Buffalo Bill gave the speaker a glance charged with sympathy and appreciation, and, recovering himself, Angell went on composedly:
“Manuel war in bed when I hit ther adobe that sheltered him. He talked a blue streak. War sure he war goin’ ter peter, an’ wanted ter ease his mind. Among other things, he reeled off a queer yarn erbout a cave in these yere hills. A member of ther gang he had been consortin’ with had found ther cave, an’ ther gang fixed it up fer a hidin’ place. Thar war a couple of mechanical critters in ther outlet, an’ they engineered ther platform racket. I reckon one of ther Injuns berlongin’ to ther gang war a Navaho, an’ that arter the gang war scattered he let out what he knowed ter Raven Feather. He couldn’t ha’ knowed ther hull thing, or else ther part of ther cave we hev not yet seen would ha’ been occerpied by ther reds.
“Manuel told me that only a few members of ther gang, ther leader, Manuel, an’ two others, white men, knew erbout the retreat beyond ther crevice. Ter prevent the Injun contingent from gettin’ on to what war intended fer ther treasure house of ther gang, the leader an’ the few members he could trust worked ther crevice as a scare hole. They knowed that ther redskins would try ter investigate ther hole, an’ so they rigged up a scarecrow, and rubbed phosphorious onto it. The Injuns saw this scarecrow twice when they were prospectin’ erbout ther crevice. That shore let them out. They didn’t monkey with ther hole any more. Now, all redskins are plumb eaten up with superstition, an’ I reckon Raven Feather got hold of ther tale, an’ so ther crevice had no attraction fer him.”
Raven Feather, who had not been gagged, here gave a grunt of disgust and shame. “Me heap fool,” he said, in English, to Angell.
“Sure,” was the quick response. “That aire p’int war settled some time ago.”
The scouts arose, and with the tomahawks taken from the prisoners, proceeded to attack the crevice.
Their labor would have taken them many hours if, after working a short time, they had not struck a ledge of rotten rock.
Half an hour after the telling of the story, Buffalo Bill and his comrade were crawling upward out of the chamber.
It had been the hope of the king of scouts that he would be able to follow the light that came through the crevice and soon reach the top of the ground; but the discovery that the light entered from above between two massive bowlders, and that the open space that separated him from the hilltop was not over half a foot in diameter, put a damper on the hope.
Both he and Angell used their combined strength to move the bowlders, but in vain.