vOzo008 |e

: By y Ton $2, ee er Ree Teiered ie Sena ass Matter a the Vi Post Office by ST a -8 Seventh Ave., 1
NEW YORK, JULY 6, 1907. Price, Five Cents

éssued Weebly,

No. 321

All unaware of the terrible peril that menaced him, Buffalo Bill listened as the Gypsy
Queen read his hand and told his fortune.

—nerrapenn eee pment Ge
screener oy

Rr ane e

 

 
 
 

 

 

 

dssued Weekly.

{=s” Beware of Wild West imitations of the Buffalo Bill Stories. :

, A WEEKLY PUBLICATION oS
DEVOTED TO BORDER HISTORY.

By ahonen $2.50 per year, Butercd as Second-class Mee at the N. V. Post Office, by STREET & SMITH, 79-89 Seventh us
N.Y. Entered according zo Act of pees i the year 1907, in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, Washington, Dior.

 

 

They are about fictitious characters. The Buffalo

Bill weekly is the only weekly containing the adyequnrss of Buffalo Bill, (Col. W. F. Cody), who is known wee

over the world as the king of scouts.

 

No. 321. 5

_ NEW YORK, July 6, 1907.

| Price Five Cents.

 

OR,

The Queen of the Road Wanderers.

By the author of “BUFFALO BILL.”

 

CHAPTER I.
JOE TEMPEST.

_ “Cody, if I ever meet him, I’ll have his life!”
The dark eyes kindled and the face flamed with rage.
It was a dark, handsome face; the face of a young

man, with a certain wild beauty that was very attractive

and remarkable.

He was riding with Buffalo Bill along a narrow trail,
with ragged hills and mountains on one hand, and on the

_ other a rolling, hilly pons that stretched far aay to the

sky-line.
The young fone was ia ina hordes costume

of dark, fringed cloth, which showed some ornamental

buckskin, and he was armed with Tifle, tevolvers, and
knife, ; /

and the jingling bridle-bit was of silver.
Buffalo Bill was attired in his usual attractive manner,

&

The accouterments of iis horse were bf a ad
somest, the saddle showing Mexican stamped leather,

nee

and was mounted on a beautiful thoroughbred, that
stepped along with hoof of velvet, with arching neck,
flowing mane, and thin nostrils quivering as it a
the unknown trail.

“He’s in this ‘section somewhere, or was at last ac-
counts, Cody; and that’s why I’m here.
doin’ here is none of my business?” 7

“T’m merely crossing from Flagman to Fort Rollo,”
the scout answered.

“You're expectin’ trouble?”

ENO.

“Well, I noticed-that you wuz keepin’ your eyes peeled,

watching is a hawk all the time, and that oe tO

me you were.’
The scout laughed. cc .
“That! s due to long border habits.

enough on this trail, before we get through, for the
Sioux have been restless lately, and, from your story,

Ben Magoon and his band have again taken to the road. a

What you're

I really didn’t know:
Lowes “watching so keenly. Yet we may find trouble

  
 
  

 

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The young man’s face flamed at mention of that name.
“That’s what I heard,” he said, “and Um here to see.”
“Jf he has men at his back, you’re not likely to get at

him, and are likely to be killed yourself.”

bts the first time in two years that I’ve knowed ea
to look for him, Cody; and I.had to try for him here

again. Two years ago I thought I had him, but he gave
me the slip. His band melted away, when the officers got

after him. But he’s started in here, I was told. Yet the

yarns. I heard didn’t all tally.”

“No?” ey a

“Some said he adn’ any band of toad- -agents, be
that he had j’ined the Injuns, and was leadin’ them into
road-agent work and the like. I don’t know about that.
The thing that excited me was the statement that it was
him—Ben Magoon.
don’t git me first.”

“The dark, burning eyes rece. the hills as if they
hoped to see there the hated figure of Ben Magoon.

“And wouldn't you feel like I do, Cody, if you was in
my place? Suppose it had been your sister?
this scoundrel had captured her, dragged her away from
her home ag’inst her will, hurried her off into the moun-
tains, where he forced her to be his wife; and that as a
restilt of his cruelty she had been killed ? Suppose it was
your sister, Cody?”

“Fhe scout’s hand dropped to his revolver significantly.

“I think I should kill/him ; or—see that he was hanged

far-murder! .That would be the proper thing—to arrest

him, hale fen before a court, and have him hanged.”
He. never git to see the inside of a court-house, if I

’ git a crack at him. Um tellin’ you. that now. ae
him with a bullet as soon as I set eyes on him,” eo
vont, need. to be careful,” said the scout. i sup-

pose. he. knows _ you, and. would. “recognize you if.-you
met?” ee ne ae
a le'd. recognize me} a bee fot Td shout. into. his
ears who and what I.am; and then I’d put out his-lamp:”
“But if he should. snare you; and you ‘were at his
mercy ?: Would: he know just who you were?”
_*2m afraid he: would, Cody !”.- nee
“He knows you chased him before?”
“Aye; he. knows it; hell. not. fergit-that !”
“Then, as you think he’s in this section, you want to be
mighty careful that you.don’t drop. into one of his traps.
He'll be likely. to finish you without much eee, if
he gets you. into his power.”

%.

Tt was into these hills ae he ioe my sister, Cody.
And it seems like fate led him back to ’em, so that I
could put out, his lamp in this spots It’s sort of satisfyin’
fo think that. 4 4. eee
_ “You said your name is S lenoes: 2 oe de ee
“Yes; Joe Tempest.” : a

| "That's your real. dee 2 me boy 9a
Tt man looked sharply 2 at the scout,

 

  

Te RUPP ALO. Bill es TORTS:

V'll git him, if I live, Cody; if he,

Suppose

 

“Jest. what do you mean by that question?’

“So many men on the border take names that they
think fit the mood they’re in; that’s all,”

“So ye think I’m a. bit tempestuous in my, mood : ie

He laughed cynically.

“T thought so. You were storming like a cyclone, your
horse sweating, when we. met, you. know.”

“Well, when I seen you far out. an the trail, the idee

struck me ee mebbe you was my man; and so I tid for
you, bilin’.’”

““T hope I don't look the Magoon!

“No, you don't; but the distance was considerable, aad
I couldn’t tell. I jest seen that you was a white man, and
every white man here I’ve got a license to regard with
suspicion. So I rid. for you.”

He laughed over. this mistake, and the dark, frowning
look fled for the moment from his face.

Suddenly he stopped his horse, ah a started jerk 0 on.

the rein.
“Hello! 7 f

_. His face Cubed and his eyes ey

_ “By all the gods, Cody !” he cried, with much perturba.
tion.

The scout had observed. the same object a bad

drawn these exclamations from Joe Jones.
“Yes,” he said, “I see; its a woman.’
Still staring at the ar figure of the woman who

had ridden down from the hills. into the trail, Joe Tem-

pest put out his hand, feeling blindly toward the scout.

“Heavens! Cody, YOM, glasses—your binoculars! oe

that don’t look like-

 

_ The. scout began to ne out his fel glasses, for. Tem- :

s

pest’ S use.
, “Like what?” he said. ae
: Jest. like her!” cried Toaped. “Jest like. my: tee
that I was tellin’ you about.
hills by that devil, and they.said she died here, killed by
his. abuse. . .But. mebbe. she. didn’t! . _Mebbe that’s _her.

’Tain’t no place to expect to see any. woman, aside from

an Injun woman, and mebbe it’s her.”

“Eis hand and his voice, were shaking. .

He clutched the scout’s binoculars and trained ‘them
quickly. on the horsewoman.

The scout stared at her with nated eye; ae as
they were of the keenest, he saw her. fairly well, though
she Was sO. taroff. |.

Tempest. looked long and hard, . face working and
bie hands shaking.

. Then. he put: down the glasses with a sigh.
Lf No,
thought mebbe. ’twas.

‘But, of course, it: couldn't be.

What they said was tele che” . dead! ‘But. fer a minute

- Le "twas her, and ti
He passed his shaking hand a across his eyes.
“Cody, that stirred me! But no, it ain't her.”

 

She was brought to these.

*tain’t her!” he said, a. choke in his voice, at

 
     
  
   
  
  
    
  
   
   
   
     
   
    
  
  
  
  
  
  
   
   
 

   
     
 
 
 
  
  
   
  
  
    
  
   
   

     
THE BUFFALO

Buffalo Bill was looking at the distant horsewoman
through the glasses now. He saw that she rode grace-
fully, with the ease of a practised equestrian, and that
she was young, and, from that distance, she seemed, also,
beautiful. oe :

-“Purty as a picture, Cody? %

“She seems so, from ‘here; ‘but what she may be at
close range is hard to say.”

“What’s she doin’ here? She’s white.”

“Yes, she is white, and I can’t guess what she is doing
here.” :

“There ain’t no white folks in this range.”

“Not that I know of.”

“Looks curious, don’t it; a white woman, and a hand-
some young one, out here in fs wild wilderness, where
you don’t expect to meet anyt ing but as mebbe, or
road-agents and murderers.”

“He stared at the woman.

“But it makes me think of my sister. She was out
here in this wild wilderness, and I reckon her bones air
restin’ somewheres in these hills at this minute. Magoon
brought her here, and Magoon killed her; and I'll have
its heart's blood for i it, if ever we > meet.”

CHAPTER HU:
“LEONA DARE,
“Hello, she’s comin’ this way!”
_ Joe Tempest announced this in a tone of surprise that
was not unmixed with gratification.

The distant horsewoman had entered the trail in which
were Tempest and the scout and was riding now toward
them.

“We'll git to see her at close range, Cody; id we'll
“git to find out if she's as handsome close by as fur off.

I’m bettin’ she is.’

The scout again studied the bosecwonide through the
binoculars, and then he restored them to the case that
swung from his shoulders.

“Yes, she’s coming this way. We'll get to know, per-
haps, what a white woman is (ome in pe strange place.
Shé may be lost”, ‘ae

“She didn’t ride like it, Cody, when she come down
that pass out of the hills ; she trode a she oe a
what she was doing.”

The woman came on now at a brisk gallop, and as she -

drew nearer they saw that she rode a shaggy pony that
did not seem to be of Indian breed, for it was too round
and plump, resembling a large horse in its general ap-
_ pearance, instead of being: thin-bodied and angular like
the ponies of the Indians.

She did not observe the two men in the ait until she
-was close on them; for some bushes partly screened them,
“though it was not their intention to hide Bue as, from
her,

input vaeeten nls ege tarenttebe cece pcre ptinen oy nase tbath inmsnit nif for te Rita

at a loss what to do.

BILE (S71 ORIRS?

When she saw them she drew rein, as ne in hesitation
but after a moment she came on again.

When she rode up to them the scout saw that she was
a remarkably beautiful girl, with black hair and eyes,
and a dark olive is that was ‘strangely clear and
attractive.

She stopped her pony and looked at the two men
with her lustrous black eyes, while a.bit of color tinged
her dark cheeks, giving them added beauty.

Joe Tempest was so taken by her good looks that he
could do nothing at first but stare at her most ungentle-
manly.

As for Buffalo Bill, he lifted his hat with courteous. gal-
lantry, bowing at the same time, and addressing her.

“We meet on a strange trail, madam,” he said, “but we
are white men, and you may consider‘us friends.”

He was wondering if the dark tint of her skin did not

indicate Indian blood, though he was unable to see any
traces of Indian in the contour of her features. He had
in his time beheld some really handsome Indians, though
he confessed that beautiful Indian women were remark-
able for their scarcity.

“Tt is a strange trail,” she oe studying his to
and the face of Joe Tempest; ‘“‘and a trail where one may
need friends, I think. I belong in the camp down there.’’

She pointed down into a valley, by a distant stream,
where there were some thin clumps of cottonwoods. |

Neither Buffalo Bill nor Tempest had known until then
that a camp was hidden behind those trees. ;

“A camp?” said the scout, showing his astonishment.

“Yes,” she answered. “We camped there yesterday,
because we did not know which way to go; and to- -day I
rode out into the hills, trying to get some ideas on the
matter. But I could see nothing but more hills and more
plains, and not a sign of the way we ought to take. And
it is not customary, nor an easy thing, for my people to
get turned round and lost in this way.”

Her words were soméwhat puzzling.

The scout, as well as Tempest, was noting her attire,
which was somewhat out of the ordinary; yet graceful
and becoming.

“Perhaps you could tell me the way to Garcelon
Springs?” she said.

“My dear young lady,” said the scout, “you are far out
of your way to Garcelon Springs. You should have
taken the northern trail, instead of the southern, at the
place where the rolling plains begin. And you should
then have left the northern trail.” : :

“Ves, that is it; we did that. We discovered we had
taken the wrong trail, and instead of going back we
thought we could save time by cutting across the coun-
try, and so finding again the southern trail. But we
missed it; we got turned round somehow ; and now we're
ae you have ee knowledge of

foe \ i : nie
ST —— svt EON TS

a cre

 
 

4 20 THE RUPRALO

where we are, or how we can find the southern trail, we
shall be much obliged.” 5

“T shall take pleasure in guiding you,
gallant reply.
able to try to reach the southern trail from this point;
it would involve a long journey and the crossing of wild
hills. But by swinging along their base and keeping well
to the west we can after a time go round them, and then
turn south in the direction you wish to go. We shall be
most happy to show you all that we can.”

Yet his look was inquiring, and she noticed this.

“My name is Leona Dare,” she said, “and I am with
the gipsies camped by those trees. I am a member of the
band, and we thought of going into the civilized country
beyond Garcelon Springs. This seems to be very wild
land here.”

She smiled, showing her white teeth, and it was a very
pretty smile, Tempest was sure.

He was so taken by her beauty and manner that he

23

was the scout’s

could not keep his eyes off her, and as for words, he

seemed to have lost all that he ever knew.

He kept telling himself that she was the most beau-
tiful, the most radiant, girl he had ever seen; and his
heart thumped unpleasantly under his border iechee when
she looked at him.

With an effort he gained his tongue.

“I, too, shall be glad to go with you and the scout
here!” he declared.

“ecout 27 ie

She looked at Buffalo Bill, as if she did not just com-
prehend.

“My name is Cody,” said the scout, “and I am con-
nected with the United States Army in the capacity of
scout, whose duty it is to watch the turbulent Indians,
and also to keep an eye on the scoundrels and road-
agents who infest the border.

known under the name of Buffalo Bill.”

She shook her head; she had never heard the name or
the title.

“Allow me to introduce myself as Joe Tempest,” added
Tempest, trying his best to smile and look pleasant. “It’s

_ So long since I heard my first name called anything else

Joe that we'll let it go at that.”
He was using better language than the scout had heard

him use before.

But that was not surprising, for it was apparent that

_ _ he was impressed by the good looks of Miss Leona Dare,

she

ay
.
ie

and was, in the vernacular, putting his best foot forward.
“Tf you will permit us to accompany you?” said But-
falo Bill, again lifting his big hat.
She rewarded him with one of her rare smiles.
“Tt will be a pleasure, and if you tan help us out of the

- rut we've tumbled into we shall all be your debtors.”

She did not speak as he had supposed she would if

{

“Though I fear it would be unprofit-

It is hardly likely you .
have heard of me, though in certain circles I am well

 

BILL STORIES. ~

she were a gipsy; she appeared to have a good command
of language, and to be rather well educated.

But her gipsy blood was doubtless what accounted for
the darkness of her olive complexion, black hair and black
eyes.

The statement that she was a gipsy, and a member of |
a gipsy band; while almost inconceivable to Buffalo Bill,
seemed to have gratified Joe Tempest, for he had smiled
and inclined his head when he heard it.

“Distantly, I'm a gipsy, too,’ he now announced:
whereupon she looked at him more sharply.

“Is that so?’ she said, smiling on him in a way to
make his heart flutter. “You are not with any band
now ?”’

“My grandfather 1 was a gipsy, I’ve been told,” he said,
“which is the reason that I’m so dark. But,” he added,
as if he feared a false impression might be made, “you
don’t seem dark enough Yourself for one.’

“Tm a pure-blooded gipsy,’ she declared roguishly
now. ‘“‘What did you expect—that I should be a negro?”

“Oh, no; not at all!’ stammered Tempest. “But -
gipsies are dark, you know.” |

“You'll see some that are dark enough,” she declared,
“when we get to the camp. There is Dick Dirk, you'll
think him dark enough, though he is very handsome.’

She flushed.

“And there is Gran and others. Oh, they’re dark
enough! you'll see that; so that you can’t doubt they are
gipsies, whatever you think of me.”

“I didn’t doubt your word,” stammered Tempest un-
easily. : |

They had turned from the trail and were riding to-
gether in the direction of the distant cottonwoods.

“I don’t suppose that either off you were lost here?”
she asked, with apparent simplicity.

“Why, no!” said Tempest.

“Well, one doesn’t know what to expect, ’
in a,way to mystify him.

But Buffalo Bill understood. — ,

She had never met either of them, nor had ever heard
of them, and the thought had come to her that it was
possible she was trustirig them too freely for so short an
acquaintance; they might not be what they ¢laimed—
might even be some of the terrible road-agents of whom
she had heard such alarming stories. But she did not
give voice to these thoughts.

The scout touched up his horse, and the others imita-
ting his example, all three were soon galloping toward
the cottonwoods.

she declared,

 

CHAPTER Ii]
INDIANS.
But suddenly the scout pulled i in with so harsh a han |

that his horse reared.

‘FHello!” he said. “Look there!”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

mind me.

“merely

 

a SS

THE BUFFALO

His right hand swung out, pointing.
All drew rein and saw some men peering from the top
of the nearest hill.
It was impossible to tell whether they were white men

or Indians, for they were but indistinctly visible.

- The girl looked alarmed.

“Dear me!” she said. “Who can they be?’

“Not some of your folks?” asked Tempest.

“No, indeed; they wouldn’t be up there.”

—-“T didn’t know but they might have seen us before you
met us, and took a sneak jest to see who we were?’

“No; they're not our men.”

The scout was getting out his field-glasses, but before
he had them out the men disappeared, dropping from
sight behind the top of the hill.

“T think I’d better look into that!” he said.

He swung down from the saddle.

_ “Tempest, just hold my horse while I crawl over to
that hill and see what this means.”

He threw the rein to Tempest.

“Stay here with Miss Dare; or, if you scent danger to
yourself and her, ride for the cottonwoods, and don’t
Pl look out for myself.”

He stepped lightly away, and ran toward the hill, and
soon they lost sight of him, for he had dropped into a
draw and was making a circuit, intending to go part way
round the hill, and thus get a look at the men he had
seen from the other side. —

The scout made this détour carefully, keeping out of
sight as much as he could in the cut, besides taking ad-
vantage of some boulders and clumps of sage-brush.
After a half-hour of rather hard work he reached a point
where he could look off across the rather level mesa that
lay behind it.

He saw no one, though the mesa was furnished with
good cover, and the men might still have been lying just

‘where he had seen them, for all he could tell to the con-
trary.

He became more cautious now; so that at times he
‘crawled along on his stomach,
progress.

When he came near to the point where he was sure
he had seen the men he searched the ground and the

making slow

clumps of sage ahead of him with his Pinoculars.

Still he saw nothing,
He feared that he had been seen and that the rascals

_ might be laying in wait for him.

He could not make out whether the men were white
or red.

When he had worked cautiously to the very top of the
hill, and began to look about there, he was sure they were
gone; and then he began to search for their tracks.

The soil was not of the character to retain footprints,
but after some careful work he came on a earelea|s left

~ moccasin track.

call gipsies white.

BILE STORIES.

5

“Indians !’ he said.

Fle stared about, as if he Hel eee ed to see them
buried to their eyes in the short grass, or peering out at
him from the rocks and the growth of sage.

But he saw nothing of the kind.

“Gone!” he said. “They were here, spying, and they
beat a hasty retreat when we stopped down there and
they thought they had been perted, That looks bad. It
hints of trouble.”

He walked along wearily, looking for more tracks:

“They've sighted the camp down there, of course, and
perhaps they meant to attack it. They'd wait for dark-
ness for that. I] wonder how many of the devils were
here? I saw but three.”

He did not find another telltale moccasin track, but he
found where the grass had been bent down, and pebbles
had been displaced.

“They ran down into that hollow, and are now over
there in the hills.”

He took out es glasses, but saw nothing of the In-
dians.

“For all we know there may be a strong war-party
over there. The Sioux hunt in this territory, and some-
times they’re inclined to be ugly and thieving. - Likely
the sight of that camp made them want to get at the
things in it, including the white women; that is, if I can
But surely that girl is white, and as
pretty as a picture. I’m guessing that Tempest is al-
ready in love with her.”

He smiled, even while searching with the glasses along
the crest of the near-by hills.

When he could discover nothing more he again circled
round the hill, to return to the point where he had left
Tempest with the girl.

As he came out from. behind the hill he was as-

-tounded by what he saw.

The girl was galloping wildly down over the more
level land in the direction of the cottonwoods. Tempest
was not in sight.

The scout stared as if he could not believe his eyes.

“teeachery © he said. Thats the queerest ever!
What has become of Tempest?”

He ran with great leaps down the side of the hill to-
ward the point where he had left Tempest.

The girl was too far off to hear him if he called, and
she hardly seemed to look back as she drove the hoes
on in that. wild pace.

“Gipsies are said to be treacherous,’ was his thought;
“but I’m sure she didn’t look it; and Gg hardly ready to
believe it.”

Nevertheless, he was astonished and worried.

He called to Tempest, ; as he neared the point where he
had last seen him.

To his surprise he was answered from across the val-
ley; and then he saw Tempest running out of the rough,

a a A can eT itr NI ce RPT NT TEN

 
       

 

hilly ground, with ue leaps, as if he were being eg
sued.

But no one was chasing Tempest; and when he came
up he was staring-eyed and puzzled.
“Cody, she took the horses, and lit out!”

“Yes, I saw that; and it leaves us afoot.
remain with her 2’
“No; for she thought she saw some one looking down

at us from that rough, patchy land over there; and |

went out that way, just to relieve her fears, you know. I
went a bit farther than I intended; but I didn’t see nothin’
er no sign; and then, when I started back, I found she'd
cut out with our horses and her own.”

- He looked distressed and dazed.

“There’s only one thing to do,” said the scout; “and
that is, to follow her down to that camp in the cotton-
woods, and ask for an explanation.”

“Do you reckon there’s any camp there?’

“T have believed so.”

“But now?”

“Yes, I think so.”

“Well, I’m glad to hear ye say ite:

He looked relieved. :

“For, ye see, I don’t want to think nothin’ crooked
about that girl; she’s too good-looking to be doin’ any-
thing crooked, ye know; and I shouldn’t want to think it.
Seen anything over there where you went?”

“Yes; moccasin tracks.”’

‘Heavens! Cody, that means Injuns!” o

“Indians were there; I saw three from this point, you
know. They discovered that we'd sighted them, and they
got out of there, and now are in those hills, farther over.
IT didn’t try to follow them; but, likely, they’re not alone.”
~ “Indians! Cody, if there are people in camp down
there it means somethin’ serious fer them, mebbe; and
especially for that girl.”

He moved about uneasily ; distress was apparent in

: his face and dark eyes. He fingered his rifle nervously.

“We'll have to go down there, Cody. Of course, she’s
all right.. It was queer, about the horses; but, of course,
she’s all right; and we'll find the camp down there, jest

as she said. It’s a bad-looking outlook, f6r a camp of any
kind not Injun to be round here, if them was Injuns that
spotted us.” |

“They were Sioux.”

“Sure of that?”

“The moccasin track told that; it was the shape of a
Sioux moccasin. This is Sioux hunting-grond, and some-
times the rascals are michief-makers, and worse.”

They began to walk in- the direction of the cotton-
woods.

It took them more than half an hour to reach the trees.

But when they did they found there a gipsy-camp, with
the gipsies in huddled fright, and some dark-skinned men
peering forth at them as they approached.

6 THE BUFFALO

Vou didnt .

Blu STORIES.

The girl had put the three one in with the gipsy
horses, which were enclosed in a rude sort of corral; and,

apparently, she had been doing what she could to relieve
the fright of the gipsy women.

All of the women, with the exception of some yee
girls, were hideous old crones.

There were several children, who were as badly scared
as the women, and some of these clung to the skirts of
the girl, peering out at the scout and Tempest, throw-
ing back their black hair when it tumbled down into their
eyes.

The scout could not but wonder if the beautiful girl
who called herself Leona Dare would become some day
like one of those toothless, mumbling gipsy hags,- and
the thought shocked him, she was so fair and rosy now;
but he knew that the beauty of gipsy women is.at best
short-lived, like the beauty of Indian girls.

Leona Dare came forward immediately.

- “Oh, I was so frightened!” she said.
men over there where you went, Mr. Cody; and some
others where Mr. Tempest was; and then I saw one
crawling through the grass of that little ravine, right
close by me. He had a knife in his mouth, and he was

smeared with paint; and—lI went into a panic, and rode”

away. I thought both you men had been killed. It was
a-coward’s trick, I know.”

There were tears in her eyes; and it pleased Tempest
to fancy that they indicated joy over the fact that he had
not been slain by the Indians.

The scout was astonished, and aan by what she
said about the Indian she had seen crawling toward her
through the grass, in war-paint, with a knife in his
mouth ; for it indicated that the Indians were a war-party,
and that trouble could be expected. :

He questioned her about this Indian, and asked just

where she had seen him. And he recalled that he had |

not looked for a “sign” in that place.

“You don’t doubt her word, do ye?” said Tempest, as
the scout was proceeding with this line of questioning.

“Certainly not. I’m just trying to find out how much
we have to fear.”

He looked round at the huddling gipsies, and noted
that there were not many men in the Ba) and those
he did not think much of.

One of them, a black-browed young fling who wore
a red handkerchief round his head in liew of a hat, was
staring at him in a way that was not pleasant; there was
something sinister in the gleam of his black eyes, and
the scout did not fail to note it, though he appeared not
to notice it.

“Do you think we'll be attacked?” the girl asked.

The gipsy women were crowding about her, asking
questions with their staring black eyes.

“We'll hope not,” said the scout. “But it’s always vel
to be prepared. Therefore, if you will permit me, I would

“T saw those

       

     

   
 
  

 

 
     

 

is

 

 

a =
eee

THE BUFFALO

suggest that some preparations be made.to resist them if
they do try to make trouble. You have arms?”
Some of the gipsy men dived into one of the wagons,
and brought out a supply of guns and revolvers, mostly.
of poor make and ancient manufacture; and they pro-
duced, too, ee and one ammunition. for these
weapons.
“We can fight!’ said the black- sinwed young man,
with a fierce shake of his head, still staring at he scout.
Then the girl introduced ‘him. a
This is Dick Dirk,” she said. “I told you shout him.”
“We can fight,” said Dirk, with ae sinister flash of
his eyes.
He produced a huge knife from te clothing.
He seemed at the moment to want. to fight Buffalo
Bill, if one might judge by his looks.
The scout instructed them to load their weapons, and
to keep a close watch. Then he turned to Joe Tempest.
“We'll stay here through the night, if our friends are
willing, Tempest, and keep close watch; and go on in the
morning, if the Indians have disappeared by that time. 1
don’t think we shall have any trouble, as those rascals
ran and got ay out of eer when I went over to see
who they were.’
_ His statement was made for the benefit of the terrified
gipsies.
“Then he saw to getting the camp in better shape for a
defense, if it should be needed; and he had the gipsy
men load their weapons, though his orders were obeyed
in rather a snarling manner by the man called Dick Dirk.
~ Dirk watched the scout closely, without seeming to do
‘so, and his eyes burned now and then with a fierce light.

 

) CHAPTER IV.
THE JEALOUS LOVER. _
Dick Dirk had been thrown into a fever of jealousy *
the girl's. story. when. she came back to the camp.
_ It did not require much to arouse Dirk’s jealousy, for
‘a word could do it. He was in love with the girl him-
self, and whenever another man so much as looked at her
Dirk was ready to knife him, and he was in a boiling fer-
ment of rage and hate when any one seemed attracted by
the girl’s good looks.
It was no doubt becatise the girl had never particularly
encouraged his attentions that Dirk’s jealousy was so
teadily aroused; he feared that she would easily slip

through his fingers, and he hated any man who spoke to
her.

She had spoken i in high praise of the scout, tea told of
_his. courage in going to see about the mysterious watch-
“ers on the hilltop, and had said other things that inflamed
Dirk.

_ And now. the Straightforward manner. in. which. the

  

        

BILL.

STORIES, | ae 7

scout talked with her misled him more; for Tempest said
little to her, while the scout talked with her a good deal.

Buffalo Bill even sat down by her on a stool in the
midst of the camp, and began to question her about for-
tune-telling, laughingly declaring his understanding that
all gipsies were famous fortune-tellers,

“You ought to be able to tell whether we’ re to have
trouble to- night, or not,” he said.

She seemed to regard this seriously. :

“Perhaps we might find out something,” she said. “ We
can try. Any way, perhaps you would like to nye me
tell your fortune for your’

“T should be delighted,” he said. aa

He knew that while daylight held nothing was to be
feared from the Sioux; and, in addition to that, he be-
lieved that the best w ay to drive fear from the scared
women was to show no sign of it himself.

“You really can tell fortunes: a) Sa

“You have just said that all gipsies can tell fortunes.
Wait here a minute.”

She disappeared into the near-by wagon.

When she came out she had added to her attractiveness
of dress, and wore on her head a little crown that seemed
to be of gold set with diamonds.

“T am the Gipsy Queen,” she declared, wat a pretty
pout of her red lips; “the Queen. of the Road ‘Wander-
ers, And the wonderful things, I shall tell you will be
astonishing.”

“T don’t doubt it.”

. He stared hard at the crown aah its ahinins stones.

. “Just gold- plated,” she said; “and the diamonds. ue
glass. You are our. friend, id Pil tell you that..
everybody else the crown is pure gold and the ee
genuine. A queen must wear a crown, and, of course,
it must. be of gold and diamonds. ita impresses some
people.” es a

ON ou pizale me)

‘Do T? You didn’t “expect 1 ‘me to. wear, a. - diamond
crown?” —

“Tt isn’t the crown: but it is the fact that you seem
‘to be an educated young lady.”

“And an educated young lady ‘oughtn’t to be footing
with fortune- -telling. Is that, it? But, you see, I come
of a race of gipsies, and it’s in the blood. ‘Really, and
truly, I don’t make up the fortunes; there are lines in
the hand of every person that mean something to me.
They mean something to all gipsies; and we try to-read
‘what we see in the hand. Of course, we lie sometimes
—very often; for often we see things there it wouldn’t
do to tell, Now, for instance, if I were to see in your
hand that you are to die a violent death i shouldn’t tell
you; but”—she laughed and shook her head—“T ‘should

pe serhaps lie and: say that 1 saw great good. luck, “Money, a

beautiful: woman for oe wife, aud all the good us
‘we can think oD Oe

 

 
 

 

g | THE BUFFALO

“But your education?” he said.

He was interested and amused.
“Oh, that! Well, in London I was in school a while.
We're not always on the road, you know; sometimes,
through the winters, we live in houses, in cities. Some-

times gipsies own houses in ‘cities, and lease them when

they do not want to use them. A few gipsies have
money; but they go on the road because ‘they love it. svi
love it. I ama gipsy.”
- “The queen of the gipsies!””

She laughed again.

“Ves, Leona Dare, the queen of ae Bo = Cece
of the Road Wanderers.”

“She took his hand—his Jeft 1 hand, Ee looked at its
palm:
“Though I received a little education in the schools,
and picked up more by reading, I cant’ get away from the
gipsy belief in fortunes. Truly, I believe in them ; and
now I'll tell you what I see in your hand.” ~

“She began to study the lines on his palm, and he,
much interested and amused, bent forward, listening to
her, as she bees out ve lines oe explained | their
meaning.

2eVou are hor’ to great ae luck,” she said ; ‘and

those Indians are not going to kill you; for, see Bore
the life-line is very long, and it is unbroken at the end;
and that shows you will live for a long time.”

Neither she nor the scout saw the young gipsy, Dick
Dirk, who. for some. time had been glaring at them, his
dark face working. with hate and rage.

Dirk had now drawn his terrible knife, and oe to.
creep on the scout from behind, lifting it with the inten- :

tion of driving it into the scout’s back.

All unaware of the terrible peril that menaced him,
Buffalo. Bill listened as the Gipsy eae read his hand,
and told his fortune.

‘Dirk nerved himself for. the stroke that he ou :
would finish the scout, and his hand. was ready to de-

liver the blow.
But just them a revolver cracked, from some distance
away, and a bullet, sent by Joe Tempest, struck the knife,
knocking it out of the hand of the gipsy.
But even that did not restrain Dirk; who now flung
himself upon the scout in a very mania i anger.

He tried to get out another and smaller knife, which

he carried suspended by a string in the bosom of his shirt; _.

and he tried to get the scout by the throat.
Dirk’s rush hurled the scout down, knocking over his
stool, and bowling over the Gipsy Queen in the scuffle.

For a. moment “it seemed that the fate of Buffalo
Bill was sealed; for the slender knife drawn now by
Dirk flashed before his eyes, as its aD ees “was

plunged at his throat.
But. ee scout [oe the, knife-hand, eee the eS

aside.

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BILL STORIES.

“It passed his neck, grazing it, and the point was is driven

into the earth, where it broke off short.

‘Then the scout and the enraged gipsy rolled over and

over on the ground, each trying to hurl the other off.

The gipsy camp had been thrown into the wildest con

fusion.
The gipsy women and children were screaming ‘and

shrieking, and the gipsy men came running, with Wek

curses, to the scene of the fierce combat.

Joe Tempest came bounding forward, swinging his

revolver ‘and. shouting to Dirk.

- Buffalo Bill had been so completely surprised that at

first he was handicapped; but he now got Dirk by the
throat, pressing his iron fingers into the muscles of the
brown neck: and squeezing until Dirk’s mouth dropped
open and his eyes bulged from their sockets.

With a sudden movement the scout drew Dirk under
him, and settled his fingers still deeper in the flesh.

The dastardly and cowardly naturé of the attack ‘had
aroused Buffalo Bill to furious rage, and he seemed at the
moment bent on choking the life out of the treacherous
gipsy.

_ Joe Tempest seemed intent on ie fae Dirk, and was
jumping around, revolver in hand, yet not daring to use
it lest-he should shoot Buffalo Bill.

In the midst of this wild mélée, the Gipsy Queen stag-

gered to her feet, and rushed at the combatants with a

scream.

would kill Dirk.

But the battle was really at an end, while the gipsy
women and men began to hurl themselves upon Joe Tem-
pest, to.keep him from using his revolver. _

The terrible choking was doing its work; and Dirk’s
head fell back, his lips opened, and he dropped. insensible,
his head striking the ground. —

Buffalo Bill threw him from him with a snarl, and
rose to his feet, much shaken by what had happened.

His face was flushed and his eyes were blazing angrily.

He saw the Gipsy Queen, who had stopped in her
hysterical rush on him, and he saw Joe Tempest pitch-
ing himself to and fro in the grasp of the gipsy men.

A harsh laugh fell from the scout’s lips.

“Let up!” he said to the screaming and We oine
gipsies. ‘It’s all right now; the fight is over. here's
‘your man; better drag him over to the water yonder, | and
do cores to bring him round.”

One of the gipsy hags, who was Dirk’s Pothe. threw

herself down on him, loudly proclaiming that he had

been killed.

“He’s not dead, nor anywhere near it,”
“but he got what was coming to him. I feel just now as
if I ought to have choked the life out of the scoundrel.
He attacked me without LE and she got Only
what he deserved? oe

In that moment of terror she believed that the scout

said the scout ;

 

 

ae ae Pose

 

 
 

 

he continued.

ee Se

 

 

THE BUFFALO

tle picked up the slender knife which had dropped from

the hand of Dirk, and looked at it; and then picked up

the larger knife, which had been knocked from Dirk’s

hand .by Joe Tempest’s bullet.

“T reckon, Tempest, that you saved my life that time,”
-“T didn’t know the rascal was near me.”

_The Gipsy Queen’s face was so red that it looked fairly
black: yet she did not seem to be so much in a rage
at the scout as at the gipsy who had so cowardly assaulted
him.

7 Yes, she said to the gipsies, “take Dirk over by aS

water and dash some of. it in his face; 1 think he isn’t
hurt. much.”

She was shaking as if with an ague.

Then she turned to the scout, and tried hard to smile.

“A sad ending to our fortune-telling !”

“You didn’t see anything of that in the lines of my
hand,” said the scout humorously, referring to Dirk’s at-
tack. “But you were right in saying that I am lucky, for
he isn’t the first devil in human~shape that has tried to
kill me, and got the worst of it.”

The men of the camp, aided by some of the women,
were lifting Dirk, to carry him to the water-hole beyond
the cottonwoods; and they looked daggers now at the
scout and Joe Tempest.

““T’m afraid, Tempest,” said the scout, “that after this
our room will be considered better than ue company, and
that we'd better make ourselves scarce.’

Joe Tempest was still red-faced and angry- fae:
though he was trying, for the benefit of the girl, to con-
ceal his excitement.

“Mle looked at her questioningly.

To her, the scout now ene the knives he had picked
ups.

; “Keep them away from Dirk,” he requested. “The fel-
low is a-fool, or a madman, and he oughtn’ t to have them
again.”

“You are not going to leave us?” she said anxiously.

“Well,” he glanced i in the direction of the gipsies who
were taking Dirk away, | “it would seem to be the part. of
wisdom if we did, wouldn’t it? That fellow, if he would
jump on me that way when my back was turned, wouldn’t
hesitate to stick a knife into me to-night while I lay
asleep. I oe think : care to risk that, when it’s not

_ necessary.”

“But the Indians!” she ae helplessly.
“T’m willing to remain,” said Tempest, looking ear-
nestly at the girl, so earnestly that her face, which had

begun to pale, flushed again to a vivid scarlet.

The scout smiled in a knowing way; for he ae
the reason of Tempest’s desire to remain.

“You'll be in danger to-night, Tempest, if a. oa L

he warned.
“But I think I ought to stay, don’t you? ‘They need

bs wt 9 nh eng

He eg .

‘BILL STORIES. | 9.

protection, if the reds should come; they need somebody
that knows something about the ways of redskins.” —

“Til be frank with you, Tempest,” said the scout.

“You want to stay, and I don’t blame you; but as for me,

I think I can do as much good out there, and be in less

danger. That rascal Dirk will try to knife me again,

and I know it.”

- “Oh, why did he-
The girl stopped.
“Jealousy !’’ said the scout sententiously.. “That was

what was troubling him; and Ill be quite frank with

Tempest, and will say that jealousy of the same kind

will put him in great peril if he stays here. The rascal

was jealous because you and I, Miss Dare, were talking
while 5 told my fortune. The man is insanely jealous
of you.’

She flushed : apparently she knew it, and it placed her
in an embarrassing: position.

She tried to say something, hesitated, and left it ance

“As I meant to remark,” said the scout, “I can wateh
this camp from some point out there.” :

He pointed in the direction of the hills,

“T can watch, so that if any one tries to approach fe
camp here in the darkness I can give werung and come

to your aid.” ,

 

 

CHAPTER V.
TEMPEST REMAT NS.

ah it stay!’ said Tempest, when the scout got his horse
and announced that as soon as darkness came he meant
to leave the gipsy camp. ~

Darkness was close at hand, the sun having set, and the
shadows were beginning to creep over the land.

Dick Dirk had been restored to consciousness by the
gipsies who took him in charge; but, though he had re-
turned to the camp, he now sat apart, suien dark, and
moody, as if brooding vengeance.

The Gipsy Queen had gone over to him, and talked to
him, but, apparently, her influence had not been great.

The other-gipsies looked askance at the scout and Tem-
pest, and evidently held ill-will against them; though it
seemed strange that they should thus turn against the
scout, when all he had done was to defend himself from
the murderous attack of Dick Dirk.

But, as the scout knew, gipsies are clannish, and they
naturally side with one of their number against any one

_ else, no matter what the merits of the case might be.

Buffalo Bill was never called a coward by whe man
who knew. him. he

Yet he was gifted. with caution in a. high ee bet :
he. had neyer. been able to see any. merit in mere reckless=
ness, uy ie

It would be a a ionic shane he foe
toying -with-his own. life and safety—to remain in the
gipsy camp throughout the night, with that black-browed,: -

 
 

10° THE BUF
blonde ey sitting over ay the: trees,
pinched and aching throat and meditating revenge.
aur Tl stay, | said ‘Tempest.
“The'scotit smiled.

He knew that the beauty of the face of Leona Dare”

was the magnet that held Tempest.

“A word with you, then,” said the scout.

He walked aside with Tempest.

“Pm going out, under cover of the darkness, to those
sage-clumps you see over there,”
direction. “There are some big boulders behind which
J will hide my horse, I'll camp there for the night.

“What I most wanted to say is, that you must look out

for yourself; for Dirk will surely knife you if he gets a
chance.
any man who speaks to Leona Dare as his bitter enemy.’

What tight. has he to. feel that way?” said Tempest.

“That is neither here nor there; he feels that way,
and it.spells danger for you. So, look out! If things
go. wrong. in. any way; and you need me, fire off your
pistol, and you’ tl find me coming.. Above all, keep your
eyes open. When you lie down to sleep for the night let
him see where you curl yourself up; and after he stops
looking, under cover of the night, crawl away a dozen
yards “or so, without his knowing it. ~The precaution
may save your life.” .

Tempest’s face looked serious.
~*V’ll stay awake,” he said; “‘and if he tries his tricks
[ll shoot him.’ ae

“Have you considered the possible effect of that on these

gipsies? They hang together, you know; and if you
should. shoot: Dirk Aah have every one of cilia on
you with their knives.” }

“You seem to think that they’re as bad as Indians!
Remember that I’m partly gipsy myself. I know some-
thing of their lingo; and because I’ve a bit of fF gipey blood
ye treat me differently.”

=*Well, I hope so,”

“They returned, still talking.

As they did so the girl appeared before the scout. -
- “Pye been talking with: Dirk,’ she said, “and he
promises not to disturb you if you remain here; he knows
‘the danger we’re in from the Indians.”

- “Did he explain why. he attacked me?”
Se No: T didi’t 2sk him,”

/ ou knew 0

pony)

Well, don't you think such a -gunpowdery fellow as
_ that ought to be kicked out of the camp, instead of being
permitted to. threaten. the lives of those ‘who would aid
you: Pp?

__ “Now you're blaming me! ‘
eNot at alos
- “Yes, you are; but remember that his aoiier | is ‘here,

SFALO-

“nursing his "

he said, nodding in their

The fellow is insanely jealous, and he Teas

ber.

 

BILL’ STORIES”

and that ‘he ‘has friends, and | what ‘you “say, couldn't be
done.” Fs ee ‘ S OER Mg
oy hope you're not in love with the fascaey
She flushed,‘and glanced at Fempest. ue
“No!? she said; and Tempest’s heart gave a bound,’
and his hopes went into the air. “But he is one of us,
you know.” a .
“T don’t think I could trust him,” said the scout; “and-
so I shall make my camp over on that hillside. But I

‘shall sleep with my aS open, and if you need mie oe

know where to find me.’
~ As soon as the darkness was heavy enough, se scout.
mounted his horse and rode quietly out of the camp in
the direction iy had indicated, pene quickly lost in the
gloom.

 

CHAPTER VI. _
- THE SIOUX ATTACK.

‘Tempest, after the scout’s departure, talked long sth
the girl, finding her musical voice very bewitching. — :

Dick Dirk, gloomed in the darkness, had not a word to
say to any one.

The camp-fires were lighted only long enough to ceok a
few things for suppér, and then were put out.

Tempest began to feel the old gipsy blood that was
his by inheritance stirring m him, as he sat with these
strange men ana women, by the extinguished fires.

He.told stories of his gipsy ee and See
their confidence and good-will.

Dirk did not eat, complaining that he did not care for
food. He did not approach the gossiping groups, whevee
he knew some of their talk concerned him,

It was almost midnight. before Joe Tempest said his
final “good night” to Leona Dare, and looked about for
a place to sleep. :

Most of the gipsies were already see enty sleeping,
some in the wagon, but others on the ground,

Tempest took his blanket and spread it under a tree,
and saw that Dirk watched him through the gloom.

He lay there a while, and then began to slide pee the
ground. st

Nor did he stop until he was ‘many yards away, under
another tree, and well beyond the camp.

He then lay down and drew his Dlanket round him, and
tried to sleep. -

_ But thoughts of the girl intervened and shut out slum-
He thought, too, of the scout, and especially of
the Indian peril. He wondered if any of the gipsies,
though they had lain down, were really sleeping. de
believed that for the most of them it was but a pretense.

_ And hour or more passed; then something stirred

Tempest to wakefulness,

He heard a stumble and a low curse at the point. where

“he had first lain down for the night,

 

 

 
Er , -

a nn aa Se

THE BUFFALO BILL STORIES.

 

 

 

Ps

affairs might continue he did not know.

' Tempest cocked his revolver, not sure but that Dirk

would follow him and find out his present hiding-place.”

He heard sounds that seemed to indicate that Dirk
was searching through the grass and through the cotton-
woods.

Suddenly he noticed a singularity about the sounds,
which startled him; they appeared in several places at
once. He knew that Dirk could not be in several places
at once.

He had fd noted this, and was wondering” about
it, when a wild, fierce yelling rose on the night air with
startling realism, and he saw dark forms eo ee
through the trees upon the camp.

itte Sioux!<

He sprahg to his feet, and ran toward the wagon

’ which he had seen the girl enter for her night’s repose.

As he did so he caught his foot against something, and
was thrown headlong, the revolver falling out of his
hand; and then, as he fell, his head struck so heavily
against one of the cottonwoods that he dropped senseless.

He lay thus for some time.

When he recovered consciousness it was with a scream
of pain.

He had been dragged into the camp, to the light of

fire that had been kicked together and started anew. A
painted Indian had him by the hair and was swinging a

_ scalping-knife round his head, on the point of lifting his

scalp for the adornment of some Sioux teepee.

The pain brought Tempest back to a full knowledge
of himself and of his position.
But that was not all.

His scream seemed to find an echo; and the Sioux

- with the scalping-knife staggered backward, dropping

the knife, while the Gipsy Queen sprang across Tem-
pest’s body.

Though bewildered, he knew that the girl had rushed
to his help, even at the risk of her life.

He knew, too, that the camp had been surprised and
captured by the Sioux,

Painted and feathered braves were all round him, and

the bodies of dead gipsies lay on the ground.

A thought of Buffalo Bill flashed through Tempest’s
mind, and he wondered what had become of the scout,
and if he had fallen a victim to savage cunning.

He was too bewildered to be astonished at the reckless

act of the girl in darting thus to hig aid; yet Ge had a.
-sense of ‘thankfulness and gratitude,

charged with a

warmer feeling.
His life had been temporarily spared, and his scalp
was still safe; though how long this delectable state of

He feared: it
could not be long.

Then he saw one of the Indians catch the girl by

the hair, throw her down, and lift his moccasined foot

rr

as if to drive it into her side. At the same time the
Indian flashed a knife.

This Sioux was the savage brute who had been about
to scalp: Tempest, and Tempest was now too dazed and
weak to help the girl.

But there was aid even now.

Another savage, more elaborately painted and feath-
ered than any of the others, caught the arm of the san-
guinary Sioux, tore the knife out of his hand, and
shouted something to him.

The Sioux slunk back into the midst of the others.

Tempest knew then that the befeathered Sioux who
had thus treated the other was the chief; and it gave him
a bit of courage to know that the chief had interfered
thus in behalf of the girl.

He saw the chief pick her up now, and, addressing
the others, order some of them to get water for her.

One of the braves seized a a belonging to the gipsies
and ran for water.

Tempest was still almost too dazed to think; but he

_ tried to sit up, and to look about by the light of the fire,

that he might judge of his position and that of the girl
and think of what he should do. ,

Apparently, he could do nothing.

‘One of the Sioux spoke harshly to him, and waved a
knife threateningly, to indicate that he had better submit
to his present condition without protest. — Ce

The Indian who had gone for water came hurrying
back, and the chief, taking the pan, gravely threw some
of the water in the girl’s face. )

She gasped and choked and sat up; she had not been
unconscious, but all the life and courage seemed to have
gone out of her.

“Ugh!” the chief grunted.

It was plain to Tempest that he had been taken. by
the girl’s marked beauty.

In spite of his precarious situation, Tempest’s heart
flamed with angry jealousy. What right had this painted
Indian chief to look with admiration on the face of such
a girl? A

Tempest now became aware that the women and chil-
dren of this gipsy band had been spared by!’ the Sioux;
but that most of the gipsy men had been slain.

He looked round for Dick Dirk, or his body, and
saw neither; so that he did not know whether the man
lived or not.

He looked with admiration at the girl who had ad
her life to save his a few moments before, and his heart
grew still warmer when her eyes met his.

It seemed strange to him that he could think of any-

thing but the peril of his position at such a time; yet
he did.

Whatever had happened, he thought, or could happen,
he was with this girl now—with this Queen of the Road

 
 

THE BUFFALO

Wanderers—and it seemed that her fate was iinked with
his in some strange way. :

“Keep your courage up!” he said to her, thinking the
Sioux would not understand him.

She tried to smile back her encouragement.

“7 think Cody is still living,’ he said; “and if he is
weve got a good deal to hope for yet.”

“Yes; a great deal to hope for,’ she answered.

A gleaming hatchet was flashed before his eyes as a
warning for him to stop talking; and he saw the girl
threatened in a similar manner by the chief who had
taken charge of her.

“Don’t give up!” he said, in spite of the
hatchet. “We'll get out of this yet.”

“Ves, I think we shall!” she cried, as if resolved to
be as brave as he was.

Then a savage seized him angrily and hurled him full
lerigth on his back.

elittering

 

CHAPTER Vil. '
ROURRALO BILL.

‘Buffalo Bill had been confident that out on the hillside
where he went for the night he should be able to detect any
advance of the Sioux upon the gipsy camp. The dis-
tance was fot great, and with his ear to the ground, as he
lay rolled in his blanket, he could hear any suspicious
sounds with remarkable distinctness.

He did not intend to sleep.

_ He had gone out there early, shortly after the coming
of darkness, and the hours seemed long, as midnight
approached,

_ Then he fancied he heard the sounds for which he had
been listening.

Soft feet thudded on the grass near him.

His well-trained horse did not stir in the gloom,
though only a few yards away. :

Buffalo Bill lifted himself softly to a sitting position, and
tried to look about in the darkness.

He could see by the starlight a gliding figure steal
along as if going toward the gipsy camp. It was a white
finan,

An dodian would wear paint, and feathers, ae Indian
clothing, and he would not walk in that manner,” was his
conclusion.

_.. He rose to his. feet, and began to steal along after
that flitting figure,

It did not take him long to discover that this white man
was really looking for him on the slope of the hill, and
was not trying to approach the camp.

Buffalo Bill had flattered himself that he had not been
seen when he camped in the midst of the rock and the
sage-brush, but this proved otherwise; he had been séen,
obviously, by the Sioux, and. this white man was one of

them.

That proved to him that the white tat was a fefe-

SR TS TR TT a

BILL STORIES.

gade; and it made him recall the statements of Joe Tem-
pest, to the effect that Ben Magoon, the notorious out-
law, was reported recently to have joined the Indians,
and had been leading them in raids against the whites. _

That would account for this party, apparently a war-
party, in these hills, seemingly watching the gipsy camp
for the purpose of plundering it. :

If 80 notorious a character as Ben Magoon was at the
head of these redskins, the excesses they would commit
atid the bloody deeds they would-be guilty of would be
of a character likely to make one shudder.

Thus musing on the situation, the scout was trying to
follow the sneaking form of the white man.

He soon lost sight of the man.

He heard the footsteps again, off on the right, as if
the man had circled in that direction instead of going
on toward the camp.

The scout lay quite still until this became almost a cer-
tainty, and the man moved back in the course he had
come, when the scout began again to follow him.

The man passed close to the scout’s horse without dis-
covering it; and, after beating softly about among the
sage-brush, started again towatd the hills. .

That something out of the common was on oF the
scout felt sure.

He believed the man had slipped down to assassinate
him, or perhaps merely to learn if he was still in hiding.

For a minute, as he crept on after the man, the scout _
debated within himself whether or not he should now.turn
about and hasten to the camp, to warn its occupaiits..

But they already knew the Indians were in the hills,
atid it seemed the warning would add little enough to
their knowledge.

Besides, he hoped for some development worth while, if
he could keep close to the mysterious stranger,

But the man had the advantage of the darkness; and,
after the scout had followed him well up toward the
hills, he lost him there, and could not, without too much
risk, determine what had become of him. -

He turned round after a while, and was making his
way down to where he had left his horse, when he heard

wild yells, and discovered ve US SiPsy camnp Ae been
attacked.

It was a startling and depressing discovery.

It seemed almost that the mysterious white man had
merely come down. to a point near his sleeping-place for
the purpose of luring him to. the edge of the hills, while
the Indians moved round in another way and attacked
the camp.

There was not time for speculation as to this, and such
speculation was profitleéss.

The scout abandoned his secresy now, and fan with
bounding steps down the slope to his horse.

But before he could reach it he knew by the sounds

 

 

 

 

 

fa te neti oct glee eet tin neal
 

 

 

 

THE BUSPALY-

of the Sioux yelling that it was too late for him to give
the gipsies any aid.

They had been surprised and overwhelmed, and per-
haps all slain, with the exception of a few prisoners taken.

That was what the yells announced; and, as the scout
listened to them, his heart sank, and he accused himself
of carelessness. ac

He denounced himself for not hastening to the camp
when he discovered the sneaking white man.

Yet he had done what, at the time, had seemed best.

It takes a wise man, indeed, to know always just what
he should do at a critical time, ae to so do it that there
are no after-regrets.

Buffalo Bill was minded at first to mount his horse and:

ride toward the camp; but this he abandoned, knowing he
could move more noiselessly on foot.

It was necessary to discover just what had taken place,
if any prisoners had been spared, and who they were.

He was troubled about Tempest and about the queen of
the gipsies.

He had unpleasant visions of Tempest lying with his
head split open by a hatchet, and of the girl dead, with
her wealth of dark hair dabbled in blood.

He moved with celerity, but with caution, and was soon
close enough to the camp to see into it; for the Sioux,
confident of their own security now, had not hesitated to
build a fire, which illumined the camp, and enabled the
scout to watch the movements of the Indians.

To his joy he saw that both Tempest and the girl were
alive, and apparently not in immediate danger; but he
saw that some of the gipsies had fallen.

Apparently all who had not been slain were held pris-
oners.

“My work is cut out for ie,
to rescue those unfortunates.”

That it would be no easy thing, he was sure; yet he
had accomplished tasks as difficult; and, so long as the

lives of the captives were spared, he would not despair
of releasing them.

Drawing as near as he could to the captured camp. with
safety, the scout sprawled himself out on the ground,
under cover of the darkness, and watched ee all

that was taking place.

What he saw mystified him at first, and then a
him.

he said grimly; “and it-is

 

CHAPTER VLE
THE POWER OF THE, GIPSY.- QUEEN,

The great beauty of the girl who had called herself
the Gipsy Queen apparently. made a tremendous impres-
sion on the young Sioux chief, who had championed her
and hurled aside the brave who had sought to do her
harm,

Cermmanding the cther Indians to look out for the other -

duced such a feeling as that in his breast.

SLORI ES.

Bila 13

prisoners, and for the gipsy horses and baggage, he sat

down before the girl, ordering her, by a wave of his
hand, to a seat on the ground not far from the camp-fire.

His order to the other Sioux was hardly necessary;
for they were looters by instinct, and desired nothing
else than to hurl themselves into the gipsy wagons and
begin plundering. |

Placing one of their numbet over the captive women
and children, they began the work of looting, search-
ing most for the “white man’s fire-water,” and paying no
heed at all to the girl whose beauty was causing the
chief to do a thing so strange as to squat before her
by the camp-fire and try to talk with her at such a
time.
_ If they had given thought to the matter at all oe
would probably have been astonished; but they had no
thought for anything but the fire-water they hoped to
find in the camp, and for which they began at once such a
feverish and scrambling search.

The heart of the Gipsy Queen was beating rapidly, and
a horror of the young chief filled her soul. :

She knew how perilous was her position and that of

the women and children who had been spared, and she

felt that only by an exercise of her utmost will-power
could safety, for even a oe time, be secured for herself
and them.

Tempest had been dragged away and bound to a tree,
and could do nothing now but glare at the girl’s new
admirer, his writhing fingers aching to take the young

chief by the throat and oe the breath out of his

bedy.

“Ugh!” the young chief grunted, staring into the aes $
dark eyes, and endeavoring by that stare to ee his
intense admiration. a

She suppressed her wild desire to cry out.

“T know that we are going to be friends,” she said, try-
ing to be tactful, knowing that she might forfeit her life
if she aroused the anger of the Indian.

Gens Friends! Heap big friends!” he said.

“There isn’t any reason why we Hovis alk be Seetac) is
there?” she asked.

She did not draw back when he gieed so close to

her, but continued to look straight into his shining eyes ;

so that he had a strange and pecs feeling in his

savage heart.

He had never felt. just that way before ; none of the
Sioux maidens to whom he had made love had ever “pro-
He could not
take his eyes off the face of this girl.

She was mote beautiful to him than any white. girl

he had ever seen. He called her in his mind a white

girl; but all the white girls he had ever rested his icy

upon I had been altogether too. white.
This girl had just enough dark in her complexion to
make her wonderfully attractive in his eyes; and he

 
Gi pac int psn taion acct iaminetb moet. fa waar

 

SSS Sn RE

14 THE BUFFALO
was thinking at the moment, as he boldly stared at her,
what an ornament she would make in his Sioux teepee.
As he stared at her thus, that strange feeling, which
he could not fathom, became even stronger in him, so
that his gaze seemed to waver.

He wanted to shake himself and discover what this
meant, but had not power to do so.

She continued to gaze hard at him for some time,
while the strange feeling increased in his puzzled mind,
and then she bent toward him, continuing to speak to
him, but now in a low, droning tone.

As she bent nearer, bringing her eyes closer to his, she
moved out her hand slowly, and passed it to and fro be-
fore his face.

He sat now rigid, mute, and staring straight before
him,

“The great chief understands some English, | think?’

He did not answer.

“T am his friend.”

He nodded.

“Ves: friends!” he said, his tongue seeming thick and
clumsy. a

She held him with her bright, dark eyes; and she mut-
tered, waving her hand slowly before his face.

She continued this for some time.

a Then he picked up a small pail that lay close by her
, on the ground, and held it up.
“Water! she said, as if-to test him.

When he did not seem to understand, she held up the /

‘empty pail, tipped it to her lips as if she would drink
from it, and motioned toward the water-hole.

He arose stiffly, and, taking the hea with him, went —

toward the spring.
In a little while he returned, with the pail brimful, and
~ placed it before her.
She smiled upon him, and ea a lithe:
smiled on him again as she set it down.
She motioned toward Joe Tempest, who, tied to the
tree, had been staring with popping eyes at this singular
performance, not at all able to comprehend the strange
actions of the chief.
“Cut the prisoner loose!” she commanded.
‘The chief stared at her, but did not obey. She had not
made him understand her wish. :
She ‘rose now, for she was not bound, and stretched out
her hand to take the chief’s knife; a thing he did not
_ Oppose.
But just then one of ihe warriors came to speak with

and then

~ the chief, and beheld this incomprehensible state of affairs. _
_ He saw her reach for the knife, without an objection from
gis chick 7 ead

He comprehended enough to know that something * was
ee and he jumped i in and struck down her hand.

“She turned on him with a sweet, smiling face; while he

sort lama ovate rt 8 nadine amr mi septa

_ bound him to the cottonwood.

eae ch PAN ib mn lh ul et ee tnt ay te ote ip Neca Rouaptscain

a A — a 2 re

BILL STORIES.

stood frowning at her, and fiddling with the knife in his
belt as if he wanted to draw it and strike her.

“We are friends!” she said, and waved her hand
toward the chief.

The result was startling, ati no doutit unexpected, even
by her; for with a cry the chief-leaped up, and assaulted
the warrior with such violence that the newcomer yelled
with surprise. The chief took him by the throat and
hurled him full length on the grass.

For a moment the chief stood staring at the prostrate.
brave, while other warriors came running up to. find out
what was the matter, :

Then he turned round, still staring, and, seeing ee
dropped down before her again. ee

The startled warrior yelled something to the other war-
riors, bringing them up before the chief with wildly
staring faces and dee of questioning astonish-
ment.

The chief motioned to the girl, and said mcoane in
the Sioux tongue; and when the warriors did not at
once obey the order thus strangely given, he rose to his
feet, and, plucking out his knife, faced them so threaten-
ingly that they drew back in bewilderment.

This was the astonishing thing that Buffalo Bill was
witness of, as he lay in the darkness beyond the camp;
and it at first bewildered him quite as much as it ae the
Sioux warriors, or Joe Tempest.

eee meet

= CHAPI ER ix:
BEN MAGOON.

“While Joe Tempest was still staring at the girl, and at
the chief whose actions were, to him and to the Indians,
incomprehensible, a man came into the oD ae
the Indians.

‘That he, rather than-the chief, was the actual leader of
the Indians would have been apparent to any one as
soon as he came among them. Pty

Tempest shrank back against the concawood: to which
he was tied when he saw this man. es

“Ben Magoon!” he whispered.

Before him was the man he had sworn to kill; the man
for whose life he had come hunting through the wild
hills; Ben Magoon, the renegade, who had abducted his

sister and brought about her death by cruel and inhuman

treatment |
The hot blood of rider at desire so Aushed the face
of Tempest that it seemed to fill his eyes and blind him;
and in a spasm of wrath he struggled in the cords that
oy
Then he realized his helplessness ; realized that he «was
‘in the power of this man; and that, instead of killing :

--Magoon, the latter would very. ly ‘kill him, as soon

as he discovered his presence.

tone rien ip ern ta er ob cg nlm et

 

 
 

 

THE: BUFFALO

eats throwing himself: sabout, Tempest had - “dropped dows
so that his face could touch the ground. - ‘oes
> He recalled:-that it had “been a long-time since. een
ead seen him, and in that time he had: changed much;
also, he knew that mever had Magoon known him well,
and that: probably his features had not been papiseeet © on
the renegade’s mind. .
Bor chis’ own Bett, ipa s ey we had
burned so fiercely that he never ee forget Magoon’s
face.

But Magoon had been given no incentive vot such yivid
recollection.

_ Therefore, it seemed to him that very likely eens
would not readily recall him.

ae got.to go careful, 2 he ena “no use to let him

as ey that the bel’ wold speak his name, and so re-
o his presence to eon: began to trouble him.

- ‘Fhat he might disguise himself somewhat; he turned
‘over on his side and rubbed his face in the damp, marshy
‘soil. He knew that a good deal: of it would cling to
his face, and he trusted it would serve one asa
' disguise.

So long as it was dark he felt that he was se

atively: safe. > Be

' Magoon paid not the slightest attention to abe prisoner
bound tothe cottonwood; in fact, he did not appear to
know that a prisoner was there.
he gave heed, first of all, to the singular condition of
the chief; who, as he came in, was again starting, of his
own accord, to get more water.

_ “Here!” Magoon cried, staring at the chief.
int the name of all things air you up to, _anyhow £ e

. The chief strode straight on.

Magoon followed and caught him by the shoulder.

_. “Red Lightning, what's the matter?” he demanded.
ae you gone crazy, or turned fool ?”

“What

The chief turned on him with a snarl, and shock Of &

~his_hand.,

Moedon: saw that his face was strangely set, ‘and that 2

his eyes had a staring and unnatural look.

_ “What's: me matter with you?’ he asked.

ne _ “Nothing,” said the chief, yet speaking with apparent

difficulty.

ee Mystified, 1 Magoon caught. ne chief by the arm and
shook him again.

“Say, what’s the matter with you?” he demanded.
“Mr you clean daffy; or what’s happened to you?”
»°, Some of the warriors were crowding round, filled a
curiosity, and also with alarm; for the things they
_ had seen were wholly. beyond their simple comprehension.
. When Magoon spoke to him again, in that sharp, domi-
coneering ‘tone, Red: ey aati ae sinc at him ; and oo
swiitly. drew a knife. Seen

_ Tm saying to you?
camp down there by the trees, and try to au Eons ae

 

BILL STORIES. ag

-Magoon fell back: with. an oath, and. laid his, hand | on
his revolver. << 2 |
~“T reckon. you're crazy! ce me oe 7

He started at the fuming chief, who clutched the Ienifey
and seemed to hesitate about leaping on him; and. then
he turned to the crowding.warriors.

He demanded of them what was the matter with Red
Lightning. oe

They seemed shy of talking at first ; but when the
chief stalked away, in apparent moodiness, returning now
to the side of the girl, they talked fast enough, trymg to
explain what to them was inexplicable. ;
Magoon watched the chief a minute, and then followed
him.

He stood before the girl; and for the first time noted
her remarkable beauty.

He obseryed. that the chief, silent now, seemed. to
stand awaiting “the girl’s instructions.

“What's this mean?” he grunted. - .

But his voice was not so fierce mand ‘untamed; the

‘beauty of the girl. touched him, ‘and made. him. use a

miller tone. as
“JT don’t think I understand you,’ she said. sweetly.
“Well, it begins to look as if you'd cast some kind
of a spell over the chief here. He’s gone daffy, or some-
thing; and now he’s standin’ here as if he had orders
never to quit your side. It’s a queer thing.” _

She looked up at. Red Lightning, who seemed not to

-have heard this.

“Tt does seem queer, doesn’t it?
anything more than you see...He was. kind to’ me almost.
from the first; seemed to like me, and he’s been trying ©
to help and make things more comfortable for me. It
shows he has a kind heart, I think; don’t your?

Ben Magoon had never been quite so puzzled in his
life; he stared at the chief, and then at the girl. .

Some of the Indians were touching their foreheads; 20
indicate their belief that the chief had suddenly lost his
mind: and that was the view which Magoon now held...
~ “FIe’s off his nut,’’ he said; “and that’s queer, too, for
there never was a more sensible Indian than him; but
he’s sure addled the milk in his coconut Re

_ He looked again at the ast,

“Red ee he said,

But I don’t know

“can you understand what

If you can, let me advise you to

before we start on, which we'll be doing soon.’

When Red Lightning. failed to answer. this, Magoon
told one of the warriors, to conduct the chief over Pe the
trees, és

But a the pee tried to o this there was war - at

once; for Red Lightning again drew his knife, slashed at
‘the..warrior, and seemed on the point of running amuck.

Eee. muttered something. which could not be understoody |

 

aa eee:

 
 

 

Shek usta hel i es lat ec a

 

16 THE BUFFALO

and: when he was not attacked, he dropped down By-the _

side of the girl, sitting cross-legged like a Turk.

The face of the Gipsy Queen was grave.

“T never saw anything like it,” she said;
understand it.”

“Since he’s been struck that way he seems to have
taken a tremendous fancy to you; so you jest tell him
go over there, and lay down, and maybe he’ll mind you.”

She obeyed him, using signs as well as words to let
Red Lightning know her meaning.

The chief looked at her doubtfully at first, ane then
walked slowly over to the spot indicated, and dropped
-down there on the ground.

This brought him so near to the prisoner, Joe Tem-
pest, that the latter could hear his heavy breathing.

Tempest had been. too. mystified to have any clear.

thought on the subject.

- “That girl’s a wonder!” he said. “I lee she did

that; and maybe it’s some Wwitchery of hers that makes

me feel as I do tow ard her. Seems to me at this minute
that I could crawl over to her feet, and jest drop down
and die there. She goes ahead of anything that ever
came my way.”

He stared at the red chief, and almost forgot his own

‘position in thinking of this strange thing.

Ben ‘Magoon sat down by the girl, and began to tallk
_ with her, which was enough to arouse Joe Tempest to
another voilent, but suppressed, storm of anger.

He trembled, and tugged furiously at the cords which
held him; but still had sense and caution enough not to
“shout out his rage at Magoon, and so call attention
to himself and his helpless condition.

- When Magoon sat down by the girl, she steeled herself,
feeling that.a crisis was at hand.

De: had hypnotized the chief; but. could she do the
same thing for this white man?

-He looked at her so keenly that she felt the blood rush

into: her face with a force that made it burn.

Yet she schooled herself to calmness, and returned his.

' look with one of her most charming smiles.

“What do you think of that?” he said, nodding toward
the chiet ©
I think he has gone crazy.

“Yes, he’s crazy; and you. don’t often find an Indian
i that ix, ey ain’t given to going off the handle in
that way... That’s the first redskin I ever saw that caged
a nest of bats in his turret. And I don’t see what caused
it.)

“It is very strange,” she answered sweetly.

She fixed’ on him her big black eyes in a way to make
him feel almost uncomfortable. = ss.

“You're rather a cool duck!” he said.

pam be Why

“Well, seeing what’ Ss happened, i mean!

li pth ne lea NE a tt eo

“and T cant:

“T never saw anything like it; it puzzles Hue

“Over there.

BILL STORIES.

in that wagon the women air fairly howlin’; and here. zou

air, smiling as if nothing had happened. °
“You we seem to be skeered of these — nor of

99

ae 1 eke?
“Why chould I he niratd Be Cag ee

“Well, why shouldn’t you be afraid oe them? ‘They’ ve

laid out some o’ your folks, and they’re holdin’ you.”

“TI am really very much frightened,” she said, lower-

ing her voice, “but I’m pretending not to be; for, you see,

I think ek treat me better if I can pretend not to hs

them.’* ~~

He stared at her.

“You're a brick!”

“Am I? I don’t know what you mean.’

“Oh, you're all right! I like oor style. These’ cet
women always make me sick. You're my kind. ’m

ae you greedy, a big heap, as the reds a qT hope

you're goin’ to like me as well.”

‘“There’s one thing I don’t understand, . hes said, =

ignoring his bold look.
“Name it.

can be doing with these gipsies?”
“Tm one of them; I’m a gipsy.”’
Vt dont, believe it

white kids that they stole when you was little.

You’re too good-lookin’, let me tell -you, tobe a gipsy.”
“Now, you flatter me!”
“Well, I don’t mean to; I mean what I say.”
“I was going to say that I don’t just understand how

you happen to be here with them—you’re a white man. _
He shifted uneasily at this remark, and under the steady

gaze of her big eyes.

‘im off color.”

[On color?)

“Well, I’ve turned tide myself, and that’s the how
OL At;
with the ced, Seer «

“You have joined the Indians ?”

Diuet sO; youre eittin’ it’

eWily Po

She seemed amazed. !

“Well, you’re an innocent guy, for certain! Why?

Well, because of the loot.
to know what that means.”

“Yes,” she said; “I think I understand you now.’

“Glad of it, for it saves explanations ;
you understand some other things now, too?”

“Just what?”

“Well, I’m the real coon: here.
dner. I suppose you catch on?” ©

You're a Pus

man in the pohan she had pa the chief,

There’s a good many ne I don’t under-~
_ stand, and one is what so durn handsome a girl as you

You must have been one of the
I’ve Heard
of them doin’ that, and I’m bettin’ that’s the way it mee :

ve throwed up the white crowd and. gone in

If you're a gipsy, you ought

and I aes

She shook her head; it pleased her to seem very dense; ©
and she was exerting all her hypnotic power to. Dt this.

 

 
 

ee

 

THE BUFFALO

“V'll have to say it, then; and it is, that, as my a
- oner, of course yee ‘ve ect to do as. I tell oe -And—

 

- He-hesitated,-

y vest she a ee him an her bright e eyes until

he felt strangely uneasy. |

“Well, if I take a aphon to haye you for my , wife, it
will have to 80>, that’s all; and I’m fast taking. that.
notion.”

“That wouldn’t ie so ae would it! me a

“Wouldn’t ats me he stared at her. “Well, you air a cool
one!
would. You're the best-lookin’ piece of calico I’ve run
acrost in some time; and I like you.”

“There, you're fattering. me again!”

«She leaned toward him,

“What i is that you wear round your. neck ?” she ake :
her. voice as sweet as she could make it.

“Oh, that?’/ He fished at.a string, and drew up a
knife, “Jest a knite I carry. there.”

She was close to him now, and looking right into his
eyes.

“Do you know I like > you very much?” she said; and

it seemed that her black eyes were looking straight -
through him.

“Vou are a white man, and that makes me

like you here. I shall be very glad to be your wife; for

-that will give me protection, for one thing. And as I’ma

gipsy, | think I could like the wild life of an Indian. It
must be strange and delightful. I’ve often dreamed what
it must be like to - an Indian; it must be even better
than being a gipsy.”

She made as if she a pluck at the string that held.
the knife, and passed her hand before his face.

When she did that he jumped back, uttering an oath;
and she saw him tremble violently.

“What's the matter?” she asked, in low, sweet tones.
“T like you, don’t you know.”

‘He edged away; and suddenly jumped to his feet.

‘Then he turned on her; and when she saw his look she
knew that she had lost him, so far as getting him under
hypnotic influence was concerned; for it was plain that

his suspicions were aroused.

“Say,” he said, “I think oe ee to Cae

“you worked a trick on the chief, and air tryin’ it on me!
~ Seems to me I’ve heard something like that.

Yes, I recol-
lect that D’ve heard of it—it’s hypnotism.”

““T don’t understand you! I she oe ne upon

| him,

But her heart was fuetiee with fear, and she could
not quite control her voice; she knew it trembled and be-
trayed her. She knew she had lost in this is battle.

i dont quite understand you!’

“But I understand you, all right, now!” he shone

“No; you don’t come thaton me! You're a gipsy witch
—that’s what you air; and you bewitched the chief. But
none of that for me. - It don’t go, you see!’* ~~ hege

‘No, I don’t think so myself, but I allowed you ~

~ gun ‘to corfie huntin’ fer ‘mel

Bakaly aa a Roa

BILL STORIES. 17
He had drawn -back, and looked ae her, as the  irligh
flickered over her face.
Even suspecting her thus, he was. not ations enough
to wholly. resist the fascination of her beauty.

“You're pretty enough to eat,’ he said coarsely; “but
you're tricky, too. Well, that’s all right; so long’s I
know it! But you don’t ketch me, either lookin’ into my’
Fe eS way at fannin’ your hand over my face. Not
any?

She forced a laugh.

“You're really becoming silly !

“Think so? Well, I don’t calculate that I am, You
don’t ketch me.’

“Ym sorry you feel that way. I’d like to be your
friend and have you for mine, for I need a friend now.
You're the only white man here, and x

1?

 

_ He began to walk away. | eo

“T’ll jest shake my nerves a bit,” ‘he said: “T reckon
my head’s nearly as wooled up as the chief’s. we

He turned and looked back at her.

“T’ll be back in a minute ; jest stay there and look hand-
some while I’m gone.”

He strolled slowly over to the chief, intending to

question him again, His suspicions were fully aroused,

But as he came up to the chief he discovered that a
white man, a prisoner, was tied to one of the cotton-
woods.

“Hello! What’ve we » got here: Fie demanded.

‘He spoke to the nearest Indian.

“Bring a torch from the fire,” he requested ;
look at this feller.”

The Indian ran to sey

Magoon strode up in front of Tempest, who was in-
wardly so raging that he had difficulty in breathing. —

“Hello!” said Magoon. “Who air ye, anyway? Hard

“so’s I can

luck!’
“l’m_a_pris’ner,’ said Tempest, striving to disguise his
voice.

ol HaRpeeG to be with, this crowd when. the
Sioux come.’

Magoon bent over and stared at him.
“Say! was you the one that was out there on the

: hills to-day? T’other one we reckoned might be Buffalo

Bill.

“Yes, Vm. the one.” :

“And the other one was Cody § me

CY esi:

“What's yer name?”

“Sam Metson,” said Tempest.

“What you and Cody doin’ here?”

“Jest lookin’ round ; , thought mebbe we'd take a hunt
out here.”
’ “Not huntin’ i me, ch?”

NO ot 17? ‘

“*Twon't be healthy fer Cody, er any other, ‘son “ue a
“And T reckon we'll lift

a

 
 

 

 

THE BUFFALO BILL. STORIES.

Cody’s hair fer him before he gits out a here. We'll hit
his trail in the morning. You and him come down from
the hills to call on Ws crowd é t
Ves,”
“-“And you stayed?’
es,”
“What for?” -
' “We thought ieee 9 were round.”
Magoon laughed.
He: had put the girl and his fear of her behind him,
and was beginning to feel better. :

The Indian appeared. with the torch fon the fire,
swinging it round his head to make it break into fame.

At Magoon’s oo he ape it up before the face of
the prisoner, > —

“Well, you look’s i youe beat rootin’ in the mit a at
Magoon.. “Better wash yer face the first time yer I hands
air untied.”

Tempest was trying manfully to exercise self-control,
but. ‘was. succeeding only fairly well,

- One thing he saw was in his favor ; this man did not
ves recognize him.

Magoon turned to the Indian with the torch.

“What did you hold him for?’ was his brutal question ;
by which he meant to demand why they had not slain
this prisoner, instead of keeping him; which, to his mind,
was a useless and dangerous performance. —

The Indian really did not know why it had been done.

“Red Lightning,”
to say.

“Lureckon that beauty over neve had got, in her
work on the chief, and that’d account fer it, mebbe,” was
Magoon’s thought.

He. stared at Tempest.

. “When fellers like you come here huntin’ fer me, ae
gin’rally find me, and lose their lives doin’ it.”

With this as a threat, he moved away; and the Indian
threw the flaming stick on the ground, where it went out
quickly.

: ‘Magoon returned to the girl, who again greeted him
with a smile, _

“Know that feller over there—that prisoner?” he
asked. | .
“No; I never saw him until this afternoon.’

us scout they call Buffalo Bill was down in yer
‘camp, I’ve learnt!”

“Yes: I believe that is what he said he was iled’ a
“He told ye, did he? Well, he’s worse than a fool, ic:
“te come out here lookin’ for me. For I’ll nab him, ae

then he’ll not go lookin’ for anybody else” ever saat itt,
~. He stared hard at her.

he said, in lieu of something better

“Say! wasn’t you tryin’ to hypnotize 1 me a fore ago? ,

" Might’s well own up to it; fer you was.’
_ “TE don’t know what you mean neh Pe
“with assumed itmocence.

_ she’ asserted, ©

we'll move soon’s they come in.”

“I teckon’ you do, all right; but it didn’t ‘work on me
as it did on the cee How air oo ee to co him out :

mcr thar oy

“TI must declare te you that 1 coor know what a re
talking” about,” she said. real
“Oh, well, let it go at that! b didert reckon you'd
admit it. But I know you done that fer the chief, and:
tried to do it fer me; only I was too smart and quick fer
you. Don’t try it on me again, er mene Vit not like: te
His tone was a threat. oe
“Don’t try it on me ag’in!” he shouted, when he fancied
that she was looking at him once more in s) queer iene
“T won't stand fer it, 1 tell you!’
Then he laughed, as if ashamed of this ctor of feat
and weakness. i
“You're a bright. git, and I don’t ana tellin’ you that I
like you. We're goin’ to git on together, all right. We'll
move out of here in an hour er so. I’ve got some men
out round lookin’ for Buffalo Bill. If they don’t find him,

“And if they do find him?’
‘Well; there’ll be somethin’ doin’ if they do find ‘bine! Y

As he said it a cry arose, and he saw that a scufile v was.

taking place near him.

CHAPTER X,.
"THE PRISONER'S ESCAPE.

After the departure of Magoon, Joe Tempest threw
himself to and fro with such Titanic strength that he
stretched the cords of buckskin which bound him to
the cottonwood and so strained those that held his wrists
together that they gave perceptibly.

Rage and hatred had given him for the time being the
strength of a giant.
_ He was panting and wet with ee oo and aa
chest heaved; but he knew of none of these things; he
only knew, with a wild leap of exultation, that the cords
were loose, and that he could get his wrists out of ‘the
loops that held them. :

His eyes glared and the blood rushed to his eyes. =», .

Yet with a deliberation that could not have been ‘eX:
pected he now beeen to work his hands out of the loops :

thongs that held his ankles together. aA

After that he tugged at the cords round his body. and oe
the tree, until he could slide down a out of them.

He was free!

And just over there, talking with the girl whose beauty
was so ravishing, was Ben Magoon, the miscreant he had
sworn to kill.

Close by Magoon were the Indians, the fire, and te
gipsy camp.

Between him and Magoon was a stiote Indian, who, at.
‘the moment was advancing toward the cottonwood, cas if
he suspected that he would attempt to get away. i

wer tite ie ae that ae ater ae tact

 
  

    

_ At this Indian Tempest glared. He was himself weap-
onless, and the Indian carried a gun.

in the shadow of the cottonwood.
But the Indian turned aside when half-way to fe tree,

_ him and Magoon.

When he saw this, with the leap of a panther, Tem-
pest darted out from the cottonwood, intending to seize
the rifle; though a saner thought would have bidden him
to beat a quick retreat in the other direction.

Before he could reach the Indian, the latter ‘heard him
and turned, throwing up the gun as soon as he saw the
_ white man.

But the Indian had been ae by surprise, and was
not quick enough for the maddened “white man, who
sprang on him now, as he was trying to cock the gun, and
tried to tear the weapon out of his hands.

struggle which drew the attention of Magoon.

The renegade sprang up, with an oath, and seemed
about to dash upon the combatants. At the same time he
yelled a warning and command to the Sioux, some of
whom had already heard the sudden struggle. -

But before Magoon or any of the redskins could get to
him Tempest had torn the weapon out of the Indian’s
hands.
| He leaped. back when he had done this ;.and, pe
the rifle to his shoulder, fired at Magoon.

The bullet cut through the clothing of the rede
‘and scattered the ashes of the camp-fire, but did no other
damage. Tempest found himself without a weapon,
except as he cotild use it as a club, for he had nothing
‘with which he could reload the rifle.

 Hesaw Magoon draw a revolver; and then he realized
that, so far as killing the renegade and murderer at that
4 : ‘time was concerned, it was out of the question.

_ He struck at the nearest Indian with the gun-stock,

‘and darted through the cottonwoods,

It was a fortunate thing for him that beyond the fire-
t light the darkness seemed heavy, and that the fire blinded
i the eyes of the Sioux and of Magoon; bullets came
whistling and whirring round him and over his head,
me and they smashed into the tree-branches and whirred
a q _along the ground; yet he still ran on uninjured, gain-

[ ) ing speed as he left the camp behind. .

 

| ~ There was now a tremendous hubbub of yelling and ex-
,  (@  citement, with a wild pattering of feet, and some bel-
1 | - lowed commands in the voice of Ben Magoon,

Yet these were of small consequence in themselves..
_ Tempest, when he left the cottonwoods, shaped_ his
H course as well as he could toward that hillside where
t. (Buffalo Bill had said he would camp for the night.
f{ |) Behind fhim he heard the Indians in full chase, yet
knew that he had already baffled them. . ve

pv

    

See

THE BURPALO. BIL STORIES.

ee
“Curses on it!’ he panted.

His fingers ached for that weapon, as he stood up now:

and began to cross the camp in front a) him, and between |

- The Indian fought lustily to retain it; and it was Me

party.

et

“I missed the devil, when

I ought.to have shot him dead. I’m.a fool.
him yet.”

Then his thoughts turned to the girl, to whom Magoon
had been talking; and to his wrathy desire for vengeance
was added the fire of jealousy.

“He shall never have her; I swear that! I'll kill him
yet. He killed my sister, the murderer; and Pll have
his life for it. And he sha’n’t have hee "

He began to look round for the scout, as he came to
the bouldered slope where grew the giant sage-brush.

But Pl git

Suddenly a familiar form stepped forth from behind
one of the bushes.

“That you?”

Tempest stopped. He was fre thine so heavily that
his breath ‘cut his lungs like a knife.

3 4Ves !” he said, panting out the answer. “That you,
‘Cody ?7 ,
Buffalo Bill came forward. /

“J’m here,” he said. “I heard you coming, and hur-
ried over here to meet you. That was a lucky escape
you made.” é

“Yes; but I didn’t hear you coming.’’

“T didn’t intend to be heard by any one. I’ve been
watching the camp, and the things that have been hap-
pening, and have been oes down by it all He Those
Sioux-will be along soon.’

“Hadn’t we better break for the hills, Cody? 2

“Not now; drop down here; they’re coming.” |

He drew the panting fugitive behind one of the boul- —
ders, where grew a huge, sprawling bunch of the desert-
sage; and there they squatted, hearing soon the ee
feet of the pursuing Indians.

The Sioux were under the impression. that Tempest
had hastened to the hills, and they hurried on past
the hiding-place.

Buffalo Bill peered out after them as they swept by.

“Now, we'll creep down to the camp. You may tell
me how. you made it, and all the other things that’s hap-
pened to you, as we go on. More than half of the
Sioux have gone to the hills; and we may now find a

chance to do something for the prisoners.”

“Ben Magoon is there!” ,panted Tempest.
“Yes, I know it; unless he was leading that searching-
One of them tan something like a white man,
you noticed.” :

“No; I didn’t notice.”

The scout was leading the way with good speed, but
carefully, and Tempest was at his heels. f

The camp-fire had been put out, so that it’s light no
longer could guide them, yet they knew just where the
camp was; and when they drew near it acy saw the cot-
tonwoods.

Tempest had tried to acquaint the scout with all the

a Se a Pet Lipo a a NN ett ern cosets ep Showa ade seule

   
 

 

   

 

THE BUFFALO

strange happenings that had occurred, and had found
the scout already familiar with most of them.

“Got any plan now, Cody?” he asked.

“No; we'll have to be guided by circumstances.”

“Tf 1 could have sunk my knife into the heart of Ben
Magoon, or shot him, I’d feel better.”

Then he thought of the rifle he carried.

“Maybe you’ve got cartridges that will fit this thing t
he said.

The scout produced some .45 cartridges, and found they
could be used in the Indian rifle which ory had cap-
tured. v

“T feel better now,” said Tempest.
Magoon I’ll give him one of these.”

99

“And if I see Ben

“And make me sorry [ let you have the “cutisidees.
No shooting, unless I give the word. This is ticklish
work, as I said; and it’s going to take care,
anything worth while.”

“It'd be worth while to kill that devil! ie

“And perhaps, as a result, turn that girl over to the
tender mercies of the red devils there! As long. .as
Magoon lives he may be able to protect her.”

“He wants her for himself!”

“Ves: and that will make him protect her from the
Indians.” .

“TH kill him!’ snarled Tempest.

Thus they crept on, until they were so close up to the
camp of the Sioux that they could look into it by the aid
of the starlight, in spite of the fact that the fire had
gone out.

The greatest excitement still prevailed in the camp.

Tempest stared about, trying to see Ben Magoon.

Finally he located the girl, for she was neat the spot
where he had seen her last.

But Magoon was not with her,

 

CHAPTER XI.
RED LIGHTNING'S BROTHER. ~

Ben Magoon himself was not more astonished at the
escape of Joe’ Tempest than was Leona Dare, the Gipsy
Oueen. It had come to her with as startling and unex-
pected an effect as lightning from a clear sky.

Tempest’s battle with the Indian, the shot at Magoon,
and then Tempest’s wild dash away into the darkness
for safety, were bewildering évents, that were followed
by that wild chase of the Indians in pursuit.
_.. Ben Magoon led them; and thus the Gipsy Queen was
free of him for a time.

Only a slender guard of Indians remained; yet she saw
how watchful these were, and that she could do nothing

against them, as they were armed, and kept her under -

their eyes all the time.

They put out the camp- -fire, as if they feared foes other _

than Joe Tempest were out’ there in the darkness.

BILE STORIES.

 

if we do

 

       

Nevertheless, the Gipsy Queen hoped that if she could
now rouse the chief, Red Lightning, and keep him under
hypnotic control, he would be able to do something for
her; and so she began to move cautiously in the ditec-
tion of the chief, who ny onthe ground neat one of
the cottonwoods.

She did not walk directly toward him, lest that right
create distrust and bring defeat; she went first to the
wagon and spoke to some of the terrified women huddled
in it, and then strolled about. Gradually she drew nearer
to the chief, who seemed to be asleep.

Leona Dare did not doubt her hypnotic powers, thougly
they had failed when tried on Ben Magoon.

Hypnotism was one of the things she had studied and
practised assiduously, using it as a means of making
money, itt addition to her fortune-telling; and now she
hoped it might win more than money for her—wwin fort
her liberty, and even her life.

But a thing happened on which she had not calculated
and could not guard against.

One of the Sioux warriors who had been left behind
when the chase after Joe Temper began was a brother
of Red Lightning. :

He had seen what had happened to his brother; and,
while puzzled, was also made intensely angty by it.

Except for two things he might have done nothing.
One of these was the departure of the white renegade,
whom he feared; the other was that he had found a bottle
of liquor in the gipsy wagon, and had swallowed most of
the contents before the other Indians could take it away
from him ahd get what they considered their share.

The whisky made him desperate and dangerous, and
the departure of Ben Magoon gave him his opportunity.

He saw that the gipsy girl was drawing slowly nearer
to his brother, and he judged that she again had ove in-
tentions against him.

He did not know just what she had done to Red
Lightning, but he knew that in some way she had be-
witched him, and he desired revenge.

So he walked toward her now, with drawn knife under
his blanket, intent on satisfying his revenge regardless of
what might happen to him afterward; for the ee
made him reckless of consequences.

Red Lightning was the chief, and Ben Magoon but an
interloper; that was what he thought at that moment, and
his whisky-inspired courage made him willing to ay
Ben Magoon. oe

But as the Sioux brave thus stole toward the white
girl, who was approaching Red Lightning, and thinking
only of him, another saw what she did not—the clutching

-hand that held the knife under the Indian blanket and

the attitude of murder in the Indian’s manner.

That other was Dick Dirk. .

He had been struck down by an Indian tomahawk
when the Sioux dashed ifito the cipsy camp: but the
 

 

 

 

    
    

   

‘THE BUPFALO

 

   

wound had been a mere head-bruise, producing tempo-
rary unconsciousness, which had saved his life and his
scalp.

Dirk stayed in the tall gtass under one of the trees, in
hiding, valuing his life too much to run the risk of show-
ing himself; and he might have remained thete indeh-
_ nitely if he had not beheld and interpreted the intentions
of the Indian who crept on the girl.

Dirk saw the knife come out, and hesitated no longer.

And how it appeared that in spite of his crimes and
faults there was something heroic in his character.

He yelled loudly to warn her, and sprang at the Indian,
flashing out his own knife as he did so.

He struck the Indian down, burying his knife to the
hilt in the body of the redskin; though in his fall the In-
dian seized him and jerked him down on top of hitn.

A sharp struggle resulted, for the Indian’s clutch tight-
ened convulsively round him; then he threw off the body

_of the red man and spratie up.

As he did so he glanced round for the girl, who had
drawn back, not knowing what to make of it, or who he
“was, and also because the sudden discovery of the at-
ae made by. the Indian on her life had unnerved her.

Dick Dirk called to her, and then began to run, seeing
Indians rushing on him,

Some of the Sioux darted in pursuit of him.

At the moment of this occurrence Buffalo Bill and Joe
Tempest were close on the camp, and were trying to de-
termine what they had better do.

In the darkness Tempest wholly misunderstood what
was happening, and mistook Dick Dirk for the renegade,
Ben Magoon, for whose blood he was thirsting.

As Dirk dashed through the cottonwoods, with the In-
dians close behind him, Tempest believed he was Magoon
leading the Indians in pursuit of some one; and, with a
yell that seemed insane, he rushed at Dirk.

The next instant he and Dirk met, colliding heavily as
Tempest struck at him with the clubbed rifle, and they

went to the ground together.

At such a moment Tempest’s effort to slay the man he
believed to be Magoon was so réckless as to be almost

maniacal.

Buffalo Bill was close beside him when it happened,
and he jumped in, to keep Tempest from slaying the man,
and for the purpose of erring: him out of the way of. the
“oneoming Indians. :

He caught ‘one of the combatants by the collar, and
jerked him to one side, exerting all his tremendous

~ strength.

He believed he had seized Tempest, and he tried to
hurry him off under cover of the trees and the gloom.

The other man—-who was really Tempest--was at-
tacked by the Indians, who yelled so oes that the scout
was made aware of his mistake.

BNA

  

  

BILL STORIES.

N evertheless, he knew the man he had caught iby the
collar was not an Indian.

He judged that he was one of the gipsies; and judged,
too, that the Indians had been chasing him; which
brought the added idea that this gipsy jwas at the mo-
ment trying to escape.

The Indians were yelling exuitantly over their cap-
ture of Tempest.

The scout could do nothing at the moment for Tem-
pest; but he thought he could aid this man; hence he
jerked him forward again. ;

Thereupon, Dirk let out a gipsy oath, thtew himself
about, and tried to knife the scout, who was thus aiming
to aid him.

But for the darkness and the wild yelling of the Sioux,
Buffalo Bill and Dirk might have been seen, or at least
heard; for the scout now took Dirk by the throat with one
hand, and with the other caught his knife.

With a final jerk he threw Dirk forward on his face,
close by one of the cottonwoods, in the grass, and dropped
down beside him.

He hissed in Dirk’s ear:

“You serpent of a gipsy! Do you want to be killed
by those redskins? Lie still here, or it will be ane up
with both of us. I’m your. friend.”

He still clutched Dirk’s knife-hand, but he felt the
muscles relax.

“Who air you?” Ditk asked, in a hoarse whisper.

“Buffalo Bill. Lie still; not a word out of you, or
you’re a dead man. Burrow down in the grass, and keep
as still as death. The Indians will look for you now.”

Dirk flattened himself out and lay quiet.

Though he could see nothing, Buffalo Bill knew from
the sounds he heard just what was taking place.

The Indians, or, at least, some of them, were tying
Tempest; and a moment after they began to drag him into
the camp.

They threw some sticks on the fire, that they might see
by the blaze who it was they had.

“Ah! the devils thought they had me!’ was the scout’s
‘conclusion.

The Sioux were tremendously disappointed, for it had
been supposed that Buffalo Bill had been captured.

“Ah! now they're hunting for me!’

Tt was true.

The Sioux knew in some way that the scout was, or
had been, close up to the camp; and they scattered forth,
hoping to find him.

“Not a word, for your life!” the scout whispered in the
ear of Dick Dirk.

And Dick Dirk lay low, trembling.

CHAP TPR OL),
BUFFALO BILLS DARING,
“See here!’ ‘said Buffalo Bill, whispering the words in
_ Dirk’s eat, as they lay on the ground together. “Now is

i sige a a

UY a AON AS BNE IN cu ena tc rn dba oes 6 a
Ree RRS ae eS Sa eae

 

   
  
 

 

THE BUFFALO

our time to make a big try for the rescue of the prison-
ers. You'd like to do something to aid Leona Dare, I
know.”

Dirk was about to sit up, but the scout pushed him
down again.

“More than half of the Sioux,” he said, “went stream-
ing out toward the hills a while ago, in pursuit of Joe
Tempest, and they’re still out there, with Ben Magoon
leading them. But ey Il come back now, since they’ve
heard the row here.’

“Yes,” said Dirk, wriggling under the pressure of the
scout’s heavy hand.

“Some of those who at that time stayed behind are out
of the camp now, hunting me,” the scout went on.

“Ves,” said Dirk.

“The others have tied up Tempest and are jollifying
over his capture, and threatening him with death. You
can hear them.”

si hear ‘ent,’

“And it seems to me now that if we’re going to have
an early chance to do anything our time is here. Your
courage is good ?”

“Good enough!” ae Dirk, but he trembled.

“Remember Leona Dare. You'd like to help her?”

“T’d wade in blood to help her.”

“That sounds promising.
her, and I want your aid. You know where the horses
are—your own and Boe of the Sioux?”

. “Ves.”

“T want you to sneak over to the horses. Get two or
three of them, and put saddles and bridles on them; you
can probably manage it, for all the Indians who are here
seem to be gathered round Tempest now.

“When you have done that, tie them loosely to the
trees, so that you can instantly release them; then stam-
pede the others. Can you manage that? You gipsies are
pretty clever in handling horses.”

“T reckon I can do that.”

uae know you can make it, all right. While you’re doing
that I'll slip closer to the fire; and then I’ll charge those
reds, and try to make them believe I’ve got a big force
behind me. I'll get the girl and Tempest, if I can, and
any others possible; and then P’ll make a break for the
‘trees, where you'll have two or three horses ready.”

“Yes, I understand. If you ain’t killed in doin’ it.”

“T’'ll take the risk; we’ve got to take risks at times; and
if 1 go under I can feel that I tried to do all I could: 2

Dirk did not answer this. —

“You don’t like Tempest; but don’t let that trouble
you. Just think of Leona Dare. We’ve got to save her,
and any other of the women, or of the children, if we
can. We'll hope for the greatest kind of luck. |

He lifted his head and listened.

The Indians who were left in the camp surrounded
Tempest, threatening his life and demanding of him

I’m going to try to help.

BILL STORIES,

in the best English they could command where he had
leit the Long Hair.

What Tempest was saying the scout could not tell for
the savage hubbub. That Tempest was bound he did not
doubt. : M

“Now is our time! Sneak over to the horses. Ul.

make no move until you start that stampede.
sly, and keep cool, and you can take the trick.
nerve good enough?”

Dirk began to crawl along, hitching on his stomach
over the grass.

He was clever at this, and made no noise that could
be heard by the Indians.

The scout saw him slide out of ne with satisfaction ;
and then he lay listening.

Off on the distant hillside he heard Indian calls, show-
ing that the Indians there were gathering together, and
were on their way back to the camp.

There was no time to lose; yet Buffalo Bill did not let
his desire for haste tempt him to move too soon.

He drew his revolvers and made sure that they had

Work
Is your

cartridges in the chambers; and he also saw that his

repeating rifle was loaded.

He kept an ear trained on Dirk and listened for some
sounds from him; yet even when Dirk was bridling some
of the horses, and tying them tothe cottonwoods, no
sound reached the scout.

Then there broke on the air an infernal bellowing, as
Dirk struck at the other horses and danced round them,
trying-to scare them into stampeding.

If the scout had not been expecting something of the
kind he would hardly have been able to tell what this
meant; and he saw that it had startled the Indians by
the camp-fire. Yells came also from the other Sioux
who had been out on the searching trips.

The scout rose to his knees. :

Then he heard a rapid pounding of hoofs, which told
him that Dirk’s attempt at a stampede had been com-
pletely successful.

Some of the Indians by the fire a left it, and were
running to where the wild yells, and hoots, and thudding
hoofs arose; and the scout saw that the moment for him
had come.

He sprang to his feet, and began to gi at the Indians

still to be seen in the camp.

As he did so he yelled in imitation of troopers; and
shouted to a band of imaginary troopers to follow him.

He leaped toward the Indians in the camp, shooting

as fast as he could, his rifle slung across his shoulders
and a revolver in each hand.

The startled Indians in the camp, of whom now there
were but a few, gave way before him.

He saw the girl spring to her feet and look about in
a dazed and frightened way; and he saw, on the ground,
the bound form of Joe Tempest.

4

gat

ina

 
 

TN EE

Se

MN.

 

  

oe ee ane

Still shooting at the: ee ne tan’ up: 0° “Tempest.

There he stooped for a moment, antl he could cut’ the i

cords that bound: him, *
‘He shouted to the’ otis

“Miss Dare, don’t be alarmed; I’m here to tals you! !

Come here, quick.”
She stared, and then came toward for
“Not an Indian was near her; but they now saw him,

and began to shoot at him, their bullets whistling round °

him, and splashing hot ashés and coals out oF the fire.
Arrows zipped past his head.

‘He pulled the surprised Tempest to his feet.

“Off there, where that yelling is—where the stampede
took place! Rum for-your life.” ‘Horses are there ue
- for you.”

He turned to: the girl, not heeding the Panag: bullets:

~“Ts there any Sra e wotnan, Or ee can
save! ??? Us eb sch) ea Seat
“Yes.” she said.
qo torte Were? |

“Just myself ; ‘and out there i is Dick ‘Dirk. You heard
those horses? He stampeded them.”

He saw he could not stay there longer, even “for the
sake of rescuing some of the women. and children.

“You | are Butialo Bill - You’ ve got

An arrow passed through his coat, a bullet tore a hole
in his hat, and other bullets and arrows were whistling.
and whirring all round him. f.

Not only his life, but the girl’s, was in great dee,

He caught her by the hand.

“Come!” he. said.

He pulled her along, and bern. to. Tun with her; but
stopped when he. came to the prostrate form. of .Red
Lightning. He lifted the chief in his arms and then ran
on, tellirig the girl to follow him... :

Seeing that, the Indians who. had been beohiencd out
of their own camp by his desperate charge plucked up
new: courage; and«came running and yelling.

It was a quick, hot run that followed; but in a minute
-or so it landed as scout and a ae in the midst of the
arees. eae ee

“Here!” came in fie voice: Gt Dick Dirk.

He rose from behind a tree which had screened him.

“The Indians’ who had rushed out of the ‘camp upon
him had gone by, led by the sound of the retreating
horses, and they had not seen him. But he expected them
back in a moment... :

ue Bere (che eetes again. r

“He swung his knife, and ee to cut nose a Sores
that was near him. ay

‘He had another horse close” by; he had not ee to
‘risk getting more. Seo ee

un ‘empest appeared, panting ; he had run past this place,
and then had turned back, on discovering Hee he was
merely chasing after the purscing’ ~Indians.”

“pili: STORIES.”

2 3 ae

The scout helped the shaking
horse prodtced by Dirk.

Dirk brought up the other.

Acre, in front ‘of the girl,” said the scout to Tem-
pest; and at the same time he ordered Dirk to mount”
the other horse: and to assist him in | hoisting up we
chief. °

“All round | now he heard sounds indicating that the
Indians were closing in on him; the Andiags from oe
camp being right at his heels. :

Dirk hesitated a moment, then swung ‘nimbly to the
back of the second horse, and aided him in lifting. the
limp form of Red Lightning. aes

“What's this mean?” Dirk asked, and received no an-
Sswer.

“The scout it leaped uD. in | front ae him, and s set the horse
i Olona fe ae :

He saw that Tempest was mounting the other, in front
of the girl.

“The scout” headed his horse for the open ‘ground, “the
Indians behind now sighting the horses and yelling.” ae

There were pattering moccasins in front and ‘off ‘On
each side, so that’ it seemed I that the fugitives were sur-
rounded.

But straight ahead the scout went, tee his, ‘Te-
eS an then beginging. to shoot.

gitl to > the back of the

yo
}

 

‘CHAPTER XII.
vo TRE PURSUIT,

Tho tue dae been with the scout, ane had hake
his courage with such good results, it seemed now. that it
was about to turn..

The Indians who had been on Magoon. out in ie
edge of the hills had been hurrying toward the camp, and
were near at hand. :

They had encountered the stampeding ponies, and had
captured some of them, so that part of their force was
mounted; and they were closing in on ‘the daring scout
from the front, while, the other Sioux who had been out it of
the camp were coming ‘up. on either side. —

Added to these were the Indians who had been fright-
ened out of the camp by his desperate charge, but. were
now following him, and thus pressing him, from the
rear.

We're Sarreunted said Tempest. ‘desperately.

He felt, ‘the. arms of the girl clasping. him, a fact
which would have been gratifying and pleasurable. if he
had not been at the same time impressed with the peril
that threatened her.

He lifted his rifle ‘and fired at ‘the ee Indian who
came springing toward. him. as he cleared the -cotton-
woods, and came out into ‘the open. ground,

Buffalo Bill, who was at his side, fired his revolvers
‘into He Midian in front, ee

That wild yelling, which seemed*to: digaity the kee,

  
 

ee Ef ai ERO OBE TN Sethe etme

 

 

 

2 _ THE BUFFALO

still rose from the lips of the scut, as his revolvers shot
forth their deadly fire.

The Indians were firing i in return.

“The Scout felt the form of Dick Dirk stiffen with a
convulsive movement, and he knew that Dirk had been
Hit a a) en a fo ee
He had dropped the reins on the horse’s neck, and was
guiding. the horse with his knees, and by dint of clever
work was holding the body of the chief in front of him,

but as he felt Dirk jump and stiffen in that trembling

way, he ceased firing, and put a hand back to — him.
“Hurt?” he said,

Instead of answering, Dirk seemed to grow limp and
slide downward. |

With a limp form in front of him and one. behind the

scout was so handicapped he could not use his revolvers,
and could hardly guide the now, wildly running horse.
He. _expected every moment to be struck by an Indian
bullet or arrow, and expected to discover that either
Tempest or the girl had been hit.

“He dropped his revolvers into their holsters, kicked
his heels against the sides of the horse to hasten its
speed, and, clutching Dirk, contrived to keep him from
sliding to the ground. ;

‘The. Indians were in strongest force directly in oe

but instead of swerving to pass them, he drove the horse.

straight upon them, still yelling as if he were a fiend.

Tempest was also yelling, and, having shot every bullet

out of his rifle, he was merely noe the horse steady
in its course.
“It-took the lead, and the scout’s horse followed it.

The scout felt a bullet burn the flesh of his shoulder,

and he thought the girl had been struck.

e&

He lowered his head as if facing a. tempest, as he thus.

rode on.

had been hit; but it did not fall, and seemed to increase
its headlong geen ‘

Some of the redskins sprang at it, and tried to get it

by the bridle, and tried to oe De but the es
fun them aside... e .

Then the mounted Indians dashed. oe pes to shoot
the fugitives.

It was a wild ible 4 in the. ae and but for its

protection the result would have been disastrous.

Then Tempest’ s horse cleared the Indians who tried to.

stop him; and, the scout’s thundering at his heels, both
horses broke Ao the living cordon oe raced straight

away.

‘The mounted Indians, together with those afoot, swung ©

in behind, shooting and yelling; and the scout, sought he.
heard the bellowing voice of Ben Magoon.

It was. a hot. ace, and for | a time . its. result was in

doubt.

to the girl.

BILL STORIES.

Tempest and the scout. headed. for, the hills, at ‘the
Indians plunging along behind, _

At the base of 1 alle Buffalo Bill put himself i in 1 the
lead. —

‘The darkness was still intense, and while this aided
them by making the work of the Indians more difficult, it
hampered the scout in his efforts to find a spot where he
could make a stand.

The Indians who. were mounted were too near to make
a long run advisable. Mounted light, and on their swift
ponies, there was no doubt that they could overtake
the heavily burdened ponies ridden by the scout and
Tempest. These ponies were already beginning to show
the effect of strain. And the scout had not been given
a chance to get his own large horse, which he had left
concealed on the hillside.

He remembered a nest of rocks just over the top of
the first hill, which he had noted as he-and Tempest came
that way, and he began to look for it now.

When he found the rocks, the mounted Indians were so
close on him that, as he and Tempest leaped down with
their burdens, they. had to let their ponies go; which

at the time, was, perhaps, fortunate, as the ponies would .

probably have been shot down by the savages, for there
was no good place to conceal them in. f

But the nest in the rocks promised to be et the secure
spot that the SO, pressed scout and a companions
needed.

As he dropped to the ground, pulling from the back’

of his pony the limp forms of the chief and of Dick
Dirk, the scout drew. from the holsters. his i: revolvers,
and fired on the pursuing redskins. *

He tumbled one out of his saddle; when, seeing that :

they were not to have an easy victory, the others spurred
by on either side, yelling in a way to let their comrades

know that the game had been driven to cover.
Then the horse gave a foie’ leap, shovine Se oo

“Now, down in here!” said the Scout, i to Tem-
pest and the Gipsy Queen.

They crouched: at his side, while denne them lay Es
Dirk and Red. Lightning.

As the Indians on foot came over he top. oot the
ridge, the scout and Tempest opened fire on a them, driving
them back. «

“I fear that Dirk is dead, or dying,” a Buffalo Bill
“He was a and I’m afraid the worst has

happened.” ~ :
She crawled back to make an examination; ae o
heard her speak Dirk’s name, in an effort to arouse him.
She returned before the Indians made a further demon-
stration.
“T’m afraid he’s dead” she said.
There was a’ sott of wail in her voice Boe touched ¢ the
scout to. the-heart:: +922 7 fo.7
“And _ that. ‘Anjan. chief is. dead, iY m. thine, Ye ay

__ Tempest. bhantly.

 

 

RR at a

pea

pt

 

 

 

 

 

 
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

- over the rocks.

\

 

dapat ae

THE BUFFALO

“He may be,” she said.

think it’s only the effect om
"She crouched down Weds fnekne the sentence, for

a rifle cracked out in ‘front, and a bullet came singing

one lies still  Phsueh but I

 

“What's the matter ott hi at said Tempest. “That’s:
been puzzlin’ me!” :
al hypnotized him, you know ; and it seems to have
taken a deeper. effect than. a intended, It. appears to
have thrown him into a sleep. L dont really think-he is.
dead: ; yet he may have been hit by-a: bullet, as we came.
toward this place. I don’t see how any of us escaped.”

‘We ain’t out of it yet,” said Tempest.

Pt he was thinking more - of the girl S peril than of his .

own.

WPhis : the most awful ey ee re she a
clared. “I wonder will morning ever. come f Or, if we'll
live to-see it?’

-Though the Sioux could not see wiht sort of a hole the
scout and his companions had sought refuge in, they had
located them pretty accurately, and ‘now began to shoot in
the darkness. - ue

“But their shots mostly went high.

Those that were accurately aimed struck the foci and
did no harm. :

Yet there was always fe possibility of a bullet coming
through some interstice and killing one of the inmates.

To prevent this the scout and Tempest set other stones —
in position, working as well as they could in lulls: of

the firing.

CHAPTER XIV.
THE KILLING OF BEN MAGOON; &
The rising sun was reddening the east, and the Sioux »

were making a wild rush on the rocks, hoping to take it

before full daylight, when the loud Indian yelling roused

Red Lightning to consciousness.

He sprang up, with a Strange light in his eyes, glared

about, and then started as if to run forth and join the |

Indians whom he heard.
But a a touch sue a oo ae the Gipsy en stayed
him. |

He looked down at her, dimly to be seen in the faint

: light, and he stared as if he did not comprehend,
He passed his -hand roughly across his eyes, as if to

clear away some mist or fog that obscured them. |

~

aS cies siti Pom nar ie SNe gtt al tng in in esate onc sooth Nearness NGI EEN RS ES

a “his excitement, ‘and waving his revolver.
“Don’t you know me?” she said, smiling at’ ie ae

    

BILL STORIES.

‘It was strange that she could smile at such a time, put

it showed her marvelous self- control.
| His: eyes. brightened ; for a moment. he hesitated, aid
then he dropped down beside her:

She put out her hand bravely and touched him on 1 the

shoulder, and he did not move.

The scout and Tempest had no time to note this, for’
they were busy at the front, firing their weapons through

the interstices in the rocks at the Indians, some of whom,
bolder than the others, had dashed over. the ae of the
hills < ee Bees

Those thus leading had high coisas or were oS to
desperation.

Perhaps that was because they were led in’ person y

the renegade, Ben Magoon.

Magoon’ s fancy had been fired by the beauty of the
Gipsy Queen; and it was her beauty, as much | as his
desire to end the life. of Buffalo Bill, which now nerved
him, : oe Sk

_ For more than half an hour, out be oud the hill, he had
been exhorting the redskins to this supreme. effort.

He had not spoken particularly of Buffalo Bill to them,

and not at all of the girl, so far as trying to rouse them

to take her; but he had dwelt craftily on the fact that

‘the people in that nest of rocks held as a prisoner the re- é

nowned chief, Red Lightning.
He made his appeal particularly strong in speaking to
Red Lightning’s close friends, of whom there were a

number ;

full day, was the time when the rescue of Red ne ies

must be effected.

He promised to lead them ; and he did, mn a pectless: :
ness that exposed his life from the moment he crossed.

over the hill.

And now he came on, swinging his revolver, shooting, .

yelling, and inspiring the Sioux who followed him. with *

phenomenal courage.

A great oath rumbled from the throat of ioe ee!

when he thus beheld Ben Magoon.

The Indians in making their charge had ee sun. behind

them, which was for them a bad thing. As they mounted

and he told them that now, before the coming of -

   

the crest of the hill, the red light i in the eastern sky, serv-

ing for a background, threw their bodies into bold re-

lief ; while down in the nest of rocks in the lower ground

even the. rocks: could hardly be seen by them. x
Gomme onl yelled Ben Magoon, ‘speaking i in English,

you cowards !”’

“Come Of, _

 
 
   
    
   
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
  
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
     
   
   
     
     
   
   
     
     
    
      
    
    
   
     
       
   
     
    
    
   
    
    
   
    
       
      

 

 

 

‘Joe aie. drew down on: him, and*sent a bullet at
him: Ss |
It passed: over: Magoon's head, but did not: “op his
rush, ee a ia: 2
“Come on!” he yelled frantically to. some of the cede
skins, who were hesitating.

-"Ehree of them had been struck Rows by Buffalo Bill’s
unerring bullets.

The others were wavering.

- But they plucked up. courage again, under the shouted
cone of the renegade, and followed him as he came
dashing recklessly down the slope.

Tempest had thrown another cartridge into the barrel
of his rifle, and again he pulled for the renegade.

And 'this time he got him!:

oe threw up his hands, stumbled, and went roll-

- ing down the slope, dropping his revolver.

Tempest leaped to his feet, shouting like a madman,
so exposing himself thatthe scout aa to see him
shot, down. oe Oe

But the fall of: the ae had coe the fighting-
spirit out-of the Indians who had been right behind him;
they had made the charge because his daring and his calls
had: drawn them. on;'and now that he was down, their
courage fled. :

They stopped, huddled for a moment; and then, when
the scout’s ‘revolver dropped one more of them, oy
turned tail and fled back over the hill.

_-Fempest- yelled like a wild man, and soe bide
darted forth upon ee if the scout had -not stopped
him. oo
ea ‘he scout, catching
“Your lite

“Don’t be reckless, Toner
him by the arm and fairly pulling a Saas
ought to be worth something. to you.”

ae he’s down!

and—

It’s Magoon! I swore Pd kill oe

 

“But you dent want to be killed Goan: sit dows

here!” a
. [he imperious. tone. quelled temporarily Tempest’ s wild
ear as forth-and-make sure that he had really
“finished”. the renegade who had been the murderer of
shis sister. - Bo

But he hone i had ain a ae ee oy where
she -had fallen, without even attempling: fo, F18es 54 2

“The Indians ate ‘gone now, ks onged to. the

scout.. Bs on Ht ge Bae

Nes; ae hoe rey ere behind that. t bill: “and, A can

Theo! down from. ee Wait to.se¢.svhat happens.” Bete

THE BUFFALO BILL. STORIES.

“They'll maybe kite out, now that Magoon is down. \
“Remember that Red Lightning: is: here; aguas: not:
want to leave him in our hands.” ee Oba oe
“What in thunder did you pee him fur, anyway?
I never understood that.” Hee
‘Well; I didn’t know. Hey cheats we might be cesteded.
and I saw a chance to get him. I thought if they pushed
us too hard; and we saw that we’d have to surrender, we
might buy our safety by offering Red Lightning to them

as a fair exchange. | didn’t know but it might work.”

Red Lightning heard his name mentioned, and looked

curiously at the scout.

His mind seemed: to be working hee: to its normal
state: yet he was. still under the hypnotic influence of
the Gipsy Queen, auc felt compelled to do her bidding. .

 

CHAPTER KV.
RED LIGHTNING S OBEDIENCE. :

The Sioux had-not left; and the scout knew the reason
was that Red Lightning was supposed to be held as a
prisoner by the white men.

_. The sum-was. rising now,

At intervals along the top of the dee a slceletitg
Indian could be seen; for the Indians. were trying to
look down among the rocks, that they might make sure if
Red Lightning was there. :

_ It was clear te the,scout that they did not ie to go;
and. that even if they -had Red. Lightning they would
linger, in the hope of getting the scalps. of the white
people whom. they now had surrounded. ,

The scout’s party had neither food nor aes and their
supply of ammunition -was: alarmingly: low.

It was only a matter of time when they Would be: help-
-. All the Indians needed.to do
was to remain and wait until that time came, when: be

jess before those. Indians.

would achieve an easy victory.
--Dick Dirk was dead; he had been killed by- that indian

bullet; and his body was: now behind the. rocks, which
hid it from the eyes of the Gipsy. Queen,

She had bewailed his death; for he had been one of her
and was a member of the
“She had known him
from childhood, and his nae in that manner tried her

admirers and dear. friends;
gipsy band that held her as queen.

nerves. es :
But she still. emit one. a oe ae ee looked. into

the Dlack eyes.of Red Lightning...

The chief was apparently. Arvestiog: wie) ie ae 4

burden, and trying to break, out. from. under i as

 

 

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os
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-

Pa

‘That he would succeed in doing so by and by she knew,
unless she took means to continue her control.

And now Buffalo Bill spoke to her, voicing.a thought
that had been growing in ther own mind ever since she
had heard him state that a hope of buying their safety
with Red Lightning was the thing that had caused him
to bother with the chief.

“Perhaps Red Lightning could order them to, clear
out of there’” he said, looking at her.

“T’ve been wondering about that,’ she answered.
- He did not look at Red Lightning,

hoped the chief would not comprehend. In addition, Red
Lightning did not seem to be able to understand and
think clearly.
“Can you control him?” he asked.
Yes, 1 think so; Wm sure so.» Ihe trouble is to get
him to know what I want him to do.”
~““T-can manage that; 1 understand the language.”
Her eyes brightened. : :
“Then maybe we can work it. What is your plan?”
“Tf you can instruct Red Lightning, or I can instruct

him for you, and have him walk forth out there a few

yards and call to the Sioux; and then have him com-_
mand them to leave here, we may find an easy way out.”

“We're bottled up here for good, if some way out

ain’t found,” said Tempest. “I’ve been figgerin’ and fig-
gerin’, and I can’t see how we can make it; but I hadn't
thought of that.”

“Is he now under your controle? the scout asked of

| Mer

She touched the chief on the arm.
He turned and stared into her face.

If ever an Indian’s features expressed blankness and
want of any emotion, Red Lightning’s did at that mo-
ment.

She patted him on the arm, and looked into his eyes;
and he stared back, not trying to withdraw his gaze.

She began to talk in a sleepy singsong, and then she
passed her. hand two or three times across his face.

Yes, | can mandge him) she said,ii 1 can make
him understand me.” |

The scout spoke to the chief. The girl turned the

chief around, motioning to the scout, and by signs trying

9} to make him know that he must do what the scout said.

Red Lightning stared stupidly at first, seeming an

) automaton rather than a live man.

  

_ The scout began to talk to him.

THE BUEFALG: BILL STORIES.

lest the chief might -
“know what he was saying. Speaking in English, he

    

27
“Red Lightning,”
to the young chief, “the Sioux, your friends, are out there

beyond that hill.
shout to them, so that they will hear you.

he said, using the tongue familiar
You are to walk out a dozen paces, and

“Then, when they hear you and come, you are to tell
them that we who are here have given you your freedom, ©
on condition that they leave us, and leave also the wagon
and the camp articles and the prisoners they took from
the camp.

“And you, Red Lightning, are to lead them away;
away from this place, and from these hills, and not permit
them to come back.”

Red Lightning’s face began to show something like
animation.

“And tell him,” said the girl, “that to-night, when the
moon rises, he will come out of the spell that now holds
him; but that by that time he must be very far from
here.”

“That is necessary?’ said the scout.

- “T’m a bit afraid if I do not in that ‘vay stimulate his
mind to the thought of coming out from under it, he may
fall into some mental ailment. JI have heard that people
have dropped into hypnotic sleep, after being worked on
3 If that should happen I'd
feel like a murderer, if the knowledge of it ever came to

33

me.

by a hypnotist, and died in it.

The scout began again to talk to the chief.
He repeated the girl’s statement; that at the rising
of the moon he would come out from his present condi-
tion, and be again normal; but that before that time he
must be far away with his band.

The scout turned again to the girl.

“Ts he ready?’

“Yes,” she said: “he is ready.”

Again he addressed the chief:

“Red Lightning, step forth, and do what I have told
you.”

He pointed.

The chief turned to look into the face of the girl; and
when she nodded and made signs for him to do what the
scout said, he arose, and walked out toward the hill.

When he had gone about a dozen oF he stopped, and
began to yell to the Sioux.

Feathered heads popped into view along the crest of
the hill.

He yelled at them, beckoning to them; and when sev-
eral were in view he began to talk to them, ecg
the things he had been instructed to say.
   

Sahpepempme nee ata

 

 

 

 

28 : _ THE BUFFALO BILL. STORIES.

All of this was so marvelous to Joe Tempest that be
could only stare and wonder.

When he had made the Sioux understand, Red Light-
ning walked on, and soon passed on over the hill and out
of sight.

“And now won't the Indians hang round just the
same?’ said Tempest.

“Not if he can make them obey him.”

“Fle is the chief,” said the scott; “and they will obey
him, whatever they may think about it afterward. The
only thing I fear is that Red Lightning may shake off
that strange witchery, and refuse to do what we have
said.” |

“He will not be able to shake it oft,”
confidence.

she asserted, with

The result proved that she was right.
Loud voices were heard for a few minutes, and among
them was that of Red Lightning. =
He had assumed command, and was ordering the war-
riors to abandon their attempt, and to leave.
"When they went down the hill he led them.
They gathered together their ponies; and then, mount-

ing, they rode away like a whirlwind, taking with non

the bodies of the Indians slain.
Altogether, it was the strangest thing that even the
scout had ever known; and to Joe Aone it was incom-

prehensible.
‘This here hypnotism is a queer thing!” he said.
“Tt is,” said the girl. “Even I do not understand it,

though I can use it. . While the hypnotized person is
under your influence he will do whatever you tell him to,
without questioning. You can make him believe that he
is doing almost anything. It is a strange and little under-
stood power, and I am at times afraid of it.”

“I should dream dreams and see ghosts if I had such

-a power,” said Tempest; “I think I should go crazy.”
She smiled on him, making his heart beat with hope.

He was in love with her, and a smile like that was very

encouraging.

When the scout was sure that the Sioux-had really de- :

parted, he and his companions issued from their hole
in the rocks.

They found that his horse, and that of Joe Tempest,
and also the horses of the gipsies, had been left undis-
turbed; and that the prisoners were still down in the
camp, none of them bound or guarded, but frightened,
and wildly wondering what they should do, or where they
should go. Ae a

 

The retire of the girl and those with her brought a
blessed relief to them, from fears of massacre and torture,

or of long imprisonment.

The bodies of the slain gipsies, en that of Dick |

Dirk, were buried beneath the cottonwoods ;
heaped high with stones, and some rude marks left over
the graves.

Then the scout took command of the gipsy train, and
piloted it to its destination, Garcelon City.

When they were approaching that town they discovered
behind them a body of Sioux warriors.

The explanation was simple, and it was given by the
Gipsy Queen.

Red Lightning had come out of his cameules trance-
like and obedient state, and had whirled round and ridden
on the trail of the gipsy train, in the hope of overtaking it

-and-again capturing the prisoners he had so easily let
slip through his fingers.

But Red Lightning was too late.

He dared not approach near the town; and, after

circling about far out on the plains, he and his band with-

drew, and disappeared.

The region beyond Garcelon Springs was civilized,
and filled with towns and settlements of considerable size ;-
so that the gipsies who had survived had abundant work;
the men as traders and horse-dealers, and the women
as fortune-tellers. :

The hypnotic gifts of the Gipsy Queen were soon her-
alded far and wide; and by adding them, as she had
heretofore done, to her fortune-telling, she reaped, as
usual, a rich financial reward.

She wished to pay the scout handsomely for what he
had done; a thing he declined with thanks;
ceived his salary from the United States Government,

for he re-

and when a thing was performed in the line of his duty,
no pay but the good-will of the people oo would he

receive.

Of Joe Tempest, it may be od that he was so enrap-

tured with the Gipsy Queen and enamored of the roving
gipsy life, that he became a member of their band, and
afterward married the beautiful girl known in these
pages as the Queen of the Road Wanderers. :

THE END.

Next week’s issue will be No. 322, “Buffalo Bill’s Mav-
erick; or, The Man With the Steel Arm.” A capital story
of border and Indian life wou will find it, with a strange
and Ts character in Ned Nobody, the ° ‘man ce

the steel arm.’”’ Be sure to read it.

the graves —

 

   
   
   
   
    
     
     
    
   
    
     
     
     
   
     
    
   
   
   
   
 
 
 
  
  
 
 
  
   
  
 
 
 
  
  
  
 
 
  
  
  
  
 
  
  
   
   
    
 

te

 

as eae Spe ge
i

-292—Buffalo  Bill’s

293—Buffalo Bill in Peril;

“300—Buffalo Bill’s Rival:

  

 

 

 

ISSUED EVERY TUESDAY.

BEAUTIFUL COLORED COVERS

Buffalo Bill wins his way into the heart of every
one who reads these strong stories of stirring adventure

on the wide prairies of the West.

Boys, if you want tales of the West that are
drawn true to life, do not pass these by.

PRICE FIVE CENTS PER COPY

~ For sale by all newsdealers, or sent, by the publishers to any address upon receipt of price in money or postage stamps

 

 

HERE ARE THE

Medicine- lodge; or,. The White

Queen of the Kickapoos.

or, The Red Aviason: of
. the Niobrarah.

294—Buffalo Bill’s Strange Pard; or,
_the War-path,

Wolfer Joe on

Le _ 295—Buffalo Bill in the Death Desert; or, The Worship

of the Phantom Flower.

296—Buffalo Bill in No Man’s Land; or, The Bae
tor of the Panhandle.

297—Buffalo Bill’s Border Ruffians;

7 Game or Panther, Pete.

298—Buffalo Bill’s Black Eagles; or, The Snake-master
from Timbuctoo,

299—Buffalo Bill’s Desperate Dozen; or, OT he Haldcrs of
Round-Robin Ranch.

or, The Scalp- hunter of the

or, The Desperate

Niobrarah.

3201—Buffalo Bill’s Ice Chase; or, The Trail of the Black

Rifle,

302—Buffalo Bill and the Boy Bugler; or, The White
Flower of Fetterman Prairie.

303—Buffalo Bill and the White Specter; or, The Mys-
terious Medicine-man of Spirit Lake.

304—Buffalo Bill’s Death Defiance; or, The Bad Men of

Timber Bar.

|. 305—Buffalo Bill and the Barge Bandits; or, The Demon

of Wolf River Cafion.

306—Buffalo Bill, the Desert Hotspur ; or, Pizen Jane, of
Cinnabar.

307—-Buffalo Bill’s Wild Range Riders; or, the Veaee
ance of Crazy Snake.

 

LATEST TITLES:

308—Buffalo Bill’s Whirlwind Chase; or, The Mustang:
Catchers of Bitter Water.

309—Buffalo Bill’s Red Retribution; or, The Raid of the
Dancing Dervishes.

310—Buffalo Bill Haunted: or, The White Witch of the
Niobrara.

311—Buffalo Bills Fight for Life;

ne Cage or Line

312—Buffalo Bill’s Death Jump; or, The Ogallalas’ Last.
Stand.

313—Buffalo Bill and the Pit of Horror; or, The White
Queen of Paradise Valley,

314—Buffalo Bill in the Jaws of Death; or, The Strange
Sacrifice of Uncapah.

31s——Buffalo Bill’s Aztec Runners; or, The Hate of the
Gilded Mexican.

316—Buffalo Bill’s Dance with Death; or, Peril on the
Golconda Gold Trail.

317—-Buffalo Bill’s Redskin Rovers; or,
Nomad’s Wolf Trick.

318—Buffalo Bill’s Fiery Eye;
Last Battle.

319—Buffalo Bill’s ‘Mazeppa Ride; or, The Robber
League of the Panhandle.

320—Buffalo Bill in the Land of Spirits: or, The Witch
Hunters of the Hoodoo Mountains.

321—-Buffalo Bill’s Gypsy Band; or, The Queen of the
Road Wanderers. 2

322—-Buffalo Bill’s Maverick; or, The Man wae the Steel
Arm.

323—Buffalo Bill, the White Whirlwind; on Dashing
Dan, the Border Decoy Duck.

Or, Caught in the

Old Nick: »

or, Red Thunderbolt’s

Tf you want any back numbers of our libraries and cannot procure them from your news-

_ dealers, they can be obtained from this office direct.

} STREET & SMITH, Publishers, 79 Seventh Avenue, NEW vont CITY.

Postage stamps taken the same as money.

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

:
PSS 2 ay 3

D

 

ISSUED EVERY THURSDAY.

BEAUTI FUL COLORED COVERS

 

Diamond Dick and his. son, Bee - are true men of dhe Western

ine

They are noble-hearted fellows who don’t impose on the weaker

man and who don’t let anyone else do it if they can help it.
You ought to read how they clean up a mining camp of the dis-
honest gamblers and other toughs who usually prey on the uneducated —

miners.

PRICE FIVE CENTS PER COPY

For sale by all DEMsHeAle?? or sent, by the publishers to any address upon receipt of price in money or postage stamps

 

 

HERE ARE THE

&29—Diamond Dick’s Heiress Hund: or, A Dash
Through the Big Divide.

'§30—Diamond Dick at the Throttle;
Headlight of Hoodoo Pass.

31—Diamond Dick’s Hobo Trail; or, The Man with

» athe Lous Blue Scar.

532—Diamond Dick’s Black Sign; or, A Strange Battle
with a Dead Man.

§33-——Diamond Dick’s Queer Rebuke or, Giving a ‘Les-
son to a “Bad Man.”

'§34—Diamond Dick’s Night Ride; or, The Worth of a
Thoroughbred Pard.

or, The Ghostly

535—Diamond Dick on an Indian Trail; or, The Veuge.

ance of a Navaho. Z
536—Diamond Dick in Arizona; or, The Foolhardy
Sport of Grand Cajfion.
537—Diamond Dick Over the Rio Grande; or, A Hunt
_ for a Girl Through Mexico.

538—Diamond Dick’s Shower of Gold; or, The Princess

of the Montezumas.

539—Diamond Dick Below the Line; or, ay Agen

Against Big Odds.

540—Diamond Dick on Shipboard ; or, Blocking x ei
Game.

541—Diamond Dick’s Wide Loop; or, Roping Five at
One Throw.

542—Diamond Dick’s Royal Foe; or, The Strange Pas-
sage of the Santa Cruz.

543——-Diamond Dick’s College Scrap; or, A Battle For

His Alma Mater.

zA4——Diamond Dick in the Deep Snows; or, A Close

Call on the Yukon.

545—Diamond Dick’s Merciless Trail; or, ans Two Ras-

cals of White Horse.

 

‘LATEST TITLES:

546—Diamond Dick’s Steel Heart; or, The Fire Train

of the Sierras.

547—Diamond Dick’s Inferno; or, The Madman of the a i

Great Black Tunnel.
s48—Diamond Dick’s Bad Smash; or, The New Opes

tor at Yuba Pass,
549—Diamond Dick’s Deadly Snowball ;

or, Tooth and
Nail on Black Butte.

550—Diamond Dick, Editor; or, A Rattling Surprise for \

Lame Dog.

551—Diamond Dick’s Stand-off;
Spooks on Hallowe’en.” ~~

552-—Diamond Dick’s Hoodlum Trail; or, Hot Politics at
Lame Dog.

553—Diamond Dick’s Queer Hold- -Up ; OL, The Blonde
Innocent from Deadwood.

| 554—Diamond Dick on Guard; or, The Treasure Train
of Vallejo.

_555-—Diamond Dick’s Easy Win; or, A Deal with Three

_, «Bad, Men.

s86—Diamond Dick’s Indian Ally; or, The Serpent Trail
of the Apache.

557—Diamond Dick’s Giant Swing; or, The Demon
Horse of Black River. “

558—Diamond Dick’s Dynamite Victory; or, The Anat
chist Plot at Pocomo.

or, A Battle with

559—Diamond Dick’s White Mystery ; or, The Crooked ad

Man of Devil’s Gate.
s60—Diamond Dick’s Cross of Fire;
Dancers of Dog Canyon. a
561—Diamond Dick’s Mass Play; or, Bucking the Center
in a Hard Game.
s62—Diamond Dick’s Free-for-all; or, The Boy Aven- —
gers from Kansas.

or, The. Ghost ss

Tf you want any back numbers of our libraries and cannot procure them from your news-

dealers, they can be obtained from this office direct.

Postage stamps taken the same as money.

STREET & SMITH, Publishers, 79 pevens Avenue, NEW YORK CITY. |

aot se} eb i es
alee le eee i a casera

 
 

 

 

 

TE received so , many hundreds of really excellent letters from readers of hie Rough ‘Rider

Weekly in response to our first offer of gold dollars, that the Committee awarding the |

twenty leading prizes had considerable difficulty in carrying out their work; which, how-
__ ever, was final ly done, the names printed, and the rewards sent forward. From time to time we
tell print in our Chat Columns all these letters entering into the competition. - And we also hope — -

‘that every one who participated in the first contest will decide to take ste on of our second

great offer. ‘Tell us what, in your mind, a cracking good story of

RANCH AND RANGE LIFE.

should be, and whether these stones by Mr. Ned Taylor fill the bill We baled they |

stand in a class by themselves; and from many a Wester cattle State we daily receive letters.
full of praise and enthusiasm for the work of

OUR COWBOY AUTHOR |

_ which letters are written by those entirely eles with life on the prairie ee and who ‘would a

laugh to scorn stories by an author whom they knew never could have ridden a bucking bronco. -

_ >Make up your mind to try for these golden prizes right. away. Even if you fail to secure one of |. a

_ the twenty leading prizes, we expect to send a splendid consolation offering to. every one who.

competes. Let us know in what way these tales of the Wild West ue to you, and Det oe a

you. coe done to influence your boy pards to read them regularly, _

4 The competition is open (oe April 1 until October 1, 190.7, when the a wil be MT
full ‘name and arcs of eee winner bene published i in the laps dela Rider x Meck, ae

agro ecaerrws “THE. E PRIZES —

| | $10 i in - Gold for he Best. Letter.
$5 in Gold for Each of the Three Next Best Letters.
$2. 50 in Gold for Each of the Six Next Best Letters. |

 

$1 in Gold for Each of the Ten Next Best Letters. | :

The letters should not be longer than 250 words and should be plainly ede ae “Manaver of Rough: 1"

1 Rider Letter Competition,” care of Street & Smith, Now, boys, j jump | In, and resolve to win a cash prize.

STREET & SMITH, Publishers, 7 79-89 Seventh Avenue, NEW YORK |[)_

 

 

 
How the Early
Numbers of the

TIP TOP WEEKLY «...

 

 

O the boys who take interest in the adventures of Frank Merriwell and want to a oF

read everything that was written about him, we desire to say that numbers 1 to —
325 of the Tip Top Weekly containing his early adventures are entirely out of

stock and will not be reprinted.

‘These numbers, however, were published in the

Medal Library beginning with No. 150 which is entitled “Frank Merriwell’s Schoél-
days.” We give herewith a complete list of all the Merriwell stories that have been —
published in book form up to the time of writing. :

We will send a complete catalogue of the Medal Library, which is just full of

good things for boys, on receipt of a one-cent stamp to cover postage.

MEDAL LIBRARY AT 10c.
1so—Frank Merriwell’s Schooldays.
167—Frank Merriwell’s Chums.
178—Frank Metriwell’s Foes.
184—Frank Merriwell’s Trip West.
189—Frank Merriwell Down South.
193—Frank Merriwell’s Bravery.
197—Frank Merriwell’s Hunting Tour.
201—Frank Merriwell in Europe.
205—Frank Merriwell at Yale.
209—Frank Merriwell’s Sports Afield.
213—Frank Merriwell’s Races. ;
217—Frank Merriwell’s Bicycle Tour.
225—Frank Merriwell’s Courage.
229—Frank Merriwell’s Daring.
233—Frank Merriwell’s Athletes.
237—Frank Merriwell’s Skill.
240—Frank Merriwell’s Champions.
244—Frank Merriwell’s Return to Yale.
247—Frank Merriwell’s Secret.
251—Frank Merriwell’s Danger.
254--Frank Merriwell’s Loyalty.
258—Frank Merriwell in Camp.
262—Frank Merriwell’s Vacation.
267—Frank Merriwell’s Cruise.
271—Frank Merriwell’s Chase.
276—Frank Merriwell in Maine.
280—Frank Merriwell’s Struggle.
284—Frank Merriwell’s First Job.
.288—Frank Merriwell’s Opportunity.
292—Frank Merriwell’s Hard Luck.”
296—Frank Merriwell’s Protégé.
300—Frank Merriwell on the Road.
304—Frank Merriwell’s Own Company.
308—Frank Merriwell’s Fame.
312—Frank Merriwell’s College Chums.
316—Frank Merriwell’s Problem.
320—Frank Merriwell’s Fortune.
324—Frank Merriwell’s New Comedian.

MEDAL LIBRARY AT 10c.
328—Frank Merriwell’s. Prosperity.
332—Frank Merriwell’s Stage Hit.
336—Frank Merriwell’s Great Scheme.

_ 340—Frank Merriwell in England.

344—Frank Merriwell on the Boulevards. —
348—Frank Merriwell’s Duel.
352—Frank Merriwell’s Double Shot.
350—Frank Merriwell’s Baseball Victories.
359—Frank Merriwell’s Confidence. —
362—Frank Merriwell’s Auto.

365—Frank Merriwell’s Fun.

368—Frank Merriwell’s Generosity.
37i1—Frank Merriwell’s Tricks.

374—F rank Merriwell's Temptation.
377—Frank Merriwell on Top.

NEW MEDAL LIBRARY AT isc.
INCREASED SIZE

380—Frank Merriwell’s Luck.
383—Frank Merriwell’s Mascot.
386—Frank Merriwell’s Reward.
389—F rank Merriwell’s Phantom.

- 392—Frank Merriwell’s Faith.

395—Frank Merriwell’s Victories.
3908—Frank Merriwell’s Iron Nerve.
401—Frank Merriwell in Kentucky.
404—Frank Merriwell’s Power.
407—Frank Merriwell’s Shrewdness.
410—Frank Merriwell’s Set-back.
Published About May 27th
413—Frank Merriwell’s Search.
Published About Jume 17th
416—Frank Merriwell’s Club. ~
! Published About July 8th
419—Frank Merriwell’s Trust.
Published About July 29th
422—Frank Merriwell’s False Friend.

 

 

- STREET & SMITH, Publishers,

NEW YORK CITY (4@

Bh es

 
 
me

ieee TON I tetas tae PP Raemene spree ager aon TENE
+S Oe Ria, eA RENE eg BEN SN ay — PR pt tempi oe ge nent Diath

Se eS

Se

I
—— Een

 

ISSUED EVERY TUESDAY

BEAUTIFUL COLORED COVERS

 

Buffalo Bill wins his way into the heart of every —
one who reads the strong stories of stirring adventure on
the wide prairies of the West published in this weekly. |

Boys, if you want tales of the West that are ©
drawn true to life, do not pass these by.

PRICE FIVE CENTS PER COPY

For sale by all newsdealers, or sent, by the publishers to any address upon receipt of price in money or postage stamps

 

¥

 

HERE ARE THE LATEST TITLES:

292—Buffalo Bill’s Medicine-lodge; or, The White
Queen of the Kickapoos.

293—Buffalo Bill in Peril; or, The Red Amazons of
the Niobrarah.

2904—Buffalo Bill’s Strange Pard; or, Wolfer Joe on
the War-path.

295-—Buffalo Bill in the Death Desert; or, The Worship
of the Phantom Flower.

296—Buffalo Bill in No Man’s Land; or, The Sky-mir-
ror of the Panhandle.

297—Buffalo Bill’s Border Ruffans; or, The Desperate
Came ot Panther Pete:

298—Buttalo Bill’s Black Eagles; or, The Snake-master
from Timbuctoo.

2909—Buffalo Bill’s Desperate Dozen; or, The Raiders of
Round-Robin Ranch.

300—Buffalo Bill’s Rival; or, The Sein vunter of the
Niobrarah.

301—Buffalo Bill's Ice Chase; or, The Trail of the Black
Rifle.

302—Buffalo Bill and the Boy Bugler; or, The White
Flower of Fetterman Prairie.-

303—Buffalo Bill and the White Specter; or, The Mys-
terious Medicine-man of Spirit Lake.

304—Buffalo Bill’s Death Defiance; or, The Bad Men of
Timber Bar.

305—Buffalo Bill and the Barge Bandits; or, The Demon
of Wolf River. Cafion.

306—Buffalo Bill, the Desert Hotspur; or, Pizen Jane, of
_Cinnabar. :

307—Buffalo Bill’s Wild Range Riders; or, The Venge-
anee-ol Crazy Snake.

 

308—Buffalo Bill’s Whirlwind Chase; or, The Mustang
Catchers of Bitter Water.

309—Buffalo Bill’s Red Retribution; or, The Raid of the ee

Dancing Dervishes.

310—Buffalo Bill Haunted; or, The White Witch oe the
Niobrara.

311—Buffalo Bill’s Fight for Life; or, Caught in i
Cave of Lions.

312—Buffalo Bill’s Death Jump; or, The Ogallalas’ io 7

Stand.
313—Buffalo Bill and the Fit of Horror; or, The Wha ite
Queen of Paradise Valley.
314—Butfalo Bill in the Jaws of Death; or, The Sean i
Sacrifice of Uncapah.

~-315—Buffalo Bill’s Aztec Runners; or, The Hate of the

Gilded Mexican.

316—Buffalo Bill’s Dance with Death; or, Peril on te
Golconda Gold Trail.

317—Buffalo Bill’s Redskin Rovers; or, Old Nick
Nomad’s Wolf Trick.

318—Buffalo Bill’s Fiery Eye; or, Red Thunderbo! :
Last Battle. ;

319—Buffalo Bills Mazeppa Ride; or, The Robh:
League of the Panhandle.

320—Buffalo Bill in the Land of Spirits; or, The Wi «

_ Hunters of the Hoodoo Mountains.

321—Buffalo Bill’s Gypsy Band; or, The Queen of *
Road Wanderers.

322—Buffalo Bill’s Maverick; or, The Man with the St
Arm.

323—Buffalo Bill, the White Whirlwind; or, cae
Dan, the Border Decoy Duck.

If you want any back numbers of this publication and cannot procure them from your newsdealer, they
ean be obtained from this office direct. Postage stamps taken the same as money.

STREET & SMITH, Publishers, 79 Seventh Avenue, NEW YORK CITY.