took up the yell--it was the warning of the red

-man when he finds the trail of the secret enemy!

-

-Texas Jack knew well what it meant. The first Indian he had killed, and

-whose place beside the dead tree he had taken, had been found by the

-sentinels. They knew that some shrewd enemy had been at work, and their

-yells aroused the braves all over the valley.

-

-The cries told the redskins as plainly as words that some white man

-was trying to break through their lines. Major Baldwin had thrown a

-line of sentinels outside the stockade, and these heard the cries and

-understood as well. They passed back the word that either Buffalo Bill

-or Texas Jack was coming.

-

-And so the scout was coming--on the back of the half-wild Indian pony.

-The danger behind him was great, nor was that still ahead slight.

-Some of the young braves, eager for scalps, had crept forward in the

-darkness, hoping to shoot some white man on the towers, or one that

-ventured beyond the stockade walls. As the war-whoop was raised these

-young braves started back for their lines on the jump.

-

-One of them saw the scout coming up the hill at full speed. Although

-Texas Jack was still in Indian dress, the warrior decided that no

-honest redskin would be riding in that direction at such a pace!

-

-He fired suddenly. So did the scout. The aim of both was true, for the

-Indian’s bullet killed the pony Jack was riding, and Jack’s bullet

-killed the Indian himself.

-

-Although badly shaken by his fall from the pony’s back, Texas Jack was

-on his feet in an instant and was running at topmost speed for the

-fort. He suspected that there would be a line of sentinels outside the

-stockade, and he raised his voice as he ran:

-

-“Hold on, men; it’s Texas Jack! Don’t shoot!”

-

-A cheer was the answer from the fort, while the Indians in the rear

-who heard uttered their war-whoop again and fired a scattering volley

-in the direction of the scout’s voice. But he was not hit, and, a few

-minutes later, he passed in through the gateway of the fort.

-

-Proud of his deed, as he had good reason to be, he shouted:

-

-“Slightly disfigured, boys, but still in the ring!”

-

-The commander greeted the scout joyfully, but with his next breath

-asked anxiously:

-

-“But Cody?”

-

-“Is a long way on his ride to Resistence, sir.”

-

-A cheer greeted this reply.

-

-“Thank God for that good news! I trust you were not hurt on your way,

-Jack, though you _did_ raise a merry rumpus in the Indian camps.”

-

-“Well, now! Didn’t they turn loose for a few minutes, sir? But I got

-only a shake-up, for I got too proud to walk, and the pony I cabbaged

-took a header with an Injun bullet in him. Somebody got worse hurt than

-I did, though, and I’m not kicking a little bit, as luck came my way.”

-

-“And it came our way, too, Jack! We’re mighty glad to have you back.”

-

-“Oh, that was my luck, too!” said Jack, laughing. “Buffalo was bound to

-come and send me on to Resistence with the news, but I wouldn’t hear to

-it, and finally we drew lots and I won.”

-

-“Next to Cody himself you’re the man I want,” declared Major Baldwin;

-“for, although all my officers and men are true as steel--and able,

-too--your experience is worth much, not to speak of the value of your

-rifle. Your coming and the knowledge that Cody has got through all

-right gives us a new lease of life.”

-

-The major’s praise tinged the bronzed cheek of the scout with blushes,

-and he hurried away to remove his war-paint and to change into more

-civilized garments.

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER X. THE RIDE TO THE RESCUE.

-

-

-The Border King, after leaving Texas Jack in the cañon, did not spare

-the white horse he rode, for he was riding to save many human lives.

-

-He had known this horse when he was the favorite steed of Colonel

-Nelson A. Miles, and the scout well knew the endurance of which the

-horse was capable.

-

-The creature had been captured by Oak Heart, the king of the Utah

-Sioux, in an attack on a military camp, and Colonel Miles had told

-Cody to try and get him back from his Indian master.

-

-“I hate to think of the old fellow being handled by that red scamp. Get

-him back, Cody, and he’s yours,” the colonel had told the scout.

-

-And now Buffalo Bill had the long-barreled, strong-limbed racer under

-him, and he was proving himself as fleet as a deer and as tireless as a

-hound.

-

-“The colonel used to call you Runaway, I remember,” said the scout,

-talking aloud to the handsome creature, and patting the side of his

-neck with a tender hand, “and what Oak Heart christened you I don’t

-know, but I shall call you after your redskin master, and it shall be

-Chief.”

-

-The horse snorted and tossed his head as though he understood what was

-being said to him, and hour after hour, mile after mile, he kept up his

-steady lope--that long, free canter that takes the Western range horse

-over so long a trail in so short a time.

-

-Darkness fell soon after Cody rode away from Texas Jack. He hoped to

-reached the military post for which he aimed before midnight. And he

-was not mistaken. The new day had not commenced when the scout on his

-white charger thundered up to the gates of Fort Resistence.

-

-“Halt! Who comes here?” rang out the sentinel’s challenge.

-

-“All right, pard! This is Scout Cody with an urgent message for the

-commander. Let me in!”

-

-“By thunder! Is it really you, Buffalo Bill?” cried the sentinel over

-the gate.

-

-“What’s left of me after about the hardest day’s work of my life.”

-

-“Injuns?”

-

-“And a-plenty of them. Hurry up, old man! This is no place for gossip,”

-urged the scout.

-

-“Wait till I call the corporal,” exclaimed the curious sentinel. Then:

-

-“Corporal of the guard! Corporal of the guard! Rouse up, corporal!

-There’s somebody at the gate!”

-

-Half the garrison was aroused by the shouting. The corporal came on the

-run, saw who it was without, and let the scout and his dripping horse

-within.

-

-“Injuns, sure, Cody?” asked those who were awake.

-

-“Fort Advance has been surrounded for three days by a thousand red

-devils under Oak Heart!” exclaimed Cody to the officer on duty. “I must

-see Colonel Royal at once.”

-

-The commander of the fort had gotten out of bed already, and he

-received the scout in his nightshirt.

-

-“Is this true, Cody?” he cried. “Is Major Baldwin threatened?”

-

-“Why, sir, your scouts must have been hived up for a week past if they

-haven’t seen Injun signs,” said Cody earnestly. “For three days the

-Sioux have held the garrison of Fort Advance prisoners, and five men

-have been killed trying to get to you. They’re pretty nearly out of

-ammunition.”

-

-“My God, Cody! You astonish me. I’ve had the scouts working through the

-country on the other side, trusting to hear from you if anything went

-wrong in the direction of Advance.”

-

-“I’ve been to Denver, sir. Just got back to-day. I managed to run in

-half a packload of ammunition that I had cached, and then Texas Jack

-and I got through the lines again late this afternoon and--here I am!”

-

-“Texas Jack! He’s not killed, I hope?”

-

-“I don’t know. The reckless fellow _would_ try to go back to cheer the

-fort with the news that I had got away safely.”

-

-“That’s enough now, Bill. You’ll get something to eat, and if you are

-going back with the men I send----”

-

-“You bet I am. I got a fellow to rub Chief down, and he’ll be good for

-it.”

-

-“Your horse? Well, I’m off to see things prepared.”

-

-The energetic commander at once ordered his adjutant to call out two

-troops of cavalry, mount two companies of infantry, and, with a couple

-of light guns, to start to the reenforcement of Fort Advance. Extra

-supplies and ammunition were to be taken in ambulances.

-

-Captain Alfred Taylor, of the Fifth Cavalry, was given command of the

-expedition, and ordered to start within the hour. They tried to get

-Cody to take some rest, for more than twenty-four hours the scout had

-been active, most of the time in the saddle, and part of the time

-fighting for his very life, but he was determined to go back with the

-party of reenforcements.

-

-When it pulled out from Post Resistence Buffalo Bill rode ahead as

-guide, while half a dozen of Colonel Royal’s scouts went along to guard

-the flanks, and to clear out the cañon when they came to it. Cody felt

-that Oak Heart, knowing that the white men had got through his lines

-and were probably making for Resistence, might send a part of his force

-forward to meet any rescue party coming to the aid of the garrison of

-Fort Advance.

-

-And the wise scout had not been mistaken in this. Perhaps one reason

-why Texas Jack had succeeded so easily in returning to Fort Advance

-was because the king of the Sioux had drawn off quite three hundred of

-his braves for special duty, and sent them along the track toward Fort

-Resistence.

-

-The easiest and shortest trail between the two forts was through the

-cañon, and this Oak Heart well knew. He ordered the chiefs in charge of

-the three hundred to ambush the rescue-party near the entrance to the

-cañon at the other end, and not long before Cody and the other scouts,

-riding ahead of Captain Taylor’s command, came within shouting distance

-of the cañon the bloodthirsty savages were hidden among the rocks and

-trees on the sloping sides, ready to pour a deadly fire into the band

-of rescuers when they came along the trail beneath them.

-

-While yet the scouts were some distance from the cañon something

-startled them ahead. Tearing along the trail toward them came a herd of

-deer, frightened from their night’s lair by something untoward.

-

-“Now, what under the canopy started _them_ to running?” asked Cody, who

-never let anything go past him unexplained.

-

-“Wolves, it’s likely,” said one of the Resistence scouts named Judd.

-

-“Haven’t heard a wolf howl to-night,” declared Buffalo Bill.

-

-“You’re right there, pard,” said another scout, Barney by name.

-

-“And there was no critter on the trail of those white-tails,” said a

-third man.

-

-“That means Injuns, then,” declared Barney.

-

-“I reckon you’re right, boys,” said the Border King. “Let’s see. Those

-deer came directly from the cañon.”

-

-“You bet they did.”

-

-“Something doing there, then, boys.”

-

-“I reckon you’re right, Buffler.”

-

-“Here, Barney, you ride back and tell Captain Taylor to halt his

-column. Judd, you and I leave our horses here and go ahead to

-reconnoiter. Savvy?”

-

-“Sure!”

-

-Barney rode back. Judd and Buffalo Bill discarded their mounts and went

-ahead afoot.

-

-Oak Heart was a born general, and, like old Colorow, of the Utes,

-displayed abilities in planning his campaigns that placed him head

-and shoulders above the average redskin chieftain. There have

-been few great warriors among the red Indians. Red Jacket, Black

-Eagle, Tecumseh, Colorow, and a few others have possessed unnatural

-characteristics for redskins, and that is why they left their mark on

-Indian history.

-

-And Oak Heart had sufficient control over his warriors to make them do

-something which above all things a redskin hates. He made them fight at

-night!

-

-Now, the Indian is a spiritualist of the most pronounced breed. By day

-the spirits of the dead, and those powerful beings which he believes

-control men’s affairs, sleep; by night these supernatural beings

-walk abroad, and no Southern darky is more afraid of seeing a ghost

-than a redskin. The medicine chiefs, who are, most of them, a set of

-unconscionable fakers, foster this belief in ghosts and evil spirits

-and so prey on the tribes.

-

-Indians often select the hour just before dawn to strike their enemies,

-because at that time man usually sleeps more deeply. But to make a

-forced march and lay an ambuscade in the middle of the night--well,

-this proved Oak Heart’s mastery of his tribe. Buffalo Bill suspected

-that the herd of deer had been frightened by something more than a

-single redskin--or a small scouting-party of them. He knew Oak Heart’s

-abilities and respected them. Rash as the scout might be at times, he

-never took foolish chances. To lead the rescue-party into the head of

-the cañon might bring it to complete ruin.

-

-“Judd! you take the west side of that gorge, and I’ll go east,” he

-commanded his brother scout.

-

-“How’ll I communicate? Signal?”

-

-“No! If there are many of the reds they have already frightened

-away most of the small animals that we might imitate, and to give a

-bird-call would utterly ruin us. No bird will be waking up at this time

-o’ night--ugh!”

-

-“Well, what then?” demanded the other.

-

-“Never mind what you find, keep still. Meet me here--in twenty minutes

-if possible; not later than half an hour from now, at most.”

-

-“Half an hour?”

-

-“Yep. And remember, a confounded lot can happen in half an hour,” added

-Cody, with a chuckle.

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER XI. A BUSY HALF-HOUR.

-

-

-Buffalo Bill had spoken a truer word than he thought. A great deal may

-happen in thirty minutes, and the Border King, as he separated from his

-brother scout, was unconsciously approaching a series of startling and

-perilous happenings.

-

-The moment the darkness had wiped Judd out of sight the wary scout

-turned eastward from the trail. The brush was thick and hung heavy with

-the dew of the mountains--and that might as well be rain. Every twig he

-touched communicated to its parent branch a shiver that showered him

-like a patent bath. He kept the lock of his magazine rifle under his

-armpit, pulled down the brim of his sombrero to shield his face, and

-walked swiftly on for some few yards. Yet he made wonderfully little

-noise.

-

-Having begun to climb rising ground, he here bore off toward the gorge,

-or cañon. If Oak Heart had laid an ambush there, the reds would be

-hiding in the brush, behind logs, and sheltered by boulders, all along

-the sidehills for some hundreds of yards. Buffalo Bill proposed to make

-a wide enough détour to get well behind the ambushed foe.

-

-By chance, however, he came suddenly upon a slope of gravel and sand,

-and stepped upon it before he realized the shifting nature of the soil.

-A stream of small pebbles began rattling down the hill!

-

-Instantly Buffalo Bill learned that his suspicions had been well

-founded. The Indians were there.

-

-He heard a startled grunt below him. Then in Sioux a voice asked a

-brief question.

-

-“Bear?” returned a second Indian.

-

-There was a sound as though one of the speakers had risen from his

-place. Buffalo Bill cast his mind quickly over the situation. The

-suggestion that a bear might be lurking about the sidehill seemed the

-most reasonable. A bear is notably a blundersome beast, and the wind

-was not from the ambushed redskins. The scout grasped the idea.

-

-He sent another small avalanche of gravel down the slope, and then

-floundered a bit in the brush. His ability to imitate the voices of

-birds and animals was very keen; but it is not easy to imitate the

-gruff, startled “woof!” of the marauding bear. However, he essayed it

-and then stamped away up the hill through the brush, making a deuce of

-a clatter till he reached an open space. He hoped that the reds would

-take his play-acting in good faith; yet he could not help having his

-doubts. He considered that, had he been in their place, he would have

-felt strong doubt regarding the validity of the sound, and would have

-investigated.

-

-Therefore he slipped behind an enormous tree trunk at the edge of this

-opening and waited to see if the supposed bear would be followed.

-Minute after minute passed, and a deathlike silence reigned upon

-the hillside. Buffalo Bill was wasting time, but he was too wary to

-approach closer to the Indians--near enough to learn their numbers

-at least--until he was assured that his first mistake had not borne

-perilous fruit.

-

-Sharp as his hearing was, however, he did not hear a footfall, or a

-breath; yet of a sudden a figure was silhouetted before him against the

-open space in the forest. An Indian stood there with folded arms, his

-back to the scout, and facing the clearing!

-

-One of the reds whom Cody had disturbed was not satisfied with the

-imitated retreat of the frightened “bear.” He had come to investigate

-and stood now almost within striking distance of the scout. But the

-latter feared to shoot him, of course; nor did he trust to a fling of

-his tomahawk, or knife. There were too many uncertainties about either

-of those methods of removing the redskin. To steal from behind the tree

-and spring upon him was another difficult thing, for the ground was

-strewn with rustling leaves and twigs, and the scout feared to announce

-his approach.

-

-To his disgust, too, the Indian turned and began searching about the

-edge of the forest. Cody saw him step cautiously behind two trees

-and stick the muzzle of the old-fashioned musket he bore into a

-brush-clump. The red was trying to learn if the creature that had made

-all that “catouse” was still in the vicinity.

-

-Instantly the scout glanced about in the gloom for a means of hiding

-himself more surely. In a minute the red would come his way.

-

-Directly above his head he saw a branch. He slipped the strap of his

-rifle over his head and shoulder, thus leaving his hands free, seized

-the branch, and drew himself up carefully as an acrobat does when

-he “chins” the horizontal bar. Without a sound, or the rattle of a

-button or an accouterment, the scout drew himself into the tree. Three

-branches sprang from the butt low down, so furnishing him a splendid

-nest.

-

-He removed his gun and stood it upright, wedged in a niche. Then he lay

-down along the lower branch, his body in the darkness merely adding

-a darker shadow to it, and watched and listened. No mountain cat was

-better ambushed for a foe. His guns he loosened in their scabbards, and

-then, drawing his bowie, he stuck it softly into the branch within

-easy reach of his hand.

-

-At that instant there was a soft rustling in the leaves which covered

-the ground below. Cody craned his neck to see. The Indian in a stooping

-posture came into view. He halted directly under the limb on which the

-scout lay. It seemed too dark for him to see any mark that the scout

-might have left, yet he seemed wonderfully interested in the tree and

-the ground beneath it.

-

-Cody could see the outline of his figure very well indeed. How much

-sharper the red’s vision might be he did not know; but he was not

-taking any chances. He noted that the red scamp faced the tree trunk

-and was apparently examining the rough bark for recently broken

-places. Was it possible that the fellow was really stumbling upon the

-truth--that a man had climbed this tree? Or was he feeling for the

-marks of a bear’s claws?

-

-However, Cody decided the red had gone far enough. Besides, the fellow

-was temptingly near. He was a small, wiry man weighing little more than

-a hundred pounds.

-

-Cody stooped suddenly, and both his muscular hands clutched the

-Indian around the neck--one before, one behind. And with this awful

-grip--which cut short any attempt to breathe, let alone to cry out--he

-lifted the redskin off his feet!

-

-As was only natural, the red dropped his gun and clutched with both

-hands at the hand which pinched his windpipe. He kicked vainly for

-freedom. Before he could drop his hand to his knife and draw that, Cody

-jerked him upward till the top of his head struck with fearful force

-against the under side of the tree branch. He could actually hear the

-redskin’s crown crack!

-

-The foe’s hands dropped limply; yet Cody held on and squeezed his

-throat for a minute longer. Then he dropped the fellow like a bag of

-bones to the ground.

-

-In a moment he seized his own rifle and dropped lightly beside him.

-The Indian had not stirred; he was without doubt dead. Cody took his

-weapons and removed his scalp, and went his way with some confidence

-that there was certainly one more “good” Indian.

-

-He dodged the gravel bank this time, and came down the side of the

-cañon at another point--some rods beyond that at which he had found

-the first of the reds established. There were fewer trees here, and,

-looking from above, the scout was able to observe considerable of

-the more open hillside. Dark as the night was, he saw several forms

-crouching behind stumps and boulders.

-

-He made a further détour, came down the hill again, and found the same

-conditions. On this side of the trail the Indians were extended along

-the hillside for five hundred yards and more. It was a big ambushing

-party. Cody reckoned it to be no less than two hundred braves at the

-least, and probably more. Captain Taylor’s command was not prepared to

-meet such a foe--especially when the foe would have every advantage of

-cover.

-

-Had it not been so dark, or had Cody known the ground better, a flank

-movement might have been made which would have overwhelmed the reds.

-But this would have taken much time, too, and, meanwhile, the garrison

-at Fort Advance was in sore need of reenforcements.

-

-Cody returned swiftly to the rendezvous he had appointed with Judd, to

-learn what that individual had discovered upon the other side of the

-cañon.

-

-Now, the warriors lay very silently indeed in their ambuscade, but

-three hundred men cannot be in a small place like that together without

-making some sounds. Judd, too, discovered the ambush, although he

-did not know just how many Indians were awaiting the coming of the

-bluecoats.

-

-“There’s a good bunch of them. Perhaps Oak Heart has drawn off half his

-gang,” said Cody. “We’ve got to fool ’em, Judd.”

-

-They hurried back to the group of scouts, and there Cody issued his

-instructions. Judd and three others were to watch the Indians as well

-as possible. Meanwhile Cody proposed to ride back and meet Captain

-Taylor’s command and take them, by another way, to the valley in which

-Fort Advance was situated.

-

-Cody rode back in haste and reported the danger ahead.

-

-“We are able to handle five hundred redskins, Cody,” said the officer,

-eager for a fight.

-

-“But not when they are established on both sides of the trail and it is

-dark and the forest is too thick for you to maneuver horses. No, no,

-captain! Be advised by me.”

-

-“I suppose you are right, Cody.”

-

-“And, besides, you will be able to deliver a heavier blow to Oak

-Heart’s gang if you fall upon them unexpectedly; and then, when these

-ambuscaders rush in, you’ll be ready to cut them to pieces, too.”

-

-“Right you are, scout. You are sure of the way?”

-

-“Confident. It’s a bit rough, but I could find it with my eyes

-bandaged.”

-

-“Lead on, then, scout.”

-

-“And no bugle-calls,” warned Cody. “Pass the word to the men. We don’t

-want these reds, waiting in the cañon, to suspect that we are stealing

-a march on them.”

-

-Fortunately, the troops did not have to take the back track. The path

-by which the Border King was to lead them to their destination branched

-off this main trail into the hills. Over the rough way they rode, and

-soon the eastern sky began to grow gray. Dawn was approaching, and the

-increased light made the path vastly easier of traveling.

-

-Buffalo Bill and Captain Taylor rode some distance ahead of the troops.

-The cavalry could go only as fast as the guns and ambulances could keep

-up, so the band moved necessarily slow.

-

-They came at last almost within sight of Fort Advance. A low ridge shut

-out their view of the valley. Suddenly the cool morning breeze brought

-to them a great shouting and hullabaloo, intermingled with rifle-shots

-and the intermittent discharge of heavy guns.

-

-“An attack!” exclaimed the captain and the scout together, and they

-spurred their horses to the top of the ridge.

-

-It was true. Oak Heart had chosen the hour before dawn as the time to

-throw his remaining warriors against the stockade. He believed that

-about this time the rescue-party would be falling into the trap he had

-laid for it in the cañon. He would keep both bands of white men so busy

-that they could not go to each other’s rescue.

-

-Suddenly the heavy guns ceased. There was only the occasional snapping

-of rifles from the fort.

-

-“My God, Cody! What does that mean?” gasped Captain Taylor.

-

-“Their ammunition has run out!” cried the scout. “I adjure you,

-captain, bring up your men at a double-quick. The next few minutes may

-settle the question as to whether those red devils get the scalps of

-every man, woman, and child in the fort! There is not an instant to

-lose, sir!”

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER XII. A FLYING FIGHT.

-

-

-Captain Taylor saw the desperate need of help for the unfortunate

-inmates of Fort Advance quite as clearly as did Buffalo Bill, but his

-men were in heavy marching order, and there were the artillery and

-ambulances to be thought of, too. The column was strung out along the

-trail for two miles.

-

-“It will take some time to bring the men up and form in line of battle,

-Cody,” declared Captain Taylor.

-

-“And meanwhile Oak Heart will throw his entire force over those

-palisades!” cried the scout. “By the time we deploy into the valley

-there’ll be no garrison, and the red devils can turn their attention

-to us. The firing will call up the gang from the cañon, and we’ll be

-between two fires.”

-

-“It can’t be helped----”

-

-“It _can_ be helped, sir--begging your pardon! Give me a few of your

-men and let me push on. It will make a diversion in favor of the

-garrison. If the braves see us coming they’ll hesitate about throwing

-themselves into the fort and so being caught in a trap.”

-

-“Good, Cody! You are right. And your appearance will at least show that

-help is at hand and encourage the garrison. But I’m afraid you’ll be

-cut to pieces.”

-

-“We’ll have to take that chance. Somebody has got to die this day--why

-not us?” demanded the courageous scout. “Let me have some of your

-cavalry as they come up. There’s the head of the column!”

-

-“Go, and God bless you, my brave fellow! Take all the men whose horses

-can stand a hard run,” said the gallant captain.

-

-He signaled the head of the column forward at once. The troops had

-already heard the firing, and were eager to get into action.

-

-“You’ll have to bring your artillery and ambulances down into the

-valley by yonder ridge, captain,” said the scout, pointing out the

-tongue of rocky land over which he had raced the day before with his

-pack-load of ammunition for the beleaguered fort. “From there you can

-sweep the valley to the very gates of the fort, and likewise you can

-cover the exit of the cañon through which the ambushing party will like

-enough pour in a short time.”

-

-“Good! I’ll make a note of that,” declared the officer. “There, Cody,

-are your men. Pick out the horses you think will be able to keep

-somewhere near your whitey. Every man of them is eager to attend, I

-promise you!”

-

-This was true enough, as the scout well knew. In five minutes, with two

-lieutenants and a couple of score of troopers at his heels, the scout

-set the pace over the ridge and down into the smoke-wreathed valley.

-

-They were soon in full sight of the fort and the redskins clamoring

-about it. And it was a complete surprise to Oak Heart and his braves to

-see reenforcements for the whites so near at hand. As for the defenders

-of Fort Advance, they were wild with joy to see even this small troop

-coming to their rescue.

-

-Buffalo Bill’s white steed was recognized, and cheers rent the air from

-the garrison which, a few moments before, had given up all hope. The

-Indians had been about to rush the stockade, and then a hand-to-hand

-fight would have ensued inside the fort which could have ended in but

-one way. The redskins outnumbered the whites so greatly, despite their

-losses, that the garrison would have been completely overwhelmed.

-

-Oak Heart saw that he was likely to be defeated, after all. Victory had

-all but perched upon his banners; now, with his forces separated, he

-was very likely to taste the bitter ashes of defeat!

-

-But the Sioux king was a born leader and strategist. He saw that,

-in some way, his plans for ambuscading the relief party had fallen

-through. His three hundred braves were idle up the cañon while the

-whites from Fort Resistence were coming to the help of their comrades

-by another way. Those reserve forces he needed, and needed at once.

-

-He spoke to the White Antelope. She had acted as his aid all through

-the battle, and now she wheeled her pony instantly and dashed away

-toward the mouth of the cañon. She was instructed to inform the

-ambuscading party of the change in affairs and to bring them back at

-top speed.

-

-Buffalo Bill and his flying column of cavalry saw and understood this

-move. Lieutenant Dick Danforth, the dashing young lieutenant who ranked

-in command of the party, spurred up beside Cody.

-

-“See that girl yonder?” he cried.

-

-“I see her,” returned the scout gravely.

-

-“She’s a messenger, eh?”

-

-“She is.”

-

-“Isn’t that the way into the cañon where those other Indians were lying

-in wait for us?”

-

-“You’re mighty right, lieutenant,” admitted the scout.

-

-“We must stop her!”

-

-The scout remained silent, measuring the distance between them and the

-flying White Antelope, and the mouth of the cañon as well.

-

-“We’ve _got_ to stop her!” exclaimed Dick Danforth.

-

-“How are you going to do it?” demanded Cody grimly.

-

-Danforth picked up his carbine quickly. Cody at once laid his hand on

-the young officer’s arm.

-

-“No, no, Dick!” he said, with feeling. “Not that!”

-

-“What do you mean, scout?” demanded the young officer, displeased.

-

-“You must not shoot that girl!”

-

-“Why, she’s a confounded squaw--and she’s an enemy--and she’s taking a

-message that may bring trouble to us all.”

-

-“She must be stopped; but you must not kill her.”

-

-“What’s the matter with you, Cody?” the young man demanded again.

-“She’s nothing but a redskin.”

-

-“There is another way--without taking her life,” declared the scout.

-

-“What makes you so tender of the squaw? Lord! I don’t ask _you_ to

-shoot her,” and the lieutenant raised his carbine again.

-

-Cody’s hand this time fell upon the lieutenant’s wrist with force, as

-he urged Chief alongside the other’s mount.

-

-“And by God, sir! _you_ shall not shoot her--above all men!” he cried.

-

-“What do you mean by this?” demanded Lieutenant Danforth, his face

-white as death. “I have a reason for killing every damned Indian that

-comes under my eye--you know _that_, Bill Cody!”

-

-“Perhaps; but not White Antelope,” said the scout earnestly.

-

-“And why not White Antelope, as you call her? Is she any better than

-any other of the devil’s red spawn? Let go of my arm! I’m going to

-shoot that girl!”

-

-“You are beside yourself!” exclaimed Cody coldly. “Do you want it told

-around your mess that you deliberately shot a squaw-woman?”

-

-“She’s a messenger, man!”

-

-“That’s no excuse.”

-

-“I tell you the red devils killed my people--butchered them! I saw my

-father with his head split open by an Indian hatchet! My mother was

-dragged away to a worse death, it’s likely. _I’ve sworn revenge on

-every redskin that walks the earth!_ Let go of me, Cody, or I’ll kill

-you!”

-

-“You are beside yourself, sir,” said the scout, still coldly. “You

-would not kill me, for I have always been your friend. It was I who got

-you your chance at West Point. It was I who made you what you are now.

-You’ll not kill _me_, Dick Danforth!”

-

-The two had ridden furiously ahead of the troopers, both bearing off

-toward the cañon’s mouth toward which the squaw was flying on her pony.

-The other men could not hear this conversation, jerked out between the

-jumps of the two great horses.

-

-That Dick Danforth, the young lieutenant, was beside himself, was

-easily to be seen. He was not responsible at the moment for his actions

-or speech.

-

-“That gal must not be harmed, Danforth,” said Cody firmly. “If you

-hold any gratitude in your heart toward me, show it now. I demand that

-the girl be unharmed--now or at any other time--and especially at your

-hand.”

-

-The scout’s seriousness--aye, his passion in saying this--impressed

-Danforth so deeply that his own rage gave place to wonder.

-

-“Why, what do you know about her, Cody? Who is she?”

-

-“It does not matter. I must have your promise. _You_ must never harm

-the White Antelope. Indeed, you must guard her and keep others from

-harming her with your life; do you understand?”

-

-“No, I _don’t_ understand. And I won’t help an Injun.”

-

-“You will do as I say, Dick.”

-

-“No!”

-

-“I demand it, Dick!” said the scout feelingly.

-

-“That is not fair, Cody!”

-

-“It is fair. I saved your life. I made you what you are. I have a right

-to some return, and I demand this.”

-

-“Oh, thunder, Bill!” ejaculated Dick Danforth, more in his usual light

-tone than before. “If you put it _that_ way----”

-

-“I do.”

-

-“Then I’ll have to promise.”

-

-“Very well, my boy. I hold you to your word.”

-

-“But don’t you ever ask me to save an Injun again, for I won’t do it!”

-

-“All right.”

-

-“And while we’ve been rowing, that blamed squaw is getting away. She’ll

-carry the alarm to the other Indians as sure as shooting!”

-

-“She won’t!” returned the scout, with confidence. “Ride on with your

-men, Dick. Cut your way through that gang of reds to the gates of the

-fort if necessary. Off with you! Leave the girl to me!”

-

-With a wave of his hand he clapped spurs to Chief, and pulled sharply

-on his rein. The girl had almost reached the mouth of the cañon when

-Cody started in direct pursuit.

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER XIII. THE CHASE OF THE WHITE ANTELOPE.

-

-

-The Border King did not pick his way as he spurred the great white

-horse down the declivity after the flying Indian girl. He allowed Chief

-to guide himself, for he felt confidence in the horse’s sense. They

-went down the hill like an avalanche, and an avalanche of small stones

-and broken brush went with them.

-

-To the troopers behind on the ridge, to the defenders of the fort, and

-to the Indians themselves who saw the charge of the big white horse, it

-seemed that neither horse nor rider could reach the bottom alive.

-

-But Chief did not even lose his stride in going down, and at the

-bottom, in answer to a sharp tug on the rein, he turned and shot away

-along the trail after the disappearing White Antelope.

-

-Oak Heart and his braves saw the act, and knew Cody’s reason for

-chasing the young squaw. Half the army of Sioux would have started in

-pursuit; but Dick Danforth’s troopers were sweeping down the hill by a

-smoother road, and would cut the Indians off from the entrance to the

-cañon. The reds were balked.

-

-Dick Danforth’s blood was up. He had been born a Western boy, and, as

-he had intimated in his recent conversation with Cody, he had bitter

-reason to hate the redskins. He had been made an orphan, and his young

-life ruined, by these very Sioux.

-

-He spoke to the bugler, and the wild notes of the charge rang out

-across the valley. Two score the troopers numbered, and there were five

-or six hundred Indians against them; but the bold fellows were ready to

-dash into the midst of the redskins.

-

-Besides, Major Baldwin, seeing what desperate chances the troopers

-from Fort Resistence were taking, ordered Captain Ed. Keyes to charge

-with every able-bodied cavalryman the stockade contained. The fort

-gates were flung open, and out upon the Indians, already wavering and

-uncertain, charged Keyes and his troop, sabers in hand. They had no

-ammunition, but they wielded their sabers like fiends. The Indians,

-most of them unmounted, were borne down, trampled under the feet of

-the big cavalry horses, and slashed unmercifully on one side by Keyes,

-while Danforth came up on the other, his men shooting at short range

-with carbines and pistols, and finally taking to the sword also.

-

-And while this wild carnage was in progress, Buffalo Bill and the White

-Antelope were racing along the trail in the cañon, the girl intent

-upon carrying her father’s message and arousing the redskins lying in

-ambush miles away, while the scout was just as determined that, without

-injuring her, she should be kept from carrying out her plan.

-

-It was still dark down here in the cañon. Although the sun was already

-showing his red face above the eastern hills, as yet there was not

-light enough to dissipate the gloom at the bottom of this deep cut in

-the hills. Indeed, Buffalo Bill followed the girl more by sense of

-sound than sense of sight for the first half-mile.

-

-Then the pace of the great white horse told. His stride was too much

-for the Indian pony, no matter how cruelly White Antelope lashed it.

-Steadily the scout drew nearer.

-

-The gray light filtered down from above and showed to the scout the

-young squaw turning her head again and again to watch the progress

-of her pursuer. She was evidently measuring with fearful glance the

-rapidly lessening distance between them.

-

-Buffalo Bill might easily have killed her as she leaned forward on her

-pony’s neck, urging him with whip and voice. His face was very set and

-stern, too; but the sternness was not that which masked his countenance

-when he was bent upon an enemy’s death.

-

-He saw, indeed, the frightened maiden before him, flying madly from his

-approach; but his mind was laboring with thoughts which carried him

-back for many years--thoughts which had often embittered his mind and

-robbed him of his rest at night. He remembered this beautiful girl’s

-mother and how he would have saved her from her awful fate; yet that

-was not to be! And here he was pursuing the daughter--yet in a far

-different manner.

-

-The girl looked back again. Her beautiful face had paled, losing all

-its naturally rich coloring. Although Buffalo Bill had held her in

-his power only the day before and had not harmed her, this wild child

-of the forest and plain saw no reason for his sparing her now. And,

-indeed, there _was_ no apparent reason. She saw in his attempt to

-capture her instead of killing her outright, merely the desire of the

-warrior to parade a captive before his admiring brethren, and then,

-perhaps, she would be made a slave as the redskins made slaves of the

-white squaws they stole!

-

-White Antelope had no reason for believing in the honor and tenderness

-of white men. She had been taught from childhood that they were her

-deadly enemies. Her mother had died too soon after her birth to instil

-into the maiden’s mind any different belief than that held by the

-savages about her.

-

-So the girl looked back at Cody in terror, and made up her savage mind

-to die rather than be captured by the scout.

-

-But she would sell her life dearly as may be. The day before Long

-Hair, as she called him, had disarmed her of the light revolver which

-had been a most precious possession. Now she had only her bow and

-arrows--a weapon that is not easily used in shooting behind one while

-the pony is at full speed.

-

-But this was what the girl tried to do. She strung her bow and seized

-an arrow from the quiver which hung over her shoulder. Then, while the

-pony was still paddling along the trail at his best pace, she turned

-her agile young body about, drew the shaft to its head, and let drive

-at the coming scout.

-

-He ducked as he saw her action; but the shaft went through his hat and

-carried it away. Instantly she fitted another arrow to the bowstring

-and sent it likewise at her enemy. Cody slipped over on the far side

-of Chief, hanging by toe and one hand to the running animal, an Indian

-trick that no brave could do better than the scout himself. The second

-shaft went over his saddle in about the place his heart might have been

-had he been sitting upright!

-

-The Indian maiden was not to be balked so easily. She turned again to

-urge her pony on, hoping, it is likely, that Long Hair would bob up

-into the saddle again. But he saw she had a third arrow on the string,

-and he remained where he was.

-

-But to tamely endure such a persecution as this was not the scout’s

-intention. Besides, he feared that the White Antelope might shoot Chief.

-

-As he slung himself over the side of the big white horse, Cody had

-drawn one of the loaded pistols from its holster. With this gun he was

-a marvelously accurate shot. It had a barrel almost as long as the

-old-fashioned derringer, and in the hand of a trained marksman could do

-the execution of a finely sighted rifle.

-

-Under the horse’s neck he had a very clear view of the girl on the

-pony in front, although she could not easily aim at any vital part of

-the scout in the position in which he hung from Chief. As the young

-squaw turned sidewise to larrup her pony again with the quirt hanging

-to her wrist, Buffalo Bill took a snap shot at the quiver of arrows at

-her back.

-

-It was a perilous shot--if he did not wish to harm the girl. Few

-marksmen would have dared try it. William Tell was a bungler, indeed,

-as compared with some of the marksmen of our great West, and William F.

-Cody was, in his day, the best of them all!

-

-His pistol ball sped true. The thong from which the quiver hung was

-severed, and if the hot lead seared the girl’s shoulder in passing it

-did no more!

-

-The quiver fell to the ground; but the girl had still a remaining

-arrow--it was already upon her bowstring. She turned swiftly to drive

-it home--perhaps into the heart of the great white horse that bore her

-enemy so swiftly.

-

-Buffalo Bill realized the danger to his noble steed. He sprang upright

-into the saddle, the smoking pistol still in his hand. His appearance

-as a fair target attracted the Indian maiden’s aim. She drew the

-arrowhead to her ear.

-

-But the white man’s pistol spoke before she could release the feathered

-shaft.

-

-Crack!

-

-The long-barreled revolver spit its death-dealing bullet, and the smoke

-enveloped Buffalo Bill’s head for a moment and then passed away.

-

-Twang!

-

-That was the snap of the bowstring. But the arrow flew wildly in the

-air, over the scout’s head. The bullet had severed the deer tendon of

-which the string was made just as the girl released the shaft. Buffalo

-Bill had taken another desperate shot--and had won. The bow was put out

-of commission, but the bullet had not touched the fair user of the bow.

-

-White Antelope threw away her broken implement in wrath, and lashed her

-pony again. But he, poor creature, was coming to the end of his leash.

-His little legs could not carry even so light a burden as herself much

-farther.

-

-Buffalo Bill saw that this was so, and he spoke to Chief, dropping the

-pistol back into its holster again. The great white horse redoubled his

-effort. He shot along the trail as though he was fresh from the stable.

-

-This spurt of speed brought the scout beside the Indian girl and her

-mount so quickly that White Antelope had no time to cast herself to the

-ground as she had intended. Even as she screamed and would have leaped

-to certain death, the white horse came neck and neck with her mount,

-Cody leaned over and seized her around the waist with his right arm,

-and, drawing his pistol this time with his left hand, shot the Indian

-pony through the head!

-

-He could not afford to have the relieved beast run on to the ambushed

-Indians miles up the cañon and so warn them of what was being done. The

-pony staggered on a few yards and fell dead. Chief leaped the fallen

-body and then came to a stop.

-

-Meanwhile, the young squaw had been struggling in Cody’s grasp. She had

-one more weapon, and out it flashed from the bead-worked sheath at her

-side. It was a keen scalping-knife, and with a single downward thrust

-she might have ended Cody’s earthly career.

-

-However, the scout was watching for just this little play. As the

-bright blade descended toward his breast, he caught the point upon his

-pistol. The blade snapped, and with a single blow he knocked the handle

-and butt of the blade from the girl’s hand!

-

-“The White Antelope is in Long Hair’s power. Let her lie quietly,”

-commanded the scout in Sioux.

-

-He placed the girl before him, picked up Chief’s bridle, turned the

-horse about, and they started down the cañon again. The girl did not

-struggle now, or seek to escape. She was beaten. He could feel her body

-shake with emotion; but true to Indian custom and tradition, she did

-not weep.

-

-Cody feared that some of the Indians might have got by Dick

-Danforth and entered the cañon to follow him; so he went back very

-circumspectly. If he was caught between two fires he could merely sell

-his life as dearly as possible; but he would have kept the men in

-ambush from coming to the help of their tribesmen in time to do any

-good.

-

-Soon the noise of battle reached their ears. The girl gave no sign of

-interest, nor did Cody speak to her. In truth, the scout had a bitter

-problem to consider.

-

-What should he do with the girl? She was in his power. At least, he had

-separated her from her father and from her Indian friends. But was the

-time ripe for her to be introduced to white people--to those in Fort

-Advance, for instance?

-

-It was a time when men’s passions were deeply stirred. There would be

-murder and hatred in the hearts of the whites as well as in that of the

-redskins. Of what good to bring this half-breed girl into contact with

-whites who felt a desire to kill every creature with Indian blood in

-its veins? And why take the girl away from the red men at the moment

-when her own heart was bitter as gall toward the whites? What good

-would come of such an act? Buffalo Bill’s good sense answered for him:

-

-“None!”

-

-Nor did the whites desire her as a hostage. To hold her prisoner would

-be to strengthen her affiliation with the Sioux. No, no! She must go

-free--if Cody were free himself.

-

-This question could not be answered until he had ridden to the end of

-the cañon, and he went on very circumspectly.

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER XIV. A STARTLING DISCOVERY.

-

-

-Meanwhile, the two troops of cavalry, under Lieutenant Dick Danforth

-and Captain Keyes respectively, plowed their way through the massed

-redskins. They met, and Captain Keyes heartily greeted the men from

-Fort Resistence.

-

-“God bless you, Danforth--and you, Mercer! You’ve come just in time to

-save us, for we are completely out of ammunition. Where’s Cody?”

-

-“Gone to head off Oak Heart’s messenger to the men he had hidden up the

-cañon to fall upon us--had we come that way,” said Danforth.

-

-“And there is the rest of your column appearing!” cried Keyes.

-

-His seniority gave him command. He raised his saber on high and stood

-up in his stirrups.

-

-“Now, charge back to the fort, my bully boys, and give these red devils

-what they are looking for!”

-

-The redskins were not inactive, and there were already empty saddles

-in the troop; but the tribesmen were demoralized. They began fleeing

-toward the river across the valley. Out upon the ridge spurred the guns

-belonging to Captain Taylor’s command, unlimbered, and opened fire on

-the fleeing reds, the shells screaming over the heads of the charging

-troops in blue. Down into the valley poured the remainder of Taylor’s

-column, eager to have some part in the rout.

-

-Upon this scene rode Buffalo Bill and his beautiful captive as they

-left the cañon’s mouth. The Indians were in wild flight. The whites

-were forcing them toward the river.

-

-Buffalo Bill pulled in his horse, and his keen glance swept the field

-of carnage. He saw that the battle was practically over. Oak Heart’s

-warriors had shown the white feather. The unexpected coming of the

-rescue-party had knocked out completely the reds’ plans, and they could

-not rally.

-

-Then the scout looked down at the sorrowful face of White Antelope.

-

-“Yonder flies the White Antelope’s father, the great chief, Oak Heart,

-and his people,” Cody said gravely. “The palefaces are greater than the

-red men. They always have been. They always will be. Remember, White

-Antelope, that Pa-e-has-ka says this, and he is wise, and he knows.

-The red men must melt away before the white men, or else become as

-the white men are--tillers of the soil, traders, homesteaders. The

-red men, who learn this lesson soon, will be saved. There is no other

-gospel to preach to the red men--and Pa-e-has-ka preaches it.

-

-“The White Antelope’s mother was white,” continued the old scout,

-seeing that he had the girl’s attention, and he spoke with trembling

-voice. “She was a beautiful woman--and Oak Heart loved her greatly.

-While she lived the Sioux remained for years at peace with the white

-men. Now Oak Heart is influenced by less wise counselors than thy

-mother. And see what has come of it!

-

-“Many men are dead. Much bitterness is engendered. The strife has been

-bloody, and now the red men go back to their squaws and children like

-whipped dogs!

-

-“The whites and reds will now be against each other for a long time

-because of this trouble. And what have the people gained, White

-Antelope? A few scalps? Aye, but they have lost more. Many women will

-tear their hair and mourn in the lodges of the Sioux because of this

-battle.

-

-“Let the White Antelope remember this. She has influence beyond her

-years with her people. Let her remember what Pa-e-has-ka says and

-counsel her father and the other chiefs to make peace with the white

-men while they may.

-

-“Now, Pa-e-has-ka sends the White Antelope back to Chief Oak Heart.

-Tell thy father how the Long Hair had thee in his power, and did thee

-no harm. I am thy friend, White Antelope. See! that is the way to the

-river. Keep behind the trees, and the bluecoats will not see thee. Fly!

-For the time is short. Soon your people will be in full retreat, and

-the old chief will believe his daughter is lost to him.”

-

-The scout set the girl down upon her feet. His voice trembled as he

-ceased speaking, and he looked closely into her face to see if it had

-been moved at all by his speech. But he saw there only fright and

-wonder--the terror of the wild creature unexpectedly released from the

-trap.

-

-So he let her go and saw her flee on feet as fleet as a deer’s through

-the undergrowth toward the river, which the vanguard of the Indians

-were already crossing. Then the scout set spurs to Chief and tore after

-the column of blue which had hastened to the support of Keyes and

-Danforth.

-

-Although the rifles and pistols of the men from the fort were empty,

-their blades were sharp. Before Cody reached the field of action it had

-become merely a drive of redskins to the river. The bluecoats rode them

-down, hacking them as they passed, pressing Oak Heart hard.

-

-Horses and white men went down in the mêlée; but when the war-cry of

-Buffalo Bill was heard that seemed to drive the last atom of courage

-from the Sioux, and they ran like a herd of frightened deer, flinging

-away their arms, and leaping from the high river-bank into the shallows.

-

-Some were swept away by the deeper current in the middle and drowned.

-Had there been a ford near at hand, the soldiers would have crossed

-over and continued the massacre on the farther side. But the stream

-afforded Oak Heart a chance to rally his braves.

-

-Sheltered somewhat by the high bank, his riflemen could pick off the

-soldiers as they appeared, and it became dangerous for the cavalrymen

-to ride to the very brink of the bluff. This allowed the frightened

-Indians to escape across the stream, Oak Heart and a few others

-guarding their retreat.

-

-While Buffalo Bill was receiving the congratulations of Captain Keyes

-and Texas Jack, the voice of the old chief, Oak Heart, suddenly rose

-from below.

-

-“I know you, Great White Chief Buffalo Bill! Oak Heart never forget.

-You save your people--kill my young men--make Sioux run! Me remember,

-Pa-e-has-ka!”

-

-“He’s got it in for you, Bill, sure enough!” cried Texas Jack.

-

-Raising his trumpetlike voice, the great scout replied to the threat of

-the beaten Indian chief:

-

-“Pa-e-has-ka knows the voice of Oak Heart--and the heart of Oak Heart.

-He will not forget!”

-

-The Border King might have picked off the chief with his rifle as he

-climbed the farther bank of the stream on his wearied pony. But he

-scorned to do such an act. Besides, far up the river he saw a slender

-figure dive down the bank, plunge into the stream, and fight the fierce

-current to the other side, where it quickly scrambled out, up the bank,

-and ran to join the fleeing Indians.

-

-“What become of the girl, Cody?” whispered Dick Danforth, getting him

-aside.

-

-The Border King pointed to this figure following the trail of the

-defeated warriors.

-

-“There she goes, Dick,” he whispered. “Remember your promise!”

-

-It was indeed a great victory for the whites. The Sioux had lost many

-ponies and more than a hundred slain, although some of the dead had

-been taken away. In wounded the Indians had suffered more heavily still.

-

-However, it was a costly victory for the whites. More than twenty

-troopers lay dead within the fort, and several were scattered upon the

-plain. There were more than half a hundred seriously injured, while of

-minor casualties there were so many that the garrison had ceased to

-note them. Almost everybody within Fort Advance showed, at least, some

-slight mark of the conflict.

-

-Upon every tongue was heard the name of Buffalo Bill, the Border

-King; for, but for him, how different might have been the result! All

-felt that the great scout had saved Fort Advance, and, as Texas Jack

-said, “put a crimp in the Sioux that they’d remember till they were

-gray-headed.” Indeed the fame of this deed for many years made Buffalo

-Bill’s name a household word along the frontier.

-

-Embarrassed by the praise bestowed upon him, the scout looked to the

-care of his horse, Chief, and then slipped away to hide and rest, Texas

-Jack keeping his hiding-place a secret that he might not be disturbed.

-

-When he slipped out of his retreat the next day he was greeted with

-a cheer, and Major Baldwin sent for him at parade that evening and

-complimented him publicly for his work, with a word of praise for Texas

-Jack, as well.

-

-When matters had quieted down a little at the fort and the rescuers had

-returned to Fort Resistance, Buffalo Bill had a talk with Major Baldwin.

-

-“Somebody should make an attempt to see what old Oak Heart is about

-now,” said the scout. “And I reckon I’m the man, major. There are

-still a lot of masterless Indians in these hills, and we want to know

-what they’re up to. There is another matter I wish to scout around

-about, too. On my way down from Denver I crossed the trail of Boyd

-Bennett.”

-

-“You don’t mean that despicable deserter has dared show up again?”

-cried the major.

-

-“I believe he is in the neighborhood. There have been several robberies

-of stage-coaches and mail-wagons up north, and they bear the ear-marks

-of Boyd Bennett. At any rate, this clue I speak of will bear following

-up.”

-

-“Very well, Cody. I’ll excuse you from your other duties. I wish I was

-giving you a quiet vacation, however.”

-

-The scout smiled.

-

-“Excitement is the breath of life to me, major. Wait till I get old.

-Perhaps I may want to settle down then.”

-

-This Boyd Bennett was an old enemy of Buffalo Bill’s. He was a deserter

-from the United States Army, and had become the leader of one of those

-bands of road-agents that cropped up so thickly soon after the close

-of the Civil War. The West was overrun with disbanded guerrillas who

-had fought on both sides of the great struggle--wild and masterless men

-who had lived so long by the power of the sword, that they would not

-conform to law and order when legitimate fighting was supposed to be

-ended.

-

-These cursed the growing West. Boyd Bennett had committed several

-crimes, but had as yet escaped apprehension and punishment.

-

-An army paymaster was soon to make the rounds by coach, paying off

-the several garrisons; and so it was important to locate Boyd Bennett,

-the overland bandit, and his gang, and make sure that they were not

-plotting to seize the paymaster’s treasure.

-

-After a couple of days’ trailing into the Indian country, the scout

-found that Oak Heart and his warriors were seemingly too much battered

-by the battle at Fort Advance to think of making another raid at

-present. They were likely to lie low for awhile.

-

-So Buffalo Bill went in search of Boyd Bennett and his gang. He

-knew that the rendezvous of the road-agents was usually near some

-stage-road, and the scout chanced upon the road leading from Fort

-Advance to Alikon. He knew the time of the coach-running, and after

-riding along the trail for a couple of miles he came upon the coach as

-he expected.

-

-That is, he expected to find the coach about here; but the scene

-presented to his gaze, when he beheld it, was most startling.

-

-There was the coach; the horses were standing patiently in the trail;

-and yet no driver was on the box, nor did he see any one near at first.

-Spurring forward, Buffalo Bill beheld the driver sprawling on the

-ground, with the reins still clutched tightly in his hands. It was Bud

-Sharkey, whom the scout knew well; and the unfortunate fellow had been

-shot from his seat on the stage-coach.

-

-There were three other dead bodies on the ground--an officer and two

-soldiers. They were all dead, and, furthermore, the scout noted now

-that the four had been scalped.

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER XV. THE TREASURE CHEST.

-

-

-This dreadful discovery told the scout that Indians had held up the

-coach. Yet he wondered if it had been done for robbery as well as

-murder? The officer he recognized as Captain Hinkley, the paymaster;

-the soldiers were his guard. He was a week ahead of his time; yet he

-had not managed to get safely through.

-

-The fact that Indians had done the deed, however, disturbed Buffalo

-Bill. He could not understand it. The marks of half a dozen unshod

-ponies proved that his first suspicion was correct. Some of Oak Heart’s

-young braves might have done this. It was true, too, that the driver

-and soldiers had all been shot with arrows.

-

-“How do I know that robbery has been committed at all?” muttered

-Buffalo Bill, and he leaped off his horse and made search inside the

-stage.

-

-It was revealed at once that the marauders must have been frightened

-off before they came upon Captain Hinkley’s strong-box and bags of coin.

-

-Fear of being caught in the act of murder and rapine usually rides

-the redskin to undue haste. Had there been whites with this gang of

-red robbers--either Boyd Bennett himself or any of his men--Cody knew

-that no small matter would have frightened them away before the object

-of the hold-up of the stage was accomplished. And the presence of the

-treasure-chest proved that the marauders must have been driven off.

-

-By what, or whom? Surely his own coming had not done this! Yet the

-thought gave the scout food for serious reflection. Perhaps the reds

-might be lurking near and would descend again upon the spot and finish

-their job by gathering in _his_ scalp as well as that of the driver,

-the paymaster, and his guards.

-

-He did not touch the money, therefore, but appeared likewise to find

-nothing in the coach. He even went back to his horse, mounted into the

-saddle, and set off along the trail at a lope as though proposing to

-go for help. He had remembered that there was a sandy piece of ground

-not far away, and here his horse’s hoofbeats would be deadened. As

-soon as he reached this he halted, dismounted, led his horse up among

-the rocks, and approached the scene of the catastrophe with great

-circumspection. Not a bird did he raise by this maneuver.

-

-“They’ve vamosed!” declared Buffalo Bill, with confidence. “A scalping

-party of reds, and they knew nothing about the money. So it appears,

-at least. Yet, from all I’ve heard, Bennett is hand and glove with Oak

-Heart’s people. He’ll hear of this without fail. Now, what had I better

-do?”

-

-He spent little time in cogitating, however. Cody was a man who made up

-his mind instinctively, rather than by any slow process of reasoning.

-He was prompt on this occasion to come to a conclusion.

-

-The party of Indians who had done this hold-up act were not in the

-immediate vicinity. It was of some moment to Cody, however, to

-learn how far they had gone, and in what direction. He rustled the

-treasure-box out of the stage and lugged it up into the rocks, where he

-found a hiding-place that would do for the nonce. Then he picked up

-the trail of the redskins afoot and hurried after them.

-

-Beyond the nearest hill the party had fled down into a well-watered

-valley which the scout knew led to a gorge, which was about the

-shortest way to Oak Heart’s camp. If Boyd Bennett and his gang happened

-to be with the Indians, saw the scalps, and guessed who the reds had

-murdered, he would be here after the treasure-box in short order.

-

-Buffalo Bill believed that the reds were aiming for this gorge; yet

-they might have had another route in view. To make sure, he cut across

-the valley on a straight line for the mouth of the gorge to see if the

-trail was marked there, as well.

-

-The middle of the valley was a swamp, and one that the scout had never

-been through. He had no idea that it was so dangerous a place until he

-had gotten some rods into it. Then, in leaping from a tussock to what

-looked like a solid log, he found the log, hammock, and all, sinking

-under him, and there was no safe spot ahead on which he could alight.

-

-“Great Scott! I’d better go around, after all,” he muttered, in

-disgust, and turned gingerly on the sinking log.

-

-And then, to his amazement, he saw that the comparatively safe place on

-which he had last stood had disappeared! As he leaped it had toppled

-over and the quagmire had swallowed it instantly. All he could see was

-a long stretch of some ten or twelve feet of stinking, dimpling black

-muck!

-

-“However did I get over that place?” grunted the scout, in surprise.

-“Why, I’m due to go ten feet under the surface maybe, if I jump!”

-

-And it quickly became apparent that he might go that depth under the

-surface if he didn’t jump, too. The old log sank lower and lower, until

-finally the liquid mud lapped over it completely and began to rise

-around his ankles. The log was only about eight feet long. He crept to

-the end which lay nearest solid ground, but even then it was a good

-eight-foot jump, and from such an unstable footing that seemed well

-nigh impossible of accomplishment.

-

-Besides, the log began to tip. Where he stood it sank deeper and

-deeper, and with a splash of the filthy mire the other end shot into

-sight. Cody had to leap to the middle of the stick quickly to save

-himself from toppling over completely into the mud. There he wavered

-a moment until he caught his balance, and then, with grimness, looked

-about for escape.

-

-He couldn’t hope for any help. Indeed, he would have been more troubled

-than delighted to see any other person than himself in this swamp at

-just this moment. The matter of the pay-chest rested heavily on his

-mind. However he escaped from this situation it must be by his own

-exertions, and those alone.

-

-To try to wade to a more solid spot was to court possible extinction.

-To sink slowly into this muck and be smothered by it was a horrible

-thought. It chilled even the scout’s blood!

-

-And, meantime, the log was sinking steadily. Inch by inch it was being

-submerged, and the mire was crawling up Buffalo Bill’s boot-legs.

-

-The swamp was quite heavily wooded, so he was hidden from the view of

-anybody on the eminences around about. And, as he cast a worried glance

-about at the heights in fear that he might have attracted attention,

-he suddenly beheld the end of a tree branch almost over his head.

-

-“Ah!” exclaimed he, and his eyes glistened as he followed the trend of

-this branch with their glance.

-

-Of course, the branch was altogether too slight above his head to

-bear his weight, even could he reach it. But it promised something.

-He glanced along its length several times to the parent trunk some

-twenty feet away, and then began operations. There was, indeed, no time

-for him to lose, for the log was a good bit under the surface of the

-dimpling mud by this.

-

-The fronded end of the branch was much too high for him to reach it

-with his hands; nor could he pull it down with his gun. Indeed, he

-got rid of that implement at once--it only weighed him down into the

-mire the faster--by tossing it into a crotch of the branch, where it

-fortunately chanced to catch and hang. He removed his belt, slipped the

-cartridges into the side pockets of his coat, tied his handkerchief to

-one end of the belt to make it longer, and then fastened one of his

-pistols to the handkerchief to weight the end. Swinging this weighted

-line, he cast the pistol about the small twigs above his head. The

-weapon caught in them, and gradually he drew the end of the branch down

-within the grasp of his hands.

-

-He held this and fastened on his belt and gun again, buttoning his

-pockets so as not to lose his ammunition. The end of the branch was a

-bushy fan of small twigs and leaves. He could pull it down into the

-mud, and the green wood was tough and strong; but there was a big

-chance, when he bore any weight upon it, of the limb tearing off at the

-trunk.

-

-However, swarming up this branch seemed the only way of escape from

-the smothering mud which already was as high as his knees. Its suction

-was terrific, too. When he flung himself forward on the branch he could

-scarcely drag his boots out of the mire.

-

-But he fought on desperately, dragging up first one booted foot and

-then the other, and, although the limb cracked and he lay almost flat

-in the mud at first, he finally wormed his way up the branch to its

-bigger part. There he straddled it and waited to get his breath, and to

-scrape off some of the mud.

-

-“A little more,” he puffed, “and I’d have gone down in that, and nobody

-would have been the wiser. Ah!”

-

-He halted in his speech and stared down into the mud. An idea had

-smitten him, and he turned it over and over in his mind while he worked

-his way along the limb and descended to the foot of the tree.

-

-He returned as quickly as possible to the edge of the swamp, and was

-contented thereafter to follow the trail of the redskins direct. No

-more short cuts! He found in time that his early suspicions had been

-correct. The trail led to the head of the gorge, and he was bound to

-believe that the murderers were some of Oak Heart’s Sioux.

-

-“Boyd Bennett will learn of the hold-up inside of twenty-four hours--if

-not sooner. It’s up to me to hide that money where he won’t be able to

-find it.”

-

-With this decision uppermost in his mind, he put into practise the idea

-that had been suggested to him as he sat on the tree branch. Returning

-to the temporary hiding-place of the money, he carried the chest to the

-edge of the swamp, endeavoring to leave as little trail as possible as

-he went. He had brought his lariat with him, and when he reached one

-of the most treacherous-looking pools of mud, he fastened the lariat

-about the box and lowered it into the depths. The quagmire sucked the

-box out of sight almost instantly.

-

-Then Cody tied the end of the lariat to a tree-root under the surface

-of the muck, and so effectually disposed of the treasure where

-nobody but himself--or some person whom he guided--could find it. He

-returned to the scene of the hold-up and prepared to get away with the

-driverless stage instantly.

-

-He placed the dead man inside the stage, tied Chief to one of the

-leaders, and, mounting to the box, drove hurriedly along the trail.

-

-Being alone, he could not drive the horses and guard the treasure, too;

-so he had hidden it, intending to bring back a file of troopers from

-the fort later and pick it up.

-

-He had not driven two miles along the trail when, loud and threatening,

-rose a voice from the rocks beside the road, which uttered these

-significant words:

-

-“Live or die--yours the choice! Up with your hands there!”

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER XVI. THE BANDITS OF THE OVERLAND TRAIL.

-

-

-It was Buffalo Bill’s choice to live just then, so he drew rein. He

-knew from whom the command came, too, just as well as he knew that

-resistance would be useless.

-

-“Up with your hands, or die! Come, take your choice, Buffalo Bill!”

-

-The threatening words were repeated, as Buffalo Bill had simply reined

-the horses to a halt and still grasped the lines. He saw at a glance

-that bandits had sprung to the heads of his leaders, while he was

-covered by the revolver in the hand of Boyd Bennett himself. With no

-change of expression the scout said:

-

-“As you seem to hold trumps in this game, Bennett, up go my hands.”

-

-He gave the reins a turn around the lantern, and Buffalo Bill coolly

-raised his hands above his head to the apparent relief of the outlaws

-at the horses’ heads, for they seemed to have feared that, after all,

-he might resist. They knew that, if he had chosen to die fighting, some

-of them would have bitten the dust first.

-

-“You have acted wisely, Buffalo Bill, and I am glad to see that even

-you can be cowed when you’re in a tight place,” laughed Boyd Bennett.

-

-“We won’t discuss that part of the proposition,” said Cody coolly. “I’m

-anxious to get on, so don’t detain me with philosophical remarks.”

-

-“Ah--indeed! In a hurry, are you?”

-

-“I am, Bennett; in a mighty hurry.”

-

-“Well, wait a bit. Go slowly. You’ve got something on that stage I

-want--though I didn’t expect to see you driving it.”

-

-“No?”

-

-“But you make as good a driver as any--and you give up just as easy,”

-and Boyd Bennett laughed again.

-

-“Well, what is it you want?”

-

-“The gold-box you carry.”

-

-“You’ve got me, old man,” said Buffalo Bill easily. “Guess again.”

-

-“Don’t play with me, Cody, or I’ll have your life.”

-

-“What’s the use of shooting me if you’re not going to make anything out

-of it?” demanded the scout calmly.

-

-“I am determined to have that paymaster’s chest.”

-

-“Oh, sho! _that’s_ your game, is it?”

-

-“It is.”

-

-“And you think I’ve got it?”

-

-“I _know_ it’s on this stage-coach.”

-

-“Come, now, what’ll you bet?” drawled Cody easily.

-

-“What are you waiting for, Cody?” demanded the outlaw angrily. “I know

-you’ve got it. Shell out!”

-

-“You know a lot, Bennett.”

-

-“I know the gold is there.”

-

-“You’re mistaken.”

-

-“I am not. I had a friend who saw it put on board. You’ve got it, and I

-intend to possess it.”

-

-“Go ahead and possess,” drawled the scout.

-

-“Don’t you trifle with me, Cody! I know you wouldn’t have been put up

-to drive this old hearse if the soldiers’ money was not aboard.”

-

-“Say! you know a whole lot, Bennett. D’ye mind if I smoke?”

-

-“Keep your hands up!” roared Bennett; “or I’ll puncture you!”

-

-“Thanks! You needn’t be so gruff about it. Didn’t know tobacco smoke

-was so offensive to you.”

-

-“Hand down that box before I count three, or you’re a dead man!”

-commanded the robber with deadly significance.

-

-“You keep well posted, Bennett; but you’re behind time on this run.”

-

-“What do you mean?” asked the startled road-agent, beginning to

-suspect that Buffalo Bill’s ease of manner masked some high card in the

-game.

-

-“The coach has already been robbed.”

-

-“You lie!”

-

-Buffalo Bill’s brows met in a sudden frown.

-

-“You’ve got the drop on me, Bennett, or you’d never question my word

-aloud.”

-

-“You _do_ lie.”

-

-“Open the coach door and look for yourself.”

-

-“Not for Joe! I’m no spring chicken, Cody,” laughed the outlaw. “Set a

-trap for us, have you? Men! fire through that coach--low down.”

-

-Half a dozen or more rifles blazed away. The bullets shattered the

-sashes of the coach doors and went through and through the vehicle.

-

-“Scared at nothing, are you?” taunted Buffalo Bill. “If I’d come up

-behind you on a dark night and hollered ‘Boo!’ I suppose you’d all run.”

-

-“Men! if he moves, kill him!” commanded the exasperated Bennett, and he

-stepped forward and flung open the coach door.

-

-Even Boyd Bennett started at what he beheld there.

-

-“The devil! what does this mean, Cody?”

-

-“Injuns.”

-

-“How did you escape?”

-

-“Wasn’t with the coach.”

-

-“And the treasure-box?”

-

-“Look for yourself.”

-

-“The Indians got it?”

-

-“Whether they did or did not, you lose the game, Bennett,” said Buffalo

-Bill, laughing with an appearance of heartiness which he did not feel.

-

-“I don’t believe they got it!” cried Bennett, in rage.

-

-“Well, you can run along and ask ’em. They’re not over a dozen miles

-away, I reckon.”

-

-The countenance of Boyd Bennett grew black with passion, and for a

-moment he was silent, while into his eyes crept an expression of

-devilish intent. Then he spoke, and his words hissed from a throat hot

-with passion:

-

-“Buffalo Bill, you have sealed your doom by this act!”

-

-“Say! I’ve heard talk like that before, Bennett.”

-

-“Mine are no idle words.”

-

-“Well, go on with the dance,” quoth the scout coolly.

-

-“Here!” commanded the bandit chief, “two of you men get up on the box

-and bind him.”

-

-He was obeyed at once, as far as the climbing to the box went, although

-the fellows approached the scout gingerly enough. Buffalo Bill sat

-smiling, with his hands still raised above his head. Suddenly, as

-the men were about to seize him, and their bodies in some measure

-intervened between his own and the rifles and pistol pointed at the

-scout, the latter seized both with iron grip.

-

-Giving his war-whoop, the scout leaped up, hurled one of the

-road-agents to the ground, and with the other in his arms leaped from

-the box of the coach. As they alighted, Buffalo Bill drew a revolver,

-and was throwing it forward to fire at the outlaw chief, when the

-weapon was knocked from his hand by a blow from behind, and several of

-the bandits threw themselves upon him.

-

-“For your lives, do not kill him!” shouted Bennett, springing forward

-to join in the fight for the mastery of the scout.

-

-Borne down by the weight of numbers, Buffalo Bill was unable to break

-from his foes, and he was soon securely bound, hand and foot. Then the

-bandits turned to their chief for further orders. The expression of

-fiendish cruelty upon Bennett’s face showed that he had formed some

-diabolical plot to avenge himself upon his old-time foe. He believed

-that Buffalo Bill had thwarted him in his desire to get the government

-money; and, anyway, there was an old score between them, and Bennett

-proposed to square the account to date!

-

-“Now drag him up to that box again,” ordered the bandit leader, and

-with some effort they accomplished it.

-

-“Lash him there!” was the next command, and the scout was securely tied

-to the seat.

-

-“Now throw the reins loosely over the foot-board!”

-

-This order was likewise obeyed, Buffalo Bill the while looking calmly

-on, evidently anticipating the crime his enemy intended, yet uttering

-no word. He would not plead for his life of the miserable cur who now

-had him in his power.

-

-Having executed their work, by lashing Buffalo Bill with lariats firmly

-to the box seat and his feet to the foot-board, the outlaws turned to

-their cruel captain for further orders. It was at this moment that

-Buffalo Bill took occasion to speak; but his voice was calm and his

-manner unshaken:

-

-“Hold on, Bennett, before you go too far!”

-

-The bandits’ chief turned with a wicked smile, and asked:

-

-“With what do you threaten me, Bill Cody?”

-

-“The worst fate that ever met mortal man, if you dare commit the deed

-you have in view,” was the bold reply.

-

-“Dead men tell no tales!”

-

-“Ah, but they do! It is only the fool that says ‘It is all over!’ when

-his enemy is dead by his hand. It is not over. It has only begun! My

-fate will become known; a hundred border men will not rest till they

-learn who committed this deed; and then a thousand men will not rest

-till vengeance is satisfied!”

-

-“Bah! Your friends might be bad men to meet, I’ve no doubt--if they

-could prove anything.”

-

-“They’ll prove enough. Your fate will be worse than mine, Boyd Bennett.”

-

-“You seem to be cock-sure of what I’m going to treat you to?” said

-Bennett.

-

-“I am.”

-

-“Well, what is it?”

-

-“You propose to lead the horses to yonder fork of the trail, turn them

-loose, and start them down Breakneck Hill.”

-

-“Right! Right, by thunder!” roared the road-agent, slapping his thigh

-and laughing. “You are a mighty good guesser, Buffalo Bill. That is

-exactly what I shall do.”

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER XVII. A FRIEND IN NEED.

-

-

-If Buffalo Bill’s face paled he showed no other mark of fear. He knew

-Boyd Bennett, and had every reason to believe that the man hated him

-desperately enough to carry out his awful threat.

-

-It was no bluff on the outlaw’s part to frighten him into giving up the

-secret of the hidden government money. To a man like Bennett, whose

-temper was ungovernable, revenge was worth more than treasure. He did

-not even ask the scout where he had hidden the treasure-box.

-

-“I haven’t forgotten, my handsome plainsman, that once you captured me

-and sent me to the guard-house. I swore to be revenged upon you then.”

-

-“You deserved what you got--you dirty deserter!” exclaimed Buffalo Bill.

-

-The outlaw leader shrugged his shoulders and turned to his men.

-

-“All ready?”

-

-“He’s hard and fast, captain.”

-

-“Unfasten that splendid horse he was riding. I need just such an animal

-in my business.”

-

-They untied Chief from the leaders.

-

-“Buffalo Bill, straight for the Breakneck you go. And if these horses

-don’t carry you down fast enough to smash this old coach to atoms and

-break your cursed neck, I’ll give up this business and turn parson!”

-

-“You’ll never have time to repent of your sins and turn parson,

-Bennett,” said the scout.

-

-“Meaning I’ll die with my boots on?” asked the outlaw lightly.

-

-“Meaning you’ll be hung,” returned Buffalo Bill.

-

-“Don’t you put too much confidence in _that_, old man,” said Bennett.

-“At least, you won’t be to my hanging.”

-

-“There’s many a slip, you know,” said the scout tauntingly.

-

-“I presume you hope to be rescued even now, do you not?” cried Bennett.

-

-But Buffalo Bill did not expect that. He had taunted the man, hoping to

-inspire him with such ungovernable fury that he would shoot him quickly

-and so save him the awful ride to death. Even the boldest man might

-shrink from that journey down Breakneck Hill!

-

-“No, no, old man! You are mine this time. I tell you that you, the

-horses, and the old hearse, shall all go to the devil together. Here,

-boys! lead the horses to yonder fork of the roads and there turn them

-loose!”

-

-The command was obeyed. Whether the other outlaws desired Buffalo

-Bill’s death as their leader did, he had such a hold upon them that not

-one objected to the mode of vengeance to be wreaked upon the scout.

-The horses were led to the brink of the steep hill. It had once been

-the stage-road; but a landslide, and various heavy rains, had made it

-impracticable. It was almost as steep as the side of a house in places,

-and the roadway was full of boulders and stumps, while the gulleys made

-by heavy rains cut through it in many spots. A careful pack-animal

-might pick its way from top to bottom safely; but no vehicle could

-exist in a passage down Breakneck Hill.

-

-The hill was not a continuous decline. It pitched sharply at first;

-then there was nearly a quarter of a mile of easy going along a plateau

-until there came the final and impassable descent into the valley.

-

-“Now, Buffalo Bill, your life ends here!” cried Bennett savagely.

-

-“All right, Bennett! And the boys won’t forget how I died,” was the

-reckless response.

-

-“Turn ’em loose!” shouted the bandit leader.

-

-The men at the bits sprang aside. The horses, having stood so long, and

-“smelling their oats” ahead of them, were eager to be off. With a great

-tug the coach started, the harness clattering about the horses’ heels

-almost immediately as the coach pitched over the rise. This, and the

-shouts and yells of the outlaws, frightened the poor brutes. They felt

-no restraining hand on the lines; there was no foot on the brake. The

-coach was coming down behind them with all its weight.

-

-Therefore the horses leaped away, frightened beyond reason. The old

-coach bumped and swayed. The rough, steep pitch was not long, but it

-looked as though the coach would not arrive at the bottom of this first

-incline without being smashed.

-

-Down it thundered, the wheels bumping, the body swaying, and the bound

-figure, on the seat unable to retard it in the least. Behind thundered

-the big white horse, for, breaking away from its captors, Chief

-intended to follow his master to the death!

-

-Not far away from the scene of the hold-up of the stage-coach by the

-outlaws, and near the time that the coach and horses were released upon

-this dangerous dash down Breakneck Hill, a horseman was crossing a

-table-land, one side of which was formed by the steep wall of the bluff

-down the face of which the old stage-road led.

-

-Though alone upon the table-land, far in the rear other horsemen were

-visible upon his trail. At first glance one might have thought that it

-was a chase, the man in front being pursued by the score or so of men

-behind him; but a second scrutiny would have shown that it was merely

-the difference in horse-flesh and human endurance that caused the long

-space to separate the leader and his followers.

-

-The lone horseman was dressed in a cavalry fatigue uniform with pants

-tucked in boots, a slouch-hat pinned up with a pair of crossed sabers,

-and a gold cord encircling the hat, while upon the shoulders of his

-jacket were straps showing his rank to be that of a first lieutenant in

-the United States Army.

-

-His face was stern for so young a man, but there were humorous lines

-about his smoothly shaven lips, and fun danced in the corners of his

-eyes. Despite the hard brown of his countenance, that must have begun

-to be tanned by the Western sun and wind at an early age, there was a

-kindly appearance about the young lieutenant.

-

-He was armed with a cavalry sword and a pair of service pistols. One

-gauntleted hand rested on his sword-hilt as his horse galloped along.

-He was several miles ahead of his men, who were now scarcely more than

-black specks against the horizon.

-

-“Kinder risky to ride so far ahead, I suppose,” he was muttering. “Bill

-would tell me that. By thunder! if I’m attacked on this plateau I can

-fight--or run--I hope. There’s little cover hereabouts for either

-Indians or road-agents. And the latter gentry don’t usually care to

-tackle Uncle Sam’s cavalry.”

-

-Suddenly the silence about him was shattered by distant yells and

-several rifle-shots. He glanced back. Nothing was happening to his men.

-The sound came from ahead. Again he heard shouts and shots, and after

-that the ring of horses’ hoofs and the rumble of heavy wheels.

-

-“By thunder! a hold-up!” he gasped. “And those weren’t Indian yells.

-The stage-coach, I’ll bet! Yet the coach wouldn’t take the old road

-yonder. Why! It couldn’t come that way! It would be surely wrecked.”

-

-Yet, although the shouts and rifle-shots died away, the sound of the

-wheels and the hammering of the horses’ hoofs increased. Some heavy

-vehicle, drawn by several horses, was coming down the Breakneck Hill

-road!

-

-The lone horseman, who had halted at the first sound, now set spurs to

-his mount again. He headed directly across the plateau. The stage-road

-was just below the brink of the precipitous slant not many rods away,

-and toward this place the lieutenant hurried.

-

-“It _is_ the stage!” he cried. “The miscreants have turned it down

-the old road. There’s a level bit below here for some rods; but if it

-crosses that and goes down the other descent--well! God help them if

-there is man, woman, or child aboard!”

-

-He reached the brink of the steep descent to the level stretch of the

-old road. Down the first dip was tearing six frightened steeds with the

-old stage-coach swaying and bounding behind them. And in the rear a

-riderless white horse was racing after the coach!

-

-That horse the lieutenant recognized.

-

-“That’s Cody’s mount--it is, by thunder! What’s it doing here? And

-where’s Bill?”

-

-There was not another horse like Chief on the frontier; but the stage

-was too far away for the young man to recognize the figure swaying on

-the coach seat.

-

-“They’re running away, and the driver’s lost his nerve!” exclaimed the

-cavalryman.

-

-Then he raised his voice, shouting in trumpet tones:

-

-“Put on your brake! drag hard on your lines, man, or you are lost!”

-

-The six horses, keeping their feet almost miraculously, bounded out

-upon the level stretch. They did not hold back in the least. They

-were maddened with fear now, and were headed straight for the second

-descent. On _that_ hill they would quickly come to grief. No power

-could save them.

-

-Again the astonished cavalryman yelled his warning to the man on the

-driver’s seat of the coach. His words seemed to reach the man’s ears.

-He made no move to seize the lines or retard the mad course of the

-horses, but in clarion tones came back the answer:

-

-“I am bound! I cannot stop them! Shoot!”

-

-Perhaps the involuntary passenger on the doomed stage-coach meant for

-the young man to shoot _him_ and so let him escape a more awful death.

-But no such intention had the lieutenant. The coach was coming toward

-him rapidly, and he obtained a clearer view of the bound man.

-

-“Buffalo Bill, by the nine gods of war!” he shouted suddenly,

-recognizing his friend. “What in Heaven’s name does this mean?”

-

-There was nobody to answer the query; but he saw that the man was

-indeed bound to his seat, and that the reins were loosely swinging,

-bound to the lantern. The brake was not on at all!

-

-At this discovery the lieutenant sank his spurs into the flanks of

-his thoroughbred, and, with a wild snort of pain and anger, the horse

-leaped down the sharp declivity toward the piece of rough, but level

-roadway, over which the coach must come.

-

-Yet half-way down the incline the lieutenant was smitten with a sudden

-thought, and he pulled hard on the bit. The thoroughbred lay back on

-his haunches and slid. The rider seized one of his guns and cocked the

-weapon.

-

-“Now, Dick Danforth, prove your fame as a dead shot,” he muttered. “For

-if ever true marksmanship was needed, it is now to save yonder brave

-man from death!”

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER XVIII. THE RACE WITH DEATH.

-

-

-The young officer’s face was stern, yet calm. No nerves had he, and,

-although so much depended upon his work of the next few moments, he was

-certainly cool. His eyes only flashed, showing the excitement that bore

-him up.

-

-He glanced at the pistol to see that all was right. Straight along the

-level the maddened horses came, the coach swaying behind them like a

-ship in a heavy sea. And behind it came Chief as though he hoped to do

-something for his imperiled master.

-

-Dick Danforth was above the road, and, as he had pulled back his horse,

-the creature was fairly sliding down the steep incline, laying back on

-its haunches and bracing its forefeet to retard its progress.

-

-Buffalo Bill could do nothing to help himself. Even had he been able to

-seize the reins at this moment and slam on the brake, he could not have

-brought the wild horses to a halt before the damage was done. It all

-depended upon Dick Danforth.

-

-Far up the hill the keen eye of the officer descried a band of

-horsemen. They wore no uniforms, were not in buckskin, and were not

-Indians. He understood who they were at once. He knew that Buffalo Bill

-had been sent to his doom by the bandits of the overland trail.

-

-“But, by thunder! we’ll fool ’em!” muttered the young officer.

-

-Almost instantly his finger touched the trigger of the pistol, and the

-flash and report followed. With perfect presence of mind he had made

-his calculations. Did he kill one of the leaders it would throw the

-other horses upon him, and the stage would be wrecked after all, and

-Buffalo Bill doubtless killed.

-

-Did he kill one of the wheel-horses instead it would act as a drag on

-the others, and still be borne along at a slackening speed, until its

-mate could be brought down. This he had aimed to do and--he succeeded!

-

-With the crack of the first shot the off-wheeler dropped, the stage

-swayed forward sideways, and then was dragged on, with the dead horse,

-yet at a slackened pace.

-

-With the second shot the other wheel-horse stumbled, staggered,

-half-fell, regained its feet again, and finally went down heavily.

-Again the coach swayed badly; but the stout pole was kept up by the

-pressure of the draft of four horses upon it, and the heavy breast

-chains and traces held the two dead animals firmly attached to it, both

-acting as a powerful drag upon the others, and retarding their speed to

-a slow gallop.

-

-Dick Danforth let his mount out, came down the remainder of the run

-with a rush, and on the level reached the leader’s heads. He seized

-the bridle of the nearest horse and dragged him to one side, almost

-throwing him. The horse broke step and pulled its mate down. In a

-minute all four were brought up standing--and not an instant too soon,

-for the brink of the second and more perilous part of the hill was

-right before them!

-

-The horses were still in a nervous state; but Dick Danforth could

-trust his own mount. He placed the horse he rode in front of the

-leaders, leaped from the saddle, and left the bridle-reins hanging

-over his horse’s head. While they remained thus nothing less than an

-earthquake, or a volcanic eruption, would make the horse move out of

-his tracks--and the coach-animals could not pass him.

-

-“Quick, Danforth! As you are alone you’d best get out of here quick.

-Here come my foes!” cried Buffalo Bill, glancing back.

-

-Boyd Bennett and his men, all mounted now, were picking their way

-down the hill, intent upon overtaking Buffalo Bill again and his lone

-rescuer. But Dick Danforth was not the man to fly and leave a comrade

-in peril. His escort was as yet a long way off, he knew; Buffalo Bill

-was bound too tightly for quick release, and could not aid in beating

-back the bandits.

-

-Danforth ran directly toward the coach, nevertheless. Along came Chief

-at an easy lope, and he caught the horse. He saw that Cody’s loaded

-pistols were in the holsters. He snatched them out, and climbed quickly

-up to the box seat.

-

-By then the bandits had begun to fire. But, without replying, and while

-the lead whistled about their heads like hail, the lieutenant slashed

-the cords which held Buffalo Bill’s hands in limbo.

-

-“Grab these and let the sons-of-guns have ’em, Cody!” yelled the

-excited officer, thrusting his own pistols into the scout’s hands.

-

-Then he flung himself forward upon his face along the coach top, and,

-dragging his own guns from his boots, into the tops of which he had

-dropped them, he began to blaze away at Boyd Bennett and his gang with

-such good success that almost instantly the leader was wounded and

-another man was dropped out of his saddle. Buffalo Bill began to fire

-rapidly, too, being able to twist the upper part of his body about and

-take aim.

-

-With two such dead shots against the robbers, the latter had little

-stomach for the battle. Besides, the scoundrels saw Danforth’s hat, and

-one yelled:

-

-“Look out, boys! the troopers are on us!”

-

-And already the thunder of the squadron of cavalry on the plateau above

-reached their ears. Their leader having disappeared in such a hurry,

-the cavalrymen had come up rapidly, and now heard the firing of the

-guns below.

-

-“Hold, men! fly for your lives!” shouted the voice of Boyd Bennett.

-

-He wheeled and larruped his horse up the hill. Before the troopers

-reached the brink of the bluff above the coach, the robbers were out of

-sight.

-

-“You’re all right, old man!” yelled Danforth, in huge delight, smiting

-Cody on the back.

-

-“Thanks to you, Dick.”

-

-“Who was your particular friend yonder--the fellow with the mustache

-and the black hair?”

-

-“Boyd Bennett.”

-

-“By the nine gods of war! Too bad I didn’t settle his hash instead of

-just stinging him.”

-

-“Too bad, indeed, Dick.”

-

-“Are you hurt?”

-

-“No. But you might cut my other ropes. I’d like to get off this blamed

-old ramshackle thing before she starts again. Those horses are still

-nervous.”

-

-“Right you are, Bill!” cried the lieutenant, and while his men

-hurriedly made their way down the hill leading their mounts--and

-passing wondering remarks at the trail left on the hillside by the

-lieutenant’s horse--Danforth finished cutting Cody free.

-

-While Cody related his adventure with the coach, the lieutenant’s

-men dragged out the dead horses and reharnessed the others. The dead

-soldiers and driver brought forth angry ejaculations from the troopers.

-Danforth and his men were out on scouting duty, and when the lieutenant

-heard of the hidden treasure-chest, he undertook the duty of getting it

-and bearing it and the stage-coach on to Fort Advance.

-

-“You don’t need all your men for that, Dick,” the scout said. “Half

-your escort can take the coach and the treasure in. I’ve a long score

-to even up with Boyd Bennett, and I’m going to hit his trail right now.

-I have my horse and my weapons, and with you and a file of your men

-we ought to be able to handle the scoundrels if we have the luck to

-overtake them.”

-

-“I’m agreeable, Cody,” declared the reckless lieutenant. “You haven’t

-any scruples about my shooting these road-agents if we come up with

-them?”

-

-“What do you mean, lieutenant?” asked Cody curiously. “What’s the

-burn?”

-

-“Why, you seemed to object to my potting that Injun gal, White

-Antelope.”

-

-The scout’s face clouded, and he shook his head.

-

-“Don’t jest over that, Dick.”

-

-“Pshaw! I’m not jesting. I spotted her only this morning--and stayed my

-hand. Otherwise she would be walking behind my chariot.”

-

-“White Antelope out this way?” exclaimed Cody wonderingly.

-

-“She sure was.”

-

-“Then there’s something afoot among the Sioux. We must look into this.”

-

-“But first the road-agents?”

-

-“Yes. First we’ll serve Boyd Bennett.”

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER XIX. DANFORTH’S HAND IS STAYED AGAIN.

-

-

-It was decided, however, that the entire troop would return with the

-stage-coach to the scene of the original hold-up. Although Bennett had

-been driven off so successfully by the bluecoats, Buffalo Bill feared

-that he might meet up with the scalping party that had killed the

-paymaster and his guard, and take his gang over to this spot to search

-for the pay-chest that he was so sure his old enemy, the scout, had

-hidden.

-

-“We might have the luck to catch him on the ground. If not, we’ll pick

-up his trail as soon as we see a part of your men off with the coach

-and the treasure,” said Cody.

-

-The four horses drew the empty stage up the hill with little

-difficulty, and, surrounded by the troop of cavalry, it rattled back

-along the trail to the gruesome spot where Cody had first seen it.

-There Danforth set his men afoot, and at several points of vantage, to

-watch the road and the valley behind the ridge, while he and the scout

-went down into the swamp for the treasure-chest.

-

-They had one of the troopers follow them at a distance of a few rods.

-Their numbers were so few, and they were so scattered, that Danforth

-took every precaution against being ambushed. The day was waning, and

-they were obliged to hurry if they would fish out the chest and then

-pick up the trail of the outlaw gang before night. And Danforth was

-quite as eager as the scout to do this last.

-

-When they got into the wood which masked the swampy ground they alarmed

-a big caribou, which started slowly in the very direction they were

-taking.

-

-“That doesn’t look much as though there were either reds or whites

-lurking near,” muttered Cody.

-

-“By Jove, Bill! I want a shot at that fellow,” exclaimed Danforth

-eagerly.

-

-“He’s not going fast. Perhaps you can bring him down.”

-

-“I’m going to try. There, he’s stopped to feed again. He’s a cheeky old

-cuss.”

-

-“What you want him for? Your party is well provisioned.”

-

-“The colonel will be glad of a haunch of caribou venison. He’s fond of

-it, and the flesh is good now.”

-

-“All right, Dick. Take my gun. It’s better than yours.”

-

-The eager young lieutenant seized the weapon and began creeping through

-the brush in the direction of the caribou’s flight. Cody came behind,

-not much interested in the game, having his mind more fixed upon the

-overtaking of Boyd Bennett. The hunt promised to be a brief one,

-however.

-

-Fortunately the running buck had not diverted far from the straightaway

-course to the hiding-place of the treasure-box; otherwise Cody might

-have more strenuously objected. In a few minutes the two men came to a

-glade well dotted with trees, yet free for the most part of brush so

-that they could see some distance.

-

-“Wait! isn’t that him, Bill?” whispered the young lieutenant.

-

-“Your eyesight is good, Dick. Where?” asked the scout.

-

-“Yonder. Beyond that low brush-clump.”

-

-“Ah!”

-

-“That’s sure him, Bill. Yes, sir! he’s facing this way. You can see his

-black breast and fore legs. Down, Bill! don’t show yourself,” whispered

-Danforth eagerly.

-

-“Wait a moment. Better be sure, Dick,” muttered the scout, stooping and

-peering under the sharp of his hand toward the spot indicated.

-

-“Gad! he’ll get away. Let me plug him.”

-

-The light was so uncertain that, old and keen-eyed hunter that he was,

-Cody was not at all sure it was the caribou they saw.

-

-“Don’t make a mistake, Dick,” he murmured.

-

-“What mistake? The mistake of letting the critter git away?” cried the

-young man, exasperated.

-

-“Many a man has been shot from overeagerness in the chase,” said the

-scout warningly.

-

-“Why, that’s no man!”

-

-“A big buck standing head on in the brush like this one, looks just

-like a man in black clothes--don’t you see?”

-

-“It _does_ look like a man,” admitted Danforth. “I’ll remember that,

-Bill. But we know well enough that _this_ is a caribou.”

-

-“Do we?”

-

-“Of course! Confound you, Bill----”

-

-Suddenly a sharp whistle issued from the scout’s lips. Dick Danforth

-swore out loud and jerked his gun to his shoulder. But the scout

-grabbed his arm.

-

-“There’s your buck, Dick!” the older man exclaimed.

-

-In a flash the figure beyond the glade moved and came into better view

-for an instant. It was not a deer at all, but a man--a gigantic figure,

-dressed in some rough black garment, and he was in view of the two

-friends for but a few seconds. Then he darted behind a tree.

-

-“It’s a bear!” gasped Danforth. “I might have plugged him, anyway.”

-

-“Get out! That’s no bear. It’s a man.”

-

-“One of that gang?” whispered Danforth, suddenly more cautious.

-

-“I--don’t--know----”

-

-“Better have let me shot him, anyway,” grumbled the lieutenant.

-

-“You bloodthirsty young savage! Be still.”

-

-Suddenly the figure beyond the glade rushed from behind the tree and

-glided swiftly away through the timber. As he went he uttered a most

-eery scream, his voice floating back to them as he disappeared in the

-rapidly darkening forest.

-

-“Well! what do you think of that?” gasped Danforth.

-

-“Why, the man must be crazy!” exclaimed the scout. “That wasn’t Bennett

-or any of his crowd.”

-

-“Nor a redskin.”

-

-“Of course, it wasn’t a red. And a madman----”

-

-“I’ve got it!” exclaimed the lieutenant suddenly. “That was the Mad

-Hunter.”

-

-“Pshaw! do you believe there is such a person?”

-

-“One of our old sergeants says he met him, and that the madman took a

-pot-shot at him,” declared the lieutenant.

-

-“Well. I’ve heard of him myself.”

-

-“And that chap was a big man, all right.”

-

-“A giant.”

-

-“And as crazy as a bedbug,” added Danforth decidedly.

-

-“Don’t know how crazy they are; but this chap certainly acted as though

-he was a good subject for restraint. Ugh! did you ever hear such a

-yell?”

-

-“I know you stopped me from making a very pretty shot, Bill,” laughed

-the youngster. “That’s the second time. The next time I’ll be tempted

-to turn my gun on you, old man.”

-

-Cody became grave again the instant he was reminded of how Danforth had

-come near to shooting White Antelope, but he made no rejoinder. They

-hurried back to the edge of the swamp, and, leaving the cavalryman to

-watch, the scout and the lieutenant soon found the root to which Cody

-had tied the lariat, and, with some little difficulty, dragged the

-submerged box into view. There was a handle upon each end, and between

-them the two friends carried the chest back to the stage-coach. They

-loaded it aboard, one of the troopers tied his horse behind and took

-the reins, and four rode before and behind the coach as guard. Just as

-dusk fell the paymaster’s chest resumed its journey to Fort Advance,

-with the dead bodies of its former unfortunate guardians.

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER XX. A DOUBLE CAPTURE.

-

-

-Lieutenant Danforth and the bulk of his squad attended Buffalo Bill

-on his search for the gang of outlaws. As soon as the coach was well

-on its way, they rode to the spot where Boyd Bennett and his men had

-left the trail, and, despite the fact that it was rapidly growing dark,

-they picked up the hoofmarks of the renegades’ horses and followed them

-rapidly for some miles.

-

-Although the sky was clear and there was a long evening, the party of

-trailers could not keep on for long. They got well into the hills; but

-the tracks of the outlaw gang showed that Bennett had kept on at a

-swift pace, and it was utterly useless for the troop to wear out their

-own mounts and possibly miss the trail itself after dark.

-

-“It’s a long chase, as a stern chase always is, Dick,” said the scout.

-“We might as well make up our minds to that, first as last.”

-

-“So I suppose, Bill.”

-

-“But as long as we’re once on the scoundrel’s trail, I’ll stick to it

-to the end,” said Cody grimly. “Better rest up the men and horses and

-make an early start.”

-

-“Right you are. How’s yonder place for a camp?”

-

-“In among those rocks--yes. We can set sentinels on the top of them.

-Nobody can approach us then.”

-

-“All right. Too bad I didn’t drop that caribou. A little fresh meat

-would have been agreeable.”

-

-“No smoke, boy. Can’t afford to make a fire. We’re not only following

-some pretty shrewd white men, but we’re in the Injun country.”

-

-“Thunder!”

-

-“Cold fodder to-night,” said the scout firmly.

-

-“Well. My orderly always packs a small spirit-lamp. He can make shift

-to get us all a cup of coffee,” said Danforth, and he proceeded to give

-the necessary orders, and the troop was soon bivouacked for the night.

-

-The horses, well hobbled, grazed within bowshot of the camp, and a

-sentinel placed so as to overlook them where they were on the plain.

-No wily enemy might approach them without the watcher, if he be

-sharp-eyed, seeing the marauder. Yet Buffalo Bill did not altogether

-trust to the watchfulness of the troopers.

-

-He was in need of rest, and he rolled up in his blanket and left

-Danforth to smoke his pipe alone, early in the evening. But when the

-midnight watch turned out the old scout arose like a specter, spoke to

-the corporal in charge, and stole out of the camp. Knowing the avarice

-of Boyd Bennett and suspecting that of his men, he felt sure that they

-would not give up so easily the chance of finding and appropriating

-the pay-chest which Captain Hinkley had lost his life to defend.

-

-In the first blush of the attack by the troopers, the outlaws had

-broken and fled. But they would recover their nerve. They might be

-joined by some of Oak Heart’s braves, with whom Cody knew Bennett

-fraternized. They might even hear the full particulars of the Indians’

-hold-up of the stage, and be more confident than ever of the fact that

-Cody had hidden the treasure.

-

-The scout believed that, as he and Danforth had moved so quickly,

-the coach with its present guard would get through in safety to Fort

-Advance. It was probably there by this time, in fact. But Bennett

-and his men might come back to see what was really being done by the

-troopers, and they would be sure to fall upon the bivouac. Therefore,

-the scout was on the alert.

-

-He made a complete circuit of the camp, but out of sight and gunshot of

-the sentinels. He did not care to furnish a target for his own friends.

-Having agreed with the corporal on a signal, he would not come in

-without sounding it, and so warning the bluecoats of his return.

-

-However, he found no sign of an enemy, although he spent an hour and

-a half in creeping about the vicinity. And this very fact amazed and

-somewhat troubled him. He could not imagine Bennett under ordinary

-circumstances flying from an enemy without sending back a scout to

-learn if the trail was not being followed. Cody was dissatisfied. He

-feared that the reason he had not discovered such a scout was because

-it was some person more wily than himself!

-

-No white man could be that. Ordinarily Buffalo Bill would pitch his own

-cunning against a redskin’s, too; but in this case, if there was an

-Indian creeping about the camp, he would have the advantage over the

-Border King. He might have crawled to the summit of some hill and from

-that vantage overlook the encampment of Uncle Sam’s troops.

-

-Having encircled the encampment, Buffalo Bill was undecided whether

-to return to the bivouac--his blanket beckoned him--or to once more

-make the circle. Suddenly he heard Chief whinny loudly. There was some

-activity among the horses; but the scout heard the sentinel’s voice

-and knew that the mob of animals would not stampede. But his own mount

-screamed again--angrily.

-

-“By thunder!” muttered the Border King. “That means one thing, and one

-thing only. Chief smells a redskin--or more than one!”

-

-Yet he did not start down into the encampment to arouse the men. The

-horses quieted down, and there was no further warning from the big

-white horse. The scout, however, glided out upon the plain, taking

-advantage of the shadow of every bush and boulder, and so stood beside

-the soldier watching the herd. He came so suddenly that the man was

-startled and grunted:

-

-“Holy Jo, Cody! You give me a start.”

-

-“See what an Injun might do to you.”

-

-“Not much. I’d smell the prowling devils,” said the trooper confidently.

-

-“What was the matter with my horse?”

-

-“That white fellow?”

-

-“Yes.”

-

-“Dunno. Just squealed.”

-

-Cody thought to himself: “Well, your smelling powers are not equal to

-Chief’s. _He_ certainly got the taint of redskin on the air.”

-

-Aloud the scout asked:

-

-“Which way was the horse headed when he squealed--did you notice?”

-

-“Just about as he is now. What’s the matter?”

-

-“Humph! didn’t know but the horse was sick,” replied Cody dryly, and he

-walked through the herd till he stood beside Chief.

-

-“So, boy! what’s the matter?” he said soothingly, smoothing the horse’s

-muzzle.

-

-Chief whinnied softly; his fright was passed. Suddenly the sentinel,

-who had idly followed Cody’s movements with his glance, became aware of

-the fact that the scout had disappeared! It was not a dark night, and

-the plain was open; but the scout was gone as completely as though he

-had been suddenly wiped out of existence!

-

-“Well, I’ll be switched!” grunted the surprised trooper, stepping

-forward, and then stopping again. “I could have swore that feller stood

-by his hoss a minute ago.”

-

-And he was right on that point, of course. But Buffalo Bill had slipped

-the lariat from his saddle-bow and suddenly dropped into the grass at

-his horse’s feet. Chief began to crop the grass again, and paid no

-attention while his master crept away from the herd. Cody knew that the

-light breeze had brought but a single whiff of Indian to the horse’s

-nostrils. The redskin could not be far away.

-

-He crept across the plain and finally reached rising ground, where

-clumps of brush and an occasional tree offered shelter. He had been

-over this ground before, but he knew that some prowling enemy had been

-here more recently. He remained almost flat upon the ground and gazed

-all about him, seeking to see the silhouette of any lurking figure

-against the sky.

-

-And in this he was successful. At first he overlooked it, believing

-it to be a tree. Then he saw it move slightly, and finally made out

-the body of a tall man standing beside a sapling, some distance up the

-hill. Eagerly the scout crawled up the slope, and finally gained a

-point above and beyond the stationary figure.

-

-Before he could accomplish more, however, the figure he had watched

-so carefully suddenly stepped away from the tree. He heard a guttural

-voice grunt the single syllable:

-

-“Ugh!”

-

-For an instant Cody feared his own presence had been discovered. Then

-he saw what had drawn the ejaculation from the redskin. A second figure

-had appeared on the hillside. Cody lay behind a boulder and watched the

-two men approach each other. There was a rapid interchange of guttural

-observations in the Sioux tongue. Two scouts were reporting to each

-other what they had discovered about the bivouac and the numbers of the

-pony soldiers there encamped.

-

-For all he knew there might be a big party of reds within call. He

-scarcely believed so, considering how the reds hate to travel by night;

-but the presence of these scouts suggested, at least, that Boyd Bennett

-had influence enough over the tribesmen to send these two back to do

-his dirty work.

-

-However, the scout was minded to make a bold play.

-

-He rose up softly from behind the boulder. The Indians’ backs were

-half-turned to him, and their heads were very close together while they

-whispered softly. Cody poised himself, and, judging his distance, began

-to circle his rope--which he had brought with him on the chance of

-tying up a prisoner--carefully.

-

-Swish!

-

-The serpentine loop hurtled over the heads of the redskins,

-and--dropped! There were two startled screams, both of which were

-choked off instantly.

-

-The scout flung himself backward and drew the horsehair noose taut. It

-had caught one Indian around the neck and over the shoulders, and the

-other had but one hand free. The first jerk yanked both off their feet

-and held them together with such firmness that they could not rise or

-stretch the loop. They were like one enraged animal, struggling and

-lashing out upon the ground!

-

-Buffalo Bill ran in, wound the slack of the line about their writhing

-bodies and about their legs. In a couple of minutes they were so mixed

-up with that rope that it was hard to tell which Indian was which!

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER XXI. THE CAVE IN THE MOUNTAIN.

-

-

-Now, despite the excitement of the moment, Cody noticed one fact that

-delighted him. The two entangled Indians did not cry out. After the

-first involuntary grunt, neither uttered a yell of rage or despair,

-and this proved a point in the scout’s favor. There were no other

-redskins near at hand!

-

-Had there been, a war-whoop from the struggling scamps would have been

-quite in order. But as they were evidently scouting with their main

-party at some distance, they were mighty careful about raising a racket

-and so bringing the soldiers up the hill to the aid of their unknown

-enemy. As for the latter, Buffalo Bill, he was not in the habit of

-singing out for help--not even when the odds were greater against him

-than upon this occasion.

-

-Having yanked the fellows back upon the ground twice, and pulling the

-lariat so taut that one Indian’s throat was almost cut, he taught the

-prisoners that he was master. He then, as shown, entangled their feet

-and legs, and so held them triced like a bale of hay.

-

-Being sure of handling them now, he came close, lashed the end of his

-lariat, and removed their knives and tomahawks. They had dropped their

-guns at the moment of the attack, and these the scout gathered up, too.

-

-Having made sure of the prisoners single-handed, the Border King walked

-composedly down toward the camp. The sentinel near the horses saw him

-coming and challenged:

-

-“Who goes there?”

-

-“It’s me, old man.”

-

-“Ah! I thought ’twas you, Cody. Where’d you go to back there a spell?

-All of a sudden I lost you.”

-

-“Why, I walked out to capture a couple of reds that were hanging

-about.”

-

-“Ha! ha! ha!” laughed the man. “That’s a good one. I ain’t heard a

-thing to-night, have you?”

-

-“My horse did.”

-

-“What?”

-

-“Chief heard, or smelled, reds. And I’ve got ’em tied up out yonder,”

-said Buffalo Bill coolly. “Call your corporal and have ’em brought in.”

-

-“What’s that, Bill?” gasped the trooper.

-

-“Call the corporal.”

-

-“You don’t mean to say you’ve captured an Indian since you left me?”

-

-“Two.”

-

-“No!”

-

-“I tell you I have,” said Cody, with some exasperation. “Here are their

-arms. Get a move on you!” The surprised and half-doubting trooper made

-so much noise arousing his immediate officer that the lieutenant was

-awakened, too. He came down with the corporal and two men and went out

-with Cody to bring in the reds. It was a fact that none of the soldiers

-really believed Cody had captured two redskins until they saw the

-captives writhing on the ground.

-

-“And I wouldn’t have had ’em much longer if you fellows had stopped to

-chin any more. They’re most free,” said Cody.

-

-“Bill, you’re a wonder,” declared Dick Danforth.

-

-“Thanks. Bring ’em in. Let’s see who the scamps are.”

-

-This was done, the fire was renewed, and those of the troopers who

-had been aroused gathered around in a respectful circle to hear their

-lieutenant and the scout put the two bucks through their catechism.

-

-That they belonged to Oak Heart’s tribe was easy to learn; but beyond

-that the two young redskins were very non-committal. They had come

-scouting about the soldier camp for Death Killer, the new medicine

-chief of the Sioux; little else could the whites learn.

-

-“Who the deuce is this Death Killer, Bill?” demanded Lieutenant

-Danforth.

-

-“I’ve heard some whispers of him; but who he is I haven’t learned,”

-said Cody.

-

-“Was he with the bunch that Oak Heart brought up against Fort Advance?”

-

-“No.”

-

-“That’s odd, isn’t it?”

-

-“These medicine chiefs are mighty scarey of their safety. They never

-take many risks, you bet!”

-

-“So Death Killer stayed at home and let his children fight the battle

-alone, eh?” remarked the lieutenant.

-

-“Why, as to that, I believe the Sioux didn’t have this wonderful new

-chief at that time.”

-

-“Is that so?”

-

-“I met an Arapahoe, a friend of mine, who told me something about the

-medicine chief that Oak Heart had got. The Sioux believe that the next

-time they buck up against the whites, the medicine of this Death Killer

-will bring them the victory.”

-

-This was said aside so that the two young Indians could not understand.

-

-“What’ll we do with these fellows, Bill?” asked the young officer.

-

-“Thunder! We don’t want any prisoners.”

-

-“You mean to shoot them?”

-

-“What’s the use? It will only mean bringing the whole tribe about our

-ears like a swarm of bees. While we’re hunting Bennett we don’t want

-the Sioux onto us, too.”

-

-“You wouldn’t advise turning them loose?”

-

-“Well, do you know a better way of getting rid of them?”

-

-Danforth shook his head slowly.

-

-“They certainly would be white elephants on our hands if we tried to

-hold them,” he admitted.

-

-“Kick ’em out,” advised the scout.

-

-“They’ll go back and report.”

-

-“What can they report? That they found a bunch of troopers here camping

-on the trail of the white outlaws.”

-

-“But suppose Bennett is hand and glove with the reds as you think?”

-

-“Then we must run that risk. Here! let me talk with these young bucks

-alone,” suggested Cody.

-

-The examination of the reds had been accomplished in English and by

-aid of the sign language. Now the scout spoke to them in their own

-tongue. He did not expect to win their confidence; but since they had

-discovered that no other than Pa-e-has-ka had so easily overcome them,

-they felt better in their minds.

-

-Finally Cody unfastened them, filled their pouches with food, gave them

-back their weapons, and advised them to go back to their lodges.

-

-“Let this medicine chief, Death Killer, come himself to learn our

-numbers and our intentions,” said the scout significantly. “Let him

-learn about us by his magic. If he is so great a medicine-man why does

-he not know these things by his magic power? Go, brothers; you have

-your lives at the hand of the Long Hair.”

-

-The two young reds departed with unmoved countenances. If they felt

-gratitude they would not be likely to show it in the expression of

-their faces. That would be against Indian nature.

-

-The camp being pretty thoroughly aroused now, and daybreak being near,

-the lieutenant ordered breakfast prepared. Buffalo Bill did not object

-to a fire being made now. Not only had their encampment been discovered

-by the reds; but the morning was so misty that the smoke would not rise

-high, anyway.

-

-They went on after the meal, finding the trail of the outlaws difficult

-of following in some places, for it was apparent that an attempt had

-been made to cloud the trace. By mid-forenoon, however, they were deep

-in the hills, in a wild and gloomy country, and where every mile was

-perilous. They might be ambushed by the foe in almost any cut, and

-Cody kept the command back while he investigated every particularly

-ugly-looking defile. What report the two released Indians might make to

-their people had much to do with the safety of the expedition, too. For

-all the whites knew, the Sioux might be gathering to fall upon them!

-

-Not a soul did they see on the trail; but they found the place where

-Boyd Bennett and his men had spent the night; and they noted marks

-which assured them that the outlaws had lit out that morning hurriedly.

-Evidently the approach of the troopers was feared by the renegades.

-

-Before night, however, Cody called a halt in the forward movement.

-They were in the midst of peaks, and tall, chimneylike rocks where the

-timber was sparse and vegetation of any other kind becoming thin.

-Shelter was not easily obtained, and the trail had to be guessed at

-many times, the way was so rocky.

-

-“I don’t like the look of this territory, Dick,” said the scout.

-

-“Those fellows can’t be far ahead of us,” declared the eager lieutenant.

-

-“I’m not so sure of that. They plainly know the way.”

-

-“Well, they haven’t succeeded in fooling us much yet.”

-

-“That may be; but they may fool us badly in the end.”

-

-“Don’t croak, Bill; that isn’t like you.”

-

-“I tell you, boy, we’re perhaps putting our necks into a noose. I’ve

-seen several smokes this afternoon. Now, if the Injuns join in with

-Boyd Bennett, and make common cause with him--well, where’ll we be?”

-

-“Here, or hereabout,” grunted Danforth.

-

-“And we’ll stay here, too! I vote we make an end of this quick.”

-

-“Why, Bill, I thought you were so eager to follow Bennett up?”

-

-“So I am. But I’m not as eager for meeting my finish as you seem to be.”

-

-“Pshaw! you’re not afraid for yourself, Bill. I know you,” cried

-Danforth.

-

-“I’ve got no right to run you into peril.”

-

-“Forget me!”

-

-“And you’ve no right to lead your troop into a pocket. What do you

-suppose your ‘kern’ will say?”

-

-“Oh, shucks! I hate to give this up.”

-

-“So do I, son. But we’ve got to.”

-

-“You mean to start right back now?”

-

-“You’re the doctor. I’m not in command,” said Cody.

-

-“Hang it all, Bill! you are virtually in command, and you know it.”

-

-“Well, you want me to advise?”

-

-“Of course.”

-

-“Then I say we’d better hunt a place to stop the night, and then light

-out for a more healthy country in the morning. I begin to feel that

-we’re being watched.”

-

-“You _feel_ so?”

-

-“Sounds silly, doesn’t it, eh? But it’s so. And intuition has stood me

-in good stead before. There are foes near. We want to get shelter and

-prepare to receive them properly.”

-

-Thus advised, Dick Danforth ordered his men to dismount, and they led

-their horses up into the rocky gorge Cody had chosen as a retreat. It

-would have been well for Danforth if he always so easily listened to

-the admonition of his elders and the better informed.

-

-Just inside the gorge was a yawning cavern in the mountainside.

-Evidently Cody knew of this retreat, even had he never been over the

-ground before. He led his big white horse with satisfaction into the

-dusky interior.

-

-“Hold on, Bill! The critters can’t feed in there,” Danforth objected,

-bringing his own animal to a stop.

-

-“All right. We’ll have to cut brush for ’em to pick over. There’s no

-safe feeding ground outside.”

-

-“But, hang it! how do we know who or what may be in that hole?”

-

-“Chief says there are no Injuns here, that’s sure!” retorted the scout,

-laughing.

-

-“But it may be a grizzly’s lair, or a cougar’s.”

-

-“Nope. Old Chief would have made remarks about it. Come on, lieutenant.”

-

-“Oh, I’m not afraid, if that’s what you mean!” grunted Dick Danforth,

-and with a nod to his file-leader, he followed the scout into the maw

-of the darksome cave.

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER XXII. THE NIGHT PROWLERS.

-

-

-The frontiersmen--those who were Buffalo Bill’s associates--mapped the

-mountains and plains of the West long before Uncle Sam’s exploration

-parties ever penetrated the wilderness. Cody had never been to this

-hole in the mountainside before, yet he knew all about it. Hunters and

-trappers--and some early gold-seekers--had told him of its existence.

-It had been considered “bad medicine” by the Indians who inhabited

-this section of the country before the Sioux had flowed over into the

-land, and Oak Heart’s people themselves kept away from it. The scout

-was pretty sure that they had a sufficiently strong fortress here to

-withstand any ordinary attack.

-

-Besides, there was spring water in the cave, and, as he showed Danforth

-very quickly, something better still. As they advanced under the arched

-roof of the cavern, light appeared ahead.

-

-“There’s another opening,” said Danforth.

-

-“Looks like it.”

-

-“Why, they can get at us from two directions, Bill!”

-

-“Can they?”

-

-“You’re blamed cool about it.”

-

-“Might as well be cool as hot. We have got to take it as it comes.”

-

-The light grew apace.

-

-“What kind of a place is this, anyway?” cried the lieutenant.

-

-“Come along, sir!”

-

-“But the horses----”

-

-“Bring the horses along, too. I reckon I haven’t mistaken the place.

-Here we are!”

-

-As he spoke they came out into a roughly circular basin, surrounded

-completely by steep--aye, unscalable--rocks, but well grown to grass

-and bushes at the bottom. It was a veritable little pocket in the heart

-of the mountain. There was no escape from it, and no getting into it,

-excepting through the cave.

-

-Chief kicked up his heels, snorted joyfully, and broke away from Cody’s

-detaining hand. The other horses followed, and the whole herd set to

-cropping the sweet grass in equine delight.

-

-“Well, sir! This beats my time!” exclaimed Danforth.

-

-“Guess we can stand a bit of a siege here, if necessary, eh?” queried

-Cody.

-

-“That we could.”

-

-Fire-wood was cut and brought into the cave and the meal started. Cody

-was not content to remain for long inactive, however. He slept while

-the meal was being prepared. After he had eaten, however, he left the

-camp, and in the gloaming made his way out and down into the valley

-from which they had retired, on the lookout for the enemy.

-

-The worst of it was, he did not exactly know whether their white or red

-foes would be upon them first. The Sioux might attack--for they were

-now well into the Indian country--or Boyd Bennett and his gang might

-come back at them. If the latter, the troopers could handle the outlaws

-easily. But a horde of savages might give the troops a mighty pretty

-brush up here in the hills, so far away from reenforcements and a base

-of supplies.

-

-The scout was careful to leave no trace himself, and when he reached

-the spot where the troopers had turned aside from the outlaw’s trail,

-he hid and watched, and waited, to see what or who might “turn up.”

-That it was about time for either the outlaws or the Indians to show

-their hand Cody was sure.

-

-His judgment was good in this case, too. He had not been lying in wait

-an hour when he saw two mounted figures coming along the valley toward

-his station. Dark as it was down here, he could make out their outlines

-sufficiently to know that one was an Indian and the other was a white

-man. They came to the point where the troopers had diverged from Boyd

-Bennett’s trail, and there halted to whisper together.

-

-From where he lay in the rocks, Cody could see the fire blazing in the

-mouth of the cave up in the gorge. He knew the men below him could see

-it, too. Writhing down the hill, like a serpent between the boulders,

-the scout reached a point where he could overhear something of what the

-Indian and the white man said.

-

-“Return and bring them to this place. The hour must be no later than

-midnight,” the white man was saying in a commanding manner.

-

-“It shall be as my brother says,” the redskin muttered.

-

-“My men will advance and draw their first fire--perhaps get them out of

-the cave. You say there is no chance of getting in from the rear?”

-

-“No Sioux would venture, if it were possible. That cavern was the abode

-of a great spirit at one time.”

-

-“Ha! Very well. Do as I have bid you. You and your braves hold back if

-you must. But if we draw the badgers, we can count upon you to pitch

-in?”

-

-“It is as my brother says.”

-

-“All right! Off with you. I await my men here.”

-

-The redskin twitched his pony’s head about, and rode softly away.

-After standing a moment in the path, the white man’s horse was turned

-out upon a bit of sward, and Cody knew that the fellow dismounted.

-He evidently proposed to remain near and watch the cave until

-reenforcements arrived.

-

-And Cody knew the scoundrel. He had recognized the voice, and likewise

-by the fact that he held his left arm stiffly bound to his side, the

-scout knew that it was Boyd Bennett himself. Dick Danforth had indeed

-“stung” the robber. The bone of his left arm had been broken, and he

-could barely hold the reins with that hand.

-

-Buffalo Bill was greatly tempted. Here was a chance for him to take his

-old enemy, single-handed. And did naught but personal vengeance enter

-into the affair, he would have made the attempt. But there was a brave

-opportunity of rounding up more of the gang, despite their affiliation

-with the redskins, and Cody resisted the temptation.

-

-He made his way back to the cave, found most of the troopers already

-peacefully asleep, and Danforth anxiously awaiting his return.

-

-“Well?” demanded the young lieutenant.

-

-“We’re going to have visitors about midnight.”

-

-“How’s that?”

-

-“Mr. Bennett and his gang will make the attack; a set of thieving reds

-will stand off to pitch in if the whites can’t handle us.”

-

-“Gee, Cody! how d’you know all that?”

-

-Buffalo Bill told him.

-

-“Why didn’t you shoot the bloody thieves?”

-

-“And lose the chance of rounding up more of them?”

-

-“They’ll be too many for us, I fear,” said Danforth, although without

-displaying any particular fear of such an outcome.

-

-“They will certainly outnumber us--reds and all.”

-

-“Nice prospect.”

-

-“But forewarned is forearmed, eh?”

-

-“Right you are, Bill! We have the advantage of knowing that they are

-coming, whereas they will labor under the disadvantage of believing we

-are unsuspicious.”

-

-“Yes.”

-

-“But hived up in this place----”

-

-“We haven’t got to stay hived up,” interrupted the scout. “And we don’t

-want to.”

-

-“You’ve got a plan, Bill?”

-

-“I have.”

-

-“State it, old man. You know well enough you don’t have to stand on

-ceremony with me.”

-

-“This fire can be seen from below. Let it die down. Don’t let any fuel

-be flung on for some time. When it’s at the lowest we can lead our

-horses out without being seen.”

-

-“Give up our shelter, Bill? And with a horde of redskins coming?”

-

-“Sure. Let them attack an empty cave--but one that doesn’t look empty.

-The last man to leave can fling a pile of fuel on the fire and then

-slip away before it burns up brightly. So we’ll have ’em attacking an

-empty fortress while we are out here among the rocks ready to play heck

-with ’em!”

-

-“I’m not afraid of the outlaws,” said Danforth slowly. “But the

-redskins----”

-

-“Won’t come too near the cave; it’s bad medicine, as I told you.”

-

-“But when they see that we’re outside----”

-

-“Wait! We’ll lead the horses away along the trail we came over, and

-leave them in charge of one man. Then, when it gets too hot for us--if

-the reds pitch in--we’ll decamp. The reds won’t be too near, however. I

-know ’em. An Injun is as full of superstition as an egg is of meat.”

-

-“Your plan looks good, Bill.”

-

-“All right. Stop that fellow--quick! He’ll spoil it all.”

-

-Danforth turned to see one of the guards advancing toward the fire with

-an armful of fuel. The lieutenant ordered him to desist and instructed

-his subordinate to let the fire die down. Then he and Cody rolled up in

-their blankets for an hour’s sleep.

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER XXIII. MORE THAN THEY BARGAINED FOR.

-

-

-When the lieutenant and scout were awakened, according to order, the

-camp became at once an exceedingly lively though quiet place. The men

-had their instructions in a low tone from Danforth. They led the horses

-into the cave from the rear, and, the fire being now merely a bed of

-glowing coals, the shadows of neither man nor beast were pricked out by

-the light from the fire.

-

-Cody had slipped out and beaten the rocks and brush on the hillside

-before the mouth of the cavern. He found no lurking spy, but he went

-far enough to hear Boyd Bennett’s horse stamping in the valley. The

-outlaw was still there awaiting the coming of his men and of his

-redskin allies.

-

-The scout hurried back and led the way with Chief, warning the troopers

-to smother any desire on their mounts’ part to whinny if they smelt the

-strange horse in the valley. The scout had picked out a path around

-the swell of the mountain, between the rocks and ledges, and, although

-it was a roundabout way, it was sod-covered for most of the distance,

-and they were enabled to lead their mounts away without an appreciable

-sound. Like a file of shadows they passed around the mountain and down

-into the lowlands. There the horses were tethered and left in the care

-of a single soldier. The others hurried back to positions near the

-mouth of the cave, to await the expected attack of the outlaws.

-

-Divided as their forces had been, by sending the stage and treasure

-on to Fort Advance, Danforth’s squad now numbered less than the gang

-of outlaws. And, in addition, Boyd Bennett would have at his back a

-party of bloodthirsty savages. It was a ticklish position, and none

-understood that better than the Border King, Buffalo Bill.

-

-Strategy was the scout’s best card under these circumstances. He knew

-the quality of the gang whom Boyd Bennett had gathered about him. They

-were ignorant, superstitious scoundrels, and, therefore, he ventured to

-play upon their fears as well as to lay a close ambush for them.

-

-To approach the mouth of the cave in which the fire now burned brightly

-necessitated the foe advancing up a sidehill into the mouth of the

-gulch under the shelter merely of low brush and boulders, with here and

-there a stunted tree, the roots of which had found fixture between the

-rocks. Higher up the mountain, and upon both sides of the gulch, were

-thicker forest.

-

-Under Cody’s advice Danforth placed his men upon the side of the

-gulch opposite the cavern’s mouth, and outside the gulch itself, all

-positions selected being easy of access to the trail down which they

-had led their horses so cautiously. A more withering fire could have

-been arranged by placing the troopers upon both sides of the gorge; a

-cross-fire is always more galling and confusing to an enemy. But, then,

-there remained the danger of the reds rushing to the assistance of Boyd

-Bennett and his gang, and so those soldiers above the cave might be cut

-off from escape. Whatever happened, the mêlée was bound to be a sharp

-and quick one; it would be all over in a few moments.

-

-Just outside the mouth of the gulch, and in advance of the line of

-hidden troopers, was a rather larger tree than most upon the lower

-hillside, and it had a low crotch from which sprang three branches.

-Cody saw that to approach the cavern’s entrance, the attacking force

-would be pretty sure to come close under this tree. Seeing this, he

-evolved--with the help of the corporal--a scheme which later added much

-to the excitement of the battle and came near to utterly routing the

-outlaw gang.

-

-There was little time for preparation, however; already the hour grew

-close to midnight. Cody crept into the cave, showed himself in the

-firelight, threw on more wood, and then crept out again, so as to

-assure the watching Bennett below that the place was still occupied.

-Then the scout went down into the valley and watched and listened until

-his keen ear assured him that several ponies were being ridden rapidly

-toward the hiding-place of the bandit leader.

-

-How many were coming--whether the reds were with the whites--Buffalo

-Bill did not know. Nor did he consider it well to wait to learn. That

-the attack would be made at once, he was sure. Boyd Bennett was not the

-most patient man in the world, and he had waited here long for his men

-to appear.

-

-Cody found the lieutenant, and snuggled down beside him behind a

-brush-clump.

-

-“By the nine gods of war, Bill! I thought you’d never come,” muttered

-Danforth. “I got as nervous as an old maid with her first beau, fearing

-that you wouldn’t get here in time to holler. I can imitate some

-critters--thanks to you and Jack Omohondreau: but when it comes to

-murdering the night air with the scream of a wildcat----”

-

-“Sh!” breathed Cody. “They’re coming.”

-

-Danforth became quiet. They were placed so that the entire sweep of

-the side-hill was before them. Several of the troopers were nearer the

-cave; several were behind the station of the lieutenant and the scout.

-All had their instructions regarding the withholding of their fire

-until a prearranged instant.

-

-Soon Danforth beheld several flitting shadows below. A number of

-men were coming up the rocky slope; they had spread out and were

-approaching the cavern’s mouth without any regard to military

-formation. Several, however, were coming close to the forked tree which

-Cody had previously noted. That stood some yards in front, and a little

-below, where he lay with his friend, the lieutenant.

-

-“All right, Bill!” whispered Danforth.

-

-“Wait till I give the word,” breathed the scout. “Let some of them

-pass. We want every shot to count.”

-

-A few moments more they waited. Several figures passed on up the hill,

-dodging from rock to rock, but all converging toward the mouth of the

-cave where the fire now glowed dully. That they were the bandits, and

-not the redskins, Cody was sure. Suddenly he saw two of the prowlers

-approaching the forked tree. He nudged Danforth sharply.

-

-The two outlaws in question were almost under the branching limbs of

-the tree when they heard what sounded like the scratching of claws on

-the rough bark. Both looked up, and beheld an uncertain but bulky

-figure lying along one branch. A sharp snarl seemed to come from it,

-and the two bandits sprang away.

-

-“Curse you!” exclaimed the voice of Bennett, low but deadly in its

-temper. “What’s the matter?”

-

-Two or three of the bandits ran together. They thought some attack had

-been made upon them.

-

-“What is it?” repeated several in shrill whispers.

-

-“A cougar!”

-

-“A wildcat!”

-

-“Get back to your stations!” commanded Bennett. “Do you want to spoil

-the whole thing? Such cursed foolishness over a blamed tomcat----”

-

-He had approached the tree, and suddenly the animal on the limb seemed

-to gather itself for a spring, and there sounded upon the night air the

-shrill, blood-curdling yell of the dreaded panther!

-

-“Look out, Boyd! He’s goin’ ter jump!” exclaimed one fellow.

-

-Several of the others stepped warily back and raised their guns. Above

-on the hillside--this had been prearranged by Cody--one of the troopers

-shouted:

-

-“Who goes there?”

-

-“Curse my body and bones!” growled Bennett. “The game is spoiled!

-They’ve heard us.”

-

-The supposed panther screamed again, and then the body in the tree was

-hurled out into the air. Involuntarily every outlaw in sight took a

-pot-shot at the flying body. The mountainside reechoed with the reports

-of half a dozen guns, and the flashes of the same revealed to the

-ambushed party just where the bandits stood.

-

-The log of wood, dressed in a blanket, representing the panther, and

-jerked out of the tree by Cody’s lariat, fell to the ground riddled

-by the bullets of the outlaws. But instantly Danforth leaped up and

-shouted to his men:

-

-“Now, my bullies! Give it to them!”

-

-The troopers fired a broadside. Four of the robbers dropped under the

-fire, and two more ran away screaming. Cody had picked out Bennett, and

-intended to wound or kill him; but the wily scoundrel seemed to fear

-some game just as the dummy was yanked by Danforth from the tree. He

-leaped away and dodged behind a boulder before the first shot from the

-party in ambush was fired.

-

-As the echoes of the first round from the troopers died away Boyd

-Bennett raised an ear-splitting yell of defiance. It was a war-whoop

-that the redskins in the rear evidently understood. They answered from

-the valley, and, although the soldiers had succeeded in placing so many

-of the bandits hors de combat at their first fire, Danforth whistled

-almost instantly for his men to retire.

-

-“Did you wing Bennett, Cody?” asked the young lieutenant.

-

-“No. The scaly rascal left his men to bear the brunt of the trouble,

-and he’s under shelter half-way down the hill.”

-

-“Can’t we get him?”

-

-“With those reds tearing up to his aid?”

-

-“Oh, by thunder, Bill! I hoped to either kill the scoundrel or bring

-him in.”

-

-“So did I.”

-

-“But we can’t risk staying here longer.”

-

-“You’re right there, Dick. Come on. The men have gone.”

-

-The scout and the lieutenant followed their men down the hill. And none

-too soon, for the redskins soon found that their white brethren had

-been outwitted by the soldiers, and they came tearing along the valley

-trail to try and head the refugees off.

-

-They were not successful in that, however. Every trooper came in,

-they mounted at the command, and with fresh horses under them soon

-outdistanced all pursuit.

-

-“It’s getting too lively for us,” said Buffalo Bill, in disgust. “We

-can’t chance it with such a small force. I hate to give it up; but we

-must.”

-

-“We’ll keep on if you say the word, scout,” said Danforth.

-

-“You’d ride straight into the jaws of hell if you thought there’d be a

-fight, Dick,” said Cody. “But discretion is the better part of valor in

-this case.”

-

-“I hate to give Bennett up,” grumbled the younger man.

-

-“So do I. But it can’t be helped.”

-

-“When I get back to Resistence I’m going to ask Colonel Royal to give

-me a roving commission to hunt the scoundrel down.”

-

-Neither of them realized at the time what the putting of this decision

-into practise would amount to in the end.

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER XXIV. CHASED BY THE FLAMES.

-

-

-The welcome that greeted the Border King upon his return to Fort

-Advance was proof of his popularity, and of the admiration the garrison

-held him in. That his coolness and wisdom had saved the paymaster’s

-money-box from capture by the bandits, and so made it unnecessary for

-the boys in blue to endure another long wait for their pay, added not a

-little to their feeling for the scout.

-

-The troopers had told the story in full. Captain Hinkley and his guard

-had been buried, and the coach-driver, as well. The soldiers had a

-most revengeful feeling toward Boyd Bennett and his outlaw band, and

-Danforth went back to Resistence with his troop, threatening slaughter

-for the road-agents if he could catch them.

-

-The activities of the Indians, however, disturbed Buffalo Bill and the

-commander of Fort Advance more than the work of the outlaw, at just

-this time. The Border King, with Texas Jack, set out on a mission soon

-after his return to the fort. Ten days later Lieutenant Danforth, with

-a squadron of men, was allowed to make an attempt to bring in Boyd

-Bennett by the commandant of Post Resistence.

-

-Buffalo Bill was still away on his scouting expedition and did not know

-of this. He was deep in the Indian country, and had found nothing of

-real significance regarding any concerted movement among the Sioux,

-although there was plenty of excitement. Little bands of warriors were

-going back and forth, from encampment to encampment; but nothing was

-being accomplished by the redskins.

-

-“What does it look like to you, old man?” queried the Border King of

-his partner. “Are we barking up the wrong tree?”

-

-“Dunno,” replied Texas Jack, pursing up his lips and looking more

-serious than usual. “There may be a coon in the crotch; but we

-certainly haven’t shook him down.”

-

-“How does all this running back and forth from teepee to teepee strike

-you?”

-

-“Looks like the reds was given more tuh society than us’al, Buffler.

-But, Great Scott! you can’t never tell what’s in a red’s mind when he’s

-planning some game.”

-

-“There is surely no outbreak planned for the immediate future, eh?”

-

-“No. These runners aren’t gathering the tribe. I reckon Oak Heart got

-his belly full and won’t trouble us for some time.”

-

-“But this new medicine-man they’ve got?”

-

-“Humph! Death Killer, eh? Nice name that! I’d like a squint at him.”

-

-“Me, too.”

-

-“Wonder if we couldn’t sneak over to Oak Heart’s town and take this

-Death Killer into camp?”

-

-“Kidnap him?”

-

-“Yep.”

-

-“You’re a cool one, Jack, my boy. What’ll the reds be doing meanwhile?”

-

-“That’s all that stops me--that question,” replied Texas, with a grin.

-

-This conversation took place beside a running brook, in the heart of

-a great forest many miles from Fort Advance, where our story first

-opened. The wind soughed through the tree tops and brought scurrying

-to earth the dying leaves which proclaimed the fast approach of King

-Winter. Suddenly Cody rose upon his feet and keenly snuffed the air.

-

-“What’s th’ matter, Bill? What d’yer scent?”

-

-“I’ve been smelling it for an hour, Jack.”

-

-“What is it?”

-

-“Smoke.”

-

-“Huh! here’s wood burning at your feet.”

-

-“No, no!” exclaimed the other. “This breeze is rising and is blowing

-more steadily than it did. And it brings the smoke to us. Look up

-through the tree tops. D’ye see how hazy it’s grown?”

-

-“Umph-ah!”

-

-“Nothing to fool over, Jack. It’s a big fire.”

-

-“D’yer believe so, Bill?”

-

-“I do, indeed,” said the anxious scout.

-

-Texas Jack cast his eyes about the forest aisles reflectively. He knew

-as well as his companion the peril attending a forest fire; but he was

-naturally of a more volatile character, and the discovery made less

-impression upon him at first.

-

-“We’d better make a break, hadn’t we, Bill?” he asked finally.

-

-“Just think a bit, Jack,” the other replied. “Where’ll we go? Do you

-realize that this crick is the biggest body of water in a circle of

-forty miles?”

-

-“If my hoss kin make Black River, yours kin, I reckon.”

-

-“True enough. But the wind is blowing directly from Black River. That’s

-where the fire is, old man. The nearest water of any size is Bendigo

-Lake, and the going will be thundering hard on the horses.”

-

-Texas Jack leaped up and exclaimed:

-

-“Hark! what’s that?”

-

-A crashing in the underbrush had startled both men. Some distance away

-there burst into the glade a fine herd of deer, all running madly. They

-swept across the scouts’ line of vision and disappeared in another

-clump of brush, keenly alive to peril in their rear.

-

-“They’ve come a power of a ways in the last half-hour, Jack,” said

-Buffalo Bill.

-

-“Right you are, Buffler. Guess we’d better light out. Ha! there goes a

-grayback.”

-

-A lone wolf slunk through the underbrush, gave the two men a sharp

-look, and then loped away in the same direction as that followed by the

-deer. But he was not running the deer--oh, no, indeed!

-

-Soon other animals began to drift past the camp of the scouts. The two

-packed their war-bags, caught their mounts, and prepared to leave the

-vicinity in short order. By that time, although the evening was closing

-in, the sky was a mass of ruddy, drifting haze. The fire was advancing

-with terrific speed, yet it was still so far away that the smoke

-floated high above the tree tops, and they heard no sound.

-

-“Reckon we kin make it, Bill,” said Texas Jack, as they pricked their

-mounts along the forest path.

-

-Buffalo Bill was not so sanguine, however. The fire was coming down

-upon them with terrific speed, for instead of deepening the evening

-brightened all about them as they rode. The odor of burning wood was

-now quite pungent, and past them in mad flight went all manner of small

-animals, while now and then the startled “woof! woof!” of a bear was

-heard in the brush as he, too, lumbered along.

-

-The paths of the forest were not cleared for riding. Deer and other

-animals, searching drinking-places and salt-licks, first made these

-traces through the wilderness. The red man followed, following the

-spoor of the game. And so the paths became “runways,” sometimes worn

-knee-deep and only wide enough for a single person to pass. Such paths

-were of little use to horsemen.

-

-Where the forest was open or clear of underbrush, the two scouts could

-travel with some rapidity; but in the thick, junglelike scrub, it was

-even necessary at times to get down and lead their horses. This delayed

-them, and before long the smoke wraiths began to drift past them and

-the distant roaring of the flames was perceptible.

-

-Had the men given the horses their heads the animals would have become

-panic-stricken like the other dumb beasts, and they would have dashed

-through the forest at a much better pace; but Buffalo Bill and Texas

-Jack would have been swept from the saddles, and, perhaps, killed. It

-began to look, indeed, as though both horses and men could get along

-better and faster alone. Texas remarked upon this fact.

-

-“I know it, Jack--I know it,” said Cody. “But I don’t want to lose

-Chief. And then, we can’t carry all our plunder and make any time at

-all.”

-

-“Life’s sweeter to me than either hoss or rifle,” declared Texas,

-laughing.

-

-“Me, too; but it may be a week before we catch the brutes.”

-

-“I vote we let ’em go. It’s getting derned hard to manage them, anyway,

-Buffler.”

-

-“So it is. Keep your grub, Texas.”

-

-“Betcher!”

-

-Both men were off their mounts in a hurry. They left their magazine

-guns in the saddle scabbards, and their holster pistols as well. If the

-Indians or any ne’er-do-well whites found the horses after the fire,

-they would make quite a haul.

-

-Jack’s horse plunged away, snorting to be free, and was quickly out of

-sight; but Chief seemed uncertain whether to leave his master or not.

-The scouts did not delay an instant, but started off at a sharp run

-through the forest, with their packs on their backs. They could dodge

-under the low branches and burst through the brush-clumps, or avoid

-them altogether, with much more facility than before.

-

-Chief ran whinnying after them. Suddenly out of the yellow haze above

-the tree tops a blazing ball of leaves or such light flotsam, floated

-down. It fell between the white horse and the two men, and Chief

-snorted and leaped aside. Fortunately the firebrand went out without

-igniting any of the leaves or twigs which rustled so dryly under foot,

-but the flame evidently spoiled Chief’s desire to keep with the men. He

-kicked up his heels and dashed away in the same direction as his mate.

-

-Buffalo Bill and Texas Jack noted this brand, but they said nothing,

-only increasing their speed. There was vast danger from these flying

-balls of fire. The wind continued to rise, and soon the conflagration

-would be leaping ahead rods at a time! It would ignite in dozens of

-places at once.

-

-As they ran together, Texas Jack glanced into his comrade’s serious

-face, and a grin overspread his own.

-

-“Say, Buffler,” he said, “I didn’t sleep none too warm last night.

-Reckon we’ll be more comfortable to-night, eh?”

-

-Cody had to smile at that.

-

-“You reckless devil, you! You’d joke in sight of the fires of Tophet.”

-

-At the moment a great burst of flame roared up into the sky from the

-summit of a little hill behind them, and both men glanced back. The

-banner of fire streamed clear across the sky.

-

-“Gee, Bill! Tophet couldn’t look hotter than that,” declared Texas Jack.

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER XXV. THE TELLTALE CROW.

-

-

-For the most part, however, the scouts saved their breath and spoke

-but little. They were straining every effort to reach Bendigo Lake,

-the only body of water of sufficient size to offer protection from the

-conflagration. Every creek and pond hole in the neighborhood, which

-either of them knew about, was low now, and none were big enough to

-promise safety. In Bendigo Lake was a long, narrow island, wooded to

-be sure; but the lake was so wide that the scouts believed the flames

-would not leap from the shore to the island.

-

-“At any rate, it’s our best play, Buffler. No doubt of that,” observed

-Texas Jack.

-

-“Right you are, Texas,” panted the other. “Pick up your feet!”

-

-“That fire’s certainly racing to overtake us.”

-

-“Ha! What’s that?” muttered Cody, suddenly turning to look up a small

-slope which was more heavily wooded than the lowland through which they

-were passing.

-

-There had been a movement in the brush. The wind did not affect the

-leaves and branches down here; it was only the tree tops that swayed

-and sang in the breeze.

-

-“A deer, eh?” panted Jack.

-

-“There!”

-

-Uttering the yell, Buffalo Bill seized his friend by the neck and flung

-him suddenly forward upon his face. He fell himself as well, and at

-the very instant there was a flash in the bushes on the side-hill, an

-explosion sounded, and the zip-zip of the bullet cut the air over their

-heads.

-

-Both scouts rolled aside, found covert, and sprang into position,

-revolvers in hand. Cody emptied one pistol as rapidly as possible into

-the brush-clump from which the treacherous shot had been fired.

-

-“No use, Bill! There he goes!” yelled Texas Jack.

-

-Off at one side they saw a huge figure pass rapidly out of sight. It

-looked like a bear running on its hind legs--were such a thing possible.

-

-“Of all the bloody-minded scoundrels!” said Texas Jack, as the two

-scouts set forth again, in the same direction as that taken by the

-person who had fired at them--which was likewise toward the lake, “that

-fellow takes the bun.”

-

-“Who was he? The smoke was in my eyes, and I couldn’t tell whether he

-was white or red.”

-

-“He was white, all right--or, so I have always heard,” declared Texas

-Jack.

-

-“By thunder! you don’t mean to say you know the scoundrel?”

-

-“Not personally acquainted with him--no,” laughed Jack.

-

-“What then?”

-

-“I’ve heard tell of him a good deal the past dozen years.”

-

-“Who is he?”

-

-“The Mad Hunter.”

-

-“Get out!”

-

-“That’s who it was, Buffler.”

-

-“Why should the fool fire at us?”

-

-“He’d just as soon shoot a white man as a red.”

-

-“He’s a devil.”

-

-“That he is.”

-

-“Why, I believe I saved his life the other day when I was out with Dick

-Danforth.”

-

-“What for?”

-

-Cody told him of how the young lieutenant had come near to shooting a

-gigantic man for a caribou, and how the being had run away yelling into

-the forest.

-

-“That’s him. Crazy as they make them.”

-

-“He must be crazy if he would stop to shoot men down when such a fire

-as that yonder is on his track as well as theirs.”

-

-“I reckon an insane person don’t act logically.”

-

-“He’s worse than the dumb beasts,” said Cody. “Look at that rabbit

-running almost between your legs, Jack. Aw! don’t step on him!”

-

-“I ain’t--dern his hide!” exclaimed Texas Jack, making a flying leap

-over the bunny.

-

-“He’s scared stiff. Some of the deer have run close enough to us to be

-touched. Even a bear will behave when there’s a forest fire. But this

-crazy bedlam is ready to shoot inoffensive men when death of the most

-awful kind is threatening him.”

-

-“That’s why he’s crazy, I reckon,” said Texas Jack. “Come on, Buffler;

-this way.”

-

-The light of the fire now made the forest about them as light almost as

-day, but the radiance flickered, and the shadows danced in a blinding

-fashion. The scouts could not see as clearly as usual. Within a mile

-of the spot where they had been attacked by the Mad Hunter a second

-shot was fired at them--this time from directly ahead. Fortunately, the

-bullet went wild.

-

-“He’s got a single-shot, old-fashioned rifle,” declared Texas Jack.

-

-“That’s what is saving our lives,” returned his comrade.

-

-“He’s ahead of us--between us and the lake.”

-

-“We’ve got to try to capture him, then,” declared Cody firmly. “No use

-mincing matters. The fire is bad enough, but he is more dangerous.”

-

-“Reckon you’re right, Buffler,” grunted Texas Jack.

-

-The scouts separated, running several rods apart, so that the Mad

-Hunter might not be able to get them both in a line. And, if that

-were possible, they increased their pace. They heard the man crashing

-through the brush ahead, but they did not obtain another glimpse of

-him. And so phenomenal was his speed that soon he was out of ear-shot.

-Besides, the roaring of the flames and the crashing of falling trees

-interfered with their tracking of the madman by his footsteps.

-

-Their enemy ran as no human being ever ran before, for he got far

-enough ahead to load his old-fashioned gun and again await their

-coming. This time he took a shot at Texas Jack and sent that worthy’s

-hat spinning into the air.

-

-“Confound his hide!” roared the scout. “Pepper him, Bill!”

-

-But with a scream of rage the madman was off through the illuminated

-forest once more, and Cody’s shots did not overtake him. Besides, the

-light was so uncertain that the scout did not waste but two balls in

-the attempt to bring down the foe.

-

-“He’ll git one of us yet,” cried Texas Jack.

-

-“We’ll keep as close to him as possible. He mustn’t have a chance to

-reload!”

-

-But it was like chasing a will-o’-the-wisp. The madman was off like

-the wind, shrieking his defiance. They could not keep him in sight,

-although the fire now was illuminating the forest far ahead of them.

-

-The roaring of the flames drowned the scouts’ shouts to each other,

-too; and the heat puffed upon their backs as though somebody had

-suddenly swung open the door of an enormous furnace.

-

-Suddenly Cody saw his friend throw up his hand, and knew that he

-shouted rather than heard the sound of his voice. Jack turned at a

-sharp angle, too, and Buffalo Bill followed suit. In a moment a glint

-of steel-blue water ahead invigorated Cody as well as his comrade. Lake

-Bendigo was at hand!

-

-In fifteen minutes they were on the shore. The water was a blessed

-relief to their eyes when they plunged their faces into it. In the rear

-the fire roared mightily, and the smoke now began to drift down upon

-them with smothering thickness.

-

-“We’d better take off our clothes and swim for the island, heh?”

-queried Jack.

-

-“Yes. There’s a bunch of driftwood that will make some kind of a raft.

-We’ll use it to transport our clothing and guns.”

-

-They stripped swiftly and were about to step into the water and push

-off the rude raft piled with their possessions when:

-

-Ping!

-

-The bullet buried itself in a tree trunk right beside Buffalo Bill’s

-head.

-

-“Holy Christmas!” exclaimed Texas Jack.

-

-“That devil has got ahead of us,” declared Cody. “That bullet came from

-the island.”

-

-“Why, he’s got us between two fires!” exclaimed Texas, bound to joke

-under any and all circumstances.

-

-For an instant the scouts were nonplused. They had involuntarily taken

-trees, but the heat from the rear was already unpleasant to their bare

-bodies.

-

-“We can’t stay here,” muttered Cody. “I shall go around the lake a

-ways, Texas, and try to swim over without being seen. You show yourself

-here. Better still, push off the raft and keep behind it and submerged

-as much as possible. Make for the island, but go slowly.”

-

-“You bet I’ll make for the island. I think I’d rather take cold lead

-than hot flames. Ouch!”

-

-“Meanwhile I’ll try to sneak over and get to the madman’s rear.”

-

-“Bare-handed?”

-

-“How else, man?” cried Cody. “I must be prepared to swim under water

-a part of the way. It must be cunning to match his cunning or we are

-lost, Jack!”

-

-Texas Jack realized that this was so, and he made no further objection.

-Cody glided away through the shadowy forest, and Jack pushed off

-the raft and dodged another bullet. He was soon floundering in the

-cold water, pushing the raft before him, but by no means enamored of

-his position. The fire was behind and would devour him shortly if

-he returned to the shore. Every few moments a bullet sped from the

-madman’s hiding-place on the island and “plunked” into the raft, or

-into the water close beside the swimmer.

-

-Meanwhile Cody scurried along the shore, but suddenly found himself

-cut off by a tongue of the fire that had got ahead of the main

-conflagration and was already burning fiercely at the very verge of the

-lake. Traveling through the brush in his bare skin was not pleasant

-at best, so the scout tried sneaking into the water behind the little

-point of land which chanced to hide the island.

-

-Cold as the water was, it was a blessed relief from the heat and smoke

-of the forest. As he struck out from the shore, blazing embers showered

-about him, hissing and smoking as they struck the water. The smoke

-rolled down upon the lake and now and then completely blinded him, and

-must certainly have hidden his head from the observation of anybody

-on the island. Cody was delighted with the apparent success of his

-scheme, and struck out strongly for the little patch of wooded soil in

-which he hoped, with Texas Jack, to find safety. That it was held in

-possession by a madman did not matter. It was the single refuge offered

-the scouts, and if the madman would not share it peacefully, he must be

-put out of the way.

-

-These were Cody’s thoughts as he swam across the intervening space. He

-finally came to the sloping shore, so that he could stand upright and

-wade in with his head and shoulders out of water. He had gone so far

-around the island that he believed that the madman, watching Texas Jack

-and his raft, would not see his own approach.

-

-And he did almost reach the shore unmolested. Suddenly, out of a dark

-hemlock at the extreme point of the island, there sprang a big crow,

-which, with raucous cry, flew over the scout and circled about him

-threateningly. The crow’s nest was evidently in that tree, and the

-coming of this strange maritime animal, who walked erect like a man,

-but wore no clothes, troubled the crow’s mind.

-

-The bird squawked like a hen with its head caught between two

-fence-palings. Cody made a dash for the shore, hoping to get under

-cover and so cease to disturb the telltale crow.

-

-But as he was about to step out on dry land a gigantic figure suddenly

-sprang through the brush at the water’s edge and appeared over him in

-a most threatening attitude. Above his head the man held a great rock,

-which he poised to fling upon the unarmed scout.

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER XXVI. THE MASSACRE.

-

-

-Why the madman had not sought to shoot him Buffalo Bill did not ask

-at the moment. The fact that he was at such a disadvantage was enough

-to fill his mind with forebodings. The rock was poised in the giant’s

-hands just over his head, and, as the scout was more than knee-deep

-in the water, it seemed impossible for him to successfully dodge the

-missile if it were flung.

-

-The madman stood in the shadow, and Cody could not see his face. All

-he saw was that the man looked like a great, wet bear. He had swum or

-waded across to the island with all his clothes on. He evidently knew

-Bendigo Lake and its surroundings better than either of the scouts, and

-had found a shallow path across from the mainland.

-

-For several seconds the scout and the giant faced each other. Buffalo

-Bill’s muscles grew tense. He would try leaping upon the fellow, at any

-rate, although the possibility of his dodging the rock looked exceeding

-small.

-

-And then there suddenly flashed into his mind such a simple dodge for

-getting the best of his foe that the scout hesitated to use it. It

-seemed so exceedingly simple and childish. But the moments were flying,

-and the Mad Hunter was on the point of flinging the rock down upon him

-with terrific force.

-

-Cody stood so that his hands just touched the water. He hollowed his

-palms, swung both arms back, and suddenly scooped up the water and

-flung it in a blinding sheet of spray into the maniac’s face.

-

-Again and again he splashed the water over the fellow. The Mad Hunter

-uttered a howl of rage, and, as Cody threw himself to one side, still

-splashing the water, the rock was thrown. But the scout had destroyed

-the maniac’s aim and escaped the missile altogether.

-

-Cody could not land, however. The best he could do was to plunge back

-into the deeper water and there dive and remain swimming under the

-surface until he had placed the island between himself and the fire.

-Here the trees threw black shadows, although the whole northern sky was

-red as blood, and the flames danced wildly upon the tree tops on the

-mainland.

-

-The Mad Hunter had disappeared, yet the scout did not know whether

-he had gone back to watch Texas Jack and the raft or was lurking in

-the shadow, waiting to spy upon him again. Meanwhile he was becoming

-thoroughly chilled, and feared to remain out beyond his depth, for a

-cramp might take him, and he could never struggle ashore then.

-

-Carefully he waded shoreward once more, watching the shadows beneath

-the trees, fearing to see the bulk of the maniac burst out of the brush

-and attack him again. There were several frightened creatures on the

-island, but they cowered and were dumb. All the scout could hear was

-the lapping of the water and the crackling of the conflagration on the

-mainland.

-

-The fire was eating through the forest very rapidly. It had reached the

-shore and was passing swiftly around the entire lake. Cody and Texas

-Jack could not return to the mainland now under any circumstances. It

-was the island or drowning for them!

-

-And Cody feared that his brave comrade had already succumbed to the

-cold water, or mayhap to a bullet from the maniac’s rifle. The fire as

-it ate around the lake began to illuminate this side of the island,

-too, and he feared that he would soon be a shining mark for the Mad

-Hunter.

-

-He kept his body under water and crept in toward the shore, his head

-only showing. He knew that he was taking his life in his hands, but the

-water was chilling him to the bone.

-

-Suddenly there was a great shouting on the other shore of the island,

-and following it came the pop of a pistol several times. Cody leaped

-ashore, and, despite the rough way and the thorns and brush which tore

-his body, he dashed across the narrow bit of land. He knew Texas Jack

-had landed and might need his help.

-

-As he ran, however, he suddenly came full tilt against a great, hairy

-object that was blundering through the brush. Over went the scout, and

-with an angry “Woof!” the bear darted aside, and a moment later he

-heard a splash in the lake, and knew that the creature had found the

-presence of mankind on the island more fear-inspiring than the fire on

-the mainland.

-

-When Cody picked himself up he beheld the half-clothed figure of Texas

-Jack standing over him.

-

-“By the piper that played before Pharaoh!” ejaculated Texas. “What’s

-the matter with you, Buffler? Come an’ git your clo’es--or do you fancy

-parading around yere in your birthday suit?”

-

-“What--what was that?” demanded the scout.

-

-“A bear. I fell over him myself and drove him off.”

-

-“I thought for a minute it was the madman.”

-

-“Oh, he’s gone,” said Texas Jack. “He ran out of ammunition, I reckon,

-and he took to the water, clo’es and all. There’s a shallow place

-yonder. We can wade ashore that way, too, when the fire burns out.”

-

-“He pretty near had me,” said Cody, and related his adventure as he

-shakingly got into his clothing.

-

-Texas Jack built a fire for them to dry and get warm by, and meanwhile

-explained that, finding he could not keep the scouts off the island,

-the Mad Hunter had departed for the mainland, approaching that part

-where the fire had come nearest to burning itself out.

-

-“It’s dangerous to go over there yet,” said Buffalo Bill.

-

-“You can bet it is. But he reckoned he’d rather go than meet us closer

-to. The old scoundrel! I’ve heard of his tricks and deviltry, but I

-never happened to run up against him before.”

-

-“I hope I never will again,” said Cody devoutly.

-

-But he was doomed to meet the Mad Hunter again, and to learn that about

-him that caused the Border King much sorrow of spirit.

-

-The scouts remained on the island during the night, and late the next

-day started out to find their mounts. There was a swamp several miles

-away, and, knowing well the keen instinct of their horses, the scouts

-went to it, and in less than twenty-four hours found both Chief and the

-other, much mud-bespattered, but in good condition. And their arms,

-though somewhat rusted, were safe.

-

-The forest fire had burned over a large tract of country, had driven

-away the game, and had cleared the territory of Indians. So the scouts

-separated to follow the trails of different bands of reds and spot

-their new villages. Their duty was to find and report upon every new

-encampment of the redskins, that the department might keep tabs on the

-movements of the savages.

-

-Cody kept his eyes open for traces of the bandits, but during the

-following week learned nothing of the movements of Boyd Bennett and his

-gang.

-

-He was thinking of going to a certain rendezvous where he expected to

-join Texas Jack, when he came suddenly upon a spectacle in a little

-valley that brought him up standing. So appalling--and unexpected--was

-the scene that it seemed for the moment as though his heart stopped

-beating!

-

-Over a score of figures in blue lay in the little cup-shaped coulée,

-where they had fallen battling for life!

-

-There they lay, partly stripped of their uniforms in some cases, robbed

-of their weapons, and lying amid their foes, hideous, painted savages,

-whom their red companions, in their haste to fly from the fearful

-scene, had not borne off to burial. Yet they had found time to tear the

-scalp-lock from the head of each white man.

-

-They lay in no order. The battle had been of the fiercest, and hand to

-hand. Here a trooper; there another--a redskin, an officer, a chief,

-a caparisoned steed, an Indian pony--all dead they lay and huddled

-together by the riverside in the tiny valley.

-

-Upon this scene Buffalo Bill came suddenly, just as the sun was about

-to drop below the western hills. The sight shocked and sickened him.

-Man of iron heart and steel nerves that he was, the sight made him reel

-in his saddle. He reined in his good horse, until it rose upon its

-haunches, and covered his eyes with one gauntleted hand as though to

-shut out the awful sight.

-

-An instant only did the scout show this weakness; then he scrutinized

-the red field which had flashed like some horrid vision on his sight.

-

-White-faced as the dead, with eyes which scrutinized each form and

-feature of the white men, the scout counted the slain. Gradually his

-own orbs flashed with the fires of rage, and his lips became livid and

-quivering.

-

-Suddenly, with a stifled cry, he leaped from his horse’s back and

-strode to one figure that lay stark at one side. It was in contact with

-a heap of slain on a knoll at the foot of a rock.

-

-Here the end had evidently come. This spot was plainly the last act of

-the fearful drama. Here the curtain of doom had fallen upon the remnant

-of the gallant band, to rise no more for them in this life!

-

-A groan issued from the scout’s lips, and he bowed his head in grief.

-There, with face upturned, lying in an attitude that showed he had died

-fighting to the last, lay Lieutenant Dick Danforth!

-

-The boy’s left hand grasped the barrel of an empty revolver; he had

-used it as a club at close quarters. The right held his sword-hilt, the

-blade buried in the body of a painted chief, whose death was probably

-the last act of the dying leader of the slaughtered troops.

-

-About him lay the foe, piled in heaps. Dick Danforth had sold his life

-at a dear price, indeed. And the fiends had run without scalping him!

-

-“Danforth dead!” murmured the scout. “It cannot be possible.”

-

-Yet it was true; he saw it plainly before he touched the already

-stiffening body. Merely by some freak of circumstances the young man

-had not been scalped.

-

-“Devils’ work this!” muttered the scout. He glanced again over the

-field. There were many points that had at first escaped his attention.

-For instance, there were shod horses lying dead that had never been

-ridden by either cavalrymen or Indian!

-

-“Aye, Indians did the deed, but there is a paleface hand behind it,

-and I mean to ferret out the fiend who inspired it,” said Buffalo Bill.

-

-He dropped upon his knees again and felt of Danforth’s body. There, in

-a voice quivering with sorrow and passion, he exclaimed:

-

-“Aye! here beside the body of the man whom I loved--who saved me from

-death--I swear revenge on the instigator of this crime!”

-

-In his deep feeling he spoke these words aloud. A sound smote upon

-his ear. He sprang to his feet with a cry and turned as a harsh voice

-pealed out behind him:

-

-“And _I_ swear, Buffalo Bill, that you shall never keep the oath your

-lips have just uttered!”

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER XXVII. “THE DEATH KILLER.”

-

-

-Buffalo Bill had believed himself alone with the dead on this field of

-blood, and the voice fell like a knell upon his ear. For the moment he

-was half-unmanned. Then he wheeled completely to face the speaker.

-

-He knew then that he had an old and deadly foe to deal with. His

-discovery, however, brought the scout to himself. He recovered his

-presence of mind, and in a tone that was reckless in its defiance, he

-cried:

-

-“So we meet again, do we, Bennett? And you think you hold the trumps

-once more?”

-

-“I do--and likewise a revolver at your head, Cody!” declared the

-bandit. “Drop your rifle!”

-

-The scout obeyed. The pistol in Bennett’s hand was a well-timed

-argument. To all appearances the man was an Indian chief, for he was

-bedecked with feathers, his face was hideously painted, and he wore the

-full attire of a redskin, from moccasins to war-bonnet.

-

-At his back, with rifles and arrows likewise covering the scout, were a

-score of braves who had, with the stealthy tread of panthers, followed

-their leader to the spot where Buffalo Bill had mourned over the bodies

-of the slain white men. Cody knew well that he was at the mercy of a

-merciless foe.

-

-“You know me, do you, Cody?” said the bandit.

-

-“Oh, I know you--even if you’ve turned squaw-man,” said Cody bitterly.

-“I recognize your black heart under the paint and feathers.”

-

-“Have a care, scout, for every word of insult you heap upon me shall

-increase your torture at the stake.”

-

-“I see you’ve got it all mapped out for my finish,” said Cody.

-

-“You will not escape me this time, Buffalo Bill!” declared the bandit

-chief exultingly.

-

-“Don’t be too sure.”

-

-“Nay. It is settled. You are in my power. There can be no rescue here.

-_There_ lies the one who cheated my vengeance before. He has paid the

-price.”

-

-“True. And _his_ death must be paid for,” muttered the scout.

-

-“But not by you, Cody.”

-

-“Wait!” was the enigmatical word of the Border King, his eyes flashing

-the hate he felt for his sneering captor.

-

-“Do not tempt me too far, you dog!” exclaimed Bennett. “Remember you

-pay for all this when you come to die.”

-

-“Aye; when I _do_ come to die! But I am one who believes that while

-there is life there is still hope, you accursed renegade!”

-

-“That belief will not benefit you now, Cody. You are a dead man

-already.”

-

-“I’m the liveliest dead man _you_ ever saw!”

-

-The renegade looked as though he was about to shoot the scout in his

-tracks; but he caught sight of the smile that curled Cody’s lips, and,

-not understanding it, refrained. Indeed, he looked all about, somewhat

-nervously, to try to discover the meaning of the scout’s expression.

-

-“You must have help at hand, or you would not be so defiant, Buffalo

-Bill.”

-

-“That may be,” said the scout non-committingly.

-

-“At least, these will not help you,” said Boyd Bennett, with a horrible

-smile, pointing to the stark figures in the valley.

-

-“Not one left to tell the story--no prisoners?” queried Cody

-sorrowfully, forgetting for the moment his own peril.

-

-“No, no! Chief Oak Heart wanted no prisoners from Danforth’s band.

-I told the chief that Danforth and his men were come to take him

-captive--that they had sworn to do it! Ha! ha! That was rich, eh? So

-every man of them died.”

-

-“And he came for _you_,” said Cody bitterly.

-

-“Aye; and met the death he deserved; but a more merciful death than

-_you_ will meet, scout. I do not need to stir up the red men’s rage

-against _you_. They will receive you with great joy at Oak Heart’s

-encampment.”

-

-“And you fought with these savages?” cried Cody.

-

-“I did. And killed as they killed--without mercy.”

-

-“You do not fear to admit your crimes.”

-

-“Why should I? For am I not speaking to one who will soon be dead? Bah!

-you can no longer frighten me, Buffalo Bill!”

-

-“Yes, it looks as though I was near my finish; I do not deny it,”

-said Cody quietly. “But tell me one thing, Boyd Bennett. Did you kill

-Lieutenant Danforth yourself?”

-

-“I am sorry to say I did not. There was a good deal of hot work

-right here. But Red Knife claims the honor of having delivered the

-finishing-stroke. We were returning to take the scalp-lock----”

-

-“By Heaven, man! you shall not do it!” roared Cody, starting forward.

-

-But a dozen rifles clicked, and he knew that he was helpless. He fell

-back again. Bennett laughed.

-

-“Chief Oak Heart refused to allow any of his braves to scalp Danforth

-because he had fought so boldly.”

-

-“God bless the old red sinner for that!” murmured the much wrought-upon

-scout.

-

-Bennett laughed again.

-

-“But I am Death Killer, the medicine-chief, and I have come back myself

-to take the scalp-lock from the head of the man against whom I swore

-revenge.”

-

-“Boyd Bennett! accursed though you be, with a heart blacker than the

-foulest redskin can boast of, you would not do this wrong!” cried

-Buffalo Bill, in horror.

-

-“Watch me, scout.”

-

-“You shall not do it!”

-

-“You are mistaken; I shall. I came back with Red Knife and a few of

-the braves to point me out the place where Danforth fell. On the way

-we saw you arrive, and we dogged your steps to the very corpse of your

-friend.

-

-“Ha, Cody! this is sweet--this revenge. My kind have cast me off. Well,

-then! I cast the white men off! I spit upon them! I slay them! And now

-I scalp my enemy!”

-

-Bennett had worked himself into a species of frenzy. He sprang forward

-now, dropping his revolver, knife in hand, to carry out his threat.

-

-“Never shall you do this crime--not if this is my last act on earth!”

-shouted the scout.

-

-As he spoke he suddenly jerked a revolver from his belt, threw it

-forward, and fired pointblank at Boyd Bennett, all with the quickness

-of a flash of light!

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER XXVIII. THE WHITE ANTELOPE INTERFERES.

-

-

-So rapid and unexpected was this movement of Buffalo Bill, in drawing

-his revolver and firing it, that not one of the warriors who stood

-behind the renegade chief--some with arrows already fitted to their

-bows, and others with rifles covering the scout--had time to fire.

-

-Yet, swift as he had been, one eye was quick enough to send an arrow

-upon its errand. The shaft struck the outstretched arm of the scout

-just as his finger pulled the trigger of his weapon, and the shock

-destroyed his aim.

-

-Having made this daring move, however, and believing that death must

-follow the deed, Buffalo Bill dropped his left hand upon his second

-pistol, determined to press the fight, kill Bennett, and die as had the

-brave man at his feet--fighting to the last!

-

-Maddened with rage and thirsting for the life of his foe, Boyd Bennett

-shouted to his warriors to rush upon the scout and take him alive that

-he might end his career by cruel torture. But suddenly a slender form

-darted before the red braves, and, with arrow set in readiness to let

-fly, the White Antelope thrust herself between the white man and the

-reds who would have seized him.

-

-“Let the Sioux braves hold their hands. The White Antelope commands it!”

-

-Like one man the reds halted, and even the renegade shrank back a step,

-gazing in fear and wonder on the apparition of the beautiful girl.

-

-Buffalo Bill, too, gazed upon the chief’s daughter in amazement. He

-knew now that the arrow he drew from the wound in his right forearm had

-been driven home by the girl; yet now she stood between him and his

-foes.

-

-Her attitude evidently astonished Bennett as much as it did Cody

-himself, for the renegade cried:

-

-“Why has the White Antelope become the friend of the slayer of her

-people? The man she shelters is Pa-e-has-ka, the Long Hair.”

-

-“The arrow of the White Antelope brings blood from the arm of

-Pa-e-has-ka. Is that the way in which a Sioux shows friendship?” asked

-the young girl scornfully.

-

-“Then the White Antelope yields the paleface foe to the medicine chief

-of her tribe?”

-

-“No!” was the decided response.

-

-“What would you do?” demanded the renegade angrily.

-

-“I will deliver Pa-e-has-ka to the great chief, my father, Oak Heart.”

-

-“The White Antelope is no warrior,” sneered the renegade. “Are there

-not braves enough loyal to Oak Heart to carry out his will upon this

-paleface?”

-

-“The White Antelope may be no warrior,” said the girl; “but she has

-just saved the life of the Death Killer.”

-

-At this Buffalo Bill laughed aloud, for the shot was a good one, and

-his seeming indifference to his peril caused the daughter of the chief

-to turn her eyes upon him. She scanned the scout from head to foot.

-What was in her thoughts he could not guess; but, suddenly, deciding

-upon a course of action, she stepped boldly to the side of Buffalo

-Bill, and touched with tender fingers the wounded arm which he had

-bared.

-

-“If the Long Hair has ointment for the wound, it would be better to

-bind it,” she said to him.

-

-Buffalo Bill opened his pouch, and the girl found the salve and

-bandages he always carried. Meanwhile, the scout sucked the wound to

-remove any foreign matter that might have been driven into it by the

-arrowhead. Then the Indian maiden bound up the hurt while the renegade

-looked on sullenly.

-

-“Why is the Long Hair here--so near the village of the Sioux?” she

-asked Buffalo Bill, when this act of kindness was performed.

-

-“I chanced upon the place. I saw the dead. Here lies my friend--the

-young man whom I loved as a son,” said the scout, pointing to the body

-of Danforth. “He and his men have been all slain by the Sioux.”

-

-“They were enemies,” said the girl simply.

-

-“But they had not come out to disturb the red men.”

-

-“Why were they here?”

-

-“To find and take prisoner that villain yonder!” exclaimed Buffalo

-Bill, scowling at Boyd Bennett in his war-paint and feathers. “That man

-who is neither white nor red, but a squaw-man! He had committed crimes

-against the white man’s law and should be punished by that law.”

-

-“My father heard that the palefaces were coming to seize him.”

-

-“Another lie of that renegade!” exclaimed the scout. “And while I

-mourned over the body of this young man, the villain came upon me,

-returning, as he declares, to tear the scalp from the head of the white

-chief whom he was not brave enough himself to kill!”

-

-The girl seemed to understand. She glanced from the body of Danforth to

-the rage-inflamed face of Boyd Bennett.

-

-“Is it from this dead white chief’s head the Killer would take the

-scalp?” she asked haughtily.

-

-“Aye; and I _will_ have it!” cried Bennett.

-

-“Did the young paleface fall by thy hand, Death Killer?” demanded the

-maiden, with all the dignity of a judge.

-

-“It matters not. Forget not, oh, White Antelope, that I am the medicine

-chief of the Sioux----”

-

-“And see that the Death Killer forget not that _I_ am the daughter of

-Oak Heart!” she interrupted.

-

-“I acknowledge that fact,” sneered Boyd Bennett. “But the White

-Antelope has no control over the acts of the Death Killer.”

-

-“Did the paleface fall to your prowess?” she demanded again, looking

-the renegade sternly in the eye.

-

-An Indian stepped forward. He carried a blood-stained war-club in one

-hand. In a deep guttural he said:

-

-“The white chief’s scalp should be Red Knife’s; he brought him low at

-last with a blow of his club. But the great chief, Oak Heart, forbade

-that we take the scalp of so brave a warrior.”

-

-“Then why does the Death Killer wish to do that which is forbidden by

-my father?” cried the girl quickly.

-

-“Is it the White Antelope’s place to question the medicine chief of her

-tribe?” demanded the painted white man, with haughty demeanor. “The

-scalp of the dead bluecoat is my prize!”

-

-Buffalo Bill saw indecision in the Indian maiden’s face. He knew how

-superstitious the redskins were regarding the mysterious powers claimed

-by all medicine chiefs. In some way--by some manner of fake magic--Boyd

-Bennett had roused the superstitious reverence of the Sioux, and

-Buffalo Bill did not know how greatly the chief’s daughter might be

-tainted by this feeling of reverence for the villainous renegade.

-

-“Let not this crime be done, White Antelope,” he said in her ear.

-“Remember what Pa-e-has-ka told you in the cañon, when he had you in

-his power. He knows much. He was once your mother’s trusted friend. And

-he warns you now--as you hope for peace of soul and body--not to allow

-the dead young man to be so treated by your people.”

-

-The girl turned upon him suddenly, with wide-open eyes.

-

-“What does Long Hair mean? What is this dead paleface to her?”

-

-“That Long Hair may not tell thee, oh, White Antelope. Trust him----”

-

-“Trust a paleface!”

-

-“Trust one who has given you back to your father when he might have

-taken your life, or held you prisoner.”

-

-“Aye, Long Hair, thou didst that. It is true.”

-

-“And believe me,” the scout said, more earnestly still, in English, not

-wishing the other Indians to understand; “this dead paleface whom even

-the great chief Oak Heart admired for his bravery, is more to the White

-Antelope than she knows. The time will come when I can explain all to

-you, girl--but not now!”

-

-“What’s that?” demanded Boyd Bennett, stepping forward. “What’s this

-foolishness you are telling the girl?”

-

-But the White Antelope haughtily waved him back.

-

-“Let the Death Killer stand away. The chief’s daughter can care for

-herself. And let not one of these dead palefaces be further disturbed.

-It is my will!”

-

-The waiting Indians grunted agreement. They were willing enough to obey

-the beautiful princess. The White Antelope turned again to Buffalo Bill:

-

-“Where are the paleface brothers of Pa-e-has-ka?”

-

-Buffalo Bill pointed in the direction from which he had come.

-

-“Far away.”

-

-“The White Antelope is his foe, and the foe of his people; but she

-wishes not to see the wolves and the vultures tear the bodies of brave

-men for food. The Sioux have come to remove their dead. Let Pa-e-has-ka

-go bring his brother warriors to remove the paleface slain.”

-

-At that Boyd Bennett uttered an oath and sprang forward.

-

-“Not that, girl! You’re crazy!”

-

-“We’ll see who wears the breeches in this family, Boyd Bennett!”

-laughed the scout.

-

-“You shall not leave this spot alive, Bill Cody!”

-

-“Oh, shucks! Don’t speak so harshly,” gibed the scout.

-

-The girl raised her hand. Without looking at the renegade, she said to

-Buffalo Bill:

-

-“But Pa-e-has-ka must make the White Antelope a promise.”

-

-“All right. What is it?”

-

-“The White Antelope came from the great chief Oak Heart, who told her

-to seek the paleface warriors and tell them where to find their dead.

-He bids them to come here and remove their slain in peace, and not to

-follow on the track of his people. Will Pa-e-has-ka tell the big chief

-the words of Oak Heart?”

-

-“I will.”

-

-“Then Pa-e-has-ka must promise to return and yield himself to the

-Sioux.”

-

-She looked Buffalo Bill straight in the eye as she stated her

-condition, and he saw that she meant exactly what she said; but he

-asked:

-

-“Does the White Antelope mean that I am to give myself up to the red

-warriors after I have guided the bluecoats here?”

-

-“She has spoken.”

-

-“And this is the promise she wishes Pa-e-has-ka to make?”

-

-The Indian girl nodded.

-

-“Why should Pa-e-has-ka return?”

-

-“He is the captive of the medicine chief, Death Killer, now; but White

-Antelope lets him go free that the paleface braves lie not unburied,

-and that the other white warriors take heed not to follow upon the

-trail of the Sioux. Will Pa-e-has-ka promise?”

-

-Buffalo Bill was silent for a moment. If he refused he knew that her

-protection would cease. If he agreed to her condition he must keep his

-word, be the end what it might. And that end looked to the scout much

-like an ironwood stake, a hot fire, and a bunch of naked red devils

-dancing a two-step about him while he slowly crisped to a cinder!

-

-There was a loophole. He made a mental reservation that, after bearing

-the tidings of the massacre to the fort, and delivering Oak Heart’s

-warning, he would return to the Sioux encampment--but with a force

-behind him that would surprise the redskins!

-

-“I agree,” he said finally.

-

-“Trust not the fox-tongue of the Long Hair!” cried Boyd Bennett

-violently. “He will not keep his pledge.”

-

-“The paleface is the foe of my people, but his tongue is straight,”

-declared the Indian maiden, with confidence.

-

-Buffalo Bill began secretly to weaken on that “mental reservation.”

-

-“But he will come with a force at his back and burn the Indian

-village,” cried the renegade.

-

-Buffalo Bill had to give the fellow credit for having divined his

-purpose; but the girl turned scornfully from the squaw-man.

-

-“Pa-e-has-ka is not two-faced. He is not a turncoat,” she said

-sneeringly. “The White Antelope will believe that the Long Hair will

-return alone.”

-

-Buffalo Bill at that completely abandoned the “mental reservation”

-clause.

-

-“Bet your life he will!” he exclaimed. “I’ll come back as I promise,

-girl.”

-

-“Then let Pa-e-has-ka go.”

-

-But as she spoke the command, Boyd Bennett once more sprang forward. He

-covered the scout with his rifle and cried:

-

-“I am the medicine chief of the Sioux, and I say the paleface dog shall

-not go!”

-

-Then in English he declared:

-

-“Your hour has come, Buffalo Bill. You die here and now!”

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER XXIX. A GIRL’S WORD.

-

-

-The instant the renegade uttered the threat, Buffalo Bill placed

-himself upon guard by drawing his revolvers and covering the scoundrel.

-His wounded arm was sore, but the nerves had recovered from the shock

-of the arrow-wound, and he could hold his gun steadily enough. The

-renegade was so near at best that the scout could not miss him!

-

-But the scout did not shoot. The White Antelope with flashing eyes,

-sprang to the front, and she, too, aimed her arrow at Boyd Bennett.

-

-The warriors--or the bulk of them, at least--were surprised by Buffalo

-Bill’s action, and their several weapons were in line for the scout’s

-heart before they noted the White Antelope’s action. Then several of

-them dropped their guns, and their facial expression was as foolish as

-it was possible for so stoical a set of faces to be!

-

-For a moment the tableau continued. A sudden motion might have

-precipitated a bloody, though brief, conflict. Buffalo Bill, though

-pale, was stern and determined, his eyes riveted upon the face of Boyd

-Bennett. He felt that the girl was friendly to him, and he knew her

-influence among the Sioux.

-

-“Why do you not bring that finger to the trigger of your rifle,

-Bennett?” he asked sneeringly. “It won’t go off otherwise.”

-

-The girl looked at the warriors and commanded quickly:

-

-“Let the braves of Oak Heart turn their weapons from the heart of

-Pa-e-has-ka, the paleface chief.”

-

-To the delight of Buffalo Bill, the command was instantly obeyed. Much

-as they might have feared the power of the medicine chief, Oak Heart

-was greater, and his daughter was here as his representative.

-

-That Boyd Bennett was nonplused by this move was plain. His face fell,

-and he lowered his own rifle. But the scowl of deadly hatred which he

-bestowed on the white man threatened vengeance at some future date.

-

-“I reckon the redskins are trumps, old man, and the girl holds a full

-hand of them!” laughed Buffalo Bill.

-

-“It is your time to laugh now, Cody. But mine will come,” gritted the

-renegade.

-

-“Oh, I can’t expect to laugh always, Bennett; but,” and the scout

-changed his speech to the Sioux dialect, that all the warriors might

-understand; “let the renegade paleface meet me now in personal combat,

-and settle the matter at once. Long Hair does not fear a fair fight

-with the mighty Death Killer!” he added sneeringly.

-

-The nods and grunts of the warriors showed that they approved of this

-proposal. Although they could not quite agree with the White Antelope’s

-friendliness with Buffalo Bill, they saw that he was a brave man--as,

-indeed, they knew well before--and a duel to the death seemed to their

-savage minds the only way to properly decide the controversy between

-their medicine chief and the scout. They looked at Bennett expectantly.

-

-But the renegade was not desirous of meeting Buffalo Bill with any

-weapon he might name! He knew the scout’s prowess too well. His desire

-was to see the scout writhing in the embrace of the flames, or standing

-bound as a target for the hatchet-marksmen of the Indian tribe with

-which he was affiliated.

-

-He dared not seem to refuse the challenge, however, for he would then

-lose completely his influence with Oak Heart’s braves. But suddenly he

-caught sight of the Indian maiden’s face, and that he read like an open

-book!

-

-“The enemy of the Sioux has spoken well. We will fight!” exclaimed Boyd

-Bennett promptly, but with a crafty smile wreathing his lips.

-

-“The White Antelope says ‘No!’” exclaimed the Indian girl, facing the

-renegade.

-

-As he was so sure she would veto the proposition, the wily Bennett was

-eager to urge the duel.

-

-“Why does the daughter of the great chief interfere? She says that

-Pa-e-has-ka is not her friend, and yet she shields him.”

-

-Buffalo Bill had to chuckle over this. He couldn’t help it. He saw

-through the whole game of Bennett’s, and it amused him.

-

-“No, the Long Hair shall not fight the medicine chief,” declared the

-girl earnestly.

-

-“And why not?” demanded Bennett, with continued haughtiness.

-

-“Because if they fought, the white man would wear the medicine chief’s

-scalp at his belt,” declared the young girl. “The white man shall go

-his way, bring his brothers to bury the paleface dead, and then deliver

-himself to Oak Heart, as he has promised.”

-

-“And you can make up your mind, Boyd Bennett, that she says one very

-true thing,” declared Buffalo Bill. “Whenever we _do_ fight, you’ll go

-under! Mark that! I’ll run you down yet and nail your scalp to the wall

-of Fort Advance as a warning to all horse-thieves, stage-robbers, and

-deserters!”

-

-The White Antelope spoke quickly before the wrathful Bennett could

-reply to this challenge:

-

-“Let the paleface go to his big chief. There is his horse. Yonder is

-his weapon. Mount, Pa-e-has-ka, and away!”

-

-“Aye, girl,” said Cody, in English; “but what will happen to this poor

-young man if I go, leaving that brute here? He will tear the scalp

-from Danforth’s head as soon as my back, and yours, are turned.”

-

-“That he shall not!” exclaimed the White Antelope.

-

-“You do not know his treachery,” said Buffalo Bill, who knew that the

-very deed was in Bennett’s mind.

-

-“I have told the white man that the brave young chief shall not be

-mistreated.”

-

-“Your word on it, girl?”

-

-“The White Antelope has spoken. She will guard the body of the young

-white chief herself until Pa-e-has-ka’s return.”

-

-“Good!” exclaimed Buffalo Bill. “And, my girl, you’ll never be sorry

-for this mercy shown the corpse of that poor young man.”

-

-The girl looked at him strangely.

-

-“The Long Hair will return, as he has promised, to the village of Oak

-Heart?”

-

-“I’ll keep my word; do you keep yours,” said the scout.

-

-“Pa-e-has-ka’s tongue is straight?”

-

-“As sure as I live, I’ll come back, girl!” declared the scout earnestly.

-

-The next instant he mounted Chief unmolested, having picked up his

-rifle, settled himself in the saddle, seized the reins, and dashed

-away. As he mounted the ridge he looked back. The reds were busy

-separating their own slain from the dead soldiers. The tall figure

-of the medicine chief was stalking angrily from the scene. White

-Antelope was down on her knees by the body of Dick Danforth, the dead

-lieutenant. With a dumb ache at his heart, and little thought for his

-own coming peril, Buffalo Bill went over the rise and spurred away for

-Fort Advance.

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER XXX. THE MAD HUNTER.

-

-

-In the valley a cavalry command was encamped, some hours after

-the battle in which Lieutenant Dick Danforth and his men had been

-overwhelmed by Oak Heart’s ambuscade.

-

-It was just sunset, but twilight among the mountains is sometimes four

-hours long--a man might see to read fine print at nine o’clock.

-

-The command had ridden hard and were a-wearied, so the party had

-bivouacked early, the guide reporting that the ridge before them

-afforded no good camping-ground. The horses were soon lariated out, and

-scores of camp-fires were kindled along the banks of the stream, while

-the cheerful rattle of dishes and the smell of cooking sharpened the

-appetites of the troopers.

-

-Leaving his servant to prepare his frugal meal, the commander of the

-soldiers strode up the hillside toward the summit of the ridge, the

-better to view the valley and its boundaries while daylight lingered.

-

-“Be careful, captain, for I look for Injuns hereabouts,” called the

-guide, who was Texas Jack.

-

-“All right, Jack. I’ll signal if I see any signs of the red scamps,”

-returned the fearless officer, as he strode on up the ascent.

-

-Once or twice he turned to enjoy the scene of beauty spreading below

-him--the lovely valley, the winding stream, the picturesque bivouac of

-the troopers, and the distant blue hills, on which the light was fading

-rapidly. At length he reached the point from which he could view a

-part of the country through which the morrow’s trail would lead them.

-

-Below him, on that side of the ridge, all was shadow now, for the ridge

-shut off the last glow of the golden western sky; but the summits of

-the hills and ridges were still bathed in the departing sun’s radiance.

-The scene so impressed him that, quite unconsciously, the officer spoke

-aloud:

-

-“No wonder that poor Lo loves this land so well that he’s willing to

-fight for it. It is a pity it must ever be settled, and cut up into

-farms and homesteads--and possibly, town lots! The life of the free

-savage is the best, after all!”

-

-“Well said, captain! But I’ve got the drop on you!”

-

-The officer started as the voice fell upon his ears, and, dropping his

-hand upon his sword-hilt, turned to face the speaker. Before him, and

-not six paces distant, having just stepped from a dense thicket, was an

-apparition which, at first sight, the officer scarce realized was human!

-

-And yet, no other shape was near, and from the lips of the strange

-being that confronted him had fallen the threatening words he had heard.

-

-“Who and what are you?” cried the officer sternly, his eyes beholding a

-being of gigantic size, clad in the skins of beasts, so that at first

-sight he appeared more like a grizzly bear reared upon its hind legs!

-

-About the waist of the giant was a red fox-skin belt, in which were

-slung two revolvers and a large knife; upon his head was a panther-skin

-cap, the tail hanging down the man’s back, and on his feet were

-moccasins of black bearskin. Hair black as night fell to his waist;

-beard of the same hue matted and unkempt; and a dark, haggard face,

-out of which glittered the wildest eyes it had ever been the officer’s

-fortune to see.

-

-To finish this terrifying picture, the strange being held a rifle at

-his shoulder, and that rifle was aimed now at the military officer’s

-heart!

-

-“You ask who and what I am?” repeated the creature, in a deep voice.

-

-“I do,” said the soldier, measuring him with the eye of a hawk.

-

-He had instantly seen that he was in the presence of a maniac--a person

-utterly irresponsible for his acts. Whether he was to be cajoled out

-of his present murderous condition of mind, the soldier did not know.

-But he was watching for some wavering of the rifle which might tell him

-that the fellow was off his guard, and that there might be a chance to

-spring under his guard and seize him.

-

-“You are a bold man to question me, captain!” said the giant sternly.

-

-“I know it; but I’ve an overpowering curiosity to find out,” and the

-captain dropped his hand carelessly upon the butt of the pistol he

-carried at his hip.

-

-“Hands up!” exclaimed the fellow, seeing the movement. “Hands up, or

-you are a dead man!”

-

-Hoping that he might yet parley with the maniac, the officer obeyed. It

-were better, perhaps, had he drawn his gun and risked a shot. The giant

-looked at him with wicked, glowing eyes.

-

-“I will tell you who I am, officer,” he whispered hoarsely. “I am a

-_madman_!”

-

-The last word he fairly shrieked; yet not for a second did he forget

-his victim, nor did his hand tremble. The rifle still transfixed the

-helpless officer.

-

-But the officer was a kindly man, and although he believed himself in

-peril of his life still, the brave man ever has pity for those touched

-in the head. He said quietly:

-

-“My poor man, lower your weapon and come with me down to yonder camp.

-Those are Uncle Sam’s troops down there. They will take care of you.”

-

-“Ha!” cried the maniac furiously. “I need no one to care for me. I can

-care for myself. You’d much better be thinking of help for yourself,

-captain.”

-

-“Well, then I’ll go along and look for that help,” said the officer

-easily.

-

-“Don’t move!”

-

-“But, my dear fellow----”

-

-“Hold! Address no words of kindness to me, for they are thrown away

-upon one whose duty it is to slay.”

-

-“But it surely isn’t your duty to kill _me_!”

-

-“Aye--you, too.”

-

-“But what have I done to you?”

-

-“It matters not. Mankind has done enough to me. I am appointed to slay,

-and slay I will!”

-

-“It’s nice to know your duty so clearly,” said the officer easily. “But

-aren’t you liable to make a mistake?”

-

-“No! Never a mistake. Once I might have made a mistake. That was when I

-believed I was called of God to kill the redskins only. I know better

-now.”

-

-“Well!” murmured the officer, hoping to catch the madman off his guard,

-if only for a moment.

-

-“I saw the error of my ways,” cried the madman. “I beheld my sins. I

-had neglected the full measure of my duty.”

-

-“So killing redskins didn’t satisfy you, eh?”

-

-“Why should I kill the savages alone? I saw white men quite as

-brutal--aye, more brutal--than the red. I saw them commit the same

-atrocities. I saw white rangers rip the scalps from the head of their

-dead foes; I saw the soldiers storm the Indian encampments and kill

-the squaws and the papoose at the breast! Aye! how much better are the

-whites than the red men?”

-

-“And having seen all this bloody warfare, you wish to add to the sum

-total of horror by killing everybody you come across, do you, old

-fellow?”

-

-“You are all alike to me. I kill. That is the way I obtain ammunition

-and arms. The arms and cartridges you carry are mine!”

-

-“Oh, I’ll give them to you right now, if you want them,” exclaimed the

-captain eagerly. “You won’t have to kill me to get them. Really, it

-isn’t necessary. I’ll do the polite and hand them over.”

-

-To himself he thought:

-

-“And I’ll hand you something that will do you a lot of good the first

-chance I get!”

-

-But the madman was not to be fooled so easily.

-

-“Nay, nay! Your bullets would not fly true for me were you alive,”

-declared the giant. “I am the Mad Hunter. Have you heard of me?”

-

-“I have heard of such a character,” admitted the captain.

-

-“I am he, and if you know of me you must know that I show mercy to

-none--not even to one wearing the uniform you do. No, no! I spare

-neither my own race--for I was white once, before I became like the

-beasts that perish--nor the redskin. All fall before me.”

-

-The man spoke with intensity; yet not a motion gave the officer hope

-of his chance to spring on him. The man’s nerves were of steel; he

-held the rifle as though it and his own body were of stone; yet the

-glittering eyes showed his victim that if he dropped his hands a bullet

-would end his career on the instant.

-

-“But, you know, _I_ haven’t harmed you, my poor man,” said the officer.

-

-“All mankind are my foes,” said the Mad Hunter, in his strong monotone,

-and without moving. “Come! the night draws near, and I have yet to

-travel many miles to my cave in the mountains.”

-

-“Don’t let me detain you, old man,” said the officer. “Won’t it do just

-as well another day?”

-

-“Come! prepare to die. If you have prayers to say, repeat them quickly.

-It is growing dark.”

-

-Now, the officer didn’t care how dark it got before the madman fired.

-Indeed, he would have been glad if it suddenly became pitch-dark--so

-dark that he might dodge away and escape the sinister weapon which held

-its “bead” on his breast. He gave up all hope of “talking the fellow

-out of it.” The madman meant to kill him, and unless some miracle

-averted the fate, he would very quickly be a dead man!

-

-The madman was a giant in build and strength. He remembered now having

-heard the scouts tell many strange stories of the Mad Hunter about the

-camp-fire. For years he had been tracking about the Rockies, appearing

-unexpectedly in first one locality and then another; sometimes

-committing atrocious murders of inoffensive people. But usually his

-presence was noted by the scouts by the dead bodies of Indians,

-their bodies mutilated by a cross gashed with the madman’s knife over

-their hearts. He put this insignia upon every redskin he killed, so

-that even the savages--who feared him as some spirit and altogether

-supernatural--knew who to lay the death of their friends to when the

-Mad Hunter was about.

-

-Whether the giant had a habit of marking his white victims in the

-same way, the captain did not know; but it was a suggestion that did

-not tranquilize his nerves. To cope with the giant he knew would be

-impossible. He was a tall and strong man himself; but the maniac could

-have handled three men like the officer with ease. A movement toward

-his revolver or sword would be a signal for his death. Yet the officer

-could not stand here helplessly and allow the maniac to shoot him down!

-

-In full view below him were the camp-fires of his men. The valley had

-grown dark now, but surely they could see him clearly standing here on

-the summit of the ridge. His body must loom big against the sky-line.

-Yet it was plain they did not see the giant with him.

-

-_He_ stood in the shadow of the thicket where he had hidden at the

-officer’s approach. It was behind him, and made him invisible to the

-men in the valley. To call for aid would bring the end more quickly. So

-he waited in silence, hoping against hope that some mad freak of the

-maniac’s mind and humor might work for his salvation.

-

-If the Mad Hunter kept his word, the officer had but a few minutes to

-live. He looked all about the vicinity, hoping he might see some chance

-of help. It was a desperate--a really hopeless thought. Who or what

-could save him now?

-

-Suddenly his eyes became fixed upon the spur of a hill that jutted out

-across a shallow valley. The lingering rays of the sun touched the

-hill-spur redly. It seemed much nearer to him than it really was, and

-along its brink came a horse and rider!

-

-The officer gasped; then held his breath, and did not change the mask

-of his face. He had learned long since to hide emotion; but this was a

-terrible situation, and he had almost lost his nerve.

-

-The horseman had evidently been about to descend into the valley,

-when his glance fell upon the two men standing like statues upon the

-opposite ridge. _He_ could see the giant huntsman, if the soldiers in

-the other valley could not. He saw at once the attitude of both men and

-understood. He drew rein, and the officer at the same moment recognized

-him. Unconsciously his lips parted, and the name of the rider came from

-the officer in a quick gasp:

-

-“Buffalo Bill!”

-

-The keen ear of the mad hercules caught the name, and, turning like

-a panther at bay, he saw the scout on the distant spur. As he moved,

-the officer’s hands dropped, and he seized the revolver from his belt.

-Throwing it forward, he pulled the trigger as the madman wheeled again

-toward him.

-

-But the hammer fell without exploding the cartridge. The madman laughed

-aloud.

-

-“No, no!” he shouted. “The bullet is not cast that will kill the Mad

-Hunter! The cartridge is not made that will injure me!”

-

-The officer found his pistol-hammer jammed. He could not cock the

-weapon again. With a wild shriek the maniac dropped his rifle, and,

-drawing his knife, flung himself at his victim, intending evidently to

-kill him with those slashes across the breast which usually marked his

-dead.

-

-But in that awful moment the doomed man’s eyes turned upon the distant

-spur, and he beheld the rifle rise to the horseman’s shoulder.

-Desperate as was the chance, Buffalo Bill intending risking a shot to

-save him. He flung himself backward, as the madman came on, leaving the

-field clear for the scout to fire.

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER XXXI. BUFFALO BILL’S GREAT SHOT.

-

-

-In that instant, as he was falling backward upon the ground, knowing

-that if the huge madman reached him before Buffalo Bill’s bullet

-reached its mark he would be a dead man, a clear perception of the

-great mistake he had made flashed through the captain’s mind. He

-remembered that that morning when cleaning his revolver he had noticed

-something wrong with the hammer, and had put it aside, unloaded, to

-attend to later in the day. But as he started from the camp that

-evening to walk up the hill, and Texas Jack had called his warning to

-him, he had picked up the weapon and thrust it into his belt without

-looking at it.

-

-Had he not made this error he would have shot the Mad Hunter dead

-in that instant when the giant turned his head to look across the

-little valley. As he went backward, the officer flung away his useless

-revolver and clutched at his sword. But he could not get it from its

-scabbard in time. It was but half-drawn when he landed upon his back

-with a shock that almost deprived him of his senses!

-

-Fearful, indeed, were the chances against the officer. He was

-absolutely helpless then, and like a tiger-cat the madman had sprung

-at his falling body. He actually was in the air with the blade of his

-knife poised to thrust downward into the officer’s breast when the

-latter heard the crack of Buffalo Bill’s rifle on the other hillside.

-

-The keen eye of the scout on horseback had noted every move of the game

-on the ridge. He recognized the officer, and he guessed who the other

-man must be when he saw his threatening attitude. It was a long shot,

-and there was danger at first of his hitting the captain instead of his

-foe.

-

-But when the former flung himself backward the scout dared fire. And

-he pulled the trigger just in the nick of time. The maniac was already

-plunging forward to knife the supine soldier when the bullet sped on

-its mission.

-

-With a scream the madman pitched forward, over-leaping his victim, and

-falling on his face upon the ground, the knife being plunged hilt deep

-into the soft earth! A red streak showed across his scalp where the

-bullet had grazed the man’s crown.

-

-“Bravo, bravo, Buffalo Bill! I owe my life to him--and Heaven knows

-I was never in closer quarters with death!” cried the officer, as he

-leaped up and drew his sword to further defend himself.

-

-But the huge form lay still. The Mad Hunter lay unconscious. Therefore,

-turning to the opposite hill, he waved his hat, which he had picked

-up, to the horseman who was now spurring down into the valley. An

-answering yell from Buffalo Bill showed that he saw the officer was

-safe.

-

-The rifle-shot and the shout of the Border King was unheard down there

-in the bigger valley; all this tragic happening had been in sight of

-the camp of the troopers, yet had chanced to go unnoticed. It was the

-scout who had come upon the scene in the nick of time, and who again

-had proved himself a hero.

-

-With rapid bounds the scout urged his big white charger up the hill,

-from the shadows below to the twilight of the ridge summit. Finally he

-pulled up, threw himself from the saddle, and the officer caught his

-gauntleted hand.

-

-“God bless you, Cody!”

-

-“Captain Ed. Keyes!”

-

-“Always in the right place at the right time, scout. Another minute,

-and that old madman would have sent me on my long journey, and no

-mistake!”

-

-“I came blamed near being in the wrong place, captain,” said Cody

-seriously. “That was a long shot. I was taking great chances, and if

-you hadn’t flung yourself backward I should have scarcely risked firing

-at all.”

-

-Then he turned to view the prostrate form of the madman, and said:

-

-“It’s that crazy fellow they talk about, isn’t it?”

-

-“So he said. He seemed to be proud of his reputation.”

-

-“The Mad Hunter!”

-

-“Yes. And mad he certainly is--poor fellow. I suppose he’s not to be

-blamed for what he can’t help. But he’s better dead than at large. Ugh!

-Another moment, and he’d had his devil’s cross slashed on my breast, I

-fancy.”

-

-“You had a narrow squeak, sir.”

-

-“I certainly did. Is he dead?”

-

-Buffalo Bill was stooping over the giant. He turned him over so that

-his face was visible in the half-light.

-

-“_That_ shot oughtn’t to have killed him,” muttered the scout, noting

-the course of his bullet.

-

-“It certainly couldn’t have hurt his brain any more than it _was_

-queered. He’s breathing, isn’t he?”

-

-But Buffalo Bill did not immediately reply. He had suddenly fallen

-silent, and when Captain Keyes looked at the scout in surprise he

-saw that his eyes were fixed with a most strange expression upon the

-unconscious madman’s face.

-

-“What’s the matter, Cody?” the officer asked.

-

-The scout still made no reply. It is doubtful if he heard his superior

-officer. He seemed devouring the features of the unconscious man.

-

-Little of the face could be seen for the matted beard and hair. Yet

-the angles of the cheek-bones and jaw were easily traced; likewise,

-the penthouse brows and deeply sunken eyes. The nose was prominent--a

-handsome nose, with its point thin and flexible, and the nostrils well

-marked.

-

-“No--no,” murmured the scout at last. “I never could have seen him

-before--never!”

-

-“What’s the matter with you, Cody?”

-

-Buffalo Bill looked up at him, and wet his lips before speaking.

-

-“I--I thought I saw a ghost, Captain Keyes--a ghost! My God! and it’s

-no wonder, with my mind full of the horror I _have_ seen already this

-evening. It--it was Danforth--he’s got into my mind, and I can’t

-forget him.”

-

-“Dick Danforth--Lieutenant Danforth?”

-

-“Aye--the poor boy himself.”

-

-“What under the sun has Dick got to do with this madman?”

-

-“Oh--nothing! nothing!” exclaimed Cody, leaping up. “But I have to

-report a very terrible thing, captain.”

-

-“Not about Dick Danforth?”

-

-“It is, sir. Lieutenant Danforth is dead--dead with all his men!”

-

-“No!”

-

-“It is the awful truth, sir.”

-

-“I cannot believe it, Cody. You are beside yourself. You look strange,

-man!”

-

-“Aye, and you would look strange yourself had you seen what _I_ have

-seen, Captain Keyes.”

-

-“Tell me!”

-

-“I was on my way to Fort Advance with the news when I happened to see

-you--as I supposed, facing a grizzly bear over on this ridge.”

-

-“He was worse than a grizzly,” said Keyes, with a glance at the giant.

-“But give me the particulars----”

-

-“Boyd Bennett has joined the Sioux, betrayed Danforth and his men into

-a trap, and the whole party were wiped out.”

-

-“My God, Cody!”

-

-“It is so. I saw them. I was captured by Bennett, indeed. It was within

-a few miles of Oak Heart’s big village.”

-

-“Ha! And did you see the wily old scoundrel himself?”

-

-“Oak Heart?”

-

-“Yes.”

-

-“No; but I saw a representative of the chief;” and he repeated the

-story of his coming upon the field of carnage and his adventure with

-Bennett and the White Antelope, while Keyes hurried him down the

-hillside toward the troopers’ camp.

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER XXXII. THE BORDER KING’S PLEDGE.

-

-

-With him Captain Keyes had over a hundred cavalrymen, a company of

-mounted infantry, and two mountain howitzers, numbering, with the

-artillerymen and scouts, nearly two hundred men--a strong flying

-column, that could move rapidly and stand off a big force of Indians.

-They were then encamped not twenty miles from the main village of the

-Sioux, and not much more than half that distance from the coulée where

-Danforth’s squadron had been overcome.

-

-The coming of Buffalo Bill, although it had been most timely for

-Captain Keyes, and had undoubtedly saved his life, cast a mantle of

-gloom over the encampment. Although the men had been warned to turn in

-early, because of the work before them on the morrow, they stood or sat

-around the camp-fires until late, discussing the terrible intelligence

-the scout had brought.

-

-And at the officers’ quarters, Buffalo Bill had to relate the story all

-over again to an eager band of listeners. All had known Dick Danforth,

-and his death was greatly deplored.

-

-As soon as he could get away, and had eaten a bit of supper, Cody

-sought out his faithful partner, Jack Omohondreau.

-

-“Jack, old man, did you ever see the Wild Huntsman?”

-

-“What! this fellow who come pretty near bowling over the captain--the

-Mad Hunter?”

-

-“Yes.”

-

-“Never. But I’ve seen his spoor--and I’ve seen his work.”

-

-“Meaning his dead?”

-

-“Yep. Two redskins. He didn’t do a thing but hash them up. Ugh!”

-

-“I don’t think I killed him up there. Will you get a couple of torches,

-and bring two other fellows you can trust, and help me make a search

-for him?”

-

-“Lord! Want to put the finishing touch on him--eh?”

-

-“No. I must bring him down here and have the surgeon give him what care

-he can.”

-

-“Whew! You’d best roll him over a precipice by mistake.”

-

-“The man is mad.”

-

-“Well, then, he isn’t missing much, if he cashes in.”

-

-“But perhaps he can be cured.”

-

-“Well, are you going to tackle the cure?”

-

-“I want to see if he’s dead first,” said Cody non-committingly. “Go

-find your men--and don’t forget the torches, Jack.”

-

-Texas Jack found both, and the four men searched the ridge

-thoroughly--or as thoroughly as they could by torchlight; but the

-gigantic madman was not there. He might have crawled into some hole to

-hide; anyway, they had to give it up for the night.

-

-As they returned to camp they found an orderly searching industriously

-for Buffalo Bill.

-

-“Captain Keyes’ compliments, sir, and will you come to his tent at

-once?”

-

-The scout complied with his request. Keyes had his despatch-box open,

-and was undoubtedly just inditing his report of the day’s work, and of

-the intelligence the scout had brought him, to his commander at Fort

-Advance. He motioned the scout to a camp-stool.

-

-“Sit down, Cody. I want to talk with you.”

-

-Buffalo Bill obeyed.

-

-“We have deeded to divide the command. I shall go myself with the first

-division on to the place where our poor brave fellows lie, and attend

-to the burial of their bodies. The rest of my party will form a reserve

-squad with the howitzers--in case of treachery.”

-

-“There will be no treachery, Captain Keyes. I know Oak Heart.”

-

-“But you say that deserter, Bennett, has influence in the tribe.”

-

-“Not enough to make the old chief break his word.”

-

-“Best to be sure, anyway. Now, there’s a point I wish to discuss with

-you. I know your confounded quixotism, Cody. You certainly don’t

-propose to keep your promise to that squaw and go alone to the Indian

-encampment?”

-

-“I do mean just that, sir.”

-

-At this the officer rose to his feet and spoke vigorously.

-

-“Cody, you sha’n’t do it! By the nine gods of war! it’s foolish--it’s

-insane!”

-

-“I have promised.”

-

-“But I forbid you!”

-

-“I can’t help that, sir; but if you will think a moment, you will see

-that it is quite out of your jurisdiction. I was the reds’ prisoner.

-They did not have to let me go at all. My life is hostage to them yet.

-They have trusted me--and, God knows, enough white men have lied to

-them.”

-

-“Then I’ll attack their camp, small as my force is.”

-

-“You will compass my death sure enough if you do,” said the scout,

-shaking his head.

-

-“But, Cody, of all white men alive, _you_ are the one they most wish to

-see _dead_!”

-

-“So be it.”

-

-“Be reasonable.”

-

-“They desire to make my closer acquaintance, and I intend to give them

-the chance,” said Buffalo Bill, smiling.

-

-“Never, Cody!”

-

-“But I----”

-

-“I’ll hear no ‘buts,’ scouts. If you persist in such a foolish

-intention I’ll put you in the guard-house and keep you under arrest

-until you come to your senses.”

-

-“I’m afraid I’ll grow gray in the guard-house, then,” laughed Buffalo

-Bill, who knew that his friend did not mean this.

-

-“But you were forced to make the promise to save your life. Therefore,

-the promise was given under durance and cannot hold.”

-

-“The redskins have few lawyers,” said Cody, with a smile. “That

-sophistry would not appeal to them.”

-

-“It’s sure death!”

-

-“I’m not so sure of that. However, I must go to Oak Heart’s camp. I may

-risk my life, but I hope to accomplish a purpose that I have in mind.”

-

-The officer saw that the scout was determined, and that his will could

-not be shaken.

-

-“It seems like being a party to your murder to let you go, scout,” said

-Captain Keyes gloomily. “And you saved my life, too!”

-

-“Let us hope for the best, sir,” said the scout quietly, as he bowed

-himself out of the officer’s tent.

-

-Before dawn Buffalo Bill and a squad of men sent by Captain Keyes went

-to the ridge to hunt the live--or dead--body of the Mad Hunter. In an

-hour, and just before the column was ready to start, the squad returned

-without Cody.

-

-“Where is the scout, sergeant?” asked Captain Keyes.

-

-“He left us upon the ridge, sir,” said the man, saluting.

-

-“Left you?”

-

-“Yes, sir.”

-

-“And where did he go?”

-

-“He struck a trail, sir, and said he would be off on it.”

-

-“What sort of trail?”

-

-“The Mad Hunter’s trail. We could not find the man, but Mr. Cody saw

-where he had walked away, and he started in pursuit.”

-

-“He’s gone farther than that!” exclaimed Captain Keyes, shaking his

-head. “What say, Texas Jack?”

-

-Omohondreau, who knew of Buffalo Bill’s promise to the White Antelope,

-nodded.

-

-“He’s gone to the Injun camp,” said the brother scout, “and it’s a

-toss-up if it isn’t ‘good-by, Bill Cody!’ for good and all!”

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER XXXIII. TRACKING THE MAD HUNTER.

-

-

-After a night of uneasy repose, in which the thoughts engendered by his

-first sight of the Mad Hunter’s face had ridden him like a nightmare,

-Buffalo Bill was determined to make a thorough search for the maniac.

-Had he not believed the evening before that the man was likely to

-remain unconscious until roused by the efforts of the surgeon, he would

-have begged Captain Keyes to let him stay by the maniac until help

-could come. He was deeply disappointed when he and Jack Omohondreau

-could not find the giant.

-

-In the morning he had searched patiently, struck the trail of the

-madman, and, as the sergeant reported, had started at once to follow

-and run the maniac down. He had brought his horse, and having left the

-soldiers, he mounted Chief and followed the big footprints of the wild

-man at a round trot for some distance.

-

-How seriously the man was wounded, Cody did not know; but his quarry

-did not seem to try to hide his trail. Straight along the ridge it led,

-then down into the little valley the scout had ridden across the night

-before, and so up the range of hills on the other side. Something about

-the walking of the big man puzzled the scout greatly, and suddenly

-Buffalo Bill spurred his horse to the summit of a high hill, that he

-might take a survey of the country over which it seemed the madman

-might pass.

-

-The soldiers were under way now, and, first of all, Cody saw them

-traversing a defile at one side, up which they had come from the

-bivouac of the past night. A steep bluff towered beside them where

-they were then marching as Buffalo Bill came out upon the back-bone of

-the range.

-

-The course he had taken in following the madman’s trail had brought

-the scout out ahead of the marching column. But it was not upon them

-that his gaze became fastened. Instead, a single moving object upon the

-summit of the bluff in the shadow of which the soldiers marched held

-his attention. This object was more than a mile ahead of the soldiery,

-and would never be noticed from the valley below.

-

-In an instant Buffalo Bill divined the identity of the moving object,

-and the nature of the work which engaged its attention. The ridge of

-land on which he stood was unbroken to the bluff itself. He set spurs

-to Chief and raced along the highlands, knowing that he would not

-likely be seen by the soldiers, and therefore must do alone what he

-could to avert the catastrophe which he saw imminent.

-

-Thwarted the night before when he sought the life of Captain Keyes, the

-Mad Hunter was trying to compass a worse crime. The moving form Buffalo

-Bill knew to be the maniac, and he saw that he was gathering huge rocks

-into a pile, which he proposed to push over upon the soldiers as they

-passed below the bluff!

-

-It was a fiendish plan, and well worthy of the man’s insane cunning.

-Buffalo Bill spurred on, and came to a place not many yards behind the

-Mad Hunter without the latter’s being aware of his presence, so intent

-was he in the work.

-

-Leaving his horse and rifle, the scout, with soft tread and every sense

-alert, crept up behind the busy lunatic. He saw that the Mad Hunter

-had put aside his own arms, the better to toil at his horrid trap.

-With a single shot from his revolver the scout might have dropped the

-maniac dead, and so relieved the world of a dangerous creature--a being

-neither man nor brute. But the scout did not wish to hurt the giant.

-

-Finally, without being discovered, the scout stood within twenty feet

-of the Mad Hunter. His eyes were as fierce as a wolf’s, his hands

-opened and shut with nervous clutches, and his lips moved continuously

-as he whispered to himself. Yet something familiar in the contour of

-the poor creature’s face held Cody spellbound. He was moved as he had

-been the night before when he had first looked upon the features of the

-wild man.

-

-Nearer and nearer drew the column of soldiers, for through a gap in the

-edge of the bluff Cody could mark their progress. Captain Keyes and his

-officers, and Texas Jack, rode ahead. The madman prepared to tip his

-monument of rocks over upon their devoted heads!

-

-Suddenly the Mad Hunter picked up a great stone--one that the scout was

-sure no two ordinary men could lift--and, picking his victim on the

-plain below, was about to fling it down. Cody quickly dashed across

-the intervening space, and, revolver in hand, tapped the madman on the

-shoulder.

-

-With a sudden inspiration the scout shouted into the man’s ear a name

-he had not spoken himself for a dozen years--the name of a man who,

-until the night before, he had believed long since dead.

-

-The Mad Hunter turned in a flash. He dropped the rock. He stared at the

-scout with wondering gaze. His eyes grew somber as the light of insane

-rage died out of them. He whispered at last:

-

-“Who--who calls me by that name? Speak!”

-

-Trembling violently, he gazed upon the scout with some shadow of reason

-struggling to dawn in his expression. It was elusive--fleeting--yet the

-scout knew that he had touched a chord of memory that shook the man to

-the foundation of his being.

-

-“Who speaks that name after all these years?” cried the madman again.

-

-“I am Bill Cody--Cody, your old pal. Cody, the man you knew on the Rio

-Grande!” exclaimed the scout, his own voice shaking, for the discovery

-he had made passed the bounds of reason.

-

-The strange being shook his head slowly.

-

-“No. You may be whom you say; but the man you spoke of first is

-dead--dead--a long time dead!”

-

-Buffalo Bill, however, was gaining confidence in his discovery all the

-time.

-

-“You’re the man! I know you are. Think, man! Send back your memory to

-those old times. Remember the work we did together. Remember--remember

-your wife--your child----”

-

-With a shriek like nothing human, with a face that changed in a flash

-to that of a demoniac, the Mad Hunter hurled himself, bare-handed, at

-the scout’s throat.

-

-“Fiend! Fiend from the pit!” he yelled. “You have come to torment me

-and taunt me! Ah! for long have I escaped your taunts; but now you have

-returned!”

-

-His heartrending cry almost unmanned the scout. He saw that he had

-touched the wrong chord with the madman. Reminded of the loss of his

-wife and child, the victim of this awful fate had been thrown into a

-paroxysm of rage.

-

-For an instant Buffalo Bill hesitated. That hesitation came near

-to costing him his life. The maniac was upon him and seized his

-pistol-hand before he could make up his mind to fire at his old friend.

-The madman’s other hand tightened on the scout’s throat. They swayed

-upon the edge of the precipice.

-

-Seconds dragged like hours in that struggle. Buffalo Bill had met more

-than his match in this wild being. Suddenly he heard a cry below:

-

-“Hold, Cody! for God’s sake, hold!”

-

-It was Captain Keyes’ voice. It inspired the sinking scout to make one

-final and desperate effort. He half-tore him self free of the giant’s

-clutch.

-

-“Steady! Texas Jack has got the drop on him!” yelled the voice of Keyes

-again.

-

-Instantly there came the sharp crack of a rifle. The maniac jumped

-slightly, and his awful grip loosened. The scout tore himself

-completely away, spattered by the maniac’s blood.

-

-The latter whirled about, back to the brink of the bluff, clutched

-helplessly at the air with his great hands, and pitched down the

-declivity. He was dead before he struck the bottom--a heap of broken

-bones and bruised flesh!

-

-Texas Jack mounted the cliff to see if the scout was all right. He

-found Cody wiping the blood from his face, and very grave of look.

-

-“Had to shoot him, old man. ’Twas you or him, yuh know,” said the

-brother scout.

-

-“I know it, Jack. I can only thank you. But I am sorry--bitterly sorry.

-I knew that man when he was a right good fellow. Ask Captain Keyes to

-give him decent burial, and to mark the grave--mark it with the letter

-‘D.’”

-

-With these words Cody shook hands with his pard and hastened away to

-where Chief was quietly feeding. In a moment he was riding hard away

-from the spot where the terrible tragedy had taken place.

-

-Captain Keyes complied with Cody’s request, but was sorry that the

-scout had evidently gone on his mission of death--for the officer could

-look at the visit to the Indian encampment in no other light.

-

-He had divided his force, as he said he should, and the vanguard

-went on to the coulée and buried the dead. All the redskins had been

-removed, and the place was deserted of the living. But when they came

-to search for Dick Danforth’s body, intending to remove it to the fort

-with them, it was not to be found. The brave lieutenant, for whose

-scalp Buffalo Bill had pleaded with White Antelope, had disappeared

-from the field of battle.

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER XXXIV. RED KNIFE LOSES HIS “MEDICINE.”

-

-

-At the time the fire burst out in the great forest and Buffalo Bill,

-the Border King, and his partner, Texas Jack, were chased by the

-flames, a young buck of Oak Heart’s tribe of Utah Sioux was likewise

-in the path of the flames. He had been out after a bear, because his

-father, an old brave now toothless and unable to follow in the chase,

-had expressed a desire for bear paws, roasted.

-

-The government of Indian society is strictly patriarchal. The father

-of a family demands, and is accorded, the greatest respect. Besides, it

-is a trait of Indian character to care for and respect the aged. The

-aged men of the tribe usually mold its opinions in both peace and war.

-

-Besides, Red Knife, as this young buck was named, was not a married

-man. He was what the whites would have called “an old bach.” He had no

-teepee of his own, but it was a notorious fact that he cast longing

-glances toward White Antelope, the cherished daughter of Oak Heart

-and the flower of the Sioux maidens. He had gone hunting for the bear

-because his father was fond of bear paws, but with the claws, and

-others in his possession, he hoped to make a cunning necklace that

-would be acceptable to the chief’s daughter.

-

-Red Knife had lately become of moment in the tribe. It had been his

-hand that had finally felled the chief of the pony soldiers who were

-killed in the coulée, and whom Death Killer had tried to scalp. Red

-Knife hoped in time to become so important that the White Antelope

-would really look at him with favor, instead of ignoring him altogether.

-

-The buck had obtained a single shot at his bearship, wounding him with

-a barbed arrow, and had driven him into a thicket toward the close of

-the day. Suddenly the smoke that had been hanging over the hilltops for

-hours swooped down upon the Indian and his quarry, and following the

-smoke came the fire--a deluge of flame!

-

-The bear suddenly lost his fear of the redskin, and the latter lost his

-desire to take bear paws to his teepee.

-

-The crackling of the flames as they leaped down the wooded side-hills

-into the valley warned both hunter and hunted that there was no time

-to lose. The bear burst out of the thicket, the arrow still sticking

-in his rump, and waddled off for running water at a great pace. The

-Indian had chased the beast into unfamiliar territory, and now he took

-advantage of his prey’s instinct. He followed the bear.

-

-Through brush and bramble, over rocky way and swampy land, the bear and

-the man raced. At times they were almost side by side, and neither paid

-the least attention to the other. Lighter and swifter creatures passed

-the two like the wind; the bear and the redskin plugged along doggedly,

-as though running for a wager.

-

-They were not in the neighborhood of Bendigo Lake, so they did not

-meet up with either the two scouts or with the Mad Hunter. It was a

-stream which the bear, back in his little brain, knew would be running

-full even at this dry season. They reached it barely in time to save

-themselves from being withered by the flames. The bear’s fur was indeed

-smoking.

-

-He plunged over the bank into the deep, dark pool. Red Knife went after

-bruin, landing squarely on the bear’s back, eliciting only the notice

-of a grunt from the beast as he sank to the bottom of the pool and let

-the flames roar overhead.

-

-The redskin stayed below the surface as long as he could, too. He could

-feel the bear beside him all the time. He might have flung himself upon

-the beast with his knife and killed him. It were better had he done so.

-

-But at the time Red Knife was too perturbed to think of killing his

-companion in misery. When the redskin came up to breathe, the fiery

-brands showered upon him so thickly that he was glad to sink again. It

-was some time before it was safe for him to squat, with his head out of

-water.

-

-And there were the redskin and the bear, both on their haunches, with

-their noses stuck out of the pool like two bullfrogs. As the heat grew

-less intense and the brands stopped falling, the bear and the man began

-eying each other with less favor. Each recovered from his panic and

-began to remember that they were deadly enemies.

-

-The bear growled and shifted his position to a distance from the red;

-the latter got out his knife--the only weapon he had saved--and in

-moments when he was not dodging flying fire planned what he would do

-should bruin take it into his head to attack.

-

-This deep pool in the brook was no proper arena for a

-bear-fight--especially when the human antagonist had simply a knife.

-Red Knife thought some of sinking to the bottom of the pool again

-and making the attack himself by trying to drive his blade into some

-vulnerable part of the beast.

-

-But the difficulty of using his knife with any surety, or putting any

-force behind the blow under water, detained him from trying this.

-Besides, the bear, if killed or badly injured, would sink and might

-pinion the redskin to the bottom of the brook.

-

-Therefore, as soon as he could see at all through the rolling smoke,

-and the worst of the flames had passed, leaving a thicket or dead tree

-only blazing in its wake here and there, the redskin made up his mind

-that he would better trust to the dry ground. His moccasins were

-well-nigh torn from his feet by his furious race through the forest,

-and his meager clothing in general had been seriously torn. There was

-little to shield him from the fire if he came forth, but the water of

-the brook was ice-cold, and hardy as the Red Knife was its chill had

-now set his teeth to playing like castanets.

-

-The bear whined with the cold, too, but the next moment he growled as

-Red Knife made a movement toward him. If the beast once got a hold with

-his front paws on the redskin he would disembowel him with the great

-claws of his hind feet. Red Knife shrank farther away from the bear’s

-vicinity.

-

-At this bruin plucked up courage. He growled again, came down off his

-haunches, and began to swim across the pool toward the Indian. The

-latter saw that it was his move--and the only place for him to move

-to was out of the water. So he backed into the shallower part of the

-stream and toward a part of the bank that was comparatively clear of

-fire.

-

-The heat and smoke were still almost blistering. To leave the water was

-a cross indeed. But the bear continued to advance, and Red Knife did

-not consider that he wished to come immediately to close quarters with

-the brute.

-

-As he backed out of the stream the heat of a near-by blazing thicket

-warmed him more than comfortably. The chill was driven out of his body,

-and his teeth stopped chattering. Fearful as he was of the fire--all

-wild beasts hate it--the bear found the increasing warmth grateful,

-too. He scrambled out upon the bank, too, and actually squatted down in

-the heat of the bonfire to dry himself.

-

-Red Knife looked about him as well as he could for the drifting smoke,

-and picked out the apparently safest path from the spot. Had he been

-contented to decamp without stirring up the bear, he would have been

-all right. But an Indian loves to tell of his prowess around the

-camp-fire, and so far there had been very little in this adventure to

-suggest a tale of self-glorification.

-

-Therefore the buck determined to have those bear paws for his father

-and the claws for the necklace, after all!

-

-He hunted out a big stone, pried it out of the smoking ground with

-his knife, and, picking it up, poised it carefully for a cast. With a

-sudden grunt of anger, the bear rose up. He seemed to smell trouble in

-the air. His movement rather spoiled Red Knife’s aim, or else the buck

-was nervous. The stone, thrown with terrific force, just glanced from

-bruin’s hard skull!

-

-With a roar the bear sprang at the foolish red man. He came all glaring

-eyes, froth-dripping fangs, and unsheathed claws--a sight to drive the

-barb of terror into the bravest heart!

-

-The redskin found himself walled in by fire behind. He leaped for the

-pool again, but the bear reached him with one paw first. The stroke

-ripped his hunting-shirt and leggings fairly from his body. Nothing but

-shreds of the garments were left and hung upon him--along with shreds

-of his torn flesh!

-

-The redskin yelled and leaped into the water. The bear growled and

-plunged after him. As he came up Red Knife saw the great body of the

-beast going down, and he struck at it with his blade again and again.

-The sharp steel was buried in the body of the brute at each stroke,

-but all about the shoulders--a part not at all vital.

-

-Again and again Red Knife struck before the bear came to the surface,

-but, although the blood flowed until the agitated pool was dyed red,

-the bear came up as strong and as ugly as ever.

-

-Red Knife threw himself backward and escaped the first plunging blows

-of the bear. He reached shallow water and leaped ashore, being more

-agile in this than his bearship. But in doing so he chanced to slip and

-turn his ankle. The pain was very great for a moment, and the Indian

-fell to the ground, giving the bear a chance to almost overtake him.

-

-Instantly, however, the red turned and struck at his bearship before

-the latter could seize him with its great, slobbering jaws. An attack

-always puts a bear on the defensive. He squatted back on his haunches,

-ready to either hug his enemy or to strike at him with his great

-forearms, which swung like flails!

-

-Red Knife clambered to his feet, but he could not run. The bear would

-overtake him now in a short race. He poised himself on one foot,

-holding his dripping blade before him, and, believing himself come to

-the end of his time, the stoical Indian began to chant the death-song.

-

-The growling of the bear almost drowned this cry of the Indian. The

-latter advanced to embrace death, yet determined to sell his last

-breath dearly.

-

-The flaillike arms of the bear swung to and fro; he champed his

-teeth and roared. The Indian flung himself with the desperation of a

-berserker upon the animal, striking again and again with his keen blade.

-

-Two awful raking blows the bear got in himself. It stripped the last

-rag from the Indian’s body, and broke the string of the amulet he wore

-about his neck, as well. They clinched like two men wrestling, and so

-rolled into the pool.

-

-Splash! they went under the surface. Bubbles and gore rose to the

-agitated top of the water.

-

-Then one of the contestants floated up, struggled a bit, secured a

-footing, and slowly walked ashore. It was the Indian. It was Red Knife,

-as naked as when he was born. He sank upon the bank of the stream, the

-conqueror in a good fight. But he had no joy in his heart. Instead, he

-was filled with gloom. In the struggle and the last plunge in the pool

-he had lost his medicine-bag!

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER XXXV. THE SEARCH FOR NEW MEDICINE.

-

-

-When a young brave comes to man’s estate his initiation into the

-religion of his tribe is a great matter. Heretofore he has had no real

-name. He has been called by several names, perhaps, but they have been

-those given him by his parents, and are perhaps only the pet names of

-childhood. Now he is a man and gets the name which in war and on the

-hunt he is hopeful of making great and long-remembered by the tribe.

-

-Red Knife belonged to the family of the Crow. The signification of that

-family was painted upon his father’s wigwam, as it would be upon his

-own when he set up a domicile for himself.

-

-So the medicine-man had put into a bag the dried entrails of a crow,

-its hard, black claws, and some of its feathers, with various other

-charms against evil. The young man had watched all night upon a

-lonely hill, fasting, to guard his shield and arms, as well as the

-new medicine, from those spirits that are ever warring against human

-beings--according to the Indian code--and had in other ways proved

-himself worthy of being a brave in the councils of the Sioux.

-

-The bag, which had been fastened about Red Knife’s neck, was as

-precious to the Indian as his soul! Having lost it, he had lost caste

-and all else that an Indian holds of value. He would be considered

-apostate from the faith of his fathers; all that he had done heretofore

-in war and the chase would be held as nothing. He would be outcast from

-his kind, having lost his medicine, unless he could by some wonderful

-performance, or by some mysterious chance, find and appropriate a new

-medicine.

-

-There are just so many medicines in the world, according to the Indian

-belief; there is one for each man. Having lost his medicine, it could

-not be replaced by the medicine chief or by any other ordinary means.

-He could not kill an enemy and take _his_ medicine for his own; for as

-soon as a man is dead the virtue of his medicine accompanies him on the

-journey to the happy hunting-grounds.

-

-No man would be so foolish as to sell his medicine at any price. With

-his last breath he will fight for that amulet. Red Knife was undone

-indeed as he sat there beside the bloody pool. All the manhood had

-gone out of him. His hard fight and his many wounds seemed as nothing

-to him now. He was bereft of his choicest possession and could not be

-comforted.

-

-Yet a desire to be with his kind, to see the faces of his tribesmen

-again, drove the young man finally from his position. The fire had gone

-from the forest, and it was midday of the second day before he rose to

-his feet. The decomposing gases in the body of the bear had brought it

-to the surface. Red Knife hobbled down, cut off the paws and strung

-them about his neck, flayed the carcass, cut off some flesh for his own

-consumption, found a flint-stone, and with the back of his knife struck

-off sparks which lit a fire, and after eating and renewing his strength

-he wrapped himself in the gory robe and started for Oak Heart’s village.

-

-This encampment had been well out of the line of the forest fire and

-had not been disturbed by it. Red Knife reached it in the night and

-came to his father’s lodge. But he did not venture within. He was

-pariah--outcast--the lowest of the low.

-

-His mother gave him food in the morning, but his father sent back the

-bear’s paws. It was soon known that Red Knife had lost his medicine,

-and the head of the Crow family could not accept food at his hand. Of

-course, Red Knife knew it would be useless to make the bear claws into

-a necklace for the White Antelope. She would look at him less now than

-before. Besides, the White Antelope remained in her lodge, with one old

-woman, her nurse, most of the time. There was something very mysterious

-about the movements of the daughter of the chief.

-

-This did not interest Red Knife much at the time, however. He was past

-thinking of women. His own people looked at him askance. Nobody spoke

-to him; he was welcome in no lodge, and the very clothing which his

-mother flung him seemed begrudged. All Indians must harden their hearts

-against a being so cursed of the Great Spirit that he had lost his

-medicine!

-

-He could enter no council of his tribe; he had no voice in the general

-affairs; he could join in none of the sports. All that he had done

-before was forgotten. Even that he had brought low the white chief who

-had led the pony soldiers to the battle in the coulée counted nothing

-for Red Knife now. He was outcast.

-

-Red Knife could not stand for this long. An Indian does not make way

-with himself. A suicide wanders forever between this life and that to

-come, and is never at rest. But Red Knife was nearly desperate enough

-to resort to this awful finish.

-

-At least he determined to go out from among his people and never to

-return until he had found a new medicine and obtained a new name for

-himself--in other words, until he could demand the respect of his

-family and of his tribe.

-

-Now he crept out of the encampment, and from a high hill muttered his

-farewell address to his home and his people. He would not be Red Knife

-when he returned--if he returned at all. All the encampment knew that,

-but only one figure stood by his father’s lodge to watch him go. He

-knew that was his mother, but it was beneath him to notice a squaw!

-

-Now this young buck had set forth on a search as great as that for the

-Golden Fleece or the Holy Grail of old! Had the tribe a Homer, some

-great saga might have been written regarding the labor Red Knife had

-set himself.

-

-To go forth and kill an enemy and take his medicine was a simple

-matter. But the medicine of another would surely bring bad luck to the

-scion of the family of Crow. And to find a man with two medicines--ah!

-that were a well-nigh impossible task! And, when found, would such a

-fortunate person be willing to give up his extra medicine? To fight for

-it might end in the death of the first possessor, and then would the

-virtue go from the medicine and it become a curse to Red Knife.

-

-The young man left his village and journeyed aimlessly for two days

-through the mountains. So unnoticing was he that finally he came to a

-place where he did not know his way out. He was not so far from Oak

-Heart’s village, but its direction he did not know for sure. And this

-valley in which he found himself seemed an uninhabited place.

-

-Many of the braves were out on hunting bent, but Red Knife had not

-seen any of them for twenty-four hours. Nor had he beheld a white man

-until, coming down to drink at the edge of the stream which watered

-this valley, he suddenly saw a figure in buckskin sitting upon a great,

-white horse on the opposite side of the stream. In the fading light

-of the evening the being looked gigantic to the red man--who was in

-a state of mind to see ghosts or anything else eerie! The strange

-figure was that of a white man. He had hair flowing to his shoulders,

-and he sat his horse with folded arms, staring off into the distance,

-evidently wrapped in deep thought.

-

-The wind was with the brave, and the horse even did not notice his

-presence. Red Knife might have crossed the stream and leaped upon the

-unsuspicious white man. Yet his mind was not upon killing, and when he

-finally recognized the stranger as the far-famed Pa-e-has-ka or Long

-Hair he feared and would not, single-handed, have attempted the man’s

-death.

-

-Seldom might Buffalo Bill have been so easily caught napping. But he

-had seen no trace of Indians in the valley; he had ridden through it to

-this spot, and now his mind had reverted to his deep sorrow regarding

-Dick Danforth’s death, and he thought of nothing else.

-

-He roused at last from his reverie with a sigh, and glanced about him.

-His vision fell upon the figure of the young brave standing, likewise

-with folded arms, upon the edge of the stream. He could not repress a

-start of surprise at the appearance.

-

-“How!” grunted Red Knife.

-

-“How!” repeated the scout, in English.

-

-Then in the Sioux dialect he said:

-

-“Is it peace, brother?”

-

-“It is peace.”

-

-The scout had seen that the young buck was not panoplied for war, and

-now he dismounted and came to his side of the stream.

-

-“You are one of Oak Heart’s people?” Cody asked.

-

-“I _was_ Red Knife, of the Sioux.”

-

-The scout overlooked the emphasis on the “was” for the moment. His

-attention was particularly stung by the name the brave gave.

-

-“‘Red Knife!’” he repeated.

-

-The brave bowed and was silent.

-

-“It was you who killed the white chief of the pony soldiers?” gasped

-Cody.

-

-Red Knife nodded again.

-

-The scout fiercely gripped the rifle he carried. In his heart he felt

-like shooting the brave down where he stood. But he repressed this

-momentary feeling and said:

-

-“I have sworn vengeance against all who had to do with the death of

-that young man. He was as my son. Will Red Knife fight Pa-e-has-ka? Let

-him choose his own weapons and come against me that I may kill him in

-fair fight.”

-

-“I heard of your oath over the dead body of the brave white chief,”

-said Red Knife. “Pa-e-has-ka is a great chief himself. Red Knife is no

-match for him. But Red Knife now has no name and is of no people. Would

-Pa-e-has-ka fight with such a one?”

-

-“What’s the matter?” demanded Cody, in English, suddenly seeing that

-the young man was in a despondent mood.

-

-“I am an outcast from my people.”

-

-“What’s all that for? I should think the bloody devils would have

-rejoiced over your killing of poor Danforth,” muttered the scout.

-

-“Let me tell Pa-e-has-ka the tale,” began Red Knife oratorically. “The

-Sioux did indeed rejoice over the death of the young white chief. Red

-Knife was then a great warrior. But since misery has come upon him.”

-

-“And serve him right!” muttered Cody.

-

-With many a flourish of flowery phrase, the buck went on to recount his

-fight with the bear and the loss of his medicine-bag. He displayed the

-half-healed wounds made by the bear, and Cody saw that the story was

-true. Knowing well how great a matter this loss was to the Indian, the

-scout could not help but feeling some pity for him.

-

-Besides, Red Knife had only followed out his savage instincts and code

-of honor in killing Danforth. And putting aside his personal desire

-for vengeance, Buffalo Bill saw that he might make use of the young

-brave. It was not against the ordinary bucks who had been in the fight

-that the scout felt hatred. Boyd Bennett had lied to Oak Heart, made

-him believe that Danforth’s expedition was after the old chief, and had

-led and planned the attack upon the soldiers and brought about their

-massacre.

-

-It was the renegade--he who called himself Death Killer, medicine chief

-of the Sioux--whom Buffalo Bill wished to get!

-

-Buffalo Bill had taken many desperate chances in his life. From the

-time when, as a younker of eleven years, he had hired out to the

-freighter at Leavenworth to do a man’s work for a man’s pay, and became

-a messenger riding between the long freight-trains on the overland

-trail, he had faced death in many forms and on many occasions. But in

-determining to go to the Sioux encampment to keep his tryst with White

-Antelope, he seemed to be passing the limit of reckless daring!

-

-Yet he believed that he had a chance for life. He would risk it, at

-least.

-

-For some days he had scouted about Oak Heart’s encampment, and he had

-learned that something very strange was going on in that neighborhood.

-He saw in this meeting with the outcast Red Knife a chance to gain a

-more intimate knowledge of matters in the encampment before venturing

-himself in the lion’s mouth.

-

-“Let Red Knife join Pa-e-has-ka upon this side of the brook,” the scout

-said, at last. “There shall be a truce between them. Pa-e-has-ka will

-share his meat with Red Knife; Red Knife shall smoke and sleep beside

-Pa-e-has-ka’s fire.”

-

-If the young brave was astonished at this sudden proffer of friendship,

-he showed nothing of the kind in his face. He did not even hesitate. He

-crossed the brook straightly and helped prepare the camp in silence.

-

-The fact was the young Indian had put himself in the hands of the

-spirits. He believed he was being led. Perhaps this white man had a

-good medicine which Red Knife might fairly obtain and so become a

-person of consequence in his tribe again.

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER XXXVI. THE MAGIC CUP.

-

-

-First of all, Cody desired to question the Sioux warrior, and as he

-prepared a hearty meal he proceeded to draw Red Knife out.

-

-“When did my brother leave the village of his people?”

-

-“It is a night and two days.”

-

-“Is Oak Heart inclined to peace?”

-

-“Oak Heart awaits the coming of the Long Hair, as he promised White

-Antelope.”

-

-“Very true,” said Cody calmly. “But there is one near Oak Heart who

-would keep the Long Hair from fulfilling his promise.”

-

-“A warrior?”

-

-“The renegade white, whom you call Death Killer.”

-

-“Ah! Death Killer is a great magician,” declared Red Knife, looking as

-though he meant it.

-

-“He is a wicked white. He is throwing dirt in the faces of my red

-brothers. They do not know him.”

-

-“His medicine is wonderful.”

-

-“Yet he could not make new medicine for the Red Knife?” suggested Cody

-slyly.

-

-“Ah! who could do that?” demanded the brave gloomily.

-

-“I have heard of its being done,” said the scout, and then, before the

-red man could ask a question, he proceeded: “Death Killer has ringed

-the camp with his own braves. They lay in wait for Pa-e-has-ka. Is it

-not so?”

-

-At this Red Knife showed that he was surprised.

-

-“This is bad. This is not known to Oak Heart. Is it so, Long Hair?”

-

-“The Sioux know that Long Hair is not two-tongued,” declared Cody.

-“This is so. I suspected it, and I have found them watching. Is not

-Death Killer much from the camp?”

-

-“He is.”

-

-“He goes from watcher to watcher to see that all are in their places.

-If Long Hair goes straight to the camp of Oak Heart, he will be killed.”

-

-Red Knife shrugged his shoulders and fell silent. Cody saw that,

-although the young brave considered it none of his business--it was a

-fight between Long Hair and Death Killer--he did not approve of the

-latter’s methods. And the scout was convinced, too, that the bulk of

-the Indians--and Oak Heart himself--knew naught of the trick to which

-Boyd Bennett had resorted.

-

-Cody had not been foolish enough to ride straight toward Oak Heart’s

-village when he rode away from the spot where the Mad Hunter had been

-killed. He had seen in Boyd Bennett’s face, when he had gone free under

-his promise to the chief’s daughter, that the scoundrel would do all

-in his power to keep the scout from fulfilling his agreement. Although

-in going to the Indian village Cody would be taking his life in his

-hand, still by _not_ appearing there he would lose honor among the reds

-themselves.

-

-It would be said among the Utah Sioux, and from them spread to the

-Utes, Arapahoes, and others, that Pa-e-has-ka was afraid to keep his

-promise. And from the time he first journeyed across the plains Buffalo

-Bill had kept his agreements in every particular with the red man,

-friend or foe alike. He was one of the few white men “without guile.”

-He said what he meant, and meant what he said, and he was considered

-single-tongued by all, though he was up to every craftiness that his

-enemies might try upon him.

-

-Cody now wished to undermine the popularity of Boyd Bennett among Oak

-Heart’s braves. Even if he got through the medicine chief’s guards

-and reached the council-lodge of the Sioux, he would have to face the

-influence of the renegade, and that might overcome him to the extent of

-his life’s sacrifice. The scout was not the man to go blindly into a

-trap.

-

-Death Killer, as he called himself, was playing the traitor. Cody

-wished to convince Red Knife of this fact and send him back to the

-encampment to spread the tale against Death Killer. To this end he used

-the cunning which he had long cultivated in his association with the

-redskins.

-

-He well knew the regard in which the Indian holds his medicine-bag. If

-he could restore to Red Knife his medicine, or, rather, supply him

-with a new amulet that would make him a man and a citizen again, the

-scout could command his good offices to almost any extent.

-

-But the scout said nothing further that night. He let his observations

-regarding the renegade Bennett sink into the red man’s mind. In the

-morning he fed him bountifully again. When he had finished, Red Knife

-showed that he had digested Cody’s remarks well, and was in some

-measure grateful for the entertainment shown him.

-

-“The Long Hair is my brother. He has warmed me and fed me. If the Long

-Hair really desires to appear before Oak Heart and the old men of the

-tribe, as he has promised, Red Knife may show him a way.”

-

-“Ah!” exclaimed the scout. “Some way that Death Killer is not guarding

-with his braves, eh?”

-

-“It may be.”

-

-“In which direction is it?”

-

-“The Long Hair knows the direction of the encampment, perhaps? Red

-Knife, wandering in broken spirit, has lost his way.”

-

-“Oh, you want to know the direction of the place?”

-

-“It is so. The lodges of his people will not receive Red Knife, but he

-may point them out, by a secret way, to the Long Hair.”

-

-“Humph! Let’s see the direction,” muttered Cody, and drew from under

-his shirt a small compass in a brass cup which was hung about his neck

-by a strong cord.

-

-The Indian’s eyes suddenly glistened. Here was the great white’s

-chief’s medicine, and Red Knife was greatly interested in medicines

-just then! He peered closely at the cup which Cody held in his hand.

-The latter noticed the brave’s eagerness, and he knew instinctively

-what was passing through the red’s mind.

-

-Therefore the scout made a great show of consulting the compass,

-holding it in his hand while the little needle waggled cheerfully

-to his movements, pointing ever to the north. Finally Red Knife

-spoke--breathlessly:

-

-“Does the magic cup speak to Long Hair? If so, its voice is very low.

-Does it tell where lies the lodges of my people?”

-

-“It does not speak. But it answers the question,” declared Cody gravely.

-

-“A marvelous magic!” exclaimed Red Knife. “The white chief worships the

-spirit of the cup?”

-

-“This is a great medicine, Red Knife,” said Cody seriously. “Now mark!

-We wish to know how to travel to reach the lodges of your people. Long

-Hair knows that we are south and west of the village. We look into the

-cup.”

-

-He thrust the compass under the Indian’s nose, and Red Knife had hard

-work to keep from jumping back.

-

-“Look! See the finger which moves?”

-

-“Ugh! It is magic!” muttered the young brave.

-

-“That finger points ever to the cold land--to the lands from which

-winter comes. Always to the north it points. Therefore, so standing

-and facing the north, my right hand points to the sunrise, my left to

-the sunset,” suiting the action to his words. “Behind me is the south.

-Therefore, by facing the sunrise and bearing off somewhat to the north

-of that, we approach the village of Chief Oak Heart.”

-

-“Ugh! It is wonder-work, indeed!” exclaimed Red Knife. “It is a great

-medicine.”

-

-“It is a great and good medicine. No brave in Red Knife’s tribe has a

-medicine like this.”

-

-“There are no two medicines alike in this world,” grunted the brave

-philosophically.

-

-Cody went to the bag strapped to Chief’s saddle, unbuckled a pocket,

-and brought out a small packet tied in wash-leather and oilskin. When

-he was in Denver he had made a purchase for a brother scout, but so

-far had not run up against the man to give it to him. He came back

-to the fire, squatted down beside Red Knife, and unwrapped the exact

-counterpart of his own “magic cup,” only this was brighter and unused.

-

-“Waugh!” ejaculated the Indian, starting back.

-

-“You see, here is another of the magic cups. I have long had two

-medicines,” said Buffalo Bill, drawing slightly on his imagination.

-“They are good medicines. They have brought me good luck and made me

-successful in the chase, and in war. The Red Knife has no medicine.

-What would he do for the possession of this?” and the scout held out

-the compass temptingly.

-

-Red Knife could barely restrain himself now. His cheeks actually

-flushed, and his eyes glistened.

-

-“The Red Knife is a man!” he cried. “He will fight the Long Hair for

-the good medicine.”

-

-“Nay. The Long Hair cannot battle at once with he whom he has fed. The

-Red Knife and the Long Hair are brothers. The Long Hair will give his

-red brother the magic cup,” and he thrust the compass into the brave’s

-willing hand.

-

-“In return,” Cody pursued, “Red Knife will take the tale of Death

-Killer’s treachery into Oak Heart’s village. Come! Long Hair will show

-his brother the medicine chief’s braves lurking for the scalp of Long

-Hair. It is a true tale. Red Knife will tell Oak Heart himself.”

-

-“Waugh! Death Killer is a mighty chief,” said Red Knife hesitatingly.

-

-“And this is a mighty medicine,” suggested the wily scout.

-

-The Indian rose up suddenly and thrust the compass into the breast of

-his shirt. He had evidently made up his mind.

-

-“It is well,” he said shortly. “Let Long Hair show this truth to me.”

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER XXXVII. THE TRAITOR.

-

-

-Buffalo Bill was too wise to take Chief too near the Indian encampment.

-The wise white horse could take care of himself in ordinary

-emergencies, but he would be rather in the way up in the mountains, and

-the scout left him in a well-grassed valley, while he and Red Knife

-went on toward the Indian village.

-

-Chief Oak Heart had established himself in a place not easy of

-access by the pony soldiers, and he had a great contempt for the

-“walk-a-heaps.” The Sioux are great riders, seldom walking where a pony

-can carry them, and are contemptuous of all people who do not likewise

-ride.

-

-Red Knife had left his village afoot. It was a mark of his humility and

-his desperate straits. The route back to the encampment was so rough

-that ponies would have been of little use to either the red man or the

-scout. They were all day in climbing the mountain and finding a pass

-through to the other side of the ridge. They came out about dark in

-sight of the valley where the village lay. Its lights were visible to

-them from the mountainside. They retired to a cave that Red Knife knew

-of, however, and built their own fire, out of sight.

-

-Red Knife was mightily pleased with his new medicine. He was eager

-to get down to his people and show its virtues to them. But he had

-promised two things to the scout. One was to point out a secret trail

-down into Oak Heart’s camp; the other to spread among the braves

-the fact of Death Killer’s treachery--providing Cody proved to his

-satisfaction that the medicine chief _was_ treacherous.

-

-Before daybreak Buffalo Bill awoke his red ally, and they stole out of

-the cave like shadows. The Border King had marked well the stations of

-the various braves who were under the medicine chief’s control. They

-were set at every entrance to the valley by which the scout might have

-penetrated to the encampment.

-

-At least, such had been the case upon his previous visit, and they

-were not long at the search before spotting one of these sentinels.

-At least, he was one of Death Killer’s particular friends, and he was

-apparently watching a pass through the hills.

-

-The scout and Red Knife approached quite near to him, but Cody would

-not let his companion speak to the sentinel.

-

-“Wait! Let us see if there are more, as I have told my red brother,” he

-observed, and they went on to another path. Sure enough, there, grimly

-camped beside the way, was a second brave, likewise one of those who

-associated more closely with Boyd Bennett, the renegade. Again they

-went on, going cautiously now, for it was past sunrise, and found a

-third watchman.

-

-These plainly were not sentinels placed to guard particularly the

-camp itself. Those were much nearer the village. These red men were

-stationed thusly for a particular purpose.

-

-“Is my red brother satisfied that the Long Hair spoke truly?” asked the

-scout of the young brave.

-

-“Pa-e-has-ka is of single tongue. He does not lie. But Red Knife will

-first go to Chief Oak Heart and ask him if, by his instruction, these

-men were sent to bar the way to the lodges of the Sioux. If the great

-chief knows naught of it, then must Death Killer explain.”

-

-“Tell Oak Heart to remove these guards and Long Hair will appear before

-him as he promised the White Antelope,” said Cody seriously.

-

-Red Knife solemnly shook hands with him. Although the young brave had,

-by his own confession, killed Dick Danforth, the scout had been forced

-to make use of him. Now he gave him a word of warning:

-

-“Although Red Knife is now Long Hair’s friend, and Long Hair has given

-him of his own strong medicine that Red Knife might be a man among his

-people, there is still a feud between them. It was Red Knife’s hand

-that killed the young white chief, whom Long Hair loved. When next we

-meet let Red Knife beware.”

-

-“It is just,” admitted the Indian solemnly. “Let us go.”

-

-He led Cody then to the hidden path which would enable the scout to

-pass all of Death Killer’s sentinels and, indeed, most of the guards

-of the village, and so ride almost into the encampment itself without

-being seen. Then, without a word further, the young brave turned his

-face toward his father’s lodge.

-

-Buffalo Bill sat down and smoked his pipe while he watched him along

-the trail into the valley. He could watch Red Knife for a long distance

-before the young man came out upon the bluff which overlooked the

-valley where the encampment lay. Until that time he could not be seen

-from below.

-

-Suddenly Buffalo Bill saw a figure among the rocks near the path which

-Red Knife was following. It was of another Indian, but the scout could

-not see the man’s face--not even with the aid of his field-glasses. Red

-Knife seemed totally unconscious of the other’s presence until suddenly

-the stranger leaped before him and stood in his path.

-

-“Hello!” muttered Cody. “What’s all this?”

-

-It was evident that the two redskins conversed excitedly. What they

-said, of course, the scout could not even guess. Indians are usually so

-self-repressed that the scout could not judge at this distance whether

-they spoke angrily or in the most pleasant way together.

-

-It seemed, however, as though the strange redskin tried to urge Red

-Knife to wait, but the young brave was determined to go on down into

-the valley. At last he seemed almost to break away from the other and

-push on toward the edge of the bluff. Cody knew that neither of the

-actors in the drama below could be seen from the village.

-

-Red Knife was determined, and left the one who had accosted him. The

-latter shrank back and watched him for a moment. Then suddenly Cody

-saw him gather himself, jerk the tomahawk from his belt, and swing the

-weapon high in the air!

-

-Cody caught himself from crying out, but he _did_ leap up as the fatal

-blow fell. The strange Indian cast himself upon Red Knife’s back

-and clove the unconscious red man’s skull with a mighty blow of the

-hatchet. Red Knife went down in a heap!

-

-Cody pulled himself together and, through the glass, watched the

-traitor stoop over the fallen man, strip the scalp from his head, and

-then dart away among the rocks. Steeped in guilt as he was, the scout

-knew the villain would not remain near the scene of his atrocious act.

-Therefore he risked going down to the place himself.

-

-Poor Red Knife was truly disposed of. The hatchet had killed him

-instantly. And all the hopes Cody had based upon his good offices were

-dissipated at once.

-

-The scout stood there for some time and communed with himself. Should

-he risk going on into the village now? Or should he await some

-favorable opportunity of undermining Boyd Bennett’s power before

-putting himself within the bandit’s grasp?

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER XXXVIII. WHITE ANTELOPE’S PERIL.

-

-

-There was much disturbance in the encampment about this time, as

-Buffalo Bill had seen when making his observations from the high peaks

-about the valley. The Indians ran to and fro like ants, and runners

-frequently went out, or came in by the northern roads. This meant

-surely that Oak Heart was communicating with the other chiefs, and

-the scout feared that, stirred up by Boyd Bennett in his character of

-medicine chief, the Sioux leader was preparing for another attack like

-that on Fort Advance.

-

-Rumors ran rife among the Indians regarding the movements of the

-bluecoats, and the numbers of them who had come to bury the dead whites

-after the recent ambush in which Oak Heart himself had taken part. The

-old chief, believing that Lieutenant Danforth was coming to attack his

-encampment, had taken part in this sanguinary struggle himself.

-

-Now certain warriors brought strange rumors into the village. It was

-said that Pa-e-has-ka was on the war-path, too. And that he was leading

-the whites to the encampment. So spoke the Death Killer, the white

-medicine chief of the Sioux, who was gaining great influence with the

-young men of the tribe.

-

-“Pa-e-has-ka is my foe,” he said bitterly, “and I sought to bring him

-captive here, or to slay him with his friend; but the White Antelope

-freed him, and sent him back to his people to carry Oak Heart’s

-warning. What has been done? Do not the white men come in force into

-the Indian country?

-

-“The White Antelope turned a panther loose upon the trail of my red

-brothers. And he told her that he would return and come a prisoner

-again into Oak Heart’s village, and to his lodge. Has he come?”

-

-“No!” answered many voices.

-

-“But the warriors come in and tell how Pa-e-has-ka has killed their

-comrades, scalped their brothers, and laughed at them for squaws. Will

-the Sioux braves let the paleface dog longer kick dirt in their faces?

-Is he not now near their village, and yet no warrior brings in his

-scalp, because he is under the protection of the White Antelope?”

-

-A murmur arose from the old men about the council circle.

-

-“Let my medicine braves seek his trail and bring him alive into the

-presence of the great chief, and the Death Killer will show him

-how the Pa-e-has-ka will weep like a squaw when he is bound to the

-torture-stake.”

-

-This speech of the renegade excited the Indians to frenzy. There was no

-longer any possibility of restraining the young men. A hundred warriors

-took the trail with the avowed intention of bringing in the Long Hair.

-

-When Red Knife was found dead upon the bluff overlooking the camp there

-was considerable wonder expressed. The unfortunate scion of the Crow

-family had lost caste, it was true, but why he should have been killed

-by the supposedly lurking white man--the Red Knife had gone from the

-camp unarmed--even the redskins themselves could not understand. As the

-murders increased Bennett grew louder in his objurgations against Long

-Hair.

-

-From the hour of his disappointment upon the gory field where Danforth

-and his band had met their doom, the renegade had thirsted for revenge

-upon the scout. He had secretly despatched a noted warrior to meet and

-kill Buffalo Bill on his return; but having not again seen or heard of

-this brave, Bennett feared that he had come to grief at the hands of

-the old Indian fighter.

-

-The medicine chief did not wish Buffalo Bill to really appear before

-Oak Heart and the old chiefs of the tribe. He was not at all sure what

-the outcome of such a venture might be. Indians admire bravery and

-boldness above all other virtues, and Bennett feared the dashing scout

-might influence the tribe against _him_, too.

-

-For defending the scout and permitting him to go free upon his pledge

-to return, the renegade had not forgiven the White Antelope. Yet he

-knew the influence she held in the tribe, that upon account of her

-having been born with yellow hair, and growing up far more beautiful

-than any maiden of the Sioux, she was regarded as a favored child of

-the Great Spirit, and that should he cross her will he might lose the

-power he had gained over the tribesmen.

-

-He had hoped, too, to win the Indian maiden for his lodge, when he

-first became familiar with the tribe; but she had treated his advances

-with disdain, and this was a second reason why he felt revengeful

-toward her. To get any redskin to aid him in a plot against White

-Antelope, he knew would be impossible; yet he did not despair of either

-conquering the proud girl, or getting rid of her altogether. At least,

-he desired to keep her away from the camp and the council if Buffalo

-Bill were brought in; otherwise, she might disturb all his plans and

-aid in the release of the white man.

-

-Therefore the medicine chief watched the teepee of the white queen

-keenly. When he saw her mount her pony and gallop out of the village,

-and past the guards which encircled it, Boyd Bennett followed secretly.

-White Antelope, accustomed to going where and how she pleased, and

-having unbounded confidence in her own prowess, rode to the top of a

-ridge some distance from the encampment.

-

-The young brave who sentineled this high strip of ground was much in

-love with the beautiful daughter of the chief, and with her before

-his eyes he forgot all else. So wrapped was the young man in the

-contemplation of the girl that he forgot his duty. A form suddenly

-bounded from behind a rock near-by, an iron hand gripped the youth’s

-throat and bore him backward out of sight, and the long knife in the

-murderer’s hand struck home--to the heart.

-

-It was over instantly. No sound--only a gasp, and the death-rattle in

-the brave’s throat. Then, with the knife, the murderer made a quick

-incision in a rough circle in the scalp, about the size of a dollar,

-and with his teeth tore off the dead warrior’s scalp-lock.

-

-Seated there by the side of his victim the slayer looked upon him with

-real pleasure, while he muttered in a sinister tone:

-

-“More blood! Ah! I love it! This shall be another death laid to the

-wiles of Buffalo Bill. Now for the White Antelope, and then----

-

-“There she comes! Now to catch her as she passes!”

-

-He crouched behind his rocky shelter as he spoke, while the White

-Antelope, seemingly somewhat despondent, came riding slowly back toward

-the village. In truth, she had ridden to see if she could spy the

-coming of the Long Hair, who had promised to return. That strange man

-had gained a wonderful hold upon her mind. And, beside, she had a great

-secret to impart to him.

-

-Suddenly the girl uttered a cry of alarm and tried to wheel her pony to

-dash away, for to her side had sprung the form of Boyd Bennett. But his

-rough hand effectually shut off her scream, he seized her in his arms,

-and, dragging her from the frightened pony’s back, he darted down a

-defile, unseen by any of the Indian guards.

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER XXXIX. A CRY FOR HELP.

-

-

-In a large cavern penetrating a pile of rocks, rising to an elevation

-that commanded a view of the Indian village, sat Buffalo Bill. He had a

-strong field-glass, and for two days he had been studying the camp, and

-all that went in or came out of it.

-

-He had seen many things which led him to know that Boyd Bennett was as

-two-faced with his Indian friends as he had been with the whites. This

-murder was not the first the medicine chief had done.

-

-“Well, I’ll never get them down finer than I have them now,” he was

-saying thoughtfully. “I wish I had Texas here to send back word to

-Captain Keyes. A knowledge of the exact situation of the village and

-just how many warriors old Oak Heart has might be of inestimable value

-later--if I don’t get away again!”

-

-The great scout intended to go into the village and boldly face the

-renegade. He had hoped by lingering about the place in secret to catch

-the medicine chief unawares, and so put him out of the way before

-delivering himself to the tribe. For it was Boyd Bennett alone whom the

-scout feared. He had a secret possession which he believed might save

-him from death at the hands of the Sioux, providing Bennett was not

-there to use his influence as medicine chief against him.

-

-As he came to this final desperate decision, however, Buffalo Bill saw

-the renegade come into view among the rocks, and in his arms he carried

-the struggling figure of the White Antelope. Catching sight of the

-scout, the girl shrieked in English:

-

-“Long Hair! Save me! save me!”

-

-The renegade turned his bloodshot eyes upon the scout. He shrieked with

-ungovernable fury at him and gibbered:

-

-“Raise your hand, Buffalo Bill, and I will kill her!”

-

-Buffalo Bill raised his rifle and sighted pointblank at his old

-foe. But the scoundrel held the girl before his own body, besides

-threatening her with his upraised knife. At another time--or given

-another person than the White Antelope--the scout would have risked one

-of his wonderful shots and perhaps brought the bandit chief down before

-he could have done his captive harm. He hesitated, however, for he had

-great reason for desiring to save the girl’s life. The fluctuation of

-a hair’s breadth in his aim might put the rifle-ball into her body

-instead of Boyd Bennett’s.

-

-Therefore the scout, with a groan, dropped his gun. The girl shrieked

-again, and in a moment Bennett leaped behind a boulder and fled along a

-secret path, entirely hidden from the scout’s station.

-

-Buffalo Bill heard the girl’s heartrending shrieks as she was carried

-swiftly into the hills. They appealed to him strongly, and, quickly

-girding himself for the chase, he followed on the trail of the abductor.

-

-The object of the bandit’s mad act Buffalo Bill did not realize.

-Bennett’s bloodthirsty killing of the sentinel--and formerly of Red

-Knife--seemed to point to the fact that the man’s brain was turned. Why

-he had fled now from the encampment with the chief’s daughter was a

-deep mystery, unless he was indeed mad.

-

-The scout’s mind, however, was given up mainly to planning for the

-release of the girl and the overcoming of her captor. Boyd Bennett

-seemed to be alone in this abduction plot, and the scout felt rejoiced

-that at last it seemed he was to meet the fellow with something like an

-equal chance.

-

-The principal thing now was to not give Bennett start enough to hide

-in the rocks. Buffalo Bill could hear the scrambling of the man with

-the girl in his arms, although for some time he could not see him.

-Not until they rounded the spur of the mountain and arrived upon the

-farther slope did the scout obtain a glimpse of the object of his

-pursuit.

-

-Then, to his bitter disappointment, he beheld Boyd Bennett, still

-lugging the girl, running down the hill toward a thicket, near which

-was tethered a horse, saddled and bridled! As he ran the renegade--now

-a traitor both to the reds and the whites--uttered a shrill “coee!” and

-immediately a horseman appeared from behind the thicket. It was one of

-the outlaw’s old gang, Buffalo Bill made no doubt, and he had been here

-in waiting, with the extra horse for his chief and the girl.

-

-White Antelope no longer struggled in the fiend’s arms. Buffalo Bill

-knew that she had fainted and lay limply across Bennett’s saddle as he

-put her up and mounted in such haste. But the scout was too far away

-now for a shot. The two villains started their horses down the slope

-and were quickly out of sight, and all this without a single redskin

-being aroused!

-

-Plainly Bennett had planned this coup with great cunning. He had placed

-his own braves in positions to bar Buffalo Bill from the valley where

-the camp lay, but had allowed one of Oak Heart’s braves to bar one

-exit. That brave Cody had seen the scoundrel kill and scalp, so leaving

-a plain path into the encampment if the scout wished to go that way.

-

-But two strong desires led the scout upon a different trail. His

-interest in White Antelope was no small interest. Happenings of late

-had really increased it, indeed. And Boyd Bennett must be run down!

-

-Afoot as he was, the scout hurried after the two outlaws and their

-fair-haired captive, for by keeping doggedly at it a man may run down a

-horse. Providing the outlaws had no fresh horses and their destination

-was far away, Cody felt confident that he would overtake them even

-though he continued afoot.

-

-But chance favored him. Bennett and his companions followed a trace

-through the mountains which passed within a few miles of the valley in

-which Buffalo Bill had left Chief, his big white horse. The scout left

-the trail long enough to obtain his mount, which, having fed well and

-being rested, was as eager for the trail as his master.

-

-Back to the bandit’s trail the scout rode, and the white stallion flung

-mile after mile of the rocky way beneath his feet. Bennett and his

-companion had not tried to disguise their trail. Evidently they felt

-either sure of no pursuit, or considered themselves a match for Buffalo

-Bill. Bennett probably did not think that the Indians themselves would

-miss White Antelope until the trail was stale and he would be too far

-away with the girl to be overtaken.

-

-The pursuer came upon the place where the trio had camped at noon. They

-had boldly built a fire and cooked food, and Cody even found the marks

-of the girl’s moccasins in the soft ground beside the trail. Perhaps

-she had shrewdly stepped there when her captors were not looking,

-hoping that their trail was being followed. At another place she had

-torn some beadwork from her garments and flung it on the ground.

-

-“She’s a sharp girl, all right,” said Cody to himself. “And if she has

-confidence in my following and saving her, I swear it shall not be

-misplaced!”

-

-Before night, however, the scout received a shock which made him almost

-despair. The trail he was following came down into a great valley

-through the middle of which flowed a broad river. On the river’s bank

-the hoof-marks of Bennett’s mount and his companion’s were joined by

-those of a dozen other horses!

-

-“They’ve been caught, by thunder!” was Cody’s first thought.

-

-Then he saw that this supposition was entirely wrong, and his heart

-sank. These were not unshod Indian ponies. Nor could they be a party

-of peaceful travelers who had joined Bennett and his friend. It was

-the rest of the gang. The outlaws had here joined their leader, and,

-instead of following two scoundrels, the scout was up against the

-entire gang--and single-handed!

-

-Then did he wish that he had sought out a part of Captain Keyes’

-command and brought them on this hunt for the bandit leader and

-his helpless captive. He shuddered to think of what might be White

-Antelope’s fate among these ruffians. He could not go back now for

-help; and yet, if he overtook the gang, what could he, a man alone, do

-toward getting the girl free?

-

-Yet Buffalo Bill, the Border King, had spent years of his life in

-taking chances. He had been up against as serious odds before, and had

-come out on top. He did not hesitate for a single instant, but crossed

-the river at the ford, and followed the hoof-prints of the gang up the

-opposite bank of the river.

-

-If they were making for their rendezvous, well and good. He would at

-least learn one--perhaps the principal--hiding-place of the gang, and

-later could bring a party to overwhelm them. Meantime, he would trust

-to luck and a merciful Providence to assist him in obtaining White

-Antelope’s release unharmed from the villainous crew.

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER XL. THE FREIGHT-TRAIN.

-

-

-The sun was sinking like a great globe of fire, seemingly at the very

-foot of the broad valley which, from its head, spread forth miles upon

-square miles of verdant lawn, crimson and yellow groves, the leaves of

-which blushed before the cold finger-touch of winter interspersed with

-patches of hemlock and spruce, now, as ever, green. Through the valley

-flowed a broad river, joined here by several mountain brooks which

-tumbled down from the heights on either hand to swell the main current,

-which entered the vale from the mouth of the broad cañon on the north.

-A deeply rutted wagon trail came out of the cañon as well as the river.

-For miles this trace wound along the riverside, hemmed in by gigantic

-cliffs on the tops of which the bighorn sheep looked like specks to the

-traveler below, and which were so high and so close together in places

-that it was twilight at noon in the bottom of the gorge!

-

-Indeed, back in the cañon it was already night when the sun was but

-setting out here in the valley. Therefore the “mule-skinners” cracked

-their blacksnakes and shouted many objurgations to their patient

-animals, desiring to reach the open and make camp outside the cañon

-before darkness finally settled upon the valley. The creaking of the

-wagon wheels and the cracking of the whips, with the voices of the

-mule-skinners, made music a mile up the cañon.

-

-It was a heavy wagon-train. First rode the captain on a gray mare with

-a bell on her neck. With her tethered near the wagons the mules could

-be turned loose at night; they would never desert the camp as long as

-the gray mare remained faithful.

-

-The wagons of the train were linked together--five or six great,

-lumbering, canvas-topped vehicles, with eight or ten span of mules

-hauling on each section. There were three of these sections in the

-train, six men to a section, the captain, and the cook who rode

-behind on another saddle-horse, leading a pack-animal which bore the

-cook-tent and some of the camp equipment.

-

-When the captain reached the mouth of the cañon and beheld the

-pleasant, sunlit valley he turned and uttered a loud “coee! coee!”

-which brought the cook and his packhorse trotting forward. The valley

-looked perfectly safe to the captain of the train, and he selected an

-indenture in the river-bank where the cook and he set up the tent,

-and, as fast as the wagons came up, they deployed off the trail so as

-to make a horseshoe figure around the camping-place, the open part of

-which was toward the river.

-

-This precaution was always taken whether they saw Indian signs or not.

-And at night rifles were issued to the men and a strong guard mounted.

-Each man “packed” a couple of guns at his waist all day, anyway.

-

-The selection of this low piece of ground as the camp was not wise,

-however. An enemy could ride to the edge of the low, sloping bluff

-which surrounded it on three sides and pop bullets over the wagon tops

-into the enclosure, shooting from one side those who strove to guard

-the other line of the camp.

-

-For days, however, the party had seen no signs of redskins. Small

-scalping-parties would fight shy of the wagon-train; for twenty

-well-armed whites were bound to be respected by the Arabs of the

-plains, especially as the train crew was sure to be armed with the

-quickfiring guns which the Indians so feared.

-

-After the sun set the evening was short, for it was late fall now.

-The air grew chill; in the midst of the camp the men built a rousing

-fire, aside from that over which the cook pottered, and around this

-they gathered and told stories, cracked rude jokes, or basked silently

-in the warmth of the flames, resting from the toil of the day. So

-unconscious were they of aught but their immediate surroundings that

-they did not see several horsemen who topped the nearest rise to the

-west, and overlooking the camp.

-

-It was now deep dusk, but the horsemen were silhouetted against the

-sky-line so plainly that had any of the freighters chanced to glance

-that way they must have seen the figures. Only for a moment were they

-in view, however. The leader of the group spoke sharply, but in a low

-tone, to his mates, and all pulled their horses about and disappeared

-quickly beyond the ridge.

-

-Later, and afoot, two of the party came again to the summit of the

-ridge and reconnoitered. The freighters’ camp lay calmly under the

-starry sky, the fires burning briskly, the mules champing the grass of

-the plain contentedly, occasionally a laugh or a sharp word echoing

-across the valley between the calls of the night-birds.

-

-The wind wandered down from the heights and shook the canvas covers

-of the wagons as though trying to arouse the men to the danger that

-threatened them. Coyotes whined in the distance, sniffing the herd, but

-too cowardly to advance until on the morrow the freight-train should

-have passed on. _Then_ they would come boldly in and fight over the

-scraps remaining. And, perhaps, there would be greater booty for the

-scavengers of the plains to fight over!

-

-The men scouting about the freighters’ camp numbered the unconscious

-men and noted their arms and how the camp was arranged. There was a

-high river-bank. The captain of the train had ordered the arrangement

-of the wagons partly because he was eager to obtain water; but there

-was a high bank to the river here, and a narrow beach below it. Men

-afoot could creep down this bank and, sheltered from the camp, approach

-it and attack from the riverside. Even a sentinel stationed on the very

-verge of the bank would be little likely to apprehend the coming of

-such an attacking force, unless he chanced to be expecting it.

-

-The captain of the train set one of his watchmen on the bank above the

-river, however, and to keep warm the rifleman walked back and forth,

-pacing a beat some twenty yards long. This would have been all very

-well had the crew believed there was a particle of danger threatening

-the camp. But so confident were they of peace that they did not even

-drive the mules down from the higher ground where they were feeding. A

-party of a dozen reds--if they could have loosed the gray mare--might

-have made off with the entire herd.

-

-There was a shelter tent for each six men, while the cook and the

-captain shared the fourth canvas. At ten o’clock, under a black-velvet

-sky pricked out with the brilliant but distant stars, the camp was as

-quiet as the grave--that is, providing one could imagine some of the

-occupants of the grave sleeping their long sleep “loudly.” Aside from

-these snores, however, and the champing of the horses and mules, there

-was little sound to break the silence. There was a sentinel pacing a

-short beat on the inland side of the camp; but, it being cold when

-the wind swooped down and flapped the loose canvas, he got in behind

-the chain of wagons and was not so much use as a guard. Along the

-river-bank paced the other sentinel, whistling under his breath, and

-staring off across the black, smoothly flowing water, in which the

-stars were mirrored.

-

-Wide-awake as he was, this second guard heard nothing when a single

-figure slipped down the river-bank beyond the camp and toward the

-cañon’s entrance, and in a stooping posture sneaked along toward him.

-This figure lay low upon the shore when the guard walked that way. When

-the guard turned the prowler arose again and kept just behind him, but

-below the bank, until both reached about the middle of the beat the

-sentinel was following.

-

-Then, softly as a cat, without as much as scratching a button or

-rattling the rifle in his hand or the guns in his belt, the stranger

-darted up the bank, and, stooping low, hurried to the smaller tent

-in which slept the captain of the train and the cook. Evidently the

-stranger had picked this tent out before dark, and shrewdly guessed who

-occupied it. Lifting the flap softly, he crept in and lowered it before

-the guard on the river-bank turned. The other guard was standing facing

-the opposite way and saw nothing.

-

-Once in the darkness of the tent, the stranger coolly squatted on his

-haunches, laid down his rifle, and drawing out a match-safe, scratched

-a lucifer and held it up so that the sputtering flame might cast some

-radiance over the interior of the tent.

-

-The pungent odor of the sulfur got in the nose of one of the sleepers,

-and he sneezed. He sneezed a second time and sat up suddenly, blinking

-his eyes in surprise at the figure squatting inside the tent. This

-was an utter stranger to him--a man with long hair, a military hat,

-buckskin coat, and riding breeches and boots. And he was armed like

-a pirate--belt stuck full of guns and with a big bowie. He smiled

-cheerfully at the amazed and sleepy individual, however.

-

-“Hello!” he said. “Which one of you is the captain?”

-

-“Heh?” murmured the startled one.

-

-“Who’s the boss?”

-

-“I--I’m the cook.”

-

-“Then the other feller is the boss?”

-

-“I--I reckon so. Say, Billings!” and he suddenly punched the other man

-in the ribs. “Wake up! We’re surrounded!”

-

-“Shut up, you fool!” exclaimed the visitor, slapping his palm suddenly

-over the second man’s mouth, for it opened to emit a yell before his

-eyes were fairly ajar. “It’s all right. What did you want to startle

-him for?”

-

-“Who the devil are you?” demanded the cook.

-

-“And how’d you git here?” cried the other man.

-

-“I’m Cody, and I belong just now to the command at Fort Advance. You’re

-in about as dangerous a position as a score of men can be and get out

-of it alive, and I’ve sneaked into your camp to help you.”

-

-“Injuns!” groaned the cook, turning pale.

-

-“There ain’t a red within forty miles,” declared Buffalo Bill, for he

-it was.

-

-“Then what’s the matter?” sputtered the captain of the freight crew.

-“I’ve set guards over the camp. We’re all right.”

-

-“Your guards are a lot of use, ain’t they?” sneered the scout. “They’re

-out there walking up and down like two wooden men; but they didn’t see

-me get by.”

-

-“But, for Heaven’s sake what is the matter?”

-

-“You’ve got worse than Injuns after you.”

-

-“What can that be?”

-

-“Boyd Bennett’s gang of hold-up men.”

-

-“Git out! Bennett’s left the country.”

-

-“He’s j’ined an Injun tribe,” added the cook. “Become a squaw man.”

-

-“Well, he’s out yonder with about a dozen of the p’izenest ruffians

-that it’s ever been my fate to run up against,” declared Buffalo Bill.

-“And from what I could overhear lying out there on my belly in the

-grass, they’re pretty near ready to stampede you!”

-

-“Oh, Lord!” groaned the cook.

-

-But the captain of the crew was no coward. He was awake now, and he

-leaped up, ready to fight for his own life and help to defend the lives

-of his mates and the valuable property entrusted to him.

-

-“Mr. Cody, you take command,” he urged instantly. “You are a better man

-than any one in this entire party--that I’ll swear to. I have shown my

-incompetency already by placing my guards so carelessly that you could

-creep into my very sleeping tent without being apprehended.”

-

-“Many a man has made the mistake of being too confident when there were

-no signs of trouble,” said Buffalo Bill. “But you had no knowledge of

-these outlaws being near you, of course. Although, it was quite by

-chance that they did not blunder into your midst, I fancy. There are

-fewer of them than there are of your men; but if they had caught you

-with your pants down it would have been ‘Good-by John!’ for you all.

-This is as bloody-minded a gang of cut-throats as infest this Western

-country.”

-

-“So I have heard said of Bennett and his men. But I thought they had

-left the Overland Trail.”

-

-“They are not on the old lay just at present,” Cody explained. “In

-fact, I am following them for an entirely different reason. And if we

-have the luck to beat the devils, I’d be thankful for any help you

-could give me toward capturing the whole gang and rescuing a prisoner

-they hold.”

-

-“A prisoner?”

-

-“Aye, and a girl--God help her!”

-

-“Great heavens! a woman in the hands of those ruffians?”

-

-“Yes.”

-

-“Who is she?”

-

-“White Antelope, the daughter of old Oak Heart, the Sioux chieftain.”

-

-“Oh, thunder! a squaw!” exclaimed the captain of the train crew in

-disgust.

-

-“She’s just as precious to the old redskin as the daughter of a white

-man is to him, I s’pose,” said the scout sternly. “Besides, her release

-means a great deal to me--and to Major Baldwin of Fort Advance--and,

-perhaps, to the entire white settlers of this part of the country.”

-

-“Well, well! I can’t afford to quarrel with you over a red squaw,” said

-the other lightly. “You help us, and we’ll help you.”

-

-“I am here for the purpose of helping you,” said the Border King, with

-some stiffness of manner, for the other’s tone had jarred upon him.

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER XLI. “ON GUARD!”

-

-

-“First of all,” said the captain of the freighters, “I want you to take

-command, Cody, as I said.”

-

-“No, no!” the scout hastened to reply. “I would not take that upon

-myself.”

-

-“I insist.”

-

-“No. I must be free myself to act in this other matter I speak of. If

-I see a chance to run off the girl while you fellows are handling the

-outlaws, I must do so.”

-

-“And leave us for a redskin?”

-

-“That is it,” returned Cody seriously. “My duty is first to her at this

-time.”

-

-“But that is nonsense, man! People of a blood should stick together.

-Let the red squaw go.”

-

-“She’s got white blood in her better than either yours or mine, sir!”

-snapped the scout.

-

-“Oh! she’s a half-breed?”

-

-“She is. But I am not here to discuss White Antelope. Time is passing.

-I will advise you to the best of my ability in this fight; but I cannot

-accept the responsibility of command.”

-

-“All I can do, then, is to rouse up the other boys and make ready to

-receive boarders.”

-

-“But there is more than one way of doing that,” said Cody, with a smile

-which the other did not see in the dark tent.

-

-“Heh?”

-

-“No use in rousing out the other men in a way to show the outlaws you

-are expecting them.”

-

-“Oh, shucks! are they watching us already?”

-

-“They sure are. All I feared in making my way to your tent was their

-sharp eyes. I knew what your guards would be.”

-

-“You don’t have a very high opinion of us mule-skinners, then?” said

-the captain, rather sharply.

-

-“I have a very poor opinion indeed of men who will be careless on this

-trail,” said Buffalo Bill sternly. “Recklessness is never bravery.”

-

-“Huh!” grunted the other.

-

-“Cook, you creep out at the rear and speak to the sentinel at the back

-of the camp. Keep close to the ground and tell him to have a care.

-Let him step across and speak to the guard by the river--casually,

-remember.”

-

-“All right, sir,” said the cook, recognizing the tone of authority.

-

-“Then you creep over to the farther tent and awaken the boys carefully.

-The captain here had better attend to the other two. Go on your hands

-and knees, boys! And don’t startle anybody. Have they got arms with

-’em, or are they in the wagons?”

-

-“Oh, they’ve got their rifles. I’m not quite a fool,” said the captain.

-

-“Glad to hear that,” the scout returned, and did not stop to explain

-whether he was rejoiced to hear that the men were properly armed, or

-that the captain was not an entire ignoramus!

-

-It was too serious a situation for the man to take open offense,

-however. He, as well as the cook, did Cody’s bidding without further

-remark. They crept from tent to tent, keeping well in the shadow,

-while the first guard, warned by the cook, went across and warned the

-man pacing the beat by the river.

-

-Buffalo Bill was pretty confident that the outlaws would wait until the

-sentinels were changed at midnight before attacking. That was the best

-time for such a movement, for the new guards would be sleepy, and the

-other men would have just settled into heavier sleep.

-

-When the gang had been awakened the captain reported to the scout. Thus

-far none of the boys had come out of the three larger tents, and they

-were warned to keep under cover until they received the word.

-

-“You don’t want to have your mules stampeded far,” said the scout.

-“When the sentinels are changed, let one of those coming off duty step

-out and lead in your bell-mare, and hobble her inside the line of the

-wagons. Then you’ll be sure of her, and, even if the long-ears do run

-away, they’ll come back again, come daybreak.”

-

-The cook’s fire was already out, and Cody warned them to let the other

-one burn down as low as it would. The more shadowy the camp was the

-better the freighters could move about without attracting the notice of

-any watching outlaws.

-

-Cody remained in the little tent with the flap pinned back, and

-the cook and the captain came to him and reported their missions

-accomplished. Midnight came--it was not a long wait--and the sentinels

-went to the tents and appeared to awaken those who were to relieve

-them. Cody had particularly instructed the man who was to go to the

-river-bank. One of the others brought in the gray mare. The camp

-settled down to apparent quietude and peace again.

-

-“Now, boys, to your places,” whispered the scout to the cook and the

-captain. “Signal your men, captain; be ready to fling on the fire a

-heap of that light stuff yonder when you hear me hoot, cook! All right!”

-

-The captain crept out once more and scratched with his finger-nail upon

-the canvas of each tent. At that the freighters began to wriggle out

-from under the canvas and crawl on their bellies to shelter beneath the

-wagons. Cody knew that the first fire of the outlaws would be aimed at

-the tents. Boyd Bennett and his villains would expect to thus kill or

-seriously wound several of the sleeping freighters and throw the others

-into utter confusion.

-

-Buffalo Bill remained no longer in the small tent himself. He crept

-down to the river-bank, and he and the sentinel saw each other. Cody

-expected a part of the attacking party would approach in the way he had

-come to the camp, only from the other direction.

-

-And this was a good guess. The outlaws--or several of them--dismounted

-and came along under the bank. In fact, so sure were they of catching

-the encampment asleep, that the scout heard their footsteps. They did

-not take proper care in disguising them.

-

-“Now, mister!” Buffalo Bill exclaimed, under his breath to the sentinel

-near him.

-

-Instantly this man dropped down in the grass, the other guard fell

-flat, there was a sudden pounding of horse’ hoofs down the ridge from

-the south and west. Then:

-

-Bang! bang! bang!

-

-A volley of rifle-shots tore through the tents inside the wagon-line.

-Instantly the shrill yell of Buffalo Bill, the Border King, answered

-the shots defiantly. The sound had often struck terror to the hearts of

-his red foes, and it was not unknown to Boyd Bennett and his comrades.

-

-“That hell-cat, Cody, is here!” screamed Bennett.

-

-The cook flung the light brush on the fire. It blazed up almost

-immediately, giving the men under the wagons a chance to see any of the

-outlaws that might venture into the camp. But none of them reached the

-inner circle. As those afoot sprang up the bank from the riverside,

-Cody and the man with him shot them down, or drove them shrieking with

-fear out of rifle-shot.

-

-Pandemonium reigned for a few minutes, however. Although Boyd Bennett

-yelled his warning, the gang did not give over the fight so easily.

-They poured round after round of bullets into the camp; but at first

-they did not realize that they were being answered from beneath the

-wagons rather than from the tents.

-

-Several of their ponies were shot down. Although the mules were

-stampeded for a ways, the ruffians could make no good use of this fact.

-Instead of catching the camp unawares, they were themselves ambushed,

-thanks to the Border King!

-

-“Escape, men! We are undone!” shrieked Boyd Bennett, at last.

-

-He had seen four of his men fall never to rise again, and two others

-had lost their mounts and had to spend precious moments in catching two

-of their dead comrades’ horses. Back the decimated party fled over the

-ridge.

-

-The freighters poured in volley after volley upon the retreating

-outlaws. But the captain would not let them mount such horses and mules

-as they could catch and follow the crew. In this he got square with

-Buffalo Bill for the scout’s sharp words.

-

-In the height of the fight, after seeing that the freight crew were

-more than a match for the outlaws, Buffalo Bill had slipped down under

-the river-bank and had run at his best pace toward the spot where the

-outlaws had been encamped earlier in the evening. There he had seen

-White Antelope tied to a sapling so that she could not escape while

-her captors tried their nefarious scheme of robbing and murdering the

-freight-train crew.

-

-Believing that Bennett would leave nobody to guard the girl, the scout

-was bent upon reaching the place first and releasing her.

-

-And this much he did accomplish: he reached the place first. But almost

-as soon as he had recognized Buffalo Bill’s yell, Boyd Bennett spurred

-back toward the bound girl. He feared the scout would do exactly the

-thing he was attempting. Knowing that Cody must have followed them

-here for the express purpose of saving White Antelope, he feared the

-shrewdness of his enemy.

-

-Cody found the spot. A camp-fire burned low, but revealed the girl

-writhing in her bonds at one side. The scout bounded to her side just

-as the thunder of Bennett’s horse sounded down the hill.

-

-“All right, White Antelope! ’Tis I--the Long Hair!” whispered the

-scout. “My horse is not far away. I will save you---- The devil!”

-

-The scout broke off with a savage exclamation. He had hoped to slash

-through the girl’s bonds and carry her to his horse, which he had left

-in a thicket not far away. But for once in his life the scout had made

-a terrible oversight!

-

-Chief had picked up a small pebble in his hoof late that afternoon, and

-Buffalo Bill had got down and pried it out with the point of his bowie.

-He had stuck the knife into a sheath which hung to his saddle-bow, and

-had forgotten it until this very instant. He had nothing with which to

-cut the girl’s bonds.

-

-Already the chief of the bandits was almost upon him. Boyd Bennett rode

-down the hill yelling like a fiend.

-

-“Fly!” murmured the girl. “They will kill you.”

-

-“Curse it! I am foiled for the time. But, remember, White Antelope,

-I am near you and will release you yet, and serve your enemy as he

-deserves!”

-

-With these words the scout dropped to all fours, and, as stealthily and

-silently as a wolf, crept away in the darkness.

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER XLII. THE AVENGER.

-

-

-The gang of outlaws had been depleted by five. One had fallen on the

-river-bank, and four others had either been killed or so badly wounded

-that they fell captive to the freighters on the side of the ridge.

-There were but eight who gathered about the spot where White Antelope

-was left tied, when the fight was over.

-

-And they feared pursuit and a worse thrashing than they had already

-endured. They clamored to be led away from the place, and Boyd

-Bennett, gnashing his teeth in impotent rage, was forced to agree.

-

-Every man of them had a fear of Buffalo Bill, the Border King. How he

-could have gotten ahead of them, and been in the teamsters’ encampment

-when they made their attack, added to the superstitious veneration in

-which the outlaws had begun to hold the great scout. Heretofore they

-had held Boyd Bennett as a better man than Cody; but now they began to

-doubt.

-

-Besides, several of them did not approve of his bearing away the Indian

-girl from her village. While Bennett had posed as the medicine chief

-of the Sioux, they were all sure of being treated well by the savages.

-Some of them had taken Indian wives and were living in ease and

-plenty--the lazy, irresponsible existence of the “squaw-man.”

-

-Boyd Bennett’s unhappy attachment for the chief’s daughter had brought

-the gang together again, and old-time loyalty had caused them to answer

-his command. But they now believed that they had lost more than they

-should gain. All the Sioux would be down upon them, and so they would

-be at enmity with every man they met in the forest and on the plain,

-both red and white!

-

-White Antelope showed plainly that she would never yield to Boyd

-Bennett’s demand and espouse him. While he was with the Indians and

-wielding so much influence as Death Killer, the medicine-man, she had

-spurned his advances. Much more did she hold him in contempt now.

-

-And Boyd Bennett, too, was acting very strangely. Evil ways and evil

-desires were turning the man’s brain. He acted without judgment. Now

-he unloosed White Antelope, caught her up to his saddle, and rode away

-with his men without as much as looking for traces of Buffalo Bill in

-the vicinity, or learning if in reality the freighters were inclined to

-follow up their advantage and push the attack.

-

-They swam the river and made for another exit from the valley. But

-their horses were pretty well done up, and they could get only a spurt

-of speed out of them now and then. Besides, Boyd Bennett’s own mount

-refused after a time to carry double. This necessitated one of the

-other ruffians carrying White Antelope before him on his saddle.

-

-The chance afforded the chief villain an escape from certain death. The

-party were aiming to leave the valley by the way the broadening river

-flowed; but they were some distance from the river’s side. Through the

-uncertain light of early morning they did not see a tireless white

-horse carrying its rider down the opposite bank until they reached a

-ford, through which the stallion splashed to the side of the stream on

-which the bandits rode.

-

-It was the avenger on the villain’s trail; but they did not suspect

-that again Buffalo Bill had ridden ahead of them. Chief was tireless.

-

-The scout ensconced the horse behind a thicket, and wormed his way out

-into the open where he could draw bead on anybody passing along the

-river trail. It was a long shot, but the scout had succeeded in making

-more ticklish ones in times past.

-

-By and by the band of tired horsemen loped along the trail. The light

-was too uncertain for Cody to distinguish one man from the other; but

-he saw one riding ahead and carrying the girl before him, and he

-believed it must be Bennett. He did not think the fellow would let the

-White Antelope out of his own bloody hands.

-

-Therefore he took sight--deadly sight--at this man, and shot him

-through the head!

-

-A yell rose from the bandits as the rifle exploded and the man pitched

-off his mount. It was answered by Buffalo Bill’s eery war-whoop. The

-seven remaining bandits knew who had fired the fatal shot.

-

-But, although the immediate captor of the girl had fallen, she had no

-time to urge the pony to one side and thus escape. Buffalo Bill saw

-his mistake in a moment. With a wild yell Boyd Bennett spurred to the

-side of the horse which White Antelope sat, and threatened her with

-drawn bowie as the whole cavalcade shot down the river trail and put

-a brush-clump between them and the scout’s rifle. When they appeared

-again they were out of rifle-shot.

-

-“Seven of them left,” muttered Buffalo Bill. “I thought I had that

-devil that time. But let him wait--let him wait!”

-

-He mounted Chief once more and rode for a time in the wake of the

-bandits. But, fearing that some of them might slip off their horses and

-lay in wait for him, he turned aside into the hilly country and so saw

-the refugees only occasionally from the summits of certain hills which

-he climbed. He kept them from resting, however, during the forenoon. By

-midday the desperadoes’ ponies were completely worn out.

-

-Had they not been so fearful of the scout the seven men might have

-shown fight. They were equally well armed with Buffalo Bill, and some

-of them were good shots. But Boyd Bennett thought only of escape with

-the girl, and his mates were in a blue funk, anyway.

-

-They came at noon to a deserted Indian encampment. It was a

-hunting-camp, the braves evidently being out in the hills after game

-and having left nobody but the squaws on guard. The squaws had gone

-into the bush after late berries. Therefore, there was none to balk the

-bandits.

-

-There were no ponies, or the men would have left their fagged mounts

-and stolen those of the red men. But in the river lay two good-sized

-canoes. Abandoning their ponies the outlaws seized these boats, forced

-White Antelope into the leading one with Boyd Bennett and two others,

-and the four remaining men entering the other boat, both were pushed

-off and paddled down the stream.

-

-Cody beheld this move from a hilltop, and immediately rode down to

-the river. Had he crossed the paths of any of the Indians--they were

-not Sioux, but he knew the tribe--he might have obtained their help.

-Alone, however, he came to the river-bank. The canoes were far out in

-the stream and going down rapidly with the current and the force of the

-paddles. The scout saw the White Antelope on her knees in the forward

-boat, her arms stretched out to him. Her mute gesture for help spurred

-him on to a desperate attempt!

-

-Chief had come far now without much rest, but he was able to make one

-more spurt. Down the river path the scout thundered, racing to catch

-up with the canoes. There was a high bluff across the river, offering

-no landing-place. On this side the bank was low. Even if the canoes

-were paddled near the opposite shore, the scout’s rifle would carry a

-deadly ball that distance. In coming near, and into sight, however, he

-gave the bandits a chance to try their marksmanship upon him.

-

-But this risk the brave scout took. For the White Antelope’s sake he

-was venturing his life.

-

-He forced Chief to top speed until the brave old horse came out upon a

-cleared space just ahead of the two canoes. The bandits began to pop

-at him with their rifles; but shooting from a sitting position in a

-trumpery little canoe was no easy job.

-

-Both craft were overloaded, anyway. Two men were supposed to be the

-full complement of the cargo of each. So the craft rode low, and the

-least movement might tip them over. One man in the forward boat, and

-two in the latter, turned their attention to the scout and his white

-horse; but their bullets flew wide of the mark.

-

-The scout, however, paid no more attention to the whistling lead than

-he would have to so many buzzing flies. He dismounted from Chief, and,

-standing out deliberately on the river-bank, raised his rifle and took

-aim at the leading paddler in the rear boat. He did not shoot at those

-with White Antelope in the other canoe. First he would reduce the

-numbers of the gang.

-

-Crack!

-

-The heavy rifle spoke no louder than a pistol across the flat surface

-of the water. With a yell the man dropped his paddle, turned a face all

-gory upon the scout, and then pitched out of the canoe!

-

-Strangely enough he did not tip over the vessel. Another caught up his

-paddle. They tried to urge the craft to the foot of the steep bluff.

-But now the current had caught the light canoe in a fierce grip, and to

-swerve it was not easy.

-

-Crack!

-

-Just as a second man was drawing bead as well as he could upon the

-undaunted scout, the rifle dropped from his hands, and he fell backward

-into the bottom of the canoe. The craft dipped dangerously and all but

-went over. As it righted the scout fired a third time. Plunk the ball

-went through and through the body of the canoe!

-

-The water began to run in at both holes, and the canoe sank. One of the

-remaining men, in complete panic, threw himself overboard and swam for

-the shore. The other continued to paddle desperately.

-

-A double report sounded. The rifleman in the forward boat had stood up

-and taken a better aim at the scout. The latter’s shoulder was plowed

-just under the skin by the ball. But Cody’s own bullet sped straight to

-the desperate paddler in the second canoe, and the man fell sideways,

-shot through the lungs; the canoe tipped completely, and man and canoe

-went to the bottom together.

-

-Meanwhile, the fourth man in that boat had reached the strand. It was a

-narrow beach and offered no shelter for him. He scrambled up the steep

-bluff like a crab making for its hole. But when he was half-way up, and

-his body against the yellow sand made an excellent target, the scout’s

-gun spoke again.

-

-Sprawled out, and screaming, the fellow fell all the way back to the

-shore, and there, squirming with the agony of the wound which was in a

-vital part, he rolled into the river, and the black current swept him

-swiftly down-stream.

-

-He passed the first canoe that had been retarding, while the rifleman

-tried a second particular shot at the scout. The drowning man yelled

-for help. He even snatched at the gunwale of the canoe as he was swept

-by.

-

-Instantly Boyd Bennett seized a pistol from his belt and deliberately

-shot the drowning man through the head. Perhaps, if the latter had

-seized the canoe, he would have overturned it and sacrificed the four

-other lives; yet it was a desperately cruel act!

-

-Meanwhile Cody had leaped aside, escaping the second shot of the

-rifleman in the remaining canoe; and then, before the man could sit

-down and the canoe could shoot ahead, he dropped him cleanly with a

-ball through the heart!

-

-In five minutes the bloody battle was over. But two of the bandits were

-left alive. The other five had sunk to the bottom of the river, while

-the remaining two, and the White Antelope, were being carried swiftly

-down the stream, and by a current now so powerful that they could not

-steer to the bank on either side. Just below were the worst series of

-rapids on the entire river!

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER XLIII. MAN TO MAN AT LAST.

-

-

-Buffalo Bill knew the peril which threatened the two bandits and the

-girl quite as soon as they knew it themselves. But he was handicapped a

-bit now by his wound, which bled profusely. He had to wait to bind it

-up roughly, so that the blood would stop flowing, before he could pay

-much attention to the endangered trio in the canoe.

-

-Ere then the craft was swiftly speeding down the river, going almost as

-fast as an ordinary horse could trot. Buffalo Bill whistled Chief to

-him, sprang into the saddle, and galloped down the trail. It was some

-minutes before he overtook the boat.

-

-There was no danger then of anybody aboard it shooting at him. Boyd

-Bennett in the stern and his last comrade in the bow were having all

-they could handle in steering the craft. Rocks and snags began to crop

-up in the current, and they were now tossed this way, then that, while

-the foaming water boiled almost into the frail craft!

-

-Buffalo Bill, intent on saving White Antelope’s life at any cost,

-unslung his lariat and made ready to cast the endangered men an end if

-the canoe came near enough to the shore. For the sake of assisting the

-girl he would have given up his vengeance on the outlaws.

-

-However, when he cast the rope, although it fell across the boat, Boyd

-Bennett, with a scream of rage, threw it off.

-

-“You madman!” yelled his companion, glancing over his shoulder.

-

-“Mind your paddle!” roared Bennett.

-

-“My God! I’ll take help from anybody,” cried the other.

-

-Cody coiled his rope to swing it again, this time intending to aim

-ahead of the canoe so that the other man could catch it. But Bennett

-saw his intention, and he drew in his paddle, grabbed his pistol, and

-presented it at his comrade’s back. White Antelope was lying down in

-the canoe, knowing that this was the safest place for her.

-

-“You touch that rope!” shrieked the bandit leader, as the lariat

-whistled through the air again, “and I’ll send you to Hades!”

-

-The man glanced fearfully over his shoulder at the words, and saw the

-threatening pistol.

-

-“Look out!” shouted Buffalo Bill, for his cast had been true, and the

-coil of the lasso was circling just over the man.

-

-The fellow was too scared of the pistol to watch the loop, and it

-settled fairly over his head. With a shriek he tried then to get out

-of it, but it was too late. The canoe darted suddenly into a cross

-current, shooting off from the shore, and the rope was pulled taut.

-

-Buffalo Bill could not have released the rope from his saddle-bow in

-time to save the unfortunate outlaw, nor could he force Chief nearer

-the water. The noose was about the man’s neck, and with an awful jerk

-the rope literally snatched him out of the canoe!

-

-Had the girl not been lying down at the moment his body would have

-carried her likewise into the river. It was by mere chance that the

-canoe did not overturn; but it righted and sailed on with its freight

-of two. The other outlaw was dead before Buffalo Bill could drag him

-ashore. His neck had been broken.

-

-The scout’s interest lay, however, in the fate of the two remaining in

-the canoe. He cast the dead man loose and spurred hard down the path,

-trying to keep up with the frail canoe now shooting the rapids.

-

-It was a perilous journey; yet Boyd Bennett, ruffian though he was,

-exercised the greatest ingenuity in managing the canoe. The scout

-could not but admire this in the fellow.

-

-It seemed impossible, however, that the canoe and its living freight

-could get through the rapids intact. The water boiled madly about the

-craft. It was flung hither and yon, and at times it was so racked by

-the opposing forces of the current that Buffalo Bill, on the bank,

-could hear the wood crack.

-

-Boyd Bennett’s glaring eyes did not turn toward his enemy throughout

-all this trial. He watched each black-ribbed rock or floating snag

-against which his craft might be hurled. Nor did he speak a word to the

-girl lying in the bottom of the canoe.

-

-She knew as well as he that any movement on her part would add to their

-danger, and, although she might now leap overboard--she was free--it

-would mean certain death. So freedom tantalized her. She could only

-escape at the peril of her life!

-

-She saw Boyd Bennett’s glowing eyes occasionally cast upon her a

-basilisklike glance. There was madness in them, she knew. The brave

-girl, used as she was to battle and the chase, shrank from this

-terrible foe. And she was helpless!

-

-The canoe swung around rocks, which she thought surely they must

-hit; it just escaped collision with logs and drift-stuff in the most

-marvelous manner, and all the time Boyd Bennett sat holding the paddle

-as a steering-oar, his black eyes glaring out of his death’s-head face,

-impassive, yet all alive to the dangers of the run.

-

-Spray broke over the side of the canoe and drenched the girl. The craft

-seemed to fairly throb and jump with the motion of the water.

-

-Once an eddy seized them. Despite all Bennett could do the canoe shot

-into this whirlpool, and they made several rapid revolutions before the

-man saw his way out, and thrust the canoe between two ragged jaws of

-rock, and so escaped!

-

-On and on fled the boat, while Buffalo Bill urged his mount along the

-river path. He could barely keep up with it. Each moment he expected to

-see it overturned, and both passengers tumbled into the raging current.

-

-At last the more quiet river below the rapids came into view. Here the

-stream widened and the current quickly became sluggish. In the midst

-of the stream was a wooded island, its sharp upper end, consisting of

-an outcropping ledge, dividing the river into two channels just at the

-foot of the white water.

-

-The canoe, as it shot out of the smother of spray, chanced to take the

-channel nearest to the bank on which Cody urged his horse. This was an

-oversight on Bennett’s part, but he had been too anxious to get out of

-the rapids at all to attend to where the canoe finally went.

-

-Cody saw his chance, and, although Chief was well winded now, he yelled

-with delight. He saw what appeared to be the finish of the race--and in

-his favor.

-

-“I’ve got you now, Boyd Bennett!” he shouted.

-

-The bandit at last turned his eyes upon him, and then glanced around.

-He saw Cody’s meaning. The canoe was drifting so near the scout that

-the latter could either shoot, or rope him. And the long island forbade

-his getting away.

-

-But the villain was not yet to his last card. His mind was keenly

-alive to the situation, and he lost no points in the game.

-

-“Not yet, Bill Cody--not yet!” he shrieked, and with a single thrust of

-his paddle, turned the canoe’s nose toward the island.

-

-“Hold, or I fire!” cried the scout, raising his weapon and drawing bead

-upon the bandit.

-

-Boyd Bennett drove the canoe into the rocky ledge which masked the end

-of the island. Like paper the frail craft tore apart, and both he and

-the girl were flung into the stream.

-

-Buffalo Bill’s bullet flew wide of its mark that time! White Antelope

-was in as much danger as the bandit--perhaps more--for the scout did

-not know whether the girl could swim or not, and the current was still

-quite swift and the water deep.

-

-But White Antelope soon showed what she could do in the river. Cold

-as the water was, the instant she came to the surface and saw Boyd

-Bennett’s arms stretched out for her, she threw herself backward and

-dove again to the bottom of the river! With a yell the bandit flung

-himself after her, and again just missed the scout’s bullet. The

-scoundrel seemed to bear a charmed life. Buffalo Bill was unable to hit

-him. Although they were man to man at last, it was a question still who

-would come out winner in the game.

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER XLIV. THE FIGHT TO GAIN THE ISLAND.

-

-

-White Antelope sank to the bottom of the river; then, unlike ordinary

-swimmers, she did not move in a straight line, but shot off at a sharp

-angle, and endeavored to make the shore where Cody was, while still

-under water. But Boyd Bennett was quite as cunning. He cut across her

-path, and, as the girl came shooting in a long slant to the surface of

-the river, he reached and caught her by the shoulder.

-

-White Antelope screamed and sought to wrench herself away. Cody had

-flung aside his rifle and urged Chief down into the stream. The

-white horse was already belly deep in the flood, picking his way

-intelligently, while his master, rope in hand, prepared to fling the

-loop to the Indian maiden.

-

-But before Cody could make the cast, Bennett had grabbed the girl and

-thrust her under the surface again. White Antelope went down gurgling,

-and the cruel hand of the bandit chief held her fast. With an oath

-the scout seized a revolver and aimed at the black, sleek head of the

-scoundrel.

-

-“Hold your fire, Bill Cody!” cried the bandit again. “Hold your fire,

-or I’ll drown this girl--as sure as you live, I will! She’s mine, and,

-by Heaven, you sha’n’t take her from me--unless it’s her dead body!”

-

-“You devil, you!” roared the scout. “You are drowning her!”

-

-“I surely will if you don’t put up your gun!”

-

-“Let her up!”

-

-“Put away your gun!”

-

-The scout was obliged to do so. If he shot the scoundrel the latter

-might sink, his clutch still upon the White Antelope, and neither of

-them rise again until the breath had left both their bodies!

-

-Boyd Bennett saw the scout put the gun back into his belt. He then

-dragged the girl up by her long, golden hair, and with her in his

-arms--she was now totally unconscious--he struck out with his free hand

-for the island. The scout seemed helpless. There was nothing he could

-do to stop the foe or free the girl. The situation stumped Buffalo Bill

-completely!

-

-All the scout could do was to wait, hand on gun, for some chance to aid

-his cause. While Bennett struggled in the river with the girl he dared

-not fire for two reasons. One, already stated, was that he feared the

-man would sink with his burden and both be drowned; the other was that

-he feared his pistol-ball might wound the girl as well as Bennett.

-

-And now it was not altogether sure that the scoundrel could make the

-shore of the island. He was weaker than he had been, and the burden of

-the girl bore him down. There was a current set off from the island on

-this side, and he had this to fight. And fight he did--with a bravery

-which Cody could but admire. He breasted the current, and fought inch

-by inch the downward drag of the river. It was too much for him,

-however.

-

-Suddenly the bandit almost lost his hold upon the girl. Cody believed

-he was about to give her up and save himself, and he prepared to force

-Chief into the deeper current and so swim out for her. He swung his

-lariat again, too, that it might be ready for emergency. But, although

-Bennett was carried down-stream and the shore of the island was

-rapidly receding from him, he still clung to the Indian maid.

-

-“Look out for the rope, Boyd Bennett! Catch it!” sang out the scout,

-believing that now the fellow would certainly rather save his life and

-lose the girl than lose both his own and her lives. But a sputtering

-shriek came back from the maniac:

-

-“Fling your rope if you dare, Bill Cody! I’ll kill her if you do--mark

-that!”

-

-“Don’t be a fool, man. You can’t save her and yourself.”

-

-“Then we’ll both drown,” returned Boyd Bennett, with the determination

-of a still fearless man.

-

-“I’ll give you your freedom!” roared Cody, at desperate straits now.

-

-“I’ll not take it of you. If I die she goes with me--ah!”

-

-A sudden eddy seized the man and swung him toward the island. He had

-evidently stored some remaining energy, and this he now put forth. He

-seemed fairly to leap forward in the water which was over his head near

-the bank. But he caught at a drooping tree-branch and held on.

-

-Now, could Cody only have reached him, Boyd Bennett would have been

-at his mercy. But only for an instant did the weakness overpower him.

-He swung in shoreward, his feet found footing on a ledge of rock, and

-in another minute he clambered up out of the water, and, with the

-unfortunate girl still hanging limply over his shoulder, passed out of

-the scout’s sight!

-

-The island was well wooded. It contained about half an acre and was

-long and narrow. It was so long that from the bank to which Cody had

-again turned his mount, he could not see whether the bandit found some

-immediate way of leaving it, and so reaching the farther shore of the

-river, or not.

-

-There was no time to waste for Buffalo Bill, therefore. He must press

-after the man and the girl, giving the former no time to recover his

-strength, and, perhaps, make his escape from the island.

-

-But Chief could not help his master across the deep water to the

-ledgy island. Nor could Buffalo Bill make it encumbered by his heavy

-accouterments. That was not to be considered for a moment!

-

-He dismounted and let Chief go free. The old horse had done his share

-well, and as soon as he was relieved of the saddle and bridle, he lay

-down and rolled as though to get the cramps out of his body. The water

-of the river was ice-cold.

-

-It even made Cody shrink when he contemplated it. His only way of

-reaching the island was by swimming, and against that current, and

-with the chill evening coming on, the scout might well hesitate. But

-not for long. What must be done would better be done quickly, and the

-Border King was well inured to exposure and cold. He threw aside his

-ammunition-belt and his weapons. His coat, waistcoat, and outer shirt

-went likewise. Off came his riding-boots, and then in his undergarment,

-and with his bowie between his teeth, he plunged into the flood and

-essayed the venture.

-

-Whether he was being watched from the island by his enemy, Cody did not

-know. But this was the only way he saw to get at Boyd Bennett and the

-girl. He was matching his life against the bandit’s now, in the last

-desperate act of the series which had followed the abduction of White

-Antelope early the day before.

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER XLV. WAR TO THE KNIFE.

-

-

-And, indeed, Boyd Bennett was almost at his last gasp when he dragged

-himself ashore and put the nearest clump of brush between him and the

-water, thus hiding his future movements from the sharp eyes of the

-Border King. There the man fell upon the meager sward that clothed

-this part of the island, and lay, gasping like a great fish just out

-of its element, almost helpless with exhaustion. The White Antelope,

-had she recovered consciousness and power of action during those first

-few minutes, might easily have escaped from her captor. But she had

-come nearer being drowned than was at all pleasant. She lay so still

-and white where Bennett had flung her upon the ground, that even he,

-hardened villain that he was, feared his usage of her delicate body had

-been too much for the spirit that inhabited it, and that the breath was

-already sped from the girl.

-

-But not for some minutes did Bennett think thus. He could barely

-recover his own breath at first. He was chilled through and through

-by the icy water. His clothing clung to him like lead. He had lost

-most of his weapons during his struggle in the river; but his bowie

-and a pistol remained--the latter, of course, useless in its present

-condition. His ammunition was saturated, too. He had but his knife to

-depend on, was he attacked.

-

-And at that thought the bandit chief started to life! Attacked, indeed!

-There was a relentless enemy on his trail. He, too, knew that it had

-come to the final trial of strength between he and the Border King. His

-death, or William F. Cody’s, must mark this island as a tragic spot

-forever.

-

-The great scout, he knew, would never give up while life remained

-in his body. As for Bennett himself, he was pushed now to the last

-extremity. He was bereft of all his associates. He had seen them killed

-one by one, by fate, or by the relentless arm of Buffalo Bill. He

-had lost caste with the Sioux, over whom he had obtained so great an

-influence during the past few months. And all for what? For this White

-Antelope--a half-breed girl--a woman who hated him, and who considered

-herself, though of mixed blood, too good for him.

-

-He gnashed his teeth in rage as he thought of this, and his rage

-somewhat aroused him. He crawled to the girl and shook her. Her body

-was limp--and oh, so cold! It well-nigh frightened Bennett to touch

-her. Could it be that she was already dead?

-

-He tore open the doeskin blouse that draped the upper part of her

-person and bared her bosom. His hand sought her heart and felt a timid

-flutter there. She was still alive!

-

-Yet, how to warm that spark of life into full flame? He had nothing

-in which to wrap her; his own clothing was saturated. But in his

-hunting-shirt he carried a carefully stoppered bottle, and in this

-receptacle were several sulfur matches. These were as precious as gold

-to him now. He crept about the little plateau of the island, gathering

-twigs and dry branches and rubbish. This light stuff he heaped in a

-pile, and then, before he dared light the pyre, he found and broke up

-larger wood and made ready a roaring heap which, a few moments after he

-touched his match to it, blazed several feet into the air.

-

-The sun was going down, and this bonfire warded off the coming chill

-of night. He basked in the heat himself, feeling grateful for every

-leaping, scorching flame. He dragged the girl within the radiance of

-the fire and chafed her hands and her forehead, and removed her torn

-moccasins and held her small, beautifully formed feet to the fire.

-These ministrations he performed with some little tenderness; but,

-although the girl sighed and her lips parted, and her chilled body

-seemed to respond to the warmth of the fire, she did not open her eyes.

-

-Suddenly Boyd Bennett started to his feet with an exclamation of rage.

-He had entirely forgotten something during these minutes. What was

-Buffalo Bill about?

-

-He ran through the bushes and appeared upon the edge of the river

-looking toward the side where Cody had been. There was the big white

-horse, divested of saddle and bridle, cropping the grass on the bank.

-There, too, Bennett saw most of Cody’s clothes and accouterments--a

-neat pile of them. But where was the man himself?

-

-The bandit was inspired instantly with fear that he had overlooked his

-enemy too long. Had he been given time to cross to the island?

-

-And where else could Cody be? For what other reason would he have

-removed his clothing and arms?

-

-“The devil is swimming the river!” muttered the bandit.

-

-The sun was setting, and it was already growing dusky on this side

-of the island. Boyd Bennett cast his keen glance over the troubled

-surface of the water, seeking the bold swimmer. He was not aware that

-at the moment he parted the bushes to step out on the shore, Cody, in

-midstream, had seen him, and had sunk beneath the surface, leaving

-scarcely a ripple to show where he had gone down.

-

-And once in the depths the scout had swum as strongly as he could for

-the island. The current swept him downward, and he was some yards below

-Boyd Bennett’s position when he finally had to come up for air. His

-head bobbed above the surface as sleek as a seal’s or an otter’s--and

-looking much like that of the latter animal. Only to get a breath did

-the scout remain at the surface, then he sank beneath again.

-

-Although Bennett did not actually see his head, he caught the ripples

-on the surface as Cody went down. He saw that there was no eddy there,

-and he suspected instantly what had caused the disturbance on the

-water. With an oath he ran along the edge of the island until he came

-opposite the spot.

-

-In a minute Cody came up again for air. With a yell Bennett sighted

-him. The scout was this time much nearer the shore--and he was much

-nearer his last gasp than before, too! Crossing the river he had found

-all the task promised from the other side. It was not only a long swim,

-but it was an arduous swim.

-

-“I’ve got you now, Bill Cody!” roared the bandit, shaking his fists

-above his head in an abandonment of rage. “I’ve got you now!”

-

-Had Buffalo Bill had breath to do so he might have told him that

-the river had a bigger mortgage on him. The current was pulling him

-down-stream with a power that taxed his utmost strength to counteract.

-

-“You’re my meat!” bawled Bennett. “Let me get my hands on you, you

-hell-hound!”

-

-Cody bore all this in silence. He was struggling to gain a foothold

-near the shore. Once his feet found bottom, but then the current tore

-him away and he had to fight to get back. Bennett ran along the shore

-and stood over him, his face aflame, his eyes blazing like coals, his

-lips fairly frothing.

-

-Cody finally made the shallow again and stood upon his feet. That was

-a blessed relief! He was head and shoulders out of the water, and now

-he took the knife from between his teeth and held it clutched firmly in

-his right hand.

-

-“I’ve got you!” bawled Bennett, fairly dancing up and down on the

-shore. “Come ashore and I’ll have your scalp! I’ll cut your heart out!

-I’ll slice you into cat’s meat! And if you don’t come ashore the river

-will get you. Ha! ha! ha! Bill Cody is between the devil and the deep

-sea this time!”

-

-And the scout thought that this was a pretty true statement of the

-case. For, if ever there was a fiend incarnate, it was Bennett at this

-juncture. And the river was as wicked and dangerous as the sea could

-possibly be. The scout was indeed between two perils--and neither would

-give him a chance for his life.

-

-The moment he waded within striking distance Bennett would attack him.

-And the river dragged at him continually.

-

-But, at least, the scout could parley. He had breath enough to say:

-

-“Boyd Bennett, you and I have many an old score to settle. Give me

-footing on that bank. You have your knife; I have mine. Let us try

-conclusions fairly.”

-

-“What! Give you a chance to play some scurvy trick on me--when I’ve got

-you dead to rights?” cried Bennett, and laughed long and loudly.

-

-Cody edged a step nearer to the shore.

-

-“Be a man!” urged the scout. “You’re as good as I am.”

-

-“I’m better--curse you!”

-

-Cody gained another foot.

-

-“Let us try conclusions, blade to blade. Give me a show, man!”

-

-“It’s war to the knife, and the knife to the hilt between us--that’s

-true, Bill Cody!” gritted out the man. “But you shall not be given a

-chance. I’ll kill you in cold blood--or see you drown in this river.

-Mark ye that!”

-

-Cody crept a few inches nearer.

-

-“Come! You are rested. You’ve got your strength back. I’m chilled to

-the bone. But don’t kill me as you would a dog, Bennett!” urged the

-wily scout.

-

-“A dog you are, and a dog’s death you shall die!”

-

-Cody stooped a little now so as to appear still to be in deep water.

-But he had gained considerable. The fellow’s rage and excitement made

-him overlook this cunning.

-

-“A chance; just a foothold on the bank--for God’s sake!” cried Cody.

-

-“Not much; I won’t! You die where you are--or drown!”

-

-Boyd Bennett stooped, and holding his own bowie with grim clutch, made

-a pass at the scout. The latter dodged--and made another foot.

-

-“Give me a show!” cried the man in the water, apparently at his last

-gasp.

-

-“No, no! I’ll have your life--and now!”

-

-Again the bandit made a thrust. At the moment Cody flung his body

-forward, and his left hand clutched a tree-branch which overhung the

-river. At last he had a stable hold upon terra firma. With a shout

-he dragged himself in toward the bank, and, in turn, lunged at his

-antagonist. So unexpected was the blow that he came near catching

-Bennett in a vital spot. As it was, the point of the scout’s bowie slit

-his enemy’s sleeve from wrist to elbow and brought the blood beneath!

-

-“You devil!” yelled Bennett, leaping back, smarting with pain.

-

-It was just the chance Cody wished. He bounded out upon the rocky

-shore. His own war-cry resounded through the island. All his weakness

-dropped from him like a garment. At last he was before his foe, and

-they were evenly matched--man to man and blade to blade!

-

-“Guard yourself, you scoundrel!” cried Buffalo Bill, the Border King.

-“It is war to the knife, and the knife to the hilt, as you yourself

-have said. Your life or mine--which is the better man! One of us, Boyd

-Bennett, shall never leave this spot alive!”

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER XLVI. AND THE KNIFE TO THE HILT.

-

-

-All the time Buffalo Bill had been standing in the shallow water

-parleying with his enemy, he had been regaining his breath and his

-strength, both sadly depleted by his swim across the river. Now he had

-leaped ashore almost as fresh and strong as Bennett himself.

-

-His leaping ashore had quite startled the bandit; but he did not give

-back after his first cry of surprise and pain. He, too, was armed with

-a bowie. They were indeed equal, and the bandit was no physical coward.

-

-Colonel James Bowie, of Texas, invented a terrible weapon of defense

-and offense when he gave the world the heavy hunting-knife which bears

-his name. It is a long, slightly curved blade, having a razor-sharp

-two-edged point and a heavy back. It is fitted with a handle and

-guard, and is always carried in a sheath. It can be thrown with great

-precision by the old-time “knife-fighter”; but it is at close quarters

-that the true wickedness of the weapon comes to light.

-

-In a fight with these knives death must surely result--many times to

-both antagonists; surely to one. One stroke does it; there is no need

-of a second if the first really gets home. A strong blow would sever a

-man’s head from his body!

-

-Both the scout and Boyd Bennett were familiar with the use of the

-great knife. Facing each other, left foot forward, stooping slightly,

-they circled about each other like two cocks looking for a chance to

-strike. The men’s eyes were fastened upon each other, like the eyes of

-pugilists. In the expanding and contracting of the eyeball they saw the

-intent of their antagonist to make a move.

-

-Crouching, the two shifted about on the rocks. The ground was not good

-for such cautious work; but one did not know it better than the other.

-It was as fair to Bennett as to the scout.

-

-Both men feinted, but did not come to close quarters. They began to

-breathe heavily, not so much from exhaustion as from excitement. The

-wind hissed between their locked teeth. Their eyes were like those

-of mad beasts. Their bare feet shifted on the rocks with a shuffling

-sound, but otherwise they were noiseless in their tigerlike movements.

-

-Suddenly, with a shriek like a wildcat, Boyd Bennett leaped at his foe.

-He thought he saw an opening. This was what the scout intended, and

-he gave back just a little. But before Bennett was upon him the other

-glided to one side and struck sharply at the man. The blades clashed

-and sparks flew from the steel. At the same moment the men clutched

-each other by the left wrist, and at last the issue was really joined!

-

-There they stood panting, foot to foot and breast to breast, their

-fingers locked about each other’s wrists like steel bands, the

-knife-blades “slithering” against each other, every muscle in their

-bodies as tense as steel wires. The pressure of blade against blade was

-all that kept the men apart. If one gave an atom in an endeavor to stab

-his foe, he would open his own breast to the knife. This was a foregone

-conclusion. The pressure of knife against knife seemed a frail

-barrier; but that was all that lay between the two men and sudden and

-awful death!

-

-The man who made the first reckless move, or the one whose bodily

-forces first gave before the strain, was the one who ran the greatest

-peril. To the cool man, the brave man, the man with iron nerve and an

-undaunted patience--to him would come victory!

-

-Knowing this, Buffalo Bill took the only advantage that remained to

-him. His own mind was calm, his brain steady, his vision unclouded by

-hot rage. _His_ emotion was a sort of cold fury, as deadly as the steel

-blade, the handle of which he clutched. At last he had his enemy before

-him--within his grasp--face to face and steel to steel!

-

-And so he taunted him, knowing that Bennett’s brain and heart were

-already afire with hatred.

-

-“You’ve no girl now to conquer, Boyd Bennett!” the scout hissed.

-“You’re not robbing the cradle now. Look out! Another mistake like that

-and I’ll have you!”

-

-“Curse you, you’re a dead man already!” cried the bandit.

-

-“I’m as good as a dozen dead ones. Don’t fool yourself. Ah!”

-

-“Not yet!”

-

-“But almost--almost, my boy! I’ll get you the next time. My brave Death

-Killer--medicine chief of the Sioux! Ah-ha, you villain! You’ve played

-_that_ game to the end, too.”

-

-Bennett fairly gnashed his teeth and put forth furious endeavors to

-break down his antagonist’s guard.

-

-“Save your breath, man,” said Cody, knowing that his advice would have

-exactly a contrary effect upon Bennett. “I’m only playing with you yet.”

-

-“It’s the worst game _you_ ever played, Bill Cody!”

-

-Cody thought so himself, but he smiled back into the other’s eyes, and

-the man’s rage grew.

-

-“I’ll get you yet!” roared Bennett.

-

-“But not that way,” muttered the scout. “Ah! _Now_ we have it!”

-

-With a sudden turn of his wrist he almost brought Bennett to his knees.

-Both men clung so tightly to each other’s left wrists, however, that

-little advantage was to be gained by sudden twists. It was the steady

-pressure of steel against steel that would finally gain the day. One

-arm must be stronger than the other--one foot more skilful--one eye

-more true.

-

-“This is a bad end for you, Boyd Bennett!” began Cody again.

-

-He was scarcely panting himself; but the other was breathing hard,

-gnashing his teeth, rolling his eyes, like a veritable madman. He

-screamed with rage at this remark of the scout’s, and the froth flew

-from his lips. If ever a man was mad, Boyd Bennett was that person.

-

-“And all for what?” quoth the scout. “What did you make by it? The girl

-would have nothing to do with you. Had you remained in Oak Heart’s camp

-you might have finished me. But _not_ that way!” guarding himself from

-a furious lunge of the other’s knife.

-

-“No, no, my boy! You made a grave error. Back there you had some power.

-You might have had the upper hand over me. Now _I_ have it!”

-

-“Not yet!” roared Bennett.

-

-“Oh, yes, I have! I’m only playing with you, I tell you. When I am

-ready I’ll put you where the dogs won’t bite you! Ah! how’s that?”

-

-Boyd had made a furious lunge; and his hand had slipped on Cody’s

-wrist. Quick as lightning the scout slipped aside, broke from the

-death-grapple, and slit the point of his knife up Bennett’s upper arm,

-making a deep, ugly wound. The blood fairly spurted from the severed

-artery. It was then but a matter of a few minutes before Bennett would

-be helpless, unless he managed to finish Cody first.

-

-They circled about each other again, watchful as cats. Once or twice

-they tried to grapple, but it amounted to nothing. Bennett’s wound was

-troubling him sorely. The blood was running in a stream from the point

-of his elbow.

-

-“Say your prayers--if you have any to say, you scoundrel!” exclaimed

-the scout sternly. “For you pay for your murders and atrocities here

-and now! If you have killed that poor girl by your brutal treatment,

-you pay for it in short order.”

-

-Bennett leaped in at him. The scout gave back a bit, and suddenly his

-foot slipped on a wet slab of rock. He fell to one knee. With a yell of

-delight, the wounded bandit flung himself upon him.

-

-It was not the scout’s finish, however. Cody had a wealth of reserve

-force yet. He flung himself forward to meet Bennett’s charge, caught

-his left wrist and the weight of the man’s body upon his left shoulder.

-The scoundrel’s stroke overreached, and the pit of his stomach came in

-heavy contact with his antagonist’s shoulder-bone.

-

-That antagonist rose up suddenly and pitched Bennett clear over him.

-The man landed on his head and shoulders, but, as though made of India

-rubber, he bounded to his feet and faced Cody again.

-

-He was panting for breath, his face was covered with blood, and

-altogether he was a most terrible looking object. He had no intention

-of giving up the fight, however. With a yell, he flung himself once

-more at Cody--but this time wildly.

-

-“’Tis the end at last, Boyd Bennett!” sang out the clarion voice of the

-Border King.

-

-The villain knew it. His eyes rolled, his teeth chattered, his mouth

-was agape as he reentered the fray. Their left hands were locked again,

-and the knives clashed. Steadily Cody forced his man back, back,

-back--until a tree-trunk kept him from going farther. From a crouching

-position the two men gradually stood erect. The pressure of Buffalo

-Bill’s bowie against that of his antagonist became a force that the

-latter could not meet. His arm went slowly back until the elbow struck

-sharply against the tree-trunk.

-

-With an awful scream of rage and deadly fear the fellow’s fingers

-relaxed upon the handle of his bowie. The blade clattered to the

-ground. He clutched feebly at Cody’s throat, and then----

-

-It was indeed the knife to the hilt! Boyd Bennett slipped to the ground

-and lay there, dead!

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER XLVII. THE CONQUEROR.

-

-

-Buffalo Bill turned his eyes from the bleeding corpse of his enemy,

-staggered to a near-by boulder, and dropped upon it to rest. His own

-strength was far spent. Besides, the wound he had received in his

-shoulder, aggravated by his long, cold swim and the violent exertions

-of the past few minutes, had broken out bleeding afresh. Boyd Bennett

-would never know how near he came to being victor himself in this awful

-battle!

-

-As for the consequence, he dropped upon the rock, exhausted and ill.

-The hardiest and most seasoned veteran comes to the end of his tether

-at last, and for thirty-six hours Cody had been riding hard, and

-fighting hard, and swimming hard--and all without bite or sup! There

-had been no time for the preparation of food when he left his cave in

-the mountain to follow Boyd Bennett and the White Antelope, and since

-that time he had neither dared shoot game nor had he seen the time to

-cook and eat.

-

-And that which fairly quenched his spirit now was the thought that he

-seemed to have taken all this hard labor upon his shoulders for naught.

-True, his old-time enemy was finally dead. Boyd Bennett, the outlaw of

-the Overland Trail, the Death Killer of the Utah Sioux, would never

-again trouble mortal man--unless his spirit came back to haunt the

-scenes of his bloody deeds.

-

-But Buffalo Bill had not put forth all this effort merely to best this

-old-time foe. First of all, he desired to save the White Antelope, but

-he seemed to have failed in this. Boyd Bennett had plainly carried his

-threat into execution. He had actually drowned the unfortunate girl.

-It had been that thought, more than any other, that had nerved Buffalo

-Bill to drive the steel home into Bennett’s heart!

-

-“All gone now--the last of the three!” muttered the scout, passing

-his hand across his shaking lips. “And such horrible deaths for all!

-Death by the bullet and the fall from the cliff. Death by the war-club

-and tomahawk. And now death by the river--and the hands of a cursed

-villain. Horrible! horrible!”

-

-These enigmatical remarks, uttered aloud, drowned a rustling in the

-bushes behind him. Suddenly a light hand fell upon his shoulder. The

-scout did not start--his nerves were too steady. But he glanced at the

-small, brown hand, and then looked up along the arm, turning his head

-until he looked full into the face of the White Antelope. There his

-gaze hung, while his lips remained speechless for the moment.

-

-“Pa-e-has-ka has killed his enemy and mine. This makes the White

-Antelope and Long Hair friends.”

-

-She held out her hand to him, and the scout took it, still in a daze.

-

-“By holy!” he muttered. “I sure thought she was dead.”

-

-“What is it my white brother mutters?”

-

-“I reckoned you were drowned, White Antelope,” repeated Cody.

-

-“Nay. I held my breath under the water. But that wicked man came near

-to drowning me.”

-

-“I should say he did!”

-

-“Then he would have revived me; but I remained as though unconscious,

-for I feared him.”

-

-“You’ll have need to fear him no more.”

-

-“Ah! it was a good fight! I watched. The Long Hair is indeed a great

-chief.”

-

-Cody shuddered and glanced away. He did not like to think of the

-daughter of Oak Heart’s white wife viewing with satisfaction such a

-terrible battle as that which had just cursed this spot.

-

-“The Long Hair is cold. Let him come to the fire yonder and dry his

-body and rest.”

-

-“I don’t care if I do. I feel like I was frozen clear to my marrow.

-You’ve got a fire, have you?”

-

-“Death Killer made it to dry us by. Now you shall have it,” she said.

-

-The scout basked for some minutes in the heat of the fire, which White

-Antelope heaped with fresh fuel. But he could not remain inactive for

-long. His perturbed mind, relieved by the discovery of the girl’s

-safety, instantly fixed upon other worriments.

-

-Her absence from the encampment of the Sioux would have long since been

-noted. Oak Heart would be troubled by her absence. And they were a long

-way from the valley in which the Indian village lay.

-

-Besides, they were marooned on this island in the middle of the

-river. The canoe was wrecked, and Cody shrank from making that long

-swim to the mainland again. Besides, he doubted the girl’s ability to

-accomplish such a task.

-

-There was nothing to eat on this island, however, and food they must

-have before long. At least, the scout felt the need of it.

-

-So he rose up very quickly from his reclining posture and went to the

-side of the island which faced the river-bank from which he had swum.

-It was already twilight, but he glanced sharply up and down the bank

-for some wandering party that might help them. The Indians might be

-searching for their canoes; he could not expect any of the freighters

-to come down so far as this, for the main trail turned off some miles

-above.

-

-But not a soul appeared. The only living object on the river-bank which

-he saw was Chief, quietly grazing.

-

-“Then our hope lies in you, faithful old horse!” cried Cody, and he

-uttered a shrill whistle.

-

-The white horse raised his head, whinnied, and trotted down to the

-water’s edge. Buffalo Bill gave the call which he used when he desired

-Chief to come to him. The dumb brute understood, but he pawed the

-gravel at the river’s edge and seemed to hesitate. The distance across

-was wide, and the sullen current was strong. He had already been in it

-and had been almost swept away.

-

-Buffalo Bill repeated his call. The horse threw up his head, neighed

-intelligently, and trotted down the riverside to the lower end of

-the island. There the current was not so swift. Without hesitation,

-this time, the noble horse plunged into the flood and swam with head

-high, and occasionally neighing at his master, toward the island.

-Being untrammeled by saddle or bridle, the creature handled himself

-remarkably well in the current, and forged ahead without being swept

-much out of his course by the stream.

-

-When he came near the shore, however, Buffalo Bill was forced to rush

-in, cling to Chief’s mane, and guide the horse to land. There the

-brute climbed out and shook himself like a great dog.

-

-“Ah! the white chief has control over even the ponies,” said the Indian

-maid, in admiration.

-

-“And lucky he does,” muttered Buffalo Bill to himself. “Without old

-Chief we’d be roosting here till kingdom come!”

-

-But he had to give the horse time to breathe before setting him at the

-current again. It was no easy pull across. Finally he led the white

-horse down into the water and gave the girl a boost upon his back,

-where she straddled him, clinging to his thick mane.

-

-“Let him have his head,” Buffalo Bill commanded. “He won’t need any

-guidance, but will bring us both safe ashore.”

-

-He urged Chief into the deep water, and swam by his side himself,

-resting a hand now and then on the beast’s shoulder, and encouraging

-him with his voice. Tired as they both were, man and beast found the

-pull tremendous. They were carried some distance down the river, but

-that did not so much matter. Only the water chilled Cody to the bone,

-and he had visions of rheumatism, that fell disease that lays hold upon

-the woodsman early in life because of exposure and privation.

-

-It was somewhat of a battle to reach the shore, but they accomplished a

-landing at last, and White Antelope leaped down from Chief’s back and

-patted him.

-

-“A brave horse, and worthy of carrying a brave man like Long Hair,” she

-declared.

-

-“Give him a night’s rest,” said Cody, “and he’ll carry us both back to

-your father’s village.”

-

-“The Long Hair was going there to redeem his pledge to me when I

-chanced to spy him?” queried White Antelope.

-

-“I certainly was snooping about, looking for a chance to get through

-Bennett’s line of guards.”

-

-“But you had been killing and scalping Oak Heart’s braves?”

-

-“Not a one. I was there waiting for a chance to keep my promise to

-you,” said Buffalo Bill emphatically. “This renegade white was the

-fellow who was quietly knocking your young men in the head and scalping

-them. He was as bloodthirsty a wretch as ever went unhung. He’s dead

-now, thanks be!”

-

-“Then Oak Heart will receive you with more friendliness,” said the girl.

-

-“I dunno how friendly he’ll feel,” muttered Cody. “But I’ll take you

-back safe in the morning.”

-

-They hastened to build a rousing camp-fire, and as soon as his

-undergarments were dry the scout put on his outer clothing and

-accouterments. Then with his rifle he stole away to a place where he

-had noted the marks of many creatures that had come down to drink, and

-there, just as the moon rose, found a doe with her fawn and shot the

-youngster. So they had a much needed late supper of roast kid. After

-which Cody insisted that the girl sleep.

-

-As for himself, he sat up the livelong night, or paced the river-bank

-to keep awake. Just before daybreak he awoke the girl, and while she

-cooked breakfast he obtained an hour’s repose.

-

-As they started from the river’s brink to ride ’cross country toward

-the range in which Oak Heart’s camp was situated, White Antelope said:

-

-“My father’s braves will be out searching for me, mayhap. If they see

-White Antelope in the charge of a white man, they may try to shoot him.

-They may believe you were he who stole me away.”

-

-“I’d been thinking of that,” said Cody reflectively. “I don’t want to

-get popped over for the wrong man, that’s sure. I reckon I’ll have to

-change my appearance a little.”

-

-“How will the white chief do that?” she demanded, over his shoulder.

-She was riding behind him on the saddle.

-

-“We’ll see when we come to that cave I’ve been staying in. I reckon

-I’ve got something there that may help me out. And I believe we shall

-be able to reach it without being molested.”

-

-Chief bore them tirelessly all that day and far into the night. When

-they halted and built their fire they were within a few hours’ ride of

-the cave in the mountain from which Cody had overlooked Oak Heart’s

-camp. Seventy-two hours before he had left it to chase Boyd Bennett

-and rescue the Indian maiden. Much had happened since then both to the

-scout and in the Indian encampment.

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER XLVIII. THE PLEDGE KEPT.

-

-

-There was much excitement in the village of the Sioux. The white queen,

-the idolized daughter of Oak Heart, had ridden away from her teepee and

-had not returned. Then came the discovery of the death of the young

-brave on the ridge, and the deed was set down to the credit of the

-hated Long Hair.

-

-These mysterious murders that had been committed so near the encampment

-had wrought upon the tribesmen greatly. It seemed as though Long Hair

-possessed some supernatural power. He flitted, seemingly, from place to

-place without being seen, and killed the Sioux almost in the confines

-of the encampment.

-

-While the chiefs were in council a horse was seen approaching from

-a mountain defile, down over the ridge, where the young brave had

-been found stabbed to the heart. Upon the back of the horse were two

-persons, one of them apparently a great chief in full war-dress; the

-other was White Antelope herself.

-

-The strange chief rode directly down into the village, not deigning to

-more than grunt a salutation to the guards, and the girl refused to

-make any explanation, either. Straight to the council-lodge the chief

-rode, and, there dismounting, the two entered, the young girl leading

-the way.

-

-The Indian is stoical and Spartan, but Oak Heart was fond of his

-remaining child. He was moved now by her unexpected recovery, and

-as she ran to him he allowed her to take and hold his hand. The old

-men nodded, too, for they believed that the White Antelope was “good

-medicine.” The strange chief, however, they did not know, and they eyed

-him with suspicion as well as curiosity. Finally the White Antelope

-arose and stepped into the circle, and there made her voice heard by

-all in the lodge.

-

-“The Sioux are a wise people; their chiefs are wise; their old men are

-wise, but sometimes even the wise are mistaken. They make mistakes.

-They welcome into their tribe one who stung and bit like the viper

-warmed in the bosom. Such a viper has been warmed in the bosom of the

-Utah Sioux!”

-

-The old men grunted and looked at each other. Some glanced covertly at

-the place where the medicine chief, Death Killer, should have sat. He

-was not present.

-

-“This one came with a false tale to my father, the great chief, Oak

-Heart, and told a tale which sent the Sioux on the war-path. They fell

-upon the palefaces and killed them. The palefaces were not searching

-for the Sioux village; they were searching for a wicked paleface to

-punish him. Ah! he was two-tongued--and his tongue was sharp as a knife.

-

-“The White Antelope speaks the truth to you. This traitor was in the

-councils of the Sioux, but with his own hand he was murdering our young

-men. See! The still, red scalp of Po-ca-his-ta, torn from his head by

-the traitor this very day. And this--as other--murders he would have

-had the Sioux believe were done by Long Hair, the paleface scout.

-

-“Long Hair was sent to tell his big chief of my father’s warning, and

-to bring people to bury the dead. Long Hair said he would return. Long

-Hair is of a straight tongue. He is here!”

-

-Instantly the strange chief standing so motionless in their presence

-threw the war-bonnet aside and dropped the corner of the blanket which

-muffled his face. Buffalo Bill stood revealed. A deep murmur ran around

-the lodge, and it was half of surprise, half of admiration for the bold

-paleface who had redeemed his word to the White Antelope. Fearlessly

-the scout stood before his redskin foes, his eyes fixed upon the face

-of Oak Heart.

-

-“It is well,” said the old Sioux. “The Long Hair’s life was forfeit

-when he was held by Death Killer. He has gone to his people; he has

-returned as he said. Now he must die.”

-

-But Buffalo Bill never changed color. White Antelope started forward,

-her richly tinted face paling. It was a moment before she controlled

-herself and stood calmly to speak as an Indian should.

-

-“Let the White Antelope speak!” said Oak Heart quietly.

-

-The girl, in rapid, burning words, related her capture by Boyd Bennett

-and his death at the hands of the scout. The treachery of the renegade

-was proved. Buffalo Bill had been the medicine chief’s prisoner. Why

-should the Sioux hold the captive of a creature so dishonored?

-

-Her plea evidently made some impression, but all eyes turned upon Oak

-Heart, and at length the old chief spoke.

-

-“The Long Hair is a mighty paleface chief. He has trailed the red man

-to his village, and his belt is heavy with the scalps of my braves. He

-came here under the war-bonnet of a Cheyenne chief, and has saved the

-White Antelope from death.

-

-“But the Long Hair has long been a foe to the Sioux. It was he who

-brought help to the white soldiers in the fort when we would have

-beaten them. It was he who took them ammunition. It was he who stole

-our ponies.

-

-“The Long Hair has ofttimes looked on death. He is not afraid of death.

-He must show my warriors how a brave man can die.”

-

-For the first time since entering the lodge, Buffalo Bill spoke:

-

-“It is true, Oak Heart, that I have been your foe, and the foe of

-your people of late. It was not always so. When the Sioux would dwell

-at peace with the paleface, were content to live and hunt in these

-mountains and not fall upon and kill the white soldiers, Long Hair was

-their friend.

-

-“When the Wise Woman lived and her wisdom guided the tribe, the Sioux

-remained at peace with the paleface. But now worse councils prevail

-among you, and your young men go out to battle and are slain. And what

-do you gain? The palefaces are as numberless as the leaves of the

-forest. When you kill one, two come in his place; where you kill two,

-a dozen appear. Take the word of one who has smoked in your lodges and

-heard wisdom from your old men. The Long Hair tells you to bury the

-hatchet and smoke the peace-pipe with the white chiefs. Then shall you

-have content and your bellies be filled, and your young men shall grow

-up and be great hunters and your young squaws live to bear children.

-

-“Long Hair has spoken. If the Sioux kill me, it is but one white man

-dead. But how many will strike the trail of the Sioux to avenge my

-death? The Sioux have already lost many braves. Let them be content;

-blood enough has been spilled. Is it not so?

-

-“Remember, too, oh, Oak Heart, how Long Hair has sat in your lodge and

-talked with you and the Wise Woman before the Great Spirit took her.

-Here!” he drew from his hunting-shirt a sacred tomahawk pipe with a

-broken edge. “Here is the pledge given to Long-Hair long ago by the

-Wise Woman, and by Oak Heart. Then was Oak Heart’s mind single; he

-was not full of wiles and thoughts of evil against the white men and

-against Long Hair. This was the pledge that Long Hair and the Sioux

-should never be at enmity. And has the enmity been of Long Hair’s

-seeking? Nay! The red men started to slay. The Long Hair must go with

-his people. Has he done wrong?

-

-“See! Must Pa-e-has-ka die?” and he held up the trophy again.

-

-A deathlike silence had fallen upon the lodge. The old chief was

-greatly moved, and for an Indian--especially a councilor--to show

-emotion is a disgrace. Perhaps, too, his mind was filled with thoughts

-of the Wise Woman, of whom Buffalo Bill had spoken so feelingly.

-

-Years before, when Oak Heart was a much younger man, the tribe had

-raided far to the south, by the waters of a great river. They had come

-upon a ranchman and his family, killed him, flung his body into the

-river, and taken his wife, a beautiful white squaw, captive. None but

-the son of the ranchman--a mere child--escaped. He had been found and

-cared for after the massacre by Buffalo Bill.

-

-The white squaw’s brain had been turned by the horror of that time.

-She wandered about the encampment in a dazed state. The Indians have

-a great awe of those who are insane, believing that the finger of the

-Great Spirit has touched them. She was cared for tenderly and brought

-north with the tribe.

-

-She was a skilful woman with herbs and simples. She nursed the wounded

-warriors; she helped the women in travail; she cared for the children

-and the young squaws. She was much beloved. Her influence, even before

-her mind cleared, became one for great good in the tribe.

-

-Slowly she grew normal once more. Years had passed. Instead of golden

-tresses, her hair was as white as the snow upon the mountain peaks. Yet

-she was still a young woman and good to look upon. Oak Heart loved her.

-He had treated her with the utmost respect and kindness. She had lived

-so long among the redskins that she had lost all distaste for them,

-and had imbibed many of their religious beliefs. She was unutterably

-opposed to the warring of the tribe with the whites, however.

-

-Her husband and children were dead--and the past was dead. She espoused

-Oak Heart so as to retain her influence over him and over the tribe,

-for the good of the whites. It was after that that Buffalo Bill met the

-Wise Woman and knew who she was. But he had never told her that her son

-was alive, for fear that the knowledge would do the poor woman more

-harm than good. Also, she had a child by Oak Heart--the White Antelope.

-But she died when the girl was small.

-

-Possibly thoughts of the dead woman moved the old chief. Besides, the

-peace-pipe was a sacred pledge. He suddenly rose, threw around him his

-blanket, and, standing in the midst of the lodge, spoke impressively:

-

-“The Pa-e-has-ka is a friend to Oak Heart. When the hatchet shall be

-buried between the red men and the palefaces, they shall be brothers

-again. But now the palefaces are on the trail of my people; so let the

-Pa-e-has-ka hasten from us and join his own tribe. Not one of my braves

-shall follow him. Oak Heart has spoken.”

-

-There were murmurs about the lodge, but no chief at the moment put

-his objections in words. Buffalo Bill found the White Antelope’s hand

-seeking his own. She acted more like a modest and timid white girl than

-ever before.

-

-“Let the white chief come with me,” she whispered. “I have something to

-show him.”

-

-The amazed scout went with her out of the grand lodge and was taken to

-her own teepee.

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER XLIX. CONCLUSION.

-

-

-The wondering Indians allowed the White Antelope and Long Hair to pass.

-Inside the teepee an old woman kept watch and guard. A figure lay upon

-a heap of furs. It moved as the scout entered, raised on its elbow, and

-a weak voice exclaimed:

-

-“By the nine gods of war! Thanks be it’s you, Cody! I thought you’d

-never come, though this dear girl here swore you would, as you had

-promised her.”

-

-To see one whom we believe dead--aye, have seen lying stark on the

-field of battle and believe to have been buried there--rise up suddenly

-and confront us is indeed a shock. Buffalo Bill fell back a step,

-exclaiming:

-

-“Dick Danforth!”

-

-“’Tis I, old faithful! Thanks to this girl--who is the whitest Injun

-God ever made--I am alive, the sole survivor of my unfortunate party.”

-

-“Dick, I saw you lying on the field of battle,” declared the scout,

-taking his hand. “How came you here?”

-

-“She brought me back to life. She found there was life in me. I had

-got a terrible crack on the head. She and the old woman brought me

-here, and I have been hidden in this teepee ever since. I’m a whole lot

-better now, Cody. I believe I could ride a horse.”

-

-“And the White Antelope has cared for you?” cried the scout.

-

-“She has, indeed.” Then the young man whispered: “Isn’t she beautiful?

-And how glad I am, old man, that you stayed my hand that day when I

-would have murdered her!”

-

-“Ho, ho!” muttered the scout. “Sets the wind in that quarter? I must

-tell you two young people something before more mischief be done.”

-

-He seized the girl’s hand and drew her forward to the side of

-Danforth’s couch.

-

-“White Antelope,” he said in English, “do you remember that I told you

-once I knew your mother?”

-

-She nodded, watching him with bright eyes.

-

-“She was a lovely woman. She was a white woman. It was true she was

-Oak Heart’s wife, but she had been espoused before by a good and great

-white man. He was killed by Oak Heart’s people, and for a time your

-mother was stricken by the mercy of the Great Spirit with forgetfulness.

-

-“When she came to herself she believed that her husband and her son

-were dead. She became Oak Heart’s squaw. But her son was not dead. I

-had saved him from the Indians, and he lived to grow up----”

-

-Danforth raised himself up with a great cry.

-

-“You do not mean it! It is impossible!” he cried. “This girl----?”

-

-“Is your sister. White Antelope, this young man is your elder

-brother--and a mighty fine fellow you’ll find him. Your mother was the

-finest woman I ever knew, and _your_ father, Dick--God help him!--was

-once the finest fellow in the world!”

-

-The scout choked and was silent. He was thinking of that awful,

-convulsed face of the Mad Hunter as he fell backward from the summit of

-the bluff, with Texas Jack’s bullet in his brain!

-

-“He--he is my brother?” murmured the girl, her eyes shining.

-

-“That’s what he is,” said the scout, recovering himself and speaking

-heartily.

-

-She went to Danforth and put both her hands in his. The young fellow

-suddenly pulled her down to him and kissed her on the lips.

-

-“That’s the way _white_ brothers and sisters greet each other,” he

-said, with a weak laugh. “When can you get us away from this camp,

-Cody?”

-

-That was a question easier to be asked than answered. But the

-excitement over the letting of Cody himself go free aided them in their

-attempt. The chiefs were murmuring against the decision of Oak Heart.

-The old man was fighting for his supremacy as head chief of the tribe.

-He could not even see the White Antelope, and shut her out of his lodge.

-

-This piqued the wayward girl. She was the more ready to go with her

-new-found brother, as he was ill and needed her. But she only agreed

-to go with him to Fort Resistence and then directly return. But Dick

-Danforth said confidently:

-

-“Let me once get her away from the influence of these bloody redskins,

-and I’ll wean her away from them. I know what will please a young girl

-like her. I’ll take her to San Francisco, Bill. Thanks to you, I’ve

-some property of my own left of my poor father’s estate. And isn’t she

-a beauty! Won’t she make ’em sit up and take notice at the Bay?”

-

-Under cover of the night the scout and the Indian maid helped the

-wounded Danforth upon a horse, and the three wended their way from

-the encampment. They were not followed--or, at least, were not

-overtaken--until they reached Captain Keyes’ command. Then they were

-hurried on under an escort to Resistence. White Antelope made no

-objection to going, her brother was so weak and needed her so much.

-

-Indeed, the wily young fellow remained an invalid so long that his

-sister became half-reconciled to civilized clothing and to white people

-before they took the long journey to San Francisco, where Dick went to

-spend the furlough allowed him by the department.

-

-       *       *       *       *       *

-

-The scene changes once more to Fort Advance, some days after that on

-which Buffalo Bill, the Border King, had set out on his dangerous

-mission to the village of the Sioux. It is a little past sunrise, and a

-horseman is descried taking the trail from the cañon toward the fort.

-He is mounted on a great white charger that comes like the wind.

-

-The rider looks pale and jaded, and his buckskin attire has seen hard

-usage. But he is recognized by the sentinel over the gate, and his cry

-is repeated about the fort:

-

-“Here comes Buffalo Bill, the King of the Border!”

-

-Waving his battered hat in response to the shout, Buffalo Bill rides

-straight to the open gate, enters, and dismounts before Major Baldwin’s

-door. An orderly seizes his bridle-rein, and the major comes forth and

-grasps the scout’s hand with the words:

-

-“Thanks be to God for seeing you again alive, Cody! When Keyes told me

-you were safe, I felt like ordering a feast to celebrate the occasion.

-And they say the Sioux are ready for peace?”

-

-“I believe they are. Oak Heart has pretty much lost his grip on the

-tribe, and is an outcast. But the new powers-that-be have seen the

-fallacy of trying issues again with us.”

-

-“We certainly believed you dead one while, Cody.”

-

-“And it was a close shave not to be this time, sir.”

-

-“You have won out as usual, Bill, with flying colors.”

-

-“Yes, Major Baldwin. I went to Oak Heart’s village with the firm

-determination to get Boyd Bennett if it cost me my life. That scoundrel

-had been a thorn in my side too long. I got him. He’s dead. He’ll do no

-more harm _this_ side of the Great Divide!”

-

-“A good piece of work, Cody. And I understand that old maniac, the Mad

-Hunter, who attacked Keyes, is dead, too?”

-

-“That is so. But I am sorry for _his_ end. I tell you in confidence,

-major, that the man was Dick Danforth’s father--though I never

-suspected it until I saw his face close to. The Indians were supposed

-to have cracked him on the head and flung him into the river years ago.

-The crack on the head was sure enough. But he wasn’t drowned. His end

-has come now, poor fellow.”

-

-“And Dick wonderfully saved!”

-

-“He is, indeed--and has found a sister.”

-

-“Ah, Cody! That was a joker you kept up your sleeve a long time,” said

-the major.

-

-“True. I knew the boy’s hatred for all savages. I did not know about

-his poor mother and this girl until I had really instilled some of the

-boy’s hatred into his mind myself. I feared for him to know the truth.

-Yet I wanted to save her from the savages. Providence performed what I

-could not.”

-

-“True.... But those scalp-locks, Cody?” asked Major Baldwin, pointing

-to the string of ghastly trophies hanging from the scout’s belt.

-

-“Oh, those are the roofs of the braves who tried to raise my hair. I

-intended to have a rope made of them to hang Boyd Bennett with, but

-I’ll have them made into a bridle for you, instead, major.”

-

-“All right, scout. Thank you for the gift. And now you are free. Report

-to me in full when you have rested,” and with another hand-clasp the

-major let him go.

-

-Many other hands were waiting to clasp that of the Border King. It was

-some time before he could break away and find Texas Jack in the scouts’

-quarters.

-

-But times of rest were few and far between for these hardy men of the

-frontier. One tribe of red men were scarcely subjugated for the time

-when another would rise up to kill and slay. It was not long before

-Buffalo Bill was performing more daring deeds to add to his fame upon

-the border.

-

-THE END.

-

-       *       *       *       *       *

-

-Say, Boys!

-

-How’d you like to own your own bronc’? How’d you like to be an expert

-at lassoing and branding? How’d you like to ride the rolling prairies

-in search of lost stock, and perhaps have an adventure or two with

-certain bad men who did not like you because you were on the side of

-law and order? How would you like it?

-

-Well, we all cannot go west and be cowboys, but we sure can pay 15

-cents for the stories in the _Western Story Library_, and find a good,

-comfortable spot, and immediately imagine ourselves riding with Ted

-Strong and his broncho boys, sharing their adventures, their hardships

-and pleasures.

-

-Ted Strong and his pals are lovable fellows--every one of them, and you

-will do well to make comrades of them.

-

-Ask your dealer to show you a copy of the _Western Story Library_.

-

-  STREET & SMITH CORPORATION

-  79 Seventh Avenue  New York City

-

-       *       *       *       *       *

-

-WESTERN STORIES ABOUT BUFFALO BILL

-

-Price, Fifteen Cents

-

-Red-blooded Adventure Stories for Men

-

-There is no more romantic character in American history than William

-F. Cody, or as he was internationally known, Buffalo Bill. He, with

-Colonel Prentiss Ingraham, Wild Bill Hickok, General Custer, and a few

-other adventurous spirits, laid the foundation of our great West.

-

-There is no more brilliant page in American history than the winning of

-the West. Never did pioneers live more thrilling lives, so rife with

-adventure and brave deeds as the old scouts and plainsmen. Foremost

-among these stands the imposing figure of Buffalo Bill.

-

-All of the books in this list are intensely interesting. They were

-written by the close friend and companion of Buffalo Bill--Colonel

-Prentiss Ingraham. They depict actual adventures which this pair of

-hard-hitting comrades experienced, while the story of these adventures

-is interwoven with fiction; historically the books are correct.

-

-_ALL TITLES ALWAYS IN PRINT_

-

-    1--Buffalo Bill, the Border King           By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-    2--Buffalo Bill’s Raid                     By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-    3--Buffalo Bill’s Bravery                  By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-    4--Buffalo Bill’s Trump Card               By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-    5--Buffalo Bill’s Pledge                   By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-    6--Buffalo Bill’s Vengeance                By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-    7--Buffalo Bill’s Iron Grip                By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-    8--Buffalo Bill’s Capture                  By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-    9--Buffalo Bill’s Danger Line              By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   10--Buffalo Bill’s Comrades                 By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   11--Buffalo Bill’s Reckoning                By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   12--Buffalo Bill’s Warning                  By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   13--Buffalo Bill at Bay                     By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   14--Buffalo Bill’s Buckskin Pards           By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   15--Buffalo Bill’s Brand                    By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   16--Buffalo Bill’s Honor                    By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   17--Buffalo Bill’s Phantom Hunt             By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   18--Buffalo Bill’s Fight With Fire          By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   19--Buffalo Bill’s Danite Trail             By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   20--Buffalo Bill’s Ranch Riders             By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   21--Buffalo Bill’s Death Trail              By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   22--Buffalo Bill’s Trackers                 By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   23--Buffalo Bill’s Mid-air Flight           By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   24--Buffalo Bill, Ambassador                By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   25--Buffalo Bill’s Air Voyage               By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   26--Buffalo Bill’s Secret Mission           By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   27--Buffalo Bill’s Long Trail               By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   28--Buffalo Bill Against Odds               By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   29--Buffalo Bill’s Hot Chase                By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   30--Buffalo Bill’s Redskin Ally             By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   31--Buffalo Bill’s Treasure Trove           By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   32--Buffalo Bill’s Hidden Foes              By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   33--Buffalo Bill’s Crack Shot               By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   34--Buffalo Bill’s Close Call               By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   35--Buffalo Bill’s Double Surprise          By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   36--Buffalo Bill’s Ambush                   By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   37--Buffalo Bill’s Outlaw Hunt              By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   38--Buffalo Bill’s Border Duel              By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   39--Buffalo Bill’s Bid for Fame             By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   40--Buffalo Bill’s Triumph                  By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   41--Buffalo Bill’s Spy Trailer              By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   42--Buffalo Bill’s Death Call               By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   43--Buffalo Bill’s Body Guard               By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   44--Buffalo Bill’s Still Hunt               By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   45--Buffalo Bill and the Doomed Dozen       By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   46--Buffalo Bill’s Prairie Scout            By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   47--Buffalo Bill’s Traitor Guide            By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   48--Buffalo Bill’s Bonanza                  By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   49--Buffalo Bill’s Swoop                    By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   50--Buffalo Bill and the Gold King          By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   51--Buffalo Bill, Deadshot                  By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   52--Buffalo Bill’s Buckskin Bravos          By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   53--Buffalo Bill’s Big Four                 By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   54--Buffalo Bill’s One-armed Pard           By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   55--Buffalo Bill’s Race for Life            By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   56--Buffalo Bill’s Return                   By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   57--Buffalo Bill’s Conquest                 By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   58--Buffalo Bill to the Rescue              By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   59--Buffalo Bill’s Beautiful Foe            By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   60--Buffalo Bill’s Perilous Task            By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   61--Buffalo Bill’s Queer Find               By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   62--Buffalo Bill’s Blind Lead               By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   63--Buffalo Bill’s Resolution               By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   64--Buffalo Bill, the Avenger               By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   65--Buffalo Bill’s Pledged Pard             By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   66--Buffalo Bill’s Weird Warning            By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   67--Buffalo Bill’s Wild Ride                By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   68--Buffalo Bill’s Redskin Stampede         By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   69--Buffalo Bill’s Mine Mystery             By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   70--Buffalo Bill’s Gold Hunt                By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   71--Buffalo Bill’s Daring Dash              By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   72--Buffalo Bill on Hand                    By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   73--Buffalo Bill’s Alliance                 By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   74--Buffalo Bill’s Relentless Foe           By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   75--Buffalo Bill’s Midnight Ride            By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   76--Buffalo Bill’s Chivalry                 By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   77--Buffalo Bill’s Girl Pard                By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   78--Buffalo Bill’s Private War              By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   79--Buffalo Bill’s Diamond Mine             By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   80--Buffalo Bill’s Big Contract             By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   81--Buffalo Bill’s Woman Foe                By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   82--Buffalo Bill’s Ruse                     By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   83--Buffalo Bill’s Pursuit                  By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   84--Buffalo Bill’s Hidden Gold              By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   85--Buffalo Bill in Mid-air                 By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   86--Buffalo Bill’s Queer Mission            By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   87--Buffalo Bill’s Verdict                  By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   88--Buffalo Bill’s Ordeal                   By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   89--Buffalo Bill’s Camp Fires               By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   90--Buffalo Bill’s Iron Nerve               By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   91--Buffalo Bill’s Rival                    By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   92--Buffalo Bill’s Lone Hand                By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   93--Buffalo Bill’s Sacrifice                By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   94--Buffalo Bill’s Thunderbolt              By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   95--Buffalo Bill’s Black Fortune            By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   96--Buffalo Bill’s Wild Work                By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   97--Buffalo Bill’s Yellow Trail             By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   98--Buffalo Bill’s Treasure Train           By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-   99--Buffalo Bill’s Bowie Duel               By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-  100--Buffalo Bill’s Mystery Man              By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-  101--Buffalo Bill’s Bold Play                By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-  102--Buffalo Bill: Peacemaker                By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-  103--Buffalo Bill’s Big Surprise             By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-  104--Buffalo Bill’s Barricade                By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-  105--Buffalo Bill’s Test                     By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-  106--Buffalo Bill’s Powwow                   By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-  107--Buffalo Bill’s Stern Justice            By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-  108--Buffalo Bill’s Mysterious Friend        By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-  109--Buffalo Bill and the Boomers            By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-  110--Buffalo Bill’s Panther Fight            By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-  111--Buffalo Bill and the Overland Mail      By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-  112--Buffalo Bill on the Deadwood Trail      By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-  113--Buffalo Bill in Apache Land             By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-  114--Buffalo Bill’s Blindfold Duel           By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-  115--Buffalo Bill and the Lone Camper        By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-  116--Buffalo Bill’s Merry War                By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-  117--Buffalo Bill’s Star Play                By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-  118--Buffalo Bill’s War Cry                  By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-  119--Buffalo Bill on Black Panther’s Trail   By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-  120--Buffalo Bill’s Slim Chance              By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-  121--Buffalo Bill Besieged                   By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-  122--Buffalo Bill’s Bandit Round-up          By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-  123--Buffalo Bill’s Surprise Party           By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-  124--Buffalo Bill’s Lightning Raid           By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-  125--Buffalo Bill in Mexico                  By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-  126--Buffalo Bill’s Traitor Foe              By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-  127--Buffalo Bill’s Tireless Chase           By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-  128--Buffalo Bill’s Boy Bugler               By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-  129--Buffalo Bill’s Sure Guess               By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-  130--Buffalo Bill’s Record Jump              By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-  131--Buffalo Bill in the Land of Dread       By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-  132--Buffalo Bill’s Tangled Clue             By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-  133--Buffalo Bill’s Wolf Skin                By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

-

-       *       *       *       *       *

-

-  _Adventure Stories_

-  _Detective Stories_

-  _Western Stories_

-  _Love Stories_

-  _Sea Stories_

-

-All classes of fiction are to be found among the Street & Smith novels.

-Our line contains reading matter for every one, irrespective of age or

-preference.

-

-The person who has only a moderate sum to spend on reading matter will

-find this line a veritable gold mine.

-

-  STREET & SMITH CORPORATION,

-  79 Seventh Avenue,

-  New York, N. Y.

-

-       *       *       *       *       *

-

-Transcriber’s Notes:

-

-Punctuation has been made consistent.

-

-Variations in spelling and hyphenation were retained as they appear in

-the original publication, except that obvious typographical errors have

-been corrected.

-

-The following changes were made:

-

-p. 17: when assumed for unintelligible word (volunteer when you were)

-

-p. 34: means assumed for unintelligible word (wonderful means of)

-

-p. 69: wise scout assumed for unintelligible words (the wise scout had)

-

-p. 77: to assumed for unintelligible word (blow to Oak)

-

-p. 120: done assumed for unintelligible word (was done. It)

-

-p. 120: officer assumed for unintelligible word (the officer descried)

-

-p. 226: flung assumed for unintelligible word (mother flung him)

-

-p. 228: unintelligible word(s) deleted (he feared and)

-

-p. 292: a assumed for unintelligible word (seemed a frail)

-

-p. 306: can assumed for unintelligible word (man can die)

-

-p. 314: Dick assumed for unintelligible word (And Dick wonderfully)

-

-

-

-

-

-End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Buffalo Bill, the Border King, by 

-Colonel Prentiss Ingraham

-

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-

-***** This file should be named 62638-0.txt or 62638-0.zip *****

-This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:

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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 62638 ***
+
+Transcriber’s Notes:
+
+Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_).
+
+Additional Transcriber’s Notes are at the end.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+Buffalo Bill, the Border King
+
+
+  OR, REDSKIN AND COWBOY
+
+  BY Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+
+  Author of “Buffalo Bill”
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+  STREET & SMITH CORPORATION
+  PUBLISHERS
+  79-89 Seventh Avenue, New York
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Copyright, 1907 By STREET & SMITH
+
+Buffalo Bill, the Border King
+
+(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 role 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 Roughriders of the World,” first presented at Omaha,
+Nebraska. In time it became a familiar yearly entertainment in the
+great cities of this country and Europe. Many famous personages
+attended the performances, and became his warm friends, including Mr.
+Gladstone, the Marquis of Lorne, King Edward, Queen Victoria, and the
+Prince of Wales, now King of England.
+
+At the outbreak of the Sioux, in 1890 and 1891, Colonel Cody served
+at the head of the Nebraska National Guard. In 1895 Cody took up the
+development of Wyoming Valley by introducing irrigation. Not long
+afterward he became judge advocate general of the Wyoming National
+Guard.
+
+Colonel Cody (Buffalo Bill) died in Denver, Colorado, on January
+10, 1917. His legacy to a grateful world was a large share in
+the development of the West, and a multitude of achievements in
+horsemanship, marksmanship, and endurance that will live for ages. His
+life will continue to be a leading example of the manliness, courage,
+and devotion to duty that belonged to a picturesque phase of American
+life now passed, like the great patriot whose career it typified, into
+the Great Beyond.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+BUFFALO BILL, THE BORDER KING.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I. RUNNING THE DEATH-GANTLET.
+
+
+Fort Advance, a structure built of heavy, squared timbers and some
+masonry, with towers at the four corners, commanding the deep ditches
+which had been dug around the walls, stood in the heart of the then
+untracked Territory of Utah. It was the central figure of a beautiful
+valley--when in repose--and commanded one of the important passes and
+wagon trails of the Rockies.
+
+A mountain torrent flowed through the valley, and a supply of pure
+water from this stream had been diverted into the armed square which,
+commanded by Major Frank Baldwin, was a veritable City of Refuge to all
+the whites who chanced to be in the country at this time.
+
+For the valley of Fort Advance offered no peaceful scene. The savage
+denizens of the mountain and plain had risen, and, in a raging,
+vengeful flood, had poured into the valley and besieged the unfortunate
+occupants of the fort. These were a branch of the great Sioux tribe,
+and, under their leading chief, Oak Heart, fought with the desperation
+and blind fanaticism of Berserkers.
+
+A belt of red warriors surrounded Fort Advance, cutting off all
+escape, or the approach of any assistance to the inmates of the
+stockade, outnumbering the able-bodied men under Major Baldwin’s
+command five to one! Among them rode the famous Oak Heart, inspiring
+his children to greater deeds of daring. By his side rode a graceful,
+beautiful girl of some seventeen years, whose face bore the
+unmistakable stamp of having other than Indian blood flowing in her
+veins. Long, luxurious hair, every strand of golden hue, contrasted
+strangely with her bronze complexion, while her eyes were sloe-black,
+and brilliant with every changing expression.
+
+This was White Antelope, a daughter of Oak Heart, and she held almost
+as much influence in the tribe as the grim old chief himself. Because
+of her beauty, indeed, she was almost worshiped as a goddess. At least,
+there was not a young buck in all the Utah Sioux who would not have
+attempted any deed of daring for the sake of calling the White Antelope
+his squaw.
+
+But while the red warriors were so inspired without the walls of the
+fortress, within was a much different scene. Major Baldwin’s resources
+were at an end. Many of his men were wounded, or ill; food was low; the
+wily redskins had cut off their water-supply; and there were but a few
+rounds of ammunition remaining. Fort Advance and its people were at a
+desperate pass, indeed!
+
+After a conference with his subordinate officers, Major Baldwin stood
+up in the midst of his haggard, powder-begrimed men. They were faithful
+fellows--many of them bore the scars of old Indian fights. But human
+endurance has its limit, and there is an end to man’s courage.
+
+“Will no man in this fort dare run the death-gantlet and bring aid to
+us?” cried the major.
+
+It was an appeal from the lips of a fearless man, one who had won a
+record as a soldier in the Civil War, and had made it good later upon
+the field as an Indian fighter. The demand was for one who would risk
+almost certain death to save a couple of hundred of his fellow beings,
+among them a score of women and children.
+
+The nearest military post where help might be obtained was forty
+miles away. Several brave men had already attempted to run the deadly
+gantlet, and had died before the horrified eyes of the fort’s inmates.
+It seemed like flinging one’s life away to venture into the open where,
+just beyond rifle-shot, the red warriors ringed the fort about.
+
+Such was the situation, and another attack was about due. The riding of
+the big chief and his daughter through the mass of Indians, was for the
+purpose of giving instructions regarding the coming charge. Ammunition
+in the fort might run out this time. Then over the barrier would swarm
+the redskins, and the thought of the massacre that would follow made
+even Major Baldwin’s cheek blanch.
+
+So the gallant commander’s appeal had been made--and had it been made
+in vain? So it would seem, for not a man spoke for several moments.
+They shifted their guns, or changed weight from one foot to the other,
+or adjusted a bandage which already marked the redskin’s devilish work.
+
+They were brave men; but death seemed too sure a result of the attempt
+called for; it meant--to their minds--but another life flung away!
+
+“Was it not better that all should die here together, fighting
+desperately till the last man fell?” That was the question these old
+scarred veterans asked in their own minds. The venture would be utterly
+and completely hopeless.
+
+“_Look there!_”
+
+The trumpet-call was uttered by an officer on one of the towers
+of the stockade. His arm pointed westward, toward a ridge of rock
+which--barren and forbidding--sloped down into the valley facing the
+main gateway of Fort Advance.
+
+At the officer’s cry a score of men leaped to positions from which
+could be seen the object that occasioned it. Even Major Baldwin,
+knowing that the cry had been uttered because of some momentous
+happening, hurriedly mounted to the platform above the gate. He feared
+that already his demand for another volunteer was too late. He believed
+the redskins were massing for another charge.
+
+All eyes were strained in the direction the officer on the watch-tower
+pointed. A gasp of amazement was chorused by those who saw and
+understood the meaning of the cry.
+
+A horseman was seen riding like the wind toward the fort--and he was a
+white man!
+
+The Indians who had already beheld this rash adventurer were dumb with
+amazement. They were as much surprised by his appearance as were the
+inmates of the fort.
+
+The unknown rider was leading a packhorse. The horse he bestrode was a
+magnificent animal, and the packhorse flying along by its side was a
+racer as well, for both came on, down the long tongue of barren rock,
+at a spanking pace.
+
+From whence had the man come? Who was he? How had he gotten almost
+through the Indian lines undiscovered?
+
+He certainly had all but run the gantlet of the red warriors, for no
+shot, or no arrow, had been fired at him until he was discovered by the
+officer on the watch-tower of the fort.
+
+Then it was that he spurred forward like the wind, and floating to the
+ears of the whites who watched him so fearfully came the long, tremolo
+yell of the Sioux warriors as they started in pursuit of the daredevil
+rider. He was heading directly for the large gates of the fort.
+
+That he had chosen well his place to break through the Indian
+death-circle was evident, for there were few braves near him as he fled
+along the sloping ridge into the valley. His rifle he turned to right,
+or to left, firing with the same ease from either shoulder, while his
+mount, and the packhorse tied to its bridle, guided their own feet over
+the rocky way.
+
+When he pulled trigger the bullet did not miss its mark. The rifle rang
+out a death-knell, or sent a wounded brave out of action.
+
+The ponies of the Indians were feeding in the valley, with only a guard
+here and there, and there were no mounted warriors near to close in on
+the reckless rider, or to head him off. Hark! Their vengeful yells, as
+they observed the possibility of the daring man’s escape, were awful
+to hear. They were in a frenzy of rage at the desperate act of the
+horseman.
+
+Rifles and bows sent bullets and shafts at him, but at long range. If
+he was hit he did not show it. The horses still thundered on, down into
+the valley, as recklessly as frenzied buffalo.
+
+Oak Heart, the great war chief, heard the commotion and saw the
+speeding white man. The chief was mounted, and he lashed his horse into
+a dead run for the point where the reckless paleface was descending
+into the valley. With him rode the White Antelope, and their coming
+spurred the braves to more strenuous attempts to reach, or capture, or
+kill, the daredevil rider.
+
+The occupants of the fort--those who beheld this wonderful race--were
+on the qui vive. Their exclamations displayed the anxiety and
+uncertainty they felt.
+
+“He can never make it!”
+
+“The Indian guard are driving in the ponies to bar his way!”
+
+“Who is he?”
+
+“How he rides!”
+
+“God guard the brave fellow!” cried a woman’s voice.
+
+One of the gentler sex had climbed to the platform over the gate, and
+this was her prayer.
+
+Other women had dropped to their knees, and were fervently praying God
+to spare the splendid fellow who was daring the gantlet of death. A
+cheer rose from the soldiery. This unknown was showing them the way
+that they had not dared to go.
+
+“That packhorse is wounded. Why doesn’t he leave it?” cried one of the
+officers. “It is delaying him--can’t the fellow see it?”
+
+At that moment the commander shouted:
+
+“Captain Keyes, take your troop to the rescue of that brave fellow!”
+
+“With pleasure, sir! I was about to ask your permission to do just
+that,” declared the junior officer.
+
+The bugle sounded, but its notes were drowned in a sudden wild shout
+of joy that rose from the two hundred inmates of the fort. Another
+officer, with a field-glass at his eye, had suddenly turned and shouted:
+
+“It is Buffalo Bill, the Border King!”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II. THE BORDER KING.
+
+
+The wild cheers that greeted the recognition of the daring gantlet
+runner came in frenzied roars, the piping voices of children, the
+treble notes of women, and the deep bass of the men mingling in a
+swelling chorus that rose higher and higher.
+
+The Border King, as he had been called, heard the sound. He understood
+that it was in his welcome, and he fairly stood up in his stirrups and
+waved his sombrero, while the horses dashed on at the same mad pace.
+
+Buffalo Bill, or William F. Cody, as was his real name, was the chief
+of scouts at this very fort, and he was a hero--almost a god--in the
+eyes of the soldiers and his brother scouts.
+
+A week before he had started for Denver with important despatches, but
+had returned in a few hours to report signs of a large band of Indians
+on the move. He had warned Major Baldwin that Oak Heart and his braves
+might be intending a concerted attack upon Fort Advance; but duty
+called Buffalo Bill to the trail again, and he had hurried away on his
+Denver mission.
+
+That the danger he had dreaded was real, the surrounding of the fort
+several days later by the Sioux proved. Scouts had been sent for aid,
+but too late. None had gotten through the belt of redskins, and that
+belt was tightening each hour. The ammunition was low, and the awful
+end was not far off if help from some quarter did not appear.
+
+Even the appearance of Buffalo Bill inspired the beleaguered whites
+with hope. It seemed an almost hopeless attempt to reach the fort, for
+the red warriors were closing in upon him. Yet he rode on unshakenly.
+
+Down the ridge he sped, and out upon the plain. He was seemingly coming
+from the sunshine of life into the valley of death’s shadow!
+
+Why did he do it? Why did he risk his life so recklessly when only
+forty miles away he could have obtained help from the military post?
+There was some reason behind his daring act, and some cause for his
+delaying his effort by dragging the packhorse, now wounded, with him.
+
+All in the fort knew what this hero of the border had done to win fame
+among the mighty men of the frontier. He was chief and king among them.
+Yet what could he do now to help the besieged in the fortress, even
+did he reach the gate? That was the question!
+
+But hope revived, nevertheless, in every heart. Even the commandant,
+Major Frank Baldwin, began to look more hopeful as the scout drew
+closer to the fort. He had known Buffalo Bill long and well, and he
+knew of what marvels he was capable!
+
+Buffalo Bill had been born in a cabin home on the banks of the
+Mississippi River in the State of Iowa, and from his eighth year he
+had been a pioneer--an advance agent of civilization. At that age
+his father had removed to Kansas, and as a boy Billie Cody saw and
+took part in the bloody struggles in Kansas between the supporters
+of slavery and those who believed that the soil of Kansas should be
+unsmirched by that terrible traffic in human lives.
+
+Cody’s father, indeed, lost his life because of his belief in freedom,
+and the boy was obliged to help support the family at a tender age. He
+went to Leavenworth, and there hired out to Alex Majors, who of that
+day was the chief of the overland freighters into the far West.
+
+The boy was eleven years old--an age when most youngsters think only of
+their play and of their stomachs. But Billie Cody had seen his father
+shot down; he had nursed him and hidden him from his foes, and from
+the dying pioneer had received a sacred charge. That was the care of
+his mother and sister. It was necessary for him to earn a man’s wage,
+not a boy’s. And to get it he must do a man’s work. He was a splendid
+rider, even then--one of those horsemen who seem a part of the animal
+he bestrode, like the Centaurs of which Greek mythology tells us.
+Alex Majors needed a messenger to ride from train to train along the
+wagon-trail, and he entrusted young Cody with the job.
+
+It was one that might have put to the test the bravery of a seasoned
+plainsman. Indians and wild beasts were both very plentiful. There
+were hundreds of dangers to threaten the lone boy as he rode swiftly
+over the trails. Yet even then he began to make his mark. He had
+several encounters with the Indians during his first season. As he says
+himself, the first redskin he ever saw stole from him, and he had to
+force the scoundrel--boy though he was--to give up the property at the
+point of the rifle. This incident, perhaps, gave the youth a certain
+daring in approaching the reds which often stood him well in after
+adventures. And the reds learned to respect and fear Billie Cody. He
+allowed his hair to grow long, to show the Indians that he was not
+afraid to wear a “scalp-lock”--practically daring any of his red foes
+to come and take it!
+
+So from that early day he had been active on the border. All knew
+him--red as well as white. He had been an Indian fighter from his
+eleventh year, the hero of hundreds of daring deeds, thrilling
+adventures, and narrow escapes. He was as gentle as a woman with the
+weak, the feeble, or with those who claimed his protection; but he was
+as savage in battle as a mountain lion, and had well earned the title
+bestowed upon him by his admiring friends--the Border King. His coming
+to the fort now--if he could make it safely--was worth in itself a
+company of reenforcements, for it put heart into all the besieged.
+
+“Never mind, Keyes! it is Cody, and he will get through,” called out
+Major Baldwin to Captain Keyes, as the men were mounting.
+
+Captain Edward L. Keyes was a splendid type of cavalry officer, and
+he was anxious for another brush with the redskins at close quarters.
+He was disappointed, but as the man making the attempt to reach Fort
+Advance was Buffalo Bill, the captain agreed with Major Baldwin that
+“he would get through.”
+
+The Border King had turned his rifle now upon the Indian guards who
+were trying to head him off by blocking his way with the large herd of
+half-wild ponies which had been feeding in the valley. Indian ponies
+are not broken like those used by white men. They are pretty nearly
+wild all their days. The red man merely teaches his mount to answer to
+the pressure of his knees, and to the jerk of the single rawhide thong
+that is slipped around the brute’s lower jaw. And these lessons are
+further enforced by cruelty.
+
+The odor of a white person is offensive to an Indian pony. A white man
+has been known frequently to stampede a band of Indian mounts; and not
+infrequently the mob of wild creatures has turned upon the unfortunate
+paleface and trampled him to death under their unshod feet.
+
+Therefore, this opposition of the ponies was no small matter. They were
+a formidable barrier to Buffalo Bill’s successful arrival at the gate
+of the stockade fort.
+
+His rifle rattled forth lively, yet deadly, music, and his aim was
+wonderfully true for that of a man riding at full speed. Emptying the
+gun, he swung it quickly over his shoulder, and drawing the big cavalry
+pistols from their holsters the daring scout began to fairly mow a
+path through the herd of ponies. The slugs carried by the large-caliber
+pistols were as effective as the balls from his rifle. The mob of
+squealing, kicking, biting ponies broke before his charge, and swept on
+ahead of him. Another cheer from the watchers in the fort signaled this
+fact. The ponies were stampeding directly toward Fort Advance.
+
+“Out and line ’em up!”
+
+“We’ll corral the ponies if we kyan’t th’ Injuns!”
+
+“Throw open the gates!” commanded Major Baldwin, his voice heard above
+the tumult.
+
+The command was obeyed, and Captain Keyes and his men galloped out to
+meet the mob.
+
+In vain did the Indian guards try to head off the stampede. By having
+left their ponies in the valley where the grass was sweet and long,
+they had been caught in this trap. Instead of capturing Buffalo Bill it
+looked as though he and the other whites would capture the bulk of the
+Indian ponies!
+
+Oak Heart and the White Antelope, with a few mounted reds at their
+back, thundered across the level plain and up the rise toward the fort.
+But the pony herd and Buffalo Bill were well in the lead.
+
+The king of the border turned in his saddle, and waved his sombrero in
+mockery at the Indian chief. Then the ponies dashed into the gateway
+and were corraled, while the scout, still leading his packhorse, swept
+in behind them.
+
+“On guard, all! The redskins will charge on foot to try and get their
+ponies!” shouted the scout, as he came through the gate.
+
+His voice rose above the turmoil and brought the delighted men to their
+duty. Major Baldwin echoed Buffalo Bill’s advice, ordering everybody to
+their posts.
+
+“Be careful of the expenditure of powder and lead, men!” warned the
+major, from his stand on the platform. “Remember we are running short.”
+
+“Don’t you believe it, major!” cried the voice of the scout, as he
+dismounted in the middle of the enthusiastic throng.
+
+“What’s that, Cody?”
+
+“Strip the packhorse. I have brought you a-plenty of ammunition until
+reenforcements can be had.”
+
+“God bless you, Cody, for those words! You have saved us,” cried Major
+Baldwin, and there was a tremor in his voice as he glanced toward the
+group of women and children.
+
+He came down from the platform, and wrung the scout’s hand, as he asked:
+
+“In the name of Heaven, Cody, where did you get ammunition? Surely, you
+did not bring it all the way from Denver?”
+
+“No, indeed. I cached this over a year ago, major,” the scout replied
+cheerfully. “It will hold those red devils off until help arrives.
+You’ve sent to Fort Resistence, I presume?”
+
+“Sent, alas! But five men have died in the attempt.”
+
+“And not one got through?” cried Buffalo Bill.
+
+“Not one, Cody.”
+
+Buffalo Bill’s face assumed a look of anxiety--an expression not often
+seen there.
+
+“I had called for another volunteer when you were discovered coming.
+It was a splendid dash you made, Cody, and a desperate one as well.”
+
+“Aye,” said the scout gravely. “Desperate it was, indeed. But it
+must be made again. This ammunition I have brought you may last till
+morning; but the reds must be taken on the flank or they’ll hold you
+here till kingdom come!
+
+“I’ll try to get through again, Major Baldwin. You must have help,”
+declared the Border King sternly.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III. THE KING OF THE SIOUX.
+
+
+Scarcely had Buffalo Bill uttered these cheering words when a babble of
+cries arose from the watchers on the towers and the platform over the
+gate. The redskins were gathering for a concerted charge, maddened by
+his escape and the loss of their ponies.
+
+Saving a few chiefs, beside Oak Heart and the White Antelope none of
+the reds were mounted. However, they were so enraged now that they
+ignored the whites’ accuracy of aim and came on within rifle-shot of
+the stockade.
+
+The ammunition brought on the packhorse led by the scout was hastily
+distributed among the defendants of the fort, with orders to throw no
+shot away. They were to shoot to kill, and Major Baldwin advised as
+did “Old Put” at the first great battle in United States history--the
+Battle of Bunker Hill--“to wait till they saw the whites of the
+enemies’ eyes!”
+
+Powder was as precious to that devoted band as gold-dust, and bullets
+were as valuable as diamonds.
+
+Major Baldwin took his position on the observation platform above
+the gate, Buffalo Bill by his side, repeating rifle in hand, and
+near them stood a couple of young officers as aids, and the bugler.
+All were armed with rifles, and every weapon for which there was no
+immediate need in the fort was loaded and ready. The women were in two
+groups--one ready to reload the weapons tossed them by the men, and the
+other to assist the surgeon with the wounded.
+
+The Indians came swarming across the valley in a red tidal wave. They
+were decreasing their circle, and expected to rush the stockade walls
+in a cyclonic charge.
+
+They quickened their pace as they came, and the weird war-whoop
+deafened the beleaguered garrison. They came with a rush at last,
+showering the walls with arrows and bullets, some of which found their
+way into the loopholes.
+
+It was a grand charge to look upon; it was a desperate one to check.
+
+The whites had their orders and obeyed them. Not a rifle cracked
+until the Indians were under the stockade walls, scrambling through
+the ditch. Then the four six-pounders roared from the block-towers,
+their scattering lead and iron mowing down the yelling redskins in the
+ditches.
+
+Then volley upon volley of carbines, repeating rifles, and muskets
+echoed the rolling thunder of the big guns.
+
+Not a few of the bullets and arrows entered the loopholes, and many
+dead and wounded were numbered among the whites; but the carnage among
+the redskins was awful to contemplate.
+
+The thunder of the big guns, the popping of the smaller firearms, the
+screaming of the wild ponies corraled in the fort, and the demoralized
+shrieks of the Indians themselves made a veritable hell upon earth!
+
+Above all rose the notes of the bugle sending forth orders at Major
+Baldwin’s command. Now and then that piercing, weird war-cry of
+the Border King was heard--a sound well known and feared by the
+Indians. They recognized it as the voice of he whom they called
+Pa-e-has-ka--“The Long Hair.”
+
+Indian nature was not equal to facing the deadly hail of iron and lead,
+and the red wave broke against the stockade and receded, leaving many
+still and writhing bodies in the ditches which surrounded the fort, and
+scattered upon the plain. Slowly at first the redskins surged backward
+under the galling fire of the whites but finally the retreat became a
+stampede.
+
+The rout was complete. All but the dead and badly wounded escaped
+swiftly out of rifle-shot, save one mounted chief. He was left alone,
+struggling with his mount, trying to force the animal to leave the
+vicinity of the fort gate.
+
+This was Oak Heart himself, the king of the Sioux, and his mount was a
+great white cavalry charger that he had captured months before. This
+was no half-wild Indian pony; yet the Indian chief, without spurs and
+a proper bridle, could not control the beast. The horse had heard the
+bugle to which he had been so long used. He was determined in his
+equine mind to rejoin the white men who had been his friends, instead
+of these cruel red masters, and he made a dash for the gate of the
+fortress.
+
+In vain did Chief Oak Heart try to check him. He would have flung
+himself from the horse’s back, but the creature was so swift of foot
+and the ground was so broken here, that such an act would have assured
+Oak Heart’s instant death. Besides, being the great chief of his
+tribe, Oak Heart had bound himself to the horse that, if wounded or
+killed, he would not be lost to his people which--according to Indian
+belief--would be shame.
+
+Oak Heart had lost his scalping-knife, and could not cut the rawhide
+lariat that held him fast. He writhed, yelling maledictions in Sioux
+upon the horse; but he could neither check the brute nor unfasten the
+lariat.
+
+His warriors soon saw Chief Oak Heart’s predicament, and they charged
+back to his rescue. The White Antelope led them on, for she was as
+brave as her father.
+
+Buffalo Bill had been first to see the difficulty into which the chief
+had gotten himself, and springing down from the platform he threw
+himself into the saddle, shouted for the gates to be opened, and
+spurred his horse out of the fort.
+
+“Don’t shoot the girl!” the scout yelled to the soldiers lining the
+walls above him. “Have a care for the girl!”
+
+But there was scarcely chance for the whites to fire at all at the
+oncoming White Antelope and her party, before Buffalo Bill was beside
+the big white charger and the struggling king of the Sioux.
+
+Out flashed the scout’s pistol, and he presented it to the red man’s
+head.
+
+“Oak Heart, you are my prisoner! Yield yourself!” he cried, in the
+Sioux tongue.
+
+At the same moment he seized the thong by which the Indian was
+wrenching at the jaw of the white horse, snatched it from Oak Heart’s
+grasp, and gave the big charger his head. The white horse sprang
+forward for the open gate of the fort, and Buffalo Bill’s mount kept
+abreast of him. The redskins dared not fire at the scout for fear of
+killing Oak Heart.
+
+A volley from the soldiery sent the would-be rescuers of the chief back
+to cover. Only the beautiful girl, White Antelope, was left boldly in
+the open, shaking her befeathered spear and trying to rally her people
+to the charge. The white men honored Buffalo Bill’s request and did
+not shoot at her, or the Sioux would have lost their mascot as well as
+their great chieftain.
+
+In a moment the scout with his prisoner dashed through the open gates,
+which were slammed shut and barred amid the deafening acclamations of
+the garrison. Major Baldwin was on hand to grasp Buffalo Bill’s hand
+again, and as he wrung it he cried:
+
+“Another brave deed to your credit, Cody! It was cleverly done.”
+
+He turned to the chief whom the scout was freeing from the lariat that
+had been the cause of his capture. The redskin king had accepted his
+fate philosophically. His look and bearing was of fearlessness and
+savage dignity. He had been captured by the palefaces, and so humbled
+in the eyes of a thousand braves; but he was defiant still, and his
+features would not reveal his heart-anguish to those foes that now
+surrounded him with flushed faces.
+
+The stoical traits of the Indian character cannot but arouse admiration
+in the white man’s breast. From babyhood the redskin is taught--both
+by precept and instinct--to utter no cry of pain, to reveal no emotion
+which should cause a foe pleasure. When captured by other savages, the
+Indian will go to the fire, or stand to be hacked to pieces by his
+enemies, with no sound issuing from his lips but the death-chant.
+
+And this Spartan fortitude is present in the very papooses themselves.
+A traveler once told how, in walking through an Indian village, he came
+upon a little baby tied in the Indian fashion to a board, the board
+leaning against the outside of a wigwam. The mother had left it there
+and the white man came upon it suddenly. Undoubtedly his appearance,
+and his standing to look at the small savage, frightened it as such
+an experience would a white child. But his voice was not raised. Not
+a sound did the poor little savage utter; but the tears formed in his
+beady eyes and ran down his fat cheeks. Infant that he was, and filled
+with fright of the white man, he would not weep aloud.
+
+Oak Heart, the savage king, looked abroad upon his enemies, and his
+haughty face gave no expression of fear. He was a captive, but his
+spirit was unconquered.
+
+“This is a good job, Cody,” whispered Baldwin, glancing again at the
+chieftain. “We can make use of him, eh?”
+
+“We can, indeed, major,” returned the scout.
+
+“But that crowd out yonder will be watching us all the closer now. How
+under the sun anybody can get through them after this----”
+
+“Leave it to me, major,” interrupted Buffalo Bill firmly. “I am ready
+to make the trial--and make it now!”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV. BUFFALO BILL’S PLOT.
+
+
+There was a look on Buffalo Bill’s face as he spoke that informed Major
+Baldwin that the scout had already formed some plan which he wished to
+make known to him. So the officer said:
+
+“Come to my quarters, Cody, and we will talk it over. Captain Keyes,
+kindly take charge of the chief and see that he is neither ill-treated
+or disturbed. Some of these boys feel pretty ugly, I am sure. We
+have lost a number of good men, and two of the children have been
+frightfully wounded by arrows coming through the lower loopholes.”
+
+When the major and the scout reached the former’s office, Baldwin said:
+
+“Are you in earnest in this attempt, Cody?”
+
+“Never more so, Major Baldwin. Help we _must_ have.”
+
+“No man knows the danger better than you do. I need not warn you.”
+
+“Quite needless, sir. I know the game from A to Z.”
+
+“Very true. But there are great odds against you.”
+
+“No man, I believe, sir, stands a better chance of getting through than
+myself.”
+
+“That is so; yet, while many good men might be spared to make the
+attempt, you are the one who cannot be replaced.”
+
+“Thank you, sir; but my life is no more to me than another man’s is to
+him. If I’d been thinking of the chances of getting shot up all these
+years, I reckon I’d turned up my toes long ago. I never think of death
+if I can help it.”
+
+“It’s true, Cody!” exclaimed the major. “You act as though the bullet
+wasn’t molded that could kill you.”
+
+“So the redskins say, I believe,” responded the scout grimly.
+
+“Yet your place cannot easily be filled,” the major said again. “If you
+can get some other volunteer I wish you would. I don’t want to lose
+you, Bill.”
+
+“Captain Keyes is anxious to go, sir, but----”
+
+“Oh, yes; Keyes is a daredevil whom nothing will daunt; but I refused
+his request and those of my few other officers.”
+
+“Then I must go, sir.”
+
+“First, tell me about your mission,” said the major abruptly.
+
+“I delivered your despatches, sir,” said Cody, “and here are others for
+you. On coming within a few miles of the fort I saw that several large
+parties of Indians had passed, all seemingly making in this direction.
+I knew what was up at once. I suspected that unless you had been lucky
+enough to get a supply of ammunition before the reds closed in on you,
+you’d run short; but there was that horse load we had to bury last year
+when I was on the expedition with Captain Ames. So I went over there
+and found it all in good shape.
+
+“I came mighty near losing it all, however,” added the scout, smiling,
+“for in the very act of uncovering the stuff I was come upon by a
+redskin on a good horse. It was kill or be killed, and before he could
+either shoot me or knife me I had laid him out.
+
+“His war-bonnet and rigging made a pretty good disguise for me. And
+certainly his horse came in handy. The animal was not a wild pony, but
+had Uncle Sam’s brand on him. Where the red got him, Heaven only knows.
+Some poor white man probably lost his life before he lost his horse.
+
+“However, I dressed up as near like an Injun as I could, and packed the
+ammunition on the dead man’s mount. I made a détour so as to come up
+from the west, and be opposite the main gate; for I knew about how the
+red devils would swarm about you here. And I was not interfered with
+until, coming out on that ridge, I had to throw aside my disguise, or
+run the risk of being made a target of by some of your fellows in the
+stockade here. I knew they could shoot better than the redskins,” and
+Cody laughed.
+
+“So here I am,” the scout added, “little the worse for wear, major.”
+
+“And a more gallant ride I never saw. You have done nobly, Cody. The
+ammunition will keep us going for some hours.”
+
+“Unless the redskins rush you too hard.”
+
+“You think they will try to charge again--and without their horses?”
+
+“Sure thing. Our capture of Oak Heart will stir ’em up worse than ever.”
+
+“They won’t wait until dark, then?”
+
+“I don’t believe so. That half-wild girl, White Antelope, will give
+them no peace until they try to rescue her father.”
+
+“But you warned my men not to shoot her.”
+
+“That’s right. She’s Injun now,” said Buffalo Bill sadly. “But her
+mother wasn’t a redskin, and perhaps some day, when old Oak Heart
+passes in his chips, she may be gotten away from the savages.”
+
+“You knew her mother, then, Cody?”
+
+“Yes. And a noble woman she was.”
+
+“Yet she went to the wigwam of a dirty redskin?”
+
+“Ah! you don’t know the circumstances. It is a sad story, Major
+Baldwin, and some day I’ll tell it to you. But don’t blame the
+mother--or the unfortunate child of this strange union. _She_ would
+make a beautiful woman if she were civilized, cross-blood though she
+be.”
+
+“Well, well! It’s a sad case, as you say. I’ll pass the word to the
+officers to instruct their men to spare the White Antelope wherever
+they may meet her.”
+
+“Thank you,” said Buffalo Bill simply. “My scouts already know my
+wishes on the subject. And now, major, I must get ready for my dash
+through that mob again.”
+
+“It seems a wicked shame to let you go, Cody! Yet--we can’t beat off
+many more charges even with this access of ammunition.”
+
+“You surely can’t. I must go.”
+
+“You have devised a plan, I can see.”
+
+“I have, sir.”
+
+“Well, sit here and tell me. The mess cook is preparing a hearty meal
+for you. You can talk while you eat, Cody.”
+
+“Thanks for your thoughtfulness, major. I _am_ a little slim-waisted,
+not daring to build a fire since yesterday.”
+
+“Just like you to neglect your own needs when others demand your
+services.”
+
+“Ha, ha!” laughed the scout. “I had some desire to keep my scalp, as
+well. The reds are too thick hereabout to make fire-building a safe
+occupation.”
+
+“Well, sir, your plan?” queried the officer.
+
+“Why, it came to me when I saw old Oak Heart mixed up with that blessed
+old white horse, you know. That old fellow is an ancient friend of
+mine. I recognized him at once. And he never did love an Injun. I
+wonder how Oak Heart managed to ride him at all.”
+
+“The horse, you mean?”
+
+“Sure. Well, as for the chief, we have him; but we never can make terms
+with his tribe for his release.”
+
+“You think not?”
+
+“I _know_ so. The chief is a true Sioux. He would never allow his
+people to make terms for his life. You could hack him to pieces on that
+scaffolding yonder, where all the reds could see, and it would not
+change the attitude of the crew a mite, excepting to make them more
+bloodthirsty.”
+
+“Yes?”
+
+“So we can’t make terms with him.”
+
+“What do you advise, then?”
+
+“That you have a talk with Oak Heart. He understands English very well,
+and what he doesn’t understand I’ll interpret for him.”
+
+“Go ahead, Cody,” said the major, laughing. “What are my further
+instructions?”
+
+“Why, sir----”
+
+“You know very well, scout, that you are bossing your superior
+officer. But it isn’t the first time. What shall I say to this red
+rascal?”
+
+Cody’s smile widened and his eyes twinkled.
+
+“Just tell him that he has proved himself too brave an enemy to be
+either kept in captivity, or punished.”
+
+“And set him free!”
+
+“Sure.”
+
+“But why?”
+
+“Because I can use him in just that way, sir.”
+
+“How?”
+
+“Let me explain. I’ll mount his horse--or the one he rode. I know the
+splendid fellow well, as I told you. He belonged to Colonel Miles, and
+a faster or better enduring animal is not now on the frontier.
+
+“I’ll put Oak Heart on my old black. The poor fellow is foundered and
+will never again be of much value. We will ride out side by side.”
+
+“You will!”
+
+“Somebody must return Oak Heart to his people, you know. And I crave
+permission to do that.”
+
+“All very well, Cody; but I don’t see your plan.”
+
+Cody laughed again.
+
+“I’ll make it plainer then, sir, by saying that I propose to paint and
+rig up as old Oak Heart himself, and put _him_ in my togs.”
+
+“Jove, scout! That is a perilous scheme.”
+
+“It’s a good one.”
+
+“But you’ll be shot when they find you out.”
+
+“_When_ they do I’ll be a mile away. I’m going to ride on ahead toward
+the mouth of the cañon. It’s the nearest road to Fort Resistence. I’ll
+wave back the tribe as I advance, and they’ll think it is Oak Heart
+ordering them. They’ll obey him, all right. _Then_ I’ll make a break
+for it, and you can wager I’ll get through all right, and with that
+white hoss under me nothing in that outfit can head me off or catch me!”
+
+“And the chief?”
+
+“Hold him back a bit at the stockade. When my horse begins to run,
+let him go. If the beggars shoot him, it will serve the old scoundrel
+right. At least, it will confuse the reds.”
+
+“A good idea!” exclaimed Baldwin. “And I really believe it is feasible.”
+
+“Sure it is.”
+
+“There doesn’t seem any better way to break through their lines.”
+
+“That’s right! Strategy must aid pluck in this game.”
+
+“Aye, and you’re the one to make the effort. But may I suggest an
+amendment, scout?”
+
+“Just put it up to me, Major Baldwin. You haven’t been chasing Injuns
+all this time without having learned a trick or two yourself.”
+
+“Thank you, Cody. Here’s my idea: Oak Heart will see through your
+scheme and possibly signal his people the truth before you can reach
+the cañon.”
+
+“I’ll have to run that risk.”
+
+“No use running any more risk than necessary. Why not take a second man
+with you?”
+
+“Ah!”
+
+“Yes. One of you represent Oak Heart and the other be yourself. We’ll
+hold the real chief back until you and your mate get to the cañon.
+Then, by turning Oak Heart loose, we will add to the reds’ confusion,
+as you say.”
+
+“Glorious! Fine, major! And I’ll take Texas Jack with me and let
+_him_ play Oak Heart’s part. He makes a better Injun than I should.
+And then--I know Jack. One of us will be sure to get through and reach
+Resistence.”
+
+“Jack has been on duty night and day, Cody,” objected Major Baldwin.
+“He volunteered to make the attempt before, but I vetoed it. I needed
+his presence and advice. To let you both go is like putting all my eggs
+in one basket and sending them to a dangerous market.”
+
+“He’s the man I want,” said Buffalo Bill firmly.
+
+“All right! Let Omohondreau be sent for,” the major said, turning to an
+orderly.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V. THE DESPERATE VENTURE.
+
+
+Texas Jack’s real name was Jean Omohondreau, and he came of a wealthy
+and noble French family, although he was born in America. It is said
+that he had refused the title of “Marquis of Omohondreau,” although
+later he was known as “The White King of the Pawnees,” having been
+adopted into that tribe and completely winning the confidence of the
+red men.
+
+At this time Jack was smooth shaven, and with his deeply bronzed
+features and piercing eyes and black hair he did not look unlike an
+Indian. Besides, he had lived among the savages even more than Buffalo
+Bill himself, and had that imitative faculty so general in French
+people. He could “take off” the savage to the life.
+
+When Texas Jack came sleepily enough from his bunk, it took but a few
+words from Cody to wake his old pard up. The moment Jack understood
+what was wanted of him, he was in for the plan, heart and soul.
+
+Oak Heart, who had been entertained--possibly to his great surprise,
+although he had not shown such emotion in his hard old face--by the
+younger officers with food and drink, and some of the paleface’s
+real tobacco, instead of dried willow bark, was now given a uniform
+and slouch hat in place of his war-bonnet and beaded and befeathered
+buckskin suit and gay blanket.
+
+The natural acquisitiveness of the Indian character, and the childish
+joy they have in new finery, possibly made the chief ignore what was
+done with his old garments. Texas Jack made himself look the Indian
+brave to the life, put on Chief Oak Heart’s abandoned finery, and,
+mounting the splendid white cavalry charger--but with saddle hidden by
+his blanket--was ready to accompany Buffalo Bill.
+
+The latter sprang into the saddle of his claybank--“Buckskin”--and led
+the way through the open gate. Behind them was the surprised Oak Heart
+upon Buffalo Bill’s old black, and the soldiers were ready to set him
+free the moment the two scouts had crossed the danger zone.
+
+The Indians had retired sullenly after Oak Heart’s capture, and White
+Antelope had as yet been unable to rally them to another charge upon
+the stockade. Their last charge had been disastrous, and they had not
+only lost their principal chief, but had been unable to bring back to
+their camping lines many of the dead and injured. But the belt of red
+humanity still encircled the fort, and it was plain that they proposed
+to abide there until such time arrived as could compass their revenge.
+
+Those of the less seriously wounded had dragged themselves back toward
+their companions; but the others had been removed inside the fort and
+were being cared for by the surgeon, after he had ministered to the
+wounded whites. The dead redskins were let lie where they had fallen
+for the time being.
+
+Oak Heart had noted the care taken of his wounded braves by the white
+medicine-man. If this charity impressed him his immobile face showed no
+emotion. He sat the horse that had been given him like a graven image.
+
+Now the moment had arrived for the departure of the two scouts from
+the fort. As the pair dashed through the open gateway many good wishes
+followed them. But the troops had been warned not to cheer. That might
+apprise the redskins that some desperate venture was about to be made.
+
+“Good-by, Bill, and may God guard you!” cried Major Baldwin. “And you,
+too, Texas Jack! I hope to see you both again.”
+
+Cody turned and waved his hand to him; but Jack, in the character of
+the captured chief, looked straight ahead over his horse’s ears, and he
+made no gesture.
+
+“We’ll bear toward the left, Jack, for our best plan is to strike for
+the cañon,” said Buffalo Bill.
+
+“Right you are, pard. But don’t let’s make a dash till we hafter. We’ll
+gain everything by keeping them red devils guessing.”
+
+“Sure’s you live, Jack! The moment the reds make a move for us, you
+sign for them to go back. Keep ’em at a distance if you can.”
+
+“I will,” assured Texas Jack.
+
+“Sit up stiff, old man, and play the part right,” admonished Buffalo
+Bill with a laugh.
+
+These courageous men could laugh in the face of almost certain death!
+
+“What d’ye suppose they think of it, Bill?” asked Jack. “They’re awake,
+all right. I wonder what they think at seeing you bringing their
+supposed chief back to them?”
+
+“I’d give a good deal to know just what they are _going_ to think,”
+said Cody, more gravely. “But we’ll soon know.”
+
+“Betcher we will!”
+
+“It’s unnecessary to ask you, Jack, if you’ve got your shooting irons
+ready?”
+
+“Ready and loaded, Bill.”
+
+The two scouts were as watchful as antelopes, and as cautious. But they
+appeared to ride along at an easy lope, and in a most careless fashion.
+This is the coolness born of long familiarity with peril; they could
+meet death itself without the quiver of a nerve.
+
+They progressed but slowly, and the eyes of most of the red men were
+fixed upon them. It was plain that the savages did not understand just
+what was going forward when they saw he who appeared to be their king
+riding thus quietly, and armed and caparisoned, with Long Hair, the
+white scout. They could not understand why he was coming back to them
+in company with Pa-e-has-ka.
+
+Soon they began to move forward in a body to meet the coming “chief”
+and his comrade.
+
+“Give ’em the sign language, Jack. It’s time,” muttered Buffalo Bill.
+
+Omohondreau was an adept at this wonderful means of communication,
+which was really a general language understood by the members of all
+the red tribes. He raised first one hand, palm outward, and then the
+other, and motioned the red men back. The warriors hesitated--then
+obeyed.
+
+But a mounted figure came dashing from another part of the field, and
+this silent sign manual did not retard it.
+
+“Face of a pig!” ejaculated Texas Jack, in the patois of the French
+Canadian, and which he sometimes lapsed into in moments of excitement.
+“Here comes that gal, Bill!”
+
+“The White Antelope!” exclaimed Cody. “I had forgotten her.”
+
+“Shall I warn her away?”
+
+“I’m afraid if you turned to face her she would see that you are not
+Oak Heart.”
+
+“Quicker, then, Pard Cody!”
+
+“No. They might suspect.”
+
+“Heavens, Bill! What will you do when the girl overtakes us?”
+
+“Whatever comes handiest.”
+
+“I could put a bullet through her without turning,” muttered Jack.
+
+“You wouldn’t be so cruel, old man.”
+
+“Hang it, man!” exclaimed Jack in disgust. “She’s only a ’breed.”
+
+“No. You’ll not injure her. I have your promise, Jack,” said Cody
+confidently.
+
+“But she’ll finish us if she suspects. I think she has a pistol,” said
+Jack.
+
+“We’ll see.”
+
+“Hang it, Bill Cody! You’re the coldest proposition I ever came
+across. I’ll eat this old war-bonnet--and it’s about as digestible as a
+wreath of prickly pear--if we don’t have trouble with that gal.”
+
+Evidently White Antelope was much amazed by the fact that her father
+did not even look in her direction, for she called some welcome to him
+in Sioux. Neither of the scouts made reply, but both kept watch of her
+out of the corners of their eyes. The girl, puzzled by the mystery,
+half drew in her pony.
+
+The mob of Indians waited. That they were puzzled was evident; but as
+long as they remained inactive the scouts’ chances were increased.
+
+“Can we make it, Pard Cody?” muttered Texas Jack.
+
+“If the girl doesn’t suspect too quick.”
+
+“She’ll queer us--sure!”
+
+“I hope not,” and Buffalo Bill looked grave.
+
+“If she comes nearer we’ll have to do something, Bill--as sure as
+thunder she’s coming!”
+
+It was true. White Antelope had again spoken to her pony, and the
+animal leaped forward. She came from the left, and Texas Jack rode
+nearest her.
+
+“Keep on, Jack!” exclaimed Bill under his breath.
+
+He pulled back Buckskin and got around so as to ride between the
+supposed Indian chief and the girl. Instantly White Antelope seemed to
+suspect that all was not right. She raised her voice, crying in her
+native tongue:
+
+“Why does the great chief not speak to his child? Oak Heart, my father,
+it is I, your daughter, White Antelope, who calls you!”
+
+She was all the time riding nearer. There seemed no way to stop her,
+and she must soon be near enough to observe that the supposed Oak
+Heart was a false Indian.
+
+Fortunately the tribesmen were some hundreds of yards away from the two
+scouts. But they heard something of what White Antelope said, and they
+began to move forward, murmuring among themselves. They did not for a
+moment suspect that this was not their great chief, but they believed
+that something was wrong with him, and that Pa-e-has-ka had Oak Heart
+in his power.
+
+“They’re coming, Cody!” whispered Texas Jack. “They’ll make a rush in a
+moment.”
+
+“Sign them again!” commanded Buffalo Bill. “It’s our only chance.”
+
+“Think it will work?”
+
+“It _must_ work. We need a few moments more before we make a dash for
+the cañon.”
+
+“But that gal----”
+
+“I’ll ’tend to her,” exclaimed Buffalo Bill. “Signal the reds to keep
+back.”
+
+Again Texas Jack raised his hands and made the well understood sign.
+But the Indians hesitated. They saw White Antelope still riding toward
+the supposed chief and the scout, crying to her father to answer her.
+
+“Keep on for the cañon, Jack!” muttered Buffalo Bill beneath his breath.
+
+He jerked his horse to one side, turning to meet the Indian maiden. As
+she rode down toward the scouts, her golden hair flying in the wind,
+her lips parted, her eyes shining, she was indeed a beautiful creature.
+Her beauty alone would have made any old Indian hunter withhold his
+hand. And Buffalo Bill had a deeper reason for wishing no harm to
+befall the half-breed daughter of Oak Heart.
+
+“What is the white chief, Pa-e-has-ka, doing with Oak Heart?” the girl
+cried in Sioux, urging her pony toward the scouts.
+
+Buffalo Bill was riding with the rein of the claybank horse lying upon
+its neck, and guiding him with his knees. His rifle lay across his
+saddle, the muzzle pointing in the direction of White Antelope as she
+rode near. He did not raise his voice, nor change the expression of his
+face, for the scout knew that he was being closely watched by the crowd
+of redskins in the background. But into his voice as he spoke he threw
+all the threatening, venimous tone of a madman thirsting for blood.
+
+“The White Antelope, like her father, Chief Oak Heart, is in my power.
+Do not make a single motion to show that you are startled, White
+Antelope, for if you do my first bullet shall be driven through your
+heart, and my second shall cleave the heart of your father!”
+
+These words, spoken with such wicked emphasis, seemed to come from a
+veritable fiend instead of the placid-looking white scout. The White
+Antelope’s great eyes opened wider, and she half stopped her pony.
+
+“None of that!” snapped Buffalo Bill in English, which he knew the girl
+understood quite well. “Make a false move at your peril--and at your
+father’s!”
+
+“My father----” began the startled maiden gaspingly.
+
+“Ride closer. Keep beside me, Oak Heart! I forbid you speaking to your
+child!”
+
+Buffalo Bill’s commanding tone was most brutal. His eyes flashed into
+the Indian maiden’s own as though he meant every word of his recent
+threat. But the supposed Oak Heart’s shoulders shook. However, he kept
+his head turned religiously away from his “daughter.”
+
+The seconds were slipping by, and the scouts were approaching very near
+to the place where they would be obliged to turn sharply and make their
+dash for the cañon. Despite their bearing off so far toward the left,
+their course had been apparently toward the Indian lines.
+
+White Antelope, all the rich color receded from her cheeks, rode
+beside Buffalo Bill on his left hand. She was not only frightened by
+the scout’s threat, which he seemed to be able to fulfil, but she was
+puzzled at her father’s inaction and seeming helplessness. She tried
+to force her pony forward slyly so as to obtain a look at Oak Heart’s
+features.
+
+“None o’ that!” commanded Buffalo Bill in quite as brutal and
+threatening a tone as before.
+
+At the moment a wild yell rose from their rear--from the direction
+of the fort. The girl turned swiftly to look. And so surprised were
+the scouts to hear a disturbance in that direction, that they glanced
+around, too.
+
+Out of the gateway appeared a black horse, and on its back a figure in
+uniform and wide-brimmed hat. But as the horse dashed on the figure
+snatched off the uniform hat, displaying the long, flying hair of an
+Indian, and he broke into a shrill and terrible Indian war-whoop!
+
+On the heels of this another roar burst from the fort, and out of the
+gateway piled a troop of mounted men--those soldiers that were first
+to get upon their horses to pursue the wily Oak Heart. The latter saw
+his daughter and knew her danger. Following his war-whoop, he shrieked
+a warning to White Antelope. She understood the words he uttered,
+although the scouts could not.
+
+The girl turned swiftly and saw Texas Jack’s painted face.
+
+“False paleface!” she cried. “You are not Oak Heart. The great chief is
+_there_!” and she pointed back at the flying figure on the black horse.
+
+“It’s all up, Cody!” cried Texas Jack.
+
+Buffalo Bill leaned suddenly from his saddle and snatched from the
+maiden’s belt the revolver which she cherished above most of her
+possessions. He feared her ability to use this.
+
+“Off with you, Jack!” he cried. “Now’s our time!” and setting spurs to
+his claybank he raced after Texas Jack toward the opening of the defile
+which they had been so gradually and cautiously approaching.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI. THE DASH OF THE SCOUTS.
+
+
+So interested had the officers and garrison of Fort Advance become
+in the attempt of the courageous scouts to reach the cañon entrance,
+that they had quite neglected to watch the king of the Sioux. That
+he understood fully the trick that Buffalo Bill and Texas Jack were
+attempting to play upon his people was proven by the outcome.
+
+The savage chief sat his black horse in motionless gloom, and as though
+his eyes saw nothing. Captain Edward Keyes had kept his file of men
+in the saddle ready to make a break from the fort should the scouts
+fall in need of some attempt at rescue. Otherwise, everybody was
+crowding forward to look out of the gate, or, from the platform and
+watch-towers, to view the work of the brave men who had gone from them.
+
+The black horse, on which Buffalo Bill had ridden so many times, but
+which he had now been obliged to abandon because of its age and the
+fact that he had been ridden too hard on one or two occasions, missed
+its master. It had seen Buffalo Bill and his companion ride out of the
+fort, and it desired to follow. Perhaps the horse did not approve of
+the Indian that now backed him.
+
+However it was, it danced about a good deal, and champed at the bit,
+and seemed to give the stoical chief considerable trouble. Twice it
+started for the gate, and the soldiers headed it off. Likewise Oak
+Heart drew it in hard with his hand on the bridle. It seemed as though
+the chief had no expectation of leaving the fort until his white
+captors were ready.
+
+But that was all the savage cunning of the chief. It was his cunning,
+too, perhaps, that made the horse so nervous. He doubtless slyly
+spurred him with his toe or heel, and kept the animal on the qui vive
+all the time.
+
+Oak Heart could follow Buffalo Bill and Texas Jack with his eyes, and
+he doubtless understood--now, at least--just what they were about.
+Suddenly the White Antelope came into view, riding like the wind down
+upon the two scouts. Oak Heart’s face did not change a muscle, but
+just then his mount made a sidelong leap, and when he became manageable
+again the black charger was just within the open gateway.
+
+Several moments passed. The white men’s attention was strained upon
+the little comedy being enacted by the two scouts and the Indian
+maiden. They could not hear, of course, but they could imagine that the
+situation had become mighty “ticklish” for the scouts, knowing Buffalo
+Bill’s objection to injuring the Sioux maiden.
+
+It was at this minute that the black horse made a final charge through
+the gateway. Two men were knocked down, and Oak Heart threw himself
+over to one side of the galloping horse, shielding himself with its
+body from the guns of the surprised white men in the stockade.
+
+His wild yells had already apprised White Antelope of the deception.
+Buffalo Bill had disarmed her, and the two scouts spurred on toward the
+cañon.
+
+The hearts of the watching people at the fort were in their throats. A
+general cry of dread burst from them as they saw the Border King and
+Texas Jack turn abruptly toward the cañon. The Indians saw the act,
+too, but for a few seconds did not comprehend it. They were slower
+than White Antelope in understanding that the supposed warrior with
+Pa-e-has-ka was a white man in disguise, and that the person careering
+across the plain on the black charger was the real Oak Heart.
+
+The signals of Texas Jack in his character of Oak Heart had drawn many
+of the Indians away from the cañon’s mouth toward the place for which
+the supposed chief and Buffalo Bill seemed to be aiming. There were
+very few left in the path of the reckless scouts. Yet those few must be
+settled with.
+
+There were no mounted warriors near the cañon entrance. The great
+scout had chosen his place of attack wisely. And there were few ponies
+in the vicinity, anyway--not over two dozen at the most. The earlier
+stampeding of the ponies had almost entirely dismounted Oak Heart’s
+braves. The ponies that might follow, should the scouts get through
+safely, neither of them feared, mounted as they were on such splendid
+animals.
+
+“Let ’em out, Jack!” cried Buffalo Bill, as they made directly for the
+cañon.
+
+“I hear you!” returned Texas Jack, smiling recklessly, and settling
+himself more firmly in his saddle.
+
+The two were off like frightened deer. For some moments the Indians
+were almost dumb with amazement. Then the war-whoop of Oak Heart was
+answered by wild cries from all about the field. The reds knew that the
+Border King had outwitted them, and as one man the mob of redskins made
+for the entrance to the cañon, firing as they ran.
+
+The scouts did not return the fire. They kept their bullets for
+targets nearer the path their horses followed. The nearer Indians were
+converging swiftly at the mouth of the cañon.
+
+Behind, and nearest to the scouts, came Oak Heart and White Antelope,
+who had waited to join her father. But neither of them were armed. When
+Buffalo Bill snatched the revolver from the girl’s belt he had made a
+good point in the game, for she was an excellent shot with the small
+gun--for an Indian.
+
+Suddenly The Border King raised his rifle, and shot after shot rang
+out. He fired at the Indians directly in front of him, gathering to bar
+the way. There were now a score of them near enough to be dangerous.
+
+The repeating rifle sang deadly music, for several of the braves fell.
+With the last shot from Buffalo Bill’s weapon, Texas Jack’s gun took up
+the tune and rattled forth the death notes. They were now close to the
+group of reds, and the shots forced the Indians to scatter.
+
+Instantly the scouts slung their guns over their shoulders and drew the
+big pistols from the saddle-holsters. With one of these in each hand,
+the scouts rode on.
+
+Theirs was indeed a desperate charge, and, although now hidden by the
+nature of the ground from the bulk of the Indians, the encounter was
+visible from the fort.
+
+The chorus of wild yells, the rattle of revolvers, the heavier
+discharges of the old muzzle-loaders of the redskins, and the resonant
+war-cries of the scouts themselves, were heard by the besieged. The
+Border King and Texas Jack were having the running fight of their
+lives. Would they get through alive?
+
+Suddenly a chorused groan arose from the white onlookers, while a
+shriek of exultation came from those Indians who saw the incident.
+Buffalo Bill’s horse gave a sudden convulsive leap ahead, then fell
+to his knees. The scout loosened his feet in the stirrups, and, as
+the brave Buckskin rolled over upon its side, dead, the scout stood
+upright, turning his revolvers on his foes. Texas Jack, on the white
+charger, tore on into the mouth of the cañon.
+
+Buffalo Bill had emptied the pistols which he had carried in his
+saddle-holsters. Now, he stood beside his dead horse, with the pistols
+drawn from his belt in either hand. He stood boldly at bay, and the
+redskins went down before his deadly aim.
+
+The redskins’ triumph was short-lived. Texas Jack, seeing his partner’s
+peril, turned his great white charger as quickly as might be. Back he
+rushed to Cody’s side.
+
+“Up with yuh, pard!” he shouted.
+
+He whirled the big horse again. With a leap, Buffalo Bill sprang up
+behind Texas Jack, his back to that of his partner, and again the horse
+was headed for the cañon’s mouth. The four revolvers of the scouts spit
+death into their foes at every jump of the horse.
+
+Those redskins who opposed the way either crumpled up and fell to the
+rocks or dodged behind the boulders for safety. It seemed as though
+their numbers were sufficient to make the scouts’ escape impossible;
+the odds against the white men were all of ten to one!
+
+But the redskins’ shooting was wild, while the accuracy of the white
+men’s aim was phenomenal. Many a red, just as he had drawn bead upon
+the scouts, was struck by a pistol ball, and either knocked over
+completely or his own shot diverted.
+
+The cheering of the garrison as they saw Texas Jack return for his
+partner inspired the scouts. The last Indian went down before them and
+was trampled under the hoofs of the charger that bore them both, and as
+they shot out of sight into the gloom of the cañon’s mouth Buffalo Bill
+removed his sombrero and waved it to the watchers on the fort stockade,
+while his well-known war-cry rang over the field of battle!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII. THE ACE OF CLUBS.
+
+
+“We’ve got through, Jack!”
+
+“We sure have, Pard Cody.”
+
+“Anybody hurt?”
+
+“I got a couple of nicks from the pesky arrows,” said Omohondreau.
+“But, shucks! them Injuns can’t shoot with a white man’s gun worth a
+hoot in a rainwater barrel.... Yuh lost Buckskin, Cody.”
+
+“And sorry enough I am to lose the poor creature. He’s been a good nag.”
+
+“How about you, Pard Cody?”
+
+“A scratch from a bullet in my left shoulder. It’s bleeding a little,
+but I won’t stop to fool with it now. And I got four arrows through my
+clothes. Oh, we were lucky!”
+
+“Betcher life! We’ve been favored mightily.”
+
+“Thank God for it,” said Buffalo Bill devoutly. “I don’t expect often
+to come through two such circuses in one day--and have nothing worse to
+show for it.”
+
+“Right. Now, old man, what’s the program?”
+
+“Keep on. I don’t feel safe as long as we’re at the bottom of this hole
+in the hills.”
+
+“That’s all right. But we haven’t got but one horse----”
+
+“I was thinking of that.”
+
+“And your thoughts?”
+
+“We can’t both ride this horse, good as he is, all the way to Fort
+Resistence.”
+
+“Right again!”
+
+“One of us must push on for help about as fast as the horse can go.”
+
+“Sure.”
+
+“There isn’t much danger of the reds following us far, for their ponies
+aren’t to be compared with this fellow--and they all know what he can
+do.”
+
+“Well?”
+
+“Then you’d better let me go on, as soon as we come to the creek ahead
+and shape ourselves up a bit, and you can scout around until I return
+with help from Fort Resistence.”
+
+“Pard Bill!”
+
+“Yes?”
+
+“They need every rifle they can git in the fort, yuh know.”
+
+“They certainly do.”
+
+“Scouting around yere all night, I can’t do much good, and that’s a
+fact.”
+
+“Very true, Jack! Very true.”
+
+“And I’ve got nothing to eat, while the maje and the folks at Advance
+will be mighty anxious tuh know if yuh got through all right--ain’t
+that so?”
+
+“Reckon you’re right, Jack.”
+
+“Then I’m goin’ to take a sneak back and try to git through the lines
+after dark.”
+
+“No, you won’t, Jack Omohondreau. I veto that.”
+
+“Put the kibosh on it, do yuh?” asked Jack, leering back at his partner
+over his shoulder.
+
+“I certainly do!”
+
+“Why, pard?”
+
+“There’s no danger going on now for help, so I’ll return to the fort
+myself, while you strike out for Resistence and help. I got you into
+this. I’m not going to shoulder the heavy part of the job off onto you.”
+
+“That’s like you, Cody! Always lookin’ for trouble to git into
+yourself. But I’m going back.”
+
+“I say no,” replied Buffalo Bill firmly.
+
+“Now, see here!” exclaimed Jack, in some heat. “It’s my idea to go
+back, and I’m going.”
+
+“Well, you needn’t stop here,” laughed Cody, as Jack, in his
+excitement, brought the horse down to a walk.
+
+“You listen to reason!” exclaimed Texas Jack. “I speak the lingo all O.
+K.”
+
+“I admit that.”
+
+“And I’m already playing Injun.”
+
+“Pshaw! That may be, but I can soon change my colors.”
+
+“You’re as obstinate as a mule, Cody!”
+
+“See here, Jack, I admit that the folks need us back there at the fort,
+and one had better return, but I should be the one.”
+
+“Tell you what, pard!” exclaimed Jack, smitten with a sudden thought.
+
+“Well?”
+
+“We’ll draw lots to see who goes.”
+
+“I’ll beat you at that game, Jack!” cried Cody, with a laugh.
+
+“Don’t yuh crow too loud, old man,” said Texas Jack gaily. “When we git
+to the creek we’ll see who’s who!”
+
+“I’ll go you, for my luck is good.”
+
+“I’m sure a child of fortune myself,” laughed Jack.
+
+They soon reached the creek, which cut across the cañon at its widest
+part, spurting from under a ledge on one side, and disappearing with
+a tinkle of falling water through a crack on the other--one of those
+underground streams often found in the Rockies, which only by chance
+ever come to the light of day.
+
+The scouts dismounted, making sure that all pursuit had been abandoned
+by their mounted foes, at least, and washed and dressed their slight
+wounds. In each man’s pouch was Indian salve, certain valuable herbs,
+dried, and bandages rolled for them by the women of Fort Advance. Your
+old frontiersman was no mean surgeon, and many a man to-day, whose
+early years were spent on the border, owes his life to some rough but
+prompt bit of surgery on the part of a pard with powder-stained fingers.
+
+“Now, we’ll draw lots to see who goes back,” said Cody. “Wish we had a
+pack of cards.”
+
+“I got what th’ boys call a Sing Sing Bible,” observed Texas Jack,
+drawing the pack from his pouch.
+
+“Good! We can’t take the time to play any game, but I’ll shuffle, you
+cut, and the one who holds the ace of clubs goes back to Advance.”
+
+“Agreed. Shuffle ’em good, old man--though I feel I’m going to win
+right now.”
+
+“You’re too cock-sure,” laughed Buffalo Bill.
+
+The scouts spoke in a light-hearted way, but each realized the terrible
+ordeal that might fall to the one who attempted to return to Fort
+Advance. Major Baldwin needed one of them as an adviser--and his rifle
+would be an acquisition as well, for both Buffalo Bill and Texas Jack
+were dead shots.
+
+The uncertainty and impatience of the entire garrison would be
+relieved, too, if they were informed that one of the scouts had gone on
+to Resistence and would surely bring help the next day. This knowledge
+would put heart in the defenders of Fort Advance when the Indians
+attacked, as they surely would after nightfall.
+
+The cards were shuffled by the chief scout, and then he held them in
+his open palm. Texas Jack cut at a point about half-way down the pack.
+One after another the pasteboards were discarded, and Buffalo Bill had
+already displayed two aces, when suddenly his partner chuckled and
+slammed down another card, face up. It was the fatal card--the ace of
+clubs.
+
+“Got yuh that time, Pard Cody!” exclaimed Texas Jack in delight.
+
+Buffalo Bill looked regretful, while his partner was triumphant.
+
+“I told yuh I was a child of fortune,” laughed Texas Jack.
+
+“I yield, old man,” said Cody. “May your luck carry you through in
+safety.”
+
+“I’ll git there--or the reds will know I tried,” said Jack with
+emphasis.
+
+“Aye, that they will. Now I must be off, Jack. The horse is rested, and
+he’s got a hard road to travel this night. I’ll be back with help as
+soon as possible.”
+
+“You ought to make it by morning with any kind of luck.”
+
+“I’ll do my best,” declared Buffalo Bill. “And now good-by, old pard!
+If you go under I’ll see that there are plenty of those red devils on
+the trail to the happy hunting grounds to make up for your loss.”
+
+They wrung each other’s hands, and, although the spoken word was
+light, the look in each man’s eyes showed a deeper feeling. Buffalo
+Bill walked quickly to where the great white horse was feeding, and,
+vaulting into the saddle, the horse, without urging, started into his
+easy lope.
+
+Once the mounted scout looked back. Texas Jack stood in the middle of
+the trail looking more like an Indian chief than ever, he was so silent
+and stern of feature.
+
+They waved their hands briefly--a last farewell. Then the Border King
+disappeared around a turn in the trail, and Texas Jack prepared for his
+attempt, night now being not far away.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII. FACING DEATH.
+
+
+Texas Jack had been a ranchman in Texas since early boyhood. His
+sentiments and affiliations were Southern, and when the war broke out
+he joined the Confederate Army as a scout. He was a reckless, daredevil
+fellow, yet high-minded, honorable to foe as well as friend. The noble
+blood of the Omohondreaus showed through the rough manner of the hardy
+frontiersman.
+
+It was Jack Omohondreau who came so near dealing an irreparable blow
+to the Northern cause by capturing President Lincoln and taking him
+South as a prisoner. How near the daring scout came to accomplishing
+this very thing nobody but those few Confederates in the secret--and
+possibly Lincoln himself--ever knew.
+
+However, when the Civil War was ended, Buffalo Bill, who had scouted
+for the other side, found Jack in Kansas, and it was through his
+influence that the young French-American was enlisted in the Federal
+Army.
+
+He was of cheery nature, fearless to recklessness, strong as a grizzly,
+and possessed of a handsome presence. Such was the man who had
+determined to return through the ring of enraged Sioux to give comfort
+and help to the besieged garrison of Fort Advance.
+
+He knew all that he had to risk, but, in his Indian disguise, and under
+cover of the early darkness, he hoped to accomplish his purpose. If
+captured by the redskins he well knew that death by the most frightful
+torture would be his portion. The Sioux hated him almost as fiercely as
+they hated Buffalo Bill.
+
+That he could speak their language was in Jack’s favor. And he knew
+that if he chanced upon any bunch of the reds a word or two might
+pass him through all right. Oak Heart had gathered several different
+branches of the tribe together, and many of the braves must be
+strangers to each other.
+
+The scout had already formed his plan of return to the fort. He had
+reloaded his rifle and revolvers, seen that his knife was still in its
+scabbard, and, after another long swig at the clear, running water and
+a tightening of his belt, Texas Jack climbed one side of the cañon with
+infinite caution. He could not return through the gorge itself, for he
+did not know how near pursuit might be. And he wormed his way up the
+steep ascent like a serpent, that he might not be observed from below.
+
+Night came upon him as he arrived on the summit of the timbered ridge.
+The forest was a tangled wilderness, but he knew how to pass through it
+without making the slightest disturbance, and, as he might come upon
+the Indians at any moment, he was glad of the darkness and the thicket.
+A few miles along this ridge and he would come out upon a bluff that
+overlooked the valley in which Fort Advance was situated.
+
+He strode on lightly, yet swiftly--threading his way through the
+trackless forest with a confidence which brought him straight to his
+destination. And as yet he had not passed an Indian.
+
+The dash of the scouts into the cañon had drawn all the outposts from
+the hills, and the redskins were either guarding the lower passes,
+ringing the fort, or gathered about the camp-fires where the main
+encampment had been established.
+
+When Texas Jack came out upon the bluff he could see these camp-fires
+twinkling on the other side of the valley, although it was still light
+enough for him to see all who moved below him. The encampment was at
+the base of the southern hills, some two miles from the fort. Some
+half-hundred ponies were feeding in the valley, with the guards about
+them doubled. The loss of the bulk of the herd had been a severe blow
+to the redskins, and Texas Jack knew that the Indians would put forth
+every effort to retake them, should opportunity arise.
+
+Jack decided that Chief Oak Heart was probably at the encampment,
+counseling with his old men and the other chiefs regarding the next
+blow to be struck at Fort Advance. That plans of deviltry and cunning
+were being hatched the scout was certain.
+
+Then he thought of the Border King flying along the trail to Resistence
+for help, and he regained his courage.
+
+Awaiting with the stolid patience of a redskin for the night to deepen,
+the scout finally pursued his march into the valley. He had carefully
+weighed all chances for and against his success. Now he was ready to
+take them.
+
+Night spread its wings over the valley. It hid its scars and wounds
+and the stark bodies of the dead, lying under the fortress walls. In
+the gloaming it might have been the most peaceful valley in all the
+Rockies. One coming upon it suddenly, and unwarned, would never have
+suspected the blood so recently spilled there and the threatening
+aspect of the situation at that very moment!
+
+Texas Jack stole down the declivity with a step as light as the fall of
+a leaf. The savage whom he imitated could have moved no more lightly,
+and as he came into the valley itself he crouched and crept along like
+a shadow.
+
+He knew that the red men would be moving about, passing and repassing
+each other, and keeping up a tightening circle about the fort. They
+would afford the opportunity for no other white man to escape from the
+fort if they could help it. But they moved about as silently as the
+scout himself, and as the redskin is notoriously silent, Texas Jack’s
+ears were of little good to him in this emergency.
+
+An Indian is not troubled by military accouterments to rattle as he
+walks; his moccasins are soundless, and he has schooled himself to
+endure all those little discomforts of body or environment that cause
+the white man to betray himself by either sound or movement. If a red
+warrior lay in wait for an enemy the flies and other insects might half
+eat him up without his betraying himself by a movement. He seldom has
+catarrhal affections of the throat, or if he does stifles the desire
+to cough or sneeze. He has, indeed, his whole body and mind under
+perfect control.
+
+Therefore Texas Jack knew that the red men might be near--upon each
+side of him--in his very path, perhaps, yet they passed and repassed,
+silent as so many ghosts.
+
+Texas Jack crept but a short way from the base of the hill before he
+lay flat down in the weeds and brush. There was a big rock on his right
+hand, and he believed that that obstacle, looming up as it did in the
+gloom, would keep anybody from walking over him.
+
+His reason for lying there was easily understood. From the dark ground
+he could look upward and see any form passing between him and the
+lighter sky-line. He wished to get a line on the pacing to and fro of
+the sentinels. If there was any regularity regarding their beats, the
+scout might be able to time his passage so as not to be seen at all.
+
+For if his presence was discovered, although his dress and appearance
+might carry him through, still there was a grave danger that they would
+not. There might be some password, for the redskins were shrewd, or he
+might run against some chief going the rounds of his men to see that
+all were properly placed.
+
+Suddenly a form seemed to rise out of the ground before the advancing
+scout. It stood a moment directly between him and the lighter sky-line.
+Then it passed on--silently as the wind over the grass.
+
+He heard a muffled grunt--a guttural Indian word--dropped by some
+invisible redskin in the direction the figure had disappeared. Then
+that, or another, sentinel returned and passed slowly across the line
+of Texas Jack’s vision. He was quite near the lines of sentinels, and
+he determined to lie there and, if possible, time their coming and
+going before trying himself to get through.
+
+Once more the figure crossed the line of the scout’s vision. Texas
+Jack lay, scarcely moving in the grass, and with fingers on wrist
+counted his pulse while the Indian was in sight. In this way he learned
+something of the time it took for the sentinel to pace from end to end
+of his beat. He lay for some time and timed him back and forth to make
+sure that there was some regularity in the redskin’s actions.
+
+Then, at the right moment--as the sentinel passed out of view in one
+direction, Texas Jack darted forward like a serpent through the tall
+weeds. Although he ran on his feet and touched but one hand now and
+then to help retain his balance, the scout’s body could never have been
+seen above the waving tops of the grass and weeds.
+
+For several rods he ran in this way and then dropped down again,
+panting, hugging the earth, flattening his body upon it, and waiting
+with every nerve on the qui vive to discover if his actions had been
+noted.
+
+And well he knew that, if the sentinel had seen him, no shout--no
+sound--would be raised. The red would sneak up behind him, and his
+first audible sound would be the cry of triumph when the scalping-knife
+was plunged into the scout’s back!
+
+Jack twisted his neck to see back over his shoulder. After a moment the
+Indian sentinel appeared again. He walked upright. Jack could see his
+nodding topknot of feathers, and that he carried a gun of some kind. He
+passed on without even glancing in the scout’s direction.
+
+“Thanks be for that!” thought the scout. “Now, what’s ahead?”
+
+That the Sioux had but one ring of sentinels around the fort he knew
+was not the fact. There were two lines at least--possibly three. He
+raised his head like a turtle stretching from its shell and tried to
+pierce the gloom of the valley.
+
+And then it was that he suddenly beheld a tall figure standing
+motionless not far ahead of him and almost in his path. It was a chief
+of some importance from his war-bonnet, and he had perhaps been going
+the rounds of his sentinels. Now he stood motionless, his back to the
+scout, looking toward the fort, one elbow leaning upon a broken stub
+of a tree, the other hand holding his rifle, hanging idly by his side.
+The chief was evidently in a reverie--or was he listening? Had he heard
+the scout’s breathing--or some other sound that warned him of the white
+man’s presence?
+
+The question seared Texas Jack’s brain. It startled him to action. This
+was no moment for taking chances.
+
+He rose up like a shadow, and, with great, catlike strides, stole
+upon the statuelike Indian. It went against the grain for the scout
+to strike even a redskin from behind. Man to man and face to face in
+a fair struggle would have pleased Texas Jack better. But the entire
+success of his attempt to reach the fort depended upon the action of
+the next few seconds.
+
+Suddenly the chief began to turn--with a jerking motion which showed
+that he was startled. Some instinct told him that there was an enemy at
+hand. Perhaps his lips were already opened to give a warning call.
+
+Like a stone from the sling the scout leaped forward--as the panther
+leaps! His knee found the small of the Indian’s back; his left had
+clutched his throat like a vise; his right drove his keen blade
+downward--_and home_!
+
+The redskin crumpled and fell without a sound upon the earth. Not even
+a cough or death-rattle proclaimed the passing of his spirit. And the
+number of seconds occupied in the killing were infinitesimal. One
+moment the red chief stood there leaning on the broken tree; the next
+Texas Jack, in his Indian garb, had taken his place and assumed his
+attitude!
+
+Unless some member of the tribe had been near enough to watch the chief
+continuously, this action of the scout’s was inspired. The chief had
+gone down and lay dead under his feet; the white man had taken his
+place, and for several moments, while he recovered his breath, he stood
+there in the exact attitude the real Indian had assumed in life.
+
+Carefully he scrutinized his surroundings as closely as might be for
+the gloom. He became aware at length that a warrior was stalking toward
+him from the left--undoubtedly one of the sentinels. This man came on,
+saw the supposed chief standing by the tree stub, and made a gesture as
+though he were saluting his superior.
+
+“Ugh!” muttered Texas Jack in an excellent imitation of an Indian
+guttural. He did not care to risk his Sioux intonation if he could help
+it.
+
+The sentinel went on. Texas Jack was about to change his position
+and make for the fort when he saw the sentinel who had just passed
+and another, returning. They would pass him very closely. Did they
+suspect? Had the first brave become suspicious, and was he bringing
+the second to help him attack the supposed chief?
+
+The thought sent a chill to the heart of the courageous scout.
+It seemed to him that, thus early in the game, he had come to a
+death-struggle with the redskins!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX. BREAKING THROUGH THE RED CIRCLE.
+
+
+Slowly the two braves approached Texas Jack’s position. The scout dared
+not change his attitude--he could not afford to put the men on guard if
+they _were_ still unsuspicious of him.
+
+His rifle-butt rested on the ground; his elbows leaned upon the tree
+stub; he stared straight across the valley to where the camp-fires
+twinkled, and to where two or three points of light, and the gloomy
+outline of the tall stockade, proclaimed the presence of the fort.
+
+Would the two warriors speak to him?--or would they respect his
+apparent reverie and pass on?
+
+Out of the corner of his eye Texas Jack watched the coming sentinels.
+Every muscle and nerve in his body was strained for a spring. He had
+made up his mind already what action he should take did the reds show
+that they meant to accost him.
+
+He did not wish to fire his gun and so call every Indian in that part
+of the valley to the spot. He gripped instead his rifle by the muzzle,
+and the instant one of those savages came within reach he would whirl
+up the gun and bring its stock with crushing force down upon the man’s
+head!
+
+Then the knife for the second brave! That was all he could do. If he
+were not shot or tomahawked first, he could finish both of the reds
+without making much disturbance. The main difficulty would be to stifle
+their death-yells, as he had that of the chief at his feet.
+
+So he waited, his body sweating, although it was a chill night,
+uncertain as to what the warriors would do. They were talking in low
+tones; this in itself gave the scout some hope. Had they intended
+attacking him their plans would have been made before they came so
+near, and there would be no need of conversation.
+
+The seconds numbered as the warriors came on seemed centuries long to
+the scout. But at length he saw that they were passing him quietly.
+They glanced at him, but he stood haughtily aloof, and the braves were
+not encouraged by his manner to speak. He saw them go with a relief
+that almost unnerved him!
+
+He could not risk their coming back. The instant they were out of sight
+the scout stooped, stripped the dead man of his gun, bow and arrows,
+and knife, and in a crouching position ran agilely forward to where
+a clump of young trees loomed up in the path, a hundred yards to the
+front.
+
+There he dropped down and lay a moment, listening. Not a sound from
+those behind; not a sound from any redskins before him. Had he at last
+gotten through the lines completely?
+
+He could not really believe this good fortune was his so easily. He
+stood up at last and peered all about. And suddenly, just as he was
+about to move forward once more toward the fort, he heard the stamp of
+a pony’s hoof on the other side of the clump of trees!
+
+The sound dropped Texas Jack to the ground like a rifle-shot. Had he
+been seen by the rider of the pony? Or did the pony have a rider? It
+might be one escaped from the herd and roaming at will about the valley.
+
+The pony stamped again. There was no other sound.
+
+“I’ve got tuh find out what’s doin’ there before I make another break,”
+muttered the scout. “And here goes!”
+
+The thicket was a closely woven one. Did he try to pass through it with
+his guns and other accouterments he might make some disturbance. So
+he left everything but his pistols, knife, and the bow and arrows he
+had taken from the dead chief on the ground, and began to worm his way
+through the brush-clump.
+
+Once he made some little noise by catching a part of his clothing on a
+brittle branch. Instantly he halted and made the squeaking grunt of the
+porcupine. His imitation of animals was perfect, and a porcupine might
+easily be on the still hunt in the thicket-patch.
+
+The pony did not change its position. Jack knew. So, after a moment of
+waiting, the scout risked moving on. He came finally to the edge of the
+brush, and there the horse stood--not three yards away from him!
+
+And from where he crouched the scout could see more than the bulk of
+the pony’s body against the sky-line. It was bestrode by an Indian in
+head-dress and blanket. It was doubtless one of the chiefs who had
+started to ride around the fort. Would he ride on and not suspect the
+presence of the white man in the bushes?
+
+But perhaps, in his nervousness, Texas Jack had not imitated the
+porcupine true enough to satisfy the keen ear of the Indian. Or else
+the porcupine’s grunt was a private signal between this chief and his
+own men.
+
+However, Texas Jack saw the redskin force his pony nearer the thicket,
+and he heard its rider twitter like a bird disturbed at night in its
+nest.
+
+“Old man, you’ve got the best of me!” thought the scout. “I can’t
+answer that signal, for I don’t know what the answer _is_. It’s a bad
+thing for you!”
+
+There was no time for hesitation. Again the scout had to take life or
+be killed himself. The scout was a good shot with the bow and arrows as
+he was with rifle or pistol. And he must use a silent weapon to get rid
+of this foe.
+
+It was too far to leap with his knife. The bow and arrows of the dead
+chief came in handy. In a flash the crouching scout fitted an arrow to
+the bowstring and drew the shaft to its head. There he waited, still as
+a graven image, until the horse and rider were almost upon him.
+
+Then he let drive the arrow. It sped with fearful force, aimed at the
+throat of the red chieftain that all death-cry might be stilled.
+
+True was the aim and fatal the shot. The arrow penetrated the Indian’s
+throat, and its head stuck out a hand’s breadth at the back of his
+neck. Without a sound the Indian toppled from the pony’s back.
+
+The horse snorted and sprang forward. His escape might have been as
+dire a calamity for the scout as the death-yell of the chieftain. If
+the pony dashed away across the valley, the sentinels would surely be
+aroused.
+
+But the animal made but one leap. Like a shadow Texas Jack leaped up
+and caught the rawhide bridle which had been snatched from the dead
+man’s hand. He brought the pony to an abrupt halt. Instantly he swung
+himself upon the bare back of the animal, well used to riding Indian
+fashion, and guided him to the other side of the thicket, leaving the
+chief where he had fallen. He did not stop to strip him of his arms; he
+had quite all he could carry, and he wanted his own rifle.
+
+All seemed to have gone well, and it looked to the scout at that moment
+as though the way before him to the fort was clear sailing. But just as
+he was congratulating himself on this belief a wild and ear-splitting
+yell arose on the night, and from a spot not far in his rear. First one
+voice and then another took up the yell--it was the warning of the red
+man when he finds the trail of the secret enemy!
+
+Texas Jack knew well what it meant. The first Indian he had killed, and
+whose place beside the dead tree he had taken, had been found by the
+sentinels. They knew that some shrewd enemy had been at work, and their
+yells aroused the braves all over the valley.
+
+The cries told the redskins as plainly as words that some white man
+was trying to break through their lines. Major Baldwin had thrown a
+line of sentinels outside the stockade, and these heard the cries and
+understood as well. They passed back the word that either Buffalo Bill
+or Texas Jack was coming.
+
+And so the scout was coming--on the back of the half-wild Indian pony.
+The danger behind him was great, nor was that still ahead slight.
+Some of the young braves, eager for scalps, had crept forward in the
+darkness, hoping to shoot some white man on the towers, or one that
+ventured beyond the stockade walls. As the war-whoop was raised these
+young braves started back for their lines on the jump.
+
+One of them saw the scout coming up the hill at full speed. Although
+Texas Jack was still in Indian dress, the warrior decided that no
+honest redskin would be riding in that direction at such a pace!
+
+He fired suddenly. So did the scout. The aim of both was true, for the
+Indian’s bullet killed the pony Jack was riding, and Jack’s bullet
+killed the Indian himself.
+
+Although badly shaken by his fall from the pony’s back, Texas Jack was
+on his feet in an instant and was running at topmost speed for the
+fort. He suspected that there would be a line of sentinels outside the
+stockade, and he raised his voice as he ran:
+
+“Hold on, men; it’s Texas Jack! Don’t shoot!”
+
+A cheer was the answer from the fort, while the Indians in the rear
+who heard uttered their war-whoop again and fired a scattering volley
+in the direction of the scout’s voice. But he was not hit, and, a few
+minutes later, he passed in through the gateway of the fort.
+
+Proud of his deed, as he had good reason to be, he shouted:
+
+“Slightly disfigured, boys, but still in the ring!”
+
+The commander greeted the scout joyfully, but with his next breath
+asked anxiously:
+
+“But Cody?”
+
+“Is a long way on his ride to Resistence, sir.”
+
+A cheer greeted this reply.
+
+“Thank God for that good news! I trust you were not hurt on your way,
+Jack, though you _did_ raise a merry rumpus in the Indian camps.”
+
+“Well, now! Didn’t they turn loose for a few minutes, sir? But I got
+only a shake-up, for I got too proud to walk, and the pony I cabbaged
+took a header with an Injun bullet in him. Somebody got worse hurt than
+I did, though, and I’m not kicking a little bit, as luck came my way.”
+
+“And it came our way, too, Jack! We’re mighty glad to have you back.”
+
+“Oh, that was my luck, too!” said Jack, laughing. “Buffalo was bound to
+come and send me on to Resistence with the news, but I wouldn’t hear to
+it, and finally we drew lots and I won.”
+
+“Next to Cody himself you’re the man I want,” declared Major Baldwin;
+“for, although all my officers and men are true as steel--and able,
+too--your experience is worth much, not to speak of the value of your
+rifle. Your coming and the knowledge that Cody has got through all
+right gives us a new lease of life.”
+
+The major’s praise tinged the bronzed cheek of the scout with blushes,
+and he hurried away to remove his war-paint and to change into more
+civilized garments.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X. THE RIDE TO THE RESCUE.
+
+
+The Border King, after leaving Texas Jack in the cañon, did not spare
+the white horse he rode, for he was riding to save many human lives.
+
+He had known this horse when he was the favorite steed of Colonel
+Nelson A. Miles, and the scout well knew the endurance of which the
+horse was capable.
+
+The creature had been captured by Oak Heart, the king of the Utah
+Sioux, in an attack on a military camp, and Colonel Miles had told
+Cody to try and get him back from his Indian master.
+
+“I hate to think of the old fellow being handled by that red scamp. Get
+him back, Cody, and he’s yours,” the colonel had told the scout.
+
+And now Buffalo Bill had the long-barreled, strong-limbed racer under
+him, and he was proving himself as fleet as a deer and as tireless as a
+hound.
+
+“The colonel used to call you Runaway, I remember,” said the scout,
+talking aloud to the handsome creature, and patting the side of his
+neck with a tender hand, “and what Oak Heart christened you I don’t
+know, but I shall call you after your redskin master, and it shall be
+Chief.”
+
+The horse snorted and tossed his head as though he understood what was
+being said to him, and hour after hour, mile after mile, he kept up his
+steady lope--that long, free canter that takes the Western range horse
+over so long a trail in so short a time.
+
+Darkness fell soon after Cody rode away from Texas Jack. He hoped to
+reached the military post for which he aimed before midnight. And he
+was not mistaken. The new day had not commenced when the scout on his
+white charger thundered up to the gates of Fort Resistence.
+
+“Halt! Who comes here?” rang out the sentinel’s challenge.
+
+“All right, pard! This is Scout Cody with an urgent message for the
+commander. Let me in!”
+
+“By thunder! Is it really you, Buffalo Bill?” cried the sentinel over
+the gate.
+
+“What’s left of me after about the hardest day’s work of my life.”
+
+“Injuns?”
+
+“And a-plenty of them. Hurry up, old man! This is no place for gossip,”
+urged the scout.
+
+“Wait till I call the corporal,” exclaimed the curious sentinel. Then:
+
+“Corporal of the guard! Corporal of the guard! Rouse up, corporal!
+There’s somebody at the gate!”
+
+Half the garrison was aroused by the shouting. The corporal came on the
+run, saw who it was without, and let the scout and his dripping horse
+within.
+
+“Injuns, sure, Cody?” asked those who were awake.
+
+“Fort Advance has been surrounded for three days by a thousand red
+devils under Oak Heart!” exclaimed Cody to the officer on duty. “I must
+see Colonel Royal at once.”
+
+The commander of the fort had gotten out of bed already, and he
+received the scout in his nightshirt.
+
+“Is this true, Cody?” he cried. “Is Major Baldwin threatened?”
+
+“Why, sir, your scouts must have been hived up for a week past if they
+haven’t seen Injun signs,” said Cody earnestly. “For three days the
+Sioux have held the garrison of Fort Advance prisoners, and five men
+have been killed trying to get to you. They’re pretty nearly out of
+ammunition.”
+
+“My God, Cody! You astonish me. I’ve had the scouts working through the
+country on the other side, trusting to hear from you if anything went
+wrong in the direction of Advance.”
+
+“I’ve been to Denver, sir. Just got back to-day. I managed to run in
+half a packload of ammunition that I had cached, and then Texas Jack
+and I got through the lines again late this afternoon and--here I am!”
+
+“Texas Jack! He’s not killed, I hope?”
+
+“I don’t know. The reckless fellow _would_ try to go back to cheer the
+fort with the news that I had got away safely.”
+
+“That’s enough now, Bill. You’ll get something to eat, and if you are
+going back with the men I send----”
+
+“You bet I am. I got a fellow to rub Chief down, and he’ll be good for
+it.”
+
+“Your horse? Well, I’m off to see things prepared.”
+
+The energetic commander at once ordered his adjutant to call out two
+troops of cavalry, mount two companies of infantry, and, with a couple
+of light guns, to start to the reenforcement of Fort Advance. Extra
+supplies and ammunition were to be taken in ambulances.
+
+Captain Alfred Taylor, of the Fifth Cavalry, was given command of the
+expedition, and ordered to start within the hour. They tried to get
+Cody to take some rest, for more than twenty-four hours the scout had
+been active, most of the time in the saddle, and part of the time
+fighting for his very life, but he was determined to go back with the
+party of reenforcements.
+
+When it pulled out from Post Resistence Buffalo Bill rode ahead as
+guide, while half a dozen of Colonel Royal’s scouts went along to guard
+the flanks, and to clear out the cañon when they came to it. Cody felt
+that Oak Heart, knowing that the white men had got through his lines
+and were probably making for Resistence, might send a part of his force
+forward to meet any rescue party coming to the aid of the garrison of
+Fort Advance.
+
+And the wise scout had not been mistaken in this. Perhaps one reason
+why Texas Jack had succeeded so easily in returning to Fort Advance
+was because the king of the Sioux had drawn off quite three hundred of
+his braves for special duty, and sent them along the track toward Fort
+Resistence.
+
+The easiest and shortest trail between the two forts was through the
+cañon, and this Oak Heart well knew. He ordered the chiefs in charge of
+the three hundred to ambush the rescue-party near the entrance to the
+cañon at the other end, and not long before Cody and the other scouts,
+riding ahead of Captain Taylor’s command, came within shouting distance
+of the cañon the bloodthirsty savages were hidden among the rocks and
+trees on the sloping sides, ready to pour a deadly fire into the band
+of rescuers when they came along the trail beneath them.
+
+While yet the scouts were some distance from the cañon something
+startled them ahead. Tearing along the trail toward them came a herd of
+deer, frightened from their night’s lair by something untoward.
+
+“Now, what under the canopy started _them_ to running?” asked Cody, who
+never let anything go past him unexplained.
+
+“Wolves, it’s likely,” said one of the Resistence scouts named Judd.
+
+“Haven’t heard a wolf howl to-night,” declared Buffalo Bill.
+
+“You’re right there, pard,” said another scout, Barney by name.
+
+“And there was no critter on the trail of those white-tails,” said a
+third man.
+
+“That means Injuns, then,” declared Barney.
+
+“I reckon you’re right, boys,” said the Border King. “Let’s see. Those
+deer came directly from the cañon.”
+
+“You bet they did.”
+
+“Something doing there, then, boys.”
+
+“I reckon you’re right, Buffler.”
+
+“Here, Barney, you ride back and tell Captain Taylor to halt his
+column. Judd, you and I leave our horses here and go ahead to
+reconnoiter. Savvy?”
+
+“Sure!”
+
+Barney rode back. Judd and Buffalo Bill discarded their mounts and went
+ahead afoot.
+
+Oak Heart was a born general, and, like old Colorow, of the Utes,
+displayed abilities in planning his campaigns that placed him head
+and shoulders above the average redskin chieftain. There have
+been few great warriors among the red Indians. Red Jacket, Black
+Eagle, Tecumseh, Colorow, and a few others have possessed unnatural
+characteristics for redskins, and that is why they left their mark on
+Indian history.
+
+And Oak Heart had sufficient control over his warriors to make them do
+something which above all things a redskin hates. He made them fight at
+night!
+
+Now, the Indian is a spiritualist of the most pronounced breed. By day
+the spirits of the dead, and those powerful beings which he believes
+control men’s affairs, sleep; by night these supernatural beings
+walk abroad, and no Southern darky is more afraid of seeing a ghost
+than a redskin. The medicine chiefs, who are, most of them, a set of
+unconscionable fakers, foster this belief in ghosts and evil spirits
+and so prey on the tribes.
+
+Indians often select the hour just before dawn to strike their enemies,
+because at that time man usually sleeps more deeply. But to make a
+forced march and lay an ambuscade in the middle of the night--well,
+this proved Oak Heart’s mastery of his tribe. Buffalo Bill suspected
+that the herd of deer had been frightened by something more than a
+single redskin--or a small scouting-party of them. He knew Oak Heart’s
+abilities and respected them. Rash as the scout might be at times, he
+never took foolish chances. To lead the rescue-party into the head of
+the cañon might bring it to complete ruin.
+
+“Judd! you take the west side of that gorge, and I’ll go east,” he
+commanded his brother scout.
+
+“How’ll I communicate? Signal?”
+
+“No! If there are many of the reds they have already frightened
+away most of the small animals that we might imitate, and to give a
+bird-call would utterly ruin us. No bird will be waking up at this time
+o’ night--ugh!”
+
+“Well, what then?” demanded the other.
+
+“Never mind what you find, keep still. Meet me here--in twenty minutes
+if possible; not later than half an hour from now, at most.”
+
+“Half an hour?”
+
+“Yep. And remember, a confounded lot can happen in half an hour,” added
+Cody, with a chuckle.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI. A BUSY HALF-HOUR.
+
+
+Buffalo Bill had spoken a truer word than he thought. A great deal may
+happen in thirty minutes, and the Border King, as he separated from his
+brother scout, was unconsciously approaching a series of startling and
+perilous happenings.
+
+The moment the darkness had wiped Judd out of sight the wary scout
+turned eastward from the trail. The brush was thick and hung heavy with
+the dew of the mountains--and that might as well be rain. Every twig he
+touched communicated to its parent branch a shiver that showered him
+like a patent bath. He kept the lock of his magazine rifle under his
+armpit, pulled down the brim of his sombrero to shield his face, and
+walked swiftly on for some few yards. Yet he made wonderfully little
+noise.
+
+Having begun to climb rising ground, he here bore off toward the gorge,
+or cañon. If Oak Heart had laid an ambush there, the reds would be
+hiding in the brush, behind logs, and sheltered by boulders, all along
+the sidehills for some hundreds of yards. Buffalo Bill proposed to make
+a wide enough détour to get well behind the ambushed foe.
+
+By chance, however, he came suddenly upon a slope of gravel and sand,
+and stepped upon it before he realized the shifting nature of the soil.
+A stream of small pebbles began rattling down the hill!
+
+Instantly Buffalo Bill learned that his suspicions had been well
+founded. The Indians were there.
+
+He heard a startled grunt below him. Then in Sioux a voice asked a
+brief question.
+
+“Bear?” returned a second Indian.
+
+There was a sound as though one of the speakers had risen from his
+place. Buffalo Bill cast his mind quickly over the situation. The
+suggestion that a bear might be lurking about the sidehill seemed the
+most reasonable. A bear is notably a blundersome beast, and the wind
+was not from the ambushed redskins. The scout grasped the idea.
+
+He sent another small avalanche of gravel down the slope, and then
+floundered a bit in the brush. His ability to imitate the voices of
+birds and animals was very keen; but it is not easy to imitate the
+gruff, startled “woof!” of the marauding bear. However, he essayed it
+and then stamped away up the hill through the brush, making a deuce of
+a clatter till he reached an open space. He hoped that the reds would
+take his play-acting in good faith; yet he could not help having his
+doubts. He considered that, had he been in their place, he would have
+felt strong doubt regarding the validity of the sound, and would have
+investigated.
+
+Therefore he slipped behind an enormous tree trunk at the edge of this
+opening and waited to see if the supposed bear would be followed.
+Minute after minute passed, and a deathlike silence reigned upon
+the hillside. Buffalo Bill was wasting time, but he was too wary to
+approach closer to the Indians--near enough to learn their numbers
+at least--until he was assured that his first mistake had not borne
+perilous fruit.
+
+Sharp as his hearing was, however, he did not hear a footfall, or a
+breath; yet of a sudden a figure was silhouetted before him against the
+open space in the forest. An Indian stood there with folded arms, his
+back to the scout, and facing the clearing!
+
+One of the reds whom Cody had disturbed was not satisfied with the
+imitated retreat of the frightened “bear.” He had come to investigate
+and stood now almost within striking distance of the scout. But the
+latter feared to shoot him, of course; nor did he trust to a fling of
+his tomahawk, or knife. There were too many uncertainties about either
+of those methods of removing the redskin. To steal from behind the tree
+and spring upon him was another difficult thing, for the ground was
+strewn with rustling leaves and twigs, and the scout feared to announce
+his approach.
+
+To his disgust, too, the Indian turned and began searching about the
+edge of the forest. Cody saw him step cautiously behind two trees
+and stick the muzzle of the old-fashioned musket he bore into a
+brush-clump. The red was trying to learn if the creature that had made
+all that “catouse” was still in the vicinity.
+
+Instantly the scout glanced about in the gloom for a means of hiding
+himself more surely. In a minute the red would come his way.
+
+Directly above his head he saw a branch. He slipped the strap of his
+rifle over his head and shoulder, thus leaving his hands free, seized
+the branch, and drew himself up carefully as an acrobat does when
+he “chins” the horizontal bar. Without a sound, or the rattle of a
+button or an accouterment, the scout drew himself into the tree. Three
+branches sprang from the butt low down, so furnishing him a splendid
+nest.
+
+He removed his gun and stood it upright, wedged in a niche. Then he lay
+down along the lower branch, his body in the darkness merely adding
+a darker shadow to it, and watched and listened. No mountain cat was
+better ambushed for a foe. His guns he loosened in their scabbards, and
+then, drawing his bowie, he stuck it softly into the branch within
+easy reach of his hand.
+
+At that instant there was a soft rustling in the leaves which covered
+the ground below. Cody craned his neck to see. The Indian in a stooping
+posture came into view. He halted directly under the limb on which the
+scout lay. It seemed too dark for him to see any mark that the scout
+might have left, yet he seemed wonderfully interested in the tree and
+the ground beneath it.
+
+Cody could see the outline of his figure very well indeed. How much
+sharper the red’s vision might be he did not know; but he was not
+taking any chances. He noted that the red scamp faced the tree trunk
+and was apparently examining the rough bark for recently broken
+places. Was it possible that the fellow was really stumbling upon the
+truth--that a man had climbed this tree? Or was he feeling for the
+marks of a bear’s claws?
+
+However, Cody decided the red had gone far enough. Besides, the fellow
+was temptingly near. He was a small, wiry man weighing little more than
+a hundred pounds.
+
+Cody stooped suddenly, and both his muscular hands clutched the
+Indian around the neck--one before, one behind. And with this awful
+grip--which cut short any attempt to breathe, let alone to cry out--he
+lifted the redskin off his feet!
+
+As was only natural, the red dropped his gun and clutched with both
+hands at the hand which pinched his windpipe. He kicked vainly for
+freedom. Before he could drop his hand to his knife and draw that, Cody
+jerked him upward till the top of his head struck with fearful force
+against the under side of the tree branch. He could actually hear the
+redskin’s crown crack!
+
+The foe’s hands dropped limply; yet Cody held on and squeezed his
+throat for a minute longer. Then he dropped the fellow like a bag of
+bones to the ground.
+
+In a moment he seized his own rifle and dropped lightly beside him.
+The Indian had not stirred; he was without doubt dead. Cody took his
+weapons and removed his scalp, and went his way with some confidence
+that there was certainly one more “good” Indian.
+
+He dodged the gravel bank this time, and came down the side of the
+cañon at another point--some rods beyond that at which he had found
+the first of the reds established. There were fewer trees here, and,
+looking from above, the scout was able to observe considerable of
+the more open hillside. Dark as the night was, he saw several forms
+crouching behind stumps and boulders.
+
+He made a further détour, came down the hill again, and found the same
+conditions. On this side of the trail the Indians were extended along
+the hillside for five hundred yards and more. It was a big ambushing
+party. Cody reckoned it to be no less than two hundred braves at the
+least, and probably more. Captain Taylor’s command was not prepared to
+meet such a foe--especially when the foe would have every advantage of
+cover.
+
+Had it not been so dark, or had Cody known the ground better, a flank
+movement might have been made which would have overwhelmed the reds.
+But this would have taken much time, too, and, meanwhile, the garrison
+at Fort Advance was in sore need of reenforcements.
+
+Cody returned swiftly to the rendezvous he had appointed with Judd, to
+learn what that individual had discovered upon the other side of the
+cañon.
+
+Now, the warriors lay very silently indeed in their ambuscade, but
+three hundred men cannot be in a small place like that together without
+making some sounds. Judd, too, discovered the ambush, although he
+did not know just how many Indians were awaiting the coming of the
+bluecoats.
+
+“There’s a good bunch of them. Perhaps Oak Heart has drawn off half his
+gang,” said Cody. “We’ve got to fool ’em, Judd.”
+
+They hurried back to the group of scouts, and there Cody issued his
+instructions. Judd and three others were to watch the Indians as well
+as possible. Meanwhile Cody proposed to ride back and meet Captain
+Taylor’s command and take them, by another way, to the valley in which
+Fort Advance was situated.
+
+Cody rode back in haste and reported the danger ahead.
+
+“We are able to handle five hundred redskins, Cody,” said the officer,
+eager for a fight.
+
+“But not when they are established on both sides of the trail and it is
+dark and the forest is too thick for you to maneuver horses. No, no,
+captain! Be advised by me.”
+
+“I suppose you are right, Cody.”
+
+“And, besides, you will be able to deliver a heavier blow to Oak
+Heart’s gang if you fall upon them unexpectedly; and then, when these
+ambuscaders rush in, you’ll be ready to cut them to pieces, too.”
+
+“Right you are, scout. You are sure of the way?”
+
+“Confident. It’s a bit rough, but I could find it with my eyes
+bandaged.”
+
+“Lead on, then, scout.”
+
+“And no bugle-calls,” warned Cody. “Pass the word to the men. We don’t
+want these reds, waiting in the cañon, to suspect that we are stealing
+a march on them.”
+
+Fortunately, the troops did not have to take the back track. The path
+by which the Border King was to lead them to their destination branched
+off this main trail into the hills. Over the rough way they rode, and
+soon the eastern sky began to grow gray. Dawn was approaching, and the
+increased light made the path vastly easier of traveling.
+
+Buffalo Bill and Captain Taylor rode some distance ahead of the troops.
+The cavalry could go only as fast as the guns and ambulances could keep
+up, so the band moved necessarily slow.
+
+They came at last almost within sight of Fort Advance. A low ridge shut
+out their view of the valley. Suddenly the cool morning breeze brought
+to them a great shouting and hullabaloo, intermingled with rifle-shots
+and the intermittent discharge of heavy guns.
+
+“An attack!” exclaimed the captain and the scout together, and they
+spurred their horses to the top of the ridge.
+
+It was true. Oak Heart had chosen the hour before dawn as the time to
+throw his remaining warriors against the stockade. He believed that
+about this time the rescue-party would be falling into the trap he had
+laid for it in the cañon. He would keep both bands of white men so busy
+that they could not go to each other’s rescue.
+
+Suddenly the heavy guns ceased. There was only the occasional snapping
+of rifles from the fort.
+
+“My God, Cody! What does that mean?” gasped Captain Taylor.
+
+“Their ammunition has run out!” cried the scout. “I adjure you,
+captain, bring up your men at a double-quick. The next few minutes may
+settle the question as to whether those red devils get the scalps of
+every man, woman, and child in the fort! There is not an instant to
+lose, sir!”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII. A FLYING FIGHT.
+
+
+Captain Taylor saw the desperate need of help for the unfortunate
+inmates of Fort Advance quite as clearly as did Buffalo Bill, but his
+men were in heavy marching order, and there were the artillery and
+ambulances to be thought of, too. The column was strung out along the
+trail for two miles.
+
+“It will take some time to bring the men up and form in line of battle,
+Cody,” declared Captain Taylor.
+
+“And meanwhile Oak Heart will throw his entire force over those
+palisades!” cried the scout. “By the time we deploy into the valley
+there’ll be no garrison, and the red devils can turn their attention
+to us. The firing will call up the gang from the cañon, and we’ll be
+between two fires.”
+
+“It can’t be helped----”
+
+“It _can_ be helped, sir--begging your pardon! Give me a few of your
+men and let me push on. It will make a diversion in favor of the
+garrison. If the braves see us coming they’ll hesitate about throwing
+themselves into the fort and so being caught in a trap.”
+
+“Good, Cody! You are right. And your appearance will at least show that
+help is at hand and encourage the garrison. But I’m afraid you’ll be
+cut to pieces.”
+
+“We’ll have to take that chance. Somebody has got to die this day--why
+not us?” demanded the courageous scout. “Let me have some of your
+cavalry as they come up. There’s the head of the column!”
+
+“Go, and God bless you, my brave fellow! Take all the men whose horses
+can stand a hard run,” said the gallant captain.
+
+He signaled the head of the column forward at once. The troops had
+already heard the firing, and were eager to get into action.
+
+“You’ll have to bring your artillery and ambulances down into the
+valley by yonder ridge, captain,” said the scout, pointing out the
+tongue of rocky land over which he had raced the day before with his
+pack-load of ammunition for the beleaguered fort. “From there you can
+sweep the valley to the very gates of the fort, and likewise you can
+cover the exit of the cañon through which the ambushing party will like
+enough pour in a short time.”
+
+“Good! I’ll make a note of that,” declared the officer. “There, Cody,
+are your men. Pick out the horses you think will be able to keep
+somewhere near your whitey. Every man of them is eager to attend, I
+promise you!”
+
+This was true enough, as the scout well knew. In five minutes, with two
+lieutenants and a couple of score of troopers at his heels, the scout
+set the pace over the ridge and down into the smoke-wreathed valley.
+
+They were soon in full sight of the fort and the redskins clamoring
+about it. And it was a complete surprise to Oak Heart and his braves to
+see reenforcements for the whites so near at hand. As for the defenders
+of Fort Advance, they were wild with joy to see even this small troop
+coming to their rescue.
+
+Buffalo Bill’s white steed was recognized, and cheers rent the air from
+the garrison which, a few moments before, had given up all hope. The
+Indians had been about to rush the stockade, and then a hand-to-hand
+fight would have ensued inside the fort which could have ended in but
+one way. The redskins outnumbered the whites so greatly, despite their
+losses, that the garrison would have been completely overwhelmed.
+
+Oak Heart saw that he was likely to be defeated, after all. Victory had
+all but perched upon his banners; now, with his forces separated, he
+was very likely to taste the bitter ashes of defeat!
+
+But the Sioux king was a born leader and strategist. He saw that,
+in some way, his plans for ambuscading the relief party had fallen
+through. His three hundred braves were idle up the cañon while the
+whites from Fort Resistence were coming to the help of their comrades
+by another way. Those reserve forces he needed, and needed at once.
+
+He spoke to the White Antelope. She had acted as his aid all through
+the battle, and now she wheeled her pony instantly and dashed away
+toward the mouth of the cañon. She was instructed to inform the
+ambuscading party of the change in affairs and to bring them back at
+top speed.
+
+Buffalo Bill and his flying column of cavalry saw and understood this
+move. Lieutenant Dick Danforth, the dashing young lieutenant who ranked
+in command of the party, spurred up beside Cody.
+
+“See that girl yonder?” he cried.
+
+“I see her,” returned the scout gravely.
+
+“She’s a messenger, eh?”
+
+“She is.”
+
+“Isn’t that the way into the cañon where those other Indians were lying
+in wait for us?”
+
+“You’re mighty right, lieutenant,” admitted the scout.
+
+“We must stop her!”
+
+The scout remained silent, measuring the distance between them and the
+flying White Antelope, and the mouth of the cañon as well.
+
+“We’ve _got_ to stop her!” exclaimed Dick Danforth.
+
+“How are you going to do it?” demanded Cody grimly.
+
+Danforth picked up his carbine quickly. Cody at once laid his hand on
+the young officer’s arm.
+
+“No, no, Dick!” he said, with feeling. “Not that!”
+
+“What do you mean, scout?” demanded the young officer, displeased.
+
+“You must not shoot that girl!”
+
+“Why, she’s a confounded squaw--and she’s an enemy--and she’s taking a
+message that may bring trouble to us all.”
+
+“She must be stopped; but you must not kill her.”
+
+“What’s the matter with you, Cody?” the young man demanded again.
+“She’s nothing but a redskin.”
+
+“There is another way--without taking her life,” declared the scout.
+
+“What makes you so tender of the squaw? Lord! I don’t ask _you_ to
+shoot her,” and the lieutenant raised his carbine again.
+
+Cody’s hand this time fell upon the lieutenant’s wrist with force, as
+he urged Chief alongside the other’s mount.
+
+“And by God, sir! _you_ shall not shoot her--above all men!” he cried.
+
+“What do you mean by this?” demanded Lieutenant Danforth, his face
+white as death. “I have a reason for killing every damned Indian that
+comes under my eye--you know _that_, Bill Cody!”
+
+“Perhaps; but not White Antelope,” said the scout earnestly.
+
+“And why not White Antelope, as you call her? Is she any better than
+any other of the devil’s red spawn? Let go of my arm! I’m going to
+shoot that girl!”
+
+“You are beside yourself!” exclaimed Cody coldly. “Do you want it told
+around your mess that you deliberately shot a squaw-woman?”
+
+“She’s a messenger, man!”
+
+“That’s no excuse.”
+
+“I tell you the red devils killed my people--butchered them! I saw my
+father with his head split open by an Indian hatchet! My mother was
+dragged away to a worse death, it’s likely. _I’ve sworn revenge on
+every redskin that walks the earth!_ Let go of me, Cody, or I’ll kill
+you!”
+
+“You are beside yourself, sir,” said the scout, still coldly. “You
+would not kill me, for I have always been your friend. It was I who got
+you your chance at West Point. It was I who made you what you are now.
+You’ll not kill _me_, Dick Danforth!”
+
+The two had ridden furiously ahead of the troopers, both bearing off
+toward the cañon’s mouth toward which the squaw was flying on her pony.
+The other men could not hear this conversation, jerked out between the
+jumps of the two great horses.
+
+That Dick Danforth, the young lieutenant, was beside himself, was
+easily to be seen. He was not responsible at the moment for his actions
+or speech.
+
+“That gal must not be harmed, Danforth,” said Cody firmly. “If you
+hold any gratitude in your heart toward me, show it now. I demand that
+the girl be unharmed--now or at any other time--and especially at your
+hand.”
+
+The scout’s seriousness--aye, his passion in saying this--impressed
+Danforth so deeply that his own rage gave place to wonder.
+
+“Why, what do you know about her, Cody? Who is she?”
+
+“It does not matter. I must have your promise. _You_ must never harm
+the White Antelope. Indeed, you must guard her and keep others from
+harming her with your life; do you understand?”
+
+“No, I _don’t_ understand. And I won’t help an Injun.”
+
+“You will do as I say, Dick.”
+
+“No!”
+
+“I demand it, Dick!” said the scout feelingly.
+
+“That is not fair, Cody!”
+
+“It is fair. I saved your life. I made you what you are. I have a right
+to some return, and I demand this.”
+
+“Oh, thunder, Bill!” ejaculated Dick Danforth, more in his usual light
+tone than before. “If you put it _that_ way----”
+
+“I do.”
+
+“Then I’ll have to promise.”
+
+“Very well, my boy. I hold you to your word.”
+
+“But don’t you ever ask me to save an Injun again, for I won’t do it!”
+
+“All right.”
+
+“And while we’ve been rowing, that blamed squaw is getting away. She’ll
+carry the alarm to the other Indians as sure as shooting!”
+
+“She won’t!” returned the scout, with confidence. “Ride on with your
+men, Dick. Cut your way through that gang of reds to the gates of the
+fort if necessary. Off with you! Leave the girl to me!”
+
+With a wave of his hand he clapped spurs to Chief, and pulled sharply
+on his rein. The girl had almost reached the mouth of the cañon when
+Cody started in direct pursuit.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII. THE CHASE OF THE WHITE ANTELOPE.
+
+
+The Border King did not pick his way as he spurred the great white
+horse down the declivity after the flying Indian girl. He allowed Chief
+to guide himself, for he felt confidence in the horse’s sense. They
+went down the hill like an avalanche, and an avalanche of small stones
+and broken brush went with them.
+
+To the troopers behind on the ridge, to the defenders of the fort, and
+to the Indians themselves who saw the charge of the big white horse, it
+seemed that neither horse nor rider could reach the bottom alive.
+
+But Chief did not even lose his stride in going down, and at the
+bottom, in answer to a sharp tug on the rein, he turned and shot away
+along the trail after the disappearing White Antelope.
+
+Oak Heart and his braves saw the act, and knew Cody’s reason for
+chasing the young squaw. Half the army of Sioux would have started in
+pursuit; but Dick Danforth’s troopers were sweeping down the hill by a
+smoother road, and would cut the Indians off from the entrance to the
+cañon. The reds were balked.
+
+Dick Danforth’s blood was up. He had been born a Western boy, and, as
+he had intimated in his recent conversation with Cody, he had bitter
+reason to hate the redskins. He had been made an orphan, and his young
+life ruined, by these very Sioux.
+
+He spoke to the bugler, and the wild notes of the charge rang out
+across the valley. Two score the troopers numbered, and there were five
+or six hundred Indians against them; but the bold fellows were ready to
+dash into the midst of the redskins.
+
+Besides, Major Baldwin, seeing what desperate chances the troopers
+from Fort Resistence were taking, ordered Captain Ed. Keyes to charge
+with every able-bodied cavalryman the stockade contained. The fort
+gates were flung open, and out upon the Indians, already wavering and
+uncertain, charged Keyes and his troop, sabers in hand. They had no
+ammunition, but they wielded their sabers like fiends. The Indians,
+most of them unmounted, were borne down, trampled under the feet of
+the big cavalry horses, and slashed unmercifully on one side by Keyes,
+while Danforth came up on the other, his men shooting at short range
+with carbines and pistols, and finally taking to the sword also.
+
+And while this wild carnage was in progress, Buffalo Bill and the White
+Antelope were racing along the trail in the cañon, the girl intent
+upon carrying her father’s message and arousing the redskins lying in
+ambush miles away, while the scout was just as determined that, without
+injuring her, she should be kept from carrying out her plan.
+
+It was still dark down here in the cañon. Although the sun was already
+showing his red face above the eastern hills, as yet there was not
+light enough to dissipate the gloom at the bottom of this deep cut in
+the hills. Indeed, Buffalo Bill followed the girl more by sense of
+sound than sense of sight for the first half-mile.
+
+Then the pace of the great white horse told. His stride was too much
+for the Indian pony, no matter how cruelly White Antelope lashed it.
+Steadily the scout drew nearer.
+
+The gray light filtered down from above and showed to the scout the
+young squaw turning her head again and again to watch the progress
+of her pursuer. She was evidently measuring with fearful glance the
+rapidly lessening distance between them.
+
+Buffalo Bill might easily have killed her as she leaned forward on her
+pony’s neck, urging him with whip and voice. His face was very set and
+stern, too; but the sternness was not that which masked his countenance
+when he was bent upon an enemy’s death.
+
+He saw, indeed, the frightened maiden before him, flying madly from his
+approach; but his mind was laboring with thoughts which carried him
+back for many years--thoughts which had often embittered his mind and
+robbed him of his rest at night. He remembered this beautiful girl’s
+mother and how he would have saved her from her awful fate; yet that
+was not to be! And here he was pursuing the daughter--yet in a far
+different manner.
+
+The girl looked back again. Her beautiful face had paled, losing all
+its naturally rich coloring. Although Buffalo Bill had held her in
+his power only the day before and had not harmed her, this wild child
+of the forest and plain saw no reason for his sparing her now. And,
+indeed, there _was_ no apparent reason. She saw in his attempt to
+capture her instead of killing her outright, merely the desire of the
+warrior to parade a captive before his admiring brethren, and then,
+perhaps, she would be made a slave as the redskins made slaves of the
+white squaws they stole!
+
+White Antelope had no reason for believing in the honor and tenderness
+of white men. She had been taught from childhood that they were her
+deadly enemies. Her mother had died too soon after her birth to instil
+into the maiden’s mind any different belief than that held by the
+savages about her.
+
+So the girl looked back at Cody in terror, and made up her savage mind
+to die rather than be captured by the scout.
+
+But she would sell her life dearly as may be. The day before Long
+Hair, as she called him, had disarmed her of the light revolver which
+had been a most precious possession. Now she had only her bow and
+arrows--a weapon that is not easily used in shooting behind one while
+the pony is at full speed.
+
+But this was what the girl tried to do. She strung her bow and seized
+an arrow from the quiver which hung over her shoulder. Then, while the
+pony was still paddling along the trail at his best pace, she turned
+her agile young body about, drew the shaft to its head, and let drive
+at the coming scout.
+
+He ducked as he saw her action; but the shaft went through his hat and
+carried it away. Instantly she fitted another arrow to the bowstring
+and sent it likewise at her enemy. Cody slipped over on the far side
+of Chief, hanging by toe and one hand to the running animal, an Indian
+trick that no brave could do better than the scout himself. The second
+shaft went over his saddle in about the place his heart might have been
+had he been sitting upright!
+
+The Indian maiden was not to be balked so easily. She turned again to
+urge her pony on, hoping, it is likely, that Long Hair would bob up
+into the saddle again. But he saw she had a third arrow on the string,
+and he remained where he was.
+
+But to tamely endure such a persecution as this was not the scout’s
+intention. Besides, he feared that the White Antelope might shoot Chief.
+
+As he slung himself over the side of the big white horse, Cody had
+drawn one of the loaded pistols from its holster. With this gun he was
+a marvelously accurate shot. It had a barrel almost as long as the
+old-fashioned derringer, and in the hand of a trained marksman could do
+the execution of a finely sighted rifle.
+
+Under the horse’s neck he had a very clear view of the girl on the
+pony in front, although she could not easily aim at any vital part of
+the scout in the position in which he hung from Chief. As the young
+squaw turned sidewise to larrup her pony again with the quirt hanging
+to her wrist, Buffalo Bill took a snap shot at the quiver of arrows at
+her back.
+
+It was a perilous shot--if he did not wish to harm the girl. Few
+marksmen would have dared try it. William Tell was a bungler, indeed,
+as compared with some of the marksmen of our great West, and William F.
+Cody was, in his day, the best of them all!
+
+His pistol ball sped true. The thong from which the quiver hung was
+severed, and if the hot lead seared the girl’s shoulder in passing it
+did no more!
+
+The quiver fell to the ground; but the girl had still a remaining
+arrow--it was already upon her bowstring. She turned swiftly to drive
+it home--perhaps into the heart of the great white horse that bore her
+enemy so swiftly.
+
+Buffalo Bill realized the danger to his noble steed. He sprang upright
+into the saddle, the smoking pistol still in his hand. His appearance
+as a fair target attracted the Indian maiden’s aim. She drew the
+arrowhead to her ear.
+
+But the white man’s pistol spoke before she could release the feathered
+shaft.
+
+Crack!
+
+The long-barreled revolver spit its death-dealing bullet, and the smoke
+enveloped Buffalo Bill’s head for a moment and then passed away.
+
+Twang!
+
+That was the snap of the bowstring. But the arrow flew wildly in the
+air, over the scout’s head. The bullet had severed the deer tendon of
+which the string was made just as the girl released the shaft. Buffalo
+Bill had taken another desperate shot--and had won. The bow was put out
+of commission, but the bullet had not touched the fair user of the bow.
+
+White Antelope threw away her broken implement in wrath, and lashed her
+pony again. But he, poor creature, was coming to the end of his leash.
+His little legs could not carry even so light a burden as herself much
+farther.
+
+Buffalo Bill saw that this was so, and he spoke to Chief, dropping the
+pistol back into its holster again. The great white horse redoubled his
+effort. He shot along the trail as though he was fresh from the stable.
+
+This spurt of speed brought the scout beside the Indian girl and her
+mount so quickly that White Antelope had no time to cast herself to the
+ground as she had intended. Even as she screamed and would have leaped
+to certain death, the white horse came neck and neck with her mount,
+Cody leaned over and seized her around the waist with his right arm,
+and, drawing his pistol this time with his left hand, shot the Indian
+pony through the head!
+
+He could not afford to have the relieved beast run on to the ambushed
+Indians miles up the cañon and so warn them of what was being done. The
+pony staggered on a few yards and fell dead. Chief leaped the fallen
+body and then came to a stop.
+
+Meanwhile, the young squaw had been struggling in Cody’s grasp. She had
+one more weapon, and out it flashed from the bead-worked sheath at her
+side. It was a keen scalping-knife, and with a single downward thrust
+she might have ended Cody’s earthly career.
+
+However, the scout was watching for just this little play. As the
+bright blade descended toward his breast, he caught the point upon his
+pistol. The blade snapped, and with a single blow he knocked the handle
+and butt of the blade from the girl’s hand!
+
+“The White Antelope is in Long Hair’s power. Let her lie quietly,”
+commanded the scout in Sioux.
+
+He placed the girl before him, picked up Chief’s bridle, turned the
+horse about, and they started down the cañon again. The girl did not
+struggle now, or seek to escape. She was beaten. He could feel her body
+shake with emotion; but true to Indian custom and tradition, she did
+not weep.
+
+Cody feared that some of the Indians might have got by Dick
+Danforth and entered the cañon to follow him; so he went back very
+circumspectly. If he was caught between two fires he could merely sell
+his life as dearly as possible; but he would have kept the men in
+ambush from coming to the help of their tribesmen in time to do any
+good.
+
+Soon the noise of battle reached their ears. The girl gave no sign of
+interest, nor did Cody speak to her. In truth, the scout had a bitter
+problem to consider.
+
+What should he do with the girl? She was in his power. At least, he had
+separated her from her father and from her Indian friends. But was the
+time ripe for her to be introduced to white people--to those in Fort
+Advance, for instance?
+
+It was a time when men’s passions were deeply stirred. There would be
+murder and hatred in the hearts of the whites as well as in that of the
+redskins. Of what good to bring this half-breed girl into contact with
+whites who felt a desire to kill every creature with Indian blood in
+its veins? And why take the girl away from the red men at the moment
+when her own heart was bitter as gall toward the whites? What good
+would come of such an act? Buffalo Bill’s good sense answered for him:
+
+“None!”
+
+Nor did the whites desire her as a hostage. To hold her prisoner would
+be to strengthen her affiliation with the Sioux. No, no! She must go
+free--if Cody were free himself.
+
+This question could not be answered until he had ridden to the end of
+the cañon, and he went on very circumspectly.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV. A STARTLING DISCOVERY.
+
+
+Meanwhile, the two troops of cavalry, under Lieutenant Dick Danforth
+and Captain Keyes respectively, plowed their way through the massed
+redskins. They met, and Captain Keyes heartily greeted the men from
+Fort Resistence.
+
+“God bless you, Danforth--and you, Mercer! You’ve come just in time to
+save us, for we are completely out of ammunition. Where’s Cody?”
+
+“Gone to head off Oak Heart’s messenger to the men he had hidden up the
+cañon to fall upon us--had we come that way,” said Danforth.
+
+“And there is the rest of your column appearing!” cried Keyes.
+
+His seniority gave him command. He raised his saber on high and stood
+up in his stirrups.
+
+“Now, charge back to the fort, my bully boys, and give these red devils
+what they are looking for!”
+
+The redskins were not inactive, and there were already empty saddles
+in the troop; but the tribesmen were demoralized. They began fleeing
+toward the river across the valley. Out upon the ridge spurred the guns
+belonging to Captain Taylor’s command, unlimbered, and opened fire on
+the fleeing reds, the shells screaming over the heads of the charging
+troops in blue. Down into the valley poured the remainder of Taylor’s
+column, eager to have some part in the rout.
+
+Upon this scene rode Buffalo Bill and his beautiful captive as they
+left the cañon’s mouth. The Indians were in wild flight. The whites
+were forcing them toward the river.
+
+Buffalo Bill pulled in his horse, and his keen glance swept the field
+of carnage. He saw that the battle was practically over. Oak Heart’s
+warriors had shown the white feather. The unexpected coming of the
+rescue-party had knocked out completely the reds’ plans, and they could
+not rally.
+
+Then the scout looked down at the sorrowful face of White Antelope.
+
+“Yonder flies the White Antelope’s father, the great chief, Oak Heart,
+and his people,” Cody said gravely. “The palefaces are greater than the
+red men. They always have been. They always will be. Remember, White
+Antelope, that Pa-e-has-ka says this, and he is wise, and he knows.
+The red men must melt away before the white men, or else become as
+the white men are--tillers of the soil, traders, homesteaders. The
+red men, who learn this lesson soon, will be saved. There is no other
+gospel to preach to the red men--and Pa-e-has-ka preaches it.
+
+“The White Antelope’s mother was white,” continued the old scout,
+seeing that he had the girl’s attention, and he spoke with trembling
+voice. “She was a beautiful woman--and Oak Heart loved her greatly.
+While she lived the Sioux remained for years at peace with the white
+men. Now Oak Heart is influenced by less wise counselors than thy
+mother. And see what has come of it!
+
+“Many men are dead. Much bitterness is engendered. The strife has been
+bloody, and now the red men go back to their squaws and children like
+whipped dogs!
+
+“The whites and reds will now be against each other for a long time
+because of this trouble. And what have the people gained, White
+Antelope? A few scalps? Aye, but they have lost more. Many women will
+tear their hair and mourn in the lodges of the Sioux because of this
+battle.
+
+“Let the White Antelope remember this. She has influence beyond her
+years with her people. Let her remember what Pa-e-has-ka says and
+counsel her father and the other chiefs to make peace with the white
+men while they may.
+
+“Now, Pa-e-has-ka sends the White Antelope back to Chief Oak Heart.
+Tell thy father how the Long Hair had thee in his power, and did thee
+no harm. I am thy friend, White Antelope. See! that is the way to the
+river. Keep behind the trees, and the bluecoats will not see thee. Fly!
+For the time is short. Soon your people will be in full retreat, and
+the old chief will believe his daughter is lost to him.”
+
+The scout set the girl down upon her feet. His voice trembled as he
+ceased speaking, and he looked closely into her face to see if it had
+been moved at all by his speech. But he saw there only fright and
+wonder--the terror of the wild creature unexpectedly released from the
+trap.
+
+So he let her go and saw her flee on feet as fleet as a deer’s through
+the undergrowth toward the river, which the vanguard of the Indians
+were already crossing. Then the scout set spurs to Chief and tore after
+the column of blue which had hastened to the support of Keyes and
+Danforth.
+
+Although the rifles and pistols of the men from the fort were empty,
+their blades were sharp. Before Cody reached the field of action it had
+become merely a drive of redskins to the river. The bluecoats rode them
+down, hacking them as they passed, pressing Oak Heart hard.
+
+Horses and white men went down in the mêlée; but when the war-cry of
+Buffalo Bill was heard that seemed to drive the last atom of courage
+from the Sioux, and they ran like a herd of frightened deer, flinging
+away their arms, and leaping from the high river-bank into the shallows.
+
+Some were swept away by the deeper current in the middle and drowned.
+Had there been a ford near at hand, the soldiers would have crossed
+over and continued the massacre on the farther side. But the stream
+afforded Oak Heart a chance to rally his braves.
+
+Sheltered somewhat by the high bank, his riflemen could pick off the
+soldiers as they appeared, and it became dangerous for the cavalrymen
+to ride to the very brink of the bluff. This allowed the frightened
+Indians to escape across the stream, Oak Heart and a few others
+guarding their retreat.
+
+While Buffalo Bill was receiving the congratulations of Captain Keyes
+and Texas Jack, the voice of the old chief, Oak Heart, suddenly rose
+from below.
+
+“I know you, Great White Chief Buffalo Bill! Oak Heart never forget.
+You save your people--kill my young men--make Sioux run! Me remember,
+Pa-e-has-ka!”
+
+“He’s got it in for you, Bill, sure enough!” cried Texas Jack.
+
+Raising his trumpetlike voice, the great scout replied to the threat of
+the beaten Indian chief:
+
+“Pa-e-has-ka knows the voice of Oak Heart--and the heart of Oak Heart.
+He will not forget!”
+
+The Border King might have picked off the chief with his rifle as he
+climbed the farther bank of the stream on his wearied pony. But he
+scorned to do such an act. Besides, far up the river he saw a slender
+figure dive down the bank, plunge into the stream, and fight the fierce
+current to the other side, where it quickly scrambled out, up the bank,
+and ran to join the fleeing Indians.
+
+“What become of the girl, Cody?” whispered Dick Danforth, getting him
+aside.
+
+The Border King pointed to this figure following the trail of the
+defeated warriors.
+
+“There she goes, Dick,” he whispered. “Remember your promise!”
+
+It was indeed a great victory for the whites. The Sioux had lost many
+ponies and more than a hundred slain, although some of the dead had
+been taken away. In wounded the Indians had suffered more heavily still.
+
+However, it was a costly victory for the whites. More than twenty
+troopers lay dead within the fort, and several were scattered upon the
+plain. There were more than half a hundred seriously injured, while of
+minor casualties there were so many that the garrison had ceased to
+note them. Almost everybody within Fort Advance showed, at least, some
+slight mark of the conflict.
+
+Upon every tongue was heard the name of Buffalo Bill, the Border
+King; for, but for him, how different might have been the result! All
+felt that the great scout had saved Fort Advance, and, as Texas Jack
+said, “put a crimp in the Sioux that they’d remember till they were
+gray-headed.” Indeed the fame of this deed for many years made Buffalo
+Bill’s name a household word along the frontier.
+
+Embarrassed by the praise bestowed upon him, the scout looked to the
+care of his horse, Chief, and then slipped away to hide and rest, Texas
+Jack keeping his hiding-place a secret that he might not be disturbed.
+
+When he slipped out of his retreat the next day he was greeted with
+a cheer, and Major Baldwin sent for him at parade that evening and
+complimented him publicly for his work, with a word of praise for Texas
+Jack, as well.
+
+When matters had quieted down a little at the fort and the rescuers had
+returned to Fort Resistance, Buffalo Bill had a talk with Major Baldwin.
+
+“Somebody should make an attempt to see what old Oak Heart is about
+now,” said the scout. “And I reckon I’m the man, major. There are
+still a lot of masterless Indians in these hills, and we want to know
+what they’re up to. There is another matter I wish to scout around
+about, too. On my way down from Denver I crossed the trail of Boyd
+Bennett.”
+
+“You don’t mean that despicable deserter has dared show up again?”
+cried the major.
+
+“I believe he is in the neighborhood. There have been several robberies
+of stage-coaches and mail-wagons up north, and they bear the ear-marks
+of Boyd Bennett. At any rate, this clue I speak of will bear following
+up.”
+
+“Very well, Cody. I’ll excuse you from your other duties. I wish I was
+giving you a quiet vacation, however.”
+
+The scout smiled.
+
+“Excitement is the breath of life to me, major. Wait till I get old.
+Perhaps I may want to settle down then.”
+
+This Boyd Bennett was an old enemy of Buffalo Bill’s. He was a deserter
+from the United States Army, and had become the leader of one of those
+bands of road-agents that cropped up so thickly soon after the close
+of the Civil War. The West was overrun with disbanded guerrillas who
+had fought on both sides of the great struggle--wild and masterless men
+who had lived so long by the power of the sword, that they would not
+conform to law and order when legitimate fighting was supposed to be
+ended.
+
+These cursed the growing West. Boyd Bennett had committed several
+crimes, but had as yet escaped apprehension and punishment.
+
+An army paymaster was soon to make the rounds by coach, paying off
+the several garrisons; and so it was important to locate Boyd Bennett,
+the overland bandit, and his gang, and make sure that they were not
+plotting to seize the paymaster’s treasure.
+
+After a couple of days’ trailing into the Indian country, the scout
+found that Oak Heart and his warriors were seemingly too much battered
+by the battle at Fort Advance to think of making another raid at
+present. They were likely to lie low for awhile.
+
+So Buffalo Bill went in search of Boyd Bennett and his gang. He
+knew that the rendezvous of the road-agents was usually near some
+stage-road, and the scout chanced upon the road leading from Fort
+Advance to Alikon. He knew the time of the coach-running, and after
+riding along the trail for a couple of miles he came upon the coach as
+he expected.
+
+That is, he expected to find the coach about here; but the scene
+presented to his gaze, when he beheld it, was most startling.
+
+There was the coach; the horses were standing patiently in the trail;
+and yet no driver was on the box, nor did he see any one near at first.
+Spurring forward, Buffalo Bill beheld the driver sprawling on the
+ground, with the reins still clutched tightly in his hands. It was Bud
+Sharkey, whom the scout knew well; and the unfortunate fellow had been
+shot from his seat on the stage-coach.
+
+There were three other dead bodies on the ground--an officer and two
+soldiers. They were all dead, and, furthermore, the scout noted now
+that the four had been scalped.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV. THE TREASURE CHEST.
+
+
+This dreadful discovery told the scout that Indians had held up the
+coach. Yet he wondered if it had been done for robbery as well as
+murder? The officer he recognized as Captain Hinkley, the paymaster;
+the soldiers were his guard. He was a week ahead of his time; yet he
+had not managed to get safely through.
+
+The fact that Indians had done the deed, however, disturbed Buffalo
+Bill. He could not understand it. The marks of half a dozen unshod
+ponies proved that his first suspicion was correct. Some of Oak Heart’s
+young braves might have done this. It was true, too, that the driver
+and soldiers had all been shot with arrows.
+
+“How do I know that robbery has been committed at all?” muttered
+Buffalo Bill, and he leaped off his horse and made search inside the
+stage.
+
+It was revealed at once that the marauders must have been frightened
+off before they came upon Captain Hinkley’s strong-box and bags of coin.
+
+Fear of being caught in the act of murder and rapine usually rides
+the redskin to undue haste. Had there been whites with this gang of
+red robbers--either Boyd Bennett himself or any of his men--Cody knew
+that no small matter would have frightened them away before the object
+of the hold-up of the stage was accomplished. And the presence of the
+treasure-chest proved that the marauders must have been driven off.
+
+By what, or whom? Surely his own coming had not done this! Yet the
+thought gave the scout food for serious reflection. Perhaps the reds
+might be lurking near and would descend again upon the spot and finish
+their job by gathering in _his_ scalp as well as that of the driver,
+the paymaster, and his guards.
+
+He did not touch the money, therefore, but appeared likewise to find
+nothing in the coach. He even went back to his horse, mounted into the
+saddle, and set off along the trail at a lope as though proposing to
+go for help. He had remembered that there was a sandy piece of ground
+not far away, and here his horse’s hoofbeats would be deadened. As
+soon as he reached this he halted, dismounted, led his horse up among
+the rocks, and approached the scene of the catastrophe with great
+circumspection. Not a bird did he raise by this maneuver.
+
+“They’ve vamosed!” declared Buffalo Bill, with confidence. “A scalping
+party of reds, and they knew nothing about the money. So it appears,
+at least. Yet, from all I’ve heard, Bennett is hand and glove with Oak
+Heart’s people. He’ll hear of this without fail. Now, what had I better
+do?”
+
+He spent little time in cogitating, however. Cody was a man who made up
+his mind instinctively, rather than by any slow process of reasoning.
+He was prompt on this occasion to come to a conclusion.
+
+The party of Indians who had done this hold-up act were not in the
+immediate vicinity. It was of some moment to Cody, however, to
+learn how far they had gone, and in what direction. He rustled the
+treasure-box out of the stage and lugged it up into the rocks, where he
+found a hiding-place that would do for the nonce. Then he picked up
+the trail of the redskins afoot and hurried after them.
+
+Beyond the nearest hill the party had fled down into a well-watered
+valley which the scout knew led to a gorge, which was about the
+shortest way to Oak Heart’s camp. If Boyd Bennett and his gang happened
+to be with the Indians, saw the scalps, and guessed who the reds had
+murdered, he would be here after the treasure-box in short order.
+
+Buffalo Bill believed that the reds were aiming for this gorge; yet
+they might have had another route in view. To make sure, he cut across
+the valley on a straight line for the mouth of the gorge to see if the
+trail was marked there, as well.
+
+The middle of the valley was a swamp, and one that the scout had never
+been through. He had no idea that it was so dangerous a place until he
+had gotten some rods into it. Then, in leaping from a tussock to what
+looked like a solid log, he found the log, hammock, and all, sinking
+under him, and there was no safe spot ahead on which he could alight.
+
+“Great Scott! I’d better go around, after all,” he muttered, in
+disgust, and turned gingerly on the sinking log.
+
+And then, to his amazement, he saw that the comparatively safe place on
+which he had last stood had disappeared! As he leaped it had toppled
+over and the quagmire had swallowed it instantly. All he could see was
+a long stretch of some ten or twelve feet of stinking, dimpling black
+muck!
+
+“However did I get over that place?” grunted the scout, in surprise.
+“Why, I’m due to go ten feet under the surface maybe, if I jump!”
+
+And it quickly became apparent that he might go that depth under the
+surface if he didn’t jump, too. The old log sank lower and lower, until
+finally the liquid mud lapped over it completely and began to rise
+around his ankles. The log was only about eight feet long. He crept to
+the end which lay nearest solid ground, but even then it was a good
+eight-foot jump, and from such an unstable footing that seemed well
+nigh impossible of accomplishment.
+
+Besides, the log began to tip. Where he stood it sank deeper and
+deeper, and with a splash of the filthy mire the other end shot into
+sight. Cody had to leap to the middle of the stick quickly to save
+himself from toppling over completely into the mud. There he wavered
+a moment until he caught his balance, and then, with grimness, looked
+about for escape.
+
+He couldn’t hope for any help. Indeed, he would have been more troubled
+than delighted to see any other person than himself in this swamp at
+just this moment. The matter of the pay-chest rested heavily on his
+mind. However he escaped from this situation it must be by his own
+exertions, and those alone.
+
+To try to wade to a more solid spot was to court possible extinction.
+To sink slowly into this muck and be smothered by it was a horrible
+thought. It chilled even the scout’s blood!
+
+And, meantime, the log was sinking steadily. Inch by inch it was being
+submerged, and the mire was crawling up Buffalo Bill’s boot-legs.
+
+The swamp was quite heavily wooded, so he was hidden from the view of
+anybody on the eminences around about. And, as he cast a worried glance
+about at the heights in fear that he might have attracted attention,
+he suddenly beheld the end of a tree branch almost over his head.
+
+“Ah!” exclaimed he, and his eyes glistened as he followed the trend of
+this branch with their glance.
+
+Of course, the branch was altogether too slight above his head to
+bear his weight, even could he reach it. But it promised something.
+He glanced along its length several times to the parent trunk some
+twenty feet away, and then began operations. There was, indeed, no time
+for him to lose, for the log was a good bit under the surface of the
+dimpling mud by this.
+
+The fronded end of the branch was much too high for him to reach it
+with his hands; nor could he pull it down with his gun. Indeed, he
+got rid of that implement at once--it only weighed him down into the
+mire the faster--by tossing it into a crotch of the branch, where it
+fortunately chanced to catch and hang. He removed his belt, slipped the
+cartridges into the side pockets of his coat, tied his handkerchief to
+one end of the belt to make it longer, and then fastened one of his
+pistols to the handkerchief to weight the end. Swinging this weighted
+line, he cast the pistol about the small twigs above his head. The
+weapon caught in them, and gradually he drew the end of the branch down
+within the grasp of his hands.
+
+He held this and fastened on his belt and gun again, buttoning his
+pockets so as not to lose his ammunition. The end of the branch was a
+bushy fan of small twigs and leaves. He could pull it down into the
+mud, and the green wood was tough and strong; but there was a big
+chance, when he bore any weight upon it, of the limb tearing off at the
+trunk.
+
+However, swarming up this branch seemed the only way of escape from
+the smothering mud which already was as high as his knees. Its suction
+was terrific, too. When he flung himself forward on the branch he could
+scarcely drag his boots out of the mire.
+
+But he fought on desperately, dragging up first one booted foot and
+then the other, and, although the limb cracked and he lay almost flat
+in the mud at first, he finally wormed his way up the branch to its
+bigger part. There he straddled it and waited to get his breath, and to
+scrape off some of the mud.
+
+“A little more,” he puffed, “and I’d have gone down in that, and nobody
+would have been the wiser. Ah!”
+
+He halted in his speech and stared down into the mud. An idea had
+smitten him, and he turned it over and over in his mind while he worked
+his way along the limb and descended to the foot of the tree.
+
+He returned as quickly as possible to the edge of the swamp, and was
+contented thereafter to follow the trail of the redskins direct. No
+more short cuts! He found in time that his early suspicions had been
+correct. The trail led to the head of the gorge, and he was bound to
+believe that the murderers were some of Oak Heart’s Sioux.
+
+“Boyd Bennett will learn of the hold-up inside of twenty-four hours--if
+not sooner. It’s up to me to hide that money where he won’t be able to
+find it.”
+
+With this decision uppermost in his mind, he put into practise the idea
+that had been suggested to him as he sat on the tree branch. Returning
+to the temporary hiding-place of the money, he carried the chest to the
+edge of the swamp, endeavoring to leave as little trail as possible as
+he went. He had brought his lariat with him, and when he reached one
+of the most treacherous-looking pools of mud, he fastened the lariat
+about the box and lowered it into the depths. The quagmire sucked the
+box out of sight almost instantly.
+
+Then Cody tied the end of the lariat to a tree-root under the surface
+of the muck, and so effectually disposed of the treasure where
+nobody but himself--or some person whom he guided--could find it. He
+returned to the scene of the hold-up and prepared to get away with the
+driverless stage instantly.
+
+He placed the dead man inside the stage, tied Chief to one of the
+leaders, and, mounting to the box, drove hurriedly along the trail.
+
+Being alone, he could not drive the horses and guard the treasure, too;
+so he had hidden it, intending to bring back a file of troopers from
+the fort later and pick it up.
+
+He had not driven two miles along the trail when, loud and threatening,
+rose a voice from the rocks beside the road, which uttered these
+significant words:
+
+“Live or die--yours the choice! Up with your hands there!”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI. THE BANDITS OF THE OVERLAND TRAIL.
+
+
+It was Buffalo Bill’s choice to live just then, so he drew rein. He
+knew from whom the command came, too, just as well as he knew that
+resistance would be useless.
+
+“Up with your hands, or die! Come, take your choice, Buffalo Bill!”
+
+The threatening words were repeated, as Buffalo Bill had simply reined
+the horses to a halt and still grasped the lines. He saw at a glance
+that bandits had sprung to the heads of his leaders, while he was
+covered by the revolver in the hand of Boyd Bennett himself. With no
+change of expression the scout said:
+
+“As you seem to hold trumps in this game, Bennett, up go my hands.”
+
+He gave the reins a turn around the lantern, and Buffalo Bill coolly
+raised his hands above his head to the apparent relief of the outlaws
+at the horses’ heads, for they seemed to have feared that, after all,
+he might resist. They knew that, if he had chosen to die fighting, some
+of them would have bitten the dust first.
+
+“You have acted wisely, Buffalo Bill, and I am glad to see that even
+you can be cowed when you’re in a tight place,” laughed Boyd Bennett.
+
+“We won’t discuss that part of the proposition,” said Cody coolly. “I’m
+anxious to get on, so don’t detain me with philosophical remarks.”
+
+“Ah--indeed! In a hurry, are you?”
+
+“I am, Bennett; in a mighty hurry.”
+
+“Well, wait a bit. Go slowly. You’ve got something on that stage I
+want--though I didn’t expect to see you driving it.”
+
+“No?”
+
+“But you make as good a driver as any--and you give up just as easy,”
+and Boyd Bennett laughed again.
+
+“Well, what is it you want?”
+
+“The gold-box you carry.”
+
+“You’ve got me, old man,” said Buffalo Bill easily. “Guess again.”
+
+“Don’t play with me, Cody, or I’ll have your life.”
+
+“What’s the use of shooting me if you’re not going to make anything out
+of it?” demanded the scout calmly.
+
+“I am determined to have that paymaster’s chest.”
+
+“Oh, sho! _that’s_ your game, is it?”
+
+“It is.”
+
+“And you think I’ve got it?”
+
+“I _know_ it’s on this stage-coach.”
+
+“Come, now, what’ll you bet?” drawled Cody easily.
+
+“What are you waiting for, Cody?” demanded the outlaw angrily. “I know
+you’ve got it. Shell out!”
+
+“You know a lot, Bennett.”
+
+“I know the gold is there.”
+
+“You’re mistaken.”
+
+“I am not. I had a friend who saw it put on board. You’ve got it, and I
+intend to possess it.”
+
+“Go ahead and possess,” drawled the scout.
+
+“Don’t you trifle with me, Cody! I know you wouldn’t have been put up
+to drive this old hearse if the soldiers’ money was not aboard.”
+
+“Say! you know a whole lot, Bennett. D’ye mind if I smoke?”
+
+“Keep your hands up!” roared Bennett; “or I’ll puncture you!”
+
+“Thanks! You needn’t be so gruff about it. Didn’t know tobacco smoke
+was so offensive to you.”
+
+“Hand down that box before I count three, or you’re a dead man!”
+commanded the robber with deadly significance.
+
+“You keep well posted, Bennett; but you’re behind time on this run.”
+
+“What do you mean?” asked the startled road-agent, beginning to
+suspect that Buffalo Bill’s ease of manner masked some high card in the
+game.
+
+“The coach has already been robbed.”
+
+“You lie!”
+
+Buffalo Bill’s brows met in a sudden frown.
+
+“You’ve got the drop on me, Bennett, or you’d never question my word
+aloud.”
+
+“You _do_ lie.”
+
+“Open the coach door and look for yourself.”
+
+“Not for Joe! I’m no spring chicken, Cody,” laughed the outlaw. “Set a
+trap for us, have you? Men! fire through that coach--low down.”
+
+Half a dozen or more rifles blazed away. The bullets shattered the
+sashes of the coach doors and went through and through the vehicle.
+
+“Scared at nothing, are you?” taunted Buffalo Bill. “If I’d come up
+behind you on a dark night and hollered ‘Boo!’ I suppose you’d all run.”
+
+“Men! if he moves, kill him!” commanded the exasperated Bennett, and he
+stepped forward and flung open the coach door.
+
+Even Boyd Bennett started at what he beheld there.
+
+“The devil! what does this mean, Cody?”
+
+“Injuns.”
+
+“How did you escape?”
+
+“Wasn’t with the coach.”
+
+“And the treasure-box?”
+
+“Look for yourself.”
+
+“The Indians got it?”
+
+“Whether they did or did not, you lose the game, Bennett,” said Buffalo
+Bill, laughing with an appearance of heartiness which he did not feel.
+
+“I don’t believe they got it!” cried Bennett, in rage.
+
+“Well, you can run along and ask ’em. They’re not over a dozen miles
+away, I reckon.”
+
+The countenance of Boyd Bennett grew black with passion, and for a
+moment he was silent, while into his eyes crept an expression of
+devilish intent. Then he spoke, and his words hissed from a throat hot
+with passion:
+
+“Buffalo Bill, you have sealed your doom by this act!”
+
+“Say! I’ve heard talk like that before, Bennett.”
+
+“Mine are no idle words.”
+
+“Well, go on with the dance,” quoth the scout coolly.
+
+“Here!” commanded the bandit chief, “two of you men get up on the box
+and bind him.”
+
+He was obeyed at once, as far as the climbing to the box went, although
+the fellows approached the scout gingerly enough. Buffalo Bill sat
+smiling, with his hands still raised above his head. Suddenly, as
+the men were about to seize him, and their bodies in some measure
+intervened between his own and the rifles and pistol pointed at the
+scout, the latter seized both with iron grip.
+
+Giving his war-whoop, the scout leaped up, hurled one of the
+road-agents to the ground, and with the other in his arms leaped from
+the box of the coach. As they alighted, Buffalo Bill drew a revolver,
+and was throwing it forward to fire at the outlaw chief, when the
+weapon was knocked from his hand by a blow from behind, and several of
+the bandits threw themselves upon him.
+
+“For your lives, do not kill him!” shouted Bennett, springing forward
+to join in the fight for the mastery of the scout.
+
+Borne down by the weight of numbers, Buffalo Bill was unable to break
+from his foes, and he was soon securely bound, hand and foot. Then the
+bandits turned to their chief for further orders. The expression of
+fiendish cruelty upon Bennett’s face showed that he had formed some
+diabolical plot to avenge himself upon his old-time foe. He believed
+that Buffalo Bill had thwarted him in his desire to get the government
+money; and, anyway, there was an old score between them, and Bennett
+proposed to square the account to date!
+
+“Now drag him up to that box again,” ordered the bandit leader, and
+with some effort they accomplished it.
+
+“Lash him there!” was the next command, and the scout was securely tied
+to the seat.
+
+“Now throw the reins loosely over the foot-board!”
+
+This order was likewise obeyed, Buffalo Bill the while looking calmly
+on, evidently anticipating the crime his enemy intended, yet uttering
+no word. He would not plead for his life of the miserable cur who now
+had him in his power.
+
+Having executed their work, by lashing Buffalo Bill with lariats firmly
+to the box seat and his feet to the foot-board, the outlaws turned to
+their cruel captain for further orders. It was at this moment that
+Buffalo Bill took occasion to speak; but his voice was calm and his
+manner unshaken:
+
+“Hold on, Bennett, before you go too far!”
+
+The bandits’ chief turned with a wicked smile, and asked:
+
+“With what do you threaten me, Bill Cody?”
+
+“The worst fate that ever met mortal man, if you dare commit the deed
+you have in view,” was the bold reply.
+
+“Dead men tell no tales!”
+
+“Ah, but they do! It is only the fool that says ‘It is all over!’ when
+his enemy is dead by his hand. It is not over. It has only begun! My
+fate will become known; a hundred border men will not rest till they
+learn who committed this deed; and then a thousand men will not rest
+till vengeance is satisfied!”
+
+“Bah! Your friends might be bad men to meet, I’ve no doubt--if they
+could prove anything.”
+
+“They’ll prove enough. Your fate will be worse than mine, Boyd Bennett.”
+
+“You seem to be cock-sure of what I’m going to treat you to?” said
+Bennett.
+
+“I am.”
+
+“Well, what is it?”
+
+“You propose to lead the horses to yonder fork of the trail, turn them
+loose, and start them down Breakneck Hill.”
+
+“Right! Right, by thunder!” roared the road-agent, slapping his thigh
+and laughing. “You are a mighty good guesser, Buffalo Bill. That is
+exactly what I shall do.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII. A FRIEND IN NEED.
+
+
+If Buffalo Bill’s face paled he showed no other mark of fear. He knew
+Boyd Bennett, and had every reason to believe that the man hated him
+desperately enough to carry out his awful threat.
+
+It was no bluff on the outlaw’s part to frighten him into giving up the
+secret of the hidden government money. To a man like Bennett, whose
+temper was ungovernable, revenge was worth more than treasure. He did
+not even ask the scout where he had hidden the treasure-box.
+
+“I haven’t forgotten, my handsome plainsman, that once you captured me
+and sent me to the guard-house. I swore to be revenged upon you then.”
+
+“You deserved what you got--you dirty deserter!” exclaimed Buffalo Bill.
+
+The outlaw leader shrugged his shoulders and turned to his men.
+
+“All ready?”
+
+“He’s hard and fast, captain.”
+
+“Unfasten that splendid horse he was riding. I need just such an animal
+in my business.”
+
+They untied Chief from the leaders.
+
+“Buffalo Bill, straight for the Breakneck you go. And if these horses
+don’t carry you down fast enough to smash this old coach to atoms and
+break your cursed neck, I’ll give up this business and turn parson!”
+
+“You’ll never have time to repent of your sins and turn parson,
+Bennett,” said the scout.
+
+“Meaning I’ll die with my boots on?” asked the outlaw lightly.
+
+“Meaning you’ll be hung,” returned Buffalo Bill.
+
+“Don’t you put too much confidence in _that_, old man,” said Bennett.
+“At least, you won’t be to my hanging.”
+
+“There’s many a slip, you know,” said the scout tauntingly.
+
+“I presume you hope to be rescued even now, do you not?” cried Bennett.
+
+But Buffalo Bill did not expect that. He had taunted the man, hoping to
+inspire him with such ungovernable fury that he would shoot him quickly
+and so save him the awful ride to death. Even the boldest man might
+shrink from that journey down Breakneck Hill!
+
+“No, no, old man! You are mine this time. I tell you that you, the
+horses, and the old hearse, shall all go to the devil together. Here,
+boys! lead the horses to yonder fork of the roads and there turn them
+loose!”
+
+The command was obeyed. Whether the other outlaws desired Buffalo
+Bill’s death as their leader did, he had such a hold upon them that not
+one objected to the mode of vengeance to be wreaked upon the scout.
+The horses were led to the brink of the steep hill. It had once been
+the stage-road; but a landslide, and various heavy rains, had made it
+impracticable. It was almost as steep as the side of a house in places,
+and the roadway was full of boulders and stumps, while the gulleys made
+by heavy rains cut through it in many spots. A careful pack-animal
+might pick its way from top to bottom safely; but no vehicle could
+exist in a passage down Breakneck Hill.
+
+The hill was not a continuous decline. It pitched sharply at first;
+then there was nearly a quarter of a mile of easy going along a plateau
+until there came the final and impassable descent into the valley.
+
+“Now, Buffalo Bill, your life ends here!” cried Bennett savagely.
+
+“All right, Bennett! And the boys won’t forget how I died,” was the
+reckless response.
+
+“Turn ’em loose!” shouted the bandit leader.
+
+The men at the bits sprang aside. The horses, having stood so long, and
+“smelling their oats” ahead of them, were eager to be off. With a great
+tug the coach started, the harness clattering about the horses’ heels
+almost immediately as the coach pitched over the rise. This, and the
+shouts and yells of the outlaws, frightened the poor brutes. They felt
+no restraining hand on the lines; there was no foot on the brake. The
+coach was coming down behind them with all its weight.
+
+Therefore the horses leaped away, frightened beyond reason. The old
+coach bumped and swayed. The rough, steep pitch was not long, but it
+looked as though the coach would not arrive at the bottom of this first
+incline without being smashed.
+
+Down it thundered, the wheels bumping, the body swaying, and the bound
+figure, on the seat unable to retard it in the least. Behind thundered
+the big white horse, for, breaking away from its captors, Chief
+intended to follow his master to the death!
+
+Not far away from the scene of the hold-up of the stage-coach by the
+outlaws, and near the time that the coach and horses were released upon
+this dangerous dash down Breakneck Hill, a horseman was crossing a
+table-land, one side of which was formed by the steep wall of the bluff
+down the face of which the old stage-road led.
+
+Though alone upon the table-land, far in the rear other horsemen were
+visible upon his trail. At first glance one might have thought that it
+was a chase, the man in front being pursued by the score or so of men
+behind him; but a second scrutiny would have shown that it was merely
+the difference in horse-flesh and human endurance that caused the long
+space to separate the leader and his followers.
+
+The lone horseman was dressed in a cavalry fatigue uniform with pants
+tucked in boots, a slouch-hat pinned up with a pair of crossed sabers,
+and a gold cord encircling the hat, while upon the shoulders of his
+jacket were straps showing his rank to be that of a first lieutenant in
+the United States Army.
+
+His face was stern for so young a man, but there were humorous lines
+about his smoothly shaven lips, and fun danced in the corners of his
+eyes. Despite the hard brown of his countenance, that must have begun
+to be tanned by the Western sun and wind at an early age, there was a
+kindly appearance about the young lieutenant.
+
+He was armed with a cavalry sword and a pair of service pistols. One
+gauntleted hand rested on his sword-hilt as his horse galloped along.
+He was several miles ahead of his men, who were now scarcely more than
+black specks against the horizon.
+
+“Kinder risky to ride so far ahead, I suppose,” he was muttering. “Bill
+would tell me that. By thunder! if I’m attacked on this plateau I can
+fight--or run--I hope. There’s little cover hereabouts for either
+Indians or road-agents. And the latter gentry don’t usually care to
+tackle Uncle Sam’s cavalry.”
+
+Suddenly the silence about him was shattered by distant yells and
+several rifle-shots. He glanced back. Nothing was happening to his men.
+The sound came from ahead. Again he heard shouts and shots, and after
+that the ring of horses’ hoofs and the rumble of heavy wheels.
+
+“By thunder! a hold-up!” he gasped. “And those weren’t Indian yells.
+The stage-coach, I’ll bet! Yet the coach wouldn’t take the old road
+yonder. Why! It couldn’t come that way! It would be surely wrecked.”
+
+Yet, although the shouts and rifle-shots died away, the sound of the
+wheels and the hammering of the horses’ hoofs increased. Some heavy
+vehicle, drawn by several horses, was coming down the Breakneck Hill
+road!
+
+The lone horseman, who had halted at the first sound, now set spurs to
+his mount again. He headed directly across the plateau. The stage-road
+was just below the brink of the precipitous slant not many rods away,
+and toward this place the lieutenant hurried.
+
+“It _is_ the stage!” he cried. “The miscreants have turned it down
+the old road. There’s a level bit below here for some rods; but if it
+crosses that and goes down the other descent--well! God help them if
+there is man, woman, or child aboard!”
+
+He reached the brink of the steep descent to the level stretch of the
+old road. Down the first dip was tearing six frightened steeds with the
+old stage-coach swaying and bounding behind them. And in the rear a
+riderless white horse was racing after the coach!
+
+That horse the lieutenant recognized.
+
+“That’s Cody’s mount--it is, by thunder! What’s it doing here? And
+where’s Bill?”
+
+There was not another horse like Chief on the frontier; but the stage
+was too far away for the young man to recognize the figure swaying on
+the coach seat.
+
+“They’re running away, and the driver’s lost his nerve!” exclaimed the
+cavalryman.
+
+Then he raised his voice, shouting in trumpet tones:
+
+“Put on your brake! drag hard on your lines, man, or you are lost!”
+
+The six horses, keeping their feet almost miraculously, bounded out
+upon the level stretch. They did not hold back in the least. They
+were maddened with fear now, and were headed straight for the second
+descent. On _that_ hill they would quickly come to grief. No power
+could save them.
+
+Again the astonished cavalryman yelled his warning to the man on the
+driver’s seat of the coach. His words seemed to reach the man’s ears.
+He made no move to seize the lines or retard the mad course of the
+horses, but in clarion tones came back the answer:
+
+“I am bound! I cannot stop them! Shoot!”
+
+Perhaps the involuntary passenger on the doomed stage-coach meant for
+the young man to shoot _him_ and so let him escape a more awful death.
+But no such intention had the lieutenant. The coach was coming toward
+him rapidly, and he obtained a clearer view of the bound man.
+
+“Buffalo Bill, by the nine gods of war!” he shouted suddenly,
+recognizing his friend. “What in Heaven’s name does this mean?”
+
+There was nobody to answer the query; but he saw that the man was
+indeed bound to his seat, and that the reins were loosely swinging,
+bound to the lantern. The brake was not on at all!
+
+At this discovery the lieutenant sank his spurs into the flanks of
+his thoroughbred, and, with a wild snort of pain and anger, the horse
+leaped down the sharp declivity toward the piece of rough, but level
+roadway, over which the coach must come.
+
+Yet half-way down the incline the lieutenant was smitten with a sudden
+thought, and he pulled hard on the bit. The thoroughbred lay back on
+his haunches and slid. The rider seized one of his guns and cocked the
+weapon.
+
+“Now, Dick Danforth, prove your fame as a dead shot,” he muttered. “For
+if ever true marksmanship was needed, it is now to save yonder brave
+man from death!”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII. THE RACE WITH DEATH.
+
+
+The young officer’s face was stern, yet calm. No nerves had he, and,
+although so much depended upon his work of the next few moments, he was
+certainly cool. His eyes only flashed, showing the excitement that bore
+him up.
+
+He glanced at the pistol to see that all was right. Straight along the
+level the maddened horses came, the coach swaying behind them like a
+ship in a heavy sea. And behind it came Chief as though he hoped to do
+something for his imperiled master.
+
+Dick Danforth was above the road, and, as he had pulled back his horse,
+the creature was fairly sliding down the steep incline, laying back on
+its haunches and bracing its forefeet to retard its progress.
+
+Buffalo Bill could do nothing to help himself. Even had he been able to
+seize the reins at this moment and slam on the brake, he could not have
+brought the wild horses to a halt before the damage was done. It all
+depended upon Dick Danforth.
+
+Far up the hill the keen eye of the officer descried a band of
+horsemen. They wore no uniforms, were not in buckskin, and were not
+Indians. He understood who they were at once. He knew that Buffalo Bill
+had been sent to his doom by the bandits of the overland trail.
+
+“But, by thunder! we’ll fool ’em!” muttered the young officer.
+
+Almost instantly his finger touched the trigger of the pistol, and the
+flash and report followed. With perfect presence of mind he had made
+his calculations. Did he kill one of the leaders it would throw the
+other horses upon him, and the stage would be wrecked after all, and
+Buffalo Bill doubtless killed.
+
+Did he kill one of the wheel-horses instead it would act as a drag on
+the others, and still be borne along at a slackening speed, until its
+mate could be brought down. This he had aimed to do and--he succeeded!
+
+With the crack of the first shot the off-wheeler dropped, the stage
+swayed forward sideways, and then was dragged on, with the dead horse,
+yet at a slackened pace.
+
+With the second shot the other wheel-horse stumbled, staggered,
+half-fell, regained its feet again, and finally went down heavily.
+Again the coach swayed badly; but the stout pole was kept up by the
+pressure of the draft of four horses upon it, and the heavy breast
+chains and traces held the two dead animals firmly attached to it, both
+acting as a powerful drag upon the others, and retarding their speed to
+a slow gallop.
+
+Dick Danforth let his mount out, came down the remainder of the run
+with a rush, and on the level reached the leader’s heads. He seized
+the bridle of the nearest horse and dragged him to one side, almost
+throwing him. The horse broke step and pulled its mate down. In a
+minute all four were brought up standing--and not an instant too soon,
+for the brink of the second and more perilous part of the hill was
+right before them!
+
+The horses were still in a nervous state; but Dick Danforth could
+trust his own mount. He placed the horse he rode in front of the
+leaders, leaped from the saddle, and left the bridle-reins hanging
+over his horse’s head. While they remained thus nothing less than an
+earthquake, or a volcanic eruption, would make the horse move out of
+his tracks--and the coach-animals could not pass him.
+
+“Quick, Danforth! As you are alone you’d best get out of here quick.
+Here come my foes!” cried Buffalo Bill, glancing back.
+
+Boyd Bennett and his men, all mounted now, were picking their way
+down the hill, intent upon overtaking Buffalo Bill again and his lone
+rescuer. But Dick Danforth was not the man to fly and leave a comrade
+in peril. His escort was as yet a long way off, he knew; Buffalo Bill
+was bound too tightly for quick release, and could not aid in beating
+back the bandits.
+
+Danforth ran directly toward the coach, nevertheless. Along came Chief
+at an easy lope, and he caught the horse. He saw that Cody’s loaded
+pistols were in the holsters. He snatched them out, and climbed quickly
+up to the box seat.
+
+By then the bandits had begun to fire. But, without replying, and while
+the lead whistled about their heads like hail, the lieutenant slashed
+the cords which held Buffalo Bill’s hands in limbo.
+
+“Grab these and let the sons-of-guns have ’em, Cody!” yelled the
+excited officer, thrusting his own pistols into the scout’s hands.
+
+Then he flung himself forward upon his face along the coach top, and,
+dragging his own guns from his boots, into the tops of which he had
+dropped them, he began to blaze away at Boyd Bennett and his gang with
+such good success that almost instantly the leader was wounded and
+another man was dropped out of his saddle. Buffalo Bill began to fire
+rapidly, too, being able to twist the upper part of his body about and
+take aim.
+
+With two such dead shots against the robbers, the latter had little
+stomach for the battle. Besides, the scoundrels saw Danforth’s hat, and
+one yelled:
+
+“Look out, boys! the troopers are on us!”
+
+And already the thunder of the squadron of cavalry on the plateau above
+reached their ears. Their leader having disappeared in such a hurry,
+the cavalrymen had come up rapidly, and now heard the firing of the
+guns below.
+
+“Hold, men! fly for your lives!” shouted the voice of Boyd Bennett.
+
+He wheeled and larruped his horse up the hill. Before the troopers
+reached the brink of the bluff above the coach, the robbers were out of
+sight.
+
+“You’re all right, old man!” yelled Danforth, in huge delight, smiting
+Cody on the back.
+
+“Thanks to you, Dick.”
+
+“Who was your particular friend yonder--the fellow with the mustache
+and the black hair?”
+
+“Boyd Bennett.”
+
+“By the nine gods of war! Too bad I didn’t settle his hash instead of
+just stinging him.”
+
+“Too bad, indeed, Dick.”
+
+“Are you hurt?”
+
+“No. But you might cut my other ropes. I’d like to get off this blamed
+old ramshackle thing before she starts again. Those horses are still
+nervous.”
+
+“Right you are, Bill!” cried the lieutenant, and while his men
+hurriedly made their way down the hill leading their mounts--and
+passing wondering remarks at the trail left on the hillside by the
+lieutenant’s horse--Danforth finished cutting Cody free.
+
+While Cody related his adventure with the coach, the lieutenant’s
+men dragged out the dead horses and reharnessed the others. The dead
+soldiers and driver brought forth angry ejaculations from the troopers.
+Danforth and his men were out on scouting duty, and when the lieutenant
+heard of the hidden treasure-chest, he undertook the duty of getting it
+and bearing it and the stage-coach on to Fort Advance.
+
+“You don’t need all your men for that, Dick,” the scout said. “Half
+your escort can take the coach and the treasure in. I’ve a long score
+to even up with Boyd Bennett, and I’m going to hit his trail right now.
+I have my horse and my weapons, and with you and a file of your men
+we ought to be able to handle the scoundrels if we have the luck to
+overtake them.”
+
+“I’m agreeable, Cody,” declared the reckless lieutenant. “You haven’t
+any scruples about my shooting these road-agents if we come up with
+them?”
+
+“What do you mean, lieutenant?” asked Cody curiously. “What’s the
+burn?”
+
+“Why, you seemed to object to my potting that Injun gal, White
+Antelope.”
+
+The scout’s face clouded, and he shook his head.
+
+“Don’t jest over that, Dick.”
+
+“Pshaw! I’m not jesting. I spotted her only this morning--and stayed my
+hand. Otherwise she would be walking behind my chariot.”
+
+“White Antelope out this way?” exclaimed Cody wonderingly.
+
+“She sure was.”
+
+“Then there’s something afoot among the Sioux. We must look into this.”
+
+“But first the road-agents?”
+
+“Yes. First we’ll serve Boyd Bennett.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX. DANFORTH’S HAND IS STAYED AGAIN.
+
+
+It was decided, however, that the entire troop would return with the
+stage-coach to the scene of the original hold-up. Although Bennett had
+been driven off so successfully by the bluecoats, Buffalo Bill feared
+that he might meet up with the scalping party that had killed the
+paymaster and his guard, and take his gang over to this spot to search
+for the pay-chest that he was so sure his old enemy, the scout, had
+hidden.
+
+“We might have the luck to catch him on the ground. If not, we’ll pick
+up his trail as soon as we see a part of your men off with the coach
+and the treasure,” said Cody.
+
+The four horses drew the empty stage up the hill with little
+difficulty, and, surrounded by the troop of cavalry, it rattled back
+along the trail to the gruesome spot where Cody had first seen it.
+There Danforth set his men afoot, and at several points of vantage, to
+watch the road and the valley behind the ridge, while he and the scout
+went down into the swamp for the treasure-chest.
+
+They had one of the troopers follow them at a distance of a few rods.
+Their numbers were so few, and they were so scattered, that Danforth
+took every precaution against being ambushed. The day was waning, and
+they were obliged to hurry if they would fish out the chest and then
+pick up the trail of the outlaw gang before night. And Danforth was
+quite as eager as the scout to do this last.
+
+When they got into the wood which masked the swampy ground they alarmed
+a big caribou, which started slowly in the very direction they were
+taking.
+
+“That doesn’t look much as though there were either reds or whites
+lurking near,” muttered Cody.
+
+“By Jove, Bill! I want a shot at that fellow,” exclaimed Danforth
+eagerly.
+
+“He’s not going fast. Perhaps you can bring him down.”
+
+“I’m going to try. There, he’s stopped to feed again. He’s a cheeky old
+cuss.”
+
+“What you want him for? Your party is well provisioned.”
+
+“The colonel will be glad of a haunch of caribou venison. He’s fond of
+it, and the flesh is good now.”
+
+“All right, Dick. Take my gun. It’s better than yours.”
+
+The eager young lieutenant seized the weapon and began creeping through
+the brush in the direction of the caribou’s flight. Cody came behind,
+not much interested in the game, having his mind more fixed upon the
+overtaking of Boyd Bennett. The hunt promised to be a brief one,
+however.
+
+Fortunately the running buck had not diverted far from the straightaway
+course to the hiding-place of the treasure-box; otherwise Cody might
+have more strenuously objected. In a few minutes the two men came to a
+glade well dotted with trees, yet free for the most part of brush so
+that they could see some distance.
+
+“Wait! isn’t that him, Bill?” whispered the young lieutenant.
+
+“Your eyesight is good, Dick. Where?” asked the scout.
+
+“Yonder. Beyond that low brush-clump.”
+
+“Ah!”
+
+“That’s sure him, Bill. Yes, sir! he’s facing this way. You can see his
+black breast and fore legs. Down, Bill! don’t show yourself,” whispered
+Danforth eagerly.
+
+“Wait a moment. Better be sure, Dick,” muttered the scout, stooping and
+peering under the sharp of his hand toward the spot indicated.
+
+“Gad! he’ll get away. Let me plug him.”
+
+The light was so uncertain that, old and keen-eyed hunter that he was,
+Cody was not at all sure it was the caribou they saw.
+
+“Don’t make a mistake, Dick,” he murmured.
+
+“What mistake? The mistake of letting the critter git away?” cried the
+young man, exasperated.
+
+“Many a man has been shot from overeagerness in the chase,” said the
+scout warningly.
+
+“Why, that’s no man!”
+
+“A big buck standing head on in the brush like this one, looks just
+like a man in black clothes--don’t you see?”
+
+“It _does_ look like a man,” admitted Danforth. “I’ll remember that,
+Bill. But we know well enough that _this_ is a caribou.”
+
+“Do we?”
+
+“Of course! Confound you, Bill----”
+
+Suddenly a sharp whistle issued from the scout’s lips. Dick Danforth
+swore out loud and jerked his gun to his shoulder. But the scout
+grabbed his arm.
+
+“There’s your buck, Dick!” the older man exclaimed.
+
+In a flash the figure beyond the glade moved and came into better view
+for an instant. It was not a deer at all, but a man--a gigantic figure,
+dressed in some rough black garment, and he was in view of the two
+friends for but a few seconds. Then he darted behind a tree.
+
+“It’s a bear!” gasped Danforth. “I might have plugged him, anyway.”
+
+“Get out! That’s no bear. It’s a man.”
+
+“One of that gang?” whispered Danforth, suddenly more cautious.
+
+“I--don’t--know----”
+
+“Better have let me shot him, anyway,” grumbled the lieutenant.
+
+“You bloodthirsty young savage! Be still.”
+
+Suddenly the figure beyond the glade rushed from behind the tree and
+glided swiftly away through the timber. As he went he uttered a most
+eery scream, his voice floating back to them as he disappeared in the
+rapidly darkening forest.
+
+“Well! what do you think of that?” gasped Danforth.
+
+“Why, the man must be crazy!” exclaimed the scout. “That wasn’t Bennett
+or any of his crowd.”
+
+“Nor a redskin.”
+
+“Of course, it wasn’t a red. And a madman----”
+
+“I’ve got it!” exclaimed the lieutenant suddenly. “That was the Mad
+Hunter.”
+
+“Pshaw! do you believe there is such a person?”
+
+“One of our old sergeants says he met him, and that the madman took a
+pot-shot at him,” declared the lieutenant.
+
+“Well. I’ve heard of him myself.”
+
+“And that chap was a big man, all right.”
+
+“A giant.”
+
+“And as crazy as a bedbug,” added Danforth decidedly.
+
+“Don’t know how crazy they are; but this chap certainly acted as though
+he was a good subject for restraint. Ugh! did you ever hear such a
+yell?”
+
+“I know you stopped me from making a very pretty shot, Bill,” laughed
+the youngster. “That’s the second time. The next time I’ll be tempted
+to turn my gun on you, old man.”
+
+Cody became grave again the instant he was reminded of how Danforth had
+come near to shooting White Antelope, but he made no rejoinder. They
+hurried back to the edge of the swamp, and, leaving the cavalryman to
+watch, the scout and the lieutenant soon found the root to which Cody
+had tied the lariat, and, with some little difficulty, dragged the
+submerged box into view. There was a handle upon each end, and between
+them the two friends carried the chest back to the stage-coach. They
+loaded it aboard, one of the troopers tied his horse behind and took
+the reins, and four rode before and behind the coach as guard. Just as
+dusk fell the paymaster’s chest resumed its journey to Fort Advance,
+with the dead bodies of its former unfortunate guardians.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX. A DOUBLE CAPTURE.
+
+
+Lieutenant Danforth and the bulk of his squad attended Buffalo Bill
+on his search for the gang of outlaws. As soon as the coach was well
+on its way, they rode to the spot where Boyd Bennett and his men had
+left the trail, and, despite the fact that it was rapidly growing dark,
+they picked up the hoofmarks of the renegades’ horses and followed them
+rapidly for some miles.
+
+Although the sky was clear and there was a long evening, the party of
+trailers could not keep on for long. They got well into the hills; but
+the tracks of the outlaw gang showed that Bennett had kept on at a
+swift pace, and it was utterly useless for the troop to wear out their
+own mounts and possibly miss the trail itself after dark.
+
+“It’s a long chase, as a stern chase always is, Dick,” said the scout.
+“We might as well make up our minds to that, first as last.”
+
+“So I suppose, Bill.”
+
+“But as long as we’re once on the scoundrel’s trail, I’ll stick to it
+to the end,” said Cody grimly. “Better rest up the men and horses and
+make an early start.”
+
+“Right you are. How’s yonder place for a camp?”
+
+“In among those rocks--yes. We can set sentinels on the top of them.
+Nobody can approach us then.”
+
+“All right. Too bad I didn’t drop that caribou. A little fresh meat
+would have been agreeable.”
+
+“No smoke, boy. Can’t afford to make a fire. We’re not only following
+some pretty shrewd white men, but we’re in the Injun country.”
+
+“Thunder!”
+
+“Cold fodder to-night,” said the scout firmly.
+
+“Well. My orderly always packs a small spirit-lamp. He can make shift
+to get us all a cup of coffee,” said Danforth, and he proceeded to give
+the necessary orders, and the troop was soon bivouacked for the night.
+
+The horses, well hobbled, grazed within bowshot of the camp, and a
+sentinel placed so as to overlook them where they were on the plain.
+No wily enemy might approach them without the watcher, if he be
+sharp-eyed, seeing the marauder. Yet Buffalo Bill did not altogether
+trust to the watchfulness of the troopers.
+
+He was in need of rest, and he rolled up in his blanket and left
+Danforth to smoke his pipe alone, early in the evening. But when the
+midnight watch turned out the old scout arose like a specter, spoke to
+the corporal in charge, and stole out of the camp. Knowing the avarice
+of Boyd Bennett and suspecting that of his men, he felt sure that they
+would not give up so easily the chance of finding and appropriating
+the pay-chest which Captain Hinkley had lost his life to defend.
+
+In the first blush of the attack by the troopers, the outlaws had
+broken and fled. But they would recover their nerve. They might be
+joined by some of Oak Heart’s braves, with whom Cody knew Bennett
+fraternized. They might even hear the full particulars of the Indians’
+hold-up of the stage, and be more confident than ever of the fact that
+Cody had hidden the treasure.
+
+The scout believed that, as he and Danforth had moved so quickly,
+the coach with its present guard would get through in safety to Fort
+Advance. It was probably there by this time, in fact. But Bennett
+and his men might come back to see what was really being done by the
+troopers, and they would be sure to fall upon the bivouac. Therefore,
+the scout was on the alert.
+
+He made a complete circuit of the camp, but out of sight and gunshot of
+the sentinels. He did not care to furnish a target for his own friends.
+Having agreed with the corporal on a signal, he would not come in
+without sounding it, and so warning the bluecoats of his return.
+
+However, he found no sign of an enemy, although he spent an hour and
+a half in creeping about the vicinity. And this very fact amazed and
+somewhat troubled him. He could not imagine Bennett under ordinary
+circumstances flying from an enemy without sending back a scout to
+learn if the trail was not being followed. Cody was dissatisfied. He
+feared that the reason he had not discovered such a scout was because
+it was some person more wily than himself!
+
+No white man could be that. Ordinarily Buffalo Bill would pitch his own
+cunning against a redskin’s, too; but in this case, if there was an
+Indian creeping about the camp, he would have the advantage over the
+Border King. He might have crawled to the summit of some hill and from
+that vantage overlook the encampment of Uncle Sam’s troops.
+
+Having encircled the encampment, Buffalo Bill was undecided whether
+to return to the bivouac--his blanket beckoned him--or to once more
+make the circle. Suddenly he heard Chief whinny loudly. There was some
+activity among the horses; but the scout heard the sentinel’s voice
+and knew that the mob of animals would not stampede. But his own mount
+screamed again--angrily.
+
+“By thunder!” muttered the Border King. “That means one thing, and one
+thing only. Chief smells a redskin--or more than one!”
+
+Yet he did not start down into the encampment to arouse the men. The
+horses quieted down, and there was no further warning from the big
+white horse. The scout, however, glided out upon the plain, taking
+advantage of the shadow of every bush and boulder, and so stood beside
+the soldier watching the herd. He came so suddenly that the man was
+startled and grunted:
+
+“Holy Jo, Cody! You give me a start.”
+
+“See what an Injun might do to you.”
+
+“Not much. I’d smell the prowling devils,” said the trooper confidently.
+
+“What was the matter with my horse?”
+
+“That white fellow?”
+
+“Yes.”
+
+“Dunno. Just squealed.”
+
+Cody thought to himself: “Well, your smelling powers are not equal to
+Chief’s. _He_ certainly got the taint of redskin on the air.”
+
+Aloud the scout asked:
+
+“Which way was the horse headed when he squealed--did you notice?”
+
+“Just about as he is now. What’s the matter?”
+
+“Humph! didn’t know but the horse was sick,” replied Cody dryly, and he
+walked through the herd till he stood beside Chief.
+
+“So, boy! what’s the matter?” he said soothingly, smoothing the horse’s
+muzzle.
+
+Chief whinnied softly; his fright was passed. Suddenly the sentinel,
+who had idly followed Cody’s movements with his glance, became aware of
+the fact that the scout had disappeared! It was not a dark night, and
+the plain was open; but the scout was gone as completely as though he
+had been suddenly wiped out of existence!
+
+“Well, I’ll be switched!” grunted the surprised trooper, stepping
+forward, and then stopping again. “I could have swore that feller stood
+by his hoss a minute ago.”
+
+And he was right on that point, of course. But Buffalo Bill had slipped
+the lariat from his saddle-bow and suddenly dropped into the grass at
+his horse’s feet. Chief began to crop the grass again, and paid no
+attention while his master crept away from the herd. Cody knew that the
+light breeze had brought but a single whiff of Indian to the horse’s
+nostrils. The redskin could not be far away.
+
+He crept across the plain and finally reached rising ground, where
+clumps of brush and an occasional tree offered shelter. He had been
+over this ground before, but he knew that some prowling enemy had been
+here more recently. He remained almost flat upon the ground and gazed
+all about him, seeking to see the silhouette of any lurking figure
+against the sky.
+
+And in this he was successful. At first he overlooked it, believing
+it to be a tree. Then he saw it move slightly, and finally made out
+the body of a tall man standing beside a sapling, some distance up the
+hill. Eagerly the scout crawled up the slope, and finally gained a
+point above and beyond the stationary figure.
+
+Before he could accomplish more, however, the figure he had watched
+so carefully suddenly stepped away from the tree. He heard a guttural
+voice grunt the single syllable:
+
+“Ugh!”
+
+For an instant Cody feared his own presence had been discovered. Then
+he saw what had drawn the ejaculation from the redskin. A second figure
+had appeared on the hillside. Cody lay behind a boulder and watched the
+two men approach each other. There was a rapid interchange of guttural
+observations in the Sioux tongue. Two scouts were reporting to each
+other what they had discovered about the bivouac and the numbers of the
+pony soldiers there encamped.
+
+For all he knew there might be a big party of reds within call. He
+scarcely believed so, considering how the reds hate to travel by night;
+but the presence of these scouts suggested, at least, that Boyd Bennett
+had influence enough over the tribesmen to send these two back to do
+his dirty work.
+
+However, the scout was minded to make a bold play.
+
+He rose up softly from behind the boulder. The Indians’ backs were
+half-turned to him, and their heads were very close together while they
+whispered softly. Cody poised himself, and, judging his distance, began
+to circle his rope--which he had brought with him on the chance of
+tying up a prisoner--carefully.
+
+Swish!
+
+The serpentine loop hurtled over the heads of the redskins,
+and--dropped! There were two startled screams, both of which were
+choked off instantly.
+
+The scout flung himself backward and drew the horsehair noose taut. It
+had caught one Indian around the neck and over the shoulders, and the
+other had but one hand free. The first jerk yanked both off their feet
+and held them together with such firmness that they could not rise or
+stretch the loop. They were like one enraged animal, struggling and
+lashing out upon the ground!
+
+Buffalo Bill ran in, wound the slack of the line about their writhing
+bodies and about their legs. In a couple of minutes they were so mixed
+up with that rope that it was hard to tell which Indian was which!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI. THE CAVE IN THE MOUNTAIN.
+
+
+Now, despite the excitement of the moment, Cody noticed one fact that
+delighted him. The two entangled Indians did not cry out. After the
+first involuntary grunt, neither uttered a yell of rage or despair,
+and this proved a point in the scout’s favor. There were no other
+redskins near at hand!
+
+Had there been, a war-whoop from the struggling scamps would have been
+quite in order. But as they were evidently scouting with their main
+party at some distance, they were mighty careful about raising a racket
+and so bringing the soldiers up the hill to the aid of their unknown
+enemy. As for the latter, Buffalo Bill, he was not in the habit of
+singing out for help--not even when the odds were greater against him
+than upon this occasion.
+
+Having yanked the fellows back upon the ground twice, and pulling the
+lariat so taut that one Indian’s throat was almost cut, he taught the
+prisoners that he was master. He then, as shown, entangled their feet
+and legs, and so held them triced like a bale of hay.
+
+Being sure of handling them now, he came close, lashed the end of his
+lariat, and removed their knives and tomahawks. They had dropped their
+guns at the moment of the attack, and these the scout gathered up, too.
+
+Having made sure of the prisoners single-handed, the Border King walked
+composedly down toward the camp. The sentinel near the horses saw him
+coming and challenged:
+
+“Who goes there?”
+
+“It’s me, old man.”
+
+“Ah! I thought ’twas you, Cody. Where’d you go to back there a spell?
+All of a sudden I lost you.”
+
+“Why, I walked out to capture a couple of reds that were hanging
+about.”
+
+“Ha! ha! ha!” laughed the man. “That’s a good one. I ain’t heard a
+thing to-night, have you?”
+
+“My horse did.”
+
+“What?”
+
+“Chief heard, or smelled, reds. And I’ve got ’em tied up out yonder,”
+said Buffalo Bill coolly. “Call your corporal and have ’em brought in.”
+
+“What’s that, Bill?” gasped the trooper.
+
+“Call the corporal.”
+
+“You don’t mean to say you’ve captured an Indian since you left me?”
+
+“Two.”
+
+“No!”
+
+“I tell you I have,” said Cody, with some exasperation. “Here are their
+arms. Get a move on you!” The surprised and half-doubting trooper made
+so much noise arousing his immediate officer that the lieutenant was
+awakened, too. He came down with the corporal and two men and went out
+with Cody to bring in the reds. It was a fact that none of the soldiers
+really believed Cody had captured two redskins until they saw the
+captives writhing on the ground.
+
+“And I wouldn’t have had ’em much longer if you fellows had stopped to
+chin any more. They’re most free,” said Cody.
+
+“Bill, you’re a wonder,” declared Dick Danforth.
+
+“Thanks. Bring ’em in. Let’s see who the scamps are.”
+
+This was done, the fire was renewed, and those of the troopers who
+had been aroused gathered around in a respectful circle to hear their
+lieutenant and the scout put the two bucks through their catechism.
+
+That they belonged to Oak Heart’s tribe was easy to learn; but beyond
+that the two young redskins were very non-committal. They had come
+scouting about the soldier camp for Death Killer, the new medicine
+chief of the Sioux; little else could the whites learn.
+
+“Who the deuce is this Death Killer, Bill?” demanded Lieutenant
+Danforth.
+
+“I’ve heard some whispers of him; but who he is I haven’t learned,”
+said Cody.
+
+“Was he with the bunch that Oak Heart brought up against Fort Advance?”
+
+“No.”
+
+“That’s odd, isn’t it?”
+
+“These medicine chiefs are mighty scarey of their safety. They never
+take many risks, you bet!”
+
+“So Death Killer stayed at home and let his children fight the battle
+alone, eh?” remarked the lieutenant.
+
+“Why, as to that, I believe the Sioux didn’t have this wonderful new
+chief at that time.”
+
+“Is that so?”
+
+“I met an Arapahoe, a friend of mine, who told me something about the
+medicine chief that Oak Heart had got. The Sioux believe that the next
+time they buck up against the whites, the medicine of this Death Killer
+will bring them the victory.”
+
+This was said aside so that the two young Indians could not understand.
+
+“What’ll we do with these fellows, Bill?” asked the young officer.
+
+“Thunder! We don’t want any prisoners.”
+
+“You mean to shoot them?”
+
+“What’s the use? It will only mean bringing the whole tribe about our
+ears like a swarm of bees. While we’re hunting Bennett we don’t want
+the Sioux onto us, too.”
+
+“You wouldn’t advise turning them loose?”
+
+“Well, do you know a better way of getting rid of them?”
+
+Danforth shook his head slowly.
+
+“They certainly would be white elephants on our hands if we tried to
+hold them,” he admitted.
+
+“Kick ’em out,” advised the scout.
+
+“They’ll go back and report.”
+
+“What can they report? That they found a bunch of troopers here camping
+on the trail of the white outlaws.”
+
+“But suppose Bennett is hand and glove with the reds as you think?”
+
+“Then we must run that risk. Here! let me talk with these young bucks
+alone,” suggested Cody.
+
+The examination of the reds had been accomplished in English and by
+aid of the sign language. Now the scout spoke to them in their own
+tongue. He did not expect to win their confidence; but since they had
+discovered that no other than Pa-e-has-ka had so easily overcome them,
+they felt better in their minds.
+
+Finally Cody unfastened them, filled their pouches with food, gave them
+back their weapons, and advised them to go back to their lodges.
+
+“Let this medicine chief, Death Killer, come himself to learn our
+numbers and our intentions,” said the scout significantly. “Let him
+learn about us by his magic. If he is so great a medicine-man why does
+he not know these things by his magic power? Go, brothers; you have
+your lives at the hand of the Long Hair.”
+
+The two young reds departed with unmoved countenances. If they felt
+gratitude they would not be likely to show it in the expression of
+their faces. That would be against Indian nature.
+
+The camp being pretty thoroughly aroused now, and daybreak being near,
+the lieutenant ordered breakfast prepared. Buffalo Bill did not object
+to a fire being made now. Not only had their encampment been discovered
+by the reds; but the morning was so misty that the smoke would not rise
+high, anyway.
+
+They went on after the meal, finding the trail of the outlaws difficult
+of following in some places, for it was apparent that an attempt had
+been made to cloud the trace. By mid-forenoon, however, they were deep
+in the hills, in a wild and gloomy country, and where every mile was
+perilous. They might be ambushed by the foe in almost any cut, and
+Cody kept the command back while he investigated every particularly
+ugly-looking defile. What report the two released Indians might make to
+their people had much to do with the safety of the expedition, too. For
+all the whites knew, the Sioux might be gathering to fall upon them!
+
+Not a soul did they see on the trail; but they found the place where
+Boyd Bennett and his men had spent the night; and they noted marks
+which assured them that the outlaws had lit out that morning hurriedly.
+Evidently the approach of the troopers was feared by the renegades.
+
+Before night, however, Cody called a halt in the forward movement.
+They were in the midst of peaks, and tall, chimneylike rocks where the
+timber was sparse and vegetation of any other kind becoming thin.
+Shelter was not easily obtained, and the trail had to be guessed at
+many times, the way was so rocky.
+
+“I don’t like the look of this territory, Dick,” said the scout.
+
+“Those fellows can’t be far ahead of us,” declared the eager lieutenant.
+
+“I’m not so sure of that. They plainly know the way.”
+
+“Well, they haven’t succeeded in fooling us much yet.”
+
+“That may be; but they may fool us badly in the end.”
+
+“Don’t croak, Bill; that isn’t like you.”
+
+“I tell you, boy, we’re perhaps putting our necks into a noose. I’ve
+seen several smokes this afternoon. Now, if the Injuns join in with
+Boyd Bennett, and make common cause with him--well, where’ll we be?”
+
+“Here, or hereabout,” grunted Danforth.
+
+“And we’ll stay here, too! I vote we make an end of this quick.”
+
+“Why, Bill, I thought you were so eager to follow Bennett up?”
+
+“So I am. But I’m not as eager for meeting my finish as you seem to be.”
+
+“Pshaw! you’re not afraid for yourself, Bill. I know you,” cried
+Danforth.
+
+“I’ve got no right to run you into peril.”
+
+“Forget me!”
+
+“And you’ve no right to lead your troop into a pocket. What do you
+suppose your ‘kern’ will say?”
+
+“Oh, shucks! I hate to give this up.”
+
+“So do I, son. But we’ve got to.”
+
+“You mean to start right back now?”
+
+“You’re the doctor. I’m not in command,” said Cody.
+
+“Hang it all, Bill! you are virtually in command, and you know it.”
+
+“Well, you want me to advise?”
+
+“Of course.”
+
+“Then I say we’d better hunt a place to stop the night, and then light
+out for a more healthy country in the morning. I begin to feel that
+we’re being watched.”
+
+“You _feel_ so?”
+
+“Sounds silly, doesn’t it, eh? But it’s so. And intuition has stood me
+in good stead before. There are foes near. We want to get shelter and
+prepare to receive them properly.”
+
+Thus advised, Dick Danforth ordered his men to dismount, and they led
+their horses up into the rocky gorge Cody had chosen as a retreat. It
+would have been well for Danforth if he always so easily listened to
+the admonition of his elders and the better informed.
+
+Just inside the gorge was a yawning cavern in the mountainside.
+Evidently Cody knew of this retreat, even had he never been over the
+ground before. He led his big white horse with satisfaction into the
+dusky interior.
+
+“Hold on, Bill! The critters can’t feed in there,” Danforth objected,
+bringing his own animal to a stop.
+
+“All right. We’ll have to cut brush for ’em to pick over. There’s no
+safe feeding ground outside.”
+
+“But, hang it! how do we know who or what may be in that hole?”
+
+“Chief says there are no Injuns here, that’s sure!” retorted the scout,
+laughing.
+
+“But it may be a grizzly’s lair, or a cougar’s.”
+
+“Nope. Old Chief would have made remarks about it. Come on, lieutenant.”
+
+“Oh, I’m not afraid, if that’s what you mean!” grunted Dick Danforth,
+and with a nod to his file-leader, he followed the scout into the maw
+of the darksome cave.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII. THE NIGHT PROWLERS.
+
+
+The frontiersmen--those who were Buffalo Bill’s associates--mapped the
+mountains and plains of the West long before Uncle Sam’s exploration
+parties ever penetrated the wilderness. Cody had never been to this
+hole in the mountainside before, yet he knew all about it. Hunters and
+trappers--and some early gold-seekers--had told him of its existence.
+It had been considered “bad medicine” by the Indians who inhabited
+this section of the country before the Sioux had flowed over into the
+land, and Oak Heart’s people themselves kept away from it. The scout
+was pretty sure that they had a sufficiently strong fortress here to
+withstand any ordinary attack.
+
+Besides, there was spring water in the cave, and, as he showed Danforth
+very quickly, something better still. As they advanced under the arched
+roof of the cavern, light appeared ahead.
+
+“There’s another opening,” said Danforth.
+
+“Looks like it.”
+
+“Why, they can get at us from two directions, Bill!”
+
+“Can they?”
+
+“You’re blamed cool about it.”
+
+“Might as well be cool as hot. We have got to take it as it comes.”
+
+The light grew apace.
+
+“What kind of a place is this, anyway?” cried the lieutenant.
+
+“Come along, sir!”
+
+“But the horses----”
+
+“Bring the horses along, too. I reckon I haven’t mistaken the place.
+Here we are!”
+
+As he spoke they came out into a roughly circular basin, surrounded
+completely by steep--aye, unscalable--rocks, but well grown to grass
+and bushes at the bottom. It was a veritable little pocket in the heart
+of the mountain. There was no escape from it, and no getting into it,
+excepting through the cave.
+
+Chief kicked up his heels, snorted joyfully, and broke away from Cody’s
+detaining hand. The other horses followed, and the whole herd set to
+cropping the sweet grass in equine delight.
+
+“Well, sir! This beats my time!” exclaimed Danforth.
+
+“Guess we can stand a bit of a siege here, if necessary, eh?” queried
+Cody.
+
+“That we could.”
+
+Fire-wood was cut and brought into the cave and the meal started. Cody
+was not content to remain for long inactive, however. He slept while
+the meal was being prepared. After he had eaten, however, he left the
+camp, and in the gloaming made his way out and down into the valley
+from which they had retired, on the lookout for the enemy.
+
+The worst of it was, he did not exactly know whether their white or red
+foes would be upon them first. The Sioux might attack--for they were
+now well into the Indian country--or Boyd Bennett and his gang might
+come back at them. If the latter, the troopers could handle the outlaws
+easily. But a horde of savages might give the troops a mighty pretty
+brush up here in the hills, so far away from reenforcements and a base
+of supplies.
+
+The scout was careful to leave no trace himself, and when he reached
+the spot where the troopers had turned aside from the outlaw’s trail,
+he hid and watched, and waited, to see what or who might “turn up.”
+That it was about time for either the outlaws or the Indians to show
+their hand Cody was sure.
+
+His judgment was good in this case, too. He had not been lying in wait
+an hour when he saw two mounted figures coming along the valley toward
+his station. Dark as it was down here, he could make out their outlines
+sufficiently to know that one was an Indian and the other was a white
+man. They came to the point where the troopers had diverged from Boyd
+Bennett’s trail, and there halted to whisper together.
+
+From where he lay in the rocks, Cody could see the fire blazing in the
+mouth of the cave up in the gorge. He knew the men below him could see
+it, too. Writhing down the hill, like a serpent between the boulders,
+the scout reached a point where he could overhear something of what the
+Indian and the white man said.
+
+“Return and bring them to this place. The hour must be no later than
+midnight,” the white man was saying in a commanding manner.
+
+“It shall be as my brother says,” the redskin muttered.
+
+“My men will advance and draw their first fire--perhaps get them out of
+the cave. You say there is no chance of getting in from the rear?”
+
+“No Sioux would venture, if it were possible. That cavern was the abode
+of a great spirit at one time.”
+
+“Ha! Very well. Do as I have bid you. You and your braves hold back if
+you must. But if we draw the badgers, we can count upon you to pitch
+in?”
+
+“It is as my brother says.”
+
+“All right! Off with you. I await my men here.”
+
+The redskin twitched his pony’s head about, and rode softly away.
+After standing a moment in the path, the white man’s horse was turned
+out upon a bit of sward, and Cody knew that the fellow dismounted.
+He evidently proposed to remain near and watch the cave until
+reenforcements arrived.
+
+And Cody knew the scoundrel. He had recognized the voice, and likewise
+by the fact that he held his left arm stiffly bound to his side, the
+scout knew that it was Boyd Bennett himself. Dick Danforth had indeed
+“stung” the robber. The bone of his left arm had been broken, and he
+could barely hold the reins with that hand.
+
+Buffalo Bill was greatly tempted. Here was a chance for him to take his
+old enemy, single-handed. And did naught but personal vengeance enter
+into the affair, he would have made the attempt. But there was a brave
+opportunity of rounding up more of the gang, despite their affiliation
+with the redskins, and Cody resisted the temptation.
+
+He made his way back to the cave, found most of the troopers already
+peacefully asleep, and Danforth anxiously awaiting his return.
+
+“Well?” demanded the young lieutenant.
+
+“We’re going to have visitors about midnight.”
+
+“How’s that?”
+
+“Mr. Bennett and his gang will make the attack; a set of thieving reds
+will stand off to pitch in if the whites can’t handle us.”
+
+“Gee, Cody! how d’you know all that?”
+
+Buffalo Bill told him.
+
+“Why didn’t you shoot the bloody thieves?”
+
+“And lose the chance of rounding up more of them?”
+
+“They’ll be too many for us, I fear,” said Danforth, although without
+displaying any particular fear of such an outcome.
+
+“They will certainly outnumber us--reds and all.”
+
+“Nice prospect.”
+
+“But forewarned is forearmed, eh?”
+
+“Right you are, Bill! We have the advantage of knowing that they are
+coming, whereas they will labor under the disadvantage of believing we
+are unsuspicious.”
+
+“Yes.”
+
+“But hived up in this place----”
+
+“We haven’t got to stay hived up,” interrupted the scout. “And we don’t
+want to.”
+
+“You’ve got a plan, Bill?”
+
+“I have.”
+
+“State it, old man. You know well enough you don’t have to stand on
+ceremony with me.”
+
+“This fire can be seen from below. Let it die down. Don’t let any fuel
+be flung on for some time. When it’s at the lowest we can lead our
+horses out without being seen.”
+
+“Give up our shelter, Bill? And with a horde of redskins coming?”
+
+“Sure. Let them attack an empty cave--but one that doesn’t look empty.
+The last man to leave can fling a pile of fuel on the fire and then
+slip away before it burns up brightly. So we’ll have ’em attacking an
+empty fortress while we are out here among the rocks ready to play heck
+with ’em!”
+
+“I’m not afraid of the outlaws,” said Danforth slowly. “But the
+redskins----”
+
+“Won’t come too near the cave; it’s bad medicine, as I told you.”
+
+“But when they see that we’re outside----”
+
+“Wait! We’ll lead the horses away along the trail we came over, and
+leave them in charge of one man. Then, when it gets too hot for us--if
+the reds pitch in--we’ll decamp. The reds won’t be too near, however. I
+know ’em. An Injun is as full of superstition as an egg is of meat.”
+
+“Your plan looks good, Bill.”
+
+“All right. Stop that fellow--quick! He’ll spoil it all.”
+
+Danforth turned to see one of the guards advancing toward the fire with
+an armful of fuel. The lieutenant ordered him to desist and instructed
+his subordinate to let the fire die down. Then he and Cody rolled up in
+their blankets for an hour’s sleep.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII. MORE THAN THEY BARGAINED FOR.
+
+
+When the lieutenant and scout were awakened, according to order, the
+camp became at once an exceedingly lively though quiet place. The men
+had their instructions in a low tone from Danforth. They led the horses
+into the cave from the rear, and, the fire being now merely a bed of
+glowing coals, the shadows of neither man nor beast were pricked out by
+the light from the fire.
+
+Cody had slipped out and beaten the rocks and brush on the hillside
+before the mouth of the cavern. He found no lurking spy, but he went
+far enough to hear Boyd Bennett’s horse stamping in the valley. The
+outlaw was still there awaiting the coming of his men and of his
+redskin allies.
+
+The scout hurried back and led the way with Chief, warning the troopers
+to smother any desire on their mounts’ part to whinny if they smelt the
+strange horse in the valley. The scout had picked out a path around
+the swell of the mountain, between the rocks and ledges, and, although
+it was a roundabout way, it was sod-covered for most of the distance,
+and they were enabled to lead their mounts away without an appreciable
+sound. Like a file of shadows they passed around the mountain and down
+into the lowlands. There the horses were tethered and left in the care
+of a single soldier. The others hurried back to positions near the
+mouth of the cave, to await the expected attack of the outlaws.
+
+Divided as their forces had been, by sending the stage and treasure
+on to Fort Advance, Danforth’s squad now numbered less than the gang
+of outlaws. And, in addition, Boyd Bennett would have at his back a
+party of bloodthirsty savages. It was a ticklish position, and none
+understood that better than the Border King, Buffalo Bill.
+
+Strategy was the scout’s best card under these circumstances. He knew
+the quality of the gang whom Boyd Bennett had gathered about him. They
+were ignorant, superstitious scoundrels, and, therefore, he ventured to
+play upon their fears as well as to lay a close ambush for them.
+
+To approach the mouth of the cave in which the fire now burned brightly
+necessitated the foe advancing up a sidehill into the mouth of the
+gulch under the shelter merely of low brush and boulders, with here and
+there a stunted tree, the roots of which had found fixture between the
+rocks. Higher up the mountain, and upon both sides of the gulch, were
+thicker forest.
+
+Under Cody’s advice Danforth placed his men upon the side of the
+gulch opposite the cavern’s mouth, and outside the gulch itself, all
+positions selected being easy of access to the trail down which they
+had led their horses so cautiously. A more withering fire could have
+been arranged by placing the troopers upon both sides of the gorge; a
+cross-fire is always more galling and confusing to an enemy. But, then,
+there remained the danger of the reds rushing to the assistance of Boyd
+Bennett and his gang, and so those soldiers above the cave might be cut
+off from escape. Whatever happened, the mêlée was bound to be a sharp
+and quick one; it would be all over in a few moments.
+
+Just outside the mouth of the gulch, and in advance of the line of
+hidden troopers, was a rather larger tree than most upon the lower
+hillside, and it had a low crotch from which sprang three branches.
+Cody saw that to approach the cavern’s entrance, the attacking force
+would be pretty sure to come close under this tree. Seeing this, he
+evolved--with the help of the corporal--a scheme which later added much
+to the excitement of the battle and came near to utterly routing the
+outlaw gang.
+
+There was little time for preparation, however; already the hour grew
+close to midnight. Cody crept into the cave, showed himself in the
+firelight, threw on more wood, and then crept out again, so as to
+assure the watching Bennett below that the place was still occupied.
+Then the scout went down into the valley and watched and listened until
+his keen ear assured him that several ponies were being ridden rapidly
+toward the hiding-place of the bandit leader.
+
+How many were coming--whether the reds were with the whites--Buffalo
+Bill did not know. Nor did he consider it well to wait to learn. That
+the attack would be made at once, he was sure. Boyd Bennett was not the
+most patient man in the world, and he had waited here long for his men
+to appear.
+
+Cody found the lieutenant, and snuggled down beside him behind a
+brush-clump.
+
+“By the nine gods of war, Bill! I thought you’d never come,” muttered
+Danforth. “I got as nervous as an old maid with her first beau, fearing
+that you wouldn’t get here in time to holler. I can imitate some
+critters--thanks to you and Jack Omohondreau: but when it comes to
+murdering the night air with the scream of a wildcat----”
+
+“Sh!” breathed Cody. “They’re coming.”
+
+Danforth became quiet. They were placed so that the entire sweep of
+the side-hill was before them. Several of the troopers were nearer the
+cave; several were behind the station of the lieutenant and the scout.
+All had their instructions regarding the withholding of their fire
+until a prearranged instant.
+
+Soon Danforth beheld several flitting shadows below. A number of
+men were coming up the rocky slope; they had spread out and were
+approaching the cavern’s mouth without any regard to military
+formation. Several, however, were coming close to the forked tree which
+Cody had previously noted. That stood some yards in front, and a little
+below, where he lay with his friend, the lieutenant.
+
+“All right, Bill!” whispered Danforth.
+
+“Wait till I give the word,” breathed the scout. “Let some of them
+pass. We want every shot to count.”
+
+A few moments more they waited. Several figures passed on up the hill,
+dodging from rock to rock, but all converging toward the mouth of the
+cave where the fire now glowed dully. That they were the bandits, and
+not the redskins, Cody was sure. Suddenly he saw two of the prowlers
+approaching the forked tree. He nudged Danforth sharply.
+
+The two outlaws in question were almost under the branching limbs of
+the tree when they heard what sounded like the scratching of claws on
+the rough bark. Both looked up, and beheld an uncertain but bulky
+figure lying along one branch. A sharp snarl seemed to come from it,
+and the two bandits sprang away.
+
+“Curse you!” exclaimed the voice of Bennett, low but deadly in its
+temper. “What’s the matter?”
+
+Two or three of the bandits ran together. They thought some attack had
+been made upon them.
+
+“What is it?” repeated several in shrill whispers.
+
+“A cougar!”
+
+“A wildcat!”
+
+“Get back to your stations!” commanded Bennett. “Do you want to spoil
+the whole thing? Such cursed foolishness over a blamed tomcat----”
+
+He had approached the tree, and suddenly the animal on the limb seemed
+to gather itself for a spring, and there sounded upon the night air the
+shrill, blood-curdling yell of the dreaded panther!
+
+“Look out, Boyd! He’s goin’ ter jump!” exclaimed one fellow.
+
+Several of the others stepped warily back and raised their guns. Above
+on the hillside--this had been prearranged by Cody--one of the troopers
+shouted:
+
+“Who goes there?”
+
+“Curse my body and bones!” growled Bennett. “The game is spoiled!
+They’ve heard us.”
+
+The supposed panther screamed again, and then the body in the tree was
+hurled out into the air. Involuntarily every outlaw in sight took a
+pot-shot at the flying body. The mountainside reechoed with the reports
+of half a dozen guns, and the flashes of the same revealed to the
+ambushed party just where the bandits stood.
+
+The log of wood, dressed in a blanket, representing the panther, and
+jerked out of the tree by Cody’s lariat, fell to the ground riddled
+by the bullets of the outlaws. But instantly Danforth leaped up and
+shouted to his men:
+
+“Now, my bullies! Give it to them!”
+
+The troopers fired a broadside. Four of the robbers dropped under the
+fire, and two more ran away screaming. Cody had picked out Bennett, and
+intended to wound or kill him; but the wily scoundrel seemed to fear
+some game just as the dummy was yanked by Danforth from the tree. He
+leaped away and dodged behind a boulder before the first shot from the
+party in ambush was fired.
+
+As the echoes of the first round from the troopers died away Boyd
+Bennett raised an ear-splitting yell of defiance. It was a war-whoop
+that the redskins in the rear evidently understood. They answered from
+the valley, and, although the soldiers had succeeded in placing so many
+of the bandits hors de combat at their first fire, Danforth whistled
+almost instantly for his men to retire.
+
+“Did you wing Bennett, Cody?” asked the young lieutenant.
+
+“No. The scaly rascal left his men to bear the brunt of the trouble,
+and he’s under shelter half-way down the hill.”
+
+“Can’t we get him?”
+
+“With those reds tearing up to his aid?”
+
+“Oh, by thunder, Bill! I hoped to either kill the scoundrel or bring
+him in.”
+
+“So did I.”
+
+“But we can’t risk staying here longer.”
+
+“You’re right there, Dick. Come on. The men have gone.”
+
+The scout and the lieutenant followed their men down the hill. And none
+too soon, for the redskins soon found that their white brethren had
+been outwitted by the soldiers, and they came tearing along the valley
+trail to try and head the refugees off.
+
+They were not successful in that, however. Every trooper came in,
+they mounted at the command, and with fresh horses under them soon
+outdistanced all pursuit.
+
+“It’s getting too lively for us,” said Buffalo Bill, in disgust. “We
+can’t chance it with such a small force. I hate to give it up; but we
+must.”
+
+“We’ll keep on if you say the word, scout,” said Danforth.
+
+“You’d ride straight into the jaws of hell if you thought there’d be a
+fight, Dick,” said Cody. “But discretion is the better part of valor in
+this case.”
+
+“I hate to give Bennett up,” grumbled the younger man.
+
+“So do I. But it can’t be helped.”
+
+“When I get back to Resistence I’m going to ask Colonel Royal to give
+me a roving commission to hunt the scoundrel down.”
+
+Neither of them realized at the time what the putting of this decision
+into practise would amount to in the end.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV. CHASED BY THE FLAMES.
+
+
+The welcome that greeted the Border King upon his return to Fort
+Advance was proof of his popularity, and of the admiration the garrison
+held him in. That his coolness and wisdom had saved the paymaster’s
+money-box from capture by the bandits, and so made it unnecessary for
+the boys in blue to endure another long wait for their pay, added not a
+little to their feeling for the scout.
+
+The troopers had told the story in full. Captain Hinkley and his guard
+had been buried, and the coach-driver, as well. The soldiers had a
+most revengeful feeling toward Boyd Bennett and his outlaw band, and
+Danforth went back to Resistence with his troop, threatening slaughter
+for the road-agents if he could catch them.
+
+The activities of the Indians, however, disturbed Buffalo Bill and the
+commander of Fort Advance more than the work of the outlaw, at just
+this time. The Border King, with Texas Jack, set out on a mission soon
+after his return to the fort. Ten days later Lieutenant Danforth, with
+a squadron of men, was allowed to make an attempt to bring in Boyd
+Bennett by the commandant of Post Resistence.
+
+Buffalo Bill was still away on his scouting expedition and did not know
+of this. He was deep in the Indian country, and had found nothing of
+real significance regarding any concerted movement among the Sioux,
+although there was plenty of excitement. Little bands of warriors were
+going back and forth, from encampment to encampment; but nothing was
+being accomplished by the redskins.
+
+“What does it look like to you, old man?” queried the Border King of
+his partner. “Are we barking up the wrong tree?”
+
+“Dunno,” replied Texas Jack, pursing up his lips and looking more
+serious than usual. “There may be a coon in the crotch; but we
+certainly haven’t shook him down.”
+
+“How does all this running back and forth from teepee to teepee strike
+you?”
+
+“Looks like the reds was given more tuh society than us’al, Buffler.
+But, Great Scott! you can’t never tell what’s in a red’s mind when he’s
+planning some game.”
+
+“There is surely no outbreak planned for the immediate future, eh?”
+
+“No. These runners aren’t gathering the tribe. I reckon Oak Heart got
+his belly full and won’t trouble us for some time.”
+
+“But this new medicine-man they’ve got?”
+
+“Humph! Death Killer, eh? Nice name that! I’d like a squint at him.”
+
+“Me, too.”
+
+“Wonder if we couldn’t sneak over to Oak Heart’s town and take this
+Death Killer into camp?”
+
+“Kidnap him?”
+
+“Yep.”
+
+“You’re a cool one, Jack, my boy. What’ll the reds be doing meanwhile?”
+
+“That’s all that stops me--that question,” replied Texas, with a grin.
+
+This conversation took place beside a running brook, in the heart of
+a great forest many miles from Fort Advance, where our story first
+opened. The wind soughed through the tree tops and brought scurrying
+to earth the dying leaves which proclaimed the fast approach of King
+Winter. Suddenly Cody rose upon his feet and keenly snuffed the air.
+
+“What’s th’ matter, Bill? What d’yer scent?”
+
+“I’ve been smelling it for an hour, Jack.”
+
+“What is it?”
+
+“Smoke.”
+
+“Huh! here’s wood burning at your feet.”
+
+“No, no!” exclaimed the other. “This breeze is rising and is blowing
+more steadily than it did. And it brings the smoke to us. Look up
+through the tree tops. D’ye see how hazy it’s grown?”
+
+“Umph-ah!”
+
+“Nothing to fool over, Jack. It’s a big fire.”
+
+“D’yer believe so, Bill?”
+
+“I do, indeed,” said the anxious scout.
+
+Texas Jack cast his eyes about the forest aisles reflectively. He knew
+as well as his companion the peril attending a forest fire; but he was
+naturally of a more volatile character, and the discovery made less
+impression upon him at first.
+
+“We’d better make a break, hadn’t we, Bill?” he asked finally.
+
+“Just think a bit, Jack,” the other replied. “Where’ll we go? Do you
+realize that this crick is the biggest body of water in a circle of
+forty miles?”
+
+“If my hoss kin make Black River, yours kin, I reckon.”
+
+“True enough. But the wind is blowing directly from Black River. That’s
+where the fire is, old man. The nearest water of any size is Bendigo
+Lake, and the going will be thundering hard on the horses.”
+
+Texas Jack leaped up and exclaimed:
+
+“Hark! what’s that?”
+
+A crashing in the underbrush had startled both men. Some distance away
+there burst into the glade a fine herd of deer, all running madly. They
+swept across the scouts’ line of vision and disappeared in another
+clump of brush, keenly alive to peril in their rear.
+
+“They’ve come a power of a ways in the last half-hour, Jack,” said
+Buffalo Bill.
+
+“Right you are, Buffler. Guess we’d better light out. Ha! there goes a
+grayback.”
+
+A lone wolf slunk through the underbrush, gave the two men a sharp
+look, and then loped away in the same direction as that followed by the
+deer. But he was not running the deer--oh, no, indeed!
+
+Soon other animals began to drift past the camp of the scouts. The two
+packed their war-bags, caught their mounts, and prepared to leave the
+vicinity in short order. By that time, although the evening was closing
+in, the sky was a mass of ruddy, drifting haze. The fire was advancing
+with terrific speed, yet it was still so far away that the smoke
+floated high above the tree tops, and they heard no sound.
+
+“Reckon we kin make it, Bill,” said Texas Jack, as they pricked their
+mounts along the forest path.
+
+Buffalo Bill was not so sanguine, however. The fire was coming down
+upon them with terrific speed, for instead of deepening the evening
+brightened all about them as they rode. The odor of burning wood was
+now quite pungent, and past them in mad flight went all manner of small
+animals, while now and then the startled “woof! woof!” of a bear was
+heard in the brush as he, too, lumbered along.
+
+The paths of the forest were not cleared for riding. Deer and other
+animals, searching drinking-places and salt-licks, first made these
+traces through the wilderness. The red man followed, following the
+spoor of the game. And so the paths became “runways,” sometimes worn
+knee-deep and only wide enough for a single person to pass. Such paths
+were of little use to horsemen.
+
+Where the forest was open or clear of underbrush, the two scouts could
+travel with some rapidity; but in the thick, junglelike scrub, it was
+even necessary at times to get down and lead their horses. This delayed
+them, and before long the smoke wraiths began to drift past them and
+the distant roaring of the flames was perceptible.
+
+Had the men given the horses their heads the animals would have become
+panic-stricken like the other dumb beasts, and they would have dashed
+through the forest at a much better pace; but Buffalo Bill and Texas
+Jack would have been swept from the saddles, and, perhaps, killed. It
+began to look, indeed, as though both horses and men could get along
+better and faster alone. Texas remarked upon this fact.
+
+“I know it, Jack--I know it,” said Cody. “But I don’t want to lose
+Chief. And then, we can’t carry all our plunder and make any time at
+all.”
+
+“Life’s sweeter to me than either hoss or rifle,” declared Texas,
+laughing.
+
+“Me, too; but it may be a week before we catch the brutes.”
+
+“I vote we let ’em go. It’s getting derned hard to manage them, anyway,
+Buffler.”
+
+“So it is. Keep your grub, Texas.”
+
+“Betcher!”
+
+Both men were off their mounts in a hurry. They left their magazine
+guns in the saddle scabbards, and their holster pistols as well. If the
+Indians or any ne’er-do-well whites found the horses after the fire,
+they would make quite a haul.
+
+Jack’s horse plunged away, snorting to be free, and was quickly out of
+sight; but Chief seemed uncertain whether to leave his master or not.
+The scouts did not delay an instant, but started off at a sharp run
+through the forest, with their packs on their backs. They could dodge
+under the low branches and burst through the brush-clumps, or avoid
+them altogether, with much more facility than before.
+
+Chief ran whinnying after them. Suddenly out of the yellow haze above
+the tree tops a blazing ball of leaves or such light flotsam, floated
+down. It fell between the white horse and the two men, and Chief
+snorted and leaped aside. Fortunately the firebrand went out without
+igniting any of the leaves or twigs which rustled so dryly under foot,
+but the flame evidently spoiled Chief’s desire to keep with the men. He
+kicked up his heels and dashed away in the same direction as his mate.
+
+Buffalo Bill and Texas Jack noted this brand, but they said nothing,
+only increasing their speed. There was vast danger from these flying
+balls of fire. The wind continued to rise, and soon the conflagration
+would be leaping ahead rods at a time! It would ignite in dozens of
+places at once.
+
+As they ran together, Texas Jack glanced into his comrade’s serious
+face, and a grin overspread his own.
+
+“Say, Buffler,” he said, “I didn’t sleep none too warm last night.
+Reckon we’ll be more comfortable to-night, eh?”
+
+Cody had to smile at that.
+
+“You reckless devil, you! You’d joke in sight of the fires of Tophet.”
+
+At the moment a great burst of flame roared up into the sky from the
+summit of a little hill behind them, and both men glanced back. The
+banner of fire streamed clear across the sky.
+
+“Gee, Bill! Tophet couldn’t look hotter than that,” declared Texas Jack.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV. THE TELLTALE CROW.
+
+
+For the most part, however, the scouts saved their breath and spoke
+but little. They were straining every effort to reach Bendigo Lake,
+the only body of water of sufficient size to offer protection from the
+conflagration. Every creek and pond hole in the neighborhood, which
+either of them knew about, was low now, and none were big enough to
+promise safety. In Bendigo Lake was a long, narrow island, wooded to
+be sure; but the lake was so wide that the scouts believed the flames
+would not leap from the shore to the island.
+
+“At any rate, it’s our best play, Buffler. No doubt of that,” observed
+Texas Jack.
+
+“Right you are, Texas,” panted the other. “Pick up your feet!”
+
+“That fire’s certainly racing to overtake us.”
+
+“Ha! What’s that?” muttered Cody, suddenly turning to look up a small
+slope which was more heavily wooded than the lowland through which they
+were passing.
+
+There had been a movement in the brush. The wind did not affect the
+leaves and branches down here; it was only the tree tops that swayed
+and sang in the breeze.
+
+“A deer, eh?” panted Jack.
+
+“There!”
+
+Uttering the yell, Buffalo Bill seized his friend by the neck and flung
+him suddenly forward upon his face. He fell himself as well, and at
+the very instant there was a flash in the bushes on the side-hill, an
+explosion sounded, and the zip-zip of the bullet cut the air over their
+heads.
+
+Both scouts rolled aside, found covert, and sprang into position,
+revolvers in hand. Cody emptied one pistol as rapidly as possible into
+the brush-clump from which the treacherous shot had been fired.
+
+“No use, Bill! There he goes!” yelled Texas Jack.
+
+Off at one side they saw a huge figure pass rapidly out of sight. It
+looked like a bear running on its hind legs--were such a thing possible.
+
+“Of all the bloody-minded scoundrels!” said Texas Jack, as the two
+scouts set forth again, in the same direction as that taken by the
+person who had fired at them--which was likewise toward the lake, “that
+fellow takes the bun.”
+
+“Who was he? The smoke was in my eyes, and I couldn’t tell whether he
+was white or red.”
+
+“He was white, all right--or, so I have always heard,” declared Texas
+Jack.
+
+“By thunder! you don’t mean to say you know the scoundrel?”
+
+“Not personally acquainted with him--no,” laughed Jack.
+
+“What then?”
+
+“I’ve heard tell of him a good deal the past dozen years.”
+
+“Who is he?”
+
+“The Mad Hunter.”
+
+“Get out!”
+
+“That’s who it was, Buffler.”
+
+“Why should the fool fire at us?”
+
+“He’d just as soon shoot a white man as a red.”
+
+“He’s a devil.”
+
+“That he is.”
+
+“Why, I believe I saved his life the other day when I was out with Dick
+Danforth.”
+
+“What for?”
+
+Cody told him of how the young lieutenant had come near to shooting a
+gigantic man for a caribou, and how the being had run away yelling into
+the forest.
+
+“That’s him. Crazy as they make them.”
+
+“He must be crazy if he would stop to shoot men down when such a fire
+as that yonder is on his track as well as theirs.”
+
+“I reckon an insane person don’t act logically.”
+
+“He’s worse than the dumb beasts,” said Cody. “Look at that rabbit
+running almost between your legs, Jack. Aw! don’t step on him!”
+
+“I ain’t--dern his hide!” exclaimed Texas Jack, making a flying leap
+over the bunny.
+
+“He’s scared stiff. Some of the deer have run close enough to us to be
+touched. Even a bear will behave when there’s a forest fire. But this
+crazy bedlam is ready to shoot inoffensive men when death of the most
+awful kind is threatening him.”
+
+“That’s why he’s crazy, I reckon,” said Texas Jack. “Come on, Buffler;
+this way.”
+
+The light of the fire now made the forest about them as light almost as
+day, but the radiance flickered, and the shadows danced in a blinding
+fashion. The scouts could not see as clearly as usual. Within a mile
+of the spot where they had been attacked by the Mad Hunter a second
+shot was fired at them--this time from directly ahead. Fortunately, the
+bullet went wild.
+
+“He’s got a single-shot, old-fashioned rifle,” declared Texas Jack.
+
+“That’s what is saving our lives,” returned his comrade.
+
+“He’s ahead of us--between us and the lake.”
+
+“We’ve got to try to capture him, then,” declared Cody firmly. “No use
+mincing matters. The fire is bad enough, but he is more dangerous.”
+
+“Reckon you’re right, Buffler,” grunted Texas Jack.
+
+The scouts separated, running several rods apart, so that the Mad
+Hunter might not be able to get them both in a line. And, if that
+were possible, they increased their pace. They heard the man crashing
+through the brush ahead, but they did not obtain another glimpse of
+him. And so phenomenal was his speed that soon he was out of ear-shot.
+Besides, the roaring of the flames and the crashing of falling trees
+interfered with their tracking of the madman by his footsteps.
+
+Their enemy ran as no human being ever ran before, for he got far
+enough ahead to load his old-fashioned gun and again await their
+coming. This time he took a shot at Texas Jack and sent that worthy’s
+hat spinning into the air.
+
+“Confound his hide!” roared the scout. “Pepper him, Bill!”
+
+But with a scream of rage the madman was off through the illuminated
+forest once more, and Cody’s shots did not overtake him. Besides, the
+light was so uncertain that the scout did not waste but two balls in
+the attempt to bring down the foe.
+
+“He’ll git one of us yet,” cried Texas Jack.
+
+“We’ll keep as close to him as possible. He mustn’t have a chance to
+reload!”
+
+But it was like chasing a will-o’-the-wisp. The madman was off like
+the wind, shrieking his defiance. They could not keep him in sight,
+although the fire now was illuminating the forest far ahead of them.
+
+The roaring of the flames drowned the scouts’ shouts to each other,
+too; and the heat puffed upon their backs as though somebody had
+suddenly swung open the door of an enormous furnace.
+
+Suddenly Cody saw his friend throw up his hand, and knew that he
+shouted rather than heard the sound of his voice. Jack turned at a
+sharp angle, too, and Buffalo Bill followed suit. In a moment a glint
+of steel-blue water ahead invigorated Cody as well as his comrade. Lake
+Bendigo was at hand!
+
+In fifteen minutes they were on the shore. The water was a blessed
+relief to their eyes when they plunged their faces into it. In the rear
+the fire roared mightily, and the smoke now began to drift down upon
+them with smothering thickness.
+
+“We’d better take off our clothes and swim for the island, heh?”
+queried Jack.
+
+“Yes. There’s a bunch of driftwood that will make some kind of a raft.
+We’ll use it to transport our clothing and guns.”
+
+They stripped swiftly and were about to step into the water and push
+off the rude raft piled with their possessions when:
+
+Ping!
+
+The bullet buried itself in a tree trunk right beside Buffalo Bill’s
+head.
+
+“Holy Christmas!” exclaimed Texas Jack.
+
+“That devil has got ahead of us,” declared Cody. “That bullet came from
+the island.”
+
+“Why, he’s got us between two fires!” exclaimed Texas, bound to joke
+under any and all circumstances.
+
+For an instant the scouts were nonplused. They had involuntarily taken
+trees, but the heat from the rear was already unpleasant to their bare
+bodies.
+
+“We can’t stay here,” muttered Cody. “I shall go around the lake a
+ways, Texas, and try to swim over without being seen. You show yourself
+here. Better still, push off the raft and keep behind it and submerged
+as much as possible. Make for the island, but go slowly.”
+
+“You bet I’ll make for the island. I think I’d rather take cold lead
+than hot flames. Ouch!”
+
+“Meanwhile I’ll try to sneak over and get to the madman’s rear.”
+
+“Bare-handed?”
+
+“How else, man?” cried Cody. “I must be prepared to swim under water
+a part of the way. It must be cunning to match his cunning or we are
+lost, Jack!”
+
+Texas Jack realized that this was so, and he made no further objection.
+Cody glided away through the shadowy forest, and Jack pushed off
+the raft and dodged another bullet. He was soon floundering in the
+cold water, pushing the raft before him, but by no means enamored of
+his position. The fire was behind and would devour him shortly if
+he returned to the shore. Every few moments a bullet sped from the
+madman’s hiding-place on the island and “plunked” into the raft, or
+into the water close beside the swimmer.
+
+Meanwhile Cody scurried along the shore, but suddenly found himself
+cut off by a tongue of the fire that had got ahead of the main
+conflagration and was already burning fiercely at the very verge of the
+lake. Traveling through the brush in his bare skin was not pleasant
+at best, so the scout tried sneaking into the water behind the little
+point of land which chanced to hide the island.
+
+Cold as the water was, it was a blessed relief from the heat and smoke
+of the forest. As he struck out from the shore, blazing embers showered
+about him, hissing and smoking as they struck the water. The smoke
+rolled down upon the lake and now and then completely blinded him, and
+must certainly have hidden his head from the observation of anybody
+on the island. Cody was delighted with the apparent success of his
+scheme, and struck out strongly for the little patch of wooded soil in
+which he hoped, with Texas Jack, to find safety. That it was held in
+possession by a madman did not matter. It was the single refuge offered
+the scouts, and if the madman would not share it peacefully, he must be
+put out of the way.
+
+These were Cody’s thoughts as he swam across the intervening space. He
+finally came to the sloping shore, so that he could stand upright and
+wade in with his head and shoulders out of water. He had gone so far
+around the island that he believed that the madman, watching Texas Jack
+and his raft, would not see his own approach.
+
+And he did almost reach the shore unmolested. Suddenly, out of a dark
+hemlock at the extreme point of the island, there sprang a big crow,
+which, with raucous cry, flew over the scout and circled about him
+threateningly. The crow’s nest was evidently in that tree, and the
+coming of this strange maritime animal, who walked erect like a man,
+but wore no clothes, troubled the crow’s mind.
+
+The bird squawked like a hen with its head caught between two
+fence-palings. Cody made a dash for the shore, hoping to get under
+cover and so cease to disturb the telltale crow.
+
+But as he was about to step out on dry land a gigantic figure suddenly
+sprang through the brush at the water’s edge and appeared over him in
+a most threatening attitude. Above his head the man held a great rock,
+which he poised to fling upon the unarmed scout.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI. THE MASSACRE.
+
+
+Why the madman had not sought to shoot him Buffalo Bill did not ask
+at the moment. The fact that he was at such a disadvantage was enough
+to fill his mind with forebodings. The rock was poised in the giant’s
+hands just over his head, and, as the scout was more than knee-deep
+in the water, it seemed impossible for him to successfully dodge the
+missile if it were flung.
+
+The madman stood in the shadow, and Cody could not see his face. All
+he saw was that the man looked like a great, wet bear. He had swum or
+waded across to the island with all his clothes on. He evidently knew
+Bendigo Lake and its surroundings better than either of the scouts, and
+had found a shallow path across from the mainland.
+
+For several seconds the scout and the giant faced each other. Buffalo
+Bill’s muscles grew tense. He would try leaping upon the fellow, at any
+rate, although the possibility of his dodging the rock looked exceeding
+small.
+
+And then there suddenly flashed into his mind such a simple dodge for
+getting the best of his foe that the scout hesitated to use it. It
+seemed so exceedingly simple and childish. But the moments were flying,
+and the Mad Hunter was on the point of flinging the rock down upon him
+with terrific force.
+
+Cody stood so that his hands just touched the water. He hollowed his
+palms, swung both arms back, and suddenly scooped up the water and
+flung it in a blinding sheet of spray into the maniac’s face.
+
+Again and again he splashed the water over the fellow. The Mad Hunter
+uttered a howl of rage, and, as Cody threw himself to one side, still
+splashing the water, the rock was thrown. But the scout had destroyed
+the maniac’s aim and escaped the missile altogether.
+
+Cody could not land, however. The best he could do was to plunge back
+into the deeper water and there dive and remain swimming under the
+surface until he had placed the island between himself and the fire.
+Here the trees threw black shadows, although the whole northern sky was
+red as blood, and the flames danced wildly upon the tree tops on the
+mainland.
+
+The Mad Hunter had disappeared, yet the scout did not know whether
+he had gone back to watch Texas Jack and the raft or was lurking in
+the shadow, waiting to spy upon him again. Meanwhile he was becoming
+thoroughly chilled, and feared to remain out beyond his depth, for a
+cramp might take him, and he could never struggle ashore then.
+
+Carefully he waded shoreward once more, watching the shadows beneath
+the trees, fearing to see the bulk of the maniac burst out of the brush
+and attack him again. There were several frightened creatures on the
+island, but they cowered and were dumb. All the scout could hear was
+the lapping of the water and the crackling of the conflagration on the
+mainland.
+
+The fire was eating through the forest very rapidly. It had reached the
+shore and was passing swiftly around the entire lake. Cody and Texas
+Jack could not return to the mainland now under any circumstances. It
+was the island or drowning for them!
+
+And Cody feared that his brave comrade had already succumbed to the
+cold water, or mayhap to a bullet from the maniac’s rifle. The fire as
+it ate around the lake began to illuminate this side of the island,
+too, and he feared that he would soon be a shining mark for the Mad
+Hunter.
+
+He kept his body under water and crept in toward the shore, his head
+only showing. He knew that he was taking his life in his hands, but the
+water was chilling him to the bone.
+
+Suddenly there was a great shouting on the other shore of the island,
+and following it came the pop of a pistol several times. Cody leaped
+ashore, and, despite the rough way and the thorns and brush which tore
+his body, he dashed across the narrow bit of land. He knew Texas Jack
+had landed and might need his help.
+
+As he ran, however, he suddenly came full tilt against a great, hairy
+object that was blundering through the brush. Over went the scout, and
+with an angry “Woof!” the bear darted aside, and a moment later he
+heard a splash in the lake, and knew that the creature had found the
+presence of mankind on the island more fear-inspiring than the fire on
+the mainland.
+
+When Cody picked himself up he beheld the half-clothed figure of Texas
+Jack standing over him.
+
+“By the piper that played before Pharaoh!” ejaculated Texas. “What’s
+the matter with you, Buffler? Come an’ git your clo’es--or do you fancy
+parading around yere in your birthday suit?”
+
+“What--what was that?” demanded the scout.
+
+“A bear. I fell over him myself and drove him off.”
+
+“I thought for a minute it was the madman.”
+
+“Oh, he’s gone,” said Texas Jack. “He ran out of ammunition, I reckon,
+and he took to the water, clo’es and all. There’s a shallow place
+yonder. We can wade ashore that way, too, when the fire burns out.”
+
+“He pretty near had me,” said Cody, and related his adventure as he
+shakingly got into his clothing.
+
+Texas Jack built a fire for them to dry and get warm by, and meanwhile
+explained that, finding he could not keep the scouts off the island,
+the Mad Hunter had departed for the mainland, approaching that part
+where the fire had come nearest to burning itself out.
+
+“It’s dangerous to go over there yet,” said Buffalo Bill.
+
+“You can bet it is. But he reckoned he’d rather go than meet us closer
+to. The old scoundrel! I’ve heard of his tricks and deviltry, but I
+never happened to run up against him before.”
+
+“I hope I never will again,” said Cody devoutly.
+
+But he was doomed to meet the Mad Hunter again, and to learn that about
+him that caused the Border King much sorrow of spirit.
+
+The scouts remained on the island during the night, and late the next
+day started out to find their mounts. There was a swamp several miles
+away, and, knowing well the keen instinct of their horses, the scouts
+went to it, and in less than twenty-four hours found both Chief and the
+other, much mud-bespattered, but in good condition. And their arms,
+though somewhat rusted, were safe.
+
+The forest fire had burned over a large tract of country, had driven
+away the game, and had cleared the territory of Indians. So the scouts
+separated to follow the trails of different bands of reds and spot
+their new villages. Their duty was to find and report upon every new
+encampment of the redskins, that the department might keep tabs on the
+movements of the savages.
+
+Cody kept his eyes open for traces of the bandits, but during the
+following week learned nothing of the movements of Boyd Bennett and his
+gang.
+
+He was thinking of going to a certain rendezvous where he expected to
+join Texas Jack, when he came suddenly upon a spectacle in a little
+valley that brought him up standing. So appalling--and unexpected--was
+the scene that it seemed for the moment as though his heart stopped
+beating!
+
+Over a score of figures in blue lay in the little cup-shaped coulée,
+where they had fallen battling for life!
+
+There they lay, partly stripped of their uniforms in some cases, robbed
+of their weapons, and lying amid their foes, hideous, painted savages,
+whom their red companions, in their haste to fly from the fearful
+scene, had not borne off to burial. Yet they had found time to tear the
+scalp-lock from the head of each white man.
+
+They lay in no order. The battle had been of the fiercest, and hand to
+hand. Here a trooper; there another--a redskin, an officer, a chief,
+a caparisoned steed, an Indian pony--all dead they lay and huddled
+together by the riverside in the tiny valley.
+
+Upon this scene Buffalo Bill came suddenly, just as the sun was about
+to drop below the western hills. The sight shocked and sickened him.
+Man of iron heart and steel nerves that he was, the sight made him reel
+in his saddle. He reined in his good horse, until it rose upon its
+haunches, and covered his eyes with one gauntleted hand as though to
+shut out the awful sight.
+
+An instant only did the scout show this weakness; then he scrutinized
+the red field which had flashed like some horrid vision on his sight.
+
+White-faced as the dead, with eyes which scrutinized each form and
+feature of the white men, the scout counted the slain. Gradually his
+own orbs flashed with the fires of rage, and his lips became livid and
+quivering.
+
+Suddenly, with a stifled cry, he leaped from his horse’s back and
+strode to one figure that lay stark at one side. It was in contact with
+a heap of slain on a knoll at the foot of a rock.
+
+Here the end had evidently come. This spot was plainly the last act of
+the fearful drama. Here the curtain of doom had fallen upon the remnant
+of the gallant band, to rise no more for them in this life!
+
+A groan issued from the scout’s lips, and he bowed his head in grief.
+There, with face upturned, lying in an attitude that showed he had died
+fighting to the last, lay Lieutenant Dick Danforth!
+
+The boy’s left hand grasped the barrel of an empty revolver; he had
+used it as a club at close quarters. The right held his sword-hilt, the
+blade buried in the body of a painted chief, whose death was probably
+the last act of the dying leader of the slaughtered troops.
+
+About him lay the foe, piled in heaps. Dick Danforth had sold his life
+at a dear price, indeed. And the fiends had run without scalping him!
+
+“Danforth dead!” murmured the scout. “It cannot be possible.”
+
+Yet it was true; he saw it plainly before he touched the already
+stiffening body. Merely by some freak of circumstances the young man
+had not been scalped.
+
+“Devils’ work this!” muttered the scout. He glanced again over the
+field. There were many points that had at first escaped his attention.
+For instance, there were shod horses lying dead that had never been
+ridden by either cavalrymen or Indian!
+
+“Aye, Indians did the deed, but there is a paleface hand behind it,
+and I mean to ferret out the fiend who inspired it,” said Buffalo Bill.
+
+He dropped upon his knees again and felt of Danforth’s body. There, in
+a voice quivering with sorrow and passion, he exclaimed:
+
+“Aye! here beside the body of the man whom I loved--who saved me from
+death--I swear revenge on the instigator of this crime!”
+
+In his deep feeling he spoke these words aloud. A sound smote upon
+his ear. He sprang to his feet with a cry and turned as a harsh voice
+pealed out behind him:
+
+“And _I_ swear, Buffalo Bill, that you shall never keep the oath your
+lips have just uttered!”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII. “THE DEATH KILLER.”
+
+
+Buffalo Bill had believed himself alone with the dead on this field of
+blood, and the voice fell like a knell upon his ear. For the moment he
+was half-unmanned. Then he wheeled completely to face the speaker.
+
+He knew then that he had an old and deadly foe to deal with. His
+discovery, however, brought the scout to himself. He recovered his
+presence of mind, and in a tone that was reckless in its defiance, he
+cried:
+
+“So we meet again, do we, Bennett? And you think you hold the trumps
+once more?”
+
+“I do--and likewise a revolver at your head, Cody!” declared the
+bandit. “Drop your rifle!”
+
+The scout obeyed. The pistol in Bennett’s hand was a well-timed
+argument. To all appearances the man was an Indian chief, for he was
+bedecked with feathers, his face was hideously painted, and he wore the
+full attire of a redskin, from moccasins to war-bonnet.
+
+At his back, with rifles and arrows likewise covering the scout, were a
+score of braves who had, with the stealthy tread of panthers, followed
+their leader to the spot where Buffalo Bill had mourned over the bodies
+of the slain white men. Cody knew well that he was at the mercy of a
+merciless foe.
+
+“You know me, do you, Cody?” said the bandit.
+
+“Oh, I know you--even if you’ve turned squaw-man,” said Cody bitterly.
+“I recognize your black heart under the paint and feathers.”
+
+“Have a care, scout, for every word of insult you heap upon me shall
+increase your torture at the stake.”
+
+“I see you’ve got it all mapped out for my finish,” said Cody.
+
+“You will not escape me this time, Buffalo Bill!” declared the bandit
+chief exultingly.
+
+“Don’t be too sure.”
+
+“Nay. It is settled. You are in my power. There can be no rescue here.
+_There_ lies the one who cheated my vengeance before. He has paid the
+price.”
+
+“True. And _his_ death must be paid for,” muttered the scout.
+
+“But not by you, Cody.”
+
+“Wait!” was the enigmatical word of the Border King, his eyes flashing
+the hate he felt for his sneering captor.
+
+“Do not tempt me too far, you dog!” exclaimed Bennett. “Remember you
+pay for all this when you come to die.”
+
+“Aye; when I _do_ come to die! But I am one who believes that while
+there is life there is still hope, you accursed renegade!”
+
+“That belief will not benefit you now, Cody. You are a dead man
+already.”
+
+“I’m the liveliest dead man _you_ ever saw!”
+
+The renegade looked as though he was about to shoot the scout in his
+tracks; but he caught sight of the smile that curled Cody’s lips, and,
+not understanding it, refrained. Indeed, he looked all about, somewhat
+nervously, to try to discover the meaning of the scout’s expression.
+
+“You must have help at hand, or you would not be so defiant, Buffalo
+Bill.”
+
+“That may be,” said the scout non-committingly.
+
+“At least, these will not help you,” said Boyd Bennett, with a horrible
+smile, pointing to the stark figures in the valley.
+
+“Not one left to tell the story--no prisoners?” queried Cody
+sorrowfully, forgetting for the moment his own peril.
+
+“No, no! Chief Oak Heart wanted no prisoners from Danforth’s band.
+I told the chief that Danforth and his men were come to take him
+captive--that they had sworn to do it! Ha! ha! That was rich, eh? So
+every man of them died.”
+
+“And he came for _you_,” said Cody bitterly.
+
+“Aye; and met the death he deserved; but a more merciful death than
+_you_ will meet, scout. I do not need to stir up the red men’s rage
+against _you_. They will receive you with great joy at Oak Heart’s
+encampment.”
+
+“And you fought with these savages?” cried Cody.
+
+“I did. And killed as they killed--without mercy.”
+
+“You do not fear to admit your crimes.”
+
+“Why should I? For am I not speaking to one who will soon be dead? Bah!
+you can no longer frighten me, Buffalo Bill!”
+
+“Yes, it looks as though I was near my finish; I do not deny it,”
+said Cody quietly. “But tell me one thing, Boyd Bennett. Did you kill
+Lieutenant Danforth yourself?”
+
+“I am sorry to say I did not. There was a good deal of hot work
+right here. But Red Knife claims the honor of having delivered the
+finishing-stroke. We were returning to take the scalp-lock----”
+
+“By Heaven, man! you shall not do it!” roared Cody, starting forward.
+
+But a dozen rifles clicked, and he knew that he was helpless. He fell
+back again. Bennett laughed.
+
+“Chief Oak Heart refused to allow any of his braves to scalp Danforth
+because he had fought so boldly.”
+
+“God bless the old red sinner for that!” murmured the much wrought-upon
+scout.
+
+Bennett laughed again.
+
+“But I am Death Killer, the medicine-chief, and I have come back myself
+to take the scalp-lock from the head of the man against whom I swore
+revenge.”
+
+“Boyd Bennett! accursed though you be, with a heart blacker than the
+foulest redskin can boast of, you would not do this wrong!” cried
+Buffalo Bill, in horror.
+
+“Watch me, scout.”
+
+“You shall not do it!”
+
+“You are mistaken; I shall. I came back with Red Knife and a few of
+the braves to point me out the place where Danforth fell. On the way
+we saw you arrive, and we dogged your steps to the very corpse of your
+friend.
+
+“Ha, Cody! this is sweet--this revenge. My kind have cast me off. Well,
+then! I cast the white men off! I spit upon them! I slay them! And now
+I scalp my enemy!”
+
+Bennett had worked himself into a species of frenzy. He sprang forward
+now, dropping his revolver, knife in hand, to carry out his threat.
+
+“Never shall you do this crime--not if this is my last act on earth!”
+shouted the scout.
+
+As he spoke he suddenly jerked a revolver from his belt, threw it
+forward, and fired pointblank at Boyd Bennett, all with the quickness
+of a flash of light!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII. THE WHITE ANTELOPE INTERFERES.
+
+
+So rapid and unexpected was this movement of Buffalo Bill, in drawing
+his revolver and firing it, that not one of the warriors who stood
+behind the renegade chief--some with arrows already fitted to their
+bows, and others with rifles covering the scout--had time to fire.
+
+Yet, swift as he had been, one eye was quick enough to send an arrow
+upon its errand. The shaft struck the outstretched arm of the scout
+just as his finger pulled the trigger of his weapon, and the shock
+destroyed his aim.
+
+Having made this daring move, however, and believing that death must
+follow the deed, Buffalo Bill dropped his left hand upon his second
+pistol, determined to press the fight, kill Bennett, and die as had the
+brave man at his feet--fighting to the last!
+
+Maddened with rage and thirsting for the life of his foe, Boyd Bennett
+shouted to his warriors to rush upon the scout and take him alive that
+he might end his career by cruel torture. But suddenly a slender form
+darted before the red braves, and, with arrow set in readiness to let
+fly, the White Antelope thrust herself between the white man and the
+reds who would have seized him.
+
+“Let the Sioux braves hold their hands. The White Antelope commands it!”
+
+Like one man the reds halted, and even the renegade shrank back a step,
+gazing in fear and wonder on the apparition of the beautiful girl.
+
+Buffalo Bill, too, gazed upon the chief’s daughter in amazement. He
+knew now that the arrow he drew from the wound in his right forearm had
+been driven home by the girl; yet now she stood between him and his
+foes.
+
+Her attitude evidently astonished Bennett as much as it did Cody
+himself, for the renegade cried:
+
+“Why has the White Antelope become the friend of the slayer of her
+people? The man she shelters is Pa-e-has-ka, the Long Hair.”
+
+“The arrow of the White Antelope brings blood from the arm of
+Pa-e-has-ka. Is that the way in which a Sioux shows friendship?” asked
+the young girl scornfully.
+
+“Then the White Antelope yields the paleface foe to the medicine chief
+of her tribe?”
+
+“No!” was the decided response.
+
+“What would you do?” demanded the renegade angrily.
+
+“I will deliver Pa-e-has-ka to the great chief, my father, Oak Heart.”
+
+“The White Antelope is no warrior,” sneered the renegade. “Are there
+not braves enough loyal to Oak Heart to carry out his will upon this
+paleface?”
+
+“The White Antelope may be no warrior,” said the girl; “but she has
+just saved the life of the Death Killer.”
+
+At this Buffalo Bill laughed aloud, for the shot was a good one, and
+his seeming indifference to his peril caused the daughter of the chief
+to turn her eyes upon him. She scanned the scout from head to foot.
+What was in her thoughts he could not guess; but, suddenly, deciding
+upon a course of action, she stepped boldly to the side of Buffalo
+Bill, and touched with tender fingers the wounded arm which he had
+bared.
+
+“If the Long Hair has ointment for the wound, it would be better to
+bind it,” she said to him.
+
+Buffalo Bill opened his pouch, and the girl found the salve and
+bandages he always carried. Meanwhile, the scout sucked the wound to
+remove any foreign matter that might have been driven into it by the
+arrowhead. Then the Indian maiden bound up the hurt while the renegade
+looked on sullenly.
+
+“Why is the Long Hair here--so near the village of the Sioux?” she
+asked Buffalo Bill, when this act of kindness was performed.
+
+“I chanced upon the place. I saw the dead. Here lies my friend--the
+young man whom I loved as a son,” said the scout, pointing to the body
+of Danforth. “He and his men have been all slain by the Sioux.”
+
+“They were enemies,” said the girl simply.
+
+“But they had not come out to disturb the red men.”
+
+“Why were they here?”
+
+“To find and take prisoner that villain yonder!” exclaimed Buffalo
+Bill, scowling at Boyd Bennett in his war-paint and feathers. “That man
+who is neither white nor red, but a squaw-man! He had committed crimes
+against the white man’s law and should be punished by that law.”
+
+“My father heard that the palefaces were coming to seize him.”
+
+“Another lie of that renegade!” exclaimed the scout. “And while I
+mourned over the body of this young man, the villain came upon me,
+returning, as he declares, to tear the scalp from the head of the white
+chief whom he was not brave enough himself to kill!”
+
+The girl seemed to understand. She glanced from the body of Danforth to
+the rage-inflamed face of Boyd Bennett.
+
+“Is it from this dead white chief’s head the Killer would take the
+scalp?” she asked haughtily.
+
+“Aye; and I _will_ have it!” cried Bennett.
+
+“Did the young paleface fall by thy hand, Death Killer?” demanded the
+maiden, with all the dignity of a judge.
+
+“It matters not. Forget not, oh, White Antelope, that I am the medicine
+chief of the Sioux----”
+
+“And see that the Death Killer forget not that _I_ am the daughter of
+Oak Heart!” she interrupted.
+
+“I acknowledge that fact,” sneered Boyd Bennett. “But the White
+Antelope has no control over the acts of the Death Killer.”
+
+“Did the paleface fall to your prowess?” she demanded again, looking
+the renegade sternly in the eye.
+
+An Indian stepped forward. He carried a blood-stained war-club in one
+hand. In a deep guttural he said:
+
+“The white chief’s scalp should be Red Knife’s; he brought him low at
+last with a blow of his club. But the great chief, Oak Heart, forbade
+that we take the scalp of so brave a warrior.”
+
+“Then why does the Death Killer wish to do that which is forbidden by
+my father?” cried the girl quickly.
+
+“Is it the White Antelope’s place to question the medicine chief of her
+tribe?” demanded the painted white man, with haughty demeanor. “The
+scalp of the dead bluecoat is my prize!”
+
+Buffalo Bill saw indecision in the Indian maiden’s face. He knew how
+superstitious the redskins were regarding the mysterious powers claimed
+by all medicine chiefs. In some way--by some manner of fake magic--Boyd
+Bennett had roused the superstitious reverence of the Sioux, and
+Buffalo Bill did not know how greatly the chief’s daughter might be
+tainted by this feeling of reverence for the villainous renegade.
+
+“Let not this crime be done, White Antelope,” he said in her ear.
+“Remember what Pa-e-has-ka told you in the cañon, when he had you in
+his power. He knows much. He was once your mother’s trusted friend. And
+he warns you now--as you hope for peace of soul and body--not to allow
+the dead young man to be so treated by your people.”
+
+The girl turned upon him suddenly, with wide-open eyes.
+
+“What does Long Hair mean? What is this dead paleface to her?”
+
+“That Long Hair may not tell thee, oh, White Antelope. Trust him----”
+
+“Trust a paleface!”
+
+“Trust one who has given you back to your father when he might have
+taken your life, or held you prisoner.”
+
+“Aye, Long Hair, thou didst that. It is true.”
+
+“And believe me,” the scout said, more earnestly still, in English, not
+wishing the other Indians to understand; “this dead paleface whom even
+the great chief Oak Heart admired for his bravery, is more to the White
+Antelope than she knows. The time will come when I can explain all to
+you, girl--but not now!”
+
+“What’s that?” demanded Boyd Bennett, stepping forward. “What’s this
+foolishness you are telling the girl?”
+
+But the White Antelope haughtily waved him back.
+
+“Let the Death Killer stand away. The chief’s daughter can care for
+herself. And let not one of these dead palefaces be further disturbed.
+It is my will!”
+
+The waiting Indians grunted agreement. They were willing enough to obey
+the beautiful princess. The White Antelope turned again to Buffalo Bill:
+
+“Where are the paleface brothers of Pa-e-has-ka?”
+
+Buffalo Bill pointed in the direction from which he had come.
+
+“Far away.”
+
+“The White Antelope is his foe, and the foe of his people; but she
+wishes not to see the wolves and the vultures tear the bodies of brave
+men for food. The Sioux have come to remove their dead. Let Pa-e-has-ka
+go bring his brother warriors to remove the paleface slain.”
+
+At that Boyd Bennett uttered an oath and sprang forward.
+
+“Not that, girl! You’re crazy!”
+
+“We’ll see who wears the breeches in this family, Boyd Bennett!”
+laughed the scout.
+
+“You shall not leave this spot alive, Bill Cody!”
+
+“Oh, shucks! Don’t speak so harshly,” gibed the scout.
+
+The girl raised her hand. Without looking at the renegade, she said to
+Buffalo Bill:
+
+“But Pa-e-has-ka must make the White Antelope a promise.”
+
+“All right. What is it?”
+
+“The White Antelope came from the great chief Oak Heart, who told her
+to seek the paleface warriors and tell them where to find their dead.
+He bids them to come here and remove their slain in peace, and not to
+follow on the track of his people. Will Pa-e-has-ka tell the big chief
+the words of Oak Heart?”
+
+“I will.”
+
+“Then Pa-e-has-ka must promise to return and yield himself to the
+Sioux.”
+
+She looked Buffalo Bill straight in the eye as she stated her
+condition, and he saw that she meant exactly what she said; but he
+asked:
+
+“Does the White Antelope mean that I am to give myself up to the red
+warriors after I have guided the bluecoats here?”
+
+“She has spoken.”
+
+“And this is the promise she wishes Pa-e-has-ka to make?”
+
+The Indian girl nodded.
+
+“Why should Pa-e-has-ka return?”
+
+“He is the captive of the medicine chief, Death Killer, now; but White
+Antelope lets him go free that the paleface braves lie not unburied,
+and that the other white warriors take heed not to follow upon the
+trail of the Sioux. Will Pa-e-has-ka promise?”
+
+Buffalo Bill was silent for a moment. If he refused he knew that her
+protection would cease. If he agreed to her condition he must keep his
+word, be the end what it might. And that end looked to the scout much
+like an ironwood stake, a hot fire, and a bunch of naked red devils
+dancing a two-step about him while he slowly crisped to a cinder!
+
+There was a loophole. He made a mental reservation that, after bearing
+the tidings of the massacre to the fort, and delivering Oak Heart’s
+warning, he would return to the Sioux encampment--but with a force
+behind him that would surprise the redskins!
+
+“I agree,” he said finally.
+
+“Trust not the fox-tongue of the Long Hair!” cried Boyd Bennett
+violently. “He will not keep his pledge.”
+
+“The paleface is the foe of my people, but his tongue is straight,”
+declared the Indian maiden, with confidence.
+
+Buffalo Bill began secretly to weaken on that “mental reservation.”
+
+“But he will come with a force at his back and burn the Indian
+village,” cried the renegade.
+
+Buffalo Bill had to give the fellow credit for having divined his
+purpose; but the girl turned scornfully from the squaw-man.
+
+“Pa-e-has-ka is not two-faced. He is not a turncoat,” she said
+sneeringly. “The White Antelope will believe that the Long Hair will
+return alone.”
+
+Buffalo Bill at that completely abandoned the “mental reservation”
+clause.
+
+“Bet your life he will!” he exclaimed. “I’ll come back as I promise,
+girl.”
+
+“Then let Pa-e-has-ka go.”
+
+But as she spoke the command, Boyd Bennett once more sprang forward. He
+covered the scout with his rifle and cried:
+
+“I am the medicine chief of the Sioux, and I say the paleface dog shall
+not go!”
+
+Then in English he declared:
+
+“Your hour has come, Buffalo Bill. You die here and now!”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX. A GIRL’S WORD.
+
+
+The instant the renegade uttered the threat, Buffalo Bill placed
+himself upon guard by drawing his revolvers and covering the scoundrel.
+His wounded arm was sore, but the nerves had recovered from the shock
+of the arrow-wound, and he could hold his gun steadily enough. The
+renegade was so near at best that the scout could not miss him!
+
+But the scout did not shoot. The White Antelope with flashing eyes,
+sprang to the front, and she, too, aimed her arrow at Boyd Bennett.
+
+The warriors--or the bulk of them, at least--were surprised by Buffalo
+Bill’s action, and their several weapons were in line for the scout’s
+heart before they noted the White Antelope’s action. Then several of
+them dropped their guns, and their facial expression was as foolish as
+it was possible for so stoical a set of faces to be!
+
+For a moment the tableau continued. A sudden motion might have
+precipitated a bloody, though brief, conflict. Buffalo Bill, though
+pale, was stern and determined, his eyes riveted upon the face of Boyd
+Bennett. He felt that the girl was friendly to him, and he knew her
+influence among the Sioux.
+
+“Why do you not bring that finger to the trigger of your rifle,
+Bennett?” he asked sneeringly. “It won’t go off otherwise.”
+
+The girl looked at the warriors and commanded quickly:
+
+“Let the braves of Oak Heart turn their weapons from the heart of
+Pa-e-has-ka, the paleface chief.”
+
+To the delight of Buffalo Bill, the command was instantly obeyed. Much
+as they might have feared the power of the medicine chief, Oak Heart
+was greater, and his daughter was here as his representative.
+
+That Boyd Bennett was nonplused by this move was plain. His face fell,
+and he lowered his own rifle. But the scowl of deadly hatred which he
+bestowed on the white man threatened vengeance at some future date.
+
+“I reckon the redskins are trumps, old man, and the girl holds a full
+hand of them!” laughed Buffalo Bill.
+
+“It is your time to laugh now, Cody. But mine will come,” gritted the
+renegade.
+
+“Oh, I can’t expect to laugh always, Bennett; but,” and the scout
+changed his speech to the Sioux dialect, that all the warriors might
+understand; “let the renegade paleface meet me now in personal combat,
+and settle the matter at once. Long Hair does not fear a fair fight
+with the mighty Death Killer!” he added sneeringly.
+
+The nods and grunts of the warriors showed that they approved of this
+proposal. Although they could not quite agree with the White Antelope’s
+friendliness with Buffalo Bill, they saw that he was a brave man--as,
+indeed, they knew well before--and a duel to the death seemed to their
+savage minds the only way to properly decide the controversy between
+their medicine chief and the scout. They looked at Bennett expectantly.
+
+But the renegade was not desirous of meeting Buffalo Bill with any
+weapon he might name! He knew the scout’s prowess too well. His desire
+was to see the scout writhing in the embrace of the flames, or standing
+bound as a target for the hatchet-marksmen of the Indian tribe with
+which he was affiliated.
+
+He dared not seem to refuse the challenge, however, for he would then
+lose completely his influence with Oak Heart’s braves. But suddenly he
+caught sight of the Indian maiden’s face, and that he read like an open
+book!
+
+“The enemy of the Sioux has spoken well. We will fight!” exclaimed Boyd
+Bennett promptly, but with a crafty smile wreathing his lips.
+
+“The White Antelope says ‘No!’” exclaimed the Indian girl, facing the
+renegade.
+
+As he was so sure she would veto the proposition, the wily Bennett was
+eager to urge the duel.
+
+“Why does the daughter of the great chief interfere? She says that
+Pa-e-has-ka is not her friend, and yet she shields him.”
+
+Buffalo Bill had to chuckle over this. He couldn’t help it. He saw
+through the whole game of Bennett’s, and it amused him.
+
+“No, the Long Hair shall not fight the medicine chief,” declared the
+girl earnestly.
+
+“And why not?” demanded Bennett, with continued haughtiness.
+
+“Because if they fought, the white man would wear the medicine chief’s
+scalp at his belt,” declared the young girl. “The white man shall go
+his way, bring his brothers to bury the paleface dead, and then deliver
+himself to Oak Heart, as he has promised.”
+
+“And you can make up your mind, Boyd Bennett, that she says one very
+true thing,” declared Buffalo Bill. “Whenever we _do_ fight, you’ll go
+under! Mark that! I’ll run you down yet and nail your scalp to the wall
+of Fort Advance as a warning to all horse-thieves, stage-robbers, and
+deserters!”
+
+The White Antelope spoke quickly before the wrathful Bennett could
+reply to this challenge:
+
+“Let the paleface go to his big chief. There is his horse. Yonder is
+his weapon. Mount, Pa-e-has-ka, and away!”
+
+“Aye, girl,” said Cody, in English; “but what will happen to this poor
+young man if I go, leaving that brute here? He will tear the scalp
+from Danforth’s head as soon as my back, and yours, are turned.”
+
+“That he shall not!” exclaimed the White Antelope.
+
+“You do not know his treachery,” said Buffalo Bill, who knew that the
+very deed was in Bennett’s mind.
+
+“I have told the white man that the brave young chief shall not be
+mistreated.”
+
+“Your word on it, girl?”
+
+“The White Antelope has spoken. She will guard the body of the young
+white chief herself until Pa-e-has-ka’s return.”
+
+“Good!” exclaimed Buffalo Bill. “And, my girl, you’ll never be sorry
+for this mercy shown the corpse of that poor young man.”
+
+The girl looked at him strangely.
+
+“The Long Hair will return, as he has promised, to the village of Oak
+Heart?”
+
+“I’ll keep my word; do you keep yours,” said the scout.
+
+“Pa-e-has-ka’s tongue is straight?”
+
+“As sure as I live, I’ll come back, girl!” declared the scout earnestly.
+
+The next instant he mounted Chief unmolested, having picked up his
+rifle, settled himself in the saddle, seized the reins, and dashed
+away. As he mounted the ridge he looked back. The reds were busy
+separating their own slain from the dead soldiers. The tall figure
+of the medicine chief was stalking angrily from the scene. White
+Antelope was down on her knees by the body of Dick Danforth, the dead
+lieutenant. With a dumb ache at his heart, and little thought for his
+own coming peril, Buffalo Bill went over the rise and spurred away for
+Fort Advance.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX. THE MAD HUNTER.
+
+
+In the valley a cavalry command was encamped, some hours after
+the battle in which Lieutenant Dick Danforth and his men had been
+overwhelmed by Oak Heart’s ambuscade.
+
+It was just sunset, but twilight among the mountains is sometimes four
+hours long--a man might see to read fine print at nine o’clock.
+
+The command had ridden hard and were a-wearied, so the party had
+bivouacked early, the guide reporting that the ridge before them
+afforded no good camping-ground. The horses were soon lariated out, and
+scores of camp-fires were kindled along the banks of the stream, while
+the cheerful rattle of dishes and the smell of cooking sharpened the
+appetites of the troopers.
+
+Leaving his servant to prepare his frugal meal, the commander of the
+soldiers strode up the hillside toward the summit of the ridge, the
+better to view the valley and its boundaries while daylight lingered.
+
+“Be careful, captain, for I look for Injuns hereabouts,” called the
+guide, who was Texas Jack.
+
+“All right, Jack. I’ll signal if I see any signs of the red scamps,”
+returned the fearless officer, as he strode on up the ascent.
+
+Once or twice he turned to enjoy the scene of beauty spreading below
+him--the lovely valley, the winding stream, the picturesque bivouac of
+the troopers, and the distant blue hills, on which the light was fading
+rapidly. At length he reached the point from which he could view a
+part of the country through which the morrow’s trail would lead them.
+
+Below him, on that side of the ridge, all was shadow now, for the ridge
+shut off the last glow of the golden western sky; but the summits of
+the hills and ridges were still bathed in the departing sun’s radiance.
+The scene so impressed him that, quite unconsciously, the officer spoke
+aloud:
+
+“No wonder that poor Lo loves this land so well that he’s willing to
+fight for it. It is a pity it must ever be settled, and cut up into
+farms and homesteads--and possibly, town lots! The life of the free
+savage is the best, after all!”
+
+“Well said, captain! But I’ve got the drop on you!”
+
+The officer started as the voice fell upon his ears, and, dropping his
+hand upon his sword-hilt, turned to face the speaker. Before him, and
+not six paces distant, having just stepped from a dense thicket, was an
+apparition which, at first sight, the officer scarce realized was human!
+
+And yet, no other shape was near, and from the lips of the strange
+being that confronted him had fallen the threatening words he had heard.
+
+“Who and what are you?” cried the officer sternly, his eyes beholding a
+being of gigantic size, clad in the skins of beasts, so that at first
+sight he appeared more like a grizzly bear reared upon its hind legs!
+
+About the waist of the giant was a red fox-skin belt, in which were
+slung two revolvers and a large knife; upon his head was a panther-skin
+cap, the tail hanging down the man’s back, and on his feet were
+moccasins of black bearskin. Hair black as night fell to his waist;
+beard of the same hue matted and unkempt; and a dark, haggard face,
+out of which glittered the wildest eyes it had ever been the officer’s
+fortune to see.
+
+To finish this terrifying picture, the strange being held a rifle at
+his shoulder, and that rifle was aimed now at the military officer’s
+heart!
+
+“You ask who and what I am?” repeated the creature, in a deep voice.
+
+“I do,” said the soldier, measuring him with the eye of a hawk.
+
+He had instantly seen that he was in the presence of a maniac--a person
+utterly irresponsible for his acts. Whether he was to be cajoled out
+of his present murderous condition of mind, the soldier did not know.
+But he was watching for some wavering of the rifle which might tell him
+that the fellow was off his guard, and that there might be a chance to
+spring under his guard and seize him.
+
+“You are a bold man to question me, captain!” said the giant sternly.
+
+“I know it; but I’ve an overpowering curiosity to find out,” and the
+captain dropped his hand carelessly upon the butt of the pistol he
+carried at his hip.
+
+“Hands up!” exclaimed the fellow, seeing the movement. “Hands up, or
+you are a dead man!”
+
+Hoping that he might yet parley with the maniac, the officer obeyed. It
+were better, perhaps, had he drawn his gun and risked a shot. The giant
+looked at him with wicked, glowing eyes.
+
+“I will tell you who I am, officer,” he whispered hoarsely. “I am a
+_madman_!”
+
+The last word he fairly shrieked; yet not for a second did he forget
+his victim, nor did his hand tremble. The rifle still transfixed the
+helpless officer.
+
+But the officer was a kindly man, and although he believed himself in
+peril of his life still, the brave man ever has pity for those touched
+in the head. He said quietly:
+
+“My poor man, lower your weapon and come with me down to yonder camp.
+Those are Uncle Sam’s troops down there. They will take care of you.”
+
+“Ha!” cried the maniac furiously. “I need no one to care for me. I can
+care for myself. You’d much better be thinking of help for yourself,
+captain.”
+
+“Well, then I’ll go along and look for that help,” said the officer
+easily.
+
+“Don’t move!”
+
+“But, my dear fellow----”
+
+“Hold! Address no words of kindness to me, for they are thrown away
+upon one whose duty it is to slay.”
+
+“But it surely isn’t your duty to kill _me_!”
+
+“Aye--you, too.”
+
+“But what have I done to you?”
+
+“It matters not. Mankind has done enough to me. I am appointed to slay,
+and slay I will!”
+
+“It’s nice to know your duty so clearly,” said the officer easily. “But
+aren’t you liable to make a mistake?”
+
+“No! Never a mistake. Once I might have made a mistake. That was when I
+believed I was called of God to kill the redskins only. I know better
+now.”
+
+“Well!” murmured the officer, hoping to catch the madman off his guard,
+if only for a moment.
+
+“I saw the error of my ways,” cried the madman. “I beheld my sins. I
+had neglected the full measure of my duty.”
+
+“So killing redskins didn’t satisfy you, eh?”
+
+“Why should I kill the savages alone? I saw white men quite as
+brutal--aye, more brutal--than the red. I saw them commit the same
+atrocities. I saw white rangers rip the scalps from the head of their
+dead foes; I saw the soldiers storm the Indian encampments and kill
+the squaws and the papoose at the breast! Aye! how much better are the
+whites than the red men?”
+
+“And having seen all this bloody warfare, you wish to add to the sum
+total of horror by killing everybody you come across, do you, old
+fellow?”
+
+“You are all alike to me. I kill. That is the way I obtain ammunition
+and arms. The arms and cartridges you carry are mine!”
+
+“Oh, I’ll give them to you right now, if you want them,” exclaimed the
+captain eagerly. “You won’t have to kill me to get them. Really, it
+isn’t necessary. I’ll do the polite and hand them over.”
+
+To himself he thought:
+
+“And I’ll hand you something that will do you a lot of good the first
+chance I get!”
+
+But the madman was not to be fooled so easily.
+
+“Nay, nay! Your bullets would not fly true for me were you alive,”
+declared the giant. “I am the Mad Hunter. Have you heard of me?”
+
+“I have heard of such a character,” admitted the captain.
+
+“I am he, and if you know of me you must know that I show mercy to
+none--not even to one wearing the uniform you do. No, no! I spare
+neither my own race--for I was white once, before I became like the
+beasts that perish--nor the redskin. All fall before me.”
+
+The man spoke with intensity; yet not a motion gave the officer hope
+of his chance to spring on him. The man’s nerves were of steel; he
+held the rifle as though it and his own body were of stone; yet the
+glittering eyes showed his victim that if he dropped his hands a bullet
+would end his career on the instant.
+
+“But, you know, _I_ haven’t harmed you, my poor man,” said the officer.
+
+“All mankind are my foes,” said the Mad Hunter, in his strong monotone,
+and without moving. “Come! the night draws near, and I have yet to
+travel many miles to my cave in the mountains.”
+
+“Don’t let me detain you, old man,” said the officer. “Won’t it do just
+as well another day?”
+
+“Come! prepare to die. If you have prayers to say, repeat them quickly.
+It is growing dark.”
+
+Now, the officer didn’t care how dark it got before the madman fired.
+Indeed, he would have been glad if it suddenly became pitch-dark--so
+dark that he might dodge away and escape the sinister weapon which held
+its “bead” on his breast. He gave up all hope of “talking the fellow
+out of it.” The madman meant to kill him, and unless some miracle
+averted the fate, he would very quickly be a dead man!
+
+The madman was a giant in build and strength. He remembered now having
+heard the scouts tell many strange stories of the Mad Hunter about the
+camp-fire. For years he had been tracking about the Rockies, appearing
+unexpectedly in first one locality and then another; sometimes
+committing atrocious murders of inoffensive people. But usually his
+presence was noted by the scouts by the dead bodies of Indians,
+their bodies mutilated by a cross gashed with the madman’s knife over
+their hearts. He put this insignia upon every redskin he killed, so
+that even the savages--who feared him as some spirit and altogether
+supernatural--knew who to lay the death of their friends to when the
+Mad Hunter was about.
+
+Whether the giant had a habit of marking his white victims in the
+same way, the captain did not know; but it was a suggestion that did
+not tranquilize his nerves. To cope with the giant he knew would be
+impossible. He was a tall and strong man himself; but the maniac could
+have handled three men like the officer with ease. A movement toward
+his revolver or sword would be a signal for his death. Yet the officer
+could not stand here helplessly and allow the maniac to shoot him down!
+
+In full view below him were the camp-fires of his men. The valley had
+grown dark now, but surely they could see him clearly standing here on
+the summit of the ridge. His body must loom big against the sky-line.
+Yet it was plain they did not see the giant with him.
+
+_He_ stood in the shadow of the thicket where he had hidden at the
+officer’s approach. It was behind him, and made him invisible to the
+men in the valley. To call for aid would bring the end more quickly. So
+he waited in silence, hoping against hope that some mad freak of the
+maniac’s mind and humor might work for his salvation.
+
+If the Mad Hunter kept his word, the officer had but a few minutes to
+live. He looked all about the vicinity, hoping he might see some chance
+of help. It was a desperate--a really hopeless thought. Who or what
+could save him now?
+
+Suddenly his eyes became fixed upon the spur of a hill that jutted out
+across a shallow valley. The lingering rays of the sun touched the
+hill-spur redly. It seemed much nearer to him than it really was, and
+along its brink came a horse and rider!
+
+The officer gasped; then held his breath, and did not change the mask
+of his face. He had learned long since to hide emotion; but this was a
+terrible situation, and he had almost lost his nerve.
+
+The horseman had evidently been about to descend into the valley,
+when his glance fell upon the two men standing like statues upon the
+opposite ridge. _He_ could see the giant huntsman, if the soldiers in
+the other valley could not. He saw at once the attitude of both men and
+understood. He drew rein, and the officer at the same moment recognized
+him. Unconsciously his lips parted, and the name of the rider came from
+the officer in a quick gasp:
+
+“Buffalo Bill!”
+
+The keen ear of the mad hercules caught the name, and, turning like
+a panther at bay, he saw the scout on the distant spur. As he moved,
+the officer’s hands dropped, and he seized the revolver from his belt.
+Throwing it forward, he pulled the trigger as the madman wheeled again
+toward him.
+
+But the hammer fell without exploding the cartridge. The madman laughed
+aloud.
+
+“No, no!” he shouted. “The bullet is not cast that will kill the Mad
+Hunter! The cartridge is not made that will injure me!”
+
+The officer found his pistol-hammer jammed. He could not cock the
+weapon again. With a wild shriek the maniac dropped his rifle, and,
+drawing his knife, flung himself at his victim, intending evidently to
+kill him with those slashes across the breast which usually marked his
+dead.
+
+But in that awful moment the doomed man’s eyes turned upon the distant
+spur, and he beheld the rifle rise to the horseman’s shoulder.
+Desperate as was the chance, Buffalo Bill intending risking a shot to
+save him. He flung himself backward, as the madman came on, leaving the
+field clear for the scout to fire.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI. BUFFALO BILL’S GREAT SHOT.
+
+
+In that instant, as he was falling backward upon the ground, knowing
+that if the huge madman reached him before Buffalo Bill’s bullet
+reached its mark he would be a dead man, a clear perception of the
+great mistake he had made flashed through the captain’s mind. He
+remembered that that morning when cleaning his revolver he had noticed
+something wrong with the hammer, and had put it aside, unloaded, to
+attend to later in the day. But as he started from the camp that
+evening to walk up the hill, and Texas Jack had called his warning to
+him, he had picked up the weapon and thrust it into his belt without
+looking at it.
+
+Had he not made this error he would have shot the Mad Hunter dead
+in that instant when the giant turned his head to look across the
+little valley. As he went backward, the officer flung away his useless
+revolver and clutched at his sword. But he could not get it from its
+scabbard in time. It was but half-drawn when he landed upon his back
+with a shock that almost deprived him of his senses!
+
+Fearful, indeed, were the chances against the officer. He was
+absolutely helpless then, and like a tiger-cat the madman had sprung
+at his falling body. He actually was in the air with the blade of his
+knife poised to thrust downward into the officer’s breast when the
+latter heard the crack of Buffalo Bill’s rifle on the other hillside.
+
+The keen eye of the scout on horseback had noted every move of the game
+on the ridge. He recognized the officer, and he guessed who the other
+man must be when he saw his threatening attitude. It was a long shot,
+and there was danger at first of his hitting the captain instead of his
+foe.
+
+But when the former flung himself backward the scout dared fire. And
+he pulled the trigger just in the nick of time. The maniac was already
+plunging forward to knife the supine soldier when the bullet sped on
+its mission.
+
+With a scream the madman pitched forward, over-leaping his victim, and
+falling on his face upon the ground, the knife being plunged hilt deep
+into the soft earth! A red streak showed across his scalp where the
+bullet had grazed the man’s crown.
+
+“Bravo, bravo, Buffalo Bill! I owe my life to him--and Heaven knows
+I was never in closer quarters with death!” cried the officer, as he
+leaped up and drew his sword to further defend himself.
+
+But the huge form lay still. The Mad Hunter lay unconscious. Therefore,
+turning to the opposite hill, he waved his hat, which he had picked
+up, to the horseman who was now spurring down into the valley. An
+answering yell from Buffalo Bill showed that he saw the officer was
+safe.
+
+The rifle-shot and the shout of the Border King was unheard down there
+in the bigger valley; all this tragic happening had been in sight of
+the camp of the troopers, yet had chanced to go unnoticed. It was the
+scout who had come upon the scene in the nick of time, and who again
+had proved himself a hero.
+
+With rapid bounds the scout urged his big white charger up the hill,
+from the shadows below to the twilight of the ridge summit. Finally he
+pulled up, threw himself from the saddle, and the officer caught his
+gauntleted hand.
+
+“God bless you, Cody!”
+
+“Captain Ed. Keyes!”
+
+“Always in the right place at the right time, scout. Another minute,
+and that old madman would have sent me on my long journey, and no
+mistake!”
+
+“I came blamed near being in the wrong place, captain,” said Cody
+seriously. “That was a long shot. I was taking great chances, and if
+you hadn’t flung yourself backward I should have scarcely risked firing
+at all.”
+
+Then he turned to view the prostrate form of the madman, and said:
+
+“It’s that crazy fellow they talk about, isn’t it?”
+
+“So he said. He seemed to be proud of his reputation.”
+
+“The Mad Hunter!”
+
+“Yes. And mad he certainly is--poor fellow. I suppose he’s not to be
+blamed for what he can’t help. But he’s better dead than at large. Ugh!
+Another moment, and he’d had his devil’s cross slashed on my breast, I
+fancy.”
+
+“You had a narrow squeak, sir.”
+
+“I certainly did. Is he dead?”
+
+Buffalo Bill was stooping over the giant. He turned him over so that
+his face was visible in the half-light.
+
+“_That_ shot oughtn’t to have killed him,” muttered the scout, noting
+the course of his bullet.
+
+“It certainly couldn’t have hurt his brain any more than it _was_
+queered. He’s breathing, isn’t he?”
+
+But Buffalo Bill did not immediately reply. He had suddenly fallen
+silent, and when Captain Keyes looked at the scout in surprise he
+saw that his eyes were fixed with a most strange expression upon the
+unconscious madman’s face.
+
+“What’s the matter, Cody?” the officer asked.
+
+The scout still made no reply. It is doubtful if he heard his superior
+officer. He seemed devouring the features of the unconscious man.
+
+Little of the face could be seen for the matted beard and hair. Yet
+the angles of the cheek-bones and jaw were easily traced; likewise,
+the penthouse brows and deeply sunken eyes. The nose was prominent--a
+handsome nose, with its point thin and flexible, and the nostrils well
+marked.
+
+“No--no,” murmured the scout at last. “I never could have seen him
+before--never!”
+
+“What’s the matter with you, Cody?”
+
+Buffalo Bill looked up at him, and wet his lips before speaking.
+
+“I--I thought I saw a ghost, Captain Keyes--a ghost! My God! and it’s
+no wonder, with my mind full of the horror I _have_ seen already this
+evening. It--it was Danforth--he’s got into my mind, and I can’t
+forget him.”
+
+“Dick Danforth--Lieutenant Danforth?”
+
+“Aye--the poor boy himself.”
+
+“What under the sun has Dick got to do with this madman?”
+
+“Oh--nothing! nothing!” exclaimed Cody, leaping up. “But I have to
+report a very terrible thing, captain.”
+
+“Not about Dick Danforth?”
+
+“It is, sir. Lieutenant Danforth is dead--dead with all his men!”
+
+“No!”
+
+“It is the awful truth, sir.”
+
+“I cannot believe it, Cody. You are beside yourself. You look strange,
+man!”
+
+“Aye, and you would look strange yourself had you seen what _I_ have
+seen, Captain Keyes.”
+
+“Tell me!”
+
+“I was on my way to Fort Advance with the news when I happened to see
+you--as I supposed, facing a grizzly bear over on this ridge.”
+
+“He was worse than a grizzly,” said Keyes, with a glance at the giant.
+“But give me the particulars----”
+
+“Boyd Bennett has joined the Sioux, betrayed Danforth and his men into
+a trap, and the whole party were wiped out.”
+
+“My God, Cody!”
+
+“It is so. I saw them. I was captured by Bennett, indeed. It was within
+a few miles of Oak Heart’s big village.”
+
+“Ha! And did you see the wily old scoundrel himself?”
+
+“Oak Heart?”
+
+“Yes.”
+
+“No; but I saw a representative of the chief;” and he repeated the
+story of his coming upon the field of carnage and his adventure with
+Bennett and the White Antelope, while Keyes hurried him down the
+hillside toward the troopers’ camp.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXII. THE BORDER KING’S PLEDGE.
+
+
+With him Captain Keyes had over a hundred cavalrymen, a company of
+mounted infantry, and two mountain howitzers, numbering, with the
+artillerymen and scouts, nearly two hundred men--a strong flying
+column, that could move rapidly and stand off a big force of Indians.
+They were then encamped not twenty miles from the main village of the
+Sioux, and not much more than half that distance from the coulée where
+Danforth’s squadron had been overcome.
+
+The coming of Buffalo Bill, although it had been most timely for
+Captain Keyes, and had undoubtedly saved his life, cast a mantle of
+gloom over the encampment. Although the men had been warned to turn in
+early, because of the work before them on the morrow, they stood or sat
+around the camp-fires until late, discussing the terrible intelligence
+the scout had brought.
+
+And at the officers’ quarters, Buffalo Bill had to relate the story all
+over again to an eager band of listeners. All had known Dick Danforth,
+and his death was greatly deplored.
+
+As soon as he could get away, and had eaten a bit of supper, Cody
+sought out his faithful partner, Jack Omohondreau.
+
+“Jack, old man, did you ever see the Wild Huntsman?”
+
+“What! this fellow who come pretty near bowling over the captain--the
+Mad Hunter?”
+
+“Yes.”
+
+“Never. But I’ve seen his spoor--and I’ve seen his work.”
+
+“Meaning his dead?”
+
+“Yep. Two redskins. He didn’t do a thing but hash them up. Ugh!”
+
+“I don’t think I killed him up there. Will you get a couple of torches,
+and bring two other fellows you can trust, and help me make a search
+for him?”
+
+“Lord! Want to put the finishing touch on him--eh?”
+
+“No. I must bring him down here and have the surgeon give him what care
+he can.”
+
+“Whew! You’d best roll him over a precipice by mistake.”
+
+“The man is mad.”
+
+“Well, then, he isn’t missing much, if he cashes in.”
+
+“But perhaps he can be cured.”
+
+“Well, are you going to tackle the cure?”
+
+“I want to see if he’s dead first,” said Cody non-committingly. “Go
+find your men--and don’t forget the torches, Jack.”
+
+Texas Jack found both, and the four men searched the ridge
+thoroughly--or as thoroughly as they could by torchlight; but the
+gigantic madman was not there. He might have crawled into some hole to
+hide; anyway, they had to give it up for the night.
+
+As they returned to camp they found an orderly searching industriously
+for Buffalo Bill.
+
+“Captain Keyes’ compliments, sir, and will you come to his tent at
+once?”
+
+The scout complied with his request. Keyes had his despatch-box open,
+and was undoubtedly just inditing his report of the day’s work, and of
+the intelligence the scout had brought him, to his commander at Fort
+Advance. He motioned the scout to a camp-stool.
+
+“Sit down, Cody. I want to talk with you.”
+
+Buffalo Bill obeyed.
+
+“We have deeded to divide the command. I shall go myself with the first
+division on to the place where our poor brave fellows lie, and attend
+to the burial of their bodies. The rest of my party will form a reserve
+squad with the howitzers--in case of treachery.”
+
+“There will be no treachery, Captain Keyes. I know Oak Heart.”
+
+“But you say that deserter, Bennett, has influence in the tribe.”
+
+“Not enough to make the old chief break his word.”
+
+“Best to be sure, anyway. Now, there’s a point I wish to discuss with
+you. I know your confounded quixotism, Cody. You certainly don’t
+propose to keep your promise to that squaw and go alone to the Indian
+encampment?”
+
+“I do mean just that, sir.”
+
+At this the officer rose to his feet and spoke vigorously.
+
+“Cody, you sha’n’t do it! By the nine gods of war! it’s foolish--it’s
+insane!”
+
+“I have promised.”
+
+“But I forbid you!”
+
+“I can’t help that, sir; but if you will think a moment, you will see
+that it is quite out of your jurisdiction. I was the reds’ prisoner.
+They did not have to let me go at all. My life is hostage to them yet.
+They have trusted me--and, God knows, enough white men have lied to
+them.”
+
+“Then I’ll attack their camp, small as my force is.”
+
+“You will compass my death sure enough if you do,” said the scout,
+shaking his head.
+
+“But, Cody, of all white men alive, _you_ are the one they most wish to
+see _dead_!”
+
+“So be it.”
+
+“Be reasonable.”
+
+“They desire to make my closer acquaintance, and I intend to give them
+the chance,” said Buffalo Bill, smiling.
+
+“Never, Cody!”
+
+“But I----”
+
+“I’ll hear no ‘buts,’ scouts. If you persist in such a foolish
+intention I’ll put you in the guard-house and keep you under arrest
+until you come to your senses.”
+
+“I’m afraid I’ll grow gray in the guard-house, then,” laughed Buffalo
+Bill, who knew that his friend did not mean this.
+
+“But you were forced to make the promise to save your life. Therefore,
+the promise was given under durance and cannot hold.”
+
+“The redskins have few lawyers,” said Cody, with a smile. “That
+sophistry would not appeal to them.”
+
+“It’s sure death!”
+
+“I’m not so sure of that. However, I must go to Oak Heart’s camp. I may
+risk my life, but I hope to accomplish a purpose that I have in mind.”
+
+The officer saw that the scout was determined, and that his will could
+not be shaken.
+
+“It seems like being a party to your murder to let you go, scout,” said
+Captain Keyes gloomily. “And you saved my life, too!”
+
+“Let us hope for the best, sir,” said the scout quietly, as he bowed
+himself out of the officer’s tent.
+
+Before dawn Buffalo Bill and a squad of men sent by Captain Keyes went
+to the ridge to hunt the live--or dead--body of the Mad Hunter. In an
+hour, and just before the column was ready to start, the squad returned
+without Cody.
+
+“Where is the scout, sergeant?” asked Captain Keyes.
+
+“He left us upon the ridge, sir,” said the man, saluting.
+
+“Left you?”
+
+“Yes, sir.”
+
+“And where did he go?”
+
+“He struck a trail, sir, and said he would be off on it.”
+
+“What sort of trail?”
+
+“The Mad Hunter’s trail. We could not find the man, but Mr. Cody saw
+where he had walked away, and he started in pursuit.”
+
+“He’s gone farther than that!” exclaimed Captain Keyes, shaking his
+head. “What say, Texas Jack?”
+
+Omohondreau, who knew of Buffalo Bill’s promise to the White Antelope,
+nodded.
+
+“He’s gone to the Injun camp,” said the brother scout, “and it’s a
+toss-up if it isn’t ‘good-by, Bill Cody!’ for good and all!”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII. TRACKING THE MAD HUNTER.
+
+
+After a night of uneasy repose, in which the thoughts engendered by his
+first sight of the Mad Hunter’s face had ridden him like a nightmare,
+Buffalo Bill was determined to make a thorough search for the maniac.
+Had he not believed the evening before that the man was likely to
+remain unconscious until roused by the efforts of the surgeon, he would
+have begged Captain Keyes to let him stay by the maniac until help
+could come. He was deeply disappointed when he and Jack Omohondreau
+could not find the giant.
+
+In the morning he had searched patiently, struck the trail of the
+madman, and, as the sergeant reported, had started at once to follow
+and run the maniac down. He had brought his horse, and having left the
+soldiers, he mounted Chief and followed the big footprints of the wild
+man at a round trot for some distance.
+
+How seriously the man was wounded, Cody did not know; but his quarry
+did not seem to try to hide his trail. Straight along the ridge it led,
+then down into the little valley the scout had ridden across the night
+before, and so up the range of hills on the other side. Something about
+the walking of the big man puzzled the scout greatly, and suddenly
+Buffalo Bill spurred his horse to the summit of a high hill, that he
+might take a survey of the country over which it seemed the madman
+might pass.
+
+The soldiers were under way now, and, first of all, Cody saw them
+traversing a defile at one side, up which they had come from the
+bivouac of the past night. A steep bluff towered beside them where
+they were then marching as Buffalo Bill came out upon the back-bone of
+the range.
+
+The course he had taken in following the madman’s trail had brought
+the scout out ahead of the marching column. But it was not upon them
+that his gaze became fastened. Instead, a single moving object upon the
+summit of the bluff in the shadow of which the soldiers marched held
+his attention. This object was more than a mile ahead of the soldiery,
+and would never be noticed from the valley below.
+
+In an instant Buffalo Bill divined the identity of the moving object,
+and the nature of the work which engaged its attention. The ridge of
+land on which he stood was unbroken to the bluff itself. He set spurs
+to Chief and raced along the highlands, knowing that he would not
+likely be seen by the soldiers, and therefore must do alone what he
+could to avert the catastrophe which he saw imminent.
+
+Thwarted the night before when he sought the life of Captain Keyes, the
+Mad Hunter was trying to compass a worse crime. The moving form Buffalo
+Bill knew to be the maniac, and he saw that he was gathering huge rocks
+into a pile, which he proposed to push over upon the soldiers as they
+passed below the bluff!
+
+It was a fiendish plan, and well worthy of the man’s insane cunning.
+Buffalo Bill spurred on, and came to a place not many yards behind the
+Mad Hunter without the latter’s being aware of his presence, so intent
+was he in the work.
+
+Leaving his horse and rifle, the scout, with soft tread and every sense
+alert, crept up behind the busy lunatic. He saw that the Mad Hunter
+had put aside his own arms, the better to toil at his horrid trap.
+With a single shot from his revolver the scout might have dropped the
+maniac dead, and so relieved the world of a dangerous creature--a being
+neither man nor brute. But the scout did not wish to hurt the giant.
+
+Finally, without being discovered, the scout stood within twenty feet
+of the Mad Hunter. His eyes were as fierce as a wolf’s, his hands
+opened and shut with nervous clutches, and his lips moved continuously
+as he whispered to himself. Yet something familiar in the contour of
+the poor creature’s face held Cody spellbound. He was moved as he had
+been the night before when he had first looked upon the features of the
+wild man.
+
+Nearer and nearer drew the column of soldiers, for through a gap in the
+edge of the bluff Cody could mark their progress. Captain Keyes and his
+officers, and Texas Jack, rode ahead. The madman prepared to tip his
+monument of rocks over upon their devoted heads!
+
+Suddenly the Mad Hunter picked up a great stone--one that the scout was
+sure no two ordinary men could lift--and, picking his victim on the
+plain below, was about to fling it down. Cody quickly dashed across
+the intervening space, and, revolver in hand, tapped the madman on the
+shoulder.
+
+With a sudden inspiration the scout shouted into the man’s ear a name
+he had not spoken himself for a dozen years--the name of a man who,
+until the night before, he had believed long since dead.
+
+The Mad Hunter turned in a flash. He dropped the rock. He stared at the
+scout with wondering gaze. His eyes grew somber as the light of insane
+rage died out of them. He whispered at last:
+
+“Who--who calls me by that name? Speak!”
+
+Trembling violently, he gazed upon the scout with some shadow of reason
+struggling to dawn in his expression. It was elusive--fleeting--yet the
+scout knew that he had touched a chord of memory that shook the man to
+the foundation of his being.
+
+“Who speaks that name after all these years?” cried the madman again.
+
+“I am Bill Cody--Cody, your old pal. Cody, the man you knew on the Rio
+Grande!” exclaimed the scout, his own voice shaking, for the discovery
+he had made passed the bounds of reason.
+
+The strange being shook his head slowly.
+
+“No. You may be whom you say; but the man you spoke of first is
+dead--dead--a long time dead!”
+
+Buffalo Bill, however, was gaining confidence in his discovery all the
+time.
+
+“You’re the man! I know you are. Think, man! Send back your memory to
+those old times. Remember the work we did together. Remember--remember
+your wife--your child----”
+
+With a shriek like nothing human, with a face that changed in a flash
+to that of a demoniac, the Mad Hunter hurled himself, bare-handed, at
+the scout’s throat.
+
+“Fiend! Fiend from the pit!” he yelled. “You have come to torment me
+and taunt me! Ah! for long have I escaped your taunts; but now you have
+returned!”
+
+His heartrending cry almost unmanned the scout. He saw that he had
+touched the wrong chord with the madman. Reminded of the loss of his
+wife and child, the victim of this awful fate had been thrown into a
+paroxysm of rage.
+
+For an instant Buffalo Bill hesitated. That hesitation came near
+to costing him his life. The maniac was upon him and seized his
+pistol-hand before he could make up his mind to fire at his old friend.
+The madman’s other hand tightened on the scout’s throat. They swayed
+upon the edge of the precipice.
+
+Seconds dragged like hours in that struggle. Buffalo Bill had met more
+than his match in this wild being. Suddenly he heard a cry below:
+
+“Hold, Cody! for God’s sake, hold!”
+
+It was Captain Keyes’ voice. It inspired the sinking scout to make one
+final and desperate effort. He half-tore him self free of the giant’s
+clutch.
+
+“Steady! Texas Jack has got the drop on him!” yelled the voice of Keyes
+again.
+
+Instantly there came the sharp crack of a rifle. The maniac jumped
+slightly, and his awful grip loosened. The scout tore himself
+completely away, spattered by the maniac’s blood.
+
+The latter whirled about, back to the brink of the bluff, clutched
+helplessly at the air with his great hands, and pitched down the
+declivity. He was dead before he struck the bottom--a heap of broken
+bones and bruised flesh!
+
+Texas Jack mounted the cliff to see if the scout was all right. He
+found Cody wiping the blood from his face, and very grave of look.
+
+“Had to shoot him, old man. ’Twas you or him, yuh know,” said the
+brother scout.
+
+“I know it, Jack. I can only thank you. But I am sorry--bitterly sorry.
+I knew that man when he was a right good fellow. Ask Captain Keyes to
+give him decent burial, and to mark the grave--mark it with the letter
+‘D.’”
+
+With these words Cody shook hands with his pard and hastened away to
+where Chief was quietly feeding. In a moment he was riding hard away
+from the spot where the terrible tragedy had taken place.
+
+Captain Keyes complied with Cody’s request, but was sorry that the
+scout had evidently gone on his mission of death--for the officer could
+look at the visit to the Indian encampment in no other light.
+
+He had divided his force, as he said he should, and the vanguard
+went on to the coulée and buried the dead. All the redskins had been
+removed, and the place was deserted of the living. But when they came
+to search for Dick Danforth’s body, intending to remove it to the fort
+with them, it was not to be found. The brave lieutenant, for whose
+scalp Buffalo Bill had pleaded with White Antelope, had disappeared
+from the field of battle.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIV. RED KNIFE LOSES HIS “MEDICINE.”
+
+
+At the time the fire burst out in the great forest and Buffalo Bill,
+the Border King, and his partner, Texas Jack, were chased by the
+flames, a young buck of Oak Heart’s tribe of Utah Sioux was likewise
+in the path of the flames. He had been out after a bear, because his
+father, an old brave now toothless and unable to follow in the chase,
+had expressed a desire for bear paws, roasted.
+
+The government of Indian society is strictly patriarchal. The father
+of a family demands, and is accorded, the greatest respect. Besides, it
+is a trait of Indian character to care for and respect the aged. The
+aged men of the tribe usually mold its opinions in both peace and war.
+
+Besides, Red Knife, as this young buck was named, was not a married
+man. He was what the whites would have called “an old bach.” He had no
+teepee of his own, but it was a notorious fact that he cast longing
+glances toward White Antelope, the cherished daughter of Oak Heart
+and the flower of the Sioux maidens. He had gone hunting for the bear
+because his father was fond of bear paws, but with the claws, and
+others in his possession, he hoped to make a cunning necklace that
+would be acceptable to the chief’s daughter.
+
+Red Knife had lately become of moment in the tribe. It had been his
+hand that had finally felled the chief of the pony soldiers who were
+killed in the coulée, and whom Death Killer had tried to scalp. Red
+Knife hoped in time to become so important that the White Antelope
+would really look at him with favor, instead of ignoring him altogether.
+
+The buck had obtained a single shot at his bearship, wounding him with
+a barbed arrow, and had driven him into a thicket toward the close of
+the day. Suddenly the smoke that had been hanging over the hilltops for
+hours swooped down upon the Indian and his quarry, and following the
+smoke came the fire--a deluge of flame!
+
+The bear suddenly lost his fear of the redskin, and the latter lost his
+desire to take bear paws to his teepee.
+
+The crackling of the flames as they leaped down the wooded side-hills
+into the valley warned both hunter and hunted that there was no time
+to lose. The bear burst out of the thicket, the arrow still sticking
+in his rump, and waddled off for running water at a great pace. The
+Indian had chased the beast into unfamiliar territory, and now he took
+advantage of his prey’s instinct. He followed the bear.
+
+Through brush and bramble, over rocky way and swampy land, the bear and
+the man raced. At times they were almost side by side, and neither paid
+the least attention to the other. Lighter and swifter creatures passed
+the two like the wind; the bear and the redskin plugged along doggedly,
+as though running for a wager.
+
+They were not in the neighborhood of Bendigo Lake, so they did not
+meet up with either the two scouts or with the Mad Hunter. It was a
+stream which the bear, back in his little brain, knew would be running
+full even at this dry season. They reached it barely in time to save
+themselves from being withered by the flames. The bear’s fur was indeed
+smoking.
+
+He plunged over the bank into the deep, dark pool. Red Knife went after
+bruin, landing squarely on the bear’s back, eliciting only the notice
+of a grunt from the beast as he sank to the bottom of the pool and let
+the flames roar overhead.
+
+The redskin stayed below the surface as long as he could, too. He could
+feel the bear beside him all the time. He might have flung himself upon
+the beast with his knife and killed him. It were better had he done so.
+
+But at the time Red Knife was too perturbed to think of killing his
+companion in misery. When the redskin came up to breathe, the fiery
+brands showered upon him so thickly that he was glad to sink again. It
+was some time before it was safe for him to squat, with his head out of
+water.
+
+And there were the redskin and the bear, both on their haunches, with
+their noses stuck out of the pool like two bullfrogs. As the heat grew
+less intense and the brands stopped falling, the bear and the man began
+eying each other with less favor. Each recovered from his panic and
+began to remember that they were deadly enemies.
+
+The bear growled and shifted his position to a distance from the red;
+the latter got out his knife--the only weapon he had saved--and in
+moments when he was not dodging flying fire planned what he would do
+should bruin take it into his head to attack.
+
+This deep pool in the brook was no proper arena for a
+bear-fight--especially when the human antagonist had simply a knife.
+Red Knife thought some of sinking to the bottom of the pool again
+and making the attack himself by trying to drive his blade into some
+vulnerable part of the beast.
+
+But the difficulty of using his knife with any surety, or putting any
+force behind the blow under water, detained him from trying this.
+Besides, the bear, if killed or badly injured, would sink and might
+pinion the redskin to the bottom of the brook.
+
+Therefore, as soon as he could see at all through the rolling smoke,
+and the worst of the flames had passed, leaving a thicket or dead tree
+only blazing in its wake here and there, the redskin made up his mind
+that he would better trust to the dry ground. His moccasins were
+well-nigh torn from his feet by his furious race through the forest,
+and his meager clothing in general had been seriously torn. There was
+little to shield him from the fire if he came forth, but the water of
+the brook was ice-cold, and hardy as the Red Knife was its chill had
+now set his teeth to playing like castanets.
+
+The bear whined with the cold, too, but the next moment he growled as
+Red Knife made a movement toward him. If the beast once got a hold with
+his front paws on the redskin he would disembowel him with the great
+claws of his hind feet. Red Knife shrank farther away from the bear’s
+vicinity.
+
+At this bruin plucked up courage. He growled again, came down off his
+haunches, and began to swim across the pool toward the Indian. The
+latter saw that it was his move--and the only place for him to move
+to was out of the water. So he backed into the shallower part of the
+stream and toward a part of the bank that was comparatively clear of
+fire.
+
+The heat and smoke were still almost blistering. To leave the water was
+a cross indeed. But the bear continued to advance, and Red Knife did
+not consider that he wished to come immediately to close quarters with
+the brute.
+
+As he backed out of the stream the heat of a near-by blazing thicket
+warmed him more than comfortably. The chill was driven out of his body,
+and his teeth stopped chattering. Fearful as he was of the fire--all
+wild beasts hate it--the bear found the increasing warmth grateful,
+too. He scrambled out upon the bank, too, and actually squatted down in
+the heat of the bonfire to dry himself.
+
+Red Knife looked about him as well as he could for the drifting smoke,
+and picked out the apparently safest path from the spot. Had he been
+contented to decamp without stirring up the bear, he would have been
+all right. But an Indian loves to tell of his prowess around the
+camp-fire, and so far there had been very little in this adventure to
+suggest a tale of self-glorification.
+
+Therefore the buck determined to have those bear paws for his father
+and the claws for the necklace, after all!
+
+He hunted out a big stone, pried it out of the smoking ground with
+his knife, and, picking it up, poised it carefully for a cast. With a
+sudden grunt of anger, the bear rose up. He seemed to smell trouble in
+the air. His movement rather spoiled Red Knife’s aim, or else the buck
+was nervous. The stone, thrown with terrific force, just glanced from
+bruin’s hard skull!
+
+With a roar the bear sprang at the foolish red man. He came all glaring
+eyes, froth-dripping fangs, and unsheathed claws--a sight to drive the
+barb of terror into the bravest heart!
+
+The redskin found himself walled in by fire behind. He leaped for the
+pool again, but the bear reached him with one paw first. The stroke
+ripped his hunting-shirt and leggings fairly from his body. Nothing but
+shreds of the garments were left and hung upon him--along with shreds
+of his torn flesh!
+
+The redskin yelled and leaped into the water. The bear growled and
+plunged after him. As he came up Red Knife saw the great body of the
+beast going down, and he struck at it with his blade again and again.
+The sharp steel was buried in the body of the brute at each stroke,
+but all about the shoulders--a part not at all vital.
+
+Again and again Red Knife struck before the bear came to the surface,
+but, although the blood flowed until the agitated pool was dyed red,
+the bear came up as strong and as ugly as ever.
+
+Red Knife threw himself backward and escaped the first plunging blows
+of the bear. He reached shallow water and leaped ashore, being more
+agile in this than his bearship. But in doing so he chanced to slip and
+turn his ankle. The pain was very great for a moment, and the Indian
+fell to the ground, giving the bear a chance to almost overtake him.
+
+Instantly, however, the red turned and struck at his bearship before
+the latter could seize him with its great, slobbering jaws. An attack
+always puts a bear on the defensive. He squatted back on his haunches,
+ready to either hug his enemy or to strike at him with his great
+forearms, which swung like flails!
+
+Red Knife clambered to his feet, but he could not run. The bear would
+overtake him now in a short race. He poised himself on one foot,
+holding his dripping blade before him, and, believing himself come to
+the end of his time, the stoical Indian began to chant the death-song.
+
+The growling of the bear almost drowned this cry of the Indian. The
+latter advanced to embrace death, yet determined to sell his last
+breath dearly.
+
+The flaillike arms of the bear swung to and fro; he champed his
+teeth and roared. The Indian flung himself with the desperation of a
+berserker upon the animal, striking again and again with his keen blade.
+
+Two awful raking blows the bear got in himself. It stripped the last
+rag from the Indian’s body, and broke the string of the amulet he wore
+about his neck, as well. They clinched like two men wrestling, and so
+rolled into the pool.
+
+Splash! they went under the surface. Bubbles and gore rose to the
+agitated top of the water.
+
+Then one of the contestants floated up, struggled a bit, secured a
+footing, and slowly walked ashore. It was the Indian. It was Red Knife,
+as naked as when he was born. He sank upon the bank of the stream, the
+conqueror in a good fight. But he had no joy in his heart. Instead, he
+was filled with gloom. In the struggle and the last plunge in the pool
+he had lost his medicine-bag!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXV. THE SEARCH FOR NEW MEDICINE.
+
+
+When a young brave comes to man’s estate his initiation into the
+religion of his tribe is a great matter. Heretofore he has had no real
+name. He has been called by several names, perhaps, but they have been
+those given him by his parents, and are perhaps only the pet names of
+childhood. Now he is a man and gets the name which in war and on the
+hunt he is hopeful of making great and long-remembered by the tribe.
+
+Red Knife belonged to the family of the Crow. The signification of that
+family was painted upon his father’s wigwam, as it would be upon his
+own when he set up a domicile for himself.
+
+So the medicine-man had put into a bag the dried entrails of a crow,
+its hard, black claws, and some of its feathers, with various other
+charms against evil. The young man had watched all night upon a
+lonely hill, fasting, to guard his shield and arms, as well as the
+new medicine, from those spirits that are ever warring against human
+beings--according to the Indian code--and had in other ways proved
+himself worthy of being a brave in the councils of the Sioux.
+
+The bag, which had been fastened about Red Knife’s neck, was as
+precious to the Indian as his soul! Having lost it, he had lost caste
+and all else that an Indian holds of value. He would be considered
+apostate from the faith of his fathers; all that he had done heretofore
+in war and the chase would be held as nothing. He would be outcast from
+his kind, having lost his medicine, unless he could by some wonderful
+performance, or by some mysterious chance, find and appropriate a new
+medicine.
+
+There are just so many medicines in the world, according to the Indian
+belief; there is one for each man. Having lost his medicine, it could
+not be replaced by the medicine chief or by any other ordinary means.
+He could not kill an enemy and take _his_ medicine for his own; for as
+soon as a man is dead the virtue of his medicine accompanies him on the
+journey to the happy hunting-grounds.
+
+No man would be so foolish as to sell his medicine at any price. With
+his last breath he will fight for that amulet. Red Knife was undone
+indeed as he sat there beside the bloody pool. All the manhood had
+gone out of him. His hard fight and his many wounds seemed as nothing
+to him now. He was bereft of his choicest possession and could not be
+comforted.
+
+Yet a desire to be with his kind, to see the faces of his tribesmen
+again, drove the young man finally from his position. The fire had gone
+from the forest, and it was midday of the second day before he rose to
+his feet. The decomposing gases in the body of the bear had brought it
+to the surface. Red Knife hobbled down, cut off the paws and strung
+them about his neck, flayed the carcass, cut off some flesh for his own
+consumption, found a flint-stone, and with the back of his knife struck
+off sparks which lit a fire, and after eating and renewing his strength
+he wrapped himself in the gory robe and started for Oak Heart’s village.
+
+This encampment had been well out of the line of the forest fire and
+had not been disturbed by it. Red Knife reached it in the night and
+came to his father’s lodge. But he did not venture within. He was
+pariah--outcast--the lowest of the low.
+
+His mother gave him food in the morning, but his father sent back the
+bear’s paws. It was soon known that Red Knife had lost his medicine,
+and the head of the Crow family could not accept food at his hand. Of
+course, Red Knife knew it would be useless to make the bear claws into
+a necklace for the White Antelope. She would look at him less now than
+before. Besides, the White Antelope remained in her lodge, with one old
+woman, her nurse, most of the time. There was something very mysterious
+about the movements of the daughter of the chief.
+
+This did not interest Red Knife much at the time, however. He was past
+thinking of women. His own people looked at him askance. Nobody spoke
+to him; he was welcome in no lodge, and the very clothing which his
+mother flung him seemed begrudged. All Indians must harden their hearts
+against a being so cursed of the Great Spirit that he had lost his
+medicine!
+
+He could enter no council of his tribe; he had no voice in the general
+affairs; he could join in none of the sports. All that he had done
+before was forgotten. Even that he had brought low the white chief who
+had led the pony soldiers to the battle in the coulée counted nothing
+for Red Knife now. He was outcast.
+
+Red Knife could not stand for this long. An Indian does not make way
+with himself. A suicide wanders forever between this life and that to
+come, and is never at rest. But Red Knife was nearly desperate enough
+to resort to this awful finish.
+
+At least he determined to go out from among his people and never to
+return until he had found a new medicine and obtained a new name for
+himself--in other words, until he could demand the respect of his
+family and of his tribe.
+
+Now he crept out of the encampment, and from a high hill muttered his
+farewell address to his home and his people. He would not be Red Knife
+when he returned--if he returned at all. All the encampment knew that,
+but only one figure stood by his father’s lodge to watch him go. He
+knew that was his mother, but it was beneath him to notice a squaw!
+
+Now this young buck had set forth on a search as great as that for the
+Golden Fleece or the Holy Grail of old! Had the tribe a Homer, some
+great saga might have been written regarding the labor Red Knife had
+set himself.
+
+To go forth and kill an enemy and take his medicine was a simple
+matter. But the medicine of another would surely bring bad luck to the
+scion of the family of Crow. And to find a man with two medicines--ah!
+that were a well-nigh impossible task! And, when found, would such a
+fortunate person be willing to give up his extra medicine? To fight for
+it might end in the death of the first possessor, and then would the
+virtue go from the medicine and it become a curse to Red Knife.
+
+The young man left his village and journeyed aimlessly for two days
+through the mountains. So unnoticing was he that finally he came to a
+place where he did not know his way out. He was not so far from Oak
+Heart’s village, but its direction he did not know for sure. And this
+valley in which he found himself seemed an uninhabited place.
+
+Many of the braves were out on hunting bent, but Red Knife had not
+seen any of them for twenty-four hours. Nor had he beheld a white man
+until, coming down to drink at the edge of the stream which watered
+this valley, he suddenly saw a figure in buckskin sitting upon a great,
+white horse on the opposite side of the stream. In the fading light
+of the evening the being looked gigantic to the red man--who was in
+a state of mind to see ghosts or anything else eerie! The strange
+figure was that of a white man. He had hair flowing to his shoulders,
+and he sat his horse with folded arms, staring off into the distance,
+evidently wrapped in deep thought.
+
+The wind was with the brave, and the horse even did not notice his
+presence. Red Knife might have crossed the stream and leaped upon the
+unsuspicious white man. Yet his mind was not upon killing, and when he
+finally recognized the stranger as the far-famed Pa-e-has-ka or Long
+Hair he feared and would not, single-handed, have attempted the man’s
+death.
+
+Seldom might Buffalo Bill have been so easily caught napping. But he
+had seen no trace of Indians in the valley; he had ridden through it to
+this spot, and now his mind had reverted to his deep sorrow regarding
+Dick Danforth’s death, and he thought of nothing else.
+
+He roused at last from his reverie with a sigh, and glanced about him.
+His vision fell upon the figure of the young brave standing, likewise
+with folded arms, upon the edge of the stream. He could not repress a
+start of surprise at the appearance.
+
+“How!” grunted Red Knife.
+
+“How!” repeated the scout, in English.
+
+Then in the Sioux dialect he said:
+
+“Is it peace, brother?”
+
+“It is peace.”
+
+The scout had seen that the young buck was not panoplied for war, and
+now he dismounted and came to his side of the stream.
+
+“You are one of Oak Heart’s people?” Cody asked.
+
+“I _was_ Red Knife, of the Sioux.”
+
+The scout overlooked the emphasis on the “was” for the moment. His
+attention was particularly stung by the name the brave gave.
+
+“‘Red Knife!’” he repeated.
+
+The brave bowed and was silent.
+
+“It was you who killed the white chief of the pony soldiers?” gasped
+Cody.
+
+Red Knife nodded again.
+
+The scout fiercely gripped the rifle he carried. In his heart he felt
+like shooting the brave down where he stood. But he repressed this
+momentary feeling and said:
+
+“I have sworn vengeance against all who had to do with the death of
+that young man. He was as my son. Will Red Knife fight Pa-e-has-ka? Let
+him choose his own weapons and come against me that I may kill him in
+fair fight.”
+
+“I heard of your oath over the dead body of the brave white chief,”
+said Red Knife. “Pa-e-has-ka is a great chief himself. Red Knife is no
+match for him. But Red Knife now has no name and is of no people. Would
+Pa-e-has-ka fight with such a one?”
+
+“What’s the matter?” demanded Cody, in English, suddenly seeing that
+the young man was in a despondent mood.
+
+“I am an outcast from my people.”
+
+“What’s all that for? I should think the bloody devils would have
+rejoiced over your killing of poor Danforth,” muttered the scout.
+
+“Let me tell Pa-e-has-ka the tale,” began Red Knife oratorically. “The
+Sioux did indeed rejoice over the death of the young white chief. Red
+Knife was then a great warrior. But since misery has come upon him.”
+
+“And serve him right!” muttered Cody.
+
+With many a flourish of flowery phrase, the buck went on to recount his
+fight with the bear and the loss of his medicine-bag. He displayed the
+half-healed wounds made by the bear, and Cody saw that the story was
+true. Knowing well how great a matter this loss was to the Indian, the
+scout could not help but feeling some pity for him.
+
+Besides, Red Knife had only followed out his savage instincts and code
+of honor in killing Danforth. And putting aside his personal desire
+for vengeance, Buffalo Bill saw that he might make use of the young
+brave. It was not against the ordinary bucks who had been in the fight
+that the scout felt hatred. Boyd Bennett had lied to Oak Heart, made
+him believe that Danforth’s expedition was after the old chief, and had
+led and planned the attack upon the soldiers and brought about their
+massacre.
+
+It was the renegade--he who called himself Death Killer, medicine chief
+of the Sioux--whom Buffalo Bill wished to get!
+
+Buffalo Bill had taken many desperate chances in his life. From the
+time when, as a younker of eleven years, he had hired out to the
+freighter at Leavenworth to do a man’s work for a man’s pay, and became
+a messenger riding between the long freight-trains on the overland
+trail, he had faced death in many forms and on many occasions. But in
+determining to go to the Sioux encampment to keep his tryst with White
+Antelope, he seemed to be passing the limit of reckless daring!
+
+Yet he believed that he had a chance for life. He would risk it, at
+least.
+
+For some days he had scouted about Oak Heart’s encampment, and he had
+learned that something very strange was going on in that neighborhood.
+He saw in this meeting with the outcast Red Knife a chance to gain a
+more intimate knowledge of matters in the encampment before venturing
+himself in the lion’s mouth.
+
+“Let Red Knife join Pa-e-has-ka upon this side of the brook,” the scout
+said, at last. “There shall be a truce between them. Pa-e-has-ka will
+share his meat with Red Knife; Red Knife shall smoke and sleep beside
+Pa-e-has-ka’s fire.”
+
+If the young brave was astonished at this sudden proffer of friendship,
+he showed nothing of the kind in his face. He did not even hesitate. He
+crossed the brook straightly and helped prepare the camp in silence.
+
+The fact was the young Indian had put himself in the hands of the
+spirits. He believed he was being led. Perhaps this white man had a
+good medicine which Red Knife might fairly obtain and so become a
+person of consequence in his tribe again.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVI. THE MAGIC CUP.
+
+
+First of all, Cody desired to question the Sioux warrior, and as he
+prepared a hearty meal he proceeded to draw Red Knife out.
+
+“When did my brother leave the village of his people?”
+
+“It is a night and two days.”
+
+“Is Oak Heart inclined to peace?”
+
+“Oak Heart awaits the coming of the Long Hair, as he promised White
+Antelope.”
+
+“Very true,” said Cody calmly. “But there is one near Oak Heart who
+would keep the Long Hair from fulfilling his promise.”
+
+“A warrior?”
+
+“The renegade white, whom you call Death Killer.”
+
+“Ah! Death Killer is a great magician,” declared Red Knife, looking as
+though he meant it.
+
+“He is a wicked white. He is throwing dirt in the faces of my red
+brothers. They do not know him.”
+
+“His medicine is wonderful.”
+
+“Yet he could not make new medicine for the Red Knife?” suggested Cody
+slyly.
+
+“Ah! who could do that?” demanded the brave gloomily.
+
+“I have heard of its being done,” said the scout, and then, before the
+red man could ask a question, he proceeded: “Death Killer has ringed
+the camp with his own braves. They lay in wait for Pa-e-has-ka. Is it
+not so?”
+
+At this Red Knife showed that he was surprised.
+
+“This is bad. This is not known to Oak Heart. Is it so, Long Hair?”
+
+“The Sioux know that Long Hair is not two-tongued,” declared Cody.
+“This is so. I suspected it, and I have found them watching. Is not
+Death Killer much from the camp?”
+
+“He is.”
+
+“He goes from watcher to watcher to see that all are in their places.
+If Long Hair goes straight to the camp of Oak Heart, he will be killed.”
+
+Red Knife shrugged his shoulders and fell silent. Cody saw that,
+although the young brave considered it none of his business--it was a
+fight between Long Hair and Death Killer--he did not approve of the
+latter’s methods. And the scout was convinced, too, that the bulk of
+the Indians--and Oak Heart himself--knew naught of the trick to which
+Boyd Bennett had resorted.
+
+Cody had not been foolish enough to ride straight toward Oak Heart’s
+village when he rode away from the spot where the Mad Hunter had been
+killed. He had seen in Boyd Bennett’s face, when he had gone free under
+his promise to the chief’s daughter, that the scoundrel would do all
+in his power to keep the scout from fulfilling his agreement. Although
+in going to the Indian village Cody would be taking his life in his
+hand, still by _not_ appearing there he would lose honor among the reds
+themselves.
+
+It would be said among the Utah Sioux, and from them spread to the
+Utes, Arapahoes, and others, that Pa-e-has-ka was afraid to keep his
+promise. And from the time he first journeyed across the plains Buffalo
+Bill had kept his agreements in every particular with the red man,
+friend or foe alike. He was one of the few white men “without guile.”
+He said what he meant, and meant what he said, and he was considered
+single-tongued by all, though he was up to every craftiness that his
+enemies might try upon him.
+
+Cody now wished to undermine the popularity of Boyd Bennett among Oak
+Heart’s braves. Even if he got through the medicine chief’s guards
+and reached the council-lodge of the Sioux, he would have to face the
+influence of the renegade, and that might overcome him to the extent of
+his life’s sacrifice. The scout was not the man to go blindly into a
+trap.
+
+Death Killer, as he called himself, was playing the traitor. Cody
+wished to convince Red Knife of this fact and send him back to the
+encampment to spread the tale against Death Killer. To this end he used
+the cunning which he had long cultivated in his association with the
+redskins.
+
+He well knew the regard in which the Indian holds his medicine-bag. If
+he could restore to Red Knife his medicine, or, rather, supply him
+with a new amulet that would make him a man and a citizen again, the
+scout could command his good offices to almost any extent.
+
+But the scout said nothing further that night. He let his observations
+regarding the renegade Bennett sink into the red man’s mind. In the
+morning he fed him bountifully again. When he had finished, Red Knife
+showed that he had digested Cody’s remarks well, and was in some
+measure grateful for the entertainment shown him.
+
+“The Long Hair is my brother. He has warmed me and fed me. If the Long
+Hair really desires to appear before Oak Heart and the old men of the
+tribe, as he has promised, Red Knife may show him a way.”
+
+“Ah!” exclaimed the scout. “Some way that Death Killer is not guarding
+with his braves, eh?”
+
+“It may be.”
+
+“In which direction is it?”
+
+“The Long Hair knows the direction of the encampment, perhaps? Red
+Knife, wandering in broken spirit, has lost his way.”
+
+“Oh, you want to know the direction of the place?”
+
+“It is so. The lodges of his people will not receive Red Knife, but he
+may point them out, by a secret way, to the Long Hair.”
+
+“Humph! Let’s see the direction,” muttered Cody, and drew from under
+his shirt a small compass in a brass cup which was hung about his neck
+by a strong cord.
+
+The Indian’s eyes suddenly glistened. Here was the great white’s
+chief’s medicine, and Red Knife was greatly interested in medicines
+just then! He peered closely at the cup which Cody held in his hand.
+The latter noticed the brave’s eagerness, and he knew instinctively
+what was passing through the red’s mind.
+
+Therefore the scout made a great show of consulting the compass,
+holding it in his hand while the little needle waggled cheerfully
+to his movements, pointing ever to the north. Finally Red Knife
+spoke--breathlessly:
+
+“Does the magic cup speak to Long Hair? If so, its voice is very low.
+Does it tell where lies the lodges of my people?”
+
+“It does not speak. But it answers the question,” declared Cody gravely.
+
+“A marvelous magic!” exclaimed Red Knife. “The white chief worships the
+spirit of the cup?”
+
+“This is a great medicine, Red Knife,” said Cody seriously. “Now mark!
+We wish to know how to travel to reach the lodges of your people. Long
+Hair knows that we are south and west of the village. We look into the
+cup.”
+
+He thrust the compass under the Indian’s nose, and Red Knife had hard
+work to keep from jumping back.
+
+“Look! See the finger which moves?”
+
+“Ugh! It is magic!” muttered the young brave.
+
+“That finger points ever to the cold land--to the lands from which
+winter comes. Always to the north it points. Therefore, so standing
+and facing the north, my right hand points to the sunrise, my left to
+the sunset,” suiting the action to his words. “Behind me is the south.
+Therefore, by facing the sunrise and bearing off somewhat to the north
+of that, we approach the village of Chief Oak Heart.”
+
+“Ugh! It is wonder-work, indeed!” exclaimed Red Knife. “It is a great
+medicine.”
+
+“It is a great and good medicine. No brave in Red Knife’s tribe has a
+medicine like this.”
+
+“There are no two medicines alike in this world,” grunted the brave
+philosophically.
+
+Cody went to the bag strapped to Chief’s saddle, unbuckled a pocket,
+and brought out a small packet tied in wash-leather and oilskin. When
+he was in Denver he had made a purchase for a brother scout, but so
+far had not run up against the man to give it to him. He came back
+to the fire, squatted down beside Red Knife, and unwrapped the exact
+counterpart of his own “magic cup,” only this was brighter and unused.
+
+“Waugh!” ejaculated the Indian, starting back.
+
+“You see, here is another of the magic cups. I have long had two
+medicines,” said Buffalo Bill, drawing slightly on his imagination.
+“They are good medicines. They have brought me good luck and made me
+successful in the chase, and in war. The Red Knife has no medicine.
+What would he do for the possession of this?” and the scout held out
+the compass temptingly.
+
+Red Knife could barely restrain himself now. His cheeks actually
+flushed, and his eyes glistened.
+
+“The Red Knife is a man!” he cried. “He will fight the Long Hair for
+the good medicine.”
+
+“Nay. The Long Hair cannot battle at once with he whom he has fed. The
+Red Knife and the Long Hair are brothers. The Long Hair will give his
+red brother the magic cup,” and he thrust the compass into the brave’s
+willing hand.
+
+“In return,” Cody pursued, “Red Knife will take the tale of Death
+Killer’s treachery into Oak Heart’s village. Come! Long Hair will show
+his brother the medicine chief’s braves lurking for the scalp of Long
+Hair. It is a true tale. Red Knife will tell Oak Heart himself.”
+
+“Waugh! Death Killer is a mighty chief,” said Red Knife hesitatingly.
+
+“And this is a mighty medicine,” suggested the wily scout.
+
+The Indian rose up suddenly and thrust the compass into the breast of
+his shirt. He had evidently made up his mind.
+
+“It is well,” he said shortly. “Let Long Hair show this truth to me.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVII. THE TRAITOR.
+
+
+Buffalo Bill was too wise to take Chief too near the Indian encampment.
+The wise white horse could take care of himself in ordinary
+emergencies, but he would be rather in the way up in the mountains, and
+the scout left him in a well-grassed valley, while he and Red Knife
+went on toward the Indian village.
+
+Chief Oak Heart had established himself in a place not easy of
+access by the pony soldiers, and he had a great contempt for the
+“walk-a-heaps.” The Sioux are great riders, seldom walking where a pony
+can carry them, and are contemptuous of all people who do not likewise
+ride.
+
+Red Knife had left his village afoot. It was a mark of his humility and
+his desperate straits. The route back to the encampment was so rough
+that ponies would have been of little use to either the red man or the
+scout. They were all day in climbing the mountain and finding a pass
+through to the other side of the ridge. They came out about dark in
+sight of the valley where the village lay. Its lights were visible to
+them from the mountainside. They retired to a cave that Red Knife knew
+of, however, and built their own fire, out of sight.
+
+Red Knife was mightily pleased with his new medicine. He was eager
+to get down to his people and show its virtues to them. But he had
+promised two things to the scout. One was to point out a secret trail
+down into Oak Heart’s camp; the other to spread among the braves
+the fact of Death Killer’s treachery--providing Cody proved to his
+satisfaction that the medicine chief _was_ treacherous.
+
+Before daybreak Buffalo Bill awoke his red ally, and they stole out of
+the cave like shadows. The Border King had marked well the stations of
+the various braves who were under the medicine chief’s control. They
+were set at every entrance to the valley by which the scout might have
+penetrated to the encampment.
+
+At least, such had been the case upon his previous visit, and they
+were not long at the search before spotting one of these sentinels.
+At least, he was one of Death Killer’s particular friends, and he was
+apparently watching a pass through the hills.
+
+The scout and Red Knife approached quite near to him, but Cody would
+not let his companion speak to the sentinel.
+
+“Wait! Let us see if there are more, as I have told my red brother,” he
+observed, and they went on to another path. Sure enough, there, grimly
+camped beside the way, was a second brave, likewise one of those who
+associated more closely with Boyd Bennett, the renegade. Again they
+went on, going cautiously now, for it was past sunrise, and found a
+third watchman.
+
+These plainly were not sentinels placed to guard particularly the
+camp itself. Those were much nearer the village. These red men were
+stationed thusly for a particular purpose.
+
+“Is my red brother satisfied that the Long Hair spoke truly?” asked the
+scout of the young brave.
+
+“Pa-e-has-ka is of single tongue. He does not lie. But Red Knife will
+first go to Chief Oak Heart and ask him if, by his instruction, these
+men were sent to bar the way to the lodges of the Sioux. If the great
+chief knows naught of it, then must Death Killer explain.”
+
+“Tell Oak Heart to remove these guards and Long Hair will appear before
+him as he promised the White Antelope,” said Cody seriously.
+
+Red Knife solemnly shook hands with him. Although the young brave had,
+by his own confession, killed Dick Danforth, the scout had been forced
+to make use of him. Now he gave him a word of warning:
+
+“Although Red Knife is now Long Hair’s friend, and Long Hair has given
+him of his own strong medicine that Red Knife might be a man among his
+people, there is still a feud between them. It was Red Knife’s hand
+that killed the young white chief, whom Long Hair loved. When next we
+meet let Red Knife beware.”
+
+“It is just,” admitted the Indian solemnly. “Let us go.”
+
+He led Cody then to the hidden path which would enable the scout to
+pass all of Death Killer’s sentinels and, indeed, most of the guards
+of the village, and so ride almost into the encampment itself without
+being seen. Then, without a word further, the young brave turned his
+face toward his father’s lodge.
+
+Buffalo Bill sat down and smoked his pipe while he watched him along
+the trail into the valley. He could watch Red Knife for a long distance
+before the young man came out upon the bluff which overlooked the
+valley where the encampment lay. Until that time he could not be seen
+from below.
+
+Suddenly Buffalo Bill saw a figure among the rocks near the path which
+Red Knife was following. It was of another Indian, but the scout could
+not see the man’s face--not even with the aid of his field-glasses. Red
+Knife seemed totally unconscious of the other’s presence until suddenly
+the stranger leaped before him and stood in his path.
+
+“Hello!” muttered Cody. “What’s all this?”
+
+It was evident that the two redskins conversed excitedly. What they
+said, of course, the scout could not even guess. Indians are usually so
+self-repressed that the scout could not judge at this distance whether
+they spoke angrily or in the most pleasant way together.
+
+It seemed, however, as though the strange redskin tried to urge Red
+Knife to wait, but the young brave was determined to go on down into
+the valley. At last he seemed almost to break away from the other and
+push on toward the edge of the bluff. Cody knew that neither of the
+actors in the drama below could be seen from the village.
+
+Red Knife was determined, and left the one who had accosted him. The
+latter shrank back and watched him for a moment. Then suddenly Cody
+saw him gather himself, jerk the tomahawk from his belt, and swing the
+weapon high in the air!
+
+Cody caught himself from crying out, but he _did_ leap up as the fatal
+blow fell. The strange Indian cast himself upon Red Knife’s back
+and clove the unconscious red man’s skull with a mighty blow of the
+hatchet. Red Knife went down in a heap!
+
+Cody pulled himself together and, through the glass, watched the
+traitor stoop over the fallen man, strip the scalp from his head, and
+then dart away among the rocks. Steeped in guilt as he was, the scout
+knew the villain would not remain near the scene of his atrocious act.
+Therefore he risked going down to the place himself.
+
+Poor Red Knife was truly disposed of. The hatchet had killed him
+instantly. And all the hopes Cody had based upon his good offices were
+dissipated at once.
+
+The scout stood there for some time and communed with himself. Should
+he risk going on into the village now? Or should he await some
+favorable opportunity of undermining Boyd Bennett’s power before
+putting himself within the bandit’s grasp?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVIII. WHITE ANTELOPE’S PERIL.
+
+
+There was much disturbance in the encampment about this time, as
+Buffalo Bill had seen when making his observations from the high peaks
+about the valley. The Indians ran to and fro like ants, and runners
+frequently went out, or came in by the northern roads. This meant
+surely that Oak Heart was communicating with the other chiefs, and
+the scout feared that, stirred up by Boyd Bennett in his character of
+medicine chief, the Sioux leader was preparing for another attack like
+that on Fort Advance.
+
+Rumors ran rife among the Indians regarding the movements of the
+bluecoats, and the numbers of them who had come to bury the dead whites
+after the recent ambush in which Oak Heart himself had taken part. The
+old chief, believing that Lieutenant Danforth was coming to attack his
+encampment, had taken part in this sanguinary struggle himself.
+
+Now certain warriors brought strange rumors into the village. It was
+said that Pa-e-has-ka was on the war-path, too. And that he was leading
+the whites to the encampment. So spoke the Death Killer, the white
+medicine chief of the Sioux, who was gaining great influence with the
+young men of the tribe.
+
+“Pa-e-has-ka is my foe,” he said bitterly, “and I sought to bring him
+captive here, or to slay him with his friend; but the White Antelope
+freed him, and sent him back to his people to carry Oak Heart’s
+warning. What has been done? Do not the white men come in force into
+the Indian country?
+
+“The White Antelope turned a panther loose upon the trail of my red
+brothers. And he told her that he would return and come a prisoner
+again into Oak Heart’s village, and to his lodge. Has he come?”
+
+“No!” answered many voices.
+
+“But the warriors come in and tell how Pa-e-has-ka has killed their
+comrades, scalped their brothers, and laughed at them for squaws. Will
+the Sioux braves let the paleface dog longer kick dirt in their faces?
+Is he not now near their village, and yet no warrior brings in his
+scalp, because he is under the protection of the White Antelope?”
+
+A murmur arose from the old men about the council circle.
+
+“Let my medicine braves seek his trail and bring him alive into the
+presence of the great chief, and the Death Killer will show him
+how the Pa-e-has-ka will weep like a squaw when he is bound to the
+torture-stake.”
+
+This speech of the renegade excited the Indians to frenzy. There was no
+longer any possibility of restraining the young men. A hundred warriors
+took the trail with the avowed intention of bringing in the Long Hair.
+
+When Red Knife was found dead upon the bluff overlooking the camp there
+was considerable wonder expressed. The unfortunate scion of the Crow
+family had lost caste, it was true, but why he should have been killed
+by the supposedly lurking white man--the Red Knife had gone from the
+camp unarmed--even the redskins themselves could not understand. As the
+murders increased Bennett grew louder in his objurgations against Long
+Hair.
+
+From the hour of his disappointment upon the gory field where Danforth
+and his band had met their doom, the renegade had thirsted for revenge
+upon the scout. He had secretly despatched a noted warrior to meet and
+kill Buffalo Bill on his return; but having not again seen or heard of
+this brave, Bennett feared that he had come to grief at the hands of
+the old Indian fighter.
+
+The medicine chief did not wish Buffalo Bill to really appear before
+Oak Heart and the old chiefs of the tribe. He was not at all sure what
+the outcome of such a venture might be. Indians admire bravery and
+boldness above all other virtues, and Bennett feared the dashing scout
+might influence the tribe against _him_, too.
+
+For defending the scout and permitting him to go free upon his pledge
+to return, the renegade had not forgiven the White Antelope. Yet he
+knew the influence she held in the tribe, that upon account of her
+having been born with yellow hair, and growing up far more beautiful
+than any maiden of the Sioux, she was regarded as a favored child of
+the Great Spirit, and that should he cross her will he might lose the
+power he had gained over the tribesmen.
+
+He had hoped, too, to win the Indian maiden for his lodge, when he
+first became familiar with the tribe; but she had treated his advances
+with disdain, and this was a second reason why he felt revengeful
+toward her. To get any redskin to aid him in a plot against White
+Antelope, he knew would be impossible; yet he did not despair of either
+conquering the proud girl, or getting rid of her altogether. At least,
+he desired to keep her away from the camp and the council if Buffalo
+Bill were brought in; otherwise, she might disturb all his plans and
+aid in the release of the white man.
+
+Therefore the medicine chief watched the teepee of the white queen
+keenly. When he saw her mount her pony and gallop out of the village,
+and past the guards which encircled it, Boyd Bennett followed secretly.
+White Antelope, accustomed to going where and how she pleased, and
+having unbounded confidence in her own prowess, rode to the top of a
+ridge some distance from the encampment.
+
+The young brave who sentineled this high strip of ground was much in
+love with the beautiful daughter of the chief, and with her before
+his eyes he forgot all else. So wrapped was the young man in the
+contemplation of the girl that he forgot his duty. A form suddenly
+bounded from behind a rock near-by, an iron hand gripped the youth’s
+throat and bore him backward out of sight, and the long knife in the
+murderer’s hand struck home--to the heart.
+
+It was over instantly. No sound--only a gasp, and the death-rattle in
+the brave’s throat. Then, with the knife, the murderer made a quick
+incision in a rough circle in the scalp, about the size of a dollar,
+and with his teeth tore off the dead warrior’s scalp-lock.
+
+Seated there by the side of his victim the slayer looked upon him with
+real pleasure, while he muttered in a sinister tone:
+
+“More blood! Ah! I love it! This shall be another death laid to the
+wiles of Buffalo Bill. Now for the White Antelope, and then----
+
+“There she comes! Now to catch her as she passes!”
+
+He crouched behind his rocky shelter as he spoke, while the White
+Antelope, seemingly somewhat despondent, came riding slowly back toward
+the village. In truth, she had ridden to see if she could spy the
+coming of the Long Hair, who had promised to return. That strange man
+had gained a wonderful hold upon her mind. And, beside, she had a great
+secret to impart to him.
+
+Suddenly the girl uttered a cry of alarm and tried to wheel her pony to
+dash away, for to her side had sprung the form of Boyd Bennett. But his
+rough hand effectually shut off her scream, he seized her in his arms,
+and, dragging her from the frightened pony’s back, he darted down a
+defile, unseen by any of the Indian guards.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIX. A CRY FOR HELP.
+
+
+In a large cavern penetrating a pile of rocks, rising to an elevation
+that commanded a view of the Indian village, sat Buffalo Bill. He had a
+strong field-glass, and for two days he had been studying the camp, and
+all that went in or came out of it.
+
+He had seen many things which led him to know that Boyd Bennett was as
+two-faced with his Indian friends as he had been with the whites. This
+murder was not the first the medicine chief had done.
+
+“Well, I’ll never get them down finer than I have them now,” he was
+saying thoughtfully. “I wish I had Texas here to send back word to
+Captain Keyes. A knowledge of the exact situation of the village and
+just how many warriors old Oak Heart has might be of inestimable value
+later--if I don’t get away again!”
+
+The great scout intended to go into the village and boldly face the
+renegade. He had hoped by lingering about the place in secret to catch
+the medicine chief unawares, and so put him out of the way before
+delivering himself to the tribe. For it was Boyd Bennett alone whom the
+scout feared. He had a secret possession which he believed might save
+him from death at the hands of the Sioux, providing Bennett was not
+there to use his influence as medicine chief against him.
+
+As he came to this final desperate decision, however, Buffalo Bill saw
+the renegade come into view among the rocks, and in his arms he carried
+the struggling figure of the White Antelope. Catching sight of the
+scout, the girl shrieked in English:
+
+“Long Hair! Save me! save me!”
+
+The renegade turned his bloodshot eyes upon the scout. He shrieked with
+ungovernable fury at him and gibbered:
+
+“Raise your hand, Buffalo Bill, and I will kill her!”
+
+Buffalo Bill raised his rifle and sighted pointblank at his old
+foe. But the scoundrel held the girl before his own body, besides
+threatening her with his upraised knife. At another time--or given
+another person than the White Antelope--the scout would have risked one
+of his wonderful shots and perhaps brought the bandit chief down before
+he could have done his captive harm. He hesitated, however, for he had
+great reason for desiring to save the girl’s life. The fluctuation of
+a hair’s breadth in his aim might put the rifle-ball into her body
+instead of Boyd Bennett’s.
+
+Therefore the scout, with a groan, dropped his gun. The girl shrieked
+again, and in a moment Bennett leaped behind a boulder and fled along a
+secret path, entirely hidden from the scout’s station.
+
+Buffalo Bill heard the girl’s heartrending shrieks as she was carried
+swiftly into the hills. They appealed to him strongly, and, quickly
+girding himself for the chase, he followed on the trail of the abductor.
+
+The object of the bandit’s mad act Buffalo Bill did not realize.
+Bennett’s bloodthirsty killing of the sentinel--and formerly of Red
+Knife--seemed to point to the fact that the man’s brain was turned. Why
+he had fled now from the encampment with the chief’s daughter was a
+deep mystery, unless he was indeed mad.
+
+The scout’s mind, however, was given up mainly to planning for the
+release of the girl and the overcoming of her captor. Boyd Bennett
+seemed to be alone in this abduction plot, and the scout felt rejoiced
+that at last it seemed he was to meet the fellow with something like an
+equal chance.
+
+The principal thing now was to not give Bennett start enough to hide
+in the rocks. Buffalo Bill could hear the scrambling of the man with
+the girl in his arms, although for some time he could not see him.
+Not until they rounded the spur of the mountain and arrived upon the
+farther slope did the scout obtain a glimpse of the object of his
+pursuit.
+
+Then, to his bitter disappointment, he beheld Boyd Bennett, still
+lugging the girl, running down the hill toward a thicket, near which
+was tethered a horse, saddled and bridled! As he ran the renegade--now
+a traitor both to the reds and the whites--uttered a shrill “coee!” and
+immediately a horseman appeared from behind the thicket. It was one of
+the outlaw’s old gang, Buffalo Bill made no doubt, and he had been here
+in waiting, with the extra horse for his chief and the girl.
+
+White Antelope no longer struggled in the fiend’s arms. Buffalo Bill
+knew that she had fainted and lay limply across Bennett’s saddle as he
+put her up and mounted in such haste. But the scout was too far away
+now for a shot. The two villains started their horses down the slope
+and were quickly out of sight, and all this without a single redskin
+being aroused!
+
+Plainly Bennett had planned this coup with great cunning. He had placed
+his own braves in positions to bar Buffalo Bill from the valley where
+the camp lay, but had allowed one of Oak Heart’s braves to bar one
+exit. That brave Cody had seen the scoundrel kill and scalp, so leaving
+a plain path into the encampment if the scout wished to go that way.
+
+But two strong desires led the scout upon a different trail. His
+interest in White Antelope was no small interest. Happenings of late
+had really increased it, indeed. And Boyd Bennett must be run down!
+
+Afoot as he was, the scout hurried after the two outlaws and their
+fair-haired captive, for by keeping doggedly at it a man may run down a
+horse. Providing the outlaws had no fresh horses and their destination
+was far away, Cody felt confident that he would overtake them even
+though he continued afoot.
+
+But chance favored him. Bennett and his companions followed a trace
+through the mountains which passed within a few miles of the valley in
+which Buffalo Bill had left Chief, his big white horse. The scout left
+the trail long enough to obtain his mount, which, having fed well and
+being rested, was as eager for the trail as his master.
+
+Back to the bandit’s trail the scout rode, and the white stallion flung
+mile after mile of the rocky way beneath his feet. Bennett and his
+companion had not tried to disguise their trail. Evidently they felt
+either sure of no pursuit, or considered themselves a match for Buffalo
+Bill. Bennett probably did not think that the Indians themselves would
+miss White Antelope until the trail was stale and he would be too far
+away with the girl to be overtaken.
+
+The pursuer came upon the place where the trio had camped at noon. They
+had boldly built a fire and cooked food, and Cody even found the marks
+of the girl’s moccasins in the soft ground beside the trail. Perhaps
+she had shrewdly stepped there when her captors were not looking,
+hoping that their trail was being followed. At another place she had
+torn some beadwork from her garments and flung it on the ground.
+
+“She’s a sharp girl, all right,” said Cody to himself. “And if she has
+confidence in my following and saving her, I swear it shall not be
+misplaced!”
+
+Before night, however, the scout received a shock which made him almost
+despair. The trail he was following came down into a great valley
+through the middle of which flowed a broad river. On the river’s bank
+the hoof-marks of Bennett’s mount and his companion’s were joined by
+those of a dozen other horses!
+
+“They’ve been caught, by thunder!” was Cody’s first thought.
+
+Then he saw that this supposition was entirely wrong, and his heart
+sank. These were not unshod Indian ponies. Nor could they be a party
+of peaceful travelers who had joined Bennett and his friend. It was
+the rest of the gang. The outlaws had here joined their leader, and,
+instead of following two scoundrels, the scout was up against the
+entire gang--and single-handed!
+
+Then did he wish that he had sought out a part of Captain Keyes’
+command and brought them on this hunt for the bandit leader and
+his helpless captive. He shuddered to think of what might be White
+Antelope’s fate among these ruffians. He could not go back now for
+help; and yet, if he overtook the gang, what could he, a man alone, do
+toward getting the girl free?
+
+Yet Buffalo Bill, the Border King, had spent years of his life in
+taking chances. He had been up against as serious odds before, and had
+come out on top. He did not hesitate for a single instant, but crossed
+the river at the ford, and followed the hoof-prints of the gang up the
+opposite bank of the river.
+
+If they were making for their rendezvous, well and good. He would at
+least learn one--perhaps the principal--hiding-place of the gang, and
+later could bring a party to overwhelm them. Meantime, he would trust
+to luck and a merciful Providence to assist him in obtaining White
+Antelope’s release unharmed from the villainous crew.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XL. THE FREIGHT-TRAIN.
+
+
+The sun was sinking like a great globe of fire, seemingly at the very
+foot of the broad valley which, from its head, spread forth miles upon
+square miles of verdant lawn, crimson and yellow groves, the leaves of
+which blushed before the cold finger-touch of winter interspersed with
+patches of hemlock and spruce, now, as ever, green. Through the valley
+flowed a broad river, joined here by several mountain brooks which
+tumbled down from the heights on either hand to swell the main current,
+which entered the vale from the mouth of the broad cañon on the north.
+A deeply rutted wagon trail came out of the cañon as well as the river.
+For miles this trace wound along the riverside, hemmed in by gigantic
+cliffs on the tops of which the bighorn sheep looked like specks to the
+traveler below, and which were so high and so close together in places
+that it was twilight at noon in the bottom of the gorge!
+
+Indeed, back in the cañon it was already night when the sun was but
+setting out here in the valley. Therefore the “mule-skinners” cracked
+their blacksnakes and shouted many objurgations to their patient
+animals, desiring to reach the open and make camp outside the cañon
+before darkness finally settled upon the valley. The creaking of the
+wagon wheels and the cracking of the whips, with the voices of the
+mule-skinners, made music a mile up the cañon.
+
+It was a heavy wagon-train. First rode the captain on a gray mare with
+a bell on her neck. With her tethered near the wagons the mules could
+be turned loose at night; they would never desert the camp as long as
+the gray mare remained faithful.
+
+The wagons of the train were linked together--five or six great,
+lumbering, canvas-topped vehicles, with eight or ten span of mules
+hauling on each section. There were three of these sections in the
+train, six men to a section, the captain, and the cook who rode
+behind on another saddle-horse, leading a pack-animal which bore the
+cook-tent and some of the camp equipment.
+
+When the captain reached the mouth of the cañon and beheld the
+pleasant, sunlit valley he turned and uttered a loud “coee! coee!”
+which brought the cook and his packhorse trotting forward. The valley
+looked perfectly safe to the captain of the train, and he selected an
+indenture in the river-bank where the cook and he set up the tent,
+and, as fast as the wagons came up, they deployed off the trail so as
+to make a horseshoe figure around the camping-place, the open part of
+which was toward the river.
+
+This precaution was always taken whether they saw Indian signs or not.
+And at night rifles were issued to the men and a strong guard mounted.
+Each man “packed” a couple of guns at his waist all day, anyway.
+
+The selection of this low piece of ground as the camp was not wise,
+however. An enemy could ride to the edge of the low, sloping bluff
+which surrounded it on three sides and pop bullets over the wagon tops
+into the enclosure, shooting from one side those who strove to guard
+the other line of the camp.
+
+For days, however, the party had seen no signs of redskins. Small
+scalping-parties would fight shy of the wagon-train; for twenty
+well-armed whites were bound to be respected by the Arabs of the
+plains, especially as the train crew was sure to be armed with the
+quickfiring guns which the Indians so feared.
+
+After the sun set the evening was short, for it was late fall now.
+The air grew chill; in the midst of the camp the men built a rousing
+fire, aside from that over which the cook pottered, and around this
+they gathered and told stories, cracked rude jokes, or basked silently
+in the warmth of the flames, resting from the toil of the day. So
+unconscious were they of aught but their immediate surroundings that
+they did not see several horsemen who topped the nearest rise to the
+west, and overlooking the camp.
+
+It was now deep dusk, but the horsemen were silhouetted against the
+sky-line so plainly that had any of the freighters chanced to glance
+that way they must have seen the figures. Only for a moment were they
+in view, however. The leader of the group spoke sharply, but in a low
+tone, to his mates, and all pulled their horses about and disappeared
+quickly beyond the ridge.
+
+Later, and afoot, two of the party came again to the summit of the
+ridge and reconnoitered. The freighters’ camp lay calmly under the
+starry sky, the fires burning briskly, the mules champing the grass of
+the plain contentedly, occasionally a laugh or a sharp word echoing
+across the valley between the calls of the night-birds.
+
+The wind wandered down from the heights and shook the canvas covers
+of the wagons as though trying to arouse the men to the danger that
+threatened them. Coyotes whined in the distance, sniffing the herd, but
+too cowardly to advance until on the morrow the freight-train should
+have passed on. _Then_ they would come boldly in and fight over the
+scraps remaining. And, perhaps, there would be greater booty for the
+scavengers of the plains to fight over!
+
+The men scouting about the freighters’ camp numbered the unconscious
+men and noted their arms and how the camp was arranged. There was a
+high river-bank. The captain of the train had ordered the arrangement
+of the wagons partly because he was eager to obtain water; but there
+was a high bank to the river here, and a narrow beach below it. Men
+afoot could creep down this bank and, sheltered from the camp, approach
+it and attack from the riverside. Even a sentinel stationed on the very
+verge of the bank would be little likely to apprehend the coming of
+such an attacking force, unless he chanced to be expecting it.
+
+The captain of the train set one of his watchmen on the bank above the
+river, however, and to keep warm the rifleman walked back and forth,
+pacing a beat some twenty yards long. This would have been all very
+well had the crew believed there was a particle of danger threatening
+the camp. But so confident were they of peace that they did not even
+drive the mules down from the higher ground where they were feeding. A
+party of a dozen reds--if they could have loosed the gray mare--might
+have made off with the entire herd.
+
+There was a shelter tent for each six men, while the cook and the
+captain shared the fourth canvas. At ten o’clock, under a black-velvet
+sky pricked out with the brilliant but distant stars, the camp was as
+quiet as the grave--that is, providing one could imagine some of the
+occupants of the grave sleeping their long sleep “loudly.” Aside from
+these snores, however, and the champing of the horses and mules, there
+was little sound to break the silence. There was a sentinel pacing a
+short beat on the inland side of the camp; but, it being cold when
+the wind swooped down and flapped the loose canvas, he got in behind
+the chain of wagons and was not so much use as a guard. Along the
+river-bank paced the other sentinel, whistling under his breath, and
+staring off across the black, smoothly flowing water, in which the
+stars were mirrored.
+
+Wide-awake as he was, this second guard heard nothing when a single
+figure slipped down the river-bank beyond the camp and toward the
+cañon’s entrance, and in a stooping posture sneaked along toward him.
+This figure lay low upon the shore when the guard walked that way. When
+the guard turned the prowler arose again and kept just behind him, but
+below the bank, until both reached about the middle of the beat the
+sentinel was following.
+
+Then, softly as a cat, without as much as scratching a button or
+rattling the rifle in his hand or the guns in his belt, the stranger
+darted up the bank, and, stooping low, hurried to the smaller tent
+in which slept the captain of the train and the cook. Evidently the
+stranger had picked this tent out before dark, and shrewdly guessed who
+occupied it. Lifting the flap softly, he crept in and lowered it before
+the guard on the river-bank turned. The other guard was standing facing
+the opposite way and saw nothing.
+
+Once in the darkness of the tent, the stranger coolly squatted on his
+haunches, laid down his rifle, and drawing out a match-safe, scratched
+a lucifer and held it up so that the sputtering flame might cast some
+radiance over the interior of the tent.
+
+The pungent odor of the sulfur got in the nose of one of the sleepers,
+and he sneezed. He sneezed a second time and sat up suddenly, blinking
+his eyes in surprise at the figure squatting inside the tent. This
+was an utter stranger to him--a man with long hair, a military hat,
+buckskin coat, and riding breeches and boots. And he was armed like
+a pirate--belt stuck full of guns and with a big bowie. He smiled
+cheerfully at the amazed and sleepy individual, however.
+
+“Hello!” he said. “Which one of you is the captain?”
+
+“Heh?” murmured the startled one.
+
+“Who’s the boss?”
+
+“I--I’m the cook.”
+
+“Then the other feller is the boss?”
+
+“I--I reckon so. Say, Billings!” and he suddenly punched the other man
+in the ribs. “Wake up! We’re surrounded!”
+
+“Shut up, you fool!” exclaimed the visitor, slapping his palm suddenly
+over the second man’s mouth, for it opened to emit a yell before his
+eyes were fairly ajar. “It’s all right. What did you want to startle
+him for?”
+
+“Who the devil are you?” demanded the cook.
+
+“And how’d you git here?” cried the other man.
+
+“I’m Cody, and I belong just now to the command at Fort Advance. You’re
+in about as dangerous a position as a score of men can be and get out
+of it alive, and I’ve sneaked into your camp to help you.”
+
+“Injuns!” groaned the cook, turning pale.
+
+“There ain’t a red within forty miles,” declared Buffalo Bill, for he
+it was.
+
+“Then what’s the matter?” sputtered the captain of the freight crew.
+“I’ve set guards over the camp. We’re all right.”
+
+“Your guards are a lot of use, ain’t they?” sneered the scout. “They’re
+out there walking up and down like two wooden men; but they didn’t see
+me get by.”
+
+“But, for Heaven’s sake what is the matter?”
+
+“You’ve got worse than Injuns after you.”
+
+“What can that be?”
+
+“Boyd Bennett’s gang of hold-up men.”
+
+“Git out! Bennett’s left the country.”
+
+“He’s j’ined an Injun tribe,” added the cook. “Become a squaw man.”
+
+“Well, he’s out yonder with about a dozen of the p’izenest ruffians
+that it’s ever been my fate to run up against,” declared Buffalo Bill.
+“And from what I could overhear lying out there on my belly in the
+grass, they’re pretty near ready to stampede you!”
+
+“Oh, Lord!” groaned the cook.
+
+But the captain of the crew was no coward. He was awake now, and he
+leaped up, ready to fight for his own life and help to defend the lives
+of his mates and the valuable property entrusted to him.
+
+“Mr. Cody, you take command,” he urged instantly. “You are a better man
+than any one in this entire party--that I’ll swear to. I have shown my
+incompetency already by placing my guards so carelessly that you could
+creep into my very sleeping tent without being apprehended.”
+
+“Many a man has made the mistake of being too confident when there were
+no signs of trouble,” said Buffalo Bill. “But you had no knowledge of
+these outlaws being near you, of course. Although, it was quite by
+chance that they did not blunder into your midst, I fancy. There are
+fewer of them than there are of your men; but if they had caught you
+with your pants down it would have been ‘Good-by John!’ for you all.
+This is as bloody-minded a gang of cut-throats as infest this Western
+country.”
+
+“So I have heard said of Bennett and his men. But I thought they had
+left the Overland Trail.”
+
+“They are not on the old lay just at present,” Cody explained. “In
+fact, I am following them for an entirely different reason. And if we
+have the luck to beat the devils, I’d be thankful for any help you
+could give me toward capturing the whole gang and rescuing a prisoner
+they hold.”
+
+“A prisoner?”
+
+“Aye, and a girl--God help her!”
+
+“Great heavens! a woman in the hands of those ruffians?”
+
+“Yes.”
+
+“Who is she?”
+
+“White Antelope, the daughter of old Oak Heart, the Sioux chieftain.”
+
+“Oh, thunder! a squaw!” exclaimed the captain of the train crew in
+disgust.
+
+“She’s just as precious to the old redskin as the daughter of a white
+man is to him, I s’pose,” said the scout sternly. “Besides, her release
+means a great deal to me--and to Major Baldwin of Fort Advance--and,
+perhaps, to the entire white settlers of this part of the country.”
+
+“Well, well! I can’t afford to quarrel with you over a red squaw,” said
+the other lightly. “You help us, and we’ll help you.”
+
+“I am here for the purpose of helping you,” said the Border King, with
+some stiffness of manner, for the other’s tone had jarred upon him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLI. “ON GUARD!”
+
+
+“First of all,” said the captain of the freighters, “I want you to take
+command, Cody, as I said.”
+
+“No, no!” the scout hastened to reply. “I would not take that upon
+myself.”
+
+“I insist.”
+
+“No. I must be free myself to act in this other matter I speak of. If
+I see a chance to run off the girl while you fellows are handling the
+outlaws, I must do so.”
+
+“And leave us for a redskin?”
+
+“That is it,” returned Cody seriously. “My duty is first to her at this
+time.”
+
+“But that is nonsense, man! People of a blood should stick together.
+Let the red squaw go.”
+
+“She’s got white blood in her better than either yours or mine, sir!”
+snapped the scout.
+
+“Oh! she’s a half-breed?”
+
+“She is. But I am not here to discuss White Antelope. Time is passing.
+I will advise you to the best of my ability in this fight; but I cannot
+accept the responsibility of command.”
+
+“All I can do, then, is to rouse up the other boys and make ready to
+receive boarders.”
+
+“But there is more than one way of doing that,” said Cody, with a smile
+which the other did not see in the dark tent.
+
+“Heh?”
+
+“No use in rousing out the other men in a way to show the outlaws you
+are expecting them.”
+
+“Oh, shucks! are they watching us already?”
+
+“They sure are. All I feared in making my way to your tent was their
+sharp eyes. I knew what your guards would be.”
+
+“You don’t have a very high opinion of us mule-skinners, then?” said
+the captain, rather sharply.
+
+“I have a very poor opinion indeed of men who will be careless on this
+trail,” said Buffalo Bill sternly. “Recklessness is never bravery.”
+
+“Huh!” grunted the other.
+
+“Cook, you creep out at the rear and speak to the sentinel at the back
+of the camp. Keep close to the ground and tell him to have a care.
+Let him step across and speak to the guard by the river--casually,
+remember.”
+
+“All right, sir,” said the cook, recognizing the tone of authority.
+
+“Then you creep over to the farther tent and awaken the boys carefully.
+The captain here had better attend to the other two. Go on your hands
+and knees, boys! And don’t startle anybody. Have they got arms with
+’em, or are they in the wagons?”
+
+“Oh, they’ve got their rifles. I’m not quite a fool,” said the captain.
+
+“Glad to hear that,” the scout returned, and did not stop to explain
+whether he was rejoiced to hear that the men were properly armed, or
+that the captain was not an entire ignoramus!
+
+It was too serious a situation for the man to take open offense,
+however. He, as well as the cook, did Cody’s bidding without further
+remark. They crept from tent to tent, keeping well in the shadow,
+while the first guard, warned by the cook, went across and warned the
+man pacing the beat by the river.
+
+Buffalo Bill was pretty confident that the outlaws would wait until the
+sentinels were changed at midnight before attacking. That was the best
+time for such a movement, for the new guards would be sleepy, and the
+other men would have just settled into heavier sleep.
+
+When the gang had been awakened the captain reported to the scout. Thus
+far none of the boys had come out of the three larger tents, and they
+were warned to keep under cover until they received the word.
+
+“You don’t want to have your mules stampeded far,” said the scout.
+“When the sentinels are changed, let one of those coming off duty step
+out and lead in your bell-mare, and hobble her inside the line of the
+wagons. Then you’ll be sure of her, and, even if the long-ears do run
+away, they’ll come back again, come daybreak.”
+
+The cook’s fire was already out, and Cody warned them to let the other
+one burn down as low as it would. The more shadowy the camp was the
+better the freighters could move about without attracting the notice of
+any watching outlaws.
+
+Cody remained in the little tent with the flap pinned back, and
+the cook and the captain came to him and reported their missions
+accomplished. Midnight came--it was not a long wait--and the sentinels
+went to the tents and appeared to awaken those who were to relieve
+them. Cody had particularly instructed the man who was to go to the
+river-bank. One of the others brought in the gray mare. The camp
+settled down to apparent quietude and peace again.
+
+“Now, boys, to your places,” whispered the scout to the cook and the
+captain. “Signal your men, captain; be ready to fling on the fire a
+heap of that light stuff yonder when you hear me hoot, cook! All right!”
+
+The captain crept out once more and scratched with his finger-nail upon
+the canvas of each tent. At that the freighters began to wriggle out
+from under the canvas and crawl on their bellies to shelter beneath the
+wagons. Cody knew that the first fire of the outlaws would be aimed at
+the tents. Boyd Bennett and his villains would expect to thus kill or
+seriously wound several of the sleeping freighters and throw the others
+into utter confusion.
+
+Buffalo Bill remained no longer in the small tent himself. He crept
+down to the river-bank, and he and the sentinel saw each other. Cody
+expected a part of the attacking party would approach in the way he had
+come to the camp, only from the other direction.
+
+And this was a good guess. The outlaws--or several of them--dismounted
+and came along under the bank. In fact, so sure were they of catching
+the encampment asleep, that the scout heard their footsteps. They did
+not take proper care in disguising them.
+
+“Now, mister!” Buffalo Bill exclaimed, under his breath to the sentinel
+near him.
+
+Instantly this man dropped down in the grass, the other guard fell
+flat, there was a sudden pounding of horse’ hoofs down the ridge from
+the south and west. Then:
+
+Bang! bang! bang!
+
+A volley of rifle-shots tore through the tents inside the wagon-line.
+Instantly the shrill yell of Buffalo Bill, the Border King, answered
+the shots defiantly. The sound had often struck terror to the hearts of
+his red foes, and it was not unknown to Boyd Bennett and his comrades.
+
+“That hell-cat, Cody, is here!” screamed Bennett.
+
+The cook flung the light brush on the fire. It blazed up almost
+immediately, giving the men under the wagons a chance to see any of the
+outlaws that might venture into the camp. But none of them reached the
+inner circle. As those afoot sprang up the bank from the riverside,
+Cody and the man with him shot them down, or drove them shrieking with
+fear out of rifle-shot.
+
+Pandemonium reigned for a few minutes, however. Although Boyd Bennett
+yelled his warning, the gang did not give over the fight so easily.
+They poured round after round of bullets into the camp; but at first
+they did not realize that they were being answered from beneath the
+wagons rather than from the tents.
+
+Several of their ponies were shot down. Although the mules were
+stampeded for a ways, the ruffians could make no good use of this fact.
+Instead of catching the camp unawares, they were themselves ambushed,
+thanks to the Border King!
+
+“Escape, men! We are undone!” shrieked Boyd Bennett, at last.
+
+He had seen four of his men fall never to rise again, and two others
+had lost their mounts and had to spend precious moments in catching two
+of their dead comrades’ horses. Back the decimated party fled over the
+ridge.
+
+The freighters poured in volley after volley upon the retreating
+outlaws. But the captain would not let them mount such horses and mules
+as they could catch and follow the crew. In this he got square with
+Buffalo Bill for the scout’s sharp words.
+
+In the height of the fight, after seeing that the freight crew were
+more than a match for the outlaws, Buffalo Bill had slipped down under
+the river-bank and had run at his best pace toward the spot where the
+outlaws had been encamped earlier in the evening. There he had seen
+White Antelope tied to a sapling so that she could not escape while
+her captors tried their nefarious scheme of robbing and murdering the
+freight-train crew.
+
+Believing that Bennett would leave nobody to guard the girl, the scout
+was bent upon reaching the place first and releasing her.
+
+And this much he did accomplish: he reached the place first. But almost
+as soon as he had recognized Buffalo Bill’s yell, Boyd Bennett spurred
+back toward the bound girl. He feared the scout would do exactly the
+thing he was attempting. Knowing that Cody must have followed them
+here for the express purpose of saving White Antelope, he feared the
+shrewdness of his enemy.
+
+Cody found the spot. A camp-fire burned low, but revealed the girl
+writhing in her bonds at one side. The scout bounded to her side just
+as the thunder of Bennett’s horse sounded down the hill.
+
+“All right, White Antelope! ’Tis I--the Long Hair!” whispered the
+scout. “My horse is not far away. I will save you---- The devil!”
+
+The scout broke off with a savage exclamation. He had hoped to slash
+through the girl’s bonds and carry her to his horse, which he had left
+in a thicket not far away. But for once in his life the scout had made
+a terrible oversight!
+
+Chief had picked up a small pebble in his hoof late that afternoon, and
+Buffalo Bill had got down and pried it out with the point of his bowie.
+He had stuck the knife into a sheath which hung to his saddle-bow, and
+had forgotten it until this very instant. He had nothing with which to
+cut the girl’s bonds.
+
+Already the chief of the bandits was almost upon him. Boyd Bennett rode
+down the hill yelling like a fiend.
+
+“Fly!” murmured the girl. “They will kill you.”
+
+“Curse it! I am foiled for the time. But, remember, White Antelope,
+I am near you and will release you yet, and serve your enemy as he
+deserves!”
+
+With these words the scout dropped to all fours, and, as stealthily and
+silently as a wolf, crept away in the darkness.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLII. THE AVENGER.
+
+
+The gang of outlaws had been depleted by five. One had fallen on the
+river-bank, and four others had either been killed or so badly wounded
+that they fell captive to the freighters on the side of the ridge.
+There were but eight who gathered about the spot where White Antelope
+was left tied, when the fight was over.
+
+And they feared pursuit and a worse thrashing than they had already
+endured. They clamored to be led away from the place, and Boyd
+Bennett, gnashing his teeth in impotent rage, was forced to agree.
+
+Every man of them had a fear of Buffalo Bill, the Border King. How he
+could have gotten ahead of them, and been in the teamsters’ encampment
+when they made their attack, added to the superstitious veneration in
+which the outlaws had begun to hold the great scout. Heretofore they
+had held Boyd Bennett as a better man than Cody; but now they began to
+doubt.
+
+Besides, several of them did not approve of his bearing away the Indian
+girl from her village. While Bennett had posed as the medicine chief
+of the Sioux, they were all sure of being treated well by the savages.
+Some of them had taken Indian wives and were living in ease and
+plenty--the lazy, irresponsible existence of the “squaw-man.”
+
+Boyd Bennett’s unhappy attachment for the chief’s daughter had brought
+the gang together again, and old-time loyalty had caused them to answer
+his command. But they now believed that they had lost more than they
+should gain. All the Sioux would be down upon them, and so they would
+be at enmity with every man they met in the forest and on the plain,
+both red and white!
+
+White Antelope showed plainly that she would never yield to Boyd
+Bennett’s demand and espouse him. While he was with the Indians and
+wielding so much influence as Death Killer, the medicine-man, she had
+spurned his advances. Much more did she hold him in contempt now.
+
+And Boyd Bennett, too, was acting very strangely. Evil ways and evil
+desires were turning the man’s brain. He acted without judgment. Now
+he unloosed White Antelope, caught her up to his saddle, and rode away
+with his men without as much as looking for traces of Buffalo Bill in
+the vicinity, or learning if in reality the freighters were inclined to
+follow up their advantage and push the attack.
+
+They swam the river and made for another exit from the valley. But
+their horses were pretty well done up, and they could get only a spurt
+of speed out of them now and then. Besides, Boyd Bennett’s own mount
+refused after a time to carry double. This necessitated one of the
+other ruffians carrying White Antelope before him on his saddle.
+
+The chance afforded the chief villain an escape from certain death. The
+party were aiming to leave the valley by the way the broadening river
+flowed; but they were some distance from the river’s side. Through the
+uncertain light of early morning they did not see a tireless white
+horse carrying its rider down the opposite bank until they reached a
+ford, through which the stallion splashed to the side of the stream on
+which the bandits rode.
+
+It was the avenger on the villain’s trail; but they did not suspect
+that again Buffalo Bill had ridden ahead of them. Chief was tireless.
+
+The scout ensconced the horse behind a thicket, and wormed his way out
+into the open where he could draw bead on anybody passing along the
+river trail. It was a long shot, but the scout had succeeded in making
+more ticklish ones in times past.
+
+By and by the band of tired horsemen loped along the trail. The light
+was too uncertain for Cody to distinguish one man from the other; but
+he saw one riding ahead and carrying the girl before him, and he
+believed it must be Bennett. He did not think the fellow would let the
+White Antelope out of his own bloody hands.
+
+Therefore he took sight--deadly sight--at this man, and shot him
+through the head!
+
+A yell rose from the bandits as the rifle exploded and the man pitched
+off his mount. It was answered by Buffalo Bill’s eery war-whoop. The
+seven remaining bandits knew who had fired the fatal shot.
+
+But, although the immediate captor of the girl had fallen, she had no
+time to urge the pony to one side and thus escape. Buffalo Bill saw
+his mistake in a moment. With a wild yell Boyd Bennett spurred to the
+side of the horse which White Antelope sat, and threatened her with
+drawn bowie as the whole cavalcade shot down the river trail and put
+a brush-clump between them and the scout’s rifle. When they appeared
+again they were out of rifle-shot.
+
+“Seven of them left,” muttered Buffalo Bill. “I thought I had that
+devil that time. But let him wait--let him wait!”
+
+He mounted Chief once more and rode for a time in the wake of the
+bandits. But, fearing that some of them might slip off their horses and
+lay in wait for him, he turned aside into the hilly country and so saw
+the refugees only occasionally from the summits of certain hills which
+he climbed. He kept them from resting, however, during the forenoon. By
+midday the desperadoes’ ponies were completely worn out.
+
+Had they not been so fearful of the scout the seven men might have
+shown fight. They were equally well armed with Buffalo Bill, and some
+of them were good shots. But Boyd Bennett thought only of escape with
+the girl, and his mates were in a blue funk, anyway.
+
+They came at noon to a deserted Indian encampment. It was a
+hunting-camp, the braves evidently being out in the hills after game
+and having left nobody but the squaws on guard. The squaws had gone
+into the bush after late berries. Therefore, there was none to balk the
+bandits.
+
+There were no ponies, or the men would have left their fagged mounts
+and stolen those of the red men. But in the river lay two good-sized
+canoes. Abandoning their ponies the outlaws seized these boats, forced
+White Antelope into the leading one with Boyd Bennett and two others,
+and the four remaining men entering the other boat, both were pushed
+off and paddled down the stream.
+
+Cody beheld this move from a hilltop, and immediately rode down to
+the river. Had he crossed the paths of any of the Indians--they were
+not Sioux, but he knew the tribe--he might have obtained their help.
+Alone, however, he came to the river-bank. The canoes were far out in
+the stream and going down rapidly with the current and the force of the
+paddles. The scout saw the White Antelope on her knees in the forward
+boat, her arms stretched out to him. Her mute gesture for help spurred
+him on to a desperate attempt!
+
+Chief had come far now without much rest, but he was able to make one
+more spurt. Down the river path the scout thundered, racing to catch
+up with the canoes. There was a high bluff across the river, offering
+no landing-place. On this side the bank was low. Even if the canoes
+were paddled near the opposite shore, the scout’s rifle would carry a
+deadly ball that distance. In coming near, and into sight, however, he
+gave the bandits a chance to try their marksmanship upon him.
+
+But this risk the brave scout took. For the White Antelope’s sake he
+was venturing his life.
+
+He forced Chief to top speed until the brave old horse came out upon a
+cleared space just ahead of the two canoes. The bandits began to pop
+at him with their rifles; but shooting from a sitting position in a
+trumpery little canoe was no easy job.
+
+Both craft were overloaded, anyway. Two men were supposed to be the
+full complement of the cargo of each. So the craft rode low, and the
+least movement might tip them over. One man in the forward boat, and
+two in the latter, turned their attention to the scout and his white
+horse; but their bullets flew wide of the mark.
+
+The scout, however, paid no more attention to the whistling lead than
+he would have to so many buzzing flies. He dismounted from Chief, and,
+standing out deliberately on the river-bank, raised his rifle and took
+aim at the leading paddler in the rear boat. He did not shoot at those
+with White Antelope in the other canoe. First he would reduce the
+numbers of the gang.
+
+Crack!
+
+The heavy rifle spoke no louder than a pistol across the flat surface
+of the water. With a yell the man dropped his paddle, turned a face all
+gory upon the scout, and then pitched out of the canoe!
+
+Strangely enough he did not tip over the vessel. Another caught up his
+paddle. They tried to urge the craft to the foot of the steep bluff.
+But now the current had caught the light canoe in a fierce grip, and to
+swerve it was not easy.
+
+Crack!
+
+Just as a second man was drawing bead as well as he could upon the
+undaunted scout, the rifle dropped from his hands, and he fell backward
+into the bottom of the canoe. The craft dipped dangerously and all but
+went over. As it righted the scout fired a third time. Plunk the ball
+went through and through the body of the canoe!
+
+The water began to run in at both holes, and the canoe sank. One of the
+remaining men, in complete panic, threw himself overboard and swam for
+the shore. The other continued to paddle desperately.
+
+A double report sounded. The rifleman in the forward boat had stood up
+and taken a better aim at the scout. The latter’s shoulder was plowed
+just under the skin by the ball. But Cody’s own bullet sped straight to
+the desperate paddler in the second canoe, and the man fell sideways,
+shot through the lungs; the canoe tipped completely, and man and canoe
+went to the bottom together.
+
+Meanwhile, the fourth man in that boat had reached the strand. It was a
+narrow beach and offered no shelter for him. He scrambled up the steep
+bluff like a crab making for its hole. But when he was half-way up, and
+his body against the yellow sand made an excellent target, the scout’s
+gun spoke again.
+
+Sprawled out, and screaming, the fellow fell all the way back to the
+shore, and there, squirming with the agony of the wound which was in a
+vital part, he rolled into the river, and the black current swept him
+swiftly down-stream.
+
+He passed the first canoe that had been retarding, while the rifleman
+tried a second particular shot at the scout. The drowning man yelled
+for help. He even snatched at the gunwale of the canoe as he was swept
+by.
+
+Instantly Boyd Bennett seized a pistol from his belt and deliberately
+shot the drowning man through the head. Perhaps, if the latter had
+seized the canoe, he would have overturned it and sacrificed the four
+other lives; yet it was a desperately cruel act!
+
+Meanwhile Cody had leaped aside, escaping the second shot of the
+rifleman in the remaining canoe; and then, before the man could sit
+down and the canoe could shoot ahead, he dropped him cleanly with a
+ball through the heart!
+
+In five minutes the bloody battle was over. But two of the bandits were
+left alive. The other five had sunk to the bottom of the river, while
+the remaining two, and the White Antelope, were being carried swiftly
+down the stream, and by a current now so powerful that they could not
+steer to the bank on either side. Just below were the worst series of
+rapids on the entire river!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLIII. MAN TO MAN AT LAST.
+
+
+Buffalo Bill knew the peril which threatened the two bandits and the
+girl quite as soon as they knew it themselves. But he was handicapped a
+bit now by his wound, which bled profusely. He had to wait to bind it
+up roughly, so that the blood would stop flowing, before he could pay
+much attention to the endangered trio in the canoe.
+
+Ere then the craft was swiftly speeding down the river, going almost as
+fast as an ordinary horse could trot. Buffalo Bill whistled Chief to
+him, sprang into the saddle, and galloped down the trail. It was some
+minutes before he overtook the boat.
+
+There was no danger then of anybody aboard it shooting at him. Boyd
+Bennett in the stern and his last comrade in the bow were having all
+they could handle in steering the craft. Rocks and snags began to crop
+up in the current, and they were now tossed this way, then that, while
+the foaming water boiled almost into the frail craft!
+
+Buffalo Bill, intent on saving White Antelope’s life at any cost,
+unslung his lariat and made ready to cast the endangered men an end if
+the canoe came near enough to the shore. For the sake of assisting the
+girl he would have given up his vengeance on the outlaws.
+
+However, when he cast the rope, although it fell across the boat, Boyd
+Bennett, with a scream of rage, threw it off.
+
+“You madman!” yelled his companion, glancing over his shoulder.
+
+“Mind your paddle!” roared Bennett.
+
+“My God! I’ll take help from anybody,” cried the other.
+
+Cody coiled his rope to swing it again, this time intending to aim
+ahead of the canoe so that the other man could catch it. But Bennett
+saw his intention, and he drew in his paddle, grabbed his pistol, and
+presented it at his comrade’s back. White Antelope was lying down in
+the canoe, knowing that this was the safest place for her.
+
+“You touch that rope!” shrieked the bandit leader, as the lariat
+whistled through the air again, “and I’ll send you to Hades!”
+
+The man glanced fearfully over his shoulder at the words, and saw the
+threatening pistol.
+
+“Look out!” shouted Buffalo Bill, for his cast had been true, and the
+coil of the lasso was circling just over the man.
+
+The fellow was too scared of the pistol to watch the loop, and it
+settled fairly over his head. With a shriek he tried then to get out
+of it, but it was too late. The canoe darted suddenly into a cross
+current, shooting off from the shore, and the rope was pulled taut.
+
+Buffalo Bill could not have released the rope from his saddle-bow in
+time to save the unfortunate outlaw, nor could he force Chief nearer
+the water. The noose was about the man’s neck, and with an awful jerk
+the rope literally snatched him out of the canoe!
+
+Had the girl not been lying down at the moment his body would have
+carried her likewise into the river. It was by mere chance that the
+canoe did not overturn; but it righted and sailed on with its freight
+of two. The other outlaw was dead before Buffalo Bill could drag him
+ashore. His neck had been broken.
+
+The scout’s interest lay, however, in the fate of the two remaining in
+the canoe. He cast the dead man loose and spurred hard down the path,
+trying to keep up with the frail canoe now shooting the rapids.
+
+It was a perilous journey; yet Boyd Bennett, ruffian though he was,
+exercised the greatest ingenuity in managing the canoe. The scout
+could not but admire this in the fellow.
+
+It seemed impossible, however, that the canoe and its living freight
+could get through the rapids intact. The water boiled madly about the
+craft. It was flung hither and yon, and at times it was so racked by
+the opposing forces of the current that Buffalo Bill, on the bank,
+could hear the wood crack.
+
+Boyd Bennett’s glaring eyes did not turn toward his enemy throughout
+all this trial. He watched each black-ribbed rock or floating snag
+against which his craft might be hurled. Nor did he speak a word to the
+girl lying in the bottom of the canoe.
+
+She knew as well as he that any movement on her part would add to their
+danger, and, although she might now leap overboard--she was free--it
+would mean certain death. So freedom tantalized her. She could only
+escape at the peril of her life!
+
+She saw Boyd Bennett’s glowing eyes occasionally cast upon her a
+basilisklike glance. There was madness in them, she knew. The brave
+girl, used as she was to battle and the chase, shrank from this
+terrible foe. And she was helpless!
+
+The canoe swung around rocks, which she thought surely they must
+hit; it just escaped collision with logs and drift-stuff in the most
+marvelous manner, and all the time Boyd Bennett sat holding the paddle
+as a steering-oar, his black eyes glaring out of his death’s-head face,
+impassive, yet all alive to the dangers of the run.
+
+Spray broke over the side of the canoe and drenched the girl. The craft
+seemed to fairly throb and jump with the motion of the water.
+
+Once an eddy seized them. Despite all Bennett could do the canoe shot
+into this whirlpool, and they made several rapid revolutions before the
+man saw his way out, and thrust the canoe between two ragged jaws of
+rock, and so escaped!
+
+On and on fled the boat, while Buffalo Bill urged his mount along the
+river path. He could barely keep up with it. Each moment he expected to
+see it overturned, and both passengers tumbled into the raging current.
+
+At last the more quiet river below the rapids came into view. Here the
+stream widened and the current quickly became sluggish. In the midst
+of the stream was a wooded island, its sharp upper end, consisting of
+an outcropping ledge, dividing the river into two channels just at the
+foot of the white water.
+
+The canoe, as it shot out of the smother of spray, chanced to take the
+channel nearest to the bank on which Cody urged his horse. This was an
+oversight on Bennett’s part, but he had been too anxious to get out of
+the rapids at all to attend to where the canoe finally went.
+
+Cody saw his chance, and, although Chief was well winded now, he yelled
+with delight. He saw what appeared to be the finish of the race--and in
+his favor.
+
+“I’ve got you now, Boyd Bennett!” he shouted.
+
+The bandit at last turned his eyes upon him, and then glanced around.
+He saw Cody’s meaning. The canoe was drifting so near the scout that
+the latter could either shoot, or rope him. And the long island forbade
+his getting away.
+
+But the villain was not yet to his last card. His mind was keenly
+alive to the situation, and he lost no points in the game.
+
+“Not yet, Bill Cody--not yet!” he shrieked, and with a single thrust of
+his paddle, turned the canoe’s nose toward the island.
+
+“Hold, or I fire!” cried the scout, raising his weapon and drawing bead
+upon the bandit.
+
+Boyd Bennett drove the canoe into the rocky ledge which masked the end
+of the island. Like paper the frail craft tore apart, and both he and
+the girl were flung into the stream.
+
+Buffalo Bill’s bullet flew wide of its mark that time! White Antelope
+was in as much danger as the bandit--perhaps more--for the scout did
+not know whether the girl could swim or not, and the current was still
+quite swift and the water deep.
+
+But White Antelope soon showed what she could do in the river. Cold
+as the water was, the instant she came to the surface and saw Boyd
+Bennett’s arms stretched out for her, she threw herself backward and
+dove again to the bottom of the river! With a yell the bandit flung
+himself after her, and again just missed the scout’s bullet. The
+scoundrel seemed to bear a charmed life. Buffalo Bill was unable to hit
+him. Although they were man to man at last, it was a question still who
+would come out winner in the game.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLIV. THE FIGHT TO GAIN THE ISLAND.
+
+
+White Antelope sank to the bottom of the river; then, unlike ordinary
+swimmers, she did not move in a straight line, but shot off at a sharp
+angle, and endeavored to make the shore where Cody was, while still
+under water. But Boyd Bennett was quite as cunning. He cut across her
+path, and, as the girl came shooting in a long slant to the surface of
+the river, he reached and caught her by the shoulder.
+
+White Antelope screamed and sought to wrench herself away. Cody had
+flung aside his rifle and urged Chief down into the stream. The
+white horse was already belly deep in the flood, picking his way
+intelligently, while his master, rope in hand, prepared to fling the
+loop to the Indian maiden.
+
+But before Cody could make the cast, Bennett had grabbed the girl and
+thrust her under the surface again. White Antelope went down gurgling,
+and the cruel hand of the bandit chief held her fast. With an oath
+the scout seized a revolver and aimed at the black, sleek head of the
+scoundrel.
+
+“Hold your fire, Bill Cody!” cried the bandit again. “Hold your fire,
+or I’ll drown this girl--as sure as you live, I will! She’s mine, and,
+by Heaven, you sha’n’t take her from me--unless it’s her dead body!”
+
+“You devil, you!” roared the scout. “You are drowning her!”
+
+“I surely will if you don’t put up your gun!”
+
+“Let her up!”
+
+“Put away your gun!”
+
+The scout was obliged to do so. If he shot the scoundrel the latter
+might sink, his clutch still upon the White Antelope, and neither of
+them rise again until the breath had left both their bodies!
+
+Boyd Bennett saw the scout put the gun back into his belt. He then
+dragged the girl up by her long, golden hair, and with her in his
+arms--she was now totally unconscious--he struck out with his free hand
+for the island. The scout seemed helpless. There was nothing he could
+do to stop the foe or free the girl. The situation stumped Buffalo Bill
+completely!
+
+All the scout could do was to wait, hand on gun, for some chance to aid
+his cause. While Bennett struggled in the river with the girl he dared
+not fire for two reasons. One, already stated, was that he feared the
+man would sink with his burden and both be drowned; the other was that
+he feared his pistol-ball might wound the girl as well as Bennett.
+
+And now it was not altogether sure that the scoundrel could make the
+shore of the island. He was weaker than he had been, and the burden of
+the girl bore him down. There was a current set off from the island on
+this side, and he had this to fight. And fight he did--with a bravery
+which Cody could but admire. He breasted the current, and fought inch
+by inch the downward drag of the river. It was too much for him,
+however.
+
+Suddenly the bandit almost lost his hold upon the girl. Cody believed
+he was about to give her up and save himself, and he prepared to force
+Chief into the deeper current and so swim out for her. He swung his
+lariat again, too, that it might be ready for emergency. But, although
+Bennett was carried down-stream and the shore of the island was
+rapidly receding from him, he still clung to the Indian maid.
+
+“Look out for the rope, Boyd Bennett! Catch it!” sang out the scout,
+believing that now the fellow would certainly rather save his life and
+lose the girl than lose both his own and her lives. But a sputtering
+shriek came back from the maniac:
+
+“Fling your rope if you dare, Bill Cody! I’ll kill her if you do--mark
+that!”
+
+“Don’t be a fool, man. You can’t save her and yourself.”
+
+“Then we’ll both drown,” returned Boyd Bennett, with the determination
+of a still fearless man.
+
+“I’ll give you your freedom!” roared Cody, at desperate straits now.
+
+“I’ll not take it of you. If I die she goes with me--ah!”
+
+A sudden eddy seized the man and swung him toward the island. He had
+evidently stored some remaining energy, and this he now put forth. He
+seemed fairly to leap forward in the water which was over his head near
+the bank. But he caught at a drooping tree-branch and held on.
+
+Now, could Cody only have reached him, Boyd Bennett would have been
+at his mercy. But only for an instant did the weakness overpower him.
+He swung in shoreward, his feet found footing on a ledge of rock, and
+in another minute he clambered up out of the water, and, with the
+unfortunate girl still hanging limply over his shoulder, passed out of
+the scout’s sight!
+
+The island was well wooded. It contained about half an acre and was
+long and narrow. It was so long that from the bank to which Cody had
+again turned his mount, he could not see whether the bandit found some
+immediate way of leaving it, and so reaching the farther shore of the
+river, or not.
+
+There was no time to waste for Buffalo Bill, therefore. He must press
+after the man and the girl, giving the former no time to recover his
+strength, and, perhaps, make his escape from the island.
+
+But Chief could not help his master across the deep water to the
+ledgy island. Nor could Buffalo Bill make it encumbered by his heavy
+accouterments. That was not to be considered for a moment!
+
+He dismounted and let Chief go free. The old horse had done his share
+well, and as soon as he was relieved of the saddle and bridle, he lay
+down and rolled as though to get the cramps out of his body. The water
+of the river was ice-cold.
+
+It even made Cody shrink when he contemplated it. His only way of
+reaching the island was by swimming, and against that current, and
+with the chill evening coming on, the scout might well hesitate. But
+not for long. What must be done would better be done quickly, and the
+Border King was well inured to exposure and cold. He threw aside his
+ammunition-belt and his weapons. His coat, waistcoat, and outer shirt
+went likewise. Off came his riding-boots, and then in his undergarment,
+and with his bowie between his teeth, he plunged into the flood and
+essayed the venture.
+
+Whether he was being watched from the island by his enemy, Cody did not
+know. But this was the only way he saw to get at Boyd Bennett and the
+girl. He was matching his life against the bandit’s now, in the last
+desperate act of the series which had followed the abduction of White
+Antelope early the day before.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLV. WAR TO THE KNIFE.
+
+
+And, indeed, Boyd Bennett was almost at his last gasp when he dragged
+himself ashore and put the nearest clump of brush between him and the
+water, thus hiding his future movements from the sharp eyes of the
+Border King. There the man fell upon the meager sward that clothed
+this part of the island, and lay, gasping like a great fish just out
+of its element, almost helpless with exhaustion. The White Antelope,
+had she recovered consciousness and power of action during those first
+few minutes, might easily have escaped from her captor. But she had
+come nearer being drowned than was at all pleasant. She lay so still
+and white where Bennett had flung her upon the ground, that even he,
+hardened villain that he was, feared his usage of her delicate body had
+been too much for the spirit that inhabited it, and that the breath was
+already sped from the girl.
+
+But not for some minutes did Bennett think thus. He could barely
+recover his own breath at first. He was chilled through and through
+by the icy water. His clothing clung to him like lead. He had lost
+most of his weapons during his struggle in the river; but his bowie
+and a pistol remained--the latter, of course, useless in its present
+condition. His ammunition was saturated, too. He had but his knife to
+depend on, was he attacked.
+
+And at that thought the bandit chief started to life! Attacked, indeed!
+There was a relentless enemy on his trail. He, too, knew that it had
+come to the final trial of strength between he and the Border King. His
+death, or William F. Cody’s, must mark this island as a tragic spot
+forever.
+
+The great scout, he knew, would never give up while life remained
+in his body. As for Bennett himself, he was pushed now to the last
+extremity. He was bereft of all his associates. He had seen them killed
+one by one, by fate, or by the relentless arm of Buffalo Bill. He
+had lost caste with the Sioux, over whom he had obtained so great an
+influence during the past few months. And all for what? For this White
+Antelope--a half-breed girl--a woman who hated him, and who considered
+herself, though of mixed blood, too good for him.
+
+He gnashed his teeth in rage as he thought of this, and his rage
+somewhat aroused him. He crawled to the girl and shook her. Her body
+was limp--and oh, so cold! It well-nigh frightened Bennett to touch
+her. Could it be that she was already dead?
+
+He tore open the doeskin blouse that draped the upper part of her
+person and bared her bosom. His hand sought her heart and felt a timid
+flutter there. She was still alive!
+
+Yet, how to warm that spark of life into full flame? He had nothing
+in which to wrap her; his own clothing was saturated. But in his
+hunting-shirt he carried a carefully stoppered bottle, and in this
+receptacle were several sulfur matches. These were as precious as gold
+to him now. He crept about the little plateau of the island, gathering
+twigs and dry branches and rubbish. This light stuff he heaped in a
+pile, and then, before he dared light the pyre, he found and broke up
+larger wood and made ready a roaring heap which, a few moments after he
+touched his match to it, blazed several feet into the air.
+
+The sun was going down, and this bonfire warded off the coming chill
+of night. He basked in the heat himself, feeling grateful for every
+leaping, scorching flame. He dragged the girl within the radiance of
+the fire and chafed her hands and her forehead, and removed her torn
+moccasins and held her small, beautifully formed feet to the fire.
+These ministrations he performed with some little tenderness; but,
+although the girl sighed and her lips parted, and her chilled body
+seemed to respond to the warmth of the fire, she did not open her eyes.
+
+Suddenly Boyd Bennett started to his feet with an exclamation of rage.
+He had entirely forgotten something during these minutes. What was
+Buffalo Bill about?
+
+He ran through the bushes and appeared upon the edge of the river
+looking toward the side where Cody had been. There was the big white
+horse, divested of saddle and bridle, cropping the grass on the bank.
+There, too, Bennett saw most of Cody’s clothes and accouterments--a
+neat pile of them. But where was the man himself?
+
+The bandit was inspired instantly with fear that he had overlooked his
+enemy too long. Had he been given time to cross to the island?
+
+And where else could Cody be? For what other reason would he have
+removed his clothing and arms?
+
+“The devil is swimming the river!” muttered the bandit.
+
+The sun was setting, and it was already growing dusky on this side
+of the island. Boyd Bennett cast his keen glance over the troubled
+surface of the water, seeking the bold swimmer. He was not aware that
+at the moment he parted the bushes to step out on the shore, Cody, in
+midstream, had seen him, and had sunk beneath the surface, leaving
+scarcely a ripple to show where he had gone down.
+
+And once in the depths the scout had swum as strongly as he could for
+the island. The current swept him downward, and he was some yards below
+Boyd Bennett’s position when he finally had to come up for air. His
+head bobbed above the surface as sleek as a seal’s or an otter’s--and
+looking much like that of the latter animal. Only to get a breath did
+the scout remain at the surface, then he sank beneath again.
+
+Although Bennett did not actually see his head, he caught the ripples
+on the surface as Cody went down. He saw that there was no eddy there,
+and he suspected instantly what had caused the disturbance on the
+water. With an oath he ran along the edge of the island until he came
+opposite the spot.
+
+In a minute Cody came up again for air. With a yell Bennett sighted
+him. The scout was this time much nearer the shore--and he was much
+nearer his last gasp than before, too! Crossing the river he had found
+all the task promised from the other side. It was not only a long swim,
+but it was an arduous swim.
+
+“I’ve got you now, Bill Cody!” roared the bandit, shaking his fists
+above his head in an abandonment of rage. “I’ve got you now!”
+
+Had Buffalo Bill had breath to do so he might have told him that
+the river had a bigger mortgage on him. The current was pulling him
+down-stream with a power that taxed his utmost strength to counteract.
+
+“You’re my meat!” bawled Bennett. “Let me get my hands on you, you
+hell-hound!”
+
+Cody bore all this in silence. He was struggling to gain a foothold
+near the shore. Once his feet found bottom, but then the current tore
+him away and he had to fight to get back. Bennett ran along the shore
+and stood over him, his face aflame, his eyes blazing like coals, his
+lips fairly frothing.
+
+Cody finally made the shallow again and stood upon his feet. That was
+a blessed relief! He was head and shoulders out of the water, and now
+he took the knife from between his teeth and held it clutched firmly in
+his right hand.
+
+“I’ve got you!” bawled Bennett, fairly dancing up and down on the
+shore. “Come ashore and I’ll have your scalp! I’ll cut your heart out!
+I’ll slice you into cat’s meat! And if you don’t come ashore the river
+will get you. Ha! ha! ha! Bill Cody is between the devil and the deep
+sea this time!”
+
+And the scout thought that this was a pretty true statement of the
+case. For, if ever there was a fiend incarnate, it was Bennett at this
+juncture. And the river was as wicked and dangerous as the sea could
+possibly be. The scout was indeed between two perils--and neither would
+give him a chance for his life.
+
+The moment he waded within striking distance Bennett would attack him.
+And the river dragged at him continually.
+
+But, at least, the scout could parley. He had breath enough to say:
+
+“Boyd Bennett, you and I have many an old score to settle. Give me
+footing on that bank. You have your knife; I have mine. Let us try
+conclusions fairly.”
+
+“What! Give you a chance to play some scurvy trick on me--when I’ve got
+you dead to rights?” cried Bennett, and laughed long and loudly.
+
+Cody edged a step nearer to the shore.
+
+“Be a man!” urged the scout. “You’re as good as I am.”
+
+“I’m better--curse you!”
+
+Cody gained another foot.
+
+“Let us try conclusions, blade to blade. Give me a show, man!”
+
+“It’s war to the knife, and the knife to the hilt between us--that’s
+true, Bill Cody!” gritted out the man. “But you shall not be given a
+chance. I’ll kill you in cold blood--or see you drown in this river.
+Mark ye that!”
+
+Cody crept a few inches nearer.
+
+“Come! You are rested. You’ve got your strength back. I’m chilled to
+the bone. But don’t kill me as you would a dog, Bennett!” urged the
+wily scout.
+
+“A dog you are, and a dog’s death you shall die!”
+
+Cody stooped a little now so as to appear still to be in deep water.
+But he had gained considerable. The fellow’s rage and excitement made
+him overlook this cunning.
+
+“A chance; just a foothold on the bank--for God’s sake!” cried Cody.
+
+“Not much; I won’t! You die where you are--or drown!”
+
+Boyd Bennett stooped, and holding his own bowie with grim clutch, made
+a pass at the scout. The latter dodged--and made another foot.
+
+“Give me a show!” cried the man in the water, apparently at his last
+gasp.
+
+“No, no! I’ll have your life--and now!”
+
+Again the bandit made a thrust. At the moment Cody flung his body
+forward, and his left hand clutched a tree-branch which overhung the
+river. At last he had a stable hold upon terra firma. With a shout
+he dragged himself in toward the bank, and, in turn, lunged at his
+antagonist. So unexpected was the blow that he came near catching
+Bennett in a vital spot. As it was, the point of the scout’s bowie slit
+his enemy’s sleeve from wrist to elbow and brought the blood beneath!
+
+“You devil!” yelled Bennett, leaping back, smarting with pain.
+
+It was just the chance Cody wished. He bounded out upon the rocky
+shore. His own war-cry resounded through the island. All his weakness
+dropped from him like a garment. At last he was before his foe, and
+they were evenly matched--man to man and blade to blade!
+
+“Guard yourself, you scoundrel!” cried Buffalo Bill, the Border King.
+“It is war to the knife, and the knife to the hilt, as you yourself
+have said. Your life or mine--which is the better man! One of us, Boyd
+Bennett, shall never leave this spot alive!”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLVI. AND THE KNIFE TO THE HILT.
+
+
+All the time Buffalo Bill had been standing in the shallow water
+parleying with his enemy, he had been regaining his breath and his
+strength, both sadly depleted by his swim across the river. Now he had
+leaped ashore almost as fresh and strong as Bennett himself.
+
+His leaping ashore had quite startled the bandit; but he did not give
+back after his first cry of surprise and pain. He, too, was armed with
+a bowie. They were indeed equal, and the bandit was no physical coward.
+
+Colonel James Bowie, of Texas, invented a terrible weapon of defense
+and offense when he gave the world the heavy hunting-knife which bears
+his name. It is a long, slightly curved blade, having a razor-sharp
+two-edged point and a heavy back. It is fitted with a handle and
+guard, and is always carried in a sheath. It can be thrown with great
+precision by the old-time “knife-fighter”; but it is at close quarters
+that the true wickedness of the weapon comes to light.
+
+In a fight with these knives death must surely result--many times to
+both antagonists; surely to one. One stroke does it; there is no need
+of a second if the first really gets home. A strong blow would sever a
+man’s head from his body!
+
+Both the scout and Boyd Bennett were familiar with the use of the
+great knife. Facing each other, left foot forward, stooping slightly,
+they circled about each other like two cocks looking for a chance to
+strike. The men’s eyes were fastened upon each other, like the eyes of
+pugilists. In the expanding and contracting of the eyeball they saw the
+intent of their antagonist to make a move.
+
+Crouching, the two shifted about on the rocks. The ground was not good
+for such cautious work; but one did not know it better than the other.
+It was as fair to Bennett as to the scout.
+
+Both men feinted, but did not come to close quarters. They began to
+breathe heavily, not so much from exhaustion as from excitement. The
+wind hissed between their locked teeth. Their eyes were like those
+of mad beasts. Their bare feet shifted on the rocks with a shuffling
+sound, but otherwise they were noiseless in their tigerlike movements.
+
+Suddenly, with a shriek like a wildcat, Boyd Bennett leaped at his foe.
+He thought he saw an opening. This was what the scout intended, and
+he gave back just a little. But before Bennett was upon him the other
+glided to one side and struck sharply at the man. The blades clashed
+and sparks flew from the steel. At the same moment the men clutched
+each other by the left wrist, and at last the issue was really joined!
+
+There they stood panting, foot to foot and breast to breast, their
+fingers locked about each other’s wrists like steel bands, the
+knife-blades “slithering” against each other, every muscle in their
+bodies as tense as steel wires. The pressure of blade against blade was
+all that kept the men apart. If one gave an atom in an endeavor to stab
+his foe, he would open his own breast to the knife. This was a foregone
+conclusion. The pressure of knife against knife seemed a frail
+barrier; but that was all that lay between the two men and sudden and
+awful death!
+
+The man who made the first reckless move, or the one whose bodily
+forces first gave before the strain, was the one who ran the greatest
+peril. To the cool man, the brave man, the man with iron nerve and an
+undaunted patience--to him would come victory!
+
+Knowing this, Buffalo Bill took the only advantage that remained to
+him. His own mind was calm, his brain steady, his vision unclouded by
+hot rage. _His_ emotion was a sort of cold fury, as deadly as the steel
+blade, the handle of which he clutched. At last he had his enemy before
+him--within his grasp--face to face and steel to steel!
+
+And so he taunted him, knowing that Bennett’s brain and heart were
+already afire with hatred.
+
+“You’ve no girl now to conquer, Boyd Bennett!” the scout hissed.
+“You’re not robbing the cradle now. Look out! Another mistake like that
+and I’ll have you!”
+
+“Curse you, you’re a dead man already!” cried the bandit.
+
+“I’m as good as a dozen dead ones. Don’t fool yourself. Ah!”
+
+“Not yet!”
+
+“But almost--almost, my boy! I’ll get you the next time. My brave Death
+Killer--medicine chief of the Sioux! Ah-ha, you villain! You’ve played
+_that_ game to the end, too.”
+
+Bennett fairly gnashed his teeth and put forth furious endeavors to
+break down his antagonist’s guard.
+
+“Save your breath, man,” said Cody, knowing that his advice would have
+exactly a contrary effect upon Bennett. “I’m only playing with you yet.”
+
+“It’s the worst game _you_ ever played, Bill Cody!”
+
+Cody thought so himself, but he smiled back into the other’s eyes, and
+the man’s rage grew.
+
+“I’ll get you yet!” roared Bennett.
+
+“But not that way,” muttered the scout. “Ah! _Now_ we have it!”
+
+With a sudden turn of his wrist he almost brought Bennett to his knees.
+Both men clung so tightly to each other’s left wrists, however, that
+little advantage was to be gained by sudden twists. It was the steady
+pressure of steel against steel that would finally gain the day. One
+arm must be stronger than the other--one foot more skilful--one eye
+more true.
+
+“This is a bad end for you, Boyd Bennett!” began Cody again.
+
+He was scarcely panting himself; but the other was breathing hard,
+gnashing his teeth, rolling his eyes, like a veritable madman. He
+screamed with rage at this remark of the scout’s, and the froth flew
+from his lips. If ever a man was mad, Boyd Bennett was that person.
+
+“And all for what?” quoth the scout. “What did you make by it? The girl
+would have nothing to do with you. Had you remained in Oak Heart’s camp
+you might have finished me. But _not_ that way!” guarding himself from
+a furious lunge of the other’s knife.
+
+“No, no, my boy! You made a grave error. Back there you had some power.
+You might have had the upper hand over me. Now _I_ have it!”
+
+“Not yet!” roared Bennett.
+
+“Oh, yes, I have! I’m only playing with you, I tell you. When I am
+ready I’ll put you where the dogs won’t bite you! Ah! how’s that?”
+
+Boyd had made a furious lunge; and his hand had slipped on Cody’s
+wrist. Quick as lightning the scout slipped aside, broke from the
+death-grapple, and slit the point of his knife up Bennett’s upper arm,
+making a deep, ugly wound. The blood fairly spurted from the severed
+artery. It was then but a matter of a few minutes before Bennett would
+be helpless, unless he managed to finish Cody first.
+
+They circled about each other again, watchful as cats. Once or twice
+they tried to grapple, but it amounted to nothing. Bennett’s wound was
+troubling him sorely. The blood was running in a stream from the point
+of his elbow.
+
+“Say your prayers--if you have any to say, you scoundrel!” exclaimed
+the scout sternly. “For you pay for your murders and atrocities here
+and now! If you have killed that poor girl by your brutal treatment,
+you pay for it in short order.”
+
+Bennett leaped in at him. The scout gave back a bit, and suddenly his
+foot slipped on a wet slab of rock. He fell to one knee. With a yell of
+delight, the wounded bandit flung himself upon him.
+
+It was not the scout’s finish, however. Cody had a wealth of reserve
+force yet. He flung himself forward to meet Bennett’s charge, caught
+his left wrist and the weight of the man’s body upon his left shoulder.
+The scoundrel’s stroke overreached, and the pit of his stomach came in
+heavy contact with his antagonist’s shoulder-bone.
+
+That antagonist rose up suddenly and pitched Bennett clear over him.
+The man landed on his head and shoulders, but, as though made of India
+rubber, he bounded to his feet and faced Cody again.
+
+He was panting for breath, his face was covered with blood, and
+altogether he was a most terrible looking object. He had no intention
+of giving up the fight, however. With a yell, he flung himself once
+more at Cody--but this time wildly.
+
+“’Tis the end at last, Boyd Bennett!” sang out the clarion voice of the
+Border King.
+
+The villain knew it. His eyes rolled, his teeth chattered, his mouth
+was agape as he reentered the fray. Their left hands were locked again,
+and the knives clashed. Steadily Cody forced his man back, back,
+back--until a tree-trunk kept him from going farther. From a crouching
+position the two men gradually stood erect. The pressure of Buffalo
+Bill’s bowie against that of his antagonist became a force that the
+latter could not meet. His arm went slowly back until the elbow struck
+sharply against the tree-trunk.
+
+With an awful scream of rage and deadly fear the fellow’s fingers
+relaxed upon the handle of his bowie. The blade clattered to the
+ground. He clutched feebly at Cody’s throat, and then----
+
+It was indeed the knife to the hilt! Boyd Bennett slipped to the ground
+and lay there, dead!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLVII. THE CONQUEROR.
+
+
+Buffalo Bill turned his eyes from the bleeding corpse of his enemy,
+staggered to a near-by boulder, and dropped upon it to rest. His own
+strength was far spent. Besides, the wound he had received in his
+shoulder, aggravated by his long, cold swim and the violent exertions
+of the past few minutes, had broken out bleeding afresh. Boyd Bennett
+would never know how near he came to being victor himself in this awful
+battle!
+
+As for the consequence, he dropped upon the rock, exhausted and ill.
+The hardiest and most seasoned veteran comes to the end of his tether
+at last, and for thirty-six hours Cody had been riding hard, and
+fighting hard, and swimming hard--and all without bite or sup! There
+had been no time for the preparation of food when he left his cave in
+the mountain to follow Boyd Bennett and the White Antelope, and since
+that time he had neither dared shoot game nor had he seen the time to
+cook and eat.
+
+And that which fairly quenched his spirit now was the thought that he
+seemed to have taken all this hard labor upon his shoulders for naught.
+True, his old-time enemy was finally dead. Boyd Bennett, the outlaw of
+the Overland Trail, the Death Killer of the Utah Sioux, would never
+again trouble mortal man--unless his spirit came back to haunt the
+scenes of his bloody deeds.
+
+But Buffalo Bill had not put forth all this effort merely to best this
+old-time foe. First of all, he desired to save the White Antelope, but
+he seemed to have failed in this. Boyd Bennett had plainly carried his
+threat into execution. He had actually drowned the unfortunate girl.
+It had been that thought, more than any other, that had nerved Buffalo
+Bill to drive the steel home into Bennett’s heart!
+
+“All gone now--the last of the three!” muttered the scout, passing
+his hand across his shaking lips. “And such horrible deaths for all!
+Death by the bullet and the fall from the cliff. Death by the war-club
+and tomahawk. And now death by the river--and the hands of a cursed
+villain. Horrible! horrible!”
+
+These enigmatical remarks, uttered aloud, drowned a rustling in the
+bushes behind him. Suddenly a light hand fell upon his shoulder. The
+scout did not start--his nerves were too steady. But he glanced at the
+small, brown hand, and then looked up along the arm, turning his head
+until he looked full into the face of the White Antelope. There his
+gaze hung, while his lips remained speechless for the moment.
+
+“Pa-e-has-ka has killed his enemy and mine. This makes the White
+Antelope and Long Hair friends.”
+
+She held out her hand to him, and the scout took it, still in a daze.
+
+“By holy!” he muttered. “I sure thought she was dead.”
+
+“What is it my white brother mutters?”
+
+“I reckoned you were drowned, White Antelope,” repeated Cody.
+
+“Nay. I held my breath under the water. But that wicked man came near
+to drowning me.”
+
+“I should say he did!”
+
+“Then he would have revived me; but I remained as though unconscious,
+for I feared him.”
+
+“You’ll have need to fear him no more.”
+
+“Ah! it was a good fight! I watched. The Long Hair is indeed a great
+chief.”
+
+Cody shuddered and glanced away. He did not like to think of the
+daughter of Oak Heart’s white wife viewing with satisfaction such a
+terrible battle as that which had just cursed this spot.
+
+“The Long Hair is cold. Let him come to the fire yonder and dry his
+body and rest.”
+
+“I don’t care if I do. I feel like I was frozen clear to my marrow.
+You’ve got a fire, have you?”
+
+“Death Killer made it to dry us by. Now you shall have it,” she said.
+
+The scout basked for some minutes in the heat of the fire, which White
+Antelope heaped with fresh fuel. But he could not remain inactive for
+long. His perturbed mind, relieved by the discovery of the girl’s
+safety, instantly fixed upon other worriments.
+
+Her absence from the encampment of the Sioux would have long since been
+noted. Oak Heart would be troubled by her absence. And they were a long
+way from the valley in which the Indian village lay.
+
+Besides, they were marooned on this island in the middle of the
+river. The canoe was wrecked, and Cody shrank from making that long
+swim to the mainland again. Besides, he doubted the girl’s ability to
+accomplish such a task.
+
+There was nothing to eat on this island, however, and food they must
+have before long. At least, the scout felt the need of it.
+
+So he rose up very quickly from his reclining posture and went to the
+side of the island which faced the river-bank from which he had swum.
+It was already twilight, but he glanced sharply up and down the bank
+for some wandering party that might help them. The Indians might be
+searching for their canoes; he could not expect any of the freighters
+to come down so far as this, for the main trail turned off some miles
+above.
+
+But not a soul appeared. The only living object on the river-bank which
+he saw was Chief, quietly grazing.
+
+“Then our hope lies in you, faithful old horse!” cried Cody, and he
+uttered a shrill whistle.
+
+The white horse raised his head, whinnied, and trotted down to the
+water’s edge. Buffalo Bill gave the call which he used when he desired
+Chief to come to him. The dumb brute understood, but he pawed the
+gravel at the river’s edge and seemed to hesitate. The distance across
+was wide, and the sullen current was strong. He had already been in it
+and had been almost swept away.
+
+Buffalo Bill repeated his call. The horse threw up his head, neighed
+intelligently, and trotted down the riverside to the lower end of
+the island. There the current was not so swift. Without hesitation,
+this time, the noble horse plunged into the flood and swam with head
+high, and occasionally neighing at his master, toward the island.
+Being untrammeled by saddle or bridle, the creature handled himself
+remarkably well in the current, and forged ahead without being swept
+much out of his course by the stream.
+
+When he came near the shore, however, Buffalo Bill was forced to rush
+in, cling to Chief’s mane, and guide the horse to land. There the
+brute climbed out and shook himself like a great dog.
+
+“Ah! the white chief has control over even the ponies,” said the Indian
+maid, in admiration.
+
+“And lucky he does,” muttered Buffalo Bill to himself. “Without old
+Chief we’d be roosting here till kingdom come!”
+
+But he had to give the horse time to breathe before setting him at the
+current again. It was no easy pull across. Finally he led the white
+horse down into the water and gave the girl a boost upon his back,
+where she straddled him, clinging to his thick mane.
+
+“Let him have his head,” Buffalo Bill commanded. “He won’t need any
+guidance, but will bring us both safe ashore.”
+
+He urged Chief into the deep water, and swam by his side himself,
+resting a hand now and then on the beast’s shoulder, and encouraging
+him with his voice. Tired as they both were, man and beast found the
+pull tremendous. They were carried some distance down the river, but
+that did not so much matter. Only the water chilled Cody to the bone,
+and he had visions of rheumatism, that fell disease that lays hold upon
+the woodsman early in life because of exposure and privation.
+
+It was somewhat of a battle to reach the shore, but they accomplished a
+landing at last, and White Antelope leaped down from Chief’s back and
+patted him.
+
+“A brave horse, and worthy of carrying a brave man like Long Hair,” she
+declared.
+
+“Give him a night’s rest,” said Cody, “and he’ll carry us both back to
+your father’s village.”
+
+“The Long Hair was going there to redeem his pledge to me when I
+chanced to spy him?” queried White Antelope.
+
+“I certainly was snooping about, looking for a chance to get through
+Bennett’s line of guards.”
+
+“But you had been killing and scalping Oak Heart’s braves?”
+
+“Not a one. I was there waiting for a chance to keep my promise to
+you,” said Buffalo Bill emphatically. “This renegade white was the
+fellow who was quietly knocking your young men in the head and scalping
+them. He was as bloodthirsty a wretch as ever went unhung. He’s dead
+now, thanks be!”
+
+“Then Oak Heart will receive you with more friendliness,” said the girl.
+
+“I dunno how friendly he’ll feel,” muttered Cody. “But I’ll take you
+back safe in the morning.”
+
+They hastened to build a rousing camp-fire, and as soon as his
+undergarments were dry the scout put on his outer clothing and
+accouterments. Then with his rifle he stole away to a place where he
+had noted the marks of many creatures that had come down to drink, and
+there, just as the moon rose, found a doe with her fawn and shot the
+youngster. So they had a much needed late supper of roast kid. After
+which Cody insisted that the girl sleep.
+
+As for himself, he sat up the livelong night, or paced the river-bank
+to keep awake. Just before daybreak he awoke the girl, and while she
+cooked breakfast he obtained an hour’s repose.
+
+As they started from the river’s brink to ride ’cross country toward
+the range in which Oak Heart’s camp was situated, White Antelope said:
+
+“My father’s braves will be out searching for me, mayhap. If they see
+White Antelope in the charge of a white man, they may try to shoot him.
+They may believe you were he who stole me away.”
+
+“I’d been thinking of that,” said Cody reflectively. “I don’t want to
+get popped over for the wrong man, that’s sure. I reckon I’ll have to
+change my appearance a little.”
+
+“How will the white chief do that?” she demanded, over his shoulder.
+She was riding behind him on the saddle.
+
+“We’ll see when we come to that cave I’ve been staying in. I reckon
+I’ve got something there that may help me out. And I believe we shall
+be able to reach it without being molested.”
+
+Chief bore them tirelessly all that day and far into the night. When
+they halted and built their fire they were within a few hours’ ride of
+the cave in the mountain from which Cody had overlooked Oak Heart’s
+camp. Seventy-two hours before he had left it to chase Boyd Bennett
+and rescue the Indian maiden. Much had happened since then both to the
+scout and in the Indian encampment.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLVIII. THE PLEDGE KEPT.
+
+
+There was much excitement in the village of the Sioux. The white queen,
+the idolized daughter of Oak Heart, had ridden away from her teepee and
+had not returned. Then came the discovery of the death of the young
+brave on the ridge, and the deed was set down to the credit of the
+hated Long Hair.
+
+These mysterious murders that had been committed so near the encampment
+had wrought upon the tribesmen greatly. It seemed as though Long Hair
+possessed some supernatural power. He flitted, seemingly, from place to
+place without being seen, and killed the Sioux almost in the confines
+of the encampment.
+
+While the chiefs were in council a horse was seen approaching from
+a mountain defile, down over the ridge, where the young brave had
+been found stabbed to the heart. Upon the back of the horse were two
+persons, one of them apparently a great chief in full war-dress; the
+other was White Antelope herself.
+
+The strange chief rode directly down into the village, not deigning to
+more than grunt a salutation to the guards, and the girl refused to
+make any explanation, either. Straight to the council-lodge the chief
+rode, and, there dismounting, the two entered, the young girl leading
+the way.
+
+The Indian is stoical and Spartan, but Oak Heart was fond of his
+remaining child. He was moved now by her unexpected recovery, and
+as she ran to him he allowed her to take and hold his hand. The old
+men nodded, too, for they believed that the White Antelope was “good
+medicine.” The strange chief, however, they did not know, and they eyed
+him with suspicion as well as curiosity. Finally the White Antelope
+arose and stepped into the circle, and there made her voice heard by
+all in the lodge.
+
+“The Sioux are a wise people; their chiefs are wise; their old men are
+wise, but sometimes even the wise are mistaken. They make mistakes.
+They welcome into their tribe one who stung and bit like the viper
+warmed in the bosom. Such a viper has been warmed in the bosom of the
+Utah Sioux!”
+
+The old men grunted and looked at each other. Some glanced covertly at
+the place where the medicine chief, Death Killer, should have sat. He
+was not present.
+
+“This one came with a false tale to my father, the great chief, Oak
+Heart, and told a tale which sent the Sioux on the war-path. They fell
+upon the palefaces and killed them. The palefaces were not searching
+for the Sioux village; they were searching for a wicked paleface to
+punish him. Ah! he was two-tongued--and his tongue was sharp as a knife.
+
+“The White Antelope speaks the truth to you. This traitor was in the
+councils of the Sioux, but with his own hand he was murdering our young
+men. See! The still, red scalp of Po-ca-his-ta, torn from his head by
+the traitor this very day. And this--as other--murders he would have
+had the Sioux believe were done by Long Hair, the paleface scout.
+
+“Long Hair was sent to tell his big chief of my father’s warning, and
+to bring people to bury the dead. Long Hair said he would return. Long
+Hair is of a straight tongue. He is here!”
+
+Instantly the strange chief standing so motionless in their presence
+threw the war-bonnet aside and dropped the corner of the blanket which
+muffled his face. Buffalo Bill stood revealed. A deep murmur ran around
+the lodge, and it was half of surprise, half of admiration for the bold
+paleface who had redeemed his word to the White Antelope. Fearlessly
+the scout stood before his redskin foes, his eyes fixed upon the face
+of Oak Heart.
+
+“It is well,” said the old Sioux. “The Long Hair’s life was forfeit
+when he was held by Death Killer. He has gone to his people; he has
+returned as he said. Now he must die.”
+
+But Buffalo Bill never changed color. White Antelope started forward,
+her richly tinted face paling. It was a moment before she controlled
+herself and stood calmly to speak as an Indian should.
+
+“Let the White Antelope speak!” said Oak Heart quietly.
+
+The girl, in rapid, burning words, related her capture by Boyd Bennett
+and his death at the hands of the scout. The treachery of the renegade
+was proved. Buffalo Bill had been the medicine chief’s prisoner. Why
+should the Sioux hold the captive of a creature so dishonored?
+
+Her plea evidently made some impression, but all eyes turned upon Oak
+Heart, and at length the old chief spoke.
+
+“The Long Hair is a mighty paleface chief. He has trailed the red man
+to his village, and his belt is heavy with the scalps of my braves. He
+came here under the war-bonnet of a Cheyenne chief, and has saved the
+White Antelope from death.
+
+“But the Long Hair has long been a foe to the Sioux. It was he who
+brought help to the white soldiers in the fort when we would have
+beaten them. It was he who took them ammunition. It was he who stole
+our ponies.
+
+“The Long Hair has ofttimes looked on death. He is not afraid of death.
+He must show my warriors how a brave man can die.”
+
+For the first time since entering the lodge, Buffalo Bill spoke:
+
+“It is true, Oak Heart, that I have been your foe, and the foe of
+your people of late. It was not always so. When the Sioux would dwell
+at peace with the paleface, were content to live and hunt in these
+mountains and not fall upon and kill the white soldiers, Long Hair was
+their friend.
+
+“When the Wise Woman lived and her wisdom guided the tribe, the Sioux
+remained at peace with the paleface. But now worse councils prevail
+among you, and your young men go out to battle and are slain. And what
+do you gain? The palefaces are as numberless as the leaves of the
+forest. When you kill one, two come in his place; where you kill two,
+a dozen appear. Take the word of one who has smoked in your lodges and
+heard wisdom from your old men. The Long Hair tells you to bury the
+hatchet and smoke the peace-pipe with the white chiefs. Then shall you
+have content and your bellies be filled, and your young men shall grow
+up and be great hunters and your young squaws live to bear children.
+
+“Long Hair has spoken. If the Sioux kill me, it is but one white man
+dead. But how many will strike the trail of the Sioux to avenge my
+death? The Sioux have already lost many braves. Let them be content;
+blood enough has been spilled. Is it not so?
+
+“Remember, too, oh, Oak Heart, how Long Hair has sat in your lodge and
+talked with you and the Wise Woman before the Great Spirit took her.
+Here!” he drew from his hunting-shirt a sacred tomahawk pipe with a
+broken edge. “Here is the pledge given to Long-Hair long ago by the
+Wise Woman, and by Oak Heart. Then was Oak Heart’s mind single; he
+was not full of wiles and thoughts of evil against the white men and
+against Long Hair. This was the pledge that Long Hair and the Sioux
+should never be at enmity. And has the enmity been of Long Hair’s
+seeking? Nay! The red men started to slay. The Long Hair must go with
+his people. Has he done wrong?
+
+“See! Must Pa-e-has-ka die?” and he held up the trophy again.
+
+A deathlike silence had fallen upon the lodge. The old chief was
+greatly moved, and for an Indian--especially a councilor--to show
+emotion is a disgrace. Perhaps, too, his mind was filled with thoughts
+of the Wise Woman, of whom Buffalo Bill had spoken so feelingly.
+
+Years before, when Oak Heart was a much younger man, the tribe had
+raided far to the south, by the waters of a great river. They had come
+upon a ranchman and his family, killed him, flung his body into the
+river, and taken his wife, a beautiful white squaw, captive. None but
+the son of the ranchman--a mere child--escaped. He had been found and
+cared for after the massacre by Buffalo Bill.
+
+The white squaw’s brain had been turned by the horror of that time.
+She wandered about the encampment in a dazed state. The Indians have
+a great awe of those who are insane, believing that the finger of the
+Great Spirit has touched them. She was cared for tenderly and brought
+north with the tribe.
+
+She was a skilful woman with herbs and simples. She nursed the wounded
+warriors; she helped the women in travail; she cared for the children
+and the young squaws. She was much beloved. Her influence, even before
+her mind cleared, became one for great good in the tribe.
+
+Slowly she grew normal once more. Years had passed. Instead of golden
+tresses, her hair was as white as the snow upon the mountain peaks. Yet
+she was still a young woman and good to look upon. Oak Heart loved her.
+He had treated her with the utmost respect and kindness. She had lived
+so long among the redskins that she had lost all distaste for them,
+and had imbibed many of their religious beliefs. She was unutterably
+opposed to the warring of the tribe with the whites, however.
+
+Her husband and children were dead--and the past was dead. She espoused
+Oak Heart so as to retain her influence over him and over the tribe,
+for the good of the whites. It was after that that Buffalo Bill met the
+Wise Woman and knew who she was. But he had never told her that her son
+was alive, for fear that the knowledge would do the poor woman more
+harm than good. Also, she had a child by Oak Heart--the White Antelope.
+But she died when the girl was small.
+
+Possibly thoughts of the dead woman moved the old chief. Besides, the
+peace-pipe was a sacred pledge. He suddenly rose, threw around him his
+blanket, and, standing in the midst of the lodge, spoke impressively:
+
+“The Pa-e-has-ka is a friend to Oak Heart. When the hatchet shall be
+buried between the red men and the palefaces, they shall be brothers
+again. But now the palefaces are on the trail of my people; so let the
+Pa-e-has-ka hasten from us and join his own tribe. Not one of my braves
+shall follow him. Oak Heart has spoken.”
+
+There were murmurs about the lodge, but no chief at the moment put
+his objections in words. Buffalo Bill found the White Antelope’s hand
+seeking his own. She acted more like a modest and timid white girl than
+ever before.
+
+“Let the white chief come with me,” she whispered. “I have something to
+show him.”
+
+The amazed scout went with her out of the grand lodge and was taken to
+her own teepee.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLIX. CONCLUSION.
+
+
+The wondering Indians allowed the White Antelope and Long Hair to pass.
+Inside the teepee an old woman kept watch and guard. A figure lay upon
+a heap of furs. It moved as the scout entered, raised on its elbow, and
+a weak voice exclaimed:
+
+“By the nine gods of war! Thanks be it’s you, Cody! I thought you’d
+never come, though this dear girl here swore you would, as you had
+promised her.”
+
+To see one whom we believe dead--aye, have seen lying stark on the
+field of battle and believe to have been buried there--rise up suddenly
+and confront us is indeed a shock. Buffalo Bill fell back a step,
+exclaiming:
+
+“Dick Danforth!”
+
+“’Tis I, old faithful! Thanks to this girl--who is the whitest Injun
+God ever made--I am alive, the sole survivor of my unfortunate party.”
+
+“Dick, I saw you lying on the field of battle,” declared the scout,
+taking his hand. “How came you here?”
+
+“She brought me back to life. She found there was life in me. I had
+got a terrible crack on the head. She and the old woman brought me
+here, and I have been hidden in this teepee ever since. I’m a whole lot
+better now, Cody. I believe I could ride a horse.”
+
+“And the White Antelope has cared for you?” cried the scout.
+
+“She has, indeed.” Then the young man whispered: “Isn’t she beautiful?
+And how glad I am, old man, that you stayed my hand that day when I
+would have murdered her!”
+
+“Ho, ho!” muttered the scout. “Sets the wind in that quarter? I must
+tell you two young people something before more mischief be done.”
+
+He seized the girl’s hand and drew her forward to the side of
+Danforth’s couch.
+
+“White Antelope,” he said in English, “do you remember that I told you
+once I knew your mother?”
+
+She nodded, watching him with bright eyes.
+
+“She was a lovely woman. She was a white woman. It was true she was
+Oak Heart’s wife, but she had been espoused before by a good and great
+white man. He was killed by Oak Heart’s people, and for a time your
+mother was stricken by the mercy of the Great Spirit with forgetfulness.
+
+“When she came to herself she believed that her husband and her son
+were dead. She became Oak Heart’s squaw. But her son was not dead. I
+had saved him from the Indians, and he lived to grow up----”
+
+Danforth raised himself up with a great cry.
+
+“You do not mean it! It is impossible!” he cried. “This girl----?”
+
+“Is your sister. White Antelope, this young man is your elder
+brother--and a mighty fine fellow you’ll find him. Your mother was the
+finest woman I ever knew, and _your_ father, Dick--God help him!--was
+once the finest fellow in the world!”
+
+The scout choked and was silent. He was thinking of that awful,
+convulsed face of the Mad Hunter as he fell backward from the summit of
+the bluff, with Texas Jack’s bullet in his brain!
+
+“He--he is my brother?” murmured the girl, her eyes shining.
+
+“That’s what he is,” said the scout, recovering himself and speaking
+heartily.
+
+She went to Danforth and put both her hands in his. The young fellow
+suddenly pulled her down to him and kissed her on the lips.
+
+“That’s the way _white_ brothers and sisters greet each other,” he
+said, with a weak laugh. “When can you get us away from this camp,
+Cody?”
+
+That was a question easier to be asked than answered. But the
+excitement over the letting of Cody himself go free aided them in their
+attempt. The chiefs were murmuring against the decision of Oak Heart.
+The old man was fighting for his supremacy as head chief of the tribe.
+He could not even see the White Antelope, and shut her out of his lodge.
+
+This piqued the wayward girl. She was the more ready to go with her
+new-found brother, as he was ill and needed her. But she only agreed
+to go with him to Fort Resistence and then directly return. But Dick
+Danforth said confidently:
+
+“Let me once get her away from the influence of these bloody redskins,
+and I’ll wean her away from them. I know what will please a young girl
+like her. I’ll take her to San Francisco, Bill. Thanks to you, I’ve
+some property of my own left of my poor father’s estate. And isn’t she
+a beauty! Won’t she make ’em sit up and take notice at the Bay?”
+
+Under cover of the night the scout and the Indian maid helped the
+wounded Danforth upon a horse, and the three wended their way from
+the encampment. They were not followed--or, at least, were not
+overtaken--until they reached Captain Keyes’ command. Then they were
+hurried on under an escort to Resistence. White Antelope made no
+objection to going, her brother was so weak and needed her so much.
+
+Indeed, the wily young fellow remained an invalid so long that his
+sister became half-reconciled to civilized clothing and to white people
+before they took the long journey to San Francisco, where Dick went to
+spend the furlough allowed him by the department.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The scene changes once more to Fort Advance, some days after that on
+which Buffalo Bill, the Border King, had set out on his dangerous
+mission to the village of the Sioux. It is a little past sunrise, and a
+horseman is descried taking the trail from the cañon toward the fort.
+He is mounted on a great white charger that comes like the wind.
+
+The rider looks pale and jaded, and his buckskin attire has seen hard
+usage. But he is recognized by the sentinel over the gate, and his cry
+is repeated about the fort:
+
+“Here comes Buffalo Bill, the King of the Border!”
+
+Waving his battered hat in response to the shout, Buffalo Bill rides
+straight to the open gate, enters, and dismounts before Major Baldwin’s
+door. An orderly seizes his bridle-rein, and the major comes forth and
+grasps the scout’s hand with the words:
+
+“Thanks be to God for seeing you again alive, Cody! When Keyes told me
+you were safe, I felt like ordering a feast to celebrate the occasion.
+And they say the Sioux are ready for peace?”
+
+“I believe they are. Oak Heart has pretty much lost his grip on the
+tribe, and is an outcast. But the new powers-that-be have seen the
+fallacy of trying issues again with us.”
+
+“We certainly believed you dead one while, Cody.”
+
+“And it was a close shave not to be this time, sir.”
+
+“You have won out as usual, Bill, with flying colors.”
+
+“Yes, Major Baldwin. I went to Oak Heart’s village with the firm
+determination to get Boyd Bennett if it cost me my life. That scoundrel
+had been a thorn in my side too long. I got him. He’s dead. He’ll do no
+more harm _this_ side of the Great Divide!”
+
+“A good piece of work, Cody. And I understand that old maniac, the Mad
+Hunter, who attacked Keyes, is dead, too?”
+
+“That is so. But I am sorry for _his_ end. I tell you in confidence,
+major, that the man was Dick Danforth’s father--though I never
+suspected it until I saw his face close to. The Indians were supposed
+to have cracked him on the head and flung him into the river years ago.
+The crack on the head was sure enough. But he wasn’t drowned. His end
+has come now, poor fellow.”
+
+“And Dick wonderfully saved!”
+
+“He is, indeed--and has found a sister.”
+
+“Ah, Cody! That was a joker you kept up your sleeve a long time,” said
+the major.
+
+“True. I knew the boy’s hatred for all savages. I did not know about
+his poor mother and this girl until I had really instilled some of the
+boy’s hatred into his mind myself. I feared for him to know the truth.
+Yet I wanted to save her from the savages. Providence performed what I
+could not.”
+
+“True.... But those scalp-locks, Cody?” asked Major Baldwin, pointing
+to the string of ghastly trophies hanging from the scout’s belt.
+
+“Oh, those are the roofs of the braves who tried to raise my hair. I
+intended to have a rope made of them to hang Boyd Bennett with, but
+I’ll have them made into a bridle for you, instead, major.”
+
+“All right, scout. Thank you for the gift. And now you are free. Report
+to me in full when you have rested,” and with another hand-clasp the
+major let him go.
+
+Many other hands were waiting to clasp that of the Border King. It was
+some time before he could break away and find Texas Jack in the scouts’
+quarters.
+
+But times of rest were few and far between for these hardy men of the
+frontier. One tribe of red men were scarcely subjugated for the time
+when another would rise up to kill and slay. It was not long before
+Buffalo Bill was performing more daring deeds to add to his fame upon
+the border.
+
+THE END.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Say, Boys!
+
+How’d you like to own your own bronc’? How’d you like to be an expert
+at lassoing and branding? How’d you like to ride the rolling prairies
+in search of lost stock, and perhaps have an adventure or two with
+certain bad men who did not like you because you were on the side of
+law and order? How would you like it?
+
+Well, we all cannot go west and be cowboys, but we sure can pay 15
+cents for the stories in the _Western Story Library_, and find a good,
+comfortable spot, and immediately imagine ourselves riding with Ted
+Strong and his broncho boys, sharing their adventures, their hardships
+and pleasures.
+
+Ted Strong and his pals are lovable fellows--every one of them, and you
+will do well to make comrades of them.
+
+Ask your dealer to show you a copy of the _Western Story Library_.
+
+  STREET & SMITH CORPORATION
+  79 Seventh Avenue  New York City
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+WESTERN STORIES ABOUT BUFFALO BILL
+
+Price, Fifteen Cents
+
+Red-blooded Adventure Stories for Men
+
+There is no more romantic character in American history than William
+F. Cody, or as he was internationally known, Buffalo Bill. He, with
+Colonel Prentiss Ingraham, Wild Bill Hickok, General Custer, and a few
+other adventurous spirits, laid the foundation of our great West.
+
+There is no more brilliant page in American history than the winning of
+the West. Never did pioneers live more thrilling lives, so rife with
+adventure and brave deeds as the old scouts and plainsmen. Foremost
+among these stands the imposing figure of Buffalo Bill.
+
+All of the books in this list are intensely interesting. They were
+written by the close friend and companion of Buffalo Bill--Colonel
+Prentiss Ingraham. They depict actual adventures which this pair of
+hard-hitting comrades experienced, while the story of these adventures
+is interwoven with fiction; historically the books are correct.
+
+_ALL TITLES ALWAYS IN PRINT_
+
+    1--Buffalo Bill, the Border King           By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+    2--Buffalo Bill’s Raid                     By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+    3--Buffalo Bill’s Bravery                  By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+    4--Buffalo Bill’s Trump Card               By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+    5--Buffalo Bill’s Pledge                   By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+    6--Buffalo Bill’s Vengeance                By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+    7--Buffalo Bill’s Iron Grip                By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+    8--Buffalo Bill’s Capture                  By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+    9--Buffalo Bill’s Danger Line              By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   10--Buffalo Bill’s Comrades                 By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   11--Buffalo Bill’s Reckoning                By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   12--Buffalo Bill’s Warning                  By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   13--Buffalo Bill at Bay                     By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   14--Buffalo Bill’s Buckskin Pards           By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   15--Buffalo Bill’s Brand                    By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   16--Buffalo Bill’s Honor                    By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   17--Buffalo Bill’s Phantom Hunt             By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   18--Buffalo Bill’s Fight With Fire          By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   19--Buffalo Bill’s Danite Trail             By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   20--Buffalo Bill’s Ranch Riders             By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   21--Buffalo Bill’s Death Trail              By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   22--Buffalo Bill’s Trackers                 By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   23--Buffalo Bill’s Mid-air Flight           By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   24--Buffalo Bill, Ambassador                By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   25--Buffalo Bill’s Air Voyage               By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   26--Buffalo Bill’s Secret Mission           By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   27--Buffalo Bill’s Long Trail               By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   28--Buffalo Bill Against Odds               By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   29--Buffalo Bill’s Hot Chase                By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   30--Buffalo Bill’s Redskin Ally             By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   31--Buffalo Bill’s Treasure Trove           By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   32--Buffalo Bill’s Hidden Foes              By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   33--Buffalo Bill’s Crack Shot               By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   34--Buffalo Bill’s Close Call               By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   35--Buffalo Bill’s Double Surprise          By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   36--Buffalo Bill’s Ambush                   By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   37--Buffalo Bill’s Outlaw Hunt              By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   38--Buffalo Bill’s Border Duel              By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   39--Buffalo Bill’s Bid for Fame             By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   40--Buffalo Bill’s Triumph                  By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   41--Buffalo Bill’s Spy Trailer              By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   42--Buffalo Bill’s Death Call               By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   43--Buffalo Bill’s Body Guard               By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   44--Buffalo Bill’s Still Hunt               By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   45--Buffalo Bill and the Doomed Dozen       By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   46--Buffalo Bill’s Prairie Scout            By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   47--Buffalo Bill’s Traitor Guide            By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   48--Buffalo Bill’s Bonanza                  By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   49--Buffalo Bill’s Swoop                    By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   50--Buffalo Bill and the Gold King          By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   51--Buffalo Bill, Deadshot                  By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   52--Buffalo Bill’s Buckskin Bravos          By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   53--Buffalo Bill’s Big Four                 By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   54--Buffalo Bill’s One-armed Pard           By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   55--Buffalo Bill’s Race for Life            By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   56--Buffalo Bill’s Return                   By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   57--Buffalo Bill’s Conquest                 By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   58--Buffalo Bill to the Rescue              By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   59--Buffalo Bill’s Beautiful Foe            By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   60--Buffalo Bill’s Perilous Task            By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   61--Buffalo Bill’s Queer Find               By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   62--Buffalo Bill’s Blind Lead               By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   63--Buffalo Bill’s Resolution               By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   64--Buffalo Bill, the Avenger               By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   65--Buffalo Bill’s Pledged Pard             By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   66--Buffalo Bill’s Weird Warning            By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   67--Buffalo Bill’s Wild Ride                By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   68--Buffalo Bill’s Redskin Stampede         By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   69--Buffalo Bill’s Mine Mystery             By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   70--Buffalo Bill’s Gold Hunt                By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   71--Buffalo Bill’s Daring Dash              By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   72--Buffalo Bill on Hand                    By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   73--Buffalo Bill’s Alliance                 By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   74--Buffalo Bill’s Relentless Foe           By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   75--Buffalo Bill’s Midnight Ride            By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   76--Buffalo Bill’s Chivalry                 By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   77--Buffalo Bill’s Girl Pard                By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   78--Buffalo Bill’s Private War              By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   79--Buffalo Bill’s Diamond Mine             By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   80--Buffalo Bill’s Big Contract             By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   81--Buffalo Bill’s Woman Foe                By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   82--Buffalo Bill’s Ruse                     By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   83--Buffalo Bill’s Pursuit                  By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   84--Buffalo Bill’s Hidden Gold              By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   85--Buffalo Bill in Mid-air                 By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   86--Buffalo Bill’s Queer Mission            By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   87--Buffalo Bill’s Verdict                  By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   88--Buffalo Bill’s Ordeal                   By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   89--Buffalo Bill’s Camp Fires               By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   90--Buffalo Bill’s Iron Nerve               By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   91--Buffalo Bill’s Rival                    By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   92--Buffalo Bill’s Lone Hand                By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   93--Buffalo Bill’s Sacrifice                By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   94--Buffalo Bill’s Thunderbolt              By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   95--Buffalo Bill’s Black Fortune            By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   96--Buffalo Bill’s Wild Work                By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   97--Buffalo Bill’s Yellow Trail             By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   98--Buffalo Bill’s Treasure Train           By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   99--Buffalo Bill’s Bowie Duel               By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+  100--Buffalo Bill’s Mystery Man              By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+  101--Buffalo Bill’s Bold Play                By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+  102--Buffalo Bill: Peacemaker                By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+  103--Buffalo Bill’s Big Surprise             By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+  104--Buffalo Bill’s Barricade                By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+  105--Buffalo Bill’s Test                     By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+  106--Buffalo Bill’s Powwow                   By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+  107--Buffalo Bill’s Stern Justice            By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+  108--Buffalo Bill’s Mysterious Friend        By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+  109--Buffalo Bill and the Boomers            By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+  110--Buffalo Bill’s Panther Fight            By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+  111--Buffalo Bill and the Overland Mail      By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+  112--Buffalo Bill on the Deadwood Trail      By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+  113--Buffalo Bill in Apache Land             By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+  114--Buffalo Bill’s Blindfold Duel           By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+  115--Buffalo Bill and the Lone Camper        By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+  116--Buffalo Bill’s Merry War                By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+  117--Buffalo Bill’s Star Play                By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+  118--Buffalo Bill’s War Cry                  By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+  119--Buffalo Bill on Black Panther’s Trail   By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+  120--Buffalo Bill’s Slim Chance              By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+  121--Buffalo Bill Besieged                   By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+  122--Buffalo Bill’s Bandit Round-up          By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+  123--Buffalo Bill’s Surprise Party           By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+  124--Buffalo Bill’s Lightning Raid           By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+  125--Buffalo Bill in Mexico                  By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+  126--Buffalo Bill’s Traitor Foe              By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+  127--Buffalo Bill’s Tireless Chase           By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+  128--Buffalo Bill’s Boy Bugler               By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+  129--Buffalo Bill’s Sure Guess               By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+  130--Buffalo Bill’s Record Jump              By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+  131--Buffalo Bill in the Land of Dread       By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+  132--Buffalo Bill’s Tangled Clue             By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+  133--Buffalo Bill’s Wolf Skin                By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+  _Adventure Stories_
+  _Detective Stories_
+  _Western Stories_
+  _Love Stories_
+  _Sea Stories_
+
+All classes of fiction are to be found among the Street & Smith novels.
+Our line contains reading matter for every one, irrespective of age or
+preference.
+
+The person who has only a moderate sum to spend on reading matter will
+find this line a veritable gold mine.
+
+  STREET & SMITH CORPORATION,
+  79 Seventh Avenue,
+  New York, N. Y.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Transcriber’s Notes:
+
+Punctuation has been made consistent.
+
+Variations in spelling and hyphenation were retained as they appear in
+the original publication, except that obvious typographical errors have
+been corrected.
+
+The following changes were made:
+
+p. 17: when assumed for unintelligible word (volunteer when you were)
+
+p. 34: means assumed for unintelligible word (wonderful means of)
+
+p. 69: wise scout assumed for unintelligible words (the wise scout had)
+
+p. 77: to assumed for unintelligible word (blow to Oak)
+
+p. 120: done assumed for unintelligible word (was done. It)
+
+p. 120: officer assumed for unintelligible word (the officer descried)
+
+p. 226: flung assumed for unintelligible word (mother flung him)
+
+p. 228: unintelligible word(s) deleted (he feared and)
+
+p. 292: a assumed for unintelligible word (seemed a frail)
+
+p. 306: can assumed for unintelligible word (man can die)
+
+p. 314: Dick assumed for unintelligible word (And Dick wonderfully)
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Buffalo Bill, the Border King, by 
+Colonel Prentiss Ingraham
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 62638 ***
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-

-The Project Gutenberg EBook of Buffalo Bill, the Border King, by 

-Colonel Prentiss Ingraham

-

-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most

-other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions

-whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of

-the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at

-www.gutenberg.org.  If you are not located in the United States, you'll have

-to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook.

-

-Title: Buffalo Bill, the Border King

-       Redskin and Cowboy

-

-Author: Colonel Prentiss Ingraham

-

-Release Date: July 14, 2020 [EBook #62638]

-

-Language: English

-

-Character set encoding: UTF-8

-

-*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BUFFALO BILL, THE BORDER KING ***

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-

-

-<div class="figcenter">

-<img id="coverpage" src="images/cover.jpg" alt="Cover." />

-</div>

-

-<div style="padding-top:2em">

-<div class="transnote">

-<h2 style="margin-top: 0em">Transcriber’s Notes:</h2>

-

-<p>The Table of Contents was created by the transcriber and placed

-in the public domain.</p>

-

-<p><a href="#TN_end">Additional Transcriber’s Notes</a> are at the

-end.</p>

-</div></div>

-

-<hr class="tb" />

-

-<div class="chapter">

-<div class="boxcontents">

-<p class="xlargefont center boldfont">CONTENTS</p>

-<p class="pcontents"><a href="#IN_APPRECIATION_OF_WILLIAM_F_CODY">In Appreciation of William F. Cody (Buffalo Bill).</a></p>

-<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">Chapter I. Running the Death-gantlet.</a></p>

-<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">Chapter II. The Border King.</a></p>

-<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">Chapter III. The King of the Sioux.</a></p>

-<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">Chapter IV. Buffalo Bill’s Plot.</a></p>

-<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">Chapter V. The Desperate Venture.</a></p>

-<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">Chapter VI. The Dash of the Scouts.</a></p>

-<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">Chapter VII. The Ace of Clubs.</a></p>

-<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">Chapter VIII. Facing Death.</a></p>

-<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">Chapter IX. Breaking Through the Red Circle.</a></p>

-<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_X">Chapter X. The Ride to the Rescue.</a></p>

-<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XI">Chapter XI. A Busy Half-hour.</a></p>

-<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XII">Chapter XII. A Flying Fight.</a></p>

-<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">Chapter XIII. The Chase of the White Antelope.</a></p>

-<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">Chapter XIV. A Startling Discovery.</a></p>

-<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XV">Chapter XV. The Treasure Chest.</a></p>

-<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">Chapter XVI. The Bandits of the Overland Trail.</a></p>

-<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">Chapter XVII. A Friend in Need.</a></p>

-<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII">Chapter XVIII. The Race With Death.</a></p>

-<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIX">Chapter XIX. Danforth’s Hand Is Stayed Again.</a></p>

-<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XX">Chapter XX. A Double Capture.</a></p>

-<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXI">Chapter XXI. The Cave in the Mountain.</a></p>

-<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXII">Chapter XXII. The Night Prowlers.</a></p>

-<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIII">Chapter XXIII. More Than They Bargained For.</a></p>

-<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIV">Chapter XXIV. Chased by the Flames.</a></p>

-<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXV">Chapter XXV. The Telltale Crow.</a></p>

-<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVI">Chapter XXVI. The Massacre.</a></p>

-<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVII">Chapter XXVII. “The Death Killer.”</a></p>

-<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVIII">Chapter XXVIII. The White Antelope Interferes.</a></p>

-<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIX">Chapter XXIX. A Girl’s Word.</a></p>

-<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXX">Chapter XXX. The Mad Hunter.</a></p>

-<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXI">Chapter XXXI. Buffalo Bill’s Great Shot.</a></p>

-<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXII">Chapter XXXII. The Border King’s Pledge.</a></p>

-<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXIII">Chapter XXXIII. Tracking the Mad Hunter.</a></p>

-<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXIV">Chapter XXXIV. Red Knife Loses His “Medicine.”</a></p>

-<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXV">Chapter XXXV. The Search For New Medicine.</a></p>

-<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXVI">Chapter XXXVI. The Magic Cup.</a></p>

-<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXVII">Chapter XXXVII. The Traitor.</a></p>

-<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXVIII">Chapter XXXVIII. White Antelope’s Peril.</a></p>

-<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXIX">Chapter XXXIX. A Cry For Help.</a></p>

-<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XL">Chapter XL. The Freight-train.</a></p>

-<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XLI">Chapter XLI. “On Guard!”</a></p>

-<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XLII">Chapter XLII. The Avenger.</a></p>

-<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XLIII">Chapter XLIII. Man to Man at Last.</a></p>

-<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XLIV">Chapter XLIV. The Fight to Gain the Island.</a></p>

-<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XLV">Chapter XLV. War to the Knife.</a></p>

-<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XLVI">Chapter XLVI. And the Knife to the Hilt.</a></p>

-<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XLVII">Chapter XLVII. The Conqueror.</a></p>

-<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XLVIII">Chapter XLVIII. The Pledge Kept.</a></p>

-<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XLIX">Chapter XLIX. Conclusion.</a></p>

-</div></div>

-

-<hr class="tb" />

-

-<div class="chapter">

-

-<div class="figcenter1">

-<img src="images/titlepage.jpg" alt="Title page." />

-</div></div>

-

-<hr class="chap" />

-<div class="chapter">

-<h1 class="nobreak">Buffalo Bill, the Border King</h1>

-

-

-<p class="center boldfont">OR,<br />

-<span class="xlargefont" style="line-height:3">REDSKIN AND COWBOY</span></p>

-

-<p class="center p1 xlargefont"><span class="mediumfont">BY</span><br />

-Col. Prentiss Ingraham</p>

-

-<p class="center" style="margin-bottom:2em">Author of “Buffalo Bill”</p>

-

-<div class="figcenter">

-<img src="images/titlepageicon.jpg" alt="Publisher's icon." />

-</div>

-

-<p class="center xlargefont p2">STREET &amp; SMITH CORPORATION<br />

-<span class="largefont">PUBLISHERS</span><br />

-79-89 Seventh Avenue, New York</p>

-</div>

-

-<hr class="tb" />

-

-<div class="chapter">

-<p class="center nobreak">Copyright, 1907<br />

-By STREET &amp; SMITH</p>

-

-<p class="center">Buffalo Bill, the Border King</p>

-

-<p class="center p2">(Printed in the United States of America)</p>

-

-<p class="center">All rights reserved including that of translation into foreign languages,

-including the Scandinavian.</p>

-</div>

-

-<hr class="chap" />

-

-<div class="chapter">

-<p><span class="pagenum">[1]</span></p>

-

-<h2 class="nobreak" id="IN_APPRECIATION_OF_WILLIAM_F_CODY">IN APPRECIATION OF WILLIAM F. CODY<br />

-<span class="largefont">(BUFFALO BILL).</span></h2>

-</div>

-

-

-<p>It is now some generations since Josh Billings, Ned

-Buntline, and Colonel Prentiss Ingraham, intimate friends

-of Colonel William F. Cody, used to forgather in the

-office of Francis S. Smith, then proprietor of the <cite>New

-York Weekly</cite>. It was a dingy little office on Rose Street,

-New York, but the breath of the great outdoors stirred

-there when these old-timers got together. As a result of

-these conversations, Colonel Ingraham and Ned Buntline

-began to write of the adventures of Buffalo Bill

-for Street &amp; Smith.</p>

-

-<p>Colonel Cody was born in Scott County, Iowa, February

-26, 1846. Before he had reached his teens, his

-father, Isaac Cody, with his mother and two sisters,

-migrated to Kansas, which at that time was little more

-than a wilderness.</p>

-

-<p>When the elder Cody was killed shortly afterward in

-the Kansas “Border War,” young Bill assumed the difficult

-role of family breadwinner. During 1860, and until

-the outbreak of the Civil War, Cody lived the arduous

-life of a pony-express rider. Cody volunteered his services

-as government scout and guide and served throughout

-the Civil War with Generals McNeil and A. J.

-Smith. He was a distinguished member of the Seventh

-Kansas Cavalry.</p>

-

-<p>During the Civil War, while riding through the streets

-of St. Louis, Cody rescued a frightened schoolgirl from

-a band of annoyers. In true romantic style, Cody and

-Louisa Federci, the girl, were married March 6, 1866.</p>

-

-<p>In 1867 Cody was employed to furnish a specified

-amount of buffalo meat to the construction men at work

-on the Kansas Pacific Railroad. It was in this period

-that he received the sobriquet “Buffalo Bill.”</p>

-

-<p>In 1868 and for four years thereafter Colonel Cody<span class="pagenum">[2]</span>

-served as scout and guide in campaigns against the Sioux

-and Cheyenne Indians. It was General Sheridan who

-conferred on Cody the honor of chief of scouts of the

-command.</p>

-

-<p>After completing a period of service in the Nebraska

-legislature, Cody joined the Fifth Cavalry in 1876, and

-was again appointed chief of scouts.</p>

-

-<p>Colonel Cody’s fame had reached the East long before,

-and a great many New Yorkers went out to see

-him and join in his buffalo hunts, including such men

-as August Belmont, James Gordon Bennett, Anson

-Stager, and J. G. Heckscher. In entertaining these

-visitors at Fort McPherson, Cody was accustomed to

-arrange wild-West exhibitions. In return his friends

-invited him to visit New York. It was upon seeing his

-first play in the metropolis that Cody conceived the idea

-of going into the show business.</p>

-

-<p>Assisted by Ned Buntline, novelist, and Colonel Ingraham,

-he started his “Wild West” show, which later

-developed and expanded into “A Congress of the Roughriders

-of the World,” first presented at Omaha, Nebraska.

-In time it became a familiar yearly entertainment

-in the great cities of this country and Europe.

-Many famous personages attended the performances, and

-became his warm friends, including Mr. Gladstone, the

-Marquis of Lorne, King Edward, Queen Victoria, and

-the Prince of Wales, now King of England.</p>

-

-<p>At the outbreak of the Sioux, in 1890 and 1891,

-Colonel Cody served at the head of the Nebraska National

-Guard. In 1895 Cody took up the development

-of Wyoming Valley by introducing irrigation. Not long

-afterward he became judge advocate general of the

-Wyoming National Guard.</p>

-

-<p>Colonel Cody (Buffalo Bill) died in Denver, Colorado,

-on January 10, 1917. His legacy to a grateful world was

-a large share in the development of the West, and a

-multitude of achievements in horsemanship, marksmanship,

-and endurance that will live for ages. His life

-will continue to be a leading example of the manliness,

-courage, and devotion to duty that belonged to a picturesque

-phase of American life now passed, like the great

-patriot whose career it typified, into the Great Beyond.</p>

-

-<hr class="chap" />

-

-<div class="chapter">

-<p class="center xxlargefont" style="margin-bottom:1em">BUFFALO BILL, THE BORDER KING.</p>

-

-

-

-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I.<br />

-<span class="cheaderfont">RUNNING THE DEATH-GANTLET.</span></h2>

-</div>

-

-

-<p>Fort Advance, a structure built of heavy, squared

-timbers and some masonry, with towers at the four

-corners, commanding the deep ditches which had been

-dug around the walls, stood in the heart of the then

-untracked Territory of Utah. It was the central figure

-of a beautiful valley&mdash;when in repose&mdash;and commanded

-one of the important passes and wagon trails

-of the Rockies.</p>

-

-<p>A mountain torrent flowed through the valley, and

-a supply of pure water from this stream had been

-diverted into the armed square which, commanded by

-Major Frank Baldwin, was a veritable City of Refuge

-to all the whites who chanced to be in the country at

-this time.</p>

-

-<p>For the valley of Fort Advance offered no peaceful

-scene. The savage denizens of the mountain and

-plain had risen, and, in a raging, vengeful flood, had

-poured into the valley and besieged the unfortunate

-occupants of the fort. These were a branch of the

-great Sioux tribe, and, under their leading chief, Oak

-Heart, fought with the desperation and blind fanaticism

-of Berserkers.</p>

-

-<p>A belt of red warriors surrounded Fort Advance,<span class="pagenum">[6]</span>

-cutting off all escape, or the approach of any assistance

-to the inmates of the stockade, outnumbering

-the able-bodied men under Major Baldwin’s command

-five to one! Among them rode the famous Oak

-Heart, inspiring his children to greater deeds of daring.

-By his side rode a graceful, beautiful girl of

-some seventeen years, whose face bore the unmistakable

-stamp of having other than Indian blood flowing

-in her veins. Long, luxurious hair, every strand of

-golden hue, contrasted strangely with her bronze complexion,

-while her eyes were sloe-black, and brilliant

-with every changing expression.</p>

-

-<p>This was White Antelope, a daughter of Oak Heart,

-and she held almost as much influence in the tribe as

-the grim old chief himself. Because of her beauty, indeed,

-she was almost worshiped as a goddess. At

-least, there was not a young buck in all the Utah

-Sioux who would not have attempted any deed of

-daring for the sake of calling the White Antelope his

-squaw.</p>

-

-<p>But while the red warriors were so inspired without

-the walls of the fortress, within was a much different

-scene. Major Baldwin’s resources were at an end.

-Many of his men were wounded, or ill; food was low;

-the wily redskins had cut off their water-supply; and

-there were but a few rounds of ammunition remaining.

-Fort Advance and its people were at a desperate

-pass, indeed!</p>

-

-<p>After a conference with his subordinate officers,

-Major Baldwin stood up in the midst of his haggard,

-powder-begrimed men. They were faithful fellows&mdash;many

-of them bore the scars of old Indian fights.<span class="pagenum">[7]</span>

-But human endurance has its limit, and there is an

-end to man’s courage.</p>

-

-<p>“Will no man in this fort dare run the death-gantlet

-and bring aid to us?” cried the major.</p>

-

-<p>It was an appeal from the lips of a fearless man,

-one who had won a record as a soldier in the Civil

-War, and had made it good later upon the field as

-an Indian fighter. The demand was for one who

-would risk almost certain death to save a couple of

-hundred of his fellow beings, among them a score of

-women and children.</p>

-

-<p>The nearest military post where help might be obtained

-was forty miles away. Several brave men had

-already attempted to run the deadly gantlet, and had

-died before the horrified eyes of the fort’s inmates.

-It seemed like flinging one’s life away to venture into

-the open where, just beyond rifle-shot, the red warriors

-ringed the fort about.</p>

-

-<p>Such was the situation, and another attack was

-about due. The riding of the big chief and his daughter

-through the mass of Indians, was for the purpose

-of giving instructions regarding the coming charge.

-Ammunition in the fort might run out this time.

-Then over the barrier would swarm the redskins, and

-the thought of the massacre that would follow made

-even Major Baldwin’s cheek blanch.</p>

-

-<p>So the gallant commander’s appeal had been made&mdash;and

-had it been made in vain? So it would seem,

-for not a man spoke for several moments. They

-shifted their guns, or changed weight from one foot

-to the other, or adjusted a bandage which already

-marked the redskin’s devilish work.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[8]</span></p>

-

-<p>They were brave men; but death seemed too sure a

-result of the attempt called for; it meant&mdash;to their

-minds&mdash;but another life flung away!</p>

-

-<p>“Was it not better that all should die here together,

-fighting desperately till the last man fell?” That was

-the question these old scarred veterans asked in their

-own minds. The venture would be utterly and completely

-hopeless.</p>

-

-<p>“<em>Look there!</em>”</p>

-

-<p>The trumpet-call was uttered by an officer on one

-of the towers of the stockade. His arm pointed westward,

-toward a ridge of rock which&mdash;barren and forbidding&mdash;sloped

-down into the valley facing the main

-gateway of Fort Advance.</p>

-

-<p>At the officer’s cry a score of men leaped to positions

-from which could be seen the object that occasioned

-it. Even Major Baldwin, knowing that the cry

-had been uttered because of some momentous happening,

-hurriedly mounted to the platform above the gate.

-He feared that already his demand for another volunteer

-was too late. He believed the redskins were massing

-for another charge.</p>

-

-<p>All eyes were strained in the direction the officer

-on the watch-tower pointed. A gasp of amazement

-was chorused by those who saw and understood the

-meaning of the cry.</p>

-

-<p>A horseman was seen riding like the wind toward

-the fort&mdash;and he was a white man!</p>

-

-<p>The Indians who had already beheld this rash adventurer

-were dumb with amazement. They were as

-much surprised by his appearance as were the inmates

-of the fort.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[9]</span></p>

-

-<p>The unknown rider was leading a packhorse. The

-horse he bestrode was a magnificent animal, and the

-packhorse flying along by its side was a racer as well,

-for both came on, down the long tongue of barren

-rock, at a spanking pace.</p>

-

-<p>From whence had the man come? Who was he?

-How had he gotten almost through the Indian lines

-undiscovered?</p>

-

-<p>He certainly had all but run the gantlet of the red

-warriors, for no shot, or no arrow, had been fired at

-him until he was discovered by the officer on the

-watch-tower of the fort.</p>

-

-<p>Then it was that he spurred forward like the wind,

-and floating to the ears of the whites who watched

-him so fearfully came the long, tremolo yell of the

-Sioux warriors as they started in pursuit of the daredevil

-rider. He was heading directly for the large

-gates of the fort.</p>

-

-<p>That he had chosen well his place to break through

-the Indian death-circle was evident, for there were few

-braves near him as he fled along the sloping ridge into

-the valley. His rifle he turned to right, or to left,

-firing with the same ease from either shoulder, while

-his mount, and the packhorse tied to its bridle, guided

-their own feet over the rocky way.</p>

-

-<p>When he pulled trigger the bullet did not miss its

-mark. The rifle rang out a death-knell, or sent a

-wounded brave out of action.</p>

-

-<p>The ponies of the Indians were feeding in the valley,

-with only a guard here and there, and there were

-no mounted warriors near to close in on the reckless

-rider, or to head him off. Hark! Their vengeful<span class="pagenum">[10]</span>

-yells, as they observed the possibility of the daring

-man’s escape, were awful to hear. They were in a

-frenzy of rage at the desperate act of the horseman.</p>

-

-<p>Rifles and bows sent bullets and shafts at him, but

-at long range. If he was hit he did not show it. The

-horses still thundered on, down into the valley, as

-recklessly as frenzied buffalo.</p>

-

-<p>Oak Heart, the great war chief, heard the commotion

-and saw the speeding white man. The chief was

-mounted, and he lashed his horse into a dead run for

-the point where the reckless paleface was descending

-into the valley. With him rode the White Antelope,

-and their coming spurred the braves to more strenuous

-attempts to reach, or capture, or kill, the daredevil

-rider.</p>

-

-<p>The occupants of the fort&mdash;those who beheld this

-wonderful race&mdash;were on the qui vive. Their exclamations

-displayed the anxiety and uncertainty they

-felt.</p>

-

-<p>“He can never make it!”</p>

-

-<p>“The Indian guard are driving in the ponies to bar

-his way!”</p>

-

-<p>“Who is he?”</p>

-

-<p>“How he rides!”</p>

-

-<p>“God guard the brave fellow!” cried a woman’s

-voice.</p>

-

-<p>One of the gentler sex had climbed to the platform

-over the gate, and this was her prayer.</p>

-

-<p>Other women had dropped to their knees, and were

-fervently praying God to spare the splendid fellow who

-was daring the gantlet of death. A cheer rose from

-the soldiery. This unknown was showing them the

-way that they had not dared to go.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[11]</span></p>

-

-<p>“That packhorse is wounded. Why doesn’t he leave

-it?” cried one of the officers. “It is delaying him&mdash;can’t

-the fellow see it?”</p>

-

-<p>At that moment the commander shouted:</p>

-

-<p>“Captain Keyes, take your troop to the rescue of

-that brave fellow!”</p>

-

-<p>“With pleasure, sir! I was about to ask your permission

-to do just that,” declared the junior officer.</p>

-

-<p>The bugle sounded, but its notes were drowned in

-a sudden wild shout of joy that rose from the two

-hundred inmates of the fort. Another officer, with

-a field-glass at his eye, had suddenly turned and

-shouted:</p>

-

-<p>“It is Buffalo Bill, the Border King!”</p>

-

-

-

-<hr class="chap" />

-

-<div class="chapter">

-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II.<br />

-<span class="cheaderfont">THE BORDER KING.</span></h2>

-</div>

-

-

-<p>The wild cheers that greeted the recognition of the

-daring gantlet runner came in frenzied roars, the

-piping voices of children, the treble notes of women,

-and the deep bass of the men mingling in a swelling

-chorus that rose higher and higher.</p>

-

-<p>The Border King, as he had been called, heard the

-sound. He understood that it was in his welcome,

-and he fairly stood up in his stirrups and waved his

-sombrero, while the horses dashed on at the same

-mad pace.</p>

-

-<p>Buffalo Bill, or William F. Cody, as was his real

-name, was the chief of scouts at this very fort, and he

-was a hero&mdash;almost a god&mdash;in the eyes of the soldiers

-and his brother scouts.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[12]</span></p>

-

-<p>A week before he had started for Denver with important

-despatches, but had returned in a few hours

-to report signs of a large band of Indians on the move.

-He had warned Major Baldwin that Oak Heart and

-his braves might be intending a concerted attack upon

-Fort Advance; but duty called Buffalo Bill to the trail

-again, and he had hurried away on his Denver mission.</p>

-

-<p>That the danger he had dreaded was real, the surrounding

-of the fort several days later by the Sioux

-proved. Scouts had been sent for aid, but too late.

-None had gotten through the belt of redskins, and

-that belt was tightening each hour. The ammunition

-was low, and the awful end was not far off if help

-from some quarter did not appear.</p>

-

-<p>Even the appearance of Buffalo Bill inspired the

-beleaguered whites with hope. It seemed an almost

-hopeless attempt to reach the fort, for the red warriors

-were closing in upon him. Yet he rode on unshakenly.</p>

-

-<p>Down the ridge he sped, and out upon the plain.

-He was seemingly coming from the sunshine of life

-into the valley of death’s shadow!</p>

-

-<p>Why did he do it? Why did he risk his life so recklessly

-when only forty miles away he could have obtained

-help from the military post? There was some

-reason behind his daring act, and some cause for his

-delaying his effort by dragging the packhorse, now

-wounded, with him.</p>

-

-<p>All in the fort knew what this hero of the border

-had done to win fame among the mighty men of the

-frontier. He was chief and king among them. Yet

-what could he do now to help the besieged in the<span class="pagenum">[13]</span>

-fortress, even did he reach the gate? That was the

-question!</p>

-

-<p>But hope revived, nevertheless, in every heart. Even

-the commandant, Major Frank Baldwin, began to look

-more hopeful as the scout drew closer to the fort. He

-had known Buffalo Bill long and well, and he knew of

-what marvels he was capable!</p>

-

-<p>Buffalo Bill had been born in a cabin home on the

-banks of the Mississippi River in the State of Iowa,

-and from his eighth year he had been a pioneer&mdash;an

-advance agent of civilization. At that age his

-father had removed to Kansas, and as a boy Billie

-Cody saw and took part in the bloody struggles in

-Kansas between the supporters of slavery and those

-who believed that the soil of Kansas should be unsmirched

-by that terrible traffic in human lives.</p>

-

-<p>Cody’s father, indeed, lost his life because of his

-belief in freedom, and the boy was obliged to help

-support the family at a tender age. He went to Leavenworth,

-and there hired out to Alex Majors, who of

-that day was the chief of the overland freighters into

-the far West.</p>

-

-<p>The boy was eleven years old&mdash;an age when most

-youngsters think only of their play and of their stomachs.

-But Billie Cody had seen his father shot down;

-he had nursed him and hidden him from his foes, and

-from the dying pioneer had received a sacred charge.

-That was the care of his mother and sister. It was

-necessary for him to earn a man’s wage, not a boy’s.

-And to get it he must do a man’s work. He was a

-splendid rider, even then&mdash;one of those horsemen who

-seem a part of the animal he bestrode, like the Centaurs<span class="pagenum">[14]</span>

-of which Greek mythology tells us. Alex

-Majors needed a messenger to ride from train to train

-along the wagon-trail, and he entrusted young Cody

-with the job.</p>

-

-<p>It was one that might have put to the test the

-bravery of a seasoned plainsman. Indians and wild

-beasts were both very plentiful. There were hundreds

-of dangers to threaten the lone boy as he rode swiftly

-over the trails. Yet even then he began to make his

-mark. He had several encounters with the Indians

-during his first season. As he says himself, the first

-redskin he ever saw stole from him, and he had to

-force the scoundrel&mdash;boy though he was&mdash;to give up

-the property at the point of the rifle. This incident,

-perhaps, gave the youth a certain daring in approaching

-the reds which often stood him well in after adventures.

-And the reds learned to respect and fear

-Billie Cody. He allowed his hair to grow long, to

-show the Indians that he was not afraid to wear a

-“scalp-lock”&mdash;practically daring any of his red foes to

-come and take it!</p>

-

-<p>So from that early day he had been active on the

-border. All knew him&mdash;red as well as white. He

-had been an Indian fighter from his eleventh year,

-the hero of hundreds of daring deeds, thrilling adventures,

-and narrow escapes. He was as gentle as a

-woman with the weak, the feeble, or with those who

-claimed his protection; but he was as savage in battle

-as a mountain lion, and had well earned the title bestowed

-upon him by his admiring friends&mdash;the Border

-King. His coming to the fort now&mdash;if he could make

-it safely&mdash;was worth in itself a company of reenforcements,

-for it put heart into all the besieged.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[15]</span></p>

-

-<p>“Never mind, Keyes! it is Cody, and he will get

-through,” called out Major Baldwin to Captain Keyes,

-as the men were mounting.</p>

-

-<p>Captain Edward L. Keyes was a splendid type of

-cavalry officer, and he was anxious for another brush

-with the redskins at close quarters. He was disappointed,

-but as the man making the attempt to reach

-Fort Advance was Buffalo Bill, the captain agreed

-with Major Baldwin that “he would get through.”</p>

-

-<p>The Border King had turned his rifle now upon

-the Indian guards who were trying to head him off

-by blocking his way with the large herd of half-wild

-ponies which had been feeding in the valley. Indian

-ponies are not broken like those used by white men.

-They are pretty nearly wild all their days. The red man

-merely teaches his mount to answer to the pressure

-of his knees, and to the jerk of the single rawhide

-thong that is slipped around the brute’s lower jaw.

-And these lessons are further enforced by cruelty.</p>

-

-<p>The odor of a white person is offensive to an Indian

-pony. A white man has been known frequently to

-stampede a band of Indian mounts; and not infrequently

-the mob of wild creatures has turned upon

-the unfortunate paleface and trampled him to death

-under their unshod feet.</p>

-

-<p>Therefore, this opposition of the ponies was no

-small matter. They were a formidable barrier to

-Buffalo Bill’s successful arrival at the gate of the

-stockade fort.</p>

-

-<p>His rifle rattled forth lively, yet deadly, music, and

-his aim was wonderfully true for that of a man riding

-at full speed. Emptying the gun, he swung it quickly

-over his shoulder, and drawing the big cavalry pistols<span class="pagenum">[16]</span>

-from their holsters the daring scout began to fairly

-mow a path through the herd of ponies. The slugs

-carried by the large-caliber pistols were as effective as

-the balls from his rifle. The mob of squealing, kicking,

-biting ponies broke before his charge, and swept

-on ahead of him. Another cheer from the watchers in

-the fort signaled this fact. The ponies were stampeding

-directly toward Fort Advance.</p>

-

-<p>“Out and line ’em up!”</p>

-

-<p>“We’ll corral the ponies if we kyan’t th’ Injuns!”</p>

-

-<p>“Throw open the gates!” commanded Major Baldwin,

-his voice heard above the tumult.</p>

-

-<p>The command was obeyed, and Captain Keyes and

-his men galloped out to meet the mob.</p>

-

-<p>In vain did the Indian guards try to head off the

-stampede. By having left their ponies in the valley

-where the grass was sweet and long, they had been

-caught in this trap. Instead of capturing Buffalo Bill

-it looked as though he and the other whites would

-capture the bulk of the Indian ponies!</p>

-

-<p>Oak Heart and the White Antelope, with a few

-mounted reds at their back, thundered across the level

-plain and up the rise toward the fort. But the pony

-herd and Buffalo Bill were well in the lead.</p>

-

-<p>The king of the border turned in his saddle, and

-waved his sombrero in mockery at the Indian chief.

-Then the ponies dashed into the gateway and were

-corraled, while the scout, still leading his packhorse,

-swept in behind them.</p>

-

-<p>“On guard, all! The redskins will charge on foot

-to try and get their ponies!” shouted the scout, as he

-came through the gate.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[17]</span></p>

-

-<p>His voice rose above the turmoil and brought the

-delighted men to their duty. Major Baldwin echoed

-Buffalo Bill’s advice, ordering everybody to their

-posts.</p>

-

-<p>“Be careful of the expenditure of powder and lead,

-men!” warned the major, from his stand on the platform.

-“Remember we are running short.”</p>

-

-<p>“Don’t you believe it, major!” cried the voice of

-the scout, as he dismounted in the middle of the enthusiastic

-throng.</p>

-

-<p>“What’s that, Cody?”</p>

-

-<p>“Strip the packhorse. I have brought you a-plenty

-of ammunition until reenforcements can be had.”</p>

-

-<p>“God bless you, Cody, for those words! You have

-saved us,” cried Major Baldwin, and there was a

-tremor in his voice as he glanced toward the group of

-women and children.</p>

-

-<p>He came down from the platform, and wrung the

-scout’s hand, as he asked:</p>

-

-<p>“In the name of Heaven, Cody, where did you get

-ammunition? Surely, you did not bring it all the way

-from Denver?”</p>

-

-<p>“No, indeed. I cached this over a year ago, major,”

-the scout replied cheerfully. “It will hold those red

-devils off until help arrives. You’ve sent to Fort

-Resistence, I presume?”</p>

-

-<p>“Sent, alas! But five men have died in the attempt.”</p>

-

-<p>“And not one got through?” cried Buffalo Bill.</p>

-

-<p>“Not one, Cody.”</p>

-

-<p>Buffalo Bill’s face assumed a look of anxiety&mdash;an

-expression not often seen there.</p>

-

-<p>“I had called for another volunteer <a id="Ref_17" href="#Ref_17a">when</a> you were<span class="pagenum">[18]</span>

-discovered coming. It was a splendid dash you made,

-Cody, and a desperate one as well.”</p>

-

-<p>“Aye,” said the scout gravely. “Desperate it was,

-indeed. But it must be made again. This ammunition

-I have brought you may last till morning; but

-the reds must be taken on the flank or they’ll hold you

-here till kingdom come!</p>

-

-<p>“I’ll try to get through again, Major Baldwin. You

-must have help,” declared the Border King sternly.</p>

-

-

-

-<hr class="chap" />

-

-<div class="chapter">

-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III.<br />

-<span class="cheaderfont">THE KING OF THE SIOUX.</span></h2>

-</div>

-

-

-<p>Scarcely had Buffalo Bill uttered these cheering

-words when a babble of cries arose from the watchers

-on the towers and the platform over the gate. The

-redskins were gathering for a concerted charge, maddened

-by his escape and the loss of their ponies.</p>

-

-<p>Saving a few chiefs, beside Oak Heart and the

-White Antelope none of the reds were mounted. However,

-they were so enraged now that they ignored the

-whites’ accuracy of aim and came on within rifle-shot

-of the stockade.</p>

-

-<p>The ammunition brought on the packhorse led by

-the scout was hastily distributed among the defendants

-of the fort, with orders to throw no shot away. They

-were to shoot to kill, and Major Baldwin advised as

-did “Old Put” at the first great battle in United States

-history&mdash;the Battle of Bunker Hill&mdash;“to wait till they

-saw the whites of the enemies’ eyes!”</p>

-

-<p>Powder was as precious to that devoted band as

-gold-dust, and bullets were as valuable as diamonds.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[19]</span></p>

-

-<p>Major Baldwin took his position on the observation

-platform above the gate, Buffalo Bill by his side,

-repeating rifle in hand, and near them stood a couple

-of young officers as aids, and the bugler. All were

-armed with rifles, and every weapon for which there

-was no immediate need in the fort was loaded and

-ready. The women were in two groups&mdash;one ready

-to reload the weapons tossed them by the men, and the

-other to assist the surgeon with the wounded.</p>

-

-<p>The Indians came swarming across the valley in a

-red tidal wave. They were decreasing their circle,

-and expected to rush the stockade walls in a cyclonic

-charge.</p>

-

-<p>They quickened their pace as they came, and the

-weird war-whoop deafened the beleaguered garrison.

-They came with a rush at last, showering the walls

-with arrows and bullets, some of which found their

-way into the loopholes.</p>

-

-<p>It was a grand charge to look upon; it was a desperate

-one to check.</p>

-

-<p>The whites had their orders and obeyed them. Not

-a rifle cracked until the Indians were under the

-stockade walls, scrambling through the ditch. Then

-the four six-pounders roared from the block-towers,

-their scattering lead and iron mowing down the yelling

-redskins in the ditches.</p>

-

-<p>Then volley upon volley of carbines, repeating

-rifles, and muskets echoed the rolling thunder of the

-big guns.</p>

-

-<p>Not a few of the bullets and arrows entered the

-loopholes, and many dead and wounded were numbered

-among the whites; but the carnage among the

-redskins was awful to contemplate.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[20]</span></p>

-

-<p>The thunder of the big guns, the popping of the

-smaller firearms, the screaming of the wild ponies

-corraled in the fort, and the demoralized shrieks of

-the Indians themselves made a veritable hell upon

-earth!</p>

-

-<p>Above all rose the notes of the bugle sending forth

-orders at Major Baldwin’s command. Now and then

-that piercing, weird war-cry of the Border King was

-heard&mdash;a sound well known and feared by the Indians.

-They recognized it as the voice of he whom they called

-Pa-e-has-ka&mdash;“The Long Hair.”</p>

-

-<p>Indian nature was not equal to facing the deadly

-hail of iron and lead, and the red wave broke against

-the stockade and receded, leaving many still and writhing

-bodies in the ditches which surrounded the fort,

-and scattered upon the plain. Slowly at first the redskins

-surged backward under the galling fire of the

-whites but finally the retreat became a stampede.</p>

-

-<p>The rout was complete. All but the dead and badly

-wounded escaped swiftly out of rifle-shot, save one

-mounted chief. He was left alone, struggling with

-his mount, trying to force the animal to leave the

-vicinity of the fort gate.</p>

-

-<p>This was Oak Heart himself, the king of the Sioux,

-and his mount was a great white cavalry charger that

-he had captured months before. This was no half-wild

-Indian pony; yet the Indian chief, without spurs

-and a proper bridle, could not control the beast. The

-horse had heard the bugle to which he had been so

-long used. He was determined in his equine mind to

-rejoin the white men who had been his friends, instead

-of these cruel red masters, and he made a dash

-for the gate of the fortress.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[21]</span></p>

-

-<p>In vain did Chief Oak Heart try to check him. He

-would have flung himself from the horse’s back, but

-the creature was so swift of foot and the ground was

-so broken here, that such an act would have assured

-Oak Heart’s instant death. Besides, being the great

-chief of his tribe, Oak Heart had bound himself to

-the horse that, if wounded or killed, he would not be

-lost to his people which&mdash;according to Indian belief&mdash;would

-be shame.</p>

-

-<p>Oak Heart had lost his scalping-knife, and could

-not cut the rawhide lariat that held him fast. He

-writhed, yelling maledictions in Sioux upon the horse;

-but he could neither check the brute nor unfasten the

-lariat.</p>

-

-<p>His warriors soon saw Chief Oak Heart’s predicament,

-and they charged back to his rescue. The White

-Antelope led them on, for she was as brave as her

-father.</p>

-

-<p>Buffalo Bill had been first to see the difficulty into

-which the chief had gotten himself, and springing

-down from the platform he threw himself into the saddle,

-shouted for the gates to be opened, and spurred

-his horse out of the fort.</p>

-

-<p>“Don’t shoot the girl!” the scout yelled to the soldiers

-lining the walls above him. “Have a care for

-the girl!”</p>

-

-<p>But there was scarcely chance for the whites to fire

-at all at the oncoming White Antelope and her party,

-before Buffalo Bill was beside the big white charger

-and the struggling king of the Sioux.</p>

-

-<p>Out flashed the scout’s pistol, and he presented it to

-the red man’s head.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[22]</span></p>

-

-<p>“Oak Heart, you are my prisoner! Yield yourself!”

-he cried, in the Sioux tongue.</p>

-

-<p>At the same moment he seized the thong by which

-the Indian was wrenching at the jaw of the white

-horse, snatched it from Oak Heart’s grasp, and gave

-the big charger his head. The white horse sprang

-forward for the open gate of the fort, and Buffalo

-Bill’s mount kept abreast of him. The redskins dared

-not fire at the scout for fear of killing Oak Heart.</p>

-

-<p>A volley from the soldiery sent the would-be rescuers

-of the chief back to cover. Only the beautiful

-girl, White Antelope, was left boldly in the open,

-shaking her befeathered spear and trying to rally her

-people to the charge. The white men honored Buffalo

-Bill’s request and did not shoot at her, or the Sioux

-would have lost their mascot as well as their great

-chieftain.</p>

-

-<p>In a moment the scout with his prisoner dashed

-through the open gates, which were slammed shut

-and barred amid the deafening acclamations of the

-garrison. Major Baldwin was on hand to grasp Buffalo

-Bill’s hand again, and as he wrung it he cried:</p>

-

-<p>“Another brave deed to your credit, Cody! It was

-cleverly done.”</p>

-

-<p>He turned to the chief whom the scout was freeing

-from the lariat that had been the cause of his capture.

-The redskin king had accepted his fate philosophically.

-His look and bearing was of fearlessness and savage

-dignity. He had been captured by the palefaces, and

-so humbled in the eyes of a thousand braves; but he

-was defiant still, and his features would not reveal his

-heart-anguish to those foes that now surrounded him

-with flushed faces.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[23]</span></p>

-

-<p>The stoical traits of the Indian character cannot but

-arouse admiration in the white man’s breast. From

-babyhood the redskin is taught&mdash;both by precept and

-instinct&mdash;to utter no cry of pain, to reveal no emotion

-which should cause a foe pleasure. When captured by

-other savages, the Indian will go to the fire, or stand

-to be hacked to pieces by his enemies, with no sound

-issuing from his lips but the death-chant.</p>

-

-<p>And this Spartan fortitude is present in the very

-papooses themselves. A traveler once told how, in

-walking through an Indian village, he came upon a

-little baby tied in the Indian fashion to a board, the

-board leaning against the outside of a wigwam. The

-mother had left it there and the white man came upon

-it suddenly. Undoubtedly his appearance, and his

-standing to look at the small savage, frightened it as

-such an experience would a white child. But his voice

-was not raised. Not a sound did the poor little savage

-utter; but the tears formed in his beady eyes and ran

-down his fat cheeks. Infant that he was, and filled

-with fright of the white man, he would not weep

-aloud.</p>

-

-<p>Oak Heart, the savage king, looked abroad upon

-his enemies, and his haughty face gave no expression

-of fear. He was a captive, but his spirit was unconquered.</p>

-

-<p>“This is a good job, Cody,” whispered Baldwin,

-glancing again at the chieftain. “We can make use of

-him, eh?”</p>

-

-<p>“We can, indeed, major,” returned the scout.</p>

-

-<p>“But that crowd out yonder will be watching us all

-the closer now. How under the sun anybody can get

-through them after this&mdash;&mdash;”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[24]</span></p>

-

-<p>“Leave it to me, major,” interrupted Buffalo Bill

-firmly. “I am ready to make the trial&mdash;and make it

-now!”</p>

-

-

-

-<hr class="chap" />

-

-<div class="chapter">

-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV.<br />

-<span class="cheaderfont">BUFFALO BILL’S PLOT.</span></h2>

-</div>

-

-

-<p>There was a look on Buffalo Bill’s face as he spoke

-that informed Major Baldwin that the scout had already

-formed some plan which he wished to make

-known to him. So the officer said:</p>

-

-<p>“Come to my quarters, Cody, and we will talk it

-over. Captain Keyes, kindly take charge of the chief

-and see that he is neither ill-treated or disturbed.

-Some of these boys feel pretty ugly, I am sure. We

-have lost a number of good men, and two of the children

-have been frightfully wounded by arrows coming

-through the lower loopholes.”</p>

-

-<p>When the major and the scout reached the former’s

-office, Baldwin said:</p>

-

-<p>“Are you in earnest in this attempt, Cody?”</p>

-

-<p>“Never more so, Major Baldwin. Help we <em>must</em>

-have.”</p>

-

-<p>“No man knows the danger better than you do. I

-need not warn you.”</p>

-

-<p>“Quite needless, sir. I know the game from A

-to Z.”</p>

-

-<p>“Very true. But there are great odds against you.”</p>

-

-<p>“No man, I believe, sir, stands a better chance of

-getting through than myself.”</p>

-

-<p>“That is so; yet, while many good men might be

-spared to make the attempt, you are the one who cannot

-be replaced.”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[25]</span></p>

-

-<p>“Thank you, sir; but my life is no more to me than

-another man’s is to him. If I’d been thinking of the

-chances of getting shot up all these years, I reckon I’d

-turned up my toes long ago. I never think of death

-if I can help it.”</p>

-

-<p>“It’s true, Cody!” exclaimed the major. “You act

-as though the bullet wasn’t molded that could kill

-you.”</p>

-

-<p>“So the redskins say, I believe,” responded the scout

-grimly.</p>

-

-<p>“Yet your place cannot easily be filled,” the major

-said again. “If you can get some other volunteer I

-wish you would. I don’t want to lose you, Bill.”</p>

-

-<p>“Captain Keyes is anxious to go, sir, but&mdash;&mdash;”</p>

-

-<p>“Oh, yes; Keyes is a daredevil whom nothing will

-daunt; but I refused his request and those of my few

-other officers.”</p>

-

-<p>“Then I must go, sir.”</p>

-

-<p>“First, tell me about your mission,” said the major

-abruptly.</p>

-

-<p>“I delivered your despatches, sir,” said Cody, “and

-here are others for you. On coming within a few

-miles of the fort I saw that several large parties of

-Indians had passed, all seemingly making in this direction.

-I knew what was up at once. I suspected that

-unless you had been lucky enough to get a supply of

-ammunition before the reds closed in on you, you’d

-run short; but there was that horse load we had to

-bury last year when I was on the expedition with Captain

-Ames. So I went over there and found it all in

-good shape.</p>

-

-<p>“I came mighty near losing it all, however,” added

-the scout, smiling, “for in the very act of uncovering<span class="pagenum">[26]</span>

-the stuff I was come upon by a redskin on a good

-horse. It was kill or be killed, and before he could

-either shoot me or knife me I had laid him out.</p>

-

-<p>“His war-bonnet and rigging made a pretty good

-disguise for me. And certainly his horse came in

-handy. The animal was not a wild pony, but had

-Uncle Sam’s brand on him. Where the red got him,

-Heaven only knows. Some poor white man probably

-lost his life before he lost his horse.</p>

-

-<p>“However, I dressed up as near like an Injun as I

-could, and packed the ammunition on the dead man’s

-mount. I made a détour so as to come up from the

-west, and be opposite the main gate; for I knew about

-how the red devils would swarm about you here. And

-I was not interfered with until, coming out on that

-ridge, I had to throw aside my disguise, or run the

-risk of being made a target of by some of your fellows

-in the stockade here. I knew they could shoot

-better than the redskins,” and Cody laughed.</p>

-

-<p>“So here I am,” the scout added, “little the worse

-for wear, major.”</p>

-

-<p>“And a more gallant ride I never saw. You have

-done nobly, Cody. The ammunition will keep us going

-for some hours.”</p>

-

-<p>“Unless the redskins rush you too hard.”</p>

-

-<p>“You think they will try to charge again&mdash;and without

-their horses?”</p>

-

-<p>“Sure thing. Our capture of Oak Heart will stir

-’em up worse than ever.”</p>

-

-<p>“They won’t wait until dark, then?”</p>

-

-<p>“I don’t believe so. That half-wild girl, White Antelope,

-will give them no peace until they try to rescue

-her father.”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[27]</span></p>

-

-<p>“But you warned my men not to shoot her.”</p>

-

-<p>“That’s right. She’s Injun now,” said Buffalo Bill

-sadly. “But her mother wasn’t a redskin, and perhaps

-some day, when old Oak Heart passes in his chips, she

-may be gotten away from the savages.”</p>

-

-<p>“You knew her mother, then, Cody?”</p>

-

-<p>“Yes. And a noble woman she was.”</p>

-

-<p>“Yet she went to the wigwam of a dirty redskin?”</p>

-

-<p>“Ah! you don’t know the circumstances. It is a

-sad story, Major Baldwin, and some day I’ll tell it to

-you. But don’t blame the mother&mdash;or the unfortunate

-child of this strange union. <em>She</em> would make a beautiful

-woman if she were civilized, cross-blood though

-she be.”</p>

-

-<p>“Well, well! It’s a sad case, as you say. I’ll pass

-the word to the officers to instruct their men to spare

-the White Antelope wherever they may meet her.”</p>

-

-<p>“Thank you,” said Buffalo Bill simply. “My scouts

-already know my wishes on the subject. And now,

-major, I must get ready for my dash through that

-mob again.”</p>

-

-<p>“It seems a wicked shame to let you go, Cody! Yet&mdash;we

-can’t beat off many more charges even with this

-access of ammunition.”</p>

-

-<p>“You surely can’t. I must go.”</p>

-

-<p>“You have devised a plan, I can see.”</p>

-

-<p>“I have, sir.”</p>

-

-<p>“Well, sit here and tell me. The mess cook is

-preparing a hearty meal for you. You can talk while

-you eat, Cody.”</p>

-

-<p>“Thanks for your thoughtfulness, major. I <em>am</em> a

-little slim-waisted, not daring to build a fire since

-yesterday.”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[28]</span></p>

-

-<p>“Just like you to neglect your own needs when others

-demand your services.”</p>

-

-<p>“Ha, ha!” laughed the scout. “I had some desire

-to keep my scalp, as well. The reds are too thick

-hereabout to make fire-building a safe occupation.”</p>

-

-<p>“Well, sir, your plan?” queried the officer.</p>

-

-<p>“Why, it came to me when I saw old Oak Heart

-mixed up with that blessed old white horse, you know.

-That old fellow is an ancient friend of mine. I recognized

-him at once. And he never did love an Injun.

-I wonder how Oak Heart managed to ride him at

-all.”</p>

-

-<p>“The horse, you mean?”</p>

-

-<p>“Sure. Well, as for the chief, we have him; but

-we never can make terms with his tribe for his release.”</p>

-

-<p>“You think not?”</p>

-

-<p>“I <em>know</em> so. The chief is a true Sioux. He would

-never allow his people to make terms for his life. You

-could hack him to pieces on that scaffolding yonder,

-where all the reds could see, and it would not change

-the attitude of the crew a mite, excepting to make

-them more bloodthirsty.”</p>

-

-<p>“Yes?”</p>

-

-<p>“So we can’t make terms with him.”</p>

-

-<p>“What do you advise, then?”</p>

-

-<p>“That you have a talk with Oak Heart. He understands

-English very well, and what he doesn’t understand

-I’ll interpret for him.”</p>

-

-<p>“Go ahead, Cody,” said the major, laughing.

-“What are my further instructions?”</p>

-

-<p>“Why, sir&mdash;&mdash;”</p>

-

-<p>“You know very well, scout, that you are bossing<span class="pagenum">[29]</span>

-your superior officer. But it isn’t the first time. What

-shall I say to this red rascal?”</p>

-

-<p>Cody’s smile widened and his eyes twinkled.</p>

-

-<p>“Just tell him that he has proved himself too brave

-an enemy to be either kept in captivity, or punished.”</p>

-

-<p>“And set him free!”</p>

-

-<p>“Sure.”</p>

-

-<p>“But why?”</p>

-

-<p>“Because I can use him in just that way, sir.”</p>

-

-<p>“How?”</p>

-

-<p>“Let me explain. I’ll mount his horse&mdash;or the one

-he rode. I know the splendid fellow well, as I told

-you. He belonged to Colonel Miles, and a faster or

-better enduring animal is not now on the frontier.</p>

-

-<p>“I’ll put Oak Heart on my old black. The poor fellow

-is foundered and will never again be of much

-value. We will ride out side by side.”</p>

-

-<p>“You will!”</p>

-

-<p>“Somebody must return Oak Heart to his people,

-you know. And I crave permission to do that.”</p>

-

-<p>“All very well, Cody; but I don’t see your plan.”</p>

-

-<p>Cody laughed again.</p>

-

-<p>“I’ll make it plainer then, sir, by saying that I propose

-to paint and rig up as old Oak Heart himself, and

-put <em>him</em> in my togs.”</p>

-

-<p>“Jove, scout! That is a perilous scheme.”</p>

-

-<p>“It’s a good one.”</p>

-

-<p>“But you’ll be shot when they find you out.”</p>

-

-<p>“<em>When</em> they do I’ll be a mile away. I’m going to

-ride on ahead toward the mouth of the cañon. It’s the

-nearest road to Fort Resistence. I’ll wave back the

-tribe as I advance, and they’ll think it is Oak Heart

-ordering them. They’ll obey him, all right. <em>Then</em> I’ll<span class="pagenum">[30]</span>

-make a break for it, and you can wager I’ll get

-through all right, and with that white hoss under me

-nothing in that outfit can head me off or catch me!”</p>

-

-<p>“And the chief?”</p>

-

-<p>“Hold him back a bit at the stockade. When my

-horse begins to run, let him go. If the beggars shoot

-him, it will serve the old scoundrel right. At least, it

-will confuse the reds.”</p>

-

-<p>“A good idea!” exclaimed Baldwin. “And I really

-believe it is feasible.”</p>

-

-<p>“Sure it is.”</p>

-

-<p>“There doesn’t seem any better way to break through

-their lines.”</p>

-

-<p>“That’s right! Strategy must aid pluck in this

-game.”</p>

-

-<p>“Aye, and you’re the one to make the effort. But

-may I suggest an amendment, scout?”</p>

-

-<p>“Just put it up to me, Major Baldwin. You haven’t

-been chasing Injuns all this time without having

-learned a trick or two yourself.”</p>

-

-<p>“Thank you, Cody. Here’s my idea: Oak Heart

-will see through your scheme and possibly signal his

-people the truth before you can reach the cañon.”</p>

-

-<p>“I’ll have to run that risk.”</p>

-

-<p>“No use running any more risk than necessary. Why

-not take a second man with you?”</p>

-

-<p>“Ah!”</p>

-

-<p>“Yes. One of you represent Oak Heart and the

-other be yourself. We’ll hold the real chief back until

-you and your mate get to the cañon. Then, by turning

-Oak Heart loose, we will add to the reds’ confusion, as

-you say.”</p>

-

-<p>“Glorious! Fine, major! And I’ll take Texas Jack<span class="pagenum">[31]</span>

-with me and let <em>him</em> play Oak Heart’s part. He makes

-a better Injun than I should. And then&mdash;I know Jack.

-One of us will be sure to get through and reach Resistence.”</p>

-

-<p>“Jack has been on duty night and day, Cody,” objected

-Major Baldwin. “He volunteered to make the

-attempt before, but I vetoed it. I needed his presence

-and advice. To let you both go is like putting all my

-eggs in one basket and sending them to a dangerous

-market.”</p>

-

-<p>“He’s the man I want,” said Buffalo Bill firmly.</p>

-

-<p>“All right! Let Omohondreau be sent for,” the

-major said, turning to an orderly.</p>

-

-

-

-<hr class="chap" />

-

-<div class="chapter">

-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V.<br />

-<span class="cheaderfont">THE DESPERATE VENTURE.</span></h2>

-</div>

-

-

-<p>Texas Jack’s real name was Jean Omohondreau,

-and he came of a wealthy and noble French family, although

-he was born in America. It is said that he had

-refused the title of “Marquis of Omohondreau,” although

-later he was known as “The White King of the

-Pawnees,” having been adopted into that tribe and

-completely winning the confidence of the red men.</p>

-

-<p>At this time Jack was smooth shaven, and with

-his deeply bronzed features and piercing eyes and black

-hair he did not look unlike an Indian. Besides, he had

-lived among the savages even more than Buffalo Bill

-himself, and had that imitative faculty so general in

-French people. He could “take off” the savage to the

-life.</p>

-

-<p>When Texas Jack came sleepily enough from his<span class="pagenum">[32]</span>

-bunk, it took but a few words from Cody to wake his

-old pard up. The moment Jack understood what was

-wanted of him, he was in for the plan, heart and soul.</p>

-

-<p>Oak Heart, who had been entertained&mdash;possibly to

-his great surprise, although he had not shown such

-emotion in his hard old face&mdash;by the younger officers

-with food and drink, and some of the paleface’s real

-tobacco, instead of dried willow bark, was now given a

-uniform and slouch hat in place of his war-bonnet and

-beaded and befeathered buckskin suit and gay blanket.</p>

-

-<p>The natural acquisitiveness of the Indian character,

-and the childish joy they have in new finery, possibly

-made the chief ignore what was done with his old garments.

-Texas Jack made himself look the Indian brave

-to the life, put on Chief Oak Heart’s abandoned finery,

-and, mounting the splendid white cavalry charger&mdash;but

-with saddle hidden by his blanket&mdash;was ready to accompany

-Buffalo Bill.</p>

-

-<p>The latter sprang into the saddle of his claybank&mdash;“Buckskin”&mdash;and

-led the way through the open gate.

-Behind them was the surprised Oak Heart upon Buffalo

-Bill’s old black, and the soldiers were ready to set

-him free the moment the two scouts had crossed the

-danger zone.</p>

-

-<p>The Indians had retired sullenly after Oak Heart’s

-capture, and White Antelope had as yet been unable to

-rally them to another charge upon the stockade. Their

-last charge had been disastrous, and they had not only

-lost their principal chief, but had been unable to bring

-back to their camping lines many of the dead and injured.

-But the belt of red humanity still encircled the

-fort, and it was plain that they proposed to abide there

-until such time arrived as could compass their revenge.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[33]</span></p>

-

-<p>Those of the less seriously wounded had dragged

-themselves back toward their companions; but the

-others had been removed inside the fort and were being

-cared for by the surgeon, after he had ministered to the

-wounded whites. The dead redskins were let lie where

-they had fallen for the time being.</p>

-

-<p>Oak Heart had noted the care taken of his wounded

-braves by the white medicine-man. If this charity impressed

-him his immobile face showed no emotion. He

-sat the horse that had been given him like a graven

-image.</p>

-

-<p>Now the moment had arrived for the departure of

-the two scouts from the fort. As the pair dashed

-through the open gateway many good wishes followed

-them. But the troops had been warned not to cheer.

-That might apprise the redskins that some desperate

-venture was about to be made.</p>

-

-<p>“Good-by, Bill, and may God guard you!” cried

-Major Baldwin. “And you, too, Texas Jack! I hope

-to see you both again.”</p>

-

-<p>Cody turned and waved his hand to him; but Jack,

-in the character of the captured chief, looked straight

-ahead over his horse’s ears, and he made no gesture.</p>

-

-<p>“We’ll bear toward the left, Jack, for our best plan

-is to strike for the cañon,” said Buffalo Bill.</p>

-

-<p>“Right you are, pard. But don’t let’s make a dash

-till we hafter. We’ll gain everything by keeping them

-red devils guessing.”</p>

-

-<p>“Sure’s you live, Jack! The moment the reds make

-a move for us, you sign for them to go back. Keep

-’em at a distance if you can.”</p>

-

-<p>“I will,” assured Texas Jack.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[34]</span></p>

-

-<p>“Sit up stiff, old man, and play the part right,” admonished

-Buffalo Bill with a laugh.</p>

-

-<p>These courageous men could laugh in the face of

-almost certain death!</p>

-

-<p>“What d’ye suppose they think of it, Bill?” asked

-Jack. “They’re awake, all right. I wonder what they

-think at seeing you bringing their supposed chief back

-to them?”</p>

-

-<p>“I’d give a good deal to know just what they are

-<em>going</em> to think,” said Cody, more gravely. “But we’ll

-soon know.”</p>

-

-<p>“Betcher we will!”</p>

-

-<p>“It’s unnecessary to ask you, Jack, if you’ve got

-your shooting irons ready?”</p>

-

-<p>“Ready and loaded, Bill.”</p>

-

-<p>The two scouts were as watchful as antelopes, and

-as cautious. But they appeared to ride along at an

-easy lope, and in a most careless fashion. This is the

-coolness born of long familiarity with peril; they could

-meet death itself without the quiver of a nerve.</p>

-

-<p>They progressed but slowly, and the eyes of most of

-the red men were fixed upon them. It was plain that the

-savages did not understand just what was going forward

-when they saw he who appeared to be their king

-riding thus quietly, and armed and caparisoned, with

-Long Hair, the white scout. They could not understand

-why he was coming back to them in company

-with Pa-e-has-ka.</p>

-

-<p>Soon they began to move forward in a body to meet

-the coming “chief” and his comrade.</p>

-

-<p>“Give ’em the sign language, Jack. It’s time,” muttered

-Buffalo Bill.</p>

-

-<p>Omohondreau was an adept at this wonderful <a id="Ref_34" href="#Ref_34a">means</a><span class="pagenum">[35]</span>

-of communication, which was really a general language

-understood by the members of all the red tribes. He

-raised first one hand, palm outward, and then the

-other, and motioned the red men back. The warriors

-hesitated&mdash;then obeyed.</p>

-

-<p>But a mounted figure came dashing from another

-part of the field, and this silent sign manual did not

-retard it.</p>

-

-<p>“Face of a pig!” ejaculated Texas Jack, in the patois

-of the French Canadian, and which he sometimes

-lapsed into in moments of excitement. “Here comes

-that gal, Bill!”</p>

-

-<p>“The White Antelope!” exclaimed Cody. “I had

-forgotten her.”</p>

-

-<p>“Shall I warn her away?”</p>

-

-<p>“I’m afraid if you turned to face her she would see

-that you are not Oak Heart.”</p>

-

-<p>“Quicker, then, Pard Cody!”</p>

-

-<p>“No. They might suspect.”</p>

-

-<p>“Heavens, Bill! What will you do when the girl

-overtakes us?”</p>

-

-<p>“Whatever comes handiest.”</p>

-

-<p>“I could put a bullet through her without turning,”

-muttered Jack.</p>

-

-<p>“You wouldn’t be so cruel, old man.”</p>

-

-<p>“Hang it, man!” exclaimed Jack in disgust. “She’s

-only a ’breed.”</p>

-

-<p>“No. You’ll not injure her. I have your promise,

-Jack,” said Cody confidently.</p>

-

-<p>“But she’ll finish us if she suspects. I think she has

-a pistol,” said Jack.</p>

-

-<p>“We’ll see.”</p>

-

-<p>“Hang it, Bill Cody! You’re the coldest proposition<span class="pagenum">[36]</span>

-I ever came across. I’ll eat this old war-bonnet&mdash;and

-it’s about as digestible as a wreath of prickly

-pear&mdash;if we don’t have trouble with that gal.”</p>

-

-<p>Evidently White Antelope was much amazed by the

-fact that her father did not even look in her direction,

-for she called some welcome to him in Sioux. Neither

-of the scouts made reply, but both kept watch of her

-out of the corners of their eyes. The girl, puzzled by

-the mystery, half drew in her pony.</p>

-

-<p>The mob of Indians waited. That they were puzzled

-was evident; but as long as they remained inactive

-the scouts’ chances were increased.</p>

-

-<p>“Can we make it, Pard Cody?” muttered Texas

-Jack.</p>

-

-<p>“If the girl doesn’t suspect too quick.”</p>

-

-<p>“She’ll queer us&mdash;sure!”</p>

-

-<p>“I hope not,” and Buffalo Bill looked grave.</p>

-

-<p>“If she comes nearer we’ll have to do something,

-Bill&mdash;as sure as thunder she’s coming!”</p>

-

-<p>It was true. White Antelope had again spoken to

-her pony, and the animal leaped forward. She came

-from the left, and Texas Jack rode nearest her.</p>

-

-<p>“Keep on, Jack!” exclaimed Bill under his breath.</p>

-

-<p>He pulled back Buckskin and got around so as to

-ride between the supposed Indian chief and the girl.

-Instantly White Antelope seemed to suspect that all

-was not right. She raised her voice, crying in her

-native tongue:</p>

-

-<p>“Why does the great chief not speak to his child?

-Oak Heart, my father, it is I, your daughter, White

-Antelope, who calls you!”</p>

-

-<p>She was all the time riding nearer. There seemed

-no way to stop her, and she must soon be near enough<span class="pagenum">[37]</span>

-to observe that the supposed Oak Heart was a false

-Indian.</p>

-

-<p>Fortunately the tribesmen were some hundreds of

-yards away from the two scouts. But they heard something

-of what White Antelope said, and they began to

-move forward, murmuring among themselves. They

-did not for a moment suspect that this was not their

-great chief, but they believed that something was

-wrong with him, and that Pa-e-has-ka had Oak Heart

-in his power.</p>

-

-<p>“They’re coming, Cody!” whispered Texas Jack.

-“They’ll make a rush in a moment.”</p>

-

-<p>“Sign them again!” commanded Buffalo Bill. “It’s

-our only chance.”</p>

-

-<p>“Think it will work?”</p>

-

-<p>“It <em>must</em> work. We need a few moments more before

-we make a dash for the cañon.”</p>

-

-<p>“But that gal&mdash;&mdash;”</p>

-

-<p>“I’ll ’tend to her,” exclaimed Buffalo Bill. “Signal

-the reds to keep back.”</p>

-

-<p>Again Texas Jack raised his hands and made the

-well understood sign. But the Indians hesitated. They

-saw White Antelope still riding toward the supposed

-chief and the scout, crying to her father to answer her.</p>

-

-<p>“Keep on for the cañon, Jack!” muttered Buffalo

-Bill beneath his breath.</p>

-

-<p>He jerked his horse to one side, turning to meet the

-Indian maiden. As she rode down toward the scouts,

-her golden hair flying in the wind, her lips parted, her

-eyes shining, she was indeed a beautiful creature. Her

-beauty alone would have made any old Indian hunter

-withhold his hand. And Buffalo Bill had a deeper reason<span class="pagenum">[38]</span>

-for wishing no harm to befall the half-breed

-daughter of Oak Heart.</p>

-

-<p>“What is the white chief, Pa-e-has-ka, doing with

-Oak Heart?” the girl cried in Sioux, urging her pony

-toward the scouts.</p>

-

-<p>Buffalo Bill was riding with the rein of the claybank

-horse lying upon its neck, and guiding him with his

-knees. His rifle lay across his saddle, the muzzle

-pointing in the direction of White Antelope as she rode

-near. He did not raise his voice, nor change the expression

-of his face, for the scout knew that he was

-being closely watched by the crowd of redskins in the

-background. But into his voice as he spoke he threw

-all the threatening, venimous tone of a madman thirsting

-for blood.</p>

-

-<p>“The White Antelope, like her father, Chief Oak

-Heart, is in my power. Do not make a single motion

-to show that you are startled, White Antelope, for if

-you do my first bullet shall be driven through your

-heart, and my second shall cleave the heart of your

-father!”</p>

-

-<p>These words, spoken with such wicked emphasis,

-seemed to come from a veritable fiend instead of the

-placid-looking white scout. The White Antelope’s

-great eyes opened wider, and she half stopped her

-pony.</p>

-

-<p>“None of that!” snapped Buffalo Bill in English,

-which he knew the girl understood quite well. “Make

-a false move at your peril&mdash;and at your father’s!”</p>

-

-<p>“My father&mdash;&mdash;” began the startled maiden gaspingly.</p>

-

-<p>“Ride closer. Keep beside me, Oak Heart! I forbid

-you speaking to your child!”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[39]</span></p>

-

-<p>Buffalo Bill’s commanding tone was most brutal.

-His eyes flashed into the Indian maiden’s own as

-though he meant every word of his recent threat. But

-the supposed Oak Heart’s shoulders shook. However,

-he kept his head turned religiously away from his

-“daughter.”</p>

-

-<p>The seconds were slipping by, and the scouts were

-approaching very near to the place where they would

-be obliged to turn sharply and make their dash for the

-cañon. Despite their bearing off so far toward the

-left, their course had been apparently toward the Indian

-lines.</p>

-

-<p>White Antelope, all the rich color receded from her

-cheeks, rode beside Buffalo Bill on his left hand. She

-was not only frightened by the scout’s threat, which he

-seemed to be able to fulfil, but she was puzzled at her

-father’s inaction and seeming helplessness. She tried

-to force her pony forward slyly so as to obtain a look

-at Oak Heart’s features.</p>

-

-<p>“None o’ that!” commanded Buffalo Bill in quite

-as brutal and threatening a tone as before.</p>

-

-<p>At the moment a wild yell rose from their rear&mdash;from

-the direction of the fort. The girl turned swiftly

-to look. And so surprised were the scouts to hear a

-disturbance in that direction, that they glanced around,

-too.</p>

-

-<p>Out of the gateway appeared a black horse, and on

-its back a figure in uniform and wide-brimmed hat.

-But as the horse dashed on the figure snatched off the

-uniform hat, displaying the long, flying hair of an Indian,

-and he broke into a shrill and terrible Indian

-war-whoop!</p>

-

-<p>On the heels of this another roar burst from the<span class="pagenum">[40]</span>

-fort, and out of the gateway piled a troop of mounted

-men&mdash;those soldiers that were first to get upon their

-horses to pursue the wily Oak Heart. The latter saw

-his daughter and knew her danger. Following his

-war-whoop, he shrieked a warning to White Antelope.

-She understood the words he uttered, although the

-scouts could not.</p>

-

-<p>The girl turned swiftly and saw Texas Jack’s

-painted face.</p>

-

-<p>“False paleface!” she cried. “You are not Oak

-Heart. The great chief is <em>there</em>!” and she pointed back

-at the flying figure on the black horse.</p>

-

-<p>“It’s all up, Cody!” cried Texas Jack.</p>

-

-<p>Buffalo Bill leaned suddenly from his saddle and

-snatched from the maiden’s belt the revolver which she

-cherished above most of her possessions. He feared

-her ability to use this.</p>

-

-<p>“Off with you, Jack!” he cried. “Now’s our time!”

-and setting spurs to his claybank he raced after Texas

-Jack toward the opening of the defile which they had

-been so gradually and cautiously approaching.</p>

-

-

-

-<hr class="chap" />

-

-<div class="chapter">

-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI.<br />

-<span class="cheaderfont">THE DASH OF THE SCOUTS.</span></h2>

-</div>

-

-

-<p>So interested had the officers and garrison of Fort

-Advance become in the attempt of the courageous

-scouts to reach the cañon entrance, that they had quite

-neglected to watch the king of the Sioux. That he

-understood fully the trick that Buffalo Bill and Texas

-Jack were attempting to play upon his people was

-proven by the outcome.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[41]</span></p>

-

-<p>The savage chief sat his black horse in motionless

-gloom, and as though his eyes saw nothing. Captain

-Edward Keyes had kept his file of men in the saddle

-ready to make a break from the fort should the scouts

-fall in need of some attempt at rescue. Otherwise,

-everybody was crowding forward to look out of the

-gate, or, from the platform and watch-towers, to view

-the work of the brave men who had gone from them.</p>

-

-<p>The black horse, on which Buffalo Bill had ridden

-so many times, but which he had now been obliged to

-abandon because of its age and the fact that he had

-been ridden too hard on one or two occasions, missed

-its master. It had seen Buffalo Bill and his companion

-ride out of the fort, and it desired to follow. Perhaps

-the horse did not approve of the Indian that now

-backed him.</p>

-

-<p>However it was, it danced about a good deal, and

-champed at the bit, and seemed to give the stoical chief

-considerable trouble. Twice it started for the gate, and

-the soldiers headed it off. Likewise Oak Heart drew

-it in hard with his hand on the bridle. It seemed as

-though the chief had no expectation of leaving the fort

-until his white captors were ready.</p>

-

-<p>But that was all the savage cunning of the chief. It

-was his cunning, too, perhaps, that made the horse so

-nervous. He doubtless slyly spurred him with his toe

-or heel, and kept the animal on the qui vive all the

-time.</p>

-

-<p>Oak Heart could follow Buffalo Bill and Texas Jack

-with his eyes, and he doubtless understood&mdash;now, at

-least&mdash;just what they were about. Suddenly the

-White Antelope came into view, riding like the wind

-down upon the two scouts. Oak Heart’s face did not<span class="pagenum">[42]</span>

-change a muscle, but just then his mount made a sidelong

-leap, and when he became manageable again the

-black charger was just within the open gateway.</p>

-

-<p>Several moments passed. The white men’s attention

-was strained upon the little comedy being enacted by

-the two scouts and the Indian maiden. They could

-not hear, of course, but they could imagine that the

-situation had become mighty “ticklish” for the scouts,

-knowing Buffalo Bill’s objection to injuring the Sioux

-maiden.</p>

-

-<p>It was at this minute that the black horse made a

-final charge through the gateway. Two men were

-knocked down, and Oak Heart threw himself over to

-one side of the galloping horse, shielding himself with

-its body from the guns of the surprised white men in

-the stockade.</p>

-

-<p>His wild yells had already apprised White Antelope

-of the deception. Buffalo Bill had disarmed her, and

-the two scouts spurred on toward the cañon.</p>

-

-<p>The hearts of the watching people at the fort were

-in their throats. A general cry of dread burst from

-them as they saw the Border King and Texas Jack

-turn abruptly toward the cañon. The Indians saw the

-act, too, but for a few seconds did not comprehend it.

-They were slower than White Antelope in understanding

-that the supposed warrior with Pa-e-has-ka was a

-white man in disguise, and that the person careering

-across the plain on the black charger was the real Oak

-Heart.</p>

-

-<p>The signals of Texas Jack in his character of Oak

-Heart had drawn many of the Indians away from the

-cañon’s mouth toward the place for which the supposed

-chief and Buffalo Bill seemed to be aiming.<span class="pagenum">[43]</span>

-There were very few left in the path of the reckless

-scouts. Yet those few must be settled with.</p>

-

-<p>There were no mounted warriors near the cañon entrance.

-The great scout had chosen his place of attack

-wisely. And there were few ponies in the vicinity, anyway&mdash;not

-over two dozen at the most. The earlier

-stampeding of the ponies had almost entirely dismounted

-Oak Heart’s braves. The ponies that might

-follow, should the scouts get through safely, neither

-of them feared, mounted as they were on such splendid

-animals.</p>

-

-<p>“Let ’em out, Jack!” cried Buffalo Bill, as they made

-directly for the cañon.</p>

-

-<p>“I hear you!” returned Texas Jack, smiling recklessly,

-and settling himself more firmly in his saddle.</p>

-

-<p>The two were off like frightened deer. For some

-moments the Indians were almost dumb with amazement.

-Then the war-whoop of Oak Heart was answered

-by wild cries from all about the field. The reds

-knew that the Border King had outwitted them, and as

-one man the mob of redskins made for the entrance to

-the cañon, firing as they ran.</p>

-

-<p>The scouts did not return the fire. They kept their

-bullets for targets nearer the path their horses followed.

-The nearer Indians were converging swiftly

-at the mouth of the cañon.</p>

-

-<p>Behind, and nearest to the scouts, came Oak Heart

-and White Antelope, who had waited to join her

-father. But neither of them were armed. When Buffalo

-Bill snatched the revolver from the girl’s belt he

-had made a good point in the game, for she was an

-excellent shot with the small gun&mdash;for an Indian.</p>

-

-<p>Suddenly The Border King raised his rifle, and shot<span class="pagenum">[44]</span>

-after shot rang out. He fired at the Indians directly

-in front of him, gathering to bar the way. There were

-now a score of them near enough to be dangerous.</p>

-

-<p>The repeating rifle sang deadly music, for several of

-the braves fell. With the last shot from Buffalo Bill’s

-weapon, Texas Jack’s gun took up the tune and rattled

-forth the death notes. They were now close to the

-group of reds, and the shots forced the Indians to

-scatter.</p>

-

-<p>Instantly the scouts slung their guns over their

-shoulders and drew the big pistols from the saddle-holsters.

-With one of these in each hand, the scouts

-rode on.</p>

-

-<p>Theirs was indeed a desperate charge, and, although

-now hidden by the nature of the ground from the bulk

-of the Indians, the encounter was visible from the fort.</p>

-

-<p>The chorus of wild yells, the rattle of revolvers, the

-heavier discharges of the old muzzle-loaders of the

-redskins, and the resonant war-cries of the scouts

-themselves, were heard by the besieged. The Border

-King and Texas Jack were having the running fight of

-their lives. Would they get through alive?</p>

-

-<p>Suddenly a chorused groan arose from the white

-onlookers, while a shriek of exultation came from

-those Indians who saw the incident. Buffalo Bill’s

-horse gave a sudden convulsive leap ahead, then fell to

-his knees. The scout loosened his feet in the stirrups,

-and, as the brave Buckskin rolled over upon its side,

-dead, the scout stood upright, turning his revolvers on

-his foes. Texas Jack, on the white charger, tore on

-into the mouth of the cañon.</p>

-

-<p>Buffalo Bill had emptied the pistols which he had

-carried in his saddle-holsters. Now, he stood beside<span class="pagenum">[45]</span>

-his dead horse, with the pistols drawn from his belt in

-either hand. He stood boldly at bay, and the redskins

-went down before his deadly aim.</p>

-

-<p>The redskins’ triumph was short-lived. Texas Jack,

-seeing his partner’s peril, turned his great white

-charger as quickly as might be. Back he rushed to

-Cody’s side.</p>

-

-<p>“Up with yuh, pard!” he shouted.</p>

-

-<p>He whirled the big horse again. With a leap, Buffalo

-Bill sprang up behind Texas Jack, his back to that

-of his partner, and again the horse was headed for the

-cañon’s mouth. The four revolvers of the scouts spit

-death into their foes at every jump of the horse.</p>

-

-<p>Those redskins who opposed the way either crumpled

-up and fell to the rocks or dodged behind the boulders

-for safety. It seemed as though their numbers were

-sufficient to make the scouts’ escape impossible; the

-odds against the white men were all of ten to one!</p>

-

-<p>But the redskins’ shooting was wild, while the accuracy

-of the white men’s aim was phenomenal. Many

-a red, just as he had drawn bead upon the scouts, was

-struck by a pistol ball, and either knocked over completely

-or his own shot diverted.</p>

-

-<p>The cheering of the garrison as they saw Texas

-Jack return for his partner inspired the scouts. The

-last Indian went down before them and was trampled

-under the hoofs of the charger that bore them both,

-and as they shot out of sight into the gloom of the

-cañon’s mouth Buffalo Bill removed his sombrero and

-waved it to the watchers on the fort stockade, while

-his well-known war-cry rang over the field of battle!</p>

-

-<hr class="chap" />

-

-<div class="chapter">

-<p><span class="pagenum">[46]</span></p>

-

-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII.<br />

-<span class="cheaderfont">THE ACE OF CLUBS.</span></h2>

-</div>

-

-

-<p>“We’ve got through, Jack!”</p>

-

-<p>“We sure have, Pard Cody.”</p>

-

-<p>“Anybody hurt?”</p>

-

-<p>“I got a couple of nicks from the pesky arrows,”

-said Omohondreau. “But, shucks! them Injuns can’t

-shoot with a white man’s gun worth a hoot in a rainwater

-barrel.... Yuh lost Buckskin, Cody.”</p>

-

-<p>“And sorry enough I am to lose the poor creature.

-He’s been a good nag.”</p>

-

-<p>“How about you, Pard Cody?”</p>

-

-<p>“A scratch from a bullet in my left shoulder. It’s

-bleeding a little, but I won’t stop to fool with it now.

-And I got four arrows through my clothes. Oh, we

-were lucky!”</p>

-

-<p>“Betcher life! We’ve been favored mightily.”</p>

-

-<p>“Thank God for it,” said Buffalo Bill devoutly. “I

-don’t expect often to come through two such circuses

-in one day&mdash;and have nothing worse to show for it.”</p>

-

-<p>“Right. Now, old man, what’s the program?”</p>

-

-<p>“Keep on. I don’t feel safe as long as we’re at the

-bottom of this hole in the hills.”</p>

-

-<p>“That’s all right. But we haven’t got but one

-horse&mdash;&mdash;”</p>

-

-<p>“I was thinking of that.”</p>

-

-<p>“And your thoughts?”</p>

-

-<p>“We can’t both ride this horse, good as he is, all the

-way to Fort Resistence.”</p>

-

-<p>“Right again!”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[47]</span></p>

-

-<p>“One of us must push on for help about as fast as

-the horse can go.”</p>

-

-<p>“Sure.”</p>

-

-<p>“There isn’t much danger of the reds following us

-far, for their ponies aren’t to be compared with this

-fellow&mdash;and they all know what he can do.”</p>

-

-<p>“Well?”</p>

-

-<p>“Then you’d better let me go on, as soon as we come

-to the creek ahead and shape ourselves up a bit, and

-you can scout around until I return with help from

-Fort Resistence.”</p>

-

-<p>“Pard Bill!”</p>

-

-<p>“Yes?”</p>

-

-<p>“They need every rifle they can git in the fort, yuh

-know.”</p>

-

-<p>“They certainly do.”</p>

-

-<p>“Scouting around yere all night, I can’t do much

-good, and that’s a fact.”</p>

-

-<p>“Very true, Jack! Very true.”</p>

-

-<p>“And I’ve got nothing to eat, while the maje and the

-folks at Advance will be mighty anxious tuh know if

-yuh got through all right&mdash;ain’t that so?”</p>

-

-<p>“Reckon you’re right, Jack.”</p>

-

-<p>“Then I’m goin’ to take a sneak back and try to git

-through the lines after dark.”</p>

-

-<p>“No, you won’t, Jack Omohondreau. I veto that.”</p>

-

-<p>“Put the kibosh on it, do yuh?” asked Jack, leering

-back at his partner over his shoulder.</p>

-

-<p>“I certainly do!”</p>

-

-<p>“Why, pard?”</p>

-

-<p>“There’s no danger going on now for help, so I’ll

-return to the fort myself, while you strike out for<span class="pagenum">[48]</span>

-Resistence and help. I got you into this. I’m not going

-to shoulder the heavy part of the job off onto you.”</p>

-

-<p>“That’s like you, Cody! Always lookin’ for trouble

-to git into yourself. But I’m going back.”</p>

-

-<p>“I say no,” replied Buffalo Bill firmly.</p>

-

-<p>“Now, see here!” exclaimed Jack, in some heat.

-“It’s my idea to go back, and I’m going.”</p>

-

-<p>“Well, you needn’t stop here,” laughed Cody, as

-Jack, in his excitement, brought the horse down to a

-walk.</p>

-

-<p>“You listen to reason!” exclaimed Texas Jack. “I

-speak the lingo all O. K.”</p>

-

-<p>“I admit that.”</p>

-

-<p>“And I’m already playing Injun.”</p>

-

-<p>“Pshaw! That may be, but I can soon change my

-colors.”</p>

-

-<p>“You’re as obstinate as a mule, Cody!”</p>

-

-<p>“See here, Jack, I admit that the folks need us back

-there at the fort, and one had better return, but I

-should be the one.”</p>

-

-<p>“Tell you what, pard!” exclaimed Jack, smitten with

-a sudden thought.</p>

-

-<p>“Well?”</p>

-

-<p>“We’ll draw lots to see who goes.”</p>

-

-<p>“I’ll beat you at that game, Jack!” cried Cody, with

-a laugh.</p>

-

-<p>“Don’t yuh crow too loud, old man,” said Texas

-Jack gaily. “When we git to the creek we’ll see who’s

-who!”</p>

-

-<p>“I’ll go you, for my luck is good.”</p>

-

-<p>“I’m sure a child of fortune myself,” laughed Jack.</p>

-

-<p>They soon reached the creek, which cut across the

-cañon at its widest part, spurting from under a ledge<span class="pagenum">[49]</span>

-on one side, and disappearing with a tinkle of falling

-water through a crack on the other&mdash;one of those underground

-streams often found in the Rockies, which

-only by chance ever come to the light of day.</p>

-

-<p>The scouts dismounted, making sure that all pursuit

-had been abandoned by their mounted foes, at

-least, and washed and dressed their slight wounds. In

-each man’s pouch was Indian salve, certain valuable

-herbs, dried, and bandages rolled for them by the

-women of Fort Advance. Your old frontiersman was

-no mean surgeon, and many a man to-day, whose early

-years were spent on the border, owes his life to some

-rough but prompt bit of surgery on the part of a pard

-with powder-stained fingers.</p>

-

-<p>“Now, we’ll draw lots to see who goes back,” said

-Cody. “Wish we had a pack of cards.”</p>

-

-<p>“I got what th’ boys call a Sing Sing Bible,” observed

-Texas Jack, drawing the pack from his pouch.</p>

-

-<p>“Good! We can’t take the time to play any game,

-but I’ll shuffle, you cut, and the one who holds the ace

-of clubs goes back to Advance.”</p>

-

-<p>“Agreed. Shuffle ’em good, old man&mdash;though I

-feel I’m going to win right now.”</p>

-

-<p>“You’re too cock-sure,” laughed Buffalo Bill.</p>

-

-<p>The scouts spoke in a light-hearted way, but each

-realized the terrible ordeal that might fall to the one

-who attempted to return to Fort Advance. Major

-Baldwin needed one of them as an adviser&mdash;and his

-rifle would be an acquisition as well, for both Buffalo

-Bill and Texas Jack were dead shots.</p>

-

-<p>The uncertainty and impatience of the entire garrison

-would be relieved, too, if they were informed that

-one of the scouts had gone on to Resistence and would<span class="pagenum">[50]</span>

-surely bring help the next day. This knowledge would

-put heart in the defenders of Fort Advance when the

-Indians attacked, as they surely would after nightfall.</p>

-

-<p>The cards were shuffled by the chief scout, and then

-he held them in his open palm. Texas Jack cut at a

-point about half-way down the pack. One after another

-the pasteboards were discarded, and Buffalo

-Bill had already displayed two aces, when suddenly his

-partner chuckled and slammed down another card, face

-up. It was the fatal card&mdash;the ace of clubs.</p>

-

-<p>“Got yuh that time, Pard Cody!” exclaimed Texas

-Jack in delight.</p>

-

-<p>Buffalo Bill looked regretful, while his partner was

-triumphant.</p>

-

-<p>“I told yuh I was a child of fortune,” laughed Texas

-Jack.</p>

-

-<p>“I yield, old man,” said Cody. “May your luck

-carry you through in safety.”</p>

-

-<p>“I’ll git there&mdash;or the reds will know I tried,” said

-Jack with emphasis.</p>

-

-<p>“Aye, that they will. Now I must be off, Jack. The

-horse is rested, and he’s got a hard road to travel this

-night. I’ll be back with help as soon as possible.”</p>

-

-<p>“You ought to make it by morning with any kind

-of luck.”</p>

-

-<p>“I’ll do my best,” declared Buffalo Bill. “And now

-good-by, old pard! If you go under I’ll see that there

-are plenty of those red devils on the trail to the happy

-hunting grounds to make up for your loss.”</p>

-

-<p>They wrung each other’s hands, and, although the

-spoken word was light, the look in each man’s eyes

-showed a deeper feeling. Buffalo Bill walked quickly to

-where the great white horse was feeding, and, vaulting<span class="pagenum">[51]</span>

-into the saddle, the horse, without urging, started into

-his easy lope.</p>

-

-<p>Once the mounted scout looked back. Texas Jack

-stood in the middle of the trail looking more like an

-Indian chief than ever, he was so silent and stern of

-feature.</p>

-

-<p>They waved their hands briefly&mdash;a last farewell.

-Then the Border King disappeared around a turn in

-the trail, and Texas Jack prepared for his attempt,

-night now being not far away.</p>

-

-

-

-<hr class="chap" />

-

-<div class="chapter">

-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII.<br />

-<span class="cheaderfont">FACING DEATH.</span></h2>

-</div>

-

-

-<p>Texas Jack had been a ranchman in Texas since

-early boyhood. His sentiments and affiliations were

-Southern, and when the war broke out he joined the

-Confederate Army as a scout. He was a reckless, daredevil

-fellow, yet high-minded, honorable to foe as well

-as friend. The noble blood of the Omohondreaus

-showed through the rough manner of the hardy frontiersman.</p>

-

-<p>It was Jack Omohondreau who came so near dealing

-an irreparable blow to the Northern cause by capturing

-President Lincoln and taking him South as a prisoner.

-How near the daring scout came to accomplishing this

-very thing nobody but those few Confederates in the

-secret&mdash;and possibly Lincoln himself&mdash;ever knew.</p>

-

-<p>However, when the Civil War was ended, Buffalo

-Bill, who had scouted for the other side, found Jack in

-Kansas, and it was through his influence that the young

-French-American was enlisted in the Federal Army.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[52]</span></p>

-

-<p>He was of cheery nature, fearless to recklessness,

-strong as a grizzly, and possessed of a handsome presence.

-Such was the man who had determined to return

-through the ring of enraged Sioux to give comfort and

-help to the besieged garrison of Fort Advance.</p>

-

-<p>He knew all that he had to risk, but, in his Indian

-disguise, and under cover of the early darkness, he

-hoped to accomplish his purpose. If captured by the

-redskins he well knew that death by the most frightful

-torture would be his portion. The Sioux hated him almost

-as fiercely as they hated Buffalo Bill.</p>

-

-<p>That he could speak their language was in Jack’s

-favor. And he knew that if he chanced upon any

-bunch of the reds a word or two might pass him

-through all right. Oak Heart had gathered several

-different branches of the tribe together, and many of

-the braves must be strangers to each other.</p>

-

-<p>The scout had already formed his plan of return to

-the fort. He had reloaded his rifle and revolvers, seen

-that his knife was still in its scabbard, and, after another

-long swig at the clear, running water and a

-tightening of his belt, Texas Jack climbed one side of

-the cañon with infinite caution. He could not return

-through the gorge itself, for he did not know how near

-pursuit might be. And he wormed his way up the

-steep ascent like a serpent, that he might not be observed

-from below.</p>

-

-<p>Night came upon him as he arrived on the summit

-of the timbered ridge. The forest was a tangled

-wilderness, but he knew how to pass through it without

-making the slightest disturbance, and, as he might

-come upon the Indians at any moment, he was glad of

-the darkness and the thicket. A few miles along this<span class="pagenum">[53]</span>

-ridge and he would come out upon a bluff that overlooked

-the valley in which Fort Advance was situated.</p>

-

-<p>He strode on lightly, yet swiftly&mdash;threading his way

-through the trackless forest with a confidence which

-brought him straight to his destination. And as yet

-he had not passed an Indian.</p>

-

-<p>The dash of the scouts into the cañon had drawn all

-the outposts from the hills, and the redskins were either

-guarding the lower passes, ringing the fort, or gathered

-about the camp-fires where the main encampment

-had been established.</p>

-

-<p>When Texas Jack came out upon the bluff he could

-see these camp-fires twinkling on the other side of the

-valley, although it was still light enough for him to

-see all who moved below him. The encampment was

-at the base of the southern hills, some two miles from

-the fort. Some half-hundred ponies were feeding in

-the valley, with the guards about them doubled. The

-loss of the bulk of the herd had been a severe blow to

-the redskins, and Texas Jack knew that the Indians

-would put forth every effort to retake them, should opportunity

-arise.</p>

-

-<p>Jack decided that Chief Oak Heart was probably at

-the encampment, counseling with his old men and the

-other chiefs regarding the next blow to be struck at

-Fort Advance. That plans of deviltry and cunning

-were being hatched the scout was certain.</p>

-

-<p>Then he thought of the Border King flying along

-the trail to Resistence for help, and he regained his

-courage.</p>

-

-<p>Awaiting with the stolid patience of a redskin for

-the night to deepen, the scout finally pursued his march<span class="pagenum">[54]</span>

-into the valley. He had carefully weighed all chances

-for and against his success. Now he was ready to take

-them.</p>

-

-<p>Night spread its wings over the valley. It hid its

-scars and wounds and the stark bodies of the dead, lying

-under the fortress walls. In the gloaming it might

-have been the most peaceful valley in all the Rockies.

-One coming upon it suddenly, and unwarned, would

-never have suspected the blood so recently spilled there

-and the threatening aspect of the situation at that very

-moment!</p>

-

-<p>Texas Jack stole down the declivity with a step as

-light as the fall of a leaf. The savage whom he imitated

-could have moved no more lightly, and as he

-came into the valley itself he crouched and crept along

-like a shadow.</p>

-

-<p>He knew that the red men would be moving about,

-passing and repassing each other, and keeping up a

-tightening circle about the fort. They would afford

-the opportunity for no other white man to escape from

-the fort if they could help it. But they moved about

-as silently as the scout himself, and as the redskin is

-notoriously silent, Texas Jack’s ears were of little good

-to him in this emergency.</p>

-

-<p>An Indian is not troubled by military accouterments

-to rattle as he walks; his moccasins are soundless, and

-he has schooled himself to endure all those little discomforts

-of body or environment that cause the white

-man to betray himself by either sound or movement.

-If a red warrior lay in wait for an enemy the flies and

-other insects might half eat him up without his betraying

-himself by a movement. He seldom has catarrhal

-affections of the throat, or if he does stifles the desire<span class="pagenum">[55]</span>

-to cough or sneeze. He has, indeed, his whole body

-and mind under perfect control.</p>

-

-<p>Therefore Texas Jack knew that the red men might

-be near&mdash;upon each side of him&mdash;in his very path, perhaps,

-yet they passed and repassed, silent as so many

-ghosts.</p>

-

-<p>Texas Jack crept but a short way from the base of

-the hill before he lay flat down in the weeds and brush.

-There was a big rock on his right hand, and he believed

-that that obstacle, looming up as it did in the

-gloom, would keep anybody from walking over him.</p>

-

-<p>His reason for lying there was easily understood.

-From the dark ground he could look upward and see

-any form passing between him and the lighter sky-line.

-He wished to get a line on the pacing to and fro of the

-sentinels. If there was any regularity regarding their

-beats, the scout might be able to time his passage so as

-not to be seen at all.</p>

-

-<p>For if his presence was discovered, although his

-dress and appearance might carry him through, still

-there was a grave danger that they would not. There

-might be some password, for the redskins were shrewd,

-or he might run against some chief going the rounds

-of his men to see that all were properly placed.</p>

-

-<p>Suddenly a form seemed to rise out of the ground

-before the advancing scout. It stood a moment directly

-between him and the lighter sky-line. Then it

-passed on&mdash;silently as the wind over the grass.</p>

-

-<p>He heard a muffled grunt&mdash;a guttural Indian word&mdash;dropped

-by some invisible redskin in the direction the

-figure had disappeared. Then that, or another, sentinel

-returned and passed slowly across the line of Texas

-Jack’s vision. He was quite near the lines of sentinels,<span class="pagenum">[56]</span>

-and he determined to lie there and, if possible, time

-their coming and going before trying himself to get

-through.</p>

-

-<p>Once more the figure crossed the line of the scout’s

-vision. Texas Jack lay, scarcely moving in the grass,

-and with fingers on wrist counted his pulse while the

-Indian was in sight. In this way he learned something

-of the time it took for the sentinel to pace from end to

-end of his beat. He lay for some time and timed him

-back and forth to make sure that there was some regularity

-in the redskin’s actions.</p>

-

-<p>Then, at the right moment&mdash;as the sentinel passed

-out of view in one direction, Texas Jack darted forward

-like a serpent through the tall weeds. Although

-he ran on his feet and touched but one hand now and

-then to help retain his balance, the scout’s body could

-never have been seen above the waving tops of the

-grass and weeds.</p>

-

-<p>For several rods he ran in this way and then dropped

-down again, panting, hugging the earth, flattening his

-body upon it, and waiting with every nerve on the qui

-vive to discover if his actions had been noted.</p>

-

-<p>And well he knew that, if the sentinel had seen him,

-no shout&mdash;no sound&mdash;would be raised. The red would

-sneak up behind him, and his first audible sound would

-be the cry of triumph when the scalping-knife was

-plunged into the scout’s back!</p>

-

-<p>Jack twisted his neck to see back over his shoulder.

-After a moment the Indian sentinel appeared again.

-He walked upright. Jack could see his nodding topknot

-of feathers, and that he carried a gun of some

-kind. He passed on without even glancing in the

-scout’s direction.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[57]</span></p>

-

-<p>“Thanks be for that!” thought the scout. “Now,

-what’s ahead?”</p>

-

-<p>That the Sioux had but one ring of sentinels around

-the fort he knew was not the fact. There were two

-lines at least&mdash;possibly three. He raised his head like

-a turtle stretching from its shell and tried to pierce the

-gloom of the valley.</p>

-

-<p>And then it was that he suddenly beheld a tall figure

-standing motionless not far ahead of him and almost

-in his path. It was a chief of some importance from

-his war-bonnet, and he had perhaps been going the

-rounds of his sentinels. Now he stood motionless, his

-back to the scout, looking toward the fort, one elbow

-leaning upon a broken stub of a tree, the other hand

-holding his rifle, hanging idly by his side. The chief

-was evidently in a reverie&mdash;or was he listening? Had

-he heard the scout’s breathing&mdash;or some other sound

-that warned him of the white man’s presence?</p>

-

-<p>The question seared Texas Jack’s brain. It startled

-him to action. This was no moment for taking

-chances.</p>

-

-<p>He rose up like a shadow, and, with great, catlike

-strides, stole upon the statuelike Indian. It went

-against the grain for the scout to strike even a redskin

-from behind. Man to man and face to face in a fair

-struggle would have pleased Texas Jack better. But

-the entire success of his attempt to reach the fort depended

-upon the action of the next few seconds.</p>

-

-<p>Suddenly the chief began to turn&mdash;with a jerking

-motion which showed that he was startled. Some instinct

-told him that there was an enemy at hand. Perhaps

-his lips were already opened to give a warning

-call.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[58]</span></p>

-

-<p>Like a stone from the sling the scout leaped forward&mdash;as

-the panther leaps! His knee found the small

-of the Indian’s back; his left had clutched his throat

-like a vise; his right drove his keen blade downward&mdash;<em>and

-home</em>!</p>

-

-<p>The redskin crumpled and fell without a sound upon

-the earth. Not even a cough or death-rattle proclaimed

-the passing of his spirit. And the number of seconds

-occupied in the killing were infinitesimal. One moment

-the red chief stood there leaning on the broken

-tree; the next Texas Jack, in his Indian garb, had

-taken his place and assumed his attitude!</p>

-

-<p>Unless some member of the tribe had been near

-enough to watch the chief continuously, this action of

-the scout’s was inspired. The chief had gone down

-and lay dead under his feet; the white man had taken

-his place, and for several moments, while he recovered

-his breath, he stood there in the exact attitude the real

-Indian had assumed in life.</p>

-

-<p>Carefully he scrutinized his surroundings as closely

-as might be for the gloom. He became aware at length

-that a warrior was stalking toward him from the left&mdash;undoubtedly

-one of the sentinels. This man came on,

-saw the supposed chief standing by the tree stub, and

-made a gesture as though he were saluting his superior.</p>

-

-<p>“Ugh!” muttered Texas Jack in an excellent imitation

-of an Indian guttural. He did not care to risk

-his Sioux intonation if he could help it.</p>

-

-<p>The sentinel went on. Texas Jack was about to

-change his position and make for the fort when he saw

-the sentinel who had just passed and another, returning.

-They would pass him very closely. Did they suspect?<span class="pagenum">[59]</span>

-Had the first brave become suspicious, and was

-he bringing the second to help him attack the supposed

-chief?</p>

-

-<p>The thought sent a chill to the heart of the courageous

-scout. It seemed to him that, thus early in the

-game, he had come to a death-struggle with the redskins!</p>

-

-

-

-<hr class="chap" />

-

-<div class="chapter">

-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX.<br />

-<span class="cheaderfont">BREAKING THROUGH THE RED CIRCLE.</span></h2>

-</div>

-

-

-<p>Slowly the two braves approached Texas Jack’s position.

-The scout dared not change his attitude&mdash;he

-could not afford to put the men on guard if they <em>were</em>

-still unsuspicious of him.</p>

-

-<p>His rifle-butt rested on the ground; his elbows leaned

-upon the tree stub; he stared straight across the valley

-to where the camp-fires twinkled, and to where two or

-three points of light, and the gloomy outline of the tall

-stockade, proclaimed the presence of the fort.</p>

-

-<p>Would the two warriors speak to him?&mdash;or would

-they respect his apparent reverie and pass on?</p>

-

-<p>Out of the corner of his eye Texas Jack watched the

-coming sentinels. Every muscle and nerve in his body

-was strained for a spring. He had made up his mind

-already what action he should take did the reds show

-that they meant to accost him.</p>

-

-<p>He did not wish to fire his gun and so call every

-Indian in that part of the valley to the spot. He

-gripped instead his rifle by the muzzle, and the instant

-one of those savages came within reach he would whirl

-up the gun and bring its stock with crushing force

-down upon the man’s head!</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[60]</span></p>

-

-<p>Then the knife for the second brave! That was all

-he could do. If he were not shot or tomahawked first,

-he could finish both of the reds without making much

-disturbance. The main difficulty would be to stifle

-their death-yells, as he had that of the chief at his feet.</p>

-

-<p>So he waited, his body sweating, although it was a

-chill night, uncertain as to what the warriors would do.

-They were talking in low tones; this in itself gave the

-scout some hope. Had they intended attacking him

-their plans would have been made before they came

-so near, and there would be no need of conversation.</p>

-

-<p>The seconds numbered as the warriors came on

-seemed centuries long to the scout. But at length he

-saw that they were passing him quietly. They glanced

-at him, but he stood haughtily aloof, and the braves

-were not encouraged by his manner to speak. He saw

-them go with a relief that almost unnerved him!</p>

-

-<p>He could not risk their coming back. The instant

-they were out of sight the scout stooped, stripped the

-dead man of his gun, bow and arrows, and knife, and

-in a crouching position ran agilely forward to where a

-clump of young trees loomed up in the path, a hundred

-yards to the front.</p>

-

-<p>There he dropped down and lay a moment, listening.

-Not a sound from those behind; not a sound from any

-redskins before him. Had he at last gotten through

-the lines completely?</p>

-

-<p>He could not really believe this good fortune was his

-so easily. He stood up at last and peered all about.

-And suddenly, just as he was about to move forward

-once more toward the fort, he heard the stamp of a

-pony’s hoof on the other side of the clump of trees!</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[61]</span></p>

-

-<p>The sound dropped Texas Jack to the ground like a

-rifle-shot. Had he been seen by the rider of the pony?

-Or did the pony have a rider? It might be one escaped

-from the herd and roaming at will about the valley.</p>

-

-<p>The pony stamped again. There was no other

-sound.</p>

-

-<p>“I’ve got tuh find out what’s doin’ there before I

-make another break,” muttered the scout. “And here

-goes!”</p>

-

-<p>The thicket was a closely woven one. Did he try to

-pass through it with his guns and other accouterments

-he might make some disturbance. So he left everything

-but his pistols, knife, and the bow and arrows

-he had taken from the dead chief on the ground, and

-began to worm his way through the brush-clump.</p>

-

-<p>Once he made some little noise by catching a part of

-his clothing on a brittle branch. Instantly he halted

-and made the squeaking grunt of the porcupine. His

-imitation of animals was perfect, and a porcupine

-might easily be on the still hunt in the thicket-patch.</p>

-

-<p>The pony did not change its position. Jack knew.

-So, after a moment of waiting, the scout risked moving

-on. He came finally to the edge of the brush, and

-there the horse stood&mdash;not three yards away from him!</p>

-

-<p>And from where he crouched the scout could see

-more than the bulk of the pony’s body against the sky-line.

-It was bestrode by an Indian in head-dress and

-blanket. It was doubtless one of the chiefs who had

-started to ride around the fort. Would he ride on and

-not suspect the presence of the white man in the

-bushes?</p>

-

-<p>But perhaps, in his nervousness, Texas Jack had not<span class="pagenum">[62]</span>

-imitated the porcupine true enough to satisfy the keen

-ear of the Indian. Or else the porcupine’s grunt was a

-private signal between this chief and his own men.</p>

-

-<p>However, Texas Jack saw the redskin force his pony

-nearer the thicket, and he heard its rider twitter like a

-bird disturbed at night in its nest.</p>

-

-<p>“Old man, you’ve got the best of me!” thought the

-scout. “I can’t answer that signal, for I don’t know

-what the answer <em>is</em>. It’s a bad thing for you!”</p>

-

-<p>There was no time for hesitation. Again the scout

-had to take life or be killed himself. The scout was a

-good shot with the bow and arrows as he was with rifle

-or pistol. And he must use a silent weapon to get rid

-of this foe.</p>

-

-<p>It was too far to leap with his knife. The bow and

-arrows of the dead chief came in handy. In a flash

-the crouching scout fitted an arrow to the bowstring

-and drew the shaft to its head. There he waited, still

-as a graven image, until the horse and rider were almost

-upon him.</p>

-

-<p>Then he let drive the arrow. It sped with fearful

-force, aimed at the throat of the red chieftain that all

-death-cry might be stilled.</p>

-

-<p>True was the aim and fatal the shot. The arrow

-penetrated the Indian’s throat, and its head stuck out a

-hand’s breadth at the back of his neck. Without a

-sound the Indian toppled from the pony’s back.</p>

-

-<p>The horse snorted and sprang forward. His escape

-might have been as dire a calamity for the scout as the

-death-yell of the chieftain. If the pony dashed away

-across the valley, the sentinels would surely be aroused.</p>

-

-<p>But the animal made but one leap. Like a shadow

-Texas Jack leaped up and caught the rawhide bridle<span class="pagenum">[63]</span>

-which had been snatched from the dead man’s hand.

-He brought the pony to an abrupt halt. Instantly he

-swung himself upon the bare back of the animal, well

-used to riding Indian fashion, and guided him to the

-other side of the thicket, leaving the chief where he had

-fallen. He did not stop to strip him of his arms; he

-had quite all he could carry, and he wanted his own

-rifle.</p>

-

-<p>All seemed to have gone well, and it looked to the

-scout at that moment as though the way before him to

-the fort was clear sailing. But just as he was congratulating

-himself on this belief a wild and ear-splitting

-yell arose on the night, and from a spot not far in his

-rear. First one voice and then another took up the

-yell&mdash;it was the warning of the red man when he finds

-the trail of the secret enemy!</p>

-

-<p>Texas Jack knew well what it meant. The first Indian

-he had killed, and whose place beside the dead

-tree he had taken, had been found by the sentinels.

-They knew that some shrewd enemy had been at work,

-and their yells aroused the braves all over the valley.</p>

-

-<p>The cries told the redskins as plainly as words that

-some white man was trying to break through their

-lines. Major Baldwin had thrown a line of sentinels

-outside the stockade, and these heard the cries and understood

-as well. They passed back the word that

-either Buffalo Bill or Texas Jack was coming.</p>

-

-<p>And so the scout was coming&mdash;on the back of the

-half-wild Indian pony. The danger behind him was

-great, nor was that still ahead slight. Some of the

-young braves, eager for scalps, had crept forward in

-the darkness, hoping to shoot some white man on the

-towers, or one that ventured beyond the stockade walls.<span class="pagenum">[64]</span>

-As the war-whoop was raised these young braves

-started back for their lines on the jump.</p>

-

-<p>One of them saw the scout coming up the hill at full

-speed. Although Texas Jack was still in Indian dress,

-the warrior decided that no honest redskin would be

-riding in that direction at such a pace!</p>

-

-<p>He fired suddenly. So did the scout. The aim of

-both was true, for the Indian’s bullet killed the pony

-Jack was riding, and Jack’s bullet killed the Indian

-himself.</p>

-

-<p>Although badly shaken by his fall from the pony’s

-back, Texas Jack was on his feet in an instant and was

-running at topmost speed for the fort. He suspected

-that there would be a line of sentinels outside the stockade,

-and he raised his voice as he ran:</p>

-

-<p>“Hold on, men; it’s Texas Jack! Don’t shoot!”</p>

-

-<p>A cheer was the answer from the fort, while the

-Indians in the rear who heard uttered their war-whoop

-again and fired a scattering volley in the direction of

-the scout’s voice. But he was not hit, and, a few minutes

-later, he passed in through the gateway of the fort.</p>

-

-<p>Proud of his deed, as he had good reason to be, he

-shouted:</p>

-

-<p>“Slightly disfigured, boys, but still in the ring!”</p>

-

-<p>The commander greeted the scout joyfully, but with

-his next breath asked anxiously:</p>

-

-<p>“But Cody?”</p>

-

-<p>“Is a long way on his ride to Resistence, sir.”</p>

-

-<p>A cheer greeted this reply.</p>

-

-<p>“Thank God for that good news! I trust you were

-not hurt on your way, Jack, though you <em>did</em> raise a

-merry rumpus in the Indian camps.”</p>

-

-<p>“Well, now! Didn’t they turn loose for a few minutes,<span class="pagenum">[65]</span>

-sir? But I got only a shake-up, for I got too

-proud to walk, and the pony I cabbaged took a header

-with an Injun bullet in him. Somebody got worse

-hurt than I did, though, and I’m not kicking a little

-bit, as luck came my way.”</p>

-

-<p>“And it came our way, too, Jack! We’re mighty

-glad to have you back.”</p>

-

-<p>“Oh, that was my luck, too!” said Jack, laughing.

-“Buffalo was bound to come and send me on to Resistence

-with the news, but I wouldn’t hear to it, and

-finally we drew lots and I won.”</p>

-

-<p>“Next to Cody himself you’re the man I want,” declared

-Major Baldwin; “for, although all my officers

-and men are true as steel&mdash;and able, too&mdash;your experience

-is worth much, not to speak of the value of your

-rifle. Your coming and the knowledge that Cody has

-got through all right gives us a new lease of life.”</p>

-

-<p>The major’s praise tinged the bronzed cheek of the

-scout with blushes, and he hurried away to remove his

-war-paint and to change into more civilized garments.</p>

-

-

-

-<hr class="chap" />

-

-<div class="chapter">

-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X.<br />

-<span class="cheaderfont">THE RIDE TO THE RESCUE.</span></h2>

-</div>

-

-

-<p>The Border King, after leaving Texas Jack in the

-cañon, did not spare the white horse he rode, for he

-was riding to save many human lives.</p>

-

-<p>He had known this horse when he was the favorite

-steed of Colonel Nelson A. Miles, and the scout well

-knew the endurance of which the horse was capable.</p>

-

-<p>The creature had been captured by Oak Heart, the

-king of the Utah Sioux, in an attack on a military<span class="pagenum">[66]</span>

-camp, and Colonel Miles had told Cody to try and get

-him back from his Indian master.</p>

-

-<p>“I hate to think of the old fellow being handled by

-that red scamp. Get him back, Cody, and he’s yours,”

-the colonel had told the scout.</p>

-

-<p>And now Buffalo Bill had the long-barreled, strong-limbed

-racer under him, and he was proving himself

-as fleet as a deer and as tireless as a hound.</p>

-

-<p>“The colonel used to call you Runaway, I remember,”

-said the scout, talking aloud to the handsome

-creature, and patting the side of his neck with a tender

-hand, “and what Oak Heart christened you I don’t

-know, but I shall call you after your redskin master,

-and it shall be Chief.”</p>

-

-<p>The horse snorted and tossed his head as though he

-understood what was being said to him, and hour after

-hour, mile after mile, he kept up his steady lope&mdash;that

-long, free canter that takes the Western range horse

-over so long a trail in so short a time.</p>

-

-<p>Darkness fell soon after Cody rode away from Texas

-Jack. He hoped to reached the military post for which

-he aimed before midnight. And he was not mistaken.

-The new day had not commenced when the scout on his

-white charger thundered up to the gates of Fort Resistence.</p>

-

-<p>“Halt! Who comes here?” rang out the sentinel’s

-challenge.</p>

-

-<p>“All right, pard! This is Scout Cody with an urgent

-message for the commander. Let me in!”</p>

-

-<p>“By thunder! Is it really you, Buffalo Bill?” cried

-the sentinel over the gate.</p>

-

-<p>“What’s left of me after about the hardest day’s

-work of my life.”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[67]</span></p>

-

-<p>“Injuns?”</p>

-

-<p>“And a-plenty of them. Hurry up, old man! This

-is no place for gossip,” urged the scout.</p>

-

-<p>“Wait till I call the corporal,” exclaimed the curious

-sentinel. Then:</p>

-

-<p>“Corporal of the guard! Corporal of the guard!

-Rouse up, corporal! There’s somebody at the gate!”</p>

-

-<p>Half the garrison was aroused by the shouting. The

-corporal came on the run, saw who it was without, and

-let the scout and his dripping horse within.</p>

-

-<p>“Injuns, sure, Cody?” asked those who were awake.</p>

-

-<p>“Fort Advance has been surrounded for three days

-by a thousand red devils under Oak Heart!” exclaimed

-Cody to the officer on duty. “I must see Colonel Royal

-at once.”</p>

-

-<p>The commander of the fort had gotten out of bed

-already, and he received the scout in his nightshirt.</p>

-

-<p>“Is this true, Cody?” he cried. “Is Major Baldwin

-threatened?”</p>

-

-<p>“Why, sir, your scouts must have been hived up for

-a week past if they haven’t seen Injun signs,” said

-Cody earnestly. “For three days the Sioux have held

-the garrison of Fort Advance prisoners, and five men

-have been killed trying to get to you. They’re pretty

-nearly out of ammunition.”</p>

-

-<p>“My God, Cody! You astonish me. I’ve had the

-scouts working through the country on the other side,

-trusting to hear from you if anything went wrong in

-the direction of Advance.”</p>

-

-<p>“I’ve been to Denver, sir. Just got back to-day. I

-managed to run in half a packload of ammunition that

-I had cached, and then Texas Jack and I got through

-the lines again late this afternoon and&mdash;here I am!”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[68]</span></p>

-

-<p>“Texas Jack! He’s not killed, I hope?”</p>

-

-<p>“I don’t know. The reckless fellow <em>would</em> try to go

-back to cheer the fort with the news that I had got

-away safely.”</p>

-

-<p>“That’s enough now, Bill. You’ll get something to

-eat, and if you are going back with the men I

-send&mdash;&mdash;”</p>

-

-<p>“You bet I am. I got a fellow to rub Chief down,

-and he’ll be good for it.”</p>

-

-<p>“Your horse? Well, I’m off to see things prepared.”</p>

-

-<p>The energetic commander at once ordered his adjutant

-to call out two troops of cavalry, mount two companies

-of infantry, and, with a couple of light guns, to

-start to the reenforcement of Fort Advance. Extra

-supplies and ammunition were to be taken in ambulances.</p>

-

-<p>Captain Alfred Taylor, of the Fifth Cavalry, was

-given command of the expedition, and ordered to start

-within the hour. They tried to get Cody to take some

-rest, for more than twenty-four hours the scout had

-been active, most of the time in the saddle, and part of

-the time fighting for his very life, but he was determined

-to go back with the party of reenforcements.</p>

-

-<p>When it pulled out from Post Resistence Buffalo

-Bill rode ahead as guide, while half a dozen of Colonel

-Royal’s scouts went along to guard the flanks, and to

-clear out the cañon when they came to it. Cody felt

-that Oak Heart, knowing that the white men had got

-through his lines and were probably making for Resistence,

-might send a part of his force forward to meet

-any rescue party coming to the aid of the garrison of

-Fort Advance.</p>

-

-<p>And the <a id="Ref_69" href="#Ref_69a">wise scout</a> had not been mistaken in this.<span class="pagenum">[69]</span>

-Perhaps one reason why Texas Jack had succeeded so

-easily in returning to Fort Advance was because the

-king of the Sioux had drawn off quite three hundred

-of his braves for special duty, and sent them along the

-track toward Fort Resistence.</p>

-

-<p>The easiest and shortest trail between the two forts

-was through the cañon, and this Oak Heart well knew.

-He ordered the chiefs in charge of the three hundred

-to ambush the rescue-party near the entrance to the

-cañon at the other end, and not long before Cody and

-the other scouts, riding ahead of Captain Taylor’s command,

-came within shouting distance of the cañon the

-bloodthirsty savages were hidden among the rocks and

-trees on the sloping sides, ready to pour a deadly fire

-into the band of rescuers when they came along the

-trail beneath them.</p>

-

-<p>While yet the scouts were some distance from the

-cañon something startled them ahead. Tearing along

-the trail toward them came a herd of deer, frightened

-from their night’s lair by something untoward.</p>

-

-<p>“Now, what under the canopy started <em>them</em> to running?”

-asked Cody, who never let anything go past

-him unexplained.</p>

-

-<p>“Wolves, it’s likely,” said one of the Resistence

-scouts named Judd.</p>

-

-<p>“Haven’t heard a wolf howl to-night,” declared Buffalo

-Bill.</p>

-

-<p>“You’re right there, pard,” said another scout, Barney

-by name.</p>

-

-<p>“And there was no critter on the trail of those white-tails,”

-said a third man.</p>

-

-<p>“That means Injuns, then,” declared Barney.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[70]</span></p>

-

-<p>“I reckon you’re right, boys,” said the Border King.

-“Let’s see. Those deer came directly from the cañon.”</p>

-

-<p>“You bet they did.”</p>

-

-<p>“Something doing there, then, boys.”</p>

-

-<p>“I reckon you’re right, Buffler.”</p>

-

-<p>“Here, Barney, you ride back and tell Captain Taylor

-to halt his column. Judd, you and I leave our

-horses here and go ahead to reconnoiter. Savvy?”</p>

-

-<p>“Sure!”</p>

-

-<p>Barney rode back. Judd and Buffalo Bill discarded

-their mounts and went ahead afoot.</p>

-

-<p>Oak Heart was a born general, and, like old Colorow,

-of the Utes, displayed abilities in planning his

-campaigns that placed him head and shoulders above

-the average redskin chieftain. There have been few

-great warriors among the red Indians. Red Jacket,

-Black Eagle, Tecumseh, Colorow, and a few others

-have possessed unnatural characteristics for redskins,

-and that is why they left their mark on Indian history.</p>

-

-<p>And Oak Heart had sufficient control over his warriors

-to make them do something which above all

-things a redskin hates. He made them fight at night!</p>

-

-<p>Now, the Indian is a spiritualist of the most pronounced

-breed. By day the spirits of the dead, and

-those powerful beings which he believes control men’s

-affairs, sleep; by night these supernatural beings walk

-abroad, and no Southern darky is more afraid of seeing

-a ghost than a redskin. The medicine chiefs, who

-are, most of them, a set of unconscionable fakers,

-foster this belief in ghosts and evil spirits and so prey

-on the tribes.</p>

-

-<p>Indians often select the hour just before dawn to

-strike their enemies, because at that time man usually<span class="pagenum">[71]</span>

-sleeps more deeply. But to make a forced march and

-lay an ambuscade in the middle of the night&mdash;well,

-this proved Oak Heart’s mastery of his tribe. Buffalo

-Bill suspected that the herd of deer had been frightened

-by something more than a single redskin&mdash;or a

-small scouting-party of them. He knew Oak Heart’s

-abilities and respected them. Rash as the scout might

-be at times, he never took foolish chances. To lead

-the rescue-party into the head of the cañon might

-bring it to complete ruin.</p>

-

-<p>“Judd! you take the west side of that gorge, and I’ll

-go east,” he commanded his brother scout.</p>

-

-<p>“How’ll I communicate? Signal?”</p>

-

-<p>“No! If there are many of the reds they have already

-frightened away most of the small animals that

-we might imitate, and to give a bird-call would utterly

-ruin us. No bird will be waking up at this time

-o’ night&mdash;ugh!”</p>

-

-<p>“Well, what then?” demanded the other.</p>

-

-<p>“Never mind what you find, keep still. Meet me

-here&mdash;in twenty minutes if possible; not later than half

-an hour from now, at most.”</p>

-

-<p>“Half an hour?”</p>

-

-<p>“Yep. And remember, a confounded lot can happen

-in half an hour,” added Cody, with a chuckle.</p>

-

-

-

-<hr class="chap" />

-

-<div class="chapter">

-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI.<br />

-<span class="cheaderfont">A BUSY HALF-HOUR.</span></h2>

-</div>

-

-

-<p>Buffalo Bill had spoken a truer word than he

-thought. A great deal may happen in thirty minutes,

-and the Border King, as he separated from his brother<span class="pagenum">[72]</span>

-scout, was unconsciously approaching a series of startling

-and perilous happenings.</p>

-

-<p>The moment the darkness had wiped Judd out of

-sight the wary scout turned eastward from the trail.

-The brush was thick and hung heavy with the dew of

-the mountains&mdash;and that might as well be rain. Every

-twig he touched communicated to its parent branch a

-shiver that showered him like a patent bath. He kept

-the lock of his magazine rifle under his armpit, pulled

-down the brim of his sombrero to shield his face, and

-walked swiftly on for some few yards. Yet he made

-wonderfully little noise.</p>

-

-<p>Having begun to climb rising ground, he here bore

-off toward the gorge, or cañon. If Oak Heart had

-laid an ambush there, the reds would be hiding in the

-brush, behind logs, and sheltered by boulders, all along

-the sidehills for some hundreds of yards. Buffalo Bill

-proposed to make a wide enough détour to get well behind

-the ambushed foe.</p>

-

-<p>By chance, however, he came suddenly upon a slope

-of gravel and sand, and stepped upon it before he

-realized the shifting nature of the soil. A stream of

-small pebbles began rattling down the hill!</p>

-

-<p>Instantly Buffalo Bill learned that his suspicions

-had been well founded. The Indians were there.</p>

-

-<p>He heard a startled grunt below him. Then in

-Sioux a voice asked a brief question.</p>

-

-<p>“Bear?” returned a second Indian.</p>

-

-<p>There was a sound as though one of the speakers

-had risen from his place. Buffalo Bill cast his mind

-quickly over the situation. The suggestion that a bear

-might be lurking about the sidehill seemed the most<span class="pagenum">[73]</span>

-reasonable. A bear is notably a blundersome beast,

-and the wind was not from the ambushed redskins.

-The scout grasped the idea.</p>

-

-<p>He sent another small avalanche of gravel down the

-slope, and then floundered a bit in the brush. His

-ability to imitate the voices of birds and animals

-was very keen; but it is not easy to imitate the gruff,

-startled “woof!” of the marauding bear. However,

-he essayed it and then stamped away up the hill

-through the brush, making a deuce of a clatter till he

-reached an open space. He hoped that the reds would

-take his play-acting in good faith; yet he could not

-help having his doubts. He considered that, had he

-been in their place, he would have felt strong doubt

-regarding the validity of the sound, and would have

-investigated.</p>

-

-<p>Therefore he slipped behind an enormous tree trunk

-at the edge of this opening and waited to see if the

-supposed bear would be followed. Minute after minute

-passed, and a deathlike silence reigned upon the

-hillside. Buffalo Bill was wasting time, but he was

-too wary to approach closer to the Indians&mdash;near

-enough to learn their numbers at least&mdash;until he was

-assured that his first mistake had not borne perilous

-fruit.</p>

-

-<p>Sharp as his hearing was, however, he did not hear

-a footfall, or a breath; yet of a sudden a figure was

-silhouetted before him against the open space in the

-forest. An Indian stood there with folded arms, his

-back to the scout, and facing the clearing!</p>

-

-<p>One of the reds whom Cody had disturbed was not

-satisfied with the imitated retreat of the frightened

-“bear.” He had come to investigate and stood now<span class="pagenum">[74]</span>

-almost within striking distance of the scout. But the

-latter feared to shoot him, of course; nor did he trust

-to a fling of his tomahawk, or knife. There were too

-many uncertainties about either of those methods of

-removing the redskin. To steal from behind the tree

-and spring upon him was another difficult thing, for

-the ground was strewn with rustling leaves and twigs,

-and the scout feared to announce his approach.</p>

-

-<p>To his disgust, too, the Indian turned and began

-searching about the edge of the forest. Cody saw him

-step cautiously behind two trees and stick the muzzle

-of the old-fashioned musket he bore into a brush-clump.

-The red was trying to learn if the creature

-that had made all that “catouse” was still in the vicinity.</p>

-

-<p>Instantly the scout glanced about in the gloom for a

-means of hiding himself more surely. In a minute

-the red would come his way.</p>

-

-<p>Directly above his head he saw a branch. He

-slipped the strap of his rifle over his head and shoulder,

-thus leaving his hands free, seized the branch, and

-drew himself up carefully as an acrobat does when

-he “chins” the horizontal bar. Without a sound, or

-the rattle of a button or an accouterment, the scout

-drew himself into the tree. Three branches sprang

-from the butt low down, so furnishing him a splendid

-nest.</p>

-

-<p>He removed his gun and stood it upright, wedged

-in a niche. Then he lay down along the lower branch,

-his body in the darkness merely adding a darker

-shadow to it, and watched and listened. No mountain

-cat was better ambushed for a foe. His guns he loosened

-in their scabbards, and then, drawing his bowie,<span class="pagenum">[75]</span>

-he stuck it softly into the branch within easy reach of

-his hand.</p>

-

-<p>At that instant there was a soft rustling in the leaves

-which covered the ground below. Cody craned his

-neck to see. The Indian in a stooping posture came

-into view. He halted directly under the limb on which

-the scout lay. It seemed too dark for him to see any

-mark that the scout might have left, yet he seemed

-wonderfully interested in the tree and the ground beneath

-it.</p>

-

-<p>Cody could see the outline of his figure very well

-indeed. How much sharper the red’s vision might be

-he did not know; but he was not taking any chances.

-He noted that the red scamp faced the tree trunk and

-was apparently examining the rough bark for recently

-broken places. Was it possible that the fellow was

-really stumbling upon the truth&mdash;that a man had

-climbed this tree? Or was he feeling for the marks of

-a bear’s claws?</p>

-

-<p>However, Cody decided the red had gone far

-enough. Besides, the fellow was temptingly near.

-He was a small, wiry man weighing little more than a

-hundred pounds.</p>

-

-<p>Cody stooped suddenly, and both his muscular hands

-clutched the Indian around the neck&mdash;one before, one

-behind. And with this awful grip&mdash;which cut short

-any attempt to breathe, let alone to cry out&mdash;he lifted

-the redskin off his feet!</p>

-

-<p>As was only natural, the red dropped his gun and

-clutched with both hands at the hand which pinched

-his windpipe. He kicked vainly for freedom. Before

-he could drop his hand to his knife and draw that,

-Cody jerked him upward till the top of his head struck<span class="pagenum">[76]</span>

-with fearful force against the under side of the tree

-branch. He could actually hear the redskin’s crown

-crack!</p>

-

-<p>The foe’s hands dropped limply; yet Cody held on

-and squeezed his throat for a minute longer. Then

-he dropped the fellow like a bag of bones to the

-ground.</p>

-

-<p>In a moment he seized his own rifle and dropped

-lightly beside him. The Indian had not stirred; he

-was without doubt dead. Cody took his weapons and

-removed his scalp, and went his way with some confidence

-that there was certainly one more “good” Indian.</p>

-

-<p>He dodged the gravel bank this time, and came

-down the side of the cañon at another point&mdash;some

-rods beyond that at which he had found the first of the

-reds established. There were fewer trees here, and,

-looking from above, the scout was able to observe considerable

-of the more open hillside. Dark as the night

-was, he saw several forms crouching behind stumps

-and boulders.</p>

-

-<p>He made a further détour, came down the hill again,

-and found the same conditions. On this side of the

-trail the Indians were extended along the hillside for

-five hundred yards and more. It was a big ambushing

-party. Cody reckoned it to be no less than two hundred

-braves at the least, and probably more. Captain

-Taylor’s command was not prepared to meet such a

-foe&mdash;especially when the foe would have every advantage

-of cover.</p>

-

-<p>Had it not been so dark, or had Cody known the

-ground better, a flank movement might have been made

-which would have overwhelmed the reds. But this<span class="pagenum">[77]</span>

-would have taken much time, too, and, meanwhile,

-the garrison at Fort Advance was in sore need of reenforcements.</p>

-

-<p>Cody returned swiftly to the rendezvous he had appointed

-with Judd, to learn what that individual had

-discovered upon the other side of the cañon.</p>

-

-<p>Now, the warriors lay very silently indeed in their

-ambuscade, but three hundred men cannot be in a small

-place like that together without making some sounds.

-Judd, too, discovered the ambush, although he did

-not know just how many Indians were awaiting the

-coming of the bluecoats.</p>

-

-<p>“There’s a good bunch of them. Perhaps Oak

-Heart has drawn off half his gang,” said Cody.

-“We’ve got to fool ’em, Judd.”</p>

-

-<p>They hurried back to the group of scouts, and there

-Cody issued his instructions. Judd and three others

-were to watch the Indians as well as possible. Meanwhile

-Cody proposed to ride back and meet Captain

-Taylor’s command and take them, by another way, to

-the valley in which Fort Advance was situated.</p>

-

-<p>Cody rode back in haste and reported the danger

-ahead.</p>

-

-<p>“We are able to handle five hundred redskins,

-Cody,” said the officer, eager for a fight.</p>

-

-<p>“But not when they are established on both sides of

-the trail and it is dark and the forest is too thick for

-you to maneuver horses. No, no, captain! Be advised

-by me.”</p>

-

-<p>“I suppose you are right, Cody.”</p>

-

-<p>“And, besides, you will be able to deliver a heavier

-blow <a id="Ref_77" href="#Ref_77a">to</a> Oak Heart’s gang if you fall upon them unexpectedly;<span class="pagenum">[78]</span>

-and then, when these ambuscaders rush in,

-you’ll be ready to cut them to pieces, too.”</p>

-

-<p>“Right you are, scout. You are sure of the way?”</p>

-

-<p>“Confident. It’s a bit rough, but I could find it with

-my eyes bandaged.”</p>

-

-<p>“Lead on, then, scout.”</p>

-

-<p>“And no bugle-calls,” warned Cody. “Pass the

-word to the men. We don’t want these reds, waiting

-in the cañon, to suspect that we are stealing a march

-on them.”</p>

-

-<p>Fortunately, the troops did not have to take the back

-track. The path by which the Border King was to

-lead them to their destination branched off this main

-trail into the hills. Over the rough way they rode, and

-soon the eastern sky began to grow gray. Dawn was

-approaching, and the increased light made the path

-vastly easier of traveling.</p>

-

-<p>Buffalo Bill and Captain Taylor rode some distance

-ahead of the troops. The cavalry could go only as

-fast as the guns and ambulances could keep up, so the

-band moved necessarily slow.</p>

-

-<p>They came at last almost within sight of Fort Advance.

-A low ridge shut out their view of the valley.

-Suddenly the cool morning breeze brought to them a

-great shouting and hullabaloo, intermingled with rifle-shots

-and the intermittent discharge of heavy guns.</p>

-

-<p>“An attack!” exclaimed the captain and the scout

-together, and they spurred their horses to the top of

-the ridge.</p>

-

-<p>It was true. Oak Heart had chosen the hour before

-dawn as the time to throw his remaining warriors

-against the stockade. He believed that about this time

-the rescue-party would be falling into the trap he had<span class="pagenum">[79]</span>

-laid for it in the cañon. He would keep both bands of

-white men so busy that they could not go to each

-other’s rescue.</p>

-

-<p>Suddenly the heavy guns ceased. There was only

-the occasional snapping of rifles from the fort.</p>

-

-<p>“My God, Cody! What does that mean?” gasped

-Captain Taylor.</p>

-

-<p>“Their ammunition has run out!” cried the scout.

-“I adjure you, captain, bring up your men at a double-quick.

-The next few minutes may settle the question

-as to whether those red devils get the scalps of every

-man, woman, and child in the fort! There is not an

-instant to lose, sir!”</p>

-

-

-

-<hr class="chap" />

-

-<div class="chapter">

-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII.<br />

-<span class="cheaderfont">A FLYING FIGHT.</span></h2>

-</div>

-

-

-<p>Captain Taylor saw the desperate need of help for

-the unfortunate inmates of Fort Advance quite as

-clearly as did Buffalo Bill, but his men were in heavy

-marching order, and there were the artillery and ambulances

-to be thought of, too. The column was strung

-out along the trail for two miles.</p>

-

-<p>“It will take some time to bring the men up and

-form in line of battle, Cody,” declared Captain Taylor.</p>

-

-<p>“And meanwhile Oak Heart will throw his entire

-force over those palisades!” cried the scout. “By the

-time we deploy into the valley there’ll be no garrison,

-and the red devils can turn their attention to us. The

-firing will call up the gang from the cañon, and we’ll

-be between two fires.”</p>

-

-<p>“It can’t be helped&mdash;&mdash;”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[80]</span></p>

-

-<p>“It <em>can</em> be helped, sir&mdash;begging your pardon! Give

-me a few of your men and let me push on. It will make

-a diversion in favor of the garrison. If the braves see

-us coming they’ll hesitate about throwing themselves

-into the fort and so being caught in a trap.”</p>

-

-<p>“Good, Cody! You are right. And your appearance

-will at least show that help is at hand and encourage

-the garrison. But I’m afraid you’ll be cut to

-pieces.”</p>

-

-<p>“We’ll have to take that chance. Somebody has got

-to die this day&mdash;why not us?” demanded the courageous

-scout. “Let me have some of your cavalry as

-they come up. There’s the head of the column!”</p>

-

-<p>“Go, and God bless you, my brave fellow! Take all

-the men whose horses can stand a hard run,” said

-the gallant captain.</p>

-

-<p>He signaled the head of the column forward at

-once. The troops had already heard the firing, and

-were eager to get into action.</p>

-

-<p>“You’ll have to bring your artillery and ambulances

-down into the valley by yonder ridge, captain,” said

-the scout, pointing out the tongue of rocky land over

-which he had raced the day before with his pack-load

-of ammunition for the beleaguered fort. “From there

-you can sweep the valley to the very gates of the

-fort, and likewise you can cover the exit of the cañon

-through which the ambushing party will like enough

-pour in a short time.”</p>

-

-<p>“Good! I’ll make a note of that,” declared the officer.

-“There, Cody, are your men. Pick out the

-horses you think will be able to keep somewhere near

-your whitey. Every man of them is eager to attend,

-I promise you!”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[81]</span></p>

-

-<p>This was true enough, as the scout well knew. In

-five minutes, with two lieutenants and a couple of

-score of troopers at his heels, the scout set the pace

-over the ridge and down into the smoke-wreathed

-valley.</p>

-

-<p>They were soon in full sight of the fort and the

-redskins clamoring about it. And it was a complete

-surprise to Oak Heart and his braves to see reenforcements

-for the whites so near at hand. As for the defenders

-of Fort Advance, they were wild with joy to

-see even this small troop coming to their rescue.</p>

-

-<p>Buffalo Bill’s white steed was recognized, and cheers

-rent the air from the garrison which, a few moments

-before, had given up all hope. The Indians had been

-about to rush the stockade, and then a hand-to-hand

-fight would have ensued inside the fort which could

-have ended in but one way. The redskins outnumbered

-the whites so greatly, despite their losses, that

-the garrison would have been completely overwhelmed.</p>

-

-<p>Oak Heart saw that he was likely to be defeated,

-after all. Victory had all but perched upon his banners;

-now, with his forces separated, he was very

-likely to taste the bitter ashes of defeat!</p>

-

-<p>But the Sioux king was a born leader and strategist.

-He saw that, in some way, his plans for ambuscading

-the relief party had fallen through. His three hundred

-braves were idle up the cañon while the whites from

-Fort Resistence were coming to the help of their comrades

-by another way. Those reserve forces he needed,

-and needed at once.</p>

-

-<p>He spoke to the White Antelope. She had acted as

-his aid all through the battle, and now she wheeled

-her pony instantly and dashed away toward the mouth<span class="pagenum">[82]</span>

-of the cañon. She was instructed to inform the ambuscading

-party of the change in affairs and to bring

-them back at top speed.</p>

-

-<p>Buffalo Bill and his flying column of cavalry saw

-and understood this move. Lieutenant Dick Danforth,

-the dashing young lieutenant who ranked in command

-of the party, spurred up beside Cody.</p>

-

-<p>“See that girl yonder?” he cried.</p>

-

-<p>“I see her,” returned the scout gravely.</p>

-

-<p>“She’s a messenger, eh?”</p>

-

-<p>“She is.”</p>

-

-<p>“Isn’t that the way into the cañon where those other

-Indians were lying in wait for us?”</p>

-

-<p>“You’re mighty right, lieutenant,” admitted the

-scout.</p>

-

-<p>“We must stop her!”</p>

-

-<p>The scout remained silent, measuring the distance

-between them and the flying White Antelope, and the

-mouth of the cañon as well.</p>

-

-<p>“We’ve <em>got</em> to stop her!” exclaimed Dick Danforth.</p>

-

-<p>“How are you going to do it?” demanded Cody

-grimly.</p>

-

-<p>Danforth picked up his carbine quickly. Cody at

-once laid his hand on the young officer’s arm.</p>

-

-<p>“No, no, Dick!” he said, with feeling. “Not that!”</p>

-

-<p>“What do you mean, scout?” demanded the young

-officer, displeased.</p>

-

-<p>“You must not shoot that girl!”</p>

-

-<p>“Why, she’s a confounded squaw&mdash;and she’s an

-enemy&mdash;and she’s taking a message that may bring

-trouble to us all.”</p>

-

-<p>“She must be stopped; but you must not kill her.”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[83]</span></p>

-

-<p>“What’s the matter with you, Cody?” the young

-man demanded again. “She’s nothing but a redskin.”</p>

-

-<p>“There is another way&mdash;without taking her life,”

-declared the scout.</p>

-

-<p>“What makes you so tender of the squaw? Lord!

-I don’t ask <em>you</em> to shoot her,” and the lieutenant raised

-his carbine again.</p>

-

-<p>Cody’s hand this time fell upon the lieutenant’s wrist

-with force, as he urged Chief alongside the other’s

-mount.</p>

-

-<p>“And by God, sir! <em>you</em> shall not shoot her&mdash;above

-all men!” he cried.</p>

-

-<p>“What do you mean by this?” demanded Lieutenant

-Danforth, his face white as death. “I have a reason

-for killing every damned Indian that comes under my

-eye&mdash;you know <em>that</em>, Bill Cody!”</p>

-

-<p>“Perhaps; but not White Antelope,” said the scout

-earnestly.</p>

-

-<p>“And why not White Antelope, as you call her?

-Is she any better than any other of the devil’s red

-spawn? Let go of my arm! I’m going to shoot that

-girl!”</p>

-

-<p>“You are beside yourself!” exclaimed Cody coldly.

-“Do you want it told around your mess that you deliberately

-shot a squaw-woman?”</p>

-

-<p>“She’s a messenger, man!”</p>

-

-<p>“That’s no excuse.”</p>

-

-<p>“I tell you the red devils killed my people&mdash;butchered

-them! I saw my father with his head split open by

-an Indian hatchet! My mother was dragged away to

-a worse death, it’s likely. <em>I’ve sworn revenge on

-every redskin that walks the earth!</em> Let go of me,

-Cody, or I’ll kill you!”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[84]</span></p>

-

-<p>“You are beside yourself, sir,” said the scout, still

-coldly. “You would not kill me, for I have always

-been your friend. It was I who got you your chance

-at West Point. It was I who made you what you are

-now. You’ll not kill <em>me</em>, Dick Danforth!”</p>

-

-<p>The two had ridden furiously ahead of the troopers,

-both bearing off toward the cañon’s mouth toward

-which the squaw was flying on her pony. The other

-men could not hear this conversation, jerked out between

-the jumps of the two great horses.</p>

-

-<p>That Dick Danforth, the young lieutenant, was beside

-himself, was easily to be seen. He was not responsible

-at the moment for his actions or speech.</p>

-

-<p>“That gal must not be harmed, Danforth,” said

-Cody firmly. “If you hold any gratitude in your

-heart toward me, show it now. I demand that the

-girl be unharmed&mdash;now or at any other time&mdash;and

-especially at your hand.”</p>

-

-<p>The scout’s seriousness&mdash;aye, his passion in saying

-this&mdash;impressed Danforth so deeply that his own rage

-gave place to wonder.</p>

-

-<p>“Why, what do you know about her, Cody? Who

-is she?”</p>

-

-<p>“It does not matter. I must have your promise.

-<em>You</em> must never harm the White Antelope. Indeed,

-you must guard her and keep others from harming her

-with your life; do you understand?”</p>

-

-<p>“No, I <em>don’t</em> understand. And I won’t help an

-Injun.”</p>

-

-<p>“You will do as I say, Dick.”</p>

-

-<p>“No!”</p>

-

-<p>“I demand it, Dick!” said the scout feelingly.</p>

-

-<p>“That is not fair, Cody!”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[85]</span></p>

-

-<p>“It is fair. I saved your life. I made you what

-you are. I have a right to some return, and I demand

-this.”</p>

-

-<p>“Oh, thunder, Bill!” ejaculated Dick Danforth, more

-in his usual light tone than before. “If you put it

-<em>that</em> way&mdash;&mdash;”</p>

-

-<p>“I do.”</p>

-

-<p>“Then I’ll have to promise.”</p>

-

-<p>“Very well, my boy. I hold you to your word.”</p>

-

-<p>“But don’t you ever ask me to save an Injun again,

-for I won’t do it!”</p>

-

-<p>“All right.”</p>

-

-<p>“And while we’ve been rowing, that blamed squaw

-is getting away. She’ll carry the alarm to the other

-Indians as sure as shooting!”</p>

-

-<p>“She won’t!” returned the scout, with confidence.

-“Ride on with your men, Dick. Cut your way through

-that gang of reds to the gates of the fort if necessary.

-Off with you! Leave the girl to me!”</p>

-

-<p>With a wave of his hand he clapped spurs to Chief,

-and pulled sharply on his rein. The girl had almost

-reached the mouth of the cañon when Cody started

-in direct pursuit.</p>

-

-

-

-<hr class="chap" />

-

-<div class="chapter">

-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII.<br />

-<span class="cheaderfont">THE CHASE OF THE WHITE ANTELOPE.</span></h2>

-</div>

-

-

-<p>The Border King did not pick his way as he spurred

-the great white horse down the declivity after the

-flying Indian girl. He allowed Chief to guide himself,

-for he felt confidence in the horse’s sense. They

-went down the hill like an avalanche, and an avalanche

-of small stones and broken brush went with them.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[86]</span></p>

-

-<p>To the troopers behind on the ridge, to the defenders

-of the fort, and to the Indians themselves who

-saw the charge of the big white horse, it seemed that

-neither horse nor rider could reach the bottom alive.</p>

-

-<p>But Chief did not even lose his stride in going down,

-and at the bottom, in answer to a sharp tug on the rein,

-he turned and shot away along the trail after the disappearing

-White Antelope.</p>

-

-<p>Oak Heart and his braves saw the act, and knew

-Cody’s reason for chasing the young squaw. Half the

-army of Sioux would have started in pursuit; but

-Dick Danforth’s troopers were sweeping down the

-hill by a smoother road, and would cut the Indians off

-from the entrance to the cañon. The reds were balked.</p>

-

-<p>Dick Danforth’s blood was up. He had been born

-a Western boy, and, as he had intimated in his recent

-conversation with Cody, he had bitter reason to hate

-the redskins. He had been made an orphan, and his

-young life ruined, by these very Sioux.</p>

-

-<p>He spoke to the bugler, and the wild notes of the

-charge rang out across the valley. Two score the

-troopers numbered, and there were five or six hundred

-Indians against them; but the bold fellows were ready

-to dash into the midst of the redskins.</p>

-

-<p>Besides, Major Baldwin, seeing what desperate

-chances the troopers from Fort Resistence were taking,

-ordered Captain Ed. Keyes to charge with every able-bodied

-cavalryman the stockade contained. The fort

-gates were flung open, and out upon the Indians, already

-wavering and uncertain, charged Keyes and his

-troop, sabers in hand. They had no ammunition, but

-they wielded their sabers like fiends. The Indians,

-most of them unmounted, were borne down, trampled<span class="pagenum">[87]</span>

-under the feet of the big cavalry horses, and slashed

-unmercifully on one side by Keyes, while Danforth

-came up on the other, his men shooting at short range

-with carbines and pistols, and finally taking to the

-sword also.</p>

-

-<p>And while this wild carnage was in progress, Buffalo

-Bill and the White Antelope were racing along the

-trail in the cañon, the girl intent upon carrying her

-father’s message and arousing the redskins lying in

-ambush miles away, while the scout was just as determined

-that, without injuring her, she should be

-kept from carrying out her plan.</p>

-

-<p>It was still dark down here in the cañon. Although

-the sun was already showing his red face above the

-eastern hills, as yet there was not light enough to dissipate

-the gloom at the bottom of this deep cut in the

-hills. Indeed, Buffalo Bill followed the girl more by

-sense of sound than sense of sight for the first half-mile.</p>

-

-<p>Then the pace of the great white horse told. His

-stride was too much for the Indian pony, no matter

-how cruelly White Antelope lashed it. Steadily the

-scout drew nearer.</p>

-

-<p>The gray light filtered down from above and showed

-to the scout the young squaw turning her head again

-and again to watch the progress of her pursuer. She

-was evidently measuring with fearful glance the rapidly

-lessening distance between them.</p>

-

-<p>Buffalo Bill might easily have killed her as she

-leaned forward on her pony’s neck, urging him with

-whip and voice. His face was very set and stern,

-too; but the sternness was not that which masked his

-countenance when he was bent upon an enemy’s death.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[88]</span></p>

-

-<p>He saw, indeed, the frightened maiden before him,

-flying madly from his approach; but his mind was

-laboring with thoughts which carried him back for

-many years&mdash;thoughts which had often embittered

-his mind and robbed him of his rest at night. He remembered

-this beautiful girl’s mother and how he

-would have saved her from her awful fate; yet that was

-not to be! And here he was pursuing the daughter&mdash;yet

-in a far different manner.</p>

-

-<p>The girl looked back again. Her beautiful face had

-paled, losing all its naturally rich coloring. Although

-Buffalo Bill had held her in his power only the day

-before and had not harmed her, this wild child of

-the forest and plain saw no reason for his sparing

-her now. And, indeed, there <em>was</em> no apparent reason.

-She saw in his attempt to capture her instead of killing

-her outright, merely the desire of the warrior to

-parade a captive before his admiring brethren, and

-then, perhaps, she would be made a slave as the redskins

-made slaves of the white squaws they stole!</p>

-

-<p>White Antelope had no reason for believing in the

-honor and tenderness of white men. She had been

-taught from childhood that they were her deadly enemies.

-Her mother had died too soon after her birth to

-instil into the maiden’s mind any different belief than

-that held by the savages about her.</p>

-

-<p>So the girl looked back at Cody in terror, and made

-up her savage mind to die rather than be captured by

-the scout.</p>

-

-<p>But she would sell her life dearly as may be. The

-day before Long Hair, as she called him, had disarmed

-her of the light revolver which had been a most

-precious possession. Now she had only her bow and<span class="pagenum">[89]</span>

-arrows&mdash;a weapon that is not easily used in shooting

-behind one while the pony is at full speed.</p>

-

-<p>But this was what the girl tried to do. She strung

-her bow and seized an arrow from the quiver which

-hung over her shoulder. Then, while the pony was

-still paddling along the trail at his best pace, she turned

-her agile young body about, drew the shaft to its head,

-and let drive at the coming scout.</p>

-

-<p>He ducked as he saw her action; but the shaft went

-through his hat and carried it away. Instantly she

-fitted another arrow to the bowstring and sent it likewise

-at her enemy. Cody slipped over on the far side

-of Chief, hanging by toe and one hand to the running

-animal, an Indian trick that no brave could do better

-than the scout himself. The second shaft went over

-his saddle in about the place his heart might have been

-had he been sitting upright!</p>

-

-<p>The Indian maiden was not to be balked so easily.

-She turned again to urge her pony on, hoping, it is

-likely, that Long Hair would bob up into the saddle

-again. But he saw she had a third arrow on the string,

-and he remained where he was.</p>

-

-<p>But to tamely endure such a persecution as this was

-not the scout’s intention. Besides, he feared that the

-White Antelope might shoot Chief.</p>

-

-<p>As he slung himself over the side of the big white

-horse, Cody had drawn one of the loaded pistols from

-its holster. With this gun he was a marvelously accurate

-shot. It had a barrel almost as long as the old-fashioned

-derringer, and in the hand of a trained

-marksman could do the execution of a finely sighted

-rifle.</p>

-

-<p>Under the horse’s neck he had a very clear view of<span class="pagenum">[90]</span>

-the girl on the pony in front, although she could not

-easily aim at any vital part of the scout in the position

-in which he hung from Chief. As the young

-squaw turned sidewise to larrup her pony again with

-the quirt hanging to her wrist, Buffalo Bill took a

-snap shot at the quiver of arrows at her back.</p>

-

-<p>It was a perilous shot&mdash;if he did not wish to harm

-the girl. Few marksmen would have dared try it.

-William Tell was a bungler, indeed, as compared with

-some of the marksmen of our great West, and William

-F. Cody was, in his day, the best of them all!</p>

-

-<p>His pistol ball sped true. The thong from which

-the quiver hung was severed, and if the hot lead seared

-the girl’s shoulder in passing it did no more!</p>

-

-<p>The quiver fell to the ground; but the girl had still

-a remaining arrow&mdash;it was already upon her bowstring.

-She turned swiftly to drive it home&mdash;perhaps

-into the heart of the great white horse that bore her

-enemy so swiftly.</p>

-

-<p>Buffalo Bill realized the danger to his noble steed.

-He sprang upright into the saddle, the smoking pistol

-still in his hand. His appearance as a fair target attracted

-the Indian maiden’s aim. She drew the arrowhead

-to her ear.</p>

-

-<p>But the white man’s pistol spoke before she could

-release the feathered shaft.</p>

-

-<p>Crack!</p>

-

-<p>The long-barreled revolver spit its death-dealing bullet,

-and the smoke enveloped Buffalo Bill’s head for

-a moment and then passed away.</p>

-

-<p>Twang!</p>

-

-<p>That was the snap of the bowstring. But the arrow

-flew wildly in the air, over the scout’s head. The<span class="pagenum">[91]</span>

-bullet had severed the deer tendon of which the string

-was made just as the girl released the shaft. Buffalo

-Bill had taken another desperate shot&mdash;and had won.

-The bow was put out of commission, but the bullet

-had not touched the fair user of the bow.</p>

-

-<p>White Antelope threw away her broken implement

-in wrath, and lashed her pony again. But he, poor

-creature, was coming to the end of his leash. His little

-legs could not carry even so light a burden as herself

-much farther.</p>

-

-<p>Buffalo Bill saw that this was so, and he spoke to

-Chief, dropping the pistol back into its holster again.

-The great white horse redoubled his effort. He shot

-along the trail as though he was fresh from the stable.</p>

-

-<p>This spurt of speed brought the scout beside the

-Indian girl and her mount so quickly that White Antelope

-had no time to cast herself to the ground as

-she had intended. Even as she screamed and would

-have leaped to certain death, the white horse came neck

-and neck with her mount, Cody leaned over and seized

-her around the waist with his right arm, and, drawing

-his pistol this time with his left hand, shot the

-Indian pony through the head!</p>

-

-<p>He could not afford to have the relieved beast run

-on to the ambushed Indians miles up the cañon and

-so warn them of what was being done. The pony staggered

-on a few yards and fell dead. Chief leaped the

-fallen body and then came to a stop.</p>

-

-<p>Meanwhile, the young squaw had been struggling

-in Cody’s grasp. She had one more weapon, and out

-it flashed from the bead-worked sheath at her side.

-It was a keen scalping-knife, and with a single downward<span class="pagenum">[92]</span>

-thrust she might have ended Cody’s earthly

-career.</p>

-

-<p>However, the scout was watching for just this little

-play. As the bright blade descended toward his breast,

-he caught the point upon his pistol. The blade

-snapped, and with a single blow he knocked the handle

-and butt of the blade from the girl’s hand!</p>

-

-<p>“The White Antelope is in Long Hair’s power.

-Let her lie quietly,” commanded the scout in Sioux.</p>

-

-<p>He placed the girl before him, picked up Chief’s

-bridle, turned the horse about, and they started down

-the cañon again. The girl did not struggle now, or

-seek to escape. She was beaten. He could feel her

-body shake with emotion; but true to Indian custom

-and tradition, she did not weep.</p>

-

-<p>Cody feared that some of the Indians might have

-got by Dick Danforth and entered the cañon to follow

-him; so he went back very circumspectly. If he

-was caught between two fires he could merely sell his

-life as dearly as possible; but he would have kept the

-men in ambush from coming to the help of their tribesmen

-in time to do any good.</p>

-

-<p>Soon the noise of battle reached their ears. The girl

-gave no sign of interest, nor did Cody speak to her.

-In truth, the scout had a bitter problem to consider.</p>

-

-<p>What should he do with the girl? She was in his

-power. At least, he had separated her from her father

-and from her Indian friends. But was the time ripe

-for her to be introduced to white people&mdash;to those in

-Fort Advance, for instance?</p>

-

-<p>It was a time when men’s passions were deeply

-stirred. There would be murder and hatred in the

-hearts of the whites as well as in that of the redskins.<span class="pagenum">[93]</span>

-Of what good to bring this half-breed girl into contact

-with whites who felt a desire to kill every creature

-with Indian blood in its veins? And why take

-the girl away from the red men at the moment when

-her own heart was bitter as gall toward the whites?

-What good would come of such an act? Buffalo Bill’s

-good sense answered for him:</p>

-

-<p>“None!”</p>

-

-<p>Nor did the whites desire her as a hostage. To hold

-her prisoner would be to strengthen her affiliation with

-the Sioux. No, no! She must go free&mdash;if Cody were

-free himself.</p>

-

-<p>This question could not be answered until he had

-ridden to the end of the cañon, and he went on very

-circumspectly.</p>

-

-

-

-<hr class="chap" />

-

-<div class="chapter">

-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV.<br />

-<span class="cheaderfont">A STARTLING DISCOVERY.</span></h2>

-</div>

-

-

-<p>Meanwhile, the two troops of cavalry, under Lieutenant

-Dick Danforth and Captain Keyes respectively,

-plowed their way through the massed redskins. They

-met, and Captain Keyes heartily greeted the men from

-Fort Resistence.</p>

-

-<p>“God bless you, Danforth&mdash;and you, Mercer!

-You’ve come just in time to save us, for we are completely

-out of ammunition. Where’s Cody?”</p>

-

-<p>“Gone to head off Oak Heart’s messenger to the

-men he had hidden up the cañon to fall upon us&mdash;had

-we come that way,” said Danforth.</p>

-

-<p>“And there is the rest of your column appearing!”

-cried Keyes.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[94]</span></p>

-

-<p>His seniority gave him command. He raised his

-saber on high and stood up in his stirrups.</p>

-

-<p>“Now, charge back to the fort, my bully boys, and

-give these red devils what they are looking for!”</p>

-

-<p>The redskins were not inactive, and there were

-already empty saddles in the troop; but the tribesmen

-were demoralized. They began fleeing toward the

-river across the valley. Out upon the ridge spurred

-the guns belonging to Captain Taylor’s command, unlimbered,

-and opened fire on the fleeing reds, the shells

-screaming over the heads of the charging troops in

-blue. Down into the valley poured the remainder of

-Taylor’s column, eager to have some part in the rout.</p>

-

-<p>Upon this scene rode Buffalo Bill and his beautiful

-captive as they left the cañon’s mouth. The Indians

-were in wild flight. The whites were forcing them

-toward the river.</p>

-

-<p>Buffalo Bill pulled in his horse, and his keen glance

-swept the field of carnage. He saw that the battle was

-practically over. Oak Heart’s warriors had shown the

-white feather. The unexpected coming of the rescue-party

-had knocked out completely the reds’ plans,

-and they could not rally.</p>

-

-<p>Then the scout looked down at the sorrowful face of

-White Antelope.</p>

-

-<p>“Yonder flies the White Antelope’s father, the great

-chief, Oak Heart, and his people,” Cody said gravely.

-“The palefaces are greater than the red men. They always

-have been. They always will be. Remember,

-White Antelope, that Pa-e-has-ka says this, and he is

-wise, and he knows. The red men must melt away before

-the white men, or else become as the white men

-are&mdash;tillers of the soil, traders, homesteaders. The<span class="pagenum">[95]</span>

-red men, who learn this lesson soon, will be saved.

-There is no other gospel to preach to the red men&mdash;and

-Pa-e-has-ka preaches it.</p>

-

-<p>“The White Antelope’s mother was white,” continued

-the old scout, seeing that he had the girl’s attention,

-and he spoke with trembling voice. “She was

-a beautiful woman&mdash;and Oak Heart loved her greatly.

-While she lived the Sioux remained for years at peace

-with the white men. Now Oak Heart is influenced by

-less wise counselors than thy mother. And see what

-has come of it!</p>

-

-<p>“Many men are dead. Much bitterness is engendered.

-The strife has been bloody, and now the red

-men go back to their squaws and children like whipped

-dogs!</p>

-

-<p>“The whites and reds will now be against each other

-for a long time because of this trouble. And what have

-the people gained, White Antelope? A few scalps?

-Aye, but they have lost more. Many women will tear

-their hair and mourn in the lodges of the Sioux because

-of this battle.</p>

-

-<p>“Let the White Antelope remember this. She has

-influence beyond her years with her people. Let her

-remember what Pa-e-has-ka says and counsel her

-father and the other chiefs to make peace with the

-white men while they may.</p>

-

-<p>“Now, Pa-e-has-ka sends the White Antelope back

-to Chief Oak Heart. Tell thy father how the Long

-Hair had thee in his power, and did thee no harm.

-I am thy friend, White Antelope. See! that is the

-way to the river. Keep behind the trees, and the bluecoats

-will not see thee. Fly! For the time is short.<span class="pagenum">[96]</span>

-Soon your people will be in full retreat, and the old

-chief will believe his daughter is lost to him.”</p>

-

-<p>The scout set the girl down upon her feet. His voice

-trembled as he ceased speaking, and he looked closely

-into her face to see if it had been moved at all by his

-speech. But he saw there only fright and wonder&mdash;the

-terror of the wild creature unexpectedly released from

-the trap.</p>

-

-<p>So he let her go and saw her flee on feet as fleet as a

-deer’s through the undergrowth toward the river,

-which the vanguard of the Indians were already crossing.

-Then the scout set spurs to Chief and tore after

-the column of blue which had hastened to the support

-of Keyes and Danforth.</p>

-

-<p>Although the rifles and pistols of the men from the

-fort were empty, their blades were sharp. Before Cody

-reached the field of action it had become merely a

-drive of redskins to the river. The bluecoats rode

-them down, hacking them as they passed, pressing Oak

-Heart hard.</p>

-

-<p>Horses and white men went down in the mêlée; but

-when the war-cry of Buffalo Bill was heard that seemed

-to drive the last atom of courage from the Sioux, and

-they ran like a herd of frightened deer, flinging away

-their arms, and leaping from the high river-bank into

-the shallows.</p>

-

-<p>Some were swept away by the deeper current in the

-middle and drowned. Had there been a ford near at

-hand, the soldiers would have crossed over and continued

-the massacre on the farther side. But the

-stream afforded Oak Heart a chance to rally his braves.</p>

-

-<p>Sheltered somewhat by the high bank, his riflemen

-could pick off the soldiers as they appeared, and it became<span class="pagenum">[97]</span>

-dangerous for the cavalrymen to ride to the very

-brink of the bluff. This allowed the frightened Indians

-to escape across the stream, Oak Heart and a few

-others guarding their retreat.</p>

-

-<p>While Buffalo Bill was receiving the congratulations

-of Captain Keyes and Texas Jack, the voice of the old

-chief, Oak Heart, suddenly rose from below.</p>

-

-<p>“I know you, Great White Chief Buffalo Bill! Oak

-Heart never forget. You save your people&mdash;kill my

-young men&mdash;make Sioux run! Me remember, Pa-e-has-ka!”</p>

-

-<p>“He’s got it in for you, Bill, sure enough!” cried

-Texas Jack.</p>

-

-<p>Raising his trumpetlike voice, the great scout replied

-to the threat of the beaten Indian chief:</p>

-

-<p>“Pa-e-has-ka knows the voice of Oak Heart&mdash;and

-the heart of Oak Heart. He will not forget!”</p>

-

-<p>The Border King might have picked off the chief

-with his rifle as he climbed the farther bank of the

-stream on his wearied pony. But he scorned to do

-such an act. Besides, far up the river he saw a slender

-figure dive down the bank, plunge into the stream,

-and fight the fierce current to the other side, where it

-quickly scrambled out, up the bank, and ran to join the

-fleeing Indians.</p>

-

-<p>“What become of the girl, Cody?” whispered Dick

-Danforth, getting him aside.</p>

-

-<p>The Border King pointed to this figure following the

-trail of the defeated warriors.</p>

-

-<p>“There she goes, Dick,” he whispered. “Remember

-your promise!”</p>

-

-<p>It was indeed a great victory for the whites. The

-Sioux had lost many ponies and more than a hundred<span class="pagenum">[98]</span>

-slain, although some of the dead had been taken away.

-In wounded the Indians had suffered more heavily

-still.</p>

-

-<p>However, it was a costly victory for the whites.

-More than twenty troopers lay dead within the fort,

-and several were scattered upon the plain. There were

-more than half a hundred seriously injured, while of

-minor casualties there were so many that the garrison

-had ceased to note them. Almost everybody within

-Fort Advance showed, at least, some slight mark of

-the conflict.</p>

-

-<p>Upon every tongue was heard the name of Buffalo

-Bill, the Border King; for, but for him, how different

-might have been the result! All felt that the great

-scout had saved Fort Advance, and, as Texas Jack

-said, “put a crimp in the Sioux that they’d remember

-till they were gray-headed.” Indeed the fame of this

-deed for many years made Buffalo Bill’s name a household

-word along the frontier.</p>

-

-<p>Embarrassed by the praise bestowed upon him, the

-scout looked to the care of his horse, Chief, and then

-slipped away to hide and rest, Texas Jack keeping

-his hiding-place a secret that he might not be disturbed.</p>

-

-<p>When he slipped out of his retreat the next day he

-was greeted with a cheer, and Major Baldwin sent

-for him at parade that evening and complimented him

-publicly for his work, with a word of praise for Texas

-Jack, as well.</p>

-

-<p>When matters had quieted down a little at the fort

-and the rescuers had returned to Fort Resistance, Buffalo

-Bill had a talk with Major Baldwin.</p>

-

-<p>“Somebody should make an attempt to see what old

-Oak Heart is about now,” said the scout. “And I<span class="pagenum">[99]</span>

-reckon I’m the man, major. There are still a lot of

-masterless Indians in these hills, and we want to know

-what they’re up to. There is another matter I wish to

-scout around about, too. On my way down from Denver

-I crossed the trail of Boyd Bennett.”</p>

-

-<p>“You don’t mean that despicable deserter has dared

-show up again?” cried the major.</p>

-

-<p>“I believe he is in the neighborhood. There have

-been several robberies of stage-coaches and mail-wagons

-up north, and they bear the ear-marks of Boyd

-Bennett. At any rate, this clue I speak of will bear

-following up.”</p>

-

-<p>“Very well, Cody. I’ll excuse you from your other

-duties. I wish I was giving you a quiet vacation, however.”</p>

-

-<p>The scout smiled.</p>

-

-<p>“Excitement is the breath of life to me, major.

-Wait till I get old. Perhaps I may want to settle down

-then.”</p>

-

-<p>This Boyd Bennett was an old enemy of Buffalo

-Bill’s. He was a deserter from the United States

-Army, and had become the leader of one of those bands

-of road-agents that cropped up so thickly soon after

-the close of the Civil War. The West was overrun

-with disbanded guerrillas who had fought on both sides

-of the great struggle&mdash;wild and masterless men who

-had lived so long by the power of the sword, that they

-would not conform to law and order when legitimate

-fighting was supposed to be ended.</p>

-

-<p>These cursed the growing West. Boyd Bennett had

-committed several crimes, but had as yet escaped apprehension

-and punishment.</p>

-

-<p>An army paymaster was soon to make the rounds<span class="pagenum">[100]</span>

-by coach, paying off the several garrisons; and so it

-was important to locate Boyd Bennett, the overland

-bandit, and his gang, and make sure that they were

-not plotting to seize the paymaster’s treasure.</p>

-

-<p>After a couple of days’ trailing into the Indian

-country, the scout found that Oak Heart and his warriors

-were seemingly too much battered by the battle

-at Fort Advance to think of making another raid at

-present. They were likely to lie low for awhile.</p>

-

-<p>So Buffalo Bill went in search of Boyd Bennett and

-his gang. He knew that the rendezvous of the road-agents

-was usually near some stage-road, and the scout

-chanced upon the road leading from Fort Advance to

-Alikon. He knew the time of the coach-running, and

-after riding along the trail for a couple of miles he

-came upon the coach as he expected.</p>

-

-<p>That is, he expected to find the coach about here;

-but the scene presented to his gaze, when he beheld it,

-was most startling.</p>

-

-<p>There was the coach; the horses were standing patiently

-in the trail; and yet no driver was on the box,

-nor did he see any one near at first. Spurring forward,

-Buffalo Bill beheld the driver sprawling on the ground,

-with the reins still clutched tightly in his hands. It

-was Bud Sharkey, whom the scout knew well; and

-the unfortunate fellow had been shot from his seat

-on the stage-coach.</p>

-

-<p>There were three other dead bodies on the ground&mdash;an

-officer and two soldiers. They were all dead,

-and, furthermore, the scout noted now that the four

-had been scalped.</p>

-

-<hr class="chap" />

-

-<div class="chapter">

-<p><span class="pagenum">[101]</span></p>

-

-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XV">CHAPTER XV.<br />

-<span class="cheaderfont">THE TREASURE CHEST.</span></h2>

-</div>

-

-

-<p>This dreadful discovery told the scout that Indians

-had held up the coach. Yet he wondered if it had been

-done for robbery as well as murder? The officer he

-recognized as Captain Hinkley, the paymaster; the

-soldiers were his guard. He was a week ahead of his

-time; yet he had not managed to get safely through.</p>

-

-<p>The fact that Indians had done the deed, however,

-disturbed Buffalo Bill. He could not understand it.

-The marks of half a dozen unshod ponies proved that

-his first suspicion was correct. Some of Oak Heart’s

-young braves might have done this. It was true, too,

-that the driver and soldiers had all been shot with arrows.</p>

-

-<p>“How do I know that robbery has been committed

-at all?” muttered Buffalo Bill, and he leaped off his

-horse and made search inside the stage.</p>

-

-<p>It was revealed at once that the marauders must

-have been frightened off before they came upon Captain

-Hinkley’s strong-box and bags of coin.</p>

-

-<p>Fear of being caught in the act of murder and

-rapine usually rides the redskin to undue haste. Had

-there been whites with this gang of red robbers&mdash;either

-Boyd Bennett himself or any of his men&mdash;Cody knew

-that no small matter would have frightened them away

-before the object of the hold-up of the stage was accomplished.

-And the presence of the treasure-chest

-proved that the marauders must have been driven off.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[102]</span></p>

-

-<p>By what, or whom? Surely his own coming had

-not done this! Yet the thought gave the scout food

-for serious reflection. Perhaps the reds might be

-lurking near and would descend again upon the spot

-and finish their job by gathering in <em>his</em> scalp as well

-as that of the driver, the paymaster, and his guards.</p>

-

-<p>He did not touch the money, therefore, but appeared

-likewise to find nothing in the coach. He even

-went back to his horse, mounted into the saddle, and

-set off along the trail at a lope as though proposing

-to go for help. He had remembered that there was a

-sandy piece of ground not far away, and here his

-horse’s hoofbeats would be deadened. As soon as

-he reached this he halted, dismounted, led his horse

-up among the rocks, and approached the scene of the

-catastrophe with great circumspection. Not a bird

-did he raise by this maneuver.</p>

-

-<p>“They’ve vamosed!” declared Buffalo Bill, with confidence.

-“A scalping party of reds, and they knew

-nothing about the money. So it appears, at least. Yet,

-from all I’ve heard, Bennett is hand and glove with

-Oak Heart’s people. He’ll hear of this without fail.

-Now, what had I better do?”</p>

-

-<p>He spent little time in cogitating, however. Cody

-was a man who made up his mind instinctively, rather

-than by any slow process of reasoning. He was

-prompt on this occasion to come to a conclusion.</p>

-

-<p>The party of Indians who had done this hold-up act

-were not in the immediate vicinity. It was of some

-moment to Cody, however, to learn how far they had

-gone, and in what direction. He rustled the treasure-box

-out of the stage and lugged it up into the rocks,

-where he found a hiding-place that would do for the<span class="pagenum">[103]</span>

-nonce. Then he picked up the trail of the redskins

-afoot and hurried after them.</p>

-

-<p>Beyond the nearest hill the party had fled down into

-a well-watered valley which the scout knew led to a

-gorge, which was about the shortest way to Oak

-Heart’s camp. If Boyd Bennett and his gang happened

-to be with the Indians, saw the scalps, and guessed

-who the reds had murdered, he would be here after the

-treasure-box in short order.</p>

-

-<p>Buffalo Bill believed that the reds were aiming for

-this gorge; yet they might have had another route in

-view. To make sure, he cut across the valley on a

-straight line for the mouth of the gorge to see if the

-trail was marked there, as well.</p>

-

-<p>The middle of the valley was a swamp, and one

-that the scout had never been through. He had no

-idea that it was so dangerous a place until he had

-gotten some rods into it. Then, in leaping from a

-tussock to what looked like a solid log, he found the

-log, hammock, and all, sinking under him, and there

-was no safe spot ahead on which he could alight.</p>

-

-<p>“Great Scott! I’d better go around, after all,” he

-muttered, in disgust, and turned gingerly on the sinking

-log.</p>

-

-<p>And then, to his amazement, he saw that the comparatively

-safe place on which he had last stood had

-disappeared! As he leaped it had toppled over and

-the quagmire had swallowed it instantly. All he could

-see was a long stretch of some ten or twelve feet of

-stinking, dimpling black muck!</p>

-

-<p>“However did I get over that place?” grunted the

-scout, in surprise. “Why, I’m due to go ten feet under

-the surface maybe, if I jump!”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[104]</span></p>

-

-<p>And it quickly became apparent that he might go

-that depth under the surface if he didn’t jump, too.

-The old log sank lower and lower, until finally the

-liquid mud lapped over it completely and began to rise

-around his ankles. The log was only about eight feet

-long. He crept to the end which lay nearest solid

-ground, but even then it was a good eight-foot jump,

-and from such an unstable footing that seemed well

-nigh impossible of accomplishment.</p>

-

-<p>Besides, the log began to tip. Where he stood it

-sank deeper and deeper, and with a splash of the filthy

-mire the other end shot into sight. Cody had to leap

-to the middle of the stick quickly to save himself from

-toppling over completely into the mud. There he

-wavered a moment until he caught his balance, and

-then, with grimness, looked about for escape.</p>

-

-<p>He couldn’t hope for any help. Indeed, he would

-have been more troubled than delighted to see any

-other person than himself in this swamp at just this

-moment. The matter of the pay-chest rested heavily

-on his mind. However he escaped from this situation

-it must be by his own exertions, and those alone.</p>

-

-<p>To try to wade to a more solid spot was to court

-possible extinction. To sink slowly into this muck

-and be smothered by it was a horrible thought. It

-chilled even the scout’s blood!</p>

-

-<p>And, meantime, the log was sinking steadily. Inch

-by inch it was being submerged, and the mire was

-crawling up Buffalo Bill’s boot-legs.</p>

-

-<p>The swamp was quite heavily wooded, so he was

-hidden from the view of anybody on the eminences

-around about. And, as he cast a worried glance about

-at the heights in fear that he might have attracted attention,<span class="pagenum">[105]</span>

-he suddenly beheld the end of a tree branch

-almost over his head.</p>

-

-<p>“Ah!” exclaimed he, and his eyes glistened as he

-followed the trend of this branch with their glance.</p>

-

-<p>Of course, the branch was altogether too slight

-above his head to bear his weight, even could he reach

-it. But it promised something. He glanced along its

-length several times to the parent trunk some twenty

-feet away, and then began operations. There was,

-indeed, no time for him to lose, for the log was a good

-bit under the surface of the dimpling mud by this.</p>

-

-<p>The fronded end of the branch was much too high

-for him to reach it with his hands; nor could he pull

-it down with his gun. Indeed, he got rid of that implement

-at once&mdash;it only weighed him down into the

-mire the faster&mdash;by tossing it into a crotch of the

-branch, where it fortunately chanced to catch and

-hang. He removed his belt, slipped the cartridges into

-the side pockets of his coat, tied his handkerchief to one

-end of the belt to make it longer, and then fastened

-one of his pistols to the handkerchief to weight the

-end. Swinging this weighted line, he cast the pistol

-about the small twigs above his head. The weapon

-caught in them, and gradually he drew the end of the

-branch down within the grasp of his hands.</p>

-

-<p>He held this and fastened on his belt and gun again,

-buttoning his pockets so as not to lose his ammunition.

-The end of the branch was a bushy fan of small twigs

-and leaves. He could pull it down into the mud, and

-the green wood was tough and strong; but there was

-a big chance, when he bore any weight upon it, of the

-limb tearing off at the trunk.</p>

-

-<p>However, swarming up this branch seemed the only<span class="pagenum">[106]</span>

-way of escape from the smothering mud which already

-was as high as his knees. Its suction was terrific, too.

-When he flung himself forward on the branch he

-could scarcely drag his boots out of the mire.</p>

-

-<p>But he fought on desperately, dragging up first one

-booted foot and then the other, and, although the limb

-cracked and he lay almost flat in the mud at first, he

-finally wormed his way up the branch to its bigger

-part. There he straddled it and waited to get his

-breath, and to scrape off some of the mud.</p>

-

-<p>“A little more,” he puffed, “and I’d have gone down

-in that, and nobody would have been the wiser. Ah!”</p>

-

-<p>He halted in his speech and stared down into the

-mud. An idea had smitten him, and he turned it over

-and over in his mind while he worked his way along

-the limb and descended to the foot of the tree.</p>

-

-<p>He returned as quickly as possible to the edge of

-the swamp, and was contented thereafter to follow the

-trail of the redskins direct. No more short cuts! He

-found in time that his early suspicions had been correct.

-The trail led to the head of the gorge, and he

-was bound to believe that the murderers were some of

-Oak Heart’s Sioux.</p>

-

-<p>“Boyd Bennett will learn of the hold-up inside of

-twenty-four hours&mdash;if not sooner. It’s up to me to

-hide that money where he won’t be able to find it.”</p>

-

-<p>With this decision uppermost in his mind, he put

-into practise the idea that had been suggested to him

-as he sat on the tree branch. Returning to the temporary

-hiding-place of the money, he carried the chest

-to the edge of the swamp, endeavoring to leave as

-little trail as possible as he went. He had brought his

-lariat with him, and when he reached one of the most<span class="pagenum">[107]</span>

-treacherous-looking pools of mud, he fastened the

-lariat about the box and lowered it into the depths.

-The quagmire sucked the box out of sight almost instantly.</p>

-

-<p>Then Cody tied the end of the lariat to a tree-root

-under the surface of the muck, and so effectually disposed

-of the treasure where nobody but himself&mdash;or

-some person whom he guided&mdash;could find it. He returned

-to the scene of the hold-up and prepared to get

-away with the driverless stage instantly.</p>

-

-<p>He placed the dead man inside the stage, tied Chief

-to one of the leaders, and, mounting to the box, drove

-hurriedly along the trail.</p>

-

-<p>Being alone, he could not drive the horses and guard

-the treasure, too; so he had hidden it, intending to

-bring back a file of troopers from the fort later and

-pick it up.</p>

-

-<p>He had not driven two miles along the trail when,

-loud and threatening, rose a voice from the rocks beside

-the road, which uttered these significant words:</p>

-

-<p>“Live or die&mdash;yours the choice! Up with your

-hands there!”</p>

-

-

-

-<hr class="chap" />

-

-<div class="chapter">

-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XVI">CHAPTER XVI.<br />

-<span class="cheaderfont">THE BANDITS OF THE OVERLAND TRAIL.</span></h2>

-</div>

-

-

-<p>It was Buffalo Bill’s choice to live just then, so he

-drew rein. He knew from whom the command came,

-too, just as well as he knew that resistance would be

-useless.</p>

-

-<p>“Up with your hands, or die! Come, take your

-choice, Buffalo Bill!”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[108]</span></p>

-

-<p>The threatening words were repeated, as Buffalo

-Bill had simply reined the horses to a halt and still

-grasped the lines. He saw at a glance that bandits had

-sprung to the heads of his leaders, while he was covered

-by the revolver in the hand of Boyd Bennett himself.

-With no change of expression the scout said:</p>

-

-<p>“As you seem to hold trumps in this game, Bennett,

-up go my hands.”</p>

-

-<p>He gave the reins a turn around the lantern, and

-Buffalo Bill coolly raised his hands above his head to

-the apparent relief of the outlaws at the horses’ heads,

-for they seemed to have feared that, after all, he

-might resist. They knew that, if he had chosen to

-die fighting, some of them would have bitten the dust

-first.</p>

-

-<p>“You have acted wisely, Buffalo Bill, and I am glad

-to see that even you can be cowed when you’re in a

-tight place,” laughed Boyd Bennett.</p>

-

-<p>“We won’t discuss that part of the proposition,” said

-Cody coolly. “I’m anxious to get on, so don’t detain

-me with philosophical remarks.”</p>

-

-<p>“Ah&mdash;indeed! In a hurry, are you?”</p>

-

-<p>“I am, Bennett; in a mighty hurry.”</p>

-

-<p>“Well, wait a bit. Go slowly. You’ve got something

-on that stage I want&mdash;though I didn’t expect to

-see you driving it.”</p>

-

-<p>“No?”</p>

-

-<p>“But you make as good a driver as any&mdash;and you

-give up just as easy,” and Boyd Bennett laughed again.</p>

-

-<p>“Well, what is it you want?”</p>

-

-<p>“The gold-box you carry.”</p>

-

-<p>“You’ve got me, old man,” said Buffalo Bill easily.

-“Guess again.”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[109]</span></p>

-

-<p>“Don’t play with me, Cody, or I’ll have your life.”</p>

-

-<p>“What’s the use of shooting me if you’re not going

-to make anything out of it?” demanded the scout

-calmly.</p>

-

-<p>“I am determined to have that paymaster’s chest.”</p>

-

-<p>“Oh, sho! <em>that’s</em> your game, is it?”</p>

-

-<p>“It is.”</p>

-

-<p>“And you think I’ve got it?”</p>

-

-<p>“I <em>know</em> it’s on this stage-coach.”</p>

-

-<p>“Come, now, what’ll you bet?” drawled Cody easily.</p>

-

-<p>“What are you waiting for, Cody?” demanded the

-outlaw angrily. “I know you’ve got it. Shell out!”</p>

-

-<p>“You know a lot, Bennett.”</p>

-

-<p>“I know the gold is there.”</p>

-

-<p>“You’re mistaken.”</p>

-

-<p>“I am not. I had a friend who saw it put on board.

-You’ve got it, and I intend to possess it.”</p>

-

-<p>“Go ahead and possess,” drawled the scout.</p>

-

-<p>“Don’t you trifle with me, Cody! I know you

-wouldn’t have been put up to drive this old hearse if

-the soldiers’ money was not aboard.”</p>

-

-<p>“Say! you know a whole lot, Bennett. D’ye mind

-if I smoke?”</p>

-

-<p>“Keep your hands up!” roared Bennett; “or I’ll

-puncture you!”</p>

-

-<p>“Thanks! You needn’t be so gruff about it. Didn’t

-know tobacco smoke was so offensive to you.”</p>

-

-<p>“Hand down that box before I count three, or you’re

-a dead man!” commanded the robber with deadly significance.</p>

-

-<p>“You keep well posted, Bennett; but you’re behind

-time on this run.”</p>

-

-<p>“What do you mean?” asked the startled road-agent,<span class="pagenum">[110]</span>

-beginning to suspect that Buffalo Bill’s ease of manner

-masked some high card in the game.</p>

-

-<p>“The coach has already been robbed.”</p>

-

-<p>“You lie!”</p>

-

-<p>Buffalo Bill’s brows met in a sudden frown.</p>

-

-<p>“You’ve got the drop on me, Bennett, or you’d never

-question my word aloud.”</p>

-

-<p>“You <em>do</em> lie.”</p>

-

-<p>“Open the coach door and look for yourself.”</p>

-

-<p>“Not for Joe! I’m no spring chicken, Cody,”

-laughed the outlaw. “Set a trap for us, have you?

-Men! fire through that coach&mdash;low down.”</p>

-

-<p>Half a dozen or more rifles blazed away. The bullets

-shattered the sashes of the coach doors and went

-through and through the vehicle.</p>

-

-<p>“Scared at nothing, are you?” taunted Buffalo Bill.

-“If I’d come up behind you on a dark night and hollered

-‘Boo!’ I suppose you’d all run.”</p>

-

-<p>“Men! if he moves, kill him!” commanded the exasperated

-Bennett, and he stepped forward and flung

-open the coach door.</p>

-

-<p>Even Boyd Bennett started at what he beheld there.</p>

-

-<p>“The devil! what does this mean, Cody?”</p>

-

-<p>“Injuns.”</p>

-

-<p>“How did you escape?”</p>

-

-<p>“Wasn’t with the coach.”</p>

-

-<p>“And the treasure-box?”</p>

-

-<p>“Look for yourself.”</p>

-

-<p>“The Indians got it?”</p>

-

-<p>“Whether they did or did not, you lose the game,

-Bennett,” said Buffalo Bill, laughing with an appearance

-of heartiness which he did not feel.</p>

-

-<p>“I don’t believe they got it!” cried Bennett, in rage.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[111]</span></p>

-

-<p>“Well, you can run along and ask ’em. They’re not

-over a dozen miles away, I reckon.”</p>

-

-<p>The countenance of Boyd Bennett grew black with

-passion, and for a moment he was silent, while into

-his eyes crept an expression of devilish intent. Then

-he spoke, and his words hissed from a throat hot with

-passion:</p>

-

-<p>“Buffalo Bill, you have sealed your doom by this

-act!”</p>

-

-<p>“Say! I’ve heard talk like that before, Bennett.”</p>

-

-<p>“Mine are no idle words.”</p>

-

-<p>“Well, go on with the dance,” quoth the scout coolly.</p>

-

-<p>“Here!” commanded the bandit chief, “two of you

-men get up on the box and bind him.”</p>

-

-<p>He was obeyed at once, as far as the climbing to the

-box went, although the fellows approached the scout

-gingerly enough. Buffalo Bill sat smiling, with his

-hands still raised above his head. Suddenly, as the

-men were about to seize him, and their bodies in some

-measure intervened between his own and the rifles and

-pistol pointed at the scout, the latter seized both with

-iron grip.</p>

-

-<p>Giving his war-whoop, the scout leaped up, hurled

-one of the road-agents to the ground, and with the

-other in his arms leaped from the box of the coach.

-As they alighted, Buffalo Bill drew a revolver, and

-was throwing it forward to fire at the outlaw chief,

-when the weapon was knocked from his hand by a

-blow from behind, and several of the bandits threw

-themselves upon him.</p>

-

-<p>“For your lives, do not kill him!” shouted Bennett,

-springing forward to join in the fight for the mastery

-of the scout.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[112]</span></p>

-

-<p>Borne down by the weight of numbers, Buffalo Bill

-was unable to break from his foes, and he was soon

-securely bound, hand and foot. Then the bandits

-turned to their chief for further orders. The expression

-of fiendish cruelty upon Bennett’s face showed

-that he had formed some diabolical plot to avenge himself

-upon his old-time foe. He believed that Buffalo

-Bill had thwarted him in his desire to get the government

-money; and, anyway, there was an old score between

-them, and Bennett proposed to square the account

-to date!</p>

-

-<p>“Now drag him up to that box again,” ordered the

-bandit leader, and with some effort they accomplished

-it.</p>

-

-<p>“Lash him there!” was the next command, and the

-scout was securely tied to the seat.</p>

-

-<p>“Now throw the reins loosely over the foot-board!”</p>

-

-<p>This order was likewise obeyed, Buffalo Bill the

-while looking calmly on, evidently anticipating the

-crime his enemy intended, yet uttering no word. He

-would not plead for his life of the miserable cur who

-now had him in his power.</p>

-

-<p>Having executed their work, by lashing Buffalo Bill

-with lariats firmly to the box seat and his feet to the

-foot-board, the outlaws turned to their cruel captain

-for further orders. It was at this moment that Buffalo

-Bill took occasion to speak; but his voice was calm

-and his manner unshaken:</p>

-

-<p>“Hold on, Bennett, before you go too far!”</p>

-

-<p>The bandits’ chief turned with a wicked smile, and

-asked:</p>

-

-<p>“With what do you threaten me, Bill Cody?”</p>

-

-<p>“The worst fate that ever met mortal man, if you<span class="pagenum">[113]</span>

-dare commit the deed you have in view,” was the bold

-reply.</p>

-

-<p>“Dead men tell no tales!”</p>

-

-<p>“Ah, but they do! It is only the fool that says ‘It

-is all over!’ when his enemy is dead by his hand. It is

-not over. It has only begun! My fate will become

-known; a hundred border men will not rest till they

-learn who committed this deed; and then a thousand

-men will not rest till vengeance is satisfied!”</p>

-

-<p>“Bah! Your friends might be bad men to meet, I’ve

-no doubt&mdash;if they could prove anything.”</p>

-

-<p>“They’ll prove enough. Your fate will be worse

-than mine, Boyd Bennett.”</p>

-

-<p>“You seem to be cock-sure of what I’m going to treat

-you to?” said Bennett.</p>

-

-<p>“I am.”</p>

-

-<p>“Well, what is it?”</p>

-

-<p>“You propose to lead the horses to yonder fork of

-the trail, turn them loose, and start them down Breakneck

-Hill.”</p>

-

-<p>“Right! Right, by thunder!” roared the road-agent,

-slapping his thigh and laughing. “You are a mighty

-good guesser, Buffalo Bill. That is exactly what I

-shall do.”</p>

-

-

-

-<hr class="chap" />

-

-<div class="chapter">

-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XVII">CHAPTER XVII.<br />

-<span class="cheaderfont">A FRIEND IN NEED.</span></h2>

-</div>

-

-

-<p>If Buffalo Bill’s face paled he showed no other mark

-of fear. He knew Boyd Bennett, and had every reason

-to believe that the man hated him desperately

-enough to carry out his awful threat.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[114]</span></p>

-

-<p>It was no bluff on the outlaw’s part to frighten him

-into giving up the secret of the hidden government

-money. To a man like Bennett, whose temper was

-ungovernable, revenge was worth more than treasure.

-He did not even ask the scout where he had hidden the

-treasure-box.</p>

-

-<p>“I haven’t forgotten, my handsome plainsman, that

-once you captured me and sent me to the guard-house.

-I swore to be revenged upon you then.”</p>

-

-<p>“You deserved what you got&mdash;you dirty deserter!”

-exclaimed Buffalo Bill.</p>

-

-<p>The outlaw leader shrugged his shoulders and turned

-to his men.</p>

-

-<p>“All ready?”</p>

-

-<p>“He’s hard and fast, captain.”</p>

-

-<p>“Unfasten that splendid horse he was riding. I

-need just such an animal in my business.”</p>

-

-<p>They untied Chief from the leaders.</p>

-

-<p>“Buffalo Bill, straight for the Breakneck you go.

-And if these horses don’t carry you down fast enough

-to smash this old coach to atoms and break your cursed

-neck, I’ll give up this business and turn parson!”</p>

-

-<p>“You’ll never have time to repent of your sins and

-turn parson, Bennett,” said the scout.</p>

-

-<p>“Meaning I’ll die with my boots on?” asked the outlaw

-lightly.</p>

-

-<p>“Meaning you’ll be hung,” returned Buffalo Bill.</p>

-

-<p>“Don’t you put too much confidence in <em>that</em>, old

-man,” said Bennett. “At least, you won’t be to my

-hanging.”</p>

-

-<p>“There’s many a slip, you know,” said the scout

-tauntingly.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[115]</span></p>

-

-<p>“I presume you hope to be rescued even now, do

-you not?” cried Bennett.</p>

-

-<p>But Buffalo Bill did not expect that. He had

-taunted the man, hoping to inspire him with such ungovernable

-fury that he would shoot him quickly and

-so save him the awful ride to death. Even the boldest

-man might shrink from that journey down Breakneck

-Hill!</p>

-

-<p>“No, no, old man! You are mine this time. I tell

-you that you, the horses, and the old hearse, shall all

-go to the devil together. Here, boys! lead the horses

-to yonder fork of the roads and there turn them loose!”</p>

-

-<p>The command was obeyed. Whether the other outlaws

-desired Buffalo Bill’s death as their leader did,

-he had such a hold upon them that not one objected

-to the mode of vengeance to be wreaked upon the

-scout. The horses were led to the brink of the steep

-hill. It had once been the stage-road; but a landslide,

-and various heavy rains, had made it impracticable.

-It was almost as steep as the side of a house in places,

-and the roadway was full of boulders and stumps, while

-the gulleys made by heavy rains cut through it in

-many spots. A careful pack-animal might pick its way

-from top to bottom safely; but no vehicle could exist

-in a passage down Breakneck Hill.</p>

-

-<p>The hill was not a continuous decline. It pitched

-sharply at first; then there was nearly a quarter of

-a mile of easy going along a plateau until there came

-the final and impassable descent into the valley.</p>

-

-<p>“Now, Buffalo Bill, your life ends here!” cried Bennett

-savagely.</p>

-

-<p>“All right, Bennett! And the boys won’t forget how

-I died,” was the reckless response.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[116]</span></p>

-

-<p>“Turn ’em loose!” shouted the bandit leader.</p>

-

-<p>The men at the bits sprang aside. The horses, having

-stood so long, and “smelling their oats” ahead of

-them, were eager to be off. With a great tug the coach

-started, the harness clattering about the horses’ heels

-almost immediately as the coach pitched over the rise.

-This, and the shouts and yells of the outlaws, frightened

-the poor brutes. They felt no restraining hand

-on the lines; there was no foot on the brake. The

-coach was coming down behind them with all its

-weight.</p>

-

-<p>Therefore the horses leaped away, frightened beyond

-reason. The old coach bumped and swayed.

-The rough, steep pitch was not long, but it looked as

-though the coach would not arrive at the bottom of

-this first incline without being smashed.</p>

-

-<p>Down it thundered, the wheels bumping, the body

-swaying, and the bound figure, on the seat unable to

-retard it in the least. Behind thundered the big white

-horse, for, breaking away from its captors, Chief intended

-to follow his master to the death!</p>

-

-<p>Not far away from the scene of the hold-up of the

-stage-coach by the outlaws, and near the time that the

-coach and horses were released upon this dangerous

-dash down Breakneck Hill, a horseman was crossing a

-table-land, one side of which was formed by the steep

-wall of the bluff down the face of which the old stage-road

-led.</p>

-

-<p>Though alone upon the table-land, far in the rear

-other horsemen were visible upon his trail. At first

-glance one might have thought that it was a chase, the

-man in front being pursued by the score or so of men

-behind him; but a second scrutiny would have shown<span class="pagenum">[117]</span>

-that it was merely the difference in horse-flesh and

-human endurance that caused the long space to separate

-the leader and his followers.</p>

-

-<p>The lone horseman was dressed in a cavalry fatigue

-uniform with pants tucked in boots, a slouch-hat pinned

-up with a pair of crossed sabers, and a gold cord encircling

-the hat, while upon the shoulders of his jacket

-were straps showing his rank to be that of a first lieutenant

-in the United States Army.</p>

-

-<p>His face was stern for so young a man, but there

-were humorous lines about his smoothly shaven lips,

-and fun danced in the corners of his eyes. Despite

-the hard brown of his countenance, that must have begun

-to be tanned by the Western sun and wind at an

-early age, there was a kindly appearance about the

-young lieutenant.</p>

-

-<p>He was armed with a cavalry sword and a pair of

-service pistols. One gauntleted hand rested on his

-sword-hilt as his horse galloped along. He was several

-miles ahead of his men, who were now scarcely

-more than black specks against the horizon.</p>

-

-<p>“Kinder risky to ride so far ahead, I suppose,” he

-was muttering. “Bill would tell me that. By thunder!

-if I’m attacked on this plateau I can fight&mdash;or run&mdash;I

-hope. There’s little cover hereabouts for either Indians

-or road-agents. And the latter gentry don’t

-usually care to tackle Uncle Sam’s cavalry.”</p>

-

-<p>Suddenly the silence about him was shattered by distant

-yells and several rifle-shots. He glanced back.

-Nothing was happening to his men. The sound came

-from ahead. Again he heard shouts and shots, and

-after that the ring of horses’ hoofs and the rumble of

-heavy wheels.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[118]</span></p>

-

-<p>“By thunder! a hold-up!” he gasped. “And those

-weren’t Indian yells. The stage-coach, I’ll bet! Yet

-the coach wouldn’t take the old road yonder. Why!

-It couldn’t come that way! It would be surely

-wrecked.”</p>

-

-<p>Yet, although the shouts and rifle-shots died away,

-the sound of the wheels and the hammering of the

-horses’ hoofs increased. Some heavy vehicle, drawn

-by several horses, was coming down the Breakneck

-Hill road!</p>

-

-<p>The lone horseman, who had halted at the first

-sound, now set spurs to his mount again. He headed

-directly across the plateau. The stage-road was just

-below the brink of the precipitous slant not many rods

-away, and toward this place the lieutenant hurried.</p>

-

-<p>“It <em>is</em> the stage!” he cried. “The miscreants have

-turned it down the old road. There’s a level bit below

-here for some rods; but if it crosses that and goes

-down the other descent&mdash;well! God help them if there

-is man, woman, or child aboard!”</p>

-

-<p>He reached the brink of the steep descent to the level

-stretch of the old road. Down the first dip was tearing

-six frightened steeds with the old stage-coach

-swaying and bounding behind them. And in the rear

-a riderless white horse was racing after the coach!</p>

-

-<p>That horse the lieutenant recognized.</p>

-

-<p>“That’s Cody’s mount&mdash;it is, by thunder! What’s

-it doing here? And where’s Bill?”</p>

-

-<p>There was not another horse like Chief on the frontier;

-but the stage was too far away for the young

-man to recognize the figure swaying on the coach seat.</p>

-

-<p>“They’re running away, and the driver’s lost his

-nerve!” exclaimed the cavalryman.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[119]</span></p>

-

-<p>Then he raised his voice, shouting in trumpet tones:</p>

-

-<p>“Put on your brake! drag hard on your lines, man,

-or you are lost!”</p>

-

-<p>The six horses, keeping their feet almost miraculously,

-bounded out upon the level stretch. They did

-not hold back in the least. They were maddened with

-fear now, and were headed straight for the second descent.

-On <em>that</em> hill they would quickly come to grief.

-No power could save them.</p>

-

-<p>Again the astonished cavalryman yelled his warning

-to the man on the driver’s seat of the coach. His

-words seemed to reach the man’s ears. He made no

-move to seize the lines or retard the mad course of the

-horses, but in clarion tones came back the answer:</p>

-

-<p>“I am bound! I cannot stop them! Shoot!”</p>

-

-<p>Perhaps the involuntary passenger on the doomed

-stage-coach meant for the young man to shoot <em>him</em> and

-so let him escape a more awful death. But no such intention

-had the lieutenant. The coach was coming

-toward him rapidly, and he obtained a clearer view of

-the bound man.</p>

-

-<p>“Buffalo Bill, by the nine gods of war!” he shouted

-suddenly, recognizing his friend. “What in Heaven’s

-name does this mean?”</p>

-

-<p>There was nobody to answer the query; but he saw

-that the man was indeed bound to his seat, and that

-the reins were loosely swinging, bound to the lantern.

-The brake was not on at all!</p>

-

-<p>At this discovery the lieutenant sank his spurs into

-the flanks of his thoroughbred, and, with a wild snort

-of pain and anger, the horse leaped down the sharp

-declivity toward the piece of rough, but level roadway,

-over which the coach must come.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[120]</span></p>

-

-<p>Yet half-way down the incline the lieutenant was

-smitten with a sudden thought, and he pulled hard on

-the bit. The thoroughbred lay back on his haunches

-and slid. The rider seized one of his guns and cocked

-the weapon.</p>

-

-<p>“Now, Dick Danforth, prove your fame as a dead

-shot,” he muttered. “For if ever true marksmanship

-was needed, it is now to save yonder brave man from

-death!”</p>

-

-

-

-<hr class="chap" />

-

-<div class="chapter">

-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XVIII">CHAPTER XVIII.<br />

-<span class="cheaderfont">THE RACE WITH DEATH.</span></h2>

-</div>

-

-

-<p>The young officer’s face was stern, yet calm. No

-nerves had he, and, although so much depended upon

-his work of the next few moments, he was certainly

-cool. His eyes only flashed, showing the excitement

-that bore him up.</p>

-

-<p>He glanced at the pistol to see that all was right.

-Straight along the level the maddened horses came, the

-coach swaying behind them like a ship in a heavy sea.

-And behind it came Chief as though he hoped to do

-something for his imperiled master.</p>

-

-<p>Dick Danforth was above the road, and, as he had

-pulled back his horse, the creature was fairly sliding

-down the steep incline, laying back on its haunches

-and bracing its forefeet to retard its progress.</p>

-

-<p>Buffalo Bill could do nothing to help himself. Even

-had he been able to seize the reins at this moment and

-slam on the brake, he could not have brought the wild

-horses to a halt before the damage was <a id="Ref_120" href="#Ref_120a">done</a>. It all

-depended upon Dick Danforth.</p>

-

-<p>Far up the hill the keen eye of the <a id="Ref_1201" href="#Ref_120b">officer</a> descried<span class="pagenum">[121]</span>

-a band of horsemen. They wore no uniforms, were

-not in buckskin, and were not Indians. He understood

-who they were at once. He knew that Buffalo Bill

-had been sent to his doom by the bandits of the overland

-trail.</p>

-

-<p>“But, by thunder! we’ll fool ’em!” muttered the

-young officer.</p>

-

-<p>Almost instantly his finger touched the trigger of

-the pistol, and the flash and report followed. With

-perfect presence of mind he had made his calculations.

-Did he kill one of the leaders it would throw the other

-horses upon him, and the stage would be wrecked after

-all, and Buffalo Bill doubtless killed.</p>

-

-<p>Did he kill one of the wheel-horses instead it would

-act as a drag on the others, and still be borne along at

-a slackening speed, until its mate could be brought

-down. This he had aimed to do and&mdash;he succeeded!</p>

-

-<p>With the crack of the first shot the off-wheeler

-dropped, the stage swayed forward sideways, and then

-was dragged on, with the dead horse, yet at a slackened

-pace.</p>

-

-<p>With the second shot the other wheel-horse stumbled,

-staggered, half-fell, regained its feet again, and

-finally went down heavily. Again the coach swayed

-badly; but the stout pole was kept up by the pressure

-of the draft of four horses upon it, and the heavy

-breast chains and traces held the two dead animals

-firmly attached to it, both acting as a powerful drag

-upon the others, and retarding their speed to a slow

-gallop.</p>

-

-<p>Dick Danforth let his mount out, came down the remainder

-of the run with a rush, and on the level

-reached the leader’s heads. He seized the bridle of<span class="pagenum">[122]</span>

-the nearest horse and dragged him to one side, almost

-throwing him. The horse broke step and pulled its

-mate down. In a minute all four were brought up

-standing&mdash;and not an instant too soon, for the brink

-of the second and more perilous part of the hill was

-right before them!</p>

-

-<p>The horses were still in a nervous state; but Dick

-Danforth could trust his own mount. He placed the

-horse he rode in front of the leaders, leaped from the

-saddle, and left the bridle-reins hanging over his

-horse’s head. While they remained thus nothing less

-than an earthquake, or a volcanic eruption, would

-make the horse move out of his tracks&mdash;and the coach-animals

-could not pass him.</p>

-

-<p>“Quick, Danforth! As you are alone you’d best get

-out of here quick. Here come my foes!” cried Buffalo

-Bill, glancing back.</p>

-

-<p>Boyd Bennett and his men, all mounted now, were

-picking their way down the hill, intent upon overtaking

-Buffalo Bill again and his lone rescuer. But Dick Danforth

-was not the man to fly and leave a comrade in

-peril. His escort was as yet a long way off, he knew;

-Buffalo Bill was bound too tightly for quick release,

-and could not aid in beating back the bandits.</p>

-

-<p>Danforth ran directly toward the coach, nevertheless.

-Along came Chief at an easy lope, and he caught

-the horse. He saw that Cody’s loaded pistols were in

-the holsters. He snatched them out, and climbed

-quickly up to the box seat.</p>

-

-<p>By then the bandits had begun to fire. But, without

-replying, and while the lead whistled about their heads

-like hail, the lieutenant slashed the cords which held

-Buffalo Bill’s hands in limbo.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[123]</span></p>

-

-<p>“Grab these and let the sons-of-guns have ’em,

-Cody!” yelled the excited officer, thrusting his own

-pistols into the scout’s hands.</p>

-

-<p>Then he flung himself forward upon his face along

-the coach top, and, dragging his own guns from his

-boots, into the tops of which he had dropped them, he

-began to blaze away at Boyd Bennett and his gang with

-such good success that almost instantly the leader was

-wounded and another man was dropped out of his

-saddle. Buffalo Bill began to fire rapidly, too, being

-able to twist the upper part of his body about and take

-aim.</p>

-

-<p>With two such dead shots against the robbers, the

-latter had little stomach for the battle. Besides, the

-scoundrels saw Danforth’s hat, and one yelled:</p>

-

-<p>“Look out, boys! the troopers are on us!”</p>

-

-<p>And already the thunder of the squadron of cavalry

-on the plateau above reached their ears. Their leader

-having disappeared in such a hurry, the cavalrymen

-had come up rapidly, and now heard the firing of the

-guns below.</p>

-

-<p>“Hold, men! fly for your lives!” shouted the voice of

-Boyd Bennett.</p>

-

-<p>He wheeled and larruped his horse up the hill. Before

-the troopers reached the brink of the bluff above

-the coach, the robbers were out of sight.</p>

-

-<p>“You’re all right, old man!” yelled Danforth, in

-huge delight, smiting Cody on the back.</p>

-

-<p>“Thanks to you, Dick.”</p>

-

-<p>“Who was your particular friend yonder&mdash;the fellow

-with the mustache and the black hair?”</p>

-

-<p>“Boyd Bennett.”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[124]</span></p>

-

-<p>“By the nine gods of war! Too bad I didn’t settle

-his hash instead of just stinging him.”</p>

-

-<p>“Too bad, indeed, Dick.”</p>

-

-<p>“Are you hurt?”</p>

-

-<p>“No. But you might cut my other ropes. I’d like

-to get off this blamed old ramshackle thing before she

-starts again. Those horses are still nervous.”</p>

-

-<p>“Right you are, Bill!” cried the lieutenant, and

-while his men hurriedly made their way down the hill

-leading their mounts&mdash;and passing wondering remarks

-at the trail left on the hillside by the lieutenant’s horse&mdash;Danforth

-finished cutting Cody free.</p>

-

-<p>While Cody related his adventure with the coach, the

-lieutenant’s men dragged out the dead horses and reharnessed

-the others. The dead soldiers and driver

-brought forth angry ejaculations from the troopers.

-Danforth and his men were out on scouting duty, and

-when the lieutenant heard of the hidden treasure-chest,

-he undertook the duty of getting it and bearing it and

-the stage-coach on to Fort Advance.</p>

-

-<p>“You don’t need all your men for that, Dick,” the

-scout said. “Half your escort can take the coach and

-the treasure in. I’ve a long score to even up with Boyd

-Bennett, and I’m going to hit his trail right now. I

-have my horse and my weapons, and with you and a

-file of your men we ought to be able to handle the

-scoundrels if we have the luck to overtake them.”</p>

-

-<p>“I’m agreeable, Cody,” declared the reckless lieutenant.

-“You haven’t any scruples about my shooting

-these road-agents if we come up with them?”</p>

-

-<p>“What do you mean, lieutenant?” asked Cody curiously.

-“What’s the burn?”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[125]</span></p>

-

-<p>“Why, you seemed to object to my potting that Injun

-gal, White Antelope.”</p>

-

-<p>The scout’s face clouded, and he shook his head.</p>

-

-<p>“Don’t jest over that, Dick.”</p>

-

-<p>“Pshaw! I’m not jesting. I spotted her only this

-morning&mdash;and stayed my hand. Otherwise she would

-be walking behind my chariot.”</p>

-

-<p>“White Antelope out this way?” exclaimed Cody

-wonderingly.</p>

-

-<p>“She sure was.”</p>

-

-<p>“Then there’s something afoot among the Sioux.

-We must look into this.”</p>

-

-<p>“But first the road-agents?”</p>

-

-<p>“Yes. First we’ll serve Boyd Bennett.”</p>

-

-

-

-<hr class="chap" />

-

-<div class="chapter">

-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XIX">CHAPTER XIX.<br />

-<span class="cheaderfont">DANFORTH’S HAND IS STAYED AGAIN.</span></h2>

-</div>

-

-

-<p>It was decided, however, that the entire troop would

-return with the stage-coach to the scene of the original

-hold-up. Although Bennett had been driven off so

-successfully by the bluecoats, Buffalo Bill feared that

-he might meet up with the scalping party that had

-killed the paymaster and his guard, and take his gang

-over to this spot to search for the pay-chest that he

-was so sure his old enemy, the scout, had hidden.</p>

-

-<p>“We might have the luck to catch him on the

-ground. If not, we’ll pick up his trail as soon as we

-see a part of your men off with the coach and the

-treasure,” said Cody.</p>

-

-<p>The four horses drew the empty stage up the hill

-with little difficulty, and, surrounded by the troop of<span class="pagenum">[126]</span>

-cavalry, it rattled back along the trail to the gruesome

-spot where Cody had first seen it. There Danforth

-set his men afoot, and at several points of vantage,

-to watch the road and the valley behind the ridge,

-while he and the scout went down into the swamp for

-the treasure-chest.</p>

-

-<p>They had one of the troopers follow them at a distance

-of a few rods. Their numbers were so few, and

-they were so scattered, that Danforth took every precaution

-against being ambushed. The day was

-waning, and they were obliged to hurry if they would

-fish out the chest and then pick up the trail of the outlaw

-gang before night. And Danforth was quite as

-eager as the scout to do this last.</p>

-

-<p>When they got into the wood which masked the

-swampy ground they alarmed a big caribou, which

-started slowly in the very direction they were taking.</p>

-

-<p>“That doesn’t look much as though there were

-either reds or whites lurking near,” muttered Cody.</p>

-

-<p>“By Jove, Bill! I want a shot at that fellow,” exclaimed

-Danforth eagerly.</p>

-

-<p>“He’s not going fast. Perhaps you can bring him

-down.”</p>

-

-<p>“I’m going to try. There, he’s stopped to feed

-again. He’s a cheeky old cuss.”</p>

-

-<p>“What you want him for? Your party is well provisioned.”</p>

-

-<p>“The colonel will be glad of a haunch of caribou

-venison. He’s fond of it, and the flesh is good now.”</p>

-

-<p>“All right, Dick. Take my gun. It’s better than

-yours.”</p>

-

-<p>The eager young lieutenant seized the weapon and

-began creeping through the brush in the direction of<span class="pagenum">[127]</span>

-the caribou’s flight. Cody came behind, not much interested

-in the game, having his mind more fixed upon

-the overtaking of Boyd Bennett. The hunt promised

-to be a brief one, however.</p>

-

-<p>Fortunately the running buck had not diverted far

-from the straightaway course to the hiding-place of

-the treasure-box; otherwise Cody might have more

-strenuously objected. In a few minutes the two men

-came to a glade well dotted with trees, yet free for the

-most part of brush so that they could see some distance.</p>

-

-<p>“Wait! isn’t that him, Bill?” whispered the young

-lieutenant.</p>

-

-<p>“Your eyesight is good, Dick. Where?” asked the

-scout.</p>

-

-<p>“Yonder. Beyond that low brush-clump.”</p>

-

-<p>“Ah!”</p>

-

-<p>“That’s sure him, Bill. Yes, sir! he’s facing this

-way. You can see his black breast and fore legs.

-Down, Bill! don’t show yourself,” whispered Danforth

-eagerly.</p>

-

-<p>“Wait a moment. Better be sure, Dick,” muttered

-the scout, stooping and peering under the sharp of his

-hand toward the spot indicated.</p>

-

-<p>“Gad! he’ll get away. Let me plug him.”</p>

-

-<p>The light was so uncertain that, old and keen-eyed

-hunter that he was, Cody was not at all sure it was

-the caribou they saw.</p>

-

-<p>“Don’t make a mistake, Dick,” he murmured.</p>

-

-<p>“What mistake? The mistake of letting the critter

-git away?” cried the young man, exasperated.</p>

-

-<p>“Many a man has been shot from overeagerness in

-the chase,” said the scout warningly.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[128]</span></p>

-

-<p>“Why, that’s no man!”</p>

-

-<p>“A big buck standing head on in the brush like this

-one, looks just like a man in black clothes&mdash;don’t you

-see?”</p>

-

-<p>“It <em>does</em> look like a man,” admitted Danforth. “I’ll

-remember that, Bill. But we know well enough that

-<em>this</em> is a caribou.”</p>

-

-<p>“Do we?”</p>

-

-<p>“Of course! Confound you, Bill&mdash;&mdash;”</p>

-

-<p>Suddenly a sharp whistle issued from the scout’s

-lips. Dick Danforth swore out loud and jerked his

-gun to his shoulder. But the scout grabbed his arm.</p>

-

-<p>“There’s your buck, Dick!” the older man exclaimed.</p>

-

-<p>In a flash the figure beyond the glade moved and

-came into better view for an instant. It was not a

-deer at all, but a man&mdash;a gigantic figure, dressed in

-some rough black garment, and he was in view of the

-two friends for but a few seconds. Then he darted

-behind a tree.</p>

-

-<p>“It’s a bear!” gasped Danforth. “I might have

-plugged him, anyway.”</p>

-

-<p>“Get out! That’s no bear. It’s a man.”</p>

-

-<p>“One of that gang?” whispered Danforth, suddenly

-more cautious.</p>

-

-<p>“I&mdash;don’t&mdash;know&mdash;&mdash;”</p>

-

-<p>“Better have let me shot him, anyway,” grumbled

-the lieutenant.</p>

-

-<p>“You bloodthirsty young savage! Be still.”</p>

-

-<p>Suddenly the figure beyond the glade rushed from

-behind the tree and glided swiftly away through the

-timber. As he went he uttered a most eery scream,<span class="pagenum">[129]</span>

-his voice floating back to them as he disappeared in

-the rapidly darkening forest.</p>

-

-<p>“Well! what do you think of that?” gasped Danforth.</p>

-

-<p>“Why, the man must be crazy!” exclaimed the scout.

-“That wasn’t Bennett or any of his crowd.”</p>

-

-<p>“Nor a redskin.”</p>

-

-<p>“Of course, it wasn’t a red. And a madman&mdash;&mdash;”</p>

-

-<p>“I’ve got it!” exclaimed the lieutenant suddenly.

-“That was the Mad Hunter.”</p>

-

-<p>“Pshaw! do you believe there is such a person?”</p>

-

-<p>“One of our old sergeants says he met him, and that

-the madman took a pot-shot at him,” declared the lieutenant.</p>

-

-<p>“Well. I’ve heard of him myself.”</p>

-

-<p>“And that chap was a big man, all right.”</p>

-

-<p>“A giant.”</p>

-

-<p>“And as crazy as a bedbug,” added Danforth decidedly.</p>

-

-<p>“Don’t know how crazy they are; but this chap certainly

-acted as though he was a good subject for restraint.

-Ugh! did you ever hear such a yell?”</p>

-

-<p>“I know you stopped me from making a very pretty

-shot, Bill,” laughed the youngster. “That’s the second

-time. The next time I’ll be tempted to turn my

-gun on you, old man.”</p>

-

-<p>Cody became grave again the instant he was reminded

-of how Danforth had come near to shooting

-White Antelope, but he made no rejoinder. They hurried

-back to the edge of the swamp, and, leaving the

-cavalryman to watch, the scout and the lieutenant soon

-found the root to which Cody had tied the lariat, and,

-with some little difficulty, dragged the submerged box<span class="pagenum">[130]</span>

-into view. There was a handle upon each end, and between

-them the two friends carried the chest back to

-the stage-coach. They loaded it aboard, one of the

-troopers tied his horse behind and took the reins, and

-four rode before and behind the coach as guard. Just

-as dusk fell the paymaster’s chest resumed its journey

-to Fort Advance, with the dead bodies of its former

-unfortunate guardians.</p>

-

-

-

-<hr class="chap" />

-

-<div class="chapter">

-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XX">CHAPTER XX.<br />

-<span class="cheaderfont">A DOUBLE CAPTURE.</span></h2>

-</div>

-

-

-<p>Lieutenant Danforth and the bulk of his squad attended

-Buffalo Bill on his search for the gang of outlaws.

-As soon as the coach was well on its way, they

-rode to the spot where Boyd Bennett and his men had

-left the trail, and, despite the fact that it was rapidly

-growing dark, they picked up the hoofmarks of the

-renegades’ horses and followed them rapidly for some

-miles.</p>

-

-<p>Although the sky was clear and there was a long

-evening, the party of trailers could not keep on for

-long. They got well into the hills; but the tracks of

-the outlaw gang showed that Bennett had kept on at a

-swift pace, and it was utterly useless for the troop to

-wear out their own mounts and possibly miss the trail

-itself after dark.</p>

-

-<p>“It’s a long chase, as a stern chase always is, Dick,”

-said the scout. “We might as well make up our minds

-to that, first as last.”</p>

-

-<p>“So I suppose, Bill.”</p>

-

-<p>“But as long as we’re once on the scoundrel’s trail,<span class="pagenum">[131]</span>

-I’ll stick to it to the end,” said Cody grimly. “Better

-rest up the men and horses and make an early start.”</p>

-

-<p>“Right you are. How’s yonder place for a camp?”</p>

-

-<p>“In among those rocks&mdash;yes. We can set sentinels

-on the top of them. Nobody can approach us then.”</p>

-

-<p>“All right. Too bad I didn’t drop that caribou. A

-little fresh meat would have been agreeable.”</p>

-

-<p>“No smoke, boy. Can’t afford to make a fire.

-We’re not only following some pretty shrewd white

-men, but we’re in the Injun country.”</p>

-

-<p>“Thunder!”</p>

-

-<p>“Cold fodder to-night,” said the scout firmly.</p>

-

-<p>“Well. My orderly always packs a small spirit-lamp.

-He can make shift to get us all a cup of coffee,”

-said Danforth, and he proceeded to give the necessary

-orders, and the troop was soon bivouacked for the

-night.</p>

-

-<p>The horses, well hobbled, grazed within bowshot

-of the camp, and a sentinel placed so as to overlook

-them where they were on the plain. No wily enemy

-might approach them without the watcher, if he be

-sharp-eyed, seeing the marauder. Yet Buffalo Bill did

-not altogether trust to the watchfulness of the troopers.</p>

-

-<p>He was in need of rest, and he rolled up in his

-blanket and left Danforth to smoke his pipe alone,

-early in the evening. But when the midnight watch

-turned out the old scout arose like a specter, spoke to

-the corporal in charge, and stole out of the camp.

-Knowing the avarice of Boyd Bennett and suspecting

-that of his men, he felt sure that they would not give

-up so easily the chance of finding and appropriating<span class="pagenum">[132]</span>

-the pay-chest which Captain Hinkley had lost his life

-to defend.</p>

-

-<p>In the first blush of the attack by the troopers, the

-outlaws had broken and fled. But they would recover

-their nerve. They might be joined by some of

-Oak Heart’s braves, with whom Cody knew Bennett

-fraternized. They might even hear the full particulars

-of the Indians’ hold-up of the stage, and be more

-confident than ever of the fact that Cody had hidden

-the treasure.</p>

-

-<p>The scout believed that, as he and Danforth had

-moved so quickly, the coach with its present guard

-would get through in safety to Fort Advance. It was

-probably there by this time, in fact. But Bennett and

-his men might come back to see what was really being

-done by the troopers, and they would be sure to fall

-upon the bivouac. Therefore, the scout was on the

-alert.</p>

-

-<p>He made a complete circuit of the camp, but out of

-sight and gunshot of the sentinels. He did not care

-to furnish a target for his own friends. Having

-agreed with the corporal on a signal, he would not

-come in without sounding it, and so warning the bluecoats

-of his return.</p>

-

-<p>However, he found no sign of an enemy, although

-he spent an hour and a half in creeping about the vicinity.

-And this very fact amazed and somewhat troubled

-him. He could not imagine Bennett under ordinary

-circumstances flying from an enemy without sending

-back a scout to learn if the trail was not being

-followed. Cody was dissatisfied. He feared that the

-reason he had not discovered such a scout was because

-it was some person more wily than himself!</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[133]</span></p>

-

-<p>No white man could be that. Ordinarily Buffalo

-Bill would pitch his own cunning against a redskin’s,

-too; but in this case, if there was an Indian creeping

-about the camp, he would have the advantage over

-the Border King. He might have crawled to the summit

-of some hill and from that vantage overlook the

-encampment of Uncle Sam’s troops.</p>

-

-<p>Having encircled the encampment, Buffalo Bill was

-undecided whether to return to the bivouac&mdash;his

-blanket beckoned him&mdash;or to once more make the circle.

-Suddenly he heard Chief whinny loudly. There

-was some activity among the horses; but the scout

-heard the sentinel’s voice and knew that the mob of

-animals would not stampede. But his own mount

-screamed again&mdash;angrily.</p>

-

-<p>“By thunder!” muttered the Border King. “That

-means one thing, and one thing only. Chief smells

-a redskin&mdash;or more than one!”</p>

-

-<p>Yet he did not start down into the encampment to

-arouse the men. The horses quieted down, and there

-was no further warning from the big white horse.

-The scout, however, glided out upon the plain, taking

-advantage of the shadow of every bush and boulder,

-and so stood beside the soldier watching the herd. He

-came so suddenly that the man was startled and

-grunted:</p>

-

-<p>“Holy Jo, Cody! You give me a start.”</p>

-

-<p>“See what an Injun might do to you.”</p>

-

-<p>“Not much. I’d smell the prowling devils,” said the

-trooper confidently.</p>

-

-<p>“What was the matter with my horse?”</p>

-

-<p>“That white fellow?”</p>

-

-<p>“Yes.”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[134]</span></p>

-

-<p>“Dunno. Just squealed.”</p>

-

-<p>Cody thought to himself: “Well, your smelling

-powers are not equal to Chief’s. <em>He</em> certainly got the

-taint of redskin on the air.”</p>

-

-<p>Aloud the scout asked:</p>

-

-<p>“Which way was the horse headed when he squealed&mdash;did

-you notice?”</p>

-

-<p>“Just about as he is now. What’s the matter?”</p>

-

-<p>“Humph! didn’t know but the horse was sick,” replied

-Cody dryly, and he walked through the herd till

-he stood beside Chief.</p>

-

-<p>“So, boy! what’s the matter?” he said soothingly,

-smoothing the horse’s muzzle.</p>

-

-<p>Chief whinnied softly; his fright was passed. Suddenly

-the sentinel, who had idly followed Cody’s movements

-with his glance, became aware of the fact that

-the scout had disappeared! It was not a dark night,

-and the plain was open; but the scout was gone as

-completely as though he had been suddenly wiped out

-of existence!</p>

-

-<p>“Well, I’ll be switched!” grunted the surprised

-trooper, stepping forward, and then stopping again.

-“I could have swore that feller stood by his hoss a

-minute ago.”</p>

-

-<p>And he was right on that point, of course. But Buffalo

-Bill had slipped the lariat from his saddle-bow

-and suddenly dropped into the grass at his horse’s

-feet. Chief began to crop the grass again, and paid no

-attention while his master crept away from the herd.

-Cody knew that the light breeze had brought but a

-single whiff of Indian to the horse’s nostrils. The

-redskin could not be far away.</p>

-

-<p>He crept across the plain and finally reached rising<span class="pagenum">[135]</span>

-ground, where clumps of brush and an occasional tree

-offered shelter. He had been over this ground before,

-but he knew that some prowling enemy had been

-here more recently. He remained almost flat upon

-the ground and gazed all about him, seeking to see

-the silhouette of any lurking figure against the sky.</p>

-

-<p>And in this he was successful. At first he overlooked

-it, believing it to be a tree. Then he saw it

-move slightly, and finally made out the body of a tall

-man standing beside a sapling, some distance up the

-hill. Eagerly the scout crawled up the slope, and

-finally gained a point above and beyond the stationary

-figure.</p>

-

-<p>Before he could accomplish more, however, the figure

-he had watched so carefully suddenly stepped

-away from the tree. He heard a guttural voice grunt

-the single syllable:</p>

-

-<p>“Ugh!”</p>

-

-<p>For an instant Cody feared his own presence had

-been discovered. Then he saw what had drawn the

-ejaculation from the redskin. A second figure had

-appeared on the hillside. Cody lay behind a boulder

-and watched the two men approach each other. There

-was a rapid interchange of guttural observations in the

-Sioux tongue. Two scouts were reporting to each

-other what they had discovered about the bivouac and

-the numbers of the pony soldiers there encamped.</p>

-

-<p>For all he knew there might be a big party of reds

-within call. He scarcely believed so, considering how

-the reds hate to travel by night; but the presence of

-these scouts suggested, at least, that Boyd Bennett had

-influence enough over the tribesmen to send these two

-back to do his dirty work.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[136]</span></p>

-

-<p>However, the scout was minded to make a bold play.</p>

-

-<p>He rose up softly from behind the boulder. The

-Indians’ backs were half-turned to him, and their

-heads were very close together while they whispered

-softly. Cody poised himself, and, judging his distance,

-began to circle his rope&mdash;which he had brought

-with him on the chance of tying up a prisoner&mdash;carefully.</p>

-

-<p>Swish!</p>

-

-<p>The serpentine loop hurtled over the heads of the

-redskins, and&mdash;dropped! There were two startled

-screams, both of which were choked off instantly.</p>

-

-<p>The scout flung himself backward and drew the

-horsehair noose taut. It had caught one Indian

-around the neck and over the shoulders, and the other

-had but one hand free. The first jerk yanked both off

-their feet and held them together with such firmness

-that they could not rise or stretch the loop. They

-were like one enraged animal, struggling and lashing

-out upon the ground!</p>

-

-<p>Buffalo Bill ran in, wound the slack of the line

-about their writhing bodies and about their legs. In

-a couple of minutes they were so mixed up with that

-rope that it was hard to tell which Indian was which!</p>

-

-

-

-<hr class="chap" />

-

-<div class="chapter">

-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXI">CHAPTER XXI.<br />

-<span class="cheaderfont">THE CAVE IN THE MOUNTAIN.</span></h2>

-</div>

-

-

-<p>Now, despite the excitement of the moment, Cody

-noticed one fact that delighted him. The two entangled

-Indians did not cry out. After the first involuntary

-grunt, neither uttered a yell of rage or despair,<span class="pagenum">[137]</span>

-and this proved a point in the scout’s favor. There

-were no other redskins near at hand!</p>

-

-<p>Had there been, a war-whoop from the struggling

-scamps would have been quite in order. But as they

-were evidently scouting with their main party at some

-distance, they were mighty careful about raising a

-racket and so bringing the soldiers up the hill to the

-aid of their unknown enemy. As for the latter, Buffalo

-Bill, he was not in the habit of singing out for

-help&mdash;not even when the odds were greater against

-him than upon this occasion.</p>

-

-<p>Having yanked the fellows back upon the ground

-twice, and pulling the lariat so taut that one Indian’s

-throat was almost cut, he taught the prisoners that

-he was master. He then, as shown, entangled their

-feet and legs, and so held them triced like a bale of

-hay.</p>

-

-<p>Being sure of handling them now, he came close,

-lashed the end of his lariat, and removed their knives

-and tomahawks. They had dropped their guns at the

-moment of the attack, and these the scout gathered up,

-too.</p>

-

-<p>Having made sure of the prisoners single-handed,

-the Border King walked composedly down toward the

-camp. The sentinel near the horses saw him coming

-and challenged:</p>

-

-<p>“Who goes there?”</p>

-

-<p>“It’s me, old man.”</p>

-

-<p>“Ah! I thought ’twas you, Cody. Where’d you go

-to back there a spell? All of a sudden I lost you.”</p>

-

-<p>“Why, I walked out to capture a couple of reds that

-were hanging about.”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[138]</span></p>

-

-<p>“Ha! ha! ha!” laughed the man. “That’s a good

-one. I ain’t heard a thing to-night, have you?”</p>

-

-<p>“My horse did.”</p>

-

-<p>“What?”</p>

-

-<p>“Chief heard, or smelled, reds. And I’ve got ’em

-tied up out yonder,” said Buffalo Bill coolly. “Call

-your corporal and have ’em brought in.”</p>

-

-<p>“What’s that, Bill?” gasped the trooper.</p>

-

-<p>“Call the corporal.”</p>

-

-<p>“You don’t mean to say you’ve captured an Indian

-since you left me?”</p>

-

-<p>“Two.”</p>

-

-<p>“No!”</p>

-

-<p>“I tell you I have,” said Cody, with some exasperation.

-“Here are their arms. Get a move on you!”

-The surprised and half-doubting trooper made so much

-noise arousing his immediate officer that the lieutenant

-was awakened, too. He came down with the corporal

-and two men and went out with Cody to bring in the

-reds. It was a fact that none of the soldiers really believed

-Cody had captured two redskins until they saw

-the captives writhing on the ground.</p>

-

-<p>“And I wouldn’t have had ’em much longer if you

-fellows had stopped to chin any more. They’re most

-free,” said Cody.</p>

-

-<p>“Bill, you’re a wonder,” declared Dick Danforth.</p>

-

-<p>“Thanks. Bring ’em in. Let’s see who the scamps

-are.”</p>

-

-<p>This was done, the fire was renewed, and those of

-the troopers who had been aroused gathered around in

-a respectful circle to hear their lieutenant and the scout

-put the two bucks through their catechism.</p>

-

-<p>That they belonged to Oak Heart’s tribe was easy to<span class="pagenum">[139]</span>

-learn; but beyond that the two young redskins were

-very non-committal. They had come scouting about

-the soldier camp for Death Killer, the new medicine

-chief of the Sioux; little else could the whites learn.</p>

-

-<p>“Who the deuce is this Death Killer, Bill?” demanded

-Lieutenant Danforth.</p>

-

-<p>“I’ve heard some whispers of him; but who he is

-I haven’t learned,” said Cody.</p>

-

-<p>“Was he with the bunch that Oak Heart brought

-up against Fort Advance?”</p>

-

-<p>“No.”</p>

-

-<p>“That’s odd, isn’t it?”</p>

-

-<p>“These medicine chiefs are mighty scarey of their

-safety. They never take many risks, you bet!”</p>

-

-<p>“So Death Killer stayed at home and let his children

-fight the battle alone, eh?” remarked the lieutenant.</p>

-

-<p>“Why, as to that, I believe the Sioux didn’t have

-this wonderful new chief at that time.”</p>

-

-<p>“Is that so?”</p>

-

-<p>“I met an Arapahoe, a friend of mine, who told

-me something about the medicine chief that Oak

-Heart had got. The Sioux believe that the next

-time they buck up against the whites, the medicine of

-this Death Killer will bring them the victory.”</p>

-

-<p>This was said aside so that the two young Indians

-could not understand.</p>

-

-<p>“What’ll we do with these fellows, Bill?” asked

-the young officer.</p>

-

-<p>“Thunder! We don’t want any prisoners.”</p>

-

-<p>“You mean to shoot them?”</p>

-

-<p>“What’s the use? It will only mean bringing the

-whole tribe about our ears like a swarm of bees.<span class="pagenum">[140]</span>

-While we’re hunting Bennett we don’t want the Sioux

-onto us, too.”</p>

-

-<p>“You wouldn’t advise turning them loose?”</p>

-

-<p>“Well, do you know a better way of getting rid of

-them?”</p>

-

-<p>Danforth shook his head slowly.</p>

-

-<p>“They certainly would be white elephants on our

-hands if we tried to hold them,” he admitted.</p>

-

-<p>“Kick ’em out,” advised the scout.</p>

-

-<p>“They’ll go back and report.”</p>

-

-<p>“What can they report? That they found a bunch

-of troopers here camping on the trail of the white outlaws.”</p>

-

-<p>“But suppose Bennett is hand and glove with the

-reds as you think?”</p>

-

-<p>“Then we must run that risk. Here! let me talk

-with these young bucks alone,” suggested Cody.</p>

-

-<p>The examination of the reds had been accomplished

-in English and by aid of the sign language. Now the

-scout spoke to them in their own tongue. He did not

-expect to win their confidence; but since they had discovered

-that no other than Pa-e-has-ka had so easily

-overcome them, they felt better in their minds.</p>

-

-<p>Finally Cody unfastened them, filled their pouches

-with food, gave them back their weapons, and advised

-them to go back to their lodges.</p>

-

-<p>“Let this medicine chief, Death Killer, come himself

-to learn our numbers and our intentions,” said the

-scout significantly. “Let him learn about us by his

-magic. If he is so great a medicine-man why does

-he not know these things by his magic power? Go,

-brothers; you have your lives at the hand of the Long

-Hair.”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[141]</span></p>

-

-<p>The two young reds departed with unmoved countenances.

-If they felt gratitude they would not be

-likely to show it in the expression of their faces. That

-would be against Indian nature.</p>

-

-<p>The camp being pretty thoroughly aroused now, and

-daybreak being near, the lieutenant ordered breakfast

-prepared. Buffalo Bill did not object to a fire being

-made now. Not only had their encampment been discovered

-by the reds; but the morning was so misty that

-the smoke would not rise high, anyway.</p>

-

-<p>They went on after the meal, finding the trail of the

-outlaws difficult of following in some places, for it

-was apparent that an attempt had been made to cloud

-the trace. By mid-forenoon, however, they were deep

-in the hills, in a wild and gloomy country, and where

-every mile was perilous. They might be ambushed by

-the foe in almost any cut, and Cody kept the command

-back while he investigated every particularly ugly-looking

-defile. What report the two released Indians

-might make to their people had much to do with the

-safety of the expedition, too. For all the whites knew,

-the Sioux might be gathering to fall upon them!</p>

-

-<p>Not a soul did they see on the trail; but they found

-the place where Boyd Bennett and his men had spent

-the night; and they noted marks which assured them

-that the outlaws had lit out that morning hurriedly.

-Evidently the approach of the troopers was feared by

-the renegades.</p>

-

-<p>Before night, however, Cody called a halt in the forward

-movement. They were in the midst of peaks,

-and tall, chimneylike rocks where the timber was

-sparse and vegetation of any other kind becoming thin.<span class="pagenum">[142]</span>

-Shelter was not easily obtained, and the trail had to

-be guessed at many times, the way was so rocky.</p>

-

-<p>“I don’t like the look of this territory, Dick,” said

-the scout.</p>

-

-<p>“Those fellows can’t be far ahead of us,” declared

-the eager lieutenant.</p>

-

-<p>“I’m not so sure of that. They plainly know the

-way.”</p>

-

-<p>“Well, they haven’t succeeded in fooling us much

-yet.”</p>

-

-<p>“That may be; but they may fool us badly in the

-end.”</p>

-

-<p>“Don’t croak, Bill; that isn’t like you.”</p>

-

-<p>“I tell you, boy, we’re perhaps putting our necks

-into a noose. I’ve seen several smokes this afternoon.

-Now, if the Injuns join in with Boyd Bennett, and

-make common cause with him&mdash;well, where’ll we be?”</p>

-

-<p>“Here, or hereabout,” grunted Danforth.</p>

-

-<p>“And we’ll stay here, too! I vote we make an end

-of this quick.”</p>

-

-<p>“Why, Bill, I thought you were so eager to follow

-Bennett up?”</p>

-

-<p>“So I am. But I’m not as eager for meeting my finish

-as you seem to be.”</p>

-

-<p>“Pshaw! you’re not afraid for yourself, Bill. I

-know you,” cried Danforth.</p>

-

-<p>“I’ve got no right to run you into peril.”</p>

-

-<p>“Forget me!”</p>

-

-<p>“And you’ve no right to lead your troop into a

-pocket. What do you suppose your ‘kern’ will say?”</p>

-

-<p>“Oh, shucks! I hate to give this up.”</p>

-

-<p>“So do I, son. But we’ve got to.”</p>

-

-<p>“You mean to start right back now?”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[143]</span></p>

-

-<p>“You’re the doctor. I’m not in command,” said

-Cody.</p>

-

-<p>“Hang it all, Bill! you are virtually in command,

-and you know it.”</p>

-

-<p>“Well, you want me to advise?”</p>

-

-<p>“Of course.”</p>

-

-<p>“Then I say we’d better hunt a place to stop the

-night, and then light out for a more healthy country

-in the morning. I begin to feel that we’re being

-watched.”</p>

-

-<p>“You <em>feel</em> so?”</p>

-

-<p>“Sounds silly, doesn’t it, eh? But it’s so. And

-intuition has stood me in good stead before. There

-are foes near. We want to get shelter and prepare to

-receive them properly.”</p>

-

-<p>Thus advised, Dick Danforth ordered his men to

-dismount, and they led their horses up into the rocky

-gorge Cody had chosen as a retreat. It would have

-been well for Danforth if he always so easily listened

-to the admonition of his elders and the better informed.</p>

-

-<p>Just inside the gorge was a yawning cavern in the

-mountainside. Evidently Cody knew of this retreat,

-even had he never been over the ground before. He

-led his big white horse with satisfaction into the dusky

-interior.</p>

-

-<p>“Hold on, Bill! The critters can’t feed in there,”

-Danforth objected, bringing his own animal to a stop.</p>

-

-<p>“All right. We’ll have to cut brush for ’em to pick

-over. There’s no safe feeding ground outside.”</p>

-

-<p>“But, hang it! how do we know who or what may

-be in that hole?”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[144]</span></p>

-

-<p>“Chief says there are no Injuns here, that’s sure!”

-retorted the scout, laughing.</p>

-

-<p>“But it may be a grizzly’s lair, or a cougar’s.”</p>

-

-<p>“Nope. Old Chief would have made remarks about

-it. Come on, lieutenant.”</p>

-

-<p>“Oh, I’m not afraid, if that’s what you mean!”

-grunted Dick Danforth, and with a nod to his file-leader,

-he followed the scout into the maw of the darksome

-cave.</p>

-

-

-

-<hr class="chap" />

-

-<div class="chapter">

-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXII">CHAPTER XXII.<br />

-<span class="cheaderfont">THE NIGHT PROWLERS.</span></h2>

-</div>

-

-

-<p>The frontiersmen&mdash;those who were Buffalo Bill’s

-associates&mdash;mapped the mountains and plains of the

-West long before Uncle Sam’s exploration parties

-ever penetrated the wilderness. Cody had never been

-to this hole in the mountainside before, yet he knew

-all about it. Hunters and trappers&mdash;and some early

-gold-seekers&mdash;had told him of its existence. It had

-been considered “bad medicine” by the Indians who inhabited

-this section of the country before the Sioux

-had flowed over into the land, and Oak Heart’s people

-themselves kept away from it. The scout was pretty

-sure that they had a sufficiently strong fortress here

-to withstand any ordinary attack.</p>

-

-<p>Besides, there was spring water in the cave, and, as

-he showed Danforth very quickly, something better

-still. As they advanced under the arched roof of the

-cavern, light appeared ahead.</p>

-

-<p>“There’s another opening,” said Danforth.</p>

-

-<p>“Looks like it.”</p>

-

-<p>“Why, they can get at us from two directions, Bill!”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[145]</span></p>

-

-<p>“Can they?”</p>

-

-<p>“You’re blamed cool about it.”</p>

-

-<p>“Might as well be cool as hot. We have got to take

-it as it comes.”</p>

-

-<p>The light grew apace.</p>

-

-<p>“What kind of a place is this, anyway?” cried the

-lieutenant.</p>

-

-<p>“Come along, sir!”</p>

-

-<p>“But the horses&mdash;&mdash;”</p>

-

-<p>“Bring the horses along, too. I reckon I haven’t

-mistaken the place. Here we are!”</p>

-

-<p>As he spoke they came out into a roughly circular

-basin, surrounded completely by steep&mdash;aye, unscalable&mdash;rocks,

-but well grown to grass and bushes at the

-bottom. It was a veritable little pocket in the heart of

-the mountain. There was no escape from it, and no

-getting into it, excepting through the cave.</p>

-

-<p>Chief kicked up his heels, snorted joyfully, and

-broke away from Cody’s detaining hand. The other

-horses followed, and the whole herd set to cropping

-the sweet grass in equine delight.</p>

-

-<p>“Well, sir! This beats my time!” exclaimed Danforth.</p>

-

-<p>“Guess we can stand a bit of a siege here, if necessary,

-eh?” queried Cody.</p>

-

-<p>“That we could.”</p>

-

-<p>Fire-wood was cut and brought into the cave and

-the meal started. Cody was not content to remain for

-long inactive, however. He slept while the meal was

-being prepared. After he had eaten, however, he left

-the camp, and in the gloaming made his way out and

-down into the valley from which they had retired, on

-the lookout for the enemy.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[146]</span></p>

-

-<p>The worst of it was, he did not exactly know

-whether their white or red foes would be upon them

-first. The Sioux might attack&mdash;for they were now

-well into the Indian country&mdash;or Boyd Bennett and his

-gang might come back at them. If the latter, the

-troopers could handle the outlaws easily. But a horde

-of savages might give the troops a mighty pretty brush

-up here in the hills, so far away from reenforcements

-and a base of supplies.</p>

-

-<p>The scout was careful to leave no trace himself, and

-when he reached the spot where the troopers had

-turned aside from the outlaw’s trail, he hid and

-watched, and waited, to see what or who might “turn

-up.” That it was about time for either the outlaws

-or the Indians to show their hand Cody was sure.</p>

-

-<p>His judgment was good in this case, too. He had

-not been lying in wait an hour when he saw two

-mounted figures coming along the valley toward his

-station. Dark as it was down here, he could make out

-their outlines sufficiently to know that one was an

-Indian and the other was a white man. They came

-to the point where the troopers had diverged from

-Boyd Bennett’s trail, and there halted to whisper together.</p>

-

-<p>From where he lay in the rocks, Cody could see

-the fire blazing in the mouth of the cave up in the

-gorge. He knew the men below him could see it, too.

-Writhing down the hill, like a serpent between the

-boulders, the scout reached a point where he could

-overhear something of what the Indian and the white

-man said.</p>

-

-<p>“Return and bring them to this place. The hour<span class="pagenum">[147]</span>

-must be no later than midnight,” the white man was

-saying in a commanding manner.</p>

-

-<p>“It shall be as my brother says,” the redskin muttered.</p>

-

-<p>“My men will advance and draw their first fire&mdash;perhaps

-get them out of the cave. You say there is

-no chance of getting in from the rear?”</p>

-

-<p>“No Sioux would venture, if it were possible. That

-cavern was the abode of a great spirit at one time.”</p>

-

-<p>“Ha! Very well. Do as I have bid you. You and

-your braves hold back if you must. But if we draw

-the badgers, we can count upon you to pitch in?”</p>

-

-<p>“It is as my brother says.”</p>

-

-<p>“All right! Off with you. I await my men here.”</p>

-

-<p>The redskin twitched his pony’s head about, and

-rode softly away. After standing a moment in the

-path, the white man’s horse was turned out upon a

-bit of sward, and Cody knew that the fellow dismounted.

-He evidently proposed to remain near and

-watch the cave until reenforcements arrived.</p>

-

-<p>And Cody knew the scoundrel. He had recognized

-the voice, and likewise by the fact that he held his

-left arm stiffly bound to his side, the scout knew that

-it was Boyd Bennett himself. Dick Danforth had

-indeed “stung” the robber. The bone of his left arm

-had been broken, and he could barely hold the reins

-with that hand.</p>

-

-<p>Buffalo Bill was greatly tempted. Here was a

-chance for him to take his old enemy, single-handed.

-And did naught but personal vengeance enter into

-the affair, he would have made the attempt. But there

-was a brave opportunity of rounding up more of the<span class="pagenum">[148]</span>

-gang, despite their affiliation with the redskins, and

-Cody resisted the temptation.</p>

-

-<p>He made his way back to the cave, found most of

-the troopers already peacefully asleep, and Danforth

-anxiously awaiting his return.</p>

-

-<p>“Well?” demanded the young lieutenant.</p>

-

-<p>“We’re going to have visitors about midnight.”</p>

-

-<p>“How’s that?”</p>

-

-<p>“Mr. Bennett and his gang will make the attack; a

-set of thieving reds will stand off to pitch in if the

-whites can’t handle us.”</p>

-

-<p>“Gee, Cody! how d’you know all that?”</p>

-

-<p>Buffalo Bill told him.</p>

-

-<p>“Why didn’t you shoot the bloody thieves?”</p>

-

-<p>“And lose the chance of rounding up more of

-them?”</p>

-

-<p>“They’ll be too many for us, I fear,” said Danforth,

-although without displaying any particular fear of such

-an outcome.</p>

-

-<p>“They will certainly outnumber us&mdash;reds and all.”</p>

-

-<p>“Nice prospect.”</p>

-

-<p>“But forewarned is forearmed, eh?”</p>

-

-<p>“Right you are, Bill! We have the advantage of

-knowing that they are coming, whereas they will labor

-under the disadvantage of believing we are unsuspicious.”</p>

-

-<p>“Yes.”</p>

-

-<p>“But hived up in this place&mdash;&mdash;”</p>

-

-<p>“We haven’t got to stay hived up,” interrupted the

-scout. “And we don’t want to.”</p>

-

-<p>“You’ve got a plan, Bill?”</p>

-

-<p>“I have.”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[149]</span></p>

-

-<p>“State it, old man. You know well enough you

-don’t have to stand on ceremony with me.”</p>

-

-<p>“This fire can be seen from below. Let it die down.

-Don’t let any fuel be flung on for some time. When

-it’s at the lowest we can lead our horses out without

-being seen.”</p>

-

-<p>“Give up our shelter, Bill? And with a horde of

-redskins coming?”</p>

-

-<p>“Sure. Let them attack an empty cave&mdash;but one

-that doesn’t look empty. The last man to leave can

-fling a pile of fuel on the fire and then slip away before

-it burns up brightly. So we’ll have ’em attacking

-an empty fortress while we are out here among

-the rocks ready to play heck with ’em!”</p>

-

-<p>“I’m not afraid of the outlaws,” said Danforth

-slowly. “But the redskins&mdash;&mdash;”</p>

-

-<p>“Won’t come too near the cave; it’s bad medicine,

-as I told you.”</p>

-

-<p>“But when they see that we’re outside&mdash;&mdash;”</p>

-

-<p>“Wait! We’ll lead the horses away along the trail

-we came over, and leave them in charge of one man.

-Then, when it gets too hot for us&mdash;if the reds pitch

-in&mdash;we’ll decamp. The reds won’t be too near, however.

-I know ’em. An Injun is as full of superstition

-as an egg is of meat.”</p>

-

-<p>“Your plan looks good, Bill.”</p>

-

-<p>“All right. Stop that fellow&mdash;quick! He’ll spoil it

-all.”</p>

-

-<p>Danforth turned to see one of the guards advancing

-toward the fire with an armful of fuel. The lieutenant

-ordered him to desist and instructed his subordinate

-to let the fire die down. Then he and Cody rolled up

-in their blankets for an hour’s sleep.</p>

-

-<hr class="chap" />

-

-<div class="chapter">

-<p><span class="pagenum">[150]</span></p>

-

-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXIII">CHAPTER XXIII.<br />

-<span class="cheaderfont">MORE THAN THEY BARGAINED FOR.</span></h2>

-</div>

-

-

-<p>When the lieutenant and scout were awakened, according

-to order, the camp became at once an exceedingly

-lively though quiet place. The men had their

-instructions in a low tone from Danforth. They led

-the horses into the cave from the rear, and, the fire

-being now merely a bed of glowing coals, the shadows

-of neither man nor beast were pricked out by the light

-from the fire.</p>

-

-<p>Cody had slipped out and beaten the rocks and brush

-on the hillside before the mouth of the cavern. He

-found no lurking spy, but he went far enough to hear

-Boyd Bennett’s horse stamping in the valley. The

-outlaw was still there awaiting the coming of his men

-and of his redskin allies.</p>

-

-<p>The scout hurried back and led the way with Chief,

-warning the troopers to smother any desire on their

-mounts’ part to whinny if they smelt the strange horse

-in the valley. The scout had picked out a path around

-the swell of the mountain, between the rocks and

-ledges, and, although it was a roundabout way, it was

-sod-covered for most of the distance, and they were

-enabled to lead their mounts away without an appreciable

-sound. Like a file of shadows they passed around

-the mountain and down into the lowlands. There the

-horses were tethered and left in the care of a single

-soldier. The others hurried back to positions near the

-mouth of the cave, to await the expected attack of the

-outlaws.</p>

-

-<p>Divided as their forces had been, by sending the<span class="pagenum">[151]</span>

-stage and treasure on to Fort Advance, Danforth’s

-squad now numbered less than the gang of outlaws.

-And, in addition, Boyd Bennett would have at his back

-a party of bloodthirsty savages. It was a ticklish position,

-and none understood that better than the Border

-King, Buffalo Bill.</p>

-

-<p>Strategy was the scout’s best card under these circumstances.

-He knew the quality of the gang whom

-Boyd Bennett had gathered about him. They were ignorant,

-superstitious scoundrels, and, therefore, he

-ventured to play upon their fears as well as to lay

-a close ambush for them.</p>

-

-<p>To approach the mouth of the cave in which the fire

-now burned brightly necessitated the foe advancing up

-a sidehill into the mouth of the gulch under the shelter

-merely of low brush and boulders, with here and there

-a stunted tree, the roots of which had found fixture between

-the rocks. Higher up the mountain, and upon

-both sides of the gulch, were thicker forest.</p>

-

-<p>Under Cody’s advice Danforth placed his men upon

-the side of the gulch opposite the cavern’s mouth, and

-outside the gulch itself, all positions selected being

-easy of access to the trail down which they had led

-their horses so cautiously. A more withering fire

-could have been arranged by placing the troopers upon

-both sides of the gorge; a cross-fire is always more

-galling and confusing to an enemy. But, then, there

-remained the danger of the reds rushing to the assistance

-of Boyd Bennett and his gang, and so those

-soldiers above the cave might be cut off from escape.

-Whatever happened, the mêlée was bound to be a

-sharp and quick one; it would be all over in a few moments.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[152]</span></p>

-

-<p>Just outside the mouth of the gulch, and in advance

-of the line of hidden troopers, was a rather larger tree

-than most upon the lower hillside, and it had a low

-crotch from which sprang three branches. Cody saw

-that to approach the cavern’s entrance, the attacking

-force would be pretty sure to come close under this

-tree. Seeing this, he evolved&mdash;with the help of the

-corporal&mdash;a scheme which later added much to the

-excitement of the battle and came near to utterly routing

-the outlaw gang.</p>

-

-<p>There was little time for preparation, however; already

-the hour grew close to midnight. Cody crept

-into the cave, showed himself in the firelight, threw on

-more wood, and then crept out again, so as to assure

-the watching Bennett below that the place was still

-occupied. Then the scout went down into the valley

-and watched and listened until his keen ear assured

-him that several ponies were being ridden rapidly toward

-the hiding-place of the bandit leader.</p>

-

-<p>How many were coming&mdash;whether the reds were

-with the whites&mdash;Buffalo Bill did not know. Nor did

-he consider it well to wait to learn. That the attack

-would be made at once, he was sure. Boyd Bennett

-was not the most patient man in the world, and he had

-waited here long for his men to appear.</p>

-

-<p>Cody found the lieutenant, and snuggled down beside

-him behind a brush-clump.</p>

-

-<p>“By the nine gods of war, Bill! I thought you’d

-never come,” muttered Danforth. “I got as nervous

-as an old maid with her first beau, fearing that you

-wouldn’t get here in time to holler. I can imitate some

-critters&mdash;thanks to you and Jack Omohondreau: but<span class="pagenum">[153]</span>

-when it comes to murdering the night air with the

-scream of a wildcat&mdash;&mdash;”</p>

-

-<p>“Sh!” breathed Cody. “They’re coming.”</p>

-

-<p>Danforth became quiet. They were placed so that

-the entire sweep of the side-hill was before them. Several

-of the troopers were nearer the cave; several were

-behind the station of the lieutenant and the scout. All

-had their instructions regarding the withholding of

-their fire until a prearranged instant.</p>

-

-<p>Soon Danforth beheld several flitting shadows below.

-A number of men were coming up the rocky

-slope; they had spread out and were approaching the

-cavern’s mouth without any regard to military formation.

-Several, however, were coming close to the

-forked tree which Cody had previously noted. That

-stood some yards in front, and a little below, where

-he lay with his friend, the lieutenant.</p>

-

-<p>“All right, Bill!” whispered Danforth.</p>

-

-<p>“Wait till I give the word,” breathed the scout.

-“Let some of them pass. We want every shot to

-count.”</p>

-

-<p>A few moments more they waited. Several figures

-passed on up the hill, dodging from rock to rock, but

-all converging toward the mouth of the cave where

-the fire now glowed dully. That they were the bandits,

-and not the redskins, Cody was sure. Suddenly

-he saw two of the prowlers approaching the forked

-tree. He nudged Danforth sharply.</p>

-

-<p>The two outlaws in question were almost under the

-branching limbs of the tree when they heard what

-sounded like the scratching of claws on the rough bark.

-Both looked up, and beheld an uncertain but bulky<span class="pagenum">[154]</span>

-figure lying along one branch. A sharp snarl seemed

-to come from it, and the two bandits sprang away.</p>

-

-<p>“Curse you!” exclaimed the voice of Bennett, low

-but deadly in its temper. “What’s the matter?”</p>

-

-<p>Two or three of the bandits ran together. They

-thought some attack had been made upon them.</p>

-

-<p>“What is it?” repeated several in shrill whispers.</p>

-

-<p>“A cougar!”</p>

-

-<p>“A wildcat!”</p>

-

-<p>“Get back to your stations!” commanded Bennett.

-“Do you want to spoil the whole thing? Such cursed

-foolishness over a blamed tomcat&mdash;&mdash;”</p>

-

-<p>He had approached the tree, and suddenly the animal

-on the limb seemed to gather itself for a spring,

-and there sounded upon the night air the shrill, blood-curdling

-yell of the dreaded panther!</p>

-

-<p>“Look out, Boyd! He’s goin’ ter jump!” exclaimed

-one fellow.</p>

-

-<p>Several of the others stepped warily back and raised

-their guns. Above on the hillside&mdash;this had been prearranged

-by Cody&mdash;one of the troopers shouted:</p>

-

-<p>“Who goes there?”</p>

-

-<p>“Curse my body and bones!” growled Bennett.

-“The game is spoiled! They’ve heard us.”</p>

-

-<p>The supposed panther screamed again, and then

-the body in the tree was hurled out into the air. Involuntarily

-every outlaw in sight took a pot-shot at

-the flying body. The mountainside reechoed with the

-reports of half a dozen guns, and the flashes of the

-same revealed to the ambushed party just where the

-bandits stood.</p>

-

-<p>The log of wood, dressed in a blanket, representing

-the panther, and jerked out of the tree by Cody’s lariat,<span class="pagenum">[155]</span>

-fell to the ground riddled by the bullets of the outlaws.

-But instantly Danforth leaped up and shouted to his

-men:</p>

-

-<p>“Now, my bullies! Give it to them!”</p>

-

-<p>The troopers fired a broadside. Four of the robbers

-dropped under the fire, and two more ran away

-screaming. Cody had picked out Bennett, and intended

-to wound or kill him; but the wily scoundrel

-seemed to fear some game just as the dummy was

-yanked by Danforth from the tree. He leaped away

-and dodged behind a boulder before the first shot

-from the party in ambush was fired.</p>

-

-<p>As the echoes of the first round from the troopers

-died away Boyd Bennett raised an ear-splitting yell

-of defiance. It was a war-whoop that the redskins

-in the rear evidently understood. They answered from

-the valley, and, although the soldiers had succeeded in

-placing so many of the bandits hors de combat at

-their first fire, Danforth whistled almost instantly for

-his men to retire.</p>

-

-<p>“Did you wing Bennett, Cody?” asked the young

-lieutenant.</p>

-

-<p>“No. The scaly rascal left his men to bear the

-brunt of the trouble, and he’s under shelter half-way

-down the hill.”</p>

-

-<p>“Can’t we get him?”</p>

-

-<p>“With those reds tearing up to his aid?”</p>

-

-<p>“Oh, by thunder, Bill! I hoped to either kill the

-scoundrel or bring him in.”</p>

-

-<p>“So did I.”</p>

-

-<p>“But we can’t risk staying here longer.”</p>

-

-<p>“You’re right there, Dick. Come on. The men

-have gone.”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[156]</span></p>

-

-<p>The scout and the lieutenant followed their men

-down the hill. And none too soon, for the redskins

-soon found that their white brethren had been outwitted

-by the soldiers, and they came tearing along the

-valley trail to try and head the refugees off.</p>

-

-<p>They were not successful in that, however. Every

-trooper came in, they mounted at the command, and

-with fresh horses under them soon outdistanced all

-pursuit.</p>

-

-<p>“It’s getting too lively for us,” said Buffalo Bill,

-in disgust. “We can’t chance it with such a small

-force. I hate to give it up; but we must.”</p>

-

-<p>“We’ll keep on if you say the word, scout,” said

-Danforth.</p>

-

-<p>“You’d ride straight into the jaws of hell if you

-thought there’d be a fight, Dick,” said Cody. “But

-discretion is the better part of valor in this case.”</p>

-

-<p>“I hate to give Bennett up,” grumbled the younger

-man.</p>

-

-<p>“So do I. But it can’t be helped.”</p>

-

-<p>“When I get back to Resistence I’m going to ask

-Colonel Royal to give me a roving commission to hunt

-the scoundrel down.”</p>

-

-<p>Neither of them realized at the time what the putting

-of this decision into practise would amount to in

-the end.</p>

-

-

-

-<hr class="chap" />

-

-<div class="chapter">

-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXIV">CHAPTER XXIV.<br />

-<span class="cheaderfont">CHASED BY THE FLAMES.</span></h2>

-</div>

-

-

-<p>The welcome that greeted the Border King upon his

-return to Fort Advance was proof of his popularity,

-and of the admiration the garrison held him in. That<span class="pagenum">[157]</span>

-his coolness and wisdom had saved the paymaster’s

-money-box from capture by the bandits, and so made

-it unnecessary for the boys in blue to endure another

-long wait for their pay, added not a little to their

-feeling for the scout.</p>

-

-<p>The troopers had told the story in full. Captain

-Hinkley and his guard had been buried, and the coach-driver,

-as well. The soldiers had a most revengeful

-feeling toward Boyd Bennett and his outlaw band,

-and Danforth went back to Resistence with his troop,

-threatening slaughter for the road-agents if he could

-catch them.</p>

-

-<p>The activities of the Indians, however, disturbed

-Buffalo Bill and the commander of Fort Advance more

-than the work of the outlaw, at just this time. The

-Border King, with Texas Jack, set out on a mission

-soon after his return to the fort. Ten days later Lieutenant

-Danforth, with a squadron of men, was allowed

-to make an attempt to bring in Boyd Bennett by the

-commandant of Post Resistence.</p>

-

-<p>Buffalo Bill was still away on his scouting expedition

-and did not know of this. He was deep in the

-Indian country, and had found nothing of real significance

-regarding any concerted movement among

-the Sioux, although there was plenty of excitement.

-Little bands of warriors were going back and forth,

-from encampment to encampment; but nothing was

-being accomplished by the redskins.</p>

-

-<p>“What does it look like to you, old man?” queried

-the Border King of his partner. “Are we barking up

-the wrong tree?”</p>

-

-<p>“Dunno,” replied Texas Jack, pursing up his lips

-and looking more serious than usual. “There may be<span class="pagenum">[158]</span>

-a coon in the crotch; but we certainly haven’t shook

-him down.”</p>

-

-<p>“How does all this running back and forth from

-teepee to teepee strike you?”</p>

-

-<p>“Looks like the reds was given more tuh society

-than us’al, Buffler. But, Great Scott! you can’t never

-tell what’s in a red’s mind when he’s planning some

-game.”</p>

-

-<p>“There is surely no outbreak planned for the immediate

-future, eh?”</p>

-

-<p>“No. These runners aren’t gathering the tribe. I

-reckon Oak Heart got his belly full and won’t trouble

-us for some time.”</p>

-

-<p>“But this new medicine-man they’ve got?”</p>

-

-<p>“Humph! Death Killer, eh? Nice name that!

-I’d like a squint at him.”</p>

-

-<p>“Me, too.”</p>

-

-<p>“Wonder if we couldn’t sneak over to Oak Heart’s

-town and take this Death Killer into camp?”</p>

-

-<p>“Kidnap him?”</p>

-

-<p>“Yep.”</p>

-

-<p>“You’re a cool one, Jack, my boy. What’ll the reds

-be doing meanwhile?”</p>

-

-<p>“That’s all that stops me&mdash;that question,” replied

-Texas, with a grin.</p>

-

-<p>This conversation took place beside a running brook,

-in the heart of a great forest many miles from Fort

-Advance, where our story first opened. The wind

-soughed through the tree tops and brought scurrying to

-earth the dying leaves which proclaimed the fast approach

-of King Winter. Suddenly Cody rose upon

-his feet and keenly snuffed the air.</p>

-

-<p>“What’s th’ matter, Bill? What d’yer scent?”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[159]</span></p>

-

-<p>“I’ve been smelling it for an hour, Jack.”</p>

-

-<p>“What is it?”</p>

-

-<p>“Smoke.”</p>

-

-<p>“Huh! here’s wood burning at your feet.”</p>

-

-<p>“No, no!” exclaimed the other. “This breeze is

-rising and is blowing more steadily than it did. And

-it brings the smoke to us. Look up through the tree

-tops. D’ye see how hazy it’s grown?”</p>

-

-<p>“Umph-ah!”</p>

-

-<p>“Nothing to fool over, Jack. It’s a big fire.”</p>

-

-<p>“D’yer believe so, Bill?”</p>

-

-<p>“I do, indeed,” said the anxious scout.</p>

-

-<p>Texas Jack cast his eyes about the forest aisles reflectively.

-He knew as well as his companion the peril

-attending a forest fire; but he was naturally of a

-more volatile character, and the discovery made less

-impression upon him at first.</p>

-

-<p>“We’d better make a break, hadn’t we, Bill?” he

-asked finally.</p>

-

-<p>“Just think a bit, Jack,” the other replied.

-“Where’ll we go? Do you realize that this crick is the

-biggest body of water in a circle of forty miles?”</p>

-

-<p>“If my hoss kin make Black River, yours kin, I

-reckon.”</p>

-

-<p>“True enough. But the wind is blowing directly

-from Black River. That’s where the fire is, old man.

-The nearest water of any size is Bendigo Lake, and

-the going will be thundering hard on the horses.”</p>

-

-<p>Texas Jack leaped up and exclaimed:</p>

-

-<p>“Hark! what’s that?”</p>

-

-<p>A crashing in the underbrush had startled both

-men. Some distance away there burst into the glade

-a fine herd of deer, all running madly. They swept<span class="pagenum">[160]</span>

-across the scouts’ line of vision and disappeared in

-another clump of brush, keenly alive to peril in their

-rear.</p>

-

-<p>“They’ve come a power of a ways in the last half-hour,

-Jack,” said Buffalo Bill.</p>

-

-<p>“Right you are, Buffler. Guess we’d better light out.

-Ha! there goes a grayback.”</p>

-

-<p>A lone wolf slunk through the underbrush, gave the

-two men a sharp look, and then loped away in the same

-direction as that followed by the deer. But he was

-not running the deer&mdash;oh, no, indeed!</p>

-

-<p>Soon other animals began to drift past the camp

-of the scouts. The two packed their war-bags, caught

-their mounts, and prepared to leave the vicinity in

-short order. By that time, although the evening was

-closing in, the sky was a mass of ruddy, drifting haze.

-The fire was advancing with terrific speed, yet it was

-still so far away that the smoke floated high above

-the tree tops, and they heard no sound.</p>

-

-<p>“Reckon we kin make it, Bill,” said Texas Jack, as

-they pricked their mounts along the forest path.</p>

-

-<p>Buffalo Bill was not so sanguine, however. The

-fire was coming down upon them with terrific speed,

-for instead of deepening the evening brightened all

-about them as they rode. The odor of burning wood

-was now quite pungent, and past them in mad flight

-went all manner of small animals, while now and then

-the startled “woof! woof!” of a bear was heard in the

-brush as he, too, lumbered along.</p>

-

-<p>The paths of the forest were not cleared for riding.

-Deer and other animals, searching drinking-places and

-salt-licks, first made these traces through the wilderness.

-The red man followed, following the spoor of<span class="pagenum">[161]</span>

-the game. And so the paths became “runways,” sometimes

-worn knee-deep and only wide enough for a single

-person to pass. Such paths were of little use to

-horsemen.</p>

-

-<p>Where the forest was open or clear of underbrush,

-the two scouts could travel with some rapidity; but

-in the thick, junglelike scrub, it was even necessary at

-times to get down and lead their horses. This delayed

-them, and before long the smoke wraiths began to

-drift past them and the distant roaring of the flames

-was perceptible.</p>

-

-<p>Had the men given the horses their heads the animals

-would have become panic-stricken like the other

-dumb beasts, and they would have dashed through the

-forest at a much better pace; but Buffalo Bill and

-Texas Jack would have been swept from the saddles,

-and, perhaps, killed. It began to look, indeed, as

-though both horses and men could get along better

-and faster alone. Texas remarked upon this fact.</p>

-

-<p>“I know it, Jack&mdash;I know it,” said Cody. “But I

-don’t want to lose Chief. And then, we can’t carry

-all our plunder and make any time at all.”</p>

-

-<p>“Life’s sweeter to me than either hoss or rifle,” declared

-Texas, laughing.</p>

-

-<p>“Me, too; but it may be a week before we catch the

-brutes.”</p>

-

-<p>“I vote we let ’em go. It’s getting derned hard to

-manage them, anyway, Buffler.”</p>

-

-<p>“So it is. Keep your grub, Texas.”</p>

-

-<p>“Betcher!”</p>

-

-<p>Both men were off their mounts in a hurry. They

-left their magazine guns in the saddle scabbards, and

-their holster pistols as well. If the Indians or any<span class="pagenum">[162]</span>

-ne’er-do-well whites found the horses after the fire,

-they would make quite a haul.</p>

-

-<p>Jack’s horse plunged away, snorting to be free, and

-was quickly out of sight; but Chief seemed uncertain

-whether to leave his master or not. The scouts did

-not delay an instant, but started off at a sharp run

-through the forest, with their packs on their backs.

-They could dodge under the low branches and burst

-through the brush-clumps, or avoid them altogether,

-with much more facility than before.</p>

-

-<p>Chief ran whinnying after them. Suddenly out of

-the yellow haze above the tree tops a blazing ball of

-leaves or such light flotsam, floated down. It fell between

-the white horse and the two men, and Chief

-snorted and leaped aside. Fortunately the firebrand

-went out without igniting any of the leaves or twigs

-which rustled so dryly under foot, but the flame evidently

-spoiled Chief’s desire to keep with the men. He

-kicked up his heels and dashed away in the same direction

-as his mate.</p>

-

-<p>Buffalo Bill and Texas Jack noted this brand, but

-they said nothing, only increasing their speed. There

-was vast danger from these flying balls of fire. The

-wind continued to rise, and soon the conflagration

-would be leaping ahead rods at a time! It would ignite

-in dozens of places at once.</p>

-

-<p>As they ran together, Texas Jack glanced into his

-comrade’s serious face, and a grin overspread his own.</p>

-

-<p>“Say, Buffler,” he said, “I didn’t sleep none too

-warm last night. Reckon we’ll be more comfortable

-to-night, eh?”</p>

-

-<p>Cody had to smile at that.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[163]</span></p>

-

-<p>“You reckless devil, you! You’d joke in sight of

-the fires of Tophet.”</p>

-

-<p>At the moment a great burst of flame roared up into

-the sky from the summit of a little hill behind them, and

-both men glanced back. The banner of fire streamed

-clear across the sky.</p>

-

-<p>“Gee, Bill! Tophet couldn’t look hotter than that,”

-declared Texas Jack.</p>

-

-

-

-<hr class="chap" />

-

-<div class="chapter">

-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXV">CHAPTER XXV.<br />

-<span class="cheaderfont">THE TELLTALE CROW.</span></h2>

-</div>

-

-

-<p>For the most part, however, the scouts saved their

-breath and spoke but little. They were straining every

-effort to reach Bendigo Lake, the only body of water

-of sufficient size to offer protection from the conflagration.

-Every creek and pond hole in the neighborhood,

-which either of them knew about, was low now, and

-none were big enough to promise safety. In Bendigo

-Lake was a long, narrow island, wooded to be sure;

-but the lake was so wide that the scouts believed the

-flames would not leap from the shore to the island.</p>

-

-<p>“At any rate, it’s our best play, Buffler. No doubt

-of that,” observed Texas Jack.</p>

-

-<p>“Right you are, Texas,” panted the other. “Pick

-up your feet!”</p>

-

-<p>“That fire’s certainly racing to overtake us.”</p>

-

-<p>“Ha! What’s that?” muttered Cody, suddenly turning

-to look up a small slope which was more heavily

-wooded than the lowland through which they were

-passing.</p>

-

-<p>There had been a movement in the brush. The<span class="pagenum">[164]</span>

-wind did not affect the leaves and branches down here;

-it was only the tree tops that swayed and sang in the

-breeze.</p>

-

-<p>“A deer, eh?” panted Jack.</p>

-

-<p>“There!”</p>

-

-<p>Uttering the yell, Buffalo Bill seized his friend by

-the neck and flung him suddenly forward upon his

-face. He fell himself as well, and at the very instant

-there was a flash in the bushes on the side-hill, an explosion

-sounded, and the zip-zip of the bullet cut the

-air over their heads.</p>

-

-<p>Both scouts rolled aside, found covert, and sprang

-into position, revolvers in hand. Cody emptied one

-pistol as rapidly as possible into the brush-clump from

-which the treacherous shot had been fired.</p>

-

-<p>“No use, Bill! There he goes!” yelled Texas Jack.</p>

-

-<p>Off at one side they saw a huge figure pass rapidly

-out of sight. It looked like a bear running on its

-hind legs&mdash;were such a thing possible.</p>

-

-<p>“Of all the bloody-minded scoundrels!” said Texas

-Jack, as the two scouts set forth again, in the same

-direction as that taken by the person who had fired at

-them&mdash;which was likewise toward the lake, “that fellow

-takes the bun.”</p>

-

-<p>“Who was he? The smoke was in my eyes, and I

-couldn’t tell whether he was white or red.”</p>

-

-<p>“He was white, all right&mdash;or, so I have always

-heard,” declared Texas Jack.</p>

-

-<p>“By thunder! you don’t mean to say you know the

-scoundrel?”</p>

-

-<p>“Not personally acquainted with him&mdash;no,” laughed

-Jack.</p>

-

-<p>“What then?”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[165]</span></p>

-

-<p>“I’ve heard tell of him a good deal the past dozen

-years.”</p>

-

-<p>“Who is he?”</p>

-

-<p>“The Mad Hunter.”</p>

-

-<p>“Get out!”</p>

-

-<p>“That’s who it was, Buffler.”</p>

-

-<p>“Why should the fool fire at us?”</p>

-

-<p>“He’d just as soon shoot a white man as a red.”</p>

-

-<p>“He’s a devil.”</p>

-

-<p>“That he is.”</p>

-

-<p>“Why, I believe I saved his life the other day when

-I was out with Dick Danforth.”</p>

-

-<p>“What for?”</p>

-

-<p>Cody told him of how the young lieutenant had

-come near to shooting a gigantic man for a caribou,

-and how the being had run away yelling into the

-forest.</p>

-

-<p>“That’s him. Crazy as they make them.”</p>

-

-<p>“He must be crazy if he would stop to shoot men

-down when such a fire as that yonder is on his track as

-well as theirs.”</p>

-

-<p>“I reckon an insane person don’t act logically.”</p>

-

-<p>“He’s worse than the dumb beasts,” said Cody.

-“Look at that rabbit running almost between your

-legs, Jack. Aw! don’t step on him!”</p>

-

-<p>“I ain’t&mdash;dern his hide!” exclaimed Texas Jack, making

-a flying leap over the bunny.</p>

-

-<p>“He’s scared stiff. Some of the deer have run close

-enough to us to be touched. Even a bear will behave

-when there’s a forest fire. But this crazy bedlam is

-ready to shoot inoffensive men when death of the most

-awful kind is threatening him.”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[166]</span></p>

-

-<p>“That’s why he’s crazy, I reckon,” said Texas Jack.

-“Come on, Buffler; this way.”</p>

-

-<p>The light of the fire now made the forest about them

-as light almost as day, but the radiance flickered, and

-the shadows danced in a blinding fashion. The scouts

-could not see as clearly as usual. Within a mile of

-the spot where they had been attacked by the Mad

-Hunter a second shot was fired at them&mdash;this time

-from directly ahead. Fortunately, the bullet went

-wild.</p>

-

-<p>“He’s got a single-shot, old-fashioned rifle,” declared

-Texas Jack.</p>

-

-<p>“That’s what is saving our lives,” returned his comrade.</p>

-

-<p>“He’s ahead of us&mdash;between us and the lake.”</p>

-

-<p>“We’ve got to try to capture him, then,” declared

-Cody firmly. “No use mincing matters. The fire is

-bad enough, but he is more dangerous.”</p>

-

-<p>“Reckon you’re right, Buffler,” grunted Texas Jack.</p>

-

-<p>The scouts separated, running several rods apart, so

-that the Mad Hunter might not be able to get them

-both in a line. And, if that were possible, they increased

-their pace. They heard the man crashing

-through the brush ahead, but they did not obtain another

-glimpse of him. And so phenomenal was his

-speed that soon he was out of ear-shot. Besides, the

-roaring of the flames and the crashing of falling trees

-interfered with their tracking of the madman by his

-footsteps.</p>

-

-<p>Their enemy ran as no human being ever ran before,

-for he got far enough ahead to load his old-fashioned

-gun and again await their coming. This<span class="pagenum">[167]</span>

-time he took a shot at Texas Jack and sent that

-worthy’s hat spinning into the air.</p>

-

-<p>“Confound his hide!” roared the scout. “Pepper

-him, Bill!”</p>

-

-<p>But with a scream of rage the madman was off

-through the illuminated forest once more, and Cody’s

-shots did not overtake him. Besides, the light was so

-uncertain that the scout did not waste but two balls in

-the attempt to bring down the foe.</p>

-

-<p>“He’ll git one of us yet,” cried Texas Jack.</p>

-

-<p>“We’ll keep as close to him as possible. He mustn’t

-have a chance to reload!”</p>

-

-<p>But it was like chasing a will-o’-the-wisp. The

-madman was off like the wind, shrieking his defiance.

-They could not keep him in sight, although the fire

-now was illuminating the forest far ahead of them.</p>

-

-<p>The roaring of the flames drowned the scouts’

-shouts to each other, too; and the heat puffed upon

-their backs as though somebody had suddenly swung

-open the door of an enormous furnace.</p>

-

-<p>Suddenly Cody saw his friend throw up his hand,

-and knew that he shouted rather than heard the sound

-of his voice. Jack turned at a sharp angle, too, and

-Buffalo Bill followed suit. In a moment a glint of

-steel-blue water ahead invigorated Cody as well as his

-comrade. Lake Bendigo was at hand!</p>

-

-<p>In fifteen minutes they were on the shore. The

-water was a blessed relief to their eyes when they

-plunged their faces into it. In the rear the fire roared

-mightily, and the smoke now began to drift down

-upon them with smothering thickness.</p>

-

-<p>“We’d better take off our clothes and swim for the

-island, heh?” queried Jack.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[168]</span></p>

-

-<p>“Yes. There’s a bunch of driftwood that will make

-some kind of a raft. We’ll use it to transport our

-clothing and guns.”</p>

-

-<p>They stripped swiftly and were about to step into

-the water and push off the rude raft piled with their

-possessions when:</p>

-

-<p>Ping!</p>

-

-<p>The bullet buried itself in a tree trunk right beside

-Buffalo Bill’s head.</p>

-

-<p>“Holy Christmas!” exclaimed Texas Jack.</p>

-

-<p>“That devil has got ahead of us,” declared Cody.

-“That bullet came from the island.”</p>

-

-<p>“Why, he’s got us between two fires!” exclaimed

-Texas, bound to joke under any and all circumstances.</p>

-

-<p>For an instant the scouts were nonplused. They

-had involuntarily taken trees, but the heat from the

-rear was already unpleasant to their bare bodies.</p>

-

-<p>“We can’t stay here,” muttered Cody. “I shall go

-around the lake a ways, Texas, and try to swim over

-without being seen. You show yourself here. Better

-still, push off the raft and keep behind it and submerged

-as much as possible. Make for the island, but

-go slowly.”</p>

-

-<p>“You bet I’ll make for the island. I think I’d rather

-take cold lead than hot flames. Ouch!”</p>

-

-<p>“Meanwhile I’ll try to sneak over and get to the

-madman’s rear.”</p>

-

-<p>“Bare-handed?”</p>

-

-<p>“How else, man?” cried Cody. “I must be prepared

-to swim under water a part of the way. It must be

-cunning to match his cunning or we are lost, Jack!”</p>

-

-<p>Texas Jack realized that this was so, and he made

-no further objection. Cody glided away through the<span class="pagenum">[169]</span>

-shadowy forest, and Jack pushed off the raft and

-dodged another bullet. He was soon floundering in

-the cold water, pushing the raft before him, but by no

-means enamored of his position. The fire was behind

-and would devour him shortly if he returned to the

-shore. Every few moments a bullet sped from the

-madman’s hiding-place on the island and “plunked”

-into the raft, or into the water close beside the

-swimmer.</p>

-

-<p>Meanwhile Cody scurried along the shore, but suddenly

-found himself cut off by a tongue of the fire

-that had got ahead of the main conflagration and was

-already burning fiercely at the very verge of the lake.

-Traveling through the brush in his bare skin was not

-pleasant at best, so the scout tried sneaking into the

-water behind the little point of land which chanced to

-hide the island.</p>

-

-<p>Cold as the water was, it was a blessed relief from

-the heat and smoke of the forest. As he struck out

-from the shore, blazing embers showered about him,

-hissing and smoking as they struck the water. The

-smoke rolled down upon the lake and now and then

-completely blinded him, and must certainly have hidden

-his head from the observation of anybody on the

-island. Cody was delighted with the apparent success

-of his scheme, and struck out strongly for the little

-patch of wooded soil in which he hoped, with Texas

-Jack, to find safety. That it was held in possession by

-a madman did not matter. It was the single refuge

-offered the scouts, and if the madman would not share

-it peacefully, he must be put out of the way.</p>

-

-<p>These were Cody’s thoughts as he swam across the

-intervening space. He finally came to the sloping<span class="pagenum">[170]</span>

-shore, so that he could stand upright and wade in with

-his head and shoulders out of water. He had gone so

-far around the island that he believed that the madman,

-watching Texas Jack and his raft, would not see

-his own approach.</p>

-

-<p>And he did almost reach the shore unmolested.

-Suddenly, out of a dark hemlock at the extreme point

-of the island, there sprang a big crow, which, with

-raucous cry, flew over the scout and circled about him

-threateningly. The crow’s nest was evidently in that

-tree, and the coming of this strange maritime animal,

-who walked erect like a man, but wore no clothes,

-troubled the crow’s mind.</p>

-

-<p>The bird squawked like a hen with its head caught

-between two fence-palings. Cody made a dash for the

-shore, hoping to get under cover and so cease to disturb

-the telltale crow.</p>

-

-<p>But as he was about to step out on dry land a gigantic

-figure suddenly sprang through the brush at the

-water’s edge and appeared over him in a most threatening

-attitude. Above his head the man held a great

-rock, which he poised to fling upon the unarmed scout.</p>

-

-

-

-<hr class="chap" />

-

-<div class="chapter">

-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXVI">CHAPTER XXVI.<br />

-<span class="cheaderfont">THE MASSACRE.</span></h2>

-</div>

-

-

-<p>Why the madman had not sought to shoot him

-Buffalo Bill did not ask at the moment. The fact that

-he was at such a disadvantage was enough to fill his

-mind with forebodings. The rock was poised in the

-giant’s hands just over his head, and, as the scout was

-more than knee-deep in the water, it seemed impossible<span class="pagenum">[171]</span>

-for him to successfully dodge the missile if it were

-flung.</p>

-

-<p>The madman stood in the shadow, and Cody could

-not see his face. All he saw was that the man looked

-like a great, wet bear. He had swum or waded across

-to the island with all his clothes on. He evidently

-knew Bendigo Lake and its surroundings better than

-either of the scouts, and had found a shallow path

-across from the mainland.</p>

-

-<p>For several seconds the scout and the giant faced

-each other. Buffalo Bill’s muscles grew tense. He

-would try leaping upon the fellow, at any rate, although

-the possibility of his dodging the rock looked

-exceeding small.</p>

-

-<p>And then there suddenly flashed into his mind such

-a simple dodge for getting the best of his foe that the

-scout hesitated to use it. It seemed so exceedingly

-simple and childish. But the moments were flying,

-and the Mad Hunter was on the point of flinging the

-rock down upon him with terrific force.</p>

-

-<p>Cody stood so that his hands just touched the water.

-He hollowed his palms, swung both arms back, and

-suddenly scooped up the water and flung it in a blinding

-sheet of spray into the maniac’s face.</p>

-

-<p>Again and again he splashed the water over the fellow.

-The Mad Hunter uttered a howl of rage, and,

-as Cody threw himself to one side, still splashing the

-water, the rock was thrown. But the scout had destroyed

-the maniac’s aim and escaped the missile altogether.</p>

-

-<p>Cody could not land, however. The best he could

-do was to plunge back into the deeper water and there

-dive and remain swimming under the surface until he<span class="pagenum">[172]</span>

-had placed the island between himself and the fire.

-Here the trees threw black shadows, although the

-whole northern sky was red as blood, and the flames

-danced wildly upon the tree tops on the mainland.</p>

-

-<p>The Mad Hunter had disappeared, yet the scout

-did not know whether he had gone back to watch

-Texas Jack and the raft or was lurking in the shadow,

-waiting to spy upon him again. Meanwhile he was

-becoming thoroughly chilled, and feared to remain

-out beyond his depth, for a cramp might take him, and

-he could never struggle ashore then.</p>

-

-<p>Carefully he waded shoreward once more, watching

-the shadows beneath the trees, fearing to see the bulk

-of the maniac burst out of the brush and attack him

-again. There were several frightened creatures on the

-island, but they cowered and were dumb. All the

-scout could hear was the lapping of the water and the

-crackling of the conflagration on the mainland.</p>

-

-<p>The fire was eating through the forest very rapidly.

-It had reached the shore and was passing swiftly

-around the entire lake. Cody and Texas Jack could

-not return to the mainland now under any circumstances.

-It was the island or drowning for them!</p>

-

-<p>And Cody feared that his brave comrade had already

-succumbed to the cold water, or mayhap to a bullet

-from the maniac’s rifle. The fire as it ate around the

-lake began to illuminate this side of the island, too,

-and he feared that he would soon be a shining mark

-for the Mad Hunter.</p>

-

-<p>He kept his body under water and crept in toward

-the shore, his head only showing. He knew that he

-was taking his life in his hands, but the water was

-chilling him to the bone.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[173]</span></p>

-

-<p>Suddenly there was a great shouting on the other

-shore of the island, and following it came the pop of a

-pistol several times. Cody leaped ashore, and, despite

-the rough way and the thorns and brush which tore

-his body, he dashed across the narrow bit of land. He

-knew Texas Jack had landed and might need his help.</p>

-

-<p>As he ran, however, he suddenly came full tilt

-against a great, hairy object that was blundering

-through the brush. Over went the scout, and with an

-angry “Woof!” the bear darted aside, and a moment

-later he heard a splash in the lake, and knew that the

-creature had found the presence of mankind on the

-island more fear-inspiring than the fire on the mainland.</p>

-

-<p>When Cody picked himself up he beheld the half-clothed

-figure of Texas Jack standing over him.</p>

-

-<p>“By the piper that played before Pharaoh!” ejaculated

-Texas. “What’s the matter with you, Buffler?

-Come an’ git your clo’es&mdash;or do you fancy parading

-around yere in your birthday suit?”</p>

-

-<p>“What&mdash;what was that?” demanded the scout.</p>

-

-<p>“A bear. I fell over him myself and drove him

-off.”</p>

-

-<p>“I thought for a minute it was the madman.”</p>

-

-<p>“Oh, he’s gone,” said Texas Jack. “He ran out of

-ammunition, I reckon, and he took to the water, clo’es

-and all. There’s a shallow place yonder. We can

-wade ashore that way, too, when the fire burns out.”</p>

-

-<p>“He pretty near had me,” said Cody, and related

-his adventure as he shakingly got into his clothing.</p>

-

-<p>Texas Jack built a fire for them to dry and get

-warm by, and meanwhile explained that, finding he

-could not keep the scouts off the island, the Mad<span class="pagenum">[174]</span>

-Hunter had departed for the mainland, approaching

-that part where the fire had come nearest to burning

-itself out.</p>

-

-<p>“It’s dangerous to go over there yet,” said Buffalo

-Bill.</p>

-

-<p>“You can bet it is. But he reckoned he’d rather go

-than meet us closer to. The old scoundrel! I’ve

-heard of his tricks and deviltry, but I never happened

-to run up against him before.”</p>

-

-<p>“I hope I never will again,” said Cody devoutly.</p>

-

-<p>But he was doomed to meet the Mad Hunter again,

-and to learn that about him that caused the Border

-King much sorrow of spirit.</p>

-

-<p>The scouts remained on the island during the night,

-and late the next day started out to find their mounts.

-There was a swamp several miles away, and, knowing

-well the keen instinct of their horses, the scouts went

-to it, and in less than twenty-four hours found both

-Chief and the other, much mud-bespattered, but in

-good condition. And their arms, though somewhat

-rusted, were safe.</p>

-

-<p>The forest fire had burned over a large tract of

-country, had driven away the game, and had cleared

-the territory of Indians. So the scouts separated to

-follow the trails of different bands of reds and spot

-their new villages. Their duty was to find and report

-upon every new encampment of the redskins, that the

-department might keep tabs on the movements of the

-savages.</p>

-

-<p>Cody kept his eyes open for traces of the bandits,

-but during the following week learned nothing of the

-movements of Boyd Bennett and his gang.</p>

-

-<p>He was thinking of going to a certain rendezvous<span class="pagenum">[175]</span>

-where he expected to join Texas Jack, when he came

-suddenly upon a spectacle in a little valley that brought

-him up standing. So appalling&mdash;and unexpected&mdash;was

-the scene that it seemed for the moment as though

-his heart stopped beating!</p>

-

-<p>Over a score of figures in blue lay in the little cup-shaped

-coulée, where they had fallen battling for life!</p>

-

-<p>There they lay, partly stripped of their uniforms in

-some cases, robbed of their weapons, and lying amid

-their foes, hideous, painted savages, whom their red

-companions, in their haste to fly from the fearful

-scene, had not borne off to burial. Yet they had found

-time to tear the scalp-lock from the head of each white

-man.</p>

-

-<p>They lay in no order. The battle had been of the

-fiercest, and hand to hand. Here a trooper; there another&mdash;a

-redskin, an officer, a chief, a caparisoned

-steed, an Indian pony&mdash;all dead they lay and huddled

-together by the riverside in the tiny valley.</p>

-

-<p>Upon this scene Buffalo Bill came suddenly, just

-as the sun was about to drop below the western hills.

-The sight shocked and sickened him. Man of iron

-heart and steel nerves that he was, the sight made him

-reel in his saddle. He reined in his good horse, until

-it rose upon its haunches, and covered his eyes with one

-gauntleted hand as though to shut out the awful sight.</p>

-

-<p>An instant only did the scout show this weakness;

-then he scrutinized the red field which had flashed like

-some horrid vision on his sight.</p>

-

-<p>White-faced as the dead, with eyes which scrutinized

-each form and feature of the white men, the scout

-counted the slain. Gradually his own orbs flashed<span class="pagenum">[176]</span>

-with the fires of rage, and his lips became livid and

-quivering.</p>

-

-<p>Suddenly, with a stifled cry, he leaped from his

-horse’s back and strode to one figure that lay stark

-at one side. It was in contact with a heap of slain

-on a knoll at the foot of a rock.</p>

-

-<p>Here the end had evidently come. This spot was

-plainly the last act of the fearful drama. Here the

-curtain of doom had fallen upon the remnant of the

-gallant band, to rise no more for them in this life!</p>

-

-<p>A groan issued from the scout’s lips, and he bowed

-his head in grief. There, with face upturned, lying in

-an attitude that showed he had died fighting to the

-last, lay Lieutenant Dick Danforth!</p>

-

-<p>The boy’s left hand grasped the barrel of an empty

-revolver; he had used it as a club at close quarters.

-The right held his sword-hilt, the blade buried in the

-body of a painted chief, whose death was probably the

-last act of the dying leader of the slaughtered troops.</p>

-

-<p>About him lay the foe, piled in heaps. Dick Danforth

-had sold his life at a dear price, indeed. And

-the fiends had run without scalping him!</p>

-

-<p>“Danforth dead!” murmured the scout. “It cannot

-be possible.”</p>

-

-<p>Yet it was true; he saw it plainly before he touched

-the already stiffening body. Merely by some freak of

-circumstances the young man had not been scalped.</p>

-

-<p>“Devils’ work this!” muttered the scout. He

-glanced again over the field. There were many points

-that had at first escaped his attention. For instance,

-there were shod horses lying dead that had never been

-ridden by either cavalrymen or Indian!</p>

-

-<p>“Aye, Indians did the deed, but there is a paleface<span class="pagenum">[177]</span>

-hand behind it, and I mean to ferret out the fiend

-who inspired it,” said Buffalo Bill.</p>

-

-<p>He dropped upon his knees again and felt of Danforth’s

-body. There, in a voice quivering with sorrow

-and passion, he exclaimed:</p>

-

-<p>“Aye! here beside the body of the man whom I loved&mdash;who

-saved me from death&mdash;I swear revenge on the

-instigator of this crime!”</p>

-

-<p>In his deep feeling he spoke these words aloud. A

-sound smote upon his ear. He sprang to his feet with

-a cry and turned as a harsh voice pealed out behind

-him:</p>

-

-<p>“And <em>I</em> swear, Buffalo Bill, that you shall never keep

-the oath your lips have just uttered!”</p>

-

-

-

-<hr class="chap" />

-

-<div class="chapter">

-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXVII">CHAPTER XXVII.<br />

-<span class="cheaderfont">“THE DEATH KILLER.”</span></h2>

-</div>

-

-

-<p>Buffalo Bill had believed himself alone with the

-dead on this field of blood, and the voice fell like a

-knell upon his ear. For the moment he was half-unmanned.

-Then he wheeled completely to face the

-speaker.</p>

-

-<p>He knew then that he had an old and deadly foe to

-deal with. His discovery, however, brought the scout

-to himself. He recovered his presence of mind, and

-in a tone that was reckless in its defiance, he cried:</p>

-

-<p>“So we meet again, do we, Bennett? And you think

-you hold the trumps once more?”</p>

-

-<p>“I do&mdash;and likewise a revolver at your head, Cody!”

-declared the bandit. “Drop your rifle!”</p>

-

-<p>The scout obeyed. The pistol in Bennett’s hand was<span class="pagenum">[178]</span>

-a well-timed argument. To all appearances the man

-was an Indian chief, for he was bedecked with feathers,

-his face was hideously painted, and he wore the full

-attire of a redskin, from moccasins to war-bonnet.</p>

-

-<p>At his back, with rifles and arrows likewise covering

-the scout, were a score of braves who had, with

-the stealthy tread of panthers, followed their leader

-to the spot where Buffalo Bill had mourned over the

-bodies of the slain white men. Cody knew well that

-he was at the mercy of a merciless foe.</p>

-

-<p>“You know me, do you, Cody?” said the bandit.</p>

-

-<p>“Oh, I know you&mdash;even if you’ve turned squaw-man,”

-said Cody bitterly. “I recognize your black

-heart under the paint and feathers.”</p>

-

-<p>“Have a care, scout, for every word of insult you

-heap upon me shall increase your torture at the stake.”</p>

-

-<p>“I see you’ve got it all mapped out for my finish,”

-said Cody.</p>

-

-<p>“You will not escape me this time, Buffalo Bill!”

-declared the bandit chief exultingly.</p>

-

-<p>“Don’t be too sure.”</p>

-

-<p>“Nay. It is settled. You are in my power. There

-can be no rescue here. <em>There</em> lies the one who cheated

-my vengeance before. He has paid the price.”</p>

-

-<p>“True. And <em>his</em> death must be paid for,” muttered

-the scout.</p>

-

-<p>“But not by you, Cody.”</p>

-

-<p>“Wait!” was the enigmatical word of the Border

-King, his eyes flashing the hate he felt for his sneering

-captor.</p>

-

-<p>“Do not tempt me too far, you dog!” exclaimed Bennett.

-“Remember you pay for all this when you come

-to die.”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[179]</span></p>

-

-<p>“Aye; when I <em>do</em> come to die! But I am one who

-believes that while there is life there is still hope, you

-accursed renegade!”</p>

-

-<p>“That belief will not benefit you now, Cody. You

-are a dead man already.”</p>

-

-<p>“I’m the liveliest dead man <em>you</em> ever saw!”</p>

-

-<p>The renegade looked as though he was about to

-shoot the scout in his tracks; but he caught sight of

-the smile that curled Cody’s lips, and, not understanding

-it, refrained. Indeed, he looked all about, somewhat

-nervously, to try to discover the meaning of the

-scout’s expression.</p>

-

-<p>“You must have help at hand, or you would not be

-so defiant, Buffalo Bill.”</p>

-

-<p>“That may be,” said the scout non-committingly.</p>

-

-<p>“At least, these will not help you,” said Boyd Bennett,

-with a horrible smile, pointing to the stark figures

-in the valley.</p>

-

-<p>“Not one left to tell the story&mdash;no prisoners?”

-queried Cody sorrowfully, forgetting for the moment

-his own peril.</p>

-

-<p>“No, no! Chief Oak Heart wanted no prisoners

-from Danforth’s band. I told the chief that Danforth

-and his men were come to take him captive&mdash;that

-they had sworn to do it! Ha! ha! That was rich,

-eh? So every man of them died.”</p>

-

-<p>“And he came for <em>you</em>,” said Cody bitterly.</p>

-

-<p>“Aye; and met the death he deserved; but a more

-merciful death than <em>you</em> will meet, scout. I do not

-need to stir up the red men’s rage against <em>you</em>. They

-will receive you with great joy at Oak Heart’s encampment.”</p>

-

-<p>“And you fought with these savages?” cried Cody.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[180]</span></p>

-

-<p>“I did. And killed as they killed&mdash;without mercy.”</p>

-

-<p>“You do not fear to admit your crimes.”</p>

-

-<p>“Why should I? For am I not speaking to one who

-will soon be dead? Bah! you can no longer frighten

-me, Buffalo Bill!”</p>

-

-<p>“Yes, it looks as though I was near my finish; I do

-not deny it,” said Cody quietly. “But tell me one

-thing, Boyd Bennett. Did you kill Lieutenant Danforth

-yourself?”</p>

-

-<p>“I am sorry to say I did not. There was a good

-deal of hot work right here. But Red Knife claims

-the honor of having delivered the finishing-stroke.

-We were returning to take the scalp-lock&mdash;&mdash;”</p>

-

-<p>“By Heaven, man! you shall not do it!” roared

-Cody, starting forward.</p>

-

-<p>But a dozen rifles clicked, and he knew that he was

-helpless. He fell back again. Bennett laughed.</p>

-

-<p>“Chief Oak Heart refused to allow any of his braves

-to scalp Danforth because he had fought so boldly.”</p>

-

-<p>“God bless the old red sinner for that!” murmured

-the much wrought-upon scout.</p>

-

-<p>Bennett laughed again.</p>

-

-<p>“But I am Death Killer, the medicine-chief, and I

-have come back myself to take the scalp-lock from the

-head of the man against whom I swore revenge.”</p>

-

-<p>“Boyd Bennett! accursed though you be, with a

-heart blacker than the foulest redskin can boast of,

-you would not do this wrong!” cried Buffalo Bill, in

-horror.</p>

-

-<p>“Watch me, scout.”</p>

-

-<p>“You shall not do it!”</p>

-

-<p>“You are mistaken; I shall. I came back with Red

-Knife and a few of the braves to point me out the<span class="pagenum">[181]</span>

-place where Danforth fell. On the way we saw you

-arrive, and we dogged your steps to the very corpse of

-your friend.</p>

-

-<p>“Ha, Cody! this is sweet&mdash;this revenge. My kind

-have cast me off. Well, then! I cast the white men

-off! I spit upon them! I slay them! And now I

-scalp my enemy!”</p>

-

-<p>Bennett had worked himself into a species of frenzy.

-He sprang forward now, dropping his revolver, knife

-in hand, to carry out his threat.</p>

-

-<p>“Never shall you do this crime&mdash;not if this is my

-last act on earth!” shouted the scout.</p>

-

-<p>As he spoke he suddenly jerked a revolver from his

-belt, threw it forward, and fired pointblank at Boyd

-Bennett, all with the quickness of a flash of light!</p>

-

-

-

-<hr class="chap" />

-

-<div class="chapter">

-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXVIII">CHAPTER XXVIII.<br />

-<span class="cheaderfont">THE WHITE ANTELOPE INTERFERES.</span></h2>

-</div>

-

-

-<p>So rapid and unexpected was this movement of Buffalo

-Bill, in drawing his revolver and firing it, that not

-one of the warriors who stood behind the renegade

-chief&mdash;some with arrows already fitted to their bows,

-and others with rifles covering the scout&mdash;had time to

-fire.</p>

-

-<p>Yet, swift as he had been, one eye was quick enough

-to send an arrow upon its errand. The shaft struck

-the outstretched arm of the scout just as his finger

-pulled the trigger of his weapon, and the shock

-destroyed his aim.</p>

-

-<p>Having made this daring move, however, and believing

-that death must follow the deed, Buffalo Bill<span class="pagenum">[182]</span>

-dropped his left hand upon his second pistol, determined

-to press the fight, kill Bennett, and die as

-had the brave man at his feet&mdash;fighting to the last!</p>

-

-<p>Maddened with rage and thirsting for the life of

-his foe, Boyd Bennett shouted to his warriors to rush

-upon the scout and take him alive that he might end

-his career by cruel torture. But suddenly a slender

-form darted before the red braves, and, with arrow set

-in readiness to let fly, the White Antelope thrust herself

-between the white man and the reds who would

-have seized him.</p>

-

-<p>“Let the Sioux braves hold their hands. The White

-Antelope commands it!”</p>

-

-<p>Like one man the reds halted, and even the renegade

-shrank back a step, gazing in fear and wonder

-on the apparition of the beautiful girl.</p>

-

-<p>Buffalo Bill, too, gazed upon the chief’s daughter

-in amazement. He knew now that the arrow he drew

-from the wound in his right forearm had been driven

-home by the girl; yet now she stood between him and

-his foes.</p>

-

-<p>Her attitude evidently astonished Bennett as much

-as it did Cody himself, for the renegade cried:</p>

-

-<p>“Why has the White Antelope become the friend of

-the slayer of her people? The man she shelters is

-Pa-e-has-ka, the Long Hair.”</p>

-

-<p>“The arrow of the White Antelope brings blood

-from the arm of Pa-e-has-ka. Is that the way in

-which a Sioux shows friendship?” asked the young

-girl scornfully.</p>

-

-<p>“Then the White Antelope yields the paleface foe to

-the medicine chief of her tribe?”</p>

-

-<p>“No!” was the decided response.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[183]</span></p>

-

-<p>“What would you do?” demanded the renegade

-angrily.</p>

-

-<p>“I will deliver Pa-e-has-ka to the great chief, my

-father, Oak Heart.”</p>

-

-<p>“The White Antelope is no warrior,” sneered the

-renegade. “Are there not braves enough loyal to Oak

-Heart to carry out his will upon this paleface?”</p>

-

-<p>“The White Antelope may be no warrior,” said the

-girl; “but she has just saved the life of the Death

-Killer.”</p>

-

-<p>At this Buffalo Bill laughed aloud, for the shot was

-a good one, and his seeming indifference to his peril

-caused the daughter of the chief to turn her eyes upon

-him. She scanned the scout from head to foot. What

-was in her thoughts he could not guess; but, suddenly,

-deciding upon a course of action, she stepped boldly to

-the side of Buffalo Bill, and touched with tender fingers

-the wounded arm which he had bared.</p>

-

-<p>“If the Long Hair has ointment for the wound, it

-would be better to bind it,” she said to him.</p>

-

-<p>Buffalo Bill opened his pouch, and the girl found

-the salve and bandages he always carried. Meanwhile,

-the scout sucked the wound to remove any foreign matter

-that might have been driven into it by the arrowhead.

-Then the Indian maiden bound up the hurt

-while the renegade looked on sullenly.</p>

-

-<p>“Why is the Long Hair here&mdash;so near the village

-of the Sioux?” she asked Buffalo Bill, when this act

-of kindness was performed.</p>

-

-<p>“I chanced upon the place. I saw the dead. Here

-lies my friend&mdash;the young man whom I loved as a

-son,” said the scout, pointing to the body of Danforth.<span class="pagenum">[184]</span>

-“He and his men have been all slain by the

-Sioux.”</p>

-

-<p>“They were enemies,” said the girl simply.</p>

-

-<p>“But they had not come out to disturb the red men.”</p>

-

-<p>“Why were they here?”</p>

-

-<p>“To find and take prisoner that villain yonder!” exclaimed

-Buffalo Bill, scowling at Boyd Bennett in his

-war-paint and feathers. “That man who is neither

-white nor red, but a squaw-man! He had committed

-crimes against the white man’s law and should be

-punished by that law.”</p>

-

-<p>“My father heard that the palefaces were coming

-to seize him.”</p>

-

-<p>“Another lie of that renegade!” exclaimed the scout.

-“And while I mourned over the body of this young

-man, the villain came upon me, returning, as he declares,

-to tear the scalp from the head of the white

-chief whom he was not brave enough himself to

-kill!”</p>

-

-<p>The girl seemed to understand. She glanced from

-the body of Danforth to the rage-inflamed face of Boyd

-Bennett.</p>

-

-<p>“Is it from this dead white chief’s head the Killer

-would take the scalp?” she asked haughtily.</p>

-

-<p>“Aye; and I <em>will</em> have it!” cried Bennett.</p>

-

-<p>“Did the young paleface fall by thy hand, Death

-Killer?” demanded the maiden, with all the dignity of

-a judge.</p>

-

-<p>“It matters not. Forget not, oh, White Antelope,

-that I am the medicine chief of the Sioux&mdash;&mdash;”</p>

-

-<p>“And see that the Death Killer forget not that <em>I</em>

-am the daughter of Oak Heart!” she interrupted.</p>

-

-<p>“I acknowledge that fact,” sneered Boyd Bennett.<span class="pagenum">[185]</span>

-“But the White Antelope has no control over the acts

-of the Death Killer.”</p>

-

-<p>“Did the paleface fall to your prowess?” she demanded

-again, looking the renegade sternly in the eye.</p>

-

-<p>An Indian stepped forward. He carried a blood-stained

-war-club in one hand. In a deep guttural he

-said:</p>

-

-<p>“The white chief’s scalp should be Red Knife’s;

-he brought him low at last with a blow of his club.

-But the great chief, Oak Heart, forbade that we take

-the scalp of so brave a warrior.”</p>

-

-<p>“Then why does the Death Killer wish to do that

-which is forbidden by my father?” cried the girl

-quickly.</p>

-

-<p>“Is it the White Antelope’s place to question the

-medicine chief of her tribe?” demanded the painted

-white man, with haughty demeanor. “The scalp of

-the dead bluecoat is my prize!”</p>

-

-<p>Buffalo Bill saw indecision in the Indian maiden’s

-face. He knew how superstitious the redskins were

-regarding the mysterious powers claimed by all medicine

-chiefs. In some way&mdash;by some manner of fake

-magic&mdash;Boyd Bennett had roused the superstitious

-reverence of the Sioux, and Buffalo Bill did not know

-how greatly the chief’s daughter might be tainted by

-this feeling of reverence for the villainous renegade.</p>

-

-<p>“Let not this crime be done, White Antelope,” he

-said in her ear. “Remember what Pa-e-has-ka told

-you in the cañon, when he had you in his power. He

-knows much. He was once your mother’s trusted

-friend. And he warns you now&mdash;as you hope for

-peace of soul and body&mdash;not to allow the dead young

-man to be so treated by your people.”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[186]</span></p>

-

-<p>The girl turned upon him suddenly, with wide-open

-eyes.</p>

-

-<p>“What does Long Hair mean? What is this dead

-paleface to her?”</p>

-

-<p>“That Long Hair may not tell thee, oh, White Antelope.

-Trust him&mdash;&mdash;”</p>

-

-<p>“Trust a paleface!”</p>

-

-<p>“Trust one who has given you back to your father

-when he might have taken your life, or held you

-prisoner.”</p>

-

-<p>“Aye, Long Hair, thou didst that. It is true.”</p>

-

-<p>“And believe me,” the scout said, more earnestly

-still, in English, not wishing the other Indians to

-understand; “this dead paleface whom even the great

-chief Oak Heart admired for his bravery, is more to

-the White Antelope than she knows. The time will

-come when I can explain all to you, girl&mdash;but not

-now!”</p>

-

-<p>“What’s that?” demanded Boyd Bennett, stepping

-forward. “What’s this foolishness you are telling the

-girl?”</p>

-

-<p>But the White Antelope haughtily waved him back.</p>

-

-<p>“Let the Death Killer stand away. The chief’s

-daughter can care for herself. And let not one of

-these dead palefaces be further disturbed. It is my

-will!”</p>

-

-<p>The waiting Indians grunted agreement. They were

-willing enough to obey the beautiful princess. The

-White Antelope turned again to Buffalo Bill:</p>

-

-<p>“Where are the paleface brothers of Pa-e-has-ka?”</p>

-

-<p>Buffalo Bill pointed in the direction from which he

-had come.</p>

-

-<p>“Far away.”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[187]</span></p>

-

-<p>“The White Antelope is his foe, and the foe of his

-people; but she wishes not to see the wolves and the

-vultures tear the bodies of brave men for food. The

-Sioux have come to remove their dead. Let Pa-e-has-ka

-go bring his brother warriors to remove the

-paleface slain.”</p>

-

-<p>At that Boyd Bennett uttered an oath and sprang

-forward.</p>

-

-<p>“Not that, girl! You’re crazy!”</p>

-

-<p>“We’ll see who wears the breeches in this family,

-Boyd Bennett!” laughed the scout.</p>

-

-<p>“You shall not leave this spot alive, Bill Cody!”</p>

-

-<p>“Oh, shucks! Don’t speak so harshly,” gibed the

-scout.</p>

-

-<p>The girl raised her hand. Without looking at the

-renegade, she said to Buffalo Bill:</p>

-

-<p>“But Pa-e-has-ka must make the White Antelope a

-promise.”</p>

-

-<p>“All right. What is it?”</p>

-

-<p>“The White Antelope came from the great chief

-Oak Heart, who told her to seek the paleface warriors

-and tell them where to find their dead. He bids them

-to come here and remove their slain in peace, and not

-to follow on the track of his people. Will Pa-e-has-ka

-tell the big chief the words of Oak Heart?”</p>

-

-<p>“I will.”</p>

-

-<p>“Then Pa-e-has-ka must promise to return and yield

-himself to the Sioux.”</p>

-

-<p>She looked Buffalo Bill straight in the eye as she

-stated her condition, and he saw that she meant exactly

-what she said; but he asked:</p>

-

-<p>“Does the White Antelope mean that I am to give<span class="pagenum">[188]</span>

-myself up to the red warriors after I have guided the

-bluecoats here?”</p>

-

-<p>“She has spoken.”</p>

-

-<p>“And this is the promise she wishes Pa-e-has-ka to

-make?”</p>

-

-<p>The Indian girl nodded.</p>

-

-<p>“Why should Pa-e-has-ka return?”</p>

-

-<p>“He is the captive of the medicine chief, Death

-Killer, now; but White Antelope lets him go free that

-the paleface braves lie not unburied, and that the other

-white warriors take heed not to follow upon the trail

-of the Sioux. Will Pa-e-has-ka promise?”</p>

-

-<p>Buffalo Bill was silent for a moment. If he refused

-he knew that her protection would cease. If he agreed

-to her condition he must keep his word, be the end

-what it might. And that end looked to the scout much

-like an ironwood stake, a hot fire, and a bunch of

-naked red devils dancing a two-step about him while

-he slowly crisped to a cinder!</p>

-

-<p>There was a loophole. He made a mental reservation

-that, after bearing the tidings of the massacre to

-the fort, and delivering Oak Heart’s warning, he

-would return to the Sioux encampment&mdash;but with a

-force behind him that would surprise the redskins!</p>

-

-<p>“I agree,” he said finally.</p>

-

-<p>“Trust not the fox-tongue of the Long Hair!” cried

-Boyd Bennett violently. “He will not keep his

-pledge.”</p>

-

-<p>“The paleface is the foe of my people, but his

-tongue is straight,” declared the Indian maiden, with

-confidence.</p>

-

-<p>Buffalo Bill began secretly to weaken on that “mental

-reservation.”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[189]</span></p>

-

-<p>“But he will come with a force at his back and burn

-the Indian village,” cried the renegade.</p>

-

-<p>Buffalo Bill had to give the fellow credit for having

-divined his purpose; but the girl turned scornfully

-from the squaw-man.</p>

-

-<p>“Pa-e-has-ka is not two-faced. He is not a turncoat,”

-she said sneeringly. “The White Antelope will

-believe that the Long Hair will return alone.”</p>

-

-<p>Buffalo Bill at that completely abandoned the “mental

-reservation” clause.</p>

-

-<p>“Bet your life he will!” he exclaimed. “I’ll come

-back as I promise, girl.”</p>

-

-<p>“Then let Pa-e-has-ka go.”</p>

-

-<p>But as she spoke the command, Boyd Bennett once

-more sprang forward. He covered the scout with his

-rifle and cried:</p>

-

-<p>“I am the medicine chief of the Sioux, and I say

-the paleface dog shall not go!”</p>

-

-<p>Then in English he declared:</p>

-

-<p>“Your hour has come, Buffalo Bill. You die here

-and now!”</p>

-

-

-

-<hr class="chap" />

-

-<div class="chapter">

-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXIX">CHAPTER XXIX.<br />

-<span class="cheaderfont">A GIRL’S WORD.</span></h2>

-</div>

-

-

-<p>The instant the renegade uttered the threat, Buffalo

-Bill placed himself upon guard by drawing his

-revolvers and covering the scoundrel. His wounded

-arm was sore, but the nerves had recovered from the

-shock of the arrow-wound, and he could hold his gun

-steadily enough. The renegade was so near at best

-that the scout could not miss him!</p>

-

-<p>But the scout did not shoot. The White Antelope<span class="pagenum">[190]</span>

-with flashing eyes, sprang to the front, and she, too,

-aimed her arrow at Boyd Bennett.</p>

-

-<p>The warriors&mdash;or the bulk of them, at least&mdash;were

-surprised by Buffalo Bill’s action, and their several

-weapons were in line for the scout’s heart before they

-noted the White Antelope’s action. Then several of

-them dropped their guns, and their facial expression

-was as foolish as it was possible for so stoical a set

-of faces to be!</p>

-

-<p>For a moment the tableau continued. A sudden motion

-might have precipitated a bloody, though brief,

-conflict. Buffalo Bill, though pale, was stern and determined,

-his eyes riveted upon the face of Boyd Bennett.

-He felt that the girl was friendly to him, and he

-knew her influence among the Sioux.</p>

-

-<p>“Why do you not bring that finger to the trigger of

-your rifle, Bennett?” he asked sneeringly. “It won’t

-go off otherwise.”</p>

-

-<p>The girl looked at the warriors and commanded

-quickly:</p>

-

-<p>“Let the braves of Oak Heart turn their weapons

-from the heart of Pa-e-has-ka, the paleface chief.”</p>

-

-<p>To the delight of Buffalo Bill, the command was instantly

-obeyed. Much as they might have feared the

-power of the medicine chief, Oak Heart was greater,

-and his daughter was here as his representative.</p>

-

-<p>That Boyd Bennett was nonplused by this move was

-plain. His face fell, and he lowered his own rifle.

-But the scowl of deadly hatred which he bestowed on

-the white man threatened vengeance at some future

-date.</p>

-

-<p>“I reckon the redskins are trumps, old man, and the

-girl holds a full hand of them!” laughed Buffalo Bill.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[191]</span></p>

-

-<p>“It is your time to laugh now, Cody. But mine will

-come,” gritted the renegade.</p>

-

-<p>“Oh, I can’t expect to laugh always, Bennett; but,”

-and the scout changed his speech to the Sioux dialect,

-that all the warriors might understand; “let the renegade

-paleface meet me now in personal combat, and

-settle the matter at once. Long Hair does not fear a

-fair fight with the mighty Death Killer!” he added

-sneeringly.</p>

-

-<p>The nods and grunts of the warriors showed that

-they approved of this proposal. Although they could

-not quite agree with the White Antelope’s friendliness

-with Buffalo Bill, they saw that he was a brave man&mdash;as,

-indeed, they knew well before&mdash;and a duel to the

-death seemed to their savage minds the only way to

-properly decide the controversy between their medicine

-chief and the scout. They looked at Bennett expectantly.</p>

-

-<p>But the renegade was not desirous of meeting Buffalo

-Bill with any weapon he might name! He knew

-the scout’s prowess too well. His desire was to see the

-scout writhing in the embrace of the flames, or standing

-bound as a target for the hatchet-marksmen of the

-Indian tribe with which he was affiliated.</p>

-

-<p>He dared not seem to refuse the challenge, however,

-for he would then lose completely his influence with

-Oak Heart’s braves. But suddenly he caught sight of

-the Indian maiden’s face, and that he read like an open

-book!</p>

-

-<p>“The enemy of the Sioux has spoken well. We will

-fight!” exclaimed Boyd Bennett promptly, but with a

-crafty smile wreathing his lips.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[192]</span></p>

-

-<p>“The White Antelope says ‘No!’” exclaimed the Indian

-girl, facing the renegade.</p>

-

-<p>As he was so sure she would veto the proposition,

-the wily Bennett was eager to urge the duel.</p>

-

-<p>“Why does the daughter of the great chief interfere?

-She says that Pa-e-has-ka is not her friend, and

-yet she shields him.”</p>

-

-<p>Buffalo Bill had to chuckle over this. He couldn’t

-help it. He saw through the whole game of Bennett’s,

-and it amused him.</p>

-

-<p>“No, the Long Hair shall not fight the medicine

-chief,” declared the girl earnestly.</p>

-

-<p>“And why not?” demanded Bennett, with continued

-haughtiness.</p>

-

-<p>“Because if they fought, the white man would wear

-the medicine chief’s scalp at his belt,” declared the

-young girl. “The white man shall go his way, bring

-his brothers to bury the paleface dead, and then deliver

-himself to Oak Heart, as he has promised.”</p>

-

-<p>“And you can make up your mind, Boyd Bennett,

-that she says one very true thing,” declared Buffalo

-Bill. “Whenever we <em>do</em> fight, you’ll go under! Mark

-that! I’ll run you down yet and nail your scalp to the

-wall of Fort Advance as a warning to all horse-thieves,

-stage-robbers, and deserters!”</p>

-

-<p>The White Antelope spoke quickly before the wrathful

-Bennett could reply to this challenge:</p>

-

-<p>“Let the paleface go to his big chief. There is his

-horse. Yonder is his weapon. Mount, Pa-e-has-ka,

-and away!”</p>

-

-<p>“Aye, girl,” said Cody, in English; “but what will

-happen to this poor young man if I go, leaving that<span class="pagenum">[193]</span>

-brute here? He will tear the scalp from Danforth’s

-head as soon as my back, and yours, are turned.”</p>

-

-<p>“That he shall not!” exclaimed the White Antelope.</p>

-

-<p>“You do not know his treachery,” said Buffalo Bill,

-who knew that the very deed was in Bennett’s mind.</p>

-

-<p>“I have told the white man that the brave young

-chief shall not be mistreated.”</p>

-

-<p>“Your word on it, girl?”</p>

-

-<p>“The White Antelope has spoken. She will guard

-the body of the young white chief herself until Pa-e-has-ka’s

-return.”</p>

-

-<p>“Good!” exclaimed Buffalo Bill. “And, my girl,

-you’ll never be sorry for this mercy shown the corpse

-of that poor young man.”</p>

-

-<p>The girl looked at him strangely.</p>

-

-<p>“The Long Hair will return, as he has promised, to

-the village of Oak Heart?”</p>

-

-<p>“I’ll keep my word; do you keep yours,” said the

-scout.</p>

-

-<p>“Pa-e-has-ka’s tongue is straight?”</p>

-

-<p>“As sure as I live, I’ll come back, girl!” declared the

-scout earnestly.</p>

-

-<p>The next instant he mounted Chief unmolested, having

-picked up his rifle, settled himself in the saddle,

-seized the reins, and dashed away. As he mounted the

-ridge he looked back. The reds were busy separating

-their own slain from the dead soldiers. The tall figure

-of the medicine chief was stalking angrily from the

-scene. White Antelope was down on her knees by the

-body of Dick Danforth, the dead lieutenant. With a

-dumb ache at his heart, and little thought for his own

-coming peril, Buffalo Bill went over the rise and

-spurred away for Fort Advance.</p>

-

-<hr class="chap" />

-

-<div class="chapter">

-<p><span class="pagenum">[194]</span></p>

-

-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXX">CHAPTER XXX.<br />

-<span class="cheaderfont">THE MAD HUNTER.</span></h2>

-</div>

-

-

-<p>In the valley a cavalry command was encamped,

-some hours after the battle in which Lieutenant Dick

-Danforth and his men had been overwhelmed by Oak

-Heart’s ambuscade.</p>

-

-<p>It was just sunset, but twilight among the mountains

-is sometimes four hours long&mdash;a man might see to read

-fine print at nine o’clock.</p>

-

-<p>The command had ridden hard and were a-wearied,

-so the party had bivouacked early, the guide reporting

-that the ridge before them afforded no good camping-ground.

-The horses were soon lariated out, and scores

-of camp-fires were kindled along the banks of the

-stream, while the cheerful rattle of dishes and the smell

-of cooking sharpened the appetites of the troopers.</p>

-

-<p>Leaving his servant to prepare his frugal meal, the

-commander of the soldiers strode up the hillside toward

-the summit of the ridge, the better to view the

-valley and its boundaries while daylight lingered.</p>

-

-<p>“Be careful, captain, for I look for Injuns hereabouts,”

-called the guide, who was Texas Jack.</p>

-

-<p>“All right, Jack. I’ll signal if I see any signs of

-the red scamps,” returned the fearless officer, as he

-strode on up the ascent.</p>

-

-<p>Once or twice he turned to enjoy the scene of beauty

-spreading below him&mdash;the lovely valley, the winding

-stream, the picturesque bivouac of the troopers, and the

-distant blue hills, on which the light was fading rapidly.

-At length he reached the point from which he<span class="pagenum">[195]</span>

-could view a part of the country through which the

-morrow’s trail would lead them.</p>

-

-<p>Below him, on that side of the ridge, all was shadow

-now, for the ridge shut off the last glow of the golden

-western sky; but the summits of the hills and ridges

-were still bathed in the departing sun’s radiance. The

-scene so impressed him that, quite unconsciously, the

-officer spoke aloud:</p>

-

-<p>“No wonder that poor Lo loves this land so well

-that he’s willing to fight for it. It is a pity it must

-ever be settled, and cut up into farms and homesteads&mdash;and

-possibly, town lots! The life of the free savage is

-the best, after all!”</p>

-

-<p>“Well said, captain! But I’ve got the drop on you!”</p>

-

-<p>The officer started as the voice fell upon his ears,

-and, dropping his hand upon his sword-hilt, turned to

-face the speaker. Before him, and not six paces distant,

-having just stepped from a dense thicket, was an

-apparition which, at first sight, the officer scarce realized

-was human!</p>

-

-<p>And yet, no other shape was near, and from the

-lips of the strange being that confronted him had fallen

-the threatening words he had heard.</p>

-

-<p>“Who and what are you?” cried the officer sternly,

-his eyes beholding a being of gigantic size, clad in the

-skins of beasts, so that at first sight he appeared more

-like a grizzly bear reared upon its hind legs!</p>

-

-<p>About the waist of the giant was a red fox-skin

-belt, in which were slung two revolvers and a large

-knife; upon his head was a panther-skin cap, the tail

-hanging down the man’s back, and on his feet were

-moccasins of black bearskin. Hair black as night fell

-to his waist; beard of the same hue matted and unkempt;<span class="pagenum">[196]</span>

-and a dark, haggard face, out of which glittered

-the wildest eyes it had ever been the officer’s fortune

-to see.</p>

-

-<p>To finish this terrifying picture, the strange being

-held a rifle at his shoulder, and that rifle was aimed

-now at the military officer’s heart!</p>

-

-<p>“You ask who and what I am?” repeated the creature,

-in a deep voice.</p>

-

-<p>“I do,” said the soldier, measuring him with the eye

-of a hawk.</p>

-

-<p>He had instantly seen that he was in the presence

-of a maniac&mdash;a person utterly irresponsible for his

-acts. Whether he was to be cajoled out of his present

-murderous condition of mind, the soldier did not

-know. But he was watching for some wavering of

-the rifle which might tell him that the fellow was off

-his guard, and that there might be a chance to spring

-under his guard and seize him.</p>

-

-<p>“You are a bold man to question me, captain!” said

-the giant sternly.</p>

-

-<p>“I know it; but I’ve an overpowering curiosity to

-find out,” and the captain dropped his hand carelessly

-upon the butt of the pistol he carried at his hip.</p>

-

-<p>“Hands up!” exclaimed the fellow, seeing the movement.

-“Hands up, or you are a dead man!”</p>

-

-<p>Hoping that he might yet parley with the maniac,

-the officer obeyed. It were better, perhaps, had he

-drawn his gun and risked a shot. The giant looked at

-him with wicked, glowing eyes.</p>

-

-<p>“I will tell you who I am, officer,” he whispered

-hoarsely. “I am a <em>madman</em>!”</p>

-

-<p>The last word he fairly shrieked; yet not for a second<span class="pagenum">[197]</span>

-did he forget his victim, nor did his hand tremble.

-The rifle still transfixed the helpless officer.</p>

-

-<p>But the officer was a kindly man, and although he

-believed himself in peril of his life still, the brave man

-ever has pity for those touched in the head. He said

-quietly:</p>

-

-<p>“My poor man, lower your weapon and come with

-me down to yonder camp. Those are Uncle Sam’s

-troops down there. They will take care of you.”</p>

-

-<p>“Ha!” cried the maniac furiously. “I need no one

-to care for me. I can care for myself. You’d much

-better be thinking of help for yourself, captain.”</p>

-

-<p>“Well, then I’ll go along and look for that help,”

-said the officer easily.</p>

-

-<p>“Don’t move!”</p>

-

-<p>“But, my dear fellow&mdash;&mdash;”</p>

-

-<p>“Hold! Address no words of kindness to me, for

-they are thrown away upon one whose duty it is to

-slay.”</p>

-

-<p>“But it surely isn’t your duty to kill <em>me</em>!”</p>

-

-<p>“Aye&mdash;you, too.”</p>

-

-<p>“But what have I done to you?”</p>

-

-<p>“It matters not. Mankind has done enough to me.

-I am appointed to slay, and slay I will!”</p>

-

-<p>“It’s nice to know your duty so clearly,” said the

-officer easily. “But aren’t you liable to make a mistake?”</p>

-

-<p>“No! Never a mistake. Once I might have made

-a mistake. That was when I believed I was called of

-God to kill the redskins only. I know better now.”</p>

-

-<p>“Well!” murmured the officer, hoping to catch the

-madman off his guard, if only for a moment.</p>

-

-<p>“I saw the error of my ways,” cried the madman.<span class="pagenum">[198]</span>

-“I beheld my sins. I had neglected the full measure

-of my duty.”</p>

-

-<p>“So killing redskins didn’t satisfy you, eh?”</p>

-

-<p>“Why should I kill the savages alone? I saw white

-men quite as brutal&mdash;aye, more brutal&mdash;than the red.

-I saw them commit the same atrocities. I saw white

-rangers rip the scalps from the head of their dead foes;

-I saw the soldiers storm the Indian encampments and

-kill the squaws and the papoose at the breast! Aye!

-how much better are the whites than the red men?”</p>

-

-<p>“And having seen all this bloody warfare, you wish

-to add to the sum total of horror by killing everybody

-you come across, do you, old fellow?”</p>

-

-<p>“You are all alike to me. I kill. That is the way I

-obtain ammunition and arms. The arms and cartridges

-you carry are mine!”</p>

-

-<p>“Oh, I’ll give them to you right now, if you want

-them,” exclaimed the captain eagerly. “You won’t

-have to kill me to get them. Really, it isn’t necessary.

-I’ll do the polite and hand them over.”</p>

-

-<p>To himself he thought:</p>

-

-<p>“And I’ll hand you something that will do you a lot

-of good the first chance I get!”</p>

-

-<p>But the madman was not to be fooled so easily.</p>

-

-<p>“Nay, nay! Your bullets would not fly true for me

-were you alive,” declared the giant. “I am the Mad

-Hunter. Have you heard of me?”</p>

-

-<p>“I have heard of such a character,” admitted the

-captain.</p>

-

-<p>“I am he, and if you know of me you must know

-that I show mercy to none&mdash;not even to one wearing

-the uniform you do. No, no! I spare neither my own

-race&mdash;for I was white once, before I became like the<span class="pagenum">[199]</span>

-beasts that perish&mdash;nor the redskin. All fall before

-me.”</p>

-

-<p>The man spoke with intensity; yet not a motion

-gave the officer hope of his chance to spring on him.

-The man’s nerves were of steel; he held the rifle as

-though it and his own body were of stone; yet the

-glittering eyes showed his victim that if he dropped his

-hands a bullet would end his career on the instant.</p>

-

-<p>“But, you know, <em>I</em> haven’t harmed you, my poor

-man,” said the officer.</p>

-

-<p>“All mankind are my foes,” said the Mad Hunter,

-in his strong monotone, and without moving. “Come!

-the night draws near, and I have yet to travel many

-miles to my cave in the mountains.”</p>

-

-<p>“Don’t let me detain you, old man,” said the officer.

-“Won’t it do just as well another day?”</p>

-

-<p>“Come! prepare to die. If you have prayers to

-say, repeat them quickly. It is growing dark.”</p>

-

-<p>Now, the officer didn’t care how dark it got before

-the madman fired. Indeed, he would have been glad if

-it suddenly became pitch-dark&mdash;so dark that he might

-dodge away and escape the sinister weapon which held

-its “bead” on his breast. He gave up all hope of

-“talking the fellow out of it.” The madman meant to

-kill him, and unless some miracle averted the fate, he

-would very quickly be a dead man!</p>

-

-<p>The madman was a giant in build and strength. He

-remembered now having heard the scouts tell many

-strange stories of the Mad Hunter about the camp-fire.

-For years he had been tracking about the Rockies, appearing

-unexpectedly in first one locality and then another;

-sometimes committing atrocious murders of inoffensive

-people. But usually his presence was noted<span class="pagenum">[200]</span>

-by the scouts by the dead bodies of Indians, their bodies

-mutilated by a cross gashed with the madman’s knife

-over their hearts. He put this insignia upon every

-redskin he killed, so that even the savages&mdash;who feared

-him as some spirit and altogether supernatural&mdash;knew

-who to lay the death of their friends to when the Mad

-Hunter was about.</p>

-

-<p>Whether the giant had a habit of marking his white

-victims in the same way, the captain did not know;

-but it was a suggestion that did not tranquilize his

-nerves. To cope with the giant he knew would be

-impossible. He was a tall and strong man himself;

-but the maniac could have handled three men like the

-officer with ease. A movement toward his revolver or

-sword would be a signal for his death. Yet the officer

-could not stand here helplessly and allow the maniac

-to shoot him down!</p>

-

-<p>In full view below him were the camp-fires of his

-men. The valley had grown dark now, but surely they

-could see him clearly standing here on the summit of

-the ridge. His body must loom big against the sky-line.

-Yet it was plain they did not see the giant with

-him.</p>

-

-<p><em>He</em> stood in the shadow of the thicket where he had

-hidden at the officer’s approach. It was behind him,

-and made him invisible to the men in the valley. To

-call for aid would bring the end more quickly. So he

-waited in silence, hoping against hope that some mad

-freak of the maniac’s mind and humor might work for

-his salvation.</p>

-

-<p>If the Mad Hunter kept his word, the officer had

-but a few minutes to live. He looked all about the

-vicinity, hoping he might see some chance of help. It<span class="pagenum">[201]</span>

-was a desperate&mdash;a really hopeless thought. Who or

-what could save him now?</p>

-

-<p>Suddenly his eyes became fixed upon the spur of a

-hill that jutted out across a shallow valley. The lingering

-rays of the sun touched the hill-spur redly. It

-seemed much nearer to him than it really was, and

-along its brink came a horse and rider!</p>

-

-<p>The officer gasped; then held his breath, and did

-not change the mask of his face. He had learned long

-since to hide emotion; but this was a terrible situation,

-and he had almost lost his nerve.</p>

-

-<p>The horseman had evidently been about to descend

-into the valley, when his glance fell upon the two men

-standing like statues upon the opposite ridge. <em>He</em>

-could see the giant huntsman, if the soldiers in the

-other valley could not. He saw at once the attitude of

-both men and understood. He drew rein, and the officer

-at the same moment recognized him. Unconsciously

-his lips parted, and the name of the rider came

-from the officer in a quick gasp:</p>

-

-<p>“Buffalo Bill!”</p>

-

-<p>The keen ear of the mad hercules caught the name,

-and, turning like a panther at bay, he saw the scout on

-the distant spur. As he moved, the officer’s hands

-dropped, and he seized the revolver from his belt.

-Throwing it forward, he pulled the trigger as the madman

-wheeled again toward him.</p>

-

-<p>But the hammer fell without exploding the cartridge.

-The madman laughed aloud.</p>

-

-<p>“No, no!” he shouted. “The bullet is not cast that

-will kill the Mad Hunter! The cartridge is not made

-that will injure me!”</p>

-

-<p>The officer found his pistol-hammer jammed. He<span class="pagenum">[202]</span>

-could not cock the weapon again. With a wild shriek

-the maniac dropped his rifle, and, drawing his knife,

-flung himself at his victim, intending evidently to kill

-him with those slashes across the breast which usually

-marked his dead.</p>

-

-<p>But in that awful moment the doomed man’s eyes

-turned upon the distant spur, and he beheld the rifle

-rise to the horseman’s shoulder. Desperate as was

-the chance, Buffalo Bill intending risking a shot to

-save him. He flung himself backward, as the madman

-came on, leaving the field clear for the scout to fire.</p>

-

-

-

-<hr class="chap" />

-

-<div class="chapter">

-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXXI">CHAPTER XXXI.<br />

-<span class="cheaderfont">BUFFALO BILL’S GREAT SHOT.</span></h2>

-</div>

-

-

-<p>In that instant, as he was falling backward upon the

-ground, knowing that if the huge madman reached him

-before Buffalo Bill’s bullet reached its mark he would

-be a dead man, a clear perception of the great mistake

-he had made flashed through the captain’s mind. He

-remembered that that morning when cleaning his revolver

-he had noticed something wrong with the hammer,

-and had put it aside, unloaded, to attend to later

-in the day. But as he started from the camp that evening

-to walk up the hill, and Texas Jack had called his

-warning to him, he had picked up the weapon and

-thrust it into his belt without looking at it.</p>

-

-<p>Had he not made this error he would have shot the

-Mad Hunter dead in that instant when the giant turned

-his head to look across the little valley. As he went

-backward, the officer flung away his useless revolver

-and clutched at his sword. But he could not get it<span class="pagenum">[203]</span>

-from its scabbard in time. It was but half-drawn when

-he landed upon his back with a shock that almost deprived

-him of his senses!</p>

-

-<p>Fearful, indeed, were the chances against the officer.

-He was absolutely helpless then, and like a tiger-cat the

-madman had sprung at his falling body. He actually

-was in the air with the blade of his knife poised to

-thrust downward into the officer’s breast when the latter

-heard the crack of Buffalo Bill’s rifle on the other

-hillside.</p>

-

-<p>The keen eye of the scout on horseback had noted

-every move of the game on the ridge. He recognized

-the officer, and he guessed who the other man must be

-when he saw his threatening attitude. It was a long

-shot, and there was danger at first of his hitting the

-captain instead of his foe.</p>

-

-<p>But when the former flung himself backward the

-scout dared fire. And he pulled the trigger just in the

-nick of time. The maniac was already plunging forward

-to knife the supine soldier when the bullet sped

-on its mission.</p>

-

-<p>With a scream the madman pitched forward, over-leaping

-his victim, and falling on his face upon the

-ground, the knife being plunged hilt deep into the soft

-earth! A red streak showed across his scalp where

-the bullet had grazed the man’s crown.</p>

-

-<p>“Bravo, bravo, Buffalo Bill! I owe my life to him&mdash;and

-Heaven knows I was never in closer quarters with

-death!” cried the officer, as he leaped up and drew his

-sword to further defend himself.</p>

-

-<p>But the huge form lay still. The Mad Hunter lay

-unconscious. Therefore, turning to the opposite hill,

-he waved his hat, which he had picked up, to the horseman<span class="pagenum">[204]</span>

-who was now spurring down into the valley. An

-answering yell from Buffalo Bill showed that he saw

-the officer was safe.</p>

-

-<p>The rifle-shot and the shout of the Border King

-was unheard down there in the bigger valley; all this

-tragic happening had been in sight of the camp of the

-troopers, yet had chanced to go unnoticed. It was the

-scout who had come upon the scene in the nick of time,

-and who again had proved himself a hero.</p>

-

-<p>With rapid bounds the scout urged his big white

-charger up the hill, from the shadows below to the

-twilight of the ridge summit. Finally he pulled up,

-threw himself from the saddle, and the officer caught

-his gauntleted hand.</p>

-

-<p>“God bless you, Cody!”</p>

-

-<p>“Captain Ed. Keyes!”</p>

-

-<p>“Always in the right place at the right time, scout.

-Another minute, and that old madman would have

-sent me on my long journey, and no mistake!”</p>

-

-<p>“I came blamed near being in the wrong place, captain,”

-said Cody seriously. “That was a long shot. I

-was taking great chances, and if you hadn’t flung yourself

-backward I should have scarcely risked firing at

-all.”</p>

-

-<p>Then he turned to view the prostrate form of the

-madman, and said:</p>

-

-<p>“It’s that crazy fellow they talk about, isn’t it?”</p>

-

-<p>“So he said. He seemed to be proud of his reputation.”</p>

-

-<p>“The Mad Hunter!”</p>

-

-<p>“Yes. And mad he certainly is&mdash;poor fellow. I

-suppose he’s not to be blamed for what he can’t help.

-But he’s better dead than at large. Ugh! Another<span class="pagenum">[205]</span>

-moment, and he’d had his devil’s cross slashed on my

-breast, I fancy.”</p>

-

-<p>“You had a narrow squeak, sir.”</p>

-

-<p>“I certainly did. Is he dead?”</p>

-

-<p>Buffalo Bill was stooping over the giant. He turned

-him over so that his face was visible in the half-light.</p>

-

-<p>“<em>That</em> shot oughtn’t to have killed him,” muttered

-the scout, noting the course of his bullet.</p>

-

-<p>“It certainly couldn’t have hurt his brain any more

-than it <em>was</em> queered. He’s breathing, isn’t he?”</p>

-

-<p>But Buffalo Bill did not immediately reply. He had

-suddenly fallen silent, and when Captain Keyes looked

-at the scout in surprise he saw that his eyes were fixed

-with a most strange expression upon the unconscious

-madman’s face.</p>

-

-<p>“What’s the matter, Cody?” the officer asked.</p>

-

-<p>The scout still made no reply. It is doubtful if he

-heard his superior officer. He seemed devouring the

-features of the unconscious man.</p>

-

-<p>Little of the face could be seen for the matted beard

-and hair. Yet the angles of the cheek-bones and jaw

-were easily traced; likewise, the penthouse brows and

-deeply sunken eyes. The nose was prominent&mdash;a

-handsome nose, with its point thin and flexible, and

-the nostrils well marked.</p>

-

-<p>“No&mdash;no,” murmured the scout at last. “I never

-could have seen him before&mdash;never!”</p>

-

-<p>“What’s the matter with you, Cody?”</p>

-

-<p>Buffalo Bill looked up at him, and wet his lips before

-speaking.</p>

-

-<p>“I&mdash;I thought I saw a ghost, Captain Keyes&mdash;a

-ghost! My God! and it’s no wonder, with my mind

-full of the horror I <em>have</em> seen already this evening. It&mdash;it<span class="pagenum">[206]</span>

-was Danforth&mdash;he’s got into my mind, and I can’t

-forget him.”</p>

-

-<p>“Dick Danforth&mdash;Lieutenant Danforth?”</p>

-

-<p>“Aye&mdash;the poor boy himself.”</p>

-

-<p>“What under the sun has Dick got to do with this

-madman?”</p>

-

-<p>“Oh&mdash;nothing! nothing!” exclaimed Cody, leaping

-up. “But I have to report a very terrible thing, captain.”</p>

-

-<p>“Not about Dick Danforth?”</p>

-

-<p>“It is, sir. Lieutenant Danforth is dead&mdash;dead with

-all his men!”</p>

-

-<p>“No!”</p>

-

-<p>“It is the awful truth, sir.”</p>

-

-<p>“I cannot believe it, Cody. You are beside yourself.

-You look strange, man!”</p>

-

-<p>“Aye, and you would look strange yourself had you

-seen what <em>I</em> have seen, Captain Keyes.”</p>

-

-<p>“Tell me!”</p>

-

-<p>“I was on my way to Fort Advance with the news

-when I happened to see you&mdash;as I supposed, facing a

-grizzly bear over on this ridge.”</p>

-

-<p>“He was worse than a grizzly,” said Keyes, with a

-glance at the giant. “But give me the particulars&mdash;&mdash;”</p>

-

-<p>“Boyd Bennett has joined the Sioux, betrayed Danforth

-and his men into a trap, and the whole party were

-wiped out.”</p>

-

-<p>“My God, Cody!”</p>

-

-<p>“It is so. I saw them. I was captured by Bennett,

-indeed. It was within a few miles of Oak Heart’s big

-village.”</p>

-

-<p>“Ha! And did you see the wily old scoundrel himself?”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[207]</span></p>

-

-<p>“Oak Heart?”</p>

-

-<p>“Yes.”</p>

-

-<p>“No; but I saw a representative of the chief;” and

-he repeated the story of his coming upon the field of

-carnage and his adventure with Bennett and the White

-Antelope, while Keyes hurried him down the hillside

-toward the troopers’ camp.</p>

-

-

-

-<hr class="chap" />

-

-<div class="chapter">

-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXXII">CHAPTER XXXII.<br />

-<span class="cheaderfont">THE BORDER KING’S PLEDGE.</span></h2>

-</div>

-

-

-<p>With him Captain Keyes had over a hundred cavalrymen,

-a company of mounted infantry, and two mountain

-howitzers, numbering, with the artillerymen and

-scouts, nearly two hundred men&mdash;a strong flying

-column, that could move rapidly and stand off a big

-force of Indians. They were then encamped not

-twenty miles from the main village of the Sioux, and

-not much more than half that distance from the coulée

-where Danforth’s squadron had been overcome.</p>

-

-<p>The coming of Buffalo Bill, although it had been

-most timely for Captain Keyes, and had undoubtedly

-saved his life, cast a mantle of gloom over the encampment.

-Although the men had been warned to turn in

-early, because of the work before them on the morrow,

-they stood or sat around the camp-fires until late, discussing

-the terrible intelligence the scout had brought.</p>

-

-<p>And at the officers’ quarters, Buffalo Bill had to relate

-the story all over again to an eager band of listeners.

-All had known Dick Danforth, and his death

-was greatly deplored.</p>

-

-<p>As soon as he could get away, and had eaten a bit of<span class="pagenum">[208]</span>

-supper, Cody sought out his faithful partner, Jack

-Omohondreau.</p>

-

-<p>“Jack, old man, did you ever see the Wild Huntsman?”</p>

-

-<p>“What! this fellow who come pretty near bowling

-over the captain&mdash;the Mad Hunter?”</p>

-

-<p>“Yes.”</p>

-

-<p>“Never. But I’ve seen his spoor&mdash;and I’ve seen his

-work.”</p>

-

-<p>“Meaning his dead?”</p>

-

-<p>“Yep. Two redskins. He didn’t do a thing but

-hash them up. Ugh!”</p>

-

-<p>“I don’t think I killed him up there. Will you get

-a couple of torches, and bring two other fellows you

-can trust, and help me make a search for him?”</p>

-

-<p>“Lord! Want to put the finishing touch on him&mdash;eh?”</p>

-

-<p>“No. I must bring him down here and have the surgeon

-give him what care he can.”</p>

-

-<p>“Whew! You’d best roll him over a precipice by

-mistake.”</p>

-

-<p>“The man is mad.”</p>

-

-<p>“Well, then, he isn’t missing much, if he cashes in.”</p>

-

-<p>“But perhaps he can be cured.”</p>

-

-<p>“Well, are you going to tackle the cure?”</p>

-

-<p>“I want to see if he’s dead first,” said Cody non-committingly.

-“Go find your men&mdash;and don’t forget

-the torches, Jack.”</p>

-

-<p>Texas Jack found both, and the four men searched

-the ridge thoroughly&mdash;or as thoroughly as they could

-by torchlight; but the gigantic madman was not there.

-He might have crawled into some hole to hide; anyway,

-they had to give it up for the night.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[209]</span></p>

-

-<p>As they returned to camp they found an orderly

-searching industriously for Buffalo Bill.</p>

-

-<p>“Captain Keyes’ compliments, sir, and will you come

-to his tent at once?”</p>

-

-<p>The scout complied with his request. Keyes had his

-despatch-box open, and was undoubtedly just inditing

-his report of the day’s work, and of the intelligence the

-scout had brought him, to his commander at Fort Advance.

-He motioned the scout to a camp-stool.</p>

-

-<p>“Sit down, Cody. I want to talk with you.”</p>

-

-<p>Buffalo Bill obeyed.</p>

-

-<p>“We have deeded to divide the command. I shall

-go myself with the first division on to the place where

-our poor brave fellows lie, and attend to the burial of

-their bodies. The rest of my party will form a reserve

-squad with the howitzers&mdash;in case of treachery.”</p>

-

-<p>“There will be no treachery, Captain Keyes. I know

-Oak Heart.”</p>

-

-<p>“But you say that deserter, Bennett, has influence

-in the tribe.”</p>

-

-<p>“Not enough to make the old chief break his word.”</p>

-

-<p>“Best to be sure, anyway. Now, there’s a point I

-wish to discuss with you. I know your confounded

-quixotism, Cody. You certainly don’t propose to

-keep your promise to that squaw and go alone to the

-Indian encampment?”</p>

-

-<p>“I do mean just that, sir.”</p>

-

-<p>At this the officer rose to his feet and spoke

-vigorously.</p>

-

-<p>“Cody, you sha’n’t do it! By the nine gods of war!

-it’s foolish&mdash;it’s insane!”</p>

-

-<p>“I have promised.”</p>

-

-<p>“But I forbid you!”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[210]</span></p>

-

-<p>“I can’t help that, sir; but if you will think a moment,

-you will see that it is quite out of your jurisdiction.

-I was the reds’ prisoner. They did not have

-to let me go at all. My life is hostage to them yet.

-They have trusted me&mdash;and, God knows, enough white

-men have lied to them.”</p>

-

-<p>“Then I’ll attack their camp, small as my force is.”</p>

-

-<p>“You will compass my death sure enough if you

-do,” said the scout, shaking his head.</p>

-

-<p>“But, Cody, of all white men alive, <em>you</em> are the one

-they most wish to see <em>dead</em>!”</p>

-

-<p>“So be it.”</p>

-

-<p>“Be reasonable.”</p>

-

-<p>“They desire to make my closer acquaintance, and I

-intend to give them the chance,” said Buffalo Bill,

-smiling.</p>

-

-<p>“Never, Cody!”</p>

-

-<p>“But I&mdash;&mdash;”</p>

-

-<p>“I’ll hear no ‘buts,’ scouts. If you persist in such a

-foolish intention I’ll put you in the guard-house and

-keep you under arrest until you come to your senses.”</p>

-

-<p>“I’m afraid I’ll grow gray in the guard-house, then,”

-laughed Buffalo Bill, who knew that his friend did not

-mean this.</p>

-

-<p>“But you were forced to make the promise to save

-your life. Therefore, the promise was given under

-durance and cannot hold.”</p>

-

-<p>“The redskins have few lawyers,” said Cody, with a

-smile. “That sophistry would not appeal to them.”</p>

-

-<p>“It’s sure death!”</p>

-

-<p>“I’m not so sure of that. However, I must go to

-Oak Heart’s camp. I may risk my life, but I hope to

-accomplish a purpose that I have in mind.”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[211]</span></p>

-

-<p>The officer saw that the scout was determined, and

-that his will could not be shaken.</p>

-

-<p>“It seems like being a party to your murder to let

-you go, scout,” said Captain Keyes gloomily. “And

-you saved my life, too!”</p>

-

-<p>“Let us hope for the best, sir,” said the scout quietly,

-as he bowed himself out of the officer’s tent.</p>

-

-<p>Before dawn Buffalo Bill and a squad of men sent

-by Captain Keyes went to the ridge to hunt the live&mdash;or

-dead&mdash;body of the Mad Hunter. In an hour, and

-just before the column was ready to start, the squad

-returned without Cody.</p>

-

-<p>“Where is the scout, sergeant?” asked Captain

-Keyes.</p>

-

-<p>“He left us upon the ridge, sir,” said the man, saluting.</p>

-

-<p>“Left you?”</p>

-

-<p>“Yes, sir.”</p>

-

-<p>“And where did he go?”</p>

-

-<p>“He struck a trail, sir, and said he would be off

-on it.”</p>

-

-<p>“What sort of trail?”</p>

-

-<p>“The Mad Hunter’s trail. We could not find the

-man, but Mr. Cody saw where he had walked away,

-and he started in pursuit.”</p>

-

-<p>“He’s gone farther than that!” exclaimed Captain

-Keyes, shaking his head. “What say, Texas Jack?”</p>

-

-<p>Omohondreau, who knew of Buffalo Bill’s promise

-to the White Antelope, nodded.</p>

-

-<p>“He’s gone to the Injun camp,” said the brother

-scout, “and it’s a toss-up if it isn’t ‘good-by, Bill

-Cody!’ for good and all!”</p>

-

-<hr class="chap" />

-

-<div class="chapter">

-<p><span class="pagenum">[212]</span></p>

-

-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXXIII">CHAPTER XXXIII.<br />

-<span class="cheaderfont">TRACKING THE MAD HUNTER.</span></h2>

-</div>

-

-

-<p>After a night of uneasy repose, in which the thoughts

-engendered by his first sight of the Mad Hunter’s face

-had ridden him like a nightmare, Buffalo Bill was determined

-to make a thorough search for the maniac.

-Had he not believed the evening before that the man

-was likely to remain unconscious until roused by the

-efforts of the surgeon, he would have begged Captain

-Keyes to let him stay by the maniac until help could

-come. He was deeply disappointed when he and Jack

-Omohondreau could not find the giant.</p>

-

-<p>In the morning he had searched patiently, struck the

-trail of the madman, and, as the sergeant reported, had

-started at once to follow and run the maniac down.

-He had brought his horse, and having left the soldiers,

-he mounted Chief and followed the big footprints of

-the wild man at a round trot for some distance.</p>

-

-<p>How seriously the man was wounded, Cody did not

-know; but his quarry did not seem to try to hide his

-trail. Straight along the ridge it led, then down into

-the little valley the scout had ridden across the night

-before, and so up the range of hills on the other side.

-Something about the walking of the big man puzzled

-the scout greatly, and suddenly Buffalo Bill spurred

-his horse to the summit of a high hill, that he might

-take a survey of the country over which it seemed the

-madman might pass.</p>

-

-<p>The soldiers were under way now, and, first of all,

-Cody saw them traversing a defile at one side, up which

-they had come from the bivouac of the past night. A<span class="pagenum">[213]</span>

-steep bluff towered beside them where they were then

-marching as Buffalo Bill came out upon the back-bone

-of the range.</p>

-

-<p>The course he had taken in following the madman’s

-trail had brought the scout out ahead of the marching

-column. But it was not upon them that his gaze became

-fastened. Instead, a single moving object upon

-the summit of the bluff in the shadow of which the soldiers

-marched held his attention. This object was

-more than a mile ahead of the soldiery, and would

-never be noticed from the valley below.</p>

-

-<p>In an instant Buffalo Bill divined the identity of the

-moving object, and the nature of the work which engaged

-its attention. The ridge of land on which he

-stood was unbroken to the bluff itself. He set spurs

-to Chief and raced along the highlands, knowing that

-he would not likely be seen by the soldiers, and therefore

-must do alone what he could to avert the catastrophe

-which he saw imminent.</p>

-

-<p>Thwarted the night before when he sought the life

-of Captain Keyes, the Mad Hunter was trying to compass

-a worse crime. The moving form Buffalo Bill

-knew to be the maniac, and he saw that he was gathering

-huge rocks into a pile, which he proposed to push

-over upon the soldiers as they passed below the bluff!</p>

-

-<p>It was a fiendish plan, and well worthy of the man’s

-insane cunning. Buffalo Bill spurred on, and came to

-a place not many yards behind the Mad Hunter without

-the latter’s being aware of his presence, so intent

-was he in the work.</p>

-

-<p>Leaving his horse and rifle, the scout, with soft

-tread and every sense alert, crept up behind the busy

-lunatic. He saw that the Mad Hunter had put aside<span class="pagenum">[214]</span>

-his own arms, the better to toil at his horrid trap. With

-a single shot from his revolver the scout might have

-dropped the maniac dead, and so relieved the world of

-a dangerous creature&mdash;a being neither man nor brute.

-But the scout did not wish to hurt the giant.</p>

-

-<p>Finally, without being discovered, the scout stood

-within twenty feet of the Mad Hunter. His eyes were

-as fierce as a wolf’s, his hands opened and shut with

-nervous clutches, and his lips moved continuously as

-he whispered to himself. Yet something familiar in

-the contour of the poor creature’s face held Cody spellbound.

-He was moved as he had been the night before

-when he had first looked upon the features of the wild

-man.</p>

-

-<p>Nearer and nearer drew the column of soldiers, for

-through a gap in the edge of the bluff Cody could mark

-their progress. Captain Keyes and his officers, and

-Texas Jack, rode ahead. The madman prepared to tip

-his monument of rocks over upon their devoted heads!</p>

-

-<p>Suddenly the Mad Hunter picked up a great stone&mdash;one

-that the scout was sure no two ordinary men could

-lift&mdash;and, picking his victim on the plain below, was

-about to fling it down. Cody quickly dashed across

-the intervening space, and, revolver in hand, tapped

-the madman on the shoulder.</p>

-

-<p>With a sudden inspiration the scout shouted into the

-man’s ear a name he had not spoken himself for a dozen

-years&mdash;the name of a man who, until the night before,

-he had believed long since dead.</p>

-

-<p>The Mad Hunter turned in a flash. He dropped

-the rock. He stared at the scout with wondering gaze.

-His eyes grew somber as the light of insane rage died

-out of them. He whispered at last:</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[215]</span></p>

-

-<p>“Who&mdash;who calls me by that name? Speak!”</p>

-

-<p>Trembling violently, he gazed upon the scout with

-some shadow of reason struggling to dawn in his expression.

-It was elusive&mdash;fleeting&mdash;yet the scout knew

-that he had touched a chord of memory that shook the

-man to the foundation of his being.</p>

-

-<p>“Who speaks that name after all these years?” cried

-the madman again.</p>

-

-<p>“I am Bill Cody&mdash;Cody, your old pal. Cody, the

-man you knew on the Rio Grande!” exclaimed the

-scout, his own voice shaking, for the discovery he had

-made passed the bounds of reason.</p>

-

-<p>The strange being shook his head slowly.</p>

-

-<p>“No. You may be whom you say; but the man you

-spoke of first is dead&mdash;dead&mdash;a long time dead!”</p>

-

-<p>Buffalo Bill, however, was gaining confidence in his

-discovery all the time.</p>

-

-<p>“You’re the man! I know you are. Think, man!

-Send back your memory to those old times. Remember

-the work we did together. Remember&mdash;remember

-your wife&mdash;your child&mdash;&mdash;”</p>

-

-<p>With a shriek like nothing human, with a face that

-changed in a flash to that of a demoniac, the Mad

-Hunter hurled himself, bare-handed, at the scout’s

-throat.</p>

-

-<p>“Fiend! Fiend from the pit!” he yelled. “You have

-come to torment me and taunt me! Ah! for long have

-I escaped your taunts; but now you have returned!”</p>

-

-<p>His heartrending cry almost unmanned the scout.

-He saw that he had touched the wrong chord with the

-madman. Reminded of the loss of his wife and child,

-the victim of this awful fate had been thrown into a

-paroxysm of rage.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[216]</span></p>

-

-<p>For an instant Buffalo Bill hesitated. That hesitation

-came near to costing him his life. The maniac

-was upon him and seized his pistol-hand before he

-could make up his mind to fire at his old friend. The

-madman’s other hand tightened on the scout’s throat.

-They swayed upon the edge of the precipice.</p>

-

-<p>Seconds dragged like hours in that struggle. Buffalo

-Bill had met more than his match in this wild being.

-Suddenly he heard a cry below:</p>

-

-<p>“Hold, Cody! for God’s sake, hold!”</p>

-

-<p>It was Captain Keyes’ voice. It inspired the sinking

-scout to make one final and desperate effort. He

-half-tore him self free of the giant’s clutch.</p>

-

-<p>“Steady! Texas Jack has got the drop on him!”

-yelled the voice of Keyes again.</p>

-

-<p>Instantly there came the sharp crack of a rifle. The

-maniac jumped slightly, and his awful grip loosened.

-The scout tore himself completely away, spattered by

-the maniac’s blood.</p>

-

-<p>The latter whirled about, back to the brink of the

-bluff, clutched helplessly at the air with his great

-hands, and pitched down the declivity. He was dead

-before he struck the bottom&mdash;a heap of broken bones

-and bruised flesh!</p>

-

-<p>Texas Jack mounted the cliff to see if the scout was

-all right. He found Cody wiping the blood from his

-face, and very grave of look.</p>

-

-<p>“Had to shoot him, old man. ’Twas you or him,

-yuh know,” said the brother scout.</p>

-

-<p>“I know it, Jack. I can only thank you. But I am

-sorry&mdash;bitterly sorry. I knew that man when he was

-a right good fellow. Ask Captain Keyes to give him<span class="pagenum">[217]</span>

-decent burial, and to mark the grave&mdash;mark it with the

-letter ‘D.’”</p>

-

-<p>With these words Cody shook hands with his pard

-and hastened away to where Chief was quietly feeding.

-In a moment he was riding hard away from the spot

-where the terrible tragedy had taken place.</p>

-

-<p>Captain Keyes complied with Cody’s request, but

-was sorry that the scout had evidently gone on his mission

-of death&mdash;for the officer could look at the visit to

-the Indian encampment in no other light.</p>

-

-<p>He had divided his force, as he said he should, and

-the vanguard went on to the coulée and buried the

-dead. All the redskins had been removed, and the

-place was deserted of the living. But when they came

-to search for Dick Danforth’s body, intending to remove

-it to the fort with them, it was not to be found.

-The brave lieutenant, for whose scalp Buffalo Bill had

-pleaded with White Antelope, had disappeared from

-the field of battle.</p>

-

-

-

-<hr class="chap" />

-

-<div class="chapter">

-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXXIV">CHAPTER XXXIV.<br />

-<span class="cheaderfont">RED KNIFE LOSES HIS “MEDICINE.”</span></h2>

-</div>

-

-

-<p>At the time the fire burst out in the great forest and

-Buffalo Bill, the Border King, and his partner, Texas

-Jack, were chased by the flames, a young buck of Oak

-Heart’s tribe of Utah Sioux was likewise in the path

-of the flames. He had been out after a bear, because

-his father, an old brave now toothless and unable to

-follow in the chase, had expressed a desire for bear

-paws, roasted.</p>

-

-<p>The government of Indian society is strictly patriarchal.<span class="pagenum">[218]</span>

-The father of a family demands, and is accorded,

-the greatest respect. Besides, it is a trait of

-Indian character to care for and respect the aged. The

-aged men of the tribe usually mold its opinions in both

-peace and war.</p>

-

-<p>Besides, Red Knife, as this young buck was named,

-was not a married man. He was what the whites

-would have called “an old bach.” He had no teepee

-of his own, but it was a notorious fact that he cast

-longing glances toward White Antelope, the cherished

-daughter of Oak Heart and the flower of the Sioux

-maidens. He had gone hunting for the bear because

-his father was fond of bear paws, but with the claws,

-and others in his possession, he hoped to make a cunning

-necklace that would be acceptable to the chief’s

-daughter.</p>

-

-<p>Red Knife had lately become of moment in the

-tribe. It had been his hand that had finally felled the

-chief of the pony soldiers who were killed in the

-coulée, and whom Death Killer had tried to scalp.

-Red Knife hoped in time to become so important that

-the White Antelope would really look at him with

-favor, instead of ignoring him altogether.</p>

-

-<p>The buck had obtained a single shot at his bearship,

-wounding him with a barbed arrow, and had driven

-him into a thicket toward the close of the day. Suddenly

-the smoke that had been hanging over the hilltops

-for hours swooped down upon the Indian and his

-quarry, and following the smoke came the fire&mdash;a

-deluge of flame!</p>

-

-<p>The bear suddenly lost his fear of the redskin, and

-the latter lost his desire to take bear paws to his teepee.</p>

-

-<p>The crackling of the flames as they leaped down the<span class="pagenum">[219]</span>

-wooded side-hills into the valley warned both hunter

-and hunted that there was no time to lose. The bear

-burst out of the thicket, the arrow still sticking in his

-rump, and waddled off for running water at a great

-pace. The Indian had chased the beast into unfamiliar

-territory, and now he took advantage of his

-prey’s instinct. He followed the bear.</p>

-

-<p>Through brush and bramble, over rocky way and

-swampy land, the bear and the man raced. At times

-they were almost side by side, and neither paid the

-least attention to the other. Lighter and swifter

-creatures passed the two like the wind; the bear and

-the redskin plugged along doggedly, as though running

-for a wager.</p>

-

-<p>They were not in the neighborhood of Bendigo

-Lake, so they did not meet up with either the two

-scouts or with the Mad Hunter. It was a stream

-which the bear, back in his little brain, knew would

-be running full even at this dry season. They reached

-it barely in time to save themselves from being withered

-by the flames. The bear’s fur was indeed smoking.</p>

-

-<p>He plunged over the bank into the deep, dark pool.

-Red Knife went after bruin, landing squarely on the

-bear’s back, eliciting only the notice of a grunt from

-the beast as he sank to the bottom of the pool and let

-the flames roar overhead.</p>

-

-<p>The redskin stayed below the surface as long as he

-could, too. He could feel the bear beside him all the

-time. He might have flung himself upon the beast

-with his knife and killed him. It were better had he

-done so.</p>

-

-<p>But at the time Red Knife was too perturbed to<span class="pagenum">[220]</span>

-think of killing his companion in misery. When the

-redskin came up to breathe, the fiery brands showered

-upon him so thickly that he was glad to sink again.

-It was some time before it was safe for him to squat,

-with his head out of water.</p>

-

-<p>And there were the redskin and the bear, both on

-their haunches, with their noses stuck out of the pool

-like two bullfrogs. As the heat grew less intense and

-the brands stopped falling, the bear and the man began

-eying each other with less favor. Each recovered from

-his panic and began to remember that they were deadly

-enemies.</p>

-

-<p>The bear growled and shifted his position to a distance

-from the red; the latter got out his knife&mdash;the

-only weapon he had saved&mdash;and in moments when he

-was not dodging flying fire planned what he would do

-should bruin take it into his head to attack.</p>

-

-<p>This deep pool in the brook was no proper arena

-for a bear-fight&mdash;especially when the human antagonist

-had simply a knife. Red Knife thought some of

-sinking to the bottom of the pool again and making

-the attack himself by trying to drive his blade into

-some vulnerable part of the beast.</p>

-

-<p>But the difficulty of using his knife with any surety,

-or putting any force behind the blow under water, detained

-him from trying this. Besides, the bear, if

-killed or badly injured, would sink and might pinion

-the redskin to the bottom of the brook.</p>

-

-<p>Therefore, as soon as he could see at all through

-the rolling smoke, and the worst of the flames had

-passed, leaving a thicket or dead tree only blazing in its

-wake here and there, the redskin made up his mind

-that he would better trust to the dry ground. His<span class="pagenum">[221]</span>

-moccasins were well-nigh torn from his feet by his

-furious race through the forest, and his meager clothing

-in general had been seriously torn. There was

-little to shield him from the fire if he came forth, but

-the water of the brook was ice-cold, and hardy as the

-Red Knife was its chill had now set his teeth to playing

-like castanets.</p>

-

-<p>The bear whined with the cold, too, but the next

-moment he growled as Red Knife made a movement

-toward him. If the beast once got a hold with his

-front paws on the redskin he would disembowel him

-with the great claws of his hind feet. Red Knife

-shrank farther away from the bear’s vicinity.</p>

-

-<p>At this bruin plucked up courage. He growled

-again, came down off his haunches, and began to

-swim across the pool toward the Indian. The latter

-saw that it was his move&mdash;and the only place for him

-to move to was out of the water. So he backed into

-the shallower part of the stream and toward a part of

-the bank that was comparatively clear of fire.</p>

-

-<p>The heat and smoke were still almost blistering.

-To leave the water was a cross indeed. But the bear

-continued to advance, and Red Knife did not consider

-that he wished to come immediately to close quarters

-with the brute.</p>

-

-<p>As he backed out of the stream the heat of a near-by

-blazing thicket warmed him more than comfortably.

-The chill was driven out of his body, and his teeth

-stopped chattering. Fearful as he was of the fire&mdash;all

-wild beasts hate it&mdash;the bear found the increasing

-warmth grateful, too. He scrambled out upon the

-bank, too, and actually squatted down in the heat of

-the bonfire to dry himself.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[222]</span></p>

-

-<p>Red Knife looked about him as well as he could for

-the drifting smoke, and picked out the apparently

-safest path from the spot. Had he been contented to

-decamp without stirring up the bear, he would have

-been all right. But an Indian loves to tell of his

-prowess around the camp-fire, and so far there had

-been very little in this adventure to suggest a tale of

-self-glorification.</p>

-

-<p>Therefore the buck determined to have those bear

-paws for his father and the claws for the necklace,

-after all!</p>

-

-<p>He hunted out a big stone, pried it out of the smoking

-ground with his knife, and, picking it up, poised it

-carefully for a cast. With a sudden grunt of anger,

-the bear rose up. He seemed to smell trouble in the

-air. His movement rather spoiled Red Knife’s aim, or

-else the buck was nervous. The stone, thrown with

-terrific force, just glanced from bruin’s hard skull!</p>

-

-<p>With a roar the bear sprang at the foolish red man.

-He came all glaring eyes, froth-dripping fangs, and

-unsheathed claws&mdash;a sight to drive the barb of terror

-into the bravest heart!</p>

-

-<p>The redskin found himself walled in by fire behind.

-He leaped for the pool again, but the bear reached

-him with one paw first. The stroke ripped his hunting-shirt

-and leggings fairly from his body. Nothing

-but shreds of the garments were left and hung upon

-him&mdash;along with shreds of his torn flesh!</p>

-

-<p>The redskin yelled and leaped into the water. The

-bear growled and plunged after him. As he came up

-Red Knife saw the great body of the beast going

-down, and he struck at it with his blade again and

-again. The sharp steel was buried in the body of the<span class="pagenum">[223]</span>

-brute at each stroke, but all about the shoulders&mdash;a

-part not at all vital.</p>

-

-<p>Again and again Red Knife struck before the bear

-came to the surface, but, although the blood flowed

-until the agitated pool was dyed red, the bear came

-up as strong and as ugly as ever.</p>

-

-<p>Red Knife threw himself backward and escaped the

-first plunging blows of the bear. He reached shallow

-water and leaped ashore, being more agile in this than

-his bearship. But in doing so he chanced to slip and

-turn his ankle. The pain was very great for a moment,

-and the Indian fell to the ground, giving the

-bear a chance to almost overtake him.</p>

-

-<p>Instantly, however, the red turned and struck at his

-bearship before the latter could seize him with its

-great, slobbering jaws. An attack always puts a bear

-on the defensive. He squatted back on his haunches,

-ready to either hug his enemy or to strike at him with

-his great forearms, which swung like flails!</p>

-

-<p>Red Knife clambered to his feet, but he could not

-run. The bear would overtake him now in a short

-race. He poised himself on one foot, holding his

-dripping blade before him, and, believing himself come

-to the end of his time, the stoical Indian began to chant

-the death-song.</p>

-

-<p>The growling of the bear almost drowned this cry

-of the Indian. The latter advanced to embrace death,

-yet determined to sell his last breath dearly.</p>

-

-<p>The flaillike arms of the bear swung to and fro; he

-champed his teeth and roared. The Indian flung himself

-with the desperation of a berserker upon the animal,

-striking again and again with his keen blade.</p>

-

-<p>Two awful raking blows the bear got in himself.<span class="pagenum">[224]</span>

-It stripped the last rag from the Indian’s body, and

-broke the string of the amulet he wore about his neck,

-as well. They clinched like two men wrestling, and so

-rolled into the pool.</p>

-

-<p>Splash! they went under the surface. Bubbles and

-gore rose to the agitated top of the water.</p>

-

-<p>Then one of the contestants floated up, struggled a

-bit, secured a footing, and slowly walked ashore. It

-was the Indian. It was Red Knife, as naked as when

-he was born. He sank upon the bank of the stream,

-the conqueror in a good fight. But he had no joy in

-his heart. Instead, he was filled with gloom. In the

-struggle and the last plunge in the pool he had lost his

-medicine-bag!</p>

-

-

-

-<hr class="chap" />

-

-<div class="chapter">

-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXXV">CHAPTER XXXV.<br />

-<span class="cheaderfont">THE SEARCH FOR NEW MEDICINE.</span></h2>

-</div>

-

-

-<p>When a young brave comes to man’s estate his initiation

-into the religion of his tribe is a great matter.

-Heretofore he has had no real name. He has been

-called by several names, perhaps, but they have been

-those given him by his parents, and are perhaps only

-the pet names of childhood. Now he is a man and gets

-the name which in war and on the hunt he is hopeful

-of making great and long-remembered by the tribe.</p>

-

-<p>Red Knife belonged to the family of the Crow. The

-signification of that family was painted upon his

-father’s wigwam, as it would be upon his own when

-he set up a domicile for himself.</p>

-

-<p>So the medicine-man had put into a bag the dried

-entrails of a crow, its hard, black claws, and some of<span class="pagenum">[225]</span>

-its feathers, with various other charms against evil.

-The young man had watched all night upon a lonely

-hill, fasting, to guard his shield and arms, as well as

-the new medicine, from those spirits that are ever warring

-against human beings&mdash;according to the Indian

-code&mdash;and had in other ways proved himself worthy

-of being a brave in the councils of the Sioux.</p>

-

-<p>The bag, which had been fastened about Red Knife’s

-neck, was as precious to the Indian as his soul! Having

-lost it, he had lost caste and all else that an Indian

-holds of value. He would be considered apostate from

-the faith of his fathers; all that he had done heretofore

-in war and the chase would be held as nothing. He

-would be outcast from his kind, having lost his medicine,

-unless he could by some wonderful performance,

-or by some mysterious chance, find and appropriate a

-new medicine.</p>

-

-<p>There are just so many medicines in the world, according

-to the Indian belief; there is one for each man.

-Having lost his medicine, it could not be replaced by

-the medicine chief or by any other ordinary means.

-He could not kill an enemy and take <em>his</em> medicine for

-his own; for as soon as a man is dead the virtue of

-his medicine accompanies him on the journey to the

-happy hunting-grounds.</p>

-

-<p>No man would be so foolish as to sell his medicine

-at any price. With his last breath he will fight for

-that amulet. Red Knife was undone indeed as he sat

-there beside the bloody pool. All the manhood had

-gone out of him. His hard fight and his many wounds

-seemed as nothing to him now. He was bereft of his

-choicest possession and could not be comforted.</p>

-

-<p>Yet a desire to be with his kind, to see the faces of<span class="pagenum">[226]</span>

-his tribesmen again, drove the young man finally from

-his position. The fire had gone from the forest, and it

-was midday of the second day before he rose to his

-feet. The decomposing gases in the body of the bear

-had brought it to the surface. Red Knife hobbled

-down, cut off the paws and strung them about his

-neck, flayed the carcass, cut off some flesh for his own

-consumption, found a flint-stone, and with the back of

-his knife struck off sparks which lit a fire, and after

-eating and renewing his strength he wrapped himself

-in the gory robe and started for Oak Heart’s village.</p>

-

-<p>This encampment had been well out of the line of

-the forest fire and had not been disturbed by it. Red

-Knife reached it in the night and came to his father’s

-lodge. But he did not venture within. He was

-pariah&mdash;outcast&mdash;the lowest of the low.</p>

-

-<p>His mother gave him food in the morning, but his

-father sent back the bear’s paws. It was soon known

-that Red Knife had lost his medicine, and the head of

-the Crow family could not accept food at his hand. Of

-course, Red Knife knew it would be useless to make

-the bear claws into a necklace for the White Antelope.

-She would look at him less now than before. Besides,

-the White Antelope remained in her lodge, with one

-old woman, her nurse, most of the time. There was

-something very mysterious about the movements of

-the daughter of the chief.</p>

-

-<p>This did not interest Red Knife much at the time,

-however. He was past thinking of women. His own

-people looked at him askance. Nobody spoke to him;

-he was welcome in no lodge, and the very clothing

-which his mother <a id="Ref_226" href="#Ref_226a">flung</a> him seemed begrudged. All

-Indians must harden their hearts against a being so<span class="pagenum">[227]</span>

-cursed of the Great Spirit that he had lost his medicine!</p>

-

-<p>He could enter no council of his tribe; he had no

-voice in the general affairs; he could join in none of

-the sports. All that he had done before was forgotten.

-Even that he had brought low the white chief who had

-led the pony soldiers to the battle in the coulée counted

-nothing for Red Knife now. He was outcast.</p>

-

-<p>Red Knife could not stand for this long. An Indian

-does not make way with himself. A suicide wanders

-forever between this life and that to come, and is never

-at rest. But Red Knife was nearly desperate enough

-to resort to this awful finish.</p>

-

-<p>At least he determined to go out from among his

-people and never to return until he had found a new

-medicine and obtained a new name for himself&mdash;in

-other words, until he could demand the respect of his

-family and of his tribe.</p>

-

-<p>Now he crept out of the encampment, and from a

-high hill muttered his farewell address to his home

-and his people. He would not be Red Knife when he

-returned&mdash;if he returned at all. All the encampment

-knew that, but only one figure stood by his father’s

-lodge to watch him go. He knew that was his mother,

-but it was beneath him to notice a squaw!</p>

-

-<p>Now this young buck had set forth on a search as

-great as that for the Golden Fleece or the Holy Grail

-of old! Had the tribe a Homer, some great saga

-might have been written regarding the labor Red

-Knife had set himself.</p>

-

-<p>To go forth and kill an enemy and take his medicine

-was a simple matter. But the medicine of another

-would surely bring bad luck to the scion of the family<span class="pagenum">[228]</span>

-of Crow. And to find a man with two medicines&mdash;ah!

-that were a well-nigh impossible task! And, when

-found, would such a fortunate person be willing to

-give up his extra medicine? To fight for it might end

-in the death of the first possessor, and then would the

-virtue go from the medicine and it become a curse to

-Red Knife.</p>

-

-<p>The young man left his village and journeyed aimlessly

-for two days through the mountains. So unnoticing

-was he that finally he came to a place where

-he did not know his way out. He was not so far

-from Oak Heart’s village, but its direction he did not

-know for sure. And this valley in which he found

-himself seemed an uninhabited place.</p>

-

-<p>Many of the braves were out on hunting bent, but

-Red Knife had not seen any of them for twenty-four

-hours. Nor had he beheld a white man until, coming

-down to drink at the edge of the stream which watered

-this valley, he suddenly saw a figure in buckskin sitting

-upon a great, white horse on the opposite side of the

-stream. In the fading light of the evening the being

-looked gigantic to the red man&mdash;who was in a state of

-mind to see ghosts or anything else eerie! The strange

-figure was that of a white man. He had hair flowing

-to his shoulders, and he sat his horse with folded arms,

-staring off into the distance, evidently wrapped in deep

-thought.</p>

-

-<p>The wind was with the brave, and the horse even

-did not notice his presence. Red Knife might have

-crossed the stream and leaped upon the unsuspicious

-white man. Yet his mind was not upon killing, and

-when he finally recognized the stranger as the far-famed

-Pa-e-has-ka or Long Hair <a id="Ref_228" href="#Ref_228a">he feared</a><span class="pagenum">[229]</span>

-and would not, single-handed, have attempted the

-man’s death.</p>

-

-<p>Seldom might Buffalo Bill have been so easily

-caught napping. But he had seen no trace of Indians

-in the valley; he had ridden through it to this spot, and

-now his mind had reverted to his deep sorrow regarding

-Dick Danforth’s death, and he thought of nothing

-else.</p>

-

-<p>He roused at last from his reverie with a sigh, and

-glanced about him. His vision fell upon the figure of

-the young brave standing, likewise with folded arms,

-upon the edge of the stream. He could not repress a

-start of surprise at the appearance.</p>

-

-<p>“How!” grunted Red Knife.</p>

-

-<p>“How!” repeated the scout, in English.</p>

-

-<p>Then in the Sioux dialect he said:</p>

-

-<p>“Is it peace, brother?”</p>

-

-<p>“It is peace.”</p>

-

-<p>The scout had seen that the young buck was not

-panoplied for war, and now he dismounted and came

-to his side of the stream.</p>

-

-<p>“You are one of Oak Heart’s people?” Cody asked.</p>

-

-<p>“I <em>was</em> Red Knife, of the Sioux.”</p>

-

-<p>The scout overlooked the emphasis on the “was” for

-the moment. His attention was particularly stung by

-the name the brave gave.</p>

-

-<p>“‘Red Knife!’” he repeated.</p>

-

-<p>The brave bowed and was silent.</p>

-

-<p>“It was you who killed the white chief of the pony

-soldiers?” gasped Cody.</p>

-

-<p>Red Knife nodded again.</p>

-

-<p>The scout fiercely gripped the rifle he carried. In

-his heart he felt like shooting the brave down where he<span class="pagenum">[230]</span>

-stood. But he repressed this momentary feeling and

-said:</p>

-

-<p>“I have sworn vengeance against all who had to do

-with the death of that young man. He was as my son.

-Will Red Knife fight Pa-e-has-ka? Let him choose

-his own weapons and come against me that I may kill

-him in fair fight.”</p>

-

-<p>“I heard of your oath over the dead body of the

-brave white chief,” said Red Knife. “Pa-e-has-ka is a

-great chief himself. Red Knife is no match for him.

-But Red Knife now has no name and is of no people.

-Would Pa-e-has-ka fight with such a one?”</p>

-

-<p>“What’s the matter?” demanded Cody, in English,

-suddenly seeing that the young man was in a despondent

-mood.</p>

-

-<p>“I am an outcast from my people.”</p>

-

-<p>“What’s all that for? I should think the bloody

-devils would have rejoiced over your killing of poor

-Danforth,” muttered the scout.</p>

-

-<p>“Let me tell Pa-e-has-ka the tale,” began Red Knife

-oratorically. “The Sioux did indeed rejoice over the

-death of the young white chief. Red Knife was then a

-great warrior. But since misery has come upon him.”</p>

-

-<p>“And serve him right!” muttered Cody.</p>

-

-<p>With many a flourish of flowery phrase, the buck

-went on to recount his fight with the bear and the loss

-of his medicine-bag. He displayed the half-healed

-wounds made by the bear, and Cody saw that the story

-was true. Knowing well how great a matter this loss

-was to the Indian, the scout could not help but feeling

-some pity for him.</p>

-

-<p>Besides, Red Knife had only followed out his savage

-instincts and code of honor in killing Danforth. And<span class="pagenum">[231]</span>

-putting aside his personal desire for vengeance, Buffalo

-Bill saw that he might make use of the young brave.

-It was not against the ordinary bucks who had been in

-the fight that the scout felt hatred. Boyd Bennett had

-lied to Oak Heart, made him believe that Danforth’s

-expedition was after the old chief, and had led and

-planned the attack upon the soldiers and brought about

-their massacre.</p>

-

-<p>It was the renegade&mdash;he who called himself Death

-Killer, medicine chief of the Sioux&mdash;whom Buffalo

-Bill wished to get!</p>

-

-<p>Buffalo Bill had taken many desperate chances in his

-life. From the time when, as a younker of eleven

-years, he had hired out to the freighter at Leavenworth

-to do a man’s work for a man’s pay, and became a messenger

-riding between the long freight-trains on the

-overland trail, he had faced death in many forms and

-on many occasions. But in determining to go to the

-Sioux encampment to keep his tryst with White Antelope,

-he seemed to be passing the limit of reckless

-daring!</p>

-

-<p>Yet he believed that he had a chance for life. He

-would risk it, at least.</p>

-

-<p>For some days he had scouted about Oak Heart’s

-encampment, and he had learned that something very

-strange was going on in that neighborhood. He saw

-in this meeting with the outcast Red Knife a chance

-to gain a more intimate knowledge of matters in the

-encampment before venturing himself in the lion’s

-mouth.</p>

-

-<p>“Let Red Knife join Pa-e-has-ka upon this side of

-the brook,” the scout said, at last. “There shall be a

-truce between them. Pa-e-has-ka will share his meat<span class="pagenum">[232]</span>

-with Red Knife; Red Knife shall smoke and sleep beside

-Pa-e-has-ka’s fire.”</p>

-

-<p>If the young brave was astonished at this sudden

-proffer of friendship, he showed nothing of the kind

-in his face. He did not even hesitate. He crossed

-the brook straightly and helped prepare the camp in

-silence.</p>

-

-<p>The fact was the young Indian had put himself in

-the hands of the spirits. He believed he was being led.

-Perhaps this white man had a good medicine which

-Red Knife might fairly obtain and so become a person

-of consequence in his tribe again.</p>

-

-

-

-<hr class="chap" />

-

-<div class="chapter">

-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXXVI">CHAPTER XXXVI.<br />

-<span class="cheaderfont">THE MAGIC CUP.</span></h2>

-</div>

-

-

-<p>First of all, Cody desired to question the Sioux warrior,

-and as he prepared a hearty meal he proceeded to

-draw Red Knife out.</p>

-

-<p>“When did my brother leave the village of his

-people?”</p>

-

-<p>“It is a night and two days.”</p>

-

-<p>“Is Oak Heart inclined to peace?”</p>

-

-<p>“Oak Heart awaits the coming of the Long Hair, as

-he promised White Antelope.”</p>

-

-<p>“Very true,” said Cody calmly. “But there is one

-near Oak Heart who would keep the Long Hair from

-fulfilling his promise.”</p>

-

-<p>“A warrior?”</p>

-

-<p>“The renegade white, whom you call Death Killer.”</p>

-

-<p>“Ah! Death Killer is a great magician,” declared

-Red Knife, looking as though he meant it.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[233]</span></p>

-

-<p>“He is a wicked white. He is throwing dirt in the

-faces of my red brothers. They do not know him.”</p>

-

-<p>“His medicine is wonderful.”</p>

-

-<p>“Yet he could not make new medicine for the Red

-Knife?” suggested Cody slyly.</p>

-

-<p>“Ah! who could do that?” demanded the brave

-gloomily.</p>

-

-<p>“I have heard of its being done,” said the scout,

-and then, before the red man could ask a question, he

-proceeded: “Death Killer has ringed the camp with his

-own braves. They lay in wait for Pa-e-has-ka. Is it

-not so?”</p>

-

-<p>At this Red Knife showed that he was surprised.</p>

-

-<p>“This is bad. This is not known to Oak Heart. Is

-it so, Long Hair?”</p>

-

-<p>“The Sioux know that Long Hair is not two-tongued,”

-declared Cody. “This is so. I suspected it,

-and I have found them watching. Is not Death Killer

-much from the camp?”</p>

-

-<p>“He is.”</p>

-

-<p>“He goes from watcher to watcher to see that all

-are in their places. If Long Hair goes straight to the

-camp of Oak Heart, he will be killed.”</p>

-

-<p>Red Knife shrugged his shoulders and fell silent.

-Cody saw that, although the young brave considered it

-none of his business&mdash;it was a fight between Long

-Hair and Death Killer&mdash;he did not approve of the latter’s

-methods. And the scout was convinced, too, that

-the bulk of the Indians&mdash;and Oak Heart himself&mdash;knew

-naught of the trick to which Boyd Bennett had

-resorted.</p>

-

-<p>Cody had not been foolish enough to ride straight

-toward Oak Heart’s village when he rode away from<span class="pagenum">[234]</span>

-the spot where the Mad Hunter had been killed. He

-had seen in Boyd Bennett’s face, when he had gone

-free under his promise to the chief’s daughter, that the

-scoundrel would do all in his power to keep the scout

-from fulfilling his agreement. Although in going to

-the Indian village Cody would be taking his life in his

-hand, still by <em>not</em> appearing there he would lose honor

-among the reds themselves.</p>

-

-<p>It would be said among the Utah Sioux, and from

-them spread to the Utes, Arapahoes, and others, that

-Pa-e-has-ka was afraid to keep his promise. And from

-the time he first journeyed across the plains Buffalo

-Bill had kept his agreements in every particular with

-the red man, friend or foe alike. He was one of the few

-white men “without guile.” He said what he meant,

-and meant what he said, and he was considered single-tongued

-by all, though he was up to every craftiness

-that his enemies might try upon him.</p>

-

-<p>Cody now wished to undermine the popularity of

-Boyd Bennett among Oak Heart’s braves. Even if he

-got through the medicine chief’s guards and reached

-the council-lodge of the Sioux, he would have to face

-the influence of the renegade, and that might overcome

-him to the extent of his life’s sacrifice. The scout

-was not the man to go blindly into a trap.</p>

-

-<p>Death Killer, as he called himself, was playing the

-traitor. Cody wished to convince Red Knife of this

-fact and send him back to the encampment to spread

-the tale against Death Killer. To this end he used the

-cunning which he had long cultivated in his association

-with the redskins.</p>

-

-<p>He well knew the regard in which the Indian holds

-his medicine-bag. If he could restore to Red Knife his<span class="pagenum">[235]</span>

-medicine, or, rather, supply him with a new amulet

-that would make him a man and a citizen again, the

-scout could command his good offices to almost any

-extent.</p>

-

-<p>But the scout said nothing further that night. He

-let his observations regarding the renegade Bennett

-sink into the red man’s mind. In the morning he fed

-him bountifully again. When he had finished, Red

-Knife showed that he had digested Cody’s remarks

-well, and was in some measure grateful for the entertainment

-shown him.</p>

-

-<p>“The Long Hair is my brother. He has warmed

-me and fed me. If the Long Hair really desires to

-appear before Oak Heart and the old men of the tribe,

-as he has promised, Red Knife may show him a way.”</p>

-

-<p>“Ah!” exclaimed the scout. “Some way that Death

-Killer is not guarding with his braves, eh?”</p>

-

-<p>“It may be.”</p>

-

-<p>“In which direction is it?”</p>

-

-<p>“The Long Hair knows the direction of the encampment,

-perhaps? Red Knife, wandering in broken

-spirit, has lost his way.”</p>

-

-<p>“Oh, you want to know the direction of the place?”</p>

-

-<p>“It is so. The lodges of his people will not receive

-Red Knife, but he may point them out, by a secret

-way, to the Long Hair.”</p>

-

-<p>“Humph! Let’s see the direction,” muttered Cody,

-and drew from under his shirt a small compass in a

-brass cup which was hung about his neck by a strong

-cord.</p>

-

-<p>The Indian’s eyes suddenly glistened. Here was

-the great white’s chief’s medicine, and Red Knife was

-greatly interested in medicines just then! He peered<span class="pagenum">[236]</span>

-closely at the cup which Cody held in his hand. The

-latter noticed the brave’s eagerness, and he knew instinctively

-what was passing through the red’s mind.</p>

-

-<p>Therefore the scout made a great show of consulting

-the compass, holding it in his hand while the little

-needle waggled cheerfully to his movements, pointing

-ever to the north. Finally Red Knife spoke&mdash;breathlessly:</p>

-

-<p>“Does the magic cup speak to Long Hair? If so,

-its voice is very low. Does it tell where lies the lodges

-of my people?”</p>

-

-<p>“It does not speak. But it answers the question,”

-declared Cody gravely.</p>

-

-<p>“A marvelous magic!” exclaimed Red Knife. “The

-white chief worships the spirit of the cup?”</p>

-

-<p>“This is a great medicine, Red Knife,” said Cody

-seriously. “Now mark! We wish to know how to

-travel to reach the lodges of your people. Long Hair

-knows that we are south and west of the village. We

-look into the cup.”</p>

-

-<p>He thrust the compass under the Indian’s nose, and

-Red Knife had hard work to keep from jumping back.</p>

-

-<p>“Look! See the finger which moves?”</p>

-

-<p>“Ugh! It is magic!” muttered the young brave.</p>

-

-<p>“That finger points ever to the cold land&mdash;to the

-lands from which winter comes. Always to the north

-it points. Therefore, so standing and facing the north,

-my right hand points to the sunrise, my left to the

-sunset,” suiting the action to his words. “Behind me

-is the south. Therefore, by facing the sunrise and

-bearing off somewhat to the north of that, we approach

-the village of Chief Oak Heart.”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[237]</span></p>

-

-<p>“Ugh! It is wonder-work, indeed!” exclaimed Red

-Knife. “It is a great medicine.”</p>

-

-<p>“It is a great and good medicine. No brave in Red

-Knife’s tribe has a medicine like this.”</p>

-

-<p>“There are no two medicines alike in this world,”

-grunted the brave philosophically.</p>

-

-<p>Cody went to the bag strapped to Chief’s saddle, unbuckled

-a pocket, and brought out a small packet tied

-in wash-leather and oilskin. When he was in Denver he

-had made a purchase for a brother scout, but so far

-had not run up against the man to give it to him. He

-came back to the fire, squatted down beside Red Knife,

-and unwrapped the exact counterpart of his own

-“magic cup,” only this was brighter and unused.</p>

-

-<p>“Waugh!” ejaculated the Indian, starting back.</p>

-

-<p>“You see, here is another of the magic cups. I

-have long had two medicines,” said Buffalo Bill, drawing

-slightly on his imagination. “They are good medicines.

-They have brought me good luck and made me

-successful in the chase, and in war. The Red Knife

-has no medicine. What would he do for the possession

-of this?” and the scout held out the compass temptingly.</p>

-

-<p>Red Knife could barely restrain himself now. His

-cheeks actually flushed, and his eyes glistened.</p>

-

-<p>“The Red Knife is a man!” he cried. “He will

-fight the Long Hair for the good medicine.”</p>

-

-<p>“Nay. The Long Hair cannot battle at once with

-he whom he has fed. The Red Knife and the Long

-Hair are brothers. The Long Hair will give his red

-brother the magic cup,” and he thrust the compass into

-the brave’s willing hand.</p>

-

-<p>“In return,” Cody pursued, “Red Knife will take<span class="pagenum">[238]</span>

-the tale of Death Killer’s treachery into Oak Heart’s

-village. Come! Long Hair will show his brother the

-medicine chief’s braves lurking for the scalp of Long

-Hair. It is a true tale. Red Knife will tell Oak

-Heart himself.”</p>

-

-<p>“Waugh! Death Killer is a mighty chief,” said Red

-Knife hesitatingly.</p>

-

-<p>“And this is a mighty medicine,” suggested the wily

-scout.</p>

-

-<p>The Indian rose up suddenly and thrust the compass

-into the breast of his shirt. He had evidently made up

-his mind.</p>

-

-<p>“It is well,” he said shortly. “Let Long Hair show

-this truth to me.”</p>

-

-

-

-<hr class="chap" />

-

-<div class="chapter">

-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXXVII">CHAPTER XXXVII.<br />

-<span class="cheaderfont">THE TRAITOR.</span></h2>

-</div>

-

-

-<p>Buffalo Bill was too wise to take Chief too near the

-Indian encampment. The wise white horse could take

-care of himself in ordinary emergencies, but he would

-be rather in the way up in the mountains, and the scout

-left him in a well-grassed valley, while he and Red

-Knife went on toward the Indian village.</p>

-

-<p>Chief Oak Heart had established himself in a place

-not easy of access by the pony soldiers, and he had a

-great contempt for the “walk-a-heaps.” The Sioux

-are great riders, seldom walking where a pony can

-carry them, and are contemptuous of all people who do

-not likewise ride.</p>

-

-<p>Red Knife had left his village afoot. It was a mark

-of his humility and his desperate straits. The route<span class="pagenum">[239]</span>

-back to the encampment was so rough that ponies

-would have been of little use to either the red man or

-the scout. They were all day in climbing the mountain

-and finding a pass through to the other side of the

-ridge. They came out about dark in sight of the valley

-where the village lay. Its lights were visible to

-them from the mountainside. They retired to a cave

-that Red Knife knew of, however, and built their own

-fire, out of sight.</p>

-

-<p>Red Knife was mightily pleased with his new medicine.

-He was eager to get down to his people and

-show its virtues to them. But he had promised two

-things to the scout. One was to point out a secret

-trail down into Oak Heart’s camp; the other to spread

-among the braves the fact of Death Killer’s treachery&mdash;providing

-Cody proved to his satisfaction that the

-medicine chief <em>was</em> treacherous.</p>

-

-<p>Before daybreak Buffalo Bill awoke his red ally, and

-they stole out of the cave like shadows. The Border

-King had marked well the stations of the various

-braves who were under the medicine chief’s control.

-They were set at every entrance to the valley by which

-the scout might have penetrated to the encampment.</p>

-

-<p>At least, such had been the case upon his previous

-visit, and they were not long at the search before

-spotting one of these sentinels. At least, he was one

-of Death Killer’s particular friends, and he was apparently

-watching a pass through the hills.</p>

-

-<p>The scout and Red Knife approached quite near to

-him, but Cody would not let his companion speak to

-the sentinel.</p>

-

-<p>“Wait! Let us see if there are more, as I have told

-my red brother,” he observed, and they went on to another<span class="pagenum">[240]</span>

-path. Sure enough, there, grimly camped beside

-the way, was a second brave, likewise one of those who

-associated more closely with Boyd Bennett, the renegade.

-Again they went on, going cautiously now, for

-it was past sunrise, and found a third watchman.</p>

-

-<p>These plainly were not sentinels placed to guard

-particularly the camp itself. Those were much nearer

-the village. These red men were stationed thusly for

-a particular purpose.</p>

-

-<p>“Is my red brother satisfied that the Long Hair

-spoke truly?” asked the scout of the young brave.</p>

-

-<p>“Pa-e-has-ka is of single tongue. He does not lie.

-But Red Knife will first go to Chief Oak Heart and

-ask him if, by his instruction, these men were sent to

-bar the way to the lodges of the Sioux. If the great

-chief knows naught of it, then must Death Killer explain.”</p>

-

-<p>“Tell Oak Heart to remove these guards and Long

-Hair will appear before him as he promised the White

-Antelope,” said Cody seriously.</p>

-

-<p>Red Knife solemnly shook hands with him. Although

-the young brave had, by his own confession,

-killed Dick Danforth, the scout had been forced to

-make use of him. Now he gave him a word of warning:</p>

-

-<p>“Although Red Knife is now Long Hair’s friend,

-and Long Hair has given him of his own strong medicine

-that Red Knife might be a man among his people,

-there is still a feud between them. It was Red Knife’s

-hand that killed the young white chief, whom Long

-Hair loved. When next we meet let Red Knife beware.”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[241]</span></p>

-

-<p>“It is just,” admitted the Indian solemnly. “Let us

-go.”</p>

-

-<p>He led Cody then to the hidden path which would

-enable the scout to pass all of Death Killer’s sentinels

-and, indeed, most of the guards of the village, and so

-ride almost into the encampment itself without being

-seen. Then, without a word further, the young brave

-turned his face toward his father’s lodge.</p>

-

-<p>Buffalo Bill sat down and smoked his pipe while he

-watched him along the trail into the valley. He could

-watch Red Knife for a long distance before the young

-man came out upon the bluff which overlooked the

-valley where the encampment lay. Until that time he

-could not be seen from below.</p>

-

-<p>Suddenly Buffalo Bill saw a figure among the rocks

-near the path which Red Knife was following. It was

-of another Indian, but the scout could not see the

-man’s face&mdash;not even with the aid of his field-glasses.

-Red Knife seemed totally unconscious of the other’s

-presence until suddenly the stranger leaped before him

-and stood in his path.</p>

-

-<p>“Hello!” muttered Cody. “What’s all this?”</p>

-

-<p>It was evident that the two redskins conversed excitedly.

-What they said, of course, the scout could

-not even guess. Indians are usually so self-repressed

-that the scout could not judge at this distance whether

-they spoke angrily or in the most pleasant way together.</p>

-

-<p>It seemed, however, as though the strange redskin

-tried to urge Red Knife to wait, but the young brave

-was determined to go on down into the valley. At

-last he seemed almost to break away from the other

-and push on toward the edge of the bluff. Cody knew<span class="pagenum">[242]</span>

-that neither of the actors in the drama below could be

-seen from the village.</p>

-

-<p>Red Knife was determined, and left the one who had

-accosted him. The latter shrank back and watched

-him for a moment. Then suddenly Cody saw him

-gather himself, jerk the tomahawk from his belt, and

-swing the weapon high in the air!</p>

-

-<p>Cody caught himself from crying out, but he <em>did</em>

-leap up as the fatal blow fell. The strange Indian cast

-himself upon Red Knife’s back and clove the unconscious

-red man’s skull with a mighty blow of the

-hatchet. Red Knife went down in a heap!</p>

-

-<p>Cody pulled himself together and, through the glass,

-watched the traitor stoop over the fallen man, strip the

-scalp from his head, and then dart away among the

-rocks. Steeped in guilt as he was, the scout knew the

-villain would not remain near the scene of his atrocious

-act. Therefore he risked going down to the place himself.</p>

-

-<p>Poor Red Knife was truly disposed of. The hatchet

-had killed him instantly. And all the hopes Cody had

-based upon his good offices were dissipated at once.</p>

-

-<p>The scout stood there for some time and communed

-with himself. Should he risk going on into the village

-now? Or should he await some favorable opportunity

-of undermining Boyd Bennett’s power before putting

-himself within the bandit’s grasp?</p>

-

-<hr class="chap" />

-

-<div class="chapter">

-<p><span class="pagenum">[243]</span></p>

-

-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXXVIII">CHAPTER XXXVIII.<br />

-<span class="cheaderfont">WHITE ANTELOPE’S PERIL.</span></h2>

-</div>

-

-

-<p>There was much disturbance in the encampment

-about this time, as Buffalo Bill had seen when making

-his observations from the high peaks about the valley.

-The Indians ran to and fro like ants, and runners frequently

-went out, or came in by the northern roads.

-This meant surely that Oak Heart was communicating

-with the other chiefs, and the scout feared that, stirred

-up by Boyd Bennett in his character of medicine chief,

-the Sioux leader was preparing for another attack like

-that on Fort Advance.</p>

-

-<p>Rumors ran rife among the Indians regarding the

-movements of the bluecoats, and the numbers of them

-who had come to bury the dead whites after the recent

-ambush in which Oak Heart himself had taken part.

-The old chief, believing that Lieutenant Danforth was

-coming to attack his encampment, had taken part in

-this sanguinary struggle himself.</p>

-

-<p>Now certain warriors brought strange rumors into

-the village. It was said that Pa-e-has-ka was on the

-war-path, too. And that he was leading the whites to

-the encampment. So spoke the Death Killer, the white

-medicine chief of the Sioux, who was gaining great

-influence with the young men of the tribe.</p>

-

-<p>“Pa-e-has-ka is my foe,” he said bitterly, “and I

-sought to bring him captive here, or to slay him with

-his friend; but the White Antelope freed him, and sent

-him back to his people to carry Oak Heart’s warning.

-What has been done? Do not the white men come in

-force into the Indian country?</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[244]</span></p>

-

-<p>“The White Antelope turned a panther loose upon

-the trail of my red brothers. And he told her that he

-would return and come a prisoner again into Oak

-Heart’s village, and to his lodge. Has he come?”</p>

-

-<p>“No!” answered many voices.</p>

-

-<p>“But the warriors come in and tell how Pa-e-has-ka

-has killed their comrades, scalped their brothers, and

-laughed at them for squaws. Will the Sioux braves

-let the paleface dog longer kick dirt in their faces? Is

-he not now near their village, and yet no warrior

-brings in his scalp, because he is under the protection

-of the White Antelope?”</p>

-

-<p>A murmur arose from the old men about the council

-circle.</p>

-

-<p>“Let my medicine braves seek his trail and bring him

-alive into the presence of the great chief, and the Death

-Killer will show him how the Pa-e-has-ka will weep

-like a squaw when he is bound to the torture-stake.”</p>

-

-<p>This speech of the renegade excited the Indians to

-frenzy. There was no longer any possibility of restraining

-the young men. A hundred warriors took

-the trail with the avowed intention of bringing in the

-Long Hair.</p>

-

-<p>When Red Knife was found dead upon the bluff

-overlooking the camp there was considerable wonder

-expressed. The unfortunate scion of the Crow family

-had lost caste, it was true, but why he should have

-been killed by the supposedly lurking white man&mdash;the

-Red Knife had gone from the camp unarmed&mdash;even

-the redskins themselves could not understand. As the

-murders increased Bennett grew louder in his objurgations

-against Long Hair.</p>

-

-<p>From the hour of his disappointment upon the gory<span class="pagenum">[245]</span>

-field where Danforth and his band had met their doom,

-the renegade had thirsted for revenge upon the scout.

-He had secretly despatched a noted warrior to meet and

-kill Buffalo Bill on his return; but having not again

-seen or heard of this brave, Bennett feared that he had

-come to grief at the hands of the old Indian fighter.</p>

-

-<p>The medicine chief did not wish Buffalo Bill to

-really appear before Oak Heart and the old chiefs of

-the tribe. He was not at all sure what the outcome of

-such a venture might be. Indians admire bravery and

-boldness above all other virtues, and Bennett feared

-the dashing scout might influence the tribe against <em>him</em>,

-too.</p>

-

-<p>For defending the scout and permitting him to go

-free upon his pledge to return, the renegade had not

-forgiven the White Antelope. Yet he knew the influence

-she held in the tribe, that upon account of her

-having been born with yellow hair, and growing up

-far more beautiful than any maiden of the Sioux, she

-was regarded as a favored child of the Great Spirit,

-and that should he cross her will he might lose the

-power he had gained over the tribesmen.</p>

-

-<p>He had hoped, too, to win the Indian maiden for his

-lodge, when he first became familiar with the tribe;

-but she had treated his advances with disdain, and this

-was a second reason why he felt revengeful toward her.

-To get any redskin to aid him in a plot against White

-Antelope, he knew would be impossible; yet he did not

-despair of either conquering the proud girl, or getting

-rid of her altogether. At least, he desired to keep her

-away from the camp and the council if Buffalo Bill

-were brought in; otherwise, she might disturb all his

-plans and aid in the release of the white man.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[246]</span></p>

-

-<p>Therefore the medicine chief watched the teepee of

-the white queen keenly. When he saw her mount her

-pony and gallop out of the village, and past the guards

-which encircled it, Boyd Bennett followed secretly.

-White Antelope, accustomed to going where and how

-she pleased, and having unbounded confidence in her

-own prowess, rode to the top of a ridge some distance

-from the encampment.</p>

-

-<p>The young brave who sentineled this high strip of

-ground was much in love with the beautiful daughter

-of the chief, and with her before his eyes he forgot all

-else. So wrapped was the young man in the contemplation

-of the girl that he forgot his duty. A form

-suddenly bounded from behind a rock near-by, an iron

-hand gripped the youth’s throat and bore him backward

-out of sight, and the long knife in the murderer’s hand

-struck home&mdash;to the heart.</p>

-

-<p>It was over instantly. No sound&mdash;only a gasp, and

-the death-rattle in the brave’s throat. Then, with the

-knife, the murderer made a quick incision in a rough

-circle in the scalp, about the size of a dollar, and with

-his teeth tore off the dead warrior’s scalp-lock.</p>

-

-<p>Seated there by the side of his victim the slayer

-looked upon him with real pleasure, while he muttered

-in a sinister tone:</p>

-

-<p>“More blood! Ah! I love it! This shall be another

-death laid to the wiles of Buffalo Bill. Now for

-the White Antelope, and then&mdash;&mdash;</p>

-

-<p>“There she comes! Now to catch her as she passes!”</p>

-

-<p>He crouched behind his rocky shelter as he spoke,

-while the White Antelope, seemingly somewhat despondent,

-came riding slowly back toward the village.

-In truth, she had ridden to see if she could spy the<span class="pagenum">[247]</span>

-coming of the Long Hair, who had promised to return.

-That strange man had gained a wonderful hold upon

-her mind. And, beside, she had a great secret to impart

-to him.</p>

-

-<p>Suddenly the girl uttered a cry of alarm and tried to

-wheel her pony to dash away, for to her side had

-sprung the form of Boyd Bennett. But his rough hand

-effectually shut off her scream, he seized her in his

-arms, and, dragging her from the frightened pony’s

-back, he darted down a defile, unseen by any of the Indian

-guards.</p>

-

-

-

-<hr class="chap" />

-

-<div class="chapter">

-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXXIX">CHAPTER XXXIX.<br />

-<span class="cheaderfont">A CRY FOR HELP.</span></h2>

-</div>

-

-

-<p>In a large cavern penetrating a pile of rocks, rising

-to an elevation that commanded a view of the Indian

-village, sat Buffalo Bill. He had a strong field-glass,

-and for two days he had been studying the camp, and

-all that went in or came out of it.</p>

-

-<p>He had seen many things which led him to know

-that Boyd Bennett was as two-faced with his Indian

-friends as he had been with the whites. This murder

-was not the first the medicine chief had done.</p>

-

-<p>“Well, I’ll never get them down finer than I have

-them now,” he was saying thoughtfully. “I wish I had

-Texas here to send back word to Captain Keyes. A

-knowledge of the exact situation of the village and just

-how many warriors old Oak Heart has might be of inestimable

-value later&mdash;if I don’t get away again!”</p>

-

-<p>The great scout intended to go into the village and

-boldly face the renegade. He had hoped by lingering<span class="pagenum">[248]</span>

-about the place in secret to catch the medicine chief

-unawares, and so put him out of the way before delivering

-himself to the tribe. For it was Boyd Bennett

-alone whom the scout feared. He had a secret possession

-which he believed might save him from death at

-the hands of the Sioux, providing Bennett was not

-there to use his influence as medicine chief against

-him.</p>

-

-<p>As he came to this final desperate decision, however,

-Buffalo Bill saw the renegade come into view among

-the rocks, and in his arms he carried the struggling

-figure of the White Antelope. Catching sight of the

-scout, the girl shrieked in English:</p>

-

-<p>“Long Hair! Save me! save me!”</p>

-

-<p>The renegade turned his bloodshot eyes upon the

-scout. He shrieked with ungovernable fury at him

-and gibbered:</p>

-

-<p>“Raise your hand, Buffalo Bill, and I will kill her!”</p>

-

-<p>Buffalo Bill raised his rifle and sighted pointblank

-at his old foe. But the scoundrel held the girl before

-his own body, besides threatening her with his upraised

-knife. At another time&mdash;or given another person

-than the White Antelope&mdash;the scout would have

-risked one of his wonderful shots and perhaps brought

-the bandit chief down before he could have done his

-captive harm. He hesitated, however, for he had great

-reason for desiring to save the girl’s life. The fluctuation

-of a hair’s breadth in his aim might put the rifle-ball

-into her body instead of Boyd Bennett’s.</p>

-

-<p>Therefore the scout, with a groan, dropped his gun.

-The girl shrieked again, and in a moment Bennett

-leaped behind a boulder and fled along a secret path,

-entirely hidden from the scout’s station.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[249]</span></p>

-

-<p>Buffalo Bill heard the girl’s heartrending shrieks as

-she was carried swiftly into the hills. They appealed

-to him strongly, and, quickly girding himself for the

-chase, he followed on the trail of the abductor.</p>

-

-<p>The object of the bandit’s mad act Buffalo Bill did

-not realize. Bennett’s bloodthirsty killing of the sentinel&mdash;and

-formerly of Red Knife&mdash;seemed to point to

-the fact that the man’s brain was turned. Why he had

-fled now from the encampment with the chief’s daughter

-was a deep mystery, unless he was indeed mad.</p>

-

-<p>The scout’s mind, however, was given up mainly to

-planning for the release of the girl and the overcoming

-of her captor. Boyd Bennett seemed to be alone in

-this abduction plot, and the scout felt rejoiced that at

-last it seemed he was to meet the fellow with something

-like an equal chance.</p>

-

-<p>The principal thing now was to not give Bennett

-start enough to hide in the rocks. Buffalo Bill could

-hear the scrambling of the man with the girl in his

-arms, although for some time he could not see him.

-Not until they rounded the spur of the mountain and

-arrived upon the farther slope did the scout obtain a

-glimpse of the object of his pursuit.</p>

-

-<p>Then, to his bitter disappointment, he beheld Boyd

-Bennett, still lugging the girl, running down the hill

-toward a thicket, near which was tethered a horse,

-saddled and bridled! As he ran the renegade&mdash;now a

-traitor both to the reds and the whites&mdash;uttered a

-shrill “coee!” and immediately a horseman appeared

-from behind the thicket. It was one of the outlaw’s

-old gang, Buffalo Bill made no doubt, and he had been

-here in waiting, with the extra horse for his chief and

-the girl.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[250]</span></p>

-

-<p>White Antelope no longer struggled in the fiend’s

-arms. Buffalo Bill knew that she had fainted and lay

-limply across Bennett’s saddle as he put her up and

-mounted in such haste. But the scout was too far

-away now for a shot. The two villains started their

-horses down the slope and were quickly out of sight,

-and all this without a single redskin being aroused!</p>

-

-<p>Plainly Bennett had planned this coup with great

-cunning. He had placed his own braves in positions

-to bar Buffalo Bill from the valley where the camp

-lay, but had allowed one of Oak Heart’s braves to bar

-one exit. That brave Cody had seen the scoundrel

-kill and scalp, so leaving a plain path into the encampment

-if the scout wished to go that way.</p>

-

-<p>But two strong desires led the scout upon a different

-trail. His interest in White Antelope was no small interest.

-Happenings of late had really increased it,

-indeed. And Boyd Bennett must be run down!</p>

-

-<p>Afoot as he was, the scout hurried after the two

-outlaws and their fair-haired captive, for by keeping

-doggedly at it a man may run down a horse. Providing

-the outlaws had no fresh horses and their destination

-was far away, Cody felt confident that he would

-overtake them even though he continued afoot.</p>

-

-<p>But chance favored him. Bennett and his companions

-followed a trace through the mountains which

-passed within a few miles of the valley in which Buffalo

-Bill had left Chief, his big white horse. The scout

-left the trail long enough to obtain his mount, which,

-having fed well and being rested, was as eager for the

-trail as his master.</p>

-

-<p>Back to the bandit’s trail the scout rode, and the

-white stallion flung mile after mile of the rocky way<span class="pagenum">[251]</span>

-beneath his feet. Bennett and his companion had not

-tried to disguise their trail. Evidently they felt either

-sure of no pursuit, or considered themselves a match

-for Buffalo Bill. Bennett probably did not think that

-the Indians themselves would miss White Antelope

-until the trail was stale and he would be too far away

-with the girl to be overtaken.</p>

-

-<p>The pursuer came upon the place where the trio had

-camped at noon. They had boldly built a fire and

-cooked food, and Cody even found the marks of the

-girl’s moccasins in the soft ground beside the trail.

-Perhaps she had shrewdly stepped there when her

-captors were not looking, hoping that their trail was

-being followed. At another place she had torn some

-beadwork from her garments and flung it on the

-ground.</p>

-

-<p>“She’s a sharp girl, all right,” said Cody to himself.

-“And if she has confidence in my following and

-saving her, I swear it shall not be misplaced!”</p>

-

-<p>Before night, however, the scout received a shock

-which made him almost despair. The trail he was

-following came down into a great valley through the

-middle of which flowed a broad river. On the river’s

-bank the hoof-marks of Bennett’s mount and his companion’s

-were joined by those of a dozen other horses!</p>

-

-<p>“They’ve been caught, by thunder!” was Cody’s first

-thought.</p>

-

-<p>Then he saw that this supposition was entirely

-wrong, and his heart sank. These were not unshod

-Indian ponies. Nor could they be a party of peaceful

-travelers who had joined Bennett and his friend. It

-was the rest of the gang. The outlaws had here

-joined their leader, and, instead of following two<span class="pagenum">[252]</span>

-scoundrels, the scout was up against the entire gang&mdash;and

-single-handed!</p>

-

-<p>Then did he wish that he had sought out a part of

-Captain Keyes’ command and brought them on this

-hunt for the bandit leader and his helpless captive. He

-shuddered to think of what might be White Antelope’s

-fate among these ruffians. He could not go

-back now for help; and yet, if he overtook the gang,

-what could he, a man alone, do toward getting the

-girl free?</p>

-

-<p>Yet Buffalo Bill, the Border King, had spent years

-of his life in taking chances. He had been up against

-as serious odds before, and had come out on top. He

-did not hesitate for a single instant, but crossed the

-river at the ford, and followed the hoof-prints of the

-gang up the opposite bank of the river.</p>

-

-<p>If they were making for their rendezvous, well and

-good. He would at least learn one&mdash;perhaps the principal&mdash;hiding-place

-of the gang, and later could bring

-a party to overwhelm them. Meantime, he would trust

-to luck and a merciful Providence to assist him in obtaining

-White Antelope’s release unharmed from the

-villainous crew.</p>

-

-

-

-<hr class="chap" />

-

-<div class="chapter">

-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XL">CHAPTER XL.<br />

-<span class="cheaderfont">THE FREIGHT-TRAIN.</span></h2>

-</div>

-

-

-<p>The sun was sinking like a great globe of fire, seemingly

-at the very foot of the broad valley which, from

-its head, spread forth miles upon square miles of verdant

-lawn, crimson and yellow groves, the leaves of

-which blushed before the cold finger-touch of winter<span class="pagenum">[253]</span>

-interspersed with patches of hemlock and spruce, now,

-as ever, green. Through the valley flowed a broad

-river, joined here by several mountain brooks which

-tumbled down from the heights on either hand to

-swell the main current, which entered the vale from

-the mouth of the broad cañon on the north. A deeply

-rutted wagon trail came out of the cañon as well as the

-river. For miles this trace wound along the riverside,

-hemmed in by gigantic cliffs on the tops of which

-the bighorn sheep looked like specks to the traveler below,

-and which were so high and so close together in

-places that it was twilight at noon in the bottom of

-the gorge!</p>

-

-<p>Indeed, back in the cañon it was already night when

-the sun was but setting out here in the valley. Therefore

-the “mule-skinners” cracked their blacksnakes and

-shouted many objurgations to their patient animals,

-desiring to reach the open and make camp outside the

-cañon before darkness finally settled upon the valley.

-The creaking of the wagon wheels and the cracking of

-the whips, with the voices of the mule-skinners, made

-music a mile up the cañon.</p>

-

-<p>It was a heavy wagon-train. First rode the captain

-on a gray mare with a bell on her neck. With her

-tethered near the wagons the mules could be turned

-loose at night; they would never desert the camp as

-long as the gray mare remained faithful.</p>

-

-<p>The wagons of the train were linked together&mdash;five

-or six great, lumbering, canvas-topped vehicles, with

-eight or ten span of mules hauling on each section.

-There were three of these sections in the train, six

-men to a section, the captain, and the cook who rode

-behind on another saddle-horse, leading a pack-animal<span class="pagenum">[254]</span>

-which bore the cook-tent and some of the camp equipment.</p>

-

-<p>When the captain reached the mouth of the cañon

-and beheld the pleasant, sunlit valley he turned and

-uttered a loud “coee! coee!” which brought the cook

-and his packhorse trotting forward. The valley looked

-perfectly safe to the captain of the train, and he selected

-an indenture in the river-bank where the cook

-and he set up the tent, and, as fast as the wagons came

-up, they deployed off the trail so as to make a horseshoe

-figure around the camping-place, the open part

-of which was toward the river.</p>

-

-<p>This precaution was always taken whether they saw

-Indian signs or not. And at night rifles were issued

-to the men and a strong guard mounted. Each man

-“packed” a couple of guns at his waist all day, anyway.</p>

-

-<p>The selection of this low piece of ground as the

-camp was not wise, however. An enemy could ride

-to the edge of the low, sloping bluff which surrounded

-it on three sides and pop bullets over the wagon tops

-into the enclosure, shooting from one side those who

-strove to guard the other line of the camp.</p>

-

-<p>For days, however, the party had seen no signs of

-redskins. Small scalping-parties would fight shy of

-the wagon-train; for twenty well-armed whites were

-bound to be respected by the Arabs of the plains,

-especially as the train crew was sure to be armed with

-the quickfiring guns which the Indians so feared.</p>

-

-<p>After the sun set the evening was short, for it was

-late fall now. The air grew chill; in the midst of the

-camp the men built a rousing fire, aside from that

-over which the cook pottered, and around this they<span class="pagenum">[255]</span>

-gathered and told stories, cracked rude jokes, or

-basked silently in the warmth of the flames, resting

-from the toil of the day. So unconscious were they

-of aught but their immediate surroundings that they

-did not see several horsemen who topped the nearest

-rise to the west, and overlooking the camp.</p>

-

-<p>It was now deep dusk, but the horsemen were silhouetted

-against the sky-line so plainly that had any

-of the freighters chanced to glance that way they must

-have seen the figures. Only for a moment were they

-in view, however. The leader of the group spoke

-sharply, but in a low tone, to his mates, and all pulled

-their horses about and disappeared quickly beyond the

-ridge.</p>

-

-<p>Later, and afoot, two of the party came again to the

-summit of the ridge and reconnoitered. The freighters’

-camp lay calmly under the starry sky, the fires

-burning briskly, the mules champing the grass of the

-plain contentedly, occasionally a laugh or a sharp word

-echoing across the valley between the calls of the night-birds.</p>

-

-<p>The wind wandered down from the heights and

-shook the canvas covers of the wagons as though trying

-to arouse the men to the danger that threatened

-them. Coyotes whined in the distance, sniffing the

-herd, but too cowardly to advance until on the morrow

-the freight-train should have passed on. <em>Then</em> they

-would come boldly in and fight over the scraps remaining.

-And, perhaps, there would be greater booty

-for the scavengers of the plains to fight over!</p>

-

-<p>The men scouting about the freighters’ camp numbered

-the unconscious men and noted their arms and

-how the camp was arranged. There was a high river-bank.<span class="pagenum">[256]</span>

-The captain of the train had ordered the arrangement

-of the wagons partly because he was eager

-to obtain water; but there was a high bank to the river

-here, and a narrow beach below it. Men afoot could

-creep down this bank and, sheltered from the camp,

-approach it and attack from the riverside. Even a

-sentinel stationed on the very verge of the bank would

-be little likely to apprehend the coming of such an attacking

-force, unless he chanced to be expecting it.</p>

-

-<p>The captain of the train set one of his watchmen on

-the bank above the river, however, and to keep warm

-the rifleman walked back and forth, pacing a beat some

-twenty yards long. This would have been all very

-well had the crew believed there was a particle of danger

-threatening the camp. But so confident were they

-of peace that they did not even drive the mules down

-from the higher ground where they were feeding. A

-party of a dozen reds&mdash;if they could have loosed the

-gray mare&mdash;might have made off with the entire herd.</p>

-

-<p>There was a shelter tent for each six men, while the

-cook and the captain shared the fourth canvas. At

-ten o’clock, under a black-velvet sky pricked out with

-the brilliant but distant stars, the camp was as quiet

-as the grave&mdash;that is, providing one could imagine

-some of the occupants of the grave sleeping their long

-sleep “loudly.” Aside from these snores, however,

-and the champing of the horses and mules, there was

-little sound to break the silence. There was a sentinel

-pacing a short beat on the inland side of the

-camp; but, it being cold when the wind swooped down

-and flapped the loose canvas, he got in behind the

-chain of wagons and was not so much use as a guard.

-Along the river-bank paced the other sentinel, whistling<span class="pagenum">[257]</span>

-under his breath, and staring off across the black,

-smoothly flowing water, in which the stars were mirrored.</p>

-

-<p>Wide-awake as he was, this second guard heard

-nothing when a single figure slipped down the river-bank

-beyond the camp and toward the cañon’s entrance,

-and in a stooping posture sneaked along toward

-him. This figure lay low upon the shore when

-the guard walked that way. When the guard turned

-the prowler arose again and kept just behind him, but

-below the bank, until both reached about the middle

-of the beat the sentinel was following.</p>

-

-<p>Then, softly as a cat, without as much as scratching

-a button or rattling the rifle in his hand or the guns

-in his belt, the stranger darted up the bank, and, stooping

-low, hurried to the smaller tent in which slept the

-captain of the train and the cook. Evidently the

-stranger had picked this tent out before dark, and

-shrewdly guessed who occupied it. Lifting the flap

-softly, he crept in and lowered it before the guard on

-the river-bank turned. The other guard was standing

-facing the opposite way and saw nothing.</p>

-

-<p>Once in the darkness of the tent, the stranger coolly

-squatted on his haunches, laid down his rifle, and

-drawing out a match-safe, scratched a lucifer and held

-it up so that the sputtering flame might cast some radiance

-over the interior of the tent.</p>

-

-<p>The pungent odor of the sulfur got in the nose of

-one of the sleepers, and he sneezed. He sneezed a second

-time and sat up suddenly, blinking his eyes in

-surprise at the figure squatting inside the tent. This

-was an utter stranger to him&mdash;a man with long hair,

-a military hat, buckskin coat, and riding breeches and<span class="pagenum">[258]</span>

-boots. And he was armed like a pirate&mdash;belt stuck full

-of guns and with a big bowie. He smiled cheerfully

-at the amazed and sleepy individual, however.</p>

-

-<p>“Hello!” he said. “Which one of you is the captain?”</p>

-

-<p>“Heh?” murmured the startled one.</p>

-

-<p>“Who’s the boss?”</p>

-

-<p>“I&mdash;I’m the cook.”</p>

-

-<p>“Then the other feller is the boss?”</p>

-

-<p>“I&mdash;I reckon so. Say, Billings!” and he suddenly

-punched the other man in the ribs. “Wake up! We’re

-surrounded!”</p>

-

-<p>“Shut up, you fool!” exclaimed the visitor, slapping

-his palm suddenly over the second man’s mouth,

-for it opened to emit a yell before his eyes were fairly

-ajar. “It’s all right. What did you want to startle

-him for?”</p>

-

-<p>“Who the devil are you?” demanded the cook.</p>

-

-<p>“And how’d you git here?” cried the other man.</p>

-

-<p>“I’m Cody, and I belong just now to the command

-at Fort Advance. You’re in about as dangerous a

-position as a score of men can be and get out of it

-alive, and I’ve sneaked into your camp to help you.”</p>

-

-<p>“Injuns!” groaned the cook, turning pale.</p>

-

-<p>“There ain’t a red within forty miles,” declared

-Buffalo Bill, for he it was.</p>

-

-<p>“Then what’s the matter?” sputtered the captain of

-the freight crew. “I’ve set guards over the camp.

-We’re all right.”</p>

-

-<p>“Your guards are a lot of use, ain’t they?” sneered

-the scout. “They’re out there walking up and down

-like two wooden men; but they didn’t see me get by.”</p>

-

-<p>“But, for Heaven’s sake what is the matter?”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[259]</span></p>

-

-<p>“You’ve got worse than Injuns after you.”</p>

-

-<p>“What can that be?”</p>

-

-<p>“Boyd Bennett’s gang of hold-up men.”</p>

-

-<p>“Git out! Bennett’s left the country.”</p>

-

-<p>“He’s j’ined an Injun tribe,” added the cook. “Become

-a squaw man.”</p>

-

-<p>“Well, he’s out yonder with about a dozen of

-the p’izenest ruffians that it’s ever been my fate to

-run up against,” declared Buffalo Bill. “And from

-what I could overhear lying out there on my belly in

-the grass, they’re pretty near ready to stampede you!”</p>

-

-<p>“Oh, Lord!” groaned the cook.</p>

-

-<p>But the captain of the crew was no coward. He

-was awake now, and he leaped up, ready to fight for

-his own life and help to defend the lives of his mates

-and the valuable property entrusted to him.</p>

-

-<p>“Mr. Cody, you take command,” he urged instantly.

-“You are a better man than any one in this entire party&mdash;that

-I’ll swear to. I have shown my incompetency

-already by placing my guards so carelessly that you

-could creep into my very sleeping tent without being

-apprehended.”</p>

-

-<p>“Many a man has made the mistake of being too

-confident when there were no signs of trouble,” said

-Buffalo Bill. “But you had no knowledge of these

-outlaws being near you, of course. Although, it was

-quite by chance that they did not blunder into your

-midst, I fancy. There are fewer of them than there

-are of your men; but if they had caught you with your

-pants down it would have been ‘Good-by John!’ for

-you all. This is as bloody-minded a gang of cut-throats

-as infest this Western country.”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[260]</span></p>

-

-<p>“So I have heard said of Bennett and his men. But

-I thought they had left the Overland Trail.”</p>

-

-<p>“They are not on the old lay just at present,” Cody

-explained. “In fact, I am following them for an entirely

-different reason. And if we have the luck to

-beat the devils, I’d be thankful for any help you could

-give me toward capturing the whole gang and rescuing

-a prisoner they hold.”</p>

-

-<p>“A prisoner?”</p>

-

-<p>“Aye, and a girl&mdash;God help her!”</p>

-

-<p>“Great heavens! a woman in the hands of those

-ruffians?”</p>

-

-<p>“Yes.”</p>

-

-<p>“Who is she?”</p>

-

-<p>“White Antelope, the daughter of old Oak Heart,

-the Sioux chieftain.”</p>

-

-<p>“Oh, thunder! a squaw!” exclaimed the captain of

-the train crew in disgust.</p>

-

-<p>“She’s just as precious to the old redskin as the

-daughter of a white man is to him, I s’pose,” said the

-scout sternly. “Besides, her release means a great

-deal to me&mdash;and to Major Baldwin of Fort Advance&mdash;and,

-perhaps, to the entire white settlers of this

-part of the country.”</p>

-

-<p>“Well, well! I can’t afford to quarrel with you over

-a red squaw,” said the other lightly. “You help us,

-and we’ll help you.”</p>

-

-<p>“I am here for the purpose of helping you,” said the

-Border King, with some stiffness of manner, for the

-other’s tone had jarred upon him.</p>

-

-<hr class="chap" />

-

-<div class="chapter">

-<p><span class="pagenum">[261]</span></p>

-

-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XLI">CHAPTER XLI.<br />

-<span class="cheaderfont">“ON GUARD!”</span></h2>

-</div>

-

-

-<p>“First of all,” said the captain of the freighters, “I

-want you to take command, Cody, as I said.”</p>

-

-<p>“No, no!” the scout hastened to reply. “I would

-not take that upon myself.”</p>

-

-<p>“I insist.”</p>

-

-<p>“No. I must be free myself to act in this other

-matter I speak of. If I see a chance to run off the

-girl while you fellows are handling the outlaws, I must

-do so.”</p>

-

-<p>“And leave us for a redskin?”</p>

-

-<p>“That is it,” returned Cody seriously. “My duty

-is first to her at this time.”</p>

-

-<p>“But that is nonsense, man! People of a blood

-should stick together. Let the red squaw go.”</p>

-

-<p>“She’s got white blood in her better than either

-yours or mine, sir!” snapped the scout.</p>

-

-<p>“Oh! she’s a half-breed?”</p>

-

-<p>“She is. But I am not here to discuss White Antelope.

-Time is passing. I will advise you to the

-best of my ability in this fight; but I cannot accept

-the responsibility of command.”</p>

-

-<p>“All I can do, then, is to rouse up the other boys

-and make ready to receive boarders.”</p>

-

-<p>“But there is more than one way of doing that,”

-said Cody, with a smile which the other did not see

-in the dark tent.</p>

-

-<p>“Heh?”</p>

-

-<p>“No use in rousing out the other men in a way to

-show the outlaws you are expecting them.”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[262]</span></p>

-

-<p>“Oh, shucks! are they watching us already?”</p>

-

-<p>“They sure are. All I feared in making my way to

-your tent was their sharp eyes. I knew what your

-guards would be.”</p>

-

-<p>“You don’t have a very high opinion of us mule-skinners,

-then?” said the captain, rather sharply.</p>

-

-<p>“I have a very poor opinion indeed of men who will

-be careless on this trail,” said Buffalo Bill sternly.

-“Recklessness is never bravery.”</p>

-

-<p>“Huh!” grunted the other.</p>

-

-<p>“Cook, you creep out at the rear and speak to the

-sentinel at the back of the camp. Keep close to the

-ground and tell him to have a care. Let him step

-across and speak to the guard by the river&mdash;casually,

-remember.”</p>

-

-<p>“All right, sir,” said the cook, recognizing the tone

-of authority.</p>

-

-<p>“Then you creep over to the farther tent and awaken

-the boys carefully. The captain here had better attend

-to the other two. Go on your hands and knees, boys!

-And don’t startle anybody. Have they got arms with

-’em, or are they in the wagons?”</p>

-

-<p>“Oh, they’ve got their rifles. I’m not quite a fool,”

-said the captain.</p>

-

-<p>“Glad to hear that,” the scout returned, and did not

-stop to explain whether he was rejoiced to hear that

-the men were properly armed, or that the captain was

-not an entire ignoramus!</p>

-

-<p>It was too serious a situation for the man to take

-open offense, however. He, as well as the cook, did

-Cody’s bidding without further remark. They crept

-from tent to tent, keeping well in the shadow, while<span class="pagenum">[263]</span>

-the first guard, warned by the cook, went across and

-warned the man pacing the beat by the river.</p>

-

-<p>Buffalo Bill was pretty confident that the outlaws

-would wait until the sentinels were changed at midnight

-before attacking. That was the best time for

-such a movement, for the new guards would be sleepy,

-and the other men would have just settled into heavier

-sleep.</p>

-

-<p>When the gang had been awakened the captain reported

-to the scout. Thus far none of the boys had

-come out of the three larger tents, and they were

-warned to keep under cover until they received the

-word.</p>

-

-<p>“You don’t want to have your mules stampeded

-far,” said the scout. “When the sentinels are changed,

-let one of those coming off duty step out and lead in

-your bell-mare, and hobble her inside the line of the

-wagons. Then you’ll be sure of her, and, even if the

-long-ears do run away, they’ll come back again, come

-daybreak.”</p>

-

-<p>The cook’s fire was already out, and Cody warned

-them to let the other one burn down as low as it

-would. The more shadowy the camp was the better

-the freighters could move about without attracting

-the notice of any watching outlaws.</p>

-

-<p>Cody remained in the little tent with the flap pinned

-back, and the cook and the captain came to him and reported

-their missions accomplished. Midnight came&mdash;it

-was not a long wait&mdash;and the sentinels went to

-the tents and appeared to awaken those who were to

-relieve them. Cody had particularly instructed the

-man who was to go to the river-bank. One of the<span class="pagenum">[264]</span>

-others brought in the gray mare. The camp settled

-down to apparent quietude and peace again.</p>

-

-<p>“Now, boys, to your places,” whispered the scout to

-the cook and the captain. “Signal your men, captain;

-be ready to fling on the fire a heap of that light stuff

-yonder when you hear me hoot, cook! All right!”</p>

-

-<p>The captain crept out once more and scratched with

-his finger-nail upon the canvas of each tent. At that

-the freighters began to wriggle out from under the

-canvas and crawl on their bellies to shelter beneath

-the wagons. Cody knew that the first fire of the outlaws

-would be aimed at the tents. Boyd Bennett and

-his villains would expect to thus kill or seriously

-wound several of the sleeping freighters and throw the

-others into utter confusion.</p>

-

-<p>Buffalo Bill remained no longer in the small tent

-himself. He crept down to the river-bank, and he and

-the sentinel saw each other. Cody expected a part of

-the attacking party would approach in the way he had

-come to the camp, only from the other direction.</p>

-

-<p>And this was a good guess. The outlaws&mdash;or several

-of them&mdash;dismounted and came along under the

-bank. In fact, so sure were they of catching the encampment

-asleep, that the scout heard their footsteps.

-They did not take proper care in disguising them.</p>

-

-<p>“Now, mister!” Buffalo Bill exclaimed, under his

-breath to the sentinel near him.</p>

-

-<p>Instantly this man dropped down in the grass, the

-other guard fell flat, there was a sudden pounding of

-horse’ hoofs down the ridge from the south and

-west. Then:</p>

-

-<p>Bang! bang! bang!</p>

-

-<p>A volley of rifle-shots tore through the tents inside<span class="pagenum">[265]</span>

-the wagon-line. Instantly the shrill yell of Buffalo

-Bill, the Border King, answered the shots defiantly.

-The sound had often struck terror to the hearts of his

-red foes, and it was not unknown to Boyd Bennett and

-his comrades.</p>

-

-<p>“That hell-cat, Cody, is here!” screamed Bennett.</p>

-

-<p>The cook flung the light brush on the fire. It blazed

-up almost immediately, giving the men under the

-wagons a chance to see any of the outlaws that might

-venture into the camp. But none of them reached the

-inner circle. As those afoot sprang up the bank from

-the riverside, Cody and the man with him shot them

-down, or drove them shrieking with fear out of rifle-shot.</p>

-

-<p>Pandemonium reigned for a few minutes, however.

-Although Boyd Bennett yelled his warning, the gang

-did not give over the fight so easily. They poured

-round after round of bullets into the camp; but at first

-they did not realize that they were being answered

-from beneath the wagons rather than from the tents.</p>

-

-<p>Several of their ponies were shot down. Although

-the mules were stampeded for a ways, the ruffians

-could make no good use of this fact. Instead of catching

-the camp unawares, they were themselves ambushed,

-thanks to the Border King!</p>

-

-<p>“Escape, men! We are undone!” shrieked Boyd

-Bennett, at last.</p>

-

-<p>He had seen four of his men fall never to rise again,

-and two others had lost their mounts and had to spend

-precious moments in catching two of their dead comrades’

-horses. Back the decimated party fled over the

-ridge.</p>

-

-<p>The freighters poured in volley after volley upon the<span class="pagenum">[266]</span>

-retreating outlaws. But the captain would not let

-them mount such horses and mules as they could catch

-and follow the crew. In this he got square with Buffalo

-Bill for the scout’s sharp words.</p>

-

-<p>In the height of the fight, after seeing that the

-freight crew were more than a match for the outlaws,

-Buffalo Bill had slipped down under the river-bank

-and had run at his best pace toward the spot where

-the outlaws had been encamped earlier in the evening.

-There he had seen White Antelope tied to a sapling

-so that she could not escape while her captors tried

-their nefarious scheme of robbing and murdering the

-freight-train crew.</p>

-

-<p>Believing that Bennett would leave nobody to guard

-the girl, the scout was bent upon reaching the place

-first and releasing her.</p>

-

-<p>And this much he did accomplish: he reached the

-place first. But almost as soon as he had recognized

-Buffalo Bill’s yell, Boyd Bennett spurred back toward

-the bound girl. He feared the scout would do exactly

-the thing he was attempting. Knowing that

-Cody must have followed them here for the express

-purpose of saving White Antelope, he feared the

-shrewdness of his enemy.</p>

-

-<p>Cody found the spot. A camp-fire burned low, but

-revealed the girl writhing in her bonds at one side.

-The scout bounded to her side just as the thunder of

-Bennett’s horse sounded down the hill.</p>

-

-<p>“All right, White Antelope! ’Tis I&mdash;the Long

-Hair!” whispered the scout. “My horse is not far

-away. I will save you&mdash;&mdash; The devil!”</p>

-

-<p>The scout broke off with a savage exclamation. He

-had hoped to slash through the girl’s bonds and carry<span class="pagenum">[267]</span>

-her to his horse, which he had left in a thicket not far

-away. But for once in his life the scout had made a

-terrible oversight!</p>

-

-<p>Chief had picked up a small pebble in his hoof late

-that afternoon, and Buffalo Bill had got down and

-pried it out with the point of his bowie. He had stuck

-the knife into a sheath which hung to his saddle-bow,

-and had forgotten it until this very instant. He had

-nothing with which to cut the girl’s bonds.</p>

-

-<p>Already the chief of the bandits was almost upon

-him. Boyd Bennett rode down the hill yelling like a

-fiend.</p>

-

-<p>“Fly!” murmured the girl. “They will kill you.”</p>

-

-<p>“Curse it! I am foiled for the time. But, remember,

-White Antelope, I am near you and will release

-you yet, and serve your enemy as he deserves!”</p>

-

-<p>With these words the scout dropped to all fours,

-and, as stealthily and silently as a wolf, crept away

-in the darkness.</p>

-

-

-

-<hr class="chap" />

-

-<div class="chapter">

-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XLII">CHAPTER XLII.<br />

-<span class="cheaderfont">THE AVENGER.</span></h2>

-</div>

-

-

-<p>The gang of outlaws had been depleted by five.

-One had fallen on the river-bank, and four others had

-either been killed or so badly wounded that they fell

-captive to the freighters on the side of the ridge.

-There were but eight who gathered about the spot

-where White Antelope was left tied, when the fight

-was over.</p>

-

-<p>And they feared pursuit and a worse thrashing than

-they had already endured. They clamored to be led<span class="pagenum">[268]</span>

-away from the place, and Boyd Bennett, gnashing his

-teeth in impotent rage, was forced to agree.</p>

-

-<p>Every man of them had a fear of Buffalo Bill, the

-Border King. How he could have gotten ahead of

-them, and been in the teamsters’ encampment when

-they made their attack, added to the superstitious

-veneration in which the outlaws had begun to hold

-the great scout. Heretofore they had held Boyd Bennett

-as a better man than Cody; but now they began to

-doubt.</p>

-

-<p>Besides, several of them did not approve of his bearing

-away the Indian girl from her village. While

-Bennett had posed as the medicine chief of the Sioux,

-they were all sure of being treated well by the savages.

-Some of them had taken Indian wives and were

-living in ease and plenty&mdash;the lazy, irresponsible existence

-of the “squaw-man.”</p>

-

-<p>Boyd Bennett’s unhappy attachment for the chief’s

-daughter had brought the gang together again, and

-old-time loyalty had caused them to answer his command.

-But they now believed that they had lost more

-than they should gain. All the Sioux would be down

-upon them, and so they would be at enmity with every

-man they met in the forest and on the plain, both red

-and white!</p>

-

-<p>White Antelope showed plainly that she would never

-yield to Boyd Bennett’s demand and espouse him.

-While he was with the Indians and wielding so much

-influence as Death Killer, the medicine-man, she had

-spurned his advances. Much more did she hold him in

-contempt now.</p>

-

-<p>And Boyd Bennett, too, was acting very strangely.

-Evil ways and evil desires were turning the man’s<span class="pagenum">[269]</span>

-brain. He acted without judgment. Now he unloosed

-White Antelope, caught her up to his saddle,

-and rode away with his men without as much as looking

-for traces of Buffalo Bill in the vicinity, or learning

-if in reality the freighters were inclined to follow

-up their advantage and push the attack.</p>

-

-<p>They swam the river and made for another exit

-from the valley. But their horses were pretty well

-done up, and they could get only a spurt of speed out

-of them now and then. Besides, Boyd Bennett’s own

-mount refused after a time to carry double. This

-necessitated one of the other ruffians carrying White

-Antelope before him on his saddle.</p>

-

-<p>The chance afforded the chief villain an escape from

-certain death. The party were aiming to leave the valley

-by the way the broadening river flowed; but they

-were some distance from the river’s side. Through the

-uncertain light of early morning they did not see a

-tireless white horse carrying its rider down the opposite

-bank until they reached a ford, through which

-the stallion splashed to the side of the stream on which

-the bandits rode.</p>

-

-<p>It was the avenger on the villain’s trail; but they

-did not suspect that again Buffalo Bill had ridden

-ahead of them. Chief was tireless.</p>

-

-<p>The scout ensconced the horse behind a thicket, and

-wormed his way out into the open where he could

-draw bead on anybody passing along the river trail.

-It was a long shot, but the scout had succeeded in

-making more ticklish ones in times past.</p>

-

-<p>By and by the band of tired horsemen loped along

-the trail. The light was too uncertain for Cody to

-distinguish one man from the other; but he saw one<span class="pagenum">[270]</span>

-riding ahead and carrying the girl before him, and

-he believed it must be Bennett. He did not think the

-fellow would let the White Antelope out of his own

-bloody hands.</p>

-

-<p>Therefore he took sight&mdash;deadly sight&mdash;at this man,

-and shot him through the head!</p>

-

-<p>A yell rose from the bandits as the rifle exploded

-and the man pitched off his mount. It was answered

-by Buffalo Bill’s eery war-whoop. The seven remaining

-bandits knew who had fired the fatal shot.</p>

-

-<p>But, although the immediate captor of the girl had

-fallen, she had no time to urge the pony to one side

-and thus escape. Buffalo Bill saw his mistake in a

-moment. With a wild yell Boyd Bennett spurred to

-the side of the horse which White Antelope sat, and

-threatened her with drawn bowie as the whole cavalcade

-shot down the river trail and put a brush-clump

-between them and the scout’s rifle. When they appeared

-again they were out of rifle-shot.</p>

-

-<p>“Seven of them left,” muttered Buffalo Bill. “I

-thought I had that devil that time. But let him wait&mdash;let

-him wait!”</p>

-

-<p>He mounted Chief once more and rode for a time

-in the wake of the bandits. But, fearing that some of

-them might slip off their horses and lay in wait for

-him, he turned aside into the hilly country and so saw

-the refugees only occasionally from the summits of certain

-hills which he climbed. He kept them from resting,

-however, during the forenoon. By midday the

-desperadoes’ ponies were completely worn out.</p>

-

-<p>Had they not been so fearful of the scout the seven

-men might have shown fight. They were equally well

-armed with Buffalo Bill, and some of them were good<span class="pagenum">[271]</span>

-shots. But Boyd Bennett thought only of escape with

-the girl, and his mates were in a blue funk, anyway.</p>

-

-<p>They came at noon to a deserted Indian encampment.

-It was a hunting-camp, the braves evidently being

-out in the hills after game and having left nobody

-but the squaws on guard. The squaws had gone into

-the bush after late berries. Therefore, there was none

-to balk the bandits.</p>

-

-<p>There were no ponies, or the men would have left

-their fagged mounts and stolen those of the red men.

-But in the river lay two good-sized canoes. Abandoning

-their ponies the outlaws seized these boats, forced

-White Antelope into the leading one with Boyd Bennett

-and two others, and the four remaining men entering

-the other boat, both were pushed off and paddled

-down the stream.</p>

-

-<p>Cody beheld this move from a hilltop, and immediately

-rode down to the river. Had he crossed the paths

-of any of the Indians&mdash;they were not Sioux, but he

-knew the tribe&mdash;he might have obtained their help.

-Alone, however, he came to the river-bank. The

-canoes were far out in the stream and going down

-rapidly with the current and the force of the paddles.

-The scout saw the White Antelope on her knees in the

-forward boat, her arms stretched out to him. Her mute

-gesture for help spurred him on to a desperate attempt!</p>

-

-<p>Chief had come far now without much rest, but he

-was able to make one more spurt. Down the river

-path the scout thundered, racing to catch up with

-the canoes. There was a high bluff across the river,

-offering no landing-place. On this side the bank was

-low. Even if the canoes were paddled near the opposite<span class="pagenum">[272]</span>

-shore, the scout’s rifle would carry a deadly ball

-that distance. In coming near, and into sight, however,

-he gave the bandits a chance to try their marksmanship

-upon him.</p>

-

-<p>But this risk the brave scout took. For the White

-Antelope’s sake he was venturing his life.</p>

-

-<p>He forced Chief to top speed until the brave old

-horse came out upon a cleared space just ahead of the

-two canoes. The bandits began to pop at him with

-their rifles; but shooting from a sitting position in a

-trumpery little canoe was no easy job.</p>

-

-<p>Both craft were overloaded, anyway. Two men

-were supposed to be the full complement of the cargo

-of each. So the craft rode low, and the least movement

-might tip them over. One man in the forward

-boat, and two in the latter, turned their attention to the

-scout and his white horse; but their bullets flew wide

-of the mark.</p>

-

-<p>The scout, however, paid no more attention to the

-whistling lead than he would have to so many buzzing

-flies. He dismounted from Chief, and, standing out

-deliberately on the river-bank, raised his rifle and took

-aim at the leading paddler in the rear boat. He did

-not shoot at those with White Antelope in the other

-canoe. First he would reduce the numbers of the

-gang.</p>

-

-<p>Crack!</p>

-

-<p>The heavy rifle spoke no louder than a pistol across

-the flat surface of the water. With a yell the man

-dropped his paddle, turned a face all gory upon the

-scout, and then pitched out of the canoe!</p>

-

-<p>Strangely enough he did not tip over the vessel.<span class="pagenum">[273]</span>

-Another caught up his paddle. They tried to urge

-the craft to the foot of the steep bluff. But now the

-current had caught the light canoe in a fierce grip, and

-to swerve it was not easy.</p>

-

-<p>Crack!</p>

-

-<p>Just as a second man was drawing bead as well as

-he could upon the undaunted scout, the rifle dropped

-from his hands, and he fell backward into the bottom

-of the canoe. The craft dipped dangerously and all

-but went over. As it righted the scout fired a third

-time. Plunk the ball went through and through the

-body of the canoe!</p>

-

-<p>The water began to run in at both holes, and the

-canoe sank. One of the remaining men, in complete

-panic, threw himself overboard and swam for the

-shore. The other continued to paddle desperately.</p>

-

-<p>A double report sounded. The rifleman in the forward

-boat had stood up and taken a better aim at the

-scout. The latter’s shoulder was plowed just under

-the skin by the ball. But Cody’s own bullet sped

-straight to the desperate paddler in the second canoe,

-and the man fell sideways, shot through the lungs; the

-canoe tipped completely, and man and canoe went to

-the bottom together.</p>

-

-<p>Meanwhile, the fourth man in that boat had reached

-the strand. It was a narrow beach and offered no

-shelter for him. He scrambled up the steep bluff like

-a crab making for its hole. But when he was half-way

-up, and his body against the yellow sand made an excellent

-target, the scout’s gun spoke again.</p>

-

-<p>Sprawled out, and screaming, the fellow fell all the

-way back to the shore, and there, squirming with the

-agony of the wound which was in a vital part, he rolled<span class="pagenum">[274]</span>

-into the river, and the black current swept him swiftly

-down-stream.</p>

-

-<p>He passed the first canoe that had been retarding,

-while the rifleman tried a second particular shot at the

-scout. The drowning man yelled for help. He even

-snatched at the gunwale of the canoe as he was swept

-by.</p>

-

-<p>Instantly Boyd Bennett seized a pistol from his belt

-and deliberately shot the drowning man through the

-head. Perhaps, if the latter had seized the canoe, he

-would have overturned it and sacrificed the four other

-lives; yet it was a desperately cruel act!</p>

-

-<p>Meanwhile Cody had leaped aside, escaping the second

-shot of the rifleman in the remaining canoe; and

-then, before the man could sit down and the canoe

-could shoot ahead, he dropped him cleanly with a ball

-through the heart!</p>

-

-<p>In five minutes the bloody battle was over. But two

-of the bandits were left alive. The other five had

-sunk to the bottom of the river, while the remaining

-two, and the White Antelope, were being carried

-swiftly down the stream, and by a current now so

-powerful that they could not steer to the bank on either

-side. Just below were the worst series of rapids on

-the entire river!</p>

-

-

-

-<hr class="chap" />

-

-<div class="chapter">

-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XLIII">CHAPTER XLIII.<br />

-<span class="cheaderfont">MAN TO MAN AT LAST.</span></h2>

-</div>

-

-

-<p>Buffalo Bill knew the peril which threatened the two

-bandits and the girl quite as soon as they knew it

-themselves. But he was handicapped a bit now by his<span class="pagenum">[275]</span>

-wound, which bled profusely. He had to wait to bind

-it up roughly, so that the blood would stop flowing,

-before he could pay much attention to the endangered

-trio in the canoe.</p>

-

-<p>Ere then the craft was swiftly speeding down the

-river, going almost as fast as an ordinary horse could

-trot. Buffalo Bill whistled Chief to him, sprang into

-the saddle, and galloped down the trail. It was some

-minutes before he overtook the boat.</p>

-

-<p>There was no danger then of anybody aboard it

-shooting at him. Boyd Bennett in the stern and his

-last comrade in the bow were having all they could

-handle in steering the craft. Rocks and snags began

-to crop up in the current, and they were now tossed

-this way, then that, while the foaming water boiled

-almost into the frail craft!</p>

-

-<p>Buffalo Bill, intent on saving White Antelope’s life

-at any cost, unslung his lariat and made ready to cast

-the endangered men an end if the canoe came near

-enough to the shore. For the sake of assisting the girl

-he would have given up his vengeance on the outlaws.</p>

-

-<p>However, when he cast the rope, although it fell

-across the boat, Boyd Bennett, with a scream of rage,

-threw it off.</p>

-

-<p>“You madman!” yelled his companion, glancing

-over his shoulder.</p>

-

-<p>“Mind your paddle!” roared Bennett.</p>

-

-<p>“My God! I’ll take help from anybody,” cried the

-other.</p>

-

-<p>Cody coiled his rope to swing it again, this time intending

-to aim ahead of the canoe so that the other

-man could catch it. But Bennett saw his intention,

-and he drew in his paddle, grabbed his pistol, and<span class="pagenum">[276]</span>

-presented it at his comrade’s back. White Antelope

-was lying down in the canoe, knowing that this was

-the safest place for her.</p>

-

-<p>“You touch that rope!” shrieked the bandit leader,

-as the lariat whistled through the air again, “and I’ll

-send you to Hades!”</p>

-

-<p>The man glanced fearfully over his shoulder at the

-words, and saw the threatening pistol.</p>

-

-<p>“Look out!” shouted Buffalo Bill, for his cast had

-been true, and the coil of the lasso was circling just

-over the man.</p>

-

-<p>The fellow was too scared of the pistol to watch the

-loop, and it settled fairly over his head. With a shriek

-he tried then to get out of it, but it was too late. The

-canoe darted suddenly into a cross current, shooting

-off from the shore, and the rope was pulled taut.</p>

-

-<p>Buffalo Bill could not have released the rope from

-his saddle-bow in time to save the unfortunate outlaw,

-nor could he force Chief nearer the water. The

-noose was about the man’s neck, and with an awful

-jerk the rope literally snatched him out of the canoe!</p>

-

-<p>Had the girl not been lying down at the moment his

-body would have carried her likewise into the river.

-It was by mere chance that the canoe did not overturn;

-but it righted and sailed on with its freight of two.

-The other outlaw was dead before Buffalo Bill could

-drag him ashore. His neck had been broken.</p>

-

-<p>The scout’s interest lay, however, in the fate of the

-two remaining in the canoe. He cast the dead man

-loose and spurred hard down the path, trying to keep

-up with the frail canoe now shooting the rapids.</p>

-

-<p>It was a perilous journey; yet Boyd Bennett, ruffian

-though he was, exercised the greatest ingenuity in<span class="pagenum">[277]</span>

-managing the canoe. The scout could not but admire

-this in the fellow.</p>

-

-<p>It seemed impossible, however, that the canoe and

-its living freight could get through the rapids intact.

-The water boiled madly about the craft. It was flung

-hither and yon, and at times it was so racked by

-the opposing forces of the current that Buffalo Bill,

-on the bank, could hear the wood crack.</p>

-

-<p>Boyd Bennett’s glaring eyes did not turn toward his

-enemy throughout all this trial. He watched each

-black-ribbed rock or floating snag against which his

-craft might be hurled. Nor did he speak a word to

-the girl lying in the bottom of the canoe.</p>

-

-<p>She knew as well as he that any movement on her

-part would add to their danger, and, although she

-might now leap overboard&mdash;she was free&mdash;it would

-mean certain death. So freedom tantalized her. She

-could only escape at the peril of her life!</p>

-

-<p>She saw Boyd Bennett’s glowing eyes occasionally

-cast upon her a basilisklike glance. There was madness

-in them, she knew. The brave girl, used as she

-was to battle and the chase, shrank from this terrible

-foe. And she was helpless!</p>

-

-<p>The canoe swung around rocks, which she thought

-surely they must hit; it just escaped collision with logs

-and drift-stuff in the most marvelous manner, and all

-the time Boyd Bennett sat holding the paddle as a

-steering-oar, his black eyes glaring out of his death’s-head

-face, impassive, yet all alive to the dangers of the

-run.</p>

-

-<p>Spray broke over the side of the canoe and drenched

-the girl. The craft seemed to fairly throb and jump

-with the motion of the water.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[278]</span></p>

-

-<p>Once an eddy seized them. Despite all Bennett

-could do the canoe shot into this whirlpool, and they

-made several rapid revolutions before the man saw his

-way out, and thrust the canoe between two ragged

-jaws of rock, and so escaped!</p>

-

-<p>On and on fled the boat, while Buffalo Bill urged

-his mount along the river path. He could barely keep

-up with it. Each moment he expected to see it overturned,

-and both passengers tumbled into the raging

-current.</p>

-

-<p>At last the more quiet river below the rapids came

-into view. Here the stream widened and the current

-quickly became sluggish. In the midst of the stream

-was a wooded island, its sharp upper end, consisting of

-an outcropping ledge, dividing the river into two channels

-just at the foot of the white water.</p>

-

-<p>The canoe, as it shot out of the smother of spray,

-chanced to take the channel nearest to the bank on

-which Cody urged his horse. This was an oversight

-on Bennett’s part, but he had been too anxious to

-get out of the rapids at all to attend to where the canoe

-finally went.</p>

-

-<p>Cody saw his chance, and, although Chief was well

-winded now, he yelled with delight. He saw what appeared

-to be the finish of the race&mdash;and in his favor.</p>

-

-<p>“I’ve got you now, Boyd Bennett!” he shouted.</p>

-

-<p>The bandit at last turned his eyes upon him, and

-then glanced around. He saw Cody’s meaning. The

-canoe was drifting so near the scout that the latter

-could either shoot, or rope him. And the long island

-forbade his getting away.</p>

-

-<p>But the villain was not yet to his last card. His<span class="pagenum">[279]</span>

-mind was keenly alive to the situation, and he lost no

-points in the game.</p>

-

-<p>“Not yet, Bill Cody&mdash;not yet!” he shrieked, and

-with a single thrust of his paddle, turned the canoe’s

-nose toward the island.</p>

-

-<p>“Hold, or I fire!” cried the scout, raising his weapon

-and drawing bead upon the bandit.</p>

-

-<p>Boyd Bennett drove the canoe into the rocky ledge

-which masked the end of the island. Like paper the

-frail craft tore apart, and both he and the girl were

-flung into the stream.</p>

-

-<p>Buffalo Bill’s bullet flew wide of its mark that time!

-White Antelope was in as much danger as the bandit&mdash;perhaps

-more&mdash;for the scout did not know whether

-the girl could swim or not, and the current was still

-quite swift and the water deep.</p>

-

-<p>But White Antelope soon showed what she could

-do in the river. Cold as the water was, the instant

-she came to the surface and saw Boyd Bennett’s arms

-stretched out for her, she threw herself backward

-and dove again to the bottom of the river! With a

-yell the bandit flung himself after her, and again just

-missed the scout’s bullet. The scoundrel seemed to

-bear a charmed life. Buffalo Bill was unable to hit him.

-Although they were man to man at last, it was a question

-still who would come out winner in the game.</p>

-

-<hr class="chap" />

-

-<div class="chapter">

-<p><span class="pagenum">[280]</span></p>

-

-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XLIV">CHAPTER XLIV.<br />

-<span class="cheaderfont">THE FIGHT TO GAIN THE ISLAND.</span></h2>

-</div>

-

-

-<p>White Antelope sank to the bottom of the river;

-then, unlike ordinary swimmers, she did not move in

-a straight line, but shot off at a sharp angle, and endeavored

-to make the shore where Cody was, while

-still under water. But Boyd Bennett was quite as cunning.

-He cut across her path, and, as the girl came

-shooting in a long slant to the surface of the river, he

-reached and caught her by the shoulder.</p>

-

-<p>White Antelope screamed and sought to wrench herself

-away. Cody had flung aside his rifle and urged

-Chief down into the stream. The white horse was

-already belly deep in the flood, picking his way intelligently,

-while his master, rope in hand, prepared to

-fling the loop to the Indian maiden.</p>

-

-<p>But before Cody could make the cast, Bennett had

-grabbed the girl and thrust her under the surface

-again. White Antelope went down gurgling, and the

-cruel hand of the bandit chief held her fast. With

-an oath the scout seized a revolver and aimed at the

-black, sleek head of the scoundrel.</p>

-

-<p>“Hold your fire, Bill Cody!” cried the bandit again.

-“Hold your fire, or I’ll drown this girl&mdash;as sure as

-you live, I will! She’s mine, and, by Heaven, you

-sha’n’t take her from me&mdash;unless it’s her dead body!”</p>

-

-<p>“You devil, you!” roared the scout. “You are

-drowning her!”</p>

-

-<p>“I surely will if you don’t put up your gun!”</p>

-

-<p>“Let her up!”</p>

-

-<p>“Put away your gun!”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[281]</span></p>

-

-<p>The scout was obliged to do so. If he shot the

-scoundrel the latter might sink, his clutch still upon

-the White Antelope, and neither of them rise again

-until the breath had left both their bodies!</p>

-

-<p>Boyd Bennett saw the scout put the gun back into

-his belt. He then dragged the girl up by her long,

-golden hair, and with her in his arms&mdash;she was now

-totally unconscious&mdash;he struck out with his free hand

-for the island. The scout seemed helpless. There

-was nothing he could do to stop the foe or free the

-girl. The situation stumped Buffalo Bill completely!</p>

-

-<p>All the scout could do was to wait, hand on gun, for

-some chance to aid his cause. While Bennett struggled

-in the river with the girl he dared not fire for two reasons.

-One, already stated, was that he feared the man

-would sink with his burden and both be drowned;

-the other was that he feared his pistol-ball might

-wound the girl as well as Bennett.</p>

-

-<p>And now it was not altogether sure that the scoundrel

-could make the shore of the island. He was

-weaker than he had been, and the burden of the girl

-bore him down. There was a current set off from the

-island on this side, and he had this to fight. And fight

-he did&mdash;with a bravery which Cody could but admire.

-He breasted the current, and fought inch by inch the

-downward drag of the river. It was too much for

-him, however.</p>

-

-<p>Suddenly the bandit almost lost his hold upon the

-girl. Cody believed he was about to give her up and

-save himself, and he prepared to force Chief into the

-deeper current and so swim out for her. He swung

-his lariat again, too, that it might be ready for

-emergency. But, although Bennett was carried down-stream<span class="pagenum">[282]</span>

-and the shore of the island was rapidly receding

-from him, he still clung to the Indian maid.</p>

-

-<p>“Look out for the rope, Boyd Bennett! Catch it!”

-sang out the scout, believing that now the fellow would

-certainly rather save his life and lose the girl than

-lose both his own and her lives. But a sputtering

-shriek came back from the maniac:</p>

-

-<p>“Fling your rope if you dare, Bill Cody! I’ll kill

-her if you do&mdash;mark that!”</p>

-

-<p>“Don’t be a fool, man. You can’t save her and yourself.”</p>

-

-<p>“Then we’ll both drown,” returned Boyd Bennett,

-with the determination of a still fearless man.</p>

-

-<p>“I’ll give you your freedom!” roared Cody, at desperate

-straits now.</p>

-

-<p>“I’ll not take it of you. If I die she goes with me&mdash;ah!”</p>

-

-<p>A sudden eddy seized the man and swung him toward

-the island. He had evidently stored some remaining

-energy, and this he now put forth. He

-seemed fairly to leap forward in the water which

-was over his head near the bank. But he caught at

-a drooping tree-branch and held on.</p>

-

-<p>Now, could Cody only have reached him, Boyd

-Bennett would have been at his mercy. But only for

-an instant did the weakness overpower him. He

-swung in shoreward, his feet found footing on a ledge

-of rock, and in another minute he clambered up out

-of the water, and, with the unfortunate girl still hanging

-limply over his shoulder, passed out of the scout’s

-sight!</p>

-

-<p>The island was well wooded. It contained about<span class="pagenum">[283]</span>

-half an acre and was long and narrow. It was so long

-that from the bank to which Cody had again turned

-his mount, he could not see whether the bandit found

-some immediate way of leaving it, and so reaching the

-farther shore of the river, or not.</p>

-

-<p>There was no time to waste for Buffalo Bill, therefore.

-He must press after the man and the girl, giving

-the former no time to recover his strength, and,

-perhaps, make his escape from the island.</p>

-

-<p>But Chief could not help his master across the deep

-water to the ledgy island. Nor could Buffalo Bill

-make it encumbered by his heavy accouterments. That

-was not to be considered for a moment!</p>

-

-<p>He dismounted and let Chief go free. The old

-horse had done his share well, and as soon as he was

-relieved of the saddle and bridle, he lay down and

-rolled as though to get the cramps out of his body.

-The water of the river was ice-cold.</p>

-

-<p>It even made Cody shrink when he contemplated it.

-His only way of reaching the island was by swimming,

-and against that current, and with the chill evening

-coming on, the scout might well hesitate. But not

-for long. What must be done would better be done

-quickly, and the Border King was well inured to exposure

-and cold. He threw aside his ammunition-belt

-and his weapons. His coat, waistcoat, and outer shirt

-went likewise. Off came his riding-boots, and then

-in his undergarment, and with his bowie between his

-teeth, he plunged into the flood and essayed the venture.</p>

-

-<p>Whether he was being watched from the island by

-his enemy, Cody did not know. But this was the

-only way he saw to get at Boyd Bennett and the girl.<span class="pagenum">[284]</span>

-He was matching his life against the bandit’s now,

-in the last desperate act of the series which had followed

-the abduction of White Antelope early the day

-before.</p>

-

-

-

-<hr class="chap" />

-

-<div class="chapter">

-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XLV">CHAPTER XLV.<br />

-<span class="cheaderfont">WAR TO THE KNIFE.</span></h2>

-</div>

-

-

-<p>And, indeed, Boyd Bennett was almost at his last

-gasp when he dragged himself ashore and put the

-nearest clump of brush between him and the water,

-thus hiding his future movements from the sharp eyes

-of the Border King. There the man fell upon the

-meager sward that clothed this part of the island, and

-lay, gasping like a great fish just out of its element,

-almost helpless with exhaustion. The White Antelope,

-had she recovered consciousness and power of

-action during those first few minutes, might easily have

-escaped from her captor. But she had come nearer

-being drowned than was at all pleasant. She lay so

-still and white where Bennett had flung her upon the

-ground, that even he, hardened villain that he was,

-feared his usage of her delicate body had been too

-much for the spirit that inhabited it, and that the

-breath was already sped from the girl.</p>

-

-<p>But not for some minutes did Bennett think thus.

-He could barely recover his own breath at first. He

-was chilled through and through by the icy water.

-His clothing clung to him like lead. He had lost most

-of his weapons during his struggle in the river; but

-his bowie and a pistol remained&mdash;the latter, of course,

-useless in its present condition. His ammunition was<span class="pagenum">[285]</span>

-saturated, too. He had but his knife to depend on,

-was he attacked.</p>

-

-<p>And at that thought the bandit chief started to life!

-Attacked, indeed! There was a relentless enemy on

-his trail. He, too, knew that it had come to the final

-trial of strength between he and the Border King.

-His death, or William F. Cody’s, must mark this island

-as a tragic spot forever.</p>

-

-<p>The great scout, he knew, would never give up while

-life remained in his body. As for Bennett himself,

-he was pushed now to the last extremity. He was

-bereft of all his associates. He had seen them killed

-one by one, by fate, or by the relentless arm of Buffalo

-Bill. He had lost caste with the Sioux, over whom he

-had obtained so great an influence during the past few

-months. And all for what? For this White Antelope&mdash;a

-half-breed girl&mdash;a woman who hated him, and

-who considered herself, though of mixed blood, too

-good for him.</p>

-

-<p>He gnashed his teeth in rage as he thought of this,

-and his rage somewhat aroused him. He crawled to

-the girl and shook her. Her body was limp&mdash;and oh,

-so cold! It well-nigh frightened Bennett to touch her.

-Could it be that she was already dead?</p>

-

-<p>He tore open the doeskin blouse that draped the

-upper part of her person and bared her bosom. His

-hand sought her heart and felt a timid flutter there.

-She was still alive!</p>

-

-<p>Yet, how to warm that spark of life into full flame?

-He had nothing in which to wrap her; his own clothing

-was saturated. But in his hunting-shirt he carried

-a carefully stoppered bottle, and in this receptacle<span class="pagenum">[286]</span>

-were several sulfur matches. These were as precious

-as gold to him now. He crept about the little plateau

-of the island, gathering twigs and dry branches and

-rubbish. This light stuff he heaped in a pile, and

-then, before he dared light the pyre, he found and

-broke up larger wood and made ready a roaring heap

-which, a few moments after he touched his match to

-it, blazed several feet into the air.</p>

-

-<p>The sun was going down, and this bonfire warded

-off the coming chill of night. He basked in the heat

-himself, feeling grateful for every leaping, scorching

-flame. He dragged the girl within the radiance of

-the fire and chafed her hands and her forehead, and

-removed her torn moccasins and held her small, beautifully

-formed feet to the fire. These ministrations

-he performed with some little tenderness; but, although

-the girl sighed and her lips parted, and her

-chilled body seemed to respond to the warmth of the

-fire, she did not open her eyes.</p>

-

-<p>Suddenly Boyd Bennett started to his feet with an

-exclamation of rage. He had entirely forgotten something

-during these minutes. What was Buffalo Bill

-about?</p>

-

-<p>He ran through the bushes and appeared upon the

-edge of the river looking toward the side where Cody

-had been. There was the big white horse, divested of

-saddle and bridle, cropping the grass on the bank.

-There, too, Bennett saw most of Cody’s clothes and

-accouterments&mdash;a neat pile of them. But where was

-the man himself?</p>

-

-<p>The bandit was inspired instantly with fear that he

-had overlooked his enemy too long. Had he been

-given time to cross to the island?</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[287]</span></p>

-

-<p>And where else could Cody be? For what other

-reason would he have removed his clothing and arms?</p>

-

-<p>“The devil is swimming the river!” muttered the

-bandit.</p>

-

-<p>The sun was setting, and it was already growing

-dusky on this side of the island. Boyd Bennett cast

-his keen glance over the troubled surface of the water,

-seeking the bold swimmer. He was not aware that

-at the moment he parted the bushes to step out on

-the shore, Cody, in midstream, had seen him, and had

-sunk beneath the surface, leaving scarcely a ripple to

-show where he had gone down.</p>

-

-<p>And once in the depths the scout had swum as

-strongly as he could for the island. The current swept

-him downward, and he was some yards below Boyd

-Bennett’s position when he finally had to come up for

-air. His head bobbed above the surface as sleek as a

-seal’s or an otter’s&mdash;and looking much like that of the

-latter animal. Only to get a breath did the scout remain

-at the surface, then he sank beneath again.</p>

-

-<p>Although Bennett did not actually see his head, he

-caught the ripples on the surface as Cody went down.

-He saw that there was no eddy there, and he suspected

-instantly what had caused the disturbance on

-the water. With an oath he ran along the edge of

-the island until he came opposite the spot.</p>

-

-<p>In a minute Cody came up again for air. With a

-yell Bennett sighted him. The scout was this time

-much nearer the shore&mdash;and he was much nearer his

-last gasp than before, too! Crossing the river he had

-found all the task promised from the other side. It

-was not only a long swim, but it was an arduous swim.</p>

-

-<p>“I’ve got you now, Bill Cody!” roared the bandit,<span class="pagenum">[288]</span>

-shaking his fists above his head in an abandonment of

-rage. “I’ve got you now!”</p>

-

-<p>Had Buffalo Bill had breath to do so he might have

-told him that the river had a bigger mortgage on him.

-The current was pulling him down-stream with a

-power that taxed his utmost strength to counteract.</p>

-

-<p>“You’re my meat!” bawled Bennett. “Let me get

-my hands on you, you hell-hound!”</p>

-

-<p>Cody bore all this in silence. He was struggling to

-gain a foothold near the shore. Once his feet found

-bottom, but then the current tore him away and he

-had to fight to get back. Bennett ran along the shore

-and stood over him, his face aflame, his eyes blazing

-like coals, his lips fairly frothing.</p>

-

-<p>Cody finally made the shallow again and stood upon

-his feet. That was a blessed relief! He was head

-and shoulders out of the water, and now he took the

-knife from between his teeth and held it clutched

-firmly in his right hand.</p>

-

-<p>“I’ve got you!” bawled Bennett, fairly dancing up

-and down on the shore. “Come ashore and I’ll have

-your scalp! I’ll cut your heart out! I’ll slice you

-into cat’s meat! And if you don’t come ashore the

-river will get you. Ha! ha! ha! Bill Cody is between

-the devil and the deep sea this time!”</p>

-

-<p>And the scout thought that this was a pretty true

-statement of the case. For, if ever there was a fiend

-incarnate, it was Bennett at this juncture. And the

-river was as wicked and dangerous as the sea could

-possibly be. The scout was indeed between two perils&mdash;and

-neither would give him a chance for his life.</p>

-

-<p>The moment he waded within striking distance Bennett<span class="pagenum">[289]</span>

-would attack him. And the river dragged at

-him continually.</p>

-

-<p>But, at least, the scout could parley. He had breath

-enough to say:</p>

-

-<p>“Boyd Bennett, you and I have many an old score

-to settle. Give me footing on that bank. You have

-your knife; I have mine. Let us try conclusions

-fairly.”</p>

-

-<p>“What! Give you a chance to play some scurvy

-trick on me&mdash;when I’ve got you dead to rights?” cried

-Bennett, and laughed long and loudly.</p>

-

-<p>Cody edged a step nearer to the shore.</p>

-

-<p>“Be a man!” urged the scout. “You’re as good

-as I am.”</p>

-

-<p>“I’m better&mdash;curse you!”</p>

-

-<p>Cody gained another foot.</p>

-

-<p>“Let us try conclusions, blade to blade. Give me a

-show, man!”</p>

-

-<p>“It’s war to the knife, and the knife to the hilt between

-us&mdash;that’s true, Bill Cody!” gritted out the man.

-“But you shall not be given a chance. I’ll kill you in

-cold blood&mdash;or see you drown in this river. Mark ye

-that!”</p>

-

-<p>Cody crept a few inches nearer.</p>

-

-<p>“Come! You are rested. You’ve got your strength

-back. I’m chilled to the bone. But don’t kill me as

-you would a dog, Bennett!” urged the wily scout.</p>

-

-<p>“A dog you are, and a dog’s death you shall die!”</p>

-

-<p>Cody stooped a little now so as to appear still to

-be in deep water. But he had gained considerable.

-The fellow’s rage and excitement made him overlook

-this cunning.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[290]</span></p>

-

-<p>“A chance; just a foothold on the bank&mdash;for God’s

-sake!” cried Cody.</p>

-

-<p>“Not much; I won’t! You die where you are&mdash;or

-drown!”</p>

-

-<p>Boyd Bennett stooped, and holding his own bowie

-with grim clutch, made a pass at the scout. The latter

-dodged&mdash;and made another foot.</p>

-

-<p>“Give me a show!” cried the man in the water, apparently

-at his last gasp.</p>

-

-<p>“No, no! I’ll have your life&mdash;and now!”</p>

-

-<p>Again the bandit made a thrust. At the moment

-Cody flung his body forward, and his left hand

-clutched a tree-branch which overhung the river. At

-last he had a stable hold upon terra firma. With a

-shout he dragged himself in toward the bank, and,

-in turn, lunged at his antagonist. So unexpected was

-the blow that he came near catching Bennett in a vital

-spot. As it was, the point of the scout’s bowie slit

-his enemy’s sleeve from wrist to elbow and brought

-the blood beneath!</p>

-

-<p>“You devil!” yelled Bennett, leaping back, smarting

-with pain.</p>

-

-<p>It was just the chance Cody wished. He bounded

-out upon the rocky shore. His own war-cry resounded

-through the island. All his weakness dropped

-from him like a garment. At last he was before his

-foe, and they were evenly matched&mdash;man to man and

-blade to blade!</p>

-

-<p>“Guard yourself, you scoundrel!” cried Buffalo Bill,

-the Border King. “It is war to the knife, and the

-knife to the hilt, as you yourself have said. Your

-life or mine&mdash;which is the better man! One of us,

-Boyd Bennett, shall never leave this spot alive!”</p>

-

-<hr class="chap" />

-

-<div class="chapter">

-<p><span class="pagenum">[291]</span></p>

-

-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XLVI">CHAPTER XLVI.<br />

-<span class="cheaderfont">AND THE KNIFE TO THE HILT.</span></h2>

-</div>

-

-

-<p>All the time Buffalo Bill had been standing in the

-shallow water parleying with his enemy, he had been

-regaining his breath and his strength, both sadly depleted

-by his swim across the river. Now he had

-leaped ashore almost as fresh and strong as Bennett

-himself.</p>

-

-<p>His leaping ashore had quite startled the bandit;

-but he did not give back after his first cry of surprise

-and pain. He, too, was armed with a bowie. They

-were indeed equal, and the bandit was no physical

-coward.</p>

-

-<p>Colonel James Bowie, of Texas, invented a terrible

-weapon of defense and offense when he gave the world

-the heavy hunting-knife which bears his name. It is

-a long, slightly curved blade, having a razor-sharp

-two-edged point and a heavy back. It is fitted with a

-handle and guard, and is always carried in a sheath.

-It can be thrown with great precision by the old-time

-“knife-fighter”; but it is at close quarters that the true

-wickedness of the weapon comes to light.</p>

-

-<p>In a fight with these knives death must surely result&mdash;many

-times to both antagonists; surely to one.

-One stroke does it; there is no need of a second if the

-first really gets home. A strong blow would sever

-a man’s head from his body!</p>

-

-<p>Both the scout and Boyd Bennett were familiar

-with the use of the great knife. Facing each other,

-left foot forward, stooping slightly, they circled about<span class="pagenum">[292]</span>

-each other like two cocks looking for a chance to

-strike. The men’s eyes were fastened upon each other,

-like the eyes of pugilists. In the expanding and contracting

-of the eyeball they saw the intent of their

-antagonist to make a move.</p>

-

-<p>Crouching, the two shifted about on the rocks. The

-ground was not good for such cautious work; but

-one did not know it better than the other. It was as

-fair to Bennett as to the scout.</p>

-

-<p>Both men feinted, but did not come to close quarters.

-They began to breathe heavily, not so much from

-exhaustion as from excitement. The wind hissed between

-their locked teeth. Their eyes were like those

-of mad beasts. Their bare feet shifted on the rocks

-with a shuffling sound, but otherwise they were noiseless

-in their tigerlike movements.</p>

-

-<p>Suddenly, with a shriek like a wildcat, Boyd Bennett

-leaped at his foe. He thought he saw an opening.

-This was what the scout intended, and he gave back

-just a little. But before Bennett was upon him the

-other glided to one side and struck sharply at the man.

-The blades clashed and sparks flew from the steel.

-At the same moment the men clutched each other by

-the left wrist, and at last the issue was really joined!</p>

-

-<p>There they stood panting, foot to foot and breast

-to breast, their fingers locked about each other’s wrists

-like steel bands, the knife-blades “slithering” against

-each other, every muscle in their bodies as tense as

-steel wires. The pressure of blade against blade was

-all that kept the men apart. If one gave an atom in

-an endeavor to stab his foe, he would open his own

-breast to the knife. This was a foregone conclusion.

-The pressure of knife against knife seemed <a id="Ref_292" href="#Ref_292a">a</a> frail<span class="pagenum">[293]</span>

-barrier; but that was all that lay between the two men

-and sudden and awful death!</p>

-

-<p>The man who made the first reckless move, or the

-one whose bodily forces first gave before the strain,

-was the one who ran the greatest peril. To the cool

-man, the brave man, the man with iron nerve and

-an undaunted patience&mdash;to him would come victory!</p>

-

-<p>Knowing this, Buffalo Bill took the only advantage

-that remained to him. His own mind was calm, his

-brain steady, his vision unclouded by hot rage. <em>His</em>

-emotion was a sort of cold fury, as deadly as the steel

-blade, the handle of which he clutched. At last he

-had his enemy before him&mdash;within his grasp&mdash;face to

-face and steel to steel!</p>

-

-<p>And so he taunted him, knowing that Bennett’s

-brain and heart were already afire with hatred.</p>

-

-<p>“You’ve no girl now to conquer, Boyd Bennett!”

-the scout hissed. “You’re not robbing the cradle now.

-Look out! Another mistake like that and I’ll have

-you!”</p>

-

-<p>“Curse you, you’re a dead man already!” cried the

-bandit.</p>

-

-<p>“I’m as good as a dozen dead ones. Don’t fool

-yourself. Ah!”</p>

-

-<p>“Not yet!”</p>

-

-<p>“But almost&mdash;almost, my boy! I’ll get you the next

-time. My brave Death Killer&mdash;medicine chief of the

-Sioux! Ah-ha, you villain! You’ve played <em>that</em> game

-to the end, too.”</p>

-

-<p>Bennett fairly gnashed his teeth and put forth furious

-endeavors to break down his antagonist’s guard.</p>

-

-<p>“Save your breath, man,” said Cody, knowing that<span class="pagenum">[294]</span>

-his advice would have exactly a contrary effect upon

-Bennett. “I’m only playing with you yet.”</p>

-

-<p>“It’s the worst game <em>you</em> ever played, Bill Cody!”</p>

-

-<p>Cody thought so himself, but he smiled back into the

-other’s eyes, and the man’s rage grew.</p>

-

-<p>“I’ll get you yet!” roared Bennett.</p>

-

-<p>“But not that way,” muttered the scout. “Ah!

-<em>Now</em> we have it!”</p>

-

-<p>With a sudden turn of his wrist he almost brought

-Bennett to his knees. Both men clung so tightly to

-each other’s left wrists, however, that little advantage

-was to be gained by sudden twists. It was the steady

-pressure of steel against steel that would finally gain

-the day. One arm must be stronger than the other&mdash;one

-foot more skilful&mdash;one eye more true.</p>

-

-<p>“This is a bad end for you, Boyd Bennett!” began

-Cody again.</p>

-

-<p>He was scarcely panting himself; but the other was

-breathing hard, gnashing his teeth, rolling his eyes,

-like a veritable madman. He screamed with rage at

-this remark of the scout’s, and the froth flew from

-his lips. If ever a man was mad, Boyd Bennett was

-that person.</p>

-

-<p>“And all for what?” quoth the scout. “What did

-you make by it? The girl would have nothing to do

-with you. Had you remained in Oak Heart’s camp

-you might have finished me. But <em>not</em> that way!”

-guarding himself from a furious lunge of the other’s

-knife.</p>

-

-<p>“No, no, my boy! You made a grave error. Back

-there you had some power. You might have had

-the upper hand over me. Now <em>I</em> have it!”</p>

-

-<p>“Not yet!” roared Bennett.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[295]</span></p>

-

-<p>“Oh, yes, I have! I’m only playing with you, I

-tell you. When I am ready I’ll put you where the

-dogs won’t bite you! Ah! how’s that?”</p>

-

-<p>Boyd had made a furious lunge; and his hand had

-slipped on Cody’s wrist. Quick as lightning the scout

-slipped aside, broke from the death-grapple, and slit

-the point of his knife up Bennett’s upper arm, making

-a deep, ugly wound. The blood fairly spurted from

-the severed artery. It was then but a matter of a few

-minutes before Bennett would be helpless, unless he

-managed to finish Cody first.</p>

-

-<p>They circled about each other again, watchful as

-cats. Once or twice they tried to grapple, but it

-amounted to nothing. Bennett’s wound was troubling

-him sorely. The blood was running in a stream

-from the point of his elbow.</p>

-

-<p>“Say your prayers&mdash;if you have any to say, you

-scoundrel!” exclaimed the scout sternly. “For you

-pay for your murders and atrocities here and now! If

-you have killed that poor girl by your brutal treatment,

-you pay for it in short order.”</p>

-

-<p>Bennett leaped in at him. The scout gave back a

-bit, and suddenly his foot slipped on a wet slab of rock.

-He fell to one knee. With a yell of delight, the

-wounded bandit flung himself upon him.</p>

-

-<p>It was not the scout’s finish, however. Cody had a

-wealth of reserve force yet. He flung himself forward

-to meet Bennett’s charge, caught his left wrist and the

-weight of the man’s body upon his left shoulder. The

-scoundrel’s stroke overreached, and the pit of his

-stomach came in heavy contact with his antagonist’s

-shoulder-bone.</p>

-

-<p>That antagonist rose up suddenly and pitched Bennett<span class="pagenum">[296]</span>

-clear over him. The man landed on his head and

-shoulders, but, as though made of India rubber, he

-bounded to his feet and faced Cody again.</p>

-

-<p>He was panting for breath, his face was covered

-with blood, and altogether he was a most terrible looking

-object. He had no intention of giving up the fight,

-however. With a yell, he flung himself once more at

-Cody&mdash;but this time wildly.</p>

-

-<p>“’Tis the end at last, Boyd Bennett!” sang out the

-clarion voice of the Border King.</p>

-

-<p>The villain knew it. His eyes rolled, his teeth chattered,

-his mouth was agape as he reentered the fray.

-Their left hands were locked again, and the knives

-clashed. Steadily Cody forced his man back, back,

-back&mdash;until a tree-trunk kept him from going farther.

-From a crouching position the two men gradually

-stood erect. The pressure of Buffalo Bill’s bowie

-against that of his antagonist became a force that the

-latter could not meet. His arm went slowly back until

-the elbow struck sharply against the tree-trunk.</p>

-

-<p>With an awful scream of rage and deadly fear the

-fellow’s fingers relaxed upon the handle of his bowie.

-The blade clattered to the ground. He clutched feebly

-at Cody’s throat, and then&mdash;&mdash;</p>

-

-<p>It was indeed the knife to the hilt! Boyd Bennett

-slipped to the ground and lay there, dead!</p>

-

-<hr class="chap" />

-

-<div class="chapter">

-<p><span class="pagenum">[297]</span></p>

-

-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XLVII">CHAPTER XLVII.<br />

-<span class="cheaderfont">THE CONQUEROR.</span></h2>

-</div>

-

-

-<p>Buffalo Bill turned his eyes from the bleeding corpse

-of his enemy, staggered to a near-by boulder, and

-dropped upon it to rest. His own strength was far

-spent. Besides, the wound he had received in his

-shoulder, aggravated by his long, cold swim and the

-violent exertions of the past few minutes, had broken

-out bleeding afresh. Boyd Bennett would never know

-how near he came to being victor himself in this awful

-battle!</p>

-

-<p>As for the consequence, he dropped upon the rock,

-exhausted and ill. The hardiest and most seasoned

-veteran comes to the end of his tether at last, and for

-thirty-six hours Cody had been riding hard, and fighting

-hard, and swimming hard&mdash;and all without bite

-or sup! There had been no time for the preparation

-of food when he left his cave in the mountain to follow

-Boyd Bennett and the White Antelope, and since

-that time he had neither dared shoot game nor had he

-seen the time to cook and eat.</p>

-

-<p>And that which fairly quenched his spirit now was

-the thought that he seemed to have taken all this hard

-labor upon his shoulders for naught. True, his old-time

-enemy was finally dead. Boyd Bennett, the outlaw

-of the Overland Trail, the Death Killer of the

-Utah Sioux, would never again trouble mortal man&mdash;unless

-his spirit came back to haunt the scenes of his

-bloody deeds.</p>

-

-<p>But Buffalo Bill had not put forth all this effort

-merely to best this old-time foe. First of all, he desired<span class="pagenum">[298]</span>

-to save the White Antelope, but he seemed to

-have failed in this. Boyd Bennett had plainly carried

-his threat into execution. He had actually drowned

-the unfortunate girl. It had been that thought, more

-than any other, that had nerved Buffalo Bill to drive

-the steel home into Bennett’s heart!</p>

-

-<p>“All gone now&mdash;the last of the three!” muttered

-the scout, passing his hand across his shaking lips.

-“And such horrible deaths for all! Death by the bullet

-and the fall from the cliff. Death by the war-club

-and tomahawk. And now death by the river&mdash;and the

-hands of a cursed villain. Horrible! horrible!”</p>

-

-<p>These enigmatical remarks, uttered aloud, drowned

-a rustling in the bushes behind him. Suddenly a light

-hand fell upon his shoulder. The scout did not start&mdash;his

-nerves were too steady. But he glanced at the

-small, brown hand, and then looked up along the arm,

-turning his head until he looked full into the face of

-the White Antelope. There his gaze hung, while his

-lips remained speechless for the moment.</p>

-

-<p>“Pa-e-has-ka has killed his enemy and mine. This

-makes the White Antelope and Long Hair friends.”</p>

-

-<p>She held out her hand to him, and the scout took it,

-still in a daze.</p>

-

-<p>“By holy!” he muttered. “I sure thought she was

-dead.”</p>

-

-<p>“What is it my white brother mutters?”</p>

-

-<p>“I reckoned you were drowned, White Antelope,”

-repeated Cody.</p>

-

-<p>“Nay. I held my breath under the water. But

-that wicked man came near to drowning me.”</p>

-

-<p>“I should say he did!”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[299]</span></p>

-

-<p>“Then he would have revived me; but I remained

-as though unconscious, for I feared him.”</p>

-

-<p>“You’ll have need to fear him no more.”</p>

-

-<p>“Ah! it was a good fight! I watched. The Long

-Hair is indeed a great chief.”</p>

-

-<p>Cody shuddered and glanced away. He did not like

-to think of the daughter of Oak Heart’s white wife

-viewing with satisfaction such a terrible battle as that

-which had just cursed this spot.</p>

-

-<p>“The Long Hair is cold. Let him come to the fire

-yonder and dry his body and rest.”</p>

-

-<p>“I don’t care if I do. I feel like I was frozen clear

-to my marrow. You’ve got a fire, have you?”</p>

-

-<p>“Death Killer made it to dry us by. Now you shall

-have it,” she said.</p>

-

-<p>The scout basked for some minutes in the heat of

-the fire, which White Antelope heaped with fresh fuel.

-But he could not remain inactive for long. His perturbed

-mind, relieved by the discovery of the girl’s

-safety, instantly fixed upon other worriments.</p>

-

-<p>Her absence from the encampment of the Sioux

-would have long since been noted. Oak Heart would

-be troubled by her absence. And they were a long

-way from the valley in which the Indian village lay.</p>

-

-<p>Besides, they were marooned on this island in the

-middle of the river. The canoe was wrecked, and

-Cody shrank from making that long swim to the mainland

-again. Besides, he doubted the girl’s ability to

-accomplish such a task.</p>

-

-<p>There was nothing to eat on this island, however,

-and food they must have before long. At least, the

-scout felt the need of it.</p>

-

-<p>So he rose up very quickly from his reclining<span class="pagenum">[300]</span>

-posture and went to the side of the island which faced

-the river-bank from which he had swum. It was already

-twilight, but he glanced sharply up and down

-the bank for some wandering party that might help

-them. The Indians might be searching for their canoes;

-he could not expect any of the freighters to come

-down so far as this, for the main trail turned off some

-miles above.</p>

-

-<p>But not a soul appeared. The only living object

-on the river-bank which he saw was Chief, quietly

-grazing.</p>

-

-<p>“Then our hope lies in you, faithful old horse!”

-cried Cody, and he uttered a shrill whistle.</p>

-

-<p>The white horse raised his head, whinnied, and

-trotted down to the water’s edge. Buffalo Bill gave

-the call which he used when he desired Chief to come

-to him. The dumb brute understood, but he pawed

-the gravel at the river’s edge and seemed to hesitate.

-The distance across was wide, and the sullen current

-was strong. He had already been in it and had been

-almost swept away.</p>

-

-<p>Buffalo Bill repeated his call. The horse threw up

-his head, neighed intelligently, and trotted down the

-riverside to the lower end of the island. There the

-current was not so swift. Without hesitation, this

-time, the noble horse plunged into the flood and swam

-with head high, and occasionally neighing at his master,

-toward the island. Being untrammeled by saddle

-or bridle, the creature handled himself remarkably well

-in the current, and forged ahead without being swept

-much out of his course by the stream.</p>

-

-<p>When he came near the shore, however, Buffalo

-Bill was forced to rush in, cling to Chief’s mane, and<span class="pagenum">[301]</span>

-guide the horse to land. There the brute climbed out

-and shook himself like a great dog.</p>

-

-<p>“Ah! the white chief has control over even the

-ponies,” said the Indian maid, in admiration.</p>

-

-<p>“And lucky he does,” muttered Buffalo Bill to himself.

-“Without old Chief we’d be roosting here till

-kingdom come!”</p>

-

-<p>But he had to give the horse time to breathe before

-setting him at the current again. It was no easy pull

-across. Finally he led the white horse down into the

-water and gave the girl a boost upon his back, where

-she straddled him, clinging to his thick mane.</p>

-

-<p>“Let him have his head,” Buffalo Bill commanded.

-“He won’t need any guidance, but will bring us both

-safe ashore.”</p>

-

-<p>He urged Chief into the deep water, and swam by

-his side himself, resting a hand now and then on the

-beast’s shoulder, and encouraging him with his voice.

-Tired as they both were, man and beast found the pull

-tremendous. They were carried some distance down

-the river, but that did not so much matter. Only the

-water chilled Cody to the bone, and he had visions of

-rheumatism, that fell disease that lays hold upon the

-woodsman early in life because of exposure and privation.</p>

-

-<p>It was somewhat of a battle to reach the shore, but

-they accomplished a landing at last, and White Antelope

-leaped down from Chief’s back and patted him.</p>

-

-<p>“A brave horse, and worthy of carrying a brave

-man like Long Hair,” she declared.</p>

-

-<p>“Give him a night’s rest,” said Cody, “and he’ll

-carry us both back to your father’s village.”</p>

-

-<p>“The Long Hair was going there to redeem his<span class="pagenum">[302]</span>

-pledge to me when I chanced to spy him?” queried

-White Antelope.</p>

-

-<p>“I certainly was snooping about, looking for a

-chance to get through Bennett’s line of guards.”</p>

-

-<p>“But you had been killing and scalping Oak Heart’s

-braves?”</p>

-

-<p>“Not a one. I was there waiting for a chance to

-keep my promise to you,” said Buffalo Bill emphatically.

-“This renegade white was the fellow who was

-quietly knocking your young men in the head and

-scalping them. He was as bloodthirsty a wretch as

-ever went unhung. He’s dead now, thanks be!”</p>

-

-<p>“Then Oak Heart will receive you with more friendliness,”

-said the girl.</p>

-

-<p>“I dunno how friendly he’ll feel,” muttered Cody.

-“But I’ll take you back safe in the morning.”</p>

-

-<p>They hastened to build a rousing camp-fire, and as

-soon as his undergarments were dry the scout put on

-his outer clothing and accouterments. Then with his

-rifle he stole away to a place where he had noted the

-marks of many creatures that had come down to

-drink, and there, just as the moon rose, found a doe

-with her fawn and shot the youngster. So they had a

-much needed late supper of roast kid. After which

-Cody insisted that the girl sleep.</p>

-

-<p>As for himself, he sat up the livelong night, or paced

-the river-bank to keep awake. Just before daybreak

-he awoke the girl, and while she cooked breakfast he

-obtained an hour’s repose.</p>

-

-<p>As they started from the river’s brink to ride

-’cross country toward the range in which Oak Heart’s

-camp was situated, White Antelope said:</p>

-

-<p>“My father’s braves will be out searching for me,<span class="pagenum">[303]</span>

-mayhap. If they see White Antelope in the charge of

-a white man, they may try to shoot him. They may

-believe you were he who stole me away.”</p>

-

-<p>“I’d been thinking of that,” said Cody reflectively.

-“I don’t want to get popped over for the wrong man,

-that’s sure. I reckon I’ll have to change my appearance

-a little.”</p>

-

-<p>“How will the white chief do that?” she demanded,

-over his shoulder. She was riding behind him on the

-saddle.</p>

-

-<p>“We’ll see when we come to that cave I’ve been

-staying in. I reckon I’ve got something there that

-may help me out. And I believe we shall be able to

-reach it without being molested.”</p>

-

-<p>Chief bore them tirelessly all that day and far into

-the night. When they halted and built their fire they

-were within a few hours’ ride of the cave in the mountain

-from which Cody had overlooked Oak Heart’s

-camp. Seventy-two hours before he had left it to

-chase Boyd Bennett and rescue the Indian maiden.

-Much had happened since then both to the scout and in

-the Indian encampment.</p>

-

-

-

-<hr class="chap" />

-

-<div class="chapter">

-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XLVIII">CHAPTER XLVIII.<br />

-<span class="cheaderfont">THE PLEDGE KEPT.</span></h2>

-</div>

-

-

-<p>There was much excitement in the village of the

-Sioux. The white queen, the idolized daughter of

-Oak Heart, had ridden away from her teepee and had

-not returned. Then came the discovery of the death

-of the young brave on the ridge, and the deed was set

-down to the credit of the hated Long Hair.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[304]</span></p>

-

-<p>These mysterious murders that had been committed

-so near the encampment had wrought upon the tribesmen

-greatly. It seemed as though Long Hair possessed

-some supernatural power. He flitted, seemingly, from

-place to place without being seen, and killed the Sioux

-almost in the confines of the encampment.</p>

-

-<p>While the chiefs were in council a horse was seen

-approaching from a mountain defile, down over the

-ridge, where the young brave had been found stabbed

-to the heart. Upon the back of the horse were two persons,

-one of them apparently a great chief in full war-dress;

-the other was White Antelope herself.</p>

-

-<p>The strange chief rode directly down into the village,

-not deigning to more than grunt a salutation to

-the guards, and the girl refused to make any explanation,

-either. Straight to the council-lodge the chief

-rode, and, there dismounting, the two entered, the

-young girl leading the way.</p>

-

-<p>The Indian is stoical and Spartan, but Oak Heart

-was fond of his remaining child. He was moved now

-by her unexpected recovery, and as she ran to him he

-allowed her to take and hold his hand. The old men

-nodded, too, for they believed that the White Antelope

-was “good medicine.” The strange chief, however,

-they did not know, and they eyed him with suspicion

-as well as curiosity. Finally the White Antelope arose

-and stepped into the circle, and there made her voice

-heard by all in the lodge.</p>

-

-<p>“The Sioux are a wise people; their chiefs are wise;

-their old men are wise, but sometimes even the wise

-are mistaken. They make mistakes. They welcome

-into their tribe one who stung and bit like the viper<span class="pagenum">[305]</span>

-warmed in the bosom. Such a viper has been warmed

-in the bosom of the Utah Sioux!”</p>

-

-<p>The old men grunted and looked at each other.

-Some glanced covertly at the place where the medicine

-chief, Death Killer, should have sat. He was not

-present.</p>

-

-<p>“This one came with a false tale to my father, the

-great chief, Oak Heart, and told a tale which sent the

-Sioux on the war-path. They fell upon the palefaces

-and killed them. The palefaces were not searching for

-the Sioux village; they were searching for a wicked

-paleface to punish him. Ah! he was two-tongued&mdash;and

-his tongue was sharp as a knife.</p>

-

-<p>“The White Antelope speaks the truth to you. This

-traitor was in the councils of the Sioux, but with his

-own hand he was murdering our young men. See!

-The still, red scalp of Po-ca-his-ta, torn from his head

-by the traitor this very day. And this&mdash;as other&mdash;murders

-he would have had the Sioux believe were

-done by Long Hair, the paleface scout.</p>

-

-<p>“Long Hair was sent to tell his big chief of my

-father’s warning, and to bring people to bury the dead.

-Long Hair said he would return. Long Hair is of a

-straight tongue. He is here!”</p>

-

-<p>Instantly the strange chief standing so motionless

-in their presence threw the war-bonnet aside and

-dropped the corner of the blanket which muffled his

-face. Buffalo Bill stood revealed. A deep murmur

-ran around the lodge, and it was half of surprise, half

-of admiration for the bold paleface who had redeemed

-his word to the White Antelope. Fearlessly the scout

-stood before his redskin foes, his eyes fixed upon the

-face of Oak Heart.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[306]</span></p>

-

-<p>“It is well,” said the old Sioux. “The Long Hair’s

-life was forfeit when he was held by Death Killer. He

-has gone to his people; he has returned as he said.

-Now he must die.”</p>

-

-<p>But Buffalo Bill never changed color. White Antelope

-started forward, her richly tinted face paling. It

-was a moment before she controlled herself and stood

-calmly to speak as an Indian should.</p>

-

-<p>“Let the White Antelope speak!” said Oak Heart

-quietly.</p>

-

-<p>The girl, in rapid, burning words, related her capture

-by Boyd Bennett and his death at the hands of the

-scout. The treachery of the renegade was proved.

-Buffalo Bill had been the medicine chief’s prisoner.

-Why should the Sioux hold the captive of a creature

-so dishonored?</p>

-

-<p>Her plea evidently made some impression, but all

-eyes turned upon Oak Heart, and at length the old

-chief spoke.</p>

-

-<p>“The Long Hair is a mighty paleface chief. He has

-trailed the red man to his village, and his belt is heavy

-with the scalps of my braves. He came here under the

-war-bonnet of a Cheyenne chief, and has saved the

-White Antelope from death.</p>

-

-<p>“But the Long Hair has long been a foe to the

-Sioux. It was he who brought help to the white soldiers

-in the fort when we would have beaten them. It

-was he who took them ammunition. It was he who

-stole our ponies.</p>

-

-<p>“The Long Hair has ofttimes looked on death. He

-is not afraid of death. He must show my warriors how

-a brave man <a id="Ref_306" href="#Ref_306a">can</a> die.”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[307]</span></p>

-

-<p>For the first time since entering the lodge, Buffalo

-Bill spoke:</p>

-

-<p>“It is true, Oak Heart, that I have been your foe,

-and the foe of your people of late. It was not always

-so. When the Sioux would dwell at peace with the

-paleface, were content to live and hunt in these mountains

-and not fall upon and kill the white soldiers, Long

-Hair was their friend.</p>

-

-<p>“When the Wise Woman lived and her wisdom

-guided the tribe, the Sioux remained at peace with the

-paleface. But now worse councils prevail among you,

-and your young men go out to battle and are slain.

-And what do you gain? The palefaces are as numberless

-as the leaves of the forest. When you kill one,

-two come in his place; where you kill two, a dozen

-appear. Take the word of one who has smoked in

-your lodges and heard wisdom from your old men.

-The Long Hair tells you to bury the hatchet and smoke

-the peace-pipe with the white chiefs. Then shall you

-have content and your bellies be filled, and your young

-men shall grow up and be great hunters and your

-young squaws live to bear children.</p>

-

-<p>“Long Hair has spoken. If the Sioux kill me, it is

-but one white man dead. But how many will strike the

-trail of the Sioux to avenge my death? The Sioux

-have already lost many braves. Let them be content;

-blood enough has been spilled. Is it not so?</p>

-

-<p>“Remember, too, oh, Oak Heart, how Long Hair

-has sat in your lodge and talked with you and the Wise

-Woman before the Great Spirit took her. Here!” he

-drew from his hunting-shirt a sacred tomahawk pipe

-with a broken edge. “Here is the pledge given to

-Long-Hair long ago by the Wise Woman, and by Oak<span class="pagenum">[308]</span>

-Heart. Then was Oak Heart’s mind single; he was

-not full of wiles and thoughts of evil against the white

-men and against Long Hair. This was the pledge that

-Long Hair and the Sioux should never be at enmity.

-And has the enmity been of Long Hair’s seeking?

-Nay! The red men started to slay. The Long Hair

-must go with his people. Has he done wrong?</p>

-

-<p>“See! Must Pa-e-has-ka die?” and he held up the

-trophy again.</p>

-

-<p>A deathlike silence had fallen upon the lodge. The

-old chief was greatly moved, and for an Indian&mdash;especially

-a councilor&mdash;to show emotion is a disgrace.

-Perhaps, too, his mind was filled with thoughts of the

-Wise Woman, of whom Buffalo Bill had spoken so

-feelingly.</p>

-

-<p>Years before, when Oak Heart was a much younger

-man, the tribe had raided far to the south, by the waters

-of a great river. They had come upon a ranchman and

-his family, killed him, flung his body into the river,

-and taken his wife, a beautiful white squaw, captive.

-None but the son of the ranchman&mdash;a mere child&mdash;escaped.

-He had been found and cared for after the

-massacre by Buffalo Bill.</p>

-

-<p>The white squaw’s brain had been turned by the

-horror of that time. She wandered about the encampment

-in a dazed state. The Indians have a great awe

-of those who are insane, believing that the finger of

-the Great Spirit has touched them. She was cared for

-tenderly and brought north with the tribe.</p>

-

-<p>She was a skilful woman with herbs and simples.

-She nursed the wounded warriors; she helped the

-women in travail; she cared for the children and the

-young squaws. She was much beloved. Her influence,<span class="pagenum">[309]</span>

-even before her mind cleared, became one for

-great good in the tribe.</p>

-

-<p>Slowly she grew normal once more. Years had

-passed. Instead of golden tresses, her hair was as

-white as the snow upon the mountain peaks. Yet she

-was still a young woman and good to look upon. Oak

-Heart loved her. He had treated her with the utmost

-respect and kindness. She had lived so long among

-the redskins that she had lost all distaste for them, and

-had imbibed many of their religious beliefs. She was

-unutterably opposed to the warring of the tribe with

-the whites, however.</p>

-

-<p>Her husband and children were dead&mdash;and the past

-was dead. She espoused Oak Heart so as to retain her

-influence over him and over the tribe, for the good of

-the whites. It was after that that Buffalo Bill met the

-Wise Woman and knew who she was. But he had

-never told her that her son was alive, for fear that the

-knowledge would do the poor woman more harm than

-good. Also, she had a child by Oak Heart&mdash;the White

-Antelope. But she died when the girl was small.</p>

-

-<p>Possibly thoughts of the dead woman moved the old

-chief. Besides, the peace-pipe was a sacred pledge. He

-suddenly rose, threw around him his blanket, and,

-standing in the midst of the lodge, spoke impressively:</p>

-

-<p>“The Pa-e-has-ka is a friend to Oak Heart. When

-the hatchet shall be buried between the red men and the

-palefaces, they shall be brothers again. But now the

-palefaces are on the trail of my people; so let the

-Pa-e-has-ka hasten from us and join his own tribe.

-Not one of my braves shall follow him. Oak Heart

-has spoken.”</p>

-

-<p>There were murmurs about the lodge, but no chief<span class="pagenum">[310]</span>

-at the moment put his objections in words. Buffalo

-Bill found the White Antelope’s hand seeking his own.

-She acted more like a modest and timid white girl than

-ever before.</p>

-

-<p>“Let the white chief come with me,” she whispered.

-“I have something to show him.”</p>

-

-<p>The amazed scout went with her out of the grand

-lodge and was taken to her own teepee.</p>

-

-

-

-<hr class="chap" />

-

-<div class="chapter">

-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XLIX">CHAPTER XLIX.<br />

-<span class="cheaderfont">CONCLUSION.</span></h2>

-</div>

-

-

-<p>The wondering Indians allowed the White Antelope

-and Long Hair to pass. Inside the teepee an old

-woman kept watch and guard. A figure lay upon a

-heap of furs. It moved as the scout entered, raised

-on its elbow, and a weak voice exclaimed:</p>

-

-<p>“By the nine gods of war! Thanks be it’s you,

-Cody! I thought you’d never come, though this dear

-girl here swore you would, as you had promised her.”</p>

-

-<p>To see one whom we believe dead&mdash;aye, have seen

-lying stark on the field of battle and believe to have

-been buried there&mdash;rise up suddenly and confront us is

-indeed a shock. Buffalo Bill fell back a step, exclaiming:</p>

-

-<p>“Dick Danforth!”</p>

-

-<p>“’Tis I, old faithful! Thanks to this girl&mdash;who is

-the whitest Injun God ever made&mdash;I am alive, the sole

-survivor of my unfortunate party.”</p>

-

-<p>“Dick, I saw you lying on the field of battle,” declared

-the scout, taking his hand. “How came you

-here?”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[311]</span></p>

-

-<p>“She brought me back to life. She found there was

-life in me. I had got a terrible crack on the head. She

-and the old woman brought me here, and I have been

-hidden in this teepee ever since. I’m a whole lot better

-now, Cody. I believe I could ride a horse.”</p>

-

-<p>“And the White Antelope has cared for you?” cried

-the scout.</p>

-

-<p>“She has, indeed.” Then the young man whispered:

-“Isn’t she beautiful? And how glad I am, old man,

-that you stayed my hand that day when I would have

-murdered her!”</p>

-

-<p>“Ho, ho!” muttered the scout. “Sets the wind in

-that quarter? I must tell you two young people something

-before more mischief be done.”</p>

-

-<p>He seized the girl’s hand and drew her forward to

-the side of Danforth’s couch.</p>

-

-<p>“White Antelope,” he said in English, “do you remember

-that I told you once I knew your mother?”</p>

-

-<p>She nodded, watching him with bright eyes.</p>

-

-<p>“She was a lovely woman. She was a white woman.

-It was true she was Oak Heart’s wife, but she had

-been espoused before by a good and great white man.

-He was killed by Oak Heart’s people, and for a time

-your mother was stricken by the mercy of the Great

-Spirit with forgetfulness.</p>

-

-<p>“When she came to herself she believed that her

-husband and her son were dead. She became Oak

-Heart’s squaw. But her son was not dead. I had

-saved him from the Indians, and he lived to grow

-up&mdash;&mdash;”</p>

-

-<p>Danforth raised himself up with a great cry.</p>

-

-<p>“You do not mean it! It is impossible!” he cried.

-“This girl&mdash;&mdash;?”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[312]</span></p>

-

-<p>“Is your sister. White Antelope, this young man is

-your elder brother&mdash;and a mighty fine fellow you’ll find

-him. Your mother was the finest woman I ever knew,

-and <em>your</em> father, Dick&mdash;God help him!&mdash;was once the

-finest fellow in the world!”</p>

-

-<p>The scout choked and was silent. He was thinking

-of that awful, convulsed face of the Mad Hunter as he

-fell backward from the summit of the bluff, with Texas

-Jack’s bullet in his brain!</p>

-

-<p>“He&mdash;he is my brother?” murmured the girl, her

-eyes shining.</p>

-

-<p>“That’s what he is,” said the scout, recovering himself

-and speaking heartily.</p>

-

-<p>She went to Danforth and put both her hands in his.

-The young fellow suddenly pulled her down to him and

-kissed her on the lips.</p>

-

-<p>“That’s the way <em>white</em> brothers and sisters greet

-each other,” he said, with a weak laugh. “When can

-you get us away from this camp, Cody?”</p>

-

-<p>That was a question easier to be asked than answered.

-But the excitement over the letting of Cody

-himself go free aided them in their attempt. The

-chiefs were murmuring against the decision of Oak

-Heart. The old man was fighting for his supremacy

-as head chief of the tribe. He could not even see the

-White Antelope, and shut her out of his lodge.</p>

-

-<p>This piqued the wayward girl. She was the more

-ready to go with her new-found brother, as he was ill

-and needed her. But she only agreed to go with him to

-Fort Resistence and then directly return. But Dick

-Danforth said confidently:</p>

-

-<p>“Let me once get her away from the influence of

-these bloody redskins, and I’ll wean her away from<span class="pagenum">[313]</span>

-them. I know what will please a young girl like her.

-I’ll take her to San Francisco, Bill. Thanks to you,

-I’ve some property of my own left of my poor father’s

-estate. And isn’t she a beauty! Won’t she make ’em

-sit up and take notice at the Bay?”</p>

-

-<p>Under cover of the night the scout and the Indian

-maid helped the wounded Danforth upon a horse, and

-the three wended their way from the encampment.

-They were not followed&mdash;or, at least, were not overtaken&mdash;until

-they reached Captain Keyes’ command.

-Then they were hurried on under an escort to Resistence.

-White Antelope made no objection to going,

-her brother was so weak and needed her so much.</p>

-

-<p>Indeed, the wily young fellow remained an invalid

-so long that his sister became half-reconciled to civilized

-clothing and to white people before they took the

-long journey to San Francisco, where Dick went to

-spend the furlough allowed him by the department.</p>

-

-<hr class="tb" />

-

-<p>The scene changes once more to Fort Advance, some

-days after that on which Buffalo Bill, the Border

-King, had set out on his dangerous mission to the

-village of the Sioux. It is a little past sunrise, and a

-horseman is descried taking the trail from the cañon

-toward the fort. He is mounted on a great white

-charger that comes like the wind.</p>

-

-<p>The rider looks pale and jaded, and his buckskin

-attire has seen hard usage. But he is recognized by

-the sentinel over the gate, and his cry is repeated about

-the fort:</p>

-

-<p>“Here comes Buffalo Bill, the King of the Border!”</p>

-

-<p>Waving his battered hat in response to the shout,<span class="pagenum">[314]</span>

-Buffalo Bill rides straight to the open gate, enters, and

-dismounts before Major Baldwin’s door. An orderly

-seizes his bridle-rein, and the major comes forth and

-grasps the scout’s hand with the words:</p>

-

-<p>“Thanks be to God for seeing you again alive, Cody!

-When Keyes told me you were safe, I felt like ordering

-a feast to celebrate the occasion. And they say the

-Sioux are ready for peace?”</p>

-

-<p>“I believe they are. Oak Heart has pretty much lost

-his grip on the tribe, and is an outcast. But the new

-powers-that-be have seen the fallacy of trying issues

-again with us.”</p>

-

-<p>“We certainly believed you dead one while, Cody.”</p>

-

-<p>“And it was a close shave not to be this time, sir.”</p>

-

-<p>“You have won out as usual, Bill, with flying

-colors.”</p>

-

-<p>“Yes, Major Baldwin. I went to Oak Heart’s village

-with the firm determination to get Boyd Bennett

-if it cost me my life. That scoundrel had been a

-thorn in my side too long. I got him. He’s dead.

-He’ll do no more harm <em>this</em> side of the Great Divide!”</p>

-

-<p>“A good piece of work, Cody. And I understand

-that old maniac, the Mad Hunter, who attacked Keyes,

-is dead, too?”</p>

-

-<p>“That is so. But I am sorry for <em>his</em> end. I tell you

-in confidence, major, that the man was Dick Danforth’s

-father&mdash;though I never suspected it until I saw

-his face close to. The Indians were supposed to have

-cracked him on the head and flung him into the river

-years ago. The crack on the head was sure enough.

-But he wasn’t drowned. His end has come now, poor

-fellow.”</p>

-

-<p>“And <a id="Ref_314" href="#Ref_314a">Dick</a> wonderfully saved!”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum">[315]</span></p>

-

-<p>“He is, indeed&mdash;and has found a sister.”</p>

-

-<p>“Ah, Cody! That was a joker you kept up your

-sleeve a long time,” said the major.</p>

-

-<p>“True. I knew the boy’s hatred for all savages. I

-did not know about his poor mother and this girl until

-I had really instilled some of the boy’s hatred into his

-mind myself. I feared for him to know the truth.

-Yet I wanted to save her from the savages. Providence

-performed what I could not.”</p>

-

-<p>“True.... But those scalp-locks, Cody?”

-asked Major Baldwin, pointing to the string of ghastly

-trophies hanging from the scout’s belt.</p>

-

-<p>“Oh, those are the roofs of the braves who tried to

-raise my hair. I intended to have a rope made of

-them to hang Boyd Bennett with, but I’ll have them

-made into a bridle for you, instead, major.”</p>

-

-<p>“All right, scout. Thank you for the gift. And

-now you are free. Report to me in full when you have

-rested,” and with another hand-clasp the major let him

-go.</p>

-

-<p>Many other hands were waiting to clasp that of the

-Border King. It was some time before he could break

-away and find Texas Jack in the scouts’ quarters.</p>

-

-<p>But times of rest were few and far between for these

-hardy men of the frontier. One tribe of red men were

-scarcely subjugated for the time when another would

-rise up to kill and slay. It was not long before Buffalo

-Bill was performing more daring deeds to add to his

-fame upon the border.</p>

-

-<p class="center p1">THE END.</p>

-

-<hr class="tb" />

-

-<div class="chapter">

-<div class="boxit">

-<p class="center xxlargefont boldfont">Say, Boys!</p>

-

-<p>How’d you like to own your own bronc’?

-How’d you like to be an expert at lassoing

-and branding? How’d you like to ride the

-rolling prairies in search of lost stock, and

-perhaps have an adventure or two with certain

-bad men who did not like you because

-you were on the side of law and order? How

-would you like it?</p>

-

-<p>Well, we all cannot go west and be cowboys,

-but we sure can pay 15 cents for the stories

-in the <cite>Western Story Library</cite>, and find a good,

-comfortable spot, and immediately imagine

-ourselves riding with Ted Strong and his

-broncho boys, sharing their adventures, their

-hardships and pleasures.</p>

-

-<p>Ted Strong and his pals are lovable fellows&mdash;every

-one of them, and you will do well to

-make comrades of them.</p>

-

-<p>Ask your dealer to show you a copy of the

-<cite>Western Story Library</cite>.</p>

-

-<p class="center boldfont largefont">STREET &amp; SMITH CORPORATION<br />

-79 Seventh Avenue <span style="padding-left:2em">New York City</span></p>

-</div></div>

-

-<hr class="tb" />

-

-<div class="chapter">

-

-<p class="center largefont boldfont">WESTERN STORIES ABOUT<br />

-<span class="xxlargefont">BUFFALO BILL</span></p>

-

-<p class="xlargefont boldfont center">Price, Fifteen Cents</p>

-

-<p class="center largefont">Red-blooded Adventure Stories for Men</p>

-

-<p>There is no more romantic character in American history than

-William F. Cody, or as he was internationally known, Buffalo

-Bill. He, with Colonel Prentiss Ingraham, Wild Bill Hickok,

-General Custer, and a few other adventurous spirits, laid the

-foundation of our great West.</p>

-

-<p>There is no more brilliant page in American history than the

-winning of the West. Never did pioneers live more thrilling

-lives, so rife with adventure and brave deeds as the old scouts

-and plainsmen. Foremost among these stands the imposing

-figure of Buffalo Bill.</p>

-

-<p>All of the books in this list are intensely interesting. They

-were written by the close friend and companion of Buffalo Bill&mdash;Colonel

-Prentiss Ingraham. They depict actual adventures

-which this pair of hard-hitting comrades experienced, while the

-story of these adventures is interwoven with fiction; historically

-the books are correct.</p>

-</div>

-

-<p class="center p1"><em>ALL TITLES ALWAYS IN PRINT</em></p>

-

-<div class="center">

-<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" summary="titles">

-<tr><td class="tableft1">1&mdash;Buffalo Bill, the Border King</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft1">2&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Raid</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft1">3&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Bravery</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft1">4&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Trump Card</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft1">5&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Pledge</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft1">6&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Vengeance</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft1">7&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Iron Grip</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft1">8&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Capture</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft1">9&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Danger Line</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">10&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Comrades</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">11&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Reckoning</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">12&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Warning</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">13&mdash;Buffalo Bill at Bay</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">14&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Buckskin Pards</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">15&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Brand</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">16&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Honor</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">17&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Phantom Hunt</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">18&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Fight With Fire</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">19&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Danite Trail</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">20&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Ranch Riders</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">21&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Death Trail</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">22&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Trackers</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">23&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Mid-air Flight</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">24&mdash;Buffalo Bill, Ambassador</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">25&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Air Voyage</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">26&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Secret Mission</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">27&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Long Trail</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">28&mdash;Buffalo Bill Against Odds</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">29&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Hot Chase</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">30&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Redskin Ally</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">31&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Treasure Trove</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">32&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Hidden Foes</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">33&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Crack Shot</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">34&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Close Call</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">35&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Double Surprise</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">36&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Ambush</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">37&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Outlaw Hunt</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">38&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Border Duel</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">39&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Bid for Fame</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">40&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Triumph</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">41&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Spy Trailer</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">42&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Death Call</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">43&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Body Guard</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">44&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Still Hunt</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">45&mdash;Buffalo Bill and the Doomed Dozen</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">46&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Prairie Scout</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">47&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Traitor Guide</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">48&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Bonanza</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">49&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Swoop</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">50&mdash;Buffalo Bill and the Gold King</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">51&mdash;Buffalo Bill, Deadshot</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">52&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Buckskin Bravos</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">53&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Big Four</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">54&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s One-armed Pard</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">55&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Race for Life</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">56&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Return</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">57&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Conquest</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">58&mdash;Buffalo Bill to the Rescue</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">59&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Beautiful Foe</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">60&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Perilous Task</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">61&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Queer Find</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">62&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Blind Lead</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">63&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Resolution</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">64&mdash;Buffalo Bill, the Avenger</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">65&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Pledged Pard</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">66&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Weird Warning</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">67&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Wild Ride</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">68&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Redskin Stampede</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">69&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Mine Mystery</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">70&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Gold Hunt</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">71&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Daring Dash</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">72&mdash;Buffalo Bill on Hand</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">73&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Alliance</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">74&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Relentless Foe</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">75&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Midnight Ride</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">76&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Chivalry</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">77&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Girl Pard</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">78&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Private War</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">79&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Diamond Mine</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">80&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Big Contract</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">81&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Woman Foe</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">82&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Ruse</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">83&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Pursuit</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">84&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Hidden Gold</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">85&mdash;Buffalo Bill in Mid-air</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">86&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Queer Mission</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">87&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Verdict</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">88&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Ordeal</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">89&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Camp Fires</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">90&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Iron Nerve</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">91&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Rival</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">92&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Lone Hand</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">93&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Sacrifice</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">94&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Thunderbolt</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">95&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Black Fortune</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">96&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Wild Work</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">97&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Yellow Trail</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">98&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Treasure Train</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft2">99&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Bowie Duel</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft">100&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Mystery Man</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft">101&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Bold Play</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft">102&mdash;Buffalo Bill: Peacemaker</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft">103&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Big Surprise</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft">104&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Barricade</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft">105&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Test</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft">106&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Powwow</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft">107&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Stern Justice</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft">108&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Mysterious Friend</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft">109&mdash;Buffalo Bill and the Boomers</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft">110&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Panther Fight</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft">111&mdash;Buffalo Bill and the Overland Mail</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft">112&mdash;Buffalo Bill on the Deadwood Trail</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft">113&mdash;Buffalo Bill in Apache Land</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft">114&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Blindfold Duel</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft">115&mdash;Buffalo Bill and the Lone Camper</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft">116&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Merry War</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft">117&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Star Play</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft">118&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s War Cry</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft">119&mdash;Buffalo Bill on Black Panther’s Trail</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft">120&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Slim Chance</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft">121&mdash;Buffalo Bill Besieged</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft">122&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Bandit Round-up</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft">123&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Surprise Party</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft">124&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Lightning Raid</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft">125&mdash;Buffalo Bill in Mexico</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft">126&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Traitor Foe</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft">127&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Tireless Chase</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft">128&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Boy Bugler</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft">129&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Sure Guess</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft">130&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Record Jump</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft">131&mdash;Buffalo Bill in the Land of Dread</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft">132&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Tangled Clue</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-<tr><td class="tableft">133&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Wolf Skin</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>

-</table>

-</div>

-

-<hr class="tb" />

-

-<div class="chapter">

-<p class="xxlargefont boldfont center"><span style="padding-left:2.5em"><em>Adventure Stories</em></span><br />

-<span style="padding-left:2em"><em>Detective Stories</em></span><br />

-<span style="padding-left:1.5em"><em>Western Stories</em></span><br />

-<span style="padding-left:0.5em"><em>Love Stories</em></span><br />

-<em>Sea Stories</em></p>

-

-<p>All classes of fiction are to be found among

-the Street &amp; Smith novels. Our line contains

-reading matter for every one, irrespective of age

-or preference.</p>

-

-<p>The person who has only a moderate sum

-to spend on reading matter will find this line

-a veritable gold mine.</p>

-

-<p class="center largefont p1">STREET &amp; SMITH CORPORATION,<br />

-79 Seventh Avenue,<br />

-New York, N. Y.</p>

-</div>

-

-<hr class="tb" />

-

-<div class="chapter">

-<div class="transnote">

-<h2 id="TN_end" style="margin-top: 0em">Transcriber’s Notes:</h2>

-

-<p>Punctuation has been made consistent.</p>

-

-<p>Variations in spelling and hyphenation were retained as they appear in

-the original publication, except that obvious typographical errors

-have been corrected.</p>

-

-<p>The following changes were made:</p>

-

-<p><a id="Ref_17a" href="#Ref_17">p. 17</a>: when assumed for unintelligible word (volunteer when you were)</p>

-

-<p><a id="Ref_34a" href="#Ref_34">p. 34:</a> means assumed for unintelligible word (wonderful means of)</p>

-

-<p><a id="Ref_69a" href="#Ref_69">p. 69:</a> wise scout assumed for unintelligible words (the wise scout had)</p>

-

-<p><a id="Ref_77a" href="#Ref_77">p. 77:</a> to assumed for unintelligible word (blow to Oak)</p>

-

-<p><a id="Ref_120a" href="#Ref_120">p. 120:</a> done assumed for unintelligible word (was done. It)</p>

-

-<p><a id="Ref_120b" href="#Ref_1201">p. 120:</a> officer assumed for unintelligible word (the officer descried)</p>

-

-<p><a id="Ref_226a" href="#Ref_226">p. 226:</a> flung assumed for unintelligible word (mother flung him)</p>

-

-<p><a id="Ref_228a" href="#Ref_228">p. 228:</a> unintelligible word(s) deleted (he feared and)</p>

-

-<p><a id="Ref_292a" href="#Ref_292">p. 292:</a> a assumed for unintelligible word (seemed a frail)</p>

-

-<p><a id="Ref_306a" href="#Ref_306">p. 306:</a> can assumed for unintelligible word (man can die)</p>

-

-<p><a id="Ref_314a" href="#Ref_314">p. 314:</a> Dick assumed for unintelligible word (And Dick wonderfully)</p>

-</div></div>

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-<pre>

-

-

-

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+      The Project Gutenberg eBook of Buffalo Bill, the Border King, by Colonel Prentiss Ingraham.
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+<body>
+<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 62638 ***</div>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<img id="coverpage" src="images/cover.jpg" alt="Cover." />
+</div>
+
+<div style="padding-top:2em">
+<div class="transnote">
+<h2 style="margin-top: 0em">Transcriber’s Notes:</h2>
+
+<p>The Table of Contents was created by the transcriber and placed
+in the public domain.</p>
+
+<p><a href="#TN_end">Additional Transcriber’s Notes</a> are at the
+end.</p>
+</div></div>
+
+<hr class="tb" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<div class="boxcontents">
+<p class="xlargefont center boldfont">CONTENTS</p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#IN_APPRECIATION_OF_WILLIAM_F_CODY">In Appreciation of William F. Cody (Buffalo Bill).</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">Chapter I. Running the Death-gantlet.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">Chapter II. The Border King.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">Chapter III. The King of the Sioux.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">Chapter IV. Buffalo Bill’s Plot.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">Chapter V. The Desperate Venture.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">Chapter VI. The Dash of the Scouts.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">Chapter VII. The Ace of Clubs.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">Chapter VIII. Facing Death.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">Chapter IX. Breaking Through the Red Circle.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_X">Chapter X. The Ride to the Rescue.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XI">Chapter XI. A Busy Half-hour.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XII">Chapter XII. A Flying Fight.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">Chapter XIII. The Chase of the White Antelope.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">Chapter XIV. A Startling Discovery.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XV">Chapter XV. The Treasure Chest.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">Chapter XVI. The Bandits of the Overland Trail.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">Chapter XVII. A Friend in Need.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII">Chapter XVIII. The Race With Death.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIX">Chapter XIX. Danforth’s Hand Is Stayed Again.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XX">Chapter XX. A Double Capture.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXI">Chapter XXI. The Cave in the Mountain.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXII">Chapter XXII. The Night Prowlers.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIII">Chapter XXIII. More Than They Bargained For.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIV">Chapter XXIV. Chased by the Flames.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXV">Chapter XXV. The Telltale Crow.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVI">Chapter XXVI. The Massacre.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVII">Chapter XXVII. “The Death Killer.”</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVIII">Chapter XXVIII. The White Antelope Interferes.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIX">Chapter XXIX. A Girl’s Word.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXX">Chapter XXX. The Mad Hunter.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXI">Chapter XXXI. Buffalo Bill’s Great Shot.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXII">Chapter XXXII. The Border King’s Pledge.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXIII">Chapter XXXIII. Tracking the Mad Hunter.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXIV">Chapter XXXIV. Red Knife Loses His “Medicine.”</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXV">Chapter XXXV. The Search For New Medicine.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXVI">Chapter XXXVI. The Magic Cup.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXVII">Chapter XXXVII. The Traitor.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXVIII">Chapter XXXVIII. White Antelope’s Peril.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXIX">Chapter XXXIX. A Cry For Help.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XL">Chapter XL. The Freight-train.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XLI">Chapter XLI. “On Guard!”</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XLII">Chapter XLII. The Avenger.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XLIII">Chapter XLIII. Man to Man at Last.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XLIV">Chapter XLIV. The Fight to Gain the Island.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XLV">Chapter XLV. War to the Knife.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XLVI">Chapter XLVI. And the Knife to the Hilt.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XLVII">Chapter XLVII. The Conqueror.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XLVIII">Chapter XLVIII. The Pledge Kept.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XLIX">Chapter XLIX. Conclusion.</a></p>
+</div></div>
+
+<hr class="tb" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<div class="figcenter1">
+<img src="images/titlepage.jpg" alt="Title page." />
+</div></div>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+<div class="chapter">
+<h1 class="nobreak">Buffalo Bill, the Border King</h1>
+
+
+<p class="center boldfont">OR,<br />
+<span class="xlargefont" style="line-height:3">REDSKIN AND COWBOY</span></p>
+
+<p class="center p1 xlargefont"><span class="mediumfont">BY</span><br />
+Col. Prentiss Ingraham</p>
+
+<p class="center" style="margin-bottom:2em">Author of “Buffalo Bill”</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<img src="images/titlepageicon.jpg" alt="Publisher's icon." />
+</div>
+
+<p class="center xlargefont p2">STREET &amp; SMITH CORPORATION<br />
+<span class="largefont">PUBLISHERS</span><br />
+79-89 Seventh Avenue, New York</p>
+</div>
+
+<hr class="tb" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<p class="center nobreak">Copyright, 1907<br />
+By STREET &amp; SMITH</p>
+
+<p class="center">Buffalo Bill, the Border King</p>
+
+<p class="center p2">(Printed in the United States of America)</p>
+
+<p class="center">All rights reserved including that of translation into foreign languages,
+including the Scandinavian.</p>
+</div>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<p><span class="pagenum">[1]</span></p>
+
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="IN_APPRECIATION_OF_WILLIAM_F_CODY">IN APPRECIATION OF WILLIAM F. CODY<br />
+<span class="largefont">(BUFFALO BILL).</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>It is now some generations since Josh Billings, Ned
+Buntline, and Colonel Prentiss Ingraham, intimate friends
+of Colonel William F. Cody, used to forgather in the
+office of Francis S. Smith, then proprietor of the <cite>New
+York Weekly</cite>. It was a dingy little office on Rose Street,
+New York, but the breath of the great outdoors stirred
+there when these old-timers got together. As a result of
+these conversations, Colonel Ingraham and Ned Buntline
+began to write of the adventures of Buffalo Bill
+for Street &amp; Smith.</p>
+
+<p>Colonel Cody was born in Scott County, Iowa, February
+26, 1846. Before he had reached his teens, his
+father, Isaac Cody, with his mother and two sisters,
+migrated to Kansas, which at that time was little more
+than a wilderness.</p>
+
+<p>When the elder Cody was killed shortly afterward in
+the Kansas “Border War,” young Bill assumed the difficult
+role of family breadwinner. During 1860, and until
+the outbreak of the Civil War, Cody lived the arduous
+life of a pony-express rider. Cody volunteered his services
+as government scout and guide and served throughout
+the Civil War with Generals McNeil and A. J.
+Smith. He was a distinguished member of the Seventh
+Kansas Cavalry.</p>
+
+<p>During the Civil War, while riding through the streets
+of St. Louis, Cody rescued a frightened schoolgirl from
+a band of annoyers. In true romantic style, Cody and
+Louisa Federci, the girl, were married March 6, 1866.</p>
+
+<p>In 1867 Cody was employed to furnish a specified
+amount of buffalo meat to the construction men at work
+on the Kansas Pacific Railroad. It was in this period
+that he received the sobriquet “Buffalo Bill.”</p>
+
+<p>In 1868 and for four years thereafter Colonel Cody<span class="pagenum">[2]</span>
+served as scout and guide in campaigns against the Sioux
+and Cheyenne Indians. It was General Sheridan who
+conferred on Cody the honor of chief of scouts of the
+command.</p>
+
+<p>After completing a period of service in the Nebraska
+legislature, Cody joined the Fifth Cavalry in 1876, and
+was again appointed chief of scouts.</p>
+
+<p>Colonel Cody’s fame had reached the East long before,
+and a great many New Yorkers went out to see
+him and join in his buffalo hunts, including such men
+as August Belmont, James Gordon Bennett, Anson
+Stager, and J. G. Heckscher. In entertaining these
+visitors at Fort McPherson, Cody was accustomed to
+arrange wild-West exhibitions. In return his friends
+invited him to visit New York. It was upon seeing his
+first play in the metropolis that Cody conceived the idea
+of going into the show business.</p>
+
+<p>Assisted by Ned Buntline, novelist, and Colonel Ingraham,
+he started his “Wild West” show, which later
+developed and expanded into “A Congress of the Roughriders
+of the World,” first presented at Omaha, Nebraska.
+In time it became a familiar yearly entertainment
+in the great cities of this country and Europe.
+Many famous personages attended the performances, and
+became his warm friends, including Mr. Gladstone, the
+Marquis of Lorne, King Edward, Queen Victoria, and
+the Prince of Wales, now King of England.</p>
+
+<p>At the outbreak of the Sioux, in 1890 and 1891,
+Colonel Cody served at the head of the Nebraska National
+Guard. In 1895 Cody took up the development
+of Wyoming Valley by introducing irrigation. Not long
+afterward he became judge advocate general of the
+Wyoming National Guard.</p>
+
+<p>Colonel Cody (Buffalo Bill) died in Denver, Colorado,
+on January 10, 1917. His legacy to a grateful world was
+a large share in the development of the West, and a
+multitude of achievements in horsemanship, marksmanship,
+and endurance that will live for ages. His life
+will continue to be a leading example of the manliness,
+courage, and devotion to duty that belonged to a picturesque
+phase of American life now passed, like the great
+patriot whose career it typified, into the Great Beyond.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<p class="center xxlargefont" style="margin-bottom:1em">BUFFALO BILL, THE BORDER KING.</p>
+
+
+
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">RUNNING THE DEATH-GANTLET.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>Fort Advance, a structure built of heavy, squared
+timbers and some masonry, with towers at the four
+corners, commanding the deep ditches which had been
+dug around the walls, stood in the heart of the then
+untracked Territory of Utah. It was the central figure
+of a beautiful valley&mdash;when in repose&mdash;and commanded
+one of the important passes and wagon trails
+of the Rockies.</p>
+
+<p>A mountain torrent flowed through the valley, and
+a supply of pure water from this stream had been
+diverted into the armed square which, commanded by
+Major Frank Baldwin, was a veritable City of Refuge
+to all the whites who chanced to be in the country at
+this time.</p>
+
+<p>For the valley of Fort Advance offered no peaceful
+scene. The savage denizens of the mountain and
+plain had risen, and, in a raging, vengeful flood, had
+poured into the valley and besieged the unfortunate
+occupants of the fort. These were a branch of the
+great Sioux tribe, and, under their leading chief, Oak
+Heart, fought with the desperation and blind fanaticism
+of Berserkers.</p>
+
+<p>A belt of red warriors surrounded Fort Advance,<span class="pagenum">[6]</span>
+cutting off all escape, or the approach of any assistance
+to the inmates of the stockade, outnumbering
+the able-bodied men under Major Baldwin’s command
+five to one! Among them rode the famous Oak
+Heart, inspiring his children to greater deeds of daring.
+By his side rode a graceful, beautiful girl of
+some seventeen years, whose face bore the unmistakable
+stamp of having other than Indian blood flowing
+in her veins. Long, luxurious hair, every strand of
+golden hue, contrasted strangely with her bronze complexion,
+while her eyes were sloe-black, and brilliant
+with every changing expression.</p>
+
+<p>This was White Antelope, a daughter of Oak Heart,
+and she held almost as much influence in the tribe as
+the grim old chief himself. Because of her beauty, indeed,
+she was almost worshiped as a goddess. At
+least, there was not a young buck in all the Utah
+Sioux who would not have attempted any deed of
+daring for the sake of calling the White Antelope his
+squaw.</p>
+
+<p>But while the red warriors were so inspired without
+the walls of the fortress, within was a much different
+scene. Major Baldwin’s resources were at an end.
+Many of his men were wounded, or ill; food was low;
+the wily redskins had cut off their water-supply; and
+there were but a few rounds of ammunition remaining.
+Fort Advance and its people were at a desperate
+pass, indeed!</p>
+
+<p>After a conference with his subordinate officers,
+Major Baldwin stood up in the midst of his haggard,
+powder-begrimed men. They were faithful fellows&mdash;many
+of them bore the scars of old Indian fights.<span class="pagenum">[7]</span>
+But human endurance has its limit, and there is an
+end to man’s courage.</p>
+
+<p>“Will no man in this fort dare run the death-gantlet
+and bring aid to us?” cried the major.</p>
+
+<p>It was an appeal from the lips of a fearless man,
+one who had won a record as a soldier in the Civil
+War, and had made it good later upon the field as
+an Indian fighter. The demand was for one who
+would risk almost certain death to save a couple of
+hundred of his fellow beings, among them a score of
+women and children.</p>
+
+<p>The nearest military post where help might be obtained
+was forty miles away. Several brave men had
+already attempted to run the deadly gantlet, and had
+died before the horrified eyes of the fort’s inmates.
+It seemed like flinging one’s life away to venture into
+the open where, just beyond rifle-shot, the red warriors
+ringed the fort about.</p>
+
+<p>Such was the situation, and another attack was
+about due. The riding of the big chief and his daughter
+through the mass of Indians, was for the purpose
+of giving instructions regarding the coming charge.
+Ammunition in the fort might run out this time.
+Then over the barrier would swarm the redskins, and
+the thought of the massacre that would follow made
+even Major Baldwin’s cheek blanch.</p>
+
+<p>So the gallant commander’s appeal had been made&mdash;and
+had it been made in vain? So it would seem,
+for not a man spoke for several moments. They
+shifted their guns, or changed weight from one foot
+to the other, or adjusted a bandage which already
+marked the redskin’s devilish work.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[8]</span></p>
+
+<p>They were brave men; but death seemed too sure a
+result of the attempt called for; it meant&mdash;to their
+minds&mdash;but another life flung away!</p>
+
+<p>“Was it not better that all should die here together,
+fighting desperately till the last man fell?” That was
+the question these old scarred veterans asked in their
+own minds. The venture would be utterly and completely
+hopeless.</p>
+
+<p>“<em>Look there!</em>”</p>
+
+<p>The trumpet-call was uttered by an officer on one
+of the towers of the stockade. His arm pointed westward,
+toward a ridge of rock which&mdash;barren and forbidding&mdash;sloped
+down into the valley facing the main
+gateway of Fort Advance.</p>
+
+<p>At the officer’s cry a score of men leaped to positions
+from which could be seen the object that occasioned
+it. Even Major Baldwin, knowing that the cry
+had been uttered because of some momentous happening,
+hurriedly mounted to the platform above the gate.
+He feared that already his demand for another volunteer
+was too late. He believed the redskins were massing
+for another charge.</p>
+
+<p>All eyes were strained in the direction the officer
+on the watch-tower pointed. A gasp of amazement
+was chorused by those who saw and understood the
+meaning of the cry.</p>
+
+<p>A horseman was seen riding like the wind toward
+the fort&mdash;and he was a white man!</p>
+
+<p>The Indians who had already beheld this rash adventurer
+were dumb with amazement. They were as
+much surprised by his appearance as were the inmates
+of the fort.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[9]</span></p>
+
+<p>The unknown rider was leading a packhorse. The
+horse he bestrode was a magnificent animal, and the
+packhorse flying along by its side was a racer as well,
+for both came on, down the long tongue of barren
+rock, at a spanking pace.</p>
+
+<p>From whence had the man come? Who was he?
+How had he gotten almost through the Indian lines
+undiscovered?</p>
+
+<p>He certainly had all but run the gantlet of the red
+warriors, for no shot, or no arrow, had been fired at
+him until he was discovered by the officer on the
+watch-tower of the fort.</p>
+
+<p>Then it was that he spurred forward like the wind,
+and floating to the ears of the whites who watched
+him so fearfully came the long, tremolo yell of the
+Sioux warriors as they started in pursuit of the daredevil
+rider. He was heading directly for the large
+gates of the fort.</p>
+
+<p>That he had chosen well his place to break through
+the Indian death-circle was evident, for there were few
+braves near him as he fled along the sloping ridge into
+the valley. His rifle he turned to right, or to left,
+firing with the same ease from either shoulder, while
+his mount, and the packhorse tied to its bridle, guided
+their own feet over the rocky way.</p>
+
+<p>When he pulled trigger the bullet did not miss its
+mark. The rifle rang out a death-knell, or sent a
+wounded brave out of action.</p>
+
+<p>The ponies of the Indians were feeding in the valley,
+with only a guard here and there, and there were
+no mounted warriors near to close in on the reckless
+rider, or to head him off. Hark! Their vengeful<span class="pagenum">[10]</span>
+yells, as they observed the possibility of the daring
+man’s escape, were awful to hear. They were in a
+frenzy of rage at the desperate act of the horseman.</p>
+
+<p>Rifles and bows sent bullets and shafts at him, but
+at long range. If he was hit he did not show it. The
+horses still thundered on, down into the valley, as
+recklessly as frenzied buffalo.</p>
+
+<p>Oak Heart, the great war chief, heard the commotion
+and saw the speeding white man. The chief was
+mounted, and he lashed his horse into a dead run for
+the point where the reckless paleface was descending
+into the valley. With him rode the White Antelope,
+and their coming spurred the braves to more strenuous
+attempts to reach, or capture, or kill, the daredevil
+rider.</p>
+
+<p>The occupants of the fort&mdash;those who beheld this
+wonderful race&mdash;were on the qui vive. Their exclamations
+displayed the anxiety and uncertainty they
+felt.</p>
+
+<p>“He can never make it!”</p>
+
+<p>“The Indian guard are driving in the ponies to bar
+his way!”</p>
+
+<p>“Who is he?”</p>
+
+<p>“How he rides!”</p>
+
+<p>“God guard the brave fellow!” cried a woman’s
+voice.</p>
+
+<p>One of the gentler sex had climbed to the platform
+over the gate, and this was her prayer.</p>
+
+<p>Other women had dropped to their knees, and were
+fervently praying God to spare the splendid fellow who
+was daring the gantlet of death. A cheer rose from
+the soldiery. This unknown was showing them the
+way that they had not dared to go.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[11]</span></p>
+
+<p>“That packhorse is wounded. Why doesn’t he leave
+it?” cried one of the officers. “It is delaying him&mdash;can’t
+the fellow see it?”</p>
+
+<p>At that moment the commander shouted:</p>
+
+<p>“Captain Keyes, take your troop to the rescue of
+that brave fellow!”</p>
+
+<p>“With pleasure, sir! I was about to ask your permission
+to do just that,” declared the junior officer.</p>
+
+<p>The bugle sounded, but its notes were drowned in
+a sudden wild shout of joy that rose from the two
+hundred inmates of the fort. Another officer, with
+a field-glass at his eye, had suddenly turned and
+shouted:</p>
+
+<p>“It is Buffalo Bill, the Border King!”</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">THE BORDER KING.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>The wild cheers that greeted the recognition of the
+daring gantlet runner came in frenzied roars, the
+piping voices of children, the treble notes of women,
+and the deep bass of the men mingling in a swelling
+chorus that rose higher and higher.</p>
+
+<p>The Border King, as he had been called, heard the
+sound. He understood that it was in his welcome,
+and he fairly stood up in his stirrups and waved his
+sombrero, while the horses dashed on at the same
+mad pace.</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill, or William F. Cody, as was his real
+name, was the chief of scouts at this very fort, and he
+was a hero&mdash;almost a god&mdash;in the eyes of the soldiers
+and his brother scouts.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[12]</span></p>
+
+<p>A week before he had started for Denver with important
+despatches, but had returned in a few hours
+to report signs of a large band of Indians on the move.
+He had warned Major Baldwin that Oak Heart and
+his braves might be intending a concerted attack upon
+Fort Advance; but duty called Buffalo Bill to the trail
+again, and he had hurried away on his Denver mission.</p>
+
+<p>That the danger he had dreaded was real, the surrounding
+of the fort several days later by the Sioux
+proved. Scouts had been sent for aid, but too late.
+None had gotten through the belt of redskins, and
+that belt was tightening each hour. The ammunition
+was low, and the awful end was not far off if help
+from some quarter did not appear.</p>
+
+<p>Even the appearance of Buffalo Bill inspired the
+beleaguered whites with hope. It seemed an almost
+hopeless attempt to reach the fort, for the red warriors
+were closing in upon him. Yet he rode on unshakenly.</p>
+
+<p>Down the ridge he sped, and out upon the plain.
+He was seemingly coming from the sunshine of life
+into the valley of death’s shadow!</p>
+
+<p>Why did he do it? Why did he risk his life so recklessly
+when only forty miles away he could have obtained
+help from the military post? There was some
+reason behind his daring act, and some cause for his
+delaying his effort by dragging the packhorse, now
+wounded, with him.</p>
+
+<p>All in the fort knew what this hero of the border
+had done to win fame among the mighty men of the
+frontier. He was chief and king among them. Yet
+what could he do now to help the besieged in the<span class="pagenum">[13]</span>
+fortress, even did he reach the gate? That was the
+question!</p>
+
+<p>But hope revived, nevertheless, in every heart. Even
+the commandant, Major Frank Baldwin, began to look
+more hopeful as the scout drew closer to the fort. He
+had known Buffalo Bill long and well, and he knew of
+what marvels he was capable!</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill had been born in a cabin home on the
+banks of the Mississippi River in the State of Iowa,
+and from his eighth year he had been a pioneer&mdash;an
+advance agent of civilization. At that age his
+father had removed to Kansas, and as a boy Billie
+Cody saw and took part in the bloody struggles in
+Kansas between the supporters of slavery and those
+who believed that the soil of Kansas should be unsmirched
+by that terrible traffic in human lives.</p>
+
+<p>Cody’s father, indeed, lost his life because of his
+belief in freedom, and the boy was obliged to help
+support the family at a tender age. He went to Leavenworth,
+and there hired out to Alex Majors, who of
+that day was the chief of the overland freighters into
+the far West.</p>
+
+<p>The boy was eleven years old&mdash;an age when most
+youngsters think only of their play and of their stomachs.
+But Billie Cody had seen his father shot down;
+he had nursed him and hidden him from his foes, and
+from the dying pioneer had received a sacred charge.
+That was the care of his mother and sister. It was
+necessary for him to earn a man’s wage, not a boy’s.
+And to get it he must do a man’s work. He was a
+splendid rider, even then&mdash;one of those horsemen who
+seem a part of the animal he bestrode, like the Centaurs<span class="pagenum">[14]</span>
+of which Greek mythology tells us. Alex
+Majors needed a messenger to ride from train to train
+along the wagon-trail, and he entrusted young Cody
+with the job.</p>
+
+<p>It was one that might have put to the test the
+bravery of a seasoned plainsman. Indians and wild
+beasts were both very plentiful. There were hundreds
+of dangers to threaten the lone boy as he rode swiftly
+over the trails. Yet even then he began to make his
+mark. He had several encounters with the Indians
+during his first season. As he says himself, the first
+redskin he ever saw stole from him, and he had to
+force the scoundrel&mdash;boy though he was&mdash;to give up
+the property at the point of the rifle. This incident,
+perhaps, gave the youth a certain daring in approaching
+the reds which often stood him well in after adventures.
+And the reds learned to respect and fear
+Billie Cody. He allowed his hair to grow long, to
+show the Indians that he was not afraid to wear a
+“scalp-lock”&mdash;practically daring any of his red foes to
+come and take it!</p>
+
+<p>So from that early day he had been active on the
+border. All knew him&mdash;red as well as white. He
+had been an Indian fighter from his eleventh year,
+the hero of hundreds of daring deeds, thrilling adventures,
+and narrow escapes. He was as gentle as a
+woman with the weak, the feeble, or with those who
+claimed his protection; but he was as savage in battle
+as a mountain lion, and had well earned the title bestowed
+upon him by his admiring friends&mdash;the Border
+King. His coming to the fort now&mdash;if he could make
+it safely&mdash;was worth in itself a company of reenforcements,
+for it put heart into all the besieged.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[15]</span></p>
+
+<p>“Never mind, Keyes! it is Cody, and he will get
+through,” called out Major Baldwin to Captain Keyes,
+as the men were mounting.</p>
+
+<p>Captain Edward L. Keyes was a splendid type of
+cavalry officer, and he was anxious for another brush
+with the redskins at close quarters. He was disappointed,
+but as the man making the attempt to reach
+Fort Advance was Buffalo Bill, the captain agreed
+with Major Baldwin that “he would get through.”</p>
+
+<p>The Border King had turned his rifle now upon
+the Indian guards who were trying to head him off
+by blocking his way with the large herd of half-wild
+ponies which had been feeding in the valley. Indian
+ponies are not broken like those used by white men.
+They are pretty nearly wild all their days. The red man
+merely teaches his mount to answer to the pressure
+of his knees, and to the jerk of the single rawhide
+thong that is slipped around the brute’s lower jaw.
+And these lessons are further enforced by cruelty.</p>
+
+<p>The odor of a white person is offensive to an Indian
+pony. A white man has been known frequently to
+stampede a band of Indian mounts; and not infrequently
+the mob of wild creatures has turned upon
+the unfortunate paleface and trampled him to death
+under their unshod feet.</p>
+
+<p>Therefore, this opposition of the ponies was no
+small matter. They were a formidable barrier to
+Buffalo Bill’s successful arrival at the gate of the
+stockade fort.</p>
+
+<p>His rifle rattled forth lively, yet deadly, music, and
+his aim was wonderfully true for that of a man riding
+at full speed. Emptying the gun, he swung it quickly
+over his shoulder, and drawing the big cavalry pistols<span class="pagenum">[16]</span>
+from their holsters the daring scout began to fairly
+mow a path through the herd of ponies. The slugs
+carried by the large-caliber pistols were as effective as
+the balls from his rifle. The mob of squealing, kicking,
+biting ponies broke before his charge, and swept
+on ahead of him. Another cheer from the watchers in
+the fort signaled this fact. The ponies were stampeding
+directly toward Fort Advance.</p>
+
+<p>“Out and line ’em up!”</p>
+
+<p>“We’ll corral the ponies if we kyan’t th’ Injuns!”</p>
+
+<p>“Throw open the gates!” commanded Major Baldwin,
+his voice heard above the tumult.</p>
+
+<p>The command was obeyed, and Captain Keyes and
+his men galloped out to meet the mob.</p>
+
+<p>In vain did the Indian guards try to head off the
+stampede. By having left their ponies in the valley
+where the grass was sweet and long, they had been
+caught in this trap. Instead of capturing Buffalo Bill
+it looked as though he and the other whites would
+capture the bulk of the Indian ponies!</p>
+
+<p>Oak Heart and the White Antelope, with a few
+mounted reds at their back, thundered across the level
+plain and up the rise toward the fort. But the pony
+herd and Buffalo Bill were well in the lead.</p>
+
+<p>The king of the border turned in his saddle, and
+waved his sombrero in mockery at the Indian chief.
+Then the ponies dashed into the gateway and were
+corraled, while the scout, still leading his packhorse,
+swept in behind them.</p>
+
+<p>“On guard, all! The redskins will charge on foot
+to try and get their ponies!” shouted the scout, as he
+came through the gate.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[17]</span></p>
+
+<p>His voice rose above the turmoil and brought the
+delighted men to their duty. Major Baldwin echoed
+Buffalo Bill’s advice, ordering everybody to their
+posts.</p>
+
+<p>“Be careful of the expenditure of powder and lead,
+men!” warned the major, from his stand on the platform.
+“Remember we are running short.”</p>
+
+<p>“Don’t you believe it, major!” cried the voice of
+the scout, as he dismounted in the middle of the enthusiastic
+throng.</p>
+
+<p>“What’s that, Cody?”</p>
+
+<p>“Strip the packhorse. I have brought you a-plenty
+of ammunition until reenforcements can be had.”</p>
+
+<p>“God bless you, Cody, for those words! You have
+saved us,” cried Major Baldwin, and there was a
+tremor in his voice as he glanced toward the group of
+women and children.</p>
+
+<p>He came down from the platform, and wrung the
+scout’s hand, as he asked:</p>
+
+<p>“In the name of Heaven, Cody, where did you get
+ammunition? Surely, you did not bring it all the way
+from Denver?”</p>
+
+<p>“No, indeed. I cached this over a year ago, major,”
+the scout replied cheerfully. “It will hold those red
+devils off until help arrives. You’ve sent to Fort
+Resistence, I presume?”</p>
+
+<p>“Sent, alas! But five men have died in the attempt.”</p>
+
+<p>“And not one got through?” cried Buffalo Bill.</p>
+
+<p>“Not one, Cody.”</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill’s face assumed a look of anxiety&mdash;an
+expression not often seen there.</p>
+
+<p>“I had called for another volunteer <a id="Ref_17" href="#Ref_17a">when</a> you were<span class="pagenum">[18]</span>
+discovered coming. It was a splendid dash you made,
+Cody, and a desperate one as well.”</p>
+
+<p>“Aye,” said the scout gravely. “Desperate it was,
+indeed. But it must be made again. This ammunition
+I have brought you may last till morning; but
+the reds must be taken on the flank or they’ll hold you
+here till kingdom come!</p>
+
+<p>“I’ll try to get through again, Major Baldwin. You
+must have help,” declared the Border King sternly.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">THE KING OF THE SIOUX.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>Scarcely had Buffalo Bill uttered these cheering
+words when a babble of cries arose from the watchers
+on the towers and the platform over the gate. The
+redskins were gathering for a concerted charge, maddened
+by his escape and the loss of their ponies.</p>
+
+<p>Saving a few chiefs, beside Oak Heart and the
+White Antelope none of the reds were mounted. However,
+they were so enraged now that they ignored the
+whites’ accuracy of aim and came on within rifle-shot
+of the stockade.</p>
+
+<p>The ammunition brought on the packhorse led by
+the scout was hastily distributed among the defendants
+of the fort, with orders to throw no shot away. They
+were to shoot to kill, and Major Baldwin advised as
+did “Old Put” at the first great battle in United States
+history&mdash;the Battle of Bunker Hill&mdash;“to wait till they
+saw the whites of the enemies’ eyes!”</p>
+
+<p>Powder was as precious to that devoted band as
+gold-dust, and bullets were as valuable as diamonds.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[19]</span></p>
+
+<p>Major Baldwin took his position on the observation
+platform above the gate, Buffalo Bill by his side,
+repeating rifle in hand, and near them stood a couple
+of young officers as aids, and the bugler. All were
+armed with rifles, and every weapon for which there
+was no immediate need in the fort was loaded and
+ready. The women were in two groups&mdash;one ready
+to reload the weapons tossed them by the men, and the
+other to assist the surgeon with the wounded.</p>
+
+<p>The Indians came swarming across the valley in a
+red tidal wave. They were decreasing their circle,
+and expected to rush the stockade walls in a cyclonic
+charge.</p>
+
+<p>They quickened their pace as they came, and the
+weird war-whoop deafened the beleaguered garrison.
+They came with a rush at last, showering the walls
+with arrows and bullets, some of which found their
+way into the loopholes.</p>
+
+<p>It was a grand charge to look upon; it was a desperate
+one to check.</p>
+
+<p>The whites had their orders and obeyed them. Not
+a rifle cracked until the Indians were under the
+stockade walls, scrambling through the ditch. Then
+the four six-pounders roared from the block-towers,
+their scattering lead and iron mowing down the yelling
+redskins in the ditches.</p>
+
+<p>Then volley upon volley of carbines, repeating
+rifles, and muskets echoed the rolling thunder of the
+big guns.</p>
+
+<p>Not a few of the bullets and arrows entered the
+loopholes, and many dead and wounded were numbered
+among the whites; but the carnage among the
+redskins was awful to contemplate.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[20]</span></p>
+
+<p>The thunder of the big guns, the popping of the
+smaller firearms, the screaming of the wild ponies
+corraled in the fort, and the demoralized shrieks of
+the Indians themselves made a veritable hell upon
+earth!</p>
+
+<p>Above all rose the notes of the bugle sending forth
+orders at Major Baldwin’s command. Now and then
+that piercing, weird war-cry of the Border King was
+heard&mdash;a sound well known and feared by the Indians.
+They recognized it as the voice of he whom they called
+Pa-e-has-ka&mdash;“The Long Hair.”</p>
+
+<p>Indian nature was not equal to facing the deadly
+hail of iron and lead, and the red wave broke against
+the stockade and receded, leaving many still and writhing
+bodies in the ditches which surrounded the fort,
+and scattered upon the plain. Slowly at first the redskins
+surged backward under the galling fire of the
+whites but finally the retreat became a stampede.</p>
+
+<p>The rout was complete. All but the dead and badly
+wounded escaped swiftly out of rifle-shot, save one
+mounted chief. He was left alone, struggling with
+his mount, trying to force the animal to leave the
+vicinity of the fort gate.</p>
+
+<p>This was Oak Heart himself, the king of the Sioux,
+and his mount was a great white cavalry charger that
+he had captured months before. This was no half-wild
+Indian pony; yet the Indian chief, without spurs
+and a proper bridle, could not control the beast. The
+horse had heard the bugle to which he had been so
+long used. He was determined in his equine mind to
+rejoin the white men who had been his friends, instead
+of these cruel red masters, and he made a dash
+for the gate of the fortress.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[21]</span></p>
+
+<p>In vain did Chief Oak Heart try to check him. He
+would have flung himself from the horse’s back, but
+the creature was so swift of foot and the ground was
+so broken here, that such an act would have assured
+Oak Heart’s instant death. Besides, being the great
+chief of his tribe, Oak Heart had bound himself to
+the horse that, if wounded or killed, he would not be
+lost to his people which&mdash;according to Indian belief&mdash;would
+be shame.</p>
+
+<p>Oak Heart had lost his scalping-knife, and could
+not cut the rawhide lariat that held him fast. He
+writhed, yelling maledictions in Sioux upon the horse;
+but he could neither check the brute nor unfasten the
+lariat.</p>
+
+<p>His warriors soon saw Chief Oak Heart’s predicament,
+and they charged back to his rescue. The White
+Antelope led them on, for she was as brave as her
+father.</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill had been first to see the difficulty into
+which the chief had gotten himself, and springing
+down from the platform he threw himself into the saddle,
+shouted for the gates to be opened, and spurred
+his horse out of the fort.</p>
+
+<p>“Don’t shoot the girl!” the scout yelled to the soldiers
+lining the walls above him. “Have a care for
+the girl!”</p>
+
+<p>But there was scarcely chance for the whites to fire
+at all at the oncoming White Antelope and her party,
+before Buffalo Bill was beside the big white charger
+and the struggling king of the Sioux.</p>
+
+<p>Out flashed the scout’s pistol, and he presented it to
+the red man’s head.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[22]</span></p>
+
+<p>“Oak Heart, you are my prisoner! Yield yourself!”
+he cried, in the Sioux tongue.</p>
+
+<p>At the same moment he seized the thong by which
+the Indian was wrenching at the jaw of the white
+horse, snatched it from Oak Heart’s grasp, and gave
+the big charger his head. The white horse sprang
+forward for the open gate of the fort, and Buffalo
+Bill’s mount kept abreast of him. The redskins dared
+not fire at the scout for fear of killing Oak Heart.</p>
+
+<p>A volley from the soldiery sent the would-be rescuers
+of the chief back to cover. Only the beautiful
+girl, White Antelope, was left boldly in the open,
+shaking her befeathered spear and trying to rally her
+people to the charge. The white men honored Buffalo
+Bill’s request and did not shoot at her, or the Sioux
+would have lost their mascot as well as their great
+chieftain.</p>
+
+<p>In a moment the scout with his prisoner dashed
+through the open gates, which were slammed shut
+and barred amid the deafening acclamations of the
+garrison. Major Baldwin was on hand to grasp Buffalo
+Bill’s hand again, and as he wrung it he cried:</p>
+
+<p>“Another brave deed to your credit, Cody! It was
+cleverly done.”</p>
+
+<p>He turned to the chief whom the scout was freeing
+from the lariat that had been the cause of his capture.
+The redskin king had accepted his fate philosophically.
+His look and bearing was of fearlessness and savage
+dignity. He had been captured by the palefaces, and
+so humbled in the eyes of a thousand braves; but he
+was defiant still, and his features would not reveal his
+heart-anguish to those foes that now surrounded him
+with flushed faces.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[23]</span></p>
+
+<p>The stoical traits of the Indian character cannot but
+arouse admiration in the white man’s breast. From
+babyhood the redskin is taught&mdash;both by precept and
+instinct&mdash;to utter no cry of pain, to reveal no emotion
+which should cause a foe pleasure. When captured by
+other savages, the Indian will go to the fire, or stand
+to be hacked to pieces by his enemies, with no sound
+issuing from his lips but the death-chant.</p>
+
+<p>And this Spartan fortitude is present in the very
+papooses themselves. A traveler once told how, in
+walking through an Indian village, he came upon a
+little baby tied in the Indian fashion to a board, the
+board leaning against the outside of a wigwam. The
+mother had left it there and the white man came upon
+it suddenly. Undoubtedly his appearance, and his
+standing to look at the small savage, frightened it as
+such an experience would a white child. But his voice
+was not raised. Not a sound did the poor little savage
+utter; but the tears formed in his beady eyes and ran
+down his fat cheeks. Infant that he was, and filled
+with fright of the white man, he would not weep
+aloud.</p>
+
+<p>Oak Heart, the savage king, looked abroad upon
+his enemies, and his haughty face gave no expression
+of fear. He was a captive, but his spirit was unconquered.</p>
+
+<p>“This is a good job, Cody,” whispered Baldwin,
+glancing again at the chieftain. “We can make use of
+him, eh?”</p>
+
+<p>“We can, indeed, major,” returned the scout.</p>
+
+<p>“But that crowd out yonder will be watching us all
+the closer now. How under the sun anybody can get
+through them after this&mdash;&mdash;”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[24]</span></p>
+
+<p>“Leave it to me, major,” interrupted Buffalo Bill
+firmly. “I am ready to make the trial&mdash;and make it
+now!”</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">BUFFALO BILL’S PLOT.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>There was a look on Buffalo Bill’s face as he spoke
+that informed Major Baldwin that the scout had already
+formed some plan which he wished to make
+known to him. So the officer said:</p>
+
+<p>“Come to my quarters, Cody, and we will talk it
+over. Captain Keyes, kindly take charge of the chief
+and see that he is neither ill-treated or disturbed.
+Some of these boys feel pretty ugly, I am sure. We
+have lost a number of good men, and two of the children
+have been frightfully wounded by arrows coming
+through the lower loopholes.”</p>
+
+<p>When the major and the scout reached the former’s
+office, Baldwin said:</p>
+
+<p>“Are you in earnest in this attempt, Cody?”</p>
+
+<p>“Never more so, Major Baldwin. Help we <em>must</em>
+have.”</p>
+
+<p>“No man knows the danger better than you do. I
+need not warn you.”</p>
+
+<p>“Quite needless, sir. I know the game from A
+to Z.”</p>
+
+<p>“Very true. But there are great odds against you.”</p>
+
+<p>“No man, I believe, sir, stands a better chance of
+getting through than myself.”</p>
+
+<p>“That is so; yet, while many good men might be
+spared to make the attempt, you are the one who cannot
+be replaced.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[25]</span></p>
+
+<p>“Thank you, sir; but my life is no more to me than
+another man’s is to him. If I’d been thinking of the
+chances of getting shot up all these years, I reckon I’d
+turned up my toes long ago. I never think of death
+if I can help it.”</p>
+
+<p>“It’s true, Cody!” exclaimed the major. “You act
+as though the bullet wasn’t molded that could kill
+you.”</p>
+
+<p>“So the redskins say, I believe,” responded the scout
+grimly.</p>
+
+<p>“Yet your place cannot easily be filled,” the major
+said again. “If you can get some other volunteer I
+wish you would. I don’t want to lose you, Bill.”</p>
+
+<p>“Captain Keyes is anxious to go, sir, but&mdash;&mdash;”</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, yes; Keyes is a daredevil whom nothing will
+daunt; but I refused his request and those of my few
+other officers.”</p>
+
+<p>“Then I must go, sir.”</p>
+
+<p>“First, tell me about your mission,” said the major
+abruptly.</p>
+
+<p>“I delivered your despatches, sir,” said Cody, “and
+here are others for you. On coming within a few
+miles of the fort I saw that several large parties of
+Indians had passed, all seemingly making in this direction.
+I knew what was up at once. I suspected that
+unless you had been lucky enough to get a supply of
+ammunition before the reds closed in on you, you’d
+run short; but there was that horse load we had to
+bury last year when I was on the expedition with Captain
+Ames. So I went over there and found it all in
+good shape.</p>
+
+<p>“I came mighty near losing it all, however,” added
+the scout, smiling, “for in the very act of uncovering<span class="pagenum">[26]</span>
+the stuff I was come upon by a redskin on a good
+horse. It was kill or be killed, and before he could
+either shoot me or knife me I had laid him out.</p>
+
+<p>“His war-bonnet and rigging made a pretty good
+disguise for me. And certainly his horse came in
+handy. The animal was not a wild pony, but had
+Uncle Sam’s brand on him. Where the red got him,
+Heaven only knows. Some poor white man probably
+lost his life before he lost his horse.</p>
+
+<p>“However, I dressed up as near like an Injun as I
+could, and packed the ammunition on the dead man’s
+mount. I made a détour so as to come up from the
+west, and be opposite the main gate; for I knew about
+how the red devils would swarm about you here. And
+I was not interfered with until, coming out on that
+ridge, I had to throw aside my disguise, or run the
+risk of being made a target of by some of your fellows
+in the stockade here. I knew they could shoot
+better than the redskins,” and Cody laughed.</p>
+
+<p>“So here I am,” the scout added, “little the worse
+for wear, major.”</p>
+
+<p>“And a more gallant ride I never saw. You have
+done nobly, Cody. The ammunition will keep us going
+for some hours.”</p>
+
+<p>“Unless the redskins rush you too hard.”</p>
+
+<p>“You think they will try to charge again&mdash;and without
+their horses?”</p>
+
+<p>“Sure thing. Our capture of Oak Heart will stir
+’em up worse than ever.”</p>
+
+<p>“They won’t wait until dark, then?”</p>
+
+<p>“I don’t believe so. That half-wild girl, White Antelope,
+will give them no peace until they try to rescue
+her father.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[27]</span></p>
+
+<p>“But you warned my men not to shoot her.”</p>
+
+<p>“That’s right. She’s Injun now,” said Buffalo Bill
+sadly. “But her mother wasn’t a redskin, and perhaps
+some day, when old Oak Heart passes in his chips, she
+may be gotten away from the savages.”</p>
+
+<p>“You knew her mother, then, Cody?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes. And a noble woman she was.”</p>
+
+<p>“Yet she went to the wigwam of a dirty redskin?”</p>
+
+<p>“Ah! you don’t know the circumstances. It is a
+sad story, Major Baldwin, and some day I’ll tell it to
+you. But don’t blame the mother&mdash;or the unfortunate
+child of this strange union. <em>She</em> would make a beautiful
+woman if she were civilized, cross-blood though
+she be.”</p>
+
+<p>“Well, well! It’s a sad case, as you say. I’ll pass
+the word to the officers to instruct their men to spare
+the White Antelope wherever they may meet her.”</p>
+
+<p>“Thank you,” said Buffalo Bill simply. “My scouts
+already know my wishes on the subject. And now,
+major, I must get ready for my dash through that
+mob again.”</p>
+
+<p>“It seems a wicked shame to let you go, Cody! Yet&mdash;we
+can’t beat off many more charges even with this
+access of ammunition.”</p>
+
+<p>“You surely can’t. I must go.”</p>
+
+<p>“You have devised a plan, I can see.”</p>
+
+<p>“I have, sir.”</p>
+
+<p>“Well, sit here and tell me. The mess cook is
+preparing a hearty meal for you. You can talk while
+you eat, Cody.”</p>
+
+<p>“Thanks for your thoughtfulness, major. I <em>am</em> a
+little slim-waisted, not daring to build a fire since
+yesterday.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[28]</span></p>
+
+<p>“Just like you to neglect your own needs when others
+demand your services.”</p>
+
+<p>“Ha, ha!” laughed the scout. “I had some desire
+to keep my scalp, as well. The reds are too thick
+hereabout to make fire-building a safe occupation.”</p>
+
+<p>“Well, sir, your plan?” queried the officer.</p>
+
+<p>“Why, it came to me when I saw old Oak Heart
+mixed up with that blessed old white horse, you know.
+That old fellow is an ancient friend of mine. I recognized
+him at once. And he never did love an Injun.
+I wonder how Oak Heart managed to ride him at
+all.”</p>
+
+<p>“The horse, you mean?”</p>
+
+<p>“Sure. Well, as for the chief, we have him; but
+we never can make terms with his tribe for his release.”</p>
+
+<p>“You think not?”</p>
+
+<p>“I <em>know</em> so. The chief is a true Sioux. He would
+never allow his people to make terms for his life. You
+could hack him to pieces on that scaffolding yonder,
+where all the reds could see, and it would not change
+the attitude of the crew a mite, excepting to make
+them more bloodthirsty.”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes?”</p>
+
+<p>“So we can’t make terms with him.”</p>
+
+<p>“What do you advise, then?”</p>
+
+<p>“That you have a talk with Oak Heart. He understands
+English very well, and what he doesn’t understand
+I’ll interpret for him.”</p>
+
+<p>“Go ahead, Cody,” said the major, laughing.
+“What are my further instructions?”</p>
+
+<p>“Why, sir&mdash;&mdash;”</p>
+
+<p>“You know very well, scout, that you are bossing<span class="pagenum">[29]</span>
+your superior officer. But it isn’t the first time. What
+shall I say to this red rascal?”</p>
+
+<p>Cody’s smile widened and his eyes twinkled.</p>
+
+<p>“Just tell him that he has proved himself too brave
+an enemy to be either kept in captivity, or punished.”</p>
+
+<p>“And set him free!”</p>
+
+<p>“Sure.”</p>
+
+<p>“But why?”</p>
+
+<p>“Because I can use him in just that way, sir.”</p>
+
+<p>“How?”</p>
+
+<p>“Let me explain. I’ll mount his horse&mdash;or the one
+he rode. I know the splendid fellow well, as I told
+you. He belonged to Colonel Miles, and a faster or
+better enduring animal is not now on the frontier.</p>
+
+<p>“I’ll put Oak Heart on my old black. The poor fellow
+is foundered and will never again be of much
+value. We will ride out side by side.”</p>
+
+<p>“You will!”</p>
+
+<p>“Somebody must return Oak Heart to his people,
+you know. And I crave permission to do that.”</p>
+
+<p>“All very well, Cody; but I don’t see your plan.”</p>
+
+<p>Cody laughed again.</p>
+
+<p>“I’ll make it plainer then, sir, by saying that I propose
+to paint and rig up as old Oak Heart himself, and
+put <em>him</em> in my togs.”</p>
+
+<p>“Jove, scout! That is a perilous scheme.”</p>
+
+<p>“It’s a good one.”</p>
+
+<p>“But you’ll be shot when they find you out.”</p>
+
+<p>“<em>When</em> they do I’ll be a mile away. I’m going to
+ride on ahead toward the mouth of the cañon. It’s the
+nearest road to Fort Resistence. I’ll wave back the
+tribe as I advance, and they’ll think it is Oak Heart
+ordering them. They’ll obey him, all right. <em>Then</em> I’ll<span class="pagenum">[30]</span>
+make a break for it, and you can wager I’ll get
+through all right, and with that white hoss under me
+nothing in that outfit can head me off or catch me!”</p>
+
+<p>“And the chief?”</p>
+
+<p>“Hold him back a bit at the stockade. When my
+horse begins to run, let him go. If the beggars shoot
+him, it will serve the old scoundrel right. At least, it
+will confuse the reds.”</p>
+
+<p>“A good idea!” exclaimed Baldwin. “And I really
+believe it is feasible.”</p>
+
+<p>“Sure it is.”</p>
+
+<p>“There doesn’t seem any better way to break through
+their lines.”</p>
+
+<p>“That’s right! Strategy must aid pluck in this
+game.”</p>
+
+<p>“Aye, and you’re the one to make the effort. But
+may I suggest an amendment, scout?”</p>
+
+<p>“Just put it up to me, Major Baldwin. You haven’t
+been chasing Injuns all this time without having
+learned a trick or two yourself.”</p>
+
+<p>“Thank you, Cody. Here’s my idea: Oak Heart
+will see through your scheme and possibly signal his
+people the truth before you can reach the cañon.”</p>
+
+<p>“I’ll have to run that risk.”</p>
+
+<p>“No use running any more risk than necessary. Why
+not take a second man with you?”</p>
+
+<p>“Ah!”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes. One of you represent Oak Heart and the
+other be yourself. We’ll hold the real chief back until
+you and your mate get to the cañon. Then, by turning
+Oak Heart loose, we will add to the reds’ confusion, as
+you say.”</p>
+
+<p>“Glorious! Fine, major! And I’ll take Texas Jack<span class="pagenum">[31]</span>
+with me and let <em>him</em> play Oak Heart’s part. He makes
+a better Injun than I should. And then&mdash;I know Jack.
+One of us will be sure to get through and reach Resistence.”</p>
+
+<p>“Jack has been on duty night and day, Cody,” objected
+Major Baldwin. “He volunteered to make the
+attempt before, but I vetoed it. I needed his presence
+and advice. To let you both go is like putting all my
+eggs in one basket and sending them to a dangerous
+market.”</p>
+
+<p>“He’s the man I want,” said Buffalo Bill firmly.</p>
+
+<p>“All right! Let Omohondreau be sent for,” the
+major said, turning to an orderly.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">THE DESPERATE VENTURE.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>Texas Jack’s real name was Jean Omohondreau,
+and he came of a wealthy and noble French family, although
+he was born in America. It is said that he had
+refused the title of “Marquis of Omohondreau,” although
+later he was known as “The White King of the
+Pawnees,” having been adopted into that tribe and
+completely winning the confidence of the red men.</p>
+
+<p>At this time Jack was smooth shaven, and with
+his deeply bronzed features and piercing eyes and black
+hair he did not look unlike an Indian. Besides, he had
+lived among the savages even more than Buffalo Bill
+himself, and had that imitative faculty so general in
+French people. He could “take off” the savage to the
+life.</p>
+
+<p>When Texas Jack came sleepily enough from his<span class="pagenum">[32]</span>
+bunk, it took but a few words from Cody to wake his
+old pard up. The moment Jack understood what was
+wanted of him, he was in for the plan, heart and soul.</p>
+
+<p>Oak Heart, who had been entertained&mdash;possibly to
+his great surprise, although he had not shown such
+emotion in his hard old face&mdash;by the younger officers
+with food and drink, and some of the paleface’s real
+tobacco, instead of dried willow bark, was now given a
+uniform and slouch hat in place of his war-bonnet and
+beaded and befeathered buckskin suit and gay blanket.</p>
+
+<p>The natural acquisitiveness of the Indian character,
+and the childish joy they have in new finery, possibly
+made the chief ignore what was done with his old garments.
+Texas Jack made himself look the Indian brave
+to the life, put on Chief Oak Heart’s abandoned finery,
+and, mounting the splendid white cavalry charger&mdash;but
+with saddle hidden by his blanket&mdash;was ready to accompany
+Buffalo Bill.</p>
+
+<p>The latter sprang into the saddle of his claybank&mdash;“Buckskin”&mdash;and
+led the way through the open gate.
+Behind them was the surprised Oak Heart upon Buffalo
+Bill’s old black, and the soldiers were ready to set
+him free the moment the two scouts had crossed the
+danger zone.</p>
+
+<p>The Indians had retired sullenly after Oak Heart’s
+capture, and White Antelope had as yet been unable to
+rally them to another charge upon the stockade. Their
+last charge had been disastrous, and they had not only
+lost their principal chief, but had been unable to bring
+back to their camping lines many of the dead and injured.
+But the belt of red humanity still encircled the
+fort, and it was plain that they proposed to abide there
+until such time arrived as could compass their revenge.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[33]</span></p>
+
+<p>Those of the less seriously wounded had dragged
+themselves back toward their companions; but the
+others had been removed inside the fort and were being
+cared for by the surgeon, after he had ministered to the
+wounded whites. The dead redskins were let lie where
+they had fallen for the time being.</p>
+
+<p>Oak Heart had noted the care taken of his wounded
+braves by the white medicine-man. If this charity impressed
+him his immobile face showed no emotion. He
+sat the horse that had been given him like a graven
+image.</p>
+
+<p>Now the moment had arrived for the departure of
+the two scouts from the fort. As the pair dashed
+through the open gateway many good wishes followed
+them. But the troops had been warned not to cheer.
+That might apprise the redskins that some desperate
+venture was about to be made.</p>
+
+<p>“Good-by, Bill, and may God guard you!” cried
+Major Baldwin. “And you, too, Texas Jack! I hope
+to see you both again.”</p>
+
+<p>Cody turned and waved his hand to him; but Jack,
+in the character of the captured chief, looked straight
+ahead over his horse’s ears, and he made no gesture.</p>
+
+<p>“We’ll bear toward the left, Jack, for our best plan
+is to strike for the cañon,” said Buffalo Bill.</p>
+
+<p>“Right you are, pard. But don’t let’s make a dash
+till we hafter. We’ll gain everything by keeping them
+red devils guessing.”</p>
+
+<p>“Sure’s you live, Jack! The moment the reds make
+a move for us, you sign for them to go back. Keep
+’em at a distance if you can.”</p>
+
+<p>“I will,” assured Texas Jack.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[34]</span></p>
+
+<p>“Sit up stiff, old man, and play the part right,” admonished
+Buffalo Bill with a laugh.</p>
+
+<p>These courageous men could laugh in the face of
+almost certain death!</p>
+
+<p>“What d’ye suppose they think of it, Bill?” asked
+Jack. “They’re awake, all right. I wonder what they
+think at seeing you bringing their supposed chief back
+to them?”</p>
+
+<p>“I’d give a good deal to know just what they are
+<em>going</em> to think,” said Cody, more gravely. “But we’ll
+soon know.”</p>
+
+<p>“Betcher we will!”</p>
+
+<p>“It’s unnecessary to ask you, Jack, if you’ve got
+your shooting irons ready?”</p>
+
+<p>“Ready and loaded, Bill.”</p>
+
+<p>The two scouts were as watchful as antelopes, and
+as cautious. But they appeared to ride along at an
+easy lope, and in a most careless fashion. This is the
+coolness born of long familiarity with peril; they could
+meet death itself without the quiver of a nerve.</p>
+
+<p>They progressed but slowly, and the eyes of most of
+the red men were fixed upon them. It was plain that the
+savages did not understand just what was going forward
+when they saw he who appeared to be their king
+riding thus quietly, and armed and caparisoned, with
+Long Hair, the white scout. They could not understand
+why he was coming back to them in company
+with Pa-e-has-ka.</p>
+
+<p>Soon they began to move forward in a body to meet
+the coming “chief” and his comrade.</p>
+
+<p>“Give ’em the sign language, Jack. It’s time,” muttered
+Buffalo Bill.</p>
+
+<p>Omohondreau was an adept at this wonderful <a id="Ref_34" href="#Ref_34a">means</a><span class="pagenum">[35]</span>
+of communication, which was really a general language
+understood by the members of all the red tribes. He
+raised first one hand, palm outward, and then the
+other, and motioned the red men back. The warriors
+hesitated&mdash;then obeyed.</p>
+
+<p>But a mounted figure came dashing from another
+part of the field, and this silent sign manual did not
+retard it.</p>
+
+<p>“Face of a pig!” ejaculated Texas Jack, in the patois
+of the French Canadian, and which he sometimes
+lapsed into in moments of excitement. “Here comes
+that gal, Bill!”</p>
+
+<p>“The White Antelope!” exclaimed Cody. “I had
+forgotten her.”</p>
+
+<p>“Shall I warn her away?”</p>
+
+<p>“I’m afraid if you turned to face her she would see
+that you are not Oak Heart.”</p>
+
+<p>“Quicker, then, Pard Cody!”</p>
+
+<p>“No. They might suspect.”</p>
+
+<p>“Heavens, Bill! What will you do when the girl
+overtakes us?”</p>
+
+<p>“Whatever comes handiest.”</p>
+
+<p>“I could put a bullet through her without turning,”
+muttered Jack.</p>
+
+<p>“You wouldn’t be so cruel, old man.”</p>
+
+<p>“Hang it, man!” exclaimed Jack in disgust. “She’s
+only a ’breed.”</p>
+
+<p>“No. You’ll not injure her. I have your promise,
+Jack,” said Cody confidently.</p>
+
+<p>“But she’ll finish us if she suspects. I think she has
+a pistol,” said Jack.</p>
+
+<p>“We’ll see.”</p>
+
+<p>“Hang it, Bill Cody! You’re the coldest proposition<span class="pagenum">[36]</span>
+I ever came across. I’ll eat this old war-bonnet&mdash;and
+it’s about as digestible as a wreath of prickly
+pear&mdash;if we don’t have trouble with that gal.”</p>
+
+<p>Evidently White Antelope was much amazed by the
+fact that her father did not even look in her direction,
+for she called some welcome to him in Sioux. Neither
+of the scouts made reply, but both kept watch of her
+out of the corners of their eyes. The girl, puzzled by
+the mystery, half drew in her pony.</p>
+
+<p>The mob of Indians waited. That they were puzzled
+was evident; but as long as they remained inactive
+the scouts’ chances were increased.</p>
+
+<p>“Can we make it, Pard Cody?” muttered Texas
+Jack.</p>
+
+<p>“If the girl doesn’t suspect too quick.”</p>
+
+<p>“She’ll queer us&mdash;sure!”</p>
+
+<p>“I hope not,” and Buffalo Bill looked grave.</p>
+
+<p>“If she comes nearer we’ll have to do something,
+Bill&mdash;as sure as thunder she’s coming!”</p>
+
+<p>It was true. White Antelope had again spoken to
+her pony, and the animal leaped forward. She came
+from the left, and Texas Jack rode nearest her.</p>
+
+<p>“Keep on, Jack!” exclaimed Bill under his breath.</p>
+
+<p>He pulled back Buckskin and got around so as to
+ride between the supposed Indian chief and the girl.
+Instantly White Antelope seemed to suspect that all
+was not right. She raised her voice, crying in her
+native tongue:</p>
+
+<p>“Why does the great chief not speak to his child?
+Oak Heart, my father, it is I, your daughter, White
+Antelope, who calls you!”</p>
+
+<p>She was all the time riding nearer. There seemed
+no way to stop her, and she must soon be near enough<span class="pagenum">[37]</span>
+to observe that the supposed Oak Heart was a false
+Indian.</p>
+
+<p>Fortunately the tribesmen were some hundreds of
+yards away from the two scouts. But they heard something
+of what White Antelope said, and they began to
+move forward, murmuring among themselves. They
+did not for a moment suspect that this was not their
+great chief, but they believed that something was
+wrong with him, and that Pa-e-has-ka had Oak Heart
+in his power.</p>
+
+<p>“They’re coming, Cody!” whispered Texas Jack.
+“They’ll make a rush in a moment.”</p>
+
+<p>“Sign them again!” commanded Buffalo Bill. “It’s
+our only chance.”</p>
+
+<p>“Think it will work?”</p>
+
+<p>“It <em>must</em> work. We need a few moments more before
+we make a dash for the cañon.”</p>
+
+<p>“But that gal&mdash;&mdash;”</p>
+
+<p>“I’ll ’tend to her,” exclaimed Buffalo Bill. “Signal
+the reds to keep back.”</p>
+
+<p>Again Texas Jack raised his hands and made the
+well understood sign. But the Indians hesitated. They
+saw White Antelope still riding toward the supposed
+chief and the scout, crying to her father to answer her.</p>
+
+<p>“Keep on for the cañon, Jack!” muttered Buffalo
+Bill beneath his breath.</p>
+
+<p>He jerked his horse to one side, turning to meet the
+Indian maiden. As she rode down toward the scouts,
+her golden hair flying in the wind, her lips parted, her
+eyes shining, she was indeed a beautiful creature. Her
+beauty alone would have made any old Indian hunter
+withhold his hand. And Buffalo Bill had a deeper reason<span class="pagenum">[38]</span>
+for wishing no harm to befall the half-breed
+daughter of Oak Heart.</p>
+
+<p>“What is the white chief, Pa-e-has-ka, doing with
+Oak Heart?” the girl cried in Sioux, urging her pony
+toward the scouts.</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill was riding with the rein of the claybank
+horse lying upon its neck, and guiding him with his
+knees. His rifle lay across his saddle, the muzzle
+pointing in the direction of White Antelope as she rode
+near. He did not raise his voice, nor change the expression
+of his face, for the scout knew that he was
+being closely watched by the crowd of redskins in the
+background. But into his voice as he spoke he threw
+all the threatening, venimous tone of a madman thirsting
+for blood.</p>
+
+<p>“The White Antelope, like her father, Chief Oak
+Heart, is in my power. Do not make a single motion
+to show that you are startled, White Antelope, for if
+you do my first bullet shall be driven through your
+heart, and my second shall cleave the heart of your
+father!”</p>
+
+<p>These words, spoken with such wicked emphasis,
+seemed to come from a veritable fiend instead of the
+placid-looking white scout. The White Antelope’s
+great eyes opened wider, and she half stopped her
+pony.</p>
+
+<p>“None of that!” snapped Buffalo Bill in English,
+which he knew the girl understood quite well. “Make
+a false move at your peril&mdash;and at your father’s!”</p>
+
+<p>“My father&mdash;&mdash;” began the startled maiden gaspingly.</p>
+
+<p>“Ride closer. Keep beside me, Oak Heart! I forbid
+you speaking to your child!”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[39]</span></p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill’s commanding tone was most brutal.
+His eyes flashed into the Indian maiden’s own as
+though he meant every word of his recent threat. But
+the supposed Oak Heart’s shoulders shook. However,
+he kept his head turned religiously away from his
+“daughter.”</p>
+
+<p>The seconds were slipping by, and the scouts were
+approaching very near to the place where they would
+be obliged to turn sharply and make their dash for the
+cañon. Despite their bearing off so far toward the
+left, their course had been apparently toward the Indian
+lines.</p>
+
+<p>White Antelope, all the rich color receded from her
+cheeks, rode beside Buffalo Bill on his left hand. She
+was not only frightened by the scout’s threat, which he
+seemed to be able to fulfil, but she was puzzled at her
+father’s inaction and seeming helplessness. She tried
+to force her pony forward slyly so as to obtain a look
+at Oak Heart’s features.</p>
+
+<p>“None o’ that!” commanded Buffalo Bill in quite
+as brutal and threatening a tone as before.</p>
+
+<p>At the moment a wild yell rose from their rear&mdash;from
+the direction of the fort. The girl turned swiftly
+to look. And so surprised were the scouts to hear a
+disturbance in that direction, that they glanced around,
+too.</p>
+
+<p>Out of the gateway appeared a black horse, and on
+its back a figure in uniform and wide-brimmed hat.
+But as the horse dashed on the figure snatched off the
+uniform hat, displaying the long, flying hair of an Indian,
+and he broke into a shrill and terrible Indian
+war-whoop!</p>
+
+<p>On the heels of this another roar burst from the<span class="pagenum">[40]</span>
+fort, and out of the gateway piled a troop of mounted
+men&mdash;those soldiers that were first to get upon their
+horses to pursue the wily Oak Heart. The latter saw
+his daughter and knew her danger. Following his
+war-whoop, he shrieked a warning to White Antelope.
+She understood the words he uttered, although the
+scouts could not.</p>
+
+<p>The girl turned swiftly and saw Texas Jack’s
+painted face.</p>
+
+<p>“False paleface!” she cried. “You are not Oak
+Heart. The great chief is <em>there</em>!” and she pointed back
+at the flying figure on the black horse.</p>
+
+<p>“It’s all up, Cody!” cried Texas Jack.</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill leaned suddenly from his saddle and
+snatched from the maiden’s belt the revolver which she
+cherished above most of her possessions. He feared
+her ability to use this.</p>
+
+<p>“Off with you, Jack!” he cried. “Now’s our time!”
+and setting spurs to his claybank he raced after Texas
+Jack toward the opening of the defile which they had
+been so gradually and cautiously approaching.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">THE DASH OF THE SCOUTS.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>So interested had the officers and garrison of Fort
+Advance become in the attempt of the courageous
+scouts to reach the cañon entrance, that they had quite
+neglected to watch the king of the Sioux. That he
+understood fully the trick that Buffalo Bill and Texas
+Jack were attempting to play upon his people was
+proven by the outcome.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[41]</span></p>
+
+<p>The savage chief sat his black horse in motionless
+gloom, and as though his eyes saw nothing. Captain
+Edward Keyes had kept his file of men in the saddle
+ready to make a break from the fort should the scouts
+fall in need of some attempt at rescue. Otherwise,
+everybody was crowding forward to look out of the
+gate, or, from the platform and watch-towers, to view
+the work of the brave men who had gone from them.</p>
+
+<p>The black horse, on which Buffalo Bill had ridden
+so many times, but which he had now been obliged to
+abandon because of its age and the fact that he had
+been ridden too hard on one or two occasions, missed
+its master. It had seen Buffalo Bill and his companion
+ride out of the fort, and it desired to follow. Perhaps
+the horse did not approve of the Indian that now
+backed him.</p>
+
+<p>However it was, it danced about a good deal, and
+champed at the bit, and seemed to give the stoical chief
+considerable trouble. Twice it started for the gate, and
+the soldiers headed it off. Likewise Oak Heart drew
+it in hard with his hand on the bridle. It seemed as
+though the chief had no expectation of leaving the fort
+until his white captors were ready.</p>
+
+<p>But that was all the savage cunning of the chief. It
+was his cunning, too, perhaps, that made the horse so
+nervous. He doubtless slyly spurred him with his toe
+or heel, and kept the animal on the qui vive all the
+time.</p>
+
+<p>Oak Heart could follow Buffalo Bill and Texas Jack
+with his eyes, and he doubtless understood&mdash;now, at
+least&mdash;just what they were about. Suddenly the
+White Antelope came into view, riding like the wind
+down upon the two scouts. Oak Heart’s face did not<span class="pagenum">[42]</span>
+change a muscle, but just then his mount made a sidelong
+leap, and when he became manageable again the
+black charger was just within the open gateway.</p>
+
+<p>Several moments passed. The white men’s attention
+was strained upon the little comedy being enacted by
+the two scouts and the Indian maiden. They could
+not hear, of course, but they could imagine that the
+situation had become mighty “ticklish” for the scouts,
+knowing Buffalo Bill’s objection to injuring the Sioux
+maiden.</p>
+
+<p>It was at this minute that the black horse made a
+final charge through the gateway. Two men were
+knocked down, and Oak Heart threw himself over to
+one side of the galloping horse, shielding himself with
+its body from the guns of the surprised white men in
+the stockade.</p>
+
+<p>His wild yells had already apprised White Antelope
+of the deception. Buffalo Bill had disarmed her, and
+the two scouts spurred on toward the cañon.</p>
+
+<p>The hearts of the watching people at the fort were
+in their throats. A general cry of dread burst from
+them as they saw the Border King and Texas Jack
+turn abruptly toward the cañon. The Indians saw the
+act, too, but for a few seconds did not comprehend it.
+They were slower than White Antelope in understanding
+that the supposed warrior with Pa-e-has-ka was a
+white man in disguise, and that the person careering
+across the plain on the black charger was the real Oak
+Heart.</p>
+
+<p>The signals of Texas Jack in his character of Oak
+Heart had drawn many of the Indians away from the
+cañon’s mouth toward the place for which the supposed
+chief and Buffalo Bill seemed to be aiming.<span class="pagenum">[43]</span>
+There were very few left in the path of the reckless
+scouts. Yet those few must be settled with.</p>
+
+<p>There were no mounted warriors near the cañon entrance.
+The great scout had chosen his place of attack
+wisely. And there were few ponies in the vicinity, anyway&mdash;not
+over two dozen at the most. The earlier
+stampeding of the ponies had almost entirely dismounted
+Oak Heart’s braves. The ponies that might
+follow, should the scouts get through safely, neither
+of them feared, mounted as they were on such splendid
+animals.</p>
+
+<p>“Let ’em out, Jack!” cried Buffalo Bill, as they made
+directly for the cañon.</p>
+
+<p>“I hear you!” returned Texas Jack, smiling recklessly,
+and settling himself more firmly in his saddle.</p>
+
+<p>The two were off like frightened deer. For some
+moments the Indians were almost dumb with amazement.
+Then the war-whoop of Oak Heart was answered
+by wild cries from all about the field. The reds
+knew that the Border King had outwitted them, and as
+one man the mob of redskins made for the entrance to
+the cañon, firing as they ran.</p>
+
+<p>The scouts did not return the fire. They kept their
+bullets for targets nearer the path their horses followed.
+The nearer Indians were converging swiftly
+at the mouth of the cañon.</p>
+
+<p>Behind, and nearest to the scouts, came Oak Heart
+and White Antelope, who had waited to join her
+father. But neither of them were armed. When Buffalo
+Bill snatched the revolver from the girl’s belt he
+had made a good point in the game, for she was an
+excellent shot with the small gun&mdash;for an Indian.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly The Border King raised his rifle, and shot<span class="pagenum">[44]</span>
+after shot rang out. He fired at the Indians directly
+in front of him, gathering to bar the way. There were
+now a score of them near enough to be dangerous.</p>
+
+<p>The repeating rifle sang deadly music, for several of
+the braves fell. With the last shot from Buffalo Bill’s
+weapon, Texas Jack’s gun took up the tune and rattled
+forth the death notes. They were now close to the
+group of reds, and the shots forced the Indians to
+scatter.</p>
+
+<p>Instantly the scouts slung their guns over their
+shoulders and drew the big pistols from the saddle-holsters.
+With one of these in each hand, the scouts
+rode on.</p>
+
+<p>Theirs was indeed a desperate charge, and, although
+now hidden by the nature of the ground from the bulk
+of the Indians, the encounter was visible from the fort.</p>
+
+<p>The chorus of wild yells, the rattle of revolvers, the
+heavier discharges of the old muzzle-loaders of the
+redskins, and the resonant war-cries of the scouts
+themselves, were heard by the besieged. The Border
+King and Texas Jack were having the running fight of
+their lives. Would they get through alive?</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly a chorused groan arose from the white
+onlookers, while a shriek of exultation came from
+those Indians who saw the incident. Buffalo Bill’s
+horse gave a sudden convulsive leap ahead, then fell to
+his knees. The scout loosened his feet in the stirrups,
+and, as the brave Buckskin rolled over upon its side,
+dead, the scout stood upright, turning his revolvers on
+his foes. Texas Jack, on the white charger, tore on
+into the mouth of the cañon.</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill had emptied the pistols which he had
+carried in his saddle-holsters. Now, he stood beside<span class="pagenum">[45]</span>
+his dead horse, with the pistols drawn from his belt in
+either hand. He stood boldly at bay, and the redskins
+went down before his deadly aim.</p>
+
+<p>The redskins’ triumph was short-lived. Texas Jack,
+seeing his partner’s peril, turned his great white
+charger as quickly as might be. Back he rushed to
+Cody’s side.</p>
+
+<p>“Up with yuh, pard!” he shouted.</p>
+
+<p>He whirled the big horse again. With a leap, Buffalo
+Bill sprang up behind Texas Jack, his back to that
+of his partner, and again the horse was headed for the
+cañon’s mouth. The four revolvers of the scouts spit
+death into their foes at every jump of the horse.</p>
+
+<p>Those redskins who opposed the way either crumpled
+up and fell to the rocks or dodged behind the boulders
+for safety. It seemed as though their numbers were
+sufficient to make the scouts’ escape impossible; the
+odds against the white men were all of ten to one!</p>
+
+<p>But the redskins’ shooting was wild, while the accuracy
+of the white men’s aim was phenomenal. Many
+a red, just as he had drawn bead upon the scouts, was
+struck by a pistol ball, and either knocked over completely
+or his own shot diverted.</p>
+
+<p>The cheering of the garrison as they saw Texas
+Jack return for his partner inspired the scouts. The
+last Indian went down before them and was trampled
+under the hoofs of the charger that bore them both,
+and as they shot out of sight into the gloom of the
+cañon’s mouth Buffalo Bill removed his sombrero and
+waved it to the watchers on the fort stockade, while
+his well-known war-cry rang over the field of battle!</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<p><span class="pagenum">[46]</span></p>
+
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">THE ACE OF CLUBS.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>“We’ve got through, Jack!”</p>
+
+<p>“We sure have, Pard Cody.”</p>
+
+<p>“Anybody hurt?”</p>
+
+<p>“I got a couple of nicks from the pesky arrows,”
+said Omohondreau. “But, shucks! them Injuns can’t
+shoot with a white man’s gun worth a hoot in a rainwater
+barrel.... Yuh lost Buckskin, Cody.”</p>
+
+<p>“And sorry enough I am to lose the poor creature.
+He’s been a good nag.”</p>
+
+<p>“How about you, Pard Cody?”</p>
+
+<p>“A scratch from a bullet in my left shoulder. It’s
+bleeding a little, but I won’t stop to fool with it now.
+And I got four arrows through my clothes. Oh, we
+were lucky!”</p>
+
+<p>“Betcher life! We’ve been favored mightily.”</p>
+
+<p>“Thank God for it,” said Buffalo Bill devoutly. “I
+don’t expect often to come through two such circuses
+in one day&mdash;and have nothing worse to show for it.”</p>
+
+<p>“Right. Now, old man, what’s the program?”</p>
+
+<p>“Keep on. I don’t feel safe as long as we’re at the
+bottom of this hole in the hills.”</p>
+
+<p>“That’s all right. But we haven’t got but one
+horse&mdash;&mdash;”</p>
+
+<p>“I was thinking of that.”</p>
+
+<p>“And your thoughts?”</p>
+
+<p>“We can’t both ride this horse, good as he is, all the
+way to Fort Resistence.”</p>
+
+<p>“Right again!”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[47]</span></p>
+
+<p>“One of us must push on for help about as fast as
+the horse can go.”</p>
+
+<p>“Sure.”</p>
+
+<p>“There isn’t much danger of the reds following us
+far, for their ponies aren’t to be compared with this
+fellow&mdash;and they all know what he can do.”</p>
+
+<p>“Well?”</p>
+
+<p>“Then you’d better let me go on, as soon as we come
+to the creek ahead and shape ourselves up a bit, and
+you can scout around until I return with help from
+Fort Resistence.”</p>
+
+<p>“Pard Bill!”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes?”</p>
+
+<p>“They need every rifle they can git in the fort, yuh
+know.”</p>
+
+<p>“They certainly do.”</p>
+
+<p>“Scouting around yere all night, I can’t do much
+good, and that’s a fact.”</p>
+
+<p>“Very true, Jack! Very true.”</p>
+
+<p>“And I’ve got nothing to eat, while the maje and the
+folks at Advance will be mighty anxious tuh know if
+yuh got through all right&mdash;ain’t that so?”</p>
+
+<p>“Reckon you’re right, Jack.”</p>
+
+<p>“Then I’m goin’ to take a sneak back and try to git
+through the lines after dark.”</p>
+
+<p>“No, you won’t, Jack Omohondreau. I veto that.”</p>
+
+<p>“Put the kibosh on it, do yuh?” asked Jack, leering
+back at his partner over his shoulder.</p>
+
+<p>“I certainly do!”</p>
+
+<p>“Why, pard?”</p>
+
+<p>“There’s no danger going on now for help, so I’ll
+return to the fort myself, while you strike out for<span class="pagenum">[48]</span>
+Resistence and help. I got you into this. I’m not going
+to shoulder the heavy part of the job off onto you.”</p>
+
+<p>“That’s like you, Cody! Always lookin’ for trouble
+to git into yourself. But I’m going back.”</p>
+
+<p>“I say no,” replied Buffalo Bill firmly.</p>
+
+<p>“Now, see here!” exclaimed Jack, in some heat.
+“It’s my idea to go back, and I’m going.”</p>
+
+<p>“Well, you needn’t stop here,” laughed Cody, as
+Jack, in his excitement, brought the horse down to a
+walk.</p>
+
+<p>“You listen to reason!” exclaimed Texas Jack. “I
+speak the lingo all O. K.”</p>
+
+<p>“I admit that.”</p>
+
+<p>“And I’m already playing Injun.”</p>
+
+<p>“Pshaw! That may be, but I can soon change my
+colors.”</p>
+
+<p>“You’re as obstinate as a mule, Cody!”</p>
+
+<p>“See here, Jack, I admit that the folks need us back
+there at the fort, and one had better return, but I
+should be the one.”</p>
+
+<p>“Tell you what, pard!” exclaimed Jack, smitten with
+a sudden thought.</p>
+
+<p>“Well?”</p>
+
+<p>“We’ll draw lots to see who goes.”</p>
+
+<p>“I’ll beat you at that game, Jack!” cried Cody, with
+a laugh.</p>
+
+<p>“Don’t yuh crow too loud, old man,” said Texas
+Jack gaily. “When we git to the creek we’ll see who’s
+who!”</p>
+
+<p>“I’ll go you, for my luck is good.”</p>
+
+<p>“I’m sure a child of fortune myself,” laughed Jack.</p>
+
+<p>They soon reached the creek, which cut across the
+cañon at its widest part, spurting from under a ledge<span class="pagenum">[49]</span>
+on one side, and disappearing with a tinkle of falling
+water through a crack on the other&mdash;one of those underground
+streams often found in the Rockies, which
+only by chance ever come to the light of day.</p>
+
+<p>The scouts dismounted, making sure that all pursuit
+had been abandoned by their mounted foes, at
+least, and washed and dressed their slight wounds. In
+each man’s pouch was Indian salve, certain valuable
+herbs, dried, and bandages rolled for them by the
+women of Fort Advance. Your old frontiersman was
+no mean surgeon, and many a man to-day, whose early
+years were spent on the border, owes his life to some
+rough but prompt bit of surgery on the part of a pard
+with powder-stained fingers.</p>
+
+<p>“Now, we’ll draw lots to see who goes back,” said
+Cody. “Wish we had a pack of cards.”</p>
+
+<p>“I got what th’ boys call a Sing Sing Bible,” observed
+Texas Jack, drawing the pack from his pouch.</p>
+
+<p>“Good! We can’t take the time to play any game,
+but I’ll shuffle, you cut, and the one who holds the ace
+of clubs goes back to Advance.”</p>
+
+<p>“Agreed. Shuffle ’em good, old man&mdash;though I
+feel I’m going to win right now.”</p>
+
+<p>“You’re too cock-sure,” laughed Buffalo Bill.</p>
+
+<p>The scouts spoke in a light-hearted way, but each
+realized the terrible ordeal that might fall to the one
+who attempted to return to Fort Advance. Major
+Baldwin needed one of them as an adviser&mdash;and his
+rifle would be an acquisition as well, for both Buffalo
+Bill and Texas Jack were dead shots.</p>
+
+<p>The uncertainty and impatience of the entire garrison
+would be relieved, too, if they were informed that
+one of the scouts had gone on to Resistence and would<span class="pagenum">[50]</span>
+surely bring help the next day. This knowledge would
+put heart in the defenders of Fort Advance when the
+Indians attacked, as they surely would after nightfall.</p>
+
+<p>The cards were shuffled by the chief scout, and then
+he held them in his open palm. Texas Jack cut at a
+point about half-way down the pack. One after another
+the pasteboards were discarded, and Buffalo
+Bill had already displayed two aces, when suddenly his
+partner chuckled and slammed down another card, face
+up. It was the fatal card&mdash;the ace of clubs.</p>
+
+<p>“Got yuh that time, Pard Cody!” exclaimed Texas
+Jack in delight.</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill looked regretful, while his partner was
+triumphant.</p>
+
+<p>“I told yuh I was a child of fortune,” laughed Texas
+Jack.</p>
+
+<p>“I yield, old man,” said Cody. “May your luck
+carry you through in safety.”</p>
+
+<p>“I’ll git there&mdash;or the reds will know I tried,” said
+Jack with emphasis.</p>
+
+<p>“Aye, that they will. Now I must be off, Jack. The
+horse is rested, and he’s got a hard road to travel this
+night. I’ll be back with help as soon as possible.”</p>
+
+<p>“You ought to make it by morning with any kind
+of luck.”</p>
+
+<p>“I’ll do my best,” declared Buffalo Bill. “And now
+good-by, old pard! If you go under I’ll see that there
+are plenty of those red devils on the trail to the happy
+hunting grounds to make up for your loss.”</p>
+
+<p>They wrung each other’s hands, and, although the
+spoken word was light, the look in each man’s eyes
+showed a deeper feeling. Buffalo Bill walked quickly to
+where the great white horse was feeding, and, vaulting<span class="pagenum">[51]</span>
+into the saddle, the horse, without urging, started into
+his easy lope.</p>
+
+<p>Once the mounted scout looked back. Texas Jack
+stood in the middle of the trail looking more like an
+Indian chief than ever, he was so silent and stern of
+feature.</p>
+
+<p>They waved their hands briefly&mdash;a last farewell.
+Then the Border King disappeared around a turn in
+the trail, and Texas Jack prepared for his attempt,
+night now being not far away.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">FACING DEATH.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>Texas Jack had been a ranchman in Texas since
+early boyhood. His sentiments and affiliations were
+Southern, and when the war broke out he joined the
+Confederate Army as a scout. He was a reckless, daredevil
+fellow, yet high-minded, honorable to foe as well
+as friend. The noble blood of the Omohondreaus
+showed through the rough manner of the hardy frontiersman.</p>
+
+<p>It was Jack Omohondreau who came so near dealing
+an irreparable blow to the Northern cause by capturing
+President Lincoln and taking him South as a prisoner.
+How near the daring scout came to accomplishing this
+very thing nobody but those few Confederates in the
+secret&mdash;and possibly Lincoln himself&mdash;ever knew.</p>
+
+<p>However, when the Civil War was ended, Buffalo
+Bill, who had scouted for the other side, found Jack in
+Kansas, and it was through his influence that the young
+French-American was enlisted in the Federal Army.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[52]</span></p>
+
+<p>He was of cheery nature, fearless to recklessness,
+strong as a grizzly, and possessed of a handsome presence.
+Such was the man who had determined to return
+through the ring of enraged Sioux to give comfort and
+help to the besieged garrison of Fort Advance.</p>
+
+<p>He knew all that he had to risk, but, in his Indian
+disguise, and under cover of the early darkness, he
+hoped to accomplish his purpose. If captured by the
+redskins he well knew that death by the most frightful
+torture would be his portion. The Sioux hated him almost
+as fiercely as they hated Buffalo Bill.</p>
+
+<p>That he could speak their language was in Jack’s
+favor. And he knew that if he chanced upon any
+bunch of the reds a word or two might pass him
+through all right. Oak Heart had gathered several
+different branches of the tribe together, and many of
+the braves must be strangers to each other.</p>
+
+<p>The scout had already formed his plan of return to
+the fort. He had reloaded his rifle and revolvers, seen
+that his knife was still in its scabbard, and, after another
+long swig at the clear, running water and a
+tightening of his belt, Texas Jack climbed one side of
+the cañon with infinite caution. He could not return
+through the gorge itself, for he did not know how near
+pursuit might be. And he wormed his way up the
+steep ascent like a serpent, that he might not be observed
+from below.</p>
+
+<p>Night came upon him as he arrived on the summit
+of the timbered ridge. The forest was a tangled
+wilderness, but he knew how to pass through it without
+making the slightest disturbance, and, as he might
+come upon the Indians at any moment, he was glad of
+the darkness and the thicket. A few miles along this<span class="pagenum">[53]</span>
+ridge and he would come out upon a bluff that overlooked
+the valley in which Fort Advance was situated.</p>
+
+<p>He strode on lightly, yet swiftly&mdash;threading his way
+through the trackless forest with a confidence which
+brought him straight to his destination. And as yet
+he had not passed an Indian.</p>
+
+<p>The dash of the scouts into the cañon had drawn all
+the outposts from the hills, and the redskins were either
+guarding the lower passes, ringing the fort, or gathered
+about the camp-fires where the main encampment
+had been established.</p>
+
+<p>When Texas Jack came out upon the bluff he could
+see these camp-fires twinkling on the other side of the
+valley, although it was still light enough for him to
+see all who moved below him. The encampment was
+at the base of the southern hills, some two miles from
+the fort. Some half-hundred ponies were feeding in
+the valley, with the guards about them doubled. The
+loss of the bulk of the herd had been a severe blow to
+the redskins, and Texas Jack knew that the Indians
+would put forth every effort to retake them, should opportunity
+arise.</p>
+
+<p>Jack decided that Chief Oak Heart was probably at
+the encampment, counseling with his old men and the
+other chiefs regarding the next blow to be struck at
+Fort Advance. That plans of deviltry and cunning
+were being hatched the scout was certain.</p>
+
+<p>Then he thought of the Border King flying along
+the trail to Resistence for help, and he regained his
+courage.</p>
+
+<p>Awaiting with the stolid patience of a redskin for
+the night to deepen, the scout finally pursued his march<span class="pagenum">[54]</span>
+into the valley. He had carefully weighed all chances
+for and against his success. Now he was ready to take
+them.</p>
+
+<p>Night spread its wings over the valley. It hid its
+scars and wounds and the stark bodies of the dead, lying
+under the fortress walls. In the gloaming it might
+have been the most peaceful valley in all the Rockies.
+One coming upon it suddenly, and unwarned, would
+never have suspected the blood so recently spilled there
+and the threatening aspect of the situation at that very
+moment!</p>
+
+<p>Texas Jack stole down the declivity with a step as
+light as the fall of a leaf. The savage whom he imitated
+could have moved no more lightly, and as he
+came into the valley itself he crouched and crept along
+like a shadow.</p>
+
+<p>He knew that the red men would be moving about,
+passing and repassing each other, and keeping up a
+tightening circle about the fort. They would afford
+the opportunity for no other white man to escape from
+the fort if they could help it. But they moved about
+as silently as the scout himself, and as the redskin is
+notoriously silent, Texas Jack’s ears were of little good
+to him in this emergency.</p>
+
+<p>An Indian is not troubled by military accouterments
+to rattle as he walks; his moccasins are soundless, and
+he has schooled himself to endure all those little discomforts
+of body or environment that cause the white
+man to betray himself by either sound or movement.
+If a red warrior lay in wait for an enemy the flies and
+other insects might half eat him up without his betraying
+himself by a movement. He seldom has catarrhal
+affections of the throat, or if he does stifles the desire<span class="pagenum">[55]</span>
+to cough or sneeze. He has, indeed, his whole body
+and mind under perfect control.</p>
+
+<p>Therefore Texas Jack knew that the red men might
+be near&mdash;upon each side of him&mdash;in his very path, perhaps,
+yet they passed and repassed, silent as so many
+ghosts.</p>
+
+<p>Texas Jack crept but a short way from the base of
+the hill before he lay flat down in the weeds and brush.
+There was a big rock on his right hand, and he believed
+that that obstacle, looming up as it did in the
+gloom, would keep anybody from walking over him.</p>
+
+<p>His reason for lying there was easily understood.
+From the dark ground he could look upward and see
+any form passing between him and the lighter sky-line.
+He wished to get a line on the pacing to and fro of the
+sentinels. If there was any regularity regarding their
+beats, the scout might be able to time his passage so as
+not to be seen at all.</p>
+
+<p>For if his presence was discovered, although his
+dress and appearance might carry him through, still
+there was a grave danger that they would not. There
+might be some password, for the redskins were shrewd,
+or he might run against some chief going the rounds
+of his men to see that all were properly placed.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly a form seemed to rise out of the ground
+before the advancing scout. It stood a moment directly
+between him and the lighter sky-line. Then it
+passed on&mdash;silently as the wind over the grass.</p>
+
+<p>He heard a muffled grunt&mdash;a guttural Indian word&mdash;dropped
+by some invisible redskin in the direction the
+figure had disappeared. Then that, or another, sentinel
+returned and passed slowly across the line of Texas
+Jack’s vision. He was quite near the lines of sentinels,<span class="pagenum">[56]</span>
+and he determined to lie there and, if possible, time
+their coming and going before trying himself to get
+through.</p>
+
+<p>Once more the figure crossed the line of the scout’s
+vision. Texas Jack lay, scarcely moving in the grass,
+and with fingers on wrist counted his pulse while the
+Indian was in sight. In this way he learned something
+of the time it took for the sentinel to pace from end to
+end of his beat. He lay for some time and timed him
+back and forth to make sure that there was some regularity
+in the redskin’s actions.</p>
+
+<p>Then, at the right moment&mdash;as the sentinel passed
+out of view in one direction, Texas Jack darted forward
+like a serpent through the tall weeds. Although
+he ran on his feet and touched but one hand now and
+then to help retain his balance, the scout’s body could
+never have been seen above the waving tops of the
+grass and weeds.</p>
+
+<p>For several rods he ran in this way and then dropped
+down again, panting, hugging the earth, flattening his
+body upon it, and waiting with every nerve on the qui
+vive to discover if his actions had been noted.</p>
+
+<p>And well he knew that, if the sentinel had seen him,
+no shout&mdash;no sound&mdash;would be raised. The red would
+sneak up behind him, and his first audible sound would
+be the cry of triumph when the scalping-knife was
+plunged into the scout’s back!</p>
+
+<p>Jack twisted his neck to see back over his shoulder.
+After a moment the Indian sentinel appeared again.
+He walked upright. Jack could see his nodding topknot
+of feathers, and that he carried a gun of some
+kind. He passed on without even glancing in the
+scout’s direction.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[57]</span></p>
+
+<p>“Thanks be for that!” thought the scout. “Now,
+what’s ahead?”</p>
+
+<p>That the Sioux had but one ring of sentinels around
+the fort he knew was not the fact. There were two
+lines at least&mdash;possibly three. He raised his head like
+a turtle stretching from its shell and tried to pierce the
+gloom of the valley.</p>
+
+<p>And then it was that he suddenly beheld a tall figure
+standing motionless not far ahead of him and almost
+in his path. It was a chief of some importance from
+his war-bonnet, and he had perhaps been going the
+rounds of his sentinels. Now he stood motionless, his
+back to the scout, looking toward the fort, one elbow
+leaning upon a broken stub of a tree, the other hand
+holding his rifle, hanging idly by his side. The chief
+was evidently in a reverie&mdash;or was he listening? Had
+he heard the scout’s breathing&mdash;or some other sound
+that warned him of the white man’s presence?</p>
+
+<p>The question seared Texas Jack’s brain. It startled
+him to action. This was no moment for taking
+chances.</p>
+
+<p>He rose up like a shadow, and, with great, catlike
+strides, stole upon the statuelike Indian. It went
+against the grain for the scout to strike even a redskin
+from behind. Man to man and face to face in a fair
+struggle would have pleased Texas Jack better. But
+the entire success of his attempt to reach the fort depended
+upon the action of the next few seconds.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly the chief began to turn&mdash;with a jerking
+motion which showed that he was startled. Some instinct
+told him that there was an enemy at hand. Perhaps
+his lips were already opened to give a warning
+call.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[58]</span></p>
+
+<p>Like a stone from the sling the scout leaped forward&mdash;as
+the panther leaps! His knee found the small
+of the Indian’s back; his left had clutched his throat
+like a vise; his right drove his keen blade downward&mdash;<em>and
+home</em>!</p>
+
+<p>The redskin crumpled and fell without a sound upon
+the earth. Not even a cough or death-rattle proclaimed
+the passing of his spirit. And the number of seconds
+occupied in the killing were infinitesimal. One moment
+the red chief stood there leaning on the broken
+tree; the next Texas Jack, in his Indian garb, had
+taken his place and assumed his attitude!</p>
+
+<p>Unless some member of the tribe had been near
+enough to watch the chief continuously, this action of
+the scout’s was inspired. The chief had gone down
+and lay dead under his feet; the white man had taken
+his place, and for several moments, while he recovered
+his breath, he stood there in the exact attitude the real
+Indian had assumed in life.</p>
+
+<p>Carefully he scrutinized his surroundings as closely
+as might be for the gloom. He became aware at length
+that a warrior was stalking toward him from the left&mdash;undoubtedly
+one of the sentinels. This man came on,
+saw the supposed chief standing by the tree stub, and
+made a gesture as though he were saluting his superior.</p>
+
+<p>“Ugh!” muttered Texas Jack in an excellent imitation
+of an Indian guttural. He did not care to risk
+his Sioux intonation if he could help it.</p>
+
+<p>The sentinel went on. Texas Jack was about to
+change his position and make for the fort when he saw
+the sentinel who had just passed and another, returning.
+They would pass him very closely. Did they suspect?<span class="pagenum">[59]</span>
+Had the first brave become suspicious, and was
+he bringing the second to help him attack the supposed
+chief?</p>
+
+<p>The thought sent a chill to the heart of the courageous
+scout. It seemed to him that, thus early in the
+game, he had come to a death-struggle with the redskins!</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">BREAKING THROUGH THE RED CIRCLE.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>Slowly the two braves approached Texas Jack’s position.
+The scout dared not change his attitude&mdash;he
+could not afford to put the men on guard if they <em>were</em>
+still unsuspicious of him.</p>
+
+<p>His rifle-butt rested on the ground; his elbows leaned
+upon the tree stub; he stared straight across the valley
+to where the camp-fires twinkled, and to where two or
+three points of light, and the gloomy outline of the tall
+stockade, proclaimed the presence of the fort.</p>
+
+<p>Would the two warriors speak to him?&mdash;or would
+they respect his apparent reverie and pass on?</p>
+
+<p>Out of the corner of his eye Texas Jack watched the
+coming sentinels. Every muscle and nerve in his body
+was strained for a spring. He had made up his mind
+already what action he should take did the reds show
+that they meant to accost him.</p>
+
+<p>He did not wish to fire his gun and so call every
+Indian in that part of the valley to the spot. He
+gripped instead his rifle by the muzzle, and the instant
+one of those savages came within reach he would whirl
+up the gun and bring its stock with crushing force
+down upon the man’s head!</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[60]</span></p>
+
+<p>Then the knife for the second brave! That was all
+he could do. If he were not shot or tomahawked first,
+he could finish both of the reds without making much
+disturbance. The main difficulty would be to stifle
+their death-yells, as he had that of the chief at his feet.</p>
+
+<p>So he waited, his body sweating, although it was a
+chill night, uncertain as to what the warriors would do.
+They were talking in low tones; this in itself gave the
+scout some hope. Had they intended attacking him
+their plans would have been made before they came
+so near, and there would be no need of conversation.</p>
+
+<p>The seconds numbered as the warriors came on
+seemed centuries long to the scout. But at length he
+saw that they were passing him quietly. They glanced
+at him, but he stood haughtily aloof, and the braves
+were not encouraged by his manner to speak. He saw
+them go with a relief that almost unnerved him!</p>
+
+<p>He could not risk their coming back. The instant
+they were out of sight the scout stooped, stripped the
+dead man of his gun, bow and arrows, and knife, and
+in a crouching position ran agilely forward to where a
+clump of young trees loomed up in the path, a hundred
+yards to the front.</p>
+
+<p>There he dropped down and lay a moment, listening.
+Not a sound from those behind; not a sound from any
+redskins before him. Had he at last gotten through
+the lines completely?</p>
+
+<p>He could not really believe this good fortune was his
+so easily. He stood up at last and peered all about.
+And suddenly, just as he was about to move forward
+once more toward the fort, he heard the stamp of a
+pony’s hoof on the other side of the clump of trees!</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[61]</span></p>
+
+<p>The sound dropped Texas Jack to the ground like a
+rifle-shot. Had he been seen by the rider of the pony?
+Or did the pony have a rider? It might be one escaped
+from the herd and roaming at will about the valley.</p>
+
+<p>The pony stamped again. There was no other
+sound.</p>
+
+<p>“I’ve got tuh find out what’s doin’ there before I
+make another break,” muttered the scout. “And here
+goes!”</p>
+
+<p>The thicket was a closely woven one. Did he try to
+pass through it with his guns and other accouterments
+he might make some disturbance. So he left everything
+but his pistols, knife, and the bow and arrows
+he had taken from the dead chief on the ground, and
+began to worm his way through the brush-clump.</p>
+
+<p>Once he made some little noise by catching a part of
+his clothing on a brittle branch. Instantly he halted
+and made the squeaking grunt of the porcupine. His
+imitation of animals was perfect, and a porcupine
+might easily be on the still hunt in the thicket-patch.</p>
+
+<p>The pony did not change its position. Jack knew.
+So, after a moment of waiting, the scout risked moving
+on. He came finally to the edge of the brush, and
+there the horse stood&mdash;not three yards away from him!</p>
+
+<p>And from where he crouched the scout could see
+more than the bulk of the pony’s body against the sky-line.
+It was bestrode by an Indian in head-dress and
+blanket. It was doubtless one of the chiefs who had
+started to ride around the fort. Would he ride on and
+not suspect the presence of the white man in the
+bushes?</p>
+
+<p>But perhaps, in his nervousness, Texas Jack had not<span class="pagenum">[62]</span>
+imitated the porcupine true enough to satisfy the keen
+ear of the Indian. Or else the porcupine’s grunt was a
+private signal between this chief and his own men.</p>
+
+<p>However, Texas Jack saw the redskin force his pony
+nearer the thicket, and he heard its rider twitter like a
+bird disturbed at night in its nest.</p>
+
+<p>“Old man, you’ve got the best of me!” thought the
+scout. “I can’t answer that signal, for I don’t know
+what the answer <em>is</em>. It’s a bad thing for you!”</p>
+
+<p>There was no time for hesitation. Again the scout
+had to take life or be killed himself. The scout was a
+good shot with the bow and arrows as he was with rifle
+or pistol. And he must use a silent weapon to get rid
+of this foe.</p>
+
+<p>It was too far to leap with his knife. The bow and
+arrows of the dead chief came in handy. In a flash
+the crouching scout fitted an arrow to the bowstring
+and drew the shaft to its head. There he waited, still
+as a graven image, until the horse and rider were almost
+upon him.</p>
+
+<p>Then he let drive the arrow. It sped with fearful
+force, aimed at the throat of the red chieftain that all
+death-cry might be stilled.</p>
+
+<p>True was the aim and fatal the shot. The arrow
+penetrated the Indian’s throat, and its head stuck out a
+hand’s breadth at the back of his neck. Without a
+sound the Indian toppled from the pony’s back.</p>
+
+<p>The horse snorted and sprang forward. His escape
+might have been as dire a calamity for the scout as the
+death-yell of the chieftain. If the pony dashed away
+across the valley, the sentinels would surely be aroused.</p>
+
+<p>But the animal made but one leap. Like a shadow
+Texas Jack leaped up and caught the rawhide bridle<span class="pagenum">[63]</span>
+which had been snatched from the dead man’s hand.
+He brought the pony to an abrupt halt. Instantly he
+swung himself upon the bare back of the animal, well
+used to riding Indian fashion, and guided him to the
+other side of the thicket, leaving the chief where he had
+fallen. He did not stop to strip him of his arms; he
+had quite all he could carry, and he wanted his own
+rifle.</p>
+
+<p>All seemed to have gone well, and it looked to the
+scout at that moment as though the way before him to
+the fort was clear sailing. But just as he was congratulating
+himself on this belief a wild and ear-splitting
+yell arose on the night, and from a spot not far in his
+rear. First one voice and then another took up the
+yell&mdash;it was the warning of the red man when he finds
+the trail of the secret enemy!</p>
+
+<p>Texas Jack knew well what it meant. The first Indian
+he had killed, and whose place beside the dead
+tree he had taken, had been found by the sentinels.
+They knew that some shrewd enemy had been at work,
+and their yells aroused the braves all over the valley.</p>
+
+<p>The cries told the redskins as plainly as words that
+some white man was trying to break through their
+lines. Major Baldwin had thrown a line of sentinels
+outside the stockade, and these heard the cries and understood
+as well. They passed back the word that
+either Buffalo Bill or Texas Jack was coming.</p>
+
+<p>And so the scout was coming&mdash;on the back of the
+half-wild Indian pony. The danger behind him was
+great, nor was that still ahead slight. Some of the
+young braves, eager for scalps, had crept forward in
+the darkness, hoping to shoot some white man on the
+towers, or one that ventured beyond the stockade walls.<span class="pagenum">[64]</span>
+As the war-whoop was raised these young braves
+started back for their lines on the jump.</p>
+
+<p>One of them saw the scout coming up the hill at full
+speed. Although Texas Jack was still in Indian dress,
+the warrior decided that no honest redskin would be
+riding in that direction at such a pace!</p>
+
+<p>He fired suddenly. So did the scout. The aim of
+both was true, for the Indian’s bullet killed the pony
+Jack was riding, and Jack’s bullet killed the Indian
+himself.</p>
+
+<p>Although badly shaken by his fall from the pony’s
+back, Texas Jack was on his feet in an instant and was
+running at topmost speed for the fort. He suspected
+that there would be a line of sentinels outside the stockade,
+and he raised his voice as he ran:</p>
+
+<p>“Hold on, men; it’s Texas Jack! Don’t shoot!”</p>
+
+<p>A cheer was the answer from the fort, while the
+Indians in the rear who heard uttered their war-whoop
+again and fired a scattering volley in the direction of
+the scout’s voice. But he was not hit, and, a few minutes
+later, he passed in through the gateway of the fort.</p>
+
+<p>Proud of his deed, as he had good reason to be, he
+shouted:</p>
+
+<p>“Slightly disfigured, boys, but still in the ring!”</p>
+
+<p>The commander greeted the scout joyfully, but with
+his next breath asked anxiously:</p>
+
+<p>“But Cody?”</p>
+
+<p>“Is a long way on his ride to Resistence, sir.”</p>
+
+<p>A cheer greeted this reply.</p>
+
+<p>“Thank God for that good news! I trust you were
+not hurt on your way, Jack, though you <em>did</em> raise a
+merry rumpus in the Indian camps.”</p>
+
+<p>“Well, now! Didn’t they turn loose for a few minutes,<span class="pagenum">[65]</span>
+sir? But I got only a shake-up, for I got too
+proud to walk, and the pony I cabbaged took a header
+with an Injun bullet in him. Somebody got worse
+hurt than I did, though, and I’m not kicking a little
+bit, as luck came my way.”</p>
+
+<p>“And it came our way, too, Jack! We’re mighty
+glad to have you back.”</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, that was my luck, too!” said Jack, laughing.
+“Buffalo was bound to come and send me on to Resistence
+with the news, but I wouldn’t hear to it, and
+finally we drew lots and I won.”</p>
+
+<p>“Next to Cody himself you’re the man I want,” declared
+Major Baldwin; “for, although all my officers
+and men are true as steel&mdash;and able, too&mdash;your experience
+is worth much, not to speak of the value of your
+rifle. Your coming and the knowledge that Cody has
+got through all right gives us a new lease of life.”</p>
+
+<p>The major’s praise tinged the bronzed cheek of the
+scout with blushes, and he hurried away to remove his
+war-paint and to change into more civilized garments.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">THE RIDE TO THE RESCUE.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>The Border King, after leaving Texas Jack in the
+cañon, did not spare the white horse he rode, for he
+was riding to save many human lives.</p>
+
+<p>He had known this horse when he was the favorite
+steed of Colonel Nelson A. Miles, and the scout well
+knew the endurance of which the horse was capable.</p>
+
+<p>The creature had been captured by Oak Heart, the
+king of the Utah Sioux, in an attack on a military<span class="pagenum">[66]</span>
+camp, and Colonel Miles had told Cody to try and get
+him back from his Indian master.</p>
+
+<p>“I hate to think of the old fellow being handled by
+that red scamp. Get him back, Cody, and he’s yours,”
+the colonel had told the scout.</p>
+
+<p>And now Buffalo Bill had the long-barreled, strong-limbed
+racer under him, and he was proving himself
+as fleet as a deer and as tireless as a hound.</p>
+
+<p>“The colonel used to call you Runaway, I remember,”
+said the scout, talking aloud to the handsome
+creature, and patting the side of his neck with a tender
+hand, “and what Oak Heart christened you I don’t
+know, but I shall call you after your redskin master,
+and it shall be Chief.”</p>
+
+<p>The horse snorted and tossed his head as though he
+understood what was being said to him, and hour after
+hour, mile after mile, he kept up his steady lope&mdash;that
+long, free canter that takes the Western range horse
+over so long a trail in so short a time.</p>
+
+<p>Darkness fell soon after Cody rode away from Texas
+Jack. He hoped to reached the military post for which
+he aimed before midnight. And he was not mistaken.
+The new day had not commenced when the scout on his
+white charger thundered up to the gates of Fort Resistence.</p>
+
+<p>“Halt! Who comes here?” rang out the sentinel’s
+challenge.</p>
+
+<p>“All right, pard! This is Scout Cody with an urgent
+message for the commander. Let me in!”</p>
+
+<p>“By thunder! Is it really you, Buffalo Bill?” cried
+the sentinel over the gate.</p>
+
+<p>“What’s left of me after about the hardest day’s
+work of my life.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[67]</span></p>
+
+<p>“Injuns?”</p>
+
+<p>“And a-plenty of them. Hurry up, old man! This
+is no place for gossip,” urged the scout.</p>
+
+<p>“Wait till I call the corporal,” exclaimed the curious
+sentinel. Then:</p>
+
+<p>“Corporal of the guard! Corporal of the guard!
+Rouse up, corporal! There’s somebody at the gate!”</p>
+
+<p>Half the garrison was aroused by the shouting. The
+corporal came on the run, saw who it was without, and
+let the scout and his dripping horse within.</p>
+
+<p>“Injuns, sure, Cody?” asked those who were awake.</p>
+
+<p>“Fort Advance has been surrounded for three days
+by a thousand red devils under Oak Heart!” exclaimed
+Cody to the officer on duty. “I must see Colonel Royal
+at once.”</p>
+
+<p>The commander of the fort had gotten out of bed
+already, and he received the scout in his nightshirt.</p>
+
+<p>“Is this true, Cody?” he cried. “Is Major Baldwin
+threatened?”</p>
+
+<p>“Why, sir, your scouts must have been hived up for
+a week past if they haven’t seen Injun signs,” said
+Cody earnestly. “For three days the Sioux have held
+the garrison of Fort Advance prisoners, and five men
+have been killed trying to get to you. They’re pretty
+nearly out of ammunition.”</p>
+
+<p>“My God, Cody! You astonish me. I’ve had the
+scouts working through the country on the other side,
+trusting to hear from you if anything went wrong in
+the direction of Advance.”</p>
+
+<p>“I’ve been to Denver, sir. Just got back to-day. I
+managed to run in half a packload of ammunition that
+I had cached, and then Texas Jack and I got through
+the lines again late this afternoon and&mdash;here I am!”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[68]</span></p>
+
+<p>“Texas Jack! He’s not killed, I hope?”</p>
+
+<p>“I don’t know. The reckless fellow <em>would</em> try to go
+back to cheer the fort with the news that I had got
+away safely.”</p>
+
+<p>“That’s enough now, Bill. You’ll get something to
+eat, and if you are going back with the men I
+send&mdash;&mdash;”</p>
+
+<p>“You bet I am. I got a fellow to rub Chief down,
+and he’ll be good for it.”</p>
+
+<p>“Your horse? Well, I’m off to see things prepared.”</p>
+
+<p>The energetic commander at once ordered his adjutant
+to call out two troops of cavalry, mount two companies
+of infantry, and, with a couple of light guns, to
+start to the reenforcement of Fort Advance. Extra
+supplies and ammunition were to be taken in ambulances.</p>
+
+<p>Captain Alfred Taylor, of the Fifth Cavalry, was
+given command of the expedition, and ordered to start
+within the hour. They tried to get Cody to take some
+rest, for more than twenty-four hours the scout had
+been active, most of the time in the saddle, and part of
+the time fighting for his very life, but he was determined
+to go back with the party of reenforcements.</p>
+
+<p>When it pulled out from Post Resistence Buffalo
+Bill rode ahead as guide, while half a dozen of Colonel
+Royal’s scouts went along to guard the flanks, and to
+clear out the cañon when they came to it. Cody felt
+that Oak Heart, knowing that the white men had got
+through his lines and were probably making for Resistence,
+might send a part of his force forward to meet
+any rescue party coming to the aid of the garrison of
+Fort Advance.</p>
+
+<p>And the <a id="Ref_69" href="#Ref_69a">wise scout</a> had not been mistaken in this.<span class="pagenum">[69]</span>
+Perhaps one reason why Texas Jack had succeeded so
+easily in returning to Fort Advance was because the
+king of the Sioux had drawn off quite three hundred
+of his braves for special duty, and sent them along the
+track toward Fort Resistence.</p>
+
+<p>The easiest and shortest trail between the two forts
+was through the cañon, and this Oak Heart well knew.
+He ordered the chiefs in charge of the three hundred
+to ambush the rescue-party near the entrance to the
+cañon at the other end, and not long before Cody and
+the other scouts, riding ahead of Captain Taylor’s command,
+came within shouting distance of the cañon the
+bloodthirsty savages were hidden among the rocks and
+trees on the sloping sides, ready to pour a deadly fire
+into the band of rescuers when they came along the
+trail beneath them.</p>
+
+<p>While yet the scouts were some distance from the
+cañon something startled them ahead. Tearing along
+the trail toward them came a herd of deer, frightened
+from their night’s lair by something untoward.</p>
+
+<p>“Now, what under the canopy started <em>them</em> to running?”
+asked Cody, who never let anything go past
+him unexplained.</p>
+
+<p>“Wolves, it’s likely,” said one of the Resistence
+scouts named Judd.</p>
+
+<p>“Haven’t heard a wolf howl to-night,” declared Buffalo
+Bill.</p>
+
+<p>“You’re right there, pard,” said another scout, Barney
+by name.</p>
+
+<p>“And there was no critter on the trail of those white-tails,”
+said a third man.</p>
+
+<p>“That means Injuns, then,” declared Barney.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[70]</span></p>
+
+<p>“I reckon you’re right, boys,” said the Border King.
+“Let’s see. Those deer came directly from the cañon.”</p>
+
+<p>“You bet they did.”</p>
+
+<p>“Something doing there, then, boys.”</p>
+
+<p>“I reckon you’re right, Buffler.”</p>
+
+<p>“Here, Barney, you ride back and tell Captain Taylor
+to halt his column. Judd, you and I leave our
+horses here and go ahead to reconnoiter. Savvy?”</p>
+
+<p>“Sure!”</p>
+
+<p>Barney rode back. Judd and Buffalo Bill discarded
+their mounts and went ahead afoot.</p>
+
+<p>Oak Heart was a born general, and, like old Colorow,
+of the Utes, displayed abilities in planning his
+campaigns that placed him head and shoulders above
+the average redskin chieftain. There have been few
+great warriors among the red Indians. Red Jacket,
+Black Eagle, Tecumseh, Colorow, and a few others
+have possessed unnatural characteristics for redskins,
+and that is why they left their mark on Indian history.</p>
+
+<p>And Oak Heart had sufficient control over his warriors
+to make them do something which above all
+things a redskin hates. He made them fight at night!</p>
+
+<p>Now, the Indian is a spiritualist of the most pronounced
+breed. By day the spirits of the dead, and
+those powerful beings which he believes control men’s
+affairs, sleep; by night these supernatural beings walk
+abroad, and no Southern darky is more afraid of seeing
+a ghost than a redskin. The medicine chiefs, who
+are, most of them, a set of unconscionable fakers,
+foster this belief in ghosts and evil spirits and so prey
+on the tribes.</p>
+
+<p>Indians often select the hour just before dawn to
+strike their enemies, because at that time man usually<span class="pagenum">[71]</span>
+sleeps more deeply. But to make a forced march and
+lay an ambuscade in the middle of the night&mdash;well,
+this proved Oak Heart’s mastery of his tribe. Buffalo
+Bill suspected that the herd of deer had been frightened
+by something more than a single redskin&mdash;or a
+small scouting-party of them. He knew Oak Heart’s
+abilities and respected them. Rash as the scout might
+be at times, he never took foolish chances. To lead
+the rescue-party into the head of the cañon might
+bring it to complete ruin.</p>
+
+<p>“Judd! you take the west side of that gorge, and I’ll
+go east,” he commanded his brother scout.</p>
+
+<p>“How’ll I communicate? Signal?”</p>
+
+<p>“No! If there are many of the reds they have already
+frightened away most of the small animals that
+we might imitate, and to give a bird-call would utterly
+ruin us. No bird will be waking up at this time
+o’ night&mdash;ugh!”</p>
+
+<p>“Well, what then?” demanded the other.</p>
+
+<p>“Never mind what you find, keep still. Meet me
+here&mdash;in twenty minutes if possible; not later than half
+an hour from now, at most.”</p>
+
+<p>“Half an hour?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yep. And remember, a confounded lot can happen
+in half an hour,” added Cody, with a chuckle.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">A BUSY HALF-HOUR.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill had spoken a truer word than he
+thought. A great deal may happen in thirty minutes,
+and the Border King, as he separated from his brother<span class="pagenum">[72]</span>
+scout, was unconsciously approaching a series of startling
+and perilous happenings.</p>
+
+<p>The moment the darkness had wiped Judd out of
+sight the wary scout turned eastward from the trail.
+The brush was thick and hung heavy with the dew of
+the mountains&mdash;and that might as well be rain. Every
+twig he touched communicated to its parent branch a
+shiver that showered him like a patent bath. He kept
+the lock of his magazine rifle under his armpit, pulled
+down the brim of his sombrero to shield his face, and
+walked swiftly on for some few yards. Yet he made
+wonderfully little noise.</p>
+
+<p>Having begun to climb rising ground, he here bore
+off toward the gorge, or cañon. If Oak Heart had
+laid an ambush there, the reds would be hiding in the
+brush, behind logs, and sheltered by boulders, all along
+the sidehills for some hundreds of yards. Buffalo Bill
+proposed to make a wide enough détour to get well behind
+the ambushed foe.</p>
+
+<p>By chance, however, he came suddenly upon a slope
+of gravel and sand, and stepped upon it before he
+realized the shifting nature of the soil. A stream of
+small pebbles began rattling down the hill!</p>
+
+<p>Instantly Buffalo Bill learned that his suspicions
+had been well founded. The Indians were there.</p>
+
+<p>He heard a startled grunt below him. Then in
+Sioux a voice asked a brief question.</p>
+
+<p>“Bear?” returned a second Indian.</p>
+
+<p>There was a sound as though one of the speakers
+had risen from his place. Buffalo Bill cast his mind
+quickly over the situation. The suggestion that a bear
+might be lurking about the sidehill seemed the most<span class="pagenum">[73]</span>
+reasonable. A bear is notably a blundersome beast,
+and the wind was not from the ambushed redskins.
+The scout grasped the idea.</p>
+
+<p>He sent another small avalanche of gravel down the
+slope, and then floundered a bit in the brush. His
+ability to imitate the voices of birds and animals
+was very keen; but it is not easy to imitate the gruff,
+startled “woof!” of the marauding bear. However,
+he essayed it and then stamped away up the hill
+through the brush, making a deuce of a clatter till he
+reached an open space. He hoped that the reds would
+take his play-acting in good faith; yet he could not
+help having his doubts. He considered that, had he
+been in their place, he would have felt strong doubt
+regarding the validity of the sound, and would have
+investigated.</p>
+
+<p>Therefore he slipped behind an enormous tree trunk
+at the edge of this opening and waited to see if the
+supposed bear would be followed. Minute after minute
+passed, and a deathlike silence reigned upon the
+hillside. Buffalo Bill was wasting time, but he was
+too wary to approach closer to the Indians&mdash;near
+enough to learn their numbers at least&mdash;until he was
+assured that his first mistake had not borne perilous
+fruit.</p>
+
+<p>Sharp as his hearing was, however, he did not hear
+a footfall, or a breath; yet of a sudden a figure was
+silhouetted before him against the open space in the
+forest. An Indian stood there with folded arms, his
+back to the scout, and facing the clearing!</p>
+
+<p>One of the reds whom Cody had disturbed was not
+satisfied with the imitated retreat of the frightened
+“bear.” He had come to investigate and stood now<span class="pagenum">[74]</span>
+almost within striking distance of the scout. But the
+latter feared to shoot him, of course; nor did he trust
+to a fling of his tomahawk, or knife. There were too
+many uncertainties about either of those methods of
+removing the redskin. To steal from behind the tree
+and spring upon him was another difficult thing, for
+the ground was strewn with rustling leaves and twigs,
+and the scout feared to announce his approach.</p>
+
+<p>To his disgust, too, the Indian turned and began
+searching about the edge of the forest. Cody saw him
+step cautiously behind two trees and stick the muzzle
+of the old-fashioned musket he bore into a brush-clump.
+The red was trying to learn if the creature
+that had made all that “catouse” was still in the vicinity.</p>
+
+<p>Instantly the scout glanced about in the gloom for a
+means of hiding himself more surely. In a minute
+the red would come his way.</p>
+
+<p>Directly above his head he saw a branch. He
+slipped the strap of his rifle over his head and shoulder,
+thus leaving his hands free, seized the branch, and
+drew himself up carefully as an acrobat does when
+he “chins” the horizontal bar. Without a sound, or
+the rattle of a button or an accouterment, the scout
+drew himself into the tree. Three branches sprang
+from the butt low down, so furnishing him a splendid
+nest.</p>
+
+<p>He removed his gun and stood it upright, wedged
+in a niche. Then he lay down along the lower branch,
+his body in the darkness merely adding a darker
+shadow to it, and watched and listened. No mountain
+cat was better ambushed for a foe. His guns he loosened
+in their scabbards, and then, drawing his bowie,<span class="pagenum">[75]</span>
+he stuck it softly into the branch within easy reach of
+his hand.</p>
+
+<p>At that instant there was a soft rustling in the leaves
+which covered the ground below. Cody craned his
+neck to see. The Indian in a stooping posture came
+into view. He halted directly under the limb on which
+the scout lay. It seemed too dark for him to see any
+mark that the scout might have left, yet he seemed
+wonderfully interested in the tree and the ground beneath
+it.</p>
+
+<p>Cody could see the outline of his figure very well
+indeed. How much sharper the red’s vision might be
+he did not know; but he was not taking any chances.
+He noted that the red scamp faced the tree trunk and
+was apparently examining the rough bark for recently
+broken places. Was it possible that the fellow was
+really stumbling upon the truth&mdash;that a man had
+climbed this tree? Or was he feeling for the marks of
+a bear’s claws?</p>
+
+<p>However, Cody decided the red had gone far
+enough. Besides, the fellow was temptingly near.
+He was a small, wiry man weighing little more than a
+hundred pounds.</p>
+
+<p>Cody stooped suddenly, and both his muscular hands
+clutched the Indian around the neck&mdash;one before, one
+behind. And with this awful grip&mdash;which cut short
+any attempt to breathe, let alone to cry out&mdash;he lifted
+the redskin off his feet!</p>
+
+<p>As was only natural, the red dropped his gun and
+clutched with both hands at the hand which pinched
+his windpipe. He kicked vainly for freedom. Before
+he could drop his hand to his knife and draw that,
+Cody jerked him upward till the top of his head struck<span class="pagenum">[76]</span>
+with fearful force against the under side of the tree
+branch. He could actually hear the redskin’s crown
+crack!</p>
+
+<p>The foe’s hands dropped limply; yet Cody held on
+and squeezed his throat for a minute longer. Then
+he dropped the fellow like a bag of bones to the
+ground.</p>
+
+<p>In a moment he seized his own rifle and dropped
+lightly beside him. The Indian had not stirred; he
+was without doubt dead. Cody took his weapons and
+removed his scalp, and went his way with some confidence
+that there was certainly one more “good” Indian.</p>
+
+<p>He dodged the gravel bank this time, and came
+down the side of the cañon at another point&mdash;some
+rods beyond that at which he had found the first of the
+reds established. There were fewer trees here, and,
+looking from above, the scout was able to observe considerable
+of the more open hillside. Dark as the night
+was, he saw several forms crouching behind stumps
+and boulders.</p>
+
+<p>He made a further détour, came down the hill again,
+and found the same conditions. On this side of the
+trail the Indians were extended along the hillside for
+five hundred yards and more. It was a big ambushing
+party. Cody reckoned it to be no less than two hundred
+braves at the least, and probably more. Captain
+Taylor’s command was not prepared to meet such a
+foe&mdash;especially when the foe would have every advantage
+of cover.</p>
+
+<p>Had it not been so dark, or had Cody known the
+ground better, a flank movement might have been made
+which would have overwhelmed the reds. But this<span class="pagenum">[77]</span>
+would have taken much time, too, and, meanwhile,
+the garrison at Fort Advance was in sore need of reenforcements.</p>
+
+<p>Cody returned swiftly to the rendezvous he had appointed
+with Judd, to learn what that individual had
+discovered upon the other side of the cañon.</p>
+
+<p>Now, the warriors lay very silently indeed in their
+ambuscade, but three hundred men cannot be in a small
+place like that together without making some sounds.
+Judd, too, discovered the ambush, although he did
+not know just how many Indians were awaiting the
+coming of the bluecoats.</p>
+
+<p>“There’s a good bunch of them. Perhaps Oak
+Heart has drawn off half his gang,” said Cody.
+“We’ve got to fool ’em, Judd.”</p>
+
+<p>They hurried back to the group of scouts, and there
+Cody issued his instructions. Judd and three others
+were to watch the Indians as well as possible. Meanwhile
+Cody proposed to ride back and meet Captain
+Taylor’s command and take them, by another way, to
+the valley in which Fort Advance was situated.</p>
+
+<p>Cody rode back in haste and reported the danger
+ahead.</p>
+
+<p>“We are able to handle five hundred redskins,
+Cody,” said the officer, eager for a fight.</p>
+
+<p>“But not when they are established on both sides of
+the trail and it is dark and the forest is too thick for
+you to maneuver horses. No, no, captain! Be advised
+by me.”</p>
+
+<p>“I suppose you are right, Cody.”</p>
+
+<p>“And, besides, you will be able to deliver a heavier
+blow <a id="Ref_77" href="#Ref_77a">to</a> Oak Heart’s gang if you fall upon them unexpectedly;<span class="pagenum">[78]</span>
+and then, when these ambuscaders rush in,
+you’ll be ready to cut them to pieces, too.”</p>
+
+<p>“Right you are, scout. You are sure of the way?”</p>
+
+<p>“Confident. It’s a bit rough, but I could find it with
+my eyes bandaged.”</p>
+
+<p>“Lead on, then, scout.”</p>
+
+<p>“And no bugle-calls,” warned Cody. “Pass the
+word to the men. We don’t want these reds, waiting
+in the cañon, to suspect that we are stealing a march
+on them.”</p>
+
+<p>Fortunately, the troops did not have to take the back
+track. The path by which the Border King was to
+lead them to their destination branched off this main
+trail into the hills. Over the rough way they rode, and
+soon the eastern sky began to grow gray. Dawn was
+approaching, and the increased light made the path
+vastly easier of traveling.</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill and Captain Taylor rode some distance
+ahead of the troops. The cavalry could go only as
+fast as the guns and ambulances could keep up, so the
+band moved necessarily slow.</p>
+
+<p>They came at last almost within sight of Fort Advance.
+A low ridge shut out their view of the valley.
+Suddenly the cool morning breeze brought to them a
+great shouting and hullabaloo, intermingled with rifle-shots
+and the intermittent discharge of heavy guns.</p>
+
+<p>“An attack!” exclaimed the captain and the scout
+together, and they spurred their horses to the top of
+the ridge.</p>
+
+<p>It was true. Oak Heart had chosen the hour before
+dawn as the time to throw his remaining warriors
+against the stockade. He believed that about this time
+the rescue-party would be falling into the trap he had<span class="pagenum">[79]</span>
+laid for it in the cañon. He would keep both bands of
+white men so busy that they could not go to each
+other’s rescue.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly the heavy guns ceased. There was only
+the occasional snapping of rifles from the fort.</p>
+
+<p>“My God, Cody! What does that mean?” gasped
+Captain Taylor.</p>
+
+<p>“Their ammunition has run out!” cried the scout.
+“I adjure you, captain, bring up your men at a double-quick.
+The next few minutes may settle the question
+as to whether those red devils get the scalps of every
+man, woman, and child in the fort! There is not an
+instant to lose, sir!”</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">A FLYING FIGHT.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>Captain Taylor saw the desperate need of help for
+the unfortunate inmates of Fort Advance quite as
+clearly as did Buffalo Bill, but his men were in heavy
+marching order, and there were the artillery and ambulances
+to be thought of, too. The column was strung
+out along the trail for two miles.</p>
+
+<p>“It will take some time to bring the men up and
+form in line of battle, Cody,” declared Captain Taylor.</p>
+
+<p>“And meanwhile Oak Heart will throw his entire
+force over those palisades!” cried the scout. “By the
+time we deploy into the valley there’ll be no garrison,
+and the red devils can turn their attention to us. The
+firing will call up the gang from the cañon, and we’ll
+be between two fires.”</p>
+
+<p>“It can’t be helped&mdash;&mdash;”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[80]</span></p>
+
+<p>“It <em>can</em> be helped, sir&mdash;begging your pardon! Give
+me a few of your men and let me push on. It will make
+a diversion in favor of the garrison. If the braves see
+us coming they’ll hesitate about throwing themselves
+into the fort and so being caught in a trap.”</p>
+
+<p>“Good, Cody! You are right. And your appearance
+will at least show that help is at hand and encourage
+the garrison. But I’m afraid you’ll be cut to
+pieces.”</p>
+
+<p>“We’ll have to take that chance. Somebody has got
+to die this day&mdash;why not us?” demanded the courageous
+scout. “Let me have some of your cavalry as
+they come up. There’s the head of the column!”</p>
+
+<p>“Go, and God bless you, my brave fellow! Take all
+the men whose horses can stand a hard run,” said
+the gallant captain.</p>
+
+<p>He signaled the head of the column forward at
+once. The troops had already heard the firing, and
+were eager to get into action.</p>
+
+<p>“You’ll have to bring your artillery and ambulances
+down into the valley by yonder ridge, captain,” said
+the scout, pointing out the tongue of rocky land over
+which he had raced the day before with his pack-load
+of ammunition for the beleaguered fort. “From there
+you can sweep the valley to the very gates of the
+fort, and likewise you can cover the exit of the cañon
+through which the ambushing party will like enough
+pour in a short time.”</p>
+
+<p>“Good! I’ll make a note of that,” declared the officer.
+“There, Cody, are your men. Pick out the
+horses you think will be able to keep somewhere near
+your whitey. Every man of them is eager to attend,
+I promise you!”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[81]</span></p>
+
+<p>This was true enough, as the scout well knew. In
+five minutes, with two lieutenants and a couple of
+score of troopers at his heels, the scout set the pace
+over the ridge and down into the smoke-wreathed
+valley.</p>
+
+<p>They were soon in full sight of the fort and the
+redskins clamoring about it. And it was a complete
+surprise to Oak Heart and his braves to see reenforcements
+for the whites so near at hand. As for the defenders
+of Fort Advance, they were wild with joy to
+see even this small troop coming to their rescue.</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill’s white steed was recognized, and cheers
+rent the air from the garrison which, a few moments
+before, had given up all hope. The Indians had been
+about to rush the stockade, and then a hand-to-hand
+fight would have ensued inside the fort which could
+have ended in but one way. The redskins outnumbered
+the whites so greatly, despite their losses, that
+the garrison would have been completely overwhelmed.</p>
+
+<p>Oak Heart saw that he was likely to be defeated,
+after all. Victory had all but perched upon his banners;
+now, with his forces separated, he was very
+likely to taste the bitter ashes of defeat!</p>
+
+<p>But the Sioux king was a born leader and strategist.
+He saw that, in some way, his plans for ambuscading
+the relief party had fallen through. His three hundred
+braves were idle up the cañon while the whites from
+Fort Resistence were coming to the help of their comrades
+by another way. Those reserve forces he needed,
+and needed at once.</p>
+
+<p>He spoke to the White Antelope. She had acted as
+his aid all through the battle, and now she wheeled
+her pony instantly and dashed away toward the mouth<span class="pagenum">[82]</span>
+of the cañon. She was instructed to inform the ambuscading
+party of the change in affairs and to bring
+them back at top speed.</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill and his flying column of cavalry saw
+and understood this move. Lieutenant Dick Danforth,
+the dashing young lieutenant who ranked in command
+of the party, spurred up beside Cody.</p>
+
+<p>“See that girl yonder?” he cried.</p>
+
+<p>“I see her,” returned the scout gravely.</p>
+
+<p>“She’s a messenger, eh?”</p>
+
+<p>“She is.”</p>
+
+<p>“Isn’t that the way into the cañon where those other
+Indians were lying in wait for us?”</p>
+
+<p>“You’re mighty right, lieutenant,” admitted the
+scout.</p>
+
+<p>“We must stop her!”</p>
+
+<p>The scout remained silent, measuring the distance
+between them and the flying White Antelope, and the
+mouth of the cañon as well.</p>
+
+<p>“We’ve <em>got</em> to stop her!” exclaimed Dick Danforth.</p>
+
+<p>“How are you going to do it?” demanded Cody
+grimly.</p>
+
+<p>Danforth picked up his carbine quickly. Cody at
+once laid his hand on the young officer’s arm.</p>
+
+<p>“No, no, Dick!” he said, with feeling. “Not that!”</p>
+
+<p>“What do you mean, scout?” demanded the young
+officer, displeased.</p>
+
+<p>“You must not shoot that girl!”</p>
+
+<p>“Why, she’s a confounded squaw&mdash;and she’s an
+enemy&mdash;and she’s taking a message that may bring
+trouble to us all.”</p>
+
+<p>“She must be stopped; but you must not kill her.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[83]</span></p>
+
+<p>“What’s the matter with you, Cody?” the young
+man demanded again. “She’s nothing but a redskin.”</p>
+
+<p>“There is another way&mdash;without taking her life,”
+declared the scout.</p>
+
+<p>“What makes you so tender of the squaw? Lord!
+I don’t ask <em>you</em> to shoot her,” and the lieutenant raised
+his carbine again.</p>
+
+<p>Cody’s hand this time fell upon the lieutenant’s wrist
+with force, as he urged Chief alongside the other’s
+mount.</p>
+
+<p>“And by God, sir! <em>you</em> shall not shoot her&mdash;above
+all men!” he cried.</p>
+
+<p>“What do you mean by this?” demanded Lieutenant
+Danforth, his face white as death. “I have a reason
+for killing every damned Indian that comes under my
+eye&mdash;you know <em>that</em>, Bill Cody!”</p>
+
+<p>“Perhaps; but not White Antelope,” said the scout
+earnestly.</p>
+
+<p>“And why not White Antelope, as you call her?
+Is she any better than any other of the devil’s red
+spawn? Let go of my arm! I’m going to shoot that
+girl!”</p>
+
+<p>“You are beside yourself!” exclaimed Cody coldly.
+“Do you want it told around your mess that you deliberately
+shot a squaw-woman?”</p>
+
+<p>“She’s a messenger, man!”</p>
+
+<p>“That’s no excuse.”</p>
+
+<p>“I tell you the red devils killed my people&mdash;butchered
+them! I saw my father with his head split open by
+an Indian hatchet! My mother was dragged away to
+a worse death, it’s likely. <em>I’ve sworn revenge on
+every redskin that walks the earth!</em> Let go of me,
+Cody, or I’ll kill you!”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[84]</span></p>
+
+<p>“You are beside yourself, sir,” said the scout, still
+coldly. “You would not kill me, for I have always
+been your friend. It was I who got you your chance
+at West Point. It was I who made you what you are
+now. You’ll not kill <em>me</em>, Dick Danforth!”</p>
+
+<p>The two had ridden furiously ahead of the troopers,
+both bearing off toward the cañon’s mouth toward
+which the squaw was flying on her pony. The other
+men could not hear this conversation, jerked out between
+the jumps of the two great horses.</p>
+
+<p>That Dick Danforth, the young lieutenant, was beside
+himself, was easily to be seen. He was not responsible
+at the moment for his actions or speech.</p>
+
+<p>“That gal must not be harmed, Danforth,” said
+Cody firmly. “If you hold any gratitude in your
+heart toward me, show it now. I demand that the
+girl be unharmed&mdash;now or at any other time&mdash;and
+especially at your hand.”</p>
+
+<p>The scout’s seriousness&mdash;aye, his passion in saying
+this&mdash;impressed Danforth so deeply that his own rage
+gave place to wonder.</p>
+
+<p>“Why, what do you know about her, Cody? Who
+is she?”</p>
+
+<p>“It does not matter. I must have your promise.
+<em>You</em> must never harm the White Antelope. Indeed,
+you must guard her and keep others from harming her
+with your life; do you understand?”</p>
+
+<p>“No, I <em>don’t</em> understand. And I won’t help an
+Injun.”</p>
+
+<p>“You will do as I say, Dick.”</p>
+
+<p>“No!”</p>
+
+<p>“I demand it, Dick!” said the scout feelingly.</p>
+
+<p>“That is not fair, Cody!”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[85]</span></p>
+
+<p>“It is fair. I saved your life. I made you what
+you are. I have a right to some return, and I demand
+this.”</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, thunder, Bill!” ejaculated Dick Danforth, more
+in his usual light tone than before. “If you put it
+<em>that</em> way&mdash;&mdash;”</p>
+
+<p>“I do.”</p>
+
+<p>“Then I’ll have to promise.”</p>
+
+<p>“Very well, my boy. I hold you to your word.”</p>
+
+<p>“But don’t you ever ask me to save an Injun again,
+for I won’t do it!”</p>
+
+<p>“All right.”</p>
+
+<p>“And while we’ve been rowing, that blamed squaw
+is getting away. She’ll carry the alarm to the other
+Indians as sure as shooting!”</p>
+
+<p>“She won’t!” returned the scout, with confidence.
+“Ride on with your men, Dick. Cut your way through
+that gang of reds to the gates of the fort if necessary.
+Off with you! Leave the girl to me!”</p>
+
+<p>With a wave of his hand he clapped spurs to Chief,
+and pulled sharply on his rein. The girl had almost
+reached the mouth of the cañon when Cody started
+in direct pursuit.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">THE CHASE OF THE WHITE ANTELOPE.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>The Border King did not pick his way as he spurred
+the great white horse down the declivity after the
+flying Indian girl. He allowed Chief to guide himself,
+for he felt confidence in the horse’s sense. They
+went down the hill like an avalanche, and an avalanche
+of small stones and broken brush went with them.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[86]</span></p>
+
+<p>To the troopers behind on the ridge, to the defenders
+of the fort, and to the Indians themselves who
+saw the charge of the big white horse, it seemed that
+neither horse nor rider could reach the bottom alive.</p>
+
+<p>But Chief did not even lose his stride in going down,
+and at the bottom, in answer to a sharp tug on the rein,
+he turned and shot away along the trail after the disappearing
+White Antelope.</p>
+
+<p>Oak Heart and his braves saw the act, and knew
+Cody’s reason for chasing the young squaw. Half the
+army of Sioux would have started in pursuit; but
+Dick Danforth’s troopers were sweeping down the
+hill by a smoother road, and would cut the Indians off
+from the entrance to the cañon. The reds were balked.</p>
+
+<p>Dick Danforth’s blood was up. He had been born
+a Western boy, and, as he had intimated in his recent
+conversation with Cody, he had bitter reason to hate
+the redskins. He had been made an orphan, and his
+young life ruined, by these very Sioux.</p>
+
+<p>He spoke to the bugler, and the wild notes of the
+charge rang out across the valley. Two score the
+troopers numbered, and there were five or six hundred
+Indians against them; but the bold fellows were ready
+to dash into the midst of the redskins.</p>
+
+<p>Besides, Major Baldwin, seeing what desperate
+chances the troopers from Fort Resistence were taking,
+ordered Captain Ed. Keyes to charge with every able-bodied
+cavalryman the stockade contained. The fort
+gates were flung open, and out upon the Indians, already
+wavering and uncertain, charged Keyes and his
+troop, sabers in hand. They had no ammunition, but
+they wielded their sabers like fiends. The Indians,
+most of them unmounted, were borne down, trampled<span class="pagenum">[87]</span>
+under the feet of the big cavalry horses, and slashed
+unmercifully on one side by Keyes, while Danforth
+came up on the other, his men shooting at short range
+with carbines and pistols, and finally taking to the
+sword also.</p>
+
+<p>And while this wild carnage was in progress, Buffalo
+Bill and the White Antelope were racing along the
+trail in the cañon, the girl intent upon carrying her
+father’s message and arousing the redskins lying in
+ambush miles away, while the scout was just as determined
+that, without injuring her, she should be
+kept from carrying out her plan.</p>
+
+<p>It was still dark down here in the cañon. Although
+the sun was already showing his red face above the
+eastern hills, as yet there was not light enough to dissipate
+the gloom at the bottom of this deep cut in the
+hills. Indeed, Buffalo Bill followed the girl more by
+sense of sound than sense of sight for the first half-mile.</p>
+
+<p>Then the pace of the great white horse told. His
+stride was too much for the Indian pony, no matter
+how cruelly White Antelope lashed it. Steadily the
+scout drew nearer.</p>
+
+<p>The gray light filtered down from above and showed
+to the scout the young squaw turning her head again
+and again to watch the progress of her pursuer. She
+was evidently measuring with fearful glance the rapidly
+lessening distance between them.</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill might easily have killed her as she
+leaned forward on her pony’s neck, urging him with
+whip and voice. His face was very set and stern,
+too; but the sternness was not that which masked his
+countenance when he was bent upon an enemy’s death.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[88]</span></p>
+
+<p>He saw, indeed, the frightened maiden before him,
+flying madly from his approach; but his mind was
+laboring with thoughts which carried him back for
+many years&mdash;thoughts which had often embittered
+his mind and robbed him of his rest at night. He remembered
+this beautiful girl’s mother and how he
+would have saved her from her awful fate; yet that was
+not to be! And here he was pursuing the daughter&mdash;yet
+in a far different manner.</p>
+
+<p>The girl looked back again. Her beautiful face had
+paled, losing all its naturally rich coloring. Although
+Buffalo Bill had held her in his power only the day
+before and had not harmed her, this wild child of
+the forest and plain saw no reason for his sparing
+her now. And, indeed, there <em>was</em> no apparent reason.
+She saw in his attempt to capture her instead of killing
+her outright, merely the desire of the warrior to
+parade a captive before his admiring brethren, and
+then, perhaps, she would be made a slave as the redskins
+made slaves of the white squaws they stole!</p>
+
+<p>White Antelope had no reason for believing in the
+honor and tenderness of white men. She had been
+taught from childhood that they were her deadly enemies.
+Her mother had died too soon after her birth to
+instil into the maiden’s mind any different belief than
+that held by the savages about her.</p>
+
+<p>So the girl looked back at Cody in terror, and made
+up her savage mind to die rather than be captured by
+the scout.</p>
+
+<p>But she would sell her life dearly as may be. The
+day before Long Hair, as she called him, had disarmed
+her of the light revolver which had been a most
+precious possession. Now she had only her bow and<span class="pagenum">[89]</span>
+arrows&mdash;a weapon that is not easily used in shooting
+behind one while the pony is at full speed.</p>
+
+<p>But this was what the girl tried to do. She strung
+her bow and seized an arrow from the quiver which
+hung over her shoulder. Then, while the pony was
+still paddling along the trail at his best pace, she turned
+her agile young body about, drew the shaft to its head,
+and let drive at the coming scout.</p>
+
+<p>He ducked as he saw her action; but the shaft went
+through his hat and carried it away. Instantly she
+fitted another arrow to the bowstring and sent it likewise
+at her enemy. Cody slipped over on the far side
+of Chief, hanging by toe and one hand to the running
+animal, an Indian trick that no brave could do better
+than the scout himself. The second shaft went over
+his saddle in about the place his heart might have been
+had he been sitting upright!</p>
+
+<p>The Indian maiden was not to be balked so easily.
+She turned again to urge her pony on, hoping, it is
+likely, that Long Hair would bob up into the saddle
+again. But he saw she had a third arrow on the string,
+and he remained where he was.</p>
+
+<p>But to tamely endure such a persecution as this was
+not the scout’s intention. Besides, he feared that the
+White Antelope might shoot Chief.</p>
+
+<p>As he slung himself over the side of the big white
+horse, Cody had drawn one of the loaded pistols from
+its holster. With this gun he was a marvelously accurate
+shot. It had a barrel almost as long as the old-fashioned
+derringer, and in the hand of a trained
+marksman could do the execution of a finely sighted
+rifle.</p>
+
+<p>Under the horse’s neck he had a very clear view of<span class="pagenum">[90]</span>
+the girl on the pony in front, although she could not
+easily aim at any vital part of the scout in the position
+in which he hung from Chief. As the young
+squaw turned sidewise to larrup her pony again with
+the quirt hanging to her wrist, Buffalo Bill took a
+snap shot at the quiver of arrows at her back.</p>
+
+<p>It was a perilous shot&mdash;if he did not wish to harm
+the girl. Few marksmen would have dared try it.
+William Tell was a bungler, indeed, as compared with
+some of the marksmen of our great West, and William
+F. Cody was, in his day, the best of them all!</p>
+
+<p>His pistol ball sped true. The thong from which
+the quiver hung was severed, and if the hot lead seared
+the girl’s shoulder in passing it did no more!</p>
+
+<p>The quiver fell to the ground; but the girl had still
+a remaining arrow&mdash;it was already upon her bowstring.
+She turned swiftly to drive it home&mdash;perhaps
+into the heart of the great white horse that bore her
+enemy so swiftly.</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill realized the danger to his noble steed.
+He sprang upright into the saddle, the smoking pistol
+still in his hand. His appearance as a fair target attracted
+the Indian maiden’s aim. She drew the arrowhead
+to her ear.</p>
+
+<p>But the white man’s pistol spoke before she could
+release the feathered shaft.</p>
+
+<p>Crack!</p>
+
+<p>The long-barreled revolver spit its death-dealing bullet,
+and the smoke enveloped Buffalo Bill’s head for
+a moment and then passed away.</p>
+
+<p>Twang!</p>
+
+<p>That was the snap of the bowstring. But the arrow
+flew wildly in the air, over the scout’s head. The<span class="pagenum">[91]</span>
+bullet had severed the deer tendon of which the string
+was made just as the girl released the shaft. Buffalo
+Bill had taken another desperate shot&mdash;and had won.
+The bow was put out of commission, but the bullet
+had not touched the fair user of the bow.</p>
+
+<p>White Antelope threw away her broken implement
+in wrath, and lashed her pony again. But he, poor
+creature, was coming to the end of his leash. His little
+legs could not carry even so light a burden as herself
+much farther.</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill saw that this was so, and he spoke to
+Chief, dropping the pistol back into its holster again.
+The great white horse redoubled his effort. He shot
+along the trail as though he was fresh from the stable.</p>
+
+<p>This spurt of speed brought the scout beside the
+Indian girl and her mount so quickly that White Antelope
+had no time to cast herself to the ground as
+she had intended. Even as she screamed and would
+have leaped to certain death, the white horse came neck
+and neck with her mount, Cody leaned over and seized
+her around the waist with his right arm, and, drawing
+his pistol this time with his left hand, shot the
+Indian pony through the head!</p>
+
+<p>He could not afford to have the relieved beast run
+on to the ambushed Indians miles up the cañon and
+so warn them of what was being done. The pony staggered
+on a few yards and fell dead. Chief leaped the
+fallen body and then came to a stop.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile, the young squaw had been struggling
+in Cody’s grasp. She had one more weapon, and out
+it flashed from the bead-worked sheath at her side.
+It was a keen scalping-knife, and with a single downward<span class="pagenum">[92]</span>
+thrust she might have ended Cody’s earthly
+career.</p>
+
+<p>However, the scout was watching for just this little
+play. As the bright blade descended toward his breast,
+he caught the point upon his pistol. The blade
+snapped, and with a single blow he knocked the handle
+and butt of the blade from the girl’s hand!</p>
+
+<p>“The White Antelope is in Long Hair’s power.
+Let her lie quietly,” commanded the scout in Sioux.</p>
+
+<p>He placed the girl before him, picked up Chief’s
+bridle, turned the horse about, and they started down
+the cañon again. The girl did not struggle now, or
+seek to escape. She was beaten. He could feel her
+body shake with emotion; but true to Indian custom
+and tradition, she did not weep.</p>
+
+<p>Cody feared that some of the Indians might have
+got by Dick Danforth and entered the cañon to follow
+him; so he went back very circumspectly. If he
+was caught between two fires he could merely sell his
+life as dearly as possible; but he would have kept the
+men in ambush from coming to the help of their tribesmen
+in time to do any good.</p>
+
+<p>Soon the noise of battle reached their ears. The girl
+gave no sign of interest, nor did Cody speak to her.
+In truth, the scout had a bitter problem to consider.</p>
+
+<p>What should he do with the girl? She was in his
+power. At least, he had separated her from her father
+and from her Indian friends. But was the time ripe
+for her to be introduced to white people&mdash;to those in
+Fort Advance, for instance?</p>
+
+<p>It was a time when men’s passions were deeply
+stirred. There would be murder and hatred in the
+hearts of the whites as well as in that of the redskins.<span class="pagenum">[93]</span>
+Of what good to bring this half-breed girl into contact
+with whites who felt a desire to kill every creature
+with Indian blood in its veins? And why take
+the girl away from the red men at the moment when
+her own heart was bitter as gall toward the whites?
+What good would come of such an act? Buffalo Bill’s
+good sense answered for him:</p>
+
+<p>“None!”</p>
+
+<p>Nor did the whites desire her as a hostage. To hold
+her prisoner would be to strengthen her affiliation with
+the Sioux. No, no! She must go free&mdash;if Cody were
+free himself.</p>
+
+<p>This question could not be answered until he had
+ridden to the end of the cañon, and he went on very
+circumspectly.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">A STARTLING DISCOVERY.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>Meanwhile, the two troops of cavalry, under Lieutenant
+Dick Danforth and Captain Keyes respectively,
+plowed their way through the massed redskins. They
+met, and Captain Keyes heartily greeted the men from
+Fort Resistence.</p>
+
+<p>“God bless you, Danforth&mdash;and you, Mercer!
+You’ve come just in time to save us, for we are completely
+out of ammunition. Where’s Cody?”</p>
+
+<p>“Gone to head off Oak Heart’s messenger to the
+men he had hidden up the cañon to fall upon us&mdash;had
+we come that way,” said Danforth.</p>
+
+<p>“And there is the rest of your column appearing!”
+cried Keyes.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[94]</span></p>
+
+<p>His seniority gave him command. He raised his
+saber on high and stood up in his stirrups.</p>
+
+<p>“Now, charge back to the fort, my bully boys, and
+give these red devils what they are looking for!”</p>
+
+<p>The redskins were not inactive, and there were
+already empty saddles in the troop; but the tribesmen
+were demoralized. They began fleeing toward the
+river across the valley. Out upon the ridge spurred
+the guns belonging to Captain Taylor’s command, unlimbered,
+and opened fire on the fleeing reds, the shells
+screaming over the heads of the charging troops in
+blue. Down into the valley poured the remainder of
+Taylor’s column, eager to have some part in the rout.</p>
+
+<p>Upon this scene rode Buffalo Bill and his beautiful
+captive as they left the cañon’s mouth. The Indians
+were in wild flight. The whites were forcing them
+toward the river.</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill pulled in his horse, and his keen glance
+swept the field of carnage. He saw that the battle was
+practically over. Oak Heart’s warriors had shown the
+white feather. The unexpected coming of the rescue-party
+had knocked out completely the reds’ plans,
+and they could not rally.</p>
+
+<p>Then the scout looked down at the sorrowful face of
+White Antelope.</p>
+
+<p>“Yonder flies the White Antelope’s father, the great
+chief, Oak Heart, and his people,” Cody said gravely.
+“The palefaces are greater than the red men. They always
+have been. They always will be. Remember,
+White Antelope, that Pa-e-has-ka says this, and he is
+wise, and he knows. The red men must melt away before
+the white men, or else become as the white men
+are&mdash;tillers of the soil, traders, homesteaders. The<span class="pagenum">[95]</span>
+red men, who learn this lesson soon, will be saved.
+There is no other gospel to preach to the red men&mdash;and
+Pa-e-has-ka preaches it.</p>
+
+<p>“The White Antelope’s mother was white,” continued
+the old scout, seeing that he had the girl’s attention,
+and he spoke with trembling voice. “She was
+a beautiful woman&mdash;and Oak Heart loved her greatly.
+While she lived the Sioux remained for years at peace
+with the white men. Now Oak Heart is influenced by
+less wise counselors than thy mother. And see what
+has come of it!</p>
+
+<p>“Many men are dead. Much bitterness is engendered.
+The strife has been bloody, and now the red
+men go back to their squaws and children like whipped
+dogs!</p>
+
+<p>“The whites and reds will now be against each other
+for a long time because of this trouble. And what have
+the people gained, White Antelope? A few scalps?
+Aye, but they have lost more. Many women will tear
+their hair and mourn in the lodges of the Sioux because
+of this battle.</p>
+
+<p>“Let the White Antelope remember this. She has
+influence beyond her years with her people. Let her
+remember what Pa-e-has-ka says and counsel her
+father and the other chiefs to make peace with the
+white men while they may.</p>
+
+<p>“Now, Pa-e-has-ka sends the White Antelope back
+to Chief Oak Heart. Tell thy father how the Long
+Hair had thee in his power, and did thee no harm.
+I am thy friend, White Antelope. See! that is the
+way to the river. Keep behind the trees, and the bluecoats
+will not see thee. Fly! For the time is short.<span class="pagenum">[96]</span>
+Soon your people will be in full retreat, and the old
+chief will believe his daughter is lost to him.”</p>
+
+<p>The scout set the girl down upon her feet. His voice
+trembled as he ceased speaking, and he looked closely
+into her face to see if it had been moved at all by his
+speech. But he saw there only fright and wonder&mdash;the
+terror of the wild creature unexpectedly released from
+the trap.</p>
+
+<p>So he let her go and saw her flee on feet as fleet as a
+deer’s through the undergrowth toward the river,
+which the vanguard of the Indians were already crossing.
+Then the scout set spurs to Chief and tore after
+the column of blue which had hastened to the support
+of Keyes and Danforth.</p>
+
+<p>Although the rifles and pistols of the men from the
+fort were empty, their blades were sharp. Before Cody
+reached the field of action it had become merely a
+drive of redskins to the river. The bluecoats rode
+them down, hacking them as they passed, pressing Oak
+Heart hard.</p>
+
+<p>Horses and white men went down in the mêlée; but
+when the war-cry of Buffalo Bill was heard that seemed
+to drive the last atom of courage from the Sioux, and
+they ran like a herd of frightened deer, flinging away
+their arms, and leaping from the high river-bank into
+the shallows.</p>
+
+<p>Some were swept away by the deeper current in the
+middle and drowned. Had there been a ford near at
+hand, the soldiers would have crossed over and continued
+the massacre on the farther side. But the
+stream afforded Oak Heart a chance to rally his braves.</p>
+
+<p>Sheltered somewhat by the high bank, his riflemen
+could pick off the soldiers as they appeared, and it became<span class="pagenum">[97]</span>
+dangerous for the cavalrymen to ride to the very
+brink of the bluff. This allowed the frightened Indians
+to escape across the stream, Oak Heart and a few
+others guarding their retreat.</p>
+
+<p>While Buffalo Bill was receiving the congratulations
+of Captain Keyes and Texas Jack, the voice of the old
+chief, Oak Heart, suddenly rose from below.</p>
+
+<p>“I know you, Great White Chief Buffalo Bill! Oak
+Heart never forget. You save your people&mdash;kill my
+young men&mdash;make Sioux run! Me remember, Pa-e-has-ka!”</p>
+
+<p>“He’s got it in for you, Bill, sure enough!” cried
+Texas Jack.</p>
+
+<p>Raising his trumpetlike voice, the great scout replied
+to the threat of the beaten Indian chief:</p>
+
+<p>“Pa-e-has-ka knows the voice of Oak Heart&mdash;and
+the heart of Oak Heart. He will not forget!”</p>
+
+<p>The Border King might have picked off the chief
+with his rifle as he climbed the farther bank of the
+stream on his wearied pony. But he scorned to do
+such an act. Besides, far up the river he saw a slender
+figure dive down the bank, plunge into the stream,
+and fight the fierce current to the other side, where it
+quickly scrambled out, up the bank, and ran to join the
+fleeing Indians.</p>
+
+<p>“What become of the girl, Cody?” whispered Dick
+Danforth, getting him aside.</p>
+
+<p>The Border King pointed to this figure following the
+trail of the defeated warriors.</p>
+
+<p>“There she goes, Dick,” he whispered. “Remember
+your promise!”</p>
+
+<p>It was indeed a great victory for the whites. The
+Sioux had lost many ponies and more than a hundred<span class="pagenum">[98]</span>
+slain, although some of the dead had been taken away.
+In wounded the Indians had suffered more heavily
+still.</p>
+
+<p>However, it was a costly victory for the whites.
+More than twenty troopers lay dead within the fort,
+and several were scattered upon the plain. There were
+more than half a hundred seriously injured, while of
+minor casualties there were so many that the garrison
+had ceased to note them. Almost everybody within
+Fort Advance showed, at least, some slight mark of
+the conflict.</p>
+
+<p>Upon every tongue was heard the name of Buffalo
+Bill, the Border King; for, but for him, how different
+might have been the result! All felt that the great
+scout had saved Fort Advance, and, as Texas Jack
+said, “put a crimp in the Sioux that they’d remember
+till they were gray-headed.” Indeed the fame of this
+deed for many years made Buffalo Bill’s name a household
+word along the frontier.</p>
+
+<p>Embarrassed by the praise bestowed upon him, the
+scout looked to the care of his horse, Chief, and then
+slipped away to hide and rest, Texas Jack keeping
+his hiding-place a secret that he might not be disturbed.</p>
+
+<p>When he slipped out of his retreat the next day he
+was greeted with a cheer, and Major Baldwin sent
+for him at parade that evening and complimented him
+publicly for his work, with a word of praise for Texas
+Jack, as well.</p>
+
+<p>When matters had quieted down a little at the fort
+and the rescuers had returned to Fort Resistance, Buffalo
+Bill had a talk with Major Baldwin.</p>
+
+<p>“Somebody should make an attempt to see what old
+Oak Heart is about now,” said the scout. “And I<span class="pagenum">[99]</span>
+reckon I’m the man, major. There are still a lot of
+masterless Indians in these hills, and we want to know
+what they’re up to. There is another matter I wish to
+scout around about, too. On my way down from Denver
+I crossed the trail of Boyd Bennett.”</p>
+
+<p>“You don’t mean that despicable deserter has dared
+show up again?” cried the major.</p>
+
+<p>“I believe he is in the neighborhood. There have
+been several robberies of stage-coaches and mail-wagons
+up north, and they bear the ear-marks of Boyd
+Bennett. At any rate, this clue I speak of will bear
+following up.”</p>
+
+<p>“Very well, Cody. I’ll excuse you from your other
+duties. I wish I was giving you a quiet vacation, however.”</p>
+
+<p>The scout smiled.</p>
+
+<p>“Excitement is the breath of life to me, major.
+Wait till I get old. Perhaps I may want to settle down
+then.”</p>
+
+<p>This Boyd Bennett was an old enemy of Buffalo
+Bill’s. He was a deserter from the United States
+Army, and had become the leader of one of those bands
+of road-agents that cropped up so thickly soon after
+the close of the Civil War. The West was overrun
+with disbanded guerrillas who had fought on both sides
+of the great struggle&mdash;wild and masterless men who
+had lived so long by the power of the sword, that they
+would not conform to law and order when legitimate
+fighting was supposed to be ended.</p>
+
+<p>These cursed the growing West. Boyd Bennett had
+committed several crimes, but had as yet escaped apprehension
+and punishment.</p>
+
+<p>An army paymaster was soon to make the rounds<span class="pagenum">[100]</span>
+by coach, paying off the several garrisons; and so it
+was important to locate Boyd Bennett, the overland
+bandit, and his gang, and make sure that they were
+not plotting to seize the paymaster’s treasure.</p>
+
+<p>After a couple of days’ trailing into the Indian
+country, the scout found that Oak Heart and his warriors
+were seemingly too much battered by the battle
+at Fort Advance to think of making another raid at
+present. They were likely to lie low for awhile.</p>
+
+<p>So Buffalo Bill went in search of Boyd Bennett and
+his gang. He knew that the rendezvous of the road-agents
+was usually near some stage-road, and the scout
+chanced upon the road leading from Fort Advance to
+Alikon. He knew the time of the coach-running, and
+after riding along the trail for a couple of miles he
+came upon the coach as he expected.</p>
+
+<p>That is, he expected to find the coach about here;
+but the scene presented to his gaze, when he beheld it,
+was most startling.</p>
+
+<p>There was the coach; the horses were standing patiently
+in the trail; and yet no driver was on the box,
+nor did he see any one near at first. Spurring forward,
+Buffalo Bill beheld the driver sprawling on the ground,
+with the reins still clutched tightly in his hands. It
+was Bud Sharkey, whom the scout knew well; and
+the unfortunate fellow had been shot from his seat
+on the stage-coach.</p>
+
+<p>There were three other dead bodies on the ground&mdash;an
+officer and two soldiers. They were all dead,
+and, furthermore, the scout noted now that the four
+had been scalped.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<p><span class="pagenum">[101]</span></p>
+
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XV">CHAPTER XV.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">THE TREASURE CHEST.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>This dreadful discovery told the scout that Indians
+had held up the coach. Yet he wondered if it had been
+done for robbery as well as murder? The officer he
+recognized as Captain Hinkley, the paymaster; the
+soldiers were his guard. He was a week ahead of his
+time; yet he had not managed to get safely through.</p>
+
+<p>The fact that Indians had done the deed, however,
+disturbed Buffalo Bill. He could not understand it.
+The marks of half a dozen unshod ponies proved that
+his first suspicion was correct. Some of Oak Heart’s
+young braves might have done this. It was true, too,
+that the driver and soldiers had all been shot with arrows.</p>
+
+<p>“How do I know that robbery has been committed
+at all?” muttered Buffalo Bill, and he leaped off his
+horse and made search inside the stage.</p>
+
+<p>It was revealed at once that the marauders must
+have been frightened off before they came upon Captain
+Hinkley’s strong-box and bags of coin.</p>
+
+<p>Fear of being caught in the act of murder and
+rapine usually rides the redskin to undue haste. Had
+there been whites with this gang of red robbers&mdash;either
+Boyd Bennett himself or any of his men&mdash;Cody knew
+that no small matter would have frightened them away
+before the object of the hold-up of the stage was accomplished.
+And the presence of the treasure-chest
+proved that the marauders must have been driven off.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[102]</span></p>
+
+<p>By what, or whom? Surely his own coming had
+not done this! Yet the thought gave the scout food
+for serious reflection. Perhaps the reds might be
+lurking near and would descend again upon the spot
+and finish their job by gathering in <em>his</em> scalp as well
+as that of the driver, the paymaster, and his guards.</p>
+
+<p>He did not touch the money, therefore, but appeared
+likewise to find nothing in the coach. He even
+went back to his horse, mounted into the saddle, and
+set off along the trail at a lope as though proposing
+to go for help. He had remembered that there was a
+sandy piece of ground not far away, and here his
+horse’s hoofbeats would be deadened. As soon as
+he reached this he halted, dismounted, led his horse
+up among the rocks, and approached the scene of the
+catastrophe with great circumspection. Not a bird
+did he raise by this maneuver.</p>
+
+<p>“They’ve vamosed!” declared Buffalo Bill, with confidence.
+“A scalping party of reds, and they knew
+nothing about the money. So it appears, at least. Yet,
+from all I’ve heard, Bennett is hand and glove with
+Oak Heart’s people. He’ll hear of this without fail.
+Now, what had I better do?”</p>
+
+<p>He spent little time in cogitating, however. Cody
+was a man who made up his mind instinctively, rather
+than by any slow process of reasoning. He was
+prompt on this occasion to come to a conclusion.</p>
+
+<p>The party of Indians who had done this hold-up act
+were not in the immediate vicinity. It was of some
+moment to Cody, however, to learn how far they had
+gone, and in what direction. He rustled the treasure-box
+out of the stage and lugged it up into the rocks,
+where he found a hiding-place that would do for the<span class="pagenum">[103]</span>
+nonce. Then he picked up the trail of the redskins
+afoot and hurried after them.</p>
+
+<p>Beyond the nearest hill the party had fled down into
+a well-watered valley which the scout knew led to a
+gorge, which was about the shortest way to Oak
+Heart’s camp. If Boyd Bennett and his gang happened
+to be with the Indians, saw the scalps, and guessed
+who the reds had murdered, he would be here after the
+treasure-box in short order.</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill believed that the reds were aiming for
+this gorge; yet they might have had another route in
+view. To make sure, he cut across the valley on a
+straight line for the mouth of the gorge to see if the
+trail was marked there, as well.</p>
+
+<p>The middle of the valley was a swamp, and one
+that the scout had never been through. He had no
+idea that it was so dangerous a place until he had
+gotten some rods into it. Then, in leaping from a
+tussock to what looked like a solid log, he found the
+log, hammock, and all, sinking under him, and there
+was no safe spot ahead on which he could alight.</p>
+
+<p>“Great Scott! I’d better go around, after all,” he
+muttered, in disgust, and turned gingerly on the sinking
+log.</p>
+
+<p>And then, to his amazement, he saw that the comparatively
+safe place on which he had last stood had
+disappeared! As he leaped it had toppled over and
+the quagmire had swallowed it instantly. All he could
+see was a long stretch of some ten or twelve feet of
+stinking, dimpling black muck!</p>
+
+<p>“However did I get over that place?” grunted the
+scout, in surprise. “Why, I’m due to go ten feet under
+the surface maybe, if I jump!”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[104]</span></p>
+
+<p>And it quickly became apparent that he might go
+that depth under the surface if he didn’t jump, too.
+The old log sank lower and lower, until finally the
+liquid mud lapped over it completely and began to rise
+around his ankles. The log was only about eight feet
+long. He crept to the end which lay nearest solid
+ground, but even then it was a good eight-foot jump,
+and from such an unstable footing that seemed well
+nigh impossible of accomplishment.</p>
+
+<p>Besides, the log began to tip. Where he stood it
+sank deeper and deeper, and with a splash of the filthy
+mire the other end shot into sight. Cody had to leap
+to the middle of the stick quickly to save himself from
+toppling over completely into the mud. There he
+wavered a moment until he caught his balance, and
+then, with grimness, looked about for escape.</p>
+
+<p>He couldn’t hope for any help. Indeed, he would
+have been more troubled than delighted to see any
+other person than himself in this swamp at just this
+moment. The matter of the pay-chest rested heavily
+on his mind. However he escaped from this situation
+it must be by his own exertions, and those alone.</p>
+
+<p>To try to wade to a more solid spot was to court
+possible extinction. To sink slowly into this muck
+and be smothered by it was a horrible thought. It
+chilled even the scout’s blood!</p>
+
+<p>And, meantime, the log was sinking steadily. Inch
+by inch it was being submerged, and the mire was
+crawling up Buffalo Bill’s boot-legs.</p>
+
+<p>The swamp was quite heavily wooded, so he was
+hidden from the view of anybody on the eminences
+around about. And, as he cast a worried glance about
+at the heights in fear that he might have attracted attention,<span class="pagenum">[105]</span>
+he suddenly beheld the end of a tree branch
+almost over his head.</p>
+
+<p>“Ah!” exclaimed he, and his eyes glistened as he
+followed the trend of this branch with their glance.</p>
+
+<p>Of course, the branch was altogether too slight
+above his head to bear his weight, even could he reach
+it. But it promised something. He glanced along its
+length several times to the parent trunk some twenty
+feet away, and then began operations. There was,
+indeed, no time for him to lose, for the log was a good
+bit under the surface of the dimpling mud by this.</p>
+
+<p>The fronded end of the branch was much too high
+for him to reach it with his hands; nor could he pull
+it down with his gun. Indeed, he got rid of that implement
+at once&mdash;it only weighed him down into the
+mire the faster&mdash;by tossing it into a crotch of the
+branch, where it fortunately chanced to catch and
+hang. He removed his belt, slipped the cartridges into
+the side pockets of his coat, tied his handkerchief to one
+end of the belt to make it longer, and then fastened
+one of his pistols to the handkerchief to weight the
+end. Swinging this weighted line, he cast the pistol
+about the small twigs above his head. The weapon
+caught in them, and gradually he drew the end of the
+branch down within the grasp of his hands.</p>
+
+<p>He held this and fastened on his belt and gun again,
+buttoning his pockets so as not to lose his ammunition.
+The end of the branch was a bushy fan of small twigs
+and leaves. He could pull it down into the mud, and
+the green wood was tough and strong; but there was
+a big chance, when he bore any weight upon it, of the
+limb tearing off at the trunk.</p>
+
+<p>However, swarming up this branch seemed the only<span class="pagenum">[106]</span>
+way of escape from the smothering mud which already
+was as high as his knees. Its suction was terrific, too.
+When he flung himself forward on the branch he
+could scarcely drag his boots out of the mire.</p>
+
+<p>But he fought on desperately, dragging up first one
+booted foot and then the other, and, although the limb
+cracked and he lay almost flat in the mud at first, he
+finally wormed his way up the branch to its bigger
+part. There he straddled it and waited to get his
+breath, and to scrape off some of the mud.</p>
+
+<p>“A little more,” he puffed, “and I’d have gone down
+in that, and nobody would have been the wiser. Ah!”</p>
+
+<p>He halted in his speech and stared down into the
+mud. An idea had smitten him, and he turned it over
+and over in his mind while he worked his way along
+the limb and descended to the foot of the tree.</p>
+
+<p>He returned as quickly as possible to the edge of
+the swamp, and was contented thereafter to follow the
+trail of the redskins direct. No more short cuts! He
+found in time that his early suspicions had been correct.
+The trail led to the head of the gorge, and he
+was bound to believe that the murderers were some of
+Oak Heart’s Sioux.</p>
+
+<p>“Boyd Bennett will learn of the hold-up inside of
+twenty-four hours&mdash;if not sooner. It’s up to me to
+hide that money where he won’t be able to find it.”</p>
+
+<p>With this decision uppermost in his mind, he put
+into practise the idea that had been suggested to him
+as he sat on the tree branch. Returning to the temporary
+hiding-place of the money, he carried the chest
+to the edge of the swamp, endeavoring to leave as
+little trail as possible as he went. He had brought his
+lariat with him, and when he reached one of the most<span class="pagenum">[107]</span>
+treacherous-looking pools of mud, he fastened the
+lariat about the box and lowered it into the depths.
+The quagmire sucked the box out of sight almost instantly.</p>
+
+<p>Then Cody tied the end of the lariat to a tree-root
+under the surface of the muck, and so effectually disposed
+of the treasure where nobody but himself&mdash;or
+some person whom he guided&mdash;could find it. He returned
+to the scene of the hold-up and prepared to get
+away with the driverless stage instantly.</p>
+
+<p>He placed the dead man inside the stage, tied Chief
+to one of the leaders, and, mounting to the box, drove
+hurriedly along the trail.</p>
+
+<p>Being alone, he could not drive the horses and guard
+the treasure, too; so he had hidden it, intending to
+bring back a file of troopers from the fort later and
+pick it up.</p>
+
+<p>He had not driven two miles along the trail when,
+loud and threatening, rose a voice from the rocks beside
+the road, which uttered these significant words:</p>
+
+<p>“Live or die&mdash;yours the choice! Up with your
+hands there!”</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XVI">CHAPTER XVI.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">THE BANDITS OF THE OVERLAND TRAIL.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>It was Buffalo Bill’s choice to live just then, so he
+drew rein. He knew from whom the command came,
+too, just as well as he knew that resistance would be
+useless.</p>
+
+<p>“Up with your hands, or die! Come, take your
+choice, Buffalo Bill!”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[108]</span></p>
+
+<p>The threatening words were repeated, as Buffalo
+Bill had simply reined the horses to a halt and still
+grasped the lines. He saw at a glance that bandits had
+sprung to the heads of his leaders, while he was covered
+by the revolver in the hand of Boyd Bennett himself.
+With no change of expression the scout said:</p>
+
+<p>“As you seem to hold trumps in this game, Bennett,
+up go my hands.”</p>
+
+<p>He gave the reins a turn around the lantern, and
+Buffalo Bill coolly raised his hands above his head to
+the apparent relief of the outlaws at the horses’ heads,
+for they seemed to have feared that, after all, he
+might resist. They knew that, if he had chosen to
+die fighting, some of them would have bitten the dust
+first.</p>
+
+<p>“You have acted wisely, Buffalo Bill, and I am glad
+to see that even you can be cowed when you’re in a
+tight place,” laughed Boyd Bennett.</p>
+
+<p>“We won’t discuss that part of the proposition,” said
+Cody coolly. “I’m anxious to get on, so don’t detain
+me with philosophical remarks.”</p>
+
+<p>“Ah&mdash;indeed! In a hurry, are you?”</p>
+
+<p>“I am, Bennett; in a mighty hurry.”</p>
+
+<p>“Well, wait a bit. Go slowly. You’ve got something
+on that stage I want&mdash;though I didn’t expect to
+see you driving it.”</p>
+
+<p>“No?”</p>
+
+<p>“But you make as good a driver as any&mdash;and you
+give up just as easy,” and Boyd Bennett laughed again.</p>
+
+<p>“Well, what is it you want?”</p>
+
+<p>“The gold-box you carry.”</p>
+
+<p>“You’ve got me, old man,” said Buffalo Bill easily.
+“Guess again.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[109]</span></p>
+
+<p>“Don’t play with me, Cody, or I’ll have your life.”</p>
+
+<p>“What’s the use of shooting me if you’re not going
+to make anything out of it?” demanded the scout
+calmly.</p>
+
+<p>“I am determined to have that paymaster’s chest.”</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, sho! <em>that’s</em> your game, is it?”</p>
+
+<p>“It is.”</p>
+
+<p>“And you think I’ve got it?”</p>
+
+<p>“I <em>know</em> it’s on this stage-coach.”</p>
+
+<p>“Come, now, what’ll you bet?” drawled Cody easily.</p>
+
+<p>“What are you waiting for, Cody?” demanded the
+outlaw angrily. “I know you’ve got it. Shell out!”</p>
+
+<p>“You know a lot, Bennett.”</p>
+
+<p>“I know the gold is there.”</p>
+
+<p>“You’re mistaken.”</p>
+
+<p>“I am not. I had a friend who saw it put on board.
+You’ve got it, and I intend to possess it.”</p>
+
+<p>“Go ahead and possess,” drawled the scout.</p>
+
+<p>“Don’t you trifle with me, Cody! I know you
+wouldn’t have been put up to drive this old hearse if
+the soldiers’ money was not aboard.”</p>
+
+<p>“Say! you know a whole lot, Bennett. D’ye mind
+if I smoke?”</p>
+
+<p>“Keep your hands up!” roared Bennett; “or I’ll
+puncture you!”</p>
+
+<p>“Thanks! You needn’t be so gruff about it. Didn’t
+know tobacco smoke was so offensive to you.”</p>
+
+<p>“Hand down that box before I count three, or you’re
+a dead man!” commanded the robber with deadly significance.</p>
+
+<p>“You keep well posted, Bennett; but you’re behind
+time on this run.”</p>
+
+<p>“What do you mean?” asked the startled road-agent,<span class="pagenum">[110]</span>
+beginning to suspect that Buffalo Bill’s ease of manner
+masked some high card in the game.</p>
+
+<p>“The coach has already been robbed.”</p>
+
+<p>“You lie!”</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill’s brows met in a sudden frown.</p>
+
+<p>“You’ve got the drop on me, Bennett, or you’d never
+question my word aloud.”</p>
+
+<p>“You <em>do</em> lie.”</p>
+
+<p>“Open the coach door and look for yourself.”</p>
+
+<p>“Not for Joe! I’m no spring chicken, Cody,”
+laughed the outlaw. “Set a trap for us, have you?
+Men! fire through that coach&mdash;low down.”</p>
+
+<p>Half a dozen or more rifles blazed away. The bullets
+shattered the sashes of the coach doors and went
+through and through the vehicle.</p>
+
+<p>“Scared at nothing, are you?” taunted Buffalo Bill.
+“If I’d come up behind you on a dark night and hollered
+‘Boo!’ I suppose you’d all run.”</p>
+
+<p>“Men! if he moves, kill him!” commanded the exasperated
+Bennett, and he stepped forward and flung
+open the coach door.</p>
+
+<p>Even Boyd Bennett started at what he beheld there.</p>
+
+<p>“The devil! what does this mean, Cody?”</p>
+
+<p>“Injuns.”</p>
+
+<p>“How did you escape?”</p>
+
+<p>“Wasn’t with the coach.”</p>
+
+<p>“And the treasure-box?”</p>
+
+<p>“Look for yourself.”</p>
+
+<p>“The Indians got it?”</p>
+
+<p>“Whether they did or did not, you lose the game,
+Bennett,” said Buffalo Bill, laughing with an appearance
+of heartiness which he did not feel.</p>
+
+<p>“I don’t believe they got it!” cried Bennett, in rage.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[111]</span></p>
+
+<p>“Well, you can run along and ask ’em. They’re not
+over a dozen miles away, I reckon.”</p>
+
+<p>The countenance of Boyd Bennett grew black with
+passion, and for a moment he was silent, while into
+his eyes crept an expression of devilish intent. Then
+he spoke, and his words hissed from a throat hot with
+passion:</p>
+
+<p>“Buffalo Bill, you have sealed your doom by this
+act!”</p>
+
+<p>“Say! I’ve heard talk like that before, Bennett.”</p>
+
+<p>“Mine are no idle words.”</p>
+
+<p>“Well, go on with the dance,” quoth the scout coolly.</p>
+
+<p>“Here!” commanded the bandit chief, “two of you
+men get up on the box and bind him.”</p>
+
+<p>He was obeyed at once, as far as the climbing to the
+box went, although the fellows approached the scout
+gingerly enough. Buffalo Bill sat smiling, with his
+hands still raised above his head. Suddenly, as the
+men were about to seize him, and their bodies in some
+measure intervened between his own and the rifles and
+pistol pointed at the scout, the latter seized both with
+iron grip.</p>
+
+<p>Giving his war-whoop, the scout leaped up, hurled
+one of the road-agents to the ground, and with the
+other in his arms leaped from the box of the coach.
+As they alighted, Buffalo Bill drew a revolver, and
+was throwing it forward to fire at the outlaw chief,
+when the weapon was knocked from his hand by a
+blow from behind, and several of the bandits threw
+themselves upon him.</p>
+
+<p>“For your lives, do not kill him!” shouted Bennett,
+springing forward to join in the fight for the mastery
+of the scout.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[112]</span></p>
+
+<p>Borne down by the weight of numbers, Buffalo Bill
+was unable to break from his foes, and he was soon
+securely bound, hand and foot. Then the bandits
+turned to their chief for further orders. The expression
+of fiendish cruelty upon Bennett’s face showed
+that he had formed some diabolical plot to avenge himself
+upon his old-time foe. He believed that Buffalo
+Bill had thwarted him in his desire to get the government
+money; and, anyway, there was an old score between
+them, and Bennett proposed to square the account
+to date!</p>
+
+<p>“Now drag him up to that box again,” ordered the
+bandit leader, and with some effort they accomplished
+it.</p>
+
+<p>“Lash him there!” was the next command, and the
+scout was securely tied to the seat.</p>
+
+<p>“Now throw the reins loosely over the foot-board!”</p>
+
+<p>This order was likewise obeyed, Buffalo Bill the
+while looking calmly on, evidently anticipating the
+crime his enemy intended, yet uttering no word. He
+would not plead for his life of the miserable cur who
+now had him in his power.</p>
+
+<p>Having executed their work, by lashing Buffalo Bill
+with lariats firmly to the box seat and his feet to the
+foot-board, the outlaws turned to their cruel captain
+for further orders. It was at this moment that Buffalo
+Bill took occasion to speak; but his voice was calm
+and his manner unshaken:</p>
+
+<p>“Hold on, Bennett, before you go too far!”</p>
+
+<p>The bandits’ chief turned with a wicked smile, and
+asked:</p>
+
+<p>“With what do you threaten me, Bill Cody?”</p>
+
+<p>“The worst fate that ever met mortal man, if you<span class="pagenum">[113]</span>
+dare commit the deed you have in view,” was the bold
+reply.</p>
+
+<p>“Dead men tell no tales!”</p>
+
+<p>“Ah, but they do! It is only the fool that says ‘It
+is all over!’ when his enemy is dead by his hand. It is
+not over. It has only begun! My fate will become
+known; a hundred border men will not rest till they
+learn who committed this deed; and then a thousand
+men will not rest till vengeance is satisfied!”</p>
+
+<p>“Bah! Your friends might be bad men to meet, I’ve
+no doubt&mdash;if they could prove anything.”</p>
+
+<p>“They’ll prove enough. Your fate will be worse
+than mine, Boyd Bennett.”</p>
+
+<p>“You seem to be cock-sure of what I’m going to treat
+you to?” said Bennett.</p>
+
+<p>“I am.”</p>
+
+<p>“Well, what is it?”</p>
+
+<p>“You propose to lead the horses to yonder fork of
+the trail, turn them loose, and start them down Breakneck
+Hill.”</p>
+
+<p>“Right! Right, by thunder!” roared the road-agent,
+slapping his thigh and laughing. “You are a mighty
+good guesser, Buffalo Bill. That is exactly what I
+shall do.”</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XVII">CHAPTER XVII.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">A FRIEND IN NEED.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>If Buffalo Bill’s face paled he showed no other mark
+of fear. He knew Boyd Bennett, and had every reason
+to believe that the man hated him desperately
+enough to carry out his awful threat.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[114]</span></p>
+
+<p>It was no bluff on the outlaw’s part to frighten him
+into giving up the secret of the hidden government
+money. To a man like Bennett, whose temper was
+ungovernable, revenge was worth more than treasure.
+He did not even ask the scout where he had hidden the
+treasure-box.</p>
+
+<p>“I haven’t forgotten, my handsome plainsman, that
+once you captured me and sent me to the guard-house.
+I swore to be revenged upon you then.”</p>
+
+<p>“You deserved what you got&mdash;you dirty deserter!”
+exclaimed Buffalo Bill.</p>
+
+<p>The outlaw leader shrugged his shoulders and turned
+to his men.</p>
+
+<p>“All ready?”</p>
+
+<p>“He’s hard and fast, captain.”</p>
+
+<p>“Unfasten that splendid horse he was riding. I
+need just such an animal in my business.”</p>
+
+<p>They untied Chief from the leaders.</p>
+
+<p>“Buffalo Bill, straight for the Breakneck you go.
+And if these horses don’t carry you down fast enough
+to smash this old coach to atoms and break your cursed
+neck, I’ll give up this business and turn parson!”</p>
+
+<p>“You’ll never have time to repent of your sins and
+turn parson, Bennett,” said the scout.</p>
+
+<p>“Meaning I’ll die with my boots on?” asked the outlaw
+lightly.</p>
+
+<p>“Meaning you’ll be hung,” returned Buffalo Bill.</p>
+
+<p>“Don’t you put too much confidence in <em>that</em>, old
+man,” said Bennett. “At least, you won’t be to my
+hanging.”</p>
+
+<p>“There’s many a slip, you know,” said the scout
+tauntingly.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[115]</span></p>
+
+<p>“I presume you hope to be rescued even now, do
+you not?” cried Bennett.</p>
+
+<p>But Buffalo Bill did not expect that. He had
+taunted the man, hoping to inspire him with such ungovernable
+fury that he would shoot him quickly and
+so save him the awful ride to death. Even the boldest
+man might shrink from that journey down Breakneck
+Hill!</p>
+
+<p>“No, no, old man! You are mine this time. I tell
+you that you, the horses, and the old hearse, shall all
+go to the devil together. Here, boys! lead the horses
+to yonder fork of the roads and there turn them loose!”</p>
+
+<p>The command was obeyed. Whether the other outlaws
+desired Buffalo Bill’s death as their leader did,
+he had such a hold upon them that not one objected
+to the mode of vengeance to be wreaked upon the
+scout. The horses were led to the brink of the steep
+hill. It had once been the stage-road; but a landslide,
+and various heavy rains, had made it impracticable.
+It was almost as steep as the side of a house in places,
+and the roadway was full of boulders and stumps, while
+the gulleys made by heavy rains cut through it in
+many spots. A careful pack-animal might pick its way
+from top to bottom safely; but no vehicle could exist
+in a passage down Breakneck Hill.</p>
+
+<p>The hill was not a continuous decline. It pitched
+sharply at first; then there was nearly a quarter of
+a mile of easy going along a plateau until there came
+the final and impassable descent into the valley.</p>
+
+<p>“Now, Buffalo Bill, your life ends here!” cried Bennett
+savagely.</p>
+
+<p>“All right, Bennett! And the boys won’t forget how
+I died,” was the reckless response.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[116]</span></p>
+
+<p>“Turn ’em loose!” shouted the bandit leader.</p>
+
+<p>The men at the bits sprang aside. The horses, having
+stood so long, and “smelling their oats” ahead of
+them, were eager to be off. With a great tug the coach
+started, the harness clattering about the horses’ heels
+almost immediately as the coach pitched over the rise.
+This, and the shouts and yells of the outlaws, frightened
+the poor brutes. They felt no restraining hand
+on the lines; there was no foot on the brake. The
+coach was coming down behind them with all its
+weight.</p>
+
+<p>Therefore the horses leaped away, frightened beyond
+reason. The old coach bumped and swayed.
+The rough, steep pitch was not long, but it looked as
+though the coach would not arrive at the bottom of
+this first incline without being smashed.</p>
+
+<p>Down it thundered, the wheels bumping, the body
+swaying, and the bound figure, on the seat unable to
+retard it in the least. Behind thundered the big white
+horse, for, breaking away from its captors, Chief intended
+to follow his master to the death!</p>
+
+<p>Not far away from the scene of the hold-up of the
+stage-coach by the outlaws, and near the time that the
+coach and horses were released upon this dangerous
+dash down Breakneck Hill, a horseman was crossing a
+table-land, one side of which was formed by the steep
+wall of the bluff down the face of which the old stage-road
+led.</p>
+
+<p>Though alone upon the table-land, far in the rear
+other horsemen were visible upon his trail. At first
+glance one might have thought that it was a chase, the
+man in front being pursued by the score or so of men
+behind him; but a second scrutiny would have shown<span class="pagenum">[117]</span>
+that it was merely the difference in horse-flesh and
+human endurance that caused the long space to separate
+the leader and his followers.</p>
+
+<p>The lone horseman was dressed in a cavalry fatigue
+uniform with pants tucked in boots, a slouch-hat pinned
+up with a pair of crossed sabers, and a gold cord encircling
+the hat, while upon the shoulders of his jacket
+were straps showing his rank to be that of a first lieutenant
+in the United States Army.</p>
+
+<p>His face was stern for so young a man, but there
+were humorous lines about his smoothly shaven lips,
+and fun danced in the corners of his eyes. Despite
+the hard brown of his countenance, that must have begun
+to be tanned by the Western sun and wind at an
+early age, there was a kindly appearance about the
+young lieutenant.</p>
+
+<p>He was armed with a cavalry sword and a pair of
+service pistols. One gauntleted hand rested on his
+sword-hilt as his horse galloped along. He was several
+miles ahead of his men, who were now scarcely
+more than black specks against the horizon.</p>
+
+<p>“Kinder risky to ride so far ahead, I suppose,” he
+was muttering. “Bill would tell me that. By thunder!
+if I’m attacked on this plateau I can fight&mdash;or run&mdash;I
+hope. There’s little cover hereabouts for either Indians
+or road-agents. And the latter gentry don’t
+usually care to tackle Uncle Sam’s cavalry.”</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly the silence about him was shattered by distant
+yells and several rifle-shots. He glanced back.
+Nothing was happening to his men. The sound came
+from ahead. Again he heard shouts and shots, and
+after that the ring of horses’ hoofs and the rumble of
+heavy wheels.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[118]</span></p>
+
+<p>“By thunder! a hold-up!” he gasped. “And those
+weren’t Indian yells. The stage-coach, I’ll bet! Yet
+the coach wouldn’t take the old road yonder. Why!
+It couldn’t come that way! It would be surely
+wrecked.”</p>
+
+<p>Yet, although the shouts and rifle-shots died away,
+the sound of the wheels and the hammering of the
+horses’ hoofs increased. Some heavy vehicle, drawn
+by several horses, was coming down the Breakneck
+Hill road!</p>
+
+<p>The lone horseman, who had halted at the first
+sound, now set spurs to his mount again. He headed
+directly across the plateau. The stage-road was just
+below the brink of the precipitous slant not many rods
+away, and toward this place the lieutenant hurried.</p>
+
+<p>“It <em>is</em> the stage!” he cried. “The miscreants have
+turned it down the old road. There’s a level bit below
+here for some rods; but if it crosses that and goes
+down the other descent&mdash;well! God help them if there
+is man, woman, or child aboard!”</p>
+
+<p>He reached the brink of the steep descent to the level
+stretch of the old road. Down the first dip was tearing
+six frightened steeds with the old stage-coach
+swaying and bounding behind them. And in the rear
+a riderless white horse was racing after the coach!</p>
+
+<p>That horse the lieutenant recognized.</p>
+
+<p>“That’s Cody’s mount&mdash;it is, by thunder! What’s
+it doing here? And where’s Bill?”</p>
+
+<p>There was not another horse like Chief on the frontier;
+but the stage was too far away for the young
+man to recognize the figure swaying on the coach seat.</p>
+
+<p>“They’re running away, and the driver’s lost his
+nerve!” exclaimed the cavalryman.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[119]</span></p>
+
+<p>Then he raised his voice, shouting in trumpet tones:</p>
+
+<p>“Put on your brake! drag hard on your lines, man,
+or you are lost!”</p>
+
+<p>The six horses, keeping their feet almost miraculously,
+bounded out upon the level stretch. They did
+not hold back in the least. They were maddened with
+fear now, and were headed straight for the second descent.
+On <em>that</em> hill they would quickly come to grief.
+No power could save them.</p>
+
+<p>Again the astonished cavalryman yelled his warning
+to the man on the driver’s seat of the coach. His
+words seemed to reach the man’s ears. He made no
+move to seize the lines or retard the mad course of the
+horses, but in clarion tones came back the answer:</p>
+
+<p>“I am bound! I cannot stop them! Shoot!”</p>
+
+<p>Perhaps the involuntary passenger on the doomed
+stage-coach meant for the young man to shoot <em>him</em> and
+so let him escape a more awful death. But no such intention
+had the lieutenant. The coach was coming
+toward him rapidly, and he obtained a clearer view of
+the bound man.</p>
+
+<p>“Buffalo Bill, by the nine gods of war!” he shouted
+suddenly, recognizing his friend. “What in Heaven’s
+name does this mean?”</p>
+
+<p>There was nobody to answer the query; but he saw
+that the man was indeed bound to his seat, and that
+the reins were loosely swinging, bound to the lantern.
+The brake was not on at all!</p>
+
+<p>At this discovery the lieutenant sank his spurs into
+the flanks of his thoroughbred, and, with a wild snort
+of pain and anger, the horse leaped down the sharp
+declivity toward the piece of rough, but level roadway,
+over which the coach must come.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[120]</span></p>
+
+<p>Yet half-way down the incline the lieutenant was
+smitten with a sudden thought, and he pulled hard on
+the bit. The thoroughbred lay back on his haunches
+and slid. The rider seized one of his guns and cocked
+the weapon.</p>
+
+<p>“Now, Dick Danforth, prove your fame as a dead
+shot,” he muttered. “For if ever true marksmanship
+was needed, it is now to save yonder brave man from
+death!”</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XVIII">CHAPTER XVIII.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">THE RACE WITH DEATH.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>The young officer’s face was stern, yet calm. No
+nerves had he, and, although so much depended upon
+his work of the next few moments, he was certainly
+cool. His eyes only flashed, showing the excitement
+that bore him up.</p>
+
+<p>He glanced at the pistol to see that all was right.
+Straight along the level the maddened horses came, the
+coach swaying behind them like a ship in a heavy sea.
+And behind it came Chief as though he hoped to do
+something for his imperiled master.</p>
+
+<p>Dick Danforth was above the road, and, as he had
+pulled back his horse, the creature was fairly sliding
+down the steep incline, laying back on its haunches
+and bracing its forefeet to retard its progress.</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill could do nothing to help himself. Even
+had he been able to seize the reins at this moment and
+slam on the brake, he could not have brought the wild
+horses to a halt before the damage was <a id="Ref_120" href="#Ref_120a">done</a>. It all
+depended upon Dick Danforth.</p>
+
+<p>Far up the hill the keen eye of the <a id="Ref_1201" href="#Ref_120b">officer</a> descried<span class="pagenum">[121]</span>
+a band of horsemen. They wore no uniforms, were
+not in buckskin, and were not Indians. He understood
+who they were at once. He knew that Buffalo Bill
+had been sent to his doom by the bandits of the overland
+trail.</p>
+
+<p>“But, by thunder! we’ll fool ’em!” muttered the
+young officer.</p>
+
+<p>Almost instantly his finger touched the trigger of
+the pistol, and the flash and report followed. With
+perfect presence of mind he had made his calculations.
+Did he kill one of the leaders it would throw the other
+horses upon him, and the stage would be wrecked after
+all, and Buffalo Bill doubtless killed.</p>
+
+<p>Did he kill one of the wheel-horses instead it would
+act as a drag on the others, and still be borne along at
+a slackening speed, until its mate could be brought
+down. This he had aimed to do and&mdash;he succeeded!</p>
+
+<p>With the crack of the first shot the off-wheeler
+dropped, the stage swayed forward sideways, and then
+was dragged on, with the dead horse, yet at a slackened
+pace.</p>
+
+<p>With the second shot the other wheel-horse stumbled,
+staggered, half-fell, regained its feet again, and
+finally went down heavily. Again the coach swayed
+badly; but the stout pole was kept up by the pressure
+of the draft of four horses upon it, and the heavy
+breast chains and traces held the two dead animals
+firmly attached to it, both acting as a powerful drag
+upon the others, and retarding their speed to a slow
+gallop.</p>
+
+<p>Dick Danforth let his mount out, came down the remainder
+of the run with a rush, and on the level
+reached the leader’s heads. He seized the bridle of<span class="pagenum">[122]</span>
+the nearest horse and dragged him to one side, almost
+throwing him. The horse broke step and pulled its
+mate down. In a minute all four were brought up
+standing&mdash;and not an instant too soon, for the brink
+of the second and more perilous part of the hill was
+right before them!</p>
+
+<p>The horses were still in a nervous state; but Dick
+Danforth could trust his own mount. He placed the
+horse he rode in front of the leaders, leaped from the
+saddle, and left the bridle-reins hanging over his
+horse’s head. While they remained thus nothing less
+than an earthquake, or a volcanic eruption, would
+make the horse move out of his tracks&mdash;and the coach-animals
+could not pass him.</p>
+
+<p>“Quick, Danforth! As you are alone you’d best get
+out of here quick. Here come my foes!” cried Buffalo
+Bill, glancing back.</p>
+
+<p>Boyd Bennett and his men, all mounted now, were
+picking their way down the hill, intent upon overtaking
+Buffalo Bill again and his lone rescuer. But Dick Danforth
+was not the man to fly and leave a comrade in
+peril. His escort was as yet a long way off, he knew;
+Buffalo Bill was bound too tightly for quick release,
+and could not aid in beating back the bandits.</p>
+
+<p>Danforth ran directly toward the coach, nevertheless.
+Along came Chief at an easy lope, and he caught
+the horse. He saw that Cody’s loaded pistols were in
+the holsters. He snatched them out, and climbed
+quickly up to the box seat.</p>
+
+<p>By then the bandits had begun to fire. But, without
+replying, and while the lead whistled about their heads
+like hail, the lieutenant slashed the cords which held
+Buffalo Bill’s hands in limbo.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[123]</span></p>
+
+<p>“Grab these and let the sons-of-guns have ’em,
+Cody!” yelled the excited officer, thrusting his own
+pistols into the scout’s hands.</p>
+
+<p>Then he flung himself forward upon his face along
+the coach top, and, dragging his own guns from his
+boots, into the tops of which he had dropped them, he
+began to blaze away at Boyd Bennett and his gang with
+such good success that almost instantly the leader was
+wounded and another man was dropped out of his
+saddle. Buffalo Bill began to fire rapidly, too, being
+able to twist the upper part of his body about and take
+aim.</p>
+
+<p>With two such dead shots against the robbers, the
+latter had little stomach for the battle. Besides, the
+scoundrels saw Danforth’s hat, and one yelled:</p>
+
+<p>“Look out, boys! the troopers are on us!”</p>
+
+<p>And already the thunder of the squadron of cavalry
+on the plateau above reached their ears. Their leader
+having disappeared in such a hurry, the cavalrymen
+had come up rapidly, and now heard the firing of the
+guns below.</p>
+
+<p>“Hold, men! fly for your lives!” shouted the voice of
+Boyd Bennett.</p>
+
+<p>He wheeled and larruped his horse up the hill. Before
+the troopers reached the brink of the bluff above
+the coach, the robbers were out of sight.</p>
+
+<p>“You’re all right, old man!” yelled Danforth, in
+huge delight, smiting Cody on the back.</p>
+
+<p>“Thanks to you, Dick.”</p>
+
+<p>“Who was your particular friend yonder&mdash;the fellow
+with the mustache and the black hair?”</p>
+
+<p>“Boyd Bennett.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[124]</span></p>
+
+<p>“By the nine gods of war! Too bad I didn’t settle
+his hash instead of just stinging him.”</p>
+
+<p>“Too bad, indeed, Dick.”</p>
+
+<p>“Are you hurt?”</p>
+
+<p>“No. But you might cut my other ropes. I’d like
+to get off this blamed old ramshackle thing before she
+starts again. Those horses are still nervous.”</p>
+
+<p>“Right you are, Bill!” cried the lieutenant, and
+while his men hurriedly made their way down the hill
+leading their mounts&mdash;and passing wondering remarks
+at the trail left on the hillside by the lieutenant’s horse&mdash;Danforth
+finished cutting Cody free.</p>
+
+<p>While Cody related his adventure with the coach, the
+lieutenant’s men dragged out the dead horses and reharnessed
+the others. The dead soldiers and driver
+brought forth angry ejaculations from the troopers.
+Danforth and his men were out on scouting duty, and
+when the lieutenant heard of the hidden treasure-chest,
+he undertook the duty of getting it and bearing it and
+the stage-coach on to Fort Advance.</p>
+
+<p>“You don’t need all your men for that, Dick,” the
+scout said. “Half your escort can take the coach and
+the treasure in. I’ve a long score to even up with Boyd
+Bennett, and I’m going to hit his trail right now. I
+have my horse and my weapons, and with you and a
+file of your men we ought to be able to handle the
+scoundrels if we have the luck to overtake them.”</p>
+
+<p>“I’m agreeable, Cody,” declared the reckless lieutenant.
+“You haven’t any scruples about my shooting
+these road-agents if we come up with them?”</p>
+
+<p>“What do you mean, lieutenant?” asked Cody curiously.
+“What’s the burn?”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[125]</span></p>
+
+<p>“Why, you seemed to object to my potting that Injun
+gal, White Antelope.”</p>
+
+<p>The scout’s face clouded, and he shook his head.</p>
+
+<p>“Don’t jest over that, Dick.”</p>
+
+<p>“Pshaw! I’m not jesting. I spotted her only this
+morning&mdash;and stayed my hand. Otherwise she would
+be walking behind my chariot.”</p>
+
+<p>“White Antelope out this way?” exclaimed Cody
+wonderingly.</p>
+
+<p>“She sure was.”</p>
+
+<p>“Then there’s something afoot among the Sioux.
+We must look into this.”</p>
+
+<p>“But first the road-agents?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes. First we’ll serve Boyd Bennett.”</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XIX">CHAPTER XIX.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">DANFORTH’S HAND IS STAYED AGAIN.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>It was decided, however, that the entire troop would
+return with the stage-coach to the scene of the original
+hold-up. Although Bennett had been driven off so
+successfully by the bluecoats, Buffalo Bill feared that
+he might meet up with the scalping party that had
+killed the paymaster and his guard, and take his gang
+over to this spot to search for the pay-chest that he
+was so sure his old enemy, the scout, had hidden.</p>
+
+<p>“We might have the luck to catch him on the
+ground. If not, we’ll pick up his trail as soon as we
+see a part of your men off with the coach and the
+treasure,” said Cody.</p>
+
+<p>The four horses drew the empty stage up the hill
+with little difficulty, and, surrounded by the troop of<span class="pagenum">[126]</span>
+cavalry, it rattled back along the trail to the gruesome
+spot where Cody had first seen it. There Danforth
+set his men afoot, and at several points of vantage,
+to watch the road and the valley behind the ridge,
+while he and the scout went down into the swamp for
+the treasure-chest.</p>
+
+<p>They had one of the troopers follow them at a distance
+of a few rods. Their numbers were so few, and
+they were so scattered, that Danforth took every precaution
+against being ambushed. The day was
+waning, and they were obliged to hurry if they would
+fish out the chest and then pick up the trail of the outlaw
+gang before night. And Danforth was quite as
+eager as the scout to do this last.</p>
+
+<p>When they got into the wood which masked the
+swampy ground they alarmed a big caribou, which
+started slowly in the very direction they were taking.</p>
+
+<p>“That doesn’t look much as though there were
+either reds or whites lurking near,” muttered Cody.</p>
+
+<p>“By Jove, Bill! I want a shot at that fellow,” exclaimed
+Danforth eagerly.</p>
+
+<p>“He’s not going fast. Perhaps you can bring him
+down.”</p>
+
+<p>“I’m going to try. There, he’s stopped to feed
+again. He’s a cheeky old cuss.”</p>
+
+<p>“What you want him for? Your party is well provisioned.”</p>
+
+<p>“The colonel will be glad of a haunch of caribou
+venison. He’s fond of it, and the flesh is good now.”</p>
+
+<p>“All right, Dick. Take my gun. It’s better than
+yours.”</p>
+
+<p>The eager young lieutenant seized the weapon and
+began creeping through the brush in the direction of<span class="pagenum">[127]</span>
+the caribou’s flight. Cody came behind, not much interested
+in the game, having his mind more fixed upon
+the overtaking of Boyd Bennett. The hunt promised
+to be a brief one, however.</p>
+
+<p>Fortunately the running buck had not diverted far
+from the straightaway course to the hiding-place of
+the treasure-box; otherwise Cody might have more
+strenuously objected. In a few minutes the two men
+came to a glade well dotted with trees, yet free for the
+most part of brush so that they could see some distance.</p>
+
+<p>“Wait! isn’t that him, Bill?” whispered the young
+lieutenant.</p>
+
+<p>“Your eyesight is good, Dick. Where?” asked the
+scout.</p>
+
+<p>“Yonder. Beyond that low brush-clump.”</p>
+
+<p>“Ah!”</p>
+
+<p>“That’s sure him, Bill. Yes, sir! he’s facing this
+way. You can see his black breast and fore legs.
+Down, Bill! don’t show yourself,” whispered Danforth
+eagerly.</p>
+
+<p>“Wait a moment. Better be sure, Dick,” muttered
+the scout, stooping and peering under the sharp of his
+hand toward the spot indicated.</p>
+
+<p>“Gad! he’ll get away. Let me plug him.”</p>
+
+<p>The light was so uncertain that, old and keen-eyed
+hunter that he was, Cody was not at all sure it was
+the caribou they saw.</p>
+
+<p>“Don’t make a mistake, Dick,” he murmured.</p>
+
+<p>“What mistake? The mistake of letting the critter
+git away?” cried the young man, exasperated.</p>
+
+<p>“Many a man has been shot from overeagerness in
+the chase,” said the scout warningly.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[128]</span></p>
+
+<p>“Why, that’s no man!”</p>
+
+<p>“A big buck standing head on in the brush like this
+one, looks just like a man in black clothes&mdash;don’t you
+see?”</p>
+
+<p>“It <em>does</em> look like a man,” admitted Danforth. “I’ll
+remember that, Bill. But we know well enough that
+<em>this</em> is a caribou.”</p>
+
+<p>“Do we?”</p>
+
+<p>“Of course! Confound you, Bill&mdash;&mdash;”</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly a sharp whistle issued from the scout’s
+lips. Dick Danforth swore out loud and jerked his
+gun to his shoulder. But the scout grabbed his arm.</p>
+
+<p>“There’s your buck, Dick!” the older man exclaimed.</p>
+
+<p>In a flash the figure beyond the glade moved and
+came into better view for an instant. It was not a
+deer at all, but a man&mdash;a gigantic figure, dressed in
+some rough black garment, and he was in view of the
+two friends for but a few seconds. Then he darted
+behind a tree.</p>
+
+<p>“It’s a bear!” gasped Danforth. “I might have
+plugged him, anyway.”</p>
+
+<p>“Get out! That’s no bear. It’s a man.”</p>
+
+<p>“One of that gang?” whispered Danforth, suddenly
+more cautious.</p>
+
+<p>“I&mdash;don’t&mdash;know&mdash;&mdash;”</p>
+
+<p>“Better have let me shot him, anyway,” grumbled
+the lieutenant.</p>
+
+<p>“You bloodthirsty young savage! Be still.”</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly the figure beyond the glade rushed from
+behind the tree and glided swiftly away through the
+timber. As he went he uttered a most eery scream,<span class="pagenum">[129]</span>
+his voice floating back to them as he disappeared in
+the rapidly darkening forest.</p>
+
+<p>“Well! what do you think of that?” gasped Danforth.</p>
+
+<p>“Why, the man must be crazy!” exclaimed the scout.
+“That wasn’t Bennett or any of his crowd.”</p>
+
+<p>“Nor a redskin.”</p>
+
+<p>“Of course, it wasn’t a red. And a madman&mdash;&mdash;”</p>
+
+<p>“I’ve got it!” exclaimed the lieutenant suddenly.
+“That was the Mad Hunter.”</p>
+
+<p>“Pshaw! do you believe there is such a person?”</p>
+
+<p>“One of our old sergeants says he met him, and that
+the madman took a pot-shot at him,” declared the lieutenant.</p>
+
+<p>“Well. I’ve heard of him myself.”</p>
+
+<p>“And that chap was a big man, all right.”</p>
+
+<p>“A giant.”</p>
+
+<p>“And as crazy as a bedbug,” added Danforth decidedly.</p>
+
+<p>“Don’t know how crazy they are; but this chap certainly
+acted as though he was a good subject for restraint.
+Ugh! did you ever hear such a yell?”</p>
+
+<p>“I know you stopped me from making a very pretty
+shot, Bill,” laughed the youngster. “That’s the second
+time. The next time I’ll be tempted to turn my
+gun on you, old man.”</p>
+
+<p>Cody became grave again the instant he was reminded
+of how Danforth had come near to shooting
+White Antelope, but he made no rejoinder. They hurried
+back to the edge of the swamp, and, leaving the
+cavalryman to watch, the scout and the lieutenant soon
+found the root to which Cody had tied the lariat, and,
+with some little difficulty, dragged the submerged box<span class="pagenum">[130]</span>
+into view. There was a handle upon each end, and between
+them the two friends carried the chest back to
+the stage-coach. They loaded it aboard, one of the
+troopers tied his horse behind and took the reins, and
+four rode before and behind the coach as guard. Just
+as dusk fell the paymaster’s chest resumed its journey
+to Fort Advance, with the dead bodies of its former
+unfortunate guardians.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XX">CHAPTER XX.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">A DOUBLE CAPTURE.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>Lieutenant Danforth and the bulk of his squad attended
+Buffalo Bill on his search for the gang of outlaws.
+As soon as the coach was well on its way, they
+rode to the spot where Boyd Bennett and his men had
+left the trail, and, despite the fact that it was rapidly
+growing dark, they picked up the hoofmarks of the
+renegades’ horses and followed them rapidly for some
+miles.</p>
+
+<p>Although the sky was clear and there was a long
+evening, the party of trailers could not keep on for
+long. They got well into the hills; but the tracks of
+the outlaw gang showed that Bennett had kept on at a
+swift pace, and it was utterly useless for the troop to
+wear out their own mounts and possibly miss the trail
+itself after dark.</p>
+
+<p>“It’s a long chase, as a stern chase always is, Dick,”
+said the scout. “We might as well make up our minds
+to that, first as last.”</p>
+
+<p>“So I suppose, Bill.”</p>
+
+<p>“But as long as we’re once on the scoundrel’s trail,<span class="pagenum">[131]</span>
+I’ll stick to it to the end,” said Cody grimly. “Better
+rest up the men and horses and make an early start.”</p>
+
+<p>“Right you are. How’s yonder place for a camp?”</p>
+
+<p>“In among those rocks&mdash;yes. We can set sentinels
+on the top of them. Nobody can approach us then.”</p>
+
+<p>“All right. Too bad I didn’t drop that caribou. A
+little fresh meat would have been agreeable.”</p>
+
+<p>“No smoke, boy. Can’t afford to make a fire.
+We’re not only following some pretty shrewd white
+men, but we’re in the Injun country.”</p>
+
+<p>“Thunder!”</p>
+
+<p>“Cold fodder to-night,” said the scout firmly.</p>
+
+<p>“Well. My orderly always packs a small spirit-lamp.
+He can make shift to get us all a cup of coffee,”
+said Danforth, and he proceeded to give the necessary
+orders, and the troop was soon bivouacked for the
+night.</p>
+
+<p>The horses, well hobbled, grazed within bowshot
+of the camp, and a sentinel placed so as to overlook
+them where they were on the plain. No wily enemy
+might approach them without the watcher, if he be
+sharp-eyed, seeing the marauder. Yet Buffalo Bill did
+not altogether trust to the watchfulness of the troopers.</p>
+
+<p>He was in need of rest, and he rolled up in his
+blanket and left Danforth to smoke his pipe alone,
+early in the evening. But when the midnight watch
+turned out the old scout arose like a specter, spoke to
+the corporal in charge, and stole out of the camp.
+Knowing the avarice of Boyd Bennett and suspecting
+that of his men, he felt sure that they would not give
+up so easily the chance of finding and appropriating<span class="pagenum">[132]</span>
+the pay-chest which Captain Hinkley had lost his life
+to defend.</p>
+
+<p>In the first blush of the attack by the troopers, the
+outlaws had broken and fled. But they would recover
+their nerve. They might be joined by some of
+Oak Heart’s braves, with whom Cody knew Bennett
+fraternized. They might even hear the full particulars
+of the Indians’ hold-up of the stage, and be more
+confident than ever of the fact that Cody had hidden
+the treasure.</p>
+
+<p>The scout believed that, as he and Danforth had
+moved so quickly, the coach with its present guard
+would get through in safety to Fort Advance. It was
+probably there by this time, in fact. But Bennett and
+his men might come back to see what was really being
+done by the troopers, and they would be sure to fall
+upon the bivouac. Therefore, the scout was on the
+alert.</p>
+
+<p>He made a complete circuit of the camp, but out of
+sight and gunshot of the sentinels. He did not care
+to furnish a target for his own friends. Having
+agreed with the corporal on a signal, he would not
+come in without sounding it, and so warning the bluecoats
+of his return.</p>
+
+<p>However, he found no sign of an enemy, although
+he spent an hour and a half in creeping about the vicinity.
+And this very fact amazed and somewhat troubled
+him. He could not imagine Bennett under ordinary
+circumstances flying from an enemy without sending
+back a scout to learn if the trail was not being
+followed. Cody was dissatisfied. He feared that the
+reason he had not discovered such a scout was because
+it was some person more wily than himself!</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[133]</span></p>
+
+<p>No white man could be that. Ordinarily Buffalo
+Bill would pitch his own cunning against a redskin’s,
+too; but in this case, if there was an Indian creeping
+about the camp, he would have the advantage over
+the Border King. He might have crawled to the summit
+of some hill and from that vantage overlook the
+encampment of Uncle Sam’s troops.</p>
+
+<p>Having encircled the encampment, Buffalo Bill was
+undecided whether to return to the bivouac&mdash;his
+blanket beckoned him&mdash;or to once more make the circle.
+Suddenly he heard Chief whinny loudly. There
+was some activity among the horses; but the scout
+heard the sentinel’s voice and knew that the mob of
+animals would not stampede. But his own mount
+screamed again&mdash;angrily.</p>
+
+<p>“By thunder!” muttered the Border King. “That
+means one thing, and one thing only. Chief smells
+a redskin&mdash;or more than one!”</p>
+
+<p>Yet he did not start down into the encampment to
+arouse the men. The horses quieted down, and there
+was no further warning from the big white horse.
+The scout, however, glided out upon the plain, taking
+advantage of the shadow of every bush and boulder,
+and so stood beside the soldier watching the herd. He
+came so suddenly that the man was startled and
+grunted:</p>
+
+<p>“Holy Jo, Cody! You give me a start.”</p>
+
+<p>“See what an Injun might do to you.”</p>
+
+<p>“Not much. I’d smell the prowling devils,” said the
+trooper confidently.</p>
+
+<p>“What was the matter with my horse?”</p>
+
+<p>“That white fellow?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[134]</span></p>
+
+<p>“Dunno. Just squealed.”</p>
+
+<p>Cody thought to himself: “Well, your smelling
+powers are not equal to Chief’s. <em>He</em> certainly got the
+taint of redskin on the air.”</p>
+
+<p>Aloud the scout asked:</p>
+
+<p>“Which way was the horse headed when he squealed&mdash;did
+you notice?”</p>
+
+<p>“Just about as he is now. What’s the matter?”</p>
+
+<p>“Humph! didn’t know but the horse was sick,” replied
+Cody dryly, and he walked through the herd till
+he stood beside Chief.</p>
+
+<p>“So, boy! what’s the matter?” he said soothingly,
+smoothing the horse’s muzzle.</p>
+
+<p>Chief whinnied softly; his fright was passed. Suddenly
+the sentinel, who had idly followed Cody’s movements
+with his glance, became aware of the fact that
+the scout had disappeared! It was not a dark night,
+and the plain was open; but the scout was gone as
+completely as though he had been suddenly wiped out
+of existence!</p>
+
+<p>“Well, I’ll be switched!” grunted the surprised
+trooper, stepping forward, and then stopping again.
+“I could have swore that feller stood by his hoss a
+minute ago.”</p>
+
+<p>And he was right on that point, of course. But Buffalo
+Bill had slipped the lariat from his saddle-bow
+and suddenly dropped into the grass at his horse’s
+feet. Chief began to crop the grass again, and paid no
+attention while his master crept away from the herd.
+Cody knew that the light breeze had brought but a
+single whiff of Indian to the horse’s nostrils. The
+redskin could not be far away.</p>
+
+<p>He crept across the plain and finally reached rising<span class="pagenum">[135]</span>
+ground, where clumps of brush and an occasional tree
+offered shelter. He had been over this ground before,
+but he knew that some prowling enemy had been
+here more recently. He remained almost flat upon
+the ground and gazed all about him, seeking to see
+the silhouette of any lurking figure against the sky.</p>
+
+<p>And in this he was successful. At first he overlooked
+it, believing it to be a tree. Then he saw it
+move slightly, and finally made out the body of a tall
+man standing beside a sapling, some distance up the
+hill. Eagerly the scout crawled up the slope, and
+finally gained a point above and beyond the stationary
+figure.</p>
+
+<p>Before he could accomplish more, however, the figure
+he had watched so carefully suddenly stepped
+away from the tree. He heard a guttural voice grunt
+the single syllable:</p>
+
+<p>“Ugh!”</p>
+
+<p>For an instant Cody feared his own presence had
+been discovered. Then he saw what had drawn the
+ejaculation from the redskin. A second figure had
+appeared on the hillside. Cody lay behind a boulder
+and watched the two men approach each other. There
+was a rapid interchange of guttural observations in the
+Sioux tongue. Two scouts were reporting to each
+other what they had discovered about the bivouac and
+the numbers of the pony soldiers there encamped.</p>
+
+<p>For all he knew there might be a big party of reds
+within call. He scarcely believed so, considering how
+the reds hate to travel by night; but the presence of
+these scouts suggested, at least, that Boyd Bennett had
+influence enough over the tribesmen to send these two
+back to do his dirty work.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[136]</span></p>
+
+<p>However, the scout was minded to make a bold play.</p>
+
+<p>He rose up softly from behind the boulder. The
+Indians’ backs were half-turned to him, and their
+heads were very close together while they whispered
+softly. Cody poised himself, and, judging his distance,
+began to circle his rope&mdash;which he had brought
+with him on the chance of tying up a prisoner&mdash;carefully.</p>
+
+<p>Swish!</p>
+
+<p>The serpentine loop hurtled over the heads of the
+redskins, and&mdash;dropped! There were two startled
+screams, both of which were choked off instantly.</p>
+
+<p>The scout flung himself backward and drew the
+horsehair noose taut. It had caught one Indian
+around the neck and over the shoulders, and the other
+had but one hand free. The first jerk yanked both off
+their feet and held them together with such firmness
+that they could not rise or stretch the loop. They
+were like one enraged animal, struggling and lashing
+out upon the ground!</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill ran in, wound the slack of the line
+about their writhing bodies and about their legs. In
+a couple of minutes they were so mixed up with that
+rope that it was hard to tell which Indian was which!</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXI">CHAPTER XXI.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">THE CAVE IN THE MOUNTAIN.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>Now, despite the excitement of the moment, Cody
+noticed one fact that delighted him. The two entangled
+Indians did not cry out. After the first involuntary
+grunt, neither uttered a yell of rage or despair,<span class="pagenum">[137]</span>
+and this proved a point in the scout’s favor. There
+were no other redskins near at hand!</p>
+
+<p>Had there been, a war-whoop from the struggling
+scamps would have been quite in order. But as they
+were evidently scouting with their main party at some
+distance, they were mighty careful about raising a
+racket and so bringing the soldiers up the hill to the
+aid of their unknown enemy. As for the latter, Buffalo
+Bill, he was not in the habit of singing out for
+help&mdash;not even when the odds were greater against
+him than upon this occasion.</p>
+
+<p>Having yanked the fellows back upon the ground
+twice, and pulling the lariat so taut that one Indian’s
+throat was almost cut, he taught the prisoners that
+he was master. He then, as shown, entangled their
+feet and legs, and so held them triced like a bale of
+hay.</p>
+
+<p>Being sure of handling them now, he came close,
+lashed the end of his lariat, and removed their knives
+and tomahawks. They had dropped their guns at the
+moment of the attack, and these the scout gathered up,
+too.</p>
+
+<p>Having made sure of the prisoners single-handed,
+the Border King walked composedly down toward the
+camp. The sentinel near the horses saw him coming
+and challenged:</p>
+
+<p>“Who goes there?”</p>
+
+<p>“It’s me, old man.”</p>
+
+<p>“Ah! I thought ’twas you, Cody. Where’d you go
+to back there a spell? All of a sudden I lost you.”</p>
+
+<p>“Why, I walked out to capture a couple of reds that
+were hanging about.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[138]</span></p>
+
+<p>“Ha! ha! ha!” laughed the man. “That’s a good
+one. I ain’t heard a thing to-night, have you?”</p>
+
+<p>“My horse did.”</p>
+
+<p>“What?”</p>
+
+<p>“Chief heard, or smelled, reds. And I’ve got ’em
+tied up out yonder,” said Buffalo Bill coolly. “Call
+your corporal and have ’em brought in.”</p>
+
+<p>“What’s that, Bill?” gasped the trooper.</p>
+
+<p>“Call the corporal.”</p>
+
+<p>“You don’t mean to say you’ve captured an Indian
+since you left me?”</p>
+
+<p>“Two.”</p>
+
+<p>“No!”</p>
+
+<p>“I tell you I have,” said Cody, with some exasperation.
+“Here are their arms. Get a move on you!”
+The surprised and half-doubting trooper made so much
+noise arousing his immediate officer that the lieutenant
+was awakened, too. He came down with the corporal
+and two men and went out with Cody to bring in the
+reds. It was a fact that none of the soldiers really believed
+Cody had captured two redskins until they saw
+the captives writhing on the ground.</p>
+
+<p>“And I wouldn’t have had ’em much longer if you
+fellows had stopped to chin any more. They’re most
+free,” said Cody.</p>
+
+<p>“Bill, you’re a wonder,” declared Dick Danforth.</p>
+
+<p>“Thanks. Bring ’em in. Let’s see who the scamps
+are.”</p>
+
+<p>This was done, the fire was renewed, and those of
+the troopers who had been aroused gathered around in
+a respectful circle to hear their lieutenant and the scout
+put the two bucks through their catechism.</p>
+
+<p>That they belonged to Oak Heart’s tribe was easy to<span class="pagenum">[139]</span>
+learn; but beyond that the two young redskins were
+very non-committal. They had come scouting about
+the soldier camp for Death Killer, the new medicine
+chief of the Sioux; little else could the whites learn.</p>
+
+<p>“Who the deuce is this Death Killer, Bill?” demanded
+Lieutenant Danforth.</p>
+
+<p>“I’ve heard some whispers of him; but who he is
+I haven’t learned,” said Cody.</p>
+
+<p>“Was he with the bunch that Oak Heart brought
+up against Fort Advance?”</p>
+
+<p>“No.”</p>
+
+<p>“That’s odd, isn’t it?”</p>
+
+<p>“These medicine chiefs are mighty scarey of their
+safety. They never take many risks, you bet!”</p>
+
+<p>“So Death Killer stayed at home and let his children
+fight the battle alone, eh?” remarked the lieutenant.</p>
+
+<p>“Why, as to that, I believe the Sioux didn’t have
+this wonderful new chief at that time.”</p>
+
+<p>“Is that so?”</p>
+
+<p>“I met an Arapahoe, a friend of mine, who told
+me something about the medicine chief that Oak
+Heart had got. The Sioux believe that the next
+time they buck up against the whites, the medicine of
+this Death Killer will bring them the victory.”</p>
+
+<p>This was said aside so that the two young Indians
+could not understand.</p>
+
+<p>“What’ll we do with these fellows, Bill?” asked
+the young officer.</p>
+
+<p>“Thunder! We don’t want any prisoners.”</p>
+
+<p>“You mean to shoot them?”</p>
+
+<p>“What’s the use? It will only mean bringing the
+whole tribe about our ears like a swarm of bees.<span class="pagenum">[140]</span>
+While we’re hunting Bennett we don’t want the Sioux
+onto us, too.”</p>
+
+<p>“You wouldn’t advise turning them loose?”</p>
+
+<p>“Well, do you know a better way of getting rid of
+them?”</p>
+
+<p>Danforth shook his head slowly.</p>
+
+<p>“They certainly would be white elephants on our
+hands if we tried to hold them,” he admitted.</p>
+
+<p>“Kick ’em out,” advised the scout.</p>
+
+<p>“They’ll go back and report.”</p>
+
+<p>“What can they report? That they found a bunch
+of troopers here camping on the trail of the white outlaws.”</p>
+
+<p>“But suppose Bennett is hand and glove with the
+reds as you think?”</p>
+
+<p>“Then we must run that risk. Here! let me talk
+with these young bucks alone,” suggested Cody.</p>
+
+<p>The examination of the reds had been accomplished
+in English and by aid of the sign language. Now the
+scout spoke to them in their own tongue. He did not
+expect to win their confidence; but since they had discovered
+that no other than Pa-e-has-ka had so easily
+overcome them, they felt better in their minds.</p>
+
+<p>Finally Cody unfastened them, filled their pouches
+with food, gave them back their weapons, and advised
+them to go back to their lodges.</p>
+
+<p>“Let this medicine chief, Death Killer, come himself
+to learn our numbers and our intentions,” said the
+scout significantly. “Let him learn about us by his
+magic. If he is so great a medicine-man why does
+he not know these things by his magic power? Go,
+brothers; you have your lives at the hand of the Long
+Hair.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[141]</span></p>
+
+<p>The two young reds departed with unmoved countenances.
+If they felt gratitude they would not be
+likely to show it in the expression of their faces. That
+would be against Indian nature.</p>
+
+<p>The camp being pretty thoroughly aroused now, and
+daybreak being near, the lieutenant ordered breakfast
+prepared. Buffalo Bill did not object to a fire being
+made now. Not only had their encampment been discovered
+by the reds; but the morning was so misty that
+the smoke would not rise high, anyway.</p>
+
+<p>They went on after the meal, finding the trail of the
+outlaws difficult of following in some places, for it
+was apparent that an attempt had been made to cloud
+the trace. By mid-forenoon, however, they were deep
+in the hills, in a wild and gloomy country, and where
+every mile was perilous. They might be ambushed by
+the foe in almost any cut, and Cody kept the command
+back while he investigated every particularly ugly-looking
+defile. What report the two released Indians
+might make to their people had much to do with the
+safety of the expedition, too. For all the whites knew,
+the Sioux might be gathering to fall upon them!</p>
+
+<p>Not a soul did they see on the trail; but they found
+the place where Boyd Bennett and his men had spent
+the night; and they noted marks which assured them
+that the outlaws had lit out that morning hurriedly.
+Evidently the approach of the troopers was feared by
+the renegades.</p>
+
+<p>Before night, however, Cody called a halt in the forward
+movement. They were in the midst of peaks,
+and tall, chimneylike rocks where the timber was
+sparse and vegetation of any other kind becoming thin.<span class="pagenum">[142]</span>
+Shelter was not easily obtained, and the trail had to
+be guessed at many times, the way was so rocky.</p>
+
+<p>“I don’t like the look of this territory, Dick,” said
+the scout.</p>
+
+<p>“Those fellows can’t be far ahead of us,” declared
+the eager lieutenant.</p>
+
+<p>“I’m not so sure of that. They plainly know the
+way.”</p>
+
+<p>“Well, they haven’t succeeded in fooling us much
+yet.”</p>
+
+<p>“That may be; but they may fool us badly in the
+end.”</p>
+
+<p>“Don’t croak, Bill; that isn’t like you.”</p>
+
+<p>“I tell you, boy, we’re perhaps putting our necks
+into a noose. I’ve seen several smokes this afternoon.
+Now, if the Injuns join in with Boyd Bennett, and
+make common cause with him&mdash;well, where’ll we be?”</p>
+
+<p>“Here, or hereabout,” grunted Danforth.</p>
+
+<p>“And we’ll stay here, too! I vote we make an end
+of this quick.”</p>
+
+<p>“Why, Bill, I thought you were so eager to follow
+Bennett up?”</p>
+
+<p>“So I am. But I’m not as eager for meeting my finish
+as you seem to be.”</p>
+
+<p>“Pshaw! you’re not afraid for yourself, Bill. I
+know you,” cried Danforth.</p>
+
+<p>“I’ve got no right to run you into peril.”</p>
+
+<p>“Forget me!”</p>
+
+<p>“And you’ve no right to lead your troop into a
+pocket. What do you suppose your ‘kern’ will say?”</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, shucks! I hate to give this up.”</p>
+
+<p>“So do I, son. But we’ve got to.”</p>
+
+<p>“You mean to start right back now?”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[143]</span></p>
+
+<p>“You’re the doctor. I’m not in command,” said
+Cody.</p>
+
+<p>“Hang it all, Bill! you are virtually in command,
+and you know it.”</p>
+
+<p>“Well, you want me to advise?”</p>
+
+<p>“Of course.”</p>
+
+<p>“Then I say we’d better hunt a place to stop the
+night, and then light out for a more healthy country
+in the morning. I begin to feel that we’re being
+watched.”</p>
+
+<p>“You <em>feel</em> so?”</p>
+
+<p>“Sounds silly, doesn’t it, eh? But it’s so. And
+intuition has stood me in good stead before. There
+are foes near. We want to get shelter and prepare to
+receive them properly.”</p>
+
+<p>Thus advised, Dick Danforth ordered his men to
+dismount, and they led their horses up into the rocky
+gorge Cody had chosen as a retreat. It would have
+been well for Danforth if he always so easily listened
+to the admonition of his elders and the better informed.</p>
+
+<p>Just inside the gorge was a yawning cavern in the
+mountainside. Evidently Cody knew of this retreat,
+even had he never been over the ground before. He
+led his big white horse with satisfaction into the dusky
+interior.</p>
+
+<p>“Hold on, Bill! The critters can’t feed in there,”
+Danforth objected, bringing his own animal to a stop.</p>
+
+<p>“All right. We’ll have to cut brush for ’em to pick
+over. There’s no safe feeding ground outside.”</p>
+
+<p>“But, hang it! how do we know who or what may
+be in that hole?”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[144]</span></p>
+
+<p>“Chief says there are no Injuns here, that’s sure!”
+retorted the scout, laughing.</p>
+
+<p>“But it may be a grizzly’s lair, or a cougar’s.”</p>
+
+<p>“Nope. Old Chief would have made remarks about
+it. Come on, lieutenant.”</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, I’m not afraid, if that’s what you mean!”
+grunted Dick Danforth, and with a nod to his file-leader,
+he followed the scout into the maw of the darksome
+cave.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXII">CHAPTER XXII.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">THE NIGHT PROWLERS.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>The frontiersmen&mdash;those who were Buffalo Bill’s
+associates&mdash;mapped the mountains and plains of the
+West long before Uncle Sam’s exploration parties
+ever penetrated the wilderness. Cody had never been
+to this hole in the mountainside before, yet he knew
+all about it. Hunters and trappers&mdash;and some early
+gold-seekers&mdash;had told him of its existence. It had
+been considered “bad medicine” by the Indians who inhabited
+this section of the country before the Sioux
+had flowed over into the land, and Oak Heart’s people
+themselves kept away from it. The scout was pretty
+sure that they had a sufficiently strong fortress here
+to withstand any ordinary attack.</p>
+
+<p>Besides, there was spring water in the cave, and, as
+he showed Danforth very quickly, something better
+still. As they advanced under the arched roof of the
+cavern, light appeared ahead.</p>
+
+<p>“There’s another opening,” said Danforth.</p>
+
+<p>“Looks like it.”</p>
+
+<p>“Why, they can get at us from two directions, Bill!”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[145]</span></p>
+
+<p>“Can they?”</p>
+
+<p>“You’re blamed cool about it.”</p>
+
+<p>“Might as well be cool as hot. We have got to take
+it as it comes.”</p>
+
+<p>The light grew apace.</p>
+
+<p>“What kind of a place is this, anyway?” cried the
+lieutenant.</p>
+
+<p>“Come along, sir!”</p>
+
+<p>“But the horses&mdash;&mdash;”</p>
+
+<p>“Bring the horses along, too. I reckon I haven’t
+mistaken the place. Here we are!”</p>
+
+<p>As he spoke they came out into a roughly circular
+basin, surrounded completely by steep&mdash;aye, unscalable&mdash;rocks,
+but well grown to grass and bushes at the
+bottom. It was a veritable little pocket in the heart of
+the mountain. There was no escape from it, and no
+getting into it, excepting through the cave.</p>
+
+<p>Chief kicked up his heels, snorted joyfully, and
+broke away from Cody’s detaining hand. The other
+horses followed, and the whole herd set to cropping
+the sweet grass in equine delight.</p>
+
+<p>“Well, sir! This beats my time!” exclaimed Danforth.</p>
+
+<p>“Guess we can stand a bit of a siege here, if necessary,
+eh?” queried Cody.</p>
+
+<p>“That we could.”</p>
+
+<p>Fire-wood was cut and brought into the cave and
+the meal started. Cody was not content to remain for
+long inactive, however. He slept while the meal was
+being prepared. After he had eaten, however, he left
+the camp, and in the gloaming made his way out and
+down into the valley from which they had retired, on
+the lookout for the enemy.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[146]</span></p>
+
+<p>The worst of it was, he did not exactly know
+whether their white or red foes would be upon them
+first. The Sioux might attack&mdash;for they were now
+well into the Indian country&mdash;or Boyd Bennett and his
+gang might come back at them. If the latter, the
+troopers could handle the outlaws easily. But a horde
+of savages might give the troops a mighty pretty brush
+up here in the hills, so far away from reenforcements
+and a base of supplies.</p>
+
+<p>The scout was careful to leave no trace himself, and
+when he reached the spot where the troopers had
+turned aside from the outlaw’s trail, he hid and
+watched, and waited, to see what or who might “turn
+up.” That it was about time for either the outlaws
+or the Indians to show their hand Cody was sure.</p>
+
+<p>His judgment was good in this case, too. He had
+not been lying in wait an hour when he saw two
+mounted figures coming along the valley toward his
+station. Dark as it was down here, he could make out
+their outlines sufficiently to know that one was an
+Indian and the other was a white man. They came
+to the point where the troopers had diverged from
+Boyd Bennett’s trail, and there halted to whisper together.</p>
+
+<p>From where he lay in the rocks, Cody could see
+the fire blazing in the mouth of the cave up in the
+gorge. He knew the men below him could see it, too.
+Writhing down the hill, like a serpent between the
+boulders, the scout reached a point where he could
+overhear something of what the Indian and the white
+man said.</p>
+
+<p>“Return and bring them to this place. The hour<span class="pagenum">[147]</span>
+must be no later than midnight,” the white man was
+saying in a commanding manner.</p>
+
+<p>“It shall be as my brother says,” the redskin muttered.</p>
+
+<p>“My men will advance and draw their first fire&mdash;perhaps
+get them out of the cave. You say there is
+no chance of getting in from the rear?”</p>
+
+<p>“No Sioux would venture, if it were possible. That
+cavern was the abode of a great spirit at one time.”</p>
+
+<p>“Ha! Very well. Do as I have bid you. You and
+your braves hold back if you must. But if we draw
+the badgers, we can count upon you to pitch in?”</p>
+
+<p>“It is as my brother says.”</p>
+
+<p>“All right! Off with you. I await my men here.”</p>
+
+<p>The redskin twitched his pony’s head about, and
+rode softly away. After standing a moment in the
+path, the white man’s horse was turned out upon a
+bit of sward, and Cody knew that the fellow dismounted.
+He evidently proposed to remain near and
+watch the cave until reenforcements arrived.</p>
+
+<p>And Cody knew the scoundrel. He had recognized
+the voice, and likewise by the fact that he held his
+left arm stiffly bound to his side, the scout knew that
+it was Boyd Bennett himself. Dick Danforth had
+indeed “stung” the robber. The bone of his left arm
+had been broken, and he could barely hold the reins
+with that hand.</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill was greatly tempted. Here was a
+chance for him to take his old enemy, single-handed.
+And did naught but personal vengeance enter into
+the affair, he would have made the attempt. But there
+was a brave opportunity of rounding up more of the<span class="pagenum">[148]</span>
+gang, despite their affiliation with the redskins, and
+Cody resisted the temptation.</p>
+
+<p>He made his way back to the cave, found most of
+the troopers already peacefully asleep, and Danforth
+anxiously awaiting his return.</p>
+
+<p>“Well?” demanded the young lieutenant.</p>
+
+<p>“We’re going to have visitors about midnight.”</p>
+
+<p>“How’s that?”</p>
+
+<p>“Mr. Bennett and his gang will make the attack; a
+set of thieving reds will stand off to pitch in if the
+whites can’t handle us.”</p>
+
+<p>“Gee, Cody! how d’you know all that?”</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill told him.</p>
+
+<p>“Why didn’t you shoot the bloody thieves?”</p>
+
+<p>“And lose the chance of rounding up more of
+them?”</p>
+
+<p>“They’ll be too many for us, I fear,” said Danforth,
+although without displaying any particular fear of such
+an outcome.</p>
+
+<p>“They will certainly outnumber us&mdash;reds and all.”</p>
+
+<p>“Nice prospect.”</p>
+
+<p>“But forewarned is forearmed, eh?”</p>
+
+<p>“Right you are, Bill! We have the advantage of
+knowing that they are coming, whereas they will labor
+under the disadvantage of believing we are unsuspicious.”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes.”</p>
+
+<p>“But hived up in this place&mdash;&mdash;”</p>
+
+<p>“We haven’t got to stay hived up,” interrupted the
+scout. “And we don’t want to.”</p>
+
+<p>“You’ve got a plan, Bill?”</p>
+
+<p>“I have.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[149]</span></p>
+
+<p>“State it, old man. You know well enough you
+don’t have to stand on ceremony with me.”</p>
+
+<p>“This fire can be seen from below. Let it die down.
+Don’t let any fuel be flung on for some time. When
+it’s at the lowest we can lead our horses out without
+being seen.”</p>
+
+<p>“Give up our shelter, Bill? And with a horde of
+redskins coming?”</p>
+
+<p>“Sure. Let them attack an empty cave&mdash;but one
+that doesn’t look empty. The last man to leave can
+fling a pile of fuel on the fire and then slip away before
+it burns up brightly. So we’ll have ’em attacking
+an empty fortress while we are out here among
+the rocks ready to play heck with ’em!”</p>
+
+<p>“I’m not afraid of the outlaws,” said Danforth
+slowly. “But the redskins&mdash;&mdash;”</p>
+
+<p>“Won’t come too near the cave; it’s bad medicine,
+as I told you.”</p>
+
+<p>“But when they see that we’re outside&mdash;&mdash;”</p>
+
+<p>“Wait! We’ll lead the horses away along the trail
+we came over, and leave them in charge of one man.
+Then, when it gets too hot for us&mdash;if the reds pitch
+in&mdash;we’ll decamp. The reds won’t be too near, however.
+I know ’em. An Injun is as full of superstition
+as an egg is of meat.”</p>
+
+<p>“Your plan looks good, Bill.”</p>
+
+<p>“All right. Stop that fellow&mdash;quick! He’ll spoil it
+all.”</p>
+
+<p>Danforth turned to see one of the guards advancing
+toward the fire with an armful of fuel. The lieutenant
+ordered him to desist and instructed his subordinate
+to let the fire die down. Then he and Cody rolled up
+in their blankets for an hour’s sleep.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<p><span class="pagenum">[150]</span></p>
+
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXIII">CHAPTER XXIII.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">MORE THAN THEY BARGAINED FOR.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>When the lieutenant and scout were awakened, according
+to order, the camp became at once an exceedingly
+lively though quiet place. The men had their
+instructions in a low tone from Danforth. They led
+the horses into the cave from the rear, and, the fire
+being now merely a bed of glowing coals, the shadows
+of neither man nor beast were pricked out by the light
+from the fire.</p>
+
+<p>Cody had slipped out and beaten the rocks and brush
+on the hillside before the mouth of the cavern. He
+found no lurking spy, but he went far enough to hear
+Boyd Bennett’s horse stamping in the valley. The
+outlaw was still there awaiting the coming of his men
+and of his redskin allies.</p>
+
+<p>The scout hurried back and led the way with Chief,
+warning the troopers to smother any desire on their
+mounts’ part to whinny if they smelt the strange horse
+in the valley. The scout had picked out a path around
+the swell of the mountain, between the rocks and
+ledges, and, although it was a roundabout way, it was
+sod-covered for most of the distance, and they were
+enabled to lead their mounts away without an appreciable
+sound. Like a file of shadows they passed around
+the mountain and down into the lowlands. There the
+horses were tethered and left in the care of a single
+soldier. The others hurried back to positions near the
+mouth of the cave, to await the expected attack of the
+outlaws.</p>
+
+<p>Divided as their forces had been, by sending the<span class="pagenum">[151]</span>
+stage and treasure on to Fort Advance, Danforth’s
+squad now numbered less than the gang of outlaws.
+And, in addition, Boyd Bennett would have at his back
+a party of bloodthirsty savages. It was a ticklish position,
+and none understood that better than the Border
+King, Buffalo Bill.</p>
+
+<p>Strategy was the scout’s best card under these circumstances.
+He knew the quality of the gang whom
+Boyd Bennett had gathered about him. They were ignorant,
+superstitious scoundrels, and, therefore, he
+ventured to play upon their fears as well as to lay
+a close ambush for them.</p>
+
+<p>To approach the mouth of the cave in which the fire
+now burned brightly necessitated the foe advancing up
+a sidehill into the mouth of the gulch under the shelter
+merely of low brush and boulders, with here and there
+a stunted tree, the roots of which had found fixture between
+the rocks. Higher up the mountain, and upon
+both sides of the gulch, were thicker forest.</p>
+
+<p>Under Cody’s advice Danforth placed his men upon
+the side of the gulch opposite the cavern’s mouth, and
+outside the gulch itself, all positions selected being
+easy of access to the trail down which they had led
+their horses so cautiously. A more withering fire
+could have been arranged by placing the troopers upon
+both sides of the gorge; a cross-fire is always more
+galling and confusing to an enemy. But, then, there
+remained the danger of the reds rushing to the assistance
+of Boyd Bennett and his gang, and so those
+soldiers above the cave might be cut off from escape.
+Whatever happened, the mêlée was bound to be a
+sharp and quick one; it would be all over in a few moments.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[152]</span></p>
+
+<p>Just outside the mouth of the gulch, and in advance
+of the line of hidden troopers, was a rather larger tree
+than most upon the lower hillside, and it had a low
+crotch from which sprang three branches. Cody saw
+that to approach the cavern’s entrance, the attacking
+force would be pretty sure to come close under this
+tree. Seeing this, he evolved&mdash;with the help of the
+corporal&mdash;a scheme which later added much to the
+excitement of the battle and came near to utterly routing
+the outlaw gang.</p>
+
+<p>There was little time for preparation, however; already
+the hour grew close to midnight. Cody crept
+into the cave, showed himself in the firelight, threw on
+more wood, and then crept out again, so as to assure
+the watching Bennett below that the place was still
+occupied. Then the scout went down into the valley
+and watched and listened until his keen ear assured
+him that several ponies were being ridden rapidly toward
+the hiding-place of the bandit leader.</p>
+
+<p>How many were coming&mdash;whether the reds were
+with the whites&mdash;Buffalo Bill did not know. Nor did
+he consider it well to wait to learn. That the attack
+would be made at once, he was sure. Boyd Bennett
+was not the most patient man in the world, and he had
+waited here long for his men to appear.</p>
+
+<p>Cody found the lieutenant, and snuggled down beside
+him behind a brush-clump.</p>
+
+<p>“By the nine gods of war, Bill! I thought you’d
+never come,” muttered Danforth. “I got as nervous
+as an old maid with her first beau, fearing that you
+wouldn’t get here in time to holler. I can imitate some
+critters&mdash;thanks to you and Jack Omohondreau: but<span class="pagenum">[153]</span>
+when it comes to murdering the night air with the
+scream of a wildcat&mdash;&mdash;”</p>
+
+<p>“Sh!” breathed Cody. “They’re coming.”</p>
+
+<p>Danforth became quiet. They were placed so that
+the entire sweep of the side-hill was before them. Several
+of the troopers were nearer the cave; several were
+behind the station of the lieutenant and the scout. All
+had their instructions regarding the withholding of
+their fire until a prearranged instant.</p>
+
+<p>Soon Danforth beheld several flitting shadows below.
+A number of men were coming up the rocky
+slope; they had spread out and were approaching the
+cavern’s mouth without any regard to military formation.
+Several, however, were coming close to the
+forked tree which Cody had previously noted. That
+stood some yards in front, and a little below, where
+he lay with his friend, the lieutenant.</p>
+
+<p>“All right, Bill!” whispered Danforth.</p>
+
+<p>“Wait till I give the word,” breathed the scout.
+“Let some of them pass. We want every shot to
+count.”</p>
+
+<p>A few moments more they waited. Several figures
+passed on up the hill, dodging from rock to rock, but
+all converging toward the mouth of the cave where
+the fire now glowed dully. That they were the bandits,
+and not the redskins, Cody was sure. Suddenly
+he saw two of the prowlers approaching the forked
+tree. He nudged Danforth sharply.</p>
+
+<p>The two outlaws in question were almost under the
+branching limbs of the tree when they heard what
+sounded like the scratching of claws on the rough bark.
+Both looked up, and beheld an uncertain but bulky<span class="pagenum">[154]</span>
+figure lying along one branch. A sharp snarl seemed
+to come from it, and the two bandits sprang away.</p>
+
+<p>“Curse you!” exclaimed the voice of Bennett, low
+but deadly in its temper. “What’s the matter?”</p>
+
+<p>Two or three of the bandits ran together. They
+thought some attack had been made upon them.</p>
+
+<p>“What is it?” repeated several in shrill whispers.</p>
+
+<p>“A cougar!”</p>
+
+<p>“A wildcat!”</p>
+
+<p>“Get back to your stations!” commanded Bennett.
+“Do you want to spoil the whole thing? Such cursed
+foolishness over a blamed tomcat&mdash;&mdash;”</p>
+
+<p>He had approached the tree, and suddenly the animal
+on the limb seemed to gather itself for a spring,
+and there sounded upon the night air the shrill, blood-curdling
+yell of the dreaded panther!</p>
+
+<p>“Look out, Boyd! He’s goin’ ter jump!” exclaimed
+one fellow.</p>
+
+<p>Several of the others stepped warily back and raised
+their guns. Above on the hillside&mdash;this had been prearranged
+by Cody&mdash;one of the troopers shouted:</p>
+
+<p>“Who goes there?”</p>
+
+<p>“Curse my body and bones!” growled Bennett.
+“The game is spoiled! They’ve heard us.”</p>
+
+<p>The supposed panther screamed again, and then
+the body in the tree was hurled out into the air. Involuntarily
+every outlaw in sight took a pot-shot at
+the flying body. The mountainside reechoed with the
+reports of half a dozen guns, and the flashes of the
+same revealed to the ambushed party just where the
+bandits stood.</p>
+
+<p>The log of wood, dressed in a blanket, representing
+the panther, and jerked out of the tree by Cody’s lariat,<span class="pagenum">[155]</span>
+fell to the ground riddled by the bullets of the outlaws.
+But instantly Danforth leaped up and shouted to his
+men:</p>
+
+<p>“Now, my bullies! Give it to them!”</p>
+
+<p>The troopers fired a broadside. Four of the robbers
+dropped under the fire, and two more ran away
+screaming. Cody had picked out Bennett, and intended
+to wound or kill him; but the wily scoundrel
+seemed to fear some game just as the dummy was
+yanked by Danforth from the tree. He leaped away
+and dodged behind a boulder before the first shot
+from the party in ambush was fired.</p>
+
+<p>As the echoes of the first round from the troopers
+died away Boyd Bennett raised an ear-splitting yell
+of defiance. It was a war-whoop that the redskins
+in the rear evidently understood. They answered from
+the valley, and, although the soldiers had succeeded in
+placing so many of the bandits hors de combat at
+their first fire, Danforth whistled almost instantly for
+his men to retire.</p>
+
+<p>“Did you wing Bennett, Cody?” asked the young
+lieutenant.</p>
+
+<p>“No. The scaly rascal left his men to bear the
+brunt of the trouble, and he’s under shelter half-way
+down the hill.”</p>
+
+<p>“Can’t we get him?”</p>
+
+<p>“With those reds tearing up to his aid?”</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, by thunder, Bill! I hoped to either kill the
+scoundrel or bring him in.”</p>
+
+<p>“So did I.”</p>
+
+<p>“But we can’t risk staying here longer.”</p>
+
+<p>“You’re right there, Dick. Come on. The men
+have gone.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[156]</span></p>
+
+<p>The scout and the lieutenant followed their men
+down the hill. And none too soon, for the redskins
+soon found that their white brethren had been outwitted
+by the soldiers, and they came tearing along the
+valley trail to try and head the refugees off.</p>
+
+<p>They were not successful in that, however. Every
+trooper came in, they mounted at the command, and
+with fresh horses under them soon outdistanced all
+pursuit.</p>
+
+<p>“It’s getting too lively for us,” said Buffalo Bill,
+in disgust. “We can’t chance it with such a small
+force. I hate to give it up; but we must.”</p>
+
+<p>“We’ll keep on if you say the word, scout,” said
+Danforth.</p>
+
+<p>“You’d ride straight into the jaws of hell if you
+thought there’d be a fight, Dick,” said Cody. “But
+discretion is the better part of valor in this case.”</p>
+
+<p>“I hate to give Bennett up,” grumbled the younger
+man.</p>
+
+<p>“So do I. But it can’t be helped.”</p>
+
+<p>“When I get back to Resistence I’m going to ask
+Colonel Royal to give me a roving commission to hunt
+the scoundrel down.”</p>
+
+<p>Neither of them realized at the time what the putting
+of this decision into practise would amount to in
+the end.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXIV">CHAPTER XXIV.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">CHASED BY THE FLAMES.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>The welcome that greeted the Border King upon his
+return to Fort Advance was proof of his popularity,
+and of the admiration the garrison held him in. That<span class="pagenum">[157]</span>
+his coolness and wisdom had saved the paymaster’s
+money-box from capture by the bandits, and so made
+it unnecessary for the boys in blue to endure another
+long wait for their pay, added not a little to their
+feeling for the scout.</p>
+
+<p>The troopers had told the story in full. Captain
+Hinkley and his guard had been buried, and the coach-driver,
+as well. The soldiers had a most revengeful
+feeling toward Boyd Bennett and his outlaw band,
+and Danforth went back to Resistence with his troop,
+threatening slaughter for the road-agents if he could
+catch them.</p>
+
+<p>The activities of the Indians, however, disturbed
+Buffalo Bill and the commander of Fort Advance more
+than the work of the outlaw, at just this time. The
+Border King, with Texas Jack, set out on a mission
+soon after his return to the fort. Ten days later Lieutenant
+Danforth, with a squadron of men, was allowed
+to make an attempt to bring in Boyd Bennett by the
+commandant of Post Resistence.</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill was still away on his scouting expedition
+and did not know of this. He was deep in the
+Indian country, and had found nothing of real significance
+regarding any concerted movement among
+the Sioux, although there was plenty of excitement.
+Little bands of warriors were going back and forth,
+from encampment to encampment; but nothing was
+being accomplished by the redskins.</p>
+
+<p>“What does it look like to you, old man?” queried
+the Border King of his partner. “Are we barking up
+the wrong tree?”</p>
+
+<p>“Dunno,” replied Texas Jack, pursing up his lips
+and looking more serious than usual. “There may be<span class="pagenum">[158]</span>
+a coon in the crotch; but we certainly haven’t shook
+him down.”</p>
+
+<p>“How does all this running back and forth from
+teepee to teepee strike you?”</p>
+
+<p>“Looks like the reds was given more tuh society
+than us’al, Buffler. But, Great Scott! you can’t never
+tell what’s in a red’s mind when he’s planning some
+game.”</p>
+
+<p>“There is surely no outbreak planned for the immediate
+future, eh?”</p>
+
+<p>“No. These runners aren’t gathering the tribe. I
+reckon Oak Heart got his belly full and won’t trouble
+us for some time.”</p>
+
+<p>“But this new medicine-man they’ve got?”</p>
+
+<p>“Humph! Death Killer, eh? Nice name that!
+I’d like a squint at him.”</p>
+
+<p>“Me, too.”</p>
+
+<p>“Wonder if we couldn’t sneak over to Oak Heart’s
+town and take this Death Killer into camp?”</p>
+
+<p>“Kidnap him?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yep.”</p>
+
+<p>“You’re a cool one, Jack, my boy. What’ll the reds
+be doing meanwhile?”</p>
+
+<p>“That’s all that stops me&mdash;that question,” replied
+Texas, with a grin.</p>
+
+<p>This conversation took place beside a running brook,
+in the heart of a great forest many miles from Fort
+Advance, where our story first opened. The wind
+soughed through the tree tops and brought scurrying to
+earth the dying leaves which proclaimed the fast approach
+of King Winter. Suddenly Cody rose upon
+his feet and keenly snuffed the air.</p>
+
+<p>“What’s th’ matter, Bill? What d’yer scent?”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[159]</span></p>
+
+<p>“I’ve been smelling it for an hour, Jack.”</p>
+
+<p>“What is it?”</p>
+
+<p>“Smoke.”</p>
+
+<p>“Huh! here’s wood burning at your feet.”</p>
+
+<p>“No, no!” exclaimed the other. “This breeze is
+rising and is blowing more steadily than it did. And
+it brings the smoke to us. Look up through the tree
+tops. D’ye see how hazy it’s grown?”</p>
+
+<p>“Umph-ah!”</p>
+
+<p>“Nothing to fool over, Jack. It’s a big fire.”</p>
+
+<p>“D’yer believe so, Bill?”</p>
+
+<p>“I do, indeed,” said the anxious scout.</p>
+
+<p>Texas Jack cast his eyes about the forest aisles reflectively.
+He knew as well as his companion the peril
+attending a forest fire; but he was naturally of a
+more volatile character, and the discovery made less
+impression upon him at first.</p>
+
+<p>“We’d better make a break, hadn’t we, Bill?” he
+asked finally.</p>
+
+<p>“Just think a bit, Jack,” the other replied.
+“Where’ll we go? Do you realize that this crick is the
+biggest body of water in a circle of forty miles?”</p>
+
+<p>“If my hoss kin make Black River, yours kin, I
+reckon.”</p>
+
+<p>“True enough. But the wind is blowing directly
+from Black River. That’s where the fire is, old man.
+The nearest water of any size is Bendigo Lake, and
+the going will be thundering hard on the horses.”</p>
+
+<p>Texas Jack leaped up and exclaimed:</p>
+
+<p>“Hark! what’s that?”</p>
+
+<p>A crashing in the underbrush had startled both
+men. Some distance away there burst into the glade
+a fine herd of deer, all running madly. They swept<span class="pagenum">[160]</span>
+across the scouts’ line of vision and disappeared in
+another clump of brush, keenly alive to peril in their
+rear.</p>
+
+<p>“They’ve come a power of a ways in the last half-hour,
+Jack,” said Buffalo Bill.</p>
+
+<p>“Right you are, Buffler. Guess we’d better light out.
+Ha! there goes a grayback.”</p>
+
+<p>A lone wolf slunk through the underbrush, gave the
+two men a sharp look, and then loped away in the same
+direction as that followed by the deer. But he was
+not running the deer&mdash;oh, no, indeed!</p>
+
+<p>Soon other animals began to drift past the camp
+of the scouts. The two packed their war-bags, caught
+their mounts, and prepared to leave the vicinity in
+short order. By that time, although the evening was
+closing in, the sky was a mass of ruddy, drifting haze.
+The fire was advancing with terrific speed, yet it was
+still so far away that the smoke floated high above
+the tree tops, and they heard no sound.</p>
+
+<p>“Reckon we kin make it, Bill,” said Texas Jack, as
+they pricked their mounts along the forest path.</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill was not so sanguine, however. The
+fire was coming down upon them with terrific speed,
+for instead of deepening the evening brightened all
+about them as they rode. The odor of burning wood
+was now quite pungent, and past them in mad flight
+went all manner of small animals, while now and then
+the startled “woof! woof!” of a bear was heard in the
+brush as he, too, lumbered along.</p>
+
+<p>The paths of the forest were not cleared for riding.
+Deer and other animals, searching drinking-places and
+salt-licks, first made these traces through the wilderness.
+The red man followed, following the spoor of<span class="pagenum">[161]</span>
+the game. And so the paths became “runways,” sometimes
+worn knee-deep and only wide enough for a single
+person to pass. Such paths were of little use to
+horsemen.</p>
+
+<p>Where the forest was open or clear of underbrush,
+the two scouts could travel with some rapidity; but
+in the thick, junglelike scrub, it was even necessary at
+times to get down and lead their horses. This delayed
+them, and before long the smoke wraiths began to
+drift past them and the distant roaring of the flames
+was perceptible.</p>
+
+<p>Had the men given the horses their heads the animals
+would have become panic-stricken like the other
+dumb beasts, and they would have dashed through the
+forest at a much better pace; but Buffalo Bill and
+Texas Jack would have been swept from the saddles,
+and, perhaps, killed. It began to look, indeed, as
+though both horses and men could get along better
+and faster alone. Texas remarked upon this fact.</p>
+
+<p>“I know it, Jack&mdash;I know it,” said Cody. “But I
+don’t want to lose Chief. And then, we can’t carry
+all our plunder and make any time at all.”</p>
+
+<p>“Life’s sweeter to me than either hoss or rifle,” declared
+Texas, laughing.</p>
+
+<p>“Me, too; but it may be a week before we catch the
+brutes.”</p>
+
+<p>“I vote we let ’em go. It’s getting derned hard to
+manage them, anyway, Buffler.”</p>
+
+<p>“So it is. Keep your grub, Texas.”</p>
+
+<p>“Betcher!”</p>
+
+<p>Both men were off their mounts in a hurry. They
+left their magazine guns in the saddle scabbards, and
+their holster pistols as well. If the Indians or any<span class="pagenum">[162]</span>
+ne’er-do-well whites found the horses after the fire,
+they would make quite a haul.</p>
+
+<p>Jack’s horse plunged away, snorting to be free, and
+was quickly out of sight; but Chief seemed uncertain
+whether to leave his master or not. The scouts did
+not delay an instant, but started off at a sharp run
+through the forest, with their packs on their backs.
+They could dodge under the low branches and burst
+through the brush-clumps, or avoid them altogether,
+with much more facility than before.</p>
+
+<p>Chief ran whinnying after them. Suddenly out of
+the yellow haze above the tree tops a blazing ball of
+leaves or such light flotsam, floated down. It fell between
+the white horse and the two men, and Chief
+snorted and leaped aside. Fortunately the firebrand
+went out without igniting any of the leaves or twigs
+which rustled so dryly under foot, but the flame evidently
+spoiled Chief’s desire to keep with the men. He
+kicked up his heels and dashed away in the same direction
+as his mate.</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill and Texas Jack noted this brand, but
+they said nothing, only increasing their speed. There
+was vast danger from these flying balls of fire. The
+wind continued to rise, and soon the conflagration
+would be leaping ahead rods at a time! It would ignite
+in dozens of places at once.</p>
+
+<p>As they ran together, Texas Jack glanced into his
+comrade’s serious face, and a grin overspread his own.</p>
+
+<p>“Say, Buffler,” he said, “I didn’t sleep none too
+warm last night. Reckon we’ll be more comfortable
+to-night, eh?”</p>
+
+<p>Cody had to smile at that.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[163]</span></p>
+
+<p>“You reckless devil, you! You’d joke in sight of
+the fires of Tophet.”</p>
+
+<p>At the moment a great burst of flame roared up into
+the sky from the summit of a little hill behind them, and
+both men glanced back. The banner of fire streamed
+clear across the sky.</p>
+
+<p>“Gee, Bill! Tophet couldn’t look hotter than that,”
+declared Texas Jack.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXV">CHAPTER XXV.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">THE TELLTALE CROW.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>For the most part, however, the scouts saved their
+breath and spoke but little. They were straining every
+effort to reach Bendigo Lake, the only body of water
+of sufficient size to offer protection from the conflagration.
+Every creek and pond hole in the neighborhood,
+which either of them knew about, was low now, and
+none were big enough to promise safety. In Bendigo
+Lake was a long, narrow island, wooded to be sure;
+but the lake was so wide that the scouts believed the
+flames would not leap from the shore to the island.</p>
+
+<p>“At any rate, it’s our best play, Buffler. No doubt
+of that,” observed Texas Jack.</p>
+
+<p>“Right you are, Texas,” panted the other. “Pick
+up your feet!”</p>
+
+<p>“That fire’s certainly racing to overtake us.”</p>
+
+<p>“Ha! What’s that?” muttered Cody, suddenly turning
+to look up a small slope which was more heavily
+wooded than the lowland through which they were
+passing.</p>
+
+<p>There had been a movement in the brush. The<span class="pagenum">[164]</span>
+wind did not affect the leaves and branches down here;
+it was only the tree tops that swayed and sang in the
+breeze.</p>
+
+<p>“A deer, eh?” panted Jack.</p>
+
+<p>“There!”</p>
+
+<p>Uttering the yell, Buffalo Bill seized his friend by
+the neck and flung him suddenly forward upon his
+face. He fell himself as well, and at the very instant
+there was a flash in the bushes on the side-hill, an explosion
+sounded, and the zip-zip of the bullet cut the
+air over their heads.</p>
+
+<p>Both scouts rolled aside, found covert, and sprang
+into position, revolvers in hand. Cody emptied one
+pistol as rapidly as possible into the brush-clump from
+which the treacherous shot had been fired.</p>
+
+<p>“No use, Bill! There he goes!” yelled Texas Jack.</p>
+
+<p>Off at one side they saw a huge figure pass rapidly
+out of sight. It looked like a bear running on its
+hind legs&mdash;were such a thing possible.</p>
+
+<p>“Of all the bloody-minded scoundrels!” said Texas
+Jack, as the two scouts set forth again, in the same
+direction as that taken by the person who had fired at
+them&mdash;which was likewise toward the lake, “that fellow
+takes the bun.”</p>
+
+<p>“Who was he? The smoke was in my eyes, and I
+couldn’t tell whether he was white or red.”</p>
+
+<p>“He was white, all right&mdash;or, so I have always
+heard,” declared Texas Jack.</p>
+
+<p>“By thunder! you don’t mean to say you know the
+scoundrel?”</p>
+
+<p>“Not personally acquainted with him&mdash;no,” laughed
+Jack.</p>
+
+<p>“What then?”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[165]</span></p>
+
+<p>“I’ve heard tell of him a good deal the past dozen
+years.”</p>
+
+<p>“Who is he?”</p>
+
+<p>“The Mad Hunter.”</p>
+
+<p>“Get out!”</p>
+
+<p>“That’s who it was, Buffler.”</p>
+
+<p>“Why should the fool fire at us?”</p>
+
+<p>“He’d just as soon shoot a white man as a red.”</p>
+
+<p>“He’s a devil.”</p>
+
+<p>“That he is.”</p>
+
+<p>“Why, I believe I saved his life the other day when
+I was out with Dick Danforth.”</p>
+
+<p>“What for?”</p>
+
+<p>Cody told him of how the young lieutenant had
+come near to shooting a gigantic man for a caribou,
+and how the being had run away yelling into the
+forest.</p>
+
+<p>“That’s him. Crazy as they make them.”</p>
+
+<p>“He must be crazy if he would stop to shoot men
+down when such a fire as that yonder is on his track as
+well as theirs.”</p>
+
+<p>“I reckon an insane person don’t act logically.”</p>
+
+<p>“He’s worse than the dumb beasts,” said Cody.
+“Look at that rabbit running almost between your
+legs, Jack. Aw! don’t step on him!”</p>
+
+<p>“I ain’t&mdash;dern his hide!” exclaimed Texas Jack, making
+a flying leap over the bunny.</p>
+
+<p>“He’s scared stiff. Some of the deer have run close
+enough to us to be touched. Even a bear will behave
+when there’s a forest fire. But this crazy bedlam is
+ready to shoot inoffensive men when death of the most
+awful kind is threatening him.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[166]</span></p>
+
+<p>“That’s why he’s crazy, I reckon,” said Texas Jack.
+“Come on, Buffler; this way.”</p>
+
+<p>The light of the fire now made the forest about them
+as light almost as day, but the radiance flickered, and
+the shadows danced in a blinding fashion. The scouts
+could not see as clearly as usual. Within a mile of
+the spot where they had been attacked by the Mad
+Hunter a second shot was fired at them&mdash;this time
+from directly ahead. Fortunately, the bullet went
+wild.</p>
+
+<p>“He’s got a single-shot, old-fashioned rifle,” declared
+Texas Jack.</p>
+
+<p>“That’s what is saving our lives,” returned his comrade.</p>
+
+<p>“He’s ahead of us&mdash;between us and the lake.”</p>
+
+<p>“We’ve got to try to capture him, then,” declared
+Cody firmly. “No use mincing matters. The fire is
+bad enough, but he is more dangerous.”</p>
+
+<p>“Reckon you’re right, Buffler,” grunted Texas Jack.</p>
+
+<p>The scouts separated, running several rods apart, so
+that the Mad Hunter might not be able to get them
+both in a line. And, if that were possible, they increased
+their pace. They heard the man crashing
+through the brush ahead, but they did not obtain another
+glimpse of him. And so phenomenal was his
+speed that soon he was out of ear-shot. Besides, the
+roaring of the flames and the crashing of falling trees
+interfered with their tracking of the madman by his
+footsteps.</p>
+
+<p>Their enemy ran as no human being ever ran before,
+for he got far enough ahead to load his old-fashioned
+gun and again await their coming. This<span class="pagenum">[167]</span>
+time he took a shot at Texas Jack and sent that
+worthy’s hat spinning into the air.</p>
+
+<p>“Confound his hide!” roared the scout. “Pepper
+him, Bill!”</p>
+
+<p>But with a scream of rage the madman was off
+through the illuminated forest once more, and Cody’s
+shots did not overtake him. Besides, the light was so
+uncertain that the scout did not waste but two balls in
+the attempt to bring down the foe.</p>
+
+<p>“He’ll git one of us yet,” cried Texas Jack.</p>
+
+<p>“We’ll keep as close to him as possible. He mustn’t
+have a chance to reload!”</p>
+
+<p>But it was like chasing a will-o’-the-wisp. The
+madman was off like the wind, shrieking his defiance.
+They could not keep him in sight, although the fire
+now was illuminating the forest far ahead of them.</p>
+
+<p>The roaring of the flames drowned the scouts’
+shouts to each other, too; and the heat puffed upon
+their backs as though somebody had suddenly swung
+open the door of an enormous furnace.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly Cody saw his friend throw up his hand,
+and knew that he shouted rather than heard the sound
+of his voice. Jack turned at a sharp angle, too, and
+Buffalo Bill followed suit. In a moment a glint of
+steel-blue water ahead invigorated Cody as well as his
+comrade. Lake Bendigo was at hand!</p>
+
+<p>In fifteen minutes they were on the shore. The
+water was a blessed relief to their eyes when they
+plunged their faces into it. In the rear the fire roared
+mightily, and the smoke now began to drift down
+upon them with smothering thickness.</p>
+
+<p>“We’d better take off our clothes and swim for the
+island, heh?” queried Jack.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[168]</span></p>
+
+<p>“Yes. There’s a bunch of driftwood that will make
+some kind of a raft. We’ll use it to transport our
+clothing and guns.”</p>
+
+<p>They stripped swiftly and were about to step into
+the water and push off the rude raft piled with their
+possessions when:</p>
+
+<p>Ping!</p>
+
+<p>The bullet buried itself in a tree trunk right beside
+Buffalo Bill’s head.</p>
+
+<p>“Holy Christmas!” exclaimed Texas Jack.</p>
+
+<p>“That devil has got ahead of us,” declared Cody.
+“That bullet came from the island.”</p>
+
+<p>“Why, he’s got us between two fires!” exclaimed
+Texas, bound to joke under any and all circumstances.</p>
+
+<p>For an instant the scouts were nonplused. They
+had involuntarily taken trees, but the heat from the
+rear was already unpleasant to their bare bodies.</p>
+
+<p>“We can’t stay here,” muttered Cody. “I shall go
+around the lake a ways, Texas, and try to swim over
+without being seen. You show yourself here. Better
+still, push off the raft and keep behind it and submerged
+as much as possible. Make for the island, but
+go slowly.”</p>
+
+<p>“You bet I’ll make for the island. I think I’d rather
+take cold lead than hot flames. Ouch!”</p>
+
+<p>“Meanwhile I’ll try to sneak over and get to the
+madman’s rear.”</p>
+
+<p>“Bare-handed?”</p>
+
+<p>“How else, man?” cried Cody. “I must be prepared
+to swim under water a part of the way. It must be
+cunning to match his cunning or we are lost, Jack!”</p>
+
+<p>Texas Jack realized that this was so, and he made
+no further objection. Cody glided away through the<span class="pagenum">[169]</span>
+shadowy forest, and Jack pushed off the raft and
+dodged another bullet. He was soon floundering in
+the cold water, pushing the raft before him, but by no
+means enamored of his position. The fire was behind
+and would devour him shortly if he returned to the
+shore. Every few moments a bullet sped from the
+madman’s hiding-place on the island and “plunked”
+into the raft, or into the water close beside the
+swimmer.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile Cody scurried along the shore, but suddenly
+found himself cut off by a tongue of the fire
+that had got ahead of the main conflagration and was
+already burning fiercely at the very verge of the lake.
+Traveling through the brush in his bare skin was not
+pleasant at best, so the scout tried sneaking into the
+water behind the little point of land which chanced to
+hide the island.</p>
+
+<p>Cold as the water was, it was a blessed relief from
+the heat and smoke of the forest. As he struck out
+from the shore, blazing embers showered about him,
+hissing and smoking as they struck the water. The
+smoke rolled down upon the lake and now and then
+completely blinded him, and must certainly have hidden
+his head from the observation of anybody on the
+island. Cody was delighted with the apparent success
+of his scheme, and struck out strongly for the little
+patch of wooded soil in which he hoped, with Texas
+Jack, to find safety. That it was held in possession by
+a madman did not matter. It was the single refuge
+offered the scouts, and if the madman would not share
+it peacefully, he must be put out of the way.</p>
+
+<p>These were Cody’s thoughts as he swam across the
+intervening space. He finally came to the sloping<span class="pagenum">[170]</span>
+shore, so that he could stand upright and wade in with
+his head and shoulders out of water. He had gone so
+far around the island that he believed that the madman,
+watching Texas Jack and his raft, would not see
+his own approach.</p>
+
+<p>And he did almost reach the shore unmolested.
+Suddenly, out of a dark hemlock at the extreme point
+of the island, there sprang a big crow, which, with
+raucous cry, flew over the scout and circled about him
+threateningly. The crow’s nest was evidently in that
+tree, and the coming of this strange maritime animal,
+who walked erect like a man, but wore no clothes,
+troubled the crow’s mind.</p>
+
+<p>The bird squawked like a hen with its head caught
+between two fence-palings. Cody made a dash for the
+shore, hoping to get under cover and so cease to disturb
+the telltale crow.</p>
+
+<p>But as he was about to step out on dry land a gigantic
+figure suddenly sprang through the brush at the
+water’s edge and appeared over him in a most threatening
+attitude. Above his head the man held a great
+rock, which he poised to fling upon the unarmed scout.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXVI">CHAPTER XXVI.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">THE MASSACRE.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>Why the madman had not sought to shoot him
+Buffalo Bill did not ask at the moment. The fact that
+he was at such a disadvantage was enough to fill his
+mind with forebodings. The rock was poised in the
+giant’s hands just over his head, and, as the scout was
+more than knee-deep in the water, it seemed impossible<span class="pagenum">[171]</span>
+for him to successfully dodge the missile if it were
+flung.</p>
+
+<p>The madman stood in the shadow, and Cody could
+not see his face. All he saw was that the man looked
+like a great, wet bear. He had swum or waded across
+to the island with all his clothes on. He evidently
+knew Bendigo Lake and its surroundings better than
+either of the scouts, and had found a shallow path
+across from the mainland.</p>
+
+<p>For several seconds the scout and the giant faced
+each other. Buffalo Bill’s muscles grew tense. He
+would try leaping upon the fellow, at any rate, although
+the possibility of his dodging the rock looked
+exceeding small.</p>
+
+<p>And then there suddenly flashed into his mind such
+a simple dodge for getting the best of his foe that the
+scout hesitated to use it. It seemed so exceedingly
+simple and childish. But the moments were flying,
+and the Mad Hunter was on the point of flinging the
+rock down upon him with terrific force.</p>
+
+<p>Cody stood so that his hands just touched the water.
+He hollowed his palms, swung both arms back, and
+suddenly scooped up the water and flung it in a blinding
+sheet of spray into the maniac’s face.</p>
+
+<p>Again and again he splashed the water over the fellow.
+The Mad Hunter uttered a howl of rage, and,
+as Cody threw himself to one side, still splashing the
+water, the rock was thrown. But the scout had destroyed
+the maniac’s aim and escaped the missile altogether.</p>
+
+<p>Cody could not land, however. The best he could
+do was to plunge back into the deeper water and there
+dive and remain swimming under the surface until he<span class="pagenum">[172]</span>
+had placed the island between himself and the fire.
+Here the trees threw black shadows, although the
+whole northern sky was red as blood, and the flames
+danced wildly upon the tree tops on the mainland.</p>
+
+<p>The Mad Hunter had disappeared, yet the scout
+did not know whether he had gone back to watch
+Texas Jack and the raft or was lurking in the shadow,
+waiting to spy upon him again. Meanwhile he was
+becoming thoroughly chilled, and feared to remain
+out beyond his depth, for a cramp might take him, and
+he could never struggle ashore then.</p>
+
+<p>Carefully he waded shoreward once more, watching
+the shadows beneath the trees, fearing to see the bulk
+of the maniac burst out of the brush and attack him
+again. There were several frightened creatures on the
+island, but they cowered and were dumb. All the
+scout could hear was the lapping of the water and the
+crackling of the conflagration on the mainland.</p>
+
+<p>The fire was eating through the forest very rapidly.
+It had reached the shore and was passing swiftly
+around the entire lake. Cody and Texas Jack could
+not return to the mainland now under any circumstances.
+It was the island or drowning for them!</p>
+
+<p>And Cody feared that his brave comrade had already
+succumbed to the cold water, or mayhap to a bullet
+from the maniac’s rifle. The fire as it ate around the
+lake began to illuminate this side of the island, too,
+and he feared that he would soon be a shining mark
+for the Mad Hunter.</p>
+
+<p>He kept his body under water and crept in toward
+the shore, his head only showing. He knew that he
+was taking his life in his hands, but the water was
+chilling him to the bone.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[173]</span></p>
+
+<p>Suddenly there was a great shouting on the other
+shore of the island, and following it came the pop of a
+pistol several times. Cody leaped ashore, and, despite
+the rough way and the thorns and brush which tore
+his body, he dashed across the narrow bit of land. He
+knew Texas Jack had landed and might need his help.</p>
+
+<p>As he ran, however, he suddenly came full tilt
+against a great, hairy object that was blundering
+through the brush. Over went the scout, and with an
+angry “Woof!” the bear darted aside, and a moment
+later he heard a splash in the lake, and knew that the
+creature had found the presence of mankind on the
+island more fear-inspiring than the fire on the mainland.</p>
+
+<p>When Cody picked himself up he beheld the half-clothed
+figure of Texas Jack standing over him.</p>
+
+<p>“By the piper that played before Pharaoh!” ejaculated
+Texas. “What’s the matter with you, Buffler?
+Come an’ git your clo’es&mdash;or do you fancy parading
+around yere in your birthday suit?”</p>
+
+<p>“What&mdash;what was that?” demanded the scout.</p>
+
+<p>“A bear. I fell over him myself and drove him
+off.”</p>
+
+<p>“I thought for a minute it was the madman.”</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, he’s gone,” said Texas Jack. “He ran out of
+ammunition, I reckon, and he took to the water, clo’es
+and all. There’s a shallow place yonder. We can
+wade ashore that way, too, when the fire burns out.”</p>
+
+<p>“He pretty near had me,” said Cody, and related
+his adventure as he shakingly got into his clothing.</p>
+
+<p>Texas Jack built a fire for them to dry and get
+warm by, and meanwhile explained that, finding he
+could not keep the scouts off the island, the Mad<span class="pagenum">[174]</span>
+Hunter had departed for the mainland, approaching
+that part where the fire had come nearest to burning
+itself out.</p>
+
+<p>“It’s dangerous to go over there yet,” said Buffalo
+Bill.</p>
+
+<p>“You can bet it is. But he reckoned he’d rather go
+than meet us closer to. The old scoundrel! I’ve
+heard of his tricks and deviltry, but I never happened
+to run up against him before.”</p>
+
+<p>“I hope I never will again,” said Cody devoutly.</p>
+
+<p>But he was doomed to meet the Mad Hunter again,
+and to learn that about him that caused the Border
+King much sorrow of spirit.</p>
+
+<p>The scouts remained on the island during the night,
+and late the next day started out to find their mounts.
+There was a swamp several miles away, and, knowing
+well the keen instinct of their horses, the scouts went
+to it, and in less than twenty-four hours found both
+Chief and the other, much mud-bespattered, but in
+good condition. And their arms, though somewhat
+rusted, were safe.</p>
+
+<p>The forest fire had burned over a large tract of
+country, had driven away the game, and had cleared
+the territory of Indians. So the scouts separated to
+follow the trails of different bands of reds and spot
+their new villages. Their duty was to find and report
+upon every new encampment of the redskins, that the
+department might keep tabs on the movements of the
+savages.</p>
+
+<p>Cody kept his eyes open for traces of the bandits,
+but during the following week learned nothing of the
+movements of Boyd Bennett and his gang.</p>
+
+<p>He was thinking of going to a certain rendezvous<span class="pagenum">[175]</span>
+where he expected to join Texas Jack, when he came
+suddenly upon a spectacle in a little valley that brought
+him up standing. So appalling&mdash;and unexpected&mdash;was
+the scene that it seemed for the moment as though
+his heart stopped beating!</p>
+
+<p>Over a score of figures in blue lay in the little cup-shaped
+coulée, where they had fallen battling for life!</p>
+
+<p>There they lay, partly stripped of their uniforms in
+some cases, robbed of their weapons, and lying amid
+their foes, hideous, painted savages, whom their red
+companions, in their haste to fly from the fearful
+scene, had not borne off to burial. Yet they had found
+time to tear the scalp-lock from the head of each white
+man.</p>
+
+<p>They lay in no order. The battle had been of the
+fiercest, and hand to hand. Here a trooper; there another&mdash;a
+redskin, an officer, a chief, a caparisoned
+steed, an Indian pony&mdash;all dead they lay and huddled
+together by the riverside in the tiny valley.</p>
+
+<p>Upon this scene Buffalo Bill came suddenly, just
+as the sun was about to drop below the western hills.
+The sight shocked and sickened him. Man of iron
+heart and steel nerves that he was, the sight made him
+reel in his saddle. He reined in his good horse, until
+it rose upon its haunches, and covered his eyes with one
+gauntleted hand as though to shut out the awful sight.</p>
+
+<p>An instant only did the scout show this weakness;
+then he scrutinized the red field which had flashed like
+some horrid vision on his sight.</p>
+
+<p>White-faced as the dead, with eyes which scrutinized
+each form and feature of the white men, the scout
+counted the slain. Gradually his own orbs flashed<span class="pagenum">[176]</span>
+with the fires of rage, and his lips became livid and
+quivering.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly, with a stifled cry, he leaped from his
+horse’s back and strode to one figure that lay stark
+at one side. It was in contact with a heap of slain
+on a knoll at the foot of a rock.</p>
+
+<p>Here the end had evidently come. This spot was
+plainly the last act of the fearful drama. Here the
+curtain of doom had fallen upon the remnant of the
+gallant band, to rise no more for them in this life!</p>
+
+<p>A groan issued from the scout’s lips, and he bowed
+his head in grief. There, with face upturned, lying in
+an attitude that showed he had died fighting to the
+last, lay Lieutenant Dick Danforth!</p>
+
+<p>The boy’s left hand grasped the barrel of an empty
+revolver; he had used it as a club at close quarters.
+The right held his sword-hilt, the blade buried in the
+body of a painted chief, whose death was probably the
+last act of the dying leader of the slaughtered troops.</p>
+
+<p>About him lay the foe, piled in heaps. Dick Danforth
+had sold his life at a dear price, indeed. And
+the fiends had run without scalping him!</p>
+
+<p>“Danforth dead!” murmured the scout. “It cannot
+be possible.”</p>
+
+<p>Yet it was true; he saw it plainly before he touched
+the already stiffening body. Merely by some freak of
+circumstances the young man had not been scalped.</p>
+
+<p>“Devils’ work this!” muttered the scout. He
+glanced again over the field. There were many points
+that had at first escaped his attention. For instance,
+there were shod horses lying dead that had never been
+ridden by either cavalrymen or Indian!</p>
+
+<p>“Aye, Indians did the deed, but there is a paleface<span class="pagenum">[177]</span>
+hand behind it, and I mean to ferret out the fiend
+who inspired it,” said Buffalo Bill.</p>
+
+<p>He dropped upon his knees again and felt of Danforth’s
+body. There, in a voice quivering with sorrow
+and passion, he exclaimed:</p>
+
+<p>“Aye! here beside the body of the man whom I loved&mdash;who
+saved me from death&mdash;I swear revenge on the
+instigator of this crime!”</p>
+
+<p>In his deep feeling he spoke these words aloud. A
+sound smote upon his ear. He sprang to his feet with
+a cry and turned as a harsh voice pealed out behind
+him:</p>
+
+<p>“And <em>I</em> swear, Buffalo Bill, that you shall never keep
+the oath your lips have just uttered!”</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXVII">CHAPTER XXVII.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">“THE DEATH KILLER.”</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill had believed himself alone with the
+dead on this field of blood, and the voice fell like a
+knell upon his ear. For the moment he was half-unmanned.
+Then he wheeled completely to face the
+speaker.</p>
+
+<p>He knew then that he had an old and deadly foe to
+deal with. His discovery, however, brought the scout
+to himself. He recovered his presence of mind, and
+in a tone that was reckless in its defiance, he cried:</p>
+
+<p>“So we meet again, do we, Bennett? And you think
+you hold the trumps once more?”</p>
+
+<p>“I do&mdash;and likewise a revolver at your head, Cody!”
+declared the bandit. “Drop your rifle!”</p>
+
+<p>The scout obeyed. The pistol in Bennett’s hand was<span class="pagenum">[178]</span>
+a well-timed argument. To all appearances the man
+was an Indian chief, for he was bedecked with feathers,
+his face was hideously painted, and he wore the full
+attire of a redskin, from moccasins to war-bonnet.</p>
+
+<p>At his back, with rifles and arrows likewise covering
+the scout, were a score of braves who had, with
+the stealthy tread of panthers, followed their leader
+to the spot where Buffalo Bill had mourned over the
+bodies of the slain white men. Cody knew well that
+he was at the mercy of a merciless foe.</p>
+
+<p>“You know me, do you, Cody?” said the bandit.</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, I know you&mdash;even if you’ve turned squaw-man,”
+said Cody bitterly. “I recognize your black
+heart under the paint and feathers.”</p>
+
+<p>“Have a care, scout, for every word of insult you
+heap upon me shall increase your torture at the stake.”</p>
+
+<p>“I see you’ve got it all mapped out for my finish,”
+said Cody.</p>
+
+<p>“You will not escape me this time, Buffalo Bill!”
+declared the bandit chief exultingly.</p>
+
+<p>“Don’t be too sure.”</p>
+
+<p>“Nay. It is settled. You are in my power. There
+can be no rescue here. <em>There</em> lies the one who cheated
+my vengeance before. He has paid the price.”</p>
+
+<p>“True. And <em>his</em> death must be paid for,” muttered
+the scout.</p>
+
+<p>“But not by you, Cody.”</p>
+
+<p>“Wait!” was the enigmatical word of the Border
+King, his eyes flashing the hate he felt for his sneering
+captor.</p>
+
+<p>“Do not tempt me too far, you dog!” exclaimed Bennett.
+“Remember you pay for all this when you come
+to die.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[179]</span></p>
+
+<p>“Aye; when I <em>do</em> come to die! But I am one who
+believes that while there is life there is still hope, you
+accursed renegade!”</p>
+
+<p>“That belief will not benefit you now, Cody. You
+are a dead man already.”</p>
+
+<p>“I’m the liveliest dead man <em>you</em> ever saw!”</p>
+
+<p>The renegade looked as though he was about to
+shoot the scout in his tracks; but he caught sight of
+the smile that curled Cody’s lips, and, not understanding
+it, refrained. Indeed, he looked all about, somewhat
+nervously, to try to discover the meaning of the
+scout’s expression.</p>
+
+<p>“You must have help at hand, or you would not be
+so defiant, Buffalo Bill.”</p>
+
+<p>“That may be,” said the scout non-committingly.</p>
+
+<p>“At least, these will not help you,” said Boyd Bennett,
+with a horrible smile, pointing to the stark figures
+in the valley.</p>
+
+<p>“Not one left to tell the story&mdash;no prisoners?”
+queried Cody sorrowfully, forgetting for the moment
+his own peril.</p>
+
+<p>“No, no! Chief Oak Heart wanted no prisoners
+from Danforth’s band. I told the chief that Danforth
+and his men were come to take him captive&mdash;that
+they had sworn to do it! Ha! ha! That was rich,
+eh? So every man of them died.”</p>
+
+<p>“And he came for <em>you</em>,” said Cody bitterly.</p>
+
+<p>“Aye; and met the death he deserved; but a more
+merciful death than <em>you</em> will meet, scout. I do not
+need to stir up the red men’s rage against <em>you</em>. They
+will receive you with great joy at Oak Heart’s encampment.”</p>
+
+<p>“And you fought with these savages?” cried Cody.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[180]</span></p>
+
+<p>“I did. And killed as they killed&mdash;without mercy.”</p>
+
+<p>“You do not fear to admit your crimes.”</p>
+
+<p>“Why should I? For am I not speaking to one who
+will soon be dead? Bah! you can no longer frighten
+me, Buffalo Bill!”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, it looks as though I was near my finish; I do
+not deny it,” said Cody quietly. “But tell me one
+thing, Boyd Bennett. Did you kill Lieutenant Danforth
+yourself?”</p>
+
+<p>“I am sorry to say I did not. There was a good
+deal of hot work right here. But Red Knife claims
+the honor of having delivered the finishing-stroke.
+We were returning to take the scalp-lock&mdash;&mdash;”</p>
+
+<p>“By Heaven, man! you shall not do it!” roared
+Cody, starting forward.</p>
+
+<p>But a dozen rifles clicked, and he knew that he was
+helpless. He fell back again. Bennett laughed.</p>
+
+<p>“Chief Oak Heart refused to allow any of his braves
+to scalp Danforth because he had fought so boldly.”</p>
+
+<p>“God bless the old red sinner for that!” murmured
+the much wrought-upon scout.</p>
+
+<p>Bennett laughed again.</p>
+
+<p>“But I am Death Killer, the medicine-chief, and I
+have come back myself to take the scalp-lock from the
+head of the man against whom I swore revenge.”</p>
+
+<p>“Boyd Bennett! accursed though you be, with a
+heart blacker than the foulest redskin can boast of,
+you would not do this wrong!” cried Buffalo Bill, in
+horror.</p>
+
+<p>“Watch me, scout.”</p>
+
+<p>“You shall not do it!”</p>
+
+<p>“You are mistaken; I shall. I came back with Red
+Knife and a few of the braves to point me out the<span class="pagenum">[181]</span>
+place where Danforth fell. On the way we saw you
+arrive, and we dogged your steps to the very corpse of
+your friend.</p>
+
+<p>“Ha, Cody! this is sweet&mdash;this revenge. My kind
+have cast me off. Well, then! I cast the white men
+off! I spit upon them! I slay them! And now I
+scalp my enemy!”</p>
+
+<p>Bennett had worked himself into a species of frenzy.
+He sprang forward now, dropping his revolver, knife
+in hand, to carry out his threat.</p>
+
+<p>“Never shall you do this crime&mdash;not if this is my
+last act on earth!” shouted the scout.</p>
+
+<p>As he spoke he suddenly jerked a revolver from his
+belt, threw it forward, and fired pointblank at Boyd
+Bennett, all with the quickness of a flash of light!</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXVIII">CHAPTER XXVIII.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">THE WHITE ANTELOPE INTERFERES.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>So rapid and unexpected was this movement of Buffalo
+Bill, in drawing his revolver and firing it, that not
+one of the warriors who stood behind the renegade
+chief&mdash;some with arrows already fitted to their bows,
+and others with rifles covering the scout&mdash;had time to
+fire.</p>
+
+<p>Yet, swift as he had been, one eye was quick enough
+to send an arrow upon its errand. The shaft struck
+the outstretched arm of the scout just as his finger
+pulled the trigger of his weapon, and the shock
+destroyed his aim.</p>
+
+<p>Having made this daring move, however, and believing
+that death must follow the deed, Buffalo Bill<span class="pagenum">[182]</span>
+dropped his left hand upon his second pistol, determined
+to press the fight, kill Bennett, and die as
+had the brave man at his feet&mdash;fighting to the last!</p>
+
+<p>Maddened with rage and thirsting for the life of
+his foe, Boyd Bennett shouted to his warriors to rush
+upon the scout and take him alive that he might end
+his career by cruel torture. But suddenly a slender
+form darted before the red braves, and, with arrow set
+in readiness to let fly, the White Antelope thrust herself
+between the white man and the reds who would
+have seized him.</p>
+
+<p>“Let the Sioux braves hold their hands. The White
+Antelope commands it!”</p>
+
+<p>Like one man the reds halted, and even the renegade
+shrank back a step, gazing in fear and wonder
+on the apparition of the beautiful girl.</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill, too, gazed upon the chief’s daughter
+in amazement. He knew now that the arrow he drew
+from the wound in his right forearm had been driven
+home by the girl; yet now she stood between him and
+his foes.</p>
+
+<p>Her attitude evidently astonished Bennett as much
+as it did Cody himself, for the renegade cried:</p>
+
+<p>“Why has the White Antelope become the friend of
+the slayer of her people? The man she shelters is
+Pa-e-has-ka, the Long Hair.”</p>
+
+<p>“The arrow of the White Antelope brings blood
+from the arm of Pa-e-has-ka. Is that the way in
+which a Sioux shows friendship?” asked the young
+girl scornfully.</p>
+
+<p>“Then the White Antelope yields the paleface foe to
+the medicine chief of her tribe?”</p>
+
+<p>“No!” was the decided response.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[183]</span></p>
+
+<p>“What would you do?” demanded the renegade
+angrily.</p>
+
+<p>“I will deliver Pa-e-has-ka to the great chief, my
+father, Oak Heart.”</p>
+
+<p>“The White Antelope is no warrior,” sneered the
+renegade. “Are there not braves enough loyal to Oak
+Heart to carry out his will upon this paleface?”</p>
+
+<p>“The White Antelope may be no warrior,” said the
+girl; “but she has just saved the life of the Death
+Killer.”</p>
+
+<p>At this Buffalo Bill laughed aloud, for the shot was
+a good one, and his seeming indifference to his peril
+caused the daughter of the chief to turn her eyes upon
+him. She scanned the scout from head to foot. What
+was in her thoughts he could not guess; but, suddenly,
+deciding upon a course of action, she stepped boldly to
+the side of Buffalo Bill, and touched with tender fingers
+the wounded arm which he had bared.</p>
+
+<p>“If the Long Hair has ointment for the wound, it
+would be better to bind it,” she said to him.</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill opened his pouch, and the girl found
+the salve and bandages he always carried. Meanwhile,
+the scout sucked the wound to remove any foreign matter
+that might have been driven into it by the arrowhead.
+Then the Indian maiden bound up the hurt
+while the renegade looked on sullenly.</p>
+
+<p>“Why is the Long Hair here&mdash;so near the village
+of the Sioux?” she asked Buffalo Bill, when this act
+of kindness was performed.</p>
+
+<p>“I chanced upon the place. I saw the dead. Here
+lies my friend&mdash;the young man whom I loved as a
+son,” said the scout, pointing to the body of Danforth.<span class="pagenum">[184]</span>
+“He and his men have been all slain by the
+Sioux.”</p>
+
+<p>“They were enemies,” said the girl simply.</p>
+
+<p>“But they had not come out to disturb the red men.”</p>
+
+<p>“Why were they here?”</p>
+
+<p>“To find and take prisoner that villain yonder!” exclaimed
+Buffalo Bill, scowling at Boyd Bennett in his
+war-paint and feathers. “That man who is neither
+white nor red, but a squaw-man! He had committed
+crimes against the white man’s law and should be
+punished by that law.”</p>
+
+<p>“My father heard that the palefaces were coming
+to seize him.”</p>
+
+<p>“Another lie of that renegade!” exclaimed the scout.
+“And while I mourned over the body of this young
+man, the villain came upon me, returning, as he declares,
+to tear the scalp from the head of the white
+chief whom he was not brave enough himself to
+kill!”</p>
+
+<p>The girl seemed to understand. She glanced from
+the body of Danforth to the rage-inflamed face of Boyd
+Bennett.</p>
+
+<p>“Is it from this dead white chief’s head the Killer
+would take the scalp?” she asked haughtily.</p>
+
+<p>“Aye; and I <em>will</em> have it!” cried Bennett.</p>
+
+<p>“Did the young paleface fall by thy hand, Death
+Killer?” demanded the maiden, with all the dignity of
+a judge.</p>
+
+<p>“It matters not. Forget not, oh, White Antelope,
+that I am the medicine chief of the Sioux&mdash;&mdash;”</p>
+
+<p>“And see that the Death Killer forget not that <em>I</em>
+am the daughter of Oak Heart!” she interrupted.</p>
+
+<p>“I acknowledge that fact,” sneered Boyd Bennett.<span class="pagenum">[185]</span>
+“But the White Antelope has no control over the acts
+of the Death Killer.”</p>
+
+<p>“Did the paleface fall to your prowess?” she demanded
+again, looking the renegade sternly in the eye.</p>
+
+<p>An Indian stepped forward. He carried a blood-stained
+war-club in one hand. In a deep guttural he
+said:</p>
+
+<p>“The white chief’s scalp should be Red Knife’s;
+he brought him low at last with a blow of his club.
+But the great chief, Oak Heart, forbade that we take
+the scalp of so brave a warrior.”</p>
+
+<p>“Then why does the Death Killer wish to do that
+which is forbidden by my father?” cried the girl
+quickly.</p>
+
+<p>“Is it the White Antelope’s place to question the
+medicine chief of her tribe?” demanded the painted
+white man, with haughty demeanor. “The scalp of
+the dead bluecoat is my prize!”</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill saw indecision in the Indian maiden’s
+face. He knew how superstitious the redskins were
+regarding the mysterious powers claimed by all medicine
+chiefs. In some way&mdash;by some manner of fake
+magic&mdash;Boyd Bennett had roused the superstitious
+reverence of the Sioux, and Buffalo Bill did not know
+how greatly the chief’s daughter might be tainted by
+this feeling of reverence for the villainous renegade.</p>
+
+<p>“Let not this crime be done, White Antelope,” he
+said in her ear. “Remember what Pa-e-has-ka told
+you in the cañon, when he had you in his power. He
+knows much. He was once your mother’s trusted
+friend. And he warns you now&mdash;as you hope for
+peace of soul and body&mdash;not to allow the dead young
+man to be so treated by your people.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[186]</span></p>
+
+<p>The girl turned upon him suddenly, with wide-open
+eyes.</p>
+
+<p>“What does Long Hair mean? What is this dead
+paleface to her?”</p>
+
+<p>“That Long Hair may not tell thee, oh, White Antelope.
+Trust him&mdash;&mdash;”</p>
+
+<p>“Trust a paleface!”</p>
+
+<p>“Trust one who has given you back to your father
+when he might have taken your life, or held you
+prisoner.”</p>
+
+<p>“Aye, Long Hair, thou didst that. It is true.”</p>
+
+<p>“And believe me,” the scout said, more earnestly
+still, in English, not wishing the other Indians to
+understand; “this dead paleface whom even the great
+chief Oak Heart admired for his bravery, is more to
+the White Antelope than she knows. The time will
+come when I can explain all to you, girl&mdash;but not
+now!”</p>
+
+<p>“What’s that?” demanded Boyd Bennett, stepping
+forward. “What’s this foolishness you are telling the
+girl?”</p>
+
+<p>But the White Antelope haughtily waved him back.</p>
+
+<p>“Let the Death Killer stand away. The chief’s
+daughter can care for herself. And let not one of
+these dead palefaces be further disturbed. It is my
+will!”</p>
+
+<p>The waiting Indians grunted agreement. They were
+willing enough to obey the beautiful princess. The
+White Antelope turned again to Buffalo Bill:</p>
+
+<p>“Where are the paleface brothers of Pa-e-has-ka?”</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill pointed in the direction from which he
+had come.</p>
+
+<p>“Far away.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[187]</span></p>
+
+<p>“The White Antelope is his foe, and the foe of his
+people; but she wishes not to see the wolves and the
+vultures tear the bodies of brave men for food. The
+Sioux have come to remove their dead. Let Pa-e-has-ka
+go bring his brother warriors to remove the
+paleface slain.”</p>
+
+<p>At that Boyd Bennett uttered an oath and sprang
+forward.</p>
+
+<p>“Not that, girl! You’re crazy!”</p>
+
+<p>“We’ll see who wears the breeches in this family,
+Boyd Bennett!” laughed the scout.</p>
+
+<p>“You shall not leave this spot alive, Bill Cody!”</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, shucks! Don’t speak so harshly,” gibed the
+scout.</p>
+
+<p>The girl raised her hand. Without looking at the
+renegade, she said to Buffalo Bill:</p>
+
+<p>“But Pa-e-has-ka must make the White Antelope a
+promise.”</p>
+
+<p>“All right. What is it?”</p>
+
+<p>“The White Antelope came from the great chief
+Oak Heart, who told her to seek the paleface warriors
+and tell them where to find their dead. He bids them
+to come here and remove their slain in peace, and not
+to follow on the track of his people. Will Pa-e-has-ka
+tell the big chief the words of Oak Heart?”</p>
+
+<p>“I will.”</p>
+
+<p>“Then Pa-e-has-ka must promise to return and yield
+himself to the Sioux.”</p>
+
+<p>She looked Buffalo Bill straight in the eye as she
+stated her condition, and he saw that she meant exactly
+what she said; but he asked:</p>
+
+<p>“Does the White Antelope mean that I am to give<span class="pagenum">[188]</span>
+myself up to the red warriors after I have guided the
+bluecoats here?”</p>
+
+<p>“She has spoken.”</p>
+
+<p>“And this is the promise she wishes Pa-e-has-ka to
+make?”</p>
+
+<p>The Indian girl nodded.</p>
+
+<p>“Why should Pa-e-has-ka return?”</p>
+
+<p>“He is the captive of the medicine chief, Death
+Killer, now; but White Antelope lets him go free that
+the paleface braves lie not unburied, and that the other
+white warriors take heed not to follow upon the trail
+of the Sioux. Will Pa-e-has-ka promise?”</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill was silent for a moment. If he refused
+he knew that her protection would cease. If he agreed
+to her condition he must keep his word, be the end
+what it might. And that end looked to the scout much
+like an ironwood stake, a hot fire, and a bunch of
+naked red devils dancing a two-step about him while
+he slowly crisped to a cinder!</p>
+
+<p>There was a loophole. He made a mental reservation
+that, after bearing the tidings of the massacre to
+the fort, and delivering Oak Heart’s warning, he
+would return to the Sioux encampment&mdash;but with a
+force behind him that would surprise the redskins!</p>
+
+<p>“I agree,” he said finally.</p>
+
+<p>“Trust not the fox-tongue of the Long Hair!” cried
+Boyd Bennett violently. “He will not keep his
+pledge.”</p>
+
+<p>“The paleface is the foe of my people, but his
+tongue is straight,” declared the Indian maiden, with
+confidence.</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill began secretly to weaken on that “mental
+reservation.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[189]</span></p>
+
+<p>“But he will come with a force at his back and burn
+the Indian village,” cried the renegade.</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill had to give the fellow credit for having
+divined his purpose; but the girl turned scornfully
+from the squaw-man.</p>
+
+<p>“Pa-e-has-ka is not two-faced. He is not a turncoat,”
+she said sneeringly. “The White Antelope will
+believe that the Long Hair will return alone.”</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill at that completely abandoned the “mental
+reservation” clause.</p>
+
+<p>“Bet your life he will!” he exclaimed. “I’ll come
+back as I promise, girl.”</p>
+
+<p>“Then let Pa-e-has-ka go.”</p>
+
+<p>But as she spoke the command, Boyd Bennett once
+more sprang forward. He covered the scout with his
+rifle and cried:</p>
+
+<p>“I am the medicine chief of the Sioux, and I say
+the paleface dog shall not go!”</p>
+
+<p>Then in English he declared:</p>
+
+<p>“Your hour has come, Buffalo Bill. You die here
+and now!”</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXIX">CHAPTER XXIX.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">A GIRL’S WORD.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>The instant the renegade uttered the threat, Buffalo
+Bill placed himself upon guard by drawing his
+revolvers and covering the scoundrel. His wounded
+arm was sore, but the nerves had recovered from the
+shock of the arrow-wound, and he could hold his gun
+steadily enough. The renegade was so near at best
+that the scout could not miss him!</p>
+
+<p>But the scout did not shoot. The White Antelope<span class="pagenum">[190]</span>
+with flashing eyes, sprang to the front, and she, too,
+aimed her arrow at Boyd Bennett.</p>
+
+<p>The warriors&mdash;or the bulk of them, at least&mdash;were
+surprised by Buffalo Bill’s action, and their several
+weapons were in line for the scout’s heart before they
+noted the White Antelope’s action. Then several of
+them dropped their guns, and their facial expression
+was as foolish as it was possible for so stoical a set
+of faces to be!</p>
+
+<p>For a moment the tableau continued. A sudden motion
+might have precipitated a bloody, though brief,
+conflict. Buffalo Bill, though pale, was stern and determined,
+his eyes riveted upon the face of Boyd Bennett.
+He felt that the girl was friendly to him, and he
+knew her influence among the Sioux.</p>
+
+<p>“Why do you not bring that finger to the trigger of
+your rifle, Bennett?” he asked sneeringly. “It won’t
+go off otherwise.”</p>
+
+<p>The girl looked at the warriors and commanded
+quickly:</p>
+
+<p>“Let the braves of Oak Heart turn their weapons
+from the heart of Pa-e-has-ka, the paleface chief.”</p>
+
+<p>To the delight of Buffalo Bill, the command was instantly
+obeyed. Much as they might have feared the
+power of the medicine chief, Oak Heart was greater,
+and his daughter was here as his representative.</p>
+
+<p>That Boyd Bennett was nonplused by this move was
+plain. His face fell, and he lowered his own rifle.
+But the scowl of deadly hatred which he bestowed on
+the white man threatened vengeance at some future
+date.</p>
+
+<p>“I reckon the redskins are trumps, old man, and the
+girl holds a full hand of them!” laughed Buffalo Bill.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[191]</span></p>
+
+<p>“It is your time to laugh now, Cody. But mine will
+come,” gritted the renegade.</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, I can’t expect to laugh always, Bennett; but,”
+and the scout changed his speech to the Sioux dialect,
+that all the warriors might understand; “let the renegade
+paleface meet me now in personal combat, and
+settle the matter at once. Long Hair does not fear a
+fair fight with the mighty Death Killer!” he added
+sneeringly.</p>
+
+<p>The nods and grunts of the warriors showed that
+they approved of this proposal. Although they could
+not quite agree with the White Antelope’s friendliness
+with Buffalo Bill, they saw that he was a brave man&mdash;as,
+indeed, they knew well before&mdash;and a duel to the
+death seemed to their savage minds the only way to
+properly decide the controversy between their medicine
+chief and the scout. They looked at Bennett expectantly.</p>
+
+<p>But the renegade was not desirous of meeting Buffalo
+Bill with any weapon he might name! He knew
+the scout’s prowess too well. His desire was to see the
+scout writhing in the embrace of the flames, or standing
+bound as a target for the hatchet-marksmen of the
+Indian tribe with which he was affiliated.</p>
+
+<p>He dared not seem to refuse the challenge, however,
+for he would then lose completely his influence with
+Oak Heart’s braves. But suddenly he caught sight of
+the Indian maiden’s face, and that he read like an open
+book!</p>
+
+<p>“The enemy of the Sioux has spoken well. We will
+fight!” exclaimed Boyd Bennett promptly, but with a
+crafty smile wreathing his lips.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[192]</span></p>
+
+<p>“The White Antelope says ‘No!’” exclaimed the Indian
+girl, facing the renegade.</p>
+
+<p>As he was so sure she would veto the proposition,
+the wily Bennett was eager to urge the duel.</p>
+
+<p>“Why does the daughter of the great chief interfere?
+She says that Pa-e-has-ka is not her friend, and
+yet she shields him.”</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill had to chuckle over this. He couldn’t
+help it. He saw through the whole game of Bennett’s,
+and it amused him.</p>
+
+<p>“No, the Long Hair shall not fight the medicine
+chief,” declared the girl earnestly.</p>
+
+<p>“And why not?” demanded Bennett, with continued
+haughtiness.</p>
+
+<p>“Because if they fought, the white man would wear
+the medicine chief’s scalp at his belt,” declared the
+young girl. “The white man shall go his way, bring
+his brothers to bury the paleface dead, and then deliver
+himself to Oak Heart, as he has promised.”</p>
+
+<p>“And you can make up your mind, Boyd Bennett,
+that she says one very true thing,” declared Buffalo
+Bill. “Whenever we <em>do</em> fight, you’ll go under! Mark
+that! I’ll run you down yet and nail your scalp to the
+wall of Fort Advance as a warning to all horse-thieves,
+stage-robbers, and deserters!”</p>
+
+<p>The White Antelope spoke quickly before the wrathful
+Bennett could reply to this challenge:</p>
+
+<p>“Let the paleface go to his big chief. There is his
+horse. Yonder is his weapon. Mount, Pa-e-has-ka,
+and away!”</p>
+
+<p>“Aye, girl,” said Cody, in English; “but what will
+happen to this poor young man if I go, leaving that<span class="pagenum">[193]</span>
+brute here? He will tear the scalp from Danforth’s
+head as soon as my back, and yours, are turned.”</p>
+
+<p>“That he shall not!” exclaimed the White Antelope.</p>
+
+<p>“You do not know his treachery,” said Buffalo Bill,
+who knew that the very deed was in Bennett’s mind.</p>
+
+<p>“I have told the white man that the brave young
+chief shall not be mistreated.”</p>
+
+<p>“Your word on it, girl?”</p>
+
+<p>“The White Antelope has spoken. She will guard
+the body of the young white chief herself until Pa-e-has-ka’s
+return.”</p>
+
+<p>“Good!” exclaimed Buffalo Bill. “And, my girl,
+you’ll never be sorry for this mercy shown the corpse
+of that poor young man.”</p>
+
+<p>The girl looked at him strangely.</p>
+
+<p>“The Long Hair will return, as he has promised, to
+the village of Oak Heart?”</p>
+
+<p>“I’ll keep my word; do you keep yours,” said the
+scout.</p>
+
+<p>“Pa-e-has-ka’s tongue is straight?”</p>
+
+<p>“As sure as I live, I’ll come back, girl!” declared the
+scout earnestly.</p>
+
+<p>The next instant he mounted Chief unmolested, having
+picked up his rifle, settled himself in the saddle,
+seized the reins, and dashed away. As he mounted the
+ridge he looked back. The reds were busy separating
+their own slain from the dead soldiers. The tall figure
+of the medicine chief was stalking angrily from the
+scene. White Antelope was down on her knees by the
+body of Dick Danforth, the dead lieutenant. With a
+dumb ache at his heart, and little thought for his own
+coming peril, Buffalo Bill went over the rise and
+spurred away for Fort Advance.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<p><span class="pagenum">[194]</span></p>
+
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXX">CHAPTER XXX.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">THE MAD HUNTER.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>In the valley a cavalry command was encamped,
+some hours after the battle in which Lieutenant Dick
+Danforth and his men had been overwhelmed by Oak
+Heart’s ambuscade.</p>
+
+<p>It was just sunset, but twilight among the mountains
+is sometimes four hours long&mdash;a man might see to read
+fine print at nine o’clock.</p>
+
+<p>The command had ridden hard and were a-wearied,
+so the party had bivouacked early, the guide reporting
+that the ridge before them afforded no good camping-ground.
+The horses were soon lariated out, and scores
+of camp-fires were kindled along the banks of the
+stream, while the cheerful rattle of dishes and the smell
+of cooking sharpened the appetites of the troopers.</p>
+
+<p>Leaving his servant to prepare his frugal meal, the
+commander of the soldiers strode up the hillside toward
+the summit of the ridge, the better to view the
+valley and its boundaries while daylight lingered.</p>
+
+<p>“Be careful, captain, for I look for Injuns hereabouts,”
+called the guide, who was Texas Jack.</p>
+
+<p>“All right, Jack. I’ll signal if I see any signs of
+the red scamps,” returned the fearless officer, as he
+strode on up the ascent.</p>
+
+<p>Once or twice he turned to enjoy the scene of beauty
+spreading below him&mdash;the lovely valley, the winding
+stream, the picturesque bivouac of the troopers, and the
+distant blue hills, on which the light was fading rapidly.
+At length he reached the point from which he<span class="pagenum">[195]</span>
+could view a part of the country through which the
+morrow’s trail would lead them.</p>
+
+<p>Below him, on that side of the ridge, all was shadow
+now, for the ridge shut off the last glow of the golden
+western sky; but the summits of the hills and ridges
+were still bathed in the departing sun’s radiance. The
+scene so impressed him that, quite unconsciously, the
+officer spoke aloud:</p>
+
+<p>“No wonder that poor Lo loves this land so well
+that he’s willing to fight for it. It is a pity it must
+ever be settled, and cut up into farms and homesteads&mdash;and
+possibly, town lots! The life of the free savage is
+the best, after all!”</p>
+
+<p>“Well said, captain! But I’ve got the drop on you!”</p>
+
+<p>The officer started as the voice fell upon his ears,
+and, dropping his hand upon his sword-hilt, turned to
+face the speaker. Before him, and not six paces distant,
+having just stepped from a dense thicket, was an
+apparition which, at first sight, the officer scarce realized
+was human!</p>
+
+<p>And yet, no other shape was near, and from the
+lips of the strange being that confronted him had fallen
+the threatening words he had heard.</p>
+
+<p>“Who and what are you?” cried the officer sternly,
+his eyes beholding a being of gigantic size, clad in the
+skins of beasts, so that at first sight he appeared more
+like a grizzly bear reared upon its hind legs!</p>
+
+<p>About the waist of the giant was a red fox-skin
+belt, in which were slung two revolvers and a large
+knife; upon his head was a panther-skin cap, the tail
+hanging down the man’s back, and on his feet were
+moccasins of black bearskin. Hair black as night fell
+to his waist; beard of the same hue matted and unkempt;<span class="pagenum">[196]</span>
+and a dark, haggard face, out of which glittered
+the wildest eyes it had ever been the officer’s fortune
+to see.</p>
+
+<p>To finish this terrifying picture, the strange being
+held a rifle at his shoulder, and that rifle was aimed
+now at the military officer’s heart!</p>
+
+<p>“You ask who and what I am?” repeated the creature,
+in a deep voice.</p>
+
+<p>“I do,” said the soldier, measuring him with the eye
+of a hawk.</p>
+
+<p>He had instantly seen that he was in the presence
+of a maniac&mdash;a person utterly irresponsible for his
+acts. Whether he was to be cajoled out of his present
+murderous condition of mind, the soldier did not
+know. But he was watching for some wavering of
+the rifle which might tell him that the fellow was off
+his guard, and that there might be a chance to spring
+under his guard and seize him.</p>
+
+<p>“You are a bold man to question me, captain!” said
+the giant sternly.</p>
+
+<p>“I know it; but I’ve an overpowering curiosity to
+find out,” and the captain dropped his hand carelessly
+upon the butt of the pistol he carried at his hip.</p>
+
+<p>“Hands up!” exclaimed the fellow, seeing the movement.
+“Hands up, or you are a dead man!”</p>
+
+<p>Hoping that he might yet parley with the maniac,
+the officer obeyed. It were better, perhaps, had he
+drawn his gun and risked a shot. The giant looked at
+him with wicked, glowing eyes.</p>
+
+<p>“I will tell you who I am, officer,” he whispered
+hoarsely. “I am a <em>madman</em>!”</p>
+
+<p>The last word he fairly shrieked; yet not for a second<span class="pagenum">[197]</span>
+did he forget his victim, nor did his hand tremble.
+The rifle still transfixed the helpless officer.</p>
+
+<p>But the officer was a kindly man, and although he
+believed himself in peril of his life still, the brave man
+ever has pity for those touched in the head. He said
+quietly:</p>
+
+<p>“My poor man, lower your weapon and come with
+me down to yonder camp. Those are Uncle Sam’s
+troops down there. They will take care of you.”</p>
+
+<p>“Ha!” cried the maniac furiously. “I need no one
+to care for me. I can care for myself. You’d much
+better be thinking of help for yourself, captain.”</p>
+
+<p>“Well, then I’ll go along and look for that help,”
+said the officer easily.</p>
+
+<p>“Don’t move!”</p>
+
+<p>“But, my dear fellow&mdash;&mdash;”</p>
+
+<p>“Hold! Address no words of kindness to me, for
+they are thrown away upon one whose duty it is to
+slay.”</p>
+
+<p>“But it surely isn’t your duty to kill <em>me</em>!”</p>
+
+<p>“Aye&mdash;you, too.”</p>
+
+<p>“But what have I done to you?”</p>
+
+<p>“It matters not. Mankind has done enough to me.
+I am appointed to slay, and slay I will!”</p>
+
+<p>“It’s nice to know your duty so clearly,” said the
+officer easily. “But aren’t you liable to make a mistake?”</p>
+
+<p>“No! Never a mistake. Once I might have made
+a mistake. That was when I believed I was called of
+God to kill the redskins only. I know better now.”</p>
+
+<p>“Well!” murmured the officer, hoping to catch the
+madman off his guard, if only for a moment.</p>
+
+<p>“I saw the error of my ways,” cried the madman.<span class="pagenum">[198]</span>
+“I beheld my sins. I had neglected the full measure
+of my duty.”</p>
+
+<p>“So killing redskins didn’t satisfy you, eh?”</p>
+
+<p>“Why should I kill the savages alone? I saw white
+men quite as brutal&mdash;aye, more brutal&mdash;than the red.
+I saw them commit the same atrocities. I saw white
+rangers rip the scalps from the head of their dead foes;
+I saw the soldiers storm the Indian encampments and
+kill the squaws and the papoose at the breast! Aye!
+how much better are the whites than the red men?”</p>
+
+<p>“And having seen all this bloody warfare, you wish
+to add to the sum total of horror by killing everybody
+you come across, do you, old fellow?”</p>
+
+<p>“You are all alike to me. I kill. That is the way I
+obtain ammunition and arms. The arms and cartridges
+you carry are mine!”</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, I’ll give them to you right now, if you want
+them,” exclaimed the captain eagerly. “You won’t
+have to kill me to get them. Really, it isn’t necessary.
+I’ll do the polite and hand them over.”</p>
+
+<p>To himself he thought:</p>
+
+<p>“And I’ll hand you something that will do you a lot
+of good the first chance I get!”</p>
+
+<p>But the madman was not to be fooled so easily.</p>
+
+<p>“Nay, nay! Your bullets would not fly true for me
+were you alive,” declared the giant. “I am the Mad
+Hunter. Have you heard of me?”</p>
+
+<p>“I have heard of such a character,” admitted the
+captain.</p>
+
+<p>“I am he, and if you know of me you must know
+that I show mercy to none&mdash;not even to one wearing
+the uniform you do. No, no! I spare neither my own
+race&mdash;for I was white once, before I became like the<span class="pagenum">[199]</span>
+beasts that perish&mdash;nor the redskin. All fall before
+me.”</p>
+
+<p>The man spoke with intensity; yet not a motion
+gave the officer hope of his chance to spring on him.
+The man’s nerves were of steel; he held the rifle as
+though it and his own body were of stone; yet the
+glittering eyes showed his victim that if he dropped his
+hands a bullet would end his career on the instant.</p>
+
+<p>“But, you know, <em>I</em> haven’t harmed you, my poor
+man,” said the officer.</p>
+
+<p>“All mankind are my foes,” said the Mad Hunter,
+in his strong monotone, and without moving. “Come!
+the night draws near, and I have yet to travel many
+miles to my cave in the mountains.”</p>
+
+<p>“Don’t let me detain you, old man,” said the officer.
+“Won’t it do just as well another day?”</p>
+
+<p>“Come! prepare to die. If you have prayers to
+say, repeat them quickly. It is growing dark.”</p>
+
+<p>Now, the officer didn’t care how dark it got before
+the madman fired. Indeed, he would have been glad if
+it suddenly became pitch-dark&mdash;so dark that he might
+dodge away and escape the sinister weapon which held
+its “bead” on his breast. He gave up all hope of
+“talking the fellow out of it.” The madman meant to
+kill him, and unless some miracle averted the fate, he
+would very quickly be a dead man!</p>
+
+<p>The madman was a giant in build and strength. He
+remembered now having heard the scouts tell many
+strange stories of the Mad Hunter about the camp-fire.
+For years he had been tracking about the Rockies, appearing
+unexpectedly in first one locality and then another;
+sometimes committing atrocious murders of inoffensive
+people. But usually his presence was noted<span class="pagenum">[200]</span>
+by the scouts by the dead bodies of Indians, their bodies
+mutilated by a cross gashed with the madman’s knife
+over their hearts. He put this insignia upon every
+redskin he killed, so that even the savages&mdash;who feared
+him as some spirit and altogether supernatural&mdash;knew
+who to lay the death of their friends to when the Mad
+Hunter was about.</p>
+
+<p>Whether the giant had a habit of marking his white
+victims in the same way, the captain did not know;
+but it was a suggestion that did not tranquilize his
+nerves. To cope with the giant he knew would be
+impossible. He was a tall and strong man himself;
+but the maniac could have handled three men like the
+officer with ease. A movement toward his revolver or
+sword would be a signal for his death. Yet the officer
+could not stand here helplessly and allow the maniac
+to shoot him down!</p>
+
+<p>In full view below him were the camp-fires of his
+men. The valley had grown dark now, but surely they
+could see him clearly standing here on the summit of
+the ridge. His body must loom big against the sky-line.
+Yet it was plain they did not see the giant with
+him.</p>
+
+<p><em>He</em> stood in the shadow of the thicket where he had
+hidden at the officer’s approach. It was behind him,
+and made him invisible to the men in the valley. To
+call for aid would bring the end more quickly. So he
+waited in silence, hoping against hope that some mad
+freak of the maniac’s mind and humor might work for
+his salvation.</p>
+
+<p>If the Mad Hunter kept his word, the officer had
+but a few minutes to live. He looked all about the
+vicinity, hoping he might see some chance of help. It<span class="pagenum">[201]</span>
+was a desperate&mdash;a really hopeless thought. Who or
+what could save him now?</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly his eyes became fixed upon the spur of a
+hill that jutted out across a shallow valley. The lingering
+rays of the sun touched the hill-spur redly. It
+seemed much nearer to him than it really was, and
+along its brink came a horse and rider!</p>
+
+<p>The officer gasped; then held his breath, and did
+not change the mask of his face. He had learned long
+since to hide emotion; but this was a terrible situation,
+and he had almost lost his nerve.</p>
+
+<p>The horseman had evidently been about to descend
+into the valley, when his glance fell upon the two men
+standing like statues upon the opposite ridge. <em>He</em>
+could see the giant huntsman, if the soldiers in the
+other valley could not. He saw at once the attitude of
+both men and understood. He drew rein, and the officer
+at the same moment recognized him. Unconsciously
+his lips parted, and the name of the rider came
+from the officer in a quick gasp:</p>
+
+<p>“Buffalo Bill!”</p>
+
+<p>The keen ear of the mad hercules caught the name,
+and, turning like a panther at bay, he saw the scout on
+the distant spur. As he moved, the officer’s hands
+dropped, and he seized the revolver from his belt.
+Throwing it forward, he pulled the trigger as the madman
+wheeled again toward him.</p>
+
+<p>But the hammer fell without exploding the cartridge.
+The madman laughed aloud.</p>
+
+<p>“No, no!” he shouted. “The bullet is not cast that
+will kill the Mad Hunter! The cartridge is not made
+that will injure me!”</p>
+
+<p>The officer found his pistol-hammer jammed. He<span class="pagenum">[202]</span>
+could not cock the weapon again. With a wild shriek
+the maniac dropped his rifle, and, drawing his knife,
+flung himself at his victim, intending evidently to kill
+him with those slashes across the breast which usually
+marked his dead.</p>
+
+<p>But in that awful moment the doomed man’s eyes
+turned upon the distant spur, and he beheld the rifle
+rise to the horseman’s shoulder. Desperate as was
+the chance, Buffalo Bill intending risking a shot to
+save him. He flung himself backward, as the madman
+came on, leaving the field clear for the scout to fire.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXXI">CHAPTER XXXI.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">BUFFALO BILL’S GREAT SHOT.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>In that instant, as he was falling backward upon the
+ground, knowing that if the huge madman reached him
+before Buffalo Bill’s bullet reached its mark he would
+be a dead man, a clear perception of the great mistake
+he had made flashed through the captain’s mind. He
+remembered that that morning when cleaning his revolver
+he had noticed something wrong with the hammer,
+and had put it aside, unloaded, to attend to later
+in the day. But as he started from the camp that evening
+to walk up the hill, and Texas Jack had called his
+warning to him, he had picked up the weapon and
+thrust it into his belt without looking at it.</p>
+
+<p>Had he not made this error he would have shot the
+Mad Hunter dead in that instant when the giant turned
+his head to look across the little valley. As he went
+backward, the officer flung away his useless revolver
+and clutched at his sword. But he could not get it<span class="pagenum">[203]</span>
+from its scabbard in time. It was but half-drawn when
+he landed upon his back with a shock that almost deprived
+him of his senses!</p>
+
+<p>Fearful, indeed, were the chances against the officer.
+He was absolutely helpless then, and like a tiger-cat the
+madman had sprung at his falling body. He actually
+was in the air with the blade of his knife poised to
+thrust downward into the officer’s breast when the latter
+heard the crack of Buffalo Bill’s rifle on the other
+hillside.</p>
+
+<p>The keen eye of the scout on horseback had noted
+every move of the game on the ridge. He recognized
+the officer, and he guessed who the other man must be
+when he saw his threatening attitude. It was a long
+shot, and there was danger at first of his hitting the
+captain instead of his foe.</p>
+
+<p>But when the former flung himself backward the
+scout dared fire. And he pulled the trigger just in the
+nick of time. The maniac was already plunging forward
+to knife the supine soldier when the bullet sped
+on its mission.</p>
+
+<p>With a scream the madman pitched forward, over-leaping
+his victim, and falling on his face upon the
+ground, the knife being plunged hilt deep into the soft
+earth! A red streak showed across his scalp where
+the bullet had grazed the man’s crown.</p>
+
+<p>“Bravo, bravo, Buffalo Bill! I owe my life to him&mdash;and
+Heaven knows I was never in closer quarters with
+death!” cried the officer, as he leaped up and drew his
+sword to further defend himself.</p>
+
+<p>But the huge form lay still. The Mad Hunter lay
+unconscious. Therefore, turning to the opposite hill,
+he waved his hat, which he had picked up, to the horseman<span class="pagenum">[204]</span>
+who was now spurring down into the valley. An
+answering yell from Buffalo Bill showed that he saw
+the officer was safe.</p>
+
+<p>The rifle-shot and the shout of the Border King
+was unheard down there in the bigger valley; all this
+tragic happening had been in sight of the camp of the
+troopers, yet had chanced to go unnoticed. It was the
+scout who had come upon the scene in the nick of time,
+and who again had proved himself a hero.</p>
+
+<p>With rapid bounds the scout urged his big white
+charger up the hill, from the shadows below to the
+twilight of the ridge summit. Finally he pulled up,
+threw himself from the saddle, and the officer caught
+his gauntleted hand.</p>
+
+<p>“God bless you, Cody!”</p>
+
+<p>“Captain Ed. Keyes!”</p>
+
+<p>“Always in the right place at the right time, scout.
+Another minute, and that old madman would have
+sent me on my long journey, and no mistake!”</p>
+
+<p>“I came blamed near being in the wrong place, captain,”
+said Cody seriously. “That was a long shot. I
+was taking great chances, and if you hadn’t flung yourself
+backward I should have scarcely risked firing at
+all.”</p>
+
+<p>Then he turned to view the prostrate form of the
+madman, and said:</p>
+
+<p>“It’s that crazy fellow they talk about, isn’t it?”</p>
+
+<p>“So he said. He seemed to be proud of his reputation.”</p>
+
+<p>“The Mad Hunter!”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes. And mad he certainly is&mdash;poor fellow. I
+suppose he’s not to be blamed for what he can’t help.
+But he’s better dead than at large. Ugh! Another<span class="pagenum">[205]</span>
+moment, and he’d had his devil’s cross slashed on my
+breast, I fancy.”</p>
+
+<p>“You had a narrow squeak, sir.”</p>
+
+<p>“I certainly did. Is he dead?”</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill was stooping over the giant. He turned
+him over so that his face was visible in the half-light.</p>
+
+<p>“<em>That</em> shot oughtn’t to have killed him,” muttered
+the scout, noting the course of his bullet.</p>
+
+<p>“It certainly couldn’t have hurt his brain any more
+than it <em>was</em> queered. He’s breathing, isn’t he?”</p>
+
+<p>But Buffalo Bill did not immediately reply. He had
+suddenly fallen silent, and when Captain Keyes looked
+at the scout in surprise he saw that his eyes were fixed
+with a most strange expression upon the unconscious
+madman’s face.</p>
+
+<p>“What’s the matter, Cody?” the officer asked.</p>
+
+<p>The scout still made no reply. It is doubtful if he
+heard his superior officer. He seemed devouring the
+features of the unconscious man.</p>
+
+<p>Little of the face could be seen for the matted beard
+and hair. Yet the angles of the cheek-bones and jaw
+were easily traced; likewise, the penthouse brows and
+deeply sunken eyes. The nose was prominent&mdash;a
+handsome nose, with its point thin and flexible, and
+the nostrils well marked.</p>
+
+<p>“No&mdash;no,” murmured the scout at last. “I never
+could have seen him before&mdash;never!”</p>
+
+<p>“What’s the matter with you, Cody?”</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill looked up at him, and wet his lips before
+speaking.</p>
+
+<p>“I&mdash;I thought I saw a ghost, Captain Keyes&mdash;a
+ghost! My God! and it’s no wonder, with my mind
+full of the horror I <em>have</em> seen already this evening. It&mdash;it<span class="pagenum">[206]</span>
+was Danforth&mdash;he’s got into my mind, and I can’t
+forget him.”</p>
+
+<p>“Dick Danforth&mdash;Lieutenant Danforth?”</p>
+
+<p>“Aye&mdash;the poor boy himself.”</p>
+
+<p>“What under the sun has Dick got to do with this
+madman?”</p>
+
+<p>“Oh&mdash;nothing! nothing!” exclaimed Cody, leaping
+up. “But I have to report a very terrible thing, captain.”</p>
+
+<p>“Not about Dick Danforth?”</p>
+
+<p>“It is, sir. Lieutenant Danforth is dead&mdash;dead with
+all his men!”</p>
+
+<p>“No!”</p>
+
+<p>“It is the awful truth, sir.”</p>
+
+<p>“I cannot believe it, Cody. You are beside yourself.
+You look strange, man!”</p>
+
+<p>“Aye, and you would look strange yourself had you
+seen what <em>I</em> have seen, Captain Keyes.”</p>
+
+<p>“Tell me!”</p>
+
+<p>“I was on my way to Fort Advance with the news
+when I happened to see you&mdash;as I supposed, facing a
+grizzly bear over on this ridge.”</p>
+
+<p>“He was worse than a grizzly,” said Keyes, with a
+glance at the giant. “But give me the particulars&mdash;&mdash;”</p>
+
+<p>“Boyd Bennett has joined the Sioux, betrayed Danforth
+and his men into a trap, and the whole party were
+wiped out.”</p>
+
+<p>“My God, Cody!”</p>
+
+<p>“It is so. I saw them. I was captured by Bennett,
+indeed. It was within a few miles of Oak Heart’s big
+village.”</p>
+
+<p>“Ha! And did you see the wily old scoundrel himself?”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[207]</span></p>
+
+<p>“Oak Heart?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes.”</p>
+
+<p>“No; but I saw a representative of the chief;” and
+he repeated the story of his coming upon the field of
+carnage and his adventure with Bennett and the White
+Antelope, while Keyes hurried him down the hillside
+toward the troopers’ camp.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXXII">CHAPTER XXXII.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">THE BORDER KING’S PLEDGE.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>With him Captain Keyes had over a hundred cavalrymen,
+a company of mounted infantry, and two mountain
+howitzers, numbering, with the artillerymen and
+scouts, nearly two hundred men&mdash;a strong flying
+column, that could move rapidly and stand off a big
+force of Indians. They were then encamped not
+twenty miles from the main village of the Sioux, and
+not much more than half that distance from the coulée
+where Danforth’s squadron had been overcome.</p>
+
+<p>The coming of Buffalo Bill, although it had been
+most timely for Captain Keyes, and had undoubtedly
+saved his life, cast a mantle of gloom over the encampment.
+Although the men had been warned to turn in
+early, because of the work before them on the morrow,
+they stood or sat around the camp-fires until late, discussing
+the terrible intelligence the scout had brought.</p>
+
+<p>And at the officers’ quarters, Buffalo Bill had to relate
+the story all over again to an eager band of listeners.
+All had known Dick Danforth, and his death
+was greatly deplored.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as he could get away, and had eaten a bit of<span class="pagenum">[208]</span>
+supper, Cody sought out his faithful partner, Jack
+Omohondreau.</p>
+
+<p>“Jack, old man, did you ever see the Wild Huntsman?”</p>
+
+<p>“What! this fellow who come pretty near bowling
+over the captain&mdash;the Mad Hunter?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes.”</p>
+
+<p>“Never. But I’ve seen his spoor&mdash;and I’ve seen his
+work.”</p>
+
+<p>“Meaning his dead?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yep. Two redskins. He didn’t do a thing but
+hash them up. Ugh!”</p>
+
+<p>“I don’t think I killed him up there. Will you get
+a couple of torches, and bring two other fellows you
+can trust, and help me make a search for him?”</p>
+
+<p>“Lord! Want to put the finishing touch on him&mdash;eh?”</p>
+
+<p>“No. I must bring him down here and have the surgeon
+give him what care he can.”</p>
+
+<p>“Whew! You’d best roll him over a precipice by
+mistake.”</p>
+
+<p>“The man is mad.”</p>
+
+<p>“Well, then, he isn’t missing much, if he cashes in.”</p>
+
+<p>“But perhaps he can be cured.”</p>
+
+<p>“Well, are you going to tackle the cure?”</p>
+
+<p>“I want to see if he’s dead first,” said Cody non-committingly.
+“Go find your men&mdash;and don’t forget
+the torches, Jack.”</p>
+
+<p>Texas Jack found both, and the four men searched
+the ridge thoroughly&mdash;or as thoroughly as they could
+by torchlight; but the gigantic madman was not there.
+He might have crawled into some hole to hide; anyway,
+they had to give it up for the night.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[209]</span></p>
+
+<p>As they returned to camp they found an orderly
+searching industriously for Buffalo Bill.</p>
+
+<p>“Captain Keyes’ compliments, sir, and will you come
+to his tent at once?”</p>
+
+<p>The scout complied with his request. Keyes had his
+despatch-box open, and was undoubtedly just inditing
+his report of the day’s work, and of the intelligence the
+scout had brought him, to his commander at Fort Advance.
+He motioned the scout to a camp-stool.</p>
+
+<p>“Sit down, Cody. I want to talk with you.”</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill obeyed.</p>
+
+<p>“We have deeded to divide the command. I shall
+go myself with the first division on to the place where
+our poor brave fellows lie, and attend to the burial of
+their bodies. The rest of my party will form a reserve
+squad with the howitzers&mdash;in case of treachery.”</p>
+
+<p>“There will be no treachery, Captain Keyes. I know
+Oak Heart.”</p>
+
+<p>“But you say that deserter, Bennett, has influence
+in the tribe.”</p>
+
+<p>“Not enough to make the old chief break his word.”</p>
+
+<p>“Best to be sure, anyway. Now, there’s a point I
+wish to discuss with you. I know your confounded
+quixotism, Cody. You certainly don’t propose to
+keep your promise to that squaw and go alone to the
+Indian encampment?”</p>
+
+<p>“I do mean just that, sir.”</p>
+
+<p>At this the officer rose to his feet and spoke
+vigorously.</p>
+
+<p>“Cody, you sha’n’t do it! By the nine gods of war!
+it’s foolish&mdash;it’s insane!”</p>
+
+<p>“I have promised.”</p>
+
+<p>“But I forbid you!”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[210]</span></p>
+
+<p>“I can’t help that, sir; but if you will think a moment,
+you will see that it is quite out of your jurisdiction.
+I was the reds’ prisoner. They did not have
+to let me go at all. My life is hostage to them yet.
+They have trusted me&mdash;and, God knows, enough white
+men have lied to them.”</p>
+
+<p>“Then I’ll attack their camp, small as my force is.”</p>
+
+<p>“You will compass my death sure enough if you
+do,” said the scout, shaking his head.</p>
+
+<p>“But, Cody, of all white men alive, <em>you</em> are the one
+they most wish to see <em>dead</em>!”</p>
+
+<p>“So be it.”</p>
+
+<p>“Be reasonable.”</p>
+
+<p>“They desire to make my closer acquaintance, and I
+intend to give them the chance,” said Buffalo Bill,
+smiling.</p>
+
+<p>“Never, Cody!”</p>
+
+<p>“But I&mdash;&mdash;”</p>
+
+<p>“I’ll hear no ‘buts,’ scouts. If you persist in such a
+foolish intention I’ll put you in the guard-house and
+keep you under arrest until you come to your senses.”</p>
+
+<p>“I’m afraid I’ll grow gray in the guard-house, then,”
+laughed Buffalo Bill, who knew that his friend did not
+mean this.</p>
+
+<p>“But you were forced to make the promise to save
+your life. Therefore, the promise was given under
+durance and cannot hold.”</p>
+
+<p>“The redskins have few lawyers,” said Cody, with a
+smile. “That sophistry would not appeal to them.”</p>
+
+<p>“It’s sure death!”</p>
+
+<p>“I’m not so sure of that. However, I must go to
+Oak Heart’s camp. I may risk my life, but I hope to
+accomplish a purpose that I have in mind.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[211]</span></p>
+
+<p>The officer saw that the scout was determined, and
+that his will could not be shaken.</p>
+
+<p>“It seems like being a party to your murder to let
+you go, scout,” said Captain Keyes gloomily. “And
+you saved my life, too!”</p>
+
+<p>“Let us hope for the best, sir,” said the scout quietly,
+as he bowed himself out of the officer’s tent.</p>
+
+<p>Before dawn Buffalo Bill and a squad of men sent
+by Captain Keyes went to the ridge to hunt the live&mdash;or
+dead&mdash;body of the Mad Hunter. In an hour, and
+just before the column was ready to start, the squad
+returned without Cody.</p>
+
+<p>“Where is the scout, sergeant?” asked Captain
+Keyes.</p>
+
+<p>“He left us upon the ridge, sir,” said the man, saluting.</p>
+
+<p>“Left you?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, sir.”</p>
+
+<p>“And where did he go?”</p>
+
+<p>“He struck a trail, sir, and said he would be off
+on it.”</p>
+
+<p>“What sort of trail?”</p>
+
+<p>“The Mad Hunter’s trail. We could not find the
+man, but Mr. Cody saw where he had walked away,
+and he started in pursuit.”</p>
+
+<p>“He’s gone farther than that!” exclaimed Captain
+Keyes, shaking his head. “What say, Texas Jack?”</p>
+
+<p>Omohondreau, who knew of Buffalo Bill’s promise
+to the White Antelope, nodded.</p>
+
+<p>“He’s gone to the Injun camp,” said the brother
+scout, “and it’s a toss-up if it isn’t ‘good-by, Bill
+Cody!’ for good and all!”</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<p><span class="pagenum">[212]</span></p>
+
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXXIII">CHAPTER XXXIII.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">TRACKING THE MAD HUNTER.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>After a night of uneasy repose, in which the thoughts
+engendered by his first sight of the Mad Hunter’s face
+had ridden him like a nightmare, Buffalo Bill was determined
+to make a thorough search for the maniac.
+Had he not believed the evening before that the man
+was likely to remain unconscious until roused by the
+efforts of the surgeon, he would have begged Captain
+Keyes to let him stay by the maniac until help could
+come. He was deeply disappointed when he and Jack
+Omohondreau could not find the giant.</p>
+
+<p>In the morning he had searched patiently, struck the
+trail of the madman, and, as the sergeant reported, had
+started at once to follow and run the maniac down.
+He had brought his horse, and having left the soldiers,
+he mounted Chief and followed the big footprints of
+the wild man at a round trot for some distance.</p>
+
+<p>How seriously the man was wounded, Cody did not
+know; but his quarry did not seem to try to hide his
+trail. Straight along the ridge it led, then down into
+the little valley the scout had ridden across the night
+before, and so up the range of hills on the other side.
+Something about the walking of the big man puzzled
+the scout greatly, and suddenly Buffalo Bill spurred
+his horse to the summit of a high hill, that he might
+take a survey of the country over which it seemed the
+madman might pass.</p>
+
+<p>The soldiers were under way now, and, first of all,
+Cody saw them traversing a defile at one side, up which
+they had come from the bivouac of the past night. A<span class="pagenum">[213]</span>
+steep bluff towered beside them where they were then
+marching as Buffalo Bill came out upon the back-bone
+of the range.</p>
+
+<p>The course he had taken in following the madman’s
+trail had brought the scout out ahead of the marching
+column. But it was not upon them that his gaze became
+fastened. Instead, a single moving object upon
+the summit of the bluff in the shadow of which the soldiers
+marched held his attention. This object was
+more than a mile ahead of the soldiery, and would
+never be noticed from the valley below.</p>
+
+<p>In an instant Buffalo Bill divined the identity of the
+moving object, and the nature of the work which engaged
+its attention. The ridge of land on which he
+stood was unbroken to the bluff itself. He set spurs
+to Chief and raced along the highlands, knowing that
+he would not likely be seen by the soldiers, and therefore
+must do alone what he could to avert the catastrophe
+which he saw imminent.</p>
+
+<p>Thwarted the night before when he sought the life
+of Captain Keyes, the Mad Hunter was trying to compass
+a worse crime. The moving form Buffalo Bill
+knew to be the maniac, and he saw that he was gathering
+huge rocks into a pile, which he proposed to push
+over upon the soldiers as they passed below the bluff!</p>
+
+<p>It was a fiendish plan, and well worthy of the man’s
+insane cunning. Buffalo Bill spurred on, and came to
+a place not many yards behind the Mad Hunter without
+the latter’s being aware of his presence, so intent
+was he in the work.</p>
+
+<p>Leaving his horse and rifle, the scout, with soft
+tread and every sense alert, crept up behind the busy
+lunatic. He saw that the Mad Hunter had put aside<span class="pagenum">[214]</span>
+his own arms, the better to toil at his horrid trap. With
+a single shot from his revolver the scout might have
+dropped the maniac dead, and so relieved the world of
+a dangerous creature&mdash;a being neither man nor brute.
+But the scout did not wish to hurt the giant.</p>
+
+<p>Finally, without being discovered, the scout stood
+within twenty feet of the Mad Hunter. His eyes were
+as fierce as a wolf’s, his hands opened and shut with
+nervous clutches, and his lips moved continuously as
+he whispered to himself. Yet something familiar in
+the contour of the poor creature’s face held Cody spellbound.
+He was moved as he had been the night before
+when he had first looked upon the features of the wild
+man.</p>
+
+<p>Nearer and nearer drew the column of soldiers, for
+through a gap in the edge of the bluff Cody could mark
+their progress. Captain Keyes and his officers, and
+Texas Jack, rode ahead. The madman prepared to tip
+his monument of rocks over upon their devoted heads!</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly the Mad Hunter picked up a great stone&mdash;one
+that the scout was sure no two ordinary men could
+lift&mdash;and, picking his victim on the plain below, was
+about to fling it down. Cody quickly dashed across
+the intervening space, and, revolver in hand, tapped
+the madman on the shoulder.</p>
+
+<p>With a sudden inspiration the scout shouted into the
+man’s ear a name he had not spoken himself for a dozen
+years&mdash;the name of a man who, until the night before,
+he had believed long since dead.</p>
+
+<p>The Mad Hunter turned in a flash. He dropped
+the rock. He stared at the scout with wondering gaze.
+His eyes grew somber as the light of insane rage died
+out of them. He whispered at last:</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[215]</span></p>
+
+<p>“Who&mdash;who calls me by that name? Speak!”</p>
+
+<p>Trembling violently, he gazed upon the scout with
+some shadow of reason struggling to dawn in his expression.
+It was elusive&mdash;fleeting&mdash;yet the scout knew
+that he had touched a chord of memory that shook the
+man to the foundation of his being.</p>
+
+<p>“Who speaks that name after all these years?” cried
+the madman again.</p>
+
+<p>“I am Bill Cody&mdash;Cody, your old pal. Cody, the
+man you knew on the Rio Grande!” exclaimed the
+scout, his own voice shaking, for the discovery he had
+made passed the bounds of reason.</p>
+
+<p>The strange being shook his head slowly.</p>
+
+<p>“No. You may be whom you say; but the man you
+spoke of first is dead&mdash;dead&mdash;a long time dead!”</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill, however, was gaining confidence in his
+discovery all the time.</p>
+
+<p>“You’re the man! I know you are. Think, man!
+Send back your memory to those old times. Remember
+the work we did together. Remember&mdash;remember
+your wife&mdash;your child&mdash;&mdash;”</p>
+
+<p>With a shriek like nothing human, with a face that
+changed in a flash to that of a demoniac, the Mad
+Hunter hurled himself, bare-handed, at the scout’s
+throat.</p>
+
+<p>“Fiend! Fiend from the pit!” he yelled. “You have
+come to torment me and taunt me! Ah! for long have
+I escaped your taunts; but now you have returned!”</p>
+
+<p>His heartrending cry almost unmanned the scout.
+He saw that he had touched the wrong chord with the
+madman. Reminded of the loss of his wife and child,
+the victim of this awful fate had been thrown into a
+paroxysm of rage.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[216]</span></p>
+
+<p>For an instant Buffalo Bill hesitated. That hesitation
+came near to costing him his life. The maniac
+was upon him and seized his pistol-hand before he
+could make up his mind to fire at his old friend. The
+madman’s other hand tightened on the scout’s throat.
+They swayed upon the edge of the precipice.</p>
+
+<p>Seconds dragged like hours in that struggle. Buffalo
+Bill had met more than his match in this wild being.
+Suddenly he heard a cry below:</p>
+
+<p>“Hold, Cody! for God’s sake, hold!”</p>
+
+<p>It was Captain Keyes’ voice. It inspired the sinking
+scout to make one final and desperate effort. He
+half-tore him self free of the giant’s clutch.</p>
+
+<p>“Steady! Texas Jack has got the drop on him!”
+yelled the voice of Keyes again.</p>
+
+<p>Instantly there came the sharp crack of a rifle. The
+maniac jumped slightly, and his awful grip loosened.
+The scout tore himself completely away, spattered by
+the maniac’s blood.</p>
+
+<p>The latter whirled about, back to the brink of the
+bluff, clutched helplessly at the air with his great
+hands, and pitched down the declivity. He was dead
+before he struck the bottom&mdash;a heap of broken bones
+and bruised flesh!</p>
+
+<p>Texas Jack mounted the cliff to see if the scout was
+all right. He found Cody wiping the blood from his
+face, and very grave of look.</p>
+
+<p>“Had to shoot him, old man. ’Twas you or him,
+yuh know,” said the brother scout.</p>
+
+<p>“I know it, Jack. I can only thank you. But I am
+sorry&mdash;bitterly sorry. I knew that man when he was
+a right good fellow. Ask Captain Keyes to give him<span class="pagenum">[217]</span>
+decent burial, and to mark the grave&mdash;mark it with the
+letter ‘D.’”</p>
+
+<p>With these words Cody shook hands with his pard
+and hastened away to where Chief was quietly feeding.
+In a moment he was riding hard away from the spot
+where the terrible tragedy had taken place.</p>
+
+<p>Captain Keyes complied with Cody’s request, but
+was sorry that the scout had evidently gone on his mission
+of death&mdash;for the officer could look at the visit to
+the Indian encampment in no other light.</p>
+
+<p>He had divided his force, as he said he should, and
+the vanguard went on to the coulée and buried the
+dead. All the redskins had been removed, and the
+place was deserted of the living. But when they came
+to search for Dick Danforth’s body, intending to remove
+it to the fort with them, it was not to be found.
+The brave lieutenant, for whose scalp Buffalo Bill had
+pleaded with White Antelope, had disappeared from
+the field of battle.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXXIV">CHAPTER XXXIV.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">RED KNIFE LOSES HIS “MEDICINE.”</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>At the time the fire burst out in the great forest and
+Buffalo Bill, the Border King, and his partner, Texas
+Jack, were chased by the flames, a young buck of Oak
+Heart’s tribe of Utah Sioux was likewise in the path
+of the flames. He had been out after a bear, because
+his father, an old brave now toothless and unable to
+follow in the chase, had expressed a desire for bear
+paws, roasted.</p>
+
+<p>The government of Indian society is strictly patriarchal.<span class="pagenum">[218]</span>
+The father of a family demands, and is accorded,
+the greatest respect. Besides, it is a trait of
+Indian character to care for and respect the aged. The
+aged men of the tribe usually mold its opinions in both
+peace and war.</p>
+
+<p>Besides, Red Knife, as this young buck was named,
+was not a married man. He was what the whites
+would have called “an old bach.” He had no teepee
+of his own, but it was a notorious fact that he cast
+longing glances toward White Antelope, the cherished
+daughter of Oak Heart and the flower of the Sioux
+maidens. He had gone hunting for the bear because
+his father was fond of bear paws, but with the claws,
+and others in his possession, he hoped to make a cunning
+necklace that would be acceptable to the chief’s
+daughter.</p>
+
+<p>Red Knife had lately become of moment in the
+tribe. It had been his hand that had finally felled the
+chief of the pony soldiers who were killed in the
+coulée, and whom Death Killer had tried to scalp.
+Red Knife hoped in time to become so important that
+the White Antelope would really look at him with
+favor, instead of ignoring him altogether.</p>
+
+<p>The buck had obtained a single shot at his bearship,
+wounding him with a barbed arrow, and had driven
+him into a thicket toward the close of the day. Suddenly
+the smoke that had been hanging over the hilltops
+for hours swooped down upon the Indian and his
+quarry, and following the smoke came the fire&mdash;a
+deluge of flame!</p>
+
+<p>The bear suddenly lost his fear of the redskin, and
+the latter lost his desire to take bear paws to his teepee.</p>
+
+<p>The crackling of the flames as they leaped down the<span class="pagenum">[219]</span>
+wooded side-hills into the valley warned both hunter
+and hunted that there was no time to lose. The bear
+burst out of the thicket, the arrow still sticking in his
+rump, and waddled off for running water at a great
+pace. The Indian had chased the beast into unfamiliar
+territory, and now he took advantage of his
+prey’s instinct. He followed the bear.</p>
+
+<p>Through brush and bramble, over rocky way and
+swampy land, the bear and the man raced. At times
+they were almost side by side, and neither paid the
+least attention to the other. Lighter and swifter
+creatures passed the two like the wind; the bear and
+the redskin plugged along doggedly, as though running
+for a wager.</p>
+
+<p>They were not in the neighborhood of Bendigo
+Lake, so they did not meet up with either the two
+scouts or with the Mad Hunter. It was a stream
+which the bear, back in his little brain, knew would
+be running full even at this dry season. They reached
+it barely in time to save themselves from being withered
+by the flames. The bear’s fur was indeed smoking.</p>
+
+<p>He plunged over the bank into the deep, dark pool.
+Red Knife went after bruin, landing squarely on the
+bear’s back, eliciting only the notice of a grunt from
+the beast as he sank to the bottom of the pool and let
+the flames roar overhead.</p>
+
+<p>The redskin stayed below the surface as long as he
+could, too. He could feel the bear beside him all the
+time. He might have flung himself upon the beast
+with his knife and killed him. It were better had he
+done so.</p>
+
+<p>But at the time Red Knife was too perturbed to<span class="pagenum">[220]</span>
+think of killing his companion in misery. When the
+redskin came up to breathe, the fiery brands showered
+upon him so thickly that he was glad to sink again.
+It was some time before it was safe for him to squat,
+with his head out of water.</p>
+
+<p>And there were the redskin and the bear, both on
+their haunches, with their noses stuck out of the pool
+like two bullfrogs. As the heat grew less intense and
+the brands stopped falling, the bear and the man began
+eying each other with less favor. Each recovered from
+his panic and began to remember that they were deadly
+enemies.</p>
+
+<p>The bear growled and shifted his position to a distance
+from the red; the latter got out his knife&mdash;the
+only weapon he had saved&mdash;and in moments when he
+was not dodging flying fire planned what he would do
+should bruin take it into his head to attack.</p>
+
+<p>This deep pool in the brook was no proper arena
+for a bear-fight&mdash;especially when the human antagonist
+had simply a knife. Red Knife thought some of
+sinking to the bottom of the pool again and making
+the attack himself by trying to drive his blade into
+some vulnerable part of the beast.</p>
+
+<p>But the difficulty of using his knife with any surety,
+or putting any force behind the blow under water, detained
+him from trying this. Besides, the bear, if
+killed or badly injured, would sink and might pinion
+the redskin to the bottom of the brook.</p>
+
+<p>Therefore, as soon as he could see at all through
+the rolling smoke, and the worst of the flames had
+passed, leaving a thicket or dead tree only blazing in its
+wake here and there, the redskin made up his mind
+that he would better trust to the dry ground. His<span class="pagenum">[221]</span>
+moccasins were well-nigh torn from his feet by his
+furious race through the forest, and his meager clothing
+in general had been seriously torn. There was
+little to shield him from the fire if he came forth, but
+the water of the brook was ice-cold, and hardy as the
+Red Knife was its chill had now set his teeth to playing
+like castanets.</p>
+
+<p>The bear whined with the cold, too, but the next
+moment he growled as Red Knife made a movement
+toward him. If the beast once got a hold with his
+front paws on the redskin he would disembowel him
+with the great claws of his hind feet. Red Knife
+shrank farther away from the bear’s vicinity.</p>
+
+<p>At this bruin plucked up courage. He growled
+again, came down off his haunches, and began to
+swim across the pool toward the Indian. The latter
+saw that it was his move&mdash;and the only place for him
+to move to was out of the water. So he backed into
+the shallower part of the stream and toward a part of
+the bank that was comparatively clear of fire.</p>
+
+<p>The heat and smoke were still almost blistering.
+To leave the water was a cross indeed. But the bear
+continued to advance, and Red Knife did not consider
+that he wished to come immediately to close quarters
+with the brute.</p>
+
+<p>As he backed out of the stream the heat of a near-by
+blazing thicket warmed him more than comfortably.
+The chill was driven out of his body, and his teeth
+stopped chattering. Fearful as he was of the fire&mdash;all
+wild beasts hate it&mdash;the bear found the increasing
+warmth grateful, too. He scrambled out upon the
+bank, too, and actually squatted down in the heat of
+the bonfire to dry himself.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[222]</span></p>
+
+<p>Red Knife looked about him as well as he could for
+the drifting smoke, and picked out the apparently
+safest path from the spot. Had he been contented to
+decamp without stirring up the bear, he would have
+been all right. But an Indian loves to tell of his
+prowess around the camp-fire, and so far there had
+been very little in this adventure to suggest a tale of
+self-glorification.</p>
+
+<p>Therefore the buck determined to have those bear
+paws for his father and the claws for the necklace,
+after all!</p>
+
+<p>He hunted out a big stone, pried it out of the smoking
+ground with his knife, and, picking it up, poised it
+carefully for a cast. With a sudden grunt of anger,
+the bear rose up. He seemed to smell trouble in the
+air. His movement rather spoiled Red Knife’s aim, or
+else the buck was nervous. The stone, thrown with
+terrific force, just glanced from bruin’s hard skull!</p>
+
+<p>With a roar the bear sprang at the foolish red man.
+He came all glaring eyes, froth-dripping fangs, and
+unsheathed claws&mdash;a sight to drive the barb of terror
+into the bravest heart!</p>
+
+<p>The redskin found himself walled in by fire behind.
+He leaped for the pool again, but the bear reached
+him with one paw first. The stroke ripped his hunting-shirt
+and leggings fairly from his body. Nothing
+but shreds of the garments were left and hung upon
+him&mdash;along with shreds of his torn flesh!</p>
+
+<p>The redskin yelled and leaped into the water. The
+bear growled and plunged after him. As he came up
+Red Knife saw the great body of the beast going
+down, and he struck at it with his blade again and
+again. The sharp steel was buried in the body of the<span class="pagenum">[223]</span>
+brute at each stroke, but all about the shoulders&mdash;a
+part not at all vital.</p>
+
+<p>Again and again Red Knife struck before the bear
+came to the surface, but, although the blood flowed
+until the agitated pool was dyed red, the bear came
+up as strong and as ugly as ever.</p>
+
+<p>Red Knife threw himself backward and escaped the
+first plunging blows of the bear. He reached shallow
+water and leaped ashore, being more agile in this than
+his bearship. But in doing so he chanced to slip and
+turn his ankle. The pain was very great for a moment,
+and the Indian fell to the ground, giving the
+bear a chance to almost overtake him.</p>
+
+<p>Instantly, however, the red turned and struck at his
+bearship before the latter could seize him with its
+great, slobbering jaws. An attack always puts a bear
+on the defensive. He squatted back on his haunches,
+ready to either hug his enemy or to strike at him with
+his great forearms, which swung like flails!</p>
+
+<p>Red Knife clambered to his feet, but he could not
+run. The bear would overtake him now in a short
+race. He poised himself on one foot, holding his
+dripping blade before him, and, believing himself come
+to the end of his time, the stoical Indian began to chant
+the death-song.</p>
+
+<p>The growling of the bear almost drowned this cry
+of the Indian. The latter advanced to embrace death,
+yet determined to sell his last breath dearly.</p>
+
+<p>The flaillike arms of the bear swung to and fro; he
+champed his teeth and roared. The Indian flung himself
+with the desperation of a berserker upon the animal,
+striking again and again with his keen blade.</p>
+
+<p>Two awful raking blows the bear got in himself.<span class="pagenum">[224]</span>
+It stripped the last rag from the Indian’s body, and
+broke the string of the amulet he wore about his neck,
+as well. They clinched like two men wrestling, and so
+rolled into the pool.</p>
+
+<p>Splash! they went under the surface. Bubbles and
+gore rose to the agitated top of the water.</p>
+
+<p>Then one of the contestants floated up, struggled a
+bit, secured a footing, and slowly walked ashore. It
+was the Indian. It was Red Knife, as naked as when
+he was born. He sank upon the bank of the stream,
+the conqueror in a good fight. But he had no joy in
+his heart. Instead, he was filled with gloom. In the
+struggle and the last plunge in the pool he had lost his
+medicine-bag!</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXXV">CHAPTER XXXV.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">THE SEARCH FOR NEW MEDICINE.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>When a young brave comes to man’s estate his initiation
+into the religion of his tribe is a great matter.
+Heretofore he has had no real name. He has been
+called by several names, perhaps, but they have been
+those given him by his parents, and are perhaps only
+the pet names of childhood. Now he is a man and gets
+the name which in war and on the hunt he is hopeful
+of making great and long-remembered by the tribe.</p>
+
+<p>Red Knife belonged to the family of the Crow. The
+signification of that family was painted upon his
+father’s wigwam, as it would be upon his own when
+he set up a domicile for himself.</p>
+
+<p>So the medicine-man had put into a bag the dried
+entrails of a crow, its hard, black claws, and some of<span class="pagenum">[225]</span>
+its feathers, with various other charms against evil.
+The young man had watched all night upon a lonely
+hill, fasting, to guard his shield and arms, as well as
+the new medicine, from those spirits that are ever warring
+against human beings&mdash;according to the Indian
+code&mdash;and had in other ways proved himself worthy
+of being a brave in the councils of the Sioux.</p>
+
+<p>The bag, which had been fastened about Red Knife’s
+neck, was as precious to the Indian as his soul! Having
+lost it, he had lost caste and all else that an Indian
+holds of value. He would be considered apostate from
+the faith of his fathers; all that he had done heretofore
+in war and the chase would be held as nothing. He
+would be outcast from his kind, having lost his medicine,
+unless he could by some wonderful performance,
+or by some mysterious chance, find and appropriate a
+new medicine.</p>
+
+<p>There are just so many medicines in the world, according
+to the Indian belief; there is one for each man.
+Having lost his medicine, it could not be replaced by
+the medicine chief or by any other ordinary means.
+He could not kill an enemy and take <em>his</em> medicine for
+his own; for as soon as a man is dead the virtue of
+his medicine accompanies him on the journey to the
+happy hunting-grounds.</p>
+
+<p>No man would be so foolish as to sell his medicine
+at any price. With his last breath he will fight for
+that amulet. Red Knife was undone indeed as he sat
+there beside the bloody pool. All the manhood had
+gone out of him. His hard fight and his many wounds
+seemed as nothing to him now. He was bereft of his
+choicest possession and could not be comforted.</p>
+
+<p>Yet a desire to be with his kind, to see the faces of<span class="pagenum">[226]</span>
+his tribesmen again, drove the young man finally from
+his position. The fire had gone from the forest, and it
+was midday of the second day before he rose to his
+feet. The decomposing gases in the body of the bear
+had brought it to the surface. Red Knife hobbled
+down, cut off the paws and strung them about his
+neck, flayed the carcass, cut off some flesh for his own
+consumption, found a flint-stone, and with the back of
+his knife struck off sparks which lit a fire, and after
+eating and renewing his strength he wrapped himself
+in the gory robe and started for Oak Heart’s village.</p>
+
+<p>This encampment had been well out of the line of
+the forest fire and had not been disturbed by it. Red
+Knife reached it in the night and came to his father’s
+lodge. But he did not venture within. He was
+pariah&mdash;outcast&mdash;the lowest of the low.</p>
+
+<p>His mother gave him food in the morning, but his
+father sent back the bear’s paws. It was soon known
+that Red Knife had lost his medicine, and the head of
+the Crow family could not accept food at his hand. Of
+course, Red Knife knew it would be useless to make
+the bear claws into a necklace for the White Antelope.
+She would look at him less now than before. Besides,
+the White Antelope remained in her lodge, with one
+old woman, her nurse, most of the time. There was
+something very mysterious about the movements of
+the daughter of the chief.</p>
+
+<p>This did not interest Red Knife much at the time,
+however. He was past thinking of women. His own
+people looked at him askance. Nobody spoke to him;
+he was welcome in no lodge, and the very clothing
+which his mother <a id="Ref_226" href="#Ref_226a">flung</a> him seemed begrudged. All
+Indians must harden their hearts against a being so<span class="pagenum">[227]</span>
+cursed of the Great Spirit that he had lost his medicine!</p>
+
+<p>He could enter no council of his tribe; he had no
+voice in the general affairs; he could join in none of
+the sports. All that he had done before was forgotten.
+Even that he had brought low the white chief who had
+led the pony soldiers to the battle in the coulée counted
+nothing for Red Knife now. He was outcast.</p>
+
+<p>Red Knife could not stand for this long. An Indian
+does not make way with himself. A suicide wanders
+forever between this life and that to come, and is never
+at rest. But Red Knife was nearly desperate enough
+to resort to this awful finish.</p>
+
+<p>At least he determined to go out from among his
+people and never to return until he had found a new
+medicine and obtained a new name for himself&mdash;in
+other words, until he could demand the respect of his
+family and of his tribe.</p>
+
+<p>Now he crept out of the encampment, and from a
+high hill muttered his farewell address to his home
+and his people. He would not be Red Knife when he
+returned&mdash;if he returned at all. All the encampment
+knew that, but only one figure stood by his father’s
+lodge to watch him go. He knew that was his mother,
+but it was beneath him to notice a squaw!</p>
+
+<p>Now this young buck had set forth on a search as
+great as that for the Golden Fleece or the Holy Grail
+of old! Had the tribe a Homer, some great saga
+might have been written regarding the labor Red
+Knife had set himself.</p>
+
+<p>To go forth and kill an enemy and take his medicine
+was a simple matter. But the medicine of another
+would surely bring bad luck to the scion of the family<span class="pagenum">[228]</span>
+of Crow. And to find a man with two medicines&mdash;ah!
+that were a well-nigh impossible task! And, when
+found, would such a fortunate person be willing to
+give up his extra medicine? To fight for it might end
+in the death of the first possessor, and then would the
+virtue go from the medicine and it become a curse to
+Red Knife.</p>
+
+<p>The young man left his village and journeyed aimlessly
+for two days through the mountains. So unnoticing
+was he that finally he came to a place where
+he did not know his way out. He was not so far
+from Oak Heart’s village, but its direction he did not
+know for sure. And this valley in which he found
+himself seemed an uninhabited place.</p>
+
+<p>Many of the braves were out on hunting bent, but
+Red Knife had not seen any of them for twenty-four
+hours. Nor had he beheld a white man until, coming
+down to drink at the edge of the stream which watered
+this valley, he suddenly saw a figure in buckskin sitting
+upon a great, white horse on the opposite side of the
+stream. In the fading light of the evening the being
+looked gigantic to the red man&mdash;who was in a state of
+mind to see ghosts or anything else eerie! The strange
+figure was that of a white man. He had hair flowing
+to his shoulders, and he sat his horse with folded arms,
+staring off into the distance, evidently wrapped in deep
+thought.</p>
+
+<p>The wind was with the brave, and the horse even
+did not notice his presence. Red Knife might have
+crossed the stream and leaped upon the unsuspicious
+white man. Yet his mind was not upon killing, and
+when he finally recognized the stranger as the far-famed
+Pa-e-has-ka or Long Hair <a id="Ref_228" href="#Ref_228a">he feared</a><span class="pagenum">[229]</span>
+and would not, single-handed, have attempted the
+man’s death.</p>
+
+<p>Seldom might Buffalo Bill have been so easily
+caught napping. But he had seen no trace of Indians
+in the valley; he had ridden through it to this spot, and
+now his mind had reverted to his deep sorrow regarding
+Dick Danforth’s death, and he thought of nothing
+else.</p>
+
+<p>He roused at last from his reverie with a sigh, and
+glanced about him. His vision fell upon the figure of
+the young brave standing, likewise with folded arms,
+upon the edge of the stream. He could not repress a
+start of surprise at the appearance.</p>
+
+<p>“How!” grunted Red Knife.</p>
+
+<p>“How!” repeated the scout, in English.</p>
+
+<p>Then in the Sioux dialect he said:</p>
+
+<p>“Is it peace, brother?”</p>
+
+<p>“It is peace.”</p>
+
+<p>The scout had seen that the young buck was not
+panoplied for war, and now he dismounted and came
+to his side of the stream.</p>
+
+<p>“You are one of Oak Heart’s people?” Cody asked.</p>
+
+<p>“I <em>was</em> Red Knife, of the Sioux.”</p>
+
+<p>The scout overlooked the emphasis on the “was” for
+the moment. His attention was particularly stung by
+the name the brave gave.</p>
+
+<p>“‘Red Knife!’” he repeated.</p>
+
+<p>The brave bowed and was silent.</p>
+
+<p>“It was you who killed the white chief of the pony
+soldiers?” gasped Cody.</p>
+
+<p>Red Knife nodded again.</p>
+
+<p>The scout fiercely gripped the rifle he carried. In
+his heart he felt like shooting the brave down where he<span class="pagenum">[230]</span>
+stood. But he repressed this momentary feeling and
+said:</p>
+
+<p>“I have sworn vengeance against all who had to do
+with the death of that young man. He was as my son.
+Will Red Knife fight Pa-e-has-ka? Let him choose
+his own weapons and come against me that I may kill
+him in fair fight.”</p>
+
+<p>“I heard of your oath over the dead body of the
+brave white chief,” said Red Knife. “Pa-e-has-ka is a
+great chief himself. Red Knife is no match for him.
+But Red Knife now has no name and is of no people.
+Would Pa-e-has-ka fight with such a one?”</p>
+
+<p>“What’s the matter?” demanded Cody, in English,
+suddenly seeing that the young man was in a despondent
+mood.</p>
+
+<p>“I am an outcast from my people.”</p>
+
+<p>“What’s all that for? I should think the bloody
+devils would have rejoiced over your killing of poor
+Danforth,” muttered the scout.</p>
+
+<p>“Let me tell Pa-e-has-ka the tale,” began Red Knife
+oratorically. “The Sioux did indeed rejoice over the
+death of the young white chief. Red Knife was then a
+great warrior. But since misery has come upon him.”</p>
+
+<p>“And serve him right!” muttered Cody.</p>
+
+<p>With many a flourish of flowery phrase, the buck
+went on to recount his fight with the bear and the loss
+of his medicine-bag. He displayed the half-healed
+wounds made by the bear, and Cody saw that the story
+was true. Knowing well how great a matter this loss
+was to the Indian, the scout could not help but feeling
+some pity for him.</p>
+
+<p>Besides, Red Knife had only followed out his savage
+instincts and code of honor in killing Danforth. And<span class="pagenum">[231]</span>
+putting aside his personal desire for vengeance, Buffalo
+Bill saw that he might make use of the young brave.
+It was not against the ordinary bucks who had been in
+the fight that the scout felt hatred. Boyd Bennett had
+lied to Oak Heart, made him believe that Danforth’s
+expedition was after the old chief, and had led and
+planned the attack upon the soldiers and brought about
+their massacre.</p>
+
+<p>It was the renegade&mdash;he who called himself Death
+Killer, medicine chief of the Sioux&mdash;whom Buffalo
+Bill wished to get!</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill had taken many desperate chances in his
+life. From the time when, as a younker of eleven
+years, he had hired out to the freighter at Leavenworth
+to do a man’s work for a man’s pay, and became a messenger
+riding between the long freight-trains on the
+overland trail, he had faced death in many forms and
+on many occasions. But in determining to go to the
+Sioux encampment to keep his tryst with White Antelope,
+he seemed to be passing the limit of reckless
+daring!</p>
+
+<p>Yet he believed that he had a chance for life. He
+would risk it, at least.</p>
+
+<p>For some days he had scouted about Oak Heart’s
+encampment, and he had learned that something very
+strange was going on in that neighborhood. He saw
+in this meeting with the outcast Red Knife a chance
+to gain a more intimate knowledge of matters in the
+encampment before venturing himself in the lion’s
+mouth.</p>
+
+<p>“Let Red Knife join Pa-e-has-ka upon this side of
+the brook,” the scout said, at last. “There shall be a
+truce between them. Pa-e-has-ka will share his meat<span class="pagenum">[232]</span>
+with Red Knife; Red Knife shall smoke and sleep beside
+Pa-e-has-ka’s fire.”</p>
+
+<p>If the young brave was astonished at this sudden
+proffer of friendship, he showed nothing of the kind
+in his face. He did not even hesitate. He crossed
+the brook straightly and helped prepare the camp in
+silence.</p>
+
+<p>The fact was the young Indian had put himself in
+the hands of the spirits. He believed he was being led.
+Perhaps this white man had a good medicine which
+Red Knife might fairly obtain and so become a person
+of consequence in his tribe again.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXXVI">CHAPTER XXXVI.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">THE MAGIC CUP.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>First of all, Cody desired to question the Sioux warrior,
+and as he prepared a hearty meal he proceeded to
+draw Red Knife out.</p>
+
+<p>“When did my brother leave the village of his
+people?”</p>
+
+<p>“It is a night and two days.”</p>
+
+<p>“Is Oak Heart inclined to peace?”</p>
+
+<p>“Oak Heart awaits the coming of the Long Hair, as
+he promised White Antelope.”</p>
+
+<p>“Very true,” said Cody calmly. “But there is one
+near Oak Heart who would keep the Long Hair from
+fulfilling his promise.”</p>
+
+<p>“A warrior?”</p>
+
+<p>“The renegade white, whom you call Death Killer.”</p>
+
+<p>“Ah! Death Killer is a great magician,” declared
+Red Knife, looking as though he meant it.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[233]</span></p>
+
+<p>“He is a wicked white. He is throwing dirt in the
+faces of my red brothers. They do not know him.”</p>
+
+<p>“His medicine is wonderful.”</p>
+
+<p>“Yet he could not make new medicine for the Red
+Knife?” suggested Cody slyly.</p>
+
+<p>“Ah! who could do that?” demanded the brave
+gloomily.</p>
+
+<p>“I have heard of its being done,” said the scout,
+and then, before the red man could ask a question, he
+proceeded: “Death Killer has ringed the camp with his
+own braves. They lay in wait for Pa-e-has-ka. Is it
+not so?”</p>
+
+<p>At this Red Knife showed that he was surprised.</p>
+
+<p>“This is bad. This is not known to Oak Heart. Is
+it so, Long Hair?”</p>
+
+<p>“The Sioux know that Long Hair is not two-tongued,”
+declared Cody. “This is so. I suspected it,
+and I have found them watching. Is not Death Killer
+much from the camp?”</p>
+
+<p>“He is.”</p>
+
+<p>“He goes from watcher to watcher to see that all
+are in their places. If Long Hair goes straight to the
+camp of Oak Heart, he will be killed.”</p>
+
+<p>Red Knife shrugged his shoulders and fell silent.
+Cody saw that, although the young brave considered it
+none of his business&mdash;it was a fight between Long
+Hair and Death Killer&mdash;he did not approve of the latter’s
+methods. And the scout was convinced, too, that
+the bulk of the Indians&mdash;and Oak Heart himself&mdash;knew
+naught of the trick to which Boyd Bennett had
+resorted.</p>
+
+<p>Cody had not been foolish enough to ride straight
+toward Oak Heart’s village when he rode away from<span class="pagenum">[234]</span>
+the spot where the Mad Hunter had been killed. He
+had seen in Boyd Bennett’s face, when he had gone
+free under his promise to the chief’s daughter, that the
+scoundrel would do all in his power to keep the scout
+from fulfilling his agreement. Although in going to
+the Indian village Cody would be taking his life in his
+hand, still by <em>not</em> appearing there he would lose honor
+among the reds themselves.</p>
+
+<p>It would be said among the Utah Sioux, and from
+them spread to the Utes, Arapahoes, and others, that
+Pa-e-has-ka was afraid to keep his promise. And from
+the time he first journeyed across the plains Buffalo
+Bill had kept his agreements in every particular with
+the red man, friend or foe alike. He was one of the few
+white men “without guile.” He said what he meant,
+and meant what he said, and he was considered single-tongued
+by all, though he was up to every craftiness
+that his enemies might try upon him.</p>
+
+<p>Cody now wished to undermine the popularity of
+Boyd Bennett among Oak Heart’s braves. Even if he
+got through the medicine chief’s guards and reached
+the council-lodge of the Sioux, he would have to face
+the influence of the renegade, and that might overcome
+him to the extent of his life’s sacrifice. The scout
+was not the man to go blindly into a trap.</p>
+
+<p>Death Killer, as he called himself, was playing the
+traitor. Cody wished to convince Red Knife of this
+fact and send him back to the encampment to spread
+the tale against Death Killer. To this end he used the
+cunning which he had long cultivated in his association
+with the redskins.</p>
+
+<p>He well knew the regard in which the Indian holds
+his medicine-bag. If he could restore to Red Knife his<span class="pagenum">[235]</span>
+medicine, or, rather, supply him with a new amulet
+that would make him a man and a citizen again, the
+scout could command his good offices to almost any
+extent.</p>
+
+<p>But the scout said nothing further that night. He
+let his observations regarding the renegade Bennett
+sink into the red man’s mind. In the morning he fed
+him bountifully again. When he had finished, Red
+Knife showed that he had digested Cody’s remarks
+well, and was in some measure grateful for the entertainment
+shown him.</p>
+
+<p>“The Long Hair is my brother. He has warmed
+me and fed me. If the Long Hair really desires to
+appear before Oak Heart and the old men of the tribe,
+as he has promised, Red Knife may show him a way.”</p>
+
+<p>“Ah!” exclaimed the scout. “Some way that Death
+Killer is not guarding with his braves, eh?”</p>
+
+<p>“It may be.”</p>
+
+<p>“In which direction is it?”</p>
+
+<p>“The Long Hair knows the direction of the encampment,
+perhaps? Red Knife, wandering in broken
+spirit, has lost his way.”</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, you want to know the direction of the place?”</p>
+
+<p>“It is so. The lodges of his people will not receive
+Red Knife, but he may point them out, by a secret
+way, to the Long Hair.”</p>
+
+<p>“Humph! Let’s see the direction,” muttered Cody,
+and drew from under his shirt a small compass in a
+brass cup which was hung about his neck by a strong
+cord.</p>
+
+<p>The Indian’s eyes suddenly glistened. Here was
+the great white’s chief’s medicine, and Red Knife was
+greatly interested in medicines just then! He peered<span class="pagenum">[236]</span>
+closely at the cup which Cody held in his hand. The
+latter noticed the brave’s eagerness, and he knew instinctively
+what was passing through the red’s mind.</p>
+
+<p>Therefore the scout made a great show of consulting
+the compass, holding it in his hand while the little
+needle waggled cheerfully to his movements, pointing
+ever to the north. Finally Red Knife spoke&mdash;breathlessly:</p>
+
+<p>“Does the magic cup speak to Long Hair? If so,
+its voice is very low. Does it tell where lies the lodges
+of my people?”</p>
+
+<p>“It does not speak. But it answers the question,”
+declared Cody gravely.</p>
+
+<p>“A marvelous magic!” exclaimed Red Knife. “The
+white chief worships the spirit of the cup?”</p>
+
+<p>“This is a great medicine, Red Knife,” said Cody
+seriously. “Now mark! We wish to know how to
+travel to reach the lodges of your people. Long Hair
+knows that we are south and west of the village. We
+look into the cup.”</p>
+
+<p>He thrust the compass under the Indian’s nose, and
+Red Knife had hard work to keep from jumping back.</p>
+
+<p>“Look! See the finger which moves?”</p>
+
+<p>“Ugh! It is magic!” muttered the young brave.</p>
+
+<p>“That finger points ever to the cold land&mdash;to the
+lands from which winter comes. Always to the north
+it points. Therefore, so standing and facing the north,
+my right hand points to the sunrise, my left to the
+sunset,” suiting the action to his words. “Behind me
+is the south. Therefore, by facing the sunrise and
+bearing off somewhat to the north of that, we approach
+the village of Chief Oak Heart.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[237]</span></p>
+
+<p>“Ugh! It is wonder-work, indeed!” exclaimed Red
+Knife. “It is a great medicine.”</p>
+
+<p>“It is a great and good medicine. No brave in Red
+Knife’s tribe has a medicine like this.”</p>
+
+<p>“There are no two medicines alike in this world,”
+grunted the brave philosophically.</p>
+
+<p>Cody went to the bag strapped to Chief’s saddle, unbuckled
+a pocket, and brought out a small packet tied
+in wash-leather and oilskin. When he was in Denver he
+had made a purchase for a brother scout, but so far
+had not run up against the man to give it to him. He
+came back to the fire, squatted down beside Red Knife,
+and unwrapped the exact counterpart of his own
+“magic cup,” only this was brighter and unused.</p>
+
+<p>“Waugh!” ejaculated the Indian, starting back.</p>
+
+<p>“You see, here is another of the magic cups. I
+have long had two medicines,” said Buffalo Bill, drawing
+slightly on his imagination. “They are good medicines.
+They have brought me good luck and made me
+successful in the chase, and in war. The Red Knife
+has no medicine. What would he do for the possession
+of this?” and the scout held out the compass temptingly.</p>
+
+<p>Red Knife could barely restrain himself now. His
+cheeks actually flushed, and his eyes glistened.</p>
+
+<p>“The Red Knife is a man!” he cried. “He will
+fight the Long Hair for the good medicine.”</p>
+
+<p>“Nay. The Long Hair cannot battle at once with
+he whom he has fed. The Red Knife and the Long
+Hair are brothers. The Long Hair will give his red
+brother the magic cup,” and he thrust the compass into
+the brave’s willing hand.</p>
+
+<p>“In return,” Cody pursued, “Red Knife will take<span class="pagenum">[238]</span>
+the tale of Death Killer’s treachery into Oak Heart’s
+village. Come! Long Hair will show his brother the
+medicine chief’s braves lurking for the scalp of Long
+Hair. It is a true tale. Red Knife will tell Oak
+Heart himself.”</p>
+
+<p>“Waugh! Death Killer is a mighty chief,” said Red
+Knife hesitatingly.</p>
+
+<p>“And this is a mighty medicine,” suggested the wily
+scout.</p>
+
+<p>The Indian rose up suddenly and thrust the compass
+into the breast of his shirt. He had evidently made up
+his mind.</p>
+
+<p>“It is well,” he said shortly. “Let Long Hair show
+this truth to me.”</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXXVII">CHAPTER XXXVII.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">THE TRAITOR.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill was too wise to take Chief too near the
+Indian encampment. The wise white horse could take
+care of himself in ordinary emergencies, but he would
+be rather in the way up in the mountains, and the scout
+left him in a well-grassed valley, while he and Red
+Knife went on toward the Indian village.</p>
+
+<p>Chief Oak Heart had established himself in a place
+not easy of access by the pony soldiers, and he had a
+great contempt for the “walk-a-heaps.” The Sioux
+are great riders, seldom walking where a pony can
+carry them, and are contemptuous of all people who do
+not likewise ride.</p>
+
+<p>Red Knife had left his village afoot. It was a mark
+of his humility and his desperate straits. The route<span class="pagenum">[239]</span>
+back to the encampment was so rough that ponies
+would have been of little use to either the red man or
+the scout. They were all day in climbing the mountain
+and finding a pass through to the other side of the
+ridge. They came out about dark in sight of the valley
+where the village lay. Its lights were visible to
+them from the mountainside. They retired to a cave
+that Red Knife knew of, however, and built their own
+fire, out of sight.</p>
+
+<p>Red Knife was mightily pleased with his new medicine.
+He was eager to get down to his people and
+show its virtues to them. But he had promised two
+things to the scout. One was to point out a secret
+trail down into Oak Heart’s camp; the other to spread
+among the braves the fact of Death Killer’s treachery&mdash;providing
+Cody proved to his satisfaction that the
+medicine chief <em>was</em> treacherous.</p>
+
+<p>Before daybreak Buffalo Bill awoke his red ally, and
+they stole out of the cave like shadows. The Border
+King had marked well the stations of the various
+braves who were under the medicine chief’s control.
+They were set at every entrance to the valley by which
+the scout might have penetrated to the encampment.</p>
+
+<p>At least, such had been the case upon his previous
+visit, and they were not long at the search before
+spotting one of these sentinels. At least, he was one
+of Death Killer’s particular friends, and he was apparently
+watching a pass through the hills.</p>
+
+<p>The scout and Red Knife approached quite near to
+him, but Cody would not let his companion speak to
+the sentinel.</p>
+
+<p>“Wait! Let us see if there are more, as I have told
+my red brother,” he observed, and they went on to another<span class="pagenum">[240]</span>
+path. Sure enough, there, grimly camped beside
+the way, was a second brave, likewise one of those who
+associated more closely with Boyd Bennett, the renegade.
+Again they went on, going cautiously now, for
+it was past sunrise, and found a third watchman.</p>
+
+<p>These plainly were not sentinels placed to guard
+particularly the camp itself. Those were much nearer
+the village. These red men were stationed thusly for
+a particular purpose.</p>
+
+<p>“Is my red brother satisfied that the Long Hair
+spoke truly?” asked the scout of the young brave.</p>
+
+<p>“Pa-e-has-ka is of single tongue. He does not lie.
+But Red Knife will first go to Chief Oak Heart and
+ask him if, by his instruction, these men were sent to
+bar the way to the lodges of the Sioux. If the great
+chief knows naught of it, then must Death Killer explain.”</p>
+
+<p>“Tell Oak Heart to remove these guards and Long
+Hair will appear before him as he promised the White
+Antelope,” said Cody seriously.</p>
+
+<p>Red Knife solemnly shook hands with him. Although
+the young brave had, by his own confession,
+killed Dick Danforth, the scout had been forced to
+make use of him. Now he gave him a word of warning:</p>
+
+<p>“Although Red Knife is now Long Hair’s friend,
+and Long Hair has given him of his own strong medicine
+that Red Knife might be a man among his people,
+there is still a feud between them. It was Red Knife’s
+hand that killed the young white chief, whom Long
+Hair loved. When next we meet let Red Knife beware.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[241]</span></p>
+
+<p>“It is just,” admitted the Indian solemnly. “Let us
+go.”</p>
+
+<p>He led Cody then to the hidden path which would
+enable the scout to pass all of Death Killer’s sentinels
+and, indeed, most of the guards of the village, and so
+ride almost into the encampment itself without being
+seen. Then, without a word further, the young brave
+turned his face toward his father’s lodge.</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill sat down and smoked his pipe while he
+watched him along the trail into the valley. He could
+watch Red Knife for a long distance before the young
+man came out upon the bluff which overlooked the
+valley where the encampment lay. Until that time he
+could not be seen from below.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly Buffalo Bill saw a figure among the rocks
+near the path which Red Knife was following. It was
+of another Indian, but the scout could not see the
+man’s face&mdash;not even with the aid of his field-glasses.
+Red Knife seemed totally unconscious of the other’s
+presence until suddenly the stranger leaped before him
+and stood in his path.</p>
+
+<p>“Hello!” muttered Cody. “What’s all this?”</p>
+
+<p>It was evident that the two redskins conversed excitedly.
+What they said, of course, the scout could
+not even guess. Indians are usually so self-repressed
+that the scout could not judge at this distance whether
+they spoke angrily or in the most pleasant way together.</p>
+
+<p>It seemed, however, as though the strange redskin
+tried to urge Red Knife to wait, but the young brave
+was determined to go on down into the valley. At
+last he seemed almost to break away from the other
+and push on toward the edge of the bluff. Cody knew<span class="pagenum">[242]</span>
+that neither of the actors in the drama below could be
+seen from the village.</p>
+
+<p>Red Knife was determined, and left the one who had
+accosted him. The latter shrank back and watched
+him for a moment. Then suddenly Cody saw him
+gather himself, jerk the tomahawk from his belt, and
+swing the weapon high in the air!</p>
+
+<p>Cody caught himself from crying out, but he <em>did</em>
+leap up as the fatal blow fell. The strange Indian cast
+himself upon Red Knife’s back and clove the unconscious
+red man’s skull with a mighty blow of the
+hatchet. Red Knife went down in a heap!</p>
+
+<p>Cody pulled himself together and, through the glass,
+watched the traitor stoop over the fallen man, strip the
+scalp from his head, and then dart away among the
+rocks. Steeped in guilt as he was, the scout knew the
+villain would not remain near the scene of his atrocious
+act. Therefore he risked going down to the place himself.</p>
+
+<p>Poor Red Knife was truly disposed of. The hatchet
+had killed him instantly. And all the hopes Cody had
+based upon his good offices were dissipated at once.</p>
+
+<p>The scout stood there for some time and communed
+with himself. Should he risk going on into the village
+now? Or should he await some favorable opportunity
+of undermining Boyd Bennett’s power before putting
+himself within the bandit’s grasp?</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<p><span class="pagenum">[243]</span></p>
+
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXXVIII">CHAPTER XXXVIII.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">WHITE ANTELOPE’S PERIL.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>There was much disturbance in the encampment
+about this time, as Buffalo Bill had seen when making
+his observations from the high peaks about the valley.
+The Indians ran to and fro like ants, and runners frequently
+went out, or came in by the northern roads.
+This meant surely that Oak Heart was communicating
+with the other chiefs, and the scout feared that, stirred
+up by Boyd Bennett in his character of medicine chief,
+the Sioux leader was preparing for another attack like
+that on Fort Advance.</p>
+
+<p>Rumors ran rife among the Indians regarding the
+movements of the bluecoats, and the numbers of them
+who had come to bury the dead whites after the recent
+ambush in which Oak Heart himself had taken part.
+The old chief, believing that Lieutenant Danforth was
+coming to attack his encampment, had taken part in
+this sanguinary struggle himself.</p>
+
+<p>Now certain warriors brought strange rumors into
+the village. It was said that Pa-e-has-ka was on the
+war-path, too. And that he was leading the whites to
+the encampment. So spoke the Death Killer, the white
+medicine chief of the Sioux, who was gaining great
+influence with the young men of the tribe.</p>
+
+<p>“Pa-e-has-ka is my foe,” he said bitterly, “and I
+sought to bring him captive here, or to slay him with
+his friend; but the White Antelope freed him, and sent
+him back to his people to carry Oak Heart’s warning.
+What has been done? Do not the white men come in
+force into the Indian country?</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[244]</span></p>
+
+<p>“The White Antelope turned a panther loose upon
+the trail of my red brothers. And he told her that he
+would return and come a prisoner again into Oak
+Heart’s village, and to his lodge. Has he come?”</p>
+
+<p>“No!” answered many voices.</p>
+
+<p>“But the warriors come in and tell how Pa-e-has-ka
+has killed their comrades, scalped their brothers, and
+laughed at them for squaws. Will the Sioux braves
+let the paleface dog longer kick dirt in their faces? Is
+he not now near their village, and yet no warrior
+brings in his scalp, because he is under the protection
+of the White Antelope?”</p>
+
+<p>A murmur arose from the old men about the council
+circle.</p>
+
+<p>“Let my medicine braves seek his trail and bring him
+alive into the presence of the great chief, and the Death
+Killer will show him how the Pa-e-has-ka will weep
+like a squaw when he is bound to the torture-stake.”</p>
+
+<p>This speech of the renegade excited the Indians to
+frenzy. There was no longer any possibility of restraining
+the young men. A hundred warriors took
+the trail with the avowed intention of bringing in the
+Long Hair.</p>
+
+<p>When Red Knife was found dead upon the bluff
+overlooking the camp there was considerable wonder
+expressed. The unfortunate scion of the Crow family
+had lost caste, it was true, but why he should have
+been killed by the supposedly lurking white man&mdash;the
+Red Knife had gone from the camp unarmed&mdash;even
+the redskins themselves could not understand. As the
+murders increased Bennett grew louder in his objurgations
+against Long Hair.</p>
+
+<p>From the hour of his disappointment upon the gory<span class="pagenum">[245]</span>
+field where Danforth and his band had met their doom,
+the renegade had thirsted for revenge upon the scout.
+He had secretly despatched a noted warrior to meet and
+kill Buffalo Bill on his return; but having not again
+seen or heard of this brave, Bennett feared that he had
+come to grief at the hands of the old Indian fighter.</p>
+
+<p>The medicine chief did not wish Buffalo Bill to
+really appear before Oak Heart and the old chiefs of
+the tribe. He was not at all sure what the outcome of
+such a venture might be. Indians admire bravery and
+boldness above all other virtues, and Bennett feared
+the dashing scout might influence the tribe against <em>him</em>,
+too.</p>
+
+<p>For defending the scout and permitting him to go
+free upon his pledge to return, the renegade had not
+forgiven the White Antelope. Yet he knew the influence
+she held in the tribe, that upon account of her
+having been born with yellow hair, and growing up
+far more beautiful than any maiden of the Sioux, she
+was regarded as a favored child of the Great Spirit,
+and that should he cross her will he might lose the
+power he had gained over the tribesmen.</p>
+
+<p>He had hoped, too, to win the Indian maiden for his
+lodge, when he first became familiar with the tribe;
+but she had treated his advances with disdain, and this
+was a second reason why he felt revengeful toward her.
+To get any redskin to aid him in a plot against White
+Antelope, he knew would be impossible; yet he did not
+despair of either conquering the proud girl, or getting
+rid of her altogether. At least, he desired to keep her
+away from the camp and the council if Buffalo Bill
+were brought in; otherwise, she might disturb all his
+plans and aid in the release of the white man.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[246]</span></p>
+
+<p>Therefore the medicine chief watched the teepee of
+the white queen keenly. When he saw her mount her
+pony and gallop out of the village, and past the guards
+which encircled it, Boyd Bennett followed secretly.
+White Antelope, accustomed to going where and how
+she pleased, and having unbounded confidence in her
+own prowess, rode to the top of a ridge some distance
+from the encampment.</p>
+
+<p>The young brave who sentineled this high strip of
+ground was much in love with the beautiful daughter
+of the chief, and with her before his eyes he forgot all
+else. So wrapped was the young man in the contemplation
+of the girl that he forgot his duty. A form
+suddenly bounded from behind a rock near-by, an iron
+hand gripped the youth’s throat and bore him backward
+out of sight, and the long knife in the murderer’s hand
+struck home&mdash;to the heart.</p>
+
+<p>It was over instantly. No sound&mdash;only a gasp, and
+the death-rattle in the brave’s throat. Then, with the
+knife, the murderer made a quick incision in a rough
+circle in the scalp, about the size of a dollar, and with
+his teeth tore off the dead warrior’s scalp-lock.</p>
+
+<p>Seated there by the side of his victim the slayer
+looked upon him with real pleasure, while he muttered
+in a sinister tone:</p>
+
+<p>“More blood! Ah! I love it! This shall be another
+death laid to the wiles of Buffalo Bill. Now for
+the White Antelope, and then&mdash;&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>“There she comes! Now to catch her as she passes!”</p>
+
+<p>He crouched behind his rocky shelter as he spoke,
+while the White Antelope, seemingly somewhat despondent,
+came riding slowly back toward the village.
+In truth, she had ridden to see if she could spy the<span class="pagenum">[247]</span>
+coming of the Long Hair, who had promised to return.
+That strange man had gained a wonderful hold upon
+her mind. And, beside, she had a great secret to impart
+to him.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly the girl uttered a cry of alarm and tried to
+wheel her pony to dash away, for to her side had
+sprung the form of Boyd Bennett. But his rough hand
+effectually shut off her scream, he seized her in his
+arms, and, dragging her from the frightened pony’s
+back, he darted down a defile, unseen by any of the Indian
+guards.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXXIX">CHAPTER XXXIX.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">A CRY FOR HELP.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>In a large cavern penetrating a pile of rocks, rising
+to an elevation that commanded a view of the Indian
+village, sat Buffalo Bill. He had a strong field-glass,
+and for two days he had been studying the camp, and
+all that went in or came out of it.</p>
+
+<p>He had seen many things which led him to know
+that Boyd Bennett was as two-faced with his Indian
+friends as he had been with the whites. This murder
+was not the first the medicine chief had done.</p>
+
+<p>“Well, I’ll never get them down finer than I have
+them now,” he was saying thoughtfully. “I wish I had
+Texas here to send back word to Captain Keyes. A
+knowledge of the exact situation of the village and just
+how many warriors old Oak Heart has might be of inestimable
+value later&mdash;if I don’t get away again!”</p>
+
+<p>The great scout intended to go into the village and
+boldly face the renegade. He had hoped by lingering<span class="pagenum">[248]</span>
+about the place in secret to catch the medicine chief
+unawares, and so put him out of the way before delivering
+himself to the tribe. For it was Boyd Bennett
+alone whom the scout feared. He had a secret possession
+which he believed might save him from death at
+the hands of the Sioux, providing Bennett was not
+there to use his influence as medicine chief against
+him.</p>
+
+<p>As he came to this final desperate decision, however,
+Buffalo Bill saw the renegade come into view among
+the rocks, and in his arms he carried the struggling
+figure of the White Antelope. Catching sight of the
+scout, the girl shrieked in English:</p>
+
+<p>“Long Hair! Save me! save me!”</p>
+
+<p>The renegade turned his bloodshot eyes upon the
+scout. He shrieked with ungovernable fury at him
+and gibbered:</p>
+
+<p>“Raise your hand, Buffalo Bill, and I will kill her!”</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill raised his rifle and sighted pointblank
+at his old foe. But the scoundrel held the girl before
+his own body, besides threatening her with his upraised
+knife. At another time&mdash;or given another person
+than the White Antelope&mdash;the scout would have
+risked one of his wonderful shots and perhaps brought
+the bandit chief down before he could have done his
+captive harm. He hesitated, however, for he had great
+reason for desiring to save the girl’s life. The fluctuation
+of a hair’s breadth in his aim might put the rifle-ball
+into her body instead of Boyd Bennett’s.</p>
+
+<p>Therefore the scout, with a groan, dropped his gun.
+The girl shrieked again, and in a moment Bennett
+leaped behind a boulder and fled along a secret path,
+entirely hidden from the scout’s station.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[249]</span></p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill heard the girl’s heartrending shrieks as
+she was carried swiftly into the hills. They appealed
+to him strongly, and, quickly girding himself for the
+chase, he followed on the trail of the abductor.</p>
+
+<p>The object of the bandit’s mad act Buffalo Bill did
+not realize. Bennett’s bloodthirsty killing of the sentinel&mdash;and
+formerly of Red Knife&mdash;seemed to point to
+the fact that the man’s brain was turned. Why he had
+fled now from the encampment with the chief’s daughter
+was a deep mystery, unless he was indeed mad.</p>
+
+<p>The scout’s mind, however, was given up mainly to
+planning for the release of the girl and the overcoming
+of her captor. Boyd Bennett seemed to be alone in
+this abduction plot, and the scout felt rejoiced that at
+last it seemed he was to meet the fellow with something
+like an equal chance.</p>
+
+<p>The principal thing now was to not give Bennett
+start enough to hide in the rocks. Buffalo Bill could
+hear the scrambling of the man with the girl in his
+arms, although for some time he could not see him.
+Not until they rounded the spur of the mountain and
+arrived upon the farther slope did the scout obtain a
+glimpse of the object of his pursuit.</p>
+
+<p>Then, to his bitter disappointment, he beheld Boyd
+Bennett, still lugging the girl, running down the hill
+toward a thicket, near which was tethered a horse,
+saddled and bridled! As he ran the renegade&mdash;now a
+traitor both to the reds and the whites&mdash;uttered a
+shrill “coee!” and immediately a horseman appeared
+from behind the thicket. It was one of the outlaw’s
+old gang, Buffalo Bill made no doubt, and he had been
+here in waiting, with the extra horse for his chief and
+the girl.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[250]</span></p>
+
+<p>White Antelope no longer struggled in the fiend’s
+arms. Buffalo Bill knew that she had fainted and lay
+limply across Bennett’s saddle as he put her up and
+mounted in such haste. But the scout was too far
+away now for a shot. The two villains started their
+horses down the slope and were quickly out of sight,
+and all this without a single redskin being aroused!</p>
+
+<p>Plainly Bennett had planned this coup with great
+cunning. He had placed his own braves in positions
+to bar Buffalo Bill from the valley where the camp
+lay, but had allowed one of Oak Heart’s braves to bar
+one exit. That brave Cody had seen the scoundrel
+kill and scalp, so leaving a plain path into the encampment
+if the scout wished to go that way.</p>
+
+<p>But two strong desires led the scout upon a different
+trail. His interest in White Antelope was no small interest.
+Happenings of late had really increased it,
+indeed. And Boyd Bennett must be run down!</p>
+
+<p>Afoot as he was, the scout hurried after the two
+outlaws and their fair-haired captive, for by keeping
+doggedly at it a man may run down a horse. Providing
+the outlaws had no fresh horses and their destination
+was far away, Cody felt confident that he would
+overtake them even though he continued afoot.</p>
+
+<p>But chance favored him. Bennett and his companions
+followed a trace through the mountains which
+passed within a few miles of the valley in which Buffalo
+Bill had left Chief, his big white horse. The scout
+left the trail long enough to obtain his mount, which,
+having fed well and being rested, was as eager for the
+trail as his master.</p>
+
+<p>Back to the bandit’s trail the scout rode, and the
+white stallion flung mile after mile of the rocky way<span class="pagenum">[251]</span>
+beneath his feet. Bennett and his companion had not
+tried to disguise their trail. Evidently they felt either
+sure of no pursuit, or considered themselves a match
+for Buffalo Bill. Bennett probably did not think that
+the Indians themselves would miss White Antelope
+until the trail was stale and he would be too far away
+with the girl to be overtaken.</p>
+
+<p>The pursuer came upon the place where the trio had
+camped at noon. They had boldly built a fire and
+cooked food, and Cody even found the marks of the
+girl’s moccasins in the soft ground beside the trail.
+Perhaps she had shrewdly stepped there when her
+captors were not looking, hoping that their trail was
+being followed. At another place she had torn some
+beadwork from her garments and flung it on the
+ground.</p>
+
+<p>“She’s a sharp girl, all right,” said Cody to himself.
+“And if she has confidence in my following and
+saving her, I swear it shall not be misplaced!”</p>
+
+<p>Before night, however, the scout received a shock
+which made him almost despair. The trail he was
+following came down into a great valley through the
+middle of which flowed a broad river. On the river’s
+bank the hoof-marks of Bennett’s mount and his companion’s
+were joined by those of a dozen other horses!</p>
+
+<p>“They’ve been caught, by thunder!” was Cody’s first
+thought.</p>
+
+<p>Then he saw that this supposition was entirely
+wrong, and his heart sank. These were not unshod
+Indian ponies. Nor could they be a party of peaceful
+travelers who had joined Bennett and his friend. It
+was the rest of the gang. The outlaws had here
+joined their leader, and, instead of following two<span class="pagenum">[252]</span>
+scoundrels, the scout was up against the entire gang&mdash;and
+single-handed!</p>
+
+<p>Then did he wish that he had sought out a part of
+Captain Keyes’ command and brought them on this
+hunt for the bandit leader and his helpless captive. He
+shuddered to think of what might be White Antelope’s
+fate among these ruffians. He could not go
+back now for help; and yet, if he overtook the gang,
+what could he, a man alone, do toward getting the
+girl free?</p>
+
+<p>Yet Buffalo Bill, the Border King, had spent years
+of his life in taking chances. He had been up against
+as serious odds before, and had come out on top. He
+did not hesitate for a single instant, but crossed the
+river at the ford, and followed the hoof-prints of the
+gang up the opposite bank of the river.</p>
+
+<p>If they were making for their rendezvous, well and
+good. He would at least learn one&mdash;perhaps the principal&mdash;hiding-place
+of the gang, and later could bring
+a party to overwhelm them. Meantime, he would trust
+to luck and a merciful Providence to assist him in obtaining
+White Antelope’s release unharmed from the
+villainous crew.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XL">CHAPTER XL.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">THE FREIGHT-TRAIN.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>The sun was sinking like a great globe of fire, seemingly
+at the very foot of the broad valley which, from
+its head, spread forth miles upon square miles of verdant
+lawn, crimson and yellow groves, the leaves of
+which blushed before the cold finger-touch of winter<span class="pagenum">[253]</span>
+interspersed with patches of hemlock and spruce, now,
+as ever, green. Through the valley flowed a broad
+river, joined here by several mountain brooks which
+tumbled down from the heights on either hand to
+swell the main current, which entered the vale from
+the mouth of the broad cañon on the north. A deeply
+rutted wagon trail came out of the cañon as well as the
+river. For miles this trace wound along the riverside,
+hemmed in by gigantic cliffs on the tops of which
+the bighorn sheep looked like specks to the traveler below,
+and which were so high and so close together in
+places that it was twilight at noon in the bottom of
+the gorge!</p>
+
+<p>Indeed, back in the cañon it was already night when
+the sun was but setting out here in the valley. Therefore
+the “mule-skinners” cracked their blacksnakes and
+shouted many objurgations to their patient animals,
+desiring to reach the open and make camp outside the
+cañon before darkness finally settled upon the valley.
+The creaking of the wagon wheels and the cracking of
+the whips, with the voices of the mule-skinners, made
+music a mile up the cañon.</p>
+
+<p>It was a heavy wagon-train. First rode the captain
+on a gray mare with a bell on her neck. With her
+tethered near the wagons the mules could be turned
+loose at night; they would never desert the camp as
+long as the gray mare remained faithful.</p>
+
+<p>The wagons of the train were linked together&mdash;five
+or six great, lumbering, canvas-topped vehicles, with
+eight or ten span of mules hauling on each section.
+There were three of these sections in the train, six
+men to a section, the captain, and the cook who rode
+behind on another saddle-horse, leading a pack-animal<span class="pagenum">[254]</span>
+which bore the cook-tent and some of the camp equipment.</p>
+
+<p>When the captain reached the mouth of the cañon
+and beheld the pleasant, sunlit valley he turned and
+uttered a loud “coee! coee!” which brought the cook
+and his packhorse trotting forward. The valley looked
+perfectly safe to the captain of the train, and he selected
+an indenture in the river-bank where the cook
+and he set up the tent, and, as fast as the wagons came
+up, they deployed off the trail so as to make a horseshoe
+figure around the camping-place, the open part
+of which was toward the river.</p>
+
+<p>This precaution was always taken whether they saw
+Indian signs or not. And at night rifles were issued
+to the men and a strong guard mounted. Each man
+“packed” a couple of guns at his waist all day, anyway.</p>
+
+<p>The selection of this low piece of ground as the
+camp was not wise, however. An enemy could ride
+to the edge of the low, sloping bluff which surrounded
+it on three sides and pop bullets over the wagon tops
+into the enclosure, shooting from one side those who
+strove to guard the other line of the camp.</p>
+
+<p>For days, however, the party had seen no signs of
+redskins. Small scalping-parties would fight shy of
+the wagon-train; for twenty well-armed whites were
+bound to be respected by the Arabs of the plains,
+especially as the train crew was sure to be armed with
+the quickfiring guns which the Indians so feared.</p>
+
+<p>After the sun set the evening was short, for it was
+late fall now. The air grew chill; in the midst of the
+camp the men built a rousing fire, aside from that
+over which the cook pottered, and around this they<span class="pagenum">[255]</span>
+gathered and told stories, cracked rude jokes, or
+basked silently in the warmth of the flames, resting
+from the toil of the day. So unconscious were they
+of aught but their immediate surroundings that they
+did not see several horsemen who topped the nearest
+rise to the west, and overlooking the camp.</p>
+
+<p>It was now deep dusk, but the horsemen were silhouetted
+against the sky-line so plainly that had any
+of the freighters chanced to glance that way they must
+have seen the figures. Only for a moment were they
+in view, however. The leader of the group spoke
+sharply, but in a low tone, to his mates, and all pulled
+their horses about and disappeared quickly beyond the
+ridge.</p>
+
+<p>Later, and afoot, two of the party came again to the
+summit of the ridge and reconnoitered. The freighters’
+camp lay calmly under the starry sky, the fires
+burning briskly, the mules champing the grass of the
+plain contentedly, occasionally a laugh or a sharp word
+echoing across the valley between the calls of the night-birds.</p>
+
+<p>The wind wandered down from the heights and
+shook the canvas covers of the wagons as though trying
+to arouse the men to the danger that threatened
+them. Coyotes whined in the distance, sniffing the
+herd, but too cowardly to advance until on the morrow
+the freight-train should have passed on. <em>Then</em> they
+would come boldly in and fight over the scraps remaining.
+And, perhaps, there would be greater booty
+for the scavengers of the plains to fight over!</p>
+
+<p>The men scouting about the freighters’ camp numbered
+the unconscious men and noted their arms and
+how the camp was arranged. There was a high river-bank.<span class="pagenum">[256]</span>
+The captain of the train had ordered the arrangement
+of the wagons partly because he was eager
+to obtain water; but there was a high bank to the river
+here, and a narrow beach below it. Men afoot could
+creep down this bank and, sheltered from the camp,
+approach it and attack from the riverside. Even a
+sentinel stationed on the very verge of the bank would
+be little likely to apprehend the coming of such an attacking
+force, unless he chanced to be expecting it.</p>
+
+<p>The captain of the train set one of his watchmen on
+the bank above the river, however, and to keep warm
+the rifleman walked back and forth, pacing a beat some
+twenty yards long. This would have been all very
+well had the crew believed there was a particle of danger
+threatening the camp. But so confident were they
+of peace that they did not even drive the mules down
+from the higher ground where they were feeding. A
+party of a dozen reds&mdash;if they could have loosed the
+gray mare&mdash;might have made off with the entire herd.</p>
+
+<p>There was a shelter tent for each six men, while the
+cook and the captain shared the fourth canvas. At
+ten o’clock, under a black-velvet sky pricked out with
+the brilliant but distant stars, the camp was as quiet
+as the grave&mdash;that is, providing one could imagine
+some of the occupants of the grave sleeping their long
+sleep “loudly.” Aside from these snores, however,
+and the champing of the horses and mules, there was
+little sound to break the silence. There was a sentinel
+pacing a short beat on the inland side of the
+camp; but, it being cold when the wind swooped down
+and flapped the loose canvas, he got in behind the
+chain of wagons and was not so much use as a guard.
+Along the river-bank paced the other sentinel, whistling<span class="pagenum">[257]</span>
+under his breath, and staring off across the black,
+smoothly flowing water, in which the stars were mirrored.</p>
+
+<p>Wide-awake as he was, this second guard heard
+nothing when a single figure slipped down the river-bank
+beyond the camp and toward the cañon’s entrance,
+and in a stooping posture sneaked along toward
+him. This figure lay low upon the shore when
+the guard walked that way. When the guard turned
+the prowler arose again and kept just behind him, but
+below the bank, until both reached about the middle
+of the beat the sentinel was following.</p>
+
+<p>Then, softly as a cat, without as much as scratching
+a button or rattling the rifle in his hand or the guns
+in his belt, the stranger darted up the bank, and, stooping
+low, hurried to the smaller tent in which slept the
+captain of the train and the cook. Evidently the
+stranger had picked this tent out before dark, and
+shrewdly guessed who occupied it. Lifting the flap
+softly, he crept in and lowered it before the guard on
+the river-bank turned. The other guard was standing
+facing the opposite way and saw nothing.</p>
+
+<p>Once in the darkness of the tent, the stranger coolly
+squatted on his haunches, laid down his rifle, and
+drawing out a match-safe, scratched a lucifer and held
+it up so that the sputtering flame might cast some radiance
+over the interior of the tent.</p>
+
+<p>The pungent odor of the sulfur got in the nose of
+one of the sleepers, and he sneezed. He sneezed a second
+time and sat up suddenly, blinking his eyes in
+surprise at the figure squatting inside the tent. This
+was an utter stranger to him&mdash;a man with long hair,
+a military hat, buckskin coat, and riding breeches and<span class="pagenum">[258]</span>
+boots. And he was armed like a pirate&mdash;belt stuck full
+of guns and with a big bowie. He smiled cheerfully
+at the amazed and sleepy individual, however.</p>
+
+<p>“Hello!” he said. “Which one of you is the captain?”</p>
+
+<p>“Heh?” murmured the startled one.</p>
+
+<p>“Who’s the boss?”</p>
+
+<p>“I&mdash;I’m the cook.”</p>
+
+<p>“Then the other feller is the boss?”</p>
+
+<p>“I&mdash;I reckon so. Say, Billings!” and he suddenly
+punched the other man in the ribs. “Wake up! We’re
+surrounded!”</p>
+
+<p>“Shut up, you fool!” exclaimed the visitor, slapping
+his palm suddenly over the second man’s mouth,
+for it opened to emit a yell before his eyes were fairly
+ajar. “It’s all right. What did you want to startle
+him for?”</p>
+
+<p>“Who the devil are you?” demanded the cook.</p>
+
+<p>“And how’d you git here?” cried the other man.</p>
+
+<p>“I’m Cody, and I belong just now to the command
+at Fort Advance. You’re in about as dangerous a
+position as a score of men can be and get out of it
+alive, and I’ve sneaked into your camp to help you.”</p>
+
+<p>“Injuns!” groaned the cook, turning pale.</p>
+
+<p>“There ain’t a red within forty miles,” declared
+Buffalo Bill, for he it was.</p>
+
+<p>“Then what’s the matter?” sputtered the captain of
+the freight crew. “I’ve set guards over the camp.
+We’re all right.”</p>
+
+<p>“Your guards are a lot of use, ain’t they?” sneered
+the scout. “They’re out there walking up and down
+like two wooden men; but they didn’t see me get by.”</p>
+
+<p>“But, for Heaven’s sake what is the matter?”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[259]</span></p>
+
+<p>“You’ve got worse than Injuns after you.”</p>
+
+<p>“What can that be?”</p>
+
+<p>“Boyd Bennett’s gang of hold-up men.”</p>
+
+<p>“Git out! Bennett’s left the country.”</p>
+
+<p>“He’s j’ined an Injun tribe,” added the cook. “Become
+a squaw man.”</p>
+
+<p>“Well, he’s out yonder with about a dozen of
+the p’izenest ruffians that it’s ever been my fate to
+run up against,” declared Buffalo Bill. “And from
+what I could overhear lying out there on my belly in
+the grass, they’re pretty near ready to stampede you!”</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, Lord!” groaned the cook.</p>
+
+<p>But the captain of the crew was no coward. He
+was awake now, and he leaped up, ready to fight for
+his own life and help to defend the lives of his mates
+and the valuable property entrusted to him.</p>
+
+<p>“Mr. Cody, you take command,” he urged instantly.
+“You are a better man than any one in this entire party&mdash;that
+I’ll swear to. I have shown my incompetency
+already by placing my guards so carelessly that you
+could creep into my very sleeping tent without being
+apprehended.”</p>
+
+<p>“Many a man has made the mistake of being too
+confident when there were no signs of trouble,” said
+Buffalo Bill. “But you had no knowledge of these
+outlaws being near you, of course. Although, it was
+quite by chance that they did not blunder into your
+midst, I fancy. There are fewer of them than there
+are of your men; but if they had caught you with your
+pants down it would have been ‘Good-by John!’ for
+you all. This is as bloody-minded a gang of cut-throats
+as infest this Western country.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[260]</span></p>
+
+<p>“So I have heard said of Bennett and his men. But
+I thought they had left the Overland Trail.”</p>
+
+<p>“They are not on the old lay just at present,” Cody
+explained. “In fact, I am following them for an entirely
+different reason. And if we have the luck to
+beat the devils, I’d be thankful for any help you could
+give me toward capturing the whole gang and rescuing
+a prisoner they hold.”</p>
+
+<p>“A prisoner?”</p>
+
+<p>“Aye, and a girl&mdash;God help her!”</p>
+
+<p>“Great heavens! a woman in the hands of those
+ruffians?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes.”</p>
+
+<p>“Who is she?”</p>
+
+<p>“White Antelope, the daughter of old Oak Heart,
+the Sioux chieftain.”</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, thunder! a squaw!” exclaimed the captain of
+the train crew in disgust.</p>
+
+<p>“She’s just as precious to the old redskin as the
+daughter of a white man is to him, I s’pose,” said the
+scout sternly. “Besides, her release means a great
+deal to me&mdash;and to Major Baldwin of Fort Advance&mdash;and,
+perhaps, to the entire white settlers of this
+part of the country.”</p>
+
+<p>“Well, well! I can’t afford to quarrel with you over
+a red squaw,” said the other lightly. “You help us,
+and we’ll help you.”</p>
+
+<p>“I am here for the purpose of helping you,” said the
+Border King, with some stiffness of manner, for the
+other’s tone had jarred upon him.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<p><span class="pagenum">[261]</span></p>
+
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XLI">CHAPTER XLI.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">“ON GUARD!”</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>“First of all,” said the captain of the freighters, “I
+want you to take command, Cody, as I said.”</p>
+
+<p>“No, no!” the scout hastened to reply. “I would
+not take that upon myself.”</p>
+
+<p>“I insist.”</p>
+
+<p>“No. I must be free myself to act in this other
+matter I speak of. If I see a chance to run off the
+girl while you fellows are handling the outlaws, I must
+do so.”</p>
+
+<p>“And leave us for a redskin?”</p>
+
+<p>“That is it,” returned Cody seriously. “My duty
+is first to her at this time.”</p>
+
+<p>“But that is nonsense, man! People of a blood
+should stick together. Let the red squaw go.”</p>
+
+<p>“She’s got white blood in her better than either
+yours or mine, sir!” snapped the scout.</p>
+
+<p>“Oh! she’s a half-breed?”</p>
+
+<p>“She is. But I am not here to discuss White Antelope.
+Time is passing. I will advise you to the
+best of my ability in this fight; but I cannot accept
+the responsibility of command.”</p>
+
+<p>“All I can do, then, is to rouse up the other boys
+and make ready to receive boarders.”</p>
+
+<p>“But there is more than one way of doing that,”
+said Cody, with a smile which the other did not see
+in the dark tent.</p>
+
+<p>“Heh?”</p>
+
+<p>“No use in rousing out the other men in a way to
+show the outlaws you are expecting them.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[262]</span></p>
+
+<p>“Oh, shucks! are they watching us already?”</p>
+
+<p>“They sure are. All I feared in making my way to
+your tent was their sharp eyes. I knew what your
+guards would be.”</p>
+
+<p>“You don’t have a very high opinion of us mule-skinners,
+then?” said the captain, rather sharply.</p>
+
+<p>“I have a very poor opinion indeed of men who will
+be careless on this trail,” said Buffalo Bill sternly.
+“Recklessness is never bravery.”</p>
+
+<p>“Huh!” grunted the other.</p>
+
+<p>“Cook, you creep out at the rear and speak to the
+sentinel at the back of the camp. Keep close to the
+ground and tell him to have a care. Let him step
+across and speak to the guard by the river&mdash;casually,
+remember.”</p>
+
+<p>“All right, sir,” said the cook, recognizing the tone
+of authority.</p>
+
+<p>“Then you creep over to the farther tent and awaken
+the boys carefully. The captain here had better attend
+to the other two. Go on your hands and knees, boys!
+And don’t startle anybody. Have they got arms with
+’em, or are they in the wagons?”</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, they’ve got their rifles. I’m not quite a fool,”
+said the captain.</p>
+
+<p>“Glad to hear that,” the scout returned, and did not
+stop to explain whether he was rejoiced to hear that
+the men were properly armed, or that the captain was
+not an entire ignoramus!</p>
+
+<p>It was too serious a situation for the man to take
+open offense, however. He, as well as the cook, did
+Cody’s bidding without further remark. They crept
+from tent to tent, keeping well in the shadow, while<span class="pagenum">[263]</span>
+the first guard, warned by the cook, went across and
+warned the man pacing the beat by the river.</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill was pretty confident that the outlaws
+would wait until the sentinels were changed at midnight
+before attacking. That was the best time for
+such a movement, for the new guards would be sleepy,
+and the other men would have just settled into heavier
+sleep.</p>
+
+<p>When the gang had been awakened the captain reported
+to the scout. Thus far none of the boys had
+come out of the three larger tents, and they were
+warned to keep under cover until they received the
+word.</p>
+
+<p>“You don’t want to have your mules stampeded
+far,” said the scout. “When the sentinels are changed,
+let one of those coming off duty step out and lead in
+your bell-mare, and hobble her inside the line of the
+wagons. Then you’ll be sure of her, and, even if the
+long-ears do run away, they’ll come back again, come
+daybreak.”</p>
+
+<p>The cook’s fire was already out, and Cody warned
+them to let the other one burn down as low as it
+would. The more shadowy the camp was the better
+the freighters could move about without attracting
+the notice of any watching outlaws.</p>
+
+<p>Cody remained in the little tent with the flap pinned
+back, and the cook and the captain came to him and reported
+their missions accomplished. Midnight came&mdash;it
+was not a long wait&mdash;and the sentinels went to
+the tents and appeared to awaken those who were to
+relieve them. Cody had particularly instructed the
+man who was to go to the river-bank. One of the<span class="pagenum">[264]</span>
+others brought in the gray mare. The camp settled
+down to apparent quietude and peace again.</p>
+
+<p>“Now, boys, to your places,” whispered the scout to
+the cook and the captain. “Signal your men, captain;
+be ready to fling on the fire a heap of that light stuff
+yonder when you hear me hoot, cook! All right!”</p>
+
+<p>The captain crept out once more and scratched with
+his finger-nail upon the canvas of each tent. At that
+the freighters began to wriggle out from under the
+canvas and crawl on their bellies to shelter beneath
+the wagons. Cody knew that the first fire of the outlaws
+would be aimed at the tents. Boyd Bennett and
+his villains would expect to thus kill or seriously
+wound several of the sleeping freighters and throw the
+others into utter confusion.</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill remained no longer in the small tent
+himself. He crept down to the river-bank, and he and
+the sentinel saw each other. Cody expected a part of
+the attacking party would approach in the way he had
+come to the camp, only from the other direction.</p>
+
+<p>And this was a good guess. The outlaws&mdash;or several
+of them&mdash;dismounted and came along under the
+bank. In fact, so sure were they of catching the encampment
+asleep, that the scout heard their footsteps.
+They did not take proper care in disguising them.</p>
+
+<p>“Now, mister!” Buffalo Bill exclaimed, under his
+breath to the sentinel near him.</p>
+
+<p>Instantly this man dropped down in the grass, the
+other guard fell flat, there was a sudden pounding of
+horse’ hoofs down the ridge from the south and
+west. Then:</p>
+
+<p>Bang! bang! bang!</p>
+
+<p>A volley of rifle-shots tore through the tents inside<span class="pagenum">[265]</span>
+the wagon-line. Instantly the shrill yell of Buffalo
+Bill, the Border King, answered the shots defiantly.
+The sound had often struck terror to the hearts of his
+red foes, and it was not unknown to Boyd Bennett and
+his comrades.</p>
+
+<p>“That hell-cat, Cody, is here!” screamed Bennett.</p>
+
+<p>The cook flung the light brush on the fire. It blazed
+up almost immediately, giving the men under the
+wagons a chance to see any of the outlaws that might
+venture into the camp. But none of them reached the
+inner circle. As those afoot sprang up the bank from
+the riverside, Cody and the man with him shot them
+down, or drove them shrieking with fear out of rifle-shot.</p>
+
+<p>Pandemonium reigned for a few minutes, however.
+Although Boyd Bennett yelled his warning, the gang
+did not give over the fight so easily. They poured
+round after round of bullets into the camp; but at first
+they did not realize that they were being answered
+from beneath the wagons rather than from the tents.</p>
+
+<p>Several of their ponies were shot down. Although
+the mules were stampeded for a ways, the ruffians
+could make no good use of this fact. Instead of catching
+the camp unawares, they were themselves ambushed,
+thanks to the Border King!</p>
+
+<p>“Escape, men! We are undone!” shrieked Boyd
+Bennett, at last.</p>
+
+<p>He had seen four of his men fall never to rise again,
+and two others had lost their mounts and had to spend
+precious moments in catching two of their dead comrades’
+horses. Back the decimated party fled over the
+ridge.</p>
+
+<p>The freighters poured in volley after volley upon the<span class="pagenum">[266]</span>
+retreating outlaws. But the captain would not let
+them mount such horses and mules as they could catch
+and follow the crew. In this he got square with Buffalo
+Bill for the scout’s sharp words.</p>
+
+<p>In the height of the fight, after seeing that the
+freight crew were more than a match for the outlaws,
+Buffalo Bill had slipped down under the river-bank
+and had run at his best pace toward the spot where
+the outlaws had been encamped earlier in the evening.
+There he had seen White Antelope tied to a sapling
+so that she could not escape while her captors tried
+their nefarious scheme of robbing and murdering the
+freight-train crew.</p>
+
+<p>Believing that Bennett would leave nobody to guard
+the girl, the scout was bent upon reaching the place
+first and releasing her.</p>
+
+<p>And this much he did accomplish: he reached the
+place first. But almost as soon as he had recognized
+Buffalo Bill’s yell, Boyd Bennett spurred back toward
+the bound girl. He feared the scout would do exactly
+the thing he was attempting. Knowing that
+Cody must have followed them here for the express
+purpose of saving White Antelope, he feared the
+shrewdness of his enemy.</p>
+
+<p>Cody found the spot. A camp-fire burned low, but
+revealed the girl writhing in her bonds at one side.
+The scout bounded to her side just as the thunder of
+Bennett’s horse sounded down the hill.</p>
+
+<p>“All right, White Antelope! ’Tis I&mdash;the Long
+Hair!” whispered the scout. “My horse is not far
+away. I will save you&mdash;&mdash; The devil!”</p>
+
+<p>The scout broke off with a savage exclamation. He
+had hoped to slash through the girl’s bonds and carry<span class="pagenum">[267]</span>
+her to his horse, which he had left in a thicket not far
+away. But for once in his life the scout had made a
+terrible oversight!</p>
+
+<p>Chief had picked up a small pebble in his hoof late
+that afternoon, and Buffalo Bill had got down and
+pried it out with the point of his bowie. He had stuck
+the knife into a sheath which hung to his saddle-bow,
+and had forgotten it until this very instant. He had
+nothing with which to cut the girl’s bonds.</p>
+
+<p>Already the chief of the bandits was almost upon
+him. Boyd Bennett rode down the hill yelling like a
+fiend.</p>
+
+<p>“Fly!” murmured the girl. “They will kill you.”</p>
+
+<p>“Curse it! I am foiled for the time. But, remember,
+White Antelope, I am near you and will release
+you yet, and serve your enemy as he deserves!”</p>
+
+<p>With these words the scout dropped to all fours,
+and, as stealthily and silently as a wolf, crept away
+in the darkness.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XLII">CHAPTER XLII.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">THE AVENGER.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>The gang of outlaws had been depleted by five.
+One had fallen on the river-bank, and four others had
+either been killed or so badly wounded that they fell
+captive to the freighters on the side of the ridge.
+There were but eight who gathered about the spot
+where White Antelope was left tied, when the fight
+was over.</p>
+
+<p>And they feared pursuit and a worse thrashing than
+they had already endured. They clamored to be led<span class="pagenum">[268]</span>
+away from the place, and Boyd Bennett, gnashing his
+teeth in impotent rage, was forced to agree.</p>
+
+<p>Every man of them had a fear of Buffalo Bill, the
+Border King. How he could have gotten ahead of
+them, and been in the teamsters’ encampment when
+they made their attack, added to the superstitious
+veneration in which the outlaws had begun to hold
+the great scout. Heretofore they had held Boyd Bennett
+as a better man than Cody; but now they began to
+doubt.</p>
+
+<p>Besides, several of them did not approve of his bearing
+away the Indian girl from her village. While
+Bennett had posed as the medicine chief of the Sioux,
+they were all sure of being treated well by the savages.
+Some of them had taken Indian wives and were
+living in ease and plenty&mdash;the lazy, irresponsible existence
+of the “squaw-man.”</p>
+
+<p>Boyd Bennett’s unhappy attachment for the chief’s
+daughter had brought the gang together again, and
+old-time loyalty had caused them to answer his command.
+But they now believed that they had lost more
+than they should gain. All the Sioux would be down
+upon them, and so they would be at enmity with every
+man they met in the forest and on the plain, both red
+and white!</p>
+
+<p>White Antelope showed plainly that she would never
+yield to Boyd Bennett’s demand and espouse him.
+While he was with the Indians and wielding so much
+influence as Death Killer, the medicine-man, she had
+spurned his advances. Much more did she hold him in
+contempt now.</p>
+
+<p>And Boyd Bennett, too, was acting very strangely.
+Evil ways and evil desires were turning the man’s<span class="pagenum">[269]</span>
+brain. He acted without judgment. Now he unloosed
+White Antelope, caught her up to his saddle,
+and rode away with his men without as much as looking
+for traces of Buffalo Bill in the vicinity, or learning
+if in reality the freighters were inclined to follow
+up their advantage and push the attack.</p>
+
+<p>They swam the river and made for another exit
+from the valley. But their horses were pretty well
+done up, and they could get only a spurt of speed out
+of them now and then. Besides, Boyd Bennett’s own
+mount refused after a time to carry double. This
+necessitated one of the other ruffians carrying White
+Antelope before him on his saddle.</p>
+
+<p>The chance afforded the chief villain an escape from
+certain death. The party were aiming to leave the valley
+by the way the broadening river flowed; but they
+were some distance from the river’s side. Through the
+uncertain light of early morning they did not see a
+tireless white horse carrying its rider down the opposite
+bank until they reached a ford, through which
+the stallion splashed to the side of the stream on which
+the bandits rode.</p>
+
+<p>It was the avenger on the villain’s trail; but they
+did not suspect that again Buffalo Bill had ridden
+ahead of them. Chief was tireless.</p>
+
+<p>The scout ensconced the horse behind a thicket, and
+wormed his way out into the open where he could
+draw bead on anybody passing along the river trail.
+It was a long shot, but the scout had succeeded in
+making more ticklish ones in times past.</p>
+
+<p>By and by the band of tired horsemen loped along
+the trail. The light was too uncertain for Cody to
+distinguish one man from the other; but he saw one<span class="pagenum">[270]</span>
+riding ahead and carrying the girl before him, and
+he believed it must be Bennett. He did not think the
+fellow would let the White Antelope out of his own
+bloody hands.</p>
+
+<p>Therefore he took sight&mdash;deadly sight&mdash;at this man,
+and shot him through the head!</p>
+
+<p>A yell rose from the bandits as the rifle exploded
+and the man pitched off his mount. It was answered
+by Buffalo Bill’s eery war-whoop. The seven remaining
+bandits knew who had fired the fatal shot.</p>
+
+<p>But, although the immediate captor of the girl had
+fallen, she had no time to urge the pony to one side
+and thus escape. Buffalo Bill saw his mistake in a
+moment. With a wild yell Boyd Bennett spurred to
+the side of the horse which White Antelope sat, and
+threatened her with drawn bowie as the whole cavalcade
+shot down the river trail and put a brush-clump
+between them and the scout’s rifle. When they appeared
+again they were out of rifle-shot.</p>
+
+<p>“Seven of them left,” muttered Buffalo Bill. “I
+thought I had that devil that time. But let him wait&mdash;let
+him wait!”</p>
+
+<p>He mounted Chief once more and rode for a time
+in the wake of the bandits. But, fearing that some of
+them might slip off their horses and lay in wait for
+him, he turned aside into the hilly country and so saw
+the refugees only occasionally from the summits of certain
+hills which he climbed. He kept them from resting,
+however, during the forenoon. By midday the
+desperadoes’ ponies were completely worn out.</p>
+
+<p>Had they not been so fearful of the scout the seven
+men might have shown fight. They were equally well
+armed with Buffalo Bill, and some of them were good<span class="pagenum">[271]</span>
+shots. But Boyd Bennett thought only of escape with
+the girl, and his mates were in a blue funk, anyway.</p>
+
+<p>They came at noon to a deserted Indian encampment.
+It was a hunting-camp, the braves evidently being
+out in the hills after game and having left nobody
+but the squaws on guard. The squaws had gone into
+the bush after late berries. Therefore, there was none
+to balk the bandits.</p>
+
+<p>There were no ponies, or the men would have left
+their fagged mounts and stolen those of the red men.
+But in the river lay two good-sized canoes. Abandoning
+their ponies the outlaws seized these boats, forced
+White Antelope into the leading one with Boyd Bennett
+and two others, and the four remaining men entering
+the other boat, both were pushed off and paddled
+down the stream.</p>
+
+<p>Cody beheld this move from a hilltop, and immediately
+rode down to the river. Had he crossed the paths
+of any of the Indians&mdash;they were not Sioux, but he
+knew the tribe&mdash;he might have obtained their help.
+Alone, however, he came to the river-bank. The
+canoes were far out in the stream and going down
+rapidly with the current and the force of the paddles.
+The scout saw the White Antelope on her knees in the
+forward boat, her arms stretched out to him. Her mute
+gesture for help spurred him on to a desperate attempt!</p>
+
+<p>Chief had come far now without much rest, but he
+was able to make one more spurt. Down the river
+path the scout thundered, racing to catch up with
+the canoes. There was a high bluff across the river,
+offering no landing-place. On this side the bank was
+low. Even if the canoes were paddled near the opposite<span class="pagenum">[272]</span>
+shore, the scout’s rifle would carry a deadly ball
+that distance. In coming near, and into sight, however,
+he gave the bandits a chance to try their marksmanship
+upon him.</p>
+
+<p>But this risk the brave scout took. For the White
+Antelope’s sake he was venturing his life.</p>
+
+<p>He forced Chief to top speed until the brave old
+horse came out upon a cleared space just ahead of the
+two canoes. The bandits began to pop at him with
+their rifles; but shooting from a sitting position in a
+trumpery little canoe was no easy job.</p>
+
+<p>Both craft were overloaded, anyway. Two men
+were supposed to be the full complement of the cargo
+of each. So the craft rode low, and the least movement
+might tip them over. One man in the forward
+boat, and two in the latter, turned their attention to the
+scout and his white horse; but their bullets flew wide
+of the mark.</p>
+
+<p>The scout, however, paid no more attention to the
+whistling lead than he would have to so many buzzing
+flies. He dismounted from Chief, and, standing out
+deliberately on the river-bank, raised his rifle and took
+aim at the leading paddler in the rear boat. He did
+not shoot at those with White Antelope in the other
+canoe. First he would reduce the numbers of the
+gang.</p>
+
+<p>Crack!</p>
+
+<p>The heavy rifle spoke no louder than a pistol across
+the flat surface of the water. With a yell the man
+dropped his paddle, turned a face all gory upon the
+scout, and then pitched out of the canoe!</p>
+
+<p>Strangely enough he did not tip over the vessel.<span class="pagenum">[273]</span>
+Another caught up his paddle. They tried to urge
+the craft to the foot of the steep bluff. But now the
+current had caught the light canoe in a fierce grip, and
+to swerve it was not easy.</p>
+
+<p>Crack!</p>
+
+<p>Just as a second man was drawing bead as well as
+he could upon the undaunted scout, the rifle dropped
+from his hands, and he fell backward into the bottom
+of the canoe. The craft dipped dangerously and all
+but went over. As it righted the scout fired a third
+time. Plunk the ball went through and through the
+body of the canoe!</p>
+
+<p>The water began to run in at both holes, and the
+canoe sank. One of the remaining men, in complete
+panic, threw himself overboard and swam for the
+shore. The other continued to paddle desperately.</p>
+
+<p>A double report sounded. The rifleman in the forward
+boat had stood up and taken a better aim at the
+scout. The latter’s shoulder was plowed just under
+the skin by the ball. But Cody’s own bullet sped
+straight to the desperate paddler in the second canoe,
+and the man fell sideways, shot through the lungs; the
+canoe tipped completely, and man and canoe went to
+the bottom together.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile, the fourth man in that boat had reached
+the strand. It was a narrow beach and offered no
+shelter for him. He scrambled up the steep bluff like
+a crab making for its hole. But when he was half-way
+up, and his body against the yellow sand made an excellent
+target, the scout’s gun spoke again.</p>
+
+<p>Sprawled out, and screaming, the fellow fell all the
+way back to the shore, and there, squirming with the
+agony of the wound which was in a vital part, he rolled<span class="pagenum">[274]</span>
+into the river, and the black current swept him swiftly
+down-stream.</p>
+
+<p>He passed the first canoe that had been retarding,
+while the rifleman tried a second particular shot at the
+scout. The drowning man yelled for help. He even
+snatched at the gunwale of the canoe as he was swept
+by.</p>
+
+<p>Instantly Boyd Bennett seized a pistol from his belt
+and deliberately shot the drowning man through the
+head. Perhaps, if the latter had seized the canoe, he
+would have overturned it and sacrificed the four other
+lives; yet it was a desperately cruel act!</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile Cody had leaped aside, escaping the second
+shot of the rifleman in the remaining canoe; and
+then, before the man could sit down and the canoe
+could shoot ahead, he dropped him cleanly with a ball
+through the heart!</p>
+
+<p>In five minutes the bloody battle was over. But two
+of the bandits were left alive. The other five had
+sunk to the bottom of the river, while the remaining
+two, and the White Antelope, were being carried
+swiftly down the stream, and by a current now so
+powerful that they could not steer to the bank on either
+side. Just below were the worst series of rapids on
+the entire river!</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XLIII">CHAPTER XLIII.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">MAN TO MAN AT LAST.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill knew the peril which threatened the two
+bandits and the girl quite as soon as they knew it
+themselves. But he was handicapped a bit now by his<span class="pagenum">[275]</span>
+wound, which bled profusely. He had to wait to bind
+it up roughly, so that the blood would stop flowing,
+before he could pay much attention to the endangered
+trio in the canoe.</p>
+
+<p>Ere then the craft was swiftly speeding down the
+river, going almost as fast as an ordinary horse could
+trot. Buffalo Bill whistled Chief to him, sprang into
+the saddle, and galloped down the trail. It was some
+minutes before he overtook the boat.</p>
+
+<p>There was no danger then of anybody aboard it
+shooting at him. Boyd Bennett in the stern and his
+last comrade in the bow were having all they could
+handle in steering the craft. Rocks and snags began
+to crop up in the current, and they were now tossed
+this way, then that, while the foaming water boiled
+almost into the frail craft!</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill, intent on saving White Antelope’s life
+at any cost, unslung his lariat and made ready to cast
+the endangered men an end if the canoe came near
+enough to the shore. For the sake of assisting the girl
+he would have given up his vengeance on the outlaws.</p>
+
+<p>However, when he cast the rope, although it fell
+across the boat, Boyd Bennett, with a scream of rage,
+threw it off.</p>
+
+<p>“You madman!” yelled his companion, glancing
+over his shoulder.</p>
+
+<p>“Mind your paddle!” roared Bennett.</p>
+
+<p>“My God! I’ll take help from anybody,” cried the
+other.</p>
+
+<p>Cody coiled his rope to swing it again, this time intending
+to aim ahead of the canoe so that the other
+man could catch it. But Bennett saw his intention,
+and he drew in his paddle, grabbed his pistol, and<span class="pagenum">[276]</span>
+presented it at his comrade’s back. White Antelope
+was lying down in the canoe, knowing that this was
+the safest place for her.</p>
+
+<p>“You touch that rope!” shrieked the bandit leader,
+as the lariat whistled through the air again, “and I’ll
+send you to Hades!”</p>
+
+<p>The man glanced fearfully over his shoulder at the
+words, and saw the threatening pistol.</p>
+
+<p>“Look out!” shouted Buffalo Bill, for his cast had
+been true, and the coil of the lasso was circling just
+over the man.</p>
+
+<p>The fellow was too scared of the pistol to watch the
+loop, and it settled fairly over his head. With a shriek
+he tried then to get out of it, but it was too late. The
+canoe darted suddenly into a cross current, shooting
+off from the shore, and the rope was pulled taut.</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill could not have released the rope from
+his saddle-bow in time to save the unfortunate outlaw,
+nor could he force Chief nearer the water. The
+noose was about the man’s neck, and with an awful
+jerk the rope literally snatched him out of the canoe!</p>
+
+<p>Had the girl not been lying down at the moment his
+body would have carried her likewise into the river.
+It was by mere chance that the canoe did not overturn;
+but it righted and sailed on with its freight of two.
+The other outlaw was dead before Buffalo Bill could
+drag him ashore. His neck had been broken.</p>
+
+<p>The scout’s interest lay, however, in the fate of the
+two remaining in the canoe. He cast the dead man
+loose and spurred hard down the path, trying to keep
+up with the frail canoe now shooting the rapids.</p>
+
+<p>It was a perilous journey; yet Boyd Bennett, ruffian
+though he was, exercised the greatest ingenuity in<span class="pagenum">[277]</span>
+managing the canoe. The scout could not but admire
+this in the fellow.</p>
+
+<p>It seemed impossible, however, that the canoe and
+its living freight could get through the rapids intact.
+The water boiled madly about the craft. It was flung
+hither and yon, and at times it was so racked by
+the opposing forces of the current that Buffalo Bill,
+on the bank, could hear the wood crack.</p>
+
+<p>Boyd Bennett’s glaring eyes did not turn toward his
+enemy throughout all this trial. He watched each
+black-ribbed rock or floating snag against which his
+craft might be hurled. Nor did he speak a word to
+the girl lying in the bottom of the canoe.</p>
+
+<p>She knew as well as he that any movement on her
+part would add to their danger, and, although she
+might now leap overboard&mdash;she was free&mdash;it would
+mean certain death. So freedom tantalized her. She
+could only escape at the peril of her life!</p>
+
+<p>She saw Boyd Bennett’s glowing eyes occasionally
+cast upon her a basilisklike glance. There was madness
+in them, she knew. The brave girl, used as she
+was to battle and the chase, shrank from this terrible
+foe. And she was helpless!</p>
+
+<p>The canoe swung around rocks, which she thought
+surely they must hit; it just escaped collision with logs
+and drift-stuff in the most marvelous manner, and all
+the time Boyd Bennett sat holding the paddle as a
+steering-oar, his black eyes glaring out of his death’s-head
+face, impassive, yet all alive to the dangers of the
+run.</p>
+
+<p>Spray broke over the side of the canoe and drenched
+the girl. The craft seemed to fairly throb and jump
+with the motion of the water.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[278]</span></p>
+
+<p>Once an eddy seized them. Despite all Bennett
+could do the canoe shot into this whirlpool, and they
+made several rapid revolutions before the man saw his
+way out, and thrust the canoe between two ragged
+jaws of rock, and so escaped!</p>
+
+<p>On and on fled the boat, while Buffalo Bill urged
+his mount along the river path. He could barely keep
+up with it. Each moment he expected to see it overturned,
+and both passengers tumbled into the raging
+current.</p>
+
+<p>At last the more quiet river below the rapids came
+into view. Here the stream widened and the current
+quickly became sluggish. In the midst of the stream
+was a wooded island, its sharp upper end, consisting of
+an outcropping ledge, dividing the river into two channels
+just at the foot of the white water.</p>
+
+<p>The canoe, as it shot out of the smother of spray,
+chanced to take the channel nearest to the bank on
+which Cody urged his horse. This was an oversight
+on Bennett’s part, but he had been too anxious to
+get out of the rapids at all to attend to where the canoe
+finally went.</p>
+
+<p>Cody saw his chance, and, although Chief was well
+winded now, he yelled with delight. He saw what appeared
+to be the finish of the race&mdash;and in his favor.</p>
+
+<p>“I’ve got you now, Boyd Bennett!” he shouted.</p>
+
+<p>The bandit at last turned his eyes upon him, and
+then glanced around. He saw Cody’s meaning. The
+canoe was drifting so near the scout that the latter
+could either shoot, or rope him. And the long island
+forbade his getting away.</p>
+
+<p>But the villain was not yet to his last card. His<span class="pagenum">[279]</span>
+mind was keenly alive to the situation, and he lost no
+points in the game.</p>
+
+<p>“Not yet, Bill Cody&mdash;not yet!” he shrieked, and
+with a single thrust of his paddle, turned the canoe’s
+nose toward the island.</p>
+
+<p>“Hold, or I fire!” cried the scout, raising his weapon
+and drawing bead upon the bandit.</p>
+
+<p>Boyd Bennett drove the canoe into the rocky ledge
+which masked the end of the island. Like paper the
+frail craft tore apart, and both he and the girl were
+flung into the stream.</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill’s bullet flew wide of its mark that time!
+White Antelope was in as much danger as the bandit&mdash;perhaps
+more&mdash;for the scout did not know whether
+the girl could swim or not, and the current was still
+quite swift and the water deep.</p>
+
+<p>But White Antelope soon showed what she could
+do in the river. Cold as the water was, the instant
+she came to the surface and saw Boyd Bennett’s arms
+stretched out for her, she threw herself backward
+and dove again to the bottom of the river! With a
+yell the bandit flung himself after her, and again just
+missed the scout’s bullet. The scoundrel seemed to
+bear a charmed life. Buffalo Bill was unable to hit him.
+Although they were man to man at last, it was a question
+still who would come out winner in the game.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<p><span class="pagenum">[280]</span></p>
+
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XLIV">CHAPTER XLIV.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">THE FIGHT TO GAIN THE ISLAND.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>White Antelope sank to the bottom of the river;
+then, unlike ordinary swimmers, she did not move in
+a straight line, but shot off at a sharp angle, and endeavored
+to make the shore where Cody was, while
+still under water. But Boyd Bennett was quite as cunning.
+He cut across her path, and, as the girl came
+shooting in a long slant to the surface of the river, he
+reached and caught her by the shoulder.</p>
+
+<p>White Antelope screamed and sought to wrench herself
+away. Cody had flung aside his rifle and urged
+Chief down into the stream. The white horse was
+already belly deep in the flood, picking his way intelligently,
+while his master, rope in hand, prepared to
+fling the loop to the Indian maiden.</p>
+
+<p>But before Cody could make the cast, Bennett had
+grabbed the girl and thrust her under the surface
+again. White Antelope went down gurgling, and the
+cruel hand of the bandit chief held her fast. With
+an oath the scout seized a revolver and aimed at the
+black, sleek head of the scoundrel.</p>
+
+<p>“Hold your fire, Bill Cody!” cried the bandit again.
+“Hold your fire, or I’ll drown this girl&mdash;as sure as
+you live, I will! She’s mine, and, by Heaven, you
+sha’n’t take her from me&mdash;unless it’s her dead body!”</p>
+
+<p>“You devil, you!” roared the scout. “You are
+drowning her!”</p>
+
+<p>“I surely will if you don’t put up your gun!”</p>
+
+<p>“Let her up!”</p>
+
+<p>“Put away your gun!”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[281]</span></p>
+
+<p>The scout was obliged to do so. If he shot the
+scoundrel the latter might sink, his clutch still upon
+the White Antelope, and neither of them rise again
+until the breath had left both their bodies!</p>
+
+<p>Boyd Bennett saw the scout put the gun back into
+his belt. He then dragged the girl up by her long,
+golden hair, and with her in his arms&mdash;she was now
+totally unconscious&mdash;he struck out with his free hand
+for the island. The scout seemed helpless. There
+was nothing he could do to stop the foe or free the
+girl. The situation stumped Buffalo Bill completely!</p>
+
+<p>All the scout could do was to wait, hand on gun, for
+some chance to aid his cause. While Bennett struggled
+in the river with the girl he dared not fire for two reasons.
+One, already stated, was that he feared the man
+would sink with his burden and both be drowned;
+the other was that he feared his pistol-ball might
+wound the girl as well as Bennett.</p>
+
+<p>And now it was not altogether sure that the scoundrel
+could make the shore of the island. He was
+weaker than he had been, and the burden of the girl
+bore him down. There was a current set off from the
+island on this side, and he had this to fight. And fight
+he did&mdash;with a bravery which Cody could but admire.
+He breasted the current, and fought inch by inch the
+downward drag of the river. It was too much for
+him, however.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly the bandit almost lost his hold upon the
+girl. Cody believed he was about to give her up and
+save himself, and he prepared to force Chief into the
+deeper current and so swim out for her. He swung
+his lariat again, too, that it might be ready for
+emergency. But, although Bennett was carried down-stream<span class="pagenum">[282]</span>
+and the shore of the island was rapidly receding
+from him, he still clung to the Indian maid.</p>
+
+<p>“Look out for the rope, Boyd Bennett! Catch it!”
+sang out the scout, believing that now the fellow would
+certainly rather save his life and lose the girl than
+lose both his own and her lives. But a sputtering
+shriek came back from the maniac:</p>
+
+<p>“Fling your rope if you dare, Bill Cody! I’ll kill
+her if you do&mdash;mark that!”</p>
+
+<p>“Don’t be a fool, man. You can’t save her and yourself.”</p>
+
+<p>“Then we’ll both drown,” returned Boyd Bennett,
+with the determination of a still fearless man.</p>
+
+<p>“I’ll give you your freedom!” roared Cody, at desperate
+straits now.</p>
+
+<p>“I’ll not take it of you. If I die she goes with me&mdash;ah!”</p>
+
+<p>A sudden eddy seized the man and swung him toward
+the island. He had evidently stored some remaining
+energy, and this he now put forth. He
+seemed fairly to leap forward in the water which
+was over his head near the bank. But he caught at
+a drooping tree-branch and held on.</p>
+
+<p>Now, could Cody only have reached him, Boyd
+Bennett would have been at his mercy. But only for
+an instant did the weakness overpower him. He
+swung in shoreward, his feet found footing on a ledge
+of rock, and in another minute he clambered up out
+of the water, and, with the unfortunate girl still hanging
+limply over his shoulder, passed out of the scout’s
+sight!</p>
+
+<p>The island was well wooded. It contained about<span class="pagenum">[283]</span>
+half an acre and was long and narrow. It was so long
+that from the bank to which Cody had again turned
+his mount, he could not see whether the bandit found
+some immediate way of leaving it, and so reaching the
+farther shore of the river, or not.</p>
+
+<p>There was no time to waste for Buffalo Bill, therefore.
+He must press after the man and the girl, giving
+the former no time to recover his strength, and,
+perhaps, make his escape from the island.</p>
+
+<p>But Chief could not help his master across the deep
+water to the ledgy island. Nor could Buffalo Bill
+make it encumbered by his heavy accouterments. That
+was not to be considered for a moment!</p>
+
+<p>He dismounted and let Chief go free. The old
+horse had done his share well, and as soon as he was
+relieved of the saddle and bridle, he lay down and
+rolled as though to get the cramps out of his body.
+The water of the river was ice-cold.</p>
+
+<p>It even made Cody shrink when he contemplated it.
+His only way of reaching the island was by swimming,
+and against that current, and with the chill evening
+coming on, the scout might well hesitate. But not
+for long. What must be done would better be done
+quickly, and the Border King was well inured to exposure
+and cold. He threw aside his ammunition-belt
+and his weapons. His coat, waistcoat, and outer shirt
+went likewise. Off came his riding-boots, and then
+in his undergarment, and with his bowie between his
+teeth, he plunged into the flood and essayed the venture.</p>
+
+<p>Whether he was being watched from the island by
+his enemy, Cody did not know. But this was the
+only way he saw to get at Boyd Bennett and the girl.<span class="pagenum">[284]</span>
+He was matching his life against the bandit’s now,
+in the last desperate act of the series which had followed
+the abduction of White Antelope early the day
+before.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XLV">CHAPTER XLV.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">WAR TO THE KNIFE.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>And, indeed, Boyd Bennett was almost at his last
+gasp when he dragged himself ashore and put the
+nearest clump of brush between him and the water,
+thus hiding his future movements from the sharp eyes
+of the Border King. There the man fell upon the
+meager sward that clothed this part of the island, and
+lay, gasping like a great fish just out of its element,
+almost helpless with exhaustion. The White Antelope,
+had she recovered consciousness and power of
+action during those first few minutes, might easily have
+escaped from her captor. But she had come nearer
+being drowned than was at all pleasant. She lay so
+still and white where Bennett had flung her upon the
+ground, that even he, hardened villain that he was,
+feared his usage of her delicate body had been too
+much for the spirit that inhabited it, and that the
+breath was already sped from the girl.</p>
+
+<p>But not for some minutes did Bennett think thus.
+He could barely recover his own breath at first. He
+was chilled through and through by the icy water.
+His clothing clung to him like lead. He had lost most
+of his weapons during his struggle in the river; but
+his bowie and a pistol remained&mdash;the latter, of course,
+useless in its present condition. His ammunition was<span class="pagenum">[285]</span>
+saturated, too. He had but his knife to depend on,
+was he attacked.</p>
+
+<p>And at that thought the bandit chief started to life!
+Attacked, indeed! There was a relentless enemy on
+his trail. He, too, knew that it had come to the final
+trial of strength between he and the Border King.
+His death, or William F. Cody’s, must mark this island
+as a tragic spot forever.</p>
+
+<p>The great scout, he knew, would never give up while
+life remained in his body. As for Bennett himself,
+he was pushed now to the last extremity. He was
+bereft of all his associates. He had seen them killed
+one by one, by fate, or by the relentless arm of Buffalo
+Bill. He had lost caste with the Sioux, over whom he
+had obtained so great an influence during the past few
+months. And all for what? For this White Antelope&mdash;a
+half-breed girl&mdash;a woman who hated him, and
+who considered herself, though of mixed blood, too
+good for him.</p>
+
+<p>He gnashed his teeth in rage as he thought of this,
+and his rage somewhat aroused him. He crawled to
+the girl and shook her. Her body was limp&mdash;and oh,
+so cold! It well-nigh frightened Bennett to touch her.
+Could it be that she was already dead?</p>
+
+<p>He tore open the doeskin blouse that draped the
+upper part of her person and bared her bosom. His
+hand sought her heart and felt a timid flutter there.
+She was still alive!</p>
+
+<p>Yet, how to warm that spark of life into full flame?
+He had nothing in which to wrap her; his own clothing
+was saturated. But in his hunting-shirt he carried
+a carefully stoppered bottle, and in this receptacle<span class="pagenum">[286]</span>
+were several sulfur matches. These were as precious
+as gold to him now. He crept about the little plateau
+of the island, gathering twigs and dry branches and
+rubbish. This light stuff he heaped in a pile, and
+then, before he dared light the pyre, he found and
+broke up larger wood and made ready a roaring heap
+which, a few moments after he touched his match to
+it, blazed several feet into the air.</p>
+
+<p>The sun was going down, and this bonfire warded
+off the coming chill of night. He basked in the heat
+himself, feeling grateful for every leaping, scorching
+flame. He dragged the girl within the radiance of
+the fire and chafed her hands and her forehead, and
+removed her torn moccasins and held her small, beautifully
+formed feet to the fire. These ministrations
+he performed with some little tenderness; but, although
+the girl sighed and her lips parted, and her
+chilled body seemed to respond to the warmth of the
+fire, she did not open her eyes.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly Boyd Bennett started to his feet with an
+exclamation of rage. He had entirely forgotten something
+during these minutes. What was Buffalo Bill
+about?</p>
+
+<p>He ran through the bushes and appeared upon the
+edge of the river looking toward the side where Cody
+had been. There was the big white horse, divested of
+saddle and bridle, cropping the grass on the bank.
+There, too, Bennett saw most of Cody’s clothes and
+accouterments&mdash;a neat pile of them. But where was
+the man himself?</p>
+
+<p>The bandit was inspired instantly with fear that he
+had overlooked his enemy too long. Had he been
+given time to cross to the island?</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[287]</span></p>
+
+<p>And where else could Cody be? For what other
+reason would he have removed his clothing and arms?</p>
+
+<p>“The devil is swimming the river!” muttered the
+bandit.</p>
+
+<p>The sun was setting, and it was already growing
+dusky on this side of the island. Boyd Bennett cast
+his keen glance over the troubled surface of the water,
+seeking the bold swimmer. He was not aware that
+at the moment he parted the bushes to step out on
+the shore, Cody, in midstream, had seen him, and had
+sunk beneath the surface, leaving scarcely a ripple to
+show where he had gone down.</p>
+
+<p>And once in the depths the scout had swum as
+strongly as he could for the island. The current swept
+him downward, and he was some yards below Boyd
+Bennett’s position when he finally had to come up for
+air. His head bobbed above the surface as sleek as a
+seal’s or an otter’s&mdash;and looking much like that of the
+latter animal. Only to get a breath did the scout remain
+at the surface, then he sank beneath again.</p>
+
+<p>Although Bennett did not actually see his head, he
+caught the ripples on the surface as Cody went down.
+He saw that there was no eddy there, and he suspected
+instantly what had caused the disturbance on
+the water. With an oath he ran along the edge of
+the island until he came opposite the spot.</p>
+
+<p>In a minute Cody came up again for air. With a
+yell Bennett sighted him. The scout was this time
+much nearer the shore&mdash;and he was much nearer his
+last gasp than before, too! Crossing the river he had
+found all the task promised from the other side. It
+was not only a long swim, but it was an arduous swim.</p>
+
+<p>“I’ve got you now, Bill Cody!” roared the bandit,<span class="pagenum">[288]</span>
+shaking his fists above his head in an abandonment of
+rage. “I’ve got you now!”</p>
+
+<p>Had Buffalo Bill had breath to do so he might have
+told him that the river had a bigger mortgage on him.
+The current was pulling him down-stream with a
+power that taxed his utmost strength to counteract.</p>
+
+<p>“You’re my meat!” bawled Bennett. “Let me get
+my hands on you, you hell-hound!”</p>
+
+<p>Cody bore all this in silence. He was struggling to
+gain a foothold near the shore. Once his feet found
+bottom, but then the current tore him away and he
+had to fight to get back. Bennett ran along the shore
+and stood over him, his face aflame, his eyes blazing
+like coals, his lips fairly frothing.</p>
+
+<p>Cody finally made the shallow again and stood upon
+his feet. That was a blessed relief! He was head
+and shoulders out of the water, and now he took the
+knife from between his teeth and held it clutched
+firmly in his right hand.</p>
+
+<p>“I’ve got you!” bawled Bennett, fairly dancing up
+and down on the shore. “Come ashore and I’ll have
+your scalp! I’ll cut your heart out! I’ll slice you
+into cat’s meat! And if you don’t come ashore the
+river will get you. Ha! ha! ha! Bill Cody is between
+the devil and the deep sea this time!”</p>
+
+<p>And the scout thought that this was a pretty true
+statement of the case. For, if ever there was a fiend
+incarnate, it was Bennett at this juncture. And the
+river was as wicked and dangerous as the sea could
+possibly be. The scout was indeed between two perils&mdash;and
+neither would give him a chance for his life.</p>
+
+<p>The moment he waded within striking distance Bennett<span class="pagenum">[289]</span>
+would attack him. And the river dragged at
+him continually.</p>
+
+<p>But, at least, the scout could parley. He had breath
+enough to say:</p>
+
+<p>“Boyd Bennett, you and I have many an old score
+to settle. Give me footing on that bank. You have
+your knife; I have mine. Let us try conclusions
+fairly.”</p>
+
+<p>“What! Give you a chance to play some scurvy
+trick on me&mdash;when I’ve got you dead to rights?” cried
+Bennett, and laughed long and loudly.</p>
+
+<p>Cody edged a step nearer to the shore.</p>
+
+<p>“Be a man!” urged the scout. “You’re as good
+as I am.”</p>
+
+<p>“I’m better&mdash;curse you!”</p>
+
+<p>Cody gained another foot.</p>
+
+<p>“Let us try conclusions, blade to blade. Give me a
+show, man!”</p>
+
+<p>“It’s war to the knife, and the knife to the hilt between
+us&mdash;that’s true, Bill Cody!” gritted out the man.
+“But you shall not be given a chance. I’ll kill you in
+cold blood&mdash;or see you drown in this river. Mark ye
+that!”</p>
+
+<p>Cody crept a few inches nearer.</p>
+
+<p>“Come! You are rested. You’ve got your strength
+back. I’m chilled to the bone. But don’t kill me as
+you would a dog, Bennett!” urged the wily scout.</p>
+
+<p>“A dog you are, and a dog’s death you shall die!”</p>
+
+<p>Cody stooped a little now so as to appear still to
+be in deep water. But he had gained considerable.
+The fellow’s rage and excitement made him overlook
+this cunning.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[290]</span></p>
+
+<p>“A chance; just a foothold on the bank&mdash;for God’s
+sake!” cried Cody.</p>
+
+<p>“Not much; I won’t! You die where you are&mdash;or
+drown!”</p>
+
+<p>Boyd Bennett stooped, and holding his own bowie
+with grim clutch, made a pass at the scout. The latter
+dodged&mdash;and made another foot.</p>
+
+<p>“Give me a show!” cried the man in the water, apparently
+at his last gasp.</p>
+
+<p>“No, no! I’ll have your life&mdash;and now!”</p>
+
+<p>Again the bandit made a thrust. At the moment
+Cody flung his body forward, and his left hand
+clutched a tree-branch which overhung the river. At
+last he had a stable hold upon terra firma. With a
+shout he dragged himself in toward the bank, and,
+in turn, lunged at his antagonist. So unexpected was
+the blow that he came near catching Bennett in a vital
+spot. As it was, the point of the scout’s bowie slit
+his enemy’s sleeve from wrist to elbow and brought
+the blood beneath!</p>
+
+<p>“You devil!” yelled Bennett, leaping back, smarting
+with pain.</p>
+
+<p>It was just the chance Cody wished. He bounded
+out upon the rocky shore. His own war-cry resounded
+through the island. All his weakness dropped
+from him like a garment. At last he was before his
+foe, and they were evenly matched&mdash;man to man and
+blade to blade!</p>
+
+<p>“Guard yourself, you scoundrel!” cried Buffalo Bill,
+the Border King. “It is war to the knife, and the
+knife to the hilt, as you yourself have said. Your
+life or mine&mdash;which is the better man! One of us,
+Boyd Bennett, shall never leave this spot alive!”</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<p><span class="pagenum">[291]</span></p>
+
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XLVI">CHAPTER XLVI.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">AND THE KNIFE TO THE HILT.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>All the time Buffalo Bill had been standing in the
+shallow water parleying with his enemy, he had been
+regaining his breath and his strength, both sadly depleted
+by his swim across the river. Now he had
+leaped ashore almost as fresh and strong as Bennett
+himself.</p>
+
+<p>His leaping ashore had quite startled the bandit;
+but he did not give back after his first cry of surprise
+and pain. He, too, was armed with a bowie. They
+were indeed equal, and the bandit was no physical
+coward.</p>
+
+<p>Colonel James Bowie, of Texas, invented a terrible
+weapon of defense and offense when he gave the world
+the heavy hunting-knife which bears his name. It is
+a long, slightly curved blade, having a razor-sharp
+two-edged point and a heavy back. It is fitted with a
+handle and guard, and is always carried in a sheath.
+It can be thrown with great precision by the old-time
+“knife-fighter”; but it is at close quarters that the true
+wickedness of the weapon comes to light.</p>
+
+<p>In a fight with these knives death must surely result&mdash;many
+times to both antagonists; surely to one.
+One stroke does it; there is no need of a second if the
+first really gets home. A strong blow would sever
+a man’s head from his body!</p>
+
+<p>Both the scout and Boyd Bennett were familiar
+with the use of the great knife. Facing each other,
+left foot forward, stooping slightly, they circled about<span class="pagenum">[292]</span>
+each other like two cocks looking for a chance to
+strike. The men’s eyes were fastened upon each other,
+like the eyes of pugilists. In the expanding and contracting
+of the eyeball they saw the intent of their
+antagonist to make a move.</p>
+
+<p>Crouching, the two shifted about on the rocks. The
+ground was not good for such cautious work; but
+one did not know it better than the other. It was as
+fair to Bennett as to the scout.</p>
+
+<p>Both men feinted, but did not come to close quarters.
+They began to breathe heavily, not so much from
+exhaustion as from excitement. The wind hissed between
+their locked teeth. Their eyes were like those
+of mad beasts. Their bare feet shifted on the rocks
+with a shuffling sound, but otherwise they were noiseless
+in their tigerlike movements.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly, with a shriek like a wildcat, Boyd Bennett
+leaped at his foe. He thought he saw an opening.
+This was what the scout intended, and he gave back
+just a little. But before Bennett was upon him the
+other glided to one side and struck sharply at the man.
+The blades clashed and sparks flew from the steel.
+At the same moment the men clutched each other by
+the left wrist, and at last the issue was really joined!</p>
+
+<p>There they stood panting, foot to foot and breast
+to breast, their fingers locked about each other’s wrists
+like steel bands, the knife-blades “slithering” against
+each other, every muscle in their bodies as tense as
+steel wires. The pressure of blade against blade was
+all that kept the men apart. If one gave an atom in
+an endeavor to stab his foe, he would open his own
+breast to the knife. This was a foregone conclusion.
+The pressure of knife against knife seemed <a id="Ref_292" href="#Ref_292a">a</a> frail<span class="pagenum">[293]</span>
+barrier; but that was all that lay between the two men
+and sudden and awful death!</p>
+
+<p>The man who made the first reckless move, or the
+one whose bodily forces first gave before the strain,
+was the one who ran the greatest peril. To the cool
+man, the brave man, the man with iron nerve and
+an undaunted patience&mdash;to him would come victory!</p>
+
+<p>Knowing this, Buffalo Bill took the only advantage
+that remained to him. His own mind was calm, his
+brain steady, his vision unclouded by hot rage. <em>His</em>
+emotion was a sort of cold fury, as deadly as the steel
+blade, the handle of which he clutched. At last he
+had his enemy before him&mdash;within his grasp&mdash;face to
+face and steel to steel!</p>
+
+<p>And so he taunted him, knowing that Bennett’s
+brain and heart were already afire with hatred.</p>
+
+<p>“You’ve no girl now to conquer, Boyd Bennett!”
+the scout hissed. “You’re not robbing the cradle now.
+Look out! Another mistake like that and I’ll have
+you!”</p>
+
+<p>“Curse you, you’re a dead man already!” cried the
+bandit.</p>
+
+<p>“I’m as good as a dozen dead ones. Don’t fool
+yourself. Ah!”</p>
+
+<p>“Not yet!”</p>
+
+<p>“But almost&mdash;almost, my boy! I’ll get you the next
+time. My brave Death Killer&mdash;medicine chief of the
+Sioux! Ah-ha, you villain! You’ve played <em>that</em> game
+to the end, too.”</p>
+
+<p>Bennett fairly gnashed his teeth and put forth furious
+endeavors to break down his antagonist’s guard.</p>
+
+<p>“Save your breath, man,” said Cody, knowing that<span class="pagenum">[294]</span>
+his advice would have exactly a contrary effect upon
+Bennett. “I’m only playing with you yet.”</p>
+
+<p>“It’s the worst game <em>you</em> ever played, Bill Cody!”</p>
+
+<p>Cody thought so himself, but he smiled back into the
+other’s eyes, and the man’s rage grew.</p>
+
+<p>“I’ll get you yet!” roared Bennett.</p>
+
+<p>“But not that way,” muttered the scout. “Ah!
+<em>Now</em> we have it!”</p>
+
+<p>With a sudden turn of his wrist he almost brought
+Bennett to his knees. Both men clung so tightly to
+each other’s left wrists, however, that little advantage
+was to be gained by sudden twists. It was the steady
+pressure of steel against steel that would finally gain
+the day. One arm must be stronger than the other&mdash;one
+foot more skilful&mdash;one eye more true.</p>
+
+<p>“This is a bad end for you, Boyd Bennett!” began
+Cody again.</p>
+
+<p>He was scarcely panting himself; but the other was
+breathing hard, gnashing his teeth, rolling his eyes,
+like a veritable madman. He screamed with rage at
+this remark of the scout’s, and the froth flew from
+his lips. If ever a man was mad, Boyd Bennett was
+that person.</p>
+
+<p>“And all for what?” quoth the scout. “What did
+you make by it? The girl would have nothing to do
+with you. Had you remained in Oak Heart’s camp
+you might have finished me. But <em>not</em> that way!”
+guarding himself from a furious lunge of the other’s
+knife.</p>
+
+<p>“No, no, my boy! You made a grave error. Back
+there you had some power. You might have had
+the upper hand over me. Now <em>I</em> have it!”</p>
+
+<p>“Not yet!” roared Bennett.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[295]</span></p>
+
+<p>“Oh, yes, I have! I’m only playing with you, I
+tell you. When I am ready I’ll put you where the
+dogs won’t bite you! Ah! how’s that?”</p>
+
+<p>Boyd had made a furious lunge; and his hand had
+slipped on Cody’s wrist. Quick as lightning the scout
+slipped aside, broke from the death-grapple, and slit
+the point of his knife up Bennett’s upper arm, making
+a deep, ugly wound. The blood fairly spurted from
+the severed artery. It was then but a matter of a few
+minutes before Bennett would be helpless, unless he
+managed to finish Cody first.</p>
+
+<p>They circled about each other again, watchful as
+cats. Once or twice they tried to grapple, but it
+amounted to nothing. Bennett’s wound was troubling
+him sorely. The blood was running in a stream
+from the point of his elbow.</p>
+
+<p>“Say your prayers&mdash;if you have any to say, you
+scoundrel!” exclaimed the scout sternly. “For you
+pay for your murders and atrocities here and now! If
+you have killed that poor girl by your brutal treatment,
+you pay for it in short order.”</p>
+
+<p>Bennett leaped in at him. The scout gave back a
+bit, and suddenly his foot slipped on a wet slab of rock.
+He fell to one knee. With a yell of delight, the
+wounded bandit flung himself upon him.</p>
+
+<p>It was not the scout’s finish, however. Cody had a
+wealth of reserve force yet. He flung himself forward
+to meet Bennett’s charge, caught his left wrist and the
+weight of the man’s body upon his left shoulder. The
+scoundrel’s stroke overreached, and the pit of his
+stomach came in heavy contact with his antagonist’s
+shoulder-bone.</p>
+
+<p>That antagonist rose up suddenly and pitched Bennett<span class="pagenum">[296]</span>
+clear over him. The man landed on his head and
+shoulders, but, as though made of India rubber, he
+bounded to his feet and faced Cody again.</p>
+
+<p>He was panting for breath, his face was covered
+with blood, and altogether he was a most terrible looking
+object. He had no intention of giving up the fight,
+however. With a yell, he flung himself once more at
+Cody&mdash;but this time wildly.</p>
+
+<p>“’Tis the end at last, Boyd Bennett!” sang out the
+clarion voice of the Border King.</p>
+
+<p>The villain knew it. His eyes rolled, his teeth chattered,
+his mouth was agape as he reentered the fray.
+Their left hands were locked again, and the knives
+clashed. Steadily Cody forced his man back, back,
+back&mdash;until a tree-trunk kept him from going farther.
+From a crouching position the two men gradually
+stood erect. The pressure of Buffalo Bill’s bowie
+against that of his antagonist became a force that the
+latter could not meet. His arm went slowly back until
+the elbow struck sharply against the tree-trunk.</p>
+
+<p>With an awful scream of rage and deadly fear the
+fellow’s fingers relaxed upon the handle of his bowie.
+The blade clattered to the ground. He clutched feebly
+at Cody’s throat, and then&mdash;&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>It was indeed the knife to the hilt! Boyd Bennett
+slipped to the ground and lay there, dead!</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<p><span class="pagenum">[297]</span></p>
+
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XLVII">CHAPTER XLVII.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">THE CONQUEROR.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill turned his eyes from the bleeding corpse
+of his enemy, staggered to a near-by boulder, and
+dropped upon it to rest. His own strength was far
+spent. Besides, the wound he had received in his
+shoulder, aggravated by his long, cold swim and the
+violent exertions of the past few minutes, had broken
+out bleeding afresh. Boyd Bennett would never know
+how near he came to being victor himself in this awful
+battle!</p>
+
+<p>As for the consequence, he dropped upon the rock,
+exhausted and ill. The hardiest and most seasoned
+veteran comes to the end of his tether at last, and for
+thirty-six hours Cody had been riding hard, and fighting
+hard, and swimming hard&mdash;and all without bite
+or sup! There had been no time for the preparation
+of food when he left his cave in the mountain to follow
+Boyd Bennett and the White Antelope, and since
+that time he had neither dared shoot game nor had he
+seen the time to cook and eat.</p>
+
+<p>And that which fairly quenched his spirit now was
+the thought that he seemed to have taken all this hard
+labor upon his shoulders for naught. True, his old-time
+enemy was finally dead. Boyd Bennett, the outlaw
+of the Overland Trail, the Death Killer of the
+Utah Sioux, would never again trouble mortal man&mdash;unless
+his spirit came back to haunt the scenes of his
+bloody deeds.</p>
+
+<p>But Buffalo Bill had not put forth all this effort
+merely to best this old-time foe. First of all, he desired<span class="pagenum">[298]</span>
+to save the White Antelope, but he seemed to
+have failed in this. Boyd Bennett had plainly carried
+his threat into execution. He had actually drowned
+the unfortunate girl. It had been that thought, more
+than any other, that had nerved Buffalo Bill to drive
+the steel home into Bennett’s heart!</p>
+
+<p>“All gone now&mdash;the last of the three!” muttered
+the scout, passing his hand across his shaking lips.
+“And such horrible deaths for all! Death by the bullet
+and the fall from the cliff. Death by the war-club
+and tomahawk. And now death by the river&mdash;and the
+hands of a cursed villain. Horrible! horrible!”</p>
+
+<p>These enigmatical remarks, uttered aloud, drowned
+a rustling in the bushes behind him. Suddenly a light
+hand fell upon his shoulder. The scout did not start&mdash;his
+nerves were too steady. But he glanced at the
+small, brown hand, and then looked up along the arm,
+turning his head until he looked full into the face of
+the White Antelope. There his gaze hung, while his
+lips remained speechless for the moment.</p>
+
+<p>“Pa-e-has-ka has killed his enemy and mine. This
+makes the White Antelope and Long Hair friends.”</p>
+
+<p>She held out her hand to him, and the scout took it,
+still in a daze.</p>
+
+<p>“By holy!” he muttered. “I sure thought she was
+dead.”</p>
+
+<p>“What is it my white brother mutters?”</p>
+
+<p>“I reckoned you were drowned, White Antelope,”
+repeated Cody.</p>
+
+<p>“Nay. I held my breath under the water. But
+that wicked man came near to drowning me.”</p>
+
+<p>“I should say he did!”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[299]</span></p>
+
+<p>“Then he would have revived me; but I remained
+as though unconscious, for I feared him.”</p>
+
+<p>“You’ll have need to fear him no more.”</p>
+
+<p>“Ah! it was a good fight! I watched. The Long
+Hair is indeed a great chief.”</p>
+
+<p>Cody shuddered and glanced away. He did not like
+to think of the daughter of Oak Heart’s white wife
+viewing with satisfaction such a terrible battle as that
+which had just cursed this spot.</p>
+
+<p>“The Long Hair is cold. Let him come to the fire
+yonder and dry his body and rest.”</p>
+
+<p>“I don’t care if I do. I feel like I was frozen clear
+to my marrow. You’ve got a fire, have you?”</p>
+
+<p>“Death Killer made it to dry us by. Now you shall
+have it,” she said.</p>
+
+<p>The scout basked for some minutes in the heat of
+the fire, which White Antelope heaped with fresh fuel.
+But he could not remain inactive for long. His perturbed
+mind, relieved by the discovery of the girl’s
+safety, instantly fixed upon other worriments.</p>
+
+<p>Her absence from the encampment of the Sioux
+would have long since been noted. Oak Heart would
+be troubled by her absence. And they were a long
+way from the valley in which the Indian village lay.</p>
+
+<p>Besides, they were marooned on this island in the
+middle of the river. The canoe was wrecked, and
+Cody shrank from making that long swim to the mainland
+again. Besides, he doubted the girl’s ability to
+accomplish such a task.</p>
+
+<p>There was nothing to eat on this island, however,
+and food they must have before long. At least, the
+scout felt the need of it.</p>
+
+<p>So he rose up very quickly from his reclining<span class="pagenum">[300]</span>
+posture and went to the side of the island which faced
+the river-bank from which he had swum. It was already
+twilight, but he glanced sharply up and down
+the bank for some wandering party that might help
+them. The Indians might be searching for their canoes;
+he could not expect any of the freighters to come
+down so far as this, for the main trail turned off some
+miles above.</p>
+
+<p>But not a soul appeared. The only living object
+on the river-bank which he saw was Chief, quietly
+grazing.</p>
+
+<p>“Then our hope lies in you, faithful old horse!”
+cried Cody, and he uttered a shrill whistle.</p>
+
+<p>The white horse raised his head, whinnied, and
+trotted down to the water’s edge. Buffalo Bill gave
+the call which he used when he desired Chief to come
+to him. The dumb brute understood, but he pawed
+the gravel at the river’s edge and seemed to hesitate.
+The distance across was wide, and the sullen current
+was strong. He had already been in it and had been
+almost swept away.</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill repeated his call. The horse threw up
+his head, neighed intelligently, and trotted down the
+riverside to the lower end of the island. There the
+current was not so swift. Without hesitation, this
+time, the noble horse plunged into the flood and swam
+with head high, and occasionally neighing at his master,
+toward the island. Being untrammeled by saddle
+or bridle, the creature handled himself remarkably well
+in the current, and forged ahead without being swept
+much out of his course by the stream.</p>
+
+<p>When he came near the shore, however, Buffalo
+Bill was forced to rush in, cling to Chief’s mane, and<span class="pagenum">[301]</span>
+guide the horse to land. There the brute climbed out
+and shook himself like a great dog.</p>
+
+<p>“Ah! the white chief has control over even the
+ponies,” said the Indian maid, in admiration.</p>
+
+<p>“And lucky he does,” muttered Buffalo Bill to himself.
+“Without old Chief we’d be roosting here till
+kingdom come!”</p>
+
+<p>But he had to give the horse time to breathe before
+setting him at the current again. It was no easy pull
+across. Finally he led the white horse down into the
+water and gave the girl a boost upon his back, where
+she straddled him, clinging to his thick mane.</p>
+
+<p>“Let him have his head,” Buffalo Bill commanded.
+“He won’t need any guidance, but will bring us both
+safe ashore.”</p>
+
+<p>He urged Chief into the deep water, and swam by
+his side himself, resting a hand now and then on the
+beast’s shoulder, and encouraging him with his voice.
+Tired as they both were, man and beast found the pull
+tremendous. They were carried some distance down
+the river, but that did not so much matter. Only the
+water chilled Cody to the bone, and he had visions of
+rheumatism, that fell disease that lays hold upon the
+woodsman early in life because of exposure and privation.</p>
+
+<p>It was somewhat of a battle to reach the shore, but
+they accomplished a landing at last, and White Antelope
+leaped down from Chief’s back and patted him.</p>
+
+<p>“A brave horse, and worthy of carrying a brave
+man like Long Hair,” she declared.</p>
+
+<p>“Give him a night’s rest,” said Cody, “and he’ll
+carry us both back to your father’s village.”</p>
+
+<p>“The Long Hair was going there to redeem his<span class="pagenum">[302]</span>
+pledge to me when I chanced to spy him?” queried
+White Antelope.</p>
+
+<p>“I certainly was snooping about, looking for a
+chance to get through Bennett’s line of guards.”</p>
+
+<p>“But you had been killing and scalping Oak Heart’s
+braves?”</p>
+
+<p>“Not a one. I was there waiting for a chance to
+keep my promise to you,” said Buffalo Bill emphatically.
+“This renegade white was the fellow who was
+quietly knocking your young men in the head and
+scalping them. He was as bloodthirsty a wretch as
+ever went unhung. He’s dead now, thanks be!”</p>
+
+<p>“Then Oak Heart will receive you with more friendliness,”
+said the girl.</p>
+
+<p>“I dunno how friendly he’ll feel,” muttered Cody.
+“But I’ll take you back safe in the morning.”</p>
+
+<p>They hastened to build a rousing camp-fire, and as
+soon as his undergarments were dry the scout put on
+his outer clothing and accouterments. Then with his
+rifle he stole away to a place where he had noted the
+marks of many creatures that had come down to
+drink, and there, just as the moon rose, found a doe
+with her fawn and shot the youngster. So they had a
+much needed late supper of roast kid. After which
+Cody insisted that the girl sleep.</p>
+
+<p>As for himself, he sat up the livelong night, or paced
+the river-bank to keep awake. Just before daybreak
+he awoke the girl, and while she cooked breakfast he
+obtained an hour’s repose.</p>
+
+<p>As they started from the river’s brink to ride
+’cross country toward the range in which Oak Heart’s
+camp was situated, White Antelope said:</p>
+
+<p>“My father’s braves will be out searching for me,<span class="pagenum">[303]</span>
+mayhap. If they see White Antelope in the charge of
+a white man, they may try to shoot him. They may
+believe you were he who stole me away.”</p>
+
+<p>“I’d been thinking of that,” said Cody reflectively.
+“I don’t want to get popped over for the wrong man,
+that’s sure. I reckon I’ll have to change my appearance
+a little.”</p>
+
+<p>“How will the white chief do that?” she demanded,
+over his shoulder. She was riding behind him on the
+saddle.</p>
+
+<p>“We’ll see when we come to that cave I’ve been
+staying in. I reckon I’ve got something there that
+may help me out. And I believe we shall be able to
+reach it without being molested.”</p>
+
+<p>Chief bore them tirelessly all that day and far into
+the night. When they halted and built their fire they
+were within a few hours’ ride of the cave in the mountain
+from which Cody had overlooked Oak Heart’s
+camp. Seventy-two hours before he had left it to
+chase Boyd Bennett and rescue the Indian maiden.
+Much had happened since then both to the scout and in
+the Indian encampment.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XLVIII">CHAPTER XLVIII.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">THE PLEDGE KEPT.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>There was much excitement in the village of the
+Sioux. The white queen, the idolized daughter of
+Oak Heart, had ridden away from her teepee and had
+not returned. Then came the discovery of the death
+of the young brave on the ridge, and the deed was set
+down to the credit of the hated Long Hair.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[304]</span></p>
+
+<p>These mysterious murders that had been committed
+so near the encampment had wrought upon the tribesmen
+greatly. It seemed as though Long Hair possessed
+some supernatural power. He flitted, seemingly, from
+place to place without being seen, and killed the Sioux
+almost in the confines of the encampment.</p>
+
+<p>While the chiefs were in council a horse was seen
+approaching from a mountain defile, down over the
+ridge, where the young brave had been found stabbed
+to the heart. Upon the back of the horse were two persons,
+one of them apparently a great chief in full war-dress;
+the other was White Antelope herself.</p>
+
+<p>The strange chief rode directly down into the village,
+not deigning to more than grunt a salutation to
+the guards, and the girl refused to make any explanation,
+either. Straight to the council-lodge the chief
+rode, and, there dismounting, the two entered, the
+young girl leading the way.</p>
+
+<p>The Indian is stoical and Spartan, but Oak Heart
+was fond of his remaining child. He was moved now
+by her unexpected recovery, and as she ran to him he
+allowed her to take and hold his hand. The old men
+nodded, too, for they believed that the White Antelope
+was “good medicine.” The strange chief, however,
+they did not know, and they eyed him with suspicion
+as well as curiosity. Finally the White Antelope arose
+and stepped into the circle, and there made her voice
+heard by all in the lodge.</p>
+
+<p>“The Sioux are a wise people; their chiefs are wise;
+their old men are wise, but sometimes even the wise
+are mistaken. They make mistakes. They welcome
+into their tribe one who stung and bit like the viper<span class="pagenum">[305]</span>
+warmed in the bosom. Such a viper has been warmed
+in the bosom of the Utah Sioux!”</p>
+
+<p>The old men grunted and looked at each other.
+Some glanced covertly at the place where the medicine
+chief, Death Killer, should have sat. He was not
+present.</p>
+
+<p>“This one came with a false tale to my father, the
+great chief, Oak Heart, and told a tale which sent the
+Sioux on the war-path. They fell upon the palefaces
+and killed them. The palefaces were not searching for
+the Sioux village; they were searching for a wicked
+paleface to punish him. Ah! he was two-tongued&mdash;and
+his tongue was sharp as a knife.</p>
+
+<p>“The White Antelope speaks the truth to you. This
+traitor was in the councils of the Sioux, but with his
+own hand he was murdering our young men. See!
+The still, red scalp of Po-ca-his-ta, torn from his head
+by the traitor this very day. And this&mdash;as other&mdash;murders
+he would have had the Sioux believe were
+done by Long Hair, the paleface scout.</p>
+
+<p>“Long Hair was sent to tell his big chief of my
+father’s warning, and to bring people to bury the dead.
+Long Hair said he would return. Long Hair is of a
+straight tongue. He is here!”</p>
+
+<p>Instantly the strange chief standing so motionless
+in their presence threw the war-bonnet aside and
+dropped the corner of the blanket which muffled his
+face. Buffalo Bill stood revealed. A deep murmur
+ran around the lodge, and it was half of surprise, half
+of admiration for the bold paleface who had redeemed
+his word to the White Antelope. Fearlessly the scout
+stood before his redskin foes, his eyes fixed upon the
+face of Oak Heart.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[306]</span></p>
+
+<p>“It is well,” said the old Sioux. “The Long Hair’s
+life was forfeit when he was held by Death Killer. He
+has gone to his people; he has returned as he said.
+Now he must die.”</p>
+
+<p>But Buffalo Bill never changed color. White Antelope
+started forward, her richly tinted face paling. It
+was a moment before she controlled herself and stood
+calmly to speak as an Indian should.</p>
+
+<p>“Let the White Antelope speak!” said Oak Heart
+quietly.</p>
+
+<p>The girl, in rapid, burning words, related her capture
+by Boyd Bennett and his death at the hands of the
+scout. The treachery of the renegade was proved.
+Buffalo Bill had been the medicine chief’s prisoner.
+Why should the Sioux hold the captive of a creature
+so dishonored?</p>
+
+<p>Her plea evidently made some impression, but all
+eyes turned upon Oak Heart, and at length the old
+chief spoke.</p>
+
+<p>“The Long Hair is a mighty paleface chief. He has
+trailed the red man to his village, and his belt is heavy
+with the scalps of my braves. He came here under the
+war-bonnet of a Cheyenne chief, and has saved the
+White Antelope from death.</p>
+
+<p>“But the Long Hair has long been a foe to the
+Sioux. It was he who brought help to the white soldiers
+in the fort when we would have beaten them. It
+was he who took them ammunition. It was he who
+stole our ponies.</p>
+
+<p>“The Long Hair has ofttimes looked on death. He
+is not afraid of death. He must show my warriors how
+a brave man <a id="Ref_306" href="#Ref_306a">can</a> die.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[307]</span></p>
+
+<p>For the first time since entering the lodge, Buffalo
+Bill spoke:</p>
+
+<p>“It is true, Oak Heart, that I have been your foe,
+and the foe of your people of late. It was not always
+so. When the Sioux would dwell at peace with the
+paleface, were content to live and hunt in these mountains
+and not fall upon and kill the white soldiers, Long
+Hair was their friend.</p>
+
+<p>“When the Wise Woman lived and her wisdom
+guided the tribe, the Sioux remained at peace with the
+paleface. But now worse councils prevail among you,
+and your young men go out to battle and are slain.
+And what do you gain? The palefaces are as numberless
+as the leaves of the forest. When you kill one,
+two come in his place; where you kill two, a dozen
+appear. Take the word of one who has smoked in
+your lodges and heard wisdom from your old men.
+The Long Hair tells you to bury the hatchet and smoke
+the peace-pipe with the white chiefs. Then shall you
+have content and your bellies be filled, and your young
+men shall grow up and be great hunters and your
+young squaws live to bear children.</p>
+
+<p>“Long Hair has spoken. If the Sioux kill me, it is
+but one white man dead. But how many will strike the
+trail of the Sioux to avenge my death? The Sioux
+have already lost many braves. Let them be content;
+blood enough has been spilled. Is it not so?</p>
+
+<p>“Remember, too, oh, Oak Heart, how Long Hair
+has sat in your lodge and talked with you and the Wise
+Woman before the Great Spirit took her. Here!” he
+drew from his hunting-shirt a sacred tomahawk pipe
+with a broken edge. “Here is the pledge given to
+Long-Hair long ago by the Wise Woman, and by Oak<span class="pagenum">[308]</span>
+Heart. Then was Oak Heart’s mind single; he was
+not full of wiles and thoughts of evil against the white
+men and against Long Hair. This was the pledge that
+Long Hair and the Sioux should never be at enmity.
+And has the enmity been of Long Hair’s seeking?
+Nay! The red men started to slay. The Long Hair
+must go with his people. Has he done wrong?</p>
+
+<p>“See! Must Pa-e-has-ka die?” and he held up the
+trophy again.</p>
+
+<p>A deathlike silence had fallen upon the lodge. The
+old chief was greatly moved, and for an Indian&mdash;especially
+a councilor&mdash;to show emotion is a disgrace.
+Perhaps, too, his mind was filled with thoughts of the
+Wise Woman, of whom Buffalo Bill had spoken so
+feelingly.</p>
+
+<p>Years before, when Oak Heart was a much younger
+man, the tribe had raided far to the south, by the waters
+of a great river. They had come upon a ranchman and
+his family, killed him, flung his body into the river,
+and taken his wife, a beautiful white squaw, captive.
+None but the son of the ranchman&mdash;a mere child&mdash;escaped.
+He had been found and cared for after the
+massacre by Buffalo Bill.</p>
+
+<p>The white squaw’s brain had been turned by the
+horror of that time. She wandered about the encampment
+in a dazed state. The Indians have a great awe
+of those who are insane, believing that the finger of
+the Great Spirit has touched them. She was cared for
+tenderly and brought north with the tribe.</p>
+
+<p>She was a skilful woman with herbs and simples.
+She nursed the wounded warriors; she helped the
+women in travail; she cared for the children and the
+young squaws. She was much beloved. Her influence,<span class="pagenum">[309]</span>
+even before her mind cleared, became one for
+great good in the tribe.</p>
+
+<p>Slowly she grew normal once more. Years had
+passed. Instead of golden tresses, her hair was as
+white as the snow upon the mountain peaks. Yet she
+was still a young woman and good to look upon. Oak
+Heart loved her. He had treated her with the utmost
+respect and kindness. She had lived so long among
+the redskins that she had lost all distaste for them, and
+had imbibed many of their religious beliefs. She was
+unutterably opposed to the warring of the tribe with
+the whites, however.</p>
+
+<p>Her husband and children were dead&mdash;and the past
+was dead. She espoused Oak Heart so as to retain her
+influence over him and over the tribe, for the good of
+the whites. It was after that that Buffalo Bill met the
+Wise Woman and knew who she was. But he had
+never told her that her son was alive, for fear that the
+knowledge would do the poor woman more harm than
+good. Also, she had a child by Oak Heart&mdash;the White
+Antelope. But she died when the girl was small.</p>
+
+<p>Possibly thoughts of the dead woman moved the old
+chief. Besides, the peace-pipe was a sacred pledge. He
+suddenly rose, threw around him his blanket, and,
+standing in the midst of the lodge, spoke impressively:</p>
+
+<p>“The Pa-e-has-ka is a friend to Oak Heart. When
+the hatchet shall be buried between the red men and the
+palefaces, they shall be brothers again. But now the
+palefaces are on the trail of my people; so let the
+Pa-e-has-ka hasten from us and join his own tribe.
+Not one of my braves shall follow him. Oak Heart
+has spoken.”</p>
+
+<p>There were murmurs about the lodge, but no chief<span class="pagenum">[310]</span>
+at the moment put his objections in words. Buffalo
+Bill found the White Antelope’s hand seeking his own.
+She acted more like a modest and timid white girl than
+ever before.</p>
+
+<p>“Let the white chief come with me,” she whispered.
+“I have something to show him.”</p>
+
+<p>The amazed scout went with her out of the grand
+lodge and was taken to her own teepee.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XLIX">CHAPTER XLIX.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">CONCLUSION.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>The wondering Indians allowed the White Antelope
+and Long Hair to pass. Inside the teepee an old
+woman kept watch and guard. A figure lay upon a
+heap of furs. It moved as the scout entered, raised
+on its elbow, and a weak voice exclaimed:</p>
+
+<p>“By the nine gods of war! Thanks be it’s you,
+Cody! I thought you’d never come, though this dear
+girl here swore you would, as you had promised her.”</p>
+
+<p>To see one whom we believe dead&mdash;aye, have seen
+lying stark on the field of battle and believe to have
+been buried there&mdash;rise up suddenly and confront us is
+indeed a shock. Buffalo Bill fell back a step, exclaiming:</p>
+
+<p>“Dick Danforth!”</p>
+
+<p>“’Tis I, old faithful! Thanks to this girl&mdash;who is
+the whitest Injun God ever made&mdash;I am alive, the sole
+survivor of my unfortunate party.”</p>
+
+<p>“Dick, I saw you lying on the field of battle,” declared
+the scout, taking his hand. “How came you
+here?”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[311]</span></p>
+
+<p>“She brought me back to life. She found there was
+life in me. I had got a terrible crack on the head. She
+and the old woman brought me here, and I have been
+hidden in this teepee ever since. I’m a whole lot better
+now, Cody. I believe I could ride a horse.”</p>
+
+<p>“And the White Antelope has cared for you?” cried
+the scout.</p>
+
+<p>“She has, indeed.” Then the young man whispered:
+“Isn’t she beautiful? And how glad I am, old man,
+that you stayed my hand that day when I would have
+murdered her!”</p>
+
+<p>“Ho, ho!” muttered the scout. “Sets the wind in
+that quarter? I must tell you two young people something
+before more mischief be done.”</p>
+
+<p>He seized the girl’s hand and drew her forward to
+the side of Danforth’s couch.</p>
+
+<p>“White Antelope,” he said in English, “do you remember
+that I told you once I knew your mother?”</p>
+
+<p>She nodded, watching him with bright eyes.</p>
+
+<p>“She was a lovely woman. She was a white woman.
+It was true she was Oak Heart’s wife, but she had
+been espoused before by a good and great white man.
+He was killed by Oak Heart’s people, and for a time
+your mother was stricken by the mercy of the Great
+Spirit with forgetfulness.</p>
+
+<p>“When she came to herself she believed that her
+husband and her son were dead. She became Oak
+Heart’s squaw. But her son was not dead. I had
+saved him from the Indians, and he lived to grow
+up&mdash;&mdash;”</p>
+
+<p>Danforth raised himself up with a great cry.</p>
+
+<p>“You do not mean it! It is impossible!” he cried.
+“This girl&mdash;&mdash;?”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[312]</span></p>
+
+<p>“Is your sister. White Antelope, this young man is
+your elder brother&mdash;and a mighty fine fellow you’ll find
+him. Your mother was the finest woman I ever knew,
+and <em>your</em> father, Dick&mdash;God help him!&mdash;was once the
+finest fellow in the world!”</p>
+
+<p>The scout choked and was silent. He was thinking
+of that awful, convulsed face of the Mad Hunter as he
+fell backward from the summit of the bluff, with Texas
+Jack’s bullet in his brain!</p>
+
+<p>“He&mdash;he is my brother?” murmured the girl, her
+eyes shining.</p>
+
+<p>“That’s what he is,” said the scout, recovering himself
+and speaking heartily.</p>
+
+<p>She went to Danforth and put both her hands in his.
+The young fellow suddenly pulled her down to him and
+kissed her on the lips.</p>
+
+<p>“That’s the way <em>white</em> brothers and sisters greet
+each other,” he said, with a weak laugh. “When can
+you get us away from this camp, Cody?”</p>
+
+<p>That was a question easier to be asked than answered.
+But the excitement over the letting of Cody
+himself go free aided them in their attempt. The
+chiefs were murmuring against the decision of Oak
+Heart. The old man was fighting for his supremacy
+as head chief of the tribe. He could not even see the
+White Antelope, and shut her out of his lodge.</p>
+
+<p>This piqued the wayward girl. She was the more
+ready to go with her new-found brother, as he was ill
+and needed her. But she only agreed to go with him to
+Fort Resistence and then directly return. But Dick
+Danforth said confidently:</p>
+
+<p>“Let me once get her away from the influence of
+these bloody redskins, and I’ll wean her away from<span class="pagenum">[313]</span>
+them. I know what will please a young girl like her.
+I’ll take her to San Francisco, Bill. Thanks to you,
+I’ve some property of my own left of my poor father’s
+estate. And isn’t she a beauty! Won’t she make ’em
+sit up and take notice at the Bay?”</p>
+
+<p>Under cover of the night the scout and the Indian
+maid helped the wounded Danforth upon a horse, and
+the three wended their way from the encampment.
+They were not followed&mdash;or, at least, were not overtaken&mdash;until
+they reached Captain Keyes’ command.
+Then they were hurried on under an escort to Resistence.
+White Antelope made no objection to going,
+her brother was so weak and needed her so much.</p>
+
+<p>Indeed, the wily young fellow remained an invalid
+so long that his sister became half-reconciled to civilized
+clothing and to white people before they took the
+long journey to San Francisco, where Dick went to
+spend the furlough allowed him by the department.</p>
+
+<hr class="tb" />
+
+<p>The scene changes once more to Fort Advance, some
+days after that on which Buffalo Bill, the Border
+King, had set out on his dangerous mission to the
+village of the Sioux. It is a little past sunrise, and a
+horseman is descried taking the trail from the cañon
+toward the fort. He is mounted on a great white
+charger that comes like the wind.</p>
+
+<p>The rider looks pale and jaded, and his buckskin
+attire has seen hard usage. But he is recognized by
+the sentinel over the gate, and his cry is repeated about
+the fort:</p>
+
+<p>“Here comes Buffalo Bill, the King of the Border!”</p>
+
+<p>Waving his battered hat in response to the shout,<span class="pagenum">[314]</span>
+Buffalo Bill rides straight to the open gate, enters, and
+dismounts before Major Baldwin’s door. An orderly
+seizes his bridle-rein, and the major comes forth and
+grasps the scout’s hand with the words:</p>
+
+<p>“Thanks be to God for seeing you again alive, Cody!
+When Keyes told me you were safe, I felt like ordering
+a feast to celebrate the occasion. And they say the
+Sioux are ready for peace?”</p>
+
+<p>“I believe they are. Oak Heart has pretty much lost
+his grip on the tribe, and is an outcast. But the new
+powers-that-be have seen the fallacy of trying issues
+again with us.”</p>
+
+<p>“We certainly believed you dead one while, Cody.”</p>
+
+<p>“And it was a close shave not to be this time, sir.”</p>
+
+<p>“You have won out as usual, Bill, with flying
+colors.”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, Major Baldwin. I went to Oak Heart’s village
+with the firm determination to get Boyd Bennett
+if it cost me my life. That scoundrel had been a
+thorn in my side too long. I got him. He’s dead.
+He’ll do no more harm <em>this</em> side of the Great Divide!”</p>
+
+<p>“A good piece of work, Cody. And I understand
+that old maniac, the Mad Hunter, who attacked Keyes,
+is dead, too?”</p>
+
+<p>“That is so. But I am sorry for <em>his</em> end. I tell you
+in confidence, major, that the man was Dick Danforth’s
+father&mdash;though I never suspected it until I saw
+his face close to. The Indians were supposed to have
+cracked him on the head and flung him into the river
+years ago. The crack on the head was sure enough.
+But he wasn’t drowned. His end has come now, poor
+fellow.”</p>
+
+<p>“And <a id="Ref_314" href="#Ref_314a">Dick</a> wonderfully saved!”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[315]</span></p>
+
+<p>“He is, indeed&mdash;and has found a sister.”</p>
+
+<p>“Ah, Cody! That was a joker you kept up your
+sleeve a long time,” said the major.</p>
+
+<p>“True. I knew the boy’s hatred for all savages. I
+did not know about his poor mother and this girl until
+I had really instilled some of the boy’s hatred into his
+mind myself. I feared for him to know the truth.
+Yet I wanted to save her from the savages. Providence
+performed what I could not.”</p>
+
+<p>“True.... But those scalp-locks, Cody?”
+asked Major Baldwin, pointing to the string of ghastly
+trophies hanging from the scout’s belt.</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, those are the roofs of the braves who tried to
+raise my hair. I intended to have a rope made of
+them to hang Boyd Bennett with, but I’ll have them
+made into a bridle for you, instead, major.”</p>
+
+<p>“All right, scout. Thank you for the gift. And
+now you are free. Report to me in full when you have
+rested,” and with another hand-clasp the major let him
+go.</p>
+
+<p>Many other hands were waiting to clasp that of the
+Border King. It was some time before he could break
+away and find Texas Jack in the scouts’ quarters.</p>
+
+<p>But times of rest were few and far between for these
+hardy men of the frontier. One tribe of red men were
+scarcely subjugated for the time when another would
+rise up to kill and slay. It was not long before Buffalo
+Bill was performing more daring deeds to add to his
+fame upon the border.</p>
+
+<p class="center p1">THE END.</p>
+
+<hr class="tb" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<div class="boxit">
+<p class="center xxlargefont boldfont">Say, Boys!</p>
+
+<p>How’d you like to own your own bronc’?
+How’d you like to be an expert at lassoing
+and branding? How’d you like to ride the
+rolling prairies in search of lost stock, and
+perhaps have an adventure or two with certain
+bad men who did not like you because
+you were on the side of law and order? How
+would you like it?</p>
+
+<p>Well, we all cannot go west and be cowboys,
+but we sure can pay 15 cents for the stories
+in the <cite>Western Story Library</cite>, and find a good,
+comfortable spot, and immediately imagine
+ourselves riding with Ted Strong and his
+broncho boys, sharing their adventures, their
+hardships and pleasures.</p>
+
+<p>Ted Strong and his pals are lovable fellows&mdash;every
+one of them, and you will do well to
+make comrades of them.</p>
+
+<p>Ask your dealer to show you a copy of the
+<cite>Western Story Library</cite>.</p>
+
+<p class="center boldfont largefont">STREET &amp; SMITH CORPORATION<br />
+79 Seventh Avenue <span style="padding-left:2em">New York City</span></p>
+</div></div>
+
+<hr class="tb" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<p class="center largefont boldfont">WESTERN STORIES ABOUT<br />
+<span class="xxlargefont">BUFFALO BILL</span></p>
+
+<p class="xlargefont boldfont center">Price, Fifteen Cents</p>
+
+<p class="center largefont">Red-blooded Adventure Stories for Men</p>
+
+<p>There is no more romantic character in American history than
+William F. Cody, or as he was internationally known, Buffalo
+Bill. He, with Colonel Prentiss Ingraham, Wild Bill Hickok,
+General Custer, and a few other adventurous spirits, laid the
+foundation of our great West.</p>
+
+<p>There is no more brilliant page in American history than the
+winning of the West. Never did pioneers live more thrilling
+lives, so rife with adventure and brave deeds as the old scouts
+and plainsmen. Foremost among these stands the imposing
+figure of Buffalo Bill.</p>
+
+<p>All of the books in this list are intensely interesting. They
+were written by the close friend and companion of Buffalo Bill&mdash;Colonel
+Prentiss Ingraham. They depict actual adventures
+which this pair of hard-hitting comrades experienced, while the
+story of these adventures is interwoven with fiction; historically
+the books are correct.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p class="center p1"><em>ALL TITLES ALWAYS IN PRINT</em></p>
+
+<div class="center">
+<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" summary="titles">
+<tr><td class="tableft1">1&mdash;Buffalo Bill, the Border King</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft1">2&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Raid</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft1">3&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Bravery</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft1">4&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Trump Card</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft1">5&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Pledge</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft1">6&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Vengeance</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft1">7&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Iron Grip</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft1">8&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Capture</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft1">9&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Danger Line</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">10&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Comrades</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">11&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Reckoning</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">12&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Warning</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">13&mdash;Buffalo Bill at Bay</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">14&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Buckskin Pards</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">15&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Brand</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">16&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Honor</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">17&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Phantom Hunt</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">18&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Fight With Fire</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">19&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Danite Trail</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">20&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Ranch Riders</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">21&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Death Trail</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">22&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Trackers</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">23&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Mid-air Flight</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">24&mdash;Buffalo Bill, Ambassador</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">25&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Air Voyage</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">26&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Secret Mission</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">27&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Long Trail</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">28&mdash;Buffalo Bill Against Odds</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">29&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Hot Chase</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">30&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Redskin Ally</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">31&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Treasure Trove</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">32&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Hidden Foes</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">33&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Crack Shot</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">34&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Close Call</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">35&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Double Surprise</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">36&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Ambush</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">37&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Outlaw Hunt</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">38&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Border Duel</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">39&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Bid for Fame</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">40&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Triumph</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">41&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Spy Trailer</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">42&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Death Call</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">43&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Body Guard</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">44&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Still Hunt</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">45&mdash;Buffalo Bill and the Doomed Dozen</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">46&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Prairie Scout</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">47&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Traitor Guide</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">48&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Bonanza</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">49&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Swoop</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">50&mdash;Buffalo Bill and the Gold King</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">51&mdash;Buffalo Bill, Deadshot</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">52&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Buckskin Bravos</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">53&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Big Four</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">54&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s One-armed Pard</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">55&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Race for Life</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">56&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Return</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">57&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Conquest</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">58&mdash;Buffalo Bill to the Rescue</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">59&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Beautiful Foe</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">60&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Perilous Task</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">61&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Queer Find</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">62&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Blind Lead</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">63&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Resolution</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">64&mdash;Buffalo Bill, the Avenger</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">65&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Pledged Pard</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">66&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Weird Warning</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">67&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Wild Ride</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">68&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Redskin Stampede</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">69&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Mine Mystery</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">70&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Gold Hunt</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">71&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Daring Dash</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">72&mdash;Buffalo Bill on Hand</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">73&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Alliance</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">74&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Relentless Foe</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">75&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Midnight Ride</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">76&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Chivalry</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">77&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Girl Pard</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">78&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Private War</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">79&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Diamond Mine</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">80&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Big Contract</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">81&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Woman Foe</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">82&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Ruse</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">83&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Pursuit</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">84&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Hidden Gold</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">85&mdash;Buffalo Bill in Mid-air</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">86&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Queer Mission</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">87&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Verdict</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">88&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Ordeal</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">89&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Camp Fires</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">90&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Iron Nerve</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">91&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Rival</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">92&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Lone Hand</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">93&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Sacrifice</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">94&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Thunderbolt</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">95&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Black Fortune</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">96&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Wild Work</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">97&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Yellow Trail</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">98&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Treasure Train</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">99&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Bowie Duel</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft">100&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Mystery Man</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft">101&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Bold Play</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft">102&mdash;Buffalo Bill: Peacemaker</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft">103&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Big Surprise</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft">104&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Barricade</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft">105&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Test</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft">106&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Powwow</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft">107&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Stern Justice</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft">108&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Mysterious Friend</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft">109&mdash;Buffalo Bill and the Boomers</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft">110&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Panther Fight</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft">111&mdash;Buffalo Bill and the Overland Mail</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft">112&mdash;Buffalo Bill on the Deadwood Trail</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft">113&mdash;Buffalo Bill in Apache Land</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft">114&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Blindfold Duel</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft">115&mdash;Buffalo Bill and the Lone Camper</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft">116&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Merry War</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft">117&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Star Play</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft">118&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s War Cry</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft">119&mdash;Buffalo Bill on Black Panther’s Trail</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft">120&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Slim Chance</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft">121&mdash;Buffalo Bill Besieged</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft">122&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Bandit Round-up</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft">123&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Surprise Party</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft">124&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Lightning Raid</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft">125&mdash;Buffalo Bill in Mexico</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft">126&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Traitor Foe</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft">127&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Tireless Chase</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft">128&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Boy Bugler</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft">129&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Sure Guess</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft">130&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Record Jump</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft">131&mdash;Buffalo Bill in the Land of Dread</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft">132&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Tangled Clue</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft">133&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Wolf Skin</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+
+<hr class="tb" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<p class="xxlargefont boldfont center"><span style="padding-left:2.5em"><em>Adventure Stories</em></span><br />
+<span style="padding-left:2em"><em>Detective Stories</em></span><br />
+<span style="padding-left:1.5em"><em>Western Stories</em></span><br />
+<span style="padding-left:0.5em"><em>Love Stories</em></span><br />
+<em>Sea Stories</em></p>
+
+<p>All classes of fiction are to be found among
+the Street &amp; Smith novels. Our line contains
+reading matter for every one, irrespective of age
+or preference.</p>
+
+<p>The person who has only a moderate sum
+to spend on reading matter will find this line
+a veritable gold mine.</p>
+
+<p class="center largefont p1">STREET &amp; SMITH CORPORATION,<br />
+79 Seventh Avenue,<br />
+New York, N. Y.</p>
+</div>
+
+<hr class="tb" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<div class="transnote">
+<h2 id="TN_end" style="margin-top: 0em">Transcriber’s Notes:</h2>
+
+<p>Punctuation has been made consistent.</p>
+
+<p>Variations in spelling and hyphenation were retained as they appear in
+the original publication, except that obvious typographical errors
+have been corrected.</p>
+
+<p>The following changes were made:</p>
+
+<p><a id="Ref_17a" href="#Ref_17">p. 17</a>: when assumed for unintelligible word (volunteer when you were)</p>
+
+<p><a id="Ref_34a" href="#Ref_34">p. 34:</a> means assumed for unintelligible word (wonderful means of)</p>
+
+<p><a id="Ref_69a" href="#Ref_69">p. 69:</a> wise scout assumed for unintelligible words (the wise scout had)</p>
+
+<p><a id="Ref_77a" href="#Ref_77">p. 77:</a> to assumed for unintelligible word (blow to Oak)</p>
+
+<p><a id="Ref_120a" href="#Ref_120">p. 120:</a> done assumed for unintelligible word (was done. It)</p>
+
+<p><a id="Ref_120b" href="#Ref_1201">p. 120:</a> officer assumed for unintelligible word (the officer descried)</p>
+
+<p><a id="Ref_226a" href="#Ref_226">p. 226:</a> flung assumed for unintelligible word (mother flung him)</p>
+
+<p><a id="Ref_228a" href="#Ref_228">p. 228:</a> unintelligible word(s) deleted (he feared and)</p>
+
+<p><a id="Ref_292a" href="#Ref_292">p. 292:</a> a assumed for unintelligible word (seemed a frail)</p>
+
+<p><a id="Ref_306a" href="#Ref_306">p. 306:</a> can assumed for unintelligible word (man can die)</p>
+
+<p><a id="Ref_314a" href="#Ref_314">p. 314:</a> Dick assumed for unintelligible word (And Dick wonderfully)</p>
+</div></div>
+
+<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 62638 ***</div>
+</body>
+</html>
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Buffalo Bill, the Border King, by 
+Colonel Prentiss Ingraham
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most
+other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
+whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of
+the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
+www.gutenberg.org.  If you are not located in the United States, you'll have
+to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook.
+
+Title: Buffalo Bill, the Border King
+       Redskin and Cowboy
+
+Author: Colonel Prentiss Ingraham
+
+Release Date: July 14, 2020 [EBook #62638]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BUFFALO BILL, THE BORDER KING ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Edwards, Craig Kirkwood, and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber’s Notes:
+
+Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_).
+
+Additional Transcriber’s Notes are at the end.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+Buffalo Bill, the Border King
+
+
+  OR, REDSKIN AND COWBOY
+
+  BY Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+
+  Author of “Buffalo Bill”
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+  STREET & SMITH CORPORATION
+  PUBLISHERS
+  79-89 Seventh Avenue, New York
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Copyright, 1907 By STREET & SMITH
+
+Buffalo Bill, the Border King
+
+(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 role 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 Roughriders of the World,” first presented at Omaha,
+Nebraska. In time it became a familiar yearly entertainment in the
+great cities of this country and Europe. Many famous personages
+attended the performances, and became his warm friends, including Mr.
+Gladstone, the Marquis of Lorne, King Edward, Queen Victoria, and the
+Prince of Wales, now King of England.
+
+At the outbreak of the Sioux, in 1890 and 1891, Colonel Cody served
+at the head of the Nebraska National Guard. In 1895 Cody took up the
+development of Wyoming Valley by introducing irrigation. Not long
+afterward he became judge advocate general of the Wyoming National
+Guard.
+
+Colonel Cody (Buffalo Bill) died in Denver, Colorado, on January
+10, 1917. His legacy to a grateful world was a large share in
+the development of the West, and a multitude of achievements in
+horsemanship, marksmanship, and endurance that will live for ages. His
+life will continue to be a leading example of the manliness, courage,
+and devotion to duty that belonged to a picturesque phase of American
+life now passed, like the great patriot whose career it typified, into
+the Great Beyond.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+BUFFALO BILL, THE BORDER KING.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I. RUNNING THE DEATH-GANTLET.
+
+
+Fort Advance, a structure built of heavy, squared timbers and some
+masonry, with towers at the four corners, commanding the deep ditches
+which had been dug around the walls, stood in the heart of the then
+untracked Territory of Utah. It was the central figure of a beautiful
+valley--when in repose--and commanded one of the important passes and
+wagon trails of the Rockies.
+
+A mountain torrent flowed through the valley, and a supply of pure
+water from this stream had been diverted into the armed square which,
+commanded by Major Frank Baldwin, was a veritable City of Refuge to all
+the whites who chanced to be in the country at this time.
+
+For the valley of Fort Advance offered no peaceful scene. The savage
+denizens of the mountain and plain had risen, and, in a raging,
+vengeful flood, had poured into the valley and besieged the unfortunate
+occupants of the fort. These were a branch of the great Sioux tribe,
+and, under their leading chief, Oak Heart, fought with the desperation
+and blind fanaticism of Berserkers.
+
+A belt of red warriors surrounded Fort Advance, cutting off all
+escape, or the approach of any assistance to the inmates of the
+stockade, outnumbering the able-bodied men under Major Baldwin’s
+command five to one! Among them rode the famous Oak Heart, inspiring
+his children to greater deeds of daring. By his side rode a graceful,
+beautiful girl of some seventeen years, whose face bore the
+unmistakable stamp of having other than Indian blood flowing in her
+veins. Long, luxurious hair, every strand of golden hue, contrasted
+strangely with her bronze complexion, while her eyes were sloe-black,
+and brilliant with every changing expression.
+
+This was White Antelope, a daughter of Oak Heart, and she held almost
+as much influence in the tribe as the grim old chief himself. Because
+of her beauty, indeed, she was almost worshiped as a goddess. At least,
+there was not a young buck in all the Utah Sioux who would not have
+attempted any deed of daring for the sake of calling the White Antelope
+his squaw.
+
+But while the red warriors were so inspired without the walls of the
+fortress, within was a much different scene. Major Baldwin’s resources
+were at an end. Many of his men were wounded, or ill; food was low; the
+wily redskins had cut off their water-supply; and there were but a few
+rounds of ammunition remaining. Fort Advance and its people were at a
+desperate pass, indeed!
+
+After a conference with his subordinate officers, Major Baldwin stood
+up in the midst of his haggard, powder-begrimed men. They were faithful
+fellows--many of them bore the scars of old Indian fights. But human
+endurance has its limit, and there is an end to man’s courage.
+
+“Will no man in this fort dare run the death-gantlet and bring aid to
+us?” cried the major.
+
+It was an appeal from the lips of a fearless man, one who had won a
+record as a soldier in the Civil War, and had made it good later upon
+the field as an Indian fighter. The demand was for one who would risk
+almost certain death to save a couple of hundred of his fellow beings,
+among them a score of women and children.
+
+The nearest military post where help might be obtained was forty
+miles away. Several brave men had already attempted to run the deadly
+gantlet, and had died before the horrified eyes of the fort’s inmates.
+It seemed like flinging one’s life away to venture into the open where,
+just beyond rifle-shot, the red warriors ringed the fort about.
+
+Such was the situation, and another attack was about due. The riding of
+the big chief and his daughter through the mass of Indians, was for the
+purpose of giving instructions regarding the coming charge. Ammunition
+in the fort might run out this time. Then over the barrier would swarm
+the redskins, and the thought of the massacre that would follow made
+even Major Baldwin’s cheek blanch.
+
+So the gallant commander’s appeal had been made--and had it been made
+in vain? So it would seem, for not a man spoke for several moments.
+They shifted their guns, or changed weight from one foot to the other,
+or adjusted a bandage which already marked the redskin’s devilish work.
+
+They were brave men; but death seemed too sure a result of the attempt
+called for; it meant--to their minds--but another life flung away!
+
+“Was it not better that all should die here together, fighting
+desperately till the last man fell?” That was the question these old
+scarred veterans asked in their own minds. The venture would be utterly
+and completely hopeless.
+
+“_Look there!_”
+
+The trumpet-call was uttered by an officer on one of the towers
+of the stockade. His arm pointed westward, toward a ridge of rock
+which--barren and forbidding--sloped down into the valley facing the
+main gateway of Fort Advance.
+
+At the officer’s cry a score of men leaped to positions from which
+could be seen the object that occasioned it. Even Major Baldwin,
+knowing that the cry had been uttered because of some momentous
+happening, hurriedly mounted to the platform above the gate. He feared
+that already his demand for another volunteer was too late. He believed
+the redskins were massing for another charge.
+
+All eyes were strained in the direction the officer on the watch-tower
+pointed. A gasp of amazement was chorused by those who saw and
+understood the meaning of the cry.
+
+A horseman was seen riding like the wind toward the fort--and he was a
+white man!
+
+The Indians who had already beheld this rash adventurer were dumb with
+amazement. They were as much surprised by his appearance as were the
+inmates of the fort.
+
+The unknown rider was leading a packhorse. The horse he bestrode was a
+magnificent animal, and the packhorse flying along by its side was a
+racer as well, for both came on, down the long tongue of barren rock,
+at a spanking pace.
+
+From whence had the man come? Who was he? How had he gotten almost
+through the Indian lines undiscovered?
+
+He certainly had all but run the gantlet of the red warriors, for no
+shot, or no arrow, had been fired at him until he was discovered by the
+officer on the watch-tower of the fort.
+
+Then it was that he spurred forward like the wind, and floating to the
+ears of the whites who watched him so fearfully came the long, tremolo
+yell of the Sioux warriors as they started in pursuit of the daredevil
+rider. He was heading directly for the large gates of the fort.
+
+That he had chosen well his place to break through the Indian
+death-circle was evident, for there were few braves near him as he fled
+along the sloping ridge into the valley. His rifle he turned to right,
+or to left, firing with the same ease from either shoulder, while his
+mount, and the packhorse tied to its bridle, guided their own feet over
+the rocky way.
+
+When he pulled trigger the bullet did not miss its mark. The rifle rang
+out a death-knell, or sent a wounded brave out of action.
+
+The ponies of the Indians were feeding in the valley, with only a guard
+here and there, and there were no mounted warriors near to close in on
+the reckless rider, or to head him off. Hark! Their vengeful yells, as
+they observed the possibility of the daring man’s escape, were awful
+to hear. They were in a frenzy of rage at the desperate act of the
+horseman.
+
+Rifles and bows sent bullets and shafts at him, but at long range. If
+he was hit he did not show it. The horses still thundered on, down into
+the valley, as recklessly as frenzied buffalo.
+
+Oak Heart, the great war chief, heard the commotion and saw the
+speeding white man. The chief was mounted, and he lashed his horse into
+a dead run for the point where the reckless paleface was descending
+into the valley. With him rode the White Antelope, and their coming
+spurred the braves to more strenuous attempts to reach, or capture, or
+kill, the daredevil rider.
+
+The occupants of the fort--those who beheld this wonderful race--were
+on the qui vive. Their exclamations displayed the anxiety and
+uncertainty they felt.
+
+“He can never make it!”
+
+“The Indian guard are driving in the ponies to bar his way!”
+
+“Who is he?”
+
+“How he rides!”
+
+“God guard the brave fellow!” cried a woman’s voice.
+
+One of the gentler sex had climbed to the platform over the gate, and
+this was her prayer.
+
+Other women had dropped to their knees, and were fervently praying God
+to spare the splendid fellow who was daring the gantlet of death. A
+cheer rose from the soldiery. This unknown was showing them the way
+that they had not dared to go.
+
+“That packhorse is wounded. Why doesn’t he leave it?” cried one of the
+officers. “It is delaying him--can’t the fellow see it?”
+
+At that moment the commander shouted:
+
+“Captain Keyes, take your troop to the rescue of that brave fellow!”
+
+“With pleasure, sir! I was about to ask your permission to do just
+that,” declared the junior officer.
+
+The bugle sounded, but its notes were drowned in a sudden wild shout
+of joy that rose from the two hundred inmates of the fort. Another
+officer, with a field-glass at his eye, had suddenly turned and shouted:
+
+“It is Buffalo Bill, the Border King!”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II. THE BORDER KING.
+
+
+The wild cheers that greeted the recognition of the daring gantlet
+runner came in frenzied roars, the piping voices of children, the
+treble notes of women, and the deep bass of the men mingling in a
+swelling chorus that rose higher and higher.
+
+The Border King, as he had been called, heard the sound. He understood
+that it was in his welcome, and he fairly stood up in his stirrups and
+waved his sombrero, while the horses dashed on at the same mad pace.
+
+Buffalo Bill, or William F. Cody, as was his real name, was the chief
+of scouts at this very fort, and he was a hero--almost a god--in the
+eyes of the soldiers and his brother scouts.
+
+A week before he had started for Denver with important despatches, but
+had returned in a few hours to report signs of a large band of Indians
+on the move. He had warned Major Baldwin that Oak Heart and his braves
+might be intending a concerted attack upon Fort Advance; but duty
+called Buffalo Bill to the trail again, and he had hurried away on his
+Denver mission.
+
+That the danger he had dreaded was real, the surrounding of the fort
+several days later by the Sioux proved. Scouts had been sent for aid,
+but too late. None had gotten through the belt of redskins, and that
+belt was tightening each hour. The ammunition was low, and the awful
+end was not far off if help from some quarter did not appear.
+
+Even the appearance of Buffalo Bill inspired the beleaguered whites
+with hope. It seemed an almost hopeless attempt to reach the fort, for
+the red warriors were closing in upon him. Yet he rode on unshakenly.
+
+Down the ridge he sped, and out upon the plain. He was seemingly coming
+from the sunshine of life into the valley of death’s shadow!
+
+Why did he do it? Why did he risk his life so recklessly when only
+forty miles away he could have obtained help from the military post?
+There was some reason behind his daring act, and some cause for his
+delaying his effort by dragging the packhorse, now wounded, with him.
+
+All in the fort knew what this hero of the border had done to win fame
+among the mighty men of the frontier. He was chief and king among them.
+Yet what could he do now to help the besieged in the fortress, even
+did he reach the gate? That was the question!
+
+But hope revived, nevertheless, in every heart. Even the commandant,
+Major Frank Baldwin, began to look more hopeful as the scout drew
+closer to the fort. He had known Buffalo Bill long and well, and he
+knew of what marvels he was capable!
+
+Buffalo Bill had been born in a cabin home on the banks of the
+Mississippi River in the State of Iowa, and from his eighth year he
+had been a pioneer--an advance agent of civilization. At that age
+his father had removed to Kansas, and as a boy Billie Cody saw and
+took part in the bloody struggles in Kansas between the supporters
+of slavery and those who believed that the soil of Kansas should be
+unsmirched by that terrible traffic in human lives.
+
+Cody’s father, indeed, lost his life because of his belief in freedom,
+and the boy was obliged to help support the family at a tender age. He
+went to Leavenworth, and there hired out to Alex Majors, who of that
+day was the chief of the overland freighters into the far West.
+
+The boy was eleven years old--an age when most youngsters think only of
+their play and of their stomachs. But Billie Cody had seen his father
+shot down; he had nursed him and hidden him from his foes, and from
+the dying pioneer had received a sacred charge. That was the care of
+his mother and sister. It was necessary for him to earn a man’s wage,
+not a boy’s. And to get it he must do a man’s work. He was a splendid
+rider, even then--one of those horsemen who seem a part of the animal
+he bestrode, like the Centaurs of which Greek mythology tells us.
+Alex Majors needed a messenger to ride from train to train along the
+wagon-trail, and he entrusted young Cody with the job.
+
+It was one that might have put to the test the bravery of a seasoned
+plainsman. Indians and wild beasts were both very plentiful. There
+were hundreds of dangers to threaten the lone boy as he rode swiftly
+over the trails. Yet even then he began to make his mark. He had
+several encounters with the Indians during his first season. As he says
+himself, the first redskin he ever saw stole from him, and he had to
+force the scoundrel--boy though he was--to give up the property at the
+point of the rifle. This incident, perhaps, gave the youth a certain
+daring in approaching the reds which often stood him well in after
+adventures. And the reds learned to respect and fear Billie Cody. He
+allowed his hair to grow long, to show the Indians that he was not
+afraid to wear a “scalp-lock”--practically daring any of his red foes
+to come and take it!
+
+So from that early day he had been active on the border. All knew
+him--red as well as white. He had been an Indian fighter from his
+eleventh year, the hero of hundreds of daring deeds, thrilling
+adventures, and narrow escapes. He was as gentle as a woman with the
+weak, the feeble, or with those who claimed his protection; but he was
+as savage in battle as a mountain lion, and had well earned the title
+bestowed upon him by his admiring friends--the Border King. His coming
+to the fort now--if he could make it safely--was worth in itself a
+company of reenforcements, for it put heart into all the besieged.
+
+“Never mind, Keyes! it is Cody, and he will get through,” called out
+Major Baldwin to Captain Keyes, as the men were mounting.
+
+Captain Edward L. Keyes was a splendid type of cavalry officer, and
+he was anxious for another brush with the redskins at close quarters.
+He was disappointed, but as the man making the attempt to reach Fort
+Advance was Buffalo Bill, the captain agreed with Major Baldwin that
+“he would get through.”
+
+The Border King had turned his rifle now upon the Indian guards who
+were trying to head him off by blocking his way with the large herd of
+half-wild ponies which had been feeding in the valley. Indian ponies
+are not broken like those used by white men. They are pretty nearly
+wild all their days. The red man merely teaches his mount to answer to
+the pressure of his knees, and to the jerk of the single rawhide thong
+that is slipped around the brute’s lower jaw. And these lessons are
+further enforced by cruelty.
+
+The odor of a white person is offensive to an Indian pony. A white man
+has been known frequently to stampede a band of Indian mounts; and not
+infrequently the mob of wild creatures has turned upon the unfortunate
+paleface and trampled him to death under their unshod feet.
+
+Therefore, this opposition of the ponies was no small matter. They were
+a formidable barrier to Buffalo Bill’s successful arrival at the gate
+of the stockade fort.
+
+His rifle rattled forth lively, yet deadly, music, and his aim was
+wonderfully true for that of a man riding at full speed. Emptying the
+gun, he swung it quickly over his shoulder, and drawing the big cavalry
+pistols from their holsters the daring scout began to fairly mow a
+path through the herd of ponies. The slugs carried by the large-caliber
+pistols were as effective as the balls from his rifle. The mob of
+squealing, kicking, biting ponies broke before his charge, and swept on
+ahead of him. Another cheer from the watchers in the fort signaled this
+fact. The ponies were stampeding directly toward Fort Advance.
+
+“Out and line ’em up!”
+
+“We’ll corral the ponies if we kyan’t th’ Injuns!”
+
+“Throw open the gates!” commanded Major Baldwin, his voice heard above
+the tumult.
+
+The command was obeyed, and Captain Keyes and his men galloped out to
+meet the mob.
+
+In vain did the Indian guards try to head off the stampede. By having
+left their ponies in the valley where the grass was sweet and long,
+they had been caught in this trap. Instead of capturing Buffalo Bill it
+looked as though he and the other whites would capture the bulk of the
+Indian ponies!
+
+Oak Heart and the White Antelope, with a few mounted reds at their
+back, thundered across the level plain and up the rise toward the fort.
+But the pony herd and Buffalo Bill were well in the lead.
+
+The king of the border turned in his saddle, and waved his sombrero in
+mockery at the Indian chief. Then the ponies dashed into the gateway
+and were corraled, while the scout, still leading his packhorse, swept
+in behind them.
+
+“On guard, all! The redskins will charge on foot to try and get their
+ponies!” shouted the scout, as he came through the gate.
+
+His voice rose above the turmoil and brought the delighted men to their
+duty. Major Baldwin echoed Buffalo Bill’s advice, ordering everybody to
+their posts.
+
+“Be careful of the expenditure of powder and lead, men!” warned the
+major, from his stand on the platform. “Remember we are running short.”
+
+“Don’t you believe it, major!” cried the voice of the scout, as he
+dismounted in the middle of the enthusiastic throng.
+
+“What’s that, Cody?”
+
+“Strip the packhorse. I have brought you a-plenty of ammunition until
+reenforcements can be had.”
+
+“God bless you, Cody, for those words! You have saved us,” cried Major
+Baldwin, and there was a tremor in his voice as he glanced toward the
+group of women and children.
+
+He came down from the platform, and wrung the scout’s hand, as he asked:
+
+“In the name of Heaven, Cody, where did you get ammunition? Surely, you
+did not bring it all the way from Denver?”
+
+“No, indeed. I cached this over a year ago, major,” the scout replied
+cheerfully. “It will hold those red devils off until help arrives.
+You’ve sent to Fort Resistence, I presume?”
+
+“Sent, alas! But five men have died in the attempt.”
+
+“And not one got through?” cried Buffalo Bill.
+
+“Not one, Cody.”
+
+Buffalo Bill’s face assumed a look of anxiety--an expression not often
+seen there.
+
+“I had called for another volunteer when you were discovered coming.
+It was a splendid dash you made, Cody, and a desperate one as well.”
+
+“Aye,” said the scout gravely. “Desperate it was, indeed. But it
+must be made again. This ammunition I have brought you may last till
+morning; but the reds must be taken on the flank or they’ll hold you
+here till kingdom come!
+
+“I’ll try to get through again, Major Baldwin. You must have help,”
+declared the Border King sternly.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III. THE KING OF THE SIOUX.
+
+
+Scarcely had Buffalo Bill uttered these cheering words when a babble of
+cries arose from the watchers on the towers and the platform over the
+gate. The redskins were gathering for a concerted charge, maddened by
+his escape and the loss of their ponies.
+
+Saving a few chiefs, beside Oak Heart and the White Antelope none of
+the reds were mounted. However, they were so enraged now that they
+ignored the whites’ accuracy of aim and came on within rifle-shot of
+the stockade.
+
+The ammunition brought on the packhorse led by the scout was hastily
+distributed among the defendants of the fort, with orders to throw no
+shot away. They were to shoot to kill, and Major Baldwin advised as
+did “Old Put” at the first great battle in United States history--the
+Battle of Bunker Hill--“to wait till they saw the whites of the
+enemies’ eyes!”
+
+Powder was as precious to that devoted band as gold-dust, and bullets
+were as valuable as diamonds.
+
+Major Baldwin took his position on the observation platform above
+the gate, Buffalo Bill by his side, repeating rifle in hand, and
+near them stood a couple of young officers as aids, and the bugler.
+All were armed with rifles, and every weapon for which there was no
+immediate need in the fort was loaded and ready. The women were in two
+groups--one ready to reload the weapons tossed them by the men, and the
+other to assist the surgeon with the wounded.
+
+The Indians came swarming across the valley in a red tidal wave. They
+were decreasing their circle, and expected to rush the stockade walls
+in a cyclonic charge.
+
+They quickened their pace as they came, and the weird war-whoop
+deafened the beleaguered garrison. They came with a rush at last,
+showering the walls with arrows and bullets, some of which found their
+way into the loopholes.
+
+It was a grand charge to look upon; it was a desperate one to check.
+
+The whites had their orders and obeyed them. Not a rifle cracked
+until the Indians were under the stockade walls, scrambling through
+the ditch. Then the four six-pounders roared from the block-towers,
+their scattering lead and iron mowing down the yelling redskins in the
+ditches.
+
+Then volley upon volley of carbines, repeating rifles, and muskets
+echoed the rolling thunder of the big guns.
+
+Not a few of the bullets and arrows entered the loopholes, and many
+dead and wounded were numbered among the whites; but the carnage among
+the redskins was awful to contemplate.
+
+The thunder of the big guns, the popping of the smaller firearms, the
+screaming of the wild ponies corraled in the fort, and the demoralized
+shrieks of the Indians themselves made a veritable hell upon earth!
+
+Above all rose the notes of the bugle sending forth orders at Major
+Baldwin’s command. Now and then that piercing, weird war-cry of
+the Border King was heard--a sound well known and feared by the
+Indians. They recognized it as the voice of he whom they called
+Pa-e-has-ka--“The Long Hair.”
+
+Indian nature was not equal to facing the deadly hail of iron and lead,
+and the red wave broke against the stockade and receded, leaving many
+still and writhing bodies in the ditches which surrounded the fort, and
+scattered upon the plain. Slowly at first the redskins surged backward
+under the galling fire of the whites but finally the retreat became a
+stampede.
+
+The rout was complete. All but the dead and badly wounded escaped
+swiftly out of rifle-shot, save one mounted chief. He was left alone,
+struggling with his mount, trying to force the animal to leave the
+vicinity of the fort gate.
+
+This was Oak Heart himself, the king of the Sioux, and his mount was a
+great white cavalry charger that he had captured months before. This
+was no half-wild Indian pony; yet the Indian chief, without spurs and
+a proper bridle, could not control the beast. The horse had heard the
+bugle to which he had been so long used. He was determined in his
+equine mind to rejoin the white men who had been his friends, instead
+of these cruel red masters, and he made a dash for the gate of the
+fortress.
+
+In vain did Chief Oak Heart try to check him. He would have flung
+himself from the horse’s back, but the creature was so swift of foot
+and the ground was so broken here, that such an act would have assured
+Oak Heart’s instant death. Besides, being the great chief of his
+tribe, Oak Heart had bound himself to the horse that, if wounded or
+killed, he would not be lost to his people which--according to Indian
+belief--would be shame.
+
+Oak Heart had lost his scalping-knife, and could not cut the rawhide
+lariat that held him fast. He writhed, yelling maledictions in Sioux
+upon the horse; but he could neither check the brute nor unfasten the
+lariat.
+
+His warriors soon saw Chief Oak Heart’s predicament, and they charged
+back to his rescue. The White Antelope led them on, for she was as
+brave as her father.
+
+Buffalo Bill had been first to see the difficulty into which the chief
+had gotten himself, and springing down from the platform he threw
+himself into the saddle, shouted for the gates to be opened, and
+spurred his horse out of the fort.
+
+“Don’t shoot the girl!” the scout yelled to the soldiers lining the
+walls above him. “Have a care for the girl!”
+
+But there was scarcely chance for the whites to fire at all at the
+oncoming White Antelope and her party, before Buffalo Bill was beside
+the big white charger and the struggling king of the Sioux.
+
+Out flashed the scout’s pistol, and he presented it to the red man’s
+head.
+
+“Oak Heart, you are my prisoner! Yield yourself!” he cried, in the
+Sioux tongue.
+
+At the same moment he seized the thong by which the Indian was
+wrenching at the jaw of the white horse, snatched it from Oak Heart’s
+grasp, and gave the big charger his head. The white horse sprang
+forward for the open gate of the fort, and Buffalo Bill’s mount kept
+abreast of him. The redskins dared not fire at the scout for fear of
+killing Oak Heart.
+
+A volley from the soldiery sent the would-be rescuers of the chief back
+to cover. Only the beautiful girl, White Antelope, was left boldly in
+the open, shaking her befeathered spear and trying to rally her people
+to the charge. The white men honored Buffalo Bill’s request and did
+not shoot at her, or the Sioux would have lost their mascot as well as
+their great chieftain.
+
+In a moment the scout with his prisoner dashed through the open gates,
+which were slammed shut and barred amid the deafening acclamations of
+the garrison. Major Baldwin was on hand to grasp Buffalo Bill’s hand
+again, and as he wrung it he cried:
+
+“Another brave deed to your credit, Cody! It was cleverly done.”
+
+He turned to the chief whom the scout was freeing from the lariat that
+had been the cause of his capture. The redskin king had accepted his
+fate philosophically. His look and bearing was of fearlessness and
+savage dignity. He had been captured by the palefaces, and so humbled
+in the eyes of a thousand braves; but he was defiant still, and his
+features would not reveal his heart-anguish to those foes that now
+surrounded him with flushed faces.
+
+The stoical traits of the Indian character cannot but arouse admiration
+in the white man’s breast. From babyhood the redskin is taught--both
+by precept and instinct--to utter no cry of pain, to reveal no emotion
+which should cause a foe pleasure. When captured by other savages, the
+Indian will go to the fire, or stand to be hacked to pieces by his
+enemies, with no sound issuing from his lips but the death-chant.
+
+And this Spartan fortitude is present in the very papooses themselves.
+A traveler once told how, in walking through an Indian village, he came
+upon a little baby tied in the Indian fashion to a board, the board
+leaning against the outside of a wigwam. The mother had left it there
+and the white man came upon it suddenly. Undoubtedly his appearance,
+and his standing to look at the small savage, frightened it as such
+an experience would a white child. But his voice was not raised. Not
+a sound did the poor little savage utter; but the tears formed in his
+beady eyes and ran down his fat cheeks. Infant that he was, and filled
+with fright of the white man, he would not weep aloud.
+
+Oak Heart, the savage king, looked abroad upon his enemies, and his
+haughty face gave no expression of fear. He was a captive, but his
+spirit was unconquered.
+
+“This is a good job, Cody,” whispered Baldwin, glancing again at the
+chieftain. “We can make use of him, eh?”
+
+“We can, indeed, major,” returned the scout.
+
+“But that crowd out yonder will be watching us all the closer now. How
+under the sun anybody can get through them after this----”
+
+“Leave it to me, major,” interrupted Buffalo Bill firmly. “I am ready
+to make the trial--and make it now!”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV. BUFFALO BILL’S PLOT.
+
+
+There was a look on Buffalo Bill’s face as he spoke that informed Major
+Baldwin that the scout had already formed some plan which he wished to
+make known to him. So the officer said:
+
+“Come to my quarters, Cody, and we will talk it over. Captain Keyes,
+kindly take charge of the chief and see that he is neither ill-treated
+or disturbed. Some of these boys feel pretty ugly, I am sure. We
+have lost a number of good men, and two of the children have been
+frightfully wounded by arrows coming through the lower loopholes.”
+
+When the major and the scout reached the former’s office, Baldwin said:
+
+“Are you in earnest in this attempt, Cody?”
+
+“Never more so, Major Baldwin. Help we _must_ have.”
+
+“No man knows the danger better than you do. I need not warn you.”
+
+“Quite needless, sir. I know the game from A to Z.”
+
+“Very true. But there are great odds against you.”
+
+“No man, I believe, sir, stands a better chance of getting through than
+myself.”
+
+“That is so; yet, while many good men might be spared to make the
+attempt, you are the one who cannot be replaced.”
+
+“Thank you, sir; but my life is no more to me than another man’s is to
+him. If I’d been thinking of the chances of getting shot up all these
+years, I reckon I’d turned up my toes long ago. I never think of death
+if I can help it.”
+
+“It’s true, Cody!” exclaimed the major. “You act as though the bullet
+wasn’t molded that could kill you.”
+
+“So the redskins say, I believe,” responded the scout grimly.
+
+“Yet your place cannot easily be filled,” the major said again. “If you
+can get some other volunteer I wish you would. I don’t want to lose
+you, Bill.”
+
+“Captain Keyes is anxious to go, sir, but----”
+
+“Oh, yes; Keyes is a daredevil whom nothing will daunt; but I refused
+his request and those of my few other officers.”
+
+“Then I must go, sir.”
+
+“First, tell me about your mission,” said the major abruptly.
+
+“I delivered your despatches, sir,” said Cody, “and here are others for
+you. On coming within a few miles of the fort I saw that several large
+parties of Indians had passed, all seemingly making in this direction.
+I knew what was up at once. I suspected that unless you had been lucky
+enough to get a supply of ammunition before the reds closed in on you,
+you’d run short; but there was that horse load we had to bury last year
+when I was on the expedition with Captain Ames. So I went over there
+and found it all in good shape.
+
+“I came mighty near losing it all, however,” added the scout, smiling,
+“for in the very act of uncovering the stuff I was come upon by a
+redskin on a good horse. It was kill or be killed, and before he could
+either shoot me or knife me I had laid him out.
+
+“His war-bonnet and rigging made a pretty good disguise for me. And
+certainly his horse came in handy. The animal was not a wild pony, but
+had Uncle Sam’s brand on him. Where the red got him, Heaven only knows.
+Some poor white man probably lost his life before he lost his horse.
+
+“However, I dressed up as near like an Injun as I could, and packed the
+ammunition on the dead man’s mount. I made a détour so as to come up
+from the west, and be opposite the main gate; for I knew about how the
+red devils would swarm about you here. And I was not interfered with
+until, coming out on that ridge, I had to throw aside my disguise, or
+run the risk of being made a target of by some of your fellows in the
+stockade here. I knew they could shoot better than the redskins,” and
+Cody laughed.
+
+“So here I am,” the scout added, “little the worse for wear, major.”
+
+“And a more gallant ride I never saw. You have done nobly, Cody. The
+ammunition will keep us going for some hours.”
+
+“Unless the redskins rush you too hard.”
+
+“You think they will try to charge again--and without their horses?”
+
+“Sure thing. Our capture of Oak Heart will stir ’em up worse than ever.”
+
+“They won’t wait until dark, then?”
+
+“I don’t believe so. That half-wild girl, White Antelope, will give
+them no peace until they try to rescue her father.”
+
+“But you warned my men not to shoot her.”
+
+“That’s right. She’s Injun now,” said Buffalo Bill sadly. “But her
+mother wasn’t a redskin, and perhaps some day, when old Oak Heart
+passes in his chips, she may be gotten away from the savages.”
+
+“You knew her mother, then, Cody?”
+
+“Yes. And a noble woman she was.”
+
+“Yet she went to the wigwam of a dirty redskin?”
+
+“Ah! you don’t know the circumstances. It is a sad story, Major
+Baldwin, and some day I’ll tell it to you. But don’t blame the
+mother--or the unfortunate child of this strange union. _She_ would
+make a beautiful woman if she were civilized, cross-blood though she
+be.”
+
+“Well, well! It’s a sad case, as you say. I’ll pass the word to the
+officers to instruct their men to spare the White Antelope wherever
+they may meet her.”
+
+“Thank you,” said Buffalo Bill simply. “My scouts already know my
+wishes on the subject. And now, major, I must get ready for my dash
+through that mob again.”
+
+“It seems a wicked shame to let you go, Cody! Yet--we can’t beat off
+many more charges even with this access of ammunition.”
+
+“You surely can’t. I must go.”
+
+“You have devised a plan, I can see.”
+
+“I have, sir.”
+
+“Well, sit here and tell me. The mess cook is preparing a hearty meal
+for you. You can talk while you eat, Cody.”
+
+“Thanks for your thoughtfulness, major. I _am_ a little slim-waisted,
+not daring to build a fire since yesterday.”
+
+“Just like you to neglect your own needs when others demand your
+services.”
+
+“Ha, ha!” laughed the scout. “I had some desire to keep my scalp, as
+well. The reds are too thick hereabout to make fire-building a safe
+occupation.”
+
+“Well, sir, your plan?” queried the officer.
+
+“Why, it came to me when I saw old Oak Heart mixed up with that blessed
+old white horse, you know. That old fellow is an ancient friend of
+mine. I recognized him at once. And he never did love an Injun. I
+wonder how Oak Heart managed to ride him at all.”
+
+“The horse, you mean?”
+
+“Sure. Well, as for the chief, we have him; but we never can make terms
+with his tribe for his release.”
+
+“You think not?”
+
+“I _know_ so. The chief is a true Sioux. He would never allow his
+people to make terms for his life. You could hack him to pieces on that
+scaffolding yonder, where all the reds could see, and it would not
+change the attitude of the crew a mite, excepting to make them more
+bloodthirsty.”
+
+“Yes?”
+
+“So we can’t make terms with him.”
+
+“What do you advise, then?”
+
+“That you have a talk with Oak Heart. He understands English very well,
+and what he doesn’t understand I’ll interpret for him.”
+
+“Go ahead, Cody,” said the major, laughing. “What are my further
+instructions?”
+
+“Why, sir----”
+
+“You know very well, scout, that you are bossing your superior
+officer. But it isn’t the first time. What shall I say to this red
+rascal?”
+
+Cody’s smile widened and his eyes twinkled.
+
+“Just tell him that he has proved himself too brave an enemy to be
+either kept in captivity, or punished.”
+
+“And set him free!”
+
+“Sure.”
+
+“But why?”
+
+“Because I can use him in just that way, sir.”
+
+“How?”
+
+“Let me explain. I’ll mount his horse--or the one he rode. I know the
+splendid fellow well, as I told you. He belonged to Colonel Miles, and
+a faster or better enduring animal is not now on the frontier.
+
+“I’ll put Oak Heart on my old black. The poor fellow is foundered and
+will never again be of much value. We will ride out side by side.”
+
+“You will!”
+
+“Somebody must return Oak Heart to his people, you know. And I crave
+permission to do that.”
+
+“All very well, Cody; but I don’t see your plan.”
+
+Cody laughed again.
+
+“I’ll make it plainer then, sir, by saying that I propose to paint and
+rig up as old Oak Heart himself, and put _him_ in my togs.”
+
+“Jove, scout! That is a perilous scheme.”
+
+“It’s a good one.”
+
+“But you’ll be shot when they find you out.”
+
+“_When_ they do I’ll be a mile away. I’m going to ride on ahead toward
+the mouth of the cañon. It’s the nearest road to Fort Resistence. I’ll
+wave back the tribe as I advance, and they’ll think it is Oak Heart
+ordering them. They’ll obey him, all right. _Then_ I’ll make a break
+for it, and you can wager I’ll get through all right, and with that
+white hoss under me nothing in that outfit can head me off or catch me!”
+
+“And the chief?”
+
+“Hold him back a bit at the stockade. When my horse begins to run,
+let him go. If the beggars shoot him, it will serve the old scoundrel
+right. At least, it will confuse the reds.”
+
+“A good idea!” exclaimed Baldwin. “And I really believe it is feasible.”
+
+“Sure it is.”
+
+“There doesn’t seem any better way to break through their lines.”
+
+“That’s right! Strategy must aid pluck in this game.”
+
+“Aye, and you’re the one to make the effort. But may I suggest an
+amendment, scout?”
+
+“Just put it up to me, Major Baldwin. You haven’t been chasing Injuns
+all this time without having learned a trick or two yourself.”
+
+“Thank you, Cody. Here’s my idea: Oak Heart will see through your
+scheme and possibly signal his people the truth before you can reach
+the cañon.”
+
+“I’ll have to run that risk.”
+
+“No use running any more risk than necessary. Why not take a second man
+with you?”
+
+“Ah!”
+
+“Yes. One of you represent Oak Heart and the other be yourself. We’ll
+hold the real chief back until you and your mate get to the cañon.
+Then, by turning Oak Heart loose, we will add to the reds’ confusion,
+as you say.”
+
+“Glorious! Fine, major! And I’ll take Texas Jack with me and let
+_him_ play Oak Heart’s part. He makes a better Injun than I should.
+And then--I know Jack. One of us will be sure to get through and reach
+Resistence.”
+
+“Jack has been on duty night and day, Cody,” objected Major Baldwin.
+“He volunteered to make the attempt before, but I vetoed it. I needed
+his presence and advice. To let you both go is like putting all my eggs
+in one basket and sending them to a dangerous market.”
+
+“He’s the man I want,” said Buffalo Bill firmly.
+
+“All right! Let Omohondreau be sent for,” the major said, turning to an
+orderly.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V. THE DESPERATE VENTURE.
+
+
+Texas Jack’s real name was Jean Omohondreau, and he came of a wealthy
+and noble French family, although he was born in America. It is said
+that he had refused the title of “Marquis of Omohondreau,” although
+later he was known as “The White King of the Pawnees,” having been
+adopted into that tribe and completely winning the confidence of the
+red men.
+
+At this time Jack was smooth shaven, and with his deeply bronzed
+features and piercing eyes and black hair he did not look unlike an
+Indian. Besides, he had lived among the savages even more than Buffalo
+Bill himself, and had that imitative faculty so general in French
+people. He could “take off” the savage to the life.
+
+When Texas Jack came sleepily enough from his bunk, it took but a few
+words from Cody to wake his old pard up. The moment Jack understood
+what was wanted of him, he was in for the plan, heart and soul.
+
+Oak Heart, who had been entertained--possibly to his great surprise,
+although he had not shown such emotion in his hard old face--by the
+younger officers with food and drink, and some of the paleface’s
+real tobacco, instead of dried willow bark, was now given a uniform
+and slouch hat in place of his war-bonnet and beaded and befeathered
+buckskin suit and gay blanket.
+
+The natural acquisitiveness of the Indian character, and the childish
+joy they have in new finery, possibly made the chief ignore what was
+done with his old garments. Texas Jack made himself look the Indian
+brave to the life, put on Chief Oak Heart’s abandoned finery, and,
+mounting the splendid white cavalry charger--but with saddle hidden by
+his blanket--was ready to accompany Buffalo Bill.
+
+The latter sprang into the saddle of his claybank--“Buckskin”--and led
+the way through the open gate. Behind them was the surprised Oak Heart
+upon Buffalo Bill’s old black, and the soldiers were ready to set him
+free the moment the two scouts had crossed the danger zone.
+
+The Indians had retired sullenly after Oak Heart’s capture, and White
+Antelope had as yet been unable to rally them to another charge upon
+the stockade. Their last charge had been disastrous, and they had not
+only lost their principal chief, but had been unable to bring back to
+their camping lines many of the dead and injured. But the belt of red
+humanity still encircled the fort, and it was plain that they proposed
+to abide there until such time arrived as could compass their revenge.
+
+Those of the less seriously wounded had dragged themselves back toward
+their companions; but the others had been removed inside the fort and
+were being cared for by the surgeon, after he had ministered to the
+wounded whites. The dead redskins were let lie where they had fallen
+for the time being.
+
+Oak Heart had noted the care taken of his wounded braves by the white
+medicine-man. If this charity impressed him his immobile face showed no
+emotion. He sat the horse that had been given him like a graven image.
+
+Now the moment had arrived for the departure of the two scouts from
+the fort. As the pair dashed through the open gateway many good wishes
+followed them. But the troops had been warned not to cheer. That might
+apprise the redskins that some desperate venture was about to be made.
+
+“Good-by, Bill, and may God guard you!” cried Major Baldwin. “And you,
+too, Texas Jack! I hope to see you both again.”
+
+Cody turned and waved his hand to him; but Jack, in the character of
+the captured chief, looked straight ahead over his horse’s ears, and he
+made no gesture.
+
+“We’ll bear toward the left, Jack, for our best plan is to strike for
+the cañon,” said Buffalo Bill.
+
+“Right you are, pard. But don’t let’s make a dash till we hafter. We’ll
+gain everything by keeping them red devils guessing.”
+
+“Sure’s you live, Jack! The moment the reds make a move for us, you
+sign for them to go back. Keep ’em at a distance if you can.”
+
+“I will,” assured Texas Jack.
+
+“Sit up stiff, old man, and play the part right,” admonished Buffalo
+Bill with a laugh.
+
+These courageous men could laugh in the face of almost certain death!
+
+“What d’ye suppose they think of it, Bill?” asked Jack. “They’re awake,
+all right. I wonder what they think at seeing you bringing their
+supposed chief back to them?”
+
+“I’d give a good deal to know just what they are _going_ to think,”
+said Cody, more gravely. “But we’ll soon know.”
+
+“Betcher we will!”
+
+“It’s unnecessary to ask you, Jack, if you’ve got your shooting irons
+ready?”
+
+“Ready and loaded, Bill.”
+
+The two scouts were as watchful as antelopes, and as cautious. But they
+appeared to ride along at an easy lope, and in a most careless fashion.
+This is the coolness born of long familiarity with peril; they could
+meet death itself without the quiver of a nerve.
+
+They progressed but slowly, and the eyes of most of the red men were
+fixed upon them. It was plain that the savages did not understand just
+what was going forward when they saw he who appeared to be their king
+riding thus quietly, and armed and caparisoned, with Long Hair, the
+white scout. They could not understand why he was coming back to them
+in company with Pa-e-has-ka.
+
+Soon they began to move forward in a body to meet the coming “chief”
+and his comrade.
+
+“Give ’em the sign language, Jack. It’s time,” muttered Buffalo Bill.
+
+Omohondreau was an adept at this wonderful means of communication,
+which was really a general language understood by the members of all
+the red tribes. He raised first one hand, palm outward, and then the
+other, and motioned the red men back. The warriors hesitated--then
+obeyed.
+
+But a mounted figure came dashing from another part of the field, and
+this silent sign manual did not retard it.
+
+“Face of a pig!” ejaculated Texas Jack, in the patois of the French
+Canadian, and which he sometimes lapsed into in moments of excitement.
+“Here comes that gal, Bill!”
+
+“The White Antelope!” exclaimed Cody. “I had forgotten her.”
+
+“Shall I warn her away?”
+
+“I’m afraid if you turned to face her she would see that you are not
+Oak Heart.”
+
+“Quicker, then, Pard Cody!”
+
+“No. They might suspect.”
+
+“Heavens, Bill! What will you do when the girl overtakes us?”
+
+“Whatever comes handiest.”
+
+“I could put a bullet through her without turning,” muttered Jack.
+
+“You wouldn’t be so cruel, old man.”
+
+“Hang it, man!” exclaimed Jack in disgust. “She’s only a ’breed.”
+
+“No. You’ll not injure her. I have your promise, Jack,” said Cody
+confidently.
+
+“But she’ll finish us if she suspects. I think she has a pistol,” said
+Jack.
+
+“We’ll see.”
+
+“Hang it, Bill Cody! You’re the coldest proposition I ever came
+across. I’ll eat this old war-bonnet--and it’s about as digestible as a
+wreath of prickly pear--if we don’t have trouble with that gal.”
+
+Evidently White Antelope was much amazed by the fact that her father
+did not even look in her direction, for she called some welcome to him
+in Sioux. Neither of the scouts made reply, but both kept watch of her
+out of the corners of their eyes. The girl, puzzled by the mystery,
+half drew in her pony.
+
+The mob of Indians waited. That they were puzzled was evident; but as
+long as they remained inactive the scouts’ chances were increased.
+
+“Can we make it, Pard Cody?” muttered Texas Jack.
+
+“If the girl doesn’t suspect too quick.”
+
+“She’ll queer us--sure!”
+
+“I hope not,” and Buffalo Bill looked grave.
+
+“If she comes nearer we’ll have to do something, Bill--as sure as
+thunder she’s coming!”
+
+It was true. White Antelope had again spoken to her pony, and the
+animal leaped forward. She came from the left, and Texas Jack rode
+nearest her.
+
+“Keep on, Jack!” exclaimed Bill under his breath.
+
+He pulled back Buckskin and got around so as to ride between the
+supposed Indian chief and the girl. Instantly White Antelope seemed to
+suspect that all was not right. She raised her voice, crying in her
+native tongue:
+
+“Why does the great chief not speak to his child? Oak Heart, my father,
+it is I, your daughter, White Antelope, who calls you!”
+
+She was all the time riding nearer. There seemed no way to stop her,
+and she must soon be near enough to observe that the supposed Oak
+Heart was a false Indian.
+
+Fortunately the tribesmen were some hundreds of yards away from the two
+scouts. But they heard something of what White Antelope said, and they
+began to move forward, murmuring among themselves. They did not for a
+moment suspect that this was not their great chief, but they believed
+that something was wrong with him, and that Pa-e-has-ka had Oak Heart
+in his power.
+
+“They’re coming, Cody!” whispered Texas Jack. “They’ll make a rush in a
+moment.”
+
+“Sign them again!” commanded Buffalo Bill. “It’s our only chance.”
+
+“Think it will work?”
+
+“It _must_ work. We need a few moments more before we make a dash for
+the cañon.”
+
+“But that gal----”
+
+“I’ll ’tend to her,” exclaimed Buffalo Bill. “Signal the reds to keep
+back.”
+
+Again Texas Jack raised his hands and made the well understood sign.
+But the Indians hesitated. They saw White Antelope still riding toward
+the supposed chief and the scout, crying to her father to answer her.
+
+“Keep on for the cañon, Jack!” muttered Buffalo Bill beneath his breath.
+
+He jerked his horse to one side, turning to meet the Indian maiden. As
+she rode down toward the scouts, her golden hair flying in the wind,
+her lips parted, her eyes shining, she was indeed a beautiful creature.
+Her beauty alone would have made any old Indian hunter withhold his
+hand. And Buffalo Bill had a deeper reason for wishing no harm to
+befall the half-breed daughter of Oak Heart.
+
+“What is the white chief, Pa-e-has-ka, doing with Oak Heart?” the girl
+cried in Sioux, urging her pony toward the scouts.
+
+Buffalo Bill was riding with the rein of the claybank horse lying upon
+its neck, and guiding him with his knees. His rifle lay across his
+saddle, the muzzle pointing in the direction of White Antelope as she
+rode near. He did not raise his voice, nor change the expression of his
+face, for the scout knew that he was being closely watched by the crowd
+of redskins in the background. But into his voice as he spoke he threw
+all the threatening, venimous tone of a madman thirsting for blood.
+
+“The White Antelope, like her father, Chief Oak Heart, is in my power.
+Do not make a single motion to show that you are startled, White
+Antelope, for if you do my first bullet shall be driven through your
+heart, and my second shall cleave the heart of your father!”
+
+These words, spoken with such wicked emphasis, seemed to come from a
+veritable fiend instead of the placid-looking white scout. The White
+Antelope’s great eyes opened wider, and she half stopped her pony.
+
+“None of that!” snapped Buffalo Bill in English, which he knew the girl
+understood quite well. “Make a false move at your peril--and at your
+father’s!”
+
+“My father----” began the startled maiden gaspingly.
+
+“Ride closer. Keep beside me, Oak Heart! I forbid you speaking to your
+child!”
+
+Buffalo Bill’s commanding tone was most brutal. His eyes flashed into
+the Indian maiden’s own as though he meant every word of his recent
+threat. But the supposed Oak Heart’s shoulders shook. However, he kept
+his head turned religiously away from his “daughter.”
+
+The seconds were slipping by, and the scouts were approaching very near
+to the place where they would be obliged to turn sharply and make their
+dash for the cañon. Despite their bearing off so far toward the left,
+their course had been apparently toward the Indian lines.
+
+White Antelope, all the rich color receded from her cheeks, rode
+beside Buffalo Bill on his left hand. She was not only frightened by
+the scout’s threat, which he seemed to be able to fulfil, but she was
+puzzled at her father’s inaction and seeming helplessness. She tried
+to force her pony forward slyly so as to obtain a look at Oak Heart’s
+features.
+
+“None o’ that!” commanded Buffalo Bill in quite as brutal and
+threatening a tone as before.
+
+At the moment a wild yell rose from their rear--from the direction
+of the fort. The girl turned swiftly to look. And so surprised were
+the scouts to hear a disturbance in that direction, that they glanced
+around, too.
+
+Out of the gateway appeared a black horse, and on its back a figure in
+uniform and wide-brimmed hat. But as the horse dashed on the figure
+snatched off the uniform hat, displaying the long, flying hair of an
+Indian, and he broke into a shrill and terrible Indian war-whoop!
+
+On the heels of this another roar burst from the fort, and out of the
+gateway piled a troop of mounted men--those soldiers that were first
+to get upon their horses to pursue the wily Oak Heart. The latter saw
+his daughter and knew her danger. Following his war-whoop, he shrieked
+a warning to White Antelope. She understood the words he uttered,
+although the scouts could not.
+
+The girl turned swiftly and saw Texas Jack’s painted face.
+
+“False paleface!” she cried. “You are not Oak Heart. The great chief is
+_there_!” and she pointed back at the flying figure on the black horse.
+
+“It’s all up, Cody!” cried Texas Jack.
+
+Buffalo Bill leaned suddenly from his saddle and snatched from the
+maiden’s belt the revolver which she cherished above most of her
+possessions. He feared her ability to use this.
+
+“Off with you, Jack!” he cried. “Now’s our time!” and setting spurs to
+his claybank he raced after Texas Jack toward the opening of the defile
+which they had been so gradually and cautiously approaching.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI. THE DASH OF THE SCOUTS.
+
+
+So interested had the officers and garrison of Fort Advance become
+in the attempt of the courageous scouts to reach the cañon entrance,
+that they had quite neglected to watch the king of the Sioux. That
+he understood fully the trick that Buffalo Bill and Texas Jack were
+attempting to play upon his people was proven by the outcome.
+
+The savage chief sat his black horse in motionless gloom, and as though
+his eyes saw nothing. Captain Edward Keyes had kept his file of men
+in the saddle ready to make a break from the fort should the scouts
+fall in need of some attempt at rescue. Otherwise, everybody was
+crowding forward to look out of the gate, or, from the platform and
+watch-towers, to view the work of the brave men who had gone from them.
+
+The black horse, on which Buffalo Bill had ridden so many times, but
+which he had now been obliged to abandon because of its age and the
+fact that he had been ridden too hard on one or two occasions, missed
+its master. It had seen Buffalo Bill and his companion ride out of the
+fort, and it desired to follow. Perhaps the horse did not approve of
+the Indian that now backed him.
+
+However it was, it danced about a good deal, and champed at the bit,
+and seemed to give the stoical chief considerable trouble. Twice it
+started for the gate, and the soldiers headed it off. Likewise Oak
+Heart drew it in hard with his hand on the bridle. It seemed as though
+the chief had no expectation of leaving the fort until his white
+captors were ready.
+
+But that was all the savage cunning of the chief. It was his cunning,
+too, perhaps, that made the horse so nervous. He doubtless slyly
+spurred him with his toe or heel, and kept the animal on the qui vive
+all the time.
+
+Oak Heart could follow Buffalo Bill and Texas Jack with his eyes, and
+he doubtless understood--now, at least--just what they were about.
+Suddenly the White Antelope came into view, riding like the wind down
+upon the two scouts. Oak Heart’s face did not change a muscle, but
+just then his mount made a sidelong leap, and when he became manageable
+again the black charger was just within the open gateway.
+
+Several moments passed. The white men’s attention was strained upon
+the little comedy being enacted by the two scouts and the Indian
+maiden. They could not hear, of course, but they could imagine that the
+situation had become mighty “ticklish” for the scouts, knowing Buffalo
+Bill’s objection to injuring the Sioux maiden.
+
+It was at this minute that the black horse made a final charge through
+the gateway. Two men were knocked down, and Oak Heart threw himself
+over to one side of the galloping horse, shielding himself with its
+body from the guns of the surprised white men in the stockade.
+
+His wild yells had already apprised White Antelope of the deception.
+Buffalo Bill had disarmed her, and the two scouts spurred on toward the
+cañon.
+
+The hearts of the watching people at the fort were in their throats. A
+general cry of dread burst from them as they saw the Border King and
+Texas Jack turn abruptly toward the cañon. The Indians saw the act,
+too, but for a few seconds did not comprehend it. They were slower
+than White Antelope in understanding that the supposed warrior with
+Pa-e-has-ka was a white man in disguise, and that the person careering
+across the plain on the black charger was the real Oak Heart.
+
+The signals of Texas Jack in his character of Oak Heart had drawn many
+of the Indians away from the cañon’s mouth toward the place for which
+the supposed chief and Buffalo Bill seemed to be aiming. There were
+very few left in the path of the reckless scouts. Yet those few must be
+settled with.
+
+There were no mounted warriors near the cañon entrance. The great
+scout had chosen his place of attack wisely. And there were few ponies
+in the vicinity, anyway--not over two dozen at the most. The earlier
+stampeding of the ponies had almost entirely dismounted Oak Heart’s
+braves. The ponies that might follow, should the scouts get through
+safely, neither of them feared, mounted as they were on such splendid
+animals.
+
+“Let ’em out, Jack!” cried Buffalo Bill, as they made directly for the
+cañon.
+
+“I hear you!” returned Texas Jack, smiling recklessly, and settling
+himself more firmly in his saddle.
+
+The two were off like frightened deer. For some moments the Indians
+were almost dumb with amazement. Then the war-whoop of Oak Heart was
+answered by wild cries from all about the field. The reds knew that the
+Border King had outwitted them, and as one man the mob of redskins made
+for the entrance to the cañon, firing as they ran.
+
+The scouts did not return the fire. They kept their bullets for
+targets nearer the path their horses followed. The nearer Indians were
+converging swiftly at the mouth of the cañon.
+
+Behind, and nearest to the scouts, came Oak Heart and White Antelope,
+who had waited to join her father. But neither of them were armed. When
+Buffalo Bill snatched the revolver from the girl’s belt he had made a
+good point in the game, for she was an excellent shot with the small
+gun--for an Indian.
+
+Suddenly The Border King raised his rifle, and shot after shot rang
+out. He fired at the Indians directly in front of him, gathering to bar
+the way. There were now a score of them near enough to be dangerous.
+
+The repeating rifle sang deadly music, for several of the braves fell.
+With the last shot from Buffalo Bill’s weapon, Texas Jack’s gun took up
+the tune and rattled forth the death notes. They were now close to the
+group of reds, and the shots forced the Indians to scatter.
+
+Instantly the scouts slung their guns over their shoulders and drew the
+big pistols from the saddle-holsters. With one of these in each hand,
+the scouts rode on.
+
+Theirs was indeed a desperate charge, and, although now hidden by the
+nature of the ground from the bulk of the Indians, the encounter was
+visible from the fort.
+
+The chorus of wild yells, the rattle of revolvers, the heavier
+discharges of the old muzzle-loaders of the redskins, and the resonant
+war-cries of the scouts themselves, were heard by the besieged. The
+Border King and Texas Jack were having the running fight of their
+lives. Would they get through alive?
+
+Suddenly a chorused groan arose from the white onlookers, while a
+shriek of exultation came from those Indians who saw the incident.
+Buffalo Bill’s horse gave a sudden convulsive leap ahead, then fell
+to his knees. The scout loosened his feet in the stirrups, and, as
+the brave Buckskin rolled over upon its side, dead, the scout stood
+upright, turning his revolvers on his foes. Texas Jack, on the white
+charger, tore on into the mouth of the cañon.
+
+Buffalo Bill had emptied the pistols which he had carried in his
+saddle-holsters. Now, he stood beside his dead horse, with the pistols
+drawn from his belt in either hand. He stood boldly at bay, and the
+redskins went down before his deadly aim.
+
+The redskins’ triumph was short-lived. Texas Jack, seeing his partner’s
+peril, turned his great white charger as quickly as might be. Back he
+rushed to Cody’s side.
+
+“Up with yuh, pard!” he shouted.
+
+He whirled the big horse again. With a leap, Buffalo Bill sprang up
+behind Texas Jack, his back to that of his partner, and again the horse
+was headed for the cañon’s mouth. The four revolvers of the scouts spit
+death into their foes at every jump of the horse.
+
+Those redskins who opposed the way either crumpled up and fell to the
+rocks or dodged behind the boulders for safety. It seemed as though
+their numbers were sufficient to make the scouts’ escape impossible;
+the odds against the white men were all of ten to one!
+
+But the redskins’ shooting was wild, while the accuracy of the white
+men’s aim was phenomenal. Many a red, just as he had drawn bead upon
+the scouts, was struck by a pistol ball, and either knocked over
+completely or his own shot diverted.
+
+The cheering of the garrison as they saw Texas Jack return for his
+partner inspired the scouts. The last Indian went down before them and
+was trampled under the hoofs of the charger that bore them both, and as
+they shot out of sight into the gloom of the cañon’s mouth Buffalo Bill
+removed his sombrero and waved it to the watchers on the fort stockade,
+while his well-known war-cry rang over the field of battle!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII. THE ACE OF CLUBS.
+
+
+“We’ve got through, Jack!”
+
+“We sure have, Pard Cody.”
+
+“Anybody hurt?”
+
+“I got a couple of nicks from the pesky arrows,” said Omohondreau.
+“But, shucks! them Injuns can’t shoot with a white man’s gun worth a
+hoot in a rainwater barrel.... Yuh lost Buckskin, Cody.”
+
+“And sorry enough I am to lose the poor creature. He’s been a good nag.”
+
+“How about you, Pard Cody?”
+
+“A scratch from a bullet in my left shoulder. It’s bleeding a little,
+but I won’t stop to fool with it now. And I got four arrows through my
+clothes. Oh, we were lucky!”
+
+“Betcher life! We’ve been favored mightily.”
+
+“Thank God for it,” said Buffalo Bill devoutly. “I don’t expect often
+to come through two such circuses in one day--and have nothing worse to
+show for it.”
+
+“Right. Now, old man, what’s the program?”
+
+“Keep on. I don’t feel safe as long as we’re at the bottom of this hole
+in the hills.”
+
+“That’s all right. But we haven’t got but one horse----”
+
+“I was thinking of that.”
+
+“And your thoughts?”
+
+“We can’t both ride this horse, good as he is, all the way to Fort
+Resistence.”
+
+“Right again!”
+
+“One of us must push on for help about as fast as the horse can go.”
+
+“Sure.”
+
+“There isn’t much danger of the reds following us far, for their ponies
+aren’t to be compared with this fellow--and they all know what he can
+do.”
+
+“Well?”
+
+“Then you’d better let me go on, as soon as we come to the creek ahead
+and shape ourselves up a bit, and you can scout around until I return
+with help from Fort Resistence.”
+
+“Pard Bill!”
+
+“Yes?”
+
+“They need every rifle they can git in the fort, yuh know.”
+
+“They certainly do.”
+
+“Scouting around yere all night, I can’t do much good, and that’s a
+fact.”
+
+“Very true, Jack! Very true.”
+
+“And I’ve got nothing to eat, while the maje and the folks at Advance
+will be mighty anxious tuh know if yuh got through all right--ain’t
+that so?”
+
+“Reckon you’re right, Jack.”
+
+“Then I’m goin’ to take a sneak back and try to git through the lines
+after dark.”
+
+“No, you won’t, Jack Omohondreau. I veto that.”
+
+“Put the kibosh on it, do yuh?” asked Jack, leering back at his partner
+over his shoulder.
+
+“I certainly do!”
+
+“Why, pard?”
+
+“There’s no danger going on now for help, so I’ll return to the fort
+myself, while you strike out for Resistence and help. I got you into
+this. I’m not going to shoulder the heavy part of the job off onto you.”
+
+“That’s like you, Cody! Always lookin’ for trouble to git into
+yourself. But I’m going back.”
+
+“I say no,” replied Buffalo Bill firmly.
+
+“Now, see here!” exclaimed Jack, in some heat. “It’s my idea to go
+back, and I’m going.”
+
+“Well, you needn’t stop here,” laughed Cody, as Jack, in his
+excitement, brought the horse down to a walk.
+
+“You listen to reason!” exclaimed Texas Jack. “I speak the lingo all O.
+K.”
+
+“I admit that.”
+
+“And I’m already playing Injun.”
+
+“Pshaw! That may be, but I can soon change my colors.”
+
+“You’re as obstinate as a mule, Cody!”
+
+“See here, Jack, I admit that the folks need us back there at the fort,
+and one had better return, but I should be the one.”
+
+“Tell you what, pard!” exclaimed Jack, smitten with a sudden thought.
+
+“Well?”
+
+“We’ll draw lots to see who goes.”
+
+“I’ll beat you at that game, Jack!” cried Cody, with a laugh.
+
+“Don’t yuh crow too loud, old man,” said Texas Jack gaily. “When we git
+to the creek we’ll see who’s who!”
+
+“I’ll go you, for my luck is good.”
+
+“I’m sure a child of fortune myself,” laughed Jack.
+
+They soon reached the creek, which cut across the cañon at its widest
+part, spurting from under a ledge on one side, and disappearing with
+a tinkle of falling water through a crack on the other--one of those
+underground streams often found in the Rockies, which only by chance
+ever come to the light of day.
+
+The scouts dismounted, making sure that all pursuit had been abandoned
+by their mounted foes, at least, and washed and dressed their slight
+wounds. In each man’s pouch was Indian salve, certain valuable herbs,
+dried, and bandages rolled for them by the women of Fort Advance. Your
+old frontiersman was no mean surgeon, and many a man to-day, whose
+early years were spent on the border, owes his life to some rough but
+prompt bit of surgery on the part of a pard with powder-stained fingers.
+
+“Now, we’ll draw lots to see who goes back,” said Cody. “Wish we had a
+pack of cards.”
+
+“I got what th’ boys call a Sing Sing Bible,” observed Texas Jack,
+drawing the pack from his pouch.
+
+“Good! We can’t take the time to play any game, but I’ll shuffle, you
+cut, and the one who holds the ace of clubs goes back to Advance.”
+
+“Agreed. Shuffle ’em good, old man--though I feel I’m going to win
+right now.”
+
+“You’re too cock-sure,” laughed Buffalo Bill.
+
+The scouts spoke in a light-hearted way, but each realized the terrible
+ordeal that might fall to the one who attempted to return to Fort
+Advance. Major Baldwin needed one of them as an adviser--and his rifle
+would be an acquisition as well, for both Buffalo Bill and Texas Jack
+were dead shots.
+
+The uncertainty and impatience of the entire garrison would be
+relieved, too, if they were informed that one of the scouts had gone on
+to Resistence and would surely bring help the next day. This knowledge
+would put heart in the defenders of Fort Advance when the Indians
+attacked, as they surely would after nightfall.
+
+The cards were shuffled by the chief scout, and then he held them in
+his open palm. Texas Jack cut at a point about half-way down the pack.
+One after another the pasteboards were discarded, and Buffalo Bill had
+already displayed two aces, when suddenly his partner chuckled and
+slammed down another card, face up. It was the fatal card--the ace of
+clubs.
+
+“Got yuh that time, Pard Cody!” exclaimed Texas Jack in delight.
+
+Buffalo Bill looked regretful, while his partner was triumphant.
+
+“I told yuh I was a child of fortune,” laughed Texas Jack.
+
+“I yield, old man,” said Cody. “May your luck carry you through in
+safety.”
+
+“I’ll git there--or the reds will know I tried,” said Jack with
+emphasis.
+
+“Aye, that they will. Now I must be off, Jack. The horse is rested, and
+he’s got a hard road to travel this night. I’ll be back with help as
+soon as possible.”
+
+“You ought to make it by morning with any kind of luck.”
+
+“I’ll do my best,” declared Buffalo Bill. “And now good-by, old pard!
+If you go under I’ll see that there are plenty of those red devils on
+the trail to the happy hunting grounds to make up for your loss.”
+
+They wrung each other’s hands, and, although the spoken word was
+light, the look in each man’s eyes showed a deeper feeling. Buffalo
+Bill walked quickly to where the great white horse was feeding, and,
+vaulting into the saddle, the horse, without urging, started into his
+easy lope.
+
+Once the mounted scout looked back. Texas Jack stood in the middle of
+the trail looking more like an Indian chief than ever, he was so silent
+and stern of feature.
+
+They waved their hands briefly--a last farewell. Then the Border King
+disappeared around a turn in the trail, and Texas Jack prepared for his
+attempt, night now being not far away.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII. FACING DEATH.
+
+
+Texas Jack had been a ranchman in Texas since early boyhood. His
+sentiments and affiliations were Southern, and when the war broke out
+he joined the Confederate Army as a scout. He was a reckless, daredevil
+fellow, yet high-minded, honorable to foe as well as friend. The noble
+blood of the Omohondreaus showed through the rough manner of the hardy
+frontiersman.
+
+It was Jack Omohondreau who came so near dealing an irreparable blow
+to the Northern cause by capturing President Lincoln and taking him
+South as a prisoner. How near the daring scout came to accomplishing
+this very thing nobody but those few Confederates in the secret--and
+possibly Lincoln himself--ever knew.
+
+However, when the Civil War was ended, Buffalo Bill, who had scouted
+for the other side, found Jack in Kansas, and it was through his
+influence that the young French-American was enlisted in the Federal
+Army.
+
+He was of cheery nature, fearless to recklessness, strong as a grizzly,
+and possessed of a handsome presence. Such was the man who had
+determined to return through the ring of enraged Sioux to give comfort
+and help to the besieged garrison of Fort Advance.
+
+He knew all that he had to risk, but, in his Indian disguise, and under
+cover of the early darkness, he hoped to accomplish his purpose. If
+captured by the redskins he well knew that death by the most frightful
+torture would be his portion. The Sioux hated him almost as fiercely as
+they hated Buffalo Bill.
+
+That he could speak their language was in Jack’s favor. And he knew
+that if he chanced upon any bunch of the reds a word or two might
+pass him through all right. Oak Heart had gathered several different
+branches of the tribe together, and many of the braves must be
+strangers to each other.
+
+The scout had already formed his plan of return to the fort. He had
+reloaded his rifle and revolvers, seen that his knife was still in its
+scabbard, and, after another long swig at the clear, running water and
+a tightening of his belt, Texas Jack climbed one side of the cañon with
+infinite caution. He could not return through the gorge itself, for he
+did not know how near pursuit might be. And he wormed his way up the
+steep ascent like a serpent, that he might not be observed from below.
+
+Night came upon him as he arrived on the summit of the timbered ridge.
+The forest was a tangled wilderness, but he knew how to pass through it
+without making the slightest disturbance, and, as he might come upon
+the Indians at any moment, he was glad of the darkness and the thicket.
+A few miles along this ridge and he would come out upon a bluff that
+overlooked the valley in which Fort Advance was situated.
+
+He strode on lightly, yet swiftly--threading his way through the
+trackless forest with a confidence which brought him straight to his
+destination. And as yet he had not passed an Indian.
+
+The dash of the scouts into the cañon had drawn all the outposts from
+the hills, and the redskins were either guarding the lower passes,
+ringing the fort, or gathered about the camp-fires where the main
+encampment had been established.
+
+When Texas Jack came out upon the bluff he could see these camp-fires
+twinkling on the other side of the valley, although it was still light
+enough for him to see all who moved below him. The encampment was at
+the base of the southern hills, some two miles from the fort. Some
+half-hundred ponies were feeding in the valley, with the guards about
+them doubled. The loss of the bulk of the herd had been a severe blow
+to the redskins, and Texas Jack knew that the Indians would put forth
+every effort to retake them, should opportunity arise.
+
+Jack decided that Chief Oak Heart was probably at the encampment,
+counseling with his old men and the other chiefs regarding the next
+blow to be struck at Fort Advance. That plans of deviltry and cunning
+were being hatched the scout was certain.
+
+Then he thought of the Border King flying along the trail to Resistence
+for help, and he regained his courage.
+
+Awaiting with the stolid patience of a redskin for the night to deepen,
+the scout finally pursued his march into the valley. He had carefully
+weighed all chances for and against his success. Now he was ready to
+take them.
+
+Night spread its wings over the valley. It hid its scars and wounds
+and the stark bodies of the dead, lying under the fortress walls. In
+the gloaming it might have been the most peaceful valley in all the
+Rockies. One coming upon it suddenly, and unwarned, would never have
+suspected the blood so recently spilled there and the threatening
+aspect of the situation at that very moment!
+
+Texas Jack stole down the declivity with a step as light as the fall of
+a leaf. The savage whom he imitated could have moved no more lightly,
+and as he came into the valley itself he crouched and crept along like
+a shadow.
+
+He knew that the red men would be moving about, passing and repassing
+each other, and keeping up a tightening circle about the fort. They
+would afford the opportunity for no other white man to escape from the
+fort if they could help it. But they moved about as silently as the
+scout himself, and as the redskin is notoriously silent, Texas Jack’s
+ears were of little good to him in this emergency.
+
+An Indian is not troubled by military accouterments to rattle as he
+walks; his moccasins are soundless, and he has schooled himself to
+endure all those little discomforts of body or environment that cause
+the white man to betray himself by either sound or movement. If a red
+warrior lay in wait for an enemy the flies and other insects might half
+eat him up without his betraying himself by a movement. He seldom has
+catarrhal affections of the throat, or if he does stifles the desire
+to cough or sneeze. He has, indeed, his whole body and mind under
+perfect control.
+
+Therefore Texas Jack knew that the red men might be near--upon each
+side of him--in his very path, perhaps, yet they passed and repassed,
+silent as so many ghosts.
+
+Texas Jack crept but a short way from the base of the hill before he
+lay flat down in the weeds and brush. There was a big rock on his right
+hand, and he believed that that obstacle, looming up as it did in the
+gloom, would keep anybody from walking over him.
+
+His reason for lying there was easily understood. From the dark ground
+he could look upward and see any form passing between him and the
+lighter sky-line. He wished to get a line on the pacing to and fro of
+the sentinels. If there was any regularity regarding their beats, the
+scout might be able to time his passage so as not to be seen at all.
+
+For if his presence was discovered, although his dress and appearance
+might carry him through, still there was a grave danger that they would
+not. There might be some password, for the redskins were shrewd, or he
+might run against some chief going the rounds of his men to see that
+all were properly placed.
+
+Suddenly a form seemed to rise out of the ground before the advancing
+scout. It stood a moment directly between him and the lighter sky-line.
+Then it passed on--silently as the wind over the grass.
+
+He heard a muffled grunt--a guttural Indian word--dropped by some
+invisible redskin in the direction the figure had disappeared. Then
+that, or another, sentinel returned and passed slowly across the line
+of Texas Jack’s vision. He was quite near the lines of sentinels, and
+he determined to lie there and, if possible, time their coming and
+going before trying himself to get through.
+
+Once more the figure crossed the line of the scout’s vision. Texas
+Jack lay, scarcely moving in the grass, and with fingers on wrist
+counted his pulse while the Indian was in sight. In this way he learned
+something of the time it took for the sentinel to pace from end to end
+of his beat. He lay for some time and timed him back and forth to make
+sure that there was some regularity in the redskin’s actions.
+
+Then, at the right moment--as the sentinel passed out of view in one
+direction, Texas Jack darted forward like a serpent through the tall
+weeds. Although he ran on his feet and touched but one hand now and
+then to help retain his balance, the scout’s body could never have been
+seen above the waving tops of the grass and weeds.
+
+For several rods he ran in this way and then dropped down again,
+panting, hugging the earth, flattening his body upon it, and waiting
+with every nerve on the qui vive to discover if his actions had been
+noted.
+
+And well he knew that, if the sentinel had seen him, no shout--no
+sound--would be raised. The red would sneak up behind him, and his
+first audible sound would be the cry of triumph when the scalping-knife
+was plunged into the scout’s back!
+
+Jack twisted his neck to see back over his shoulder. After a moment the
+Indian sentinel appeared again. He walked upright. Jack could see his
+nodding topknot of feathers, and that he carried a gun of some kind. He
+passed on without even glancing in the scout’s direction.
+
+“Thanks be for that!” thought the scout. “Now, what’s ahead?”
+
+That the Sioux had but one ring of sentinels around the fort he knew
+was not the fact. There were two lines at least--possibly three. He
+raised his head like a turtle stretching from its shell and tried to
+pierce the gloom of the valley.
+
+And then it was that he suddenly beheld a tall figure standing
+motionless not far ahead of him and almost in his path. It was a chief
+of some importance from his war-bonnet, and he had perhaps been going
+the rounds of his sentinels. Now he stood motionless, his back to the
+scout, looking toward the fort, one elbow leaning upon a broken stub
+of a tree, the other hand holding his rifle, hanging idly by his side.
+The chief was evidently in a reverie--or was he listening? Had he heard
+the scout’s breathing--or some other sound that warned him of the white
+man’s presence?
+
+The question seared Texas Jack’s brain. It startled him to action. This
+was no moment for taking chances.
+
+He rose up like a shadow, and, with great, catlike strides, stole
+upon the statuelike Indian. It went against the grain for the scout
+to strike even a redskin from behind. Man to man and face to face in
+a fair struggle would have pleased Texas Jack better. But the entire
+success of his attempt to reach the fort depended upon the action of
+the next few seconds.
+
+Suddenly the chief began to turn--with a jerking motion which showed
+that he was startled. Some instinct told him that there was an enemy at
+hand. Perhaps his lips were already opened to give a warning call.
+
+Like a stone from the sling the scout leaped forward--as the panther
+leaps! His knee found the small of the Indian’s back; his left had
+clutched his throat like a vise; his right drove his keen blade
+downward--_and home_!
+
+The redskin crumpled and fell without a sound upon the earth. Not even
+a cough or death-rattle proclaimed the passing of his spirit. And the
+number of seconds occupied in the killing were infinitesimal. One
+moment the red chief stood there leaning on the broken tree; the next
+Texas Jack, in his Indian garb, had taken his place and assumed his
+attitude!
+
+Unless some member of the tribe had been near enough to watch the chief
+continuously, this action of the scout’s was inspired. The chief had
+gone down and lay dead under his feet; the white man had taken his
+place, and for several moments, while he recovered his breath, he stood
+there in the exact attitude the real Indian had assumed in life.
+
+Carefully he scrutinized his surroundings as closely as might be for
+the gloom. He became aware at length that a warrior was stalking toward
+him from the left--undoubtedly one of the sentinels. This man came on,
+saw the supposed chief standing by the tree stub, and made a gesture as
+though he were saluting his superior.
+
+“Ugh!” muttered Texas Jack in an excellent imitation of an Indian
+guttural. He did not care to risk his Sioux intonation if he could help
+it.
+
+The sentinel went on. Texas Jack was about to change his position
+and make for the fort when he saw the sentinel who had just passed
+and another, returning. They would pass him very closely. Did they
+suspect? Had the first brave become suspicious, and was he bringing
+the second to help him attack the supposed chief?
+
+The thought sent a chill to the heart of the courageous scout.
+It seemed to him that, thus early in the game, he had come to a
+death-struggle with the redskins!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX. BREAKING THROUGH THE RED CIRCLE.
+
+
+Slowly the two braves approached Texas Jack’s position. The scout dared
+not change his attitude--he could not afford to put the men on guard if
+they _were_ still unsuspicious of him.
+
+His rifle-butt rested on the ground; his elbows leaned upon the tree
+stub; he stared straight across the valley to where the camp-fires
+twinkled, and to where two or three points of light, and the gloomy
+outline of the tall stockade, proclaimed the presence of the fort.
+
+Would the two warriors speak to him?--or would they respect his
+apparent reverie and pass on?
+
+Out of the corner of his eye Texas Jack watched the coming sentinels.
+Every muscle and nerve in his body was strained for a spring. He had
+made up his mind already what action he should take did the reds show
+that they meant to accost him.
+
+He did not wish to fire his gun and so call every Indian in that part
+of the valley to the spot. He gripped instead his rifle by the muzzle,
+and the instant one of those savages came within reach he would whirl
+up the gun and bring its stock with crushing force down upon the man’s
+head!
+
+Then the knife for the second brave! That was all he could do. If he
+were not shot or tomahawked first, he could finish both of the reds
+without making much disturbance. The main difficulty would be to stifle
+their death-yells, as he had that of the chief at his feet.
+
+So he waited, his body sweating, although it was a chill night,
+uncertain as to what the warriors would do. They were talking in low
+tones; this in itself gave the scout some hope. Had they intended
+attacking him their plans would have been made before they came so
+near, and there would be no need of conversation.
+
+The seconds numbered as the warriors came on seemed centuries long to
+the scout. But at length he saw that they were passing him quietly.
+They glanced at him, but he stood haughtily aloof, and the braves were
+not encouraged by his manner to speak. He saw them go with a relief
+that almost unnerved him!
+
+He could not risk their coming back. The instant they were out of sight
+the scout stooped, stripped the dead man of his gun, bow and arrows,
+and knife, and in a crouching position ran agilely forward to where
+a clump of young trees loomed up in the path, a hundred yards to the
+front.
+
+There he dropped down and lay a moment, listening. Not a sound from
+those behind; not a sound from any redskins before him. Had he at last
+gotten through the lines completely?
+
+He could not really believe this good fortune was his so easily. He
+stood up at last and peered all about. And suddenly, just as he was
+about to move forward once more toward the fort, he heard the stamp of
+a pony’s hoof on the other side of the clump of trees!
+
+The sound dropped Texas Jack to the ground like a rifle-shot. Had he
+been seen by the rider of the pony? Or did the pony have a rider? It
+might be one escaped from the herd and roaming at will about the valley.
+
+The pony stamped again. There was no other sound.
+
+“I’ve got tuh find out what’s doin’ there before I make another break,”
+muttered the scout. “And here goes!”
+
+The thicket was a closely woven one. Did he try to pass through it with
+his guns and other accouterments he might make some disturbance. So
+he left everything but his pistols, knife, and the bow and arrows he
+had taken from the dead chief on the ground, and began to worm his way
+through the brush-clump.
+
+Once he made some little noise by catching a part of his clothing on a
+brittle branch. Instantly he halted and made the squeaking grunt of the
+porcupine. His imitation of animals was perfect, and a porcupine might
+easily be on the still hunt in the thicket-patch.
+
+The pony did not change its position. Jack knew. So, after a moment of
+waiting, the scout risked moving on. He came finally to the edge of the
+brush, and there the horse stood--not three yards away from him!
+
+And from where he crouched the scout could see more than the bulk of
+the pony’s body against the sky-line. It was bestrode by an Indian in
+head-dress and blanket. It was doubtless one of the chiefs who had
+started to ride around the fort. Would he ride on and not suspect the
+presence of the white man in the bushes?
+
+But perhaps, in his nervousness, Texas Jack had not imitated the
+porcupine true enough to satisfy the keen ear of the Indian. Or else
+the porcupine’s grunt was a private signal between this chief and his
+own men.
+
+However, Texas Jack saw the redskin force his pony nearer the thicket,
+and he heard its rider twitter like a bird disturbed at night in its
+nest.
+
+“Old man, you’ve got the best of me!” thought the scout. “I can’t
+answer that signal, for I don’t know what the answer _is_. It’s a bad
+thing for you!”
+
+There was no time for hesitation. Again the scout had to take life or
+be killed himself. The scout was a good shot with the bow and arrows as
+he was with rifle or pistol. And he must use a silent weapon to get rid
+of this foe.
+
+It was too far to leap with his knife. The bow and arrows of the dead
+chief came in handy. In a flash the crouching scout fitted an arrow to
+the bowstring and drew the shaft to its head. There he waited, still as
+a graven image, until the horse and rider were almost upon him.
+
+Then he let drive the arrow. It sped with fearful force, aimed at the
+throat of the red chieftain that all death-cry might be stilled.
+
+True was the aim and fatal the shot. The arrow penetrated the Indian’s
+throat, and its head stuck out a hand’s breadth at the back of his
+neck. Without a sound the Indian toppled from the pony’s back.
+
+The horse snorted and sprang forward. His escape might have been as
+dire a calamity for the scout as the death-yell of the chieftain. If
+the pony dashed away across the valley, the sentinels would surely be
+aroused.
+
+But the animal made but one leap. Like a shadow Texas Jack leaped up
+and caught the rawhide bridle which had been snatched from the dead
+man’s hand. He brought the pony to an abrupt halt. Instantly he swung
+himself upon the bare back of the animal, well used to riding Indian
+fashion, and guided him to the other side of the thicket, leaving the
+chief where he had fallen. He did not stop to strip him of his arms; he
+had quite all he could carry, and he wanted his own rifle.
+
+All seemed to have gone well, and it looked to the scout at that moment
+as though the way before him to the fort was clear sailing. But just as
+he was congratulating himself on this belief a wild and ear-splitting
+yell arose on the night, and from a spot not far in his rear. First one
+voice and then another took up the yell--it was the warning of the red
+man when he finds the trail of the secret enemy!
+
+Texas Jack knew well what it meant. The first Indian he had killed, and
+whose place beside the dead tree he had taken, had been found by the
+sentinels. They knew that some shrewd enemy had been at work, and their
+yells aroused the braves all over the valley.
+
+The cries told the redskins as plainly as words that some white man
+was trying to break through their lines. Major Baldwin had thrown a
+line of sentinels outside the stockade, and these heard the cries and
+understood as well. They passed back the word that either Buffalo Bill
+or Texas Jack was coming.
+
+And so the scout was coming--on the back of the half-wild Indian pony.
+The danger behind him was great, nor was that still ahead slight.
+Some of the young braves, eager for scalps, had crept forward in the
+darkness, hoping to shoot some white man on the towers, or one that
+ventured beyond the stockade walls. As the war-whoop was raised these
+young braves started back for their lines on the jump.
+
+One of them saw the scout coming up the hill at full speed. Although
+Texas Jack was still in Indian dress, the warrior decided that no
+honest redskin would be riding in that direction at such a pace!
+
+He fired suddenly. So did the scout. The aim of both was true, for the
+Indian’s bullet killed the pony Jack was riding, and Jack’s bullet
+killed the Indian himself.
+
+Although badly shaken by his fall from the pony’s back, Texas Jack was
+on his feet in an instant and was running at topmost speed for the
+fort. He suspected that there would be a line of sentinels outside the
+stockade, and he raised his voice as he ran:
+
+“Hold on, men; it’s Texas Jack! Don’t shoot!”
+
+A cheer was the answer from the fort, while the Indians in the rear
+who heard uttered their war-whoop again and fired a scattering volley
+in the direction of the scout’s voice. But he was not hit, and, a few
+minutes later, he passed in through the gateway of the fort.
+
+Proud of his deed, as he had good reason to be, he shouted:
+
+“Slightly disfigured, boys, but still in the ring!”
+
+The commander greeted the scout joyfully, but with his next breath
+asked anxiously:
+
+“But Cody?”
+
+“Is a long way on his ride to Resistence, sir.”
+
+A cheer greeted this reply.
+
+“Thank God for that good news! I trust you were not hurt on your way,
+Jack, though you _did_ raise a merry rumpus in the Indian camps.”
+
+“Well, now! Didn’t they turn loose for a few minutes, sir? But I got
+only a shake-up, for I got too proud to walk, and the pony I cabbaged
+took a header with an Injun bullet in him. Somebody got worse hurt than
+I did, though, and I’m not kicking a little bit, as luck came my way.”
+
+“And it came our way, too, Jack! We’re mighty glad to have you back.”
+
+“Oh, that was my luck, too!” said Jack, laughing. “Buffalo was bound to
+come and send me on to Resistence with the news, but I wouldn’t hear to
+it, and finally we drew lots and I won.”
+
+“Next to Cody himself you’re the man I want,” declared Major Baldwin;
+“for, although all my officers and men are true as steel--and able,
+too--your experience is worth much, not to speak of the value of your
+rifle. Your coming and the knowledge that Cody has got through all
+right gives us a new lease of life.”
+
+The major’s praise tinged the bronzed cheek of the scout with blushes,
+and he hurried away to remove his war-paint and to change into more
+civilized garments.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X. THE RIDE TO THE RESCUE.
+
+
+The Border King, after leaving Texas Jack in the cañon, did not spare
+the white horse he rode, for he was riding to save many human lives.
+
+He had known this horse when he was the favorite steed of Colonel
+Nelson A. Miles, and the scout well knew the endurance of which the
+horse was capable.
+
+The creature had been captured by Oak Heart, the king of the Utah
+Sioux, in an attack on a military camp, and Colonel Miles had told
+Cody to try and get him back from his Indian master.
+
+“I hate to think of the old fellow being handled by that red scamp. Get
+him back, Cody, and he’s yours,” the colonel had told the scout.
+
+And now Buffalo Bill had the long-barreled, strong-limbed racer under
+him, and he was proving himself as fleet as a deer and as tireless as a
+hound.
+
+“The colonel used to call you Runaway, I remember,” said the scout,
+talking aloud to the handsome creature, and patting the side of his
+neck with a tender hand, “and what Oak Heart christened you I don’t
+know, but I shall call you after your redskin master, and it shall be
+Chief.”
+
+The horse snorted and tossed his head as though he understood what was
+being said to him, and hour after hour, mile after mile, he kept up his
+steady lope--that long, free canter that takes the Western range horse
+over so long a trail in so short a time.
+
+Darkness fell soon after Cody rode away from Texas Jack. He hoped to
+reached the military post for which he aimed before midnight. And he
+was not mistaken. The new day had not commenced when the scout on his
+white charger thundered up to the gates of Fort Resistence.
+
+“Halt! Who comes here?” rang out the sentinel’s challenge.
+
+“All right, pard! This is Scout Cody with an urgent message for the
+commander. Let me in!”
+
+“By thunder! Is it really you, Buffalo Bill?” cried the sentinel over
+the gate.
+
+“What’s left of me after about the hardest day’s work of my life.”
+
+“Injuns?”
+
+“And a-plenty of them. Hurry up, old man! This is no place for gossip,”
+urged the scout.
+
+“Wait till I call the corporal,” exclaimed the curious sentinel. Then:
+
+“Corporal of the guard! Corporal of the guard! Rouse up, corporal!
+There’s somebody at the gate!”
+
+Half the garrison was aroused by the shouting. The corporal came on the
+run, saw who it was without, and let the scout and his dripping horse
+within.
+
+“Injuns, sure, Cody?” asked those who were awake.
+
+“Fort Advance has been surrounded for three days by a thousand red
+devils under Oak Heart!” exclaimed Cody to the officer on duty. “I must
+see Colonel Royal at once.”
+
+The commander of the fort had gotten out of bed already, and he
+received the scout in his nightshirt.
+
+“Is this true, Cody?” he cried. “Is Major Baldwin threatened?”
+
+“Why, sir, your scouts must have been hived up for a week past if they
+haven’t seen Injun signs,” said Cody earnestly. “For three days the
+Sioux have held the garrison of Fort Advance prisoners, and five men
+have been killed trying to get to you. They’re pretty nearly out of
+ammunition.”
+
+“My God, Cody! You astonish me. I’ve had the scouts working through the
+country on the other side, trusting to hear from you if anything went
+wrong in the direction of Advance.”
+
+“I’ve been to Denver, sir. Just got back to-day. I managed to run in
+half a packload of ammunition that I had cached, and then Texas Jack
+and I got through the lines again late this afternoon and--here I am!”
+
+“Texas Jack! He’s not killed, I hope?”
+
+“I don’t know. The reckless fellow _would_ try to go back to cheer the
+fort with the news that I had got away safely.”
+
+“That’s enough now, Bill. You’ll get something to eat, and if you are
+going back with the men I send----”
+
+“You bet I am. I got a fellow to rub Chief down, and he’ll be good for
+it.”
+
+“Your horse? Well, I’m off to see things prepared.”
+
+The energetic commander at once ordered his adjutant to call out two
+troops of cavalry, mount two companies of infantry, and, with a couple
+of light guns, to start to the reenforcement of Fort Advance. Extra
+supplies and ammunition were to be taken in ambulances.
+
+Captain Alfred Taylor, of the Fifth Cavalry, was given command of the
+expedition, and ordered to start within the hour. They tried to get
+Cody to take some rest, for more than twenty-four hours the scout had
+been active, most of the time in the saddle, and part of the time
+fighting for his very life, but he was determined to go back with the
+party of reenforcements.
+
+When it pulled out from Post Resistence Buffalo Bill rode ahead as
+guide, while half a dozen of Colonel Royal’s scouts went along to guard
+the flanks, and to clear out the cañon when they came to it. Cody felt
+that Oak Heart, knowing that the white men had got through his lines
+and were probably making for Resistence, might send a part of his force
+forward to meet any rescue party coming to the aid of the garrison of
+Fort Advance.
+
+And the wise scout had not been mistaken in this. Perhaps one reason
+why Texas Jack had succeeded so easily in returning to Fort Advance
+was because the king of the Sioux had drawn off quite three hundred of
+his braves for special duty, and sent them along the track toward Fort
+Resistence.
+
+The easiest and shortest trail between the two forts was through the
+cañon, and this Oak Heart well knew. He ordered the chiefs in charge of
+the three hundred to ambush the rescue-party near the entrance to the
+cañon at the other end, and not long before Cody and the other scouts,
+riding ahead of Captain Taylor’s command, came within shouting distance
+of the cañon the bloodthirsty savages were hidden among the rocks and
+trees on the sloping sides, ready to pour a deadly fire into the band
+of rescuers when they came along the trail beneath them.
+
+While yet the scouts were some distance from the cañon something
+startled them ahead. Tearing along the trail toward them came a herd of
+deer, frightened from their night’s lair by something untoward.
+
+“Now, what under the canopy started _them_ to running?” asked Cody, who
+never let anything go past him unexplained.
+
+“Wolves, it’s likely,” said one of the Resistence scouts named Judd.
+
+“Haven’t heard a wolf howl to-night,” declared Buffalo Bill.
+
+“You’re right there, pard,” said another scout, Barney by name.
+
+“And there was no critter on the trail of those white-tails,” said a
+third man.
+
+“That means Injuns, then,” declared Barney.
+
+“I reckon you’re right, boys,” said the Border King. “Let’s see. Those
+deer came directly from the cañon.”
+
+“You bet they did.”
+
+“Something doing there, then, boys.”
+
+“I reckon you’re right, Buffler.”
+
+“Here, Barney, you ride back and tell Captain Taylor to halt his
+column. Judd, you and I leave our horses here and go ahead to
+reconnoiter. Savvy?”
+
+“Sure!”
+
+Barney rode back. Judd and Buffalo Bill discarded their mounts and went
+ahead afoot.
+
+Oak Heart was a born general, and, like old Colorow, of the Utes,
+displayed abilities in planning his campaigns that placed him head
+and shoulders above the average redskin chieftain. There have
+been few great warriors among the red Indians. Red Jacket, Black
+Eagle, Tecumseh, Colorow, and a few others have possessed unnatural
+characteristics for redskins, and that is why they left their mark on
+Indian history.
+
+And Oak Heart had sufficient control over his warriors to make them do
+something which above all things a redskin hates. He made them fight at
+night!
+
+Now, the Indian is a spiritualist of the most pronounced breed. By day
+the spirits of the dead, and those powerful beings which he believes
+control men’s affairs, sleep; by night these supernatural beings
+walk abroad, and no Southern darky is more afraid of seeing a ghost
+than a redskin. The medicine chiefs, who are, most of them, a set of
+unconscionable fakers, foster this belief in ghosts and evil spirits
+and so prey on the tribes.
+
+Indians often select the hour just before dawn to strike their enemies,
+because at that time man usually sleeps more deeply. But to make a
+forced march and lay an ambuscade in the middle of the night--well,
+this proved Oak Heart’s mastery of his tribe. Buffalo Bill suspected
+that the herd of deer had been frightened by something more than a
+single redskin--or a small scouting-party of them. He knew Oak Heart’s
+abilities and respected them. Rash as the scout might be at times, he
+never took foolish chances. To lead the rescue-party into the head of
+the cañon might bring it to complete ruin.
+
+“Judd! you take the west side of that gorge, and I’ll go east,” he
+commanded his brother scout.
+
+“How’ll I communicate? Signal?”
+
+“No! If there are many of the reds they have already frightened
+away most of the small animals that we might imitate, and to give a
+bird-call would utterly ruin us. No bird will be waking up at this time
+o’ night--ugh!”
+
+“Well, what then?” demanded the other.
+
+“Never mind what you find, keep still. Meet me here--in twenty minutes
+if possible; not later than half an hour from now, at most.”
+
+“Half an hour?”
+
+“Yep. And remember, a confounded lot can happen in half an hour,” added
+Cody, with a chuckle.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI. A BUSY HALF-HOUR.
+
+
+Buffalo Bill had spoken a truer word than he thought. A great deal may
+happen in thirty minutes, and the Border King, as he separated from his
+brother scout, was unconsciously approaching a series of startling and
+perilous happenings.
+
+The moment the darkness had wiped Judd out of sight the wary scout
+turned eastward from the trail. The brush was thick and hung heavy with
+the dew of the mountains--and that might as well be rain. Every twig he
+touched communicated to its parent branch a shiver that showered him
+like a patent bath. He kept the lock of his magazine rifle under his
+armpit, pulled down the brim of his sombrero to shield his face, and
+walked swiftly on for some few yards. Yet he made wonderfully little
+noise.
+
+Having begun to climb rising ground, he here bore off toward the gorge,
+or cañon. If Oak Heart had laid an ambush there, the reds would be
+hiding in the brush, behind logs, and sheltered by boulders, all along
+the sidehills for some hundreds of yards. Buffalo Bill proposed to make
+a wide enough détour to get well behind the ambushed foe.
+
+By chance, however, he came suddenly upon a slope of gravel and sand,
+and stepped upon it before he realized the shifting nature of the soil.
+A stream of small pebbles began rattling down the hill!
+
+Instantly Buffalo Bill learned that his suspicions had been well
+founded. The Indians were there.
+
+He heard a startled grunt below him. Then in Sioux a voice asked a
+brief question.
+
+“Bear?” returned a second Indian.
+
+There was a sound as though one of the speakers had risen from his
+place. Buffalo Bill cast his mind quickly over the situation. The
+suggestion that a bear might be lurking about the sidehill seemed the
+most reasonable. A bear is notably a blundersome beast, and the wind
+was not from the ambushed redskins. The scout grasped the idea.
+
+He sent another small avalanche of gravel down the slope, and then
+floundered a bit in the brush. His ability to imitate the voices of
+birds and animals was very keen; but it is not easy to imitate the
+gruff, startled “woof!” of the marauding bear. However, he essayed it
+and then stamped away up the hill through the brush, making a deuce of
+a clatter till he reached an open space. He hoped that the reds would
+take his play-acting in good faith; yet he could not help having his
+doubts. He considered that, had he been in their place, he would have
+felt strong doubt regarding the validity of the sound, and would have
+investigated.
+
+Therefore he slipped behind an enormous tree trunk at the edge of this
+opening and waited to see if the supposed bear would be followed.
+Minute after minute passed, and a deathlike silence reigned upon
+the hillside. Buffalo Bill was wasting time, but he was too wary to
+approach closer to the Indians--near enough to learn their numbers
+at least--until he was assured that his first mistake had not borne
+perilous fruit.
+
+Sharp as his hearing was, however, he did not hear a footfall, or a
+breath; yet of a sudden a figure was silhouetted before him against the
+open space in the forest. An Indian stood there with folded arms, his
+back to the scout, and facing the clearing!
+
+One of the reds whom Cody had disturbed was not satisfied with the
+imitated retreat of the frightened “bear.” He had come to investigate
+and stood now almost within striking distance of the scout. But the
+latter feared to shoot him, of course; nor did he trust to a fling of
+his tomahawk, or knife. There were too many uncertainties about either
+of those methods of removing the redskin. To steal from behind the tree
+and spring upon him was another difficult thing, for the ground was
+strewn with rustling leaves and twigs, and the scout feared to announce
+his approach.
+
+To his disgust, too, the Indian turned and began searching about the
+edge of the forest. Cody saw him step cautiously behind two trees
+and stick the muzzle of the old-fashioned musket he bore into a
+brush-clump. The red was trying to learn if the creature that had made
+all that “catouse” was still in the vicinity.
+
+Instantly the scout glanced about in the gloom for a means of hiding
+himself more surely. In a minute the red would come his way.
+
+Directly above his head he saw a branch. He slipped the strap of his
+rifle over his head and shoulder, thus leaving his hands free, seized
+the branch, and drew himself up carefully as an acrobat does when
+he “chins” the horizontal bar. Without a sound, or the rattle of a
+button or an accouterment, the scout drew himself into the tree. Three
+branches sprang from the butt low down, so furnishing him a splendid
+nest.
+
+He removed his gun and stood it upright, wedged in a niche. Then he lay
+down along the lower branch, his body in the darkness merely adding
+a darker shadow to it, and watched and listened. No mountain cat was
+better ambushed for a foe. His guns he loosened in their scabbards, and
+then, drawing his bowie, he stuck it softly into the branch within
+easy reach of his hand.
+
+At that instant there was a soft rustling in the leaves which covered
+the ground below. Cody craned his neck to see. The Indian in a stooping
+posture came into view. He halted directly under the limb on which the
+scout lay. It seemed too dark for him to see any mark that the scout
+might have left, yet he seemed wonderfully interested in the tree and
+the ground beneath it.
+
+Cody could see the outline of his figure very well indeed. How much
+sharper the red’s vision might be he did not know; but he was not
+taking any chances. He noted that the red scamp faced the tree trunk
+and was apparently examining the rough bark for recently broken
+places. Was it possible that the fellow was really stumbling upon the
+truth--that a man had climbed this tree? Or was he feeling for the
+marks of a bear’s claws?
+
+However, Cody decided the red had gone far enough. Besides, the fellow
+was temptingly near. He was a small, wiry man weighing little more than
+a hundred pounds.
+
+Cody stooped suddenly, and both his muscular hands clutched the
+Indian around the neck--one before, one behind. And with this awful
+grip--which cut short any attempt to breathe, let alone to cry out--he
+lifted the redskin off his feet!
+
+As was only natural, the red dropped his gun and clutched with both
+hands at the hand which pinched his windpipe. He kicked vainly for
+freedom. Before he could drop his hand to his knife and draw that, Cody
+jerked him upward till the top of his head struck with fearful force
+against the under side of the tree branch. He could actually hear the
+redskin’s crown crack!
+
+The foe’s hands dropped limply; yet Cody held on and squeezed his
+throat for a minute longer. Then he dropped the fellow like a bag of
+bones to the ground.
+
+In a moment he seized his own rifle and dropped lightly beside him.
+The Indian had not stirred; he was without doubt dead. Cody took his
+weapons and removed his scalp, and went his way with some confidence
+that there was certainly one more “good” Indian.
+
+He dodged the gravel bank this time, and came down the side of the
+cañon at another point--some rods beyond that at which he had found
+the first of the reds established. There were fewer trees here, and,
+looking from above, the scout was able to observe considerable of
+the more open hillside. Dark as the night was, he saw several forms
+crouching behind stumps and boulders.
+
+He made a further détour, came down the hill again, and found the same
+conditions. On this side of the trail the Indians were extended along
+the hillside for five hundred yards and more. It was a big ambushing
+party. Cody reckoned it to be no less than two hundred braves at the
+least, and probably more. Captain Taylor’s command was not prepared to
+meet such a foe--especially when the foe would have every advantage of
+cover.
+
+Had it not been so dark, or had Cody known the ground better, a flank
+movement might have been made which would have overwhelmed the reds.
+But this would have taken much time, too, and, meanwhile, the garrison
+at Fort Advance was in sore need of reenforcements.
+
+Cody returned swiftly to the rendezvous he had appointed with Judd, to
+learn what that individual had discovered upon the other side of the
+cañon.
+
+Now, the warriors lay very silently indeed in their ambuscade, but
+three hundred men cannot be in a small place like that together without
+making some sounds. Judd, too, discovered the ambush, although he
+did not know just how many Indians were awaiting the coming of the
+bluecoats.
+
+“There’s a good bunch of them. Perhaps Oak Heart has drawn off half his
+gang,” said Cody. “We’ve got to fool ’em, Judd.”
+
+They hurried back to the group of scouts, and there Cody issued his
+instructions. Judd and three others were to watch the Indians as well
+as possible. Meanwhile Cody proposed to ride back and meet Captain
+Taylor’s command and take them, by another way, to the valley in which
+Fort Advance was situated.
+
+Cody rode back in haste and reported the danger ahead.
+
+“We are able to handle five hundred redskins, Cody,” said the officer,
+eager for a fight.
+
+“But not when they are established on both sides of the trail and it is
+dark and the forest is too thick for you to maneuver horses. No, no,
+captain! Be advised by me.”
+
+“I suppose you are right, Cody.”
+
+“And, besides, you will be able to deliver a heavier blow to Oak
+Heart’s gang if you fall upon them unexpectedly; and then, when these
+ambuscaders rush in, you’ll be ready to cut them to pieces, too.”
+
+“Right you are, scout. You are sure of the way?”
+
+“Confident. It’s a bit rough, but I could find it with my eyes
+bandaged.”
+
+“Lead on, then, scout.”
+
+“And no bugle-calls,” warned Cody. “Pass the word to the men. We don’t
+want these reds, waiting in the cañon, to suspect that we are stealing
+a march on them.”
+
+Fortunately, the troops did not have to take the back track. The path
+by which the Border King was to lead them to their destination branched
+off this main trail into the hills. Over the rough way they rode, and
+soon the eastern sky began to grow gray. Dawn was approaching, and the
+increased light made the path vastly easier of traveling.
+
+Buffalo Bill and Captain Taylor rode some distance ahead of the troops.
+The cavalry could go only as fast as the guns and ambulances could keep
+up, so the band moved necessarily slow.
+
+They came at last almost within sight of Fort Advance. A low ridge shut
+out their view of the valley. Suddenly the cool morning breeze brought
+to them a great shouting and hullabaloo, intermingled with rifle-shots
+and the intermittent discharge of heavy guns.
+
+“An attack!” exclaimed the captain and the scout together, and they
+spurred their horses to the top of the ridge.
+
+It was true. Oak Heart had chosen the hour before dawn as the time to
+throw his remaining warriors against the stockade. He believed that
+about this time the rescue-party would be falling into the trap he had
+laid for it in the cañon. He would keep both bands of white men so busy
+that they could not go to each other’s rescue.
+
+Suddenly the heavy guns ceased. There was only the occasional snapping
+of rifles from the fort.
+
+“My God, Cody! What does that mean?” gasped Captain Taylor.
+
+“Their ammunition has run out!” cried the scout. “I adjure you,
+captain, bring up your men at a double-quick. The next few minutes may
+settle the question as to whether those red devils get the scalps of
+every man, woman, and child in the fort! There is not an instant to
+lose, sir!”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII. A FLYING FIGHT.
+
+
+Captain Taylor saw the desperate need of help for the unfortunate
+inmates of Fort Advance quite as clearly as did Buffalo Bill, but his
+men were in heavy marching order, and there were the artillery and
+ambulances to be thought of, too. The column was strung out along the
+trail for two miles.
+
+“It will take some time to bring the men up and form in line of battle,
+Cody,” declared Captain Taylor.
+
+“And meanwhile Oak Heart will throw his entire force over those
+palisades!” cried the scout. “By the time we deploy into the valley
+there’ll be no garrison, and the red devils can turn their attention
+to us. The firing will call up the gang from the cañon, and we’ll be
+between two fires.”
+
+“It can’t be helped----”
+
+“It _can_ be helped, sir--begging your pardon! Give me a few of your
+men and let me push on. It will make a diversion in favor of the
+garrison. If the braves see us coming they’ll hesitate about throwing
+themselves into the fort and so being caught in a trap.”
+
+“Good, Cody! You are right. And your appearance will at least show that
+help is at hand and encourage the garrison. But I’m afraid you’ll be
+cut to pieces.”
+
+“We’ll have to take that chance. Somebody has got to die this day--why
+not us?” demanded the courageous scout. “Let me have some of your
+cavalry as they come up. There’s the head of the column!”
+
+“Go, and God bless you, my brave fellow! Take all the men whose horses
+can stand a hard run,” said the gallant captain.
+
+He signaled the head of the column forward at once. The troops had
+already heard the firing, and were eager to get into action.
+
+“You’ll have to bring your artillery and ambulances down into the
+valley by yonder ridge, captain,” said the scout, pointing out the
+tongue of rocky land over which he had raced the day before with his
+pack-load of ammunition for the beleaguered fort. “From there you can
+sweep the valley to the very gates of the fort, and likewise you can
+cover the exit of the cañon through which the ambushing party will like
+enough pour in a short time.”
+
+“Good! I’ll make a note of that,” declared the officer. “There, Cody,
+are your men. Pick out the horses you think will be able to keep
+somewhere near your whitey. Every man of them is eager to attend, I
+promise you!”
+
+This was true enough, as the scout well knew. In five minutes, with two
+lieutenants and a couple of score of troopers at his heels, the scout
+set the pace over the ridge and down into the smoke-wreathed valley.
+
+They were soon in full sight of the fort and the redskins clamoring
+about it. And it was a complete surprise to Oak Heart and his braves to
+see reenforcements for the whites so near at hand. As for the defenders
+of Fort Advance, they were wild with joy to see even this small troop
+coming to their rescue.
+
+Buffalo Bill’s white steed was recognized, and cheers rent the air from
+the garrison which, a few moments before, had given up all hope. The
+Indians had been about to rush the stockade, and then a hand-to-hand
+fight would have ensued inside the fort which could have ended in but
+one way. The redskins outnumbered the whites so greatly, despite their
+losses, that the garrison would have been completely overwhelmed.
+
+Oak Heart saw that he was likely to be defeated, after all. Victory had
+all but perched upon his banners; now, with his forces separated, he
+was very likely to taste the bitter ashes of defeat!
+
+But the Sioux king was a born leader and strategist. He saw that,
+in some way, his plans for ambuscading the relief party had fallen
+through. His three hundred braves were idle up the cañon while the
+whites from Fort Resistence were coming to the help of their comrades
+by another way. Those reserve forces he needed, and needed at once.
+
+He spoke to the White Antelope. She had acted as his aid all through
+the battle, and now she wheeled her pony instantly and dashed away
+toward the mouth of the cañon. She was instructed to inform the
+ambuscading party of the change in affairs and to bring them back at
+top speed.
+
+Buffalo Bill and his flying column of cavalry saw and understood this
+move. Lieutenant Dick Danforth, the dashing young lieutenant who ranked
+in command of the party, spurred up beside Cody.
+
+“See that girl yonder?” he cried.
+
+“I see her,” returned the scout gravely.
+
+“She’s a messenger, eh?”
+
+“She is.”
+
+“Isn’t that the way into the cañon where those other Indians were lying
+in wait for us?”
+
+“You’re mighty right, lieutenant,” admitted the scout.
+
+“We must stop her!”
+
+The scout remained silent, measuring the distance between them and the
+flying White Antelope, and the mouth of the cañon as well.
+
+“We’ve _got_ to stop her!” exclaimed Dick Danforth.
+
+“How are you going to do it?” demanded Cody grimly.
+
+Danforth picked up his carbine quickly. Cody at once laid his hand on
+the young officer’s arm.
+
+“No, no, Dick!” he said, with feeling. “Not that!”
+
+“What do you mean, scout?” demanded the young officer, displeased.
+
+“You must not shoot that girl!”
+
+“Why, she’s a confounded squaw--and she’s an enemy--and she’s taking a
+message that may bring trouble to us all.”
+
+“She must be stopped; but you must not kill her.”
+
+“What’s the matter with you, Cody?” the young man demanded again.
+“She’s nothing but a redskin.”
+
+“There is another way--without taking her life,” declared the scout.
+
+“What makes you so tender of the squaw? Lord! I don’t ask _you_ to
+shoot her,” and the lieutenant raised his carbine again.
+
+Cody’s hand this time fell upon the lieutenant’s wrist with force, as
+he urged Chief alongside the other’s mount.
+
+“And by God, sir! _you_ shall not shoot her--above all men!” he cried.
+
+“What do you mean by this?” demanded Lieutenant Danforth, his face
+white as death. “I have a reason for killing every damned Indian that
+comes under my eye--you know _that_, Bill Cody!”
+
+“Perhaps; but not White Antelope,” said the scout earnestly.
+
+“And why not White Antelope, as you call her? Is she any better than
+any other of the devil’s red spawn? Let go of my arm! I’m going to
+shoot that girl!”
+
+“You are beside yourself!” exclaimed Cody coldly. “Do you want it told
+around your mess that you deliberately shot a squaw-woman?”
+
+“She’s a messenger, man!”
+
+“That’s no excuse.”
+
+“I tell you the red devils killed my people--butchered them! I saw my
+father with his head split open by an Indian hatchet! My mother was
+dragged away to a worse death, it’s likely. _I’ve sworn revenge on
+every redskin that walks the earth!_ Let go of me, Cody, or I’ll kill
+you!”
+
+“You are beside yourself, sir,” said the scout, still coldly. “You
+would not kill me, for I have always been your friend. It was I who got
+you your chance at West Point. It was I who made you what you are now.
+You’ll not kill _me_, Dick Danforth!”
+
+The two had ridden furiously ahead of the troopers, both bearing off
+toward the cañon’s mouth toward which the squaw was flying on her pony.
+The other men could not hear this conversation, jerked out between the
+jumps of the two great horses.
+
+That Dick Danforth, the young lieutenant, was beside himself, was
+easily to be seen. He was not responsible at the moment for his actions
+or speech.
+
+“That gal must not be harmed, Danforth,” said Cody firmly. “If you
+hold any gratitude in your heart toward me, show it now. I demand that
+the girl be unharmed--now or at any other time--and especially at your
+hand.”
+
+The scout’s seriousness--aye, his passion in saying this--impressed
+Danforth so deeply that his own rage gave place to wonder.
+
+“Why, what do you know about her, Cody? Who is she?”
+
+“It does not matter. I must have your promise. _You_ must never harm
+the White Antelope. Indeed, you must guard her and keep others from
+harming her with your life; do you understand?”
+
+“No, I _don’t_ understand. And I won’t help an Injun.”
+
+“You will do as I say, Dick.”
+
+“No!”
+
+“I demand it, Dick!” said the scout feelingly.
+
+“That is not fair, Cody!”
+
+“It is fair. I saved your life. I made you what you are. I have a right
+to some return, and I demand this.”
+
+“Oh, thunder, Bill!” ejaculated Dick Danforth, more in his usual light
+tone than before. “If you put it _that_ way----”
+
+“I do.”
+
+“Then I’ll have to promise.”
+
+“Very well, my boy. I hold you to your word.”
+
+“But don’t you ever ask me to save an Injun again, for I won’t do it!”
+
+“All right.”
+
+“And while we’ve been rowing, that blamed squaw is getting away. She’ll
+carry the alarm to the other Indians as sure as shooting!”
+
+“She won’t!” returned the scout, with confidence. “Ride on with your
+men, Dick. Cut your way through that gang of reds to the gates of the
+fort if necessary. Off with you! Leave the girl to me!”
+
+With a wave of his hand he clapped spurs to Chief, and pulled sharply
+on his rein. The girl had almost reached the mouth of the cañon when
+Cody started in direct pursuit.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII. THE CHASE OF THE WHITE ANTELOPE.
+
+
+The Border King did not pick his way as he spurred the great white
+horse down the declivity after the flying Indian girl. He allowed Chief
+to guide himself, for he felt confidence in the horse’s sense. They
+went down the hill like an avalanche, and an avalanche of small stones
+and broken brush went with them.
+
+To the troopers behind on the ridge, to the defenders of the fort, and
+to the Indians themselves who saw the charge of the big white horse, it
+seemed that neither horse nor rider could reach the bottom alive.
+
+But Chief did not even lose his stride in going down, and at the
+bottom, in answer to a sharp tug on the rein, he turned and shot away
+along the trail after the disappearing White Antelope.
+
+Oak Heart and his braves saw the act, and knew Cody’s reason for
+chasing the young squaw. Half the army of Sioux would have started in
+pursuit; but Dick Danforth’s troopers were sweeping down the hill by a
+smoother road, and would cut the Indians off from the entrance to the
+cañon. The reds were balked.
+
+Dick Danforth’s blood was up. He had been born a Western boy, and, as
+he had intimated in his recent conversation with Cody, he had bitter
+reason to hate the redskins. He had been made an orphan, and his young
+life ruined, by these very Sioux.
+
+He spoke to the bugler, and the wild notes of the charge rang out
+across the valley. Two score the troopers numbered, and there were five
+or six hundred Indians against them; but the bold fellows were ready to
+dash into the midst of the redskins.
+
+Besides, Major Baldwin, seeing what desperate chances the troopers
+from Fort Resistence were taking, ordered Captain Ed. Keyes to charge
+with every able-bodied cavalryman the stockade contained. The fort
+gates were flung open, and out upon the Indians, already wavering and
+uncertain, charged Keyes and his troop, sabers in hand. They had no
+ammunition, but they wielded their sabers like fiends. The Indians,
+most of them unmounted, were borne down, trampled under the feet of
+the big cavalry horses, and slashed unmercifully on one side by Keyes,
+while Danforth came up on the other, his men shooting at short range
+with carbines and pistols, and finally taking to the sword also.
+
+And while this wild carnage was in progress, Buffalo Bill and the White
+Antelope were racing along the trail in the cañon, the girl intent
+upon carrying her father’s message and arousing the redskins lying in
+ambush miles away, while the scout was just as determined that, without
+injuring her, she should be kept from carrying out her plan.
+
+It was still dark down here in the cañon. Although the sun was already
+showing his red face above the eastern hills, as yet there was not
+light enough to dissipate the gloom at the bottom of this deep cut in
+the hills. Indeed, Buffalo Bill followed the girl more by sense of
+sound than sense of sight for the first half-mile.
+
+Then the pace of the great white horse told. His stride was too much
+for the Indian pony, no matter how cruelly White Antelope lashed it.
+Steadily the scout drew nearer.
+
+The gray light filtered down from above and showed to the scout the
+young squaw turning her head again and again to watch the progress
+of her pursuer. She was evidently measuring with fearful glance the
+rapidly lessening distance between them.
+
+Buffalo Bill might easily have killed her as she leaned forward on her
+pony’s neck, urging him with whip and voice. His face was very set and
+stern, too; but the sternness was not that which masked his countenance
+when he was bent upon an enemy’s death.
+
+He saw, indeed, the frightened maiden before him, flying madly from his
+approach; but his mind was laboring with thoughts which carried him
+back for many years--thoughts which had often embittered his mind and
+robbed him of his rest at night. He remembered this beautiful girl’s
+mother and how he would have saved her from her awful fate; yet that
+was not to be! And here he was pursuing the daughter--yet in a far
+different manner.
+
+The girl looked back again. Her beautiful face had paled, losing all
+its naturally rich coloring. Although Buffalo Bill had held her in
+his power only the day before and had not harmed her, this wild child
+of the forest and plain saw no reason for his sparing her now. And,
+indeed, there _was_ no apparent reason. She saw in his attempt to
+capture her instead of killing her outright, merely the desire of the
+warrior to parade a captive before his admiring brethren, and then,
+perhaps, she would be made a slave as the redskins made slaves of the
+white squaws they stole!
+
+White Antelope had no reason for believing in the honor and tenderness
+of white men. She had been taught from childhood that they were her
+deadly enemies. Her mother had died too soon after her birth to instil
+into the maiden’s mind any different belief than that held by the
+savages about her.
+
+So the girl looked back at Cody in terror, and made up her savage mind
+to die rather than be captured by the scout.
+
+But she would sell her life dearly as may be. The day before Long
+Hair, as she called him, had disarmed her of the light revolver which
+had been a most precious possession. Now she had only her bow and
+arrows--a weapon that is not easily used in shooting behind one while
+the pony is at full speed.
+
+But this was what the girl tried to do. She strung her bow and seized
+an arrow from the quiver which hung over her shoulder. Then, while the
+pony was still paddling along the trail at his best pace, she turned
+her agile young body about, drew the shaft to its head, and let drive
+at the coming scout.
+
+He ducked as he saw her action; but the shaft went through his hat and
+carried it away. Instantly she fitted another arrow to the bowstring
+and sent it likewise at her enemy. Cody slipped over on the far side
+of Chief, hanging by toe and one hand to the running animal, an Indian
+trick that no brave could do better than the scout himself. The second
+shaft went over his saddle in about the place his heart might have been
+had he been sitting upright!
+
+The Indian maiden was not to be balked so easily. She turned again to
+urge her pony on, hoping, it is likely, that Long Hair would bob up
+into the saddle again. But he saw she had a third arrow on the string,
+and he remained where he was.
+
+But to tamely endure such a persecution as this was not the scout’s
+intention. Besides, he feared that the White Antelope might shoot Chief.
+
+As he slung himself over the side of the big white horse, Cody had
+drawn one of the loaded pistols from its holster. With this gun he was
+a marvelously accurate shot. It had a barrel almost as long as the
+old-fashioned derringer, and in the hand of a trained marksman could do
+the execution of a finely sighted rifle.
+
+Under the horse’s neck he had a very clear view of the girl on the
+pony in front, although she could not easily aim at any vital part of
+the scout in the position in which he hung from Chief. As the young
+squaw turned sidewise to larrup her pony again with the quirt hanging
+to her wrist, Buffalo Bill took a snap shot at the quiver of arrows at
+her back.
+
+It was a perilous shot--if he did not wish to harm the girl. Few
+marksmen would have dared try it. William Tell was a bungler, indeed,
+as compared with some of the marksmen of our great West, and William F.
+Cody was, in his day, the best of them all!
+
+His pistol ball sped true. The thong from which the quiver hung was
+severed, and if the hot lead seared the girl’s shoulder in passing it
+did no more!
+
+The quiver fell to the ground; but the girl had still a remaining
+arrow--it was already upon her bowstring. She turned swiftly to drive
+it home--perhaps into the heart of the great white horse that bore her
+enemy so swiftly.
+
+Buffalo Bill realized the danger to his noble steed. He sprang upright
+into the saddle, the smoking pistol still in his hand. His appearance
+as a fair target attracted the Indian maiden’s aim. She drew the
+arrowhead to her ear.
+
+But the white man’s pistol spoke before she could release the feathered
+shaft.
+
+Crack!
+
+The long-barreled revolver spit its death-dealing bullet, and the smoke
+enveloped Buffalo Bill’s head for a moment and then passed away.
+
+Twang!
+
+That was the snap of the bowstring. But the arrow flew wildly in the
+air, over the scout’s head. The bullet had severed the deer tendon of
+which the string was made just as the girl released the shaft. Buffalo
+Bill had taken another desperate shot--and had won. The bow was put out
+of commission, but the bullet had not touched the fair user of the bow.
+
+White Antelope threw away her broken implement in wrath, and lashed her
+pony again. But he, poor creature, was coming to the end of his leash.
+His little legs could not carry even so light a burden as herself much
+farther.
+
+Buffalo Bill saw that this was so, and he spoke to Chief, dropping the
+pistol back into its holster again. The great white horse redoubled his
+effort. He shot along the trail as though he was fresh from the stable.
+
+This spurt of speed brought the scout beside the Indian girl and her
+mount so quickly that White Antelope had no time to cast herself to the
+ground as she had intended. Even as she screamed and would have leaped
+to certain death, the white horse came neck and neck with her mount,
+Cody leaned over and seized her around the waist with his right arm,
+and, drawing his pistol this time with his left hand, shot the Indian
+pony through the head!
+
+He could not afford to have the relieved beast run on to the ambushed
+Indians miles up the cañon and so warn them of what was being done. The
+pony staggered on a few yards and fell dead. Chief leaped the fallen
+body and then came to a stop.
+
+Meanwhile, the young squaw had been struggling in Cody’s grasp. She had
+one more weapon, and out it flashed from the bead-worked sheath at her
+side. It was a keen scalping-knife, and with a single downward thrust
+she might have ended Cody’s earthly career.
+
+However, the scout was watching for just this little play. As the
+bright blade descended toward his breast, he caught the point upon his
+pistol. The blade snapped, and with a single blow he knocked the handle
+and butt of the blade from the girl’s hand!
+
+“The White Antelope is in Long Hair’s power. Let her lie quietly,”
+commanded the scout in Sioux.
+
+He placed the girl before him, picked up Chief’s bridle, turned the
+horse about, and they started down the cañon again. The girl did not
+struggle now, or seek to escape. She was beaten. He could feel her body
+shake with emotion; but true to Indian custom and tradition, she did
+not weep.
+
+Cody feared that some of the Indians might have got by Dick
+Danforth and entered the cañon to follow him; so he went back very
+circumspectly. If he was caught between two fires he could merely sell
+his life as dearly as possible; but he would have kept the men in
+ambush from coming to the help of their tribesmen in time to do any
+good.
+
+Soon the noise of battle reached their ears. The girl gave no sign of
+interest, nor did Cody speak to her. In truth, the scout had a bitter
+problem to consider.
+
+What should he do with the girl? She was in his power. At least, he had
+separated her from her father and from her Indian friends. But was the
+time ripe for her to be introduced to white people--to those in Fort
+Advance, for instance?
+
+It was a time when men’s passions were deeply stirred. There would be
+murder and hatred in the hearts of the whites as well as in that of the
+redskins. Of what good to bring this half-breed girl into contact with
+whites who felt a desire to kill every creature with Indian blood in
+its veins? And why take the girl away from the red men at the moment
+when her own heart was bitter as gall toward the whites? What good
+would come of such an act? Buffalo Bill’s good sense answered for him:
+
+“None!”
+
+Nor did the whites desire her as a hostage. To hold her prisoner would
+be to strengthen her affiliation with the Sioux. No, no! She must go
+free--if Cody were free himself.
+
+This question could not be answered until he had ridden to the end of
+the cañon, and he went on very circumspectly.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV. A STARTLING DISCOVERY.
+
+
+Meanwhile, the two troops of cavalry, under Lieutenant Dick Danforth
+and Captain Keyes respectively, plowed their way through the massed
+redskins. They met, and Captain Keyes heartily greeted the men from
+Fort Resistence.
+
+“God bless you, Danforth--and you, Mercer! You’ve come just in time to
+save us, for we are completely out of ammunition. Where’s Cody?”
+
+“Gone to head off Oak Heart’s messenger to the men he had hidden up the
+cañon to fall upon us--had we come that way,” said Danforth.
+
+“And there is the rest of your column appearing!” cried Keyes.
+
+His seniority gave him command. He raised his saber on high and stood
+up in his stirrups.
+
+“Now, charge back to the fort, my bully boys, and give these red devils
+what they are looking for!”
+
+The redskins were not inactive, and there were already empty saddles
+in the troop; but the tribesmen were demoralized. They began fleeing
+toward the river across the valley. Out upon the ridge spurred the guns
+belonging to Captain Taylor’s command, unlimbered, and opened fire on
+the fleeing reds, the shells screaming over the heads of the charging
+troops in blue. Down into the valley poured the remainder of Taylor’s
+column, eager to have some part in the rout.
+
+Upon this scene rode Buffalo Bill and his beautiful captive as they
+left the cañon’s mouth. The Indians were in wild flight. The whites
+were forcing them toward the river.
+
+Buffalo Bill pulled in his horse, and his keen glance swept the field
+of carnage. He saw that the battle was practically over. Oak Heart’s
+warriors had shown the white feather. The unexpected coming of the
+rescue-party had knocked out completely the reds’ plans, and they could
+not rally.
+
+Then the scout looked down at the sorrowful face of White Antelope.
+
+“Yonder flies the White Antelope’s father, the great chief, Oak Heart,
+and his people,” Cody said gravely. “The palefaces are greater than the
+red men. They always have been. They always will be. Remember, White
+Antelope, that Pa-e-has-ka says this, and he is wise, and he knows.
+The red men must melt away before the white men, or else become as
+the white men are--tillers of the soil, traders, homesteaders. The
+red men, who learn this lesson soon, will be saved. There is no other
+gospel to preach to the red men--and Pa-e-has-ka preaches it.
+
+“The White Antelope’s mother was white,” continued the old scout,
+seeing that he had the girl’s attention, and he spoke with trembling
+voice. “She was a beautiful woman--and Oak Heart loved her greatly.
+While she lived the Sioux remained for years at peace with the white
+men. Now Oak Heart is influenced by less wise counselors than thy
+mother. And see what has come of it!
+
+“Many men are dead. Much bitterness is engendered. The strife has been
+bloody, and now the red men go back to their squaws and children like
+whipped dogs!
+
+“The whites and reds will now be against each other for a long time
+because of this trouble. And what have the people gained, White
+Antelope? A few scalps? Aye, but they have lost more. Many women will
+tear their hair and mourn in the lodges of the Sioux because of this
+battle.
+
+“Let the White Antelope remember this. She has influence beyond her
+years with her people. Let her remember what Pa-e-has-ka says and
+counsel her father and the other chiefs to make peace with the white
+men while they may.
+
+“Now, Pa-e-has-ka sends the White Antelope back to Chief Oak Heart.
+Tell thy father how the Long Hair had thee in his power, and did thee
+no harm. I am thy friend, White Antelope. See! that is the way to the
+river. Keep behind the trees, and the bluecoats will not see thee. Fly!
+For the time is short. Soon your people will be in full retreat, and
+the old chief will believe his daughter is lost to him.”
+
+The scout set the girl down upon her feet. His voice trembled as he
+ceased speaking, and he looked closely into her face to see if it had
+been moved at all by his speech. But he saw there only fright and
+wonder--the terror of the wild creature unexpectedly released from the
+trap.
+
+So he let her go and saw her flee on feet as fleet as a deer’s through
+the undergrowth toward the river, which the vanguard of the Indians
+were already crossing. Then the scout set spurs to Chief and tore after
+the column of blue which had hastened to the support of Keyes and
+Danforth.
+
+Although the rifles and pistols of the men from the fort were empty,
+their blades were sharp. Before Cody reached the field of action it had
+become merely a drive of redskins to the river. The bluecoats rode them
+down, hacking them as they passed, pressing Oak Heart hard.
+
+Horses and white men went down in the mêlée; but when the war-cry of
+Buffalo Bill was heard that seemed to drive the last atom of courage
+from the Sioux, and they ran like a herd of frightened deer, flinging
+away their arms, and leaping from the high river-bank into the shallows.
+
+Some were swept away by the deeper current in the middle and drowned.
+Had there been a ford near at hand, the soldiers would have crossed
+over and continued the massacre on the farther side. But the stream
+afforded Oak Heart a chance to rally his braves.
+
+Sheltered somewhat by the high bank, his riflemen could pick off the
+soldiers as they appeared, and it became dangerous for the cavalrymen
+to ride to the very brink of the bluff. This allowed the frightened
+Indians to escape across the stream, Oak Heart and a few others
+guarding their retreat.
+
+While Buffalo Bill was receiving the congratulations of Captain Keyes
+and Texas Jack, the voice of the old chief, Oak Heart, suddenly rose
+from below.
+
+“I know you, Great White Chief Buffalo Bill! Oak Heart never forget.
+You save your people--kill my young men--make Sioux run! Me remember,
+Pa-e-has-ka!”
+
+“He’s got it in for you, Bill, sure enough!” cried Texas Jack.
+
+Raising his trumpetlike voice, the great scout replied to the threat of
+the beaten Indian chief:
+
+“Pa-e-has-ka knows the voice of Oak Heart--and the heart of Oak Heart.
+He will not forget!”
+
+The Border King might have picked off the chief with his rifle as he
+climbed the farther bank of the stream on his wearied pony. But he
+scorned to do such an act. Besides, far up the river he saw a slender
+figure dive down the bank, plunge into the stream, and fight the fierce
+current to the other side, where it quickly scrambled out, up the bank,
+and ran to join the fleeing Indians.
+
+“What become of the girl, Cody?” whispered Dick Danforth, getting him
+aside.
+
+The Border King pointed to this figure following the trail of the
+defeated warriors.
+
+“There she goes, Dick,” he whispered. “Remember your promise!”
+
+It was indeed a great victory for the whites. The Sioux had lost many
+ponies and more than a hundred slain, although some of the dead had
+been taken away. In wounded the Indians had suffered more heavily still.
+
+However, it was a costly victory for the whites. More than twenty
+troopers lay dead within the fort, and several were scattered upon the
+plain. There were more than half a hundred seriously injured, while of
+minor casualties there were so many that the garrison had ceased to
+note them. Almost everybody within Fort Advance showed, at least, some
+slight mark of the conflict.
+
+Upon every tongue was heard the name of Buffalo Bill, the Border
+King; for, but for him, how different might have been the result! All
+felt that the great scout had saved Fort Advance, and, as Texas Jack
+said, “put a crimp in the Sioux that they’d remember till they were
+gray-headed.” Indeed the fame of this deed for many years made Buffalo
+Bill’s name a household word along the frontier.
+
+Embarrassed by the praise bestowed upon him, the scout looked to the
+care of his horse, Chief, and then slipped away to hide and rest, Texas
+Jack keeping his hiding-place a secret that he might not be disturbed.
+
+When he slipped out of his retreat the next day he was greeted with
+a cheer, and Major Baldwin sent for him at parade that evening and
+complimented him publicly for his work, with a word of praise for Texas
+Jack, as well.
+
+When matters had quieted down a little at the fort and the rescuers had
+returned to Fort Resistance, Buffalo Bill had a talk with Major Baldwin.
+
+“Somebody should make an attempt to see what old Oak Heart is about
+now,” said the scout. “And I reckon I’m the man, major. There are
+still a lot of masterless Indians in these hills, and we want to know
+what they’re up to. There is another matter I wish to scout around
+about, too. On my way down from Denver I crossed the trail of Boyd
+Bennett.”
+
+“You don’t mean that despicable deserter has dared show up again?”
+cried the major.
+
+“I believe he is in the neighborhood. There have been several robberies
+of stage-coaches and mail-wagons up north, and they bear the ear-marks
+of Boyd Bennett. At any rate, this clue I speak of will bear following
+up.”
+
+“Very well, Cody. I’ll excuse you from your other duties. I wish I was
+giving you a quiet vacation, however.”
+
+The scout smiled.
+
+“Excitement is the breath of life to me, major. Wait till I get old.
+Perhaps I may want to settle down then.”
+
+This Boyd Bennett was an old enemy of Buffalo Bill’s. He was a deserter
+from the United States Army, and had become the leader of one of those
+bands of road-agents that cropped up so thickly soon after the close
+of the Civil War. The West was overrun with disbanded guerrillas who
+had fought on both sides of the great struggle--wild and masterless men
+who had lived so long by the power of the sword, that they would not
+conform to law and order when legitimate fighting was supposed to be
+ended.
+
+These cursed the growing West. Boyd Bennett had committed several
+crimes, but had as yet escaped apprehension and punishment.
+
+An army paymaster was soon to make the rounds by coach, paying off
+the several garrisons; and so it was important to locate Boyd Bennett,
+the overland bandit, and his gang, and make sure that they were not
+plotting to seize the paymaster’s treasure.
+
+After a couple of days’ trailing into the Indian country, the scout
+found that Oak Heart and his warriors were seemingly too much battered
+by the battle at Fort Advance to think of making another raid at
+present. They were likely to lie low for awhile.
+
+So Buffalo Bill went in search of Boyd Bennett and his gang. He
+knew that the rendezvous of the road-agents was usually near some
+stage-road, and the scout chanced upon the road leading from Fort
+Advance to Alikon. He knew the time of the coach-running, and after
+riding along the trail for a couple of miles he came upon the coach as
+he expected.
+
+That is, he expected to find the coach about here; but the scene
+presented to his gaze, when he beheld it, was most startling.
+
+There was the coach; the horses were standing patiently in the trail;
+and yet no driver was on the box, nor did he see any one near at first.
+Spurring forward, Buffalo Bill beheld the driver sprawling on the
+ground, with the reins still clutched tightly in his hands. It was Bud
+Sharkey, whom the scout knew well; and the unfortunate fellow had been
+shot from his seat on the stage-coach.
+
+There were three other dead bodies on the ground--an officer and two
+soldiers. They were all dead, and, furthermore, the scout noted now
+that the four had been scalped.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV. THE TREASURE CHEST.
+
+
+This dreadful discovery told the scout that Indians had held up the
+coach. Yet he wondered if it had been done for robbery as well as
+murder? The officer he recognized as Captain Hinkley, the paymaster;
+the soldiers were his guard. He was a week ahead of his time; yet he
+had not managed to get safely through.
+
+The fact that Indians had done the deed, however, disturbed Buffalo
+Bill. He could not understand it. The marks of half a dozen unshod
+ponies proved that his first suspicion was correct. Some of Oak Heart’s
+young braves might have done this. It was true, too, that the driver
+and soldiers had all been shot with arrows.
+
+“How do I know that robbery has been committed at all?” muttered
+Buffalo Bill, and he leaped off his horse and made search inside the
+stage.
+
+It was revealed at once that the marauders must have been frightened
+off before they came upon Captain Hinkley’s strong-box and bags of coin.
+
+Fear of being caught in the act of murder and rapine usually rides
+the redskin to undue haste. Had there been whites with this gang of
+red robbers--either Boyd Bennett himself or any of his men--Cody knew
+that no small matter would have frightened them away before the object
+of the hold-up of the stage was accomplished. And the presence of the
+treasure-chest proved that the marauders must have been driven off.
+
+By what, or whom? Surely his own coming had not done this! Yet the
+thought gave the scout food for serious reflection. Perhaps the reds
+might be lurking near and would descend again upon the spot and finish
+their job by gathering in _his_ scalp as well as that of the driver,
+the paymaster, and his guards.
+
+He did not touch the money, therefore, but appeared likewise to find
+nothing in the coach. He even went back to his horse, mounted into the
+saddle, and set off along the trail at a lope as though proposing to
+go for help. He had remembered that there was a sandy piece of ground
+not far away, and here his horse’s hoofbeats would be deadened. As
+soon as he reached this he halted, dismounted, led his horse up among
+the rocks, and approached the scene of the catastrophe with great
+circumspection. Not a bird did he raise by this maneuver.
+
+“They’ve vamosed!” declared Buffalo Bill, with confidence. “A scalping
+party of reds, and they knew nothing about the money. So it appears,
+at least. Yet, from all I’ve heard, Bennett is hand and glove with Oak
+Heart’s people. He’ll hear of this without fail. Now, what had I better
+do?”
+
+He spent little time in cogitating, however. Cody was a man who made up
+his mind instinctively, rather than by any slow process of reasoning.
+He was prompt on this occasion to come to a conclusion.
+
+The party of Indians who had done this hold-up act were not in the
+immediate vicinity. It was of some moment to Cody, however, to
+learn how far they had gone, and in what direction. He rustled the
+treasure-box out of the stage and lugged it up into the rocks, where he
+found a hiding-place that would do for the nonce. Then he picked up
+the trail of the redskins afoot and hurried after them.
+
+Beyond the nearest hill the party had fled down into a well-watered
+valley which the scout knew led to a gorge, which was about the
+shortest way to Oak Heart’s camp. If Boyd Bennett and his gang happened
+to be with the Indians, saw the scalps, and guessed who the reds had
+murdered, he would be here after the treasure-box in short order.
+
+Buffalo Bill believed that the reds were aiming for this gorge; yet
+they might have had another route in view. To make sure, he cut across
+the valley on a straight line for the mouth of the gorge to see if the
+trail was marked there, as well.
+
+The middle of the valley was a swamp, and one that the scout had never
+been through. He had no idea that it was so dangerous a place until he
+had gotten some rods into it. Then, in leaping from a tussock to what
+looked like a solid log, he found the log, hammock, and all, sinking
+under him, and there was no safe spot ahead on which he could alight.
+
+“Great Scott! I’d better go around, after all,” he muttered, in
+disgust, and turned gingerly on the sinking log.
+
+And then, to his amazement, he saw that the comparatively safe place on
+which he had last stood had disappeared! As he leaped it had toppled
+over and the quagmire had swallowed it instantly. All he could see was
+a long stretch of some ten or twelve feet of stinking, dimpling black
+muck!
+
+“However did I get over that place?” grunted the scout, in surprise.
+“Why, I’m due to go ten feet under the surface maybe, if I jump!”
+
+And it quickly became apparent that he might go that depth under the
+surface if he didn’t jump, too. The old log sank lower and lower, until
+finally the liquid mud lapped over it completely and began to rise
+around his ankles. The log was only about eight feet long. He crept to
+the end which lay nearest solid ground, but even then it was a good
+eight-foot jump, and from such an unstable footing that seemed well
+nigh impossible of accomplishment.
+
+Besides, the log began to tip. Where he stood it sank deeper and
+deeper, and with a splash of the filthy mire the other end shot into
+sight. Cody had to leap to the middle of the stick quickly to save
+himself from toppling over completely into the mud. There he wavered
+a moment until he caught his balance, and then, with grimness, looked
+about for escape.
+
+He couldn’t hope for any help. Indeed, he would have been more troubled
+than delighted to see any other person than himself in this swamp at
+just this moment. The matter of the pay-chest rested heavily on his
+mind. However he escaped from this situation it must be by his own
+exertions, and those alone.
+
+To try to wade to a more solid spot was to court possible extinction.
+To sink slowly into this muck and be smothered by it was a horrible
+thought. It chilled even the scout’s blood!
+
+And, meantime, the log was sinking steadily. Inch by inch it was being
+submerged, and the mire was crawling up Buffalo Bill’s boot-legs.
+
+The swamp was quite heavily wooded, so he was hidden from the view of
+anybody on the eminences around about. And, as he cast a worried glance
+about at the heights in fear that he might have attracted attention,
+he suddenly beheld the end of a tree branch almost over his head.
+
+“Ah!” exclaimed he, and his eyes glistened as he followed the trend of
+this branch with their glance.
+
+Of course, the branch was altogether too slight above his head to
+bear his weight, even could he reach it. But it promised something.
+He glanced along its length several times to the parent trunk some
+twenty feet away, and then began operations. There was, indeed, no time
+for him to lose, for the log was a good bit under the surface of the
+dimpling mud by this.
+
+The fronded end of the branch was much too high for him to reach it
+with his hands; nor could he pull it down with his gun. Indeed, he
+got rid of that implement at once--it only weighed him down into the
+mire the faster--by tossing it into a crotch of the branch, where it
+fortunately chanced to catch and hang. He removed his belt, slipped the
+cartridges into the side pockets of his coat, tied his handkerchief to
+one end of the belt to make it longer, and then fastened one of his
+pistols to the handkerchief to weight the end. Swinging this weighted
+line, he cast the pistol about the small twigs above his head. The
+weapon caught in them, and gradually he drew the end of the branch down
+within the grasp of his hands.
+
+He held this and fastened on his belt and gun again, buttoning his
+pockets so as not to lose his ammunition. The end of the branch was a
+bushy fan of small twigs and leaves. He could pull it down into the
+mud, and the green wood was tough and strong; but there was a big
+chance, when he bore any weight upon it, of the limb tearing off at the
+trunk.
+
+However, swarming up this branch seemed the only way of escape from
+the smothering mud which already was as high as his knees. Its suction
+was terrific, too. When he flung himself forward on the branch he could
+scarcely drag his boots out of the mire.
+
+But he fought on desperately, dragging up first one booted foot and
+then the other, and, although the limb cracked and he lay almost flat
+in the mud at first, he finally wormed his way up the branch to its
+bigger part. There he straddled it and waited to get his breath, and to
+scrape off some of the mud.
+
+“A little more,” he puffed, “and I’d have gone down in that, and nobody
+would have been the wiser. Ah!”
+
+He halted in his speech and stared down into the mud. An idea had
+smitten him, and he turned it over and over in his mind while he worked
+his way along the limb and descended to the foot of the tree.
+
+He returned as quickly as possible to the edge of the swamp, and was
+contented thereafter to follow the trail of the redskins direct. No
+more short cuts! He found in time that his early suspicions had been
+correct. The trail led to the head of the gorge, and he was bound to
+believe that the murderers were some of Oak Heart’s Sioux.
+
+“Boyd Bennett will learn of the hold-up inside of twenty-four hours--if
+not sooner. It’s up to me to hide that money where he won’t be able to
+find it.”
+
+With this decision uppermost in his mind, he put into practise the idea
+that had been suggested to him as he sat on the tree branch. Returning
+to the temporary hiding-place of the money, he carried the chest to the
+edge of the swamp, endeavoring to leave as little trail as possible as
+he went. He had brought his lariat with him, and when he reached one
+of the most treacherous-looking pools of mud, he fastened the lariat
+about the box and lowered it into the depths. The quagmire sucked the
+box out of sight almost instantly.
+
+Then Cody tied the end of the lariat to a tree-root under the surface
+of the muck, and so effectually disposed of the treasure where
+nobody but himself--or some person whom he guided--could find it. He
+returned to the scene of the hold-up and prepared to get away with the
+driverless stage instantly.
+
+He placed the dead man inside the stage, tied Chief to one of the
+leaders, and, mounting to the box, drove hurriedly along the trail.
+
+Being alone, he could not drive the horses and guard the treasure, too;
+so he had hidden it, intending to bring back a file of troopers from
+the fort later and pick it up.
+
+He had not driven two miles along the trail when, loud and threatening,
+rose a voice from the rocks beside the road, which uttered these
+significant words:
+
+“Live or die--yours the choice! Up with your hands there!”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI. THE BANDITS OF THE OVERLAND TRAIL.
+
+
+It was Buffalo Bill’s choice to live just then, so he drew rein. He
+knew from whom the command came, too, just as well as he knew that
+resistance would be useless.
+
+“Up with your hands, or die! Come, take your choice, Buffalo Bill!”
+
+The threatening words were repeated, as Buffalo Bill had simply reined
+the horses to a halt and still grasped the lines. He saw at a glance
+that bandits had sprung to the heads of his leaders, while he was
+covered by the revolver in the hand of Boyd Bennett himself. With no
+change of expression the scout said:
+
+“As you seem to hold trumps in this game, Bennett, up go my hands.”
+
+He gave the reins a turn around the lantern, and Buffalo Bill coolly
+raised his hands above his head to the apparent relief of the outlaws
+at the horses’ heads, for they seemed to have feared that, after all,
+he might resist. They knew that, if he had chosen to die fighting, some
+of them would have bitten the dust first.
+
+“You have acted wisely, Buffalo Bill, and I am glad to see that even
+you can be cowed when you’re in a tight place,” laughed Boyd Bennett.
+
+“We won’t discuss that part of the proposition,” said Cody coolly. “I’m
+anxious to get on, so don’t detain me with philosophical remarks.”
+
+“Ah--indeed! In a hurry, are you?”
+
+“I am, Bennett; in a mighty hurry.”
+
+“Well, wait a bit. Go slowly. You’ve got something on that stage I
+want--though I didn’t expect to see you driving it.”
+
+“No?”
+
+“But you make as good a driver as any--and you give up just as easy,”
+and Boyd Bennett laughed again.
+
+“Well, what is it you want?”
+
+“The gold-box you carry.”
+
+“You’ve got me, old man,” said Buffalo Bill easily. “Guess again.”
+
+“Don’t play with me, Cody, or I’ll have your life.”
+
+“What’s the use of shooting me if you’re not going to make anything out
+of it?” demanded the scout calmly.
+
+“I am determined to have that paymaster’s chest.”
+
+“Oh, sho! _that’s_ your game, is it?”
+
+“It is.”
+
+“And you think I’ve got it?”
+
+“I _know_ it’s on this stage-coach.”
+
+“Come, now, what’ll you bet?” drawled Cody easily.
+
+“What are you waiting for, Cody?” demanded the outlaw angrily. “I know
+you’ve got it. Shell out!”
+
+“You know a lot, Bennett.”
+
+“I know the gold is there.”
+
+“You’re mistaken.”
+
+“I am not. I had a friend who saw it put on board. You’ve got it, and I
+intend to possess it.”
+
+“Go ahead and possess,” drawled the scout.
+
+“Don’t you trifle with me, Cody! I know you wouldn’t have been put up
+to drive this old hearse if the soldiers’ money was not aboard.”
+
+“Say! you know a whole lot, Bennett. D’ye mind if I smoke?”
+
+“Keep your hands up!” roared Bennett; “or I’ll puncture you!”
+
+“Thanks! You needn’t be so gruff about it. Didn’t know tobacco smoke
+was so offensive to you.”
+
+“Hand down that box before I count three, or you’re a dead man!”
+commanded the robber with deadly significance.
+
+“You keep well posted, Bennett; but you’re behind time on this run.”
+
+“What do you mean?” asked the startled road-agent, beginning to
+suspect that Buffalo Bill’s ease of manner masked some high card in the
+game.
+
+“The coach has already been robbed.”
+
+“You lie!”
+
+Buffalo Bill’s brows met in a sudden frown.
+
+“You’ve got the drop on me, Bennett, or you’d never question my word
+aloud.”
+
+“You _do_ lie.”
+
+“Open the coach door and look for yourself.”
+
+“Not for Joe! I’m no spring chicken, Cody,” laughed the outlaw. “Set a
+trap for us, have you? Men! fire through that coach--low down.”
+
+Half a dozen or more rifles blazed away. The bullets shattered the
+sashes of the coach doors and went through and through the vehicle.
+
+“Scared at nothing, are you?” taunted Buffalo Bill. “If I’d come up
+behind you on a dark night and hollered ‘Boo!’ I suppose you’d all run.”
+
+“Men! if he moves, kill him!” commanded the exasperated Bennett, and he
+stepped forward and flung open the coach door.
+
+Even Boyd Bennett started at what he beheld there.
+
+“The devil! what does this mean, Cody?”
+
+“Injuns.”
+
+“How did you escape?”
+
+“Wasn’t with the coach.”
+
+“And the treasure-box?”
+
+“Look for yourself.”
+
+“The Indians got it?”
+
+“Whether they did or did not, you lose the game, Bennett,” said Buffalo
+Bill, laughing with an appearance of heartiness which he did not feel.
+
+“I don’t believe they got it!” cried Bennett, in rage.
+
+“Well, you can run along and ask ’em. They’re not over a dozen miles
+away, I reckon.”
+
+The countenance of Boyd Bennett grew black with passion, and for a
+moment he was silent, while into his eyes crept an expression of
+devilish intent. Then he spoke, and his words hissed from a throat hot
+with passion:
+
+“Buffalo Bill, you have sealed your doom by this act!”
+
+“Say! I’ve heard talk like that before, Bennett.”
+
+“Mine are no idle words.”
+
+“Well, go on with the dance,” quoth the scout coolly.
+
+“Here!” commanded the bandit chief, “two of you men get up on the box
+and bind him.”
+
+He was obeyed at once, as far as the climbing to the box went, although
+the fellows approached the scout gingerly enough. Buffalo Bill sat
+smiling, with his hands still raised above his head. Suddenly, as
+the men were about to seize him, and their bodies in some measure
+intervened between his own and the rifles and pistol pointed at the
+scout, the latter seized both with iron grip.
+
+Giving his war-whoop, the scout leaped up, hurled one of the
+road-agents to the ground, and with the other in his arms leaped from
+the box of the coach. As they alighted, Buffalo Bill drew a revolver,
+and was throwing it forward to fire at the outlaw chief, when the
+weapon was knocked from his hand by a blow from behind, and several of
+the bandits threw themselves upon him.
+
+“For your lives, do not kill him!” shouted Bennett, springing forward
+to join in the fight for the mastery of the scout.
+
+Borne down by the weight of numbers, Buffalo Bill was unable to break
+from his foes, and he was soon securely bound, hand and foot. Then the
+bandits turned to their chief for further orders. The expression of
+fiendish cruelty upon Bennett’s face showed that he had formed some
+diabolical plot to avenge himself upon his old-time foe. He believed
+that Buffalo Bill had thwarted him in his desire to get the government
+money; and, anyway, there was an old score between them, and Bennett
+proposed to square the account to date!
+
+“Now drag him up to that box again,” ordered the bandit leader, and
+with some effort they accomplished it.
+
+“Lash him there!” was the next command, and the scout was securely tied
+to the seat.
+
+“Now throw the reins loosely over the foot-board!”
+
+This order was likewise obeyed, Buffalo Bill the while looking calmly
+on, evidently anticipating the crime his enemy intended, yet uttering
+no word. He would not plead for his life of the miserable cur who now
+had him in his power.
+
+Having executed their work, by lashing Buffalo Bill with lariats firmly
+to the box seat and his feet to the foot-board, the outlaws turned to
+their cruel captain for further orders. It was at this moment that
+Buffalo Bill took occasion to speak; but his voice was calm and his
+manner unshaken:
+
+“Hold on, Bennett, before you go too far!”
+
+The bandits’ chief turned with a wicked smile, and asked:
+
+“With what do you threaten me, Bill Cody?”
+
+“The worst fate that ever met mortal man, if you dare commit the deed
+you have in view,” was the bold reply.
+
+“Dead men tell no tales!”
+
+“Ah, but they do! It is only the fool that says ‘It is all over!’ when
+his enemy is dead by his hand. It is not over. It has only begun! My
+fate will become known; a hundred border men will not rest till they
+learn who committed this deed; and then a thousand men will not rest
+till vengeance is satisfied!”
+
+“Bah! Your friends might be bad men to meet, I’ve no doubt--if they
+could prove anything.”
+
+“They’ll prove enough. Your fate will be worse than mine, Boyd Bennett.”
+
+“You seem to be cock-sure of what I’m going to treat you to?” said
+Bennett.
+
+“I am.”
+
+“Well, what is it?”
+
+“You propose to lead the horses to yonder fork of the trail, turn them
+loose, and start them down Breakneck Hill.”
+
+“Right! Right, by thunder!” roared the road-agent, slapping his thigh
+and laughing. “You are a mighty good guesser, Buffalo Bill. That is
+exactly what I shall do.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII. A FRIEND IN NEED.
+
+
+If Buffalo Bill’s face paled he showed no other mark of fear. He knew
+Boyd Bennett, and had every reason to believe that the man hated him
+desperately enough to carry out his awful threat.
+
+It was no bluff on the outlaw’s part to frighten him into giving up the
+secret of the hidden government money. To a man like Bennett, whose
+temper was ungovernable, revenge was worth more than treasure. He did
+not even ask the scout where he had hidden the treasure-box.
+
+“I haven’t forgotten, my handsome plainsman, that once you captured me
+and sent me to the guard-house. I swore to be revenged upon you then.”
+
+“You deserved what you got--you dirty deserter!” exclaimed Buffalo Bill.
+
+The outlaw leader shrugged his shoulders and turned to his men.
+
+“All ready?”
+
+“He’s hard and fast, captain.”
+
+“Unfasten that splendid horse he was riding. I need just such an animal
+in my business.”
+
+They untied Chief from the leaders.
+
+“Buffalo Bill, straight for the Breakneck you go. And if these horses
+don’t carry you down fast enough to smash this old coach to atoms and
+break your cursed neck, I’ll give up this business and turn parson!”
+
+“You’ll never have time to repent of your sins and turn parson,
+Bennett,” said the scout.
+
+“Meaning I’ll die with my boots on?” asked the outlaw lightly.
+
+“Meaning you’ll be hung,” returned Buffalo Bill.
+
+“Don’t you put too much confidence in _that_, old man,” said Bennett.
+“At least, you won’t be to my hanging.”
+
+“There’s many a slip, you know,” said the scout tauntingly.
+
+“I presume you hope to be rescued even now, do you not?” cried Bennett.
+
+But Buffalo Bill did not expect that. He had taunted the man, hoping to
+inspire him with such ungovernable fury that he would shoot him quickly
+and so save him the awful ride to death. Even the boldest man might
+shrink from that journey down Breakneck Hill!
+
+“No, no, old man! You are mine this time. I tell you that you, the
+horses, and the old hearse, shall all go to the devil together. Here,
+boys! lead the horses to yonder fork of the roads and there turn them
+loose!”
+
+The command was obeyed. Whether the other outlaws desired Buffalo
+Bill’s death as their leader did, he had such a hold upon them that not
+one objected to the mode of vengeance to be wreaked upon the scout.
+The horses were led to the brink of the steep hill. It had once been
+the stage-road; but a landslide, and various heavy rains, had made it
+impracticable. It was almost as steep as the side of a house in places,
+and the roadway was full of boulders and stumps, while the gulleys made
+by heavy rains cut through it in many spots. A careful pack-animal
+might pick its way from top to bottom safely; but no vehicle could
+exist in a passage down Breakneck Hill.
+
+The hill was not a continuous decline. It pitched sharply at first;
+then there was nearly a quarter of a mile of easy going along a plateau
+until there came the final and impassable descent into the valley.
+
+“Now, Buffalo Bill, your life ends here!” cried Bennett savagely.
+
+“All right, Bennett! And the boys won’t forget how I died,” was the
+reckless response.
+
+“Turn ’em loose!” shouted the bandit leader.
+
+The men at the bits sprang aside. The horses, having stood so long, and
+“smelling their oats” ahead of them, were eager to be off. With a great
+tug the coach started, the harness clattering about the horses’ heels
+almost immediately as the coach pitched over the rise. This, and the
+shouts and yells of the outlaws, frightened the poor brutes. They felt
+no restraining hand on the lines; there was no foot on the brake. The
+coach was coming down behind them with all its weight.
+
+Therefore the horses leaped away, frightened beyond reason. The old
+coach bumped and swayed. The rough, steep pitch was not long, but it
+looked as though the coach would not arrive at the bottom of this first
+incline without being smashed.
+
+Down it thundered, the wheels bumping, the body swaying, and the bound
+figure, on the seat unable to retard it in the least. Behind thundered
+the big white horse, for, breaking away from its captors, Chief
+intended to follow his master to the death!
+
+Not far away from the scene of the hold-up of the stage-coach by the
+outlaws, and near the time that the coach and horses were released upon
+this dangerous dash down Breakneck Hill, a horseman was crossing a
+table-land, one side of which was formed by the steep wall of the bluff
+down the face of which the old stage-road led.
+
+Though alone upon the table-land, far in the rear other horsemen were
+visible upon his trail. At first glance one might have thought that it
+was a chase, the man in front being pursued by the score or so of men
+behind him; but a second scrutiny would have shown that it was merely
+the difference in horse-flesh and human endurance that caused the long
+space to separate the leader and his followers.
+
+The lone horseman was dressed in a cavalry fatigue uniform with pants
+tucked in boots, a slouch-hat pinned up with a pair of crossed sabers,
+and a gold cord encircling the hat, while upon the shoulders of his
+jacket were straps showing his rank to be that of a first lieutenant in
+the United States Army.
+
+His face was stern for so young a man, but there were humorous lines
+about his smoothly shaven lips, and fun danced in the corners of his
+eyes. Despite the hard brown of his countenance, that must have begun
+to be tanned by the Western sun and wind at an early age, there was a
+kindly appearance about the young lieutenant.
+
+He was armed with a cavalry sword and a pair of service pistols. One
+gauntleted hand rested on his sword-hilt as his horse galloped along.
+He was several miles ahead of his men, who were now scarcely more than
+black specks against the horizon.
+
+“Kinder risky to ride so far ahead, I suppose,” he was muttering. “Bill
+would tell me that. By thunder! if I’m attacked on this plateau I can
+fight--or run--I hope. There’s little cover hereabouts for either
+Indians or road-agents. And the latter gentry don’t usually care to
+tackle Uncle Sam’s cavalry.”
+
+Suddenly the silence about him was shattered by distant yells and
+several rifle-shots. He glanced back. Nothing was happening to his men.
+The sound came from ahead. Again he heard shouts and shots, and after
+that the ring of horses’ hoofs and the rumble of heavy wheels.
+
+“By thunder! a hold-up!” he gasped. “And those weren’t Indian yells.
+The stage-coach, I’ll bet! Yet the coach wouldn’t take the old road
+yonder. Why! It couldn’t come that way! It would be surely wrecked.”
+
+Yet, although the shouts and rifle-shots died away, the sound of the
+wheels and the hammering of the horses’ hoofs increased. Some heavy
+vehicle, drawn by several horses, was coming down the Breakneck Hill
+road!
+
+The lone horseman, who had halted at the first sound, now set spurs to
+his mount again. He headed directly across the plateau. The stage-road
+was just below the brink of the precipitous slant not many rods away,
+and toward this place the lieutenant hurried.
+
+“It _is_ the stage!” he cried. “The miscreants have turned it down
+the old road. There’s a level bit below here for some rods; but if it
+crosses that and goes down the other descent--well! God help them if
+there is man, woman, or child aboard!”
+
+He reached the brink of the steep descent to the level stretch of the
+old road. Down the first dip was tearing six frightened steeds with the
+old stage-coach swaying and bounding behind them. And in the rear a
+riderless white horse was racing after the coach!
+
+That horse the lieutenant recognized.
+
+“That’s Cody’s mount--it is, by thunder! What’s it doing here? And
+where’s Bill?”
+
+There was not another horse like Chief on the frontier; but the stage
+was too far away for the young man to recognize the figure swaying on
+the coach seat.
+
+“They’re running away, and the driver’s lost his nerve!” exclaimed the
+cavalryman.
+
+Then he raised his voice, shouting in trumpet tones:
+
+“Put on your brake! drag hard on your lines, man, or you are lost!”
+
+The six horses, keeping their feet almost miraculously, bounded out
+upon the level stretch. They did not hold back in the least. They
+were maddened with fear now, and were headed straight for the second
+descent. On _that_ hill they would quickly come to grief. No power
+could save them.
+
+Again the astonished cavalryman yelled his warning to the man on the
+driver’s seat of the coach. His words seemed to reach the man’s ears.
+He made no move to seize the lines or retard the mad course of the
+horses, but in clarion tones came back the answer:
+
+“I am bound! I cannot stop them! Shoot!”
+
+Perhaps the involuntary passenger on the doomed stage-coach meant for
+the young man to shoot _him_ and so let him escape a more awful death.
+But no such intention had the lieutenant. The coach was coming toward
+him rapidly, and he obtained a clearer view of the bound man.
+
+“Buffalo Bill, by the nine gods of war!” he shouted suddenly,
+recognizing his friend. “What in Heaven’s name does this mean?”
+
+There was nobody to answer the query; but he saw that the man was
+indeed bound to his seat, and that the reins were loosely swinging,
+bound to the lantern. The brake was not on at all!
+
+At this discovery the lieutenant sank his spurs into the flanks of
+his thoroughbred, and, with a wild snort of pain and anger, the horse
+leaped down the sharp declivity toward the piece of rough, but level
+roadway, over which the coach must come.
+
+Yet half-way down the incline the lieutenant was smitten with a sudden
+thought, and he pulled hard on the bit. The thoroughbred lay back on
+his haunches and slid. The rider seized one of his guns and cocked the
+weapon.
+
+“Now, Dick Danforth, prove your fame as a dead shot,” he muttered. “For
+if ever true marksmanship was needed, it is now to save yonder brave
+man from death!”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII. THE RACE WITH DEATH.
+
+
+The young officer’s face was stern, yet calm. No nerves had he, and,
+although so much depended upon his work of the next few moments, he was
+certainly cool. His eyes only flashed, showing the excitement that bore
+him up.
+
+He glanced at the pistol to see that all was right. Straight along the
+level the maddened horses came, the coach swaying behind them like a
+ship in a heavy sea. And behind it came Chief as though he hoped to do
+something for his imperiled master.
+
+Dick Danforth was above the road, and, as he had pulled back his horse,
+the creature was fairly sliding down the steep incline, laying back on
+its haunches and bracing its forefeet to retard its progress.
+
+Buffalo Bill could do nothing to help himself. Even had he been able to
+seize the reins at this moment and slam on the brake, he could not have
+brought the wild horses to a halt before the damage was done. It all
+depended upon Dick Danforth.
+
+Far up the hill the keen eye of the officer descried a band of
+horsemen. They wore no uniforms, were not in buckskin, and were not
+Indians. He understood who they were at once. He knew that Buffalo Bill
+had been sent to his doom by the bandits of the overland trail.
+
+“But, by thunder! we’ll fool ’em!” muttered the young officer.
+
+Almost instantly his finger touched the trigger of the pistol, and the
+flash and report followed. With perfect presence of mind he had made
+his calculations. Did he kill one of the leaders it would throw the
+other horses upon him, and the stage would be wrecked after all, and
+Buffalo Bill doubtless killed.
+
+Did he kill one of the wheel-horses instead it would act as a drag on
+the others, and still be borne along at a slackening speed, until its
+mate could be brought down. This he had aimed to do and--he succeeded!
+
+With the crack of the first shot the off-wheeler dropped, the stage
+swayed forward sideways, and then was dragged on, with the dead horse,
+yet at a slackened pace.
+
+With the second shot the other wheel-horse stumbled, staggered,
+half-fell, regained its feet again, and finally went down heavily.
+Again the coach swayed badly; but the stout pole was kept up by the
+pressure of the draft of four horses upon it, and the heavy breast
+chains and traces held the two dead animals firmly attached to it, both
+acting as a powerful drag upon the others, and retarding their speed to
+a slow gallop.
+
+Dick Danforth let his mount out, came down the remainder of the run
+with a rush, and on the level reached the leader’s heads. He seized
+the bridle of the nearest horse and dragged him to one side, almost
+throwing him. The horse broke step and pulled its mate down. In a
+minute all four were brought up standing--and not an instant too soon,
+for the brink of the second and more perilous part of the hill was
+right before them!
+
+The horses were still in a nervous state; but Dick Danforth could
+trust his own mount. He placed the horse he rode in front of the
+leaders, leaped from the saddle, and left the bridle-reins hanging
+over his horse’s head. While they remained thus nothing less than an
+earthquake, or a volcanic eruption, would make the horse move out of
+his tracks--and the coach-animals could not pass him.
+
+“Quick, Danforth! As you are alone you’d best get out of here quick.
+Here come my foes!” cried Buffalo Bill, glancing back.
+
+Boyd Bennett and his men, all mounted now, were picking their way
+down the hill, intent upon overtaking Buffalo Bill again and his lone
+rescuer. But Dick Danforth was not the man to fly and leave a comrade
+in peril. His escort was as yet a long way off, he knew; Buffalo Bill
+was bound too tightly for quick release, and could not aid in beating
+back the bandits.
+
+Danforth ran directly toward the coach, nevertheless. Along came Chief
+at an easy lope, and he caught the horse. He saw that Cody’s loaded
+pistols were in the holsters. He snatched them out, and climbed quickly
+up to the box seat.
+
+By then the bandits had begun to fire. But, without replying, and while
+the lead whistled about their heads like hail, the lieutenant slashed
+the cords which held Buffalo Bill’s hands in limbo.
+
+“Grab these and let the sons-of-guns have ’em, Cody!” yelled the
+excited officer, thrusting his own pistols into the scout’s hands.
+
+Then he flung himself forward upon his face along the coach top, and,
+dragging his own guns from his boots, into the tops of which he had
+dropped them, he began to blaze away at Boyd Bennett and his gang with
+such good success that almost instantly the leader was wounded and
+another man was dropped out of his saddle. Buffalo Bill began to fire
+rapidly, too, being able to twist the upper part of his body about and
+take aim.
+
+With two such dead shots against the robbers, the latter had little
+stomach for the battle. Besides, the scoundrels saw Danforth’s hat, and
+one yelled:
+
+“Look out, boys! the troopers are on us!”
+
+And already the thunder of the squadron of cavalry on the plateau above
+reached their ears. Their leader having disappeared in such a hurry,
+the cavalrymen had come up rapidly, and now heard the firing of the
+guns below.
+
+“Hold, men! fly for your lives!” shouted the voice of Boyd Bennett.
+
+He wheeled and larruped his horse up the hill. Before the troopers
+reached the brink of the bluff above the coach, the robbers were out of
+sight.
+
+“You’re all right, old man!” yelled Danforth, in huge delight, smiting
+Cody on the back.
+
+“Thanks to you, Dick.”
+
+“Who was your particular friend yonder--the fellow with the mustache
+and the black hair?”
+
+“Boyd Bennett.”
+
+“By the nine gods of war! Too bad I didn’t settle his hash instead of
+just stinging him.”
+
+“Too bad, indeed, Dick.”
+
+“Are you hurt?”
+
+“No. But you might cut my other ropes. I’d like to get off this blamed
+old ramshackle thing before she starts again. Those horses are still
+nervous.”
+
+“Right you are, Bill!” cried the lieutenant, and while his men
+hurriedly made their way down the hill leading their mounts--and
+passing wondering remarks at the trail left on the hillside by the
+lieutenant’s horse--Danforth finished cutting Cody free.
+
+While Cody related his adventure with the coach, the lieutenant’s
+men dragged out the dead horses and reharnessed the others. The dead
+soldiers and driver brought forth angry ejaculations from the troopers.
+Danforth and his men were out on scouting duty, and when the lieutenant
+heard of the hidden treasure-chest, he undertook the duty of getting it
+and bearing it and the stage-coach on to Fort Advance.
+
+“You don’t need all your men for that, Dick,” the scout said. “Half
+your escort can take the coach and the treasure in. I’ve a long score
+to even up with Boyd Bennett, and I’m going to hit his trail right now.
+I have my horse and my weapons, and with you and a file of your men
+we ought to be able to handle the scoundrels if we have the luck to
+overtake them.”
+
+“I’m agreeable, Cody,” declared the reckless lieutenant. “You haven’t
+any scruples about my shooting these road-agents if we come up with
+them?”
+
+“What do you mean, lieutenant?” asked Cody curiously. “What’s the
+burn?”
+
+“Why, you seemed to object to my potting that Injun gal, White
+Antelope.”
+
+The scout’s face clouded, and he shook his head.
+
+“Don’t jest over that, Dick.”
+
+“Pshaw! I’m not jesting. I spotted her only this morning--and stayed my
+hand. Otherwise she would be walking behind my chariot.”
+
+“White Antelope out this way?” exclaimed Cody wonderingly.
+
+“She sure was.”
+
+“Then there’s something afoot among the Sioux. We must look into this.”
+
+“But first the road-agents?”
+
+“Yes. First we’ll serve Boyd Bennett.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX. DANFORTH’S HAND IS STAYED AGAIN.
+
+
+It was decided, however, that the entire troop would return with the
+stage-coach to the scene of the original hold-up. Although Bennett had
+been driven off so successfully by the bluecoats, Buffalo Bill feared
+that he might meet up with the scalping party that had killed the
+paymaster and his guard, and take his gang over to this spot to search
+for the pay-chest that he was so sure his old enemy, the scout, had
+hidden.
+
+“We might have the luck to catch him on the ground. If not, we’ll pick
+up his trail as soon as we see a part of your men off with the coach
+and the treasure,” said Cody.
+
+The four horses drew the empty stage up the hill with little
+difficulty, and, surrounded by the troop of cavalry, it rattled back
+along the trail to the gruesome spot where Cody had first seen it.
+There Danforth set his men afoot, and at several points of vantage, to
+watch the road and the valley behind the ridge, while he and the scout
+went down into the swamp for the treasure-chest.
+
+They had one of the troopers follow them at a distance of a few rods.
+Their numbers were so few, and they were so scattered, that Danforth
+took every precaution against being ambushed. The day was waning, and
+they were obliged to hurry if they would fish out the chest and then
+pick up the trail of the outlaw gang before night. And Danforth was
+quite as eager as the scout to do this last.
+
+When they got into the wood which masked the swampy ground they alarmed
+a big caribou, which started slowly in the very direction they were
+taking.
+
+“That doesn’t look much as though there were either reds or whites
+lurking near,” muttered Cody.
+
+“By Jove, Bill! I want a shot at that fellow,” exclaimed Danforth
+eagerly.
+
+“He’s not going fast. Perhaps you can bring him down.”
+
+“I’m going to try. There, he’s stopped to feed again. He’s a cheeky old
+cuss.”
+
+“What you want him for? Your party is well provisioned.”
+
+“The colonel will be glad of a haunch of caribou venison. He’s fond of
+it, and the flesh is good now.”
+
+“All right, Dick. Take my gun. It’s better than yours.”
+
+The eager young lieutenant seized the weapon and began creeping through
+the brush in the direction of the caribou’s flight. Cody came behind,
+not much interested in the game, having his mind more fixed upon the
+overtaking of Boyd Bennett. The hunt promised to be a brief one,
+however.
+
+Fortunately the running buck had not diverted far from the straightaway
+course to the hiding-place of the treasure-box; otherwise Cody might
+have more strenuously objected. In a few minutes the two men came to a
+glade well dotted with trees, yet free for the most part of brush so
+that they could see some distance.
+
+“Wait! isn’t that him, Bill?” whispered the young lieutenant.
+
+“Your eyesight is good, Dick. Where?” asked the scout.
+
+“Yonder. Beyond that low brush-clump.”
+
+“Ah!”
+
+“That’s sure him, Bill. Yes, sir! he’s facing this way. You can see his
+black breast and fore legs. Down, Bill! don’t show yourself,” whispered
+Danforth eagerly.
+
+“Wait a moment. Better be sure, Dick,” muttered the scout, stooping and
+peering under the sharp of his hand toward the spot indicated.
+
+“Gad! he’ll get away. Let me plug him.”
+
+The light was so uncertain that, old and keen-eyed hunter that he was,
+Cody was not at all sure it was the caribou they saw.
+
+“Don’t make a mistake, Dick,” he murmured.
+
+“What mistake? The mistake of letting the critter git away?” cried the
+young man, exasperated.
+
+“Many a man has been shot from overeagerness in the chase,” said the
+scout warningly.
+
+“Why, that’s no man!”
+
+“A big buck standing head on in the brush like this one, looks just
+like a man in black clothes--don’t you see?”
+
+“It _does_ look like a man,” admitted Danforth. “I’ll remember that,
+Bill. But we know well enough that _this_ is a caribou.”
+
+“Do we?”
+
+“Of course! Confound you, Bill----”
+
+Suddenly a sharp whistle issued from the scout’s lips. Dick Danforth
+swore out loud and jerked his gun to his shoulder. But the scout
+grabbed his arm.
+
+“There’s your buck, Dick!” the older man exclaimed.
+
+In a flash the figure beyond the glade moved and came into better view
+for an instant. It was not a deer at all, but a man--a gigantic figure,
+dressed in some rough black garment, and he was in view of the two
+friends for but a few seconds. Then he darted behind a tree.
+
+“It’s a bear!” gasped Danforth. “I might have plugged him, anyway.”
+
+“Get out! That’s no bear. It’s a man.”
+
+“One of that gang?” whispered Danforth, suddenly more cautious.
+
+“I--don’t--know----”
+
+“Better have let me shot him, anyway,” grumbled the lieutenant.
+
+“You bloodthirsty young savage! Be still.”
+
+Suddenly the figure beyond the glade rushed from behind the tree and
+glided swiftly away through the timber. As he went he uttered a most
+eery scream, his voice floating back to them as he disappeared in the
+rapidly darkening forest.
+
+“Well! what do you think of that?” gasped Danforth.
+
+“Why, the man must be crazy!” exclaimed the scout. “That wasn’t Bennett
+or any of his crowd.”
+
+“Nor a redskin.”
+
+“Of course, it wasn’t a red. And a madman----”
+
+“I’ve got it!” exclaimed the lieutenant suddenly. “That was the Mad
+Hunter.”
+
+“Pshaw! do you believe there is such a person?”
+
+“One of our old sergeants says he met him, and that the madman took a
+pot-shot at him,” declared the lieutenant.
+
+“Well. I’ve heard of him myself.”
+
+“And that chap was a big man, all right.”
+
+“A giant.”
+
+“And as crazy as a bedbug,” added Danforth decidedly.
+
+“Don’t know how crazy they are; but this chap certainly acted as though
+he was a good subject for restraint. Ugh! did you ever hear such a
+yell?”
+
+“I know you stopped me from making a very pretty shot, Bill,” laughed
+the youngster. “That’s the second time. The next time I’ll be tempted
+to turn my gun on you, old man.”
+
+Cody became grave again the instant he was reminded of how Danforth had
+come near to shooting White Antelope, but he made no rejoinder. They
+hurried back to the edge of the swamp, and, leaving the cavalryman to
+watch, the scout and the lieutenant soon found the root to which Cody
+had tied the lariat, and, with some little difficulty, dragged the
+submerged box into view. There was a handle upon each end, and between
+them the two friends carried the chest back to the stage-coach. They
+loaded it aboard, one of the troopers tied his horse behind and took
+the reins, and four rode before and behind the coach as guard. Just as
+dusk fell the paymaster’s chest resumed its journey to Fort Advance,
+with the dead bodies of its former unfortunate guardians.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX. A DOUBLE CAPTURE.
+
+
+Lieutenant Danforth and the bulk of his squad attended Buffalo Bill
+on his search for the gang of outlaws. As soon as the coach was well
+on its way, they rode to the spot where Boyd Bennett and his men had
+left the trail, and, despite the fact that it was rapidly growing dark,
+they picked up the hoofmarks of the renegades’ horses and followed them
+rapidly for some miles.
+
+Although the sky was clear and there was a long evening, the party of
+trailers could not keep on for long. They got well into the hills; but
+the tracks of the outlaw gang showed that Bennett had kept on at a
+swift pace, and it was utterly useless for the troop to wear out their
+own mounts and possibly miss the trail itself after dark.
+
+“It’s a long chase, as a stern chase always is, Dick,” said the scout.
+“We might as well make up our minds to that, first as last.”
+
+“So I suppose, Bill.”
+
+“But as long as we’re once on the scoundrel’s trail, I’ll stick to it
+to the end,” said Cody grimly. “Better rest up the men and horses and
+make an early start.”
+
+“Right you are. How’s yonder place for a camp?”
+
+“In among those rocks--yes. We can set sentinels on the top of them.
+Nobody can approach us then.”
+
+“All right. Too bad I didn’t drop that caribou. A little fresh meat
+would have been agreeable.”
+
+“No smoke, boy. Can’t afford to make a fire. We’re not only following
+some pretty shrewd white men, but we’re in the Injun country.”
+
+“Thunder!”
+
+“Cold fodder to-night,” said the scout firmly.
+
+“Well. My orderly always packs a small spirit-lamp. He can make shift
+to get us all a cup of coffee,” said Danforth, and he proceeded to give
+the necessary orders, and the troop was soon bivouacked for the night.
+
+The horses, well hobbled, grazed within bowshot of the camp, and a
+sentinel placed so as to overlook them where they were on the plain.
+No wily enemy might approach them without the watcher, if he be
+sharp-eyed, seeing the marauder. Yet Buffalo Bill did not altogether
+trust to the watchfulness of the troopers.
+
+He was in need of rest, and he rolled up in his blanket and left
+Danforth to smoke his pipe alone, early in the evening. But when the
+midnight watch turned out the old scout arose like a specter, spoke to
+the corporal in charge, and stole out of the camp. Knowing the avarice
+of Boyd Bennett and suspecting that of his men, he felt sure that they
+would not give up so easily the chance of finding and appropriating
+the pay-chest which Captain Hinkley had lost his life to defend.
+
+In the first blush of the attack by the troopers, the outlaws had
+broken and fled. But they would recover their nerve. They might be
+joined by some of Oak Heart’s braves, with whom Cody knew Bennett
+fraternized. They might even hear the full particulars of the Indians’
+hold-up of the stage, and be more confident than ever of the fact that
+Cody had hidden the treasure.
+
+The scout believed that, as he and Danforth had moved so quickly,
+the coach with its present guard would get through in safety to Fort
+Advance. It was probably there by this time, in fact. But Bennett
+and his men might come back to see what was really being done by the
+troopers, and they would be sure to fall upon the bivouac. Therefore,
+the scout was on the alert.
+
+He made a complete circuit of the camp, but out of sight and gunshot of
+the sentinels. He did not care to furnish a target for his own friends.
+Having agreed with the corporal on a signal, he would not come in
+without sounding it, and so warning the bluecoats of his return.
+
+However, he found no sign of an enemy, although he spent an hour and
+a half in creeping about the vicinity. And this very fact amazed and
+somewhat troubled him. He could not imagine Bennett under ordinary
+circumstances flying from an enemy without sending back a scout to
+learn if the trail was not being followed. Cody was dissatisfied. He
+feared that the reason he had not discovered such a scout was because
+it was some person more wily than himself!
+
+No white man could be that. Ordinarily Buffalo Bill would pitch his own
+cunning against a redskin’s, too; but in this case, if there was an
+Indian creeping about the camp, he would have the advantage over the
+Border King. He might have crawled to the summit of some hill and from
+that vantage overlook the encampment of Uncle Sam’s troops.
+
+Having encircled the encampment, Buffalo Bill was undecided whether
+to return to the bivouac--his blanket beckoned him--or to once more
+make the circle. Suddenly he heard Chief whinny loudly. There was some
+activity among the horses; but the scout heard the sentinel’s voice
+and knew that the mob of animals would not stampede. But his own mount
+screamed again--angrily.
+
+“By thunder!” muttered the Border King. “That means one thing, and one
+thing only. Chief smells a redskin--or more than one!”
+
+Yet he did not start down into the encampment to arouse the men. The
+horses quieted down, and there was no further warning from the big
+white horse. The scout, however, glided out upon the plain, taking
+advantage of the shadow of every bush and boulder, and so stood beside
+the soldier watching the herd. He came so suddenly that the man was
+startled and grunted:
+
+“Holy Jo, Cody! You give me a start.”
+
+“See what an Injun might do to you.”
+
+“Not much. I’d smell the prowling devils,” said the trooper confidently.
+
+“What was the matter with my horse?”
+
+“That white fellow?”
+
+“Yes.”
+
+“Dunno. Just squealed.”
+
+Cody thought to himself: “Well, your smelling powers are not equal to
+Chief’s. _He_ certainly got the taint of redskin on the air.”
+
+Aloud the scout asked:
+
+“Which way was the horse headed when he squealed--did you notice?”
+
+“Just about as he is now. What’s the matter?”
+
+“Humph! didn’t know but the horse was sick,” replied Cody dryly, and he
+walked through the herd till he stood beside Chief.
+
+“So, boy! what’s the matter?” he said soothingly, smoothing the horse’s
+muzzle.
+
+Chief whinnied softly; his fright was passed. Suddenly the sentinel,
+who had idly followed Cody’s movements with his glance, became aware of
+the fact that the scout had disappeared! It was not a dark night, and
+the plain was open; but the scout was gone as completely as though he
+had been suddenly wiped out of existence!
+
+“Well, I’ll be switched!” grunted the surprised trooper, stepping
+forward, and then stopping again. “I could have swore that feller stood
+by his hoss a minute ago.”
+
+And he was right on that point, of course. But Buffalo Bill had slipped
+the lariat from his saddle-bow and suddenly dropped into the grass at
+his horse’s feet. Chief began to crop the grass again, and paid no
+attention while his master crept away from the herd. Cody knew that the
+light breeze had brought but a single whiff of Indian to the horse’s
+nostrils. The redskin could not be far away.
+
+He crept across the plain and finally reached rising ground, where
+clumps of brush and an occasional tree offered shelter. He had been
+over this ground before, but he knew that some prowling enemy had been
+here more recently. He remained almost flat upon the ground and gazed
+all about him, seeking to see the silhouette of any lurking figure
+against the sky.
+
+And in this he was successful. At first he overlooked it, believing
+it to be a tree. Then he saw it move slightly, and finally made out
+the body of a tall man standing beside a sapling, some distance up the
+hill. Eagerly the scout crawled up the slope, and finally gained a
+point above and beyond the stationary figure.
+
+Before he could accomplish more, however, the figure he had watched
+so carefully suddenly stepped away from the tree. He heard a guttural
+voice grunt the single syllable:
+
+“Ugh!”
+
+For an instant Cody feared his own presence had been discovered. Then
+he saw what had drawn the ejaculation from the redskin. A second figure
+had appeared on the hillside. Cody lay behind a boulder and watched the
+two men approach each other. There was a rapid interchange of guttural
+observations in the Sioux tongue. Two scouts were reporting to each
+other what they had discovered about the bivouac and the numbers of the
+pony soldiers there encamped.
+
+For all he knew there might be a big party of reds within call. He
+scarcely believed so, considering how the reds hate to travel by night;
+but the presence of these scouts suggested, at least, that Boyd Bennett
+had influence enough over the tribesmen to send these two back to do
+his dirty work.
+
+However, the scout was minded to make a bold play.
+
+He rose up softly from behind the boulder. The Indians’ backs were
+half-turned to him, and their heads were very close together while they
+whispered softly. Cody poised himself, and, judging his distance, began
+to circle his rope--which he had brought with him on the chance of
+tying up a prisoner--carefully.
+
+Swish!
+
+The serpentine loop hurtled over the heads of the redskins,
+and--dropped! There were two startled screams, both of which were
+choked off instantly.
+
+The scout flung himself backward and drew the horsehair noose taut. It
+had caught one Indian around the neck and over the shoulders, and the
+other had but one hand free. The first jerk yanked both off their feet
+and held them together with such firmness that they could not rise or
+stretch the loop. They were like one enraged animal, struggling and
+lashing out upon the ground!
+
+Buffalo Bill ran in, wound the slack of the line about their writhing
+bodies and about their legs. In a couple of minutes they were so mixed
+up with that rope that it was hard to tell which Indian was which!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI. THE CAVE IN THE MOUNTAIN.
+
+
+Now, despite the excitement of the moment, Cody noticed one fact that
+delighted him. The two entangled Indians did not cry out. After the
+first involuntary grunt, neither uttered a yell of rage or despair,
+and this proved a point in the scout’s favor. There were no other
+redskins near at hand!
+
+Had there been, a war-whoop from the struggling scamps would have been
+quite in order. But as they were evidently scouting with their main
+party at some distance, they were mighty careful about raising a racket
+and so bringing the soldiers up the hill to the aid of their unknown
+enemy. As for the latter, Buffalo Bill, he was not in the habit of
+singing out for help--not even when the odds were greater against him
+than upon this occasion.
+
+Having yanked the fellows back upon the ground twice, and pulling the
+lariat so taut that one Indian’s throat was almost cut, he taught the
+prisoners that he was master. He then, as shown, entangled their feet
+and legs, and so held them triced like a bale of hay.
+
+Being sure of handling them now, he came close, lashed the end of his
+lariat, and removed their knives and tomahawks. They had dropped their
+guns at the moment of the attack, and these the scout gathered up, too.
+
+Having made sure of the prisoners single-handed, the Border King walked
+composedly down toward the camp. The sentinel near the horses saw him
+coming and challenged:
+
+“Who goes there?”
+
+“It’s me, old man.”
+
+“Ah! I thought ’twas you, Cody. Where’d you go to back there a spell?
+All of a sudden I lost you.”
+
+“Why, I walked out to capture a couple of reds that were hanging
+about.”
+
+“Ha! ha! ha!” laughed the man. “That’s a good one. I ain’t heard a
+thing to-night, have you?”
+
+“My horse did.”
+
+“What?”
+
+“Chief heard, or smelled, reds. And I’ve got ’em tied up out yonder,”
+said Buffalo Bill coolly. “Call your corporal and have ’em brought in.”
+
+“What’s that, Bill?” gasped the trooper.
+
+“Call the corporal.”
+
+“You don’t mean to say you’ve captured an Indian since you left me?”
+
+“Two.”
+
+“No!”
+
+“I tell you I have,” said Cody, with some exasperation. “Here are their
+arms. Get a move on you!” The surprised and half-doubting trooper made
+so much noise arousing his immediate officer that the lieutenant was
+awakened, too. He came down with the corporal and two men and went out
+with Cody to bring in the reds. It was a fact that none of the soldiers
+really believed Cody had captured two redskins until they saw the
+captives writhing on the ground.
+
+“And I wouldn’t have had ’em much longer if you fellows had stopped to
+chin any more. They’re most free,” said Cody.
+
+“Bill, you’re a wonder,” declared Dick Danforth.
+
+“Thanks. Bring ’em in. Let’s see who the scamps are.”
+
+This was done, the fire was renewed, and those of the troopers who
+had been aroused gathered around in a respectful circle to hear their
+lieutenant and the scout put the two bucks through their catechism.
+
+That they belonged to Oak Heart’s tribe was easy to learn; but beyond
+that the two young redskins were very non-committal. They had come
+scouting about the soldier camp for Death Killer, the new medicine
+chief of the Sioux; little else could the whites learn.
+
+“Who the deuce is this Death Killer, Bill?” demanded Lieutenant
+Danforth.
+
+“I’ve heard some whispers of him; but who he is I haven’t learned,”
+said Cody.
+
+“Was he with the bunch that Oak Heart brought up against Fort Advance?”
+
+“No.”
+
+“That’s odd, isn’t it?”
+
+“These medicine chiefs are mighty scarey of their safety. They never
+take many risks, you bet!”
+
+“So Death Killer stayed at home and let his children fight the battle
+alone, eh?” remarked the lieutenant.
+
+“Why, as to that, I believe the Sioux didn’t have this wonderful new
+chief at that time.”
+
+“Is that so?”
+
+“I met an Arapahoe, a friend of mine, who told me something about the
+medicine chief that Oak Heart had got. The Sioux believe that the next
+time they buck up against the whites, the medicine of this Death Killer
+will bring them the victory.”
+
+This was said aside so that the two young Indians could not understand.
+
+“What’ll we do with these fellows, Bill?” asked the young officer.
+
+“Thunder! We don’t want any prisoners.”
+
+“You mean to shoot them?”
+
+“What’s the use? It will only mean bringing the whole tribe about our
+ears like a swarm of bees. While we’re hunting Bennett we don’t want
+the Sioux onto us, too.”
+
+“You wouldn’t advise turning them loose?”
+
+“Well, do you know a better way of getting rid of them?”
+
+Danforth shook his head slowly.
+
+“They certainly would be white elephants on our hands if we tried to
+hold them,” he admitted.
+
+“Kick ’em out,” advised the scout.
+
+“They’ll go back and report.”
+
+“What can they report? That they found a bunch of troopers here camping
+on the trail of the white outlaws.”
+
+“But suppose Bennett is hand and glove with the reds as you think?”
+
+“Then we must run that risk. Here! let me talk with these young bucks
+alone,” suggested Cody.
+
+The examination of the reds had been accomplished in English and by
+aid of the sign language. Now the scout spoke to them in their own
+tongue. He did not expect to win their confidence; but since they had
+discovered that no other than Pa-e-has-ka had so easily overcome them,
+they felt better in their minds.
+
+Finally Cody unfastened them, filled their pouches with food, gave them
+back their weapons, and advised them to go back to their lodges.
+
+“Let this medicine chief, Death Killer, come himself to learn our
+numbers and our intentions,” said the scout significantly. “Let him
+learn about us by his magic. If he is so great a medicine-man why does
+he not know these things by his magic power? Go, brothers; you have
+your lives at the hand of the Long Hair.”
+
+The two young reds departed with unmoved countenances. If they felt
+gratitude they would not be likely to show it in the expression of
+their faces. That would be against Indian nature.
+
+The camp being pretty thoroughly aroused now, and daybreak being near,
+the lieutenant ordered breakfast prepared. Buffalo Bill did not object
+to a fire being made now. Not only had their encampment been discovered
+by the reds; but the morning was so misty that the smoke would not rise
+high, anyway.
+
+They went on after the meal, finding the trail of the outlaws difficult
+of following in some places, for it was apparent that an attempt had
+been made to cloud the trace. By mid-forenoon, however, they were deep
+in the hills, in a wild and gloomy country, and where every mile was
+perilous. They might be ambushed by the foe in almost any cut, and
+Cody kept the command back while he investigated every particularly
+ugly-looking defile. What report the two released Indians might make to
+their people had much to do with the safety of the expedition, too. For
+all the whites knew, the Sioux might be gathering to fall upon them!
+
+Not a soul did they see on the trail; but they found the place where
+Boyd Bennett and his men had spent the night; and they noted marks
+which assured them that the outlaws had lit out that morning hurriedly.
+Evidently the approach of the troopers was feared by the renegades.
+
+Before night, however, Cody called a halt in the forward movement.
+They were in the midst of peaks, and tall, chimneylike rocks where the
+timber was sparse and vegetation of any other kind becoming thin.
+Shelter was not easily obtained, and the trail had to be guessed at
+many times, the way was so rocky.
+
+“I don’t like the look of this territory, Dick,” said the scout.
+
+“Those fellows can’t be far ahead of us,” declared the eager lieutenant.
+
+“I’m not so sure of that. They plainly know the way.”
+
+“Well, they haven’t succeeded in fooling us much yet.”
+
+“That may be; but they may fool us badly in the end.”
+
+“Don’t croak, Bill; that isn’t like you.”
+
+“I tell you, boy, we’re perhaps putting our necks into a noose. I’ve
+seen several smokes this afternoon. Now, if the Injuns join in with
+Boyd Bennett, and make common cause with him--well, where’ll we be?”
+
+“Here, or hereabout,” grunted Danforth.
+
+“And we’ll stay here, too! I vote we make an end of this quick.”
+
+“Why, Bill, I thought you were so eager to follow Bennett up?”
+
+“So I am. But I’m not as eager for meeting my finish as you seem to be.”
+
+“Pshaw! you’re not afraid for yourself, Bill. I know you,” cried
+Danforth.
+
+“I’ve got no right to run you into peril.”
+
+“Forget me!”
+
+“And you’ve no right to lead your troop into a pocket. What do you
+suppose your ‘kern’ will say?”
+
+“Oh, shucks! I hate to give this up.”
+
+“So do I, son. But we’ve got to.”
+
+“You mean to start right back now?”
+
+“You’re the doctor. I’m not in command,” said Cody.
+
+“Hang it all, Bill! you are virtually in command, and you know it.”
+
+“Well, you want me to advise?”
+
+“Of course.”
+
+“Then I say we’d better hunt a place to stop the night, and then light
+out for a more healthy country in the morning. I begin to feel that
+we’re being watched.”
+
+“You _feel_ so?”
+
+“Sounds silly, doesn’t it, eh? But it’s so. And intuition has stood me
+in good stead before. There are foes near. We want to get shelter and
+prepare to receive them properly.”
+
+Thus advised, Dick Danforth ordered his men to dismount, and they led
+their horses up into the rocky gorge Cody had chosen as a retreat. It
+would have been well for Danforth if he always so easily listened to
+the admonition of his elders and the better informed.
+
+Just inside the gorge was a yawning cavern in the mountainside.
+Evidently Cody knew of this retreat, even had he never been over the
+ground before. He led his big white horse with satisfaction into the
+dusky interior.
+
+“Hold on, Bill! The critters can’t feed in there,” Danforth objected,
+bringing his own animal to a stop.
+
+“All right. We’ll have to cut brush for ’em to pick over. There’s no
+safe feeding ground outside.”
+
+“But, hang it! how do we know who or what may be in that hole?”
+
+“Chief says there are no Injuns here, that’s sure!” retorted the scout,
+laughing.
+
+“But it may be a grizzly’s lair, or a cougar’s.”
+
+“Nope. Old Chief would have made remarks about it. Come on, lieutenant.”
+
+“Oh, I’m not afraid, if that’s what you mean!” grunted Dick Danforth,
+and with a nod to his file-leader, he followed the scout into the maw
+of the darksome cave.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII. THE NIGHT PROWLERS.
+
+
+The frontiersmen--those who were Buffalo Bill’s associates--mapped the
+mountains and plains of the West long before Uncle Sam’s exploration
+parties ever penetrated the wilderness. Cody had never been to this
+hole in the mountainside before, yet he knew all about it. Hunters and
+trappers--and some early gold-seekers--had told him of its existence.
+It had been considered “bad medicine” by the Indians who inhabited
+this section of the country before the Sioux had flowed over into the
+land, and Oak Heart’s people themselves kept away from it. The scout
+was pretty sure that they had a sufficiently strong fortress here to
+withstand any ordinary attack.
+
+Besides, there was spring water in the cave, and, as he showed Danforth
+very quickly, something better still. As they advanced under the arched
+roof of the cavern, light appeared ahead.
+
+“There’s another opening,” said Danforth.
+
+“Looks like it.”
+
+“Why, they can get at us from two directions, Bill!”
+
+“Can they?”
+
+“You’re blamed cool about it.”
+
+“Might as well be cool as hot. We have got to take it as it comes.”
+
+The light grew apace.
+
+“What kind of a place is this, anyway?” cried the lieutenant.
+
+“Come along, sir!”
+
+“But the horses----”
+
+“Bring the horses along, too. I reckon I haven’t mistaken the place.
+Here we are!”
+
+As he spoke they came out into a roughly circular basin, surrounded
+completely by steep--aye, unscalable--rocks, but well grown to grass
+and bushes at the bottom. It was a veritable little pocket in the heart
+of the mountain. There was no escape from it, and no getting into it,
+excepting through the cave.
+
+Chief kicked up his heels, snorted joyfully, and broke away from Cody’s
+detaining hand. The other horses followed, and the whole herd set to
+cropping the sweet grass in equine delight.
+
+“Well, sir! This beats my time!” exclaimed Danforth.
+
+“Guess we can stand a bit of a siege here, if necessary, eh?” queried
+Cody.
+
+“That we could.”
+
+Fire-wood was cut and brought into the cave and the meal started. Cody
+was not content to remain for long inactive, however. He slept while
+the meal was being prepared. After he had eaten, however, he left the
+camp, and in the gloaming made his way out and down into the valley
+from which they had retired, on the lookout for the enemy.
+
+The worst of it was, he did not exactly know whether their white or red
+foes would be upon them first. The Sioux might attack--for they were
+now well into the Indian country--or Boyd Bennett and his gang might
+come back at them. If the latter, the troopers could handle the outlaws
+easily. But a horde of savages might give the troops a mighty pretty
+brush up here in the hills, so far away from reenforcements and a base
+of supplies.
+
+The scout was careful to leave no trace himself, and when he reached
+the spot where the troopers had turned aside from the outlaw’s trail,
+he hid and watched, and waited, to see what or who might “turn up.”
+That it was about time for either the outlaws or the Indians to show
+their hand Cody was sure.
+
+His judgment was good in this case, too. He had not been lying in wait
+an hour when he saw two mounted figures coming along the valley toward
+his station. Dark as it was down here, he could make out their outlines
+sufficiently to know that one was an Indian and the other was a white
+man. They came to the point where the troopers had diverged from Boyd
+Bennett’s trail, and there halted to whisper together.
+
+From where he lay in the rocks, Cody could see the fire blazing in the
+mouth of the cave up in the gorge. He knew the men below him could see
+it, too. Writhing down the hill, like a serpent between the boulders,
+the scout reached a point where he could overhear something of what the
+Indian and the white man said.
+
+“Return and bring them to this place. The hour must be no later than
+midnight,” the white man was saying in a commanding manner.
+
+“It shall be as my brother says,” the redskin muttered.
+
+“My men will advance and draw their first fire--perhaps get them out of
+the cave. You say there is no chance of getting in from the rear?”
+
+“No Sioux would venture, if it were possible. That cavern was the abode
+of a great spirit at one time.”
+
+“Ha! Very well. Do as I have bid you. You and your braves hold back if
+you must. But if we draw the badgers, we can count upon you to pitch
+in?”
+
+“It is as my brother says.”
+
+“All right! Off with you. I await my men here.”
+
+The redskin twitched his pony’s head about, and rode softly away.
+After standing a moment in the path, the white man’s horse was turned
+out upon a bit of sward, and Cody knew that the fellow dismounted.
+He evidently proposed to remain near and watch the cave until
+reenforcements arrived.
+
+And Cody knew the scoundrel. He had recognized the voice, and likewise
+by the fact that he held his left arm stiffly bound to his side, the
+scout knew that it was Boyd Bennett himself. Dick Danforth had indeed
+“stung” the robber. The bone of his left arm had been broken, and he
+could barely hold the reins with that hand.
+
+Buffalo Bill was greatly tempted. Here was a chance for him to take his
+old enemy, single-handed. And did naught but personal vengeance enter
+into the affair, he would have made the attempt. But there was a brave
+opportunity of rounding up more of the gang, despite their affiliation
+with the redskins, and Cody resisted the temptation.
+
+He made his way back to the cave, found most of the troopers already
+peacefully asleep, and Danforth anxiously awaiting his return.
+
+“Well?” demanded the young lieutenant.
+
+“We’re going to have visitors about midnight.”
+
+“How’s that?”
+
+“Mr. Bennett and his gang will make the attack; a set of thieving reds
+will stand off to pitch in if the whites can’t handle us.”
+
+“Gee, Cody! how d’you know all that?”
+
+Buffalo Bill told him.
+
+“Why didn’t you shoot the bloody thieves?”
+
+“And lose the chance of rounding up more of them?”
+
+“They’ll be too many for us, I fear,” said Danforth, although without
+displaying any particular fear of such an outcome.
+
+“They will certainly outnumber us--reds and all.”
+
+“Nice prospect.”
+
+“But forewarned is forearmed, eh?”
+
+“Right you are, Bill! We have the advantage of knowing that they are
+coming, whereas they will labor under the disadvantage of believing we
+are unsuspicious.”
+
+“Yes.”
+
+“But hived up in this place----”
+
+“We haven’t got to stay hived up,” interrupted the scout. “And we don’t
+want to.”
+
+“You’ve got a plan, Bill?”
+
+“I have.”
+
+“State it, old man. You know well enough you don’t have to stand on
+ceremony with me.”
+
+“This fire can be seen from below. Let it die down. Don’t let any fuel
+be flung on for some time. When it’s at the lowest we can lead our
+horses out without being seen.”
+
+“Give up our shelter, Bill? And with a horde of redskins coming?”
+
+“Sure. Let them attack an empty cave--but one that doesn’t look empty.
+The last man to leave can fling a pile of fuel on the fire and then
+slip away before it burns up brightly. So we’ll have ’em attacking an
+empty fortress while we are out here among the rocks ready to play heck
+with ’em!”
+
+“I’m not afraid of the outlaws,” said Danforth slowly. “But the
+redskins----”
+
+“Won’t come too near the cave; it’s bad medicine, as I told you.”
+
+“But when they see that we’re outside----”
+
+“Wait! We’ll lead the horses away along the trail we came over, and
+leave them in charge of one man. Then, when it gets too hot for us--if
+the reds pitch in--we’ll decamp. The reds won’t be too near, however. I
+know ’em. An Injun is as full of superstition as an egg is of meat.”
+
+“Your plan looks good, Bill.”
+
+“All right. Stop that fellow--quick! He’ll spoil it all.”
+
+Danforth turned to see one of the guards advancing toward the fire with
+an armful of fuel. The lieutenant ordered him to desist and instructed
+his subordinate to let the fire die down. Then he and Cody rolled up in
+their blankets for an hour’s sleep.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII. MORE THAN THEY BARGAINED FOR.
+
+
+When the lieutenant and scout were awakened, according to order, the
+camp became at once an exceedingly lively though quiet place. The men
+had their instructions in a low tone from Danforth. They led the horses
+into the cave from the rear, and, the fire being now merely a bed of
+glowing coals, the shadows of neither man nor beast were pricked out by
+the light from the fire.
+
+Cody had slipped out and beaten the rocks and brush on the hillside
+before the mouth of the cavern. He found no lurking spy, but he went
+far enough to hear Boyd Bennett’s horse stamping in the valley. The
+outlaw was still there awaiting the coming of his men and of his
+redskin allies.
+
+The scout hurried back and led the way with Chief, warning the troopers
+to smother any desire on their mounts’ part to whinny if they smelt the
+strange horse in the valley. The scout had picked out a path around
+the swell of the mountain, between the rocks and ledges, and, although
+it was a roundabout way, it was sod-covered for most of the distance,
+and they were enabled to lead their mounts away without an appreciable
+sound. Like a file of shadows they passed around the mountain and down
+into the lowlands. There the horses were tethered and left in the care
+of a single soldier. The others hurried back to positions near the
+mouth of the cave, to await the expected attack of the outlaws.
+
+Divided as their forces had been, by sending the stage and treasure
+on to Fort Advance, Danforth’s squad now numbered less than the gang
+of outlaws. And, in addition, Boyd Bennett would have at his back a
+party of bloodthirsty savages. It was a ticklish position, and none
+understood that better than the Border King, Buffalo Bill.
+
+Strategy was the scout’s best card under these circumstances. He knew
+the quality of the gang whom Boyd Bennett had gathered about him. They
+were ignorant, superstitious scoundrels, and, therefore, he ventured to
+play upon their fears as well as to lay a close ambush for them.
+
+To approach the mouth of the cave in which the fire now burned brightly
+necessitated the foe advancing up a sidehill into the mouth of the
+gulch under the shelter merely of low brush and boulders, with here and
+there a stunted tree, the roots of which had found fixture between the
+rocks. Higher up the mountain, and upon both sides of the gulch, were
+thicker forest.
+
+Under Cody’s advice Danforth placed his men upon the side of the
+gulch opposite the cavern’s mouth, and outside the gulch itself, all
+positions selected being easy of access to the trail down which they
+had led their horses so cautiously. A more withering fire could have
+been arranged by placing the troopers upon both sides of the gorge; a
+cross-fire is always more galling and confusing to an enemy. But, then,
+there remained the danger of the reds rushing to the assistance of Boyd
+Bennett and his gang, and so those soldiers above the cave might be cut
+off from escape. Whatever happened, the mêlée was bound to be a sharp
+and quick one; it would be all over in a few moments.
+
+Just outside the mouth of the gulch, and in advance of the line of
+hidden troopers, was a rather larger tree than most upon the lower
+hillside, and it had a low crotch from which sprang three branches.
+Cody saw that to approach the cavern’s entrance, the attacking force
+would be pretty sure to come close under this tree. Seeing this, he
+evolved--with the help of the corporal--a scheme which later added much
+to the excitement of the battle and came near to utterly routing the
+outlaw gang.
+
+There was little time for preparation, however; already the hour grew
+close to midnight. Cody crept into the cave, showed himself in the
+firelight, threw on more wood, and then crept out again, so as to
+assure the watching Bennett below that the place was still occupied.
+Then the scout went down into the valley and watched and listened until
+his keen ear assured him that several ponies were being ridden rapidly
+toward the hiding-place of the bandit leader.
+
+How many were coming--whether the reds were with the whites--Buffalo
+Bill did not know. Nor did he consider it well to wait to learn. That
+the attack would be made at once, he was sure. Boyd Bennett was not the
+most patient man in the world, and he had waited here long for his men
+to appear.
+
+Cody found the lieutenant, and snuggled down beside him behind a
+brush-clump.
+
+“By the nine gods of war, Bill! I thought you’d never come,” muttered
+Danforth. “I got as nervous as an old maid with her first beau, fearing
+that you wouldn’t get here in time to holler. I can imitate some
+critters--thanks to you and Jack Omohondreau: but when it comes to
+murdering the night air with the scream of a wildcat----”
+
+“Sh!” breathed Cody. “They’re coming.”
+
+Danforth became quiet. They were placed so that the entire sweep of
+the side-hill was before them. Several of the troopers were nearer the
+cave; several were behind the station of the lieutenant and the scout.
+All had their instructions regarding the withholding of their fire
+until a prearranged instant.
+
+Soon Danforth beheld several flitting shadows below. A number of
+men were coming up the rocky slope; they had spread out and were
+approaching the cavern’s mouth without any regard to military
+formation. Several, however, were coming close to the forked tree which
+Cody had previously noted. That stood some yards in front, and a little
+below, where he lay with his friend, the lieutenant.
+
+“All right, Bill!” whispered Danforth.
+
+“Wait till I give the word,” breathed the scout. “Let some of them
+pass. We want every shot to count.”
+
+A few moments more they waited. Several figures passed on up the hill,
+dodging from rock to rock, but all converging toward the mouth of the
+cave where the fire now glowed dully. That they were the bandits, and
+not the redskins, Cody was sure. Suddenly he saw two of the prowlers
+approaching the forked tree. He nudged Danforth sharply.
+
+The two outlaws in question were almost under the branching limbs of
+the tree when they heard what sounded like the scratching of claws on
+the rough bark. Both looked up, and beheld an uncertain but bulky
+figure lying along one branch. A sharp snarl seemed to come from it,
+and the two bandits sprang away.
+
+“Curse you!” exclaimed the voice of Bennett, low but deadly in its
+temper. “What’s the matter?”
+
+Two or three of the bandits ran together. They thought some attack had
+been made upon them.
+
+“What is it?” repeated several in shrill whispers.
+
+“A cougar!”
+
+“A wildcat!”
+
+“Get back to your stations!” commanded Bennett. “Do you want to spoil
+the whole thing? Such cursed foolishness over a blamed tomcat----”
+
+He had approached the tree, and suddenly the animal on the limb seemed
+to gather itself for a spring, and there sounded upon the night air the
+shrill, blood-curdling yell of the dreaded panther!
+
+“Look out, Boyd! He’s goin’ ter jump!” exclaimed one fellow.
+
+Several of the others stepped warily back and raised their guns. Above
+on the hillside--this had been prearranged by Cody--one of the troopers
+shouted:
+
+“Who goes there?”
+
+“Curse my body and bones!” growled Bennett. “The game is spoiled!
+They’ve heard us.”
+
+The supposed panther screamed again, and then the body in the tree was
+hurled out into the air. Involuntarily every outlaw in sight took a
+pot-shot at the flying body. The mountainside reechoed with the reports
+of half a dozen guns, and the flashes of the same revealed to the
+ambushed party just where the bandits stood.
+
+The log of wood, dressed in a blanket, representing the panther, and
+jerked out of the tree by Cody’s lariat, fell to the ground riddled
+by the bullets of the outlaws. But instantly Danforth leaped up and
+shouted to his men:
+
+“Now, my bullies! Give it to them!”
+
+The troopers fired a broadside. Four of the robbers dropped under the
+fire, and two more ran away screaming. Cody had picked out Bennett, and
+intended to wound or kill him; but the wily scoundrel seemed to fear
+some game just as the dummy was yanked by Danforth from the tree. He
+leaped away and dodged behind a boulder before the first shot from the
+party in ambush was fired.
+
+As the echoes of the first round from the troopers died away Boyd
+Bennett raised an ear-splitting yell of defiance. It was a war-whoop
+that the redskins in the rear evidently understood. They answered from
+the valley, and, although the soldiers had succeeded in placing so many
+of the bandits hors de combat at their first fire, Danforth whistled
+almost instantly for his men to retire.
+
+“Did you wing Bennett, Cody?” asked the young lieutenant.
+
+“No. The scaly rascal left his men to bear the brunt of the trouble,
+and he’s under shelter half-way down the hill.”
+
+“Can’t we get him?”
+
+“With those reds tearing up to his aid?”
+
+“Oh, by thunder, Bill! I hoped to either kill the scoundrel or bring
+him in.”
+
+“So did I.”
+
+“But we can’t risk staying here longer.”
+
+“You’re right there, Dick. Come on. The men have gone.”
+
+The scout and the lieutenant followed their men down the hill. And none
+too soon, for the redskins soon found that their white brethren had
+been outwitted by the soldiers, and they came tearing along the valley
+trail to try and head the refugees off.
+
+They were not successful in that, however. Every trooper came in,
+they mounted at the command, and with fresh horses under them soon
+outdistanced all pursuit.
+
+“It’s getting too lively for us,” said Buffalo Bill, in disgust. “We
+can’t chance it with such a small force. I hate to give it up; but we
+must.”
+
+“We’ll keep on if you say the word, scout,” said Danforth.
+
+“You’d ride straight into the jaws of hell if you thought there’d be a
+fight, Dick,” said Cody. “But discretion is the better part of valor in
+this case.”
+
+“I hate to give Bennett up,” grumbled the younger man.
+
+“So do I. But it can’t be helped.”
+
+“When I get back to Resistence I’m going to ask Colonel Royal to give
+me a roving commission to hunt the scoundrel down.”
+
+Neither of them realized at the time what the putting of this decision
+into practise would amount to in the end.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV. CHASED BY THE FLAMES.
+
+
+The welcome that greeted the Border King upon his return to Fort
+Advance was proof of his popularity, and of the admiration the garrison
+held him in. That his coolness and wisdom had saved the paymaster’s
+money-box from capture by the bandits, and so made it unnecessary for
+the boys in blue to endure another long wait for their pay, added not a
+little to their feeling for the scout.
+
+The troopers had told the story in full. Captain Hinkley and his guard
+had been buried, and the coach-driver, as well. The soldiers had a
+most revengeful feeling toward Boyd Bennett and his outlaw band, and
+Danforth went back to Resistence with his troop, threatening slaughter
+for the road-agents if he could catch them.
+
+The activities of the Indians, however, disturbed Buffalo Bill and the
+commander of Fort Advance more than the work of the outlaw, at just
+this time. The Border King, with Texas Jack, set out on a mission soon
+after his return to the fort. Ten days later Lieutenant Danforth, with
+a squadron of men, was allowed to make an attempt to bring in Boyd
+Bennett by the commandant of Post Resistence.
+
+Buffalo Bill was still away on his scouting expedition and did not know
+of this. He was deep in the Indian country, and had found nothing of
+real significance regarding any concerted movement among the Sioux,
+although there was plenty of excitement. Little bands of warriors were
+going back and forth, from encampment to encampment; but nothing was
+being accomplished by the redskins.
+
+“What does it look like to you, old man?” queried the Border King of
+his partner. “Are we barking up the wrong tree?”
+
+“Dunno,” replied Texas Jack, pursing up his lips and looking more
+serious than usual. “There may be a coon in the crotch; but we
+certainly haven’t shook him down.”
+
+“How does all this running back and forth from teepee to teepee strike
+you?”
+
+“Looks like the reds was given more tuh society than us’al, Buffler.
+But, Great Scott! you can’t never tell what’s in a red’s mind when he’s
+planning some game.”
+
+“There is surely no outbreak planned for the immediate future, eh?”
+
+“No. These runners aren’t gathering the tribe. I reckon Oak Heart got
+his belly full and won’t trouble us for some time.”
+
+“But this new medicine-man they’ve got?”
+
+“Humph! Death Killer, eh? Nice name that! I’d like a squint at him.”
+
+“Me, too.”
+
+“Wonder if we couldn’t sneak over to Oak Heart’s town and take this
+Death Killer into camp?”
+
+“Kidnap him?”
+
+“Yep.”
+
+“You’re a cool one, Jack, my boy. What’ll the reds be doing meanwhile?”
+
+“That’s all that stops me--that question,” replied Texas, with a grin.
+
+This conversation took place beside a running brook, in the heart of
+a great forest many miles from Fort Advance, where our story first
+opened. The wind soughed through the tree tops and brought scurrying
+to earth the dying leaves which proclaimed the fast approach of King
+Winter. Suddenly Cody rose upon his feet and keenly snuffed the air.
+
+“What’s th’ matter, Bill? What d’yer scent?”
+
+“I’ve been smelling it for an hour, Jack.”
+
+“What is it?”
+
+“Smoke.”
+
+“Huh! here’s wood burning at your feet.”
+
+“No, no!” exclaimed the other. “This breeze is rising and is blowing
+more steadily than it did. And it brings the smoke to us. Look up
+through the tree tops. D’ye see how hazy it’s grown?”
+
+“Umph-ah!”
+
+“Nothing to fool over, Jack. It’s a big fire.”
+
+“D’yer believe so, Bill?”
+
+“I do, indeed,” said the anxious scout.
+
+Texas Jack cast his eyes about the forest aisles reflectively. He knew
+as well as his companion the peril attending a forest fire; but he was
+naturally of a more volatile character, and the discovery made less
+impression upon him at first.
+
+“We’d better make a break, hadn’t we, Bill?” he asked finally.
+
+“Just think a bit, Jack,” the other replied. “Where’ll we go? Do you
+realize that this crick is the biggest body of water in a circle of
+forty miles?”
+
+“If my hoss kin make Black River, yours kin, I reckon.”
+
+“True enough. But the wind is blowing directly from Black River. That’s
+where the fire is, old man. The nearest water of any size is Bendigo
+Lake, and the going will be thundering hard on the horses.”
+
+Texas Jack leaped up and exclaimed:
+
+“Hark! what’s that?”
+
+A crashing in the underbrush had startled both men. Some distance away
+there burst into the glade a fine herd of deer, all running madly. They
+swept across the scouts’ line of vision and disappeared in another
+clump of brush, keenly alive to peril in their rear.
+
+“They’ve come a power of a ways in the last half-hour, Jack,” said
+Buffalo Bill.
+
+“Right you are, Buffler. Guess we’d better light out. Ha! there goes a
+grayback.”
+
+A lone wolf slunk through the underbrush, gave the two men a sharp
+look, and then loped away in the same direction as that followed by the
+deer. But he was not running the deer--oh, no, indeed!
+
+Soon other animals began to drift past the camp of the scouts. The two
+packed their war-bags, caught their mounts, and prepared to leave the
+vicinity in short order. By that time, although the evening was closing
+in, the sky was a mass of ruddy, drifting haze. The fire was advancing
+with terrific speed, yet it was still so far away that the smoke
+floated high above the tree tops, and they heard no sound.
+
+“Reckon we kin make it, Bill,” said Texas Jack, as they pricked their
+mounts along the forest path.
+
+Buffalo Bill was not so sanguine, however. The fire was coming down
+upon them with terrific speed, for instead of deepening the evening
+brightened all about them as they rode. The odor of burning wood was
+now quite pungent, and past them in mad flight went all manner of small
+animals, while now and then the startled “woof! woof!” of a bear was
+heard in the brush as he, too, lumbered along.
+
+The paths of the forest were not cleared for riding. Deer and other
+animals, searching drinking-places and salt-licks, first made these
+traces through the wilderness. The red man followed, following the
+spoor of the game. And so the paths became “runways,” sometimes worn
+knee-deep and only wide enough for a single person to pass. Such paths
+were of little use to horsemen.
+
+Where the forest was open or clear of underbrush, the two scouts could
+travel with some rapidity; but in the thick, junglelike scrub, it was
+even necessary at times to get down and lead their horses. This delayed
+them, and before long the smoke wraiths began to drift past them and
+the distant roaring of the flames was perceptible.
+
+Had the men given the horses their heads the animals would have become
+panic-stricken like the other dumb beasts, and they would have dashed
+through the forest at a much better pace; but Buffalo Bill and Texas
+Jack would have been swept from the saddles, and, perhaps, killed. It
+began to look, indeed, as though both horses and men could get along
+better and faster alone. Texas remarked upon this fact.
+
+“I know it, Jack--I know it,” said Cody. “But I don’t want to lose
+Chief. And then, we can’t carry all our plunder and make any time at
+all.”
+
+“Life’s sweeter to me than either hoss or rifle,” declared Texas,
+laughing.
+
+“Me, too; but it may be a week before we catch the brutes.”
+
+“I vote we let ’em go. It’s getting derned hard to manage them, anyway,
+Buffler.”
+
+“So it is. Keep your grub, Texas.”
+
+“Betcher!”
+
+Both men were off their mounts in a hurry. They left their magazine
+guns in the saddle scabbards, and their holster pistols as well. If the
+Indians or any ne’er-do-well whites found the horses after the fire,
+they would make quite a haul.
+
+Jack’s horse plunged away, snorting to be free, and was quickly out of
+sight; but Chief seemed uncertain whether to leave his master or not.
+The scouts did not delay an instant, but started off at a sharp run
+through the forest, with their packs on their backs. They could dodge
+under the low branches and burst through the brush-clumps, or avoid
+them altogether, with much more facility than before.
+
+Chief ran whinnying after them. Suddenly out of the yellow haze above
+the tree tops a blazing ball of leaves or such light flotsam, floated
+down. It fell between the white horse and the two men, and Chief
+snorted and leaped aside. Fortunately the firebrand went out without
+igniting any of the leaves or twigs which rustled so dryly under foot,
+but the flame evidently spoiled Chief’s desire to keep with the men. He
+kicked up his heels and dashed away in the same direction as his mate.
+
+Buffalo Bill and Texas Jack noted this brand, but they said nothing,
+only increasing their speed. There was vast danger from these flying
+balls of fire. The wind continued to rise, and soon the conflagration
+would be leaping ahead rods at a time! It would ignite in dozens of
+places at once.
+
+As they ran together, Texas Jack glanced into his comrade’s serious
+face, and a grin overspread his own.
+
+“Say, Buffler,” he said, “I didn’t sleep none too warm last night.
+Reckon we’ll be more comfortable to-night, eh?”
+
+Cody had to smile at that.
+
+“You reckless devil, you! You’d joke in sight of the fires of Tophet.”
+
+At the moment a great burst of flame roared up into the sky from the
+summit of a little hill behind them, and both men glanced back. The
+banner of fire streamed clear across the sky.
+
+“Gee, Bill! Tophet couldn’t look hotter than that,” declared Texas Jack.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV. THE TELLTALE CROW.
+
+
+For the most part, however, the scouts saved their breath and spoke
+but little. They were straining every effort to reach Bendigo Lake,
+the only body of water of sufficient size to offer protection from the
+conflagration. Every creek and pond hole in the neighborhood, which
+either of them knew about, was low now, and none were big enough to
+promise safety. In Bendigo Lake was a long, narrow island, wooded to
+be sure; but the lake was so wide that the scouts believed the flames
+would not leap from the shore to the island.
+
+“At any rate, it’s our best play, Buffler. No doubt of that,” observed
+Texas Jack.
+
+“Right you are, Texas,” panted the other. “Pick up your feet!”
+
+“That fire’s certainly racing to overtake us.”
+
+“Ha! What’s that?” muttered Cody, suddenly turning to look up a small
+slope which was more heavily wooded than the lowland through which they
+were passing.
+
+There had been a movement in the brush. The wind did not affect the
+leaves and branches down here; it was only the tree tops that swayed
+and sang in the breeze.
+
+“A deer, eh?” panted Jack.
+
+“There!”
+
+Uttering the yell, Buffalo Bill seized his friend by the neck and flung
+him suddenly forward upon his face. He fell himself as well, and at
+the very instant there was a flash in the bushes on the side-hill, an
+explosion sounded, and the zip-zip of the bullet cut the air over their
+heads.
+
+Both scouts rolled aside, found covert, and sprang into position,
+revolvers in hand. Cody emptied one pistol as rapidly as possible into
+the brush-clump from which the treacherous shot had been fired.
+
+“No use, Bill! There he goes!” yelled Texas Jack.
+
+Off at one side they saw a huge figure pass rapidly out of sight. It
+looked like a bear running on its hind legs--were such a thing possible.
+
+“Of all the bloody-minded scoundrels!” said Texas Jack, as the two
+scouts set forth again, in the same direction as that taken by the
+person who had fired at them--which was likewise toward the lake, “that
+fellow takes the bun.”
+
+“Who was he? The smoke was in my eyes, and I couldn’t tell whether he
+was white or red.”
+
+“He was white, all right--or, so I have always heard,” declared Texas
+Jack.
+
+“By thunder! you don’t mean to say you know the scoundrel?”
+
+“Not personally acquainted with him--no,” laughed Jack.
+
+“What then?”
+
+“I’ve heard tell of him a good deal the past dozen years.”
+
+“Who is he?”
+
+“The Mad Hunter.”
+
+“Get out!”
+
+“That’s who it was, Buffler.”
+
+“Why should the fool fire at us?”
+
+“He’d just as soon shoot a white man as a red.”
+
+“He’s a devil.”
+
+“That he is.”
+
+“Why, I believe I saved his life the other day when I was out with Dick
+Danforth.”
+
+“What for?”
+
+Cody told him of how the young lieutenant had come near to shooting a
+gigantic man for a caribou, and how the being had run away yelling into
+the forest.
+
+“That’s him. Crazy as they make them.”
+
+“He must be crazy if he would stop to shoot men down when such a fire
+as that yonder is on his track as well as theirs.”
+
+“I reckon an insane person don’t act logically.”
+
+“He’s worse than the dumb beasts,” said Cody. “Look at that rabbit
+running almost between your legs, Jack. Aw! don’t step on him!”
+
+“I ain’t--dern his hide!” exclaimed Texas Jack, making a flying leap
+over the bunny.
+
+“He’s scared stiff. Some of the deer have run close enough to us to be
+touched. Even a bear will behave when there’s a forest fire. But this
+crazy bedlam is ready to shoot inoffensive men when death of the most
+awful kind is threatening him.”
+
+“That’s why he’s crazy, I reckon,” said Texas Jack. “Come on, Buffler;
+this way.”
+
+The light of the fire now made the forest about them as light almost as
+day, but the radiance flickered, and the shadows danced in a blinding
+fashion. The scouts could not see as clearly as usual. Within a mile
+of the spot where they had been attacked by the Mad Hunter a second
+shot was fired at them--this time from directly ahead. Fortunately, the
+bullet went wild.
+
+“He’s got a single-shot, old-fashioned rifle,” declared Texas Jack.
+
+“That’s what is saving our lives,” returned his comrade.
+
+“He’s ahead of us--between us and the lake.”
+
+“We’ve got to try to capture him, then,” declared Cody firmly. “No use
+mincing matters. The fire is bad enough, but he is more dangerous.”
+
+“Reckon you’re right, Buffler,” grunted Texas Jack.
+
+The scouts separated, running several rods apart, so that the Mad
+Hunter might not be able to get them both in a line. And, if that
+were possible, they increased their pace. They heard the man crashing
+through the brush ahead, but they did not obtain another glimpse of
+him. And so phenomenal was his speed that soon he was out of ear-shot.
+Besides, the roaring of the flames and the crashing of falling trees
+interfered with their tracking of the madman by his footsteps.
+
+Their enemy ran as no human being ever ran before, for he got far
+enough ahead to load his old-fashioned gun and again await their
+coming. This time he took a shot at Texas Jack and sent that worthy’s
+hat spinning into the air.
+
+“Confound his hide!” roared the scout. “Pepper him, Bill!”
+
+But with a scream of rage the madman was off through the illuminated
+forest once more, and Cody’s shots did not overtake him. Besides, the
+light was so uncertain that the scout did not waste but two balls in
+the attempt to bring down the foe.
+
+“He’ll git one of us yet,” cried Texas Jack.
+
+“We’ll keep as close to him as possible. He mustn’t have a chance to
+reload!”
+
+But it was like chasing a will-o’-the-wisp. The madman was off like
+the wind, shrieking his defiance. They could not keep him in sight,
+although the fire now was illuminating the forest far ahead of them.
+
+The roaring of the flames drowned the scouts’ shouts to each other,
+too; and the heat puffed upon their backs as though somebody had
+suddenly swung open the door of an enormous furnace.
+
+Suddenly Cody saw his friend throw up his hand, and knew that he
+shouted rather than heard the sound of his voice. Jack turned at a
+sharp angle, too, and Buffalo Bill followed suit. In a moment a glint
+of steel-blue water ahead invigorated Cody as well as his comrade. Lake
+Bendigo was at hand!
+
+In fifteen minutes they were on the shore. The water was a blessed
+relief to their eyes when they plunged their faces into it. In the rear
+the fire roared mightily, and the smoke now began to drift down upon
+them with smothering thickness.
+
+“We’d better take off our clothes and swim for the island, heh?”
+queried Jack.
+
+“Yes. There’s a bunch of driftwood that will make some kind of a raft.
+We’ll use it to transport our clothing and guns.”
+
+They stripped swiftly and were about to step into the water and push
+off the rude raft piled with their possessions when:
+
+Ping!
+
+The bullet buried itself in a tree trunk right beside Buffalo Bill’s
+head.
+
+“Holy Christmas!” exclaimed Texas Jack.
+
+“That devil has got ahead of us,” declared Cody. “That bullet came from
+the island.”
+
+“Why, he’s got us between two fires!” exclaimed Texas, bound to joke
+under any and all circumstances.
+
+For an instant the scouts were nonplused. They had involuntarily taken
+trees, but the heat from the rear was already unpleasant to their bare
+bodies.
+
+“We can’t stay here,” muttered Cody. “I shall go around the lake a
+ways, Texas, and try to swim over without being seen. You show yourself
+here. Better still, push off the raft and keep behind it and submerged
+as much as possible. Make for the island, but go slowly.”
+
+“You bet I’ll make for the island. I think I’d rather take cold lead
+than hot flames. Ouch!”
+
+“Meanwhile I’ll try to sneak over and get to the madman’s rear.”
+
+“Bare-handed?”
+
+“How else, man?” cried Cody. “I must be prepared to swim under water
+a part of the way. It must be cunning to match his cunning or we are
+lost, Jack!”
+
+Texas Jack realized that this was so, and he made no further objection.
+Cody glided away through the shadowy forest, and Jack pushed off
+the raft and dodged another bullet. He was soon floundering in the
+cold water, pushing the raft before him, but by no means enamored of
+his position. The fire was behind and would devour him shortly if
+he returned to the shore. Every few moments a bullet sped from the
+madman’s hiding-place on the island and “plunked” into the raft, or
+into the water close beside the swimmer.
+
+Meanwhile Cody scurried along the shore, but suddenly found himself
+cut off by a tongue of the fire that had got ahead of the main
+conflagration and was already burning fiercely at the very verge of the
+lake. Traveling through the brush in his bare skin was not pleasant
+at best, so the scout tried sneaking into the water behind the little
+point of land which chanced to hide the island.
+
+Cold as the water was, it was a blessed relief from the heat and smoke
+of the forest. As he struck out from the shore, blazing embers showered
+about him, hissing and smoking as they struck the water. The smoke
+rolled down upon the lake and now and then completely blinded him, and
+must certainly have hidden his head from the observation of anybody
+on the island. Cody was delighted with the apparent success of his
+scheme, and struck out strongly for the little patch of wooded soil in
+which he hoped, with Texas Jack, to find safety. That it was held in
+possession by a madman did not matter. It was the single refuge offered
+the scouts, and if the madman would not share it peacefully, he must be
+put out of the way.
+
+These were Cody’s thoughts as he swam across the intervening space. He
+finally came to the sloping shore, so that he could stand upright and
+wade in with his head and shoulders out of water. He had gone so far
+around the island that he believed that the madman, watching Texas Jack
+and his raft, would not see his own approach.
+
+And he did almost reach the shore unmolested. Suddenly, out of a dark
+hemlock at the extreme point of the island, there sprang a big crow,
+which, with raucous cry, flew over the scout and circled about him
+threateningly. The crow’s nest was evidently in that tree, and the
+coming of this strange maritime animal, who walked erect like a man,
+but wore no clothes, troubled the crow’s mind.
+
+The bird squawked like a hen with its head caught between two
+fence-palings. Cody made a dash for the shore, hoping to get under
+cover and so cease to disturb the telltale crow.
+
+But as he was about to step out on dry land a gigantic figure suddenly
+sprang through the brush at the water’s edge and appeared over him in
+a most threatening attitude. Above his head the man held a great rock,
+which he poised to fling upon the unarmed scout.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI. THE MASSACRE.
+
+
+Why the madman had not sought to shoot him Buffalo Bill did not ask
+at the moment. The fact that he was at such a disadvantage was enough
+to fill his mind with forebodings. The rock was poised in the giant’s
+hands just over his head, and, as the scout was more than knee-deep
+in the water, it seemed impossible for him to successfully dodge the
+missile if it were flung.
+
+The madman stood in the shadow, and Cody could not see his face. All
+he saw was that the man looked like a great, wet bear. He had swum or
+waded across to the island with all his clothes on. He evidently knew
+Bendigo Lake and its surroundings better than either of the scouts, and
+had found a shallow path across from the mainland.
+
+For several seconds the scout and the giant faced each other. Buffalo
+Bill’s muscles grew tense. He would try leaping upon the fellow, at any
+rate, although the possibility of his dodging the rock looked exceeding
+small.
+
+And then there suddenly flashed into his mind such a simple dodge for
+getting the best of his foe that the scout hesitated to use it. It
+seemed so exceedingly simple and childish. But the moments were flying,
+and the Mad Hunter was on the point of flinging the rock down upon him
+with terrific force.
+
+Cody stood so that his hands just touched the water. He hollowed his
+palms, swung both arms back, and suddenly scooped up the water and
+flung it in a blinding sheet of spray into the maniac’s face.
+
+Again and again he splashed the water over the fellow. The Mad Hunter
+uttered a howl of rage, and, as Cody threw himself to one side, still
+splashing the water, the rock was thrown. But the scout had destroyed
+the maniac’s aim and escaped the missile altogether.
+
+Cody could not land, however. The best he could do was to plunge back
+into the deeper water and there dive and remain swimming under the
+surface until he had placed the island between himself and the fire.
+Here the trees threw black shadows, although the whole northern sky was
+red as blood, and the flames danced wildly upon the tree tops on the
+mainland.
+
+The Mad Hunter had disappeared, yet the scout did not know whether
+he had gone back to watch Texas Jack and the raft or was lurking in
+the shadow, waiting to spy upon him again. Meanwhile he was becoming
+thoroughly chilled, and feared to remain out beyond his depth, for a
+cramp might take him, and he could never struggle ashore then.
+
+Carefully he waded shoreward once more, watching the shadows beneath
+the trees, fearing to see the bulk of the maniac burst out of the brush
+and attack him again. There were several frightened creatures on the
+island, but they cowered and were dumb. All the scout could hear was
+the lapping of the water and the crackling of the conflagration on the
+mainland.
+
+The fire was eating through the forest very rapidly. It had reached the
+shore and was passing swiftly around the entire lake. Cody and Texas
+Jack could not return to the mainland now under any circumstances. It
+was the island or drowning for them!
+
+And Cody feared that his brave comrade had already succumbed to the
+cold water, or mayhap to a bullet from the maniac’s rifle. The fire as
+it ate around the lake began to illuminate this side of the island,
+too, and he feared that he would soon be a shining mark for the Mad
+Hunter.
+
+He kept his body under water and crept in toward the shore, his head
+only showing. He knew that he was taking his life in his hands, but the
+water was chilling him to the bone.
+
+Suddenly there was a great shouting on the other shore of the island,
+and following it came the pop of a pistol several times. Cody leaped
+ashore, and, despite the rough way and the thorns and brush which tore
+his body, he dashed across the narrow bit of land. He knew Texas Jack
+had landed and might need his help.
+
+As he ran, however, he suddenly came full tilt against a great, hairy
+object that was blundering through the brush. Over went the scout, and
+with an angry “Woof!” the bear darted aside, and a moment later he
+heard a splash in the lake, and knew that the creature had found the
+presence of mankind on the island more fear-inspiring than the fire on
+the mainland.
+
+When Cody picked himself up he beheld the half-clothed figure of Texas
+Jack standing over him.
+
+“By the piper that played before Pharaoh!” ejaculated Texas. “What’s
+the matter with you, Buffler? Come an’ git your clo’es--or do you fancy
+parading around yere in your birthday suit?”
+
+“What--what was that?” demanded the scout.
+
+“A bear. I fell over him myself and drove him off.”
+
+“I thought for a minute it was the madman.”
+
+“Oh, he’s gone,” said Texas Jack. “He ran out of ammunition, I reckon,
+and he took to the water, clo’es and all. There’s a shallow place
+yonder. We can wade ashore that way, too, when the fire burns out.”
+
+“He pretty near had me,” said Cody, and related his adventure as he
+shakingly got into his clothing.
+
+Texas Jack built a fire for them to dry and get warm by, and meanwhile
+explained that, finding he could not keep the scouts off the island,
+the Mad Hunter had departed for the mainland, approaching that part
+where the fire had come nearest to burning itself out.
+
+“It’s dangerous to go over there yet,” said Buffalo Bill.
+
+“You can bet it is. But he reckoned he’d rather go than meet us closer
+to. The old scoundrel! I’ve heard of his tricks and deviltry, but I
+never happened to run up against him before.”
+
+“I hope I never will again,” said Cody devoutly.
+
+But he was doomed to meet the Mad Hunter again, and to learn that about
+him that caused the Border King much sorrow of spirit.
+
+The scouts remained on the island during the night, and late the next
+day started out to find their mounts. There was a swamp several miles
+away, and, knowing well the keen instinct of their horses, the scouts
+went to it, and in less than twenty-four hours found both Chief and the
+other, much mud-bespattered, but in good condition. And their arms,
+though somewhat rusted, were safe.
+
+The forest fire had burned over a large tract of country, had driven
+away the game, and had cleared the territory of Indians. So the scouts
+separated to follow the trails of different bands of reds and spot
+their new villages. Their duty was to find and report upon every new
+encampment of the redskins, that the department might keep tabs on the
+movements of the savages.
+
+Cody kept his eyes open for traces of the bandits, but during the
+following week learned nothing of the movements of Boyd Bennett and his
+gang.
+
+He was thinking of going to a certain rendezvous where he expected to
+join Texas Jack, when he came suddenly upon a spectacle in a little
+valley that brought him up standing. So appalling--and unexpected--was
+the scene that it seemed for the moment as though his heart stopped
+beating!
+
+Over a score of figures in blue lay in the little cup-shaped coulée,
+where they had fallen battling for life!
+
+There they lay, partly stripped of their uniforms in some cases, robbed
+of their weapons, and lying amid their foes, hideous, painted savages,
+whom their red companions, in their haste to fly from the fearful
+scene, had not borne off to burial. Yet they had found time to tear the
+scalp-lock from the head of each white man.
+
+They lay in no order. The battle had been of the fiercest, and hand to
+hand. Here a trooper; there another--a redskin, an officer, a chief,
+a caparisoned steed, an Indian pony--all dead they lay and huddled
+together by the riverside in the tiny valley.
+
+Upon this scene Buffalo Bill came suddenly, just as the sun was about
+to drop below the western hills. The sight shocked and sickened him.
+Man of iron heart and steel nerves that he was, the sight made him reel
+in his saddle. He reined in his good horse, until it rose upon its
+haunches, and covered his eyes with one gauntleted hand as though to
+shut out the awful sight.
+
+An instant only did the scout show this weakness; then he scrutinized
+the red field which had flashed like some horrid vision on his sight.
+
+White-faced as the dead, with eyes which scrutinized each form and
+feature of the white men, the scout counted the slain. Gradually his
+own orbs flashed with the fires of rage, and his lips became livid and
+quivering.
+
+Suddenly, with a stifled cry, he leaped from his horse’s back and
+strode to one figure that lay stark at one side. It was in contact with
+a heap of slain on a knoll at the foot of a rock.
+
+Here the end had evidently come. This spot was plainly the last act of
+the fearful drama. Here the curtain of doom had fallen upon the remnant
+of the gallant band, to rise no more for them in this life!
+
+A groan issued from the scout’s lips, and he bowed his head in grief.
+There, with face upturned, lying in an attitude that showed he had died
+fighting to the last, lay Lieutenant Dick Danforth!
+
+The boy’s left hand grasped the barrel of an empty revolver; he had
+used it as a club at close quarters. The right held his sword-hilt, the
+blade buried in the body of a painted chief, whose death was probably
+the last act of the dying leader of the slaughtered troops.
+
+About him lay the foe, piled in heaps. Dick Danforth had sold his life
+at a dear price, indeed. And the fiends had run without scalping him!
+
+“Danforth dead!” murmured the scout. “It cannot be possible.”
+
+Yet it was true; he saw it plainly before he touched the already
+stiffening body. Merely by some freak of circumstances the young man
+had not been scalped.
+
+“Devils’ work this!” muttered the scout. He glanced again over the
+field. There were many points that had at first escaped his attention.
+For instance, there were shod horses lying dead that had never been
+ridden by either cavalrymen or Indian!
+
+“Aye, Indians did the deed, but there is a paleface hand behind it,
+and I mean to ferret out the fiend who inspired it,” said Buffalo Bill.
+
+He dropped upon his knees again and felt of Danforth’s body. There, in
+a voice quivering with sorrow and passion, he exclaimed:
+
+“Aye! here beside the body of the man whom I loved--who saved me from
+death--I swear revenge on the instigator of this crime!”
+
+In his deep feeling he spoke these words aloud. A sound smote upon
+his ear. He sprang to his feet with a cry and turned as a harsh voice
+pealed out behind him:
+
+“And _I_ swear, Buffalo Bill, that you shall never keep the oath your
+lips have just uttered!”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII. “THE DEATH KILLER.”
+
+
+Buffalo Bill had believed himself alone with the dead on this field of
+blood, and the voice fell like a knell upon his ear. For the moment he
+was half-unmanned. Then he wheeled completely to face the speaker.
+
+He knew then that he had an old and deadly foe to deal with. His
+discovery, however, brought the scout to himself. He recovered his
+presence of mind, and in a tone that was reckless in its defiance, he
+cried:
+
+“So we meet again, do we, Bennett? And you think you hold the trumps
+once more?”
+
+“I do--and likewise a revolver at your head, Cody!” declared the
+bandit. “Drop your rifle!”
+
+The scout obeyed. The pistol in Bennett’s hand was a well-timed
+argument. To all appearances the man was an Indian chief, for he was
+bedecked with feathers, his face was hideously painted, and he wore the
+full attire of a redskin, from moccasins to war-bonnet.
+
+At his back, with rifles and arrows likewise covering the scout, were a
+score of braves who had, with the stealthy tread of panthers, followed
+their leader to the spot where Buffalo Bill had mourned over the bodies
+of the slain white men. Cody knew well that he was at the mercy of a
+merciless foe.
+
+“You know me, do you, Cody?” said the bandit.
+
+“Oh, I know you--even if you’ve turned squaw-man,” said Cody bitterly.
+“I recognize your black heart under the paint and feathers.”
+
+“Have a care, scout, for every word of insult you heap upon me shall
+increase your torture at the stake.”
+
+“I see you’ve got it all mapped out for my finish,” said Cody.
+
+“You will not escape me this time, Buffalo Bill!” declared the bandit
+chief exultingly.
+
+“Don’t be too sure.”
+
+“Nay. It is settled. You are in my power. There can be no rescue here.
+_There_ lies the one who cheated my vengeance before. He has paid the
+price.”
+
+“True. And _his_ death must be paid for,” muttered the scout.
+
+“But not by you, Cody.”
+
+“Wait!” was the enigmatical word of the Border King, his eyes flashing
+the hate he felt for his sneering captor.
+
+“Do not tempt me too far, you dog!” exclaimed Bennett. “Remember you
+pay for all this when you come to die.”
+
+“Aye; when I _do_ come to die! But I am one who believes that while
+there is life there is still hope, you accursed renegade!”
+
+“That belief will not benefit you now, Cody. You are a dead man
+already.”
+
+“I’m the liveliest dead man _you_ ever saw!”
+
+The renegade looked as though he was about to shoot the scout in his
+tracks; but he caught sight of the smile that curled Cody’s lips, and,
+not understanding it, refrained. Indeed, he looked all about, somewhat
+nervously, to try to discover the meaning of the scout’s expression.
+
+“You must have help at hand, or you would not be so defiant, Buffalo
+Bill.”
+
+“That may be,” said the scout non-committingly.
+
+“At least, these will not help you,” said Boyd Bennett, with a horrible
+smile, pointing to the stark figures in the valley.
+
+“Not one left to tell the story--no prisoners?” queried Cody
+sorrowfully, forgetting for the moment his own peril.
+
+“No, no! Chief Oak Heart wanted no prisoners from Danforth’s band.
+I told the chief that Danforth and his men were come to take him
+captive--that they had sworn to do it! Ha! ha! That was rich, eh? So
+every man of them died.”
+
+“And he came for _you_,” said Cody bitterly.
+
+“Aye; and met the death he deserved; but a more merciful death than
+_you_ will meet, scout. I do not need to stir up the red men’s rage
+against _you_. They will receive you with great joy at Oak Heart’s
+encampment.”
+
+“And you fought with these savages?” cried Cody.
+
+“I did. And killed as they killed--without mercy.”
+
+“You do not fear to admit your crimes.”
+
+“Why should I? For am I not speaking to one who will soon be dead? Bah!
+you can no longer frighten me, Buffalo Bill!”
+
+“Yes, it looks as though I was near my finish; I do not deny it,”
+said Cody quietly. “But tell me one thing, Boyd Bennett. Did you kill
+Lieutenant Danforth yourself?”
+
+“I am sorry to say I did not. There was a good deal of hot work
+right here. But Red Knife claims the honor of having delivered the
+finishing-stroke. We were returning to take the scalp-lock----”
+
+“By Heaven, man! you shall not do it!” roared Cody, starting forward.
+
+But a dozen rifles clicked, and he knew that he was helpless. He fell
+back again. Bennett laughed.
+
+“Chief Oak Heart refused to allow any of his braves to scalp Danforth
+because he had fought so boldly.”
+
+“God bless the old red sinner for that!” murmured the much wrought-upon
+scout.
+
+Bennett laughed again.
+
+“But I am Death Killer, the medicine-chief, and I have come back myself
+to take the scalp-lock from the head of the man against whom I swore
+revenge.”
+
+“Boyd Bennett! accursed though you be, with a heart blacker than the
+foulest redskin can boast of, you would not do this wrong!” cried
+Buffalo Bill, in horror.
+
+“Watch me, scout.”
+
+“You shall not do it!”
+
+“You are mistaken; I shall. I came back with Red Knife and a few of
+the braves to point me out the place where Danforth fell. On the way
+we saw you arrive, and we dogged your steps to the very corpse of your
+friend.
+
+“Ha, Cody! this is sweet--this revenge. My kind have cast me off. Well,
+then! I cast the white men off! I spit upon them! I slay them! And now
+I scalp my enemy!”
+
+Bennett had worked himself into a species of frenzy. He sprang forward
+now, dropping his revolver, knife in hand, to carry out his threat.
+
+“Never shall you do this crime--not if this is my last act on earth!”
+shouted the scout.
+
+As he spoke he suddenly jerked a revolver from his belt, threw it
+forward, and fired pointblank at Boyd Bennett, all with the quickness
+of a flash of light!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII. THE WHITE ANTELOPE INTERFERES.
+
+
+So rapid and unexpected was this movement of Buffalo Bill, in drawing
+his revolver and firing it, that not one of the warriors who stood
+behind the renegade chief--some with arrows already fitted to their
+bows, and others with rifles covering the scout--had time to fire.
+
+Yet, swift as he had been, one eye was quick enough to send an arrow
+upon its errand. The shaft struck the outstretched arm of the scout
+just as his finger pulled the trigger of his weapon, and the shock
+destroyed his aim.
+
+Having made this daring move, however, and believing that death must
+follow the deed, Buffalo Bill dropped his left hand upon his second
+pistol, determined to press the fight, kill Bennett, and die as had the
+brave man at his feet--fighting to the last!
+
+Maddened with rage and thirsting for the life of his foe, Boyd Bennett
+shouted to his warriors to rush upon the scout and take him alive that
+he might end his career by cruel torture. But suddenly a slender form
+darted before the red braves, and, with arrow set in readiness to let
+fly, the White Antelope thrust herself between the white man and the
+reds who would have seized him.
+
+“Let the Sioux braves hold their hands. The White Antelope commands it!”
+
+Like one man the reds halted, and even the renegade shrank back a step,
+gazing in fear and wonder on the apparition of the beautiful girl.
+
+Buffalo Bill, too, gazed upon the chief’s daughter in amazement. He
+knew now that the arrow he drew from the wound in his right forearm had
+been driven home by the girl; yet now she stood between him and his
+foes.
+
+Her attitude evidently astonished Bennett as much as it did Cody
+himself, for the renegade cried:
+
+“Why has the White Antelope become the friend of the slayer of her
+people? The man she shelters is Pa-e-has-ka, the Long Hair.”
+
+“The arrow of the White Antelope brings blood from the arm of
+Pa-e-has-ka. Is that the way in which a Sioux shows friendship?” asked
+the young girl scornfully.
+
+“Then the White Antelope yields the paleface foe to the medicine chief
+of her tribe?”
+
+“No!” was the decided response.
+
+“What would you do?” demanded the renegade angrily.
+
+“I will deliver Pa-e-has-ka to the great chief, my father, Oak Heart.”
+
+“The White Antelope is no warrior,” sneered the renegade. “Are there
+not braves enough loyal to Oak Heart to carry out his will upon this
+paleface?”
+
+“The White Antelope may be no warrior,” said the girl; “but she has
+just saved the life of the Death Killer.”
+
+At this Buffalo Bill laughed aloud, for the shot was a good one, and
+his seeming indifference to his peril caused the daughter of the chief
+to turn her eyes upon him. She scanned the scout from head to foot.
+What was in her thoughts he could not guess; but, suddenly, deciding
+upon a course of action, she stepped boldly to the side of Buffalo
+Bill, and touched with tender fingers the wounded arm which he had
+bared.
+
+“If the Long Hair has ointment for the wound, it would be better to
+bind it,” she said to him.
+
+Buffalo Bill opened his pouch, and the girl found the salve and
+bandages he always carried. Meanwhile, the scout sucked the wound to
+remove any foreign matter that might have been driven into it by the
+arrowhead. Then the Indian maiden bound up the hurt while the renegade
+looked on sullenly.
+
+“Why is the Long Hair here--so near the village of the Sioux?” she
+asked Buffalo Bill, when this act of kindness was performed.
+
+“I chanced upon the place. I saw the dead. Here lies my friend--the
+young man whom I loved as a son,” said the scout, pointing to the body
+of Danforth. “He and his men have been all slain by the Sioux.”
+
+“They were enemies,” said the girl simply.
+
+“But they had not come out to disturb the red men.”
+
+“Why were they here?”
+
+“To find and take prisoner that villain yonder!” exclaimed Buffalo
+Bill, scowling at Boyd Bennett in his war-paint and feathers. “That man
+who is neither white nor red, but a squaw-man! He had committed crimes
+against the white man’s law and should be punished by that law.”
+
+“My father heard that the palefaces were coming to seize him.”
+
+“Another lie of that renegade!” exclaimed the scout. “And while I
+mourned over the body of this young man, the villain came upon me,
+returning, as he declares, to tear the scalp from the head of the white
+chief whom he was not brave enough himself to kill!”
+
+The girl seemed to understand. She glanced from the body of Danforth to
+the rage-inflamed face of Boyd Bennett.
+
+“Is it from this dead white chief’s head the Killer would take the
+scalp?” she asked haughtily.
+
+“Aye; and I _will_ have it!” cried Bennett.
+
+“Did the young paleface fall by thy hand, Death Killer?” demanded the
+maiden, with all the dignity of a judge.
+
+“It matters not. Forget not, oh, White Antelope, that I am the medicine
+chief of the Sioux----”
+
+“And see that the Death Killer forget not that _I_ am the daughter of
+Oak Heart!” she interrupted.
+
+“I acknowledge that fact,” sneered Boyd Bennett. “But the White
+Antelope has no control over the acts of the Death Killer.”
+
+“Did the paleface fall to your prowess?” she demanded again, looking
+the renegade sternly in the eye.
+
+An Indian stepped forward. He carried a blood-stained war-club in one
+hand. In a deep guttural he said:
+
+“The white chief’s scalp should be Red Knife’s; he brought him low at
+last with a blow of his club. But the great chief, Oak Heart, forbade
+that we take the scalp of so brave a warrior.”
+
+“Then why does the Death Killer wish to do that which is forbidden by
+my father?” cried the girl quickly.
+
+“Is it the White Antelope’s place to question the medicine chief of her
+tribe?” demanded the painted white man, with haughty demeanor. “The
+scalp of the dead bluecoat is my prize!”
+
+Buffalo Bill saw indecision in the Indian maiden’s face. He knew how
+superstitious the redskins were regarding the mysterious powers claimed
+by all medicine chiefs. In some way--by some manner of fake magic--Boyd
+Bennett had roused the superstitious reverence of the Sioux, and
+Buffalo Bill did not know how greatly the chief’s daughter might be
+tainted by this feeling of reverence for the villainous renegade.
+
+“Let not this crime be done, White Antelope,” he said in her ear.
+“Remember what Pa-e-has-ka told you in the cañon, when he had you in
+his power. He knows much. He was once your mother’s trusted friend. And
+he warns you now--as you hope for peace of soul and body--not to allow
+the dead young man to be so treated by your people.”
+
+The girl turned upon him suddenly, with wide-open eyes.
+
+“What does Long Hair mean? What is this dead paleface to her?”
+
+“That Long Hair may not tell thee, oh, White Antelope. Trust him----”
+
+“Trust a paleface!”
+
+“Trust one who has given you back to your father when he might have
+taken your life, or held you prisoner.”
+
+“Aye, Long Hair, thou didst that. It is true.”
+
+“And believe me,” the scout said, more earnestly still, in English, not
+wishing the other Indians to understand; “this dead paleface whom even
+the great chief Oak Heart admired for his bravery, is more to the White
+Antelope than she knows. The time will come when I can explain all to
+you, girl--but not now!”
+
+“What’s that?” demanded Boyd Bennett, stepping forward. “What’s this
+foolishness you are telling the girl?”
+
+But the White Antelope haughtily waved him back.
+
+“Let the Death Killer stand away. The chief’s daughter can care for
+herself. And let not one of these dead palefaces be further disturbed.
+It is my will!”
+
+The waiting Indians grunted agreement. They were willing enough to obey
+the beautiful princess. The White Antelope turned again to Buffalo Bill:
+
+“Where are the paleface brothers of Pa-e-has-ka?”
+
+Buffalo Bill pointed in the direction from which he had come.
+
+“Far away.”
+
+“The White Antelope is his foe, and the foe of his people; but she
+wishes not to see the wolves and the vultures tear the bodies of brave
+men for food. The Sioux have come to remove their dead. Let Pa-e-has-ka
+go bring his brother warriors to remove the paleface slain.”
+
+At that Boyd Bennett uttered an oath and sprang forward.
+
+“Not that, girl! You’re crazy!”
+
+“We’ll see who wears the breeches in this family, Boyd Bennett!”
+laughed the scout.
+
+“You shall not leave this spot alive, Bill Cody!”
+
+“Oh, shucks! Don’t speak so harshly,” gibed the scout.
+
+The girl raised her hand. Without looking at the renegade, she said to
+Buffalo Bill:
+
+“But Pa-e-has-ka must make the White Antelope a promise.”
+
+“All right. What is it?”
+
+“The White Antelope came from the great chief Oak Heart, who told her
+to seek the paleface warriors and tell them where to find their dead.
+He bids them to come here and remove their slain in peace, and not to
+follow on the track of his people. Will Pa-e-has-ka tell the big chief
+the words of Oak Heart?”
+
+“I will.”
+
+“Then Pa-e-has-ka must promise to return and yield himself to the
+Sioux.”
+
+She looked Buffalo Bill straight in the eye as she stated her
+condition, and he saw that she meant exactly what she said; but he
+asked:
+
+“Does the White Antelope mean that I am to give myself up to the red
+warriors after I have guided the bluecoats here?”
+
+“She has spoken.”
+
+“And this is the promise she wishes Pa-e-has-ka to make?”
+
+The Indian girl nodded.
+
+“Why should Pa-e-has-ka return?”
+
+“He is the captive of the medicine chief, Death Killer, now; but White
+Antelope lets him go free that the paleface braves lie not unburied,
+and that the other white warriors take heed not to follow upon the
+trail of the Sioux. Will Pa-e-has-ka promise?”
+
+Buffalo Bill was silent for a moment. If he refused he knew that her
+protection would cease. If he agreed to her condition he must keep his
+word, be the end what it might. And that end looked to the scout much
+like an ironwood stake, a hot fire, and a bunch of naked red devils
+dancing a two-step about him while he slowly crisped to a cinder!
+
+There was a loophole. He made a mental reservation that, after bearing
+the tidings of the massacre to the fort, and delivering Oak Heart’s
+warning, he would return to the Sioux encampment--but with a force
+behind him that would surprise the redskins!
+
+“I agree,” he said finally.
+
+“Trust not the fox-tongue of the Long Hair!” cried Boyd Bennett
+violently. “He will not keep his pledge.”
+
+“The paleface is the foe of my people, but his tongue is straight,”
+declared the Indian maiden, with confidence.
+
+Buffalo Bill began secretly to weaken on that “mental reservation.”
+
+“But he will come with a force at his back and burn the Indian
+village,” cried the renegade.
+
+Buffalo Bill had to give the fellow credit for having divined his
+purpose; but the girl turned scornfully from the squaw-man.
+
+“Pa-e-has-ka is not two-faced. He is not a turncoat,” she said
+sneeringly. “The White Antelope will believe that the Long Hair will
+return alone.”
+
+Buffalo Bill at that completely abandoned the “mental reservation”
+clause.
+
+“Bet your life he will!” he exclaimed. “I’ll come back as I promise,
+girl.”
+
+“Then let Pa-e-has-ka go.”
+
+But as she spoke the command, Boyd Bennett once more sprang forward. He
+covered the scout with his rifle and cried:
+
+“I am the medicine chief of the Sioux, and I say the paleface dog shall
+not go!”
+
+Then in English he declared:
+
+“Your hour has come, Buffalo Bill. You die here and now!”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX. A GIRL’S WORD.
+
+
+The instant the renegade uttered the threat, Buffalo Bill placed
+himself upon guard by drawing his revolvers and covering the scoundrel.
+His wounded arm was sore, but the nerves had recovered from the shock
+of the arrow-wound, and he could hold his gun steadily enough. The
+renegade was so near at best that the scout could not miss him!
+
+But the scout did not shoot. The White Antelope with flashing eyes,
+sprang to the front, and she, too, aimed her arrow at Boyd Bennett.
+
+The warriors--or the bulk of them, at least--were surprised by Buffalo
+Bill’s action, and their several weapons were in line for the scout’s
+heart before they noted the White Antelope’s action. Then several of
+them dropped their guns, and their facial expression was as foolish as
+it was possible for so stoical a set of faces to be!
+
+For a moment the tableau continued. A sudden motion might have
+precipitated a bloody, though brief, conflict. Buffalo Bill, though
+pale, was stern and determined, his eyes riveted upon the face of Boyd
+Bennett. He felt that the girl was friendly to him, and he knew her
+influence among the Sioux.
+
+“Why do you not bring that finger to the trigger of your rifle,
+Bennett?” he asked sneeringly. “It won’t go off otherwise.”
+
+The girl looked at the warriors and commanded quickly:
+
+“Let the braves of Oak Heart turn their weapons from the heart of
+Pa-e-has-ka, the paleface chief.”
+
+To the delight of Buffalo Bill, the command was instantly obeyed. Much
+as they might have feared the power of the medicine chief, Oak Heart
+was greater, and his daughter was here as his representative.
+
+That Boyd Bennett was nonplused by this move was plain. His face fell,
+and he lowered his own rifle. But the scowl of deadly hatred which he
+bestowed on the white man threatened vengeance at some future date.
+
+“I reckon the redskins are trumps, old man, and the girl holds a full
+hand of them!” laughed Buffalo Bill.
+
+“It is your time to laugh now, Cody. But mine will come,” gritted the
+renegade.
+
+“Oh, I can’t expect to laugh always, Bennett; but,” and the scout
+changed his speech to the Sioux dialect, that all the warriors might
+understand; “let the renegade paleface meet me now in personal combat,
+and settle the matter at once. Long Hair does not fear a fair fight
+with the mighty Death Killer!” he added sneeringly.
+
+The nods and grunts of the warriors showed that they approved of this
+proposal. Although they could not quite agree with the White Antelope’s
+friendliness with Buffalo Bill, they saw that he was a brave man--as,
+indeed, they knew well before--and a duel to the death seemed to their
+savage minds the only way to properly decide the controversy between
+their medicine chief and the scout. They looked at Bennett expectantly.
+
+But the renegade was not desirous of meeting Buffalo Bill with any
+weapon he might name! He knew the scout’s prowess too well. His desire
+was to see the scout writhing in the embrace of the flames, or standing
+bound as a target for the hatchet-marksmen of the Indian tribe with
+which he was affiliated.
+
+He dared not seem to refuse the challenge, however, for he would then
+lose completely his influence with Oak Heart’s braves. But suddenly he
+caught sight of the Indian maiden’s face, and that he read like an open
+book!
+
+“The enemy of the Sioux has spoken well. We will fight!” exclaimed Boyd
+Bennett promptly, but with a crafty smile wreathing his lips.
+
+“The White Antelope says ‘No!’” exclaimed the Indian girl, facing the
+renegade.
+
+As he was so sure she would veto the proposition, the wily Bennett was
+eager to urge the duel.
+
+“Why does the daughter of the great chief interfere? She says that
+Pa-e-has-ka is not her friend, and yet she shields him.”
+
+Buffalo Bill had to chuckle over this. He couldn’t help it. He saw
+through the whole game of Bennett’s, and it amused him.
+
+“No, the Long Hair shall not fight the medicine chief,” declared the
+girl earnestly.
+
+“And why not?” demanded Bennett, with continued haughtiness.
+
+“Because if they fought, the white man would wear the medicine chief’s
+scalp at his belt,” declared the young girl. “The white man shall go
+his way, bring his brothers to bury the paleface dead, and then deliver
+himself to Oak Heart, as he has promised.”
+
+“And you can make up your mind, Boyd Bennett, that she says one very
+true thing,” declared Buffalo Bill. “Whenever we _do_ fight, you’ll go
+under! Mark that! I’ll run you down yet and nail your scalp to the wall
+of Fort Advance as a warning to all horse-thieves, stage-robbers, and
+deserters!”
+
+The White Antelope spoke quickly before the wrathful Bennett could
+reply to this challenge:
+
+“Let the paleface go to his big chief. There is his horse. Yonder is
+his weapon. Mount, Pa-e-has-ka, and away!”
+
+“Aye, girl,” said Cody, in English; “but what will happen to this poor
+young man if I go, leaving that brute here? He will tear the scalp
+from Danforth’s head as soon as my back, and yours, are turned.”
+
+“That he shall not!” exclaimed the White Antelope.
+
+“You do not know his treachery,” said Buffalo Bill, who knew that the
+very deed was in Bennett’s mind.
+
+“I have told the white man that the brave young chief shall not be
+mistreated.”
+
+“Your word on it, girl?”
+
+“The White Antelope has spoken. She will guard the body of the young
+white chief herself until Pa-e-has-ka’s return.”
+
+“Good!” exclaimed Buffalo Bill. “And, my girl, you’ll never be sorry
+for this mercy shown the corpse of that poor young man.”
+
+The girl looked at him strangely.
+
+“The Long Hair will return, as he has promised, to the village of Oak
+Heart?”
+
+“I’ll keep my word; do you keep yours,” said the scout.
+
+“Pa-e-has-ka’s tongue is straight?”
+
+“As sure as I live, I’ll come back, girl!” declared the scout earnestly.
+
+The next instant he mounted Chief unmolested, having picked up his
+rifle, settled himself in the saddle, seized the reins, and dashed
+away. As he mounted the ridge he looked back. The reds were busy
+separating their own slain from the dead soldiers. The tall figure
+of the medicine chief was stalking angrily from the scene. White
+Antelope was down on her knees by the body of Dick Danforth, the dead
+lieutenant. With a dumb ache at his heart, and little thought for his
+own coming peril, Buffalo Bill went over the rise and spurred away for
+Fort Advance.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX. THE MAD HUNTER.
+
+
+In the valley a cavalry command was encamped, some hours after
+the battle in which Lieutenant Dick Danforth and his men had been
+overwhelmed by Oak Heart’s ambuscade.
+
+It was just sunset, but twilight among the mountains is sometimes four
+hours long--a man might see to read fine print at nine o’clock.
+
+The command had ridden hard and were a-wearied, so the party had
+bivouacked early, the guide reporting that the ridge before them
+afforded no good camping-ground. The horses were soon lariated out, and
+scores of camp-fires were kindled along the banks of the stream, while
+the cheerful rattle of dishes and the smell of cooking sharpened the
+appetites of the troopers.
+
+Leaving his servant to prepare his frugal meal, the commander of the
+soldiers strode up the hillside toward the summit of the ridge, the
+better to view the valley and its boundaries while daylight lingered.
+
+“Be careful, captain, for I look for Injuns hereabouts,” called the
+guide, who was Texas Jack.
+
+“All right, Jack. I’ll signal if I see any signs of the red scamps,”
+returned the fearless officer, as he strode on up the ascent.
+
+Once or twice he turned to enjoy the scene of beauty spreading below
+him--the lovely valley, the winding stream, the picturesque bivouac of
+the troopers, and the distant blue hills, on which the light was fading
+rapidly. At length he reached the point from which he could view a
+part of the country through which the morrow’s trail would lead them.
+
+Below him, on that side of the ridge, all was shadow now, for the ridge
+shut off the last glow of the golden western sky; but the summits of
+the hills and ridges were still bathed in the departing sun’s radiance.
+The scene so impressed him that, quite unconsciously, the officer spoke
+aloud:
+
+“No wonder that poor Lo loves this land so well that he’s willing to
+fight for it. It is a pity it must ever be settled, and cut up into
+farms and homesteads--and possibly, town lots! The life of the free
+savage is the best, after all!”
+
+“Well said, captain! But I’ve got the drop on you!”
+
+The officer started as the voice fell upon his ears, and, dropping his
+hand upon his sword-hilt, turned to face the speaker. Before him, and
+not six paces distant, having just stepped from a dense thicket, was an
+apparition which, at first sight, the officer scarce realized was human!
+
+And yet, no other shape was near, and from the lips of the strange
+being that confronted him had fallen the threatening words he had heard.
+
+“Who and what are you?” cried the officer sternly, his eyes beholding a
+being of gigantic size, clad in the skins of beasts, so that at first
+sight he appeared more like a grizzly bear reared upon its hind legs!
+
+About the waist of the giant was a red fox-skin belt, in which were
+slung two revolvers and a large knife; upon his head was a panther-skin
+cap, the tail hanging down the man’s back, and on his feet were
+moccasins of black bearskin. Hair black as night fell to his waist;
+beard of the same hue matted and unkempt; and a dark, haggard face,
+out of which glittered the wildest eyes it had ever been the officer’s
+fortune to see.
+
+To finish this terrifying picture, the strange being held a rifle at
+his shoulder, and that rifle was aimed now at the military officer’s
+heart!
+
+“You ask who and what I am?” repeated the creature, in a deep voice.
+
+“I do,” said the soldier, measuring him with the eye of a hawk.
+
+He had instantly seen that he was in the presence of a maniac--a person
+utterly irresponsible for his acts. Whether he was to be cajoled out
+of his present murderous condition of mind, the soldier did not know.
+But he was watching for some wavering of the rifle which might tell him
+that the fellow was off his guard, and that there might be a chance to
+spring under his guard and seize him.
+
+“You are a bold man to question me, captain!” said the giant sternly.
+
+“I know it; but I’ve an overpowering curiosity to find out,” and the
+captain dropped his hand carelessly upon the butt of the pistol he
+carried at his hip.
+
+“Hands up!” exclaimed the fellow, seeing the movement. “Hands up, or
+you are a dead man!”
+
+Hoping that he might yet parley with the maniac, the officer obeyed. It
+were better, perhaps, had he drawn his gun and risked a shot. The giant
+looked at him with wicked, glowing eyes.
+
+“I will tell you who I am, officer,” he whispered hoarsely. “I am a
+_madman_!”
+
+The last word he fairly shrieked; yet not for a second did he forget
+his victim, nor did his hand tremble. The rifle still transfixed the
+helpless officer.
+
+But the officer was a kindly man, and although he believed himself in
+peril of his life still, the brave man ever has pity for those touched
+in the head. He said quietly:
+
+“My poor man, lower your weapon and come with me down to yonder camp.
+Those are Uncle Sam’s troops down there. They will take care of you.”
+
+“Ha!” cried the maniac furiously. “I need no one to care for me. I can
+care for myself. You’d much better be thinking of help for yourself,
+captain.”
+
+“Well, then I’ll go along and look for that help,” said the officer
+easily.
+
+“Don’t move!”
+
+“But, my dear fellow----”
+
+“Hold! Address no words of kindness to me, for they are thrown away
+upon one whose duty it is to slay.”
+
+“But it surely isn’t your duty to kill _me_!”
+
+“Aye--you, too.”
+
+“But what have I done to you?”
+
+“It matters not. Mankind has done enough to me. I am appointed to slay,
+and slay I will!”
+
+“It’s nice to know your duty so clearly,” said the officer easily. “But
+aren’t you liable to make a mistake?”
+
+“No! Never a mistake. Once I might have made a mistake. That was when I
+believed I was called of God to kill the redskins only. I know better
+now.”
+
+“Well!” murmured the officer, hoping to catch the madman off his guard,
+if only for a moment.
+
+“I saw the error of my ways,” cried the madman. “I beheld my sins. I
+had neglected the full measure of my duty.”
+
+“So killing redskins didn’t satisfy you, eh?”
+
+“Why should I kill the savages alone? I saw white men quite as
+brutal--aye, more brutal--than the red. I saw them commit the same
+atrocities. I saw white rangers rip the scalps from the head of their
+dead foes; I saw the soldiers storm the Indian encampments and kill
+the squaws and the papoose at the breast! Aye! how much better are the
+whites than the red men?”
+
+“And having seen all this bloody warfare, you wish to add to the sum
+total of horror by killing everybody you come across, do you, old
+fellow?”
+
+“You are all alike to me. I kill. That is the way I obtain ammunition
+and arms. The arms and cartridges you carry are mine!”
+
+“Oh, I’ll give them to you right now, if you want them,” exclaimed the
+captain eagerly. “You won’t have to kill me to get them. Really, it
+isn’t necessary. I’ll do the polite and hand them over.”
+
+To himself he thought:
+
+“And I’ll hand you something that will do you a lot of good the first
+chance I get!”
+
+But the madman was not to be fooled so easily.
+
+“Nay, nay! Your bullets would not fly true for me were you alive,”
+declared the giant. “I am the Mad Hunter. Have you heard of me?”
+
+“I have heard of such a character,” admitted the captain.
+
+“I am he, and if you know of me you must know that I show mercy to
+none--not even to one wearing the uniform you do. No, no! I spare
+neither my own race--for I was white once, before I became like the
+beasts that perish--nor the redskin. All fall before me.”
+
+The man spoke with intensity; yet not a motion gave the officer hope
+of his chance to spring on him. The man’s nerves were of steel; he
+held the rifle as though it and his own body were of stone; yet the
+glittering eyes showed his victim that if he dropped his hands a bullet
+would end his career on the instant.
+
+“But, you know, _I_ haven’t harmed you, my poor man,” said the officer.
+
+“All mankind are my foes,” said the Mad Hunter, in his strong monotone,
+and without moving. “Come! the night draws near, and I have yet to
+travel many miles to my cave in the mountains.”
+
+“Don’t let me detain you, old man,” said the officer. “Won’t it do just
+as well another day?”
+
+“Come! prepare to die. If you have prayers to say, repeat them quickly.
+It is growing dark.”
+
+Now, the officer didn’t care how dark it got before the madman fired.
+Indeed, he would have been glad if it suddenly became pitch-dark--so
+dark that he might dodge away and escape the sinister weapon which held
+its “bead” on his breast. He gave up all hope of “talking the fellow
+out of it.” The madman meant to kill him, and unless some miracle
+averted the fate, he would very quickly be a dead man!
+
+The madman was a giant in build and strength. He remembered now having
+heard the scouts tell many strange stories of the Mad Hunter about the
+camp-fire. For years he had been tracking about the Rockies, appearing
+unexpectedly in first one locality and then another; sometimes
+committing atrocious murders of inoffensive people. But usually his
+presence was noted by the scouts by the dead bodies of Indians,
+their bodies mutilated by a cross gashed with the madman’s knife over
+their hearts. He put this insignia upon every redskin he killed, so
+that even the savages--who feared him as some spirit and altogether
+supernatural--knew who to lay the death of their friends to when the
+Mad Hunter was about.
+
+Whether the giant had a habit of marking his white victims in the
+same way, the captain did not know; but it was a suggestion that did
+not tranquilize his nerves. To cope with the giant he knew would be
+impossible. He was a tall and strong man himself; but the maniac could
+have handled three men like the officer with ease. A movement toward
+his revolver or sword would be a signal for his death. Yet the officer
+could not stand here helplessly and allow the maniac to shoot him down!
+
+In full view below him were the camp-fires of his men. The valley had
+grown dark now, but surely they could see him clearly standing here on
+the summit of the ridge. His body must loom big against the sky-line.
+Yet it was plain they did not see the giant with him.
+
+_He_ stood in the shadow of the thicket where he had hidden at the
+officer’s approach. It was behind him, and made him invisible to the
+men in the valley. To call for aid would bring the end more quickly. So
+he waited in silence, hoping against hope that some mad freak of the
+maniac’s mind and humor might work for his salvation.
+
+If the Mad Hunter kept his word, the officer had but a few minutes to
+live. He looked all about the vicinity, hoping he might see some chance
+of help. It was a desperate--a really hopeless thought. Who or what
+could save him now?
+
+Suddenly his eyes became fixed upon the spur of a hill that jutted out
+across a shallow valley. The lingering rays of the sun touched the
+hill-spur redly. It seemed much nearer to him than it really was, and
+along its brink came a horse and rider!
+
+The officer gasped; then held his breath, and did not change the mask
+of his face. He had learned long since to hide emotion; but this was a
+terrible situation, and he had almost lost his nerve.
+
+The horseman had evidently been about to descend into the valley,
+when his glance fell upon the two men standing like statues upon the
+opposite ridge. _He_ could see the giant huntsman, if the soldiers in
+the other valley could not. He saw at once the attitude of both men and
+understood. He drew rein, and the officer at the same moment recognized
+him. Unconsciously his lips parted, and the name of the rider came from
+the officer in a quick gasp:
+
+“Buffalo Bill!”
+
+The keen ear of the mad hercules caught the name, and, turning like
+a panther at bay, he saw the scout on the distant spur. As he moved,
+the officer’s hands dropped, and he seized the revolver from his belt.
+Throwing it forward, he pulled the trigger as the madman wheeled again
+toward him.
+
+But the hammer fell without exploding the cartridge. The madman laughed
+aloud.
+
+“No, no!” he shouted. “The bullet is not cast that will kill the Mad
+Hunter! The cartridge is not made that will injure me!”
+
+The officer found his pistol-hammer jammed. He could not cock the
+weapon again. With a wild shriek the maniac dropped his rifle, and,
+drawing his knife, flung himself at his victim, intending evidently to
+kill him with those slashes across the breast which usually marked his
+dead.
+
+But in that awful moment the doomed man’s eyes turned upon the distant
+spur, and he beheld the rifle rise to the horseman’s shoulder.
+Desperate as was the chance, Buffalo Bill intending risking a shot to
+save him. He flung himself backward, as the madman came on, leaving the
+field clear for the scout to fire.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI. BUFFALO BILL’S GREAT SHOT.
+
+
+In that instant, as he was falling backward upon the ground, knowing
+that if the huge madman reached him before Buffalo Bill’s bullet
+reached its mark he would be a dead man, a clear perception of the
+great mistake he had made flashed through the captain’s mind. He
+remembered that that morning when cleaning his revolver he had noticed
+something wrong with the hammer, and had put it aside, unloaded, to
+attend to later in the day. But as he started from the camp that
+evening to walk up the hill, and Texas Jack had called his warning to
+him, he had picked up the weapon and thrust it into his belt without
+looking at it.
+
+Had he not made this error he would have shot the Mad Hunter dead
+in that instant when the giant turned his head to look across the
+little valley. As he went backward, the officer flung away his useless
+revolver and clutched at his sword. But he could not get it from its
+scabbard in time. It was but half-drawn when he landed upon his back
+with a shock that almost deprived him of his senses!
+
+Fearful, indeed, were the chances against the officer. He was
+absolutely helpless then, and like a tiger-cat the madman had sprung
+at his falling body. He actually was in the air with the blade of his
+knife poised to thrust downward into the officer’s breast when the
+latter heard the crack of Buffalo Bill’s rifle on the other hillside.
+
+The keen eye of the scout on horseback had noted every move of the game
+on the ridge. He recognized the officer, and he guessed who the other
+man must be when he saw his threatening attitude. It was a long shot,
+and there was danger at first of his hitting the captain instead of his
+foe.
+
+But when the former flung himself backward the scout dared fire. And
+he pulled the trigger just in the nick of time. The maniac was already
+plunging forward to knife the supine soldier when the bullet sped on
+its mission.
+
+With a scream the madman pitched forward, over-leaping his victim, and
+falling on his face upon the ground, the knife being plunged hilt deep
+into the soft earth! A red streak showed across his scalp where the
+bullet had grazed the man’s crown.
+
+“Bravo, bravo, Buffalo Bill! I owe my life to him--and Heaven knows
+I was never in closer quarters with death!” cried the officer, as he
+leaped up and drew his sword to further defend himself.
+
+But the huge form lay still. The Mad Hunter lay unconscious. Therefore,
+turning to the opposite hill, he waved his hat, which he had picked
+up, to the horseman who was now spurring down into the valley. An
+answering yell from Buffalo Bill showed that he saw the officer was
+safe.
+
+The rifle-shot and the shout of the Border King was unheard down there
+in the bigger valley; all this tragic happening had been in sight of
+the camp of the troopers, yet had chanced to go unnoticed. It was the
+scout who had come upon the scene in the nick of time, and who again
+had proved himself a hero.
+
+With rapid bounds the scout urged his big white charger up the hill,
+from the shadows below to the twilight of the ridge summit. Finally he
+pulled up, threw himself from the saddle, and the officer caught his
+gauntleted hand.
+
+“God bless you, Cody!”
+
+“Captain Ed. Keyes!”
+
+“Always in the right place at the right time, scout. Another minute,
+and that old madman would have sent me on my long journey, and no
+mistake!”
+
+“I came blamed near being in the wrong place, captain,” said Cody
+seriously. “That was a long shot. I was taking great chances, and if
+you hadn’t flung yourself backward I should have scarcely risked firing
+at all.”
+
+Then he turned to view the prostrate form of the madman, and said:
+
+“It’s that crazy fellow they talk about, isn’t it?”
+
+“So he said. He seemed to be proud of his reputation.”
+
+“The Mad Hunter!”
+
+“Yes. And mad he certainly is--poor fellow. I suppose he’s not to be
+blamed for what he can’t help. But he’s better dead than at large. Ugh!
+Another moment, and he’d had his devil’s cross slashed on my breast, I
+fancy.”
+
+“You had a narrow squeak, sir.”
+
+“I certainly did. Is he dead?”
+
+Buffalo Bill was stooping over the giant. He turned him over so that
+his face was visible in the half-light.
+
+“_That_ shot oughtn’t to have killed him,” muttered the scout, noting
+the course of his bullet.
+
+“It certainly couldn’t have hurt his brain any more than it _was_
+queered. He’s breathing, isn’t he?”
+
+But Buffalo Bill did not immediately reply. He had suddenly fallen
+silent, and when Captain Keyes looked at the scout in surprise he
+saw that his eyes were fixed with a most strange expression upon the
+unconscious madman’s face.
+
+“What’s the matter, Cody?” the officer asked.
+
+The scout still made no reply. It is doubtful if he heard his superior
+officer. He seemed devouring the features of the unconscious man.
+
+Little of the face could be seen for the matted beard and hair. Yet
+the angles of the cheek-bones and jaw were easily traced; likewise,
+the penthouse brows and deeply sunken eyes. The nose was prominent--a
+handsome nose, with its point thin and flexible, and the nostrils well
+marked.
+
+“No--no,” murmured the scout at last. “I never could have seen him
+before--never!”
+
+“What’s the matter with you, Cody?”
+
+Buffalo Bill looked up at him, and wet his lips before speaking.
+
+“I--I thought I saw a ghost, Captain Keyes--a ghost! My God! and it’s
+no wonder, with my mind full of the horror I _have_ seen already this
+evening. It--it was Danforth--he’s got into my mind, and I can’t
+forget him.”
+
+“Dick Danforth--Lieutenant Danforth?”
+
+“Aye--the poor boy himself.”
+
+“What under the sun has Dick got to do with this madman?”
+
+“Oh--nothing! nothing!” exclaimed Cody, leaping up. “But I have to
+report a very terrible thing, captain.”
+
+“Not about Dick Danforth?”
+
+“It is, sir. Lieutenant Danforth is dead--dead with all his men!”
+
+“No!”
+
+“It is the awful truth, sir.”
+
+“I cannot believe it, Cody. You are beside yourself. You look strange,
+man!”
+
+“Aye, and you would look strange yourself had you seen what _I_ have
+seen, Captain Keyes.”
+
+“Tell me!”
+
+“I was on my way to Fort Advance with the news when I happened to see
+you--as I supposed, facing a grizzly bear over on this ridge.”
+
+“He was worse than a grizzly,” said Keyes, with a glance at the giant.
+“But give me the particulars----”
+
+“Boyd Bennett has joined the Sioux, betrayed Danforth and his men into
+a trap, and the whole party were wiped out.”
+
+“My God, Cody!”
+
+“It is so. I saw them. I was captured by Bennett, indeed. It was within
+a few miles of Oak Heart’s big village.”
+
+“Ha! And did you see the wily old scoundrel himself?”
+
+“Oak Heart?”
+
+“Yes.”
+
+“No; but I saw a representative of the chief;” and he repeated the
+story of his coming upon the field of carnage and his adventure with
+Bennett and the White Antelope, while Keyes hurried him down the
+hillside toward the troopers’ camp.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXII. THE BORDER KING’S PLEDGE.
+
+
+With him Captain Keyes had over a hundred cavalrymen, a company of
+mounted infantry, and two mountain howitzers, numbering, with the
+artillerymen and scouts, nearly two hundred men--a strong flying
+column, that could move rapidly and stand off a big force of Indians.
+They were then encamped not twenty miles from the main village of the
+Sioux, and not much more than half that distance from the coulée where
+Danforth’s squadron had been overcome.
+
+The coming of Buffalo Bill, although it had been most timely for
+Captain Keyes, and had undoubtedly saved his life, cast a mantle of
+gloom over the encampment. Although the men had been warned to turn in
+early, because of the work before them on the morrow, they stood or sat
+around the camp-fires until late, discussing the terrible intelligence
+the scout had brought.
+
+And at the officers’ quarters, Buffalo Bill had to relate the story all
+over again to an eager band of listeners. All had known Dick Danforth,
+and his death was greatly deplored.
+
+As soon as he could get away, and had eaten a bit of supper, Cody
+sought out his faithful partner, Jack Omohondreau.
+
+“Jack, old man, did you ever see the Wild Huntsman?”
+
+“What! this fellow who come pretty near bowling over the captain--the
+Mad Hunter?”
+
+“Yes.”
+
+“Never. But I’ve seen his spoor--and I’ve seen his work.”
+
+“Meaning his dead?”
+
+“Yep. Two redskins. He didn’t do a thing but hash them up. Ugh!”
+
+“I don’t think I killed him up there. Will you get a couple of torches,
+and bring two other fellows you can trust, and help me make a search
+for him?”
+
+“Lord! Want to put the finishing touch on him--eh?”
+
+“No. I must bring him down here and have the surgeon give him what care
+he can.”
+
+“Whew! You’d best roll him over a precipice by mistake.”
+
+“The man is mad.”
+
+“Well, then, he isn’t missing much, if he cashes in.”
+
+“But perhaps he can be cured.”
+
+“Well, are you going to tackle the cure?”
+
+“I want to see if he’s dead first,” said Cody non-committingly. “Go
+find your men--and don’t forget the torches, Jack.”
+
+Texas Jack found both, and the four men searched the ridge
+thoroughly--or as thoroughly as they could by torchlight; but the
+gigantic madman was not there. He might have crawled into some hole to
+hide; anyway, they had to give it up for the night.
+
+As they returned to camp they found an orderly searching industriously
+for Buffalo Bill.
+
+“Captain Keyes’ compliments, sir, and will you come to his tent at
+once?”
+
+The scout complied with his request. Keyes had his despatch-box open,
+and was undoubtedly just inditing his report of the day’s work, and of
+the intelligence the scout had brought him, to his commander at Fort
+Advance. He motioned the scout to a camp-stool.
+
+“Sit down, Cody. I want to talk with you.”
+
+Buffalo Bill obeyed.
+
+“We have deeded to divide the command. I shall go myself with the first
+division on to the place where our poor brave fellows lie, and attend
+to the burial of their bodies. The rest of my party will form a reserve
+squad with the howitzers--in case of treachery.”
+
+“There will be no treachery, Captain Keyes. I know Oak Heart.”
+
+“But you say that deserter, Bennett, has influence in the tribe.”
+
+“Not enough to make the old chief break his word.”
+
+“Best to be sure, anyway. Now, there’s a point I wish to discuss with
+you. I know your confounded quixotism, Cody. You certainly don’t
+propose to keep your promise to that squaw and go alone to the Indian
+encampment?”
+
+“I do mean just that, sir.”
+
+At this the officer rose to his feet and spoke vigorously.
+
+“Cody, you sha’n’t do it! By the nine gods of war! it’s foolish--it’s
+insane!”
+
+“I have promised.”
+
+“But I forbid you!”
+
+“I can’t help that, sir; but if you will think a moment, you will see
+that it is quite out of your jurisdiction. I was the reds’ prisoner.
+They did not have to let me go at all. My life is hostage to them yet.
+They have trusted me--and, God knows, enough white men have lied to
+them.”
+
+“Then I’ll attack their camp, small as my force is.”
+
+“You will compass my death sure enough if you do,” said the scout,
+shaking his head.
+
+“But, Cody, of all white men alive, _you_ are the one they most wish to
+see _dead_!”
+
+“So be it.”
+
+“Be reasonable.”
+
+“They desire to make my closer acquaintance, and I intend to give them
+the chance,” said Buffalo Bill, smiling.
+
+“Never, Cody!”
+
+“But I----”
+
+“I’ll hear no ‘buts,’ scouts. If you persist in such a foolish
+intention I’ll put you in the guard-house and keep you under arrest
+until you come to your senses.”
+
+“I’m afraid I’ll grow gray in the guard-house, then,” laughed Buffalo
+Bill, who knew that his friend did not mean this.
+
+“But you were forced to make the promise to save your life. Therefore,
+the promise was given under durance and cannot hold.”
+
+“The redskins have few lawyers,” said Cody, with a smile. “That
+sophistry would not appeal to them.”
+
+“It’s sure death!”
+
+“I’m not so sure of that. However, I must go to Oak Heart’s camp. I may
+risk my life, but I hope to accomplish a purpose that I have in mind.”
+
+The officer saw that the scout was determined, and that his will could
+not be shaken.
+
+“It seems like being a party to your murder to let you go, scout,” said
+Captain Keyes gloomily. “And you saved my life, too!”
+
+“Let us hope for the best, sir,” said the scout quietly, as he bowed
+himself out of the officer’s tent.
+
+Before dawn Buffalo Bill and a squad of men sent by Captain Keyes went
+to the ridge to hunt the live--or dead--body of the Mad Hunter. In an
+hour, and just before the column was ready to start, the squad returned
+without Cody.
+
+“Where is the scout, sergeant?” asked Captain Keyes.
+
+“He left us upon the ridge, sir,” said the man, saluting.
+
+“Left you?”
+
+“Yes, sir.”
+
+“And where did he go?”
+
+“He struck a trail, sir, and said he would be off on it.”
+
+“What sort of trail?”
+
+“The Mad Hunter’s trail. We could not find the man, but Mr. Cody saw
+where he had walked away, and he started in pursuit.”
+
+“He’s gone farther than that!” exclaimed Captain Keyes, shaking his
+head. “What say, Texas Jack?”
+
+Omohondreau, who knew of Buffalo Bill’s promise to the White Antelope,
+nodded.
+
+“He’s gone to the Injun camp,” said the brother scout, “and it’s a
+toss-up if it isn’t ‘good-by, Bill Cody!’ for good and all!”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII. TRACKING THE MAD HUNTER.
+
+
+After a night of uneasy repose, in which the thoughts engendered by his
+first sight of the Mad Hunter’s face had ridden him like a nightmare,
+Buffalo Bill was determined to make a thorough search for the maniac.
+Had he not believed the evening before that the man was likely to
+remain unconscious until roused by the efforts of the surgeon, he would
+have begged Captain Keyes to let him stay by the maniac until help
+could come. He was deeply disappointed when he and Jack Omohondreau
+could not find the giant.
+
+In the morning he had searched patiently, struck the trail of the
+madman, and, as the sergeant reported, had started at once to follow
+and run the maniac down. He had brought his horse, and having left the
+soldiers, he mounted Chief and followed the big footprints of the wild
+man at a round trot for some distance.
+
+How seriously the man was wounded, Cody did not know; but his quarry
+did not seem to try to hide his trail. Straight along the ridge it led,
+then down into the little valley the scout had ridden across the night
+before, and so up the range of hills on the other side. Something about
+the walking of the big man puzzled the scout greatly, and suddenly
+Buffalo Bill spurred his horse to the summit of a high hill, that he
+might take a survey of the country over which it seemed the madman
+might pass.
+
+The soldiers were under way now, and, first of all, Cody saw them
+traversing a defile at one side, up which they had come from the
+bivouac of the past night. A steep bluff towered beside them where
+they were then marching as Buffalo Bill came out upon the back-bone of
+the range.
+
+The course he had taken in following the madman’s trail had brought
+the scout out ahead of the marching column. But it was not upon them
+that his gaze became fastened. Instead, a single moving object upon the
+summit of the bluff in the shadow of which the soldiers marched held
+his attention. This object was more than a mile ahead of the soldiery,
+and would never be noticed from the valley below.
+
+In an instant Buffalo Bill divined the identity of the moving object,
+and the nature of the work which engaged its attention. The ridge of
+land on which he stood was unbroken to the bluff itself. He set spurs
+to Chief and raced along the highlands, knowing that he would not
+likely be seen by the soldiers, and therefore must do alone what he
+could to avert the catastrophe which he saw imminent.
+
+Thwarted the night before when he sought the life of Captain Keyes, the
+Mad Hunter was trying to compass a worse crime. The moving form Buffalo
+Bill knew to be the maniac, and he saw that he was gathering huge rocks
+into a pile, which he proposed to push over upon the soldiers as they
+passed below the bluff!
+
+It was a fiendish plan, and well worthy of the man’s insane cunning.
+Buffalo Bill spurred on, and came to a place not many yards behind the
+Mad Hunter without the latter’s being aware of his presence, so intent
+was he in the work.
+
+Leaving his horse and rifle, the scout, with soft tread and every sense
+alert, crept up behind the busy lunatic. He saw that the Mad Hunter
+had put aside his own arms, the better to toil at his horrid trap.
+With a single shot from his revolver the scout might have dropped the
+maniac dead, and so relieved the world of a dangerous creature--a being
+neither man nor brute. But the scout did not wish to hurt the giant.
+
+Finally, without being discovered, the scout stood within twenty feet
+of the Mad Hunter. His eyes were as fierce as a wolf’s, his hands
+opened and shut with nervous clutches, and his lips moved continuously
+as he whispered to himself. Yet something familiar in the contour of
+the poor creature’s face held Cody spellbound. He was moved as he had
+been the night before when he had first looked upon the features of the
+wild man.
+
+Nearer and nearer drew the column of soldiers, for through a gap in the
+edge of the bluff Cody could mark their progress. Captain Keyes and his
+officers, and Texas Jack, rode ahead. The madman prepared to tip his
+monument of rocks over upon their devoted heads!
+
+Suddenly the Mad Hunter picked up a great stone--one that the scout was
+sure no two ordinary men could lift--and, picking his victim on the
+plain below, was about to fling it down. Cody quickly dashed across
+the intervening space, and, revolver in hand, tapped the madman on the
+shoulder.
+
+With a sudden inspiration the scout shouted into the man’s ear a name
+he had not spoken himself for a dozen years--the name of a man who,
+until the night before, he had believed long since dead.
+
+The Mad Hunter turned in a flash. He dropped the rock. He stared at the
+scout with wondering gaze. His eyes grew somber as the light of insane
+rage died out of them. He whispered at last:
+
+“Who--who calls me by that name? Speak!”
+
+Trembling violently, he gazed upon the scout with some shadow of reason
+struggling to dawn in his expression. It was elusive--fleeting--yet the
+scout knew that he had touched a chord of memory that shook the man to
+the foundation of his being.
+
+“Who speaks that name after all these years?” cried the madman again.
+
+“I am Bill Cody--Cody, your old pal. Cody, the man you knew on the Rio
+Grande!” exclaimed the scout, his own voice shaking, for the discovery
+he had made passed the bounds of reason.
+
+The strange being shook his head slowly.
+
+“No. You may be whom you say; but the man you spoke of first is
+dead--dead--a long time dead!”
+
+Buffalo Bill, however, was gaining confidence in his discovery all the
+time.
+
+“You’re the man! I know you are. Think, man! Send back your memory to
+those old times. Remember the work we did together. Remember--remember
+your wife--your child----”
+
+With a shriek like nothing human, with a face that changed in a flash
+to that of a demoniac, the Mad Hunter hurled himself, bare-handed, at
+the scout’s throat.
+
+“Fiend! Fiend from the pit!” he yelled. “You have come to torment me
+and taunt me! Ah! for long have I escaped your taunts; but now you have
+returned!”
+
+His heartrending cry almost unmanned the scout. He saw that he had
+touched the wrong chord with the madman. Reminded of the loss of his
+wife and child, the victim of this awful fate had been thrown into a
+paroxysm of rage.
+
+For an instant Buffalo Bill hesitated. That hesitation came near
+to costing him his life. The maniac was upon him and seized his
+pistol-hand before he could make up his mind to fire at his old friend.
+The madman’s other hand tightened on the scout’s throat. They swayed
+upon the edge of the precipice.
+
+Seconds dragged like hours in that struggle. Buffalo Bill had met more
+than his match in this wild being. Suddenly he heard a cry below:
+
+“Hold, Cody! for God’s sake, hold!”
+
+It was Captain Keyes’ voice. It inspired the sinking scout to make one
+final and desperate effort. He half-tore him self free of the giant’s
+clutch.
+
+“Steady! Texas Jack has got the drop on him!” yelled the voice of Keyes
+again.
+
+Instantly there came the sharp crack of a rifle. The maniac jumped
+slightly, and his awful grip loosened. The scout tore himself
+completely away, spattered by the maniac’s blood.
+
+The latter whirled about, back to the brink of the bluff, clutched
+helplessly at the air with his great hands, and pitched down the
+declivity. He was dead before he struck the bottom--a heap of broken
+bones and bruised flesh!
+
+Texas Jack mounted the cliff to see if the scout was all right. He
+found Cody wiping the blood from his face, and very grave of look.
+
+“Had to shoot him, old man. ’Twas you or him, yuh know,” said the
+brother scout.
+
+“I know it, Jack. I can only thank you. But I am sorry--bitterly sorry.
+I knew that man when he was a right good fellow. Ask Captain Keyes to
+give him decent burial, and to mark the grave--mark it with the letter
+‘D.’”
+
+With these words Cody shook hands with his pard and hastened away to
+where Chief was quietly feeding. In a moment he was riding hard away
+from the spot where the terrible tragedy had taken place.
+
+Captain Keyes complied with Cody’s request, but was sorry that the
+scout had evidently gone on his mission of death--for the officer could
+look at the visit to the Indian encampment in no other light.
+
+He had divided his force, as he said he should, and the vanguard
+went on to the coulée and buried the dead. All the redskins had been
+removed, and the place was deserted of the living. But when they came
+to search for Dick Danforth’s body, intending to remove it to the fort
+with them, it was not to be found. The brave lieutenant, for whose
+scalp Buffalo Bill had pleaded with White Antelope, had disappeared
+from the field of battle.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIV. RED KNIFE LOSES HIS “MEDICINE.”
+
+
+At the time the fire burst out in the great forest and Buffalo Bill,
+the Border King, and his partner, Texas Jack, were chased by the
+flames, a young buck of Oak Heart’s tribe of Utah Sioux was likewise
+in the path of the flames. He had been out after a bear, because his
+father, an old brave now toothless and unable to follow in the chase,
+had expressed a desire for bear paws, roasted.
+
+The government of Indian society is strictly patriarchal. The father
+of a family demands, and is accorded, the greatest respect. Besides, it
+is a trait of Indian character to care for and respect the aged. The
+aged men of the tribe usually mold its opinions in both peace and war.
+
+Besides, Red Knife, as this young buck was named, was not a married
+man. He was what the whites would have called “an old bach.” He had no
+teepee of his own, but it was a notorious fact that he cast longing
+glances toward White Antelope, the cherished daughter of Oak Heart
+and the flower of the Sioux maidens. He had gone hunting for the bear
+because his father was fond of bear paws, but with the claws, and
+others in his possession, he hoped to make a cunning necklace that
+would be acceptable to the chief’s daughter.
+
+Red Knife had lately become of moment in the tribe. It had been his
+hand that had finally felled the chief of the pony soldiers who were
+killed in the coulée, and whom Death Killer had tried to scalp. Red
+Knife hoped in time to become so important that the White Antelope
+would really look at him with favor, instead of ignoring him altogether.
+
+The buck had obtained a single shot at his bearship, wounding him with
+a barbed arrow, and had driven him into a thicket toward the close of
+the day. Suddenly the smoke that had been hanging over the hilltops for
+hours swooped down upon the Indian and his quarry, and following the
+smoke came the fire--a deluge of flame!
+
+The bear suddenly lost his fear of the redskin, and the latter lost his
+desire to take bear paws to his teepee.
+
+The crackling of the flames as they leaped down the wooded side-hills
+into the valley warned both hunter and hunted that there was no time
+to lose. The bear burst out of the thicket, the arrow still sticking
+in his rump, and waddled off for running water at a great pace. The
+Indian had chased the beast into unfamiliar territory, and now he took
+advantage of his prey’s instinct. He followed the bear.
+
+Through brush and bramble, over rocky way and swampy land, the bear and
+the man raced. At times they were almost side by side, and neither paid
+the least attention to the other. Lighter and swifter creatures passed
+the two like the wind; the bear and the redskin plugged along doggedly,
+as though running for a wager.
+
+They were not in the neighborhood of Bendigo Lake, so they did not
+meet up with either the two scouts or with the Mad Hunter. It was a
+stream which the bear, back in his little brain, knew would be running
+full even at this dry season. They reached it barely in time to save
+themselves from being withered by the flames. The bear’s fur was indeed
+smoking.
+
+He plunged over the bank into the deep, dark pool. Red Knife went after
+bruin, landing squarely on the bear’s back, eliciting only the notice
+of a grunt from the beast as he sank to the bottom of the pool and let
+the flames roar overhead.
+
+The redskin stayed below the surface as long as he could, too. He could
+feel the bear beside him all the time. He might have flung himself upon
+the beast with his knife and killed him. It were better had he done so.
+
+But at the time Red Knife was too perturbed to think of killing his
+companion in misery. When the redskin came up to breathe, the fiery
+brands showered upon him so thickly that he was glad to sink again. It
+was some time before it was safe for him to squat, with his head out of
+water.
+
+And there were the redskin and the bear, both on their haunches, with
+their noses stuck out of the pool like two bullfrogs. As the heat grew
+less intense and the brands stopped falling, the bear and the man began
+eying each other with less favor. Each recovered from his panic and
+began to remember that they were deadly enemies.
+
+The bear growled and shifted his position to a distance from the red;
+the latter got out his knife--the only weapon he had saved--and in
+moments when he was not dodging flying fire planned what he would do
+should bruin take it into his head to attack.
+
+This deep pool in the brook was no proper arena for a
+bear-fight--especially when the human antagonist had simply a knife.
+Red Knife thought some of sinking to the bottom of the pool again
+and making the attack himself by trying to drive his blade into some
+vulnerable part of the beast.
+
+But the difficulty of using his knife with any surety, or putting any
+force behind the blow under water, detained him from trying this.
+Besides, the bear, if killed or badly injured, would sink and might
+pinion the redskin to the bottom of the brook.
+
+Therefore, as soon as he could see at all through the rolling smoke,
+and the worst of the flames had passed, leaving a thicket or dead tree
+only blazing in its wake here and there, the redskin made up his mind
+that he would better trust to the dry ground. His moccasins were
+well-nigh torn from his feet by his furious race through the forest,
+and his meager clothing in general had been seriously torn. There was
+little to shield him from the fire if he came forth, but the water of
+the brook was ice-cold, and hardy as the Red Knife was its chill had
+now set his teeth to playing like castanets.
+
+The bear whined with the cold, too, but the next moment he growled as
+Red Knife made a movement toward him. If the beast once got a hold with
+his front paws on the redskin he would disembowel him with the great
+claws of his hind feet. Red Knife shrank farther away from the bear’s
+vicinity.
+
+At this bruin plucked up courage. He growled again, came down off his
+haunches, and began to swim across the pool toward the Indian. The
+latter saw that it was his move--and the only place for him to move
+to was out of the water. So he backed into the shallower part of the
+stream and toward a part of the bank that was comparatively clear of
+fire.
+
+The heat and smoke were still almost blistering. To leave the water was
+a cross indeed. But the bear continued to advance, and Red Knife did
+not consider that he wished to come immediately to close quarters with
+the brute.
+
+As he backed out of the stream the heat of a near-by blazing thicket
+warmed him more than comfortably. The chill was driven out of his body,
+and his teeth stopped chattering. Fearful as he was of the fire--all
+wild beasts hate it--the bear found the increasing warmth grateful,
+too. He scrambled out upon the bank, too, and actually squatted down in
+the heat of the bonfire to dry himself.
+
+Red Knife looked about him as well as he could for the drifting smoke,
+and picked out the apparently safest path from the spot. Had he been
+contented to decamp without stirring up the bear, he would have been
+all right. But an Indian loves to tell of his prowess around the
+camp-fire, and so far there had been very little in this adventure to
+suggest a tale of self-glorification.
+
+Therefore the buck determined to have those bear paws for his father
+and the claws for the necklace, after all!
+
+He hunted out a big stone, pried it out of the smoking ground with
+his knife, and, picking it up, poised it carefully for a cast. With a
+sudden grunt of anger, the bear rose up. He seemed to smell trouble in
+the air. His movement rather spoiled Red Knife’s aim, or else the buck
+was nervous. The stone, thrown with terrific force, just glanced from
+bruin’s hard skull!
+
+With a roar the bear sprang at the foolish red man. He came all glaring
+eyes, froth-dripping fangs, and unsheathed claws--a sight to drive the
+barb of terror into the bravest heart!
+
+The redskin found himself walled in by fire behind. He leaped for the
+pool again, but the bear reached him with one paw first. The stroke
+ripped his hunting-shirt and leggings fairly from his body. Nothing but
+shreds of the garments were left and hung upon him--along with shreds
+of his torn flesh!
+
+The redskin yelled and leaped into the water. The bear growled and
+plunged after him. As he came up Red Knife saw the great body of the
+beast going down, and he struck at it with his blade again and again.
+The sharp steel was buried in the body of the brute at each stroke,
+but all about the shoulders--a part not at all vital.
+
+Again and again Red Knife struck before the bear came to the surface,
+but, although the blood flowed until the agitated pool was dyed red,
+the bear came up as strong and as ugly as ever.
+
+Red Knife threw himself backward and escaped the first plunging blows
+of the bear. He reached shallow water and leaped ashore, being more
+agile in this than his bearship. But in doing so he chanced to slip and
+turn his ankle. The pain was very great for a moment, and the Indian
+fell to the ground, giving the bear a chance to almost overtake him.
+
+Instantly, however, the red turned and struck at his bearship before
+the latter could seize him with its great, slobbering jaws. An attack
+always puts a bear on the defensive. He squatted back on his haunches,
+ready to either hug his enemy or to strike at him with his great
+forearms, which swung like flails!
+
+Red Knife clambered to his feet, but he could not run. The bear would
+overtake him now in a short race. He poised himself on one foot,
+holding his dripping blade before him, and, believing himself come to
+the end of his time, the stoical Indian began to chant the death-song.
+
+The growling of the bear almost drowned this cry of the Indian. The
+latter advanced to embrace death, yet determined to sell his last
+breath dearly.
+
+The flaillike arms of the bear swung to and fro; he champed his
+teeth and roared. The Indian flung himself with the desperation of a
+berserker upon the animal, striking again and again with his keen blade.
+
+Two awful raking blows the bear got in himself. It stripped the last
+rag from the Indian’s body, and broke the string of the amulet he wore
+about his neck, as well. They clinched like two men wrestling, and so
+rolled into the pool.
+
+Splash! they went under the surface. Bubbles and gore rose to the
+agitated top of the water.
+
+Then one of the contestants floated up, struggled a bit, secured a
+footing, and slowly walked ashore. It was the Indian. It was Red Knife,
+as naked as when he was born. He sank upon the bank of the stream, the
+conqueror in a good fight. But he had no joy in his heart. Instead, he
+was filled with gloom. In the struggle and the last plunge in the pool
+he had lost his medicine-bag!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXV. THE SEARCH FOR NEW MEDICINE.
+
+
+When a young brave comes to man’s estate his initiation into the
+religion of his tribe is a great matter. Heretofore he has had no real
+name. He has been called by several names, perhaps, but they have been
+those given him by his parents, and are perhaps only the pet names of
+childhood. Now he is a man and gets the name which in war and on the
+hunt he is hopeful of making great and long-remembered by the tribe.
+
+Red Knife belonged to the family of the Crow. The signification of that
+family was painted upon his father’s wigwam, as it would be upon his
+own when he set up a domicile for himself.
+
+So the medicine-man had put into a bag the dried entrails of a crow,
+its hard, black claws, and some of its feathers, with various other
+charms against evil. The young man had watched all night upon a
+lonely hill, fasting, to guard his shield and arms, as well as the
+new medicine, from those spirits that are ever warring against human
+beings--according to the Indian code--and had in other ways proved
+himself worthy of being a brave in the councils of the Sioux.
+
+The bag, which had been fastened about Red Knife’s neck, was as
+precious to the Indian as his soul! Having lost it, he had lost caste
+and all else that an Indian holds of value. He would be considered
+apostate from the faith of his fathers; all that he had done heretofore
+in war and the chase would be held as nothing. He would be outcast from
+his kind, having lost his medicine, unless he could by some wonderful
+performance, or by some mysterious chance, find and appropriate a new
+medicine.
+
+There are just so many medicines in the world, according to the Indian
+belief; there is one for each man. Having lost his medicine, it could
+not be replaced by the medicine chief or by any other ordinary means.
+He could not kill an enemy and take _his_ medicine for his own; for as
+soon as a man is dead the virtue of his medicine accompanies him on the
+journey to the happy hunting-grounds.
+
+No man would be so foolish as to sell his medicine at any price. With
+his last breath he will fight for that amulet. Red Knife was undone
+indeed as he sat there beside the bloody pool. All the manhood had
+gone out of him. His hard fight and his many wounds seemed as nothing
+to him now. He was bereft of his choicest possession and could not be
+comforted.
+
+Yet a desire to be with his kind, to see the faces of his tribesmen
+again, drove the young man finally from his position. The fire had gone
+from the forest, and it was midday of the second day before he rose to
+his feet. The decomposing gases in the body of the bear had brought it
+to the surface. Red Knife hobbled down, cut off the paws and strung
+them about his neck, flayed the carcass, cut off some flesh for his own
+consumption, found a flint-stone, and with the back of his knife struck
+off sparks which lit a fire, and after eating and renewing his strength
+he wrapped himself in the gory robe and started for Oak Heart’s village.
+
+This encampment had been well out of the line of the forest fire and
+had not been disturbed by it. Red Knife reached it in the night and
+came to his father’s lodge. But he did not venture within. He was
+pariah--outcast--the lowest of the low.
+
+His mother gave him food in the morning, but his father sent back the
+bear’s paws. It was soon known that Red Knife had lost his medicine,
+and the head of the Crow family could not accept food at his hand. Of
+course, Red Knife knew it would be useless to make the bear claws into
+a necklace for the White Antelope. She would look at him less now than
+before. Besides, the White Antelope remained in her lodge, with one old
+woman, her nurse, most of the time. There was something very mysterious
+about the movements of the daughter of the chief.
+
+This did not interest Red Knife much at the time, however. He was past
+thinking of women. His own people looked at him askance. Nobody spoke
+to him; he was welcome in no lodge, and the very clothing which his
+mother flung him seemed begrudged. All Indians must harden their hearts
+against a being so cursed of the Great Spirit that he had lost his
+medicine!
+
+He could enter no council of his tribe; he had no voice in the general
+affairs; he could join in none of the sports. All that he had done
+before was forgotten. Even that he had brought low the white chief who
+had led the pony soldiers to the battle in the coulée counted nothing
+for Red Knife now. He was outcast.
+
+Red Knife could not stand for this long. An Indian does not make way
+with himself. A suicide wanders forever between this life and that to
+come, and is never at rest. But Red Knife was nearly desperate enough
+to resort to this awful finish.
+
+At least he determined to go out from among his people and never to
+return until he had found a new medicine and obtained a new name for
+himself--in other words, until he could demand the respect of his
+family and of his tribe.
+
+Now he crept out of the encampment, and from a high hill muttered his
+farewell address to his home and his people. He would not be Red Knife
+when he returned--if he returned at all. All the encampment knew that,
+but only one figure stood by his father’s lodge to watch him go. He
+knew that was his mother, but it was beneath him to notice a squaw!
+
+Now this young buck had set forth on a search as great as that for the
+Golden Fleece or the Holy Grail of old! Had the tribe a Homer, some
+great saga might have been written regarding the labor Red Knife had
+set himself.
+
+To go forth and kill an enemy and take his medicine was a simple
+matter. But the medicine of another would surely bring bad luck to the
+scion of the family of Crow. And to find a man with two medicines--ah!
+that were a well-nigh impossible task! And, when found, would such a
+fortunate person be willing to give up his extra medicine? To fight for
+it might end in the death of the first possessor, and then would the
+virtue go from the medicine and it become a curse to Red Knife.
+
+The young man left his village and journeyed aimlessly for two days
+through the mountains. So unnoticing was he that finally he came to a
+place where he did not know his way out. He was not so far from Oak
+Heart’s village, but its direction he did not know for sure. And this
+valley in which he found himself seemed an uninhabited place.
+
+Many of the braves were out on hunting bent, but Red Knife had not
+seen any of them for twenty-four hours. Nor had he beheld a white man
+until, coming down to drink at the edge of the stream which watered
+this valley, he suddenly saw a figure in buckskin sitting upon a great,
+white horse on the opposite side of the stream. In the fading light
+of the evening the being looked gigantic to the red man--who was in
+a state of mind to see ghosts or anything else eerie! The strange
+figure was that of a white man. He had hair flowing to his shoulders,
+and he sat his horse with folded arms, staring off into the distance,
+evidently wrapped in deep thought.
+
+The wind was with the brave, and the horse even did not notice his
+presence. Red Knife might have crossed the stream and leaped upon the
+unsuspicious white man. Yet his mind was not upon killing, and when he
+finally recognized the stranger as the far-famed Pa-e-has-ka or Long
+Hair he feared and would not, single-handed, have attempted the man’s
+death.
+
+Seldom might Buffalo Bill have been so easily caught napping. But he
+had seen no trace of Indians in the valley; he had ridden through it to
+this spot, and now his mind had reverted to his deep sorrow regarding
+Dick Danforth’s death, and he thought of nothing else.
+
+He roused at last from his reverie with a sigh, and glanced about him.
+His vision fell upon the figure of the young brave standing, likewise
+with folded arms, upon the edge of the stream. He could not repress a
+start of surprise at the appearance.
+
+“How!” grunted Red Knife.
+
+“How!” repeated the scout, in English.
+
+Then in the Sioux dialect he said:
+
+“Is it peace, brother?”
+
+“It is peace.”
+
+The scout had seen that the young buck was not panoplied for war, and
+now he dismounted and came to his side of the stream.
+
+“You are one of Oak Heart’s people?” Cody asked.
+
+“I _was_ Red Knife, of the Sioux.”
+
+The scout overlooked the emphasis on the “was” for the moment. His
+attention was particularly stung by the name the brave gave.
+
+“‘Red Knife!’” he repeated.
+
+The brave bowed and was silent.
+
+“It was you who killed the white chief of the pony soldiers?” gasped
+Cody.
+
+Red Knife nodded again.
+
+The scout fiercely gripped the rifle he carried. In his heart he felt
+like shooting the brave down where he stood. But he repressed this
+momentary feeling and said:
+
+“I have sworn vengeance against all who had to do with the death of
+that young man. He was as my son. Will Red Knife fight Pa-e-has-ka? Let
+him choose his own weapons and come against me that I may kill him in
+fair fight.”
+
+“I heard of your oath over the dead body of the brave white chief,”
+said Red Knife. “Pa-e-has-ka is a great chief himself. Red Knife is no
+match for him. But Red Knife now has no name and is of no people. Would
+Pa-e-has-ka fight with such a one?”
+
+“What’s the matter?” demanded Cody, in English, suddenly seeing that
+the young man was in a despondent mood.
+
+“I am an outcast from my people.”
+
+“What’s all that for? I should think the bloody devils would have
+rejoiced over your killing of poor Danforth,” muttered the scout.
+
+“Let me tell Pa-e-has-ka the tale,” began Red Knife oratorically. “The
+Sioux did indeed rejoice over the death of the young white chief. Red
+Knife was then a great warrior. But since misery has come upon him.”
+
+“And serve him right!” muttered Cody.
+
+With many a flourish of flowery phrase, the buck went on to recount his
+fight with the bear and the loss of his medicine-bag. He displayed the
+half-healed wounds made by the bear, and Cody saw that the story was
+true. Knowing well how great a matter this loss was to the Indian, the
+scout could not help but feeling some pity for him.
+
+Besides, Red Knife had only followed out his savage instincts and code
+of honor in killing Danforth. And putting aside his personal desire
+for vengeance, Buffalo Bill saw that he might make use of the young
+brave. It was not against the ordinary bucks who had been in the fight
+that the scout felt hatred. Boyd Bennett had lied to Oak Heart, made
+him believe that Danforth’s expedition was after the old chief, and had
+led and planned the attack upon the soldiers and brought about their
+massacre.
+
+It was the renegade--he who called himself Death Killer, medicine chief
+of the Sioux--whom Buffalo Bill wished to get!
+
+Buffalo Bill had taken many desperate chances in his life. From the
+time when, as a younker of eleven years, he had hired out to the
+freighter at Leavenworth to do a man’s work for a man’s pay, and became
+a messenger riding between the long freight-trains on the overland
+trail, he had faced death in many forms and on many occasions. But in
+determining to go to the Sioux encampment to keep his tryst with White
+Antelope, he seemed to be passing the limit of reckless daring!
+
+Yet he believed that he had a chance for life. He would risk it, at
+least.
+
+For some days he had scouted about Oak Heart’s encampment, and he had
+learned that something very strange was going on in that neighborhood.
+He saw in this meeting with the outcast Red Knife a chance to gain a
+more intimate knowledge of matters in the encampment before venturing
+himself in the lion’s mouth.
+
+“Let Red Knife join Pa-e-has-ka upon this side of the brook,” the scout
+said, at last. “There shall be a truce between them. Pa-e-has-ka will
+share his meat with Red Knife; Red Knife shall smoke and sleep beside
+Pa-e-has-ka’s fire.”
+
+If the young brave was astonished at this sudden proffer of friendship,
+he showed nothing of the kind in his face. He did not even hesitate. He
+crossed the brook straightly and helped prepare the camp in silence.
+
+The fact was the young Indian had put himself in the hands of the
+spirits. He believed he was being led. Perhaps this white man had a
+good medicine which Red Knife might fairly obtain and so become a
+person of consequence in his tribe again.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVI. THE MAGIC CUP.
+
+
+First of all, Cody desired to question the Sioux warrior, and as he
+prepared a hearty meal he proceeded to draw Red Knife out.
+
+“When did my brother leave the village of his people?”
+
+“It is a night and two days.”
+
+“Is Oak Heart inclined to peace?”
+
+“Oak Heart awaits the coming of the Long Hair, as he promised White
+Antelope.”
+
+“Very true,” said Cody calmly. “But there is one near Oak Heart who
+would keep the Long Hair from fulfilling his promise.”
+
+“A warrior?”
+
+“The renegade white, whom you call Death Killer.”
+
+“Ah! Death Killer is a great magician,” declared Red Knife, looking as
+though he meant it.
+
+“He is a wicked white. He is throwing dirt in the faces of my red
+brothers. They do not know him.”
+
+“His medicine is wonderful.”
+
+“Yet he could not make new medicine for the Red Knife?” suggested Cody
+slyly.
+
+“Ah! who could do that?” demanded the brave gloomily.
+
+“I have heard of its being done,” said the scout, and then, before the
+red man could ask a question, he proceeded: “Death Killer has ringed
+the camp with his own braves. They lay in wait for Pa-e-has-ka. Is it
+not so?”
+
+At this Red Knife showed that he was surprised.
+
+“This is bad. This is not known to Oak Heart. Is it so, Long Hair?”
+
+“The Sioux know that Long Hair is not two-tongued,” declared Cody.
+“This is so. I suspected it, and I have found them watching. Is not
+Death Killer much from the camp?”
+
+“He is.”
+
+“He goes from watcher to watcher to see that all are in their places.
+If Long Hair goes straight to the camp of Oak Heart, he will be killed.”
+
+Red Knife shrugged his shoulders and fell silent. Cody saw that,
+although the young brave considered it none of his business--it was a
+fight between Long Hair and Death Killer--he did not approve of the
+latter’s methods. And the scout was convinced, too, that the bulk of
+the Indians--and Oak Heart himself--knew naught of the trick to which
+Boyd Bennett had resorted.
+
+Cody had not been foolish enough to ride straight toward Oak Heart’s
+village when he rode away from the spot where the Mad Hunter had been
+killed. He had seen in Boyd Bennett’s face, when he had gone free under
+his promise to the chief’s daughter, that the scoundrel would do all
+in his power to keep the scout from fulfilling his agreement. Although
+in going to the Indian village Cody would be taking his life in his
+hand, still by _not_ appearing there he would lose honor among the reds
+themselves.
+
+It would be said among the Utah Sioux, and from them spread to the
+Utes, Arapahoes, and others, that Pa-e-has-ka was afraid to keep his
+promise. And from the time he first journeyed across the plains Buffalo
+Bill had kept his agreements in every particular with the red man,
+friend or foe alike. He was one of the few white men “without guile.”
+He said what he meant, and meant what he said, and he was considered
+single-tongued by all, though he was up to every craftiness that his
+enemies might try upon him.
+
+Cody now wished to undermine the popularity of Boyd Bennett among Oak
+Heart’s braves. Even if he got through the medicine chief’s guards
+and reached the council-lodge of the Sioux, he would have to face the
+influence of the renegade, and that might overcome him to the extent of
+his life’s sacrifice. The scout was not the man to go blindly into a
+trap.
+
+Death Killer, as he called himself, was playing the traitor. Cody
+wished to convince Red Knife of this fact and send him back to the
+encampment to spread the tale against Death Killer. To this end he used
+the cunning which he had long cultivated in his association with the
+redskins.
+
+He well knew the regard in which the Indian holds his medicine-bag. If
+he could restore to Red Knife his medicine, or, rather, supply him
+with a new amulet that would make him a man and a citizen again, the
+scout could command his good offices to almost any extent.
+
+But the scout said nothing further that night. He let his observations
+regarding the renegade Bennett sink into the red man’s mind. In the
+morning he fed him bountifully again. When he had finished, Red Knife
+showed that he had digested Cody’s remarks well, and was in some
+measure grateful for the entertainment shown him.
+
+“The Long Hair is my brother. He has warmed me and fed me. If the Long
+Hair really desires to appear before Oak Heart and the old men of the
+tribe, as he has promised, Red Knife may show him a way.”
+
+“Ah!” exclaimed the scout. “Some way that Death Killer is not guarding
+with his braves, eh?”
+
+“It may be.”
+
+“In which direction is it?”
+
+“The Long Hair knows the direction of the encampment, perhaps? Red
+Knife, wandering in broken spirit, has lost his way.”
+
+“Oh, you want to know the direction of the place?”
+
+“It is so. The lodges of his people will not receive Red Knife, but he
+may point them out, by a secret way, to the Long Hair.”
+
+“Humph! Let’s see the direction,” muttered Cody, and drew from under
+his shirt a small compass in a brass cup which was hung about his neck
+by a strong cord.
+
+The Indian’s eyes suddenly glistened. Here was the great white’s
+chief’s medicine, and Red Knife was greatly interested in medicines
+just then! He peered closely at the cup which Cody held in his hand.
+The latter noticed the brave’s eagerness, and he knew instinctively
+what was passing through the red’s mind.
+
+Therefore the scout made a great show of consulting the compass,
+holding it in his hand while the little needle waggled cheerfully
+to his movements, pointing ever to the north. Finally Red Knife
+spoke--breathlessly:
+
+“Does the magic cup speak to Long Hair? If so, its voice is very low.
+Does it tell where lies the lodges of my people?”
+
+“It does not speak. But it answers the question,” declared Cody gravely.
+
+“A marvelous magic!” exclaimed Red Knife. “The white chief worships the
+spirit of the cup?”
+
+“This is a great medicine, Red Knife,” said Cody seriously. “Now mark!
+We wish to know how to travel to reach the lodges of your people. Long
+Hair knows that we are south and west of the village. We look into the
+cup.”
+
+He thrust the compass under the Indian’s nose, and Red Knife had hard
+work to keep from jumping back.
+
+“Look! See the finger which moves?”
+
+“Ugh! It is magic!” muttered the young brave.
+
+“That finger points ever to the cold land--to the lands from which
+winter comes. Always to the north it points. Therefore, so standing
+and facing the north, my right hand points to the sunrise, my left to
+the sunset,” suiting the action to his words. “Behind me is the south.
+Therefore, by facing the sunrise and bearing off somewhat to the north
+of that, we approach the village of Chief Oak Heart.”
+
+“Ugh! It is wonder-work, indeed!” exclaimed Red Knife. “It is a great
+medicine.”
+
+“It is a great and good medicine. No brave in Red Knife’s tribe has a
+medicine like this.”
+
+“There are no two medicines alike in this world,” grunted the brave
+philosophically.
+
+Cody went to the bag strapped to Chief’s saddle, unbuckled a pocket,
+and brought out a small packet tied in wash-leather and oilskin. When
+he was in Denver he had made a purchase for a brother scout, but so
+far had not run up against the man to give it to him. He came back
+to the fire, squatted down beside Red Knife, and unwrapped the exact
+counterpart of his own “magic cup,” only this was brighter and unused.
+
+“Waugh!” ejaculated the Indian, starting back.
+
+“You see, here is another of the magic cups. I have long had two
+medicines,” said Buffalo Bill, drawing slightly on his imagination.
+“They are good medicines. They have brought me good luck and made me
+successful in the chase, and in war. The Red Knife has no medicine.
+What would he do for the possession of this?” and the scout held out
+the compass temptingly.
+
+Red Knife could barely restrain himself now. His cheeks actually
+flushed, and his eyes glistened.
+
+“The Red Knife is a man!” he cried. “He will fight the Long Hair for
+the good medicine.”
+
+“Nay. The Long Hair cannot battle at once with he whom he has fed. The
+Red Knife and the Long Hair are brothers. The Long Hair will give his
+red brother the magic cup,” and he thrust the compass into the brave’s
+willing hand.
+
+“In return,” Cody pursued, “Red Knife will take the tale of Death
+Killer’s treachery into Oak Heart’s village. Come! Long Hair will show
+his brother the medicine chief’s braves lurking for the scalp of Long
+Hair. It is a true tale. Red Knife will tell Oak Heart himself.”
+
+“Waugh! Death Killer is a mighty chief,” said Red Knife hesitatingly.
+
+“And this is a mighty medicine,” suggested the wily scout.
+
+The Indian rose up suddenly and thrust the compass into the breast of
+his shirt. He had evidently made up his mind.
+
+“It is well,” he said shortly. “Let Long Hair show this truth to me.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVII. THE TRAITOR.
+
+
+Buffalo Bill was too wise to take Chief too near the Indian encampment.
+The wise white horse could take care of himself in ordinary
+emergencies, but he would be rather in the way up in the mountains, and
+the scout left him in a well-grassed valley, while he and Red Knife
+went on toward the Indian village.
+
+Chief Oak Heart had established himself in a place not easy of
+access by the pony soldiers, and he had a great contempt for the
+“walk-a-heaps.” The Sioux are great riders, seldom walking where a pony
+can carry them, and are contemptuous of all people who do not likewise
+ride.
+
+Red Knife had left his village afoot. It was a mark of his humility and
+his desperate straits. The route back to the encampment was so rough
+that ponies would have been of little use to either the red man or the
+scout. They were all day in climbing the mountain and finding a pass
+through to the other side of the ridge. They came out about dark in
+sight of the valley where the village lay. Its lights were visible to
+them from the mountainside. They retired to a cave that Red Knife knew
+of, however, and built their own fire, out of sight.
+
+Red Knife was mightily pleased with his new medicine. He was eager
+to get down to his people and show its virtues to them. But he had
+promised two things to the scout. One was to point out a secret trail
+down into Oak Heart’s camp; the other to spread among the braves
+the fact of Death Killer’s treachery--providing Cody proved to his
+satisfaction that the medicine chief _was_ treacherous.
+
+Before daybreak Buffalo Bill awoke his red ally, and they stole out of
+the cave like shadows. The Border King had marked well the stations of
+the various braves who were under the medicine chief’s control. They
+were set at every entrance to the valley by which the scout might have
+penetrated to the encampment.
+
+At least, such had been the case upon his previous visit, and they
+were not long at the search before spotting one of these sentinels.
+At least, he was one of Death Killer’s particular friends, and he was
+apparently watching a pass through the hills.
+
+The scout and Red Knife approached quite near to him, but Cody would
+not let his companion speak to the sentinel.
+
+“Wait! Let us see if there are more, as I have told my red brother,” he
+observed, and they went on to another path. Sure enough, there, grimly
+camped beside the way, was a second brave, likewise one of those who
+associated more closely with Boyd Bennett, the renegade. Again they
+went on, going cautiously now, for it was past sunrise, and found a
+third watchman.
+
+These plainly were not sentinels placed to guard particularly the
+camp itself. Those were much nearer the village. These red men were
+stationed thusly for a particular purpose.
+
+“Is my red brother satisfied that the Long Hair spoke truly?” asked the
+scout of the young brave.
+
+“Pa-e-has-ka is of single tongue. He does not lie. But Red Knife will
+first go to Chief Oak Heart and ask him if, by his instruction, these
+men were sent to bar the way to the lodges of the Sioux. If the great
+chief knows naught of it, then must Death Killer explain.”
+
+“Tell Oak Heart to remove these guards and Long Hair will appear before
+him as he promised the White Antelope,” said Cody seriously.
+
+Red Knife solemnly shook hands with him. Although the young brave had,
+by his own confession, killed Dick Danforth, the scout had been forced
+to make use of him. Now he gave him a word of warning:
+
+“Although Red Knife is now Long Hair’s friend, and Long Hair has given
+him of his own strong medicine that Red Knife might be a man among his
+people, there is still a feud between them. It was Red Knife’s hand
+that killed the young white chief, whom Long Hair loved. When next we
+meet let Red Knife beware.”
+
+“It is just,” admitted the Indian solemnly. “Let us go.”
+
+He led Cody then to the hidden path which would enable the scout to
+pass all of Death Killer’s sentinels and, indeed, most of the guards
+of the village, and so ride almost into the encampment itself without
+being seen. Then, without a word further, the young brave turned his
+face toward his father’s lodge.
+
+Buffalo Bill sat down and smoked his pipe while he watched him along
+the trail into the valley. He could watch Red Knife for a long distance
+before the young man came out upon the bluff which overlooked the
+valley where the encampment lay. Until that time he could not be seen
+from below.
+
+Suddenly Buffalo Bill saw a figure among the rocks near the path which
+Red Knife was following. It was of another Indian, but the scout could
+not see the man’s face--not even with the aid of his field-glasses. Red
+Knife seemed totally unconscious of the other’s presence until suddenly
+the stranger leaped before him and stood in his path.
+
+“Hello!” muttered Cody. “What’s all this?”
+
+It was evident that the two redskins conversed excitedly. What they
+said, of course, the scout could not even guess. Indians are usually so
+self-repressed that the scout could not judge at this distance whether
+they spoke angrily or in the most pleasant way together.
+
+It seemed, however, as though the strange redskin tried to urge Red
+Knife to wait, but the young brave was determined to go on down into
+the valley. At last he seemed almost to break away from the other and
+push on toward the edge of the bluff. Cody knew that neither of the
+actors in the drama below could be seen from the village.
+
+Red Knife was determined, and left the one who had accosted him. The
+latter shrank back and watched him for a moment. Then suddenly Cody
+saw him gather himself, jerk the tomahawk from his belt, and swing the
+weapon high in the air!
+
+Cody caught himself from crying out, but he _did_ leap up as the fatal
+blow fell. The strange Indian cast himself upon Red Knife’s back
+and clove the unconscious red man’s skull with a mighty blow of the
+hatchet. Red Knife went down in a heap!
+
+Cody pulled himself together and, through the glass, watched the
+traitor stoop over the fallen man, strip the scalp from his head, and
+then dart away among the rocks. Steeped in guilt as he was, the scout
+knew the villain would not remain near the scene of his atrocious act.
+Therefore he risked going down to the place himself.
+
+Poor Red Knife was truly disposed of. The hatchet had killed him
+instantly. And all the hopes Cody had based upon his good offices were
+dissipated at once.
+
+The scout stood there for some time and communed with himself. Should
+he risk going on into the village now? Or should he await some
+favorable opportunity of undermining Boyd Bennett’s power before
+putting himself within the bandit’s grasp?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVIII. WHITE ANTELOPE’S PERIL.
+
+
+There was much disturbance in the encampment about this time, as
+Buffalo Bill had seen when making his observations from the high peaks
+about the valley. The Indians ran to and fro like ants, and runners
+frequently went out, or came in by the northern roads. This meant
+surely that Oak Heart was communicating with the other chiefs, and
+the scout feared that, stirred up by Boyd Bennett in his character of
+medicine chief, the Sioux leader was preparing for another attack like
+that on Fort Advance.
+
+Rumors ran rife among the Indians regarding the movements of the
+bluecoats, and the numbers of them who had come to bury the dead whites
+after the recent ambush in which Oak Heart himself had taken part. The
+old chief, believing that Lieutenant Danforth was coming to attack his
+encampment, had taken part in this sanguinary struggle himself.
+
+Now certain warriors brought strange rumors into the village. It was
+said that Pa-e-has-ka was on the war-path, too. And that he was leading
+the whites to the encampment. So spoke the Death Killer, the white
+medicine chief of the Sioux, who was gaining great influence with the
+young men of the tribe.
+
+“Pa-e-has-ka is my foe,” he said bitterly, “and I sought to bring him
+captive here, or to slay him with his friend; but the White Antelope
+freed him, and sent him back to his people to carry Oak Heart’s
+warning. What has been done? Do not the white men come in force into
+the Indian country?
+
+“The White Antelope turned a panther loose upon the trail of my red
+brothers. And he told her that he would return and come a prisoner
+again into Oak Heart’s village, and to his lodge. Has he come?”
+
+“No!” answered many voices.
+
+“But the warriors come in and tell how Pa-e-has-ka has killed their
+comrades, scalped their brothers, and laughed at them for squaws. Will
+the Sioux braves let the paleface dog longer kick dirt in their faces?
+Is he not now near their village, and yet no warrior brings in his
+scalp, because he is under the protection of the White Antelope?”
+
+A murmur arose from the old men about the council circle.
+
+“Let my medicine braves seek his trail and bring him alive into the
+presence of the great chief, and the Death Killer will show him
+how the Pa-e-has-ka will weep like a squaw when he is bound to the
+torture-stake.”
+
+This speech of the renegade excited the Indians to frenzy. There was no
+longer any possibility of restraining the young men. A hundred warriors
+took the trail with the avowed intention of bringing in the Long Hair.
+
+When Red Knife was found dead upon the bluff overlooking the camp there
+was considerable wonder expressed. The unfortunate scion of the Crow
+family had lost caste, it was true, but why he should have been killed
+by the supposedly lurking white man--the Red Knife had gone from the
+camp unarmed--even the redskins themselves could not understand. As the
+murders increased Bennett grew louder in his objurgations against Long
+Hair.
+
+From the hour of his disappointment upon the gory field where Danforth
+and his band had met their doom, the renegade had thirsted for revenge
+upon the scout. He had secretly despatched a noted warrior to meet and
+kill Buffalo Bill on his return; but having not again seen or heard of
+this brave, Bennett feared that he had come to grief at the hands of
+the old Indian fighter.
+
+The medicine chief did not wish Buffalo Bill to really appear before
+Oak Heart and the old chiefs of the tribe. He was not at all sure what
+the outcome of such a venture might be. Indians admire bravery and
+boldness above all other virtues, and Bennett feared the dashing scout
+might influence the tribe against _him_, too.
+
+For defending the scout and permitting him to go free upon his pledge
+to return, the renegade had not forgiven the White Antelope. Yet he
+knew the influence she held in the tribe, that upon account of her
+having been born with yellow hair, and growing up far more beautiful
+than any maiden of the Sioux, she was regarded as a favored child of
+the Great Spirit, and that should he cross her will he might lose the
+power he had gained over the tribesmen.
+
+He had hoped, too, to win the Indian maiden for his lodge, when he
+first became familiar with the tribe; but she had treated his advances
+with disdain, and this was a second reason why he felt revengeful
+toward her. To get any redskin to aid him in a plot against White
+Antelope, he knew would be impossible; yet he did not despair of either
+conquering the proud girl, or getting rid of her altogether. At least,
+he desired to keep her away from the camp and the council if Buffalo
+Bill were brought in; otherwise, she might disturb all his plans and
+aid in the release of the white man.
+
+Therefore the medicine chief watched the teepee of the white queen
+keenly. When he saw her mount her pony and gallop out of the village,
+and past the guards which encircled it, Boyd Bennett followed secretly.
+White Antelope, accustomed to going where and how she pleased, and
+having unbounded confidence in her own prowess, rode to the top of a
+ridge some distance from the encampment.
+
+The young brave who sentineled this high strip of ground was much in
+love with the beautiful daughter of the chief, and with her before
+his eyes he forgot all else. So wrapped was the young man in the
+contemplation of the girl that he forgot his duty. A form suddenly
+bounded from behind a rock near-by, an iron hand gripped the youth’s
+throat and bore him backward out of sight, and the long knife in the
+murderer’s hand struck home--to the heart.
+
+It was over instantly. No sound--only a gasp, and the death-rattle in
+the brave’s throat. Then, with the knife, the murderer made a quick
+incision in a rough circle in the scalp, about the size of a dollar,
+and with his teeth tore off the dead warrior’s scalp-lock.
+
+Seated there by the side of his victim the slayer looked upon him with
+real pleasure, while he muttered in a sinister tone:
+
+“More blood! Ah! I love it! This shall be another death laid to the
+wiles of Buffalo Bill. Now for the White Antelope, and then----
+
+“There she comes! Now to catch her as she passes!”
+
+He crouched behind his rocky shelter as he spoke, while the White
+Antelope, seemingly somewhat despondent, came riding slowly back toward
+the village. In truth, she had ridden to see if she could spy the
+coming of the Long Hair, who had promised to return. That strange man
+had gained a wonderful hold upon her mind. And, beside, she had a great
+secret to impart to him.
+
+Suddenly the girl uttered a cry of alarm and tried to wheel her pony to
+dash away, for to her side had sprung the form of Boyd Bennett. But his
+rough hand effectually shut off her scream, he seized her in his arms,
+and, dragging her from the frightened pony’s back, he darted down a
+defile, unseen by any of the Indian guards.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIX. A CRY FOR HELP.
+
+
+In a large cavern penetrating a pile of rocks, rising to an elevation
+that commanded a view of the Indian village, sat Buffalo Bill. He had a
+strong field-glass, and for two days he had been studying the camp, and
+all that went in or came out of it.
+
+He had seen many things which led him to know that Boyd Bennett was as
+two-faced with his Indian friends as he had been with the whites. This
+murder was not the first the medicine chief had done.
+
+“Well, I’ll never get them down finer than I have them now,” he was
+saying thoughtfully. “I wish I had Texas here to send back word to
+Captain Keyes. A knowledge of the exact situation of the village and
+just how many warriors old Oak Heart has might be of inestimable value
+later--if I don’t get away again!”
+
+The great scout intended to go into the village and boldly face the
+renegade. He had hoped by lingering about the place in secret to catch
+the medicine chief unawares, and so put him out of the way before
+delivering himself to the tribe. For it was Boyd Bennett alone whom the
+scout feared. He had a secret possession which he believed might save
+him from death at the hands of the Sioux, providing Bennett was not
+there to use his influence as medicine chief against him.
+
+As he came to this final desperate decision, however, Buffalo Bill saw
+the renegade come into view among the rocks, and in his arms he carried
+the struggling figure of the White Antelope. Catching sight of the
+scout, the girl shrieked in English:
+
+“Long Hair! Save me! save me!”
+
+The renegade turned his bloodshot eyes upon the scout. He shrieked with
+ungovernable fury at him and gibbered:
+
+“Raise your hand, Buffalo Bill, and I will kill her!”
+
+Buffalo Bill raised his rifle and sighted pointblank at his old
+foe. But the scoundrel held the girl before his own body, besides
+threatening her with his upraised knife. At another time--or given
+another person than the White Antelope--the scout would have risked one
+of his wonderful shots and perhaps brought the bandit chief down before
+he could have done his captive harm. He hesitated, however, for he had
+great reason for desiring to save the girl’s life. The fluctuation of
+a hair’s breadth in his aim might put the rifle-ball into her body
+instead of Boyd Bennett’s.
+
+Therefore the scout, with a groan, dropped his gun. The girl shrieked
+again, and in a moment Bennett leaped behind a boulder and fled along a
+secret path, entirely hidden from the scout’s station.
+
+Buffalo Bill heard the girl’s heartrending shrieks as she was carried
+swiftly into the hills. They appealed to him strongly, and, quickly
+girding himself for the chase, he followed on the trail of the abductor.
+
+The object of the bandit’s mad act Buffalo Bill did not realize.
+Bennett’s bloodthirsty killing of the sentinel--and formerly of Red
+Knife--seemed to point to the fact that the man’s brain was turned. Why
+he had fled now from the encampment with the chief’s daughter was a
+deep mystery, unless he was indeed mad.
+
+The scout’s mind, however, was given up mainly to planning for the
+release of the girl and the overcoming of her captor. Boyd Bennett
+seemed to be alone in this abduction plot, and the scout felt rejoiced
+that at last it seemed he was to meet the fellow with something like an
+equal chance.
+
+The principal thing now was to not give Bennett start enough to hide
+in the rocks. Buffalo Bill could hear the scrambling of the man with
+the girl in his arms, although for some time he could not see him.
+Not until they rounded the spur of the mountain and arrived upon the
+farther slope did the scout obtain a glimpse of the object of his
+pursuit.
+
+Then, to his bitter disappointment, he beheld Boyd Bennett, still
+lugging the girl, running down the hill toward a thicket, near which
+was tethered a horse, saddled and bridled! As he ran the renegade--now
+a traitor both to the reds and the whites--uttered a shrill “coee!” and
+immediately a horseman appeared from behind the thicket. It was one of
+the outlaw’s old gang, Buffalo Bill made no doubt, and he had been here
+in waiting, with the extra horse for his chief and the girl.
+
+White Antelope no longer struggled in the fiend’s arms. Buffalo Bill
+knew that she had fainted and lay limply across Bennett’s saddle as he
+put her up and mounted in such haste. But the scout was too far away
+now for a shot. The two villains started their horses down the slope
+and were quickly out of sight, and all this without a single redskin
+being aroused!
+
+Plainly Bennett had planned this coup with great cunning. He had placed
+his own braves in positions to bar Buffalo Bill from the valley where
+the camp lay, but had allowed one of Oak Heart’s braves to bar one
+exit. That brave Cody had seen the scoundrel kill and scalp, so leaving
+a plain path into the encampment if the scout wished to go that way.
+
+But two strong desires led the scout upon a different trail. His
+interest in White Antelope was no small interest. Happenings of late
+had really increased it, indeed. And Boyd Bennett must be run down!
+
+Afoot as he was, the scout hurried after the two outlaws and their
+fair-haired captive, for by keeping doggedly at it a man may run down a
+horse. Providing the outlaws had no fresh horses and their destination
+was far away, Cody felt confident that he would overtake them even
+though he continued afoot.
+
+But chance favored him. Bennett and his companions followed a trace
+through the mountains which passed within a few miles of the valley in
+which Buffalo Bill had left Chief, his big white horse. The scout left
+the trail long enough to obtain his mount, which, having fed well and
+being rested, was as eager for the trail as his master.
+
+Back to the bandit’s trail the scout rode, and the white stallion flung
+mile after mile of the rocky way beneath his feet. Bennett and his
+companion had not tried to disguise their trail. Evidently they felt
+either sure of no pursuit, or considered themselves a match for Buffalo
+Bill. Bennett probably did not think that the Indians themselves would
+miss White Antelope until the trail was stale and he would be too far
+away with the girl to be overtaken.
+
+The pursuer came upon the place where the trio had camped at noon. They
+had boldly built a fire and cooked food, and Cody even found the marks
+of the girl’s moccasins in the soft ground beside the trail. Perhaps
+she had shrewdly stepped there when her captors were not looking,
+hoping that their trail was being followed. At another place she had
+torn some beadwork from her garments and flung it on the ground.
+
+“She’s a sharp girl, all right,” said Cody to himself. “And if she has
+confidence in my following and saving her, I swear it shall not be
+misplaced!”
+
+Before night, however, the scout received a shock which made him almost
+despair. The trail he was following came down into a great valley
+through the middle of which flowed a broad river. On the river’s bank
+the hoof-marks of Bennett’s mount and his companion’s were joined by
+those of a dozen other horses!
+
+“They’ve been caught, by thunder!” was Cody’s first thought.
+
+Then he saw that this supposition was entirely wrong, and his heart
+sank. These were not unshod Indian ponies. Nor could they be a party
+of peaceful travelers who had joined Bennett and his friend. It was
+the rest of the gang. The outlaws had here joined their leader, and,
+instead of following two scoundrels, the scout was up against the
+entire gang--and single-handed!
+
+Then did he wish that he had sought out a part of Captain Keyes’
+command and brought them on this hunt for the bandit leader and
+his helpless captive. He shuddered to think of what might be White
+Antelope’s fate among these ruffians. He could not go back now for
+help; and yet, if he overtook the gang, what could he, a man alone, do
+toward getting the girl free?
+
+Yet Buffalo Bill, the Border King, had spent years of his life in
+taking chances. He had been up against as serious odds before, and had
+come out on top. He did not hesitate for a single instant, but crossed
+the river at the ford, and followed the hoof-prints of the gang up the
+opposite bank of the river.
+
+If they were making for their rendezvous, well and good. He would at
+least learn one--perhaps the principal--hiding-place of the gang, and
+later could bring a party to overwhelm them. Meantime, he would trust
+to luck and a merciful Providence to assist him in obtaining White
+Antelope’s release unharmed from the villainous crew.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XL. THE FREIGHT-TRAIN.
+
+
+The sun was sinking like a great globe of fire, seemingly at the very
+foot of the broad valley which, from its head, spread forth miles upon
+square miles of verdant lawn, crimson and yellow groves, the leaves of
+which blushed before the cold finger-touch of winter interspersed with
+patches of hemlock and spruce, now, as ever, green. Through the valley
+flowed a broad river, joined here by several mountain brooks which
+tumbled down from the heights on either hand to swell the main current,
+which entered the vale from the mouth of the broad cañon on the north.
+A deeply rutted wagon trail came out of the cañon as well as the river.
+For miles this trace wound along the riverside, hemmed in by gigantic
+cliffs on the tops of which the bighorn sheep looked like specks to the
+traveler below, and which were so high and so close together in places
+that it was twilight at noon in the bottom of the gorge!
+
+Indeed, back in the cañon it was already night when the sun was but
+setting out here in the valley. Therefore the “mule-skinners” cracked
+their blacksnakes and shouted many objurgations to their patient
+animals, desiring to reach the open and make camp outside the cañon
+before darkness finally settled upon the valley. The creaking of the
+wagon wheels and the cracking of the whips, with the voices of the
+mule-skinners, made music a mile up the cañon.
+
+It was a heavy wagon-train. First rode the captain on a gray mare with
+a bell on her neck. With her tethered near the wagons the mules could
+be turned loose at night; they would never desert the camp as long as
+the gray mare remained faithful.
+
+The wagons of the train were linked together--five or six great,
+lumbering, canvas-topped vehicles, with eight or ten span of mules
+hauling on each section. There were three of these sections in the
+train, six men to a section, the captain, and the cook who rode
+behind on another saddle-horse, leading a pack-animal which bore the
+cook-tent and some of the camp equipment.
+
+When the captain reached the mouth of the cañon and beheld the
+pleasant, sunlit valley he turned and uttered a loud “coee! coee!”
+which brought the cook and his packhorse trotting forward. The valley
+looked perfectly safe to the captain of the train, and he selected an
+indenture in the river-bank where the cook and he set up the tent,
+and, as fast as the wagons came up, they deployed off the trail so as
+to make a horseshoe figure around the camping-place, the open part of
+which was toward the river.
+
+This precaution was always taken whether they saw Indian signs or not.
+And at night rifles were issued to the men and a strong guard mounted.
+Each man “packed” a couple of guns at his waist all day, anyway.
+
+The selection of this low piece of ground as the camp was not wise,
+however. An enemy could ride to the edge of the low, sloping bluff
+which surrounded it on three sides and pop bullets over the wagon tops
+into the enclosure, shooting from one side those who strove to guard
+the other line of the camp.
+
+For days, however, the party had seen no signs of redskins. Small
+scalping-parties would fight shy of the wagon-train; for twenty
+well-armed whites were bound to be respected by the Arabs of the
+plains, especially as the train crew was sure to be armed with the
+quickfiring guns which the Indians so feared.
+
+After the sun set the evening was short, for it was late fall now.
+The air grew chill; in the midst of the camp the men built a rousing
+fire, aside from that over which the cook pottered, and around this
+they gathered and told stories, cracked rude jokes, or basked silently
+in the warmth of the flames, resting from the toil of the day. So
+unconscious were they of aught but their immediate surroundings that
+they did not see several horsemen who topped the nearest rise to the
+west, and overlooking the camp.
+
+It was now deep dusk, but the horsemen were silhouetted against the
+sky-line so plainly that had any of the freighters chanced to glance
+that way they must have seen the figures. Only for a moment were they
+in view, however. The leader of the group spoke sharply, but in a low
+tone, to his mates, and all pulled their horses about and disappeared
+quickly beyond the ridge.
+
+Later, and afoot, two of the party came again to the summit of the
+ridge and reconnoitered. The freighters’ camp lay calmly under the
+starry sky, the fires burning briskly, the mules champing the grass of
+the plain contentedly, occasionally a laugh or a sharp word echoing
+across the valley between the calls of the night-birds.
+
+The wind wandered down from the heights and shook the canvas covers
+of the wagons as though trying to arouse the men to the danger that
+threatened them. Coyotes whined in the distance, sniffing the herd, but
+too cowardly to advance until on the morrow the freight-train should
+have passed on. _Then_ they would come boldly in and fight over the
+scraps remaining. And, perhaps, there would be greater booty for the
+scavengers of the plains to fight over!
+
+The men scouting about the freighters’ camp numbered the unconscious
+men and noted their arms and how the camp was arranged. There was a
+high river-bank. The captain of the train had ordered the arrangement
+of the wagons partly because he was eager to obtain water; but there
+was a high bank to the river here, and a narrow beach below it. Men
+afoot could creep down this bank and, sheltered from the camp, approach
+it and attack from the riverside. Even a sentinel stationed on the very
+verge of the bank would be little likely to apprehend the coming of
+such an attacking force, unless he chanced to be expecting it.
+
+The captain of the train set one of his watchmen on the bank above the
+river, however, and to keep warm the rifleman walked back and forth,
+pacing a beat some twenty yards long. This would have been all very
+well had the crew believed there was a particle of danger threatening
+the camp. But so confident were they of peace that they did not even
+drive the mules down from the higher ground where they were feeding. A
+party of a dozen reds--if they could have loosed the gray mare--might
+have made off with the entire herd.
+
+There was a shelter tent for each six men, while the cook and the
+captain shared the fourth canvas. At ten o’clock, under a black-velvet
+sky pricked out with the brilliant but distant stars, the camp was as
+quiet as the grave--that is, providing one could imagine some of the
+occupants of the grave sleeping their long sleep “loudly.” Aside from
+these snores, however, and the champing of the horses and mules, there
+was little sound to break the silence. There was a sentinel pacing a
+short beat on the inland side of the camp; but, it being cold when
+the wind swooped down and flapped the loose canvas, he got in behind
+the chain of wagons and was not so much use as a guard. Along the
+river-bank paced the other sentinel, whistling under his breath, and
+staring off across the black, smoothly flowing water, in which the
+stars were mirrored.
+
+Wide-awake as he was, this second guard heard nothing when a single
+figure slipped down the river-bank beyond the camp and toward the
+cañon’s entrance, and in a stooping posture sneaked along toward him.
+This figure lay low upon the shore when the guard walked that way. When
+the guard turned the prowler arose again and kept just behind him, but
+below the bank, until both reached about the middle of the beat the
+sentinel was following.
+
+Then, softly as a cat, without as much as scratching a button or
+rattling the rifle in his hand or the guns in his belt, the stranger
+darted up the bank, and, stooping low, hurried to the smaller tent
+in which slept the captain of the train and the cook. Evidently the
+stranger had picked this tent out before dark, and shrewdly guessed who
+occupied it. Lifting the flap softly, he crept in and lowered it before
+the guard on the river-bank turned. The other guard was standing facing
+the opposite way and saw nothing.
+
+Once in the darkness of the tent, the stranger coolly squatted on his
+haunches, laid down his rifle, and drawing out a match-safe, scratched
+a lucifer and held it up so that the sputtering flame might cast some
+radiance over the interior of the tent.
+
+The pungent odor of the sulfur got in the nose of one of the sleepers,
+and he sneezed. He sneezed a second time and sat up suddenly, blinking
+his eyes in surprise at the figure squatting inside the tent. This
+was an utter stranger to him--a man with long hair, a military hat,
+buckskin coat, and riding breeches and boots. And he was armed like
+a pirate--belt stuck full of guns and with a big bowie. He smiled
+cheerfully at the amazed and sleepy individual, however.
+
+“Hello!” he said. “Which one of you is the captain?”
+
+“Heh?” murmured the startled one.
+
+“Who’s the boss?”
+
+“I--I’m the cook.”
+
+“Then the other feller is the boss?”
+
+“I--I reckon so. Say, Billings!” and he suddenly punched the other man
+in the ribs. “Wake up! We’re surrounded!”
+
+“Shut up, you fool!” exclaimed the visitor, slapping his palm suddenly
+over the second man’s mouth, for it opened to emit a yell before his
+eyes were fairly ajar. “It’s all right. What did you want to startle
+him for?”
+
+“Who the devil are you?” demanded the cook.
+
+“And how’d you git here?” cried the other man.
+
+“I’m Cody, and I belong just now to the command at Fort Advance. You’re
+in about as dangerous a position as a score of men can be and get out
+of it alive, and I’ve sneaked into your camp to help you.”
+
+“Injuns!” groaned the cook, turning pale.
+
+“There ain’t a red within forty miles,” declared Buffalo Bill, for he
+it was.
+
+“Then what’s the matter?” sputtered the captain of the freight crew.
+“I’ve set guards over the camp. We’re all right.”
+
+“Your guards are a lot of use, ain’t they?” sneered the scout. “They’re
+out there walking up and down like two wooden men; but they didn’t see
+me get by.”
+
+“But, for Heaven’s sake what is the matter?”
+
+“You’ve got worse than Injuns after you.”
+
+“What can that be?”
+
+“Boyd Bennett’s gang of hold-up men.”
+
+“Git out! Bennett’s left the country.”
+
+“He’s j’ined an Injun tribe,” added the cook. “Become a squaw man.”
+
+“Well, he’s out yonder with about a dozen of the p’izenest ruffians
+that it’s ever been my fate to run up against,” declared Buffalo Bill.
+“And from what I could overhear lying out there on my belly in the
+grass, they’re pretty near ready to stampede you!”
+
+“Oh, Lord!” groaned the cook.
+
+But the captain of the crew was no coward. He was awake now, and he
+leaped up, ready to fight for his own life and help to defend the lives
+of his mates and the valuable property entrusted to him.
+
+“Mr. Cody, you take command,” he urged instantly. “You are a better man
+than any one in this entire party--that I’ll swear to. I have shown my
+incompetency already by placing my guards so carelessly that you could
+creep into my very sleeping tent without being apprehended.”
+
+“Many a man has made the mistake of being too confident when there were
+no signs of trouble,” said Buffalo Bill. “But you had no knowledge of
+these outlaws being near you, of course. Although, it was quite by
+chance that they did not blunder into your midst, I fancy. There are
+fewer of them than there are of your men; but if they had caught you
+with your pants down it would have been ‘Good-by John!’ for you all.
+This is as bloody-minded a gang of cut-throats as infest this Western
+country.”
+
+“So I have heard said of Bennett and his men. But I thought they had
+left the Overland Trail.”
+
+“They are not on the old lay just at present,” Cody explained. “In
+fact, I am following them for an entirely different reason. And if we
+have the luck to beat the devils, I’d be thankful for any help you
+could give me toward capturing the whole gang and rescuing a prisoner
+they hold.”
+
+“A prisoner?”
+
+“Aye, and a girl--God help her!”
+
+“Great heavens! a woman in the hands of those ruffians?”
+
+“Yes.”
+
+“Who is she?”
+
+“White Antelope, the daughter of old Oak Heart, the Sioux chieftain.”
+
+“Oh, thunder! a squaw!” exclaimed the captain of the train crew in
+disgust.
+
+“She’s just as precious to the old redskin as the daughter of a white
+man is to him, I s’pose,” said the scout sternly. “Besides, her release
+means a great deal to me--and to Major Baldwin of Fort Advance--and,
+perhaps, to the entire white settlers of this part of the country.”
+
+“Well, well! I can’t afford to quarrel with you over a red squaw,” said
+the other lightly. “You help us, and we’ll help you.”
+
+“I am here for the purpose of helping you,” said the Border King, with
+some stiffness of manner, for the other’s tone had jarred upon him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLI. “ON GUARD!”
+
+
+“First of all,” said the captain of the freighters, “I want you to take
+command, Cody, as I said.”
+
+“No, no!” the scout hastened to reply. “I would not take that upon
+myself.”
+
+“I insist.”
+
+“No. I must be free myself to act in this other matter I speak of. If
+I see a chance to run off the girl while you fellows are handling the
+outlaws, I must do so.”
+
+“And leave us for a redskin?”
+
+“That is it,” returned Cody seriously. “My duty is first to her at this
+time.”
+
+“But that is nonsense, man! People of a blood should stick together.
+Let the red squaw go.”
+
+“She’s got white blood in her better than either yours or mine, sir!”
+snapped the scout.
+
+“Oh! she’s a half-breed?”
+
+“She is. But I am not here to discuss White Antelope. Time is passing.
+I will advise you to the best of my ability in this fight; but I cannot
+accept the responsibility of command.”
+
+“All I can do, then, is to rouse up the other boys and make ready to
+receive boarders.”
+
+“But there is more than one way of doing that,” said Cody, with a smile
+which the other did not see in the dark tent.
+
+“Heh?”
+
+“No use in rousing out the other men in a way to show the outlaws you
+are expecting them.”
+
+“Oh, shucks! are they watching us already?”
+
+“They sure are. All I feared in making my way to your tent was their
+sharp eyes. I knew what your guards would be.”
+
+“You don’t have a very high opinion of us mule-skinners, then?” said
+the captain, rather sharply.
+
+“I have a very poor opinion indeed of men who will be careless on this
+trail,” said Buffalo Bill sternly. “Recklessness is never bravery.”
+
+“Huh!” grunted the other.
+
+“Cook, you creep out at the rear and speak to the sentinel at the back
+of the camp. Keep close to the ground and tell him to have a care.
+Let him step across and speak to the guard by the river--casually,
+remember.”
+
+“All right, sir,” said the cook, recognizing the tone of authority.
+
+“Then you creep over to the farther tent and awaken the boys carefully.
+The captain here had better attend to the other two. Go on your hands
+and knees, boys! And don’t startle anybody. Have they got arms with
+’em, or are they in the wagons?”
+
+“Oh, they’ve got their rifles. I’m not quite a fool,” said the captain.
+
+“Glad to hear that,” the scout returned, and did not stop to explain
+whether he was rejoiced to hear that the men were properly armed, or
+that the captain was not an entire ignoramus!
+
+It was too serious a situation for the man to take open offense,
+however. He, as well as the cook, did Cody’s bidding without further
+remark. They crept from tent to tent, keeping well in the shadow,
+while the first guard, warned by the cook, went across and warned the
+man pacing the beat by the river.
+
+Buffalo Bill was pretty confident that the outlaws would wait until the
+sentinels were changed at midnight before attacking. That was the best
+time for such a movement, for the new guards would be sleepy, and the
+other men would have just settled into heavier sleep.
+
+When the gang had been awakened the captain reported to the scout. Thus
+far none of the boys had come out of the three larger tents, and they
+were warned to keep under cover until they received the word.
+
+“You don’t want to have your mules stampeded far,” said the scout.
+“When the sentinels are changed, let one of those coming off duty step
+out and lead in your bell-mare, and hobble her inside the line of the
+wagons. Then you’ll be sure of her, and, even if the long-ears do run
+away, they’ll come back again, come daybreak.”
+
+The cook’s fire was already out, and Cody warned them to let the other
+one burn down as low as it would. The more shadowy the camp was the
+better the freighters could move about without attracting the notice of
+any watching outlaws.
+
+Cody remained in the little tent with the flap pinned back, and
+the cook and the captain came to him and reported their missions
+accomplished. Midnight came--it was not a long wait--and the sentinels
+went to the tents and appeared to awaken those who were to relieve
+them. Cody had particularly instructed the man who was to go to the
+river-bank. One of the others brought in the gray mare. The camp
+settled down to apparent quietude and peace again.
+
+“Now, boys, to your places,” whispered the scout to the cook and the
+captain. “Signal your men, captain; be ready to fling on the fire a
+heap of that light stuff yonder when you hear me hoot, cook! All right!”
+
+The captain crept out once more and scratched with his finger-nail upon
+the canvas of each tent. At that the freighters began to wriggle out
+from under the canvas and crawl on their bellies to shelter beneath the
+wagons. Cody knew that the first fire of the outlaws would be aimed at
+the tents. Boyd Bennett and his villains would expect to thus kill or
+seriously wound several of the sleeping freighters and throw the others
+into utter confusion.
+
+Buffalo Bill remained no longer in the small tent himself. He crept
+down to the river-bank, and he and the sentinel saw each other. Cody
+expected a part of the attacking party would approach in the way he had
+come to the camp, only from the other direction.
+
+And this was a good guess. The outlaws--or several of them--dismounted
+and came along under the bank. In fact, so sure were they of catching
+the encampment asleep, that the scout heard their footsteps. They did
+not take proper care in disguising them.
+
+“Now, mister!” Buffalo Bill exclaimed, under his breath to the sentinel
+near him.
+
+Instantly this man dropped down in the grass, the other guard fell
+flat, there was a sudden pounding of horse’ hoofs down the ridge from
+the south and west. Then:
+
+Bang! bang! bang!
+
+A volley of rifle-shots tore through the tents inside the wagon-line.
+Instantly the shrill yell of Buffalo Bill, the Border King, answered
+the shots defiantly. The sound had often struck terror to the hearts of
+his red foes, and it was not unknown to Boyd Bennett and his comrades.
+
+“That hell-cat, Cody, is here!” screamed Bennett.
+
+The cook flung the light brush on the fire. It blazed up almost
+immediately, giving the men under the wagons a chance to see any of the
+outlaws that might venture into the camp. But none of them reached the
+inner circle. As those afoot sprang up the bank from the riverside,
+Cody and the man with him shot them down, or drove them shrieking with
+fear out of rifle-shot.
+
+Pandemonium reigned for a few minutes, however. Although Boyd Bennett
+yelled his warning, the gang did not give over the fight so easily.
+They poured round after round of bullets into the camp; but at first
+they did not realize that they were being answered from beneath the
+wagons rather than from the tents.
+
+Several of their ponies were shot down. Although the mules were
+stampeded for a ways, the ruffians could make no good use of this fact.
+Instead of catching the camp unawares, they were themselves ambushed,
+thanks to the Border King!
+
+“Escape, men! We are undone!” shrieked Boyd Bennett, at last.
+
+He had seen four of his men fall never to rise again, and two others
+had lost their mounts and had to spend precious moments in catching two
+of their dead comrades’ horses. Back the decimated party fled over the
+ridge.
+
+The freighters poured in volley after volley upon the retreating
+outlaws. But the captain would not let them mount such horses and mules
+as they could catch and follow the crew. In this he got square with
+Buffalo Bill for the scout’s sharp words.
+
+In the height of the fight, after seeing that the freight crew were
+more than a match for the outlaws, Buffalo Bill had slipped down under
+the river-bank and had run at his best pace toward the spot where the
+outlaws had been encamped earlier in the evening. There he had seen
+White Antelope tied to a sapling so that she could not escape while
+her captors tried their nefarious scheme of robbing and murdering the
+freight-train crew.
+
+Believing that Bennett would leave nobody to guard the girl, the scout
+was bent upon reaching the place first and releasing her.
+
+And this much he did accomplish: he reached the place first. But almost
+as soon as he had recognized Buffalo Bill’s yell, Boyd Bennett spurred
+back toward the bound girl. He feared the scout would do exactly the
+thing he was attempting. Knowing that Cody must have followed them
+here for the express purpose of saving White Antelope, he feared the
+shrewdness of his enemy.
+
+Cody found the spot. A camp-fire burned low, but revealed the girl
+writhing in her bonds at one side. The scout bounded to her side just
+as the thunder of Bennett’s horse sounded down the hill.
+
+“All right, White Antelope! ’Tis I--the Long Hair!” whispered the
+scout. “My horse is not far away. I will save you---- The devil!”
+
+The scout broke off with a savage exclamation. He had hoped to slash
+through the girl’s bonds and carry her to his horse, which he had left
+in a thicket not far away. But for once in his life the scout had made
+a terrible oversight!
+
+Chief had picked up a small pebble in his hoof late that afternoon, and
+Buffalo Bill had got down and pried it out with the point of his bowie.
+He had stuck the knife into a sheath which hung to his saddle-bow, and
+had forgotten it until this very instant. He had nothing with which to
+cut the girl’s bonds.
+
+Already the chief of the bandits was almost upon him. Boyd Bennett rode
+down the hill yelling like a fiend.
+
+“Fly!” murmured the girl. “They will kill you.”
+
+“Curse it! I am foiled for the time. But, remember, White Antelope,
+I am near you and will release you yet, and serve your enemy as he
+deserves!”
+
+With these words the scout dropped to all fours, and, as stealthily and
+silently as a wolf, crept away in the darkness.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLII. THE AVENGER.
+
+
+The gang of outlaws had been depleted by five. One had fallen on the
+river-bank, and four others had either been killed or so badly wounded
+that they fell captive to the freighters on the side of the ridge.
+There were but eight who gathered about the spot where White Antelope
+was left tied, when the fight was over.
+
+And they feared pursuit and a worse thrashing than they had already
+endured. They clamored to be led away from the place, and Boyd
+Bennett, gnashing his teeth in impotent rage, was forced to agree.
+
+Every man of them had a fear of Buffalo Bill, the Border King. How he
+could have gotten ahead of them, and been in the teamsters’ encampment
+when they made their attack, added to the superstitious veneration in
+which the outlaws had begun to hold the great scout. Heretofore they
+had held Boyd Bennett as a better man than Cody; but now they began to
+doubt.
+
+Besides, several of them did not approve of his bearing away the Indian
+girl from her village. While Bennett had posed as the medicine chief
+of the Sioux, they were all sure of being treated well by the savages.
+Some of them had taken Indian wives and were living in ease and
+plenty--the lazy, irresponsible existence of the “squaw-man.”
+
+Boyd Bennett’s unhappy attachment for the chief’s daughter had brought
+the gang together again, and old-time loyalty had caused them to answer
+his command. But they now believed that they had lost more than they
+should gain. All the Sioux would be down upon them, and so they would
+be at enmity with every man they met in the forest and on the plain,
+both red and white!
+
+White Antelope showed plainly that she would never yield to Boyd
+Bennett’s demand and espouse him. While he was with the Indians and
+wielding so much influence as Death Killer, the medicine-man, she had
+spurned his advances. Much more did she hold him in contempt now.
+
+And Boyd Bennett, too, was acting very strangely. Evil ways and evil
+desires were turning the man’s brain. He acted without judgment. Now
+he unloosed White Antelope, caught her up to his saddle, and rode away
+with his men without as much as looking for traces of Buffalo Bill in
+the vicinity, or learning if in reality the freighters were inclined to
+follow up their advantage and push the attack.
+
+They swam the river and made for another exit from the valley. But
+their horses were pretty well done up, and they could get only a spurt
+of speed out of them now and then. Besides, Boyd Bennett’s own mount
+refused after a time to carry double. This necessitated one of the
+other ruffians carrying White Antelope before him on his saddle.
+
+The chance afforded the chief villain an escape from certain death. The
+party were aiming to leave the valley by the way the broadening river
+flowed; but they were some distance from the river’s side. Through the
+uncertain light of early morning they did not see a tireless white
+horse carrying its rider down the opposite bank until they reached a
+ford, through which the stallion splashed to the side of the stream on
+which the bandits rode.
+
+It was the avenger on the villain’s trail; but they did not suspect
+that again Buffalo Bill had ridden ahead of them. Chief was tireless.
+
+The scout ensconced the horse behind a thicket, and wormed his way out
+into the open where he could draw bead on anybody passing along the
+river trail. It was a long shot, but the scout had succeeded in making
+more ticklish ones in times past.
+
+By and by the band of tired horsemen loped along the trail. The light
+was too uncertain for Cody to distinguish one man from the other; but
+he saw one riding ahead and carrying the girl before him, and he
+believed it must be Bennett. He did not think the fellow would let the
+White Antelope out of his own bloody hands.
+
+Therefore he took sight--deadly sight--at this man, and shot him
+through the head!
+
+A yell rose from the bandits as the rifle exploded and the man pitched
+off his mount. It was answered by Buffalo Bill’s eery war-whoop. The
+seven remaining bandits knew who had fired the fatal shot.
+
+But, although the immediate captor of the girl had fallen, she had no
+time to urge the pony to one side and thus escape. Buffalo Bill saw
+his mistake in a moment. With a wild yell Boyd Bennett spurred to the
+side of the horse which White Antelope sat, and threatened her with
+drawn bowie as the whole cavalcade shot down the river trail and put
+a brush-clump between them and the scout’s rifle. When they appeared
+again they were out of rifle-shot.
+
+“Seven of them left,” muttered Buffalo Bill. “I thought I had that
+devil that time. But let him wait--let him wait!”
+
+He mounted Chief once more and rode for a time in the wake of the
+bandits. But, fearing that some of them might slip off their horses and
+lay in wait for him, he turned aside into the hilly country and so saw
+the refugees only occasionally from the summits of certain hills which
+he climbed. He kept them from resting, however, during the forenoon. By
+midday the desperadoes’ ponies were completely worn out.
+
+Had they not been so fearful of the scout the seven men might have
+shown fight. They were equally well armed with Buffalo Bill, and some
+of them were good shots. But Boyd Bennett thought only of escape with
+the girl, and his mates were in a blue funk, anyway.
+
+They came at noon to a deserted Indian encampment. It was a
+hunting-camp, the braves evidently being out in the hills after game
+and having left nobody but the squaws on guard. The squaws had gone
+into the bush after late berries. Therefore, there was none to balk the
+bandits.
+
+There were no ponies, or the men would have left their fagged mounts
+and stolen those of the red men. But in the river lay two good-sized
+canoes. Abandoning their ponies the outlaws seized these boats, forced
+White Antelope into the leading one with Boyd Bennett and two others,
+and the four remaining men entering the other boat, both were pushed
+off and paddled down the stream.
+
+Cody beheld this move from a hilltop, and immediately rode down to
+the river. Had he crossed the paths of any of the Indians--they were
+not Sioux, but he knew the tribe--he might have obtained their help.
+Alone, however, he came to the river-bank. The canoes were far out in
+the stream and going down rapidly with the current and the force of the
+paddles. The scout saw the White Antelope on her knees in the forward
+boat, her arms stretched out to him. Her mute gesture for help spurred
+him on to a desperate attempt!
+
+Chief had come far now without much rest, but he was able to make one
+more spurt. Down the river path the scout thundered, racing to catch
+up with the canoes. There was a high bluff across the river, offering
+no landing-place. On this side the bank was low. Even if the canoes
+were paddled near the opposite shore, the scout’s rifle would carry a
+deadly ball that distance. In coming near, and into sight, however, he
+gave the bandits a chance to try their marksmanship upon him.
+
+But this risk the brave scout took. For the White Antelope’s sake he
+was venturing his life.
+
+He forced Chief to top speed until the brave old horse came out upon a
+cleared space just ahead of the two canoes. The bandits began to pop
+at him with their rifles; but shooting from a sitting position in a
+trumpery little canoe was no easy job.
+
+Both craft were overloaded, anyway. Two men were supposed to be the
+full complement of the cargo of each. So the craft rode low, and the
+least movement might tip them over. One man in the forward boat, and
+two in the latter, turned their attention to the scout and his white
+horse; but their bullets flew wide of the mark.
+
+The scout, however, paid no more attention to the whistling lead than
+he would have to so many buzzing flies. He dismounted from Chief, and,
+standing out deliberately on the river-bank, raised his rifle and took
+aim at the leading paddler in the rear boat. He did not shoot at those
+with White Antelope in the other canoe. First he would reduce the
+numbers of the gang.
+
+Crack!
+
+The heavy rifle spoke no louder than a pistol across the flat surface
+of the water. With a yell the man dropped his paddle, turned a face all
+gory upon the scout, and then pitched out of the canoe!
+
+Strangely enough he did not tip over the vessel. Another caught up his
+paddle. They tried to urge the craft to the foot of the steep bluff.
+But now the current had caught the light canoe in a fierce grip, and to
+swerve it was not easy.
+
+Crack!
+
+Just as a second man was drawing bead as well as he could upon the
+undaunted scout, the rifle dropped from his hands, and he fell backward
+into the bottom of the canoe. The craft dipped dangerously and all but
+went over. As it righted the scout fired a third time. Plunk the ball
+went through and through the body of the canoe!
+
+The water began to run in at both holes, and the canoe sank. One of the
+remaining men, in complete panic, threw himself overboard and swam for
+the shore. The other continued to paddle desperately.
+
+A double report sounded. The rifleman in the forward boat had stood up
+and taken a better aim at the scout. The latter’s shoulder was plowed
+just under the skin by the ball. But Cody’s own bullet sped straight to
+the desperate paddler in the second canoe, and the man fell sideways,
+shot through the lungs; the canoe tipped completely, and man and canoe
+went to the bottom together.
+
+Meanwhile, the fourth man in that boat had reached the strand. It was a
+narrow beach and offered no shelter for him. He scrambled up the steep
+bluff like a crab making for its hole. But when he was half-way up, and
+his body against the yellow sand made an excellent target, the scout’s
+gun spoke again.
+
+Sprawled out, and screaming, the fellow fell all the way back to the
+shore, and there, squirming with the agony of the wound which was in a
+vital part, he rolled into the river, and the black current swept him
+swiftly down-stream.
+
+He passed the first canoe that had been retarding, while the rifleman
+tried a second particular shot at the scout. The drowning man yelled
+for help. He even snatched at the gunwale of the canoe as he was swept
+by.
+
+Instantly Boyd Bennett seized a pistol from his belt and deliberately
+shot the drowning man through the head. Perhaps, if the latter had
+seized the canoe, he would have overturned it and sacrificed the four
+other lives; yet it was a desperately cruel act!
+
+Meanwhile Cody had leaped aside, escaping the second shot of the
+rifleman in the remaining canoe; and then, before the man could sit
+down and the canoe could shoot ahead, he dropped him cleanly with a
+ball through the heart!
+
+In five minutes the bloody battle was over. But two of the bandits were
+left alive. The other five had sunk to the bottom of the river, while
+the remaining two, and the White Antelope, were being carried swiftly
+down the stream, and by a current now so powerful that they could not
+steer to the bank on either side. Just below were the worst series of
+rapids on the entire river!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLIII. MAN TO MAN AT LAST.
+
+
+Buffalo Bill knew the peril which threatened the two bandits and the
+girl quite as soon as they knew it themselves. But he was handicapped a
+bit now by his wound, which bled profusely. He had to wait to bind it
+up roughly, so that the blood would stop flowing, before he could pay
+much attention to the endangered trio in the canoe.
+
+Ere then the craft was swiftly speeding down the river, going almost as
+fast as an ordinary horse could trot. Buffalo Bill whistled Chief to
+him, sprang into the saddle, and galloped down the trail. It was some
+minutes before he overtook the boat.
+
+There was no danger then of anybody aboard it shooting at him. Boyd
+Bennett in the stern and his last comrade in the bow were having all
+they could handle in steering the craft. Rocks and snags began to crop
+up in the current, and they were now tossed this way, then that, while
+the foaming water boiled almost into the frail craft!
+
+Buffalo Bill, intent on saving White Antelope’s life at any cost,
+unslung his lariat and made ready to cast the endangered men an end if
+the canoe came near enough to the shore. For the sake of assisting the
+girl he would have given up his vengeance on the outlaws.
+
+However, when he cast the rope, although it fell across the boat, Boyd
+Bennett, with a scream of rage, threw it off.
+
+“You madman!” yelled his companion, glancing over his shoulder.
+
+“Mind your paddle!” roared Bennett.
+
+“My God! I’ll take help from anybody,” cried the other.
+
+Cody coiled his rope to swing it again, this time intending to aim
+ahead of the canoe so that the other man could catch it. But Bennett
+saw his intention, and he drew in his paddle, grabbed his pistol, and
+presented it at his comrade’s back. White Antelope was lying down in
+the canoe, knowing that this was the safest place for her.
+
+“You touch that rope!” shrieked the bandit leader, as the lariat
+whistled through the air again, “and I’ll send you to Hades!”
+
+The man glanced fearfully over his shoulder at the words, and saw the
+threatening pistol.
+
+“Look out!” shouted Buffalo Bill, for his cast had been true, and the
+coil of the lasso was circling just over the man.
+
+The fellow was too scared of the pistol to watch the loop, and it
+settled fairly over his head. With a shriek he tried then to get out
+of it, but it was too late. The canoe darted suddenly into a cross
+current, shooting off from the shore, and the rope was pulled taut.
+
+Buffalo Bill could not have released the rope from his saddle-bow in
+time to save the unfortunate outlaw, nor could he force Chief nearer
+the water. The noose was about the man’s neck, and with an awful jerk
+the rope literally snatched him out of the canoe!
+
+Had the girl not been lying down at the moment his body would have
+carried her likewise into the river. It was by mere chance that the
+canoe did not overturn; but it righted and sailed on with its freight
+of two. The other outlaw was dead before Buffalo Bill could drag him
+ashore. His neck had been broken.
+
+The scout’s interest lay, however, in the fate of the two remaining in
+the canoe. He cast the dead man loose and spurred hard down the path,
+trying to keep up with the frail canoe now shooting the rapids.
+
+It was a perilous journey; yet Boyd Bennett, ruffian though he was,
+exercised the greatest ingenuity in managing the canoe. The scout
+could not but admire this in the fellow.
+
+It seemed impossible, however, that the canoe and its living freight
+could get through the rapids intact. The water boiled madly about the
+craft. It was flung hither and yon, and at times it was so racked by
+the opposing forces of the current that Buffalo Bill, on the bank,
+could hear the wood crack.
+
+Boyd Bennett’s glaring eyes did not turn toward his enemy throughout
+all this trial. He watched each black-ribbed rock or floating snag
+against which his craft might be hurled. Nor did he speak a word to the
+girl lying in the bottom of the canoe.
+
+She knew as well as he that any movement on her part would add to their
+danger, and, although she might now leap overboard--she was free--it
+would mean certain death. So freedom tantalized her. She could only
+escape at the peril of her life!
+
+She saw Boyd Bennett’s glowing eyes occasionally cast upon her a
+basilisklike glance. There was madness in them, she knew. The brave
+girl, used as she was to battle and the chase, shrank from this
+terrible foe. And she was helpless!
+
+The canoe swung around rocks, which she thought surely they must
+hit; it just escaped collision with logs and drift-stuff in the most
+marvelous manner, and all the time Boyd Bennett sat holding the paddle
+as a steering-oar, his black eyes glaring out of his death’s-head face,
+impassive, yet all alive to the dangers of the run.
+
+Spray broke over the side of the canoe and drenched the girl. The craft
+seemed to fairly throb and jump with the motion of the water.
+
+Once an eddy seized them. Despite all Bennett could do the canoe shot
+into this whirlpool, and they made several rapid revolutions before the
+man saw his way out, and thrust the canoe between two ragged jaws of
+rock, and so escaped!
+
+On and on fled the boat, while Buffalo Bill urged his mount along the
+river path. He could barely keep up with it. Each moment he expected to
+see it overturned, and both passengers tumbled into the raging current.
+
+At last the more quiet river below the rapids came into view. Here the
+stream widened and the current quickly became sluggish. In the midst
+of the stream was a wooded island, its sharp upper end, consisting of
+an outcropping ledge, dividing the river into two channels just at the
+foot of the white water.
+
+The canoe, as it shot out of the smother of spray, chanced to take the
+channel nearest to the bank on which Cody urged his horse. This was an
+oversight on Bennett’s part, but he had been too anxious to get out of
+the rapids at all to attend to where the canoe finally went.
+
+Cody saw his chance, and, although Chief was well winded now, he yelled
+with delight. He saw what appeared to be the finish of the race--and in
+his favor.
+
+“I’ve got you now, Boyd Bennett!” he shouted.
+
+The bandit at last turned his eyes upon him, and then glanced around.
+He saw Cody’s meaning. The canoe was drifting so near the scout that
+the latter could either shoot, or rope him. And the long island forbade
+his getting away.
+
+But the villain was not yet to his last card. His mind was keenly
+alive to the situation, and he lost no points in the game.
+
+“Not yet, Bill Cody--not yet!” he shrieked, and with a single thrust of
+his paddle, turned the canoe’s nose toward the island.
+
+“Hold, or I fire!” cried the scout, raising his weapon and drawing bead
+upon the bandit.
+
+Boyd Bennett drove the canoe into the rocky ledge which masked the end
+of the island. Like paper the frail craft tore apart, and both he and
+the girl were flung into the stream.
+
+Buffalo Bill’s bullet flew wide of its mark that time! White Antelope
+was in as much danger as the bandit--perhaps more--for the scout did
+not know whether the girl could swim or not, and the current was still
+quite swift and the water deep.
+
+But White Antelope soon showed what she could do in the river. Cold
+as the water was, the instant she came to the surface and saw Boyd
+Bennett’s arms stretched out for her, she threw herself backward and
+dove again to the bottom of the river! With a yell the bandit flung
+himself after her, and again just missed the scout’s bullet. The
+scoundrel seemed to bear a charmed life. Buffalo Bill was unable to hit
+him. Although they were man to man at last, it was a question still who
+would come out winner in the game.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLIV. THE FIGHT TO GAIN THE ISLAND.
+
+
+White Antelope sank to the bottom of the river; then, unlike ordinary
+swimmers, she did not move in a straight line, but shot off at a sharp
+angle, and endeavored to make the shore where Cody was, while still
+under water. But Boyd Bennett was quite as cunning. He cut across her
+path, and, as the girl came shooting in a long slant to the surface of
+the river, he reached and caught her by the shoulder.
+
+White Antelope screamed and sought to wrench herself away. Cody had
+flung aside his rifle and urged Chief down into the stream. The
+white horse was already belly deep in the flood, picking his way
+intelligently, while his master, rope in hand, prepared to fling the
+loop to the Indian maiden.
+
+But before Cody could make the cast, Bennett had grabbed the girl and
+thrust her under the surface again. White Antelope went down gurgling,
+and the cruel hand of the bandit chief held her fast. With an oath
+the scout seized a revolver and aimed at the black, sleek head of the
+scoundrel.
+
+“Hold your fire, Bill Cody!” cried the bandit again. “Hold your fire,
+or I’ll drown this girl--as sure as you live, I will! She’s mine, and,
+by Heaven, you sha’n’t take her from me--unless it’s her dead body!”
+
+“You devil, you!” roared the scout. “You are drowning her!”
+
+“I surely will if you don’t put up your gun!”
+
+“Let her up!”
+
+“Put away your gun!”
+
+The scout was obliged to do so. If he shot the scoundrel the latter
+might sink, his clutch still upon the White Antelope, and neither of
+them rise again until the breath had left both their bodies!
+
+Boyd Bennett saw the scout put the gun back into his belt. He then
+dragged the girl up by her long, golden hair, and with her in his
+arms--she was now totally unconscious--he struck out with his free hand
+for the island. The scout seemed helpless. There was nothing he could
+do to stop the foe or free the girl. The situation stumped Buffalo Bill
+completely!
+
+All the scout could do was to wait, hand on gun, for some chance to aid
+his cause. While Bennett struggled in the river with the girl he dared
+not fire for two reasons. One, already stated, was that he feared the
+man would sink with his burden and both be drowned; the other was that
+he feared his pistol-ball might wound the girl as well as Bennett.
+
+And now it was not altogether sure that the scoundrel could make the
+shore of the island. He was weaker than he had been, and the burden of
+the girl bore him down. There was a current set off from the island on
+this side, and he had this to fight. And fight he did--with a bravery
+which Cody could but admire. He breasted the current, and fought inch
+by inch the downward drag of the river. It was too much for him,
+however.
+
+Suddenly the bandit almost lost his hold upon the girl. Cody believed
+he was about to give her up and save himself, and he prepared to force
+Chief into the deeper current and so swim out for her. He swung his
+lariat again, too, that it might be ready for emergency. But, although
+Bennett was carried down-stream and the shore of the island was
+rapidly receding from him, he still clung to the Indian maid.
+
+“Look out for the rope, Boyd Bennett! Catch it!” sang out the scout,
+believing that now the fellow would certainly rather save his life and
+lose the girl than lose both his own and her lives. But a sputtering
+shriek came back from the maniac:
+
+“Fling your rope if you dare, Bill Cody! I’ll kill her if you do--mark
+that!”
+
+“Don’t be a fool, man. You can’t save her and yourself.”
+
+“Then we’ll both drown,” returned Boyd Bennett, with the determination
+of a still fearless man.
+
+“I’ll give you your freedom!” roared Cody, at desperate straits now.
+
+“I’ll not take it of you. If I die she goes with me--ah!”
+
+A sudden eddy seized the man and swung him toward the island. He had
+evidently stored some remaining energy, and this he now put forth. He
+seemed fairly to leap forward in the water which was over his head near
+the bank. But he caught at a drooping tree-branch and held on.
+
+Now, could Cody only have reached him, Boyd Bennett would have been
+at his mercy. But only for an instant did the weakness overpower him.
+He swung in shoreward, his feet found footing on a ledge of rock, and
+in another minute he clambered up out of the water, and, with the
+unfortunate girl still hanging limply over his shoulder, passed out of
+the scout’s sight!
+
+The island was well wooded. It contained about half an acre and was
+long and narrow. It was so long that from the bank to which Cody had
+again turned his mount, he could not see whether the bandit found some
+immediate way of leaving it, and so reaching the farther shore of the
+river, or not.
+
+There was no time to waste for Buffalo Bill, therefore. He must press
+after the man and the girl, giving the former no time to recover his
+strength, and, perhaps, make his escape from the island.
+
+But Chief could not help his master across the deep water to the
+ledgy island. Nor could Buffalo Bill make it encumbered by his heavy
+accouterments. That was not to be considered for a moment!
+
+He dismounted and let Chief go free. The old horse had done his share
+well, and as soon as he was relieved of the saddle and bridle, he lay
+down and rolled as though to get the cramps out of his body. The water
+of the river was ice-cold.
+
+It even made Cody shrink when he contemplated it. His only way of
+reaching the island was by swimming, and against that current, and
+with the chill evening coming on, the scout might well hesitate. But
+not for long. What must be done would better be done quickly, and the
+Border King was well inured to exposure and cold. He threw aside his
+ammunition-belt and his weapons. His coat, waistcoat, and outer shirt
+went likewise. Off came his riding-boots, and then in his undergarment,
+and with his bowie between his teeth, he plunged into the flood and
+essayed the venture.
+
+Whether he was being watched from the island by his enemy, Cody did not
+know. But this was the only way he saw to get at Boyd Bennett and the
+girl. He was matching his life against the bandit’s now, in the last
+desperate act of the series which had followed the abduction of White
+Antelope early the day before.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLV. WAR TO THE KNIFE.
+
+
+And, indeed, Boyd Bennett was almost at his last gasp when he dragged
+himself ashore and put the nearest clump of brush between him and the
+water, thus hiding his future movements from the sharp eyes of the
+Border King. There the man fell upon the meager sward that clothed
+this part of the island, and lay, gasping like a great fish just out
+of its element, almost helpless with exhaustion. The White Antelope,
+had she recovered consciousness and power of action during those first
+few minutes, might easily have escaped from her captor. But she had
+come nearer being drowned than was at all pleasant. She lay so still
+and white where Bennett had flung her upon the ground, that even he,
+hardened villain that he was, feared his usage of her delicate body had
+been too much for the spirit that inhabited it, and that the breath was
+already sped from the girl.
+
+But not for some minutes did Bennett think thus. He could barely
+recover his own breath at first. He was chilled through and through
+by the icy water. His clothing clung to him like lead. He had lost
+most of his weapons during his struggle in the river; but his bowie
+and a pistol remained--the latter, of course, useless in its present
+condition. His ammunition was saturated, too. He had but his knife to
+depend on, was he attacked.
+
+And at that thought the bandit chief started to life! Attacked, indeed!
+There was a relentless enemy on his trail. He, too, knew that it had
+come to the final trial of strength between he and the Border King. His
+death, or William F. Cody’s, must mark this island as a tragic spot
+forever.
+
+The great scout, he knew, would never give up while life remained
+in his body. As for Bennett himself, he was pushed now to the last
+extremity. He was bereft of all his associates. He had seen them killed
+one by one, by fate, or by the relentless arm of Buffalo Bill. He
+had lost caste with the Sioux, over whom he had obtained so great an
+influence during the past few months. And all for what? For this White
+Antelope--a half-breed girl--a woman who hated him, and who considered
+herself, though of mixed blood, too good for him.
+
+He gnashed his teeth in rage as he thought of this, and his rage
+somewhat aroused him. He crawled to the girl and shook her. Her body
+was limp--and oh, so cold! It well-nigh frightened Bennett to touch
+her. Could it be that she was already dead?
+
+He tore open the doeskin blouse that draped the upper part of her
+person and bared her bosom. His hand sought her heart and felt a timid
+flutter there. She was still alive!
+
+Yet, how to warm that spark of life into full flame? He had nothing
+in which to wrap her; his own clothing was saturated. But in his
+hunting-shirt he carried a carefully stoppered bottle, and in this
+receptacle were several sulfur matches. These were as precious as gold
+to him now. He crept about the little plateau of the island, gathering
+twigs and dry branches and rubbish. This light stuff he heaped in a
+pile, and then, before he dared light the pyre, he found and broke up
+larger wood and made ready a roaring heap which, a few moments after he
+touched his match to it, blazed several feet into the air.
+
+The sun was going down, and this bonfire warded off the coming chill
+of night. He basked in the heat himself, feeling grateful for every
+leaping, scorching flame. He dragged the girl within the radiance of
+the fire and chafed her hands and her forehead, and removed her torn
+moccasins and held her small, beautifully formed feet to the fire.
+These ministrations he performed with some little tenderness; but,
+although the girl sighed and her lips parted, and her chilled body
+seemed to respond to the warmth of the fire, she did not open her eyes.
+
+Suddenly Boyd Bennett started to his feet with an exclamation of rage.
+He had entirely forgotten something during these minutes. What was
+Buffalo Bill about?
+
+He ran through the bushes and appeared upon the edge of the river
+looking toward the side where Cody had been. There was the big white
+horse, divested of saddle and bridle, cropping the grass on the bank.
+There, too, Bennett saw most of Cody’s clothes and accouterments--a
+neat pile of them. But where was the man himself?
+
+The bandit was inspired instantly with fear that he had overlooked his
+enemy too long. Had he been given time to cross to the island?
+
+And where else could Cody be? For what other reason would he have
+removed his clothing and arms?
+
+“The devil is swimming the river!” muttered the bandit.
+
+The sun was setting, and it was already growing dusky on this side
+of the island. Boyd Bennett cast his keen glance over the troubled
+surface of the water, seeking the bold swimmer. He was not aware that
+at the moment he parted the bushes to step out on the shore, Cody, in
+midstream, had seen him, and had sunk beneath the surface, leaving
+scarcely a ripple to show where he had gone down.
+
+And once in the depths the scout had swum as strongly as he could for
+the island. The current swept him downward, and he was some yards below
+Boyd Bennett’s position when he finally had to come up for air. His
+head bobbed above the surface as sleek as a seal’s or an otter’s--and
+looking much like that of the latter animal. Only to get a breath did
+the scout remain at the surface, then he sank beneath again.
+
+Although Bennett did not actually see his head, he caught the ripples
+on the surface as Cody went down. He saw that there was no eddy there,
+and he suspected instantly what had caused the disturbance on the
+water. With an oath he ran along the edge of the island until he came
+opposite the spot.
+
+In a minute Cody came up again for air. With a yell Bennett sighted
+him. The scout was this time much nearer the shore--and he was much
+nearer his last gasp than before, too! Crossing the river he had found
+all the task promised from the other side. It was not only a long swim,
+but it was an arduous swim.
+
+“I’ve got you now, Bill Cody!” roared the bandit, shaking his fists
+above his head in an abandonment of rage. “I’ve got you now!”
+
+Had Buffalo Bill had breath to do so he might have told him that
+the river had a bigger mortgage on him. The current was pulling him
+down-stream with a power that taxed his utmost strength to counteract.
+
+“You’re my meat!” bawled Bennett. “Let me get my hands on you, you
+hell-hound!”
+
+Cody bore all this in silence. He was struggling to gain a foothold
+near the shore. Once his feet found bottom, but then the current tore
+him away and he had to fight to get back. Bennett ran along the shore
+and stood over him, his face aflame, his eyes blazing like coals, his
+lips fairly frothing.
+
+Cody finally made the shallow again and stood upon his feet. That was
+a blessed relief! He was head and shoulders out of the water, and now
+he took the knife from between his teeth and held it clutched firmly in
+his right hand.
+
+“I’ve got you!” bawled Bennett, fairly dancing up and down on the
+shore. “Come ashore and I’ll have your scalp! I’ll cut your heart out!
+I’ll slice you into cat’s meat! And if you don’t come ashore the river
+will get you. Ha! ha! ha! Bill Cody is between the devil and the deep
+sea this time!”
+
+And the scout thought that this was a pretty true statement of the
+case. For, if ever there was a fiend incarnate, it was Bennett at this
+juncture. And the river was as wicked and dangerous as the sea could
+possibly be. The scout was indeed between two perils--and neither would
+give him a chance for his life.
+
+The moment he waded within striking distance Bennett would attack him.
+And the river dragged at him continually.
+
+But, at least, the scout could parley. He had breath enough to say:
+
+“Boyd Bennett, you and I have many an old score to settle. Give me
+footing on that bank. You have your knife; I have mine. Let us try
+conclusions fairly.”
+
+“What! Give you a chance to play some scurvy trick on me--when I’ve got
+you dead to rights?” cried Bennett, and laughed long and loudly.
+
+Cody edged a step nearer to the shore.
+
+“Be a man!” urged the scout. “You’re as good as I am.”
+
+“I’m better--curse you!”
+
+Cody gained another foot.
+
+“Let us try conclusions, blade to blade. Give me a show, man!”
+
+“It’s war to the knife, and the knife to the hilt between us--that’s
+true, Bill Cody!” gritted out the man. “But you shall not be given a
+chance. I’ll kill you in cold blood--or see you drown in this river.
+Mark ye that!”
+
+Cody crept a few inches nearer.
+
+“Come! You are rested. You’ve got your strength back. I’m chilled to
+the bone. But don’t kill me as you would a dog, Bennett!” urged the
+wily scout.
+
+“A dog you are, and a dog’s death you shall die!”
+
+Cody stooped a little now so as to appear still to be in deep water.
+But he had gained considerable. The fellow’s rage and excitement made
+him overlook this cunning.
+
+“A chance; just a foothold on the bank--for God’s sake!” cried Cody.
+
+“Not much; I won’t! You die where you are--or drown!”
+
+Boyd Bennett stooped, and holding his own bowie with grim clutch, made
+a pass at the scout. The latter dodged--and made another foot.
+
+“Give me a show!” cried the man in the water, apparently at his last
+gasp.
+
+“No, no! I’ll have your life--and now!”
+
+Again the bandit made a thrust. At the moment Cody flung his body
+forward, and his left hand clutched a tree-branch which overhung the
+river. At last he had a stable hold upon terra firma. With a shout
+he dragged himself in toward the bank, and, in turn, lunged at his
+antagonist. So unexpected was the blow that he came near catching
+Bennett in a vital spot. As it was, the point of the scout’s bowie slit
+his enemy’s sleeve from wrist to elbow and brought the blood beneath!
+
+“You devil!” yelled Bennett, leaping back, smarting with pain.
+
+It was just the chance Cody wished. He bounded out upon the rocky
+shore. His own war-cry resounded through the island. All his weakness
+dropped from him like a garment. At last he was before his foe, and
+they were evenly matched--man to man and blade to blade!
+
+“Guard yourself, you scoundrel!” cried Buffalo Bill, the Border King.
+“It is war to the knife, and the knife to the hilt, as you yourself
+have said. Your life or mine--which is the better man! One of us, Boyd
+Bennett, shall never leave this spot alive!”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLVI. AND THE KNIFE TO THE HILT.
+
+
+All the time Buffalo Bill had been standing in the shallow water
+parleying with his enemy, he had been regaining his breath and his
+strength, both sadly depleted by his swim across the river. Now he had
+leaped ashore almost as fresh and strong as Bennett himself.
+
+His leaping ashore had quite startled the bandit; but he did not give
+back after his first cry of surprise and pain. He, too, was armed with
+a bowie. They were indeed equal, and the bandit was no physical coward.
+
+Colonel James Bowie, of Texas, invented a terrible weapon of defense
+and offense when he gave the world the heavy hunting-knife which bears
+his name. It is a long, slightly curved blade, having a razor-sharp
+two-edged point and a heavy back. It is fitted with a handle and
+guard, and is always carried in a sheath. It can be thrown with great
+precision by the old-time “knife-fighter”; but it is at close quarters
+that the true wickedness of the weapon comes to light.
+
+In a fight with these knives death must surely result--many times to
+both antagonists; surely to one. One stroke does it; there is no need
+of a second if the first really gets home. A strong blow would sever a
+man’s head from his body!
+
+Both the scout and Boyd Bennett were familiar with the use of the
+great knife. Facing each other, left foot forward, stooping slightly,
+they circled about each other like two cocks looking for a chance to
+strike. The men’s eyes were fastened upon each other, like the eyes of
+pugilists. In the expanding and contracting of the eyeball they saw the
+intent of their antagonist to make a move.
+
+Crouching, the two shifted about on the rocks. The ground was not good
+for such cautious work; but one did not know it better than the other.
+It was as fair to Bennett as to the scout.
+
+Both men feinted, but did not come to close quarters. They began to
+breathe heavily, not so much from exhaustion as from excitement. The
+wind hissed between their locked teeth. Their eyes were like those
+of mad beasts. Their bare feet shifted on the rocks with a shuffling
+sound, but otherwise they were noiseless in their tigerlike movements.
+
+Suddenly, with a shriek like a wildcat, Boyd Bennett leaped at his foe.
+He thought he saw an opening. This was what the scout intended, and
+he gave back just a little. But before Bennett was upon him the other
+glided to one side and struck sharply at the man. The blades clashed
+and sparks flew from the steel. At the same moment the men clutched
+each other by the left wrist, and at last the issue was really joined!
+
+There they stood panting, foot to foot and breast to breast, their
+fingers locked about each other’s wrists like steel bands, the
+knife-blades “slithering” against each other, every muscle in their
+bodies as tense as steel wires. The pressure of blade against blade was
+all that kept the men apart. If one gave an atom in an endeavor to stab
+his foe, he would open his own breast to the knife. This was a foregone
+conclusion. The pressure of knife against knife seemed a frail
+barrier; but that was all that lay between the two men and sudden and
+awful death!
+
+The man who made the first reckless move, or the one whose bodily
+forces first gave before the strain, was the one who ran the greatest
+peril. To the cool man, the brave man, the man with iron nerve and an
+undaunted patience--to him would come victory!
+
+Knowing this, Buffalo Bill took the only advantage that remained to
+him. His own mind was calm, his brain steady, his vision unclouded by
+hot rage. _His_ emotion was a sort of cold fury, as deadly as the steel
+blade, the handle of which he clutched. At last he had his enemy before
+him--within his grasp--face to face and steel to steel!
+
+And so he taunted him, knowing that Bennett’s brain and heart were
+already afire with hatred.
+
+“You’ve no girl now to conquer, Boyd Bennett!” the scout hissed.
+“You’re not robbing the cradle now. Look out! Another mistake like that
+and I’ll have you!”
+
+“Curse you, you’re a dead man already!” cried the bandit.
+
+“I’m as good as a dozen dead ones. Don’t fool yourself. Ah!”
+
+“Not yet!”
+
+“But almost--almost, my boy! I’ll get you the next time. My brave Death
+Killer--medicine chief of the Sioux! Ah-ha, you villain! You’ve played
+_that_ game to the end, too.”
+
+Bennett fairly gnashed his teeth and put forth furious endeavors to
+break down his antagonist’s guard.
+
+“Save your breath, man,” said Cody, knowing that his advice would have
+exactly a contrary effect upon Bennett. “I’m only playing with you yet.”
+
+“It’s the worst game _you_ ever played, Bill Cody!”
+
+Cody thought so himself, but he smiled back into the other’s eyes, and
+the man’s rage grew.
+
+“I’ll get you yet!” roared Bennett.
+
+“But not that way,” muttered the scout. “Ah! _Now_ we have it!”
+
+With a sudden turn of his wrist he almost brought Bennett to his knees.
+Both men clung so tightly to each other’s left wrists, however, that
+little advantage was to be gained by sudden twists. It was the steady
+pressure of steel against steel that would finally gain the day. One
+arm must be stronger than the other--one foot more skilful--one eye
+more true.
+
+“This is a bad end for you, Boyd Bennett!” began Cody again.
+
+He was scarcely panting himself; but the other was breathing hard,
+gnashing his teeth, rolling his eyes, like a veritable madman. He
+screamed with rage at this remark of the scout’s, and the froth flew
+from his lips. If ever a man was mad, Boyd Bennett was that person.
+
+“And all for what?” quoth the scout. “What did you make by it? The girl
+would have nothing to do with you. Had you remained in Oak Heart’s camp
+you might have finished me. But _not_ that way!” guarding himself from
+a furious lunge of the other’s knife.
+
+“No, no, my boy! You made a grave error. Back there you had some power.
+You might have had the upper hand over me. Now _I_ have it!”
+
+“Not yet!” roared Bennett.
+
+“Oh, yes, I have! I’m only playing with you, I tell you. When I am
+ready I’ll put you where the dogs won’t bite you! Ah! how’s that?”
+
+Boyd had made a furious lunge; and his hand had slipped on Cody’s
+wrist. Quick as lightning the scout slipped aside, broke from the
+death-grapple, and slit the point of his knife up Bennett’s upper arm,
+making a deep, ugly wound. The blood fairly spurted from the severed
+artery. It was then but a matter of a few minutes before Bennett would
+be helpless, unless he managed to finish Cody first.
+
+They circled about each other again, watchful as cats. Once or twice
+they tried to grapple, but it amounted to nothing. Bennett’s wound was
+troubling him sorely. The blood was running in a stream from the point
+of his elbow.
+
+“Say your prayers--if you have any to say, you scoundrel!” exclaimed
+the scout sternly. “For you pay for your murders and atrocities here
+and now! If you have killed that poor girl by your brutal treatment,
+you pay for it in short order.”
+
+Bennett leaped in at him. The scout gave back a bit, and suddenly his
+foot slipped on a wet slab of rock. He fell to one knee. With a yell of
+delight, the wounded bandit flung himself upon him.
+
+It was not the scout’s finish, however. Cody had a wealth of reserve
+force yet. He flung himself forward to meet Bennett’s charge, caught
+his left wrist and the weight of the man’s body upon his left shoulder.
+The scoundrel’s stroke overreached, and the pit of his stomach came in
+heavy contact with his antagonist’s shoulder-bone.
+
+That antagonist rose up suddenly and pitched Bennett clear over him.
+The man landed on his head and shoulders, but, as though made of India
+rubber, he bounded to his feet and faced Cody again.
+
+He was panting for breath, his face was covered with blood, and
+altogether he was a most terrible looking object. He had no intention
+of giving up the fight, however. With a yell, he flung himself once
+more at Cody--but this time wildly.
+
+“’Tis the end at last, Boyd Bennett!” sang out the clarion voice of the
+Border King.
+
+The villain knew it. His eyes rolled, his teeth chattered, his mouth
+was agape as he reentered the fray. Their left hands were locked again,
+and the knives clashed. Steadily Cody forced his man back, back,
+back--until a tree-trunk kept him from going farther. From a crouching
+position the two men gradually stood erect. The pressure of Buffalo
+Bill’s bowie against that of his antagonist became a force that the
+latter could not meet. His arm went slowly back until the elbow struck
+sharply against the tree-trunk.
+
+With an awful scream of rage and deadly fear the fellow’s fingers
+relaxed upon the handle of his bowie. The blade clattered to the
+ground. He clutched feebly at Cody’s throat, and then----
+
+It was indeed the knife to the hilt! Boyd Bennett slipped to the ground
+and lay there, dead!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLVII. THE CONQUEROR.
+
+
+Buffalo Bill turned his eyes from the bleeding corpse of his enemy,
+staggered to a near-by boulder, and dropped upon it to rest. His own
+strength was far spent. Besides, the wound he had received in his
+shoulder, aggravated by his long, cold swim and the violent exertions
+of the past few minutes, had broken out bleeding afresh. Boyd Bennett
+would never know how near he came to being victor himself in this awful
+battle!
+
+As for the consequence, he dropped upon the rock, exhausted and ill.
+The hardiest and most seasoned veteran comes to the end of his tether
+at last, and for thirty-six hours Cody had been riding hard, and
+fighting hard, and swimming hard--and all without bite or sup! There
+had been no time for the preparation of food when he left his cave in
+the mountain to follow Boyd Bennett and the White Antelope, and since
+that time he had neither dared shoot game nor had he seen the time to
+cook and eat.
+
+And that which fairly quenched his spirit now was the thought that he
+seemed to have taken all this hard labor upon his shoulders for naught.
+True, his old-time enemy was finally dead. Boyd Bennett, the outlaw of
+the Overland Trail, the Death Killer of the Utah Sioux, would never
+again trouble mortal man--unless his spirit came back to haunt the
+scenes of his bloody deeds.
+
+But Buffalo Bill had not put forth all this effort merely to best this
+old-time foe. First of all, he desired to save the White Antelope, but
+he seemed to have failed in this. Boyd Bennett had plainly carried his
+threat into execution. He had actually drowned the unfortunate girl.
+It had been that thought, more than any other, that had nerved Buffalo
+Bill to drive the steel home into Bennett’s heart!
+
+“All gone now--the last of the three!” muttered the scout, passing
+his hand across his shaking lips. “And such horrible deaths for all!
+Death by the bullet and the fall from the cliff. Death by the war-club
+and tomahawk. And now death by the river--and the hands of a cursed
+villain. Horrible! horrible!”
+
+These enigmatical remarks, uttered aloud, drowned a rustling in the
+bushes behind him. Suddenly a light hand fell upon his shoulder. The
+scout did not start--his nerves were too steady. But he glanced at the
+small, brown hand, and then looked up along the arm, turning his head
+until he looked full into the face of the White Antelope. There his
+gaze hung, while his lips remained speechless for the moment.
+
+“Pa-e-has-ka has killed his enemy and mine. This makes the White
+Antelope and Long Hair friends.”
+
+She held out her hand to him, and the scout took it, still in a daze.
+
+“By holy!” he muttered. “I sure thought she was dead.”
+
+“What is it my white brother mutters?”
+
+“I reckoned you were drowned, White Antelope,” repeated Cody.
+
+“Nay. I held my breath under the water. But that wicked man came near
+to drowning me.”
+
+“I should say he did!”
+
+“Then he would have revived me; but I remained as though unconscious,
+for I feared him.”
+
+“You’ll have need to fear him no more.”
+
+“Ah! it was a good fight! I watched. The Long Hair is indeed a great
+chief.”
+
+Cody shuddered and glanced away. He did not like to think of the
+daughter of Oak Heart’s white wife viewing with satisfaction such a
+terrible battle as that which had just cursed this spot.
+
+“The Long Hair is cold. Let him come to the fire yonder and dry his
+body and rest.”
+
+“I don’t care if I do. I feel like I was frozen clear to my marrow.
+You’ve got a fire, have you?”
+
+“Death Killer made it to dry us by. Now you shall have it,” she said.
+
+The scout basked for some minutes in the heat of the fire, which White
+Antelope heaped with fresh fuel. But he could not remain inactive for
+long. His perturbed mind, relieved by the discovery of the girl’s
+safety, instantly fixed upon other worriments.
+
+Her absence from the encampment of the Sioux would have long since been
+noted. Oak Heart would be troubled by her absence. And they were a long
+way from the valley in which the Indian village lay.
+
+Besides, they were marooned on this island in the middle of the
+river. The canoe was wrecked, and Cody shrank from making that long
+swim to the mainland again. Besides, he doubted the girl’s ability to
+accomplish such a task.
+
+There was nothing to eat on this island, however, and food they must
+have before long. At least, the scout felt the need of it.
+
+So he rose up very quickly from his reclining posture and went to the
+side of the island which faced the river-bank from which he had swum.
+It was already twilight, but he glanced sharply up and down the bank
+for some wandering party that might help them. The Indians might be
+searching for their canoes; he could not expect any of the freighters
+to come down so far as this, for the main trail turned off some miles
+above.
+
+But not a soul appeared. The only living object on the river-bank which
+he saw was Chief, quietly grazing.
+
+“Then our hope lies in you, faithful old horse!” cried Cody, and he
+uttered a shrill whistle.
+
+The white horse raised his head, whinnied, and trotted down to the
+water’s edge. Buffalo Bill gave the call which he used when he desired
+Chief to come to him. The dumb brute understood, but he pawed the
+gravel at the river’s edge and seemed to hesitate. The distance across
+was wide, and the sullen current was strong. He had already been in it
+and had been almost swept away.
+
+Buffalo Bill repeated his call. The horse threw up his head, neighed
+intelligently, and trotted down the riverside to the lower end of
+the island. There the current was not so swift. Without hesitation,
+this time, the noble horse plunged into the flood and swam with head
+high, and occasionally neighing at his master, toward the island.
+Being untrammeled by saddle or bridle, the creature handled himself
+remarkably well in the current, and forged ahead without being swept
+much out of his course by the stream.
+
+When he came near the shore, however, Buffalo Bill was forced to rush
+in, cling to Chief’s mane, and guide the horse to land. There the
+brute climbed out and shook himself like a great dog.
+
+“Ah! the white chief has control over even the ponies,” said the Indian
+maid, in admiration.
+
+“And lucky he does,” muttered Buffalo Bill to himself. “Without old
+Chief we’d be roosting here till kingdom come!”
+
+But he had to give the horse time to breathe before setting him at the
+current again. It was no easy pull across. Finally he led the white
+horse down into the water and gave the girl a boost upon his back,
+where she straddled him, clinging to his thick mane.
+
+“Let him have his head,” Buffalo Bill commanded. “He won’t need any
+guidance, but will bring us both safe ashore.”
+
+He urged Chief into the deep water, and swam by his side himself,
+resting a hand now and then on the beast’s shoulder, and encouraging
+him with his voice. Tired as they both were, man and beast found the
+pull tremendous. They were carried some distance down the river, but
+that did not so much matter. Only the water chilled Cody to the bone,
+and he had visions of rheumatism, that fell disease that lays hold upon
+the woodsman early in life because of exposure and privation.
+
+It was somewhat of a battle to reach the shore, but they accomplished a
+landing at last, and White Antelope leaped down from Chief’s back and
+patted him.
+
+“A brave horse, and worthy of carrying a brave man like Long Hair,” she
+declared.
+
+“Give him a night’s rest,” said Cody, “and he’ll carry us both back to
+your father’s village.”
+
+“The Long Hair was going there to redeem his pledge to me when I
+chanced to spy him?” queried White Antelope.
+
+“I certainly was snooping about, looking for a chance to get through
+Bennett’s line of guards.”
+
+“But you had been killing and scalping Oak Heart’s braves?”
+
+“Not a one. I was there waiting for a chance to keep my promise to
+you,” said Buffalo Bill emphatically. “This renegade white was the
+fellow who was quietly knocking your young men in the head and scalping
+them. He was as bloodthirsty a wretch as ever went unhung. He’s dead
+now, thanks be!”
+
+“Then Oak Heart will receive you with more friendliness,” said the girl.
+
+“I dunno how friendly he’ll feel,” muttered Cody. “But I’ll take you
+back safe in the morning.”
+
+They hastened to build a rousing camp-fire, and as soon as his
+undergarments were dry the scout put on his outer clothing and
+accouterments. Then with his rifle he stole away to a place where he
+had noted the marks of many creatures that had come down to drink, and
+there, just as the moon rose, found a doe with her fawn and shot the
+youngster. So they had a much needed late supper of roast kid. After
+which Cody insisted that the girl sleep.
+
+As for himself, he sat up the livelong night, or paced the river-bank
+to keep awake. Just before daybreak he awoke the girl, and while she
+cooked breakfast he obtained an hour’s repose.
+
+As they started from the river’s brink to ride ’cross country toward
+the range in which Oak Heart’s camp was situated, White Antelope said:
+
+“My father’s braves will be out searching for me, mayhap. If they see
+White Antelope in the charge of a white man, they may try to shoot him.
+They may believe you were he who stole me away.”
+
+“I’d been thinking of that,” said Cody reflectively. “I don’t want to
+get popped over for the wrong man, that’s sure. I reckon I’ll have to
+change my appearance a little.”
+
+“How will the white chief do that?” she demanded, over his shoulder.
+She was riding behind him on the saddle.
+
+“We’ll see when we come to that cave I’ve been staying in. I reckon
+I’ve got something there that may help me out. And I believe we shall
+be able to reach it without being molested.”
+
+Chief bore them tirelessly all that day and far into the night. When
+they halted and built their fire they were within a few hours’ ride of
+the cave in the mountain from which Cody had overlooked Oak Heart’s
+camp. Seventy-two hours before he had left it to chase Boyd Bennett
+and rescue the Indian maiden. Much had happened since then both to the
+scout and in the Indian encampment.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLVIII. THE PLEDGE KEPT.
+
+
+There was much excitement in the village of the Sioux. The white queen,
+the idolized daughter of Oak Heart, had ridden away from her teepee and
+had not returned. Then came the discovery of the death of the young
+brave on the ridge, and the deed was set down to the credit of the
+hated Long Hair.
+
+These mysterious murders that had been committed so near the encampment
+had wrought upon the tribesmen greatly. It seemed as though Long Hair
+possessed some supernatural power. He flitted, seemingly, from place to
+place without being seen, and killed the Sioux almost in the confines
+of the encampment.
+
+While the chiefs were in council a horse was seen approaching from
+a mountain defile, down over the ridge, where the young brave had
+been found stabbed to the heart. Upon the back of the horse were two
+persons, one of them apparently a great chief in full war-dress; the
+other was White Antelope herself.
+
+The strange chief rode directly down into the village, not deigning to
+more than grunt a salutation to the guards, and the girl refused to
+make any explanation, either. Straight to the council-lodge the chief
+rode, and, there dismounting, the two entered, the young girl leading
+the way.
+
+The Indian is stoical and Spartan, but Oak Heart was fond of his
+remaining child. He was moved now by her unexpected recovery, and
+as she ran to him he allowed her to take and hold his hand. The old
+men nodded, too, for they believed that the White Antelope was “good
+medicine.” The strange chief, however, they did not know, and they eyed
+him with suspicion as well as curiosity. Finally the White Antelope
+arose and stepped into the circle, and there made her voice heard by
+all in the lodge.
+
+“The Sioux are a wise people; their chiefs are wise; their old men are
+wise, but sometimes even the wise are mistaken. They make mistakes.
+They welcome into their tribe one who stung and bit like the viper
+warmed in the bosom. Such a viper has been warmed in the bosom of the
+Utah Sioux!”
+
+The old men grunted and looked at each other. Some glanced covertly at
+the place where the medicine chief, Death Killer, should have sat. He
+was not present.
+
+“This one came with a false tale to my father, the great chief, Oak
+Heart, and told a tale which sent the Sioux on the war-path. They fell
+upon the palefaces and killed them. The palefaces were not searching
+for the Sioux village; they were searching for a wicked paleface to
+punish him. Ah! he was two-tongued--and his tongue was sharp as a knife.
+
+“The White Antelope speaks the truth to you. This traitor was in the
+councils of the Sioux, but with his own hand he was murdering our young
+men. See! The still, red scalp of Po-ca-his-ta, torn from his head by
+the traitor this very day. And this--as other--murders he would have
+had the Sioux believe were done by Long Hair, the paleface scout.
+
+“Long Hair was sent to tell his big chief of my father’s warning, and
+to bring people to bury the dead. Long Hair said he would return. Long
+Hair is of a straight tongue. He is here!”
+
+Instantly the strange chief standing so motionless in their presence
+threw the war-bonnet aside and dropped the corner of the blanket which
+muffled his face. Buffalo Bill stood revealed. A deep murmur ran around
+the lodge, and it was half of surprise, half of admiration for the bold
+paleface who had redeemed his word to the White Antelope. Fearlessly
+the scout stood before his redskin foes, his eyes fixed upon the face
+of Oak Heart.
+
+“It is well,” said the old Sioux. “The Long Hair’s life was forfeit
+when he was held by Death Killer. He has gone to his people; he has
+returned as he said. Now he must die.”
+
+But Buffalo Bill never changed color. White Antelope started forward,
+her richly tinted face paling. It was a moment before she controlled
+herself and stood calmly to speak as an Indian should.
+
+“Let the White Antelope speak!” said Oak Heart quietly.
+
+The girl, in rapid, burning words, related her capture by Boyd Bennett
+and his death at the hands of the scout. The treachery of the renegade
+was proved. Buffalo Bill had been the medicine chief’s prisoner. Why
+should the Sioux hold the captive of a creature so dishonored?
+
+Her plea evidently made some impression, but all eyes turned upon Oak
+Heart, and at length the old chief spoke.
+
+“The Long Hair is a mighty paleface chief. He has trailed the red man
+to his village, and his belt is heavy with the scalps of my braves. He
+came here under the war-bonnet of a Cheyenne chief, and has saved the
+White Antelope from death.
+
+“But the Long Hair has long been a foe to the Sioux. It was he who
+brought help to the white soldiers in the fort when we would have
+beaten them. It was he who took them ammunition. It was he who stole
+our ponies.
+
+“The Long Hair has ofttimes looked on death. He is not afraid of death.
+He must show my warriors how a brave man can die.”
+
+For the first time since entering the lodge, Buffalo Bill spoke:
+
+“It is true, Oak Heart, that I have been your foe, and the foe of
+your people of late. It was not always so. When the Sioux would dwell
+at peace with the paleface, were content to live and hunt in these
+mountains and not fall upon and kill the white soldiers, Long Hair was
+their friend.
+
+“When the Wise Woman lived and her wisdom guided the tribe, the Sioux
+remained at peace with the paleface. But now worse councils prevail
+among you, and your young men go out to battle and are slain. And what
+do you gain? The palefaces are as numberless as the leaves of the
+forest. When you kill one, two come in his place; where you kill two,
+a dozen appear. Take the word of one who has smoked in your lodges and
+heard wisdom from your old men. The Long Hair tells you to bury the
+hatchet and smoke the peace-pipe with the white chiefs. Then shall you
+have content and your bellies be filled, and your young men shall grow
+up and be great hunters and your young squaws live to bear children.
+
+“Long Hair has spoken. If the Sioux kill me, it is but one white man
+dead. But how many will strike the trail of the Sioux to avenge my
+death? The Sioux have already lost many braves. Let them be content;
+blood enough has been spilled. Is it not so?
+
+“Remember, too, oh, Oak Heart, how Long Hair has sat in your lodge and
+talked with you and the Wise Woman before the Great Spirit took her.
+Here!” he drew from his hunting-shirt a sacred tomahawk pipe with a
+broken edge. “Here is the pledge given to Long-Hair long ago by the
+Wise Woman, and by Oak Heart. Then was Oak Heart’s mind single; he
+was not full of wiles and thoughts of evil against the white men and
+against Long Hair. This was the pledge that Long Hair and the Sioux
+should never be at enmity. And has the enmity been of Long Hair’s
+seeking? Nay! The red men started to slay. The Long Hair must go with
+his people. Has he done wrong?
+
+“See! Must Pa-e-has-ka die?” and he held up the trophy again.
+
+A deathlike silence had fallen upon the lodge. The old chief was
+greatly moved, and for an Indian--especially a councilor--to show
+emotion is a disgrace. Perhaps, too, his mind was filled with thoughts
+of the Wise Woman, of whom Buffalo Bill had spoken so feelingly.
+
+Years before, when Oak Heart was a much younger man, the tribe had
+raided far to the south, by the waters of a great river. They had come
+upon a ranchman and his family, killed him, flung his body into the
+river, and taken his wife, a beautiful white squaw, captive. None but
+the son of the ranchman--a mere child--escaped. He had been found and
+cared for after the massacre by Buffalo Bill.
+
+The white squaw’s brain had been turned by the horror of that time.
+She wandered about the encampment in a dazed state. The Indians have
+a great awe of those who are insane, believing that the finger of the
+Great Spirit has touched them. She was cared for tenderly and brought
+north with the tribe.
+
+She was a skilful woman with herbs and simples. She nursed the wounded
+warriors; she helped the women in travail; she cared for the children
+and the young squaws. She was much beloved. Her influence, even before
+her mind cleared, became one for great good in the tribe.
+
+Slowly she grew normal once more. Years had passed. Instead of golden
+tresses, her hair was as white as the snow upon the mountain peaks. Yet
+she was still a young woman and good to look upon. Oak Heart loved her.
+He had treated her with the utmost respect and kindness. She had lived
+so long among the redskins that she had lost all distaste for them,
+and had imbibed many of their religious beliefs. She was unutterably
+opposed to the warring of the tribe with the whites, however.
+
+Her husband and children were dead--and the past was dead. She espoused
+Oak Heart so as to retain her influence over him and over the tribe,
+for the good of the whites. It was after that that Buffalo Bill met the
+Wise Woman and knew who she was. But he had never told her that her son
+was alive, for fear that the knowledge would do the poor woman more
+harm than good. Also, she had a child by Oak Heart--the White Antelope.
+But she died when the girl was small.
+
+Possibly thoughts of the dead woman moved the old chief. Besides, the
+peace-pipe was a sacred pledge. He suddenly rose, threw around him his
+blanket, and, standing in the midst of the lodge, spoke impressively:
+
+“The Pa-e-has-ka is a friend to Oak Heart. When the hatchet shall be
+buried between the red men and the palefaces, they shall be brothers
+again. But now the palefaces are on the trail of my people; so let the
+Pa-e-has-ka hasten from us and join his own tribe. Not one of my braves
+shall follow him. Oak Heart has spoken.”
+
+There were murmurs about the lodge, but no chief at the moment put
+his objections in words. Buffalo Bill found the White Antelope’s hand
+seeking his own. She acted more like a modest and timid white girl than
+ever before.
+
+“Let the white chief come with me,” she whispered. “I have something to
+show him.”
+
+The amazed scout went with her out of the grand lodge and was taken to
+her own teepee.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLIX. CONCLUSION.
+
+
+The wondering Indians allowed the White Antelope and Long Hair to pass.
+Inside the teepee an old woman kept watch and guard. A figure lay upon
+a heap of furs. It moved as the scout entered, raised on its elbow, and
+a weak voice exclaimed:
+
+“By the nine gods of war! Thanks be it’s you, Cody! I thought you’d
+never come, though this dear girl here swore you would, as you had
+promised her.”
+
+To see one whom we believe dead--aye, have seen lying stark on the
+field of battle and believe to have been buried there--rise up suddenly
+and confront us is indeed a shock. Buffalo Bill fell back a step,
+exclaiming:
+
+“Dick Danforth!”
+
+“’Tis I, old faithful! Thanks to this girl--who is the whitest Injun
+God ever made--I am alive, the sole survivor of my unfortunate party.”
+
+“Dick, I saw you lying on the field of battle,” declared the scout,
+taking his hand. “How came you here?”
+
+“She brought me back to life. She found there was life in me. I had
+got a terrible crack on the head. She and the old woman brought me
+here, and I have been hidden in this teepee ever since. I’m a whole lot
+better now, Cody. I believe I could ride a horse.”
+
+“And the White Antelope has cared for you?” cried the scout.
+
+“She has, indeed.” Then the young man whispered: “Isn’t she beautiful?
+And how glad I am, old man, that you stayed my hand that day when I
+would have murdered her!”
+
+“Ho, ho!” muttered the scout. “Sets the wind in that quarter? I must
+tell you two young people something before more mischief be done.”
+
+He seized the girl’s hand and drew her forward to the side of
+Danforth’s couch.
+
+“White Antelope,” he said in English, “do you remember that I told you
+once I knew your mother?”
+
+She nodded, watching him with bright eyes.
+
+“She was a lovely woman. She was a white woman. It was true she was
+Oak Heart’s wife, but she had been espoused before by a good and great
+white man. He was killed by Oak Heart’s people, and for a time your
+mother was stricken by the mercy of the Great Spirit with forgetfulness.
+
+“When she came to herself she believed that her husband and her son
+were dead. She became Oak Heart’s squaw. But her son was not dead. I
+had saved him from the Indians, and he lived to grow up----”
+
+Danforth raised himself up with a great cry.
+
+“You do not mean it! It is impossible!” he cried. “This girl----?”
+
+“Is your sister. White Antelope, this young man is your elder
+brother--and a mighty fine fellow you’ll find him. Your mother was the
+finest woman I ever knew, and _your_ father, Dick--God help him!--was
+once the finest fellow in the world!”
+
+The scout choked and was silent. He was thinking of that awful,
+convulsed face of the Mad Hunter as he fell backward from the summit of
+the bluff, with Texas Jack’s bullet in his brain!
+
+“He--he is my brother?” murmured the girl, her eyes shining.
+
+“That’s what he is,” said the scout, recovering himself and speaking
+heartily.
+
+She went to Danforth and put both her hands in his. The young fellow
+suddenly pulled her down to him and kissed her on the lips.
+
+“That’s the way _white_ brothers and sisters greet each other,” he
+said, with a weak laugh. “When can you get us away from this camp,
+Cody?”
+
+That was a question easier to be asked than answered. But the
+excitement over the letting of Cody himself go free aided them in their
+attempt. The chiefs were murmuring against the decision of Oak Heart.
+The old man was fighting for his supremacy as head chief of the tribe.
+He could not even see the White Antelope, and shut her out of his lodge.
+
+This piqued the wayward girl. She was the more ready to go with her
+new-found brother, as he was ill and needed her. But she only agreed
+to go with him to Fort Resistence and then directly return. But Dick
+Danforth said confidently:
+
+“Let me once get her away from the influence of these bloody redskins,
+and I’ll wean her away from them. I know what will please a young girl
+like her. I’ll take her to San Francisco, Bill. Thanks to you, I’ve
+some property of my own left of my poor father’s estate. And isn’t she
+a beauty! Won’t she make ’em sit up and take notice at the Bay?”
+
+Under cover of the night the scout and the Indian maid helped the
+wounded Danforth upon a horse, and the three wended their way from
+the encampment. They were not followed--or, at least, were not
+overtaken--until they reached Captain Keyes’ command. Then they were
+hurried on under an escort to Resistence. White Antelope made no
+objection to going, her brother was so weak and needed her so much.
+
+Indeed, the wily young fellow remained an invalid so long that his
+sister became half-reconciled to civilized clothing and to white people
+before they took the long journey to San Francisco, where Dick went to
+spend the furlough allowed him by the department.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The scene changes once more to Fort Advance, some days after that on
+which Buffalo Bill, the Border King, had set out on his dangerous
+mission to the village of the Sioux. It is a little past sunrise, and a
+horseman is descried taking the trail from the cañon toward the fort.
+He is mounted on a great white charger that comes like the wind.
+
+The rider looks pale and jaded, and his buckskin attire has seen hard
+usage. But he is recognized by the sentinel over the gate, and his cry
+is repeated about the fort:
+
+“Here comes Buffalo Bill, the King of the Border!”
+
+Waving his battered hat in response to the shout, Buffalo Bill rides
+straight to the open gate, enters, and dismounts before Major Baldwin’s
+door. An orderly seizes his bridle-rein, and the major comes forth and
+grasps the scout’s hand with the words:
+
+“Thanks be to God for seeing you again alive, Cody! When Keyes told me
+you were safe, I felt like ordering a feast to celebrate the occasion.
+And they say the Sioux are ready for peace?”
+
+“I believe they are. Oak Heart has pretty much lost his grip on the
+tribe, and is an outcast. But the new powers-that-be have seen the
+fallacy of trying issues again with us.”
+
+“We certainly believed you dead one while, Cody.”
+
+“And it was a close shave not to be this time, sir.”
+
+“You have won out as usual, Bill, with flying colors.”
+
+“Yes, Major Baldwin. I went to Oak Heart’s village with the firm
+determination to get Boyd Bennett if it cost me my life. That scoundrel
+had been a thorn in my side too long. I got him. He’s dead. He’ll do no
+more harm _this_ side of the Great Divide!”
+
+“A good piece of work, Cody. And I understand that old maniac, the Mad
+Hunter, who attacked Keyes, is dead, too?”
+
+“That is so. But I am sorry for _his_ end. I tell you in confidence,
+major, that the man was Dick Danforth’s father--though I never
+suspected it until I saw his face close to. The Indians were supposed
+to have cracked him on the head and flung him into the river years ago.
+The crack on the head was sure enough. But he wasn’t drowned. His end
+has come now, poor fellow.”
+
+“And Dick wonderfully saved!”
+
+“He is, indeed--and has found a sister.”
+
+“Ah, Cody! That was a joker you kept up your sleeve a long time,” said
+the major.
+
+“True. I knew the boy’s hatred for all savages. I did not know about
+his poor mother and this girl until I had really instilled some of the
+boy’s hatred into his mind myself. I feared for him to know the truth.
+Yet I wanted to save her from the savages. Providence performed what I
+could not.”
+
+“True.... But those scalp-locks, Cody?” asked Major Baldwin, pointing
+to the string of ghastly trophies hanging from the scout’s belt.
+
+“Oh, those are the roofs of the braves who tried to raise my hair. I
+intended to have a rope made of them to hang Boyd Bennett with, but
+I’ll have them made into a bridle for you, instead, major.”
+
+“All right, scout. Thank you for the gift. And now you are free. Report
+to me in full when you have rested,” and with another hand-clasp the
+major let him go.
+
+Many other hands were waiting to clasp that of the Border King. It was
+some time before he could break away and find Texas Jack in the scouts’
+quarters.
+
+But times of rest were few and far between for these hardy men of the
+frontier. One tribe of red men were scarcely subjugated for the time
+when another would rise up to kill and slay. It was not long before
+Buffalo Bill was performing more daring deeds to add to his fame upon
+the border.
+
+THE END.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Say, Boys!
+
+How’d you like to own your own bronc’? How’d you like to be an expert
+at lassoing and branding? How’d you like to ride the rolling prairies
+in search of lost stock, and perhaps have an adventure or two with
+certain bad men who did not like you because you were on the side of
+law and order? How would you like it?
+
+Well, we all cannot go west and be cowboys, but we sure can pay 15
+cents for the stories in the _Western Story Library_, and find a good,
+comfortable spot, and immediately imagine ourselves riding with Ted
+Strong and his broncho boys, sharing their adventures, their hardships
+and pleasures.
+
+Ted Strong and his pals are lovable fellows--every one of them, and you
+will do well to make comrades of them.
+
+Ask your dealer to show you a copy of the _Western Story Library_.
+
+  STREET & SMITH CORPORATION
+  79 Seventh Avenue  New York City
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+WESTERN STORIES ABOUT BUFFALO BILL
+
+Price, Fifteen Cents
+
+Red-blooded Adventure Stories for Men
+
+There is no more romantic character in American history than William
+F. Cody, or as he was internationally known, Buffalo Bill. He, with
+Colonel Prentiss Ingraham, Wild Bill Hickok, General Custer, and a few
+other adventurous spirits, laid the foundation of our great West.
+
+There is no more brilliant page in American history than the winning of
+the West. Never did pioneers live more thrilling lives, so rife with
+adventure and brave deeds as the old scouts and plainsmen. Foremost
+among these stands the imposing figure of Buffalo Bill.
+
+All of the books in this list are intensely interesting. They were
+written by the close friend and companion of Buffalo Bill--Colonel
+Prentiss Ingraham. They depict actual adventures which this pair of
+hard-hitting comrades experienced, while the story of these adventures
+is interwoven with fiction; historically the books are correct.
+
+_ALL TITLES ALWAYS IN PRINT_
+
+    1--Buffalo Bill, the Border King           By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+    2--Buffalo Bill’s Raid                     By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+    3--Buffalo Bill’s Bravery                  By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+    4--Buffalo Bill’s Trump Card               By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+    5--Buffalo Bill’s Pledge                   By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+    6--Buffalo Bill’s Vengeance                By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+    7--Buffalo Bill’s Iron Grip                By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+    8--Buffalo Bill’s Capture                  By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+    9--Buffalo Bill’s Danger Line              By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   10--Buffalo Bill’s Comrades                 By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   11--Buffalo Bill’s Reckoning                By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   12--Buffalo Bill’s Warning                  By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   13--Buffalo Bill at Bay                     By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   14--Buffalo Bill’s Buckskin Pards           By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   15--Buffalo Bill’s Brand                    By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   16--Buffalo Bill’s Honor                    By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   17--Buffalo Bill’s Phantom Hunt             By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   18--Buffalo Bill’s Fight With Fire          By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   19--Buffalo Bill’s Danite Trail             By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   20--Buffalo Bill’s Ranch Riders             By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   21--Buffalo Bill’s Death Trail              By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   22--Buffalo Bill’s Trackers                 By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   23--Buffalo Bill’s Mid-air Flight           By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   24--Buffalo Bill, Ambassador                By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   25--Buffalo Bill’s Air Voyage               By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   26--Buffalo Bill’s Secret Mission           By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   27--Buffalo Bill’s Long Trail               By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   28--Buffalo Bill Against Odds               By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   29--Buffalo Bill’s Hot Chase                By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   30--Buffalo Bill’s Redskin Ally             By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   31--Buffalo Bill’s Treasure Trove           By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   32--Buffalo Bill’s Hidden Foes              By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   33--Buffalo Bill’s Crack Shot               By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   34--Buffalo Bill’s Close Call               By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   35--Buffalo Bill’s Double Surprise          By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   36--Buffalo Bill’s Ambush                   By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   37--Buffalo Bill’s Outlaw Hunt              By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   38--Buffalo Bill’s Border Duel              By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   39--Buffalo Bill’s Bid for Fame             By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   40--Buffalo Bill’s Triumph                  By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   41--Buffalo Bill’s Spy Trailer              By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   42--Buffalo Bill’s Death Call               By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   43--Buffalo Bill’s Body Guard               By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   44--Buffalo Bill’s Still Hunt               By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   45--Buffalo Bill and the Doomed Dozen       By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   46--Buffalo Bill’s Prairie Scout            By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   47--Buffalo Bill’s Traitor Guide            By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   48--Buffalo Bill’s Bonanza                  By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   49--Buffalo Bill’s Swoop                    By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   50--Buffalo Bill and the Gold King          By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   51--Buffalo Bill, Deadshot                  By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   52--Buffalo Bill’s Buckskin Bravos          By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   53--Buffalo Bill’s Big Four                 By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   54--Buffalo Bill’s One-armed Pard           By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   55--Buffalo Bill’s Race for Life            By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   56--Buffalo Bill’s Return                   By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   57--Buffalo Bill’s Conquest                 By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   58--Buffalo Bill to the Rescue              By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   59--Buffalo Bill’s Beautiful Foe            By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   60--Buffalo Bill’s Perilous Task            By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   61--Buffalo Bill’s Queer Find               By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   62--Buffalo Bill’s Blind Lead               By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   63--Buffalo Bill’s Resolution               By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   64--Buffalo Bill, the Avenger               By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   65--Buffalo Bill’s Pledged Pard             By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   66--Buffalo Bill’s Weird Warning            By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   67--Buffalo Bill’s Wild Ride                By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   68--Buffalo Bill’s Redskin Stampede         By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   69--Buffalo Bill’s Mine Mystery             By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   70--Buffalo Bill’s Gold Hunt                By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   71--Buffalo Bill’s Daring Dash              By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   72--Buffalo Bill on Hand                    By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   73--Buffalo Bill’s Alliance                 By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   74--Buffalo Bill’s Relentless Foe           By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   75--Buffalo Bill’s Midnight Ride            By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   76--Buffalo Bill’s Chivalry                 By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   77--Buffalo Bill’s Girl Pard                By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   78--Buffalo Bill’s Private War              By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   79--Buffalo Bill’s Diamond Mine             By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   80--Buffalo Bill’s Big Contract             By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   81--Buffalo Bill’s Woman Foe                By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   82--Buffalo Bill’s Ruse                     By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   83--Buffalo Bill’s Pursuit                  By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   84--Buffalo Bill’s Hidden Gold              By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   85--Buffalo Bill in Mid-air                 By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   86--Buffalo Bill’s Queer Mission            By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   87--Buffalo Bill’s Verdict                  By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   88--Buffalo Bill’s Ordeal                   By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   89--Buffalo Bill’s Camp Fires               By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   90--Buffalo Bill’s Iron Nerve               By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   91--Buffalo Bill’s Rival                    By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   92--Buffalo Bill’s Lone Hand                By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   93--Buffalo Bill’s Sacrifice                By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   94--Buffalo Bill’s Thunderbolt              By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   95--Buffalo Bill’s Black Fortune            By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   96--Buffalo Bill’s Wild Work                By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   97--Buffalo Bill’s Yellow Trail             By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   98--Buffalo Bill’s Treasure Train           By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+   99--Buffalo Bill’s Bowie Duel               By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+  100--Buffalo Bill’s Mystery Man              By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+  101--Buffalo Bill’s Bold Play                By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+  102--Buffalo Bill: Peacemaker                By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+  103--Buffalo Bill’s Big Surprise             By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+  104--Buffalo Bill’s Barricade                By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+  105--Buffalo Bill’s Test                     By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+  106--Buffalo Bill’s Powwow                   By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+  107--Buffalo Bill’s Stern Justice            By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+  108--Buffalo Bill’s Mysterious Friend        By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+  109--Buffalo Bill and the Boomers            By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+  110--Buffalo Bill’s Panther Fight            By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+  111--Buffalo Bill and the Overland Mail      By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+  112--Buffalo Bill on the Deadwood Trail      By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+  113--Buffalo Bill in Apache Land             By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+  114--Buffalo Bill’s Blindfold Duel           By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+  115--Buffalo Bill and the Lone Camper        By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+  116--Buffalo Bill’s Merry War                By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+  117--Buffalo Bill’s Star Play                By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+  118--Buffalo Bill’s War Cry                  By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+  119--Buffalo Bill on Black Panther’s Trail   By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+  120--Buffalo Bill’s Slim Chance              By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+  121--Buffalo Bill Besieged                   By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+  122--Buffalo Bill’s Bandit Round-up          By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+  123--Buffalo Bill’s Surprise Party           By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+  124--Buffalo Bill’s Lightning Raid           By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+  125--Buffalo Bill in Mexico                  By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+  126--Buffalo Bill’s Traitor Foe              By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+  127--Buffalo Bill’s Tireless Chase           By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+  128--Buffalo Bill’s Boy Bugler               By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+  129--Buffalo Bill’s Sure Guess               By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+  130--Buffalo Bill’s Record Jump              By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+  131--Buffalo Bill in the Land of Dread       By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+  132--Buffalo Bill’s Tangled Clue             By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+  133--Buffalo Bill’s Wolf Skin                By Col. Prentiss Ingraham
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+  _Adventure Stories_
+  _Detective Stories_
+  _Western Stories_
+  _Love Stories_
+  _Sea Stories_
+
+All classes of fiction are to be found among the Street & Smith novels.
+Our line contains reading matter for every one, irrespective of age or
+preference.
+
+The person who has only a moderate sum to spend on reading matter will
+find this line a veritable gold mine.
+
+  STREET & SMITH CORPORATION,
+  79 Seventh Avenue,
+  New York, N. Y.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Transcriber’s Notes:
+
+Punctuation has been made consistent.
+
+Variations in spelling and hyphenation were retained as they appear in
+the original publication, except that obvious typographical errors have
+been corrected.
+
+The following changes were made:
+
+p. 17: when assumed for unintelligible word (volunteer when you were)
+
+p. 34: means assumed for unintelligible word (wonderful means of)
+
+p. 69: wise scout assumed for unintelligible words (the wise scout had)
+
+p. 77: to assumed for unintelligible word (blow to Oak)
+
+p. 120: done assumed for unintelligible word (was done. It)
+
+p. 120: officer assumed for unintelligible word (the officer descried)
+
+p. 226: flung assumed for unintelligible word (mother flung him)
+
+p. 228: unintelligible word(s) deleted (he feared and)
+
+p. 292: a assumed for unintelligible word (seemed a frail)
+
+p. 306: can assumed for unintelligible word (man can die)
+
+p. 314: Dick assumed for unintelligible word (And Dick wonderfully)
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Buffalo Bill, the Border King, by 
+Colonel Prentiss Ingraham
+
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+
+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Buffalo Bill, the Border King, by 
+Colonel Prentiss Ingraham
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most
+other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
+whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of
+the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
+www.gutenberg.org.  If you are not located in the United States, you'll have
+to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook.
+
+Title: Buffalo Bill, the Border King
+       Redskin and Cowboy
+
+Author: Colonel Prentiss Ingraham
+
+Release Date: July 14, 2020 [EBook #62638]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BUFFALO BILL, THE BORDER KING ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Edwards, Craig Kirkwood, and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<img id="coverpage" src="images/cover.jpg" alt="Cover." />
+</div>
+
+<div style="padding-top:2em">
+<div class="transnote">
+<h2 style="margin-top: 0em">Transcriber’s Notes:</h2>
+
+<p>The Table of Contents was created by the transcriber and placed
+in the public domain.</p>
+
+<p><a href="#TN_end">Additional Transcriber’s Notes</a> are at the
+end.</p>
+</div></div>
+
+<hr class="tb" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<div class="boxcontents">
+<p class="xlargefont center boldfont">CONTENTS</p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#IN_APPRECIATION_OF_WILLIAM_F_CODY">In Appreciation of William F. Cody (Buffalo Bill).</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">Chapter I. Running the Death-gantlet.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">Chapter II. The Border King.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">Chapter III. The King of the Sioux.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">Chapter IV. Buffalo Bill’s Plot.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">Chapter V. The Desperate Venture.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">Chapter VI. The Dash of the Scouts.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">Chapter VII. The Ace of Clubs.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">Chapter VIII. Facing Death.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">Chapter IX. Breaking Through the Red Circle.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_X">Chapter X. The Ride to the Rescue.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XI">Chapter XI. A Busy Half-hour.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XII">Chapter XII. A Flying Fight.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">Chapter XIII. The Chase of the White Antelope.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">Chapter XIV. A Startling Discovery.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XV">Chapter XV. The Treasure Chest.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">Chapter XVI. The Bandits of the Overland Trail.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">Chapter XVII. A Friend in Need.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII">Chapter XVIII. The Race With Death.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIX">Chapter XIX. Danforth’s Hand Is Stayed Again.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XX">Chapter XX. A Double Capture.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXI">Chapter XXI. The Cave in the Mountain.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXII">Chapter XXII. The Night Prowlers.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIII">Chapter XXIII. More Than They Bargained For.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIV">Chapter XXIV. Chased by the Flames.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXV">Chapter XXV. The Telltale Crow.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVI">Chapter XXVI. The Massacre.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVII">Chapter XXVII. “The Death Killer.”</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVIII">Chapter XXVIII. The White Antelope Interferes.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIX">Chapter XXIX. A Girl’s Word.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXX">Chapter XXX. The Mad Hunter.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXI">Chapter XXXI. Buffalo Bill’s Great Shot.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXII">Chapter XXXII. The Border King’s Pledge.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXIII">Chapter XXXIII. Tracking the Mad Hunter.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXIV">Chapter XXXIV. Red Knife Loses His “Medicine.”</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXV">Chapter XXXV. The Search For New Medicine.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXVI">Chapter XXXVI. The Magic Cup.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXVII">Chapter XXXVII. The Traitor.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXVIII">Chapter XXXVIII. White Antelope’s Peril.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXIX">Chapter XXXIX. A Cry For Help.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XL">Chapter XL. The Freight-train.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XLI">Chapter XLI. “On Guard!”</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XLII">Chapter XLII. The Avenger.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XLIII">Chapter XLIII. Man to Man at Last.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XLIV">Chapter XLIV. The Fight to Gain the Island.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XLV">Chapter XLV. War to the Knife.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XLVI">Chapter XLVI. And the Knife to the Hilt.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XLVII">Chapter XLVII. The Conqueror.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XLVIII">Chapter XLVIII. The Pledge Kept.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XLIX">Chapter XLIX. Conclusion.</a></p>
+</div></div>
+
+<hr class="tb" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<div class="figcenter1">
+<img src="images/titlepage.jpg" alt="Title page." />
+</div></div>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+<div class="chapter">
+<h1 class="nobreak">Buffalo Bill, the Border King</h1>
+
+
+<p class="center boldfont">OR,<br />
+<span class="xlargefont" style="line-height:3">REDSKIN AND COWBOY</span></p>
+
+<p class="center p1 xlargefont"><span class="mediumfont">BY</span><br />
+Col. Prentiss Ingraham</p>
+
+<p class="center" style="margin-bottom:2em">Author of “Buffalo Bill”</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<img src="images/titlepageicon.jpg" alt="Publisher's icon." />
+</div>
+
+<p class="center xlargefont p2">STREET &amp; SMITH CORPORATION<br />
+<span class="largefont">PUBLISHERS</span><br />
+79-89 Seventh Avenue, New York</p>
+</div>
+
+<hr class="tb" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<p class="center nobreak">Copyright, 1907<br />
+By STREET &amp; SMITH</p>
+
+<p class="center">Buffalo Bill, the Border King</p>
+
+<p class="center p2">(Printed in the United States of America)</p>
+
+<p class="center">All rights reserved including that of translation into foreign languages,
+including the Scandinavian.</p>
+</div>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<p><span class="pagenum">[1]</span></p>
+
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="IN_APPRECIATION_OF_WILLIAM_F_CODY">IN APPRECIATION OF WILLIAM F. CODY<br />
+<span class="largefont">(BUFFALO BILL).</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>It is now some generations since Josh Billings, Ned
+Buntline, and Colonel Prentiss Ingraham, intimate friends
+of Colonel William F. Cody, used to forgather in the
+office of Francis S. Smith, then proprietor of the <cite>New
+York Weekly</cite>. It was a dingy little office on Rose Street,
+New York, but the breath of the great outdoors stirred
+there when these old-timers got together. As a result of
+these conversations, Colonel Ingraham and Ned Buntline
+began to write of the adventures of Buffalo Bill
+for Street &amp; Smith.</p>
+
+<p>Colonel Cody was born in Scott County, Iowa, February
+26, 1846. Before he had reached his teens, his
+father, Isaac Cody, with his mother and two sisters,
+migrated to Kansas, which at that time was little more
+than a wilderness.</p>
+
+<p>When the elder Cody was killed shortly afterward in
+the Kansas “Border War,” young Bill assumed the difficult
+role of family breadwinner. During 1860, and until
+the outbreak of the Civil War, Cody lived the arduous
+life of a pony-express rider. Cody volunteered his services
+as government scout and guide and served throughout
+the Civil War with Generals McNeil and A. J.
+Smith. He was a distinguished member of the Seventh
+Kansas Cavalry.</p>
+
+<p>During the Civil War, while riding through the streets
+of St. Louis, Cody rescued a frightened schoolgirl from
+a band of annoyers. In true romantic style, Cody and
+Louisa Federci, the girl, were married March 6, 1866.</p>
+
+<p>In 1867 Cody was employed to furnish a specified
+amount of buffalo meat to the construction men at work
+on the Kansas Pacific Railroad. It was in this period
+that he received the sobriquet “Buffalo Bill.”</p>
+
+<p>In 1868 and for four years thereafter Colonel Cody<span class="pagenum">[2]</span>
+served as scout and guide in campaigns against the Sioux
+and Cheyenne Indians. It was General Sheridan who
+conferred on Cody the honor of chief of scouts of the
+command.</p>
+
+<p>After completing a period of service in the Nebraska
+legislature, Cody joined the Fifth Cavalry in 1876, and
+was again appointed chief of scouts.</p>
+
+<p>Colonel Cody’s fame had reached the East long before,
+and a great many New Yorkers went out to see
+him and join in his buffalo hunts, including such men
+as August Belmont, James Gordon Bennett, Anson
+Stager, and J. G. Heckscher. In entertaining these
+visitors at Fort McPherson, Cody was accustomed to
+arrange wild-West exhibitions. In return his friends
+invited him to visit New York. It was upon seeing his
+first play in the metropolis that Cody conceived the idea
+of going into the show business.</p>
+
+<p>Assisted by Ned Buntline, novelist, and Colonel Ingraham,
+he started his “Wild West” show, which later
+developed and expanded into “A Congress of the Roughriders
+of the World,” first presented at Omaha, Nebraska.
+In time it became a familiar yearly entertainment
+in the great cities of this country and Europe.
+Many famous personages attended the performances, and
+became his warm friends, including Mr. Gladstone, the
+Marquis of Lorne, King Edward, Queen Victoria, and
+the Prince of Wales, now King of England.</p>
+
+<p>At the outbreak of the Sioux, in 1890 and 1891,
+Colonel Cody served at the head of the Nebraska National
+Guard. In 1895 Cody took up the development
+of Wyoming Valley by introducing irrigation. Not long
+afterward he became judge advocate general of the
+Wyoming National Guard.</p>
+
+<p>Colonel Cody (Buffalo Bill) died in Denver, Colorado,
+on January 10, 1917. His legacy to a grateful world was
+a large share in the development of the West, and a
+multitude of achievements in horsemanship, marksmanship,
+and endurance that will live for ages. His life
+will continue to be a leading example of the manliness,
+courage, and devotion to duty that belonged to a picturesque
+phase of American life now passed, like the great
+patriot whose career it typified, into the Great Beyond.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<p class="center xxlargefont" style="margin-bottom:1em">BUFFALO BILL, THE BORDER KING.</p>
+
+
+
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">RUNNING THE DEATH-GANTLET.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>Fort Advance, a structure built of heavy, squared
+timbers and some masonry, with towers at the four
+corners, commanding the deep ditches which had been
+dug around the walls, stood in the heart of the then
+untracked Territory of Utah. It was the central figure
+of a beautiful valley&mdash;when in repose&mdash;and commanded
+one of the important passes and wagon trails
+of the Rockies.</p>
+
+<p>A mountain torrent flowed through the valley, and
+a supply of pure water from this stream had been
+diverted into the armed square which, commanded by
+Major Frank Baldwin, was a veritable City of Refuge
+to all the whites who chanced to be in the country at
+this time.</p>
+
+<p>For the valley of Fort Advance offered no peaceful
+scene. The savage denizens of the mountain and
+plain had risen, and, in a raging, vengeful flood, had
+poured into the valley and besieged the unfortunate
+occupants of the fort. These were a branch of the
+great Sioux tribe, and, under their leading chief, Oak
+Heart, fought with the desperation and blind fanaticism
+of Berserkers.</p>
+
+<p>A belt of red warriors surrounded Fort Advance,<span class="pagenum">[6]</span>
+cutting off all escape, or the approach of any assistance
+to the inmates of the stockade, outnumbering
+the able-bodied men under Major Baldwin’s command
+five to one! Among them rode the famous Oak
+Heart, inspiring his children to greater deeds of daring.
+By his side rode a graceful, beautiful girl of
+some seventeen years, whose face bore the unmistakable
+stamp of having other than Indian blood flowing
+in her veins. Long, luxurious hair, every strand of
+golden hue, contrasted strangely with her bronze complexion,
+while her eyes were sloe-black, and brilliant
+with every changing expression.</p>
+
+<p>This was White Antelope, a daughter of Oak Heart,
+and she held almost as much influence in the tribe as
+the grim old chief himself. Because of her beauty, indeed,
+she was almost worshiped as a goddess. At
+least, there was not a young buck in all the Utah
+Sioux who would not have attempted any deed of
+daring for the sake of calling the White Antelope his
+squaw.</p>
+
+<p>But while the red warriors were so inspired without
+the walls of the fortress, within was a much different
+scene. Major Baldwin’s resources were at an end.
+Many of his men were wounded, or ill; food was low;
+the wily redskins had cut off their water-supply; and
+there were but a few rounds of ammunition remaining.
+Fort Advance and its people were at a desperate
+pass, indeed!</p>
+
+<p>After a conference with his subordinate officers,
+Major Baldwin stood up in the midst of his haggard,
+powder-begrimed men. They were faithful fellows&mdash;many
+of them bore the scars of old Indian fights.<span class="pagenum">[7]</span>
+But human endurance has its limit, and there is an
+end to man’s courage.</p>
+
+<p>“Will no man in this fort dare run the death-gantlet
+and bring aid to us?” cried the major.</p>
+
+<p>It was an appeal from the lips of a fearless man,
+one who had won a record as a soldier in the Civil
+War, and had made it good later upon the field as
+an Indian fighter. The demand was for one who
+would risk almost certain death to save a couple of
+hundred of his fellow beings, among them a score of
+women and children.</p>
+
+<p>The nearest military post where help might be obtained
+was forty miles away. Several brave men had
+already attempted to run the deadly gantlet, and had
+died before the horrified eyes of the fort’s inmates.
+It seemed like flinging one’s life away to venture into
+the open where, just beyond rifle-shot, the red warriors
+ringed the fort about.</p>
+
+<p>Such was the situation, and another attack was
+about due. The riding of the big chief and his daughter
+through the mass of Indians, was for the purpose
+of giving instructions regarding the coming charge.
+Ammunition in the fort might run out this time.
+Then over the barrier would swarm the redskins, and
+the thought of the massacre that would follow made
+even Major Baldwin’s cheek blanch.</p>
+
+<p>So the gallant commander’s appeal had been made&mdash;and
+had it been made in vain? So it would seem,
+for not a man spoke for several moments. They
+shifted their guns, or changed weight from one foot
+to the other, or adjusted a bandage which already
+marked the redskin’s devilish work.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[8]</span></p>
+
+<p>They were brave men; but death seemed too sure a
+result of the attempt called for; it meant&mdash;to their
+minds&mdash;but another life flung away!</p>
+
+<p>“Was it not better that all should die here together,
+fighting desperately till the last man fell?” That was
+the question these old scarred veterans asked in their
+own minds. The venture would be utterly and completely
+hopeless.</p>
+
+<p>“<em>Look there!</em>”</p>
+
+<p>The trumpet-call was uttered by an officer on one
+of the towers of the stockade. His arm pointed westward,
+toward a ridge of rock which&mdash;barren and forbidding&mdash;sloped
+down into the valley facing the main
+gateway of Fort Advance.</p>
+
+<p>At the officer’s cry a score of men leaped to positions
+from which could be seen the object that occasioned
+it. Even Major Baldwin, knowing that the cry
+had been uttered because of some momentous happening,
+hurriedly mounted to the platform above the gate.
+He feared that already his demand for another volunteer
+was too late. He believed the redskins were massing
+for another charge.</p>
+
+<p>All eyes were strained in the direction the officer
+on the watch-tower pointed. A gasp of amazement
+was chorused by those who saw and understood the
+meaning of the cry.</p>
+
+<p>A horseman was seen riding like the wind toward
+the fort&mdash;and he was a white man!</p>
+
+<p>The Indians who had already beheld this rash adventurer
+were dumb with amazement. They were as
+much surprised by his appearance as were the inmates
+of the fort.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[9]</span></p>
+
+<p>The unknown rider was leading a packhorse. The
+horse he bestrode was a magnificent animal, and the
+packhorse flying along by its side was a racer as well,
+for both came on, down the long tongue of barren
+rock, at a spanking pace.</p>
+
+<p>From whence had the man come? Who was he?
+How had he gotten almost through the Indian lines
+undiscovered?</p>
+
+<p>He certainly had all but run the gantlet of the red
+warriors, for no shot, or no arrow, had been fired at
+him until he was discovered by the officer on the
+watch-tower of the fort.</p>
+
+<p>Then it was that he spurred forward like the wind,
+and floating to the ears of the whites who watched
+him so fearfully came the long, tremolo yell of the
+Sioux warriors as they started in pursuit of the daredevil
+rider. He was heading directly for the large
+gates of the fort.</p>
+
+<p>That he had chosen well his place to break through
+the Indian death-circle was evident, for there were few
+braves near him as he fled along the sloping ridge into
+the valley. His rifle he turned to right, or to left,
+firing with the same ease from either shoulder, while
+his mount, and the packhorse tied to its bridle, guided
+their own feet over the rocky way.</p>
+
+<p>When he pulled trigger the bullet did not miss its
+mark. The rifle rang out a death-knell, or sent a
+wounded brave out of action.</p>
+
+<p>The ponies of the Indians were feeding in the valley,
+with only a guard here and there, and there were
+no mounted warriors near to close in on the reckless
+rider, or to head him off. Hark! Their vengeful<span class="pagenum">[10]</span>
+yells, as they observed the possibility of the daring
+man’s escape, were awful to hear. They were in a
+frenzy of rage at the desperate act of the horseman.</p>
+
+<p>Rifles and bows sent bullets and shafts at him, but
+at long range. If he was hit he did not show it. The
+horses still thundered on, down into the valley, as
+recklessly as frenzied buffalo.</p>
+
+<p>Oak Heart, the great war chief, heard the commotion
+and saw the speeding white man. The chief was
+mounted, and he lashed his horse into a dead run for
+the point where the reckless paleface was descending
+into the valley. With him rode the White Antelope,
+and their coming spurred the braves to more strenuous
+attempts to reach, or capture, or kill, the daredevil
+rider.</p>
+
+<p>The occupants of the fort&mdash;those who beheld this
+wonderful race&mdash;were on the qui vive. Their exclamations
+displayed the anxiety and uncertainty they
+felt.</p>
+
+<p>“He can never make it!”</p>
+
+<p>“The Indian guard are driving in the ponies to bar
+his way!”</p>
+
+<p>“Who is he?”</p>
+
+<p>“How he rides!”</p>
+
+<p>“God guard the brave fellow!” cried a woman’s
+voice.</p>
+
+<p>One of the gentler sex had climbed to the platform
+over the gate, and this was her prayer.</p>
+
+<p>Other women had dropped to their knees, and were
+fervently praying God to spare the splendid fellow who
+was daring the gantlet of death. A cheer rose from
+the soldiery. This unknown was showing them the
+way that they had not dared to go.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[11]</span></p>
+
+<p>“That packhorse is wounded. Why doesn’t he leave
+it?” cried one of the officers. “It is delaying him&mdash;can’t
+the fellow see it?”</p>
+
+<p>At that moment the commander shouted:</p>
+
+<p>“Captain Keyes, take your troop to the rescue of
+that brave fellow!”</p>
+
+<p>“With pleasure, sir! I was about to ask your permission
+to do just that,” declared the junior officer.</p>
+
+<p>The bugle sounded, but its notes were drowned in
+a sudden wild shout of joy that rose from the two
+hundred inmates of the fort. Another officer, with
+a field-glass at his eye, had suddenly turned and
+shouted:</p>
+
+<p>“It is Buffalo Bill, the Border King!”</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">THE BORDER KING.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>The wild cheers that greeted the recognition of the
+daring gantlet runner came in frenzied roars, the
+piping voices of children, the treble notes of women,
+and the deep bass of the men mingling in a swelling
+chorus that rose higher and higher.</p>
+
+<p>The Border King, as he had been called, heard the
+sound. He understood that it was in his welcome,
+and he fairly stood up in his stirrups and waved his
+sombrero, while the horses dashed on at the same
+mad pace.</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill, or William F. Cody, as was his real
+name, was the chief of scouts at this very fort, and he
+was a hero&mdash;almost a god&mdash;in the eyes of the soldiers
+and his brother scouts.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[12]</span></p>
+
+<p>A week before he had started for Denver with important
+despatches, but had returned in a few hours
+to report signs of a large band of Indians on the move.
+He had warned Major Baldwin that Oak Heart and
+his braves might be intending a concerted attack upon
+Fort Advance; but duty called Buffalo Bill to the trail
+again, and he had hurried away on his Denver mission.</p>
+
+<p>That the danger he had dreaded was real, the surrounding
+of the fort several days later by the Sioux
+proved. Scouts had been sent for aid, but too late.
+None had gotten through the belt of redskins, and
+that belt was tightening each hour. The ammunition
+was low, and the awful end was not far off if help
+from some quarter did not appear.</p>
+
+<p>Even the appearance of Buffalo Bill inspired the
+beleaguered whites with hope. It seemed an almost
+hopeless attempt to reach the fort, for the red warriors
+were closing in upon him. Yet he rode on unshakenly.</p>
+
+<p>Down the ridge he sped, and out upon the plain.
+He was seemingly coming from the sunshine of life
+into the valley of death’s shadow!</p>
+
+<p>Why did he do it? Why did he risk his life so recklessly
+when only forty miles away he could have obtained
+help from the military post? There was some
+reason behind his daring act, and some cause for his
+delaying his effort by dragging the packhorse, now
+wounded, with him.</p>
+
+<p>All in the fort knew what this hero of the border
+had done to win fame among the mighty men of the
+frontier. He was chief and king among them. Yet
+what could he do now to help the besieged in the<span class="pagenum">[13]</span>
+fortress, even did he reach the gate? That was the
+question!</p>
+
+<p>But hope revived, nevertheless, in every heart. Even
+the commandant, Major Frank Baldwin, began to look
+more hopeful as the scout drew closer to the fort. He
+had known Buffalo Bill long and well, and he knew of
+what marvels he was capable!</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill had been born in a cabin home on the
+banks of the Mississippi River in the State of Iowa,
+and from his eighth year he had been a pioneer&mdash;an
+advance agent of civilization. At that age his
+father had removed to Kansas, and as a boy Billie
+Cody saw and took part in the bloody struggles in
+Kansas between the supporters of slavery and those
+who believed that the soil of Kansas should be unsmirched
+by that terrible traffic in human lives.</p>
+
+<p>Cody’s father, indeed, lost his life because of his
+belief in freedom, and the boy was obliged to help
+support the family at a tender age. He went to Leavenworth,
+and there hired out to Alex Majors, who of
+that day was the chief of the overland freighters into
+the far West.</p>
+
+<p>The boy was eleven years old&mdash;an age when most
+youngsters think only of their play and of their stomachs.
+But Billie Cody had seen his father shot down;
+he had nursed him and hidden him from his foes, and
+from the dying pioneer had received a sacred charge.
+That was the care of his mother and sister. It was
+necessary for him to earn a man’s wage, not a boy’s.
+And to get it he must do a man’s work. He was a
+splendid rider, even then&mdash;one of those horsemen who
+seem a part of the animal he bestrode, like the Centaurs<span class="pagenum">[14]</span>
+of which Greek mythology tells us. Alex
+Majors needed a messenger to ride from train to train
+along the wagon-trail, and he entrusted young Cody
+with the job.</p>
+
+<p>It was one that might have put to the test the
+bravery of a seasoned plainsman. Indians and wild
+beasts were both very plentiful. There were hundreds
+of dangers to threaten the lone boy as he rode swiftly
+over the trails. Yet even then he began to make his
+mark. He had several encounters with the Indians
+during his first season. As he says himself, the first
+redskin he ever saw stole from him, and he had to
+force the scoundrel&mdash;boy though he was&mdash;to give up
+the property at the point of the rifle. This incident,
+perhaps, gave the youth a certain daring in approaching
+the reds which often stood him well in after adventures.
+And the reds learned to respect and fear
+Billie Cody. He allowed his hair to grow long, to
+show the Indians that he was not afraid to wear a
+“scalp-lock”&mdash;practically daring any of his red foes to
+come and take it!</p>
+
+<p>So from that early day he had been active on the
+border. All knew him&mdash;red as well as white. He
+had been an Indian fighter from his eleventh year,
+the hero of hundreds of daring deeds, thrilling adventures,
+and narrow escapes. He was as gentle as a
+woman with the weak, the feeble, or with those who
+claimed his protection; but he was as savage in battle
+as a mountain lion, and had well earned the title bestowed
+upon him by his admiring friends&mdash;the Border
+King. His coming to the fort now&mdash;if he could make
+it safely&mdash;was worth in itself a company of reenforcements,
+for it put heart into all the besieged.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[15]</span></p>
+
+<p>“Never mind, Keyes! it is Cody, and he will get
+through,” called out Major Baldwin to Captain Keyes,
+as the men were mounting.</p>
+
+<p>Captain Edward L. Keyes was a splendid type of
+cavalry officer, and he was anxious for another brush
+with the redskins at close quarters. He was disappointed,
+but as the man making the attempt to reach
+Fort Advance was Buffalo Bill, the captain agreed
+with Major Baldwin that “he would get through.”</p>
+
+<p>The Border King had turned his rifle now upon
+the Indian guards who were trying to head him off
+by blocking his way with the large herd of half-wild
+ponies which had been feeding in the valley. Indian
+ponies are not broken like those used by white men.
+They are pretty nearly wild all their days. The red man
+merely teaches his mount to answer to the pressure
+of his knees, and to the jerk of the single rawhide
+thong that is slipped around the brute’s lower jaw.
+And these lessons are further enforced by cruelty.</p>
+
+<p>The odor of a white person is offensive to an Indian
+pony. A white man has been known frequently to
+stampede a band of Indian mounts; and not infrequently
+the mob of wild creatures has turned upon
+the unfortunate paleface and trampled him to death
+under their unshod feet.</p>
+
+<p>Therefore, this opposition of the ponies was no
+small matter. They were a formidable barrier to
+Buffalo Bill’s successful arrival at the gate of the
+stockade fort.</p>
+
+<p>His rifle rattled forth lively, yet deadly, music, and
+his aim was wonderfully true for that of a man riding
+at full speed. Emptying the gun, he swung it quickly
+over his shoulder, and drawing the big cavalry pistols<span class="pagenum">[16]</span>
+from their holsters the daring scout began to fairly
+mow a path through the herd of ponies. The slugs
+carried by the large-caliber pistols were as effective as
+the balls from his rifle. The mob of squealing, kicking,
+biting ponies broke before his charge, and swept
+on ahead of him. Another cheer from the watchers in
+the fort signaled this fact. The ponies were stampeding
+directly toward Fort Advance.</p>
+
+<p>“Out and line ’em up!”</p>
+
+<p>“We’ll corral the ponies if we kyan’t th’ Injuns!”</p>
+
+<p>“Throw open the gates!” commanded Major Baldwin,
+his voice heard above the tumult.</p>
+
+<p>The command was obeyed, and Captain Keyes and
+his men galloped out to meet the mob.</p>
+
+<p>In vain did the Indian guards try to head off the
+stampede. By having left their ponies in the valley
+where the grass was sweet and long, they had been
+caught in this trap. Instead of capturing Buffalo Bill
+it looked as though he and the other whites would
+capture the bulk of the Indian ponies!</p>
+
+<p>Oak Heart and the White Antelope, with a few
+mounted reds at their back, thundered across the level
+plain and up the rise toward the fort. But the pony
+herd and Buffalo Bill were well in the lead.</p>
+
+<p>The king of the border turned in his saddle, and
+waved his sombrero in mockery at the Indian chief.
+Then the ponies dashed into the gateway and were
+corraled, while the scout, still leading his packhorse,
+swept in behind them.</p>
+
+<p>“On guard, all! The redskins will charge on foot
+to try and get their ponies!” shouted the scout, as he
+came through the gate.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[17]</span></p>
+
+<p>His voice rose above the turmoil and brought the
+delighted men to their duty. Major Baldwin echoed
+Buffalo Bill’s advice, ordering everybody to their
+posts.</p>
+
+<p>“Be careful of the expenditure of powder and lead,
+men!” warned the major, from his stand on the platform.
+“Remember we are running short.”</p>
+
+<p>“Don’t you believe it, major!” cried the voice of
+the scout, as he dismounted in the middle of the enthusiastic
+throng.</p>
+
+<p>“What’s that, Cody?”</p>
+
+<p>“Strip the packhorse. I have brought you a-plenty
+of ammunition until reenforcements can be had.”</p>
+
+<p>“God bless you, Cody, for those words! You have
+saved us,” cried Major Baldwin, and there was a
+tremor in his voice as he glanced toward the group of
+women and children.</p>
+
+<p>He came down from the platform, and wrung the
+scout’s hand, as he asked:</p>
+
+<p>“In the name of Heaven, Cody, where did you get
+ammunition? Surely, you did not bring it all the way
+from Denver?”</p>
+
+<p>“No, indeed. I cached this over a year ago, major,”
+the scout replied cheerfully. “It will hold those red
+devils off until help arrives. You’ve sent to Fort
+Resistence, I presume?”</p>
+
+<p>“Sent, alas! But five men have died in the attempt.”</p>
+
+<p>“And not one got through?” cried Buffalo Bill.</p>
+
+<p>“Not one, Cody.”</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill’s face assumed a look of anxiety&mdash;an
+expression not often seen there.</p>
+
+<p>“I had called for another volunteer <a id="Ref_17" href="#Ref_17a">when</a> you were<span class="pagenum">[18]</span>
+discovered coming. It was a splendid dash you made,
+Cody, and a desperate one as well.”</p>
+
+<p>“Aye,” said the scout gravely. “Desperate it was,
+indeed. But it must be made again. This ammunition
+I have brought you may last till morning; but
+the reds must be taken on the flank or they’ll hold you
+here till kingdom come!</p>
+
+<p>“I’ll try to get through again, Major Baldwin. You
+must have help,” declared the Border King sternly.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">THE KING OF THE SIOUX.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>Scarcely had Buffalo Bill uttered these cheering
+words when a babble of cries arose from the watchers
+on the towers and the platform over the gate. The
+redskins were gathering for a concerted charge, maddened
+by his escape and the loss of their ponies.</p>
+
+<p>Saving a few chiefs, beside Oak Heart and the
+White Antelope none of the reds were mounted. However,
+they were so enraged now that they ignored the
+whites’ accuracy of aim and came on within rifle-shot
+of the stockade.</p>
+
+<p>The ammunition brought on the packhorse led by
+the scout was hastily distributed among the defendants
+of the fort, with orders to throw no shot away. They
+were to shoot to kill, and Major Baldwin advised as
+did “Old Put” at the first great battle in United States
+history&mdash;the Battle of Bunker Hill&mdash;“to wait till they
+saw the whites of the enemies’ eyes!”</p>
+
+<p>Powder was as precious to that devoted band as
+gold-dust, and bullets were as valuable as diamonds.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[19]</span></p>
+
+<p>Major Baldwin took his position on the observation
+platform above the gate, Buffalo Bill by his side,
+repeating rifle in hand, and near them stood a couple
+of young officers as aids, and the bugler. All were
+armed with rifles, and every weapon for which there
+was no immediate need in the fort was loaded and
+ready. The women were in two groups&mdash;one ready
+to reload the weapons tossed them by the men, and the
+other to assist the surgeon with the wounded.</p>
+
+<p>The Indians came swarming across the valley in a
+red tidal wave. They were decreasing their circle,
+and expected to rush the stockade walls in a cyclonic
+charge.</p>
+
+<p>They quickened their pace as they came, and the
+weird war-whoop deafened the beleaguered garrison.
+They came with a rush at last, showering the walls
+with arrows and bullets, some of which found their
+way into the loopholes.</p>
+
+<p>It was a grand charge to look upon; it was a desperate
+one to check.</p>
+
+<p>The whites had their orders and obeyed them. Not
+a rifle cracked until the Indians were under the
+stockade walls, scrambling through the ditch. Then
+the four six-pounders roared from the block-towers,
+their scattering lead and iron mowing down the yelling
+redskins in the ditches.</p>
+
+<p>Then volley upon volley of carbines, repeating
+rifles, and muskets echoed the rolling thunder of the
+big guns.</p>
+
+<p>Not a few of the bullets and arrows entered the
+loopholes, and many dead and wounded were numbered
+among the whites; but the carnage among the
+redskins was awful to contemplate.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[20]</span></p>
+
+<p>The thunder of the big guns, the popping of the
+smaller firearms, the screaming of the wild ponies
+corraled in the fort, and the demoralized shrieks of
+the Indians themselves made a veritable hell upon
+earth!</p>
+
+<p>Above all rose the notes of the bugle sending forth
+orders at Major Baldwin’s command. Now and then
+that piercing, weird war-cry of the Border King was
+heard&mdash;a sound well known and feared by the Indians.
+They recognized it as the voice of he whom they called
+Pa-e-has-ka&mdash;“The Long Hair.”</p>
+
+<p>Indian nature was not equal to facing the deadly
+hail of iron and lead, and the red wave broke against
+the stockade and receded, leaving many still and writhing
+bodies in the ditches which surrounded the fort,
+and scattered upon the plain. Slowly at first the redskins
+surged backward under the galling fire of the
+whites but finally the retreat became a stampede.</p>
+
+<p>The rout was complete. All but the dead and badly
+wounded escaped swiftly out of rifle-shot, save one
+mounted chief. He was left alone, struggling with
+his mount, trying to force the animal to leave the
+vicinity of the fort gate.</p>
+
+<p>This was Oak Heart himself, the king of the Sioux,
+and his mount was a great white cavalry charger that
+he had captured months before. This was no half-wild
+Indian pony; yet the Indian chief, without spurs
+and a proper bridle, could not control the beast. The
+horse had heard the bugle to which he had been so
+long used. He was determined in his equine mind to
+rejoin the white men who had been his friends, instead
+of these cruel red masters, and he made a dash
+for the gate of the fortress.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[21]</span></p>
+
+<p>In vain did Chief Oak Heart try to check him. He
+would have flung himself from the horse’s back, but
+the creature was so swift of foot and the ground was
+so broken here, that such an act would have assured
+Oak Heart’s instant death. Besides, being the great
+chief of his tribe, Oak Heart had bound himself to
+the horse that, if wounded or killed, he would not be
+lost to his people which&mdash;according to Indian belief&mdash;would
+be shame.</p>
+
+<p>Oak Heart had lost his scalping-knife, and could
+not cut the rawhide lariat that held him fast. He
+writhed, yelling maledictions in Sioux upon the horse;
+but he could neither check the brute nor unfasten the
+lariat.</p>
+
+<p>His warriors soon saw Chief Oak Heart’s predicament,
+and they charged back to his rescue. The White
+Antelope led them on, for she was as brave as her
+father.</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill had been first to see the difficulty into
+which the chief had gotten himself, and springing
+down from the platform he threw himself into the saddle,
+shouted for the gates to be opened, and spurred
+his horse out of the fort.</p>
+
+<p>“Don’t shoot the girl!” the scout yelled to the soldiers
+lining the walls above him. “Have a care for
+the girl!”</p>
+
+<p>But there was scarcely chance for the whites to fire
+at all at the oncoming White Antelope and her party,
+before Buffalo Bill was beside the big white charger
+and the struggling king of the Sioux.</p>
+
+<p>Out flashed the scout’s pistol, and he presented it to
+the red man’s head.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[22]</span></p>
+
+<p>“Oak Heart, you are my prisoner! Yield yourself!”
+he cried, in the Sioux tongue.</p>
+
+<p>At the same moment he seized the thong by which
+the Indian was wrenching at the jaw of the white
+horse, snatched it from Oak Heart’s grasp, and gave
+the big charger his head. The white horse sprang
+forward for the open gate of the fort, and Buffalo
+Bill’s mount kept abreast of him. The redskins dared
+not fire at the scout for fear of killing Oak Heart.</p>
+
+<p>A volley from the soldiery sent the would-be rescuers
+of the chief back to cover. Only the beautiful
+girl, White Antelope, was left boldly in the open,
+shaking her befeathered spear and trying to rally her
+people to the charge. The white men honored Buffalo
+Bill’s request and did not shoot at her, or the Sioux
+would have lost their mascot as well as their great
+chieftain.</p>
+
+<p>In a moment the scout with his prisoner dashed
+through the open gates, which were slammed shut
+and barred amid the deafening acclamations of the
+garrison. Major Baldwin was on hand to grasp Buffalo
+Bill’s hand again, and as he wrung it he cried:</p>
+
+<p>“Another brave deed to your credit, Cody! It was
+cleverly done.”</p>
+
+<p>He turned to the chief whom the scout was freeing
+from the lariat that had been the cause of his capture.
+The redskin king had accepted his fate philosophically.
+His look and bearing was of fearlessness and savage
+dignity. He had been captured by the palefaces, and
+so humbled in the eyes of a thousand braves; but he
+was defiant still, and his features would not reveal his
+heart-anguish to those foes that now surrounded him
+with flushed faces.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[23]</span></p>
+
+<p>The stoical traits of the Indian character cannot but
+arouse admiration in the white man’s breast. From
+babyhood the redskin is taught&mdash;both by precept and
+instinct&mdash;to utter no cry of pain, to reveal no emotion
+which should cause a foe pleasure. When captured by
+other savages, the Indian will go to the fire, or stand
+to be hacked to pieces by his enemies, with no sound
+issuing from his lips but the death-chant.</p>
+
+<p>And this Spartan fortitude is present in the very
+papooses themselves. A traveler once told how, in
+walking through an Indian village, he came upon a
+little baby tied in the Indian fashion to a board, the
+board leaning against the outside of a wigwam. The
+mother had left it there and the white man came upon
+it suddenly. Undoubtedly his appearance, and his
+standing to look at the small savage, frightened it as
+such an experience would a white child. But his voice
+was not raised. Not a sound did the poor little savage
+utter; but the tears formed in his beady eyes and ran
+down his fat cheeks. Infant that he was, and filled
+with fright of the white man, he would not weep
+aloud.</p>
+
+<p>Oak Heart, the savage king, looked abroad upon
+his enemies, and his haughty face gave no expression
+of fear. He was a captive, but his spirit was unconquered.</p>
+
+<p>“This is a good job, Cody,” whispered Baldwin,
+glancing again at the chieftain. “We can make use of
+him, eh?”</p>
+
+<p>“We can, indeed, major,” returned the scout.</p>
+
+<p>“But that crowd out yonder will be watching us all
+the closer now. How under the sun anybody can get
+through them after this&mdash;&mdash;”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[24]</span></p>
+
+<p>“Leave it to me, major,” interrupted Buffalo Bill
+firmly. “I am ready to make the trial&mdash;and make it
+now!”</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">BUFFALO BILL’S PLOT.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>There was a look on Buffalo Bill’s face as he spoke
+that informed Major Baldwin that the scout had already
+formed some plan which he wished to make
+known to him. So the officer said:</p>
+
+<p>“Come to my quarters, Cody, and we will talk it
+over. Captain Keyes, kindly take charge of the chief
+and see that he is neither ill-treated or disturbed.
+Some of these boys feel pretty ugly, I am sure. We
+have lost a number of good men, and two of the children
+have been frightfully wounded by arrows coming
+through the lower loopholes.”</p>
+
+<p>When the major and the scout reached the former’s
+office, Baldwin said:</p>
+
+<p>“Are you in earnest in this attempt, Cody?”</p>
+
+<p>“Never more so, Major Baldwin. Help we <em>must</em>
+have.”</p>
+
+<p>“No man knows the danger better than you do. I
+need not warn you.”</p>
+
+<p>“Quite needless, sir. I know the game from A
+to Z.”</p>
+
+<p>“Very true. But there are great odds against you.”</p>
+
+<p>“No man, I believe, sir, stands a better chance of
+getting through than myself.”</p>
+
+<p>“That is so; yet, while many good men might be
+spared to make the attempt, you are the one who cannot
+be replaced.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[25]</span></p>
+
+<p>“Thank you, sir; but my life is no more to me than
+another man’s is to him. If I’d been thinking of the
+chances of getting shot up all these years, I reckon I’d
+turned up my toes long ago. I never think of death
+if I can help it.”</p>
+
+<p>“It’s true, Cody!” exclaimed the major. “You act
+as though the bullet wasn’t molded that could kill
+you.”</p>
+
+<p>“So the redskins say, I believe,” responded the scout
+grimly.</p>
+
+<p>“Yet your place cannot easily be filled,” the major
+said again. “If you can get some other volunteer I
+wish you would. I don’t want to lose you, Bill.”</p>
+
+<p>“Captain Keyes is anxious to go, sir, but&mdash;&mdash;”</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, yes; Keyes is a daredevil whom nothing will
+daunt; but I refused his request and those of my few
+other officers.”</p>
+
+<p>“Then I must go, sir.”</p>
+
+<p>“First, tell me about your mission,” said the major
+abruptly.</p>
+
+<p>“I delivered your despatches, sir,” said Cody, “and
+here are others for you. On coming within a few
+miles of the fort I saw that several large parties of
+Indians had passed, all seemingly making in this direction.
+I knew what was up at once. I suspected that
+unless you had been lucky enough to get a supply of
+ammunition before the reds closed in on you, you’d
+run short; but there was that horse load we had to
+bury last year when I was on the expedition with Captain
+Ames. So I went over there and found it all in
+good shape.</p>
+
+<p>“I came mighty near losing it all, however,” added
+the scout, smiling, “for in the very act of uncovering<span class="pagenum">[26]</span>
+the stuff I was come upon by a redskin on a good
+horse. It was kill or be killed, and before he could
+either shoot me or knife me I had laid him out.</p>
+
+<p>“His war-bonnet and rigging made a pretty good
+disguise for me. And certainly his horse came in
+handy. The animal was not a wild pony, but had
+Uncle Sam’s brand on him. Where the red got him,
+Heaven only knows. Some poor white man probably
+lost his life before he lost his horse.</p>
+
+<p>“However, I dressed up as near like an Injun as I
+could, and packed the ammunition on the dead man’s
+mount. I made a détour so as to come up from the
+west, and be opposite the main gate; for I knew about
+how the red devils would swarm about you here. And
+I was not interfered with until, coming out on that
+ridge, I had to throw aside my disguise, or run the
+risk of being made a target of by some of your fellows
+in the stockade here. I knew they could shoot
+better than the redskins,” and Cody laughed.</p>
+
+<p>“So here I am,” the scout added, “little the worse
+for wear, major.”</p>
+
+<p>“And a more gallant ride I never saw. You have
+done nobly, Cody. The ammunition will keep us going
+for some hours.”</p>
+
+<p>“Unless the redskins rush you too hard.”</p>
+
+<p>“You think they will try to charge again&mdash;and without
+their horses?”</p>
+
+<p>“Sure thing. Our capture of Oak Heart will stir
+’em up worse than ever.”</p>
+
+<p>“They won’t wait until dark, then?”</p>
+
+<p>“I don’t believe so. That half-wild girl, White Antelope,
+will give them no peace until they try to rescue
+her father.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[27]</span></p>
+
+<p>“But you warned my men not to shoot her.”</p>
+
+<p>“That’s right. She’s Injun now,” said Buffalo Bill
+sadly. “But her mother wasn’t a redskin, and perhaps
+some day, when old Oak Heart passes in his chips, she
+may be gotten away from the savages.”</p>
+
+<p>“You knew her mother, then, Cody?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes. And a noble woman she was.”</p>
+
+<p>“Yet she went to the wigwam of a dirty redskin?”</p>
+
+<p>“Ah! you don’t know the circumstances. It is a
+sad story, Major Baldwin, and some day I’ll tell it to
+you. But don’t blame the mother&mdash;or the unfortunate
+child of this strange union. <em>She</em> would make a beautiful
+woman if she were civilized, cross-blood though
+she be.”</p>
+
+<p>“Well, well! It’s a sad case, as you say. I’ll pass
+the word to the officers to instruct their men to spare
+the White Antelope wherever they may meet her.”</p>
+
+<p>“Thank you,” said Buffalo Bill simply. “My scouts
+already know my wishes on the subject. And now,
+major, I must get ready for my dash through that
+mob again.”</p>
+
+<p>“It seems a wicked shame to let you go, Cody! Yet&mdash;we
+can’t beat off many more charges even with this
+access of ammunition.”</p>
+
+<p>“You surely can’t. I must go.”</p>
+
+<p>“You have devised a plan, I can see.”</p>
+
+<p>“I have, sir.”</p>
+
+<p>“Well, sit here and tell me. The mess cook is
+preparing a hearty meal for you. You can talk while
+you eat, Cody.”</p>
+
+<p>“Thanks for your thoughtfulness, major. I <em>am</em> a
+little slim-waisted, not daring to build a fire since
+yesterday.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[28]</span></p>
+
+<p>“Just like you to neglect your own needs when others
+demand your services.”</p>
+
+<p>“Ha, ha!” laughed the scout. “I had some desire
+to keep my scalp, as well. The reds are too thick
+hereabout to make fire-building a safe occupation.”</p>
+
+<p>“Well, sir, your plan?” queried the officer.</p>
+
+<p>“Why, it came to me when I saw old Oak Heart
+mixed up with that blessed old white horse, you know.
+That old fellow is an ancient friend of mine. I recognized
+him at once. And he never did love an Injun.
+I wonder how Oak Heart managed to ride him at
+all.”</p>
+
+<p>“The horse, you mean?”</p>
+
+<p>“Sure. Well, as for the chief, we have him; but
+we never can make terms with his tribe for his release.”</p>
+
+<p>“You think not?”</p>
+
+<p>“I <em>know</em> so. The chief is a true Sioux. He would
+never allow his people to make terms for his life. You
+could hack him to pieces on that scaffolding yonder,
+where all the reds could see, and it would not change
+the attitude of the crew a mite, excepting to make
+them more bloodthirsty.”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes?”</p>
+
+<p>“So we can’t make terms with him.”</p>
+
+<p>“What do you advise, then?”</p>
+
+<p>“That you have a talk with Oak Heart. He understands
+English very well, and what he doesn’t understand
+I’ll interpret for him.”</p>
+
+<p>“Go ahead, Cody,” said the major, laughing.
+“What are my further instructions?”</p>
+
+<p>“Why, sir&mdash;&mdash;”</p>
+
+<p>“You know very well, scout, that you are bossing<span class="pagenum">[29]</span>
+your superior officer. But it isn’t the first time. What
+shall I say to this red rascal?”</p>
+
+<p>Cody’s smile widened and his eyes twinkled.</p>
+
+<p>“Just tell him that he has proved himself too brave
+an enemy to be either kept in captivity, or punished.”</p>
+
+<p>“And set him free!”</p>
+
+<p>“Sure.”</p>
+
+<p>“But why?”</p>
+
+<p>“Because I can use him in just that way, sir.”</p>
+
+<p>“How?”</p>
+
+<p>“Let me explain. I’ll mount his horse&mdash;or the one
+he rode. I know the splendid fellow well, as I told
+you. He belonged to Colonel Miles, and a faster or
+better enduring animal is not now on the frontier.</p>
+
+<p>“I’ll put Oak Heart on my old black. The poor fellow
+is foundered and will never again be of much
+value. We will ride out side by side.”</p>
+
+<p>“You will!”</p>
+
+<p>“Somebody must return Oak Heart to his people,
+you know. And I crave permission to do that.”</p>
+
+<p>“All very well, Cody; but I don’t see your plan.”</p>
+
+<p>Cody laughed again.</p>
+
+<p>“I’ll make it plainer then, sir, by saying that I propose
+to paint and rig up as old Oak Heart himself, and
+put <em>him</em> in my togs.”</p>
+
+<p>“Jove, scout! That is a perilous scheme.”</p>
+
+<p>“It’s a good one.”</p>
+
+<p>“But you’ll be shot when they find you out.”</p>
+
+<p>“<em>When</em> they do I’ll be a mile away. I’m going to
+ride on ahead toward the mouth of the cañon. It’s the
+nearest road to Fort Resistence. I’ll wave back the
+tribe as I advance, and they’ll think it is Oak Heart
+ordering them. They’ll obey him, all right. <em>Then</em> I’ll<span class="pagenum">[30]</span>
+make a break for it, and you can wager I’ll get
+through all right, and with that white hoss under me
+nothing in that outfit can head me off or catch me!”</p>
+
+<p>“And the chief?”</p>
+
+<p>“Hold him back a bit at the stockade. When my
+horse begins to run, let him go. If the beggars shoot
+him, it will serve the old scoundrel right. At least, it
+will confuse the reds.”</p>
+
+<p>“A good idea!” exclaimed Baldwin. “And I really
+believe it is feasible.”</p>
+
+<p>“Sure it is.”</p>
+
+<p>“There doesn’t seem any better way to break through
+their lines.”</p>
+
+<p>“That’s right! Strategy must aid pluck in this
+game.”</p>
+
+<p>“Aye, and you’re the one to make the effort. But
+may I suggest an amendment, scout?”</p>
+
+<p>“Just put it up to me, Major Baldwin. You haven’t
+been chasing Injuns all this time without having
+learned a trick or two yourself.”</p>
+
+<p>“Thank you, Cody. Here’s my idea: Oak Heart
+will see through your scheme and possibly signal his
+people the truth before you can reach the cañon.”</p>
+
+<p>“I’ll have to run that risk.”</p>
+
+<p>“No use running any more risk than necessary. Why
+not take a second man with you?”</p>
+
+<p>“Ah!”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes. One of you represent Oak Heart and the
+other be yourself. We’ll hold the real chief back until
+you and your mate get to the cañon. Then, by turning
+Oak Heart loose, we will add to the reds’ confusion, as
+you say.”</p>
+
+<p>“Glorious! Fine, major! And I’ll take Texas Jack<span class="pagenum">[31]</span>
+with me and let <em>him</em> play Oak Heart’s part. He makes
+a better Injun than I should. And then&mdash;I know Jack.
+One of us will be sure to get through and reach Resistence.”</p>
+
+<p>“Jack has been on duty night and day, Cody,” objected
+Major Baldwin. “He volunteered to make the
+attempt before, but I vetoed it. I needed his presence
+and advice. To let you both go is like putting all my
+eggs in one basket and sending them to a dangerous
+market.”</p>
+
+<p>“He’s the man I want,” said Buffalo Bill firmly.</p>
+
+<p>“All right! Let Omohondreau be sent for,” the
+major said, turning to an orderly.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">THE DESPERATE VENTURE.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>Texas Jack’s real name was Jean Omohondreau,
+and he came of a wealthy and noble French family, although
+he was born in America. It is said that he had
+refused the title of “Marquis of Omohondreau,” although
+later he was known as “The White King of the
+Pawnees,” having been adopted into that tribe and
+completely winning the confidence of the red men.</p>
+
+<p>At this time Jack was smooth shaven, and with
+his deeply bronzed features and piercing eyes and black
+hair he did not look unlike an Indian. Besides, he had
+lived among the savages even more than Buffalo Bill
+himself, and had that imitative faculty so general in
+French people. He could “take off” the savage to the
+life.</p>
+
+<p>When Texas Jack came sleepily enough from his<span class="pagenum">[32]</span>
+bunk, it took but a few words from Cody to wake his
+old pard up. The moment Jack understood what was
+wanted of him, he was in for the plan, heart and soul.</p>
+
+<p>Oak Heart, who had been entertained&mdash;possibly to
+his great surprise, although he had not shown such
+emotion in his hard old face&mdash;by the younger officers
+with food and drink, and some of the paleface’s real
+tobacco, instead of dried willow bark, was now given a
+uniform and slouch hat in place of his war-bonnet and
+beaded and befeathered buckskin suit and gay blanket.</p>
+
+<p>The natural acquisitiveness of the Indian character,
+and the childish joy they have in new finery, possibly
+made the chief ignore what was done with his old garments.
+Texas Jack made himself look the Indian brave
+to the life, put on Chief Oak Heart’s abandoned finery,
+and, mounting the splendid white cavalry charger&mdash;but
+with saddle hidden by his blanket&mdash;was ready to accompany
+Buffalo Bill.</p>
+
+<p>The latter sprang into the saddle of his claybank&mdash;“Buckskin”&mdash;and
+led the way through the open gate.
+Behind them was the surprised Oak Heart upon Buffalo
+Bill’s old black, and the soldiers were ready to set
+him free the moment the two scouts had crossed the
+danger zone.</p>
+
+<p>The Indians had retired sullenly after Oak Heart’s
+capture, and White Antelope had as yet been unable to
+rally them to another charge upon the stockade. Their
+last charge had been disastrous, and they had not only
+lost their principal chief, but had been unable to bring
+back to their camping lines many of the dead and injured.
+But the belt of red humanity still encircled the
+fort, and it was plain that they proposed to abide there
+until such time arrived as could compass their revenge.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[33]</span></p>
+
+<p>Those of the less seriously wounded had dragged
+themselves back toward their companions; but the
+others had been removed inside the fort and were being
+cared for by the surgeon, after he had ministered to the
+wounded whites. The dead redskins were let lie where
+they had fallen for the time being.</p>
+
+<p>Oak Heart had noted the care taken of his wounded
+braves by the white medicine-man. If this charity impressed
+him his immobile face showed no emotion. He
+sat the horse that had been given him like a graven
+image.</p>
+
+<p>Now the moment had arrived for the departure of
+the two scouts from the fort. As the pair dashed
+through the open gateway many good wishes followed
+them. But the troops had been warned not to cheer.
+That might apprise the redskins that some desperate
+venture was about to be made.</p>
+
+<p>“Good-by, Bill, and may God guard you!” cried
+Major Baldwin. “And you, too, Texas Jack! I hope
+to see you both again.”</p>
+
+<p>Cody turned and waved his hand to him; but Jack,
+in the character of the captured chief, looked straight
+ahead over his horse’s ears, and he made no gesture.</p>
+
+<p>“We’ll bear toward the left, Jack, for our best plan
+is to strike for the cañon,” said Buffalo Bill.</p>
+
+<p>“Right you are, pard. But don’t let’s make a dash
+till we hafter. We’ll gain everything by keeping them
+red devils guessing.”</p>
+
+<p>“Sure’s you live, Jack! The moment the reds make
+a move for us, you sign for them to go back. Keep
+’em at a distance if you can.”</p>
+
+<p>“I will,” assured Texas Jack.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[34]</span></p>
+
+<p>“Sit up stiff, old man, and play the part right,” admonished
+Buffalo Bill with a laugh.</p>
+
+<p>These courageous men could laugh in the face of
+almost certain death!</p>
+
+<p>“What d’ye suppose they think of it, Bill?” asked
+Jack. “They’re awake, all right. I wonder what they
+think at seeing you bringing their supposed chief back
+to them?”</p>
+
+<p>“I’d give a good deal to know just what they are
+<em>going</em> to think,” said Cody, more gravely. “But we’ll
+soon know.”</p>
+
+<p>“Betcher we will!”</p>
+
+<p>“It’s unnecessary to ask you, Jack, if you’ve got
+your shooting irons ready?”</p>
+
+<p>“Ready and loaded, Bill.”</p>
+
+<p>The two scouts were as watchful as antelopes, and
+as cautious. But they appeared to ride along at an
+easy lope, and in a most careless fashion. This is the
+coolness born of long familiarity with peril; they could
+meet death itself without the quiver of a nerve.</p>
+
+<p>They progressed but slowly, and the eyes of most of
+the red men were fixed upon them. It was plain that the
+savages did not understand just what was going forward
+when they saw he who appeared to be their king
+riding thus quietly, and armed and caparisoned, with
+Long Hair, the white scout. They could not understand
+why he was coming back to them in company
+with Pa-e-has-ka.</p>
+
+<p>Soon they began to move forward in a body to meet
+the coming “chief” and his comrade.</p>
+
+<p>“Give ’em the sign language, Jack. It’s time,” muttered
+Buffalo Bill.</p>
+
+<p>Omohondreau was an adept at this wonderful <a id="Ref_34" href="#Ref_34a">means</a><span class="pagenum">[35]</span>
+of communication, which was really a general language
+understood by the members of all the red tribes. He
+raised first one hand, palm outward, and then the
+other, and motioned the red men back. The warriors
+hesitated&mdash;then obeyed.</p>
+
+<p>But a mounted figure came dashing from another
+part of the field, and this silent sign manual did not
+retard it.</p>
+
+<p>“Face of a pig!” ejaculated Texas Jack, in the patois
+of the French Canadian, and which he sometimes
+lapsed into in moments of excitement. “Here comes
+that gal, Bill!”</p>
+
+<p>“The White Antelope!” exclaimed Cody. “I had
+forgotten her.”</p>
+
+<p>“Shall I warn her away?”</p>
+
+<p>“I’m afraid if you turned to face her she would see
+that you are not Oak Heart.”</p>
+
+<p>“Quicker, then, Pard Cody!”</p>
+
+<p>“No. They might suspect.”</p>
+
+<p>“Heavens, Bill! What will you do when the girl
+overtakes us?”</p>
+
+<p>“Whatever comes handiest.”</p>
+
+<p>“I could put a bullet through her without turning,”
+muttered Jack.</p>
+
+<p>“You wouldn’t be so cruel, old man.”</p>
+
+<p>“Hang it, man!” exclaimed Jack in disgust. “She’s
+only a ’breed.”</p>
+
+<p>“No. You’ll not injure her. I have your promise,
+Jack,” said Cody confidently.</p>
+
+<p>“But she’ll finish us if she suspects. I think she has
+a pistol,” said Jack.</p>
+
+<p>“We’ll see.”</p>
+
+<p>“Hang it, Bill Cody! You’re the coldest proposition<span class="pagenum">[36]</span>
+I ever came across. I’ll eat this old war-bonnet&mdash;and
+it’s about as digestible as a wreath of prickly
+pear&mdash;if we don’t have trouble with that gal.”</p>
+
+<p>Evidently White Antelope was much amazed by the
+fact that her father did not even look in her direction,
+for she called some welcome to him in Sioux. Neither
+of the scouts made reply, but both kept watch of her
+out of the corners of their eyes. The girl, puzzled by
+the mystery, half drew in her pony.</p>
+
+<p>The mob of Indians waited. That they were puzzled
+was evident; but as long as they remained inactive
+the scouts’ chances were increased.</p>
+
+<p>“Can we make it, Pard Cody?” muttered Texas
+Jack.</p>
+
+<p>“If the girl doesn’t suspect too quick.”</p>
+
+<p>“She’ll queer us&mdash;sure!”</p>
+
+<p>“I hope not,” and Buffalo Bill looked grave.</p>
+
+<p>“If she comes nearer we’ll have to do something,
+Bill&mdash;as sure as thunder she’s coming!”</p>
+
+<p>It was true. White Antelope had again spoken to
+her pony, and the animal leaped forward. She came
+from the left, and Texas Jack rode nearest her.</p>
+
+<p>“Keep on, Jack!” exclaimed Bill under his breath.</p>
+
+<p>He pulled back Buckskin and got around so as to
+ride between the supposed Indian chief and the girl.
+Instantly White Antelope seemed to suspect that all
+was not right. She raised her voice, crying in her
+native tongue:</p>
+
+<p>“Why does the great chief not speak to his child?
+Oak Heart, my father, it is I, your daughter, White
+Antelope, who calls you!”</p>
+
+<p>She was all the time riding nearer. There seemed
+no way to stop her, and she must soon be near enough<span class="pagenum">[37]</span>
+to observe that the supposed Oak Heart was a false
+Indian.</p>
+
+<p>Fortunately the tribesmen were some hundreds of
+yards away from the two scouts. But they heard something
+of what White Antelope said, and they began to
+move forward, murmuring among themselves. They
+did not for a moment suspect that this was not their
+great chief, but they believed that something was
+wrong with him, and that Pa-e-has-ka had Oak Heart
+in his power.</p>
+
+<p>“They’re coming, Cody!” whispered Texas Jack.
+“They’ll make a rush in a moment.”</p>
+
+<p>“Sign them again!” commanded Buffalo Bill. “It’s
+our only chance.”</p>
+
+<p>“Think it will work?”</p>
+
+<p>“It <em>must</em> work. We need a few moments more before
+we make a dash for the cañon.”</p>
+
+<p>“But that gal&mdash;&mdash;”</p>
+
+<p>“I’ll ’tend to her,” exclaimed Buffalo Bill. “Signal
+the reds to keep back.”</p>
+
+<p>Again Texas Jack raised his hands and made the
+well understood sign. But the Indians hesitated. They
+saw White Antelope still riding toward the supposed
+chief and the scout, crying to her father to answer her.</p>
+
+<p>“Keep on for the cañon, Jack!” muttered Buffalo
+Bill beneath his breath.</p>
+
+<p>He jerked his horse to one side, turning to meet the
+Indian maiden. As she rode down toward the scouts,
+her golden hair flying in the wind, her lips parted, her
+eyes shining, she was indeed a beautiful creature. Her
+beauty alone would have made any old Indian hunter
+withhold his hand. And Buffalo Bill had a deeper reason<span class="pagenum">[38]</span>
+for wishing no harm to befall the half-breed
+daughter of Oak Heart.</p>
+
+<p>“What is the white chief, Pa-e-has-ka, doing with
+Oak Heart?” the girl cried in Sioux, urging her pony
+toward the scouts.</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill was riding with the rein of the claybank
+horse lying upon its neck, and guiding him with his
+knees. His rifle lay across his saddle, the muzzle
+pointing in the direction of White Antelope as she rode
+near. He did not raise his voice, nor change the expression
+of his face, for the scout knew that he was
+being closely watched by the crowd of redskins in the
+background. But into his voice as he spoke he threw
+all the threatening, venimous tone of a madman thirsting
+for blood.</p>
+
+<p>“The White Antelope, like her father, Chief Oak
+Heart, is in my power. Do not make a single motion
+to show that you are startled, White Antelope, for if
+you do my first bullet shall be driven through your
+heart, and my second shall cleave the heart of your
+father!”</p>
+
+<p>These words, spoken with such wicked emphasis,
+seemed to come from a veritable fiend instead of the
+placid-looking white scout. The White Antelope’s
+great eyes opened wider, and she half stopped her
+pony.</p>
+
+<p>“None of that!” snapped Buffalo Bill in English,
+which he knew the girl understood quite well. “Make
+a false move at your peril&mdash;and at your father’s!”</p>
+
+<p>“My father&mdash;&mdash;” began the startled maiden gaspingly.</p>
+
+<p>“Ride closer. Keep beside me, Oak Heart! I forbid
+you speaking to your child!”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[39]</span></p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill’s commanding tone was most brutal.
+His eyes flashed into the Indian maiden’s own as
+though he meant every word of his recent threat. But
+the supposed Oak Heart’s shoulders shook. However,
+he kept his head turned religiously away from his
+“daughter.”</p>
+
+<p>The seconds were slipping by, and the scouts were
+approaching very near to the place where they would
+be obliged to turn sharply and make their dash for the
+cañon. Despite their bearing off so far toward the
+left, their course had been apparently toward the Indian
+lines.</p>
+
+<p>White Antelope, all the rich color receded from her
+cheeks, rode beside Buffalo Bill on his left hand. She
+was not only frightened by the scout’s threat, which he
+seemed to be able to fulfil, but she was puzzled at her
+father’s inaction and seeming helplessness. She tried
+to force her pony forward slyly so as to obtain a look
+at Oak Heart’s features.</p>
+
+<p>“None o’ that!” commanded Buffalo Bill in quite
+as brutal and threatening a tone as before.</p>
+
+<p>At the moment a wild yell rose from their rear&mdash;from
+the direction of the fort. The girl turned swiftly
+to look. And so surprised were the scouts to hear a
+disturbance in that direction, that they glanced around,
+too.</p>
+
+<p>Out of the gateway appeared a black horse, and on
+its back a figure in uniform and wide-brimmed hat.
+But as the horse dashed on the figure snatched off the
+uniform hat, displaying the long, flying hair of an Indian,
+and he broke into a shrill and terrible Indian
+war-whoop!</p>
+
+<p>On the heels of this another roar burst from the<span class="pagenum">[40]</span>
+fort, and out of the gateway piled a troop of mounted
+men&mdash;those soldiers that were first to get upon their
+horses to pursue the wily Oak Heart. The latter saw
+his daughter and knew her danger. Following his
+war-whoop, he shrieked a warning to White Antelope.
+She understood the words he uttered, although the
+scouts could not.</p>
+
+<p>The girl turned swiftly and saw Texas Jack’s
+painted face.</p>
+
+<p>“False paleface!” she cried. “You are not Oak
+Heart. The great chief is <em>there</em>!” and she pointed back
+at the flying figure on the black horse.</p>
+
+<p>“It’s all up, Cody!” cried Texas Jack.</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill leaned suddenly from his saddle and
+snatched from the maiden’s belt the revolver which she
+cherished above most of her possessions. He feared
+her ability to use this.</p>
+
+<p>“Off with you, Jack!” he cried. “Now’s our time!”
+and setting spurs to his claybank he raced after Texas
+Jack toward the opening of the defile which they had
+been so gradually and cautiously approaching.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">THE DASH OF THE SCOUTS.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>So interested had the officers and garrison of Fort
+Advance become in the attempt of the courageous
+scouts to reach the cañon entrance, that they had quite
+neglected to watch the king of the Sioux. That he
+understood fully the trick that Buffalo Bill and Texas
+Jack were attempting to play upon his people was
+proven by the outcome.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[41]</span></p>
+
+<p>The savage chief sat his black horse in motionless
+gloom, and as though his eyes saw nothing. Captain
+Edward Keyes had kept his file of men in the saddle
+ready to make a break from the fort should the scouts
+fall in need of some attempt at rescue. Otherwise,
+everybody was crowding forward to look out of the
+gate, or, from the platform and watch-towers, to view
+the work of the brave men who had gone from them.</p>
+
+<p>The black horse, on which Buffalo Bill had ridden
+so many times, but which he had now been obliged to
+abandon because of its age and the fact that he had
+been ridden too hard on one or two occasions, missed
+its master. It had seen Buffalo Bill and his companion
+ride out of the fort, and it desired to follow. Perhaps
+the horse did not approve of the Indian that now
+backed him.</p>
+
+<p>However it was, it danced about a good deal, and
+champed at the bit, and seemed to give the stoical chief
+considerable trouble. Twice it started for the gate, and
+the soldiers headed it off. Likewise Oak Heart drew
+it in hard with his hand on the bridle. It seemed as
+though the chief had no expectation of leaving the fort
+until his white captors were ready.</p>
+
+<p>But that was all the savage cunning of the chief. It
+was his cunning, too, perhaps, that made the horse so
+nervous. He doubtless slyly spurred him with his toe
+or heel, and kept the animal on the qui vive all the
+time.</p>
+
+<p>Oak Heart could follow Buffalo Bill and Texas Jack
+with his eyes, and he doubtless understood&mdash;now, at
+least&mdash;just what they were about. Suddenly the
+White Antelope came into view, riding like the wind
+down upon the two scouts. Oak Heart’s face did not<span class="pagenum">[42]</span>
+change a muscle, but just then his mount made a sidelong
+leap, and when he became manageable again the
+black charger was just within the open gateway.</p>
+
+<p>Several moments passed. The white men’s attention
+was strained upon the little comedy being enacted by
+the two scouts and the Indian maiden. They could
+not hear, of course, but they could imagine that the
+situation had become mighty “ticklish” for the scouts,
+knowing Buffalo Bill’s objection to injuring the Sioux
+maiden.</p>
+
+<p>It was at this minute that the black horse made a
+final charge through the gateway. Two men were
+knocked down, and Oak Heart threw himself over to
+one side of the galloping horse, shielding himself with
+its body from the guns of the surprised white men in
+the stockade.</p>
+
+<p>His wild yells had already apprised White Antelope
+of the deception. Buffalo Bill had disarmed her, and
+the two scouts spurred on toward the cañon.</p>
+
+<p>The hearts of the watching people at the fort were
+in their throats. A general cry of dread burst from
+them as they saw the Border King and Texas Jack
+turn abruptly toward the cañon. The Indians saw the
+act, too, but for a few seconds did not comprehend it.
+They were slower than White Antelope in understanding
+that the supposed warrior with Pa-e-has-ka was a
+white man in disguise, and that the person careering
+across the plain on the black charger was the real Oak
+Heart.</p>
+
+<p>The signals of Texas Jack in his character of Oak
+Heart had drawn many of the Indians away from the
+cañon’s mouth toward the place for which the supposed
+chief and Buffalo Bill seemed to be aiming.<span class="pagenum">[43]</span>
+There were very few left in the path of the reckless
+scouts. Yet those few must be settled with.</p>
+
+<p>There were no mounted warriors near the cañon entrance.
+The great scout had chosen his place of attack
+wisely. And there were few ponies in the vicinity, anyway&mdash;not
+over two dozen at the most. The earlier
+stampeding of the ponies had almost entirely dismounted
+Oak Heart’s braves. The ponies that might
+follow, should the scouts get through safely, neither
+of them feared, mounted as they were on such splendid
+animals.</p>
+
+<p>“Let ’em out, Jack!” cried Buffalo Bill, as they made
+directly for the cañon.</p>
+
+<p>“I hear you!” returned Texas Jack, smiling recklessly,
+and settling himself more firmly in his saddle.</p>
+
+<p>The two were off like frightened deer. For some
+moments the Indians were almost dumb with amazement.
+Then the war-whoop of Oak Heart was answered
+by wild cries from all about the field. The reds
+knew that the Border King had outwitted them, and as
+one man the mob of redskins made for the entrance to
+the cañon, firing as they ran.</p>
+
+<p>The scouts did not return the fire. They kept their
+bullets for targets nearer the path their horses followed.
+The nearer Indians were converging swiftly
+at the mouth of the cañon.</p>
+
+<p>Behind, and nearest to the scouts, came Oak Heart
+and White Antelope, who had waited to join her
+father. But neither of them were armed. When Buffalo
+Bill snatched the revolver from the girl’s belt he
+had made a good point in the game, for she was an
+excellent shot with the small gun&mdash;for an Indian.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly The Border King raised his rifle, and shot<span class="pagenum">[44]</span>
+after shot rang out. He fired at the Indians directly
+in front of him, gathering to bar the way. There were
+now a score of them near enough to be dangerous.</p>
+
+<p>The repeating rifle sang deadly music, for several of
+the braves fell. With the last shot from Buffalo Bill’s
+weapon, Texas Jack’s gun took up the tune and rattled
+forth the death notes. They were now close to the
+group of reds, and the shots forced the Indians to
+scatter.</p>
+
+<p>Instantly the scouts slung their guns over their
+shoulders and drew the big pistols from the saddle-holsters.
+With one of these in each hand, the scouts
+rode on.</p>
+
+<p>Theirs was indeed a desperate charge, and, although
+now hidden by the nature of the ground from the bulk
+of the Indians, the encounter was visible from the fort.</p>
+
+<p>The chorus of wild yells, the rattle of revolvers, the
+heavier discharges of the old muzzle-loaders of the
+redskins, and the resonant war-cries of the scouts
+themselves, were heard by the besieged. The Border
+King and Texas Jack were having the running fight of
+their lives. Would they get through alive?</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly a chorused groan arose from the white
+onlookers, while a shriek of exultation came from
+those Indians who saw the incident. Buffalo Bill’s
+horse gave a sudden convulsive leap ahead, then fell to
+his knees. The scout loosened his feet in the stirrups,
+and, as the brave Buckskin rolled over upon its side,
+dead, the scout stood upright, turning his revolvers on
+his foes. Texas Jack, on the white charger, tore on
+into the mouth of the cañon.</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill had emptied the pistols which he had
+carried in his saddle-holsters. Now, he stood beside<span class="pagenum">[45]</span>
+his dead horse, with the pistols drawn from his belt in
+either hand. He stood boldly at bay, and the redskins
+went down before his deadly aim.</p>
+
+<p>The redskins’ triumph was short-lived. Texas Jack,
+seeing his partner’s peril, turned his great white
+charger as quickly as might be. Back he rushed to
+Cody’s side.</p>
+
+<p>“Up with yuh, pard!” he shouted.</p>
+
+<p>He whirled the big horse again. With a leap, Buffalo
+Bill sprang up behind Texas Jack, his back to that
+of his partner, and again the horse was headed for the
+cañon’s mouth. The four revolvers of the scouts spit
+death into their foes at every jump of the horse.</p>
+
+<p>Those redskins who opposed the way either crumpled
+up and fell to the rocks or dodged behind the boulders
+for safety. It seemed as though their numbers were
+sufficient to make the scouts’ escape impossible; the
+odds against the white men were all of ten to one!</p>
+
+<p>But the redskins’ shooting was wild, while the accuracy
+of the white men’s aim was phenomenal. Many
+a red, just as he had drawn bead upon the scouts, was
+struck by a pistol ball, and either knocked over completely
+or his own shot diverted.</p>
+
+<p>The cheering of the garrison as they saw Texas
+Jack return for his partner inspired the scouts. The
+last Indian went down before them and was trampled
+under the hoofs of the charger that bore them both,
+and as they shot out of sight into the gloom of the
+cañon’s mouth Buffalo Bill removed his sombrero and
+waved it to the watchers on the fort stockade, while
+his well-known war-cry rang over the field of battle!</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<p><span class="pagenum">[46]</span></p>
+
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">THE ACE OF CLUBS.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>“We’ve got through, Jack!”</p>
+
+<p>“We sure have, Pard Cody.”</p>
+
+<p>“Anybody hurt?”</p>
+
+<p>“I got a couple of nicks from the pesky arrows,”
+said Omohondreau. “But, shucks! them Injuns can’t
+shoot with a white man’s gun worth a hoot in a rainwater
+barrel.... Yuh lost Buckskin, Cody.”</p>
+
+<p>“And sorry enough I am to lose the poor creature.
+He’s been a good nag.”</p>
+
+<p>“How about you, Pard Cody?”</p>
+
+<p>“A scratch from a bullet in my left shoulder. It’s
+bleeding a little, but I won’t stop to fool with it now.
+And I got four arrows through my clothes. Oh, we
+were lucky!”</p>
+
+<p>“Betcher life! We’ve been favored mightily.”</p>
+
+<p>“Thank God for it,” said Buffalo Bill devoutly. “I
+don’t expect often to come through two such circuses
+in one day&mdash;and have nothing worse to show for it.”</p>
+
+<p>“Right. Now, old man, what’s the program?”</p>
+
+<p>“Keep on. I don’t feel safe as long as we’re at the
+bottom of this hole in the hills.”</p>
+
+<p>“That’s all right. But we haven’t got but one
+horse&mdash;&mdash;”</p>
+
+<p>“I was thinking of that.”</p>
+
+<p>“And your thoughts?”</p>
+
+<p>“We can’t both ride this horse, good as he is, all the
+way to Fort Resistence.”</p>
+
+<p>“Right again!”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[47]</span></p>
+
+<p>“One of us must push on for help about as fast as
+the horse can go.”</p>
+
+<p>“Sure.”</p>
+
+<p>“There isn’t much danger of the reds following us
+far, for their ponies aren’t to be compared with this
+fellow&mdash;and they all know what he can do.”</p>
+
+<p>“Well?”</p>
+
+<p>“Then you’d better let me go on, as soon as we come
+to the creek ahead and shape ourselves up a bit, and
+you can scout around until I return with help from
+Fort Resistence.”</p>
+
+<p>“Pard Bill!”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes?”</p>
+
+<p>“They need every rifle they can git in the fort, yuh
+know.”</p>
+
+<p>“They certainly do.”</p>
+
+<p>“Scouting around yere all night, I can’t do much
+good, and that’s a fact.”</p>
+
+<p>“Very true, Jack! Very true.”</p>
+
+<p>“And I’ve got nothing to eat, while the maje and the
+folks at Advance will be mighty anxious tuh know if
+yuh got through all right&mdash;ain’t that so?”</p>
+
+<p>“Reckon you’re right, Jack.”</p>
+
+<p>“Then I’m goin’ to take a sneak back and try to git
+through the lines after dark.”</p>
+
+<p>“No, you won’t, Jack Omohondreau. I veto that.”</p>
+
+<p>“Put the kibosh on it, do yuh?” asked Jack, leering
+back at his partner over his shoulder.</p>
+
+<p>“I certainly do!”</p>
+
+<p>“Why, pard?”</p>
+
+<p>“There’s no danger going on now for help, so I’ll
+return to the fort myself, while you strike out for<span class="pagenum">[48]</span>
+Resistence and help. I got you into this. I’m not going
+to shoulder the heavy part of the job off onto you.”</p>
+
+<p>“That’s like you, Cody! Always lookin’ for trouble
+to git into yourself. But I’m going back.”</p>
+
+<p>“I say no,” replied Buffalo Bill firmly.</p>
+
+<p>“Now, see here!” exclaimed Jack, in some heat.
+“It’s my idea to go back, and I’m going.”</p>
+
+<p>“Well, you needn’t stop here,” laughed Cody, as
+Jack, in his excitement, brought the horse down to a
+walk.</p>
+
+<p>“You listen to reason!” exclaimed Texas Jack. “I
+speak the lingo all O. K.”</p>
+
+<p>“I admit that.”</p>
+
+<p>“And I’m already playing Injun.”</p>
+
+<p>“Pshaw! That may be, but I can soon change my
+colors.”</p>
+
+<p>“You’re as obstinate as a mule, Cody!”</p>
+
+<p>“See here, Jack, I admit that the folks need us back
+there at the fort, and one had better return, but I
+should be the one.”</p>
+
+<p>“Tell you what, pard!” exclaimed Jack, smitten with
+a sudden thought.</p>
+
+<p>“Well?”</p>
+
+<p>“We’ll draw lots to see who goes.”</p>
+
+<p>“I’ll beat you at that game, Jack!” cried Cody, with
+a laugh.</p>
+
+<p>“Don’t yuh crow too loud, old man,” said Texas
+Jack gaily. “When we git to the creek we’ll see who’s
+who!”</p>
+
+<p>“I’ll go you, for my luck is good.”</p>
+
+<p>“I’m sure a child of fortune myself,” laughed Jack.</p>
+
+<p>They soon reached the creek, which cut across the
+cañon at its widest part, spurting from under a ledge<span class="pagenum">[49]</span>
+on one side, and disappearing with a tinkle of falling
+water through a crack on the other&mdash;one of those underground
+streams often found in the Rockies, which
+only by chance ever come to the light of day.</p>
+
+<p>The scouts dismounted, making sure that all pursuit
+had been abandoned by their mounted foes, at
+least, and washed and dressed their slight wounds. In
+each man’s pouch was Indian salve, certain valuable
+herbs, dried, and bandages rolled for them by the
+women of Fort Advance. Your old frontiersman was
+no mean surgeon, and many a man to-day, whose early
+years were spent on the border, owes his life to some
+rough but prompt bit of surgery on the part of a pard
+with powder-stained fingers.</p>
+
+<p>“Now, we’ll draw lots to see who goes back,” said
+Cody. “Wish we had a pack of cards.”</p>
+
+<p>“I got what th’ boys call a Sing Sing Bible,” observed
+Texas Jack, drawing the pack from his pouch.</p>
+
+<p>“Good! We can’t take the time to play any game,
+but I’ll shuffle, you cut, and the one who holds the ace
+of clubs goes back to Advance.”</p>
+
+<p>“Agreed. Shuffle ’em good, old man&mdash;though I
+feel I’m going to win right now.”</p>
+
+<p>“You’re too cock-sure,” laughed Buffalo Bill.</p>
+
+<p>The scouts spoke in a light-hearted way, but each
+realized the terrible ordeal that might fall to the one
+who attempted to return to Fort Advance. Major
+Baldwin needed one of them as an adviser&mdash;and his
+rifle would be an acquisition as well, for both Buffalo
+Bill and Texas Jack were dead shots.</p>
+
+<p>The uncertainty and impatience of the entire garrison
+would be relieved, too, if they were informed that
+one of the scouts had gone on to Resistence and would<span class="pagenum">[50]</span>
+surely bring help the next day. This knowledge would
+put heart in the defenders of Fort Advance when the
+Indians attacked, as they surely would after nightfall.</p>
+
+<p>The cards were shuffled by the chief scout, and then
+he held them in his open palm. Texas Jack cut at a
+point about half-way down the pack. One after another
+the pasteboards were discarded, and Buffalo
+Bill had already displayed two aces, when suddenly his
+partner chuckled and slammed down another card, face
+up. It was the fatal card&mdash;the ace of clubs.</p>
+
+<p>“Got yuh that time, Pard Cody!” exclaimed Texas
+Jack in delight.</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill looked regretful, while his partner was
+triumphant.</p>
+
+<p>“I told yuh I was a child of fortune,” laughed Texas
+Jack.</p>
+
+<p>“I yield, old man,” said Cody. “May your luck
+carry you through in safety.”</p>
+
+<p>“I’ll git there&mdash;or the reds will know I tried,” said
+Jack with emphasis.</p>
+
+<p>“Aye, that they will. Now I must be off, Jack. The
+horse is rested, and he’s got a hard road to travel this
+night. I’ll be back with help as soon as possible.”</p>
+
+<p>“You ought to make it by morning with any kind
+of luck.”</p>
+
+<p>“I’ll do my best,” declared Buffalo Bill. “And now
+good-by, old pard! If you go under I’ll see that there
+are plenty of those red devils on the trail to the happy
+hunting grounds to make up for your loss.”</p>
+
+<p>They wrung each other’s hands, and, although the
+spoken word was light, the look in each man’s eyes
+showed a deeper feeling. Buffalo Bill walked quickly to
+where the great white horse was feeding, and, vaulting<span class="pagenum">[51]</span>
+into the saddle, the horse, without urging, started into
+his easy lope.</p>
+
+<p>Once the mounted scout looked back. Texas Jack
+stood in the middle of the trail looking more like an
+Indian chief than ever, he was so silent and stern of
+feature.</p>
+
+<p>They waved their hands briefly&mdash;a last farewell.
+Then the Border King disappeared around a turn in
+the trail, and Texas Jack prepared for his attempt,
+night now being not far away.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">FACING DEATH.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>Texas Jack had been a ranchman in Texas since
+early boyhood. His sentiments and affiliations were
+Southern, and when the war broke out he joined the
+Confederate Army as a scout. He was a reckless, daredevil
+fellow, yet high-minded, honorable to foe as well
+as friend. The noble blood of the Omohondreaus
+showed through the rough manner of the hardy frontiersman.</p>
+
+<p>It was Jack Omohondreau who came so near dealing
+an irreparable blow to the Northern cause by capturing
+President Lincoln and taking him South as a prisoner.
+How near the daring scout came to accomplishing this
+very thing nobody but those few Confederates in the
+secret&mdash;and possibly Lincoln himself&mdash;ever knew.</p>
+
+<p>However, when the Civil War was ended, Buffalo
+Bill, who had scouted for the other side, found Jack in
+Kansas, and it was through his influence that the young
+French-American was enlisted in the Federal Army.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[52]</span></p>
+
+<p>He was of cheery nature, fearless to recklessness,
+strong as a grizzly, and possessed of a handsome presence.
+Such was the man who had determined to return
+through the ring of enraged Sioux to give comfort and
+help to the besieged garrison of Fort Advance.</p>
+
+<p>He knew all that he had to risk, but, in his Indian
+disguise, and under cover of the early darkness, he
+hoped to accomplish his purpose. If captured by the
+redskins he well knew that death by the most frightful
+torture would be his portion. The Sioux hated him almost
+as fiercely as they hated Buffalo Bill.</p>
+
+<p>That he could speak their language was in Jack’s
+favor. And he knew that if he chanced upon any
+bunch of the reds a word or two might pass him
+through all right. Oak Heart had gathered several
+different branches of the tribe together, and many of
+the braves must be strangers to each other.</p>
+
+<p>The scout had already formed his plan of return to
+the fort. He had reloaded his rifle and revolvers, seen
+that his knife was still in its scabbard, and, after another
+long swig at the clear, running water and a
+tightening of his belt, Texas Jack climbed one side of
+the cañon with infinite caution. He could not return
+through the gorge itself, for he did not know how near
+pursuit might be. And he wormed his way up the
+steep ascent like a serpent, that he might not be observed
+from below.</p>
+
+<p>Night came upon him as he arrived on the summit
+of the timbered ridge. The forest was a tangled
+wilderness, but he knew how to pass through it without
+making the slightest disturbance, and, as he might
+come upon the Indians at any moment, he was glad of
+the darkness and the thicket. A few miles along this<span class="pagenum">[53]</span>
+ridge and he would come out upon a bluff that overlooked
+the valley in which Fort Advance was situated.</p>
+
+<p>He strode on lightly, yet swiftly&mdash;threading his way
+through the trackless forest with a confidence which
+brought him straight to his destination. And as yet
+he had not passed an Indian.</p>
+
+<p>The dash of the scouts into the cañon had drawn all
+the outposts from the hills, and the redskins were either
+guarding the lower passes, ringing the fort, or gathered
+about the camp-fires where the main encampment
+had been established.</p>
+
+<p>When Texas Jack came out upon the bluff he could
+see these camp-fires twinkling on the other side of the
+valley, although it was still light enough for him to
+see all who moved below him. The encampment was
+at the base of the southern hills, some two miles from
+the fort. Some half-hundred ponies were feeding in
+the valley, with the guards about them doubled. The
+loss of the bulk of the herd had been a severe blow to
+the redskins, and Texas Jack knew that the Indians
+would put forth every effort to retake them, should opportunity
+arise.</p>
+
+<p>Jack decided that Chief Oak Heart was probably at
+the encampment, counseling with his old men and the
+other chiefs regarding the next blow to be struck at
+Fort Advance. That plans of deviltry and cunning
+were being hatched the scout was certain.</p>
+
+<p>Then he thought of the Border King flying along
+the trail to Resistence for help, and he regained his
+courage.</p>
+
+<p>Awaiting with the stolid patience of a redskin for
+the night to deepen, the scout finally pursued his march<span class="pagenum">[54]</span>
+into the valley. He had carefully weighed all chances
+for and against his success. Now he was ready to take
+them.</p>
+
+<p>Night spread its wings over the valley. It hid its
+scars and wounds and the stark bodies of the dead, lying
+under the fortress walls. In the gloaming it might
+have been the most peaceful valley in all the Rockies.
+One coming upon it suddenly, and unwarned, would
+never have suspected the blood so recently spilled there
+and the threatening aspect of the situation at that very
+moment!</p>
+
+<p>Texas Jack stole down the declivity with a step as
+light as the fall of a leaf. The savage whom he imitated
+could have moved no more lightly, and as he
+came into the valley itself he crouched and crept along
+like a shadow.</p>
+
+<p>He knew that the red men would be moving about,
+passing and repassing each other, and keeping up a
+tightening circle about the fort. They would afford
+the opportunity for no other white man to escape from
+the fort if they could help it. But they moved about
+as silently as the scout himself, and as the redskin is
+notoriously silent, Texas Jack’s ears were of little good
+to him in this emergency.</p>
+
+<p>An Indian is not troubled by military accouterments
+to rattle as he walks; his moccasins are soundless, and
+he has schooled himself to endure all those little discomforts
+of body or environment that cause the white
+man to betray himself by either sound or movement.
+If a red warrior lay in wait for an enemy the flies and
+other insects might half eat him up without his betraying
+himself by a movement. He seldom has catarrhal
+affections of the throat, or if he does stifles the desire<span class="pagenum">[55]</span>
+to cough or sneeze. He has, indeed, his whole body
+and mind under perfect control.</p>
+
+<p>Therefore Texas Jack knew that the red men might
+be near&mdash;upon each side of him&mdash;in his very path, perhaps,
+yet they passed and repassed, silent as so many
+ghosts.</p>
+
+<p>Texas Jack crept but a short way from the base of
+the hill before he lay flat down in the weeds and brush.
+There was a big rock on his right hand, and he believed
+that that obstacle, looming up as it did in the
+gloom, would keep anybody from walking over him.</p>
+
+<p>His reason for lying there was easily understood.
+From the dark ground he could look upward and see
+any form passing between him and the lighter sky-line.
+He wished to get a line on the pacing to and fro of the
+sentinels. If there was any regularity regarding their
+beats, the scout might be able to time his passage so as
+not to be seen at all.</p>
+
+<p>For if his presence was discovered, although his
+dress and appearance might carry him through, still
+there was a grave danger that they would not. There
+might be some password, for the redskins were shrewd,
+or he might run against some chief going the rounds
+of his men to see that all were properly placed.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly a form seemed to rise out of the ground
+before the advancing scout. It stood a moment directly
+between him and the lighter sky-line. Then it
+passed on&mdash;silently as the wind over the grass.</p>
+
+<p>He heard a muffled grunt&mdash;a guttural Indian word&mdash;dropped
+by some invisible redskin in the direction the
+figure had disappeared. Then that, or another, sentinel
+returned and passed slowly across the line of Texas
+Jack’s vision. He was quite near the lines of sentinels,<span class="pagenum">[56]</span>
+and he determined to lie there and, if possible, time
+their coming and going before trying himself to get
+through.</p>
+
+<p>Once more the figure crossed the line of the scout’s
+vision. Texas Jack lay, scarcely moving in the grass,
+and with fingers on wrist counted his pulse while the
+Indian was in sight. In this way he learned something
+of the time it took for the sentinel to pace from end to
+end of his beat. He lay for some time and timed him
+back and forth to make sure that there was some regularity
+in the redskin’s actions.</p>
+
+<p>Then, at the right moment&mdash;as the sentinel passed
+out of view in one direction, Texas Jack darted forward
+like a serpent through the tall weeds. Although
+he ran on his feet and touched but one hand now and
+then to help retain his balance, the scout’s body could
+never have been seen above the waving tops of the
+grass and weeds.</p>
+
+<p>For several rods he ran in this way and then dropped
+down again, panting, hugging the earth, flattening his
+body upon it, and waiting with every nerve on the qui
+vive to discover if his actions had been noted.</p>
+
+<p>And well he knew that, if the sentinel had seen him,
+no shout&mdash;no sound&mdash;would be raised. The red would
+sneak up behind him, and his first audible sound would
+be the cry of triumph when the scalping-knife was
+plunged into the scout’s back!</p>
+
+<p>Jack twisted his neck to see back over his shoulder.
+After a moment the Indian sentinel appeared again.
+He walked upright. Jack could see his nodding topknot
+of feathers, and that he carried a gun of some
+kind. He passed on without even glancing in the
+scout’s direction.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[57]</span></p>
+
+<p>“Thanks be for that!” thought the scout. “Now,
+what’s ahead?”</p>
+
+<p>That the Sioux had but one ring of sentinels around
+the fort he knew was not the fact. There were two
+lines at least&mdash;possibly three. He raised his head like
+a turtle stretching from its shell and tried to pierce the
+gloom of the valley.</p>
+
+<p>And then it was that he suddenly beheld a tall figure
+standing motionless not far ahead of him and almost
+in his path. It was a chief of some importance from
+his war-bonnet, and he had perhaps been going the
+rounds of his sentinels. Now he stood motionless, his
+back to the scout, looking toward the fort, one elbow
+leaning upon a broken stub of a tree, the other hand
+holding his rifle, hanging idly by his side. The chief
+was evidently in a reverie&mdash;or was he listening? Had
+he heard the scout’s breathing&mdash;or some other sound
+that warned him of the white man’s presence?</p>
+
+<p>The question seared Texas Jack’s brain. It startled
+him to action. This was no moment for taking
+chances.</p>
+
+<p>He rose up like a shadow, and, with great, catlike
+strides, stole upon the statuelike Indian. It went
+against the grain for the scout to strike even a redskin
+from behind. Man to man and face to face in a fair
+struggle would have pleased Texas Jack better. But
+the entire success of his attempt to reach the fort depended
+upon the action of the next few seconds.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly the chief began to turn&mdash;with a jerking
+motion which showed that he was startled. Some instinct
+told him that there was an enemy at hand. Perhaps
+his lips were already opened to give a warning
+call.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[58]</span></p>
+
+<p>Like a stone from the sling the scout leaped forward&mdash;as
+the panther leaps! His knee found the small
+of the Indian’s back; his left had clutched his throat
+like a vise; his right drove his keen blade downward&mdash;<em>and
+home</em>!</p>
+
+<p>The redskin crumpled and fell without a sound upon
+the earth. Not even a cough or death-rattle proclaimed
+the passing of his spirit. And the number of seconds
+occupied in the killing were infinitesimal. One moment
+the red chief stood there leaning on the broken
+tree; the next Texas Jack, in his Indian garb, had
+taken his place and assumed his attitude!</p>
+
+<p>Unless some member of the tribe had been near
+enough to watch the chief continuously, this action of
+the scout’s was inspired. The chief had gone down
+and lay dead under his feet; the white man had taken
+his place, and for several moments, while he recovered
+his breath, he stood there in the exact attitude the real
+Indian had assumed in life.</p>
+
+<p>Carefully he scrutinized his surroundings as closely
+as might be for the gloom. He became aware at length
+that a warrior was stalking toward him from the left&mdash;undoubtedly
+one of the sentinels. This man came on,
+saw the supposed chief standing by the tree stub, and
+made a gesture as though he were saluting his superior.</p>
+
+<p>“Ugh!” muttered Texas Jack in an excellent imitation
+of an Indian guttural. He did not care to risk
+his Sioux intonation if he could help it.</p>
+
+<p>The sentinel went on. Texas Jack was about to
+change his position and make for the fort when he saw
+the sentinel who had just passed and another, returning.
+They would pass him very closely. Did they suspect?<span class="pagenum">[59]</span>
+Had the first brave become suspicious, and was
+he bringing the second to help him attack the supposed
+chief?</p>
+
+<p>The thought sent a chill to the heart of the courageous
+scout. It seemed to him that, thus early in the
+game, he had come to a death-struggle with the redskins!</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">BREAKING THROUGH THE RED CIRCLE.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>Slowly the two braves approached Texas Jack’s position.
+The scout dared not change his attitude&mdash;he
+could not afford to put the men on guard if they <em>were</em>
+still unsuspicious of him.</p>
+
+<p>His rifle-butt rested on the ground; his elbows leaned
+upon the tree stub; he stared straight across the valley
+to where the camp-fires twinkled, and to where two or
+three points of light, and the gloomy outline of the tall
+stockade, proclaimed the presence of the fort.</p>
+
+<p>Would the two warriors speak to him?&mdash;or would
+they respect his apparent reverie and pass on?</p>
+
+<p>Out of the corner of his eye Texas Jack watched the
+coming sentinels. Every muscle and nerve in his body
+was strained for a spring. He had made up his mind
+already what action he should take did the reds show
+that they meant to accost him.</p>
+
+<p>He did not wish to fire his gun and so call every
+Indian in that part of the valley to the spot. He
+gripped instead his rifle by the muzzle, and the instant
+one of those savages came within reach he would whirl
+up the gun and bring its stock with crushing force
+down upon the man’s head!</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[60]</span></p>
+
+<p>Then the knife for the second brave! That was all
+he could do. If he were not shot or tomahawked first,
+he could finish both of the reds without making much
+disturbance. The main difficulty would be to stifle
+their death-yells, as he had that of the chief at his feet.</p>
+
+<p>So he waited, his body sweating, although it was a
+chill night, uncertain as to what the warriors would do.
+They were talking in low tones; this in itself gave the
+scout some hope. Had they intended attacking him
+their plans would have been made before they came
+so near, and there would be no need of conversation.</p>
+
+<p>The seconds numbered as the warriors came on
+seemed centuries long to the scout. But at length he
+saw that they were passing him quietly. They glanced
+at him, but he stood haughtily aloof, and the braves
+were not encouraged by his manner to speak. He saw
+them go with a relief that almost unnerved him!</p>
+
+<p>He could not risk their coming back. The instant
+they were out of sight the scout stooped, stripped the
+dead man of his gun, bow and arrows, and knife, and
+in a crouching position ran agilely forward to where a
+clump of young trees loomed up in the path, a hundred
+yards to the front.</p>
+
+<p>There he dropped down and lay a moment, listening.
+Not a sound from those behind; not a sound from any
+redskins before him. Had he at last gotten through
+the lines completely?</p>
+
+<p>He could not really believe this good fortune was his
+so easily. He stood up at last and peered all about.
+And suddenly, just as he was about to move forward
+once more toward the fort, he heard the stamp of a
+pony’s hoof on the other side of the clump of trees!</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[61]</span></p>
+
+<p>The sound dropped Texas Jack to the ground like a
+rifle-shot. Had he been seen by the rider of the pony?
+Or did the pony have a rider? It might be one escaped
+from the herd and roaming at will about the valley.</p>
+
+<p>The pony stamped again. There was no other
+sound.</p>
+
+<p>“I’ve got tuh find out what’s doin’ there before I
+make another break,” muttered the scout. “And here
+goes!”</p>
+
+<p>The thicket was a closely woven one. Did he try to
+pass through it with his guns and other accouterments
+he might make some disturbance. So he left everything
+but his pistols, knife, and the bow and arrows
+he had taken from the dead chief on the ground, and
+began to worm his way through the brush-clump.</p>
+
+<p>Once he made some little noise by catching a part of
+his clothing on a brittle branch. Instantly he halted
+and made the squeaking grunt of the porcupine. His
+imitation of animals was perfect, and a porcupine
+might easily be on the still hunt in the thicket-patch.</p>
+
+<p>The pony did not change its position. Jack knew.
+So, after a moment of waiting, the scout risked moving
+on. He came finally to the edge of the brush, and
+there the horse stood&mdash;not three yards away from him!</p>
+
+<p>And from where he crouched the scout could see
+more than the bulk of the pony’s body against the sky-line.
+It was bestrode by an Indian in head-dress and
+blanket. It was doubtless one of the chiefs who had
+started to ride around the fort. Would he ride on and
+not suspect the presence of the white man in the
+bushes?</p>
+
+<p>But perhaps, in his nervousness, Texas Jack had not<span class="pagenum">[62]</span>
+imitated the porcupine true enough to satisfy the keen
+ear of the Indian. Or else the porcupine’s grunt was a
+private signal between this chief and his own men.</p>
+
+<p>However, Texas Jack saw the redskin force his pony
+nearer the thicket, and he heard its rider twitter like a
+bird disturbed at night in its nest.</p>
+
+<p>“Old man, you’ve got the best of me!” thought the
+scout. “I can’t answer that signal, for I don’t know
+what the answer <em>is</em>. It’s a bad thing for you!”</p>
+
+<p>There was no time for hesitation. Again the scout
+had to take life or be killed himself. The scout was a
+good shot with the bow and arrows as he was with rifle
+or pistol. And he must use a silent weapon to get rid
+of this foe.</p>
+
+<p>It was too far to leap with his knife. The bow and
+arrows of the dead chief came in handy. In a flash
+the crouching scout fitted an arrow to the bowstring
+and drew the shaft to its head. There he waited, still
+as a graven image, until the horse and rider were almost
+upon him.</p>
+
+<p>Then he let drive the arrow. It sped with fearful
+force, aimed at the throat of the red chieftain that all
+death-cry might be stilled.</p>
+
+<p>True was the aim and fatal the shot. The arrow
+penetrated the Indian’s throat, and its head stuck out a
+hand’s breadth at the back of his neck. Without a
+sound the Indian toppled from the pony’s back.</p>
+
+<p>The horse snorted and sprang forward. His escape
+might have been as dire a calamity for the scout as the
+death-yell of the chieftain. If the pony dashed away
+across the valley, the sentinels would surely be aroused.</p>
+
+<p>But the animal made but one leap. Like a shadow
+Texas Jack leaped up and caught the rawhide bridle<span class="pagenum">[63]</span>
+which had been snatched from the dead man’s hand.
+He brought the pony to an abrupt halt. Instantly he
+swung himself upon the bare back of the animal, well
+used to riding Indian fashion, and guided him to the
+other side of the thicket, leaving the chief where he had
+fallen. He did not stop to strip him of his arms; he
+had quite all he could carry, and he wanted his own
+rifle.</p>
+
+<p>All seemed to have gone well, and it looked to the
+scout at that moment as though the way before him to
+the fort was clear sailing. But just as he was congratulating
+himself on this belief a wild and ear-splitting
+yell arose on the night, and from a spot not far in his
+rear. First one voice and then another took up the
+yell&mdash;it was the warning of the red man when he finds
+the trail of the secret enemy!</p>
+
+<p>Texas Jack knew well what it meant. The first Indian
+he had killed, and whose place beside the dead
+tree he had taken, had been found by the sentinels.
+They knew that some shrewd enemy had been at work,
+and their yells aroused the braves all over the valley.</p>
+
+<p>The cries told the redskins as plainly as words that
+some white man was trying to break through their
+lines. Major Baldwin had thrown a line of sentinels
+outside the stockade, and these heard the cries and understood
+as well. They passed back the word that
+either Buffalo Bill or Texas Jack was coming.</p>
+
+<p>And so the scout was coming&mdash;on the back of the
+half-wild Indian pony. The danger behind him was
+great, nor was that still ahead slight. Some of the
+young braves, eager for scalps, had crept forward in
+the darkness, hoping to shoot some white man on the
+towers, or one that ventured beyond the stockade walls.<span class="pagenum">[64]</span>
+As the war-whoop was raised these young braves
+started back for their lines on the jump.</p>
+
+<p>One of them saw the scout coming up the hill at full
+speed. Although Texas Jack was still in Indian dress,
+the warrior decided that no honest redskin would be
+riding in that direction at such a pace!</p>
+
+<p>He fired suddenly. So did the scout. The aim of
+both was true, for the Indian’s bullet killed the pony
+Jack was riding, and Jack’s bullet killed the Indian
+himself.</p>
+
+<p>Although badly shaken by his fall from the pony’s
+back, Texas Jack was on his feet in an instant and was
+running at topmost speed for the fort. He suspected
+that there would be a line of sentinels outside the stockade,
+and he raised his voice as he ran:</p>
+
+<p>“Hold on, men; it’s Texas Jack! Don’t shoot!”</p>
+
+<p>A cheer was the answer from the fort, while the
+Indians in the rear who heard uttered their war-whoop
+again and fired a scattering volley in the direction of
+the scout’s voice. But he was not hit, and, a few minutes
+later, he passed in through the gateway of the fort.</p>
+
+<p>Proud of his deed, as he had good reason to be, he
+shouted:</p>
+
+<p>“Slightly disfigured, boys, but still in the ring!”</p>
+
+<p>The commander greeted the scout joyfully, but with
+his next breath asked anxiously:</p>
+
+<p>“But Cody?”</p>
+
+<p>“Is a long way on his ride to Resistence, sir.”</p>
+
+<p>A cheer greeted this reply.</p>
+
+<p>“Thank God for that good news! I trust you were
+not hurt on your way, Jack, though you <em>did</em> raise a
+merry rumpus in the Indian camps.”</p>
+
+<p>“Well, now! Didn’t they turn loose for a few minutes,<span class="pagenum">[65]</span>
+sir? But I got only a shake-up, for I got too
+proud to walk, and the pony I cabbaged took a header
+with an Injun bullet in him. Somebody got worse
+hurt than I did, though, and I’m not kicking a little
+bit, as luck came my way.”</p>
+
+<p>“And it came our way, too, Jack! We’re mighty
+glad to have you back.”</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, that was my luck, too!” said Jack, laughing.
+“Buffalo was bound to come and send me on to Resistence
+with the news, but I wouldn’t hear to it, and
+finally we drew lots and I won.”</p>
+
+<p>“Next to Cody himself you’re the man I want,” declared
+Major Baldwin; “for, although all my officers
+and men are true as steel&mdash;and able, too&mdash;your experience
+is worth much, not to speak of the value of your
+rifle. Your coming and the knowledge that Cody has
+got through all right gives us a new lease of life.”</p>
+
+<p>The major’s praise tinged the bronzed cheek of the
+scout with blushes, and he hurried away to remove his
+war-paint and to change into more civilized garments.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">THE RIDE TO THE RESCUE.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>The Border King, after leaving Texas Jack in the
+cañon, did not spare the white horse he rode, for he
+was riding to save many human lives.</p>
+
+<p>He had known this horse when he was the favorite
+steed of Colonel Nelson A. Miles, and the scout well
+knew the endurance of which the horse was capable.</p>
+
+<p>The creature had been captured by Oak Heart, the
+king of the Utah Sioux, in an attack on a military<span class="pagenum">[66]</span>
+camp, and Colonel Miles had told Cody to try and get
+him back from his Indian master.</p>
+
+<p>“I hate to think of the old fellow being handled by
+that red scamp. Get him back, Cody, and he’s yours,”
+the colonel had told the scout.</p>
+
+<p>And now Buffalo Bill had the long-barreled, strong-limbed
+racer under him, and he was proving himself
+as fleet as a deer and as tireless as a hound.</p>
+
+<p>“The colonel used to call you Runaway, I remember,”
+said the scout, talking aloud to the handsome
+creature, and patting the side of his neck with a tender
+hand, “and what Oak Heart christened you I don’t
+know, but I shall call you after your redskin master,
+and it shall be Chief.”</p>
+
+<p>The horse snorted and tossed his head as though he
+understood what was being said to him, and hour after
+hour, mile after mile, he kept up his steady lope&mdash;that
+long, free canter that takes the Western range horse
+over so long a trail in so short a time.</p>
+
+<p>Darkness fell soon after Cody rode away from Texas
+Jack. He hoped to reached the military post for which
+he aimed before midnight. And he was not mistaken.
+The new day had not commenced when the scout on his
+white charger thundered up to the gates of Fort Resistence.</p>
+
+<p>“Halt! Who comes here?” rang out the sentinel’s
+challenge.</p>
+
+<p>“All right, pard! This is Scout Cody with an urgent
+message for the commander. Let me in!”</p>
+
+<p>“By thunder! Is it really you, Buffalo Bill?” cried
+the sentinel over the gate.</p>
+
+<p>“What’s left of me after about the hardest day’s
+work of my life.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[67]</span></p>
+
+<p>“Injuns?”</p>
+
+<p>“And a-plenty of them. Hurry up, old man! This
+is no place for gossip,” urged the scout.</p>
+
+<p>“Wait till I call the corporal,” exclaimed the curious
+sentinel. Then:</p>
+
+<p>“Corporal of the guard! Corporal of the guard!
+Rouse up, corporal! There’s somebody at the gate!”</p>
+
+<p>Half the garrison was aroused by the shouting. The
+corporal came on the run, saw who it was without, and
+let the scout and his dripping horse within.</p>
+
+<p>“Injuns, sure, Cody?” asked those who were awake.</p>
+
+<p>“Fort Advance has been surrounded for three days
+by a thousand red devils under Oak Heart!” exclaimed
+Cody to the officer on duty. “I must see Colonel Royal
+at once.”</p>
+
+<p>The commander of the fort had gotten out of bed
+already, and he received the scout in his nightshirt.</p>
+
+<p>“Is this true, Cody?” he cried. “Is Major Baldwin
+threatened?”</p>
+
+<p>“Why, sir, your scouts must have been hived up for
+a week past if they haven’t seen Injun signs,” said
+Cody earnestly. “For three days the Sioux have held
+the garrison of Fort Advance prisoners, and five men
+have been killed trying to get to you. They’re pretty
+nearly out of ammunition.”</p>
+
+<p>“My God, Cody! You astonish me. I’ve had the
+scouts working through the country on the other side,
+trusting to hear from you if anything went wrong in
+the direction of Advance.”</p>
+
+<p>“I’ve been to Denver, sir. Just got back to-day. I
+managed to run in half a packload of ammunition that
+I had cached, and then Texas Jack and I got through
+the lines again late this afternoon and&mdash;here I am!”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[68]</span></p>
+
+<p>“Texas Jack! He’s not killed, I hope?”</p>
+
+<p>“I don’t know. The reckless fellow <em>would</em> try to go
+back to cheer the fort with the news that I had got
+away safely.”</p>
+
+<p>“That’s enough now, Bill. You’ll get something to
+eat, and if you are going back with the men I
+send&mdash;&mdash;”</p>
+
+<p>“You bet I am. I got a fellow to rub Chief down,
+and he’ll be good for it.”</p>
+
+<p>“Your horse? Well, I’m off to see things prepared.”</p>
+
+<p>The energetic commander at once ordered his adjutant
+to call out two troops of cavalry, mount two companies
+of infantry, and, with a couple of light guns, to
+start to the reenforcement of Fort Advance. Extra
+supplies and ammunition were to be taken in ambulances.</p>
+
+<p>Captain Alfred Taylor, of the Fifth Cavalry, was
+given command of the expedition, and ordered to start
+within the hour. They tried to get Cody to take some
+rest, for more than twenty-four hours the scout had
+been active, most of the time in the saddle, and part of
+the time fighting for his very life, but he was determined
+to go back with the party of reenforcements.</p>
+
+<p>When it pulled out from Post Resistence Buffalo
+Bill rode ahead as guide, while half a dozen of Colonel
+Royal’s scouts went along to guard the flanks, and to
+clear out the cañon when they came to it. Cody felt
+that Oak Heart, knowing that the white men had got
+through his lines and were probably making for Resistence,
+might send a part of his force forward to meet
+any rescue party coming to the aid of the garrison of
+Fort Advance.</p>
+
+<p>And the <a id="Ref_69" href="#Ref_69a">wise scout</a> had not been mistaken in this.<span class="pagenum">[69]</span>
+Perhaps one reason why Texas Jack had succeeded so
+easily in returning to Fort Advance was because the
+king of the Sioux had drawn off quite three hundred
+of his braves for special duty, and sent them along the
+track toward Fort Resistence.</p>
+
+<p>The easiest and shortest trail between the two forts
+was through the cañon, and this Oak Heart well knew.
+He ordered the chiefs in charge of the three hundred
+to ambush the rescue-party near the entrance to the
+cañon at the other end, and not long before Cody and
+the other scouts, riding ahead of Captain Taylor’s command,
+came within shouting distance of the cañon the
+bloodthirsty savages were hidden among the rocks and
+trees on the sloping sides, ready to pour a deadly fire
+into the band of rescuers when they came along the
+trail beneath them.</p>
+
+<p>While yet the scouts were some distance from the
+cañon something startled them ahead. Tearing along
+the trail toward them came a herd of deer, frightened
+from their night’s lair by something untoward.</p>
+
+<p>“Now, what under the canopy started <em>them</em> to running?”
+asked Cody, who never let anything go past
+him unexplained.</p>
+
+<p>“Wolves, it’s likely,” said one of the Resistence
+scouts named Judd.</p>
+
+<p>“Haven’t heard a wolf howl to-night,” declared Buffalo
+Bill.</p>
+
+<p>“You’re right there, pard,” said another scout, Barney
+by name.</p>
+
+<p>“And there was no critter on the trail of those white-tails,”
+said a third man.</p>
+
+<p>“That means Injuns, then,” declared Barney.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[70]</span></p>
+
+<p>“I reckon you’re right, boys,” said the Border King.
+“Let’s see. Those deer came directly from the cañon.”</p>
+
+<p>“You bet they did.”</p>
+
+<p>“Something doing there, then, boys.”</p>
+
+<p>“I reckon you’re right, Buffler.”</p>
+
+<p>“Here, Barney, you ride back and tell Captain Taylor
+to halt his column. Judd, you and I leave our
+horses here and go ahead to reconnoiter. Savvy?”</p>
+
+<p>“Sure!”</p>
+
+<p>Barney rode back. Judd and Buffalo Bill discarded
+their mounts and went ahead afoot.</p>
+
+<p>Oak Heart was a born general, and, like old Colorow,
+of the Utes, displayed abilities in planning his
+campaigns that placed him head and shoulders above
+the average redskin chieftain. There have been few
+great warriors among the red Indians. Red Jacket,
+Black Eagle, Tecumseh, Colorow, and a few others
+have possessed unnatural characteristics for redskins,
+and that is why they left their mark on Indian history.</p>
+
+<p>And Oak Heart had sufficient control over his warriors
+to make them do something which above all
+things a redskin hates. He made them fight at night!</p>
+
+<p>Now, the Indian is a spiritualist of the most pronounced
+breed. By day the spirits of the dead, and
+those powerful beings which he believes control men’s
+affairs, sleep; by night these supernatural beings walk
+abroad, and no Southern darky is more afraid of seeing
+a ghost than a redskin. The medicine chiefs, who
+are, most of them, a set of unconscionable fakers,
+foster this belief in ghosts and evil spirits and so prey
+on the tribes.</p>
+
+<p>Indians often select the hour just before dawn to
+strike their enemies, because at that time man usually<span class="pagenum">[71]</span>
+sleeps more deeply. But to make a forced march and
+lay an ambuscade in the middle of the night&mdash;well,
+this proved Oak Heart’s mastery of his tribe. Buffalo
+Bill suspected that the herd of deer had been frightened
+by something more than a single redskin&mdash;or a
+small scouting-party of them. He knew Oak Heart’s
+abilities and respected them. Rash as the scout might
+be at times, he never took foolish chances. To lead
+the rescue-party into the head of the cañon might
+bring it to complete ruin.</p>
+
+<p>“Judd! you take the west side of that gorge, and I’ll
+go east,” he commanded his brother scout.</p>
+
+<p>“How’ll I communicate? Signal?”</p>
+
+<p>“No! If there are many of the reds they have already
+frightened away most of the small animals that
+we might imitate, and to give a bird-call would utterly
+ruin us. No bird will be waking up at this time
+o’ night&mdash;ugh!”</p>
+
+<p>“Well, what then?” demanded the other.</p>
+
+<p>“Never mind what you find, keep still. Meet me
+here&mdash;in twenty minutes if possible; not later than half
+an hour from now, at most.”</p>
+
+<p>“Half an hour?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yep. And remember, a confounded lot can happen
+in half an hour,” added Cody, with a chuckle.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">A BUSY HALF-HOUR.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill had spoken a truer word than he
+thought. A great deal may happen in thirty minutes,
+and the Border King, as he separated from his brother<span class="pagenum">[72]</span>
+scout, was unconsciously approaching a series of startling
+and perilous happenings.</p>
+
+<p>The moment the darkness had wiped Judd out of
+sight the wary scout turned eastward from the trail.
+The brush was thick and hung heavy with the dew of
+the mountains&mdash;and that might as well be rain. Every
+twig he touched communicated to its parent branch a
+shiver that showered him like a patent bath. He kept
+the lock of his magazine rifle under his armpit, pulled
+down the brim of his sombrero to shield his face, and
+walked swiftly on for some few yards. Yet he made
+wonderfully little noise.</p>
+
+<p>Having begun to climb rising ground, he here bore
+off toward the gorge, or cañon. If Oak Heart had
+laid an ambush there, the reds would be hiding in the
+brush, behind logs, and sheltered by boulders, all along
+the sidehills for some hundreds of yards. Buffalo Bill
+proposed to make a wide enough détour to get well behind
+the ambushed foe.</p>
+
+<p>By chance, however, he came suddenly upon a slope
+of gravel and sand, and stepped upon it before he
+realized the shifting nature of the soil. A stream of
+small pebbles began rattling down the hill!</p>
+
+<p>Instantly Buffalo Bill learned that his suspicions
+had been well founded. The Indians were there.</p>
+
+<p>He heard a startled grunt below him. Then in
+Sioux a voice asked a brief question.</p>
+
+<p>“Bear?” returned a second Indian.</p>
+
+<p>There was a sound as though one of the speakers
+had risen from his place. Buffalo Bill cast his mind
+quickly over the situation. The suggestion that a bear
+might be lurking about the sidehill seemed the most<span class="pagenum">[73]</span>
+reasonable. A bear is notably a blundersome beast,
+and the wind was not from the ambushed redskins.
+The scout grasped the idea.</p>
+
+<p>He sent another small avalanche of gravel down the
+slope, and then floundered a bit in the brush. His
+ability to imitate the voices of birds and animals
+was very keen; but it is not easy to imitate the gruff,
+startled “woof!” of the marauding bear. However,
+he essayed it and then stamped away up the hill
+through the brush, making a deuce of a clatter till he
+reached an open space. He hoped that the reds would
+take his play-acting in good faith; yet he could not
+help having his doubts. He considered that, had he
+been in their place, he would have felt strong doubt
+regarding the validity of the sound, and would have
+investigated.</p>
+
+<p>Therefore he slipped behind an enormous tree trunk
+at the edge of this opening and waited to see if the
+supposed bear would be followed. Minute after minute
+passed, and a deathlike silence reigned upon the
+hillside. Buffalo Bill was wasting time, but he was
+too wary to approach closer to the Indians&mdash;near
+enough to learn their numbers at least&mdash;until he was
+assured that his first mistake had not borne perilous
+fruit.</p>
+
+<p>Sharp as his hearing was, however, he did not hear
+a footfall, or a breath; yet of a sudden a figure was
+silhouetted before him against the open space in the
+forest. An Indian stood there with folded arms, his
+back to the scout, and facing the clearing!</p>
+
+<p>One of the reds whom Cody had disturbed was not
+satisfied with the imitated retreat of the frightened
+“bear.” He had come to investigate and stood now<span class="pagenum">[74]</span>
+almost within striking distance of the scout. But the
+latter feared to shoot him, of course; nor did he trust
+to a fling of his tomahawk, or knife. There were too
+many uncertainties about either of those methods of
+removing the redskin. To steal from behind the tree
+and spring upon him was another difficult thing, for
+the ground was strewn with rustling leaves and twigs,
+and the scout feared to announce his approach.</p>
+
+<p>To his disgust, too, the Indian turned and began
+searching about the edge of the forest. Cody saw him
+step cautiously behind two trees and stick the muzzle
+of the old-fashioned musket he bore into a brush-clump.
+The red was trying to learn if the creature
+that had made all that “catouse” was still in the vicinity.</p>
+
+<p>Instantly the scout glanced about in the gloom for a
+means of hiding himself more surely. In a minute
+the red would come his way.</p>
+
+<p>Directly above his head he saw a branch. He
+slipped the strap of his rifle over his head and shoulder,
+thus leaving his hands free, seized the branch, and
+drew himself up carefully as an acrobat does when
+he “chins” the horizontal bar. Without a sound, or
+the rattle of a button or an accouterment, the scout
+drew himself into the tree. Three branches sprang
+from the butt low down, so furnishing him a splendid
+nest.</p>
+
+<p>He removed his gun and stood it upright, wedged
+in a niche. Then he lay down along the lower branch,
+his body in the darkness merely adding a darker
+shadow to it, and watched and listened. No mountain
+cat was better ambushed for a foe. His guns he loosened
+in their scabbards, and then, drawing his bowie,<span class="pagenum">[75]</span>
+he stuck it softly into the branch within easy reach of
+his hand.</p>
+
+<p>At that instant there was a soft rustling in the leaves
+which covered the ground below. Cody craned his
+neck to see. The Indian in a stooping posture came
+into view. He halted directly under the limb on which
+the scout lay. It seemed too dark for him to see any
+mark that the scout might have left, yet he seemed
+wonderfully interested in the tree and the ground beneath
+it.</p>
+
+<p>Cody could see the outline of his figure very well
+indeed. How much sharper the red’s vision might be
+he did not know; but he was not taking any chances.
+He noted that the red scamp faced the tree trunk and
+was apparently examining the rough bark for recently
+broken places. Was it possible that the fellow was
+really stumbling upon the truth&mdash;that a man had
+climbed this tree? Or was he feeling for the marks of
+a bear’s claws?</p>
+
+<p>However, Cody decided the red had gone far
+enough. Besides, the fellow was temptingly near.
+He was a small, wiry man weighing little more than a
+hundred pounds.</p>
+
+<p>Cody stooped suddenly, and both his muscular hands
+clutched the Indian around the neck&mdash;one before, one
+behind. And with this awful grip&mdash;which cut short
+any attempt to breathe, let alone to cry out&mdash;he lifted
+the redskin off his feet!</p>
+
+<p>As was only natural, the red dropped his gun and
+clutched with both hands at the hand which pinched
+his windpipe. He kicked vainly for freedom. Before
+he could drop his hand to his knife and draw that,
+Cody jerked him upward till the top of his head struck<span class="pagenum">[76]</span>
+with fearful force against the under side of the tree
+branch. He could actually hear the redskin’s crown
+crack!</p>
+
+<p>The foe’s hands dropped limply; yet Cody held on
+and squeezed his throat for a minute longer. Then
+he dropped the fellow like a bag of bones to the
+ground.</p>
+
+<p>In a moment he seized his own rifle and dropped
+lightly beside him. The Indian had not stirred; he
+was without doubt dead. Cody took his weapons and
+removed his scalp, and went his way with some confidence
+that there was certainly one more “good” Indian.</p>
+
+<p>He dodged the gravel bank this time, and came
+down the side of the cañon at another point&mdash;some
+rods beyond that at which he had found the first of the
+reds established. There were fewer trees here, and,
+looking from above, the scout was able to observe considerable
+of the more open hillside. Dark as the night
+was, he saw several forms crouching behind stumps
+and boulders.</p>
+
+<p>He made a further détour, came down the hill again,
+and found the same conditions. On this side of the
+trail the Indians were extended along the hillside for
+five hundred yards and more. It was a big ambushing
+party. Cody reckoned it to be no less than two hundred
+braves at the least, and probably more. Captain
+Taylor’s command was not prepared to meet such a
+foe&mdash;especially when the foe would have every advantage
+of cover.</p>
+
+<p>Had it not been so dark, or had Cody known the
+ground better, a flank movement might have been made
+which would have overwhelmed the reds. But this<span class="pagenum">[77]</span>
+would have taken much time, too, and, meanwhile,
+the garrison at Fort Advance was in sore need of reenforcements.</p>
+
+<p>Cody returned swiftly to the rendezvous he had appointed
+with Judd, to learn what that individual had
+discovered upon the other side of the cañon.</p>
+
+<p>Now, the warriors lay very silently indeed in their
+ambuscade, but three hundred men cannot be in a small
+place like that together without making some sounds.
+Judd, too, discovered the ambush, although he did
+not know just how many Indians were awaiting the
+coming of the bluecoats.</p>
+
+<p>“There’s a good bunch of them. Perhaps Oak
+Heart has drawn off half his gang,” said Cody.
+“We’ve got to fool ’em, Judd.”</p>
+
+<p>They hurried back to the group of scouts, and there
+Cody issued his instructions. Judd and three others
+were to watch the Indians as well as possible. Meanwhile
+Cody proposed to ride back and meet Captain
+Taylor’s command and take them, by another way, to
+the valley in which Fort Advance was situated.</p>
+
+<p>Cody rode back in haste and reported the danger
+ahead.</p>
+
+<p>“We are able to handle five hundred redskins,
+Cody,” said the officer, eager for a fight.</p>
+
+<p>“But not when they are established on both sides of
+the trail and it is dark and the forest is too thick for
+you to maneuver horses. No, no, captain! Be advised
+by me.”</p>
+
+<p>“I suppose you are right, Cody.”</p>
+
+<p>“And, besides, you will be able to deliver a heavier
+blow <a id="Ref_77" href="#Ref_77a">to</a> Oak Heart’s gang if you fall upon them unexpectedly;<span class="pagenum">[78]</span>
+and then, when these ambuscaders rush in,
+you’ll be ready to cut them to pieces, too.”</p>
+
+<p>“Right you are, scout. You are sure of the way?”</p>
+
+<p>“Confident. It’s a bit rough, but I could find it with
+my eyes bandaged.”</p>
+
+<p>“Lead on, then, scout.”</p>
+
+<p>“And no bugle-calls,” warned Cody. “Pass the
+word to the men. We don’t want these reds, waiting
+in the cañon, to suspect that we are stealing a march
+on them.”</p>
+
+<p>Fortunately, the troops did not have to take the back
+track. The path by which the Border King was to
+lead them to their destination branched off this main
+trail into the hills. Over the rough way they rode, and
+soon the eastern sky began to grow gray. Dawn was
+approaching, and the increased light made the path
+vastly easier of traveling.</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill and Captain Taylor rode some distance
+ahead of the troops. The cavalry could go only as
+fast as the guns and ambulances could keep up, so the
+band moved necessarily slow.</p>
+
+<p>They came at last almost within sight of Fort Advance.
+A low ridge shut out their view of the valley.
+Suddenly the cool morning breeze brought to them a
+great shouting and hullabaloo, intermingled with rifle-shots
+and the intermittent discharge of heavy guns.</p>
+
+<p>“An attack!” exclaimed the captain and the scout
+together, and they spurred their horses to the top of
+the ridge.</p>
+
+<p>It was true. Oak Heart had chosen the hour before
+dawn as the time to throw his remaining warriors
+against the stockade. He believed that about this time
+the rescue-party would be falling into the trap he had<span class="pagenum">[79]</span>
+laid for it in the cañon. He would keep both bands of
+white men so busy that they could not go to each
+other’s rescue.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly the heavy guns ceased. There was only
+the occasional snapping of rifles from the fort.</p>
+
+<p>“My God, Cody! What does that mean?” gasped
+Captain Taylor.</p>
+
+<p>“Their ammunition has run out!” cried the scout.
+“I adjure you, captain, bring up your men at a double-quick.
+The next few minutes may settle the question
+as to whether those red devils get the scalps of every
+man, woman, and child in the fort! There is not an
+instant to lose, sir!”</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">A FLYING FIGHT.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>Captain Taylor saw the desperate need of help for
+the unfortunate inmates of Fort Advance quite as
+clearly as did Buffalo Bill, but his men were in heavy
+marching order, and there were the artillery and ambulances
+to be thought of, too. The column was strung
+out along the trail for two miles.</p>
+
+<p>“It will take some time to bring the men up and
+form in line of battle, Cody,” declared Captain Taylor.</p>
+
+<p>“And meanwhile Oak Heart will throw his entire
+force over those palisades!” cried the scout. “By the
+time we deploy into the valley there’ll be no garrison,
+and the red devils can turn their attention to us. The
+firing will call up the gang from the cañon, and we’ll
+be between two fires.”</p>
+
+<p>“It can’t be helped&mdash;&mdash;”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[80]</span></p>
+
+<p>“It <em>can</em> be helped, sir&mdash;begging your pardon! Give
+me a few of your men and let me push on. It will make
+a diversion in favor of the garrison. If the braves see
+us coming they’ll hesitate about throwing themselves
+into the fort and so being caught in a trap.”</p>
+
+<p>“Good, Cody! You are right. And your appearance
+will at least show that help is at hand and encourage
+the garrison. But I’m afraid you’ll be cut to
+pieces.”</p>
+
+<p>“We’ll have to take that chance. Somebody has got
+to die this day&mdash;why not us?” demanded the courageous
+scout. “Let me have some of your cavalry as
+they come up. There’s the head of the column!”</p>
+
+<p>“Go, and God bless you, my brave fellow! Take all
+the men whose horses can stand a hard run,” said
+the gallant captain.</p>
+
+<p>He signaled the head of the column forward at
+once. The troops had already heard the firing, and
+were eager to get into action.</p>
+
+<p>“You’ll have to bring your artillery and ambulances
+down into the valley by yonder ridge, captain,” said
+the scout, pointing out the tongue of rocky land over
+which he had raced the day before with his pack-load
+of ammunition for the beleaguered fort. “From there
+you can sweep the valley to the very gates of the
+fort, and likewise you can cover the exit of the cañon
+through which the ambushing party will like enough
+pour in a short time.”</p>
+
+<p>“Good! I’ll make a note of that,” declared the officer.
+“There, Cody, are your men. Pick out the
+horses you think will be able to keep somewhere near
+your whitey. Every man of them is eager to attend,
+I promise you!”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[81]</span></p>
+
+<p>This was true enough, as the scout well knew. In
+five minutes, with two lieutenants and a couple of
+score of troopers at his heels, the scout set the pace
+over the ridge and down into the smoke-wreathed
+valley.</p>
+
+<p>They were soon in full sight of the fort and the
+redskins clamoring about it. And it was a complete
+surprise to Oak Heart and his braves to see reenforcements
+for the whites so near at hand. As for the defenders
+of Fort Advance, they were wild with joy to
+see even this small troop coming to their rescue.</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill’s white steed was recognized, and cheers
+rent the air from the garrison which, a few moments
+before, had given up all hope. The Indians had been
+about to rush the stockade, and then a hand-to-hand
+fight would have ensued inside the fort which could
+have ended in but one way. The redskins outnumbered
+the whites so greatly, despite their losses, that
+the garrison would have been completely overwhelmed.</p>
+
+<p>Oak Heart saw that he was likely to be defeated,
+after all. Victory had all but perched upon his banners;
+now, with his forces separated, he was very
+likely to taste the bitter ashes of defeat!</p>
+
+<p>But the Sioux king was a born leader and strategist.
+He saw that, in some way, his plans for ambuscading
+the relief party had fallen through. His three hundred
+braves were idle up the cañon while the whites from
+Fort Resistence were coming to the help of their comrades
+by another way. Those reserve forces he needed,
+and needed at once.</p>
+
+<p>He spoke to the White Antelope. She had acted as
+his aid all through the battle, and now she wheeled
+her pony instantly and dashed away toward the mouth<span class="pagenum">[82]</span>
+of the cañon. She was instructed to inform the ambuscading
+party of the change in affairs and to bring
+them back at top speed.</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill and his flying column of cavalry saw
+and understood this move. Lieutenant Dick Danforth,
+the dashing young lieutenant who ranked in command
+of the party, spurred up beside Cody.</p>
+
+<p>“See that girl yonder?” he cried.</p>
+
+<p>“I see her,” returned the scout gravely.</p>
+
+<p>“She’s a messenger, eh?”</p>
+
+<p>“She is.”</p>
+
+<p>“Isn’t that the way into the cañon where those other
+Indians were lying in wait for us?”</p>
+
+<p>“You’re mighty right, lieutenant,” admitted the
+scout.</p>
+
+<p>“We must stop her!”</p>
+
+<p>The scout remained silent, measuring the distance
+between them and the flying White Antelope, and the
+mouth of the cañon as well.</p>
+
+<p>“We’ve <em>got</em> to stop her!” exclaimed Dick Danforth.</p>
+
+<p>“How are you going to do it?” demanded Cody
+grimly.</p>
+
+<p>Danforth picked up his carbine quickly. Cody at
+once laid his hand on the young officer’s arm.</p>
+
+<p>“No, no, Dick!” he said, with feeling. “Not that!”</p>
+
+<p>“What do you mean, scout?” demanded the young
+officer, displeased.</p>
+
+<p>“You must not shoot that girl!”</p>
+
+<p>“Why, she’s a confounded squaw&mdash;and she’s an
+enemy&mdash;and she’s taking a message that may bring
+trouble to us all.”</p>
+
+<p>“She must be stopped; but you must not kill her.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[83]</span></p>
+
+<p>“What’s the matter with you, Cody?” the young
+man demanded again. “She’s nothing but a redskin.”</p>
+
+<p>“There is another way&mdash;without taking her life,”
+declared the scout.</p>
+
+<p>“What makes you so tender of the squaw? Lord!
+I don’t ask <em>you</em> to shoot her,” and the lieutenant raised
+his carbine again.</p>
+
+<p>Cody’s hand this time fell upon the lieutenant’s wrist
+with force, as he urged Chief alongside the other’s
+mount.</p>
+
+<p>“And by God, sir! <em>you</em> shall not shoot her&mdash;above
+all men!” he cried.</p>
+
+<p>“What do you mean by this?” demanded Lieutenant
+Danforth, his face white as death. “I have a reason
+for killing every damned Indian that comes under my
+eye&mdash;you know <em>that</em>, Bill Cody!”</p>
+
+<p>“Perhaps; but not White Antelope,” said the scout
+earnestly.</p>
+
+<p>“And why not White Antelope, as you call her?
+Is she any better than any other of the devil’s red
+spawn? Let go of my arm! I’m going to shoot that
+girl!”</p>
+
+<p>“You are beside yourself!” exclaimed Cody coldly.
+“Do you want it told around your mess that you deliberately
+shot a squaw-woman?”</p>
+
+<p>“She’s a messenger, man!”</p>
+
+<p>“That’s no excuse.”</p>
+
+<p>“I tell you the red devils killed my people&mdash;butchered
+them! I saw my father with his head split open by
+an Indian hatchet! My mother was dragged away to
+a worse death, it’s likely. <em>I’ve sworn revenge on
+every redskin that walks the earth!</em> Let go of me,
+Cody, or I’ll kill you!”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[84]</span></p>
+
+<p>“You are beside yourself, sir,” said the scout, still
+coldly. “You would not kill me, for I have always
+been your friend. It was I who got you your chance
+at West Point. It was I who made you what you are
+now. You’ll not kill <em>me</em>, Dick Danforth!”</p>
+
+<p>The two had ridden furiously ahead of the troopers,
+both bearing off toward the cañon’s mouth toward
+which the squaw was flying on her pony. The other
+men could not hear this conversation, jerked out between
+the jumps of the two great horses.</p>
+
+<p>That Dick Danforth, the young lieutenant, was beside
+himself, was easily to be seen. He was not responsible
+at the moment for his actions or speech.</p>
+
+<p>“That gal must not be harmed, Danforth,” said
+Cody firmly. “If you hold any gratitude in your
+heart toward me, show it now. I demand that the
+girl be unharmed&mdash;now or at any other time&mdash;and
+especially at your hand.”</p>
+
+<p>The scout’s seriousness&mdash;aye, his passion in saying
+this&mdash;impressed Danforth so deeply that his own rage
+gave place to wonder.</p>
+
+<p>“Why, what do you know about her, Cody? Who
+is she?”</p>
+
+<p>“It does not matter. I must have your promise.
+<em>You</em> must never harm the White Antelope. Indeed,
+you must guard her and keep others from harming her
+with your life; do you understand?”</p>
+
+<p>“No, I <em>don’t</em> understand. And I won’t help an
+Injun.”</p>
+
+<p>“You will do as I say, Dick.”</p>
+
+<p>“No!”</p>
+
+<p>“I demand it, Dick!” said the scout feelingly.</p>
+
+<p>“That is not fair, Cody!”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[85]</span></p>
+
+<p>“It is fair. I saved your life. I made you what
+you are. I have a right to some return, and I demand
+this.”</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, thunder, Bill!” ejaculated Dick Danforth, more
+in his usual light tone than before. “If you put it
+<em>that</em> way&mdash;&mdash;”</p>
+
+<p>“I do.”</p>
+
+<p>“Then I’ll have to promise.”</p>
+
+<p>“Very well, my boy. I hold you to your word.”</p>
+
+<p>“But don’t you ever ask me to save an Injun again,
+for I won’t do it!”</p>
+
+<p>“All right.”</p>
+
+<p>“And while we’ve been rowing, that blamed squaw
+is getting away. She’ll carry the alarm to the other
+Indians as sure as shooting!”</p>
+
+<p>“She won’t!” returned the scout, with confidence.
+“Ride on with your men, Dick. Cut your way through
+that gang of reds to the gates of the fort if necessary.
+Off with you! Leave the girl to me!”</p>
+
+<p>With a wave of his hand he clapped spurs to Chief,
+and pulled sharply on his rein. The girl had almost
+reached the mouth of the cañon when Cody started
+in direct pursuit.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">THE CHASE OF THE WHITE ANTELOPE.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>The Border King did not pick his way as he spurred
+the great white horse down the declivity after the
+flying Indian girl. He allowed Chief to guide himself,
+for he felt confidence in the horse’s sense. They
+went down the hill like an avalanche, and an avalanche
+of small stones and broken brush went with them.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[86]</span></p>
+
+<p>To the troopers behind on the ridge, to the defenders
+of the fort, and to the Indians themselves who
+saw the charge of the big white horse, it seemed that
+neither horse nor rider could reach the bottom alive.</p>
+
+<p>But Chief did not even lose his stride in going down,
+and at the bottom, in answer to a sharp tug on the rein,
+he turned and shot away along the trail after the disappearing
+White Antelope.</p>
+
+<p>Oak Heart and his braves saw the act, and knew
+Cody’s reason for chasing the young squaw. Half the
+army of Sioux would have started in pursuit; but
+Dick Danforth’s troopers were sweeping down the
+hill by a smoother road, and would cut the Indians off
+from the entrance to the cañon. The reds were balked.</p>
+
+<p>Dick Danforth’s blood was up. He had been born
+a Western boy, and, as he had intimated in his recent
+conversation with Cody, he had bitter reason to hate
+the redskins. He had been made an orphan, and his
+young life ruined, by these very Sioux.</p>
+
+<p>He spoke to the bugler, and the wild notes of the
+charge rang out across the valley. Two score the
+troopers numbered, and there were five or six hundred
+Indians against them; but the bold fellows were ready
+to dash into the midst of the redskins.</p>
+
+<p>Besides, Major Baldwin, seeing what desperate
+chances the troopers from Fort Resistence were taking,
+ordered Captain Ed. Keyes to charge with every able-bodied
+cavalryman the stockade contained. The fort
+gates were flung open, and out upon the Indians, already
+wavering and uncertain, charged Keyes and his
+troop, sabers in hand. They had no ammunition, but
+they wielded their sabers like fiends. The Indians,
+most of them unmounted, were borne down, trampled<span class="pagenum">[87]</span>
+under the feet of the big cavalry horses, and slashed
+unmercifully on one side by Keyes, while Danforth
+came up on the other, his men shooting at short range
+with carbines and pistols, and finally taking to the
+sword also.</p>
+
+<p>And while this wild carnage was in progress, Buffalo
+Bill and the White Antelope were racing along the
+trail in the cañon, the girl intent upon carrying her
+father’s message and arousing the redskins lying in
+ambush miles away, while the scout was just as determined
+that, without injuring her, she should be
+kept from carrying out her plan.</p>
+
+<p>It was still dark down here in the cañon. Although
+the sun was already showing his red face above the
+eastern hills, as yet there was not light enough to dissipate
+the gloom at the bottom of this deep cut in the
+hills. Indeed, Buffalo Bill followed the girl more by
+sense of sound than sense of sight for the first half-mile.</p>
+
+<p>Then the pace of the great white horse told. His
+stride was too much for the Indian pony, no matter
+how cruelly White Antelope lashed it. Steadily the
+scout drew nearer.</p>
+
+<p>The gray light filtered down from above and showed
+to the scout the young squaw turning her head again
+and again to watch the progress of her pursuer. She
+was evidently measuring with fearful glance the rapidly
+lessening distance between them.</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill might easily have killed her as she
+leaned forward on her pony’s neck, urging him with
+whip and voice. His face was very set and stern,
+too; but the sternness was not that which masked his
+countenance when he was bent upon an enemy’s death.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[88]</span></p>
+
+<p>He saw, indeed, the frightened maiden before him,
+flying madly from his approach; but his mind was
+laboring with thoughts which carried him back for
+many years&mdash;thoughts which had often embittered
+his mind and robbed him of his rest at night. He remembered
+this beautiful girl’s mother and how he
+would have saved her from her awful fate; yet that was
+not to be! And here he was pursuing the daughter&mdash;yet
+in a far different manner.</p>
+
+<p>The girl looked back again. Her beautiful face had
+paled, losing all its naturally rich coloring. Although
+Buffalo Bill had held her in his power only the day
+before and had not harmed her, this wild child of
+the forest and plain saw no reason for his sparing
+her now. And, indeed, there <em>was</em> no apparent reason.
+She saw in his attempt to capture her instead of killing
+her outright, merely the desire of the warrior to
+parade a captive before his admiring brethren, and
+then, perhaps, she would be made a slave as the redskins
+made slaves of the white squaws they stole!</p>
+
+<p>White Antelope had no reason for believing in the
+honor and tenderness of white men. She had been
+taught from childhood that they were her deadly enemies.
+Her mother had died too soon after her birth to
+instil into the maiden’s mind any different belief than
+that held by the savages about her.</p>
+
+<p>So the girl looked back at Cody in terror, and made
+up her savage mind to die rather than be captured by
+the scout.</p>
+
+<p>But she would sell her life dearly as may be. The
+day before Long Hair, as she called him, had disarmed
+her of the light revolver which had been a most
+precious possession. Now she had only her bow and<span class="pagenum">[89]</span>
+arrows&mdash;a weapon that is not easily used in shooting
+behind one while the pony is at full speed.</p>
+
+<p>But this was what the girl tried to do. She strung
+her bow and seized an arrow from the quiver which
+hung over her shoulder. Then, while the pony was
+still paddling along the trail at his best pace, she turned
+her agile young body about, drew the shaft to its head,
+and let drive at the coming scout.</p>
+
+<p>He ducked as he saw her action; but the shaft went
+through his hat and carried it away. Instantly she
+fitted another arrow to the bowstring and sent it likewise
+at her enemy. Cody slipped over on the far side
+of Chief, hanging by toe and one hand to the running
+animal, an Indian trick that no brave could do better
+than the scout himself. The second shaft went over
+his saddle in about the place his heart might have been
+had he been sitting upright!</p>
+
+<p>The Indian maiden was not to be balked so easily.
+She turned again to urge her pony on, hoping, it is
+likely, that Long Hair would bob up into the saddle
+again. But he saw she had a third arrow on the string,
+and he remained where he was.</p>
+
+<p>But to tamely endure such a persecution as this was
+not the scout’s intention. Besides, he feared that the
+White Antelope might shoot Chief.</p>
+
+<p>As he slung himself over the side of the big white
+horse, Cody had drawn one of the loaded pistols from
+its holster. With this gun he was a marvelously accurate
+shot. It had a barrel almost as long as the old-fashioned
+derringer, and in the hand of a trained
+marksman could do the execution of a finely sighted
+rifle.</p>
+
+<p>Under the horse’s neck he had a very clear view of<span class="pagenum">[90]</span>
+the girl on the pony in front, although she could not
+easily aim at any vital part of the scout in the position
+in which he hung from Chief. As the young
+squaw turned sidewise to larrup her pony again with
+the quirt hanging to her wrist, Buffalo Bill took a
+snap shot at the quiver of arrows at her back.</p>
+
+<p>It was a perilous shot&mdash;if he did not wish to harm
+the girl. Few marksmen would have dared try it.
+William Tell was a bungler, indeed, as compared with
+some of the marksmen of our great West, and William
+F. Cody was, in his day, the best of them all!</p>
+
+<p>His pistol ball sped true. The thong from which
+the quiver hung was severed, and if the hot lead seared
+the girl’s shoulder in passing it did no more!</p>
+
+<p>The quiver fell to the ground; but the girl had still
+a remaining arrow&mdash;it was already upon her bowstring.
+She turned swiftly to drive it home&mdash;perhaps
+into the heart of the great white horse that bore her
+enemy so swiftly.</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill realized the danger to his noble steed.
+He sprang upright into the saddle, the smoking pistol
+still in his hand. His appearance as a fair target attracted
+the Indian maiden’s aim. She drew the arrowhead
+to her ear.</p>
+
+<p>But the white man’s pistol spoke before she could
+release the feathered shaft.</p>
+
+<p>Crack!</p>
+
+<p>The long-barreled revolver spit its death-dealing bullet,
+and the smoke enveloped Buffalo Bill’s head for
+a moment and then passed away.</p>
+
+<p>Twang!</p>
+
+<p>That was the snap of the bowstring. But the arrow
+flew wildly in the air, over the scout’s head. The<span class="pagenum">[91]</span>
+bullet had severed the deer tendon of which the string
+was made just as the girl released the shaft. Buffalo
+Bill had taken another desperate shot&mdash;and had won.
+The bow was put out of commission, but the bullet
+had not touched the fair user of the bow.</p>
+
+<p>White Antelope threw away her broken implement
+in wrath, and lashed her pony again. But he, poor
+creature, was coming to the end of his leash. His little
+legs could not carry even so light a burden as herself
+much farther.</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill saw that this was so, and he spoke to
+Chief, dropping the pistol back into its holster again.
+The great white horse redoubled his effort. He shot
+along the trail as though he was fresh from the stable.</p>
+
+<p>This spurt of speed brought the scout beside the
+Indian girl and her mount so quickly that White Antelope
+had no time to cast herself to the ground as
+she had intended. Even as she screamed and would
+have leaped to certain death, the white horse came neck
+and neck with her mount, Cody leaned over and seized
+her around the waist with his right arm, and, drawing
+his pistol this time with his left hand, shot the
+Indian pony through the head!</p>
+
+<p>He could not afford to have the relieved beast run
+on to the ambushed Indians miles up the cañon and
+so warn them of what was being done. The pony staggered
+on a few yards and fell dead. Chief leaped the
+fallen body and then came to a stop.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile, the young squaw had been struggling
+in Cody’s grasp. She had one more weapon, and out
+it flashed from the bead-worked sheath at her side.
+It was a keen scalping-knife, and with a single downward<span class="pagenum">[92]</span>
+thrust she might have ended Cody’s earthly
+career.</p>
+
+<p>However, the scout was watching for just this little
+play. As the bright blade descended toward his breast,
+he caught the point upon his pistol. The blade
+snapped, and with a single blow he knocked the handle
+and butt of the blade from the girl’s hand!</p>
+
+<p>“The White Antelope is in Long Hair’s power.
+Let her lie quietly,” commanded the scout in Sioux.</p>
+
+<p>He placed the girl before him, picked up Chief’s
+bridle, turned the horse about, and they started down
+the cañon again. The girl did not struggle now, or
+seek to escape. She was beaten. He could feel her
+body shake with emotion; but true to Indian custom
+and tradition, she did not weep.</p>
+
+<p>Cody feared that some of the Indians might have
+got by Dick Danforth and entered the cañon to follow
+him; so he went back very circumspectly. If he
+was caught between two fires he could merely sell his
+life as dearly as possible; but he would have kept the
+men in ambush from coming to the help of their tribesmen
+in time to do any good.</p>
+
+<p>Soon the noise of battle reached their ears. The girl
+gave no sign of interest, nor did Cody speak to her.
+In truth, the scout had a bitter problem to consider.</p>
+
+<p>What should he do with the girl? She was in his
+power. At least, he had separated her from her father
+and from her Indian friends. But was the time ripe
+for her to be introduced to white people&mdash;to those in
+Fort Advance, for instance?</p>
+
+<p>It was a time when men’s passions were deeply
+stirred. There would be murder and hatred in the
+hearts of the whites as well as in that of the redskins.<span class="pagenum">[93]</span>
+Of what good to bring this half-breed girl into contact
+with whites who felt a desire to kill every creature
+with Indian blood in its veins? And why take
+the girl away from the red men at the moment when
+her own heart was bitter as gall toward the whites?
+What good would come of such an act? Buffalo Bill’s
+good sense answered for him:</p>
+
+<p>“None!”</p>
+
+<p>Nor did the whites desire her as a hostage. To hold
+her prisoner would be to strengthen her affiliation with
+the Sioux. No, no! She must go free&mdash;if Cody were
+free himself.</p>
+
+<p>This question could not be answered until he had
+ridden to the end of the cañon, and he went on very
+circumspectly.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">A STARTLING DISCOVERY.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>Meanwhile, the two troops of cavalry, under Lieutenant
+Dick Danforth and Captain Keyes respectively,
+plowed their way through the massed redskins. They
+met, and Captain Keyes heartily greeted the men from
+Fort Resistence.</p>
+
+<p>“God bless you, Danforth&mdash;and you, Mercer!
+You’ve come just in time to save us, for we are completely
+out of ammunition. Where’s Cody?”</p>
+
+<p>“Gone to head off Oak Heart’s messenger to the
+men he had hidden up the cañon to fall upon us&mdash;had
+we come that way,” said Danforth.</p>
+
+<p>“And there is the rest of your column appearing!”
+cried Keyes.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[94]</span></p>
+
+<p>His seniority gave him command. He raised his
+saber on high and stood up in his stirrups.</p>
+
+<p>“Now, charge back to the fort, my bully boys, and
+give these red devils what they are looking for!”</p>
+
+<p>The redskins were not inactive, and there were
+already empty saddles in the troop; but the tribesmen
+were demoralized. They began fleeing toward the
+river across the valley. Out upon the ridge spurred
+the guns belonging to Captain Taylor’s command, unlimbered,
+and opened fire on the fleeing reds, the shells
+screaming over the heads of the charging troops in
+blue. Down into the valley poured the remainder of
+Taylor’s column, eager to have some part in the rout.</p>
+
+<p>Upon this scene rode Buffalo Bill and his beautiful
+captive as they left the cañon’s mouth. The Indians
+were in wild flight. The whites were forcing them
+toward the river.</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill pulled in his horse, and his keen glance
+swept the field of carnage. He saw that the battle was
+practically over. Oak Heart’s warriors had shown the
+white feather. The unexpected coming of the rescue-party
+had knocked out completely the reds’ plans,
+and they could not rally.</p>
+
+<p>Then the scout looked down at the sorrowful face of
+White Antelope.</p>
+
+<p>“Yonder flies the White Antelope’s father, the great
+chief, Oak Heart, and his people,” Cody said gravely.
+“The palefaces are greater than the red men. They always
+have been. They always will be. Remember,
+White Antelope, that Pa-e-has-ka says this, and he is
+wise, and he knows. The red men must melt away before
+the white men, or else become as the white men
+are&mdash;tillers of the soil, traders, homesteaders. The<span class="pagenum">[95]</span>
+red men, who learn this lesson soon, will be saved.
+There is no other gospel to preach to the red men&mdash;and
+Pa-e-has-ka preaches it.</p>
+
+<p>“The White Antelope’s mother was white,” continued
+the old scout, seeing that he had the girl’s attention,
+and he spoke with trembling voice. “She was
+a beautiful woman&mdash;and Oak Heart loved her greatly.
+While she lived the Sioux remained for years at peace
+with the white men. Now Oak Heart is influenced by
+less wise counselors than thy mother. And see what
+has come of it!</p>
+
+<p>“Many men are dead. Much bitterness is engendered.
+The strife has been bloody, and now the red
+men go back to their squaws and children like whipped
+dogs!</p>
+
+<p>“The whites and reds will now be against each other
+for a long time because of this trouble. And what have
+the people gained, White Antelope? A few scalps?
+Aye, but they have lost more. Many women will tear
+their hair and mourn in the lodges of the Sioux because
+of this battle.</p>
+
+<p>“Let the White Antelope remember this. She has
+influence beyond her years with her people. Let her
+remember what Pa-e-has-ka says and counsel her
+father and the other chiefs to make peace with the
+white men while they may.</p>
+
+<p>“Now, Pa-e-has-ka sends the White Antelope back
+to Chief Oak Heart. Tell thy father how the Long
+Hair had thee in his power, and did thee no harm.
+I am thy friend, White Antelope. See! that is the
+way to the river. Keep behind the trees, and the bluecoats
+will not see thee. Fly! For the time is short.<span class="pagenum">[96]</span>
+Soon your people will be in full retreat, and the old
+chief will believe his daughter is lost to him.”</p>
+
+<p>The scout set the girl down upon her feet. His voice
+trembled as he ceased speaking, and he looked closely
+into her face to see if it had been moved at all by his
+speech. But he saw there only fright and wonder&mdash;the
+terror of the wild creature unexpectedly released from
+the trap.</p>
+
+<p>So he let her go and saw her flee on feet as fleet as a
+deer’s through the undergrowth toward the river,
+which the vanguard of the Indians were already crossing.
+Then the scout set spurs to Chief and tore after
+the column of blue which had hastened to the support
+of Keyes and Danforth.</p>
+
+<p>Although the rifles and pistols of the men from the
+fort were empty, their blades were sharp. Before Cody
+reached the field of action it had become merely a
+drive of redskins to the river. The bluecoats rode
+them down, hacking them as they passed, pressing Oak
+Heart hard.</p>
+
+<p>Horses and white men went down in the mêlée; but
+when the war-cry of Buffalo Bill was heard that seemed
+to drive the last atom of courage from the Sioux, and
+they ran like a herd of frightened deer, flinging away
+their arms, and leaping from the high river-bank into
+the shallows.</p>
+
+<p>Some were swept away by the deeper current in the
+middle and drowned. Had there been a ford near at
+hand, the soldiers would have crossed over and continued
+the massacre on the farther side. But the
+stream afforded Oak Heart a chance to rally his braves.</p>
+
+<p>Sheltered somewhat by the high bank, his riflemen
+could pick off the soldiers as they appeared, and it became<span class="pagenum">[97]</span>
+dangerous for the cavalrymen to ride to the very
+brink of the bluff. This allowed the frightened Indians
+to escape across the stream, Oak Heart and a few
+others guarding their retreat.</p>
+
+<p>While Buffalo Bill was receiving the congratulations
+of Captain Keyes and Texas Jack, the voice of the old
+chief, Oak Heart, suddenly rose from below.</p>
+
+<p>“I know you, Great White Chief Buffalo Bill! Oak
+Heart never forget. You save your people&mdash;kill my
+young men&mdash;make Sioux run! Me remember, Pa-e-has-ka!”</p>
+
+<p>“He’s got it in for you, Bill, sure enough!” cried
+Texas Jack.</p>
+
+<p>Raising his trumpetlike voice, the great scout replied
+to the threat of the beaten Indian chief:</p>
+
+<p>“Pa-e-has-ka knows the voice of Oak Heart&mdash;and
+the heart of Oak Heart. He will not forget!”</p>
+
+<p>The Border King might have picked off the chief
+with his rifle as he climbed the farther bank of the
+stream on his wearied pony. But he scorned to do
+such an act. Besides, far up the river he saw a slender
+figure dive down the bank, plunge into the stream,
+and fight the fierce current to the other side, where it
+quickly scrambled out, up the bank, and ran to join the
+fleeing Indians.</p>
+
+<p>“What become of the girl, Cody?” whispered Dick
+Danforth, getting him aside.</p>
+
+<p>The Border King pointed to this figure following the
+trail of the defeated warriors.</p>
+
+<p>“There she goes, Dick,” he whispered. “Remember
+your promise!”</p>
+
+<p>It was indeed a great victory for the whites. The
+Sioux had lost many ponies and more than a hundred<span class="pagenum">[98]</span>
+slain, although some of the dead had been taken away.
+In wounded the Indians had suffered more heavily
+still.</p>
+
+<p>However, it was a costly victory for the whites.
+More than twenty troopers lay dead within the fort,
+and several were scattered upon the plain. There were
+more than half a hundred seriously injured, while of
+minor casualties there were so many that the garrison
+had ceased to note them. Almost everybody within
+Fort Advance showed, at least, some slight mark of
+the conflict.</p>
+
+<p>Upon every tongue was heard the name of Buffalo
+Bill, the Border King; for, but for him, how different
+might have been the result! All felt that the great
+scout had saved Fort Advance, and, as Texas Jack
+said, “put a crimp in the Sioux that they’d remember
+till they were gray-headed.” Indeed the fame of this
+deed for many years made Buffalo Bill’s name a household
+word along the frontier.</p>
+
+<p>Embarrassed by the praise bestowed upon him, the
+scout looked to the care of his horse, Chief, and then
+slipped away to hide and rest, Texas Jack keeping
+his hiding-place a secret that he might not be disturbed.</p>
+
+<p>When he slipped out of his retreat the next day he
+was greeted with a cheer, and Major Baldwin sent
+for him at parade that evening and complimented him
+publicly for his work, with a word of praise for Texas
+Jack, as well.</p>
+
+<p>When matters had quieted down a little at the fort
+and the rescuers had returned to Fort Resistance, Buffalo
+Bill had a talk with Major Baldwin.</p>
+
+<p>“Somebody should make an attempt to see what old
+Oak Heart is about now,” said the scout. “And I<span class="pagenum">[99]</span>
+reckon I’m the man, major. There are still a lot of
+masterless Indians in these hills, and we want to know
+what they’re up to. There is another matter I wish to
+scout around about, too. On my way down from Denver
+I crossed the trail of Boyd Bennett.”</p>
+
+<p>“You don’t mean that despicable deserter has dared
+show up again?” cried the major.</p>
+
+<p>“I believe he is in the neighborhood. There have
+been several robberies of stage-coaches and mail-wagons
+up north, and they bear the ear-marks of Boyd
+Bennett. At any rate, this clue I speak of will bear
+following up.”</p>
+
+<p>“Very well, Cody. I’ll excuse you from your other
+duties. I wish I was giving you a quiet vacation, however.”</p>
+
+<p>The scout smiled.</p>
+
+<p>“Excitement is the breath of life to me, major.
+Wait till I get old. Perhaps I may want to settle down
+then.”</p>
+
+<p>This Boyd Bennett was an old enemy of Buffalo
+Bill’s. He was a deserter from the United States
+Army, and had become the leader of one of those bands
+of road-agents that cropped up so thickly soon after
+the close of the Civil War. The West was overrun
+with disbanded guerrillas who had fought on both sides
+of the great struggle&mdash;wild and masterless men who
+had lived so long by the power of the sword, that they
+would not conform to law and order when legitimate
+fighting was supposed to be ended.</p>
+
+<p>These cursed the growing West. Boyd Bennett had
+committed several crimes, but had as yet escaped apprehension
+and punishment.</p>
+
+<p>An army paymaster was soon to make the rounds<span class="pagenum">[100]</span>
+by coach, paying off the several garrisons; and so it
+was important to locate Boyd Bennett, the overland
+bandit, and his gang, and make sure that they were
+not plotting to seize the paymaster’s treasure.</p>
+
+<p>After a couple of days’ trailing into the Indian
+country, the scout found that Oak Heart and his warriors
+were seemingly too much battered by the battle
+at Fort Advance to think of making another raid at
+present. They were likely to lie low for awhile.</p>
+
+<p>So Buffalo Bill went in search of Boyd Bennett and
+his gang. He knew that the rendezvous of the road-agents
+was usually near some stage-road, and the scout
+chanced upon the road leading from Fort Advance to
+Alikon. He knew the time of the coach-running, and
+after riding along the trail for a couple of miles he
+came upon the coach as he expected.</p>
+
+<p>That is, he expected to find the coach about here;
+but the scene presented to his gaze, when he beheld it,
+was most startling.</p>
+
+<p>There was the coach; the horses were standing patiently
+in the trail; and yet no driver was on the box,
+nor did he see any one near at first. Spurring forward,
+Buffalo Bill beheld the driver sprawling on the ground,
+with the reins still clutched tightly in his hands. It
+was Bud Sharkey, whom the scout knew well; and
+the unfortunate fellow had been shot from his seat
+on the stage-coach.</p>
+
+<p>There were three other dead bodies on the ground&mdash;an
+officer and two soldiers. They were all dead,
+and, furthermore, the scout noted now that the four
+had been scalped.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<p><span class="pagenum">[101]</span></p>
+
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XV">CHAPTER XV.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">THE TREASURE CHEST.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>This dreadful discovery told the scout that Indians
+had held up the coach. Yet he wondered if it had been
+done for robbery as well as murder? The officer he
+recognized as Captain Hinkley, the paymaster; the
+soldiers were his guard. He was a week ahead of his
+time; yet he had not managed to get safely through.</p>
+
+<p>The fact that Indians had done the deed, however,
+disturbed Buffalo Bill. He could not understand it.
+The marks of half a dozen unshod ponies proved that
+his first suspicion was correct. Some of Oak Heart’s
+young braves might have done this. It was true, too,
+that the driver and soldiers had all been shot with arrows.</p>
+
+<p>“How do I know that robbery has been committed
+at all?” muttered Buffalo Bill, and he leaped off his
+horse and made search inside the stage.</p>
+
+<p>It was revealed at once that the marauders must
+have been frightened off before they came upon Captain
+Hinkley’s strong-box and bags of coin.</p>
+
+<p>Fear of being caught in the act of murder and
+rapine usually rides the redskin to undue haste. Had
+there been whites with this gang of red robbers&mdash;either
+Boyd Bennett himself or any of his men&mdash;Cody knew
+that no small matter would have frightened them away
+before the object of the hold-up of the stage was accomplished.
+And the presence of the treasure-chest
+proved that the marauders must have been driven off.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[102]</span></p>
+
+<p>By what, or whom? Surely his own coming had
+not done this! Yet the thought gave the scout food
+for serious reflection. Perhaps the reds might be
+lurking near and would descend again upon the spot
+and finish their job by gathering in <em>his</em> scalp as well
+as that of the driver, the paymaster, and his guards.</p>
+
+<p>He did not touch the money, therefore, but appeared
+likewise to find nothing in the coach. He even
+went back to his horse, mounted into the saddle, and
+set off along the trail at a lope as though proposing
+to go for help. He had remembered that there was a
+sandy piece of ground not far away, and here his
+horse’s hoofbeats would be deadened. As soon as
+he reached this he halted, dismounted, led his horse
+up among the rocks, and approached the scene of the
+catastrophe with great circumspection. Not a bird
+did he raise by this maneuver.</p>
+
+<p>“They’ve vamosed!” declared Buffalo Bill, with confidence.
+“A scalping party of reds, and they knew
+nothing about the money. So it appears, at least. Yet,
+from all I’ve heard, Bennett is hand and glove with
+Oak Heart’s people. He’ll hear of this without fail.
+Now, what had I better do?”</p>
+
+<p>He spent little time in cogitating, however. Cody
+was a man who made up his mind instinctively, rather
+than by any slow process of reasoning. He was
+prompt on this occasion to come to a conclusion.</p>
+
+<p>The party of Indians who had done this hold-up act
+were not in the immediate vicinity. It was of some
+moment to Cody, however, to learn how far they had
+gone, and in what direction. He rustled the treasure-box
+out of the stage and lugged it up into the rocks,
+where he found a hiding-place that would do for the<span class="pagenum">[103]</span>
+nonce. Then he picked up the trail of the redskins
+afoot and hurried after them.</p>
+
+<p>Beyond the nearest hill the party had fled down into
+a well-watered valley which the scout knew led to a
+gorge, which was about the shortest way to Oak
+Heart’s camp. If Boyd Bennett and his gang happened
+to be with the Indians, saw the scalps, and guessed
+who the reds had murdered, he would be here after the
+treasure-box in short order.</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill believed that the reds were aiming for
+this gorge; yet they might have had another route in
+view. To make sure, he cut across the valley on a
+straight line for the mouth of the gorge to see if the
+trail was marked there, as well.</p>
+
+<p>The middle of the valley was a swamp, and one
+that the scout had never been through. He had no
+idea that it was so dangerous a place until he had
+gotten some rods into it. Then, in leaping from a
+tussock to what looked like a solid log, he found the
+log, hammock, and all, sinking under him, and there
+was no safe spot ahead on which he could alight.</p>
+
+<p>“Great Scott! I’d better go around, after all,” he
+muttered, in disgust, and turned gingerly on the sinking
+log.</p>
+
+<p>And then, to his amazement, he saw that the comparatively
+safe place on which he had last stood had
+disappeared! As he leaped it had toppled over and
+the quagmire had swallowed it instantly. All he could
+see was a long stretch of some ten or twelve feet of
+stinking, dimpling black muck!</p>
+
+<p>“However did I get over that place?” grunted the
+scout, in surprise. “Why, I’m due to go ten feet under
+the surface maybe, if I jump!”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[104]</span></p>
+
+<p>And it quickly became apparent that he might go
+that depth under the surface if he didn’t jump, too.
+The old log sank lower and lower, until finally the
+liquid mud lapped over it completely and began to rise
+around his ankles. The log was only about eight feet
+long. He crept to the end which lay nearest solid
+ground, but even then it was a good eight-foot jump,
+and from such an unstable footing that seemed well
+nigh impossible of accomplishment.</p>
+
+<p>Besides, the log began to tip. Where he stood it
+sank deeper and deeper, and with a splash of the filthy
+mire the other end shot into sight. Cody had to leap
+to the middle of the stick quickly to save himself from
+toppling over completely into the mud. There he
+wavered a moment until he caught his balance, and
+then, with grimness, looked about for escape.</p>
+
+<p>He couldn’t hope for any help. Indeed, he would
+have been more troubled than delighted to see any
+other person than himself in this swamp at just this
+moment. The matter of the pay-chest rested heavily
+on his mind. However he escaped from this situation
+it must be by his own exertions, and those alone.</p>
+
+<p>To try to wade to a more solid spot was to court
+possible extinction. To sink slowly into this muck
+and be smothered by it was a horrible thought. It
+chilled even the scout’s blood!</p>
+
+<p>And, meantime, the log was sinking steadily. Inch
+by inch it was being submerged, and the mire was
+crawling up Buffalo Bill’s boot-legs.</p>
+
+<p>The swamp was quite heavily wooded, so he was
+hidden from the view of anybody on the eminences
+around about. And, as he cast a worried glance about
+at the heights in fear that he might have attracted attention,<span class="pagenum">[105]</span>
+he suddenly beheld the end of a tree branch
+almost over his head.</p>
+
+<p>“Ah!” exclaimed he, and his eyes glistened as he
+followed the trend of this branch with their glance.</p>
+
+<p>Of course, the branch was altogether too slight
+above his head to bear his weight, even could he reach
+it. But it promised something. He glanced along its
+length several times to the parent trunk some twenty
+feet away, and then began operations. There was,
+indeed, no time for him to lose, for the log was a good
+bit under the surface of the dimpling mud by this.</p>
+
+<p>The fronded end of the branch was much too high
+for him to reach it with his hands; nor could he pull
+it down with his gun. Indeed, he got rid of that implement
+at once&mdash;it only weighed him down into the
+mire the faster&mdash;by tossing it into a crotch of the
+branch, where it fortunately chanced to catch and
+hang. He removed his belt, slipped the cartridges into
+the side pockets of his coat, tied his handkerchief to one
+end of the belt to make it longer, and then fastened
+one of his pistols to the handkerchief to weight the
+end. Swinging this weighted line, he cast the pistol
+about the small twigs above his head. The weapon
+caught in them, and gradually he drew the end of the
+branch down within the grasp of his hands.</p>
+
+<p>He held this and fastened on his belt and gun again,
+buttoning his pockets so as not to lose his ammunition.
+The end of the branch was a bushy fan of small twigs
+and leaves. He could pull it down into the mud, and
+the green wood was tough and strong; but there was
+a big chance, when he bore any weight upon it, of the
+limb tearing off at the trunk.</p>
+
+<p>However, swarming up this branch seemed the only<span class="pagenum">[106]</span>
+way of escape from the smothering mud which already
+was as high as his knees. Its suction was terrific, too.
+When he flung himself forward on the branch he
+could scarcely drag his boots out of the mire.</p>
+
+<p>But he fought on desperately, dragging up first one
+booted foot and then the other, and, although the limb
+cracked and he lay almost flat in the mud at first, he
+finally wormed his way up the branch to its bigger
+part. There he straddled it and waited to get his
+breath, and to scrape off some of the mud.</p>
+
+<p>“A little more,” he puffed, “and I’d have gone down
+in that, and nobody would have been the wiser. Ah!”</p>
+
+<p>He halted in his speech and stared down into the
+mud. An idea had smitten him, and he turned it over
+and over in his mind while he worked his way along
+the limb and descended to the foot of the tree.</p>
+
+<p>He returned as quickly as possible to the edge of
+the swamp, and was contented thereafter to follow the
+trail of the redskins direct. No more short cuts! He
+found in time that his early suspicions had been correct.
+The trail led to the head of the gorge, and he
+was bound to believe that the murderers were some of
+Oak Heart’s Sioux.</p>
+
+<p>“Boyd Bennett will learn of the hold-up inside of
+twenty-four hours&mdash;if not sooner. It’s up to me to
+hide that money where he won’t be able to find it.”</p>
+
+<p>With this decision uppermost in his mind, he put
+into practise the idea that had been suggested to him
+as he sat on the tree branch. Returning to the temporary
+hiding-place of the money, he carried the chest
+to the edge of the swamp, endeavoring to leave as
+little trail as possible as he went. He had brought his
+lariat with him, and when he reached one of the most<span class="pagenum">[107]</span>
+treacherous-looking pools of mud, he fastened the
+lariat about the box and lowered it into the depths.
+The quagmire sucked the box out of sight almost instantly.</p>
+
+<p>Then Cody tied the end of the lariat to a tree-root
+under the surface of the muck, and so effectually disposed
+of the treasure where nobody but himself&mdash;or
+some person whom he guided&mdash;could find it. He returned
+to the scene of the hold-up and prepared to get
+away with the driverless stage instantly.</p>
+
+<p>He placed the dead man inside the stage, tied Chief
+to one of the leaders, and, mounting to the box, drove
+hurriedly along the trail.</p>
+
+<p>Being alone, he could not drive the horses and guard
+the treasure, too; so he had hidden it, intending to
+bring back a file of troopers from the fort later and
+pick it up.</p>
+
+<p>He had not driven two miles along the trail when,
+loud and threatening, rose a voice from the rocks beside
+the road, which uttered these significant words:</p>
+
+<p>“Live or die&mdash;yours the choice! Up with your
+hands there!”</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XVI">CHAPTER XVI.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">THE BANDITS OF THE OVERLAND TRAIL.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>It was Buffalo Bill’s choice to live just then, so he
+drew rein. He knew from whom the command came,
+too, just as well as he knew that resistance would be
+useless.</p>
+
+<p>“Up with your hands, or die! Come, take your
+choice, Buffalo Bill!”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[108]</span></p>
+
+<p>The threatening words were repeated, as Buffalo
+Bill had simply reined the horses to a halt and still
+grasped the lines. He saw at a glance that bandits had
+sprung to the heads of his leaders, while he was covered
+by the revolver in the hand of Boyd Bennett himself.
+With no change of expression the scout said:</p>
+
+<p>“As you seem to hold trumps in this game, Bennett,
+up go my hands.”</p>
+
+<p>He gave the reins a turn around the lantern, and
+Buffalo Bill coolly raised his hands above his head to
+the apparent relief of the outlaws at the horses’ heads,
+for they seemed to have feared that, after all, he
+might resist. They knew that, if he had chosen to
+die fighting, some of them would have bitten the dust
+first.</p>
+
+<p>“You have acted wisely, Buffalo Bill, and I am glad
+to see that even you can be cowed when you’re in a
+tight place,” laughed Boyd Bennett.</p>
+
+<p>“We won’t discuss that part of the proposition,” said
+Cody coolly. “I’m anxious to get on, so don’t detain
+me with philosophical remarks.”</p>
+
+<p>“Ah&mdash;indeed! In a hurry, are you?”</p>
+
+<p>“I am, Bennett; in a mighty hurry.”</p>
+
+<p>“Well, wait a bit. Go slowly. You’ve got something
+on that stage I want&mdash;though I didn’t expect to
+see you driving it.”</p>
+
+<p>“No?”</p>
+
+<p>“But you make as good a driver as any&mdash;and you
+give up just as easy,” and Boyd Bennett laughed again.</p>
+
+<p>“Well, what is it you want?”</p>
+
+<p>“The gold-box you carry.”</p>
+
+<p>“You’ve got me, old man,” said Buffalo Bill easily.
+“Guess again.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[109]</span></p>
+
+<p>“Don’t play with me, Cody, or I’ll have your life.”</p>
+
+<p>“What’s the use of shooting me if you’re not going
+to make anything out of it?” demanded the scout
+calmly.</p>
+
+<p>“I am determined to have that paymaster’s chest.”</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, sho! <em>that’s</em> your game, is it?”</p>
+
+<p>“It is.”</p>
+
+<p>“And you think I’ve got it?”</p>
+
+<p>“I <em>know</em> it’s on this stage-coach.”</p>
+
+<p>“Come, now, what’ll you bet?” drawled Cody easily.</p>
+
+<p>“What are you waiting for, Cody?” demanded the
+outlaw angrily. “I know you’ve got it. Shell out!”</p>
+
+<p>“You know a lot, Bennett.”</p>
+
+<p>“I know the gold is there.”</p>
+
+<p>“You’re mistaken.”</p>
+
+<p>“I am not. I had a friend who saw it put on board.
+You’ve got it, and I intend to possess it.”</p>
+
+<p>“Go ahead and possess,” drawled the scout.</p>
+
+<p>“Don’t you trifle with me, Cody! I know you
+wouldn’t have been put up to drive this old hearse if
+the soldiers’ money was not aboard.”</p>
+
+<p>“Say! you know a whole lot, Bennett. D’ye mind
+if I smoke?”</p>
+
+<p>“Keep your hands up!” roared Bennett; “or I’ll
+puncture you!”</p>
+
+<p>“Thanks! You needn’t be so gruff about it. Didn’t
+know tobacco smoke was so offensive to you.”</p>
+
+<p>“Hand down that box before I count three, or you’re
+a dead man!” commanded the robber with deadly significance.</p>
+
+<p>“You keep well posted, Bennett; but you’re behind
+time on this run.”</p>
+
+<p>“What do you mean?” asked the startled road-agent,<span class="pagenum">[110]</span>
+beginning to suspect that Buffalo Bill’s ease of manner
+masked some high card in the game.</p>
+
+<p>“The coach has already been robbed.”</p>
+
+<p>“You lie!”</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill’s brows met in a sudden frown.</p>
+
+<p>“You’ve got the drop on me, Bennett, or you’d never
+question my word aloud.”</p>
+
+<p>“You <em>do</em> lie.”</p>
+
+<p>“Open the coach door and look for yourself.”</p>
+
+<p>“Not for Joe! I’m no spring chicken, Cody,”
+laughed the outlaw. “Set a trap for us, have you?
+Men! fire through that coach&mdash;low down.”</p>
+
+<p>Half a dozen or more rifles blazed away. The bullets
+shattered the sashes of the coach doors and went
+through and through the vehicle.</p>
+
+<p>“Scared at nothing, are you?” taunted Buffalo Bill.
+“If I’d come up behind you on a dark night and hollered
+‘Boo!’ I suppose you’d all run.”</p>
+
+<p>“Men! if he moves, kill him!” commanded the exasperated
+Bennett, and he stepped forward and flung
+open the coach door.</p>
+
+<p>Even Boyd Bennett started at what he beheld there.</p>
+
+<p>“The devil! what does this mean, Cody?”</p>
+
+<p>“Injuns.”</p>
+
+<p>“How did you escape?”</p>
+
+<p>“Wasn’t with the coach.”</p>
+
+<p>“And the treasure-box?”</p>
+
+<p>“Look for yourself.”</p>
+
+<p>“The Indians got it?”</p>
+
+<p>“Whether they did or did not, you lose the game,
+Bennett,” said Buffalo Bill, laughing with an appearance
+of heartiness which he did not feel.</p>
+
+<p>“I don’t believe they got it!” cried Bennett, in rage.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[111]</span></p>
+
+<p>“Well, you can run along and ask ’em. They’re not
+over a dozen miles away, I reckon.”</p>
+
+<p>The countenance of Boyd Bennett grew black with
+passion, and for a moment he was silent, while into
+his eyes crept an expression of devilish intent. Then
+he spoke, and his words hissed from a throat hot with
+passion:</p>
+
+<p>“Buffalo Bill, you have sealed your doom by this
+act!”</p>
+
+<p>“Say! I’ve heard talk like that before, Bennett.”</p>
+
+<p>“Mine are no idle words.”</p>
+
+<p>“Well, go on with the dance,” quoth the scout coolly.</p>
+
+<p>“Here!” commanded the bandit chief, “two of you
+men get up on the box and bind him.”</p>
+
+<p>He was obeyed at once, as far as the climbing to the
+box went, although the fellows approached the scout
+gingerly enough. Buffalo Bill sat smiling, with his
+hands still raised above his head. Suddenly, as the
+men were about to seize him, and their bodies in some
+measure intervened between his own and the rifles and
+pistol pointed at the scout, the latter seized both with
+iron grip.</p>
+
+<p>Giving his war-whoop, the scout leaped up, hurled
+one of the road-agents to the ground, and with the
+other in his arms leaped from the box of the coach.
+As they alighted, Buffalo Bill drew a revolver, and
+was throwing it forward to fire at the outlaw chief,
+when the weapon was knocked from his hand by a
+blow from behind, and several of the bandits threw
+themselves upon him.</p>
+
+<p>“For your lives, do not kill him!” shouted Bennett,
+springing forward to join in the fight for the mastery
+of the scout.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[112]</span></p>
+
+<p>Borne down by the weight of numbers, Buffalo Bill
+was unable to break from his foes, and he was soon
+securely bound, hand and foot. Then the bandits
+turned to their chief for further orders. The expression
+of fiendish cruelty upon Bennett’s face showed
+that he had formed some diabolical plot to avenge himself
+upon his old-time foe. He believed that Buffalo
+Bill had thwarted him in his desire to get the government
+money; and, anyway, there was an old score between
+them, and Bennett proposed to square the account
+to date!</p>
+
+<p>“Now drag him up to that box again,” ordered the
+bandit leader, and with some effort they accomplished
+it.</p>
+
+<p>“Lash him there!” was the next command, and the
+scout was securely tied to the seat.</p>
+
+<p>“Now throw the reins loosely over the foot-board!”</p>
+
+<p>This order was likewise obeyed, Buffalo Bill the
+while looking calmly on, evidently anticipating the
+crime his enemy intended, yet uttering no word. He
+would not plead for his life of the miserable cur who
+now had him in his power.</p>
+
+<p>Having executed their work, by lashing Buffalo Bill
+with lariats firmly to the box seat and his feet to the
+foot-board, the outlaws turned to their cruel captain
+for further orders. It was at this moment that Buffalo
+Bill took occasion to speak; but his voice was calm
+and his manner unshaken:</p>
+
+<p>“Hold on, Bennett, before you go too far!”</p>
+
+<p>The bandits’ chief turned with a wicked smile, and
+asked:</p>
+
+<p>“With what do you threaten me, Bill Cody?”</p>
+
+<p>“The worst fate that ever met mortal man, if you<span class="pagenum">[113]</span>
+dare commit the deed you have in view,” was the bold
+reply.</p>
+
+<p>“Dead men tell no tales!”</p>
+
+<p>“Ah, but they do! It is only the fool that says ‘It
+is all over!’ when his enemy is dead by his hand. It is
+not over. It has only begun! My fate will become
+known; a hundred border men will not rest till they
+learn who committed this deed; and then a thousand
+men will not rest till vengeance is satisfied!”</p>
+
+<p>“Bah! Your friends might be bad men to meet, I’ve
+no doubt&mdash;if they could prove anything.”</p>
+
+<p>“They’ll prove enough. Your fate will be worse
+than mine, Boyd Bennett.”</p>
+
+<p>“You seem to be cock-sure of what I’m going to treat
+you to?” said Bennett.</p>
+
+<p>“I am.”</p>
+
+<p>“Well, what is it?”</p>
+
+<p>“You propose to lead the horses to yonder fork of
+the trail, turn them loose, and start them down Breakneck
+Hill.”</p>
+
+<p>“Right! Right, by thunder!” roared the road-agent,
+slapping his thigh and laughing. “You are a mighty
+good guesser, Buffalo Bill. That is exactly what I
+shall do.”</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XVII">CHAPTER XVII.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">A FRIEND IN NEED.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>If Buffalo Bill’s face paled he showed no other mark
+of fear. He knew Boyd Bennett, and had every reason
+to believe that the man hated him desperately
+enough to carry out his awful threat.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[114]</span></p>
+
+<p>It was no bluff on the outlaw’s part to frighten him
+into giving up the secret of the hidden government
+money. To a man like Bennett, whose temper was
+ungovernable, revenge was worth more than treasure.
+He did not even ask the scout where he had hidden the
+treasure-box.</p>
+
+<p>“I haven’t forgotten, my handsome plainsman, that
+once you captured me and sent me to the guard-house.
+I swore to be revenged upon you then.”</p>
+
+<p>“You deserved what you got&mdash;you dirty deserter!”
+exclaimed Buffalo Bill.</p>
+
+<p>The outlaw leader shrugged his shoulders and turned
+to his men.</p>
+
+<p>“All ready?”</p>
+
+<p>“He’s hard and fast, captain.”</p>
+
+<p>“Unfasten that splendid horse he was riding. I
+need just such an animal in my business.”</p>
+
+<p>They untied Chief from the leaders.</p>
+
+<p>“Buffalo Bill, straight for the Breakneck you go.
+And if these horses don’t carry you down fast enough
+to smash this old coach to atoms and break your cursed
+neck, I’ll give up this business and turn parson!”</p>
+
+<p>“You’ll never have time to repent of your sins and
+turn parson, Bennett,” said the scout.</p>
+
+<p>“Meaning I’ll die with my boots on?” asked the outlaw
+lightly.</p>
+
+<p>“Meaning you’ll be hung,” returned Buffalo Bill.</p>
+
+<p>“Don’t you put too much confidence in <em>that</em>, old
+man,” said Bennett. “At least, you won’t be to my
+hanging.”</p>
+
+<p>“There’s many a slip, you know,” said the scout
+tauntingly.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[115]</span></p>
+
+<p>“I presume you hope to be rescued even now, do
+you not?” cried Bennett.</p>
+
+<p>But Buffalo Bill did not expect that. He had
+taunted the man, hoping to inspire him with such ungovernable
+fury that he would shoot him quickly and
+so save him the awful ride to death. Even the boldest
+man might shrink from that journey down Breakneck
+Hill!</p>
+
+<p>“No, no, old man! You are mine this time. I tell
+you that you, the horses, and the old hearse, shall all
+go to the devil together. Here, boys! lead the horses
+to yonder fork of the roads and there turn them loose!”</p>
+
+<p>The command was obeyed. Whether the other outlaws
+desired Buffalo Bill’s death as their leader did,
+he had such a hold upon them that not one objected
+to the mode of vengeance to be wreaked upon the
+scout. The horses were led to the brink of the steep
+hill. It had once been the stage-road; but a landslide,
+and various heavy rains, had made it impracticable.
+It was almost as steep as the side of a house in places,
+and the roadway was full of boulders and stumps, while
+the gulleys made by heavy rains cut through it in
+many spots. A careful pack-animal might pick its way
+from top to bottom safely; but no vehicle could exist
+in a passage down Breakneck Hill.</p>
+
+<p>The hill was not a continuous decline. It pitched
+sharply at first; then there was nearly a quarter of
+a mile of easy going along a plateau until there came
+the final and impassable descent into the valley.</p>
+
+<p>“Now, Buffalo Bill, your life ends here!” cried Bennett
+savagely.</p>
+
+<p>“All right, Bennett! And the boys won’t forget how
+I died,” was the reckless response.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[116]</span></p>
+
+<p>“Turn ’em loose!” shouted the bandit leader.</p>
+
+<p>The men at the bits sprang aside. The horses, having
+stood so long, and “smelling their oats” ahead of
+them, were eager to be off. With a great tug the coach
+started, the harness clattering about the horses’ heels
+almost immediately as the coach pitched over the rise.
+This, and the shouts and yells of the outlaws, frightened
+the poor brutes. They felt no restraining hand
+on the lines; there was no foot on the brake. The
+coach was coming down behind them with all its
+weight.</p>
+
+<p>Therefore the horses leaped away, frightened beyond
+reason. The old coach bumped and swayed.
+The rough, steep pitch was not long, but it looked as
+though the coach would not arrive at the bottom of
+this first incline without being smashed.</p>
+
+<p>Down it thundered, the wheels bumping, the body
+swaying, and the bound figure, on the seat unable to
+retard it in the least. Behind thundered the big white
+horse, for, breaking away from its captors, Chief intended
+to follow his master to the death!</p>
+
+<p>Not far away from the scene of the hold-up of the
+stage-coach by the outlaws, and near the time that the
+coach and horses were released upon this dangerous
+dash down Breakneck Hill, a horseman was crossing a
+table-land, one side of which was formed by the steep
+wall of the bluff down the face of which the old stage-road
+led.</p>
+
+<p>Though alone upon the table-land, far in the rear
+other horsemen were visible upon his trail. At first
+glance one might have thought that it was a chase, the
+man in front being pursued by the score or so of men
+behind him; but a second scrutiny would have shown<span class="pagenum">[117]</span>
+that it was merely the difference in horse-flesh and
+human endurance that caused the long space to separate
+the leader and his followers.</p>
+
+<p>The lone horseman was dressed in a cavalry fatigue
+uniform with pants tucked in boots, a slouch-hat pinned
+up with a pair of crossed sabers, and a gold cord encircling
+the hat, while upon the shoulders of his jacket
+were straps showing his rank to be that of a first lieutenant
+in the United States Army.</p>
+
+<p>His face was stern for so young a man, but there
+were humorous lines about his smoothly shaven lips,
+and fun danced in the corners of his eyes. Despite
+the hard brown of his countenance, that must have begun
+to be tanned by the Western sun and wind at an
+early age, there was a kindly appearance about the
+young lieutenant.</p>
+
+<p>He was armed with a cavalry sword and a pair of
+service pistols. One gauntleted hand rested on his
+sword-hilt as his horse galloped along. He was several
+miles ahead of his men, who were now scarcely
+more than black specks against the horizon.</p>
+
+<p>“Kinder risky to ride so far ahead, I suppose,” he
+was muttering. “Bill would tell me that. By thunder!
+if I’m attacked on this plateau I can fight&mdash;or run&mdash;I
+hope. There’s little cover hereabouts for either Indians
+or road-agents. And the latter gentry don’t
+usually care to tackle Uncle Sam’s cavalry.”</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly the silence about him was shattered by distant
+yells and several rifle-shots. He glanced back.
+Nothing was happening to his men. The sound came
+from ahead. Again he heard shouts and shots, and
+after that the ring of horses’ hoofs and the rumble of
+heavy wheels.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[118]</span></p>
+
+<p>“By thunder! a hold-up!” he gasped. “And those
+weren’t Indian yells. The stage-coach, I’ll bet! Yet
+the coach wouldn’t take the old road yonder. Why!
+It couldn’t come that way! It would be surely
+wrecked.”</p>
+
+<p>Yet, although the shouts and rifle-shots died away,
+the sound of the wheels and the hammering of the
+horses’ hoofs increased. Some heavy vehicle, drawn
+by several horses, was coming down the Breakneck
+Hill road!</p>
+
+<p>The lone horseman, who had halted at the first
+sound, now set spurs to his mount again. He headed
+directly across the plateau. The stage-road was just
+below the brink of the precipitous slant not many rods
+away, and toward this place the lieutenant hurried.</p>
+
+<p>“It <em>is</em> the stage!” he cried. “The miscreants have
+turned it down the old road. There’s a level bit below
+here for some rods; but if it crosses that and goes
+down the other descent&mdash;well! God help them if there
+is man, woman, or child aboard!”</p>
+
+<p>He reached the brink of the steep descent to the level
+stretch of the old road. Down the first dip was tearing
+six frightened steeds with the old stage-coach
+swaying and bounding behind them. And in the rear
+a riderless white horse was racing after the coach!</p>
+
+<p>That horse the lieutenant recognized.</p>
+
+<p>“That’s Cody’s mount&mdash;it is, by thunder! What’s
+it doing here? And where’s Bill?”</p>
+
+<p>There was not another horse like Chief on the frontier;
+but the stage was too far away for the young
+man to recognize the figure swaying on the coach seat.</p>
+
+<p>“They’re running away, and the driver’s lost his
+nerve!” exclaimed the cavalryman.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[119]</span></p>
+
+<p>Then he raised his voice, shouting in trumpet tones:</p>
+
+<p>“Put on your brake! drag hard on your lines, man,
+or you are lost!”</p>
+
+<p>The six horses, keeping their feet almost miraculously,
+bounded out upon the level stretch. They did
+not hold back in the least. They were maddened with
+fear now, and were headed straight for the second descent.
+On <em>that</em> hill they would quickly come to grief.
+No power could save them.</p>
+
+<p>Again the astonished cavalryman yelled his warning
+to the man on the driver’s seat of the coach. His
+words seemed to reach the man’s ears. He made no
+move to seize the lines or retard the mad course of the
+horses, but in clarion tones came back the answer:</p>
+
+<p>“I am bound! I cannot stop them! Shoot!”</p>
+
+<p>Perhaps the involuntary passenger on the doomed
+stage-coach meant for the young man to shoot <em>him</em> and
+so let him escape a more awful death. But no such intention
+had the lieutenant. The coach was coming
+toward him rapidly, and he obtained a clearer view of
+the bound man.</p>
+
+<p>“Buffalo Bill, by the nine gods of war!” he shouted
+suddenly, recognizing his friend. “What in Heaven’s
+name does this mean?”</p>
+
+<p>There was nobody to answer the query; but he saw
+that the man was indeed bound to his seat, and that
+the reins were loosely swinging, bound to the lantern.
+The brake was not on at all!</p>
+
+<p>At this discovery the lieutenant sank his spurs into
+the flanks of his thoroughbred, and, with a wild snort
+of pain and anger, the horse leaped down the sharp
+declivity toward the piece of rough, but level roadway,
+over which the coach must come.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[120]</span></p>
+
+<p>Yet half-way down the incline the lieutenant was
+smitten with a sudden thought, and he pulled hard on
+the bit. The thoroughbred lay back on his haunches
+and slid. The rider seized one of his guns and cocked
+the weapon.</p>
+
+<p>“Now, Dick Danforth, prove your fame as a dead
+shot,” he muttered. “For if ever true marksmanship
+was needed, it is now to save yonder brave man from
+death!”</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XVIII">CHAPTER XVIII.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">THE RACE WITH DEATH.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>The young officer’s face was stern, yet calm. No
+nerves had he, and, although so much depended upon
+his work of the next few moments, he was certainly
+cool. His eyes only flashed, showing the excitement
+that bore him up.</p>
+
+<p>He glanced at the pistol to see that all was right.
+Straight along the level the maddened horses came, the
+coach swaying behind them like a ship in a heavy sea.
+And behind it came Chief as though he hoped to do
+something for his imperiled master.</p>
+
+<p>Dick Danforth was above the road, and, as he had
+pulled back his horse, the creature was fairly sliding
+down the steep incline, laying back on its haunches
+and bracing its forefeet to retard its progress.</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill could do nothing to help himself. Even
+had he been able to seize the reins at this moment and
+slam on the brake, he could not have brought the wild
+horses to a halt before the damage was <a id="Ref_120" href="#Ref_120a">done</a>. It all
+depended upon Dick Danforth.</p>
+
+<p>Far up the hill the keen eye of the <a id="Ref_1201" href="#Ref_120b">officer</a> descried<span class="pagenum">[121]</span>
+a band of horsemen. They wore no uniforms, were
+not in buckskin, and were not Indians. He understood
+who they were at once. He knew that Buffalo Bill
+had been sent to his doom by the bandits of the overland
+trail.</p>
+
+<p>“But, by thunder! we’ll fool ’em!” muttered the
+young officer.</p>
+
+<p>Almost instantly his finger touched the trigger of
+the pistol, and the flash and report followed. With
+perfect presence of mind he had made his calculations.
+Did he kill one of the leaders it would throw the other
+horses upon him, and the stage would be wrecked after
+all, and Buffalo Bill doubtless killed.</p>
+
+<p>Did he kill one of the wheel-horses instead it would
+act as a drag on the others, and still be borne along at
+a slackening speed, until its mate could be brought
+down. This he had aimed to do and&mdash;he succeeded!</p>
+
+<p>With the crack of the first shot the off-wheeler
+dropped, the stage swayed forward sideways, and then
+was dragged on, with the dead horse, yet at a slackened
+pace.</p>
+
+<p>With the second shot the other wheel-horse stumbled,
+staggered, half-fell, regained its feet again, and
+finally went down heavily. Again the coach swayed
+badly; but the stout pole was kept up by the pressure
+of the draft of four horses upon it, and the heavy
+breast chains and traces held the two dead animals
+firmly attached to it, both acting as a powerful drag
+upon the others, and retarding their speed to a slow
+gallop.</p>
+
+<p>Dick Danforth let his mount out, came down the remainder
+of the run with a rush, and on the level
+reached the leader’s heads. He seized the bridle of<span class="pagenum">[122]</span>
+the nearest horse and dragged him to one side, almost
+throwing him. The horse broke step and pulled its
+mate down. In a minute all four were brought up
+standing&mdash;and not an instant too soon, for the brink
+of the second and more perilous part of the hill was
+right before them!</p>
+
+<p>The horses were still in a nervous state; but Dick
+Danforth could trust his own mount. He placed the
+horse he rode in front of the leaders, leaped from the
+saddle, and left the bridle-reins hanging over his
+horse’s head. While they remained thus nothing less
+than an earthquake, or a volcanic eruption, would
+make the horse move out of his tracks&mdash;and the coach-animals
+could not pass him.</p>
+
+<p>“Quick, Danforth! As you are alone you’d best get
+out of here quick. Here come my foes!” cried Buffalo
+Bill, glancing back.</p>
+
+<p>Boyd Bennett and his men, all mounted now, were
+picking their way down the hill, intent upon overtaking
+Buffalo Bill again and his lone rescuer. But Dick Danforth
+was not the man to fly and leave a comrade in
+peril. His escort was as yet a long way off, he knew;
+Buffalo Bill was bound too tightly for quick release,
+and could not aid in beating back the bandits.</p>
+
+<p>Danforth ran directly toward the coach, nevertheless.
+Along came Chief at an easy lope, and he caught
+the horse. He saw that Cody’s loaded pistols were in
+the holsters. He snatched them out, and climbed
+quickly up to the box seat.</p>
+
+<p>By then the bandits had begun to fire. But, without
+replying, and while the lead whistled about their heads
+like hail, the lieutenant slashed the cords which held
+Buffalo Bill’s hands in limbo.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[123]</span></p>
+
+<p>“Grab these and let the sons-of-guns have ’em,
+Cody!” yelled the excited officer, thrusting his own
+pistols into the scout’s hands.</p>
+
+<p>Then he flung himself forward upon his face along
+the coach top, and, dragging his own guns from his
+boots, into the tops of which he had dropped them, he
+began to blaze away at Boyd Bennett and his gang with
+such good success that almost instantly the leader was
+wounded and another man was dropped out of his
+saddle. Buffalo Bill began to fire rapidly, too, being
+able to twist the upper part of his body about and take
+aim.</p>
+
+<p>With two such dead shots against the robbers, the
+latter had little stomach for the battle. Besides, the
+scoundrels saw Danforth’s hat, and one yelled:</p>
+
+<p>“Look out, boys! the troopers are on us!”</p>
+
+<p>And already the thunder of the squadron of cavalry
+on the plateau above reached their ears. Their leader
+having disappeared in such a hurry, the cavalrymen
+had come up rapidly, and now heard the firing of the
+guns below.</p>
+
+<p>“Hold, men! fly for your lives!” shouted the voice of
+Boyd Bennett.</p>
+
+<p>He wheeled and larruped his horse up the hill. Before
+the troopers reached the brink of the bluff above
+the coach, the robbers were out of sight.</p>
+
+<p>“You’re all right, old man!” yelled Danforth, in
+huge delight, smiting Cody on the back.</p>
+
+<p>“Thanks to you, Dick.”</p>
+
+<p>“Who was your particular friend yonder&mdash;the fellow
+with the mustache and the black hair?”</p>
+
+<p>“Boyd Bennett.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[124]</span></p>
+
+<p>“By the nine gods of war! Too bad I didn’t settle
+his hash instead of just stinging him.”</p>
+
+<p>“Too bad, indeed, Dick.”</p>
+
+<p>“Are you hurt?”</p>
+
+<p>“No. But you might cut my other ropes. I’d like
+to get off this blamed old ramshackle thing before she
+starts again. Those horses are still nervous.”</p>
+
+<p>“Right you are, Bill!” cried the lieutenant, and
+while his men hurriedly made their way down the hill
+leading their mounts&mdash;and passing wondering remarks
+at the trail left on the hillside by the lieutenant’s horse&mdash;Danforth
+finished cutting Cody free.</p>
+
+<p>While Cody related his adventure with the coach, the
+lieutenant’s men dragged out the dead horses and reharnessed
+the others. The dead soldiers and driver
+brought forth angry ejaculations from the troopers.
+Danforth and his men were out on scouting duty, and
+when the lieutenant heard of the hidden treasure-chest,
+he undertook the duty of getting it and bearing it and
+the stage-coach on to Fort Advance.</p>
+
+<p>“You don’t need all your men for that, Dick,” the
+scout said. “Half your escort can take the coach and
+the treasure in. I’ve a long score to even up with Boyd
+Bennett, and I’m going to hit his trail right now. I
+have my horse and my weapons, and with you and a
+file of your men we ought to be able to handle the
+scoundrels if we have the luck to overtake them.”</p>
+
+<p>“I’m agreeable, Cody,” declared the reckless lieutenant.
+“You haven’t any scruples about my shooting
+these road-agents if we come up with them?”</p>
+
+<p>“What do you mean, lieutenant?” asked Cody curiously.
+“What’s the burn?”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[125]</span></p>
+
+<p>“Why, you seemed to object to my potting that Injun
+gal, White Antelope.”</p>
+
+<p>The scout’s face clouded, and he shook his head.</p>
+
+<p>“Don’t jest over that, Dick.”</p>
+
+<p>“Pshaw! I’m not jesting. I spotted her only this
+morning&mdash;and stayed my hand. Otherwise she would
+be walking behind my chariot.”</p>
+
+<p>“White Antelope out this way?” exclaimed Cody
+wonderingly.</p>
+
+<p>“She sure was.”</p>
+
+<p>“Then there’s something afoot among the Sioux.
+We must look into this.”</p>
+
+<p>“But first the road-agents?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes. First we’ll serve Boyd Bennett.”</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XIX">CHAPTER XIX.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">DANFORTH’S HAND IS STAYED AGAIN.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>It was decided, however, that the entire troop would
+return with the stage-coach to the scene of the original
+hold-up. Although Bennett had been driven off so
+successfully by the bluecoats, Buffalo Bill feared that
+he might meet up with the scalping party that had
+killed the paymaster and his guard, and take his gang
+over to this spot to search for the pay-chest that he
+was so sure his old enemy, the scout, had hidden.</p>
+
+<p>“We might have the luck to catch him on the
+ground. If not, we’ll pick up his trail as soon as we
+see a part of your men off with the coach and the
+treasure,” said Cody.</p>
+
+<p>The four horses drew the empty stage up the hill
+with little difficulty, and, surrounded by the troop of<span class="pagenum">[126]</span>
+cavalry, it rattled back along the trail to the gruesome
+spot where Cody had first seen it. There Danforth
+set his men afoot, and at several points of vantage,
+to watch the road and the valley behind the ridge,
+while he and the scout went down into the swamp for
+the treasure-chest.</p>
+
+<p>They had one of the troopers follow them at a distance
+of a few rods. Their numbers were so few, and
+they were so scattered, that Danforth took every precaution
+against being ambushed. The day was
+waning, and they were obliged to hurry if they would
+fish out the chest and then pick up the trail of the outlaw
+gang before night. And Danforth was quite as
+eager as the scout to do this last.</p>
+
+<p>When they got into the wood which masked the
+swampy ground they alarmed a big caribou, which
+started slowly in the very direction they were taking.</p>
+
+<p>“That doesn’t look much as though there were
+either reds or whites lurking near,” muttered Cody.</p>
+
+<p>“By Jove, Bill! I want a shot at that fellow,” exclaimed
+Danforth eagerly.</p>
+
+<p>“He’s not going fast. Perhaps you can bring him
+down.”</p>
+
+<p>“I’m going to try. There, he’s stopped to feed
+again. He’s a cheeky old cuss.”</p>
+
+<p>“What you want him for? Your party is well provisioned.”</p>
+
+<p>“The colonel will be glad of a haunch of caribou
+venison. He’s fond of it, and the flesh is good now.”</p>
+
+<p>“All right, Dick. Take my gun. It’s better than
+yours.”</p>
+
+<p>The eager young lieutenant seized the weapon and
+began creeping through the brush in the direction of<span class="pagenum">[127]</span>
+the caribou’s flight. Cody came behind, not much interested
+in the game, having his mind more fixed upon
+the overtaking of Boyd Bennett. The hunt promised
+to be a brief one, however.</p>
+
+<p>Fortunately the running buck had not diverted far
+from the straightaway course to the hiding-place of
+the treasure-box; otherwise Cody might have more
+strenuously objected. In a few minutes the two men
+came to a glade well dotted with trees, yet free for the
+most part of brush so that they could see some distance.</p>
+
+<p>“Wait! isn’t that him, Bill?” whispered the young
+lieutenant.</p>
+
+<p>“Your eyesight is good, Dick. Where?” asked the
+scout.</p>
+
+<p>“Yonder. Beyond that low brush-clump.”</p>
+
+<p>“Ah!”</p>
+
+<p>“That’s sure him, Bill. Yes, sir! he’s facing this
+way. You can see his black breast and fore legs.
+Down, Bill! don’t show yourself,” whispered Danforth
+eagerly.</p>
+
+<p>“Wait a moment. Better be sure, Dick,” muttered
+the scout, stooping and peering under the sharp of his
+hand toward the spot indicated.</p>
+
+<p>“Gad! he’ll get away. Let me plug him.”</p>
+
+<p>The light was so uncertain that, old and keen-eyed
+hunter that he was, Cody was not at all sure it was
+the caribou they saw.</p>
+
+<p>“Don’t make a mistake, Dick,” he murmured.</p>
+
+<p>“What mistake? The mistake of letting the critter
+git away?” cried the young man, exasperated.</p>
+
+<p>“Many a man has been shot from overeagerness in
+the chase,” said the scout warningly.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[128]</span></p>
+
+<p>“Why, that’s no man!”</p>
+
+<p>“A big buck standing head on in the brush like this
+one, looks just like a man in black clothes&mdash;don’t you
+see?”</p>
+
+<p>“It <em>does</em> look like a man,” admitted Danforth. “I’ll
+remember that, Bill. But we know well enough that
+<em>this</em> is a caribou.”</p>
+
+<p>“Do we?”</p>
+
+<p>“Of course! Confound you, Bill&mdash;&mdash;”</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly a sharp whistle issued from the scout’s
+lips. Dick Danforth swore out loud and jerked his
+gun to his shoulder. But the scout grabbed his arm.</p>
+
+<p>“There’s your buck, Dick!” the older man exclaimed.</p>
+
+<p>In a flash the figure beyond the glade moved and
+came into better view for an instant. It was not a
+deer at all, but a man&mdash;a gigantic figure, dressed in
+some rough black garment, and he was in view of the
+two friends for but a few seconds. Then he darted
+behind a tree.</p>
+
+<p>“It’s a bear!” gasped Danforth. “I might have
+plugged him, anyway.”</p>
+
+<p>“Get out! That’s no bear. It’s a man.”</p>
+
+<p>“One of that gang?” whispered Danforth, suddenly
+more cautious.</p>
+
+<p>“I&mdash;don’t&mdash;know&mdash;&mdash;”</p>
+
+<p>“Better have let me shot him, anyway,” grumbled
+the lieutenant.</p>
+
+<p>“You bloodthirsty young savage! Be still.”</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly the figure beyond the glade rushed from
+behind the tree and glided swiftly away through the
+timber. As he went he uttered a most eery scream,<span class="pagenum">[129]</span>
+his voice floating back to them as he disappeared in
+the rapidly darkening forest.</p>
+
+<p>“Well! what do you think of that?” gasped Danforth.</p>
+
+<p>“Why, the man must be crazy!” exclaimed the scout.
+“That wasn’t Bennett or any of his crowd.”</p>
+
+<p>“Nor a redskin.”</p>
+
+<p>“Of course, it wasn’t a red. And a madman&mdash;&mdash;”</p>
+
+<p>“I’ve got it!” exclaimed the lieutenant suddenly.
+“That was the Mad Hunter.”</p>
+
+<p>“Pshaw! do you believe there is such a person?”</p>
+
+<p>“One of our old sergeants says he met him, and that
+the madman took a pot-shot at him,” declared the lieutenant.</p>
+
+<p>“Well. I’ve heard of him myself.”</p>
+
+<p>“And that chap was a big man, all right.”</p>
+
+<p>“A giant.”</p>
+
+<p>“And as crazy as a bedbug,” added Danforth decidedly.</p>
+
+<p>“Don’t know how crazy they are; but this chap certainly
+acted as though he was a good subject for restraint.
+Ugh! did you ever hear such a yell?”</p>
+
+<p>“I know you stopped me from making a very pretty
+shot, Bill,” laughed the youngster. “That’s the second
+time. The next time I’ll be tempted to turn my
+gun on you, old man.”</p>
+
+<p>Cody became grave again the instant he was reminded
+of how Danforth had come near to shooting
+White Antelope, but he made no rejoinder. They hurried
+back to the edge of the swamp, and, leaving the
+cavalryman to watch, the scout and the lieutenant soon
+found the root to which Cody had tied the lariat, and,
+with some little difficulty, dragged the submerged box<span class="pagenum">[130]</span>
+into view. There was a handle upon each end, and between
+them the two friends carried the chest back to
+the stage-coach. They loaded it aboard, one of the
+troopers tied his horse behind and took the reins, and
+four rode before and behind the coach as guard. Just
+as dusk fell the paymaster’s chest resumed its journey
+to Fort Advance, with the dead bodies of its former
+unfortunate guardians.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XX">CHAPTER XX.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">A DOUBLE CAPTURE.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>Lieutenant Danforth and the bulk of his squad attended
+Buffalo Bill on his search for the gang of outlaws.
+As soon as the coach was well on its way, they
+rode to the spot where Boyd Bennett and his men had
+left the trail, and, despite the fact that it was rapidly
+growing dark, they picked up the hoofmarks of the
+renegades’ horses and followed them rapidly for some
+miles.</p>
+
+<p>Although the sky was clear and there was a long
+evening, the party of trailers could not keep on for
+long. They got well into the hills; but the tracks of
+the outlaw gang showed that Bennett had kept on at a
+swift pace, and it was utterly useless for the troop to
+wear out their own mounts and possibly miss the trail
+itself after dark.</p>
+
+<p>“It’s a long chase, as a stern chase always is, Dick,”
+said the scout. “We might as well make up our minds
+to that, first as last.”</p>
+
+<p>“So I suppose, Bill.”</p>
+
+<p>“But as long as we’re once on the scoundrel’s trail,<span class="pagenum">[131]</span>
+I’ll stick to it to the end,” said Cody grimly. “Better
+rest up the men and horses and make an early start.”</p>
+
+<p>“Right you are. How’s yonder place for a camp?”</p>
+
+<p>“In among those rocks&mdash;yes. We can set sentinels
+on the top of them. Nobody can approach us then.”</p>
+
+<p>“All right. Too bad I didn’t drop that caribou. A
+little fresh meat would have been agreeable.”</p>
+
+<p>“No smoke, boy. Can’t afford to make a fire.
+We’re not only following some pretty shrewd white
+men, but we’re in the Injun country.”</p>
+
+<p>“Thunder!”</p>
+
+<p>“Cold fodder to-night,” said the scout firmly.</p>
+
+<p>“Well. My orderly always packs a small spirit-lamp.
+He can make shift to get us all a cup of coffee,”
+said Danforth, and he proceeded to give the necessary
+orders, and the troop was soon bivouacked for the
+night.</p>
+
+<p>The horses, well hobbled, grazed within bowshot
+of the camp, and a sentinel placed so as to overlook
+them where they were on the plain. No wily enemy
+might approach them without the watcher, if he be
+sharp-eyed, seeing the marauder. Yet Buffalo Bill did
+not altogether trust to the watchfulness of the troopers.</p>
+
+<p>He was in need of rest, and he rolled up in his
+blanket and left Danforth to smoke his pipe alone,
+early in the evening. But when the midnight watch
+turned out the old scout arose like a specter, spoke to
+the corporal in charge, and stole out of the camp.
+Knowing the avarice of Boyd Bennett and suspecting
+that of his men, he felt sure that they would not give
+up so easily the chance of finding and appropriating<span class="pagenum">[132]</span>
+the pay-chest which Captain Hinkley had lost his life
+to defend.</p>
+
+<p>In the first blush of the attack by the troopers, the
+outlaws had broken and fled. But they would recover
+their nerve. They might be joined by some of
+Oak Heart’s braves, with whom Cody knew Bennett
+fraternized. They might even hear the full particulars
+of the Indians’ hold-up of the stage, and be more
+confident than ever of the fact that Cody had hidden
+the treasure.</p>
+
+<p>The scout believed that, as he and Danforth had
+moved so quickly, the coach with its present guard
+would get through in safety to Fort Advance. It was
+probably there by this time, in fact. But Bennett and
+his men might come back to see what was really being
+done by the troopers, and they would be sure to fall
+upon the bivouac. Therefore, the scout was on the
+alert.</p>
+
+<p>He made a complete circuit of the camp, but out of
+sight and gunshot of the sentinels. He did not care
+to furnish a target for his own friends. Having
+agreed with the corporal on a signal, he would not
+come in without sounding it, and so warning the bluecoats
+of his return.</p>
+
+<p>However, he found no sign of an enemy, although
+he spent an hour and a half in creeping about the vicinity.
+And this very fact amazed and somewhat troubled
+him. He could not imagine Bennett under ordinary
+circumstances flying from an enemy without sending
+back a scout to learn if the trail was not being
+followed. Cody was dissatisfied. He feared that the
+reason he had not discovered such a scout was because
+it was some person more wily than himself!</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[133]</span></p>
+
+<p>No white man could be that. Ordinarily Buffalo
+Bill would pitch his own cunning against a redskin’s,
+too; but in this case, if there was an Indian creeping
+about the camp, he would have the advantage over
+the Border King. He might have crawled to the summit
+of some hill and from that vantage overlook the
+encampment of Uncle Sam’s troops.</p>
+
+<p>Having encircled the encampment, Buffalo Bill was
+undecided whether to return to the bivouac&mdash;his
+blanket beckoned him&mdash;or to once more make the circle.
+Suddenly he heard Chief whinny loudly. There
+was some activity among the horses; but the scout
+heard the sentinel’s voice and knew that the mob of
+animals would not stampede. But his own mount
+screamed again&mdash;angrily.</p>
+
+<p>“By thunder!” muttered the Border King. “That
+means one thing, and one thing only. Chief smells
+a redskin&mdash;or more than one!”</p>
+
+<p>Yet he did not start down into the encampment to
+arouse the men. The horses quieted down, and there
+was no further warning from the big white horse.
+The scout, however, glided out upon the plain, taking
+advantage of the shadow of every bush and boulder,
+and so stood beside the soldier watching the herd. He
+came so suddenly that the man was startled and
+grunted:</p>
+
+<p>“Holy Jo, Cody! You give me a start.”</p>
+
+<p>“See what an Injun might do to you.”</p>
+
+<p>“Not much. I’d smell the prowling devils,” said the
+trooper confidently.</p>
+
+<p>“What was the matter with my horse?”</p>
+
+<p>“That white fellow?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[134]</span></p>
+
+<p>“Dunno. Just squealed.”</p>
+
+<p>Cody thought to himself: “Well, your smelling
+powers are not equal to Chief’s. <em>He</em> certainly got the
+taint of redskin on the air.”</p>
+
+<p>Aloud the scout asked:</p>
+
+<p>“Which way was the horse headed when he squealed&mdash;did
+you notice?”</p>
+
+<p>“Just about as he is now. What’s the matter?”</p>
+
+<p>“Humph! didn’t know but the horse was sick,” replied
+Cody dryly, and he walked through the herd till
+he stood beside Chief.</p>
+
+<p>“So, boy! what’s the matter?” he said soothingly,
+smoothing the horse’s muzzle.</p>
+
+<p>Chief whinnied softly; his fright was passed. Suddenly
+the sentinel, who had idly followed Cody’s movements
+with his glance, became aware of the fact that
+the scout had disappeared! It was not a dark night,
+and the plain was open; but the scout was gone as
+completely as though he had been suddenly wiped out
+of existence!</p>
+
+<p>“Well, I’ll be switched!” grunted the surprised
+trooper, stepping forward, and then stopping again.
+“I could have swore that feller stood by his hoss a
+minute ago.”</p>
+
+<p>And he was right on that point, of course. But Buffalo
+Bill had slipped the lariat from his saddle-bow
+and suddenly dropped into the grass at his horse’s
+feet. Chief began to crop the grass again, and paid no
+attention while his master crept away from the herd.
+Cody knew that the light breeze had brought but a
+single whiff of Indian to the horse’s nostrils. The
+redskin could not be far away.</p>
+
+<p>He crept across the plain and finally reached rising<span class="pagenum">[135]</span>
+ground, where clumps of brush and an occasional tree
+offered shelter. He had been over this ground before,
+but he knew that some prowling enemy had been
+here more recently. He remained almost flat upon
+the ground and gazed all about him, seeking to see
+the silhouette of any lurking figure against the sky.</p>
+
+<p>And in this he was successful. At first he overlooked
+it, believing it to be a tree. Then he saw it
+move slightly, and finally made out the body of a tall
+man standing beside a sapling, some distance up the
+hill. Eagerly the scout crawled up the slope, and
+finally gained a point above and beyond the stationary
+figure.</p>
+
+<p>Before he could accomplish more, however, the figure
+he had watched so carefully suddenly stepped
+away from the tree. He heard a guttural voice grunt
+the single syllable:</p>
+
+<p>“Ugh!”</p>
+
+<p>For an instant Cody feared his own presence had
+been discovered. Then he saw what had drawn the
+ejaculation from the redskin. A second figure had
+appeared on the hillside. Cody lay behind a boulder
+and watched the two men approach each other. There
+was a rapid interchange of guttural observations in the
+Sioux tongue. Two scouts were reporting to each
+other what they had discovered about the bivouac and
+the numbers of the pony soldiers there encamped.</p>
+
+<p>For all he knew there might be a big party of reds
+within call. He scarcely believed so, considering how
+the reds hate to travel by night; but the presence of
+these scouts suggested, at least, that Boyd Bennett had
+influence enough over the tribesmen to send these two
+back to do his dirty work.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[136]</span></p>
+
+<p>However, the scout was minded to make a bold play.</p>
+
+<p>He rose up softly from behind the boulder. The
+Indians’ backs were half-turned to him, and their
+heads were very close together while they whispered
+softly. Cody poised himself, and, judging his distance,
+began to circle his rope&mdash;which he had brought
+with him on the chance of tying up a prisoner&mdash;carefully.</p>
+
+<p>Swish!</p>
+
+<p>The serpentine loop hurtled over the heads of the
+redskins, and&mdash;dropped! There were two startled
+screams, both of which were choked off instantly.</p>
+
+<p>The scout flung himself backward and drew the
+horsehair noose taut. It had caught one Indian
+around the neck and over the shoulders, and the other
+had but one hand free. The first jerk yanked both off
+their feet and held them together with such firmness
+that they could not rise or stretch the loop. They
+were like one enraged animal, struggling and lashing
+out upon the ground!</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill ran in, wound the slack of the line
+about their writhing bodies and about their legs. In
+a couple of minutes they were so mixed up with that
+rope that it was hard to tell which Indian was which!</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXI">CHAPTER XXI.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">THE CAVE IN THE MOUNTAIN.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>Now, despite the excitement of the moment, Cody
+noticed one fact that delighted him. The two entangled
+Indians did not cry out. After the first involuntary
+grunt, neither uttered a yell of rage or despair,<span class="pagenum">[137]</span>
+and this proved a point in the scout’s favor. There
+were no other redskins near at hand!</p>
+
+<p>Had there been, a war-whoop from the struggling
+scamps would have been quite in order. But as they
+were evidently scouting with their main party at some
+distance, they were mighty careful about raising a
+racket and so bringing the soldiers up the hill to the
+aid of their unknown enemy. As for the latter, Buffalo
+Bill, he was not in the habit of singing out for
+help&mdash;not even when the odds were greater against
+him than upon this occasion.</p>
+
+<p>Having yanked the fellows back upon the ground
+twice, and pulling the lariat so taut that one Indian’s
+throat was almost cut, he taught the prisoners that
+he was master. He then, as shown, entangled their
+feet and legs, and so held them triced like a bale of
+hay.</p>
+
+<p>Being sure of handling them now, he came close,
+lashed the end of his lariat, and removed their knives
+and tomahawks. They had dropped their guns at the
+moment of the attack, and these the scout gathered up,
+too.</p>
+
+<p>Having made sure of the prisoners single-handed,
+the Border King walked composedly down toward the
+camp. The sentinel near the horses saw him coming
+and challenged:</p>
+
+<p>“Who goes there?”</p>
+
+<p>“It’s me, old man.”</p>
+
+<p>“Ah! I thought ’twas you, Cody. Where’d you go
+to back there a spell? All of a sudden I lost you.”</p>
+
+<p>“Why, I walked out to capture a couple of reds that
+were hanging about.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[138]</span></p>
+
+<p>“Ha! ha! ha!” laughed the man. “That’s a good
+one. I ain’t heard a thing to-night, have you?”</p>
+
+<p>“My horse did.”</p>
+
+<p>“What?”</p>
+
+<p>“Chief heard, or smelled, reds. And I’ve got ’em
+tied up out yonder,” said Buffalo Bill coolly. “Call
+your corporal and have ’em brought in.”</p>
+
+<p>“What’s that, Bill?” gasped the trooper.</p>
+
+<p>“Call the corporal.”</p>
+
+<p>“You don’t mean to say you’ve captured an Indian
+since you left me?”</p>
+
+<p>“Two.”</p>
+
+<p>“No!”</p>
+
+<p>“I tell you I have,” said Cody, with some exasperation.
+“Here are their arms. Get a move on you!”
+The surprised and half-doubting trooper made so much
+noise arousing his immediate officer that the lieutenant
+was awakened, too. He came down with the corporal
+and two men and went out with Cody to bring in the
+reds. It was a fact that none of the soldiers really believed
+Cody had captured two redskins until they saw
+the captives writhing on the ground.</p>
+
+<p>“And I wouldn’t have had ’em much longer if you
+fellows had stopped to chin any more. They’re most
+free,” said Cody.</p>
+
+<p>“Bill, you’re a wonder,” declared Dick Danforth.</p>
+
+<p>“Thanks. Bring ’em in. Let’s see who the scamps
+are.”</p>
+
+<p>This was done, the fire was renewed, and those of
+the troopers who had been aroused gathered around in
+a respectful circle to hear their lieutenant and the scout
+put the two bucks through their catechism.</p>
+
+<p>That they belonged to Oak Heart’s tribe was easy to<span class="pagenum">[139]</span>
+learn; but beyond that the two young redskins were
+very non-committal. They had come scouting about
+the soldier camp for Death Killer, the new medicine
+chief of the Sioux; little else could the whites learn.</p>
+
+<p>“Who the deuce is this Death Killer, Bill?” demanded
+Lieutenant Danforth.</p>
+
+<p>“I’ve heard some whispers of him; but who he is
+I haven’t learned,” said Cody.</p>
+
+<p>“Was he with the bunch that Oak Heart brought
+up against Fort Advance?”</p>
+
+<p>“No.”</p>
+
+<p>“That’s odd, isn’t it?”</p>
+
+<p>“These medicine chiefs are mighty scarey of their
+safety. They never take many risks, you bet!”</p>
+
+<p>“So Death Killer stayed at home and let his children
+fight the battle alone, eh?” remarked the lieutenant.</p>
+
+<p>“Why, as to that, I believe the Sioux didn’t have
+this wonderful new chief at that time.”</p>
+
+<p>“Is that so?”</p>
+
+<p>“I met an Arapahoe, a friend of mine, who told
+me something about the medicine chief that Oak
+Heart had got. The Sioux believe that the next
+time they buck up against the whites, the medicine of
+this Death Killer will bring them the victory.”</p>
+
+<p>This was said aside so that the two young Indians
+could not understand.</p>
+
+<p>“What’ll we do with these fellows, Bill?” asked
+the young officer.</p>
+
+<p>“Thunder! We don’t want any prisoners.”</p>
+
+<p>“You mean to shoot them?”</p>
+
+<p>“What’s the use? It will only mean bringing the
+whole tribe about our ears like a swarm of bees.<span class="pagenum">[140]</span>
+While we’re hunting Bennett we don’t want the Sioux
+onto us, too.”</p>
+
+<p>“You wouldn’t advise turning them loose?”</p>
+
+<p>“Well, do you know a better way of getting rid of
+them?”</p>
+
+<p>Danforth shook his head slowly.</p>
+
+<p>“They certainly would be white elephants on our
+hands if we tried to hold them,” he admitted.</p>
+
+<p>“Kick ’em out,” advised the scout.</p>
+
+<p>“They’ll go back and report.”</p>
+
+<p>“What can they report? That they found a bunch
+of troopers here camping on the trail of the white outlaws.”</p>
+
+<p>“But suppose Bennett is hand and glove with the
+reds as you think?”</p>
+
+<p>“Then we must run that risk. Here! let me talk
+with these young bucks alone,” suggested Cody.</p>
+
+<p>The examination of the reds had been accomplished
+in English and by aid of the sign language. Now the
+scout spoke to them in their own tongue. He did not
+expect to win their confidence; but since they had discovered
+that no other than Pa-e-has-ka had so easily
+overcome them, they felt better in their minds.</p>
+
+<p>Finally Cody unfastened them, filled their pouches
+with food, gave them back their weapons, and advised
+them to go back to their lodges.</p>
+
+<p>“Let this medicine chief, Death Killer, come himself
+to learn our numbers and our intentions,” said the
+scout significantly. “Let him learn about us by his
+magic. If he is so great a medicine-man why does
+he not know these things by his magic power? Go,
+brothers; you have your lives at the hand of the Long
+Hair.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[141]</span></p>
+
+<p>The two young reds departed with unmoved countenances.
+If they felt gratitude they would not be
+likely to show it in the expression of their faces. That
+would be against Indian nature.</p>
+
+<p>The camp being pretty thoroughly aroused now, and
+daybreak being near, the lieutenant ordered breakfast
+prepared. Buffalo Bill did not object to a fire being
+made now. Not only had their encampment been discovered
+by the reds; but the morning was so misty that
+the smoke would not rise high, anyway.</p>
+
+<p>They went on after the meal, finding the trail of the
+outlaws difficult of following in some places, for it
+was apparent that an attempt had been made to cloud
+the trace. By mid-forenoon, however, they were deep
+in the hills, in a wild and gloomy country, and where
+every mile was perilous. They might be ambushed by
+the foe in almost any cut, and Cody kept the command
+back while he investigated every particularly ugly-looking
+defile. What report the two released Indians
+might make to their people had much to do with the
+safety of the expedition, too. For all the whites knew,
+the Sioux might be gathering to fall upon them!</p>
+
+<p>Not a soul did they see on the trail; but they found
+the place where Boyd Bennett and his men had spent
+the night; and they noted marks which assured them
+that the outlaws had lit out that morning hurriedly.
+Evidently the approach of the troopers was feared by
+the renegades.</p>
+
+<p>Before night, however, Cody called a halt in the forward
+movement. They were in the midst of peaks,
+and tall, chimneylike rocks where the timber was
+sparse and vegetation of any other kind becoming thin.<span class="pagenum">[142]</span>
+Shelter was not easily obtained, and the trail had to
+be guessed at many times, the way was so rocky.</p>
+
+<p>“I don’t like the look of this territory, Dick,” said
+the scout.</p>
+
+<p>“Those fellows can’t be far ahead of us,” declared
+the eager lieutenant.</p>
+
+<p>“I’m not so sure of that. They plainly know the
+way.”</p>
+
+<p>“Well, they haven’t succeeded in fooling us much
+yet.”</p>
+
+<p>“That may be; but they may fool us badly in the
+end.”</p>
+
+<p>“Don’t croak, Bill; that isn’t like you.”</p>
+
+<p>“I tell you, boy, we’re perhaps putting our necks
+into a noose. I’ve seen several smokes this afternoon.
+Now, if the Injuns join in with Boyd Bennett, and
+make common cause with him&mdash;well, where’ll we be?”</p>
+
+<p>“Here, or hereabout,” grunted Danforth.</p>
+
+<p>“And we’ll stay here, too! I vote we make an end
+of this quick.”</p>
+
+<p>“Why, Bill, I thought you were so eager to follow
+Bennett up?”</p>
+
+<p>“So I am. But I’m not as eager for meeting my finish
+as you seem to be.”</p>
+
+<p>“Pshaw! you’re not afraid for yourself, Bill. I
+know you,” cried Danforth.</p>
+
+<p>“I’ve got no right to run you into peril.”</p>
+
+<p>“Forget me!”</p>
+
+<p>“And you’ve no right to lead your troop into a
+pocket. What do you suppose your ‘kern’ will say?”</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, shucks! I hate to give this up.”</p>
+
+<p>“So do I, son. But we’ve got to.”</p>
+
+<p>“You mean to start right back now?”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[143]</span></p>
+
+<p>“You’re the doctor. I’m not in command,” said
+Cody.</p>
+
+<p>“Hang it all, Bill! you are virtually in command,
+and you know it.”</p>
+
+<p>“Well, you want me to advise?”</p>
+
+<p>“Of course.”</p>
+
+<p>“Then I say we’d better hunt a place to stop the
+night, and then light out for a more healthy country
+in the morning. I begin to feel that we’re being
+watched.”</p>
+
+<p>“You <em>feel</em> so?”</p>
+
+<p>“Sounds silly, doesn’t it, eh? But it’s so. And
+intuition has stood me in good stead before. There
+are foes near. We want to get shelter and prepare to
+receive them properly.”</p>
+
+<p>Thus advised, Dick Danforth ordered his men to
+dismount, and they led their horses up into the rocky
+gorge Cody had chosen as a retreat. It would have
+been well for Danforth if he always so easily listened
+to the admonition of his elders and the better informed.</p>
+
+<p>Just inside the gorge was a yawning cavern in the
+mountainside. Evidently Cody knew of this retreat,
+even had he never been over the ground before. He
+led his big white horse with satisfaction into the dusky
+interior.</p>
+
+<p>“Hold on, Bill! The critters can’t feed in there,”
+Danforth objected, bringing his own animal to a stop.</p>
+
+<p>“All right. We’ll have to cut brush for ’em to pick
+over. There’s no safe feeding ground outside.”</p>
+
+<p>“But, hang it! how do we know who or what may
+be in that hole?”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[144]</span></p>
+
+<p>“Chief says there are no Injuns here, that’s sure!”
+retorted the scout, laughing.</p>
+
+<p>“But it may be a grizzly’s lair, or a cougar’s.”</p>
+
+<p>“Nope. Old Chief would have made remarks about
+it. Come on, lieutenant.”</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, I’m not afraid, if that’s what you mean!”
+grunted Dick Danforth, and with a nod to his file-leader,
+he followed the scout into the maw of the darksome
+cave.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXII">CHAPTER XXII.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">THE NIGHT PROWLERS.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>The frontiersmen&mdash;those who were Buffalo Bill’s
+associates&mdash;mapped the mountains and plains of the
+West long before Uncle Sam’s exploration parties
+ever penetrated the wilderness. Cody had never been
+to this hole in the mountainside before, yet he knew
+all about it. Hunters and trappers&mdash;and some early
+gold-seekers&mdash;had told him of its existence. It had
+been considered “bad medicine” by the Indians who inhabited
+this section of the country before the Sioux
+had flowed over into the land, and Oak Heart’s people
+themselves kept away from it. The scout was pretty
+sure that they had a sufficiently strong fortress here
+to withstand any ordinary attack.</p>
+
+<p>Besides, there was spring water in the cave, and, as
+he showed Danforth very quickly, something better
+still. As they advanced under the arched roof of the
+cavern, light appeared ahead.</p>
+
+<p>“There’s another opening,” said Danforth.</p>
+
+<p>“Looks like it.”</p>
+
+<p>“Why, they can get at us from two directions, Bill!”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[145]</span></p>
+
+<p>“Can they?”</p>
+
+<p>“You’re blamed cool about it.”</p>
+
+<p>“Might as well be cool as hot. We have got to take
+it as it comes.”</p>
+
+<p>The light grew apace.</p>
+
+<p>“What kind of a place is this, anyway?” cried the
+lieutenant.</p>
+
+<p>“Come along, sir!”</p>
+
+<p>“But the horses&mdash;&mdash;”</p>
+
+<p>“Bring the horses along, too. I reckon I haven’t
+mistaken the place. Here we are!”</p>
+
+<p>As he spoke they came out into a roughly circular
+basin, surrounded completely by steep&mdash;aye, unscalable&mdash;rocks,
+but well grown to grass and bushes at the
+bottom. It was a veritable little pocket in the heart of
+the mountain. There was no escape from it, and no
+getting into it, excepting through the cave.</p>
+
+<p>Chief kicked up his heels, snorted joyfully, and
+broke away from Cody’s detaining hand. The other
+horses followed, and the whole herd set to cropping
+the sweet grass in equine delight.</p>
+
+<p>“Well, sir! This beats my time!” exclaimed Danforth.</p>
+
+<p>“Guess we can stand a bit of a siege here, if necessary,
+eh?” queried Cody.</p>
+
+<p>“That we could.”</p>
+
+<p>Fire-wood was cut and brought into the cave and
+the meal started. Cody was not content to remain for
+long inactive, however. He slept while the meal was
+being prepared. After he had eaten, however, he left
+the camp, and in the gloaming made his way out and
+down into the valley from which they had retired, on
+the lookout for the enemy.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[146]</span></p>
+
+<p>The worst of it was, he did not exactly know
+whether their white or red foes would be upon them
+first. The Sioux might attack&mdash;for they were now
+well into the Indian country&mdash;or Boyd Bennett and his
+gang might come back at them. If the latter, the
+troopers could handle the outlaws easily. But a horde
+of savages might give the troops a mighty pretty brush
+up here in the hills, so far away from reenforcements
+and a base of supplies.</p>
+
+<p>The scout was careful to leave no trace himself, and
+when he reached the spot where the troopers had
+turned aside from the outlaw’s trail, he hid and
+watched, and waited, to see what or who might “turn
+up.” That it was about time for either the outlaws
+or the Indians to show their hand Cody was sure.</p>
+
+<p>His judgment was good in this case, too. He had
+not been lying in wait an hour when he saw two
+mounted figures coming along the valley toward his
+station. Dark as it was down here, he could make out
+their outlines sufficiently to know that one was an
+Indian and the other was a white man. They came
+to the point where the troopers had diverged from
+Boyd Bennett’s trail, and there halted to whisper together.</p>
+
+<p>From where he lay in the rocks, Cody could see
+the fire blazing in the mouth of the cave up in the
+gorge. He knew the men below him could see it, too.
+Writhing down the hill, like a serpent between the
+boulders, the scout reached a point where he could
+overhear something of what the Indian and the white
+man said.</p>
+
+<p>“Return and bring them to this place. The hour<span class="pagenum">[147]</span>
+must be no later than midnight,” the white man was
+saying in a commanding manner.</p>
+
+<p>“It shall be as my brother says,” the redskin muttered.</p>
+
+<p>“My men will advance and draw their first fire&mdash;perhaps
+get them out of the cave. You say there is
+no chance of getting in from the rear?”</p>
+
+<p>“No Sioux would venture, if it were possible. That
+cavern was the abode of a great spirit at one time.”</p>
+
+<p>“Ha! Very well. Do as I have bid you. You and
+your braves hold back if you must. But if we draw
+the badgers, we can count upon you to pitch in?”</p>
+
+<p>“It is as my brother says.”</p>
+
+<p>“All right! Off with you. I await my men here.”</p>
+
+<p>The redskin twitched his pony’s head about, and
+rode softly away. After standing a moment in the
+path, the white man’s horse was turned out upon a
+bit of sward, and Cody knew that the fellow dismounted.
+He evidently proposed to remain near and
+watch the cave until reenforcements arrived.</p>
+
+<p>And Cody knew the scoundrel. He had recognized
+the voice, and likewise by the fact that he held his
+left arm stiffly bound to his side, the scout knew that
+it was Boyd Bennett himself. Dick Danforth had
+indeed “stung” the robber. The bone of his left arm
+had been broken, and he could barely hold the reins
+with that hand.</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill was greatly tempted. Here was a
+chance for him to take his old enemy, single-handed.
+And did naught but personal vengeance enter into
+the affair, he would have made the attempt. But there
+was a brave opportunity of rounding up more of the<span class="pagenum">[148]</span>
+gang, despite their affiliation with the redskins, and
+Cody resisted the temptation.</p>
+
+<p>He made his way back to the cave, found most of
+the troopers already peacefully asleep, and Danforth
+anxiously awaiting his return.</p>
+
+<p>“Well?” demanded the young lieutenant.</p>
+
+<p>“We’re going to have visitors about midnight.”</p>
+
+<p>“How’s that?”</p>
+
+<p>“Mr. Bennett and his gang will make the attack; a
+set of thieving reds will stand off to pitch in if the
+whites can’t handle us.”</p>
+
+<p>“Gee, Cody! how d’you know all that?”</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill told him.</p>
+
+<p>“Why didn’t you shoot the bloody thieves?”</p>
+
+<p>“And lose the chance of rounding up more of
+them?”</p>
+
+<p>“They’ll be too many for us, I fear,” said Danforth,
+although without displaying any particular fear of such
+an outcome.</p>
+
+<p>“They will certainly outnumber us&mdash;reds and all.”</p>
+
+<p>“Nice prospect.”</p>
+
+<p>“But forewarned is forearmed, eh?”</p>
+
+<p>“Right you are, Bill! We have the advantage of
+knowing that they are coming, whereas they will labor
+under the disadvantage of believing we are unsuspicious.”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes.”</p>
+
+<p>“But hived up in this place&mdash;&mdash;”</p>
+
+<p>“We haven’t got to stay hived up,” interrupted the
+scout. “And we don’t want to.”</p>
+
+<p>“You’ve got a plan, Bill?”</p>
+
+<p>“I have.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[149]</span></p>
+
+<p>“State it, old man. You know well enough you
+don’t have to stand on ceremony with me.”</p>
+
+<p>“This fire can be seen from below. Let it die down.
+Don’t let any fuel be flung on for some time. When
+it’s at the lowest we can lead our horses out without
+being seen.”</p>
+
+<p>“Give up our shelter, Bill? And with a horde of
+redskins coming?”</p>
+
+<p>“Sure. Let them attack an empty cave&mdash;but one
+that doesn’t look empty. The last man to leave can
+fling a pile of fuel on the fire and then slip away before
+it burns up brightly. So we’ll have ’em attacking
+an empty fortress while we are out here among
+the rocks ready to play heck with ’em!”</p>
+
+<p>“I’m not afraid of the outlaws,” said Danforth
+slowly. “But the redskins&mdash;&mdash;”</p>
+
+<p>“Won’t come too near the cave; it’s bad medicine,
+as I told you.”</p>
+
+<p>“But when they see that we’re outside&mdash;&mdash;”</p>
+
+<p>“Wait! We’ll lead the horses away along the trail
+we came over, and leave them in charge of one man.
+Then, when it gets too hot for us&mdash;if the reds pitch
+in&mdash;we’ll decamp. The reds won’t be too near, however.
+I know ’em. An Injun is as full of superstition
+as an egg is of meat.”</p>
+
+<p>“Your plan looks good, Bill.”</p>
+
+<p>“All right. Stop that fellow&mdash;quick! He’ll spoil it
+all.”</p>
+
+<p>Danforth turned to see one of the guards advancing
+toward the fire with an armful of fuel. The lieutenant
+ordered him to desist and instructed his subordinate
+to let the fire die down. Then he and Cody rolled up
+in their blankets for an hour’s sleep.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<p><span class="pagenum">[150]</span></p>
+
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXIII">CHAPTER XXIII.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">MORE THAN THEY BARGAINED FOR.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>When the lieutenant and scout were awakened, according
+to order, the camp became at once an exceedingly
+lively though quiet place. The men had their
+instructions in a low tone from Danforth. They led
+the horses into the cave from the rear, and, the fire
+being now merely a bed of glowing coals, the shadows
+of neither man nor beast were pricked out by the light
+from the fire.</p>
+
+<p>Cody had slipped out and beaten the rocks and brush
+on the hillside before the mouth of the cavern. He
+found no lurking spy, but he went far enough to hear
+Boyd Bennett’s horse stamping in the valley. The
+outlaw was still there awaiting the coming of his men
+and of his redskin allies.</p>
+
+<p>The scout hurried back and led the way with Chief,
+warning the troopers to smother any desire on their
+mounts’ part to whinny if they smelt the strange horse
+in the valley. The scout had picked out a path around
+the swell of the mountain, between the rocks and
+ledges, and, although it was a roundabout way, it was
+sod-covered for most of the distance, and they were
+enabled to lead their mounts away without an appreciable
+sound. Like a file of shadows they passed around
+the mountain and down into the lowlands. There the
+horses were tethered and left in the care of a single
+soldier. The others hurried back to positions near the
+mouth of the cave, to await the expected attack of the
+outlaws.</p>
+
+<p>Divided as their forces had been, by sending the<span class="pagenum">[151]</span>
+stage and treasure on to Fort Advance, Danforth’s
+squad now numbered less than the gang of outlaws.
+And, in addition, Boyd Bennett would have at his back
+a party of bloodthirsty savages. It was a ticklish position,
+and none understood that better than the Border
+King, Buffalo Bill.</p>
+
+<p>Strategy was the scout’s best card under these circumstances.
+He knew the quality of the gang whom
+Boyd Bennett had gathered about him. They were ignorant,
+superstitious scoundrels, and, therefore, he
+ventured to play upon their fears as well as to lay
+a close ambush for them.</p>
+
+<p>To approach the mouth of the cave in which the fire
+now burned brightly necessitated the foe advancing up
+a sidehill into the mouth of the gulch under the shelter
+merely of low brush and boulders, with here and there
+a stunted tree, the roots of which had found fixture between
+the rocks. Higher up the mountain, and upon
+both sides of the gulch, were thicker forest.</p>
+
+<p>Under Cody’s advice Danforth placed his men upon
+the side of the gulch opposite the cavern’s mouth, and
+outside the gulch itself, all positions selected being
+easy of access to the trail down which they had led
+their horses so cautiously. A more withering fire
+could have been arranged by placing the troopers upon
+both sides of the gorge; a cross-fire is always more
+galling and confusing to an enemy. But, then, there
+remained the danger of the reds rushing to the assistance
+of Boyd Bennett and his gang, and so those
+soldiers above the cave might be cut off from escape.
+Whatever happened, the mêlée was bound to be a
+sharp and quick one; it would be all over in a few moments.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[152]</span></p>
+
+<p>Just outside the mouth of the gulch, and in advance
+of the line of hidden troopers, was a rather larger tree
+than most upon the lower hillside, and it had a low
+crotch from which sprang three branches. Cody saw
+that to approach the cavern’s entrance, the attacking
+force would be pretty sure to come close under this
+tree. Seeing this, he evolved&mdash;with the help of the
+corporal&mdash;a scheme which later added much to the
+excitement of the battle and came near to utterly routing
+the outlaw gang.</p>
+
+<p>There was little time for preparation, however; already
+the hour grew close to midnight. Cody crept
+into the cave, showed himself in the firelight, threw on
+more wood, and then crept out again, so as to assure
+the watching Bennett below that the place was still
+occupied. Then the scout went down into the valley
+and watched and listened until his keen ear assured
+him that several ponies were being ridden rapidly toward
+the hiding-place of the bandit leader.</p>
+
+<p>How many were coming&mdash;whether the reds were
+with the whites&mdash;Buffalo Bill did not know. Nor did
+he consider it well to wait to learn. That the attack
+would be made at once, he was sure. Boyd Bennett
+was not the most patient man in the world, and he had
+waited here long for his men to appear.</p>
+
+<p>Cody found the lieutenant, and snuggled down beside
+him behind a brush-clump.</p>
+
+<p>“By the nine gods of war, Bill! I thought you’d
+never come,” muttered Danforth. “I got as nervous
+as an old maid with her first beau, fearing that you
+wouldn’t get here in time to holler. I can imitate some
+critters&mdash;thanks to you and Jack Omohondreau: but<span class="pagenum">[153]</span>
+when it comes to murdering the night air with the
+scream of a wildcat&mdash;&mdash;”</p>
+
+<p>“Sh!” breathed Cody. “They’re coming.”</p>
+
+<p>Danforth became quiet. They were placed so that
+the entire sweep of the side-hill was before them. Several
+of the troopers were nearer the cave; several were
+behind the station of the lieutenant and the scout. All
+had their instructions regarding the withholding of
+their fire until a prearranged instant.</p>
+
+<p>Soon Danforth beheld several flitting shadows below.
+A number of men were coming up the rocky
+slope; they had spread out and were approaching the
+cavern’s mouth without any regard to military formation.
+Several, however, were coming close to the
+forked tree which Cody had previously noted. That
+stood some yards in front, and a little below, where
+he lay with his friend, the lieutenant.</p>
+
+<p>“All right, Bill!” whispered Danforth.</p>
+
+<p>“Wait till I give the word,” breathed the scout.
+“Let some of them pass. We want every shot to
+count.”</p>
+
+<p>A few moments more they waited. Several figures
+passed on up the hill, dodging from rock to rock, but
+all converging toward the mouth of the cave where
+the fire now glowed dully. That they were the bandits,
+and not the redskins, Cody was sure. Suddenly
+he saw two of the prowlers approaching the forked
+tree. He nudged Danforth sharply.</p>
+
+<p>The two outlaws in question were almost under the
+branching limbs of the tree when they heard what
+sounded like the scratching of claws on the rough bark.
+Both looked up, and beheld an uncertain but bulky<span class="pagenum">[154]</span>
+figure lying along one branch. A sharp snarl seemed
+to come from it, and the two bandits sprang away.</p>
+
+<p>“Curse you!” exclaimed the voice of Bennett, low
+but deadly in its temper. “What’s the matter?”</p>
+
+<p>Two or three of the bandits ran together. They
+thought some attack had been made upon them.</p>
+
+<p>“What is it?” repeated several in shrill whispers.</p>
+
+<p>“A cougar!”</p>
+
+<p>“A wildcat!”</p>
+
+<p>“Get back to your stations!” commanded Bennett.
+“Do you want to spoil the whole thing? Such cursed
+foolishness over a blamed tomcat&mdash;&mdash;”</p>
+
+<p>He had approached the tree, and suddenly the animal
+on the limb seemed to gather itself for a spring,
+and there sounded upon the night air the shrill, blood-curdling
+yell of the dreaded panther!</p>
+
+<p>“Look out, Boyd! He’s goin’ ter jump!” exclaimed
+one fellow.</p>
+
+<p>Several of the others stepped warily back and raised
+their guns. Above on the hillside&mdash;this had been prearranged
+by Cody&mdash;one of the troopers shouted:</p>
+
+<p>“Who goes there?”</p>
+
+<p>“Curse my body and bones!” growled Bennett.
+“The game is spoiled! They’ve heard us.”</p>
+
+<p>The supposed panther screamed again, and then
+the body in the tree was hurled out into the air. Involuntarily
+every outlaw in sight took a pot-shot at
+the flying body. The mountainside reechoed with the
+reports of half a dozen guns, and the flashes of the
+same revealed to the ambushed party just where the
+bandits stood.</p>
+
+<p>The log of wood, dressed in a blanket, representing
+the panther, and jerked out of the tree by Cody’s lariat,<span class="pagenum">[155]</span>
+fell to the ground riddled by the bullets of the outlaws.
+But instantly Danforth leaped up and shouted to his
+men:</p>
+
+<p>“Now, my bullies! Give it to them!”</p>
+
+<p>The troopers fired a broadside. Four of the robbers
+dropped under the fire, and two more ran away
+screaming. Cody had picked out Bennett, and intended
+to wound or kill him; but the wily scoundrel
+seemed to fear some game just as the dummy was
+yanked by Danforth from the tree. He leaped away
+and dodged behind a boulder before the first shot
+from the party in ambush was fired.</p>
+
+<p>As the echoes of the first round from the troopers
+died away Boyd Bennett raised an ear-splitting yell
+of defiance. It was a war-whoop that the redskins
+in the rear evidently understood. They answered from
+the valley, and, although the soldiers had succeeded in
+placing so many of the bandits hors de combat at
+their first fire, Danforth whistled almost instantly for
+his men to retire.</p>
+
+<p>“Did you wing Bennett, Cody?” asked the young
+lieutenant.</p>
+
+<p>“No. The scaly rascal left his men to bear the
+brunt of the trouble, and he’s under shelter half-way
+down the hill.”</p>
+
+<p>“Can’t we get him?”</p>
+
+<p>“With those reds tearing up to his aid?”</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, by thunder, Bill! I hoped to either kill the
+scoundrel or bring him in.”</p>
+
+<p>“So did I.”</p>
+
+<p>“But we can’t risk staying here longer.”</p>
+
+<p>“You’re right there, Dick. Come on. The men
+have gone.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[156]</span></p>
+
+<p>The scout and the lieutenant followed their men
+down the hill. And none too soon, for the redskins
+soon found that their white brethren had been outwitted
+by the soldiers, and they came tearing along the
+valley trail to try and head the refugees off.</p>
+
+<p>They were not successful in that, however. Every
+trooper came in, they mounted at the command, and
+with fresh horses under them soon outdistanced all
+pursuit.</p>
+
+<p>“It’s getting too lively for us,” said Buffalo Bill,
+in disgust. “We can’t chance it with such a small
+force. I hate to give it up; but we must.”</p>
+
+<p>“We’ll keep on if you say the word, scout,” said
+Danforth.</p>
+
+<p>“You’d ride straight into the jaws of hell if you
+thought there’d be a fight, Dick,” said Cody. “But
+discretion is the better part of valor in this case.”</p>
+
+<p>“I hate to give Bennett up,” grumbled the younger
+man.</p>
+
+<p>“So do I. But it can’t be helped.”</p>
+
+<p>“When I get back to Resistence I’m going to ask
+Colonel Royal to give me a roving commission to hunt
+the scoundrel down.”</p>
+
+<p>Neither of them realized at the time what the putting
+of this decision into practise would amount to in
+the end.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXIV">CHAPTER XXIV.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">CHASED BY THE FLAMES.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>The welcome that greeted the Border King upon his
+return to Fort Advance was proof of his popularity,
+and of the admiration the garrison held him in. That<span class="pagenum">[157]</span>
+his coolness and wisdom had saved the paymaster’s
+money-box from capture by the bandits, and so made
+it unnecessary for the boys in blue to endure another
+long wait for their pay, added not a little to their
+feeling for the scout.</p>
+
+<p>The troopers had told the story in full. Captain
+Hinkley and his guard had been buried, and the coach-driver,
+as well. The soldiers had a most revengeful
+feeling toward Boyd Bennett and his outlaw band,
+and Danforth went back to Resistence with his troop,
+threatening slaughter for the road-agents if he could
+catch them.</p>
+
+<p>The activities of the Indians, however, disturbed
+Buffalo Bill and the commander of Fort Advance more
+than the work of the outlaw, at just this time. The
+Border King, with Texas Jack, set out on a mission
+soon after his return to the fort. Ten days later Lieutenant
+Danforth, with a squadron of men, was allowed
+to make an attempt to bring in Boyd Bennett by the
+commandant of Post Resistence.</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill was still away on his scouting expedition
+and did not know of this. He was deep in the
+Indian country, and had found nothing of real significance
+regarding any concerted movement among
+the Sioux, although there was plenty of excitement.
+Little bands of warriors were going back and forth,
+from encampment to encampment; but nothing was
+being accomplished by the redskins.</p>
+
+<p>“What does it look like to you, old man?” queried
+the Border King of his partner. “Are we barking up
+the wrong tree?”</p>
+
+<p>“Dunno,” replied Texas Jack, pursing up his lips
+and looking more serious than usual. “There may be<span class="pagenum">[158]</span>
+a coon in the crotch; but we certainly haven’t shook
+him down.”</p>
+
+<p>“How does all this running back and forth from
+teepee to teepee strike you?”</p>
+
+<p>“Looks like the reds was given more tuh society
+than us’al, Buffler. But, Great Scott! you can’t never
+tell what’s in a red’s mind when he’s planning some
+game.”</p>
+
+<p>“There is surely no outbreak planned for the immediate
+future, eh?”</p>
+
+<p>“No. These runners aren’t gathering the tribe. I
+reckon Oak Heart got his belly full and won’t trouble
+us for some time.”</p>
+
+<p>“But this new medicine-man they’ve got?”</p>
+
+<p>“Humph! Death Killer, eh? Nice name that!
+I’d like a squint at him.”</p>
+
+<p>“Me, too.”</p>
+
+<p>“Wonder if we couldn’t sneak over to Oak Heart’s
+town and take this Death Killer into camp?”</p>
+
+<p>“Kidnap him?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yep.”</p>
+
+<p>“You’re a cool one, Jack, my boy. What’ll the reds
+be doing meanwhile?”</p>
+
+<p>“That’s all that stops me&mdash;that question,” replied
+Texas, with a grin.</p>
+
+<p>This conversation took place beside a running brook,
+in the heart of a great forest many miles from Fort
+Advance, where our story first opened. The wind
+soughed through the tree tops and brought scurrying to
+earth the dying leaves which proclaimed the fast approach
+of King Winter. Suddenly Cody rose upon
+his feet and keenly snuffed the air.</p>
+
+<p>“What’s th’ matter, Bill? What d’yer scent?”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[159]</span></p>
+
+<p>“I’ve been smelling it for an hour, Jack.”</p>
+
+<p>“What is it?”</p>
+
+<p>“Smoke.”</p>
+
+<p>“Huh! here’s wood burning at your feet.”</p>
+
+<p>“No, no!” exclaimed the other. “This breeze is
+rising and is blowing more steadily than it did. And
+it brings the smoke to us. Look up through the tree
+tops. D’ye see how hazy it’s grown?”</p>
+
+<p>“Umph-ah!”</p>
+
+<p>“Nothing to fool over, Jack. It’s a big fire.”</p>
+
+<p>“D’yer believe so, Bill?”</p>
+
+<p>“I do, indeed,” said the anxious scout.</p>
+
+<p>Texas Jack cast his eyes about the forest aisles reflectively.
+He knew as well as his companion the peril
+attending a forest fire; but he was naturally of a
+more volatile character, and the discovery made less
+impression upon him at first.</p>
+
+<p>“We’d better make a break, hadn’t we, Bill?” he
+asked finally.</p>
+
+<p>“Just think a bit, Jack,” the other replied.
+“Where’ll we go? Do you realize that this crick is the
+biggest body of water in a circle of forty miles?”</p>
+
+<p>“If my hoss kin make Black River, yours kin, I
+reckon.”</p>
+
+<p>“True enough. But the wind is blowing directly
+from Black River. That’s where the fire is, old man.
+The nearest water of any size is Bendigo Lake, and
+the going will be thundering hard on the horses.”</p>
+
+<p>Texas Jack leaped up and exclaimed:</p>
+
+<p>“Hark! what’s that?”</p>
+
+<p>A crashing in the underbrush had startled both
+men. Some distance away there burst into the glade
+a fine herd of deer, all running madly. They swept<span class="pagenum">[160]</span>
+across the scouts’ line of vision and disappeared in
+another clump of brush, keenly alive to peril in their
+rear.</p>
+
+<p>“They’ve come a power of a ways in the last half-hour,
+Jack,” said Buffalo Bill.</p>
+
+<p>“Right you are, Buffler. Guess we’d better light out.
+Ha! there goes a grayback.”</p>
+
+<p>A lone wolf slunk through the underbrush, gave the
+two men a sharp look, and then loped away in the same
+direction as that followed by the deer. But he was
+not running the deer&mdash;oh, no, indeed!</p>
+
+<p>Soon other animals began to drift past the camp
+of the scouts. The two packed their war-bags, caught
+their mounts, and prepared to leave the vicinity in
+short order. By that time, although the evening was
+closing in, the sky was a mass of ruddy, drifting haze.
+The fire was advancing with terrific speed, yet it was
+still so far away that the smoke floated high above
+the tree tops, and they heard no sound.</p>
+
+<p>“Reckon we kin make it, Bill,” said Texas Jack, as
+they pricked their mounts along the forest path.</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill was not so sanguine, however. The
+fire was coming down upon them with terrific speed,
+for instead of deepening the evening brightened all
+about them as they rode. The odor of burning wood
+was now quite pungent, and past them in mad flight
+went all manner of small animals, while now and then
+the startled “woof! woof!” of a bear was heard in the
+brush as he, too, lumbered along.</p>
+
+<p>The paths of the forest were not cleared for riding.
+Deer and other animals, searching drinking-places and
+salt-licks, first made these traces through the wilderness.
+The red man followed, following the spoor of<span class="pagenum">[161]</span>
+the game. And so the paths became “runways,” sometimes
+worn knee-deep and only wide enough for a single
+person to pass. Such paths were of little use to
+horsemen.</p>
+
+<p>Where the forest was open or clear of underbrush,
+the two scouts could travel with some rapidity; but
+in the thick, junglelike scrub, it was even necessary at
+times to get down and lead their horses. This delayed
+them, and before long the smoke wraiths began to
+drift past them and the distant roaring of the flames
+was perceptible.</p>
+
+<p>Had the men given the horses their heads the animals
+would have become panic-stricken like the other
+dumb beasts, and they would have dashed through the
+forest at a much better pace; but Buffalo Bill and
+Texas Jack would have been swept from the saddles,
+and, perhaps, killed. It began to look, indeed, as
+though both horses and men could get along better
+and faster alone. Texas remarked upon this fact.</p>
+
+<p>“I know it, Jack&mdash;I know it,” said Cody. “But I
+don’t want to lose Chief. And then, we can’t carry
+all our plunder and make any time at all.”</p>
+
+<p>“Life’s sweeter to me than either hoss or rifle,” declared
+Texas, laughing.</p>
+
+<p>“Me, too; but it may be a week before we catch the
+brutes.”</p>
+
+<p>“I vote we let ’em go. It’s getting derned hard to
+manage them, anyway, Buffler.”</p>
+
+<p>“So it is. Keep your grub, Texas.”</p>
+
+<p>“Betcher!”</p>
+
+<p>Both men were off their mounts in a hurry. They
+left their magazine guns in the saddle scabbards, and
+their holster pistols as well. If the Indians or any<span class="pagenum">[162]</span>
+ne’er-do-well whites found the horses after the fire,
+they would make quite a haul.</p>
+
+<p>Jack’s horse plunged away, snorting to be free, and
+was quickly out of sight; but Chief seemed uncertain
+whether to leave his master or not. The scouts did
+not delay an instant, but started off at a sharp run
+through the forest, with their packs on their backs.
+They could dodge under the low branches and burst
+through the brush-clumps, or avoid them altogether,
+with much more facility than before.</p>
+
+<p>Chief ran whinnying after them. Suddenly out of
+the yellow haze above the tree tops a blazing ball of
+leaves or such light flotsam, floated down. It fell between
+the white horse and the two men, and Chief
+snorted and leaped aside. Fortunately the firebrand
+went out without igniting any of the leaves or twigs
+which rustled so dryly under foot, but the flame evidently
+spoiled Chief’s desire to keep with the men. He
+kicked up his heels and dashed away in the same direction
+as his mate.</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill and Texas Jack noted this brand, but
+they said nothing, only increasing their speed. There
+was vast danger from these flying balls of fire. The
+wind continued to rise, and soon the conflagration
+would be leaping ahead rods at a time! It would ignite
+in dozens of places at once.</p>
+
+<p>As they ran together, Texas Jack glanced into his
+comrade’s serious face, and a grin overspread his own.</p>
+
+<p>“Say, Buffler,” he said, “I didn’t sleep none too
+warm last night. Reckon we’ll be more comfortable
+to-night, eh?”</p>
+
+<p>Cody had to smile at that.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[163]</span></p>
+
+<p>“You reckless devil, you! You’d joke in sight of
+the fires of Tophet.”</p>
+
+<p>At the moment a great burst of flame roared up into
+the sky from the summit of a little hill behind them, and
+both men glanced back. The banner of fire streamed
+clear across the sky.</p>
+
+<p>“Gee, Bill! Tophet couldn’t look hotter than that,”
+declared Texas Jack.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXV">CHAPTER XXV.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">THE TELLTALE CROW.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>For the most part, however, the scouts saved their
+breath and spoke but little. They were straining every
+effort to reach Bendigo Lake, the only body of water
+of sufficient size to offer protection from the conflagration.
+Every creek and pond hole in the neighborhood,
+which either of them knew about, was low now, and
+none were big enough to promise safety. In Bendigo
+Lake was a long, narrow island, wooded to be sure;
+but the lake was so wide that the scouts believed the
+flames would not leap from the shore to the island.</p>
+
+<p>“At any rate, it’s our best play, Buffler. No doubt
+of that,” observed Texas Jack.</p>
+
+<p>“Right you are, Texas,” panted the other. “Pick
+up your feet!”</p>
+
+<p>“That fire’s certainly racing to overtake us.”</p>
+
+<p>“Ha! What’s that?” muttered Cody, suddenly turning
+to look up a small slope which was more heavily
+wooded than the lowland through which they were
+passing.</p>
+
+<p>There had been a movement in the brush. The<span class="pagenum">[164]</span>
+wind did not affect the leaves and branches down here;
+it was only the tree tops that swayed and sang in the
+breeze.</p>
+
+<p>“A deer, eh?” panted Jack.</p>
+
+<p>“There!”</p>
+
+<p>Uttering the yell, Buffalo Bill seized his friend by
+the neck and flung him suddenly forward upon his
+face. He fell himself as well, and at the very instant
+there was a flash in the bushes on the side-hill, an explosion
+sounded, and the zip-zip of the bullet cut the
+air over their heads.</p>
+
+<p>Both scouts rolled aside, found covert, and sprang
+into position, revolvers in hand. Cody emptied one
+pistol as rapidly as possible into the brush-clump from
+which the treacherous shot had been fired.</p>
+
+<p>“No use, Bill! There he goes!” yelled Texas Jack.</p>
+
+<p>Off at one side they saw a huge figure pass rapidly
+out of sight. It looked like a bear running on its
+hind legs&mdash;were such a thing possible.</p>
+
+<p>“Of all the bloody-minded scoundrels!” said Texas
+Jack, as the two scouts set forth again, in the same
+direction as that taken by the person who had fired at
+them&mdash;which was likewise toward the lake, “that fellow
+takes the bun.”</p>
+
+<p>“Who was he? The smoke was in my eyes, and I
+couldn’t tell whether he was white or red.”</p>
+
+<p>“He was white, all right&mdash;or, so I have always
+heard,” declared Texas Jack.</p>
+
+<p>“By thunder! you don’t mean to say you know the
+scoundrel?”</p>
+
+<p>“Not personally acquainted with him&mdash;no,” laughed
+Jack.</p>
+
+<p>“What then?”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[165]</span></p>
+
+<p>“I’ve heard tell of him a good deal the past dozen
+years.”</p>
+
+<p>“Who is he?”</p>
+
+<p>“The Mad Hunter.”</p>
+
+<p>“Get out!”</p>
+
+<p>“That’s who it was, Buffler.”</p>
+
+<p>“Why should the fool fire at us?”</p>
+
+<p>“He’d just as soon shoot a white man as a red.”</p>
+
+<p>“He’s a devil.”</p>
+
+<p>“That he is.”</p>
+
+<p>“Why, I believe I saved his life the other day when
+I was out with Dick Danforth.”</p>
+
+<p>“What for?”</p>
+
+<p>Cody told him of how the young lieutenant had
+come near to shooting a gigantic man for a caribou,
+and how the being had run away yelling into the
+forest.</p>
+
+<p>“That’s him. Crazy as they make them.”</p>
+
+<p>“He must be crazy if he would stop to shoot men
+down when such a fire as that yonder is on his track as
+well as theirs.”</p>
+
+<p>“I reckon an insane person don’t act logically.”</p>
+
+<p>“He’s worse than the dumb beasts,” said Cody.
+“Look at that rabbit running almost between your
+legs, Jack. Aw! don’t step on him!”</p>
+
+<p>“I ain’t&mdash;dern his hide!” exclaimed Texas Jack, making
+a flying leap over the bunny.</p>
+
+<p>“He’s scared stiff. Some of the deer have run close
+enough to us to be touched. Even a bear will behave
+when there’s a forest fire. But this crazy bedlam is
+ready to shoot inoffensive men when death of the most
+awful kind is threatening him.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[166]</span></p>
+
+<p>“That’s why he’s crazy, I reckon,” said Texas Jack.
+“Come on, Buffler; this way.”</p>
+
+<p>The light of the fire now made the forest about them
+as light almost as day, but the radiance flickered, and
+the shadows danced in a blinding fashion. The scouts
+could not see as clearly as usual. Within a mile of
+the spot where they had been attacked by the Mad
+Hunter a second shot was fired at them&mdash;this time
+from directly ahead. Fortunately, the bullet went
+wild.</p>
+
+<p>“He’s got a single-shot, old-fashioned rifle,” declared
+Texas Jack.</p>
+
+<p>“That’s what is saving our lives,” returned his comrade.</p>
+
+<p>“He’s ahead of us&mdash;between us and the lake.”</p>
+
+<p>“We’ve got to try to capture him, then,” declared
+Cody firmly. “No use mincing matters. The fire is
+bad enough, but he is more dangerous.”</p>
+
+<p>“Reckon you’re right, Buffler,” grunted Texas Jack.</p>
+
+<p>The scouts separated, running several rods apart, so
+that the Mad Hunter might not be able to get them
+both in a line. And, if that were possible, they increased
+their pace. They heard the man crashing
+through the brush ahead, but they did not obtain another
+glimpse of him. And so phenomenal was his
+speed that soon he was out of ear-shot. Besides, the
+roaring of the flames and the crashing of falling trees
+interfered with their tracking of the madman by his
+footsteps.</p>
+
+<p>Their enemy ran as no human being ever ran before,
+for he got far enough ahead to load his old-fashioned
+gun and again await their coming. This<span class="pagenum">[167]</span>
+time he took a shot at Texas Jack and sent that
+worthy’s hat spinning into the air.</p>
+
+<p>“Confound his hide!” roared the scout. “Pepper
+him, Bill!”</p>
+
+<p>But with a scream of rage the madman was off
+through the illuminated forest once more, and Cody’s
+shots did not overtake him. Besides, the light was so
+uncertain that the scout did not waste but two balls in
+the attempt to bring down the foe.</p>
+
+<p>“He’ll git one of us yet,” cried Texas Jack.</p>
+
+<p>“We’ll keep as close to him as possible. He mustn’t
+have a chance to reload!”</p>
+
+<p>But it was like chasing a will-o’-the-wisp. The
+madman was off like the wind, shrieking his defiance.
+They could not keep him in sight, although the fire
+now was illuminating the forest far ahead of them.</p>
+
+<p>The roaring of the flames drowned the scouts’
+shouts to each other, too; and the heat puffed upon
+their backs as though somebody had suddenly swung
+open the door of an enormous furnace.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly Cody saw his friend throw up his hand,
+and knew that he shouted rather than heard the sound
+of his voice. Jack turned at a sharp angle, too, and
+Buffalo Bill followed suit. In a moment a glint of
+steel-blue water ahead invigorated Cody as well as his
+comrade. Lake Bendigo was at hand!</p>
+
+<p>In fifteen minutes they were on the shore. The
+water was a blessed relief to their eyes when they
+plunged their faces into it. In the rear the fire roared
+mightily, and the smoke now began to drift down
+upon them with smothering thickness.</p>
+
+<p>“We’d better take off our clothes and swim for the
+island, heh?” queried Jack.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[168]</span></p>
+
+<p>“Yes. There’s a bunch of driftwood that will make
+some kind of a raft. We’ll use it to transport our
+clothing and guns.”</p>
+
+<p>They stripped swiftly and were about to step into
+the water and push off the rude raft piled with their
+possessions when:</p>
+
+<p>Ping!</p>
+
+<p>The bullet buried itself in a tree trunk right beside
+Buffalo Bill’s head.</p>
+
+<p>“Holy Christmas!” exclaimed Texas Jack.</p>
+
+<p>“That devil has got ahead of us,” declared Cody.
+“That bullet came from the island.”</p>
+
+<p>“Why, he’s got us between two fires!” exclaimed
+Texas, bound to joke under any and all circumstances.</p>
+
+<p>For an instant the scouts were nonplused. They
+had involuntarily taken trees, but the heat from the
+rear was already unpleasant to their bare bodies.</p>
+
+<p>“We can’t stay here,” muttered Cody. “I shall go
+around the lake a ways, Texas, and try to swim over
+without being seen. You show yourself here. Better
+still, push off the raft and keep behind it and submerged
+as much as possible. Make for the island, but
+go slowly.”</p>
+
+<p>“You bet I’ll make for the island. I think I’d rather
+take cold lead than hot flames. Ouch!”</p>
+
+<p>“Meanwhile I’ll try to sneak over and get to the
+madman’s rear.”</p>
+
+<p>“Bare-handed?”</p>
+
+<p>“How else, man?” cried Cody. “I must be prepared
+to swim under water a part of the way. It must be
+cunning to match his cunning or we are lost, Jack!”</p>
+
+<p>Texas Jack realized that this was so, and he made
+no further objection. Cody glided away through the<span class="pagenum">[169]</span>
+shadowy forest, and Jack pushed off the raft and
+dodged another bullet. He was soon floundering in
+the cold water, pushing the raft before him, but by no
+means enamored of his position. The fire was behind
+and would devour him shortly if he returned to the
+shore. Every few moments a bullet sped from the
+madman’s hiding-place on the island and “plunked”
+into the raft, or into the water close beside the
+swimmer.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile Cody scurried along the shore, but suddenly
+found himself cut off by a tongue of the fire
+that had got ahead of the main conflagration and was
+already burning fiercely at the very verge of the lake.
+Traveling through the brush in his bare skin was not
+pleasant at best, so the scout tried sneaking into the
+water behind the little point of land which chanced to
+hide the island.</p>
+
+<p>Cold as the water was, it was a blessed relief from
+the heat and smoke of the forest. As he struck out
+from the shore, blazing embers showered about him,
+hissing and smoking as they struck the water. The
+smoke rolled down upon the lake and now and then
+completely blinded him, and must certainly have hidden
+his head from the observation of anybody on the
+island. Cody was delighted with the apparent success
+of his scheme, and struck out strongly for the little
+patch of wooded soil in which he hoped, with Texas
+Jack, to find safety. That it was held in possession by
+a madman did not matter. It was the single refuge
+offered the scouts, and if the madman would not share
+it peacefully, he must be put out of the way.</p>
+
+<p>These were Cody’s thoughts as he swam across the
+intervening space. He finally came to the sloping<span class="pagenum">[170]</span>
+shore, so that he could stand upright and wade in with
+his head and shoulders out of water. He had gone so
+far around the island that he believed that the madman,
+watching Texas Jack and his raft, would not see
+his own approach.</p>
+
+<p>And he did almost reach the shore unmolested.
+Suddenly, out of a dark hemlock at the extreme point
+of the island, there sprang a big crow, which, with
+raucous cry, flew over the scout and circled about him
+threateningly. The crow’s nest was evidently in that
+tree, and the coming of this strange maritime animal,
+who walked erect like a man, but wore no clothes,
+troubled the crow’s mind.</p>
+
+<p>The bird squawked like a hen with its head caught
+between two fence-palings. Cody made a dash for the
+shore, hoping to get under cover and so cease to disturb
+the telltale crow.</p>
+
+<p>But as he was about to step out on dry land a gigantic
+figure suddenly sprang through the brush at the
+water’s edge and appeared over him in a most threatening
+attitude. Above his head the man held a great
+rock, which he poised to fling upon the unarmed scout.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXVI">CHAPTER XXVI.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">THE MASSACRE.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>Why the madman had not sought to shoot him
+Buffalo Bill did not ask at the moment. The fact that
+he was at such a disadvantage was enough to fill his
+mind with forebodings. The rock was poised in the
+giant’s hands just over his head, and, as the scout was
+more than knee-deep in the water, it seemed impossible<span class="pagenum">[171]</span>
+for him to successfully dodge the missile if it were
+flung.</p>
+
+<p>The madman stood in the shadow, and Cody could
+not see his face. All he saw was that the man looked
+like a great, wet bear. He had swum or waded across
+to the island with all his clothes on. He evidently
+knew Bendigo Lake and its surroundings better than
+either of the scouts, and had found a shallow path
+across from the mainland.</p>
+
+<p>For several seconds the scout and the giant faced
+each other. Buffalo Bill’s muscles grew tense. He
+would try leaping upon the fellow, at any rate, although
+the possibility of his dodging the rock looked
+exceeding small.</p>
+
+<p>And then there suddenly flashed into his mind such
+a simple dodge for getting the best of his foe that the
+scout hesitated to use it. It seemed so exceedingly
+simple and childish. But the moments were flying,
+and the Mad Hunter was on the point of flinging the
+rock down upon him with terrific force.</p>
+
+<p>Cody stood so that his hands just touched the water.
+He hollowed his palms, swung both arms back, and
+suddenly scooped up the water and flung it in a blinding
+sheet of spray into the maniac’s face.</p>
+
+<p>Again and again he splashed the water over the fellow.
+The Mad Hunter uttered a howl of rage, and,
+as Cody threw himself to one side, still splashing the
+water, the rock was thrown. But the scout had destroyed
+the maniac’s aim and escaped the missile altogether.</p>
+
+<p>Cody could not land, however. The best he could
+do was to plunge back into the deeper water and there
+dive and remain swimming under the surface until he<span class="pagenum">[172]</span>
+had placed the island between himself and the fire.
+Here the trees threw black shadows, although the
+whole northern sky was red as blood, and the flames
+danced wildly upon the tree tops on the mainland.</p>
+
+<p>The Mad Hunter had disappeared, yet the scout
+did not know whether he had gone back to watch
+Texas Jack and the raft or was lurking in the shadow,
+waiting to spy upon him again. Meanwhile he was
+becoming thoroughly chilled, and feared to remain
+out beyond his depth, for a cramp might take him, and
+he could never struggle ashore then.</p>
+
+<p>Carefully he waded shoreward once more, watching
+the shadows beneath the trees, fearing to see the bulk
+of the maniac burst out of the brush and attack him
+again. There were several frightened creatures on the
+island, but they cowered and were dumb. All the
+scout could hear was the lapping of the water and the
+crackling of the conflagration on the mainland.</p>
+
+<p>The fire was eating through the forest very rapidly.
+It had reached the shore and was passing swiftly
+around the entire lake. Cody and Texas Jack could
+not return to the mainland now under any circumstances.
+It was the island or drowning for them!</p>
+
+<p>And Cody feared that his brave comrade had already
+succumbed to the cold water, or mayhap to a bullet
+from the maniac’s rifle. The fire as it ate around the
+lake began to illuminate this side of the island, too,
+and he feared that he would soon be a shining mark
+for the Mad Hunter.</p>
+
+<p>He kept his body under water and crept in toward
+the shore, his head only showing. He knew that he
+was taking his life in his hands, but the water was
+chilling him to the bone.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[173]</span></p>
+
+<p>Suddenly there was a great shouting on the other
+shore of the island, and following it came the pop of a
+pistol several times. Cody leaped ashore, and, despite
+the rough way and the thorns and brush which tore
+his body, he dashed across the narrow bit of land. He
+knew Texas Jack had landed and might need his help.</p>
+
+<p>As he ran, however, he suddenly came full tilt
+against a great, hairy object that was blundering
+through the brush. Over went the scout, and with an
+angry “Woof!” the bear darted aside, and a moment
+later he heard a splash in the lake, and knew that the
+creature had found the presence of mankind on the
+island more fear-inspiring than the fire on the mainland.</p>
+
+<p>When Cody picked himself up he beheld the half-clothed
+figure of Texas Jack standing over him.</p>
+
+<p>“By the piper that played before Pharaoh!” ejaculated
+Texas. “What’s the matter with you, Buffler?
+Come an’ git your clo’es&mdash;or do you fancy parading
+around yere in your birthday suit?”</p>
+
+<p>“What&mdash;what was that?” demanded the scout.</p>
+
+<p>“A bear. I fell over him myself and drove him
+off.”</p>
+
+<p>“I thought for a minute it was the madman.”</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, he’s gone,” said Texas Jack. “He ran out of
+ammunition, I reckon, and he took to the water, clo’es
+and all. There’s a shallow place yonder. We can
+wade ashore that way, too, when the fire burns out.”</p>
+
+<p>“He pretty near had me,” said Cody, and related
+his adventure as he shakingly got into his clothing.</p>
+
+<p>Texas Jack built a fire for them to dry and get
+warm by, and meanwhile explained that, finding he
+could not keep the scouts off the island, the Mad<span class="pagenum">[174]</span>
+Hunter had departed for the mainland, approaching
+that part where the fire had come nearest to burning
+itself out.</p>
+
+<p>“It’s dangerous to go over there yet,” said Buffalo
+Bill.</p>
+
+<p>“You can bet it is. But he reckoned he’d rather go
+than meet us closer to. The old scoundrel! I’ve
+heard of his tricks and deviltry, but I never happened
+to run up against him before.”</p>
+
+<p>“I hope I never will again,” said Cody devoutly.</p>
+
+<p>But he was doomed to meet the Mad Hunter again,
+and to learn that about him that caused the Border
+King much sorrow of spirit.</p>
+
+<p>The scouts remained on the island during the night,
+and late the next day started out to find their mounts.
+There was a swamp several miles away, and, knowing
+well the keen instinct of their horses, the scouts went
+to it, and in less than twenty-four hours found both
+Chief and the other, much mud-bespattered, but in
+good condition. And their arms, though somewhat
+rusted, were safe.</p>
+
+<p>The forest fire had burned over a large tract of
+country, had driven away the game, and had cleared
+the territory of Indians. So the scouts separated to
+follow the trails of different bands of reds and spot
+their new villages. Their duty was to find and report
+upon every new encampment of the redskins, that the
+department might keep tabs on the movements of the
+savages.</p>
+
+<p>Cody kept his eyes open for traces of the bandits,
+but during the following week learned nothing of the
+movements of Boyd Bennett and his gang.</p>
+
+<p>He was thinking of going to a certain rendezvous<span class="pagenum">[175]</span>
+where he expected to join Texas Jack, when he came
+suddenly upon a spectacle in a little valley that brought
+him up standing. So appalling&mdash;and unexpected&mdash;was
+the scene that it seemed for the moment as though
+his heart stopped beating!</p>
+
+<p>Over a score of figures in blue lay in the little cup-shaped
+coulée, where they had fallen battling for life!</p>
+
+<p>There they lay, partly stripped of their uniforms in
+some cases, robbed of their weapons, and lying amid
+their foes, hideous, painted savages, whom their red
+companions, in their haste to fly from the fearful
+scene, had not borne off to burial. Yet they had found
+time to tear the scalp-lock from the head of each white
+man.</p>
+
+<p>They lay in no order. The battle had been of the
+fiercest, and hand to hand. Here a trooper; there another&mdash;a
+redskin, an officer, a chief, a caparisoned
+steed, an Indian pony&mdash;all dead they lay and huddled
+together by the riverside in the tiny valley.</p>
+
+<p>Upon this scene Buffalo Bill came suddenly, just
+as the sun was about to drop below the western hills.
+The sight shocked and sickened him. Man of iron
+heart and steel nerves that he was, the sight made him
+reel in his saddle. He reined in his good horse, until
+it rose upon its haunches, and covered his eyes with one
+gauntleted hand as though to shut out the awful sight.</p>
+
+<p>An instant only did the scout show this weakness;
+then he scrutinized the red field which had flashed like
+some horrid vision on his sight.</p>
+
+<p>White-faced as the dead, with eyes which scrutinized
+each form and feature of the white men, the scout
+counted the slain. Gradually his own orbs flashed<span class="pagenum">[176]</span>
+with the fires of rage, and his lips became livid and
+quivering.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly, with a stifled cry, he leaped from his
+horse’s back and strode to one figure that lay stark
+at one side. It was in contact with a heap of slain
+on a knoll at the foot of a rock.</p>
+
+<p>Here the end had evidently come. This spot was
+plainly the last act of the fearful drama. Here the
+curtain of doom had fallen upon the remnant of the
+gallant band, to rise no more for them in this life!</p>
+
+<p>A groan issued from the scout’s lips, and he bowed
+his head in grief. There, with face upturned, lying in
+an attitude that showed he had died fighting to the
+last, lay Lieutenant Dick Danforth!</p>
+
+<p>The boy’s left hand grasped the barrel of an empty
+revolver; he had used it as a club at close quarters.
+The right held his sword-hilt, the blade buried in the
+body of a painted chief, whose death was probably the
+last act of the dying leader of the slaughtered troops.</p>
+
+<p>About him lay the foe, piled in heaps. Dick Danforth
+had sold his life at a dear price, indeed. And
+the fiends had run without scalping him!</p>
+
+<p>“Danforth dead!” murmured the scout. “It cannot
+be possible.”</p>
+
+<p>Yet it was true; he saw it plainly before he touched
+the already stiffening body. Merely by some freak of
+circumstances the young man had not been scalped.</p>
+
+<p>“Devils’ work this!” muttered the scout. He
+glanced again over the field. There were many points
+that had at first escaped his attention. For instance,
+there were shod horses lying dead that had never been
+ridden by either cavalrymen or Indian!</p>
+
+<p>“Aye, Indians did the deed, but there is a paleface<span class="pagenum">[177]</span>
+hand behind it, and I mean to ferret out the fiend
+who inspired it,” said Buffalo Bill.</p>
+
+<p>He dropped upon his knees again and felt of Danforth’s
+body. There, in a voice quivering with sorrow
+and passion, he exclaimed:</p>
+
+<p>“Aye! here beside the body of the man whom I loved&mdash;who
+saved me from death&mdash;I swear revenge on the
+instigator of this crime!”</p>
+
+<p>In his deep feeling he spoke these words aloud. A
+sound smote upon his ear. He sprang to his feet with
+a cry and turned as a harsh voice pealed out behind
+him:</p>
+
+<p>“And <em>I</em> swear, Buffalo Bill, that you shall never keep
+the oath your lips have just uttered!”</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXVII">CHAPTER XXVII.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">“THE DEATH KILLER.”</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill had believed himself alone with the
+dead on this field of blood, and the voice fell like a
+knell upon his ear. For the moment he was half-unmanned.
+Then he wheeled completely to face the
+speaker.</p>
+
+<p>He knew then that he had an old and deadly foe to
+deal with. His discovery, however, brought the scout
+to himself. He recovered his presence of mind, and
+in a tone that was reckless in its defiance, he cried:</p>
+
+<p>“So we meet again, do we, Bennett? And you think
+you hold the trumps once more?”</p>
+
+<p>“I do&mdash;and likewise a revolver at your head, Cody!”
+declared the bandit. “Drop your rifle!”</p>
+
+<p>The scout obeyed. The pistol in Bennett’s hand was<span class="pagenum">[178]</span>
+a well-timed argument. To all appearances the man
+was an Indian chief, for he was bedecked with feathers,
+his face was hideously painted, and he wore the full
+attire of a redskin, from moccasins to war-bonnet.</p>
+
+<p>At his back, with rifles and arrows likewise covering
+the scout, were a score of braves who had, with
+the stealthy tread of panthers, followed their leader
+to the spot where Buffalo Bill had mourned over the
+bodies of the slain white men. Cody knew well that
+he was at the mercy of a merciless foe.</p>
+
+<p>“You know me, do you, Cody?” said the bandit.</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, I know you&mdash;even if you’ve turned squaw-man,”
+said Cody bitterly. “I recognize your black
+heart under the paint and feathers.”</p>
+
+<p>“Have a care, scout, for every word of insult you
+heap upon me shall increase your torture at the stake.”</p>
+
+<p>“I see you’ve got it all mapped out for my finish,”
+said Cody.</p>
+
+<p>“You will not escape me this time, Buffalo Bill!”
+declared the bandit chief exultingly.</p>
+
+<p>“Don’t be too sure.”</p>
+
+<p>“Nay. It is settled. You are in my power. There
+can be no rescue here. <em>There</em> lies the one who cheated
+my vengeance before. He has paid the price.”</p>
+
+<p>“True. And <em>his</em> death must be paid for,” muttered
+the scout.</p>
+
+<p>“But not by you, Cody.”</p>
+
+<p>“Wait!” was the enigmatical word of the Border
+King, his eyes flashing the hate he felt for his sneering
+captor.</p>
+
+<p>“Do not tempt me too far, you dog!” exclaimed Bennett.
+“Remember you pay for all this when you come
+to die.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[179]</span></p>
+
+<p>“Aye; when I <em>do</em> come to die! But I am one who
+believes that while there is life there is still hope, you
+accursed renegade!”</p>
+
+<p>“That belief will not benefit you now, Cody. You
+are a dead man already.”</p>
+
+<p>“I’m the liveliest dead man <em>you</em> ever saw!”</p>
+
+<p>The renegade looked as though he was about to
+shoot the scout in his tracks; but he caught sight of
+the smile that curled Cody’s lips, and, not understanding
+it, refrained. Indeed, he looked all about, somewhat
+nervously, to try to discover the meaning of the
+scout’s expression.</p>
+
+<p>“You must have help at hand, or you would not be
+so defiant, Buffalo Bill.”</p>
+
+<p>“That may be,” said the scout non-committingly.</p>
+
+<p>“At least, these will not help you,” said Boyd Bennett,
+with a horrible smile, pointing to the stark figures
+in the valley.</p>
+
+<p>“Not one left to tell the story&mdash;no prisoners?”
+queried Cody sorrowfully, forgetting for the moment
+his own peril.</p>
+
+<p>“No, no! Chief Oak Heart wanted no prisoners
+from Danforth’s band. I told the chief that Danforth
+and his men were come to take him captive&mdash;that
+they had sworn to do it! Ha! ha! That was rich,
+eh? So every man of them died.”</p>
+
+<p>“And he came for <em>you</em>,” said Cody bitterly.</p>
+
+<p>“Aye; and met the death he deserved; but a more
+merciful death than <em>you</em> will meet, scout. I do not
+need to stir up the red men’s rage against <em>you</em>. They
+will receive you with great joy at Oak Heart’s encampment.”</p>
+
+<p>“And you fought with these savages?” cried Cody.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[180]</span></p>
+
+<p>“I did. And killed as they killed&mdash;without mercy.”</p>
+
+<p>“You do not fear to admit your crimes.”</p>
+
+<p>“Why should I? For am I not speaking to one who
+will soon be dead? Bah! you can no longer frighten
+me, Buffalo Bill!”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, it looks as though I was near my finish; I do
+not deny it,” said Cody quietly. “But tell me one
+thing, Boyd Bennett. Did you kill Lieutenant Danforth
+yourself?”</p>
+
+<p>“I am sorry to say I did not. There was a good
+deal of hot work right here. But Red Knife claims
+the honor of having delivered the finishing-stroke.
+We were returning to take the scalp-lock&mdash;&mdash;”</p>
+
+<p>“By Heaven, man! you shall not do it!” roared
+Cody, starting forward.</p>
+
+<p>But a dozen rifles clicked, and he knew that he was
+helpless. He fell back again. Bennett laughed.</p>
+
+<p>“Chief Oak Heart refused to allow any of his braves
+to scalp Danforth because he had fought so boldly.”</p>
+
+<p>“God bless the old red sinner for that!” murmured
+the much wrought-upon scout.</p>
+
+<p>Bennett laughed again.</p>
+
+<p>“But I am Death Killer, the medicine-chief, and I
+have come back myself to take the scalp-lock from the
+head of the man against whom I swore revenge.”</p>
+
+<p>“Boyd Bennett! accursed though you be, with a
+heart blacker than the foulest redskin can boast of,
+you would not do this wrong!” cried Buffalo Bill, in
+horror.</p>
+
+<p>“Watch me, scout.”</p>
+
+<p>“You shall not do it!”</p>
+
+<p>“You are mistaken; I shall. I came back with Red
+Knife and a few of the braves to point me out the<span class="pagenum">[181]</span>
+place where Danforth fell. On the way we saw you
+arrive, and we dogged your steps to the very corpse of
+your friend.</p>
+
+<p>“Ha, Cody! this is sweet&mdash;this revenge. My kind
+have cast me off. Well, then! I cast the white men
+off! I spit upon them! I slay them! And now I
+scalp my enemy!”</p>
+
+<p>Bennett had worked himself into a species of frenzy.
+He sprang forward now, dropping his revolver, knife
+in hand, to carry out his threat.</p>
+
+<p>“Never shall you do this crime&mdash;not if this is my
+last act on earth!” shouted the scout.</p>
+
+<p>As he spoke he suddenly jerked a revolver from his
+belt, threw it forward, and fired pointblank at Boyd
+Bennett, all with the quickness of a flash of light!</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXVIII">CHAPTER XXVIII.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">THE WHITE ANTELOPE INTERFERES.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>So rapid and unexpected was this movement of Buffalo
+Bill, in drawing his revolver and firing it, that not
+one of the warriors who stood behind the renegade
+chief&mdash;some with arrows already fitted to their bows,
+and others with rifles covering the scout&mdash;had time to
+fire.</p>
+
+<p>Yet, swift as he had been, one eye was quick enough
+to send an arrow upon its errand. The shaft struck
+the outstretched arm of the scout just as his finger
+pulled the trigger of his weapon, and the shock
+destroyed his aim.</p>
+
+<p>Having made this daring move, however, and believing
+that death must follow the deed, Buffalo Bill<span class="pagenum">[182]</span>
+dropped his left hand upon his second pistol, determined
+to press the fight, kill Bennett, and die as
+had the brave man at his feet&mdash;fighting to the last!</p>
+
+<p>Maddened with rage and thirsting for the life of
+his foe, Boyd Bennett shouted to his warriors to rush
+upon the scout and take him alive that he might end
+his career by cruel torture. But suddenly a slender
+form darted before the red braves, and, with arrow set
+in readiness to let fly, the White Antelope thrust herself
+between the white man and the reds who would
+have seized him.</p>
+
+<p>“Let the Sioux braves hold their hands. The White
+Antelope commands it!”</p>
+
+<p>Like one man the reds halted, and even the renegade
+shrank back a step, gazing in fear and wonder
+on the apparition of the beautiful girl.</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill, too, gazed upon the chief’s daughter
+in amazement. He knew now that the arrow he drew
+from the wound in his right forearm had been driven
+home by the girl; yet now she stood between him and
+his foes.</p>
+
+<p>Her attitude evidently astonished Bennett as much
+as it did Cody himself, for the renegade cried:</p>
+
+<p>“Why has the White Antelope become the friend of
+the slayer of her people? The man she shelters is
+Pa-e-has-ka, the Long Hair.”</p>
+
+<p>“The arrow of the White Antelope brings blood
+from the arm of Pa-e-has-ka. Is that the way in
+which a Sioux shows friendship?” asked the young
+girl scornfully.</p>
+
+<p>“Then the White Antelope yields the paleface foe to
+the medicine chief of her tribe?”</p>
+
+<p>“No!” was the decided response.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[183]</span></p>
+
+<p>“What would you do?” demanded the renegade
+angrily.</p>
+
+<p>“I will deliver Pa-e-has-ka to the great chief, my
+father, Oak Heart.”</p>
+
+<p>“The White Antelope is no warrior,” sneered the
+renegade. “Are there not braves enough loyal to Oak
+Heart to carry out his will upon this paleface?”</p>
+
+<p>“The White Antelope may be no warrior,” said the
+girl; “but she has just saved the life of the Death
+Killer.”</p>
+
+<p>At this Buffalo Bill laughed aloud, for the shot was
+a good one, and his seeming indifference to his peril
+caused the daughter of the chief to turn her eyes upon
+him. She scanned the scout from head to foot. What
+was in her thoughts he could not guess; but, suddenly,
+deciding upon a course of action, she stepped boldly to
+the side of Buffalo Bill, and touched with tender fingers
+the wounded arm which he had bared.</p>
+
+<p>“If the Long Hair has ointment for the wound, it
+would be better to bind it,” she said to him.</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill opened his pouch, and the girl found
+the salve and bandages he always carried. Meanwhile,
+the scout sucked the wound to remove any foreign matter
+that might have been driven into it by the arrowhead.
+Then the Indian maiden bound up the hurt
+while the renegade looked on sullenly.</p>
+
+<p>“Why is the Long Hair here&mdash;so near the village
+of the Sioux?” she asked Buffalo Bill, when this act
+of kindness was performed.</p>
+
+<p>“I chanced upon the place. I saw the dead. Here
+lies my friend&mdash;the young man whom I loved as a
+son,” said the scout, pointing to the body of Danforth.<span class="pagenum">[184]</span>
+“He and his men have been all slain by the
+Sioux.”</p>
+
+<p>“They were enemies,” said the girl simply.</p>
+
+<p>“But they had not come out to disturb the red men.”</p>
+
+<p>“Why were they here?”</p>
+
+<p>“To find and take prisoner that villain yonder!” exclaimed
+Buffalo Bill, scowling at Boyd Bennett in his
+war-paint and feathers. “That man who is neither
+white nor red, but a squaw-man! He had committed
+crimes against the white man’s law and should be
+punished by that law.”</p>
+
+<p>“My father heard that the palefaces were coming
+to seize him.”</p>
+
+<p>“Another lie of that renegade!” exclaimed the scout.
+“And while I mourned over the body of this young
+man, the villain came upon me, returning, as he declares,
+to tear the scalp from the head of the white
+chief whom he was not brave enough himself to
+kill!”</p>
+
+<p>The girl seemed to understand. She glanced from
+the body of Danforth to the rage-inflamed face of Boyd
+Bennett.</p>
+
+<p>“Is it from this dead white chief’s head the Killer
+would take the scalp?” she asked haughtily.</p>
+
+<p>“Aye; and I <em>will</em> have it!” cried Bennett.</p>
+
+<p>“Did the young paleface fall by thy hand, Death
+Killer?” demanded the maiden, with all the dignity of
+a judge.</p>
+
+<p>“It matters not. Forget not, oh, White Antelope,
+that I am the medicine chief of the Sioux&mdash;&mdash;”</p>
+
+<p>“And see that the Death Killer forget not that <em>I</em>
+am the daughter of Oak Heart!” she interrupted.</p>
+
+<p>“I acknowledge that fact,” sneered Boyd Bennett.<span class="pagenum">[185]</span>
+“But the White Antelope has no control over the acts
+of the Death Killer.”</p>
+
+<p>“Did the paleface fall to your prowess?” she demanded
+again, looking the renegade sternly in the eye.</p>
+
+<p>An Indian stepped forward. He carried a blood-stained
+war-club in one hand. In a deep guttural he
+said:</p>
+
+<p>“The white chief’s scalp should be Red Knife’s;
+he brought him low at last with a blow of his club.
+But the great chief, Oak Heart, forbade that we take
+the scalp of so brave a warrior.”</p>
+
+<p>“Then why does the Death Killer wish to do that
+which is forbidden by my father?” cried the girl
+quickly.</p>
+
+<p>“Is it the White Antelope’s place to question the
+medicine chief of her tribe?” demanded the painted
+white man, with haughty demeanor. “The scalp of
+the dead bluecoat is my prize!”</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill saw indecision in the Indian maiden’s
+face. He knew how superstitious the redskins were
+regarding the mysterious powers claimed by all medicine
+chiefs. In some way&mdash;by some manner of fake
+magic&mdash;Boyd Bennett had roused the superstitious
+reverence of the Sioux, and Buffalo Bill did not know
+how greatly the chief’s daughter might be tainted by
+this feeling of reverence for the villainous renegade.</p>
+
+<p>“Let not this crime be done, White Antelope,” he
+said in her ear. “Remember what Pa-e-has-ka told
+you in the cañon, when he had you in his power. He
+knows much. He was once your mother’s trusted
+friend. And he warns you now&mdash;as you hope for
+peace of soul and body&mdash;not to allow the dead young
+man to be so treated by your people.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[186]</span></p>
+
+<p>The girl turned upon him suddenly, with wide-open
+eyes.</p>
+
+<p>“What does Long Hair mean? What is this dead
+paleface to her?”</p>
+
+<p>“That Long Hair may not tell thee, oh, White Antelope.
+Trust him&mdash;&mdash;”</p>
+
+<p>“Trust a paleface!”</p>
+
+<p>“Trust one who has given you back to your father
+when he might have taken your life, or held you
+prisoner.”</p>
+
+<p>“Aye, Long Hair, thou didst that. It is true.”</p>
+
+<p>“And believe me,” the scout said, more earnestly
+still, in English, not wishing the other Indians to
+understand; “this dead paleface whom even the great
+chief Oak Heart admired for his bravery, is more to
+the White Antelope than she knows. The time will
+come when I can explain all to you, girl&mdash;but not
+now!”</p>
+
+<p>“What’s that?” demanded Boyd Bennett, stepping
+forward. “What’s this foolishness you are telling the
+girl?”</p>
+
+<p>But the White Antelope haughtily waved him back.</p>
+
+<p>“Let the Death Killer stand away. The chief’s
+daughter can care for herself. And let not one of
+these dead palefaces be further disturbed. It is my
+will!”</p>
+
+<p>The waiting Indians grunted agreement. They were
+willing enough to obey the beautiful princess. The
+White Antelope turned again to Buffalo Bill:</p>
+
+<p>“Where are the paleface brothers of Pa-e-has-ka?”</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill pointed in the direction from which he
+had come.</p>
+
+<p>“Far away.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[187]</span></p>
+
+<p>“The White Antelope is his foe, and the foe of his
+people; but she wishes not to see the wolves and the
+vultures tear the bodies of brave men for food. The
+Sioux have come to remove their dead. Let Pa-e-has-ka
+go bring his brother warriors to remove the
+paleface slain.”</p>
+
+<p>At that Boyd Bennett uttered an oath and sprang
+forward.</p>
+
+<p>“Not that, girl! You’re crazy!”</p>
+
+<p>“We’ll see who wears the breeches in this family,
+Boyd Bennett!” laughed the scout.</p>
+
+<p>“You shall not leave this spot alive, Bill Cody!”</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, shucks! Don’t speak so harshly,” gibed the
+scout.</p>
+
+<p>The girl raised her hand. Without looking at the
+renegade, she said to Buffalo Bill:</p>
+
+<p>“But Pa-e-has-ka must make the White Antelope a
+promise.”</p>
+
+<p>“All right. What is it?”</p>
+
+<p>“The White Antelope came from the great chief
+Oak Heart, who told her to seek the paleface warriors
+and tell them where to find their dead. He bids them
+to come here and remove their slain in peace, and not
+to follow on the track of his people. Will Pa-e-has-ka
+tell the big chief the words of Oak Heart?”</p>
+
+<p>“I will.”</p>
+
+<p>“Then Pa-e-has-ka must promise to return and yield
+himself to the Sioux.”</p>
+
+<p>She looked Buffalo Bill straight in the eye as she
+stated her condition, and he saw that she meant exactly
+what she said; but he asked:</p>
+
+<p>“Does the White Antelope mean that I am to give<span class="pagenum">[188]</span>
+myself up to the red warriors after I have guided the
+bluecoats here?”</p>
+
+<p>“She has spoken.”</p>
+
+<p>“And this is the promise she wishes Pa-e-has-ka to
+make?”</p>
+
+<p>The Indian girl nodded.</p>
+
+<p>“Why should Pa-e-has-ka return?”</p>
+
+<p>“He is the captive of the medicine chief, Death
+Killer, now; but White Antelope lets him go free that
+the paleface braves lie not unburied, and that the other
+white warriors take heed not to follow upon the trail
+of the Sioux. Will Pa-e-has-ka promise?”</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill was silent for a moment. If he refused
+he knew that her protection would cease. If he agreed
+to her condition he must keep his word, be the end
+what it might. And that end looked to the scout much
+like an ironwood stake, a hot fire, and a bunch of
+naked red devils dancing a two-step about him while
+he slowly crisped to a cinder!</p>
+
+<p>There was a loophole. He made a mental reservation
+that, after bearing the tidings of the massacre to
+the fort, and delivering Oak Heart’s warning, he
+would return to the Sioux encampment&mdash;but with a
+force behind him that would surprise the redskins!</p>
+
+<p>“I agree,” he said finally.</p>
+
+<p>“Trust not the fox-tongue of the Long Hair!” cried
+Boyd Bennett violently. “He will not keep his
+pledge.”</p>
+
+<p>“The paleface is the foe of my people, but his
+tongue is straight,” declared the Indian maiden, with
+confidence.</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill began secretly to weaken on that “mental
+reservation.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[189]</span></p>
+
+<p>“But he will come with a force at his back and burn
+the Indian village,” cried the renegade.</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill had to give the fellow credit for having
+divined his purpose; but the girl turned scornfully
+from the squaw-man.</p>
+
+<p>“Pa-e-has-ka is not two-faced. He is not a turncoat,”
+she said sneeringly. “The White Antelope will
+believe that the Long Hair will return alone.”</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill at that completely abandoned the “mental
+reservation” clause.</p>
+
+<p>“Bet your life he will!” he exclaimed. “I’ll come
+back as I promise, girl.”</p>
+
+<p>“Then let Pa-e-has-ka go.”</p>
+
+<p>But as she spoke the command, Boyd Bennett once
+more sprang forward. He covered the scout with his
+rifle and cried:</p>
+
+<p>“I am the medicine chief of the Sioux, and I say
+the paleface dog shall not go!”</p>
+
+<p>Then in English he declared:</p>
+
+<p>“Your hour has come, Buffalo Bill. You die here
+and now!”</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXIX">CHAPTER XXIX.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">A GIRL’S WORD.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>The instant the renegade uttered the threat, Buffalo
+Bill placed himself upon guard by drawing his
+revolvers and covering the scoundrel. His wounded
+arm was sore, but the nerves had recovered from the
+shock of the arrow-wound, and he could hold his gun
+steadily enough. The renegade was so near at best
+that the scout could not miss him!</p>
+
+<p>But the scout did not shoot. The White Antelope<span class="pagenum">[190]</span>
+with flashing eyes, sprang to the front, and she, too,
+aimed her arrow at Boyd Bennett.</p>
+
+<p>The warriors&mdash;or the bulk of them, at least&mdash;were
+surprised by Buffalo Bill’s action, and their several
+weapons were in line for the scout’s heart before they
+noted the White Antelope’s action. Then several of
+them dropped their guns, and their facial expression
+was as foolish as it was possible for so stoical a set
+of faces to be!</p>
+
+<p>For a moment the tableau continued. A sudden motion
+might have precipitated a bloody, though brief,
+conflict. Buffalo Bill, though pale, was stern and determined,
+his eyes riveted upon the face of Boyd Bennett.
+He felt that the girl was friendly to him, and he
+knew her influence among the Sioux.</p>
+
+<p>“Why do you not bring that finger to the trigger of
+your rifle, Bennett?” he asked sneeringly. “It won’t
+go off otherwise.”</p>
+
+<p>The girl looked at the warriors and commanded
+quickly:</p>
+
+<p>“Let the braves of Oak Heart turn their weapons
+from the heart of Pa-e-has-ka, the paleface chief.”</p>
+
+<p>To the delight of Buffalo Bill, the command was instantly
+obeyed. Much as they might have feared the
+power of the medicine chief, Oak Heart was greater,
+and his daughter was here as his representative.</p>
+
+<p>That Boyd Bennett was nonplused by this move was
+plain. His face fell, and he lowered his own rifle.
+But the scowl of deadly hatred which he bestowed on
+the white man threatened vengeance at some future
+date.</p>
+
+<p>“I reckon the redskins are trumps, old man, and the
+girl holds a full hand of them!” laughed Buffalo Bill.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[191]</span></p>
+
+<p>“It is your time to laugh now, Cody. But mine will
+come,” gritted the renegade.</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, I can’t expect to laugh always, Bennett; but,”
+and the scout changed his speech to the Sioux dialect,
+that all the warriors might understand; “let the renegade
+paleface meet me now in personal combat, and
+settle the matter at once. Long Hair does not fear a
+fair fight with the mighty Death Killer!” he added
+sneeringly.</p>
+
+<p>The nods and grunts of the warriors showed that
+they approved of this proposal. Although they could
+not quite agree with the White Antelope’s friendliness
+with Buffalo Bill, they saw that he was a brave man&mdash;as,
+indeed, they knew well before&mdash;and a duel to the
+death seemed to their savage minds the only way to
+properly decide the controversy between their medicine
+chief and the scout. They looked at Bennett expectantly.</p>
+
+<p>But the renegade was not desirous of meeting Buffalo
+Bill with any weapon he might name! He knew
+the scout’s prowess too well. His desire was to see the
+scout writhing in the embrace of the flames, or standing
+bound as a target for the hatchet-marksmen of the
+Indian tribe with which he was affiliated.</p>
+
+<p>He dared not seem to refuse the challenge, however,
+for he would then lose completely his influence with
+Oak Heart’s braves. But suddenly he caught sight of
+the Indian maiden’s face, and that he read like an open
+book!</p>
+
+<p>“The enemy of the Sioux has spoken well. We will
+fight!” exclaimed Boyd Bennett promptly, but with a
+crafty smile wreathing his lips.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[192]</span></p>
+
+<p>“The White Antelope says ‘No!’” exclaimed the Indian
+girl, facing the renegade.</p>
+
+<p>As he was so sure she would veto the proposition,
+the wily Bennett was eager to urge the duel.</p>
+
+<p>“Why does the daughter of the great chief interfere?
+She says that Pa-e-has-ka is not her friend, and
+yet she shields him.”</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill had to chuckle over this. He couldn’t
+help it. He saw through the whole game of Bennett’s,
+and it amused him.</p>
+
+<p>“No, the Long Hair shall not fight the medicine
+chief,” declared the girl earnestly.</p>
+
+<p>“And why not?” demanded Bennett, with continued
+haughtiness.</p>
+
+<p>“Because if they fought, the white man would wear
+the medicine chief’s scalp at his belt,” declared the
+young girl. “The white man shall go his way, bring
+his brothers to bury the paleface dead, and then deliver
+himself to Oak Heart, as he has promised.”</p>
+
+<p>“And you can make up your mind, Boyd Bennett,
+that she says one very true thing,” declared Buffalo
+Bill. “Whenever we <em>do</em> fight, you’ll go under! Mark
+that! I’ll run you down yet and nail your scalp to the
+wall of Fort Advance as a warning to all horse-thieves,
+stage-robbers, and deserters!”</p>
+
+<p>The White Antelope spoke quickly before the wrathful
+Bennett could reply to this challenge:</p>
+
+<p>“Let the paleface go to his big chief. There is his
+horse. Yonder is his weapon. Mount, Pa-e-has-ka,
+and away!”</p>
+
+<p>“Aye, girl,” said Cody, in English; “but what will
+happen to this poor young man if I go, leaving that<span class="pagenum">[193]</span>
+brute here? He will tear the scalp from Danforth’s
+head as soon as my back, and yours, are turned.”</p>
+
+<p>“That he shall not!” exclaimed the White Antelope.</p>
+
+<p>“You do not know his treachery,” said Buffalo Bill,
+who knew that the very deed was in Bennett’s mind.</p>
+
+<p>“I have told the white man that the brave young
+chief shall not be mistreated.”</p>
+
+<p>“Your word on it, girl?”</p>
+
+<p>“The White Antelope has spoken. She will guard
+the body of the young white chief herself until Pa-e-has-ka’s
+return.”</p>
+
+<p>“Good!” exclaimed Buffalo Bill. “And, my girl,
+you’ll never be sorry for this mercy shown the corpse
+of that poor young man.”</p>
+
+<p>The girl looked at him strangely.</p>
+
+<p>“The Long Hair will return, as he has promised, to
+the village of Oak Heart?”</p>
+
+<p>“I’ll keep my word; do you keep yours,” said the
+scout.</p>
+
+<p>“Pa-e-has-ka’s tongue is straight?”</p>
+
+<p>“As sure as I live, I’ll come back, girl!” declared the
+scout earnestly.</p>
+
+<p>The next instant he mounted Chief unmolested, having
+picked up his rifle, settled himself in the saddle,
+seized the reins, and dashed away. As he mounted the
+ridge he looked back. The reds were busy separating
+their own slain from the dead soldiers. The tall figure
+of the medicine chief was stalking angrily from the
+scene. White Antelope was down on her knees by the
+body of Dick Danforth, the dead lieutenant. With a
+dumb ache at his heart, and little thought for his own
+coming peril, Buffalo Bill went over the rise and
+spurred away for Fort Advance.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<p><span class="pagenum">[194]</span></p>
+
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXX">CHAPTER XXX.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">THE MAD HUNTER.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>In the valley a cavalry command was encamped,
+some hours after the battle in which Lieutenant Dick
+Danforth and his men had been overwhelmed by Oak
+Heart’s ambuscade.</p>
+
+<p>It was just sunset, but twilight among the mountains
+is sometimes four hours long&mdash;a man might see to read
+fine print at nine o’clock.</p>
+
+<p>The command had ridden hard and were a-wearied,
+so the party had bivouacked early, the guide reporting
+that the ridge before them afforded no good camping-ground.
+The horses were soon lariated out, and scores
+of camp-fires were kindled along the banks of the
+stream, while the cheerful rattle of dishes and the smell
+of cooking sharpened the appetites of the troopers.</p>
+
+<p>Leaving his servant to prepare his frugal meal, the
+commander of the soldiers strode up the hillside toward
+the summit of the ridge, the better to view the
+valley and its boundaries while daylight lingered.</p>
+
+<p>“Be careful, captain, for I look for Injuns hereabouts,”
+called the guide, who was Texas Jack.</p>
+
+<p>“All right, Jack. I’ll signal if I see any signs of
+the red scamps,” returned the fearless officer, as he
+strode on up the ascent.</p>
+
+<p>Once or twice he turned to enjoy the scene of beauty
+spreading below him&mdash;the lovely valley, the winding
+stream, the picturesque bivouac of the troopers, and the
+distant blue hills, on which the light was fading rapidly.
+At length he reached the point from which he<span class="pagenum">[195]</span>
+could view a part of the country through which the
+morrow’s trail would lead them.</p>
+
+<p>Below him, on that side of the ridge, all was shadow
+now, for the ridge shut off the last glow of the golden
+western sky; but the summits of the hills and ridges
+were still bathed in the departing sun’s radiance. The
+scene so impressed him that, quite unconsciously, the
+officer spoke aloud:</p>
+
+<p>“No wonder that poor Lo loves this land so well
+that he’s willing to fight for it. It is a pity it must
+ever be settled, and cut up into farms and homesteads&mdash;and
+possibly, town lots! The life of the free savage is
+the best, after all!”</p>
+
+<p>“Well said, captain! But I’ve got the drop on you!”</p>
+
+<p>The officer started as the voice fell upon his ears,
+and, dropping his hand upon his sword-hilt, turned to
+face the speaker. Before him, and not six paces distant,
+having just stepped from a dense thicket, was an
+apparition which, at first sight, the officer scarce realized
+was human!</p>
+
+<p>And yet, no other shape was near, and from the
+lips of the strange being that confronted him had fallen
+the threatening words he had heard.</p>
+
+<p>“Who and what are you?” cried the officer sternly,
+his eyes beholding a being of gigantic size, clad in the
+skins of beasts, so that at first sight he appeared more
+like a grizzly bear reared upon its hind legs!</p>
+
+<p>About the waist of the giant was a red fox-skin
+belt, in which were slung two revolvers and a large
+knife; upon his head was a panther-skin cap, the tail
+hanging down the man’s back, and on his feet were
+moccasins of black bearskin. Hair black as night fell
+to his waist; beard of the same hue matted and unkempt;<span class="pagenum">[196]</span>
+and a dark, haggard face, out of which glittered
+the wildest eyes it had ever been the officer’s fortune
+to see.</p>
+
+<p>To finish this terrifying picture, the strange being
+held a rifle at his shoulder, and that rifle was aimed
+now at the military officer’s heart!</p>
+
+<p>“You ask who and what I am?” repeated the creature,
+in a deep voice.</p>
+
+<p>“I do,” said the soldier, measuring him with the eye
+of a hawk.</p>
+
+<p>He had instantly seen that he was in the presence
+of a maniac&mdash;a person utterly irresponsible for his
+acts. Whether he was to be cajoled out of his present
+murderous condition of mind, the soldier did not
+know. But he was watching for some wavering of
+the rifle which might tell him that the fellow was off
+his guard, and that there might be a chance to spring
+under his guard and seize him.</p>
+
+<p>“You are a bold man to question me, captain!” said
+the giant sternly.</p>
+
+<p>“I know it; but I’ve an overpowering curiosity to
+find out,” and the captain dropped his hand carelessly
+upon the butt of the pistol he carried at his hip.</p>
+
+<p>“Hands up!” exclaimed the fellow, seeing the movement.
+“Hands up, or you are a dead man!”</p>
+
+<p>Hoping that he might yet parley with the maniac,
+the officer obeyed. It were better, perhaps, had he
+drawn his gun and risked a shot. The giant looked at
+him with wicked, glowing eyes.</p>
+
+<p>“I will tell you who I am, officer,” he whispered
+hoarsely. “I am a <em>madman</em>!”</p>
+
+<p>The last word he fairly shrieked; yet not for a second<span class="pagenum">[197]</span>
+did he forget his victim, nor did his hand tremble.
+The rifle still transfixed the helpless officer.</p>
+
+<p>But the officer was a kindly man, and although he
+believed himself in peril of his life still, the brave man
+ever has pity for those touched in the head. He said
+quietly:</p>
+
+<p>“My poor man, lower your weapon and come with
+me down to yonder camp. Those are Uncle Sam’s
+troops down there. They will take care of you.”</p>
+
+<p>“Ha!” cried the maniac furiously. “I need no one
+to care for me. I can care for myself. You’d much
+better be thinking of help for yourself, captain.”</p>
+
+<p>“Well, then I’ll go along and look for that help,”
+said the officer easily.</p>
+
+<p>“Don’t move!”</p>
+
+<p>“But, my dear fellow&mdash;&mdash;”</p>
+
+<p>“Hold! Address no words of kindness to me, for
+they are thrown away upon one whose duty it is to
+slay.”</p>
+
+<p>“But it surely isn’t your duty to kill <em>me</em>!”</p>
+
+<p>“Aye&mdash;you, too.”</p>
+
+<p>“But what have I done to you?”</p>
+
+<p>“It matters not. Mankind has done enough to me.
+I am appointed to slay, and slay I will!”</p>
+
+<p>“It’s nice to know your duty so clearly,” said the
+officer easily. “But aren’t you liable to make a mistake?”</p>
+
+<p>“No! Never a mistake. Once I might have made
+a mistake. That was when I believed I was called of
+God to kill the redskins only. I know better now.”</p>
+
+<p>“Well!” murmured the officer, hoping to catch the
+madman off his guard, if only for a moment.</p>
+
+<p>“I saw the error of my ways,” cried the madman.<span class="pagenum">[198]</span>
+“I beheld my sins. I had neglected the full measure
+of my duty.”</p>
+
+<p>“So killing redskins didn’t satisfy you, eh?”</p>
+
+<p>“Why should I kill the savages alone? I saw white
+men quite as brutal&mdash;aye, more brutal&mdash;than the red.
+I saw them commit the same atrocities. I saw white
+rangers rip the scalps from the head of their dead foes;
+I saw the soldiers storm the Indian encampments and
+kill the squaws and the papoose at the breast! Aye!
+how much better are the whites than the red men?”</p>
+
+<p>“And having seen all this bloody warfare, you wish
+to add to the sum total of horror by killing everybody
+you come across, do you, old fellow?”</p>
+
+<p>“You are all alike to me. I kill. That is the way I
+obtain ammunition and arms. The arms and cartridges
+you carry are mine!”</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, I’ll give them to you right now, if you want
+them,” exclaimed the captain eagerly. “You won’t
+have to kill me to get them. Really, it isn’t necessary.
+I’ll do the polite and hand them over.”</p>
+
+<p>To himself he thought:</p>
+
+<p>“And I’ll hand you something that will do you a lot
+of good the first chance I get!”</p>
+
+<p>But the madman was not to be fooled so easily.</p>
+
+<p>“Nay, nay! Your bullets would not fly true for me
+were you alive,” declared the giant. “I am the Mad
+Hunter. Have you heard of me?”</p>
+
+<p>“I have heard of such a character,” admitted the
+captain.</p>
+
+<p>“I am he, and if you know of me you must know
+that I show mercy to none&mdash;not even to one wearing
+the uniform you do. No, no! I spare neither my own
+race&mdash;for I was white once, before I became like the<span class="pagenum">[199]</span>
+beasts that perish&mdash;nor the redskin. All fall before
+me.”</p>
+
+<p>The man spoke with intensity; yet not a motion
+gave the officer hope of his chance to spring on him.
+The man’s nerves were of steel; he held the rifle as
+though it and his own body were of stone; yet the
+glittering eyes showed his victim that if he dropped his
+hands a bullet would end his career on the instant.</p>
+
+<p>“But, you know, <em>I</em> haven’t harmed you, my poor
+man,” said the officer.</p>
+
+<p>“All mankind are my foes,” said the Mad Hunter,
+in his strong monotone, and without moving. “Come!
+the night draws near, and I have yet to travel many
+miles to my cave in the mountains.”</p>
+
+<p>“Don’t let me detain you, old man,” said the officer.
+“Won’t it do just as well another day?”</p>
+
+<p>“Come! prepare to die. If you have prayers to
+say, repeat them quickly. It is growing dark.”</p>
+
+<p>Now, the officer didn’t care how dark it got before
+the madman fired. Indeed, he would have been glad if
+it suddenly became pitch-dark&mdash;so dark that he might
+dodge away and escape the sinister weapon which held
+its “bead” on his breast. He gave up all hope of
+“talking the fellow out of it.” The madman meant to
+kill him, and unless some miracle averted the fate, he
+would very quickly be a dead man!</p>
+
+<p>The madman was a giant in build and strength. He
+remembered now having heard the scouts tell many
+strange stories of the Mad Hunter about the camp-fire.
+For years he had been tracking about the Rockies, appearing
+unexpectedly in first one locality and then another;
+sometimes committing atrocious murders of inoffensive
+people. But usually his presence was noted<span class="pagenum">[200]</span>
+by the scouts by the dead bodies of Indians, their bodies
+mutilated by a cross gashed with the madman’s knife
+over their hearts. He put this insignia upon every
+redskin he killed, so that even the savages&mdash;who feared
+him as some spirit and altogether supernatural&mdash;knew
+who to lay the death of their friends to when the Mad
+Hunter was about.</p>
+
+<p>Whether the giant had a habit of marking his white
+victims in the same way, the captain did not know;
+but it was a suggestion that did not tranquilize his
+nerves. To cope with the giant he knew would be
+impossible. He was a tall and strong man himself;
+but the maniac could have handled three men like the
+officer with ease. A movement toward his revolver or
+sword would be a signal for his death. Yet the officer
+could not stand here helplessly and allow the maniac
+to shoot him down!</p>
+
+<p>In full view below him were the camp-fires of his
+men. The valley had grown dark now, but surely they
+could see him clearly standing here on the summit of
+the ridge. His body must loom big against the sky-line.
+Yet it was plain they did not see the giant with
+him.</p>
+
+<p><em>He</em> stood in the shadow of the thicket where he had
+hidden at the officer’s approach. It was behind him,
+and made him invisible to the men in the valley. To
+call for aid would bring the end more quickly. So he
+waited in silence, hoping against hope that some mad
+freak of the maniac’s mind and humor might work for
+his salvation.</p>
+
+<p>If the Mad Hunter kept his word, the officer had
+but a few minutes to live. He looked all about the
+vicinity, hoping he might see some chance of help. It<span class="pagenum">[201]</span>
+was a desperate&mdash;a really hopeless thought. Who or
+what could save him now?</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly his eyes became fixed upon the spur of a
+hill that jutted out across a shallow valley. The lingering
+rays of the sun touched the hill-spur redly. It
+seemed much nearer to him than it really was, and
+along its brink came a horse and rider!</p>
+
+<p>The officer gasped; then held his breath, and did
+not change the mask of his face. He had learned long
+since to hide emotion; but this was a terrible situation,
+and he had almost lost his nerve.</p>
+
+<p>The horseman had evidently been about to descend
+into the valley, when his glance fell upon the two men
+standing like statues upon the opposite ridge. <em>He</em>
+could see the giant huntsman, if the soldiers in the
+other valley could not. He saw at once the attitude of
+both men and understood. He drew rein, and the officer
+at the same moment recognized him. Unconsciously
+his lips parted, and the name of the rider came
+from the officer in a quick gasp:</p>
+
+<p>“Buffalo Bill!”</p>
+
+<p>The keen ear of the mad hercules caught the name,
+and, turning like a panther at bay, he saw the scout on
+the distant spur. As he moved, the officer’s hands
+dropped, and he seized the revolver from his belt.
+Throwing it forward, he pulled the trigger as the madman
+wheeled again toward him.</p>
+
+<p>But the hammer fell without exploding the cartridge.
+The madman laughed aloud.</p>
+
+<p>“No, no!” he shouted. “The bullet is not cast that
+will kill the Mad Hunter! The cartridge is not made
+that will injure me!”</p>
+
+<p>The officer found his pistol-hammer jammed. He<span class="pagenum">[202]</span>
+could not cock the weapon again. With a wild shriek
+the maniac dropped his rifle, and, drawing his knife,
+flung himself at his victim, intending evidently to kill
+him with those slashes across the breast which usually
+marked his dead.</p>
+
+<p>But in that awful moment the doomed man’s eyes
+turned upon the distant spur, and he beheld the rifle
+rise to the horseman’s shoulder. Desperate as was
+the chance, Buffalo Bill intending risking a shot to
+save him. He flung himself backward, as the madman
+came on, leaving the field clear for the scout to fire.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXXI">CHAPTER XXXI.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">BUFFALO BILL’S GREAT SHOT.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>In that instant, as he was falling backward upon the
+ground, knowing that if the huge madman reached him
+before Buffalo Bill’s bullet reached its mark he would
+be a dead man, a clear perception of the great mistake
+he had made flashed through the captain’s mind. He
+remembered that that morning when cleaning his revolver
+he had noticed something wrong with the hammer,
+and had put it aside, unloaded, to attend to later
+in the day. But as he started from the camp that evening
+to walk up the hill, and Texas Jack had called his
+warning to him, he had picked up the weapon and
+thrust it into his belt without looking at it.</p>
+
+<p>Had he not made this error he would have shot the
+Mad Hunter dead in that instant when the giant turned
+his head to look across the little valley. As he went
+backward, the officer flung away his useless revolver
+and clutched at his sword. But he could not get it<span class="pagenum">[203]</span>
+from its scabbard in time. It was but half-drawn when
+he landed upon his back with a shock that almost deprived
+him of his senses!</p>
+
+<p>Fearful, indeed, were the chances against the officer.
+He was absolutely helpless then, and like a tiger-cat the
+madman had sprung at his falling body. He actually
+was in the air with the blade of his knife poised to
+thrust downward into the officer’s breast when the latter
+heard the crack of Buffalo Bill’s rifle on the other
+hillside.</p>
+
+<p>The keen eye of the scout on horseback had noted
+every move of the game on the ridge. He recognized
+the officer, and he guessed who the other man must be
+when he saw his threatening attitude. It was a long
+shot, and there was danger at first of his hitting the
+captain instead of his foe.</p>
+
+<p>But when the former flung himself backward the
+scout dared fire. And he pulled the trigger just in the
+nick of time. The maniac was already plunging forward
+to knife the supine soldier when the bullet sped
+on its mission.</p>
+
+<p>With a scream the madman pitched forward, over-leaping
+his victim, and falling on his face upon the
+ground, the knife being plunged hilt deep into the soft
+earth! A red streak showed across his scalp where
+the bullet had grazed the man’s crown.</p>
+
+<p>“Bravo, bravo, Buffalo Bill! I owe my life to him&mdash;and
+Heaven knows I was never in closer quarters with
+death!” cried the officer, as he leaped up and drew his
+sword to further defend himself.</p>
+
+<p>But the huge form lay still. The Mad Hunter lay
+unconscious. Therefore, turning to the opposite hill,
+he waved his hat, which he had picked up, to the horseman<span class="pagenum">[204]</span>
+who was now spurring down into the valley. An
+answering yell from Buffalo Bill showed that he saw
+the officer was safe.</p>
+
+<p>The rifle-shot and the shout of the Border King
+was unheard down there in the bigger valley; all this
+tragic happening had been in sight of the camp of the
+troopers, yet had chanced to go unnoticed. It was the
+scout who had come upon the scene in the nick of time,
+and who again had proved himself a hero.</p>
+
+<p>With rapid bounds the scout urged his big white
+charger up the hill, from the shadows below to the
+twilight of the ridge summit. Finally he pulled up,
+threw himself from the saddle, and the officer caught
+his gauntleted hand.</p>
+
+<p>“God bless you, Cody!”</p>
+
+<p>“Captain Ed. Keyes!”</p>
+
+<p>“Always in the right place at the right time, scout.
+Another minute, and that old madman would have
+sent me on my long journey, and no mistake!”</p>
+
+<p>“I came blamed near being in the wrong place, captain,”
+said Cody seriously. “That was a long shot. I
+was taking great chances, and if you hadn’t flung yourself
+backward I should have scarcely risked firing at
+all.”</p>
+
+<p>Then he turned to view the prostrate form of the
+madman, and said:</p>
+
+<p>“It’s that crazy fellow they talk about, isn’t it?”</p>
+
+<p>“So he said. He seemed to be proud of his reputation.”</p>
+
+<p>“The Mad Hunter!”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes. And mad he certainly is&mdash;poor fellow. I
+suppose he’s not to be blamed for what he can’t help.
+But he’s better dead than at large. Ugh! Another<span class="pagenum">[205]</span>
+moment, and he’d had his devil’s cross slashed on my
+breast, I fancy.”</p>
+
+<p>“You had a narrow squeak, sir.”</p>
+
+<p>“I certainly did. Is he dead?”</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill was stooping over the giant. He turned
+him over so that his face was visible in the half-light.</p>
+
+<p>“<em>That</em> shot oughtn’t to have killed him,” muttered
+the scout, noting the course of his bullet.</p>
+
+<p>“It certainly couldn’t have hurt his brain any more
+than it <em>was</em> queered. He’s breathing, isn’t he?”</p>
+
+<p>But Buffalo Bill did not immediately reply. He had
+suddenly fallen silent, and when Captain Keyes looked
+at the scout in surprise he saw that his eyes were fixed
+with a most strange expression upon the unconscious
+madman’s face.</p>
+
+<p>“What’s the matter, Cody?” the officer asked.</p>
+
+<p>The scout still made no reply. It is doubtful if he
+heard his superior officer. He seemed devouring the
+features of the unconscious man.</p>
+
+<p>Little of the face could be seen for the matted beard
+and hair. Yet the angles of the cheek-bones and jaw
+were easily traced; likewise, the penthouse brows and
+deeply sunken eyes. The nose was prominent&mdash;a
+handsome nose, with its point thin and flexible, and
+the nostrils well marked.</p>
+
+<p>“No&mdash;no,” murmured the scout at last. “I never
+could have seen him before&mdash;never!”</p>
+
+<p>“What’s the matter with you, Cody?”</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill looked up at him, and wet his lips before
+speaking.</p>
+
+<p>“I&mdash;I thought I saw a ghost, Captain Keyes&mdash;a
+ghost! My God! and it’s no wonder, with my mind
+full of the horror I <em>have</em> seen already this evening. It&mdash;it<span class="pagenum">[206]</span>
+was Danforth&mdash;he’s got into my mind, and I can’t
+forget him.”</p>
+
+<p>“Dick Danforth&mdash;Lieutenant Danforth?”</p>
+
+<p>“Aye&mdash;the poor boy himself.”</p>
+
+<p>“What under the sun has Dick got to do with this
+madman?”</p>
+
+<p>“Oh&mdash;nothing! nothing!” exclaimed Cody, leaping
+up. “But I have to report a very terrible thing, captain.”</p>
+
+<p>“Not about Dick Danforth?”</p>
+
+<p>“It is, sir. Lieutenant Danforth is dead&mdash;dead with
+all his men!”</p>
+
+<p>“No!”</p>
+
+<p>“It is the awful truth, sir.”</p>
+
+<p>“I cannot believe it, Cody. You are beside yourself.
+You look strange, man!”</p>
+
+<p>“Aye, and you would look strange yourself had you
+seen what <em>I</em> have seen, Captain Keyes.”</p>
+
+<p>“Tell me!”</p>
+
+<p>“I was on my way to Fort Advance with the news
+when I happened to see you&mdash;as I supposed, facing a
+grizzly bear over on this ridge.”</p>
+
+<p>“He was worse than a grizzly,” said Keyes, with a
+glance at the giant. “But give me the particulars&mdash;&mdash;”</p>
+
+<p>“Boyd Bennett has joined the Sioux, betrayed Danforth
+and his men into a trap, and the whole party were
+wiped out.”</p>
+
+<p>“My God, Cody!”</p>
+
+<p>“It is so. I saw them. I was captured by Bennett,
+indeed. It was within a few miles of Oak Heart’s big
+village.”</p>
+
+<p>“Ha! And did you see the wily old scoundrel himself?”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[207]</span></p>
+
+<p>“Oak Heart?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes.”</p>
+
+<p>“No; but I saw a representative of the chief;” and
+he repeated the story of his coming upon the field of
+carnage and his adventure with Bennett and the White
+Antelope, while Keyes hurried him down the hillside
+toward the troopers’ camp.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXXII">CHAPTER XXXII.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">THE BORDER KING’S PLEDGE.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>With him Captain Keyes had over a hundred cavalrymen,
+a company of mounted infantry, and two mountain
+howitzers, numbering, with the artillerymen and
+scouts, nearly two hundred men&mdash;a strong flying
+column, that could move rapidly and stand off a big
+force of Indians. They were then encamped not
+twenty miles from the main village of the Sioux, and
+not much more than half that distance from the coulée
+where Danforth’s squadron had been overcome.</p>
+
+<p>The coming of Buffalo Bill, although it had been
+most timely for Captain Keyes, and had undoubtedly
+saved his life, cast a mantle of gloom over the encampment.
+Although the men had been warned to turn in
+early, because of the work before them on the morrow,
+they stood or sat around the camp-fires until late, discussing
+the terrible intelligence the scout had brought.</p>
+
+<p>And at the officers’ quarters, Buffalo Bill had to relate
+the story all over again to an eager band of listeners.
+All had known Dick Danforth, and his death
+was greatly deplored.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as he could get away, and had eaten a bit of<span class="pagenum">[208]</span>
+supper, Cody sought out his faithful partner, Jack
+Omohondreau.</p>
+
+<p>“Jack, old man, did you ever see the Wild Huntsman?”</p>
+
+<p>“What! this fellow who come pretty near bowling
+over the captain&mdash;the Mad Hunter?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes.”</p>
+
+<p>“Never. But I’ve seen his spoor&mdash;and I’ve seen his
+work.”</p>
+
+<p>“Meaning his dead?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yep. Two redskins. He didn’t do a thing but
+hash them up. Ugh!”</p>
+
+<p>“I don’t think I killed him up there. Will you get
+a couple of torches, and bring two other fellows you
+can trust, and help me make a search for him?”</p>
+
+<p>“Lord! Want to put the finishing touch on him&mdash;eh?”</p>
+
+<p>“No. I must bring him down here and have the surgeon
+give him what care he can.”</p>
+
+<p>“Whew! You’d best roll him over a precipice by
+mistake.”</p>
+
+<p>“The man is mad.”</p>
+
+<p>“Well, then, he isn’t missing much, if he cashes in.”</p>
+
+<p>“But perhaps he can be cured.”</p>
+
+<p>“Well, are you going to tackle the cure?”</p>
+
+<p>“I want to see if he’s dead first,” said Cody non-committingly.
+“Go find your men&mdash;and don’t forget
+the torches, Jack.”</p>
+
+<p>Texas Jack found both, and the four men searched
+the ridge thoroughly&mdash;or as thoroughly as they could
+by torchlight; but the gigantic madman was not there.
+He might have crawled into some hole to hide; anyway,
+they had to give it up for the night.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[209]</span></p>
+
+<p>As they returned to camp they found an orderly
+searching industriously for Buffalo Bill.</p>
+
+<p>“Captain Keyes’ compliments, sir, and will you come
+to his tent at once?”</p>
+
+<p>The scout complied with his request. Keyes had his
+despatch-box open, and was undoubtedly just inditing
+his report of the day’s work, and of the intelligence the
+scout had brought him, to his commander at Fort Advance.
+He motioned the scout to a camp-stool.</p>
+
+<p>“Sit down, Cody. I want to talk with you.”</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill obeyed.</p>
+
+<p>“We have deeded to divide the command. I shall
+go myself with the first division on to the place where
+our poor brave fellows lie, and attend to the burial of
+their bodies. The rest of my party will form a reserve
+squad with the howitzers&mdash;in case of treachery.”</p>
+
+<p>“There will be no treachery, Captain Keyes. I know
+Oak Heart.”</p>
+
+<p>“But you say that deserter, Bennett, has influence
+in the tribe.”</p>
+
+<p>“Not enough to make the old chief break his word.”</p>
+
+<p>“Best to be sure, anyway. Now, there’s a point I
+wish to discuss with you. I know your confounded
+quixotism, Cody. You certainly don’t propose to
+keep your promise to that squaw and go alone to the
+Indian encampment?”</p>
+
+<p>“I do mean just that, sir.”</p>
+
+<p>At this the officer rose to his feet and spoke
+vigorously.</p>
+
+<p>“Cody, you sha’n’t do it! By the nine gods of war!
+it’s foolish&mdash;it’s insane!”</p>
+
+<p>“I have promised.”</p>
+
+<p>“But I forbid you!”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[210]</span></p>
+
+<p>“I can’t help that, sir; but if you will think a moment,
+you will see that it is quite out of your jurisdiction.
+I was the reds’ prisoner. They did not have
+to let me go at all. My life is hostage to them yet.
+They have trusted me&mdash;and, God knows, enough white
+men have lied to them.”</p>
+
+<p>“Then I’ll attack their camp, small as my force is.”</p>
+
+<p>“You will compass my death sure enough if you
+do,” said the scout, shaking his head.</p>
+
+<p>“But, Cody, of all white men alive, <em>you</em> are the one
+they most wish to see <em>dead</em>!”</p>
+
+<p>“So be it.”</p>
+
+<p>“Be reasonable.”</p>
+
+<p>“They desire to make my closer acquaintance, and I
+intend to give them the chance,” said Buffalo Bill,
+smiling.</p>
+
+<p>“Never, Cody!”</p>
+
+<p>“But I&mdash;&mdash;”</p>
+
+<p>“I’ll hear no ‘buts,’ scouts. If you persist in such a
+foolish intention I’ll put you in the guard-house and
+keep you under arrest until you come to your senses.”</p>
+
+<p>“I’m afraid I’ll grow gray in the guard-house, then,”
+laughed Buffalo Bill, who knew that his friend did not
+mean this.</p>
+
+<p>“But you were forced to make the promise to save
+your life. Therefore, the promise was given under
+durance and cannot hold.”</p>
+
+<p>“The redskins have few lawyers,” said Cody, with a
+smile. “That sophistry would not appeal to them.”</p>
+
+<p>“It’s sure death!”</p>
+
+<p>“I’m not so sure of that. However, I must go to
+Oak Heart’s camp. I may risk my life, but I hope to
+accomplish a purpose that I have in mind.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[211]</span></p>
+
+<p>The officer saw that the scout was determined, and
+that his will could not be shaken.</p>
+
+<p>“It seems like being a party to your murder to let
+you go, scout,” said Captain Keyes gloomily. “And
+you saved my life, too!”</p>
+
+<p>“Let us hope for the best, sir,” said the scout quietly,
+as he bowed himself out of the officer’s tent.</p>
+
+<p>Before dawn Buffalo Bill and a squad of men sent
+by Captain Keyes went to the ridge to hunt the live&mdash;or
+dead&mdash;body of the Mad Hunter. In an hour, and
+just before the column was ready to start, the squad
+returned without Cody.</p>
+
+<p>“Where is the scout, sergeant?” asked Captain
+Keyes.</p>
+
+<p>“He left us upon the ridge, sir,” said the man, saluting.</p>
+
+<p>“Left you?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, sir.”</p>
+
+<p>“And where did he go?”</p>
+
+<p>“He struck a trail, sir, and said he would be off
+on it.”</p>
+
+<p>“What sort of trail?”</p>
+
+<p>“The Mad Hunter’s trail. We could not find the
+man, but Mr. Cody saw where he had walked away,
+and he started in pursuit.”</p>
+
+<p>“He’s gone farther than that!” exclaimed Captain
+Keyes, shaking his head. “What say, Texas Jack?”</p>
+
+<p>Omohondreau, who knew of Buffalo Bill’s promise
+to the White Antelope, nodded.</p>
+
+<p>“He’s gone to the Injun camp,” said the brother
+scout, “and it’s a toss-up if it isn’t ‘good-by, Bill
+Cody!’ for good and all!”</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<p><span class="pagenum">[212]</span></p>
+
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXXIII">CHAPTER XXXIII.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">TRACKING THE MAD HUNTER.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>After a night of uneasy repose, in which the thoughts
+engendered by his first sight of the Mad Hunter’s face
+had ridden him like a nightmare, Buffalo Bill was determined
+to make a thorough search for the maniac.
+Had he not believed the evening before that the man
+was likely to remain unconscious until roused by the
+efforts of the surgeon, he would have begged Captain
+Keyes to let him stay by the maniac until help could
+come. He was deeply disappointed when he and Jack
+Omohondreau could not find the giant.</p>
+
+<p>In the morning he had searched patiently, struck the
+trail of the madman, and, as the sergeant reported, had
+started at once to follow and run the maniac down.
+He had brought his horse, and having left the soldiers,
+he mounted Chief and followed the big footprints of
+the wild man at a round trot for some distance.</p>
+
+<p>How seriously the man was wounded, Cody did not
+know; but his quarry did not seem to try to hide his
+trail. Straight along the ridge it led, then down into
+the little valley the scout had ridden across the night
+before, and so up the range of hills on the other side.
+Something about the walking of the big man puzzled
+the scout greatly, and suddenly Buffalo Bill spurred
+his horse to the summit of a high hill, that he might
+take a survey of the country over which it seemed the
+madman might pass.</p>
+
+<p>The soldiers were under way now, and, first of all,
+Cody saw them traversing a defile at one side, up which
+they had come from the bivouac of the past night. A<span class="pagenum">[213]</span>
+steep bluff towered beside them where they were then
+marching as Buffalo Bill came out upon the back-bone
+of the range.</p>
+
+<p>The course he had taken in following the madman’s
+trail had brought the scout out ahead of the marching
+column. But it was not upon them that his gaze became
+fastened. Instead, a single moving object upon
+the summit of the bluff in the shadow of which the soldiers
+marched held his attention. This object was
+more than a mile ahead of the soldiery, and would
+never be noticed from the valley below.</p>
+
+<p>In an instant Buffalo Bill divined the identity of the
+moving object, and the nature of the work which engaged
+its attention. The ridge of land on which he
+stood was unbroken to the bluff itself. He set spurs
+to Chief and raced along the highlands, knowing that
+he would not likely be seen by the soldiers, and therefore
+must do alone what he could to avert the catastrophe
+which he saw imminent.</p>
+
+<p>Thwarted the night before when he sought the life
+of Captain Keyes, the Mad Hunter was trying to compass
+a worse crime. The moving form Buffalo Bill
+knew to be the maniac, and he saw that he was gathering
+huge rocks into a pile, which he proposed to push
+over upon the soldiers as they passed below the bluff!</p>
+
+<p>It was a fiendish plan, and well worthy of the man’s
+insane cunning. Buffalo Bill spurred on, and came to
+a place not many yards behind the Mad Hunter without
+the latter’s being aware of his presence, so intent
+was he in the work.</p>
+
+<p>Leaving his horse and rifle, the scout, with soft
+tread and every sense alert, crept up behind the busy
+lunatic. He saw that the Mad Hunter had put aside<span class="pagenum">[214]</span>
+his own arms, the better to toil at his horrid trap. With
+a single shot from his revolver the scout might have
+dropped the maniac dead, and so relieved the world of
+a dangerous creature&mdash;a being neither man nor brute.
+But the scout did not wish to hurt the giant.</p>
+
+<p>Finally, without being discovered, the scout stood
+within twenty feet of the Mad Hunter. His eyes were
+as fierce as a wolf’s, his hands opened and shut with
+nervous clutches, and his lips moved continuously as
+he whispered to himself. Yet something familiar in
+the contour of the poor creature’s face held Cody spellbound.
+He was moved as he had been the night before
+when he had first looked upon the features of the wild
+man.</p>
+
+<p>Nearer and nearer drew the column of soldiers, for
+through a gap in the edge of the bluff Cody could mark
+their progress. Captain Keyes and his officers, and
+Texas Jack, rode ahead. The madman prepared to tip
+his monument of rocks over upon their devoted heads!</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly the Mad Hunter picked up a great stone&mdash;one
+that the scout was sure no two ordinary men could
+lift&mdash;and, picking his victim on the plain below, was
+about to fling it down. Cody quickly dashed across
+the intervening space, and, revolver in hand, tapped
+the madman on the shoulder.</p>
+
+<p>With a sudden inspiration the scout shouted into the
+man’s ear a name he had not spoken himself for a dozen
+years&mdash;the name of a man who, until the night before,
+he had believed long since dead.</p>
+
+<p>The Mad Hunter turned in a flash. He dropped
+the rock. He stared at the scout with wondering gaze.
+His eyes grew somber as the light of insane rage died
+out of them. He whispered at last:</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[215]</span></p>
+
+<p>“Who&mdash;who calls me by that name? Speak!”</p>
+
+<p>Trembling violently, he gazed upon the scout with
+some shadow of reason struggling to dawn in his expression.
+It was elusive&mdash;fleeting&mdash;yet the scout knew
+that he had touched a chord of memory that shook the
+man to the foundation of his being.</p>
+
+<p>“Who speaks that name after all these years?” cried
+the madman again.</p>
+
+<p>“I am Bill Cody&mdash;Cody, your old pal. Cody, the
+man you knew on the Rio Grande!” exclaimed the
+scout, his own voice shaking, for the discovery he had
+made passed the bounds of reason.</p>
+
+<p>The strange being shook his head slowly.</p>
+
+<p>“No. You may be whom you say; but the man you
+spoke of first is dead&mdash;dead&mdash;a long time dead!”</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill, however, was gaining confidence in his
+discovery all the time.</p>
+
+<p>“You’re the man! I know you are. Think, man!
+Send back your memory to those old times. Remember
+the work we did together. Remember&mdash;remember
+your wife&mdash;your child&mdash;&mdash;”</p>
+
+<p>With a shriek like nothing human, with a face that
+changed in a flash to that of a demoniac, the Mad
+Hunter hurled himself, bare-handed, at the scout’s
+throat.</p>
+
+<p>“Fiend! Fiend from the pit!” he yelled. “You have
+come to torment me and taunt me! Ah! for long have
+I escaped your taunts; but now you have returned!”</p>
+
+<p>His heartrending cry almost unmanned the scout.
+He saw that he had touched the wrong chord with the
+madman. Reminded of the loss of his wife and child,
+the victim of this awful fate had been thrown into a
+paroxysm of rage.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[216]</span></p>
+
+<p>For an instant Buffalo Bill hesitated. That hesitation
+came near to costing him his life. The maniac
+was upon him and seized his pistol-hand before he
+could make up his mind to fire at his old friend. The
+madman’s other hand tightened on the scout’s throat.
+They swayed upon the edge of the precipice.</p>
+
+<p>Seconds dragged like hours in that struggle. Buffalo
+Bill had met more than his match in this wild being.
+Suddenly he heard a cry below:</p>
+
+<p>“Hold, Cody! for God’s sake, hold!”</p>
+
+<p>It was Captain Keyes’ voice. It inspired the sinking
+scout to make one final and desperate effort. He
+half-tore him self free of the giant’s clutch.</p>
+
+<p>“Steady! Texas Jack has got the drop on him!”
+yelled the voice of Keyes again.</p>
+
+<p>Instantly there came the sharp crack of a rifle. The
+maniac jumped slightly, and his awful grip loosened.
+The scout tore himself completely away, spattered by
+the maniac’s blood.</p>
+
+<p>The latter whirled about, back to the brink of the
+bluff, clutched helplessly at the air with his great
+hands, and pitched down the declivity. He was dead
+before he struck the bottom&mdash;a heap of broken bones
+and bruised flesh!</p>
+
+<p>Texas Jack mounted the cliff to see if the scout was
+all right. He found Cody wiping the blood from his
+face, and very grave of look.</p>
+
+<p>“Had to shoot him, old man. ’Twas you or him,
+yuh know,” said the brother scout.</p>
+
+<p>“I know it, Jack. I can only thank you. But I am
+sorry&mdash;bitterly sorry. I knew that man when he was
+a right good fellow. Ask Captain Keyes to give him<span class="pagenum">[217]</span>
+decent burial, and to mark the grave&mdash;mark it with the
+letter ‘D.’”</p>
+
+<p>With these words Cody shook hands with his pard
+and hastened away to where Chief was quietly feeding.
+In a moment he was riding hard away from the spot
+where the terrible tragedy had taken place.</p>
+
+<p>Captain Keyes complied with Cody’s request, but
+was sorry that the scout had evidently gone on his mission
+of death&mdash;for the officer could look at the visit to
+the Indian encampment in no other light.</p>
+
+<p>He had divided his force, as he said he should, and
+the vanguard went on to the coulée and buried the
+dead. All the redskins had been removed, and the
+place was deserted of the living. But when they came
+to search for Dick Danforth’s body, intending to remove
+it to the fort with them, it was not to be found.
+The brave lieutenant, for whose scalp Buffalo Bill had
+pleaded with White Antelope, had disappeared from
+the field of battle.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXXIV">CHAPTER XXXIV.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">RED KNIFE LOSES HIS “MEDICINE.”</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>At the time the fire burst out in the great forest and
+Buffalo Bill, the Border King, and his partner, Texas
+Jack, were chased by the flames, a young buck of Oak
+Heart’s tribe of Utah Sioux was likewise in the path
+of the flames. He had been out after a bear, because
+his father, an old brave now toothless and unable to
+follow in the chase, had expressed a desire for bear
+paws, roasted.</p>
+
+<p>The government of Indian society is strictly patriarchal.<span class="pagenum">[218]</span>
+The father of a family demands, and is accorded,
+the greatest respect. Besides, it is a trait of
+Indian character to care for and respect the aged. The
+aged men of the tribe usually mold its opinions in both
+peace and war.</p>
+
+<p>Besides, Red Knife, as this young buck was named,
+was not a married man. He was what the whites
+would have called “an old bach.” He had no teepee
+of his own, but it was a notorious fact that he cast
+longing glances toward White Antelope, the cherished
+daughter of Oak Heart and the flower of the Sioux
+maidens. He had gone hunting for the bear because
+his father was fond of bear paws, but with the claws,
+and others in his possession, he hoped to make a cunning
+necklace that would be acceptable to the chief’s
+daughter.</p>
+
+<p>Red Knife had lately become of moment in the
+tribe. It had been his hand that had finally felled the
+chief of the pony soldiers who were killed in the
+coulée, and whom Death Killer had tried to scalp.
+Red Knife hoped in time to become so important that
+the White Antelope would really look at him with
+favor, instead of ignoring him altogether.</p>
+
+<p>The buck had obtained a single shot at his bearship,
+wounding him with a barbed arrow, and had driven
+him into a thicket toward the close of the day. Suddenly
+the smoke that had been hanging over the hilltops
+for hours swooped down upon the Indian and his
+quarry, and following the smoke came the fire&mdash;a
+deluge of flame!</p>
+
+<p>The bear suddenly lost his fear of the redskin, and
+the latter lost his desire to take bear paws to his teepee.</p>
+
+<p>The crackling of the flames as they leaped down the<span class="pagenum">[219]</span>
+wooded side-hills into the valley warned both hunter
+and hunted that there was no time to lose. The bear
+burst out of the thicket, the arrow still sticking in his
+rump, and waddled off for running water at a great
+pace. The Indian had chased the beast into unfamiliar
+territory, and now he took advantage of his
+prey’s instinct. He followed the bear.</p>
+
+<p>Through brush and bramble, over rocky way and
+swampy land, the bear and the man raced. At times
+they were almost side by side, and neither paid the
+least attention to the other. Lighter and swifter
+creatures passed the two like the wind; the bear and
+the redskin plugged along doggedly, as though running
+for a wager.</p>
+
+<p>They were not in the neighborhood of Bendigo
+Lake, so they did not meet up with either the two
+scouts or with the Mad Hunter. It was a stream
+which the bear, back in his little brain, knew would
+be running full even at this dry season. They reached
+it barely in time to save themselves from being withered
+by the flames. The bear’s fur was indeed smoking.</p>
+
+<p>He plunged over the bank into the deep, dark pool.
+Red Knife went after bruin, landing squarely on the
+bear’s back, eliciting only the notice of a grunt from
+the beast as he sank to the bottom of the pool and let
+the flames roar overhead.</p>
+
+<p>The redskin stayed below the surface as long as he
+could, too. He could feel the bear beside him all the
+time. He might have flung himself upon the beast
+with his knife and killed him. It were better had he
+done so.</p>
+
+<p>But at the time Red Knife was too perturbed to<span class="pagenum">[220]</span>
+think of killing his companion in misery. When the
+redskin came up to breathe, the fiery brands showered
+upon him so thickly that he was glad to sink again.
+It was some time before it was safe for him to squat,
+with his head out of water.</p>
+
+<p>And there were the redskin and the bear, both on
+their haunches, with their noses stuck out of the pool
+like two bullfrogs. As the heat grew less intense and
+the brands stopped falling, the bear and the man began
+eying each other with less favor. Each recovered from
+his panic and began to remember that they were deadly
+enemies.</p>
+
+<p>The bear growled and shifted his position to a distance
+from the red; the latter got out his knife&mdash;the
+only weapon he had saved&mdash;and in moments when he
+was not dodging flying fire planned what he would do
+should bruin take it into his head to attack.</p>
+
+<p>This deep pool in the brook was no proper arena
+for a bear-fight&mdash;especially when the human antagonist
+had simply a knife. Red Knife thought some of
+sinking to the bottom of the pool again and making
+the attack himself by trying to drive his blade into
+some vulnerable part of the beast.</p>
+
+<p>But the difficulty of using his knife with any surety,
+or putting any force behind the blow under water, detained
+him from trying this. Besides, the bear, if
+killed or badly injured, would sink and might pinion
+the redskin to the bottom of the brook.</p>
+
+<p>Therefore, as soon as he could see at all through
+the rolling smoke, and the worst of the flames had
+passed, leaving a thicket or dead tree only blazing in its
+wake here and there, the redskin made up his mind
+that he would better trust to the dry ground. His<span class="pagenum">[221]</span>
+moccasins were well-nigh torn from his feet by his
+furious race through the forest, and his meager clothing
+in general had been seriously torn. There was
+little to shield him from the fire if he came forth, but
+the water of the brook was ice-cold, and hardy as the
+Red Knife was its chill had now set his teeth to playing
+like castanets.</p>
+
+<p>The bear whined with the cold, too, but the next
+moment he growled as Red Knife made a movement
+toward him. If the beast once got a hold with his
+front paws on the redskin he would disembowel him
+with the great claws of his hind feet. Red Knife
+shrank farther away from the bear’s vicinity.</p>
+
+<p>At this bruin plucked up courage. He growled
+again, came down off his haunches, and began to
+swim across the pool toward the Indian. The latter
+saw that it was his move&mdash;and the only place for him
+to move to was out of the water. So he backed into
+the shallower part of the stream and toward a part of
+the bank that was comparatively clear of fire.</p>
+
+<p>The heat and smoke were still almost blistering.
+To leave the water was a cross indeed. But the bear
+continued to advance, and Red Knife did not consider
+that he wished to come immediately to close quarters
+with the brute.</p>
+
+<p>As he backed out of the stream the heat of a near-by
+blazing thicket warmed him more than comfortably.
+The chill was driven out of his body, and his teeth
+stopped chattering. Fearful as he was of the fire&mdash;all
+wild beasts hate it&mdash;the bear found the increasing
+warmth grateful, too. He scrambled out upon the
+bank, too, and actually squatted down in the heat of
+the bonfire to dry himself.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[222]</span></p>
+
+<p>Red Knife looked about him as well as he could for
+the drifting smoke, and picked out the apparently
+safest path from the spot. Had he been contented to
+decamp without stirring up the bear, he would have
+been all right. But an Indian loves to tell of his
+prowess around the camp-fire, and so far there had
+been very little in this adventure to suggest a tale of
+self-glorification.</p>
+
+<p>Therefore the buck determined to have those bear
+paws for his father and the claws for the necklace,
+after all!</p>
+
+<p>He hunted out a big stone, pried it out of the smoking
+ground with his knife, and, picking it up, poised it
+carefully for a cast. With a sudden grunt of anger,
+the bear rose up. He seemed to smell trouble in the
+air. His movement rather spoiled Red Knife’s aim, or
+else the buck was nervous. The stone, thrown with
+terrific force, just glanced from bruin’s hard skull!</p>
+
+<p>With a roar the bear sprang at the foolish red man.
+He came all glaring eyes, froth-dripping fangs, and
+unsheathed claws&mdash;a sight to drive the barb of terror
+into the bravest heart!</p>
+
+<p>The redskin found himself walled in by fire behind.
+He leaped for the pool again, but the bear reached
+him with one paw first. The stroke ripped his hunting-shirt
+and leggings fairly from his body. Nothing
+but shreds of the garments were left and hung upon
+him&mdash;along with shreds of his torn flesh!</p>
+
+<p>The redskin yelled and leaped into the water. The
+bear growled and plunged after him. As he came up
+Red Knife saw the great body of the beast going
+down, and he struck at it with his blade again and
+again. The sharp steel was buried in the body of the<span class="pagenum">[223]</span>
+brute at each stroke, but all about the shoulders&mdash;a
+part not at all vital.</p>
+
+<p>Again and again Red Knife struck before the bear
+came to the surface, but, although the blood flowed
+until the agitated pool was dyed red, the bear came
+up as strong and as ugly as ever.</p>
+
+<p>Red Knife threw himself backward and escaped the
+first plunging blows of the bear. He reached shallow
+water and leaped ashore, being more agile in this than
+his bearship. But in doing so he chanced to slip and
+turn his ankle. The pain was very great for a moment,
+and the Indian fell to the ground, giving the
+bear a chance to almost overtake him.</p>
+
+<p>Instantly, however, the red turned and struck at his
+bearship before the latter could seize him with its
+great, slobbering jaws. An attack always puts a bear
+on the defensive. He squatted back on his haunches,
+ready to either hug his enemy or to strike at him with
+his great forearms, which swung like flails!</p>
+
+<p>Red Knife clambered to his feet, but he could not
+run. The bear would overtake him now in a short
+race. He poised himself on one foot, holding his
+dripping blade before him, and, believing himself come
+to the end of his time, the stoical Indian began to chant
+the death-song.</p>
+
+<p>The growling of the bear almost drowned this cry
+of the Indian. The latter advanced to embrace death,
+yet determined to sell his last breath dearly.</p>
+
+<p>The flaillike arms of the bear swung to and fro; he
+champed his teeth and roared. The Indian flung himself
+with the desperation of a berserker upon the animal,
+striking again and again with his keen blade.</p>
+
+<p>Two awful raking blows the bear got in himself.<span class="pagenum">[224]</span>
+It stripped the last rag from the Indian’s body, and
+broke the string of the amulet he wore about his neck,
+as well. They clinched like two men wrestling, and so
+rolled into the pool.</p>
+
+<p>Splash! they went under the surface. Bubbles and
+gore rose to the agitated top of the water.</p>
+
+<p>Then one of the contestants floated up, struggled a
+bit, secured a footing, and slowly walked ashore. It
+was the Indian. It was Red Knife, as naked as when
+he was born. He sank upon the bank of the stream,
+the conqueror in a good fight. But he had no joy in
+his heart. Instead, he was filled with gloom. In the
+struggle and the last plunge in the pool he had lost his
+medicine-bag!</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXXV">CHAPTER XXXV.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">THE SEARCH FOR NEW MEDICINE.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>When a young brave comes to man’s estate his initiation
+into the religion of his tribe is a great matter.
+Heretofore he has had no real name. He has been
+called by several names, perhaps, but they have been
+those given him by his parents, and are perhaps only
+the pet names of childhood. Now he is a man and gets
+the name which in war and on the hunt he is hopeful
+of making great and long-remembered by the tribe.</p>
+
+<p>Red Knife belonged to the family of the Crow. The
+signification of that family was painted upon his
+father’s wigwam, as it would be upon his own when
+he set up a domicile for himself.</p>
+
+<p>So the medicine-man had put into a bag the dried
+entrails of a crow, its hard, black claws, and some of<span class="pagenum">[225]</span>
+its feathers, with various other charms against evil.
+The young man had watched all night upon a lonely
+hill, fasting, to guard his shield and arms, as well as
+the new medicine, from those spirits that are ever warring
+against human beings&mdash;according to the Indian
+code&mdash;and had in other ways proved himself worthy
+of being a brave in the councils of the Sioux.</p>
+
+<p>The bag, which had been fastened about Red Knife’s
+neck, was as precious to the Indian as his soul! Having
+lost it, he had lost caste and all else that an Indian
+holds of value. He would be considered apostate from
+the faith of his fathers; all that he had done heretofore
+in war and the chase would be held as nothing. He
+would be outcast from his kind, having lost his medicine,
+unless he could by some wonderful performance,
+or by some mysterious chance, find and appropriate a
+new medicine.</p>
+
+<p>There are just so many medicines in the world, according
+to the Indian belief; there is one for each man.
+Having lost his medicine, it could not be replaced by
+the medicine chief or by any other ordinary means.
+He could not kill an enemy and take <em>his</em> medicine for
+his own; for as soon as a man is dead the virtue of
+his medicine accompanies him on the journey to the
+happy hunting-grounds.</p>
+
+<p>No man would be so foolish as to sell his medicine
+at any price. With his last breath he will fight for
+that amulet. Red Knife was undone indeed as he sat
+there beside the bloody pool. All the manhood had
+gone out of him. His hard fight and his many wounds
+seemed as nothing to him now. He was bereft of his
+choicest possession and could not be comforted.</p>
+
+<p>Yet a desire to be with his kind, to see the faces of<span class="pagenum">[226]</span>
+his tribesmen again, drove the young man finally from
+his position. The fire had gone from the forest, and it
+was midday of the second day before he rose to his
+feet. The decomposing gases in the body of the bear
+had brought it to the surface. Red Knife hobbled
+down, cut off the paws and strung them about his
+neck, flayed the carcass, cut off some flesh for his own
+consumption, found a flint-stone, and with the back of
+his knife struck off sparks which lit a fire, and after
+eating and renewing his strength he wrapped himself
+in the gory robe and started for Oak Heart’s village.</p>
+
+<p>This encampment had been well out of the line of
+the forest fire and had not been disturbed by it. Red
+Knife reached it in the night and came to his father’s
+lodge. But he did not venture within. He was
+pariah&mdash;outcast&mdash;the lowest of the low.</p>
+
+<p>His mother gave him food in the morning, but his
+father sent back the bear’s paws. It was soon known
+that Red Knife had lost his medicine, and the head of
+the Crow family could not accept food at his hand. Of
+course, Red Knife knew it would be useless to make
+the bear claws into a necklace for the White Antelope.
+She would look at him less now than before. Besides,
+the White Antelope remained in her lodge, with one
+old woman, her nurse, most of the time. There was
+something very mysterious about the movements of
+the daughter of the chief.</p>
+
+<p>This did not interest Red Knife much at the time,
+however. He was past thinking of women. His own
+people looked at him askance. Nobody spoke to him;
+he was welcome in no lodge, and the very clothing
+which his mother <a id="Ref_226" href="#Ref_226a">flung</a> him seemed begrudged. All
+Indians must harden their hearts against a being so<span class="pagenum">[227]</span>
+cursed of the Great Spirit that he had lost his medicine!</p>
+
+<p>He could enter no council of his tribe; he had no
+voice in the general affairs; he could join in none of
+the sports. All that he had done before was forgotten.
+Even that he had brought low the white chief who had
+led the pony soldiers to the battle in the coulée counted
+nothing for Red Knife now. He was outcast.</p>
+
+<p>Red Knife could not stand for this long. An Indian
+does not make way with himself. A suicide wanders
+forever between this life and that to come, and is never
+at rest. But Red Knife was nearly desperate enough
+to resort to this awful finish.</p>
+
+<p>At least he determined to go out from among his
+people and never to return until he had found a new
+medicine and obtained a new name for himself&mdash;in
+other words, until he could demand the respect of his
+family and of his tribe.</p>
+
+<p>Now he crept out of the encampment, and from a
+high hill muttered his farewell address to his home
+and his people. He would not be Red Knife when he
+returned&mdash;if he returned at all. All the encampment
+knew that, but only one figure stood by his father’s
+lodge to watch him go. He knew that was his mother,
+but it was beneath him to notice a squaw!</p>
+
+<p>Now this young buck had set forth on a search as
+great as that for the Golden Fleece or the Holy Grail
+of old! Had the tribe a Homer, some great saga
+might have been written regarding the labor Red
+Knife had set himself.</p>
+
+<p>To go forth and kill an enemy and take his medicine
+was a simple matter. But the medicine of another
+would surely bring bad luck to the scion of the family<span class="pagenum">[228]</span>
+of Crow. And to find a man with two medicines&mdash;ah!
+that were a well-nigh impossible task! And, when
+found, would such a fortunate person be willing to
+give up his extra medicine? To fight for it might end
+in the death of the first possessor, and then would the
+virtue go from the medicine and it become a curse to
+Red Knife.</p>
+
+<p>The young man left his village and journeyed aimlessly
+for two days through the mountains. So unnoticing
+was he that finally he came to a place where
+he did not know his way out. He was not so far
+from Oak Heart’s village, but its direction he did not
+know for sure. And this valley in which he found
+himself seemed an uninhabited place.</p>
+
+<p>Many of the braves were out on hunting bent, but
+Red Knife had not seen any of them for twenty-four
+hours. Nor had he beheld a white man until, coming
+down to drink at the edge of the stream which watered
+this valley, he suddenly saw a figure in buckskin sitting
+upon a great, white horse on the opposite side of the
+stream. In the fading light of the evening the being
+looked gigantic to the red man&mdash;who was in a state of
+mind to see ghosts or anything else eerie! The strange
+figure was that of a white man. He had hair flowing
+to his shoulders, and he sat his horse with folded arms,
+staring off into the distance, evidently wrapped in deep
+thought.</p>
+
+<p>The wind was with the brave, and the horse even
+did not notice his presence. Red Knife might have
+crossed the stream and leaped upon the unsuspicious
+white man. Yet his mind was not upon killing, and
+when he finally recognized the stranger as the far-famed
+Pa-e-has-ka or Long Hair <a id="Ref_228" href="#Ref_228a">he feared</a><span class="pagenum">[229]</span>
+and would not, single-handed, have attempted the
+man’s death.</p>
+
+<p>Seldom might Buffalo Bill have been so easily
+caught napping. But he had seen no trace of Indians
+in the valley; he had ridden through it to this spot, and
+now his mind had reverted to his deep sorrow regarding
+Dick Danforth’s death, and he thought of nothing
+else.</p>
+
+<p>He roused at last from his reverie with a sigh, and
+glanced about him. His vision fell upon the figure of
+the young brave standing, likewise with folded arms,
+upon the edge of the stream. He could not repress a
+start of surprise at the appearance.</p>
+
+<p>“How!” grunted Red Knife.</p>
+
+<p>“How!” repeated the scout, in English.</p>
+
+<p>Then in the Sioux dialect he said:</p>
+
+<p>“Is it peace, brother?”</p>
+
+<p>“It is peace.”</p>
+
+<p>The scout had seen that the young buck was not
+panoplied for war, and now he dismounted and came
+to his side of the stream.</p>
+
+<p>“You are one of Oak Heart’s people?” Cody asked.</p>
+
+<p>“I <em>was</em> Red Knife, of the Sioux.”</p>
+
+<p>The scout overlooked the emphasis on the “was” for
+the moment. His attention was particularly stung by
+the name the brave gave.</p>
+
+<p>“‘Red Knife!’” he repeated.</p>
+
+<p>The brave bowed and was silent.</p>
+
+<p>“It was you who killed the white chief of the pony
+soldiers?” gasped Cody.</p>
+
+<p>Red Knife nodded again.</p>
+
+<p>The scout fiercely gripped the rifle he carried. In
+his heart he felt like shooting the brave down where he<span class="pagenum">[230]</span>
+stood. But he repressed this momentary feeling and
+said:</p>
+
+<p>“I have sworn vengeance against all who had to do
+with the death of that young man. He was as my son.
+Will Red Knife fight Pa-e-has-ka? Let him choose
+his own weapons and come against me that I may kill
+him in fair fight.”</p>
+
+<p>“I heard of your oath over the dead body of the
+brave white chief,” said Red Knife. “Pa-e-has-ka is a
+great chief himself. Red Knife is no match for him.
+But Red Knife now has no name and is of no people.
+Would Pa-e-has-ka fight with such a one?”</p>
+
+<p>“What’s the matter?” demanded Cody, in English,
+suddenly seeing that the young man was in a despondent
+mood.</p>
+
+<p>“I am an outcast from my people.”</p>
+
+<p>“What’s all that for? I should think the bloody
+devils would have rejoiced over your killing of poor
+Danforth,” muttered the scout.</p>
+
+<p>“Let me tell Pa-e-has-ka the tale,” began Red Knife
+oratorically. “The Sioux did indeed rejoice over the
+death of the young white chief. Red Knife was then a
+great warrior. But since misery has come upon him.”</p>
+
+<p>“And serve him right!” muttered Cody.</p>
+
+<p>With many a flourish of flowery phrase, the buck
+went on to recount his fight with the bear and the loss
+of his medicine-bag. He displayed the half-healed
+wounds made by the bear, and Cody saw that the story
+was true. Knowing well how great a matter this loss
+was to the Indian, the scout could not help but feeling
+some pity for him.</p>
+
+<p>Besides, Red Knife had only followed out his savage
+instincts and code of honor in killing Danforth. And<span class="pagenum">[231]</span>
+putting aside his personal desire for vengeance, Buffalo
+Bill saw that he might make use of the young brave.
+It was not against the ordinary bucks who had been in
+the fight that the scout felt hatred. Boyd Bennett had
+lied to Oak Heart, made him believe that Danforth’s
+expedition was after the old chief, and had led and
+planned the attack upon the soldiers and brought about
+their massacre.</p>
+
+<p>It was the renegade&mdash;he who called himself Death
+Killer, medicine chief of the Sioux&mdash;whom Buffalo
+Bill wished to get!</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill had taken many desperate chances in his
+life. From the time when, as a younker of eleven
+years, he had hired out to the freighter at Leavenworth
+to do a man’s work for a man’s pay, and became a messenger
+riding between the long freight-trains on the
+overland trail, he had faced death in many forms and
+on many occasions. But in determining to go to the
+Sioux encampment to keep his tryst with White Antelope,
+he seemed to be passing the limit of reckless
+daring!</p>
+
+<p>Yet he believed that he had a chance for life. He
+would risk it, at least.</p>
+
+<p>For some days he had scouted about Oak Heart’s
+encampment, and he had learned that something very
+strange was going on in that neighborhood. He saw
+in this meeting with the outcast Red Knife a chance
+to gain a more intimate knowledge of matters in the
+encampment before venturing himself in the lion’s
+mouth.</p>
+
+<p>“Let Red Knife join Pa-e-has-ka upon this side of
+the brook,” the scout said, at last. “There shall be a
+truce between them. Pa-e-has-ka will share his meat<span class="pagenum">[232]</span>
+with Red Knife; Red Knife shall smoke and sleep beside
+Pa-e-has-ka’s fire.”</p>
+
+<p>If the young brave was astonished at this sudden
+proffer of friendship, he showed nothing of the kind
+in his face. He did not even hesitate. He crossed
+the brook straightly and helped prepare the camp in
+silence.</p>
+
+<p>The fact was the young Indian had put himself in
+the hands of the spirits. He believed he was being led.
+Perhaps this white man had a good medicine which
+Red Knife might fairly obtain and so become a person
+of consequence in his tribe again.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXXVI">CHAPTER XXXVI.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">THE MAGIC CUP.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>First of all, Cody desired to question the Sioux warrior,
+and as he prepared a hearty meal he proceeded to
+draw Red Knife out.</p>
+
+<p>“When did my brother leave the village of his
+people?”</p>
+
+<p>“It is a night and two days.”</p>
+
+<p>“Is Oak Heart inclined to peace?”</p>
+
+<p>“Oak Heart awaits the coming of the Long Hair, as
+he promised White Antelope.”</p>
+
+<p>“Very true,” said Cody calmly. “But there is one
+near Oak Heart who would keep the Long Hair from
+fulfilling his promise.”</p>
+
+<p>“A warrior?”</p>
+
+<p>“The renegade white, whom you call Death Killer.”</p>
+
+<p>“Ah! Death Killer is a great magician,” declared
+Red Knife, looking as though he meant it.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[233]</span></p>
+
+<p>“He is a wicked white. He is throwing dirt in the
+faces of my red brothers. They do not know him.”</p>
+
+<p>“His medicine is wonderful.”</p>
+
+<p>“Yet he could not make new medicine for the Red
+Knife?” suggested Cody slyly.</p>
+
+<p>“Ah! who could do that?” demanded the brave
+gloomily.</p>
+
+<p>“I have heard of its being done,” said the scout,
+and then, before the red man could ask a question, he
+proceeded: “Death Killer has ringed the camp with his
+own braves. They lay in wait for Pa-e-has-ka. Is it
+not so?”</p>
+
+<p>At this Red Knife showed that he was surprised.</p>
+
+<p>“This is bad. This is not known to Oak Heart. Is
+it so, Long Hair?”</p>
+
+<p>“The Sioux know that Long Hair is not two-tongued,”
+declared Cody. “This is so. I suspected it,
+and I have found them watching. Is not Death Killer
+much from the camp?”</p>
+
+<p>“He is.”</p>
+
+<p>“He goes from watcher to watcher to see that all
+are in their places. If Long Hair goes straight to the
+camp of Oak Heart, he will be killed.”</p>
+
+<p>Red Knife shrugged his shoulders and fell silent.
+Cody saw that, although the young brave considered it
+none of his business&mdash;it was a fight between Long
+Hair and Death Killer&mdash;he did not approve of the latter’s
+methods. And the scout was convinced, too, that
+the bulk of the Indians&mdash;and Oak Heart himself&mdash;knew
+naught of the trick to which Boyd Bennett had
+resorted.</p>
+
+<p>Cody had not been foolish enough to ride straight
+toward Oak Heart’s village when he rode away from<span class="pagenum">[234]</span>
+the spot where the Mad Hunter had been killed. He
+had seen in Boyd Bennett’s face, when he had gone
+free under his promise to the chief’s daughter, that the
+scoundrel would do all in his power to keep the scout
+from fulfilling his agreement. Although in going to
+the Indian village Cody would be taking his life in his
+hand, still by <em>not</em> appearing there he would lose honor
+among the reds themselves.</p>
+
+<p>It would be said among the Utah Sioux, and from
+them spread to the Utes, Arapahoes, and others, that
+Pa-e-has-ka was afraid to keep his promise. And from
+the time he first journeyed across the plains Buffalo
+Bill had kept his agreements in every particular with
+the red man, friend or foe alike. He was one of the few
+white men “without guile.” He said what he meant,
+and meant what he said, and he was considered single-tongued
+by all, though he was up to every craftiness
+that his enemies might try upon him.</p>
+
+<p>Cody now wished to undermine the popularity of
+Boyd Bennett among Oak Heart’s braves. Even if he
+got through the medicine chief’s guards and reached
+the council-lodge of the Sioux, he would have to face
+the influence of the renegade, and that might overcome
+him to the extent of his life’s sacrifice. The scout
+was not the man to go blindly into a trap.</p>
+
+<p>Death Killer, as he called himself, was playing the
+traitor. Cody wished to convince Red Knife of this
+fact and send him back to the encampment to spread
+the tale against Death Killer. To this end he used the
+cunning which he had long cultivated in his association
+with the redskins.</p>
+
+<p>He well knew the regard in which the Indian holds
+his medicine-bag. If he could restore to Red Knife his<span class="pagenum">[235]</span>
+medicine, or, rather, supply him with a new amulet
+that would make him a man and a citizen again, the
+scout could command his good offices to almost any
+extent.</p>
+
+<p>But the scout said nothing further that night. He
+let his observations regarding the renegade Bennett
+sink into the red man’s mind. In the morning he fed
+him bountifully again. When he had finished, Red
+Knife showed that he had digested Cody’s remarks
+well, and was in some measure grateful for the entertainment
+shown him.</p>
+
+<p>“The Long Hair is my brother. He has warmed
+me and fed me. If the Long Hair really desires to
+appear before Oak Heart and the old men of the tribe,
+as he has promised, Red Knife may show him a way.”</p>
+
+<p>“Ah!” exclaimed the scout. “Some way that Death
+Killer is not guarding with his braves, eh?”</p>
+
+<p>“It may be.”</p>
+
+<p>“In which direction is it?”</p>
+
+<p>“The Long Hair knows the direction of the encampment,
+perhaps? Red Knife, wandering in broken
+spirit, has lost his way.”</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, you want to know the direction of the place?”</p>
+
+<p>“It is so. The lodges of his people will not receive
+Red Knife, but he may point them out, by a secret
+way, to the Long Hair.”</p>
+
+<p>“Humph! Let’s see the direction,” muttered Cody,
+and drew from under his shirt a small compass in a
+brass cup which was hung about his neck by a strong
+cord.</p>
+
+<p>The Indian’s eyes suddenly glistened. Here was
+the great white’s chief’s medicine, and Red Knife was
+greatly interested in medicines just then! He peered<span class="pagenum">[236]</span>
+closely at the cup which Cody held in his hand. The
+latter noticed the brave’s eagerness, and he knew instinctively
+what was passing through the red’s mind.</p>
+
+<p>Therefore the scout made a great show of consulting
+the compass, holding it in his hand while the little
+needle waggled cheerfully to his movements, pointing
+ever to the north. Finally Red Knife spoke&mdash;breathlessly:</p>
+
+<p>“Does the magic cup speak to Long Hair? If so,
+its voice is very low. Does it tell where lies the lodges
+of my people?”</p>
+
+<p>“It does not speak. But it answers the question,”
+declared Cody gravely.</p>
+
+<p>“A marvelous magic!” exclaimed Red Knife. “The
+white chief worships the spirit of the cup?”</p>
+
+<p>“This is a great medicine, Red Knife,” said Cody
+seriously. “Now mark! We wish to know how to
+travel to reach the lodges of your people. Long Hair
+knows that we are south and west of the village. We
+look into the cup.”</p>
+
+<p>He thrust the compass under the Indian’s nose, and
+Red Knife had hard work to keep from jumping back.</p>
+
+<p>“Look! See the finger which moves?”</p>
+
+<p>“Ugh! It is magic!” muttered the young brave.</p>
+
+<p>“That finger points ever to the cold land&mdash;to the
+lands from which winter comes. Always to the north
+it points. Therefore, so standing and facing the north,
+my right hand points to the sunrise, my left to the
+sunset,” suiting the action to his words. “Behind me
+is the south. Therefore, by facing the sunrise and
+bearing off somewhat to the north of that, we approach
+the village of Chief Oak Heart.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[237]</span></p>
+
+<p>“Ugh! It is wonder-work, indeed!” exclaimed Red
+Knife. “It is a great medicine.”</p>
+
+<p>“It is a great and good medicine. No brave in Red
+Knife’s tribe has a medicine like this.”</p>
+
+<p>“There are no two medicines alike in this world,”
+grunted the brave philosophically.</p>
+
+<p>Cody went to the bag strapped to Chief’s saddle, unbuckled
+a pocket, and brought out a small packet tied
+in wash-leather and oilskin. When he was in Denver he
+had made a purchase for a brother scout, but so far
+had not run up against the man to give it to him. He
+came back to the fire, squatted down beside Red Knife,
+and unwrapped the exact counterpart of his own
+“magic cup,” only this was brighter and unused.</p>
+
+<p>“Waugh!” ejaculated the Indian, starting back.</p>
+
+<p>“You see, here is another of the magic cups. I
+have long had two medicines,” said Buffalo Bill, drawing
+slightly on his imagination. “They are good medicines.
+They have brought me good luck and made me
+successful in the chase, and in war. The Red Knife
+has no medicine. What would he do for the possession
+of this?” and the scout held out the compass temptingly.</p>
+
+<p>Red Knife could barely restrain himself now. His
+cheeks actually flushed, and his eyes glistened.</p>
+
+<p>“The Red Knife is a man!” he cried. “He will
+fight the Long Hair for the good medicine.”</p>
+
+<p>“Nay. The Long Hair cannot battle at once with
+he whom he has fed. The Red Knife and the Long
+Hair are brothers. The Long Hair will give his red
+brother the magic cup,” and he thrust the compass into
+the brave’s willing hand.</p>
+
+<p>“In return,” Cody pursued, “Red Knife will take<span class="pagenum">[238]</span>
+the tale of Death Killer’s treachery into Oak Heart’s
+village. Come! Long Hair will show his brother the
+medicine chief’s braves lurking for the scalp of Long
+Hair. It is a true tale. Red Knife will tell Oak
+Heart himself.”</p>
+
+<p>“Waugh! Death Killer is a mighty chief,” said Red
+Knife hesitatingly.</p>
+
+<p>“And this is a mighty medicine,” suggested the wily
+scout.</p>
+
+<p>The Indian rose up suddenly and thrust the compass
+into the breast of his shirt. He had evidently made up
+his mind.</p>
+
+<p>“It is well,” he said shortly. “Let Long Hair show
+this truth to me.”</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXXVII">CHAPTER XXXVII.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">THE TRAITOR.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill was too wise to take Chief too near the
+Indian encampment. The wise white horse could take
+care of himself in ordinary emergencies, but he would
+be rather in the way up in the mountains, and the scout
+left him in a well-grassed valley, while he and Red
+Knife went on toward the Indian village.</p>
+
+<p>Chief Oak Heart had established himself in a place
+not easy of access by the pony soldiers, and he had a
+great contempt for the “walk-a-heaps.” The Sioux
+are great riders, seldom walking where a pony can
+carry them, and are contemptuous of all people who do
+not likewise ride.</p>
+
+<p>Red Knife had left his village afoot. It was a mark
+of his humility and his desperate straits. The route<span class="pagenum">[239]</span>
+back to the encampment was so rough that ponies
+would have been of little use to either the red man or
+the scout. They were all day in climbing the mountain
+and finding a pass through to the other side of the
+ridge. They came out about dark in sight of the valley
+where the village lay. Its lights were visible to
+them from the mountainside. They retired to a cave
+that Red Knife knew of, however, and built their own
+fire, out of sight.</p>
+
+<p>Red Knife was mightily pleased with his new medicine.
+He was eager to get down to his people and
+show its virtues to them. But he had promised two
+things to the scout. One was to point out a secret
+trail down into Oak Heart’s camp; the other to spread
+among the braves the fact of Death Killer’s treachery&mdash;providing
+Cody proved to his satisfaction that the
+medicine chief <em>was</em> treacherous.</p>
+
+<p>Before daybreak Buffalo Bill awoke his red ally, and
+they stole out of the cave like shadows. The Border
+King had marked well the stations of the various
+braves who were under the medicine chief’s control.
+They were set at every entrance to the valley by which
+the scout might have penetrated to the encampment.</p>
+
+<p>At least, such had been the case upon his previous
+visit, and they were not long at the search before
+spotting one of these sentinels. At least, he was one
+of Death Killer’s particular friends, and he was apparently
+watching a pass through the hills.</p>
+
+<p>The scout and Red Knife approached quite near to
+him, but Cody would not let his companion speak to
+the sentinel.</p>
+
+<p>“Wait! Let us see if there are more, as I have told
+my red brother,” he observed, and they went on to another<span class="pagenum">[240]</span>
+path. Sure enough, there, grimly camped beside
+the way, was a second brave, likewise one of those who
+associated more closely with Boyd Bennett, the renegade.
+Again they went on, going cautiously now, for
+it was past sunrise, and found a third watchman.</p>
+
+<p>These plainly were not sentinels placed to guard
+particularly the camp itself. Those were much nearer
+the village. These red men were stationed thusly for
+a particular purpose.</p>
+
+<p>“Is my red brother satisfied that the Long Hair
+spoke truly?” asked the scout of the young brave.</p>
+
+<p>“Pa-e-has-ka is of single tongue. He does not lie.
+But Red Knife will first go to Chief Oak Heart and
+ask him if, by his instruction, these men were sent to
+bar the way to the lodges of the Sioux. If the great
+chief knows naught of it, then must Death Killer explain.”</p>
+
+<p>“Tell Oak Heart to remove these guards and Long
+Hair will appear before him as he promised the White
+Antelope,” said Cody seriously.</p>
+
+<p>Red Knife solemnly shook hands with him. Although
+the young brave had, by his own confession,
+killed Dick Danforth, the scout had been forced to
+make use of him. Now he gave him a word of warning:</p>
+
+<p>“Although Red Knife is now Long Hair’s friend,
+and Long Hair has given him of his own strong medicine
+that Red Knife might be a man among his people,
+there is still a feud between them. It was Red Knife’s
+hand that killed the young white chief, whom Long
+Hair loved. When next we meet let Red Knife beware.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[241]</span></p>
+
+<p>“It is just,” admitted the Indian solemnly. “Let us
+go.”</p>
+
+<p>He led Cody then to the hidden path which would
+enable the scout to pass all of Death Killer’s sentinels
+and, indeed, most of the guards of the village, and so
+ride almost into the encampment itself without being
+seen. Then, without a word further, the young brave
+turned his face toward his father’s lodge.</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill sat down and smoked his pipe while he
+watched him along the trail into the valley. He could
+watch Red Knife for a long distance before the young
+man came out upon the bluff which overlooked the
+valley where the encampment lay. Until that time he
+could not be seen from below.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly Buffalo Bill saw a figure among the rocks
+near the path which Red Knife was following. It was
+of another Indian, but the scout could not see the
+man’s face&mdash;not even with the aid of his field-glasses.
+Red Knife seemed totally unconscious of the other’s
+presence until suddenly the stranger leaped before him
+and stood in his path.</p>
+
+<p>“Hello!” muttered Cody. “What’s all this?”</p>
+
+<p>It was evident that the two redskins conversed excitedly.
+What they said, of course, the scout could
+not even guess. Indians are usually so self-repressed
+that the scout could not judge at this distance whether
+they spoke angrily or in the most pleasant way together.</p>
+
+<p>It seemed, however, as though the strange redskin
+tried to urge Red Knife to wait, but the young brave
+was determined to go on down into the valley. At
+last he seemed almost to break away from the other
+and push on toward the edge of the bluff. Cody knew<span class="pagenum">[242]</span>
+that neither of the actors in the drama below could be
+seen from the village.</p>
+
+<p>Red Knife was determined, and left the one who had
+accosted him. The latter shrank back and watched
+him for a moment. Then suddenly Cody saw him
+gather himself, jerk the tomahawk from his belt, and
+swing the weapon high in the air!</p>
+
+<p>Cody caught himself from crying out, but he <em>did</em>
+leap up as the fatal blow fell. The strange Indian cast
+himself upon Red Knife’s back and clove the unconscious
+red man’s skull with a mighty blow of the
+hatchet. Red Knife went down in a heap!</p>
+
+<p>Cody pulled himself together and, through the glass,
+watched the traitor stoop over the fallen man, strip the
+scalp from his head, and then dart away among the
+rocks. Steeped in guilt as he was, the scout knew the
+villain would not remain near the scene of his atrocious
+act. Therefore he risked going down to the place himself.</p>
+
+<p>Poor Red Knife was truly disposed of. The hatchet
+had killed him instantly. And all the hopes Cody had
+based upon his good offices were dissipated at once.</p>
+
+<p>The scout stood there for some time and communed
+with himself. Should he risk going on into the village
+now? Or should he await some favorable opportunity
+of undermining Boyd Bennett’s power before putting
+himself within the bandit’s grasp?</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<p><span class="pagenum">[243]</span></p>
+
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXXVIII">CHAPTER XXXVIII.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">WHITE ANTELOPE’S PERIL.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>There was much disturbance in the encampment
+about this time, as Buffalo Bill had seen when making
+his observations from the high peaks about the valley.
+The Indians ran to and fro like ants, and runners frequently
+went out, or came in by the northern roads.
+This meant surely that Oak Heart was communicating
+with the other chiefs, and the scout feared that, stirred
+up by Boyd Bennett in his character of medicine chief,
+the Sioux leader was preparing for another attack like
+that on Fort Advance.</p>
+
+<p>Rumors ran rife among the Indians regarding the
+movements of the bluecoats, and the numbers of them
+who had come to bury the dead whites after the recent
+ambush in which Oak Heart himself had taken part.
+The old chief, believing that Lieutenant Danforth was
+coming to attack his encampment, had taken part in
+this sanguinary struggle himself.</p>
+
+<p>Now certain warriors brought strange rumors into
+the village. It was said that Pa-e-has-ka was on the
+war-path, too. And that he was leading the whites to
+the encampment. So spoke the Death Killer, the white
+medicine chief of the Sioux, who was gaining great
+influence with the young men of the tribe.</p>
+
+<p>“Pa-e-has-ka is my foe,” he said bitterly, “and I
+sought to bring him captive here, or to slay him with
+his friend; but the White Antelope freed him, and sent
+him back to his people to carry Oak Heart’s warning.
+What has been done? Do not the white men come in
+force into the Indian country?</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[244]</span></p>
+
+<p>“The White Antelope turned a panther loose upon
+the trail of my red brothers. And he told her that he
+would return and come a prisoner again into Oak
+Heart’s village, and to his lodge. Has he come?”</p>
+
+<p>“No!” answered many voices.</p>
+
+<p>“But the warriors come in and tell how Pa-e-has-ka
+has killed their comrades, scalped their brothers, and
+laughed at them for squaws. Will the Sioux braves
+let the paleface dog longer kick dirt in their faces? Is
+he not now near their village, and yet no warrior
+brings in his scalp, because he is under the protection
+of the White Antelope?”</p>
+
+<p>A murmur arose from the old men about the council
+circle.</p>
+
+<p>“Let my medicine braves seek his trail and bring him
+alive into the presence of the great chief, and the Death
+Killer will show him how the Pa-e-has-ka will weep
+like a squaw when he is bound to the torture-stake.”</p>
+
+<p>This speech of the renegade excited the Indians to
+frenzy. There was no longer any possibility of restraining
+the young men. A hundred warriors took
+the trail with the avowed intention of bringing in the
+Long Hair.</p>
+
+<p>When Red Knife was found dead upon the bluff
+overlooking the camp there was considerable wonder
+expressed. The unfortunate scion of the Crow family
+had lost caste, it was true, but why he should have
+been killed by the supposedly lurking white man&mdash;the
+Red Knife had gone from the camp unarmed&mdash;even
+the redskins themselves could not understand. As the
+murders increased Bennett grew louder in his objurgations
+against Long Hair.</p>
+
+<p>From the hour of his disappointment upon the gory<span class="pagenum">[245]</span>
+field where Danforth and his band had met their doom,
+the renegade had thirsted for revenge upon the scout.
+He had secretly despatched a noted warrior to meet and
+kill Buffalo Bill on his return; but having not again
+seen or heard of this brave, Bennett feared that he had
+come to grief at the hands of the old Indian fighter.</p>
+
+<p>The medicine chief did not wish Buffalo Bill to
+really appear before Oak Heart and the old chiefs of
+the tribe. He was not at all sure what the outcome of
+such a venture might be. Indians admire bravery and
+boldness above all other virtues, and Bennett feared
+the dashing scout might influence the tribe against <em>him</em>,
+too.</p>
+
+<p>For defending the scout and permitting him to go
+free upon his pledge to return, the renegade had not
+forgiven the White Antelope. Yet he knew the influence
+she held in the tribe, that upon account of her
+having been born with yellow hair, and growing up
+far more beautiful than any maiden of the Sioux, she
+was regarded as a favored child of the Great Spirit,
+and that should he cross her will he might lose the
+power he had gained over the tribesmen.</p>
+
+<p>He had hoped, too, to win the Indian maiden for his
+lodge, when he first became familiar with the tribe;
+but she had treated his advances with disdain, and this
+was a second reason why he felt revengeful toward her.
+To get any redskin to aid him in a plot against White
+Antelope, he knew would be impossible; yet he did not
+despair of either conquering the proud girl, or getting
+rid of her altogether. At least, he desired to keep her
+away from the camp and the council if Buffalo Bill
+were brought in; otherwise, she might disturb all his
+plans and aid in the release of the white man.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[246]</span></p>
+
+<p>Therefore the medicine chief watched the teepee of
+the white queen keenly. When he saw her mount her
+pony and gallop out of the village, and past the guards
+which encircled it, Boyd Bennett followed secretly.
+White Antelope, accustomed to going where and how
+she pleased, and having unbounded confidence in her
+own prowess, rode to the top of a ridge some distance
+from the encampment.</p>
+
+<p>The young brave who sentineled this high strip of
+ground was much in love with the beautiful daughter
+of the chief, and with her before his eyes he forgot all
+else. So wrapped was the young man in the contemplation
+of the girl that he forgot his duty. A form
+suddenly bounded from behind a rock near-by, an iron
+hand gripped the youth’s throat and bore him backward
+out of sight, and the long knife in the murderer’s hand
+struck home&mdash;to the heart.</p>
+
+<p>It was over instantly. No sound&mdash;only a gasp, and
+the death-rattle in the brave’s throat. Then, with the
+knife, the murderer made a quick incision in a rough
+circle in the scalp, about the size of a dollar, and with
+his teeth tore off the dead warrior’s scalp-lock.</p>
+
+<p>Seated there by the side of his victim the slayer
+looked upon him with real pleasure, while he muttered
+in a sinister tone:</p>
+
+<p>“More blood! Ah! I love it! This shall be another
+death laid to the wiles of Buffalo Bill. Now for
+the White Antelope, and then&mdash;&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>“There she comes! Now to catch her as she passes!”</p>
+
+<p>He crouched behind his rocky shelter as he spoke,
+while the White Antelope, seemingly somewhat despondent,
+came riding slowly back toward the village.
+In truth, she had ridden to see if she could spy the<span class="pagenum">[247]</span>
+coming of the Long Hair, who had promised to return.
+That strange man had gained a wonderful hold upon
+her mind. And, beside, she had a great secret to impart
+to him.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly the girl uttered a cry of alarm and tried to
+wheel her pony to dash away, for to her side had
+sprung the form of Boyd Bennett. But his rough hand
+effectually shut off her scream, he seized her in his
+arms, and, dragging her from the frightened pony’s
+back, he darted down a defile, unseen by any of the Indian
+guards.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXXIX">CHAPTER XXXIX.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">A CRY FOR HELP.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>In a large cavern penetrating a pile of rocks, rising
+to an elevation that commanded a view of the Indian
+village, sat Buffalo Bill. He had a strong field-glass,
+and for two days he had been studying the camp, and
+all that went in or came out of it.</p>
+
+<p>He had seen many things which led him to know
+that Boyd Bennett was as two-faced with his Indian
+friends as he had been with the whites. This murder
+was not the first the medicine chief had done.</p>
+
+<p>“Well, I’ll never get them down finer than I have
+them now,” he was saying thoughtfully. “I wish I had
+Texas here to send back word to Captain Keyes. A
+knowledge of the exact situation of the village and just
+how many warriors old Oak Heart has might be of inestimable
+value later&mdash;if I don’t get away again!”</p>
+
+<p>The great scout intended to go into the village and
+boldly face the renegade. He had hoped by lingering<span class="pagenum">[248]</span>
+about the place in secret to catch the medicine chief
+unawares, and so put him out of the way before delivering
+himself to the tribe. For it was Boyd Bennett
+alone whom the scout feared. He had a secret possession
+which he believed might save him from death at
+the hands of the Sioux, providing Bennett was not
+there to use his influence as medicine chief against
+him.</p>
+
+<p>As he came to this final desperate decision, however,
+Buffalo Bill saw the renegade come into view among
+the rocks, and in his arms he carried the struggling
+figure of the White Antelope. Catching sight of the
+scout, the girl shrieked in English:</p>
+
+<p>“Long Hair! Save me! save me!”</p>
+
+<p>The renegade turned his bloodshot eyes upon the
+scout. He shrieked with ungovernable fury at him
+and gibbered:</p>
+
+<p>“Raise your hand, Buffalo Bill, and I will kill her!”</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill raised his rifle and sighted pointblank
+at his old foe. But the scoundrel held the girl before
+his own body, besides threatening her with his upraised
+knife. At another time&mdash;or given another person
+than the White Antelope&mdash;the scout would have
+risked one of his wonderful shots and perhaps brought
+the bandit chief down before he could have done his
+captive harm. He hesitated, however, for he had great
+reason for desiring to save the girl’s life. The fluctuation
+of a hair’s breadth in his aim might put the rifle-ball
+into her body instead of Boyd Bennett’s.</p>
+
+<p>Therefore the scout, with a groan, dropped his gun.
+The girl shrieked again, and in a moment Bennett
+leaped behind a boulder and fled along a secret path,
+entirely hidden from the scout’s station.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[249]</span></p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill heard the girl’s heartrending shrieks as
+she was carried swiftly into the hills. They appealed
+to him strongly, and, quickly girding himself for the
+chase, he followed on the trail of the abductor.</p>
+
+<p>The object of the bandit’s mad act Buffalo Bill did
+not realize. Bennett’s bloodthirsty killing of the sentinel&mdash;and
+formerly of Red Knife&mdash;seemed to point to
+the fact that the man’s brain was turned. Why he had
+fled now from the encampment with the chief’s daughter
+was a deep mystery, unless he was indeed mad.</p>
+
+<p>The scout’s mind, however, was given up mainly to
+planning for the release of the girl and the overcoming
+of her captor. Boyd Bennett seemed to be alone in
+this abduction plot, and the scout felt rejoiced that at
+last it seemed he was to meet the fellow with something
+like an equal chance.</p>
+
+<p>The principal thing now was to not give Bennett
+start enough to hide in the rocks. Buffalo Bill could
+hear the scrambling of the man with the girl in his
+arms, although for some time he could not see him.
+Not until they rounded the spur of the mountain and
+arrived upon the farther slope did the scout obtain a
+glimpse of the object of his pursuit.</p>
+
+<p>Then, to his bitter disappointment, he beheld Boyd
+Bennett, still lugging the girl, running down the hill
+toward a thicket, near which was tethered a horse,
+saddled and bridled! As he ran the renegade&mdash;now a
+traitor both to the reds and the whites&mdash;uttered a
+shrill “coee!” and immediately a horseman appeared
+from behind the thicket. It was one of the outlaw’s
+old gang, Buffalo Bill made no doubt, and he had been
+here in waiting, with the extra horse for his chief and
+the girl.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[250]</span></p>
+
+<p>White Antelope no longer struggled in the fiend’s
+arms. Buffalo Bill knew that she had fainted and lay
+limply across Bennett’s saddle as he put her up and
+mounted in such haste. But the scout was too far
+away now for a shot. The two villains started their
+horses down the slope and were quickly out of sight,
+and all this without a single redskin being aroused!</p>
+
+<p>Plainly Bennett had planned this coup with great
+cunning. He had placed his own braves in positions
+to bar Buffalo Bill from the valley where the camp
+lay, but had allowed one of Oak Heart’s braves to bar
+one exit. That brave Cody had seen the scoundrel
+kill and scalp, so leaving a plain path into the encampment
+if the scout wished to go that way.</p>
+
+<p>But two strong desires led the scout upon a different
+trail. His interest in White Antelope was no small interest.
+Happenings of late had really increased it,
+indeed. And Boyd Bennett must be run down!</p>
+
+<p>Afoot as he was, the scout hurried after the two
+outlaws and their fair-haired captive, for by keeping
+doggedly at it a man may run down a horse. Providing
+the outlaws had no fresh horses and their destination
+was far away, Cody felt confident that he would
+overtake them even though he continued afoot.</p>
+
+<p>But chance favored him. Bennett and his companions
+followed a trace through the mountains which
+passed within a few miles of the valley in which Buffalo
+Bill had left Chief, his big white horse. The scout
+left the trail long enough to obtain his mount, which,
+having fed well and being rested, was as eager for the
+trail as his master.</p>
+
+<p>Back to the bandit’s trail the scout rode, and the
+white stallion flung mile after mile of the rocky way<span class="pagenum">[251]</span>
+beneath his feet. Bennett and his companion had not
+tried to disguise their trail. Evidently they felt either
+sure of no pursuit, or considered themselves a match
+for Buffalo Bill. Bennett probably did not think that
+the Indians themselves would miss White Antelope
+until the trail was stale and he would be too far away
+with the girl to be overtaken.</p>
+
+<p>The pursuer came upon the place where the trio had
+camped at noon. They had boldly built a fire and
+cooked food, and Cody even found the marks of the
+girl’s moccasins in the soft ground beside the trail.
+Perhaps she had shrewdly stepped there when her
+captors were not looking, hoping that their trail was
+being followed. At another place she had torn some
+beadwork from her garments and flung it on the
+ground.</p>
+
+<p>“She’s a sharp girl, all right,” said Cody to himself.
+“And if she has confidence in my following and
+saving her, I swear it shall not be misplaced!”</p>
+
+<p>Before night, however, the scout received a shock
+which made him almost despair. The trail he was
+following came down into a great valley through the
+middle of which flowed a broad river. On the river’s
+bank the hoof-marks of Bennett’s mount and his companion’s
+were joined by those of a dozen other horses!</p>
+
+<p>“They’ve been caught, by thunder!” was Cody’s first
+thought.</p>
+
+<p>Then he saw that this supposition was entirely
+wrong, and his heart sank. These were not unshod
+Indian ponies. Nor could they be a party of peaceful
+travelers who had joined Bennett and his friend. It
+was the rest of the gang. The outlaws had here
+joined their leader, and, instead of following two<span class="pagenum">[252]</span>
+scoundrels, the scout was up against the entire gang&mdash;and
+single-handed!</p>
+
+<p>Then did he wish that he had sought out a part of
+Captain Keyes’ command and brought them on this
+hunt for the bandit leader and his helpless captive. He
+shuddered to think of what might be White Antelope’s
+fate among these ruffians. He could not go
+back now for help; and yet, if he overtook the gang,
+what could he, a man alone, do toward getting the
+girl free?</p>
+
+<p>Yet Buffalo Bill, the Border King, had spent years
+of his life in taking chances. He had been up against
+as serious odds before, and had come out on top. He
+did not hesitate for a single instant, but crossed the
+river at the ford, and followed the hoof-prints of the
+gang up the opposite bank of the river.</p>
+
+<p>If they were making for their rendezvous, well and
+good. He would at least learn one&mdash;perhaps the principal&mdash;hiding-place
+of the gang, and later could bring
+a party to overwhelm them. Meantime, he would trust
+to luck and a merciful Providence to assist him in obtaining
+White Antelope’s release unharmed from the
+villainous crew.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XL">CHAPTER XL.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">THE FREIGHT-TRAIN.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>The sun was sinking like a great globe of fire, seemingly
+at the very foot of the broad valley which, from
+its head, spread forth miles upon square miles of verdant
+lawn, crimson and yellow groves, the leaves of
+which blushed before the cold finger-touch of winter<span class="pagenum">[253]</span>
+interspersed with patches of hemlock and spruce, now,
+as ever, green. Through the valley flowed a broad
+river, joined here by several mountain brooks which
+tumbled down from the heights on either hand to
+swell the main current, which entered the vale from
+the mouth of the broad cañon on the north. A deeply
+rutted wagon trail came out of the cañon as well as the
+river. For miles this trace wound along the riverside,
+hemmed in by gigantic cliffs on the tops of which
+the bighorn sheep looked like specks to the traveler below,
+and which were so high and so close together in
+places that it was twilight at noon in the bottom of
+the gorge!</p>
+
+<p>Indeed, back in the cañon it was already night when
+the sun was but setting out here in the valley. Therefore
+the “mule-skinners” cracked their blacksnakes and
+shouted many objurgations to their patient animals,
+desiring to reach the open and make camp outside the
+cañon before darkness finally settled upon the valley.
+The creaking of the wagon wheels and the cracking of
+the whips, with the voices of the mule-skinners, made
+music a mile up the cañon.</p>
+
+<p>It was a heavy wagon-train. First rode the captain
+on a gray mare with a bell on her neck. With her
+tethered near the wagons the mules could be turned
+loose at night; they would never desert the camp as
+long as the gray mare remained faithful.</p>
+
+<p>The wagons of the train were linked together&mdash;five
+or six great, lumbering, canvas-topped vehicles, with
+eight or ten span of mules hauling on each section.
+There were three of these sections in the train, six
+men to a section, the captain, and the cook who rode
+behind on another saddle-horse, leading a pack-animal<span class="pagenum">[254]</span>
+which bore the cook-tent and some of the camp equipment.</p>
+
+<p>When the captain reached the mouth of the cañon
+and beheld the pleasant, sunlit valley he turned and
+uttered a loud “coee! coee!” which brought the cook
+and his packhorse trotting forward. The valley looked
+perfectly safe to the captain of the train, and he selected
+an indenture in the river-bank where the cook
+and he set up the tent, and, as fast as the wagons came
+up, they deployed off the trail so as to make a horseshoe
+figure around the camping-place, the open part
+of which was toward the river.</p>
+
+<p>This precaution was always taken whether they saw
+Indian signs or not. And at night rifles were issued
+to the men and a strong guard mounted. Each man
+“packed” a couple of guns at his waist all day, anyway.</p>
+
+<p>The selection of this low piece of ground as the
+camp was not wise, however. An enemy could ride
+to the edge of the low, sloping bluff which surrounded
+it on three sides and pop bullets over the wagon tops
+into the enclosure, shooting from one side those who
+strove to guard the other line of the camp.</p>
+
+<p>For days, however, the party had seen no signs of
+redskins. Small scalping-parties would fight shy of
+the wagon-train; for twenty well-armed whites were
+bound to be respected by the Arabs of the plains,
+especially as the train crew was sure to be armed with
+the quickfiring guns which the Indians so feared.</p>
+
+<p>After the sun set the evening was short, for it was
+late fall now. The air grew chill; in the midst of the
+camp the men built a rousing fire, aside from that
+over which the cook pottered, and around this they<span class="pagenum">[255]</span>
+gathered and told stories, cracked rude jokes, or
+basked silently in the warmth of the flames, resting
+from the toil of the day. So unconscious were they
+of aught but their immediate surroundings that they
+did not see several horsemen who topped the nearest
+rise to the west, and overlooking the camp.</p>
+
+<p>It was now deep dusk, but the horsemen were silhouetted
+against the sky-line so plainly that had any
+of the freighters chanced to glance that way they must
+have seen the figures. Only for a moment were they
+in view, however. The leader of the group spoke
+sharply, but in a low tone, to his mates, and all pulled
+their horses about and disappeared quickly beyond the
+ridge.</p>
+
+<p>Later, and afoot, two of the party came again to the
+summit of the ridge and reconnoitered. The freighters’
+camp lay calmly under the starry sky, the fires
+burning briskly, the mules champing the grass of the
+plain contentedly, occasionally a laugh or a sharp word
+echoing across the valley between the calls of the night-birds.</p>
+
+<p>The wind wandered down from the heights and
+shook the canvas covers of the wagons as though trying
+to arouse the men to the danger that threatened
+them. Coyotes whined in the distance, sniffing the
+herd, but too cowardly to advance until on the morrow
+the freight-train should have passed on. <em>Then</em> they
+would come boldly in and fight over the scraps remaining.
+And, perhaps, there would be greater booty
+for the scavengers of the plains to fight over!</p>
+
+<p>The men scouting about the freighters’ camp numbered
+the unconscious men and noted their arms and
+how the camp was arranged. There was a high river-bank.<span class="pagenum">[256]</span>
+The captain of the train had ordered the arrangement
+of the wagons partly because he was eager
+to obtain water; but there was a high bank to the river
+here, and a narrow beach below it. Men afoot could
+creep down this bank and, sheltered from the camp,
+approach it and attack from the riverside. Even a
+sentinel stationed on the very verge of the bank would
+be little likely to apprehend the coming of such an attacking
+force, unless he chanced to be expecting it.</p>
+
+<p>The captain of the train set one of his watchmen on
+the bank above the river, however, and to keep warm
+the rifleman walked back and forth, pacing a beat some
+twenty yards long. This would have been all very
+well had the crew believed there was a particle of danger
+threatening the camp. But so confident were they
+of peace that they did not even drive the mules down
+from the higher ground where they were feeding. A
+party of a dozen reds&mdash;if they could have loosed the
+gray mare&mdash;might have made off with the entire herd.</p>
+
+<p>There was a shelter tent for each six men, while the
+cook and the captain shared the fourth canvas. At
+ten o’clock, under a black-velvet sky pricked out with
+the brilliant but distant stars, the camp was as quiet
+as the grave&mdash;that is, providing one could imagine
+some of the occupants of the grave sleeping their long
+sleep “loudly.” Aside from these snores, however,
+and the champing of the horses and mules, there was
+little sound to break the silence. There was a sentinel
+pacing a short beat on the inland side of the
+camp; but, it being cold when the wind swooped down
+and flapped the loose canvas, he got in behind the
+chain of wagons and was not so much use as a guard.
+Along the river-bank paced the other sentinel, whistling<span class="pagenum">[257]</span>
+under his breath, and staring off across the black,
+smoothly flowing water, in which the stars were mirrored.</p>
+
+<p>Wide-awake as he was, this second guard heard
+nothing when a single figure slipped down the river-bank
+beyond the camp and toward the cañon’s entrance,
+and in a stooping posture sneaked along toward
+him. This figure lay low upon the shore when
+the guard walked that way. When the guard turned
+the prowler arose again and kept just behind him, but
+below the bank, until both reached about the middle
+of the beat the sentinel was following.</p>
+
+<p>Then, softly as a cat, without as much as scratching
+a button or rattling the rifle in his hand or the guns
+in his belt, the stranger darted up the bank, and, stooping
+low, hurried to the smaller tent in which slept the
+captain of the train and the cook. Evidently the
+stranger had picked this tent out before dark, and
+shrewdly guessed who occupied it. Lifting the flap
+softly, he crept in and lowered it before the guard on
+the river-bank turned. The other guard was standing
+facing the opposite way and saw nothing.</p>
+
+<p>Once in the darkness of the tent, the stranger coolly
+squatted on his haunches, laid down his rifle, and
+drawing out a match-safe, scratched a lucifer and held
+it up so that the sputtering flame might cast some radiance
+over the interior of the tent.</p>
+
+<p>The pungent odor of the sulfur got in the nose of
+one of the sleepers, and he sneezed. He sneezed a second
+time and sat up suddenly, blinking his eyes in
+surprise at the figure squatting inside the tent. This
+was an utter stranger to him&mdash;a man with long hair,
+a military hat, buckskin coat, and riding breeches and<span class="pagenum">[258]</span>
+boots. And he was armed like a pirate&mdash;belt stuck full
+of guns and with a big bowie. He smiled cheerfully
+at the amazed and sleepy individual, however.</p>
+
+<p>“Hello!” he said. “Which one of you is the captain?”</p>
+
+<p>“Heh?” murmured the startled one.</p>
+
+<p>“Who’s the boss?”</p>
+
+<p>“I&mdash;I’m the cook.”</p>
+
+<p>“Then the other feller is the boss?”</p>
+
+<p>“I&mdash;I reckon so. Say, Billings!” and he suddenly
+punched the other man in the ribs. “Wake up! We’re
+surrounded!”</p>
+
+<p>“Shut up, you fool!” exclaimed the visitor, slapping
+his palm suddenly over the second man’s mouth,
+for it opened to emit a yell before his eyes were fairly
+ajar. “It’s all right. What did you want to startle
+him for?”</p>
+
+<p>“Who the devil are you?” demanded the cook.</p>
+
+<p>“And how’d you git here?” cried the other man.</p>
+
+<p>“I’m Cody, and I belong just now to the command
+at Fort Advance. You’re in about as dangerous a
+position as a score of men can be and get out of it
+alive, and I’ve sneaked into your camp to help you.”</p>
+
+<p>“Injuns!” groaned the cook, turning pale.</p>
+
+<p>“There ain’t a red within forty miles,” declared
+Buffalo Bill, for he it was.</p>
+
+<p>“Then what’s the matter?” sputtered the captain of
+the freight crew. “I’ve set guards over the camp.
+We’re all right.”</p>
+
+<p>“Your guards are a lot of use, ain’t they?” sneered
+the scout. “They’re out there walking up and down
+like two wooden men; but they didn’t see me get by.”</p>
+
+<p>“But, for Heaven’s sake what is the matter?”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[259]</span></p>
+
+<p>“You’ve got worse than Injuns after you.”</p>
+
+<p>“What can that be?”</p>
+
+<p>“Boyd Bennett’s gang of hold-up men.”</p>
+
+<p>“Git out! Bennett’s left the country.”</p>
+
+<p>“He’s j’ined an Injun tribe,” added the cook. “Become
+a squaw man.”</p>
+
+<p>“Well, he’s out yonder with about a dozen of
+the p’izenest ruffians that it’s ever been my fate to
+run up against,” declared Buffalo Bill. “And from
+what I could overhear lying out there on my belly in
+the grass, they’re pretty near ready to stampede you!”</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, Lord!” groaned the cook.</p>
+
+<p>But the captain of the crew was no coward. He
+was awake now, and he leaped up, ready to fight for
+his own life and help to defend the lives of his mates
+and the valuable property entrusted to him.</p>
+
+<p>“Mr. Cody, you take command,” he urged instantly.
+“You are a better man than any one in this entire party&mdash;that
+I’ll swear to. I have shown my incompetency
+already by placing my guards so carelessly that you
+could creep into my very sleeping tent without being
+apprehended.”</p>
+
+<p>“Many a man has made the mistake of being too
+confident when there were no signs of trouble,” said
+Buffalo Bill. “But you had no knowledge of these
+outlaws being near you, of course. Although, it was
+quite by chance that they did not blunder into your
+midst, I fancy. There are fewer of them than there
+are of your men; but if they had caught you with your
+pants down it would have been ‘Good-by John!’ for
+you all. This is as bloody-minded a gang of cut-throats
+as infest this Western country.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[260]</span></p>
+
+<p>“So I have heard said of Bennett and his men. But
+I thought they had left the Overland Trail.”</p>
+
+<p>“They are not on the old lay just at present,” Cody
+explained. “In fact, I am following them for an entirely
+different reason. And if we have the luck to
+beat the devils, I’d be thankful for any help you could
+give me toward capturing the whole gang and rescuing
+a prisoner they hold.”</p>
+
+<p>“A prisoner?”</p>
+
+<p>“Aye, and a girl&mdash;God help her!”</p>
+
+<p>“Great heavens! a woman in the hands of those
+ruffians?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes.”</p>
+
+<p>“Who is she?”</p>
+
+<p>“White Antelope, the daughter of old Oak Heart,
+the Sioux chieftain.”</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, thunder! a squaw!” exclaimed the captain of
+the train crew in disgust.</p>
+
+<p>“She’s just as precious to the old redskin as the
+daughter of a white man is to him, I s’pose,” said the
+scout sternly. “Besides, her release means a great
+deal to me&mdash;and to Major Baldwin of Fort Advance&mdash;and,
+perhaps, to the entire white settlers of this
+part of the country.”</p>
+
+<p>“Well, well! I can’t afford to quarrel with you over
+a red squaw,” said the other lightly. “You help us,
+and we’ll help you.”</p>
+
+<p>“I am here for the purpose of helping you,” said the
+Border King, with some stiffness of manner, for the
+other’s tone had jarred upon him.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<p><span class="pagenum">[261]</span></p>
+
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XLI">CHAPTER XLI.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">“ON GUARD!”</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>“First of all,” said the captain of the freighters, “I
+want you to take command, Cody, as I said.”</p>
+
+<p>“No, no!” the scout hastened to reply. “I would
+not take that upon myself.”</p>
+
+<p>“I insist.”</p>
+
+<p>“No. I must be free myself to act in this other
+matter I speak of. If I see a chance to run off the
+girl while you fellows are handling the outlaws, I must
+do so.”</p>
+
+<p>“And leave us for a redskin?”</p>
+
+<p>“That is it,” returned Cody seriously. “My duty
+is first to her at this time.”</p>
+
+<p>“But that is nonsense, man! People of a blood
+should stick together. Let the red squaw go.”</p>
+
+<p>“She’s got white blood in her better than either
+yours or mine, sir!” snapped the scout.</p>
+
+<p>“Oh! she’s a half-breed?”</p>
+
+<p>“She is. But I am not here to discuss White Antelope.
+Time is passing. I will advise you to the
+best of my ability in this fight; but I cannot accept
+the responsibility of command.”</p>
+
+<p>“All I can do, then, is to rouse up the other boys
+and make ready to receive boarders.”</p>
+
+<p>“But there is more than one way of doing that,”
+said Cody, with a smile which the other did not see
+in the dark tent.</p>
+
+<p>“Heh?”</p>
+
+<p>“No use in rousing out the other men in a way to
+show the outlaws you are expecting them.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[262]</span></p>
+
+<p>“Oh, shucks! are they watching us already?”</p>
+
+<p>“They sure are. All I feared in making my way to
+your tent was their sharp eyes. I knew what your
+guards would be.”</p>
+
+<p>“You don’t have a very high opinion of us mule-skinners,
+then?” said the captain, rather sharply.</p>
+
+<p>“I have a very poor opinion indeed of men who will
+be careless on this trail,” said Buffalo Bill sternly.
+“Recklessness is never bravery.”</p>
+
+<p>“Huh!” grunted the other.</p>
+
+<p>“Cook, you creep out at the rear and speak to the
+sentinel at the back of the camp. Keep close to the
+ground and tell him to have a care. Let him step
+across and speak to the guard by the river&mdash;casually,
+remember.”</p>
+
+<p>“All right, sir,” said the cook, recognizing the tone
+of authority.</p>
+
+<p>“Then you creep over to the farther tent and awaken
+the boys carefully. The captain here had better attend
+to the other two. Go on your hands and knees, boys!
+And don’t startle anybody. Have they got arms with
+’em, or are they in the wagons?”</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, they’ve got their rifles. I’m not quite a fool,”
+said the captain.</p>
+
+<p>“Glad to hear that,” the scout returned, and did not
+stop to explain whether he was rejoiced to hear that
+the men were properly armed, or that the captain was
+not an entire ignoramus!</p>
+
+<p>It was too serious a situation for the man to take
+open offense, however. He, as well as the cook, did
+Cody’s bidding without further remark. They crept
+from tent to tent, keeping well in the shadow, while<span class="pagenum">[263]</span>
+the first guard, warned by the cook, went across and
+warned the man pacing the beat by the river.</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill was pretty confident that the outlaws
+would wait until the sentinels were changed at midnight
+before attacking. That was the best time for
+such a movement, for the new guards would be sleepy,
+and the other men would have just settled into heavier
+sleep.</p>
+
+<p>When the gang had been awakened the captain reported
+to the scout. Thus far none of the boys had
+come out of the three larger tents, and they were
+warned to keep under cover until they received the
+word.</p>
+
+<p>“You don’t want to have your mules stampeded
+far,” said the scout. “When the sentinels are changed,
+let one of those coming off duty step out and lead in
+your bell-mare, and hobble her inside the line of the
+wagons. Then you’ll be sure of her, and, even if the
+long-ears do run away, they’ll come back again, come
+daybreak.”</p>
+
+<p>The cook’s fire was already out, and Cody warned
+them to let the other one burn down as low as it
+would. The more shadowy the camp was the better
+the freighters could move about without attracting
+the notice of any watching outlaws.</p>
+
+<p>Cody remained in the little tent with the flap pinned
+back, and the cook and the captain came to him and reported
+their missions accomplished. Midnight came&mdash;it
+was not a long wait&mdash;and the sentinels went to
+the tents and appeared to awaken those who were to
+relieve them. Cody had particularly instructed the
+man who was to go to the river-bank. One of the<span class="pagenum">[264]</span>
+others brought in the gray mare. The camp settled
+down to apparent quietude and peace again.</p>
+
+<p>“Now, boys, to your places,” whispered the scout to
+the cook and the captain. “Signal your men, captain;
+be ready to fling on the fire a heap of that light stuff
+yonder when you hear me hoot, cook! All right!”</p>
+
+<p>The captain crept out once more and scratched with
+his finger-nail upon the canvas of each tent. At that
+the freighters began to wriggle out from under the
+canvas and crawl on their bellies to shelter beneath
+the wagons. Cody knew that the first fire of the outlaws
+would be aimed at the tents. Boyd Bennett and
+his villains would expect to thus kill or seriously
+wound several of the sleeping freighters and throw the
+others into utter confusion.</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill remained no longer in the small tent
+himself. He crept down to the river-bank, and he and
+the sentinel saw each other. Cody expected a part of
+the attacking party would approach in the way he had
+come to the camp, only from the other direction.</p>
+
+<p>And this was a good guess. The outlaws&mdash;or several
+of them&mdash;dismounted and came along under the
+bank. In fact, so sure were they of catching the encampment
+asleep, that the scout heard their footsteps.
+They did not take proper care in disguising them.</p>
+
+<p>“Now, mister!” Buffalo Bill exclaimed, under his
+breath to the sentinel near him.</p>
+
+<p>Instantly this man dropped down in the grass, the
+other guard fell flat, there was a sudden pounding of
+horse’ hoofs down the ridge from the south and
+west. Then:</p>
+
+<p>Bang! bang! bang!</p>
+
+<p>A volley of rifle-shots tore through the tents inside<span class="pagenum">[265]</span>
+the wagon-line. Instantly the shrill yell of Buffalo
+Bill, the Border King, answered the shots defiantly.
+The sound had often struck terror to the hearts of his
+red foes, and it was not unknown to Boyd Bennett and
+his comrades.</p>
+
+<p>“That hell-cat, Cody, is here!” screamed Bennett.</p>
+
+<p>The cook flung the light brush on the fire. It blazed
+up almost immediately, giving the men under the
+wagons a chance to see any of the outlaws that might
+venture into the camp. But none of them reached the
+inner circle. As those afoot sprang up the bank from
+the riverside, Cody and the man with him shot them
+down, or drove them shrieking with fear out of rifle-shot.</p>
+
+<p>Pandemonium reigned for a few minutes, however.
+Although Boyd Bennett yelled his warning, the gang
+did not give over the fight so easily. They poured
+round after round of bullets into the camp; but at first
+they did not realize that they were being answered
+from beneath the wagons rather than from the tents.</p>
+
+<p>Several of their ponies were shot down. Although
+the mules were stampeded for a ways, the ruffians
+could make no good use of this fact. Instead of catching
+the camp unawares, they were themselves ambushed,
+thanks to the Border King!</p>
+
+<p>“Escape, men! We are undone!” shrieked Boyd
+Bennett, at last.</p>
+
+<p>He had seen four of his men fall never to rise again,
+and two others had lost their mounts and had to spend
+precious moments in catching two of their dead comrades’
+horses. Back the decimated party fled over the
+ridge.</p>
+
+<p>The freighters poured in volley after volley upon the<span class="pagenum">[266]</span>
+retreating outlaws. But the captain would not let
+them mount such horses and mules as they could catch
+and follow the crew. In this he got square with Buffalo
+Bill for the scout’s sharp words.</p>
+
+<p>In the height of the fight, after seeing that the
+freight crew were more than a match for the outlaws,
+Buffalo Bill had slipped down under the river-bank
+and had run at his best pace toward the spot where
+the outlaws had been encamped earlier in the evening.
+There he had seen White Antelope tied to a sapling
+so that she could not escape while her captors tried
+their nefarious scheme of robbing and murdering the
+freight-train crew.</p>
+
+<p>Believing that Bennett would leave nobody to guard
+the girl, the scout was bent upon reaching the place
+first and releasing her.</p>
+
+<p>And this much he did accomplish: he reached the
+place first. But almost as soon as he had recognized
+Buffalo Bill’s yell, Boyd Bennett spurred back toward
+the bound girl. He feared the scout would do exactly
+the thing he was attempting. Knowing that
+Cody must have followed them here for the express
+purpose of saving White Antelope, he feared the
+shrewdness of his enemy.</p>
+
+<p>Cody found the spot. A camp-fire burned low, but
+revealed the girl writhing in her bonds at one side.
+The scout bounded to her side just as the thunder of
+Bennett’s horse sounded down the hill.</p>
+
+<p>“All right, White Antelope! ’Tis I&mdash;the Long
+Hair!” whispered the scout. “My horse is not far
+away. I will save you&mdash;&mdash; The devil!”</p>
+
+<p>The scout broke off with a savage exclamation. He
+had hoped to slash through the girl’s bonds and carry<span class="pagenum">[267]</span>
+her to his horse, which he had left in a thicket not far
+away. But for once in his life the scout had made a
+terrible oversight!</p>
+
+<p>Chief had picked up a small pebble in his hoof late
+that afternoon, and Buffalo Bill had got down and
+pried it out with the point of his bowie. He had stuck
+the knife into a sheath which hung to his saddle-bow,
+and had forgotten it until this very instant. He had
+nothing with which to cut the girl’s bonds.</p>
+
+<p>Already the chief of the bandits was almost upon
+him. Boyd Bennett rode down the hill yelling like a
+fiend.</p>
+
+<p>“Fly!” murmured the girl. “They will kill you.”</p>
+
+<p>“Curse it! I am foiled for the time. But, remember,
+White Antelope, I am near you and will release
+you yet, and serve your enemy as he deserves!”</p>
+
+<p>With these words the scout dropped to all fours,
+and, as stealthily and silently as a wolf, crept away
+in the darkness.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XLII">CHAPTER XLII.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">THE AVENGER.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>The gang of outlaws had been depleted by five.
+One had fallen on the river-bank, and four others had
+either been killed or so badly wounded that they fell
+captive to the freighters on the side of the ridge.
+There were but eight who gathered about the spot
+where White Antelope was left tied, when the fight
+was over.</p>
+
+<p>And they feared pursuit and a worse thrashing than
+they had already endured. They clamored to be led<span class="pagenum">[268]</span>
+away from the place, and Boyd Bennett, gnashing his
+teeth in impotent rage, was forced to agree.</p>
+
+<p>Every man of them had a fear of Buffalo Bill, the
+Border King. How he could have gotten ahead of
+them, and been in the teamsters’ encampment when
+they made their attack, added to the superstitious
+veneration in which the outlaws had begun to hold
+the great scout. Heretofore they had held Boyd Bennett
+as a better man than Cody; but now they began to
+doubt.</p>
+
+<p>Besides, several of them did not approve of his bearing
+away the Indian girl from her village. While
+Bennett had posed as the medicine chief of the Sioux,
+they were all sure of being treated well by the savages.
+Some of them had taken Indian wives and were
+living in ease and plenty&mdash;the lazy, irresponsible existence
+of the “squaw-man.”</p>
+
+<p>Boyd Bennett’s unhappy attachment for the chief’s
+daughter had brought the gang together again, and
+old-time loyalty had caused them to answer his command.
+But they now believed that they had lost more
+than they should gain. All the Sioux would be down
+upon them, and so they would be at enmity with every
+man they met in the forest and on the plain, both red
+and white!</p>
+
+<p>White Antelope showed plainly that she would never
+yield to Boyd Bennett’s demand and espouse him.
+While he was with the Indians and wielding so much
+influence as Death Killer, the medicine-man, she had
+spurned his advances. Much more did she hold him in
+contempt now.</p>
+
+<p>And Boyd Bennett, too, was acting very strangely.
+Evil ways and evil desires were turning the man’s<span class="pagenum">[269]</span>
+brain. He acted without judgment. Now he unloosed
+White Antelope, caught her up to his saddle,
+and rode away with his men without as much as looking
+for traces of Buffalo Bill in the vicinity, or learning
+if in reality the freighters were inclined to follow
+up their advantage and push the attack.</p>
+
+<p>They swam the river and made for another exit
+from the valley. But their horses were pretty well
+done up, and they could get only a spurt of speed out
+of them now and then. Besides, Boyd Bennett’s own
+mount refused after a time to carry double. This
+necessitated one of the other ruffians carrying White
+Antelope before him on his saddle.</p>
+
+<p>The chance afforded the chief villain an escape from
+certain death. The party were aiming to leave the valley
+by the way the broadening river flowed; but they
+were some distance from the river’s side. Through the
+uncertain light of early morning they did not see a
+tireless white horse carrying its rider down the opposite
+bank until they reached a ford, through which
+the stallion splashed to the side of the stream on which
+the bandits rode.</p>
+
+<p>It was the avenger on the villain’s trail; but they
+did not suspect that again Buffalo Bill had ridden
+ahead of them. Chief was tireless.</p>
+
+<p>The scout ensconced the horse behind a thicket, and
+wormed his way out into the open where he could
+draw bead on anybody passing along the river trail.
+It was a long shot, but the scout had succeeded in
+making more ticklish ones in times past.</p>
+
+<p>By and by the band of tired horsemen loped along
+the trail. The light was too uncertain for Cody to
+distinguish one man from the other; but he saw one<span class="pagenum">[270]</span>
+riding ahead and carrying the girl before him, and
+he believed it must be Bennett. He did not think the
+fellow would let the White Antelope out of his own
+bloody hands.</p>
+
+<p>Therefore he took sight&mdash;deadly sight&mdash;at this man,
+and shot him through the head!</p>
+
+<p>A yell rose from the bandits as the rifle exploded
+and the man pitched off his mount. It was answered
+by Buffalo Bill’s eery war-whoop. The seven remaining
+bandits knew who had fired the fatal shot.</p>
+
+<p>But, although the immediate captor of the girl had
+fallen, she had no time to urge the pony to one side
+and thus escape. Buffalo Bill saw his mistake in a
+moment. With a wild yell Boyd Bennett spurred to
+the side of the horse which White Antelope sat, and
+threatened her with drawn bowie as the whole cavalcade
+shot down the river trail and put a brush-clump
+between them and the scout’s rifle. When they appeared
+again they were out of rifle-shot.</p>
+
+<p>“Seven of them left,” muttered Buffalo Bill. “I
+thought I had that devil that time. But let him wait&mdash;let
+him wait!”</p>
+
+<p>He mounted Chief once more and rode for a time
+in the wake of the bandits. But, fearing that some of
+them might slip off their horses and lay in wait for
+him, he turned aside into the hilly country and so saw
+the refugees only occasionally from the summits of certain
+hills which he climbed. He kept them from resting,
+however, during the forenoon. By midday the
+desperadoes’ ponies were completely worn out.</p>
+
+<p>Had they not been so fearful of the scout the seven
+men might have shown fight. They were equally well
+armed with Buffalo Bill, and some of them were good<span class="pagenum">[271]</span>
+shots. But Boyd Bennett thought only of escape with
+the girl, and his mates were in a blue funk, anyway.</p>
+
+<p>They came at noon to a deserted Indian encampment.
+It was a hunting-camp, the braves evidently being
+out in the hills after game and having left nobody
+but the squaws on guard. The squaws had gone into
+the bush after late berries. Therefore, there was none
+to balk the bandits.</p>
+
+<p>There were no ponies, or the men would have left
+their fagged mounts and stolen those of the red men.
+But in the river lay two good-sized canoes. Abandoning
+their ponies the outlaws seized these boats, forced
+White Antelope into the leading one with Boyd Bennett
+and two others, and the four remaining men entering
+the other boat, both were pushed off and paddled
+down the stream.</p>
+
+<p>Cody beheld this move from a hilltop, and immediately
+rode down to the river. Had he crossed the paths
+of any of the Indians&mdash;they were not Sioux, but he
+knew the tribe&mdash;he might have obtained their help.
+Alone, however, he came to the river-bank. The
+canoes were far out in the stream and going down
+rapidly with the current and the force of the paddles.
+The scout saw the White Antelope on her knees in the
+forward boat, her arms stretched out to him. Her mute
+gesture for help spurred him on to a desperate attempt!</p>
+
+<p>Chief had come far now without much rest, but he
+was able to make one more spurt. Down the river
+path the scout thundered, racing to catch up with
+the canoes. There was a high bluff across the river,
+offering no landing-place. On this side the bank was
+low. Even if the canoes were paddled near the opposite<span class="pagenum">[272]</span>
+shore, the scout’s rifle would carry a deadly ball
+that distance. In coming near, and into sight, however,
+he gave the bandits a chance to try their marksmanship
+upon him.</p>
+
+<p>But this risk the brave scout took. For the White
+Antelope’s sake he was venturing his life.</p>
+
+<p>He forced Chief to top speed until the brave old
+horse came out upon a cleared space just ahead of the
+two canoes. The bandits began to pop at him with
+their rifles; but shooting from a sitting position in a
+trumpery little canoe was no easy job.</p>
+
+<p>Both craft were overloaded, anyway. Two men
+were supposed to be the full complement of the cargo
+of each. So the craft rode low, and the least movement
+might tip them over. One man in the forward
+boat, and two in the latter, turned their attention to the
+scout and his white horse; but their bullets flew wide
+of the mark.</p>
+
+<p>The scout, however, paid no more attention to the
+whistling lead than he would have to so many buzzing
+flies. He dismounted from Chief, and, standing out
+deliberately on the river-bank, raised his rifle and took
+aim at the leading paddler in the rear boat. He did
+not shoot at those with White Antelope in the other
+canoe. First he would reduce the numbers of the
+gang.</p>
+
+<p>Crack!</p>
+
+<p>The heavy rifle spoke no louder than a pistol across
+the flat surface of the water. With a yell the man
+dropped his paddle, turned a face all gory upon the
+scout, and then pitched out of the canoe!</p>
+
+<p>Strangely enough he did not tip over the vessel.<span class="pagenum">[273]</span>
+Another caught up his paddle. They tried to urge
+the craft to the foot of the steep bluff. But now the
+current had caught the light canoe in a fierce grip, and
+to swerve it was not easy.</p>
+
+<p>Crack!</p>
+
+<p>Just as a second man was drawing bead as well as
+he could upon the undaunted scout, the rifle dropped
+from his hands, and he fell backward into the bottom
+of the canoe. The craft dipped dangerously and all
+but went over. As it righted the scout fired a third
+time. Plunk the ball went through and through the
+body of the canoe!</p>
+
+<p>The water began to run in at both holes, and the
+canoe sank. One of the remaining men, in complete
+panic, threw himself overboard and swam for the
+shore. The other continued to paddle desperately.</p>
+
+<p>A double report sounded. The rifleman in the forward
+boat had stood up and taken a better aim at the
+scout. The latter’s shoulder was plowed just under
+the skin by the ball. But Cody’s own bullet sped
+straight to the desperate paddler in the second canoe,
+and the man fell sideways, shot through the lungs; the
+canoe tipped completely, and man and canoe went to
+the bottom together.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile, the fourth man in that boat had reached
+the strand. It was a narrow beach and offered no
+shelter for him. He scrambled up the steep bluff like
+a crab making for its hole. But when he was half-way
+up, and his body against the yellow sand made an excellent
+target, the scout’s gun spoke again.</p>
+
+<p>Sprawled out, and screaming, the fellow fell all the
+way back to the shore, and there, squirming with the
+agony of the wound which was in a vital part, he rolled<span class="pagenum">[274]</span>
+into the river, and the black current swept him swiftly
+down-stream.</p>
+
+<p>He passed the first canoe that had been retarding,
+while the rifleman tried a second particular shot at the
+scout. The drowning man yelled for help. He even
+snatched at the gunwale of the canoe as he was swept
+by.</p>
+
+<p>Instantly Boyd Bennett seized a pistol from his belt
+and deliberately shot the drowning man through the
+head. Perhaps, if the latter had seized the canoe, he
+would have overturned it and sacrificed the four other
+lives; yet it was a desperately cruel act!</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile Cody had leaped aside, escaping the second
+shot of the rifleman in the remaining canoe; and
+then, before the man could sit down and the canoe
+could shoot ahead, he dropped him cleanly with a ball
+through the heart!</p>
+
+<p>In five minutes the bloody battle was over. But two
+of the bandits were left alive. The other five had
+sunk to the bottom of the river, while the remaining
+two, and the White Antelope, were being carried
+swiftly down the stream, and by a current now so
+powerful that they could not steer to the bank on either
+side. Just below were the worst series of rapids on
+the entire river!</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XLIII">CHAPTER XLIII.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">MAN TO MAN AT LAST.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill knew the peril which threatened the two
+bandits and the girl quite as soon as they knew it
+themselves. But he was handicapped a bit now by his<span class="pagenum">[275]</span>
+wound, which bled profusely. He had to wait to bind
+it up roughly, so that the blood would stop flowing,
+before he could pay much attention to the endangered
+trio in the canoe.</p>
+
+<p>Ere then the craft was swiftly speeding down the
+river, going almost as fast as an ordinary horse could
+trot. Buffalo Bill whistled Chief to him, sprang into
+the saddle, and galloped down the trail. It was some
+minutes before he overtook the boat.</p>
+
+<p>There was no danger then of anybody aboard it
+shooting at him. Boyd Bennett in the stern and his
+last comrade in the bow were having all they could
+handle in steering the craft. Rocks and snags began
+to crop up in the current, and they were now tossed
+this way, then that, while the foaming water boiled
+almost into the frail craft!</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill, intent on saving White Antelope’s life
+at any cost, unslung his lariat and made ready to cast
+the endangered men an end if the canoe came near
+enough to the shore. For the sake of assisting the girl
+he would have given up his vengeance on the outlaws.</p>
+
+<p>However, when he cast the rope, although it fell
+across the boat, Boyd Bennett, with a scream of rage,
+threw it off.</p>
+
+<p>“You madman!” yelled his companion, glancing
+over his shoulder.</p>
+
+<p>“Mind your paddle!” roared Bennett.</p>
+
+<p>“My God! I’ll take help from anybody,” cried the
+other.</p>
+
+<p>Cody coiled his rope to swing it again, this time intending
+to aim ahead of the canoe so that the other
+man could catch it. But Bennett saw his intention,
+and he drew in his paddle, grabbed his pistol, and<span class="pagenum">[276]</span>
+presented it at his comrade’s back. White Antelope
+was lying down in the canoe, knowing that this was
+the safest place for her.</p>
+
+<p>“You touch that rope!” shrieked the bandit leader,
+as the lariat whistled through the air again, “and I’ll
+send you to Hades!”</p>
+
+<p>The man glanced fearfully over his shoulder at the
+words, and saw the threatening pistol.</p>
+
+<p>“Look out!” shouted Buffalo Bill, for his cast had
+been true, and the coil of the lasso was circling just
+over the man.</p>
+
+<p>The fellow was too scared of the pistol to watch the
+loop, and it settled fairly over his head. With a shriek
+he tried then to get out of it, but it was too late. The
+canoe darted suddenly into a cross current, shooting
+off from the shore, and the rope was pulled taut.</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill could not have released the rope from
+his saddle-bow in time to save the unfortunate outlaw,
+nor could he force Chief nearer the water. The
+noose was about the man’s neck, and with an awful
+jerk the rope literally snatched him out of the canoe!</p>
+
+<p>Had the girl not been lying down at the moment his
+body would have carried her likewise into the river.
+It was by mere chance that the canoe did not overturn;
+but it righted and sailed on with its freight of two.
+The other outlaw was dead before Buffalo Bill could
+drag him ashore. His neck had been broken.</p>
+
+<p>The scout’s interest lay, however, in the fate of the
+two remaining in the canoe. He cast the dead man
+loose and spurred hard down the path, trying to keep
+up with the frail canoe now shooting the rapids.</p>
+
+<p>It was a perilous journey; yet Boyd Bennett, ruffian
+though he was, exercised the greatest ingenuity in<span class="pagenum">[277]</span>
+managing the canoe. The scout could not but admire
+this in the fellow.</p>
+
+<p>It seemed impossible, however, that the canoe and
+its living freight could get through the rapids intact.
+The water boiled madly about the craft. It was flung
+hither and yon, and at times it was so racked by
+the opposing forces of the current that Buffalo Bill,
+on the bank, could hear the wood crack.</p>
+
+<p>Boyd Bennett’s glaring eyes did not turn toward his
+enemy throughout all this trial. He watched each
+black-ribbed rock or floating snag against which his
+craft might be hurled. Nor did he speak a word to
+the girl lying in the bottom of the canoe.</p>
+
+<p>She knew as well as he that any movement on her
+part would add to their danger, and, although she
+might now leap overboard&mdash;she was free&mdash;it would
+mean certain death. So freedom tantalized her. She
+could only escape at the peril of her life!</p>
+
+<p>She saw Boyd Bennett’s glowing eyes occasionally
+cast upon her a basilisklike glance. There was madness
+in them, she knew. The brave girl, used as she
+was to battle and the chase, shrank from this terrible
+foe. And she was helpless!</p>
+
+<p>The canoe swung around rocks, which she thought
+surely they must hit; it just escaped collision with logs
+and drift-stuff in the most marvelous manner, and all
+the time Boyd Bennett sat holding the paddle as a
+steering-oar, his black eyes glaring out of his death’s-head
+face, impassive, yet all alive to the dangers of the
+run.</p>
+
+<p>Spray broke over the side of the canoe and drenched
+the girl. The craft seemed to fairly throb and jump
+with the motion of the water.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[278]</span></p>
+
+<p>Once an eddy seized them. Despite all Bennett
+could do the canoe shot into this whirlpool, and they
+made several rapid revolutions before the man saw his
+way out, and thrust the canoe between two ragged
+jaws of rock, and so escaped!</p>
+
+<p>On and on fled the boat, while Buffalo Bill urged
+his mount along the river path. He could barely keep
+up with it. Each moment he expected to see it overturned,
+and both passengers tumbled into the raging
+current.</p>
+
+<p>At last the more quiet river below the rapids came
+into view. Here the stream widened and the current
+quickly became sluggish. In the midst of the stream
+was a wooded island, its sharp upper end, consisting of
+an outcropping ledge, dividing the river into two channels
+just at the foot of the white water.</p>
+
+<p>The canoe, as it shot out of the smother of spray,
+chanced to take the channel nearest to the bank on
+which Cody urged his horse. This was an oversight
+on Bennett’s part, but he had been too anxious to
+get out of the rapids at all to attend to where the canoe
+finally went.</p>
+
+<p>Cody saw his chance, and, although Chief was well
+winded now, he yelled with delight. He saw what appeared
+to be the finish of the race&mdash;and in his favor.</p>
+
+<p>“I’ve got you now, Boyd Bennett!” he shouted.</p>
+
+<p>The bandit at last turned his eyes upon him, and
+then glanced around. He saw Cody’s meaning. The
+canoe was drifting so near the scout that the latter
+could either shoot, or rope him. And the long island
+forbade his getting away.</p>
+
+<p>But the villain was not yet to his last card. His<span class="pagenum">[279]</span>
+mind was keenly alive to the situation, and he lost no
+points in the game.</p>
+
+<p>“Not yet, Bill Cody&mdash;not yet!” he shrieked, and
+with a single thrust of his paddle, turned the canoe’s
+nose toward the island.</p>
+
+<p>“Hold, or I fire!” cried the scout, raising his weapon
+and drawing bead upon the bandit.</p>
+
+<p>Boyd Bennett drove the canoe into the rocky ledge
+which masked the end of the island. Like paper the
+frail craft tore apart, and both he and the girl were
+flung into the stream.</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill’s bullet flew wide of its mark that time!
+White Antelope was in as much danger as the bandit&mdash;perhaps
+more&mdash;for the scout did not know whether
+the girl could swim or not, and the current was still
+quite swift and the water deep.</p>
+
+<p>But White Antelope soon showed what she could
+do in the river. Cold as the water was, the instant
+she came to the surface and saw Boyd Bennett’s arms
+stretched out for her, she threw herself backward
+and dove again to the bottom of the river! With a
+yell the bandit flung himself after her, and again just
+missed the scout’s bullet. The scoundrel seemed to
+bear a charmed life. Buffalo Bill was unable to hit him.
+Although they were man to man at last, it was a question
+still who would come out winner in the game.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<p><span class="pagenum">[280]</span></p>
+
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XLIV">CHAPTER XLIV.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">THE FIGHT TO GAIN THE ISLAND.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>White Antelope sank to the bottom of the river;
+then, unlike ordinary swimmers, she did not move in
+a straight line, but shot off at a sharp angle, and endeavored
+to make the shore where Cody was, while
+still under water. But Boyd Bennett was quite as cunning.
+He cut across her path, and, as the girl came
+shooting in a long slant to the surface of the river, he
+reached and caught her by the shoulder.</p>
+
+<p>White Antelope screamed and sought to wrench herself
+away. Cody had flung aside his rifle and urged
+Chief down into the stream. The white horse was
+already belly deep in the flood, picking his way intelligently,
+while his master, rope in hand, prepared to
+fling the loop to the Indian maiden.</p>
+
+<p>But before Cody could make the cast, Bennett had
+grabbed the girl and thrust her under the surface
+again. White Antelope went down gurgling, and the
+cruel hand of the bandit chief held her fast. With
+an oath the scout seized a revolver and aimed at the
+black, sleek head of the scoundrel.</p>
+
+<p>“Hold your fire, Bill Cody!” cried the bandit again.
+“Hold your fire, or I’ll drown this girl&mdash;as sure as
+you live, I will! She’s mine, and, by Heaven, you
+sha’n’t take her from me&mdash;unless it’s her dead body!”</p>
+
+<p>“You devil, you!” roared the scout. “You are
+drowning her!”</p>
+
+<p>“I surely will if you don’t put up your gun!”</p>
+
+<p>“Let her up!”</p>
+
+<p>“Put away your gun!”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[281]</span></p>
+
+<p>The scout was obliged to do so. If he shot the
+scoundrel the latter might sink, his clutch still upon
+the White Antelope, and neither of them rise again
+until the breath had left both their bodies!</p>
+
+<p>Boyd Bennett saw the scout put the gun back into
+his belt. He then dragged the girl up by her long,
+golden hair, and with her in his arms&mdash;she was now
+totally unconscious&mdash;he struck out with his free hand
+for the island. The scout seemed helpless. There
+was nothing he could do to stop the foe or free the
+girl. The situation stumped Buffalo Bill completely!</p>
+
+<p>All the scout could do was to wait, hand on gun, for
+some chance to aid his cause. While Bennett struggled
+in the river with the girl he dared not fire for two reasons.
+One, already stated, was that he feared the man
+would sink with his burden and both be drowned;
+the other was that he feared his pistol-ball might
+wound the girl as well as Bennett.</p>
+
+<p>And now it was not altogether sure that the scoundrel
+could make the shore of the island. He was
+weaker than he had been, and the burden of the girl
+bore him down. There was a current set off from the
+island on this side, and he had this to fight. And fight
+he did&mdash;with a bravery which Cody could but admire.
+He breasted the current, and fought inch by inch the
+downward drag of the river. It was too much for
+him, however.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly the bandit almost lost his hold upon the
+girl. Cody believed he was about to give her up and
+save himself, and he prepared to force Chief into the
+deeper current and so swim out for her. He swung
+his lariat again, too, that it might be ready for
+emergency. But, although Bennett was carried down-stream<span class="pagenum">[282]</span>
+and the shore of the island was rapidly receding
+from him, he still clung to the Indian maid.</p>
+
+<p>“Look out for the rope, Boyd Bennett! Catch it!”
+sang out the scout, believing that now the fellow would
+certainly rather save his life and lose the girl than
+lose both his own and her lives. But a sputtering
+shriek came back from the maniac:</p>
+
+<p>“Fling your rope if you dare, Bill Cody! I’ll kill
+her if you do&mdash;mark that!”</p>
+
+<p>“Don’t be a fool, man. You can’t save her and yourself.”</p>
+
+<p>“Then we’ll both drown,” returned Boyd Bennett,
+with the determination of a still fearless man.</p>
+
+<p>“I’ll give you your freedom!” roared Cody, at desperate
+straits now.</p>
+
+<p>“I’ll not take it of you. If I die she goes with me&mdash;ah!”</p>
+
+<p>A sudden eddy seized the man and swung him toward
+the island. He had evidently stored some remaining
+energy, and this he now put forth. He
+seemed fairly to leap forward in the water which
+was over his head near the bank. But he caught at
+a drooping tree-branch and held on.</p>
+
+<p>Now, could Cody only have reached him, Boyd
+Bennett would have been at his mercy. But only for
+an instant did the weakness overpower him. He
+swung in shoreward, his feet found footing on a ledge
+of rock, and in another minute he clambered up out
+of the water, and, with the unfortunate girl still hanging
+limply over his shoulder, passed out of the scout’s
+sight!</p>
+
+<p>The island was well wooded. It contained about<span class="pagenum">[283]</span>
+half an acre and was long and narrow. It was so long
+that from the bank to which Cody had again turned
+his mount, he could not see whether the bandit found
+some immediate way of leaving it, and so reaching the
+farther shore of the river, or not.</p>
+
+<p>There was no time to waste for Buffalo Bill, therefore.
+He must press after the man and the girl, giving
+the former no time to recover his strength, and,
+perhaps, make his escape from the island.</p>
+
+<p>But Chief could not help his master across the deep
+water to the ledgy island. Nor could Buffalo Bill
+make it encumbered by his heavy accouterments. That
+was not to be considered for a moment!</p>
+
+<p>He dismounted and let Chief go free. The old
+horse had done his share well, and as soon as he was
+relieved of the saddle and bridle, he lay down and
+rolled as though to get the cramps out of his body.
+The water of the river was ice-cold.</p>
+
+<p>It even made Cody shrink when he contemplated it.
+His only way of reaching the island was by swimming,
+and against that current, and with the chill evening
+coming on, the scout might well hesitate. But not
+for long. What must be done would better be done
+quickly, and the Border King was well inured to exposure
+and cold. He threw aside his ammunition-belt
+and his weapons. His coat, waistcoat, and outer shirt
+went likewise. Off came his riding-boots, and then
+in his undergarment, and with his bowie between his
+teeth, he plunged into the flood and essayed the venture.</p>
+
+<p>Whether he was being watched from the island by
+his enemy, Cody did not know. But this was the
+only way he saw to get at Boyd Bennett and the girl.<span class="pagenum">[284]</span>
+He was matching his life against the bandit’s now,
+in the last desperate act of the series which had followed
+the abduction of White Antelope early the day
+before.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XLV">CHAPTER XLV.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">WAR TO THE KNIFE.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>And, indeed, Boyd Bennett was almost at his last
+gasp when he dragged himself ashore and put the
+nearest clump of brush between him and the water,
+thus hiding his future movements from the sharp eyes
+of the Border King. There the man fell upon the
+meager sward that clothed this part of the island, and
+lay, gasping like a great fish just out of its element,
+almost helpless with exhaustion. The White Antelope,
+had she recovered consciousness and power of
+action during those first few minutes, might easily have
+escaped from her captor. But she had come nearer
+being drowned than was at all pleasant. She lay so
+still and white where Bennett had flung her upon the
+ground, that even he, hardened villain that he was,
+feared his usage of her delicate body had been too
+much for the spirit that inhabited it, and that the
+breath was already sped from the girl.</p>
+
+<p>But not for some minutes did Bennett think thus.
+He could barely recover his own breath at first. He
+was chilled through and through by the icy water.
+His clothing clung to him like lead. He had lost most
+of his weapons during his struggle in the river; but
+his bowie and a pistol remained&mdash;the latter, of course,
+useless in its present condition. His ammunition was<span class="pagenum">[285]</span>
+saturated, too. He had but his knife to depend on,
+was he attacked.</p>
+
+<p>And at that thought the bandit chief started to life!
+Attacked, indeed! There was a relentless enemy on
+his trail. He, too, knew that it had come to the final
+trial of strength between he and the Border King.
+His death, or William F. Cody’s, must mark this island
+as a tragic spot forever.</p>
+
+<p>The great scout, he knew, would never give up while
+life remained in his body. As for Bennett himself,
+he was pushed now to the last extremity. He was
+bereft of all his associates. He had seen them killed
+one by one, by fate, or by the relentless arm of Buffalo
+Bill. He had lost caste with the Sioux, over whom he
+had obtained so great an influence during the past few
+months. And all for what? For this White Antelope&mdash;a
+half-breed girl&mdash;a woman who hated him, and
+who considered herself, though of mixed blood, too
+good for him.</p>
+
+<p>He gnashed his teeth in rage as he thought of this,
+and his rage somewhat aroused him. He crawled to
+the girl and shook her. Her body was limp&mdash;and oh,
+so cold! It well-nigh frightened Bennett to touch her.
+Could it be that she was already dead?</p>
+
+<p>He tore open the doeskin blouse that draped the
+upper part of her person and bared her bosom. His
+hand sought her heart and felt a timid flutter there.
+She was still alive!</p>
+
+<p>Yet, how to warm that spark of life into full flame?
+He had nothing in which to wrap her; his own clothing
+was saturated. But in his hunting-shirt he carried
+a carefully stoppered bottle, and in this receptacle<span class="pagenum">[286]</span>
+were several sulfur matches. These were as precious
+as gold to him now. He crept about the little plateau
+of the island, gathering twigs and dry branches and
+rubbish. This light stuff he heaped in a pile, and
+then, before he dared light the pyre, he found and
+broke up larger wood and made ready a roaring heap
+which, a few moments after he touched his match to
+it, blazed several feet into the air.</p>
+
+<p>The sun was going down, and this bonfire warded
+off the coming chill of night. He basked in the heat
+himself, feeling grateful for every leaping, scorching
+flame. He dragged the girl within the radiance of
+the fire and chafed her hands and her forehead, and
+removed her torn moccasins and held her small, beautifully
+formed feet to the fire. These ministrations
+he performed with some little tenderness; but, although
+the girl sighed and her lips parted, and her
+chilled body seemed to respond to the warmth of the
+fire, she did not open her eyes.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly Boyd Bennett started to his feet with an
+exclamation of rage. He had entirely forgotten something
+during these minutes. What was Buffalo Bill
+about?</p>
+
+<p>He ran through the bushes and appeared upon the
+edge of the river looking toward the side where Cody
+had been. There was the big white horse, divested of
+saddle and bridle, cropping the grass on the bank.
+There, too, Bennett saw most of Cody’s clothes and
+accouterments&mdash;a neat pile of them. But where was
+the man himself?</p>
+
+<p>The bandit was inspired instantly with fear that he
+had overlooked his enemy too long. Had he been
+given time to cross to the island?</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[287]</span></p>
+
+<p>And where else could Cody be? For what other
+reason would he have removed his clothing and arms?</p>
+
+<p>“The devil is swimming the river!” muttered the
+bandit.</p>
+
+<p>The sun was setting, and it was already growing
+dusky on this side of the island. Boyd Bennett cast
+his keen glance over the troubled surface of the water,
+seeking the bold swimmer. He was not aware that
+at the moment he parted the bushes to step out on
+the shore, Cody, in midstream, had seen him, and had
+sunk beneath the surface, leaving scarcely a ripple to
+show where he had gone down.</p>
+
+<p>And once in the depths the scout had swum as
+strongly as he could for the island. The current swept
+him downward, and he was some yards below Boyd
+Bennett’s position when he finally had to come up for
+air. His head bobbed above the surface as sleek as a
+seal’s or an otter’s&mdash;and looking much like that of the
+latter animal. Only to get a breath did the scout remain
+at the surface, then he sank beneath again.</p>
+
+<p>Although Bennett did not actually see his head, he
+caught the ripples on the surface as Cody went down.
+He saw that there was no eddy there, and he suspected
+instantly what had caused the disturbance on
+the water. With an oath he ran along the edge of
+the island until he came opposite the spot.</p>
+
+<p>In a minute Cody came up again for air. With a
+yell Bennett sighted him. The scout was this time
+much nearer the shore&mdash;and he was much nearer his
+last gasp than before, too! Crossing the river he had
+found all the task promised from the other side. It
+was not only a long swim, but it was an arduous swim.</p>
+
+<p>“I’ve got you now, Bill Cody!” roared the bandit,<span class="pagenum">[288]</span>
+shaking his fists above his head in an abandonment of
+rage. “I’ve got you now!”</p>
+
+<p>Had Buffalo Bill had breath to do so he might have
+told him that the river had a bigger mortgage on him.
+The current was pulling him down-stream with a
+power that taxed his utmost strength to counteract.</p>
+
+<p>“You’re my meat!” bawled Bennett. “Let me get
+my hands on you, you hell-hound!”</p>
+
+<p>Cody bore all this in silence. He was struggling to
+gain a foothold near the shore. Once his feet found
+bottom, but then the current tore him away and he
+had to fight to get back. Bennett ran along the shore
+and stood over him, his face aflame, his eyes blazing
+like coals, his lips fairly frothing.</p>
+
+<p>Cody finally made the shallow again and stood upon
+his feet. That was a blessed relief! He was head
+and shoulders out of the water, and now he took the
+knife from between his teeth and held it clutched
+firmly in his right hand.</p>
+
+<p>“I’ve got you!” bawled Bennett, fairly dancing up
+and down on the shore. “Come ashore and I’ll have
+your scalp! I’ll cut your heart out! I’ll slice you
+into cat’s meat! And if you don’t come ashore the
+river will get you. Ha! ha! ha! Bill Cody is between
+the devil and the deep sea this time!”</p>
+
+<p>And the scout thought that this was a pretty true
+statement of the case. For, if ever there was a fiend
+incarnate, it was Bennett at this juncture. And the
+river was as wicked and dangerous as the sea could
+possibly be. The scout was indeed between two perils&mdash;and
+neither would give him a chance for his life.</p>
+
+<p>The moment he waded within striking distance Bennett<span class="pagenum">[289]</span>
+would attack him. And the river dragged at
+him continually.</p>
+
+<p>But, at least, the scout could parley. He had breath
+enough to say:</p>
+
+<p>“Boyd Bennett, you and I have many an old score
+to settle. Give me footing on that bank. You have
+your knife; I have mine. Let us try conclusions
+fairly.”</p>
+
+<p>“What! Give you a chance to play some scurvy
+trick on me&mdash;when I’ve got you dead to rights?” cried
+Bennett, and laughed long and loudly.</p>
+
+<p>Cody edged a step nearer to the shore.</p>
+
+<p>“Be a man!” urged the scout. “You’re as good
+as I am.”</p>
+
+<p>“I’m better&mdash;curse you!”</p>
+
+<p>Cody gained another foot.</p>
+
+<p>“Let us try conclusions, blade to blade. Give me a
+show, man!”</p>
+
+<p>“It’s war to the knife, and the knife to the hilt between
+us&mdash;that’s true, Bill Cody!” gritted out the man.
+“But you shall not be given a chance. I’ll kill you in
+cold blood&mdash;or see you drown in this river. Mark ye
+that!”</p>
+
+<p>Cody crept a few inches nearer.</p>
+
+<p>“Come! You are rested. You’ve got your strength
+back. I’m chilled to the bone. But don’t kill me as
+you would a dog, Bennett!” urged the wily scout.</p>
+
+<p>“A dog you are, and a dog’s death you shall die!”</p>
+
+<p>Cody stooped a little now so as to appear still to
+be in deep water. But he had gained considerable.
+The fellow’s rage and excitement made him overlook
+this cunning.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[290]</span></p>
+
+<p>“A chance; just a foothold on the bank&mdash;for God’s
+sake!” cried Cody.</p>
+
+<p>“Not much; I won’t! You die where you are&mdash;or
+drown!”</p>
+
+<p>Boyd Bennett stooped, and holding his own bowie
+with grim clutch, made a pass at the scout. The latter
+dodged&mdash;and made another foot.</p>
+
+<p>“Give me a show!” cried the man in the water, apparently
+at his last gasp.</p>
+
+<p>“No, no! I’ll have your life&mdash;and now!”</p>
+
+<p>Again the bandit made a thrust. At the moment
+Cody flung his body forward, and his left hand
+clutched a tree-branch which overhung the river. At
+last he had a stable hold upon terra firma. With a
+shout he dragged himself in toward the bank, and,
+in turn, lunged at his antagonist. So unexpected was
+the blow that he came near catching Bennett in a vital
+spot. As it was, the point of the scout’s bowie slit
+his enemy’s sleeve from wrist to elbow and brought
+the blood beneath!</p>
+
+<p>“You devil!” yelled Bennett, leaping back, smarting
+with pain.</p>
+
+<p>It was just the chance Cody wished. He bounded
+out upon the rocky shore. His own war-cry resounded
+through the island. All his weakness dropped
+from him like a garment. At last he was before his
+foe, and they were evenly matched&mdash;man to man and
+blade to blade!</p>
+
+<p>“Guard yourself, you scoundrel!” cried Buffalo Bill,
+the Border King. “It is war to the knife, and the
+knife to the hilt, as you yourself have said. Your
+life or mine&mdash;which is the better man! One of us,
+Boyd Bennett, shall never leave this spot alive!”</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<p><span class="pagenum">[291]</span></p>
+
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XLVI">CHAPTER XLVI.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">AND THE KNIFE TO THE HILT.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>All the time Buffalo Bill had been standing in the
+shallow water parleying with his enemy, he had been
+regaining his breath and his strength, both sadly depleted
+by his swim across the river. Now he had
+leaped ashore almost as fresh and strong as Bennett
+himself.</p>
+
+<p>His leaping ashore had quite startled the bandit;
+but he did not give back after his first cry of surprise
+and pain. He, too, was armed with a bowie. They
+were indeed equal, and the bandit was no physical
+coward.</p>
+
+<p>Colonel James Bowie, of Texas, invented a terrible
+weapon of defense and offense when he gave the world
+the heavy hunting-knife which bears his name. It is
+a long, slightly curved blade, having a razor-sharp
+two-edged point and a heavy back. It is fitted with a
+handle and guard, and is always carried in a sheath.
+It can be thrown with great precision by the old-time
+“knife-fighter”; but it is at close quarters that the true
+wickedness of the weapon comes to light.</p>
+
+<p>In a fight with these knives death must surely result&mdash;many
+times to both antagonists; surely to one.
+One stroke does it; there is no need of a second if the
+first really gets home. A strong blow would sever
+a man’s head from his body!</p>
+
+<p>Both the scout and Boyd Bennett were familiar
+with the use of the great knife. Facing each other,
+left foot forward, stooping slightly, they circled about<span class="pagenum">[292]</span>
+each other like two cocks looking for a chance to
+strike. The men’s eyes were fastened upon each other,
+like the eyes of pugilists. In the expanding and contracting
+of the eyeball they saw the intent of their
+antagonist to make a move.</p>
+
+<p>Crouching, the two shifted about on the rocks. The
+ground was not good for such cautious work; but
+one did not know it better than the other. It was as
+fair to Bennett as to the scout.</p>
+
+<p>Both men feinted, but did not come to close quarters.
+They began to breathe heavily, not so much from
+exhaustion as from excitement. The wind hissed between
+their locked teeth. Their eyes were like those
+of mad beasts. Their bare feet shifted on the rocks
+with a shuffling sound, but otherwise they were noiseless
+in their tigerlike movements.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly, with a shriek like a wildcat, Boyd Bennett
+leaped at his foe. He thought he saw an opening.
+This was what the scout intended, and he gave back
+just a little. But before Bennett was upon him the
+other glided to one side and struck sharply at the man.
+The blades clashed and sparks flew from the steel.
+At the same moment the men clutched each other by
+the left wrist, and at last the issue was really joined!</p>
+
+<p>There they stood panting, foot to foot and breast
+to breast, their fingers locked about each other’s wrists
+like steel bands, the knife-blades “slithering” against
+each other, every muscle in their bodies as tense as
+steel wires. The pressure of blade against blade was
+all that kept the men apart. If one gave an atom in
+an endeavor to stab his foe, he would open his own
+breast to the knife. This was a foregone conclusion.
+The pressure of knife against knife seemed <a id="Ref_292" href="#Ref_292a">a</a> frail<span class="pagenum">[293]</span>
+barrier; but that was all that lay between the two men
+and sudden and awful death!</p>
+
+<p>The man who made the first reckless move, or the
+one whose bodily forces first gave before the strain,
+was the one who ran the greatest peril. To the cool
+man, the brave man, the man with iron nerve and
+an undaunted patience&mdash;to him would come victory!</p>
+
+<p>Knowing this, Buffalo Bill took the only advantage
+that remained to him. His own mind was calm, his
+brain steady, his vision unclouded by hot rage. <em>His</em>
+emotion was a sort of cold fury, as deadly as the steel
+blade, the handle of which he clutched. At last he
+had his enemy before him&mdash;within his grasp&mdash;face to
+face and steel to steel!</p>
+
+<p>And so he taunted him, knowing that Bennett’s
+brain and heart were already afire with hatred.</p>
+
+<p>“You’ve no girl now to conquer, Boyd Bennett!”
+the scout hissed. “You’re not robbing the cradle now.
+Look out! Another mistake like that and I’ll have
+you!”</p>
+
+<p>“Curse you, you’re a dead man already!” cried the
+bandit.</p>
+
+<p>“I’m as good as a dozen dead ones. Don’t fool
+yourself. Ah!”</p>
+
+<p>“Not yet!”</p>
+
+<p>“But almost&mdash;almost, my boy! I’ll get you the next
+time. My brave Death Killer&mdash;medicine chief of the
+Sioux! Ah-ha, you villain! You’ve played <em>that</em> game
+to the end, too.”</p>
+
+<p>Bennett fairly gnashed his teeth and put forth furious
+endeavors to break down his antagonist’s guard.</p>
+
+<p>“Save your breath, man,” said Cody, knowing that<span class="pagenum">[294]</span>
+his advice would have exactly a contrary effect upon
+Bennett. “I’m only playing with you yet.”</p>
+
+<p>“It’s the worst game <em>you</em> ever played, Bill Cody!”</p>
+
+<p>Cody thought so himself, but he smiled back into the
+other’s eyes, and the man’s rage grew.</p>
+
+<p>“I’ll get you yet!” roared Bennett.</p>
+
+<p>“But not that way,” muttered the scout. “Ah!
+<em>Now</em> we have it!”</p>
+
+<p>With a sudden turn of his wrist he almost brought
+Bennett to his knees. Both men clung so tightly to
+each other’s left wrists, however, that little advantage
+was to be gained by sudden twists. It was the steady
+pressure of steel against steel that would finally gain
+the day. One arm must be stronger than the other&mdash;one
+foot more skilful&mdash;one eye more true.</p>
+
+<p>“This is a bad end for you, Boyd Bennett!” began
+Cody again.</p>
+
+<p>He was scarcely panting himself; but the other was
+breathing hard, gnashing his teeth, rolling his eyes,
+like a veritable madman. He screamed with rage at
+this remark of the scout’s, and the froth flew from
+his lips. If ever a man was mad, Boyd Bennett was
+that person.</p>
+
+<p>“And all for what?” quoth the scout. “What did
+you make by it? The girl would have nothing to do
+with you. Had you remained in Oak Heart’s camp
+you might have finished me. But <em>not</em> that way!”
+guarding himself from a furious lunge of the other’s
+knife.</p>
+
+<p>“No, no, my boy! You made a grave error. Back
+there you had some power. You might have had
+the upper hand over me. Now <em>I</em> have it!”</p>
+
+<p>“Not yet!” roared Bennett.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[295]</span></p>
+
+<p>“Oh, yes, I have! I’m only playing with you, I
+tell you. When I am ready I’ll put you where the
+dogs won’t bite you! Ah! how’s that?”</p>
+
+<p>Boyd had made a furious lunge; and his hand had
+slipped on Cody’s wrist. Quick as lightning the scout
+slipped aside, broke from the death-grapple, and slit
+the point of his knife up Bennett’s upper arm, making
+a deep, ugly wound. The blood fairly spurted from
+the severed artery. It was then but a matter of a few
+minutes before Bennett would be helpless, unless he
+managed to finish Cody first.</p>
+
+<p>They circled about each other again, watchful as
+cats. Once or twice they tried to grapple, but it
+amounted to nothing. Bennett’s wound was troubling
+him sorely. The blood was running in a stream
+from the point of his elbow.</p>
+
+<p>“Say your prayers&mdash;if you have any to say, you
+scoundrel!” exclaimed the scout sternly. “For you
+pay for your murders and atrocities here and now! If
+you have killed that poor girl by your brutal treatment,
+you pay for it in short order.”</p>
+
+<p>Bennett leaped in at him. The scout gave back a
+bit, and suddenly his foot slipped on a wet slab of rock.
+He fell to one knee. With a yell of delight, the
+wounded bandit flung himself upon him.</p>
+
+<p>It was not the scout’s finish, however. Cody had a
+wealth of reserve force yet. He flung himself forward
+to meet Bennett’s charge, caught his left wrist and the
+weight of the man’s body upon his left shoulder. The
+scoundrel’s stroke overreached, and the pit of his
+stomach came in heavy contact with his antagonist’s
+shoulder-bone.</p>
+
+<p>That antagonist rose up suddenly and pitched Bennett<span class="pagenum">[296]</span>
+clear over him. The man landed on his head and
+shoulders, but, as though made of India rubber, he
+bounded to his feet and faced Cody again.</p>
+
+<p>He was panting for breath, his face was covered
+with blood, and altogether he was a most terrible looking
+object. He had no intention of giving up the fight,
+however. With a yell, he flung himself once more at
+Cody&mdash;but this time wildly.</p>
+
+<p>“’Tis the end at last, Boyd Bennett!” sang out the
+clarion voice of the Border King.</p>
+
+<p>The villain knew it. His eyes rolled, his teeth chattered,
+his mouth was agape as he reentered the fray.
+Their left hands were locked again, and the knives
+clashed. Steadily Cody forced his man back, back,
+back&mdash;until a tree-trunk kept him from going farther.
+From a crouching position the two men gradually
+stood erect. The pressure of Buffalo Bill’s bowie
+against that of his antagonist became a force that the
+latter could not meet. His arm went slowly back until
+the elbow struck sharply against the tree-trunk.</p>
+
+<p>With an awful scream of rage and deadly fear the
+fellow’s fingers relaxed upon the handle of his bowie.
+The blade clattered to the ground. He clutched feebly
+at Cody’s throat, and then&mdash;&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>It was indeed the knife to the hilt! Boyd Bennett
+slipped to the ground and lay there, dead!</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<p><span class="pagenum">[297]</span></p>
+
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XLVII">CHAPTER XLVII.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">THE CONQUEROR.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill turned his eyes from the bleeding corpse
+of his enemy, staggered to a near-by boulder, and
+dropped upon it to rest. His own strength was far
+spent. Besides, the wound he had received in his
+shoulder, aggravated by his long, cold swim and the
+violent exertions of the past few minutes, had broken
+out bleeding afresh. Boyd Bennett would never know
+how near he came to being victor himself in this awful
+battle!</p>
+
+<p>As for the consequence, he dropped upon the rock,
+exhausted and ill. The hardiest and most seasoned
+veteran comes to the end of his tether at last, and for
+thirty-six hours Cody had been riding hard, and fighting
+hard, and swimming hard&mdash;and all without bite
+or sup! There had been no time for the preparation
+of food when he left his cave in the mountain to follow
+Boyd Bennett and the White Antelope, and since
+that time he had neither dared shoot game nor had he
+seen the time to cook and eat.</p>
+
+<p>And that which fairly quenched his spirit now was
+the thought that he seemed to have taken all this hard
+labor upon his shoulders for naught. True, his old-time
+enemy was finally dead. Boyd Bennett, the outlaw
+of the Overland Trail, the Death Killer of the
+Utah Sioux, would never again trouble mortal man&mdash;unless
+his spirit came back to haunt the scenes of his
+bloody deeds.</p>
+
+<p>But Buffalo Bill had not put forth all this effort
+merely to best this old-time foe. First of all, he desired<span class="pagenum">[298]</span>
+to save the White Antelope, but he seemed to
+have failed in this. Boyd Bennett had plainly carried
+his threat into execution. He had actually drowned
+the unfortunate girl. It had been that thought, more
+than any other, that had nerved Buffalo Bill to drive
+the steel home into Bennett’s heart!</p>
+
+<p>“All gone now&mdash;the last of the three!” muttered
+the scout, passing his hand across his shaking lips.
+“And such horrible deaths for all! Death by the bullet
+and the fall from the cliff. Death by the war-club
+and tomahawk. And now death by the river&mdash;and the
+hands of a cursed villain. Horrible! horrible!”</p>
+
+<p>These enigmatical remarks, uttered aloud, drowned
+a rustling in the bushes behind him. Suddenly a light
+hand fell upon his shoulder. The scout did not start&mdash;his
+nerves were too steady. But he glanced at the
+small, brown hand, and then looked up along the arm,
+turning his head until he looked full into the face of
+the White Antelope. There his gaze hung, while his
+lips remained speechless for the moment.</p>
+
+<p>“Pa-e-has-ka has killed his enemy and mine. This
+makes the White Antelope and Long Hair friends.”</p>
+
+<p>She held out her hand to him, and the scout took it,
+still in a daze.</p>
+
+<p>“By holy!” he muttered. “I sure thought she was
+dead.”</p>
+
+<p>“What is it my white brother mutters?”</p>
+
+<p>“I reckoned you were drowned, White Antelope,”
+repeated Cody.</p>
+
+<p>“Nay. I held my breath under the water. But
+that wicked man came near to drowning me.”</p>
+
+<p>“I should say he did!”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[299]</span></p>
+
+<p>“Then he would have revived me; but I remained
+as though unconscious, for I feared him.”</p>
+
+<p>“You’ll have need to fear him no more.”</p>
+
+<p>“Ah! it was a good fight! I watched. The Long
+Hair is indeed a great chief.”</p>
+
+<p>Cody shuddered and glanced away. He did not like
+to think of the daughter of Oak Heart’s white wife
+viewing with satisfaction such a terrible battle as that
+which had just cursed this spot.</p>
+
+<p>“The Long Hair is cold. Let him come to the fire
+yonder and dry his body and rest.”</p>
+
+<p>“I don’t care if I do. I feel like I was frozen clear
+to my marrow. You’ve got a fire, have you?”</p>
+
+<p>“Death Killer made it to dry us by. Now you shall
+have it,” she said.</p>
+
+<p>The scout basked for some minutes in the heat of
+the fire, which White Antelope heaped with fresh fuel.
+But he could not remain inactive for long. His perturbed
+mind, relieved by the discovery of the girl’s
+safety, instantly fixed upon other worriments.</p>
+
+<p>Her absence from the encampment of the Sioux
+would have long since been noted. Oak Heart would
+be troubled by her absence. And they were a long
+way from the valley in which the Indian village lay.</p>
+
+<p>Besides, they were marooned on this island in the
+middle of the river. The canoe was wrecked, and
+Cody shrank from making that long swim to the mainland
+again. Besides, he doubted the girl’s ability to
+accomplish such a task.</p>
+
+<p>There was nothing to eat on this island, however,
+and food they must have before long. At least, the
+scout felt the need of it.</p>
+
+<p>So he rose up very quickly from his reclining<span class="pagenum">[300]</span>
+posture and went to the side of the island which faced
+the river-bank from which he had swum. It was already
+twilight, but he glanced sharply up and down
+the bank for some wandering party that might help
+them. The Indians might be searching for their canoes;
+he could not expect any of the freighters to come
+down so far as this, for the main trail turned off some
+miles above.</p>
+
+<p>But not a soul appeared. The only living object
+on the river-bank which he saw was Chief, quietly
+grazing.</p>
+
+<p>“Then our hope lies in you, faithful old horse!”
+cried Cody, and he uttered a shrill whistle.</p>
+
+<p>The white horse raised his head, whinnied, and
+trotted down to the water’s edge. Buffalo Bill gave
+the call which he used when he desired Chief to come
+to him. The dumb brute understood, but he pawed
+the gravel at the river’s edge and seemed to hesitate.
+The distance across was wide, and the sullen current
+was strong. He had already been in it and had been
+almost swept away.</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill repeated his call. The horse threw up
+his head, neighed intelligently, and trotted down the
+riverside to the lower end of the island. There the
+current was not so swift. Without hesitation, this
+time, the noble horse plunged into the flood and swam
+with head high, and occasionally neighing at his master,
+toward the island. Being untrammeled by saddle
+or bridle, the creature handled himself remarkably well
+in the current, and forged ahead without being swept
+much out of his course by the stream.</p>
+
+<p>When he came near the shore, however, Buffalo
+Bill was forced to rush in, cling to Chief’s mane, and<span class="pagenum">[301]</span>
+guide the horse to land. There the brute climbed out
+and shook himself like a great dog.</p>
+
+<p>“Ah! the white chief has control over even the
+ponies,” said the Indian maid, in admiration.</p>
+
+<p>“And lucky he does,” muttered Buffalo Bill to himself.
+“Without old Chief we’d be roosting here till
+kingdom come!”</p>
+
+<p>But he had to give the horse time to breathe before
+setting him at the current again. It was no easy pull
+across. Finally he led the white horse down into the
+water and gave the girl a boost upon his back, where
+she straddled him, clinging to his thick mane.</p>
+
+<p>“Let him have his head,” Buffalo Bill commanded.
+“He won’t need any guidance, but will bring us both
+safe ashore.”</p>
+
+<p>He urged Chief into the deep water, and swam by
+his side himself, resting a hand now and then on the
+beast’s shoulder, and encouraging him with his voice.
+Tired as they both were, man and beast found the pull
+tremendous. They were carried some distance down
+the river, but that did not so much matter. Only the
+water chilled Cody to the bone, and he had visions of
+rheumatism, that fell disease that lays hold upon the
+woodsman early in life because of exposure and privation.</p>
+
+<p>It was somewhat of a battle to reach the shore, but
+they accomplished a landing at last, and White Antelope
+leaped down from Chief’s back and patted him.</p>
+
+<p>“A brave horse, and worthy of carrying a brave
+man like Long Hair,” she declared.</p>
+
+<p>“Give him a night’s rest,” said Cody, “and he’ll
+carry us both back to your father’s village.”</p>
+
+<p>“The Long Hair was going there to redeem his<span class="pagenum">[302]</span>
+pledge to me when I chanced to spy him?” queried
+White Antelope.</p>
+
+<p>“I certainly was snooping about, looking for a
+chance to get through Bennett’s line of guards.”</p>
+
+<p>“But you had been killing and scalping Oak Heart’s
+braves?”</p>
+
+<p>“Not a one. I was there waiting for a chance to
+keep my promise to you,” said Buffalo Bill emphatically.
+“This renegade white was the fellow who was
+quietly knocking your young men in the head and
+scalping them. He was as bloodthirsty a wretch as
+ever went unhung. He’s dead now, thanks be!”</p>
+
+<p>“Then Oak Heart will receive you with more friendliness,”
+said the girl.</p>
+
+<p>“I dunno how friendly he’ll feel,” muttered Cody.
+“But I’ll take you back safe in the morning.”</p>
+
+<p>They hastened to build a rousing camp-fire, and as
+soon as his undergarments were dry the scout put on
+his outer clothing and accouterments. Then with his
+rifle he stole away to a place where he had noted the
+marks of many creatures that had come down to
+drink, and there, just as the moon rose, found a doe
+with her fawn and shot the youngster. So they had a
+much needed late supper of roast kid. After which
+Cody insisted that the girl sleep.</p>
+
+<p>As for himself, he sat up the livelong night, or paced
+the river-bank to keep awake. Just before daybreak
+he awoke the girl, and while she cooked breakfast he
+obtained an hour’s repose.</p>
+
+<p>As they started from the river’s brink to ride
+’cross country toward the range in which Oak Heart’s
+camp was situated, White Antelope said:</p>
+
+<p>“My father’s braves will be out searching for me,<span class="pagenum">[303]</span>
+mayhap. If they see White Antelope in the charge of
+a white man, they may try to shoot him. They may
+believe you were he who stole me away.”</p>
+
+<p>“I’d been thinking of that,” said Cody reflectively.
+“I don’t want to get popped over for the wrong man,
+that’s sure. I reckon I’ll have to change my appearance
+a little.”</p>
+
+<p>“How will the white chief do that?” she demanded,
+over his shoulder. She was riding behind him on the
+saddle.</p>
+
+<p>“We’ll see when we come to that cave I’ve been
+staying in. I reckon I’ve got something there that
+may help me out. And I believe we shall be able to
+reach it without being molested.”</p>
+
+<p>Chief bore them tirelessly all that day and far into
+the night. When they halted and built their fire they
+were within a few hours’ ride of the cave in the mountain
+from which Cody had overlooked Oak Heart’s
+camp. Seventy-two hours before he had left it to
+chase Boyd Bennett and rescue the Indian maiden.
+Much had happened since then both to the scout and in
+the Indian encampment.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XLVIII">CHAPTER XLVIII.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">THE PLEDGE KEPT.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>There was much excitement in the village of the
+Sioux. The white queen, the idolized daughter of
+Oak Heart, had ridden away from her teepee and had
+not returned. Then came the discovery of the death
+of the young brave on the ridge, and the deed was set
+down to the credit of the hated Long Hair.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[304]</span></p>
+
+<p>These mysterious murders that had been committed
+so near the encampment had wrought upon the tribesmen
+greatly. It seemed as though Long Hair possessed
+some supernatural power. He flitted, seemingly, from
+place to place without being seen, and killed the Sioux
+almost in the confines of the encampment.</p>
+
+<p>While the chiefs were in council a horse was seen
+approaching from a mountain defile, down over the
+ridge, where the young brave had been found stabbed
+to the heart. Upon the back of the horse were two persons,
+one of them apparently a great chief in full war-dress;
+the other was White Antelope herself.</p>
+
+<p>The strange chief rode directly down into the village,
+not deigning to more than grunt a salutation to
+the guards, and the girl refused to make any explanation,
+either. Straight to the council-lodge the chief
+rode, and, there dismounting, the two entered, the
+young girl leading the way.</p>
+
+<p>The Indian is stoical and Spartan, but Oak Heart
+was fond of his remaining child. He was moved now
+by her unexpected recovery, and as she ran to him he
+allowed her to take and hold his hand. The old men
+nodded, too, for they believed that the White Antelope
+was “good medicine.” The strange chief, however,
+they did not know, and they eyed him with suspicion
+as well as curiosity. Finally the White Antelope arose
+and stepped into the circle, and there made her voice
+heard by all in the lodge.</p>
+
+<p>“The Sioux are a wise people; their chiefs are wise;
+their old men are wise, but sometimes even the wise
+are mistaken. They make mistakes. They welcome
+into their tribe one who stung and bit like the viper<span class="pagenum">[305]</span>
+warmed in the bosom. Such a viper has been warmed
+in the bosom of the Utah Sioux!”</p>
+
+<p>The old men grunted and looked at each other.
+Some glanced covertly at the place where the medicine
+chief, Death Killer, should have sat. He was not
+present.</p>
+
+<p>“This one came with a false tale to my father, the
+great chief, Oak Heart, and told a tale which sent the
+Sioux on the war-path. They fell upon the palefaces
+and killed them. The palefaces were not searching for
+the Sioux village; they were searching for a wicked
+paleface to punish him. Ah! he was two-tongued&mdash;and
+his tongue was sharp as a knife.</p>
+
+<p>“The White Antelope speaks the truth to you. This
+traitor was in the councils of the Sioux, but with his
+own hand he was murdering our young men. See!
+The still, red scalp of Po-ca-his-ta, torn from his head
+by the traitor this very day. And this&mdash;as other&mdash;murders
+he would have had the Sioux believe were
+done by Long Hair, the paleface scout.</p>
+
+<p>“Long Hair was sent to tell his big chief of my
+father’s warning, and to bring people to bury the dead.
+Long Hair said he would return. Long Hair is of a
+straight tongue. He is here!”</p>
+
+<p>Instantly the strange chief standing so motionless
+in their presence threw the war-bonnet aside and
+dropped the corner of the blanket which muffled his
+face. Buffalo Bill stood revealed. A deep murmur
+ran around the lodge, and it was half of surprise, half
+of admiration for the bold paleface who had redeemed
+his word to the White Antelope. Fearlessly the scout
+stood before his redskin foes, his eyes fixed upon the
+face of Oak Heart.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[306]</span></p>
+
+<p>“It is well,” said the old Sioux. “The Long Hair’s
+life was forfeit when he was held by Death Killer. He
+has gone to his people; he has returned as he said.
+Now he must die.”</p>
+
+<p>But Buffalo Bill never changed color. White Antelope
+started forward, her richly tinted face paling. It
+was a moment before she controlled herself and stood
+calmly to speak as an Indian should.</p>
+
+<p>“Let the White Antelope speak!” said Oak Heart
+quietly.</p>
+
+<p>The girl, in rapid, burning words, related her capture
+by Boyd Bennett and his death at the hands of the
+scout. The treachery of the renegade was proved.
+Buffalo Bill had been the medicine chief’s prisoner.
+Why should the Sioux hold the captive of a creature
+so dishonored?</p>
+
+<p>Her plea evidently made some impression, but all
+eyes turned upon Oak Heart, and at length the old
+chief spoke.</p>
+
+<p>“The Long Hair is a mighty paleface chief. He has
+trailed the red man to his village, and his belt is heavy
+with the scalps of my braves. He came here under the
+war-bonnet of a Cheyenne chief, and has saved the
+White Antelope from death.</p>
+
+<p>“But the Long Hair has long been a foe to the
+Sioux. It was he who brought help to the white soldiers
+in the fort when we would have beaten them. It
+was he who took them ammunition. It was he who
+stole our ponies.</p>
+
+<p>“The Long Hair has ofttimes looked on death. He
+is not afraid of death. He must show my warriors how
+a brave man <a id="Ref_306" href="#Ref_306a">can</a> die.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[307]</span></p>
+
+<p>For the first time since entering the lodge, Buffalo
+Bill spoke:</p>
+
+<p>“It is true, Oak Heart, that I have been your foe,
+and the foe of your people of late. It was not always
+so. When the Sioux would dwell at peace with the
+paleface, were content to live and hunt in these mountains
+and not fall upon and kill the white soldiers, Long
+Hair was their friend.</p>
+
+<p>“When the Wise Woman lived and her wisdom
+guided the tribe, the Sioux remained at peace with the
+paleface. But now worse councils prevail among you,
+and your young men go out to battle and are slain.
+And what do you gain? The palefaces are as numberless
+as the leaves of the forest. When you kill one,
+two come in his place; where you kill two, a dozen
+appear. Take the word of one who has smoked in
+your lodges and heard wisdom from your old men.
+The Long Hair tells you to bury the hatchet and smoke
+the peace-pipe with the white chiefs. Then shall you
+have content and your bellies be filled, and your young
+men shall grow up and be great hunters and your
+young squaws live to bear children.</p>
+
+<p>“Long Hair has spoken. If the Sioux kill me, it is
+but one white man dead. But how many will strike the
+trail of the Sioux to avenge my death? The Sioux
+have already lost many braves. Let them be content;
+blood enough has been spilled. Is it not so?</p>
+
+<p>“Remember, too, oh, Oak Heart, how Long Hair
+has sat in your lodge and talked with you and the Wise
+Woman before the Great Spirit took her. Here!” he
+drew from his hunting-shirt a sacred tomahawk pipe
+with a broken edge. “Here is the pledge given to
+Long-Hair long ago by the Wise Woman, and by Oak<span class="pagenum">[308]</span>
+Heart. Then was Oak Heart’s mind single; he was
+not full of wiles and thoughts of evil against the white
+men and against Long Hair. This was the pledge that
+Long Hair and the Sioux should never be at enmity.
+And has the enmity been of Long Hair’s seeking?
+Nay! The red men started to slay. The Long Hair
+must go with his people. Has he done wrong?</p>
+
+<p>“See! Must Pa-e-has-ka die?” and he held up the
+trophy again.</p>
+
+<p>A deathlike silence had fallen upon the lodge. The
+old chief was greatly moved, and for an Indian&mdash;especially
+a councilor&mdash;to show emotion is a disgrace.
+Perhaps, too, his mind was filled with thoughts of the
+Wise Woman, of whom Buffalo Bill had spoken so
+feelingly.</p>
+
+<p>Years before, when Oak Heart was a much younger
+man, the tribe had raided far to the south, by the waters
+of a great river. They had come upon a ranchman and
+his family, killed him, flung his body into the river,
+and taken his wife, a beautiful white squaw, captive.
+None but the son of the ranchman&mdash;a mere child&mdash;escaped.
+He had been found and cared for after the
+massacre by Buffalo Bill.</p>
+
+<p>The white squaw’s brain had been turned by the
+horror of that time. She wandered about the encampment
+in a dazed state. The Indians have a great awe
+of those who are insane, believing that the finger of
+the Great Spirit has touched them. She was cared for
+tenderly and brought north with the tribe.</p>
+
+<p>She was a skilful woman with herbs and simples.
+She nursed the wounded warriors; she helped the
+women in travail; she cared for the children and the
+young squaws. She was much beloved. Her influence,<span class="pagenum">[309]</span>
+even before her mind cleared, became one for
+great good in the tribe.</p>
+
+<p>Slowly she grew normal once more. Years had
+passed. Instead of golden tresses, her hair was as
+white as the snow upon the mountain peaks. Yet she
+was still a young woman and good to look upon. Oak
+Heart loved her. He had treated her with the utmost
+respect and kindness. She had lived so long among
+the redskins that she had lost all distaste for them, and
+had imbibed many of their religious beliefs. She was
+unutterably opposed to the warring of the tribe with
+the whites, however.</p>
+
+<p>Her husband and children were dead&mdash;and the past
+was dead. She espoused Oak Heart so as to retain her
+influence over him and over the tribe, for the good of
+the whites. It was after that that Buffalo Bill met the
+Wise Woman and knew who she was. But he had
+never told her that her son was alive, for fear that the
+knowledge would do the poor woman more harm than
+good. Also, she had a child by Oak Heart&mdash;the White
+Antelope. But she died when the girl was small.</p>
+
+<p>Possibly thoughts of the dead woman moved the old
+chief. Besides, the peace-pipe was a sacred pledge. He
+suddenly rose, threw around him his blanket, and,
+standing in the midst of the lodge, spoke impressively:</p>
+
+<p>“The Pa-e-has-ka is a friend to Oak Heart. When
+the hatchet shall be buried between the red men and the
+palefaces, they shall be brothers again. But now the
+palefaces are on the trail of my people; so let the
+Pa-e-has-ka hasten from us and join his own tribe.
+Not one of my braves shall follow him. Oak Heart
+has spoken.”</p>
+
+<p>There were murmurs about the lodge, but no chief<span class="pagenum">[310]</span>
+at the moment put his objections in words. Buffalo
+Bill found the White Antelope’s hand seeking his own.
+She acted more like a modest and timid white girl than
+ever before.</p>
+
+<p>“Let the white chief come with me,” she whispered.
+“I have something to show him.”</p>
+
+<p>The amazed scout went with her out of the grand
+lodge and was taken to her own teepee.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XLIX">CHAPTER XLIX.<br />
+<span class="cheaderfont">CONCLUSION.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>The wondering Indians allowed the White Antelope
+and Long Hair to pass. Inside the teepee an old
+woman kept watch and guard. A figure lay upon a
+heap of furs. It moved as the scout entered, raised
+on its elbow, and a weak voice exclaimed:</p>
+
+<p>“By the nine gods of war! Thanks be it’s you,
+Cody! I thought you’d never come, though this dear
+girl here swore you would, as you had promised her.”</p>
+
+<p>To see one whom we believe dead&mdash;aye, have seen
+lying stark on the field of battle and believe to have
+been buried there&mdash;rise up suddenly and confront us is
+indeed a shock. Buffalo Bill fell back a step, exclaiming:</p>
+
+<p>“Dick Danforth!”</p>
+
+<p>“’Tis I, old faithful! Thanks to this girl&mdash;who is
+the whitest Injun God ever made&mdash;I am alive, the sole
+survivor of my unfortunate party.”</p>
+
+<p>“Dick, I saw you lying on the field of battle,” declared
+the scout, taking his hand. “How came you
+here?”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[311]</span></p>
+
+<p>“She brought me back to life. She found there was
+life in me. I had got a terrible crack on the head. She
+and the old woman brought me here, and I have been
+hidden in this teepee ever since. I’m a whole lot better
+now, Cody. I believe I could ride a horse.”</p>
+
+<p>“And the White Antelope has cared for you?” cried
+the scout.</p>
+
+<p>“She has, indeed.” Then the young man whispered:
+“Isn’t she beautiful? And how glad I am, old man,
+that you stayed my hand that day when I would have
+murdered her!”</p>
+
+<p>“Ho, ho!” muttered the scout. “Sets the wind in
+that quarter? I must tell you two young people something
+before more mischief be done.”</p>
+
+<p>He seized the girl’s hand and drew her forward to
+the side of Danforth’s couch.</p>
+
+<p>“White Antelope,” he said in English, “do you remember
+that I told you once I knew your mother?”</p>
+
+<p>She nodded, watching him with bright eyes.</p>
+
+<p>“She was a lovely woman. She was a white woman.
+It was true she was Oak Heart’s wife, but she had
+been espoused before by a good and great white man.
+He was killed by Oak Heart’s people, and for a time
+your mother was stricken by the mercy of the Great
+Spirit with forgetfulness.</p>
+
+<p>“When she came to herself she believed that her
+husband and her son were dead. She became Oak
+Heart’s squaw. But her son was not dead. I had
+saved him from the Indians, and he lived to grow
+up&mdash;&mdash;”</p>
+
+<p>Danforth raised himself up with a great cry.</p>
+
+<p>“You do not mean it! It is impossible!” he cried.
+“This girl&mdash;&mdash;?”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[312]</span></p>
+
+<p>“Is your sister. White Antelope, this young man is
+your elder brother&mdash;and a mighty fine fellow you’ll find
+him. Your mother was the finest woman I ever knew,
+and <em>your</em> father, Dick&mdash;God help him!&mdash;was once the
+finest fellow in the world!”</p>
+
+<p>The scout choked and was silent. He was thinking
+of that awful, convulsed face of the Mad Hunter as he
+fell backward from the summit of the bluff, with Texas
+Jack’s bullet in his brain!</p>
+
+<p>“He&mdash;he is my brother?” murmured the girl, her
+eyes shining.</p>
+
+<p>“That’s what he is,” said the scout, recovering himself
+and speaking heartily.</p>
+
+<p>She went to Danforth and put both her hands in his.
+The young fellow suddenly pulled her down to him and
+kissed her on the lips.</p>
+
+<p>“That’s the way <em>white</em> brothers and sisters greet
+each other,” he said, with a weak laugh. “When can
+you get us away from this camp, Cody?”</p>
+
+<p>That was a question easier to be asked than answered.
+But the excitement over the letting of Cody
+himself go free aided them in their attempt. The
+chiefs were murmuring against the decision of Oak
+Heart. The old man was fighting for his supremacy
+as head chief of the tribe. He could not even see the
+White Antelope, and shut her out of his lodge.</p>
+
+<p>This piqued the wayward girl. She was the more
+ready to go with her new-found brother, as he was ill
+and needed her. But she only agreed to go with him to
+Fort Resistence and then directly return. But Dick
+Danforth said confidently:</p>
+
+<p>“Let me once get her away from the influence of
+these bloody redskins, and I’ll wean her away from<span class="pagenum">[313]</span>
+them. I know what will please a young girl like her.
+I’ll take her to San Francisco, Bill. Thanks to you,
+I’ve some property of my own left of my poor father’s
+estate. And isn’t she a beauty! Won’t she make ’em
+sit up and take notice at the Bay?”</p>
+
+<p>Under cover of the night the scout and the Indian
+maid helped the wounded Danforth upon a horse, and
+the three wended their way from the encampment.
+They were not followed&mdash;or, at least, were not overtaken&mdash;until
+they reached Captain Keyes’ command.
+Then they were hurried on under an escort to Resistence.
+White Antelope made no objection to going,
+her brother was so weak and needed her so much.</p>
+
+<p>Indeed, the wily young fellow remained an invalid
+so long that his sister became half-reconciled to civilized
+clothing and to white people before they took the
+long journey to San Francisco, where Dick went to
+spend the furlough allowed him by the department.</p>
+
+<hr class="tb" />
+
+<p>The scene changes once more to Fort Advance, some
+days after that on which Buffalo Bill, the Border
+King, had set out on his dangerous mission to the
+village of the Sioux. It is a little past sunrise, and a
+horseman is descried taking the trail from the cañon
+toward the fort. He is mounted on a great white
+charger that comes like the wind.</p>
+
+<p>The rider looks pale and jaded, and his buckskin
+attire has seen hard usage. But he is recognized by
+the sentinel over the gate, and his cry is repeated about
+the fort:</p>
+
+<p>“Here comes Buffalo Bill, the King of the Border!”</p>
+
+<p>Waving his battered hat in response to the shout,<span class="pagenum">[314]</span>
+Buffalo Bill rides straight to the open gate, enters, and
+dismounts before Major Baldwin’s door. An orderly
+seizes his bridle-rein, and the major comes forth and
+grasps the scout’s hand with the words:</p>
+
+<p>“Thanks be to God for seeing you again alive, Cody!
+When Keyes told me you were safe, I felt like ordering
+a feast to celebrate the occasion. And they say the
+Sioux are ready for peace?”</p>
+
+<p>“I believe they are. Oak Heart has pretty much lost
+his grip on the tribe, and is an outcast. But the new
+powers-that-be have seen the fallacy of trying issues
+again with us.”</p>
+
+<p>“We certainly believed you dead one while, Cody.”</p>
+
+<p>“And it was a close shave not to be this time, sir.”</p>
+
+<p>“You have won out as usual, Bill, with flying
+colors.”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, Major Baldwin. I went to Oak Heart’s village
+with the firm determination to get Boyd Bennett
+if it cost me my life. That scoundrel had been a
+thorn in my side too long. I got him. He’s dead.
+He’ll do no more harm <em>this</em> side of the Great Divide!”</p>
+
+<p>“A good piece of work, Cody. And I understand
+that old maniac, the Mad Hunter, who attacked Keyes,
+is dead, too?”</p>
+
+<p>“That is so. But I am sorry for <em>his</em> end. I tell you
+in confidence, major, that the man was Dick Danforth’s
+father&mdash;though I never suspected it until I saw
+his face close to. The Indians were supposed to have
+cracked him on the head and flung him into the river
+years ago. The crack on the head was sure enough.
+But he wasn’t drowned. His end has come now, poor
+fellow.”</p>
+
+<p>“And <a id="Ref_314" href="#Ref_314a">Dick</a> wonderfully saved!”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[315]</span></p>
+
+<p>“He is, indeed&mdash;and has found a sister.”</p>
+
+<p>“Ah, Cody! That was a joker you kept up your
+sleeve a long time,” said the major.</p>
+
+<p>“True. I knew the boy’s hatred for all savages. I
+did not know about his poor mother and this girl until
+I had really instilled some of the boy’s hatred into his
+mind myself. I feared for him to know the truth.
+Yet I wanted to save her from the savages. Providence
+performed what I could not.”</p>
+
+<p>“True.... But those scalp-locks, Cody?”
+asked Major Baldwin, pointing to the string of ghastly
+trophies hanging from the scout’s belt.</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, those are the roofs of the braves who tried to
+raise my hair. I intended to have a rope made of
+them to hang Boyd Bennett with, but I’ll have them
+made into a bridle for you, instead, major.”</p>
+
+<p>“All right, scout. Thank you for the gift. And
+now you are free. Report to me in full when you have
+rested,” and with another hand-clasp the major let him
+go.</p>
+
+<p>Many other hands were waiting to clasp that of the
+Border King. It was some time before he could break
+away and find Texas Jack in the scouts’ quarters.</p>
+
+<p>But times of rest were few and far between for these
+hardy men of the frontier. One tribe of red men were
+scarcely subjugated for the time when another would
+rise up to kill and slay. It was not long before Buffalo
+Bill was performing more daring deeds to add to his
+fame upon the border.</p>
+
+<p class="center p1">THE END.</p>
+
+<hr class="tb" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<div class="boxit">
+<p class="center xxlargefont boldfont">Say, Boys!</p>
+
+<p>How’d you like to own your own bronc’?
+How’d you like to be an expert at lassoing
+and branding? How’d you like to ride the
+rolling prairies in search of lost stock, and
+perhaps have an adventure or two with certain
+bad men who did not like you because
+you were on the side of law and order? How
+would you like it?</p>
+
+<p>Well, we all cannot go west and be cowboys,
+but we sure can pay 15 cents for the stories
+in the <cite>Western Story Library</cite>, and find a good,
+comfortable spot, and immediately imagine
+ourselves riding with Ted Strong and his
+broncho boys, sharing their adventures, their
+hardships and pleasures.</p>
+
+<p>Ted Strong and his pals are lovable fellows&mdash;every
+one of them, and you will do well to
+make comrades of them.</p>
+
+<p>Ask your dealer to show you a copy of the
+<cite>Western Story Library</cite>.</p>
+
+<p class="center boldfont largefont">STREET &amp; SMITH CORPORATION<br />
+79 Seventh Avenue <span style="padding-left:2em">New York City</span></p>
+</div></div>
+
+<hr class="tb" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<p class="center largefont boldfont">WESTERN STORIES ABOUT<br />
+<span class="xxlargefont">BUFFALO BILL</span></p>
+
+<p class="xlargefont boldfont center">Price, Fifteen Cents</p>
+
+<p class="center largefont">Red-blooded Adventure Stories for Men</p>
+
+<p>There is no more romantic character in American history than
+William F. Cody, or as he was internationally known, Buffalo
+Bill. He, with Colonel Prentiss Ingraham, Wild Bill Hickok,
+General Custer, and a few other adventurous spirits, laid the
+foundation of our great West.</p>
+
+<p>There is no more brilliant page in American history than the
+winning of the West. Never did pioneers live more thrilling
+lives, so rife with adventure and brave deeds as the old scouts
+and plainsmen. Foremost among these stands the imposing
+figure of Buffalo Bill.</p>
+
+<p>All of the books in this list are intensely interesting. They
+were written by the close friend and companion of Buffalo Bill&mdash;Colonel
+Prentiss Ingraham. They depict actual adventures
+which this pair of hard-hitting comrades experienced, while the
+story of these adventures is interwoven with fiction; historically
+the books are correct.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p class="center p1"><em>ALL TITLES ALWAYS IN PRINT</em></p>
+
+<div class="center">
+<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" summary="titles">
+<tr><td class="tableft1">1&mdash;Buffalo Bill, the Border King</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft1">2&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Raid</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft1">3&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Bravery</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft1">4&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Trump Card</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft1">5&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Pledge</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft1">6&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Vengeance</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft1">7&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Iron Grip</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft1">8&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Capture</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft1">9&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Danger Line</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">10&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Comrades</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">11&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Reckoning</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">12&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Warning</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">13&mdash;Buffalo Bill at Bay</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">14&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Buckskin Pards</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">15&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Brand</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">16&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Honor</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">17&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Phantom Hunt</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">18&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Fight With Fire</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">19&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Danite Trail</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">20&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Ranch Riders</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">21&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Death Trail</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">22&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Trackers</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">23&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Mid-air Flight</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">24&mdash;Buffalo Bill, Ambassador</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">25&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Air Voyage</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">26&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Secret Mission</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">27&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Long Trail</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">28&mdash;Buffalo Bill Against Odds</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">29&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Hot Chase</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">30&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Redskin Ally</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">31&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Treasure Trove</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">32&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Hidden Foes</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">33&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Crack Shot</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">34&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Close Call</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">35&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Double Surprise</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">36&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Ambush</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">37&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Outlaw Hunt</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">38&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Border Duel</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">39&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Bid for Fame</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">40&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Triumph</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">41&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Spy Trailer</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">42&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Death Call</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">43&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Body Guard</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">44&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Still Hunt</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">45&mdash;Buffalo Bill and the Doomed Dozen</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">46&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Prairie Scout</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">47&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Traitor Guide</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">48&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Bonanza</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">49&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Swoop</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">50&mdash;Buffalo Bill and the Gold King</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">51&mdash;Buffalo Bill, Deadshot</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">52&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Buckskin Bravos</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">53&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Big Four</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">54&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s One-armed Pard</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">55&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Race for Life</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">56&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Return</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">57&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Conquest</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">58&mdash;Buffalo Bill to the Rescue</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">59&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Beautiful Foe</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">60&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Perilous Task</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">61&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Queer Find</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">62&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Blind Lead</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">63&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Resolution</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">64&mdash;Buffalo Bill, the Avenger</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">65&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Pledged Pard</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">66&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Weird Warning</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">67&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Wild Ride</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">68&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Redskin Stampede</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">69&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Mine Mystery</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">70&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Gold Hunt</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">71&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Daring Dash</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">72&mdash;Buffalo Bill on Hand</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">73&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Alliance</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">74&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Relentless Foe</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">75&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Midnight Ride</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">76&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Chivalry</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">77&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Girl Pard</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">78&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Private War</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">79&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Diamond Mine</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">80&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Big Contract</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">81&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Woman Foe</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">82&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Ruse</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">83&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Pursuit</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">84&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Hidden Gold</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">85&mdash;Buffalo Bill in Mid-air</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">86&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Queer Mission</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">87&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Verdict</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">88&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Ordeal</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">89&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Camp Fires</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">90&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Iron Nerve</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">91&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Rival</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">92&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Lone Hand</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">93&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Sacrifice</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">94&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Thunderbolt</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">95&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Black Fortune</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">96&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Wild Work</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">97&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Yellow Trail</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">98&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Treasure Train</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft2">99&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Bowie Duel</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft">100&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Mystery Man</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft">101&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Bold Play</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft">102&mdash;Buffalo Bill: Peacemaker</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft">103&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Big Surprise</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft">104&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Barricade</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft">105&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Test</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft">106&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Powwow</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft">107&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Stern Justice</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft">108&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Mysterious Friend</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft">109&mdash;Buffalo Bill and the Boomers</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft">110&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Panther Fight</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft">111&mdash;Buffalo Bill and the Overland Mail</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft">112&mdash;Buffalo Bill on the Deadwood Trail</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft">113&mdash;Buffalo Bill in Apache Land</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft">114&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Blindfold Duel</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft">115&mdash;Buffalo Bill and the Lone Camper</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft">116&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Merry War</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft">117&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Star Play</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft">118&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s War Cry</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft">119&mdash;Buffalo Bill on Black Panther’s Trail</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft">120&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Slim Chance</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft">121&mdash;Buffalo Bill Besieged</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft">122&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Bandit Round-up</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft">123&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Surprise Party</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft">124&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Lightning Raid</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft">125&mdash;Buffalo Bill in Mexico</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft">126&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Traitor Foe</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft">127&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Tireless Chase</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft">128&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Boy Bugler</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft">129&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Sure Guess</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft">130&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Record Jump</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft">131&mdash;Buffalo Bill in the Land of Dread</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft">132&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Tangled Clue</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tableft">133&mdash;Buffalo Bill’s Wolf Skin</td><td class="tableftb">By Col. Prentiss Ingraham</td></tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+
+<hr class="tb" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<p class="xxlargefont boldfont center"><span style="padding-left:2.5em"><em>Adventure Stories</em></span><br />
+<span style="padding-left:2em"><em>Detective Stories</em></span><br />
+<span style="padding-left:1.5em"><em>Western Stories</em></span><br />
+<span style="padding-left:0.5em"><em>Love Stories</em></span><br />
+<em>Sea Stories</em></p>
+
+<p>All classes of fiction are to be found among
+the Street &amp; Smith novels. Our line contains
+reading matter for every one, irrespective of age
+or preference.</p>
+
+<p>The person who has only a moderate sum
+to spend on reading matter will find this line
+a veritable gold mine.</p>
+
+<p class="center largefont p1">STREET &amp; SMITH CORPORATION,<br />
+79 Seventh Avenue,<br />
+New York, N. Y.</p>
+</div>
+
+<hr class="tb" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<div class="transnote">
+<h2 id="TN_end" style="margin-top: 0em">Transcriber’s Notes:</h2>
+
+<p>Punctuation has been made consistent.</p>
+
+<p>Variations in spelling and hyphenation were retained as they appear in
+the original publication, except that obvious typographical errors
+have been corrected.</p>
+
+<p>The following changes were made:</p>
+
+<p><a id="Ref_17a" href="#Ref_17">p. 17</a>: when assumed for unintelligible word (volunteer when you were)</p>
+
+<p><a id="Ref_34a" href="#Ref_34">p. 34:</a> means assumed for unintelligible word (wonderful means of)</p>
+
+<p><a id="Ref_69a" href="#Ref_69">p. 69:</a> wise scout assumed for unintelligible words (the wise scout had)</p>
+
+<p><a id="Ref_77a" href="#Ref_77">p. 77:</a> to assumed for unintelligible word (blow to Oak)</p>
+
+<p><a id="Ref_120a" href="#Ref_120">p. 120:</a> done assumed for unintelligible word (was done. It)</p>
+
+<p><a id="Ref_120b" href="#Ref_1201">p. 120:</a> officer assumed for unintelligible word (the officer descried)</p>
+
+<p><a id="Ref_226a" href="#Ref_226">p. 226:</a> flung assumed for unintelligible word (mother flung him)</p>
+
+<p><a id="Ref_228a" href="#Ref_228">p. 228:</a> unintelligible word(s) deleted (he feared and)</p>
+
+<p><a id="Ref_292a" href="#Ref_292">p. 292:</a> a assumed for unintelligible word (seemed a frail)</p>
+
+<p><a id="Ref_306a" href="#Ref_306">p. 306:</a> can assumed for unintelligible word (man can die)</p>
+
+<p><a id="Ref_314a" href="#Ref_314">p. 314:</a> Dick assumed for unintelligible word (And Dick wonderfully)</p>
+</div></div>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
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+</pre>
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+</body>
+</html>
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