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Issued Weekly.
Copyright, 1911, by STREET & SMITH.

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No. 524.

NEW YORK, May 27, 1911.

 

Price Five Cents.

 

  

Buffalo Bill’s Taos Totem;

 

OR, oe | ‘

PAWNEE BILL’

S ZUNI TRAIL.

 

By the author of “BUFFALO BILL.” ee

 

CHAPTER I:
THE HAUNTED CAMPS.
“Whoosh!

fwonder?? =,
Old Nick Nomad Clared about the camp, mutter-
ing and fuming, tossing articles to and fro.
Pay nee Bill “looked up from his easy position under
tiie shade of a pifion.
“What's troubling you, old Diamond?’
“Er heap o’ things,’ said Nomad.
“Trouble of your own manufacture, or the other
variety?” 7
“You seen them b’ar tracks. We figgered out thet
ther critter come er-nosin’ round the camp fire huntin’
fer suthin’ ter eat. But does a b’ar eat terbacker?”
“Not unless he has been brought up in ways of
wickedness by some animal trainef; it is only human
fools, Nick, that have a hankering after the vile weed.
Which reminds me!” “\
He took off his Stetson, fished a fragrant cigar from

.Has whiskizoos been piroutin’ round,

a leather receptacle in the crown, and lighted it.

or i,
/
\

~

“The bear ate your tobacco. A fact from which
we might generalize several things.”

“He et.up oy terbacker, an’ kerried off my cyarvin’
knife.”

“You dropped your knife somewhere.

“I had et las’ night after supper; an’ at hain’t been
erway frum ther camp setise.”’

Pawnee rose and sauntered over.

“Nothin’ has been er-round hyar but er b’ar—a
b’ar which has mebbyso not onl} et up my terbacker,
but my terbacker box, an’ my cyarvin’ knife. P’ntin’
ther eagle eye of yer intellex on this phenomernon,
what does yer make Ob ett

“Me no cumtux,” laughed Pawnee.

When the eines articles could not be found,
the old borderman dropped to a seat on the sand, and

_ fished out his pipe.
o “T been expectin’ nee ever sense we hit this

ail. 99 &
"People usually find what they expect, Nice i‘
“We aire out hyar on ther trail of Velvet Foster,
 

2 Tne BUF ALG

ther greatest scoundrel and slickest tinhorn that ever
went unhung.”

“As I have remarked many a time and oft,” said
Pawnee, “Velvet is a sindoth piece of goods. Yet I

don't see how you connect him up with those bear
tracks and the various articles that you find missing.’

“When Buffler back tracked from that pueblo whar
we had a rookus with the turquoise thieves, Foster
couldn’t be located, though we war shore he war hidin’
in the pueblo; so Nate Hoskins he stays behind watch-
ing fer him, as thar is a reward out fer Foster, an’
Nate cal’late he’d like ter collect the money.

-“When he locates Foster in ther pueblo an’ tries ter
gather him in, Foster objects; an’ downs him with
er hunk o’ lead. Thet is all pore Nate gits out of et.

“Knowin’ thet Buffler an’ ther rest of us would be
prompt an’ warm on his trail, Foster jumped fer ther
wilderness. An’ hyar we aire folletin’ him. We're
holdin’ ther camp, while Buffler an’ ther baron an’
Little Cayuse aire prospectin’ round.”

“What has all that got to do with the bear tracks?”

-“Ther las’ time me an’ Hoskins war tergether—et
war the day we left the pueblo—he says ter me:

Nick,’ he says, ‘ef Foster downs me,.I has er
feelin’ hyar in my buzzum thet I will still pursue him,
fer no. man ever yit hit me but thet I tried ter hit
him back; Pll be on his trail, ha’ntin’ him fer er mur-
derer, ef I cain’t do nothin’ else.”

Solemnly Nomad drew the flame of a match « over the
tobacco. he had thumbed into his pipe, and through the
blue smoke stared at Pawnee Bill.

“This is my last pipeful; I scraped et up out er ther
bottoms o’ my pockets. But ef w hat is gone will do
ole Nate any good, I ain't begrudgin’ et,”

“Old Diamond, I suppose you know what you are
talking about; but I’m hanged if I do.”

P m (inkie thet mebbyso Nate needed terbacker :
an. thet mebbyso . he wanted a cyarvin’ knife fer his
“argyment with Foster when he met up with him.”

And. he sent a bear to get them?’

-. “Vhem' aire queer b’ar tracks, ef you will notice;
ther said b’ar walked only on ets hind laigs. I fol-
‘lered ther tracks out thar to whar they disappeared
on ther rocks; an’ all ther way et war ther same—
ther b’ar walked on ets hind laigs, Only a man, er
a-trained b’ar, walks thet erway.”

Pawnee laughed again.

“Hoskins has had this ae bear in training, I sup-
pose.”

“In course, I knowed you would laugh; you allus
does, whenever I speaks o’ ha’nts an’ whiskizoos, an’
other queer things. But I has pawed over them tracks
careful. You'll find, by an’ by, thet er b’ar, what war
not a b’ar, came inter this camp las’ night. Ther only
question left in my mind is: War et a man, er suthin’
else?”

“Old Diamond, the water age you are. » wading i is
too deep for me.’ :

  

BILL STORIES.

  

“lf ther thing lugged off my terbacker an’ my
knife fer Nate’ Hoskins to use, then et warn’t a man.”

Nomad smoked solemnly, cogitating on this, his
back against a tree.

“But ef et war jest an Injun thief

“What?” )

“Thar will be a mighty repentant Injun thief soon’s
IT can lay my hands on him! Waugh!”

“When your superstitions get to milling in that way,
they're ready for a stampede. Take my advice, and
don’t think about it. You'll find your knife and your
tobacco box in your pockets, or where you dropped
them, And that bear

“Et walked on ets hind laigs!”

“Yet it was only a bear, hungry for camp scraps.
Pard Cody will tell you the same as soon as you sce
him.,”’

Buffalo Bill, when he came in, backed the opinion
of Pawnee; and, to satisfy the borderman, a thor-
ough search of the camp was made. But the missing
articles were not found. oy

The next night a singular thing happened. Their
camp was ten miles from the one in which Nomad
missed his knife and tobacco box. But when he awoke
in. the morning, the tobacco box was resting on the
ground beside him, with its contents apparently un-
touched.

The borderman stared at the tobacco box as if he
thought it bewitched; then his yell startled the camp.

“Don't tech et!’ he warned. “This is ther work o’
whiskizoos.” ie

“T.am vishing,’ said the baron, though he was
mightily ee “dot some vhiskizoosics vouldt
pring me some topacco in dot vay. Himmel! I couldt
be safing money.”

“Took round and see if that bear has been here, |
said Pawnee, trying to cast a merry light on the in-
cident, for Nomad was taking it too seriously.

“Ain't [ lookin’ round?” asked the borderman.
bar has been hyar. Nothin’ has been hyar.”

“Then you have been playing tricks. wie yourself
in your sleep, old Diamond; there is no other way to
account for it.”

“I think that is the solution: B Buffalo Bill agreed,
after the cainp had been searched. “Nomad has been
doing a bit of dream juggling. Night before last,
while asleep, he hid his tobacco box. When he awoke
he remembered nothing about it. Last night in his
sleep he brought it forth and placed it beside himself.
Perhaps to- “morrow night his knife will reappear in
the same way.’

“Test ther same,” said Nomad, “I don’t believe et;
an as fur smokin’ thet terbacker, ye don’t. ketch me
doin’ et.”

But hen they oe on-he took the tobacco box

39

 

 

“No

29

with him.

oy ef so
__ Mebbyse

“Tl jest hang onto et,” he clan
be old Nate aaa et, he kin still have et.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

 
  

mM

wm

Cotesia

a

the ha’nt he sent made a miscue, an’ ” another time he'll
put et in Nate’s hands.”

The next morning in another camp bear ras were
seen again. ‘This time there were indications that an
attempt had been made to steal Buffalo Bill’s tobacco
box. The box had been opened, some of the contents
had been spilled in the sand, and grains of sand were
mixed with the tobacco in the box. Also, some of the
tobacco had been abstracted.

“This is a curious sort of thief, necarnis,’ Pawnee
Bill declared. “If the bear wanted your tobacco, why
didn’t he take all of it?”

“Thet b’ar,”’ said Nomad, “war er whiskizoo.”’

“Vot you iss call a a nt, eh?” said the baron, with
a smile.

“Some people akon they aire ha’nts; call em what.
ye please, an’ ther myst’ry is ther same.”

“You have seen ha’nts, of course?” queried Pawnee,
yd

laughing,. though he was.as mystified as the border-:

man; “I’ve been unfortunate in that way—I have
Mever-seen any. .s

“What would yer say ef a b’ar walked up ter ye
on his hind laigs, teched his forehead same as ef he
war liftin’ his cap to ye, an’ said, ‘Woozle’?”

“I'd say that you were dreaming, or had been hoist-
ing too much fire water aboard. But that neverhap-
pened to you.”

“Et happened ter my ole friend, Ned Harker, out
in ther ‘Ute kentry; an’ two weeks later Ned war
killed by er b’ar.”’

“By the same one?”

Eon, you plum’ makes me mournful, laughin* sthout
sacred an’ serious things,” Nomad protested. “Thet

. fust b’ar war er whiskizoo, come ter warn him.”

“And this bear that has been juggling with Cody’s

« tobacco. box?”

MEG is a warnin:
is a warnin’.” :
SOf whatr? .

“Nobuddy kin tell until et happens. But I’m plum’
goin’ ter keep my eyes open. Maybe et is a warnin’
thet Foster is closer to us than we think, an’ will sling
er ‘hunk o’ lead into one o’ us, ef we don’t watch out.
I should say ef this whiskizoo war sent by ole Nate
Hoskins thet would be ther meanin’ of et.”

“Tf you will follow that bear track,” said Buffalo
Bill, “you will find that it was made by a genuine bear.
We were tired Jast night, and slept like logs. For
doing it without'a guard standing we deserved to have
our hair lifted, for we are_on a dangerous trail. We
have been figuring: that Velvet Foster is far ahead of

Likewise what he done ter mine

us, but maybe he isn’t; and he is a a eee man to

ded with.”
“Nate Hockins found thet out,” eae Nomad.

He turned to Little Cayuse. The Piute was as su-
perstitious as old Nomad—perhaps more so; his face
had been a study in mixed emotions.

‘We're goin’ ter look round fer thet bar, Cayuse.

THE BUFFALO

iLL STORIES | &

Ef so be he is a real one, we'll stop his rankiboo biz-
ness with er hunk o’ lead.’
““Mebbyso heap bad medicine,’
clined to hang back. \
- But he went with Nomad when commanded by Buf-
falo Bill; and they spent an hour in following the trail
of the “bear.”
When they returned the Pinte was in a state of ter-

urged the Piute, in-

_ ror and the borderman showed uncommon symptoms

of alarm. :
~ “Buffler,” said Nomad, “ef a b’ar continners ter
walk on ets hind laigs when by all calc’lations he ought
ter go along on four; and then ef he climbs a tree
which is too little fer any real b’ar ter climb, gittin’

- tharby to a laidge whar his tracks don’t show no longer,

what would be Tee likeliest conclusion ?”’
“The tree was too small for a bear to’climb?”’
“Shorely. A b’ar has got ter have a tree big ernough
ter hug, er he jest cain’t climb et.”
“Then,” said the scout, “the bear was a man.”
“Waugh!” Nomad looked round in a troubled way,

-and the Piute swung’ his fingers through the air to

“Will you jest come out
*Tain’t more than

ward off the spells of spirits.
an’ take er look at thet tree, Buffler.
a mile frum hyar.”’

Leaving the baron in camp, Buffalo Bill on Pawnee

went out ith Nomad and Little Cayuse, and inspected
the tree. Also, they climbed to the ledge above.

“My opinion of this mystery,” announced the scout,
“4s that an Indian thief came into the camp in the
night, wearing bear-footed moccasins. You have
known that to be done, Nomad. As Pard Lillie says,
we shall have to set a guard.”

“But see hyar,” said Nomad argumentatively; “ef
thet war jest an pee tlief, why didn’t he steal
suthin’ ?”

“Your knife disappeared,’ reminded Pawnee.

“Yes, an’ my terbacker box. Thet war two nights
ago; and night before las’ ther terbacker box come
back, an’ hadn’t been teched. Las’ night ther camp
war entered, apparently by ther same critter, an’
nothin’ war teched, ‘cept Cody’s terbacker box; and

yell recklect thet, though ther terbacker. in et seemed
ter have been flirted round some, and a bit of et spilt,

et warn’t kerried off.”

He stared at the barren ledge, at the tree, and swept
with fearful glances the surrounding cotntry.

“I’m an. old man, an’ mebbyso I’m a fool, er in my
second childhood; jest ther same, I has seen strange
things in my time; an’ hyar they’re happenin’ ag’in.
Allus they spelt whiskizoos. An’ allus,’ he looked
round again, “trouble follered hot on their trail.
Waugh!” +o

“Heap trouble comin’,’ agreed the Piute.

“Don’t let an Indian thief frighten you out of your
wits,” urged Pawnee, as they made their: way back to
the catnp. “We'll set a watch to-night, and if he
comes-again we'll catch him.”

 
 

again.”

THE BUFFALO

: CHAPTER ‘41,
Pu E TAOS TOTEM.

As they sat round the camp fire talking of the in-
cident of the night and of Velvet Foster, the murderer
of Nate Hoskins, whose trail into the wilds of the
Southwest they were following, Buffalo Bill sent Lit-
tle Cayuse out again to back track the “bear.”

Little Cayuse delayed his return unexpectedly. The
breakfast was cooked.and eaten, the horses saddled
and bridled for the trail, the blanket rolls placed in
position, and the few packs diamond-hitched, and still
the Piute did not return.

Nomad, sniffing suspicion at every breath, began to
talk of mysterious disappearances.

“He has found interesting work, that’s all,’ said
Pawnee Bill.

“When you've had your after-breakfast smoke, No-
mad, you'll feel better. So load up your old briar,
while we wait a little longer, and enjoy yourself.”

Pawnee set the example by beginning on his second
cigar.» The baron needed no invitation. Buffalo Bill
was already smoking, and looking his weapons over.

“Ef I never smelt terbacker erg’in,”’ said Nomad,
“I couldn't tech the stuff in my terbacker box.’’.

“Yoost try mine,” the baron invited, and extended
a fat pouch.

“When whiskizoos have looted,
Old Diamond’s up a stump;

And the Piute he has scooted,
As fast as he could jump.”

Pawnee flung this in, to a tune that was familiar to
all; then added:

“OF course, I’m guessing about the Piute. But you
know what an Indian is, get him started. He didn’t
want to go when Cody sent him out.”

Nomad sampled the baron’s smoking tobacco.

“Ther reason,” he explained, “why I cain’t smoke
my own terbacker is thet I has a feelin’ et war taken
by er whiskizoo fer pore ole Nate Hoskins.”

“But Hoskins wouldn’t have it, or didn’t like the
quality, and fired it back to you,” said Pawnee.

“Laugh ef ye want ter,’ said Nomad, with a dis-
mal shake of the head. “Jest ther same, ef thet ter-
backer o’ mine war intended fer Nate, I ain't goin’
ter smoke et.”’,

he long as the baron’s holds out to burn,
Old Diamond’s cheerfulness may return,”

Nomad flashed Pawnee a reproving look, and re-

' torted:

“Of all ther poits beneath ther skies,
A would-be poit I do despise.”
“That’s good,” cried Pawnee; “old Diamond takes
the bun in this poetical ‘prize competition. Try it

é

“TL. ain’t no poit,” said the borderman; “but on this
hyar subjeck 0’ whiskizoos I could quote a feller named
~hakespeare to this effeck: ‘Thar aire stranger things
under ther sun than war ever dreampt of in your

W959

philoserphy, Horatio. | e

 

BILL STORIES.

 

“Bravo!” cried Buffalo Bill. “Nomad breasts the

line a winner, in my opinion.”

He was standing at the edge of the grove in which
the camp had been pitched, scanning the broken ground
into which the young Piute had vanished.

“We have waited long over time,’ he said now; “so
I am in favor of seeing what has happened to Cayuse.”

When they followed the Piute’s trail, they found
him kneeling before some object, a mile beyond the
cainp. He sat more erect, as they drew near and called
out to him, but he did not turn away his eyes.

“Ther Piute is bewitched,’ said Nomad.

When they came up to him he was still staring at a
small object held in his hands, and apparently was
saying prayers to it.

Buffalo Bill slipped out of the saddle.

“What is it, Little Cayuse?” he asked.

The Piute looked up.

““Pa-e-has-ka,” he cried tremulously, “Little Cayuse
find Piute pony totem.”

He exhibited a rudely cut cameo of reddish brown
stone with gold streaks in it, showing the outline of
a kneeling horse.

Buffalo Bill uttered a cry of surprise.

“Look here, Pawnee,” he said; “Cayuse has found
the Taos totem.”

He held up the cameo.

“Just before we set out on this trail,’ he. reminded,
“this totem was reported stolen from the Taos pueblo,
and the Indians there were in a terrible state about it,
for they imagined that its loss portended all sorts of
bad luck. You remember they claimed it conferred on
its possessor supernatural powers, and all Indians had
to obey him, or be struck dead by the anger of the
gods.”

Passing it to Pawnee, Buffalo Bill began to catechise
the. Piute, as it went the rounds.

“Me find um right here,” said Little Cayuse.

Yet he insisted that it was not the Taos totem, but
the totem of his own tribe, the horse-loving Piutes,
owners of many bands of cayuses.

“Ef et’s ther Piute totem,” said Nomad, ‘what's
et doin’ out hyar in ther tag-end o’ New Mexico?”

“For Little Cayuse,” said the Piute.

“How d’ye make thet out?” ™~

“Mebbyso spirit bring um, and put here for Little
Cayuse. Make Little Cayuse never die, never be sick,
never hit by bullet.’ |

“Waugh! I s’pose. et would cut out all knife dan-
gers, likewise ?’’

“Ai,” assented the Piute;
knife.’

He stretched out his hand for it.

“Tell us more about it,’ the scout urged.

“When me find um,” said Little Cayuse, “pray much
thanks to spirit; Little Cayuse very happy!”

Buffalo Bill asked for particulars—the exact spot
where it had been picked up and other details.

On examining the place, the expected bear. tracks

“no can be hurt with

 

 
  

were not there; but a shod horse had passed that
way.
“Trail of a white man,” said Nomad; “what white
man is likely ter be round hyar now?” :
“Velvet Foster,’ Pawnee answered. “But are those
tracks old enough? Foster is supposed to be three

o9

days ahead of us.”

Nomad dropped down and began a close inspection.
Buffalo Bill joined him. When they had followed the
tracks a short distance they agreed that if made by
Foster’s horse, Foster was no more © than one day in
advance.

“Did the rider Q’ thet hoss drop ther totem?”

“The Taos totem,’’ said the scout, “was found miss-
ing about the time Foster fled. He might have gone
first to Taos for shelter; he had been staying with
Pueblo Indians, and knew Pueblo w ays. Perhaps
they turned him out. And, of course, if he had a
chance to lay his hands on anything that looked val-
uable while there he would do it. My guess is that
he knew the Taos totem would give him fafitience with

all Indians. knowing anything about it; and for that

reason he carried it away.” |
“TT think you’re running your knife close down to
the milk in the cocoanut,’ Pawnee Bill agreed.

“Give Little Cayuse totem,” urged the Piute again,
at this point, extending his hand.

“I prefer to keep it for a time in my possession,”
said Buffalo Bill. “It is yours, as the finder of it; I
admit that, but |

He did not like to say bluntly that its possession by
the Piute would so fill him with foolishness and super-
stition that he would be worth nothing.

At this denial Little Cayuse frowned and his black
eyes flashed.

“Tt Piute cayuse totem,’ he declared;
um for Little Cayuse. You give um.”

“You are willing that I shall carry it?’ urged-the
scout.

“Bad medicine for Pa-e-has-ka,” the Piute warned.

“Tt will bring me bad luck? I think not.”

“Mucho bad luck come pronto,” said Little Payee.

“But not to you, if you carry it; is that the idea

“Piute totem good for Little Caytise—him Bie
no can git bullet, knife, sick—no can git any hurt;
but for white man very bad medicine.”

He was sulkily angry when the scout would not re-
turn it.

Following the trail they had pursued from the out-
set, they came finally to its junction with the trail dis-
covered that morning by Little-Cayuse; which fur-
nished all the proof needed that both trails had been
made by one horse. ©

. “Tt’s plain as signal smoke, necarnis, that the tin-

 

“spirit bring

_ horn circled back to see if we were following him,

then piked on again as fast as he could go. But I
judge that he lost a day’s time by it, as well as oe
Taos totem.”

THE BUFFALO

}

BILL STORIES. ™~ 5

“You're right, Lillie,” the scout agreed; “and if
we crowd him hard now, we can overtake him soon.”
Again the voice of Little Cayuse sounded:
*“"Pa-e-has-ka, give Little Cayuse Piute pony totem.
If no do, Pa-e-has-ka soon be sick; a Ba Pa-e-
has-ka die.”

CHAPTER TEL,
THE BEAR THAT LOST A FINGER.

Buffalo Bill kept the Taos totem. ~And he was
taken violently ill as the night thickened round the
lonely camp.

On any occasion this sudden attack would have -
caused alarm and comment, for the great scout was
seldom ill. Now it threw old Nomad into a panic,
scared Little Cayuse blue, and even disturbed the di-
gestion and repose of the phlegmatic German.

‘You will have to stand guard to-night, Schnitz,”
Pawnee said to him. “‘l have my hands full with
Cody; Nomad and the Piute aren't worth a cent since
this thing has happened. If that bear comes again,
shoot it. "i

“You tink meppyso idt vos nodt a pear,’
German.

“You and I don’t believe in whiskizoos, baron; so,
if it was not a bear and Nomad says it was not, it was
aman. .

“Oof idt vos nodt a vomans;” the baron added.

“T think it was an Indian; it was not Foster, | am
sure.”

“Ve haf peen gaining on dot rascal to-day.”

‘Which is another reason why a guard must be
set to-night. If he has discovered that we are trailing
him, he would slip into the camp and murder every
one. of us, if he could;”

“VYoost you resdt easy, unt dake care oof Cody;'I
shall be vatching.”’

Because of the great accu illness no one slept
until after midnight: But by two o'clock all were -
asleep, except the baron |

He had taken his stand under a bushy tree out a
few yards from the now dying camp fire. Grown tired _
of standing, he had sat down, with his back to the tree,
and was solacing himself with his pipe, and growing
sleepy. a

The baron was roused into renewed wakefulness by
discovering that a black spot not far off was moving.

“Iss idt der pear?” he whispered.

He sat up straighter, and cocked his rifle sory!

For a full minute the black spot did not move; then
slowly it advanced toward the camp, and the otttline of
a bear was revealed. Coming on in a crouching po-
sition, now and then it stood upright, as if to view the
sleeping camp and listen.

“Vor sure idt iss a pear,” thought the Guan.
when the crouching position was resumed. “Unt
Bawnee said dot I am to shoodt idt. So here idt
goes.’

’ said the

93

 
THE BUFFALO

 

Pulling down quickly, he let drive with the rifle.

Instantly the bear stood upright, as the rifle cracked;
then wheeled around and scudded into the darkness,
running in an upright posture.

The shot roused the camp and brought Pawnee Bill
No-

out of his blanket, by the side of Buffalo Bill.
mad came up with a whoop, and so did Little Cayuse.

“TIdt vos se pear,’ yelled the German; “I shooted
1G een :

“Whar is et?’ Nomad bellowed. ~

“Vell, I tidn’t hidt idt; so idt iss gone again al-
feady.”’

Nomad stopped to snatch a brand from the smold-
ering fire and swing it into flame; then ran to the spot
where, the baron said, the bear had been ‘when he
fired upon it.

“Waugh!” yelled Nomad, as he turned the light of
the brand upon the ground. “‘Will ye looky thar ?”

He picked up a gruesome object—a human finger
severed at the’ middle joint.

‘‘Baron, this hyar b’ar had ets hands on ther ground,
er clost to et, and yer bullet cut a ite off. How does
thet strike ye?”

“Nodt.so hardt as it dit der pear,’
man.

He looked at the severed finger.

“Himmel! Idt iss der finger oof an Injun.”

“Baron, ye’re right; this b’ar war an Injun.”’

Swinging the brand, which he blew into flame now
and then, he began to follow the tracks left by the fly-
ing Indian.

_ He. wat. shote . goin
plunged along.

“If you follow,’
a bullet.”

an omad turned back regretfully.

“T reckon thet is nano too.
think of et?”

They-discussed it around the dead camp fire, which
they had extinguished as a measure of safety.

‘““We.seem ter be connectin’ up a heap with Velvet
Foster,’ said Nomad. “Fust off, we strikes his new
trail, and finds ther Taos totem. And now we has
proof thet ther’b’ar which has been worryin’ us is’
-an Injun. Velvet Foster, ye recklect, had an Injun—
a likely young rascal thet played. ther part of Little
Cayuse whenever Foster war playin’ ther part o’ ‘But
falo Bill. I opine thet ther baron collected er piece o’
thet. young redskin’s anatermy.”’

It seerned so reasonable a conclusion that even Buf--
falo Bill agreed with it.

If Little Cayuse was convinced on this point, he had
not changed his belief. that Buffalo Bill’s sudden and
violent illness was caused by the Taos totem.

Because of that belief and the action it led to, the
baron came near shooting the Piute before morning.
Stealing up to the scout, who lay blanketed on the
ground, the Piute was fumbling for the totem, when

’ said the Ger-

some,” he shouted, as he

warned Pawnee, “you will run into

But, say, what do ye

   

  

BIL)’ STORIES.

the baron saw him, and drew down on him with his
rifle.

“No shoot!’ said the Piute, standing up quickly,
just in time; “me Little Cayuse.”’

‘Ftimmel !” the baron gasped, lowering the. rifle.
“In a minude more | vouldt haf peen gollecting her
finger oof anodder Inchun. Vot iss der meanness of
idt 2”

Nomad and Pawnee were aroused, and so was the
scout. As they started up, they saw the Piute tuck
something into the bosom of his hunting shirt. When
they demanded what it was, he confessed that he had
secured the totem.

“Pass et back,’’ Nomad commanded.

“Bad medicine for Pa-e-has-ka,”’
Piute: “no can do.”

“Ye won't give et back?
young——”’

He reached for the Piute, and tripped him as she
turned to run; then tried to.force him to give up the
totem; but the Piute struggled and escaped.

He disappeared from the camp, too, and was not
seen again until after dawn, when the camp stirred,
and Nomad and the baron went forth to inspect the
“Dear” tracks.

They discovered Little Cayuse then, sitting in the
sand, two or three hundred yards from the camp,
mumbling over the totem and rocking his ae! to and
fro.

So absorbed was he that Nomad came up behind.
him, and caught the totem out of his hand before he
knew the borderman was near.

In a rage the Piute leaped up, flashing a knife.

N yaa tripped him again, and flung him sprawling.
Then he covered the young Indian with a revolver.

“Little Cayuse,’”’ he said, “me and you has gone on
many trails tergether, an’ 1 think er heap o’ ye; but
when et comes ter ther p’int 0’ choosin’ between you
an’ Buffler, you can guess whar you'll git et: Now
stand up, and hike back to camp ‘fore [’'m tempted ter
hurt ye.

Sulkily the Piute obeyed.

Nomad, tucking the totem into his pocket, con-
tinued, with the baron, to follow the “bear” tracks.

“Same ole b’ar,” he ‘said, “runnin’ on ets hind laigs.
Whyever was et nosin’ round, do ye think, baron?”

Schnitzenhauser had to seek the inspiration of a
smoke before he could figure that out. And seeing
him enjoying his tobacco broke down the borderman’s
determination not to smoke.

“Yoost use out of mine,”
tending his pouch.

JIN, al try my own. Ye see, baron; I’ve changed
my mind: ‘tain’t no sin ter do et. Ther whiskizoo
ideer seems ter have evaporated fer lack o’ proper
proof. I reckon thet Foster an’ his red ain’t whiski-
zoos, and we are connectin’ this thing up with them.”

The bear tracks having played out on Le eon,
they returned to the cue.

demurred the

Why, you owdacious

the baron invited, ex-

ees
  

}

 

he flung back.

fire.

re

THE BUFFALO

Little Cayuse would eat nothing that morning, but
sat apart, brooding.

Ht 1 turn ther totem over to you, ” said Nomad,

“you'll go ter moonin’-found an’ won't be wuth shucks

fer anything. So I’m goin’ ter drap et back inter
Buffler’s pocket fer him to take keer of.”

“Heap bad medicine,’ said the Piute gloomily ;
“Nomad him heap sick now. soon.’ |
Nomad scoffed.
He ate heartily at breakfast.
‘An hour later he lay unconscious, and seemed at

. the point of death.

» Little Cayuse croaked as dismally as a crow.

“Very bad medicine; kill Pa-e-has-ka, kill um now
Nomad; him Piute totem—no good for anybody but
Pinte.’ |

Pawnee Bill and the baron were much alarmed.

“Stop your prophesying,” said Pawnee, “fand lend a
hand here. Start that fire anew, and bring up some

water.’

“Heap bad medicine,”
to get the pail.

With a bound he flung himself beside Buffalo Bill,
and snatched from the scout’s pocket the Taos totem.
The next moment he had run out of the camp.
“Come back here,’’ Pawnee Bill shouted.
do you mean by this?”

Sill um everybody if Little Cayuse not take totem,”
“So me take um.’

Pawnee Bill picked up the pail ee! and set out

said Little Cayuse, coming up

*W hat>

for the water hole.

“From your standpoint, Cavan he said, half to
himself, “no doubt you are doing right; you think
the totem is bringing us bad luck, so you have taken
it away.’

_ He brought up the water, and the baron rebuilt the

Little Cayuse had disappeared.
“More as feefty dimes I haf saidt idt,” gloomed the

baron; .

“Said what?” asked Pabace.
“Dot idt iss a kveer pitzness.”

CHAPTER IV.
THE BEWITCHED PlUTE;

- Pawnee Bill’s ministrations brought old Nomad
round to consciousness and improved the condition of
Buffalo Bill.

Nomad was still in no condition to talk; but the
great scout had regained his mental activity and ex-

hibited a lively interest in what had occurred.

- “What do you think of it?’ he asked Pawnee.

“You mean the general situation: fi regt
“Everything.”’ af

~“T’ve-been. talking: it over ah the hin. si: we

‘think. your tobacco was drugged.”

The German waddled forward, hearing this..

‘pacco, you vouldt nodt haf der sickness.

BILL STORIES. : : , 7
“Dot iss der only inclusion-bossible,”’ he said. “You
rememper, Cody, how idt vos? Fairst, Nomadt. he

lose his topacco pox, vhich der nexdt nighdt idt iss
returned to him. He t'inks meppyso idt iss vhisk1-
zoosics, unt vill nodt schmoke dot topacco. Der same
nighdt vhen his topacco come pack to him, somet’ings
habben mit your topacco pox. You recgollect idt.
You schmoke idt, unt—der sickness idt iss gatch you
kvick. Nomadt he iss say to me, vhen I dell him
to dake some oof my topacco, dot der vbiskizoosic pitz-
ness idt iss nix—no goodt; he tond’t pelief in idt some
more. So he schmoke his owen topacco, unt—der sick-
ness idt iss gatch him so sudden, likevise. Dot iss my.
obinion.”’

“Put German logic to work, when anything troubles
your think machine,” said Pawnee, “and the solution
will be handed up to you prompt and decisive.”

“Oof you unt Nomadt hadt nodt schmoke dot to-
Sdill idt iss a
funny pitzness,’’ | ce

“You have figured out,” said the scout, “that the
Indian whose finger the baron shot off was Feather
Foot, Velvet Foster's Indian. . That seems to be rea-
sonable, for we are on Foster’s trail.”

“Tt seems to come out that way, necarnis.”

“And we had already reached the conclusion that
Foster visited the Taos pueblo and lifted the cele-
brated Taos totem.” \

iViag. +9

“Say, then, that those things are settled, so far as
our present knowledge can settle them. What, then,
is Foster's game? The tracks of his horse indicate
that he is at least a'day ahead of us, and traveling fast.
Did he send Feather Foot back to annoy us, and poison

us?” '

“Tt sure looks it, Raya Bill,”

“Vou may be right,” — the scout;
youare, Stll——’ |

“You aren't ee that we are?”

- Buffalo Bill lay pondering,

“Tf you can get Nomad on his pins, I shall be able
to go on this afternoon. Say we start bright and early
to-morrow morning. If the tobacco was drugged,
well have,no more trouble unless we smoke it age)
You have examined it?”

Pawnee Bill brought up the scout’s bobace box, and
Nomad’s.

“There is a kind of hairlike stuff mixed with ie
tobacco,” he said,-“and I think that did the work. Un-
less one looks closely, it isn’t to be noticed.”

oo Pte picked some of it out of the tobacco and ex-
hibited it,

. I guess you're right,” the scout admitted,
know what the stuff is, though.” —

“Tt has no odor, and it hasn’t any taste, so its pres-
ence in the tobacco wouldn’ : be noticed by the smoker.”’

“Y o11 re right, of course,’ Buffalo Bill said again.

iI: suppose

I don’t

“Yet. you're not satisfied: I can tell that by your
: tone.’
THE BUFFALO

  

“Well a9 Ray

“Out with it, whatever it is.”’ :

“My head isn’t clear enough to combat your reason-
ing. But there is oné thing which strikes me as inex-
plicable.” :

oYese: :

“Foster and his Indian were in hiding in that pueblo.
Nate Hoskins unearthed them, and they shot him, and
made a quick get-away. What chance would they have
had to get thisssingular drug which, dropped into to-
bacco, puts a fellow on his back like this, if he smokes
ie

“They would have had no chance, apparently; yet
Foster may have had it with him before he went to
the pueblo.” :

“Before he went to that pueblo we know he was a
prisoner of the Navajos. They stripped and searched

 

him. They gave hfm back his clothing, it seems, when —

they administered the dance of the cactus thongs; but
you can wager dollars to doughnuts that they gave him
back nothing else; if they did, they were unusually gen-
erous for redskins.”

‘They gave him back his weapons, so we heard.”

“We can’t settle it without more light,” said the
scout wearily. ‘So we ought to push on as soon as
we can. What has become of Little Cayuse, baron?”

“He iss make a tisappearance mit himselluf.”

“Stroll out beyond the camp and leok for him.”

“You'll find him out there somewhere,” said Paw-
nee, “worshiping that carving of a kneeling cayuse.”

“He iss gone on, unt sdill on, yedt alreadty,’’ the
baron reported, coming back in a few minutes.

“You don’t think, Pard Bill,’ said Pawnee anx-
iously, “that the Piute would desert us at this point?”

“It wouldn’t be like Little Cayuse.”
_ “Aber idt mighdt be so yedt. Oof he shouldt gidt

idt py his headt in dot idt iss nodt safe to haf der
dotem vhare you gan pudt your handst on idt again,
. I pedt you he vouldt go away mit idt altogedder.”

“That's good reasoning, baron,’’ssaid the scout. “Go
out and make a hunt for him.” |

“And be sure that you come back yourself,” Paw-
nee added.
_ “Vhy vouldt I nodt?” oe

“You might run into a bullet if not careful, or
» smoke tobacco that didn’t agree with you.”

“You pedt me mein topacco I keeb me so close dot
nopoty can put any sniff in idt. Unt as vor pullets—
T haf hadt more shodt at me as vouldt fill a sdeampoat.
Pesites, der luckinesses oof:Schnitzenhauser iss dot fa-
mous idt iss got indo der newsbabers yedt.’’

He strutted round, making his few preparations,

laughed at by Pawnee Bill. Then he started off, with
a confident waddle.

But as soon as he struck the trail of Little Cayuse,
which lay plainly in the sand before him, the attitude
of the German changed; he became cautious and eagle-
eyed, and the hands that seemed dropped so carelessly
into the loose pockets of his coat rested on cocked re-

  

BILE STORIES.

volvers.
took no chances. :

A half mile out from the camp he came to a spot
where the sand showed that the Piute had knelt.

“He iss making oof der dotem a fetich,’’ thought the

baron, “unt iss saying his brayers py idt. Der suber-
stition off dot Inchun idt iss a shame: Pudt him unt
Nomadt togedder in a pag unt shake dhem oop—ach!
dhey vouldt neidher oof dhem come oudt fairst.”’

The trail of Little Cayuse began to weave about.
. “He iss gidt him indoxicated py der fetich. I haf
seen idt pefore. Idt iss a funny pitzness. He sdare
at idt, unt sdare at idt, unt py unt py he iss grazy as
some lunadicks. Oof I vos a fool like dot, I vouldt
go shoodt myselluf.”

For two miles the baron followed the weaving trail.

Then he came upon something that made him stare.

The tracks of a bear had dropped in on the trail of
Little Cayuse and obliterated them.” =~

“Dot iss more kveer as idt iss pefore,” muttered the
baron, drawing one of his revolvers.and staring round.

He saw nothing but the combined trail, leading
straight on before him, with those little weaving
curves, as if the trail had been made by a drunken man.

“Iss idt der pear vot iss Vosder’s Inchun?” thought
the baron. “Oof so, I vill shoodt off his headt der
nexdt dime, unt yoost seddle his hashes.”

The thing troubling him was a fear that harm had
come to Little Cayuse from the “bear.”

“TIdt iss valk mit idts hindt legs,” mused the baron;
“so der pear he iss nodt a pear yedt alreadty. Unt
oof Liddle Cayuse he iss drunk mit der fetich vor-
ship, dot pear gan sdick some knifes indo him unt he
vill nodt know idt. Petter [hurry meinselluf oop a
liddle.””’ : 2

The baron hastened as fast as’he could.,

But another mile was passed over before he came
in sight of the young Piute, sitting on a rock in the
blazing sun, staring at the sky.

_ “Heiss hafing some fidts, I pedt you! Budt der
pear he iss not aroundt.’”’

Sure the “bear” was not near the Piute, the baron
went up to him.

“Vot iss?” he shouted, when Little Cayuse took no

Though the baron believed in his luck, he

notice of his approach.

Then he noticed that the Piute’s clothing had been
stripped back from the shoulders, leaving his bosom
bare; and that on the naked skin was a red splotch.

_“Mein gootness, der pear iss sdick some knifes indo
him!” |

But it was not so. The red blotch was not even
blood, but red paint, in the shape of a human hand,
with the middle finger missing.

“Here,” cried the baron, “vake oop you! Vot iss?”

_ Only when he shook the Piute did the latter take no-
tice of him. But it was only in.a vacant way. The

eyes were withdrawn from the sky and fixed on the
baron, but there was no recognition in them.

 

 

 
        
 

 

- jdt?”

hand was there.
with an ague.

“Vot iss?” the baron shouted, shaking ‘him again.
“Vake oop! Vot is habben py you, eenyhow?”

“Heap bad luck,” mumbled the Piute.

“Vot kindt?”

“Totem him gone.”

“Der dotem! Ach, idt iss a nuisances. Vare iss

“Heap gone.” :

Dot iss vot * ‘saidt to you pefore. Budt vare iss
idt gone—vot iss make idt a goneness?”

“Plenty big Cayuse totem.”

“All righdt—say dot idt iss; say idt iss a house unt
lodt, or a’sdeampoat, I tond’t care; budt vare iss idt

“gone?”

“Little Cayuse no sabe.” .

“Dit der pear dake idt, vot valk mit his hindt legs?”

‘That aroused the Piute a little.

“How you know him?” he demanded.

“His dracks iss right’ here, unt dhey go on dhere,
afdher leafing you. How vos idt?”

“Make um medicine.”
“Der pear he iss make vot ‘you call meticine—he
sving his handts aroundt, unt make some breaths py

your faces in; iss idt vot you mean?”

“Ai, Make heap big Injun medicine.”

*“Unt dhen he took avay der dotem? Iss dot your
meanness? Oof so, idt is a luckiness dot ve haf got
ridt oof idt.”

He indicated the red outline of a hand, with miss-

— ing finger, on the Piute’s bosom.

“Did you seen der faces oof dhis pear? Oof you
dit, vos idt nodt der faces of Fosder’s Inchun?
me dot.”

“Him spirit bear,” said the Piute.

“Some more foolishnesses,’ grumbled the baron.
“Dit you seen his faces?”

SAG. 59)

“How vos idt Coe le

“Face heap red,” answered the Piute.

“Himmel! Like dot?”’

The baron tapped a fat forefinger on the outline on ©

the Piute’s breast, calling attention to it. Apparently
Little Cayuse had not boon aware the red outline of a
Staring at it, he began to tremble as

‘Heap bad medicine,” he said.

“Budt vos idt Fosder’s Inchun ?” ihe baron per-
sisted.

“No,” said the Piute; “spirit bear.”’

“Mit idts faces bainted redt. You sday here a
minude, till 1 seen vot has pecome off him. Oof he is
hanging roundt, he vill soon be eadting po vrom
dhis bistol.”

The baron was gone a quarter of an hour. He
found that the “bear” had gone straight on, and at a
gait that eS the idea that he could soon over-

~ take it

Te ar-re now aoe pack py der camps,’ he in-
formed Little Cayuse. ‘You vill come py me¥’

    

THE BUFFALO

Sbeak _

\ his medicine hoof.
mustang, always carried in his war bag, and supposed

Bibi SORES: y

Obediently Little Cayuse slid off the rock, and fol-
lowed when the German turned his face campward.

At the camp Buffalo Bill and Pawnee Bill ques- -
tioned the Piute, but they gained no added informa-

tion:

It seemed clear, ouever that Feather Foot, in his
bear disguise, had followed Little Cayuse while the
latter wandered, self-hypotized into mental haziness,
and had taken the totem; then, in a spirit of pride

_ and defiance, he had drawn in red on the Piute’s breast
- that bloody-looking outline.

 

CHAPTER Va
THE CAPTURE OF FEATHER FOOT.

The only one\of the party not able to.go on the next
merning in a spirited manner was Little Cayuse, and
his disability was mental, rather than physical.

Buffalo Bill and old Nomad had recovered, or nearly
so. The scout admitted that when it came to foot-
work, he was not equal, to it; but, in a saddle, he was
as good as the next man. Nomad’s only complaint
was that at times he experienced slight spells of dizzi-.

HESS:

“Which they ain’t nothin’ ter consider,” he declared;
my old headpiece is kinda holler, anyhow, and. now
an’ then gits ter wobblin’ round. I'll be all right
bimeby.”’ >

But Little av continued joc
With the disappearance of the Taos totem had gone
This was the dried hoof of a

ce

to have marvelous virtues. He never advanced into
danger without first rubbing himself all over with that
wonderful medicine hoof. And he insisted on per-
forming a like service for his ee Now the medi- ©
cine hoof was gone. :

“Chirk up,” advised Nomad; though, truth to tell,
the loss of the medicine hoof was disturbing him also.
“Seein’ ye pokin’ long thet erway, anybody’d be en-
titled ter say thet yer gran’mother had gone off ther
hooks. Step spry; an’ hold yer head higher. Other-
wise, he added under his breath, “ye’ll make me think

-you're seein’ whiskizoos, an’ I don’t like et.”

The baron led the party to the spot where Little Cay-
use had been found in a trance.
When this place had been examined and all possible

information squeezed out of it, they went on to the

point reached by the baron in. following the bear
tracks.

“Tdt iss somet' ings here! vot make me veel kveer mit .
der headt in,’ the baron admitted. “Yoost you dake a
look.”

The tracks of the horse, supposed to be that ridden
by Velvet Foster, had been joined by the tracks of
the bear; and afterward the horse tracks could not be
Seen.

“Ther b’ar tracks et up ther hoss tracks,” said No-
   

10 THE BUFFALO
Ae Sooliig ae ground over; tyit thet ain't nothin’
sing’ lar, baron.. It jest shows thet ther b’ar walked in
the tracks. of the hoss. It is a thing difficult ter do,
yit I has done et myself.”

“Dit he valk in efery vun ea

“Shore he did, baron; looky hyar, an’ ye'll see.
_ He pointed toa track that was in part undeniably dou-
ble. “The Injun playin’ b’ar crow-hopped too quick
right hyar, an’ so he didn’t set his b’ar foots right in
the prezact tracks o’ ther hoss; yer can see whar he
overlapped. ‘Thet’s all the proot ye need.. An we
don’t need no more ev dence ter show that this hyar
b’ar-footed Injun war Foster’s; follerin’ Foster, he is
kiverin: .Foster’s trail. Let a man come erlong hyar
thet didn’t understand ther sitivation same’s we do,
an’ he'd simply allow thet a ba’r had gone along hyar,
an’ let et pass et that. D’ye ketch on, baron?”
‘“I.am standing under you,” the baron confessed ;

“vhen vonce you see der meanness oof idt, der mean-

*S

ness iss so plain as der

“AAmpertate _ ther rest, baton: fer when ye git ter
goin’ you tangle yer tongue so thet et plum’ skeers me,
thinkin’ mebbyso as how you'll soon be needin’ er
. sawbones ter git ther twist out. This hyar track, as
you'll obsarve, runs straight toward them mountings;
an’ right thar in them mountings is a pass thet I jedge
Foster. is hikin’ ter reach. Yit he must have passed
close by the Zuni pueblo.”

They passed a Zuni pueblo the next day, ane found
that Foster had not turned in there, perhaps because
the Zunis would not let him.

It was as queer a piece of Pueblo architecture as
they had ever clapped eyes on, perched atop a high,
wind-swept mesa, which could only be reached by a
climb up ladders and precipitous cliffs.
and all the food had to be carried up those ladders to
the birdlike aerie the Zunis called home. Down at
the foot of the cliffs little gardens flourished, irri-
gated from springs and small streams, where grew
corn and melons, squashes, and even peaches.

The Zunis kept out of sight as the cavalcade passed
along, though no doubt their watchful eyes took in
every detail of the strange travelers; for the Zunis,
being so isolated, see few people beyond the members
of their own tribe.

Taking Nomad with him, the scout, stopping the

 

cavalcade, went to the FooE of the cliffs below the

pueblo, and called up to the Zunis, megaphoning his
voice with his cupped hands.

When no one answered, he requested Nomad to
make a try at it.

So Nomad bellowed and roared, in all the Indian
languages with which he was acqtiainted, asking the
Zumis to come down.

- But the Zunis declined the invitation.

“T reckon thar ain’t no use climbin’ up thar,”
disgusted trapper.

The scout’s eyes twinkled.

said the

All the water

}

BILL STORIES.

 

bets could we do it? The only ladder visible was
right over there, and now it is gone.’

The Zunis had drawn it up. a

“Waugh! ? Nomad growled. “TI calls thet plum’ in-
human an’ inhospiterble ter expect us to climb’ them
cliffs ef we go up thar.”

hey. dont intend that we shall go up there,
the scout.

He turned away.

“But, he added, tet furnishes us proof that Foster
didn’t stop with the Zunis, as we had thought might be
possible.”

“Good thing fer ther Zunis; harbor a snake like him,
and he’ d be shore to sting one of ’em before he went

+

said

away.’

“Tf he keeps to his present course, he will strike that
pass. By hard riding we might get ahead of him be-
fore he reaches it; but that would wear down our
horses. He seems to be pointing for some spot in
the San Francisco mountains, or the Grand Canon of
the Colorado.”

“They’re a long ways frum hyar.’

“T know it.’

“The Zunis seemed plum’ hostyle,’ Nomad reported,
when they rejoined the party. “But what kin ye ex-
pect of Injuns what lives in a beehive on top o’ cliffs
thet ye'd need er balloon ter git to easy?”

To the westward of the Zuni pueblo they fell into
the old trail, called the Zuni trail, though there is no
evidence that Zunis ever used it, which points south-
westward toward the San Francisco mountains.

Once traversed a great deal by prospectors and mule
caravans, it seemed now no more than a game trail.
Sand and dust had sifted over and into it, filling it in
places. Along here passed the bear tracks, still over-
lapping the tracks of the horse.

If the Indian they were following was Feather Foot,,
he was doing a clever bit of work in obliterating the
trail of the horse; it had taken care, and that meant
time, and also painstaking toil, yet he seemed to have
passed along at a reasonable rate of speed. He was
still half a day ahead of them.

The first day out on the Zuni trail Buffalo Bill,
riding in advance, came to a surprised halt. |

“What's up, necarnis?” said Pawnee, riding for-
ward.

“Take a look,” the scout invited; “the bear has taken
to working tricks again, and we thought he had got
over that tendency.”

Nomad and the baron joined them. -

Little Cayuse, spiritless since the loss of the totem

and the medicine hoof, remained behind, in drooped
attitude astride of Navi

What they saw was a trail of moccasins leading
suddenly out from the other trail. \

“Waugh!” grunted Nomad. \“Thet pizen red has
back tracked on his b’ar feet ter this p’int, then has
walked away frum ther trail in his moccasins; thet’s

 

 

 

 
 

ee ain t him.

what I make of et.
seein’ straight.”
-“You're seeing straight,” declared the scout,
that is what seems to have been done.”

“While you prospect along the moccasin trail, [ll
follow the bear tracks,’ said Pawnee; and he set his
horse in motion.

“T cain’t make head ner tail out o’ ther meanin’ of
et, though,” said the borderman, when Pawnee had
gone on. ‘Whyever would he want ter do et?”

“Idt mighdt haf peen,’ suggested the baron, “to
sblit oop ower barty indo twice bieces. Aber dot is
SO-O t)

“Ef et is so, look out fer an ambush.”

Buffalo Bill began to follow the moccasin trail.

“Tf Feather Foot wanted to split our party he would
have made this moccasin trail plainer than it is,” the
scout obs@tved, when they had gone on a while and the
trail began to grow faint. “Here, where the ground
gives him a chance to do it, he has. used caution, ane
ae trail is indistinct.”

At the end of another hundred yards the scout pulied

ce

and

 

Bear Paw in with a quick jerk, then pointed a finger. .

“Beside that rock,” he whispered; “he’s lying there
asleep’ *

“Asleep?” breathed Nomad.

Not being in accordance with their theories, it was
a fact to astonish them. Instead of planning an am-
bush, the yoting Indian had slipped away from the trail
for rest and slumber.

The scout lifted the rope from the saddle bow, ran
the noose through his fingers to see that it slipped read-
ily, and set Bear Paw in motion.

“We'll rope him,” he said.

Vil see high-buckin’ an’ Injun fireworks when he
wakes up and finds himself in harness.”’

But, though asleep, the Indian roused when the
sounds of hoofbeats reached his ears through the
ground; the next instant he was on his feet, and, after
a startled look round, he started to run.

* It was a pretty chase tor a few minutes, but Bear

' Paw quickly overhauled him.

Driven to bay, the Indian whirled, jerked out a
knife, and shot it at the scout. Buffalo Bill avoided
it by ducking, and the moment after the noose of the

lariat was round the Indian’s neck and he was thrown.

to the ground.

He had out another knife, and was trying to slash
the rope when the scout sprang down and nailed him.

The Indian was Feather Foot, as they had sup-
posed.

But, and here.was a stunning surprise, neither of his
hands showed a finger missing |

“Waal, may I be jiggered!” Nomad gulped, when
he saw this. “We has ketched our b’ar-foot Injun, an’
Sufferin’ catamounts, what’s ther mean-
in Ol etre ‘

Bound and helpless, Feather Foot was set upright
on the sand.

THE BUFFALO

Otherwise I’m locoed, an’ ain't

BILL STORIES. : : C

“Thet’s right,” said Nomad; ‘‘we'll make him tork,
er we'll knaw ther reason why. Speak up now,” he
commanded; “we’re onter you bigger’n'a wolf.”

Feather Foot rolled his eyes round at the trapper
nervously, but he did not speak.

The scout began to question him.

“You are Feather Foot?”

“Ai,” he responded, seeing that a denial was use-
less.

“And you were following the rail of your master,
Foster ?”

Feather Foot was dumb, at that.

“We know you were; so it’s useless for you to
deny it.”

“Vare iss dose pear-foodt moccasins?”
the baron.

This brought no answer.

“T'll jest go through him and see what I kin find.”

The trapper’s search brought up a knife and a pistol,
with some cartridges, a pipe and tobacco, with flint and
steel; but no bear-foot moccasins.

“Vou ve tossed *em erway?” he asked. |

“Don’t you think,” said the scout, “that you are
barking up the wrong tree, anyhow? The Indian who
played bear is the one the baron shot, and that Indian
lost a finger.” \

“Right ye aire, Buffler; I’m gittin’ plum’ tangled up.
‘Thar seems ter be two Injuns, both postin’ hot along
ther trail of Velvet Foster. This critter, gittin’ tired,
turned out yere fer a rest an’ went ter sleep, and we
has bagged him.” c

“Unt der odder he iss gone on,’
“Dot is as plainness as my face.”

“Foster is ahead of us?” said the scout, oe ad-
dressing the Indian.

Feather Foot professed not to know it, if it were so.

demanded

added the baron.

-~ “Then what aire ye doin’ out ae ’ Nomad asked.

Again the redskin was dumb.

Pawnee Bill came galloping back, to make a report.

“The bear trail goes straight ahead,” he said. ~‘But
I see you got the rascal that made it.”

The scout called attention to the fact that Feather
Foot’s fingers were still intact.

Pawnee drew out and lighted a cigar to stimulate his
thinking faculties.

“That sets me to milling,’ he confessed. “But I
suppose you have gophered into the mystery?”
“Tt iss plain that there are two Indians. . Foster

passed along on horseback. Feather Foot came tlose
behind him, probably. Then followed the Indian wear-
ing the bear-foot moccasins, treading out the: trail.
At this point Feather Foot dropped out because he was
exhausted, and here he fell asleep, while intending to
catch only a little rest. The Indian wearing the bear-
foot moccasins came along then, and, understanding

the situation, or not caring to follow Feather Foot, c
went right on, still obliterating Foster’s trail. That
is all I can make out of it.”

&

 
   

THE: BUFFALO

12
_ “Tt’s a whole lot, necarnis. What are you going to
do with the red, now that you’ve got him?”

“Take him along.”

“Tt’s the only thing,
always a lot of trouble.”

Pawnee took his turn at questioning Feather Foot,
but his success was no better than that of the others.

When they went on Feather Foot went with them,
riding the pack horse. ‘They had been on the trail a
Patiher of days, and, their food supply having dimin-
ished, the pack had grown light, so that the horse was
able to carry the redskin in addition to his other
burden.

That night Feather Foot oye the problem of what
was to be done with him. Somehow he succeeded in
getting his hands over his head, and up to his mouth,
when his ratlike teeth cut through the cords, and he
escaped. The gnawed buckskin thongs, lying where
he had been, remained alone to tell the tale of how
he had got away.

I suppose; but a prisoner is

CHAD TRAV,
THE MURDERED WOMAN. :

The singular trail of the bear-foot moccasins over-
lapping the tracks of a-horse went on, until it was lost
on the barren rocks of the mountain pass. But Buffalo
Bill's party pushed right ahead, knowing that the horse
could not have climbed out of the pass, which in places
had the characteristics of a box canon. At the farther
end of the pass they came upon a surprise more amaz-
ing than anything yet encountered.

At the side of the pass lay the body oe an, Indian

woman, who had been slain recently. The middle fin-

ger of her right hand was gone, and the stump was
unhealed.

Close by her grazed the horse whose tracks they
had followed so far. Beyond, where the ground grew
softer and would hold them, were again to be pound
the imprints of the bear- foot moccasins.

The Indian woman had been slain by a billet

A thing that brought brightness to the face of Lit-
tle Cayuse was that, when she was searched, on her
was found his medicine hoof.

“Huh! he grunted, snatching it up when it was
brought forth by old Nomad. “Mebbyso you find um
totem, too.”

But the totem was not there. |

Dropping to the ground the Piute began to rub the
dried hoof over his body. This done, he insisted on
performing the same act for Buffalo Bill, Pawnee’s
turn came next; then he gave his attention to Nomad
and the baron.

Pawnee smiled indulgently while the Piute was en-
ergetically at work on him.

“You're the queerest“card in this pack,” he said,
. “and no mistake. I know this will help you to feel
‘brave, and you think it will make me inv mealies: SO
go ahead.” ‘

‘about that trail, and Foster didn’t leave it.

BILL STORIES.

The Piute’s face clouded slightly with recollection.

“Too bad no got um totem; if had um totem no
anything could ee Mucho great Piute pony totem.
Make Pawnee heap safe; Pa-e-has-ka heap safe; all
heap safe.”

“Der kvestion,” said the baron, takin& comfort from
his pipe while they rested and talked over the matter
of the moment, “der kvestion iss, vot haf pecome oof
Fosder? He vos riding der back oof der horse on, unt
here iss der horse; budt he iss'nodt here, unt der moc-
casin dracks haf gone straighdt on again. To me idt
iss a buzzlemendt.”’

“Ther thing I’m gittin’ skeery erbout now,” Nomad
admitted, “‘is thet mebby we ain’t follerin’ Foster at
ath’

“Budt his Inchun!” the baron urged.

“You ain't seein’ thet Injun’s trail now, aire ye?
Whar is et? °Tother side ther pass we seen et, but
hyar et don’t appear.”

“Tt would be a joke on this crowd,’ declared Paw-
nee, “if we should find that we have been mistaken

By the pee
we could back track to the neighborhood of Santa F
he could be so far away that we'd never be: able to
find him.”

“We can’t take that possibility into consideration,”
said Buffalo Bill. “The bear-foot trail lies straight
before us, ahd we must follow it, whatever we find
at the end.”

“Unt der odder kvestion dot iss troupling me,” said
the baron, “‘is, vhy dit he kill der Inchun yomans, oof
idt vos Fosder ?”’

“Bercause he’s jest natcherly mean enough ter do a
thing like thet,” asserted Nomad.

“It may be,” guessed Pawnee, “that he thought she
was an enemy, following him, and ambushed her here
and shot her. That would be like Foster, too,”

“Whatever meanness you set down to the credit of
that rascal,” said the scout, “you can’t strike very far
from the truth. Still, we have thought the Indian
wearing those moccasins was his friend, trying to aid
him by effacing his trail; this doesn’t seem to bear out
that idea. But I’ll make another long throw of the
guess lariat, since it seems to be the fashion, and nc
harm will be done if I guess wrong.”

“We're listening,’ Pawnee invited:

“Perhaps Velvet Foster waylaid and killed her be-
cause she had the Taos totem, and he wanted it.”

“Waugh! Nomad rumbled. “Waugh-h!”’

“What do you think of it?” said the scout to Pawnee.

“Your guesses are so nearly always right, Pard Bill,
that I’m willing to accept your couclusian: if it’s that.”

“Weill stick to it, then, as.a w orking theory, until
we know better. We can surmise us she was the

person who took the totem from Little Cayuse. But
how Foster knew that she had done that I can’t fathom
right now. It is one of the things we have to pass over
until we get more light.”

 

‘eS

 
THE -BUPPALO

“TInjtn though she is,’”’ said Nomad,
murder.”

“Unt idt iss make me vell sore here,” said the baron,
tapping his breast, ‘‘to know dot I shooted her py der
finger; I vouldt nodt haf done idt oof I hadt guessed
dot der pear I shodt at vos a vomans. Ach! I gan
seen dot I aind’t going to sleeb no sveet treams to-
nighdt.”

“We'll make what amends we can, baron,’
announced, “by giving her decent burial.”

Though they were anxious to solve the puzzling rid-
dle which had been presented, they took time to scoop
out a grave in the soft soil at the*foot of a cliff, and
_ there they buried the Indian woman, with stones piled
on the grave to keep off wolves.

This done, they pushed on, following the trail. of
the bear-foot moccasins, taking with them the horse
they had found.

“The w’arer o’ them moccasins,” said Nomad, as
they went on, “had ter step high an’ wide, an’ perform
stunts numerous when he war tryin’ ter kiver up them
hoss tracks; he didn’t do a complete job, but ther won-
der ter me is thet he done et so well as he did. But
hyar he hain’t got nothin’ ter do but pike right erlong.
An’ as he helt his own erg’in us so long I allow thet
now he'll be gainin’ on us, unless we push our animiles
a little faster.”’

“It may be a good idea now,” the scout admitted,

“seeing that he is alone and on foot, with not much
chance in this open country of laying an ambush for
us. So, if that is the opinion of all, we'll drive the
pace.a bit harder. But always on a long trail it has
been my experience that if you push your animals at
the beginning of it, before the end is reached you won't
have any animals to push.”

The gait was increased so that it seemed certain
they ought to overtake the wearer of the bear-foot
moccasins before the coming of night, and even be-
fore he gained the hills, which now loomed blue and
hazy ahead.

But the keen eyes of the scout made a discovery
before the party had gone far. More than’ one man
had passed along there. The proof came in the shape
of the outline of a moccasin toe in the sand, which
the wide-spreading bear-foot moccasin that had trod-
den over it had not entirely concealed.

“Tf one Indian is ahead of us,’ said the scout, when
this was noted, “we can’t tell but there may be a
dozen.” :

“Oder it may be feefty,” breathed the baron, staring
round as if he expected to see any number of redskins
wriggling in the sand,

“You've seen a magician shake out his box of tricks,”
said Pawnee; ‘well, this reminds me of it. We started
out on the trail of Velvet Foster, or we thought we
did, and we've butted into about every kind of trail you
can think of since, and don't even know right now
whether we're following Foster or not.”

Nomad had slid from his horse and was inspecting

“et war bloody

   

’ the scout
‘ekal o’ thet yit, an’ [ve lived some time.

BY STORIES £3

closely the bit of moccasin track reyealed by the keen
eyes of Buffalo Bill.

, Only thing we kin do,”’ he said, as he swung back
into his saddle, ‘‘is jest ter keep our eyes peeled, This
b’ar-foot moccasin trtek worker is shore ekal to about
anything, yit he did fall down right thar.. When I
meets up with him, ef he ain’t shootin’ at me, ’'m
goin’ ter take off my hat ter him, fer ther work he done
back thar in hidin’ them hoss tracks; 1 ain’t seen the
Waugh!”

They went on, discussing the possibility that they
had lost Foster’s trail, or had never been on it; watch-
ing at the same time for an uncovered track of a
white man, but watching in vain. They did not even
again detect a moccasin track. The wearer of the bear-
foot moccasins, striding wide and slovenly yet moving
swiftly, had wiped out everything.

An hour before dark they reached the hills.

They were flinty in character, The trail, after en-
tering them, was soon lost. e

"Et he kep’ straight on,’ said Nomad, “all we has
got ter do is ter p’int our noses in ther same. direc-
tion, an’ keep ther hoofs o’ our hosses movin’; we'll
come out somewhar, an’ see ’em ag’in.”

They stopped to confer about it.

“He cain’t easy lay:'an ambush fer us so long’s the
hills aire so open,’ Nomad urged, favoring an advance
while the light held; “‘only a long-range gtin could sling
a bullet ter us hyar frum them ridges. Yit I admit
thet I’m sufferin’ frum head pains, caused by an in-
growin’ doubt. Whyever did ole B’ ar Foot, ef he is
an Injun, want ter hide ther trail o’ them thet war
ahead of him? An’ whyever did he try ter hide ther
trail o’ ther hoss?”’

Pawnee Bill laughed.

“Ask a few more easy ones, Nomad,’ he invited;
“why did he, or whoever it was, kill the woman, and
who has got the totem now; and who took it from
Cayuse; also, who doped the tobacco, and who rode
the horse, and what has become of Velvet Foster?”

“Cut et out! When ye slam ‘em at me thet way et
sets me plum’ dizzy.”

Cayuse, having noted something ahead, had rid-
den on.

Now his low ee sounded, announcing a dis-
covery:

When they joined him they saw that bark had been
chipped from a tree the size of a mah’s hand, and on
the bared space appeared the red imprint of a hand,
with the middle finger missing.

“The print of the right hand, just as before,’
the scout.

Nomad rubbed his eyes and looked again.

“Bt’s thar,’ he said, as if he thought it might be
disputed. "

“Unt der Inchun vomans vot made idt der odder.
dimes, she iss deadt yedt alreadty.”’

Little Cayuse drew from his war bag the dried mus-

said

iy Pia a MANN ion Nh ile rahe etn tre tr Bac ARS Ly Rae hp ey hy PRN Pete Sater Ure.
A en a aa he oan Sm ade ‘ie Tes ida age, ae ewe Tite Cia Te

 
  

THE BUFFALO

 

14.

tang hoof and began to pass it over his breast and
shoulders. . :
“Ught" he gureled. “Heap bad medicine.”
“Still,” urged Pawnee, “you can’t say there is any-
thing mysterious about it; it is simply the outline of
a human hand in red paint, with the middle finger
gone. Because an imprint similar was found on Ca-
-yuse’s breast! doesn’t make the thing mysterious.”
“Budt der finger vot I shodt off,” said the baron,
apparently much impressed, “she vos a voman’s.”’
Pawnee laughed. : € eo
“Your hard German sense seems to fail you here,
baron. A person doesn’t have to have the finger gone
trom his hand to-draw an outline like that, does he?”
“The only puzzling thing about it to me,’ declared
Buffalo Bill, “is the change that has suddenly come
over the conduct of the wearer of the bear-foot moc-
casins. Back there he tried to hide his trail in places;
and here, where following it would be difficult, he helps
us along by blazing # tree and setting that red hand
Ont
Pawnee smoked up to help his thinking faculties.
_“And red is supposed to be a danger signal!”
“The danger isn’t going to frighten us, if Foster is
at the end of this trail,” said the scout, and rode on.

“Right ye aire, Buffler,’ Nomad chirruped; ‘‘when-"

ever I recklect my ole pard, Nate Hoskins, wiped out
by thet devil, my hosstyle blood stirs ontil I’m ready
ter Weht wildcats.) = _

A mile farther on they found another bloody hand,
this time on the flat surface of a white rock.

“Whoever he is,” said Nomad, “‘he is shore tollin’
us on, an’ thet has ther look of an ambush preparin’.”’

Shortly after sunset they encountered another mani-
festation of Indian eccentricity, as it seemed. ‘The
bear-foot moccasin trail began again, where the ground
was soft, enough to show it, at the bottom of a shal-
low depression; went on for a time in the usual way;
then it stopped abruptly, and from it proceeded three
Indian trails, going in different directions.

“Mr. Bar Foot hez split hisself inter three parts,
an’ has lost his b’ar-foot moccasins,” chirruped Nomad.
“Et has a quare look.”

“Run on,” said the scout to Cayuse, “and see if you
can develop anything.”

Sliding from Navi, and tossing the bridle rein to
the baron, the Piute disappeared at a dog trot, follow-
ing the central trael.

_ Sitting their animals, the other members of the party
studied the three trails, as far as these could be seen,
and scrutinized the bear-foot tracks at the point where
_ they had “evaporated.”’

“This redskin is a heap smart,’’ Pawnee commented.
“But I suppose, necarnis, that we can figure now that
there are only three of him?”

“There may be a dozen,” said the scout; “each of
these single trails, as they appear to be, may have been
“made by a number of Indians, stepping each in the
same spot; that central trail certainly looks to be

 

BILL STORIES.

deeper than it would be if only one red had gone
there.”

Cayuse came back in a short time, saying that the
trail seemed not to have changed its character, as far
as he had followed it. :

“This means,’ said the scout, “that we'll have to split
our party; and as it is plain that is the very thing the
redskins want us to do, I hate to do it.”

He had already looked the landscape over care-
fully, and now he looked at the sky.

“Dark will come down soon, so we haven't long
to work in. But we'll divide up and return to this
spot for our night €amp. I'll take the middle trail,
Pawnee, you and Cayuse follow the one on the right,
while Nomad and the baron look after that on the left.
If any discovery is made send up an Indian whoop;
but if too far off for that, fire off a rifle; the rest will
join the one making the find. Is that clear?”
‘Clear as a signal fire in the night, Pard Bill.”
“All right, then; get to work, pronto.”

CHAPTER Vie
CODY MAKES A CAPTURE,

The trail which Buffalo Bill followed passed close
to a hogback—too close to suit him. So he drew
rein and began to search the hogback with his field
glasses, trying to locate possible Indians.

He was engaged in this when the report of a rifle
reached him from the right.

“Pawnee and Cayuse have waked up something,”

he said, “which means that I’ve got to cut across and

join them. But Tl look this ridge over first.”

Drawing Bear Paw back, he was about to head in
the direction of the shot, when from the hogback a
report came, and a bullet, striking the cantle of his
saddle, glanced off and went on its way with an angry
whining. my

"So, that was the game!” said the scout. ‘The three
trails were to split our party and lead us within reach
of riflemen, who would shoot us down.”

He had slipped over, and now fired at a point di-
rectly under the drifting smoke.

“I didn’t get him,” he said, “but the rascal is there,

somewhere; he slid to one side, likely, after firing.

Bear Paw, there will be more lead coming, so we'll just
get out of this. I’m hoping that neither Pawnee nor
Cayuse caught a bullet.”

Another bullet came singing past him before he got
out of range. And as he made his way toward the trail
Pawnee had followed, he heard the sharp bark of a
rifle, this time off. on the left. a

“Now Nomad is getting it. The reds have shown
their hand.”

_ Bisecting Pawnee’s trail, he moved along it, and met
Pawnee Bill and Little Cayuse returning.

“You're all right, eh?” cried Pawnee, with a breath

of relief. “We heard your war music.”

 

Ly

 
 

ne

he
ar
lit
1e

| “A bullet caught my cantle, but no damage was:
done;

it ripped the saddle leather, that is all. You
were ‘fired on, too?’

“Was IP”

Pawnee took off his Stetson and exhibited a “hole
in it.

~“T Tocated the redskin that sent the bullet,” fee said,
“but before I could pull on him he was behind a rock.”

“He was an Indian?”

“Mucho look like‘Feather Foot,”’ averred the Piute.

“lf it was Feather Foot, then Foster is with this
crowd; and we haven't strayed from his trail.”

“But if he is,” said Pawnee, “it’s queer how he has
connected up with these reds. It would look as though
they have started in to fight his battles for him.”

“If he has that totem,” said the scout, “it is likely

: they would do it.”

They were riding hastily toward the rendezvous.

When they gained it they found Nomad and the
baron there, they having got in only a minute before.

“Ther trail we tuck,” reported Nomad, “dipped inter
a draw, wi’ bushes growin’ on ther sides, too near fer
comfort. Ef me an’ ther baron had gone straight’on,
I reckon ther reds would er got both o’ us, but we
didn’t. When we stopped they slammed away, any-
how, an’ we hit ther back’ard trail pronto.’

“Little Cayuse,” said the scout, “thinks that. the In-
dian who fired on him and Pawnee was probably

Feather Foot, Foster's Indian.”

es waugh ! :

“Vot iss to bé dit now?” questioned the baron, look-
ing round. “Der darkness he iss here alreadty.”

“We can camp down right here,” said the scout; .

“we've developed the Indian plan, and that will give

us some comfort of mind, and in the morning we can
run out these trails and see what happens.”

“Unt git our meticines.”

“We'll have to be cautious, of course. Foster has
a considerable redskin acquaintance in this neck of the
country, and it looks now as if he had joined some
of his friends, and they are going to fight for him.
Anyway, we have Indian foes ahead of us, and they're
likely to keep us busy.”

He turned to Cayuse, who was again using his mus-
tang hoof.

“Collect some dried mesquite toots,” the scout
ordered, ‘‘for a fire. We are so far. off from the hills
that we ought to be safe here, and well have some
coffee and something warm to eat.”

They had a good supper, in spite of the apt that pro-
visions were rtmning low; the trail had been a long
one.- Water for the horses was found in a sink, half
a ee away, too near the dangerous ridges to be safe
for a night camp; but grass, of fair quality, was found
nearer, and there the animals were picketed, with

Cayuse as the horse guard.

Darkness had hardly deepened into diben night when

a fire flamed up at a point on the nearest ridge. ie

While they watched it another broke out of the

 

 

THE BUFFALO BILL STORIES. 1s

eastern darkness ; thea, as if by magic, a third sparkled
brilliantly in the west.

“Ther reds aire signalin’,” said Nomad:

“Locate those fires in your minds,’ warned the
scout, “for I think they will die out soon; when they
do, we may want to crawl over there for a look round.”

The three fires faded as suddenly as they had ap-
peared; even more suddenly, for it was as if they had
been simultaneously smothered with wet blankets.

“What dye s’pose all thet illumination meant?’
Nomad queried.

“Pass the ante, Nomad,” said the scout; “signals of
some kind. You noticed that the fire we saw first was
the nearest. I’m going to send you to investigate it.
I'll take the one on the left, while Pawnee can investi-
gate the third. You located them well, of course?”

“Well be ie just what they want us to do, ne-.
carnis:”

“Of course. We're aie in guessing that ey warit.
to draw us close again, as they’re afraid to come down.
here. I believe we can gratify them to that extent,
and still sleep to-night with our scalps in place. “Think
you can. find that one out on the fights: 3: :

“T can come pretty close tovit.”

We ll leave Cayuse and the baron with the ani-
false |

They parted, Buffalo Bill proceeding toward the left-
hand fire on the side of the hog-back; the others point-

.ing for the ones they had been assigned.

At the bottom of the ridge the scout found some
manzanita, and crawled softly into the bushes. Trained
to noiseless movement, he made as little sound as a
crawling serpent. *

‘They think they’ll hear me and fire on me when |
get close enough. Well, here’s to fool them.” ;

When he had advanced to the vicinity of the fire he’
half circled and came toward it from the rear, slip-
ping downhill.. Parting the bushes, he saw the red -
embers; but not an Indian was by the fire, which was
dying out.

However, the experichecd scout was not fooled; he
felt sure that one Indian at least lay in hiding close by
the expiring fire, ready to send bullet or knife into
him, if he permitted.

After a vain effort to locate his foe, Buffalo Bull
receded from his perilous position as softly as he had
come.

When he stdpped, more than twenty yards from the
camp fire, he deliberately broke a twig, making it snap
as if trod on. Then-he dropped back, drew a re-
volver, spread out the coils of his lariat, and waited.

A minute, five minutes, of silence went by, before a
form rose out of the darkness by the camp fire, and
came slipping toward the scout. For a brief instant
the latter caught the Indian between himself andthe _
sky line, and by the outline of blanket and headdress
settled the fact that the man was an Indian. °

‘Fie may be alone; if others are there he is simply
coming out to investigate the cause of that cracking.”

 
 

16 : _ (THE BURRALO.

The scout had already shifted his position to one
side. Now he stretched out on the ground with hand
extended, his knife, pistol, and lariat within easy reach.

When the Indian arrived at the spot where the twig
had snapped his feet were within reach of the scout’s
hands; and, as he bent over, listening and searching,
a firm hand gripped his ankle; the next moment’ he was
flat on his back.

The scout came up with a jump and flung himself
on the floundering redskin; then his iron fingers con-
nected with the Indian’s throat, and, for that redskin,
further floundering was useless.

But an Indian is full of tricks, and though the red-
skin had dropped back, unconscious, the scout took no
chances with him. As he wanted to save his lariat for

_ possible use he unbuckled the redskin’s belt, turned him

on his face, pulled his hands behind him, and secured
them with the belt.

_ The Indian was armed with a revolver, and he had
on a cartridge belt also, supporting the revolver and
the knife. With this, after shaking out the cartridges,
the scout bound the Indian’s feet.

He had worked with such celerity that the whole
thing was accomplished in a space of time almést un-
believable. :

There had been no stir at the camp, which seemed to
indicate that the captured Indian had been alone; other-
wise, the sounds of the brief struggle must have drawn
the Indians out.

Leaving the captive bound and seacelne the scout
crept up to the fire. Not a soul was there.

Going back to the Indian, curiosity made him flash
a match to see the faée paint and feathers, and other
indications of tribal adornment that he might deter-
mine, if possible, the tribe the redskin belonged to.

Great was his astonishment when he discovered that
the most distinguishing mark was that the middle fin-
ger of the Indian’s right hand was missing. There
was paint, and also a head feather, with a head band;
but these had no particularly distinguishing character-
istics, or, at least, none that helped the scout.

“Tll just take him back to the camp with me,” he
said, “and see if Pawnee or Nomad can identify his
tribe. And they'll be interested in seeing that hand
with the middle finger missing.”

A fact to be noted is that this was not a recent ae
jury; the stump had long ago healed.

CHAPTER V LUG

THE ADVENTURES OF PAWNEE AND NOMAD.

Pawnee Bill was a man of nerve and daring; a fit
companion for the famous scout, Buffalo Bill. Though
possessing qualities peculiarly his own, as the discrimi-
ating reader has doubtless noted, he had much of the

ame “untiring patience, and a quickness of mind that

ca him to cope successfully with emergencies.

Moving eastward among rocks and bowlders, he

Bi OSLORT ES. e
climbed the hogback, heading for the now unseen fire
which Buffalo Bill had instructed him to me out and
visit.

“There were three trails,” he reflected, ‘
three fires. The three trails led to three ambuscades,
into which it was hoped we would walk and be shot
down. ‘That failing, the three fires are for a similar
purpose; they indicate ambuscades, that we are ex-
pected to butt into.”

‘Thus Pawnee reflected, as, lying flat on his face, he
got the hog-back heights above him, against the sky,
and looked over the bush-covered:slope.

“But we’ve no good reason to suppose that we've
got a big crowd -of redskins bucked up against us.

Cody thought the central trail sank deeper into’ the:

earth than ‘the others. It would do that, if made by
Foster, for he is a heavy man. The other trails might
have been made by Feather Foot, and the Indian who
wore the bear-foot. moccasins. Three persons could
play this little game, and ’'m beginning to believe there
were no more than that number.”

Pawnee hitched on again, having discovered noth-
ing By his close inspection.

“Td be tickled plum’ out of my boots if I-should
find Foster at the end of this trail and capture him;
that would put a plume in my Stetson bigger than any
ever worn by the Piute in his midnight Adie: Bit
that’s too good luck to expect.”

Like Buffalo Bill; Pawnee found the camp fire he
sought dying out, and apparently no one near it. Be-
lieving that the Indian was lying closé, if one were
there, he slipped back, then tossed a stone into the
bushes and waited.

But he failed to get results.

“He is too shrewd to fall to a trick like that,”
thought Pawnee.

When he had waited what seemed a reasonable time,
with nothing doing, Pawnee again approached the dy-
ing camp fire, this time from another direction. His
idea was that the Indian was lying close and expecting
something like this; yet he preferred to take the
chances. :

Pawnee was right in his surmise. When he crept
close to the ashes of the fire, body‘ flattened on the

ground, a movement took place, and something whirled _

out of the darkness.

It was the noose of a lariat, but Pawnee’s keen-
edged Price knife, ready i in his hand, Clie ae irf two at
a swish, as it landed.

The Indian followed the lariat ke a jump almost
as swift; but instead of the man whom he expected to
find fighting with the noose of the Tope, he found
one ready for him.

Pawnee’s hand caught the Indian’s ankle, and the
redskin came down. But Pawnee was not as success-

ful as Buffalo Bill in getting a windpipe grip. The aL.

dian threshed aside and started up to escape.
Trying to block this, Pawnee threw out his fond:

‘and ice

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

| : . THE BUEPFALO

It caught and held for a moment the Indian’s right
hand—a hand that had the middle finger missing!

It was the surprise of that, more than anything
else, which let the redskin get away. Astonishment
‘for the instant palsied the hand which clutched the
Indian; then the redskin jerked away and was gone.

Pawnee pitched up his revolver for a shot; then he
lowered it.. ve

“T don’t like to shoot at a man’s back,” he said, as
the pistol came down.

The next moment he was startled by a wolf howl.

“Nomad’s direction,’ he said; “wonder/if the old
cimareon made that howl, or was it a real wolf?”

The howl had been made by neither, but by the red-
skin for whom the borderman had gone gunning, or
another. .

Nomad had found the camp fire he visited without
any one beside it. He had bunked down, thinking the

Indian had gone away for a spell and.would return. ,

When this did not happen, he concluded to retreat by
another way, and in doing it came upon the Indian

he had sought, lying with his back against a rock, half’

a dozen paces from the old fire. :

‘Waugh!’ Nomad grunted, recoiling and gripping
his knife.

As the Indian did not move, the borderman, after
a brief wait, advanced on him, ready for him if he
made a hostile movement. ;

“Dead, while he war layin’ fer me, right clost by
his own fire. By all ther tarantlars o’ ‘Texas, this
beats me!”

But the Indian was not dead, as the old trapper
found; he was breathing heavily, and his heart was
beating. -

Thereupon Nomad ventured to light a match and
scanned the Indian.

His first discovery was the Indian’s rifle on the
ground, and his knife beside it. Close by them was the
Indian’s pipe, feather-decorated. Nomad lifted it and
smelled the tobacco. Then he made the discovery that

the middle finger on the Indian’s right hand was mllss- -

ing.

“Er waugh!”

He struck another match and looked further; but
his important discoveries have been catalogued.

‘Wisht Buffer c’d see this layout, fer et is too much
fer this hyar ombray ter elucidate.
make er guess x

He sniffed the tobacco again, then he picked a bit
of it out of the bowl of pipestone and tasted it.

“Ef thet ain’t ther same truck what pizened mean’

 

Buffler I’m er idjit,” he muttered. “Looks plum’ like:

this Injun got inter ther wrong terbacker box, *thout
knowin’ et, and then he hunkered down hyar, laying
fer me, meanwhile smokin’ peacerable, an’ ther pizen
stuff went ter his head and put him outer bizness. Ef
not, what?” '

Tying the Indian, Nomad made a search round the

 

-takably that of a white man.

“Waugh!” he breathed, rocking back on his spurs.

But ef I might

%

  
  
 
  
   
  
 
 
  
  
 
  
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
  
 
  
 
  
 
 
  
 
  
 
 
  
 
   
   
   
  
  
  
 
  
 
  
 
  
 
  

BILL STORIES.- was
camp, striking matches to aid him; but he found noth-
ing worth mentioning, except that the moccasin tracks
seemed to indicate that only one Indian had been
there.’ j

While he was thus engaged he heard the wolf howl,
already noted as having been heard by Pawnee Bill.

“Horned toads an’ Hornets!’ the _ borderman
growled, under his breath. ‘Thet voice is off a note
er two fer a mountain wolf. Lemme see ef I cain’t do
better.” as

Throwing back his head, he gave an answering howl.

There was an interval of silence, then the howl of
the wolf came again. But this time it was nearer.

_ “Trayelin’ my way, eh? Mebbyso this will hurry
Ve.

‘He sent forth the howl again, then he rocked back
on his spurs once more behind a bush, and got his
weapons and lariat ready for business.

A wolf howl came in answer to his last.

“Lopin’ etlong my way. Say, this hyar is a plum’
funny game I’m runnin’ ter-night. Along with my
wolf howls, ef thet critter ketches ther smell o’ this
dyin’ fire, he’ll shore think he has got a’ pard camped
hyar, an’ will fall right inter my arms.”

Soon he heard a slight movement in the manzanita,
_and knew that the advancing redskin was no more than
a dozen yards away. Then the trapper began to give
play to his superstitions.

“Wonder ef he has got a finger off his right hand,
too? Thet diskivery plum’ feazed me. Bi he-has
T1l——”

The Indian-advanced until close to the trapper, then
he straightened up, and in the starlight Nomad saw
him lift his right hand to his lips to cup it, as an aid
in making the wolf howl. The middle finger was miss-
ing. .

The wolf howl did not sound, for Nomad had
flounced backward; betraying his location. Also a

low “Waugh!” fell from his lips, in a voice unmus-

Instantly the Indian dropped, and fired as he went
down, the bullet whistling by the borderman’s ear.

The zip of the*bullet brought Nomad back to: his
senses, in time to enable*him to act. He uttered a
groan and flung himself backward, then flounced and
writhed in the bushes, in imitation-of a man shot
fatally.

The redskin jumped forward and stood looking
down on his supposed victim. With an exultant
chuckle, he stooped, to drive his knife into the writhing
body. oe 2 ,

Thé result must have been astounding, if he had
time to think, Nomad’s revolver swung upward, and
its heavy butt crashed against the redskin's skull,
bringing him down in a tumbling heap on top of the -
borderman. f |

“Waugh!” Nomad grunted, rolling the body aside.
“T got him, but ’tain’t nothin’ ter brag on; ef his
18 | THE BUFFALO

shootin’ had been good, he’d ’a’ got me! Now, I won-
der——”’

Reaching over, he brought up the np right arm
of the fen. held it up so that he could see the hand,

and dropped it with a suppressed howl. There could

be no doubt that the middle finger was missing. |
Nomad’s superstitious fears caught him by the

throat, then, choked him into a panic, and he fled «

wildly, bounding down the slope of the hogback in
leaps that would have done credit to a mountain goat.
When he crashed into the rendezvous camp far be-
low, he was out of breath.
‘Waugh !” he roared, fetching up with an effort.
“Waugh-h!. Waugh-h- hf
ieee ‘the members of the party were there, he saw.
In addition, off at one side lay the bound form of an
Indian.

“We were just going to your att ” Buffalo Bill j in-
ee him, “when we heard you coming. You met
the enemy, and—didn't get him.” % ‘

Nomad sank down, trembling, with his legs tucked
under him.
Cee WV odidit)” née armtted: “and when I seen him, got
er good look at him, you bet I didn’t want ter git
him. . Why, thet Tnjun didn’t have no middle finger
on his right hand.’

Pawnee laughed quietly.

“So, you let him go. Tm bearing you company to-
night, ‘old Diamond.”

“Let him go? No; he’s layin’ up thar now. Wher
he tried ter knife me I busted his coco wi’ my re-
volver, an’ he drapped hke a steer hit with an iron mal-
let. Then’’—he looked round fearfully—‘“then I seen
thet his finger war gone.”

“And you ran?”

“On’y bercause I couldn’t fly.”

“Take a look at the red over there,”
Bill quietly.

Nomad looked and ‘‘woofed” again.

“Middle finger gone off his right hand!’ he cried.
“What do ye make er thet?”

“What do you?” asked Pawnee.

“Suthin’ et ain’t natcheral an’ human. I didn’t tell
ye thet thar aire two reds,up thar, both wi’ their
hands in thet fix. Ther fust one, I calc’late, war ther
one who stayed by the fire, ter lift the ha’r o’ ther
white man et drawed to et. Funniest thing I ever con-

said Buffalo

nected up with. Thet Injun war asleep, and he’d been

smokin’ his pipe, and ther terbacker in et smelt jest
like thet did which laid out me and Buffler.”

This was an interesting statement, but it did not go
uncontradicted ; they reminded Nomad that the tobacco
which, as was.supposed, had made him and the scout
ill, had been odorless, so far as the added material was
concerned.

"Mebbyso ter you, but not terme,” the borderman
insisted; “and thet Injun up thar—thet fust one—he
had been smokin’ thet kind er terbacker.”

“Tie vos inkinscious?” said the baron.

+4

BILL STORIES.

“He had to more sense than a rock. ‘Then, when .
I was figgerin’ thet out and feelin’ pokery, I heard ther
wolf howl, an’ answered et, for I knowed right well |

‘twarn't no wolf.’ And this second red come erlong,.
an’ come near gittin’ my goat, a as I tol’ ye.
Whoosh?’

He stared round again.

“What do you make of et?” he demanded again.

“Der kvestion vot iss troupling me,’ said the baron,
sucking judicially at his pipe, “iss apowet der finger

vot I shodded off der handt oof der Inchun vomans.

Iss der a gonnection petween idt unt dhese odder fin-
gers vot iss missings?”’

“Ther whole thing smacks 0’ whiskizoo bizness,” ie.

clared Nomad.
frum ther fust.”

“This hyar trail has been betwitched

“We seem to have stumbled into a band of redekine |
that have. this pectiliarity—the middle finger of the

right hand is missing.’

“Budt dit dot make me shood off der voman’s ie

ger?” demanded the baron; “dot iss der kvestion vhich
iss-troupling me.’ ae
“These Indians,” the scout went on, “have risen up

here to block our path; either because they have joined .

themselves to Velvet Foster, or because they don’t
want us to go farther in this direction. If Cayuse

_ really saw Feather Foot, then it is a safe conclusion

that Foster is here. The Indian over there that I cap-
tured and brought down here was guarding the fire
I went to investigate. Another Indian, with a missing
finger, was guarding the fire that Pawnee went to see.’’

“And he got away,’ Pawnee admitted. “That is
why I said, it am bearing Nomad company to-night.
I ought to have brought that redskin in, and Nomad
ought to have brought his in.’

“Four Indians are accounted for—that is,

2

said the

scout, “we know of four; but wé don’t know how -

many more there are. All we know is that three In-
dians are still out in these -hills.”

“Two of.’em ain’t in er condition ter do damage to
nobody,” declared Nomad; “them two I met up with.”
“We could go up there and take a look at them,”

said Pawnee.
But Nomad did not want to go, and Buffate Bill,
for other reasons, vetoed it,
“Other reds might have been drawn by those wolf
howls,” he urged, “and be laying for us. We'll: look
into that in the morning.”
“Ye think et is natcheral,” demanded Nomad, “‘thet
we sh'd butt inter a gang o’ three-fingered reds?” »
“Not natural,” said the scout; “‘still, there is noth-
ing mysterious about it.”

“Budt der vomans?” persisted the baron. ‘‘Vot
apowet der finger vhich I shooded off der handt oof

dot vomans?’’ ie

+9

“Perhaps you didn’t, baron,” remarked Pawnee.
“Vot? You seen it. Also-o, you seen der vomans.’

“I saw a hole in the ground once, baron, and the
people who showed it to me said that a monstrous tree

 

nN

h

dc

; wi
| wl
oe THE BUFFALO

 

had grown there, and asked me to accept the hole as
proof.” :
“You tond’t pelief idt ?”’

“My dear baron, I have stopped believing anything |

—=6n this trail.”

CHAT TIER TX,
LITTLE CAYUSE DISAPPEARS.

When the narratives had been untangled, so that
even Nick Nomad understood, and nothing more was
heard or seen of Indian or other foes, the captured
redskin was rolled into the center of the group round
the renewed camp fire and questioned.

Perhaps because he had found he could not twist out
of the cords holding him the redskin was more amiable
than when the scout tried him before; so he answered
promptly, in English, as good as that of Little Cayuse.

‘What is your tribe?’ the scout inquired.

“The Missing Finger,’”’ was the surprising answer.

“T never heard of that tribe.”

“Buffler, he’s lyin’,”’ Nomad ‘warned;
thet by ther flicker 0’ his eyes.”

“What is your name?” said the scout.

“Missing Finger.”

‘Waugh! Liennumber two.”

“Youve near here ©”:

“Grand Cafion.”

“That-is still a good way off.”

“Come here pronto,” said the redskin.

“Wihatetor|! demanded the scout.

“Git um totem.”

“Whoop! !” gurgled Nomad.
ere in

“Tp ell us a that,” the scout invited.

The Piute drew near, with shining eyes and bosom
heaving.

“Three Finger totem,”’

“Piute totem!” snapped Cayuse.
now, huh?”

“We got um.’

“Your three- Sa pards have got the totem?’
said the scout.

“Wuh! We got um.’

“Is there a white man with you; a white man who
has a young Indian with him? ’ the scout inquired.

“Wuh! He got totem.”

“What do you know about him?”

“Me no sabe white man.’
| “Yit he’s with ye,” said Nomad;
+ don't know him?” ~-

“Me no chief. : .
. “We areas, “said Pawnee, “that he isn’t in com-
| mand, and isn’t responsible for the white man, being
with them. It’s a ten-to-one shot, necarnis, that the

“ye can tell

“Ther totem bobs up

said the prisoner.
“Where um totem

\

| white rascal is Foster.”

“No doubt of it, I guess,”
He turned to the captive.
“Why are you fighting us?

ee the scout.

We haven't harmed.

“how’s thet, ef ye

BILL STORIES: Ig

\
you-—have never met you, and know nothing about
your tribe, which you call the Missing Finger.”

“You want git um totem?”

So: that's it,’ said ‘Pawnee;
guessed it.”

~Budt der kvestion vot iss troupling me,” said the
baron, “iss apowet der Inchun vomans vot 1 haf
shoodedt her finger off?”

The captive only stared, apparently not understand-
ing the baron’s queer English.

“We found an Indian woman dead in the pass which
leads through the Whitestone mountains,’ the scout
explained; ‘“‘she had been shot. And we found there a

“we ought to have

‘horse, which we think the white man had been riding.”

“Injun kill um woman; fight about totem.”

Pawnee shied his castor into the ring, and asked
about the bear-foot moccasins.

“Injun wear um,’ was the answer.

For a long time they applied the question pump,
but all the important information gained has been set
down.

That night Pawnee stood guard. Buffalo Bill had
not entirely recoveréd from his illness. The same
may be said of Nomad, who was also shaky from fear
of whiskizoos. And the baron, through much foolish
puzzling about the woman’s finger, was in a mental
state that made him unreliable. The Piute stood guard
over the animals.

* Pawnee walked a beat, from the camp out to a
white rock, and back.

Just before dawn, when he was out by the rock,
feet thudded suddenly in the camp, and he discovered
that the captive had wriggled out of his cords and
made a get-away.

The camp was aroused, ‘and questions flew thick and
fast.

“I'm admitting,” said Pawnee, “that he worked
it slick. I flashed a match and took a look at him, not
more than ten minutes ago, and he seemed safe then.
But no doubt he had already loosened up the cords
enough to slip them over his hands. The darkness
ielped him. I let the fire die out; for I thought it
might attract some redskin, who would get up close
enough to slam in a bullet.”

But Buffalo Bill, right at the moment; did not re-
gret the escape of the captive.

“We pulled out of him all the information we could,
and he would have been simply a burden on our hands,”

_ he said.

Nomad shuffled out to the point where the animals
were picketed. Soon his voice was heard.

“Animiles all right,” he called, “bat ther Piute is
missin’.”’

Buffalo Bill and Pawnee joined him, and verified the
report.

“This hyar sets me ter millin’ erg’in,” said Nomad.
“But mebbyso ef you'll call fer ther boy, Buffler, he'll
appear. He may be skirmishin’ out somewhar, havin’

heard suthin’. u

 
 

20. THE BUFFALO

Buffalo Bill called softly through the darkness, but
received no reply. He lifted his voice, with the same
result. Then he let go the familiar and far-reaching
wolf howl.

An answer—a similar wolf howl
the hills.

“Deserted Jericho!” exclaimed Pawnee. “Away out
there!”

Buffalo Bill winged another wolf howl through the
darkness.

This went unanswered.

“Vot iss der meanness?’’ demanded the baron, when
they returned to the camp, discussing it.

“Little Cayuse is out in the hills, for some reason,’

_ Pawnee informed him. “And Pard Bill is some worked
up about it. -For, you see, it isn't like the Piute to
desert plain duty and go rambling round without
orders. He was commanded to stay with the animals.”

“Couldt it be dot he follered der escabed Inchun?”’
_ “We hadn't thought of that. No; 1 don’t think he
did. He had some other reason. But he answered
Cody’s first signal call, and he'll be in soon and able
to explain it. Por my part, I believe he went to search
for that totem.”

floated back from

 

The night passed, and morning came, but Little Cas

yuse did not return.

As soon as the light was good enough they searched
out his trail, leading toward the hills. They also picked
up the trail of the escaped prisoner, and followed that;
as it went in the same direction.

“Ef I didn’t shore believe thet Little Cayuse is true
blue,” said Nomad, “I'd bergin ter set et down thet he
had gone over ter the inimy. Bein’ Injun——”

“He'd never do that,” said the scout. “But I’m be-
ginning to think he has deserted us.”

“Blazes! What d’ye mean, Buffler ?”’

“You remember how his eyes glittered last night,
when our Indian prisoner spoke of the totem, and how
he snapped in, saying it’was a Piute totem. He has
been crazy about that totem, so I begin to think that
he deliberately deserted the animals last night, in the
wild hope that he could connect with it, and set out
from the camp for that purpose. He answered my
first wolf call—or I think he did; it was answered, and
not by a wolf, Probably he meant to come back, then ;
but that answering howl betrayed him to the Indians,
and he fell into their hands.”

“When et comes ter elucidatin’ difficult problums,

you lead them percession. I’m recomembering mighty
well ther snap o’ ther Piute’s eyes when thet totem tork
war perambulatin’ round; I spoke of et at ther time.
Yes; I guess he went huntin’ fer thet Taos totem.
Seems ter ha’nt us, and trouble us, a mighty heap—
thet does,’’

They halted at the base of the hills.

“The ki-yis have already spotted us, if they’re still
there,” said Pawnee, “and soon they'll be trying to
pot us.”

Back-tracking, at the scout’s order, they left him

  

BILL. STORIES.

lying hil in’ the manzanita. -They kept close them-

selves, under cover of the bushes, but showed them-
selves enough to make any watcher think the entire
party had retreated.

Hardly had they withdrawn before the scout was

worming through the manzanita, following the trail

left by the escaped redskin. He spent an hour. When
he came back he reported that not an Indian was to
be found on that side of the hogback. Even the In-

-dians left unconscious by Nomad were gone.

“They cut out in the night. There is a trail at the

top of the hogback, leading across it, to the level lands.

on the other side. Their moccasins showed in the dust
of that trail. The Indian we had, got into the trail up
there and followed; or went before, I couldn't tell
which.”

“An’ Little Cayuse?” asked: Nomad.

“Fis trail evaporated on the rocky level you can
see from here, If he went on as their prisoner, they

‘drove him before them and covered up his tracks.”

“T can’t think that he went on in we other way,”
declared Pawnee.
“Nor dy”

“Still, ye cain’t tell,” said Nomad; “bughouse as he
is on thet totem, he might ’a’ reached the hogback

trail ahead o’ them, and pirouted on in advance, hopin’
fer a chamce ter git et.”

Em mighty sorry now,’ said the scout, “that our
Indian prisoner escaped; at first I didn’t care, but now

39

Ido. For you see we could have held him as a hostage,
and perhaps. traded him for Cayuse, if the latter « as

really a prisoner.”’

Though Buffalo Bill had found no Indians on that
side of the hogback, the party went on cautiously,
mounted, with the horse found in the Whitestone pass
taken along as a led animal.

At the farther end of the hogback trail, where it
dipped into the level land, they found proof that the
Indians had finally abandoned the hills and hastened
on in the night. -

There the moccasin tracks split, a dozen trails fray-
ing out from the dim, old trail, each going in a separate
direction.

“Having failed to kill us in the hills,” the scout in-
terpreted, “they are now trying to baffle us. But this
lets us know about how many there are.”

Nomad swung down and began to look for the

tracks of a white man, and failed to find them.
» “Same old tricks bein’ played,” he grumbled; “some
redskin has set Foster ahead 0’ him, and then walked
in his tracks.. Et’s a cur’us thing ter me how thet
rapscallion allus is able ter git ki-yis ter help him.”’

“I'm figuring that it is now through the power of
that totem,”’ said Buffalo Bill.

Nomad continued his search, aided by the ther

members of the party.

“Et i is this trail; I figger,”’ he declared, ee it
outs ye see,.\ets déeper than anya’ ther others ;

which'd seem ter be natcheral, et made by two men;.

     

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

sty

eo) eae hee
ae THe BUFFALO

  

and et is more spraddled out, as ye may call et. I sh’d

say thet an Injun, w arin’ big moccasins, follered Fos-

ter hyar, an’ done his work well.’

They agreed with the borderman: in his theca

“Still,” said Pawnee, “‘you can’t call it as difficult a
job as was undertaken by the ki-yi who played bear; as
a trail coverer he was A one. For the life of me I
don’t see even now how that red got on as fast as he
did; for, you see, a horse makes a sort of double trail.
Yet when we followed it looked just as if a spraddle-
legged bear had’ gone along there, kicking the sand
slovenly in its haste, and walking on its hind legs.
When I meet up with that ki-yi I'll take off my Stetson
to him.”

Same here,” said Nomad,

“Ve tond’t seen no pear feedts in dhis blace,”
the baron.

“We don’t, baron,” Pawnee sored. “But maybe
well see them later. I figure that the red who wore
those moccasins is carrying them right now in his
belie

“Shall we keep to the central trail?’ said the scout.
“We're after Foster.”

“But what erbout Little Cayuse?”

‘Pawnee took off his wide- brimmed hat and scratched
his head.

“Here the reds are throwing us,’ he admitted.
“Here are a dozen trails, and we have but four men.
The Piute, if he is a prisoner—and we can’t hope that
he isn’t—was driven ahead of an Indian, and his tracks
covered,

They got busy again, looking for something which
would tell them which trail the Piute was on. But
they had to give it up, Every trail but the central one
seemed to have been made by a single man.

“As we don’t know what is ahead of us, I think we
had better stick to the middle trail,” said the scout.’

This they did, with forebodings as to the fate of
Little Cayuse, and pushed on as rapidly as the heavy
sand would permit.

No trail but the one they were following was seen.
The country was flat and sandy, almost destitute of
bushes or rocks. The trail maker ahead had made
good use of his start, and they did not come in sight
of him. .

said

The sandy waste gave place at intervals to tills, |

where the trail was lost. Hours were often spent in
picking it up again, on the other side of the hills. At
the end of the day they felt that they had accomplished
very little.

For a number of days this continued. They were
troubled by the scarcity of grass and water. Nomad
was a wizard at locating water holes, but these searches
always consumed time. They. dropped behind the trail
maker, who evidently did not need water, or had a
well-filled water bottle to start with. Then, their pro-

visions running low, they had to stop to kill game.

A curious thing was to be noted, Though they
could always, after some loss of time and often through

on foot, gaining on them all the time.

  

 

Fier Settee ech MOR ev Mea IS BeCORCESM ARE RTSE TEN ee AN ek 2h RG PH Ag le

BILL STORIES. | pay

hard work, pick up the trail they had hung to so per-
tinaciously, they did not see any other of the dozen
trails observed at the outset.

This convinced them that, when the Indians scat-
tered, they scattered over a wide area, with an agreed
rendezvous, which was to be reached at the end of a
long distance.

So it went on, day after day; with the trail maker,
Now and then,
where the conditions favored, he gave them a lot of
puzzling work by back- tracking, walking on bare rocks,
and by using the many other devices which a clever
redskin always has up his sleeve when he is trying to
baffle pursuit.

If Buffalo Bill’s band of trailers had not been the
finest and best in. the whole Southwest, the Indian
would have succeeded, too.

At the end of many days they knew that he was
heading for the Grand Canon of the Colorado, That
helped them; yet they feared to push on, when he
tangled his trail, lest he might still be fooling them
as to his destination, and they would lose him com-
pletely.

One thing was sure—if Velvet Foster was walking
ahead of that tricky Indian, he was having the most
toilsome job of his life; and the redskin was having
one equally as toilsome, in covering Foster’s tracks.

It seemed strange that any Indian would take all that
trouble for a white man. So at times they almost
doubted that Foster was still ahead of them. But they
thought the influence of the totem, on the superstitious
mind of the Indian, might account for it.

So. they plugged right aD tenacious as blood-
hounds.

The point where they at last struck the Grand Cafion
showed a box cafion leading down into it, ‘The trail
of the Indian dipped down into this box cafion, and
then failed utterly.

“Vale,” said the baron, trying to get consolation out
of his pipe, while the other members of the party were
thrashing about trying to pick up the lost trail. “Ve
haf come so far dot ve ar-re nefer going to gedt pack
again, unt at der endt oof idt ve are oop a sdump.”

It seemed so, truly.

ent

CHAPTER X,
STARTLING DISAPPEARANCES,

The Grand Cafion of the Colorado, the greatest
natural wonder of the West, is in reality a wilderness
of vast cafions and gashes, with the Colorado River
flowing at the bottom of the central one, in many
places a mile below the surface.

The box ecafion the scout’s party had entered had at
first steep, straight walls, so that in effect it was a box,
open at the top; but as they got farther down, the

walls, though even higher, were ragged and broken,

filled with irregular holes and crannies.
The bottom of this cafion, as steep in its descent as

 
 

 

(eons Ss THE BURPALO

a toboggan slide, was of rock, washed by some tor-
rential rain as clear of sand and soil ake pebbles as if
it had been swept.

~The scout’s party expected to find a trp somewhere
in this cafion. A better place for one could not have
been imagined. So they proceeded slowly, and with
his field glasses Buffalo Bill searched every pee in
the walls ahead as well as he could.

As apparently only one trail had entered it, they
began to conclude that they were still not near the In-
dian rendezvous.

Near the end of the box cafion, late in the after-

noon, they camped, their animals worn out by the toil-

some descent. Bear Paw, lurching down a-slope, had
injured his shoulder, and the other horses showed
hurts. Only the thale of the baron, Toofer, had
escaped ; but Toofer could climb the roof of a house, so
the baron declared, and that day he had accomplished
things as difficult. .

“Vot Pm t inking iss,” said the baron reflectively,
as he talked with Nomad about the chances of finding
grass in the great cafion, “dot ve vill haf to use some
hoisting machines, oof ve efer gedt der animals outd
oof here.”

Nomad departed, to search for grass. At the bot-
tom of the Grand Cafion there is good pasturage in
places, and he hoped for luck.

He had not been gone five minutes, though he had
passed out of sight, when they heard his startling

yell.”

“Old Diamond is in trouble,” ae Pawnee; and,
picking up his rifle, he scuttled in the direction of the
yell.

Buffalo Bill and the baron followed.

When they came in sight of Pawnee they saw him
running along the sheer, broken wall, looking up at it,
with glances flung along the cafion. But Nomad was
not to be seen.

Pawnee came back at a run, after he had gone three
or four hundred yards.

“Nomad couldn’t have got far,” he said, “and I
‘boiled out here as soon as he yelped; but I haven’t
seen hide nor hair of him.”

They made a search, extending it half a mile or
more. Then they descended toward the river, and

found grass, as well as water; but they did not find
Nomad.

Until sunset they kept this up, sticking together for
safety. Then they brought the animals down to the
grass and water; and, finding a likely spot for a camp,
they concluded to stay there through the night. It
was well out from any cliff, and could not be ap-
. proached readily by an enemy unseen.

“Nomadt unt Liddle Cayuse,” said the baron ; “who
iss to be der nexdt, [ vonder ?”’

The baron was himself to be the next.

The night was divided into three watches, of ses
Buffalo Bill took the first, ee Bill the second,
and Baron von.Schnitzenhat-r ++ che wast. Nothing hap-

BILL STORIES. es ae

pened in the first and second, nor in the third, until

near the end, when day had dawned—a laggard day

that crept slowly down into the deep cafion.

Then the baron beheld something strange-looking
beside the cafion wall, several hundred yards away.

VEY chinger, ” he muttered, after using the field
glasses, “‘idt iss look like an Inchun standing py der
vall, mit a rope foundt his necks.”

Buffalo Bill and Pawnee, tired out by their strenuous
exertions of the day before, still slept soundly; and
the baron disliked to awake them. He was not sure,

at that distance, and in the dim light, that his imagina- _

tion was not tricking him, even “though he had used
the glasses. It might be only a shadow, and if he
routed out the scouts for a mere shadow, they would
have the laugh on him.

vd can dale some loogks, unt seen for meinselluf vot
idt iss,’ he whispered, and began to walk softly to-
ward the wall. “Notting gan reach py der gamp; so
idt iss a safeness.”’

The elusive effects of light and shade at that hour
kept the baron in such a state of uncertainty that he
was nearly to the wall before he could be sure that the
thing he saw was a man, and not a queer shadow cast
by some rock projection.

And at the same time he discovered that not only
was it not a shadow, but it was Little Cayuse.

Little Cayuse was apparently tied, and apparently
he had been hanged. But he was not dead; for, as the
baron looked, the Piute’s legs moved.

“He has peen hung py der necks, yedt he iss fea.
ing! Himmel!”

Regardless of personal danger, the baron drew his
knife and jumped to cut the rope. As he did so a
grass-woven net, rock-colored and almost invisible,
which he did not see, but which carpeted the rock on
which Little Cayuse was standing, rose like a swift
exhalation; and the baron, bagged in its folds, was
hoisted with such dizzying swiftness that he had been
drawn, with Little Cayuse, through an aperture in the
rock above, before he could get his breath and cry out
for assistance.

As-he tumbled over, “alter being pulled through the
hole, he let out a bellow, when it was too late.-

Down on the rock with him had tumbled Little
Cayuse, bound hand and foot, with a gag in his mouth.
And round them a number of Indians gathered, some
flinging themselves on the enmeshed baron when he
emitted his yell.

The baron had only time to see that a rude windlass

had been used to hoist the bag that had trapped him,

when a blanket was thrown over his head to stop

further outcries, and he was dragged heedlessly along. -

This went on so long that the baron felt all the skin
would soon be worn off his body; then it stopped, and
the blanket was pulled aside. His legs were caught
in the noose of¢a lariat, so that, if he started up, “he
could be pulled down again.

 

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Stil by him was Little Cayuse, still bound and

gage ced, but conscious, as his eyes showed.
“Ve are in a fixin’s,” the baron panted.

All but two of the Indians hustled back to the hole
in the wall, and apparently looked down into the cafion.
By their show of excitement the baron judged that his
yell had reached the scouts and stirred them into ac-

tiv ity.
| “fam hobing,” he breathed, “dot dey tond’t come
close py der vall, oder dhey may get shoodedt.”

He reached for his knife, to cut the cords on the
Piute, and found that his weapons had been snatched
| away, with his cartridge belt. His beloved pipe and
| tobacco box had vanished, also.
| “Dot iss a shame,” he said, when he found his pipe
gone. “How am I to standt py der disgraces oof dhis,
oof I am nodt aple to sthmoke?

Trying to rise, when he thought the two Indians
were not looking, the rope was jerked, pulling his legs
from under him, and the baron sat down with a spat
that might have been heard a rod. The fall knocked
the breath out of him, so that for a little while he
| could do nothing but try to get it back.

Before he had recovered, he was given another
surprise, which he ought to have expected. Velvet
| Foster appeared in the midst of the Indians who were
gathered at the hole in the rock wall.

Foster had a rifle, and from his maneuvers the
baron gathered that he tried hard to get into a position
where he could fire on the scouts below.

“Der trouple mit idt iss,’ said the baron, speaking
to the Piute, “oof dhey gidt close oof py der vall, he
gand't seen ‘em, unt when dhey standt fardher off der
pullet gand’t reach.”

The Indian nearest him gave him a kick, to stop
his talk.

Foster came back after a time, swinging a Win-
chester. Planting himself before the baron he glow-
ered down on him.

“T haf nodt peen raised py der voods in to be
skeerdt py owls,” the baron snapped fearlessly.

Foster looked worn and haggard, and his Buffalo
Bill clothing was in tatters; yet he still bore a remark-
able resemblance to the noted scout, a resemblance he
had worked to the limit. But the facial likeness
passed; a swift change and flush of anger giving his
features a different Raper hs

“You fellows think you’re smart!’ he snarled. “But
I suppose you know that I have got you now where I
want you; and also that Indian. And I'll soon have
Cody and Lille. Your crowd has gone on its last
trail.”

“Anodder t’ing vot I haf heardt is,” said the baron,
in the same defiant tone, “dot der man vot laughs pe-
fore he iss oudt oof der voods iss a foolishness. I
suppose you haf also der oldt man, Nomadt. But
neidher oof us aind’t Cody unt Bawnee.”’

“Vou forget,” Foster threatened, “that I can ‘kill
you, now that you are in my power!”

 

THE BUFFALO.

_they’re creditin’ Foster with bringin’ et;

a a tite a a ET cerns

   

BIL SLORIES: 23
“T forgedt nottings. Budt—you vond't.. Unt dhis —
iss der reasons: Puffalo Pill vouldt sdick py your
drail, as he has now peen sdicking to idt dhese veeks,
unt in der endt he vouldt get you. Vhile der remem-
pering pitzness iss going on, dot iss a t'ing vor you to
rememper.’ :

When the Indians gathered round again the baron
did not fail to note that on the right hand of each the’
middle finger was missing.

“Vhy iss der ambutation? 2?” he asked of Foster:

Foster was talking with one of the redskins, and —
did not answer, perhaps did not hear. But now old
Nomad was drawn out of a hole, in which he was being
held, and the gag that had been in his mouth was re-
moved. Little Cayuse, also, was freed of his gag.

The baron repeated his question to them; but their
jaws were so stiff they could not talk. |

““All oof der Inchuns ve vos follering, unt some —
more, ar-re here, I pedt you,” said the baron, staring
round as he lay on the ground. ‘Dot iss a skinch!
Budt how dit dhey gidt here? I tond’t know.”

‘““An’ I don’t,” said Nomad, getting the use of his,
tongue, after the lapse of five minutes. “But et s plain
ther hull b’ilin’ of ’em done some tall travelin’.’

“Dit dhey gatch you py der nedt in?”

‘Waugh! They did. I seen er rope hangin’ ag’inst
ther wall, an’ went up ter et fer a look, when ther blame
net, which I hadn’t seen, riz with me.. I let out one
yell, an’ then war at ther top; et war like a flyin’
machine. Next thing I knowed Velvet Foster tapped
me gentle on ther coco, wi’ ther butt 0’ a revolver, an’
I went ter sleep. Thet w ar last evenin’. Then I found
thet they hed ther Piute.”

“Tdt iss a singkular.”’

lm hopin’ they don’t ketch Cody an’ Pawnee
Sit ary” s

“Nodt on your ae dhey von't, dhey haf a
schmardtness.”

“Waal, I thought I war purty smart ayaekh but
now :

He shook his head dolefully.

“Dhis iss vorse as der vhiskizoosics. When idt iss
vhiskizoosics you yoost tink idt iss someting; now
you know dot idt iss. Budt I pedt me a toller to a
glass oof peer dot dhey tond’t shoodt us until afdher
dhey gatch Cody unt Bawnee, unt dhey von’t earch

9

en

“7 dunno’ erbout thet,” said Nomad, who was in a
doleful humor; “‘ther way they c ‘ot, me war a caution
ter cats. Still, 1 reckon Buffler an’ Pawnee hasbeen
warned, an that makes a difference, though et didn’t
wi you.” |

‘Vhen Cody unt Bawnee are oop to sniff,” said the
baron, “dhey are nodt-gatched easy. You vos sur-
brised, unt I vos—a fool. Unt der Biute he iss

“He war more than a fool; he got inter trouble by
chasin’ off after ther Taos totem. I got thet much las’
night, by listenin’. This crowd has got ther totem, an’
tharfore,

 

 

 

 
  

24

they’re ready ter feed him punkin pie, an’ honey, an’
‘jump round when he orders, My intellex is too weak
ter onderstand et. But thet-cowardly ombray is shore
bossin’ ’em to the limit.”

Little Cayuse, though still bound, lifted himself by
an elbow.

“Tt Piute totem,’ he said, his eyes shining; “bad
medicine for other Injun; totem make um heap
trouble.” |

“Trouble ain’t hastenin’ their way on no winged
sandals, Cayuse,” Nomad reminded. “So fur et’s their
game.”

“Vot iss buzzling me iss der finger I shodt oof py
der Inchun vomans,” said the baron, as he had said.a
hundred times before. “All der retskins here haf dot
finger missing.”’ )

“Like whiskizoos, thet’s a thing ye cain’t understand.
I racked my brains with et, till I plum’ had a head-
ache; and then I give et up. Better you do ther same,’
Nomad advised.

Foster appeared again.

“Shut up this talk,’ he commanded.

“You're boss here?’’ said Nomad.

“Well, I am, old man,” he declared, strutting.
“You'll see that plain enough before you're through
with me.”

CHAPTER XI.
PAWNEE BILL TRAPPED,

Buffalo Bill and Pawnee. Bill, after keeping close
under the wall, to avoid possible shots from the top
of it, had swung a wide semicircle, and returned to
their camp, where the animals were picketed.

They had discovered nothing.

“Pard Bill, this is about as queer a game as I was
ever up against,’ Pawnee declared. “Last night No-
mad gave a yell over by that cliff, and disappeared.
This morning, while we’re cuddled. in our blankets,
the baron, who seems to have deserted his post and
gone over there for something, also lifts his voice
and flies away.. I admit that I’m some puzzled.”

The scout admitted the same.

“But we know that it was the work of Indians,” he
added; “and probably Foster has had a finger in it,
or engineered it.” :

“T’m butting my head against the wall, all right, and

see no way through. I make that cliff three hundred
yards.or more, from top to bottom.
couldn’t have been snaked that distance. In the first
place, as we rolled out of our blankets as soon as we
heard him yell, we’d have seen the performance; in the
second place, that would take a mighty long rope, and
some men up there to do the hoisting—a good many of
them. I can think of a dozen other objections; but
I'll only say that, in the third place, if a rope was flung
down, and the baron was noosed, I’d like to become
acquainted: with that rope thrower; he must be A
number one, and some more.”

\

 

THE BUFFALO SRG (STORIES:

The baron

-

  

reminded. oe

‘Are they holes; or only shadows lying in cran-
nies?” a

“I think that lower one is a hole, leading right into
the cliff.”

He adjusted his field glasses and studied it, then
passed the glasses to Pawnee. oa

“You may be right, and I hope you are; that would
clear the air a little,’ said Pawnee. “But even that
would be a long rope throw, and the baron would be a
heavy load for men to hoist. Besides, why didn’t we
see him sliding up the wall, if that was the way of it?”

“Perhaps he didn’t yell until after he had been
pulled through the hole.”

Pawnee studied the black spot, which the hole
seemed to be.

“T suppose you're right,” he said. “You must be;
for, otherwise, unless an eagle caught them up, there
is no accounting for it. I can’t see anything moving
in that black spot.”

“Tf the reds are there you may be sure they're keep-
ing well under cover.” =

“Trust a redskin to do that! It’s a long pull for a
rifle, from there here. But I wonder“they didn’t try
to get us when we were running toward the wall.”

- “An Indian is usually a poor rifle shot, and down-
ward shooting, at a running object, isa thing for an
expert only. Unless certain they could get us, they
wouldn't try it.”

“But Foster?”

“He's rather a poor shot himself, and he might not
have been there at the moment. But all this is only
guesswork.”

They ate breakfast, watered the animals, and took
time to study the situation, watching the face and the
top of the cliff. In the end they were no wiser than
before.

“We followed one Indian into that box cafion,” said
Pawnee, “though we believed that Foster, and per-
haps Feather Foot, went ahead of him. - Those other
ki-yis, we don’t know what became of them.” -

“Count on it that they’re here, and you'll be right.
Recollect, we moved slowly. . The Indian we followed
got here two days ahead of us; so there has been plenty
of time for them to get ready for us. It is my opin-
ion that the Indians belong to a tribe that makes its
home in this cafion. If so, they know it thoroughly,
you may be sure.”’ °

Like the provisions, Pawnee’s store of cigars had
dwindled to next to none; yet they smoked up, and
in the fragrant smoke puzzled over the situation.

66 ‘ -4

Nothing moving, so far as I can see,” said Buf-
falo Bill; “but they are up there, we may be. sure.
Which means that we have got to get up there.”..-

“A fly couldn’t, unless he had a rope round him to’.
help.’ , : ee

"So it seems, Lillie; but if we can’t get up atthe
front, perhaps we can at the rear—by way of the box

“There are holes in the face of the cliff,” the scout

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  
   
THE BURPALO) BIEL STORIES, ar

cafion; then perhaps we can work over to this edge
of the wall and find the Indians.”

All day long they kept close to the camp, because
they could do nothing else. When night came down,
Buffalo Bill discovered that a guard had been set in
the box canon.

He was climbing up the cafion, prospecting, with no’

more noise than a tortoise would make, when he heard
an Indian incautiously click knife against tomahawk or
rifle barrel. ; Pay :

Sliding off to one side, Buffalo Bill flattened against
the rocks, and listened. For half an hour he lay there,
then he heard moccasins shuffle along the wall in his
direction.

“Quietly as I made that move,” thought the scout,
“he heard me; now he is coming to see what it meant.”

But the Indian drew back when halfway, and re-
turned to his former position. ‘

Buffalo Bill began to crawfish down the cafion slope,
and finally. reached the bottom; he had not ascended
far.

“Something is on over by the cafion wall,’ Pawnee
Bill told him, when he regained camp. “I heard a
queer noise.” :

“What did it sound like?’

“Like a blanket dragging along the ground, as near
as I could make out.”

“Reds are in the box cafion,”’ the scout reported;
“I don’t know how many. But one, sure.’

“Shall we go over,” said Pawnee, “and see what
that sound meant?”

“We'll skirmish out and take a look. One thing I
fear is that when we leave the camp we may lose our
horses.” |

Nevertheless, they set out carefully for the cliff.

When they were halfway to it; and had heard noth-
ings they sank down, and waited for the moon to break
into brightness over the canon walls.

That took an hour. But when the moon flung out
its silver banners they felt repaid for their long wait-
ing. There were heavy patches od shadow here and
there, and the cafion deeps were as dark as night; but
the rim of the high cliff stood out like shining silver.

“I think we could see an Indian at the top there,’
| said Pawnee.

Close under the wall the shadows lay thick, as they
advanced, and there is where they apprehended danger.

It came in a manner least expected. The net had
been lowered, and Pawnee Bill, ahead some yards,
walked right into it. His first knowledge of the fact
was given him when the net was jerked suddenly, and
collapsed about him, and he began to rise into the. air.

His call reached Buffalo Bill, but before the scout
could get under him Pawnee was high in the air, and

B still rising. The scout saw only a dark object that
seemed to roll upward along the face of the cliff, out of

it coming the voice.of Pawnee Bill.

“Por caught in a net!” yelled Pawnee; “look out for ,

{22

| yourself, down there

OT oe ae AT SSMS NMI AEN WAI HORT te pe aNIY Wane SET
eee WEES TR ERIE ae a UNA a Se A ONY SNP ASAE LED wae Ie a

25
Then the scout heard him hacking with his knife.

Peet eR ON Sie AAR ART Ty SAMI Iie Be onto! Lion a aR RD
SAMA MARY NERA? aey F Jub NSE rae, .

« The swish of the net against the wall went on; the

dark object rose higher. The voice of Pawnee came

down again: a
“Tcan’t cut it readily; and, 1f 1 did, 1d drop out

99

now and break my fool neck; but, Cody——
There was a final swish, and Pawnee’s voice was
stilled. $ :

Buffalo Bill jumped out from the wall and turned —

the muzzle of his rifle toward the point where the net
had vanished; but instantly he lowered it.

“No,” he said, “that would be a fool trick, for likely -

if I hit anything it would be Pawnee.”

_ There was silence about him now—utter silence ; but
he knew that Pawnee Bill had been caught as the baron
and Nomad had been caught. o

¥

CHAPTER XII. *
THE SCHNITZENHAUSER:- LUCK.

It began to look as if the long trail was to end in
failure and the destruction of Buffalo Bill’s party.
But, as always when difficulties and perils thickened

round him, the great scout tightened the belt of his.

courage another notch and increased his determination.
Though now single-handed and very much in the dark,
he would not doubt that success would come to him in
the end. The fear that troubled him most was that the
Indians were of a fiendish character, and would either
torture their prisoners or kill them outright.

“T’ve got to get up there some way,” he said, “and
at once!”

Fearing that in the brightening moonlight he might
be made the target of a rifleman, he went nearer the
wall, where the shadows protected him.

“There is a hole leading back from the wall,’ was
his conclusion, when he heard nothing, “and Pawnee

thas been taken into it. Perhaps a depression, or valley,

lies there. Iil have to get up the box cafion and come
round by the rear, as Pawnee and I intended.”

He was moving along the wall, with this in view,
when he heard a soft swishing over his head.

“The net is being lowered again—for me!’

He saw the dark object sliding down the face of
the wall, but he was in no danger, as he was twenty
yards farther along. It came to the bottom softly,
spread out with a swirling motion, then disappeared ;

beifig so nearly the color of the rock that, in the dark- —

ness, when spread out, it could not be seen at all.

But he detected the rope that supported it against.

the wall; it looked, as he viewed it, like a straight
crack, or a long vine.
For five minutes, frozen in silence, the scout stood

waiting the next movement of the Indians. But no

movement came.

“They're clever,” he said; “they think I will come
back along the wall to find out what happened to Paw-.

 
 

26

 

~ nee) and will walk into the net, as he did. I might,

too, if I wasn’t prepared against it.” é

How far its in-

A des-

Cautiously he approached the net.
visible folds extended he could only guess.
perate suggestion came to him.

“T might get up to the rope and quietly cut the net
loose, then cling to the rope, and let the Indians hoist
me into that hole. After 1 got up there+l might go
under, but I’d guarantee to give a good account of
myself before I did. Still,” he reflected, “that wouldn't
be helping Pawnee and the others even a little bit.”

Getting down on his hands and:knees, he crept on,

feeling before him.. Soon he touched the outer fringe
of the net on that side. He did not lift it, but ran his
fingers over it to discover its character.
~ “Some sort of grass fiber,” he said, “and strong, or
it couldn’t have held Pawnee and resisted the strokes
of his knife. WHlen he walked into it, the jerk of the
rope pulled it about him and inclosed him. I wonder
how it was done? A mullet net will do that, but it has
to drop on its prey.”

Moving close to the wall, but making sure that he
did not get on the net, he begin to edge toward the

rope, pushing the folds of the net aside as he ad- |

vanced, so that if it should be jerked | it would tot
get him,

He was working slowly up to the rope, with the in-
tention of cutting it, when he heard a noise and out-
ery over his head.

Jumping back and looking up, he saw a dark object
sliding down the rope. There were ‘suppressed In-
dian yells, and the net was jerked and began to rise.

But still the dark object came down, and he soon saw
that it was a man. The net was rising to meet him,
collapsed into a bag. When twenty feet in the air it
appeared to strike the feet of the man, or he kicked
out beyond it; the next moment he was dropping like
a plummet.

With the sudden conviction that the man was Paw-
nee, Buffalo Bill hurled himself under the descending
figure, which, turned by the net, was whirling in its
descent,

With outstretched arms he tried to catch it, but fi
force of the drop drove the man down on him, and
they went to the rocks in a heap together. Buffalo
Bill was clutching the man round the ‘body when they
struck.

Then he was amazed to hear the voice of the baron:

“Ach! Himmel! I am kilt yedt alreadty.”

“Baron t'!

The baron struggled i in the scout’ s arms.

Vor o eal
vere Oise Cody, :

The baron collapsed on - the aes, dropping iis
hands—he had begun to strike out blindly.

“Himmel!” he exclaimed. “Iss idt. imbossible ?’ :

The swish of the net sounded ; it was descending
again.
~ Grasping the baron, Buffalo Bill snaked him: bodily

THE BUFFALO BILL SLORIES.

 

     

along the wall. The net dropped with a rush, spread

out like a mullet net falling over a school of fish,

was jerked into a collapsed. bag, and began to rise

again. .
“Out of the way just in time,” said the scout.
Wot Iss 27

“We were. The net came down to get us, but it

‘failed. Baron, are you hurt?”

“Alreadty | am dead yedt,”. groaned the baron. “I
hidt me py der solidt rocks ubon. Idt vos my shoul-
dher vot vos jn der gollision ; I pedt you idt iss smashed
into sissage meadt.”’

ee I say that you collided ei me, you will
think I am a hard character. You were going head-
first on the rocks, and I tried to catch you. But I
thought you were Pawnee Bill or an Indian.”

“He iss oop dhere.”

“Pawnee? Yes, I know he is.”

“Unt all der odders, except me, unt meppyso Liddle
Cayuse. Idt vos Liddle Cayuse vot dit idt.”

“So Cayuse is up there? Goon. You'll never have
a more attentive listener. And we've got to move
quick, I think. Perhaps that net will come down
again, and we may want to use it; or, perhaps, next
time there will be Indians in it. Was Foster up

there?”

“You pedt me he iss; he iss der king-bin oof der
whole oudtfdt.”’

The baron, sitting up, began to massage his bruised
shoulder.

“My fingers I gan mofe; so-o I tink dot no baie
iss proken.”

“Go on, baron; tell me how you escaped.”

“T ditn’t; idt vos Liddle Cayuse. I am lying py my-
selluf, unt I am tiedt oop, vhen I t'ink me I am hearing
a snakes hissing py my ear in. Idt vos der Biute. ‘He
had slibbed der ropes off oof him in der darkness,

vhile der oxcidemendt iss making a noise, unt had

grawled ofer py my site.

“Bawnee he iss yoost been eahiunes ip det nedt.
Vhen he iss pulled drough der hole he pudt oop a fight,
unt he iss knocked by der headt on, unt I tink meppyso
iss inkinscious py der consequence. Ve gan’t hellup
him; Nomadt unt der Biute unt me, ve are tiedt oop
by der legs yoost like some shickens, mit ower handts
pehint our packs.

“Dot iss der situvation vhen I am hearing dot snake
hissing indo mine ear, vot idt iss Cayuse. I findt oudt
idt iss him, so I tond’t holler; unt he slips a knifes
trough der rope vot iss holding me. How he got avay
I am guessing, budt I tond’t know ; I aindt got no
dimes vor asking. ,

“Vhen he iss creebing off j in der tirection i No-
madt, he iss seen, unt der escabement. brogram iss
cancel: he yoomps oop unt runs; unt me, ae
same—budt | am running py der odder tirection.

“Pefore I'am knowing idt IT am in der hole, wnt I
am seeing der rope. Pehint me iss Inchuns,; mit knifes

‘unt tommyhawgks, unt guns unt-var clubs, unt warious

 

 
 

 

  

   

   
   
   
  
   
 
   

   
  

(YO mH]! Da -_—

fii

  
THE BUFFALO

 

Budt' der rope skeers me, vor I know
So der Inchun vot iss in der

odder tings.
how deep idt iss down.
} leadt he iss gatch oop mit me, vhen I am hesidating; ©

unt ve haf a fighdt. Idt iss a goot fighdt, budt idt
| ditn’t lasdt long. Vhen idt iss over der Inchun iss on
der rock, unt I haf der deerskin planket vot he vos
vearing; unt der odder Inchuns iss yoomping vor me.

“So idt iss der rope vor me; but I haf sensidiveness
enough left py my headt in to keeb holdt oof der
blanket unt wrab idt roundt der rope to keeb der skins
vrom being scrabed oof my handts yedt.

“So I come town, yoost like a stone falling. Dhen
I hidt der nedt, unt I am knocked off der rope. Unt
—vell, you iss knowing der resdt oof idt. Only, how
dot shoulder he iss hurdting me you gand’t know.”

Some things had been made clear by the baron.

Foster was not only with the Indians, but he was in
a position of authority, if not in command. And Lit-
tle Cayuse was there, too, and had been a prisoner.

“Oof I hadt mein bipe,’ grumbled the baron, “I
vouldt soon be feeling petter as now. Der Inchuns
dook idt.” He was still massaging his shoulder. “T
am avraidt Liddle Cayuse he iss cabtured again.

“Budt idt iss you vot Fosder iss vandting do gedt
his handts on. He iss saidt so. :
der site in, he iss say, ‘You Deutch oldt fool, oof you
vos Cody you vouldt gidt idt kvick! Budt he gand’t
gedt avay vrom me now.’

“Unt He iss say to der Inchuns, dot dhey musdt
gatch all oof you, unt afdher idt he iss going to ledt
der Inchuns blay each oof us a ring-aroundt-der- “Tosy
mit fires, of somethings like idt. He iss grazy madt.”’

“He gained his influence through the Taos totem?”

“Dot iss yoost idt; dot todem iss make him boss oof
der whole pitzness. A kveer t'ing iss dot efery In-
chun oop in dot blace haf his finger gone, like der
odders vot you haf seen alreadty. You regollecdt vot
der Inchun, say dot you haf cabtured von dime? He
iss say his name iss Missing Finger, unt his dribe iss
| name der sameness.’

“T never heard of such a tribe.”

“Idt iss nodt a dribe, budt yoost a sociedy insite oof
a dribe, each memper oof vhich he haf cudt off his
finger. Idt iss a foolishness, but nodt more as some
sociedies among vhite men vot I know apoudt. Idt
| iss a sign oof pravery, to belongk by dot Missing Fin-
gers; each pelonging haf to do someting vot iss con-
| sitered vonderful unt prave unt so on. Oder he iss
| nodt, he gan’t choin. I heardt Fosder dalking mit an
Inchun apowet idt, unt so dot iss how I am knowing.

“Budt,” added the baron, “der kvestion vot iss sdill
troupling me iss apowet der finger vot I shoodedt off
der Inchun vomans. Dit I, py a vaccidendt; make her a
memper oof dot sociedty; or vos idt oddervise? Unt
oof I dit, vot vouldt be der consequences oof she hadt
| lifed? Or, pecause she vos a vomans, vouldt dot make

a tifference? Unt oof
When the baron got wound up on.that subject he

 

Vhen he keek me py ©

BILL STORIES.” 27
was likely to go on indefinitely. So Buffalo Bill in-
terrupted : ;

“Tell me about the ae you were in.
caver”

“Nodt yoost cicdy. Dare iss a hole in der cliff,
vot you haf seen; vhich leadts to a big blace vot iss
like a cafe, budt dt has no dop. 1 tond't can seen
far in idt, so I am not sure vot. idt iss.’

“You can’t say if the Indians reached that place
from the other side—by coming in at the rear, I
mean?”

“Meppyso dhey dit.” |

“But you didn’t see anything to make you think so?”

“No. Idt iss wery little vot I seen, for I am tiedt
OOPe) 2 :

‘No doubt Pawnee and Nomad are in great danger;
so we can’t afford to linger here.”’

The baron, groaning from the pain in his shoulder,
sat up straighter.

“T am mit you, votefer idt iss,” he declared; “aber
I aind’t got no veapons budt mein fisdts. Boint oudt
der vay, unt Schnitzenhauser he is pehint you. Yaw.”

The scout did not doubt the courage of the German,
which had been shown in many a perilous situation.

“T can furnish you with a knife and revolver,” he
said. ‘“Pve been waiting to see if that net would come
down again; if it is coming, it is slow about it.”

“Oof idt does?” |
~“T have been cherishing the crazy notion of trying
to go up—not in the net, but hanging to the rope; I ad-
mit I was thinking of it when you came down so sud-
denly.”

Tt vouldt not do,” said the baron.

“Too much danger ?”’

“Der Inchuns iss lying py der hole in all der dimes.
Oof you couldt gedt to der dop you vouldt gedt not
in; you vouldt pe kilt. Dhey couldt seen you against
der skylighdts, unt you vouldt. nodt seen him; unt idt —
vouldt be suicidting.” ,

““What’s, to be done, then?’’ asked the scout.

“Himmel! Tond’t I vish I couldt say dot; I tond’t
know!” |

“Tf we can’t go that way, we're going into that place

Was itoda

- by some other.”’

“Tdt iss goot. Yoost so soon as I gidt der cricks unt
brooks oudt oof my pack I am mit you. Der cords
vot vos holdting me vos tightly ; I am saying idt.”

_ He arose and stretched himself, swinging his arms,
then kicking out his legs.

“I am finer as fairst, ” he declared:
unt Iam mit you.’ -

“Take this revolver and this knife. That net isn’t
coming down; and, if it does, likely we could not make
use of it. We're going to hike now for the box
cafion.’

On their way the Sout acquainted the baron with
the particular danger it held.

But the Indian guard was not now ‘in the cafion.
Perhaps he had ee) his post, drawn by the sounds

“Say vot idt iss,

or ace inet Naas erat thn ca eh an dl titi iol ft ttatemenateningneneineele 2 oe

 
 

 

wl

28 | | THE BUFFALO

on the high cliff. However it was, the scout and the
baron passed up in safety.

It was a long, hard climb, and consumed waldable
time; but they gained the top at last and turned their

attention to the task of getting over to the cafion’s rim .

and finding the hole in which the Indians were hiding.

CHAPTER XITT
LITTLE CAYUSE AS GUIDE.

The moonlight, lying white and bright on the high
cliffs, aided the scout and the baron and saved them
from falls. It also enabled them to make good
progress.

. They were nearing the rock rim, below which was
the hole into which the net had been drawn, when they
sighted an Indian. The scout.drew the baron down.

“Don’t shoot,” he warned. ‘‘Perhaps we can gather
the rascal in.”’ Mee

When the Indian came in sight once more something
familiar in his appearance attracted Buffalo Bill’s at-
tention; then he recognized the familiar feather of the
eit,

“Little Cayuse,’
aad!

As they rose up and revealed themselves the Piute
came to a halt.

“Little Cayuse,’ the scout called softly.

“Pa-e-has-ka!”” came back in response.

The Piute came leaping to meet them, trembling
with delight.

The baron added effusive remarks to the joyousness
' of the greetings; then broke in with:

“Vhen I shoodedt der finger off der Inchun vom-
ans, dit idt make her a memper oof der Inchun so-
ciedy, or dit idt nodt? Unt oof der Missing Fingers
haf a bloody handt vyor’a sign, vot iss der meanness?
Also-o
But Little Cayuse was giving his entire attention to
Buffalo Bill, so the baron cut it short.

“Heap good totem,” he heard Little Cayuse saying;
“me like to git um.”

Apparently Little Cayuse was more interested in
the totem than he was in the rescue of Pawnee Bill
and Nomad, or the capture of Velvet Foster,

“Can you lead us to that place?” Buffalo Bill asked.

“Ai,” the Piute. answered.

“T should think you ought to be able to, since you
escaped from there; and ae moonlight . will help us.
Likewise, it will help the Indians to discover us.’

The baron remembered that he had not thanked the
Piute, and began it now. But when he wound up he
was again asking questions about the Indian woman
and her severed finger.

“Oot 1 tidn't shoodt idt off, how dit idt gedt off;
unt oof I dit

“Cut it out, baron,” advised the scout.
important business on hand right now.”

he said; “he got away when you

 

 

“We've got

BILL STORIES.

“Tss idt nodt imbortant dot I shouldt know.oof

“Next week we'll talk about it. Lead ahead, Ca-
yuse; I want to get into the midst of those redskins as
soon as | can.’

“Pefore you do der snake hiss py my, ear in,” said
the baron, “how dit you make a freedom vor your-
selluf ?”

The Piute explained, in his broken way, that he
had succeeded in getting his bound hands over his
head, and drawing his hands down to his teeth he had
gnawed away the cords on his wrists. After that, the
rest was easy. a

“Clever work, Cayuse,” the scout commended. “I
hope’ your. breakaway hasn’t spelled disaster to those
remaining there.’

The scout was hustling alone. but eagle-eyed and
with hearing strained. His plan had been made, and
though it looked desperate, in his hands it promised
success:- The power of the totem was its key.

“Cayuse will lead the way,”
“and we'll be right on the reds before they know it.
Pil try to get hold of the totem. If I fail, and the
Indians come for us, why—we’ll fight it out.”

From his bosom he drew a leather cord, at the end
of which was a small revolver. This he turned over
to the Piute, with a handful of cartridges.

“dt’s a good thing,’ he commented, “that I was
heeled the’ a battery of artillery. Poke along now,
Cayuse, and remember that I’m right behind you,
backing you.”

The Piute recalled the way so readily that they got
down without trouble, and in a comparatively short
time.

Before them was a-hole, and beyond it a flickering
camp fire, with Indians seen dimly moving before it.

 

CHAPTER XLV,
THE POWER OF THE TOTEM.

Foster was talking, apparently to Pawnee Bill, some-
where near the fire.

“Follow me,” the scout ve
sound.”

Creeping through the tunnellike opening, the scout
saw the spacious, courtlike place where the fire burned.
Between him and the fire stood Velvet Foster, speak-
ing to Pawnee Bill, who, tied hand and foot, was
propped against a bowlder.

All the Indians visible were over by the opening
which led out to the face of the cliff. Two of them
were working at a big windlass, hoisting in the net,
which had ‘been lowered. Its squeaking, not to be
heard outside, filled the place.

Stepping boldly in, Buffalo Bill walked out two or

three paces. Beside him was the Piute, ane right be-
hind him the baron,

"Hoster |”

“and don't make a

he said to the baron,

— see

f

 
THE BUFFALO

  

Velvet Foster jerked his head round and looked into
the muzzle of the scout’s revolver.

“Move, and you are a dead man!’

Though Foster did not move, the Indians did. Star-
tled, they turned to behold the unexpected sight. They
hesitated, their hands clutching their weapons.

“Command them to stop where they are,” said the
scout, “or I shall shoot you dead!’

“Stop! Foster yelled, waving his hands.
where you are! He will kill me, if you move.’

He repeated it, frantically, with Indian words; and
from his bosom, where it was suspended by a cord,
he plucked the Taos totem, and held it up to enforce

obedience.
The Indians, ready for a rush on the ais men
who had invaded the place, stood rooted in their tracks.

“Give me the totem,” said the scout.

“Tf I do,” said. Foster, “they will not obey me.’

“No; but they will obey me!” The hammer of his
revolver lifted threateningly.

Foster tossed it over.

The scout held, it up, shining, between his thumb
and finger. ,

“The great totem,’ he oe to the Indians;
rush on the one who holds it you die.”

“Stop

“if you

They understood him; or, if they did not gather the

full force of his words, they understood the signifi-
cance of his act.

“Little Cayuse,” the scout ordered,
and let Pawnee Bill free.”

He held Foster under the muzzle of the revolver
while the Piute obeyed.

At his belt the scout had a lariat; this he freed with
a jerk of his left hand, and tossed it to the Piute, hold-
ing his revolver still on Foster.

“Tie Foster!’ he commanded.

When the Piute started to obey, Foster made a des-
perate leap toward the Indians; crowding through
their midst, he dived into the hole leading to the face
of the cliff. The next moment the handle of the wind-
lass buzzed round like a revolving saw, as he hurled
himself into the net and shot downward,

The Indians stood mute even then, held by their ter-
ror of the holder of the totem.

“Stop, baron,” the scout ordered, as Schnitzenhauser
showed symptoms of a desire to plunge in chase of
Foster,

“Who is chief?” he demanded of the Indians.

A fine young Indian stepped forward, shaking with
fear. The middle finger was missing from his right
| hand.

“cut the cords

BILL .SEORIBS.: 29

“Me chief,” he said.

oe ine and release the old man who is here as a pris-

oner,’
The thing was done instantly. Nomad was in a
hole off at the right; but so far away that he had not
heard, and so had made no outcry. He came forth
rubbing his eyes, dazed with unbelief.

“Halleluyer!”’ he yelled, as soon as he saw Buffalo
Bill, and took in the situation. \ ‘“Glee-ory!”

“Follow the white man and bring him back,”
scout said to the Indians.

Compelled by fear to obey him, so long as he held
the terrible totem, the windlass was set to work, and
soon four of the Indians were in the net, which they
had drawn up, and it was lowered.

They came back almost immediately.

Foster was dead, they said, at the bottom of the
cliff; he had been killed because he had parted with
the totem. Otherwise, there was no reason why he
should have fallen out of the net, and been crushed
to death on the rocks.

“No reason, except that he was so scared he hardly
knew what he was doing,’ was the scout’s explana-
tion.

the’

*K Es 7% LS * 7% *

With Velvet Foster dead and Buffalo Bill in pos-
session of the all- compelling totem, the baron’s oft-
repeated question soon received an answer, and all the
other mysteries were quickly cleared away. :

For the Indian chief was willing to talk, and his
English was not bad.

The Missing Fingers were members of a bead of
courageous warriors belonging to a tribe that had a
cliff dwelling for their home in the Grand Canton. The
totem had been stolen from them by the Pueblos of
Taos, they claimed, and had been held at Taos a year.

One of the band, named Wandering Elk, had set out
to bring it back, at the risk of his life. Incidentally,

he had taken his squaw with him.

While they were hovering round Taos, trying to
locate the totem, the white man came, stopped a night
there, and stole it away. They saw him as he escaped
with it, heard the clamor of the ae nvery and chase,
and then—joined him.

On the journey to the Grand Cafion the totem was
lost.

- The white man pushed on, being in a great hurry;
but the Indians lingered to hunt’ for it.

Having seen Buffalo Bill pick up something in the

 
 

 

30

x,
trail, they were led to believe he,had found it. Then
- followed attempts to get it, and attempts to poison the
tobacco of the members of the party. This work
the woman undertook, and prowled into and round
the white men’s camp at night in the bear disguise.

But Little Cayuse found the totem where the white
_ man had dropped it as he rode along.

The woman charmed it away from the Piute. And
believing that her success entitled her to become a
member of the band of the Missing Fingers, she be-
gan the initiatory rites then and there by hacking off
the middle finger of her right hand with her hatchet,
and painted the Piute’s breast with the red sign of the
band as a warning.

So the baron discovered that he had not shot off the
woman’s finger; she had been carrying it when she
made her final attempt to enter the camp—this time for
the purpose of stealing ammunition, and had dropped
it, in her fright, when fired on. =

_Féllowing the white man, they had covered his trail,

because he had, as they felt, helped them to get the
_ totem, and they had covered that of Feather Foot, who
had followed him until Feather Foot dropped out.

In the pass of the Whitestone Mountains Foster got
possession of the totem by trickery, and in a quarrel
over this, between the Indian and his squaw, the In-
dian had killed her. But it was not a great crime, the
Indians considered, for a squaw could be bought for
a couple of ponies.

The white man had left his hore in the pass, be-
cause the Indian, wearing the bear-foot moccasins,
complained of the hard work of covering the trail.

A little later the white man had fallen in with a
body of Missing Fingers, who had set out for Taos to
aid the Indian who had gone for the totem and was
delaying his return.

The white man, possessing the totem, had asked
their aid in stopping the pursuit of other white men,
who were following him, he said, to get the totem. All
that had followed had grown out of that.

The Indian found unconscious by Nomad in the

hills had smoked some of the drugged tobacco.

This information came out principally the next day,
after Foster had been buried, and it came in answer
to many-questions put by Buffalo Bill and the members
of his party.

One of the questions was:

“Where is Feather Foot, the whee man’s Indian
follower?” -

Nobody knew.

He had concealed himself,

no doubt ; then had crept

THE BUFFALO

 

BILL STORIES.

away, after the death of Velvet Foster. He had fol-
lowed Foster in his last desperate adventure, and
henceforth must shift for himself.

Buffalo Bill and his friends remained in the cafion
a week, recuperating themselves and their animals.

In the end he turned over to the Indians the great
totem, believing, from their stories, that it was theirs,
and the Taos Pueblos had stolen it. But he turned it
éver only when they had given their promise, sealed
with the bloody hand of the Missing Fingers, that they
would not molest or pursue his party,

Little Cayuse was the only one reconciled to this

settlement.

He continued to assert that the totem of the kneel-
ing cayuse was the totem of the Piutes.

One night he disappeared.

For two weeks after the return of the scout’ S ‘party
to Santa Fe, the Piute was not seen.

Then, one day, he bobbed up, his brown face smiling.

“Ai,” he confessed, when they began to question
him; ‘‘me stay behind; me steal um totem away; me
take um to the Piutes, across the great desert. Totem
there now! Make Piutes heap great people. Little
Cayuse mucho proud.”

“Ve're a little thief,’ said Nomad, grinning with
delight, for in the quality of the daring exploit there
was a courage he liked; “but I had my doubts from
ther fust ef thet totem reely b’longed to them Injuns
in the cafion. You've seen ther Piute totem long ergo,
an’ you plum’ ort to be able ter recernize et when yer
seen et agin.

“Still, sonny,’ he laughed, and patted the Piute’s
sleek black braid, “‘stealin’ is plum’ wrong.”

“Him Piute totem,” affirmed Little Cayuse, swell-
ing with pride; “him not Taos totem.”

THE END.

“Buffalo Bill and the Pawnee Prophet; or, Pawnee
Bill Among Friends and Foes,” is a fine adventure
story of the real Indian fighting days on the plains.
Pawnee Bill enjoyed the warm friendship of the Paw-
nee tribe, but when the rascally medicine man, old
Wanderoo, began to practice his wonderful tricks with
fire and mysterious charms, the Pawnees forgot the
old friendship- and made matters decidedly hot for
the Bills and their pards. Oddly enough, a small ani-
mal—nothing more than a hand-organ monkey—
turned the luck against the Indians and simplified a
tough problem. The story will appear in No. 525—

out: June 3rd. .

 
  

The Nick Carter 1

ISSUED EVERY SATURDAY BEAUTIFUL COLORED COVERS

   

 

 

 

 

When it comes to detective stories worth while, the NICK CARTER WEEKLY contains the only ones that should
be considered. They are not overdrawn tales of bloodshed. They rather show the workings of one of the finest minds
ever conceived by a writer.

The name of Nick Carter is familiar all over the world and the stories of his adventures are read eagerly by millions,
in twenty different languages, No other stories have withstood the severe test of time so well as those contained in the
NICK CARTER WEEKLY, _ It proves conclusively that they are best.

We give herewith a list of all the back numbers in print. 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. ge

&

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

450—Missing; a Sack of Gold. 527—Clarice, the Countess. 603—By Order of the Emperor. 678—The Drab Thread

451—The Great Cathedral Mystery, 530—An Amazonian Quecn. B0d The Conyiens Scent 679—The Live-wire Clue. a
452—A Play for a Million. 531—A Blackmailer’s ‘Paradise. 605—The Man in the Dark. 680—The Vampires of the. Tene-
453—The Fear-Shaped Diamonds. 532—Gipsy Madge, the Blackmailer, 606¢-An Anarchist Plot. + ment”.

455-—Nick Carter’s Human Weapon. 533—Facing an Unseen Terror. 607—The Mysterious Mr. Peters. 681—The Policy King Baffled.
456—The Compact of Death, 534—Idayah, the Woman of Mys-608—-A Woman at Bay. 682—The Madman’s Gig.
457—The Rajah’s Revenge. 3 tery, |’ 609—The Balloon Tragedy. 683—A Life at Stake.

498 —A. Tragedy of the Sea. 525—The Making of a King. -610—Nick Carter’s Strangest Case. 684—Trailing a Secret Thread.
461—Nick Carter's Strange Power. 536—The Empire of a Goddess, 611—The Stolen Treasure, 685—The Crimson Flash.
462—Nick Carter and the Marix-537—Zanabayah, the Terrible. 612—The Island of Fire. 686—A Puzzle of Identities.

burg Affair, 538—The Seven-headed Monster. 618—The Senator's Plot, 687—The Westervelt Optioa.
463-—The Millionaire Cracksman. 539—The Woman of the Mask. 614—The Madness of Morgan. 688—The Vanishing Heiress.
464—The Mystery Man. 540—-The Masked Woman’s Daring 615—-A_ Million-dollar Hold-up. 689—The Birth of a Mystery.
465—Scylla the Sea_ Robber. Plot. 616—Nick Carter's Submarine Clue. 690-—-A Clue from the Past.
466—-Che Beautiful Pirate of Oyster 541—Hobo. Harry, the Beggar King. 617—Under the Flag of Chance. _691-—-The Red Triangle.

Bay, 542——Black Madge’s Hobo Gang. 618—The Case Against Judge Ber-692—Doctor Quartz Again.
467—The Man from Nevada. 543—-Black Madge’s Vengeance. nard. 698—The Famous Case of Doctor
468—Maguey, the Mexican. | 544A Tragedy of the Footlights. 619—Down to the Grave. Quartz.
469—Pedro, the Dog Detective. §45—The Maynard Woman's Deuble. 620—The Fatal Javelin. 694—The Chemical Clue.
470—The Automobile Fiend. 546—Three Against Fifteen. * 621—The Ghost of Nick Carter. 695—The Prison Cipher.
471—Bellini, the Black Hand, | 547—A Mystery of Two Passengers, 622—A Strange Coincidence. 696—A Pupil of Doctor Quartz.
472-The Black Hand’s Nemesis. 548—A Dead Man at the Feast. 623—Pauline—A Mystery. 697—The Midnight. Visitor.
473—An Expert in Craft. 5!9——The House of Secrets. 624—-A Woman of Plots, 698—The Master Crook’s Match.
474—-Nick Carter’s Terrible Hxperi- 550—-The Lost Bank President. 625—A Millionaire Swindler. ' 699—The Man Who Vanished.

2 ence. 551—Ralph Bolton's Double Plot. 626—The Money Schemers. 700-—The Garnet Gauntlct.
475—The Mystery of an Untold 552—The Dare-devil Crook, 627—On the Trail of the Moon.  701—TThe Silver Hair Mystery.

Crime. 553—A Mystery from the Klondyke. 628—The House of Mystery. %02—The Cloak of Guilt.
476—Diana, the Arch-demon. 554-——-Returned from the Grave. 629—The Disappearance of Mon- 703 Battle for a Million.
479-—Abducted in Broad Day. . 555—The Mystery Man of 7-Up sieur Gercaux. | 704—_Written in Red. s
480—The Tong of the Tailless Ranch. 6830—An Hoiress to Millions, 705—The Collodion Stain.

Dragon. 556—A Bad Man of Montana. 6231—The Man in the Biograph. V06—A Million-Dollary Ransom.
481—The Padlocked Mystery. 557—The Man from Arizona. 632—The Time-lock Puzzle. 707-_Rogues of the Air.
482——-Dema, the Dangerous. . 558—Kid Curry’s Last Stand. 638—-The Moving Picture Mystery. 703—The Tightening Coil.
483—Nick Carter’s Murder Problem. 559—A Beautiful Anarchist. 634—The Tiger-tamer. | 709—The Bolt from the Blue.
484A Battle Among the Clouds. 560—The Nihilist’s Second Move. 635—A Strange Bargain. 710-—The Stockbridge Affair.
485—The Veiled Princess. 561—The Brotherhood of Free Russia 636—The Haunted Circus. T1{1—A Secret from the Past.
486—The Conquest of a Kingdom. 562—-A White House Mystery. 637—The Secret of a Private Room. 712-—Playing the Last Hand.
487—The House of Skeletons. 563—The Great Spy System. 638—A Mental Mystery. T1i3—A Slick Article.

488—A Queen of Inferno. 564—The Last of Mustushimi. 39—The Sealed Envelope. %14—-The Taxicab Riddle.
489-_Nick Carter’s Foxy Adversary. 565—Secrcts of a Haunted House. 640—The Message in Blue. 715—The: Knife Thrower. |. ;
490—Three Times in Peril. 566—A Mystery in India Ink. 641—A Dream of Empire. aH 716—The Ghost of Bare-faced Jimmy
491—The Gold Lettered Dagger. 567—J'he Plot of the Stantons. 642—The Detective’s Disappearance 717—-The Master Rogue’s Alibi. ;
492—-That Mysterious Affair. 568—The Criminal Trust. 643—-The Midnight Marauders. 718—-The Diplomatic Spy.

493A Dead Guardian of Millions. 569—-The Syndicate of Crooks. 644—The Child of the Jungle. | 719-——The Dead Letter...

494—The Mysterious Treasure 570—The Order of the Python. 645—Nick Carter’s Satanic Hnemy. 720—The Allerton Millions.

j Hunters. : 571—Tried for His Life. 646—Three: Times. Stolen. .721—A Play. for Place.

495—-The Klondike Bank Puzzle. 572—A Bargain With a Thief. 647—The Great Diamond Syndicate 722—The House of Whispers.
496—The “Bad Man” of Nome. 573—Peters, the Shrewd. Crook, 648-——The House of the Yellow Door 723—-The Blue Room Mystery.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

498—Following' an Ocean ‘Trail. 574—The Mystery of the Empty 649—The Triangle Clue: 724A Tangle of Clues.
499—A Clue from the Clouds. Grave, se 650—The Hollingsworth Puzzle. %25—The Men with the Yellow Vests
500—-Praxatel, of the Ironarm.  575—-The Yellow Beryl. © 6p1—The Affair of the Missing 726—-The Mysterious Woman in
502—Ismalla, the Chieftain. 576—The Dead Man on the Roof. _. Bonds. Black. :
503—Nick Carter’s Earthquake Clue. 577—-A Double-barreled Puzzle, +652—The Green Box Clue. : 727-—The Great Pool Room Syndi-
504—Nick Carter Among the Bad578—An Automobile Duel. 653—The Taxi-cab Mystery. cate,
Men. _ 579-——Jasper Ryan’s Counter Move. 654—The Mystery of a Hotel Room. 728——The Mummy’s Head. .
505—-The Man of Many _ Faces. 580—An International Conspiracy. 655—The Tragedy of the Well. 7?9 The Statue Clue.
506—A Letter from the Dead. . 581—Plotters Against a Nation. 656-—The Black Hand. 4 ~(30—-The Torn Card. ; ps
507—Bare-faced Jimmy, the Gentle-582—-Mignon Duprez, the Female 657—The Black Nand Nemesis. 731—Under Desperation’s Spur.
man Crook. Spy. 658—A Masterly Trick. 732—-The Connecting Link. \
509-—The “Skiadoo” of the K. U.583—A Mystery of High Society. 659A Dangerous Man. . 733—The Abduction Syndicate.
J ee enc peat en tn ens - 584A Million Dollars Reward. 660—Castor, the Poisoner. 734—The Silent Witness.
510—The Last of the Outlaws.  585—The Signal of Seven Shots. 661—The Castor Riddle. 735—A Woman of Mystery,
511—_Nick. Carter’s Twin Mystery. 586—The “Shadow.” 662—A Tragedy of the Bowery. 736—The Toils of a Siren.
512—A Battle of Wits. 587—A Dead Man’s Secret. 668—Four Scraps of Paper. 737—The Mark of a Circle.
513—-A Game of Five Millions. 588—A Victim of Magic. 664—The Secret of the Mine. 738—A Plot Within a Plot.
514—-Codman the Poisoner. 589—A Plot Within a Palace, 665—The Dead Man in the Car. 739-—The Dead Accomplice.
515—The Plot of the Poisoner. 590--The Countess Zeta’s Defense. 666—Nick Carter’s Master Struggle 140-—A Mysterious Robber.
516—The Mechanical Giant. 591—-The Princess’ Last Effort. 667—The Air-shaft Spectre. 741—-The Green Scarab.
517—Doris, the Unknown. . 592--The Two. Lost Chittendens. 668—The Broken Latch, _ (42 —The Strangest Case on Record
518—A Dangerous Woman. 593—Miguel, the Avenger. 669-—Nick Carter’s Sudden Peril. 743A Shot in the Dark.
519—-Madge Morley’s Ghost. 594—Eulalia, the Bandit Queen. 670—-The Man with the Missing a4 De Seven Schemers. -
520—An Automobile Mystery. 595—The -Crystal Mystery. Thumb. u 3 745—The Hidden Crime.
521—The Mysterious Stranger. 596—A Battle of Wit and Skill. 671—Feltman, the “Fence.” 746—The Secret Entrance.
522-_'The White Arm of a Woman.597—Vanderdyken, the Millionaire. 672—A Night with Nick Carter... 747_The Cavern Mystery.
523—The Man in the Doorway. 598—Patsy’s Vacation Problem.  673—In the Nick of Time. 742 'The Disappearing Fortune.
524—The Plot of the Baron. 599—The King’s Prisoner. 674—The Dictator’s Treasure. #404 Voice from the Past.
525—The Passenger on the Night 600—A Woman to the Rescue. 675—Pieces of Hight. oe 4 hte onl.
oe rAd se : 60i—Nick Carter in Japan. 676—Behind the Mask. 750—The Search for Xonia.
526—A Double. Mystery. 602—Talika, the Geisha Girl. 677—The Green Patch. 751—The Crime of a Century.

Price, Five Cents per Copy. 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 AVE., NEW YORK CITY

 
 

 

 

   

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The most popular publication for boys.
this weekly. High art colored covers.

763—Dick Merriwell, Peacemaker; or, The Split in the Varsity.

764—Frank Merriwell’s Sway ; or, The Boy Who Was Pampered.

765—Frank Merriweltl’s Comprehension ; or, The Making of
Vincent Schuyler.

766—Frank Merriwell’s Young Acrobat; or, The Boy from the
Sawdust Ring.

767—Frank Merriwell’s Tact; or, The Taming of Garth Pennant.

 
 

   
  
  
 
  
 
 
 
 
   
   
    
  
   
  

Brown.
769—Frank Merriwell’s Acuteness; or, The Search for a Natne.
770—Frank Merriwell’s Young: Canadian; or, The Victory of
Defeat.
771—Frank Merriwell’s Coward; or, The Awakening of Sam
Shrubb.
772—Frank Merriwell’s Perplexity ; or, The Mystery of the Blue
f Diamond.
oe cavers Intervention; or, The Horse Thief of the
azy X.
774—Frank Merriwell’s Daring Deed; or, The Race for a Hun-
dred Lives.

708—Frank Merriwell’s Uaknown: or, The Mysterious James

 

 

WEEKLY

The adventures of Frank and Dick Merriwell can be had only in
Thirty-two pages.

Price, 5 cents.

775—Frank Merriwell’s Succor; or, The Redonples of “Babe”
Silver.

776—Frank Merriwell’s Wit; or, Thwarting a Gavancr

777 Eran Merriwell’s Loyalty ; or, The Land of the Lost

ople.

Le rian Mertivell s Bold Play; or, The Checkmating of °
Felipe Lopez.

779—Frank oe Insight; or, The Brand Blotter of the
X- Bar

78o0—Frank Merriwell’s Guile; or, The-Queen of the Matador’.

sae rank Merriwell’s Campaign; or, Fighting the System.

782—F rank Merriwell in the National Forest ; or, Outwitting the
Timber Thieves.

783—Frank Merriwell’s Tenacity; or, The Mystery of the Famous
Scientist.

784—Dick ies Self-Sacrifice; or, The Man Who Could

78 Se_Dick Me Merriwell’s Close Shave; or, The Man With a Grouch.

786—Dick Merriwell’s Perception; or, The Brains of the Varsity,

787—Dick Merriwell’s Mysterious Disappearance ; or, The Game
in the Balance.

 

   
   
   
  
  
   
   
    
    
   
  
  
   
  

The most original stories of Western adventure.
Buffalo Bill. High art colored covers.

504—Buffalo, Bill’s Tramp Pard; or, Pawnee Bill and the Sachem
of Saginaw.
o5—Buffalo Bill on the Upper Missouri; or, Pawnee Bill’s
Pick-up
500—Buffalo Bill's ne Scouts; or;
Absarokes.
507—Buffalo Bill’s Opium Case; or,
Sheriff's Frame-up.
ee Bill’s Witchcraft; or, Pawnee Bill and the Snake
ztecs,
500—Buffalo Bill’s Mountain’ Foes; or, Pawnee Bill and the
White Queen’s Vengeance.
- 5§10—Buffalo Bill’s Battle Cry; or, Pawnee Bill and the Indian
Stampede.
511—Buffalo Bill’s Fight for the Right; or, Pawnee Bill and the
King of the“Land Boomers.
512—Buffalo Bill’s Barbecue; or, Pawnee Bill and the Bumptious

Pawnee Bill and the

Pawnee Bill and the

Basil.
513—Buffalo Bill and he Red Siena or, _ Pawnee Bill and
the Outlaw of the Hills.

 

BUFFALO BILL STORIES

The only weekly containing the adventures of the famous
Thirty-two big pages..

Price, 5 cents.
514—Buffalo Bill and the Pache Kid; or, Pawnee Bill’s Winning

Hand.

515—Buffalo Bill at the Copper Barriers; or, Faniiee Bill’s Cave
of Aladdin.

516—Buffalo Bill’s Pacific Power; or, Pawnee Bill and the
Easterner.

517—Buffalo Bill and Chief Hawkchee; or, Pawnee Bill Teache
a Lesson.

518—Buffalo Bill and the Indian Girl; or, Payee Bill on the Job.

ek Across the Rio Giande: ory Pawnee Bill’s Slide
or

520—Buffalo Bill and the Headless Horseman; oF Pawnee Bill
Rides the Boundary.

.521—Buffalo Bills Clean Sweep; or, Pawnee Bill’s Race with

6 the King-pin Bandit.
see Bill’s Handful of Pearls; or, Paweee Bill at Santa
e
523—Buffalo Bill’s Pueblo Foes; or, Pawnee Bill at the Indian
Fiesta,

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STREET & SMITH, Publishers, 78-89 Seventh Avenue, New York

 

 

 

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BUFFALO BILL STORIES

ISSUED EVERY TUESDAY BEAUTIFUL COLORED COVERS

 

 

There is no need of our telling American readers how 1 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.

We give herewith a list of all of the back numbers in print. 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.

267—Buffalo Bill in the Canyon of Death. 5|380—Buffalo Bill’s Mine................ 5 |455—Buffalo Bill’s First Aid............
272—-Buffalo Bill’s Dusky Trailers....... 9 {351-—Buffalo Bills Clean-up-2..:..5. 0... 5 | 456—Buffalo Bill and Old Moonlight......
273—Buffalo Bill’s Diamond Mine........ DS ro82—-buitalo Bills Ruse. a oe 5 | 457—Buffalo Bill Repaid

(
27

oii

SNOUT

—Buffalo Bill and the Pawnee Serpent 5 }|383—Buffalo Bill Overboard............. 5 | 458—Buffalo Bills Throwback...........
5—Buffalo Bill’s Scarlet Hand © | 384—Buffalo Bill’s Ring.......0.......... 5 |459—Buffalo Bill’s “Sight Unseen”’
278—Buffalo Bill’s Daring Plunge........ 5 | 385—Buffalo Bill’s Big Contract......... 5 | 460—Buffalo Bill’s New Pard............
283—Buffalo Bill Up a Stump Bala storaersiotele 5 | 386—Buffalo Bill and Calamity Jane..... 5 |461—Buffalo Bill’s ‘“‘Winged Victory”
285—Buffalo Bill’s Master-stroke......... 5{387—Buffalo Bill’s Kid Pard 5 | 462—Butffalo Bill’s Pieces-of- Hight.
287—Buffalo Bill and the Brazos Yerror. . 388—Buffalo Bill’s Desperate Plight...... 5 |463—Buffalo Bill and the Fight Vaqueros
288—Buffalo Bill's Dance of Death 5 |389—Buffalo Bill’s Fearless Stand....... 5 | 464—Buffalo Bill’s Unlucky Siesta. 2.
292—Buffalo Bill's Medicine-lodge........ 5 | 390—Buffalo Bill and the Yelping Crew. .: 465—Buffalo Bill’s Apache Clue.
295——Buitalo? Billi Perilawecccces oo fs 391—Buffalo Bill’s Guiding Hand........ 5 | 466—Buffalo Bill and the Apache Totem.
298—Buffalo Bill’s Black Eagles........-. 392—Buffalo Bill’s Queer Quest.......... 5 | 467—Buffalo Bill’s Golden Wonder
299—Buffalo Bill’s Desperate Dozen...... 5}393—Buffalo Bill’s Prize “Getaway” 5 | 468—Buffalo Bills Tiesta Night.........
305—Buffalo Bill and the Barge penne 394—Buffalo Bill’s Hurricane Hustle..... 5 | 469—Buffalo Bill ee the Hatchet Boys..
306—Buffalo Bill, the Desert Hotspur. 5 |395—Buffalo Bill’s Star Play............ 5 |470—Buffalo Bill and the Mining Shark...
308—Buffalo Bill's Whirlwind Chase..... 5 | 396—Buffalo Bill’s Bluff 5 | 471-—Buffalo Bill and the Cattle Barons...
309—Buffalo Bill’s Red_ Retribution...... 59¢——-Bufralo; Biles: Wrackers.). 4.8 6s - 5 Buffalo Bills Lone Odden sare...
312—Buffalo Bills Death Jump.. 5-1 398—Buffalo Bil’s Dutch Pard.......... Bill, the Peacemalcewey.2. 5.76 ;
314—Buffalo Bill in the Jaws of Death.... 399—Buffalo Bill and the Bravo 4 “Butralo Bills Promise to: Paw... ..).
« 315—Buffalo Bill’s Aztec Rumwers...... 5 | 400—Buffalo Bill and the Quaker........ 5—Buffalo Bill’s Diamond Hitch.......
316—Buffalo Bill's Dance with Death..... 401—Buffalo Bill’s Package of Death..... —Buftalo Bill and the Wheel of Fate..
319—Buffalo Bill’s Mazeppa Ride........ 2 |402—Buffalo Bill’s Treasure Cache:...... —Buffalo Bill and the Pool of Mystery
321—Bulfalo Bill’s Gypsy Band.......... 403—Buffalo Bill’s Private War.......... S buitalo, Bill and. the  Desenten 9.
324—Buffalo Bill’s Gold Hunters......... 404—RBuffalo Bill and the Trouble Hunter. 479 — Buffalo Bill’s Island in the Air......
325—Buffalo Bill in Old Mexiee......... 5 | 405—Buffalo Bill and the Rope Wizard... 480—-Buffalo Bill, Town Marshal.........
326—Buffalo Bill’s Message from the Dead 406—Buffalo Bill’s Fiesta:.....2.--00000- 481—Buffalo Bill's Winans ree a
327—Buffalo Bill and the Wolf-master.... 5 | 407—Buffalo Bill Among the Cheyennes... 482—Buffalo Bill’s Test
328—Buffalo Bill’s Flying Wonder....... 5 1 408-—Buffalo Bill Besieged 483—-Buffalo Bill and the Ponca Raiders. .
329—Buffalo Bill’s Hidden Gold......... 409—Buffalo Bill and the Red Hand...... 484—Buffalo Bill’s Boldest Stroke
330—Buffalo Bills Outlaw Trail..-..... 5 | 410—Buffalo Bill’s Tree-trunk Drift...... 485—-Buffalo Bill’s Enigma
331—Buffalo Bill and the Indianw Queen. - 411—Buffalo Bill and the Specter........ 486—Buffalo Bill’s Blockade |
332—Buffalo Bill and tle Mad Marauder. 412—RBuffalo Bill and the Red Feathers... 487—-Buffalo Bill and the Gilded Clique.. 5
333—Buffalo Bill’s Ice Barricade. -- 5}413—Buffalo Bill’s King Stroke.......... 488—Buffalo Bill and Perdita Reyes...... 5
334—Buffalo Bill and tie Robber Elk.... 414—-Buffalo Bill, the Desert Cyclone..... 489—Buffalo Bill and the Boomers.....-.
335—Buffalo Bill’s Ghost Danece......... 5 | 415=—Buffalo Bill’s Cumbres Scouts....... 490—Buffalo Bill Calls a Halt........... 5
336—Buffalo Bill's Peace-pipe.........-. AiG” Buftalo Bill and ihe Mancwolt...... 491—Buffalo Bill and the Ke-week Totem.
337—Buffalo Bill’s Red Nemesis......... 417—Buffalo Bill and His Winged Pard... 492>Bufialoo Bill’ Sis Oe sorcneme ren <cisuews ences &
338—Buffalo Bill’s Enchanted Mesa...... 51 418—RBuffalo Rill at Babylon Bar '| 5 | 493—Buffalo Bill at Cafion Diablo.......
339—Buffalo Bill in the Desert of Death. . B19“ Buraley Bilas One Nt 494—Buffalo Bill’s Transfer 5
340—-Bufialo Bills Pay Streak. 222.2222: ASt Peat Bala Stock Arm Pardo 495—Buffalo Bill and the Red Horse Hunt- _
341—Buffalo Bill on Detached Taty Beretta AO Pawala Bis Meiae Guides. de ers i
Sie aato, BUTS fam Mystery. ace 423_Buffalo Rill and Tittle Firefly. .....- 496—Buffalo Bill’s Dangerous Duty '
343—Bniffalo Bill's Surprise Party....... aot Beat a a Ene Antec Ciee 497—Buffalo Bill and the Chief's Daughter
344—Buffalo Bill’s Great Ride.......... 495-_Ruffalo Rill’s Balloon Escane. LE 498—Buffalo Bill at Tinaja Wells........ :
345—Buffalo Bill’s Water Trail.......... 4°26—RBuftalo Ri ana Mine Cueniiing. ee 499—Buffalo Bill and the Men of Mendon.
346—Buffalo Bill’s Ordeal of Fire........ B57 Bemaig Has Borlch TAR ok 500—Buffalo Bill at Rainbow's End
348—Buffalo Bil’s Casket of Pearls...... 5 | 498 Ruffalo Rives Nioetcan Mix-up So ete 501—Butffalo Bill and the Russian Plot....
349—Buffalo Bill’s 3 i am Sib tee a haat ti aga tea a a ry 502—Buffalo Bill’s Red Triangle......... ‘
uffalo Siskyebilot. 2 sob ose a: 499RBuffalo Rill and the Gamecock...... rm Sa : lush
350—Buffalo Bill's “Totem’............. 5 | 420_Ruffalo Rill and the Chevenne Raiders 503—Buffalo Bill's Royal NSH oer
351—Buffalo Bill’s Flat-boat Drift.--.... 431—RBuffalo Bill’s Whirlwind Finish DOP pee OTS Pra ae ees ee
352—Buffalo Bill on Deck - 5/429 Ruffalo Ril’e Santa Fe Secret...... 505—Buffalo Bill on the Upper Missouri.. +
353—Buffalo Bill and the Broneo Buster. . 423_Buffalo Rill and the Taos Terror.... 506—Buffalo Bill’s Crow Scouts :
354—Buffalo Bill’s Great Round-up...... 5 1434—Ruffalo Ril’s Bracelet of Gold....... 507—Buffalo Bill’s Onium Case
355—Buffalo Bill’s Pledge 42% Ruffalo Rill and the Rorder Baron 508—Buffalo Bill’s Witchcraft ........... :
356—Buffalo Pardon x 426—Ruffalo Rill at Salt River Ranch.... 509—Buffalo Bill’s Mountain Foes........
357—Buffalo Bill and the Emigrants 1427—Ruffalo Ril’s Panhandle Man-hunt.. 510—Buftalo Bil’s' Battle Crye. sine
358—Buffalo Bill Among the Pueblos..... 428-_Ruffalo Rill at Blossom Range...... 511—-Buffalo Bill’s Fight for the Right.
359—Buffalo Bill’s our-footed Pards. 439——Ruffalo Rill and Juniner Joe........ 512—Buffalo Bill’s Barbecue ............. te
360—Buffalo Bill’s Protégé 440—_Ruffalo Rill’s Final Scoop.......... 513——Buffalo Bill and the Red Renegade .... |
362— Buffalo Bill’s Pick-up 5 | 441—-Ruffalo Pill at Clearwater.........- 514—RBuffalo Bill and the Apache Kid ...... 5
6e eee Bill's Quest 449__Ruffalo Rill’s Winnine Hand........ 515—-Buffalo Bill at the Copper Barriers ....
Soa es 443 Buffalo Bill’s Cinch Claim.......... 516—Buffalo Rill’s Pacific Power r
267 uffalo 444Ruffalo Rilvs Comrades... 65. 1 ic. 517—Ruffalo Rill and Chief Hawkchee
aoe e 51 445__Ruffalo Pill in the Rad Lands...... 518—Buffalo Bill and the Indian Girl
ope a 446—Ruffalo Rill and the Rov Rugler.... 519—Buffalo Bill Across the RioGrande ...&
370-_Buffalo Bi 447—Ruffalo Rill and the Heathen Chinee. 520— Be Bill and the Headless Horse- _
ee ee ene 51 448—Ruffalo Rill and the Chink War.. . :
ae: alo Bill’s 5|449__RBnffalo Rill’s Chinese Chase........
372— Buffalo ei ron pBracelete: 62255) 5} 450—Buffalo Rill’s Secret Message....... 5 | 522—-Buffalo Rill’s Handful of Pearls.....
374 Buffalo Bills Jade ‘Amulet... 2.2... 3 rea jue and the Eorde of Her- 523—Buffalo Rill’s Pueblo Foes..........
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377—Buffalo Bill's Bridge of Fire........ eco Nits

 

 

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a7 eas 452—Ruftato *Rit's Vonesome Trail.....-.: 5 | 52h—Ruffalo Rill and the Pawnee Prophet 5
ROS Rural BAS: Bowle: 0 ued. ue: 51453—Rnffalo Rill’s Quarry.............-- 5 |526—Buffalo Bill and Old _Wanderoo..... 5
379—Buffalo Bill’s Pay-streak...........- 5 454—Buffalo Bill in Deadwood........... ho 27——Buftalo-Bill’s Merry War... ..- si. 5

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