A DISCOVERY.
Buffalo Bill would have liked to have returned to his own camp that
night, but he saw that Black Bill was still somewhat dazed by the
wound in his head, and he did not just know how it would turn out.
The scout had known similar wounds prove fatal when least expected,
and if the negro was left to guard the two prisoners he might lapse
into unconsciousness, and there be a possibility of the men getting
free.
Then, too, he knew what had been said by the two men of the pards
they were expecting.
They were overdue and might never come; and again, if they did happen
to come that very night it would mean sure death to Black Bill,
should he be left there alone.
So the scout decided to remain, and, after the meal was over, he
secured the prisoners, left the negro in charge, and started out on a
search. He was not long in finding a trail leading into a wild cañon,
through which flowed a stream, like a river in wet weather, but at
other times dry.
Going down this, the scout saw that he had struck the gold beds of
the people of the Lost Valley.
It was a case of placer mining, the wash from the mountains of the
particles of gold, and yet the pick and shovel had been brought into
use also in the bed of the cañon.
“They have gotten considerable gold out of here, that is certain, and
these men have been steadily at work, I see; but where are the people
of the Lost Valley, for only these two murderous scamps seem to be
anywhere about.”
So musing, Buffalo Bill went on through the cañon, came out into
a large valley, and, climbing to the top of a lofty cliff, looked
about, glass in hand.
It was nearly sunset; and the rays of light were cast far down the
valley, and the eyes of the scout fell upon moving objects there.
At once he turned his glass upon them.
“They are horsemen!” he cried, “and they are coming this way.”
A moment after he continued:
“There are two of them, but they are leading five horses. By Jove! I
believe they are the pards of these two murderers, just returning.
How lucky I did not return to my camp!
“Yes, they must be their two comrades; and, if these men are
murderers, they can be no better that are coming.
“They are all of half a dozen miles away, and it will be an hour and
a half before they can reach the cabin, and darkness will be in
soon. I’ll go and prepare for them.”
The scout took another long look at the far-distant horsemen, then
descended from the cliff, walked rapidly back through the gold cañon,
and reached the cabin just as dusk fell.
“Men, I am sorry to have to gag you and make you more secure, but I
am determined to be upon the safe side. Are you well enough, Bill, to
help me?”
“Oh, yes, sah.”
“Then get two sticks, put a piece of blanket over the head of each,
and have it so you can tie it back of their heads.
“I will tie these men in their bunks, when they have been gagged and
they will give us no trouble or anxiety.”
“It will kill us,” shouted Rocks.
“Oh, no; you don’t die so easily.”
The two men, bound as they were, sought to resist, but they soon
found that they were as children in the hands of the scout, and they
were placed in their bunks, made fast there, and the gags put in
their mouths so that they could utter no sound.
To test this the scout gave each one a severe pinch, to make them cry
out, but a low groan was all that they could utter.
“You see, I discovered some visitors coming, and who I am sure are
the pards of these two men coming for them; so we wish no outcries
of alarm, for I shall capture them also.”
The two men could hear, if they could not talk, and they writhed and
moaned at what they heard.
“You, Black Bill, hide in the pines, rifle in hand, and be ready to
drop those men if they attempt to run away.”
“Yes, sah, I’ll do it.”
“Hide a short distance off in the pines. Are you ready?”
“Yes, sah.”
“All right. I’ll wait in the cabin to welcome them.”
The negro shouldered his rifle and walked to a place of hiding, with
the scout by his side.
Then Buffalo Bill returned to the cabin and closed the door, to wait
the arrival of the visitors.
That the chief of scouts had made no mistake in his surmise as to who
the two horsemen were was proven by the sound of hoofs coming up the
cañon.
The guide saw by the moonlight two men, with five led horses, two
carrying packs, pass by him. He heard one say:
“I’ll be sartin afore I make a break, for we don’t know what has
happened in ther three months we has been away.”
“All right; I’ll wait here,” was the answer.
The first speaker then rode on alone to the cabin and called out:
“Ho, pards, kin yer give a couple of friends lodgin’ fer ther night?”
The two prisoners writhed in agony of spirit, but Buffalo Bill,
imitating the voice of Rocks, and having learned the names of the two
men, called out:
“Hooray! Is that you, Jim Sims and Alex Sands?”
“It are. Any one with you?”
“Yes; two pards is here. Wait until I open the door, and you bet we
is glad ter see yer, fer Tom is laid up jist now and feelin’ mighty
bad.”
“Hoop-la! Come on, Alex!” cried Jim Sims in a joyful tone.
“They are here, and all’s O.K., with the goose hanging high.”
The tone was exultant, and Jim Sims leaped from his horse, stepped to
the door, and was suddenly seized by the throat with a grip of iron,
hurled to the dirt floor and heard the words:
“Utter a sound of warning to your pard and you are a dead man!”
The man was silent with fright, and, in an instant, the lariat of
Buffalo Bill had been passed round and round his arms, pinioning them
to his body, while his weapons had been removed.
“Come in, Alex, and see poor Tom,” said Buffalo Bill, and the other
man, having dismounted, stepped into the cabin, to be felled his full
length by a stunning blow dealt him by Buffalo Bill full in the face.
“Ho, Black Bill!” called out the scout, and the negro sprang into the
cabin at the call, having followed the last man closely.
The latter found himself bound before he recovered from the scout’s
stunning blow full in the face, but he gasped:
“Who is yer, cuss yer?”
“A government officer on the track of gold boomers, four of whom we
have just roped in, for there lie your pards Tom and Rocks, in as bad
way as you are.”
“Is this one all secure?”
“You bet he is, Massa Buf’ler Bill.”
“Buffalo Bill! That means we hang, Jim!” cried Alex Sands, in bitter
tones.
“So you are Buffalo Bill, is yer?” asked Jim Sims.
“Yes; anything else I can do for you?” The scout naturally felt
elated over his successful capture without firing a shot or having
taken a life.
“No, cuss yer, yer hev done too much.”
“We’ll take the gags out of the fellows’ mouths now, as we have these
two secure,” and, going over to the bunks, the two gags were removed,
water was handed the men, and the four were at liberty to talk
together, as soon as all four were secured in bunks for the night.
Then Buffalo Bill and the negro went to care for the horses, and a
good grass plot was found down the cañon, where the animals were
staked out.
The two packsaddles were well filled with supplies, and two of the
other horses had bridles and saddles on them for the use of the men
who were to ride them back to civilization when the gold boomers
returned with their riches.
From the conversation of the four, Buffalo Bill soon gleamed that
the two had had a hard time of it going through on foot, but had
reached Helena at last, and, after a long rest, had bought horses
and supplies, and, watching their chance, had started back again
for the Big Horn Basin for their pards, and cheered by the riches
they would become possessors of and going to bring back with them to
civilization.
The firelight showed Buffalo Bill that the two men had hard faces,
about on a par with his first two prisoners, and he knew that it
would not do to leave them alone, bound as they were, with Black
Bill, until the negro felt wholly himself again, and so he said:
“Now, we will turn in, Black Bill, and get a good night’s rest, and
to-morrow I’ll go after the boys and bring them over here, for this
seems to be about the end of our trail.”