after three days of easy journeying, the party reached a white settlement on the shores of the lake, and there buffalo bill, congo, and captain meinhold secured horses on which they could journey to fort mcpherson quickly.
the rest of the party would follow at their leisure, but it was imperative for buffalo bill to reach the fort, as from that place he would be able to speedily make the necessary arrangements for hare’s ransom.
he well knew the danger of delay in this matter. if the presents did not arrive within the stipulated time, it was likely enough that the indians, always more or less suspicious in their nature, would decline to wait any longer, but would at once proceed to torture the unfortunate captive to death.
no doubt running water would do his best to prevent this, but his influence with the tribe over which he was chief seemed to be less than that of black panther—at all events, in this matter.
fort mcpherson was safely reached without any incidents worthy of record happening on the way.
the commandant already knew of the loss of the schooner; for the men who had escaped in the other boat, from which the buffalo bill party had been separated in the storm, had made their way to the fort just before, reporting that they were the sole survivors.
there was naturally much rejoicing among the officers and soldiers when they found that so many others of their comrades had also managed to save their lives, and especially at the fact that the women were safe.
the commandant listened with deep interest to the story of their adventures in running water’s village, as told to him by buffalo bill and captain meinhold.
he was at first inclined to send a force of soldiers back with buffalo bill to punish the indians for daring to capture a white man, hold him captive, and threaten to put him to death by torture.
buffalo bill, however, managed to persuade him that this would be neither fair nor wise.
he pointed out that the indians had been kind and hospitable toward the shipwrecked party until hare shot one of their number, that then they had only thought to carry out their idea of strict justice, and that in the end they had been willing to temper even that with mercy.
if soldiers were sent after them under such conditions, the faith of the redskins in the fair dealing of the whites would be shattered all through the country.
the commandant recognized the force of these arguments, and satisfied himself with helping the king of the scouts to get together the promised presents for the red men.
there was little difficulty in arranging this, and two days after his arrival at the fort buffalo bill set out on his way back to running water’s village, accompanied by joe congo, wild bill, and captain meinhold, the latter obtaining a short leave of absence for the purpose.
“after deserting you and hare in the way i did,” the officer said to the border king, “i could never feel easy in my mind unless i saw the end of this business.”
“it was not desertion at all,” replied cody. “you only did what you thought was your duty to the women. but i shall be very glad of your company on the trip, all the same.”
the indian village was reached three days before the end of the period of reprieve which had been granted by the council to the captive.
“i was beginning to grow nervous,” hare confessed, as he shook hands warmly with buffalo bill. “i knew you would not desert me, but as the time drew toward an end i feared that you might have met with some accident that would delay you, or even prevent you from coming at all.”
the man had been well treated by the indians during his period of captivity, but he had been closely watched night and day. even had he been disposed to disregard cody’s advice against attempting to escape, he would have found no chance to do so.
all of the indians, from running water himself down to the youngest brave, were delighted with the presents. they fell short in no particular of the border king’s pictured descriptions. on the contrary, they exceeded the wildest anticipations of the red men.
the horses and the rifles were particularly admired, for they were far better than any the tribe could get. but unfortunately there was one item of the ransom which led to trouble; it was the whisky.
buffalo bill had hesitated whether he should bring it with him. he was much opposed to the selling or giving of fire water to the redskins, and had always fought bitterly against it.
sure enough, that night the whisky caused trouble, as it always does among palefaces as well as redskins.
buffalo bill and his friend had arrived at the village in the middle of the afternoon, and by the time the indians had finished inspecting the presents and talking with the whites it needed only about two hours to sunset.
buffalo bill proposed to start on his journey back at once, taking hare with him. he feared that the indians would indulge in a drunken orgy that night, and it might not be safe for the white men to remain in the village. at all events, there would be a risk of trouble, for the worst passions of the braves would almost certainly be aroused by the whisky.
but running water would by no means hear of their going. hospitable as ever, he begged buffalo bill and his friends to stay and take part in the great feast which would be held that night to celebrate the wealth that had come to his band.
buffalo bill tried hard to get out of the invitation, but the chief and his braves were so insistent that in the end he was obliged to give way, very much against his will.
the feast started early, and enormous quantities of meat were consumed by the gluttonous braves.
unfortunately enormous quantities of whisky were drunk also.
it was not long before the ugly traits in the indian character began to come to the front.
several of the braves, reeling to their feet, yelled and shouted defiantly at one another, declaring, as most men are apt to do when they are drunk, that they could “lick the earth.”
old enemies and feuds were recalled under the influence of the liquor, and there would have been more than one deadly fight had it not been for the restraining influence of running water, aided by buffalo bill and the other whites, who had become very popular with most of the warriors on account of the rich presents they had brought.
the old chief was a pretty clever diplomatist, and he succeeded in calming down the angry braves until the more drunken and quarrelsome of them, taking more of the whisky, sank into a stupor.
black panther was one of those who had indulged heavily, but the liquor did not seem to take quite the same effect on him as it did on the others.
he seemed to retain his senses perfectly, but, as he took drink after drink, his fierce black eyes became fixed upon the white men with an even deadlier glance of hatred.
he did not think of any quarrels that he might have with his own tribesmen. one of the great passions of his life was hatred of the whites, and it came uppermost now.
this hatred was particularly concentrated upon buffalo bill, whom he knew to be the leader of the little party.
the memory of the presents he had received that afternoon did not soothe him, by any means. indeed, he had clean forgotten them under the influence of the whisky. he thought of only one thing—that he hated all white men, and particularly buffalo bill.
running water had not touched a drop of the liquor. when buffalo bill had asked him why, early in the evening, he had replied:
“fire water bad for de man. make him fool. make him act like crazy man. running water must watch his braves. running water cannot drink.”
but of all the braves whom the chief watched, there was none he kept his eye on more intently than black panther.
that warrior said no word, but he looked steadily at buffalo bill with a baleful glare that would have done credit to the ferocious animal after which he was named.
“black panther bad to-night,” said the chief, in a whisper to buffalo bill. “he hate all white men—he[300] hate you most. be ready. he want to fight, but i try to stop him.”
“all right, chief,” replied the border king. “i’m sure i don’t want to fight him, if i can help it. you have treated us well, and we don’t want to have any trouble. we’d like to remain friends with all your band.”
the words were hardly spoken, when black panther rose suddenly to his feet and commenced to declaim a loud, passionate speech which even awakened some of the drunken sleepers.
buffalo bill could not understand many of the words. although he was familiar with some dialects of the sioux tongue, he did not know the particular one spoken by this band.
but the purport of his speech was plain enough from black panther’s impassioned gestures and the look of hatred which he concentrated on the king of the scouts.
even captain meinhold and hare, although less versed than the two scouts in the ways of the indians, could not help seeing that what black panther wanted to do was to provoke a fight with buffalo bill.
in the middle of the harangue, running water rose to his feet and motioned to the brave to seat himself on the ground again; but black panther remained defiantly standing.
“what does he say?” the border king asked the chief.
“him say he fight you with tomahawk—with knife—with revolver—with anything you like. but we not let him. you our friend. if a brave fight you here when you eat our meat, the face of my band is blackened.”
running water replied in this same strain to black panther, but he might as well have spoken to the wind.
several of the braves—the more sober of them—supported their chief; but others wanted to see a fight, and they clamored to let black panther have his way. if the white man did not fight, they said, he was a coward.
buffalo bill caught this, for the word used was the same as in another dialect of the sioux, which he knew.
he rose at once, repressing his anger with difficulty, and suggested to running water that he should wrestle with black panther. they need not fight a deadly duel, he urged, but they could at least see who was the better man.
the chief grasped eagerly at this proposal, for things were beginning to look serious, and bloodshed seemed imminent.
he translated buffalo bill’s challenge to black panther, and the latter fiercely accepted the suggestion.
he knew that he was far and away the best wrestler in the whole of the sioux nation—the admitted champion of all the bands—and he had no doubt that he could vanquish his white opponent easily.
but he reckoned without his host, for he little knew that the king of the scouts had muscles as strong as steel, and had been trained in the art of wrestling from his youth up. so proficient, indeed, had he become in it that he had never yet met the redskin who could beat him—or the white man, either.
black panther stood up, naked to the waist, for the bout. he did not seem to be much affected by the quantity of whisky he had taken. his eye was clear, his attitude agile, and his movements as rapid as those of the animal from whom he had taken his name.
with a loud yell, he darted straight at buffalo bill, and in a second the two men were locked in a close embrace.
it was soon over. buffalo bill, with a mighty heave, flung the redskin clean over his shoulder.
for a few moments black panther lay upon the ground stunned. then he rose unsteadily to his feet and glared at buffalo bill like a tiger.
the king of the scouts held himself ready for another wrestle, if his opponent chose to take it—but black panther had another idea in his mind.
he whipped a knife out of his belt, and would have rushed at buffalo bill and stabbed him to the heart, but running water and several of the other braves, fearing just this thing, had watched him closely.
in a trice they seized and disarmed him. he struggled furiously, but in the hands of half a dozen strong braves he was as helpless as a baby.
there was no one to say a word in his defense. even the most drunken of the braves condemned his action, for hospitality is a sacred obligation to the red man. and black panther had actually tried to murder a guest!
by command of running water he was taken to a lodge and closely guarded until the white men left the village on the following morning.
three braves, the most sober whom running water could select, watched him all night, tomahawk in hand.
they had orders to slay him on the spot if he made any attempt to break out of the lodge.
black panther knew this, and he was wise enough to keep still. but the flame of hatred in his heart burned more and more fiercely as the hours went by, and he vowed to himself that he would never rest until he had vengeance on his white opponent.
no man knew this better than buffalo bill, who was as familiar with the nature of the redskins as any white man can be.
before he left the village with his friends, running water apologized profusely for the behavior of black panther, who, he said, had brought disgrace on all the band.
“he shall not remain with us,” the chief added. “he left us before. he shall go back to the band he joined. he shall not remain another day in the village.”
“don’t drive him out on my account, chief,” said buffalo bill. “i bear him no ill will. it was the whisky that did it.”
“but he feel ill will to you,” replied running water gravely. “he kill you when he meet you, unless you kill him first.”
buffalo bill laughed.
“well, i’ll do my best to look out for myself if i ever do meet him again,” he said.
“you better shoot quick,” was the parting warning of the chief to the border king, as he and his friends bade farewell and mounted their horses for the return journey.
“i reckon running water is about right,” said buffalo bill to wild bill, as they rode onward.
“how was he on the wrestle?” asked wild bill curiously.
“a mighty good man. if it hadn’t been for all that drink that was in him, he’d have been the toughest proposition to handle that i ever ran up against. as it was, he was not particularly difficult to throw.”
the fort was reached safely, and soon afterward hare, the rescued captive, returned to his relatives, quite cured of any desire for further experiences of western life.
