“You may. Such things have been. And then in the morning I will see that you have a good breakfast; and, if you wish, some brandy to give you courage, for I have some still left in my flask. Come, cheer up, and make an effort for your life!”
“Thank you, Cody. You would make a man hope under the descending guillotine, I believe. Well, I will try. But I cannot sleep yet. I want to write to my poor wife and father first. I have a pencil and some old letters which I can cross, and you, perhaps, can obtain for me the freedom of my right hand for an hour. At least, I know you will try.”
Buffalo Bill obtained this favor and others for the prisoner. His bands were all so far loosened that they might not give him pain, and he was removed into one of the huts for the night and was furnished with a bed of boughs.
Still, he was watched all night long, closely and ceaselessly, not by one man now, but by two, who stood motionless at the two ends of his couch.
His eyes closed at last, and, after long waiting, he sank into a troubled sleep, but he still saw the motionless sentries in dreams, and he woke many times ere morning to behold them, still and statuesque—but always facing each other, and always facing him.
But he could have done nothing toward escape if they had been less vigilant, for his ankles were bound together and his arms were pinioned to his sides.
Buffalo Bill’s sympathy for the young man was extreme. He could not bear to give him up, but he had to consider the women first. Yet he spent a considerable portion of the night in talking with the patient chief, and trying to induce a change of action; but as Running Water was evidently acting on principle, and not from passion, the chance of winning him over to the side of mercy was very slight.
Nor would it do any good, he said, for him to urge the prisoner’s release, while by such a course he would only render himself unpopular and aid the pretensions of a rival claimant to his station without effecting the end in view.
He had no right to command them contrary to their well-established customs, which would seem to be equivalent to the common law of civilized lands.
“But will you let me talk to them all together in the morning, and try to persuade them?” Buffalo Bill urged.