Four dead Indians, unscalped, lay upon the ground, pierced by rifle balls.
They were seen when Captain Meinhold, Buffalo Bill, and the Ute chief rode up.
“Who has killed these braves?” demanded Bear Killer angrily. “These were the guards I left with the girls.”
“Mainwaring and Norfolk Ben must have done it,” said Buffalo Bill, turning to the captain. “Were they not at our lines when you passed?”
He asked this last question of Wild Bill.
“No. The last seen of them was on that cliff, when they got your permission to ride over this way and search.”
“These men are cold,” said the captain. “They must have been dead a good while. They were killed before you came near the ground, Wild Bill.”
Bear Killer, whose looks showed his passionate indignation, burst out:
“The palefaces speak with double tongues! My braves have been killed with big bullets, such as the palefaces use, for lead does not cost them so much as it does the red man. They ask me for the girls after they have killed their guards and taken them.”