“I should have enjoyed that privilege myself,” he remarked.
Prevailing rumors of Lieutenant Avery’s troubles in the East also came to Buffalo Bill’s ears, and he immediately set about tracing them to their source. He heard of the return of the lieutenant’s horse, and the hint of a ruse to deceive those at the fort.
Buffalo Bill decided shortly that Lieutenant Avery and his girl wife had either been killed or captured by Indians, or had fallen victims to the jealousy and hatred of a certain element in the army. From the persistence of the poisonous rumors he feared that rank treachery among his brother officers had led to the tragedy.
The scout determined to sift the matter to the bottom, wherever the blame might fall. He relied implicitly on the good sense and nerve of Wild Bill. His other pards were all trustworthy in intention, but he feared they might make a break inadvertently that would put certain army officers on their guard.
The very next day after the arrival of the scout and his pards at the fort a party of cavalry had found the carcass of the horse ridden by Mrs. Avery. Plenty of evidence that the horse had been running toward the fort when it plunged into the prairie dog’s hole and broke a leg was discoverable.
The scout decided to visit the scene with his pards. Under special instructions, Wild Bill was left at the fort to play cards and drink with the officers. The scout believed Hickok might hear references to the case which would prove of value later on. He wished also to know the general feeling among the officers and among the men toward Lieutenant Avery.
No man was better prepared to obtain such material than the magnetic Wild Bill. All the officers and most of the men knew the reputation of both the scout and Wild Bill, but few of them had ever seen the latter.
Wild Bill, standing six feet two in stockings, and built “from the ground up,” was a man of perfect poise, physically and mentally. He was quiet, conservative, and unobtrusive in manner, never given to boasting or indulging in expletives, his strongest expression being “by gorry.” In fact, Wild Bill was the exact opposite of the typical frontiersman.
Wild Bill loved to play cards, and only the strongest abuse or cheating could make him lose his temper, and then a few quiet words from him had settled many disputes that otherwise would have ended in tragedy.
Old Nomad paid this tribute to his pard: