CHAPTER XX.
AN AMAZING DISAPPEARANCE.
Lena Forest came out of the cabin when she heard Pawnee Bill talking with the scouts and the trapper. She recognized the scout, for once he had called on her father, and she ran toward him.
“Oh, if you had but been here sooner!” she wailed.
Buffalo Bill dismounted, and Nomad did the same.
“Yes, we came too late,” said the scout sadly. “I have been talking with Major Lillie, and we think you should be sent at once to the town. Major Lillie will go with you, while my old friend, Nomad, and I will pick up the trail of the Blackfeet murderers of your father. That’s all that can be done now, except to give your father decent burial, which we will do at once.”
He took the girl by the hand, and his kind words caused her tears to flow afresh.
“Now, if you will go back into the house and lie down again for a while it will be better for you,” he urged. “There is absolutely nothing you can do, and you need as much rest as you can get before you start on your trip. We will find your horse; and, if you like, Nomad will go in and prepare something for you to eat, or make some coffee for you.”
“I couldn’t eat a mouthful,” she said.
“But you will go into the house?” he urged.
She understood, turned about with slow feet, and disappeared within.