“When I get to the ledge, if I do get there, I will lower down a rope. You can fasten the lariats of your braves together to make that rope; they will hold the weight of a dozen men easily. The lightest and most active of the warriors must come up first, and when two or three of them have mounted the ledge we can haul the rest of them up easily.
“Now you can leave me and see that the rope is made ready, and tell your braves what I propose. I shall be here for half an hour at the least. I must see exactly the way to climb and calculate the number of feet along each of those little ledges to the point where I can reach the big one above. I must have the whole thing well in my mind before I start to climb.”
The Indian shook his head doubtfully and departed. He had little faith in the feasibility of the scheme, and he thought it was nothing short of madness to attempt it.
Such was the opinion of the rest of the tribe when he told them what the white man proposed.
Buffalo Bill, however, had a look of confidence on his face when he rejoined them.
“I’m more convinced than ever that it can be done,” he said, after the evening meal of bear’s meat had been eaten. He filled his pipe and began to smoke quietly.
Wild Bill and Nick Wharton remonstrated with him and told him that his scheme was pure folly, and he would simply throw his life away. When they found that they could not turn him from his purpose, they both begged him to let them climb the cliff in his stead, but he would not hear of it.
“You are a brave man, Long Hair,” said Eagle Eye, “but no man can do what you are talking of, and you will simply sacrifice yourself for nothing.”
“I will wager my horse against yours that I will succeed,” replied Buffalo Bill.
The Navaho gravely nodded and took the bet. Indians of all tribes are much given to wagering, and the horse which Buffalo Bill was riding was a far better one than his own. Eagle Eye regarded the matter in the light of a legacy, rather than a gamble.