When everything was ready for the descent, the scout placed to one side a bag of the rations brought from Sun Dance.
“Now, pards,” said he, addressing his friends, “we are not to forget for an instant that, by going down into the Forty Thieves, we are playing directly into the hands of Lawless and his gang. Lawless has something up his sleeve, and we’re going to try and beat him at his own game. To do this successfully, we can’t all go down the shaft. The surface must be watched as well as the mine workings; and our horses have got to be taken care of. This party will have to be divided, and I have chosen Dell and Cayuse to look after the mounts and keep keen eyes on the vicinity of the ore-dump.”
Dell’s face fell at this, and the Piute looked his disappointment. But whenever Buffalo Bill gave an order, there was no setting it aside.
“Hickok, Nomad, and I,” pursued the scout, “will go into the mine. As soon as we are down there, Dell and Cayuse will proceed to lower our canteens and rations—all but the bag which I have set aside for their use. Then, when the water and grub are lowered, Dell and Cayuse will pull up the rope and take the horses along the cañon. A quarter of a mile below the mine a gully breaks into the cañon wall. The gully is full of scrub, and it will be a good place to hide the live stock. While one of them watches the stock, the other will watch the ore-dump.”
“But why pull up the rope, Buffalo Bill?” asked Dell. “If anything goes wrong, you wouldn’t have any way of getting out of the shaft.”
“If anything goes wrong, Dell,” returned the scout, “it will be up here. If you and Cayuse keep careful watch, you will be able to notify Nomad, Wild Bill, and me, and drop the rope for us. If, on the other hand, any of Lawless’ gang should escape your eyes and try to come down the shaft, they won’t have our rope to use. Understand? The three of us are going down there to stay for three days. Your instructions are simple enough, and I reckon you understand them. Eternal vigilance is the price of success in this undertaking.”
With that, Buffalo Bill sat down on the edge of the planks and slowly lowered himself into the black maw of the shaft.
“All right, pards!” came his muffled voice from the darkness, a few moments later.
Wild Bill descended next, and Nomad next. When they reached the bottom of the shaft, the scout had secured one of the candles left in the mine during their recent visit, and had lighted it.
“Everything looks like it did when we was hyar last,” said Nomad, peering about him in the flickering gleam of the candle.