“But, though we were taken by surprise, we are quick on the draw, and our revolvers were going off with theirs, and for a second or so it was lively here.
“We all sprang to cover of the timber, of course, and so we had it.
“I don’t think it lasted half a minute, and then I found I was the only one standing up, and I was wounded.
“I walked over to where those three traitors lay, but they were dead. I then went to poor Dick. He was gasping, but murmured something about a plot to kill us. Then he grasped my hand, and the poor boy was gone.”
As he spoke, Bob brushed tears from his eyes, and there were others who felt the drops trickle down their bronzed cheeks as they thought of their dead comrade.
The scouts had listened with rapt attention to Blue Jacket Bob’s story, and Buffalo Bill said:
“Bob, you have done nobly, old fellow, and there is proof lying before us of your plucky fight against odds. Now, señor, what is your opinion of the treachery of your men to-night?”
“They came to rob this camp, señor, and failed, though they had one of the fair hermit’s cattlemen as an ally.”
“What a pity that they all got killed, that we cannot entrap one alive, or wound and capture one!”