Black John had got rid of most of his men, having only six or eight with him now, among them Toby Sam. Little by little he was reducing his force, sending men here and there on various pretexts. In this manner, he thought to get rid of them all, by and by, and have the prisoners himself; when he meant to put the young man out of the way, and fly with the young woman and the emeralds.
The fact that Black John’s force had been reduced caused a change of plan on the part of the scouts.
It was decided that it was not necessary to send Pawnee Bill on to Glendive for assistance, but that the wisest course now was for the three pards to remain together, and, in the darkness, try to get at the prisoners and release them. Therefore, when they fell in behind Black John’s party, and began to follow this trail, they kept a sharp outlook ahead, expecting that soon he would go into camp for the night, when they would endeavor to put their plan of rescue into execution.
But Black John did not go into camp. He pushed straight on in the gathering darkness. Before coming to the region where he might expect to encounter Buffalo Bill, he shifted his course to miss him and then hurried on again.
Black John’s carelessness of pursuit enabled the scouts to keep pretty close to him, after darkness fell, and still not reveal themselves.
Hour after hour Black John and his men held on their way.
After a while he became suspicious, apparently, having heard the pursuers, and dropped a scout back as a rear guard; thus forcing Buffalo Bill and his companions to halt.
When this rear guard went on again, he rode rapidly for some rendezvous, failing to rejoin Black John; and soon the scouts were bewildered in the darkness, and almost lost the trail.
For a time after that they sat still on their horses, trying to hear some sound indicating the direction of Black John’s retreat. Unable to do this, they were forced to begin a search for hoofprints; but they lost time in picking up the trail, and when it was found they could not follow it rapidly. They held to it, however, with much pertinacity, though falling rapidly behind the road agents.
When morning came, after an all-night ride, that, in their experience, had few equals in weariness, they were still on the trail, but miles behind. They ignored their weariness, when they saw the trail stretching straight on before them, and pressed their horses into a swift gallop, after a brief stop for water and grazing, and for food for themselves.