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A WEEKLY PUBLICATION

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

Entered as Second-class Matter at the N. V. Post Office, by STREET & SMITH, 79-89 Seventh Ave., N.Y.

O. G. Smith and G. C. Smith, Proprietors.

 

TERMS TO BUFFALO BILL STORIES MAIL BES aie
(Postage Free.)
Single Copies or Back Numbers, 5c. Each.

 

How to Send Money-~—By post-office or express money order, registered
letter, bank check or draft, at our.risk. At your own risk if sent by Se es
coin, or postage stamps in ordinary letter.

 

 

 

 

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No. 540. NEW YORK, September 16, Oe I. Price Five Cents.

 

Buffalo Bill and the Red Bedouins;

OR,

PAWNEE BILL ON THE GREAT STAKED PLAINS.

 

By the author of “BUFFALO BILL.”

 

CHAPTER L
PLANNING A. HUNT.

The building of the Union Pacific Railroad sepa-

rated the buffaloes of the great plains into two herds,
the northern and the southern. Both diminished rap-
idly after that, under the raids of the hide hunters,
so that as early as 1880 the northern herd was nearly

gone, and the biggest remnant of the southern herd

was confined to the Llano Estacado, otherwise known
as the Staked Plains, of northwestern Texas.

About that time the northern end of the noted Chis-
holm trail was at Dodge City, which had become the
greatest shipping point for Texas cattle. There the
cowboys and cattlemen foregathered, hilariously fling-
ing away their money. And to the scene of these rich
pickings came panhandlers and gamblers and numer-
ous other varieties of human harpies.

_ A seeker of the humanly picturesque, Ray Parker,
who was neither confidence man nor gambler; had come
to Dodge City. \He was a newspaper correspondent,
and he thought that here he ought to get a good many
columns of the kind of “stuff” he wanted.

As he dropped off the Santa Fe train, valise in hand,

    

A NE Aly Ain We ti A 2 in A, AS Ay MAE
eae Ee, 9 oe

BR WEI Pe Py a AE OURS Gah ofthe ON um

and started to walk up the hill, after dodging the hack-
men, he ran plump into a man he had met down in tlfe
“Nation,” as the Indian Ttrritory was then called lo-
cally.

“Hello!” he cried, swinging ey

He put out his hand.

“This is Pawnee Bill?” he said.
_ The words were spoken to a picturesquely attired
plainsman who looked at him smilingly.

“Sure,” was the answer, as they clasped hands.

Pawnee’s keen eyes flashed toward the newspaper
man. ey aie?

Parker, of the Chicago Hot-Blasit. Glad to see
you, Parker. You aren't proyite too far from the
home plate, eh?’

Parker laughed. »

“Instead of reporting baseball, I’ve got a roving
cominission now. I have had it ever since I met you
down in the Territory. I happened to be in Kansas
City, and thought [Pd run out here. There ought to
be some good ‘stories’ for me in a town like this; and,
now that [ve met you, Ill ae you to put me ‘ort.
Who’s with you?”

  
THE .BUFFALO

  

 

\ “Cody.”

“The promise improves. If I could get him to reel
out to me a few yarns of the things that actually
have happened to him, Id like nothing better. Take
me up to his hotel.”

“I was just going there,” said Pawnee.

He hooked his arm through Parker’s, and they went
on up the street together.

“Cody 1 is so busy with certain plans right now,” said
Pawnee, “that ’m afraid you'll not get him to do much
talking.’

“Anything secret about those plans?” said Parker.

“Not at all, “fies yt outfitting a hunting ex-
pedition.”’

“What is he going to diane: i

“Buffaloes.”

“But they’re all gone,”
it’s so reported.”’

“The big herds are all gone,” Pawneeadmitted. “Of
the northern herd there are a few in and around the
Black Hills, and some out at Yellowstone Park. Of
the southern herd there are some in the Texas Pan-
handle, with a few scattered bunches elsewhere.”

“And Buffalo Bill is going to wipe out what is left
of them?”

“When you have talked with him you will under-
stand it. You've heard of Professor Dickson?”

“Old Dickie, of Chicago?”

“The same. He’s at the bottom of this hunting
expedition, and I think we'll find him in Cody’s room
now.

“What? That old highbrow hasn’t strayed away
out here? Well, I’ll have to put that in the Hot-Blast.
It will be good for acolumn, ‘Old Dickie in Dodge!’
How would that do for a headline? But what brought
him here?”

“The buffaloes.”

“Headline for another cola
Buffalo Hunter.’ Why, it that fellow could ride a
sawhorse it would amaze me. And as for shooting off
a gun, if he ever did that, it would be by an acci-
dent, and he'd kill himself. : =

39

Parker objected; “anyway,

‘Old Dickie as a

Professor Lindley Murray Dickson was in a beam- —
ing mood when they found him in the room of Buf-

falo Bill. On the window ledge near him was a fluted
cartridge belt and a revolver, with a coiled rope, which
he was regarding affectionately through his thick
glasses. On a chair was a cowboy hat, which he had
tried on, and meant to wear, to keep the sun from burn-
ing his face. The sun already had been at work on
his nose, which was peeling.

“Cody,” he was saying, “you have done more than

any other: man to bring about the destruction of the

buffaloes, and it is now to be your peculiar distinetion
to save a remnant.of the fast-vanishing herds, so that
the noble animal, which once roamed these- plains in
untold thousands, may not become as extinct as the
dodo and the great auk. - And as your name goes ring-
ing down the grooves of time, there will go with it the

BILL. STORIES,

 

name of Professor Lindley Mune Dickson, of Chi-
cago.’

“Hip! Hip!” cried Pawnee Bill ieee as he
stepped into the room, followed by Ray Parker.

The professor turned slowly in his chair and stared
rebukingly at the intruders.

“Ah! it is you, Major Lillie!” he exclaimed.

“The same old pocket piece,’ said Pawnee. “Cody,
here is Parker, correspondent of the Hot-Blast. You
will remember him. Professor Dickson, let me make
you acquainted with Ray Parker.”’

Old Dickie adjusted his glasses, after acknowledg-
ing the introduction, and stared at Parker.

“The Hot-Blast is—er

“The Hot-Blast has a thousand faults, Professor
Dickson,’ admitted Parker, ‘‘and only one virtue: it
gets the news, and prints more solid reading matter.
than any other newspaper in Chicago.” ‘

“What I was about to say,” said Dickie, ‘is that the
Hot-Blast has no literary qualities whatever. It does
not even make use of good grammar. Last week in a
single column I found five errors of grammar and
three mixed metaphors. And it does not dee a
book department.”

He turned and contemplated the rope and the re-
volver on the window ledge.

“This question of saving the buffaloes,’ he said, ad-
dressing Buffalo Bill, “is one of transcendent impor-
tance. When I unfolded my plan to the syndicate
which has honored me by sending me here as its rep-
resentative, it was the consensus of opinion that no
greater question presses now on the American people;
and that if we do not improve this golden opportunity,
which must soon pass forever, we shall be recreant to
our trust as the custodians of the treasures of future
generations. And so I was commissioned to confer
with you, with that end in view. And in addition, as
you know, influence was brought to bear on the War
Department, which caused you to be assigned to this
work with me. ‘The present habitat of the small rem-
nant of the southern herd is, you tell me, in a country
that esis some difficulties, owing to the lack of

aN

 

He hanied round and looked at Parker.

“Were you laughing at me, sir?” he demanded —
verely.

“Certainly not,’ replied Parker;
with the greatest interest. In fact, W£1 get your. idea,
I think I should like to join that expedition, and rca
it for the Hfoi-Blast. s

“The report,” retorted Professor Dickson severely, a

“will appear in the pages of the Zodlogical Review, of
which I am editor.”’

SA few columns in the Hot-Blast would teach ‘more e
people,” said Parker. .

- “Contemporary notoriety,” answered Dictie tig not.

_ what we seek. The grateful remembrance in which —
eur names will be held by future generations, together
with a high sense of patriotic duty, are the motives  — 77
which now inspire Colonel Cody and myself in.our

 

 

“T was listening oe
= SOL

 

 

 

 

‘THE BUFFALO

determination to save the noble animal miscalled the
‘buffalo,’ properly the ‘bison,’ a ruminant mammal be-
longing to the family Bovide—er, I mean we intend
to save it from extinction.” ‘

Buffalo Bill had placed a chair for Parker.

Just about this time—it was one of the things that
cut short Dickie’s flow of language—Nomad._ entered
the room, accompanied by Baron Von Schnitzenhauser
and Little Cayuse, Buffalo Bill’s Piute Indian fol-
lower.

Ray Parker looked curiously at the old borderman,
Nick Nomad; and at the round-bodied, pudgy Ger-
man nobleman. He knew they were Cody's close
friends, and that they were reliable fighting men.

“Waal, ther caballos we aire collectin’,’ said Nomad,

“aire about ready, an’ so is ther wagons. Ther thing
thet is troublin’ us is ter find nussin’ bottles.”

Ray Parker stared.

“Nursing bottles?” He looked at Professor Dick-
“Ts the feed out here of too strong a quality for
you, professor?” he demanded quaintly.

“Feed? Food, you mean. No, sir; I find- no
trouble with the food out here; it is very good—of ex-
cellent quality indeed, and quite well served. 1 miss a
few articles of diet, but _”

“Why the nursing bottles?’ asked Parker.
_ “For the young bison, sir. Apparently you do not
yet understand what it is that we purpose to do. This
is the spring season, and the female buffaloes will have
young calves by their sides. We hope to capture a
number of those calves. To save them, we shall need
_ milk and nursing bottles. They will not be of an age
to eat grain or grass. We are hoping to bring a
large number of them, alive,. to this point from their
haunts in the Texas Panhandle; and then ship them,
carefully crated, in charge of reliable and responsible
men, to a park somewhere near Chicago, where they
will be oe ,

“Whoosh!” exploded Nomad, looking at the ceiling.

“Did you speak, sir?” inquired Dickie.

“Perfessor,” Nomad expostulated, “ef right at ther

 

 

start o’ this highly ejicational adventoor you’re goin’

ter tork thet way, I’m advisin’ ye now thet all ther
buffaloes will be dead and past rescoo work before we

-_ kin git to whar they aire.”

“True, sir; I am inclined to be garrulous. 1 thank
. you for mentioning it. Hereafter I will try to do what
you so kindly suggested yesterday—put a stopper on
_my escape valve—whatever that means. Anyway, I
will endeavor to be more concise. Brevity is the soul
of wit. I have many times been reminded of the
truth of that familiar adage by observing that men
who ee: : :

Nomad turned on his heel and headed for the door.

“Buffler,” he said, “aire ye goin’ ter start ter-morrer,
or this afternoon ?’’ fs

 

_“At six in the morning we'll roll those wagon wheels

and set the caballos in motion. I’m trusting you to
_ have evetything ready.” =
“Correct,” said Nomad. “Come erlong, baron, an’

- success alone.

 

f

BILL STORIES. : 3

you, too, Caytse. We're going out whar. bats ain’t
flutterin’ so much eround ther ceilin’.”

Dickie looked at the ceiling.

“Bats!” he exclaimed. “Colonel Cody, I fail to no-
tice that there aré any bats in this room.”

CHAPTER II.
OLD DICKIE’S MISADVENTURE. —

Out on the wide plains of the Texas Panhandle,
Professor Lindley Murray Dickson was having ad-
ventures the like of which he had= never dreamed.
When chronicled in the notebooks, with which he was
well supplied, they had the doings of Munchausen
backed off the map.

The remnant of the southern buffalo herd had been
duly located, and the work of capturing calves had
begun that morning. But the plains were of such in-
terest to the learned professor that he almost forgot
the nature of his errand. The grass was short and the
land was. as level as a billiard table generally, with not
a tree’in sight. = > :

The day before, there had been illimitable distances,
with singular mirages.. The professor had chased one

of the mirages which showed a blue lake. He was

sure that the lake was there; and had got lost. He was
out all night. oe

And in the morning the sun rose im the west!

The professor was speculating over this singular
thing, and wondering if he really saw the sun in the
west, or was dreaming; when he was located by old
Nomad, and was brought’ into the camp.

When the professor set out the next morning he
had. Ray Parker for company. The buffaloes were
scattered. A half dozen in a bunch sometimes were
encountered. There. were few calves. ‘Though Par-
ker and the professor were mounted, and were pre-
pared in every way for buffalo catching, their luck was
poor. ne ,

Parker separated from the professor, hoping for —
And, as that pleased the professor, the -
latter went on his way rejoicing. Now and then, as
he rode along, he read in a book about buffaloes and
Indians. .

Looking up from the book, after a long period of
absorption, he noticed that a fog had closed down. It
was not dense; he could see a considerable distance,
but there the wall of the fog shut out-further observa-
tion. ms

“Tet me see,” said the professor. “I was riding

away from the camp; so, of course, if I turn round and

ride back I shall be going toward it. That is easy.”

He pulled his beast around, set it in motion, and
again let his gaze fall to the pages of his book.

He was suddenly startled by a bellow, and, looking
up, he saw that.a buffalo cow was charging his horse,
and that he had almost ridden over a calf.

“Dear me!” he said, as the horse gave a jump that
nearly unseated him, and got out of the way of the

 
 

40s 7 THE BUFFALO

cow. . ‘If only I had been watching I might have cap-
tured that calf before the mother buffalo saw me.
How unwise I have been!”

The cow, having joined the calf, was making haste
to get away. ee ellen

At the saddle horn was the professor's rope, an ex-
cellent article, selected for him by Buffalo Bill and
bought in Dodge City. All the way down from the
Arkansas River the professor had practiced throwing
the lariat. Once he had noosed the neck of his own
horse, and once he had noosed himself.

Getting the rope ready, the professor drove his horse
at the buffalo cow and calf. There was a scampering
dash, as the cow and calf tried to keep ahead of him;
then the cow turned like a flash and charged, the horse
shied, and the professor went out of the saddle.

The well-trained cow pony stopped instantly, and
looked at the fallen man. The cow and the calf con-
tinued their flight, and were lost in the thin blanket
of fog. | ee

When he discovered that he was not seriously hurt,
and that the horse had no thought of leaving him, the
professor sat up. pane ee

After a while he took out his notebook and pencil
and made a record of his adventure. While doing
so he heard a trampling, which seemed to indicate that
the cow and calf were returning. Thereupon the pro-
fessor mounted, adjusted his rope again, and tried to
hold himself in readiness. | f

What he saw next was as bewildering a thing as can
be imagined, for the professor. A score of mounted
Indians came into view; when, according to all the
best authorities, there were no Indians then to be found
in the Panhandle.

They had been inspecting a trail—not the profes-
sor’s—and, looking in another direction, they did not
see him. The professor sat staring at them in si-
lence, and his well-trained pony, taught to be quiet in
the presence of redskins, seemed hardly to breathe.

When the professor could not deny the evidence of
his eyes, though he wanted to, he took from his pocket
the book about Indians and buffaloes, to which re-
cently he had been giving much attention, and turned to
a familiar page. Mee

“The Comanche Indians,” he read, ‘whose home
formerly was in Texas, have been removed to a reser-
vation on the Kansas and Indian Territory line, and
are rapidly being civilized, through the good work of
missionaries and teachers. They are a diminishing
race. Once they were much to be dreaded, being the
finest horsemen of the Southwest, and veritable red
Bedouins, treacherous, cruel, and warlike.’ -

The professor closed the book and put it in his
pocket. ee

“I thought I had read that correctly,” he said, and
peered at the Indians, who had come to a halt.

Then he took out the book again, remembering that
it held a picture of a Comanche. He consulted the
picture, comparing it with the horsemen he saw.

“Yes, those Indians are Comanches,” he said: “it
3 y >

 

. I shall meet courteous treatment, of course.

 

 

BILL: STORIES:

is what I thought. So I have nothing to fear from
them. Once treacherous, cruel, and warlike, they are
rapidly being civilized. This is my fortunate day.
They are perhaps down ‘here for the benefit of their
health. Not being accustomed to the confining work
imposed by schools, they doubtless have felt the need
of a change, and what could be more natural than that,
at such a time, they should choose to return for a brief
period to their old haunts? It is well. I will ride
up and speak with them. If I use courteous language,
I have
never known it to fail. A soft answer turneth away
wrath, and sugar catches flies. I will try it.”

Professor Dickson felt very amiable, as he now
urged his horse in the direction of the Indians.

He had crossed half the intervening space—his horse
went velvet-footed—before the Indians knew he was
near, )

Discovering his approach, the redskins wheeled their
ponies round, uttered a series of howls, and came for
him, their lances threatening. h

The learned professor drew his dancing caballo to
a standstill, and lifted his right hand palm outward.

“Peace be with you!” he said: solemnly, —

He dodged a lance that was hurled at his head.

“I come as a friend—as one who favors the mis-
sionary work which has recently been lifting you .

The next lance “lifted” the professor!

This is not meant literally. The lance tickled the
back of the professor’s horse, causing the beast to
give a bound which again dismounted the rider.

The professor cleared the saddle as he went out of
it, was dragged a yard or so by the stirrup, and left
lying on the ground as the stirrup released his foot.

One of the redskins caught the professor’s beast.
The others, seated on their ponies, gathered around the
fallen man. Their lances were raised threateningly.

Old Dickie sat up, rubbed the dust from his glasses,
put them on again, and looked at the Indians.

“Peace be with you!” he said. “As a friend of hu-
manity and progress, it gives me great pleasure to meet
you. I know that you are Comanches, and that the
Comanches are rapidly becoming civilized, ready to
take their places in the van of human progress.”

: He took out his handkerchief and wiped his heated
ace. a

“Fortunately I was not hurt by the fall !” he added.

Fortunately, too, the redskins thought the flirt of
the white handkerchief was intended as a peace sign.
But they still stared at him, and their lances remained
poised. >

“How?” one of them queried. A

“I am very well, I assure you,” replied the pro-
fessor politely ; “that fall shook me up a bit, but I find
that I am not injured, except that there is a slight
abrasiom of the cuticle : ; ;

“White man make heap fool talk, huh?”
at him. “Who you?”
: a Mer Tam happy to introduce myself.as, Professor
‘Lindley Murray Dickson, of Chicago. I am. very

 

 

was snapped

 
 

Bg
bE
-
.
1,
ke
| 3
L

    

 

THE BUFFALO

happy for this chance to introduce myself, and shall be
still more pleased to become acquainted with you I[

did not know that the Comanches still painted them-

selves so severely; for it is known to be true that as

- people begin to be civilized their desire for paint and

>?

ornamentation decreases just in proportion to——
“What do?”
Though slightly bewildered, the professor bowed

politely.

“T am down here with Colonel Cody, a man known
generally as Buffalo Bill; and | our object——’’

“Ug hl”?

vol think I did not just catch that,” said the pro-
fessor.

“Where um Buff’lo Bill?”

“The gentleman mentioned can be found off in that
direction,’ said the professor, inclining his head in
the direction indicated. ‘‘He has a camp over there,
from whieh point I came’ this morning for the purpose
ore”

“Take um gun!” directed the spokesman of the In-
dians.

A warrior slid, eellike, from the back of his pony
and moved quickly toward Professor Dickson.

“Very happy,’ said the professor, now on his feet,

and extending his hand; for he thought the Indian

3)

 

was rushing on him to shake hands. “I am

The Indian caught hold of him roughly, pulled the
revolver out of his belt, and began to unfasten the belt

itself.

“This is

Jerking the belt loose, the Indian threw it on the
ground, nearly throwing the professor down at the
same time.

“This is ——” faltered the professor, regaining his
equilibrium—“er—a singular, and, | may say, a most
unheard-of——”’ |

 

The Indian began to go through the professor’s

pockets.

Out came a flat purse, which joined the revolver and
the belt and knife. Next were extracted from the
pockets a penknife, a hairbrush, a toothbrush, a lead
pencil, and the notebook and the little volume from
which the learned man had been reading about In-
dians and buffaloes.

Impelled by curiosity, and seeing that the professor
did not come of a fighting breed, so was not to be
feared, certain others of the Indians dismounted from
the ponies. These began to look at the articles which
the professor’s clothing yielded.

On opening the book, the used pages were separated,
and the page containing that picture of a Comanche

-in full paint and feathers was revealed.

ae h! (4

ae oe f?

“Uh! { Ugh! {??

Other Indians gathered around the one who held
the open book. “Ughs!” sounded like the grunting of

_a drove of scared pigs.

®

owing to their ignorance.

   

 

BILL. SLORIES. 5

The bewildered Rte still faced by the other
Indians, was growing nervous.

“It is a very erudite history of the Comanches, with
pertinent remarks concerning recent conditions on the
Southwestern plains,’ he explained. “It was prepared

_by Sir Gilbert Flathead, F. R. G. S., one of the noted

scientists of England, a man who has Speed on
ethnological subjects, and is i

The butt of a lance vee poked into his side,
brought a halt.

“IT was but explaining,” he said, with a grieved
glance at the Indian who had done the poking, “‘that
this little monograph on the Comanches——”’

“White man heap fool; shut up!” the redskin com-
manded roughly. |

The professor collapsed, and sat down, with a
groan.

When the redskins had amused themselves by flip-
ping the pages of the book they made sure that the
professor’s clothing held no more treasures. They
had demanded “‘tobac,” and had been lectured on the
bad effects of tobacco smoking. Finally they caught
him up, tossed him roughly to the back of his horse,
and proceeded to tie him.

But they had come to a decision which ought to
have comforted him; they had concluded that’ he was
crazy.

Touching their foreheads significantly, they dis-
cussed this momentous question, with volleying talk
in gutturals that made the professor's head ache.

At length the professor got the idea through his
puzzled mind that they thought he was insane.

“Certainly I am not,’ he protested. “I am more
lucid than men who think I'am insane merely because
I have tried to make my position plain, and have failed,
I am beginning to think
that the mission teaching you have received has ut-
terly——’’

Tickled in the back by a lance point, the professor
collapsed again.

“Are you Comanches?” he asked, when he had re-
covered. “Professor Flathead, who made a learned
study of the Comanches, declares in his work that the
Comanches y

“Heap many Comanche,”
ceived.

“Professor Flathead does not agree with that state-
ment. He says that the Comanches are a diminishing
race, and that .

“No make talk,’ was the command. “Now we go.”

“You intend to take me back to the camp? Thanks
for that. But, if so, I do not see the necessity of the
cords that you have placed on my wrists, and those
that pull my ankles together. I find them exceedingly
painful, They restrict the free use of my muscles,
and interfere with the circulation

The professor’s pony, feeling the tickling of a lance
point, started suddenly, and the professor's protest
went unfinished.

But he returned to it, again and again, until he had

 

 

 

 

  

gas AN a

‘was thé answer he tre- 4
 

 

  

  

6 : | THE BUF FALO

- completed it, and, with many circumlocutions, had re-
peated it until he hoped they understood him.

But the result was the same.

They went right on with him, moving at a quiet
but brisk canter over the cushiony grass, the profes-
sor-in their midst, bobbing heavily in his big saddle,
which he stuck to with difficulty, even with the aid
ef the rope which tied him to it, for Professor Dick-
son was not a horseman.

“Alas!” he groaned. ‘This is a most bewildering
case. Either Professor Flathead was deceived, and so
fell into an error of statement—which in so careful a
student is almost unthinkable—or the Comanches
are .

“What Comanche do?” he was asked suddenly.

“What do they do?” he wailed. ‘Weil, after hav-
ing formed a good opinion of them, from the reading
of Professor Flathead’s work, I am forced to declare
that they do not conduct themselves as gentlemen.’

The professor did not notice that the Comanches
were following his trail backward.

 

 

CHAPTER Lhe
THE CAPTAIN'S REPORT.

The thin fog, which had troubled the professor,
made trouble also for Buffalé Bill and Pawnee, who
had gone forth together that morning, seeking but-
faloes.

The baron, old Nomad, and Little Cayuse had
formed a third party.

Having noted the direction in which small bunches
of buffaloes had been seen on the previous day, the
two scouts rode out in that direction. And, finding
new trails, they followed.

The animals had wandered a good deal, and much
time was. consumed before one of the small herds was
sighted.

One of the cows had a nearly half- erovn Caltcat
her side.

Picking out this cow and calf, Buffalo Bill and
Pawnee dashed into the little herd, scattering it, and
then began to chase the cow and the calf. ,

They made a considerable amount of noise, and this,
as it turned out, was in some respects unfortunate,
-while in others it was fortunate. It covered the ad-
vance of the Comanches, who had captured the pro-
fessor, and later had bisected the trail of the scouts,
and then had followed it. They were close at hand,
‘but concealed by the fog when the chase of the cow and
the calf began.

As the scouts roped the buffalo calf, and were

charged by the cow, the red Bedouins whirled in on
them as a surprise party. ~

‘Pawnee’s rope, round the hind legs of the calf,
parted instantly, under the stroke of his knife; so that
_he was free, with Buffalo Bill, to turn on the redskins
‘en their charge came.

"Baill, owing to the suddenness of the Comanche

ae

BILL STORIES.

 

dash, and the fact that the ious were wholly WApre-
pared for it, they probably would have fared badly
with them, if there had not come instantly a diversion
in their behalf.

The thin fog, which did not conceal near objects,
but those at a distance, together with the confusion and
noise, hid the approach of another party.

Buffalo Bill’s revolver had lifted, and he had tum-
bled a red warrior, wounded, from the back of a pony;
for, though he had not expected to find Comanches
out here on the warpath at this time, there was no
need to question the intent of the redskin raiders.

Then a yell was heard, and out of the fog came old
Nomad and the baron, ol Little Cayuse, riding their
animals at top speed. Behind them was a cheering
contingent of cavalrymen.

The Comanches turned ree ponies round, seeing
this force; and dashed off more rapidly than they had
appeared.

As the Indians fled, Buffalo Bill and Pawnee had a
chance to see, bobbing in their midst, the form of Pro-
fessor Dickson; the professor’s wailing cry floated back
to them:

“Help, Colonel Cody—help!
spite of the efforts of missionaries, and-———

The pounding hoofs of the ponies drowned the
words, and the fog blotted captive: one captors from
sight.

Nomad came up at wild speed on old Hide-rack,
with the others of his party bunched behind him.

“Waugh!” he yelled. ‘Whyever.

“TIdt vos der brofessor,’ sputtered the baron.

“Follow,” commanded Buffalo Bill. ‘We don’t un-
derstand this; but the Comanches have pou as Pro-
fessor Dickson.”

“An war tryin’ ter git you, Buffler.”

“True enough, Nomad.” ;

“T wonder what has become of Parker,” said Pawnee
Bill. “He started out with Dicksor® this morning.”

“Perhaps they have him, too,” suggested the scout.
“We've got to follow at once.’ ,

He paused, to speak to the commander of the
troopers.

“Idt iss a luckiness,” said the baron, “dot ve yaad
der droopers right oudt on der blains, vhile dhey vos
hoondting dhose Inchuns already yedt. Unt so, as
soon as ve knowed vot iss, ve.turned roundt mit ’em.’

“That’s right, Colonel Cody,” said the captain of the
small company—there were ten men of them, includ-
ing the captain. “We met your friends out there,
while we were on the trail of those reds, and then we
headed for your camp, By chance, we heard = the row
that began suddenly here, and so swung®in to investi-

The Comanches, in

99

 

gate at.”

“Jest in time, too,” muttered Nomad.
Buffler, what’s the rach: Za

66

You've got us now. But is there ever a reason
when redskins*take a notion to run amuck, other ‘than
their natural wickedness?” a

“Til tell you all about that,”

“Waugh!

said secant whose

   
 
 

  
 

eas Rea GR SSS NAS I A IE

 

THE BUFFALO

name was Duval. “I'll tell you as soon as we have
time. But if, as you say, the Comanches have a pris-
oner, we ought to follow them at once.”

“T’m sure that was old Dickie in their midst,” de-

- clared Pawnee.

Buffalo Bill was equally sure of it. So the com-
bined party set out through the fog in pursuit of the
Comanches.

The redskins were well mounted, and the chase be-
gun so abruptly proved to be a long one. In spite of
the speed at which the pursuers rode along, the scout
and the trooper captain found opportunity to compare
notes.

“Tt’s a queer thing, Cody,” said Duval, galloping
at the scout’s side. ‘“The Comanches have been sup-
posed to be peaceful and contented on their reservation.
But several days ago a young man appeared at the
agency, and joined the mission workers. He was an
educator, or a missionary—something of that kind;
and he was going from one agency to another deliver-
ing lectures to the agency Indians, in the mission
chapels. These lectures were of an educational char-
acter. He had a phonograph, and he had it talk to
the Indians. .Some of the talk, however, was Co-
manche. This had been spoken into the machine by
a Comanche medicine man who had recently been in
Washington, and who died there.

“That excited the Comanches a whole lot—to hear

the voice of a man who was dead. In addition to that,
this. young educator was something of a chemist. He
exhibited a lot of chemical tricks for the amusement of
the Indians. I don’t know what they were, for I
wasn’t there; and what I say about the talking machine
is also only what I was told. I have never seen one of
those machines myself; but the reports of their talking
and their ability to repeat things said to them are as-
tounding, if true.

“Well, that’s about the way of it—so far. But the
next night a lot of the Comanche bucks captured the
talking machine, robbed the chemical department of
the mission, took all the chemicals the young man had
- brought, and then cut out, taking the young educator
with them.”

“Whoop!” Nomad bellowed. “I dunno what they
wanted ther young feller fer; but, as fer them chem-
icals, they shore thought et war nose paint, or other
truck good ter drink. An Injun gits thet crazy at ther
sight o’ fire water he’d steal et and drink et, ef he
knowed et would kill him.” : |

“So this young lecturer is a prisoner of the Co-
~ ‘manches, too,” said the scout.

“He issor he was—if they haven't killed him. I

think, however, he hasn’t been killed by them. We fol-

lowed their trail pretty closely, and if he had been slain.
we'd have found some indications, I think.” —

_... “You were sent out at once in pursuit, of course.”

_. “We were at Camp Supply, and had to ride over to
the agency. We left Camp Supply as soon as we got

_.the word. But for our haste I could have brought

\

ee ee ee ci earierree SS

BILL STORIES. — a AT

more men with me. We pushed hard, and have gained
right from the start on the scoundrels.”

“P’m afraid we haven't done right, by not leaving
a man behind at our camp to inform Parker,” said
Pawnee Bill. “If you say so, Cody, I'll ride back.”

The scout drew rein. |

“Right you are,” he admitted. Then, turning to the
Piute, he said: ‘Cayuse, go back to the camp, take up
Parker’s trail, and give him the news. Then you and
he are to follow and join us as soon as you can.”

The obedient Piute drew out of the party, and fell
to the rear.

“We have thought,” said the scout, “that Parker
may be a prisoner, as Dickson is; but this will guard
against a mistake of that kind, if we have made one.”

“Too bad ter have men like them down hyar when
reds aire rampagin’,” grumbled Nomad. “As fer thet.
perfessor person, he shore war ther limit; an’ et ther
Comanches lifts his ha’r, they'll unkiver ther brains 0°
ther biggest fool on ther planit. As fer tother feller,
he war his fittin’ mate. A feller thet jest writes and
writes, and puts ever’thing he sees down in words ter
be printed, is shore harborin’ a weak spot somewhar
under his hat. Still, we has got ter remember thet they
aire humans, an’ do what we kin fer ’em.”

“But for that professor person,’ remarked Pawnee,
“we wouldn’t have been down here ourselves.’

“T’m glad he brought you down, then,” declared Du-
val; “for I couldn’t want better men when a trail of
this kind is to be tackled. Nomad told me about him,
and why you came down. It struck me as a queer lay
for Cody =

-““Gover’ment work,” said Nomad. “An’ though I
takes good gover’ment money myself, and tucks et
gladly in my jeans, thet don’t mean thet I cain't think
we has got some of the nut-factory crowd tinkerin’
with the machine in Washington. Some rich guys gits
the idear under their ha’r thet et will be a good thing
to save some o’ ther bufflers; and so orders is sent out
frum Washington fer Buffer, hyar, ter help, an’ thet
means Pawnee, too, and me, and ther baron, an’ Little
Cayuse. So we has ter rack out fer ther Panhandle,
armed with nussin’ bottles, and canned milk, and
wagons ter kerry ther calves in, ef ther critters ain't
big ernough ter be driv, and a lot of other ijiotic things
we has ter do, tell I’m plum’ onable ter sleep nights.
Et’s redic’lous ter ask Buffler to go inter ther nussin’-
bottle bizness in thet away—now, ain't et? Is any
senserble man keerin’ a hoot about these hyar hump-
backed cattle, when we has got steers a-plenty all over
ther cattle kentry? What’s ther good of 4 buffler, ef
ye cain’t make meat out of him, and a robe or a tepee
kiver out of his hide? Why, p’intedly, the men tin-
kerin’ with the machine at Washington must find time ~
hangin’ heavy on their hands, ter consider a plan like
thet. And this hyar perfessor person it ;
Nomad finished with an abrupt jerk. When he ~
came to Professor Dickson his disgust overcame him.

In spite of all the talk, and the efforts to form a
working theory, it seemed still a mystery why the

 

 

 
      
 

 

 
 

    
 

   
   

 

 

 

 

THE BUFFALO

young Comanche bucks had jumped the reservation,
when they had seemed satisfied.

But of the fact that they had left ‘the eae.
and were now running amuck through the cattle coun-
try of northwestern Texas, there could not be a doubt.

 

CHAPTER IV.
A HOT FIGHT.

Ray Parker, in setting out from the camp that morn-
ing with the professor, had been quite as well con-
tented. This novel buffalo hunt promised not only ma-
terial for the Hot-Blast, but he saw that-he could work
up some good magazine articles.

Separated from the professor, he rode about alone
with the greatest satisfaction. The peculiar and novel
features of the Staked Plains held his attention so
closely that he quite forgot the passage of time until he
was roused’ by sounds of shots.

He could not locate them, and the thin fog kept him
from seeing more than.a few rods in any direction.
He did not think of Indians in connection with the
shots; for he, like Dickson, believed that Indian
troubles were not to be expected.

“Cody, or some of the others, probably have been
charged by an old buffalo bull, and they have had to
shoot the beast,” was his conclusion. “I wish I could
have seen it, if that’s the way of it.”

Parker's first thought always was of his newspaper
and how he might turn every incident into “ copy.” So
his fancy began to picture the scene he had imagined.

He had pulled his horse about, and now rode off
in what he believed to be the direction of the shots.

He probably veered in the fog without knowing it.
At any rate, he was finally shaping ‘his course to-
ward the camp, when he heard a quick pounding of
hoofs; and.out of the fog, which was growing thinner,
there came into view a flying redskin on the back of a
spotted pony.

“Little Cayuse,” muttered Parker;
as if the Old Boy was after him.”

He saw Little Cayuse fling a glance over his shoul-
der, and dig the pinto with his moccasined heels; then,
to Parker's startled ears, there came a war w hoop, the
first he had ever heard.

“Hil” he yelled at the Piute.

Little Cayuse jerked his head round, and, seeing the
mounted white man, he swung his body over to that
side. The = nustat ang turned like a catboat under
pressure of the tiller, and ran to Parker.

Little Cayuse’s flan “nel headba and had been shaken off,
and his hair floated in the wind, a black mane;
were shining, and he was brea hing heavily; af mus-
tang was snorting, and its heaving sides to
had made < sharp run.

Ray Parker knew that what he had heard was a
; so he was quite prepared. for
tse’s exclamation.

1y malo

Heap Injun

“and he’s riding

+

Tz
+31
:
at
a.
4i

i

 

very bad Injun! Yot

SE ee ee Pe tr - Poe

 

RMIT DS AD PS SM eee

 

BILL. STORIES.

te Pr ee PPP? AAD

   

hear um?. White man sabe what that mean? Git um
scalp—make um kill. White man Parker come pronto.”

He drew the spotted mustang round, beckoned, and
dashed on. :

Somewhere out in the fog Pitker heard now a dull
drumming, which he knew was the pounding hoofs of
animals, and, naturally, he thought of Indian ponies.

Without hesitation, he turned his-horse and galloped
after the Piute.

Little Cayuse, hastening toward the camp, where he
had been ordered to await Parker, had run into the
Comanches, and they had given chase. He was' still
heading toward the camp, w ith the thought now of get-
ting behind the wagons for a defense. Also, he was
cherishing the hope that if he could reach the camp a
considerable distance in advance of his pursuers he
might start off the caballos, which had been used in
drawing the wagons.

This encounter, while gratifying, as it simplified
matters, soon hampered him, -for Parker’s horse was
not as swift as Navi, the pinto ridden by the Piute.

Parker fell bel ind, and Little Cayuse had to slow
down to let the white man overtake him.

This brought the drumming of the ponies nearer.

For a few minutes the Comanches mounted on those
ponies had not sent out a yell. They were trying to
get a line on the flight of the riders ahead; so that
they would not need to follow the trail through the
short grass, and would be enabled to go faster. Also,
they thought it likely that the fugitives would change
their direction; and, if so, the Comanches wanted to

short cut them, and close in.

This slowing up for the white man and the closer
approach of the Comanches convinced the Piute that
the camp could not be reached. His keen ears told
him that the Comanche ponies had gained on the white
man’s horse.

“You no got um spur,” he said ee when he
saw Parker hammering his horse with his heels and
lashing it-with the bridle rein, .“Why you not got
um spur? Caballo no good without spur.’

But it was useless-to waste words over that. The
Piute had no spurs; but, then, Navi needed none to
induce him to his best.

“Muy malo!’ the Piute ejaculated again.
bad. White man this w ay now.’

_ He turned sharply off to the right. Parker followed
him.

“Very

A yell arose, as when a hound gives tongue, and
even Ray Parker sensed the fact that the pursuers had

discovered this change of course, and were trying to

come in now by cutting off the angle. ;
He was about to speak of it, though he had scant

breath for words, when the Piute drove Navi up toa
pile of bonks and leaped from the back of the beast.
Ta the pinto by the hackamore, the Piute lifted

 

on it, and the pinto cleared the rocky barrier.

" Little Cayuse yelled at Parker.
Bo etd dt . : :

Parker pulled on the rein, and his animal went over

    
    

x

      

         

Py Be A Mo Pin Me Mas

 

     
 

 

 

 

  
 
  

       

THE BUFFALO

the wall of rock with as much grace an ease as could

_be expected.

The white man, in the brief time ‘An had to look
round, was astonished by what he saw—a ring of

rocks piled there like a barricade, with cleared ground,

a dozen yards in diameter inside this ring.

The barricade was at the top of a rise that came as
near being a hill as anything Parker had seen in that
country, and, as ‘there were rocks scattered about on
this rise, the young man leaped to the very correct and
easy conclusion that the ring of rocks had at some
time been heaped up there for defensive purposes.
Also, he~sensed the fact that the Piute must have
known of the existence of the barricade.

In the middle of the ring of rocks Parker slipped out
of his saddle.

Little Cayuse had hold of the hackamore of his mus-
tang, and was kicking the beast softly on the legs)-at
the same time issuing commands in Piute.

‘The mustang dropped down on its side, thus bring-
ing.its body below the. level of the rock wall.

The Piute motioned to Parker to get his animal
down. But when Parker tried it he failed. This was
not a trained beast, like the pinto. Cayuse came to
his aid, and was noosing the legs of the horse, to throw
it, when the yells of the Comanches rose from the
base of the long rise, and the Comanches came into
view through the fog.

Abandoning the effort to induce the big horse to lie

down, Cayuse dropped behind the rock wail on the side

next the Comanches, and sent a shot at the howling

riders.

A Comanche mustang reared, threw its rider, and
whirled round. The Piute sent up a triumphant yell,
and sent in another shot.

‘White man git scalped if no make um fight!” said
the Piute, turning his head while he threw another
cartridge from the magazine into the barrel of his re-

peating rifle.

Parker dropped down, crawled up to the ae and
looked out through a crevice between the rocks.

The shots of the Piute had cir ces the rush of the
Comanches.

When Little Cayuse fired again, there came an an-
swering volley. Parker’s horse gave a groan stum-
bled, and fell heavily.

“Git um bullet pronto!” cried the Piute, in a tone
which showed that he thought a horse foolish enough
to stand-up when he might have lain down deserued
to be killed.

Parker witnessed the fall of his animal with feelings
of dismay. :

The whole change in his feelings, from the moment

when he had been wandering aimlessly, and felt so se-

cure, until this of the fall of his horse, had been so
great that, truth to acl ee Parker was a bit bewil-

: dered.

A fight with Taians was the last thing He has an-
ticipated. He did not understand it. Yet there the
painted.and mounted warriors were, shrieking their

a

big fighter, mebbyso.

BILL STORIES. 9

‘war whoops, and sending bullets slatting against the
rocks, or glancing and ricocheting with whinings that
had a murderous sound. A bullet struck a rock close
by the interstice through which Parker was peering,
threw dust into his eyes, and caused him to fall back.

“White man Parker hurt?’ demanded the Piute.

“No; but I——’”

“Make um shoot, then,” directed the Piute.
um scalp no make untshoot.”

Parker wiped the dust out of his eyes, thrust his |
revolver through the hole in the wall, took what aim

*“Lose

-he could, and pulled the trigger.

When he had shot out the six cartridges, he drew

--the revolver in, rolled on his back, and-began to refill

the chambers.

‘Mucho good!” cried the Piute.
Wuh!”’

The last was an expletive, that winged a bullet he
sent from his rifle.

A brave drépped, and was prevented from falling
by hands that were stretched forth to stay him on tue
back of his mustang.

Once more the Piute’s yell of triumph arose.

This fall of one who probably was a brave of im-
portance caused the Comanches to change their tac-
tics. They pulled back fromthe base of the rise;
then they began to ride round the low elevation in a
wide circle, shooting at the rocky barricade, while they
kept their mustangs at a gallop.

“Make um very bad shoot,” said the Piute; but he
banged away, just the same.

Parker opened again with his reloaded revolver.
Shooting at those galloping redskins was like shooting
at the flying. toy horses in a target gallery. Hitting
one of them, at that distance, with his revolver, was
something Parker could not do; though he wasted
many cartridges in the effort.

When the Comanches discovered that only the user
of the rifle was to be feared, the¥ swung to the sides
of their ponies opposite the barricade, forced their
animals closer to it, and sent in a hotter fire, shooting
from under the nécks and over the backs of their gal-
loping steeds. It was a marvelous exhibition of In-
dian horsemanship; but, at the moment, Ray Parker

“White man heap

,was in no mood to enjoy it.

The bullets sent by the redskins were not only
slatting against the rocks, but some were finding their
way through the holes. One of these burned Parker
so cruelly across the arm that he cried out sharply, and
fell backward.

The Piute whirled round.

“Mucho hurt?” he asked.

Parker thought his arm had been half shot away}.
but, when he saw nothing the matter with his hand,
and slipped up his sleeve until the red mark made by
the bullet was disclosed, he felt ashamed of his fright.

“Tin im salleriott, $ he, said: and dropped back
to his position felimd the wall.
Parker was growing cool, after a time of es ex-

 

 
  
   

 

 

 

 

 
  

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10 ‘THE BUFFALO

citement. He began to discover that many pounds of
lead are usually shot away for every man killed in any
kind of a gun fight. That gave him courage; and he
was getting used to the singing “z-z-zip” of the bul-
lets and the cracking of the weapons. Also the In-
dian yells, terrifying as they had at first sounded, no

longer made his heart jump.

Perhaps it ought to be added that the coolness of the
Piute and his ready resistance had also some effect in

bracing the courage of Ray Parker.

Had old Nomad been there, or the scouts, or even
the baron, the Comanche daring that was increasing |
so rapidly would not have had its growth. But, as
the redskins came closer and closer in, in spite of the
fact that the Piute’s rifle fire had dropped two mus-
tangs, the end of the white man and the young Indian
with him seemed only a few minutes away.

Half of the Comanches had ceased their circus tac-
tics, and were getting ready for a wild charge on the
barricade. This would have carried them to it, and
put. the finish on the efforts of its defenders, when
cheers were heard—the ringing cheers of white men.

Little Cayuse sprang to his feet, forgetful of the
Comanche riflemen. ,

‘““Pa-e-has-ka!”” he cried. |

Remembering, he stooped again, and took another
shot at the Comanches. fax |

But that ringing cheer and the thundering of hoofs
had stopped the Comanche charge.

-\ The mustangs of the redskins were being jerked
round, and the riders were apparently in a panic.

‘‘Pa-e-has-ka!” called the excited Piute again.

“Friends are coming?” inquired Parker. “TI don’t
understand your Indian words, but it sounds like it.”

The Comanches began to race down the rise faster
than they had come up it. Those lower down were
turning to the open plains and fading into the bluish
haze, which was all that now remained of the fog that
had so obscured everything an hour before,

On the other side of the rise mounted figures shot
out of the blue haze, and Parker saw that they were
the members of Buffalo Bill’s party, accompanied by
troopers.

“Pa-e-has-ka!” the Piute yelled.

He ran to his pinto and began to order it to rise,
kicking. it on the legs.

 

CHAPTER ie
HITTING THE TRAIL.

Two mustangs lay dead on the field of the fight,
in addition to the horse ridden by Ray Parker. Two
or three of the Comanches had been hit by the Piute’s
bullets, but whether seriously wounded or not could
not be told, as the Comanches had borne them away
in their flight, : .

“Heap big fight!” declared the Piute, with pardon-
able pride. “But camp, me no git um.”

A fear that the camp would be raided, if that had

   

BILL: STORIES.

not been done already, decided the scout to hurry on
£0010, ea

In the general interchange of information and opin-
ions, it was declared by both Parker and the Piute that
no white man had been with the party that attacked
the barricade. as

“Then there are two bands of Comanches out here,”
said Buffalo Bill. “For we know that those we were
following held Professor Dickson a prisoner.”

“One band split into two parts,’ corrected Duval,
of the troopers. ‘I think you will find it -hat way.
Perhaps it even was divided into three parts.”

They asked Parker how many Comanches were in
the attacking party.

Parker thought there were a dozen or more, but ad-
mitted that he did not count them.

“T has seen steen warriors look like ’steen hundred,”
said Nomad; “and they could plum’ yell like ‘steen
thousand.”

“T admit I was a bit excited,” Parker laughed.

Cayuse declared that the assailants had numbered as
many as ten; so that it really began to seem that the
original party of Comanche bucks leaving the reser-
vation had been augmented, and that was not unlikely.

“There are a good many things I don’t understand,”
asserted Parker. ‘In the first place, we were sup-
posed to be perfectly safe from any sort of Indian at-
tack down here.”’ i .

In reply, he listened to the story of the educator
who came to the agency mission, and what had. re-
sulted. .

“It’s a queer thing,” he said.

All agreed to that.

The scout’s party and the troopers were getting un-
der way, and were headed toward the camp.

“It’s too bad about old Dickie,’ said Parker, who
had mounted Bear Paw, behind the scout, “If that
business scared me out of a year’s growth—and I think
it did—what will it do to Dickie to be a captive of
those red fiends?’

“Tt may mean his death,’ muttered the scout.

“And, of course,’ said Parker, “you feel in a de-
gree responsible; yet you have no need to, for you did
not bring the professor here voluntarily. You came
only because you were instructed to do so by the War
Department.”

Then his newspaper instinct came uppermost.

“But I wouldn’t have missed that fight for a thou-
sand dollars,” he went on. “Think what a sensation
this thing is going to make, when it appears in print.
Comanches on the warpath in the supposedly peaceful

Panhandle, old Dickie a prisoner, Buffalo Bill to the
front, our special correspondent in the thick of things,
and getting a smell of gunpowder. Say, if I ever get
out of this, and get to write it up, Vil strike for a
raise in pay.” o

“You may have to write it ‘Old Dickie Killed by th
Comanches,’”” suggested the scout gravely. —

oly hoping not. He’s a dear old fool, you know,
and he is thought by half the people of the country to
   
  

ee ae

THE BUFFALO

be the wisest guy who ever waded through a page of
Greek. With you to manéuver for his release, I’m
going to hold to the opinion that old Dickie, and all the
rest of us, will come out of this all right.
the story of it will make the printing houses rattle!”
Heading straight for the wagon camp, which had
been*pitched on a fork of the Canadian River, the party
swept on with flying speed.

When they arrived at the camp they found that the
Comanches had been ahead of them. The wagon
horses, which had been picketed, were gone; the
wagons had been looted of about everything, and the
camp itself had been despoiled.

‘Wow!’ Nomad rumbled, as he galloped about, in-
specting the wreck of things. “They took every
blessed can 0’ milk, they did; and—wow !—even tuck
them dad-blasted nussin’ bottles. Whoop! Now,
whatever does er Comanche buck want wi’ er nussin’
bottle got up express ter feed a buffler calf? Ye kin
knock my eye out, ef this ain’t ther rummest go I ever
bumped up ag’inst. Wow! Whoop! Comanches an’
nussin’ bottles!” :

Ray Parker got out his notebook and jotted dow
the incident.

“Comanches carrying off nursing bottles!’ he miut-
tered. “That's pretty good!’ |

“Right hyar this buffler-huntin’ trip has gone busted
on ther rocks,’ went on Nomad. “Ye cain’t ketch no
‘baby bufflers and make ’em live, ef ther canned milk
and ther nussin’ bottles is put out er ther runnin’, kin
ye? Whoop! Waal, thet suits me-right down ter
ther grass roots. I never did warm up ter ther idear
0’ me bein’ nuss ter a baby buffler, nohow. Pawnee,
we're goin’ ter vote them Comanche bucks a lot o
thanks fer thet, ain’t we? You never did like thet
idear, neither, no more nor me.”

\. The baron was also roaring round. He had leit
a box of smoking tobacco. and a bottle of beer in the
camp, and they were gone. ;

“Tdt iss der limidt!’ he groaned. “Dose retskins
vouldt sdeal der face off oof me, oof I shouldt ledt it be
laying roundt loose.”

“We can spare about everything but the blankets.
They were in the wagons, and are gone,” said the
scout. : ae
“Ff don’t happen to have. lost anything much,” re-
marked Pawnee quaintly, “but my faith in Conianche
Indians.” :

Little Cayuse had lost nothing—his worldly goods
he carried on his person; even his dried hoof of a mus-
tang was safe, and he cherished that more than any
other possession. So he had been giving his time to
riding round the camp. :
~~ Coming in with a whoop, he pointed northward.

~“Gone so,’ he announced.

“The trail they left points north,’’ asserted the scout.
“Well, we'll-have to be hitting it mighty quick, or those
‘rascals will get too far ahead of us. Professor Dick-
son 39 >
- There was a rustling in a weedy buffalo wallow not

 

ee ye nN en je aad ee

Bat, gee!”

Bild SrORIES. II
thirty yards off,
stared out. ©

‘Who said Professor Dickson?’ was asked, in a
hollow voice.

Nomad and the baron roared in one breath. y

“T am here, safe and sound, with the exception of a
few painful abrasions,’ explained the specter that fol-

and there a head appeared, and eyes

~ lowed the head out of the buffalo wallow.

The specter was a man—Professor Dickson; but
with his clothing half gone. His face was so covered
with perspiration and dust that it was nearly unrec-
ognizable. .

But when he stood up the riders saw that the eccen-
tric professor was, indeed, before them, and they made
a combined rush“for him. ;

“Tt is—yes, it is Cody!” exclaimed old Dickie, put-
ting out his hand-as the scout came up. “And this
is Major Lillie. Well, I am delighted—surprised and
delighted. 1 thought you had all been slain.”

“And we didn’t know but that we should come on
your remainders somewhere,” said Pawnee, clasping
the professor’s shaky hand. “It pleases us to know
that you are all right, professor. How did it hap-
pen?”

Old Dickie looked down mournfully at his tattered
clothing.

“Gentlemen,” he said, “I give you my word of honor
that I have been shamefully treated. I was captured
by Indians, whom I thought were peaceful. They
were Comanches—unbelievable as that is, Professor
Flathead; in his well-known work, says that a

“They captured you,” said the scout, “and carried
you away; but how did you escape?’

“I was just coming to that, sir,’ replied Dickie,
again surveying himself mournfully. “Gentlemen,
the way I was treated!’ He looked up. “Yes, I was
coming to that. I was placed on a horse, and tied
there, and made to accompany the miscreants who had
so violated all the known precedents, for es
Flathead distinctly sets forth——” é

“You escaped from them? That must
clever work,” said the scout.

“No, sir: I did not escape; they released me.”

“They released you?”

“Wow!” Nortiad exclaimed. “‘Then them Coman-
ches ain’t been ter school on ther reservation fer noth-

 

have been

in’. I cain’t believe et.”
“Vet it is a fact,’ answered Dickie; “they released
me. .After we had ridden interminably, and I was

nearly dead, with the thirst and the heat, and the ef-

fect of the cutting of the cords which held me, to-
gether with certain very painful abrasions, we arrived
at this spot. |

- “Gentlemen, I give you my word that I thought then
I was to be killed instantly. Madmen they were. They
howled like fiends, as they dashed upon the wagons.
I give you my word:that I never heard anything like
a:

I was wondering, as they looted the wagons, if I might
not by some possibilty elude them; and, by striking

   

For a little while it seenved that I was forgotten. | d

 

 
   

   

8

12 THE BUFFALO
the sides of my horse with my knees, as I have seen
you do at times, Colonel Cody, I was turning the ani-
mal round, with the intention of riding off, if they
did not notice my movements.

“But I was prevented. I was seen. One of the
Indians rode toward me. It seems—and this is an
observation I make because my after judgment. indi-
cated it as highly probable—it seems that this partic-
ular Indian wanted my horse—perhaps because he
was the owner. I thought he meant to kill me, for
he had a large knife in his hand; but, instead of strik-
ing me with the knife, he simply cut the rope that
bound me to the back of the animal.”

“Then he pulled you off, I suppose,” said Parker.

“He did not pull me off, because I fell off, and I
can assure you that the ground there was hard—it was
very hard. After that they did not even look at me
—or so it appeared. I lay on the ground, unheeded
by them, until they chose to go away, which they did
after a very long time. If they hadn’t taken my
watch I might have been able to tell you just how
long the time was. It seemed very long.

“With my watch and other belongings, including
my notebook, the work of Professor Flathead that I
have mentioned, and notes I had been making on the
flora of this section, they took such pieces of my
clothing as happened to please them—not removing the
articles gently, but pulling them off me as I lay on
the ground.

“Then, as I said, they rode away, taking the con-
tents of the wagons, and the horses that had drawn
the wagons.

“When I heard you talking, I thought the Coman-
ches were-returning—this time perhaps for the pur-
pose of murdering me—so I hid in that grassy hollow
over there, which I take to be an old buffalo wallow;
recalling as I do others that Colonel Cody pointed out
to me, which greatly resembled this particular one.

“And there I concealed myself closely, hoping I
would” escape detection. I remained hidden until, by

your voices, I knew that you were not Indians. Then,
sirs, I rose up.”
“An’ “twar er happy rise fer ye, purfessor,”’ said

Nomad; “fer in jest another shake we'd been gone
bustin’ through the atmospheric toward the north star,
chasin’ after them red heathen.”

“You intend to follow them?”

“We certain do.”

“It is a thing that my judgment does not favor,”
said Dickie. ‘You might encounter them.”

“Encounter em. Whoop! What does yer s’pose
were goin’ ter foller *em fur, otherwise. Waugh!
Encounter ’em.’

“The levity of this

 

“We shall have to follow ioe the scout explained,
“for. the reason that you were not the only prisoner,
and they were not kind enough to leave that other
behind.”

“Another prisoner?”
said Duval, of the troopers; “I’ve

“Don Mackenzie,”

eR came ee ec thee tne |

Be ge at ee ae Oe er OS FE i ee ak
eee = ae awe

rt ae te ger Ge a ett Net A A lle ah ea i a cia tying de tom, ae sn tat.

   

BILL STORIES.

been hammering my head for his name a eee while,
It’s Don Mackenzie.”

“Of Chicago?” éxclaimed the professor,

“Yes; I believe he came from Chicago,”

“T came from there, too,’ observed Parker. “All
the great men come from Chicago, professor.”
“True—true, when applied to Don Mackenzie. But

why was he out in this harried country?”

‘He didn’t expect it to be harried, professor,’ ex-
plained Pawnee. “As we have been informed, he came
to the agency mission, where these Comanches were,
and gave a lecture, with chemical accompaniment, and

a little talking by a talking machine. This followed.
Queer thing, eh?” ,

“Don Mackenzie! Why, Colonel Cody, do you
know that as an authority on chemistry he ranks al-
most~as high as Sir Oliver Lodge? He is a wonder-
ful man, sir.”

The discovery that another Chicago professor was
in trouble—a prisoner of the Comanches—gave new
life to old Dickie. He changed his mind about the
desirability of traveling in the other direction, and de-
clared for an advance at once,

“The brightest mind in American chemistry must
not be snuffed out by such vandals,” he sputtered.
“Cody, I have no horse now, but if any one could
spare me a mount, I'd ride as hard as any man here to
assist in rescuing Don Mackenzie. And if no horse
can be had

He was offered a seat behind Pawnee,

“Bear Paw is already carrying double,”
nee,
began.”

“Bear Paw? Chick-Chick?”

“*The names of our horses.”

Pawnee, already on the ground, led the professor
over to Chick-Chick, while Buffalo Bill was conferring
with Duval. When the combined party struck the
northern trail, old Dickie bobbed behind Pawnee.

“Crowd this chase as hard as you can,” he urged,
wrapping his long arms round Pawnee’ S body. *Y ou
will find, sir, that I am right behind you.’

 

said Paw-
“and Chic k-Chick has been jealous ever since that

 

CHAPTER VI.
THE WESTBOUND TRAIL.

The large trail leading off from the camp went
northward a few miles, and then split. Here one sec-
tion struck into the west, and the other into the east.

“Injun tactics!’ muttered Nomad. ‘Allus when

they want ter divide the party thet is follerin’, they
divides their own.’

The larger trail, numbering more than twenty ponies, |
had gone east; a dozen ponies had gone west.

Duval and his troopers decided to follow the larger
ne while Buffalo Bill and his friend turned west-
war

All day they ee hard, and when night came down,

   
     
   

NSEC Re, Poses tel sO 0S SB aah to Sek} dehy a #4. Aaa S's Zap ae
 

THE BUYEALO

~ forcing a halt, the pursued Comanches had not been
_ sighted.

But it had been rhade plain that the ponies of the
Comanches were heavily burdened, for wherever the
ground was soft, which was seldom, the hoofs of the
ponies had ‘cut in, even more than did the hoofs of the
heavier horses of the pursuers.

“We are rapidly overtaking them—that is the infer-
ence,’ said Dickie. “To-morrow we ought to come
up with them. Then you will find, sirs, that I am will-
ing to fight for the rescue of Don Mackenzie. Only a
month ago, sirs, | was reading his new work on ethnol-
ogy. He has been recently making a special study of
the ethnology of the Indians, which I think accounts
for the fact that he came out to that reservation. And
his great work on chemistry e

The professor stopped when he saw that the horse-
men were sliding from their saddles, unheeding him,
and were about to go into camp.

It had been a day of hard riding, yet the burdened
ponies of the Comanches had kept well ahead. They
were of the wiry type, with muscles like steel—the.
true mustang breed of the plains; and the Comanches,
the finest horsemen of the Western Indians, veritable
red Bedouins—knew how to save them from over-
exertion, even when burdened and traveling rapidly.

There had been-indications that, now and then, the
Indians had been running beside their mustangs, in
order to relieve them.

The process of building “buffalo-chip” fires in little
trenches set the professor to work on a notebook that
he begged of Buffalo Bill. .

“There are to be learned a great many things of
which the makers of textbooks seem to be ignorant,”
he explained. “TI am gratified that I am now having
an opportunity to make some original observations.
All my life my desire in that respect has been ham-
pered, and now e 3

They seldom heard the last of anything of the sort
Dickie started out to say.

“Life is too short,’ Nomad declared.

 

 

With the approach of morning Buffalo Bill and his

friends were aroused by the coming of one of Duval’s
troopers, who blundered into the camp, and came near
getting a bullet from the rifle of the baron, who was
standing guard.

“T had a hard time to locate you,” the trooper said,
“and if you hadn’t kept to a purty straight line I guess
I wouldn’t done it. The trouble is, we have all been
fooled.”

“All been fooled?” gasped Dickie. ‘My dear man,
please explain.”

“We follered that bunch of ponies till nearly dark;
and then we found they hadn’t any riders, except
maybe one or two. The ponies, when we come on em,
had been abandoned by the reds that must have drove
‘em, and were grazin’. The reds that done the drivin’

had skipped; and it was so late then we couldn't pick
up their trail.
to you.’®

ere

So I was ordered to ride with the news

  

 
    

BILL STORIES: | “13

“Proof, necarnis,’ said Pawnee, “that the over
burdened mustangs we have been following are carry-
ing redskins and loot, and that the whole force of the
reds is ahead of us, and the tracks of moccasins we
saw were those of some that were running while the
others rode.”’

Apparently the Comanches had been shifting all day
—one section riding while the other ran.

“And it is quite clear now,” said the scout, “that, in
sending the larger band of mustangs toward the east,
the Comanches hoped that our entire party would fol-
low that band.” y

“Captain Duval is kinda up a stump,” reported the
trooper. “He don’t know whether to try to pick up
the trail of the reds he supposes drove the bigger band,
or back track and try to join you. I’m to take word
to him as fast as I can what you think about it.”

“By the time you reach him, and he could overtake
us, we would be so far on that he might not be able
to help us in any brush we may have. with the Co-
manches,” said the scout. :

“Then you think he had better try to find out what
became of the reds who drove them mustangs?”

“That would be my idea. And, in addition, it is
likely that other young braves, emulating this band,
will now break away from that reservation, or from
some other; and if that happens, Captain Duval and
his company will be needed more out in the east than
here.

“T was thinkin’ that myself,” said the trooper; “only,
of course, it ain’t the business of a soldier to think, but
only to obey orders.”

_ “And it isn’t my business to send instructions to
Captain Duval,” ‘replied the scout. “I merely send that
as a suggestion, and he can follow out his own ideas.”

“You'll pike right on?”

“As soon as it is light enough
trail.” :

“And we ought to overtake the red rascals very
early,” said Dickie; “don’t you think so, Cody?”

“We can hope that; but we may not do it. We'll
soon be crossing into New Mexico. Before the end of
the day we’ll be striking some hills, and there we'll have
to go slow, to avoid an ambush.”

The trooper remained, to rest himself and his an-

,

for us to see the -

imal; and ate breakfast with them. Then he took the —

backward trail and rode away. !

He was hardly out of sight before Buffalo Bill’s
party was moving. |

The scout expected to.come on the remains of a
camp fire that forenoon; but he did not. Yet they
found indications that the Comanches had stopped
long enough to let their animals graze a bit, and to
water them in the ditchlike creek which forms one of
the upper reaches of the Canadian River.

That the ponies of the Comanches were tiring was
apparent; but they had kept on, with more and more
indications that many, if not all, of the Comanches
were running beside them. '
 

14 | THE BUFFALO

f

“Tt surprises me that men can run along like that,”
said Dickie.

“Which shows thet ye don’t know Injuns,” returned
Nomad; “I has knowed of an Injun runner goin’ at er
lope fer nigh onter twenty-four hours straight along.”

“Marvelous!”

“Et war goin’ some,’
know, aire half animile.”

“On the contrary, they are human beings in every
respect. Mackenzie in his study of them says that
they te

“Thet highbrow, I’m thinkin’ , perfessor, don’t know
any more about redskins than you do.”

“My dear sir, he is an authority on Indians.”

“Waal, he’s shore goin’ ter accumulate a lot of in-
terestin’ experience this hyar trip, ef he saves a
ha’r. I’m sayin’ that.”

“Tf they but knew, Mr. Nomad, how great is: is
interest

“But they don’t. And they never will. A white
man is jest a white man ter them, unless he’s like Buf-
Hoty,

All day long the scout’s party pushed the chase.

In the afternoon, when they reached a region where
hills abounded, the pace was decreased, and Little
Cayuse, with Nomad and the baron, did a good deal of
scouting aliead, to make sure that no ambush was being
laid.

said Nomad. “Tnjuns, ye

 

 

The professor was “all in’ long Leto night.

“Cody,” he said, as he clung to the scout, on the
back of Bear Paw, “I thought I had a few abrasions
after those Comanches got through with me, but they
were in number infinitesimal, and in painfulness neg-
ligiblé, compared with the abrasions from which I
have suffered since. I suppose Loa is no way by
which easier riding might be y

“We could carry you in a blanket swung between
two of the horses,” laughed the scout; “but, unless the
horses could be held constantly at the same distance
apart, there would be times when you'd strike against
the ground.”

“Horrible! I think I prefer this, torturing as it is.
But, if I were younger and more agile, I think I should
rather run beside the horse now and then, as you say
the Comanches have been doing.”

The professor breathed a sigh of relief when the
camp was pitched. He was so worn out that he fell
asleep on the ground while supper was being prepared,
and they did not arouse him. Thus he lay until morn-
ing, with a blanket thrown over him by Nomad.

“He’s a kind-hearted critter,’ muttered Nomad, as
he tucked the blanket round the sleeping form; “and,
though he don’t know nothin’, he don’t know thet he
don’t know et. Ye has got ter be kinda gentle wi’ ther
likes of him. What he’d ort ter have, would be ter be
wrapped tender in cotton battin’, and never allowed ter
come out o’ thet dem in ther city which he refars to

 

occasional as his study. I thought a study war when.

a man sot hunkered down and thunk about things

PRT BASE Tabs kein wenee

BILL STORIES.

serous an’ otherwise. Fust time ‘et I knowed a study!
war aroom! Pore ole purfessor !"
The next day was a repetition of those that had gone.

_ before.
The next night Dickie was even in a worse condi-

tion. Even Parker, young and enthusiastic, was be-
ginning to wish that he had remained i in Chicago him-
self.

While camp was being pitched, old Nomad pros-
pected with Cayuse round the base of the Wagon
Mound hills, a mile distant. The character of the
country had entirely changed; the plains had disap-
peared. On the hills were cedars and straggling
pifions; at their base were cacti and dry-land vegeta-
tion.

Nomad and Little Cayuse, on foot, followed the Co-
manche trail nearly to these hills; then they left it and
approached the hills after devious ee through
thorny bushes.

When they came into the Comanche trail again, they
found that it had gone into a narrow pass. And, as
in that pass there might be an ambuscade, they again
resorted to their hiding tactics.

Cayuse, creeping ahead, with his rifle held before
him, stopped where the trail cut into the pass, and
picked up a man’s hat.

Nomad moved quickly forward, clutched the hat
and looked at it.

‘White man frum er city war ther owner of this
hyar cady,” he declared. “It’s round and slick—
kinda brown like ther color 0’ burnt sugar, an’ it’s
got a dent in et, which mebbyso war made when et
war knocked frum his head. Opinion o’ ther under-
signed is, this hyar hat b'longed ter Mr. Mackenzie.
What say?”

Little Cayuse grunted disrespectfully.

“Yas; ‘tis er mighty pore apolerg y fer er hat; thar
cain't be no argyment on thet p’int, son,’ > Nomad went
on. “This hyar hat ain't got er ‘prim wide ernough
to shade ther nose of a moskeeter, let alone ther nose
of a man. Kinda hat ter war, ef yer don’t war et
cap, is ter war one wi’ er wide brim; otherwise, what
is ther use of er hat? Er man what would war one
like this sugar-loaf thing oughter be condemned ter
live in er city. But thet ain’t figgerin’ out nothin’
whatever, is et? So I’m askin’ yer opinion.”

“White man in there,” said the Piute, jerking a
finger along the trail entering the dim vee before
them.

“ Key-rect, son! Ther prisoner war with ‘em when
they went inter thet hole in ther hills. So Buffler’s
guessin’ thet he war turns ‘out ter ‘be correct, as
yoosyul. Shall we prospect on er bit?”

Cayuse nodded.

When they had -prospected on; they found that cdi
they had taken to be a pass ended, apparently, against
a blank wall.

There was a hole there, however, wide enough for
a horse to go through. This they discovered when

 

ee ee

  

OR Te ee eee

 
 

 
   

THE -BUFPALO

they had turned an angle and found the blank wall on
their left. :

This big hole looked so black and suspicious that
Nomad and the Piute halted before it, ducked down in
the gathering darkness, and listened.

‘Vill ye walk inter my parler? said ther spider
to ther fly,” quoted Nomad. “Not any, thank ye.
Thar’s reds behind thet openin’, I bet ye!”

“Muy malo!’ whispered the Piute, looking dubi-
ously at the hole.

“Waal, et has a wicked look, Cayuse, an no mis-
take. Ireckons right hyar is whar we back-tracks and
makes our report ter Buffler. Looks like them Co-
manches has abandoned their caballos and tucked their-
selves through thet hole.’

Acting on the report brought into the camp by
Nomad and the Piute, Buffalo Bill and Pawnee went
out to the hole at the end of the pass, an hour later,
with Nomad-acting as their guide. : 7

“Tooks like er trap,” said Nomad. ‘So ye kin watch
out, ef ye think of pokin’ yer head in thar.”

Though the danger of an ambush was great, the

daring scouts entered the black opening, with ready

weapons. ae 5
They found only silence and darkness.
But, when they had, passed through the hole, which
was like a natural gateway, they found themselves in
a shallow valley, ringed with hills. There they came

to a halt, on seeing on one of the hills, at the other

side of the valley, a camp fire leaping.

“Necarnis, we have gained on them so much they
aren’t looking for us yet; or they think that ruse of
the pony herd sent eastward threw us off the scent
altogether,’ said Pawnee. ‘This place isn’t guarded,
even,”

“They're campin’ on top of thet hill,” declared No-
mad, as they speculated on what they saw, which, at
first, was only the leaping light of the fire.

Gradually, with the increase of the fire, which had
apparently been only recently started, they were able,
to make out the walls of a building or buildings.

“Houses up thar, Buffler,” said Nomad.

Buffalo Bill put on his: thinking cap.

“Say,” he said, speaking to Pawnee, “the only build-
ings in this section that I ever heard of are the remains
of an old Indian town. I don’t know much about it,
for my recollections of the subject are mighty dim.”

“Then et is plain,” remarked Nomad, “thet ther reds
has tuck refuge in them old houses. Ther Comanches
used ter ride all over this hyar kentry, and they'd
know erbout any old houses in et.”

Pawnee Bill also was trying to burnish up his recol-
lection of things in that section.

“Necarnis,” he said, “I was never out here before—

that is, not right in this part—but you remember about
those famous Cities of Cibola, that the old Spaniards
hunted for.
The old Spaniards,
some three hundred years ago, heard about them, down

 

Ba arte

If I recall it correctly, there were said
to. be Seven Cities of Cibola.

BILL STORIES. - as

in Mexico, and came up through here hunting for

them, for the report was that they were rich in gold,

and your old Spanish explorer had a mighty nose for
gold. They didn’t find the Seven Cities, and they
found no gold; but they explored the country, located
some queer old towns, and founded the first settlements
in what is now New Mexico.

“One of those old Cities of Cibola was said to have
been out here, and I recollect that, some years ago,
a lot of scientific sharps came out and explored it.
They published something about it—I forget what; but
they found nothing highly interesting, except that there

“was a cave house in the hill; and the old town out here

has, I think, been forgotten since.

“Now it’s a ten-to-one shot that we’re looking on
the walls of some of the houses of that old town. The
Comanches, as Nomad says, knew about the old
houses; and-here they have come to stay until they
have devoured the rations they took from our wagons.
After that they will begin to raid again.”

It seemed so certain that Pawnee Bill’s recollections
and deductions were so nearly correct that they were
adopted as hitting the facts in the main.

“We'll make a cautious crawl, and see what we shall
see,’ said Buffalo Bill. ‘Extra caution, now, boys.”

The valley, like the hole opening into it, seemed de-
serted. They gained the base of the hill on the top of
which the camp fire was flaring. Then they heard up
there the voices of Indians.

While they were searching round for some way to
ascend the hill, which was somewhat precipitous, the
camp fire was.stamped out, and the voices were stilled.

“‘Tust about this time,’ remarked Pawnee, “look for
squally weather, as the almanac says.’

He dropped down and drew out his revolvers. The
others crouched beside him.’

Then the little party heard steps coming from the
valley, in the direction of the hole. Apparently some
of the Comanches had been outside; and it seemed
possible that what had been taken fér an ordinary
camp fire had been a signal fire, to guide them in and
to the hill. .

The Indians passed within a dozen yards of the con-
cealed men, scrambled up the face of a cliff, for a
yard or two, then they disappeared, in thé face of
the cliff.

‘“‘Am I seein’ things?” muttered Nomad.

“‘They went into the rock,” said Pawnee.

“Whar thar ain’t any place to go in at,’ Nomad
grumbled.

“There’s a place there, all right,’ said Pawnee.
“Let's see now if we can locate it. Perhaps it’s the
entrance to that cave house.”

They found the opening in the side of the hill, be-
hind a spreading cedar. It was like a wide door, re-
sembling the hole by which they had entered the
valley. Beyond the hole, which lay in darkness, voices
were heard, showing that the Comanches, or some of
them, were back there somewhere, in the hill,

 

 
if

}

‘b

Hf

a!

‘

:

a
i

a

sapets

ae eer ALO

Buffalo Bill and his friends retreated when they had
gone this far, and returned with their news to the
camp. .

CHAPTER VIL
SPIDERS AND FLIES.

“Some of us.are likely to get hurt, if we try to put
this thing through,’ Buffalo Bill was saying, when he
and his pards had made their report, and the subject of
an immediate advance on the Comanches was broached;
“yet we didn’t come this far to take water, when a
chance like this is offered. From appearances, the
Comanches think we are far behind, or were led astray
entirely by that ruse of sending the riderless ponies
eastward, so they have not guarded the hole leading
to the valley; and we cond: not make out that they
had any guard at the hole entering the cliff. The fire
on the hill must have been a signal fire for the benefit
of the braves who came in and passed us. So, if we
can reach that hole without discovery and crawl in,
we will have the reds before us, and can whip them to
a finish. It is true they outnumber us, and that they
know the place, which we don’t; but—well, eendcncn,
that is the situation.”

“Hooray fer Buffler !" whispered Nomad.

“Tdt iss suidting me,’ ’ said the baron, sucking away
at his pipe.

“You can stay here and look out as well as you can
for the animals, professor, while we put this thing
through,” said Pawnee to Professor Dickson. .

Old Dickie had been an attentive listener, and only
once or twice while the story of the new discoveries
was unfolded did he launch into a long-winded dis-
cussion.

“Me?” he said, answering Pawnee. “I—I beg your
pardon! That was an inexcusable grammatical blun-
der, due to my excitement, and my thoughts concern-
ing Professor Mackenzie. J.was about to ask if you

   
 
   

saw that man; or if you saw anything that led you.

to believe he is in there with them. The discovery
of his hat by Mr. Nomad seems to be an unassailable
indication that*he is’ held by this company
“Oh, he’s thar, professot,’’ said Nomad;
gamble-yer weasel skin on thet.”

‘““My weasel skin! Mr. Nomad, I beg to inform you
that I have no weasel skin, and would not know what
to do——’’ ¢

iYer dinero:

“My dinero?”

“Ver Oia; yer spondulics, yer shinplasters, yer cc

“Oh, my money! Mr. Nomad 1 never gambled,’
said Dickie, with proper severity.

“T cave, purfessor! Don't hit me erg’in.”

“T would not think of hitting you, Mr. Nomad. I
think too highly of you. Though you are not

Nomad collapsed with a “whoosh!” and the profes-
sor, staring at him, stopped abruptly.

“I do not wish to be left behind,” he said, turning

 

“vou kin

 

 

happy to add
- But Pawnee Bill was speaking at the moment i

on eee

w

Bit STORIES.

to Pawnee Bill. “If Professor Mackenzie is there,
and | tan do aught to assist in his resctie, I shall be

 

Buffalo Bill and Ray Parker.
“Courit me in idt,” said the baron sleepily.

“Off

he

dare iss to be fiehdting, idt iss yoost der ting vor |

Schnitzenhauser. ledt me = fitiish

pipe.

But, hie

cided to attack the Comanches where they were, with-
out waiting for the chances of daylight. A surprise,
it was thought, would more than compensate for the
lack of knowledge of the cave, or underground house,
or whatever it was, the Comanches were in. And a
dashing charge, with plenty of shooting and yelling,
as Buffalo Bill’s experience had shown, was usually
enough to make Indians think a larger force was
oe than was the case.

So the horses were turned loose, the camp was de-
serted, and the entire party, including old Dickie, who
declared again and again that he would not be left
behind, advanced on the little valley and the hole in
the face of the hill.

When they reached the cedar which hid the hole,
there was not a sound to be heard, except the heavy
breathing of the men of Buffalo Bill’s party.

“They has gone ter sleep, thinkin’ they’re thet safe;
or they're layin’ fer us in ther dark up thar,’ said
Nomad. ‘Whichever et is, hyar’s fer an advance.”

The advance was made up the face of the cliff, to
the cedar, and then into the black hole. The professor,
bringing up the rear, had to be assisted, a duty which
Little Cayuse performed.

“Professor Mackenzie,’ whispered Dickie, “would
be delighted, my boy, with the evidence of. enlighten-
ment and charitable consideration for.the welfare of
others which you show; yet I am told that, not long
ago, you were an untutored savage, without enlighten-
ment, totally ignorant of the benefits of civilization. No
doubt, however, you had your dreams of better things
even then. As Pope so nobly, phrases-it: “Lo, the
poor Indian, whose untutored mind sees God in clouds,
and hears him in the wind! That final word, you
will observe, must be pronounced to ee with mind,
so that

“Muy malo!” grunted the Piute.
too much talk.”

The opening they had entered seemed to have been
but through the rock of the cliff. It was almost large
enough to admit the passage of a horse. But it had
some abrupt turns. When one of these had been
passed, a light was seen*ahead, and the party stopped.

Voices could now be heard, in a low grumble.

“Another turn ought to bring that light into plain
view,” whispered the scout.

Si ae reds in hyar aire plum’ cur’ous actin’, Buf-

fler,”’ Nomad grunted. “I don’t see no signs whatever
ol atrap, yit-_— :

The scout was crawling 6: on, with. Pawnee right be-

 

“Dickie make um

mein

Before the baron finished his pipe it had: been de- |

 

 
         
  

 

|
|

 

       

THE BUFFALO

hind him; and Nomad stopped his muttered reflections
to follow. »

Less than five minutes later they saw the light, which
was in a large underground room. Five or six Co-
manches were seated by it. Before them, standing by
a rudely fashioned table, was Don Mackenzie, a man
of youthful appearance.

He had a number of bottles on the table, with whose
contents, apparently, he had been conducting some
chemical experiments for the delectation of his cap-
tors. On the table also was a boxlike contrivance—
the phonograph that the Comanches had fetched from
the mission, when they brought Mackenzie a prisoner.

Lying flat in the passage, beyond the reach of the
-light, Buffalo Bill and his friends stared at this sprange
scene. Co :
Mackenzie was not even bound; his movements were _
as free as if he stood in his classroom in Chicago, and
‘the interest with which he was regarding the Indians
indicated that whatever it was,he had been doing had
been in the nature of a pleasure.

They saw him now wind up the phonograph, and
then they heard it begin to talk. he

Buffalo Bill gasped a little as he listened to the
words that came from the phonograph. They were
Comanche—a language he understood well enough to
getthe meaning of what he heard.

The voice from the phonograph was guttural, and
the scout, getting the drift of the words, knew at once
that he was listening to the talk which some Comanche
had put on the cylinder.

It was a startling speech, for it commanded the Co-

manches to pay no heed to their teachers, nor to the —

words of any white man—for all white men were liars ;
but to rouse themselves, take to the plains, and become
again the unequaled horsemen and fighting red men
they had been before.

Pawnee Bill and Nomad got enough of the speech
also to give them a good idea of what it was. To the
others the machine on the table was merely choking its
throat with meaningless gutturals.

If Mackenzie knew what the phonograph was say-
ing, he gave no sign; yet he seemed surprised when
the harangue brought no visible response. Before that
hour that speech always had thrown the listening Co-
manches into a frenzy.

When the phonograph finished, Mackenzie went
back to the bottles on the table. Pouring the contents
of one bottle into that of another, he caused a smoky
vapor to rise. me

Combining the contents of other bottles, two color-
less liquids turned to pink, and boiled furiously.

“Playin’ tricks wi’ ther nussin’ bottles !” old Nomad
whispered. ‘An’ jes’ as quiet erhout et as he kin be.
Say, Buffler, thet feller has got more bats playin’ leap-
frog in his upper room than t’other'n Hass)

“Come on,” Buffalo Bill whispered. “While he is
keeping them interested in his chemical experiments,
we can get closer in; then we must rush ‘ens

They crawled on, watchful and silent.

  

—

BILL SOR:

Then the unexpected happened.
From the walls. above Comanches

: dropped. like
sprawling monkeys. A Conaanche. fell on the back of
. each man as he lay flattened on the floor of the passage.

Still other Indians came tumbling down. Then the
Comanches in the room whirled-round and jumped to
the aid of their comrades.

It was’a surprise of the most complete character.

Buffalo Bill had two writhing redskins on his back,
and when he tried to turn and grip them, he found that
they were naked, their bodies covered with slippery
oil, and that he could not get hold of them. »

He was trying to throw them off, and get on his
feet, when a blow fell on his head and sent him down
again.

Pawnee Bill, old Nomad, Parker, the professor, the
baron, and Little Cayuse were passing through ex-
periences much the same; though two slippery
Comanches did not fall to the lot ofeach.

When Buffalo Bill regained consciousness, his head
was whirling dizzily. He was in the room jn which he
had been assaulted. He lay close by the fire, and was
bound with cords. Close by him were the members of
his party. ' .

The surprise had been complete—every man had
been captured; and no harm worth mentioning had
been done to the Comanches.

“Waugh!” old Nomad was rumbling, as he tried to
stretch the rawhile rope that held his arms together
at the wrists. “Waugh-h-h!”

“No use grumbling, old Diamond,” the scout heard
Pawnee Bill say to Nomad.

~ “No: but this hyar aire plum’ ther all-firedest mean-
est trick thet L~war ever done up with. Pawnee, this
shore——” a 7

“Tt raked us in, old Diamond. No more need be
said on that line.”

“Fooled you an’ Buffler an’“ever’body. Say, what-
ever we gits we aire goin’ ter desarve. Ther idee of
lettin’ a lot o’ blanketed and painted,reds make a come-
over like this hyar——” — : |

Buffalo Bill stirred and the old man came to a halt.

“Still in the land o’ ther livin’, Buffler?” asked No-
mad. “They caved yer head in; I thought.”

Buffalo Bill tried to sit up, but was drawn back by
the rope that he found now was round his waist. He,
therefore, subsided, so far as physical effort went. —

Apparently, all the Comanches who had escaped
from the reservation were now “in the cave; and they
were round the prisoners, making a great show of ~
weapons, and shouting threats.

‘Mackenzie was not at first to be seen; but soon he
appeared, conducted into the firelight by a brawny
Comanche*

“Gentlemen,” he said, “I don’t.understand this.”

“That is you, Professor Mackenzie?” piped old
Dickie. oo

Mackenzie stared.

‘Whose voice is that?’ he asked.

 

ae

 

 
 

 

 

 

18 oe THE BUFFALO

The professor managed to wriggle into a position to
be better observed.
“Of course, as I now appear before you, in rags and

- tatters, with my face scratched and sunburned, and

 

m
“Professor Dickson! In the name of wonders!’
“True, Mackenzie—Professor Dickson, of Chicago

—-what is left of him. Ethnologically considered

ee

Astounded, Mackenzie stepped toward Dickson, but
was brought to a halt by a jerk on a rope that was
round his middle. He came near falling, and sat
down in a hasty and undignified fashion.

“T have already, observed,’ wailed Dickson, “that
these Indians are not gentlemen. Yet Flathead says,
you know, in his erudite work a

“How did you get here?’ asked Mackenzie.

“T came with Colonel Cody’s party. You see we set
out, with nursing bottles iu

“Cut et out!’ groaned Nomad. “Dickie, ef you're
goin’ ter do thet erway I'll be beggin’ fer a Comanche
ter knife me, ter git me out er ther way o’ lissenin’
to yer ;

‘We were down in the Panhandle on a sort of buf-
falo hunt,’ explained Pawnee briefly, “and we ran
into these Comanches. Then we followed them, for
the purpose of rescuing you, if we could. We have
made a mess of it—that’s all.”’

“Isn't it enough?” groaned Mackenzie.

Buffalo Bill now spoke.

“The thing that puzzled us was what we saw you
doing—with those bottles and the talking machine,” he
said. “That rather misled us. But we are laying the
blame only on ourselves, for we ought never to have
crawled into a trap.’ :

“Oof you tond’t can know idt iss a drap, how can
you?” demanded the baron. ‘Ve ditn’t seen dose ret-
skins vot vos ofer our headts in der dark. Nopoty
could seen dkem, until dhey vos make dhemselves
wisible. So, idt iss a sureness dot der blamefulness
oof dhis bainful inexperience

“Waugh!” Nomad growled.
tin’ plum’ as bad as Dickie.”

The situation was not conducive to much clear talk,
so that it was a long while before a thorough under-
standing came.

But the scout’s party knew, in the end, that Mac-
kenzie had been innocent of all knowledge of: the
Comanches hidden under the roof of the entrance. As
for his experiments, he had found that they pleased
the Comanches, that they desired to have the talking
machine grind out the speech of the Comanche -medi-
cine man who was dead, and that he gained safety and
better treatment by amusing them and complying with
their wishes.

He did not know where he was, nor if there was a
chance that he would be rescued; but he had been seek-
ing to ingratiate himself with his captors, and. was

 

 

 

“Baron, you aire git-

hoping that, after a time, some chance of escape would

come his way.

Piety STORIES.

That the scout’s patty, while trying to aid him and
capture the Indians, had been captured, was a source o1
pain to him. hac re

Buffalo Bill and Pawnee tried to accept,their fate
philosophically. But Nomad fumed and growled. The
baron complained that the only thing he could thin
of, aside from his freedom, which he would like t
have, was his pipe and tobacco, which had been taken
by the Comanche chief. Parker declared that if he)
escaped he would have a good newspaper “story.”

When the chief loaded the baron’s pipe and smoked
it complacently before the fire the baron became
wrathy.

“Dot pipe he vill haf to be fumigated oof I am
efer to schmoke him again; dot iss vot iss troupling
me now.” nue

“Muy malo!” breathed the Pinte. “Mebbyso never
git chance to smoke pipe again.”

“Thar you go ter prophesyin’ evil,’ growled No-
mad, who had done nothing else himself.

“Very bad!” exclaimed the Piute. “Comanche got
Little Cayuse medicine hoof. , Bad luck come pronto,
when lose medicine hoof.”

“This is a sad case, Mackenzie,’ said old Dickie,
when he found a chance to speak to the other man.
“T came down here on a peaceful errand, armed only
with nursing bottles and condensed. milk, and you,
whose whole thought was compassion for the Indians,
came also on a peaceful mission; yet here we are, and
where we shall be next-———”

“Mebbyso be dead!” grunted the Piute.

“Alas! what our young Indian friend says is true;
the next thing we know we may be dead.”

‘An’ then:ye won't know nothin’,”’ Nomad grunted.
“But thar will be er great silence in ther airth.”’

“Mr. Nomad’s words are harsh, at times,” said old
Dickie ; “but his heart is kind; I have had many chances
to note that. On the way he shared whatever he had
with me. So I take no account of anything he says.”

“Thet’s right,” said Nomad, softened. “Whatever
I says I don’t mean. Only, I’m so mad ovér ther way

 

_this bizness has turned out thet ef I war a pizen rat-

tler I'd shore bite myself and git out er misery quick.”

To say that the famous scout and the members of
his party felt “sore” over their capture, that they
blamed themselves unduly, and that Buffalo Bill and
Pawnee in particular felt humiliated beyond measure,
is but stating the situation fairly, —

It was clear that while the scout and his friends
were inspecting the valley entrance, watching the leap-
ing fire, and investigating the hole into which they at.
last advanced, the Comanches were watching them, and
laying careful plans for their capture.

“They must have sighted our approach from the
tops of the hills, along in the afternoon,” said Paw-
nee. “I wonder who is the Comanche genius at the
ec of this band? I’m ready to take off my Stetson
o him.

“At all der odder dimes,”’ remarked the Garon,

 

 
 

THE BUFFALO

“dare has alvays peen some vun on der outsite vot
couldt corne to der rescoo; but now dare iss going to
be no rescooing pitzness, I pedt you. I am peginning
to feel padt aboudt idt.” :

“You've got adventoor ernough fer sone t, then,
Schnitz?” said’ Nomad. “TI has allus heerd ye declar’
thet yer never could git ernough.” ae

“Ach! Dhis iss nodt adwenture,” the baron pro-
tested. “When dare iss adwenture you are doing some-
t'ings—you are mofing roundt, unt riding like der
vind storm unt fighting Injuns unt making a holler mit
your woice unt shoodting mit your rewolwers.. Ad-
wwentture means action unt oxcidement unt all der odder
t'ings vot make vor habbiness. But dhis—lying py
your pack on, mit ropes roundt you, unt tiedt oop yoost
like a bag Gof sissage; dot iss not adwenture.’”’

Old Dickie, remarkably quiet for some time, broke
into a roar:

“There are my glasses, perched on the nose of that
Comanche! > And I have: been halt -blind without
them!”

The Comanche was a “sight,” with the professor's
thick glasses on his high aquiline proboscis, his head
a nodding dome of eagle plumes, his body tattooed
with paint ; but he thought he was fair to look ttpon.

He came up to the white men, tried to look at them
through the thick lenses, pulled the glasses down so
that he could see over the tops of them, and spoke to
Buffalo Bill.

“You Pa-e-has-ka2?” he said. “Me Rolling River,
heap big Comanche chief. How!’

“How!” the scout responded.

He had twisted into an easier position, with his back
against a wall of the underground house.

“Py-e-has-ka mucho smart,” sneered Rolling River.
“Think trap Comanches. Him git trapped. Huh!”

“We acknowledge that-you were too much for us,”
said the scout.

“What great Pa-e-has-ka do now a
manded.

“Rolling River, it is your play,’

‘An’ you shore rakes in ther jack pot,’
tered.

“TE the Indian gentleman-pleases,” said old Dickie,
“T should like the return of my glasses very much.
My eyes are not of the best; in fact, without my
glasses, I am half blind. And the lack of them causes
‘my eyes to ache.” - |

“Huh!” grunted Rolling River. “White man big
fool. Rolling River-set him tree.
What do?”

“Fe came with us,’
longed with our party.
free. And, perhaps, as
will do that again?”

It was a plea that he
tion.

“Qld fool make um torture fun for Comanche—
sate ge Paco-aska, said the chict, staring at the
professor over the tops of the glasses.

%

-

the chief de-

> the scout answered.
? Nomad mut-

It was kind of you to set him
he is not a fighting man, you

hoped would be given atten-

 

Now he is: here. ’

> said the scout, “because he be-"

BILL STORIES. 19
The scout repeated the professor's request for the

return of his spectacles.

Apparently Rolling River thought they improved his

appearance, for he did not heed the request.

“Where pony soldier?”’ he demanded of the scout.

“They followed the other band of ponies,’ the scout
informed him.

The chief wrinkled his face in a laugh.

‘Heap fine,” he said; “fool um pony soldier !”

“Der kvestion vot iss troupling me iss, are ve to be
kilt at vunce, cr oddervise?” said the baron. —

“Fat fool keep still!’ Rolling River snapped at him.

“You wanter be careful, baron, how you approaches
this high an’ mighty chieftain,” said Nomads “ii
ther Rollin’ River gits on a rampage and goes ter
slishin’ over ets banks thar’s goin’ ter be trouble
ferye. ’ ,

The borderman’s tone indicated the scorn in which
he held all Indians, even when, as now, he was at their
mercy.

“The voice of Swift Wind, the medicine man who is
dead,” said the chief, “has been brought to us, and
we have heard it. It is a strange thing, for we know
‘that he is dead, we saw him buried, and yet heré 1s his

voice, which all may hear.”

Shifting from this, Rolling River began to talk of
the terrible things the Comanches were laying up in
store for the prisoners, when-he was brought to a halt
by the reappearance of Don Mackenzie.

 

NS

CHAPTER VIII.

A DESPERATE DESIGN.

*

Mackenzie had not been held with the other pris-
oners, was not now tied, and enjoyed remarkable free-
dom. ;

When he appeared this time his arms were filled
with bottles of various shapes and sizes, which he-
placed on the little table near the middle of the room.
His coming drew the attention of the Comanches.
Rolling River turned from the prisoners, and gave
them no further heed. From dark corners came
Comanches who had been asleep, or resting. So that
Mackenzie was soon ringed round with them.

He worked calmly in their midst, never looking at
the prisoners, on whom he had turned his back. Push-
ing the table farther along, he motioned to the
Comanches to get on the farther side of it, tapping
some of the bottles in a way to signify that, in the ex-

periments he intended to conduct, it would be better for

them not to be too near him.

Apparently to enforce his command and hold them
at a respectful distance, Mackenzie set off a bit of red
fire, whose flare drove them back and held them awed
and wondering.

“Ther nussin’ bottles is on exherbition erg’in,”
grunted Nomad, when Mackenzie took up two of them, |
"and began to pour from one into the other.

The combination of the two chemicals the bottles

 
 

 

 

Mayan

oo - (THE BUFFALO.

contained caused a flame to leap out of the top of the
bottles. This burned steadily for several mintites.

Posturing before this flame, passing his hands
through as if he washed them in it, and making gesticu-
lations toward the roof of the cave room, Mackenzie
began to mutter words.

At the first sentence Baron von Schnitzenhauser sat
up with a snort of interest. )

“Tdt iss Cherman!’ he gasped.
vot iss der meanness oof”

He stopped to listen:

“There is a German with you,’’. Mackenzie was say-
ing, “and I am using German, to keep the Indians from
understanding me, which they would do if I used
English. I am hoping that my accent.is good enough
for him to catth my meaning.”’

“You ar-re hearing him?’ panted the excited baron.
“Himmel! He iss going to sbeak by us.”

“Do not betray in any manner that I am speaking
to you. I often mutter and rant, when I do these
things, for the purpose of impressing the Indians.
They think I am talking to the Great Spirit, I suppose.
More than once I have handed them out Greek and
Latin, and c

“I am astounded that Mackenzie seems to be drop-
ping into slang,” said old Dickie, who understood him
quite as well as the baron. ‘As I translate that it
seems slangy. No educated German would ?

“For Heaven’s sake, Dickson, don’t give away to the
Comanches what he is trying to say!” Buffalo Bill im-
plored. ay

Old Dickie stopped.

“T was captured and held a prisoner because they
think I came from their medicine man, Swift Wind.
And because at the reservation mission I was foolish
enough to try to amuse them with a lot of chemical
tricks. I was also foolish enough to try to amuse them
with this new invention, the phonograph. :

“T must be brief. So I will only say that Swift
Wind went to Washington to see the President. While
there he was introduced to the phonograph and was
shown how he-could talk into it and how it would re-
peat over and over the exact words he had said. Be-
fore he was ready to return to the reservation Swift
Wind fell ill, and was brought to his deathbed. He
was a medicine man anda chief. Realiizng that he was
about to die, he said hé wanted to send a message to his
people; that he would send them kind words concern-
ing his white brothers, and tell them to walk in the
White Man’s Road, for now that was the best thing
they could do.

“So the phonograph was brought in, and the medi-
cine man was permitted to say into it what he wished.
No one understood what it was, but all supposed that.
he was sending an address to the Comanches along the.

“Donder unt blitzen,

 

 

lines he had indicated.

“I heard of it, and asked for a cylinder containing
his address, for I contemplated a tour of the reserva-

_ tions in the interests of the Indians and of my ethno-.

BILL STORIES. -
logical studies. Accordingly a cylinder f6r my phono- |
graph was furnished. i ae

“When I placed it on the machine at the Comanche |
mission, the uproar that resulted, and what followed, |
as well as what the Comanches have since told me, f
leads me to know that Swift Wind practiced deception
in Washington, for, instead of his speech being of a |
pacific and conciliating nature, it was the exact re- |
verse. : | |

“I cannot understand Comanche; but I think Swift |
Wind’s address, delivered by my phonograph, told |
them to rise against the white men; otherwise they |

‘were doomed to destruction and slavery. | ~

“They believe that Swift Wind’s spirit is inside the
phonograph, and that his spirit is literally talking to
them—that they hear his actual voice—whenever the
words come from the machine. So they make me re- .
peat it over and over.

“Believing that 1 was commissioned by Swift Wind,
and have some strange control over his spirit that is
imprisoned in the box; and bécause my chemical tricks
were similar to some that old Swift Wind performed,
they captured me and brought me with them, when
these young men broke away that night from the reser-
vation.

“They brought along all my chemicals, taking great
care of them, for the same reason, and they brought
likewise, with the same care, all the chemicals they
had seen used previously, by others, at the mission.

“For the same reason, as I suppose, they brought
away from your camp all the bottles there, and the
condensed milk, believing that they were for similar
uses; and that if I could not use them they had de-
prived you of all power of magic, which you might
be inclined to use against them. To please them, and
make them think: they had stolen your thunder, I have
been making use of the bottles you had.

“Now give close attention. Te

“T know that they intend to kill you, and, no doubt,
with torture. What I have heard them say in English
has taught me that, so I have planned how you may be
saved, and myself with you. I have in some bottles
here a preparation with which I was experimenting,
and which I brought with me when I came to the mis-
sion, thinking that in such leisure as I might have |.
could go on with my experiments. It is an invention
which I think will extinguish fire. Its explosion, when
a thrown bottle containing it breaks, is to produce a
heavy poisonous gas, which will put out a fire. Tt-will
also kill a human being if he breathes too much of it,
and in small quantities it will render him tinconscious.

“I have got the Comanches on the other side of the
table, and shall hold them there. I shall now drive
them farther back, by lighting more red fire, Behind
you lies the path you came, with the open doorway
which leads into the valley. a Ca ee

“I shall hurl into the midst of the Indians the bot-
tles containing the fire-extinguishing chemical. Le 4
kills some of them I cannot help it; but, in any event,

it will drive back those who do not fall, and the deadly ie

es

 

 
    

 

 
 

)

THE BUFFALO

gases will hold them in the farther recesses of this
cavern room, even if they are not instantly rendered
unconscious,

“There will also be some dineer to you and to me.
But we will be much farther from it, I shall release
one of you with a knife, and give him a knife. I shall
have several knives—they are with me here, ‘The
Comanches think that with them I am going to re-
peat a little juggling trick with which I once amused |
them,

“In order to save my life I have. had to fall in*
with their ideas concerning me. I have become their
great medicine man: I am now talking to the spirits,
or the Great Spirit, in their behalf, and doing the won-
der trick of washing my hands in fire.

“You understand all this, I hope. If it is under-
stood by the German, let him speak; and when I stir
round now let him tell the others to be ready to jump
out by the door at the end of the passage as soon as
they are free.. I shall free him, and give him a knife;
and he is to cut the others loose. Does the German
understand ?”

“Yes!” Schnitz shouted.

The Indians stared at him; but did not understand,
for he used German,

“T also uriderstand,’”’ Dickie peed up in German,

“That is well,” said Mackenzie.” Now, all ready!’

He took up a bottle, and shook it so that it began to
emit smoke and fire; then he began to toss it from hand
to hand,

It fell, exploded with a sputter, and the fiery con-
tents writhed and sputtered on the floor like a nest of
burning snakes.

As if the accident of its fall and explosion had star-
tled him, Mackenzie jumped to the end of the table,
pushed that noisily round, and began to shout excit-
edly.

The baron took advantage of the confusion thus cre-
ated to tell all that was needed. Dickie joined in, tell-
ing something, though his excited manner did not
make him good at it.

Having stamped out the nest of fiery snakes which
had driven the Comanches back, Mackenzie threw red
fire on the floor, and ignited it, yelling at the same

time. The startled redskins retreated farther, with
cries of confusion and excitement.
Mackenzie lifted two bottles—nursing bottles; and

Nomad roared again, as the sight of them always
aroused his wrath and scorn.

“Now!” yelled Mackenzie in English. |

He threw the bottles on the rocky floor i in front of
the huddled Comanches.

They broke with explosive reports, and a steamlike
cloud arose, blotting out all view of the redskins. A
stuttering exclamatory roar was heard in their midst,
with a sound of retreating feet.

“Now!” yelled Mackenzie again.

With his hands filled with knives caught from the
table, he leaped to the prisoners. ~

 

. gas is heavier than air.

BILL: SPORTS. |: 21

A thrust or two freed the baron, and into his hand
Mackenzie thrust a knife.

Mackenzie cut the cords of Buffalo Bill, and gave

him one of the blades.

“Move lively,” he said, a sudden choke in his voice.

The foul gas was rolling toward the prisoners, and
they began to feel its effects.

But Mackenzie and the prisoners he had released
worked speedily. As soon as the other prisoners had
been freed, Mackenzie led the way at a sharp run into
the. passage leading to the big stone doorway.

“Follow me quick!” he yelled. “Follow!”

Two minutes, or less, took them through the passage,

out at the doorway, and into the little valley ringed by .

hills.

They were coughing violently, but otherwise were

all right, and the clear air out there drove away al-
most instantly all sense of suffocation.
It had been as clever a rescue as Buffalo Bill ever
had seen carried out.

“Mackenzie, ’ he said, “you are a wonder!”

“He iss petter as any vonder,’ sputtered the baron.
“He can sbeak Cherman!”

He rushed to Mackenzie and threw his arms round
him.

 

CoAPTUR EX:
BACK IN THE CAVE ROOM.

Alas! the rejoicing was brought to an abrupt con,
clusion. The discovery was made that old Dickie had
not escaped from the cavern room.

Don Mackenzie had a moment of anguishing re-
morse, when he reflected that the poisonous gases he
had freed probably had blotted out the professor's
life.

“But we can’t go in there now,’ he declared. “It
would be suicide for whoever tried it. We'll have to
wait until that gas clears out a little.”

“If the gas is so deadly,” remarked Ray Parker,
“it must have finished the Comanches,”

Mackenzie was remorseful about that, too.

“Still,” he said, “that all depends. If the Comanches
got into some of the upper cavities, of which there
are a number, they would be all right, I think. The
It clings to the floor, and
sinks into all well-like holes. Any Comanche who
dived into a low hole to escape certainly is dead be-
fore this.”

“You have explored that place?” asked the scout.

All were standing before the big doorway, looking
into the darkness of the rock passage, and listening
for sounds within the room.

“Only a little,’ said Mackenzie.

“So you don’t know if there is another way out?’

“No; but I don’t think there is. The Comanches
used only this opening, I feel sure: They never men-
tioned another passage.” ;

“Nussin’ bottles wi’ thet pizen truck in ’em kin

 

 

sy gin 8 sie seen sy ett A yt anintianes rgd net ge

 

 
 
 
  

 

 

safety by acting promptly and quickly.”

sn chek oe a baad
Bag AE NI HE

22 : . t THE BUFFALO
shore beat a battery o’ artillery,’ muttered Nomad
soberly. “Pore ol’ purfessor! I has made a lot o’
foolish noise erbout thet highbrow, which I wisht I
hadn't.”

“Tt’s rough on the Comanches, too, <-¢ [iamond,”’
remarked Pawnee Bill. “To be poisonec ike 2 ret in
a hole isn’t pleasant for a redskin, any more than tor a
white man. I’ve seen prairie dogs done fo death in
their holes that way, because they were injuring Kafir
corn that some farmer thought he had a better right
to, and I couldn’t help feeling sorry for the prairie
dogs.” .

He turned to Mackenzie and added:

“Hope you won't think that [’'m blaming you, for

T’m not. When it comes to a show-down between white

and red, I side with the white man—particularly when
I’m one of him. It was our lives or the Comanches,
and tortures for us to boot. So the Comanches had
to go.” ,

“l’'m hoping some of them got into those upper
holes,” said Mackenzie. :

He sniffed at the opening; then stepped into it.

“The gas isn’t bad right here,” he said.

“As soon as you say that we imay go in there, even
at some risk,” said the scout, “we'll go in. We may
be able ‘to save Dickson even yet, you know.”

“T think we can go in, anyway. Weill try it, and
if we can’t stand it we can back out.”

Don Mackenzie led the way, with the others close be-
hind him. ee ae

In the passage beyond the doorway there was not
much of’ the foul gas. But when they reached the
room the presence of the gas in it was very noticeable.

“Now I have a suggestion,” said Mackenzie, as he
looked in. 5

The gas had put out the artificial light, and the room
was dark.

“Black as er nigger’s pocket!’ grumbled Nomad,
staring and sniffing. ‘“Thet ain’t no beautiful odor tm

smellin’, nuther.”’

“Tdt iss schmell like some skunks,” added the baron.

“Misder Brofessor, couldn’t you sbrinkle dot gases mit
a liddle rose vater? Iam t’inking dot idt vouldt make
idt sell petter. A man vould sooner haf his house
burndt town as to schmell somet’ing like dot. Him-
mel!”
“My suggestion,” said Mackenzie, when he had at-
tention, “is that I shall go in. You are to stay here
—in readiness. If you hear me fall, or call, one of
you can rush in and bring me out; and can do it with
“Budt oof der second man falls also-o unt likevise ?”
asked the baron. oo. ;

“That will not occur. The second man can make a
rush, and then rush right back.” : :

- “Tdt vill be me to do dot,” the baron declared. “You
yoost go aheadt, unt I vill be right behint you oof you
fall town. Now make der start.”

3 Wea

pares nes aed rs pein ‘ SL NE Ranh
ny thal atresia Rts i Pasta ee

 

PUL STORIES.

Mackenzie ran in, moving quickly.

They heard him calling the name of Professor Dick-
son. Then another call came from him in a changed ~
tone. : pel
“Tdt iss me vor der rescoo kvick!’” yelled the baron,
and ran in after him.

Though it was not according to the program, the
others rushed in behind Schnitzenhauser.

‘’- their amazement they found that the gas had
cleared rapidly out of the cavern room, and that Mac-
<enzie bad not shouted to summon them, but to an-
nounce his ciscovery that the conditions were safe.

“T hope you won't do things to give us palpitation
of the heart again; Mackenzie,” Pawnee Bill begged.
“T fully expected to find two dead professors in here is

“T didn’t find Dickson cn the floor, and he didn’t
answer my calls,” said Mackenzie. “I imagine that in
those farther corners, where the floor is lower, the gas
is bad; but here one may breathe readily enough. And
I think we can risk a light.”

“There will be no danger of an explosion?” asked
the scout. a8

'“No; if there is too much gas in the roomt the light
simply will refuse to burn.”

He found the tallow dip that the Comanches had
used, then he searched around until he laid his hands

on their box of matches. With one of the matches he
lighted the dip.

The flame was not strong, but it burned clearly
enough ; and the scout and his friends could look about
the room.

Not a Comanche was in it, alive or dead. Nor did
they see the body of Professor Dickson.

Only the big room could be explored at first; but
when the gas was less troublesome they explored the
farther corners. Still they found no Comanches.

It was beginning to be clear that the Comanches had
escaped from the cavern room by some other exit. So
they began to look for it. a

Mackenzie, being more fathiliar with the place, took
the lead, carrying in his hand the smoky dip—a bit
of twisted cotton, set in fat, ia a shallow earthen dish.
Close behind him came the others. They had weapons
in their hands now, for the big room had been well
stocked with firearms and ammunition left by the

Comanches when they fled from the gas.

e . 2

Finally, at the end of a tunnellike place, they found
the hole through which undoubtedly the Indians had
gone ee

When the scout, preceding Mackenzie, tried to crawl
through the hole, a rifle, fired at the other ‘end, sent
him scrambling back. ae F

“Waugh!” Nomad gulped. “Ther pizen critters aire
out thar Les :

The rifle cracked again at the farther end of the hole
and the bullet came through and struck the wall close
by Mackenzie, who was stilt holding the dip.

“It begins to seem, Mackenzie,” said the scout, “that

pos

a ee

 

 

 

 
 

 

  

THE BUFFALO

the gas which filled this place was not as deadly as
you thought, and that all the reds got away,’

“lt itas so, Unr glad of it,* said Mackenzie; “for a
really didn’t want to kill them. I did what I did be-
cause I thought it must be done.”

“It puts a lot o’ inimies out thar, which we aire shore
goin’ ter haf ter fight,” muttered Nomad.

“Mackenzie,” said the scout, “I think we had better
hustle back to that door and get out of here, before the
Comanches go round to that side and close us in.’

It was a startling suggestion—that this might be
done; it sent them scurrying back into the big room,
and through the passage toward the big door.

“There is only an opening there, necarnis—not a
door,” said Pawnee,

But it was shown that he was Dicaken for, be-

fore they reached the big doorway, a rumbling sound
came, followed by a heavy thud, and when they gained
the place, they found that a door of stone had been
dropped from above, down sliding grooves, and that
they were shut in.

“Back to that other hole,”
“and we'll fight our way out.”

They retraversed the space as quickly as they could.

When they reached the other opening, they heard
stones dropping into it from above; and now and then
a rifle bullet came cluttering through, to keep them out
Ot sts eae

“Trapped!” grunted Nomad.
think o’ thet ?”

“T think,” said Pawnee, “that the genius of that
Comanche leader is a little too much for a lot of soit
heads like us.”

commanded the scout;

“Now, what does yer

ee

CHAPIGUR x.
AN UNWELCOME PRISONER.

Professor Dickson had got into trouble acne his
natural inability to do the right thing in the right way.
In the confusion of the rush to get out of the cavern,
when the light was extinguished, he dashed off in the
wrong direction, following the Indians.

- Soon he was in the midst of the choking gas, and fell
to the floor, clawing at his throat. Comanches trod
over him as they hurried to get to the small opening
by which they finally escaped.

i

One, stumbling against him, stooped, caught him by.

the collar, and dragged him along as if he were a bale
of goods. It was rough treatment, but it probably
saved his life.

With a bewildered sense of not acne what was
happening to him, the professor found himself in the
open air, with the cutting pain gone suddenly from his
lungs.. Over him the stars were shining, and the moon,
which had been in the eastern sky, was now down in
the western.

Round him were Comanches—some on the ground,
as if the gas had knocked them out, while others were

SES ic eae Seance eR ee er rem ereer
a LOTTE ESTE FPL SE ITN SOLENT OTT TORENT SS ADEE FETS
ay oy Z ; i "

SO ee inks inte cl

BILL STORIES. 23

hurrying to and fro, On the profegsor’s arms were

ropes, but his feet were free, and he decided to

stand up.

- As he got on his feet, a Comanche behind him gave

his knees a kick, which tumbled him down again.
“Crazy white man stay still!’ was growled at him

by one of the Indians who spoke fair English,

“I—I beg your pardon,” said Dickie.
feet were free, I thought it allowable

“Stop um big mouth!”

The professor collapsed mentally as well as phys-
ically.

“Dear me!” he muttered, looking round. ‘How
rude these creatures are, to be sure! Now I wonder
what became of my friends. They were to have dashed
for the big doorway, in an effort to get out, Yes, I
recall that quite clearly. I hope they succeeded. As
for me a

He subsided, when given another kick.

Soon he discovered that Comanches had climbed to
some rocks on the hillside, and were rolling down
bowlders, which other Comanches were using to stop
a hole with. Then a rifle cracked in the hands of a
Comanche who was kneeling by the hole.

“Dear me!” the professor exclaimed.
what that means?”’

He was some time in Mon edig that Ane a few
Comanches were about him, and he reached the con-
clusion that the others had hurried off for some pur-
pose.

An hour passed before he was commanded to get up
and walk,

“Crazy white man can go where um want,’
to him,

“But [ am not crazy,” the professor insisted, mildly
angry.

“Go where um want,’’ was repeated,

Two or three Comanches were being left at the
blocked hole; the others were moving away. The
cords had been cut from the professor’s hands, and
he saw that he was free—free to go where he chose.

The very fact that,he was at liberty bewildered him.

“IT think I do not understand this,’ he urged. “Am
I free to go my own way?”

- The Comanches who were hurrying off had with
them the one who had the best command of nee
The professor followed them.

“T am very anxious about my friends,”’
you know where they are! will .

It occurred to him suddenly that perhaps they had
escaped from the cavern room and that this body of
redskins was going Ne attack uae

“Tf that is so——

He rushed after the disappearing Indians.

Overtaking them, and being threatened by a lance,
he dropped back; but continued on after them.

“If they attack my friends, that will at least show
me where they are located,” he said, “and that is what

“But, as my

9?

 

 

ie wonder

was said

he said. ‘lf

 

marae
osoeuee

  

 

 

   
  
  
  
     
   
   
   
   
 
  
  
   
   
   
 
 
  
   
   
  
    
   
   
 
  
 
  
  
  
  
   
  
   
   
  
 
   
  
 

     
 
    

   
   
 
 
 
 
  
 
  
 

  
  
 
 
 

REISS

  

Saw

  
 
 

  
  
 
 
  
 
 

  
  
 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

   

 

 

__ THE BUFFALO

I want to know yight now. Dear me! The actions
of these Indians, supposed to be on the highroad to
civilization, certainly are ree-markable. Now, I won-
der if Professor Mackenzie is with Buffalo Bill's
party? He must be, of course, if he did not make some |
stich mistake as I did. I shall hope to learn the truth
about that in a few minutes.”

Though the Indians swung their lances at_him when’
he drew near them, the professor dogged them so
closely and persistently that, after a time, he found
himself in the familiar little valley, and knew that he
was close to the big opening by which the cavern room
had been entered.

Then he made the surprising discovery that a door
had been dropped and had closed the opening. He
now came to the conclusion that his friends had not
escaped from the cave, and were blocked in.

“This is most unfortunate!’ he muttered, wringing
his hands. ‘‘It seems that I am the only lucky member
of the entire party. And I gain the idea that the
Indians are treating me leniently because they believe
that I am insane. It is a remarkable state of affairs.
If I ever escape from my present unhappy position,
and return to @hicago, I shall have td¥write to Pro-
fessor Flathead and suggest .certain. modifications in
his estimate of the character of the Comanches.”

He crept near the door, and, for his pains, was given
a jab in the stomach with the butt of a lance shaft,
and told in round Comanche to make himself. scarce
or he would next get the point of the lance. =~

Old Dickie did not understand thé words, but he
could not fail to comprehend the meaning of the blow
that doubted him up.

“This is most unkind,” he protested, as he lay on
the ground, with hands pressed to his stomach. “Pro-
fessor Flathead, in his interesting work, has said——’

Another jab of the lance butt sent him rolling and
brought his statement to a finish.

Concluding it was unwise to get near the heavy
stone door, old Dickie withdrew into the valley, and sat
staring in the half darkness at the crouching Indian
forms and listening to the rolling gutturals with which
the Comanches discussed the situation.

“A knowledge of Comanche would be worth more
right now than all my knowledge of Greek and He-
brew,” he reflected. ‘‘And that old borderman, Mr.

Nomad, who seems to be so ignorant, understands it
fairly well, while I know nothing of it. Truly, knowl-
edge may be of varying kinds. I wonder if Professor
Mackenzie has.a speaking acquaintance with this bar-
barous tongue? Very likely he has, as he has made
a close study of Indians. As for myself, Greek, Latin,
and Hebrew Re a

“Crazy white man clear out!’ shouted the Indian
who had shown such a good command of English, “Tf
don’t clear out, git um killed mebbyso quick.”

 

 

The speaker approached the professor in a manner

so threatening that again old Dickie put space between
himself and the red men.

BILE STORIES.

When night gave way to gray dawn, the situation
had not changed, except that the Comanches, to cele-
brate their triumph, began to dance before the big
stone door. See

Phey had no drums, but for the absence of these they
made up with plentiful howling of a kind to make old
Dickie’s head ache, and send the cold shivers chasing
each other up and down his back,

In the growing light he could see them clearly, cov-
ered with paint and feathers, hopping, circling, and
swaying savagely before the closed opening, while
their monotonous howling war song went on and on.

Old Dickie felt in his pockets, smiled with satisfac-

-tion when he found there the pencil and notebook that

Cody had given him, and, taking them out, he began
to set down a hastily scribbled account of what he be-
held.

“Strangely interesting,’ he muttered, as his pencil

moved along. ‘If Mackenzie survives, and I can give
him these notes, he will think that this ‘singular turn
of events did not take place in vain. -And if he uses
them in his next volume, and gives me proper credit,
there is no knowing but what the American Ethno-
logical Society, in their next annual report, will give
me mention.”
_ When, finally, the dancing ended, and the Indians
built fires in the valley, while they still kept watch ‘on
the door, and began to cook rabbits which some of the
warriors had brought in, the professor began to feel
pangs of hunger. E

‘A portion of one of those hares would taste good,’
he said. |

He tucked away notebook and pencil, and walked
toward the camp fires. *

Seeing him, the Comanches, who had begun to feast
on the half-cooked rabbits, scowled horribly; but one
of them finally tossed the hungry man some of the
messy food.

“You are very kind,’ said Dickie, as he seized it.
“You have, in some ways, treated me in a manner
that I must still characterize as ungentlemanly. _ But
a study of ethics has taught me that the standard of
correct conduct varies greatly with different peoples.
So if, in any way, I have been misjudging you, I beg
you to overlook it. And if you could—if only you
could, take home to yourselves the meaning of those
fine lines of England’s great poet, what a change for
the better might be wrought in you. .Those lines are:

“Kind hearts are more than coronets, —
And simple faith than Norman blood.”

Then old Dickie bowed, and sat down to his feast of
rabbit. . } -

 

CHAPT RR 2)
| MODERN MAGIC; :
| ~ Ther sitervation in this hyar cave,” said Nomad,
“ain't so bad ez et might be, when yer takes ever thing
inter consideration. Fust place, while we cain't git @

4
  

 

out, them reds shore cain’t git at us. Second place,
we has feed er-plenty, \which in their hurry ther ki-yis
didn’t have time ter lug erway; and jn ther third
place, we has guns an’ pistols wi’ amminition ter stand
er siege. I reckon, sense I has looked round and sized
up things, thet we could stay in hyar’er month. Back
in ther lower eend 0’ ther room, which.I has explored
a bit sense ther gas faded out of et, is also worter, a
spring, er cuplike place, whar thar is plenty.”

Old Nomad was bringing coals to Newcastle. Very
member of the party had made similar explorations
and had acquired the same knowledge.

The only member not with the party in the main
room was Little Cayuse, who was watching the small
hole, to make sure that the Comanches did not hurriedly
remove the stones with which they had stopped it and
come in again as a surprise party.

As for getting out of the cave, there seemed to be
no way. Overhead were some ragged holes, to be
reached only with difficult climbing. Light and air
came in there in small quantities, but the holes appar-
ently could not be enlarged without tools. Scaling
ladders of some kind would also have been needed, to
reach them easily. : ;

“Staying in here a month isn’t going to be fun, old
Diamond, even if we are safe enough,’ commented
Pawnee, replying to the borderman.

“Before a veek,” said the baron, ‘dose bony: sol-
diers vill be oudt here to do der rescoo pitzness, I pedt
you. Vot iss a veek, oof ve haf blenty to eadt unt
| trink? I haf foundt mein bipe, vhich vos tooken avay
vrom me, unt blenty oof goot tobacco. So idt iss no
vorrying vot I am doing. Ledt der Gomanches sday
outsite unt holler-roundt oof idt suidts dhem.”

“There - speaks your true philosopher,’ laughed
Pawnee Bill. “I wish the rest of us could feel as_you
do, baron; but I’m afraid we can’t.”

“Tdt iss easy,” said the baron; ‘“‘you seen me?” He
began to light his big pipe. “Vhen I sidt me by dhis
vall against, unt schmoke, idt iss notting vot I care for
rainy vedder.” ~

Buffalo Bill, Ray Parker, and Mackenzie were con-
ferring. They had been looking over the supply of
}ammunition, which was principally in the form of
metallic cartridges. There had been a large amount
of this-in the wagons which the Comanches had looted,
and it had all been brought to this place. From the
'Teservation the Indians also had brought some loose
| powder.

“Cody and I have been discussing a plan of my sug-
gestion,” said Mackenzie. ‘As has been remarked, it
Seems that we are safe from attack in here, and can
stay a long time. But none of us deSires to remain
4 moment longer than we have to. Those troopers that
went toward the east may rematg a good while in that
section. It was suggested to them by Colonel Cody,
fhe tells me, that they should remain there and watch
for other Indians who might be tempted to imitate the
Comanche example. So I will be brief.”

Zp, 4

city OM FAN Ba A BA RRL Ty pith AEN RS AS IM GN eo Ny PO OO ai Raat as ia

 

aka es Staak Soa aia be a8 GEOR

_ vor der rescoo oof der bony. soldiers.

Ee ae eee eae ee Pa eee

 

THE BUFFALO BILL STORIES: ge

~ “Hear!” said Nomad, with disconcerting sudden.
ness.

“T will be brief,” repeated Mackenzie, looking at
him. “I have a*chemical combination I can prepare
from some things here which will have great explosive
power, and it can be used in conjunction with the gun-
powder in those cartridges. So the suggestion is that
we open the cartridges and get the powder, and that
we place the powder, with my explosive compound,
under the edge of the door, and see if we can’t blow
the door down, or make a hole under it through which
we can fight our way to freedom.”

Hooray!’ Nomad howled. “‘Thet’s ther-tork. I
ain't no blame ole groundhawg, willin’ ter set round

and sleep six months, waitin’ fer favorable conditions,

lixe ther baron thar. I wants ter git out, and git out
in er amazin. hurry?

The thought that something might be done stirred
all of them, with the exception of the baron. His
dream of a period of absolute rest and idleness, with

plenty of food and tobacco, seemed likely to be shat- _

tered.

““Vot iss der usefulness ?’’ he protested. “‘Vhen you
ar-re vell enough off vhy shouldt you dry to make idt
petter? 1 am woting dot ve dake idt easy unt vaidt
Oof in dwo
veeks dhey tond’t come, dhen we can do somet’ings;
but ve vill have had a goot-dime in der meanvhiles.”

The baron’s lone voice did not convince any one.

The cartridges were brought out and the work of
extracting the lead from the brass jackets and pouring
the powder out in a heap on the table, went on rapidly.

The room was searched for something that could be
used as a digging spade. When nothing was found
they attacked the ground at a corner of the stone
‘door with their knives. It was almost as hard as the
stone of the door, but they made some progress in
chipping and gouging it away, and that encouraged
them.

In the early hours of the morning the imprisoned
men heard the howling dance of the Comanches be-
yond the door. Up to that time they had worked
quietly, to keep their plan from being discovered.
Under cover of that Indian din they made better
progress.

The spot in which the work could be carried on being
in a cramped place, they tackled thg task in relays, so
that all the time knives were gouging and digging there.

By noon they had a hole of considerable size mined
under a corner of the door, and they were constantly
enlarging it. ae 2

Mackenzie busied himself with his chemicals; and,
in addition, made a fuse with which the powder charge,
when placed under the door, could be set off. This he

did by taking a strand of a rope found in the cave, un- —

twisting it until it was fibrous, then filling the fibers
with gunpowder reduced to a pasty condition.

“When this fires,’ he explained, “there is no reason
? ‘

  
   
  
   
 
  
   
   
  
  
  
   
  
  
  
  
 
      
   
   
 
 
 
    
    
  
   
  
 
   
  
   
   
 
   
 
  
   
   
   
 
    
      
   
  
 

 

 

  
    
   
   
   
    
   
    
        
       
         
       
    
     
     
     
    
      
    
    
    
   
 
     
    
   
   
    
 
  
    
    
   
   
 
 
     
      
   
 
      
     
   
    

‘THE BUFFALO

_ why it will not make a good fuse. And we shall need

along one. For, if that explosion has the force I think
it will have, we will need to be back in the farthest
recesses of. this room.”
Mackenzie worked with the enthusiasm of a student
and a man of science, and his quiet manner, as well as

‘the ability which his companions knew he possessed,

radiated great cheerfulness. :

Several times the work stopped, when Little Cayuse,
hastening in, reported that he heard Comanches at the
small hole that had been blocked with stones.

At length several members of the party were de-
tailed to that point, to be in readiness to meet the
Comanches there if they drew out the stones and tried
to get in. es

The scout and his friends had not put any faith in
their ability to get out at that opening. When not
filled with stones the opening was large enough to
allow only two or three men through, and from the
other side of what seemed a rather long tube it would
be easy for Comanches standing there to slay all who
tried to escape that way.

The earth, mixed with small stones which lay be-.
low the big door, grew harder as the descent was made
into it; so that, though the scout’s friends worked at
it in relays all night, another day had dawned before
the hole was large enough for Mackenzie's purpose.

Mackenzie now laid the gunpowder as he desired it:
and with it the chemical solution he had prepared, in
bottles. The long fuse led out into the room.

Then the hole was carefully filled with the earth and
stones dug out of it, and carefully packed down, to in-
crease the effect of the explosion.

“Tf T am not mistaken, when that goes the bottom of
the door will be blown to atoms,’ Mackenzie said.
“So we want to get well back.” :

“Sveet treams oof kviet, I bid you good-by,” sighed
the baron, as he retreated with the others.

From the depths of the room Mackenzie sent a
streak of gunpowder fire along the fuse he had made.

Breathlessly they watched it writhe toward the
passage leading to the door. It was like the progress
of a fiery serpent.

For a whole minute, it seemed, they waited. So
jong was the delay after the rushing stream of sparks
failed that they began to fear the fuse had been packed
so tightly that it had been cut off where it entered the
hole under the door. } '

“We'll hafter go an’ dig it out er’gin and try et
over,” said Nomad.

Then the explosion came; a low rumble lifting into

a deafening roar, and a jarring that shook stones from

-the ceiling and seemed to be crumpling together the
very walls of the cave. Bea
Rushing into the passage as soon as Mackenzie gave

- the word, the members of the party found that the
bottem of the door had been shattered, and a hole

blown there which let in the light from the valley.

   

BILL STORIES.

“Hooray !’”’ Nomad yelled, diving toward it, revolver
in hand. ‘“Halleluyer! Who follers me i

 

CHAPTER XII. 2
‘RESIGNED TO FATE.

Professor Lindley Murray Dickson was slow in dis-
covering that his presence annoyed the Comanches be-
yond the limit of endurance. He was hurried into it
finally by an attack that left him breathless.

He had clung to their vicinity hour after hour, and
the belief that ‘he was insane had secured him from
a deadly assault. But when pokes with lance butts,
yells, threatening gestures, and commands all failed to
move him, one of the redskins rushed upon him in a
fury of wrath and beat him to the ground with a lance
pole. When the victim of the assault was down the
enraged Comanche kicked him. .

But, even in his confusion and bewilderment, old
Dickie contrived to get on his feet, and began his usual
string of protestations.

The savage kicked him again.

“This is—er—yery tungentlemanly é

‘Another kick propelled the professor in the direc-
tion the aroused redskin wished him to go, and, as
the descent was downhill, old Dickie flew along a few
feet very rapidly.

“As a man who has been the friend of
gan again, as he stopped.

The moccasin of the redskin once more dusted the
rear of the professor’s tattered clothing, and again
the man of science went on his way. ae

“I must say——’’

‘Again the moccasined foot came up, and the pro-
fessor continued his gyrating descent. |

The final kick of the Comanche hurled Dickson
down, and, the place being steep, and a rolling motion
imparted, he went rolling to the foot of the incline.

When he arose he was furiously angry.
“Sich conduct!” he cried. “Such conduct! Why, |
even an ignorant savage |
For once old Dickie’s breath failed him. Standing
-at the bottom of the hill, choking with words he could
not utter, he shook his clenched fist at the Comanches. |
In answer they hurled roars of laughter at him. —
“Ingrates!’ he shrieked. ‘After all that teachers
and missionaries have done for. you—after my many
contributions to the Bureau for Indian Education— —
after-——” ce
Again his breath failed him. Res
“Kicked!” He said. “Kicked most ignominiously! |
Professor Lindley Murray Dickson, of _ Chicago, |
kicked by a degraded,savage! And not only once, but —
‘kicked numerously and tempestuously—kicked out- |
rageously and shamefully. This final and crowning
insult passes the limits of patience. . I Had hoped to
linger with them, trusting that by some happy chance, @

Ne

99

 

* he be-

 

53

 

 
SE nes Saye

 

Se
Q

THE BUPEALO

or through some fortuitous circumstance, I could aid
my friends who are cooped in that cave; but this :

He picked his way slowly along, muttering and
mumbling. a

“Tf I only had my glasses, so that I could see clearly
whither I am tending, it would be very gratifying; but
I shall have to make the best of my unfavorable en-
vironment, and fare on, whither I do not know. But
if I could once find that trail—as Colonel Cody calls
it—I might be guided by that. It is a long journey;
but, eventually, if conditions favored me, I might
reach those cavalrymen. It seems a wild chance, yet
I can at present think of no other which offers even a
moiety of hope. So perforce I must risk it.”

Finding a stick of suitable length, the worthy pro-
fessor began to use itasacane. He felt that it helped
his progress materially. — 6 ae

The professor's expulsion from the vicinity. of the
hostile Comanches came very early in the morning of
that day of hope which was later to witness the explo-
sive assault on the stone door.

Old Dickie found the trail—it was so plain that he
could hardly. have missed it. He set then his face
eastward, and hobbled on, a pathetic and tattered fig-
ure, gouging the ground with his gnarled stick.

“The exigencies of the sad state of my friends and
myself are enough to make one weep,’ he complained.
“Assuredly, Professor Flathead must revise his pub-
lished opinions of the Comanches: Yet it seems highly
probable, viewing itin the light of my present experi-

 

ence, that I shall never be able to give him corrected |

data on which to base that revision. Alas!. I shall,
no doubt, perish miserably in this inhospitable coun-
try—far from Chicago.”

He shook his head dolefully, and salty grief streamed
from his eyes.

How long the professor journeyed on he did not
know. His legs were weak from walking, and the
perspiration of his face; mixed with the dust of the
trail, had made him a sight to behold, when he became
aware that horsemen were approaching.

“More Comanches coming, doubtless!” he said, star-
ing with nearsighted vision. “I dare take no risks, so
I must hide. I wonder if I can find another buffalo
wallow, ‘weed-grown, which will serve as did that near
our former camp, now so far from here? I must ry.

He did not find a buffalo wallow; but, dashing fran-
tically about, he came to a rocky nest grown round
with sagebrush. Into this he burrowed. :

“The addition to the Comanche force now in those
hills will render it highly improbable that my friends
imprisoned there can ever escape. The miscreant sav-
ages will dye their hands in the blood of worthy white
men, and another red page will be written in the his-
tory of my country. But, if possibly I can save my-
self, I may, in the end, be able to carry to Chicago an
account of the terrible tragedy. Now I must crouch
here, and pray that those wild Bedouins of the plains
may pass me harmlessly by.”

 

& x i ay Faw oF i

ae

%

BILL STORIES. | 27

So closely did the professor lie, doubled in a ball in
the sagebrush, his face against the earth, and his tat-
tered coat drawn round his ears, that his knowledge of
the approach of the horsemen reached him chiefly as
vibrations of the ground.

He was burrowing thus, molelike, when he received
a jab in the back, which he thought came from the butt
of an Indian lance.

“Tf T pay no heed, but remain perfectly quiet,’
thought Dickie, “it is conceivable that they may sup-
pose me dead, and go on without troubling me.”

But the jab came again. Then he was yanked by
the shoulder, pulled round, and blinked up into the
face of a uniformed trooper. _

“Hey!” cried a voice. ‘What do ye think ut ye’re
doin’, annyhow?” ;

The professor uncoiled from his ball shape.

“Y ou-—you—are

“Oi am not, if ye mane annything that isn’t nice;
but, to spake plain, me name is Jerry MacManus. The
rist of the b’ys iss aff there, and I have been sint here
to rout ye out, and to ask ye what ye thought ye wor
doin’, annyhow, when you wint to hidin’ at our ap-
proach? Is that clare to yer”

 

The professor scrambled into a more dignified posi-

tion.

‘Heaven be praised!’ he cried.. “I do not see well
without my glasses, so I was sure that you were a
band of Comanches.”

“Camanches, is ut? We ar-re.out lukkin’ fer thim:’

“Ts your commander with you?” asked Dickie, ris-
ing, with the help of the trooper’s outstretched: hand.

“That’s an iligant question now? Would a body av

troopers be out widout a commander? An’ who would

there be to sind me in here? Av coorse we hov a com-
mander—Captain Duval. Ut’s some wather. on: yer
face that yell be wantin’, if the captain is to see you
At ails

_ He drew old Dickie out of the sagebrush, and in
the direction of the body of horsemen near by.

“Captain Duval!” exclaimed Dickie. “I know him
—that is to say, I have met him. I must have traveled
much farther to-day than I thought.”

“We ar-re in the thrail l’'adin’ to the Waggin Mound
hills,’ said thé trooper, ‘‘and they’re near by. Ut was
the conclusion thot we'd be naded here niore than aff
east thot brought us.” So

“Take me to your captain. This is a great blessing.

I shall be happy to tell him everything. .Take me to ~~

your captain.”

‘Ain't Ltakin’ yer"
- Conducted to the captain, Professor Lindley Murray
Dickson tried to tell at great length the story of recent
happenings.

“The principal point is,” said Duval, “Cody and his
crowd are hemmed in. ‘“‘We'll take the rest of it in in-
stallments, professor. |
behind one of my troopers, and we'll be moving.”

Now, you will please mount

  

   

}
i
i
t

   
 

28 THE BUETALO
Helped to the back of a trooper’s horse, old Dickie
clung there, and continued his tale of woe.

The troopers were advancing rapidly, however, and
no one was listening.

“Even I can see,’ said Dickie, after a while, ‘that
we are approaching the hills.”’ ae

“We're right into ‘em now,” said the trooper before
him. “Follerin’ this highway of a trail is so dead
easy it could be done in the dark.”

“Hello!” was cried by the man beside him.

The commander shouted an order, and all drew

rein,

“The Indians?” questioned Dickie nervously.

“No; horses. They’re off on the right—feedin’.”

“What are they feeding?” Dickie inquired.

“What are they feedin’? Wow! They're feedin’
themselves.”’

“Oh! Then you mean they are eating. A nice dis-
crimination in the use of words is i.

“They're the Comanche ponies, I reckon. And out
beyond them, a mile or more, are some other horses.
The fellers thinks they’re maybe the caballos of Buf-
falo Bill’s crowd. But we don’t see any ki-yis.”’

Another order came, and the troopers moved on.

“We're goin’ to let them horses go now, and see
where the reds aire. I suppose this trail’ll take us to
that cave, won't it?”

“It will take us to the opening which leads into that
small valley. The Comanches are in the valley. If I
have judged correctly, Colonel Cody and the men with
him are in the cavern room beyond, behind the stone
door, and cannot get out. That cavern room is of a
generally circular type of architecture, with——”

“Specifications in the next edition, professor,”
the trooper.

“Specif

Boom-m-m!

A thunderous, ear-splitting roar sounded.

It was that of the explosion which shattered the
door.

 

said

 

 

|) CHAPTER XHIL.
AOS PRB NOU WS HO UR,

The Comanches in front of the door tumbled back-
ward, startled and dismayed, when the explosion came
and the air over and round them became charged with
whistling fragments of stone.

Rolling River, the Comanche chief, tried to rally his
braves, when he saw the white men appearing in the
opening that had been blown at the bottom of the
door, and thereby he gained the idea that they were
the producers of the mystifying thing.

His high quavering yells to his scared braves as he
sought to stop, their panic and assemble them seemed
answered by other yells; for at that moment the troop-

   

   

BILE SL ORES.

 

charged in, sabers and carbines in

ers, dismounted,
hand.

“Charge them!’ Duval shouted.

“Rip ‘em open!” yelled the man behind Shae old
Dickie had been riding, and to whom old Dickie still
stuck like a bur.

“That is right,” old Dickie cried, repeating like a
parrot in his excitement: “Rip ‘em open!’

“Vee-ee-eep! Yee-eep!”’ |

“Yee-ee-eep!” parroted Dickie.

His disreputable collar was off, his torn coat slipped
back on his shoulders, his head was bare and his hair
was flying. He squinted in the sunshine, half blind
without his glasses and the shade of his hat. In his
right hand he swung the gnarled club that had served
him as a walking stick, and to which he had clung
tenaciousfy ever since.

“Rip ‘em open!’ he howled.
eep!”’

Old Nomad had rolled out of the hole below the
door, squalling like a tortured tomcat. And behind

“Yee-ee-eep! Yee-ee-

yhim > had. come the scouts, Mackenzie, Parker, the

baron, and Little Cayuse..

They were well armed, and, as soon as they were
outside, they dropped to their knees and began to shoot
at the scuttling Comanches.

But this shooting was brought to a halt, for the
troopers under Duval had rushed in, and swung across
the opening, in the line of the rifle fire, driving the
Comanches toward the slopes of the hill on the west.

Behind the charging troopers bounded Professor
Lindley Murray. Dickson, cheeping like a wild canary.
He looked the figure of a madman, justifying the
Comanche idea of him. | :

“Aire we goin’ to let ’em git erway?” howled No-
mad. “They're goin’ ter climb thet hill. Wow!
Waugh! Come on, fellers.”’

“You pedt, ve ar-re caming,”’ the baron yelped, bob-
bing at his heels.

“Hooray! Hooray! Thar goes old Rollin’ River.
Ther way he’s sloshin’ erlong I jedge he is out er his
banks an’ ther worter is risin’. Whoop!’

“Hoop-a-la!’” echoed the baron.

Like a tide, the scout’s party charged out’ from the
door, swinging across the narrow valley in pursuit of
the running Comanches.

Two or three of the Indians were hemmed in rocky
corners and captured. Two were slain by the carbines
of troopers. A few, it was known, were wounded.
But the wounded got away, with the remainder of the
band under Rolling River.

The hot chase over, troopers and bordeenan with
the others, came back into the valley, and struck hands
in friendship, rejoicing over the happy turn of things.

Old Dickie was for a time too breathless to indulge
in words; but he listened to ‘the fire of comments.
Seeing Ray Parker busy with pencil and paper, which
had been furnished by a trooper, old Dickie also begged

iA,
  

THE BUFFALO

for writing materials, and forgot himself a few min-
utes while jotting down his impressions and recollec-
tions.

Parker looked up, saw Dickie at work, and smiled.

“Hi! comrade of the quill!” he called across. ‘‘Im-
pressions hot off the bat are about right, eh?’

“Impressions hot off the bat are likely to contain
true realism, if I get your meaning correctly,” said
Dickie, beaming. ‘You meant a ball bat, rather than
a brickbat?”

“How would this do for a headline in the Hot-Blast,
professor? “Old Dickie the Hero of an Indian
Fight! 7 \

“Horrible?”

“But you really were quite a heroic figure, professor.
I saw you when you went skipping across the valley in
pursuit of the Comanches. Believe me, I did not think
you had it in you.’

Professor Lindley Murray Dickson looked severely
at the youthful journalist.

“That the Chicago Hot-Blast demoralizes even its
contributors I have afnple evidence right now,” he de-
clared. “I have always maintained that the type of
journalism which it represents tends to create light-
minded scoffing at serious things. We have been
through a terrible battle. Over there are dead men.
Several about us have received wounds. All are ex-
hausted. Why, sir, if you were viewing an eruption
of Vesuvius you would have it in your heart to make
a newspaper jest of it, and laugh at the sorrowing it
entailed.”’

Buffalo Bill and Pawnee were talking with Little
Cayuse.

“You have the Comanche blanket and Comanche
head feathers,” said the scout. “Go back to the sage-
brush, and work through it until you can discover what
the Comanches are doing; that is, see if they have
gathered to make a stand, or continue their flight.”

“Pard Bill, I see that the trooper captain is sending
out men,” said Pawnee. :

“Me make um sneak, pronto,” Cayuse promised, as
he pulled the Comanche blanket round him, changed
his headband, set in it the Comanche feathers, and
otherwise made alterations in his appearance. “You
see high peak?”

He pointed his brown forefinger.

“Yes; that’s plain enough.”

_. “T£ Comanche make up um stop, me stand on peak.
Tf Comanche go on, me no stand.” .

“That’s clear enough.”

“If Comanche in good place for Pa-e-has-ka make
um charge, I hold out blanket when stand on peak;
then meet Pa-e-has-ka in pifion cafion.”

He pointed to the cafion near the base of the peak—
a rocky notch, black-looking from that distance.

Yigg are a smart young redskin,”’ said Pawnee, in
approval.

 

‘you look peak—see Little Cayuse.

 

BILL STORIES. | 29

“Ai. Little Cayuse heap lucky boy again. Me got

um medicine hoof.” .

He had found it in the cave—the dried hoof of a

mustang, which was his great luck bringer. Having
it once more had heartened him to undertake any
task. S

“'No can make fail, when have medicine hoof,’ he
declared, beaming. “Comanche heap fool, not keep
um medicine hoof!”

“It's a bad business to throw away anything that
may bring luck,” agreed Pawnee gravely.

“In cave room,’ said the Piute, his eyes shining,
“soon as Little Cayuse find um medicine hoof, big
Mackenzie man think how he can make stuff to blow
door down. Then me use medicine hoof when fiery
snake jump at door, and door go ‘boom!’ Me hold
medicine hoof when come through hole; then out
come pony soldier, and Comanche make um run. Heap
great medicine.’ .

He pawed the hoof over his blanket, scratched it
over his headband and feathers, rubbed it. over his
shoulders and arms, and over his body. .

“Me go now,” he said, his tone confident. “Bimeby
Catch um all
Comanche, mebbyso.”

He stooped and slided away, then he passed out of
sight in the sagebrush.

The professor looked up in time to see him as he
disappeared. Suddenly the man of science sprang to
his feet. |
— “Yee-ee-eep!” he yelled.
manche’’

Ray Parker hastily made some marks in his note-
book.

“Old Dickie Seeing Things!’ It’s a good thing I
shan’t have the privilege of contributing the headlines
to this letter I’m scribbling,”’ he muttered. ‘The read-
ers of the Hot-Blast would be‘made to think old Dickie
was the whole show out here.”’

The distant peak was watched closely, after the dis-
appearance of the Piute. But his familiar form was
not to be seen on it at any time.

Within an hour he returned to the camp.

“Comanche big coward,” he said; “no make um stop

run like rabbit!’ ,

He spat out his scorn.

“Did you see them?” the scout inquired.

“See um heap plenty—'way west. Comanche go
pronto; mucho ’fraid. Muy malo.”

The troopers, with some of Cody's men, had been
rounding up the horses and the Indian ponies; they
made a goodly bunch, and were now held in the valley
by troopers.

Duval consulted with the scouts and Ray Parker.

“What is your idea now?” he asked.

“Rest!” said the scout. “We have all been through
some strenuous experiences, and rest is what we need.
If the Comanches are not located after we have rested

“There is another Co-

  

  
A
ab
a

ft
tt
i

,

"

30 THE- BUFFALO

we can hit the trail for the east, and see how affairs are
over in the Panhandle.”
“Whoop!” cried OMe baron joyously. “Now my

peacefulness hat come.’

CHAPTER XIV.
CONCLUSION.

The next morning Buffalo Bill and Pawnee Bill went
scouting in the Wagon Mound hills, for they were not
satisfied that the Comanches had departed.’

“Necarnis, there are two things which make me
think they won’t skip off, without returning—aye,
there are three, and possibly four,’ muttered Pawnee
Bill. “The first is the phonograph ca that
speech of old Swift Wind.”

“Check,’’ laughed the scout.

“The second is Mackenzie. The Indians have ar-
rived at a queer idea concerning him. I don’t know
what mental process they went through, but they con-
nect him up with Swift Wind. He brought back the
speaking spirit of Swift Wind in that box, and 1 is able
to make it speak.”

“Check two.” |

“The third reason they aren’t likely to disappear so
quickly is that we have their ponies, their arms, and
their ammunition.”

“Check three times.”’

“A possible fourth is that Comanches, when their
anes is up, are game fighters, and never lie down
easy.”

“Check again.” S

a might find other reasons for doubting the de-
parture of old Rolling River and his braves, but those

will do.”’

‘‘And they are all good reasons,’ asserted Cody.
“Still, Cayuse and the trooper scouts haven't been able
* to find any signs of them.”

“A Comanche is like a quail. When a quail is scared
and alights, it seems, for a time, to have the power of
retaining all odor and baffling the dog. But, after a
while, it loses the power, apparently. It is the same
way with Indians. When they hide they can keep out
of sight about so long. After-that they’ve got to rove
round a bit, to do spying and the like, and they are
sure to show themselves.”

“Once more correct,” Buffalo Bill agreed.
Pawnee laughed and took out a cigar.
“T found a few of these this morning in the cave,

 

BILT. STORIES, 9 a ~

where the Comanches had abandoned them; they are
mine, and were in the wagon stores. Have a smoke.”

They smoked. :

They were well within the hills, and, though they
talked in low tones, and seemed to be ambling amiably
along together, their keen eyes left few things unnoted.

Suddenly Buffalo Bill stopped.

“Indian moccasins,” he said, pointing to tracks.

“Right-o!”

Pawnee dropped down, set his fingers in the im-
prints, and looked at the tracks closely.

“Not a half hour old,” he said.~ “Big moccasins,
too. The rascal may be close round at this minute.”

The thought that a Comanche brave might be within
a few yards, with a gun drawn on them, caused the
two scouts to slide to cover. For ten minutes yey
quietly, separated. by only a few yards. :

Pawnee Bill tossed a stone out on the slope, and it
went bounding down through the bushes. /

Thereupon an Indian head came into view!

It was the head of Rolling. River, the Comanche
chief. The falling stone had caused him to believe
that the white men were moving near the spot from
which the sounds of the stone had come.

A dark something, like a springing snake, jumped at
him. Pawnee’s noose dropped around his red neck,
and a jerk on it brought him down. Before the
Comanche could throw off the noose, or cut it, Buffalo
Bill was on top of him.

Though hanipered by the rope, Rolling River put
up a stiff fight—only to be conquered in the end, and
tied. : )

Conducted down to the camp in the valley, he was
asked to do some talking, but he refused.

“All right,” said Buffalo Bill. ‘We intend to start
for the Panhandle, and you will go along with us.
We don’t need your talk; we have got you, the chief of
this red* outfit, and’ ee we turn you over to the
authorities this little ee that you started will
have been stamped: out.” os

‘The Comanches now had another reason far wanting
to make their strength felt, in addition to the reasons —
furnished already by Pawnee Bill. a

That night they attacked the camp, striking it in
the early morning. Their rush was worthy of the
object of their attempt, which was principally Rolling
River. They swept into the camp like a flashing
stream, and swept out again. When the assaulting

party retired, it took with it Rolling River and the — |
phonograph, and left two troopers badly wounded. aa |

 

4
Ay
nn
 

  

THE BUFFALO

A chase was tried; but it failed in the darkness.

The next morning not a Comanche could be found.
Apparently this time they had departed for good.

When the Panhandle was gained, Buffalo Bill and
his little party returned to their work of hunting buf-
falo calves. To Nomad’s disgust the scout had brought
back, on the Indian ponies, the nursing bottles and the
condensed milk taken by the Comanches.

Duval’s troopers went on, with the few Comanche
prisoners, and the band of Comanche ponies.

Within three days the Irish trooper, who had intro-
duced himself to old Dickie as MacManus, reappeared
at the scout’s camp on the Canadian River.

“Whurroo!” he cried, as he rode in and leaped from
his saddle. “Bad cess to the Comanches! Ye thought
ye lift thim in thim-hills, but ye didn’t. They must
have thraveled on fut, while we was thravelin’ on
horseback, and got along as fasht. Annyhow, they at-
tacked us, two nights ago, whin we wasn’t lukkin’
for ut.”

“And got their ponies again?’ said Buffalo Bill.

“They got iverything.”

“That means the prisoners, also.”

“Ponies, pris’ ners, guns—iverything; it was a clane
swape.”

“Then what?’ asked Pawnee Bill.

“Captain Duval thet ye moight be attacked next by

thim, and he sint me t’ give ye warnin’, an’ ut’s doin’

ut Oi am.”

“I suppose he followed their trail?”

“He did. But small good did ut do him. The mus-
tangs was fashter than our horses, and we c'u'dn’t over-
take thim.”

“An’ they come this co " psked Nomad.

“They wint to the south ; but O1’m thinkin’ ye'll see
thim here befure long. Have ye anny wor’rd, Colonel
Cody, to sind back to the captain?”

“Nothing,”* the scout replied. “It’s regrettable, but
what has happened has happened. You'll stay with us
a while; you'll need to rest yourself and your animal.”

Ray Parker was for an immediate return to Dodge
City. The Hot-Blast would be anxious to hear from
him, he said, and he was anxious to get out of a dan-
gerous country.

Rather Seen to note, old Dickie was for stay-
ig,

“We are here in the interest of a project that has
long occupied my mind,” he said, “and I am loath to
abandon it- The preservation of the bison, miscalled
the buffalo, is a thing that must be looked after now,

 

BILL STORIES.

31
/ |
or it can never be done. These Comanches, roaming
on these high plains, will begin now to slaughter them
for food; and so will reduce quickly the small num-
ber that remains. Therefore, I am for staying until
we finish our work.”

“Purfesser, you're risin’ in my estimation faster ’an
a thermometer in Orgust,” cried Nomad.

“The professor is harboring the comfortable opinion
that, no matter what happens, the Comanches will not
get after him, and he is safe. But I am not,’ laughed
Parker. ‘You see I have red hair, and I’m told that
a red-headed scalp is more highly prized by these In- ~
dians than any other kind. Professor ESO the
high lights of Chicago are calling to me.’

Yet Parker did not care to go alone, a he stayed,
while the buffalo hunting went on.

“Me, turned inter er nuss fer baby bufflers,” Nomad
groaned occasionally, when he had work of that kind
to do. “An’ all fer ther benefit o’ highbrows thet |
thinks they aire better’n ther common run o’ folks.
Et is a sad down-comin’ fer yours truly.”

Still, his grief was not serious, and his wailings were
only laughed at, as doubtless he intended they should
be.

The work went on speedily and satisfactorily. The
expected attack of the Comanches, while it made Cody
and his friends guard the camp and throw up intrench-
ments, did not materialize. !

In the end they were able to drive a number of fine
buffalo calves to Dodge City. And these became the |
nucleus of a herd. So that, in spite of the interference
of the raiding Comanches, their buffalo hunt was a suc-
cess.

“Ther eend o’ thet kind er work fer me, though,”
declared Nomad. “Whenever I wants ter go inter thet
kind er bizness I’m goin’ ter hire out to a horsepital

Teg ae
‘ THE END.

“Buffalo Bill and the Prairie Corsairs; or, Pawnee
Bill’s Razzle-dazzle,” is the title of the exciting series
of adventures which will be described in the next issue
of this weekly—-No. 541. In this narrative Buffalo
Bill meets one of the worst setbacks of his career, and
the manner in which he strives to regain the ground
he has lost and round up a band of desperate bandits
shows the famous scout and his pard, Pawnee Bill, at
their best. Once more Little Cayuse distinguishes him-
self and wins the gratitude and admiration of Colonel
Cody. The story is thrilling from start to finish, and
continues the action which is described in this issue.

  
 

 

 

 

 

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‘The most popular publication for boys. ‘The adventures of Frank and’ Dick Merriwell can
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“82—l'rank Merriwell in the National Forest; or, Outwitting the
Timber Thieves. ;

~83—Frank Merriwell’s Tenacity; or, The Mystery of the Famous
Scientist. a

co Merriwell’s. Self-Sacrifice; or, The Man Who Could
ump:

+8s-——Dick Merriwell’s Close Shave; of, The Man With a Grouch.

"86—Dick Merriwell’s Perception; or, The Brains of the Varsity.

“§7-—Dick Merriwell’s Mysterious Disappearance; or, The Game
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”88—Dick. Merriwell’s Detective Work; or, The Case of the
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“89—Dick Merriwell’s Proof; or, The Problem of the Stubborn
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“go—Dick Merriwell’s Brain Work; or, The Frustration of the
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797—Dick Merriwell, Mediator; or, The Strike at the-Plum
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798—Dick Merriwell’s Decision; or, The Sacrifice of a Principle.

799—Dick Merriwell on the Great Lakes; or, The Smugglers of
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S800—Dick Merriwell Caught Napping; or, The Rube that Could
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801—Dick Merriwell in the Copper Country; or, The Search for
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802—Dick Merriwell Strapped; or, The Adventure of the Es-
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803—Dick Merriwell’s Coolness; or, At the Nevada Gold Fields.

 

 

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738—A Plot Within a Plot; or, Nick Carter Foils a Master
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NERS ae Dead Accomplice; or, Nick Carter Finds an Unusual
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740—A Mysterious Robber; or, Nick Carter's Counterplot.
741—The Green Scarab; or, Nick Carter’s Beautiful Mystery.
742—The Strangest Case on Record; or, Nick Carter’s Guessing
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743—A Shot in the Dark; or, Nick Carter's Midnight Adventure.
744—The Seven Schemers; or, Nick Carter Foils a Splendid Plot.
745—The Hidden Crime; or, Nick Carter’s Telephone Clew.
74o—The Secret Entrance; or, Nick Carter and the Child
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748—The Disappearing Fortune; or, Nick Carter’s Fish Line Clew.
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753—-The Man With a Crutch; or, Nick Carter on the Trail of
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yea—The Rajah’s Regalia; or, Nick C4fter and the Fallon Twins.

4ee-—Saved from Death; or, Nick Carter’s Service.

750—The Man Inside; or, Nick Carter’s Final Move.

757Out for Vengeance; or, Nick Carter and the Mystic Mes-

sage.
758—The Pons of Exili; or, Nick Carter on Death’s Trail.
759—The Antique Vial; or, Nick Carter’s Curious Mystery.
760—The House of Slumber; or, Nick Carter’s Work of a Day.
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762—‘The Mocker’s” Stratagem; or, Nick Carter’s Smartest Ad-

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763—The Man that Came®ack; or, Nick Carter’s Finish Fight.
764—The Tracks in the Snow; or, Nick Carter’s Strange Clew.
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BUFFALO BILL STORIES

 

ISSUED EVERY TUESDAY

BEAUTIFUL COLORED COVERS

 

 

There is no need of our telling American readers how interesting the stories of the adventures

of Buffalo Bill, as scout and plainsman, really are.

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

the actual habits and life of this great man, as by reading the BUFFALO BILL STORIES.
You can have your news-dealer

We give herewith a list of all of the back numbers in print.
order them or they will be sent direct by the publishers to any address upon receipt of the price

money or postage- stamps.

305—Buffalo
306—Buffalo
808—Butffalo
3809—Buffalo
312—Buffalo
314—Buffalo
315—Buffalo
316—Buffalo
Buffalo
321—Buffalo
Doe Buffalo
325—Buftalo
326—Buffalo
327—Buffalo
328—Buffalo
329—Bufftalo
330—Buffalo
331—Buffalo
332—Buftalo
333—Buffalo
334—Buffalo
335—Butffalo
336—Buffalo
337—Buffalo
338—-Butfalo
339
340—Buftalo
341—Buffalo
342—Buffalo
343—Buffalo
344—Buffalo
345—Buftalo
346—Buffalo
348—Buftfalo
349— Buffalo
350—Buffalo
351—Buffalo
352—Buffalo
353—Buffalo
354—Buffalo
355—Buffalo
356—Butffalo
357—Buffalo
358—Buffalo
359—Buffalo
+ 360—Buffalo
362—Buffalo
363—Buffalo
364—Buffalo
366—Buffalo
367—Buffalo
368—Buffalo
369—Buffalo
370—Buffalo
371—Buftfalo
372—Buffalo
374—Buffalo
375—Butffalo
377—Butffalo
378—Buffalo
379— Buffalo
380—Buffalo
381—Buffalo
382—Buffalo
383—Buffalo
384—Buffalo
385—Buffalo
386—Buffalo
387—Buffalo
388—Buffalo
389—Buffalo
390—Buffalo
391—Butffalo
392—Buffalo
3938—Buffalo

Bill and the Barge Bandits..
Bill, the Desert Hotspur...
Bill’s Whirlwind Chase......
Bill’s Red Retribution.......
Bile Ss Capa UPR. cis calareteiy
Bill in the Jaws of Death....
BiullsvAZeee RuNNeTS. ssi. Sis
Bul’s Dance with Death.....
Bill’s Mazeppa Ride........
BLS Gy DS Ve DANG elie i sia oe
BiUes Golds Hunters. 7.56755 55
Brains OlGGMeRGO sis ale es

5
Bill’s Message from the Dead >

Bill and the Wolf-master....
Bill’s Flying Wonder........
Bills birdden -Goldisce es
Bells, Outlaw Praid. . es sek
Bill and the Indian Queen...
Bill and the Mad Marauder...
Billkswhee Barricade). ss. ws
Bill and the Robber Elk.....
Bilis Ghost: Dance. sc.s 6 6s.
Billie Pea cespipe ie; cies) oie 3
Bills Red Nemesis..........
Bill’s Enchanted Mesa......
Bill in the Desert of Death..
BHI SBA SULCAK Seco sdicent sts
Bill on Detached Duty......
Bill’ Susoeiay VEV SCL Vac suas cise: 6

Surprise - Party Mocs. s

Great] Rides ieee eis

CNW TEN Sales ders cn ee

Ordeal Ore Bires si

Casket Me PC ATIS ie) e 5)

m

MIAt-poaAe. Pritts. <a
Bill ‘on PGC oem tah eal al etoue
Bill and the Broncho Buster.
Bill’s Great Round-up.......
BINS RICd gents is reccele sik es
Bills. COWDOV Band. sini erie
Bill and the Emigrants.....
Bill Among the Pueblos.....
Bill’s Four-footed Pards.....
BUM SGsProtese Po5 ia. saan oo oes
Bil S APA eis ate ees roi

BiVSeOuestiie sar tae: WD

Bill’s Waif of the Plains.
Bill Among the Mormons.
Bill’s Assistance. Reaoee
Bill’s Rattlesnake Trail. Cag
Bill and the Slave-dealers.
Bill’s
Bills: Girls Warde ie oes cies
Bill’s Iron Bracelets... 0... 63
Bills sade: “Amulet x sere ce
Bills Marie Wariat Hic 0.5
Billie, Bridse ol Hite cy ani.)
BUS BOWIE ei saly cee eeu ce
BMS Way SULCA Ke see isn ie
Bill’s Mi

Bill’s

Bill’s

Bill Overboard Ti SaU eR Geg the ae
ISUNISS ORAM oyster Ore ies ee or yuna,
Bis Bigs Contract. 05 a2. 5
Bill and “Calamity JAUC ce oie
Bill’s Kid Pard

Bill’s Desperate Plight...... A
Bills Fearless Stand.......<. 5
Bill and the Yelping Crew.
Bills “Guiding pHand. 4,0 .0).0 5
Bill’s Queer Quest Sena al erie 5
Bill’s Prize “Get-away’..... 5

Strong Arn cae aes 5

 

394—Buffalo
395—Buffalo
396—Buffalo
397—Buffalo
398—Buffalo
399—Buffalo
400—Buffalo
401—Buffalo
402—Buffalo
403—Butffalo
404—Buffalo
405—Buffalo
406—Buffalo
407—Buffalo
408—Buffalo
409—Buffalo
410—Buffalo
411—Buffalo
412—Buffalo
413—Buffalo
414—Buffalo
415—Buffalo
416—Buffalo
417—Buffalo
418—Buffalo
419—Buffalo
421—Buffalo
422—Buffalo
423—Buffalo
424—Buffalo
425—Buffalo
426—Butffalo
427—Buffalo
428—Buffalo
429—Buffalo
430—Buffalo
431—Buffalo
432—Buffalo
438—Butffalo
434—Buffalo
435—Buffalo
436—Buffalo
437—Buffalo
438—Buffalo
439—Buffalo
440—Buffalo
441—Buffalo
442—Buffalo
443—Buffalo
444-_Buffalo
445—Buffalo
446—Buffalo
447—Buffalo
448—Buftalo
449—Buffalo
450—Buffalo
451—Buffalo

mosa
452—Buffalo

453—Buffalo
454—Buffalo
455—Buffalo
456—Butffalo
457—Buffalo
458—Butffalo
459—Buffalo
460—Buffalo
461—Buffalo
462—Buffalo
463—Buffalo
464—Buffalo
465—Butffalo
466—Butffalo
467—Buffalo

Bill’s Hurricane Hustle.....
Bills eStancbilayss 4

Bills oP Niiivnenes ts Pieusises fleas
Bill’s Trackers.

Bill’s Dutch Pad
Bill and: thesBravonw vege.
Bill andthe Quaker g i. cs
Bill’s Package of Death.....
Bill’s Treasure Cache.......
Bills Private cw ean.
Bill and the Trouble Hunter.
Bill and the Rope Wizard..
Bul Ss 7Miestagiin mes ce. anes
Bill Among the Cheyennes.

Bll OBeSiELEM i. wees es aues 5

Bill and the Redan sec,
Bill’s Tree-trunk Drift......

Bill andthe. Speeter i) 003). t

Bill and the Red Feathers...

Bills Kane Stroker ira: f

Bill, the Desert Cyclone.....
Bill’s Cumbres Scouts.......
Bill and the Man-wolf..... :

Bill and His Winged Pard... °

Bill-at? Babylon Bars...) sha.
Bill’s Long
Bill’s Steel Arm Pard.......
Bill’s Aztec Guide..........
Bill and Little Firefly......
Bill in the Aztee City.......
Bill’s Balloon Esecape...:...
Bill and the Guerrillas. . F
Bill's? Border Wares. 4 ;
Bill’s Mexican Mix-up.......
Bill and the Gamecock......
Bill and the Cheyenne Raiders
Bill’s Whirlwind Finish.....
Bill’s Santa Fe Secret......

Bill and the Taos Terror.... 5

Bill’s Bracelet of Gold......
Bill and the Border Baron..
Bill at Salt River Ranch....
Bill’s Panhandle Man-hunt..
Bill at Blossom Range......
Bill and Juniper Joe.......
BS EM SOOM ssc wsieiers eco
Billsat Clearwater sci cas
Bills’ Winning? Hand... eis
BuvscCinch: Claimietun sear.
Biles Goma desi cise coescats
Bill in the Bad Lands...... 2...
Bill and the Boy Bugler.....
Bill and the Heathen Chinee.
Bill and the Chink War.....
Billsi.€hinese? Chasen. 34 ai.
Bill’s Secret Message.......
Bill and the Horde of Her-

Bill’s Lonesome ‘Trail Sar aaecueeys
IBULV SOU at: stecusie sists sas e
Bill in Deadwood...

BEES HI ESt ATs eis cca 5

Bill and Old Moonlight.....
Bill Repaid

Biller Throw ba Cke.tsrs sere sce veieys
Bills sight Wonseen?. 15. ¢.
BLURS EINGw: (Pandicn ce ewes
Bill’s ‘Winged Victory”.....
Bill's Pieces-of-eight........
Bill and the Hight Vaqueros.
Bis eOmlucky Siesta... ws s
Bills Apache: Clues cts abi5
Bill and the Apache Totem..

Bill’s Golden Wonder....... 5
468—Buffalo Bill’s Fiesta Night......... 5

PATI a ea eketiec ee 5

 

59—Buffalo

—Buffalo
—Buffalo
—Buffalo
3—Buffalo

—Buffalo

Buffalo
6__Buffalo
—Buffalo

—Buffalo
—Buffalo

—Buffalo
482—Buffalo
483—Buftfalo
484—-Buffalo
485—Buffalo
486—Buffalo
487—Buffalo
488—Buffalo
489—Buffalo
490—Buffalo
492—Butffalo
493—Buffalo
494—Buffalo
495—Buffalo

ers
496—Buffalo
497—Buffalo
498—Buffalo
499—Buffalo
500—Butffalo
501—Buftfalo
502—Buffalo
503—Buffalo
504—Buffalo
505—Buffalo
506—Buffalo
507—Burffalo
508—Buffalo
509—Buffalo
510—Buffalo
511—Buffalo
512—Buffalo
513—Buffalo
514—-Buffalo
515—Buffalo
516—Buffalo
517—Buffalo
518—Buffalo
519—Buftfalo
520—Buffalo

Roop BR BRB BR BBB
DANN AAA AAAS

man
521—Buffalo

522—Buffalo
523—Buffalo
524—Buffalo
525—Buffalo
526—Buffalo
527—Buffalo
528—Buffalo
529—Buftalo
5380—Buffalo
531—Buffalo
532—Buffalo
533—Buffalo
534—Buffalo
535—Buftfalo
536—Butffalo
537—Buffalo
5838—Butffalo
5389—Buffalo
540—Buffalo
541—Buffalo
542—Butffalo
543—Buftalo

Bill,

Bill and the Hatchet Boys..

These stories have been read exclusively in this
ou boca so thoroughly acquainted with

in

Bill and the Mining Shark.. :

Bill and the Cattle Barons..

Bill’s Long Odds...36.:...5 '

Bills Promise toy Pays. v3:
Bills Diamond Hatches...
Bill and the Wheel of Fate.

the Peacemaker....... a

Bill and the Pool of Mystery :
oa

Bill and the Deserter.......
Bill’s Island in the Air... 35...
Bilis SU ati eres scans
BEL SURO Stgare versuri ton posers
Bill and the Ponca Raiders.

Bill’s Boldest Stroke....... 5

Bill's

HMO Ma iy. sarin ais eens f

IBIS BIOCKHVdes ee aoe eters 3

Bill and the Gilded Clique...

Bill and Perdita Reyes..... D
Bill and the Boomers....... 5

Bill
Bill "ae Canon (Diablo... i. |
Bill’s Transfer

Bill Jae an EV aditerar Ga taeeavena ts k
vpels f

5
Bill and the Red Horse Hunt-

Bill’s Dangerous Duty......
Bill and the Chief’s Daughter
Bill at binagas Wells isc.
Bill and the Men of oe
Bill at Rainbow’s En

Bill and the Rueda Biot.
Bill's Red: ‘Driangle 1.25 6.064
Bills; Royal: Mush 323,
Bulls ramp, Jeards i) soos
Bill on the Upper Missouri
BRS Crows SCOULS) wast nee oe
Bills Opium: Casein. sou
BileSeWateneratt syste bates
Bill’s Mountain Foes........
Bills: Battle: Cryo. Gas cake +
Bill’s Fight for the Right.
Bill’s Barbecue PURO SauRgt capa at,
Bill and the Red Renegade.
Bill and the Apache Kid.
Bill at the. Copper Barriers.
Bills 2 Paciich Bower... a 2k.
Bill and Chief Hawkchee....
Bill and the Indian Girl....
Bill Across the Rio Grande..
Bill and the Headless Horse-

Bill’s Clean Sweep

Bill’s Handful of Pearls....
Bulls Pueblowtocsini wees ee
Bills aos hotemirs. cine a.
Bill and the Pawnee Prophet
Bill and Old Wanderoo......
Billss Metry Gg Ware yee ens:
Bill and Grizzly Dan.......
Bill at Lone Tree Gap......
Bilis Rratlsot, Deaths .c en
Bill at Cimaroon’ Barve... .
Bill and the Sluice Robber...
Brllson WOSt RVers eis ots o4
Billsr Phunderbolt ies. 6 5

IBIS SIOUK CICS eee eae ny

BUS Sioux sbackle yi iy oie
Bilt and the Talking Statue..
Bill’s’ Medicine Trail... 6.05:
Bill and the Knife Wizard...
Bill and the Red Bedouins..
Bill and the Prairie Corsairs
Bill’s Searlet Pick- oe TEN aT
Bill’s Mental Magic.

HOA OUOLOUON

USTOUSTOT

oi

TSUSUOTOUCL

Nag

o

AMA OOO

SUN

aH

TOSS

AMSAT

If you want any back numbers of our weeklies and cannot procure them from your newsdealer, they can be sone direct

from this office.

Postage-stamps taken the same as money.

STREET & SMITH, PUBLISHERS, 79-89 SEVENTH AVENUE, NEW YORK CITY

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