The old gentleman was perfectly sincere in this invitation, and his motive was not altogether unselfish.
The other inhabitants of the place were of a rough type and repugnant to his polished nature, and he was delighted at the prospect of the society of men with whom he felt he had something in common.
Buffalo Bill, feeling that some protection was needed for the party under the circumstances, accepted the invitation, and Jack Mainwaring gladly did the same, because he desired, above all things, to have the chance to improve his acquaintance with May.
CHAPTER XVII.
THE PRICE OF A LIFE.
On that same evening Buffalo Bill and young Mainwaring were sitting on the veranda of the saloon alone, and the young rancher took the opportunity to cross-question his friend about the Death Riders.
Buffalo Bill told him how he had met them, and of the danger in which he and his friends stood from them and also from the Shawnees.
“The scoundrels!” exclaimed the rancher fiercely. “I have heard a great deal about the doings of these outlaws, and how they have even dared to defy the authority of the United States and fight American troops.