“Thank you; I hope you will win, Mr. Cody; you know where to find me, and this gentleman can look me up should he be the winner; good night!”
And taking the bag of precious metal, Panther Kate left the saloon.
Scarcely had the man departed from the saloon, when, like a returning memory, there came to Buffalo Bill the knowledge that he had seen this man before—that in truth he was none other than Kent King himself, so disguised as almost to defy detection.
CHAPTER VI.
OLD NEGOTIATE’S WARNING.
The next day, when Old Negotiate entered the hotel—which had been named the Cody Hotel in honor of Buffalo Bill—he found there a motley crowd.
There were tradesmen of the town, miners from the camps, cowboys from the surrounding ranches, sports, idlers, and a few strangers who had just arrived in Border City.
They were miners, they said, from up the country farther, and having dug out a rich harvest of golden metal, they had come to Border City to spend a little of it in having a good time.
There were five of them present, and they were evidently having a “good time,” according to their ideas, for they were drinking heavily. One of their number, dressed in corduroy, the same man who had made the bet with Buffalo Bill the day before, was “standing treat” continually for the thirsty souls in Border City, whose thirst seemed to increase after every drink they took.