DEVOTED TO BORDER LIFE

Issued Weekly. By subscription $2.50 per year. Entered as Second-class Matter at the NV. Y. Post Office, by STREET & SMITH, 79-89 Seventh Ave., V, Y.
Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1908, in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, Washington, D. é.

 

 

  

 

   
  
 
  
   
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
  
  
  
  
 
 
 
 
  
 
  
 
 
 
 
  
  
    

ere area

{35> Beware of Wild West imitations of the Buffalo Bill Stories. They are about fictitious characters. The Bufisio
Bill weekly is the only weekly containing the adventures of Buffalo Bill, (Col. W. F. Cody), who is known all :
over the worid as the king of scouts. my

No. 397. pe. NEW YORK, December 19, 1908 * Price Five Cents. ©

BUFFALO BILL'S

it OR,

‘THE STILL HUNT ON THE SAN JUAN.

   

®

 

By the author of “BUFFALO BILL.”

 

CHAPTER t The -trail followed the river, and, at this point, a wide

flat stretched away from the river-bank, the rear of the
THE DANCE AT BAGLEY’S. - ranch-house coming sharp up against a ridge that bor-

dered the flat.
As the king of scouts jogged leisurely along on Bear — Two hitching-poles, in front of the house, were com-

| @ Paw, a sound of revelry was borne to his ears through  fortably filled with strings of tethered saddle-horses; the
- the moonlight—shrill notes of a fiddle, a scraping of feet, scout, however, found room for Bear Paw. Forcing the
and the gay voices of men and women. horse in between a couple of cayuses, the scout dis-
“That must be Bagley’s, just ahead,” said Buffalo Bill mounted, buckled the reins arqund the rail, loosened the

to himself. “I’m in no hurry to get back to the post, and cinches, and made his way to the ranch-house door.

the night’s young—I reckon I'll stop.” é :

: Balance on the corners, all,
Bagley was a small cattleman. The scout, before he ete Bone
left the military post that morning, had heard that Bagley — Ce Gate a von 2
|B was going to give a dance to the other small cattlemen of : a Ba

; 1?
the San Juan country. And honors to yer Johnny!

The section was sparsely settled, ranchers were few, The scout smiled as these words rushed at him through
and women folks were féwer, so the dance could not, by the open door. :
any possibility, be a large one. It was one of those rough Standing on the porch, he could look along a short hall
and ready frontier affairs, entirely respectable, but home- and into the dancing-room, an apartment which evidently
ly in conception and hilarious in execution. served, under ordinary circumstances, as eating-place for

No self-respecting American would allow his house to the ranch. =
be used for a fandango, or even a baile: an old-fashioned Blue-shirted men, with their trousers tucked in their
hoe-down was a dance of an entirely different sort. boots, were whirling calico-gowned women back and forth

The scout, drawing closer, made out the shape of the through the figures of an old-fashioned quadrille. The
_ low, rambling ranch-house, its windows agleam with light, scout’s view was limited by the frame of the door, and
and its rafters shaking with the merriment of the dancers. his eyes could take in only part of the scene. oN

4

4

  
 

The man who was seraping the fiddle and calling off,
however, was directly in his line of vision.

This individual sat on an empty box against the farther
wall of the dining-room. He was tall, and long-haired.
As the fiddle rose and fell in time with the brisk tune,
the player’s face rose and fell with it, and the scout could
see that his eyes were blank and sightless.

‘The fiddler wore an old frock coat, and a battered plug-
hat of an early vintage.
affect his vigor or enthusiasm in any way, for his voice
was lusty, while the “time” he kept was quick and steady.

Buffalo Bill, intending to have a share in this jollifica-
tion after a hard day in the saddle, didnot stand upon
ceremony or feel like an intruder. “Bids” to such a func-
tion were general, and a clean record was any man’s pass-
port to the dancing-floor.

He was about to pass into the short hall, when a shock-
headed man suddenly appeared in front of him, staring
him over, up and down, in a critical sizing. ‘

“What's yer label, podner?” the man asked civilly.

“Buffalo Bill.”

“Glory! Ye’re doin’ us proud, an’ Bagley’ll be tickled
ter death. We've all heerd how the sojers had got ye
here ter take keer of a job that was too much fer ’em—
a job, by snakes, that means a hull lot ter ev’ry last ranch-
er in the valley. Ye’re more’n welcome, pard! Beggin’
yer parding, howsumever, I’ll hev ter ask ye ter give up
yet belt an’ guns. Etikett an’ decorum aire things we
kain’t pass up at these functions.”

The scout laughed as he unbuckled his revolver-belt and
passed it, with its dangling forty-fives, over to his inter-
locutor.

“All right and proper, amigo,’ said he. “Among the
fair sex, weapons are always out of place. I’m only
dropping in for a little while, though. Was just passing

His blindness did not seem to:

THE BUFFALO

by on my way to the post, and the music and dancing at-

tfacted me. 4), ie

“Bagley won't let ye pull out, if I know him, till the
dance is plumb over. It ain’t often he has a caller like
Buffalo Bill.”

The shock-headed man darted into a small room off the
hall and hung the scout’s belt on a peg in the wall: then,
returning, he took the late comer familiarly by the arm.

“My name’s Andy Sharp,” he confided. Then he

pointed. “That’s my woman in the blue caliker, dancin’

with Steve Williams. My ranch is down by Whipsaw
Wash. Come tight along-in. They’re mighty nigh ready
ter ‘promenade all,’ anways.” . ee
Andy Sharp was right. Scarcely had he conducted the
scout in upon the dancing-floor when the blind fiddler
roared: “All promenade!” and the quadrille was finished
in a flare of jokes and laughter. _ See
There were probably seventeen or eighteen men and
women in the room, all told; these, as they moved toward
benohes along the wall, caught sight of the scout and
Sharp. Slowly the laughter and gay talk dribbled to si
lence while all eyes appraised the stranger. fae
“Bagley,” yelled Sharp, “yer humble roof is shore high-
ly honored. This gent was lopin’ by, but he hears ther -
fun goin’ on in here, an’ concludes ter stop. Folks, allow
me ter present William I’. Cody, otherwise an’ prineip’ly
Buffalo Bill): ee a
This announcement brought a burst of excited exclama-
tions. All had heard-of the king of scouts, and all knew

_ that he had been sent for by the military authorities to

deal with a situation which concerned the law and order

    

 

BILL STORIES.

of the entire valley. It was an unexpected pleasure to a

have the tall, handsome frontiersman among them.

The men of the gathering rushed forward with out- | ,
Bagley |

stretched hands, shouting an eager welcome. B
himself, gray and stooping, but with eyes still bright, el-
bowed his way to the front to grasp the scout’s palm cor-
dially. a
“Glad as blazes!” he cried, ‘an’ twicet as glad bekase

it’s somethin’ I didn’t expect. Let me interduce ye around

an’ find ye a pardner fer the next set.” -

_ The scout’s greeting warmed his heart. It was the
whole-souled welcome which Western hospitality always
has for the honest stranger.

He was “introduced around,” and made much of. |

Everybody asked him questions which principally con-
cerned his work in the valley, and had a direct bearing on
Match-a-kaw, the lawless individual who had supposedly
been making the military authorities so much trouble.
_The scout smilingly parried the questions, for the plans
of his campaign were such that he could not talk about
them. While he was in the center of a group of men and
women, keeping up a laughing cross-fire of talk, the blind
fiddler shouted his call to take your “pardners for the next
dance.” <
Buffalo Bill, how he hardly knew, found himself paired

with Milly Bagley, daughter of the rancher who was giy- _

ing the dance. There were many envious eyes cast at
Milly as she and her noted partner took their places on the
floor.

Then the music struck up, and the scout, notwithstand-

ing the day’s hard saddle-work, entered heartily into the.

spirit of the occasion. a

Andy Sharp, whose business it was to watch the front
of the house and take care of the garnered weapons in
the anteroom, posted himself in the doorway and clapped
and applauded with the delight that filled him.

Andy was not looking for trouble—not even dreaming
of it—neither was the scout, nor any of the others.

But Buffalo Bill, although he did not know it, had been
a marked man ever since he and his pards had reached
the post. During his day’s canter he had been followed;
and, when he had turned from the trail to: Bagley’s hitch-
ing-pole, a stealthy rider had whirled away and darted
off through the moonlight like an evil specter.

In the midst of the hilarious dance, events began
happen.

oe
The chuckling Andy, whose back was to the

 

 

ve

porch, was suddenly pushed from behifd and thrown’ ©

sprawling among the dancers in front of him.

The startled dancers looked up, saw a number of fierce-- _

looking white men and redskins crowding through ‘the
door, and the women gave vent to startled screams.

The intruders were armed, and carried their weapons
in full display. In obedience to a gruff order from their
leader, they spread out around the sides of the room, post-
ing themselves at doors and windows. ae ae

The first move of the scout’s hands had been toward
his waist; then, the next moment, he realized that his belt
and weapons were gone. Yet, even though unarmed, his
customary resourcefulness did not desert him, =

“Women to the rear!” he shouted, in stentorian tones. .
“Men, get in front of the women!” cee

The bewildered cattlemen, aroused from their stupor by

the scout’s ringing voice, pushed the women back and -

had so unexpectedly come in upon them.
be

‘Hatch-a-kaw!” cried Bagley, his voice thrilling with

aw,

ranged themselves forward to face the unsavory crew that

 

 

 

 

    

 
     
     

 

 

alarm as he stepped toward the low-browed, omiunous-
looking leader of the intraders. °

“Si,” came the guttural voice of Hatch-a-kaw, masking
a jeer of derision Saad defiance ; ““Hatch-a-kaw has come.
And you haven’t got your euns, eh? Ah, hal We have
trailed Buffalo Bill to this place, and he hae not his guns,
either. He goes with us. Maldito! We have come for

| Buffalo Bill, ‘and we will take him away—a prisoner.”

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

out of the place.

emcee

CHAPTER I],
THE ESCAPE.

N ever had Buffalo Bill been Fh so completely by sur-
prise as he was then. Had he had the least idea that he
was being followed, he would never have stopped at Bag-
ley’s and subjected the women to the fright and peril con-
sequent upon a visit from Hatch-a-kaw and his ill-omened
followers.

Hatch-a ‘kaw ~ was a half-breed rancher. He had a
bunch of cattle which he was:supposed to have got to-
gether with a branding-iron. It was supposed, too, that
he did many more unlawful things, not the least trouble-
some of which was “‘moonshining,” or the illegal manu-
facturing of “red-eye.”

Up to that moment, however, Hatch-a-kaw had had

. nothing absolutely proven against him, nor had he shown

his hand in open defiance of lawful authority. His black
reputation, and the unsavory character of his men—
“breeds” and Indians of many tribes—was enough to con-
demn him.

The scout, well to the front and ranging the room with
swift eyes, was planning to clear up the situation with as

little trouble as possible to Bagley and his guests. Hatch-

a-kaw and his followers numbered half & score. Four
guarded the doorway leading to the front of the house,
and six others kept watch and ward of every other open-
ing about the walls. In a frightened group in the center
of the room stood the women, the men forming a:cordon
about them.

“So you are Hatch-a-kaw, are you?’ queried the scout,
fixing his eyes on the swarthy face of the half-breed
leader.

“My name,
black eyes.

“And you want me: 9
- “Vou heard! Is the feniente deaf, or dull, that he mis-
takes my meaning?”

“Teniente?” half-smiled the scout.
dill, for | ant not that.
harm to Bagley or his guests?”

“We harm no one, so long as we get Buffalo Bill.”

“Why do you want me: a

A chuckling laugh escaped Hatch-a- -kaw.

“To make sure,” said he, “that you do not disturb the
peace of the valley.”

“And if I go with Ge you will leave at once?’

eS4: 3)

‘The scout turned to Dale, and the ore

“Friends,” he went on, “I am sorry to have caused you
this trouble—doubly sorry on‘accqunt of the ladies.
T will go with Hatch-a-kaw, and that will clear his gang
A. short hor se is soon curried!”

99

was the answer, with a taunting flash of

“Tt is you who are

et

THE BUFFALO

“Doy’t let Buffalo Bill get out of the room!

You are not here to do: any

But

 

eo :
BILE STORIES.« 3

“Vell not go with the scoundrel ! !” Bagley’s face was
set and determined. “What right has he ter ride in here
an’ take ye away from us?”’

Hatch-a-kaw shook his guns.

“My shooters give me the right!” he exclaimed.

“Then ye own yerself ter be what we've allers. sus-.
pected?” flared Bagley; “a road-agent, cattle-thief,
an’. 39 5 &

“Diable!”’ cut in Hatch-a-kaw.

 

“Tf the ‘sefior is too

free with his tongue, he must look out.”

“Let me manage this, Bagley,” said the scout. “You
must think of the ladies, man. There must be no shoot-
ing. It is better that I should go with the scoundrels.”

“They Il kill ye!” breathed Bagley.

“Don’t you mind us,’ spoke up Milly. “Hatch-a-kaw
and his men won't dare shoot. If they did, it would give
the soldiers an excuse to go after ’em, and wipe ’em out.
Don’t let Buffalo Bill go, father.”

“Thet’s what I say,’ spoke up Andy Sharp.

“Me, too,” chipped in Steve Williams. “Hatch-a-kaw’s
ringin’ a bluff. Call it!’

- Just at this point some one lifted a chair, whirled it,
and broke the big oil-lamp that hung from the ceiling in
the center of the room. This was the only lamp that
lighted the place, and the room was instantly plunged in
darkness. Frightened screams went up from some of the
women, mingling with defiant shouts from Bagley’s men
and angry oaths from Hatch-a-kaw and his followers.

“Guard the windows and doors!” yelled Hatch-a-kaw.
Keep your
places, every man of you!’

“TI had nothing to do with that!” roared Buffalo Bill.
“Don’t fire a shot, Hatch-a-kaw! If any one in this room
is hurt by you or your men, I'll see to it that your gang is
cleaned out of the valley. I have pards at the post who
are waiting for a move like this on your part!’

“We'll hang onter ye, Buffalo Bill!” shouted a voice.
“We afn’t goin’ ter let Hatch-a-kaw take ye away. He's
bluffin’.”’

But the scout felt in his bones that Hatch-a-kaw was
not bluffing; and the scout was determined to prevent —
trouble at any cost.

“T. will not hurt the women,” cried Hatch-a-kaw, “and
they can leave the room by this door—but no man must
go! 42?

The cries of the women were confusing, and it was

39

not to be wondered at that Hatch-a -kaw wanted to be

rid of them.

“We'll stay here,”
safer here than
“Hesh !’’ whispered Bagley in her ear.
the women, gal, aw’ git the guns. Sabe?”

The girl had not thought ‘of that,

PAM vight,* she cried, catching her father’s hint.
We'll go. > :
’ One at a time the women passed to the door in the dark,
and slipped by the groping hands of Hatch- -a-kaw and
those with him. —

“Hyar’s a man, Hatch!” shouted one of the leader’s
companions. OB

“Turn him back!” growled Hatch-a-kaw, thrusting out
his hand to grope over the form. ---

He’ s got er fiddle an’ er plug-hat———”

“Ugh! It’s the blind fiddler. He'll be more in a way
than the women. Kick him out!”

The man was lifted into the hall with a heavy” kick.

‘said Milly to bee father; “we'll be.

39

 

“Go out with

  
‘i | THE BUFFALO.

Milly, on her attempt to reach the room where the re-
volvers had been stowed, suffered grievous disappoint-
ment. The door was closed, and an armed man stood in
front of it, and ordered her sternly out of the house.

“I can’t get the guns!” she cried, her voice shrill and
despairing.

Hatch-a-kaw, who had guessed that the women might
try this, gave a loud, scornful laugh,

“Strike a light!” he shouted. “You must have some
candles in there.”

“No candles,” answered Bagley, “an’ the lamp is busted
so it can't be used.

“You men have matches,”
of you light one.”

— Silence followed.

O1t you don’t want us to shoot,”
fiercely, “do as I say, pronto.”

“Light up, boys!” called Bagley. “I reckon thar ain’t
nothin’ ter gain by hangin’ back. We'll even up with this
whelp later.”

The next moment little points of light began to flare
outin the room, The old-fashioned sulfur lucifers burned
slowly, and a little time elapsed before they came into full
glow.

The gleams brought out the interior of the room with
dusky distinctness, and an astonishing discovery was

made.

Buffalo Bill was not in the room!

“Where is he?’ yelled Hatch-a-kaw.
gone? Who let him out?” -

“Him no git past here!’ was the report that traveled
about the walls where Hatch-a-kaw’s men were on guard.

Then another discovery was made, equally startling in
its significance.

The blind fiddler, who supposedly had left the room,
was still seated on his box. His hat was gone, and so
were his coat and his fiddle.

The intruders stared. Bagley and his friends likewise
stared. As the truth dawned upon those in the room,
laughter and jeers went up from Bagley and his friends,
and fierce oaths fell from the lips of Hatch-a-kaw and
his men,

“Buffalo Bill fooled ’em!”

“He got right past Hatch yy makin’ b’leeve he was
Blind Jerry!”

“Fe even toted the fiddle an’ wore the plug- -hat!”

“Whoop-yah! Ill back Buffalo Bill agin’ any outfit
o roughs, bar none!’

Then, from somewhere outside, came the tele
voice of the scout.

OE you want me, Hatch-a-kaw, come and get me!

The voice was followed by a patter of receding hoofs.

“Caballos!” whooped Hatch-a-kaw. “Spurs and quirts
on the jump, every- man of you!”

went on Hatch-a-kaw ; Veach

went on Hatch-a-kaw

““Where’s he

1?

Every one of the intruders rushed for the door and ~

tumbled pell-mell out of the house, tight at the heels of
their leader.

Then, a little later, Bagley and his friends heard the
thump of hoofs taking the trail in frantic pursuit of the
king of scouts. ~

“What do you think of that, father: >” cried Milly, her
~ eyes sparkling, as she hurried back into the dancing-room
with the other women. “Buffalo Bill fooled the lot of
emi! Did you, or any one else, ever hear of anything
like it?”

“T kain’t hardly figger out how it was done,” answered

BILL STORIES.
the bewildered Bagley. “Buffalo Bill got clear, an’ got
the gang away from here, without a shot bein’ fired!
sartinly beats all cfeation how he ever done it.”
“How was it, Jerry! ?” demanded Steve Williams.
“He came an’ whispered to me,” answered the blind
fiddler.
says, “ ‘I'll leave ‘em safe for you at the corner of the
house.’ I didn’t know. what he wanted of ‘em no more’n
any one else. Say, I wish more than I can tell that I
could see. A man like him must be worth looking at.”
“He’s the boy that’s come here’ ter stop the cattle-
rustlin’!” exclaimed Andy Sharp.
_ “An’ the moonshinin’!’ added Steve Williams.
“An’ all the other unlawfulness thet’s goin’ on in the

valley!’ finished the jubilant Bagley. “He'll make good,

too, if this is a sample o his work. I i off my 1 ter

Buffalo Bill, the king 0’ “scouts!”

CHAPTER III.
GETTING A LINE ON HATCH.

“It’s about time the scout was getting back, isn’t it,
Nomad?’

Lieutenant Baker had been dining old Nick Nomad
and Wild Bill Hickok at the mess; the meal was over, and
they were now smoking a three-cornered talk. Buffalo
Bill had ridden away in the morning, taking with him his
Piute pard, Little Cayuse, and the three Apache trailers,
Yuppah, Chappo, and Pedro,

“Waugh!” exclaimed Nomad, hitching about in his
chair, “T been expectin’ Buffler an’ the reds back all ar-

ternoon, but ye kain’t most allers tell when thet pard o”

outs’ll git back, the times he goes on er trail.’

“It’s a blind trail he’s on, anyhow,” spoke up Wild
Bill. “You brought him here, I take it, to get a line on
Hatch-a-kaw. You-all are pretty sure Hatch is bad medi-
cine, but you haven’t been able to prove it. Eh,
tentente?”

v Chat shot a the bell, Hickok,” replied Baker.
“Everybody in the valley i is dead sure Hatch isn 't a peace-
able rancher, and we're all pretty well convinced that he

~ rustles cattle, does a little in the hold-up line now and

then, and manufactures valley-tan in direct defiance of the
internal revenue laws. But to catch him—that’s the point.
His moonshine plant makes more trouble for the valley
than I know how to tell.”

“Aire ye shore Hatch hes got one?”

vit's pretty near a cinch. Hatch is ne most stispicious
character in the valley.”

“So ye lay et ter him?”

“Why not? Who else would you lay it to? ”

Nomad grunted and looked into the smoke that floated
above his shagg y head.

Bill.

It

“*T want your fiddle, an’ your hat, an’ coat,” he

“What sort of a man is Hatch-a-kaw ?” queried Wild

 

%

Three days Ree Wild Bill would have had no inter-

est in Hatch; but, now that Hatch’s trail was to crossthat
of the scout and his pards, everything connected with eas
“suspect’”’ had an appeal.

“He’s a puzzling mixture of Ute, Mexican, white man,
and hot tamale,’ observed Baker. “His ranch, which he
calls Bajo Sol, would be better named if it was called

@cbe

 
 

 

 

 

 

  
  
  

     
         
     
     
      

“He'll join us later.”
“Heap quiet, eh?” observed Nomad nervously, ke

 

‘Hell’s Half-acre.’ See the place once, ae youll un-
derstand. A million in cold cash wouldn’t tempt me to
drop in there for a ten-minute call. And as for Hatch’s
men ” The lieutenant shook his head and gave a
long-drawn-out whistle. “They're mostly renegade Utes,

 

with now and then a white to whom you'd give the whole ©

road in passing, and a sprinkling of breeds.
out itself is enough to spell trouble.”

“But still you can’t get a line on Hatch!”

“If the scout finds that moonshine plant, Hickok, we'll
have a big enough line on him.”

“Tt’s a ‘still’ hunt, all right,” smiled Wild Bill, “in more
senses of the word than one. By gorry, Pil bet all Fates
gets a little excitement out of it.”

“Hyar’s hopin’,”’ said Nomad.

It was half an hour before sunset, and just ‘hen the
first call was sounded for parade. Over in the barracks
the rank and file could be heard getting into its boots,

The lay-

_ hats, and coats, and up and down officers’ row there was

a corresponding bustle of preparation.

“Take care of yourselves, amigos,’ said Baker, “until

_Ireturn. Don’t hang back on the cigars.”

Baker got into his helmet and other fixings and went
out. Nomad and Hickok, following as far as the porch,
took chairs and watched the parade-ground passively.

The lines debouched from their quarters and formed—

two companies and a single troop. The sight didn’t count

for much as a military spectacle.

The sergeant of the guard and two privates ranged up
alongside the flag, battalion was formed, and the com-
manding officer, on receiving the adjutant’s salute, or-
dered him to his post and began the drill.

“Carry, hup! Present, hup! Shoulder, hup!”

The white gloves twinkled up and down the line, and

the descending sun glimmered brightly on the fixed bay-

onets,
“Thar ain’t many of ’em, thet’s er fact,” observed No-

mad lazily, “but et’s some purty, jest ther same.”
“Some,” breathed Wild Bill sententiously, “but the

whole kit and boiling of ‘em conta t locate that still or

get a line on Hatch.”

ots We, Us an Comp ny er thet,” grinned Nomad.
“We ain’t got no plumes on our head-gear, ner no stripes
on our pants, ner eperlets on our shoulders, but somehow
er other us ole rawhides aire purty good ter fall back
on.”

“Retreat” echoed out, merging into the hollow boom
of the sunset-etin; the flag slid down the staff, and the
blue ranks marched away.

Baker, climbing back up the porch, put off his helmet
and opened his coat.

“T thought there was a Dutchman traveled with the
scout’s outfit?” queried Baker.

“Off an’ on,” qualified Nomad.

“He was a good deal ‘off’ the last time he traveled with
us,” chuckled Wild Bill.

“He on’y seemed ter be ‘off, ” spoke up Nomad, “
was onter his job all ther time. He played crazy so as ter
let his wife cut loose from him. Waugh, but thet thar
woman was er cyclone.”

“The baron went to Denver,” explained Wild Bill.

ing the daylight fade from the parade-ground. “No like
um. Ef I had my way, my hat ’u’d hang in ther place
whar that’s somethin’ doin’ ther hull blessed time.” He

THE BUFFALO BILL STORIES. sg

  

      
   

threw up his arms and yawned ponderously. “Ain’t thar
somethin’ we kin do, Hickok, ter relieve ther monotony ?”

“Wish there was,’ > answered Hickok.

“There’s a dance at Bagley’s,” suggested the lieuten-
ant. “Why don’t you ride over 2”

“Don’t reckon thar’ll be any ey er rough-house
work at Bagley’s, do ye?”

‘eure not!
valley.”

Nomad shook his head.

“Way I feel now,” he remarked, “nothin’ but er knock-
down an’ dragout’ll do me. Buffler hadn’t no bizness ter
traipse off by himself an’ leave Wild Bill an’ me ter twig-
gle our thumbs an’ cool our heels. Ain’t a feller got ter
hev some excitement ?”

“He has,” agreed Hickok.

“Kin a feller thet’ 8 used ter powder-puddin’ with bul-
let-sass, git along an’ feel hearty on er dress-parade, two
bugle-calls, an’ er sunset-gun ?””

“He can’t,” declared Wild Bill. “Temiente,’ he went
on, turning to Baker, “how far is Bajo Sol, Hatch’s
ranch, from here?”

“Twelve miles by the road; cross country it’s eight.
But no one wants to go cross country at night.”

“What’s the cross-country route?”

“All up and down. It takes a lot of traveling to go the
eight miles, and traveling of the breakneck kind, at that.
See those white peaks 2”

Leaning forward in his chair, Baker pointed to two
ghostly, pinnaclelike uplifts that reared themselves over
the roof of the barracks.

“T see them,” answered Wild Bill.

“Well,” went on the lieutenant, “the cross-country road
to Bajo Sol leads that way—between the white peaks, then
with all the dips, angles, and nerve-racking formations
hits right out for Hatch-a-kaw’s rendezvous.”

Wild Bill got up, stretched himself, and tossed away
his cigar.

oN ick, said he, pulling up his belt a notch, “let’s get

Hide-rack and Ajax, and strike off between the peaks.”

“What fur, Wild Bill?”

“Why, for Bajo Sol.
Hatch.”

“Waugh!” jubilated old Nomad, scrambling to his
feet. “Ye hit me plumb, Wild Bill. We'll drop inter
saddle-leather' and take all ther dips, angles, an’ narve-
rackin’ formations ther tentente is tellin’ us of.”

“Why, you're crazy |’ ’ fluttered Baker, excited in a mo-
ment. “You can’t get over that trail at night! First
thing you know, you'll land upside down at the foot of a
cliff.”

Never will? disagreed Nomad calmly. -“We’re a
couple er wildcats, an’ “allers lands on our feet.”

“But,” went on the startled lieutenant, “if you really
do get to Bajo Sol, Hatch and his gang will put you down
and out as quick as you could snuff a candle.” __

“Fe’ll have to spell ‘able’ first,” said Wild Bill reckless-
ly; "eh, Nick?”

“Shore, = agreed Nomad, °
ways, ef we won't b’leeve he knows how.”

“Vou are really going to take the short trail se Bajo
Sol?” demanded Baker, as though he thought the whole
matter a joke.

“Watch our smoke,’ suggested Wild Bill.

“IT ought to report this,” mumbled Baker, “and have
you two mad men put in restraint.”

Let’s make an evening call dn

Bagley’ s one of the nicest ranchers in the

‘an’ he'll hev ter spell et two -

   

 

        
       
 
 

 

 

  

THE BUFFALO

"We got ther bit in our eet ” laughed Nomad,
we're civilians, temiente. Ye kain’t stop us. ee a
Hickok !”

Nomad and Hickok started down from the porch.

“What will Buffalo Bill say to this when he gets back ?”
asked the lieutenant.

“My compliments to Pard Cody,” answered Wild Bill,
looking back, “and tell him to come after us.”

“Maybe he’ll have to come after you, if you get away.
You're eran

“Jest huntin’ fer excitement,”
well be crazy ef we don't git et.”

They crossed the parade-g “ground in the econ of the
stables. Presently they reappeared, strong, masterful fig-
ures, slashing at a gallop for the post-gate.

They shouted a gay farewell to Baker as they vanished
from the enclosure, and then, a little later, the lieutenant
heard them pounding up the “rise” that lay between the
. ghostly white peaks. :

“Td like to find somebody and bet they'll never get
back to Fort Ellsworth,’ ruminated Baker, “I never
heard of such a foolhardy move as this!”

4
answered Nomad, “but

CHAPTER IV:

ON THE PRAT,

This, the scene of the scout’s present labors, lies in the
country where the corners of Colorado, Utah, and Ne-
vada come close together. It is a rough and almost trail-
less country, heaped with mountains, gashed with deep
cafions, and cut through with swift and treacherous rivers.

There are green, fertile stretches between the hills, and
the valley of the San Juan, at that time, was notable for
its herds.

Buffalo Bill’s clever escape from Bupley 3 was de-

signed not so much for his own safety as for that of the
/ women and men, for whom his presence was a grave
peril.

He was hustled outof the house. What he wanted was
his weapons, but the man guarding the door behind which
the hardware was stored prevented him from making an
attempt to secure his arms.

The scout might easily have worsted the man, but he
could hardly have done so without a struggle, which
would have caused an alarm. Just then his policy was to
make his flight secure, and to lure Hatch-a- “kaw and his
followers along the trail after him.

So, leaving his forty-fives behind him, he went on out
into the night, laid the fiddle, the hat, and the coat at the
corner of the house, took Bear Paw away from the hitch-
ing-pole, mounted and rode to the door.

The horses of Hatch-a-kaw and his men were tied to
a tree at a little distance.

When he thought the proper moment had arrived, Buf-

falo Bill gave his shout, pointed Bear Paw along the trail

in the directiou of Ellsworth, and plied the spurs.

He did not want to get too far in the lead of the rene-
gades, but planned keeping close enough so as to encour-
age his pursuers to continue the chase. Without arms as
he was, this would have been dangerous had not the scout
a faithful ally in Bear Paw. Between the scout and cap-

 

 

BILL STORIES.

ture lay speed such as no other horse possessed in those
hills.

Presently the rattle of hoofs reached the scout’s ears
from behind. He pulled down a little to listen, and the
tattoo of racing feet grew louder and louder.

At that point the “trail was a straightaway stretch,
flooded by moonlight.

The scout cantered easily, aiming to let the pack come
close enough to see him.

That he was seen was evidenced by a loud chorus of
yells, and the sharp crack of revolvers.
up the dust in the trail, patted against stones at the trail-
side, and buzzed harmlessly past the scout’s head.

This was close enough, and he shook out the reins and
gave Bear Paw the irons. The gallant horse answered
the touch of the rowels with a leap, and was off once
more at the top of his pace.

When sounds of pursuit had died out, the scout drew |

rein again, only to jump away, as before, when his pur-
suers thundered into hearing.

In this way he played with the Hatch-a-kaws for many
miles.

Why, he asked himself as he rode, was Hatch-a-kaw
so anxious to capture him that he came openly to Bag-
ley’s ranch-house?

Had Hatch-a-kaw learned that the military authorities
had sent for the scout? And was Hatch-a-kaw so afraid
of what the scout might find that he wanted to capture
him and keep him from carrying out his work?

As yet, Hatch-a-kaw was merely suspected of doing
criminal deeds.

on him.

But this move of the owner of Bajo Sol made. the
whole business look bad for him. The attempted capture
of the scout was a tacit confession of guilt, and of a de-
sire to shirk consequences.

These things flickered through Buffalo Bill’s mind as
he galloped.

At last, realizing that he was coming to a 1 fork in the
trail w here, if matters had gone well, Little Cayuse and
the Apaches would be w aiting for him, he kept Bear Paw
to a fierce gait that completely distanced ihe: Hatch- -a-
kaws.

At the fork he drew in his panting mount, threw back
his head, and gave the bark of a timber- wolf. It was
answered fon the dark, and four figures came trailing
out from among the rocks—Little Cayuse, Pedro, Chappo,

jand Yuppah.

Indianlike, they drew close, and halted without word
or question.
at the condition of the scout’s horse.

“Cayuse and the Apaches have been in the hills back :

of Bajo Sol?” asked the scout.
“Ai,” answered the Piute.
“What did you find? Anything?”
“We find um littl’ corral, mebbyso branding-corral. 2
“A good place for changing brands, che ce
AA, Pa-has-ka.”

“Well, Cayuse, that’s not the end of the stick we're _
It’s the place the whisk is manu--
Too much bad whisk makes —

trying to pick up.
factured that we're after.
bad Injun, too much bad Injun makes trouble for pony-
soldiers and honest ranchers. You sabe?”

“Me sabe. No find um.”

“Now, listen, Cayuse. On my way ae the trail L

 

Bullets kicked -

The suspicion was strong, indeed, but.
the military authorities had not been able to secure a line

Nevertheless, they must all have wondered

 

  
    
   
    
  
   
 
    
  
   
 
  
 
  

  

  
  
 
   
  

 

 

 

    
 

   
   
      

 
 
     

 

 

THE BUFFALO

stopped at the rancher Bagley’s, the place of the dance.

Hatch-a-kaw with many men came to capture me. 1 got

away, and led the Hatch-a-kaws away. They are behind
me now, somewhere. Cayuse and the Apaches will scout
back along the trail, and, if they can find the Hatch-a-
kaws, they will follow them and watch like weasels. -

Mebbyso the Hatch-a-kaws will lead Cayuse and the
Apaches to the place where the bad whisk is made. Do
not let the Hatch-a-kaws see you—they are many and
you are few. Be wise, Cayuse. If you discover any-

thing, come at once to Ellsworth and report. Sabe?”

The boy drew his form up proudly in the moonlight.

It always meant much to Little Cayuse to be entrusted |

with an important mission by Pa-has-ka.

“All same sabe, Pa-has-ka.”’

“Then, adios. I ride at once to the post.”

Gathering his Apaches, the Piute gave them guttural
orders. They grunted their satisfaction over the pros-
pect of active work against half-breeds and Utes, and
wriggled their quits over their ponies’ backs,

As they glided in one direction through the moonlight,
the scout glided in the other.

Now, had old Nomad and Wild Bill Hickok taken the
easy trail to Bajo Sol, they might have met the scout on
the road; but the trapper and the Laramie man, recklessly
courting every peril as a relief to the monotony of post
life, had taken the dangerous cross-cut.

Thus, ignorant of the fact\that two of his pards were
en route to the hang-out of the Hatch-a-kaws, the scout
galloped leisurely onward, and down the slope to the flat
where the buildings of the post gloomed blackly in the
moonlight.

The scout believed that, at last, he had a line on Hatch.
The hostile intrusion at Bagley’s was enough to warrant
the arrest of Hatch, and his imprisonment at the fort
until the suspicions against him could be investigated.

Already the scout was planning the arrest. It would
not do to march against Hatch with a squad of soldiers.
A large body of men was cumbersome, and would adver-
tise the fact that Hatch was wanted, thus enabling him
to sneak off into the hills and hide. —

The arrest, as the scout was planning it, should be made
by himself, old Nomad, and Hickok. They three, scout-
ing toward Bajo Sol and watching their chances, could

ick Hatch-a-kaw out from among his men and ride off
with him to Ellsworth. oe

In a similar manner had the king of scouts penetrated.
into the heart of the Sioux country long before, and stolen
the mischief-maker, Lightning-that-strikes, from under
the very noses of his full-blood guards.

“Tl! put this up to the colonel,” said the scout to him-
self. “While Hatch is out of the way, well find his
still, if he has one; and, if we can’t find his still, we'll
make sure that he has doctored the brands on some of the
cattle which he claims belong to him. There are more
ways than one to skin this Ps cat and clear that
gang out of the valley” @ :

Passing the sentry at *he gate, the scout rode into the
enclosure, put up his horse, and made his way across the
quiet parade-ground toward Lieutenant Baker’s bachelor
quarters. aaa
‘There was a light in the sitting-room, and the scout
could look through the window and see Baker at cards
with Captain Lundgren and Lieutenants Marcus and

Farrel. ae Ss ON, CC OLE NN

BILL STORIES. pe Y

In this place the scout and his white pards roomed; so
he opened the door and entered without ceremony. .
“Cody, by all that’s good!” exclaimed Baker, looking
up from the cards. ee
“Learn anything on your scout?” queried Lundgren.
“A little, captain,” replied Buffalo Bill. “Where are
Nomad and Hickok? Haven’t gone to bed, have they?’
“Hardly,” answered Baker. . “They’ve gone 2
“Gone? “Wheres! > ae iC
“Crazy, first off. If they hadn't gone crazy, Cody,
they’d never have hiked out over the cross-country trail

 

_for Bajo Sol.”

The scout stared. ee
~“Do you mean to say they’ve gone to the headquarters
of that cutthroat gang, just the two of them?” :

“That's where they went. I tried to argue them out of
it, but they were lonesome for excitement. There was no
curbing them. Thought they’d drop in on Bajo Sol and
have a little visit with Hatch. Did you ever hear of such
rank foolishness?”

“No,” answered the scout gloomily. “Under ordinary
circumstances that move would have been risky enough,
but now they'll have to fight if they save their scalps.
Hatch’and a lot of his gang tried to capture me at Bag-
ley’s. I got away, but I left them in a sweet temper.
Nomad and Hickok will find that they’ll be received with
open arms. When did they go?’

“About seven-thirty.”

A sentinel’s call drifted in from outside:
number three, ten o'clock, and all’s well.”

“Ten o'clock!” muttered the scout, “and there’s no
overtaking them. Well, they've got a couple of good
heads and strong arms, so Vll not worry. Buenos noehes,
campadres!”

Nevertheless, the scout wid worry, as he climbed the
stairs and undressedfor bed, but he soothed his fears
somewhat with the thought that Cayuse and the Apaches
were also to be in the vicinity of Bajo Sol.

“Post

ell

CHAPTER V.
THE ROCK-WALLED RANCH,

It was a wild, hair-raising ride which old Nomad and
Wild Bill Hickok took that night. Had not Hide-rack
and Ajax, the horses ridden by the pards, been trained to
difficult trails, there would have been a tragedy some-
where between Ellsworth and Bajo Sol. ot)

In the first place, the trail was little more than a bridle-

path—and a mighty obscure bridle-path at that. Although
the darkness was illuminated by a bright moon, yet from

the place where the bridle-path wound upward between
the white pinnacles almost to the “jumping-off place” at

Bajo Sol, crags, and peaks, and ridges threw it into fu-

nereal gloom. ee oe
Once Hide-rack’s hind feet slipped over the edge of a

natrow shelf, and only his front hoofs kept himself and’

his rider from tumbling backward to certain death. In
answer to the old trapper’s cry of distress, Wild. Bill

promptly threw his rope. Nomad secured it to his stout

saddle-horn, and Ajax, laying himself out on the cable,
snaked Hide-rack and Nomad back into the pathy...

 
   
 

 

THE BUFFALO

» (Are you
Wild Bill. ,

“Waugh!” returned the trapper. “I reckon I am. This
hyar is somethin’ like livin’.”

“Tt came within an ace of being something like the oth

er thing,” returned Wild Bill, dropping his coiled rope
over the pommel and spurring on. :
_ Occasionally they came to breaks in the trail—fissures
of unknown depth and width. Here the horses snorted,
and drew back. A jab of the spurs lifted them over the
gulf, and fortunately they landed in safety each time, but
always it was a leap in the dark for Wild Bill, who rode
ahead. cae

Then, too, there were places where the path seemed to
stand straight up and down, and made it look as though
wings would be necessary to get over it. Here the horses
slid, if the path was a descent, or pawed and scrambled
if it happened to be a climb.

There was one bad spill during a nerve-racking slide
down a wall. Nomad, following Wild Bill too closely,
rushed down upon him. Hide-rack and Ajax were over-
turned, Nomad and Wild Bill were unseated, and horses
and riders landed in a confused tangle at the foct of the
descent. . '

“By gorry,’ cried Wild Bill, as he leaped clear of the
horses’ thrashing hoofs, “I’m beginning to think that
Baker knew what he was talking abdut.”

“Waal,” answered old Nomad reflectively, “oncet in er

‘ mo ce
getting excitement enough, pard?” inquired

while ye’ll run onter a dough-boy thet hes er few correct |

idees. Ain’t sorry ye come, aire ye, Wild Bill?”

“Not so you can notice it, Nick. I’d hate like Sam Hill,
though, to break one of the horses’ legs. When we take
the next slide, don’t tag me so close.”

As they proceeded farther and farther, their difficulties
seemed to increase. ae :

“Is thar a fool human thet ever tries ter navigate this
hyar ole goat-path in his sober senses?” demarided the
old trapper, as Hide-rack slipped and sat down on a
boulder. one
“Well,” chuckled Wild Bill, from somewhere in the
darkness, “‘here’s us, Nick.”

“We didn’t know nothin’ erbout et when we started!”

“Baker told us——”

“I thort he was workin’ ter skeer us out.”

“Want to go back?” ee

“Druther take chances on what lays ahead than on what
weve come over. Mebbyso thar’ll be fun enough ter
make up fer our trouble when we git ter Bajo Sol.”

“We'll hope so, anyhow. If Hide-rack has rested long
enough, have him get up and come on.” ~ ae

Nomad dug in with the irons, and Hide-rack got off
the boulder and trailed after Ajax and Wild Bill.

From this on, a streak of luck seemed to develop for
the pards. The bridle-path struck a straightaway stretch,
led them over a “hogback,” in through a lot of scattered
boulders, and finally stopped at the brink of a precipice.

The “jumping-off place” at the top of the cliff lay full
in the moonlight. But for this fact a serious accident
might have happened. us
__ “Here’s the end of the trail, Nick,” announced Wild

Bill, drawing Ajax sharp up at the edge of the “drop.”

“Then whar in thunder is Bajo Sol?” demanded No-

mad. “We sartinly hevn’t passed ther ranch.”

“It's below us, pard,” said the Laramie man, pointing

_ downward. “Great place for a robbers’ roost, too, if ’m_

BILE STORIES.

“any j udge. I reckon Baker knew pretty well what he was

talking about,’ he remarked, once more. oo

The old trapper spurred alongside Wild Bill, and cast
a curious glance downward. a mh :

What he saw was a huge circular “sink,” buttressed
about with perpendicular rock walls. The height of the
walls, as Nomad judged, was about fifty feet.. Measured
directly across, from wall to wall, perhaps the circumfer-
ence of the “sink” was a hundred yards.

A little east of the center of the “sink’’ was a large and
comfortable adobe hotise. Back of the house, with the
cliffside forming one wall, was a lean-to stable.

Between the house and the stable, and on the side of
the “sink’’ opposite the point where the pards were stand-
ing, was a pool of water.

The moonlight, droppiag full into the strange, natural
depression, afforded the trapper and the Laramie man a
good view of the rock-walled ranch.

“Well, well,” muttered Wild Bill, ‘what do you think
of that for a lay-out, pard?”

“Mebbyso et’s all right fer Hatch-a-kaw an’ his gang,”
replied the trapper, “but ef I was runnin’ er strong-arm ~
outht, I wouldn’t like et.” va :

“Why not?”
“To blame’ easy ter climb up hyar an’ run in er drop-
fite’ .

“There’s something in that, too.” :

“How d’ye reckon ther Hatch-a-kaws git inter Bajo
Sol? I don’t opine their hosses aire able ter take er fifty-
foot jump.” oe

“Tf Tm not mistaken,” said Wild Bill, “there’s an open- -
ing through the wall on the east side. Can’t you see it?”

“Reckon ye’re right, Wild Bill. No lights down thar,
an’ everythin’s quiet. Wonder ef thar ain’t.any one ter
home?”

“Doesn’t look that way.”
“Tough luck ef we’re goin’ ter be knocked out of an
evenin’ call, an’ not run inter any excitement arter all
our trouble gittin’ hyar.” :

“We can make our call, just the same, Nick. While
the gang’s away we can prospect around and see if we can
locate that still.’

“Shore we kin!” exclaimed the old trapper, delighted
with the idea. “But how aire we goin’ ter git down
thar? Sartinly thar must be some way. This hyar trail
kain’t come ter ther clift an’ jump off this away. Ef we
hunt eround, mebbyso we kin diskiver how ter eit down
ter thet hole through the wall.” ‘

“We'd be only wasting time, old pard,” returned the
Laramie man. “What's the use of taking our. horses
down there, anyway? We'll splice our riatas and slide
down, leaving our mounts up here; then, if we find «it
necessary to make a quick getaway, we can shin up the
ropes, hit saddle-leather—and vamose.” eo

“Hickok, yore brain is shore gittin’ in some good licks.
Thar’s my rope—hitch et ong yourn,”’ |

~ Nomad tossed his riata to Wild Bill, and the two ropes
were quickly and securely joined. Then, while the trap-
per was leading the horses away and making them fast,
the Laramie man hitched the upper end of the spliced
riatas to a boulder and dropped the free end into the
“sink.” When Nomad got back to the top of the cliff,
everything was in readiness.

“Til go fust, pard,” said Nomad, sitting down and ma-
king ready for the descent. aes

 
p> THE BULPALO

“T was figuring on going first myself, Nick,” answered
noes Bul.

“Tedunno as my neck is wuth any more’n yours, Hickok,
so I mout jest as well eve ther ropeg er tryout as ter
let you.’

“Oh, the ropes will hold you, all right, and that boulder
they’ re hitched to weighs about three tons. I don’t think
you're heavy enough to pull the rock over.’

Nomad chuckled as he gripped the rope and lowered
himself downward.

For a few minutes, the spliced riatas strained and
twisted under the trapper’s floundering movements.
Kneeling on the brink, Wild Bill watched his dusky fig-
ure as it slipped farther-and farther downward.

Then, all at once, Wild Bill heard sounds at the eastern
side of the wall. Peering i in that direction, he saw horse-
men filing through the opening that led into the “sink.”

Nomad, for some reason ot other, did not seem to hear
the approaching riders.

The rope ceased to strain and twist under his weight.
Just.as Wild Bill saw this, and made up his mind that
his pard had reached the bottom, the trapper’s voice came
booming up frém below.

“Hyar 1 am, pard, right side up with ground ter spare.
Kim erlong, an’ [Il wait fer ver. iy thar’s any whisky-
mill in this lay- -out, well spot et noe ther Hatch-a-kaws
show up an’ interfere with——”

Nomad’s words were cut short by a volley. The
Hatch-a-kaws, just returning from their bootless la-
bors of the night, were in no mood to deal lightly with
intruders.

Bullets slapped against the cliff, and Wild Bill had
barely time to throw himself down behind the boulder to
which the spliced riatas were tied. Not a slug touched
him, but he hardly dared hope that the old trapper had
played in equally cood fortune.

The two pards had gone hunting trouble, that night,
and they seemed to have found more than they knew
what to do with.

GHAPIER Ve.
NOMAD’S LOSING FIGHT.

No matter how hard-pressed the old eae might be,
he was never known to lose his head.. He was a mightily
surprised man when the guns began to go off, because he
had not the least notion ‘that there was a Hatch- -a-kaw
within miles of him. /

The whistle of the pallets and the slap and ring of
them as they hit the wall and glanced, warned him to ‘take
immediate measures for the “safety of his person.
stitictively he dropped, and flattened out on the rock sat
the base of the cliff.

“Tyar’ s er go!” he muttered. “Think o’ ther foetee
ness 0’ me, tunin’ up my bazoo with all them Hatch-a-
kaws clost enough ter listen ! Waugh!
commenced shakin’ the lead out 0’ their euns. Et’s plumb
mirac’lous they didn't fill me fuller o’ holes than a pepper-
box, but so fur I ain’t even scratched. No use waitin’ fer
Hickok. He’s fifty feet over this bunch o’ trouble, an’ ef
he’s got any sense he’ll stay thar. Es Tet; tie, I'd better
crawl. Ther Hatch-a-kaws aire comin’ this way.”

Thereupon the old ee began to work his way

le

No wonder they

BILL STORIES. Q

_around the foot of the wall, huggine the shadow as wei
as he could, and making in the direction of the stable.

Climbing the rope was out of the question. He had
thought of that, but, while he was swinging in mid-air,
he would have made too good a mark for the guns of the
gang,

But getting away on all fours, with half a score of
horsemen following and looking for him, was altogether
too big an order for Nomad.

A clatter of hoofs sounded*alongside of him, and came
to a scraping halt.

The trapper arose to be ‘knees, both hands reaching
for his forty-fives.

“Pull a gun,’ growled a voice, “and we'll make a lead-
mine out of you. Can't -you see we've made a sur-
round ?”

The trapper could see that very plainly. Ten riders,
in crescent formation, closed in from the front; and the
wall behind him, ot course, shut off retreat in that direc-
tion.

There was nadine else for him to do but to try a game
of “bluff.”

OW augh |! !” he snorted, getting to his feet and staring
into the muzzles of the glimmering weapons that were
leveled at him. “What's ther matter with you fellers,
anyways? ds this ther way ye receive visitors at Bajo
Sol? Whar’s Hatch-a-kaw? He’s the feller I want ter
talk with.”

“Well,’ was the sharp response of the man who had
spoken before, “you're talking with him. I’m Hatch-a-
kaw.”

“Hooray! fet ae interduce myself to ye, Hatch, I’m
Pecos Pete, ther roarin’, rampin’ cyclone from ther wilds
o Arizony. Vma killer from Killerville, I.am, an’ thar’s
more sheriffs arter me than thar is arter ary other ombray
in ther Southwest. I comes ter Bajo Sol lookin’ fer a
refuge, an’ fust crack out o’ the box you fellers try ter
fill me full o’ holes. Is thet ther way ter come down on er
visitor? Ef ye don’t want me hyar, all ye got ter do is
ter say so, an’ [ll skin out.”

“You say your name is Pecos Pete?” asked Hatch-a-
aw.

“Thet’s what I’m callin’ myself at ther present time.”

“And you are a hunted man?”

“Ef thar ever was one!”

“And you came here to join my gang?”

ue was hopin’ thet mebbyso we mout make a-hitch of
et,

ov he were you talking to when I and my men rode
iit

Ler a chert thet was chasin’ me. I slid down er
couple er spliced riatas, an’ ther sher’f was right behind
me. Didn’t ye hyer me darin’ him ter foller me down?”

“Bastante! I couldn’t hear what you said, amigo, but
I knew by your voice you wasn’t one of us. You heard
us coming, and thought we’d protect you from the

sheriff ?”

“Shore !” returned Nomad, taking his cue from Hatch-
a-kaw $ words. “Ain't Hatch-a-kaw a friend o’ the un-
fortunate an’ ther down-trodden? An’ ain't I one o’ thet

stripe at ther present time?”

Hatch-a-kaw reflected for a moment, and then slipped
from his saddle and gave on order in the Ute tongue.
All his men immediately dismounted. Two renegade

reds collected the horses and led them off toward the

stable, then seven. whites, half- -breeds, and full-bloods

 
by)

 

THE BUFFALO

TO

surrounded the trapper and urged him toward the adobe
house with the points of their knives.
“The rascally Hatch-a-kaws took considerable sport out

of this, and the knife-points kept Nomad dancing onward ;

ata dog-trot.

“Never heerd tell o’ sich an onnery way 0’. treatin’ er
euest,” shouted Nomad. “Ef this hyar’s er. sample o’ ther
way the Hatch- a-kaws kerry on, blamed ef 1 want ter
jine ye.

Husky laughs greeted the trapper’s words. Some of
the knife-points bit rather too deep for Nomad’s comfort,
and he was glad when the door of the house was reached,
and he sprang into a room that was lighted with three or
four candles.

It was a large room, amply though rudely furnished.
Two windows were set in the thick walls, and Hatch-a-
kaw was taking his comfort in a chair, rolling a cigarette
and looking at Nomad out from under his swarthy brows.

Nomad edged around and stood with his back to one
of the windows, while the whites, half-breeds, and full-
bloods, who had followed him in, stood staring at him
with ominous eyes.

“Why don’t you tell the truth, amigo?” asked Hatch-a-
kaw, scratching a match slowly. and applying it to the

tip of his cigarette,

“Who told ye I wasn’t?’ flared Nomad.

“Nobody.”

“Then how d’ye know I ain't?” |
(“1 know the difference between a false tongue and a
straight one.’

Hatch ~a- ie expelled a puff of smoke and calmly
drummed his fingers against his swarthy forehead.

“Oh, ye do!
think I am?’

“Nick Nomad,” was the prompt reply, while Hatch-a-
kaw’s lip curled in a malevolent smile.

“You win,” said Nomad coolly. ‘What's ter pay?”
~ “You came to Ellsworth with Buffalo Bill, Wild Bill,
the Piute, and the three Apaches | t

“Mebbyso,
I’m. wonderin’ why ye hev ter ask any questions at all.”

“Why did Buffalo Bill come?” went on Hatch-a-kaw.

“Better make another one o’ them good guesses o’

: yours, an’ let et go at thet.”

“The dough-boys sent for him, hey? They want him
to find where the red-eye comes from?”

“FE they does, Buffler’ll find et. Don’t let thet. git past
ye fer a minit. Whenever Bufiler sets out ter doa job; he
gin’rally makes good.”

“Why do they suspect Hatch-a-kaw ?”

“Kase ye're too blame’ free with yer guns, I reckon.

Ef ther sojers want er line on ye, I reckon they’ve got

et jest bekase o’ ther way ye’re treatin’ me.’

Nomad took off his hat, ran his fingers through his
long hair, and then, to all appearances, began toying aim-
lessly with the head-gear, Doubling up his right fist, he
whirled the hat around on his knuckles. As a matter of
fact, Nomad was not quite so aimless as he appeared.

“You're in my hands, Nomad,’ said Hatch- a-kaw.
“Tm. a wolf,-and my fangs are sharp Agate

“T had sized ye up fer ‘bein’ er wolf, all Mee, ” agreed
Nomad.

“Tf you don’t want to feel my fangs,”
kaw, frowning, ‘

went on Hatch-a-
‘you will speak with a straight oe

_ i do not like your way.”

“Then et’s er stand-off, ole hoss, kase yore way ain’t

Waal, ef I ain’t Pecos Pete, who d’ye

Ye got so much in thet head o’ yours thet.

BILL STORIES.

makin’ much of er hit with me. An’ then, ag’in, I opine
ye’re reckonin’ thet I'll feel yore fangs no matter whether
my tongue’s straight er crooked. Make Me play, ain't
ye? Ye've got all ther keerds.”

Hatch-a-kaw stared moodily into ie cigarette-smoke
that floated above his head.

“If I say the word,” said he, showing his teeth, “you
will never leave Bajo Sol, and never see Buffalo Bill
again.’

“Don't say et, ” said Nomad, BE ye do, then Bufiter’l 1
come hyar an’ wipe ye off’n ther face o’ the. airth,”’ :

This*threat brought a snarl to Hatch-a-kaw’s lips. - His
eyes elinted murderously. Turning to his men, he began
speaking rapidly, in the Ute tongue. .

This was the moment for which old Nomad had been
waiting. His right fist was in the crown of his hat.

Turning like lightning, he drew back his protected fist
and struck the window-sash a terrific blow. A crash fol-
lowed, and the Hatch-a-kaws, who had been listening to
the orders their chief was giving them, whirled about just
in time to see the old trapper disappearing through the
broken window.

Hatch-a-kaw sprang from his chair with a yell: A re-
volver leaped into his hand with a quickness that defied
the eye, and bullets rushed after the escaping prisoner.

But, quick though he was, Hatch-a-kaw was not quick
enough. Nomad had made the most of the time allowed
him at the beginning of his desperate bolt.

Once outside the window, he paused for a second to de-
bate whether he should try for the opening. through the
wall on the eastern side of the “sink,” or aitempt to scale
the fifty feet of rope.

Before he had settled this important point, the two
men who had taken the horses to the stable came running
up, called to the scene by the crash of glass and the shoot-
ing inside the house.

‘That was Nomad’s signal to unlimber his guns. The
weapons cracked simultaneously, and the approaching
forms reeled away.

By then, the Hatch-a-kaws, spurred to wild efforts by
the rage of their leader, began rushing out of the house.

“That you, Nick?” whooped the voice of Wild Bill.

Big as life, Hickok!” flung back the hard-pressed
trapper. “Whar aire yer

“Tn the sink! This way, old pard, and we'll give them
a run for their auburn chip.”

Up to that moment, in spite of his escape from the
house, the old trapper felt as though he had been having
a losing fight; but now, with Wild Bill in the “sink” with
him, his hopes began to mount, and he nursed the reck-
less belief that they two could stand off all the Hatch-
a-kaws.

But Wild Bill’s

head was clearer, and he had made
other plans. ay

CHAPTER VIL
CAYUSE AND THE APACHES,

While Nomad was down in the “sink” alone, Wild Bill
had not been having a quiet’time of it on top of the wall,
by any mbans. |

He had crouched behind the boulder until the bce of
the Hatch-a-kaws ceased, and then he knelt on the edge

bel

 

 

 

 
THE BUFFALO

of the precipice and tried to keep track of what was go--

ing on below.

“He saw the horsemen gallop toward the place where
old Nomad must have dropped from the rope, and he was
just listening to the colloquy between the trapper and
Hatch-a-kaw, when he was interfered with in a startling
manner.

Some one seized him a the shoulders from behind,
hurled him back on the rocks, and dropped on him with a
good deal of violence.

The Laramie man discovered that his assailant was an
Indian, but was too busy taking care of himself to at-
tempt any further investigation.

Supposing the redskin to be one of the Hatch-a-kaws,
Wild Bill made ready to-go to any extreme to save his
scalp. It was none too light, there at the end of the blind
bridle-path, anyway, and the fighters could not get a very
distinct view of each other. :

Wild Bill took a second’s time to wonder why the sav-
age had not tossed him over the cliff, instead of going to
all that trouble to make a hand-to-hand Heht of its He
decided that it was his scalp the redskin wanted. If he
had dropped the white man into the “sink,” the Indian

might not have got it; and Wild Bill believed that he had
a little something to say on that point himself.

The Indian had a khite in his. hand. (Wild) Bills
weapons were all in his belt, and his hands were so busy.

keeping the Indian from using the knife that he could not’

get at them.

For a few minutes the struggle was fierce, and Wild
Bill thought he had never encountered a red with so much
muscle, and so much skill in the way he used it.

There is no telling how the battle would have resulted
if allowed to proceed to a finish. Certainly one or both
would have been hurt, and perhaps fatally.

But the fight did not last beyond the danger-point.
In the very heat of the give-and-take, the Indian sudden-
ly disentangled himself from the Laramie man’s hands
and leaped away.

“Ugh!” he grunted; “all same Wild Bill.”

Hickok’s hands had dropped to his revolvers. He
could not understand the redskin’s move, but was just go-
ing to make the most of the opportunity it gave him when
the Indian spoke.

“Well, by gorry!” muttered Wild Bill, with an amused

laugh. “TE it ain't Yuppah! What the nation did you
jump me for, Yuppah?”

“Me no sabe you Wild Bill.”

“Then it’s horse and horse, for I didn’t sabe you, either.

I had an idea you were one ‘of the Hatch-a-kaws. It’s a
wonder you didn’t pitch me over the cliff instead of ma-
king a fight of it.”

“Ugh! Me make heap good fight, plenty good fight.
Yuppah all same pard Pa-has-ka.”’

_ “Blamed queer what a difference being a pard of the
scout’s makes with you Indians,’ ruminated Wild Bill,
“You corral pretty decent notions of what’s what, eh?”

“No sabe.”

“Well, I don’t suppose you do.
to be here?”

“Ne come all same Little Cayuse, Chappo, Pedro.”

“They're all in this neck of the woods, are they ?”

NT 33 +

“Well, bring ’em in, Yuppah, if they. re handy. I want
to palaver with Cayuse.”

How ‘do you happen

_ Yuppeh whirled on his moccasined feet and sped off

here?

“wasn’t with the peace-sign, either.

BILL STORIES. at

along the bridie-path. Wild Bill, ceasing to chuckle over
the mistake that had brought him and Y uppah into con-
flict, grew grave as his thoughts reverted to old Nomad.

Once more kneeling on the brink of the precipice, he
stared downward.

By then, the two Hatch-a-kaws were leading away the
horses, the leader had gone into the house, and the seven
other members of the gang had surrounded the trapper
and were prodding him toward the adobe with their
knife-points.

Wild Bill could not see, in detail, all that was going on,
but he saw enough to make it clear that Nomad was a
prisoner.

“Tough luck!’ growled the Laramie man; “and it will
be fine news for Cody. Here Nick and 1 tide into the
hills for a little excitement, and our trouble-hunt ends in
the trapper getting hung up.. By gorry, I don’t like it—
and I can’t understand it, either. Has Hatch-a-kaw cut
loose from law and order for good? It looks that way,
blamed if it don’t.”

Just as Nomad and the seven Hatch-a-kaws disap-
peared inside the house, Wild Bill heard a fall of hoofs,
and got up to find Cayuse and the Apaches coming.

Yuppah had evidently left his horse somewhere up the
bridle-path, with the rest of the reds. At any rate, he was
now mounted and riding back with the others.

Little Cayuse, in the ‘le ad, pulled up his pintgy sharply,
jumped down, and hurried to Wild Bill.

“How?” said the boy.

“T’m not feeling as well as I might; Cayuse,”

the Laramie man.
539

answered
“What are you wand the Apaches doing

“We trail um Hatch-a-kaws,” answered the Piutes.
“Trailed the gang, did you? Why, then you must have
been behind them when they rode into their ranch?”

“Ai. When Hatch-a-kaws got in, we find um place,
ride to top of wall. Heap fine “ranch, huh? Plenty hard
get in. Me send um Yuppah. scout ‘this way, me scout
other way. Yuppah him come back, say he find Wild
Bill. Then we come, pronto.”

“Queer thing you happened to be trailing the Hatch-a-
kaws, just at this time.”

“Pachas- ka say trail um.’

“Where’ s Buffalo Bill now?”

“AIL same post. Him-+stop at datice.
dance?
ketch um. Hatch-a-kaws no ketch um. Pa-has-ka ‘ride
away, find um Cayuse, tell Cayuse trail um Hatch-a-
kaws.”

All this was news to Wild Bill, and warm news at that.
Hatch-a-kaw had shown his hand to the scout, and it
And while this merry
clash had been going on, Wild Bill and Nomad had been
pushing for Bajo Sol with the intention of making a call
on Hatch-a-kaw ! :

Wild Bill coughed and made a wry face. The foolish-
ness of his move and Nomad’s was just coming home to
him. No wonder the Hatch-a-kaws had made a prisoner
of the trapper.

“How you come here, huh? ineuieed Little Cayuse.

“By a misplay, kid,’ ’ replied the Laramie man.

“No sabe um.”

“Then Pit tell you something you can sabe.
rope! O37 ee hs

Hickok stepped to the edge of the cliff and lifted the
cable that trailed over it and down into the “sink.”

Sabe Bagley’s
While Pa-has-ka dance, Hatch-a-kaws come, try

p?

See that

 

 

 
   

“Cayuse see um,” said the boy.

“Well, Nomad and I laid our little plans to go down
there and hunt for the whisk ‘plant.’ That was before
the Hatch-a-kaws rode in. Nomad went down first,

Just as he got to the bottom of the rope, the gang showed

up and there was gun-play.”

“Me hear um’ shoot,” said Nomad.
boom.” Q
“It was a case of plenty boom-boom no hit um. But
Nomad was grabbed. They’ve got him in that adobe this
minute, and I’ve appointed myself a committee of one to
go down there and help Nomad get away.”

oe! Mebbyso they ketch um Wild Bill, too.”

‘Wild Bill has cut his eye-teeth, little boy, and he’s not
going down there to get caught. And I don’t intend to
ride back to the post without old Nomad, either. This
will sound bad enough to Pard Cody just as it stands,
without any frills in the way of a captured pard. You
can help me.’

“How ?”

“Well, Hide-rack and Ajax are hitched over there in
the brush. Go after them, and after I shin down that
rope you'tie the end to the saddle-horns. When you hear
me whoop out ‘Pull away’! from down there, start up the
horses as quick as you can. Nomad and I will be at the
other end of the rope, and it’s quite possible we'll want to
come up in a hurry.”

“Me sabe.”

“The whole plot hangs on you, Cayuse, so don’t make a
bobble of it,”

“No make um bobble,” returned the Piute.

Chappo was immediately sent away for Hide-rack and

_ Ajax, and Wild Bill, lowering himself over the brink,
started down the rope.

Reaching the bottom without mishap, he began taking
a survey of the situation. There was a powwow going
on in the house, but Wild Bill could not hear what was
said, ‘

The first thing to be done was to get a view of the
interior of the house and ascertain the exact situation.
Wild Bill had taken a pretty large job on his hands, and

the more he knew of the lay-out the better equipped he

would be for the work in prospect.

Just as he started toward the house, the window
erashed outward, the old trapper came leaping through,
and Hatch-a-kaw’s revolver, a trifle late, began its futile
popping inside, —

Wild Bill’s problem was simplify: ing. Nomad himself
had taken the first and most important step in his rescue.

The two men, coming from the stable, were seen by
Wild Bill, and he drew his revolver to give the trapper
a liit in that quarter. Nomad, who could be mighty sud-
den with his guns on occasion, had settled the question
of the two men from the stable before Wild Bill could

take it off his hands.

ae a ae

“Plenty boom- :

BILL STORIES.

Then the Laramie man set up his shout, the trapper
joined him, and both leaped toward the wall and the rope.
Already the Hatch-a-kaws were rushing from the

house, and looking wildly about for ate escaped pris-
oner.

CHAPTER VILE
EV OTN AA

‘Wild Bill, as yet uncertain whether or not Cayuse had

made his preparations up above, drew Nomad into the

shadow of the wall for a brief. wait.

“Cayuse is up there,’ he whispered, waving his hand
toward the brink of the cliff, “and he’s going to hitch the
rope to Hide-rack and Ajax.”

“Cayuse?” returned the trapper.
Hickok, does he come ter be thar?”

“He trailed in the Hatch-a-kaws.
him.
clash, and we dropped in here right on the heels of it.’””

“Ter make er visit,” grunted the trapper.

“You made the visit. How did it pan out?”

“Waal, did ye see me jump through ther winder?”

“Yes. They must have enjoyed your Seo if you
had to get out that way.”

“They enj’yed my comp’ny so well, bead they wanted
ter keep me. Seems like er shame ter leave like this.”

“We'd better go while we can; things might shape
around so we'd want to go, and could’ Le

ewes Say, I'll bet good money, Wild Bill, thet

“How in thunder,

Pard Cody sent

you an’ me could ha out ther hull ranch. os of ’em’s

breeds, anyways.”

“A gun will shoot as straight for a breed as it will for
some white men. But enough of this, Nick. Those ras-
cals at the house will be coming this way in a minute.
We'd better slide 2 ks wall Put away your guns and
lay hold of the rope.” :

Nomad poked his revolvers into his belt and took a
firm grip of the spliced riatas. Wild Bill caught hold be-
low him and yelled the command already agreed ee
with Cayuse.

There was not a second’s delay, and the two pards left

. the bottom of the sink with a jump.

Wild Bill’s shout had, naturally, been heard by the puz-
zled Hatch-a-kaws. With this to guide them, the whole
pack started for the wall.

Wild Bill, when he informed Little Cayuse that he and
Nomad might have to come up with a rush, had figured
that there would be shooting.

He hoped the ascent would be ae SO quickly that
none of the shooting could be accurate.

The disaster that happened, probably, could not pe

‘taken place once in a thousand times, but it was the

trappers and the Laramie man’s hard luck as this
should be the thousandth time.

 

It appears that Hatch-a-kaw and Cody have had a_

 

 

 

  
   
   
 

   
       
   

   
   
  

  
  

 
 

  
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

  

 
 

 

 

  
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
  
 
 
  
 
 
  
  
  

 

 

SA OE

 

$i

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 
 

two pards were making

 

THE BUFFALO

Weapons began to crack and bullets to rattle against
the face of the cliff. None of the slugs reached the

swinging forms of Wild Bill and Nomad, but a bullet

did pierce the rope above their heads. Thus weakened,
the combined weight of the pards was too heavy for the
strands that remained uninjured, and the rope parted.

This happened before the trapper and the Laramie man

were high enough up to make their fall particularly dan-

gerous, and they tumbled downward and landed on the

rocks in a mixed-up heap.

The “sink” became a trap, and the two pards were se-
curely caught in.it. That the springing of the trap was
an accident, made no difference so far as the pards were
concerned. :

Both were on their feet again almost as soon as they
were down.

“Grab your man, Nick,’ roared Wild Bill, ‘his quick
wit losing no time in taking hold of the situation, “and
back toward the house!’

“Thet’s me, pard!” answered Nomad.

The Hatch-a-kaws were more astounded by what had
happened than were the two pards. Some of them were

so close to the wall, when the rope parted, that Nomad’

and Wild Bill almost fell on them.

With a jump for the two nearest men, the pards

grabbed them, swung them around by the arms and

backed toward the house, using the men as shields.

The two Hatch-a-kaws, as might be supposed, were
far from favoring this maneuver, and struggled as best
they could), The struggle interfered with the retreat the
, and when they had covered hal
the distance that separated them from the rear of the
house, Nomad and Hickok flung the half-breeds away
from them, whirled, and made a dash over the rest of the
course. f

These surprising tactics still further puzzled the Hatch-
a-kaws. They did not seem to realize that Nomad and
Hickok were far from having their choice of maneuvers
in that rock-walled hang-out, but were obliged to take

the only course that lay open to them.

What the two pards wanted was to get some stout walls —

between them and their foes, so that they would be in a
position to withstand a siege. ;
The rush for the rear of the house was executed with-

out a shot being fired, and Nomad and Wild Bill plates

pell-mell into the ranch kitchen.

The room was of goodly size, and contained a stove,
table, and chairs. . There was also a cupboard against one
of the walls, and from the rafters hung strings of red

_ peppers.

There were two doors and two windows, and all four
openings, of course, were so many danger-points.

A hickory bar stood beside the outside door, and Wild
Bill, who was the last to plunge into thé room, slammed
the door and dropped the bar across it.

 

BILL STORIES:

    

  

The other door led into the front part of the house, and
there was no visible way of securing it.

“Never mind that door, Nick,” cried the Laramie man;
“we'll watch it as soon.as we get the windows barricaded.
Pull that cupboard in front of one of the windows; Pil
take care of the other.”

‘The Hatch-a-kaws, by that time, were furious over the
high-handed manner in which the two pards were carry-
ing on. As they figured it, resistance on the part of the
pards was worse than useless, and if they had any sense

at all they would have surrendered. The Hatch-a-kaws,

it may be remarked, had already had a brief introduction
to Buffalo Bill, but they hadn't begun to get ae
with Nomad, or with Wild Bill Hickok.

_ Before they were done with the trapper and the Lara-
mie man they might have the upper hand, but they would,
at least, know the two pards better.

Bullets began to smash through the windows before

they could be closed. This emphasized the importance of

blocking the openings without delay.

While Nomad rushed for the cupboard, Wild Bill
seized the table, up-ended it, and pushed it in front of
him to the nearest window. ‘The table-top, shoved close
against the adobe wall, made an effective screen.

The cupboard, which Nomad pushed in front of the
other window, was not quite so effective, but it served.

The back of the cupboard was thinner than the top of
the table, and the bullets penetrated it and rattled merrily
on the tinware and crockery.

“Waugh, but thet was shore quick work, Hickok,”
panted the old trapper, drawing his sleeve across his drip-
ping forehead. 7

“Life isn’t quite so monotonous as it was back at the
post a while ago, is it?” observed Wild Bill, with a reck-
less laugh.

“Nary et ain’t,’ agreed Nobad. “I’d be plumb saters-
fied ef things wasn't so blame’ lively. Hyar we aire, bot-
tled up in ther back room at Bajo Sol, with Hatch-a-kaws
jest b’ilin’ all around us. What’s ter be ther outcome?’

“Don’t think of it,’ said Wild Bill,

“If we want ter do anythin’,’”’ called the trapper, “wed
better be thinkin’ o’ thet other door. Ef I ain’t wide o’
my trail, some o’ ther whelps aire workin’ at it on t’other
side.”

Both faced the door leading into the front part of the
house. Hands were on the latch, that was plain, and it
was equally plain that the owners of the hands feared to
push the door open and run the risk of encountering bul-
lets from the kitchen. |

“We might pull the stove over there,”
Bill. :
“Keno!” cried Nomad, akeiing the eiipece on with a
whoop. “Ther door opens this way, an’ ther stove’s jest
ther thing fer a barricade.”

pugensied —e

  

  
   
 

 

 

   

A few moments later and the stove, disconnected from
the stovepipe, had been dragged in front of the door.

“Allwe kin do now, Hickok,” remarked the oid ee
dropping into a chair, “is ter wait fer ther next move.’
“What sort of a move the next one will be is some-
thing of a conundrum,” said Wild Bill, likewise seating
himself. “Any good at guessing conundrums, Nick 2”

it BURR AO,

BUA STORIES.
and finally they sneezed themselves into a state of abject
helplessness. :

This was the moment for which the cunning Hatch-a-
kaw was waiting. Tearing out one of the windows, one
of the gang pushed over the table and dropped into the
room. He was followed by others, and the trapper and
the Laramie man were soon in bonds.

Me? Waugh? Tell me ther answer, an’ mebbyso 1

kin tell what ther cornundrum is, but put et tother way, .

an’ I’m all at sea. I reckon we're able ter fight, though,
as long as we ain’t scotched an’ hev got er load fer our
forty-fives. Ain’t thet it 2”

YT hates (rt:
Apaches will have to carry back to Pard Cody.”

“Thet’s somethin’ else I wouldn’t think erbout,”’ su
gested Nomad wearily.

“And Baker—that fellow certainly knows a whole lot
more than we gave him credit for.”

“These hyar dough-boys is queer,” philosophized No-
mad. “har ain’t no sizin’ ’em up. Now——” Nomad
broke off abruptly and looked around.
somethin’, Wild Bill?” he asked;

“Yes,” was the answer.
under the kitchen ?”

Nomad began looking for a trap in the floor which
might lead to a storage place for potatoes. It would have
been better for the pards had they given their attention t6
the regions overhead.

Oblivious of the fact that their enemies might reach
them from that quarter, the pards kept listening at the

walls and the floor for the cause of the strange sounds
they had heard; then, -with startling suddenness, the
strings of dried peppers began to fall.

On
5S

. Did ye Jiyer

“T wonder if there’s a cellar

A hand, somewhere in concealment, was using a pole
and releasing the peppers. As they struck the floor, each
string sent up a cloud of pungent dust, Thicker and
thicker fell the rattling pods, dropping about the trapper
and the Laramie man, and some of the strings falling on
them.

Nomad was festooned about the shoulders, the long
string wrapping about his legs and tripping him as he
fought to free himself, Hickok, in his mad rushes back

and forth, trailed two of the pepper chains, and could net
get rid of them.

And the dust! It. got thicker and thicker until the
room was blue with it. A lighted candle on the clock-
shelf—a candle that had stood there when the two pards
burst into the room—had become merely a dull glow in
the haze.

But that was not the worst. The fine powder smarted
and blinded:the eyes, and started an epidemic of sneez-
‘ing,

The pards couldn’t sneeze fast enough to keep up with
the demand. They sneezed themselves black in the face,
_ sneezed themselves off their feet and down on their knees,

What an elegant yarn Cayuse and the.

oo CHAPTER FX.

IN THE RANCH CELLAR.

Hatch-a-kaw and his men as it was for Nomad and
Hickok. The gang made haste to get into the front part
of the’ house and let the dust settle.
_ “W-w-waugh—a-choo!  Snarlin’ Suc care omer cat
—imounts! Wh-wh-what ther b-blazes—a-choo! a-choo !”

This was the old trapper’s first attempt to talk since the
capture.

“By g-g-gorry—a-choo! a-choo! a-choo !”

Wud Bill’s answer glided into a perfect bedlam of
sneezes. Many of the Hatch-a-kaws, who had stayed

_ too long in the kitchen, were also having their troubles, |

so it was utterly impossible to talk, or transact any busi-

ness.

Gradually the epidemic died down, the outbursts com-
ing at constantly increasing intervals. But the smarting
of eyes and throat remained long after the sneezing had_
stopped.

“Sufferin’ side-winders!” gurgled old cea when he
was finally able to talk without interrupting himself.
“What fer heathen way is thet ter put ther kibosh on er
teller 2”) Why, er rgt -eatin’ Chink wouldn’t be so low-
down. My throat is like er piece er raw beef, an’ my
eyes is swelled so’st I kin hardly see. Waugh!”

“By gorry, when a gang as big as this has to fall back
on dried peppers to lay a couple of rawhides by. the heels,
their nerve must be mighty near .gone. Hey, Nick?”

“Narve! None of ’em, from Hatch-a-kaw down, hes
got any. How are you, anyways, Hickok?”

“T’m doing tolerable, considering,” replied the Laramie
man; “but 2 feel as'though I’d swallowed a torchlight
Dien

het’s me, too.. Who’d ever thort thar was so much
devilment in er lot er red peppers? No seasonin’ in my
hash arter this.”

“We won't be able to enjoy hash, or anything else, I
reckon, after Hatch-a-kaw is done with us.”

Hearing his name mentioned, Hatch-a-kaw at once
took a part in the talk. He was manufacturing a corn
husk cigarette. This seemed to be his habit whenever his
mind was busy.

“Why have you ie: come to make me trouble: > he
asked.

 

 

 

fay a while, the kitchen was as disagreeable a place for

 
   
 

 

    

   

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

   
   
   
   
 

 

    
   

 

 

 

4

 

  

 

 
  
 
 
       
   

 

_ slash,” answered Wild Bill, with a show of. temper.
came to call on you, and your outfit went for Nomad
“here like a lot of wildcats.”

“1, Hatch-a-kaw, am an honest rancher:

the other a bad shoulder.

‘pards, Nomad and Wild Bill, will be shot.

- Buffler’s caliber.

THE BUFFALO
“We didn’t come to make you trouble, old Cut-and-
“We

39

 

“Blamed ef ye ack ther part!” struck in Nomad,

“Buffalo Bill and his pards come here because the sol-
diers send for him. Buffalo Bill and his pards come here
to make me trouble,”

“You're kicking up all the trouble,” said Wild Bill.
“If you're honest, like you say, Buffalo Bill and his
pards won't be able to trouble oS But your actions look
suspicious.”

“Nomad shot two of my men. One has a bad arm and
Bastante! That is muy malo.”
“T was makin’ er eilaways said the trapper, “an’ they
was tryin’ ter hamper me.”

Hatch-a-kaw lighted his cigarette carefully, and pee
snhakily at the prisoners through the smoke.

“You make a heap of trouble for me,” he went on, “but
I’m going to keep you. Perhaps you'll die, and perhaps
you'll live. It depends on Buffalo Bill.”

“An? perhaps,” snorted Nomad, “ye’ve got er kink in
yer thinker, with another think comin’.”

“No perhaps about that,’ added Wild Bill:
cinch.”

“What d’ye mean,” pursued the trapper, “by sayin’ our

“it’s a

‘skelps depend on what Pard Buffler does?’

“Tisten! I will send word to him—me, Hatch-a-kaw
—that if he does not leave the San Juan Valley his two

like that, huh”:

Hatch-a-kaw showed his teeth i in an ugly smile.
“Waugh!” cried the trapper. “Me—ole Nomad—says
yell make er bum play ef ye try thet on. Et ain't goin’

ter make no diff’rence with Buffler in kerryin’ out his

plans an’ doin’ his duty, how many o’ his pards aire
ketched an’ goin’ ter be shot. But, all ther same, he’s
ther boy ter make ye pay fer whatever ye do. Thet’s
Put us out o’ ther runnin’, Hatch, an
inside er two days ye won’t hev a roof over yer head.”
“Or a head to put under a roof,” supplemented Wild
Pill. “When Cody takes the war-trail, he’s apt to make
a clean sweep. You've already had a sample of the way
he does business. What happened at Bagley’ S dance, to-

‘night ?”

Hatch-a- -kaw, his face ie a demon, leaped to his feet
with a swirling Mexican oath. His temper had flamed up
ina flash. Two jumps took him to Hickok’s side, and he

~ bent over and struck him in the face with his clenched fist.

“Gringo!” he hissed savagely. 4
Nomad yelled wildly. ; oo
“Ve hound! Ye sneakin’ coward! Any excuse fer a

an’ honest rancher! You!”

@

How do you

man thet’ll hit er pris’ner like thet ain’t fit ter live! You

 

Mion STORIES 0 7 “1s

Nomad siiiewied like a pellets to tear free from his
bonds.

Hatch-a-kaw turned on hin, advanced a Step, and part:
ly drew his revolver.

“Mebby you like to die: >” he gritted. :

“Shoot me, ye Greaser whelp!” bellowed the trapper.
“T dare ye ter! Why, you skulkin’ _coVote, ye ain't got
the narve ter put er bullet inter me.’

Out came Hatch-a-kaw’s revolver in a flash;
other flash it was leveled, and the trigger pulled.

There was a hollow click, but no report. Fortunately
for old Nomad, the cylinder of the Colt was empty. Be-
fore he could reload the piece, Hatch- a-kaw_ had got
the whip-hand of himself.

Nomad gave a taunting laugh.

“Why, you no-’count breed,’ he sneered,
squaw could do better’n thet! Yer gun unloaded!
some day thet’ll cost ye yer life.”

Hatch-a-kaw whirled on his heel, walked bade to ae
chair, and flung himself down.

Wild Bill had remained strangely quiet. He had not
said a word, or moved a muscle of his body. But his eyes
—there was that in them which boded ill for the leader ot
the gang.

“Hatch-a-kaw,” said the Laramie man deliberately,
“T'll be even with you for that blow. It’s the kind of a
debt that Bill Hickok always settles.”

The words rang out sharp and incisive. Hatch-a-kaw
started under their deadly menace; then, shrugging his
shoulders, he gave vent to a snarling laugh. Turning to
his men, he gave them some orders in the Ute tongue.

in an-

“er Piute
Say,

The prisoners’ weapons had already. been taken from
them, so that formality had not now to be gone through
with.

As soon as Hatch-a-kaw ceased speaking, one of his
white aides stooped down, caught a ring in the floor,
and lifted up a trap. When the trap was opened, the
prisoners were roughly lifted and dropped into the dark
regions below.

The fall was not a long one, but a pards, Houne as
they were, could not protect themselves in any way, and
they were badly bruised. They had fallen ona pile of
something that ctt into their flesh, and moved under
them. t :

The trap was closed as soon as the prisoners were dis-

posed of, and the light in the room did not afford those §

in the cellar any chance to look around.

“Waugh ’? chattered old Nomad. “Honest, oo, I
ain’t never been so full er pizen venom as what I am this
hyar minit! Ther way thet skunk lambasted ye in ther
face .

“Stow it!’ interrupted Wild Bill. “I don’t want to re-
member that while : m bound and helpless. We're in the
cellar:

“Et’s er do we aire,” fumed the nee

 

Sa

“Thet

     
   

   

Ss
16 HIG BUFE AEG

Hatch-a-kaw pizens. the air, an’ | druther be any place
than in ther same room with him. I reckon he’s guilty
0’ anythin’ ther sojers aire a mind ter put onter him—an’
a hull lot more. Ef Buffler on’y knowed what was hap-
“penin’ hyar-—”
“He will know, Nick.”
“How d’ye figger et?”

a

“Well, Little Cayuse and the Acie are on top of
Trust our boy pard to find out what has hap- »

the wall.
pened to us, and to carry the news to Cody. Ida heap
rather the news wouldn’t have to go to Cody—seeing as
how we're a pair of prize chromos this trip—but I reckon
there’s nothing else for it.”

“We've shore played er locoed game this time.
Wild Bill?”

The trapper was as full of chagrin as he was of fight.

“Your words are too mild, Nick,” was Wild Bill’s grim
response. “By the way,’ he went on,
what’s under us?”

“T ain’t been examinin’ et none. Hey you?”

“T have. It’s corn, pard—corn in the ear.”

“What of et? Et don’t make no diff’rence what we're
layin’ on, does et?”

“Well, first off, a cellar’s a queer place to Ae corn,
isnt ie:

SL aire enough of er farmer ter know.
put in er crib, ain’t et?”

“Yes. Another thing, Nick—and I reckon you know
it, all right enough—they make whisky out of corn.”

The trapper was silent for a moment while this sug-
gestion drifted through his brain. /

“Hoop-a-la!” he jubilated finally.
hesn’t been so still, arter all.
whisk ‘plant,’ eh?’

“I think so,” replied the Laramie man. ‘“Hatch-a-kaw
has dropped us right into a place where we ought to be
able to make some discoveries. If we can dig up that
still, it will go a long ways toward squaring the foolish-
ness that got us into this mess. What do you think?”

Hey,

Corn’s us’ally

“This ‘still’ hunt

a
a

CHAPTER OX.
THE DOOR IN THE WALL.

“T reckon, pard,” said Nomad, “thet you"an’ me kain’t
make no diskiveries so long as we're tied 2 like this.
Ther fust thing ter do is ter git loose.”

“Tlow are your teeth?” asked Wild Bil

“Waal, they ain’t any too good. I been eatin’ jerked
beef ther best part o’ my life, an’ thar ain’t nothin’ harder
on yer teeth than what thet is.. I ketch yore meanin’,
howsumever, Hickok. Ef ye want me ter try an’ gnaw
yer ropes in two, jest roll over hyar so’st I kin git at
em.” 5

“do you know

We're on the trail o’ thet ‘

path, and Ill bet money on it,

Bi E

STORIES.

Wild Bill rolled over on his side so Ga the old trapper
could get at the cords that secured his wrists. Severing

one of the coils by gnawing at it was a long and labori-

ous process, but Nomad ek to the task with. oe usual
gameness. a

After an hour’s work, Wild Bill was able, wih an ex-
ertion of considerable strength, to burst the weakened
coil. te

“Hoop-a-la!” exulted the trapper. ‘ Hatch-a-kaw was
lame when he drapped us inter this hole an’ left us ter
ourselves.”

“He'll know a whole lot more about. Cody and his
pards when he is ‘done with us than he does now,” com-
mented. Hickok, sitting up and working at the rope that
bound his feet.

les throwed off his mask sees No use o’ his
tryin’ ter make the people 0’ San Juan valley believe he’s
er honest rancher arter this.”’

Wild Bill got up on the corn pile and stretched his
cramped limbs.

“It sure feels good to have the use of your hands,
Niclt,” he remarked.

“Ye'd feel er heap better ef ye fad the use 0’ yer guns,
too, wouldn't Ver

“We can’t have aime en we're in a fix like
this,” was the philosophic response.. “A knife would
come handy, though, in getting those ropes off of you.
The Hatch-a- ee didn’t leave us ery ine | in the shape
of a weapon.”

Wild Bill went at Nomad’s ropes with his fingers. It
was slow and groping work, there in the dark, but finally
he was successful in releasing his pard’s hands. -

Leaving Nomad to free his own feet, the Laramie man
struck a match and went around examining the cellar.

“See anythin’ of er still?” inquired Nomad presently,
as he started up.

“‘Tt’s a big cellar, Nick,” replied Wild Bill, “but there’s
no whisky ‘plant’ in it.”

“Waugh!” orunted the he disappointedly. aL thort,
we was gittin’ next ter ther hull pizen bizness. Ef thar
ain’t nothin’ ter be found hyar, we better try fer a gitaway
afore Hatch sends word ter Buffler thet we're ketched,
an’ thet we’re goin’ ter be killed onless he hikes out.”

“We won’t leave just yet. There’s something here I

- can’t understand, Nick.”

“What's thet ?” on
“Why, there’s a path running across the cellar from
the corn pile. It comes to a dead stop at the south wall.”
“Must be er fool path ter start at ther corn-pile an’
end nowhar.”
. “My? notion, exactly.

There’s a business end to that

Come over this way,
Nick.”
Still burning his sulfur fetes Hickok led Nomad

over a worn groove in the earth floor of the cellar. It
&

 
ps8:

ee oe:

 

» plant.

Te BUPEALO

was a straight groove, twenty feet long, and ending, as
the Laramie man had said, against the blank adobe wall.
. ‘Mebbyso,” suggested Nomad, “thar’s er trap in ther
cellar floor.”

“Not in the floor,’ was the reply. “If there’s a trap
anywhere it’s in the wall.”

Wild Bill made a close examination of the wall. He
was not long in detecting a straight up-and-down crack

-in the hard adobe. With this as a clue, the crack was

traced around until the edges of what seemed like a wide
door were clearly defined.
“Ft’s er door, shore es shootin’, muttered the trapper.
“And there’d sure be shooting,” added Hickok, “if
Hatch and his gang had any idea what we were doing.
Lower your voice, Nick. We don’t want to let the scoun-

- drels up-stairs hear us talking. I'll bank heavy that this

door leads into a concealed bees where the whisky is
made.”

“Push on et.- Mebbyso et’ll open ef ye do.”

The Laramie man pushed, but without result.

“There’s some other way of getting it open,” said he.

“Kain’t ye find er spring, er somethin’ like thet?”

“Strike some matches and hold them for me, Nick. I
want to use Doth hands.”

There was a keg, close to the wall on that side of the
cellar, and Nomad sat down on the keg with the intention
of making himself comfortable while he held the burning
matches.

The instant he sat ie however, something happened
—and it happened to both the pards.

The keg, under the trapper’s weight, dropped into the
floor, and let the trapper down suddenly with his heels

in the air. Simultaneously with the dropping of the keg,
a blank space in the wall yawned open. Wild Bill, at that
‘moment, was pressing against the wall with the palms of

his hands, seeking for a concealed spring that operated
the door. In a twinkling he lost his balance, and pitched
forward into the pitchy blackness. +

Nomad heard the — of his pard’s landing, some-
where below. 7

“What’s ter. pay, Hickok ?” ” he asked anxiously, getting
up and groping his way carefully to the opening.

A muffled laugh floated up to him.

“Everything’s O. K., pard. “I tumbled headfirst down a
flight of steps. We're discovering — all right. This
Bajo Sol lay-out is full of surprises.”

“Et was thet bloomin’ keg thet worked ther door. I
reckon a feller hes ter jump on et with both feet when-
ever he wants ter tote a basket er corn ter ther whisky
D599.

“That must be the way of it. Here’s another kee down
here. Look alive, now! I’m going to stand on the keg
and see what happens.” - :

“Fire away,” said Nomad, stepping back.

The next moment the door in the adobe wall came

 

BILE SIORIDS. |. 17

noiselessly shut, and the kee that had been sunk to the
level of the cellar floor arose into position again.
Nomad chuckled. It was all mighty simple, but very

_effective.

“Two kegs an’ a door,” he said to himself. “I reckon
Hickok an’ me aire shore goin’ ter find ther lay-out thet
Buffler-is lookin’ fer. Ef we does, this hyar fool break
0’ ours won’t turn out so bad, arter all. Now, I'll stand
on this hyar keg, an’——”

“Whoof !”

A grunt of surprise echoed out behind the old trapper.
He whirled about just in time to be gripped by a pair of
sinewy arms.

One of the Hatch-a-kaws, it seemed, had been sent
into the cellar to look after the prisoners. This was a
wise move on Hatch-a-kaw’s part, but it would have been
wiser if the guard had been sent down some time before.

Nomad, although caught about the middle with his
arms pinned at his sides, was not helpless by any means.
In about a second, he had slipped his hands free, had
doubled one arm about the neck of his assailant, and had

clapped a hand over the fellow’s mouth to prevent outcry.

A struggle followed, during which Nomad, while try-
ing to get the best of his adversary, did his utmost to
make as little noise as possible.

If the set-to was heard up-stairs, all the Hatch-a-kaws
would come tumbling into the cellar to find out what
was going on. Asa result, Nomad would be captured
again, roped, and put where there would be no possibility
of escape. And Wild Bill, somewhere on the other side
of the secret door, would be in the dark as to what was
going on in the cellar, and might unconsciously walk into
the hands of his enemies.

Nomad’s adversary proved to be a powerful man. The
two struggled back and forth, and finally tripped and
went down. o

As luck would have it, they fell on top of the keg.
That opened the trap again; then the fierce writhing of
the two men pitched them over the top of the stairs down
which Wild Bill had tumbled, and they went headlong
into the darkness.

At the foot of the stairs they collided with the as-
tounded Laramie man, and all fell in a tangled heap.

CHAPTER XL

THE CONCEALED CHAMBER.

-“Thunder, and carry one!” exclaimed Wild Bill, sep-
arating himself from the two who had slammed into him -
and carried him off his feet. “Who’s this you brought
along with you, Nick?” .

“Ain’t been interduced ter him yet,” growled the trap-
per. “He come up behind me while I was thinkin’ o’

 
   

 

      
   

THE BUFFALO

prised. We tusseled eround, an’ I managed ter keep him
from yellin’; then we fell on ther keg, an’ rolled through
ther door when sHe opened. Give us er light till I see
‘what ther whelp looks like.”

When the match flared up, the pards saw the yellow,
parchmentlike face of a Chinaman. The Chinaman was
considerably mussed, and considerably bewildered, too, if
the way he blinked his slant eyes could be taken as an in-

- dication.

“Et’s er pizen Chink!” grunted Nomad.
fust yaller boy I’ve seen at Bajo Sol.”

“T’ll close the trap and we'll talk with him,” said Wild
Bill. “Twist your hand in his pigtail, Nick, so as to keep
him from bolting.”

Nomad seized the Chinaman’s queue and wrapped a
coil of it around his right fist. Wild Bill, stepping on a
keg similar to the one in the cellar, sent the trap-door
back into place.

*He’s ther

Pp?”

“Who are you?” he demanded of the Chinaman, stoop-
ine over him in the dark and touching his shoulder.

“Me Sam Kee,” chattered the Celestial. “Why you
makee tlouble, hey?”

“You work at this robbers’ roost?” went on Wild Bill,

“All same cookee.”

“Why did you come down in the cellar?”

“Hatch him say fo’ China boy makee come, lookee
lound, see plisoners allee light.”

“Hatch was a little late in putting a man on the job.
Do you know this ‘place, Sam?”

“Him Bajo Solee.”

“T mean this hole we’re in now.”

“Him tunnel,”

“Where does it lead?”

“Him makee lead to led-eye. place.”

“I knowed we was on ther right trail, Hickok,” put in
Nomad. ‘Ther Chink kain t tell us anythin’ we don’t
know.” |
_ “Maybe he can,” answered Wild: Bill, “and maybe well
find it out later.”

He scratched a match.

“Gotee gun?” he went on, holding the match in front
_ of the Chinaman’s face.

“Allee same.”

Sam Kee shook one of his wide sleeves, and a revolver
dropped out. Wild Bill picked it up. —

“Gottee ally mo’ gun, Sam?’

“No gottee.”

“Can you lead us to the red-eye place ?”

Cen do.)

, “Then get up and go ahead.
I’m behind you with a shooter.

Don’t forget, either that
Try to do anything you

| hadn’t ought to, and I'll tickle your ribs with a bullet.”
“Me plenty good China boy,” chattered the Celestial.
| “No makee shoot.”

   

jumpin’ on ther keg, an’ I reckon we was both some sur- —

shattered and easily removed from the staple.

took it, and hunted around until he discovered a tin lamp

BILL STORIES.

Nomad pulled at his quevie and helped him ipeigh
then, through the darkness, the Chinaman led them for a
distance of perhaps fifty feet. | Here Sant ‘Kee began
mounting a flight of stone steps.

“Makee climb,” said he, “bymby come to telieye me
No pullee China bors pigtail,” he added to hay

- “Him makee hurt.’

“Ther Chink’s ther whitest man in ther gang, Wild
Bill,’ remarked Nomad, easing up on the queue‘a little
as he climbed after the Chinaman, “I don’t know what
good it’s goin’ ter do us ter tote him along, though.”

“You couldn’t leave hee in the cellar, Nick, and we
couldn’t send him back to let Hatch-a-kaw know what
had happened. We may find a use for him.”

The Chinaman came to a stop at the head of the stairs,
and they heard him pushing at a door. :
ee do’

“No miakee get in,” announced Sam Kee.

allee same locked,”

With the aid of a match.Wild Bill examined the door.
It was of heavy planks, and was secured with a hasp and
padlock.

“T’ll fix that padlock,” said he.

Placing the muzzle of Sam Kee’s revolver against the
lock, the Laramie man pulled the trigger. The lock was

a
a

“Whoosh!” exclaimed Nomad, sniffing the air as the
door was pushed open. “Smell um heap whisk, hay-lo

whist.”

“Moonshine whisk,” added Wild Bill.
at the end of the red-eye trail, Nick.” >

“Buffler’ll be some tickled when he finds et out.”

“It’s a conundrum just how he’s going to find it out.
We're caged up in Bajo Sol—don’t forget that.”

“Mebbyso we kin find er way out through ther whisky
‘plant.’ Go on, Chink,” he added to Sam Kee. “Is thar
a lamp in ther place?”

“Gottee lamp. Lettee China boy ¢ go, him makee light.”

“Stand in the doorway, Nick, and turn him adrift,”
said Wild Bill. “We’ve got his shooter, and he won’t
be able to make any trouble. Clear out, Sam, and get a .
Heht.. : | |

“Can do,” answered the Chinaman.

They heard him clatter aeross the stone floor, stumbling
against various objects now and then. After a few mo-
ments there was silence. The silence ae for so
long that Wild Bill got suspicious.

“Hurry up with that light, Sam!’ he called.

There was no answer.

“What sort of er hocus-pocus d’ye oo he’s ee, ter
work?” demanded Nomad.

“We'll find out,” said Wild Bill.
Nick. Have you got any?’

*“*T reckon we're

“T’m out of matches,

A lucifer was scratched by the old trapper. Wild Bill

  
THE BUFFALO

N

on the top of a barrel. When the lamp was lighted, a
cavernous room greeted the eyes of the pards.

The room was oblong in shape, measuring about twenty

‘feet one way by ten the other.

In one end were half a dozen barrels, piled in two tiers.
In the other end was the still which had caused the mili-
tary authorities so much trouble.

‘At one side of the chamber there was a pool of water,
lying along the wall.

“TI don’t see ther Chink any what's,
keeping his place by the door.

“You stay where you are, Nick,” called back Wild Bill.
“Tf he’sthiding around here somewhere, I'll rout him out.”

The Laramie man picked up the lamp and went behind
the barrels. A frightened yell echoed through the cham-
ber. Close on the heels of the yell, Sam Kee broke into
the open like a frightened rabbit. He did not run toward
the door, but dashed for the pool of water. For an in-
stant he poised on the brink, then dove into the pool head-
first.

“What’s ther matter Sith ther yaller ijut?’ whooped
Nomad. . “Et don’t look ter me as though thet pond was
more’n two feet deep, an’ I’ll sw’ar et ain't over ten feet
long by six wide.”

Wild Bill, the revolver in his hand, put down the lamp
and seated himself at the edge of the pool.

* said Nomad, still

“T don’t know what his game is,” said he,
till he comes up, and then [ll grab him.”

_ Wild Bill waited five minutes, and Sam Kee didn’t
come up. .

“Waugh!” exclaimed the old trapper.
ther fool committed susanside, Hickok?”

“THe’d have come to the surface three times, wouldn't
he?” asked Wild Bill, puzzled.

“T reckon he’d hev showed hisself oncet er twicet, any-
ways. Thar’s somethin’ hyar we kain’t understand, Wild
Bil’ a
“Then let’s look around and find something we can
understand,” returned the Laramie man, vexed because of
Sam.Kee’s escape.

He picked up the lamp and started toward the still
Nomad, having no further reason to guard the door, left
- it. On his way to his pard’s side, he picked up an ax.

‘put Ul wait

“D’ye reckon

“Orders was ter wreck ther still ef we found et, wasn’t
they, Hickok?” he asked.

“Yes, and to destroy the whisky,” replied Hickok,

“Hyar goes fer ther whisky, then.”

Armed with the ax, Nomad stepped to the barrels.
Raining blow after blow upon the barrel-heads, he
smashed the stout wood, and soon had the liquor flowing
in a stream. From the place where the barrels were piled
there was a slope down to the edge of the pool. The red-
eye, pouring out of the barrels, guttered its way down
to the water.—

“We'll hev our fun while we got ther chanst, Hickok,”

BULLE STORMS.

remarked Nomad, leaning on the ax and resting a mo-
ment. “We're caged up in Bajo Sol, mebbyso, but we'll
do all ther damage possible afore they puts ther kibosh on
us ergin. Next time Hatch-a-kaw gits a couple er pris-
‘ners, he'll sabe more’n ter drap ’em inter ther cellar
Whar d’ye reckon this place is?”

“Tn the cliff wall. It can’t be any other place. The

undoeroune passage from the cellar crosses the ‘sink’

to the cliff.”

“Ft looks like er nacheral dugout,’ Le Nomad,
flashing his eyes about him at the cavern walls.

“There’s no doubt about the chamber being a freak of
nature,’ agreed Wild Bill.

‘What does Hatch do with his smoke when he’s runnin’
ther still? Thar’s shore got ter be some place fer puttin’
ther smoke.”

Hickok, just then, lost all interest in the question raised
by the old trapper. He heard a sound of running feet in
the passage, and started at a jump for the door.

“Hatch-a-kaw and his men are coming, Nick,’ he
yelled. “We’re up against another siege, like that we had
in the kitchen. Bring something to barricade the door.”

Nomad, hurling aside the recently emptied whisky-bar-
rels, rolled a full one from the lower tier down the slope,
and toward the door. He managed to keep the barrel _
from going into the pool, and guided it against the heavy
plank barrier at the head of the stone steps.

The rattle of revolvers echoed from the passage, and
lead began chugging into the door.

“We got ‘em now!” exulted Nomad. “Ef they kin push
ther door in ag’inst thet bar’l o’ whisky, ’m ready ter
wall out an’ give myself up.”

“By running around like we have been,’ remarked
Wild Bill gravely, ‘we've only succeeded in getting out
of the frying-pan into the fire. “We’re in the biggest kind
of a hole, Nick, but, if we can destroy this still, we'll ac-
complish a good stroke of work for Pard Cody.”

_ “Thet’s what!” exclaimed the trapper. “I'd er heap
ruther be hyar, holdin’ of them whelps off, than in ther

_ kitchen.”

“Well, there was something to eat in the kitchen, pard.
If the Hatch-a-kaws hang on long oy they can
starve us out.”

The gravity of the situation appealed to the reckless
old trapper for the first time.

“Anyways,” he remarked, “ef we cashes in, et won’t be
till we’ve put ther still out o’ bizness. An’ mebbyso——”’
he paused. oe

“Go on,” said Wild Bill, sitting down on the barrel of
whisky and listening to the furious attack the Hatch-a-
kaws were making on the door.

“T was goin’ ter say, pard,” finished Nomad, “thet ef
we kin hold ae hyar long enough, Buffler is shore Boe
ter show up.”

“He’s our only hope! 1” declared the Laramie man.

A i

 
 

 

THE  BUPEALO

CHAPTER XTI.

THE FLAG OF TRUCE.

Reveille had not yet sounded when the scout, sleeping
heavily, was aroused by a rap on his bedroom door.

“Who is it?” he asked, springing up to the edge of the |

bed.

He had gone to sleep considerably worried on account
of the trapper and the Laramie man, and he was now
hoping that one or other of them was at his door to re-
port that they were back safely.

One of the scout’s pards was in the hall, but it was

neither Nomad nor Wild Bill.

“All same Little Cayuse, Pa-has-ka,”
the Piute boy.

“Ah!” The scout had sent the boy and the Apaches to
trail the Hatch-a-kaws, and he had come to fepoit. is
Hatch up to anything, Cayuse?”

“Him capture Nomad and Wild Bill.
at Bajo Sol. Me see um.”

The scout, startled, opened the door and let the Piute
_ into the room.

“How did it happen, Gane: ?’”’ he demanded.

came the voice of

. Got um heap fast

Cayuse told all he knew—-how Yuppah had discovered

Wild Bill, how Wild Bill had said Nomad was captured,
and had arranged the spliced riatas so they could be
drawn up quickly by the horses; how Wild Bill had gone
down, given the signal, and how the rope had broken and
thrown him and Nomad back into the hands of the Hatch-
a-kaws.

“Me make um wait on cliff,” finished Cayuse, “make
um watch. No see um Nomad, no see um Wild Bill any
more, Pa-has-ka.”

“Then”—and the scout’s eyes narrowed and his face
hardened—“‘for all you know, my two pards may have
been wiped out?”

“No sabe.”

“Where did you leave the Apaches, Cayuse?”

“Teave um Bajo Sol.

“Well, go down and get Bear Paw for me. We'll ride
for Hatch-a-kaw’s hang-out as soon as I am dressed.”

Before Cayuse could get away, Lieutenant Baker came
clattering up the stairs and along the hall. He was enly
half-dressed, and his face was full of excitement.

“Are you tip, Cody?” he called.
“Just getting up,” answered the scout.
_ matter, Baker?”

“Jove!” muttered Baker, staring at Little Cayuse.
“Where did your Piute pard come from?”

_“He’s just from Bajo Sol; brings the report that No-

“What’s the

mad and Wild Bill have been captured by Hatch-a-kaw.” .

-“T told the trapper and the Laramie man what would

ce They keep um watch while Cay-
use cofne to see Pa-has-ka.”

BILL STORIES.

happen. It was a foolish move they made, last night, but
they were crazy for exciternent, There's a delegation of _
Hatch-a-kaws dowf-stairs waiting to see you, Cody. .
They’ve come with a white flag, Perhaps their call has.
something to do with Nomad and Wild Bill?” :
“T’ll be down in a brace of shakes,” said the scout.
Baker and Little Cayuse left the room nha tn
about two minutes the scout reached the front door and.
the porch. :
Three mounted men sat their horses at the foot of the
porch steps. They were ruffianly looking scoundrels, and
one of them carried a stick to which a dirty white rag
was tied.. At sight of Buffalo Bill, they straightened in
their saddles. Two were “breeds” and one was a rene-
gade white. All wore long, disreputable-looking yellow
cloaks, which covered them from their chins to their stir-
rups. The cloaks, being full in front, hid their hands.
For all the scout could tell to the contrary, they might
be covering: him with their revolvers under their cloaks.

_ The man bearing the flag had it laid over the saddle, in

front of him,

“Who are you?” inquired the scout.

Lieutenant Marcus was on the porch when the scout
got there, and Captain Lundgren was just hurrying in
that direction from a neighboring house in officers’ row.

“We're from Hatch-a-kaw’s place,” came the husky
voice of the white renegade. “We works thar.”

“Why are you carrying a flag of truce?
war with the soldiers : Me

“Nary. We ain’t at war with any one, We jest
fetched along the white flag so’st ter make shore we.
wouldn't hev any trouble. Hatch sent us ter tell ye
somethin’,”

Are you at

a9

“Before they go any farther,” said Captain Lundgren,
coming up on the porch to the scout’s side, “make them
throw off those cloaks. It’s a Missouri trick to shoot
from your pocket, or your sleeve, or from behind your
coat. We don’t want any Missouri tricks here, Cody.”

“You hear what the captain says, you ‘three’ ?” said the
scout to the Hatch-a-kaws.

“We keeps on our cloaks,”
man for the trio, with a sullen gesture of his head.
ye don’t want ter hear what we got ter say -——”

returned the white spokes-
“ore :

Before the fellow could finish, the scout had executed
a lightninglike move. With a jump down the steps, he ©
had grabbed the white renegade’s cloak and stripped it
away with a quick pull.

The man started back in his saddle with an oath. tase
as the scout had suspected, the renegade was holding a
drawn revolver in his hands.

In a flash, Buffalo Bill covered all three men with his
revolvers, fanning the weapons back and forth so as to
command each one of the trio..

“You come here with a flag of truce,” said he sternly,

 

 
 

THE BUFFALO

“and all the time you have your revolvers drawn and
ready for business. Before we talk further, you will
throw your guns on the ground, and the half-breeds will
take off their cloaks. Pronto!”

There was that in the scout’s voice and manner which
convinced the Hatch-a-kaws that it would not be well
to delay. The white renegade flung down his weapons

beside his cloak, and his two companions threw off their

cloaks and dropped their own revolvers a their
horses.

“Kin I tork now?” scowled the hie scoundrel.

“Go ahead,” said Buffalo Bill grimly, backing up the
steps to the porch and slowly returning his revolvers to
his belt.

“Yee wouldn't be so blamed high an’ mighty ef ye
knowed what had happened,” snarled the white renegade.
“Hatch hes captered yore two pards, Nick Nomad an’
Wild Bill Hickok; an’ Hatch sends me hyar ter say thet
ef ye don't pull out an’ leave ther San Juan valley fer
good an’ all, an’ not bother him any more, yer two pards
aire goin’ ter be snuffed out.” :

“That’s what Hatch says, is it?’ queried the scout
coolly.

“You. bet yer life it is. He means it, too.”

“We've got all the line on the skulking hound we
want now,’ muttered Captain Lundgren.

Buffalo Bill was thoughtful for a few moments.

“You fellows come here with a white flag and with
drawn guns under your cloaks,” said he finally. “I don’t
think your flag of truce is entitled to any consideration.
Get down from your horses—we're going to keep you
‘here for a while.”

Lundgren, Marcus, and Baker were as much surprised
by this move of the scout’s as were the three Hatch-a-
kaws; nevertheless, the three officers promptly drew their
weapons—Lundgren had only his sword—and made ready
to enforce Buffalo Bill’s command.

“What the blazes d’ye mean?” whooped the white rene-

gade, ina rage.

“J mean just what I say,’ and the scout’s eyes glittered
along the barrels of his guns. “Dismount. Captain, will
_ you, and Marcus, and Baker take them over to the guard-
house ?”

“Sure we will,’ answered the captain.

There were a good many futile swear-words in Bustin
and Ute, but, in the end, the three scoundrels dismounted
and were marched across the parade-ground to the guard-
house, .
When Lundgren, Marcus, and Baker got back to the
porch, the scout had picked up the three yellow cloaks,
and the revolvers, and had laid them out on the steps.

‘What's your object in making that move, Buffalo
Bill?” asked Lundgren. | !

“Tt’s the first step toward. the rescue of Nomad and
Wild Bill, captain,’ the scout answered.

 

 

BIEL STORIES,

The officers exchanged bewildered looks.

“T don’t see how the capture of the three Hatch-a-kaws
has anything to do with your move on Bajo Sal,” went
on Lundgren.

“You know how iment it is to get into this rock-
walled ranch of Bajo Sol, don’t you?”

Yes!

“Well, Vil have to get in there before I can do any-
thing for Nick and Wild Bill, won’t 1?”

“Undoubtedly.”

“Now’’—and the scout cast a quizzical look at Marcus
and Baker—“if I knew two lieutenants, who’d like to
take part in an exciting dash among the Hatch-a-kaws,
we'd put on those yellow cloaks, mount the Hatch-a-kaw
horses, and ride for Bajo Sol. Hatch would think that
we were his returning messengers; that is, we’d fool him
into thinking that just long enough to get us into his
stronghold. Then there’d be doings. There can’t be so
very many men at Bajo Sol, now that we’ve taken in these
three. There may be seven or eight, but no more. Three
of us, if we work right, can clean them out, with the as-
sistance of Cayuse and my Apaches from the top of the
wall. What do you say, my lads?’

“It hits me plumb center!’ cried Marcus, enthusiastic
on the instant.

“That’s the way I stack up, Cody!” added Baker. “‘It’s
the slickest kind of a scheme, and nobody but you would —
have thought of it.”

“T wish there had been four of the messengers,” ob-
served Lundgren regretfully, “so I could go along. But
good luck to you! I know you'll win out, boys,” he added
to Baker and Marcus, ‘‘with Cody to see you through. I
hope you'll not only be able to rescue Nomad and Hickok,
but also to find and destroy that illicit still, Wall you have
breakfast first ?” |

“We'd better,” answered the scout, “providing we can
get a snack ahead of the reewlan mess. It won't do to
stay here too long, captain.”

Baker and Marcus hurried off to complete their hasty
preparations, and the scout waited for them on the porch,

CHAPTER XIII.
GETTING INTO BAJO SOL.

Half an hour after the scout had formed his plans,
three yellow-cloaked figures rode out of the post-gate and
took the easy trail leading to Bajo Sol. These riders, of
course, were the scout and the two lieutenants. Inasmuch
as they were mounted on the animals belonging to the
three Hatch-a-kaws, and wore their hats pulled low down
over their eyes, at a little distance they could not be dis-
tinguished from the renegades themselves.

 

 
 

THE BUFFALO

“Well in the rear of them followed Little Cayuse, riding

Navi, his pinto, and leading Bear Paw and two ee

horses for the use of the lieutenants,
The Piute’s instructions were simple.
He was to rejoin the Apaches on top of the fall look

- after the horses, and do what he could from his elevated ,

position to help the scout and the officers in their work in
the “sink.”

“Hatch,” remarked Baker, as they rode aes “has
dropped his mask at last. I knew it would come sooner
or later, A man can’t pretend to be an honest rancher,
and steal cattle and manufacture moonshine whisky at
the same time, and keep up both réles indefinitely. Your
arrival in the valley, Buffalo Bill, has brought the game
to a showdown.” ,

“I’m glad of that,” said the scout. “When you're deal-
ing with a scoundrel like Hatch, it’s always well to know
just where you stand.”

“News that you were here, Cody,” spoke up Marcus,
“seems to have scared the Hatch-a-kaws out of their
wits. It was a bad move, on Hatch’s part, trying to grab
you away from Bagley’s, Hatch tipped his hand right
there,”

“He’s got a fierce temper,” said Baker, “and is a regu-
lar demon when he gets his mad up. I'll bet the old cimi-
roon was in a killing humor when you a vree away from
him at Bagley’s.”

“That’s the humor he was in, Baker,” went on the
scout, “when Nomad and Wild Bill dropped over there
for acall. Talk about your foolish plays! I can’t under-
stand what came over my pards to make a move like that.”

“your pards didn’t

aS 39

“Of course,” suggested Marcus,
know a thing about what had taken place at Bagley’s.

. “Tf they had known that,” added Baker,
Pica my advice and stayed away from Bajo Sol. But
they had the bits in their teeth. ~They thought life was

getting too monotonous, and they wanted to stir things
99

Up.

“They certainly succeeded!” exclaimed the scout
grimly.

“Any plans as to what we’re to do if we get into Bajo
Sol?” queried Marcus, of the scout. Lae

“Our plans,” replied Buffalo Bill, “will have to be
governed by circumstances. The main thing is to get the
best of the Hatch-a-kaws, and find and release Nomad
and Wild Bill, When we get into the ‘sink’-——”
_ “If we do,” qualified Marcus.

“We will,” averred the scout quietly. “When we get
into the ranch, we'll throw off the cloaks and get busy.
We'll give the gang a chance to surrender, and, if Hatch
shows himself, we'll try and put him under arrest.”

“From our side,” said Baker, “the principal thing is
the finding of that still, and putting it out of business.”

“Do you think the still is at Bajo Sol?”

“they'd have.

BILL STORIES.

“No. The internal revenue people have had men here
—men who have got into Bajo Sol and hunted high and
low for a moonshine ‘plant.’ They weren’t able to dis-
cover a thing, so it’s almost a cinch ae ‘plant’ isn’t any-
where near the ranch.”

“That doesn’t necessarily follow, “Baker.”

“Well, Cody, it looks reasonable to me.
fellows are mighty shrewd.”

“Where’s the nearest place they raise corn ie

“All the San Juan ranchers raise corn, more or less.”

“But Hatch wouldn’t buy his corn of them!”

“Hardly. That would be a dead give away.
raises his own corn.”

“Where are his fields?”

“On the river bottom, close to Bajo Sol.”

“Then, amigos,’ said the scout, “take my word for it,
the still is somewhere around Bajo Sol. Hatch wouldn't
have the plant very far from the base of supplies.”

_ For a while, after that, the horsemen galloped along in
silence, the mind of each dwelling upon the business in
hand. :

“I suppose,” said Marcus finally, “that Hatch has his
spies out. Some of his men may be watching us this
minute. If they discovered that we are not what we seem
to be =

“Well,” cut in the scout, “if any spies discovered that,
we'd still be able to get to Bajo Sol ahead of them. We're
in the trail, you know, and the spies would have to travel
the rough country at the trail side.”

These revenue

_Hatch’

The horses the scout and the lieutenants rode were

none too fresh, and none too speedy, but they got the
best gait out of them that was possible in the circum-
stances.
- The sun was about half-way up the eastern slope of
the sky when the party swerved away from the edge of
the San Juan River, rounded the shoulder of a mountain,
clattered into a deaie! and came to a se in front of a
high, natural wall.

The wall was pierced with an opening, wide enough
and high enough for two. horsemen to ride through
abreast. But the opening was closed with a barrier of
heavy planks. ; foe

Everything was quiet. Not a sound was to be heard
from the other side of the wall, or in the vicinity of the
defile, and not a person was to be seen.

“Plenty quiet,’ muttered Marcus.

“Hatch doesn’t ao to be expecting his three mes-
sengers back so soon,” put in Baker.

“Either that,” continued Marcus, “or the gang - ‘onto
us, and don’t intend to let us in.” . #

9

“We'll wake them up,” said the scout, “and hear what
they have to say for themselves.”

Riding close to the barrier, Buffalo Bill Sounded Ont if
with the butt of one of his revolvers. The blows echoed
hollowly among the rocky uplifts. Almost instantly a

 

 

 
 

 

 

THE BUFFALO
sound as of some one moving ‘about could be ot on

the opposite side of the wall. a.
. Who’ A: thar! 2? demanded a hoarse voice. oe

Open up,” called the scout, imitating the voice of. the —

white renegade .as well as he could. “We're back from
the post with a report fer Hatch. Cs .
Would the scout’s disguised voice deceive the guard?

Baker and Marcus waited breathlessly.

“Qh, et’s you, is et, Snidecker?” came the voice from

the other side of the barrier. “Why didn’t ye say so in
the fust place? Wait till I pull ther door open.” |

‘How’s the pris’ners?” demanded the scout, anxious
to find out something about Nomad and Wild Bill, and
knowing that he could not when he and his companions
were once. face to face with the guard.

“Waal, they been raisin’ Cain,” replied the guard, fum-
bling with a chain, “Fust off, they was.tied an’ drapped
inter ther cellar, as you know, but they got their ropes off,
an’ found their way inter the passage leadin’ ter the work-
room. Sam Kee was sent down ter watch ’em, but they
grabbed Sam an’ took him along with ’em through ther
passage. Sam got out o’ the workroom by way o’ the
“water, an’ fust Hatch er any o’ us knowed things was
goin’ wrong, Sam got in, wet as er drowned rat, an’ re-
ported. We been tryin’ ter git an ae tS ever oe
but they been holdin’ us off—

All this information was very interesting to the scout;
but it was not so interesting but that he was busily plan-
ning a surprise for the guard while listening. _

Buffalo Bill was close to the barrier. His ears told him
from which side it was going to open, and he pEtsed
close to that point.

When the guard pulled the big door Hace the scout

fell from his saddle—dropped like a flash on the guard,’

gripping him by the throat and Ce him backward
to the ground.

“A rope, quick!” called the scout, dragging the halt
\ strangled guard out through the opening.

Both lieutenants slid from their saddles, Baker taking
a riata to the scout. Between the three of them the guard

: _ was bound hand and foot, and gagged, in record time.

“Step number one,’ muttered Buffalo Bill.
“Jupiter, but you’re a whirlwind, Cody!’
Baker admiringly.

“IT should say so!’ added Marcus.

notion what you were intending to do.”

_ exclaimed
ve hada t the ie

“Tf the guard had had time to get a good look at us,’
explained the scout, “he would have begun to yell bloody
murder. That would have brought the gang around us
before we’d had a chance to get very far into the ‘sink.’
Now there will be no alarm—and we have one to.
contend doainst.? 3. =

“From: what he said, a pursued Baker ey take it dit

Nomad and Wild Bill have been keeping the outfit busy.”

“T expected they’d do that,” said the scout. “I knew

you know, to strike while the iron is hot.”

 

BILL STORIES.
mighty well my two pards would put up a stiff fight. | But
get back on your horses, compadres. It’s a good thing,

The three. swung back into their saddles. With the
scout leading and pushing the big door wide, they clat-
tered into the stronghold of the Hatch-a-kaws.

Silence reigned in the “sink”’——the same ominous si-

lence that had greeted the three white men when they

had arrived before the opening in the wall. . Bajo Sel—
literally, “under the sun’—lay quiet as a sleeping lizard
under the rays of the rising red ball in the heavens.

The adobe. ranch-house was silent as the grave, and
not a human form was to be seen anywhere.

Without exchanging any comments on the situation, the
venturesome fiders, holding their revolvers in readiness
under the yellow cloaks, spurred toward the door of the
house.

Just before they reached it, Hatch-a-kaw presented

himself and started forward. He must have been keen-

eyed as a hawk, for he fell back through the door, and
slammed it shut before he had taken three steps toward
the newcomers.

“FHe’s next to us, Cody!” cried Baker.

“Looks that way!’ returned the scout, casting aside
his yellow cloak and slipping from the saddle. “Now for
it, compadres! Follow me!”

CHAPTER XIV.

THE FIGHT IN THE “SINK.”

As the scout and the two lieutenants rushed forward, a
bullet leaped at them from a window beside the door.
Baker’s good star was hovering over him, for the ball
struck the buckle of his belt and glanced harmlessly. _

There was no time to remark upon the closeness of
Baker’s escape. Both the scout and Marcus, answering
the shot, sent a couple of bullets through the window
while running for the door.

The door, evidently constructed for defensive purposes,
like all the other barriers at Bajo Sol, was of. heavy
planks. It had been secured on the inside, and all the:
kicking and pushing the scout and Marcus ante it ae
not budge it aninch,

“There’s a cottonwood log,” called Baler pointing.
“Use it for a battering-ram. While you're at it, Pll keep
in man quiet on the other side of that window.” ~~

“Good idea!” approved the scout. “We'll get the log,
Marcus.”

Baker, training a weapons on Dike window and patting
so many bullets through the opening that it was impossi-
ble for any one inside the house to stand before it, cov-
ered the work of the scout and the other officer. _

Picking up the log and laying it across their shoulders,

 
 

TH BURP ALO

Buffalo Bill and Marcus rushed at the door. The end
of the log met the planks with a terrific crash. Although
it yielded a little, the door did not give’ way completely.

“Once again, Marcus!” shouted the scout.

Retreating for a run, once more the two men dashed
the log against the plank framework.

This time the door was torn from its fastenings, and
went smashing inward.

Fierce yells came from within the house, punctuated
by a rattling volley. Bullets swarmed through the door-
way like angry bees.

“T’ve got it!” exclaimed Marcus, dropping his revolver
and staggering back. ‘But it’s only my right arm,” he
added, picking up the revolver with his left hand.

“Stay here, Marcus!” ordered the scout.  ‘“‘Aiter me,
Baker !”

There were bullet-holes in Cody’s clothes, but no dam-
age had been sustained by the scout himself. As for
Baker, that first tight squeak seemed to have rendered
him immune for further injury.

Plunging into the room, the scout caught a ae of
a redskin lying in front of the window through which
‘Baker had been doing his peppering. Hatch-a-kaw and
another man were in the room, but they jumped through
a rear door to evade coming to oe with Buf-
falo Bill and Baker. |

“Hatch-a-kaw!’’ roated the scout. “We're after you.
Surrender, and you'll save yourself a heap of trouble!” -

A swirling defiance was Hatch-a-kaw’s answer. He
shut the door behind him and the other man, and those in
the front room could hear swift feet a the floor
beyond.

The door closed by Hatch was not fastened, and the
scout was but a second in throwing it open. Hatch and
the other man were just disappearing through an outside
entrance. ,

This last room was the kitchen, where Nomad and Wild
Bill-had been “peppered” into helplessness. The strings
of dried peppers were still lying on the floor.

Rushing through the kitchen, the scout and the lieu-
tenant emerged from the house only to find that Hatch
and his companion had separated and were running in
different ways. :

* Pt] take Hatch,” yelled the scout, “and you 2 20 for the

, other one, Baker.’

“AML right,” panted Baker.

Hatch-a-kaw was running fea the pool at the ae

of the “sink.” The scout, making the best use of his legs,
gradually overhauled him.

“Halt!” cried Buffalo Bill.
you in your tracks!”

Hatch-a- kaw whirled around and lifted his bade in
the air. Buffalo Bill had looked for a fierce resistance,
and, this move of the dishonest \rancher’s filled him with
surprise. .

“Stop, T say, or Y Il. drop

his own revolvers.

_ its surface, waiting for the man to reappear.

BILL STORIES.

Hatch was on the very brink of the pool, standing witn
his back toward it. In spite of his mixed: pigods he was
a fine-locking, spectacular figure. Can Ae

His swarthy face was not attractive, in any sense, but
his form was lithe and graceful as a panther’s.

He wore a peaked, Mexican hat, with silver pendants
chinking along the brim. A short, black velvet coat cov-:

ered the upper half of his body, and his trousers were of

the haciendado sort, slashed at the bottoms and laced.
There, was a sash tied about his middle, a little for show,
and a little for use as a support for weapons. Just now,
though, there were no weapons in the Sash.

“Do you surrender :” queried the scout.

“What do you

per

“You see me?’ scowled Hatch-a-kaw.
think I’m doing, with my hands in the air?

The scout laughed.

“T must say, Hatch, that you come easy.” He put up
“From what I had heard of you, |
thought you’d put up a harder fight. Where are the rest
of your men?” ‘

“How do I know? What did you do with the three ~
who went to the post?”

“They are still at the post.”

“Did they bring a white flag?”

“They did; and carried drawn wéapons under their
cloaks. Nice way to use a white flag.”

“You captured them,” shouted Hatch-a-kaw, his un-
governable temper rising; ‘‘you put on their cloaks, anc
took their caballos; and you rode here to my ranch of
Bajo Sol!”

“That’s about the size of it.”

_- Dog of a Gringo!’ .

With that, the furious Hatch lowered his hands and
struck a lightninglike blow at the scout; but Hatch was
a little shy in figuring out the scout’s movements. ‘The
scout was always just a shade quicker than 0 man OD
had ever faced him. ©

It was so in this case.

A deft side step caused Hatch’s fist to cleave the air
over the scout’s shoulder. The impetus of the Dow Bue
the renegade off his balance. :

Buffalo Bill's fist shot forward with ae force,
Janding on the side of Hatch-a-kaw’s face and hurling
him backward into the pool.

There followed a great splash, and the spectacular. ae
of the dishonest rancher vanished from sight.

Standing on the brink of the pool, the scout scanned -
But he did
not show himself.

Minute followed ie aad the scout’ s bewilderment | i

grew. How could the half-breed remain under water for
such an inordinate length of time? Had the scout’s blow
stunned him, so that he had been unable to help himself,
and had drowned?

 

 
 

|. meat one, I must say.

THE BUFFALO

While Buffalo Bill stood there, wondering and trying
to guess. what had become of Hatch-a-kaw, he heard a
wild yell from beyond the ranch-house, on the other side
of the “sink.”

Whirling away from the pool, he started hae atone the
course taken by Baker in pursuing Hatch’s companion.
_ As he rounded the end of the ranch-house, he met a spec-
tacle that set every nerve to tingling.

Baker had cornered the half-breed whom he had chased
to the wall of the “sink.” But, while holding a revolver
on the man, Baker had himself been cornered.

A Chinaman, larger and more powerful than the usual
run of his race, had stolen up behind Baker and grabbed
him about the waist.

When the scout came within sight of the tragic little
drama, the half-breed had sprung from the wall and was
leveling a revolver at the lieutenant’s unprotected breast.

Owing to the situation of the actors in the exciting
scene, Buffalo Bill was unable to bring his weapons im-
mediately into play. Both the Chinaman and Baker stood
> ‘directly between him and the murderous half-breed.
While the scout rushed off to one side, in the forlorn
hope of getting in a shot before the half-breed fired, a re-
port echoed out from the top of the cliff.

The half-breed dropped, his weapon still. undischarged,

Looking up, Buffalo Bill saw Little Cayuse leaning over
the edge of the cliff, a smoking revolver in his hand. |

To the Piute’s quickness, and ‘accurate aim, Lieutenant
Baker undoubtedly owed his life.

With a rush, Buffalo Bill came up with the Chinaman,
and grabbed him and hurled him backward on n the rocks,
thus freeing the officer.

8

CHAPTER XV.
THE CONCEALED CHAMBER AGAIN,

“That was close!” breathed Baker, turning around and
| facing the scout. “A miss is as good as a mile, I sup-
pose, but Pil never forget Little Cayuse. His shot was a
Where did that Chink come from,
I wonder ?”’ |

“His clothes have been wet, and are only partly dried
now,’ returned the scout, staring speculatively at the
Celestial.

“That’s the way it looks,,Cody, but what of it?”

“He must be the man the guard at the gate was telling
about. The fellow’s name is Sam Kee. Hatch sent him

down to watch Nomad and Wild Bill, and they captured

him and took him through a passage into what the guard
called a ‘workroom.’ Then Sam got out by the: water-
route—whatever that may be—and reported to Hates
what the prisoners were doing.”
“T remember all that,” returned Baker.

“TE the guard had it right,” went on Buffalo Bill, “then

 

BILL STORIES.

this ‘workroom’ may be nothing more than the place
where the moonshining is done.”

“By Jupiter!” breathed Baker excitedly. —

“And, in that ‘workroom,’ we shall probably find No-
mad and Wild Bill.”

“Let's hunt it up!

“Just what I was about to propose, Baker.”

The scout stepped over to the Chinaman, who was sit-
ting up on the rocks. He was very humble and meek, and
seemed to want to curry favor with the scout by being ac-
commodating.

“Are you Sam Kee?” asked the scout.

“Yessee, allee same Sam Kee)

“What do you do here?”

“Cookee for os lookee aftel hlorsee; blingee watel3
makee bed

“Do you know where Nick Nomad and Wild Bill are?
You sabe Nomad and Wild Bill?”

“Allee same; yessee, me know.
huh ?”

Ves, 39

“You no shootee China boy, him show you?”

“No shootee, oe if you treat us right. Pick souneelt
up and lead on.’

Sam conducted the scout and Baker into the house,
opened a door leading to a cellarway, pulled a candle from
his blouse, and lighted it, then descended a flight of stairs.
The scout and the lieutenant followed tight at his heels,
both with their revolvers ready for instant use in case it
turned out that Sam was piloting them into a trap.

Through the cellar went Sam, holding the candle above
his head so that those behind could have a fairly good
survey of the underground regions of Bajo Sol.

“Corn!” exclaimed the scout, scenting the probable u use
of the grain forthwith.

“A lot of it!” returned the lieutenant excitedly.

“This is getting interesting,” went on the scout.

Sam followed the short path across the cellar. The
door in the wall was closed, and Sam bore down on the
keg with one of his wooden sandals. The scout and the —
lieutenant were surprised to see a section of the adobe
wall open before them.

“Plenty fine placee,’ commented Sam Kee.
come down mo’ stails.” ae

The white men followed the yellow one down the stone
flight and through the Paes to the other flight leading
upward.

The door at the head of the second flight was open, :
but nothing could be seen on the oar pie of it save
blank darkness.

Sam Kee halted at the foot of the stairs.

“No likee go on,” he whispered. “Him heap dark.
No sabe whatee we find. Whoosh!” :

Just then a voice roared out from casei in ES
Stygian gloom: .

You likee find pard,

~ “Makee

 
THE BUFFALO

“Stay right wake ye aire, ye. pizen whelps! Come up
ther steps an’ we're shore goin’ ter hyer ye; an’ when’ we
hyer ye, we're goin’ ter shake a lot o° lead in nae direc-

tion.”
After a moment of Soe Hie ccaur cried :

“Ts that you, Nick?’

Another silence intervened, followed: by a whoop of
astonishment and delight.

“Buffler! Why, I’m er ‘Phegan ef et ain't Buffer! He’ s
come, Hickok!’
Splash, splash, splash! Just at that moment a thrash-

ing of water was heard, as though three separate and -

distinct figures had jumped headlong into a tank.

_ “Who's that?” demanded the scout.

“Tt wasn’t us, Cody, you can gamble on that,” answered
the voice of Wild Bill. “I reckon it was the Hatch-a-
kaws who have been - here with us.
place is safe enough now.’ if

Thus reassured, Sam Kee clattered up the stone steps
with his candle. When he reached the top of the steps,
he was grabbed by old Nomad, and the candle was
wrenched out of his hand. :

“Hoop-a-la!” yelled the trapper; “hyar’s our ole friend,
ther Chink, ag’in, Hickok.”

“Hang onto him, pard,” answered Hickok. “We don’t
want him to take another header into that pool. There’s
a mystery about that pool, and we’ve got to fathom it.
Pard Cody’—and here Hickok turned to Buffalo Bill—
“vou’re At, all the time. Nick and I thought you’d come,
but we were afraid you wouldn’t come soon enough.

How’s this for a hole i in the cliff r ee look around a bit

and take its sizing.”

The scout looked around with considerable curiosity.
He observed the dimensions of the chamber, smelled the
odor of whisky, and saw that the floor was littered with
fragments of what must once have been a still.

“By Jove!” exclaimed Baker, sitting down on a barrel
by the door, “this smells pretty strong in here. I should
think it would go to your head, boys. This is really
where Hatch did his moonshining, is it?” |

“Thet’s what!” asserted Nomad.
been goin’ through ther place like er cyclone.
wrecked ther still, an’ ev’ry bar’l o’ whisk with the ex-
ception o’ the one ye’re settin’ on, teniente. We used thet
ter barricade ther door till ther Hatchra-kaws busted in
on us.”

: “How long ago was that: 7 asked the scout.
» “Half an hour, mebbyso.
ae at the top o’ the stairs, an’ ‘Hickok an’ me felt as

_ though we was plumb safe fer a while—barrin’ ther leetle
Fust thing we knowed, how-

“matter g’ somethin’ ter eat.
_ sumever, ther renegades got a hole through ther door an’
shot out our light. While. we was in ther dark, things

_begun ter happen. We heerd ‘em bust in, Hickok an’ me

Come in—the

down there”

“Hickok an’ me hev
We've.

The ‘Hatch-a- kaws was out-

BILL. STORIES.

did, but we had ter git behind them empty bar‘ls an’ look
ter our skelps. When we seen thet candlelight, we thort
more o’ ther gang was comin’.
you an’ ther teniente, Buffler. Waugh, but et was er joy-
ful s’prise. Hey, Hickok?’

“Plumb joyful,’ agreed Wild Bill.

“Begin at the beginning and tell us all of it,” said the
scout. “Hurry a little, though, because we’ve got a lot to
do yetr

The trapper and the Laramie man began at the begin-

ning—and the beginning lay at the post, where they had

taken their reckless vow to go the short cut to Bajo Sol
and drop in on Hatch. When the peppery tale was done,
the scout felt nothing but eee for the Mg of his
two pards.

“You've done well,. ae said he. “Finding and
destroying Hatch-a-kaw’s still was a big oS and brings
our red-eye trail to a wind-up.”

“But whar’s Hatch?” asked Nomad.

“That’s a question I’ve been wanting to ask for some
time,” chimed in Baker.

“He surrendered, at the edge of the pool out there in
the ‘sink,’ said the scout, “and then, all at once, his
temper got the best of him, and he began mixing things
up with his fists. I struck him, and he fell backward into
the Water I waited for five minutes, but he didn't show —
up again,”

“We had a similar experience with the Chink, Cody,”
observed Wild Bill. “Nick captured him in the cellar,
and he led i into this place. Then he took to the water,
—he pointed to the oe of water + gong the
wall—“and we saw him no more.’

AL light was slowly dawning in the scout’s brain.

“V’m beginning to sabe this lay-out, pards,” said he.
“Baker and I heard that Sam carried news to Hatch of
what. you two were doing in this hidden chamber, and
that he had got out of the chamber by way of the water.
I think, from this, that there is a connection between the
pool in here, and that other peo) in the ss ee

Sam dived under the wall—

“Waugh! !” broke in Nomad, “thet was shorely ther
way 0’ et. Hickok, you, an’ me was some shy in our
thinkin’ not ter be able ter guess thet out. Them three
splashes we heerd, when Buffler an’ Marcus come, must
hev been ther pee made by ther Hatch- -a-kaws who
was in hyar with us.’

“We haven’t much more time to spend in here, pards,”
went on the scout. “Baker, you take care of Sam Kee
and let Nomad finish up on the whisky-barrel. Wild Bill
and I will make a little further examination of this cham-
ber, and then we'll all return to the house, and the ‘sink.’ "

Sam Kee had another candle i in his capacious blouse.
He furnished this, and the scout and the Laramie man
had a light for themselves, and were able to. leave another
with Nomad and Baker, ‘ : :

 

Hadn’t no idee et was q

 
 

THE BUFFALO

2
Wild Bill, who had become fairly well acquainted with
the chamber, conducted the scout over it. He showed
him the stovepipe running through the roof of the cham-
ber, by which the smoke from the fires was conducted
to the top of the cliff, and also the pipe by which water
was brought in for the distilling process.
“Hatch-a-kaw had a fine lay-out here,” said the scout,
“there’s no doubt on that point. It was so well concealed
that secret agents of the government were unable to lo-
cate it. That remained for you and Nomad, Hickok, and
you have done the work well. You couldn’t have worked
to such good advantage if you hadn’t been in Hatch-a-
kaw’s hands. If ]——”

The scout broke off suddenly,»and started in a hurry
for the steps leading’ into the passage.

“Are you all ready, Nomad, you and Baker: >” he called,

“We're Ready’s hull fambly,” replied the trapper.
“Ther last bar’l o’ whisk is guzzlin’ erway inter pe

“Then come with me, all of you, and bring Sam Kee.”

“What's up, Cody?” inquired Wild Bill, now ite the
scout down the stone steps.

“I just. thought of something, Hickok,” was the an-
swer. “When I knocked Hatch into the pool, out there
in the ‘sink,’ he must have come under the wall into this
chamber.”

“T reckon he did.”

“It was dark in here, and you couldn’t see him.”

“We couldn’t see anything—didn’t even Know how
many Hatch-a-kaws were in the pire with us,’

“Probably there were only two.

“But the three splashes, when you came

“One of the splashes may have been made by Hatch,
diving back into the ‘sink’ again. If that is true, then
Hatch has given us the slip, and taken the other two of
his gang along with him. Not only that, Hickok, but
Marcus, whom we left in the ‘sink,’ may have been set
upon by the scoundrels. That’s what’s taking me back
in such a hurry.” — | : (

93

The scout’s alarm, however, proved to be without
foundation. Marcus was sitting in the front door of the
ranch-house, and seemed to have had an altogether peace-
ful time of it. He had bound up his injured arm with a
handkerchief, and was smoking a cigarette which he had

_ rolled out of materials found on a table in the front room.

“Seen anything of Hatch-a-kaw, Marcus?” asked the

scout, as he and the rest of his ee hurried infd
| the front room.

“Haven't seen anything of anybody since you and
Baker chased those two men out of the house,” replied
p Marcus, “Why?”

“Vl explain later,” said the puzzled scout.
down to the pool, pards. Baker, bring the Chink along.”

The scout hurried out of the house and toward the-

_ south wall of the “sink.” The others immediately chased
-fter him, wondering what it was he had on his mind.

‘Let's go

MILL SIORES

CHAPTER XVI
THE SECRET OF THE POOL.

“What's bothering me, pards,” said Buffalo Bill, com-
ing to a halt at the edge of the pool, “is how Hatch-a-
kaw got away. When he dropped into the water here, it
was possible for him to dive down and come up in that
chamber where the moonshining was done. If he did,
and if he dove into the pool out of the chamber, why
didn’t he, and those with him, come up in the ‘sink’?
Marcus would have seen them if they had come tp on
this side of the wall.”

No one made any answer for some time. Finally, Sam
Kee piped up.

“Me sabe. Melican men heapee fooled, but Sam Kee

plenty sabe.’

“Open up, then, Sam, and tell us about it,” said Hickok.
“You lettee Sam go,” returned the Chinaman. “Him
makee show how Hatch gettee ’way.”
Nomad and Baker looked questioningly at the scout.
““Turn him loose,” said the scout. ‘Hickok, you go
back into the chamber and see if anything happens there.”
Hickok left hurriedly. When he had had time to reach
the chamber, Buffalo Bill nodded to Sam Kee, who was
standing at the edge of the pool.
“Makee watch,” said the Chinaman blandly.
heap fine, allee same fish. Watchee!”
Then Sam Kee dove into the pool. His fluttering gar-
ments vanished from sight, and a quarter of an hour
passed.
At-the end of that period, Wild Bill came back from
the moonshine chamber.
“Anything happen at your end of the line, Hickok ?”

“Me swim

queried the scout.

>

“Not a thing, replied Hickok. ‘The suriace of the
pond wasn’t so much as ruffled.”

“Waugh!” erunted Nomad. “Ther Chink hes showed
us er bee-yutiful trick, Buffler. He’s got erway, jest like
Hatch an’ the rest'o’ ther men thet was with him.done.”

“And he hasn’t explained how he did it,” put in Marcus.

“He didn’t intend to, any of the time,’ supplemented
Baker. “All he wanted to do was to make himself
scarce, :

As Baker finished, a shrill whoop came from the gate-
way into the “sink.” Looking in that direction, those at
the pool saw Little Cayuse pounding in at the head of the.
Apaches.

Cayuse had Sam Kee, and Sam was caught in the noose
of the Piute’s riata, and was dancing along in his bare
feet in a wild attempt to keep up with Navi.

“Snarlin’ hyeners!” cried the old trapper, his eyes Ae
ping from his head. “However could ther Chink dive

_ down ae an’ then be fetched in at ther hole ee

ther wall, way over thar?”
“TI reckon Sam will oe now,”

said Buffalo ‘Bill |
composedly.

 
 

 

As Nomad came to a halt in front of the scout and his

companions, Sam Kee stepped breathlessly forward, meek

and humble as he usually was when fate went against
him. He was soaking wet, and he had lost his sandals
- somewhere in the mysterious regions through which he
_ had passed.

‘Whar'd ye rope ther Chink, Cayuse?” asked Nomad.

“Me ketch um by river,’ answered the Piute. “He
crawl up on bank, all same beaver, while Cayuse and
Apaches ride this way to get to ranch. Yellow man all
same start to run, me throw rope, ketch um. Ugh! Me
sabe um. He hold um tentente while Hatch-a-kaw brave
try kill um. So me bring um in.”

“Caught on the bank of the San Juan!’ muttered the
dazed Marcus. “How under heaven could the Chinaman
-go down here and come up on the bank of the river?”

“How did you do it, Sam?” asked the scout, facing the
dripping Chinaman. .

“Him heap easy,” replied Sam. “Me say me makee
show how Hatch gettee "way. When me tly comee back,
Injun boy thlow rope. Whoosh!”

MOh, yes,” grinned Nomad, “you was comin’ back like
er house afire. But how did ye git inter ther San Juan?”

“Flim littl’ pond all same piecee San Juan,”
Sam Kee. “Littl pond in cave, littl’ pond in ‘sink’ allee
same one piecee liver. Makee dive in pond, come up in
cave, go othel way come up in San Juan Liver, whichee
you like. My likee come up in liver last time. Hatch he
likee come up in liver, so him makee getaway.
easy.”

“That’s the secret of it, pards,” said the scout. “The
bank of the river isn’t more than a hundred feet from the
wall on this side of the ‘sink.’ The river has an under-
ground channel reaching out toward the ‘sink.’ That
makes the two pools part of the stream, with a current
similar to that in the river.

39

he feels like it, he can hold his breath and let the current
carry him through the underground passage and out into
the San Juan. Hatch-a-kaw, and those who were here
when Baker, Marcus, and I arrived, got out of the ‘sink’
by way of the river.”

“Not all of them, Cody,’ spoke up Marcus. “There’s

one of the gang in the house, and another over by the -

other wall. Then, too, there’s the guard we roped and
left at the gateway into the ‘sink.’”

“Plant the two who couldn’t get away,” said the scout,
“and go to the opening in the wall and bring back the
guard, Collect all the horses you can find. We’ve noth-
_ing to do with Hatch-a-kaw—our instructions merely
cover the destroying of the still, That has been done, and
we'll pull out as soon as we can get ready.” |

“T’ll have something to do. with Hatch-a-kaw before
either of us are many days older,” remarked Wild Bill.

 

‘THE BUFFALO

explained

Heap

A man can dive down here
and come up under the wall in the hidden cavern; or, if.

   
 
 

BILL STORIES.

' “T reckon ye will, Hickok,” scowled Nomad.
The scout turned curiously on his two pards.
“What’s back of that?’ he asked.
Wild Bill then told of the cowardly blow which Hatch
had dealt him while he was bound and helpless.
A glimmer came into the scout’s eyes.

“You couldn’t really expect anything more of the scoun- :

drel, Hickok,’ said he. “He’s a regular firebrand—I
never saw a man with a worse temper. He played off on
me, though, I’m pretty sure. He hadn’t any intention of
surrendering when I followed him to the pool. What he
wanted was to get a chance to dive for the San Juan
River without stopping a bullet.
Hickok, our trail will cross Hatch-a-kaw’s again.”

“IT know my trail will,” \answered the Laramie man
grimly. “Um going to make it a point to see that it
does.”’

Little Cayuse and his Apaches ade back to the opening
through the wall to get the horses belonging to Nomad,
Wild Bill, the scout, and the officers, and to bring in the
guard who had been left there, bound and gagged.

They came back with the horses, but they could not
find the guard. In some manner the Hatch-a-kaw had
disappeared.

“Some one of those who dove into the pool and got
away by the river-bank,” said the scout, “must have stolen
around to the opening and set the guard loose.”

This explanation was the only one that seemed reason-

able, for certainly the prisoner had been well roped and
could not have got free without help.

While Nomad and Wild Bill were putting away the two
members of the gang who had fallen, the scout and the
two officers roamed about the “sink,” looking for what-
ever they could find.

They discovered that there were no horses in the stable,
and that the only animals belonging to the outlaws that
were then at Bajo Sol were the three ridden in by the
scout and the officers. These animals were turned loose,
and, in the early afternoon, Buffalo Bill and his compan-

-jons, with Sam Kee in tow, returned to Ellsworth.

The three Hatch-a-kaws, who had come to the post
with the flag of truce, were released and given ten min-
utes to clear out. te

So the king of scouts had come to the end of his “red-
eye trail.” The commandante at Fort Ellsworth had
brought him there for that purpose, and with the accom-

-plishment of it his work was done.
As for Hatch-a-kaw, and the score Wild Bill had run’
up against him, that was a different matter, and destined :

to bear fruit in a series of thrilling events.
THE END.

The next number (398) will contain “Buffalo Bill’s
Dutch Pard; or, Trailing the Tiger of the San Juan.” 2

4

Some day, perhaps, -

 

  
 
 

   

  

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DEVOTED 10 BORDER LIFE

 

 

 

THE BUFFALO.

 

 

NEW YORK, December 19, 1908,

 

 

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_THE BATTLE OF THE WOLVES.

erect

By JACOB BULL.

 

Rendale, in Norway. When we first settled at Upper
Rendale parsonage the parish had been unmolested for
years by wolves. The old fence that had once protected

thought worth while to have it replaced.
We had two dogs at the parsonage—Ajax and Hector.

Ajax was a common harehound, white and black-saddled.
‘He was medium-sized and the most spirited animal I have
ever known.

We small boys had many a merry frolic with him.
Often when he had bounded far beyond us to fetch a ball
or stick one of us had cast, he would lie down, his head
between his paws, his eyes beaming with roguishness, to
wait until we caught up to him. As soon as we were
near enough to touch him he would dart nimbly away, and
so he would keep it up until we dropped down, unable to
take another step. Then he would roll on the ground with
us, bubbling over with mirth. He was never known to snap

or snarl at us, no matter how rough we might be.

_ He flew at every dog, large or small, that appeared on the
road, Swift as lightning, with jaws that gripped like a vise,
and with an indomitable will, he usually came off vic-
torious. When he did get into a pinch, Hector came growl-
ing to his rescue, and that settled the matter.

Flector was a large, yellow St. Barnard, of the long-
haired kind. We children rode him, drove him, and did
pretty much as we pleased with him. He followed us like
a shadow. The approach of strangers was usually an-
nounced by him with a few gruff barks, and then he permit-
ted Ajax to furnish the rest of the music. Smaller dogs
than himself Hector never harmed, and larger ones there
were not for miles around. For Ajax he cherished a faith-
ful, patient friendship. At night Ajax slept in the dog
kennel, while Hector kept guard outside. :

One cold, starlit evening in February, my brother and I,
two small boys, were coasting on the hill north of the par-
sonage, our pointed caps drawn down over our ears, our fin-
gers protected by coarse woolen mittens, The crisp snow
creaked and groaned under our heels as we went up the hill,

‘ x

e

My father was a minister in the small parish of Upper

the dog’kennel had fallen to decay, and it had not been

BILL STORIES. ae

and shrieked beneath the steel runners of our sledge as we
made our daring flights downward. Sharply defined shad-
Ows were cast on the snow by the moon, and Hector and
Ajax, our constant companions, looked with intelligent eyes
on the fairy-land scene about us.

From the parsonage wood-shed stole the lurid glow of the
pine torch. The steady sound of chopping there gave us
that comfortable sense of security the nearness of people

always brings. Otherwise, the surtounding stillness was un-

disturbed, saye by the occasional groaning of some heavily
laden vehicle on the road, or the slamming of a door in the

. distance.

Suddenly my brother seized my arm.

“Hark!” whispered he.

From the thicket above us a long, hungry how] was ring-
ing through the night air. It was promptly answered from
a point still farther up the slope, and presently from the
opposite side of the valley.. Throwing back his head, Hector
listened intently. Ajax bristled and growled.. We boys
knew the sound, and shuddered.

_“Let’s go home,” said my brother, lashing our sleds to-
gether.

We were on our way down the hill when some one
called us from the parsonage.

At the door father was waiting for us. He patted Hector’s
head, helped us boys put up our sleds and brush off the
snow, and then hurried us into the house.

“The wolves are about,’ he. said quietly to mother, as
he took up his paper.

She seemed uneasy, and questioned: us children pretty
closely. A series of wolf stories followed, one of them
about a man who had a narrow escape from a wolf which
had sprung at him one dark night on the public highway.

“You see, children, you cannot be too careful,”. said
mother, as she rang the bell for the maid to bring in supper.

While we were still at table, Ole Johnson, one of the
farm-hands, came in from the wood-shed and stood in the
doorway ‘shivering. :

“It might be well to keep the dogs indoors to-night,” said
he,

_ “Have you seen any wolves?” asked father,

“No; but I heard them a while ago,” replied Ole.

“Take Ajax into the servants’ hall,” said mother, “and
Hector may sleep in the nursery.” .

Yo have Hector in our room seemed to us boys the
safest and most delightful thing imaginable. We were quite
sure he was the strongest dog in the world, and could dis-
pose of twenty, aye, a hundred wolves,

As we went up to bed, however, our courage was some-
what shaken by the distant howling we heard, and when
Hector came up-stairs with Marit, the nurse-maid, we
screamed aloud with fright. We actually thought the wolf
had broken in.

Long after we had crept into bed we lay shivering with
cold and dread, until finally the warmth of the fire Marit
had kindled pervaded the room, and the crackling flames,
mingled with Hector’s heavy breathing, lulled us to rest.

How late it was when I started up in a panic of terror

I cannot say. A confused blending of snarling and howling
filled the air, and on the window was plainly outlined the
huge, dark head of some animal, with wide-open jaws.

Clapping my hands over my eyes I shrieked out. Marit

‘was roused by my cry, and coming to my bedside asked

drowsily what was the matter.

“Look!” I cried, pointing.
_ At this moment, Hector, for it was his head I had seen,
barked loudly, and standing on his hind legs, with his fore-
paws on the window-sill, made a desperate effort to see
through the frost-painted glass.

Moving toward the window, Marit cleared a space, and
stood peering out into the night. In an instant I was at

her side, barefoot and trembling. To my dying day I shall.

never forget the sight we saw.

    
 
  
  
   
   
   
    
  
   
   
  
   
    
 
 

%

       
  
        
     
     
        
    
     
        
  
        
    
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
     
     
        
     
     
       
   
      
    
       
 
    
 

  

 

ao pura.

In an open space on the hillside, north of the parsonage,
a dark mass was writhing and’ tossing on the snow amid
snarls and howls that rent the air like the roar of a distant
waterfall.

“Wolves!” murmured Marit, grasping my arm.

Just then mother opened the door leading into the hall,
and Hector, darting past her, sprang down the steps and
was only stopped by the front: door.

Mother gave orders to put the children’s clothes on, and

it was not long before every one in the house was dressed
and at the window commanding a view of the struggle.

Famous for all time in the parish will be that battle
fought between six or seven wolves and the fiercest dogs
in the vicinity. Long-drawn howls, shrill, excited yelps, and
smothered groans woke the echoes of the night. I quivered
in every limb as I watched the thrilling spectacle presented
by the strong, gaunt wolves contending with the small dogs
that sprang into the air, came floundering down, rolled over
and over, and darted forward again.

Suddenly a man was seen running from the direction
of the servants’ hall. It was Ole Johnson!

Father threw open the window and peremptorily ordered
him to go back into the house.

“Ajax is with me,” called Ole, halting.
loose!” he cried presently.

Then, hastening to the wood-shed, he seized an ax, and
was about starting for the scene of combat.

“Stay where you are!
shouted father.

Ole stood for a moment irresolute.
now arose a high-pitched shriek from a voice we would all
have known among hundreds. It gradually became more
and more smothered, and finally resolved itself into a
gureling moan. . a ; Bai

“They are killing him!” screamed Marit, sobbing aloud.

At this Ole started off as fast as he could go. Hector,
too, had recognized his comrade’s call. With a hoarse bark
he flung himself against the hall door, tearing and scratch-
ing with teeth and claws, determined to get out.

“Then, in Heaven’s name, let him go!” cried father, and
Marit flew down-stairs to open the door.

The huge animal bounded northward with vigorous leaps,
past Ole, and not resting until he had found him whom
he was seeking. Then followed a matchless display of in-
‘domitable strength and ferocity. —

“Tet Hector

Four dogs were engaged in mortal combat with one tall,

powerful wolf, who was just about to get the better of

» Ajax. With head proudly erect, Hector sprang to the-

group, seized the savage brute, and flung it high into the
air. As it came sprawling down he throttled it and slapped
the ground with it like one gone mad, making the snow fly
in all directions.

Suddenly he relaxed his hold—the wolf was dead.

At the door of the servants’ hall stood Ole, with Ajax
in his arms. Hector bounded toward them, sniffed at the

trembling, bleeding Ajax, and then darted back into the

thickest of the fray. Laying the wounded hound on a
cushion, Ole hurried northward again, taking with him two
other lads, each armed with an ax.

When they reached the battle-field the result of the com-
bat. was decided. Four wolves lay dead or dying, among
a-heap of mangled dogs. The others had skulked away, but
their hideous howling was still making the night dismal.
Hector moved from group to group, sniffing at the dead and

fawning over the injured dogs that lay in the snow licking

their wounds.

For more than half an hour he paced to and fro, lay

down, got up again, and showed every sign of intense ex-
citement. Not until all the living dogs had gone home

did he relinquish his post and present himself at the house.
As soon as he was admitted he found his way to”

door.
Ajax, and with much demonstration of affection, fell to
licking the little fellow’s wounds. This task accomplished,

Have you gone stark mad?” .

Above the din there .

BILL STORIES.

he dropped down with a long and weary sigh, and began

to attend to his own. 4

Ajax. crept quivering between his big comrade’s legs,

turned uneasily a few times, and finally curled himself up
comfortably. He was pretty badly hurt, having a deep
gash in the back, with a long, gaping rent in the.throat. _

The next morning traces of the conflict were widespread.

Blood dyed the snow, mangled, lifeless wrecks were strewn
around, and tufts of hair drifted about in the wind. _
- People gathered from all parts of the parish. Some
lingered about the wood-shed, where Ole narrated the blood-
curdling events of the night while he dressed the wolf-
skins,

All this happened some years ago, but even to-day in that
far-away little parish in Norway the people speak of that
night, and if you should go to the parsonage you would
see, close to the gate of the little garden to your right,
two low mounds where lie the faithful dogs, Hector and
Ajax, who fought the famous battle with the wolves.

 

Pon ctr

A STRANGE RESCUE.

ns

By H. ROGERS.

 

Gun in hand, I made my way through the tangled forest,

eagerly searching for some fine specimens of a rare bird-

which I required to complete the collection I had formed
of the feathered tribe since my arrival in Natal.

I had advanced a distance of a hundred and twenty
yards when I came upon a patch of “open,” through which a
narrow track led down to the edge of a small stream, which
rippled musically over its pebbly bed. As I emerged from
the thick undergrowth, an agonized moan reached my ears,
and at the same instant my eye fell upon a magnificent full-
grown male leopard, beautifully marked, which lay doubled

up in the track in an attitude unmistakably suggestive of

acute pain.

The instinct of the sportsman instantly prompted me to
raise my gun to my shoulder—to lower it again, however,
the next instant. It was loaded with small shot only—too

small, indeed, to penetrate the hide of the splendid creature
before me; and it seemed, too, a cowardly act to take ad--

vantage of him in his helpless and suffering condition.

His eyes looked glazed and dim; his tongue, white-
furred and dry, hung out of his mouth, and his sides heaved
painiully at every inspiration.

As I emerged from the bush, he lifted up his head and
regarded me with an expression as distinctly appealing as
anything I have ever yet seen, while slightly raising his
forepaw, he uttered another groan. This action attracted
my attention, as I at once observed that the foot was fright-
fully swollen.

I can scarcely even now account for the impulse which

caused me to walk quietly up to the suffering animal. It
was evident the moment I approached him that part of his
sufferings proceeded from thirst, aggravated intensely, no
doubt, by the sight of the water which he had _ striven
unavailingly to reach. Seeing this, I went down to the
brook, and filled my pith helmet with the cool, sparkling
liquid, and offered it him.

He lapped it greedily, and seemed so plainly to ask for :

more that I at once fetched it, and this, too, disappeared.

~ He now seemed much better, and attempted to rise, but .
sank upon the ground again with a horrid howl, the moment.

his swollen foot touched the earth.
1 allowed him to remain undisturbed for a minute or two,

, and then gently took his paw in my hand, to.examine it, _
my patient, as 1 may now call him, offering me no resistance

 

   
  
  
   
 
 
  
 

  

 

  
   
   
  

   

 

        
 
  
  

 

 

 

  

  

 
 
   

THE BUFFALO

was suffering from a very large and painful gathering on
the bail of the foot, and it would afford him immediate re-
lief to have it opened.

‘But how would he be inclined to behave under the opera-
tion? I asked myself. The chances were that the pain
would arouse him to a pitch of ungovernable fury, in
which case 1 should stand but a poor chance in a struggle
with him.

While I was hesitating as to whether I should run the
risk or not, he again looked up into my face with such a
pitiful, beseeching expression that it was simply irresistible.

I drew out my knife—which I always kept as keen as a
razor—and, without further ado, drove the point into the
skin, making at the same moment, by a quick jerk of the
hand, an incision about three inches long.

The splendid fellow never so much as winced. Beyond
a deep moan, he showed no sign of having felt the slightest
pain; and I shall always feel fully convinced. that he knew
I was doing him a service.

Matter and blood flowed copiously from the opening I
had made in the skin, and in the course of two or three
' minutes it became evident that the poor brute had expe-
rienced very great relief.

I made another incision across the first one, and then
very gently pressed the swollen part until the discharge
had entirely ceased.

I then got more water, and fortunately provided with
abundance of soft linen (which I used to wrap my birds in
after I had shot them, to preserve their plumage unruf-
fled), set to work to bathe and wash the foot thoroughly,
after which I made a poultice of some healing leaves, and
bound it securely over the puncture, the poor creature af-
fectionately licking my hands all the while.

I then gave him a little more water to drink, and left him.

A few days later, I was making my way to the patch of

_ “open” where I had played the part of surgeon, with a
leopard for my patient. .

I spent a considerable amount of time in pinning and
adjusting the plumage of my birds, when—I did not know
why—lI felt irresistibly constrained to turn my eyes toward

the stump of a fallen tree. Obeying the impulse, I took a
m good look at it; and, as I did so, became conscious of two
» bright, sparkling objects, glittering in the deep shadow of
one of its projections. ;
Vaguely wondering what these could be, I remained
) steadfastly regarding them; and as I did so, a very peculiar
sensation stole over me.
m ing seized my frame, accompanied by a momentary feeling
#) of giddiness and nausea; all surrounding objects appeared to
» reel and swim out of my range of vision, leaving nothing
j but those two-glittering points, which now appeared to ex-
™ pand into orbs of brilliant light.
| A singing in the ears became perceptible, and, blending
_with the sighing of the wind through the foliage—which
; sounded faint and distant—quickly assumed a tone of dulcet,
| soothing, and delicious harmony of a distinctly rhythmical
m character following the cadence of which the dazzling orbs
| appeared to sway gracefully before me, growing larger and
#) more intensely brilliant every moment; and now they ap-

 

 

 

   
 

  
  

  

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

jand creamy pink, which interlaced in endless confusion of
(graceful flowing curves with a rapidity which made my

#brain reel, ~ : . ,

+ More and more rapid became the movement of brilliant
rcolor before me, anil more dazzling the shining orbs upon
which I looked, until it seemed to me that I was a mere
point in infinity: that heaven and earth had passed away,
@ and that nothing remained but those two brilliant suns, sur-
[))tounded-by a universe of waving green and pink lines,

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

  

 

fa confused buzzing noise in my brain, which commenced to

 

ia

 

3

beyond a faint whine. I saw at once that the poor brute ,

A slight and intermittent shiver-_

| peared to be surrounded with waving lines of delicate green .

Then came a sudden darkness—a shotk as of electricity—

throb as though it would burst my skull—and a sensation of

BILL SORTS.

3I

extreme giddiness which passed away as rapidly as it had
come; and I found myself staring stupidly at a magnificent
leopard—-my former patient, as I saw at once by the re-
mains of the bandage on his foot—who was standing growl-
ing savagely over an immense green mamba (a deadly
venomous snake), who lay writhing with a broken back
upon the grass, vainly trying to strike his poison fangs into
the paw which, with extended talons, was dashing the rep-
tile, more maimed and mutilated at every stroke, into the
earth.

The tragedy was soon over; but I have no idea how long
I might have remained seated there, staring vacantly and
confusedly at my preserver, had I not at length been aroused
by his approach. Then it suddenly dawned upon me that
I might be his next victim; but he speedily set that fear

“at rest by rubbing himself against me, thrusting his head

under my hand, and walking his whole length backward
and forward, causing my hand to traverse his back until it
reached his perpendicularly elevated tail, and purting loudly
with pleasure all the while, like an immense cat—as, of
course, he was.

When the first eager manifestation of his delight had
somewhat subsided, and I had soothed him into a state of
tranquillity, I examined his foot once more, washed it again
—he followed me to the river when I walked down to its
margin for water—and put a fresh dressing upon it.

Then I packed up my birds, examined the body of the
snake, whose powers of fascination I had so fully, though
unwillingly, proved, and took my way homeward, accom-
panied to the extreme edge of the bush by my strange
friend, who then for a moment or two followed me with
his eyes, his tail waving gently to and fro the while, until
he apparently realized the fact that I was actually leaving
him, when he crouched low down on the ground, placed
his head between his forepaws, raised a dismal howl, and
finally started up and bounded back into the bush.

I never saw him again. :

coeeernanmenrerreeren i apa GD bw ie rete raeeerest

STUDENTS CATCH RATTLERS.

 

For the last three months two students of the Medico-
Chirurgical College, Philadelphia, have put in their vacation.

‘ hunting rattlesnakes and copperheads in the mountains near

Emmitsburg, Pa. They captured a number of large reptiles,
from which they obtained about $1,500 worth of venom,
which will be shipped to the Pathological Institute in Paris,

They enjoyed their outing in the mountains. A number
of times they had exciting adventures, but managed to escape
mishap. They carried an antidote for rattlesnake bites, but.
did not have occasion to use it.

In catching the snakes *they used two sticks of moderate
thickness. One had a Y fork end, while the other had a
silk line running through guides, ending in a loop. The snake
was usually found in a coil ready to strike, but before stri-
king the silk loop was dropped over its head and tightened,
The reptile was then lifted into a bag. At the end of each
day’s hunt the venom was extracted. coe

In doing this a small platinum spoon was used. The opera-
tot, with his hands encased in a protective glove, removed
the snakes from the bag by looping them with the stick con-
taining the silk thread. After grasping the reptile firmly
well up to the neck, the noose was removed and the ser-
pent’s jaws were forced open by a squeeze. The spoon was
then inserted in its mouth and pressed against the fangs in
the upper jaw, causing them to press on the poison duct, for-
cing the venom through the hollow fang into the bowl of the
spoon. It was seldom that more than two or three drops of
venom was secured from the largest rattler. After this ©

venom was taken the snake was killed. The poison. wa
bottled for shipment in small vials and securely sealed, o

     
 

 

 

   

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We give herewith a list of all of the back numbers in print.

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order them or they will be sent direct by the publishers to any address upon receipt of the price
money or postage stamps.

 

 

159—Buffalo
160—Buffalo
161—Buffalo
162—Buffalo
165—Buffalo
169—Butffalo
170—Buffalo
176—Buffalo
177—Butffalo
_179—Butftfalo
1381—Buffalo
182—Buffalo
184—Buffalo
188—Buffalo
204—Buffalo
210—Buffalo
211—Buffalo
212—Buftalo
213—Buffalo
214—-Buffalo
217—Buffalo
218—Buffalo
219—Buffalo
220—Buffalo
221—Buffalo
222—Buffalo
223—Buffalo
224—Buffalo
225—Buffalo
226—Buffalo
227—Buffalo
228—Buffalo
229—Buffalo
230—Buffalo
232—Buffalo
235—Buffalo
236—Buffalo
237—Buffalo
238—Buffalo
239—Buffalo
240—Buffalo
241—Buffalo
242—Buffalo
243—Buffalo
244—Buffalo
245—Buffalo
246—Buffalo
247—Buffalo
248—Buffalo
249—Buffalo
250—Buffalo
251—Buffalo
252—Buffalo
253—Butffalo
254—Buffalo
255—Buffalo
256—Buffalo
257—Buffalo
258—Buffalo
259—Buffalo
260—Buffalo
261—Buffalo
262—Buffalo
263—Butffalo
264—Buffaio
265—Buffalo
266—Buffalo

Bill and the Timber Thieves..

EHUIPS ILO IDNODs soucaccda0n 5

Bills Blockhouse.

Bill’s Canyon Cache.

Bill and the Greengoods’ Cabal
Bill’s Dark Drive. BO Saateas
Bill’s Fair, Square Deal. SRE

Bill’s Strateg QV ere emer i cicischontonase 5

Bill in Morenci.

Bill’s Texan Hazard.
Bill’s
Bill’s
Bill’s
Bill’s
Bill’s
Bill’s
Bill’s
Bill’s
Bill’s
Bill’s
Bill’s
Bill’s
Bill’s
Bill’s
Bill’s
Bill’s
Bill’s

SIOUUY TERING eG S56 AG OOo
Naa Ome Adiliy:c = sak catce tet.
Arizona Alliance......
Mine “Wiysteny.. 2.52... .
BMG gIe AC erence sensei
Sacrificertereninc tctenes
PETS COm se Ciencasttereyenenoran.
ramon sEbUIN eves ees
Avenging Hand... 03). 2.
Cheyenne Comrades....
MOT Yae derail sees sos peice sieene)s
SIOUKZEMOCS esa oesae ois
Cold Trail.

Iron Fist. ate

Race with ‘Fire.

Florida Foes. Spares
leyulesy Cnahan (Onin) cove see G oon
Bills aed ssH Meme i. snceueae ©
BUR OneaeveraltoOrmsu na kes. nc.
BilleSlgaste Ulett) se
BUGS ATE CV OVAL Crate seek
Bills; Death: Phrust. a.r.o 5.
IBIEES KV OWE NOC Misc: tee el. ers
Bills) WiyomineeWrailicne cr. cee
Bill’s Apache Round-up.....
Bill’s El Paso Pard. Seco
Bill on the Staked Plains....
Bill’s Border Raid. Bes
Bill’s Bravest Fight. Pi eN celoeas
Bales liea then ard see ss
Bill’s Dakota Dare-devils....
Bill’s Arapahoe Alliance.....

Mexican Feud. ee 5

Bill on Special Service.......

Bill on a Treasure Hunt.....

Bill’s Lost Quarry......-..-
Bill Among the Comanches... 5

Bill’s Stockade Siege........
Bilis’ Greek -Quarnelices sa oe

Bill Among the Pawnees..... :

Billyonwa Won cmt een. see

Bilis Wyoming Trailinin.. +. ,
Bill and the Redskin Wizard.. §

Bill’s Bold Challenge. as
Bill’s Shawnee Stampede...
Bill’s Worst Foe. evens
Bill on a Desert Mirai
Bill’s Rio Grande Feud.

Bill in Tight Quarters... ie 5

Bill’s Daring Rescue........
Bill at the Torture Stake.

Bulles reasune ehnain ee a toa
Bill Among the Blackfeet.
Bill’s Border Beagles....... F
Bill and the Bandits in Black !

Bill and the Indian Tiger....
Bill on the Deadwood Trail..

5
eed
5
5
5

5
5
5

 

267—Buttfalo
268—Buftalo
269—Bufialo

King
270—Buttalo
271—Buttalo
272—Buttfalo
273—Buftfalo
274—Buffalo
275—Butffalo
276—Butffalo
277—Buttalo
278—Buffalo
280—Buttfalo
281—Butffalo
282—Buffalo
283—Buffalo
284—Butfalo
285—Butfalo
286—Buffalo

| 287—Buftalo
-288—Buftfalo

289—Buffalo
290—Buffalo
291—Butffalo
292—Butffalo
293—Buffalo
294—Butffalo
295—Buffalo
296—Buffalo
297—Butffalo
298—Buffalo
299—Buffalo
300—Buffalo
301—Buffalo
302—Buffalo
803—Buffalo
304—Buffalo
305—Buffalo
306—Buffalo
807—Buffalo
308—Buffalo
309—Buffalo
310—Buffalo
311—Buffalo
312—Buffalo
313—Buffalo
314—Buffalo
315—Buffalo
316—Buffalo
317—Buffalo
318—Buffalo
819—Buffalo
820—Buffalo
321—Buffalo
322—Buffalo
323—Buffalo
824—RBuffalo
325—Buffalo
326—Buffalo
327—Buffalo
328—Buffalo
329—Buffalo
330—Buffalo
331—Buffalo
232—Buffalo
333—Buffalo

Bill in the Cafion of Death...
Billed: Billivestae Kader crea
Bill and the Robber Ranch

Bill in the Land of Wonders..
Bill: and the Traitor Soldier..
Bills -Duskyavirailers. jc. 3.
Bill’s Diamond Mine........
Bill and the Pawnee eee
Bill’’s Searlet Hand... 5
Bill Running the Gantlet.

Bills; Leap, in the Dark... 0. .
Bills Warinicys Piunmse sie. <n.
BUS eGhostwehvaldin = =. scr
Billeseeh rai tome G Uden csaes, si
Billie Campa ineSrsemsices acre cee
Bill Uip ay ove neers es
Biles USCCret = HOC nn ate en.
Bill’s Master-stroke. os .
Bill and the Masked Mystery.
Bill and the Brazos Terror.
Bill’s Dance of Death.......
Bill and the Creeping Terror..
Bill and the Brand of Cain...
Bill and the Mad Millionaire..
Bill’s Medicine-lodge........
Bill in Bo cee een
Bill’s Strange Pard. see
Bill in the Death Desert. Nees
Bill in No Man’s Land. :
Bill’s
Bill’s
Bill’s

BONG erage am Ses ecu.
Black -WMacles is...
Desperate Dozen.......
Bill’s - Rival. teere eye
Bill’s Ice Chase. Be
Bill and the Boy “Bueler nes
Bill and the White Specter. .
Biles Death, Dehances. .) ..
Bill and the Barge Bandits. .
Bill. the Desert Hotspur.....
Bill’s Wild Range Riders... Ba
Bil’s Whirlwind Chase......
Bill’s Red Retribution.......
Bill Haunted. Roe rata
Bill’s Fight for Life. ert eee
Billese Death. sump ee
Bill and the Pit of Horror...
Rill in the Jaws of Death
Bill’s Aztec Runners.
Bill’s Dance with Death. ;
Ril’s Redskin Rovers.......
BUS 2 Mery. Wi yien ren ee
Bills Mazepod Ridecs.s. na.
Rill in the Land of popitlts.
Bill’s Gypsy Band... wore
DRUS eIMVON GIS C Kaen tha ens
Bill. the White ay niiwind fee
Bill’s Gold Hunters. Sieaoes
Bill in Old Mexico. : :
Rill’s Message from the ‘Dead.
Bill and the Wolf-master.
Bills Plvine Wonder........
Rillts| Hidden Goldes cs...
Bill’s Outlaw Trail. ‘
Bill and the Indian ‘Queen.
Bill and the Mad Marauder. rs
Bill’s Ice Barricade. GOUS

OUON OU OV OT OT VU DU UT DU OU OUT OV DUD OT OT DU TT DT DT VT DT OUT OUT ST OV OT OTOL OT OLOTOVOLOT OT OVOTOTOVOTOLOTOU ON

OCVOTOUOT OI

 

334—Buttalo
335—Butftfalo
336—Butfalo
337—Buftalo
338—Buffalo
339—Buffalo
340—Buffalo
341—Buffalo
342—Buffalo
3438—Buffalo
344—Buffalo
345—Buffalo
346—Buffalo
347—Buffalo
348—Buffalo
349—Buffalo
350—Buffalo
351—Butftalo
352—Buffalo
353—Buffalo
354—Buffalo
355—Buffalo
356—Buffalo
357—Buffalo
358—Buffalo
359—Buffalo
360—Buffalo
361—Butffalo
362—Buffalo
3863—Buffalo
364—Buffalo
365—Buffalo
3866—Buffalo
367—Buffalo
8368—Buffalo
369—Buffalo
370—Buffalo
371—Buffalo
872—Buffalo
373—Buffalo
3874—Buffalo
375—Buffalo
3876—Buffalo
3877—Buffalo
378—Buffalo
379—Buffalo
880—Buffalo
381—Buffalo
382—Buffalo
383—Buffalo
884—Buffalo
385—Buffalo
386—Buftfalo
387—Buffalo
3888—Buffalo
389— Buffalo
390—Buffalo
391—Ruffalo
392—Buffalo
393—Buffalo
394— Buffalo
895—Buffalo
396—Buffalo
397—Buffalo
398—Buffalo
399—Buffalo
400—Buffalo

.Bill’s

Bill and the Robber Elk.....
Bills ChosteDancewte. 0. cca. .
Billises PeaCe-DIDCkcn. sees aise
Biles Red wNemesiScn.....5 5.
Bil’s Hnchanted Mesa:......
Bill in the Desert of Death...
IBINeSe Paya Sunealweuncsc sc tes
Bill on Detached Duty.......
Bills Army Mystery........
BillVse Surprise Pamtyie.. se.
Bulls) G@reat Riders... 3.1...
Wiaite Rem Palies tects ok eis:
Bill’s Ordeal of Fire. ess
Bill Among the Man- eaters . on
Bill’s Casket of peas MER a6
Bills Sky Pilot. Aton
Bill’s “‘Totem”’

Bill’s Flat-boat Drift.......
Bill on Deck

Bill and the Bronco Buster...
Bill’s Great Round- UD See,
Biles Pledeenc ns Rese ne's
Bill’s Cowboy ‘Pard. Rae.
Bill and the Emigrants. BEE ss
Bill Among the Pueblos. ;
Bill’s Four-footed Pards.

Bill’s Protégé. Eee Bere:
Bill Ensnared. setae tree Coke aR oe. °
Biles Rick-Upr. sere teue -<°
IBILESR@UCSts encanto neuer.
Bill’s Waif of the Plains....
Bills Bamledieey ce scr ee nsee =
Bill Among the Mormons.....
Billtss *ANSsistanGes \accn: oer
Bill’s Rattlesnake Trail....|
Bill and the Slave-Dealers. .
IBS S = Stromee AMI eweccr cnc cier. }
Billéss Girls Pandey sees ccweee.-
Bill’s Iron: Bracelets........
Bills-Ranch Riderss 2c: 6.
Billisaiade sAmmulet ewes cce en.
Bills) Masic Wamniaith. 33...
Bills ““Paper-Dalkee..-o ...-
Bills Bridge of Bune... 3. . -
BUNS Ue BO wiser weno cn.
Bill’s Pay- streak

Bill’s Mine Sed genet henieae
Bill’s Clean-up

Bill’s Ruse. ase stele eG re +
Bill Overboard.. Cece aera renee ie:
Billzs Rime ee. Deters s
Bill’s Big Contract.

Bill and Calamity Jane. .

Bill’s Kid Pard. eee
Bill’s Desperate Plight. ener:
Bill’s Fearless Stand. hay
Bill and the Yelping Crew. a
Bill’’s Guiding Hand. a
Billés= Oucerm@uestee sa... 3s.
Rill’s Prize “Getaway” ;
Bill’s Hurricane Hustle......
BITES Staite tal vase meen clemsccus
Bill’s Bluff

IBIS STACK enscecss ties sickens
BIS aD ite Mesa esr tesa ted cn. t
BilleandsthesBRaVvOn <.c. se8
Bill and the Quaker......... a

 

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