Under his blanket the medicine man had what may be called the tools of his trade—his medicine rattle and drum, pigments and paints of various kinds, his medicine bag, together with plumes, beadwork, and other adornments.
When he had possessed himself of these, Buffalo Bill tied the medicine man, and bound him to the other captured Blackfoot. Then he tied to the saddle on the back of the horse the articles taken from the medicine man, and, leading his horse, he drove the two Indians before him along the trail in the direction from which he had come.
An hour later Buffalo Bill reached the wild range riders, without mishap, with his prisoners and spoil, finding that Pawnee Bill had not yet appeared.
But Pawnee Bill came in soon, while the scout was explaining and elaborating the plan he had conceived for the relief of the white prisoners of the Blackfeet.
It was so daring, however, that when Pawnee Bill heard it even he opposed it; for the plan was nothing less than that Buffalo Bill should paint and disguise himself and enter the Blackfoot village, pretending to be the medicine man whom the Indians were expecting.
But when Buffalo Bill had painted himself with the paints taken from the medicine man, had arranged his hair in the Indian fashion and ornamented it with plumes, had put on the clothing of the medicine man, wrapped himself in the medicine man’s blanket and robes, and arrayed himself, with tom-tom, medicine rattle, and other articles, even Pawnee Bill’s skepticism vanished.
“It almost frightens me to look at you now, Cody,” he said, with a laugh. “If you can get into the village in the night rigged out in that way, I think you can fool even old Crazy Snake himself. But we shall stand ready to rush the village if anything happens to you. Give us the signal—two wolf howls from the village—and we’ll charge the redskins, whatever the cost.”
The range riders were as enthusiastic as Pawnee Bill had now become, and though they were themselves somewhat experienced in such trickery, they marveled at the skill shown by Buffalo Bill in this transformation.
With the approach of night the range riders advanced toward the village, with scouts out in front to guard against surprise and ambush. But they stopped in the hills above the village.
Then, as night came on, dark and cloudy, Buffalo Bill descended from the hills. He knew the terrible danger to which he was now to expose himself—that he was taking his life in his hands. Yet he did not hesitate at this call of duty.