CHAPTER XLIX.AN UNEXPECTED DISCOVERY.
With the first glimmer of light in the eastern skies, the settlers were astir, and the bugle call to the troopers pierced through the motte.
Buffalo Bill and Midnight appeared to have fully recovered from their hard work of the past few days.
Between Captain la Clyde and Buffalo Bill a warm friendship had sprung up.
Sibyl exhibited a most kindly interest in the noted scout, whose praise was on every tongue.
Howard Lawrence, being deeply in love with Sibyl, and noticing that she most kindly regarded the man who had so bravely helped the settlers, felt that he had a dangerous rival, and was determined not to yield one atom of any claim he held upon the affection of Sibyl Conrad.
Ruth Whitfield also exhibited a marked interest in the famous scout, and seemed most anxious to be ever near him.
A shadow would cross her brow whenever Buffalo Bill would turn, with one of his fascinating smiles, and address her lively cousin, for Ruth had a fierce and jealous nature, and could look only unkindly upon one who crossed her path in any manner.
Thus, unobserved by the scout, matters were taking a stormy turn and threatening squally weather.
Percy la Clyde was jealous of Howard Lawrence, who in turn hated the young officer, and was likewise jealous of the scout, in whom both Sibyl and Ruth appeared to be so deeply interested.
If these jealous hearts could have realized it, the situation held a very large element of comedy. At length the sun arose beyond the prairie, and slowly the long train of wagons filed out from the motte, with here and there a party on horseback, and took up its march farther on toward the setting sun, leaving behind, within their narrow beds of clay, those who had fallen in the battle the night before.
At the head of the train rode a small cavalcade, consisting of Buffalo Bill, Percy la Clyde, Major Conrad, and the troopers.
The scout was acting as a guide for the emigrants toward one of the most fertile districts on the plains, which was well watered, and where a settlement would have every advantage that could be found on the frontier.
When Howard Lawrence heard Buffalo Bill speak of the point he considered most favorable as a settlement, he instantly remarked that he intended riding on ahead for half a mile.
Arming himself thoroughly, and declining Gerald Conrad’s offer to accompany him, the young pioneer set off, at first keeping only a short distance ahead, but gradually drawing away from the train, until, when the noonday halt was made, he was nowhere visible upon the prairie.
As if fully acquainted with the country, he put his horse at a rapid gallop, and continued on for miles, until a higher roll in the prairie gave him a view of the river through the green trees of a prairie island.
Toward this point he directed his course until he found himself upon a peninsula, made by the river making a grand curve.
On this point of land, entirely surrounded by water, excepting where it touched the open prairie, had been the home of Alfred Carter.
A more delightful place could not have been chosen for a settlement; for the point, or the peninsula, contained fully five thousand acres of land, of the richest kind of soil.
Scattered over it were large timber mottes, the river bounded it upon three sides, while to the eastwardstretched the unbrokenprairie for miles, to serve as a luxuriant pasture for stock.
As Howard Lawrence rode along the trail leading toward the humble cabin home upon the river bank, his brow wore a troubled look, and he glanced nervously around him.
Nearer and nearer he drew toward the cabin; but no lazy wreath of blue smoke curled up above the treetops, and all seemed strangely desolate around him.
Presently a dark form glided from the foliage bordering the trail, and stood directly in his path.
Lawrence reined his horse back with iron grasp as his eyes fell upon this person.
“Red Bud of the Forest, what do you here near the lonely home of the paleface hunter?†he demanded, speaking in the language of the Pawnees.
“The Red Bud is a free child of the woods; she asks not the false paleface brave whither she can go,†haughtily replied the Indian girl.
“Red Bud turns her eyes with anger upon me; have I offended her?†he asked, changing his tone.
“Yes; the Many Faces has spoken with false tongue to the Red Bud of the Forest. Before Many Faces came to the wigwam of the Red Bud, she sang likea bird of the woods, and her heart was like the silvery river; her sorrows were light, only falling upon her as softly as the autumn leaves kiss the ground.
“But Many Faces took away the joy of the Red Bud, and the wind sighs nightly in her heart. The Great Spirit frowns at the child of the woods; the heart of the Indian maid is breaking, and the snow of winter will rest upon her bosom.
“Many Faces has a false tongue, and a false light in his eyes, for he told the Red Bud he loved her; he took her from the wigwam of her people, and then left her alone to die.
“But the Great Spirit would not let her die then. When she was worn down with hunger, when her feet would not press the earth, and the enemy of her people, the Sioux, would have danced around her scalp, the great white chief, who rides the prairie whirlwind, and whose eye ever looks death upon his foes, rescued her from her enemies and carried her back to her tribe.â€
“Was it Buffalo Bill, the scout, that saved your life, girl?†Lawrence inquired.
“Red Bud has spoken the truth; her tongue is not crooked; it was the great white scout who carried her back to the Pawnee village, and he it was that told her that Many Faces loved a maiden here by the running waters.â€
“Curses on that scout! Did you come here to see that girl?†Howard Lawrence demanded harshly.
“Red Bud has seen the Rose of the Woodland, and told her not to love Many Faces,†was the Indian girl’s brave answer.
“By Heaven, girl, you shall die for that!†cried thearoused man, and he attempted to draw a pistol from his belt.
Before he could do so, Red Bud unslung a light rifle from her back, and covered him with deadly aim.
“Let not Many Faces seek to slay the Pawnee girl,†she said, “for she would not die by his hand. Her heart is broken, but she will not harm the paleface chief who broke it. Let him go, and never cross the path of the Red Bud again. Go; the Red Bud bids him go!â€
Still holding her aim upon his heart, the look of the Indian girl proved that she would kill him if he hesitated, and with a bitter curse Howard Lawrence drove the spurs into the flanks of his horse and dashed away, leaving Red Bud watching him until he was out of sight.
A rapid ride of five minutes brought Lawrence to the cabin door. Then what a scene met his gaze! Here and there were scattered numerous pieces of furniture and household effects; the strong door was broken from its hinges, desolation was over all, while bloodstains were upon the floor and ground.
There lay the body of the faithful watchdog, dead at his post.
The occupants of the cabin were nowhere to be seen. The face of Howard Lawrence turned pale as he followed the trail where some heavy objects had been dragged. A walk of a few hundred yards brought him to a thicket of small timber upon the river bank, and there he beheld two new-made graves side by side.
“My God, Alfred Carter and all his family gone! No, there are but two graves, and they numbered four.If Rose has been killed, her death has saved me a world of trouble, for I do not wish two women as rivals in the same settlement.â€
Something like a smile came to his lips.
“Well, it cannot be helped, and now I am free to marry Sibyl Conrad, if that accursed scout does not interfere. If he does, I must crush him.â€
With a hard look upon his handsome face, Howard Lawrence returned to the cabin, glanced carefully around among the rubbish for a while, and then mounting his horse, rode rapidly away.
After making a wide circuit upon the prairie, he overtook the wagon train just as it went into camp for the night, on the edge of the peninsula.
Buffalo Bill, accompanied by both Sibyl and Ruth, had also ridden on ahead, and after a time came upon the deserted and desolate cabin home of Alfred Carter.
With a cry of alarm, Buffalo Bill sprang from his horse and entered the little hut.
“All, all gone!†he exclaimed. “In God’s name, who has done this foul deed? By the blue heavens above us, I swear that they shall rue this accursed act!â€
Never before had the cousins seen Buffalo Bill in any way moved by excitement; but now the look upon his face was terrible, and they almost feared him.
But controlling himself instantly, he said quietly:
“Miss Conrad, it is due to both yourself and Miss Whitfield that I make known to you the deed done here. This cabin was the home of Alfred Carter, his wife, his daughter Rose—a beautiful girl—and his son. They had not an enemy in the world that I knew of; but, see here what a hellish deed has been committed!â€
Following the same trail that Howard Lawrence had, Buffalo Bill soon came to the graves.
After examining most carefully the tracks and trails around, as well as he could in the dying light of the day, he returned with the girls to the encampment, where he held a long conversation with Major Conrad and Captain la Clyde.
“Major Conrad, this is the point I have deemed most favorable for your settlement,†said Buffalo Bill, at the conclusion of his talk regarding the massacre of the Carter family.
“Here you will have every advantage, and be protected by the river, as you will see in the morning. I would advise that you at once set about building a stockade fort and wall across this end of the point, and the river, being wide and deep, will protect you upon the three other sides.
“I am going away, but in a few days I will return and aid you all in my power. As soon as the moon rises, I intend to take the trail of the hell hounds who have brought ruin upon the peaceful family who dwelt here.â€
The scout was as good as his word.
As soon as the moon arose and lighted up the prairie, he left the sleeping camp, and struck off over the plains, slowly following the trail of Ricardo and his band, after their deadly crime against poor Alfred Carter.