UFFALO BILLS | ee Pawnee B 9. ill @ Wi nce Of The Bo i Pr w S & 9 : 2 wi - > 4 >> S &Q 9 x w S &Q issued Weekly. be 1 VOTED TO BORD LIFE By subscription $2, 50 per year. Entered as Second-class Matter at the N. Y. Post Office, by STREET & SMITH, 719-89 Seventh Ave., NY. ae. Copyright, 1910, dy STREET. & SMITH. tees No. 482, ‘ NEW YORK, August 6, 1910. Price Five Cents. e é fs , o BUFFALO BILL'S TEST OR, PAWNEE BILL, oe) \. J PRINCE OF THE BOWIE. By the author of “BUFFALO BILL.” CHAPTER 1 THE FRIENDSHIP OF PAWNEE BILL. “That must be the place, Chick-Chick, but call me a greaser if I like the looks of it. This whole business, from the time that little moharrie sent up that signal smoke, wept real tears and told me to ride this way at - ten to-night and say nothing about it, has an offish look. Maybe I ought to gigg back, but Well, a young woman in distress has all kinds of a claim on Pawnee 1s Bill.” Through the rough, barren hills in the vicinity of Cherokee Gulch rode a horseman. A full moon was climbing the sky, and its light brought out the scene, and * the figure of the horseman who was riding. through it, with the distinctness of a silver print. _ The man was big and broad, and not much of his face could be seen under the wide-brimmed hat. The moon struck bright gleams from the silver-dollar buttons of his Mexican jacket, and other gleams from:the gold handle of a bowie and the grips of a brace of army re- volvers which looked out at the world from the top of his belt. Across the saddle in front of the traveler lay a rifle. The glowing tip of a cigar showed like a coal in the shadow under the sombrero brim, and a mist of smoky - vapor hung around the man’s ee in the still.air. The ‘rider had been: humming a song, which gave way to the few remarks which had been addressed to Chick-Chick. Now that the remarks were overythe song was resumed. The voice, in spite of its low pitch, was of musical cadence and manly timbre; and the words of the song although little more than a whisper, were clear and dis- tinct: Way down in Arizony where the boys are slick and tony, And where law and order never count for much, There a pistol’s:called a popper, and a bowie’s called a chopper, And you have to chop and pop-to keep in noel, ‘ The last word ended in/a chuckle, and Chick- Chick was drawn to a halt in front of an adobe cabin. 4t was a desolate-looking cabin, and a desolate-looking place for a cabin. The base of two hills formed a shallow valley, and from the side of one of the hills a spring issued and rilled away down the swale, leaving stunted. palo- verde trees and mesquite bushes in its tr ack.’ The squat little cabin stood just below the ee oe A dozen yards from the cabin a “prairie schooner” was moored. The canvas top was over the wagon anl the end of the tongue was propped up by the neck yoke. The .rider swung down from the saddle, then pulled the reins over Chick-Chick’s head so they would hang from the bits. “That cabin’s as black as a pocket,” muttered the man, % Rt Et tA EE RR A a Se 2 THe BUFFALO. BILL, STORIES. “and’ the’ stillness is of the sort to get on your nerves. Wonder if anything’s gone wrong here?’ _. The cabin door was closed. He stepped to it and knocked. It was opened almost immediately, and a young woman moved from the gloomy interior and across the threshold, out into the moonlight. A shawl covered her head. As she stopped, bathed in a flood of silvery moonlight, the shawl fell to her shoul- ders. A darkly beautiful face was revealed, but it was a face pinched with anxiety and worn with care. “Pawnee Bill!” exclaimed the woman, in a burst of relief, The broad-brimmed hat came off, and Pawnee Bill-- bowed chivalrously. “At your service, Miss Gaynor!” said he. “I—I was afraid you wouldn’t come.” “Like my pard, Buffalo Bill, I try to make my word as good as my bond. I promised you {’d come.” “Yes, yes, 1 know. But did you tell anybody ?” “Not a soul.” “Buffalo Bill did not know you were leaving the gulch ?” . “None of my pards, and none of the people in the camp knew it. I slipped away like a coyote—and I feel a good deal like one for doing it. But you said that it had to be so if I would serve you, and I’m taking your word.” “You will not be sorry, Pawnee Bill. I came to you at the mineral spring, this morning, because mother and. I were worried pretty near to death, and didn’t know who we could turn to.” “Where is your mother, Miss Gaynor ?” The girl waved her hand behind her, toward the cabin, “She- ain't well, Pawnee, mother ain’t. I want to let her sleep and get all the rest she can. All the stuff from the house is loaded into the wagon—there wasn’t much -of it, and the wagon lacks a whole lot of being full. The only thing we’ve kept out is a cot for mother to sleep on. When dad gets back, ‘long to’rds morning, we're going to start for Salt River Valley, Arizony. The cli- mate's good there for people that’s ailin’ same as mother is,” \ “What's the matter with your mother?’ “It’s this here lung trouble, Pawnee Bill. Salt River Valley’s'a good place for people that’s got that.” “You and your father and mother are going to start for Arizona in the morning?” “That’s what we allow to do. The horses are ready, and all that’s left is to hitch ‘em to the wagon an’ drive off. Dad’s sold out everything he had in Tenstrike, and there ain’t a thing to keep us.” “Where’s your father now?” A bittér sob was smothered in the girl’s throat. “That's where the trial and tribulation comes for mother and me, Pawnee Bill?’ said she, “and it’s the reason I don’t want a thing said about.it. I want you to >p dad from getting into trouble, and if anything was said about what he is planning to do to-night, he’d be atrested and sent to jail. I want you to keep him from doing what he’s planned.” ey The girl clasped her hands convulsively. “You can do-it, can’t you?” she whispered trem- blingly; “you can keep dad from doing this thing he’s fixing to do, and getting himself, and all of us, into trou- ble? If you can’t—if you can’t - Her hands went to her face, covering her eyes with a corner of the shawl. “Tell me what’s the trouble with your father,’ said Pawnee Bill, feeling vastly uncomfortable. “Chirk up, mujercita, and tell me all about it. If I can do anything, you can gamble those pretty eyes of yours that I'll do it.” “Vou won’t tell any one—not a soul—the first whisper about it?” asked the girl, dropping the corner of the shawl and lifting her head. “Not a soul,” declared Pawnee Bill. “Not even Buffalo Bill, your pard?? “That’s a hard one, mujercita,’ answered Pawnee Bill, “because there are few things I hold back on Pard Bill; all the same, if it will relieve your mind any, I'll keep every word you say under my Stetson.” “No matter what happens?” “Why, yes, Bright-Eyes—no matter what happens.” “Thank you for that, Pawnee. Bill,” went on the girl, drawing a step closer. “You're helping two helpless women to save themselves and dad from a terrible dis- grace. I went to Tenstrike, this morning, to ask Buffalo Bill to help—but you was the only one | was able to see, at a place where I could tall without any one else over- hearing. So——” “Go on with the main part of it, mujercita,” inter- rupted Pawnee Bill. “The sooner. we get down to brass tacks, the sooner I can get busy.” “It’s this way,’ went on the girl, throwing a cautious glance around her into the shadows and then speaking swiftly, “a robbery is going to be done to-night—and dad’s fixing to do it,” “Robbery ?”’ “Yes. It’s an awful disgrace for mother and me, and it will be the ruination of dad if you don’t stop him.” Pawnee Bill was dumfounded, for a moment. In Ten- strike Spink Gaynor, Vera Gaynor’s father, had always borne a good reputation, and it was hard to believe that aow, on the eve of his leaving the country, he should plan a robbery. “What sort of a robbery is it?” inquired Pawnee Bill. “Why, a man’s riding from the quartz mills, ten miles below Tenstrike, with a clean-up. The owner of the mill is afraid to have the bullion taken to Albuquerque in the daytime, because of the lawless doings that have been going on in the gulch.” : “The lawless doings are a thing of the past, musercita. Buffalo Bill and pards have rounded up the trouble makers, and they're now in the Albuquerque valk” Three of ’em got away, and the owner of the quartz mill is afraid they may be laying for his bullion.” “How do you'sabe so much about what the owner of the mill knows and is going to do, Miss Gaynor ?” “A man came to dad last night, and talked with him. He was a stranger to me—I hadn’t never seen him before -—but he was from the mill, and he knew all about what was going to be done with the bullion, Neither dad nor the stranger knew I heard what they were saying. The man with the bullion is to leave the quartz diggin’s at x eleven o'clock to-night, and dad and the stranger have planned to lay for him just as he comes through the north end of Buck Injun Gap. I was scared pretty near to death, and told mother—which T hadn’t ought to have done, seeing how she’s ailin’—but T just had to tell some- body. She went to dad with it, and he went into a tan- trum something awful. We was fools, he said, and that he was old enough, and big enough, to take care of him- : dat Stu Bei earn 6 F. sél gol an fal Bil yo rok In: Bis spl Me | at all lik eS Ove spt S evi US ing nd nd of im. ore hat nor Che nat ave rth SLO ave ne- an- hat im- _ man with the bullion. self. Besides, he said, I was mistaken, and that he wasn't going to commit any robbery at all. and mother wanted me to go to Tenstrike and see if Buf- falo Bill couldn’t do something. Bill where I could talk to him, quiet like, but I did see you. Pawnee Bill, can’t you stop this robbery and save dad, and mother, and me?” “T can and I will,” returned Pawnee, “providing the robbery hasn’t been pulled off before I can reach Buck : Injun Gap. How many are going to help your father e turn the trick 7’ eo No one butthe dehnieer’ there s only two of ’em,’ Pi use quirt and . spur to the Gap, and block proceedings.” “Then you take things easy, sis. “And you won't say a word to get dad into trouble?” “Not a word to: anybody.” Impulsively she grabbed at his gauntleted hand, caught it, and pressed it to her lips. He pulled the hand away, and dropped it reassuringly on her shoulder. — “Don’t say gracias for that, mujercita,’ said he. “I’m Buffalo Bill’s pard, and it’s a duty of ours to help people like you when you need help. Chirk up, now, and trust to Pawnee Bill. “Adios!” With that he whirled around, ioeced: the dangling reins over Chick-Chick’s head, vaulted into the de and spurred away. Never, in all his peril- sown career, had the dauntless Pawnee Bill ridden into a stronger net of circumstantial evidence than Fate had laid for ‘him that night ! CHAPTER’ Uf. BUCK LMI UN, GAP: El Toro, the name of the camp where the quartz mills were located, was some twenty miles from the adobe house which the Gaynors were leaving. Buck Injun Gap, through which all travelers had to pass in going north . from El Toro, was midway between the quartz camp and the adobe. Pawnee Bill faced Chick-Chick through the moonlight to the rim of Cherokee Gulch, then turned to follow the trail used by freighters and the stage. Ii the man with.the bullion left El Toro at eleven o’clock,. Pawnee Bill reasoned, then he would be perhaps an hour ‘and a half in reaching the Gap. Pawnee Bill, therefore, would-have to reach the Gap in time to put Gaynor and the man with him “out of the running” be- _ fore the El Toro gold passed through that particular: _~ notch in the hills. In order to accomplish this, Pawnee Bill” hit upon a plan that.was characteristic of his disregafd for personal danger. He would leave the trail, close to the north end ‘ of the Gap, make his way carefully and quietly into the notch, then whirl Chick-Chick, and ride back. Thus, in the gloom of the defile and the overshadowing hills at. the north end of it, he would probably be mistaken for the Gaynor and the fellow with him would show their hands, and it would, then lie with Paw- jmee Bill to, get the best of them and block proceedings when the real messenger came along. For several miles Chick-Chick put his best foot for- ward, hurling the distance behind him and drawing closer and closer to his rider’s destination. Pawnee Bill, puff- é THE BUFFALO. But I knew better,. I couldn’t see Buffalo - . gether in times of,stress and peril. ® BILL STORIES. | aS ing at a cigar and humming a song in his usual fashion, kept a keén eye on the dark spaces that opened steadily in advance of him. . Presently, out of the dark tangle of hills ahead, a black notch opened raggedly against the lighter background of the sky. This was Buck Injun Gap, and Pawnee Bill slowed his pace and turned Chick-Chick from the trail. Then: followed a detour through: gullies and ravines, which, so the rider hoped, was carrying him -past the would-be highwaymen. Well within the mouth of the Gap, Pawnee Bill regained the-trail. : Certain actions on the part of Chick-Chick, well under- stood by Chick-Chick’s rider, proved that there were other horses in that vicinity. “It’s 4 safe bet,’ muttered Pawnee Bill, “that the girl was right. If Gaynor has taken to sticking up travelers on the road, I doubt whether he’s worth saving, but Ill take a chance-at it for that poor little moharrie and her sick mother. Kla-how-ya, six, Chick-Chick? To the right about, boy!” ; "THe horse whirled to face: ve other way, and, at a slow gait, began his passage of the hills at the end of the Gap. Pawnee, seemingly careless, yet alert and vigilant as a hawk, rode onward and awaited developments. The next event happened with startling’suddenness.. A revolver shot ripped into the ‘night, scattering echoes wildly among the hills. At the moment the report rang out, Chick-Chick shied and leaped, sideways. Pawnee Bill felt a bullet give a swift tug at his:sleeve. He knew that it had scratched the flesh of ‘his arm, but that the arm had not suffered appreciably. _That shot gave him an idea—an idea that flashed through his brain as quickly as the shot itself had stirred the sleeping echoes. He gave a cry, rose in his stirrups, swa¥ed wildly with both hands clutching his breast, then crumpled slowly downward into the road. A more realistic piece of acting it ould have been hard to find. Chick-Chick, restive and snorting, was at a halt. In any event the horse would not have left his master, for © there was a bond between the two which held them to- Chick-Chick leaped forward, then halted again. Two dusky figures jumped into the trail. “Ve dropped him, fust crack out o’ the box, Gaynor!” exclaimed a husky voice. “I hope I didn’t do him up, Spikes,” response of Gaynor. < “What’s the odds if ye did, so long’s we git the bullion? - Nobody’ll know it,was us.’ : “T’d hate to have it to think about, that’s all. I don't reckon | could ever look that girl of mine in the face again if | eame the troubled “Oh, hang the gal! Don’t be all the time harpin’ over what she’ ll think. this haul without makin’ no bones about it. after Hawksmith; I'll get the bullion.” The two dark figures separated, Spikes baying to- ward Chick-Chick and Gaynor, halting at the side of Pawnee Bill. With a muttered exclamation, Gaynor knelt down and laid a hand on Pawnee Bill’s breast. In the spacé of a breath the man from No-Man’s Land » became imbued with the swiftest energy. He caught the groping hand in a grip of steel, his right fist shooting upward with the force of a battering-ram. A wheezy groan was jolted from Gaynor’s lips. He had no time to I reckon she'll spend the proceeds Or Go an’ look THE BUFFALO show ‘surprise at the unexpected turn of events, but pitched dazedly into the trail, and lay there. “There ain't no gold here, Gaynor!” called Spikes. “T'm blamed if we haven’t made a bobble an’ got the wrong man. We : . The sound of the blow. delivered by Pawnee Bill reached his ears and he jumped to an about face. A re- volver, glowing dully in the moonlight, looked him in the eyes. He started back with an oath. “You're right, Spikes,” said Pawnee Bill, with a short laugh; you and your friend made a bad bobble. Pil trouble you for your hardware.” “Wasn’t ye hurt at all?” gasped Spikes, gradually com- ing to realize that he and Gaynor had been duped. “Not so you could notice it, Spikes. I asked you for your hardware, and if you're wise you'll not give me a chance for any gun play. My opinion of you isn’t what you could call flattering, for a man who would persuade another to make a move like this is about as low down and meaching a specimen as wears spurs and uses lan- guage. Last call for the hardware, Spikes.” With a baffled oath, Spikes pulled a revolver from his belt and: threw it into the road.at Pawnee Bill’s feet. “Vou wear two,” went.on the man from No-Man’s Land. “Drop number two alongside the other.” The light was none too good, but Pawnee Bill made certain with ears and eyes that the second weapon was thrown down by the first. “Now,” proceeded Pawnee Bill, “just step this way, Spikes, and take the artillery from Gaynor.” Gaynor, just reviving from the sledge-hammer blow that had been dealt him, was sitting up in the dusty trail and trying to pick up the run of events. Pawnee Bill, retreating slowly, but keeping his revolver leveled, drew Spikes after him. : “T_T didn’t send him acrost the divide, Spikes,’ mum- bled Gaynor, while his weapons were being removed, “No,” gritted Spikes derisively, “I reckon ye didn’t.” “Get up, Gaynor!” commanded Pawnee Bill. “If he’s a little groggy, Spikes,” he added, “you help him.” Gaynor was lifted to his feet. “Move to the right,’ went on Pawnee Bill. “Get off at the trail side and in among those boulders. If either of you makes a move to bolt, allow me to remind you that this trigger works on a hair, and that it won't be long in » working.” Spikes supported the bewildered Gaynor, and the two baffled hold-up men moved in among the rocks. Pawnee Bill called to his horse, and the animal followed them. “Sit down!” said Pawnee Bill. “You can’t see me very well, but I’m here, and Tom and Jerry, the tanglefoot twins, are both keeping track of you. Is Hawksmith the name of the man who’s toting that bullion to, Albuquer- que?’ , The dark forms of Spikes’ and Gaynor slumped down on the rocks. “Ves,” grunted Spikes wearily. ‘Well, he’s coming. Look out into the trail, and you'll see him pass with his bullion. Many a good thing gets away from a man, and that load of loot is getting away from you.” The hoofbeats of trotting horses could be heard, and in a few moments the form of a horseman could be seen, between the boulders, proceeding along the trail toward Therokee Gulch. A pack horse was roped to the rider’s saddle, and the two animals trotted briskly across the BILL STORIES. } range of vision of the three among the boulders, Hawk- smith utterly oblivious of the peril that had threatened him. For all of an hour, after that, Pawnee Bill held the two men among the boulders.' At the end of the hour, knowing well that Hawksmith would have nothing more to fear from the would-be thieves, Pawnee Bill brought the exploit to a close. “T have saved you men from turning a trick,” said he, “that would have got you into trouble. You're both under obligations to me, although you don’t think so now. I could hand you over to the law, but, if I did that, it would bring shame and disgrace on your wife and daugh- ter, Gaynor. You will ride to your adobe, put horses to your emigrant wagon, and start this very night for Salt River Valley. If you’re at that adobe in the morning, some one will drop in there after you. I guess that's about all.” Pawnee Bill jabbed his revolvers into his belt and rose quickly to his saddle. : “Jest a minit, you, afore ye pull out o’ here,” cried Spikes. “Not more than a minute, Spikes,’ returned Pawnee Bill, “and during that minute you stay right where you aey “What I want ter know is, who told ye what we was intendin’ ter do?” For a second or two Pawnee Bill reflected. “A man from El Toro,” he answered, “who got next to your game and wanted it stopped without loss of the bullion or any undue hardships to yourselves. Be out of these parts by morning, Gaynor; and you, Spikes, just keep your trail from crossing mine in the future.” The spurs rattled, and Chick-Chick jumped for the road. : 2 arn CHAPTER ITI ANOTHER MAN FROM EL TORO. Not over a rifle shot from the town of Tenstrike, in 4 nest of rocks close to the gulch rim and the stage trail, three men were lounging and waiting. In the shadows cast by the rocks the men were indistinct figures, but that they were rogues and ruffians might have been’ gath- ered from their stealthy movements and rough speech. “It’s past midnight, Banks,’”’ growled one of the men. “He'll come, Riordan,” answered the man addressed as Banks; “Cherokee Charlie’ll shore come. Ye needn't ter fret none about Cherokee Charlie.” “S’posin’ he does come, Banks,” put in the third mem- ber of the party, “what good’ll it do us?” “Not bein’ no mind reader, Gadsby,” said Banks, “! kain’t tell ye what Cherokee Charlie has got up his sleeve, but I got my suspicions.” “What aire them suspicions?” \ “Waal, Cherokee Charlie knows what Buffler Bill, Pawnee Bill, an’ the rest o’ the scout’s outfit hes done ter Biff McFadden, Jock Ames, an’ a lot more o’ the gang we use ter have. McFadden an’ Ames an’ some more aire in the Albuquerque jail——” “Provin’,”) struck in Riordan, “that it ain’t healthy tet try ter take a fall out o’ Cody an’ pards.’* *See No. 481 of the Burrato Birt Srortes, “Buffalo Bill’s Ultimatum; or, Facing Terrors with Pawnee Bill,” We ned +1 the dU Ty Ore geht he, oth OW. nee you Was lext the POE just the Bill, meLeh ang ate ter 3i1l’s ee THE’ BUFFALO “Luck was with the scout an’ agin’ us,” growled Banks, “but luck kain’t allers run that-a-way. Cherokee Charlie was a sworn friend o’ Mcfadden’s, an’ that gives him a grouch ag’inst Cody an’ pards. I got a notion he’s comin’ here ter-night ter show us how ter even up fer what’s happened ter the Tenstrike Terrors.” “T don’t want no more truck with the scout an’ that piece o’ human lightnin’ from No-Man’s Land,’ said Gadsby.” “We all know what Buffler Bill is, but this young fernomenon what makes a ‘riata walk over ter a man an’ hogtie him all by itself, an’ does things with er bowie that no human bein’ was ever knowed ter do afore —say, ul go on record as sayin’ that the two Bills, Buffler an’ Pawnee, makes er team that no gang kin ever go up'ag’inst an’ put out o’ biznes.” “Ye don’t know what ye’re torkin’ erbout, Gadsby,” flung back Banks. “This Cherokee Charlie is king bee o’ the border. .He ain’t got his ekal no place, not him. What Buffler Bill kin do with fists er bullets, Cherokee kin do; an’ what Pawnee kin do with riata er bowie, Cherokee kin match an’ go one better. As fer sand an’ sagacity, Cherokee kin beat out both Bills, an’ fer jest plain headwork he’s got Buffler Bill beat a mile. I know what I’m sayin’.” Riordan and Gadsby were somewhat reassured, but still doubtful. While they were continuing the discussion, hoofbeats drummed a rising tattoo in the trail. “Thar he is!” exclaimed Banks excitedly. “Let’s get closer ter the trail. In a minit ye kin see Cherokee Char- lie an’ jedge fer yerself.”’ The three men pushed their way toward the edge of the mass of boulders and halted at the place where the stage trail cut a lightish streak through the gloom. ‘The “ap- proaching horseman had already come to a halt—an erect, sombreroed figure on a big horse. ‘It ain't Cherokee!” whispered Riordan in a panic. “It’s Pawnee Bill Gadsby’s revolver was turned loose, cutting Riordan’s last word short. An oath came from the man on the horse, and he could be seen to clutch his right forearm with his left hand. “Stow that shootin’!” he cried angrily. “It’s Chero- kee. I’m wondering a whole lot ye wouldn’t make sure o me afore ye opened up yer gun play. Riordan! Is that you? And Banks? And Gadsby?” “Tt ain’t never you, Cherokee Charlie?’ gasped Banks, “Tt ain’t no one else!” was the answer. “I told ye I’d come here, an’ here 1am! What the blazes are you as ter pepper me fer ??’ “Kase ye look so much like Pawnee Bill. We reckoned he’d diskivered where we was hidin’ an’ had came atter us," “Don’t go off agin at half cock. That bullet jest made a hole in my coat an’ burnt the skin o’ my arm, but it might have done a heap worse. If it had snuffed me out, you fellers wouldn’t have got even with nobody.” Cherokee Charlie spurred his horse in among the boul- ders and dismounted. vit was me done that shootin’, ' acknowledged Gadsby, “an I want ter say,-Cherokee, ‘that yere a dead ringer for this. Pawnee Bill fernomenon that’s blowed down this way jest recent from Injun Territory. I’ve had dealin’s with Pawnee Bill, an’ they wasn’t dealin’s that I remem- ber with much pleasure, I kin tell ye that.” Cherokee laughed. “This aint the fust time I’ve been took fer Pawnee ee ee ee “swing up Pawnee. alone with one led hoss ter tote the yaller loot. ee ta eee mee ER EC ATED BILL STORIES. 25 Bill,” said he. ‘“That’s happened twicet in the last two weeks. People as knowed Pawnee same’s they would a brother has rushed up ter me.an’ called me out o’ my name. When’! told.’em I wasn’t Pawnee Bill, they've kinder backed off, lookin’ as though they thought I’d lied about it. Arter I'd told Banks I’d jine you three—the last o’ the gang called the Terrors—an’ help git even fer what’s been done ter Biff McFadden, I had a notion.” Cherokee Charlie leaned against his horse and re- ‘flectively rolled a cigarette. “What's yer notion?” queried Banks. “S’posin’ I could put a rope around Pawnee Bill's neck?” queried Cherokee, lighting a cigarette. The glow of the intel brought out Cherokee’s facial . resemblance to Pawnee Bill most startlingly. “Blamed if the way ye look like this feller from No- Man’s Land ain’t ree-markable!’’ breathed Gadsby huskily. tae “T kain't onderstand it!” muttered Banks, sage “It’s queer, an’ no mistake,” put in Riordan, “but thar ain’t nobody livin’ as kin put er rope eround Pawnee Bill’s neck an’ make him do a hornpipe in the air. You kaint’ do it, Cherokee—not with yer hands ner on. yer looks.” That's where yere mistaken, pards, a laughed Chero- kee Charlie. “Looks' il do it. The People o’ Tenstrike’ll furnish the hands.” Riordan, Banks, and Gadsby were held in a thrall of wonderment. “Ye must be locoed!” exclaimed Gadsby. ‘Why, them Tenstrike folks think purty nigh as much o’ Pawnee as they do o’ Buffler Bill. It ain’t ter be opined thet they'll The notion is ae ridic’lous.” “Hold yer bronks a spell till I tell ye,” went on Chero- kee Charlie. “I’m jest from El Toro, an’ I found out ° there that old McGuffy, who owns El Toro gold mill number one, is afeared ter send out his clean-up o’ bullion in the daytime, The way the Tenstrike Terrors have been stirrin’ things up around Cherokee Gulch has got McGutffy on the run. So he sends out Hawksmith, the foreman o’ mill number one, with the bullion—sends him The value runs up inter the thousands, and bymby Hawksmith’ll be comin’ along the stage trail: 3 Cherokee paused. A vista of suddenly acquired wealth opened before the eager ruffians who were listening. “Go on, Cherokee,” urged Banks impatiently. “Us fellers kin take the bullion,” continued Cherokee Charlie, “an’ we won't hurt Hawksmith too much, be- cause we want him ter see me an’ be able ter git down inter the gulch an’ report the robbery in Tenstrike. He'll say it was Pawnee Bill an’ three other men as done the robbin’, see?. Why, he'll sw’ar to it, if I show myself to him an’ if you fellers call me Pawnee so’st he can hear.” “Does Hawksmith know Pawnee Bill?’ queried Rior- dan.. “I happen to nen that he’s seen him,” “Mebby Hawksmith knows Pawnee so well he'll dis- kiver that you ain’t him?” ventured Gadsby. 4 “No danger o’ that. You fellers know Pawnee, an’ a fooled you blind. Besides, when I had the notion o° playin’ this dodge, I got myself up ter look like Pawnee Bill. The hull thing can be pulled off jest too easy fer any use. I can use good language, amigos, when I want - to—which is all same Pawnee—and Me use it during the holdup.” wre The glimmering of a fine scheme was dawning in the minds of Banks, Riordan, and Gadsby, but they had not as yet grasped all the angles of it. y “It’s like this,” ‘proceeded Cherokee Charlie, turning the details over with an evident relish. ‘“‘Hawksmith will see me and hear me talk. (Tenstrike, being the nearest p int to the place where the robbery is to be pulled off, 0’ course Hawksmith’ll make for there. He’ll-swear that Pawnee Bill an’ three more men took his bullion—and Pawnee will find himself in more trouble than his pard, Cody, can get him out of.” : “Mebby not,” returned Gadsbys “mebby Pawnee Bill will be with Buffler at the minit the robbery is pulled off, an’ mebby Buffler kin swear ter that. An alibi o’ that sort will let Pawnee Bill out.” “This here job is occurrin’ at the dead o’ night when the scout and his pards are supposed ter be in the hotel in Tenstrike, sound asleep. Pawnee Bill maybe will try to say he was in his bed, but who’s goin’ to know that for a fact? Not Buffalo Bill, nor any of his pards. It will be Pawnee Bill’s word against Hawksmith’s—and the peo- ple o' Tenstrike know Hawksmith a heap hketter than they do Pawnee.” In the discussion that followed, Cherokee Charlie deftly met every argument, and it was not long until Rior- dan, Banks, and Gadsby were jubilantly talking of the wealth that was suddenly to be theirs, and of the re- venge they were to secure against Pawnee Bill while plundering Hawksmith. : In the midst of their talk, more hoofbeats were heard in the trail, approaching from the south. . “Here comes the bullion,’ said Cherokee ~ Charlie. “Now, every manson his toes, an’ remember we’ve got to leave Hawksmith able to get to Tenstrike an’ report. This way, pards!” The leader of this peculiar scheme for attaining wealth and vengeance led the way stealthily back toward the trail, : Had the scheming scoundrels known how. fate was favoring their plans that night, they would have had even | more cause for jubilation, CHAPTER LV, HAWKSMITH REPORTS, On this night, when so much was going forward in the vicinity of Tenstrike, Nomad and the baron were enjoy- ing a game of cribbage in the office of the Dewdrop Inn. t was midnight before they put away the cribbagé board and the cards, took their tin lamps from the shelf behind the office counter, lighted them, and went upstairs to bed. As they passed Buffalo Bill’s room, the door opened and the scout showed himself. $ : “Pards,’’ said the scout, “I’ve resigned as town marshal of Tenstrike, and we’re to get an early start for Albu- querque in the morning.” , “Hoop-a-la!’’ caroled the baron. . “Waugh, Buffler,” seconded the delighted old -trapper, “thet’s ther best news yit. We've done all we kin do in this camp, an’ I was jest reckonin’ this hyar new game 0’ cribbage wouldn’t be able ter keep’me contented much longer. Tharfur, ther prospeck ©’ gittin’ saddle leather between our knees in the mornin’ is right pleasant. When THE BUFFALO BILL STORIES. ‘ Wild Bill went north; t’other day, I pined:ter foller him, I did so.” The Laramie man had sustained an injury that was to lay him up for a week or two, and had gone to Albu- querque to pass the time in more comfortable sur- roundings. ‘Have you seen Pawnee?” queried the scout. “Not Sence supper,’ Nomad answered. “Et ain’t often Pard Pawnee shows he has anythin’ on his mind, more’n his Stetson, but he shore showed et this evenin’. Ain’t he in bed, snatchin’ his forty winks agin’ sunup?” “T don’t know, Nick. He may have-come in when | didn’t see him, or hear him.” Leaving the door, the scout stepped across the hall, and rapped on the door of Pawnee Bill’s room. *There was no response. The door was unlocked, and the scout opened it and stepped inside. Nomad struck a match. ‘He don’t vas here,’ announced the baron. “Meppy Pawnee has hit a drail oof oxcidement und iss running it oudt.” 7 : : e “Nary, he hesn’t!” declared the trapper. “Et thar was any excitement on, Pawnee would hev passed et eround.” “We'll have a hard ride to-morrow,” said the scout, “and I was hoping Pawnee would take his full turn with the bunk and blankets.” “He could lose a hull night’s sleep without. botherin’ him much, Buffler,” observed Nomad, “T tell you vat,” chirped the baron, “meppyso I go ofer by der Miner’s Resdt, und some odder blaces, und see oof Pawnee Pilliss dere, eh? Oof he iss, I vill tell him aboudt vat ve are going to do in der morgen. It makes no never minds aboudt der shleep part, aber Pawnee should know somet’ing aboudt der rite ve take for Albu- querque, eh?” “Good idea, baron,” answered the scout, turning back into his room. “If you find Pawnee, send him to me.” The baron carried the lamp on into his room,’ then went back downstairs. Perhaps it was two hours later when the scout was » aroused by some one pounding on his door. Starting up out of a sound sleep, he demanded to know who was outside. “It iss der paron,” came the answer of his Dutch pard. “Somet'ing has habbened, und meppy you vould liké to know vat, Puffalo Pill.? : The scout admitted the baron, then lighted a lamp and turned and looked at his pard inquiringly. “A feller iss downshtairs mit a doctor,” said the baron, “und der feller’s name iss Hawkschmidt.” “What of that, baron ?” “Dere iss a lot oof it. Hawkschmidt rode indo der gulch mit a led horse pehindt, und ven he got in front oof der hodel, he tropped senseless by der roadt. He has got a pullet in der shoulter, der doctor say, aber it don’d amoundt to nodding serious. “Hawkschmidt has had drouples.” sane “Does he live in the town?” queried the scout, some- what interested. . | a “No, he don’d lif in der town. He iss from El Doro, vere dey haf der goldt mills. He iss pooty vell known if Denstrike, und der doctor say he iss foreman for vone oof der mills.” “I see. Well, Silver Sam is the town marshal now, and he should be sent for.” Fk “Silfer Sam iss mit der doctor, aber Sam don’d know Hna ao sth CD | Sy fel epee eel See RP SA eee ber ee “vat to do. fer you. - now this happens. RE er ae nen aS EE ee He asked me vould I haf you come down by der office.” — The scout began getting into his clothes. “Did you find Pawnee Bill?” he asked. ‘‘He don’d vas any blace in der town. I vas going by der mineral spring ven Hawkschmidt rote along der _shdreet mit der led horse; so I don’d go by der spring. Pawnee vas at Hoofer’s bat’house yestertay.” “Tf Pawnee is at Hoover’s, as I think he must be, he’s probably staying there all night, and we can get word to him in the morning. Is his hor se in the hotel stable?” “Shick-Shick iss nod in der stable. I foundt dot oudt.” The scout was in no way alarmed by this absence of Pawnee Bill. His main idea was to acquaint Pawnee with the fact that they were to get an early start from Tenstrike in the morning—a move which the scout had determined upon rather suddenly. ' In a few minutes, Buffalo Bill accompanied the baron to the office of the hotel. The night clerk’s cot had been drawn from behind the counter, and a man was lying upon it. The man was of medium height, rather heavy set, and wore a full beard. His shoulder had been band- aged, and the doctor, in his shirt sleeves, was sitting be- side the cot in a chair, watching the wotnded man’s face for the first flicker of returning consciousness. Silver Sam, the new marshal, was standing on the other | side of the cot, and the night clerk was tilted back in a chair, a little farther away, following developments with much interest. “Tere’s somethin’, Buffler. Bill!” exclaimed Se Sam, apparently greatly ‘relieved by the appearance of the scout. | Have you any idea what happened?” asked the scout. “No more idee than the man in the moon. Hawksmith here rode inter town, an’ the night clerk says he give a holler, out in front. When the night clerk got outside, Hawksmith was on his back in the street, so far gone he couldn’t talk. The clerk kerried him inter the hotel an’ put him on a cot, then went fer the doctor an’ then fer me. The baron had showed up, an’ the clerk left Hawksmith with the baron. As soon’s F got here, I had the baron go Bizness is beginnin’ purty, sudden fer me, seems I’m made marshal at eight o’clock this evenin’, an’ I don’t know what ter do no more’n a like. fool.” “Vou cant do much, Sam,” said the scout, “until Hawksmith recovers and tells what happened. He rode in with a led horse?” “Thet’s ther way o’ it, Buffler Bill”. “Did the led horse have an empty saddle?” “An empty pack saddle.” “Ah! And the pack was gone! - “Clean gone. There wasn’t a thing hanging ter the saddle.” The scout turned to the medical man. “Is ita serious wound, doc?” he asked. “Not at all,” was the answer. “Hawksmith made such an effort to reach Tenstrike from the place where he had his trouble, that I reckon his strength gave out, He ought to come around in a few minutes.” The scout studied Hawksmith reflectively, and then went out of the hotel and looked at the two horses. The baron went with him. The pack horse was secured to the riding horse by a dozen feet of riata. “Nothing much to be learned here,” said the scout, THE: BUFFALO BILI. STORIES. after his brief examination was finished. ‘Take the two animals to the stable, baron,” he added. The baron moved off with the horses and the scout re- turned to the office. ‘Make anythin’ out o’ it, Buller Bill?” inquired Silver Sam. ~ “It’s easy to guess, Sam,’ there has been a holdup.” “But who'd try ter pull off a holdup? Them Ten- strike Terrors hev been put out‘o’ bizness, an’ I was hopin’ no more trouble makers had been left in these parts. “Trouble makers are always likely to spring up when there is any excuse for trouble, Sam. You know Hawk- smith ?” “Ever’body. in Henerriee knows him. He useter live here, a long time afore the mineral well went dry an’ you fetched the W ondet Waters back. He had the gin’ral store, post office, an’ stage station, an’ Bigby bought him out. Arter that, Hawksmith went ter the quartz mills, an’ McGuffy made him a foreman,” “IT see. Hawksmith is-a pretty good sort of a fellow ?” “Finest ye know. Ever’ body in Tenstrike sets a heap o’ store by Hawksmith,”’ “That’s right, Buffalo Bull,” sack up the doctor ; “Hawksmith is as square a piece of furniture as ever came out of the factory. He The doctor, speaking to the scout, Bie keeping his eyes on Hawksmith’s face, detected a movement ‘of the wounded man’s eyelids and leaned forward to thrust a hand under his head, “Hand me that cup, Silver Sam,” said he. Sam picked up a cup from a chair and put it.in the doctor’s hand. The cup was placed to Hawksmith’s lips and a stimulant found its way down his throat. With a, gurgling gasp, the foreman opened his eyes wide, and stared at the doctor blankly. ‘Where am 1?” he murmured, “You're with friends, Hawk,’ answered the doctor, “rightshere in the office of the Dewdrop, in Tenstrike.” “Where’s the deputy sheriff?’ demanded Hawksmith frantically; “where’s the marshal? I’ve been robbed— 9 was the scaut’s reply, “that leet 99 “Easy, easy, cautioned the doctor. “You say you've been robbed. What was taken?” “The bullion from the last clean-up 0’ number one mill at El Toro, McGutty sent me to Albuquerque with the bullion.” “Who robbed you, Hawksmith | r cee the scout, coml- ing closer to the cot. “Have you any idea?” “There was four o’ ’em,” said Hawksmith, “Three of ’em I don’t know, but one ‘of “em was Pawnee Bill!’ : Everybody was dazed. The scout started back and the baron began to sputter wrathful protests. “You're mistaken, Hawksmith,” said the scout. “Paw- nee Bill is my pard, and such a thing is impossible.” “T know Pawnee Bill when I see him,” declared Hawk- smith doggedly, “and I tell you he was one of ’em,” CHAPTER: VY; PAWNEE BILL RETURNS. “T know Gordon Little better than you, Hawksmith,” said the scout firmly, “better than any one else in Ten- strike, and he’s not that sort of man. It was dark when , you were held up, and it would have been difficult to rec- ognize any one accurately.” “The notion’s preposterous!’ declared the doctor. “It iss more as dot,” clamored the baron. “I know vat I know und it makes me feel'like I vant to fighdt. Don’d say sooch tings, Hawksmith.’’ “The three men with the fellow called him Pawnee Bill,” insisted. Hawksmith, “Which proves,” said the scout, “that he wasn’t my pard at all. Suppose Pawnee Bill could do such a thing, would he allow the men with him to mention the name in front-of you?” — “I saw his face plain,’ went on Hawksmith. “He lit a cigar, after I had been wounded and was holding myself in the saddle.” “It's a scheme,” declared the scout, “‘to get Pawnee into trouble. That’s what it amounts to.” “Ain't Pawnee Bill here?” asked Sifter Sam. “NO.” : A puzzled look crossed the ttew marshal’s face. “Whar is he, Buffler Bill?” : “T don’t know that, either. None of my pards have seen him since supper.” . “How do you know he hasn’t been up to this, then ?” asked Hawksmith weakly, dropping back on his pillow. “I'know,” said the scout sharply, “because I know the man, from spurs to headpiece. A. better pard and a braver never got into shoe leather.” a “You must ’a’ done some shootin’ yerself, Hawksmith,” said Silver Sam. ‘“Them.thieves never put this over on ye without your tryin’ ter stave ’em off.” “They jumped me an’ took me by surprise,” returned Hawksmith. “First thing I knew, they let me have it in the shoulder. I fired one shot at Pawnee Bill e “At the man you thought was Pawnee Bill,” corrected the scout sternly. : sey “Well, you can take it that way, but you'll all find I’m right, one o’ these days.” “We'll find just how you made your mistake,” said the scout. “Where did this hold-up take place ?” “By the rock pile, just north of Tenstrike. I was movin’ along the stage trail, bound for Albuquerque.” “Why were you-moving along the trail at such a time? It would seem to me as though you should -have taken daylight for a trip with bullion.’ “That’s the us’al way, I admit, but McGuffy was scared, There’s been so much trouble in the gulch that he was afeared to chance a daylight trip, even with a strong guard. That’s why he started mé alone from El Toro at eleven to-night with the bullion on a led horse.” “There were four men in the gang that stopped you?” Ves.” “And you recognized only one of them?” “1 Hat's: all? “It’s a frame-up,” declared Buffalo Bill, with a savage frown, “a frame-up for the purpose of getting Pard Pawnee into hot water.” “Who'd want ter do that?” asked Silver Sam. “Not all the Tenstrike Terrors were captured,” said the scout; “three of them got away.” “But not any of ’em looked like Pawnee Bill.” “his fourth man is a mystery,*but it’s evident he has joined the three Terrors and engineered the Pawnee Bill part of the proceeding. What was the value of the stolen Dullion, Hawksmith ?” “Fifteen or twenty thousand dollars.” THE BU¥FALO BILL STORIES. Silver Sam whistled and the doctor looked astounded. “Quite a plum, that,’ muttered the doctor. “It was worth taking chances for.” “I suppose, Hawksmith,” went on the scout, “that you and McGuffy kept the fact that you were leaving El Toro with the bullion as quiet as you could ?” “McGuffy said I wasn’t to tell a soul,’ was the an- swer, “an’ [ didn’t. But McGuffy must have let it out. If he hadn't, this gang wouldn’t have known, an’ couldn't - have laid for me.” “That brings up another point,” pursued the scout. “The frame-up is clear enough to me, Hawksmith, but as there seems to be some doubt in your own mind, I want you to listen to this: Suppose my pard was really plot- ting with the three Terrors—and. those Terors, by the way, hate him worse than they do me—to carry out such a game with Pawnee Bill would have been the very last thing they would have thought of. But let us. sup- pose——” : “Maybe it wasn’t the three Terrors he was plotting with,” interposed Hawksmith., ; “Possibly three other men, who were not the Terrors, helped the fellow who looked like Pawnee,” agreed the scout ; “but, even so, Pawnee would: have to be away from Tenstrike laying his schemes and getting his men. Until to-night, he hasn’t been out of town for a minute since we captured McFadden, Ames, and the others of the gang up the gulch.” “Arguin’ is all right,” muttered Hawksmith, ‘but when I see.a thing I got to believe it, Seeing’s believing.” “Not always—when the night is dark. Eyes and ears are both liable to trick a man, day or night, Don’t bank too much on what you saw, Hawksmith,” “Well, what I want is to get that bullion back. I’ve got a notion I. winged this Pawnee Bill, although he didn’t show that he was much damaged. Right after | shot, an’ while the other three were taking the bags from the pack saddle, he lit that cigar and hummed a song, cool an’ ca’m as you please.” “Baron,” said the scout, turning to his Dutch pard, “you go upstairs and wake Nomad and Cayuse; then go out and get our mounts under saddle? “On der chump!” exclaimed the baron, hurrying to- ward the stairs, “I'll get my-own hoss an’ ride with ye,” spoke up Sil- ver Sam. : “We'll probe this affair to the bottom,” said the scout crisply. “A blow struck at Pawnee Bil] is a blow struck at me, and I'll find who’s back of all this or know the reason.” ; ; vt hate to think it was Pawnee Bill,” remarked Hawk- smith, “but I've got to say what I think, just the same.” ‘That’s all right, but any_man’s liable to be mistaken. Don’t overlook that point, Hawksmith, and don’t be so cocksure that your suspicions are correct.” The baron came downstairs and clattered across the office, following Silver Sam to the door. “Our bards iss coming, Puffalo Pill,” the baron an- nounced, as he faded into the outer darkness. Little Cayuse was the first to show himself. He was out of bed and fully clad in a wonderfully short time. The old trapper followed him closely, buckling on his re- volver belt as he entered the office. 7 pise “Waugh!” he roared, “what’s this I hyer? Somebody says Pard Pawnee has be thin’? Show en stickin’ up er stage er some- me ther pizen coyote what says et! Ptr S CObit Sel Sth ean the let tei led, Was VOU Oro an- ut, ht as int Ot- CS LC - am so. ’ _. doctor. ' such a thing of Pawnee Bill.” THE BUFFALO Snarlin’ catermounts, Ill climb his neck! Ther tinhorn mout.as well lay et ter Buffler er ter me!” ‘Buffalo Bill calmed his restive and indignant pard, pre- senting himto Hawksmith and giving him Hawksmith’s | version of the holdup. “Somebody, Nick,” the scout finished, “has done this robbing and made an attempt to get Pawnee into trouble.” ‘Jumpin’ horn toads!’ growled Nomad, “but jest ter think o’ ther measly suspicions. I’m riled fer fair, I We'll nail thet bunch o’ bullion lifters, an’ tear ther blame’ mask from the face o’ ther varmint that’s tryin’ ter unload this onter Pawnee. I’m champin’ ther bit ter git away.” Cayuse had gone out to help tie baron. “Ye remember Sergeant Sebree,’ went on the trapper, “an’ thet plug-ugly thet took his uniform 4n’ his hoss aw’ went ter holdin’ up pgople in them thar Sacramento Mountings ?” @ The scout nodded. : “All them robb’ ries was laid onter Sebree, ontil us fel- lers took hold an’ showed what wes up. This hyar looks ter be a case:o’ thersame kind.” > The doctor got up, and led lea Bill off to one side of the room. “You don’t need to warty shout this, Cody,” said the “There's not a man in Tenstrike who'd think “Hawksmith has put a cloud upon Pawnee;-for all that,” answered the scout, “and that cloud’s going to be lifted.” “The “people will think that it was ane and that Hawksmith’s eyes played him a trick.” “Hawksmith bears a good name in Tenstrike, and he seems to be-pretty much of a man. What he says will have weight. People hereabouts may not admit that they -. suspect Pawnee, but my pard has got to be cleared.’ “Where is he?” oy : TIT don’t know.” “Mighty strange he should be mysteriously missing from Tenstrike at such a time.” “Strange, yes—but that’s all.” “T know it’s all, but The door opened and two men entered the room. One -of them was Silver Sam, and the other was—-Pawnee Bill! Pawnee’s right sleéve was rolled up, and a hand- kerchief,; was bound around his forearm. There was a . quizzical look on his. face as he pushed farther into the office. “Boshu nechee, pard?’ said he lightly. What’re you holding an all-night séance for, when you ought to be in bed?” Hawksmith had braced himself up on the cot on one elbow. Leveling a finger at Pawnee Bill, he; cried : “Thats him! That’s the leader o’ the gang that held me “up an’ stole McGuffy’s bullion! “Look at his arm, will 1? you? That’s-where I pinked him! Pawnee Bill looked at Hawksmith for a moment, then - turned to the scout with a laugh. CHAPTER VI. os fel DiN Get Pee RATT, ‘What's the joke, necarnis 2” asked Pawnee Bill. “It’s going to turn out a pretty serious joke, Pawnee,’ answered the scout, “for the scoundrel who:started it. A x 4 se oo sire tN mi hh I SCE Be OLS ENERO ET ED SRR ISRO gh ROASTER STREET aa Set ae a ee re nee ee OE ee BILL STORIES. | “6 man by the name of Hawksmith was traveling from El Toro to Albuquerque leading a pack horse loaded with bullion, The man was held up Pawnee Bill started. “Held up?” he demanded ; “where ?” “On the gulch rim opposite the nest of rocks a little to the north of Tenstrike.” “How many men were mixed up in it?” Pawnee Bill had put the clamps on his nerves. It had been startling to learn that, in spite of what he had done to prevent a robbery, one had neverthéless occurred,-4 A grim resolution, to track down Gaynor and Spikes, if ~they had had anything to do witht it, took hold of him. But it’ was not possible that Gaynor and. Spikes could have. had anything to do with the holdup. Pawnee Bill had held the two scoundrels for an hour after -Hawk- smith had passed Buck Injun Gap with his gold. “Four men did the work, pard,” said the scout. “Sure of that’ “This is Hawksmith, here on the cot. were four,” “And you, you was one of ’em!” cried Hawksmith. Pawnee Bill turned slow ly toward the foreman, ~ “I guess you'd better tone that down a little, ale smith,” said’he, the words coming with a snap and a dan- gerous glimmer of the eyes. “Lone nothing | dow m! I saw you, purty nigh as plain as I see you now.’ Uae The muscles hardened in Pawnee Bill’s face, and his powerful hands clenched. “He’s a wounded man, Pard Bill,” said he, turning to He says there - the scout, “and I can’t bring myself, in his present condi- tion, to show him where he’s wrong. But we'll powwow a little. You know there were four ofthe thteves, do you, Hawksmith?’ “he demanded, whirling on the .fore- man again. “T can swear-to. it,’ swear that you was——— “Wait, now! Vay ve rung me in on this, and you'll* answer my questions. As the man says, there are always two sides to a fence, and we'll get on your side first.” Pawnee Bill removed his hat and fished a cigar out of the crown. After firing the weed, he removed his gaunt- letsestuffed them into his pocket, and took a thoughtful turn up and down the office. Four men had committed the robbery... That was con- clusive proof that Gaynor and Spikes had had nothing to . do with it. He was glad to feel assured that he had pre- answered Hawksmith, “and I can 99 vented hardship’ and disgrace from falling upon Vera. Gaynor and her mother. “What makes you think I had a hand in this,-4awk- smith?” queried Pawnee Bill, stepping to the cot, folding his arms, and looking down into the bearded face of the foreman. é Be “I saw you!” said Hawksmith. : “Saw me in the moonlight, éh? Isn’t it just. barely ‘possible you saw crooked? This is a serious business, mind.” 7 \ "vou went into your hat for a cigar,” continued Hawk- © smith, ‘same as you_did just now. ‘When you struck a match, I got.a good look at your face?’ “And it was Pawnee Bill’s face?” “Vl take my oath it was.” Una “Then you'd perjure yourself, Hawksmith. I haven't been within gunshot of that pile of stones for oe days.” “Where was yout i chight [ & An answer was at the tip of Pawnee Bill’s tongue $ then, with the swiftness of a lightning’s flash, he remem- bered his promise to Vera Gaynor, “That's my business,” said he, - “Why didn’t you tell Buffalo Bill where you was going?” ‘““That’s my business, too.” _“You’re keepin’ something back,” averred Hawksmith. “He has told you, Hawksmith,” put in the scout im- patiently, “that he wasn’t near the place where that rob- bery took place. That’s enough for me.” “It ain't enough for me,” flared the foreman. “I’m re- sponsible to MecGuffy for that bullion. Who’s the mar- shal round here now 2” “Iam,” said Silver Sam, pushing slowly forward. “Then do your duty, Silver Sam, and arrest Pawnee Bill. You won’t stick and hang about it, either, unless you're a cheap marshal and afraid of Buffalo Bill and his pards.” “Call me a greaser,” said Pawnee Bill, “but this is get- ting to a point where I’m liable to forget myself. An-pe- tu-we!l” He lifted a hand to his head and rubbed his tem- ples in a puzzled way. ‘What do you think of this, necarms?” he asked, facing the scout. _ “I think, Pawnee,” said the scout, “that some of our enemies have made this play to get you into hot water.” “It’s enough to make the fur stand on a buffalo robe! I was out of town when the holdup was pulled off. That's a fact; and it’s also a fact that I don’t intend to tell a soul where I’ve been or what I’ve been doing. I guess my bare word ought to carry me over that little point of circumstantial evidence.” “Your pards, Pawnee,” said the scout, even your bare, word.” “IT left my mark on him,” spoke up Hawksmith. “He's got a handkerchief tied around the place where my bullet bit into his arm.” “It wasn’t your bullet that bit me, Hawksmith,”’ re- turned Pawnee Bill. “There are a few things, my friend, which you don’t know and won't know, but if you did know them you’d tune up your bazoo ina different key. “If I can’t get justice in this camp, where I used to live,” declared Hawksmith, “I'll get dt from El ‘Poro, 1 can have enough men brought, over here to take care of _ Pawnee Bill.” Old Nomad and Cayuse had brought the horses to the hitching pole in front and had come into the office to see what was delaying the scout. They saw Pawnee Bill and they heard Hawksmith. It was enough to fire the old trapper’s anger afresh. “Congarn ye,” cried Nomad, “ye kin bring the hull of El Toro hyar, but ye won’t put no kibosh on our pard! Pi hadn’t no mgre ter do with thet holdup than I hac a . “Silver Sam,” proceedéd Hawksmith, “you know me. I lived in this camp, and you know I was straight and played fair. I tell you that there stands one of the men who held me up. As an officer of the law, I ask you what you're going to do about it?” Silver Sam was in a terrible taking. Buffalo Bill was an old friend of his, and Sam didn’t want to make a hos-. tile move against Buffalo Bill’s pard, Furthermore, a man took his life in his hand in making such a move against Pawnee Bill. Sam was so new to the duties of a marshal that he was rather uncertain as to the proper ‘don’t need 2A BUPPALO BILL STORIES: method of procedure in the case. He gave himself the benefit of the doubt. “There ain’t nothin’ sartain about Pawnee Bill bein’ mixed up with the gang, Hawksmith,’” said he, after a period of reflection. “‘Considerin’ everythin’, yore condi- tion, theenight, an’ all, I won't git myself inter trouble tryin’ ter lay hands on Pawnee Bill. That shot goes as it lays.” “You're a coward!” fretted Hawksmith. “If ye was well, Hawksmith, ’d show ye I ain’t!” breathed Silver Sam, through his teeth. “There’s nothing to be gained here,” spoke up Buf- falo Bill, “and our horses are ready, pards,’ “If you're going to the place where Hawksmith lost his bullion,” said Pawnee Bill, “I’m traveling along.” The scout did not object, and soon he, and Pawnee Bill, and the baron, and old Nomad, and Little Cayuse, and Silver Sam were scurtying up the gulch side to the stage trail. Iwo or three hours had passed since the robbery, and the thieves must have been making the most of their time in getting away: The scout and his pards knew that night trailing, for such a gang, had few chances of success; but, nevertheless, no chance could be allowed to pass. Turning northward on the rim of the gulch, the riders raced to the massed boulders, surrounding the forbidding rendezvous and riding in upon it with a very faint hope that one or more of the thievés might be lurking there. “No use of this, necarnts,’ said Pawnee Bill, “Those four are a quartette of cold-game gents with sufficient sagacity to take them thiles from here as soon as they got the gold.” / “I agree with you, Pawnee,” answered the scout, “but, at the same time, I maintain that it’s the unexpected you've got to look for in a case like this. Things are not going just as the holdup’s planned nor the Way we're thinking. I-don’t expect that we'll be bushwhacking the thieves right here on the scene of the holdup, but you never can tell-- 2” Be The scout’s words were drowned in the crashing roar of a rifle, fired from a cramped space among the stones. The detonation hurled itself with startling abruptness across the night’s quiet;and each rock face flung back a bedlam of echoes. ; A lurid flash had shot up in the dark, dying as suddenly as it had shown itself. The flash located the marksman, who was some fifteen feet away from Buffalo Bill and Pawnee Bill. While the echoes of the rifle were still at thet weird play among the rocks, the crack of two revolvers added to the din, “Scoot-a-wah-boo!” shouted Pawnee Bill, spurring madly into the boulders, “That slug passed between us, Pard Bill, and-so close that,I felt the wind of i youre right. We've rtun head on into the unexpected, and we're company front with q strageler,”’ The scout was a horse’s length in adyance of his com- rade, and he began shouting orders to the baron, Nomad, Cayuse, and Silver Sam about guarding carefully the gaps in the “surround,” When they had all answered him, he slipped from his saddle and vanished on foot among the rocks, : Pawnee Bill followed suit. boulders that he could hardly him. As he groped his way onward, his ears suddenly ap- prised him of a struggle that was taking place. It was so dark among the see his hand in front of By oN fe sac pri pat the anc pee Dear —< SEA) THE “BUPFALO That you, pard?” he called, turning to the left. “Yes, replied the scout, breathing heavily. “I’ve got the juniper, Pawnee. Give mea bit of light, will you?” ok CHAPTER ‘VIL THE BAG OP GOUD. “While a match flickered in Pawnee Bill’s hand, the scout stripped away the revolvers from his captive’s belt. The rifle which had been fired from among the boulders was lying on the ground, close to the scene of the struggle. “Here’s one of them, anyhow!” exclaimed Pawnee Bill jubilantly. ‘It’s as black as a pocket in here, and I’m guessing how you did it.” “Tt was a happenchance, Pawnee,” said the_scout. “He was going out toward the edge of the rocks as I was com- ing in, and we collided with each other. There’s his horse, just back of “us. See if there’s a rope at the saddle.” sani “Pawnee Bill\found a rope, and he and the scout, be- tween them, got lashings on the wrists and ankles of the prisoner. The scout announced his success to the rest of his - pards and told them to hunt for more of the gang. As they moved off to carry out their orders, Buffalo Bill and Pawnee began trying.to discover something of im; portance from the captured robber. eo “Who are you?’ asked the scout. ““Banks,’’ was the answer. , “Ain’t no use keepin’ any- thin’ back, now that Pawnee Bill has turned on us.” “Phat hits me agam;?, muttered Pawnee Bill” “Ex- ‘plain that, Banks,” he finished. “What're ye playin’ lame duck fer?” demanded Banks. “Was this a move o’ yourn jest ter git us nabbed?’ “Banks,” went on Pawnee Bill, “you and I will have a flare-up, and no two ways about it if you don’t get down, - to cases, You say I’ve turned on you, and that I’m now: engaged in the pestiferous pastime of playing lame duck. Tell me how.” : “Ve'll admit that ye come ter the rest 0’ us fellers an’ put.us wise ter Hawksmith an’ his bullion?” “Admit that? You'll hear me yell)in a minute. No, I don’t admit that, or that I’ve ever seen your face before.” “Then what’s the use in talkin’ if ye won't admit the truth?” “Necarnis,. said Pawnee Bill to the scout, “st this is-a frame-up they’re carrying it pretty far.” “This hardshell knows what he’s doing, Pawnee,” re- turned the scout. “‘He’s trying to cinch that Ae Hawk- smith sprung in the camp. Maybe he lingered here and dropped into our hands for that purpose—I don’t know. It’s certainly an unusually queer game that’s being played this night. Tet me get at him on another tack. You admit being one of the men that held up Hawksmith, Banks ?” “Tf Pawnee ain’t admittin’ nothin’,”, said Banks, “then I ain’t, nuther.” is “You don’t have to admit that,” spoke up Pawnee Bill; “even if your being here wasn’t enough to convict, you, that bullet you turned loose at Pard Bill and me would do it. You knew we were after you, and that we had good reason to be after you. Call me a greaser if you can dodge that!” BILL STORIES. oie int rae Banks made no response. “Why were you waiting here, Banks?’ went on the scout. Bod “I don’t have ter tell ye ev’ry blame’ thing,” growled _ Banks sulkily./ “Pawnee Bill knows as much as me, Tl” bet he’s told ye the hull bizness.” Pawnee Bill muttered to himself. : “This is getting on my nerves a lot, Pard Bill,” he fin- ished. “I’ve had. a clear record—it’s the thing 1 pride myself on—and now to have an ornery juniper like this, and a man that’s:not so ornery, like Hawksmith, accuse _ me of taking part in a holdup, rather gets me to going.” _“There were four of you concerned in the robbery, Banks?” persisted the scout. : , “I ain’t sayin’ a word,” grunted Banks. “Ask Pawnee Bill how many thar was of us. [i T ever git @ut 0’ this © Pll do some settlin’. with him.” 4 “You'll do some settling with me before you get out of this, Banks,” Said Pawnee Bill. ‘“You’re laboring hard to put a blot on my record, and I’ll probe your scheme to the bottom, even if I have to do it with cold steel.” | A yell came from old Nomad. It floated from the direction of the stage trail and bounded eerily from rock: to rock. “The old rough diamond has grabbed another of the gang!” exclaimed Pawnee Bill, leaping at a conclusion. ‘Perhaps, pard, we can find out more from this, second prisoner than we can from Banks.’ He lifted his voice. “This way, Nomad! Bring your man in here!” Nomad, accompanied by Silver Sam, came riding in among the boulders, guided now and again by a timely shout from the scout or Pawnee Bill. | ' “Now, by all the sons of Unk-te-hee and the sacred ’ O-zutha,” cried the man from No-Man’s Land, standing and straining his eyes through the gloom, “‘it’s Silver Sam the rough diamond is bringing, Pard Bill, and not a prisoner. What were you yelling for, Nomad? What's the excitement?” ¢ ae et : “I’ve made er find,” Pawnee,’ answered the trapper. - “Hide-rack kicked it in ther trail while Silver Sam an’ me was lookin’ fer more o’ ther tinhorns.” oe _ “It shore beats the nation how things are goin’ ter- night,” commented the new town marshak” “T ain’t been in office more’f five er six hours afore all this here brain- twistin’ bizness is unloaded onter my shoulders. I dunno what ter do with it no more’n a fool.” # “We'll help you out, Sam,” said the scout. “What's your find, Nick?” “Start a fire stick, Buffler,” returned Nomad, “an’ then draw clost ter me.” The scout struck a match and approached the trapper. A canvas bag, heavily weighted, hung from Nomad’s saddle horn. It Was open at the top. While the match flickered in the scout’s fingers, Nomad thrust a hand into the sack and drew out a gleaming bar of gold! ae : “Ate, on-she-ma-da!” gasped Pawnee’ Bill. some of McGuffy’s bullion, I take it!” ‘ “Thet’s ther way I took et myself, Pawnee,’ said’ the trapper. “Hide-rack kicked et over in ther trail. I got down ter examine, thinkin’ mebbyso et mout be ther holdup Hawksmith said he shot at. Silver Sam crowded in, an’ we was both some s’prised when we diskivered et’ was er sack, weighin’ upwards o’ twenty pounds. Et was tied with er buckskin cord, an’ we was s’prised ag’in when wéstook off the cord an’ seen the yaller bars. Thar’s “That’s oo THE BUFFALO five of ’em, an’ how, d’ye reckon, did thet sack ever come ter be in ther trail?” “Tt must have dropped from one of the saddles while the highwaymen were making their getaway,” reasoned the Scout. : “Quare them tinhorns didn’t hyer et drap !” “Not so queer as you might suppose, Nick. There was a good deal of hurrying, I reckon, and considerable noise. The thump of the bag in the road escaped notice. This gives me a theory, Pawnee.” ° “What sort of a theory, necarnis?” queried Pawnee Bill. “Why, a theory that explains how we happened to sur- prise Banks among these boulders.”’ ae “Go on with it.” “Banks had the bag at his saddle, and perhaps another bag or two as well. After the excitement of getting away from the scene of the robbery was over, Banks suddenly discovers that the bag of gold is missing. He comes back looking for it, while the rest wait for him somewhere farther along. He’s still looking when we show up. Real- izing that he’s trapped, Banks begins his shooting.” “You've hit it off plumb to rights, Pard Bill!’ declared Pawnee Bill. ‘An’ that,’ spoke up Silver Sam admiringly, “is what it means ter hev a head an’ know how ter use it. As fer me, why I couldn’t hev figgered that out ina month o’ blue moons. Shucks! Il gamble I don’t amount ter much as a marshal.” “There’s a way,” pursued the scout, “of getting at the rest of the gang by means of our prisoner and this bag © at-peld,”” ‘More headwork;” muttered Silver Sam. ‘Now lisen.” “How?” asked Pawnee Bill. \ “Well,” went on the scout, “Banks won't return to the others who are waiting for him farther along the trail.’ “Nary, he won't,” put in the old trapper, with emphasis. “Now that we’ve got one 0’ the gang, we'll jest nacherly Hibene ter imi Gee “After waiting for a while,’ continued the scout, “the rest of the gang will begin to wonder why Banks doesn’t return. Very likely they'll come back to these boulders to look for him,” — “And when they do come back,” cried Pawnee Bill, _ with enthusiasm, “we'll be waiting for ’em and will make a haul and a eean-up.” “Providing they really. come back,” said the scotit. “There’s a chance that they won't. They may think the risk is too great, and that they’d rather let Banks and the lost bag of gold go by the board than to take chances of getting into trouble themselves.” Silence fell over the scout’s listeners. There were two horns to the dilemma. “Tf we waited here,” the scout went on, “and the rest of the gang didn’t come back, we'd be losing a fine oppor- tunity to capture some of Banks’ pals.” “We'll have to take the chance, necarms,’ said. Paw- nee Bill: “we'll take the chance and trust to, luck.” “Or,” said the scout, ‘‘Nomad, the baron, and Cayuse can wait here, in the shadow of the rocks, and you or I, Pawnee, can ride north along the stage trail. The moon is down and the darkness is heavier than it has been. If the other three tinhorns are waiting along the trail for Banks, you or I might be mistaken for him and be able to get a line on the test of the men we want. If I go, _ Pawnee, you and Silver Sam can trail after me at a sale z. ~ grow louder nor fainter BILL. STORIES. distance and show yourselves in case I have the luck to stir up the test of the gang.” “Such a move, necarnis,’ said Pawnee Bill, “will cover both chances. But I’m mostly concerned, and I claim the right to shack along the trail, playing the role of Banks and hoping for a set-to with the rest of the gang, You and Silver Sam can bring up the rear, and jump in if | need you.” “All right, Pawnee. Ride!’ Pawnee Bill started through the rocks in the direction of the trail, While he was moving off, the scout in- structed old Nomad as to corralling the baron and Cayuse and posting them and himself in the most favorable posi- tion for capturing the other three men, in case they re- turned to the scene of the robbery. Having finished giving his orders, Buffalo Bill and Sil- ver Sam moved off after Pawnee Bill. CHAPT IR Vinny A RUSE THAT FAID@ Dy When Buffalo Bill and Silver Sam reached the stage trail and pointed their horses northward, Pawnee Bill could not be seen. The hours preceding dawn are al- ways darkest, and the thick gloom blotted the man irom No-Man’s Land completely from the eyes of the two who followed. “If Pawnee Bill could not be seen the striking hoofs of his horse could be heard. Back:through the hush of the night the muffled sound of galloping was borne to the alert ears of the scout and the marshal. “We'll foller him by the rappin’ o’ his hoss’ hoofs,” said Silver Sam. ‘Ears is sometimes a heap more ter be depended on than eyes, Buffler Bill.” “That's right, Sam,” returned the scout, “By keep- ing the sound of those hoofs just so—neither letting them we can hold our exact distance. We're near enough to reach Pawnee in plenty of time if he succeeds in drawing the attention of the met we're looking for, and not so near that the men will suspect our presence.” “T reckon ye kin do it, Buffler Bill. Thar ain't many things connected with the frontier that ye ait’t ekal to. But it’s yore ears an’ not mine that’ll have ter keep the distance. I’m a hefty town marshal, I am. Ole Man Blue only slated me fer the job bekase ye told him to.” “You can fill the bill with ground to spate, Sam,” as- serted the scout. “‘All you need, man, is a little more con- fidence in yourself,” “Confidence an’ savvy,” laughed Silver Sam. “Them two things never was my long suit. Ill do my duty, howsumever, as I see it, an’ that same duty I been a-turnin’ over an’ over in my mind fer the last half hour. I’ve come ter a conclusion, Buffler Bill.” “What sort of a conclusion?” “It’s this here, that ye’d better have Ole Man Blue fire me an’ take up the job o’ marshal ag’in. Why?” “Kase I'll hev ter do somethin’, as marshal, which | wouldn't do as a friend o’ Buffler Bill’s. Bein’ the head an’ front o’ law an’ otdet in Tenstrike jest now is mighty onpleasant, an’ I want ter git out.” “Give it to me flat-footed, Silver Sam,’ said the scout sharply. “Don’t hedge. Say what’s on your mind.” ee THE BUMRALO “Waal, Pil speak it out, but I want ye to understand that it glooms me up a heap ter do it, an’ I don’t want it ter make any diff’rence between you an’ me. If I stay on as,town marshal, | got ter arrest Pawnee Bill an’ hold him till he’s cleared. I ain’t got a doubt but that he will be cleared, but that there Hawksmith cuts a wide swath in Tenstrike. He’s purty much of a man, Hawksmith is, an’ when his story of the holdup gits over town there’s goin’ ter be a sentiment worked up agin’ Pawnee Bill that I kain’t dodge—as town marshal. So, Buffler, I'd ruther be jest er plain Puyate citizen ontil this bullion rob’ ry affair 1s over. The scout’s response to this regretful statement of the new: tmarshal’s was somewhat surprising—to the new marshal, “Good for you, Sam!” exclaimed Buffalo Bill. Silver Sam almost dropped out of his saddle, “Now, Buffler Bill,” said he, “ye’ve shore got me on the run. Why are ye talkin’ like that, when my duty shows me, as plain as | know how ter figger it, that I’ve got ter lay vilent hands on yore blanket mate ?’’ “Why, Sam,’ chuckled the scout, “you’re coming up to my estimate of you. You're exercising your mind and your courage. You see your duty, and, in order to avoid doing it, you want to step aside—out of a friendly feel- ing for me and my pards. But-L’m not going to let you step aside, Sam. .Yotu re_the town marshal; and, now that you have hit this trail, you've got to run it out.” “Vere makin’ it blamed uncomfortable fer me!’ grunted Silver Sam.. eiNOt ab all, was the hey response ; bringing out the best side of you, amigo. “Don’t ye savvy, Buffler Bill, that if I don't do. some- thin’ ter Pawnee Bill the hull town'll think I’m afeared? vine merely What's more, I got ter do somethin’ or all El Toro will come ter Tenstrike in a bunch an’ make things hot fer me. EI Toro will be bunched solid on the side o’ Hawksmith an’ McGuffy. I got ter do somethin’, as town marshal, that I hate like Sam Hill ter do—bein’ a friend o’ yourn.” “Do your duty as you see it, Sam,” said the scout, “no matter who it hurts. That will lift you higher in the estimation of every friend worth having.” “But you don’t b’leeve Pawnee Bill had anythin’ ter do with this rob’ry-———” “Certaitily not!” The emphasis the scout put in the wotds left no shadow of doubt about his position. “We're going to clear Pawnee Bill, in spite of what Hawksmith said.” ! “It ain’t only what Hayne said,’ went on Silver Sam glumly, “but it’s his bein’ myster’ously absent from town, like.he was, an’ refusin’ ter tell even ygu what he was about. I’d take his word that he wasn’t up ter nothin’ unlawful, but the rest o’ the Tenstrikers mebby won’t—an’ it’s a cinch the El Toro fellers’ll gamble thet thet p’int b’ars out Hawksmith’s story.” “There’s even more against Pawnee than all that, Sam. Banks, the scoundrel we captured, declares that Pawnee Bill has turned against the gang. I suppose some of the people of Tenstrike, and all the men in El Toro, will take that sort of talk from Banks as gospel.’”” Ke Bit STORIES. Cu “J reckon. Waal, mebby [ll be skinned alive by Paw- nee if I try ter jug him, but jest the same I’m goin’ ter try.” ; Silver Sam was showing a spirit that delighted the scout. Nevertheless, the scout did not intend to let the affair come to such a pass that his brave pard would be “jugged.” “There’s another way out of eG Sam,” said the scout, “and a way that will make your duty less unpleasant to you. The people of @enstrike still have confidence in me, I reckon.” : e “Tn you, Buffler Bill? Why, there ain’t a yap in ther hulf camp as don’t sw’ar by ye! All Tenstrike is, or is goin’ ter be, we owe tet you.” “Then I will be personally responsible for Pawnee Bill. You are to make no move against him. If I can’t prove his entire innocence of that bullion robbery within forty-eight hours, and raise Pawnee higher in the estima- tion of Tenstrike and El Toro than he was before Hawk- smith made his unfortunate mistake, I’ll agree to turn my _ brave pard over to you. Is it a bargain?” Silver Sam heaved a long breath of felief. “Gamble yer spurs it’s a bargain!” said he. “It’s a wonder, I couldnt see a way like that out 0’ the diffi- kilty. Yore word goes with me, any day ye kin find in the almatiac; an’ it’ll go ther same with the rest o the Tenstrikers. I’m ede blazes ye saw that way out o’ this bunch.o’ trouble.” At that moment the scout was aware that the drum- ming hoofbeats ahead had suddenly ceased. With a word of warning to Silver Sam he drew Bear Raw to a halt. Before the scout and the marshal could exchange ideas or hazard any suspicions on this sudden turn of events, . - the hoofbeats ahead took up their rhythm and Pawnee Bill could bé seen galloping back through a misty haze of coming day. ‘Jumpin’ sandhills!’ exclaimed Silver mornin’, Buffler Bill.” Sam. “It’s Morning and evening come with magical swiftness in those latittides. A faint streamer of dawn will skurry along the eastern hills, then race toward the zenith with wonderful rapidity ; and when evening comes, night falls like a sable curtain, suddenly Seah “The, trick fails, necarnis,;’ announced Pawnee Bill. “Tt’s too light for me to pass myself off for Banks, and we've come so far on the trail that I’ve a notion the men we want didn’t come in this direction at all.” “You're right on both counts, Pawnee,” agreed the scout, “and there’s nothing left for us but to @o back to Tenstrike with Banks. There’s a possibility that Nomad, the baron, and Cayuse may have had some luck.” — Less than an hour later, however, when they came abreast of the boulders, they learned that those they had left to ‘watch and ward the second chance had been equally unsuccessful. 4 : THE BUFFALO “Baron,” said the ‘scout, “you and Cayuse put Banks on his horse and tie him there; then bring the horse out into the trail girerss et na ONS th Ss } 20. THE BUFFALO ing the truth, then he shows a proper regard for his title of ‘prince of the bowie.’ My pard carries a Price knife. Show them its metal, Pawnee,” he added, stepping back from the table and waving his hand toward the silver coin. “Why, Pard Bill,” said Pawnee, “that’s an easy one.’ Lifting the blade over the coin, he brought the point down with a rush. “Scoot-a-wah-boo!” he laughed, and drew back. ay The knife had gone clean through the coin and pinned it to the table, A murmur of admiration ran through the crowd. ' _ “That’s certainly a good knife,” said McGuffy, pulling the blade from the table. é “Colonel Jim Bowie himself never used a better,” de- clared Pawnee Bill. Another half dollar was laid on the table, and the pris- oner advanced and brought his Allison blade down, dupli- cating Pawnee Bill’s feat—not so handsomely, perhaps, but still duplicating it. “Child’s play,” he leered, somewhat set up by his suc- cess. The scout quietly placed two half dollars on the table and motioned to his pard.. Pawnee Bill again stepped close, atid the shining blade clove the air like a darting sunbeam. With a flourish and a stile Pawnee drew away, leav- ing both coins impaled. Applause greeted the effort. It was rather a test of metal than of skill, as the scout had said, but neverthe- less strength was demanded for the successful perform- ance of the feat. “There’s no skill in all this foolishness,” demurred the prisoner. “Put something up to me that calls for a keen eye and a steady hand.” “That will come in due course,” said the scout, heap- ing up two more half dollars. The prisoner advanced upon the table. There was no confidence in his bearing—only a stern determination to do his part and hope for the best. His blade rose in the air, and was brought down with all his force, but the point turned, With an oath, the man cast aside the ruined bowie. “Suppose a Price knife is a better blade than an Allison knife,” he scowled, “that don’t prove I’m not Pawnee Bill.”’ “Tt proves that, as a ‘prince of the bowie,’ you don’t safeguard your title by using the best ee said the scout. ‘‘Now, for the rest of the test “Just a minute, Pard Bill,” cut in Pawnee. Swiftly piling three half dollars on the table, he again gripped his bowie. * “Now, Ja-koo-wan-kan / he murmured. There was a lifting of his sinewy form, a quick for- BILL STORIES. ward bending, and a~-thump—as the tempered steel bit into and through the three coins. When Pawnee Bill stepped aside, all three of the silver pieces wete pinned to the table top.* “Waugh!” exulted old Nomad; “ef totin’ better knives ae anythin’, I reckon as how Pard Pawnee proves his case.’ “I nefer seen anyt’ing like dot!” breathed the amazed baron. “Py shiminy grickeds, it vas some enchantments |’’ Even the El Toro men, who still, for some Treason, ap- peared to favor the prisoner, joined in the applause. “T can’t say, Buffalo Bill,” observed McGuffy, “that I agree with you that sticking a knife through three half dollars goes far toward proving which of these men is the real Pawnee Bill. A ‘prince of the bowie’ might hay an inferior knife. Price blades are not so plenty as a ay used to be.” “There are still Price knives to be had,” said the scout. “When a man seeks to carve his way to fame with a bowie, he’s foolish if he doesn’t secure the best blades in the country. My pard has the best knife, which is: cer- tainly a point in his favor. For the rest of the test “How am I going to go on with the test?” interrupted “T've spoiled my knife.” the prisoner. “Vou will be allowed to use Pawnee Bill’ d? ’ returned the scout; “that will put both of you mien on a perfectly even footing. We'll go outside for the next piece of work, Nomad, you and the baron keep close to the pris- onen” In leaving the hotel the crowd passed through the office, dining room, and kitchen so as to attract as little attention as possible. The culmination of the test was at hand. The scout did not want it interrupted by the misguided efforts of Welcome Perkins and the Ten- strikers to drive the El Toro men out of town. Passing around the rear of the building, the scout led the way to the adobe wall at the side. Pressing close to wall, the scout turned upon those who had followed him. ‘Now, men,’ said he, “we will have a test of skill. If the prisoner can duplicate it, I will take off my hat to him as a veritable Prince of the Bowie and the equal of my pard. If he can’t duplicate the feat, then he stands before you branded as an impostor, masquerading under the title that belongs to Pawnee Bill, and as the man who helped steal McGuffy’s bullion, Are you ready, Pawnee?” “Always ready, necarnis!” “Then get as far away from the wall as you thigk you can stand for the throw.” Once more the scout took a silver half dollar from his pocket; but, this time, he held the coin between his thumb and forefinger, flat against the adobe wall, *The first man to perform this seemingly marvelous feat was Ward Eaton, of San Francisco. This was in eighteen hundred and fifty- eight, and the feat was performed with “the first. bowie made by Martin Price. SEN iy CS ne Ree ae THE BUREAL®) BILL STORIES a A deep silence fell over the crowd, and more than one face lost some of its color. If Pawnee Bill’s bowie were to slip an inch or two to the right, the point would pierce the scout’s hand; a little more to the right, and it would impale the scout’s wrist; while, if it erred even more in its flight, the winged blade might spell death itself, After a moment’s hesitation, Pawnee Bill stepped out from the crowd and measured with his eyes the space that separated him from the wall. Cautiously he ad- vanced a step, and then fell back three steps. With the toe of his boot he made a mark in the soil. “Necarnis!”’ he called. “Well?” asked the scout, surveying his pard calmly. “Take off your hat. I don’t want to see anything but that half dollar.” ~ The scout removed his sombrero, and held it in his left hand, Pawnee Bill flung aside his own hat. Next, he went down on his knees, and, with his teeth and his left hand, drew the knotted handkerchief more tightly about his right arm. Then, watched breathlessly by the bystanders, he slowly arose, rubbing the fingers of his right hand over his jacket. “Say, Pawnee!” came huskily from_the old trapper. “What do you want, Nick?” Pawnee Bill did not look around, but kept his eyes fastened on the shimmering coin against the adobe wall. “Is thet thar bullet wound in yer arm li’ble ter inter- fere with ye? This hyar ain’t no time ter take chances.” “Tt isn’t a wound, Nick, but a scratcl®”’ Pawnee Bill brought the shimmering blade to his lips. “Do your prettiest, Ta-koo-wan-kan!” he whispered; “your prettiest, to-day, is none too good. On-she-ma-da ag Grasping the knife with his powerul fingers, so that the point was hidden, he lifted it over his head. But the hand came down again, only to rise a second and a third time. “Ready, Pawnee!” cried Buffalo Bill. “Scoot-a-wah-boo!” shouted Pawnee, as the famous Price knife left his hand. Like a flash of flame the steel whirled toward the scout, twisting and turning in mid-air. Its passage from hand to wall was done in a breath, and before the onlookers real- ized that the knife was out of Pawnee Bill’s fingers, Buf- falo Bill was drawing away from the wall. “Here, amigos,’ said the king of scouts, ‘Gs the real prince of the bowie. The point has gone through the coin and speared it to the wall.” The gold of the knife handle gleamed against the silver disk, both hanging to the adobe. A cheer went up, in which the El Toro men joined. “Talk about your knife tricks,” cried MecGuffy, “I never saw anything to equal that !” “Let the prisoner equal it, McGuffy,” said the scout. “Who'll hold the half dollar for me?” asked the pris- oner. “If nobody won’t hold it, how kin I do the measly trick?’ As the coil tightened around the prisoner, he forgot his elaborate attempt to understudy the part of Pawnee Bill. His uncouth speech returned to him, as, with shaken nerves, he swept his eyes over the faces around him. _ “Perhaps McGuffy, if he is still inclined to favor you,” called the scout, “will hold the Ralf dollar !”. “You'll excuse me,” said McGuffy “I’m ready now, without carrying this test any farther, to admit that your pard is Pawnee Bill, prince of the.bowie. That means - A\ chorus of wild yells came from behind the little crowd of men. Angther crowd rushed down on them, striking right and left with their fists. “The prisoner! ‘The prisoner !’’ The warniwg burst from the scout as, fiercely, he en- deavored to get to the prisoner’s side. Before he could reach the man, however, he was torn away from the trap- per and the baron. The scout had a fleeting glimpse of Welcome Perkins and some more of the townspeople; he also had a glimpse of horses around the front of the hotel. “Don’t shoot!” he roared, racing after the Tenstrikers ;« “the man that uses\a gun will settle with me. Horses, {’? pards When the scout had gained the front of the hotel, © Perkins and his men’ were racing up the gulch—and the prisoner was lying across tHe front of Perkins’ saddle. CHAPTER XiLt, TRAILING THE TOWNSMEN. The cause of this sudden move on the part of the townsmen had come to Buffalo Bill in a flash. The Ten- strikers, as Silver Sam had said, looked upon the inter- ference of the El Toro men: with angry disfavor. McGuffy had brought his armed followers, into the gulch and had begun dictating as to what should be done in dealing with Pawnee Bill as a stispect in the bullion rob- bery. Had the El Toro contingent not interfered, the Ten- strike men might have ranged themselves on the side of Hawksmith, for the evidence was certainly with the fore- man; but the high-handed way in which McGuffy was seeking to run affairs had turned the people of the town against him and Hawksmith. Welcome Perkins, collecting a number of the citizens, had planned a raid. Horses were left in front of the hotel, and_a crowd of townspeople, on foot, had rushed Around the rear of the building and caused a commotion for the purpose of stealing away the prisoner who claimed to be Pawnee Bill, SO MO Oe Ee eee Te La ET Aonaus plant SRL cP ith ior ee Baath a de RN AA FANS Sia oh COL LINAS SO NAT tl SA ns eae f a ata Lesee tere eater ; : — eee —— TEESE SS oe sera ee Spee etic a as Sa ee eg 22 THE BUFFALO Very cunningly the Tenstrikers had carried out their _ scheme. - The angry El Toro contingent, when they reached a place from whence they could see the Ten- strikers galloping up the gulch, could not find one of their saddle horses in the street. “That man is ours!” yelled McGuffy ; “Buffalo Bill said we could have him! Find your, mounts, men, and run the Tenstrikers down!” “ The horses from El Toro fad been hidden away so carefully that their owners were a quarter of an hour locating them. Meantime. the scout and his pards had secured their own mounts from the stable and were hur- tying up the gulch. Silver Sam joined them just as they started from the hotel. ae “Here’s a how-de-do, Sam!” criedethe scout.- “Borkins ought to have known better than to do a thing like that!’ “The hull town is crazy mad ag’inst the El Toro fel- lers,’ answered the marshal. “Perkins an®the rest was afeared they’d run-off with the pris’ner that claimed ter be Pawnee.” “I told McGufiy he could have his prisoner.” “An’ Pawnee, too?” “Certainly not! McGtiffy has acknowledged that he had no right to suspect Pawnee Bill. W. e've got to, re- “cover the prisoner, Sam, and we've got~to see that this foolish business don’t result in any gun play.” “We don’t want any shootin’. Perkins understodd that, which was mainly why no guns was used when‘the crowd rushed around the hotel.” “Where’s Banks, the other prisoner ?” “I got two men guardin’ him in the hotel.” “What became of the rest of the El Toro outfit 2” “Perkins had ’em decoyed inter the Miners’ Rest. When he BCE ready ter make his move, he"focked the doors on ’em.’ : “Waugh!” exclaimed the old trapper, who was riding near the scout, “I never thort Welcome Perkins had the nerve ter pull off sich er play as this un. We’re gittin’ kins an’ Silver Sam.” 99 “Do you know; Sam,” went on the scout, “what Per- kins and the rest are going to do with the prisoner?” “Perkins took a rope with him. Mebby they’re goin’ ter swing the feller up-in order ter keep a es from kerryin’ him off ter El Toro.” “Worse and worse!” struck in Pawnee Pall it they do that, pards, we'll never be able to find out what became © of McGuffy’s gold. I won't feel satisfied until we find that confounded bullion and return every bar of it to McGuffy.” “Finding the gold is nothing to you now, Pawnee,” said the scout. “Well, that’s the way I feel, necarnis: I’ve haw a bigf ger interest in that bullion than you know, anything about.” as AE hy aR i RC IR GR at IR Th er la gh eee Se aes inte oe sia af BILL oes é The scout could not understand his remark, but it was scarcely a time to press for explanation of obscure state ments. “We'll overhaul ’em,” said the scout. “Perkins’ horse is carrying two a good-sized men, and he’s oe to lag behind.” At that moment the pursuers rounded a bend in the gulch and came full tilt-upon a lot of riderless horses. The horses were at a standstill, and Solomon Jakes, one of the Tenstrikers, was in charge of them. “Where are the rest of your party, Jakes?” demanded the scout. . Jakes waved his hand up the slope of the east bank. “They went over-the rim o’ the gulch,’ he grinned. “Where’s the prisoner ?” “The other fellers are chasin’ him.” “Did he get away from them?” an “Jest about. Perkins had knocked him down an’ reck- oned he’d travel without kickin’ up a ruction, but the pris’ner slipped off’n Perkins’ hoss an’. was halfway ter the top o’ the bank afore the rest o’ us could stop. Perk said we wasn’t ter do noshootim. kase he had a age I reckon that El Toro bunch won't git him, anyways.” “Baron,” called the scout, “you and Cayuse stay here and take care of our horses. All of you go up the gulch with the live stock and keep the El Toro men trailing you as long as possible. They'll be along presently, and I don’t want them and the Tenstrikers to come within pistol shot of each other until both sides have a chance to. cool dawn. Come on, Pawnee, you, and Nick!” The scout was already out of his saddle and hurrying toward the steep slope. Pawnee Bill and the trapper turned over their mounts to Cayuse and the baron, and hurriedly followed in the scout’s wake. tN = The slope was too steep for hones and almost too steep for unmounted men, but the pards struggled to/ the _ top. From the #im rock they could look off across a our eyes opened ter day, Buffler, both as regyards Per- — sandy plain, with here and there a bit of chaparral show- ing. Perkins and his men could be seen beating up the bushes, and running from*one clump to another in all directions, > “Ther prisoner hes got erway from them in. ther bresh,” remarked Nomad. “They’re bushwhackin’ good an’ plenty, but they don’t seem ter be hevin’ much ‘Suc- cess.’ “We'll help them,“ said the scout “Sateen, pards, and do your hunting along the gulch rim. Perkins and those with him don’t seem to be , paying much attention to the top of wall.” Nomad, thrashing and pounding through every clump of bushes that got in his way, started down the gulch. Pawnee Bill angled off through pieces of chaparral which Perkins and his men had neglected, and the scout started north, . 3 o by at Ee THE BUFFALO’ Some of the patches of greasewood which the scout encountered were of sufficient size to require several’ minutes for investigation. As he hurried out of one piece Of chaparral to jump into another, he found him- self confronted by Welcome Perkins. “Say,” bawled Perkins, “wouldn’t this knock ye slab- sided? Kain’t find hide ner ha’r o’ that whelp !” “Why did you try to run him off, Perkins?” demanded the scout. “Them El Toro chaps ain’t got no bizness tearin’ inter Tenstrike an’ tryin’ ter run things—that’s why.” “You've made muddle of the whole business, Perkins. I had just proved to McGuffy that Pawnee Bill had noth- ing to do with the holdup, and I had agreed to let him take the prisoner to El Toro. Then, all at once, you men rushed in and knocked the whole plan galley west.” “Waal, mebby thar’s a bobble been made,” returned Perkins, but not with much regret. “Anyways, Buffler Bill, we’ve showed McGuffy that we’re alive, up here in Cherokee Gulch.” “Well, find that man if possible, Perkins, and if you do find him take him back to. Tenstrike and turn him over to McGuffy. Silver Sam said something about your using a rope. . Rid yourself of the notion—unless you want to get into trouble.” The scout hadn’t seen-Silver Sam since he, and Paw- nee Bill, and old. Nomad had reached the top of the eulch wall. As he hurried away from Perkins, the scout looked around for the marshal, but was not able to locate him, - From one chaparral to another the scout carried his search, but it was a blind hunt at best. Once over the gtlch rim, with anything like a fair start, and the escap- ing prisoner could find a thousand ways to keep himself out of sight. ‘ As the scout moved on and on, racing through clump after clump of bushes, he came abruptly to a gully that formed an arm of the gulch. The gully was deep and broad, and from bank to bank was matted with tangled undergrowth, A better place for a fugitive to hide it would have been difficult to find. A man could have stowed himself away in those bushy depths, and then, when the proper mo- ment arrived, have descended from the gully’s mouth into the gulch and made his way either up or down the larger defile as would best serve his purpose. Thinking that a quiet search of this likely spot would be most apt to secure success, the scout made prepara- tions for a careful descent of ¢he bank. His plans were suddenly frustrated, for the lip of the gully had been undermined. The earth gave way beneath his feet. He dropped like a shot into the bushes below, followed by a ton or more of loose earth. It was not a long fall, and the bushes broke the force of it, saving him from SS a ae CT Se a ee eee ceinrr iin BIL SLORLES: Go anything more serious than a few scratches; but when he landed, the bank was so steep that he could not secure a firm foothold. Crashing and rolling, he went down and down, finally bringing up in the gully bottom against something that snorted and leaped away from him. As soon as he could get the dust out of his eyes, he dis- covered that he had rolled against the legs of a saddle horse, picketed to a dwarf ironwood tree. Another horse was hitched to the same tree. But what interested the scout more than anything else was the sight of four canvas bags, hanging from the two empty saddles. The bags seemed to be heavily weighted, and it sud- denly dawned on the scout that he had tumbled into the place where the two holdup men, so far not accounted for, had left their mounts and stolen bullion. With an exultant exclamation, the scout got to his feet and began investigating the bags. GHAPTER XIV, AT BAY IN THE GULLY. The canvas bags the scout found resembled the bag which the thieves had dropped in getting away with their plunder. There was no doubt but that the bags were filled with bullion and belonged to McGuffy. ‘Here’s a find, and no mistake,” the scout chuckled. “T try to help Perkins locate the escaped prisoner and tumble head over heels into the place where the other two men of the gang are keeping their horses and the loot. A stroke of luck following hard on the heels of a little misfortune.” He understood what had happened. On their way north, after robbing Hawksmith, Banks had discovered the loss of the bag of gold. The other three robbers had gone into this gully to await Banks’ return. He had failed to return, and the leader had gone in search of him, leaving the gold and the remaining two members of the gang behind. The leader had been captured, and he had endeavored to make the most of a bad situation by turning suspicion more strongly against Pawnee Bill. The best thing that could have happened to the cap- tured leader of the thieves was that misguided proceed- ing of the townsmen, captained by Welcome Perkins. The leader of the gang was now at large, and, undoubt- edly, was. endeavoring to reach the gully and join the other members of the gang. “T'l] stave the fellow off if he comes here,” the scout. “And if the other two show up, P—— The scout’s reflections were cut short by a voice be- hind him. “Stand whar ye aire, Bulfler Bill! i ioe a move an’ I'll pepper ye; er try ter yell—it’s all the same.’ hoe RG uhilidsths eda t ai ehail: SUlkag ce) AHURA BAR CMU SUN GR Sie ee a a Mi 24 ? THE BUFFALO a The scout’s hands leaped at his belt. The hands found nothing but empty holsters. The revolvers were missing ? _ no doubt they had fallen from the belt oe the as tumble into the gully. Slowly Buffalo Bill turned around. A man was ook ing at him over the sights of a six-shooter, “Who are you?” asked the scout, consumed with re- gret on account of his missing nepos and trying to gain time to use his wits. “Me?” chuckled the man with the gun ; “T’m Rictdan, one 0’ the Terrors. You put most o’ us out o’ bizness, ~ Buffler Bill, but thar’s two o’ us. left an’ ye’ll find we're right lively.” ‘So your name’s Riordan, eh?” ais” The scout dropped his eyes in seeming reflection. Really, however, his gaze was darting over the brush- covered slope down which he had recently rolled.. If he could loeate one of the revolvers, he might contrive to get hold of it before Riordan could shoot. “There’s another man with you?” As-he put the question the scout shifted his place slightly in order to give himself @ view of another part of the gully bank. “Yes,” answered the accommodating Riordan; “his _.name’s Gadsby, an’ he’s watchin’ at the mouth o’ the gully.” “Banks was one of your pards?” . “He was, but ye got Banks an’ Cherokee Charlie in Tenstrike.” From this it would appear that Riordan and Gadbsy knew nothing about the escape of Cherokee Charlie. “Cherokee Charlie,’ remarked the scotit, again shifting his position, “wasn’t one of the Terrors.” “Not him. Charlie’s the ombray that come from El Toro an’ put us wise ter that bullion Hawksmith was totin’ ter Albuquerque. Too blame’ bad erbout Chero- . kee! He helped us nab the bullion, an’ now he ain’t in no - shape, him er Banks, ter corral their share o’ it. No loss without some small gain, .howsumever, an’ I reckon Gadsby an’ me kin handle all the loot.” “You’re mighty communicative, Riordan,” scout. His roving glance had coveredgall the slope that was’ visible in his vicinity without detecting one of the lost revolyers. Disappointed, but not discouraged, ithe scout began going over the ground again. oy “T don’t mind talkin’, Buffler Bill,” returned Riordan. oXe see, | got the diop: on ye, an’ thar ain’t any guns in yore belt. If ye tried ter yell, I could blaze away, an’ I don’t b’leeve-either the yell or the shot. would be heard. Anyhow, if they was heard, they wouldn’t help ter locate either you er me,” ‘How long are you going to stay here, Riordan?” said the BILL oe 4 Ta a ombrays quit runnin’ up an’ down the ick What’s the matter of ’em, Buffler Bill? “Iwo bunches o’ saddle hosses goes by with two o’ yore pards in charge o’ one bunch, an’ a man I don’t know managin’ the other. Arter they git past, some El Toro fellers, with McGufty in the lead, follers lickety-kelter. What aire they up to?’ ‘“They’re looking for Cherokee Charlie, Riordan,” said the scout. “Thunder! Ye don’t mean ter say that Cherokee got away?” : There was trepidation in 1 Riordan’ s voice. He didnot appear very jubilant.over his pard’s success. “He escaped,” declared the scout. pilose an alls’: “No, he left his horse behind. A crowd of Tenstrike men were bringing him up the gulch to serve as central figure in a lynching bee.” c ‘An’ he got loose? Wouldn’t that rattle yer spurs! D’ye reckon he'll git ketched ag’in ?” £ .-I reckon he will, Riordan. There are a good many ake out looking for him. I wouldn’t worry, if I were you.’ : “Gadsby an’ me has made up our minds ter take all ther loot, exceptin’ the bag Banks drapped, o’ course—but mebby ye don’t know nothin’ erbout thatdost bag, er why Banks an’ Cherokee went back to them rocks?” “We know all about that.” “Figgered it out-yerself 2°” The scout did not answer at once. An electric thrill had shot through him as his eyes rested suddenly on the blued barrel of one of his revolvers.. The weapon lay within two yards of him, half screened by an overhang- ing bush. How was he to lay hands on it without draw- ing a shot from*Riordan? “We found the bag, Riordan, and guessed why Banks and Cherokee had come back to the boulders. Any ob- jection to my sitting down?” “Not at all,” said Riordan. “Drap down whar ye’re ee The scout bdragped’\< ticldensally bringing himself three feet nearer the revolver by the move. “Where were you when I fell over the bank; up there?” the scout asked. Riordan had carefully changed his angle of aim to _command the scout in his new position. J aL was with Gadsby, watchin’ the gulch,” was the reply. “Ve made a- big racket, an’ : come back Doe ter see what was up. “IT jarred myself up quiteja little,” confided the scout. pet as s dizzy, and I haven’t got over the shock, evell now.” ite ied himself backward, lifting his hands to his head and rubbing his temples. With one quick heave of his body he felt sure that he could’ reach the revolver. All that remained was to gauge the time for the effort. - pot dai titr ye wo THE BUFFALO Riordan had a steady hand and a keen, alert eye. The point of the leveled revolver: scarcely wavered, and Rior- dan’s gaze never once swerved from the man before him. “Who is this Cherokee?” inquired the scout. “He’s a feller that’s been took fer Pawnee Bill so many times he reckoned he could play the part. But I reckon ye found out he wasn’t yer pard when he got ketched.”’ “Cherokee couldn’t fool me, but he did rather pull the wool over McGuffy’s eyes for a while. Now The right moment had come. Riordan turned his eyes on the horses, perhaps to reassure himself that they were all right. That same instant the scout, with a dig of his heels in the earth, pushed his whole body upward along the slope and reached with his hands. His right hand caught the muzzle of the revolver. As hand and muzzle came in contact, the scout threw him- self sideways. | An oath leaped from Riordan’s lips, punctuated by the spiteful bark of his six-shooter. The bullet went into the ground, at the spot where the scout’s body had been lying a second before. Had Riordan been content to use his revolver again, he might have done so’ with telling effect; but rage over- mastered him, and he plunged toward the scout with out- stretched hands. “Steady, there!” warned the scout, bobbing up on his knees and changing ends with his revolver in ey “The boot’s on the other leg, Riordan,” he ‘Drop your gun! Drop it!” fashion. added, his weapon leveled. Riordan pulled himself up sharply and stared into the scout’s glittering eyes. Muttering fiercely, he released the weapon he was holding and it plumped down at his side. | “I was a fool not ter hev bored ye fust’time I got a bead on ye,” he gr owled, “but I reckoned Gadsby an’ me ‘wd tig ye up an’ leave ye hyer when we got ready ter pike. Then I. wouldn’t ’a’ keered whether ye starved, er died, er been found, er what happened. ‘Blast ther luck, anyways! All the while ye was torkin’ ye was lookin’ fer the revolver, wasn’t ye?” “I was. Have you any idea when Gadsby will get back from the mouth of the gully ?” ‘Tm her now,” came another voice from behind the scout. Riordan laughed gleefully. _ “Gadsby’s behind ye with another gun, Buffler Bill,” satd he. ‘He got thar erbout the time ye h’isted up and looked at me over yer sights. Ye darsen’t let go at me, kase if ye fo Gadsby’ll let go at you. Bully -fer_you, Gadsby! I seen ye jest as Buffler Bill was orderin’ me ter drap my gun.” oo Gadsby chuckled, and the scout wondered what was to happen next. - BILL STORIES. as CHAPTER 320V. THE BLOCKADE LIFTED. “Gadsby,” said the scout, “you've called the turn, and it’s your next move.” “IT savvy that like a house afire,’ laughed Gadsby. “Ever'body’s come back from up the gulch, Riordan, an’ we're free ter cl’ar out. What was ye opinin’ ter do with. ther scout?” : “Le’s tie him an’ leaxe him hyer,” suggested Riordan. “That'll mean the waste of er lot o’ good rope, but I reckon it’s a heap better’n doin’ t’other thing. We ain't got no cause ter love Buffler Bill, though.” “T -ain’t sparin’. him on account o’ the fact that he stands too high in my regards, Gadsby, fer any gun play, but I don’t want them pards o’ liisn turned loose on our trail. We're goin’. with gold, when we hike from this” gully, an’ I don’t want ter leave any more trouble behind us than we kin help.” “Waal, pick up yer gun an’ go fer the rope.” Just as Riordan. started to bend and recover the six; shooter, another voice butted into the complex situation. “Lay a finger on that gun an’ I'll fire!’ ak was Silver Sam’s voice, and it-came from farther up Both Sam and Gadsby were behind the the gully bank. - scout. Gadsby gave vent to a. startled at and Riores straightened without the gun. “Who'll ye shoot if I recover the weppin?” palpitated Riordan.) “Gadsby,” promptly answered Silver Sam. gun leveled at the back o’ his head.” cried Gadsby, “or I'll let the scout hev it, “T’ve got a “Git away,” muy pronto.” “No, ye won't! Talk like that an’ I won't give ye a chanst.” Riordan began to edge away and swear violently to ease his feelings. “What sort of er bloomin’ play d’ye call this?’ he growled. “One feller’s drawin’ a bead on you, Gadsby, an’ ye’re drawin’ another on Buffler Bill, an’ he’s drawin’ another on me—an’ I kain’t even pick up my ggpotin’ 1? iron! _ “Who are ye, behind thar ?” demanded Gadsby. “Silver Sam, the new town marshal at Tenstrike,’ was the prompt reply. ‘Put down yore gun!” “Don’t ye do it, Gadsby!” cried Riordan. “He will do it,’ threatened Silver Sam, countin’ three. One!” f “When ye say ‘three,’ ”’ whooped Gadsby, I’ll let fly at Buffler Bill.” 7 “And I'll let fly at Rin. 6 ued the scout, appre- “ciating the humor of the situation. Silver Sam counted no farther. Buffalo Bill heard tlie mg : ot “an’ while ’m a See ee Bioaa co cation ne Pa wees 26 THE BURFALO sound of thrashing bushes behind him, followed by a heavy fall. “Look out fer that other oanbeay Buffalo Bill!” cried Silver Sam. “I went arter this un with my hands.” The scout got up. “You've another six-shooter in your belt, Riordan,” said he. “Just remove it and drop it beside the one on the ground.” “Ain’t this a rum go!” muttered Riordan. “An? jest when Gadsby an’ me was about ter make tracks with them four bags o’ gold. Fellers like us don’t never hev no luck when fellers like you ee up with ’em. It’s been so from ther minit you an’ yore pards fust hit Cherokee Gulch.” " Riordan dropped the second gun. “Now you can get the rope,’ “We've got a use for it, I reckon.” went on the scout. Buffalo Bill followed Riordan to one of the horses and watched him while he removed a picket rope from the saddle. “Which is your ieee Riordan?” the scout asked. “This un,” was the gloomy answer. “Then climb aboard,” Riordan got into the saddle. “Put your hands together on the saddle horn,” was the scout’s next order, Riordan obeyed, and the scout stepped closer and put up his revolver preparatory to the tying. Riordan made a desperate effort to get a knife from his belt. Quick as a flash, however, the scout seized his wrist and wrenched it until the knife dropped. “Your jig is up, Riordan,” said the scout sternly. “The- quicker you realize that, the better. Now, then, put your hands where they were before,” The last atom of resistance had gone out of Riordan. Passively he rested his hands on the horn and submitted to the deft binding that secured him to the saddle. Taking a picket rope from the other horse, the scout made his way to the place where Silver Sam was pinning Gadsby to the sloping bank of the gully. ; Expeditiously the second prisoner was secured by the hands, Walked to his layen helped into the saddle, and tied there. When this was finished, the scout turned to Silver Sam and caught his hand, “You're making good as marshal, Sam,” said he, “just as I knew you would.” “Tm beginnth’ ter hev confidence in myself, Buffler Bill,” grinned Sam, “an’ mebby, by an’ by, I'll git savvy enough ter make a fair marshal.’ “You will, there’s no doubt about that. But how did you happen along in such timely fashion?” “Waal, you, an’ Pawnee, an’ Nomad all went up over BILL STORIES. the rim o’ the gulch, but I seen a patch o’ scrub on the bank, an’ reckoned it wouldn’t do no harm ter look it over. No one was hidin’, so I moved 6n down ther bank, an’ wonderin’ what I’d do with that escaped pris’ner in case I did happen ter stir him up. Purty soon I reached the mouth o’ this gully. The place got more promisin’, kase I heerd voices, an’ one of ’em I knowed ter be yourn. I sneaked up an’ got the hang o’ the situation, an’ | placed myself whar I reckoned I could do the most good,” “You did well, Sam. When I leave Tenstrike, I’ll:\feel that im leaving a good man in charge of the public peace.” “Obliged ter ye, pard. How did yee git inter this gully?” “Tumbled in. The bank gave way under me, and I dropped and rolled until I brought up against one of those horses. Riordan, there, heard me and got the drop on me. I reached for my guns, but they were gone. I located one of them while I talked with Riordan, and managed to get hold of it. Before I could do anything worth while, Gadsby got behind me; and before he could do anything you got behind him.” The scout laughed. “It was a queer blockade, Sam,” he finished, “but you lifted it.” “Then right here, at the end of yer stay in the gulch, I done somethin’ fer ye!” OYou aids: “That’s somethin’ fer me ter think about fer the rest 0’ my days. What's in them bags?’ “Bullion, Sam.” . Ballion?’ “Exactly. It’s the rest of the gold that was .taken from Hawksmith.” “Waal, what d’ye think 0’ that! Say, Buffer Bill, we’re doim a heap better’n I thought we was. Shall we untie them hosses an’ lead ’ém out inter the gulch?’ . “Wait a minute, Sam, till I find my other revolver.” The scout was successful, after a brief search, in re- covering hisynissing six-shooter. Silver Sam had already appropriated\the guns belonging to Gadsby, and the scout gathered in the two guns dropped by Riordan. — “T reckon we're ready to move, Sam,’ announced Buf- falo Bill, walking to Riordan’s horse and unhitching the animal. “Will we have any difficulty getting oe horses down into the gulch?” “It’s an easy runway, pard,’ answered Sam, as the scout started off with Riordan. “This here was quite a hole fer a couple o’ tinhorns ter stow themselves aves, in, hey ?”’ “Tt answered well enough, up to a certain point.” “That p’int was reached when ye went huntin’ fer the pris’ner that got erway an’ took a fall inter the gully. Why, Buffler Bill, if Perkins an’ the rest o’ his crowd hadn’t run off with the pris’ner, like they done, then we wouldn't hev follered, an’ ye wouldn’t hev hunted, an’ like tk be —— — Fei co Gy LY hi tt bo 0g x Cl ; THE BUFFALO as not Riordan an “Gadsby would hev got ae with this bullion. Quare how things turn out sometimes.” “That’s a remark my old trapper pard often makes,” said the scout, “and the beauty of it is its truth.” _ “Are ye goin’ ter git out o’ this part o’ the kentry, Buffler Bill?” inquired Gadsby. “T am, Gadsby,’ said the scout. “I had intended leay- ing this morning, with my pards, but you fellows did things last night that delayed alf of us.” “T reckon,’ remarked Riordan, “that, with Cate an’ pards out o’ the way, us free lances’ll hev a show.” “No show at all, Riordan,” said the:scout. “You fel- lows are the last of the Terrors, and we’re going to turn you over to McGuffy.” “What ye goin’ ter. do that fer? McGuffy’ll see that we git the limit.” “T hope so. You fellows deserve the limit, especially Cherokee Charlie.” “Who’s Cherokee Charlie?” cut in Silver Sam. “He’s the fellow who tried to palm himself off as Pawnee Bill,” explained the scout. At that moment, the scout led Riordan’s horse through the mouth of the gully, and slowly descended toward the bottom of the gulch. : A clatter of hoofs from below broke on his ears, and he looked down the gulch to see Pawnee Bill, Nomad, the baron, and Cayuse approaching, Pawnee leading Bear Paw and Nomad trailing Silver Sam’s mount. The approaching pards set up a clamorous yell of triumph, and the scout and Silver Sain answered it heartily. ° “TI reckon,” trail, pard.” “For which I’m thankful,” was athard one.” said Sam, “that we’re at the end o’ this answered the scout. “It ime, CHAPTER XVI. CONCLUSION. “We hadn’t a notion what had become of you, Pard Bill,’ cried. Pawnee, when both parties had come to- gether at the foot of the slope leading to the gully. “At ther: same time,’ said Nomad, “we mout hév knowed Pard Buffler would be doin’ somethin’ thet counts. Malin dollar Bia: or, Tragedy. 7o7—Rogues of the Air: or; Nick Carter’s Helicopter Clue. Sa Tightening Coil; or, Nick Carter Outpointing Master ogues. 709—-The Bolt from the Blue; or, Nick Carter and the Dream Stone. 710—The Stockbridge Affair; or, Nick Carter’s Quick Detective Work. 711—A ree from the Past; or, Nick Carter’s Treasure-vault Case. Nick Carter’s _Bathhouse DIAMOND DICK WEEKLY The heroes of the stories published in this weekly are dear to the hearts of 60,000 boys. Thirty-two big pages. splendid Western character. High art colored covers. 711—Diamond Dick’s Valor; or, The Boys of Gordon Gulch: 712—Diamond Dick’s Derelict; or, The Outcast of the Ozark. 713—Diamond Dick’s Clever Play; or, Saving a Fortune to a Young Aéronaut. » 714—Diamond Dick’s Dory; or, Trolling for a Tartar. eae Dick’s Loyalty; or, The Mystery of Handsome arr sol iamaed Dick’s Australian Pard; or, The Cattle Qtreen of Double-S Ranch. ee Dick’s Triple Play; or, ene the Foes of Uncle am Price, 5 cents. ‘718—Diamond Dick’s Mill Mystery; or, Bugaboo. 719—Diamond Dick’s Marvelous Capture; or, The Hounding of Gil Curry. 720—Diamond. Dick’s Lightning Feat; or, Handsome Harry and the Golden Treasure. - 721—Diamond Dick’s Wonder Trails or, Radigan. 722—Diamond Dick’s Dangerous Duty; or, The Million-dollar Mystery. Handsome Harry’s The Fall of Red For sale by all newsdealers, or will be sent to any address on receipt of price, cents per COPY, in money or postage stamps, by STREET & SMITH, Publishers, 79-89 Seventh. Avenue, New York IF YOU WANT ANY BACK NUMBERS of our. ‘Weeklies and cannot procure them from your newsdealer, they can be obtained from this office direct. us with the price of the Weeklies you want and we will send them to you by return mail. Fill out the following Order Blank and send it te POSTAGE STAMPS TAKEN THE SAME AS: MONEY. STREET & SMITH, 79-89 Seventh Avenue, New. York City. 190 e@eeeeeeeee ee ee esseeeeeBPoeeeeeas ®@@CCCOCOCHOOSBEECOR EHR SEOEOR Dear Sirs: Enclosed please FInd ives scores vestschess wie tte cents hos which send me: TIP TOP WEEKLY, Nos. oe oo ae BUFFALO BILL STORIES, Nos......... BOs NICK CARTER WEERLY 0 oes iene rthecae secure teas BRAVE AND BOLD WEEKLY,“ . DIAMOND DICK WEEKLY, SCeoOeeeoaesoereenvees e@e2reseeeseeo INEME Eli cicac sic cie oc cebas cuieiccesieisece ee 212 SETeRl..oceccseecercerseccccccccecssCHty ooseccesccvccerceccccccsceeen stAlOrsocccsesece. eececeeeecoseseeeoe ee0e0ee0eeee eed 4 Diamond Dick = a ee BUFFALO BILL STORIES ISSUED EVERY TUESDAY BEAUTIFUL COLORED COVERS There is no need of our telling American readers how interesting the stories of the adventures 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, and, 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. You can have your news-dealer order them or they will be sent direct by the publishers to any address upon receipt of the price in money or postage-stamps. We give herewith a list of all of the back numbers in print. 245—Buffalo 250—Buffalo 252—Buffalo 253—Buffalo 254—Buffalo 256—Buffalo 258—Buffalo 264—Buffalo 267—Buffalo 269—Butffalo King 272—Buffalo 273—Buffalo 274—Buffalo 275—Buffalo 278—Buffalo 280—Buffalo 283—Butffalo E 285—Buftalo 287—Buffalo 288—Buffalo 292—Buffalo : alo 298—Buffalo 299—Buffalo 305—Buffalo 306—Buffalo 308—Buffalo 309—Buffalo 5310—Buffalo 312—Buffalo 314—Buffalo 315—Buftfalo 316—Buffalo 319—Buffalo 321—Buffalo 324—Buffalo 325—Buffalo 326—Buffalo 327—Buftalo 328—Buffalo 329—Butffalo 330—Buffalo 331—Buffalo 332—Buffalo 333—Buffalo 4—Buffalo 5—Buffalo 6—Buffalo 337 Buffalo 8—Buffalo 9—Buffalo O— ai Buffalo —Buffalo —Buffalo uffalo 344—Buffalo 345—Buffalo 346—Buffalo 348—Buffalo 349—Buffalo 390—Buffalo 391—Buffalo 352—Buffalo 1 > 2 > o 9 oO 9 oO 9 » 2» ? 9g o 3 34 34 34° ra os Bilis; Wost. Quarty i. 0.6. 8. 5 Bill ona Lone Aunt. 3.3 6. : 5 Bill and the Redskin Wizard 5 Bill’s Bold Challenge....... Bill’s Shawnee Stampede.... 5 Bill on a Desert Trail...... 5 Bill in Tight Quarters...... Bill and the Bandits in Black Bill in the Canyon of Death. Bill and the Robber Ranch Bills Dusky Brailers;: ...:.:.. Bill’s Diamond Mine........ Bill and the Pawnee Serpent Bills Scarlet sand :).2 >. 2... Bills Daring Plunges...) o. Bis; “Ghost Rad. hee. kal Bil Wipea sStunip ee ens. as Bill’s Master-stroke. ete Bill and the Brazos Tert ror. Bili’s Dance of Death... .... Bill’s Medicine-lodge........ UG eerste. cc cee ss les Bills Black Hagles.......... Bill’s Desperate Dozen Bill and the Barge Bandits. Bill, the Desert Hotspur.... Bill’s Whirlwind Chase..... Bill’’s Red Retribution...... Re EV AMbC Os oc sce seats eke Bilse Death vJump. 26 0... Bill in the Jaws of Death.... BilVs Aztec Runners...... Bills Dance with Death..... Bil’s Mazeppa Ride........ 5 BWUS “Gypsy (Bande soo sce Bitles Gold sHunmters 055.8 a. Bill in: OldseMexico. s.0 6 2. Bill’s Message from the Dead Bill and the Wolf-master.... Bill’s Flying Wonder....... Billse Hidden: Golds. 0's 2... Bills); Outlawae Orato. fal. Bill and the Indian Queen. Bill and the Mad Marauder. Bill’s Ice Barricade. sous Bill and the Robber Elk. Sete BuLs Ghost {Dances ces cie BIS RCAC ePID Ci. cae cece s « Bills Red 7 Nemesis... i... 22% Bill’s Hnchanted Mesa...... 5 3ill in the Desert of Death.. Bills GRay StLCAKi 5. os. ss Bill on Detached Duty...... Bills: Arm Mystery... ... 0... DLL S = SURPRISE. Pareye sciier BITE Se (Greate RiGee. ss ls: Bilis Witere raters. ee: Bill’s Ordeal of Fire.’....... Bil’s Casket of Pearls...... PUL Se SKY VPHOt sac oe eo Bh See OCC accu slhc oe peek es Bills, Miat-boat “DOritt +. 3 <:. Bilegom WD CK sian. orc 353—Buffalo 354—Buffalo 355—Butffalo 3856—Buffalo 357—Buftalo 358—Buffalo 359—Buffalo 360—Buftalo 362— Buffalo 363—Buffalo 364—Buffalo 366—Buffalo 367—Buftfalo 868—Buffalo 369—Buffalo 370—Buffalo 371—Buffalo 372—Buftalo 373—Buffalo 374—Buffalo 375—Buffalo 377—Buffalo 378—Buftalo 879—Buftalo 380—Buffalo 381—Buffalo 382—Buffalo 383—Buffalo 384—Buffalo 385—Buffalo 386—Buffalo 387—Buftalo 3888—Buffalo 389—Buffalo 390—Buffalo 391—Buffalo 392—Buffalo 393—Buffalo 394—Buffalo 395—Buffalo 396—Buffalo 397—Buffalo 398—Buffalo 399—Buffalo 400—Buffalo 401—Buffalo 402—Buffalo 403—Buffalo 404—Bi ffalo 405—Buffalo 406—RBuffalo 407—Butffalo 408—Buffalo 409—Buffalo 410—Buffalo 411—-Buffalo 412—Buffalo 413—Buffalo 414—Buffalo 415—Buffalo 416—Buffalo 417—Buffalo 418—Buffalo Bill and the Bronco Buster.. Bill’s Great Round-up...... BV Se HPlCde ecg cece ce Bill’s Cowboy Pard........ Bill and the Emigrants...... Bill Among the Pueblos..... Bill’s Four-footed Pards.... Bills “Protege oe ee a BTS PUCKeU PD gases) cets ers, lenge te i BUS | QUCSEt re jee ec tnee : Bill’s Waif of the Plains.... Bill Among the Mormons.... Bills “Assistance... eee oe: Bill’s Rattlesnake Trail..... Bill and the Slave-Dealers... Bills: Strong, Arm... 20. 6 Bile (GinlePand 06. ee eee oe Bills Iron Bracelets... .%. 2% Bills “Ranch Riders... ae. |. Bill's) Jadew Amulet... 2: Bill’s Magic Lariat... Bulls; Bridge: of Wire. sis. BIMBO WAC scien s ee Bills: (Pay-streaker. <3. se. Biles 7 Mim ere hee oo ome Bills Clean-upar. cuisines se Bis = TRUS at ocr ene Bill Overboardcc. ai. seek Billie Ring Sen ee eae. Bills Bis Contract:s 22 4.1. Bill and Calamity Jane..... Bilis Kado Pards eesek oe Bill’s Desperate Plight...... Bill’s Fearless Stand....... Bill and the Yelping Crew... Bill’s Guiding Hand.. Bills @ucer Quest.6-...... Bill’s Prize “Getaway’”’...... Bill’s Hurricane Hustle..... BU SS taro Pla Veet cre enters. BTiS Blige aes eee a asus. Bills eMTaACkers® ose ae BUTS: DubenmRarg ts. seca Billsand= the eBrawO..s ss so ae Bill and the Quaker....... Bill’s Package of Death..... Bills Treasure Caches... ... Bill SRrivates Wate voces, eve ts 5 Bill and the Trouble Hunter = Bill and the Rope Wizard.. IB IPSEC OSL AS ec ienecas ene Bill Among the Cheyennes.. BU Besicgsedis ts ec take oes Bill and the Red Hand...... Bill’s Tree-trunk Drift...... Bill and the Specter........ Bill and the Red Feathers... Billo Rane | Stroke gic... s-. Bill, the Desert Cyclone..... Bill’s Cumbres Scouts....... Bill and the: Man-wolf...... Bill and His Winged Pard. Bille ab Babyloup Barc. oo 5 419—Buffalo 421—Buffalo 422—Buffalo 4?3—Buffalo 424—Buffalo 425—Buffalo 4°6—Buffalo 427—Buffalo 428—Buffalo 429—Buffalo 430—Buffalo 4: oe uffalo 2—Buffalo 3—Buffalo 4—Buffalo »o—Buffalo 6—Buffalo 7—Buffalo 38S—Buffalo 439—Buffalo 440—Buffalo 441—Buffalo 442—Buffalo 443—Buaffalo 444—Buffalo 445—Buffalo 446—Buffalo 447—Buffalo 448—Buffalo 449—Buffalo 450—Buffalo 451—Buffalo 4:3 4:5; 433 433 453 43357 “ 452—Buffalo 453—Buffalo 454—Buffalo 455—Buffalo 456—Buffalo 457—Buffalo 458—Buffalo 459—Buffalo 460—Buffalo 461—Buffalo 462— Buffalo 463—Buffalo 464—Buffalo 465—Buftalo 466—Buftalo 467—Buffalo 468—Buffalo 469—Buffalo 470—Buffalo 471—Buffalo 472—Buffalo 473—Buffalo 474—Buffalo 475—Buftalo 476—Butffalo 477—Buffalo 478—Buffalo 479—Buftalo 480—Buffalo 481—Buffalo Bre euons tATM se ei. Bilis “Steel Arm Pard |... Bilis Aztecs Giuiders. . ok os Bill and Little Virefly...... Bill “in the Aztec City... ... Bill’s Balloon Escape....... Bill and the Guerrillas...... Bus) Border: Warrin c.cce. s Bill’s Mexican Mix-up....... Bill and the Gamecock..... : Bill and the Cheyenne Raiders 5 Bills Whirlwind Finish..... Bill’’s Santa Fe Secret...... Bill and the Taos Terror.... Bill’s Bracelet of Gold...... Bill and the Border Baron... Bill at Salt River Ranch.... Bill’’s Panhandle Man-hunt.. Bill at Blossom Range...... Bill and Juniper Joe........ Bills; Winall Scoops acs ses. BU Ae ClCAT WATER Ge oases oe Bris Wa animes: Eames sss 352. . Bills Cinch Clanme oe. Ga: Bills Comrades Billy in--the :Badi bands... 2... Bill and the Boy Bugler.... Bill and the Heathen Chince. Bill and the Chink War.. Bill’s Chinese Chase........ Bill’s Secret Message....... é Bill and the Horde of Her- Bill’s Lonesome Trail....... Bills @uareys oss. cates ce foe Bill: in Deadwood. . met <2. 4: BUR SSeS ANG ae tee cans Bill and-Old Moonlight...... Bille epardirgweer ses hess Bills, “Bhrow backs: esse... Bill’s “Sight Unseen’”’....... BIS sNG@W2 Pard io seeieies Bill’s “Winged Victory”. Bill’s Pieces-of-Hight.. Bill and the Hight Vaqueros Bill’s Unlucky Siesta....... Bill’s Apache Clue. ; Bill and the Apache. Totem. Bill’s Golden Wonder....... Bills diestay INiemt oye)... Bill and the Hatchet Boys.. Bill and the Mining Shark... Bill and the Cattle Barons... Billism WoneOdds. cress. cc. sill, the Peacemaker....... Bill's; Promise: to Pay... ... Bilis Diamond Hitch. 0)... Bill and the Wheel of Fate.. 3ill1 and the Pool of Mystery 5 sill and ‘the: Deserter......°. .. 5 Bill’s Island in the Air...... Billy Town Marshal ow... 38. Bills Witinvathmmn § eae CA OL OT OT OUT COT OT OU OT ¢ If you want any back numbers of our weeklies and cannot procure them from your newsdealer, they can be obtained direct from this office. Postage-stamps taken the same as money. STREET & SMITH, PUBLISHERS, 79-89 SEVENTH AVENUE, NEW YORK CITY sv sate Me erezsey ——