The thongs that had bound the prisoner lay upon the floor, and the lamp still burned on a table. Going to the stable, they found Panther Kate’s two riding horses gone.
“Well, who would ever have believed that woman to be treacherous?” said Ben Tabor.
Buffalo Bill looked blank.
“I never thought Panther Kate would go back on her word, but she certainly has helped Kent King to get away. Let us go on to town and see if we can strike a new trail.”
Rapidly the two now rode on into Border City. There a new mystery awaited them, for Jack Coes, the keeper of the tavern, handed Buffalo Bill a note, which he said had been brought him from Panther Kate. Opening it, the scout read:
“Mr. Cody: If I have broken faith with you, blame a woman’s love, for in such cases the heart, not the head, governs her actions.
“The stake money I still hold. As you know with whom it was you made your bet, you will see that I can continue to hold it, until one or the other wins it, a consummation I devoutly pray shall never happen; not that I wish to keep the gold, but that I hope that neither you nor Kent King will die as the wager suggests.
“He befriended me as an orphan child, and laid the foundation for a career that would have made me famous had not circumstances forced me to follow him, believing myself to be wronged by him.
“Now the dead past is buried between us, and hope beckons us on to a future of bliss, and we fly far from here. Your friend,
Panther Kate.
“Now Mrs. Kenton Kingsland.”