“Oh, Lord!” groaned the cook.
But the captain of the crew was no coward. He was awake now, and he leaped up, ready to fight for his own life and help to defend the lives of his mates and the valuable property entrusted to him.
“Mr. Cody, you take command,” he urged instantly. “You are a better man than any one in this entire party—that I’ll swear to. I have shown my incompetency already by placing my guards so carelessly that you could creep into my very sleeping tent without being apprehended.”
“Many a man has made the mistake of being too confident when there were no signs of trouble,” said Buffalo Bill. “But you had no knowledge of these outlaws being near you, of course. Although, it was quite by chance that they did not blunder into your midst, I fancy. There are fewer of them than there are of your men; but if they had caught you with your pants down it would have been ‘Good-by John!’ for you all. This is as bloody-minded a gang of cut-throats as infest this Western country.”
“So I have heard said of Bennett and his men. But I thought they had left the Overland Trail.”
“They are not on the old lay just at present,” Cody explained. “In fact, I am following them for an entirely different reason. And if we have the luck to beat the devils, I’d be thankful for any help you could give me toward capturing the whole gang and rescuing a prisoner they hold.”
“A prisoner?”
“Aye, and a girl—God help her!”
“Great heavens! a woman in the hands of those ruffians?”
“Yes.”