The youth had to be helped from the saddle. When he began to talk, it was seen that his mental sufferings had been as great as his physical. He told them of the surprise by the Indians, and of what had followed, so far as he had been able to see it. And he also told of his own adventures and experiences.
“Lena was with that leader when I saw her last,” he said. “But I haven’t any idea where she is now. I fear the worst.”
In spite of their desire to hasten on, the scouts remained there a long time, a thing which gave Black John a good start.
They could not go on with Clayton until his physical condition was improved, nor could they hope to accomplish much until they had gained something like accurate knowledge of what had become of the girl.
To the task of learning this last, Buffalo Bill and Pawnee bent their utmost skill, leaving old Nomad to minister to the needs of Clayton.
The scouts had long before picked out the individual trail of the horse ridden by Black John; but now that he had secured an Indian pony, they were put to their wits’ ends to know what to do.
After much searching they came on a bit of evidence that was of the utmost value. It was a piece of cloth torn by a thorny bush from Lena’s dress. There could be no mistaking it, nor how it came to be there.
By this thorny bush they found pony tracks, heading southward. They studied these tracks, until they were sure they should know them when seen anywhere; for, to the experienced eye of the plainsman, there is as much difference between the tracks made by different ponies as there is between the penmanship of different men.
When they had done this much, and had followed the trail some distance, they returned to where old Nomad was caring for Bruce Clayton.
The brief rest had done a world of good for the young man. He had walked by the stream, and so had got the stiffness and half paralysis out of his body and limbs. He was still “sore as a boil,” as he expressed it, but he had had something to eat and drink; and in his anxiety he now declared that he was himself again, and was ready to go on, wherever the scouts went.