The Apaches and Wason disappeared around the side of the building, and the scout left the front and hastened to the kitchen.
Here were utensils for cooking, but there was nothing eatable in the room. But there was a bucket of water, the diminutive outlaw in his haste having forgotten to take it away. There was a spring in the inclosure, and Buffalo Bill, finding neither sink nor pump, concluded that the water came from the spring, and that the spring was the sole source of supply for the building.
He could see the spring from the kitchen window, and was gratified to find that it was far enough away to permit a line shot from the window.
Here he resolved to take his stand. He would keep an eye on that spring until there should be serious menace from another part of the castle.
Half an hour passed and no one had come into the inclosure. Apaches were camped in the grove in front of the castle, and presumably the two outlaws and their prisoners were in the cellar.
Buffalo Bill was looking beyond the spring, when he saw the head of Alkali Pete show itself at the top of the wall. A moment later appeared the shoulders, and soon the lanky plainsman was astride of the wall.
The king of scouts found himself in an unpleasant dilemma. If he shouted a warning, the Apaches might pursue and kill Alkali Pete, and also spoil any plan of rescue the homely scout had prepared.
It was evident that Alkali Pete believed that the king of scouts had met with disaster, and it was also evident that he knew the Apaches were at the castle, and that the outlaws were somewhere inside.
Pete must therefore know what he was doing. But it was with grave apprehension that Buffalo Bill saw his old comrade descend from the wall and steal quickly to the side of the building. Would he look toward the window? Yes, his eyes were uplifted, and his ears caught these words, delivered in a thrilling whisper: “Be careful, Pete, the Indians are in front and the white fiends are in the cellar.”
The lanky plainsman hesitated a moment, and then, indicating the rear with a jerk of his finger, stole around the building.