“I wish ter thunder, pard,” went on Nomad, “thet ye’d sent me ter Montegordo along with Cayuse. Ef ye had, ’stead o’ settin’ in ther Lucky Strike Hotel, watchin’ Hickok put et all over me at this game they calls seven-up, I’d er been mixed in with things wuth while. Seems like excitement has been side-steppin’ from in front er me ever sence thet fracas at ther Forty Thieves.”
“Which was as many as seven days ago,” returned the scout. “Can’t you stand a week’s lull, Nick?”
“I dunno, pard. I’m so used ter things happenin’ thet ef a day comes in an’ slides out without somethin’ doin’, I begins ter think trouble hes took er vacation. So fur Leetle Cayuse appears ter be hevin’ all ther fun.”
“You may have all the ‘fun’ you want, and more, too, before we have run out this trail.”
“Here’s hopin’,” said the old warrior.
The sun had set about the time the party left the top of Sun Dance Cañon; the darkness deepened, the stars lighted up in the vault, and a crescent moon began to brighten. Night was no bar to the ready knowledge of Gentleman Jim and Hank Tenny, however, and they led the scout and his pards along a bee-line as near as the nature of the country would permit.
Three hours of saddle-work brought the riders into rough country; low hills, bare and sterile, but steep-sided, surrounded them—hills where time was saved by going around rather than by seeking to climb over.
At last, four hours out of Sun Dance, Tenny and Gentleman Jim drew rein in a shallow valley, and waited for those behind to catch up.
“We’re close to Medicine Bluff,” announced Gentleman Jim. “It is no more than a mile from here, and this valley divides into two branches just ahead of us. The right-hand fork will bring us out at the western foot of the Bluff, and the left-hand fork will land us on the eastern side. There’s a slope on the eastern side by which the top of the Bluff can be reached, but it seems to me that the western side would be the one where the outlaws are most likely to be found. Which course shall we take, Buffalo Bill? It’s up to you.”
“We’ll take both forks of the valley,” answered the scout promptly.