“Guard asleep; Pa-e-has-ka shut off wind.”
The scout arose noiselessly. Cayuse turned on the light a little. Buffalo Bill crept up to the sleeping man, Cayuse slipping close to one side. Then, as the scout suddenly seized the man’s wrists in a grip of iron, Cayuse clapped both hands over his mouth.
The struggle was short and almost noiseless. Hickok brought a rope and prepared a gag. Then the lantern was turned low, and behind an angle in the wall the three men whispered council. Two more men were to be disposed of—Ike and another, one at each opening into the mine.
The scout had heard the guards say they would await relief from town till two hours after sunup; then they would come in for breakfast. But they expected two more of Price’s gang before that time.
When Price’s men reached town and told him of meeting Fighting Dan in the foothills, the agent became alarmed. He feared the proximity of such men who might take a notion to investigate the trail that led to the mine. If they should discover that the place was guarded their curiosity would be correspondingly heightened, and who could tell what they might do?
Price hurriedly called the sheriff and all the men he could muster on whom he could depend, and had them sworn as deputies. He would go prepared to have his own way. If Fighting Dan had captured his plunder he would have Dan and his men arrested, charged with robbing a mine in operation.
Price would swear that he and his men were getting ready to work the old claim. The sheriff and his deputies would take oath to the same. The municipal judge would know what to do. He had fixed many cases for Price and the cattlemen, who were his friends.
With the sheriff and posse of twenty men the Indian agent hurried away.
The townspeople were full of wonder, and not a few rode out toward the foothills, hoping to have their curiosity relieved. Many rumors were started, among them that a pocket had been opened in the mountains, and insiders were staking claims.