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vt A WEERY PUBLICATION

 

DEVOTEDT0 BORDER

 

 

   

! Yssued Weebly, By subscription $2.50 per year. Entered as Gnd class Matter at the N.Y. Post Office, by STREET & SMITH, 79-89 Seventh Ave., N. yy
Entered according to Act of Congress tn the year 1908, 72 the Office of the Librarian of Congress, Washington, D. C.

 

  

over the world as the king of scouts.

> Beware of Wild West imitations of the Buffalo Bill Stories. They are about fictitious characters. The Buffalo
Bill weekly is the only weekly containing the adventures of Buffalo Bill, (Col. W. F. cay; nna is known all

+

 

No. 379.

 

NEW YORK, August 15, 1908.

Price Five Cents. .

 

   

UFFALO BILL'S PAY-STREAK

A JOB OF SALT IN SUN DANCE CANON.

 

By the author of “BUFFALO BILL.”

 

 

a ae CHAPTER I.

TASES

MYSTERIOUS DOINGS

What - was that, Crawling Bear ?”

pi Ugh! Fire-gun make um big ‘boom.’

b It was a fire-gun, all right, but where did the report
sme from? - That's what I’m trying to figure’ out.”
HC wo horsemen were riding along a bleak, desolate-
: “ing cafion, en route to the mining-camp known as

Dance. One was a white man, and the other an

ian. The white rider was William Hickok, of Lara-
fe, better known as ‘Wild Bill, ‘ ae his companion
fs a Ponca warrior.

Both Wild Bill and Cr awling Bee al keen. ears, and

rose

t from right or left, from ahead or behind, or above,
seemingly from ‘the ground under their horses’
ofs.

  

re

rice as the first, and Wild Bill, with a puzzled look,
few rein and rubbed his hand over his forehead.

sAm Iglocoed, or what?” he muttered. “It’s a trick
the echoes, I reckon,

 

 

  

th muffled report of the rifle came to them distinctly— __
ue nother report reached them, coming from the same

Somebody is having a little.

 

N

gun-play in this vicinity, and the bottom of the gulch
picks up the sound and throws it back to us.”

The Indian made no response, although from his ac-
tions it seemed quite clear that he did not accept the
white man’s explanation. ~-

Wild Bill rode on, and a sharp turn in the cafion
brought him upon something which led to a revision of

his theory concerning the rifle-shots.

What he saw was an ore-dump, off at one side of the
cafion. The mound of broken rocks was- surmounted
by a plank platform. Five horses were hitched to bushes,
not far from the Oe eee but their riders were not in
evidence.

Wild Bill halted his horse, once more, and looked from
the ore-dump to the horses, and then around the cafion.
While his eyes were busy, there came a third rifle-shot.

“By gorry!” he exclaimed, and gave a low laugh.
“This thing begins to clear up a little, Crawling Bear.
There’s a mine here, and probably the mine hes a drift
running down the gulch. The shots we heard really
came. from under us, but they came from the bottom of
the mine.’

“Ugh!” grunted the Ponca. “Why Yellow Eyes make
um shoot in mine? No got um game in mine.”

“Now you're shouting, my redskin friend. What

   
Tes Kaya

ee THE BUFFALO BILL STORIES. _

there is to shoot at,-in that mine, is a conundrum that
your Uncle William is going to work out. Maybe
 there’s no game to shoot at down there, but there’s a

game being pulled off that

needs looking into.”

Wild Bill tossed his bridle-reins to the Ponca and
slipped down from the saddle.

“You go down in. mine, -
Bear. ae

“That’s my intention,’ was the answer. =

“Five ponies, five Yellow Eyes down in mine. Mebby-
so Crawling Bear better go with Wild Bill.”

A smile curled about Wild Bill’s lips. —

“Any old day the odds of five to one make me take
a back seat,” said he, “I hope some friend will hand
me a good one and tell me to wake up. I’m going to
hide my hand, Crawling Bear. This is a case of find out
what’s doing, and then make a get-away on the,q. t—

huh?’ queried Crawling

in case I can’t help some unfortunate in distress. You

look out for the horses; and, if I cant take care of my-
self, then I’m ready to be planted, for it will be high
tine, a

With that, Wild Bill stepped to the foot of the ore-
dump and climbed carefully to the plank platform.

An empty ox-hide bucket stood on the platform, off
to one side, but there was no windlass for hoisting the
bucket, and there did not seem to be any ladders for get-
ting down into the shaft. All this contributed still
further to Wild Bill’s perplexity, and at the same time
increased his determination to investigate. ©

But, if there were no ladders for getting into the mine,
there was a rope. The upper end of the rope was made
fast to the edge of the opening in the middle of. the
platform.

The Laramie man peered down into the shaft. The

blackness was intense, and he could see nothing, not

‘even the gleam of a candle.
“Can't tell whether the shaft is fifty feet deep or five
hundred,” he muttered, “but it’s a cinch that none of the

men who came here on those five horses are anywherés”

around the foot of the shaft.
a piece of lead at me.
like this, I’m a good target. Now to go down.”
For an instant Wild Bill sat on the platform, his feet
dangling over the abyss;-then, slowly letting himself
down, he grabbed the rope and began to slide.

Ii they were, they'd jump

The shooting continued, the echoes booming louder
in Wild Bill’s ears and increasing his curiosity. Wild

Bill was down fifty feet before he touched bottom. The
shaft was not so deep, after all. a
Leaving the lower end Of the rope, he groped his way

around the shaft wall until he found the opening of the .

level, In traversing the level, he dropped to his hands
and knees, and crawled. :

The level crooked to right and left, and, after Wild
Bill had covered something like fifty feet of it, he began

to hear voices, and to see a glow of light in the dis-

tance.

Pushing his head and shoulders around a turn, he sud-
denly beheld a queer scene, right at the end of the level.

Five men were there, and four of them carried lighted
candles.
with a shotgun.

The men had all the earmarks of scoundrels, and each
was heeled with a brace of six-shooters. The fellow
with the shotgun had a belt about his waist, above his
revolver-belt, filled with brass shells. — ae

With my head over the hole,

up mae

The fifth man had no candle, but was armed

Justias Wild Bill came within sight of thé group, the
man with the shotgun was “breaking” the piece at the
breach, ejecting an empty shell and replacing it with
one that was loaded. Having finished the loading, the

into the breast of the level. aa
“We're blowin’ a hull lot o’ good stuff inter this bloom-

in’ country rock, Clancy,” growled a man with a candle.

“Ain’t ye done enough?” ee
“T started in with fifteen shells,” replied Clancy, the
rascal with the gun, “an’ thar’s five left. We might jest

as well dose up the rock with what we've still got.”

“How do ye know ther feller’ll take his samples from
the place ye’re puttin’ them loads?” AAAs Sere
“He'll git his samples from the breast o’ the level,

won't he?” struck in another man with a candle. “By

the time we’re done, thar won’t be a patchin’ he kin pick
at but’ll hev its salt. Cap’n Lawless’ll land him, an’
thar’ll be a hundred thousand ter pass around. The
‘Forty Thieves’ Mine is, a played-out propersition, but
the Easterner won’t find that out until arter us fellers
git our hooks on ther money. Then we'll hike.” —

Clancy banged another load into the rocks.

“Why in thunder ain’t Lawless hyer?’’ asked another
of the candle-bearers. “He ort ter be helpin’ us, seems
like,’ i

“Don’t you fret none erbout Lawless, Tex,” replied
Clancy. “He'll be around afore long, ready ter do the
fine work an’ land the sucker. We don’t need him fer
this, an’ it’s a heap better fer him not ter show up in ther

cation while this job o’ salt is bein’ pulled off. If Law- —

less ain’t seen around hyer, he won't be suspected o' any
crooked work.”
“What's Lawless doin’,
who had spoken first. : :
“T dunno, but I reckon he’s watchin’ thet ole flash-
light warrior, Buffler Bill. Ye see, Andy, Lawless ain't
anyways eager ter tangle up with Buffler Bill an’ his
pards; not but what Lawless could put ther scout an’ his
friends down an’ out—fer head-work, I backs Cap'n
Lawless, o’ ther Forty Thieves, ag’inst all comers, bar
none—but Lawless is jest startin’ inter this hyer profita-
ble field, an’ he don’t want ter hev no interruptions.”
“Buffler, Bill is workin’ fer ther gov’ment,” said Tex.
“Te won't bother none with the cap’n.” |
“Ve never kin tell about him, Tex,’ averred Clancy.
“Wharever Buffler scents any onlawful doin’s, he’s li’ble
ter butt in; an’ we don’t want ter give him no chance
ter git fracasin’ round with us.” )
“Rut if he does,’ said Tex,

anyways?’ queried the man
yway q

r “We are,” declared Clancy; “him an’ his pards—
Nomad an’ ther Injun kid, Leetle Cayuse. I’m close ter

the last ca’tridge, Tex, ari’ you an’ Andy better go up
an’ have ther hosses ready. We won't linger around

ther ore-dump none, arter we come out,”

Wild Bill, screened by the corner of rock, had heard
every word of this talk. The mysterious doings, in the
light of the conversation among the scoundrels, was now
clearly explained. ; dan eae

The five men were “salting’’ the
is, they had loaded the shotgun-shells with fine gold, and
were blowing the gold into the breast of the level. When
the intended victim came to take his samples of the vein,

he would chip off pieces of the doctored rock, and when —
‘the rock was assayed, it would show the mine to. be.a

*
yt

“man threw the gun to his shoulder and shot the charge —

“we're goin’ ter do him,

the worthless mine: i that ;

pi trams at

ead

 
Os eg NE Ree

RU st

oO

a THE BUFFALO.

eae: ‘gold- ase - On this showing, unless the in-

tended victim was warned, a hundred thousand dollars

would change hands, and Captain Lawless, of the Forty

Thieves, whoever he was, would be that much richer.

“Tl nip this little scheme in the bud,” thought Wild
Bill, as he drew back and crouched against the wall for

“Pex and Andy to pass.

The passing of Tex and Andy, with their candles, was
filled with considerable danger for Wild Bill. Tf the
two ruffians saw him, there was bound to be a fight, for
it would not do to let Wild Bill away with the in-

formation he had discovered. °

Wild Bill drew his revolvers and made himself as
small as possible. Had there been time, he would have
hastened back to the shaft, along the level, and climbed
the rope. But he knew he could not have climbed half-
way up the rope before Tex and Andy would have lo-
cated him. It was better for Wild Bill to stay right
where he was, and hope for the best.

The whole affair, as Wild Bill had planned it, was
reckless in the extreme; but he was daring by nature,
and rarely counted the cost before making a leap in the
dark.

This must have been his evil day, and the Beginning
of a series of evil days, as will soon appear. Tex and
Andy were stumbling past him, when the former, trip-
ping on a stone that. lay on the bottom of the level, fell
sideways, dropping his candle and falling full on the
man from Laramie. :

The candle was extinguished, but Tex, encounter-
ing the intruder, gave vent to a wild yell of alarm. Wild
Bill’s fist shot out, and Tex crumpled flat along the floor
of the level; the blow was followed by another, which
landed on the point of Andy’s jaw, and threw him
against the hanging wall. His candle also dropped, and
Wild Bill set his foot on the supttering flame.

By then Clancy and the other three had started at a

tun to see what was the trouble. Wild Bill, berating. his
_hard luck, rushed toward the shaft.

CHAPTER ik
(A CLOSE Cee ne

- Wild Bill was running in the dark—a circumstance

which brought him many a bruise and bump. Behind
him came three men with two candles, but Tex and

Andy were temporarily out of the race.

From time to time, as he stumbled onward, Wild Bill
ooked backward over his shoulder. Suddenly he saw
Clancy halt, lift the shotgun, and shoot along the level.

Quick asa flash, Wild Bill dropped flat. He had no
desire to stop a charge from a brass shell, even though
t was of gold.

The fine yellow metal whistled over his head. As the
cho of the shot clamored in the level, Wild Bill sprang
p and forged onward jwith a reckless ‘laugh.

“They can’t salt me,’ he muttered, “but I may be able
o salt one of them with lead.”

He paused long enough to chance a shot from i Six- |

hooter... A yell "of pain came from Clancy. The shot-
gun clattered to the ro and ce ae at his oe
TMs”

yell, “and don’t light no. candles,

BULL StOpins oy

The other two men thereupon began using their re-
volvers, accompanying their shooting with savage yells.
Wild Bill, pushing flat against the foot wall, delib-

-erately snuffed the two candles that remained alight. His

wrist had been grazed by one of the ruffians’ bullets, but
it was a small injury, and he gave it scant attention.
As soon as the level was entirely plunged in darkness,

_he ran on to the shaft which, by then, was only a few

feet away..
‘The time had passe for fighting. It was up to him to
retreat, and to see how quick he could get to the top of

- the shaft, and ont ob it,

jabbing his revolver back into his belt, he laid hold

of the rope and started aloft, handover hand.

Clancy and the rest, meanwhile, had not remained in-

active. They must have been considerably in the dark

as to the identity of their enemy, but they realized that.
he had caught them red-handed, “And that the success
of their whole plot might hang on tleir capturing him.
Therefore they pushed forward desperately, Clancy in.
a rage because of his wound. Tex and Andy, having
revived sufficiently from the sledge-hammer blows they
had received, had joined the others.

Don't strike any matches,’ Wild Bill heard Clancy ©
We don’t want the
whelp ter make targets.o’ us. Ketch him, thet’s all!
Consarn his picter! he’s given me a game arm. | want
ter play even fer thet, anyhow.”

Above him, Wild Bill could see a square patch of day- —
light as he climbed. His progress was slow, however,
and he knew that when Clancy and the rest got to the
shaft, they would see him swinging in mid-air between
them and the lighted background.

‘As Wild Bill looked up, he saw the head of Crawling
Bear leaning over the opening and looking down.

“Cover that hole, Crawling Bear!’ roared Wild Bill.
» Phey’ re after me, the whole five of ‘em. Look alive,

now

The Ponca was quick-witted, and must have realized
the situation. His head vanished from the patch of light

_ the instant Wild Bill ceased speaking.

Climbing hand over hand was slow work. Wild Bill’s —
arms were strong, and he did his best, but his best did
not carry him upward nearly so swiftly as he could have
wished.

‘Sounds of scrambling feet came from below him, fol-
lowed by the voice of Tex.

“Thar he is! See him au will ye? Pepper him!
Turn loose at him!”

Just then the hole above suddenly darkened. Wild
Bill was still a target, but not so plain.

The shaft echoed with a patter of reports. A sharp,
stinging blow struck the heel of Wild Bill’s boot, the
broad brim of his hat shook, and he was raked along
one side as.by a red-hot iron.

“Wow!” he muttered; “if they put a piece of lead into
one of my arms——”

And just then that is exactly what they did. It was.
Wild Bill’s left arm. The strength went out of the arm

 in-a flash, and Wild Bill only saved himself from drop-

ping hack to the bottom of the shaft by a fierce grip on
the rope with his right hand. .

How could he climb Ton The outlook was anything
but reassuring.

All this time the Laramie man felt a movement of the
rope, as though Crawling Bear, at the top of the shaft,

 
   

   

ee THE BUFFALO

“was tinkering with it under the cover he had ee over

the opening.

“T reckon he ain i climbin’ no more, roared the voice

of Claney, from the depths. “Lay holt, thar, Tex, an’
sée if ye kain’t crawl up an’ haul ther whelp back. He’ s
winged, mebby, an’ kain’t climb.”

This, as we know, was Wild Bill's continee: He had
twisted the: rope about one of his legs, and was able
to maintain his place, but, if he did not drop downward,
neither could he move upward qn inch,”

Tex, evidently, had a the rope, for it tightened
cruelly around Wild Bill’s leg.

The Laramie man’s arm did not seem to hhave been
very seriously injured. So far as he could judge, hav;
ing no time or convenience for making an examination,

what the arm was suffering from, more thah anything

else, was the shock of the bullet.
Twisting the arm about-the rope, he drew his knife
from its scabbard‘at his belt, and bent downward. A

quick slash severed the rope in twain, and a heavy fall
and a chorus of oaths came from He shaft’s | bottom.

Tex had dropped upon some of his companions, for the
moment demoralizing them.

This move of Wild Bill’s, while necessary tor his.

safety, almost proved disastrous to him as well as to
Sex,

Wild Bill’s left arm was not to be depended upon. At
the critical moment it gave with him; and, had he not
dropped the knife and gripped the rope with his right
hand, he would have followed Tex onto the heads of
Clancy and the others. -

Before the disorder at the hottom of the shaft could
be righted, and the scoundrels again begin their revolver-
work, Wild Bill felt himself started upward with a jerk.

Crawling Bear was taking a hand! Just what he had
done Wild Bill did not know, but that his means, what-

ever they were, were effectual, was proved by the swift-

ness with which Wild Bill was hauled to the platform. :

In less than half a minute after Wild Bill started up- —

ward, his head struck against a blanket covering the
ae of the shaft, and he was snaked ott onto the
planks, and lay blin king in the sun.

At the foot of the ore-dump stood the Ponca with a

hand on the bridle of Wild Bill’s horse. The Laramie
man saw in an instant what his red companion had done.

After covering the mouth of the shaft with his blanket,
he had secured the picket-rope from Wild Bill’s saddle

and had tied one end to the horn; the other end he had

secured to the rope leading down into the shaft, and
had then cut the shaft-rope. By leading Wild Bill’s
horse across the canton from the foot of the ore-dump,
the Ponca had been able to get his white companion to
‘the surface by horse-power.

“Youre all. to the good, Crawling Bear!” declared
Wild Bill, sitting up at the edge of the ore-dump and
pulling off his coat. “I had a close call, down there, and
L reckon those yaps would have got me if it hadn’t ‘been
for you.”

Crawling Bear untied the rope from the saddle-horn
and began coiling it in. When he had removed the rope
spliced to the oe of the picket-rope, he hung the coil
in its proper place at Wild Bill’s saddle.

“Wild Bill hurt, huh?” he asked, mounting the side of
the dump.

“A gouge ibneh the fleshy part of ‘the arm, that’s

all,” the Laramie man answered, examining the injury.

®
Pa
/

BILL ‘STORIES.

  

“The bullet flickered slong the maseles and went on

about its business.”

Wild Bill had cut away the sleeve S He aainel shirt
in order to examine the injury. Out of the bottom of

the sleeve he improvised a bandage, and Crawling Bear
apes him put it in place. —

When the arm was roughly bandaged, ‘Wild Bill rust
his hand into the breast of his shee :

“V’m worth a dozen dead men yet,” he went on, “but
that outht sure had it in for me. Don’t know as I can
blame them, though, as they’ve got a hundred thousand
at stake. I’m going to fool them out of that hundred
thousand—watch my smoke.”

He looked at the bullet-hole through the brim of his
hat, then at his left boot, from which the heel was miss-
ing, and finally at the place where a bullet had raked
along the side of his clothes, after wae he laughed

grimly.

"They had a good many chances a me, Crawling
Bear,” he proceeded, “but they didn't make ‘good. We've
got ’em bottled up in that mine now, and we'll keep ’em
there until I can get Pard Cody to Sun Dance. I’ve got
a notion he'll enjoy meeting that gang of trouble- -ma-
kers.”

and threw it over his shoulders,

“Yellow Eyes?” he queried.

“You bet! They're white tinhorns, every last man of
them. It’s up to you and me to call their little game.

It’s a salting proposition, with a tenderfoot standing to

lose a hundred thousand in good, hard money. Let's
ride for Sun Dance and get there as quick as we can,’

“What about um five "raballos?? asked the Ponca, his
small, beady eyes gloating over the five horses belonging
to Clancy and his outfit.

“Oh, we'll leave them. Haven't time to bother with
‘em, anyhow.”

Wild "Bill descended the slope intial anal climbed into
his saddle. A few moments later, he and the Ponca.
were continuing on along the cafion toward Sun Dance.

VCHART DR TTT
ANOTHER STRANGER IN CAMP.

Sun Dance was a very small mining-camp, perched
jonea shelf up the side of Sun Dace Canon). Six
’dobies stuck on a side hill,” was the trite and not very
elegant way the camp was often described. —

‘The sort of mining indulged in was both quartz and
placer—placer-mining in the gulch and quartz-mining in
the neighboring hills.
the camp; the quartz-miners had camps of their own,
and only came to Sun Dance for supplies. |

The camp could be reached in two ways? From the
bottom of the cafion by a steep climb, and from the top
by a stiff, descent.

‘The stage from Montegordo reached camp by way of J 4

the cafion’s rim, which was its only feasible route; but
Wild Bill and ‘Crawling Bear came from below, and

gained the ee by spurring ae horses up the

slope.
ae where the trail crawled over the edge of t the flat,

The Ponca picked up his blanket from the eae

   
 
   

  

 

  
 
 

 

 

Only the placer-miners lived in~

 

  
 
  
  
 
  
   
  
 
   
 
  
   
   

  

en ne RE

 

  

 

he

 

foun

2
“No. Shootin Aloud in Sun Dance.”
of how seriously the io was takén, it may be mentioned _
that the lettering could hardly be read for bullet-holes.
By day the camp was practically dead, all the miners

te BUFFALO

a hele was a cies board with the rudely Jettered words
As an indication

being at work on their placers, and only storekeepets,
gamblers, resort proprietors, and the man who “ran”
the hotel being visible. For the most part, these worth-
jes stnoked their pipes and cigarettes during the day, or

_ played cards among themselves merely to pass the time,

Wath might everything changed, The camp became a

boisterous, rollicking place, with a teal piano hammering
out “Buffalo Gals,” anda “real lady’ singing to its ac-
companying strains.

Miners flocked in, bet their yellow dust on the turn of

a card or a whirl of the wheel; sampled the camp’s “‘red-
eye,” enjoyed the piano and the lady’s voice—both of
which were cracked—and very often forgot the warning
of the sign, and indulged in shooting that was very loud
and occasionally fatal.
Fhe name of the one hotel in the camp was. the
“Lucky Strike.” The proprietor was one Abijah Spang-
ler, a leviathan measuring six foot ten, up and down, and
ten foot six—or so it was said—east and west at his
gitth-line. Anyway, Abijah Spangler weighed 300
pounds, and when he sat down it took two chairs to hold
him:

When Wild Bill and Crawling Bear halted in frorit
of the Lucky Strike, Bije Spangler was sitting down,
dripping with perspiration and agitating the air with a
ragged palm-leaf fan.

“You. the boss of this hangout?” inquired Wild Bill,
Surveying Spangler’s huge bulk with much interest.

“T sun it, you bet,” answered Spangler, ruffling his
-double-chin and wondering at the red handkerchief about
a d Bill’s arm.

“Got accommodations for two?” queried the Laramie

Lay

“Fer two whites, yes—meals, four bits, and a bed, a
dollar. But”—and here Bije Spangler cast a disapprov-
ing eye on the Ponca—"‘I don’t feed or house Injuns fer
no money» Not meanin’ any disrespect fer yerself,
_ neighbor,” added Spangler hastily, noting the glint that
rose in Wild Bill’s eye, “but I couldn’t keep open house
fer reds without sp’ilin’ the repertation o’ my hotel.”
The Ponca sat up stiff and straight on his horse.

Vo Where Fostay, he stays,” averred Wild Bill; “what’s
, good enough for him is good enough for me. He’s
plum white, all but his skin, ee
_. “So’s a Greaser,” grunted Spangler,
Sorry to appear disobligin’,
to have run inter trouble somewheres. You're welcome
. stop, but ve a have ter camp out in the chapar-
ta De

Wild Bill was in no mood for. arguing ‘the case, and
he was about to ride on, when the Ponca leaned forward
i and stopped him.

“You want um ee Le paper- -talk to Pa-has-ka,
hey?’ he asked. !
“Sure Ti do, Cpaine: Bear,” replied Wild Bill, “but I

fora Chink.

don’t want you to start for Sill until -you have rested |

yourself and your horse.”

“Ugh! no want um rest.

» Heel plenty fine. Me take

u um) paper-talk now.’

Wild Bill saw ee Crawling Bear meant what he said.
The samp not ee 0 be a very safe place for a red

‘specially as you-all seems,

fast asleep.

BILL STORIES. Co as

man, anyhow, the Tante man decided to let his com
panion have his way.

“Got a place where I can write | °” inquired Wild Bill.

"Go through the office an’ inter the’ bar,’ teplied
Spangler. “You can write on one of the tables, an’ I
reckon the barkeep can skeer up a patchin’ o’ paper and
a lead-pencil.”’

Leaving his horse with the Ponca, Wild Bill went
into the barroom, and had soon written a few words to
Buffalo: Bill, asking him to come to Sun Dance as soon
as possible. Returning to Crawling Bear, Wild Bill
handed him the folded note and a dozen silver dollars.

“Why you give um Ponca dinero?” asked the Indian.

“That’s for carrying the message to Buffalo Bill,’
said the Laramie man.

“Buffalo Bill?’ wheezed Spangler, stirring a little in
his chair, “You a friend of Buffalo Bill’s ?”

Yess: answered Wild Bill, whirling on the fat man.
“My name’s Hickok.”
“Wild Bill!” muttered Spangler. Gay, that’s differ-
ent. Any Injun friend o’ Wild Bill’ s can oe with me.

Pil break my rules for you, and

Hoofs clattered. Crawling Bear, not waiting further,
was off for the edge of the “flat” on his return journey
to Sill.

‘Nourte too late) said Wild Bill curtly.
your label.”

“Spangler is my handle.” |

“Any: strangers in town, Spangler: ta

“Only you!

“When's the next stage due from Noe teeartio: fae

“To-morrow afternoon,”

“Well, I’m going to stay with you until to-morrow
afternoon, anyhow. Call some one to take care of my
horse; and if I‘can have a room all to myself, I want
it, 39

“That'll cost extry,” said Spangler. “If ye’re goin’ to
throw on style with a private room, you'll have to bleed
ten dollars’ worth.”

“That's: the size of my stack.
fagged, and want to lie down.”

Spangler lifted his voice and gave a husky yell. In
answer to the signal, a Mexican showed himself around
the corner of the house, who took Wild Bill's horse.
Then once more Spangler indulged in a wheezy shout.
This was the signal for a Chinaman to present himself.
After a few words with Spangler, the Chinaman led
Wild Bill into the house, through the office and the
drinking-part of the establishment, and into a small, cor-
ner room, with a window looking out upon the street.

There was a cot in the room, and Wild Bill flung him- -
self dewn wearily upon it. In a few minutes he was _

“What's

hg

Hustle, now.

‘He awoke in time for supper, put a fresh bandage

‘around his arm, and went out into the hotel dining-

room. Everything about the Lucky Strike was exceed-
ingly primitive, and the table, the service, and the food
were about what one would expect in a pioneer mining- |
camp. Wild Bill, however, was used to such accommo=

dations and fare.

Following the meal, he smoked a eoiele of pipes in
front of the hotel, saying oe to des but keep-
ing up a lot of thinking. :

The Forty Thieves—so ran the cotment Of his.
thoughts—was a played-out mine. Those five men, un-
der orders from one Captain Lawless, were Salting it,

 
    

 

   

   

6

“Fhe name 4 the mine was suggestive, and so was the
name of the man who was engineering the salting opera-

ons.

“Captain Lawless, of the Forty Thieves!” said Wild
Bill to himself, ‘That has sure got a regular rough-
house sound. When Pard Cody hears it) Tl bet money
_ it will ruffle his hair the wrong way. ‘Crawling Bear
will get that paper-talk through some time to- night, and
Cody will be here to-morrow afternoon. When he ar-
_rives, we'll prance out to the Forty Thieves and snake
those five trouble-makers out of that hole in the ground ;
then, if Captain Lawless wants to take a whack at us,
he’s welcome.”

Wild Bill took no part in the hilarious doings of the
camp that night. By 10 o'clock he had locked himself

in his room and got into bed. His arm was a bit painful, —

so that he was an hour or more in getting to sleep.
When he was once asleep, however, he did not wake
until morning. 2

His arm felt better. He could use his hand as well as
usual. There was some pain in the arm, but it was
not severe.

Following breakfast, he went to one of the general
stores and ‘bought a new flannel shirt, a pair of boots,
and a bowie, to take a place of the one he had lost in
the mine.

After that, he sat in front of the Lucky Strike and

smoked until dinner-time; and, after dinner, he smoked
until four-thirty, when the stage pulled over the rim of
the cafion and slid down the slope with the hind wheels
tied.

The stage drew up in front of the hotel, and a ey
bag was thrown off. There was one passenger, a man
in a linen duster, and clearly a stranger.

“FHe’s the one,” said Wild Bill to himself, knocking
the ashes out of his pipe and getting out of his chair.
“The chap doesn’t look much like an easy mark, though.
I wonder if he has any notion he’s taking long chances
with that hundred thousand of his?”

Just then Wild Bill experienced something like a oe
A man rode up along the trail that led from the cafion
bottom, drew rein in front of the hotel, dismounted,
dropped his bridle-reins over a hitching-post, and fol-
lowed the stranger into the Lucky Strike.

The man had his right arm in a sling, and it didn’t
_take two looks to inform Wild Bill that the fellow was
none other than Clancy! Clancy, the man who had been
blowing gold into the Forty Thieves with a shotgun!
Clancy, the man Wild Bill had left, with four others,
bottled up in the Forty Thieves’ shaft!

CHAP TER LV.)
WILD BILL'S MISTAKE,

Clancy had not paid any attention to Wild Bill. It
seemed very probable that neither Clancy, nor any of
those with him in the mine, had been able to see Wild
Bill distinctly enough to recognize him in another place

and in broad day.
_ Then, too, the Laramie man had a new Gee of a dif-
ferent color from the blue one he had worn in the mine,
and he showed no sign of injury. All this would help

THE BUFFALO BILL STORIES.

- duster.

Bill earnestly.

- right number.”

a tolerably good look at him in the Forty Thieves.

Reassured on this point, Wild Bill fell to canvassing —

another.
shatt?

_ How had Clancy managed to escape from the

Clancy and the rest must have had help. Sa other -

member of the gang must have been abroad in the
cafion, and no doubt happened along and gave his aid.

Wild Bill was disappointed. He had ‘hoped the five

would be kept in the Forty Thieves until Buffalo Bill
reached Sun Dance.

Strolling into the office of the hotel, Wild Bil saw

Clancy in close conversation with the man in the linen
They were off by themselves in one corner, and
were coliversing in low, animated tones.

“Clancy is going to hold the sucker until this Captain
Lawless shows up,’ thought Wild Bill. “I must have a
word with that tenderfoot and show him how he is go-
ing to be gold-bricked. I’d hate myself to death if I ever

_allowed that gang of robbers to away with his hun-
dred thousand.”

Wild Bill, having settled ‘the’ situation in iis mind,

strolled out to the front of the hotel, filled his pipe again,

and seated himself in the chair he had occupied for most

of the day.

‘He was waiting for the stranger, and he had not long
to wait.

of the cafion. A few minutes later the stranger fol-

lowed, pulled up a chair a few feet from Wild Bill’s, and

seated himself.

“Howdy,” said Wild Bill, with a friendly nod, by way

of breaking the ice.

“How do you do, sir?” answered the stranger, with all

the elaborate courtesy of an. Easterner.
one of these?”

He offered Wild Bill a cigar, and the latter eee
it amiably.

“Stranger, I take it?” pursued Wild Bill.
“Well, yes,” answered the other. “I came in on the
afternoon stage from Montegordo.”

“Looking up the mines ?”

A suspicious look crossed the stranger’s face.

“Figuring on examining the Forty Thieves,’ pur-
sued Wild Bill, “with the intention of handing out one
hundred thousand cold plunks for the same?”

The stranger laughed.

“You seem to be pretty well informed,” he remarked.
“T haven’t told a soul about my business here, but you
reel it right off, first clatter out of the box.”

* “Steer wide of the Forty Thieves, pilgrim,’

“Wil you try

* said Wild
“That proposition is a trap for the un-
wary. I know. It cost me some trouble to find out
what I’m telling you, but you take a word for it, and

let the property alone.”

“Who are ae ?”’ inquired the stranger, ‘with sudden
interest.

“My name’s Hickok, William Hickok.”

LHe stranger hitched restlessly in his chair.

“The man I’ve heard so much about under the so-
briquet of Wild Bill?” he asked. 2

“Tally ! That's the time you got your bean on. the

The stranger fell silent of a space.

“My name is Smith,” said he finally; oy tee

to fy Clancy from recognizing him, even if he had: aoe :

 

Clancy came out, unhitched his horse, climbed |
into the saddle, and clattered back toward the bottom

 

iy hin
e in:
Wee

_ Sm
y tow

fe Wil
; wes
a. loos

_ “Or
oe of Chicago, and what you tell me is oe sur é

       
    

ah gS
ALS

 

ere

, clo

anc

VaGe!

    
      

eR eS Me Oran EES

ld
in-

yt
nd

len

       

 

iM ache? “He drew tis Easin deer.
telling me just what you have found out?”
“Sure I wouldn't mind. I’m hungry to cut into this

 

: re me a hot half-hour yesterday.”

eo And. thereupon Wild Bill began telling: ‘what he had
| seen and heard in ‘the level of the Forty Thieves. When
| he had finished, J. Algernon Smith: was wide- eyed. and
ih staring.

ale Really, /( tie managed to gasp, “this is tose astound-
ing. sr a

ey reckon its all that,” mildly answered Wild Bill.
the very name of that mine, though, is enough to make
-a man think some. Who's the fellow you’ re going to
deal with?’
_ “His name, I believe, is James Lawless.”

“That’s another name that’s bad medicine.’

“I'd never thought of the names in that light.”

“That fellow that was talking with you, right after
you got out of the stage, was Clancy, the scoundrel that
was blowing gold into the rock with a shotgun, What
‘did he want?”
“Why, he was telling me that Lawless hadn’t got here

 

 
 
   
  
 

body about my business in Sun Dance.”
“Vou couldn’t blame Rimi ctor gat, remarked Wild
Bill dryly.

“He asked me to meet him at the foot a the slope,
in the bottom of the cafion, immediately after supper,’
went on the stranger, “so we could have a quiet talk.”

“You can see how they're working it, can’t you?’ re-
turned Wild Bill. They re trying 16 keep this business
dark until Lawless shows up, and meanwhile Clancy is
going to keep your interest at fever-heat by all kinds of
stringing. Any objection to my going along with you
when you meet Clancy?”

# “No, indeed, Wild Bill. I was about to suggest that
H myself. I am sure I’m very much obliged to you for
» your interest in me, and a
“Stow that,” interrupted Wild Bill, “It isn’t my inter-
est in you, particularly, that leads me to take a hand, but
it’s more a desire to see every man get what's coming

F to him, | Saber”
| At that moment the Chinaman came out in fan of the
hovel and pounded on a gong.

_ “Suppa leddy!” he announced.
The stranger did not remove his linen duster.

 

Tt cov-

thought he kept it on so as not to soil his Eastern

® clothes. He and the Laramie man sat at the satne table,

Mm) and next to each other. |
# When the meal was over, J. Algernon Smith excused

) himself for a minute, and said he would rejoin Wild Bill
| in front of the hotel, and they would at once take their

way down the slope to the bottom of the cafion.

Wild Bill waited for five minutes before J. Maeedon
Smith rejoined him, and they started across the ‘eat:
toward the top of the slope.

m “A tenderfoot has got to keep his eyes skinned,’ said
| Wild Bill, “or he'll collide with more trouble, in this
® western. eG than he ever dreamed was turned

B loose.” ‘

| “1 presume you are right,”

“Only fancy blowing gold into a mine with, a shotgun!

He laughed a little. “tt they knew that, back i in Chicago,

 

My
oa
..

ne

E
a
he

  

said J. Algernon Smith.

(2?

 
 

The BUFFALO BILL. STORTES,

 

“Would you mind

game, and even up with the pack of tinhorns that gave —

yet, and he was warning me not to say anything to any-_

ered him from his neck to his heels, and Wild Bill

_ head, too, was aching, one his brain was: still dizzy.

ier

    

7

“You haven't told

  

they'd make game of me,” he added.
any one about this, have Vout A,
“Not a soul but you? nee as
“Tm glad of ‘that, I can tell you, Vd hate to have —
the business get out. Of course, I hadn’t bought the
mine yet. I-was going to’ take samples, you know, and
have them assayed; then, if the assays showed up well, 4
the deal would have been made.” ‘
It was very dark, at that hour, on the ‘slope leading 7
down into the cafion. Bushes fringed the horse-trail, in
places, and there was quite a patch of chaparral at ‘the -

_ foot of the slope,

Here Wild Bill and J. Algernon Smith came to a halt.

“Clancy doesn’t seem to be around,” said Wild Bill.
“Maybe you'd better tune up with a whistle, ota. yell,
so that he’ll know where you are.’

J. Algernon Smith stared into the depths of a thicket,

“Tt looks to me as though thére was a man in there,’
said he. “Can you see any one, Mr. Hickok?”

Wild Bill took a step forward. His back was to his |
cgmpanion, and, while he was peering into the bushes, he Lo
heard a hasty step behind him.
| ‘He started to turn; and, at that precise instant, a heavy
blow, dealt with some hard instrument, landed on the
back of his head.

He staggered, but, with a fierce effort, rallied all he
strength, and turned arotind. In the darkness he saw
the yellow duster pressing upon him. It was Smith, and
Smith was about to land another treacherous blow. 1)

Wild Bill’s head was jreeling, but he had sense enough
left to understand that he had made some sort of a mis-

‘take, and that Smith was other than he had seemed.

Evading the blow aimed at him, the Laramie man
gripped Smith by the throat. Ultimately, in spite of his
unsteady condition, Wild Bill might have got the best
of his antagonist had not Clancy taken a part in the

struggle.

The latter plunged One the bushes and: assaulted 4
Wild Bill from behind.

At Clancy’s second blow, Wild Bill’s reason fled, and
he dropped helplessly on the Ce

CHAPTER Vo a
CAPT AY N LAWLESS,
How long Wild Bill remained Envon ce he never

knew, but it must have been a considerable time. He
had been struck down at the foot of the rocky slope, and

when he opened his eyes he was lying i in the level of the 3),

Forty Thieves.

Wild Bill had no difficulty in recognizing the level,
for three or four candles were burning in niches of the
tock, and lighted the place eat. for him to make
observations.

The Laramie man’s unconsciousness hhad lasted long
enough for his captors to remove him from the slope —
four or five miles down the cafion and le a into the
imadey
His hands and feet were Sound! a a savage pain

from his left arm, cramped around behind aa in no. :

wise mitigated the discomforts of his situation

    
   

  
  

#

8 ( “THE BUFFALO

‘He was surrounded by seven men, all but one of whom
he recognized. Clancy was one, Tex was ‘nother, and
Andy was a third. The faces of two more he remem-
bered to have seen in the level with Clancy the day

_ before. oe . oy

Another of the men, of course, was J. Algernon Smith,
in his linen duster. |

The seventh of the outfit was the fellow whose face
was strange to Wild Bill.

The prisoner lay snugly against the hanging wall of
the level. He had made no stir when he opened his
eyes, and his captors did not know that he had recovered
his senses. They were talking, and Wild Bill was con-
tent to lie quietly and listen. a
“He got away from you,’ Smith was saying, “and
when he went he took the rope with him. How did you
get out?”

“We was in hyer all night, cap’n,” replied Clancy;
“me with this game arm, an’ all the rest more er less

knocked about an’ stove up. .We didn’t hev no water, .

er grub, er nothin’, an’ I had about calculated that we’d
starve ter death; then, jest as things were lookin’
mighty dark fer us, Seth, thar, happened erlong, and
we heerd him hollerin’ down the shaft.”

“I was left in Sun Dance,” spoke up Seth, who was

the fellow Wild Bill had failed to recognize, ‘ter watch ©

the stage an’ see if you, er Bingham, come in on it.
Nothin’ came that arternoon, but the mail uf

“It will be two or three days before Bingham arrives
here,” interjected Smith. “Go on, Seth.”

“As the night passed,” proceeded Seth, “an’ Clancy
an’ the rest didn’t come back ter Sun Dance, I began
ter feel anxious about ’em. Arter breakfast in the morn-
in’, I couldn’t stand the unsartinty any longer, so I sad-
dled up an’ rode down the cafion. Seen the five hosses
bunched tergether in the scrub, so I knowed the boys
must be in the mine. When I climbed the ore-dump, I
seen the rope layin’ on the platform, an’ I couldn’t Savvy
the layout, not noways. I got down on my knees, stuck
my head inter the shaft, an’ let off a yell. The yell was
answered, an’ it wasn’t long afore I knowed what had
happened. I drapped a riata down, an’ spliced on the
rope layin’ on the platform, an’ purty soon the boys was
on top 0’ ground.” :

“We all thort the game was up,” said Clancy, when
Seth had finished. “The feller that had came nosin’ inter
the mine had drapped his bowie, an’ we found the name,
‘Wild Bill” burned inter the handle. ‘Thunder!’ ] says
ter the boys; ‘if thet was Wild Bill we had down here,
I ain’t wonderin’ none he got away. He’s a reg’lar tor-
nader! ‘The wonder is,’ I says, ‘thet some 0’ us didn’t
git killed.’ In the arternoon I rode ter Sun Dance ter
meet the stage myself, an’ thet’s how I come ter meet
ye, cap’n, an’ ter tell ye a leetle 0’ what took place. But
I reckon us fellers ain’t got any kick comin’ now.”
Clancy gave a husky laugh. “Wild Bill drapped inter
yore hands, cap’n, like er reg’lar tenderfoot. It was a

 

slick play, yere bringin’ him along when ye come ter >

meet me at the foot o’ thet slope. The minit ye jumped
at him I knowed somethin’ was up, an’ I wasn’t more’n
a brace o’ shakes in takin’ a hand.” Loe
_ “It was a tight squeak,” said Smith.
in a hair’s breadth of having this who
If it had ever reached Bingham’s ears it
this gang a cool hundred thousand.”
“ere sure Wild Bill didn’t do any talkin’ ?”

“We came with-
le story get out,
would have cost

» Bill.

 

 

BILL STORIES.

“He says he didn’t, and I believe he told the truth.”
“But thar was some ‘un with him. He didn’t git out
o the shaft without help.” | ie
“That man was a Ponca Indian. He didn’t stop in
Sun Dance long, but was sent out of camp by Wild Bill,
with a paper-talk for Buffalo Bill, at Fort Sill.” -
“Consarn it!” grunted Tex moodily. “Ain't we goin’
ter work through this trick without hevin’ Buffler Bill

mixed up in it?”

A muttered oath escaped the lips of Smith.”

“Tf Buffler Bill mixes up in this,” said he, “we'll take
care of him, just as we're going to take care of Wild
There’s seven of us, and [lve got the nerve to
think I’m as good a man as Buffalo Bill.”

“You’ve got nerve enough for anything, Smith,” spoke
up Wild Bill, “but when you compare yourself with
Cody, you’re a little bit wide of your trail.” —

A sudden silence. fell over the gang. All of thém

_ turned their eyes on the prisoner, and Smith got up and

stepped toward him.
“Got your wits back, have you?” Smith demanded,

with a scowl.

“I didn’t have much sense when I started in to do
you a friendly turn,’ said Wild Bill. “That’s where I
went lame. Who are you, anyhow?”

A hoarse laugh broke from the man’s lips. The next
moment he had stripped away the linen duster, revealing
a tall, supple form clad in gaudy costume. About the
shoulders was a short jacket of black velvet, strung with

_ silver-dollar buttons that flashed in the candlelight;

about the waist was a silken sash of red, supporting a

brace of silver-mounted derringers. Boots made of fancy _

leather arose to the knee, and a black sombrero capped
the flashy apparel. :

“In the first place,” said the man, with a fiendish grin,
“my name is not Smith, but Lawless.’’_

“Well, Pll be hanged!’ muttered Wild Bill. ‘“You’re
Lawless, and I jumped right at you, in the Lucky Strike
Hotel, supposing you were the tenderfoot who’s coming
here to drop into your game! That’s a big one on me,
and I reckon that fool play makes me deserve all Pve
got coming. Well, well! This would be plumb comical
if it wasn’t so blamed serious.” poe iG

“It ts serious—for you,” said Captain Lawless, “What
you know stands between me and my men and one. hun-
dred thousand dollars. Why did you mix up in this
thing, in the first place?”

“T heard shooting down in this mine, and was curious
to find out what it meant.”

“You found out—and that’s what’s going to make you

-trouble.’’

Lawless turned away.
“Ts everything ready, Clancy?” he asked.
“The fuses are all ready. ter’ light.” a
“Then snake him off down the level and we'll finish
this right up. See that you make a good job of it.”
Obeying a gesture from Clancy, Andy and Tex caught
Wild Bill by the shoulders and dragged him some ten
feet toward the shaft of the mine. Seth followed with a
candle. . | aes
__A stub crosscut opened off the level at this point, and
Wild Bill was dragged into this and along it for fifteen
feet, as he judged. That brought him to the end of the
crosscut, which proved to be a blind wall. ee
“We're going.to put you in a pocket, Wild Bill,” said
Lawless, who had followed, “and leave you there. You'll

  

    
  
    
  
   
     
 
  
   
  
   
   
   
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
 

 

 
   
   

    
  

e,

fei

   

 
  

not be able to both er anybody; and, of course, you'll

 

blast. ?

~ lim not following you: very cleariye
“Ts it your intention to send me across the divide?”

_“That’s it. You know too much, and we can’t take
any chances with you. Look here. %

Lawless passed to the entrance of the crosscut and
waved the candle back and forth. In the candlelight,
Wild Bill saw the ends of three fuses, placed on a line.

“At the end of each fuse,’ explained Lawless calmly,
“there’s a heavy charge of powder, Clancy loaded the
holes, and he knows just what a “charge will do when
it’s put down in any given place. He has set this blast
so as to wall up the crosscut and leave you in a rock
cell. Clancy says that you won't be hurt by the flying
rock when the blast goes off, but that you'll be walled
in so you can’t get out. You'll not have any water or
food, and you'll not have much air. That can’t be
helped.”

“Mo@re a fiend!” aa: Wild ob
calm face of Lawless.
> “This job of salt is goine to win out. Bingham
will find less. gold in the Forty. Thieves than he imag-
ined; but, if he digs away the barrier we're going to
throw up, he'll find something else here that will sur-
' prise him.”

- “Why can’t you use a bullet or a knife, if you're bound
to put’ me out of the way?” called Wild Bill. ee do
you want to go to all this trouble for?”

"This will look like an accident, if you’re ever found.”

 

 

  

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
  
    
   
  
 
 

glaring at the

   
 
  
  
  
  
   
  
   
  

ly. How do you figure that, if I’m ever found with
my hands and feet tied ??”’

“Ii Clancy is right, and you’re not hit by flying rocks
or smothered before an hour or two, you'll eo tid of the
ropes.’

“And you're white: Pe muttered Wild Bill, as though it
was hard for him to couple such a murderous act with
@ aman of that color. “Why, you inhuman scoundrel,
™) you ought to be black as the ace of spades, and to wear
m horns! This may be the end of me, but it won’t be the
end of this business for you. My pard, Bill Cody, is
‘coming to Sun- Dance Cafion to meet me. If he doesn’t
meet me, he'll know something is wrong, and when he

 
 
 

 

runs out the trail; you'll owe him something. And what- -

ever you owe Cody, youll pay!”
fm 2OCté«‘ A dT ever owe Cody anything,” scowled Lawless, “Dp ll
— pay him just as I’m paying you. I didn’t pip my shell
Hm) yesterday. You're wide of your trail, Hickok, if you
think [’'m not able to take care of myself.”
Lawless disappeared from the mouth of the crosscut.
“Touch off the blasts,” Wild Bill heard him say to
a Clancy; “all the rest of you,” he added, “go on to the
h shaft. We've got.to make a quick getaway as soon as
e the fuses are fired)

 

Then, with staring eyes, Wild Bill saw Clancy ok a

7 candle and bend down. From one fuse to another went
» the candle gleam, leaving a sputtering blue flame at the
fend. of each fuse,

Having finished his work, Clancy whirled and raced
after Lawless and the rest, who had ea started for
ae shaft.

_ Turning” on his aide with his face against the rocks,

 
  
  

 
 

i

_ THE -BUFFALO

never live to get ott, even if yen re not killed by the |

said Wild Bill,

- look like an accident!” answered Wild Bill ironical- .

 

BILL Cee 9.

Wild Bill waited fr the deafening detonation which was :

to throw a barrier of rock across the mouth of the cTOSS-
‘cut and wall him up in a living tomb.

CHAPTER VL
THE bs RL

A MG d’ye think Wild Bill wants us fur, Bui-
er:

“I haven’t any idea, Nick, but he’ll think we’re a lone
time getting to,Sun Dance. i

a That paper-tork o’ his had a hard time reachin’ us,
an’ we've had er hard time gittin’ through ter Sun Dance.
—leastways, you'an’ Dell hev had. But we kain’t be so
pizen fur from ther camp now.’ i

“This short cut we're taking through the hills will ,
bring us into the cafion above the camp. Dell and Cay- |
use will come in below. We ought to get to the place
we're going a good two hours ahead of them.”

The king of scouts, and his old trapper pard, Nick
Nomad, were riding through the rough country on their
way to Sun Dance.

It was early morning, and the trapper and his pards
had been in the saddle all night.

A number of things had conspired to delay them in
Cae the trail in answer to Wild Bill’s “paper-talk.”
Among other things, Crawling Bear had been slain by
hostile Cheyennes, and Hickok’s note had come into the
scout’s hands by another messenger.*

Some distance back on the Sun Dance trail, the scout
and Nomad had separated from Dell Dauntless and the.
Piute boy, Little Cayuse, the scout and the tnepper to
travel “’cross lots,’ and Dell and Cayuse’ to follow the
regular trail.

This would bring Buffalo. Bill and Nomad into Sun
Dance a little earlier than if they had kept to the trail,
and they were already so late that they were anxious to
Save even an hour or two.

The course they took was a rugged one, and they had
to: climb steep hills and ridges, and urge their mounts
over ground that would have tried the strongest nerves.

But it was all for Pard Hickok, and no loyal pard
ever called on Buffalo Bill in vain.

The scout, however, was vastly puzzled to account for
the business that had led to the call. In his note, Wild
Bill had not written a word about that.

“Wild Bill must hey tangled up with somethin’ purty
Aerce, remarked Nomad, ‘or he’d never hev sent in a
hurry- up call like thet.”

_ “Tt may not be anything that concerns Wild Bill, Nick:
but something that concerns ws,’ the scout returned.

“Hickok may not be in trouble; on the contrary, he May
‘know something we ‘ve got to know in order to avoid

trouble ourselves.”

o Rerect, Buller.) hadn’t thort o’ ther thing in thet
light afore, We ain't neither of us very much in ther
habit o’ side-steppin’ when trouble hits ther pike an’
pints fer us. This hyar trouble is er quare thing, pard;

 

*For a full account of the cause of the scout’s delay in fine
important matter of Wild Bill’s, the reader is referred to No.
375 of the BUFFALO BILL SroriEs, “Buffalo Bits a or, The
Son of -Gray Eagle.”

 

  
Cise.’
_ him. Sometimes he kin see et a good ways off, like er

[Gomes on: ye.
mixes orders,

_ plumb quare. Sone oO ihe pele has trouble all i
~ tinte, an’ all ther people has trouble some 0’ the time, » but

1 all ther people kain’t hey trouble all ther tyme.”

» site scout laughed. 0.

-. “What of it, anyhow, Nick?” he asked.
- Nothin’
No man knows jest when: trouble is goin’ ter hit

-choo-choo train. He kin hyer ther bell an’ ther whistle,
an ef he’s a- -wall kin’ on) ther ‘track, he’s er jit er he
don’t step off, an’ let et go by. An’ then, ag’in, trouble
around a sharp curve, tae despatcher
er somethin’, an’ afore ye know et ye’re
tangled up in a head-on collision. Now, thet’s what |
ee

Nomad was interrupted. As if to illustrate his fam-
bling remarks, the crack of a rifle was heard in the dis-
tance followed by a shrill scream. —

The two pards, at that moment, were on the crest of
a rocky ridge. Instinctively they stopped their horses
and shot their glances in the direction from which the
report and the scream reached them. What they saw
set their pulses to a swifter beat.

_ Speeding toward them along the foot of the ridge was
an Indian girl, She was mounted on a sorrel cayuse,
‘and the pony was getting over the ground like a streak.
The girl was bending forward, her blanket flying in the
wind behind, and her quirt was dropping on the pony’s
withers with lightninglike rapidity.

She was being pursued by an Indian buck, armed with
a vie. “The buck seemed savagely toad to over-
take the girl,
“ly. a fleeter, horse, for. at cD stride he came a shade
closer.

“Is thet ther ceremony o’ ther fastest hoss, Butle: ren

queried the startled Nomad. “Et ther buck ketches ther.
gal, will sheamarry him? Hey?” :

“That isn’t the ceremony of the Hae horse, Nick,”
answered the scout.
the girl if it was.’

“Mebbyso he was jest shootin’ ter skeer her

“It’s not the right way to win a bride—even a Chey-
eniie bride, As near as | can make out, those two are
Cheyennes.”

Finer Gal's a Chey enne, but at this distance I take ther

buck fer a Ponca.”

“LT reckon you're right, Nick. The buck is a Ponca and
the girl a Cheyenne. There’s a good deal of bad blood
between the Cheyennes and the Poncas just now, and we
-ean’t overlook the fact that the under dog, in this case,
is a squaw. We'll save her.’’

“Shore we'll save her!” averred Nomad. “I knowed
yed be fer doin’ thet all along. We're jest fixed right
ter slide down this hill and gashay in between ther two.”
_ “That Ponca is getting ready to shoot again!” ex-
claimed Buffalo Bill, as he started his horse, Bear Paw,
dowh the descent. “The next bullet may not go as wide
as the first, and I reckon we'd better give the Buck some-
thing to think about, so he'll let the girl alone.’’

As he charged down the slope, Buffalo Bill pulled his
forty-five out ra his belt and shook a load in the Ponca’s
direction.

The ranye was too great for pistol-work, but the
‘scout succeeded in his design of giving the buck “some-
thing to think about.”

The crack of the revolver and the “sing” of the bullet

©

THE BUFFALO )

girl also, for the first time, saw that help was neat.

T was jest torkin’ ter give my hazoo exer!

He was mounted on a larger, and evident-

The: buck wouldn’t be shooting at

BILL ‘STORIES.

caused the buck to eee te nae ne Lie ibe - and
to turn his eyes in the direction of the white men. The

She
flung up one hand in a mute appeal.
“Don’t ye fret none, gall? roared Nomad. “We'll
look out fer youl”
Phe oil, ‘apparently taking courage feo the La

_ fired in the buck’s direction, “and from the reassuring

tone of Nomad’s voice, slowed down her pony.

A few moments later the pards reached the foot of the
ridge and laid their horses across the Ponca’s path.
The Ponca, without speaking, tried to go around them.
This was the girl’s_signal to turn her pony and circle
back until she was under the (ee or bear: Paws)

“No, ye don't, Injun!” cried the trapper, kicking ap
with his spurred heels and getting in front of the Ponca
at a jump. “Mebbyso ye kin git eround me, but ye
kain’t git eround this!” and Nomad leveled a revolver.

The Indian sat back on his horse and glared angrily at

“Her b’-

Nomad, at the scout, and at the girl.

“Me take um squaw,” grunted “the Ponca |.
lone to Poneay

“She's a Cheyetine,” said the Scout.
Cheyenne belong to a Ponca?’ a

“Me buy um squaw with ponies,” asserted the Indian.
“Me take her from Cheyenne village, and she make um
tun, Ugh! Give Big Thunder squaw.’ 7

“You bought this girl of the Cheyennes : ie demanded
the scout.’

Po Wrahd | Pay um all same so many ponies.”

The Ponca held up five fingers.

Buffalo Bill looked at the. girl aienlively, He had
never seen a prettier Indian girl. Her features were
regular, and her large, liquid-black eyes gave her counte-
nance. almost a Spanish cast. Her garments were of
buckskin, beaded and fringed, and her blanket was of a
subdued color, clean and new. Broad silver bands en-
circled her forearms and her shapely wrists, and her
hands were small and delicately formed.

The buck, on the other hand, was a Tough- -looking
specimen of a Ponca.

‘Speakin’ free an’
sports,” observed 1} Nomad,
fer runnin’ erway.’

“Me know um Pa-has- a
“Him friend of Poncas, and him got “good heart.

“How can a

a)

free, as between men an’ feller
“T kain’t Bae ther gal none

said Big Thunder calmly.
Him

no let squaw get away from Ponca “brave.” a

“What is your name?” asked the scout of the girl.
“Wah-coo-tah,” was the answer.
Chet sa Sioux name.’ : :
“Me Cheyenne, no Sioux. Name Wah- coo-tah.””
Ane voir! had a rippling, musical voice, very different
from the usually hard, strident voices of ‘Indian women
‘Very well, Wah-coo-tah,” said the scout, Lil fake e
your word for it. Why was the Ponca chasing your
“Me no like um.’
“Did your father sell. you to the Wonca’? a.
“Ai. Meno like um, mé run ’way. Him ketch Wat-

- €00- tah, then: Wah-coo- ooh! Ail her self.’ a

Here was a knotty point for the scout. ‘Having
bought the girl, by the girl’s own admission, the Ponca 1
certainly had a right to fake her for his squaw. But the
scout could not justify himself in his own mind if he
allowed the vicious- -looking pon to take the fair c hey-
enne, <

 
  
  
    

: JHE
Sea hete. wal te go, hah -coo-tah, if you get away
“iyo the Poncart) | -

“Me go where me be safe,” she said.

“How much time do you want to get away! ”

top of a distant hill.

“So far,” she answered.
All right. ee hang oe the Ponca stl you get
ahere..

his hand and pressed it to her lips. Then she turned her
- pony and galloped off.

- Big Thunder sat silently on his horse for a space, his
eyes glittering fiendishly, Suddenly he jerked his rifle
to his shoulder, Nomad, watching him like a cat, struck

up the barrel, and the bullet plunged skyward.

Quick as a catamount the Ponca dropped the weapon
and hurled himself from his horse’s back—not at No-

_mad, but at Buffalo Bill. He had a drawn knife in his
hand, and, as he landed on the scout’s horse, he made a
- venomous, whole-arm stab with it.

But if the Ponca was quick, the scout was a shade
quicker. Twisting about in his saddle, Buffalo Bill
_ clutched the Ponca’s knife-wrist with his right hand,
and, with his left, took a firm grip of the Ponca’s throat.

A second later and the struggle carried them both to
the Soha ue

CHAPTER Vit.

On

oO

THE oe REACH SUN DANCE,

Cy

Nad”
RAT

Bie hander: was a powerful Indian, and the nude,
upper-half of his wiry body was liberally besmeared with
bear's grease. The grease made himvas slippery as an
eel. Nevertheless, the scout knew how to deal with him.
)  A-crushing pressure at the wrist caused the knife to
@ drop, With the Ponca practically disarmed, the fight
) ©=s became one of mere wrestling and fisticuffs.

 

“ scout’s fingers, but the scout’s hand, leaping upward
from the throat, took a firm grip of the scalp-lock. Hold-
ing the Ponca’s head to the ground, Buffalo Bill released
his wrist, and got his right hand about the throat in such
a manner that. it could not slip; then, Kneeling on the
ground, he held the Ponca in that position until he was
half-throttled.
f (Watch! Haba Nomad. “Test. see how Pard
| Buffler tames ther red savage. I’m er Piegan ef et
F ain't as good as a show. Goin’ ter strangle him, Buf-
fer? Better do et. Ef ye don’t, hell camp on yore trail
-an’, sooner er later, ye’ll fev ter kill him ter prevent his
takin’ yer Scalp.”

The scout saw that the. Indian had been punished

| rps for es attack, and suddenly sprang away from
nim,

“Don’t worry, pard,”
_kivered.”

For a second or Ae Me Ponca ay on the ground,
_ gasping for breath; then, as he struggled to his feet, the

 

ine
Ca
thie
ney- _ per’s menacing eye gleaming along the barrel.
Easy, thar, Ponk!’ * warned Nomad; “make er single
Ge i a

BUFFALO
say Jack Robinson.”

The girl turned on her pony’s back and pointed to the

Before the scout could stop her, Wah-coo-tah euight |

next °

Big Thunder slipped his oily throat. clear Or the

sang out Nomad; “I’ve on him |

“he a point: of the trapper’ s revolver lifted with him, the trap-

BILE STORIES.

  

hosstyle move, an’ yell he er good Injun afore. ye kin

Big Thunder, seeing how he was corralled, grunted
savagely, drew himself to his full height, and folded his
arms.

“Injun thought ae has-ka friend of Poneas | » he ex-
claimed scathingly.

“T’m the friend of the Poncas, all right, Big Thunder,”
answered the scout, “but the girl did not want to go with
you.”

“Ponca buy her, make um go!”

“Not while I’m around, Keep oe hands off that girl,
understand ?”

_“Ponea no keep han off Pa-has-ka. Bymby, Pa-
has-ka’s scalp dry in Big Thunder’s lodge; Big Thunder

make um Cheyenne girl tie um scalp on hoop, hang um

fg

u
‘Hyer ther pizen red!” snarled the trapper. “Hadn't
I better rattle this hyar pepper-box © mine at ther

_ threatenin’ varmuit?”

“No.’’, The scout looked in the direction taken by the —
girl. ‘She had got far beyond the point to which she had
drawn his attention, and had vanished. “I reckon Wah-
coo-tah’s all right, Nick. Put up your gun and we'll
ride on to Sun Dance.”

Unconcernedly, the scout walked to Bear Paw and
mounted.

Big Thunder, still erect and with his arms folded, fol-
lowed the scout’s movements with eyes of hate.

“Come on, pard,” said ao scout, starting for. the
‘rise.’

“Mebbyso he'll open up on ye with thet rifle o’ his,
Buffler,” demurred Nomad. c
“He'll not do that,’ was Buffalo Bill's aontident reply,
as he spurred on.

Nomad lowered his revolver. but kept his vigilant gaze
on the Ponca as he followed his pard. When they
crossed the next hill, the last they saw of Big Thunder —
he was still glaring after them.

“Ye've made er enemy out o’ thet red, Buffler,’
served the trapper,
holster.

“I suppose so,’ said the scout thoughtfully. “The
worst of it is, Nick, I can’t blame the Indian. Accord-
ing to the laws and customs of the red man he is in the
right. [ had no business oe between him and
Wah-coo-tah.”

“Any white man would hev ene et!” asserted the.
trapper.

“Any white man whe had the right kind of 4 heart,:

” ob-
pushing his revolver back into its

: qualified the scout.

“Wah-coo-tah ain’t er common Injun squaw.”

“That's why | helped her.”

“All this hyar,’’ commented Nomad, “ony illustrates
what. I was er sayin’ erbout trouble. This excitement
come around ther curve, full-tilt, an’ hit us squar’ in
ther face. Thar wasn’t no dodgin’ Bie G

Half an hour later the pards gov ceteds into Sun Dance
Cafion, and an hour’s ride down the cafion brought them
to the foot of the slope leading to the “flat,” and the mi-

“ning-camp.

“We're a good two hours ahead o’ Dell an’ Cayuse,”
asserted Nomad, while they were climbing the slope.

-“T hope we're in time for Hickok’s business, whatever |
it is, answered the scout,

Bije See as usual, was occupying a couple of :

 
“THE BUFFALO

ee in front of the a Strike. “ The ragged, palm-

- Jeaf fan was working slowly, and he watched the pards —
Spangler had no diffi-

approach with a speculative eye.

culty in detecting that they were persons of conse-
quence.

_.“‘Lucky Strike Hotel,’” said the scout, reading from
the sign. “Are you the proprietor?” he went on, drop-

‘ping his eyes to the huge bulk of humanity in the two
chairs.

“I run this joint,” wheezed Spangler, “but 1 aint

 high-toned enough ter call myself a proprietor.”

“Can we stop here?’
' Gan tf ye sot the price.”

“We want a room by ourselves.”
“Only got one private room, an’ that was took by a
feller that vamosed last night without  settlin’
Reckon ye kin hev that, seein’ as I don’t know whether
the feller’s ever comin’ back er not. J. Algernon Smith
sorter opined he’d like a room by hisself, too, sO I reckon
he’d think he had fust claim on the room, ony ro va-
mosed as myster’ously as Wild Bill.”

“What's that?’ demanded the scout, pune himself
together with a jerk, and peering sharply into the flabby
face of Spangler. “Was Wild Bill Hickok staying
here r. :

He was.

“And you say he left last night?’ |

“Him an’ J. Algernon went away tergether. That was
right after supper last night, an’ neither of ’em has
come back yet.”

“How long has Wild Bill ve sere?”

‘ “He come day before yesterday, on hossback, with er
Tnjun.
Montegordo stage. Both of ’em’s skedaddled.
might you be, neighbor?”

“Cody’s my name q

Spangler tried to eXpress he surprise a delight, but
only succeeded in emitting a throaty gurgle; he likewise
tried to get up and grab the scout’s hand, but his sudden

Who

i flop displaced one of the chairs, and he slumped to the

ground in a quivering heap.

Nomad got behind him and boosted him up.

“Innis hyar camp must be er healthy place,” remarked
Nomad, ‘ef et grows many ombrays 0’ yore size.’

“Tt ain’t as healthy as it looks,” said Spangler. “Buf-
falov Bil, Vm glad ter meet ye. Ye! kin have this hull
hotel if ye want it. Ill call a man ter take keer o’ yer
hosses,”

“T take care of my horse myself, ” replied Buffalo Bill.
“Show me the stable, Spangler.”

Spangler waddled to the corner of the house and
pointed to a brush apelet in the rear.

“What d’ye think o’ this, Buffler?’’ asked the trapper
perplexedly, as he and his pard led their mounts to the
stable.

-“T don’t know what to think of it yet,”
scout, with a troubled frown.

“Wild Bill was hyar, an’ vanished last night.”

“He vanished with a man called J. Algernon Smith.

answered the

Jf we're to believe Spangler, both Smith and Hickok.

. departed unexpectedly.
Hite!
The rear of the stable was open. As, the scout looked
in, he saw and recognized Wild Bill's horse,
ie Eos Nat Bille animile, shore enough,’ muttered
- Nomad, following the scout’s eyes with his. own,

It looks bad, on the face of it,

up.7

J. Algernon come yesterday arternoon, on the
iO be did, eh

scout keenly.

BILL STORIE S.
“Hickok wouldn't aa out ter go any” gre
without his hoss.”’

“Tt wouldn’t seem so,’ me scout answered, Jeading
Bear Paw into an empty ‘stall

- Removing the saddle, he rubbed Bear Pay ee Cate-
fully with the saddle-bl anket, then tore off a layer of hay
from a bale, and loosened it out in the manger.

Nomad, deeply thoughtful, had peer ane for his
-own horse in the same way. x

Presently the pards left the stable and alice back |
to the front of the hotel.

Spangler was again seated on his chairs, plying the
fan. He was talking with a man in a long linen duster.

“Buffalo Bill,’ called Spangler, “shake hands with
J. Algernon Smith, of Chicago. Smith,” went on
Spaneler, blowing like a porpoise, “this here is the Buf.
falo Bill ye read so much about.”

The scout’s eyes instantly engaged the face of J.
Algernon Smith. Smith, alter a moment’s hesitation,
stretched out his hand.

The scout was an expert in eee reading, and, i
‘asmuch as Smith was the last man seen with Wild Bill
he gave him keen attention.

“Well! exclaimed Smith,

m
, distance

“you're the Det inan Wild

- Bill has been expecting. He told me about you.”

f

CHAPTER VILL.
WeAH 7 C.O.0 pT Al Ox GaN

queried the scout. “Do you happen
to know, Mr. Smith, where Wild Bill is now?”

“Why,” fluttered Smith, “isn’t he here?”

“No. He left here last night, right after supper, and
hasn’t been back since,” ‘

“Say, but that’s odd!”

“Spangler, here, says that you went with him.’

“I did go with him, as far as the slope leading down
into the eafion, I have a friend living above here—a man
I used to know in Chicago—-and I called on him, He
insisted that I should Ae all night in his cabin, and I
did so.’

“What is your friend's s name, Mr. Smite

“Seth Coomby.”’

“Do you know such a man, Spang! er?” asked the
scout, turning to the hotel proprietor.

“Sure I know him,” answered Spangler, “He has

_ little, three-dollar-a- -day placer up the gulch.”

“You say,” went on Buffalo Bill, once more facing
Smith, “that you left Wild Bill on the ere leading
into the canon?”

eS .7

“And you haven’t seen him since?” ns

“Why, no. | 1 ee he was here. You don’t think
he met with foul play,'do you? I took a big liking to
Wild Bill.”

“You didn’t see him very fone did you: 2? asked the
“I understand you only arrived in camp
yesterday afternoon, and that you and Wild Bill started |
for the slope right after supper. Not much time to take
a liking toa man. Did you know Wild Bil before you
came to Sun Dance?”

“No; never saw him before I got here. We got ac ff

 
the
ter.
vith

on

sul

ion,

“ans

Bill,
Vild

ppen

and

lown
man
He
nd I

LAs a

acing
ading

think

ng 10

cd the
camp

tarted

5 take
‘VOU

ot ac-

all the information I can get.
ask you what this Clancy had to say to you,’

of course, my own business.
circumstances, I recognize your right to press inquiries,

tell any one why I was here.
to me if Clancy does not bear a good reputation. But
I don’t suppose that affects the mine, anyway.
not purchase the property until I take ‘my ore-samples

had landed right in the hands of the Philistines.
| ‘you éver seen this Captain Lawless, Buffalo Bill?”

fea)

THE BUFF: ALO

uated ae each: oe Hae stipper, and had a little
alk over our cigars. Then we ate supper together, and
hen 1 started 408. Coomby’s, and Wild Bill walked with
% as far as A slope. Say, I’m all broke up about
is,
“Wasn't you talkin’ with a feller in the office afore ye
ot ter talkin’ with Wild Bill?” put in pele
“That was Clancy,” said Smith.
Co returned Spangler, with a shake of ae fat
s, ‘I know him, all right; and’’—here Spangler gave

a an a significant glance— ‘Clancy ain't got none too _

ood a repertation in this camp.’
“You surprise me!” exclaimed J. Algernon Smith,
The fellow’s actions were ingenuous. He talked and
cted like an Easterner, but he ‘looked like a Westerner,
or all that.

“You understand, Mr. Smith,” lecacd the scout, ah

the glint in his eyes that had taken the nerve of many a
wily schemer,‘'that Wild Bill is my friend, and that I
am anxious about him. If he has met with foul play, as
you just suggested, I shall have something to say to the
Just now, though, I want.
You will pardon mein t.

scoundrels back of it—later.

Smith stiffened.
“What Clancy had to say, Buffalo Bill,” he replied, “is,
Nevertheless, under the

If you will step aside with me, I will explain.”
Buffalo Bill walked apart with Smith,
“Tn order to figure this matter down to where you will

have a thorough “understanding of it, Buffalo Bill,” went
on Smith, in a tone that seemed perfectly ‘frank and
open, “I shall have to tell you my business in this camp

and that business is one I was told to keep dark. I

have come here from Chicago to examine a mine with
the view of purchasing it.
‘owner of the mine, who is shortly expected in this camp.
‘What Clancy told me was that the owner would be here

Clancy came to me from the

o-morrow or next day, and Clancy advised me not to
That is all.

T shall

nd have them assayed. Then a

“What is the name of the mine?” broke in the scout.
“Tt is called the Forty Thieves.”
“Queer name for an honest mine,’’ said the scout.
“That's right; but they have queer names for mines
some of them almost laughable. For instance, I have

99

heard of the Pauper’s Dream, the P. D. Q., the

“Who owns this mine, Mr. Smith?” .

“A man by the name of Lawless; Captain Lawless he
alls himself.”

The scout started.

“Have you heard of the fellow?” asked Smith eagerly.
“T have heard of a squawman who calls himself by
iat name, but whom the Indians call ‘Fire- hand,’ He

said to be an out-and-out rascal.”

“Great glory!’ cried Smith. “It looks as though I
Have

3,

“Never, One of my pards, Little Cayuse, has seen

him, but [ have not.”

“When will your pard, Little Cayuse, be here} ry
ae scout’s © eyes: a shila :

room Wild Bill occupied.

Tt is news —

mi StoRiys | |

“What is that to you, Mr. Smith?” he demanded.

“Why, merely that I should like to have Lawless a
Tel dont like

pointed out to me before I talk with him.
his looks, Ul get away trom here wATpOR examining: the
Forty Thieves.”

These words were the only ones. ehouen by Smith that
struck the scout as peculiar,
Smith had stood the scout’s questioning well.

Buffalo Bill turned away and walked back to Sranelee
Smith went on into the hotel.

“What do you know about the Forty Thieves Mine,
Spangler?’ asked Buffalo Bill,

“T know it’s no good, Buffalo Bill,” said spenaly
with a choppy laugh.
4 Wikre 1s ae!

“Five miles down the gulch.”

“Who owns it?” , i:

“Give it up. sits changed hands so many times there :
ain't no keepin’ track o’ the owners.’ -

“Do you know a man who calls himself Captain: Law-
less?”

“Tve heerd tell 0 such a chap, but I ain’t never seen
him,”

“Well,” said the scout thoughtfully, ‘ ‘show me into the
J and my pard will stay in it.
till Wild Bill gets back. Go for the saddles, Nick,” the
scout added. “We'll keep them in the room with us.’

Spangler yelled for the Chinaman, and the ae
showed the scout to the room recently occupied by Wild

_ Bill, When left alone in the place, the scout looked over |

it carefully.

The first objects to strike his attention were a pair of
boots. He picked them up and looked at them. The heel
of one was missing—the reason, no doubt, the boots had
been discarded. ng

On a chair lay a blue-flannel shirt. Wild Bill had
worn such a shirt, but it might also have belonged to
any number of men. The lett sleeve was cut away close
to the shoulder, and around the edge of the abbreviated
sleeve were evidences of dried IODC ese

Deeply puzzled, the scout laid the shirt aside. Wild
Bill’s saddle lay on the floor, and near it his war-bag.
There was a box of cartridges in the bag, and a few
other odds and ends, but nothing that would give the re-

motest clue to Wild Bill’s whereabouts.

While the scout vas examining the bag
in with the riding-gear.
the old trapper’s face.

"Pound out anythin’, Buffler?’”’ he asked.

“No;

“Didn't J. Algernon ea ye none ?”

“Not to speak of. Vve a sneaking idea, though”—
and here the scout dropped his. voice guardedly— ethan. |
Smith has put me next to a pay-streak.”

“Pay-streak? Whar?”

“Why, in an old, played-out mine five miles sous the
gulch—a mine called. the Torty Thieves.) 3)

“Forty Thieves! What fool ever tacked sich er label
onter a mine?” ~

"Pass the ante, Nick. “a what Smith says is true,

| Nomad came
There was an odd look upon

though, a man by the name ot ep Lawless is mixed

up with the Forty Thieves.”
Nomad stared. é
“Meanin’ thet whelp of er squawman ther Cheyennes.

calls Fire- hand, Buffler?” he asked.
“The same.”

 

On the whole, however, oh
a ‘THE BUFFALO

‘Things are heatin’ up some, ch? ‘Ye dont reckon
“Wild Bill hes got tangled up any with Lawless, doves!
“T don’t know what to think—just yet.”

" Waal, while ye’re. fiddlin’ eround fer a start, ae

goin’ ter give ye a surprise.”

“What sort of a surprise?”

Nomad drew close to the scout, and whispered in his
ear.

“Thet Injun gal, Wah- -C00- -tah, is out ter the barn, an’
wants ter see ye immejiate.”

That was a surprise, certainly. How was it at the
girl, whom the pards had left in the hills, had reached
Sun Dance so soon after their arrival? And what was
her business with the scout?

Buffalo Bill started for the door, but’ Noned caught
his arm.

“Ef thar’s anythin’ crooked goin’ on in this camp,
Buffler,” said the trapper, “like as not yere bein’

watched. What excuse ye got fer goin’ ter ther barn,

arter ther hosses hey been attended to, an’ ther ridin’-
gear brought in Ye ort ter hev one, ye know. Hyar!
Ill fx ye out.”

Nomad dipped into his war-bag an¢é be out a bot-

tle of horse-liniment.

“Take this, Buffler,” he whispered, “an’ purtend oe
goin’ ter rub thet stuff on Bear Paws off hind leg. Thet
gal, Wah-coo-tah, is chuck full 0’ important’ news o’
some kind, but she wouldn’t say er word ter me, epee
I was ter send Pa-has-ka ter see her

Buffalo Bill took the bottle of liniment and left the
room. Out in front he halted for a word with Spangler.

“My horse strained a tendon coming from Sill,” said
he, snowing the bottle, “and Ive got to take care of
him,”

“I got a Mexican that kin do it fer ye, Buffalo Bill, ie
said Spangler,

“T never let any one take care of Bear Paw but my-
self,” the scout answered, as he started for the stable.

CHAPTER IX.

AUCEUE,

So far as the scout could discover he was not watched ©

by any one when he went to the stable. The camp, as
usual during the day, was quiet, and he could not see any
one in the vicinity of the hotel,

“When he got into the stable he stood for a moment-
looking around. Wah-coo-tah was not in evidence, and he
turned to go out again. Before he could leave, however, :
the low, muciod! voice of the girl floated to his ear:.

“Pa- has-ka no go. Wah-coo-tah make talk with him.”

The voice came from overhead. Buffalo Bill looked
‘up and saw Wah-coo-tah gazing down at him through
the brushy thatch that covered the stable’s roof.

“Why don’t you come down here, Wah-coo-tah?”
asked the scout. -

“Wah-coo-tah ‘fraid. No can take te Me stay
here; when me through talk, me crawl back through
bushes to bottom of cafion,’

BILL STORIES. i iy

“Have you seen ance of a Tender ae he
bothered you any since you got away from him?”

“Ponca no bother Wah-coo-tah. Him bother Pa- has-
ka, because Pa-has-ka save Wah-coo-tah. Big Thunder
fa in Sun Dance Cafion. Me watch um come; so me

come, tell Pa-has-ka look out.”

“Ts that why you brought me out here, Wah- coo-tah 3 a
asked the scout, disappointed. “Ym not afraid of Big
Thunder.”

“Big Thunder all same snake, but him no. rattle. Him
strike, but him no rattle first.”

“He won't bother me, Wah-coo-tah, so don’t fret about |

that. Where are you going, now that you have left Big
Thunder? You won't dare go back to your people, be-
cause they would give you to Big Thunder again.’

“My mudder no. give me up to Big Thunder. My
Pater he do that. Me stay in hills till me git good

chance, kill Big Thunder.”

“No, no, : Wah- co0- stanly.
must not do that.”

“Me no like um. Him try kill Wah-coo-tah.”

“Well, even at that, you don’t want the Ponca’s blood
upon your hands. - Why are you afraid to show yourself
here in this camp?”

“Mebbyso my fadder see me.’

“Is your father in Sun Dance?’

“Him Fire-hand, Cap’n Lawless.”

This was a big ‘surprise for Buffalo Bill. He began
now to understand why Wah-coo-tah was so much more
comely than the usual Indian girl. Her father was an
American, her mother a Cheyenne.

And it was the girl’s father who had sold her, for
five ponies, to Big Thunder! That proved to Buffalo

said the scout earnestly, “you

Bill, more than anything he had yet heard against Law- |

less, what a thorough scoundrel the man was.

“T will protect you against Lawless, Wah-coo-tah,”
said the scout.

“Him got plenty Yellow Eyes to help um,’
the oir.

“Well, he hasn't reached the.camp yet. I have been
told he won’t be here until to-morrow, or next day.”
“Him all same in camp now, Pa-has-ka.”

“Where ?”

“Fim stay in hotel.
of hotel.”

The scout was even more startled than he had been
before.

“Who is he, Wah-coo-tah ?” he demanded.

“Him man long yellow coat.”

“Smith!” muttered the scout, a glitter coming into his |
eyes.
Then it flashed through Buffalo Bill’s mind that. if
Lawless would play the role of Smith, he must be doing
it for some underhanded purpose. Quite. possibly that
purpose had something to do with Wild Bill, and his
mysterious ee from the camp.

“Wah-coo-tah,” went on the scout, speaking in a low
voice and hurriedly, “T came to Sun Dance looking for
a friend of mine by the name of Wild Bill. I was de-
layed in getting to Sun Dance. When I reached here,
though, I discovered that Wild Bill had disappeared
last night’ Immediately after supper he was last see!

= returned

Me see you talk with um in front

with the man who calls himself Smith, but who you tell
The two walked

me is your father, Captain Lawless.

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pp ROR Se oe

 

      

  
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
     
    
  

 

  
  
  
 

    
 
   
   
 
   
 
  
   
  
   
 
    
 
   
  
   
  
 

 

iat
his

OW
for
de-
re,
red
2e!
tell
ced

Odea the slope into the cation,  wless says he left Wild
Bill and went to stay the night with a friend named —
etd Coomby, and that he didn’t see where Wild Bill
went, and doesn’t know anything about where he is now.

‘Has-ka,
road that leads down into cafion.
You see um Wah-coo-tah’s blanket wave in wind, you

' a Big Thunder.

| would present himself, but he did not.
- scout hung his hat on a peg in the office and went into
the dining-room.

 

“the alert for a glimpse of Nomad or Lawless,

 

- “What's become of Smith?
Nat me,
H §6©trishman’s flea.
_ kin tell him he’s goin’ ter pay fer the meals he misses,
an’ the bunks he hires an’ don’t sleep in.”

 
 

If you can find out anything about him, I’d like to have

hoe do. 1k

The gis eyes sparkled at the oe of being able

to render Pa-has-ka a service, and so, in a measure, pay

him back for what he had done for her. a

“Me find out ’bout Wild Bill,” said she. “Listen, Pa-
Bymby, in two, three hour, you go to top of
Look down cajiion.

git um horse and come, Sabe?’’,
me understand. Have you, had es to eat, Wah-

coo- tah?”

“Me got plenty ‘jerked’ venison. Me all right. You
watch heap sharp for blanket; and you watch heap sharp
Wah-coo-tah go now. Good-by.”

The girl disappeared from the roof, and the scout,
amazed by what he had overheard, left the stable and

~ walked back to the hotel.

J. Algernon Smith was none other than Captain Law-
less, and Captain Lawless was none other than Wah-
coo-tah’s father!

Why should Lawless be impetsonating Smith, unless
he had some ax to grind? What that ax was, Buffalo

Bill was determined to find out.

He went to the apartment taken by Nomad and him-
self, and expected to find Nomad there; but the trapper

- was not in the room.

Having replaced the bottle of liniment in his pard’s
war-bag, the scout returned to the front of the hotel.
Just then he was more particularly interested in finding

Smith than in locating Nomad, but neither one nor the

other was in evidence.
The Chinaman came out and pounded the dinner- -gong,

Buffalo Bill waited for a few minutes, hoping Nomad
Thereupon the

He took his time over the meal, keeping his eyes on
His
watchfulness, however, was without result.

Puzzled and uneasy, he finished his meal and. went

out to where Spangler was holding down his chairs in

the shade of the hotel.

“How far up the gulch does Seth a live, Span-
gler?” he asked.
"Bout two mile,

33

replied Souiele

Do you know?”

He’s harder ter keep track of than the
But, with all his comin’s an’ goin’s, [

 

THE: BUFFAL © BILL STORIES. a

Smith?

show up in Sun Dance before long.

 

 

  

59

 Elaye you seen my pard recently:
“I hevn’t seen him, nuther. - Mebby he. went on with

A Our pards ney «2 great habit of walkin’ off |
with Smith and not comin’ back ag’in. Wild Bill did.
it last night, an’ mebby Nomad did it while you was
rubbin’ liniment on yer hoss.”

“Did you see Nomad going off with Smith?’.

“Nary. I ain’t seen either one of ‘em since they was.
here in front o’ my place -an’ yen was talkin’ with
Smith? H

‘om going away for a. little while,” said the scout,

“and if Nomad cue ne [a am gone, tell him to stay
here and wait for me.’

“Sure! E will? |
The scout took to the horse-trail and moved off to-
ward the slope leading down into the cafion. ~

What he wanted just now was to locate Smith, Had:
the fellow, fearing discovery at the scout’s hands, skipped
out? | :

Nomad had not suspected Smith of being other thai,
he seemed any more than had the scout.’ Had Smith —
taken advantage of this and lured Nomad away, just as
he might have lured Wild Bill?

The scout was going to Seth Coomby’s with the rather.
vague hope of finding Lawless there. It was only two
miles, and the scout had made up his mind that he
would walk the distance, for a change.

As he halted at the top of the slope, his eyes in-
stinctively scanned the cafion, up and down.

Down the cafion, against the right-hand wall, he saw
something fluttering from the rocks. At once he thought

of Wah-coo-tah, and of her promise to flaunt her blanket

so he could see it in case she found out py and

needed him.

All thought of visiting Seth Coomby’s in. search of
Lawless passed at once from Buffalo Bill’s mind. |
He had looked down the cafion in the hope of seeing
something of Dell Dauntless and Little Cayuse, who
were already long overdue at Sun Dance.’ Dell and

Cayuse were not in sight, and the glimpse of that,flut- ~

tering blanket, with its call to immediate action, gave the
scout plenty to think of aside from his missing pards.

Whirling on his track, he returned to the hotel and went

‘to his room after his riding-gear,

“Reckoned ‘ye wouldn't go ter Peony Sy Bel Buffalo a
Bill?” spoke up Spangler. .
_“T reckoned I’d ride instead of walk,” the scout an- —
swered. “I’m expecting two other pards of mine to
One of them is a
young lady. She is to have the room which Nomad and —
I are occupying. If they, or Nomad, come before I get
back, don't fail to tell them to stay here and wait for |
mae °

nic a gamble on it that I will,” Soe angered.

 

 
THE BUFFALO

The scout was not long in cane the gear onto bor

Paw and ee a swift gait for the bottom of the
"gulch.

CHAPTER X.
AT THE FORTY THIEVES MINE.

The blanket was fluttering from the top of a big pile
of boulders lying at the foot of the cafion wall. As the
scout left the bottom of the slope and emerged from the
chaparral on his way down the cafion, the blanket sud-
denly disappeared.

“Wah-coo-tah has seen me coming,” he thought,
has taken away the blanket.”

In this he was correct, for when he ee ot up
Bear Paw abreast of the pile of boulders, Wah-coo-tah
rode out into the trail.
in both directions, and then urged her cayuse alongside
- of Bear Paw.

“What have you discovered, Wah-coo-tah?” asked
Buffalo Bill,

“Wild Bill ride to Forty Thieves Mine ae night with

Lawless,” said the girl.

‘and

“Did he go there of his own free will, or was he taken

by force?”

“No sabe, Pa-has-ka.”

“Did Wild Bill leave the mine?”

“No sabe. Mebbyso him no leave mine.
then him come back Sun Dance—and him no come back.”

“Where did you discover this?”

“Me ride down trail, see two Yellow Eyes, Coomby
and Clancy, riding up trail.
Yellow Eyes pass. When they pass, they talk.
hear um. From what they say me know Wild Bill ride
_to Forty Thieves Mine last night with Fire-hand.”

This information of Wah-coo-tah’s was of immense
importance, It was a lucky bit of gossip that had come
the girl’s way while she was hiding in the bushes to let
‘Coomby and Clancy pass.

If Wild Bill had gone to the mine with Lawless of his
own free will, he would have taken his horse. ‘Force
had been used to compel Hickok to go to the mine, Buf-
falo Bill was sure of. it.

“Are Seth Coomby and Clancy friends of .Fire- betas :

asked the scout.

vei. They come many times to Fire-hand’s lodge
“among the Cheyennes. Me know um. Pa-has-ka see um:
Big Thunder?” inquired the eh, an anxious light com-
ing into her eyes.

SD Nog Boss the. scout.
of my worries.’

“Him ride up gulch while Wah-coo-tah wait behind
rocks. Me take down blanket while he go. Me sure he
go to Sun Dance, find Pa-has-ka.”. )

“That Ponca is the least

‘the mine, Wah-coo- -tah?”

She scanned the trail carefully

If him leave,

Me hide in bushes while
Me.

BILL STORIES.

“He wasn’t in Sun Dance. Will you go with me to

‘Me stay here, watch for Ponca.”

“That is useless, Wah-coo-tah. I don’t like to leave
you here alone, with the Ponca and your father both
loose in the gulch.” o

“Me keep away from um,’ * said the girl, a soft light
creeping into her large eyes as she looked at ie scout,

“T will see you again?” :

“Ai, Me help um Pa-has-ka find Wild Bill.”

“Have you seen anything of Fire-hand, or my pard,
Nomad, since you left Sun Dance following my talk with
you this afternoon?’ : “

“No see um. Me see only Coomby and ee and
Big Thunder.” ve

“Well, if you’re determined to iy here, Wah-coo-
tah,” said the scout, “we'll have to separate. My pard,
Nomad, is missing now, as well as Wild Bill. This Forty
Thieves Mine looks like a good place to go to hunt for
them—for Wild Bill, at least. Take care of yourself,
girl, Pa-has-ka is your friend, and will stand by you,
don’t forget that.” ne

Again the soft light came into i girl’s eyes. The
scout, with a rattle of his spurs, darted down the cajfion.
Looking back as he rode, he saw Wah-coo-tah taking -
up her station behind the rocks. :

Buffalo Bill, who had a calculating eye for ae
measured the miles as he rode. One, two, three, four,
five he counted. As a proof of the accuracy of his count,
the word “five” had hardly dropped from his lips before
he saw, a little way ahead of him, the ore-dump of the
Forty Thieves.

Drawing down to a more cautious. pace, he swept his’
eyes over the surroundings. There was no sign of any
living thing in that part of the cafion,

He went bushwhacking in the scrub, and found places
where horses had been recently tethered, but there were
no horses in the vicinity of the ore-dump now aside from
Bear Paw. If there were no horses around, it seemed
to follow, naturally, that there could be no one in the
mine. The scout, however, was determined to find that -
out by observation. He would pay a visit to the work-
ings and see for himself.

Securing Bear Paw in the depths of a thicket, where _
he could not be easily seen by any chance passer along
the trail, the scout left the bushes warily and made his
way to the ore- -dump.

There was an ox-hide bucket on the. platform at the
top of the dump, and on the slope of the little elevation —
lay a pick.

The Forty Thieves may aa been a played-out propo-
sition, but some sort of work had been oe there
very recently,

Making as little noise as possible, the scout climbed

 
ve
th

ht

ice,
ur,
ant,
ore

the

his:
any

aces
vere
rom
med

the

that: 7

ork-

here

long
> his

t the

ation —

ropo-

there

mibed

right hand on the hilt of his skinning-knife.
| use the knife, coming upon the kneeling form of the
| scout before he was aware that danger threatened.

_ his concealment.
# ©6the ground more silently than did the moccasined feet of

| the vengeful Ponca.
| the foot of the ore-dump, and began climbing it without
| displacing a stone, or a thimbleful of sand.

THE BUFFALO

the ore- e-dump_ to. the ay and knelt down: ‘on the
planks.

He looked into the cavernous 5 depths of tHe shaft, and
listened intently. He could neither see nor hear any-
things)

- Buffalo Bill had been oe half an hour looking

- about through the thickets for signs of men and horses,
F so that, from the time he had separated from Wah-coo-
_ tah farther up the cafion, until he reached the top of the
_ ore-dump, something like an hour and a half had passed.

At least one of the scout’s enemies had been pee

. the most of this hour and a half,

As the scout slowly climbed the side of the ore-dump,

a his every movement was watched by a pair of glittering
| eyes in the bushes. The owner of the eyes had not been

in the thicket when the scout had done his bushwhack-

‘ ing, but had glided to the copse when the scout left his
_ horse and pushed into the open.

‘As the scout knelt on the platform, his back was . to-
ward the gleaming, malevolent eyes.
‘Big Thunder—for the man in the thicket was the

' Ponca—thought that the hour for his revenge had struck.
© Slowly his rifle arose to his shoulder, drew a bead on the
| form that topped the ore-dump, and one long finger ca-

_ ressed the rifle’s trigger.

The finger, however, did not press the trigger. At

: the critical moment, Big Thunder lowered the rifle, and
| laid it carefully down beside him.

There might be other white men in the vicinity, and

| the sound of the rifle-shot would be heard. In that case,
4 Big Thunder would have difficulty in escaping after he
_ had secured his revenge. .

Starting to a crouching posture, the Ponea rested his
He would

With the noiseless tread of a puma the savage left
The shadow of a cloud does not cross

Like a specter of ill omen he gained

Yet, as it happened, the Ponca was not unseen, even

_ though the scout was oblivious of his presence. An-
other Indian, ae a tread as silent, ceed from the

ushes. 4

It was Wah-coo-tah,

She looked about her quickly, saw the Ponca mounting
he ore-dump, and taking up the pick as. he went, and
astened breathlessly toward the shaft.

Wah-coo-tah was unarmed. Big Thunder had seen

f to that when he took the girl from the lodge of her peo-

le.

So, as Wah-coo- tah plided toward the shaft, she armed |

erself with a. stone,

Hi Gone a

Big Thunder, coming close to the scout, suddenly
swung the pick high in air. The scout, intent on probing
whatever mystery lay at the bottom of the Forty Thieves
shaft, seemed unconscious of everything that was going
forward at the surface..

“Pa-has-ka!” screamed the Indian girl, as she flung
the stone. :

That wild cry of Wah-coo-tah’s ‘broke. the thrall of
silence that had hovered over the tragic scene. The
scout looked upward, saw the Ponca’s gleaming eyes and
the raised pick, and saw the stone strike the Ponca’s up-
lifted arm.

The pick fell, but was deflected i the stone, and its
point bit ey into ae stout planks of the plat-
form.

Another instant and the scout had come to hand-
erips with his red foe. Cody had had no time to draw
knife or revolver, but the Ponca had succeeded in get-
ting his own. blade. half-out of its scabbard before the
white man closed with him.

A look into Big Thunder’s eyes convinced the scout —

that he would fight to the death, that he had come there
either to kill or be killed.

The struggle was, at the beginning, for us possession
of the Ponca’s half-drawn knife.

The oiled:body of the savage slipped and wriggled
in the scout’s hands, now pressing him closer, now drag-
ging away,-and every instant the redskin’s hand plucked
steadily and resolutely at the knife.

Wah-coo-tah, excited and apprehensive, came to the
top of the ore-dump, dodging this way and that to keep
out of the way of the combatants, and seeking to be of
service to Pa-has-ka.

With a magnificent effort, in which his greased arm
and head slipped through the scout’s gripping fingers,
Big Thunder managed to get the knife from its sheath.

“Get away, Wah-coo-tah!” panted the scout.

The girl drew back a pace, stooping to pick up an-
other stone, and, if she got a chance to hurl it without |
striking the scout, making ready to let it fly. .

Once, twice, three ‘times the murderous weapon rose —
in the air, but the scout evaded each blow by hurling
himself to the right and left at the critical moment when
the blade fell.

Wonderful indeed was it to note the agility of the :
white man, bending, twisting, side- -stepping with all the
grace and swiftness of a panther.

The scout sought to draw a revolver, but the Bones
watched his hands and pressed him closely whenever
his fingers came close to the hand-grip of one of the
Colts.

Suddenly the penbecae broke apart, ae by
tacit agreement. Quick as a dart, Big Thunder whirled —

_ sideways, and launched a sweeping blow at Wah-coo-tah, _

 
   

Buffalo Bill detected the movement at his beginning.
The moment’s grace afforded him’ would have been suf-
ficient to allow him to draw the revolver he had been

trying to get hold of, but he would not have had time to

draw the revolver and shoot before the girl Mr have -

stopped the swinging knife.
Without making a try at his revolver, he reached out
with both hands, caught the girl’s arm, and jerked her
roughly from her feet.

Wah-coo-tah fell on the edge of the ore-dump and :
rolled down its steep side, while the Ponca’s knife flashed
_ through the sunlight over the spot where she had stood

a second before.
The scout leaped to the fares edge of the platform,
his right hand flying to his belt.

Undaunted by his failure to strike the oA. Big hie

der was alert on the instant and ready to balk the scout’s
attempt to get his revolver.
_ Between him and the scout yawned the hole in the
platform. The Ponca sprang across it, but his mocca-

sined feet eRe on the ox-hide bucket, and his leap fell.

short.

The toes .of his moccasins cy the edge of the
opening, he reeled there for a fraction of a second, seek-
ing to recover his balance, then lurched backward, stri-
king his spine and head against the obras side of the
_ Opening.

For the space Be a breath the scout saw him, doubled
up in the square hole, every muscle gone limp, and arms
and hands helpless to save him; then the form disap-
peared downward, and could be heard striking ana
bounding against the rocky walls of the shaft. Finally
there came a sudden crash from far below, then death-
ae silence,

CHAPTER XI,
LN TR BoM IN EE .

_ Buffalo Bill sank down on the platform, limp and
breathless. Wah-coo-tah stole upward to him, knelt at
his side, and peered curiously down into the shaft.

“Him dead,” she breathed; “Ponca him killed. Pa-
 has-ka save Wah-coo-tah again.”

“It’s about -a stand-off, Wah-coo-tah,” said the scout.
“If. it hadn’t been for you the Ponca would have sunk
that pick into my back. But I hadn’t much to do with
his falling into that hole.

_ chance than anything else. He stumbled against the

bucket.”
“Him bad Ponca,” said the girl, with visible satisfac-
tion. “Heap good thing he fall into hole. He no fall

into hole, then he ketch Wah-coo-tah,
some time kill Pa-has-ka,

mebbyso, and
Me heap glad,”

; You saw him riding up the cafion ?”’

a et

 

: “Ai. Me know he come.

before.

That was more of a happen-

BILL STORIES,
Him pass rocks: trailing

Pa-has-ka’s horse. Then me follow.”

“He was mighty quiet about it, ’ muttered ee scout,
“T reckon that’s the first time a redskin ever caught me
napping, but I was so wrapped up in that shaft that I
hadn’t sense for anything else. The Ponca left his
horse down the gulch, I suppose, and stole up on me?”

“All same,” said the girl. “When he leave um cay-
use, me leave um cayuse, too. When he crawl through
chaparral, me crawl through chaparral, too. Then me
come out, watch um Ponca while he lift pick. Right
off, me throw um rock and give yell.
warrior!” finished the girl, admiration in her eyes.

“That fight was nothing to brag about, Wah-coo-tah,”
answered the scout deprecatingly.
got the red in the end, but, as it turned out, an acci-
dent brought the fight to a close. There was more rea-
son in your hiding out and watching for the Ponca than
I had imagined.”

“Me know um Ponca,” said the girl.

The scout, having regained his breath, again knelt by
the opening, and looked and listened. All was silent as

He pushed one head: into the opening and felt iat a
ladder, or a rope, but he could find neither, Wah-coo-

tah, divining what he was looking for, hurried down the

side of the ore-dump and returned with some twenty feet
of rope which she had seen vee poe is she
offered it to the scout.

“That may help, Wah-coo-tah,” said Buffalo Bill, “but

I hardly think it is long enough, I'll go for my riata.

Having gone into the thicket and secured the riata
from his saddle, the scout spliced it to the twenty feet
of rope found by the girl, then lowered the spliced ropes
down into the shaft, and made the upper end fast to the
platform.

bones dead,”
down and look?’ —

said the girl, | ae Bates ea go

“Pm not going down to look at the Ponca, ian.
coo-tah, but to look for Wild Bill,” the scout answered.
“You say you overheard talk between Seth Coomby and
Clancy which led you to believe Wild Bill had come out
to this mine with Lawless. Lawless returned to Sun
Dance, and it nay be he left Wild Bill here. ‘Tm going
down to find out.” ae

“‘Wah-coo-tah go, too?” the girl asked,

‘“‘Wah-coo-tah stay here,” the scout answered, throw-
ing off his coat and hat. “Keep watch. If you see any
one coming, fire two revolver-shots so that I may know,
and climb back to the ore-dump. ae. an

“Me sabe, but ie no got gun.’

“Take this one,” and the scout laid one of his forty-
fives in the girl’ s hand, ;

“Me watch,’ said the girl.
coo-tah,””

ek

HP ahaa. trust Wah-

Pa-has-ka great

“T think I should have

  

      
    
   
  

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fel
me
his

  
      

wW-
ny
W;

ah-

   

   

the rope.
something soft and yielding. Stepping over the object,
_ he took a match from his pocket, and struck it against
_ the wall of the shaft.

supposed it to be, viz, the body of the Ponca.
. oe was dead.

along the level, lighting his way with matches.

After a precautionary glance ardund, the scout low- i

ered himself through the opéning and slid rapidly down
At the lower end of it, his foot touched against

The object on the shaft’s bottom was what he had
The In-

Paying no further heed to the Ponca, the scout started
He had
not proceeded far before he picked up a half-burned

candle, and was able to continue his investigations to.
, Deiter purpose.

As he continued on along the crooked drift, the gleam
of the candle sparkled on another object at his feet. He

_ bent and picked it up, finding it to be an empty brass
Genel.

“Queer place for a shell,” he muttered, “particularly

for a shotgun-shell. Who has been using a shotgun
down here, and why?”

That old mine Buffalo Bill had conceived to hold a

|  “pay-streak” for him, but as he proceeded onward with-

out finding any trace of Wild Bill, he began to think

| that there was not so much of a pay-streak as he had
f . imagined.

Then, the next minute, as ‘he drew close to the end

of the level, one of those surprises which occasionally -

drop across a person’s path with results undreamed of,
presented itself. :

Ahead of him, in the flickering glow of the candle, he:
saw a form stretched out at the side of the level.

“Hickok!” he cried, running forward.

The form gave out an incoherent gurgle, and the scout
fell to his knees and flashed the candle in front of the
man's face. An exclamation-of astonishment escaped
his lips.

The man was not Wild Bill, but Noga e

The old trapper was securely roped and gagged. Al-
oe he could not talk, his eyes, wide open and peer-
ing upward into his pard’s face, spoke volumes,

Wedging the candle in between two stones’ of the
hanging wall, the scout proceeded to we the ropes from
his old pard.

The trapper’s first words were Surprising.

‘“Let’s git out o’ hyar!” he gasped, floundering to > his
feet and grabbing his pard’s arm.

“Wait a minute, Nick,’ demurred the scout, “and don’t

| be in such a rush. What are you afraid of?”

“This hyar is ther Forty Thieves Mine, an’ it’s ha’nted.

| I been layin’ hyar in er cold sweat fer ther last two

hours. Waugh! I kin stand flesh-an’-blood enemies, but

when ye come down ter ghosts an’ whiskizoos, ‘I'm shy
| my ante,

Levs ae Buffler !”

THE BUFFALO BILL STORIES. — ee

    

“Nick,” said the scout sternly, “pull yourself together
and try and corral a little common sense. I came down
here looking for Wild Bill, and I find you. Sit down,
and tell me how you got here. What happened, any-
way?. You needn’t worry about those who captured you
coming along and taking us by surprise. Wah-coo-tah ©
is on the ore-dump, keeping watch for We Shell fire a

couple of shots #f anything goes wrong.”

Nomad, after casting a wild look around him, into the
dark, hunched up on the floor of the level, close to Buf.
falo Billa, ‘

“Et ain’t nothin’ human I’m afeared of, Baler, Pe
declared, “but spooks an’ whiskizoos sartinly gits onter
my narves. Waugh! I wouldn’t stay alone in this hyar
pizen mine ef ye was ter pay me fer et. When ye found.
me I was tied up an’ couldn’t git erway, an’ I’m tellin’
ye 1 come mighty nigh kickin’ ther bucket jest on ac-
count o’ bein’ skeered. Br-r-r! Keep right alongside

-er me, Butter.”

“What happened to you?” demanded the scout curtly.

Nomad rubbed his eyes, took another look around, and
then replied.

“T come out .o’ our room ae ye went ter tork with
Wah-coo-tah, and thet feller Smith was sneakin’ off inter
ther bresh alongside the hotel. I hadn’t no idee what
he was up ter, but his actions was mighty suspicious, so.
I made up my mind I’d foller him and see what was.
ther matter with him. .He——”

Nomad gave another gasp and grabbed at his pard’s
arm. 2
“D’ye hyer anythin,’ Buffler?’”’ he demanded.

“Not a‘ thing,” returned the scout. “Why, Nick, I
never saw your nerves in such shape before. Forget
about the spooks; at least, until you tell me what I want
to know.”

The old trapper gulped, calmed himself with an ef-—
fort, and went, on.

“Waal, as I was er sayin’, Smith acted mighty quare.
He slid through ther bushes ter ther slope leadin’ down

inter ther cafion, an’ then he went down ther cafion,

keepin’ in ther bushes all ther way. I was right arter
him all ther time, kase I’d made up my mind ter keep

ter ther trailin’ so long as he acted suspicious thet away.. _

“Il reckon we must hev tramped two er three miles,
hanging ter ther scrub all ther way, an’ never once show-
in’ ourselves in ther trail. Then’—and Nomad’s voice —
dropped wonderingly—‘‘somethin’ happened ter me. Et”
come from behind, an’ I ain’t yet shore in my mind as
ter what et was. Everythin’ got black in front er my —
eyes, an’ I didn’t remember nothin’ more till I come to
in this place, roped an’ gagged like ye found me.

“Thar was two er three men around me, an’ one of
‘em was Smith, ther feller I was trailin’, .Thet feller ain’t
no Easterner, Buffler, ye kin take my word fer thet.”

“Wah-coo-tah opened my eyes regarding J. Algernon
    

ie ; i °
20

ue Smith, Nick . petiied the scout, ‘The fellow’ s a fake.

_. His name is not Smith, but Lawless.”

“What!” cried Nomad; “Cap’n Lawless?”
“The same; and he is supposed to own this mine.
Captain Louies: too, is Wah-coo-tah’s father.”
- “Wuss an’ wuss!” muttered Nomad, falling back
against the wall. “This hyar is sartinly a day fer sur-
prises. Ther gang, with Lawless at ther head, is workin’
some game.
with him thet Bingham was expected on this arternoon’s
stage from Montegordo, although who Bingham is, or
why they’re expectin’ him, is too many fer me, Lawless
said Bingham wouldn’t come ter ther Forty Thieves on-
til ter-morrer, even ef he did git in on this arternoon’s
stage, an’ thet they could come back hyar an’ take keer
Oo me ter-night. Then they biked OU, an ot reckon,
pulled up ther ladders arter ’em.’

The scout mused for a moment,

“You were trailing Lawless,” said he, “and some one
of Lawless’ men must have been trailing you. When the
fellow behind you got the opportunity, he let drive at the
back of your head.” - |

“Thet’s ther way o’ et,
hyar, Buffler ?” .

“I didn’t know. I came here looking for Wild Bill,
for I was told that he had come here, yesterday after-
noon, with Lawless.”

“Who told ye thet?’

“W ah-coo-tah,”’ .

Thereupon the scout, as hurriedly as he could with-
out neglecting any of the important details, informed his
old pard of events that had recently taken place. :

Just as the scout finished his recital, Nomad gave a
smothered yell, and leaped as though he had been thrown
from a catapult.

tL har et der eroi |
Buffler ?”

The scout listened.

he gasped huskily. “Hyer et,

What he heard was a muffled sound, as of a groan,

echoing dully along the underground passage.

CHAPTER XII.
LAYING THE “GuHostT.”

“Waugh!” chattered Nomad. “I been er layin’ hyar
in mortil agony fer two long hours, hyerin’ thet sound,
Ther Forty Thieves Mine is bad medicine: thar’s been
crooked bizness 0’ some kind hyar, an’ et’s ha’nted. Let's
skin out, Buffler! Br-r-r, but I got er bad attack o’ ther
shakes.” : :

“Nonsense!” exclaimed the scout impatiently, “1
don’t believe in ghosts. That sound, whatever it is, has
a very human note, it seems to me.”

CA Ser NAP SILI #

   

THE BUFFALO. BILL STORIES.

      

When they left me, Lawless told the fellers -

But how did. ye know I was

ther consequences,”

“Listen!” commanded the scout.

The groaning noise was repeated, and there was cer-
tainly something unearthly about it, there in that ill-
omened place. This time, however, it was followed a a
tapping as of one stone against another,

“Ain’t this orful, Buffler?” muttered the old trapper,
brushing his sleeve across his dripping forehead. “I
don’t reckon we're ever goin’ ter live ter git out o’
Byatt)

The scout gave no further attention to Nomad, but
took the candle down from the wall and started slowly
along the level in the direction of the shaft.

“Hello!” he shouted, at the top of his voice. ;

The voice answered with another groan—less a groan,

perhaps, than spoken words, jumbled ere by a

tance and a muffling barrier.

The scout called again, and again; apparently, he was

answered. Groping along the wall, calling and trying
to locate the place from which the answers came, he
halted suddenly at what seemed to be a break in the side
of the level.

The break was of broken rocks and not! like the rest
of the walls, of a single mass of stone.

débris. The tapping was returned, oy from the op-
posite side.
Nomad’s fears had been giving way to curiosity, and

he followed the scout’s movements with deep interest.

“Ts that you, Wild Bill?” yelled the scout, his lips close
‘to the break in the wall.

Something was returned—a single ‘monosyllale, which
sounded very much like ‘Yes.” -

“Snarlin’ catermounts!” exclaimed old Nomad. “Ye

don’t mean ter say, pard, thet Wild Bill has been makin’

them noises?”

ner scenis. likely,”

shaft. | a :
“Whar is he? An’ what’s he doin’ in er solid wall?”
“Tt isn’t a solid wall. He’s. somewhere back of that

broken stone, and it’s up to us to get him out as quick

as possible.”

replied he scout, starting for the

Reaching the shaft, Buffalo Bill lifted his face. (Wak: q
coo-tah!” he called.

The girl’s head appeared over ‘the opening.

“Haul up the rope,’ instructed the scout, “and' then

tie the pick to it and let it down.” f

The girl obeyed the order. While she was doing it,
the scout told Nomad to take the candle and go through
the drift hunting for any tools he could find,

By the time Buffalo Bill had returned to the break in
the wall with the pick, Nomad was waiting for him with
two more half- burned candles, and with a shovel.”

© pa atv

 

 

(Hanan: tC oe Nomad: inathone. t's a Whe.
zZ00;, warnin’ us ae make autpelves plumb absent, er r take

Picking up a
splintered fragment, the scout tapped with in on the

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trapper.

a : they will give us the most light.

THE BUFFALO

: shovel is all I ‘could Sad: ‘Buffler,” cd the

 
 

a That's enough, Nick. We have a ee and eet

o and there are only two of us to work, bight all: the’:

candles, and wedge them into the wall in places where
We've got to hurry.
There’ s no telling how much air Wild Bill has in there,
nor how long he can hold out. What's more, Lawless
and his gang may return at any moment and interrupt
eur work.” /

While he’ was talking, the scout began driving the
pick into the mass of débris, throwing the broken stones
to right and left,

After lighting and. placing a andl where they
would best serve the scout’s purpose, Nomad fell to with
the shovel.

The efforts of the two pards were concentrated upon
a limited space, well toward the top of the barrier. It
was only necessary to make a hole large enough for W ild
Bill to crawl through, and that is what they strove’to do.

Ne they continued digging, however, the loosened stones
fell front above, so that it was necessary to force an

opening from about the middle of the barrier upward to

h. the roof of the level.

est

y a
the
Op-

and
Eb
lose

hich

| work faster than ever.

The scout and the trapper worked like galley-slaves.

a By degrees the voice on the other side of the wall be-
; came clearer as the barrier diminished; then, suddenly,

the voice ceased altogether.

“What does thet mean?” panted Nomad, pausing a
| second to peer at his pard.

“Hickok !’’ shouted the scout, likewise ee
No ane ae back,
a means,” went on Buffalo Bill, “that we've got to

_ foul air, and he’ll die if we don’t get him out before

Ve
kin’

- the

f scout’s pick went through the wall, and a mass of broken !
| stones tumbled outward, leaving a good-sized opening.

all?”
that
quick

Wah-

1 many minutes.”

They jumped at the barrier like madmen, and to such
| good purpose did they ply pick and shovel, that, a few
/ moments after Wild Bill had ceased to call to them, the

Without waiting an instant, Buffalo Bill seized a can-
| dle and forced himself through the breach.

When he let himself down on the other side, he found
| that he was in a chamber, about as wide as the main
‘level and twice as deep. On the floor Wild Bill lay

i sprawled, a heap of knotted rope beside him.

' then

ing it,
rough

‘" f

eak in
nm with

 

- AT think: so,

BP Ry ever went up ag inst.”

“Ts he thar, Buffler : te pared Nomad from the level.
Pes

“Alive?” |

The foul air got the best ral him. Stand
a to take him as I push him through. Ke

“Send him eons answered the old trapper. “Lm
blamed ef this ain't ther Mai aes thing We, Us an’ Com-

BILL. STORIES.

Wild Bill has succumbed to the

‘coo-tah that we have found Wild Bill,

cut Monday night.

Bitald Bill put down his eandie and lifted ihe fa
form from the rocky floor. Nomad reached through and
caught the form by the shoulders, dragging it to the
other side and laying it down on the bottom of the level.

The next moment the scout had clambered clear of
the breach and rejoined his pard.

“Hadn’t we better take him ter ther surface, But.
fler?” asked Nomad, “Mebbyso a leetle water ’u’d help
ter bring him ‘round.’

“Pure air is all he needs,” the scout replied, “although,
I suppose, if he has been shut up there long, both water
and food would be acceptable.”

“This hyar must be ther work o’ thet skunk, oe
less,” growled Nomad.

“No doubt of it.”

“But whyever did he treat Wild Bill like thet: »

“We'll know in a few minutes. Ah!” the scout added,
noticing Wild Bill’s breast expand ae “he’s
coming to himself.’

The scout took off his hat and fanned the air in ton :
of Wild Bill’s face. Then, presently, Wild Bill’s eyelids |
flickered open, and his dazed eyes stared upward at the
scout.

“By gorry!’ were. Wild Bill’s first words, ‘ ‘you were a -
deuce of a long time getting to Sun Dance, Cody.” :

“We were, that,’ answered the scout, oe
relieved, “but we got here at last.”

“And right in the nick,” added Wild Bill, floundering
to a sitting posture; “another ten minutes and it would
have been all day with me. Got anything to eat or
drink?’

CHAPTER XIII.
WILD HILLS FIGHT FOR LIFE,

“Nick,” said the scout, “go to the shaft and tell Wah- _
and that he is
hungry and thirsty. See what she can do,”

“On ther jump,” returned Nomad, taking one of the
candles, scrambling for the shait.

“You've evidently had a rough time of it, Hickok,”
observed the scout: fc

“Rough? That’s too mild a word. What day is this ae

“Wednesday afternoon.”
“And I was walled up in that stub-end of a cross-.
It seemed like a year instead of two
nights and going on two days. Woosh! Of all the tor-. ‘
tures that. have ever been tried on me, that was the ne
worst,” |

“Are you hurt any.) , |

“Not to speak of. Limp as a rag, that’s all, The
air wasn’t any cP good, and, of course, it kept getting

worse and worse.” : os

  

2 ie a ;
   

Bhs : 22

 
   

"Just then Nomad came back from the shaft. He had

a piece of jerked beef and a square cloth, soaked in

- water.
Wild Bill took the cloth and wrung it out against his
- lips, then ate a littie of the jerked beef.

“Ym not as hungry or thirsty as I thought I was,’
‘said he. “I’m used to going without water or food for
days at a stretch.”

“Who holed you up in that way?” asked ae scout.

“A man in a linen duster. He blew into Sun Dance

Tuesday afternoon, on the Montegordo stage, and said

his name was J. Algernon Smith, of Chicago. That

 tinhorn, pards, is sure the original two-tongue man. His
right name is Lawless, and he’s a thirty-second degree
confidence man and desperado.”

“We have already had dealings with J. Algernon,”

said the scout grimly. “We walked into his trap, |
reckon, about as easily as you did. But go on, Hickok.
If you feel able, give us the whole of it.”

“T'm able, all right—getting stronger every minute.
Pure air was the main thing, and I’m making the most
Oh ith: 3

Then, at considerable length, Wild Bill set forth his
experiences, beginning with his ride to Sun. Dance with
Crawling Bear, and his investigation of the ee in
the mine.

“A job of salt!” muttered Buffalo Bill...
phere is beginning to clear.”

“Lawless,” proceeded Wild Bill, “is expecting a man
here to take ore-samples from the mine. If the mine
pans out, according to schedule, a hundred thousand is
to change hands. ‘That would be quite a plum to tail: into
the hands of a squawman like Lawless.”

“It will never fall into the hands of Lawless: now.”

“I should say not,’ said Hickok; “and let us empha:
size the ‘now.’ Seeing the stranger get off the Monte-
gordo, stage, I thought he was the come-on, and, always
being ready to stretch out a helping hand to the unfortu-
nate, I stretched out a hand to Lawless—and Lawless
played me to a fare-you-well. He acted the part of the
Eastern sucker to the life.”

“The Easterner’s name is Bingham, not Smith,” said
the scout.

“It was all one to me, at that stage of the game,” and
Wild Bill proceeded with his account.

The way he had been lured to the slope, ostensibly to
meet Clancy, and the way Clancy had unexpectedly met
him from behind with a club, was told; then followed a
description of what took place in the mine, the setting off
of the three blasts, and the retreat of Lawless and his
men.

<I closed my eyes,” said Wild Bill, bon the charges
went off. Lawless had told me that Clancy was a master
hand at setting off giant powder, and that he had drilled.

the holes in such a way that I wouldn’t be touched by,

  

THE BUFFALO

 

much caring, between the three of us.

. the barrier between me and the drift.
“The atmos-

Lawless had stripped me of knife and guns.

BILL STORIES

    

a rocky chamber.

be hit by a splinter of rock, and wiped out. I wasn’t
Death seemed
certain, anyway, and I was rather hoping it would be
quick, rather than long-drawn out.

“But Clancy must have known his business. Atee ay
ears had recovered from the jar, 1 opened my eyes, and
discovered several things. But I didn’t discover them by
sight, for I was in the blackest kind of night.

Phe iret ob my discoveries was this, that I wasn’t
hurt by the explosion. The next discovery was that the

-powder-fumes had not entered my chamber as thickly as
_ | supposed they would do.

Most of the fumes must have
passed into the level, from some cause that I can’t ex-
actly figure out. However that may be, the absence of

-powder-smoke left the little air I had just vo ce

clearer and purer. -

“IT was bound hand and foot, and i made it my first
business to get loose. The sharp corner of a stone
helped me, for I sat up and chafed my bonds over it,
and soon had my hands free. To get the rope off my
ankles, after that, was mere child’s play.

“As soon as I was able to move around, I sounded
It seemed thick
enough, and I reached for a new knife I had bought in
Sun Dance, with the idea of using it to dig with. But
Not hav-
ing the knife, I worked with my hands.

“Tt was a slow job, Cody, but I wonder if you’ve evér
noticed how a man will work when his life is at stake?
Well, that was me, just then, I sailed into that wall with
my hands and finger-nails, and I would have gone at it
with my teeth if I hadn’t had the use of my hands.

“After about fifty years—that’s what it seemed like,

anyhow—lI noticed that I was getting weak, and that I.
wasn't making much of a hole in the barrier.

it The air
was getting bad, too, and | thought I’d better give up
my plan as a bad job.

less and his men again.
“So I quit work on the barrier and laid down and went

to sleep. When I woke up and realized where I was, the

old hope of making my escape took hold of me. I hadn’ t

the strength to work, so I began to yell, and to tar
the wall,

“J hadn’t much of an idea hat any one would ee me
but Lawless and his gang, but I was ne ee ate I felt
I must do something.’ H

Wild Bill fell silent for a space, ie the te
ing candles on the wall of the level.

“T wonder,” he resumed finally, “if you fellows Le
what it means to feel that you are in the last ditch, with

a lot of buckaroos throwing in ve sand, ea all at

ey,

flying rock, but would be neatly and securely walled into
I wasn’t taking Lawless’ word for ©
anything, and expected as much as could be that I would —

  
 

 
  

Sey ae ee pe

It 1 got out, 1. thought the |
chances were I’d fall right back into the hands of oe

    

  

 

—

CO

a

 
 

  

  

   
  

ispare® Well, if you've eve experienced that, you'll
: understand how I felt when I heard an answer to one
On my yells, and, a little later, heard blows of a pick.

   
   
  

_ “T didn’t know who it was out here in the level, but a
sneaking idea took possession of me that it was Bing-
ham, the fellow who had come to the Forty Thieves to
chip ore-samples.
became too much for me, and I dozed off. So it was
m something of a surprise when | opened Y eyes and saw
_Pard Cody. ®

Ny

   
 

: u ell, when all’s said and done, here I am, alive and

_ kicking, and able to tote imy guns and face trouble just

as I’ve done in the past. All that bothers me now is

_ playing even with Lawless. I’d like mighty well, though,
to hear how you fellows came to be in the mine.”

“Nomad brought me here,” said the scout. “He was

; trapped by J. Algernon Smith in a similar way to what

you were, and he was brought here and left in the level,
I came to find you, and found him.

bound and gagged,

He was in a sorry fix, Nick was, Hickok. .He told me

he had eg i: ghosts, and he was for leaving the mine
on the pny)

_ The old trapper wore a eae look.

“Waal,” he grunted, “them noises I heerd shore
sounded like they mout be ghosts. No human bein’ ever
made sich sounds, accordin’ ter my thinkin.”

' “Its blamed lucky for me,” observed Wild Bill, “that
Cody isn’t superstitious. If he had been, Bill Hickok
would have been company front with his finish. But tell

me everything. I’m like a man that has been in solitary

confinement for so long that the mere sound of a human
voice is refreshing. Talk to me, you fellows, and I’ll
Jean back against the wall and listen.”

Hickok was fully informed of preceding events by’

: the scout and the trapper, Wah-coo-tah being brought
f.. into the recital, since she alone had furnished the scout
the tip that had led him to the mine.
ag rom what you say of the girl,’ Det Wild Bill,
" “she seems to be of a different caliber from that of her
| tinhorn father.” ‘
She i is, ‘ averred the scout,

a ae I'm any judge of char-
a acter.’

ote sa aes oe for her the Ponca slipped into the.

oe But for that, he’d have caught her, sooner or later.
An Injun isn’t giving up five good ponies just to let
himself be beaten out of his bargain.”
‘Wild Bill got to his feet and gave himself a Sikes
Feel like climbing fifty. feet of rope, Hickok?” asked
the scout.
“TL feel like ee. was. tie reply, “but Wothee I
could get to the top or not is a horse of ae color.”
& We. kin rig a tackle an’ snake ye up,” said Nomad;

a ie got ter. do i is ter hang i in er noose, an’——”
f |

   
  

  

€

“THE BUFFALO “BILD STORIES.

‘once. something | snakes you. cet of Byte was meant to
be your grave, and lands you, in safety, with ground to.

I had that idea when the foul air

GRO,

   
   

Nomad stopped short. From a distance came the re- _
ports of two revolver-shots, fired in quick succession.
“Trouble!” shouted the scout, snatching a candle from
the wall and leaping away in the direction of the shaft.
“That’s the signal Wah-coo-tah was to give us if any of
that gang of scoundrels came this way.”
“I’m hopin’ ther trouble won't reach ther gal afore
we kin shin up ther rope an’ jine her,” cried the trapper.
“We'll not be of much account in a gun-fight, Nomad,”
said Wild Bill, “You’re not heeled, and neither am I.”
When Nomad and Wild Bill reached the bottom of the —
shaft, Buffalo Bill was already on his way up the rope.
A rattle of revolver-firing came from the ore-dump, and
the king of scouts climbed toward it with frantic haste.

fi

es

CHAP PAR XPV.
THE FIGHT AT THE ORE-DUMP,

When Buffalo Bill raised his head and shoulders above ©
the edge of the platform, bullets flew about his ears like
a swarm of angry bees.
girl, and he could not see any enemies, but .a shout from
the girl called his attention as soon as he had pulled
himself out on the planks.

“Here, Pa-has-ka!” the girl called. .

Her voice came from the side of the cafion, and. che
scout saw her head lifted over a heap of boulders.

Bullets continued to sweep the ore-platform, but, be-
fore the scout hurried to join Wah-coo-tah, he knelt,
picked up his hat and coat, and called to his pards.
“Stay where you are!” he ordered. “You haven't any
guns, and you'd only be in the way.”

Having delivered these instructions, he whirled and
leaped down the side of the ore-dump. Bullets from be-
hind boulders across the -cation followed him as he ran,
yet he managed to gain the barrier, behind which Wah-
coo-tah had taken refuge, without injury. ;
“Who are the men?” were the scout’s first words.

“My fadder and the other Yellow Eyes,” soy data a
girl,

“How pany, War -coo-tah ?”

Seven.” Sas |

“That means the whole gang is here,” observed the
scout, thinking dejectedly of his brace of Colts, which
were all the firearms he and his pards had. “Where are
the gang’s horses, Wah-coo-tah ?” ha
“Mebbyso cayuses left
“When they come they walk, creep ‘long
Me no see um till they come close.
No like um,

| “No sabe,” answered the girl.
up the gulch.
behind rocks.”
me shoot, and they begin to shoot, too.

Heap bad Yellow Eyes.” cone
ave they got rifles?’

  

 
  

 

He could not see the Indian _

Then
Fe ae pee

"No: got um rifles; got revolvers.”

“If there are seven of them, and they have oh a
brace of six-shooters, then they have fourteen revolvers
to our two. Unless something Pd Depec,
they’re going to give us a run for our money.”

Very cautiously Buffalo Bill looked over the top of
the boulders and sized up the enemy’s position. Lawless
and his men appeared to be scattered up and down the
opposite side of the cafion, every one of them back of a
boulder. o

The firing was not so brisk as it had been, and it was
quite probable that Lawless was himself taking stock of
the situation before allowing matters to go any further.
- As a point to this conclusion of the scout’s, the head
‘of Lawless, capped with its black sombrero, showed above
the top of a boulder almost directly opposite where the
- scout was standing. “

Quick as lightning, Buffalo Bill let fly a bullet at the
black hat. Lawless ducked down just in time to save
himself; and, the next moment, Buffalo Bill himself was
obliged to drop, for bullets began to fly thick and fast.

“Stop your shooting!”

It was the voice of Lawless, and went ringing down
the cafion. Instantly the fusillade ceased,

Buffalo Bill!” called Lawless.
“What do you want?” asked the scout, re under
cover.
“You have my ie over there, and if you 1 give her
up, we'll let you and your pards go, providing you agree
to return to Fort Sill and not go back to Sun Dance.”

Wah-coo-tah, crouching behind the stones, put out her
hands and caught the scout’s arm imploringly.

“No, no!” she breathed.

“You want to sell the girl to some other buck for five —
ponies, eh?’ called Buffalo Bill, in a tone of contempt.

. “It’s none of your business what I want to do. She’s
a fiery jade, and there’s no living in the same lodge with
her. Will you give her up?”

“Certainly not.. She doesn’t want to go ae to you.”

“T.can make you give her up,” stormed Lawless. ‘The
officers at Fort Sill, if I laid the case before them, would
force you to turn the girl over to her people.” ,

“You'll not lay the case before the officers at Sill,”
taunted the scout; “they'd like mighty well to have you
come there and try it. You're a pretty sort of man to
have charge of a girl like Wah-coo-tah!”

“For the last time’—and Lawless’ voice shook with
rage—‘‘are you going to let me have my daughter?’

“And for the last time, No!” roared the scout. _

“Then you'll never leave this cafion alive. Go on with
your shooting, boys!”

The last words were a command to tHe members of
the gang, and the crack of weapons again tesounded.
All the shooting, however, was a waste of good ammu-
-hition. The bullets hissed through the air or patted

 

    

BILL STORIES —

harmlessly against the rocks,

at full length, and looked out around the end of the boul-
der breastwork that shielded him and Wah-coo-tah.

What he saw filled him-with consternation. While he
had been parleying with Lawless, two of Lawless’ men
had left their boulders and stolen up on the ore-dump.
Under the protection of the’ rock pile, the two rascals
were making for the platform. of

Was it their intention to cut the rope that was Soneie
in tle shaft? the scout asked himself. .
Nomad or Wild Bill happened at the moment to be
climbing upward, cutting the rope would drep them
downward, and perhaps cause them to meet the doom that
had overtaken the Ponca. -

In the hope of keeping the two men from the plat-

form, the scout concentrated his fire upon the ore-dump.

The men on the other side of it were carrying out their
p-ans warily, and the scout was given little chance at
them. |

When they reached the top of the ore- dump, the
scoundrels pushed two boulders onto the platform to
shield their bodies from the scout’s bullets; then, push-
ing the stones in front of them, ‘they Sauied, Be
toward the shaft opening.

The scout’s bullets slapped and hissed against the
moving stones, but without doing any damage to the |
men behind them. All the scoundrels laughed: They

seemed to understand the scout’s fears, and the laugh was
a taunt because they considered that they had baffled
him.

pened which he had not locked for.
The stones on the platform were close to ik open-

aang, when, with startling suddenness, old Nomad popped ©

through the hole like a Jack-in-the-box. He took in the

situation at a glance, and dropped down on the two A

peradoes.

One of the men started to jump up and run, but No-
mad’s fist shot out like a battering-ram, and the villain

pitched head first down the rocky side of the dump.

The men across the cafion did not dare shoot at the
trapper for fear of wounding their friends. Nomad un-

him.

_ The scoundrel who still remained on the dump chanced
to be Seth Coomby. Nomad dropped a heavy knee on
Coomby’s chest, and ripped the revolvers out of his
hands. ,
he picked Coomby up by the scruff of the neck, held. him

in front as a. breastwork, and started down the slope, 4
firing as h went, and forcing a ahead of him. oe

    

So long as the ee kept .
_ themselves hidden there was no danger of casualties.
Changing his position, Buffalo Bill threw himself down

Lp Was ang it

Buffalo Bill was just planning a rush back to the ¢ ore.
dump—a daredevil charge across the open with every
outlaw’s weapon firing at him—when something hap-

derstood this, and took full benefit of the grace allowed

at
(4

Shoving one revolver into the ®reast of his shirt, — |

Wold

  

   

   
  

| | caf
my the
  

 

THE BUFFALO

  

i their fighting.
™ it was a reckless piece of work on Nomad’s ne hc

j | old trapper, however, was filled with rage at the way
@ Lawless and his men had treated him. He wanted to
i play “even,”

and was willing to take chances to do so.
™@ Hardly had Nomad reached the bottom of the ore-
C4 dump, when Wild Bill showed himself on the platform.

: | Whether the outlaws were too much occupied watching _
™@ Nomad’s work with Coomby, or whether they were para-
® lyzed at Wild Bill’s appearance, yet ne fact remains

} | that they did not fire at him.
@ Coomby’s companion on the ore- es other

a than the man who has figured as “Andy’—had dropped
@ one of his revolvers at the time he was overturned by the
i) old trapper’s fist.

Wild Bill’s quick eye uche ae of the weapon, and
lM he picked it up, flourished it in the air with a yell, and
m leaped after Nomad toward the opposite side of the

; canon.

| The scout, witnessing the trend of affairs, decided that
fm he ought to take part in the charge of his pards. Un-

Mm less the attack was hotly pressed, neither Nomad nor

@ Wild Bill would come out of the skirmish alive.
_ At the very moment when Buffalo’ Bill threw himself
# across the boulders, a ae of he feet came from
down the cafion,
| We're coming, pard!

1” whooped a shrill, feminine

my voice.

| The scout looked Hovin the gulch aa saw Dauntless

mt Dell and Little Cayuse plying quirt and spur, and hurry-
| ing to take part in the combat.

| “Pyar comes our other two pards!” jubilated Nomad.

| “Now, ye varmints, will ye hunt yer holes?’

CHAPTER XV.
DELL AND CAYUSE ALSO. ee ED

From the moment Dauntless Dell’s ae cry echoed
through the cafion, panic struck at the hearts of Captain
Lawless and his men. The villainous crew saw five de-
| termined foes bearing down on them, while their num-
| bers had been decreased by one—counting Coomby, at
@ that moment in the grip of Nick Nomad’s poweriul
q hands, ©
( “Scatter |” yelled Captain Lawless, and immediately

| suited his actions to the word.

Keeping themselves under cover of the rocks,’ the
mm stampeded scoundrels finally gained the shelter of the
scrub, and could be heard thrashing about i in a ae eh;
deavor to get to their horses and away.

fe io

BILL ae ‘

. But. Nomad was not making for the boulders where |
Aa the scout had taken refuge, but for the other side of the
| cafion, where Lawless and the rest of his men were doing

 
  
  
  

At this point, Nomad’s ardor got the better of him,
and caused him to lose his prisoner, Coomby.

Pushing fiercely toward the bushes, and shoving Coom-
by ahead of him, Nomad was making a wild effort to
keep up the fight.

Coomby, unable to stand up under the pressure ex-

erted on him from behind, stumbled over a stone. No-
mad, who could not stop his headlong’ rush, went
sprawling over Coomby, and both lay for an instant in
a tangle on the ground.

Fear did for Coomby what the lust for battle could
not do for Nomad; and the outlaw succeeded in beating
the trapper in getting up, and was off and away before he
could be caught. |

Dell and Cayuse shot on along the cafion in pursuit.
Buffalo Bill got astride Bear Paw, Nomad found Wah-
coo-tah’s pony, and Wild Bill picked up the cayuse be-

longing to the dead Ponca.

Lawless and his men had torn their horses loose from
the bushes where they had been secured, and had lost
themselves in the chaparral.

The scout and his pards hunted the cafion through,
up and down and from side to side, but without result.
Lawless and his gang had made their escape.

“Whar ther bloomin’ blazes. did they go, ce
demanded Nomad, his voice heavy with chagrin and dis-
appointment, when he and the rest of the scout’s party
rounded up once more in the vicinity of the ore-dump.

“They know the country better than we do, Nick,”
said ae Bill, “and they have ats a Clean get- 7
away.” |

“Waugh, but et shore glooms me up!’ growled the
trapper. “I got er bone ter pick with thet outfit.”

“So have I,” put in Wild Bill, witha soothing grin,
“but I reckon the bone can wait. What's the use of be-
ing in a rush, Nomad?’

“We kin afford ter wait, as fur as thet goes, but I
like ter make a clean up as I purceed.’

“We've had enough of this for a while,” put the
scout. “Hickok has been pretty active for a man who
has been so long without anything to eat or drink, and it
will be close to supper-time when we get back to Spang-
ler’s. We'll ride for Sun Dance, and leave Lawless and
his men to be dealt with later. Ah!’ the scout added,
facing about in his saddle. “Come here, Wah-coo-tah,
I was just wondering what had become of you.”

During the flight and pursuit, the scout had lost track
of the Indian girl. She now came around the base of
the ore-dump and hurried toward him.

Dell Dauntless and es scrutinized the girl cu
riously.

“Who is she, Buffalo Bill?” asked Dell. 2

‘“Wah-coo-tah is her name,” the scout answered. “She
is the daughter of Fire-hand, otherwise Captain Law-
less.”

  

25 2

 
  
Oe

‘Ushl! muttered Little Cayuse.
“His daughter!” echoed Dell.
“She’s a friend of ours, though, for all that,” said the

t

scout, taking in a kindly grip the hand Wah-coo-tah held
out to him.

With a swing, he landed the girl on Bear Paw’s back
at the saddle-cantle.

“You see,” explained the scout, “Nomad and I saved

Wah-coo-tah from a Ponca warrior who had bought her
from Lawless for five ponies. Wah-coo-tah was not
pleased with her father’s arrangement, and broke away
from the Ponca. Nomad and I happened to be near
enough to interfere in her behalf. She did not forget
what we had done for her, but has rendered us good
service in this affair of Wild Bill’s. In fact, if it hadn’t
been for Wah-coo-tah, it is probable Wild Bill would
have lost his life, and perhaps Nomad, too,”

ee

Dell Dauntless spurred her white cayuse, Silver Heels,

alongside of Bear Paw, and took Wah-coo-tah’s hand.
“If you have done all this,’’ smiled Dell engagingly,
‘‘vou're entitled to the friendship of all of us. You must
‘be a brave girl, Wah-coo-tah.”

The Cheyenne maiden studied Dell for. a few moments,

then turned away rather curtly.

_ “What’s the matter with her?” whispered Dell to Wild
Bill. : : |

“Well, she thinks she’s got first lien on the scout,”
laughed Wild Bill, “and you look to her like a claimant
for first honors.” | 5

At that Dell laughed, too. : |

“You can’t tell about these Injuns,” went on Wild: Bill,
“especially when they happen to be breeds. Wah-coo-
tah is might pretty, though.’

“Do you think so?” asked Dell.

“Edo, tor a fact: Neat s more, vil never forget what
she has done for me.’ |

After Buffalo Bill had aan and got his riata
from the shaft, he climbed into his saddle again and
gave the word that started the party for Sun Dance.

“You and Cayuse are several hours behind schedule,
Dell,” said the scout. ‘‘Did you meet with trouble on the
way??? |

“We lost the Sa said Dell, “and it took us several
hours to find it.”

“Rather queer that Cayuse should hace gone astray

like that,” commented the scout, with a look at the Piute.

Cayuse seemed very much abashed. |
“Tt wasn’t his fault, pard,” went on Dell. “I thought
we could take a short cut, just as you and Nomad did,
and maybe save an hour.

you. Cayuse said we couldn’t do it, and that the coun-
try was so hard to travel even jack-rabbits couldn’t get
over it.

. _ that we had to give up and go back to the trail, But

THE BUFFALO BILL

me so I couldn't move.

Cheyennes.”’

That, as I figured it, would
bring us into Sun Dance not more than an hour behind

T had my way, though, and the upshot of it was ©

STORIES.

the trail was hard to find, ahd that’s where we lost our /
time. You seem to have been having plenty of excite:
ment on this part of the range,” Dell added, with a ques-
tioning look around at the scout and his pards, “and Cay- oe
use and I have missed all of it.”
“Ye had er taste o’ ther eae iene, Dell, wae ye rode.
inter thet leetle shoot-fiesta o” our ’n,” spoke up Nomad.

“Umph!? grunted Cayuse. “That no pent a a :
ovet before Yellow Hair and Cayuse come.’

“How did it happen, Buffalo Bill?” asked Dell.

“There's a whole lot of it, pard,” the scout answered,

“and to get at it from all sides would take a heap of.
time. Over our supper, at Spangler’s, is where we can
hold our powwow. Wild Bill there hasn’t had any te
to eat for two days.”

“Don’t keep reminding me of it, Cody,” said Wild Bil I,

“Just because you mentioned the fact, I’ve got to pull
my belt up another hole. If that starvation-act of mine
is referred to many times more, I’ll be cut in two.”

Dell laughed at the grimace which accomoemcd the
words. te
“What sort of business did you want peaae Bill for, . i
Wild Bill?” she asked.

“Thad a bunch of rascals holed up in that mine back
there, and wanted Pard Cody to come on and help me ~
run them in. By the time oe got here, the a a
had got out and had run me in.’ :
“But what was the work?” i

“A job of salt, Miss Dauntless, Lawless and his gang
were blowing fine gold into a played-out mine with 2. i
shotgun. I saw some of the performance. While I was Me
looking on, two of the gang saw me. I managed to get A
away, but it was a close call;
charitable and amiable heuee steered me right into?
the bunch of trouble-makers once more, and they had
That paper-talk I sent to Buf-
falo Bill went astray, I understand, and Crawling Bear
was killed by Cheyennes. Too bad, too bad! 1 think

Crawling Bear stacked up closer to a white man than
“many other Indians I’ve known.

By the way, Cody,
what are you going to do with Wah- coo-tah i A
“There’s nothingyfor me to do, I reckon, but to send :
her back to the Cheyennes.” ’
“No, nol’ cried) Wah-coo- tah, “Me no go ba mo |

“It’s like this, Wah-coo-tah,” explained the scout.

- “The Ponca who gave up the five ponies for you is dead, “

and your father won't dare show himself among the
Cheyennes after what has happened here in Sun Dance
Cafion. You'll be perfectly safe with your people.” |

“Me want to stay with Pa- has-ka averred Watecae :
tah. “Pa-has-ka good friend of Wah- -CO0- tah. No like! ‘
to go back to Cheyennes.” a |
i. “What ae E tell your’ Wild), Bill whispered § in ) Des cod
ear, :

 

then, the nextday, my ~
" h Spangler.

,

@ said Spangler,
@ ye're ready.”

‘THE BUFFALO

Of course,” dices Dell. “Wah- -coo-tah couldn’t travel a

ith the scout and his pards.”
Of course not!” agreed Wild Bill. “Petticoat pards
e all right, but they make a heap of trouble, now and
You'll be going back to your ranch in Arizona,
le uf these days, I suppose :
“Just as soon as I can,” snapped Dell, and Wild Bill
ondered what it was that had put an edge to her

CHAPTER XVI.
he Oe eee

7 | The shadows were ecehesine across the flat in a

a Dance Cafion when Buffalo Bill and his pards rode up
. to the door of the Lucky Strike Hatel.

The bulky proprietor-was sitting in front, as usual, but
his ragged palm-leaf fan lay beside him. The cool of
the-evening was always grateful to Bije Spangler.

“Whoof!” sputtered Spangler, as the cavalcade of ri

rs drew to a halt in front of his establishment.

What's this, Buffalo Billr You escortin’ a band o’ In-
ns ter a new reserve, or what?’

“We're here to stay with a for a while, Spangler,”
said the scout.

“It’s agin’ my rules ter take in any cade? averred

“You'll have to take these in,” said the scout. .

93

the scout added, dropping down from his

Just remember that.”

_ The tone in which the scout ele sent a shiver.
WM through Spangler.

“Ko!

“No harm,meant, no harm meant,” he sputtered.

; course, Buffalo Bill, whatever you say goes.”
@ ‘It’s an honor to your one-horse hangout for a boy
@ like Little Cayuse, or a girl like Wah-coo-tah, to stay in
AG it.

Is supper ready?” —
“The Chink jest come out an’ hammered the gong,”

The party dismounted and went into the hotel office.

| Cayuse led. ‘away the horses, and saw that they ‘were
a properly cared for.
Buffalo Bill, Nomad, Wild Bill, ee Dell Daunt-
® less,
a themaselves.

e neat black suit, which spoke relentlessly of the East.

“Wah- -coo-tah, and one other, had a table Al TG
‘The “one other” was a slender little man in

House; hey?

ihe:
he ‘boy is my Piute pard, Little Cayuse, and the girl is the
i daughter of Captain Lawless.
| b pard, will share the room Wild Bill occupied, and which
m Nomad and I later put up in, with Wah-coo-tah. The
-rest of us will bunk where we can.
| Spangler,”
| saddle, “anything you say against one of my pards, white
p or red, you say against me.

Miss Dauntless, my girl

“Walk right in an’ set down whenever’

BILL STORIES.

Bp

The little man was painfully pale, and seemed dis-
mayed to find himself surrounded ey such an assortment
of white men and Indians.

His first “break” was to ask the Chinaman who
waited on their table for a napkin. The Chinaman went
back and exchanged some heated words with the other
Chinaman in the kitchen: then both: Chinamen went out
in front of the hotel and held a low conversation with
Spangler. As a result, Spangler waddled into the di-
ning-room, and walked to where the Le man in blacls

_ was sitting. «

{??

“Looky here, you! rumbled Spangler, his great body.

Shaking all over with suppressed wrath, “was you the

one as asked the Chink fer a napkin} ie i
“I—I have always been accustomed to eating with nap-
kins,” answered the little man, with a faeiened: up-
ward glance.

“Mebby you take this here eatin’ joint: fer the Palmer

Or mebby it’s the Delmonico restaurant
ye think itis? Pye run this feedin’-place fér two years,

an’ this here’s the first time any one who has ever fed

here has insulted me!”

“I had no intention of insulting you, sir, I assure you,”
said the little man. “I—I—why, it is cu#tomary to have
napkins at meals in—in Chicago, where I come from.”

“Out here ye kin use ie back o’ yer hand fer a nap-
kin,” growled Spangl er, am if yere. ateared 6° sittin’
anythin’ on yer clothes, why, don’t wear clothes that’s
so easy spiled. Do ye sabe my pidgin? TH ye don’t, an’
if what I say don’t set well, ye kin take yer ole carpet
bag an’ hike.”

Under this wheezy torrent of words the little man
wilted. When Spangler turned around and waddled

_ off, the stranger was ready to throw aside his knife and
Anda word to you,

fork and eat with his fingers if any one had suggested it.

“My friend,” said the scout, smothering a laugh and
leaning toward the stranger, “does your name happen to
be Bingham?’

' The little man jumped.

“It_is,’ said he; “Alonzo |

“And you a oe Chicago.”

ol do; ves, sity.

“You have come here to look over the Forty Thieves
Mine with a view to buying it of Captain Lawless?”

_ “Why, my gracious!” cried Alonzo Bingham, “how did
you ever find out about that?”

“Isn't it a fact?’ asked Buffalo Bill.

“Yes, it is a fact, although I’m troubled to know
where you got your information.” ~~

“We troubled some ter git et, Mr. Bingham,”
Nomad, with a wink at Wild Bill,

“Bxacily,” said Wild Bill, “and I hope Fil never be
troubled ,so much in the same way again. I don’t be-
lieve I could stand it.” .

“As I understand, Mr. Bingham,” proceeded the scout,

put in

 
| THE BUFFALO

“i the rock: you took from the Forty Thieves assayed
properly, yot! were to pay Lawless a hundred thousand
for the mine?’
 “T and some friends were going to form a syndicate
and buy the mine, if it proved as faahioag! said Mr.
Bingham.

“Ther comp’ny you an’ yer friends hev formed,”

cate thet was formed at this end o’ ther line.”
- “T—I am at a loss to understand you, getitlemen,”
said Mr. Bingham, wrinkling his brows. — '
“Lawless’and some friends of his,” a aan
Bill, “have salted the mine.”
“Salted the mine? Reall Ys what does that mean? I
never heard of such a thing.”
Nomad sank back in his chair with a groan,
‘Draw er diagram o’ et fer him, somebody. —
ter hev et pictered out.”

He’s got

“It’s this way, Mr. Bingham,’ proceeded the scout.

“Lawless and his friends went to the mine and filled the

rocks in the end of the level with gold. Understand?
When you go there to get your samples, you will find
rock that has been doctored. It will assay way up, but
the assays will fool you.
and nothing more.”
“Dear me!” said Alonzo Bingham, looking worried.

“Look here, Cody,” said Wild Bill, dropping his voice

and taking something out of his pocket. “You're telling
friend Bingham the truth about the salting, but you're
wide of your trail when you say the Forty Thieves is
wotthless. Cast your eyes over that.”

Wild Bill rolled upon the table a piece of ore as big
as an egg.
as “gold with some quartz in it.”

Little wires of yellow metal covered it all over, en-
casing it like a spider-web.

‘Jumpin’ cougars!” breathed Nomad. .

“What in the world!” piped Alonzo Bingham.

“Great Scott!” exclaimed Buffalo Bill, picking up the
ore-sample. “Where did you get that, Hickok?”

“IT found the pay-streak that the original owners of
the Forty Thieves must have lost,” chuckled Wild’ Bill,
“That bit of ore almost cost me my life, Cody. It came
from that walled-off end of the stub-drift. The explo-
“sion at the entrance jarred down some rock and uncov-
ered the pay-streak. I struck a match, when I first found
myself with hands and feet free, and that pay-streak was
the first thing I saw. When I realized that burning

matches consumed oxygen, and that oxygen was the only, .

thing to keep me alive, I quit striking lights, and, almost
mechanically, dropped that bit of ore into my pocket.”
“Mr. Bingham,” said the scout, “I beg your pardon.
The Forty Thieves, from this showing made, by my
friend, Mr. Hickok, looks like a good purchase,
_ Lawless doesn’t know ae apo ‘that pay-streak,

i

an-—
nounced Nomad gravely, “ain't a marker tet ther skindi-

It’s a case of plain robbery,

It was the sort of ore occasionally described °

But .

“BILL STORIES,

In negotatlne for the mine, if I were oo i wouldn't re say a

anything about it.”

“When he goes ott to find Eawies: bie ‘Sea . ol c }

deal,” said Wild Bill,
have to do a good deal of hunting. |

“Mr, Bingham, I’m afraid, will

Bingham and his Chicago syndicate. All I ask, Mae
Bingham, for this friendly tip I have given you, is that

you communicate with me as soon as you find Captain ee

Lawless, of the Forty Thieves.”
“T shall be glad to do so,” returned Mr. ee a
During the rest of that meal the scout and his pards —
discussed their adventures, pro and con, all more or less —
for the benefit of Dell and Little Cayuse.
Mr. Bingham, sitting by, heard eens,

tomb by a neatly placed blast. a
Mr. Bingham also heard of the na veuted that had

befallen old Nomad, and of the manner in which he had of
been bowled over, carried to the mine, and ee ye 4 ;

released by the scout.
The talk ended in a description of the battle that had

‘taken place in the cafion, when there was so much shoot- ae

ing and no casualties—plenty of noise and excitement :
but no one “gouged er skelped,’ as Nomad put it. My
For some time Mr. Bingham had been growing even
more pale than usual.
pards were done with their talk, the Chicago man had :

excused himself, and tottered feebly from the room.

Next morning, when the scout and his friends met at
the break fast- table, there were two less at the board than a
at supper the evening before. ae

Mr. Bingham especially was noticeable by his absence. :
Spangler explained that he had said he wouldn’t buy a
mine in such a country if some one would offer him a
second Comstock lode for the price of a square meal.
Not daring to remain longer in such a lawless region,
Mr, Bingham had hired Spangler’s Mexican to take him ©
to Montegordo in Spangler’s buckboard during the night, ;

Wah-coo-tah had likewise disappeared from the hotel |

during the night, and her cayuse had vanished from the

stable. So quietly had the girl left, that Dell, in whose
room and with whom she was lodging, had not been
aware of her Boi.
“IT presume,” said Buffalo Bill, “that Wah- “COO o-tah has
gone back to her people.”
“Vhat’s the best place for her, pard,” le Dell,
“No doubt about that,” returned the scout. |

THE END,

The next Heo (380) aval contain. “Buffalo ‘Bur a
Mine; or, Captain soba of the Forty Thieves,” ys 7

 

In his efforts to,
beat somebody, Lawless has salted a bonanza onto Men

He
learned, as the story fell graphically from Wild Bill’s ™
lips, how the Laramie man had been knocked down, tied __
hand and foot, carried to the Forty Thieves, placed in |
the end of the crosscut, and then walled into a living

Long before the scout and his —
THE BUFFALO BILL) STORIES. | Le 29

 

 

 

 

 

 

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SAVED BY THE WOLVES.

«By MOSES KEN T

_ We were sieamped iy a little crea, that came _ singing
merrily down through the rich prairie- land, and in the eve-
ning stillness its sweet murmur seemed to fill one with
pleasant recollections.

It had been a very busy day with us; from early morning —

until dewy evening, we had been on the hunt, and not with:
out success, as was proven by the venison to be seen in the
camp. We had had our supper and were now ou care-
-lessly, about the camp-fire.

I was thinking of my relatives and friends in the far

East, and comparing the comfort of home, with this wild °

Western life. I had joined: this hunting-party, consisting
-of four persons with myself, some time previous, and was
now having a royal time.

As I lounged at full length on the ground, I took a ercial
Sutvey of my companions. The short, heavy-set, black-

bearded man to my left, who sat cross- legged, and who was

gazing | so steadily into the flickering firelight, was ‘‘Black
Dave.” What his other name may have been I knew not;
he was a quiet, inoffensive fellow, brave as a lion and as
eb shot as ever glanced an eye along a brown. steel

arre

ine tall dean: lank, withered- “up inclu chap, who sat
to my right, busily cutting at his boot- heel, could not have
covered up ‘his nationality if he had so desired: he was a
blue Yankee from “old Varmount,” and answered to the cog-
nomen of Seth Hopkins.
- But the third and last figure of ie group was the most
important one of all. He lay at full length on his blanket,
easily resting on his right elbow; he held a short, black pipe

between his strong, white teeth, at which he puffed vigor-.

ously. His long iron-gray hair hung low down on his neck,
and his keen blue eyes shone good-humoredly in the fire-
light; he was rather slimly built, but his figure was well
knit, and his muscles were as hard as atech and he was as
“supple as a panther.

This man was Hank Boyd, hunter, Indian- -fighter, and.

trapper, now nearly seventy years of age, but as full of life
as a young man. He had killed many a bear and buffalo,
ae had had more than one thrilling adventure with the In-
_dians. a

man going his own route.

My eyes were still resting on his kind face, when he
slowly raised himself to a sitting posture; he then took a

leather pouch of tobacco from his belt, filled his pipe care-

fully, and then, taking a short stick in his left hand, he
raked out some hot ashes from the fire, and started his pipe
to going.

As he stretched out his hand to rake in the ashes, his
hunting-shirt sleeve slipped up on his arm, and I saw a ‘long
red seam, like a scar, on his wrist. Turning toward him, I
said:

“What made that scat on your wrist, Lear a

“An Injun's hatchet,” he said shortly, puffing away at his

ipe.

“Tell us the story, please,”
of reflection, said:

“Ves, consarn it, Hank, give us the story. I would, by
gosh.”

Black Dave said nothing, but he turned his face toward

I.said, and Seth, after a pause

_ Hank with a look of interest in his gleaming black eyes.

After a few long-drawn puffs at his pipe, as if that helped
to brighten up this scene in his past life, he told the follow-
ing story: ;

“One time along back in fifty, I reckon it was, I belonged
to a hunting-party up on the Northwest plains. We had had
good luck, and were thinking of going to the settlements
with our packs, and trade for powder, lead, and. coffee, but

we concluded we would have one more deer- hunt before we

broke camp.

“So one morning bright and early we sallied out, each
Well, I had poor luck. I hunted
all day and never got sight of a single hoof; so, when night
came, I built a fire, spread my.blanket, and camped out,
hungry and tired, but resolved not to g° back to camp

without meat,

“It snowed during the night, and I had strong hopes of
soon downing some game, but it was late in the afternoon
when I struck a trail, I followed it up, and had not gone.
far when I ran into a noble buck. I drew up my gun, and
fired; but the buck made off. He ran heavy, and, finding
blood on the snow, | knew he was hard _ hit.

“Loading my gun, I took the trail again, and had just
gone round the bottom of a little hill, when crack went two
rifles, and a couple of balls jipped by close to my head, one

going through the top of my coonskin cap.

“A moment later a couple of Indians came dashing down
the hill, yelling like demons. They had heard me fire at
the buck, and, seeing it was badly wounded, they thought I
would not stop to load my gun, and so they laid for. me;
but I stopped the head one quick with a chunk of lead.

“The other fellow came dashing up, and struck at me
with his tomahawk. I kept my eye on him, and, when he
struck, caught the blow on my left wrist, and there is the
scar’’——pointing to the long red seam on his wrist. “I had
had some trouble to get out my hunting-knife, and now suc-
ceeding, I aimed a blow at his breast; he managed to throw
up his right arm, and my knife went clear through it.

“He gave a yell of pain, dropped his hatchet, and pulled
my knife away at the same time, it falling on the ground be-
tween us.

“We then had it rough-and-tumble for a while to see who
would get the knife. At last I was able to throw him off,
and then he ran off and disappeared.

“I was about winded, though, and had to rest a while
before leaving, I knew there were more red imps-about, and
the sooner I got into camp the safer my hair would be;
so, binding up my wrist as well as I could, I made for camp,

some ‘good distance away.

“T had not gone far; however, when I heard them yell, -
and I knew they had found the dead brave. If I had been
fresh I would not have minded any pursuit they might
make; but worn with my long tramp and want of food, and
weakened by the loss of blood, my case looked dark indeed,

“It was now near nightfall, but that would not aid me

i

 
39.
any, as my trail was as plain as open day. Nearer came the
yells of the devils, and it was not long until they were close
behind. Giving all up for lost, I hid myself in a sink-hole
in the prairie, and resolved to sell my life as dearly as pos-
- sible.
“But now a new sound broke the silence. From my left,
and rather between myself and the Indians, there was heard
a long howl. It was answered off to my right, and soon
- there was a regular chorus of wolfish howls in all directions.
“And, bounding over the snow, I could see numbers of
dark forms. But a new hope now arose in my bosom; the
wolves were not coming toward me, but were circling down
on. the Indians, whose yelling had now ceased.
“There was now the sounds of rifle-shots, and I knew the

redskins were trying to beat the wolves off; but nothing but |

a chunk of lead or six inches of cold steel will stop them
when they are hungry enough to attack a man.
“Again I made tracks in the direction of camp, hoping
that, if the Indians did not succeed in killing them all, they
would keep them at bay. until I could reach camp, now not

far away. .

“On and on I went, and drew nearer and nearer to the
camp, when suddenly I heard the long, drawn-out yelp of a
wolf behind me, and 1 now knew what was the fate of the
Indians, and what mine soon would be if I failed to reach
satety.

“Staggering and swaying from side to side, like a drunken
man, 1 made.ia last effort, and reached the. tap of ja
small hill, at the foot of which was situated our. camp.

“T raised a yell for help, and, then cocking my gun, I
dropped on one knee, and as the head of the first wolf ap-
pared over the brink of the hill, I took aim by the dim
moonlight, and fired. 1 saw the wolf fall over, and then
knew no more.

“When I first came to consciousness, I was in camp with
the boys gathered around me, and, save a painful wrist,
was not much worse for the wear. ]

“The boys heard my yell, and, grabbing up their guns,
they came to my assistance, and none too soon, as the wolves
were almost upon me when they got to where I was
stretched out on the ground. a

“After some keen firing they had succeeded in beating
the wolves off, after most of their number had been killed,
and I was then carried into camp, saved from the Indians
by the wolves, and saved from the wolves by my pards with
good rifles.” oe

The old man now shook the ashes out of his pipe, and

prepared to turn in, but I said to him:

“What became of the Indians the wolves attacked?”
“They were all food for the wolves,’ the old man said
quietly, as he rolled his blanket around him and prepared to
go to the Land of Nod.

——______+4@>44 ___

ALLIGATOR-SHOOTING.

©

Some years ago alligator-hunting was so popular in Florida
that hundreds of sportsmen went there to get a shot at a few
of the large saurians, but when the natives found that there
- Was a commercial value in their hides and teeth, the work
of extermination began with great zeal.

The old way of hunting alligators by night is still carried
on with more or less success in parts of South Florida. The
hunters equip themselves with knives, rifles, and bull’s-eye
lanterns, and then seek the track of the alligators near the
lagoon as soon as it is dark. The alligator leaves a deep,
plain rut in the sand as he travels from one pond to an-
other, and it is an easy matter to discover such a trail and
follow it. 5

The same track is used night after night, and by any num-
ber of the saurians. They like to take the old beaten track,
and rarely attempt to make a new one unless frightened
away. They waddle along at night-time, and make such a

LOD Para

THE BUFFALO.

\

BILL STORIES. soe -

‘noise that the hunters can hear them a long distance off. —
The hunters remain quiet, concealed in the darkness until

several large fellows are close-to them. Then the light of - a

a lantern is turned full upon them. The bright rays of the
light fairly paralyze the creatures, and they remain per-—
fectly quiet, staring at the light with bulging eyes.
The eyes are the targets for the hunters. It is useless to...
attempt to puncture their tough skins with a rifle-bullet. —
The -ball would only glance off, and the creatures escape.
But if one is a keen marksman he can send a ball straight -
at the target and strike the brain of the crawling reptile. If
«he misses his mark, the alligator will turn tail and retreat.

It is no easy matter to capture the creature after he has

finally turned to flee. The heavy tail could easily take a _
man’s life or break his leg. Hitting him on the head would

do little good, and, besides, the animal might take a savage
bite at you that would cause a serious mishap. Although
quiet, slothful, and cowardly on the land in the daytime, the |
saurians are savage and active enough at night-time. They

_ love the darkness, and can see much better than the hunter.

The alligators are very migratory in their habits, and love

to travel from one pond of water to another. Formerly they

did this in the daytime, as well as at night, but they now a

_tarely show themselves out of the water except after dark.

In the winter they become more restless than in the summer,
and they frequently travel long distances in large flocks. If

one is fortunate enough to strike their trail, he can do a

great amount of slaughter. . Sones
It takes some time for the creatures to get it into their
heads that danger is ahead, and the flock will not change its
course until a dozen or more have been killed on the bloody
trail. ts
In April and May the bull alligator can be heard in the
swamps of Florida bellowing lustily, and it is evident that
they are calling the females. Early in the summer they
select a quiet place in the banks of the river or lake for a
nest, where the female will lay from twenty to thirty-six
eggs. The neSt will be built of sticks and mud, and will be
two or three feet long. The eggs are larger than a turkey’s |
egg, being about as large around as a hen’s egg, and twice.
as long. These eggs will hatch of their own accord in the
heat of the sand, and hunters gather them whenever possible,

_ and sell them to dealers, who place thé eggs in incubators. — nis
This is how the young saurians are generally obtained fot

museums and shows. Uy ey
It would be as much as a man’s life is worth to attack a
nest of young alligators when the parents are near. Not
only would the old animals give battle, but the little ones
would inflict serious scratches with their sharp teeth.
The size of Florida alligators has been variously estimated
and reported, but it is rare that a very old one is found there
to-day. A full-grown alligator will measure from ten to
sixteen feet in length, and his tail will consequently be a —
formidable weapon, measuring about half the length of his
whole body. ie

SNAKE VEMON A COSTLY ARTICLE.

Snake venom is one of the strangest as well as most costly : )

‘articles of commerce. There is a growing demand for it
in medicine and other branches of science.
the supply comes from Australia, and a Sydney quotation
placed the market price recently at five to six dollars a grain,
or about thirty thousand dollars a pound troy. Vénoms are
now being classified. Tiger snake venom comes first, as

it is sixteen times as deadly as that of the black snake and
In average yield a bite the

brown snake or death adder.
death adder supplies three times as much as the. tiger snake _
and seventeen times as much as the brown snake. So far
the snakes have been mostly captured by hand to avoid loss’
of the poison. They are made to bite through a rubber band, _
- ejecting upon a glass plate the venom from the two poison...
fangs in the upper jaw. DO eee

 

A large part of
 

VIOND

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There is no need of our telling American readers how interesting the stories of the ics
of Buffalo Bill as scout and plainsman, really are. These stories have been read exclusively in this
weekly for many years, and are voted to be masterpieces dealing with Western adventure.

Buffalo Bill is more popular to-day than he ever was, arid, consequently, everybody ought to
- know all there is to know about him. In no manner can you become so thoroughly acquainted with
the actual habits and life of this great man, as by reading the BUFFALO BILL STORIES.

We give herewith a list of all of the back numbers in print. You can have your newsdealer
order them or they will be sent direct by the publishers to any address Ae reap of the price in
money or postage stamps.

 

 

TO9s- Butralo ides MPIMCK sci. wells se eree 251—Buffalo Bill’s Wyoming Trail........
146—Buttalo Bill’s Fire Fighters......... 5|252— Buffalo Bill and the Redskin ere
147—-Buffalo Bill’s Boy Beagle.... 5 | 253—Butfalo Bill’s Bold Challenge.
254—-Buffalo Bill’s Shawnee Stampede...
255——Buffalo Bill’s Worst Foe.
256—Buffalo Bill on a Desert Trail.

315—Buffalo Bill’s Aztec Runners......... 5
316—Buffalo Bill’s Dance with Death..... 5
317—Buffalo Bill's Redskin Rovers.......
318—Buffalo Bill’s Fiery Hye.......... uae
319—Buffalo Bill’s Mazeppa Ride.........
320—Buffalo Bill in the Land of ee.
321—-Buffalo Bill’s Gypsy Band. a
322—Buffalo Bill’s) Maverick... 2.0... 66. ‘
323—Buffalo Bill, the White Whirlwind...
324-—Buffalo Bill’s Gold Hunters....... ee
325—Buffalo Bill in Old Mexico.
326—Buffalo Bill’s Message from the “Dead.
327—Buffalo Bill and the Wolf-master...
328—Buffalo Bill’s Plying Roe pereh eve.
3829—Buffalo Bill’s Hidden Gold. ciate
330—Buffalo Bill’s- Outlaw Trail.

158-—Buffalo. Bill's Blind? Dead’... .\3.. 7.
154——Buffalo Bills River Rover..........
155—Buffalo Bill and Kid-Glove Kate.

PPG DU ALOW VE Mah aR seine alesis wteteyi tells 257—-Buffalo Bill’s Rio Grande Feud... ¢
159—Buffalo Bill and the Timber Thieves. 258—-Buffalo Bill. in Tight Quarters.......
POU Buta loO UMS TOne COD ai wle loins aie 259—Buffalo Bill’s Daring Rescue........
161—Buffaio Bill’s .Blockhouse. Sarath 260—Buffalo Bill at the Torture Stake.
162—Bufiaio Bill’s Canyon Cache. 261—-Buttalo Bill's: Treasure Train®.. 0.7. .°
165——Buffalo Bill and the Greengoods’ Cabal 262—-Buffalo Bill Among the Blackfeet.
169——Buffalo Bill’s Dark Drive. Bis 263—Buffalo Bill’s Border Beagles.......
170—Buffalo Bill’s Fair, Square Deal. SONG 264—-Buffalo Bill and the Bandits in Black
176—Buffaio Bill’s Strategy. SAUDE aMMs GY hata ar 5 | 265—Buffalo- Bill and the Indian Tiger..
177—-Buffalo Bill in Morenci. easels 266—Buffalo Bill on the Deadwood Trail...
179—Buffalo Bill’s Texan Hazard. 267—Buffalo Bill in the Cafion of Death... 331——Buffalo Bill and the Indian ‘Queen.
181-—Buffalo Bill’s Mexican Heud.<...... ‘ 268—Buftalo Bill and Billy the Kid...... 832——Buifalo Bill and the Mad Marauder.
1382 =Biftator Bile Stu Ua ts sere everelers 269—Buffalo Bill and the Robber Ranch 3338——Buffalo Bill’s Ice Barricade...... ees
184——Budtalo ‘bill's | Navajo: Ally vec se ucc) e King 5 | 384—Buffalo Bill and the Robber Hlk. :
188—Buffalo Bill’s. Arizona Alliance...... 270-—Buftalo Bill in the Land of Wonders.. 335—Buffalo Bill’s Ghost Dance...... res
189—Buffalo Bill's Mexican Adventure.... 271—Buffalo Bill and the Traitor Soldier... 336——Butfalo Bill’s Peace-pipe... .. 2...
204——Buffalo Bill’s Mine Mystery - Sea 272—Buffalo Bill’s Dusky Trailers..... ... 5 | 337—Buffalo Bill’s Red Nemesis..... tee
205—Buftalo Bill’s Strategic Tactics. wetaitts 273—-Buffalo Bill’s Diamond Mine........ 338—Buffalo Bill’s Hnchanted Mesa.
°206—Buffalo Bul’s Big Jack Pot. Rito 274—Buffalo Bill and the Pawnee Serpent. . 339—-Buffalo Bill in the Desert of Death ..
204 Buiralo Dill Ss) Woast “Bullets eyed vies 275—Buffalo Bill’s Scarlet Hand. 840——Buffalo Bill’s Pay Streak
208-—Buffalo Bill’s Deadliest Peril........ 276—Buffalo Bill Running the Gantilet.. 841—-Buffalo Bill on Detached Duty.
209—Buffalo Bill's Great Knife Duel...... 277—Buffalo Bill’s Leap in the Dark.... 342—Buffalo Bill’s Army Mystery... Rataticte'
210—Buffalo Bill’s Blind Lead... 278—Buffale Bill’s' Daring “Plunge....... 343—Buffalo: Bill’s Surprise Party........
Pte UP AIO Molly Sr) GACT ICE Ws Giaceal w/e ba oie ese 279—Buffalo Bill’s Desperate Mission.... 844——-Buffalo Bill’s: Great: Riders. 2.5%’.
Qi2= Buia lOn Bibs GE PISCO ME CU. israieis/eis, 91 7 280—Buffalo Bil’s Ghost Raid.......... 5 | 345—Buffalo Bill’s Water Trail....... ees
213—Buffalo Bill's Diamond Hunt.. eee 281-—“ Buffalo’ Bill’s Traitor Guides. ....... 846—Buffalo Bill’s Ordeal ef Fire........
214-—Buffalo Bill’s: Avenging Hand....... i 282—Buffalo” Bill's: Camp-fires.. 2.0.2... 847—Buffalo Bill Among the Man-eaters...
215-——Buffalo Bill’s Mormon Quarrel.. ae 283—Buffalo Bill Up a Stump............ 5 | 348—Buffalo Bill’s Casket of Eee Ae
217—Buffalo Bill’s Cheyenne Comrades.... 284-——Buffalo Bil’s Secret Foe....-....... : 349—Buffalo Bill’s Sky Pilot. eu "
pee Ritalou Bal Ss MAGn ys ATh sce le wie e ele ooo 285—Buffalo Bill’s Master-stroke. 850—Buffalo Bill’s ‘‘Totem”’ as

OUOVOLOT OT OF

SLOVO OV Ot
OLOTOLOT OV OT OT OL OTOL OVOT OT OT OV OF OT OF OV OT OL OT OT OU OT OLOT OR >

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919 Buitalo, Bill's Sioux Hoes. 2.054 06)... 286—Buffalo Bill and the Masked Mystery. 351—Buffalo Bill’s Flat- boat Drift.
220 -Buttalo, Bill's; Colds Trails sie. 4/.75 2 287—Buffalo Bill and the Brazos Terror. 352—-Buffalo Bill on Deck
221—Buffalo Bill’s Iron Fist. eal gek era 288—Buftalo Bill’s Dance of Death. 353—Buffalo Bill and the Bronco acer. -
222—Buffalo Bill’s Race with “Fire. Biss 289—Buffalo Bill and the Creeping Terror.. 854—-Buffalo Bill’s Great Round- ee ele
223-—Buffalo Bill’s Florida Foes... pine 290-——Buffalo Bill and the Brand of Cain. 3855—-Buffalo Bill’s’ Pledge.. BO Ca sey
204) Buttalo Bill’s,,Grim: Climboor ..0/6). 6 291—Buffalo Bill and the Mad Millionaire.. 356—Buffalo Bill’s Cowboy ‘Pard. ee
225— Buffalo Bills Red Hnemy.......... 5 | 292—Buffalo Bill’s. Medicine-lodge....... y 357—Buffalo Bill and the Emigrants. Pi iy
226-——Buffalo Bill on a Traitor’s aan 2938—Buffalo Bill in Peril. ........... Seoau 858—Buffalo Bill Among the Pueblos......
OoT- RBitiaia vis last Bullets oie is « 294—-Buffalo Bill’s Strange Pard. .... 5 | 359—Buffalo Bill’s Four-footed Pards...
228—-Buffalo Bill’s Air Voyage.. ages ee 295—Buffalo Bill in the Death Desert. Wee cee 360—Buffalo Bill’s Protégé... ........5...
229—Buffalo Bill's Death Thrust... Pee 296—Buffalo Bill in No Man’s Land. 8614—Buifalo Bill Ensnared....... Coss
-230—Buffalo Bill’s Kiowa Fooe.......... . 297—Buffalo Bill’s Border Ruffians....... 5 | 362—-Buffalo Bill’s Pick-up... 2... ...-:>
232-—-Buffalo Bill’s Wyoming Trail... ..... 298—Buffalo Bill’s Black Hagles......... 363——Buitalo Bilis Quest iso el os eh wets
234—Buffalo Bill’s Tomahawk Duel... 299—Buffalo Bill’s Desperate Dozen....... 364—Buffalo Bill’s Waif of the Plains.
235—Buffalo Bill’s Apache Round-up..... 300—Buffalo Bill’s Rival 365—-Buffalo Bill Baffled.
236—Buffalo Bill's El Paso Pard. . 5} 301—Buffalo Bill’s Ice Chase.........- .. 5 | 366—-Buffalo Bill Among the ‘Mormons.
237—Buffalo Bill on the Staked Plains. 302—Buffalo Bill and the Boy Bugler..... 367—Buffalo Bill’s Assistance. :
238—-Buffalo Bill’s Border Raid. ... 51 303—Buffalo Bill and the White Specter. . 368—Buffalo Bill’s Rattlesnake. “Trail. :
| 239—-Buffalo Bill’s Bravest. Fight _. Se pienaie 304—Buffalo Bill’s Death Defiance. 369—Buffalo Bill and the Slave- Dealers.
940——Buffalo Bill’s Heathen Pard.....:... 5 | 8305—Buffalo Bill and the. Barge Bandits. 370—Buffalo Bill’s Strong Arm........ :
941——Buffalo. Bill’s Dakota Dare-devils. 3806>—Buffalo Bill, the Desert Hotspur.. 371—Buffaleo Bill’s Girl Pard.. ..... 20s ++
242—Buffalo Bill’s Arapahoe Alliance..... 5 |307—Buffalo Bill’s Wild Range Riders... Kins 372-—Buffalo Bill’s Iron Bracelets......
243—Buffalo Bill on Special Service....... 5 | 308—Buffalo Bill’s Whirlwind Chase...... | 373—-Buffalo Bill’s Ranch Riders......--
gree ee i s Ca Hunt......5|309—Buffalo Bill’s Red Retribution.......'5|374—-Buffalo Bill’s Jade Amulet. .
Or Eee a a tgeet Lond arat ne et 310—Buffalo Bill Haunted. ...+.+++ 51375—Buffalo Bill's Magic Lariat.....

246—Buffalo Bill Among the Comanches... ae
Bie Suneye Bill’s aaa Siege... 311-——Buffalo Bill’s Fight. for Life Sear Cah : 376—Buffalo Bill’s ‘‘Paper-Talk’’....

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248—Buffalo Bill’s Creek Quarrel........ g 312—-Buffalo Bill’s Death Jump......... bs 3877—Buffalo Bill’s Bridge of Fire......
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249—-Buffalo Bill Among the Pawnees..... 313—Buffalo Bill and the Pit of Horror... 5|378—Buffalo Bili’s Bowie :.......e++ee er:
250—Bufialo Bill on a Long Hunt........ 314—Buffalo- Bill in the Jaws of Death... 5'379—Buffalo Bill’s Pay-streak ....+---+¢'

ce PRICE, FIVE. CENTS PER COPY

If you want any back numbers of our weeklies and cannot procure them from your news-
dealer, they can be obtained direct from this office. Postage stamps taken the same as money.

STREET & SMITH, PUBLISHERS, 79-89 SEVENTH AVE., NEW YORK CITY

 

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BUFFALO BILL STORIE

 

ISSUED EVERY TUESDAY

BEAUTIFUL COLORED COVERS

 

Buffalo Bill wins his way into the heart of every
one who reads the strong stories of stirring adventure on:
the wide prairies of the West published in this weekly.

Boys, if you want tales of the West that are
drawn true to life, do not pass these by.

‘PRICE FIVE CENTS PER COPY

For sale by all newsdealers, or sent, by the publishers to any address upon receipt of price in money or postage stamps , S

 

 

HERE ARE THE LATEST ‘TITLES: .

347—Buffalo Bill Among the Man-Eaters; or, The Mys-
tery of Tiburon Island.

348—Buffalo Bill’s Casket of Pearls; or, The Lost Treas-
ure of the Montezumas.

349—Buffalo Bill’s Sky Pilot; or, The Fiesta Tangle.

350—Buffalo Bill’s “Totem”; or, The Mystic Symbol of
the Yaquis.

351—Buffalo Bill’s Flat-boat Drift; or, Taming the Mis-
sissippi Tigers.

352—Buffalo Bill on Deck; or, The Strange Pilot of the
River Belle.

353—Buffalo Bill and the Bronco Buster; or, The Raid
of Wolf Fang.

354—Buffalo Bill’s Great Round-up; or, Trailing the
Red Cattle-rustlers.

355—Buffalo Bill’s Pledge; or,
Narrow Path.

356—Buffalo Bill’s Cowboy Pard; or, Hoofs and Horns
on the Chisholm Trail.

357—Buffalo Bill and the Emigrants; or,
Captain of the Wagon Train. ©

358—Buffalo Bill Among the Pueblos; or,
Hunt of Professor Bings.

359—Buffalo Bill’s Four-footed Pards; or, Trailing the
te <Siuners.’

360—Buffalo Bill’s Protégé; or, Foiling a Nihilist Plot.

361—Buffalo Bill Ensnared; or, 7 tie Witch of the Painted
Desert.

362—Buffalo Bill’s Bien or, The: Secret of the Hat
and Dagger.

The Vultures of the

The Black

The silt

 

363—Buffalo Bill’s Quest; or, The Hidden City of the
Hatchet-boys.

364—Buffalo Bill’s Waif of the Plains;
With the Danites.

365—Buffalo Bill Baffled; or, The Waif in a New Role.

306—Buffalo Bill Among the Mormons; or, $5,000 Re-
ward, Alive or Dead.

367— Buffalo Bill’s Assistance; or, The Brothers of the
Bow-strin a

368—Buffalo Bill’s Rattlesnake ranks
the Dance Rock. ial

369— Buffalo Bill and the Slave-dealers ; or, In the cae .
of Death. .

370—Buffalo Bill's Strong Arm; or, The Red Bulliggae
Thieves.

371—Buffalo Bill’s Girl Pard; or, Dauntless Dell, oft
» Double D.?

372—Buffalo RBill’s Iron Bracelets;
Daring.

373——Buffalo Bill’s Ranch Riders;

2 the White Horse Herd.

374—Buffalo Bill’s Jade Amulet;
of Mirror Lake.

375—Buftalo Bill’s Magic Lariat; or, The Raid at Round
Run.

376—Buffalo Bill’s “Paper-talk”; or, At Outs with the
Cheyenne Rustlers.

377—Buffalo Bill’s Bridge of Fire; or, Gray Eagle’s Last
Stand.

or, At Odds x

or, The Clu at

or, Dauntless Dell’s
or, The Mystery of°-™

or, The Yellow Men

378— Buffalo Bill's Bowie;-or, The Son of Gray Eagit,
379—Buffalo Bill’s Pay- streak : or, A Job of Salt in SI un”
Dance Cafion.

If you want any back numbers of this publication and cannot procure them from your news-

dealer, they can be obtained from this office direct.

Postage stamps taken the same as money.

STREET & SMITH, Publishers, 79 Seventh Avenue, NEW YORK CITY. |