“Señor Cody, again I say, ‘God bless you,’ and from my heart I thank you more than words can tell. I have an ample fortune of my own, independent of this accursed ranch, where I have known only sorrow; but what I have done he forced me to do. To Señor Otega I leave this ranch, cattle and all, for him to dispose of, and pay back to those who have paid ransom, every dollar they have been cheated out of.
“Señor, with my few faithful servants I will leave here at sunset, and into your hands will I give the paper by which Señor Otega can act for me.”
From his heart Buffalo Bill pitied the beautiful and unhappy woman, and he was glad, a few hours after, to see her and her few faithful servants depart from the hacienda forever, while Señor Otega willingly accepted the duty, to carry out the mission she had intrusted to him, through Cody.
As quickly as Buffalo Bill and his secret sleuths had entered the mysterious valley, they departed from it, carrying with them their horses and cattle, and their prisoners also, to deliver over to the commandant of the fort nearest the scene, who held control of that part of the country.
Among the prisoners was Riel, the innkeeper, who, next to the cowboy king, was the guilty one in the many crimes committed in the beautiful valley.
It is needless to say that quick punishment was visited upon all the prisoners, and Buffalo Bill and his sleuths of the saddle gained great praise for their splendid services rendered, and Colonel Carr sent a special report to headquarters about the great chief of scouts’ brilliant achievement.
As to the beautiful valley, it is as peaceful to-day as a Quaker village, and the fair hermit of the hacienda is forgotten, for she was never heard of again by those who dwelt in the Silver Lake settlement, while the haunted ranch remains but a ruin, surrounded by its graves.
THE END.
No. 104 of the Buffalo Bill Border Stories, entitled “Buffalo Bill’s Barricade,” is a rattling good story of Indian warfare among the red men themselves, helped out by the great scout, who as usual, is on the side of those who are fighting for the right.