“I have heard about the trap you have laid for the Apaches,” said Buffalo Bill disapprovingly, “and I have hurried here to have you withdraw it.”
“Withdraw it. Have you gone daffy, Cody?”
“No, I am as sane as you are. Look here, Hickok”—speaking with serious earnestness—“you are a white man, aren’t you?”
“I have always passed for one,” was the smiling reply. “What of it?”
“Just this: A white man, the type of the higher civilization, does not lay traps in order to take a mean advantage of an enemy. He fights fair, he despises the tactics of the savage.”
Wild Bill’s face flushed with anger. “Do you mean to insinuate that I have hatched up a low-down scheme to entrap the Apaches?” he said hotly.
“Keep your temper, Hickok,” returned Buffalo Bill quietly. “We have been friends too long for any serious difference to arise between us. You have not yet coolly considered the situation. You have, I am sure, acted on impulse. Don’t you know that, if your plan goes through, the Apaches will be at the mercy of the Yelping Crew? They will come expecting to treat for peace. You and your crowd will be all ready for a fight. The announcement that it is war, not peace, will throw the Apaches into a state of consternation so that they will not be able to put up any kind of a fight against you. The scheme is unfair; it is more than unfair, it is——”
“That will do, Cody,” interrupted Wild Bill, his countenance red with shame. “I see the point. I was hasty, reckless. I did not take a cold squint at the matter. The scheme won’t do. Come with me while I do some responsible haranguing. Time is mighty short, for the Apaches will be out of the holes in a minute.”
Wild Bill reached the group of Comanches, and began to talk rapidly. Headshakes and low, fierce mutterings were heard as he urged a change of plan. After all, he argued, it would be better to have peace. A fight against the advice of Buffalo Bill, who represented the United States government, would draw down upon them the wrath of the soldiers. They would be driven from their home, and, if they did not succeed in escaping to Mexico, they would either be killed or placed on a reservation.
Ten minutes went by while the talk went on. When Wild Bill stopped, satisfied that he won his point, he uttered an exclamation of surprise. The Apaches had not come out. What had happened?