Pawnee Bill and Nomad started their horses, and turned into the broad trail left by the road agents when they rode away with their prisoner.
“The confession I make is,” said Buffalo Bill, “that a man who, I believe, was in this stage holdup, was seen by me at your uncle’s home when I was there—when I came there with the emeralds, after the fire. I didn’t want to tell you before, and make you uneasy. But I saw him out under the tree, and when I tried to speak with him he ran. I have been thinking the matter over since, and am pretty sure now that he listened at the window, or under the floor.”
“Under the floor?”
“You’ll remember that I asked you if your uncle kept a dog? That was because I had seen a hole under the floor which appeared as if something—some animal or man—had recently been in it. I think now that the man I’m speaking of had really been under the floor. If so, he probably heard our talk about the emeralds.
“Now, another thing: That man my friends and I saw with the mustang catchers of the Bitter Water. He is called Toby Sam.”
“You think the mustang catchers had a hand in this holdup?”
“It looks it. I’m guessing a good deal, you see, and really am in the dark; but that is my present guess.”
The horses were going at a gallop now.
Buffalo Bill drew rein, and asked the others to stop.
“We’re foolish,” he said, “to take those emeralds on with us. The thing to do is to hide them here somewhere. Then, no matter what happens, they will be safe.”