Instantly the desperado seized his revolver, but he felt against his head the cold muzzle of a weapon, and heard the stern tones:
"Bent, I guess I'll save Buffalo Bill from killing you, by hanging you to the nearest tree."
The speaker was Wild Bill, who had stood behind the chair of the desperado.
All knew him, and that he was an officer of the law, and would keep his word.
Buffalo Bill said nothing, and the crime-stained wretch was dragged out of the saloon, a rope put around his neck, and he was hanged for his many red deeds, thereby escaping death at the hands of the scout.
CHAPTER XXIX.
BILL'S STORY OF HIS BECOMING AN ACTOR.
As Buffalo Bill in the past few years has become known as an actor, and appears as such with his Dramatic Combination, during the winter months, when he is not on the plains, it will not be by any means uninteresting to my readers to learn how he came to go upon the stage, and the story I give in his own words, in relating his experience to a reporter who had called upon him for some jottings regarding his life.
He said: