As he spoke, there came the report of several shots. The firing was about half a mile away down the ravine toward the cañon.
“My scouts have bumped against a scouting party from the enemy,” remarked Wild Bill. “I’ll wait five minutes, and if I don’t see my Indians, I’ll start out with all my force.”
“Bad plan,” replied Buffalo Bill, with a shake of the head. “You might fall into a trap. Better get the lay of the land before starting. I have another, and I think a more sensible, scheme. I’ll go out alone. The bushes are thick in the ravine, and I have been on the plains and in the mountains long enough to know how to work. I shan’t try to get on the trail to the cañon, for that would bring me into the zone of danger. No, I’ll take to the high ground, and try to spy out the location of the enemy without exposing myself as your Comanches must have done.”
Wild Bill tried to dissuade his old partner from undertaking the work, but Buffalo Bill was determined, and at last Wild Bill gave in.
“But you’ll understand this,” the latter said, with lips set in grim determination: “If you fail to show up in an hour, out I go and all my Yelpers with me.”
Five minutes went by, and there was no sign of the Comanche scouts. There had been no more firing, and the king of scouts concluded that the Comanches had either been killed or taken prisoners.
Wild Bill saw his comrade go down the shaft to the ground entrance, and there was a cloud on his brow when he turned from the windlass and spoke to the Comanches who had been taking in the scene with puzzled countenances.
Not far from the cave entrance to the cliff habitations the ravine narrowed so that passage along it was beset with danger. The banks were steep and high, and climbing would be slow and difficult work.
Buffalo Bill was too wise to attempt a journey through this narrow pass. Instead, he went up the hill where the ravine was wide, and did not stop until he had reached the summit.
Here the trees were few and scattered, and to go on with an approach to safety he must flatten himself on the ground and work forward like a snake.