The bodies of the slain frontiersmen were then quickly buried, and Buffalo Bill led his party at a swift pace on the trail of the Shawnees.
CHAPTER XIX.
EVIL HEART’S SUICIDE.
Although the Indians had obtained only a short start of the border king and his men, the chase was a long and difficult one.
As the scouts and their Pawnee allies followed the trail, it became more and more evident that every expedient of redskin craft had been employed to hide it.
Even Buffalo Bill’s skill was often at fault, and sometimes for hours—once even for a whole day—the tracks were lost completely and only recovered after the most arduous search.
“Evil Heart is one of the best chiefs on the plains, both in fighting and in running away,” said Buffalo Bill to Wild Bill, as they were riding side by side on the fifth day of the chase. “But I think we shall get him this time, after all. The trail is freshening all the time.”
“Yes, that is so,” Wild Bill replied, “and, of course, you must have noticed one thing—that during the last few hours not a single effort has been made to hide it. That strikes me as being rather strange, for they have done all they could to conceal their tracks up to now.”
“Yes, I have noticed that,” said Buffalo Bill, knitting his brows in some perplexity, “and it has seemed peculiar to me.”