“Because I have so often heard the Sioux warriors speak of you, and how terrible you were in battle; numbers have gone forth upon your trail, boasting they would return with your scalp, and though many warriors have gone, you still wear your scalp lock, and many of those braves have not returned.”
“Perhaps they are looking for me in the happy hunting grounds,” said Buffalo Bill. “Now I must be off; and remember—to-morrow night I will meet you; but, tell me, can I not cross this hill and strike the valley beyond?”
“Yes, sir; but, oh! Do not go through that valley,” implored Pearl, with earnest manner.
“And why, child? Are the redskins numerous there?”
“Oh, no, sir; an Indian would not enter that valley for a girdle of scalp locks, and even my father dare not go there.”
“Why? Is it such a terrible place?”
The girl glanced cautiously around her, slightly shuddered, then in a whisper replied:
“A spirit haunts the valley, sir.”
“A spirit? Nonsense!”
“No, sir! Oh, no; it is the spirit of a woman dressed in white; she haunts it day and night, and when the moon is bright she sings wild songs——”