The news brought by Buffalo Bill had fallen like a thunderbolt upon those in the fort. The colonel was more impressed by it than he cared to reveal.
He naturally supposed that the outlaw chief had escaped, and what the fate of Surgeon Powell was no one could tell.
That his body had not been found was hopeful that he had not been killed.
The fate of the other two detectives was uncertain. What it all meant could only be surmised.
The colonel could not find it in his heart to connect Ruth Arden, as he knew her, with this tragic escape of her brother. It did not seem like the woman he had met to plan an escape where death must ensue; the innocent fall to save the wicked outlaw chief.
In the fort there was a diversity of opinion, and all were very freely expressed. Clarice Carr did not know what to believe, while Nina de Sutro, after thinking the matter over, said to herself:
“That is the work of that girl and no one else. She was determined that her brother should not hang, and she plotted to have him rescued at all costs. In some way she learned of his intended removal from the fort, and so she planned accordingly, and plotted well.
“If so, she has put herself in a very unfortunate position, for she can be looked upon as an accessory. Oh, that in the mâlée Arden had been killed! How rejoiced would I be, for then his tongue would be forever silenced. What a fool I was to allow him to bluff me as he did.
“He certainly frightened me terribly by stating that I could show no marriage-certificate. Neither can I, but I know the priest that married us; I know the church well, and I saw it put upon the register. He thought that I had forgotten, and so forced me to vow to rescue him.
“Well, he has escaped, and I only hope that he will soon be shot, for then will I be free, and a widow. It is useless for me ever to dream of love with Colonel Dunwoody now, for I know that he suspects me. I cannot, I dare not tell him the truth, and, doing what I did, impersonating Clarice Carr, I cannot make him understand unless I confess all to him.