Instantly Buffalo Bill seized his lasso, which hung at his saddle bow, and which he could throw with wondrous skill. It made a sweep around his head. With a cry of horror, Howard Lawrence saw it coming and endeavored to dodge the fatal noose.
Too late! Like a lightning flash it settled around him, and lie was jerked violently from his saddle.
Instantly Buffalo Bill dismounted, and, loosening the lariat from around his enemy’s waist, bade him arise.
“What means this, sir?” sternly asked Howard Lawrence as he slowly arose to his feet.
“It means, sir, that I have pursued you, and now have captured you.”
“And why, may I ask?”
“Because of the wrong you have done that poor Indian girl. Once, when I was sick in her father’s village, she nursed me back to health, and for that, though she is an Indian, I regard her almost as if she were my own sister. You have ruined her life, you base scoundrel and villain!”
“Is that all?” the young man asked, with a sneer.
“I know, also, that you are the son of the bandit chief, Ricardo, who is now dead.”