CHAPTER XXVII.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 themountains 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 thecabin, 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 comingfor 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.”