NY. Cents Seventh Aver ive MITH, 79-59 by STREET&S the attack. Sproat s leaped to X. Ve Post Office, Zi, 1907. APRIL of the brute two class Matter the 9 YORK NEW them, ight flashed on his torch! By subscr eekly. i aca “ S s = © n = = oO = tad el © oO > 8 o eo} vo So 8 oO bee o o oie fed o = e om NY = wh w) oS o be > ded S ass QO o a sted > = uo} o c= = & o ® vie uo} w a cQ = & oe Ges = a9) aw fSSUue 4 a, 5 ee TR ARI scseieensinsemne-snitnennRN Pe = eR et ace ve : sey eS 2 eo 7 A WEEKLY PUBLICATION | | DEVOTED TO Salk OS Laie oe | Lssued Weekly. By subscription $2.50 per year. Entered as Second-class Matter at the N. V. Post Office ae 70-5) oe Avenue, e | . ¥.. Entered according to Act of Congress tn the year 1997, in the Office of the ery as feMibion 2 e (==> Beware of Wild West imitations of the Buffalo Bill Stories. They ace ably Mage Migs oe Bill weekly is the only weekly containing the adventures of Buffalo Bill, ste tlk seit BY | ~ over the world as the sts a S¢ “Ai a Novos | No. 311. : Pee es .. a | | eed | hidden camp-fire. ing suit was soiled and greasy, his thin face was seamed, and his bony hands were hard and gnarled. - REET; ROUTE aA ‘MASS. AND NOVELS: (x g Bg prey ALE Ey By the author of “BUFFALO BILLPaid, or exc END f ior latest Hist o &” els that + -AUG2 CHAPTER I. THE HORNED HORSE. p19 19 A little, dried-up specimen of a man crouched before a His hair was long, his buckskin hunt- 17 be, He!” he gues lee ee, he, te! Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha! Wo, hoe; ho!’ / He rocked to and ito, holding his sides, which were aking with laughter, while his exclamations of delight ybled and rolled from him. > - Yet his laughter was neither loud nor® uproarious ; it s Fycrea a oe EB: ¥. 4d & ea 2 fe. HAAS ‘e L BA & og a es They towered above its head, ba and tall—horns such as some species of antelopes show. Yet no ante- lope ever had horns so white. They fairly shone in the darkness that wrapped the land. On a cloge inspection the beholder would have discov- ered, what he must already have guessed if a sensible man, that the horns were mere pretenses. They were of wood, secured by a leather head-piece to the head of the old horse; and their whiteness was due to the fact that they were wrapped about with snowy buckskin. : ; “Waugh!” grunted the man, as he thus held his sides. . »% | was quiet, almost subdued, in spite of the exclamations, . Me a Oe Nebby haimt had 2 much fun sense we had A he as if he half-feared it might be overheard by an enemy. ther measles. Has we old boy! | “Close by the old man and the fire stood. a horse, as The man was old Nick Nomad, the eccentric trapper iy 2 eC oe in every way as its eccentric master. Ot was a homely, aged-looking, shaggy, heavy- -headed beast. Yet the thing that would have first attracted attention was not these natural qualities, but the fact that this old aorse wore over its ears a huge pair of horns. 4 and life-long friend of Buffalo Bill, and the horse was that famous beast, Nebuchadnezzar. “Ho, ho, ho!’ grunted Nomad, still holding his sides: “Nebby, you ole rapscallion, I didn’t ‘low thet you war so durn smart as you air. I knowed you had more knowledge than a good many folkses, but thet war jes’ a THE BUFFALO BILL STORIES. : 100 cute fer anything. And din't it skeer ther redskins ? _ Didn’t they jes’ git up and git, when they beheld yet | Waugh! I’m bettin’ ther devils air runnin’ yit!” “Old Nebuchadnezzar patiently flicked his ears and switched his tail. Those tall horns seemed not to B2pOy him. “Nebby, you wise ole turtle; it war you, too, crive me thet idear! But fer you I wouldn’t thought of it, and I reckon if I hadn't my scalp would purty soon be dryin’ in the smoke of some ’Rapahoe lodge, and you'd be hav- in’ an ornery ole "Rapahoe buck fer yer master. And wouldn't you made a row ag’in thet? Fer yer does hate Injuns wuss’n ther devil is said ter hate holy water. Yes, you gimme ther idear, when I seen ye standin’ thar, with yer ears stickin’ straight up and stiff as sticks. Them Injuns did skeer ye some, didn’t they? “Waugh! ’Rapahoes air clean pizen, and meaner be- sides than pole-cats. They skeered ye, and I don't wonder. They plumb skeered me. I seen thet we had ter do somethin’. And so, you havin’ suggested it, I made them horns. fer ye, out of a couple of aspen limbs, wrapped ‘em round with thet brand new buckskin I was intendin’ to have a pair of trousers made of, and fixed a head-stall fer em out of a piece I had ter cut out 0° yer. saddle leather. Kem durn nigh sp/ilin’ thet nice saddle, too; but ’twar. wu’th it!” Nebuchadnezzar had up to this moment stood Cai. as if thinking of taking a nap after the strenuous experi- ences he had been through. But now he threw his ears forward, with a toss of his old head that made the big horns bow and waver, and at the same time stamped nis tee ‘Nomad caught up his long and ancient rifle, leaped up, ~ and with finger on Viger stood staring out into the darkness. - After that first warning, Nebby stood for awhile as still as if he had been carved out of stone; but his ears, pricked forward, told that he either saw or smelled something suspicious. “What is it, ole boy?” Nomad asked ina a low tone. He glided to the head of the horse, and stood there, listening. Then he heard something—a scraping sound, as if some one were trying to crawl up on him in the dark- ness. But even as he herd it the sound ceased. Man and ‘horse now stood like images in the gloom, and those white horns towering: over the horse’s head certainly made a strange picture. -“Somepin’ out thar, Nebby? I’m shore I heerd some- pin’! gittin’ ther chunk o’ lead thet’s restin’ in the stumick of oF wile Waugh! L . A voice called softly out in. the fe “Nomad! i | uve air. _cussed “Rapahoes. Waal, ef it wants ter come a little nearer it'll be A Gaiad cocked an ear r sidewise, ne a dog ene “Nomad, that you?” “Waugh! Mebbe ’tis. duced ter you yet!” A laugh sounded. “Don’t know your old friend, Buffalo Bill?” “Waugh! Buffler! ‘Thet youl” | “None other.” “T one’t heerd a preacher say thet ef yer thought a good deal about angels yer might have some hopes of hearin’ ’em singin’. I jes’ been thinkin’ o’ you, and ae Come forrud, and let me see thet it’s shore you.’ | Habit and a: long life of peril in the mountains had made him cautious, and even suspicious. | That good-natured laugh sounded again. Then a. form rose in the gloom, causing Nebby to dance and jump; and when the form came a Nomad. saw his friend, Buffalo Bill. | “Cody, shake!” he said, stretching out his left hand, but still clinging with his right to the rifle. “I’m thet glad ter see ye thet I wants ter shout, ‘Hallelooyer!’ Yit' 1 don’t darst ter; fer Injuns air round,, thicker fleas on a dog.” “Indians?” “An ’Rapahoes at thet! A cuss on ‘em! « Me and Nebby has been hyar in hidin’ more hours than I keer ter remember, and tryin’ ter save our necks frum ther See them horns?” But I cian I ain’t been inter- oN He doubled up and began to laugh, as he pointed them out. i “T saw them before 1 saw you?” He shook hands with the trapper. “You've been having trouble with Indians ?” “Buffler, I has had a durn hard time persuadin’ them § Injuns not ter massacree me. They war bound ter do it. And I reckons they would, ef ole Nebby hadn't tuck ter warin’ horns. ‘ther night, don’t he?” Buffalo Bill dropped down, with his old friend, by t the hidden camp-fire. “Tell me about it?” he invited. “Furst, tell me of yerself? How in ther name o’ all ' thet’s wonderful did yer ay along hyar jes’ at ther time when T war ‘hina o yer ther hardest? 1 war sayin’ ter myself and Nebby thet this hyar war an ad- . yenture sech as Buffler would rej’ice in; and I war te- -hee-ing ter myself over it, when thar you war, and old Nebby. diskivered ye!’ He glanced with loving pride at the shaggy-headed beast and its towering horns. “YT had a hint that trouble was brewing with the Arra- | 39 pahoes,” said the scout. “That answers your question, by telling you why I am here. And now about oa self, and the Indians, and those marvelous’ horns? a He makes a beautiful ole he- oat in. up fo tu ki er CO to §! WwW. th sc lo ai as m SC or tt tl { ( THE BUFFALO CHAPTER IL. # OLD NOMAD'S STORY. Old Nomad dug into his tobacco pouch and brought up a vile-smelling pipe, some tobacco and a match, be- fore offering to say anything further about his adven- tures. “Buffler, I’m dyin’ fer a smoke,” he apologized, “and I gotter have it, even ef Rapahoe noses air out thar and kin smell it. But. I reckon thet ther red devils air gone, er you'd ’a’ run inter em as you come erlong.”’ He filled his pipe, scratched his match carefully, under cover of his greasy beaverskin cap, and ignited the tobacco. He did not talk until he had it going well. “Buffer,” he said, taking a long pull at the pipe and grunting with deep satisfaction, “I’ve shore had ther wust, and yit ther comic’lest, adventure of my life.” He stopped and the pipe. “Kin ye imagine an Injun squaw wantin: ter marry met. “F believe such a thing has happened before,” scout answered, smiling under cover of the darkness. “Ves, when I war younger, and some’at handsome ter look at.. But now, when I’m*so ole thet my teeth air drappin’ out, and my. legs air gittin’ shaky, and my eyes air growin’ dim, it seems funny enough.” “Some Arrapahoe squaw wanted you for a husband?’ “Tes’ so, Buffler. You know ole Wild Eye, what they calls ther "Rapahoe queen? Waal, queer kink inter her brain. Id been snoopin’ round ther ’Rapahoe village, fer I’d seen something thet sorter the made me ’spicious, like young bucks ridin’ round in war- % 2 ? paint and ther likes of thet. kiver ther meanin’ of it. git captured.” He humped his shoulders and smoked in meditative silence for a full half-minute, while Buffalo Bill, know- ing and respecting his eccentricity, maintained silence, waiting for him to go on. “Ves it was a fool thing fer me ter do, inexperienced as I war in ther ways of Injuns. But I trusted too much ter luck, and not enough ter sougd, common sense; so I got too near in; and when I war sighted, [ couldn't ‘run fast ernough ter git away frum ther young bucks thet chased me. If I’d been ten years younger, though, they wouldn’t got me, even then; but I can’t run as onct 1 could,” Again he meditated and smoked in silence. “They drug me out before ole Wild Eye, ther queen. My, but she’s shone a wicked-lookin’ critter! You’ve seen her, and so | don’t need ter tell ye. She’s gnt only one eye, ye know, and that one eye jes’ blazes in her black, wrinkled face like a coal o’ fire. Thet’s w hy they calls her Wild Eye. So I crep-clost in, ter.dis- And I war fool ernough ter a“ “te-heed” into the smoking bowl of ‘twat her tuck- that — BILL STORIES. : : es “I fully ixpected thet eye would shore bore a hole in me when it rested onter' me; but instead o’ thet ther ole hag acchilly smiled, and seemed as pleased ter see me as if ’'d been her long-lost husband. “T reckon but fer her takin’ a fancy ter me I’d been - put through some course o’ sprouts, and mebbe burnt . at ther stake, fer ther “Rapahoes war proper mad at me fer spyin’ on ’em. But she said suthin’ ter ther effeck that she’d claim me as her own property; and the fire- and-brimstone bizness fer me war put aside “Waugh! he laughed, shaking his head, and then pro- ceeded to smoke again. “Wall, ther upshot o’ ther hull thing was thet instead of fryin’ me she concluded she'd haye me fer her brave. Waugh! | “T cal’lated that it might be a heap sight better ter be burnt alive than ter become ther husband of a lady of sech oncertain temper as ole Wild Eye. “They'd brung ole Nebby in; and though he do hate Injuns ther wust kind, I-sung out ter him ter be quiet, and he did, as quiet as it w under ther Gees “He let ther "Rapahoes inspect him continual. They war ixaminin’ his legs, and pulling at his ha’r, and rub- bin’ his head and neck, and wotritin’ him nigh about inter fits, fer he does hate an Injun; but he stood still war posserble fer him ter be _ and let ’em, with one eye and one ear cocked toward me, fer he “lowed I war up ter suthin’. “Ther chanc’t come by an’ by, when ther reds warn’t watchin’ me so clos't. My hands warn’t tied, ner my feet, and I was stood out in an open space, so’s the queen ‘could properly inspect ther man who was ter be her lovin’ husband. “Waugh ! It was cert’in an interestin’ performance! Ole Nebby kep’ watchin’ and thinkin’, and workin’ his years, askin’ me what we’d better do. Nebby kin talk, though he can’t talk words. Sudden I seen my oppor- tunity ter grab my weapons from a buck what had ‘em; then I sent out thet screechin’ whistle which Nebby knows so well. “Ther cute ole cuss come jumpin’ ter me, flingin’ his heels at ther reds most reckless; and “fore you could say Jack Robinson, I was on his back, after havin’ knifed one o’ ther reds most vicious. “T let out a powerful yell, ter stimerlate Nebby and skeer ther reds. And ther ole hoss he plunged right through ther midst of.’ em, jumpin’ an’ kickin’ like all — possessed. “The thing war all done in less’n two minutes, and I outer the ’Rapahoe village, flyin’ along, with a hull pack of ’Rapahoes chasin’ me. “Waugh! It war fox and hound ee thet, I tell yer. Nebby kin go séme, and he done his durndest; but ther ’Rapahoes.begun ter chase on fast ponies. They hung so clos’t ter us that finally they driv me inter them brushy hills over thar, and begun fer ter close in on me. ag ne SEIT oe THE BUFFALO bo Waal, thet warnt ter my likin’, ner Nebby’s. I shore didn’t want ter be tuck back ter ole Wild Eye. Playin’ lovin’ husband ter 6le Wild Eye ain’t a job I hankers fer; not any fer me, thank ye! So I bergun ter wonder : aw I war goin’ ter git out er thar “fore daylight come, when it seemed a dead shore thing I’d not be able ter git out at all. “Nebby understood ther sitivation as well as I did, and he kep’ his years thrust forrud, listenin’ fer “Rapa- hoes. And seein’ them years guv me an idear. They looked so like horns they made me think o’ horns. “Says | ter Nebby, says I, ‘We'll jes’ fool “em! Ther moonlight war bright, which war ther reason I couldn’t sneak out past ther reds. But this oy moonlight promised ter help me, “So I made them long horns fer Nebby, outer ites of aspen, and wrapped ’em round wi’ white buckskin ter make ‘em ghostly white. They're held onter his head by a sort of cap which he’s wearin’, which I made by cuttin’ up a piece o} saddle leather. “Then I made ole Nebby walk slow and solemn like out inter ther moonlight. Waugh!” He bent over, laughing again at the recollection. “It ‘war as funny a thing as ye ever seen, Buffler. Ther sight o’ thet horned hoss, ther likes of which they'd never laid peepers on before, give them “Rapahoes sech a skeer thet they cut right outer the ee and I reckon they're runnin’ yit, Waugh!” Buffalo Bill had listened with marked interest to the rather unusual story told by his mountain pard. “Tt was clever—as clever as anything you’ve ever done im that line, Nomad; and I’ve known you to do some things that were more than ordinary.’ “My part war easy! "“Iwar ther cuteness of ole Nebby thet I’m callin’ yer attention ter. Bad as he hates ’Rapa- hoes, he walked straight out toward ‘em, steppin’ as slow and solemn as if he war in a funeral procession. Nebby sensed ther sitivation, and shore done his ae ter perfection.” : “And you came, then, into this camp here?’ “Thought it might be better, mebbe, ter git outer ther place inter which ther reds had run me; fer I didn’t know but mebbe they'd look fer me thar in ther mornin’. So I jes’ changed over ter this. “I war layin’ hyar peaceable, and hadn’t yit ace ther | horns off ther ole hoss, when he smelt ye and give ther alarm. And then you appeared.” Buffalo Bill understood how Bee had bear old No- mad’s danger. In escaping, he had halted one of the warriors; which meant that if he had been captured he could have ex- pected no mercy. “You killed the warrior you struck ae the knife?” the scout asked. “Waugh! I cal’ a if ther red devil ain't dead he'll ther lions. hungry critters! Pit SLORIES., be in ther horsepital fer ther balance of ther summer. -] shore struck hard, jes’ as he war throwin’ hisself at Nebby ter stop him. I allow thet’s why ther “Rapahoes war so crazy ter capture me agin. If they had I shore would have been sent ter ther den o’ lions.” “The den of lions?’ “Ver hain’t heard 0’ thet, Buffler? “Waal, thet’s one 0’ ther little eccentricities of ole Wild. Eye, Seems thet she keeps a sort of caveful of mountain lions, and when- ever she don't like any one too well she feeds him ter I shore didn’t want ter make a meal fer ’em. He looked at his slim figure and gnarled hands. - “Buffler, | shore wouldn't made a mouthful fer them. But mebbe thet would have been in my favor. I sometimes thinks thet ther reason ther lions in ther Scripture story didn’t eat. up ther ole prophet Daniel war because they thought he swouldn’t make enough ter go round, and so they wouldn't begin on him. Waugh!’ | He bent over and laughed again. “But, tell me, Buffler, about yer own plans. thet ther Rapahoes war threatenin’ ?” “Colonel Sullivan, at Fort Arkansas, asked me to come Yer heard _ over this way and scout round. He'd heard reports of trouble, and wanted to get at the truth of them. But I don’t think the Arrapahoes have really done anything yeu “Waugh! Done nothin’ yit! Do you call ole Wild Eye’s threatenin’ ter marry me nothin’? What ef it had been you, Buffer? And then ther reds chasin’ me, when I'd done nothin’ but stick a cussed ’Rapahoe in self- defense? Does yer call thet nothin’? Waugh!” Yet he laughed humorously, even as he made this - statement. Buffalo Bill laughed with him. “You didn’t see that den ofjlions ?” “Buffler, I didn’t want ter, and I hadn’t thier chanc'’t. Nobody gits ter see em, and breathe afterward, so I’m told. Ole Wild Eye sends her enmies ter ther lions, and the husbands she gits tired of, and sech cattle. Waugh!” | « CHAPTER III. “SMELT OUT BY ARRAPAHOES. “Namad, I think we'd better gét out of this [oecdon ” Buffalo Bill had been out, prowling round, for he more than. half- suspected that the Arrapahoes had 2 departed. He knew the Arrapahoe war-chief, Red Wolf, a per sistent, ambitious, keen-witted young fellow. - However : much for a time Red Wolf might be fooled by those horns. worn by Nebuchadnezzar, the chances were that 4 he would not remain fooled very lone. Sure. that Red Wolf would have scouts’ prowling: rol sh Ou in Ww th hi te 1} hn rc sc in 'S, le. de he: ot the fright which Nebby’s horns gave them. THE BUFFALO round, trying to make discoveries, the scout had also gone out, for the same purpose. He returned, and voiced the warning with ee this chapter opens. The hidden camp-fire by which old Nomad had toasted his feet and his shins had gone out long before. The friends had sat talking, while the horse ridden by the scout, and old Nebuchadnezzar, grazed peacefully side by side. The fact that Nebby wore horns seemed not to have penetrated to the thinking apparatus of the other horse. Nomad rose silently, cee ing up his long rifle. “Waugh! ’Rapahoes knockin’ round, Buffler ?” “Ves, and not far off.” “They’ve diskivered our location?” “T think not; they’re lookin’ for it.” “Waugh! A cuss on em.” “They smelt your camp-fire, or perhaps your tobacco.” “Tt war a fool fer smokin’, I reckons; thet pipe could shore be smelt a mile by a good nose, it’s thet strong, What air ther reds doin’ ?” “I saw only a small band—three or four; they were out on the hillside over there, as if they had been crawl- ing round, trying to discover the meaning of that smoke. Of course they know that you’re in this vicinity, as you were seen last near here; and perhaps they've got over Red Wolf is smart, and he’s likely td come to the belief that he and his braves made fools of themselves.” “Too bad it warn’t Red Wolf I stuck thet knive into! He desarves it.” Together in the darkness stood the two friends, lis- tening quietly to any sound that might indicate the ap- proach of creeping Indians. To stand thus is a nerve-trying performance. Every shape of darkness, though it be but the dark outline of a rock, looms up as the form of a foe, and every natural sound is magnified into that of an enemy approaching. At a low hiss from Nomad his horse had stopped tear- ing at the grass, and the other horse had stopped feeding also, apparently because Nebby had done 80. Yet, as horses have a very keen sense of smell, it is likely that they scented the forms of creeping Arrapa- hoes. Nothing seemed more certain than that there were more Indians near than had been seen by Buffalo Bill. And his guess, that Red Wolf and some of the others had found out that they had been fooled had a strong element of probability. -*T think you’d better take off those horns,” falo Bill’s advice. “Off they comes, Buffler!” . He stripped the tall horns off the old horse; and Neb- was Buit- | by shook his head, glad to be freed, of them. In spite of Nomad’s belief in his wonderful intelli- BILL STORIES. i 5 gence, Nebby had not known what they meant, and he had felt the burden and the annoyance of them. Having done this, the two men began to lead their horses as quietly as they could away from the dangerous locality. 6 They had not gone a adeed ae, whee wild In- dian yells announced the discovery of their haat eae escape. The scouting party seen and heard by Buffalo Bill had made the discovery, and the yell was to declare it to other bands of Arrapahoes near. Red Wolf had reached the conclusion that he and the braves under hint had acted as unmanly cowards, in flee- ing before that horned wonder, whose character they had not been able in the darkness to discover. This had caused him to send forth scouts; and one of — these bodies Of scouts had detected the smoke of the hid- den fire and of the tobacco. An Indian’s nose is some- times almost as keen as the nose of a dog. In addition to this, Buffalo Bill had been sighted, as he made his way along, before his meeting with old No- mad, The Arrapahoe, scout who saw him had lost sight of him almost at once. Yet he had noted the direction the white man was taking. Not for a long time after that, however, were the Arrapahoes able to determine about where the white man thiis seen must be in hiding. But to return to Buffalo Bill and Nick Nomad. As soon as that wild yell told that their attempted es- ' cape had been discovered, they threw to the winds their secrecy and silence. “Make a break for it!” said the scout, as he sprang into his saddle. Old Nick Nomad was too experienced to need any one to tell him what he should do in such an emergency. He climbed into the saddle and turned old Nebby’s head toward the open country. — “Go, you snail!’ he cried. Indian yells always frightened the old horse, and he would have run from them without any commands what- ever. Buffalo Bill’s rae led at the start. Then old Nebuchadnezzar showed the wonderful stuff that was in him. | There was never a more deceptive beast than that old horse: and this was one of the things that made him so © useful to his owner, He seemed old and slow, stiff and ungainly; yet when roused his head went up, his appar- ent stiffness vanished, and the way he got over the ground astonished all who witnessed it. ; So it was now. Nebuchadnezzar was soon in the lead, and going at a pace that caused Buffalo Bill’s better bred animal to put forth his utmost exertions to keep up with him, a : THE BUFFALO _ Fearing that the whole Arrapahoe village would be aroused and soon in pursuit, the scout and Nomad did _ the very thing no one would expect them to do, and did it as a matter of safety. Instead of plunging on out into the ee they turned toward the village. . “Ther best place ter hide in, *” Nomad had often said, “is a place where nobody’s goin’ ter think of lookin’ fer ye.” a Making a wide tour, to avoid meeting the pursuing Arrapahoes, Buffalo Bill and his old mountain pard soon slowed their horses to a walk, and rode on in silence, wa the hoofs of the horses muffled. - Mufflers made from a blanket cut into pieces and fash- joned to fit the hoofs not only deadened the sound, but — left no trail, except a bit of crushed- down grass here and there, which straightened itself up after the lapse of a little time. They did not halt until they were again in the fie at a point some distance below. the Arrapahoe village, and _ some miles from that. from which they had fled. Buffalo Bill at last drew rein, glancing at the sky. “We're safe here for awhile, I think,” . said, in a low voice; “and morning will be here soon.” ce CHAPTER [V. TRAILED DOWN. Red Wolf knew now for a certainty that he and his warriors had been fooled, that they had given way to their superstitious fears, and had fled from some phan- tom formed by their own pe ny or from some- thing shaped by the white men. When the trail of the white men had been jest in the darkness, and no longer could the footfalls of the white men’s horses be heard, Red Wolf called round him the braves who had remained near his person. He was a handsome young warrior, and however much he might fear the mysterious spirits of the hills, he had foe. He was in war-paint, and round his broad shoulders was drawn.a mottled robe made from the skins of wild- cats. A circle of wildcats’ claws was round his cop- pery neck. Sometimes, because of his dress, he was called The Wildcat. os a “The white men are clever,’ he said to his braves; “but the Arrapahoes are cleverer. When the sun shines again we will ie the hole they have crept into; they cannot escape us.’ “One of the men is the Long Hair,” It was a name to fill them with fear; for Buffalo Bill was known to the Indians by that name, and they had learned that he was not a foe to despise. : - Thunder, the head ohchict of the Utes ; lodge there were the dry scalps of three white men, two never been accused of cowardice in the face of a mortal reprecd a brave. - BILLS PORIES. “Tt is the Long Hair,” admitted Red Wolf, “and with him is the old white man who has the long gun and the — big-headed pony. But they cannot escape us.’ Red Wolf felt that now he must capture these white men,-or go back into the village and become the laugh- ing-stock of all the older chiefs and warriors. He could not afford to do that. ~ He was ambitious; he aspired to be a great chief, the greatest of the - war-chiefs of the Arrapahoe nation. He and in_ his of whom he had slain in single combat. It was a record to make proud the heart of any young Indian. That record had advanced him to his present position. If now~he could compass the death of the dreaded Long Hair and the white man who was with hjm,-that would still further elevate him in the estima- tion of the Arrapahoes. But, on the other hand, if the white men baffled him, and made of him and his braves a laughing-stock, then his star might fall. . He did not mention these things in “speaking to his warriors, and telling them they must capture the white men, but he thought them. : He stirred his young braves by declaring to them that the white men had in some manner fooled them, by ma- king a horned horse appear where there was no such creature, and the thing was but a trick. At daybreak the young braves were widely scattered, searching for the lost trails. The footprints of the two horses were found at last, at the point where the blanket mufflers were adjusted by the scout and Nomad. The brave who found those tracks could hardly hold in the yell that swelled on his lips for utterance; for it is as natural for your true Indian to give forth his yell of exultation and gratification at such a time as it is for a dog to bark when he sights or scents game. But it was against the orders“of Red Wolf, and the. brave choked back the yell, and, with eyes on the ground, began to run along, trying to follow the faint trail. For a little while he did well enough; but when the soil grew harder and there was a change of direction, he was baffled; and ran round in little circles, i a dog that has lost the scent. The warrior was thus engaged when Red Wolf him- self appeared. Red Wolf Wa one of the finest of the Are taties trailers, a young brave who was so capable that his skill was noted throughout the tribe. Red Wolf summoned other braves, a aan them took.up the task of following the almost invisible trail left by the hoofs of the horses. - ) Wwe to ar Sc tv Ti aC th to hy de ra ot Ti “pt to W. NPE IEE eer GR Meh te earns ee COR eh es oe ill ail THE BUFFALO Though they were baffled now and then, and thus . were forced to cover a large amount of ground, they contrived to cling to it pretty well, and by and by ap- ptoached the hiding-place of the two white men. Buffalo Bill and Nomad knew of their approach, but were hoping that even yet the Arrapahoes would be beaten. : Yet in a short time they were convinced that in Red Wolf they had a foe worthy of them, and they began to consider a second flight. “We'll separate,” said the scout, “to break that party into two pieces; and we'll meet at the foot of that high bluff over there.” “And we has got ter move at onct, Buffler !’’ yes,” The scout took the bridle-rein of his horse, and began to lead the animal along. _ Nomad followed with Nebuchadnezzar. The Arrapahoes were advancing faster than the scout and Nomad knew. Before the fugitives had gone far, Red Wolf a some of his’ warriors ‘broke through the concealing brush, uttering wild yells, and began to shoot at the two men and their horses. But the Arrapahoes were notoriously bad shots with tifles, and were too far off to use their arrows to any advantage. Though bullets whistled in a shower over the heads. of the scout and Nomad, they remained un- touched. “Waugh!” squalled Nomad. “Skedaddle it is, and hyar I goes! Look out fer yerself, Buffler!” He climbed to the back of Nebuchadnezzar, and that deceiving old beast began to go over the ground like a rabbit, making tremendous leaps, as he bore his master on. Buffalo Bill leaped into his saddle and trode off at right angles to the course taken by Nomad. Rifles roared and. rattled, and bowstrings twanged, while Indians’ yells arose in a frightful din, - Fortunately, the Arrapahoes were not only bad shots, _ but the rifles they were using were pot-metal guns, sold to them by traders, often as likely to damage the man who fired them as the man they were fired at. The Arrapahoes, however, did not content themselves with yelling, and with popping away at the escaping white men; they sprang to the backs of ponies, and be- gan a lively chase. Buffalo Bill was out of sight of Nomad in a very little while. ‘But he heard the uproar, telling that Nomad was being closely pursued. ; As for himself, a half-dozen painted braves, led, as he believed, by Red Wolf, were crowding him in hot chase. “Red Wolf and his | warriors were > mounted on speedy Feng parse rea oepmntine Sse Neen erence alos Saas RTM ener T AOE TP LOE AY Yo v ‘i aS NEA BILL STORIES yo animals, so.that the scout soon had the unpleasant sensa- tion of knowing that they were gaining on him, | Buffalo Bill drove his horse to its highest speed now, seeking to get deep enough into the hills to baffle put- suit. The yells of the pursuing braves rose in wild and hideous clamor. The scout turned again in ihe direction of the Indian village. But now he did this only because the land in that direction lay for a time more open, and gave his horse a better chance in the running. When still more than a mile from the village, whose location he knew, he veered sharply to the left, entering once more the jumbled hills. ; As hesdid so, the Arrapahoes in chase caught sight of him, a discovery se declared with much jubiliant yell- ing. of “Yell, you ees 1” the scout Priitered: got me yet!” Nor did he intend that they should. Soon the ground became so rocky and rough that he aw he would have to abandon his horse. oF was almost incapable of serving him further, he had pushed it so hard. Its breathing had become labored, the sweat rolled down its legs in streams, and it stag- gered, at times, when the ground was rough. The scout leaped down from the saddle. “Good boy!” he said, stopping a moment to pat ae tired beast. You have done nobly. They ll not harm you, any more than to capture you; and perhaps serv- ing a red master won't be so bad a fate for you, after all. It’s not you they want,,old friend, but me ao they'll get me, if I stay here.” “You haven’t He gave the tired horse a last affectionate stroke of his hand; then, swinging his rifle, he leaped away across the rocks, and was well screened before the Arrapahoes came in sight of the horse, which had run no farther. The scout smiled grimly when he heard them yelling over their capture of the horse. “But it’s. me you want; and you haven’t got me yet! Come on, you red devils!” a He ran on, turning again into i rougher hills. He could climb like a mountain-goat, and the ae rocks promised to hide his trail. : When he had shifted his course several times, and was well-blown from his heavy exertions, he stopped. The Arrapahoes had ceased to yell, which told him that they had lost the trail. With his rifle across his knees, the scout sat on a rock, behind a covert of bushes, and fa for sounds of his foes. — He wondered how Nomad had fared. He was too. far off to hear longer. the yells of the band that had followed. the old trapper. He -was sure, Bk alan ia a .. Buffalo Bill. THE BUFFALO however, that Nomad had been able to give ‘the. Indians: a stern and long chase, for old Nebuchadnezzar had not 5 ony speed, Dut wonderful staying 2 ‘CHAPT ER V, CAUGHT IN THE CAVE OF LIONS. For a long time Buffalo Bill sat on that rock, his rifle held in readiness, his keen eyes peering out in an effort to see the Arrapahoes before they could see him, if any of them succeeded in trailing him to this spot. The hills about him had grown strangely silent; so silent that, if he had not been experienced, he would have thought the Indians had departed, and would have — come out, thus doing the thing they ee he would do, and: falling into their hands. But that strange and marked silence. did not £ deceive ral. Even the birds and the animals seemed to know that painted redskins were near, peering—peering with their black, beady eyes, so like the eyes of wild ani- mals. Buffalo Bill did not come out of his ee of conceal- ment. The tireless Indians crept from point to point, search- - ing continually for him; they glided snakelike over the hot rocks that baked in the midday sun, and they moyed here and there, as the shadows of the hills lengthened when the sun began to descend in the west. — - Then the thing for which through long hours they had crept and searched was revealed to them. Two of the best of the trailers came on a broken branch, near the scout’s lair. In his haste to get in be- hind those rocks he had broken it, and now their ne eyes beheld it. They could not see tracks anywhere, but they knew their foe lay behind the rocks ahead of them. Not yet did the scout know they were so near. One of them was Red Wolf himself. 7 he Long Hair lies like the coyote in his hole,” whispered Red Wolf to the brave with him. “Slip back and pes up warriors, that we may catch him, i will wait. here.” It might have been better if Red Wolf had gone back himself, for then, perhaps, his feet would not have scraped as he slid down the ee) tock by which he had mounted. i The keen ears of the scout caught that sound, and in- terpreted it rightly. He knew that some of the Arrapahoe trailers were close on him—too close for safety or comfort of mind. “The red devils have smelt me out at last!” the said. Without ae he began to “crawfish,” going back- It only informed him that the Arrapahoes | had not departed. The silence was too detp to be natu- - smooth wall of rock which stopped his advance. ae. BILL STORIES. ward, ‘and keeping his eyes fixed on the ‘rock beni which he believed the indians were, = = « = ‘He moved with much- care, and even Red Wolf. did not-heat him. ee _ Fate seemed to be against bie honoree for in thus “crawfishing” to get out of dangers he, in crossing a bare space of rock, was seen by another of the Arra- - pahoe trailers, who aunguneed his discovery at once by a yell, ‘The scout rose ad went over the rock before him like a bounding rabbit. _ The next moment he was on his feet, ena was run- ning for his life. He heard a bowstring twang behind him, and heard the arrow strike a rock near him with a wae sound. “Fireaway!” he said. | He zigzagged in his fight, to baffle the aim of bow- men or riflemen. The character of the country, and the yelling which showed where the trailers were in strongest force, caused him to shape his course once more in the direction of the Arrapahoe village, though he was aware of the danger that involved. He made a sharp run, and left the Indians pening. Again he concealed himself, this time in another nest of rocks, at a point where he was sure his trail could not be seen. (here he lay i in hide knowing that all around Arak pahoe braves were searching for him. The sun went down, and the darkness of tebe Pe to gather. _ Then he became aware that, from the direttion of the village, trailers were beginning again to close in on him. “T wish I knew where Nomad is,’ was his thought. Yet, as he had heard no wild yelling, he believed that the old trapper was still at liberty. That he might not be trapped, he began ic rer quietly. - The ground became unfamiliar when a a gone on f while, and he stumbled over sticks and rocks, ma- king a good deal of noise. wax lumbering grizzly couldn’t make more fuss than 2 am making,” he grumbled. oS) Behind him, guided by these sounds, came the Atra- pahoe braves, and he could hear the soft patter of their feet: Now and then he herete he heard light footers i fore him, as if some of-the Indians had got round in front, and were trying to trap him there. At such times he stopped, remained silent a while, and then went on in a different direction. He was keeping out of the hands of his pursuers, but apparently he was not eluding them. —_ @ ' As he thus went on, he came, by and ‘by, against a the thz ing : the in sou bel: thr dia ady the roc and 1 gib slee the: the: cov roc] torc | he i the on 1 St tld ras ‘an the im. hat eat of na- THE BUFFALO “Here’s a pretty howdy-do!” he grumbled. “If they rush me now, they’ve got me, for I can’t get round this.” He felt along the wall, keeping his hands and feet busy, for he feared to tumble into some unseen hole. The darkness here was so much greater that he had the féeling that h¢ lad got in under a shelving wall, and that some sort of rock roof was over his head, exclud- ing the feeble light.. The gloom was stygian. He stopped, really fearing to go farther. “As long as I can’t see bas it’s safe to say thar the Arrapahoes can’t see me.’ He. sat down by the wall, with his rifle between his knees, and listened for sounds of pursuers. : For a long time he heard nothing. Then queer noises came to him, off on the right. “Indians fighting—or dogs erowling? What is it?’ He could not make out, and he moved softly in the direction of the sounds. As he did so he fancied he heard light ots again ‘Ja front’ of him, ‘Those strange sounds of growling ceased, and the footsteps were no longer heard. Because of the darkness, Buffalo Bill stopped again. The silence that followed was penetrated at intervals by apparent sounds of whispering. And now and then. came that grumbling, or growling, sound again. “Pshaw!’’ he said, when he had tried to analyze these sounds. “I’m in the mouth of some sort of cave, | believe, and those sounds are made by wind blowing through crevices. And here I’ve been as of In- dians, and everything imaginable.” He used his hands and feet again, and made a short advance. More and more he became convinced that he was in the entrance of a cave, or else in some sort of natural, rock- walled enclosure. ‘At intervals he again heard those seeming whispers, and also subdued growls, as if ghosts “squeaked and gibbered,” or wild beasts groaned and grumbled in their sleep. ae When an hour or more had passed in this way, and there were no actual indications of Indians other than these sounds, Buffalo Bill desperately resolved to dis- cover what manner of situation he was in. He had found dried. grass, rocky crevices, torch. Advancing until re was positive he had entered a cave, he ignited the torch and held it up. A startling roar greeted him. _ Buffalo Bill had been lured by the crafty redskins into the dreaded cave of lions, and as his torchlight flashed on them, two of them’ leaped to the attack. At the same time he saw scurrying Indian tonne which had grown in and of this long grass he twisted a BILL STORIES. : : 6 eee the lions, at what appeared to be the back of the Cave. (303 The story of ‘the Ce of Lions, told. him by old, Nick Nomad, had almost passed out of the scout’s mind. Certainly he had not expected to find it here; but had thought it was nearer, or on the edge of, the Arrapahoe village. * Little time was given him for reflection ot recollec- tion. The two. lions were upon: him in a flash, and he dropped the torch, staggered back against the wall, ae began a fight for his bie. The roar ofthe aroused brutes filled the cave with ~ horrible sounds. That these were ‘“‘tamed’’ mountain lions he had under-- stood from Nomad; but they seemed more ferocious than any he had ever met. Ordinarily, a mountain lion hesitates to attack a man; but when they are strong in numbers, they lose their natural fear of man, and are dangerous brutes. - Buffalo Bill fired his revolver, and fought them with his knife. They ripped his clothing and pled his body Ms their _claws, and only by heroic work and:the use of the knife did he keep them from getting him by the throat. The attack of the lions was the signal for wild yelling on the part of the Arrapahoes. It na oe to the scout to know that he had been » herded, into it, in the hope that the mountain lions would tear. as it were, into this pl e—had been decoyed him to pieces. As he fought off the lions he moved as fast as he could along the wall in the direction of the entrance to the cave through which he had come. The torch lay flaming on the cavern floor where it had fallen, and gave him light. It also gave light to the Arrapahoes who were in the cave, and to others who were now crowding to- ward the entrance, and they began to shoot at him, Their desire to save the lions, however, caused them to shoot high, and all the bullets and arrows went over the scout’s head, ne and ae wee a walls. Yard by yard he fought his way to the entrance. Beyond that entrance, and probably in it, he knew were Arrapahoe warriors, thirsting for his life; for the flashes of their guns there could be seen., But with the lions leaping at him and Lae to sink their fangs into his throat, the scout had no choice, bu: was forced to retreat as well as he could, though this retreat seemed to throw him right into the arms eI his human foes. The blazing torch « on the cavern floor spurted oo in an expiring effort, and then went, out. fh ip - Tt was a od thing for the scout that it did. SO, as ‘he , was in danger from the rifles of the Indians. oe They ceased: to shoot when they could no oe see him, and he had, therefore, only the lidns to combat. He felt that he was bleeding from a dozen “wounds, and that his clothing was being stripped into ribbons. : “The Hers still leaped ‘at him, and the din of their. roar- ing and their growls was something terrific. | But oe sturdy arm and dreadful knife of the scout was doing awful work; for a trail of dead and. wounded lions, and a, smear of blood, marked his path, as he re- treated before them. “He had lost his rifle, and his revolver was now empty, so that he had only that terrible knife, which he swung with machinelike precision, striking the panthers down.* Buffalo Bill would never have got out of that cave alive, for the lions were forcing him upon the weapons of the Arrapahoes, if a diversion in his favor had not been made by Old Nomad. _ : CHAPTER VI. NOMAD’ S DIVERSION. Nick Nomad had for some time heard the sounds which preceded the fight in the cave—those soft foot- falls of the Indians and the subdued growls of the sleepy brutes. } - Nomad had been more fortunate than Buffalo Bill in his flight. .. That this was so was largely due to the ed that the best trailers under Red Wolf had followed Buffalo ‘Bill. The Long Hair was more to be desired as a prisoner than the trapper. In addition, old Ne aeledueaese had aided his master in a really clever way. When Nomad was hard pushed, he slipped out of the saddle and-sent the dld horse on, hiding himself in the rocks and hearing the pursuing Indians following the horse. Then, like the scout, he had turned in the ae ine of the Atrapahoe village, because he thought greater safety lay in that direction, and because the character of the ground made it advisable. ‘He had gone on until he had been able to in into the village itself ; then had back- tracked, searching for se- curity, and not finding it. _ Unknown to himself, in this retreat from the vicinity of. the village he had gone toward the point where the scout was lying in concealment. Thus it came about that Old Nomad was almost in the midst of the Indians, who, having located the region in which the scout was, were trying to “herd” him on toward the cave of the lions. : ie *Thoush hated mountain tion the beast herd described js “peally a panther, or cougar. It is maneless, much smaller than a true lion, and is oe courageous and fierce. THE BUFFALO. BILL STORIES. ~ And thus it was that the old trapper had heard the whisperings, the sliding footfalls, and, farther off, the growling of the brutes in the lion cave. “When the desperate sounds of the fight of Buffalo Bill and the lions began, together with the yelling and the shooting of the Indians, and the. leaping flashes of the scout’s impromptu torch were seen, Nomad refused to consider longer the question of his ae peril, but moved toward the cave. He discovered that his guesses as to weal was taking place there were correct. ' Buffalo Bill had been driven, or lured, into the cave of the lions; and, beset on one hand by the lions and. on the other be the bloodthirsty Arrapahoes, he was fighting 4 for his life, with the chances all against him. And it was then that the heroic old trapper came to : the aid of his friend. “7 shore goes ter ther help ‘of Buffler,” he had. mut- tered, “ef I pays fer it with my life.” ier, do much. : He might have killed two or three of the attackane Arrapahoes, but in the end both he and the scout would § ic certainly have fallen. It was here that he broaett his cunning into play, just as he had brought it into play when he made horns for old Nebuchadnezzar, and had scared off the super- stitious redskins with them. Picking up a handful of stones, he threw them along #-- the rocky slope with a great clatter, so that they sounded like stones displaced by running feet. At the same time he began to yell in imitation of Sioux Indians, the great foes of the Arrapahoes. . - euch a. chorus of Indian yells, in varying keys, as: _rose from his lips certainly testified to the strength of his §- lungs and the excellence of his mimicking faculty. In the hurly-burly and excitement of the attack on Buffalo Bill, the Arrapahoes had not time to be nicely discriminating as to. sounds, when everything was in such an uproar. Hence, when those yells broke on the air, accompanied by that loud rattling of stones, they believed that their hereditary foes had stolen a march on them, and were rushing to.an attack. i They responded at once with answering yells, and began to shoot at the slope where the yells arose, and at the same time began to beat a retreat in the direction of the village, thinking there to make a stand against _ the supposed Sioux. With his head and body hidden behind a rock, Oid Nomad fired his revolver into their midst as fast as he could work the trigger, thus aiding materially in the If he had gone directly to the aid of. Buffalo Bill, he 7 would have imperiled his own life without being able to |) Nomad was as cunning as any Indian, and far brain- # St in eNO eff Sit : the wi the me 4 ey dr wi co. Cv feet bey eet ad ni ly 1¢é ch ad nd OTL ist id he eee eaarenn ee : : high, | dropped to the rocks. though.” Sioux, ter skeer ther ’Rapahoes; } we ain’t got no time ter talk about it, , 1 reckons I knows ther kentry some’at round‘hyar, and yell play guide ter ye. | . - THE BUFFALO BILL STORIES. effectiveness di the deception, for it seemed as if the Sioux were shooting at the Arrapahoes. The retreat of the Arrapahoes was made in haste, : they shooting as they went, and answering with yells as wild and fierce as those which came from the lips of . ‘the trapper. _ In the darkness Nomad glided forward, slipping across the rocks as lightly as the form of a gliding lizard. - The flashing of the scout’s torch, though it had now disappeared, had enabled him to locate the rocks, and the character of the way before him. He still heard the roaring and growling of the in- | furiated mountain lions, as Buffalo Bill hacked at them ' and retreated to the oe of the cave. i “Buffler!” Nomad did not at the first try to raise his voice ve ry But, seeing that the Arrapahoes were’truly deceived : and in full flight, he lifted his voice: “Buffer ! ues The answer came: Nomad!” “Right hyar, Buffler!” A blood-stained and tattered form oe eed of the : mouth of the cave. . It swung a dripping knife, and- with it struck at a lion that had dared to follow and make.a leap at him. Nomad’s revolver spoke, and the ferocious beast /Hyar, Buffer! I reckons we has got ter run fer it while we kin!” “Ts that you, Nomad?” ~The scout was well nigh exhausted. He knew he was bleeding from a dozen cuts; but, for- _ tunately, none of the missiles fired at him by me Arra- | pahoes..had reached him. , The lions feared to leave the cave. They had seen the flashing fire of the Indian’ rifles, and that did not tend to make them courageous enough to go outside; hence, when the scout staggered out to where Nomad stood with his revolver, the only lion near was the one that Nomad had laid low with that well- directed shot. “You all right, Buffler?” was the old man’s solicitous inquiry. : “IT think so, Nomad; just eid up a bit, but it doesn’t amount to anything. Nomad “te-heed”’ in his customary way when he was tickled. »Waugh! I’m them Sioux; ther hull of them! I knowed. suthin’ had ter be did, Buffler, so I jes’. played and it worked. But This hyar way. Come erlong b/ilin’!” I think Sioux are near, TT a9 They went along “biilin’,” over the rocks, plunging through the darkness. : The defiant yells of the Arrapahoes, which they were hurling at the supposed Sioux, served to aid them; for they indicated the position of the Arrapahoes’ camp. “My ole hoss is down thet way somewhars,’ said No- mad, as they went on, slowing their headlong pace when they had covered enough ground to make them feel a little safer. ‘Likely, onless I kin make him hear me, I'll have ter wait till daybreak ter find ther ole critter.” ‘On and on they went, moderating their pace. The way was rough, but they were not pursued; for, though the Sioux yells were no longer heard, the Arra- pahoes were of the opinion that their red foes wer? merely crafty, and were Jae now and meditating ail attack. When they had put what they chadidered a safe dis- tance behind them, the scout and the trapper stopped, for the scout wanted to have his wounds examined. : He had called them scratches, but he knew he had received several severe cuts, and that they were bleeding freely. Portions of his torn clothing were soaked with blood. In a shelter in the rocks they ventured to strike a match and make a little torch of splinters and bark which Nomad stripped from an aspen with his knife. By the light of 1 the (character of the wounds re- ceived by the scout were seen, and the fact that his clothing was badly torn. Leetle scratches! Buffler, thar’s a rake that come nigh gittin’ yer life, don’t ye know it?” “Jew rusalem ! It was on the scout’s breast, where the claws of a panther had laid the flesh open like a knife; if it had been a little higher, and a little deeper, it would have cut the ribs, and gone through to the lungs, or the heart. There were other “scratches,” but this was the worst. With sympathetic skill, Old Nomad bound them up, using strips cut from the scout’s clothing and from his own, binding in some healing herbs he fished from his pockets, and which he usually carried for such emer- gencies. He also poured into the wounds some whisky . from the scout’s flask. “A leetle alkerhol is good fer sech things—they’re pizen, and alkerhol will shore kill pizen; I’ve tried it my- self, in snake bites.” He laughed again. “Thet’s why Pm not in favor of keepin’ red likker frum ther lips of red men, as ther Eastern philanther- pists and Injun lovers wants ter do. It’s shore pizen fer “em, and kills “em; and ther sooner they’re all killed, and roamin’ ther happy huntin’-grounds whar Injuns air said ter 20, ther better fer ie rest of ther world, ‘cordin’ ter my way Oo’ thinkin’.’ Nomad was of those who bed ieee the a good Indian is a dead one. TES hoes at the village, acknowledged. (2 THE BUFFALO Now and then, as_ they attended to the scout’s “scratches” they heard defiant. yells from the Arrapa- where they were defying their cowardly Sioux enemies to advance to the attack. “This is shore a funny deal, Buffler,’ said Nomad, with a laugh, as he listened to those yells. “Vour cleverness, Nomad, saved my life,’ the scout ‘And the risk oe rati was avery gteat in 99 doing that.” “Waugh! Do you stop ter count ther resk when one o’ yer friends is in danger frum reds? No more do I! And ‘twasn’t so great, after all; fer when tt comes ter yellin’ like Sioux, why, I’ve had a deal o’ practise at it.” Buffalo Bill was so exhausted from loss of blood and by the tremendous fight he had been through that he felt he could go no farther, unless it became imperatively necessary. He sat down on the rocks when is wounds had been dressed. His heavy breathing showed his weariness and temporaty’ weakness. “Ef we jes’ had my ole hoss, Buffer, you could git onter his back, and do no more walkin’ fera while. But unless I calls ter him, which is. jes’ now a resky per- formance, I don’t low I kin git holt of him.” The anxiety of both Nomad and Buffalo Bill to get as far as they could from that dangerous spot before morning, together with the weakness of the scout, in- duced Nomad, after a time, to set out in ae of Nebuchadnezzar. “T ain’t believin’ them reds caught ye, ole boyy he was muttering as he set forth. “You're gin’rally too cute i¢r ‘em; this hyar time. He walked on in the direction he believed Nebby to De “You started along in this hyar course, and you're a critter ter hang ter it, ef the reds would let ye. You've found grass and water : somewhar, and about now you're layin’ down, snoozin’, with ¢ one eye open, thinkin’ of reds, and wonderin’ whar 1 am.’ Buffalo Bill, in his nest in the rocks, leaning his weary back and head against the friendly side of a boulder, listened for some sound either of foes or of Nomad. When Nomad started off, the scout had for a few yards heard his steps, but that was not for long. Now he sat’ wearily awaiting the return of Nomad. “He’s having trouble in finding his horse,” he said; “had to go farther than he thought. Or perhaps Nebby has fallen into the hands of the Arrapahoes.” When the long wait had grown wearisome in the ex- | treme, he heard a yell that caused him to sit bolt up- right and stare out into the darkness. It was an Indian yell, sharp, keen, and piercing. “Heavens! They've got Nomad!” | ee I'm allowin’ thet you war too cute, HLL St TORIES, - c The peculiar quaver of that yell had sent the message to him as plainly as words. The Arrapahoes had captured a foe, and the foe was a white man; that was what the yell meant. . ‘There was no white man but Nomad out in the direc- tion of that yell, nor even in the whole surrounding country, so far as the scout was aware. “Yess they ve got l Nomad !” He seized his revolver and rose to his feet. A little while before he had felt almost too weak and too weary to hold up his head.) Yet that depressing weakness seemed to vanish, or to be cast aside, now. ‘The tall form of the scout straight- ened and stiffened, and he bent his head forward like a - dog sniffing game, while with his keen eyes he sought to penetrate the darkness, and with his keen ears tried to catch some further informing sound. “Nomad!” he said, his voice thrilling. Then he took a step forward, alert, determined, cour- ageous. Nomad had risked his life for the scout, and the gal- lant scout was willing and ready to return the heroic service. : i | CHAPTER VII. Poa IN THE PRESENCE OF WILD EYE. i How and why had Nomad, the alert old trapper, fallen into the hands of his red foes? He had gone in search of his ‘horse, nit willing to leave the country without him, and feeling that Buffalo ' Bill was in no condition to do further walking. Because Nebuchadnezzar was so sagacious, Nomad made himself believe that the wise old beast had been able to keep out of the clutches of the Arrapahoes. But just here the old trapper miscalculated. Some of the persistent Arrapahoes had hung to the trail of the horse, and by and by they had come upon him, cropping grass by” a little stream, apparently for- getful of both his master and his enemies. _ \ There the Arrapahoes, by some clever work, had kur: rounded him and taken possession of him. Because of the roughness of the way, the Indians had stopped there with their prize, intending to take him on to the village in the morning. Being a considerable distance from the village, they did not know all that was occurring in and near it, and did not hear the fight which ai a had had with the lions. : Yet they heard the rifle-reports scl ine it, and later heard wild yelling, which seemed to te a battle of some kind. : a ans caused them to abandon their intention of a maining where they were until morning ; and, with ate in tow, they set out. Fa it Al ie iS heavily, falling on top of him. He proved to ie a fractious and unwilling old beast, | kicking at them, trying to bite them, and altogether con- ducting himself in a manner which did not win their oe and because of it they applied a a sharply to his shaggy hide. As they thus advanced, Nebuchadnezzar suddenly thrust out his homely neck, sniffing, and then stood still, staring into the night. The cautious Arrapahoes stopped and listened. “Then they heard, what the keen- eared old horse had _ already heard, a low whistle. It was Nomad calling softly to his horse, in the hope ' that it was near and would hear him, Nebuchadnezzar answered the whistle with a subdued _ whinny. He recognized his ‘master’s call, and wanted to go to him, and pulled on the rein, not recognizing that in so ) doing he might lead his master into great danger. That answering whinny was the thing that deceived Nomad. ea “Waugh!” he grunted. “You're down thar, air ye, you blessed ole humbug? Fillin’ yer stomick with rich » grass, I'll be bound, and not seemin’ ter keer a cuss fer . aa else! Waal, I’m jes’ now wantin’ ye bad.” ' He whistled again, and again Nebby answered him. The Arrapahoes caught: quickly an understanding of the, situation. ‘They sank silently down on the rocks, one of them clinging to Nebuchadnezzar’s bridle, “Nomad came straight on, using caution, but less than formerly ; answered him in that way if Indians had been near. Thus the old trapper walked right into a trap. Just as he was about to stretch forth his hand for the bridle- rein, which in the darkness he could not see, one of the Indians caught him by the legs and hurled a down The other Indian gripped the bridle of the horse and hung to it when Nebby began to dance and try to run. Nomad and the Arrapahoe who had tackled him were having a lively fight, though Nomad had been taken at a sore disadvantage. The clever redskin who had caught the bridle-rein hooked it over the limb of an aspen and flew to the assistance of his Arrapahoe friend. ‘Sorely beset thus by two redskins, either of whom was stronger and also younger than he, Nomad made a gallant and desperate struggle. a He used his knife so effectively that one of the red- -skins received a bad gash in the face and a dangerous cut in the arm; but in the end Nomad was conquered a by their combined strength, and was rendered helpless. Lying bound on the ground, and realizing that, in- fall, the old trapper reviled his shaggy-headed horse. THE BUFFALO BILL STORIES. it seemed to him that Nebby would not have . directly, Nebuchadnezzar was the cause of his down- | - Air Thet war ther mean- ter do. ‘Nebby, you ole fool, can’t I trust ye no ‘more? you takin’ up with cussed Injuns? est trick altogether thet I ever knowed yer Waugh!” Nebuchadnezzar was still jumping and pawing, but he could not get away. “I’ve knowed white men ter turn runnygate, and ed wih Injuns agin’ their own kind, but I never thought you'd do thet. You ain’t white no more; you're a pesky: red, herdin’ with reds. I goes clean, plumb back on yes” I os ye ott !” oo Nebuchadnezzar might have been much distressed ir he had understood this half as me as his old master fancied that he did. ; Nomad was about convinced that Nebby could under- stand what he called “English” as well as if he were a man. “Waugh! I disowns ye!” he went on. “You're a traitor. Ef you hadn’t been, you wouldn’t whinnied thet way, sayin’ fer me ter come on; you'd a squealed out a ~ warnin’, noterfyin’ me thet “Rapahoes war hyar. You didn’t do it. You're a pty turn-coat, er an idjit. In either case, | disowns ye.’ | A loud Arrapahoe yell had cut the air of night, an- nouncing the capture of a white prisoner; the yell which, reaching the ears of Buffalo Bill, told him that Nomad had fallen into a trap. - The Arrapahoes did not permit Nomad to lie be on the ground reviling his old horse. They hoisted. him to the back of the animal, where they tied him securely, and then they changed their course, for cautious reasons, and set out for the village. Nomad continued to denounce old Nebby and rail at the Arrapahoes who had captured him. | One of them walked behind, nursing his wounds, and vowing vengeance of the most cruel kind on this white -man who had knifed him... He studied to think up ingenious forms of torture which the trapper might be made to undergo. But the braves and their prisoner had not gone far when they were met by Red Wolf, who had heard their yell and met them as they came on. This changed the face of affairs for the vengeful In-- dian who was wounded. Red Wolf recognized the old fapeee as the white man who had escaped—the one that Wild Eye had taken _ such a fancy to, declaring she would make him her husband. As has been said, Red Wolf was an ambitious young watrior. / Already a minor war-chief, he wanted to be- come the head war-chief of the tribe. Wild Eye, as the “queen,” had much influence, and he desired to gain and hold her good will. He took possession of the prisoner, relegating to the rear the braves who had made the capture; ants th a a ae THE BUFFALO y J sort of triumphal procession, Old Nomad was taken on into the village. The Arrapahoes were beginni ng to suspect that the ‘Sioux scare had no firm basis—that the yells had been made by white men; and some of them now would have taken delight in turning aitention from their foolish fright by instantly torturine Old Nomad, thus giving the minds of the other Indians something else to work on. Old Nomad knew this. Therefore, when the village was ee and the Arra- . pahoes began to swarm forth, in response to the cries of Red Wolf, the old trapper spoke to Red Wolf. “Let me be taken to Wild Eye,” he urged; “she wants to see me.” He spoke in Arrapahoe, in a manner that he thought ‘correct, but with such a twisting of the Arrapahoe words that the Indians were amused. — As this was just the thing that Red Wolf sought, he lost no ie in conducting the prisoner to the lodge of the “queen.” Wild Eye was called queen by virtue of the fact that her husband had been one of the leading chiefs, but principally it was because she was a woman of much force of character. As a usual thing, a squaw receives scant honor in’an Indian village; but there are exceptions to every rule, and this was one of the exceptions. Wild Eye received honor and obedience because her strong intellect forced it. After her husband’s death she had walked boldly into the council-lodge, and by the strength of her rea- soning and her natural oratory she had overthrown in debate some of the best of the Indian orators. Later, _having been with a foraging-party, going along merely as a cook and drudge, she had, at a critical time, when the chief was killed in an attack by Pawnees, taken com- mand, driven the Pawnees back, and brought off the sadly harassed Arrapahoes without further loss of life. By such means she had gained and held her power. But she was not a chief, even in the sense that Red Wolf was; yet, though she did not claim chiefly power, she made the Arrapahoes obey her. Old Nomad, understanding this, believed now that the only manner in which he-could save his life, and avoid the terrors of Indian torture, was by appealing to Wild Eye, trusting that her high opinion of him still held, and that she would desire to spare him. : Wild Eye sat in her lodge, reclining on a raised bed of skins, when the old trapper was brought in. © Qo fire inthe center of the lodge lightened it, and that fire seemed to kindle a red coal in her one bright eye as she looked on the face of the trapper. ° Red Wolf, having thrust the trapper into the lodge, _ stood by the side of the entrance, anxiously awaiting her approval of his act. BILL STORIES. act. But she did not look at him; the fiery glances of her one eye were for the trapper. Old Nomad was doing what he called the ‘ 33 He was down on his knees hele the Nileous old tae dian squaw, whacking his forehead on the ground, de- claring to. her that she was the most beautiful creature under the sun, and that he would become her willing slave forever if she would but. permit him. Her one eye flamed with something that seemed akin to wrath. “What does the shaggy white man here 2” manded_ haughtily. “It war my hoss kerried me away, not my own willin’- ness, and as soon as | could, I back-tracked,” he ex- plained, forgetting that she would not understand the words in which he said this. ee Remembering this, for she grunted to. show she did not comprehend, he repeated it in his best Arrapahoe. Som@hing’ |i ike a grim smile.came to her face. ‘It was a seamed and lined face, of the color of dark coffee, or old parchment. When she spoke she showed two yellow snags, all that remained of her teeth. “The white man speaks with the tongue of the ser- pent!” she said. ‘He ran away, and then he brought the Sioux on us. He has heard their yelling.” _ “Waugh!” Nomad grunted to himself. “She seems ter kinder s’picion thet I ain’t the oo white article of honesty! I got ter sooth her some.’ He knocked his head on the ground again, as if he were a coolie kneeling before some Eastern potentate. Then he told her that he had made the yells himself, in order to warn the Arrapahoes of the fact that evil white men were prowling round the village. This bold statement produced a sensation among the listening warriors. They scoffed at first, especially those who had been sure that the yells came from the throats of Sioux. oe Even Wild Eye looked sceptical. “Does: the white man say that no Sioux were near the village to-night?” He reiterated his declaration. -Nomad was crafty. He wanted to give those yells again, and give them as loudly as he could, that they might reach Buffalo Bill; for tie had certain variations of them with which the scout was familiar, by means of which he knew he could inform the scout reasonably well of just what had occurred. Not only did Wild Eye ae but it was s openly and boldly expressed by some of the braves. And others of them demanded of him that he demonstrate an ability they did not believe he possessed. = He looked at the Indian queen for permission. ~ She smiled and nodded. ‘’umble | she ae al ole “Waugh! Hold yer ae er pot yes ig ae ae in English. “ " “Then he rose to his feet, pat his ese lose by ihe door of the lodge, that the sounds might penetrate as far as possible, and in a surprising manner gave a series of quick Indian hoots that were such close imitations of Sioux war-whoops that the Arrapahoes stared in amaze- ment. Though Indians themselves, not one of them : could have done half so well. _ They did not notice that there were certain peculiar quavers and variations never heard in genuine Sioux cries. hice Or, if they Aeoeeed it, dey fancied chat these were defects, due to the white man’s inability to render the | sounds correctly. They were convinced instantly that he had made the sounds which had so startled them not lofig before. A strange smile came to the face of old Wild Eye. “Tt is well!’ she said, in approval. Some of the braves, and behind them many of the Indian women, were clamoring for punishment of this daring and designing white man; and their clamor grew louder, after he had made this confession and demon- strated its truth. Nomad glanced about, ie, able to conceal his lyneasiness. “The white prisoner was to-day with the Long Hair,” was declared against him. “He is a friend of Long Hair, and for that he ought to die!” Some of the boldest of the warriors flashed their knives and hatchets, and showed a wish to drive them into the brain and body of the white man. “Waugh! !’ Nomad was muttering to himself VEE this hyar queen critter don’t marry me in about ’steen seconds, some of these hyar red gentlemen will be carvin’ me, er mebbe reachin’ fer my. ha’r.’ He felt called on to resort to desperate measures. “I was borne off by my horse,” he explained to her, “not because I didn’t want to marry you, for I do; and that is why I permitted myself to be captured, that I might be brought back here.’ She smiled on him in a way, as he afterward con- tessed, “to turn his stumick.” : While he was prostrating himself before Wild Eye, and appealing to her in lying phrases, a beautiful Indian girl entered the lodge, squeezing in by the side of Red Wolf, and smiling up into his face. There is now and then a beautiful Indian girl, and this was one. But the number of beautiful women. to. be found in the average Indian village is not large, as must be confessed, the romancers to the contrary not- withstanding. Beauty is not usually one of the gifts which the gods have given to Indian women, judging i: them from the white man’s standpoint. When that single blazing eye of old Wild Eye fell THE BUFFALO ‘BILL STORIES. Oe -and was covered with contusion. CoE on this Indian - girl, and ‘observed the smile with which =~ she looked into the face of young Red Wolf, the old hag? half-rose from her seat of skins.. a She pointed a quivering finger at the ae /“What does the-PrairieFlower do. heres? manded: “Let her return to the lodges of the women.’ ‘The girl shrang back as ii she had been struck. a blow, For a brief instant young Red Wolf ceed ones to put his “arm round her for protection. But this pulse lasted only a moment. He shrank away from-her, looking at Wild Eye. -. “Gol? he said. “When the queen, Wild Eye, speaks, other women should obey.” With shrinking confusion, fled from the lodge; and outside the tra ppet heard cackling laughter, as if in approval from the women there. The girl, ap- parently, had presumed, and even these. women showed her no sympathy. A strange flush and confusion seemed to rest for a : im- the oirl moment on the face of Red Wolf, but it passed, as he , looked to old Wild Eye for the approval he sought. She had turned to the white trapper, who, neglecting this incident, was abasing himself before her. it She put forth a brown and wri ingled hand and touched ~ him. : “Let the white man rise!” found favor in the sight of Wild Eye. to be with her in this lodge.” she commanded. “He hae She wishes him Some of the warriors voiced their displeasure over the fact that the torture which they had hoped to wit- ~ i mess was not to be seen, or, at least, was to be poe poned, Wild Eye took Nomad by the arm as he rose, and pulled him down to a seat beside her, where she smiled again on him. “Waugh!” he grunted, looking at the enraged war- riors, ter be, and this am ther time. I ain’t hankerin’ fer ther joys of cannibal bliss’—he meant connubial bliss—“but it’s shore better than blistenin’ in a torture-fire. I know, fer I’ve tried both; I’ve been married, and I’ve had the Injun fires leapin’ and burnin’ round my legs. Waugh! Marriage ain’t so durn i when you compare it with other things that air: wuss.’ | Then he boldly winked one of his squinty litle eyes at Red Wolf, who stood by the entrance. “Old hoss,” he said.to Red Wolf, speaking as it were to himself, in English, which he was sure none of these Arrapahoes understood, ‘I'll trade ye this ole husk of a woman fer thet purty gal thet war smilin’ so sweet at ye, and which you didn’t smile back at her none whatever; you foolish cuss! Women air all right when they're young and purty; so I'll trade ye. Waugh! ae Red Wolf did not understand this. she a ae “It’s sometimes better ter be married than not | — 16 : : “He paid scant heed to it. : There was a clamor among the braves behind i _ He stared into the face of Wild Eye. . < eS She saw him then, and spoke the words he had. been waiting to hear, and which were music in his: ears<- “Red Wolf isa brave young chief. He did ae bring the white man to me. But let him and the war- _ riors keep close watch round the village. The white “man here has said there are other white men outside, and it may be there are also Sioux, in spite of what he _ has-said. He is a comely white man, and good to look » on, but he may have the forked tongue of. the white - men, which makes them speak ee eee | 7 “Waugh! Slanderin’ me, air yer? ae was mut- tering to himself. reckon I'll be yer lovin’ husband, jes’ ther saime; “but you bet I don’t remain at it er n I haf to. You shore make me sick, ter look at ye.’ Red Wolf left the lodge abruptly, and oo 10 tall with the braves outside. - Then he hurried away. He was something of an Indian gallant, a he knew . that he had hurt the feelings of the young Indian, girl. But when he sought, for her in the village, he: was not able to find her. — CHAPTER VIM. “THE LOVE OF THE PRAIRIE FLOWER. The young Indian ‘girl, Prairie Flower, could not be found by Red Wolf, because she had left the village and gone down toward the cave of the lions. A tempest of emotions was raging in her heart. Outside somewhere was the great Long Hair, the wonderful white man whose fame had reached to the remotest Indian village. She was hoping she might meet him, perhaps near the cave of lions where he had made that gallant fight. — Though the death of so many of the lions distressed her, she did not blame the white man for killing them; they would have killed him, if he had not. ~ She passed the lion cave, and he was not there, and went on toward the point where the old trapper had been captured. . a. Though not a warrior, she was an Indian, and had the Indian instincts, together with a good deal more sense than the average warrior possessed. | ‘ Reaching the vicinity of the place where the old trapper had fallen into the hands of his foes, she climbed to the top of a tall rock, first having convinced herself that no Arrapahoes were near. Standing thus, her form and face outlined iy the light of the rising moon, she spoke, apparently to the winds, in Arrapahoe, the only language she knew: “Ti the great Long Hair is here, will he open his. ane THE BUFFALO “Well, soon’s there isa weddin’, 1 cept the message of my own heart. - have expected a trap. Bil STORIES. Lam but an Indian; en, and do not know much: but the old: man who is the friend of the Long- Hair is held in the Arrapahoe village, and I can tell him of him.” “She stood: for some time listening, and was about £0 repeat this, when some bushes close by her rustled, and the great scout stood ces Do ae to have: Tisen out of the ground, ee) - So sudden was hie appearance ie and so unex- pected at the moment, even though she had called to him, that she oe oe a ee almost ea cry. a on: Then he Sao eto ers fA the moonlight, tall, cn manding, a magnificent specimen of manhood. “The Long Hair heard the voice of the Indian maid- en,” he said, “and he is here.” Confusion had attacked her. - She hesitated, and seemed not to know what to. say, or how to begin. “The Indian maiden has a message, Sen from the white man who is a prisoner of the Arrapahoes?” he asked” She gained control of her trembling lips. “Oh, Long Hair, I have no message,” she said, “ex- IT would tell the Long Hair many things, but we must not stand here long where Arrapahoe braves may come.” : he said; “I looked well to that If any had been near, I should So tell me about the old white “There are none near,” before I showed myself. man in the village.” She glanced about, beating) “I can but die,’ she said, “and the things that have come to pass make me want to die.” “The ears of the Long Hair are open.” “The Long Hair is a great brave; his heart is strong and his eyes are keen; he can do many things. I am but a woman of the Arrapahoes, and can do nothing. Let the Long Hair listen, and I will tell him. “Many moons ago the «Prairie Flower -was ea i the young war-chief, Red Wolf. He sang love-words in, her ears, and made her heart happy. He promised that she should dwell in his lodge and become the light of it. But the face of Red Wolf has changed; a cloud has come over it, so that he no longer looks kindly on the Indian maiden. “There is in the village a great and sondee woman called Wild Eye. She has become so powerful that she makes and unmakes war-chiefs, and, because on it, Red Wolf seeks her favor. Her one eye does not look kindly on the Indian maiden Prairie Flower; she would ‘take from the Prairie Flower the oe war-chief Red Wolf. “As the great Long Hair knows, the Chevennes and ~ the Afrapahoes are closely united, though they are not the same people. Wild Eye. wishes that: they shall be eo A BILL STORIES. ‘@ still more closely united; and for that reason she asks d | Red Wolf to take in marriage a girl of the Cheyennes.- i “Because Red Wolf longs to gain the good will and ‘the help of Wild Eye, who can make of him a great oF | poured in his ears. n “He thinks to take into his oe ‘he maiden of the <- | Cheyennes, and because of it the Prairie Flower droops n, | and sickens.” es ans te | She spoke rapidly, yet with ce natural sb cence hat, though her voice was low, and sometimes half- n- | choked with sobs, the effect of her statements stirred in the heart of the scout a great resentment against the q- 9) young war-chief, Red. Wolf. * ©6s For the sake of his ambition to become a great war- chief, the young Indian had cast aside this girl whom he y, : had promised to marry, and at the urging of old Wild | Eye was to marry a girl of the Cheyennes, that the bond ne | between the two tribes might thereby be strengthened. he The scout did not even yet get the whole drift of | what the Indian girl was trying to tell him. She went on, when she saw that he was listening: x “Wild Eye has looked with favor on the old white he nan who has been captured by the Arrapahoes. She is re very old and very wise, yet, in this thing, she is Very _foolish; for she wishes to marry the white man and at 4 have ae live in her lodge. id “Red Wolf knows this; for the old white man was ite there before, and escaped. Hence Red Wolf was glad i, to get him again, that he might present the old white / man to Wild Eye, and therefore gain her favor. ve | “Because of it she looks even more kindly on Red | Wolf. y ) “But if the old white man should escape, perhaps she ne 4 would turn ‘against Red Wolf; and if she should so mj tum against him, perhaps the young war-chief would ' no longer think of marrying the girl of the Cheyennes, * but would once more let the light of his face shine warm : for the Arrapahoe maiden, the Prairie Flower.’ “Yes,” said Buffalo Bill, quick to understand; “and you wish to help me to get the old white man out of _the village? You want to turn the favor of Wild Eye away from the young war-chief, Red Wolf. The Long Hair will help the Indian maiden to do this, if she ) will but show him how. The Arrapahoes are keen-eyed | and have ears like the serpent, so that it is hard for —— NE EPS hat (| the Long Hair to get into the village to assist his friend. it # Ee desires the aid of the Indian maiden, Prairie Flow- yok i Ch Soe uld . She clapped her hands impulsively together, her face ed | radiant. A flash of the brightening moonlight showed it to the scout almost transfigured, making her, for the and |) moment, the most beautiful Indian girl he had ever seen. Then a laid her plan before him. i | war-chief, he has listened to the oe words she has . ry, It was simple i in the extreme. “Down by the lion cave, where the great Long Haas fought with the fierce lions, lies a lion that is dead. [I saw the body out on the rocks as I|-passed ae when I came here; _-“The Long Hair: does not fear to go aoa near to the on caver. = se ve “T do not fear to go aayaiere” he said, “if I can bert help the old white man who is a prisoner of the Arra- pahoes,”’ i “The Long Hair is very brave; all the Indians of the “West know of his bravery. He will go down by the lion cave and get the skin and head of the dead lion, and make of them a head-piece and a robe, such as some of the medicine-men wear when they summon_ the spirits or. drive away the demons that make the Indians ill and die. He will get that robe and head-piece, and put it on hirn.” She put her hand aay fo blanket, and drew forth some articles. He saw that one of them was a . feathered head- dress of dyed feathers, and others were beaded and quilled - Indian moccasins. -With these was a small package De. up in bark wrapped round with sinew. “There are the paints, of red, and blue, and yellow, . and black, with which the Long Hair can paint his face, until it will look. like the face of an Indian medicine- man. He speaks with the tongue of an Arrapahoe, and it is well. Does he also speak with the tongue of a Cheyenne?” The Long Hair assured that he could also usé a language of the Cheyennes. A “Then the Long Hair will say that he is a medicine- man from the tribe of the Northern Cheyennes. None of the braves here have seen the Northern Cheyennes, but only the part of a tribe that is near us. He will give himself a name, and call himself a Cheyenne medi- cine-man, and talk in the Cheyenne tongue, if it is need- ful. : “When he has made himself into a Cheyenne medi- cine-man, wearing this blanket, with the lion robe over it, let him come to the eastern side 2 the Arrapahoe vil- lage, before the rising of the sun.’ She slipped out of the blanket and let it fall to the ground. - “There let him make loud outcry, proclaiming hin self a Cheyenne medicine-man, and let him shout to the Arrapahoes to arouse, that the Sioux are upon them. - “When the Arrapahoe braves rush to get their rifles and their bows, and the Arrapahoe women rush for the protection of the lodges with their children, the Prairie Flower will slip into the lodge where the old white man lies bound, and will release him; so that he can leap to the back of his horse, that will be near, and ride for his life. ae : THE BUFFALO “The cords that hold the old white man will be cut with a knife that belongs to the young war- chief, Red | Wolf, and a feather from the Red Wolf's hair will be | dropped in the lodge, with the knife; so that when ‘they are seen by the Arrapahocs, many of them will be made to believe that it was the Red Wolf. who cut the. cords and let the old white man get away. __ “Thus Red Wolf will lose favor in the eyes oe Wild Eye, and in the eyes of the braves; and he will turn from the Cheyenne maiden he is to marry to the thoughts of the Prairie Flower, who, though she loves him, would prefer that he should not be a great war- a if, because of it, she is to lose him.” — | : _ Whether a woman is uu or red ee not make her other than a woman. Red. Wolf, the brave, longed for fame and glory; but the Indian maiden longed for noth- ing but the love of the man she loved. _ Buffalo. Bill felt for the Indian girl a great pity. . Aside from this, it was lucky for Old Nomad that the Indian girl had in her heart this flame of jealousy. Tie Long Hair has heard,” said the scout, “and he will do as the Prairie Flower tells him.” at the eastern side of the village, before the rising of the sun, in. the darkest hour that comes just before the dawn,” said the Indian girl. . A sob seemed to shake her as she turned away. ‘With steps as light as those of a fawn. she pared fer his sight and was gone. The scout was not long in following her. He waited only until her light footfalls had ene to reach him, and then he, too, hurried away, turning toward the cave of the lions. As he went he thought of Nomad and the Indian girl, and of Wild Eye and the ambitious young war-chiel, Red Wolt. “That she may have Red Wolf for her husband, the Prone. Flower is willing to make the Arrapahoes think him a traitor who has released the old white man,’ he mused. “Strange is the heart of a woman!’ Buffalo Bill heard the. growling and uneasy noises made by the maneless mountain lions before he or the vicinity of the cave. _ @ It seemed a singular thing that old Wild Eye should _ keep such “pets.” Old Nomad had told him their whole story, more than has been set down in these pages; how that Wild Eye kept her “pets” for the sole purpose of feeding to them prisoners and enemies whom she wished to get rid of. No doubt, a death from the’ claws and jaws of these lions seemed to her even a more fearful thing than death at the torture-stake, or the gantlet. It was strange, and, in a way, spectacular, and impressed her power on her foes. Indian tribes far and near had heard of the strange torture and death inflicted by old Wild Eye oll her. BILL STORIES. Cave. enemies ; “and they correspondingly feared her. Fo death by the fire- torture, or in the orthodox Indian meth ods, is not so much dreaded by an Indian. If he is cay: tured ‘by his Indian foes, he expects them to put hi: 0 to death in the most horrible manner of their tribe: ar (hi he goes to death singing his death- -song, fully believin. that he is on his way to the Happy Hunting-grounds < his forefathers, where forever he will chase the anima he has loved to hunt. - But this—to become food for lions kept for that pu pose—struck the Indians with horror. So, after all, there was method in the madness of 0. Wild Eye; her predilections for the torture of the lic: cave for her foes were not so strange as they seemed. - When Buffalo Bill reached the vicinity of the lic cave he made his way round to the point where t] dead lion spoken of by the girl lay. It was well that he arrived when he did. “He saw slinking forms scurry away in the darkne; and knew they were mountain lions belonging in 1 Wild Eye’s lions were’ “domesticated,” to a certa degree. They staid in and near that cave, because the they were fed generously by the Indians and remain unmolested; but they were not “tamed,” by any mann of means, and if not rightly treated, might be expect to attack an Indian as quickly as a white man. | Buffalo Bill saw that he had frightened off the prov ers just in time to keep them from mangling the sk of the dead lion, and perhaps dragging the carcass awa He drew his revolver, not knowing but that some the lions would try again to attack him. But, outside of the cave, they were not the bold cre: tures they were in it, when their “home” was invade and they did not return to attack him. “T wish ni could get my rifle, that I dropped in the: cave,” was his thought; “but no doubt some of the A & rapahoes have it. Well, whoever owns it now has mighty good rifle.” He drew his knife and began deitl to. strip off 1 skin of the dead lion. However, he could not work as apy as if he h. received no injuries, for one arm had been much tor and was now stiff and sore, so that it pained him mu to use it, ; co “He removed the skin entire, with head and tail, a dried it as much as he could by rubbing it with sand. Throwing it over his shoulders, with the head-sh resting on his head and the long tail dragging on t ground, he saw that he could wear it very well as medicine-robe when he enacted the role of el medicine- -man. Casting it aside, ‘he set to work to transform hims into an Indian, so far as it could be done, 10. He smeared and striped | his face with the paints ; 2 " placed them with the beaded moccasins, put on his head, ‘in place of his wide-brimmed hat, the feathered head- ress she had furnished him, and altogether so altered ‘his whole appearance that even Old Nomad would not if have been able to ‘recognize him. O08 “Ugh! ugh!” he grunted. “Me heap big medicine- 1a | man! Me Walking Cloud, the great medicine of the ‘Northern Cheyennes. Ugh! ugh!’ , 1 He stood forth in the moonlight, picturesque in lanket, paint, feathers, and “medicine-robe,” a veritable o\: | image of an Indian medicine-man. His boots, his hat, and the other things he had re- oved, he concealed carefully. Then, bearing the lion skin, he set out by a round- bout course, that would bring him to the eastern side of he Arrapahoe village. “The moon will shine all night,” he said to himself. I ought to have told the girl that; but I failed to think f it at the time, and so did she; so we. won’t have hat darkest hour before the dawn.” As he thought thus, he studied the sky and the clouds. There were many clouds in the sky, and they seemed be banking in the west, ue direction from which the vind came, . Ete hoped that the sky would be overcast oer the me for which he was preparing came. “Tf I could but get word of this to ee " was his hought. He determined, as he approached the village, that, et word to Nomad, at least to the effect that he was lose by the village, and hoped to. accomplish some- hing. owls, with an interval between, the second howl being iven with a peculiar turn and accent, which would “be recognized by Nomad. ol ‘This signal was well understood between them, as ere other signals which they had devised for com- junicating with each other in times of danget. The scout stopped, gave the first wolf-howl, and then e second, waiting after that to see if it had attracted ‘undue attention in the village. hi toi nu Some dogs barked loudly in answer to the supposed olf. “T hope none ioe ot curs will think of com- ig out here, for they might make trouble!” was his ought. Sk He waited until the dogs had stopped barking, and hen he stole on, completing his half-circle of the village, hich brought him out on the eastern side of it, and the slope of a hill. : There he lay down, burrowing behind a rock, with his ae BP adian girl had given him, removed his toon and ere- hough the thing was dangerous for him to do, he would That information could be conveyed by two wolf- a. THE CUPEALD BULL STORING 7 7 ag his feathered head hid in the low branches of a scrubby mountain bush. | There he awaited the clouding over of the sky, which would so obscure the moonlight that the plan he in- tended to undertake would not miscarry. And he: was quite as anxious that the Indian girl should not get herself into trouble as he was of the suc- cess of any other part of the program. CHAPTER IX, THE COURAGE OF THE PRAIRIE FLOWER. As the Prairie Flower glided away after her interview with Buffalo Bill, a young Indian girl who had followed her suspiciously and jealously from the village, rose from behind a rock and slipped away after her. This Indian girl was no friend of the Prairie Flower. She, too, loved the young war-chief, Red Wolf. She was not as beautiful as the Prairie Flower, and she ‘knew it, and it made her bitter. Often when she had seen Red Wolf smile on the Prairie Flower, she had wanted to stab her to the heart, but dared not. Unable to get close enough to hear all of the talk be- tween the scout and the Prairie Flower, she had yet heard enough to arouse her distrust and give her an inkling of cones it all meant, though not as to the de- . tails. “Ha, ha!’ she muttered, as she crept behind the Prairie Flower back to the village. “A maiden of the. Arrapahoes would turn traitor! She sneaks out, and talks the serpent talk with the terrible Long Hair. How did she know where the Long Hair was to be found, and that he would wait there to speak with her? The Rustling Leaf has ears, but she could not hear all. The Prairie Flower deserves the death of the lions, because she has turned to the pale faces and against her people.” In her savage heart this young girl would have gloated with delight if she could have seen the beautiful Prairie Flower torn to pieces by the savage lions’ of the cave; for then the Prairie Flower could not marry the young war-chief, and she fancied that her chances would be much improved. She kept close to the Prairie Flower, as the latter went toward the village. . When she had seen the Prairie Flower return into the village, Rustling Leaf entered, and then hastened to the lodge of Wild Eye. If she had delayed outside Wild Eye’s ede and watched, she would have seen some comical things, even though her undeveloped. sense of humor might not have — enabled her to appreciate them. Feeling that his life depended on it, Old Nomad was doing his best to make himself agreeable to the hag, Wild Eye. THE BUFFALO 20 He had put his arm round her, and was trying to make love in the most approved Arrapahoe fashion. It went something like this, in Arrapahoe to Wild Eye, in English to himself: “The White Head loves the great Arrapahoe queen, who has saved his life, and honored him with the posi- tion of her husband; he is her servant and slave for- ever; he will go forth on the war-path against her ene- mies, and fill her lodge with their scalps; he will steal many ponies for her, and he will hunt down the deer and the antelope for her, that her lodge and his may always have abundance of food and plenty of robes. “Waugh! This hyar makes me sick; it shore does! A cuss on all Injuns, and ‘specially these o’ this tribe! I dunno but it’d be better ter be food fer mountain lions than ter have ter do this!’ When he dropped into his English, and talked his io thoughts to himself, he did not speak loud, even though sure old Wild Eye could not understand him. Old Nomad was thus engaged when Rustling Leaf appeared at the lodge entrance. With desperate and nervous haste, the Indian girl thrust aside the lodge flap and put in her head. Wild Eye lifted herself on her couch of skins, her one blazing eye glared at the intruder. “What does Rustling Leaf here?” she demanded ang- rily. The fire of jealousy made the Indian girl bold, and she came on in. “The Rustling Leaf would speak with Wild Eye alone,’ she said, with a meaning glance at Nomad. Something in the manner of the Indian girl caused Wild Eye to withhold her flaming wrath. “It concerns the old White Head,’ Geo Leaf added, looking at Nomad. “Watueh!. Consarns te, does it?” said Nomad to himself. and listens, ef I kin.” Wild Eye rose from the skins ana stepped to the door of the lodge. Nomad did not hear one was said, for the Indian girl slipped to the outside, and Wild Eye followed her. “Tl beta hunk er venison thet Buffler’s nosin’ round some’eres, an’ thet Injun gal has got wind of it. Waugh! Buffler shore never will leave me, less’n they git him, same’s me; and I don't think they’ll do it; fer he. aint as big a fool as me.’ When Wild Eye came back her one eye was blazing with anger. 5 Behind her came an Arrapahoe warrior, a Soe fellow, armed with a rifle. “Watch the white man,’ oS queen. Nonjad sat up.with a jerk. “Waugh! Suthin’s cut loose, when ther lovin’ wife of ”’ was the command of A “Wall, hyar’s whar I grows my years out oe BILL ‘yer sbuzzum gives order s Tih