fssued Weekly, By subscription $2.50 per year. Entered as Second-class Matter at the N. Y. Post Office, by STREET & SMITH, 79-89 Seventh Ave., NV. Y. No. 252 NEW YORK, MARCH 10, 1906. Price, Five Cents i Hy) Pa Uy fi a j i) eZ L8S5Q000W As the deadly knife was descending the canoe lurched half over and Biting Adder slipped, while Buffalo Bill, turning quickly, caught the redskin’s descending wrist in a grip of iron. g DEVOTED A, WEEKLY. PUBLICATION TO BORDER HISTORY . dssued Weekly. By subscription $2.50 per year. Entered as Second-class Matter at the N. Y. Post Office, by STREET & SMITH, 79-8 Seventh Avenue, N.Y. Entered according to Act of eres tn the year 1906, in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, Washington, D. C. | Beware of Wild West imitations of the Buffalo Bill Stories. They are about fictitious characters. The Buffalo. Bill weekly is the only weekly containing the adventures of Buffalo Bill, os W. F. Cody), who is kaowa all ser ne nee ee ee No. 252. : NEW YORK, March 10, 1906. uffalo Bill and t! Price Five Cents. ie le Redskin izard OR, THE MYSTERY OF BITING ADDER. By the author of “BUFFALO BILL” CHARTER, | THE STRANGE DOOM OF SNAKE TAIL. The red eyes of the huge beast glowed like living coals as it slowly and stealthily approached the sleeping man. The man was a Shoshone Indian, and he was sleeping beside a camp-fire which he had made, one bitter winter night, in the Salmon River Mountains of Idaho. It was in the old days when Idaho was almost wholly given over to wild beasts and wilder men—to the moun- tain lion, the panther, and the grizzly; to the Shoshone and Blackfeet Indians, almost always at war with one another, and to those few hardy white pioneers who have since made the State one of the greatest in the West. The beast stalking the sleeping quarry was a panther of extraordinary size. Hungered by the lack of game common in the winter, it had forgotten its usual fear of mankind, and was intent on killing. The man moved uneasily in his sleep, as if he felt un- _ ‘consciously that some deadly peril was threatening him; but he did not awake. Then the panther, stopping within a few yards of him, crouched for its spring. As its tawny body, shining in the firelight, flashed through the air, the report of a rifle rang out from a small copse of pine-trees near-by. Whizzing true to its mark, the bullet crashed into the brain of the animal, which fell dead on the body of the man it had aimed to slay. The weight of the heavy body and the noise of the gun awoke the Indian instantly. He struggled to his feet, throwing off the dead panther, and drew from his belt ~the tomahawk which he had not laid aside even in his u sleep. He found himself confronted by a tall white man, dressed as a scout, who carried a smoking rifle in his hand. For a moment, suddenly awakened a naturally be- j 2 THE: BUFFALO wildered, the redskin hardly realized what had happened. Uncertainly he lifted his tomahawk, as if he were about to attack the man who had saved his life just in the nick of time, Then his eyes fell on the body of the dead dander and he dropped his tomahawk and seized his knife. This he plunged two or three times into the heart of the animal. “Ush! Dead!” he grunted, in a tone of deep satisfae- tion. “He will trouble Death Horse no more.” ~“T reckon he was dead before you did that, Death Horse,” said the scout, with a laugh. “My bullet settled him just as he was about to settle you.” “Long Hair!” exclaimed the Indian, now recognizing the man who had saved his life. <‘It is you! You killed _ the panther with your rifle—the rifle that never misses! Death Horse owes you his life, and he will be ready to pay the debt if ever the time comes.” “Thanks, Death Horse; but just at present I want noth- ing from you but a bit of supper, if you happen to have any here. I have been on the trail all day, and had no time to hunt.” | “Death Horse has plenty of meat. at the fire for his white brother.” The Shoshone took down some deer meat, which he had hung up on the branch of a near-by tree. With the skill born of long experience in the rough housekeeping of the woods and the forests, he soon had an appetizing meal ready, even brewing a cup of coffee for his guest, the latter supplying the material from a small haversack in which he carried a few of the delicacies needed to sup- plement the hard fare of the forest. Buffalo Bill—for the white scout was none other than the famous border king—ate his meal in a thoughtful si- lence which the redskin—a great chiet among “his own people—was too courteous to interrupt. It was not until he had finished and the Shoshone had handed the peace- pipe to him, that the redskin said: “It is long since I have seen my white brother the great slayer of buffaloes.” “Yes,” on which they had met. “Many moons have passed since my eyes saw the war-chief of the Shoshones at the great peace palaver at Boise City. It was then that a peace was arranged by the white men between the Blackfeet and your people. Has that peace been kept i A frown crossed the stern face of the Shoshone. “The Blackfeet are dogs, Long Hair!” he exclaimed angrily. “They have not kept the agreement they made with us at that palaver. They have hunted game upon our hunting-grounds; they have stolen into our villages ‘and tried to carry away the maidens of the Shoshones for their wives; they have come like thieves in the night and taken the horses from our corrals.” “And what have you done?’ asked ‘Buffalo Bill, who He will prepare it replied Buffalo Bill, recalling the last occasion — ee STORIES. ee full well that in most disputes between Indian tribes there ‘were two sides to the question. “Our young men have called for war, but we have not yet dug up the hatchet that was buried so solemnly at Boise City. There is still peace in the land, but we await only the coming of the spring to make war on the Blackfeet. It is not well to fight in the winter, when the ponies of our warriors can find no grass to éat.” | “The Blackfeet. are a strong nation, Death Horse,” observed Buffalo Bull. The eyes of the Shoshone flashed angrily. “What matters that, Long Hair?” he said. “They have many watriors in their war parties, but the Shoshone are not a tribe of women. The braves who follow Death Horse do not fear to die. They fear nothing —unless it be the spells of Biting Adder, the medicine-man of the Blackfeet.” Buffalo Bill looked at him keenly. “Ah!” he said, after a brief pause. “That is what I want to know about, Death Horse. I have heard of Biting Adder before. I have heard of his great power over the Blackfeet and the other tribes who inhabit this region. Who is he? Why has he so much influence over the red men?—an influence greater than that of any other medi- cine-man I ever heard of, except, perhaps, Sitting Bull.” “No man knows who Biting Adder is, or where he came from,” replied the Shoshone solemnly. S116, is a man of no tribe—of no nation.” “Then he does not belong to the Blackfeet?’ said Buffalo Bill, in surprise. a “No. He came to their lodges only about ren months ago, but he is already their master and ruler. Some say that he is a half-breed Sioux; others that he ‘ comes from some tribe far to the southward. But no man knows.” ¥ “His face should show his race.” ~ “Noman has seen it. It is as the face of a skull, out of which his eyes blaze like the eyes of the anety. grizaly. . bear.” “You mean that he wears a mas; as most edn men do?” "J have not seen him,’ confessed Death Horse. ‘I speak only of what I have heard. They say that his face is as the face of a skull, and that looking at it is like looking at death itself. But I suppose it must he a mask, like those which I have seen when I have traveled away to the eastward to the big settlements of the pale faces.” “Ves, I know you have been a big traveler, Death | Horse, and so you are not so superstitious ds most of your people. Tell me, what do you think of this Biting — Adder and his pretensions to be a great medicine-man — greater than all the rest?’ : Zo A look that was almost one of terror—certainly one of 1 Z decent a { i “with a shudder. ' glance, but his eyes drooped and Ree THE BUFFALO apprehension—crossed the swarthy face of the Shoshone chief. “Long Hair, do not let us speak any evil of Biting Adder!” he appealed. “It is not wise. I have heard many tales of his magical powers. It is said that he can read the thoughts of men and strike them dead by his magical power, even when he is hundreds of miles away from them. “Snake Tail, who was the medicine-man of the Black-. feet when he arrived at their lodges, hated him and se- cretly tried to make the braves tie him to the torture-stake because he was a stranger. Where is Snake Tail now?” “T do not know,” said Buffalo Bill. “I remember him, _ for I knew him when I visited the lodges of the Black- feet. But that was many moons ago. I have heard noth- ing of him since. I suppose he is of little account since this new wizard has taken up his business.” “He has been smitten by the Great Spirit, so that he - is more foolish than a young child,” replied the Shoshone, “There is no longer any sense or wis- dom in him. He is worse than mad—he is an idiot, so that he cannot even eat food or clothe himself without help. He lives among the beasts like a beast, and tries to eat grass and roots.” “That is very strange,’ said Buffalo Bill, looking at Death Horse with the keenest interest. “As I remem- ber Snake Tail, he was a man of exceptionally keen brain. He was the wisest man in council, the best adviser that the Blackfeet ever had. He did not seem to be by any means the kind of man that was likely to go mad.” “It is true. Great Wakantanka had given him many gifts. But now he has taken them all away. Snake Tail, whom they once called the Golden Tongue of the Manitou, now cannot even speak. He can only whine and howl like a beast.” “And how did this come about 2” “Snake Tail opposed ime 2 Adder in the council of - the tribe, after Biting Adder had made the braves see fearful and wonderful things by gazing into the fire. Snake Tail laughed at them, and called the braves chil- dren. Then Biting Adder asked him if he would smoke the pipe of peace with him, and then he would go away and not trouble the tribe any more. Hoping to get rid of him, and not have his power as eee broken, Snake Tail consented. Biting Adder filled the calumet ° and handed it to him.” “And what happened?” asked Buffalo Bill, following the story with eager interest. “A most marvelous thing. As Snake Tail smoked, Bi- ting Adder looked into his eyes as the panther looks when it is about to, spring. Snake Tail tried to meet that closed. His body swayed, and he fell over to the ground. He was fast asleep. At first the braves thought that he was dead, and rushed toward him; but Biting Adder waved them _ Bill, arousing himself from his reverie. BILE STORIES. 3 back. Then he shook Snake Tail violently and com- | manded him to awake. He did so, and—— The Shoshone stopped, and seemed reluctant to go on. with his story. : “Ves?” asked Buffalo Bill eagerly. “My paleface brother will not believe me,” Death Horse muttered. “He will not think that the red man is speaking straight words.” “T will believe you, Death Horse. I have never known you to speak with a forked tongue.” “When Snake Tail awoke, he groveled on the earth © for a time, and then ran round the council ring, growling like an angry dog and trying to bite the warriors. Biting Adder spoke sharply to him, and he ran away into the forest, yelping like a coyote. “That was several moons ago. He has lived in the woods’nearly all the time since then, seldom going into his own village. The Manitou, through Biting Adder, smote him with madness, so that he thinks he is a beast of the forest and prefers to dwell among beasts rather than among men.” Buffalo Bill looked into the fire thoughtfully, and smoked in silence for some time. “Tt is as I said,” muttered the redskin bitterly. “The paleface thinks the Shoshone is a liar. But Death Horse has repeated only what he was told by Blackfeet braves. He did not see this thing happen. Yet he has seen Snake Tail living in the forest when he was out hunting.” : “I am quite willing to believe the story,” said Buffalo “Tt is not the first of the kind I have heard, Death Horse. I knew of a similar case when I lived far to the southward, beyond the hunting-grounds of the Apaches and the big river that bounds the dominions of the Great White Father—the river that we white men call the Rio Grande.” Buffalo Bill was thinking of a strange case he had once known of when he was down in Mexico, several years before; and it seemed to him that it might possibly afford a clue to the extraordinary malady that had at- tacked the medicine-man of the Blackfeet. “Tong Hair is very wise,” said the Shoshone. “He is wise with the learning of the paleface and the lore of the Indian. But he cannot tell what has befallen Snake Tail. He cannot tell how Biting Adder gains his great power. It comes ftom Great Wakantanka himself, whose will no man can question.” “Tt seems more as if it came from the Evil Spirit,” re- plied Buffalo Bill, with a strange smile. “I am not so sure that I don’t understand ee at least about it, Death Horse. “Anyhow, I intend to go to the villages of the Black- feet and find Biting Adder and make trial of his powers myself. I will Ses: him to use them on me, and see what he can do.” 4 THE BUFFALO The Shoshone sprang to his feet in sheer consterna- tron . “Long Hair, you are my friend,” he exclaimed. ‘You “saved me from the panther. We have spoken together more than once with naked hearts, as brothers should speak. Do not do this thing! I beg it of you in the name of our friendship—in the name of the Great Spirit! It will mean your death—or, worse, it ee mean that you will become even as Snake Tail is now.” “Your words cannot move me, Death Horse. I am bound to seek out Biting Adder and find out all I can about him. It is an order given to me as a servant of the Great White Father. If I disobey, 1 am dishon- ored.” The Shoshone shook his head sorrowfully. He had a sincere regard for Buffalo Bill, and was grateful to him for having saved his life only a brief hour before. Now he feared that, unwittingly, he was sending him into deadly peril by means of his story. “Do not fear,” said the king of the scouts, observing his distress. “I do not think Biting Adder will have any power to harm me. I believe I know what he did to snake Tail, and how to guard against it. I have a strong medicine of my own.” “But not strong enough for Biting Adder. I will con- fess to you, Long Hair, that we should have taken the war-path against the Blackfeet long ago, if it had not been for fear of Biting Adder’s magic arts. The tale of them has turned the hearts of many of our warriors to water.” “I am not surprised to hear that. He must be a very remarkable man. The story of his doings has even reached the ears of the Great White Father, and he has ordered me to find out all I can about him and his power over the tribes in this region. It is feared that he will stir the red men up to fight against the palefaces in the settlements. Do you think that is likely, Death Horse?” “Yes. The young braves of the Blackfeet talk of war with the palefaces, and it is said that Biting Adder en- courages them. But for the thought that my people would attack their villages when their war-parties were away, they might have raided the settlements long ago.” “T am now traveling to the lodges of the Blackfeet,” said Buffalo Bill. ‘That is how it was I happened to be coming through this wood just in time to save you from - that panther.” “Will Long Hair come with Death Horse to his own lodge and stay for a season with his people?’ said the Shoshone hospitably. “He will be as welcome as the rain in the dry season, or a herd of elk when the panes and the papooses are starving in the winter.” Buffalo Bill declined the invitation politely. “Our ways must part in the morning, Death Horse,” he said. “I want to reach the Blackfeet as soon as I can. After I have talked with Biting Adder and the chiefs of their great medicine-man, Biting Adder. BILL STORIES. the tribe, I a Pay you a visit and tell you what has happened to me.’ | “T fear you will never come back, Long Hair,” Death Horse, shaking his head dolefully. The two men, after a little more conversation, retired to rest for the night, standing guard by turns, as they thought it possible that the mate of the panther Buffalo Bill had shot might be prowling around the camp. There was no further alarm, however. said In the morning, after they had eaten breakfast, they parted—the Shoshone going toward his own village and Buffalo Bill heading toward the winter lodges of the Blackfeet. CHAPTER II. BITING ADDER COWS TALL BEAR. Tall Bear, the paramount chief of the Blackfeet, had established the winter quarters of his tribe on the banks of the Snake River, where fish were to be caught in plenty all through the cold months by simply breaking the ice. Game, too, was fairly plentiful in the forests that clothed the slopes of the mountains near-by. A location so well situated for the procuring of food was very necessary for the winter home of such a numer- ous tribe as the Blackfeet. Tall Bear’s own village num- bered some three hundred tepees, and there were four other villages within a short distance which, though under the direct control of other chiefs, still owned his sway as the paramount chief of the Blackfeet nation. The women were busy outside the lodges in the village, drying the fish that had just been caught in the river by some of the young braves. It had been a good winter for the Blackfeet. They had not had to endure at any time the scarcity of food—sometimes amounting to actual starvation—which afflicted most Indian tribes at that sea- son before the government established them on the reser- vations and gave them rations in time of need. They ascribed their good luck to the magical power of It was he, they thought, who made the fish come into the nets of the braves and made the elk and the deer fall victim to their. arrows and snares. Nevertheless, the Blackfeet feared Biting Adder rather than loved him. The children fled from him when he stalked through the village, and even hardy warriors— men who would have faced even a grizzly bear single- handed without fear—trembled when his baleful glance fell upon them. Nor would this have been strange even among ‘a ieee superstitious people than the Blackfeet. Biting Adder had done many things to make the people fear him. The madness of Snake Tail, which the Shoshone had related to Buffalo Bill quite truthfully, was only one of Other men who had opposed Biting Ad- — these things. THE BUFFALO : _ der had also been driven mad. The wizard had con- sented to cure some of them after a time, but others still remained insane. The magician, wielding a remarkable mesmeric power, could make the men and women of the tribe imagine that they saw whatever he wished them to see. He had gained a wonderful power over Tall Bear himself in this manner, making him look into his lodge fire until he hypnotized himself, and then thought that he saw his dead wife and the face of his eldest son, who had, been killed long since in battle with the Pawnees. While the women were drying fish,:three days after Buffalo Bill’s encounter with Death Horse, the skin door of Biting Adder’s tepee was flung open, and the wizard himself stepped out and walked, with a slow and measured step, through the two lines of wigwams that formed the principal street of Tall Bear’s village. He was a man who would have instantly attracted at- tention even if he had not been dressed in the weird and terrifying costume of the medicine-man. He was nearly six feet and a half in height, and of magnificent build. Among a tribe of tall and strong men, he was the tallest and the strongest. But it was not his physical powers that gave him .his absolute sway over the people, even over the chief himself. His eyes were the most remarkable thing about him, and they were the only features of his face that the Black- feet had ever seen. They were the only features revealed now, as he walked through the village. The face of the man was like that of a skull, the illu- sion being produced by a remarkably clever mask which leit only the eyes visible. : Those eyes alone might well have explained the won- erful power which the medicine-man wielded over the simple and superstitious pron among whom he had cast his lot. They shone out from the mask with a black and for- bidding intensity that pierced straight into the soul of the man who looked into them. “And tell him that I like him not, Marwa. He has thought evil in his heart of me. I have seen it in his eyes. Let him beware that I make him not as I have made others.” | : Biting Adder passed on, leaving the woman trembling like an aspen-leaf. At the end of the village the wizard met Tall Bear, the chief. This man, who held authority over a great tribe, whose name was known among all the Indian tribes as that of a great warrior, quiailed before him much as the women had done. He tried to pass on, but Biting Adder stopped him with an imperious gesture. “Stay, Tall Bear!’ he commanded. with you.” -Tall Bear halted before him, striving in vain to main- tain that air of dignity which befitted his position. ‘What has Biting Adder to say to Tall Bear?’ he asked, his tone trembling in spite of all his efforts. « “Biting Adder thinks that he will leave the Blackfeet and go back to his own people in the south,” said the wizard. “They have been ungrateful to him for many days. They have not cared for all that he has done for them. They have murmured in their hearts against him. “He has brought to them the fish and the beasts of the forest, when they might have perished of hunger but for him. He cares nothing for their ingratitude—nothing for their foolishness. He will leave them and take the bless- ing of the Great Manitou to another tribe.” Tall Bear’s swarthy face fairly shone with delight. There was nothing that would please him better than the departure of this sinister man, who had made his own authority over the tribe a mere mockery. But Biting Adder had not yet finished. “And when Biting Adder goes,’ he went on, “there will no longer be any good fortune for the Blackfeet. The face of Great Wakantanka will be turned from them. The crops that have been planted for the spring time will surely fail. The fish will go down the river, and the nets “T would ee 6 THE BUFFALO of the braves will be empty when they are drawn up through the ice. The forests will be searched in vain, but no game will be found. , The Shoshones will send out their strong war-parties, and the hearts of the Blackfeet will a them when they try to meet their ancient en- emies.’ _ This was too much for the naturally bone and brave spirit of the chief of the Blackfeet. “That cannot be, Biting Adder,” he exclaimed angrily, placing his hand instinctively upon the tomahawk in his belt. “The hearts of the Blackfeet have never failed them, and they never will. Let the Great Manitou send upon us all the evils that he desires. We must bow to his will. But we will face them like brave men, and if the Shoshones come we will meet them as warriors should, even without the aid of your magic arts.” The eyes of the medicine-man looked viciously out from his mask, but he replied in a voice of ominous calmness : “Who can withstand the will of Great Wakantanka? If he says—through me, his servant—that the Blackfeet ate to become a squaw people who no longer dare to lift the tomahawk against their foes, that they surely will become. And I, Biting Adder, will go from the people who have not loved me, and they shall be the slaves of all the other tribes. Biting Adder has said it, and so it shall be.” ' Tall Bear still looked mutinous. Anything but this he would have been prepared to believe from the wizard who had enslaved his mind and spirit, but he had led his watriors to battle so often, and seen them fight so well, that he could not possibly believe they would ever become cowards. Biting Adder, whose disses profession had ee made him a keen reader of faces, saw this; and he knew that he must use those hypnotic powers which had already given him such a great control over the chief. He took a bright metal disk from the wampum pouch in his belt and held it up so that the light of the sun fell straight upon it, making it shine like a burning-glass. “Look into my eyes!’ he commanded sternly, Tall Bear hesitated, and the order was repeated. Then he did so. Almost immediately he felt his senses reel under the fiery gaze of Biting Adder, but he heard, as if he were in a dream, the voice of the wizard saying: “Look upon the metal on which the sun—the eye of (7? the Great Spirit—shines! Tall Bear transferred his gaze as he was bidden. ‘The figure of the wizard faded from his view, and he saw in place of him a cloud of smoke that swirled and eddied around his face. He fell to the ground, almost fainting; but the smoke cloud. Snes to follow him down and envelop him. He tried to shut his eyes, but could not—so compelling | was the mesmeric power of Biting Adder. ‘At last the BILL SEORCES. cloud thinned in the center, and Tall Bear saw—or, rather, thought that he saw—a number of figures of braves en- gaged in deadly battle. They were small at first, but they grew larger and larger, until they were life-size. .. With a feeling of horror utterly foreign to his brave, savage nature, he saw that these figures were those of Blackfeet and Shoshone braves, fighting hand to hand with cold steel—with knives, tomahawks, and lances. There was nothing in this. It was merely what had happened over and over again in his own experience. had taken part in a score of such fights since his a hood. But what horrified him now was that the Blackfeet in his dream-picture were not only being defeated, but were exhibiting absolute cowardice. He saw one after another of his braves—whose faces he could recognize—giving “back from the fight, flinching from the enemy, and even turning their backs and running away in abject terror. Worse than all, he saw himself—Tall Bear, the hero of the Blackfeet nation—throwing away his weapons and leading the craven rout. Gasping and shuddering, Tall Bear hid his face in his hands and shut out the horrible picture. “Look up!” said Biting Adder grimly. Slowly and unwillingly Tall Bear did so. The smoke cloud had cleared away, and he saw only the black, evil, unholy eyes of the wizard gleaming out from the skull-like mask. “You have seen?” The chief nodded. He could not speak. “What you have seen is that which will surely happen within the space of one short moon, unless Biting Adder remains with the Blackfeet and averts their doom by his magic arts. And Biting Adder is going away. He is leaving the village now—to return no more.” Only a few moments before Tall Bear had heard this _ announcement with the keenest pleasure. Now he shud- dered at it. He rose to his feet unsteadily and clasped the medicine- man eagerly by the arm. : “Do not go, Biting Adder!’ he implored. “Stay here ok here!—and all that the Blackfeet have shall be yours.” Biting Adder’s eyes shone ch an evil dump He had counted on reducing the chief to abject submission to his will in just this manner, and he had succeeded tri- umphantly. But he was not going to grant the request so easily. He would play on Tall Bear’s fears a little longer. “I will not stay,” he declared harshly. “The Blackfeet have not treated me as the messenger of the Great Manitou should be treated. Many of your braves hate me—even you, Tall Bear, have thought evil of me in your heart. I go to another tribe! It may be that the Great Manitou will direct my steps to the Shoshones.” He 3 Sayre strong spirit of the chief of the Blackfeet. .This last veiled threat was too much even for the stern, Releasing his hold upon the medicine-man’s arm, he groveled at his 4 feet, beseeching him in the most abject pe eee to re-— ~~ main with his tribe. For some time Biting Adder let him cringe and beg. Then he said, slowly and with apparent reluctance: “Be it so! I will go to the medicine-lodge, and talk in prayer with the Great Spirit. I will entreat him to par- _ don the sins of the Blackfeet against his messenger. Await me here. De-not stir a step until I return. I will deliver to you soon the words of Wakantanka, the — Manitou.” Biting Adder turned on his heel and left the great war- chief of the Blackfeet standing there like a whipped cur. With his usual slow and stately dignity, he retraced his steps through the village until he came to the medi- cine-lodge, which was situated close to his own tepee. - He lifted the curtain of brightly colored and gaily orna- mented blankets which masked the entrance, and entered the lodge. Hardly had he done so when a white man rose from a clump of bushes near-by the place where Tall Bear was standing, and approached the chief. “Tong Hair!’ gasped the Indian. you see? Did you hear?” “Ves,” replied the king of the scouts gravely and alate “T saw and I heard all. My heart was bitter within me at the sight of a great chief lying on the ground and crying like a papoose or a cowardly Moqui.” Tall Bear’s face flushed with shame. Now that Biting Adder had gone, and those terrible eyes were no longer fixed upon him, he began to realize in what a shameful way he had acted. Buffalo Bill waited for him to speak, but he had fo ing to say. He could not meet the calm, fearless eyes of the scout any better than he had done those of the wizard.. Yet he and Cody had been good friends. They had gone on the hunt together more than once, and had “You here! Did _even faced death side by side when attacked by an enraged she grizzly whose cub the redskin had shot. “Has Tall Bear no word to say?” dernanded ue king of the scouts. ; Tall Bear sadly shook his head. “Then Long Hair will speak, and he will speak to the purpose. Is it not true that Biting Adder, with his bad medicine, has turned the hearts of the Blackfeet to water, so that they do all that he tells them, whether it be good Orbaae’ . [ i Aye; > As true.” “What was it that made Tall Bear fall upon the eround and howl in agony, like a dog that had been flogged?” “Tall Bear saw himself and his warriors running away in terror before the Shoshones. He saw it in the smoke cloud that Biting Adder. raised before his eyes.” THE BUFFALO BILL STORIES. 4 “There was no smoke cloud.. Long Hair was watch- ing. He saw only a frightened man crouching on the ground, and a cunning man bending over him and looking into -his eyes.” ae : “No smoke cloud!” The Blackfeet chief looked at Buffalo Bill in blank amazement. He knew that the great scout always spoke the teuth, but he could not understand this thing, so powerful had been the realism of his hypnotic dream. “There was no smoke cloud,” Cody repeated, with a calm certainty that brought conviction even to the clouded, superstitious mind of Tall Bear. Blackfeet saw only what Biting Adder wished him to see —what Biting Adder put into his mind. “By his bad medicine the wizard can put such thoughts into the hearts of men. It is often done among the pale- faces. There is nothing new in it. I have seen it done before in the great settlements in the East. But it is not true. It is only an evil dream, sent by the Bad Spirit.” “Not true!’ exclaimed the chief, the light of hope springing to his eyes. “But how does Long Hair know that? Biting Adder is a great medicine-man, and what he says is to be will surely come to pass.” “Nay, Tail Bear, it is not so. Biting Adder does not speak the words of the Great Manitou. He is a liar in his heart, but a clever liar who has deceived the Black- feat. Tall Bear shuddered at these audacious words, and looked in horror at the scout, as if he expected him to fall dead—smitten by the magic arts of the» dreaded wizard, : _ Buffalo Bill understood the thought that was. passing through his mind. “See!” he said, smiling. “Is it not said that Biting Ad- der can read the thoughts of men and punish them when they even dream evil of him? But what does he know of me? He is in his medicine-lodge, and he does not ¢ even know that I am here talking to you.” “Biting Adder will surely punish | Ne muttered the red- skin. “But what can he do? My eyes have seen you facing death calmly and bravely, Tall Bear. What can you fear that i is worse than death?” “The doom of Snake Tail—the doom of others whom _ Biting Adder has robbed of the light of reason given to them by the Great Manitou, so that nia have become as beasts.” Buffalo Bill had expected this answer, and he” was ready for it. “T know of that,” he replied. “I Grow how Biting Adder has done it. Tell me, Tall Bear, have any of those men who were made mad recovered Her reason?” “Some have—but they were all restored by Biting Adder himself. Those whom S will should remain mad are still mad, as Snake Tail i is.’ “The chief of the Buffalo Bill looked delighted when he heard this, and he chuckled loudly. “Well, Tall Bear, I will cure the rest,” he said con- fidently. “Will you call a council of the tribe to-night, and invite Biting Adder to attend it? Give any excuse you can think of. You can easily find one, can’t you?” “Yes,” replied the chief uncertainly. “But what will happen?” “T will be there, and I will have some good redueine that will be stronger than Biting Adder’s bad medicine. Or, rather, I will make Biting Adder give me the good medicine himself.” Tall Bear looked at Buffalo Bill uncomprehendingly, but the scout’s calm and confident manner impressed him, in spite of himself. He knew of the border king’s great deeds, and had seen some of them himself. It was possi- ble that he would prove a'match even for the dreaded medicine-man—though that seemed almost too good to be true. “T will trust you, Long Hair.” he said. “TI will trust you, even though I risk being made as Snake Tail is. But go now. Biting Adder may be back at any moment, and it is not well that he find you here talking with me. Go, now, and come to the council-fire to-night, when you see it lighted in the center of the village.” Buffalo Bill nodded assent, and disappeared immedi- ately into the clump of bushes in which he had previously been hiding. , Hardly had he concealed himself safely, when the door of the medicine-lodge opened, and the medicine-man ap- peared and walked back to the spot where Tall Bear was awaiting him. CHAPTER III. . THREATS OF DEATH. The chief awaited him in silence. The words of greeting that he would have given were frozen on his lips when he saw again those baleful eyes fixed upon him. Yet Tall Bear was no fool, although he was as super- stitious as the rest of his people. He was keen enough to perceive that Biting Adder seemed to have not the slightest idea of the appearance of Buffalo Bill, or of the conversation that had taken place during -his ab- sence, “Biting Adder He spoken with the Great Manitou,” said the medicine-man, speaking with all the solemnity he could command, “and these are the words that he has been ee to speak to the Blackfeet at the council-fire to-night— “At the council-fire to-night!” said Tall Bear, in sur- prise, wondering if Biting Adder, after all, did know of his talk with Buffalo Bill. “But no council has been called together for to-night! Tall Bear has given no. orders to sound the tom-tom and call the braves together.”. THE BUFFALO BILL STORIES. “Then Tall Bear must do so. Great Spirit.” Inwardly, Tall Bear chuckled with delight This wont save him the need of inventing an excuse, as he had promised Cody he would do. “The council shall be called at once,” he said. what is the will of the Great Spirit ?” “Tt is commanded that the men who have speie evil: of the Manitou’s messenger shall be punished—that they shall be tied to trees in the forest and left there to die of hunger, or by the claws and teeth of wild beasts.” The medicine-man’s black eyes glowed with a more evil light than ever as he said these words. Tall Bear looked much disturbed, as well he might. , Who are these men?” he asked anxiously. “There are many of them, but Biting Adder prayed to the Manitou to pardon them; and the lives of ony three: will be demanded.” “And they are?” “Black Hawk, Yellow Leg, and Lame Dog.” In spite of his stoical training, Tall Bear could not help - giving acry of horror. Black Hawk was his own younger brother, and Yellow Leg and Lame Dog were two of his. best warriors and closest friends. “This cannot be, Biting Adder,” he said, in a tone of decision such as he had not used to the medicine- “man for many a long day. “Tt must and ‘shall be!’ hissed the other “Tt is the wil of the Manitou. Dare Tall Bear oppose it? But do not answer me now. You can think over it until the council meets to-night. And you can think, too, of the fate which befell Snake Tail when he opposed me! of the Blackfeet is not stronger than the messenger of Wakantanka.” “The council shall be cnied’ ” Tall Bear replied faintly. “The council must decide. Though I am the chief, I have no power of my own will to order the death of a watrior.” _ Biting Adder knew that this was quite true, according to the demotratic principles of Indian law. He was will- ing to leave the matter to the council. He thought he could rule it even more easily than he had ruled the chief himself. impressive. Warning Tall Bear to issue the summons for the coun- cil without delay, he went back to'his lodge to gloat over his coming revenge and plan out other evil schemes for. still further strengthening his hold over the tribe. ! Tall Bear, sick at heart, waited until he was safely out of the way, and then went in search of Black Hawk, Yel- low Leg, and Lame Dog, to inform them of their danger and tell them of the hope of breaking the wizard’s power — which Buffalo Bill had held out to him. He was fully. \ & Biting Adder would speak to the braves the words delivered to him ae ‘the “But Even the chief And he wished to secure his vengeance in the most public. way possible, and ey make it the more ince (GELS SS 7 ii 1 i i! il resolved now to back up any plan of the scout’s by all the means in his power. He had had more than enough of the medicine-man’s tyranny. Anything was better than being a slave in the teibe ¢ over which we was supposed to be chief. The first of the three men whom he met was his: brother. He went straight to the point and told him what Biting Adder had said. Black Hawk flew up in the air at once. He was a stalwart young brave of greater intelligence than the average Indian, and far less superstitious. He had never submitted to the domination of Biting Adder —hence the hatred in which the medicine-man held him. His face was cofivulsed with anger when he heard _ what Tall Bear had to say. “I will cleave his skull with my a he cried angrily. “I will kill him by the council-fire to- -night. Are the Blackfeet to be dogs before this man?” Tall Bear tried to calm him by telling him of Buffalo Bill’s promise. © Is at for the Blackfeet to depend on a paleface to rescue them from this man?” demanded the young brave. angrily. “My knife has taken the scaips of many war-. riors. It can take the scalp of Biting Adder.” “Remember the fate of Snake Tail!” said ae chief warningly, Black Hawk was about to reply hotly when Buffalo Bill rose up from the long grass near-by the spot where the two men were speaking. _ True to the training of years, both of the Blackfeet were | instantly attracted by the slight noise which he made in moving, as he had intended that they should be. They wheeled around and confronted him. , Puffalo Bill sank down in the grass again, but not before he had made a sign to Black Hawk to cautiously approach the place where he was lying. The Indian, with all the craft of his race, did not move at once; for he knew that Biting Adder or-one of his spies might: be watching him. He continued to talk for a few minutes with his brother, and then saunteréd F carelessly toward Buffalo Bill’s hiding-place. He was much too cunning to bend down and talk with the scout. He stood erect and looked over toward the horizon, but he was standing by Buffalo Bill’s side and listening intently to the words the scout whispered up to him. They were evidently of a startling nature, for the In- dian’s usually impassive face showed first amazement, and then as much amusement as his redskin nature was ca- pable of. Buffalo Bill finished by asking him a question, to which he replied under his breath, still looking away: “It is good. Black Hawk will obey Long Hair.” Black Hawk returned to his brother, and together they THE BUREALO. BILL STORIES. oF 9 went through the village, speaking to such of the braves © as they thought they could depend upon to join in a ee against Biting Adder’s tyranny. Buffalo Bill meanwhile, with infinite caution, crawled back to his shelter in the wood, and concealed himself carefully there to await the approach of night af the lighting of the council-fire. He did not wish his presence to become known to Biting Adder until the proper moment. CHAPTER IN, AT THE COUNCIL-FIRE. Naturally, there was great excitement in the Blackfeet village when the council-drum was beaten, and it was known that Biting Adder had demanded the sacrifice of three of the chief braves of the tribe—men who had often distinguished themselves in battle and taken many scalps. So great was the hold which the wizard had gained over the credulous people, that most of them were in favor of. giving way to his demand as soon as they heard of it. The squaws all urged their lords to agree with him in. the council, and there were only a few of the bravest-. hearted warriors who determined to stick by their ‘com- rades to the last, whatever fate might befall them. When the chiefs and braves were called together at last around the great council-fire, they made a picture of savage life that would have delighted the heart of a painter. All of them wore their finest robes and trappings, decked with the teeth of animals they had killed, with wampum, beads, and quills. Their dusky, sternly lined faces were set as rigidly as if carved out of stone. The savage passions that surged in their hearts were not be- trayed in their looks. Even the men whose lives were at stake were as calm and composed as the rest. They sat together with their few supporters as near to them as possible. Biting Adder was the last to arrive at the council. He waited in his medicine-lodge until all the warriors were assembled, and had commenced the solemn chant of invo- cation to the Great Manitou which opened their delibera- tions. Then the wizard walked into the circle, looking straight ahead of him, as if he were in a dream and appearing to notice none of the men seated there. He bore in his hand _the great medicine calumet, or pipe, which was one of the symbols of his office. . Like the others assembled there, he had his knife . and tomahawk in his belt. Those were the only weapons allowed to be worn in council, according to me cae of the Blackfeet nation. “He is communing with the Great Spirit, 2 suiieered one of the braves fearfully, when he noted the dreamy, far- away look in the eyes of the medicine-man. 10. The chant ceased, and there was an intense silence all around the council- -ring. Not a brave spoke for several minutes. — Biting Adder. halted in the center of the circle, and stood there with erect form and expressionless gaze, star- ing into the blazing fire. When the silence and suspense had begun to try even the iron nerves of those stern warriors, Tall Bo arose and said: ' “It was the wish of Biting Adder that the council should be called. It has been opened, and we have asked the Great Spirit to give us wisdom to decide rightly. Let ( THE BUFFALO BILL STORIES. Biting Adder speak the message which he says the Great Spirit has put into his mouth to give to His children, the Blackfeet.” As he ceased, Tall Bear cast a swift glance around, hoping to see something of Buffalo Bill; but he was disap- pointed. The king of the scouts was nowhere in sight. Biting Adder aroused himself from his reverie, and turned to Tall Bear. His eyes blazed ou from his skull mask with all their accustomed fire. “Listen to the words of the Great Spirit!” he thun- dered. ‘‘They are given by the mouth of His prophet Biting Adder, and he who disobeys them will be smitten with madness, even as Snake Tail and others have been smitten. “Great Wakantanka is angry with His children the Blackfeet, because they have thought evil in their hearts of the prophet that He sent to them. He demands a sac- rifice—the lives of Black Hawk, Yellow Leg, and Lame Dog, who are the worst offenders. They must be tied to trees in the forest and left there to -perish. “The Great Spirit has whispered in the ear of His prophet, and Biting Adder has repeated His words. Let His will be done at once, lest worse things follow. Biting Adder has spoken.” — _ The medicine-man sat down in the center of the circle and filled his huge calumet from his wampum pouch. But he did not light it. He placed it on the ground beside him and looked expectantly at the braves. aoe Tall Bear rose to the occasion and showed a spirit worthy of his reputation as a great chief. He had got over his superstitious terror of Biting Adder, and he spoke out boldly : ; “It cannot be the will of the Great Manitou that His children should blacken their faces in the eyes of the other tribes by killing three of their best braves. The Blackfeet will sacrifice only their enemies, so long as Tall Bear is chief over them. Biting Adder speaks with a forked tongue. ‘He gives us his own words—not those of the Good Spirit.” _ There was a gasp of amazement and horror from many of the braves at these words, It was the first time in many months that the medicine-man had been so boldly defied. Biting Adder himseif was plainly staggered. He had fo & thought, after what had happened earlier in the day, that his control over the chief was complete. This revolt was unlooked for, and for a moment he did not cuit know how to meet it. Tall Bear, seeing that he was not ‘mediately struck dead or insane, took courage to become even more de- fant. “Let Biting Adder prove the truth of his words with his tomahawk,” he said. “Let him fight me, hand to hand, before all the braves. If the Great Spirit is with’ him, he will surely conquer. I, Tall Bear, stand ie for the test.” The chief stood erect, tomahawk in hand, gazing with steady defiance at the medicine-man. Biting Adder was almost choking with rage, the more so because he found that he could no longer control Tall Bear with his baleful eyes. Nobody can be hypnotized against his will, and the chief was now fully determined to resist. oe A great clamor arose in the council, most of the braves leaping to their feet and talking excitedly. Some took the side of the medicine-man and others that of his oppo- nent. Black Hawk, Lame Dog, and Yellow Leg furi- ously challenged Biting Adder or any of his followers to fight with them. It seemed as if a dozen duels would break out at once, but Biting Adder suddenly stilled the tumult by raising his hand with the authoritative gesture they all knew so well. The braves stopped their quarreling and listened in the keenest excitement to see what answer he would have to make to Tall Bear’s challenge. He had got the better of his passion, and he had not the slightest intention of fighting. Although he was phys- ically a very powerful man, he knew he was no match for Tall Bear with the tomahawk, and that his charlatan’s | tricks would be of no avail against cold steel. — | “Impious man!” he said. “Would you lift your hand against the prophet of the Great Spirit? It is not lawful for a medicine-man to fight, as you know well. “Biting Adder refuses your challenge, but he gives you one of his own. He will smoke the medicine- -pipe, and you shall smoke it afterward. If no harm comes to you, Biting Adder will admit that he lied, and he will ask no longer for the lives of the three braves. But if the Great Spirit shows His wrath when you try to smoke His pipe, then all must say that Biting Adder has spoken straight words.” - Most of the braves cried out that this ordeal. was fair. Only a few still clamored to have the matter decided Py cold steel. Tall Bear himself turned ae beneath his dusky skin. He was honestly afraid of that pipe, for he remembered how Snake Tail had instantly gone mad after smoking it. “The great chief fears to do this thing?” said oS Adder, with a sneer. “Tall Bear fears nothing. His heart is open in the sight of the Manitou. But Biting Adder must smoke first. The chief was inwardly quaking with dread, but he felt that anything would be better than to admit before his warriors that he was afraid. “Good!” remarked Biting Adder, picking up a blazing brand from the fire. He lit the pipe and smoked calmly, the braves gazing at him in complete silence, Nothing happened. When he had finished, he knocked the ashes out of the capacious bowl, refilled the pipe from his pouch, and handed it to his oe “Now Tall Bear will smoke,” he said, with the look of a fiend in his large black eyes. Tall Bear took the pipe with a hand that trembled in spite of himself. He was about to light it, when Buffalo Bill suddenly rushed into the circle, knocking aside two braves as he did so. With a quick movement he snatched the pipe from the chief’s hand. “You shall not smoke!’ he cried. CHAPTER V. BITING ADDERS FANGS ARE DRAWN. The braves were so amazed by the sudden appearance | of the king of the scouts that for a few moments not one of them moved or spoke, , Biting Adder was the first to recover his wits. With a snarl of rage he snatched the knife from his belt and made a rush at Buffalo Bill. He staggered back with equal quickness, for he found himself confronted by the leveled revolver of the king of the scouts. Cody said no word, but the stern threat in his eyes was plain enough. In obedience to it, the medicine-man dropped the knife and resumed his seat on the ground. He had no wish to have his brains blown out, and he was sensible enough to see that the white man was not to be trifled with. Buffalo Bill offered him the pipe which he held in his left hand, still keeping him covered with the revolver in his right. “Smoke !” he commanded. , Shaking like a leaf, the wizard refused to take the pipe. “Smoke!” the cok repeated. you dead!” ‘Biting Adder slowly took the pipe, but the moment his hand touched it he dropped over in a dead faint. - The braves were spellbound by this strange sight. Why was the medicine-man so afraid to smoke the pipe “Smoke, or I will shoot now, when he had smoked it calmly a few moments be- - fore? That was the thought in everybody’s mind. e THE BUFFALO BILL STORIES. © is - Buffalo Bill alone possessed the clue. He put his re- ‘volver in his belt, turned to the braves, who had hud- dled together in a frightened crowd, and raised his hand / to command silence. “Listen, Blackfeet!’ he said. “Some of you know me, and know that I always speak straight words. I am Long Hair, and I have come to you as a messenger from the Great White Father. He has heard with sorrow that you have suffered yourselves to be led astray by the tricks of a false medicine-man. He has sent me to tell you the truth. “You saw that Biting Adder would not smoke the pipe. I can tell you why. He knew that it would drive him mad, as. it has driven Snake Tail and others.” . said Lame “But Biting Adder smoked the pipe before,” Dog wonderingly. “Yes, it was filled with good tobacco then. It could do him no hurt. But when he filled it again to give it to Tall Bear he filled it with an evil weed that makes men worse than the beasts—that makes them madder than even the bad fire-water of the paleface traders. He dared not smoke it, for he knew it would make him like Snake ‘Eaile ‘ Buffalo Bill bent over the prostrate and deneclecs body of the medicine-man, and took his wampum pouch from the belt to which it was attached. He opened it, and beckoned to several of the braves , to approach. They did so with some apprehension, for they had come to regard him as a mightier wizard than Biting Adder. The scout opened the pouch and showed them that it was divided into two compartments. One was filled with tobacco, the other with a finely cut green weed! which they had never seen before. “T have seen this weed in the country to the south of the Great Plains,’ he said. “It is used among the tribes in Mexico, and they call it ‘the insane root.’ They use it to make their enemies mad. “Sometimes they give it to them in their food or drink, but more often in a pipe, just as Biting Adder has done. He must have lived among those people, and learned their secret. That is how he has been able to drive men mad and make you foolish ones believe in him.” At first the Blackfeet were so stunned by this revelation that they could hardly understand it. But when Buffalo Bill repeated his explanation in terms suited to their knowledge and intelligence, they gave a roar of unbridled rage. Realizing that they had been tricked, they were keen to have revenge. Black Hawk drew his tomahawk and rushed toward the unconscious medicine-man, intent on braining him, : Buffalo Bill caught the young brave in an iron grip and flung him backward. “Stop!” he commanded. “Biting Adder must live— ‘for a time, at all events.” ie “Why?” Tall Bear demanded. “He deserves death, but it should not be easy.” “Fle must live, because he possesses another drug which can cure the men he has made mad. I have none of it. He must be forced to give itup. Then Snake Tail and the others who have ea driven insane will become sound and healthy again.” “How does Long Hair know that he has it?” Tall Bear asked, “Because you told me that he cured some of those whom he drove crazy. He could not have done that unless he had the antidote—the drug that cures—as well as this ‘insane root.’ ” Even Black Hawk, enraged as he was against the medi- cine-man, saw the force of this, and put away the toma- hawk which he had still kept tightly clutched in his hand while Cody was speaking. The scout bent over Biting Adder, and saw that he had recovered consciousness. He was shamming, now, being afraid that he would be killed as soon as he rose to his feet. “Get up!” commanded Cody, kicking his soundly. “If you don’t I'll put a bullet through you where you lie.” Biting Adder obeyed, in evident fear. altered man. All his domineering manner had gone, and he cringed in terror before the braves over whom he had once ruled so tyrannically. Buffalo Bill asked him sternly for the antidote. He said at first that he had none, but when the scout made it plain that he must give it up at once or have his brains blown out, he surrendered it. ‘Buffalo Bill examined it carefully, and saw that it was the genuine antidote, which he had seen when he was in Mexico. The Blackfeet, as soon as they were sure of this, re- newed their clamor for the immediate death of the medi- cine-man; but Tall Bear commanded that he be bound and carefully guarded in his own medicine-lodge. In the morning he would be shot to death with arrows in the presence of the entire tribe. Buffalo Bill raised no objection to this sentence, the justice of which he could not but recognize. It was true that the man had not been guilty of murder, but he had done worse in robbing his poor victims of their reason. Besides, Tall Bear had a perfect right to administer jus- tice among his own people without interference. When he heard his doom pronounced, Biting Adder’s small remnant of dignity and courage left him entirely. He groveled on the ground and begged for mercy, but he was instantly seized by several brawny braves, who tied him hand and foot, handling him pretty Hoey) as they did so. Suddenly a wild scream was'heard, and a terrible-look- ing figure bounded on hands and knees from the darkness into the circle of light cast by the camp-fire. THE BUFFALO BILL STORIES. He seemed an “Snake Tail! Snake Tail!” cried the Blackfeet. - Buffalo Bill looked with horror at the man whom he had once known as a stately and dignified counselor and priest of the tribe. Now, indeed, he was more like a beast than a man, as the Shoshone had said. His face, frightfully distorted by his mania, had nce lost its human semblance; he had cast away his clothes, and his body, emaciated by his privations, was a mere skeleton. As he flung himself upon the ground to warm his shivering form by the council-fire, he whined and howled like a wolf. He seemed to pay no attention to the men who had once been his comrades, and they drew away from him in horror. In a low tone Buffalo Bill directed Tall Baa and some of the other braves.to secure the madman and bind him hand and foot. Courageous as they were, the redskins approached Snake Tail very cautiously and with considerable trepi- dation. This was justified, for as soon as half-a-dozen suddenly laid hands on him, they found they had all they could do to master him. He fought like a maddened wolf, and in ae of his wasted frame, his strength was as the strength of ten men. Wrenching himself free, he gripped the throat of one brave with his bony fingers and tried to choke the life ,out of him. The other tried to tear him off, but he one on like grim death. Had not Buffalo Bill struck him over the head with the butt of his heavy revolver and stunned him, his victim would surely have been killed. The border king saw that he was bound so tightly that not even his mad frenzy would enable him to break loose. Then he boiled some water and made a hot drink out of the antidote herb. This he poured down the throat of the madman by sheer force as soon as he became conscious. After he had swallowed the tea, Snake Tail writhed violently for a short time, and then sank into a deep sleep. His features relaxed and became more human. — The stamp of madness seemed to be disappearing visibly. “Wah! It is wonderful!” said the Blackfeet. “The paleface is a greater medicine-man than Biting Adder, and his medicine is good, wus Biting Adder’s was bad.” “Carry him to one of the lodges and. let him sleep,” Buffalo Bill said to Tall Bear. “Set a guard over him, so that no one can disturb him. Let him sleep for many hours. When he awakes he will probably be quite re- covered.” Biting Adder was taken to the medicine-lodge oad placed under guard there. In the morning, however, the braves were enraged to find that he had killed the sentry and made good his escape. He had managed to wriggle out. of his bonds, seize the man by the throat from be- _ a to utter a single cry. Tall Bear led a party of braves on his trail, but after two days they returned to the village, thoroughly dis- gusted. The medicine-man had covered his tracks with a cunning that set even their skill in trailing at fault. Buffalo Bill remained at the village for several days, administering the antidote to all:the men whom Biting Adder had made mad. It acted like a charm in every case, All recovered their reason, and in time were nursed back to health and strength. Before he left the country, Buffalo Bill succeeded in getting Death Horse, the Shoshone chief, and Tall Bear together and settling their differences. He set out for Boise City, his headquarters at that time, with their mu- tual promise to the Great White Father that they would not make war upon one another. But for the escape of Biting Adder, the king of the - scouts would have been thoroughly contented with the results of his mission. He felt, however, that he had by no means heard the last of the villainous medicine- man, who would probably find a refuge with some other Indian tribe, and stir up more trouble. THE BUFFALO hind, and choke him to death without ems him a re ° BILL STORIES, _ i 13 Turning swiftly, he found himself face to face with Biting Adder. The deposed medicine-man hae his tomahawk uplifted over his head ready to fling. It was the tomahawk he had taken from the brave whom he had slain when he made his escape from Tall Bear’s village. As the weapon left his hand, Buffalo Bill dodged swiftly aside, and it passed harmlessly within a foot of his head. Instantly he straightened up and covered Biting Adder with his revolver, which he drew from his belt with the rapidity of lightning. “Shoot, white man!” said the Indian sullenly. “You have won.” But Buffalo Bill’s finger hesitated on the trigger. He felt that he could not kill a defenseless man, however criminal that man might be. Still keeping the medicine-man covered, he stooped down and picked up the tomahawk and thrust it into his own belt. He hesitated what to do with his prisoner. At first he thought of taking him back to Tall Bear’s village and handing him over to the justice of the chief of the Black- feet. But that would cause him to lose a great deal of time, and he considered also the fact that Tall Bear would almost cettainly torture the man. He could not “be responsible, even indirectly, for that; and therefore he decided that the best thing he could do © was to take him to Boise City and have him fairly tried by a regular court, at which Tall Bear and the other Blackfeet could give evidence, if they cared to make the X\ CHAPT BRR Vie THE FIGHT IN THE CANOE, Three days after he left the Blackfeet village, Buffalo Bill was traveling along the Snake River on his way to the small settlement—since grown into a large town—of at ate si Dies as EOE nt , tie ) Boise City. He had bought a small birchbark canoe from one of the Blackfeet braves, for he had decided that it would be much quicker and easier to travel by water than to make his way overland through the timber-clad country. Yet the river journey, perilous in the extreme, was not one that most men would care to have undertaken. Although it was winter, the river was not frozen over. It was filled with floating ice that swirled down in large masses on the swiftly running current, threatening at any moment to destroy the frail canoe. There were many floating trees and logs in the stream, also, to say nothing of the innumerable snags that inter- rupted his progress. Several small rapids and cataracts, culminating in the great Idaho Falls, added another dan- ger to the voyage. Buffalo Bill shot most of these falls and rapids in his canoe, which he managed as expertly as any Canadian voyageur, but now and then he was obliged to make a portage when he came to a particularly dangerous piece “of broken water. He had landed by the bank for this purpose, one after- noon, and was preparing to haul up his canoe and place it on his back, when he heard a slight rustling in the bushes behind him. journey. “Biting Adder, you are my prisoner,” said Buffalo Bill. “Tf you make any attempt to get away, I will shoot you through the head as réadily as 1 would kill a snake. Take up the canoe and carry it along the bank past the ° rapids. I will follow close behind you. Remember, there will be a bullet through your head at the least sign of disobedience or treachery.” Biting Adder seemed surprised that he was spared for the time being. He still wore his skull mask, and only his eyes could be seen. They had had a despairing pe in them, but as he turned away to pick up the canoe tae light of hope dawned. : If Buffalo Bill had seen that look, he might have re- doubled his precaution. He would probably have bound the man’s hands, at the least. But he, wanted to use him for the hard work of carrying the canoe. To tell the truth, he had rather a poor opinion of Biting Adder, believing that his cunning and power had been very much exaggerated by the Blackfeet and the Shoshones. Contrary to his usual custom, he made the mistake of underrating his enemy. The medicine-man carried the canoe meekly enough ‘for about five hundred yards, until the worst of the rapids were passed, and then Buffalo Bill ordered him to halt. 4 | | ) GTHE BUPRALO BILE STORIES. | He launched the canoe in the stream, noose it by a rawhide thong which served for a ‘pamter. The bor der king motioned to him to get in first, and he obeyed with a willingness which in itself was suspicious. Buffalo Bill got in after him and took up the paddle to guide the frail craft. The river was still turbulent, for the rapids were not entirely at an end. The canoe rocked and swayed violently as it sped along at a speed which would have alarmed a less. expert voyageur than the king of the scouts. Buffalo Bill thought that when he secured the toma- hawk he had effectually disarmed the crafty Indian, but that was not the case. Biting Adder had a knife con- cealed under his deerskin tunic. The scout turned his head for a moment to meet a new danger in the form of a floating log, and Biting Adder at once seized the opportunity to snatch the weapon out of his tunic and raise it. Even as the deadly knife was descending, the canoe lurched over, and Biting Adder slipped, while Buffalo Bill, turning quickly, saw the terrible doom that had so nearly overtaken him, and in a moment the redskin’s de- scending wrist was caught in a grip of iron. The two men wrestled together fiercely, with the result that might have been through the roughness of the water, the canoe toppled over as their weight was thrown violently to one side. They still kept their hold on one another for a few moments in the ice-cold water, and Buffalo Bill was slightly wounded on the hand by the knife. But they were forced apart by the swiftness of the rushing current, and were compelled to strike out for their lives, | Buffalo Bill, with powerful strokes, swam to the log which he had been trying to fend off from the canoe when Biting Adder attacked him. He reached it, and got astride. Then he looked around for his enemy, but the redskin was nowhere to be seen: The king of the scouts supposed that he had sunk beneath the turbulent waters, and gave all his attention to saving his own life, which was in the most serious peril. Fie was carried down the stream like lightning, nar- rowly escaping several snags and floating timbers. He saw his canoe smashed into fragments, and then his head struck something, and he was knocked senseless. When he came to himself again, he was lying on a sand-bank on the left side of the river, to which an eddy of the current had swept him. He was badly bruised, and his head throbbed and ached terribly, but he was not seri- ously hurt. Thankfully he realized that the matter might have been much worse. It was a miracle that he had not paid with his life for his lack of caution in handling Biting Adder. As it was, he was relieved of a serious responsibility. True, he had lost his canoe and would have to tramp through the thickly wooded country; but he had also lost expected. Already unsteady. "his prisoner, and thus got a of an awkward embarrass- ment. It was well that Biting Adder had died in fe way, Cody thought, and saved him the trouble of taking him to the settlement, where he would doubtless have paid the capital penalty for his many crimes. But in reasoning in this way the border king was mis- taken. As a matter of fact, Biting Adder had not perished. He was a powerful swimmer, and when the canoe upset and Cody relaxed his hold on him he dived under water and got to the opposite bank while the scout was — getting to the log which saved his life. “ A swirl of the current aided the Indian, and he had clutched some low-growing bushes on the verge of the river bank when Buffalo Bill looked around for him. These effectually hid him from view, and he got ashore and made his way into the timber, rage against Buffalo Bill and all other white men—to say nothing of the Blackfeet—burning fiercely in his heart. CEA DP DICR: (VII. BUFFALO BILL'S UNPLEASANT SURPRISE. “Captain Cody is here. to see you, general.” An orderly gave this message to one of the most im- portant officials in the war department at Washington about three weeks after the struggle in the rapids that had so nearly proved the death of the border king. At this time Buffalo Bill had not been promoted to the rank of colonel, holding the lower title of captain. | ‘The general wheeled around sharply in his office chair, and looked keenly Pie eek in the message brought by the orderly. “Ask Captain Cody to ep in at once,” he said. The king of the scouts was ushered into the office. He saluted and stood at attention with military-rigidity, but the general rose from his chair and grasped him warmly by the hand. . “Don’t stand on ceremony, Bill,” he said, with a genial smile. “We didn’t use to do it when we hunted buffaloes and Indians on the Great Plains together, and we needn’ t do it now. “I’m glad to see you again—more glad than I can say. I was afraid I had sent you on a mission that was likely to prove your death when I asked you to go among the ~ pa and look into that business of the medicine- man.’ “It was not so dangerous as I expected,” the scout re- plied. “Indeed, it was really a simple matter—much simpler than it looked at first.” : “I don’t think it is quite so simple as you imagine,” remarked the officer, rather dryly. “Why, it is all over now,” said Buffalo Bill, in some surprise. “You got my report from Boise City, saying that the man was dead, and that the Shoshones and Black- feet had smoked the peace-pipe together again, didn’t ‘your? ° “Yes, and that was why I asked you to come on here and have a talk with me.” “T don’t quite understand, general.” “Tell me all the details of the story.” - Buffalo Bill did so, finishing up by recounting the struggle in the Snake River, the overturning of the canoe, and the disappearance of the medicine-man. “There can be no doubt that he was drowned,” he con- cluded. “Did you see his dead body ?” NO.” “Lots of people have thought you dead at various times, Bill; but in the end you turned out to be still alive and kicking. Read these reports. They are from Wild Bill and Texas Jack, whom I have been employing on special duty; so you know that you can trust them.” Then the general handed a bundle of papers to the border king. Buffalo Bill took them and read ‘them with the greatest care. After he had scanned a few pages, he looked in- credulous. “This can’t be the fact,” he said, looking up at the gen- eral. ? Read on, : The scout did so, and his face gradually lost its doubt- ful expression and showed the keenest interest. Finally he finished; read the reports through again carefully for a second time, and then said: “Well, general) it is quite plain that I have failed in my mission.’ ‘ “On the contrary, you succeeded brilliantly. You drove the fellow out of the Blackfeet nation, and you patched up the trouble between the Blackfeet and ue Shoshones, which threatened to become very serious.’ “But, according to these reports—which are too precise to be doubted—Biting Adder is now with the Crow tribe, and has gained as much power over them as he ever had over the Blackfeet. I don’t know how he ever es- caped in those rapids, but it is plain that he did, “Wild Bill says that he is stirring up serious trouble among the Crows, and that they are likely to raid Red Creek and other settlements within easy reach of their _ country.” “Yes, and I have had reports from other quarters which are to the same effect.” “General, I will go there at once. I must settle ac- counts with Biting Adder.” “I supposed you would feel that way, Cody: Go as soon as you like. I would advise you to make Red Creek your headquarters. That .is the point which will be first exposed to attack if the Crows rise in rebellion. -*T need not tell you to be cautious. We don’t want to THE BUFFALO BILL STORIES. 1s have another little Indian war on our hands just now if we can help it. Don’t do anything to give the Crows cause for offense; but, on the other hand, if you can con- trive to make ae Adder a prisoner in any wet it will be a good thing.” “I understand, general. Creck. “You will find Wild Bill at that Hiaee: I will give you a letter to him, placing him under your orders in this matter.” “There is no need for that, general. always work together in perfect harmony.” “Yes, I know you are old friends. Well, good-by and good luck to you!” : The two mén shook hands warmly,“and Cody left the office, determined that, sooner or later, he would settle the score with Biting Adder. He now thoroughly real- ized that the medicine-man was a much more dangerous person than he had given him credit for being. Two weeks later, traveling at the utmost possible speed, I will leave to-day for Red Hickok and I “ he reached the little settlement of Red Creek, va was on the border of the Crow country. It was a typical frontier settlement, composed 6f log cabins, a few stores, and a couple of gambling-hells. All the buildings wére surrounded by a strong palisade—a necessary precaution with such a . neighbors as the Crows. The first man to greet Buffalo Bill, when he rode up to the gate of the stockade, was his old friend Wild Bill. “What is the latest news?” asked the king - Ne scouts, as he vaulted from his horse. “Tt will be war to a certainty. That durned medicine- man has set the Crows pretty nigh crazy. I have been spying on one of their villages—the nearest one to this place—and I saw them dancing the war-dance and the ghost-dance at night. I never saw redskins more frantic, “This Biting Adder.is a remarkable man. I was within a hundred yards of him when. he was leading the ghost- dance, and I lifted my rifle to put a bullet into him. But I wouldn’t have had a chance to get away, for my horse was hobbled a mile back. So I let him go at time, * having still got some use for my hair.” “Biting Adder is lucky in his escapes,” said Buffalo Bill bitterly. “Twice I had it in my power to kill him, and I didn’t do it. But next time I have a chance at him, you can bet I’ll show him no mercy. How many men are there capable of helping in the defense of aye place if the Indians attack?” : “Nearly a hundred. They are all well armed, and most of them pretty good shots. A man needs to be, if he chooses to live in a country like this.” “That’s good,” said Cody. ought to beat off the Crows easily. Indeed, I doubt if they will attack us seriously, unless they can take us by surprise, which we must take good care they don’t do, “With a hundred men, we _ 16 THE BUFFALO “1 don’t suppose they can muster a war party of more than five or six hundred braves, for they have lost heavily: in BS years in Tene with ae Shoshones and the Paw- nees.’ “With a ad stockade, such as we have here, we ought to be able to beat off ten times our number of Indians,” Wild Bill remarked. “Yes, and to quell the rising before the soldiers get busy,” said Buffalo Bill. “The Crows must be crazy to think they can pa up a fight against the whites with their small numbers.” “Biting Adder has made them sve,” said Hickok. “He seems to have a most ferocious hatred of all white men, and he has imbued the Crows with the same spirit—not a very difficult task, for, like most redskins, they never did love a paleface.” Having introduced himself to the leading people in the settlement and showed them his credentials from the war department in Washington, Buffalo Bill went out with Wild Bill to scout in the direction of the Crow country. About two miles from the stockade was a thick wood, extending for nearly a mile. Beyond that was a rolling prairie country which led to the hunting-grounds of the Crows. One or two daring settlers had established themselves in this country, braving the dangers of redskin raids for the sake of the richness of the ranching country, and re- lying on the comparative weakness of the Crows as a tribe to keep them peaceable and orderly. For two days the scouts rode toward and along. the frontier of the redskins’ territory, and on the third day they caught sight of a war party of the Crows advancing at a leisurely gait on horseback in the direction of Red Creek. They were themselves unobserved, for ae had watched the country lying hidden in the long grass on the top of a rise of the prairie. They rode away swiftly and reached the wood near Red Creek well ahead of the Indians. Wild Bill rode on to the settlement to carry the news and see that everything was'in proper shape for defense, while Buffalo Bill remained hidden in the wood to watch for the approach of the ets and see what course they pursued. They came on steadily to the wood, some hours after he had entered it, and he retreated through it as they came in, taking good care that neither his horse nor himself should be observed. Somewhat to his surprise, the Indians halted in the wood and proceeded to encamp and throw out cordons of sentries and mounted videttes. He had supposed that Biting Adder would have spurred them on to attack the settlement at once, and try to take it by surprise; but he learned afterward, from a wounded Crow who was taken prisoner, that the chiefs overruled f BILL STORIES. him, and insisted on waiting for reenforcements from two other Crow villages, and from some of the neighboring tribes to whom they had appealed to make common cause with them against the palefaces. afterward turned out, were made in vain. Buffalo Bill, by carefully scouting round the camp as it was being established, found out that the Crows num- bered about five hundred braves; and then he led his horse to the edge of the wood nearest to the settlement. Now came his danger. had many sentries and. scouts looking out toward Red Creek from the timber, although he had no evidence that there were any close to the spot where he was con- cealed, which was at a considerable distance from the camp. : As soon as he emerged on horseback into the open and commenced his ride to the settlement, he would be the target of many sharp eyes and of the rifles of their own- ers. But it was a risk that had to be run, for there was no other way out of it, and the king of the scouts was not the man to hesitate at any peril. Some men would have waited until the darkness of night made it safer to venture out from cover, but Buf- falo Bill felt that he was needed in the settlement, espe- cially as he had so much valuable information as to toe | numbers and disposition of the enemy. Mounting his horse on the verge of the wood, he gave the gallant animal his head and galloped out into the open country. . Almost eee he heard a yell about three hun- dred yards away to the left, followed by another, and yet another. A bullet whizzed past his head and an arrow struck on the pommel of his saddle, burying its barb in the hard leather. Turning his head, he saw that three ee videttes—were hastily mounting their horses to chase him. He unslung his rifle and took a snap shot at one of them just as he swung himself astride his steed. The man tum- bled back to the ground, with the death yell on his lips. More Indians poured out of the woods, and soon a score of the braves were in hot pursuit of the scout. But he was mounted on a fine mustang, and he Rept well ahead of them. As they neared the stockade al of the settlement, | shot after. shot from the loopholes rang out, warning them to keep their distance. With loud yells of rage and disappointment, they turned their horses’ heads and rode back to the wood, while Cody entered the gate in safety. He called together the leading men of the place and told them what he had seen. Some of them, when they heard of the numbers of the Indians, were in favor of sallying out and attacking them at once;. but this Cody strongly opposed. He pointed out that the redskins would be at their best in a hand-to-hand fight in the timber. Their numbers - These pe as it It was certain that the Crows > THE BUFFALO would then give them a great advantage, and the supe- riority of the white men’s weapons and marksmanship would not tell. They would lose heavily, and no men could be spared from the defense of the place, as it was impossible to say whether the Indians might not be strongly reenforced. - With their hundred men they could hold the line of the palisades and defend the settlement’ and the women and children in it; but they were in no position to attempt the offensive. / After some discussion this was agreed to. Buffalo Bill then asked whether all the settlers from the adjacent country, with their wives and families, had taken refuge in the settlement. “All of them have,” replied’ the principal storekeeper in the town. “We sent out messengers to warn them ~ as soon as Wild Bill told us the Crows were going to give trouble. They came in right away.” “What about old man Benson and his daughter Maud?” asked another man. “I have seen nothing of them. I’m sure they’re not in town.” : The men looked blankly at one another. “Benson received warning,” said one of them. “Yes, and I reckon he was too obstinate to move,” remarked another. : “Who is Benson?” asked Buffalo Bill. CHAPTER VIIL A PERILOUS MISSION. _ “Who is Benson?” repeated the storekeeper. “Well, he’s a very remarkable old man—a rancher who lives right out on the very edge of the Crow country. He hates the Indians like poison, and has fought with them Over and over again. “I reckon he is just about as obstinate and pig-headed as they make them. He certainly got warning-of the danger of this raid. Jack Harkness here took it to him several:days ago, didn’t you, Jack?” VSure,” “And what did he say?” “He said he’d heard this talk of Indian raids so often when they didn’t come off, that he’d begun to take pre- cious little stock in them. I warned him this one was really serious, and urged him to hurry into town at once for the sake of his daughter. He didn’t make any definite reply, but I understood he would come, and I rode off in a hurry, for I had several other places to visit.” “Well, he doesn’t seem to have come,’ remarked the storekeeper. “Has any one seen him?” Not a man among those present had done so. “You spoke of a daughter,” said Buffalo Bill. “Yes, he has a girl of nineteen—and a fine girl she is, too. It’s frightful to think of her being left to the mercy - of these red devils.” teeth firmly. BIEL SPORIES. L7 “The old man had his warning, and if he didn’t like to take it he has only himself to thank for whatever hap-_ pens to him,” said Buffalo Bill, “But in the case of the girl it is different. We can’t allow her life or liberty to be sacrificed to her father’s obstinacy or delay. _ She must be saved and brought here.” “The Crows may already have sreceed the old man 's house and destroyed it,” said Wild Bill. “T hardly think that is likely,” replied Buffalo Bill. “Of course, it is possible, but I think they would come straight on to this place first, and not spread the alarm ahead of them by attacking. small farms and ranches. They could easily destroy those later on. “But now they know we are on the alert and ready oe them, they may very likely send out parties to the lonely ranches while they are waiting for reenforcements or deciding on their plans. For one thing, they will need cattle ‘to feed the braves with.” “ “Benson and his girl are doomed,” said One of the men. “T don’t see how anything can be done to. ‘save them.” one must be done,” said Buffalo Bill, with de- cision. “They cannot be left to perish. I will ride out ‘to their place, if you will give me an idea of its location, and try to bring them into the town.” “The Indians will draw such a tight cordon around the place that it will be impossible to get through,’ objected the storekeeper. | “Still, I will try,’ said the border king, setting his. “You cannot get a horse through. In order to get to Benson’s ranch, you will have to go through the wood in. which the redskins are encamped. Possibly you might be able to creep past their lines yourself at night, but I don’t see how you could take a horse.” “T shall not try to do so,” said Buffalo Bill. - “Then how will you get to Benson’s ranch? It is fully - forty miles away. If you are thinking of walking, you might as well save yourself the trouble, for the Indians will be there ahead of you, if they have not already at- tacked the place.” “T shall steal a couple a the Indians’ horses,” falo Bill calmly. “Bravo, Buffler!” exclaimed Wild Bill. said But- ee always hit on the right way out of a tight corner.’ Several of the men tried to convince Buffalo Bill that his scheme was not feasible, that Benson and his daughter must already have been killed or oven but he would not listen to them. The only point that was fixed in his mind as of any importance was that the young girl out there on the lonely ranch must be rescued at all hazards. His own life was of no importance in comparison. It was obviously impossible to arent t to get through the lines of the Indians by daylight. They had a cordon of sentries and pickets drawn all round the settlement, THE BUFFALO 1 18 although as yet they had made no attack. He would have to’ wait for the darkness of night, and even then _ his enterprise would be perilous in tie extreme, Fortunately, it was a dark night. Choosing a time when the sky was overcast with clouds, Buffalo Bill slipped out of the gate of the stockade, after gripping the hands of the friends whom he might never see again. He sank down at once into the long grass which covered the plain between the settlement and the wood. He crawled the entire distance of over two miles on his stomach, making no more noise than a snake would have done. an Indian’ sentinel, closely watching the settlement while lying prone on the ground, but luckily he did not run into any, and gained the shelter of the wood easily. “Here, although he was practically in the midst of the enemy, he was in less danger, for he had passed the cordon of sentries, and the men around the camp-fres were not so keenly on the lookout. Cautious as ever, the scout passed’ swiftly through the timber, taking advantage of every bit of cover. By one of the camp-fires he saw Biting Adder sitting and talking excitedly to a group of chiefs. Just as Wild Bill had done when he saw the medicine- man at the ghost-dance, Buffalo Bill raised his ‘rifle and took aim at the man who was so dangerous a menace to the whites of the frontier. But just as his finger was about to press the trigger, he thought of the girl on the lonely ranch—the girl whose only hope seemed to lie in his being able to save her. If he shot Biting Adder, the chances were that he would be killed almost immediately by the redskins all around him, and thts he would be robbed of the oppor- tunity to carry out his self-appointed task. Reluctantly, he lowered his rifle and stole on through the wood. His account with Biting Adder must be settled later, The next thing he ‘ad to think of was to locate the . corral of the Indians’ horses. He had determined to pos- sess himself of two of them, for he must travel swiftly toward Benson’s ranch. “Pray Heaven they have no dogs to guard the horses !”’ muttered Buffalo Bill to himself. “I may be able to deal with men quietly, but a couple of dogs would give the alarm to the whole camp.” After a long and silent search, he saw a big corral of ponies on the outer edge of the wood. More than a score of braves were sleeping near to them, but only one man appeared to be on guard. The Indians, of course, did not expect an attack on that side, which was divided from the settlement by the whole of their camp. There were no dogs watching the horses, to Cody’s intense relief. The king of the scouts, crouching in the long grass, stole silently up to the sentinel. The Indian’s back was turned to him, but, although Cody made no noise, his He knew that the grass must shelter many BILL STORIES. savage instincts, trained to the finest point, seemed to give him some premonition of danger. ‘He stirred uneasily and started to turn aed but before he could do so the butt of the border king’s rifle struck his head with a dull thud, and he fell to the pee like a log, without uttering a sound. Buffalo Bill stood rigid for a few moments, waiting anxiously to see whether any of the sleeping Indians had been aroused by the slight noise he had been forced to make in stunning the sentry. They had not; so he pro- ceeded, calmly and deliberately, to pick out the two best © horses in the bunch, . When he had done so, he unhobbled them, led them quietly away for about five hundred yards, mounted one, and, leading the other by the bridle, rode on swiftly through the darkness of the night in the direction of Benson’s ranch, the location of which had been indicated — to him by a rough map drawn by the storekeeper of Red Creek. Ae CHAPTER IX, THE WILD ROSE OF THE PRAIRIE. Buffalo Bill encountered no Indians during the night. Early in the morning he gave his ponies a short rest and watered them at a small stream which he crossed. Then he mounted the one he had not hitherto been riding, and pushed on. He had not traveled for more than five miles from the stream when he caught sight of a white man spurring toward him, hotly pursued by six mounted Crows. The king of the scouts was about a quarter of a mile off when he caught sight of the fugitive. He gave him a loud shout of encouragement and dashed toward him at full speed. \ The man turned in his saddle and shot one af the ie dians. Cody, as soon as he came within range, accounted _ for another with his long-range rifle... The remaining four, seeing that they had now two well-armed, straight- shooting foes to deal with, instead of only one, turned tail and fled. With a loud whoop, the man ae had been chased wheeled his horse arcund and became the pursuer. Buf- falo Bill, who had now almost pene him, followed ~ hard. : . a Soon they were racing along side by side, slowly gain- ing on the redskins. They had no time or inclination to talk, All their thoughts were set on catching uae Indians and despatching them. : After a race of more than half-an-hour, they drew with- in range and opened a sharp fusillade, to which the red men replied wildly and inaccurately. The result was that in a few minutes all four were slain, three of them falling to Buffalo Bill’s rifle, while the two white men escaped unscathed. THE BUFFALO Then, at last, the king of the scouts and the stranger | had leisure to take stock of one another and talk. _ “My name is Joe Welch,” said the stranger, a hand- some and gallant-looking young frontiersman. “Thank you for saving my life, for I reckon that’s about what you did. My horse could hardly have outlasted their wiry Indian ponies, though it is faster for a spurt.” “Where were you going?” asked Buffalo Bill. “T am a prospector,’ said the young man. “I was working in the hills to the east of the Crow country, I heard from a friendly Indian that the Crows were going to rise in rebellion, so | rode to warn the people of Red Creek of their danger. I was afraid that they might be taken by surprise when the Crows started raiding.” “Vou are too late with your news,’ returned the border king. “They know all about it already at Red Creek. The Crow war party is encamped in the wood outside the settlement, and has drawn a line of pickets round the place. I got out from there last night, and am on my way now to the ranch of a man named Benson, to try to bring him and his daughter into the settlement.” “T think I had better come with you,’ Welch said. “It is no use for me to go on to Red Creek. Maybe I shall be able to give you some help.” The border king agreed that this would be the best course, and the two men rode on together, taking with them all the ponies of the slain Indians. They thought they would be useful in case Benson had no good stock at his ranch with which to travel. Riding with frequent changes of their mounts, they were able to cover the ground very swiftly, and at about noon they came in sight of the ranch-house. To Buffalo Bill’s joy, it was standing intact and appar- ently undamaged. He had feared that he would find it a heap of smoking ruins. As they dashed up to the door, a te girl came out to meet them. Buffalo Bill and Joe aye, were both impressed most strongly by her extraordinary beauty. She was a perfect wild rose of the prairie. Her figure was slight, but grace- ful and well molded. Her features were delicately chis- _eled, her blue eyes sparkled with life and animation, and | the fresh, open-air life she had led had given her a beauti- ful complexion. “Are you Miss Maud Benson?” Buffalo Bill asked, taking off his sombrero and bowing low, as he reined up _ his horse. Pes, the -oirl reptied: — “Tam Captain William F. Cody, and this is my friend Mr. Welch.” Both the girl and the man gave a cry of astonishment when they heard the name of the famous scout. Welch had not been aware of his companion’s identity, for Buf- falo Bill had not introduced himself to him. “IT have always wanted to see you, Captain Cody,” said to talk. You must leave this place at once. BILL STORIES. Maud Benson, with real enthusiasm. “I have heard so much about you from my father and other frontiersmen. About your fights with the Indians and all that “Tam afraid you are in serious danger from the red- skins yourself at this present moment, Miss Benson,” said the border king. “Pardon me, but there is no time It may be raided by the Indians at Vy moment. Where is your ‘father c “Tn the house, having his dinner.” Buffalo Bill dismounted and, with Welch, folked to the veranda, where the girl stood. “Please come in and have some dinner,” is all ready.” : | Uhere: is no time,” with unusual curtness. realize your dan eet “Come in.’ The two men followed the girl into the oe They found Mr. Benson in the dining-room, and he rose up courteously to receive them. He was a fine type of the frontiersman. He had lived all his life on the border, and had suffered to the full all the hardships and perils of the early days of the ye of the West. His sturdy face was lined and seamed with a thousand fiirrows and wrinkles, for he had suffered much—and the redskins—whom he hated with an implacable hatred— had been the principal cause of his suffering. It was easy to read in his bright gray eyes and in the grim line of his straight mouth that obstinacy of which the men in Red Creek had spoken. Buffalo Bill saw at once that he might be a difficult man to deal with, but he went to the attack at once. After he had been introduced by the girl, and ne had exchanged greetings, he said abruptly: “Mr. Benson, you must leave this place at once and come with me to Red Creek. Do you know that the In- dians have risen?’ The old frontiersman’s face looked grim and obstinate at the word “must,” but he simply replied: she said. it. replied the knight of the plains, “You people here don’t seem to I must see your father at once.” “T do not know that they have risen, Captain Cody. I only know there was a rumor that they were going to rise. I was advised to go to Red Creek, but I have not . yet seen fit to do so. “Why should I abandon my house and ranch and all my possessions because of a scare like that. Two or three redskins could then loot the whole place. But while | am here I can keep them off.” | “You cannot keep off a large war party, Mr. Benson. , It is more than a rumor that you have to deal with now! The Crows have risen in force. The whole tribe has gone on the war-path. “The war party is now encamped in the wood near Red Creek and is blockading the place. A band will un- THE BOPP ALO ZO) doubtedly be sent to this ranch, It is a one that one _has not appeared before now.’ “But if Red Creek is besieged, what is the use of our going there?” | “Tt is the only thing to do. There is no other place within reach which can hold out against the Crows. You know that as well as I do. If we are careful, we can get throtigh the lines at night. At any rate, we can try it, for it offers the best chance of saiety. To stay here will _ be simply to invite death.” 19 “Nevertheless, I will stay and defend my home,” said the old man. “I have fought Indians before, and { can do it again. Why should I not?” “Because of your daughter. You may endanger your own life recklessly, if you are foolish enough to do so; but you have no right to endanger hers—or, what is worse, cause her to run the risk of becoming the squaw of some brutal Indian.” Buffalo Buill’s plain talk hit right home to the ob- stinate old man. He looked troubled for a moment, thought hard, and then said: “We will go at once.” “Good! exclaimed Buffalo Bill. “Maud,” said the old man, The girl, who had been conversing aside in a corner of the room with Joe-Welch, started forward obediently. It was plain that the old man was accustomed to being obeyed promptly. “where is Smith ?” “Tell him to saddle the five best ones at once,’’ he said. “You had better pick them out yourself. You know more about horse-flesh than he does.” oY ess father? The girl left the room to do as she was bidden. “Who is Smith ?” asked Buffalo Bill. “He is a man in my employ here. In fact, he is the only one at present, for this is only a small ranch.’ “Yet you seem to have plenty of horses. of five of your best. We shall not need the Indian ponies we brought along with us.” “Horse-breeding is my hobby. It is also the principal part of my business here. It maddens me to think of the valuable animals that will fall into the hands of the Indians. If I did not love horses as much as I do, I believe I would kill them all before I left.” “That would be barbarous.” _ “T do not know that it would be so barbarous as leaving them to be maltreated by the Indians. But I have no intention of killing them.” __ The conversation drifted to the chances of the quick suppression of the Crow rising, and was soon interrupted ~ by the arrival of the girl and the man Smith outside the front door with the saddled horses. You spoke . BILL STORIES. oe CHAPTER X. > A RUNNING FIGHT, | Buffalo Bill saw, with much delight, that all the horses were of good blood, well able to distance the ponies of the Indians. The old rancher took nothing from his house, save a bag of money and his weapons and ammunition. rest he left to the Indians. : “But I reckon we'll pay them for the damage they do before we are through with this little campaign,” he said grimly. ‘This will make the third time my house has been burned down by the Indians, and I can tell you that I’m getting rather tired of it.” The little party soon mounted and rode off, no Indians having yet appeared in sight. Buffalo Bill noticed, as they rode along, that Maud carried a revolver in her belt and a small rifle slung across her shoulder. He remarked on this to her father. “The girl can use them, too,” the settler replied. “She can use them better than most men can. If we sight any redskins, she von e be the last in the party to use her firearms, Pll wager.’ The words were hardly out of his mouth when Buf- falo Bill pointed to a small clump of timber about three- quarters of a mile distant, and directly in his path. “There they are!” he exclaimed. : The settler looked, and saw a party of more than twenty redskins, in full war costume, emerging from the trees onto the open plain. They were all mounted. Almost at the same moment the Indians sighted the whites, and galloped full tilt toward them, whogre tri- umphantly. “Shall we fight them or leave them?” asked Welch of Buffalo Bill. The two were riding slightly in advance of the rest of the party. “T would say fight, if we were alone,” replied Buffalo Bill. “But we have no right to risk the ey of Miss Ben- son, if we can possibly avoid doing so.’ He turned his. horse to the left as he said this, with a quick pressure of his knee on the animal’s flank, and went scudding off over the grass at a great pace, with the object of making a wide detour and dodging the redskins. The rest of the party thundered along behind him. They all had fine horses, but the Indians, riding on the inner angle, had a good chance of cutting them off before they could get around them and make it a stern chase. Buffalo Bill soon dropped behind, and rode on the flank of the party nearest to the pursuers. He meant to drop the foremost of them as so6n as they came aoe rangé. The old settler ordered his daughter to ride ahead, which she did very unwillingly. Her cheeks were All the ~ \ \ aa a \ flushed with the excitement of the chase, and she wanted to stay behind and take a shot at the Indians. Bred on the frontier, she was a thorough little Amazon, and she had had to use her rifle more than once to save her life, both from wild beasts. and redskins. But she was an obedient girl, and she urged her horse to its top speed, as she was commanded. Meanwhile, the other three men slackened their pace somewhat and drew back to Buffalo Bill. Noticing this slackening of speed, and not thinking that it was intentional, the Indians gave vent to loud yells of triumph. But their rejoicing was short-lived. Buffalo Bill swerved in his saddle, lifted his rifle to his shoulder, and took a quick aim. The range was so long that the redskins had not even thought of firing as yet; but they did not understand the great superiority of the weapon which the border king carried over their own common trade guns. The crack of the rifle was followed by a shriek from the leading brave, who reeled in his saddle, drew himself erect again with a great effort, and then fell headlong to the grass, while his riderless horse galloped away over the plain. ( This wonderfully successful shot, delivered at a range they thought impossible, made the Indians slacken speed. They hesitated to advance, for they saw that the white men could shoot them down before they could get near enough to obtain any results with their own guns. All of these redskins had fought with white men be- fore, and they had gained a healthy respect for the prowess of the borderers with their rifles. Buffalo Bill noticed that they were dropping behind out of range, and he did not fire again. Neither did any of his companions, whose guns had a slighter range than his own. _ They soon caught up with Maud and rode on swiftly. The Indians still tailed along behind, but well out of range. They seemed only anxious to keep the whites in sight, without coming to close quarters with them. The distance between the two parties slowly increased, but the redskins still managed to keep within sight, for the plain over which they were now ce was level and uninterrupted by trees. There was no timber before them, Buffalo Bill knew, until they came to the wood near the settlement of Red Creek, where the main body of Crows was encamped. As mile after mile was covered, and the redskins still kept ot in sight, Buffalo Bill began to grow anxious. This chase fees to interfere seriously with his plans for getting ere the lines of the besiegers that night. By putting their horses to their full speed they might se get out of sight and hide themselves in the woods, but Se THE BUFFALO BILL STORIES. ~ , a1 then the Indians would ride on and report to Biting Ad- der what they had done. — They must know by this time that the party was trying to reach Red Creek. There was no other place in neighborhood where they could seek safety. What was he to do under the circumstances? If Biting Adder was informed by the redskins be- - hind, the lines of the Indians would be drawn so closely round Red Creek that it would be practically impossible to get through to the settlement with so large a party. © No, that must not be! At all costs, the redskins must be prevented from carrying the news to the medicine-. man. The safety of Maud was foremost in the mind : the border king. ; Calting to his comrades to follow him, he wheeled his horse around and galloped boldly back toward the In- dians. “We have got to wipe them all out!” he cried. ‘They must not be permitted to get back to their band, and tell what we are trying to do.” “You are right,” said Benson, as they sped along side by side, rapidly nearing the savages. “But it’s a tough — contract. There are twenty-two of them—big odds for four men and a girl.” D “Not a bit of it!’ replied the border king. “We have them at our mercy, if we handle our eu and horses properly.” “They will close in on us and’ wipe us out.” “They can’t. We will fire as soon as we get within range. ‘Their guns won’t carry as far as ours. Before they can come near enough, we will turn and gallop away from them. None of their ponies can touch our horses in a sharp sprint, though they are good enough at a long, steady gallop. Do you see the scheme?” “Yes, and it’s a fine one,” responded the old man. Cody briefly explained his plan of. campaign to the others, and they all reined up their horses, unslung their rifles, and waited for the Crows to come within range. Buffalo Bill’s rifle had a longer range than any of the others, and when he dropped a brave he turned and rode away from the Indians, leaving his comrades behind, with their horses stationary. He did this to lure the sav- ages on. The trick succeeded. When the man ives rifle they feared most was two or three hundred yards farther away, the Crows came galloping on, and soon began to blaze away at the little party. They expended their ammunition uselessly, for they were not yet within range. But the four rifles of the three men and the girl re- plied with better effect. Benson and his daughter each dropped a brave, and Joe Welch wounded another. The ranchman, Smith, was the only one to miss. The redskins came tearing on at a mad gallop, seeing that their only hope was to come to close quarters with 22 "THE BUFFALO such dangerous foes and make the fight a hand-to-hand one. : But this the whites had no intention of allowing. They rode off at full speed, and not only maintained their dis- tance, but materially increased. Then they turned again, and sent in another volley with deadly effect. By this time the Crows thoroughly understood the tactics Buffalo Bill was adopting, and they saw, too, that he had them at a disadvantage ey was fatal to them. They cowld not get near enough to use their weapons because of the superior speed of the horses ridden by the whites. Neither could they induce the whites to close with them. Under the circumstances there was nothing for them to do save to retreat speedily out of range of those mur- derous rifles. But this, also, Buffalo Bill had no intention of per- mitting. “We must chase them if ee won't chase us,” he de- clared. “We can’t afford to let one of them get away.” Maud was distressed at this decision, and tears welled up in her large, fine eyes. “Oh, why not let them off?” she cried. “The poor wretches haven’t got a chance. It is like knocking over rabbits—sheer butchery! Let us ride on, and only shoot them down if they come near enough to threaten us.” _ But the knight of the plains, usually ready enough to Spare an enemy even to his own peril, could be stern and ruthless when such a necessity as the present de- manded. “Whether we like it or not, we must do it,” he said. “They deserve no mercy. They and their comrades have attacked the settlers without any provocation. They would kill all the white men if they could, and make all the white women their slaves. If we wipe out these fellows, there will be so many less to attack Red Creek, which is in serious danger. “Tf we let them go, now that we have them at our mercy here, we shall be betraying our friends there, in away. Besides, they would probably prevent us from getting to the settlement, where every man who can fire a rifle is badly needed.” Such arguments as these could not be resisted, and the girl said, with a sigh: “Very well; I see it must be done, I will wait here while you ride forward. I cannot take part in it. I don’t mind shooting an Indian in a fight, if I have to do so—if it’s a question of his life or mine; but I can’t do this, “T would not let you, my daughter,” “Wait here. This is work for men.” The girl sat still on her horse, while the four men rode on toward the diminished ranks of the redskins. - The Indians were not slow to understand their inten- said her father. BILL STORIES. tions, and they tried to flee. But the whites soon drew up within range, and shot down three of them. Then they tried another furious charge, but it failed, as » the previous one had done. At last, driven to desperation, and recognizing the ae possibility of either getting at their enemy or getting away, they flung down their horses in the form of a square and took shelter behind them, firing again and again, but always finding that their foes kept carefully | Out Of range, |): 2 Buffalo Bill and his comrades also dismounted and kept up a steady fire at every redskin who showed any part of his body. It was long-range work, and demanded magnificent marksmanship; but Cody was the best shot in the West, and the other three were distinctly above the average even of the straight-shooting borderers. At last the deadly, murderous, but necessary work seemed to be finished. After waiting awhile, and seeing that none of the forms. stirred. cautiously up to the place where the horses had been thrown. His comrades followed at a little distance behind him, holding their rifles ready to shoot down any redskin who might be “playing possum” and rise up to renew the fight. . Buffalo Bill saw at a glance that all the horses had been shot dead. So, too, had all the men, it seemed at first. But as he looked he saw that one of them was alive. Next moment, the man—a giant warrior of nearly seven feet in height—-sprang to his feet and boldly confronted him. “Shoot, paleface!” said the brave in the Crow lan- guage. “Shoot! Black Cloud does not fear to die.” He folded his arms across his breast, drew himself up to his full height, and calmly awaited the fatal bul- let. It. did not come. The knight of the plains had bitterly regretted the stern necessity which had made him merciless to the rest of the Indians in the party, but he could not slay this man in cold blood—this brave who faced what he imagined _ to be certain death, so nobly and fearlessly. Yet he must not be allowed to rejoin his band and tell Biting Adder that four white men and a white girl were trying to reach the settlement. . Buffalo Bill thought for a moment, and then he said: “Black Cloud has a knife in his belt. Let him draw it, and I will draw mine. We will fight it out—and no mercy to the man who is beaten !’’ | The redskin yelled with delight at this chivalrous offer from a foe who had him in his power, but Cody’s friends were not at all pleased with it. “You are wrong,” said Benson angrily. “You are needed at the settlement, and you have no right to risk your life.” va Buffalo Bill rode — ' “Maybe I am wrong,” Buffalo Bil] admitted. “But I simply can’t shoot him down in cold blood, and that’s all there is to it. This is the a way out. We must get rid of him.” “Well, if he gets the better of you, I’ll promptly put a bullet through his head myself,” said Benson. He had not the slightest spark of mercy in his heart for redskins. He had suffered too much at their hands. Not only had they burned down his home twice, but they had killed his wife in one attack several years before. Buffalo Bill got off his horse, drew his knife, and ad- vanced slowly and cautiously toward the Indian, who was watching him with an eager, tigerish look. - Black Cloud was truly a formidable opponent H€ was a giant in strength as well as in stature, and yet he was as active as a panther. Moreover, he*was using a weapon in the use of which he had been trained from boyhood. Buffalo Bill realized this, and although he was an ex- pert in the use of the knife himself, as he was in all the weapons of frontier warfare, he determined that he would stay on the defensive—at all events, until he saw the mettle of his enemy. Slowly the two men circled round’one another, watch- ing for an opening—an instant’s slackening of that vigi- lant readiness on which life depended in such an en- counter. Suddenly Black Cloud dared | in, and his knife flashed at Buffalo Bill’s breast with the quickness of a serpent’s fang. The scout’s friends. held their breath with leon for they thought that the blow had gone home. The border king, however, had read the intention to lunge in the eye of his enemy a second before his knife was thrust out, and he dodged it by the fraction of an inch, swiftly stepping aside. This was the last effort of Black Cloud. Before he could recover himself, Cody’s knife-flashed in the sunlight, and was buried hilt-deep in his heart. He fell -without a groan, and died instantly. “He' was a brave warrior, and he has died a warrior’s death,” remarked Buffalo Bill, as he wiped his knife free from the blood which besmeared it by sticking it in the earth. “This ends the business. It wasn’t pleasant, but it was necessary, and the settlement has twenty-three less foes to threaten it now. Let us g0 back to your ee Benson.” ‘ CHAPTER XI. A RISKY NIGHT'S WORK. Buffalo Bill mounted his horse, and rode silently and sadly away, for the work on which he had been engaged, necessary and excusable though it was, was not of a kind to appeal to his chivalrous nature. Maud had been waiting about a mile off, with fee hands THE BUFFALO BILL STORIES. 23. covering her eyes, while the fighting was going on. When the men reached her, she turned her horse’s head and’ rode on with them, without a word. She asked for no details, for she knew. from the manner of the’ men that the redskins had all been wiped out. i. “It will be impossible to get yee with the foe said the king of the scouts presently. “We must let them go loose as soon as we get in sight of the timber-near- the settlement. It will hardly do to approach’ the wood in daylight. There will probably be some of the re around there. . “We will halt when we come in a: oe it, sua turn the horses loose. Then we will lie down in the grass until dark, go to the wood early in the night, and xe our chance to get to the settlement,” This plan was heartily approved by the olor men. Benson was gloomy at the idea of losing his valuable horses, in addition to all his other property, but he recog- nized that to try to take them Bouse ue Indian. lines would be to court discovery. The little party rode on, with Buffalo Bill in the lead, and at length, cresting a rise, he saw ae wood two miles or so ahead of him. He at once drew back, dismounted, hid his horse ie hind the rise, and crept forward on his hands and knees to see whether there were any signs of the or on aa fringe of the timber. The king of the scouts was gifted with exceptionally keen sight, and he soon made out two large groups of ponies tethered in the long grass on the edge of the timber. : : Buffalo Bill made a careful mental note of these two positions. They were places which must be avoided when they tried to creep into the wood later on, for unques- tionably there. would be redskins guarding the ponies. He returned to his comrades, who had halted under cover of the rise and waited while he made his survey. “It ought not to be so difficult for us to-night,” he said, as he reported what he had seen. “The Indians will not, probably, be on the alert for an attack. from this quarter. They will more likely expect one from the settlement. I watched to see whether the Indians saw me when I rode for a moment above the rise, but. ap- parently they didn’t. I did not see any of them ride out from the timber on to the plain.” The party rested in the grass for several hours, watch- ing the sun slowly sink below the western horizon, and it was not until eight o’clock that Buffalo Bill gave the order to make a move. The night was luckily very dark, the stars being hid- den by clouds and the moon rising late. They reached the wood without being attacked or chal- lenged, and were soon deep in its gloomy recesses. Here and there they saw camp-fires, around which the 24 Indians were doubtless grouped, and they skirted them very cautiously. Thanks to Buffalo Bill’s good leadership, they did not fall in with a single redskin, and at last they were through the wood and in the open country, with the settlement ahead of them. “Now began the most difficult part of their enterprise. It was fairly certain that the Crows had several scouts and sentries watching the settlement, in case an attack should be made on their camp across the very ground which the little party had to cover. “Be ready to run like fury when I set the example,” Buffalo Bill whispered to his companions. He crept on his stomach slowly out into the open, keep- _ ing under the cover of the long grass as much as_pos- sible. The girl followed him and the men were behind her, Joe Welch bringing up the rear. Needless to say, they all had their cos ready to use Onan instant’s warning. All went well until they were about a quarter of the way to the stockaded settlement. ‘The intense darkness of the night seemed likely to prove their salvation. Then, swiftly and suddenly, a tall brave rose up from behind a stump, a few paces in front of Buffalo Bill. He grunted in surprise, paused for a moment, and then leaped forward, with upraised tomahawk, to dash out the brains of the border king. Buffalo Bill was lying’ on his stomach and was help- less. He had no time to roll over and draw his revolver. But Maud, a couple of paces behind him, had hers in her hand. She took a snap shot at the savage and tum- bled him over, just as he was on the point of bringing his deadly weapon down on Cody’s head. The sound of the shot was answered, almost instantly, by a chorus of savage yells, some of which sounded perilously near. “You're a good comrade,” said Cody, springing to his feet and turning to the girl. ‘It’s all up now—we must tun for it like deer.” Helping the girl along, he put fe his best speed, and the others were not slow to follow him. The yells behind them, and to left and right as well, showed them how imminent was their danger. Unfor- tunately, just at this crucial moment, the moon appeared from behind a dense bank of clouds and exposed them plainly to the sight of their bloodthirsty pursuers. It was a race for life in which the odds seemed to be all against the pursued. The redskins were all fine runners. Few Indians, in- deed, are not. Cody would not have feared them if he had been alone, for he was wonderiully swift of foot in those days. But he had to regulate his speed to that of his com- panions, and old Benson and his daughter were not fast _ runners. THE BUPFALO BILL STORIES. Bullets soon began to fly past them, and the number of | their pursuers increased every moment. Buffalo Bill halted two or three times to take a flying shot with his revolver at the foremost of the Crows, and not once did he miss his mark. The shrieks that fol- lowed every shot told him that he had not fired in vain. Already the lights of the settlement were plainly to be seen before them, and the yells of the Indians were an-. swered by encouraging shouts from the people there. Nearer and nearer the fugitives drew to their goal, but when they were within thrge or four hundred yards of it, and still a fair distance ahead of their pursuers, Maud gave a low cry of pain and sank to the ground. “What’s the matter?” asked Buffalo Bill, halting and bending over her. “Tim hit in the ae i a replied, mund me.) lil be all She had no chance to finish the sentence. The knight of the plains picked her up in his strong arms as if she were a baby, and carried her forward on the run to the gate which the people of the settlement had already flung open. The few moments that were thus lost brought the nearest redskins within less than fifty yards of the fugi- tives. Behind them were a horde of Crows who had swarmed out from the wood when they heard the firing. While Buffalo Bill dashed onward, with Maud in his arms, the other men turned and fired shot after shot into the ranks of the yelling savages to check their advance. A score of men came dashing out through the gate, rifle in hand, to help them. The redskins, appalled by the deadly accuracy of the fire, drew back; but they were reenforced in a few mo- ments by scores of their comrades, and they came on again, glad of the chance of meeting the white men in a hand-to-hand fight, in which they would be at less dis- “Go on. Don’t advantage than in long-range firing, and in which their weight of numbers would tell. “Back to the stockade!’ shouted Buffalo Bill-to the whites, as he dashed through the gate with his precious burden. “You can’t stand them off any more. are too many for you.” His stentorian tones were heard above the crackle of the rifles and the fierce yells of the redskins, and he was immediately obeyed. | Retreating with their faces to the foe, and firing with | rapidity and accuracy, the men safely reached the interior of the stockade, from which they inflicted so much loss on the enemy that soon there was not a Crow to be seen. They had all retreated back to the wood, for they knew they were not in sufficient force to try to eu) the strong stockade by assault. The losses of the Indians could not be estimated, as they had carried off most of their dead and wounded, but. _ they had undoubtedly been very severe. Of the whites, There | THE BUFFALO Old Benson had been severely wounded by a bullet through the lungs, his daughter had been shot through the ankle, and three of the men who had taken part in the sortie from the settlement had been slightly wounded. For such a furious fight against an enemy three or four times as numerous, at the least, these losses were ac- counted small, and the settlers were pleased at the thought that the teverse they had given the Indians would prob- ably make them postpone still longer their attack on the ) fort.. They would wait until they could get more reen- _. forcements to replace the men they had lost. Maud had been carried by Buffalo Bill to a cot in a house near to the gate of the stockade. She had fainted from the pain of her wound, and from loss of blood; but the king of the scouts saw that the wound was tiot a serious one. The bullet had gone clean through without injuring the ankle-bone. Joe Welch was very much concerned at the girl’s in- jury, and openly told Buffalo Bill that he envied him his luck in being on hand at the right moment to rescue her. “T’d have given ten years of my, life to be able to do it,’ he said. “Do you know, I believe I’m dead in love with her already, although I’ve only known her for a few hours?” “T guessed as much from the way you looked at her,” said the king of the scouts. “Tt was a case of love at first sight. But this is no time to talk of love. We shall be lucky if we all come out of this business without get- ting our throats cut. “T’m afraid old man Benson is done for.. That wound he got through the lungs is pretty serious. Well, if he dies, it will be in the way he would have chosen—-fighting the redskins, whom he hates so. bitterly.” | Buffalo Bill went to see that all the. wounded were properly cared for, and then he conferred with some of the leading men in the settlement as to the best means to be taken for defending the place if the redskins should press an attack. . “We shall have to depend on ourselves,” said the king of the scouts. “We are not likely to see the troopers from Fort McKinney for several days, at the least.” “We don’t need them,” said Amos Judson, the store- | keeper. “If we can’t defend this place against five times our number of Indians, when we have a good stockade to fight behind, we aren’t much of men, that’s all!” “You are right, pard!’ declared Wild Bill. “TI only wish they would come on, but they show no sign of do- ing it. I begin to think that that medicine-man, Biting Adder, has not got so much influence over them as we supposed. I don’t think there’s much doubt that he has done his level best to force them to make an attack.” _ “Was there no assault while 1 was away?” asked Buf- fialo. Bill... ENot.one,” replied Hickok. “You didn’t miss any- BILL STORIES. on thing, and you had all the fun to yourself. A few ee have been ee with their pickets, but that’s all.” “It is strange,” mused the border king. “I should have, thought they would have made a night attack.” “It will come yet, you can bank on that!” said Amos Judson. “I reckon we'll have our hands full before we are through with this business.” “T wonder what Biting Adder has got up he sleeve,” said the king of the scouts thoughtfully. “Some 1 ingenious , trick, I'll wager on that.” : CHAPTER XII. FIRE-SHIPS ON LAND, Buffalo Bill was right. e Biting Adder had a trick up his sleeve, and it was one of the most ingenious and novel in the history of border warfare. About an hour before a that same night, the watchers from the stockade were amazed by the sight of — several huge fires in the open plain, just out of rifle-shot. None had been lighted there hitherto, the Indians hav~ ing built their camp-fires in the middle of the timber. As~the sentinels gazed at them, they rubbed their oe _and looked at one another in bewilderment. “Am I dreaming, Jake; or are them durned fires” moving this way?’ one asked another. “Moving!” exclaimed his mate. “They’re galldpine? Hy At that moment Buffalo Bill came up and looked a _the approaching fires for a moment. Fle was fairly startled out of his habitual Se nad ; let out a yell that would have done credit to any Indian. “Every man to his post!” he cried, instantly controlling his excitement. “Shoot the horses and mules! Don’t mind the men! Deal with them later! If those wagons reach the stockade, we’re done for!” Then the others saw what he had observed. By a trail through the wood, the Indians had brought up half-a-dozen wagons, which they had doubtless found - on the ranches they had sacked. They had harnessed large teams of horses and mules to these vehicles and filled them with pine knots, brush, and other. epee material. Just out of rifle- -range, they had set fire to the conten of the wagons, lashed the horses and mules, and made them gallop at a furious pace toward the stockade. The fire behind them, which blazed up almost in- stantly, drove the poor. beasts frantic; and they dashed toward the wooden walls at a terrific pace. | The wagons were nothing else but fire-ships on land. It was an ingenious plan for which the cunning brain of Biting Adder was undoubtedly responsible. _ : There was little time for the defenders of the stockade to collect their wits and meet this new and unexpected danger, but Buffalo Bill’s cool and authoritative orders . worked wonders. 26 THE BUFFALO Fortunately, the light of the blazing wagons made the mules and horses easy Sek for the rifles of a men at the loopholes. ba oo _ Like all true frontiersmen, they loved animals and hated to shoot them down now, but they had no alter- native, if they were to save their own lives and the lives of the many women and children in their care. From’ every loophole flash after flash darted forth, and many of the animals in the teams fell, checking the mad advance of the rest. . Behind the wagons were Hered: of whooping, yelling Teas: all ready to pour through the breaches as soon as they were burned in the palisades. As the horses and mules fell, some of these redskins would dart.in front of the teams, at the imminent risk of being trampled to death by the maddened animals, and cut the dead or wounded beasts loose. ‘Then the teams would dash on again—only to be met with another storm of bullets. Only one wagon succeeded in getting into close prox- imity to the walls.. Of the six horses which drew it, four had been shot, but the other two dragged it to within about ten yards, when Buffalo Bill shot them cone with the last two bullets in his repeater. But the sparks from the blazing wagon set fire to three of the stakes in the stockade wall, and but for the well-organized and quick fire brigade service which Buffalo Bill had arranged when he first arrived at the settlement, the whole wall might have come down. As it was, the men specially appointed for such fire duty were on the spot with buckets in a few moments, and they soon, had every spark out. ‘The scheme of the Indians recoiled bitterly upon them- selves. : . By the light of the blazing wagons, ce were excellent targets, and before they could flee out of range more than oy of them were shot down. Next day, evidently despairing of taking a place so strongly defended, they raised the siege. Not one of their sentries or ipickeis was to be seen, and when Buffalo Bill aud his comrades, Wild Bill and Joe Welch, searched the wood, they could find nothing but the ashes of the de- serted camp-fires. The trail of the war party led back to their own coun- try, but that might be only a blind, as the scouts well knew. The Crows might intend to make a wide detour and strike at. some other settlement farther off. The three men: returned to the settlement, and a coun- cil of war was held, It was decided, after considerable debate, that Buf- falo Bill should take a party of twenty picked men—all. experienced scouts—and follow the trail of the Crows __in order to gain information as to their movements; while three couriers: should be sent off by different routes. to BILL SS LORTES. Fort McKinney to inform the commandant there of what had happened. Buffalo Bill’s party followed the broad call of the, war party for two days, and then found that it forked. The band had split up. The king of the scouts was in doubt which trail to fol- low. One party seemed to consist of something less than a hundred braves, and the other of on two hundred and fifty. He sent Joe Welch, with one other man, to follow the smaller band, which appeared to- have swerved toward the main. village of the Crows. He guessed that they were braves who had quarreled with Biting Adder’s rule and insisted on going home. He wanted definite infor- mation on this point, and he knew that Welch could be trusted to get it, for he had formed a high opinion of the young man’s capacity as a scout. He himself, with the rest of the men, followed the larger party, which was heading in the Gitecnon of a small settlement called John’s Creek. They followed the trail all day and resumed it again at dawn, finding that it was growing fresher all the time. About eight o’clock in the morning, to their intense surprise, they saw the Crows riding over a ridge toward them. They were coming back on their trail, and were not more than a third of a mile away. Whatever motive had induced them to change their plans, the result was to place the scouts in a most perilous position. Fight was out of the question, for they were hope- lessly outnumbered. The only hope of safety was in flight, and here they were at a disadvantage also, for their horses had been pushed harder than those of the Indians, in the hope of getting into touch with the latter and keeping a close watch on their movements. The Crows saw them at the same moment, and gave chase at once, urging their ponies along madly with whip and spur. Buffalo Bill gave the nerd to turn fee flee. It was characteristic of the courage and discipline of the scouts that not one of them started to do so until ordered. — For about an hour they galloped on, and then Cody, looking round, saw that the Indians | were fairly well maintaining their position. “I’m afraid they will wear us down in, the A 3 he: said. “Their horses are fresher than ours. Those wiry Indian ponies will keep on forever, almost, though they are not usually good for a burst of speed. Some of them are pulling up on us now. They are almost within range. I wish there were a place near here where we could make — a stand with some hope of holding them off.” “I know of such a place, Captain. Cody,” said a man who was riding beside him. “Where is it?’ asked Buffalo Bill eagerly. “It is a deserted stockade, about tén miles off. It was 7 THE BUFFALO built to protect the men who worked at a mine there, but the mine failed and the place has been abandoned for many years. But the stockade was well built, and when I saw it, a a. or two ago, it did not seem to have fallen into decay.” (lead. us “to: it,” ae the border king. “If we can keep ahead of the redskins until we get there, we can at least put up a good fight and make them pay dearly for our scalps.” CHAPTER XIII THE DEATH OF BITING ADDER. Presently the Indians drew so near thal. "Rafal Bill gave the word to turn and give them a volley. - The scouts. all shot well from horseback, and several of the Indians dropped from their saddles. The Crows were quick to reply, more than a hundred of them discharging their guns. Most of the bullets were badly aimed, but some of them whizzed in unpleasant proximity to the gallant scouts. A second volley was fired by Buffalo Bill and his com- panions, with results as fatal as the first, and then the border king turned his horse’s head, and dug in the spurs. — The rest followed his eeaple but they were not all to escape unscathed. The man riding by Cody’s side suddenly gave a low groan and rolled heavily out of his saddle. Quick as a. flash, the border king reined up, jumped to the ground, and lifted his comrade in his arms. _ It was useless. A single glance showed him that the man was dead. He had been shot clean through the heart. Cody remounted in a second and caught up with his companions with a few bounds of his splendid horse, for they had turned to await him. The Indians, profiting by this delay, had drawn peril- ously near, and they whooped with savage joy ae they saw the scout fall. _ But if they thought they had a others at their mercy, they soon discovered their mistake. All of them were very well mounted, and they slowly drew away until they were out of range. In a few minutes more they were drawing near to the stockade. Buffalo Bill and Wild Bill raced at pe speed toward the little fort. They wanted to reach it and swing open the door, which was probably rusty and hard to move, so that there would be no delay when the rest of the party got there, with the redskins at their heels. They were in much better luck then they had expected, however. . ¢ BILL STORIES. 27 The gate was on wooden hinges, and it opened quite easily. The stockade itself, though it had been aban-. doned forqmany years, was strongly built, and it had not. fallen into decay. It was of fair dimensions, and only one or two of the palisades had fallen. The gate could be closed securely on the inside by heavy balks of tim- ber. Soon all the men and horses were inside. Two of the poor animals collapsed on the ground immediately, from exhaustion, for they had been ridden furiously. One of them died in a few minutes, but the other presently re- vived. “We ought to be able to make a good stand here,” said Buffalo Bill, as he watched the horde of disappointed savages . circling slowly on their tired steeds round and round the stockade and trying to discern its strong and weak points. “If we have to go under in the end, we can at least make them pay very dearly for our scalps.” The Crows presently withdrew and held a council of war. Looking through a pair of field-glasses which he al- ways carried slung from his shoulders, Buffalo Bill saw that his old enemy, Biting Adder, was among the group of chiefs who stcod apart, debating together as to the best course to pursue. The border king guessed, from the motions they made © as they talked, that most of the chiefs and leading braves were opposed to trying to storm the stockade. They probably thought that it would cost them too many men, and were in favor of waiting until darkness should give them a better chance of success. But Biting Adder was plainly of a different mind. Hatred of the whites had become a monomania with him, and had given him a fictitious courage and desperation really foreign to his essentially cowardly nature. “Good heavens !” exclaimed Buffalo Bill, as he watched the medicine-man farrowly through his glasses. “He looks as crazy as any of those poor wretches to whom he gave the insane root. See! He is talking to them now. He is absolutely foaming at the mouth. He wants them to attack us @t once—that is plain. “He sees red, sure enough. Ha! He is bringing them round to his way of thinking. They are jumping up and shouting and brandishing their tomahawks. They will try to rush us. “That fellow certainly must have a wonderful influ- ence over them, to make them willing to rush to their death in such a crazy fashion.” “He shall get my first bullet,” said Wild Bill grimly. Soon the Indians advanced against the stockade with a recklessness of danger which the scouts had never seen equaled in all their experience of border warfare. They seemed to have lost all fear of death—all regard for their lives. The medicine-man had thoroughly imbued them with his own half-insane, fanatical hate of the palefaces. They raced up to the stockade on horseback, dismounted when they were within about twenty yards of it, and, failing to burst in the heavy door, at which they hurled themselves furiously, hacked away at the fastenings which bound the palisades together, using the tomahawks and knives for the purpose. Of course, the scouts inside were not idle in the mean- time. Firing fast and accurately, they sent many of their red enemies to the happy iyatine sour but the slaughter eS z 6 fury. ; 5 The medicine-man was foremost in the fray, hatred lending him the courage of a madman. Moving hither and thither with the agility of a panther, he spurred the braves on to almost superhuman exertions in their ef- forts to hack down the strong palisades. _ He was fired at again and again, and wounded in sev- eral places, but he seemed to bear a charmed life. Though covered with blood from head to* foot, his strength and energy did not seem to flag. for a moment. At last a big section of the wall went down with a loud crash, The Crow warriors dashed through the gap, yelling triumphantly, but they were met by a storm of bullets. Biting Adder led the charge, brandishing an enormous tomahawk which most warriors would have found it dif- ficult to swing at all. He was the first man to fall in the breach. Buffalo Bill and Wild Bill fired at him at the same time, and he was pierced through the head and the breast by their bullets. The Crows, falling by the dozen under the terrible fire of the scouts, were seized with a sudden panic when they saw the death of their leader. They had thought that he was invulnerable—indeed, he had told them that the Great Manitou would turn aside the bullets of the white men so that they could not touch his body. Now they found out their mistake, and all the fighting spirit seemed to leave them. Pursued by a hail of bullets, they fled back to their horses and rode away—all that were left of them. They thad lost nearly a hundred men in their vain assault, in- cluding several of their most prominent chiefs. Once again, spurred on by a gallant young chief, they advanced to the attack, but they hadno real heart for it, and were easily driven back. Then they came to the con- clusion that the scalps of the scouts would cost them too dearly, and they slowly rode away. “I wonder why they didn’t wait dhd try to starve us out,” said Buffalo Bill to Wild Bill. “It seems strange. They must have known that it would only be a question of a little time, as we could only have with us the water in our canteens and the food in our saddle-bags.”’ The scouts remained in the stockade for several hours and repaired the breach in the wall, for they thought that the Crows might only have made a feint of retreating. Late in the afternoon, however, they had it explained to them why their enemies had not cared to stay too long. A regiment of cavalry from Fort McKinney came fol- lowing along the trail of the Crows. It had been sighted by their scouts, and that was why the war party had turned back on its trail and thus encountered the scouts. The redskins were hotly pursued and well punished for their revolt. Returning to Red Creek, Buffalo Bill found that Joe Welch was already there, having followed the smaller party of the Crows to their village and found that they desired nothing better than peace. Joe himself had arrived at an understanding with Maud Benson, the Wild Rose of the Prairie, and their mar- riage was only delayed by the mortal illness of her father from the wound he had received in the night race with the Indians to Red Creek. THE BUFFALO BILL STORIES. only seemed to excite the rest to a keener pitch of savage ¢ When Mr. Benson realized that he was dying, he ine sisted that the two should be married at his death-bed, so — that Maud would have a protector when he was gone. Some months later, Buffalo Bill paid a visit to the Blackfeet and told Tall Bear of the fate of Biting Adder and the terrible punishment that had been inflicted on the Crows for following his mad advice. “My paleface brother was right when he counseled me to remain at peace with the Great White Father,” said the chief. Biting Adder—the fate of the.Crows might have been the fate of the Blackfeet.” ne on THE END. ‘A great treat is in store for the readers of the BuFFALO Britt Stories next week. One of the best tales ever pub-_ lished in this library will then be offered. It is called ye “But for that—but. for the exposing of. “Buffalo Bill’s Bold Challenge; or, Fighting Redskins in the Rapids.” One of the characters is a-rematkable In- dian chief named Yellow Plume, from whose savage hate Buffalo Bill had an escape that was almost miraculous. Don’t forget to buy next week’s story, No. 253. PEE TRIES PG eG ey rT ye I Ee ee ee eT Ta PC CTE Ue ae thn sae hn eat Sas a oan Gas Gi omy en he ro den a Ses Se ad rg mt. Lip Top Weekly We receive hundreds of letters every week from readers asking if we can supply the early numbers of Tip Top contain- ing Frank’s adventures. In every case we are obliged to reply that numbers 1 to 300 are entirely out of print.: » We would like to call the attention of our readers to the fact that the Frank Merriwell Stories now being published in book form in the Medal Library are inclusive of these early numbers. The first book to appear was No. 150 entitled “Frank Merriwell’s Schooldays.” We give herewith 2 complete list of all the stories that have been published in book form up to the time of writing. We will be glad to send @ fine colored cover catalogue of the Medal Library which is just filled with good things for boys, upon receipt of a one-cent stamp to cover postage. Ca EOE PIER IE TE ICE SS Reon van ae Gar otek on os Oe So eR eas Bae oe The Prica of The Merriwell Books is Ten Cents por Copy. At all Newsdealers Ce a LA Frank Merriwell at Yale, Medal No. 205. 10c. @ Frank Merriwell Dewn South. Medal No. 189. 10c. Frank Merriwell in Camp. Medal No. 258. 10c. & Frank Merriwell in Bingland. Medal No. 340. 10c. ff Frank Merriwell in Europe. Medal No. 201. 10c. @& Frank Merriwell in Maine. Medal No. 276. 10c. @ Frank Merriwell on the Road. Medal No. 300. ey Hrank Merriwell’s Athletes. Medal No. 238. Frank Merriwell’s Bicycle Tour. Medal No. 217. Frank Merriwell’s Book of Physical Development, Diamcnd Hand-Book No. 6. Frank Merriwell’s Bravery. Medal No. 1938. rank Merriwell’s Champions. Medal No. 240. frank Merriwell’s Chase. Medal No. 271. Frank Merriwell’s Chums. Frank Merriwell’s College Chums. Frank Merriwell’s Courage. Frank Merriwell’s Cruise. Frank Merriwell’s Danger. Wrank Merriwell’s Daring. Frank Merriwell’s Fame, Frank Merriwell’s First Job. Frank Merriwell’s Foes. Wrank Merriwell’s Fortune. Medal : Frank Merriwell’s Great Scheme. Medal No. 336. Frank Merriwell’s Hard Luck. Medal No, 292. Frank Merriwell’s Hunting Tour. Medal No. 197. Frank Merriwell’s Loyalty. Medal No. 254. Frank Merriwell’s New Comedian. . Medal No. 324. Prank Merriwell’s Opportunity. _. Medal No. 288. Frank Merriwell’s Own Company. Medal Ne. 304, Frank Merriwell’s Problem. Medal No. 316. _Wrank Merriwell’s Prosperity. Medai No. 328, Frank Merriwell’s Protege. Medal No. 296. f4 Frank Merriwell’s Races. Medal No. 213. fq Frank Merriwell’s Return to Yale. Medal No. 244, fg Frank Merriwell’s School-Days. Medal No. 150. ig Krank Merriwell’s Secret. Medal No. 247. Ps Frank Merriwell’s Skill. Medal No. 237. fk Frank Merriwell’s Sports Afield. Medal No. 209. Ps Frank Merriwell’s Stage Hit, Medal No. 832. be Frank Merriwell’s Struggle. Medal No. 280. yg] Yrank Merriwell’s Trip West. Medal No. 184. mM Frank Merriwell’s Vacation. Medal No. 262. I Wey Fey ey ME RE RR ON RS HE TEL AR ETN SR = i Th whieas x rE CEC FBC EE C CHR SERRE CCRC ersero SOCAN cenS? (SADA GORE Sik GS Gk GRR oa ads ea as i OH ia ye Ree or oro nes Rita rah ean Pag OR gi 2 The best stories of Western adventure are now introducing you. PRICE, # being published in the RoucH Riper WEEKLY. ‘@ ~~ =«sOCThese are the rattling adventures of Ted Strong, aptly styled «King of the Wild West.” Get acquainted with Ted. know him and will certainly thank us afterward for The current number is a good long one and only costs five cents at your newsdealer’s. FIVE CENTS Youll be elad to Kine of the Wild West’s Camel Hunt; or, Young Rough Riders in the Mojave Desert, | 81—King of the Wild West and the “Bad Men”; or, Putting a “Lid” on the Territory. of the Governor’s Son. 83—King of the Wild West’s “Bounties”; or, The Young Wolf Hunters of Montana. | 84—King of the Wild West’s Sapphire Mines; or, The : Smugglers of Yogo Creek... 85—King of the Wild West’s Crooked Trail; or, A Trip into Old Mexico. 86—King of the Wild West’s Human Map; or,-The Treasure of the Magic Cave Trail. 87—King of the Wild West in the Corral; or, Teach- ing the Law to Custer, the Wild Horse. 88—King of the Wild West’s Dangerous Game; or, The Win-Out in Idaho. 89—King of the Wild West’s Strange Find; or, The ~ . Lost City of the Sangre de Christo. go—King of the Wild West’s Militia; or, Breaking ae Se in Leadville. <82-—Kitie of the Wild West on Guard; or, In the Cause HERE ARE SOME OF THE LATEST TITLES gi—King of the Wild West’s Justice; or, The Sheep War of the Las Animas. 92—King of the Wild West’s Saint; or, The End of Polygamy in Utah. 93—King of the Wild West’s Hold; or, Capturing the Big Timber Thieves. 94—King of the Wild West’s Submarine; or, The Search for Sunken Treasure. 95—King of the Wild West’s Finish; or, The Great Stone Door. 96—King of the Wild West's Peril; or, The Caanibat of Tiburon Island. 97—King of the Wild West’s Sitanee Quest; or, The White Princess of Sonora. 98—King of the Wild West’s Horsethief; or, The _ Enigma of Lost Springs. 99—King of the Wild West’s Chase; or, The Rescue of Yuen Ho. 1oo—King of the Wild West’s Meteor; or, The Race for the Klondike Diamond. 1o1—King of the Wild West in Siberia; or, Castaway on the Arctic Ocean. pon receipt of price. These may be secured from any newsdealer at five cents per copy, or f your. newsdealer cannot supply you we will send them direct postpaid ar ee present time over one hundred thousand copies of: FIP TOP CRSA are sold throughout the United States every week! There are many good reasons why boys like | TIP TOP better than any other | five cent weekly publication. Why do YOU like it? : We have prepared a set Or Six handsome post cards, which we will send to every boy who will write and give us his opinion of No, 517 of fF TIP TOP, entitled “Dick Merri- A well’s F riendly Hand; or, The Be Who Was Saved.” ‘These cards are illustrations of Frank Merriwell, Brad Buckhart, Obediah Tubbs, Joe Crowfoot, Dick Merriwell, and Cap’n Wiley. They are printed in many colors and will be a fine addition to any | boy’s collection of post cards. Write | now. ‘They ate free. STREET @Q, SMITH PUBLISHERS | NEW YORK] HOUSANDS of, boys everywhere will agree with us when we say that the Rough Rider Weekly contains the best stories of Western adventure that ever were written, The author, Ned Taylor, is a Western man—born and raised among the strong, self-reliant cowboys. We will send a set of handsome post cards, six in number, to every boy who will write and tell us what he 2 | thinks of No. 99 of Rough Rider Weekly, entitled ‘‘King of the Wild West's Strange Chase; or, The Rescue of Yuen Ho.” These cards are highly attractive, being printed in many colors, showing just what Ted Strong, the King of the Wild West, and his comrades look like. They are equal to the kind you pay five cents each for and are just what every boy, who is making a collection, will want. | Remember, they are entirely free and every boy who says a good word for Rough Rider will receive a set. PUBLISHERS NEW YORK BEAUTIFUL COLORED COVERS | BES. 1S ISSUED EVERY TUESDAY. oh 4 Buffalo Bill wins his way into the heart of every| one who reads these strong stories of stirring adventure! on the wide: prairies of the West. ; Boys, if you want tales of the West that ate} | drawn true to life, do not pass these by, PRICE FIVE CENTS PER COPY | For sale by all newsdealers, or atl by the publishers to any address upon receipt of price in money or postage stamps HERE ARE THE 230—Buffalo Bill’s Kiowa Foe; or, Buckskin Sam’s Red Hand. 231—Buffalo Bill’s Terrible Throw; or, The Strong Arm of the Border King> 232—Buffalo Bill’s Wyoming Trail; or, Wild Work with the Redskins. 233—Buffalo Bill’s Dakota Peril; or, Wild Bill’s Death Feud. 234—Buffalo Bill’s Tomahawk Duels or, Playing Red- skins at Their Own Game. 235—Buffalo Bill’s Apache Round-Up; or, The Red- skin Renegade. 236—Buffalo Bill’s El Paso Pard; or, The Red Whirl- wind of Texas. * 237—Buffalo Bill on the Staked Plain; or, Lance, Lasso, and Rifle. -238—Buffalo Bill’s Border Raid; or, Fighting Redskins and Renegades. 239—Buffalo Bill’s Bravest Fight; or, Star Eye, the Pawnee Princess. 240—Buffalo Bill’s Heathen Pard; or, ee Hi on the Warpath. 241—Buffalo Bill’s Dakota Dare-devils; or, Routing the) LATEST TITLES: _ | Redskins. _ > 242—Buffalo Bill’s Arapahoe Alliance; or, Fighting th : Tejons. : 243—Buffalo Bill on. Special Service } Dance of the Apaches. | 244—Buffalo Bill on a Treasure Hunt; or, The Secret i Hoard of the Yaquis. ] 245—Buffalo Bill’s Lost Ouaty or, Following a- Cold Trail. 246—Buffalo Bill Among the Comanches ; Thunder’s Last Ride. 247—Buffalo Bill’s Stockade Siege; Fort. 248—Buffalo Bill’s Creek Quarrel; or, Long Hair’s rere Shot. 249—Buffalo Bill Among the Pawnees; or, Nick Whar- i ton’s Redskin Chum. 250—Buffalo Bill on a Long Hunt; or, The Tracking off Arrowhead. 251—Buffalo Bill’s Wyoming Trail; or, The Conquering | of Red Hand. or, The Death} Or, Loud} | or, Holding the IF YOU WANT ANY of our libraries and cannot procure them from newsdealers, they can be obtained from this office direct. ERS | ft Cut out and fill in the follow- | BACK NUNB ing order blank and send it to us with the price of the books you want and we will send them to you by return mail. POSTAGE; STAMPS TAKEN THE SAME AS MONEY. \ STREET & SMITH, Publishers, yo Seventh Avenue, New Vork. City.) 9 8 sey eee ae ee ee 190 i ; Gentlemen :—Enclosed find........ cents for which please send me: ee copies of Tip Top Noe ee We eae ee ere c ase oe Tl Sages eas ‘* “ Nick Carter INOS een ee lee oe Paice dele i camer tale UUs MORES Creu accu i ea Oe cnr sce acess cs) i Oe ‘¢ “ Diamond Dick Nos...........:. EN sic ayy CBee ele Soe eeg ey Wace Oa ie ea eats puerta haute ness? Ceahe < * Buffalo Bill DOS ele UG i eh vce he Goa Gun as Gene Me Ce Ma eu er iMG mm eves unis pomcce S4eo +? im Saar oS Brave and: Bold Nose. oy. oe pees io oce Uy eeu ce cs cee eae eh eae g eaee cee et El is « = Rough Rider Nog Ce ee ee INGO ole is oe ee URE AUC INO sens de occ cere esate e sve tas TOW so, ee ee State... .cecscseasser! 2 if ee THE FAVORITE LIST OF FIVE-CENT LIBRARIES BUPPALO BIEL STORIES Buffalo Bill is the hero of a thousand exciting adventures among the Redskins. These are given to our boys only in the Buffalo Bill Stories. They are bound to interest and please you. TIP TOP WEEKLY =| Frank and Dick Merriwell are tli two brothers whose adventures | in college and on the athletic field are of intense interest to the 7| American boy of to-day. They | prove that a boy does not have to be a rowdy to have exciting sport. NICK CARTER EEL We know, boys, that there is no need of introducing to you Nicholas Carter, the greatest ee sleuth that ever lived: Every number containing the adven- tures of Nick Carter has a peculiar, but delightful, power of fascina- tion. ~ALL-SPORTS LIBRARY TRACT amos s All sports that boys are inter- ested in, are carefully dealt with ‘n the All-Sports Library. The stories deal with the adventures of plucky lads while indulging in ay pastimes. Do not think for a second, boys, that these stories are a lot of musty history, just sugar- coated. They are all new tales of exciting adventure on land and sea, in all of which boys of your own age took part. Every boy who prefers variety | in his reading matter, ought to be a reader of Brave and Bold. All these were written by authors | who are past masters in the art of telling boys’ stories. Every tale is complete in itself. ROUGH RIDER WEEKLY Ted Strong was appointed dep- |; uty marshal by accident, but he | was, resolves to use his authority and | jms rid his ranch of some very tough | bullies. He does it in such a slick |} way that everyone calls him |} “King of the Wild West” and he }|, certainly deserves his title.