“No cloud-burst, Pa-e-has-ka,” said Wah-coo-tah huskily; “Nuzhee Mona all same lake, close to cañon, high up. Lawless him use giant-powder, blow away rock, let Nuzhee Mona down into the cañon——”
The girl broke off abruptly. They had reached the shaft, and Wah-coo-tah, throwing herself down, tried to pull a boulder away from the foot of the wall. The task was too much for her strength.
“Quick, Pa-e-has-ka!” she panted.
The scout laid hold of the stone, Dell holding the candle for him to see, and threw the stone to one side.
“See um iron?” gasped Wah-coo-tah. “My eyes all same go blind, no can see.”
Dell, her hands shaking under the menace of weird, unknown perils, held the candle lower.
“Here’s an iron bar, Wah-coo-tah!” cried the scout.
The roar from the cañon was now so great that it was necessary for him to raise his voice in order to be heard.
“Pull um bar, Pa-e-has-ka,” screamed Wah-coo-tah, “pronto, pronto!”
Seizing the bar with both hands, Buffalo Bill gave a long, steady pull. A screech of rusted machinery followed, and the bar gave slowly; and slowly, high up toward the top of the shaft, a curtain of rock obtruded itself across the well, and by degrees closed out the daylight.