The scout approached so near to one of these guards that he heard the tread of the fellow’s feet and caught the odor of the tobacco burning in his pipe.
Though he desired to get still nearer in, Buffalo Bill saw the difficulty of the attempt, for this sentry walked a beat which crossed the line of his advance.
After working with much care to one side, he crouched in the darkness and emitted there the well-known “cuckoo” call of the prairie-dog owl, hoping by it to reach old Nomad, if the trapper still lived.
The guard was not disturbed at first by the call of the little owl, for it was a familiar sound; but when it was several times repeated, and with a variation he had never heard in the note, his attention was attracted.
“A cussed funny dog owl,” the scout heard him mutter; and then heard him come toward him.
Buffalo Bill desired to keep from the outlaws the fact that their camp was being spied on, hence he crouched low in the hollow and waited until the guard had turned back. Then he sent forth again the “cuckoo” call, with that queer variation which had attracted the notice of the sentinel.
Unfortunately for the immediate success of the scout’s efforts, Nomad was at the time asleep in one of the huts, and so did not hear him.
When no answer came to his calls, the scout’s uneasiness concerning the fate of Nomad grew.
Resolved to know, if possible, if the old trapper lived, he slipped from his place of concealment when the sentry had walked to the farther end of his beat, and then went sliding farther down over the steep rocks.
The sentry was a keen-eared fellow, and heard the displacement of a small stone, which rattled down the slope. Instantly the scout flattened himself on the rocks and waited until the stone fell.